Pubs of 2014

Right, here we go...... The purpose of this blog is to log all the pubs that I have visited and consumed an alcoholic beverage in during 2014. The rules are quite simple, the establishment needs to be a public house, it sounds straightforward but it may get complicated for example things that wouldn't count are a visit to the bar at the cricket, a pre gig drink in a concert venue, a drink at the Birmingham German market etc. As judge and jury my decision is final, and if I'm in any doubt I won't count it.



My prediction as at the start of the year is that the final number will be somewhere around the 200 mark though I won't go to pubs just to get the numbers up, it will be a true reflection of my pub visting year.



My posts will include information about the pub, the ambience of the surroundings, the choice and quality of the beer, any interesting or amusing anecdotes about my visit and, where possible, photographic evidence.



I will try and keep the information as accurate as possible noting that alcohol consumption means that at times this may prove difficult !!



The format of the posts is simple, the first visit to the pub will be the blog entry and that post will be updated for any subsequent visit.



Hope you enjoy it...



Cheers

UPDATE January 2015

Right, that's it, it's finally finished, some 259 pubs later !! It's been hard work but it's nice being able to look back and relive the drinking experiences of 2014.

I am pleased with the final result and whilst I've been reviewing it, I have actually laughed a few times at my own jokes !!

A word of warning, it does start off a bit slow (some of my posts from Bath are a bit dull) but stick with it. In hindsight the format of posting repeat visits to a pub on the original post at times doesn't work very well when reading the blog in its' entirety but on the whole I'm pleased with it and I hope that you enjoy it.

I have stated this in the blog but I will say it again, thanks to anyone that I have had a beer with in 2014 and special thanks to Shelley for her patience !!







Wednesday, 19 March 2014

The Anchor

There was one expression, above all others, that we didn't want to hear from the driver when we boarded the coach back to Brum after drinking pints all day at the Cheltenham Festival....sorry folks, but the toilet is blocked !!

We were forced to sit cross legged throughout the journey back so we were all close to bursting when the coach finally pulled into Digbeth coach station. Shelley's mates Amanda, Michelle (x2) and Vicky all opted to spend a penny, well thirty pennies to be precise, at the coach station. Whereas Shelley and I decided to combine our loo visit with a trip to the pub and called in at The Anchor, a venue literally next door to the coach station.

For real ale drinkers The Anchor is a fine venue, emphasised by the fact that it is a regular winner of Birmingham CAMRA pub of the year. Not only does it serve numerous real ales but it also stocks several foreign beers including my choice that night draught Erdinger Weissebeer.

The pub, a particular favourite of both home and away fans on Birmingham City match days, contains several small rooms and we took advantage of the fact that the back snug was deserted and relived tales from our fabulous maiden visit to the Cheltenham Festival alone in our very own exclusive VIP area.



Unfortunately an impending train meant that we only had time for a quick pint before heading back to New Street for the journey back to Tamworth to spend our winnings on a much needed curry.

UPDATE 25th October

This is a great pre match pub, listed for many years in the Good Beer Guide it is popular with both home and away fans. I stopped off on the way to see Blues play Bournemouth. The pub can get very busy on match days so a rather unflattering precautionary selfie was required from across the street.



I had arranged to meet mates Matt and Gaz in there and talk quickly turned to depressing state of affairs at our football club as we enjoyed our drinks which in my case was a pint of Erdinger Weissebeer.

I did notice with a smile that if you bought a pint of Fosters you were entered into a raffle to win a pair of Birmingham City match tickets. I can almost hear you all cracking the same joke, what's the second prize, two pairs of tickets?!!

I also smiled when the bloke next to me proudly showed his latest purchase to his mate. He pulled out of a carrier bag a vinyl copy of Rush's triple album Archives. The final track, The Fountain of Lamneth, is a mind numbing 19 minutes and 58 seconds long !! As bad as Blues are I much sooner sit through an afternoon at St Andrews than listen to a Rush song than is nearly twenty minutes long !!

Matt's girlfriend Sarah arrived accompanied by her sister Yaz and we got onto the subject of long distance running. I must admit I was understandably unable to contribute too much, maybe I should have changed the subject to Rush album tracks and involved the bloke sat next to me !!

Begrudgingly we drank up and made our way (via The Wagon and Horses) to the Temple of Doom...
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