MP's Chicken Supper

Republic Of Ireland 0 v England 0

Sunday 7 June 2015

Twitter @ball_sup

Tortuous

Opinion Piece

Who is fooling who? Here is the unvirtuos circle. UEFA (understandably) don't want their cash rich, sponsor reliant "game" tarnished by so-called political chanting & sloganeering. International football is by definition between Nations. Some of those Nations have historical beef with each other. So some fans are inclined to chant & sloganeer. Viz Serbia v Croatia.

To be seen to be doing the right thing UEFA (& in our case the FA) have to print and publish warnings. Those warnings are Red Rag To Bull. FA says don't sing songs about the IRA. (Some) England fans think balls to that. All together now .... "No Surrender. ....".

So UEFA warning against political chanting leads to more political chanting. Love it.

But, fair dos, I didn't hear much from my seat. No doubt the 1230 opening, 1300 kick off, reduced the alcohol intake.

And, salute to my Irish Cousins for smuggling in & deploying the Delaney Out bedsheet banners.

My History

I wasn't at the "notorious abandoned match". But I was at the Ireland v England game before that one, at the old Lansdowne Rd. I travelled with the then usual subjects. Some had numbers on their names. I was with Mr & Mrs Diddy (Names changed). Mr Diddy was known to the Authorities. When we landed at Dublin, the Garda got on. "Would passenger Diddy make themselves known to the Cabin Crew, Bing Bong".

Me, Mr Diddy, et al got off. Mrs Diddy sat on the plane biding her time. Last one up. "Hello, I'm Mrs Diddy, you made an announcement for me". "Oh, Er, Hang on, we needed to speak to MR Diddy". "Oh, you should have said, he'll be in a Taxi to Dublin by now".

England 1 v Plod 0.

The Gaffs

1. J W Sweetman, 1-2 Burgh Quay. Now billing itself as Craft Brewery. (Rather than BrewPub). Their own Pale, Porter, Red, Scotch. Guests including O'Haras. Some usual suspects. One cask. Leave. Well. Alone. Friendly enough. Charged me mega € for an half. They'd put it through as some mental Mikkeller bottle. Refunded me politely. Maybe some of that brewkit is for show. Most done by contract brewers ain't it. Rebadged.

2. Brew Dock, 1 Amiens Street. Part of the Galway Bay chain. I Counted 23 kegs. 9 of their own. Few Yank. Few German. Few Bermondsey, North London. Superb selection. Couple of casks. Manager (or similar fella) very welcoming. Listened to my bleatings. Answered my anorak questions.

3. The Black Sheep, 61 Capel Street. Another one in the Galway Bay chain. Mixed welcome. Largely good. One "barmaid" got involved in a pointless argument with me over the definition of "glass". And then refused to top up an obviously short pint of porter. Up your game. But, I counted 27 keg taps. American, Belgian, German big boys. Their own. Some Bermondsey/Camden & a few pukka Irish micros. Great selection. If only I could have been served a full pint of the Mothers. Couple of casks (the Porter pulled up sour).

The Beer

1. Barrelhead Pale Ale on keg in J W Sweetman. Rich, but the hops ain't coming through. The sweetness is sort of tropical fruit. Simple though. Maybe a bit of pineapple. To be fair, there is one of those bitter, bitterness things going on. It's all too mixed up. You can't tell the components.

2. Rascals, Wunderbar IPA on keg in Brew Dock at 6%. Anaesthetic bitter at the back of my throat. Gentle, rather than taste bud gripping, bitter. Some grapefruit. Nicely balanced. Pleasant. But not a great deal going on.

3. Oh here we go. Galway Bay, Of Foam And Fury on keg in Brew Dock. Double IPA at 8.5%. Superb of its genre. No point pfaffing the notes. Incredible, intense hopped bitterness. Is there any residual sweetness at such a high abv? Know not. Care not. Hops.

4. OBrother Brewing, The Chancer, 4.9% on keg in The Black Sheep. Straw yellow in the glass. Lovely balance in the mouth. Grapefruit in there. Dries, then hoppy bitterness kicks in. Good finish, odd but pleasant sourness in the finish. Nice beer.

5. Blacks Of Kinsale, Hi Viz, 8.5% on keg in The Black Sheep. Double IPA. Orange/Amber in the glass. Thick, chewy. Not a great deal of bitterness at first. Although it de...vel....ops. Great beer. Take it steady. Bit of marmalade later in the play. Think more Barley Wine than Imperial IPA.

6. Kinnegar, Black Bucket (Black Rye IPA) on keg at 6.5% in The Black Sheep. Smells clean & fresh in the glass. Quick short bitter burst first up. Bit of toast & smoke after. Best way around for Black IPA IMHO. Some fruity stuff. Runs around my taste buds for a while. Great beer after you've had a few. Bitterness is staying with me.

7. Trouble Brewing, Deception on keg 4.3% in The Black Sheep. Lovely golden ale, easy drinking. Nice bit of simple sweetness. Jumps into bittering. Refreshing.

There are honourable mentions aplenty. But Standout Beer Of The Trip is the Galway Bay, Of Foam And Fury, Double IPA at 8.5% in Brew Dock.

151/320