ShutChester

England U20 2 v The Netherlands U20 0

Friendly Four Team Tournament

Played at Oldham Athletic

Wednesday 5 October 2016

twitter @ball_sup

Fuck Me. Manchester. The Northern Quarter. Cosmopolitan. Shut.

We left The Piccadilly Tap about half two to hit 57 Thomas Street. Which had an impromptu “Closed until 1600” sign on the door.

After all the drinking & togga shenanigans, we had time for a last one in The Piccadilly Tap before our train. Strolled in at a quarter to ten. To be told they'd stopped serving already. Quarter to ten this is. Fuck Me.

They've worked hard to spoil that. Lucky we're made of stuff that is stern. We'd set out for a Beer Day. A Beer Day is what we had, despite.

Started in The Piccadilly Tap. 17 on keg. Czech Lager. English big boy craft. Some ooohhh never seen that before. The barperson was knowledgeable & helpful. A bit too much distracted by other staff on MY side of the bar. But, OK in the grand scheme of things. Six on Cask.

Magic Rock, Villainous, Vienna IPA on keg at 6.5%. Good that. I guess we're in malty IPA territory. Just the red side of orange in the glass. Fairly neutral smell. Maybe a little toffee. The main taste is a very pleasant bitter orange. The bitterness lingers into a mouth filling finish. Maybe some basil, mint herb in the finish. Surprised me a bit.

So, first trip to the closed 57 Thomas St. About Face. First time in Cafe Beermoth, Brown St. What a superb place. Very well appointed. Posh in Sheffiledish. Ten craft keg. Seven on cask.

FFS how many of my Beer Geek buttons can they press at once?  Squawk, Sorachi Black IPA on cask at 5.9%. Lovely brown side of Latte head. Molasses on the nose. Dried apples sugar hit. Sweet on the lips. Bitter on the tongue. Beautifully balanced. Further down I'm thinking too much residual sugar. But, that's nitpicking.

Squawk, Pale, Waimea on cask at 3.9%. My untutored palate feels that Waimea are not suited to pales. Somehow you end up with too much upfront sweetness. Don't know, I'm not a chemist. Not a bad beer for all that. Nice head. Nice lacing. Fruit salad syrup smell. Nice & rich bitter finish. Just that sweetness marking it down.

Take Two. It's gone Four. Marble, 57 Thomas St. Much remodelled since I was last in. Now a keg bar downstairs. Cask & Cocktails upstairs. What sort of hybrid shit is this. Eight keg fonts. One off. Five of their own. Two guests.

Marble, Damage Plan, West Coast IPA on keg at a whopping 7%. Serious that. Golden side of yellow in the glass. All ginger bitterness on the nose. Great beer. Obviously at that abv, we're close to DIPA/Imperial territory. Very citrus. But, fair play, all about the bitter.

And. The Sticks. A few miles to The Crown, just down from Freehold Tram Stop. But, a different kettle entirely. In the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. Perfectly reasonable. Two on cask. I went for the lovely & refreshing Greenfield, Silver Owl on cask at 4%.

Fast Forward. Take Two at The Picc Tap. Did I say. Fucking closed at Quarter To Ten. (Shakes Head In Disbelief).

Leading to gratuitous industrial craft keg in the station. Caledonian, Coast To Coast at 4.6%.

In between all those crises. Some football broke out. Easy win for England. Local lads Louis Reed & Harry Chapman out there. Both subbed at 72 mins as it happens. And former main squeeze Dom Calvert-Lewin came on even later than that.

Chapman was lively. Made the second goal in assist stylee. Had a run across the box & got a cracking shot off which hit the bar.

I'd forgotten how Reed has that Nick Montgomery break up play thing going on. He did that a lot, broke up play. You need that.

Standout player, beer, gaff of the day. No. Contest. The superb Cafe Beermoth. Right up there.

386/806