Mad 5 minutes

Colchester United 2 v Sheffield United 3

Tuesday 16 September 2014

Twitter @ball_sup

We've won it in a mad 5 minutes near the end after being 2 down. Ask me how. I don't know. We looked a bit better after we ditched the target men - one less distraction. Score. Bit of momentum. Bit of panic. That's it.

The Bricklayers Arms has become our pub of choice before Colchester games.  That's primarily because we've had 'em in a lot of night games recently. The shuttle bus to the greenfield out-of-town ground starts fairly close to the Bricklayers. So, it's a convenient quick watering hole.

But. For a change I hit The Victoria Inn first. Can't recall ever having been in before. One keg (Buxton Axe Edge). Five casks. Leaning strongly to Essex beers. I dithered & the barman took over. I'm happy with that. Went with Maldon Brewing Company Farmers Ales Ella at 3.9%.

Lovely beer. Very pale. Nice lacing down the glass. Well balanced big citrus hit & tongue tingling hop bitterness hit. A little icing sugar sweetness on the lips. I thought it was a bit metallic at first. But the flavours soon took over.

So .... I stuck with them & went for Puck's Folly at 4.2%. I got a lot of mandarin on the palate. Again, a tongue tingling bitterness. Developed towards Mango. A little sour apple further down the glass.

And so, on to The Bricklayers Arms. As well as being convenient for the shuttle bus, it is a pretty decent pub as well. It's all about the Adnams. Nine casks. I had Adnams Topaz Gold at 4%. My tongue & Hopometer were still tingling from the Farmers Ales.

The Topaz was more soft fruit apricot than citrus or tropical. But another in-your-face tip of the tongue bitter missile. Way down the glass, the bitterness becomes almost ginger. Strike me I'm still getting swirling apricot aromas though.

I'm still a sucker for alleged Craft Beer. So I had a go at The Adnams Jack Brand Dry Hopped Lager on keg at 4.2%. It was pleasant enough. Very refreshing. It came over a bit too sweet for me. There is a citrus bitter kick. It's quite burst in your mouth. I'm a little unsure. Maybe they should have gone all out for a Pale.

If I had the balls I'd put it up against Carlsberg or some other industrial brand they've got.

3-2 get in.