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 !!







Friday, 26 September 2014

The Briar Rose

It's hard to believe that I've not been to The Briar Rose this year, if I had to name my most visited Birmingham city centre pub in recent years then it would probably be The Briar Rose. I chose a good night to break my 2014 duck, Wetherspoons chairman Tim Martin was making a political point regarding the unfair treatment of pubs, as opposed to supermarkets, in respect of VAT, so had reduced the price of everything in his pubs by 7.5% for one day only. Had I been in the House of Commons I'd have shouted hear hear in agreement !!

I had arranged to meet my mate Neil in The Briar straight from work at 5.45pm so I walked down Broad St looking, with some disdain, at the work that was going on to prepare Birmingham's ICC for the impending T*ry party conference.

I wasn't expecting a celebrity spot on my walk into town but sure enough I spotted Julian Lloyd Webber walking past the new library. Yes I know he's a Z lister but I never promised you Posh and Becks when I started this blog !!

Adnams Broadside was my drink of choice once I got to the Briar with my chum disappointingly going down the Carling route. We managed to secure the last remaining table in the venue and I proposed a toast to Tim's 7.5% reduction...



Please note that although this was a post work beverage, my casual attire is down to the fact that we had a charity dress down day to commemorate the McMillan coffee morning that had been held earlier so my Adnams Broadside was sitting nicely on top of a layer of black banana cake. I can almost picture Mary Berry shaking her head in dismay !!

We were sat by a table of students who may well have been freshers (given the fact that it was freshers week) but in all honesty I have no idea how old anyone is these days !! They were certainly a raucous bunch, and Dom was given a countdown to see off his drink in one, I have no idea what he was drinking but it looked distinctly alcopop to me. Mind you, that's better than one of the other girls in that crowd who I overheard ask for a glass of tap water when I was at the bar. If nothing else let's just hope that she leaves further education with an appreciation of all that is good about alcohol !!

Our visit was a fairly brief one, well it was a school night and Neil and myself are committed professional people. Surely though four pints of 4.7% beer in the week isn't a bad effort?! It certainly put the students to shame !!



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