In one of those cases where a bouncer might have just been trying to engage me in conversation to see if I was sober enough, a "have you had a few already?" question was enough for me to decide to bail back home, to where my local had much lower standards for regulars.
There were no bouncers on when I arrived this time, and with all of two pints taken I don't think I'd have had much trouble getting in anyway.
Much to my surprise, they had arranged for me to experience that lost taste of 2006 inside, or at least of some year much in the past - two pints including an often 7.50+ Lagunitas came to 'only' 12.20, every track played was from the early 2000s and it was obvious from the stool and huge rolls of blue tissue in the toilets that they either still had, or pined for the days of having, a toilet attendant.
The decor is a little dated, but in perfect condition; almost as if it's actually new and I *am* in 2006. I rapidly checked to see if my smartphone had similarly regressed or if my hair had re-dyed itself blond; but neither had happened. So no, I was still in 2022 - and a check of the prices for food would have confirmed this. Also I suspect that Lagunitas was not easily, if at all, available here on draught prior to Heineken investing in the 2010s
Coincidentally, the bus that turned up to bring us back to the city was also from 2006 - a rare enough sight now, with few buses of that age left in service.
While nowhere near as ubiquitous as the Dutch-brewed Lagunitas IPA is now, their beer was commonly available as part of the Grand Cru portfolio. Indeed, Lagunitas even had an employee in Ireland doing promotions and whatnot, albeit briefly.
ReplyDeleteI will admit that even had they had it on tap in 2006 (and I'd got in); I was mostly drinking Carlsberg or Jack Daniels back then. Harveys Sussex Best was the most interesting thing I think I'd had by then, and I didn't particularly like it at the time!
ReplyDelete