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Craft Beer


Longy said:
You there Friday anarl?

Looking forward to it. My mates got on the bigg’uns early on last year, which was silly, but made me jealous, so I joined in. Would like a more sensible approach this year.

Good thing about the first session, there was a few beers they ran out of last year I missed out on. Shouldn’t be a problem on Friday 😎
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Aye, bought in advance and thought Friday the best option to avoid a potential home game clash as one of my mates is a mag season ticket holder so same applied to him. Turns out we're away, they play Monday and he cant come anyway :rolleyes:
 
Came to Darlington expecting to find absolutely nowhere to drink but pleasantly surprised. In Orb which is very good, lots of excellent cask and keg. Another bar called House of Hop not open but looked very good and Google says there are another couple of decent places, a very pleasant surprise. Must be 20 years since I was in Darlington and I remember it being very run down but it’s very different now.
 
DoctorMick said:
Came to Darlington expecting to find absolutely nowhere to drink but pleasantly surprised. In Orb which is very good, lots of excellent cask and keg. Another bar called House of Hop not open but looked very good and Google says there are another couple of decent places, a very pleasant surprise. Must be 20 years since I was in Darlington and I remember it being very run down but it’s very different now.
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I've been singing its praises on here a while re craft bars. The two you mention are great. Craftys closed but I'm told it recently reopened (class little alley way for supping in the sun). The Angels Cut is another.
 
I've recently bought a Fizzics machine and I can't believe how good it is. Transformational for the house drinking experience, which has sadly become my life at the weekend post 7pm. :lol:

The thick, wet foamy head it gives beer is a bit of a game changer, especially lagers. I'm pulling Mliko pours on everything now as it's so satisfying. It sort of pushes traditional bottle ales closer to their cask style too, which I'm a big fan of. It will be class for big stouts as well but I've not given it a go yet.

You can shove any can or bottle into it, though I've realised it won't take 750ml lambic bottles due to the punt on the bottom. Heartbreaking.

Strongly recommend it if you can pick one up cheaply secondhand like I did (30 benk including postage I think). Bit of a novelty but I'm a proper pour snob so know I'll use it every time I want a beer.

I'll post some photos of the results at the weekend.
 
James said:
I've recently bought a Fizzics machine and I can't believe how good it is. Transformational for the house drinking experience, which has sadly become my life at the weekend post 7pm. :lol:

The thick, wet foamy head it gives beer is a bit of a game changer, especially lagers. I'm pulling Mliko pours on everything now as it's so satisfying. It sort of pushes traditional bottle ales closer to their cask style too, which I'm a big fan of. It will be class for big stouts as well but I've not given it a go yet.

You can shove any can or bottle into it, though I've realised it won't take 750ml lambic bottles due to the punt on the bottom. Heartbreaking.

Strongly recommend it if you can pick one up cheaply secondhand like I did (30 benk including postage I think). Bit of a novelty but I'm a proper pour snob so know I'll use it every time I want a beer.

I'll post some photos of the results at the weekend.
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I feel your pain. I was a virtual recluse for the best part of ten years, but as others will attest on the thread @Town End Farmer Giles :-) i've made up for it since.

always thought things like those machines were a bit gimmicky, but if you're a fan - it's definitely worth a look. How do they work???
 
Ambivalent Dave said:
I feel your pain. I was a virtual recluse for the best part of ten years, but as others will attest on the thread @Town End Farmer Giles :) i've made up for it since.

always thought things like those machines were a bit gimmicky, but if you're a fan - it's definitely worth a look. How do they work???
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:lol: tbf James isn't a recluse. He's just moved his slurping times. We did the same and tbf, even now weve stuck to afternoons/early evenings more so than not.

Think yours is older but different times now where people will happily take babies/young uns into nice little pubs so parents can still get amongst a few.
 
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James said:
I've recently bought a Fizzics machine and I can't believe how good it is. Transformational for the house drinking experience, which has sadly become my life at the weekend post 7pm. :lol:

The thick, wet foamy head it gives beer is a bit of a game changer, especially lagers. I'm pulling Mliko pours on everything now as it's so satisfying. It sort of pushes traditional bottle ales closer to their cask style too, which I'm a big fan of. It will be class for big stouts as well but I've not given it a go yet.

You can shove any can or bottle into it, though I've realised it won't take 750ml lambic bottles due to the punt on the bottom. Heartbreaking.

Strongly recommend it if you can pick one up cheaply secondhand like I did (30 benk including postage I think). Bit of a novelty but I'm a proper pour snob so know I'll use it every time I want a beer.

I'll post some photos of the results at the weekend.
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Intrigued.
 
Ambivalent Dave said:
I feel your pain. I was a virtual recluse for the best part of ten years, but as others will attest on the thread @Town End Farmer Giles :) i've made up for it since.

always thought things like those machines were a bit gimmicky, but if you're a fan - it's definitely worth a look. How do they work???
Click to expand...
Yeah I'd assumed they were a gimmick as well so I've never been bothered, but the Craft Beer Channel recently did a video on the cheap knock off ALDI version of the Fizzics and it piqued my interest:

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(skip to 11.35 to see what got me interested and to cut through him being a divvy).

I picked up a cheapo Fizzics after that as I thought it had potential. If you aren't that arsed about the type of pour, mouthfeel etc then you'll use it a few times and sell it. If you are, however, a big foam beer weirdo, then they are kinda class. :lol:

Basically you put the beer in it, it creates a vacuum and pulls the beer through it, and allows you to push back on the handle to create pure foam. Means you can create really smooth, creamy beers at home. Obviously it can't ever compete with proper kegged beer but it's class that you can put anything into it and make it so much better than simply slamming it into a glass from the bottle. I love it.
dangermows said:
:lol: tbf James isn't a recluse. He's just moved his slurping times. We did the same and tbf, even now weve stuck to afternoons/early evenings more so than not.

Think yours is older but different times now where people will happily take babies/young uns into nice little pubs so parents can still get amongst a few.
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:lol: Aye we still get out through the day by he's total carnage now so it's not even worth the hassle going into small venues unless he's asleep. He can't sit still for more than 10 seconds before wanting to run off so we're much more selective about where we go. He'll get better when he can hold his attention beyond the next thing in his eye line.

It has meant that I'm back to valuing the quality of drink at home as I'm probably only having 3/4 a weekend. Great that this Fizzics has enhanced those beers which is why I'm a huge fan. Really looking forward to getting an impy into it but can't be arsed with the fuzzy head it'll give me when I'm up at 5am the next day playing the bongos and throwing plastic eggs around (don't ask).
 
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