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 !!







Tuesday, 9 December 2014

Horse & Groom



Known affectionately by locals as the Doom & Gloom the last pub our Hereford pub crawl, the Horse & Groom, saw me well and truly feeling the pace, not only of that day's pub crawl but also of the bottles of Stella session at Shelley's brother Craig and sister in law Maria's house the previous day until 2.30 in the morning. My powers of recovery aren't what they once were !!

As much as I love my real ale I needed a cleansing of my pallet ahead of my much needed curry so I surprisingly went for a pint of cider. Weston's GL is normally a bit sweet for me but it did the trick. The popular cider was discontinued in 2010 but reintroduced after a public outcry two years later. There is much debate as to what the GL stands for, Shelley and Maria refer to it as Good Looking, locals call it Gloucester Lager, but the reality is actually a bit disappointing, Gold Label given the colour of the labelling.

I feared the worst given the re-branding of the name of this pub by Hereford locals but it was actually all right. We certainly had a variety of different songs coming from the pub's jukebox. I felt very isolated when Shelley, Craig and Maria began singing along to Meghan Trainor's song 'All About That Bass'. I have subsequently looked up the lyrics (I will confess to have never heard the song up to that point) and Meghan tells us, as well as her being all about that bass no treble, that her momma told her that boys like a booty to hold at night !! I bet Mrs Trainor is so proud of her daughter !!

If listening to the song wasn't bad enough the sight of Craig twerking along to it had to be seen to be believed !! He was definitely more Billy Ray Cyrus than Miley Cyrus !!

I got my revenge with the final song before our departure to the curry house. I plugged in my air guitar and began playing the legendary riff, dah dah dah, dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah, dah dah, and then began belting out the lyrics 'We all came out to Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline'.... No idea what it is?!! Shame on you !! It's Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple. I wonder if guitarist Richie Blackmore's mum spoke to him about booties ?!!

All day drinking was starting to have an effect and I got all Shakespearian grabbing a skull and quoting Hamlet Act 5 Scene 1, 'Alas poor Yorick, I knew him'...



It was definitely time for a curry !!
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