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 !!







Saturday, 30 August 2014

Cobs Bar

Well this was an unexpected visit to a pub I'd never been to before. I've mentioned previously in this blog that getting home from Blues night games are a bit of an effort with me not arriving home until around 11.45pm and that will include a cab/lift from Tamworth train station home, so I was very grateful when Shelley kindly offered to pick me up from Birmingham city centre after Blues's game in the cup against Sunderland.

Shelley had arranged to meet me at the far end of Hurst St at 10.20pm so, as I was there a bit early, I called her to see where she was, she hadn't left her friend Lisa's in Edgbaston so, seeing as that was at least a fifteen minute journey and it had just started raining, there was time for a quick pint.

Anyone that knows Birmingham well will undoubtedly confirm that Hurst St is, how can I put this, a colourful, diverse area, so I had a choice, a drink in a club sporting a rainbow coloured flag called Eden or a beer in Cobs Bar, a function room/club which describes itself as 'Birmingham's prime location for private celebrations'. A 3 0 defeat isn't normally the cause for a private celebration but needs must...




Yes trust me, this is me !!

The club was functional, a large room (which can apparently accommodate up to 200 people) was very sparsely populated by no more than five or six people. I was confident that I'd not be able to have a real ale and my fears were confirmed at the bar so I opted for a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale for no other reason than the fact that it was a two fingered gesture to Sunderland. Childish?! Who, me?!!



Almost as soon as I sat down I was approached by a bloke who told me in a very matter of fact way 'I can offer you coffee, cheese or ham' I'm not sure whether this was code for something or if he was my personal shopper however I politely declined his kind offer.

The club has several large television screens and I must admit to privately celebrating when I discovered that v*lla had lost one nil at home to the mighty Leyton Orient !! Mind you, my joy was short lived as soon afterwards they showed all of the Sunderland goals that I'd just witnessed.

My visit to Cobs was a short one but I still had time to listen to some of the songs on the pubs sound system and found myself singing along to that legendary number by The Foundations, that must get played time and time at functions at Cobs Bar, Build Me Up Buttercup. The song features the line 'You never call baby when you say you will', however this wasn't true of my baby as she phoned me up to discover where I was seeing as she'd been sat outside for five minutes waiting !!

Okay, okay, don't get a cob on !!

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