Rick is a craft beer aficionado, and he certainly was allowed to have some say in our itinerary (he also really wanted to go to Portobello Road -- both places turned out to be good stretches for me -- places I wouldn't have thought of/known about to go).
(I enjoy craft beer/going to craft breweries, especially in Nelson County, Virginia, but it's not something I'm into anywhere near as much as some people. It's fun, but don't ask me to expound on the various brewing techniques or flavors in the beer.)
I had expected a good old-fashioned pub crawl, but that's not what it is. Instead, it is a series of small taprooms featuring craft beers.
Nearly all of the taprooms are underneath a long stretch (nearly two miles now) of railway arches. Many of them are right next door to the each other, so you don't really get the pub crawl experience. . .it's more of a one minute walk from one to the next.
One trick I learned quickly was not to get pints -- because they also sell half pints and some even have one-third pints. Carol is not a beer drinker, so she had either water, Aperol Spritz, or a gin and tonic. So it's not just beer.
But there really isn't food. But there is an ability to order food at some places for delivery, so we got a pizza that would be delivered in 30 minutes. Fifty minutes later it came. I was a bit hangry and irritated, but having some food helped.
The taprooms all have small outdoor areas as well, with picnic tables, so until it got colder as the sun went down, we sat outside.
The one exception was the first brewery -- The Kernel, which is a much larger place where they brew beer on premises. They also had a lot more options than the small taprooms. They didn't have outdoor space, but it also had the most pub-like feel to it.
Once I got over my disappointment that the Bermondsey Beer Mile (BBM) is NOT a typical pub crawl, but instead is a taproom hop, I enjoyed the evening.
A Wednesday night is not the night to do the BBM, as in some taprooms we were the only customers, and in some of others there were not many people at all. Some of the taprooms weren't even open. Apparently Fridays and Saturdays the places are mobbed, but, as Herb Brooks famously may have said, "Not this time, not tonight!" (The version in the movie "Miracle" is not verbatim what he said, but it's in his style and words, so who knows if he actually said what I say he may have said.)
Between time spent waiting for the pizza and the relatively early closing, we only made it to five of the up to 20 bars.
After The Kernel, we went to the Enid Street Tavern, Craft Beer Junction, Bianca Road Brew Co., and Cloudwater Brew Co. As we entered Gosnells for our final stop of the night, they shut off the main lights to indicate the bar was now closed.
It was a relazing evening that was quite finished yet.
The photos aren't in order but they give you some sense of the BBM.
In The Kernel.
Also The Kernel, because
it's the only stop where I
got a full pint.
Aperol Spritz, Happy Wife.
(Editor: The saying is "Happy Wife,
Happy Life." Writer: My saying
also works.)
Rick tells Sandy something almost
interesting about the beer. Sandy
feigns interest.
Rick and a bartender he saw
on a video about the BBM.
Stickers on a fridge in
one of the taprooms.
Two of the Bolger brothers
drinking mini-beers.
I must say, the Tampa Bay
Lightning Banner was unexpected.
My gray head blocks out the "C"
in "Cloudwater," our final stop.
1 comment:
🍺🍺🍺
Post a Comment