One of the down sides of being a pub drinker and a CAMRA Chairman and regular quiz leaguer, is that I sometimes end up in a pub I wouldn't necessarily choose to be in, or sometimes in a very good one that has an off night, or simply has beers on that I don't fancy.
Thus it was the other night when I just didn't like or take to the beers in the otherwise excellent venue for the CAMRA meeting. That's a rub of the green sort of thing, but at least I suppose when you drink mostly at home, that is less of a problem. My perception is that with a few exceptions, most home drinkers have at least chosen their drinking range for themselves and have only themselves to blame if it goes tits up.
12 comments:
Surely both problems are dependent on how wide you cast your net rather than if you drink more on-trade than off-trade?
Well if you are in the habit of just picking random bottles at home, probably, but is that what most do?
In the specifics of the pub situation I described - no, I don't think so.
I dunno. My home drinking patterns tend to be pretty random as I like trying stuff I haven't had before. Have had many "off" evenings where it I regretted buying quite so many boring German pils (or dunkels, or landbiers etc...). Should I blame myself so, for wanting to explore new beers? Nah, I just put it down to experience and try another one, pretty much like drinking in a pub that has a wide choice.
Pub-wise, I tend to pick pubs that I like and stick to them for regular sessions, either because they have a nice beer selection, or at least one I can drink all night, or mostly because they're nice places to meet friends and talk all evening. In that case, the beer comes second place as it's just a social lubricant (though it helps if its something tasty :))
Well Barry, you live in Germany where boring, samey pils etc, is the norm. You have to live with that I suppose.
I would though except you and the Beer Nut to a large extent. It must be growing up in Ireland where choice was limited?
Or not.
That's the joy in trying something new, there're always nice surprises to be had :)
Yeah, choice in Ireland when I was in my formative drinking years was pretty limited. The usual suspects of Guinness, Smithwicks, Carlsberg, Bud etc on most bars. I remember when Fürstenberg entered the market and was seen as exciting (well, to some)! Definitely got better from about the mid-90s, and the likes of the Porterhouse really opened up new drinking avenues for me, personally. Frankly, it spoiled me as I found it hard to go into regular pubs and have to drink Carlsberg :D I think that's what gave me the urge to drink new beers when the opportunity arises.
But back to your topic, I had half a night like you describe last night. Was in my favourite pub here in Münster, but really started getting bored with the over-priced bottles of Black Sheep beers, and the very over-priced burger and chips. A different kind of "off night" perhaps. Lovely pub and atmosphere, but we just got fed up so buggered over to Pinkus Müller for lovely Münsterisches Alt and their fruity Jubilate at half the price.
Personally I thought that the Hop Back English Hop Medley, the Wolf Lupus Lupus and the Acorn Darkness were all on excellent form. But hey, each to their own.
At one of these CAMRA meetings, if like you said "bit bored of this pong fella's. I fancy a lovely ice cold fizzy Stella for a change" would they drum you out of the gang?
Hop Back English Hop Medley? Wolf Lupus Lupus? is that real actual beer? Are you making them up?
Nope, all real tasty stuff unlike that tinned Fizzy P that you keep banging on about :-))
Anonymous. Don't hide in the shadows.Anyway, while you may have fancied the beers on offer, I didn't. That was kind of the point.
I agree that Acorn Darkness was good. As for the rest, well, more for you then?
Some of my music nights are in places where the beer is quite unexciting, and one regular venue has no real ale at all. I rarely drink beer at home ~ I like company. Whether people like my company is another matter!
Is that better?
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