In the Groove

 Fridays, at the moment, are very much "see how many laptops we can refurbish" day.

We're the only people working in our bit of the Town Hall, so it's quiet and opportunities for things to "crop up" needing our attention are extremely limited.

We spend the day refurbing donated laptops which we then donate to people on low incomes.  Fortunately, the donated laptops in question are mostly from one organisation, this makes it much more efficient to go through the process.  My part of the process: QA and readying for sending out, is much quicker with half a dozen identical laptops than a varied bunch.

Anyhow - let's just say that me and the BBB are now pretty efficient in our processing of said machines.

By 4pm, I was just finishing off allocating 12 laptops (we've got a bit of a waiting list, unfortunately) and BBB had done all he could reasonably do to get the next bunch ready.

So we locked up and left the building.  

We didn't even talk about our next move, we headed round to Wolf on the Corner.

It was slightly less busy than last week, even taking into account the slightly earlier time we arrived.  There were two casks on (Downlands Pale, 4% ish and Pig and Porter Porter 5%) so even the choice of beer is an unspoken one.

He got a table, I got the beer and we relaxed.

Our job isn't physical (beyond the dragging 7 populated laptop bags up the stairs, or emptying the rubbish) but we definitely got satisfaction from the day of "a job well done" which allowed us to relax and really enjoy the first pint, especially.

The last drink was Paulaner Salvator - the perfect "fuzz-inducing" relaxant before heading home.

During none of our post-work trip did we need to discuss what came next - the perfect trip! 

 

 

 

More Habit-Breaking

 Last Sunday - and, to be honest, the main reason we came back from Bristol after just a few days was that we'd got tickets to see Stewart Lee in a theatre in Eastbourne.

Sunday evening is kind of weird in Eastbourne, certainly out of season.  It made finding somewhere, pre-theatre, to relax and eat something smallish nigh-on impossible (what we'd have given for a Verdant-Seaview kind of place!).

In the end we decided on some late afternoon snackery and a stroll to Beerarama.

It was peopled enough there to feel comfortable and we relaxed.  For the third beer BBB had noticed that there were some "sale" beers in the bottom of one fridge.  They were out of date but that worries us not a jot!

They were all really strong so we decided to share one.  Maybe the brewer would have known the difference but we didn't.  It tasted great and was really balanced in its strength.

We started chatting with another couple of people and generally reassuring them that strong beer won't deteriorate in the same way that a weak one will.  Because they're in cans, there's not really a problem with light and because they've been in the fridge there's not a problem with temperature cycling.

Having read a couple of blog posts recently with people picking up beer they've been "hoarding" for many years, and then being disappointed, I smiled.  This beer was a scant month older than the suggested BBE...not the decades referred to in the articles.

We went back during the week for another. 

After Work on a Friday

 We decided that we needed to crack with some work at our base on Friday.

I waited for shopping to be delivered, BBB strolled off quite early (for us).

We convened at work and started to make headway ready for next week. I think we made pretty good progress even though the pair of us were a little confused by the clock chimes (Town Hall clock needs to be manually adjusted for GMT - it'll take a couple of days for the chap to arrive to do it).

At 4.30pm, as it was Friday, we decided we'd better scarper and naturally headed around the corner to "Wolf on the Corner".  I guess we arrived around 4.45pm and the place was rammed! (it felt we'd entered a wormhole and landed in any of our favourite Bristol pubs).

People pretty happy to share tables so we found a seat easily enough and tucked into "Oh No Not Again!" by Downlands. It was a lovely, fresh, pale session beer and, obviously, the naming appealed.

Our table-mates went on their way and, almost immediately, a couple of our work alumni turned up.  These chaps have been friends since senior school and through Uni and now both back living in Eastbourne.  We quite often see them in our favourite drinking holes because they have very good taste in beer, too.

There was Lost and Grounded "Fest Beer" drunk (we ARE in a Bristol wormhole) and declared great, together with some more Sussex-based keg offerings - all very acceptable. 

 We love that this place is going from strength to strength. We think they may have been quite lucky with the availability of this particular shop unit but I know they had been contemplating it for a good while (maybe a couple of year) so perhaps it was more about waiting for the right space.

In  any case, proximity to work makes it particularly good for us but the staff, the beer offering and the space all comes together brilliantly.  One year in - it feels like a very solid offering.

Chatting in the Pub

 I've said, probably countless times, that we're not generally very willingly social.  But the work we do has changed, to a degree, the way we see other people: sometimes, it isn't all about us.

Last day in Bristol, Barley Mow just seemed the right way to go - super relaxing, guaranteed good beer - that's what we want.

It was busy - really quite busy.

The fire was lit and our corner was occupied so we sat on the opposite side of that room at the corner of the big tables where we could also see the fire.  Nice.

Because it was busy, it was reasonably noisy so we decided a simple game of Regicide would fit the bill.

A lad approached and asked whether he could sit in the space opposite - obviously he was welcomed.

About halfway through our first game he asked what we were playing (this is a common question) - and were inevitably pulled into a conversation about what brought us all to the pub, etc, etc.

Turns out the lad was a student at UoB and because it was half term (Uni's have HALF TERM now?????) all his friends had gone back home but he had labwork he had to do - so he was stuck at his accommodation and decided to have a wander to new pubs - and he found out about the Temple Meads brewery and pub concentration.

It definitely wasn't the evening we expected. Did we really welcome it?  I'm not sure.  We didn't need the conversation but it is good for us to exercise those muscles from time to time.  Also, it's never nice to contemplate what someone might be going through if they're feeling a little bit isolated and needing to have a bit of human connection.

It takes some oomph to make that first approach, especially if it's not your usual MO.

He was a really nice chap and it was nice to encourage him to try the other places (plus a few more he hadn't heard of) in the area.

 That the beer was good, largely goes without saying  but the Mega Mosaic was, again, absolutely fantastic.

We're now back in Sussex and I'm quite keen to have a quiet evening on the sofa. 

 

Heading back to Sussex

 This is our last day in Bristol.  We've decided to head back to Sussex tomorrow to get a day in work tinkering with laptops, or whatever.  Yes, we're sad old buggers.

We've been to Barley Mow and Martha's.  Immediately feeling home in both - both truly relaxing spaces for us in spite of both being really quite busy (on a Monday and a Tuesday respectively with no special events around).

New beer:  

Martha - porter on cask.  Really nice.  Full bodied without being sweet maybe a degree or two cooler would have benefitted it.

Barley Mow- Arbor Mega Mosaic.  On keg, superb last beer of the day.

 It's odd, but now the clocks have gone back to GMT and autumn has brought unsettled and chilly conditions, it now feels late if we arrive in the pub at 4.45pm - it's already dark and it feels like we may have missed something.

We'll reacclimatise.

I wonder if anyone in Eastbourne has any "Star of Eastbourne" left?   

Down South

 As is our want, we usually have a holiday in October.  This year we decided to return to Falmouth.

Work was still very busy so we nipped up to Bristol just a couple of days before we were due to go to Cornwall to decompress a little then we headed down (on the train, obvs).

 Once again, we bemoaned travelling on a Saturday (must try harder to find a holiday rental which starts midweek) - Our train was partially cancelled, meaning an unplanned change in Plymouth, but we were unphased.

Our Falmouth base promised much but didn't deliver everything we'd hoped, nevertheless it was in a decent spot meaning it was relatively easy to get around on foot, even on days when the weather wasn't at its best.

We wanted to seek out a few new places:  The Seaview, The Globe and the Jacobs Ladder and reprise old favourites:  Moth and the Moon, Beerwolf, The Front, Seafood Cafe.

 Front and Beerwolf really bring it for us:  good real ale, sometimes the bonus of an interesting keg.  A place we can play Regicide with impunity.

Seafood cafe was still good but the food less to our taste than the first time we went (and serving chips and salad long after the other dishes had been finished was a bit sub par)  but the beer was great and the service really engaging. 

Moth and the Moon is a more subdued kind of place than the others but it's cosy and atmospheric with beer that's certainly good enough to pass muster for a couple of pints.

So much for the old friends...

What about the new places?  Actually, we failed to get to Jacobs Ladder (we passed it a couple of times but it didn't beckon us in) and as an aside the Famouth Brewery place in a tiny lane near the harbour didn't seem to be open to the two or three times we passed it. Must do better!

The Globe which I wanted to try because they've taken a high street pub which Greene King were dumping and turned it into an independent venue and you have to love that.  Their cask offering was modest (two beers - one pale, one stout) from a brewery we didn't know (...bear something???) but the pint of the pale one we had was cool, well kept and very nice.  Their keg offering appeared to be all/mostly uber Brands so nothing to interest us there. The view out the back is great, the staff friendly.  I hope it does well.

We had a bonus new pub when we accidentally walked to Penryn -  The Seven Stars which has its own microbrewery.  It was around lunchtime and it was very quiet but the welcome was pleasant, the beer good (Hidden Brewery) and the bus back to Falmouth-proper oh so convenient (gotta love a pub very near bus stop).

Best new pub though was The Seaview. A punishingly steep walk from where we were staying but oh so worth it.  Verdant beers plus a guest on cask and loads of their own keg beers as you would expect.  The first time we went for the beer, the second for beer and food.  Had a bit of a Barley Mow feel about it with definite "shifts" of different people.  I'm not sure that "Desi" is really a description you can give the place but we tried the food offering.  I liked it a bit more than the BBB but we did eat well.

...and the one that got away?  A place we'd never even heard of - taproom for the Dynamite brewery but never quite found the time/occasion to visit.  Next time, maybe.

All in all we barely drank the same beer twice:  Treens, Verdant, Tintagel, Firebird (plus the odd guest) and 3 or 4 from each brewery available in the main venues we went.  We were able to major on cask, which we particularly liked and bonus points for Seaview's willingness to offer 2/3rds - even in cask.

Still - because we're old.  We're glad to be home.  Back in Bristol for a few days before we head back to Sussex.
 

  

Up the Kriek

 Sorry, that was an unnecessary pun.

My first try of a fruit beer was in the Brown Jug off license around the corner from my house in Bedminster.

We popped in on a Friday evening to get our usual 4-pint takeout (plastic) flagon of whatever beautiful cask Phil had on.  We were regulars so a catch up and a bit of beer-chat was usually involved.

"Try this", said Phil as he unwrapped a bottle from its blue paper wrapper.  It was a raspberry beer.

I tried it.

Bleargh!  I absolutely hated it - but I can't honestly remember precisely what made me hate it.

I seem to remember muttering something about "I like my beer to taste of beer..."

I didn't try a fruited beer again until 2010 when the BBB suggested we go to Brussels for the weekend.

À la Mort Subite is a bar which is widely known, and I guess something of a tourist trap.  Nevertheless, I totally adored the place.

We arrived and the place looked completely full.  We shuffled into the bar slightly nervously to see where we should sit.  We were brusquely waved over by a member of staff who pointed to a two-person table.  We sat close to the bar - I was facing the serving area.

There's a beer menu and we given a short time to peruse but a serving person arrived at the table very quickly so there's a bit of pressure not to hold up proceedings - this bar seems to thrive on efficiency.

Somehow or other, I ordered a draught Morte Subite Kriek - I could see the pump in the serving area in front of me.  I can't even remember why I chose it - probably the pressure.

I absolutely loved it.  To me it tasted strongly of cherry but with next to no sweetness to make it cloying.  I've never had the same reaction to a fruit beer since.  It's best we gloss over the kiwi flavoured Floris that came later in the trip.

At Cantillon, after your self-guided tour (or, at least it was then) with a paper pamphlet in the language of your choice where you are urged not to touch to the spider webs near the coolship, you get a few glass tasters of the various beers.  I must have had a kriek, but I found the gueze flavour rather overwhelmed the fruit character.

In À la Becasse  you bought your beer in a small jugs to share and a mixture was a legitimate choice - kriek forming a part of the mix - I remember really liking it.  

 So Brussels left me feeling a bit Goldilocks about kriek. 

The framboise I had in the Barley Mow has stuck with me, though.  So every now and again I've been dabbling to see if I can replicate that first Morte Subite Kriek.

Last week in Wolf on the Corner I had a 3.8% Lindemans Kriek which had lovely depth and body, with a fantastic cherry hit but was very, very sweet.

When I saw that our online grocer had Bacchus Kriek at a good price, I thought it was too good a chance to miss.  At something like 5.6% I expected it to have some heft, but it didn't really.  The cherry tasted like an artificial flavouring and I got a lingering unpleasant aftertaste resembling Aspartame (I don't believe anything artificial was actually in the beer, it just tasted that way) and I felt cheated like when San Pellegrino started putting artificial sweeteners in their grapefruit pop.

I do know we still have a can of Burning Sky Framboise et Cerise in the fridge and that was definitely the closest to my memory of the character of Morte Subite.

So my quest continues. 

It's not a full time quest.  To be honest it's more of a half-arsed vague notion...but quest sounds so much more noble...