Dobbed Right in It

After my trip to London I fancied a good old cool, well conditioned, sparkled Northern pint or two, so met my mate Graham in the Angel, which is by the way, not being knocked down, as some rumours allege. Southport Brewery's Natterjack fulfilled that basic human need, but of course, after a couple, the siren call of the Marble Arch, a mere two hundred yards away, as always, lured us in. It also has the advantage of having my bus stop right outside it.

W90 was the drink of choice in a fairly empty pub, Pint being notable by its absence which is never a good thing. It was cool, (previous problems in that area seem to be firmly in the past) bitter, resinously hoppy and very enjoyable. It however ran out shortly afterwards, before we could complete the round. Since my next pint was to be my last, I opted for Dobber. To my surprise and annoyance, this turned out to be unsparkled, though leaning over the bar, it was the only one that was. I queried this and was advised that the bar staff had been told by the brewers that Dobber is better that way and on no account should it be served with a sparkler, unless the customer insists. What bollocks. Now I would have insisted, but since I had no warning that the only unsparkled pint was Dobber in all the eight or so that were there, it was surely reasonable on my part to assume that it would be sparkled too?*

Now listen lads. We all know you brew very good beer, but don't go telling me how it should be served to me unless you warn me of your silly preferences before I order and then I can safely over rule them. If you are going to continue to single Dobber out for unsparkled treatment, put a bloody notice up to that effect.

*And no, it didn't look or taste as good as a sparkled one would. In my opinion of course.