retiredmartin

February 2026. Hull.

Just back from a lovely evening with James at the “new” Harlequin, burgers and 12% Dutch banana bread pastry stouts, and finding it hard to find the enthusiasm to complete my blogs on Hull.

Which probably sums up the whole problem with BrewDog. No-one cares any more.

Leaving Sam Smith’s Blue Bell last Sunday I thought I ought to do something completely different. And how better to follow Sir Humphrey than with Sir Dickie Watt, two legends of UK pubs.

I know they’ve just anounced the sale of BrewDog and the closure of most of the bars (sympathies to the staff), but in truth they’re being put out of their misery. I can’t remember a busy one, even in Edinburgh last year, and in their giant Hull venue, with the North London derby on 22 screens, I was the only customer.

My last memorable visit to a Brew Dog was Sheffield’s bar, just before it’s closure last year, when they had sours, imperial stouts and a mead for the tickers, all three of us at 11pm on a Friday night.

Hull last week had given up completely at any pretense to being a modern craft bar; I’d seen a better BD range at the Tesco extra.

“What’s the staff selection ?” I ask, hopefully, wishing I’d gone to the Spoons Taphouse.

I really felt for the barman.

“Sorry, we don’t have that. I recommend the Black Heart Stout, it tastes like Guinness“.

Perhaps it does, it just tasted off to me, as old and tired as the soundtrack of Pink Floyd, The Who and Rush.

And they used to make great cask beer; Edge, Alice Porter, even Punk. Where did it all go wrong ?