After leaving the festival we moseyed back into town to see what was happening and somehow ended up in a packed bar with poor beer. The place was heaving with no room to move. The antithesis of what I was looking for.
Not my kind of place.
I made my excuses to all and left by myself for a better look around town.
I decided to cross the river and head towards the Bierhaus. It was busy there too but at least you could get a drink at the bar. The music was a bit loud (maybe it’s because I’m pushing on!) and it was hard to make yourself heard. I spotted ‘New Belfast Beers’ on the specials board and asked for a Clothworthy Dobbin but they had none left so I settled for a Bitter & Twisted from Harviestoun instead. This was served in a Bitburger tankard that suited it well and the beer was not too chilled, it was perfect.
On draught were London Porter, O’Hara’s, Becks, Staropramen, Leffe, Hooker and others I couldn’t get a good look at. They had a good few beers in the cooler too. I still wonder why the beers are not separated in different coolers, with one temperature for ales, etc and one for lagers and the like. Or maybe that’s just me.
Hunger was taking a hold now and I headed out to see if I could find something spicy to fill me up. I was heading back across the river when I spotted the Salt House and the mention of international beers. It was a bit late and I was a bit hungry so I decided to leave it until the next night.
Back across town I found a nice kebab shop, ordered a Lamb Shish and took a seat. It was very quiet and I took the time to chill out and relax. The food was exactly what I need, nice and spicy with plenty of sauce. I decided to call it a night and headed back towards the hotel.
Passing Sheridan’s I noticed they were still open and couldn’t resist a second visit. I ordered a Leffe, served in a Leffe glass, to wash down my Shish and took a seat. This place was busy too but in a better way, people could talk and listen without having to shout or use sign language.
Now if I only had someone to talk too.......
On the beer cooler temperature thing we have the same problem here in the Czech Republic, so few places get the fact that stout for example should not be served just above freezing. Given modern technology it should be that difficult to have a single refrigeration unit, with different compartments running at different temperatures.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but just about no-one in the on-trade cares about their beers enough to invest in that. And sure the punters don't care either, as long as it gets you pissed. The Porterhouse in Temple Bar has a separate ale fridge which I assume is kept at a higher temperature than the others, but that's the only place I've seen it.
ReplyDeleteBack to the post: London Porter? On keg? By whom?
I still wonder why if you go down the road to having a decent range in your pub that you don't research what temperature suits the beers. Beer Nut, I think your right, most people don't care.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the London Porter. It was on the chalk board but it didn't name the brewer. I was in the next night too but got pi**ed off so didn't do much more research. Sorry!