A Hoo Haa Ensued

Sheffield United 0 v Birmingham City 1 

The Championship 

Saturday 7 August 2021 

We chucked ourselves at the Indie Beer Feast Festival Trail. Usually a conventional craft beer festival in The Abbeydale Picture House. But, in these restricted times, this Side Project involved 6 venues across Sheffield, featuring 15 breweries.

St Mars Of The Desert, 90 Stevenson Rd, Sheffield S9 3XG

St Mars Of The Desert (SMOD) were essentially just featuring their own beers. Given they brew on site, that's not a bad plan. I last visited in December 2018, not long after they first opened. Look, the Carrier Bag Firm are not demanding. No matter what goes wrong, one plausible beer is all we need. And if we're in The Non Plausible Arms, a quick smile & exit through the Covid Compliant One Way. But, I did find that a little bizarre in SMOD. Essentially, confusion reigned. We were meeted, greeted & seated at an outside table. Pointed at the printed menu. And lip licked expectantly.

I ordered their Koel It (Citra). After all, their Koelschip brewing kit is one of their "signatures". Sorry Off.

No drama. Other Plausible Beers are available. I ordered two thirds of the superb sounding Smodbräu Hell.

I then watched the geezer pour one pint of Lost And Grounded (Bristol) Helles at 4.4%. I then watched the waitress bring that over (just that, none of the other CBF orders) and plonk it. When I queried - wrong beer in wrong size - Hoo Haa Ensued. A full inquiry was instituted. The result was quickly brought in……

The Smodbräu Hell has now also gone off (FFS) so we poured you that Lost & Grounded as we thought that's what you'd want instead. For Fucks Sake. Who does that?

Of course, we're too polite, so none of that amazement was vocalised. Nor even communicated non verbally. But, what the actual?

Anyway, their realisation kicked in. They offered it me for free. I checked my lists. It was a Beer Tick anyway. I paid.

(I'm still not sure how much of my taste has come back. So, you'll forgive me if I don't go all in on tasting notes).

Lost And Grounded, Helles on Keg at 4.4%

Saint Mars Of The Desert, Fruit Stingo (Apricot), Fruited Sour on Keg at 5.1%. My companion assured me there were apricots all over that. To me, not.

The Second Leg was;

The Crow Inn, 33 Scotland St, Sheffield S3 7BS

What a great boozer The Crow Inn is. On the Festival Trail thingy, they were featuring Duration Brewing (Norfolk), Mobberley Brewhouse (Cheshire) and Black Iris Brewery (Nottingham). Eleven in total on the Keg List.

I tried to guess what the following tasted like;

Duration, Turtles All The Way Down, American Pale on Keg at 5.5%

Mobberley Brewhouse, Summer IPA (Mosaic 2021) on Keg at 6%

Duration, Sail, Cellared Saison, on Keg at 4.2%

I don't know what I was expecting really, but obviously there were no surprises in the new manager's first league line up. We haven't brought anyone in. The Window is still open, but we haven't shipped any of the big guns out yet. And the kids stayed at home. The tried and yet to be decided whether trusted. Safe pairs of feet. 

Clearly, a disappointing result. Clearly out Championshipped. But, not an awful performance by any means. But, not a pleasing performance by any means. Four at the back. Monumental possession stats. Sideways. Slow. Safe. Pointless. Very little created. And STILL difficult to see where a goal will come from. Maybe just too many square pegs in round holes. Yes, I know mate. I'd have liked to see the players who can really hurt teams have more of the ball in dangerous areas. McGoldrick for eg. Berge for eg. Oh, trust me, I didn't get the memo. Sure, Berge is supremely comfortable on the ball when nowhere near goal. Sure he can burst with pace very occasionally around the box. Sure he can draw fouls & free kicks - in the fucking Premier League. But, someone needs to get in his ear. This is The Championship kiddo. Free Kicks Not Guaranteed.

Super player. Might not be here too long. Need him to hurt teams. NOW.

Twitter @ball_sup 

www.twitter.com/ball_sup 

Untappd ball_sup 

Stats

I have now Blogged from 974 games in 2,545 days