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sheffield hatter
18-09-2013, 02:39
It was good to see Roger B in The Bricklayers Arms (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/61697/) before the Luton v Dartford match yesterday evening. Sorry about the result, Roger: your visit to Luton happened to coincide with the return from injury of our best player, who set up one goal and scored another.

Before going to the Brickies I had popped my head around the door of the Bat & Barrel (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/1219/), but the solitary beer on hand pump, Charles Wells Eagle IPA, was still settling, and I politely declined the offer of the smooth version. A few doors along the Horseshoes (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/1245/) has reopened in recent months, with two real ales and a cider. I had the choice of Theakstons XB but went for St Austell Tribute, which was in really good nick and only £2.50 a pint. The prices here may be influenced by the presence of a 'Spoons (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/1231/) not far along the road, where I went next. This is a quite decent office conversion, with two banks of four hand pumps, guests on the first and regulars on the second.

After the match I went in the Red Lion Hotel (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/1286/) and the pub which was previously known as The Heights (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/1285/) but has now reverted to The Crown. The Red Lion had three real ales - or did it? It turned out that one was off but "we're not allowed to turn the pump clips around". A similar story in the Crown, but here only one out of six! The excuse here is that they are setting up for a beer festival of sorts, Greene King's "Best Beer Fest 2013 (http://www.bestbeerfest.co.uk/age-verification/?onward=/)", so five of the beers were settling. To be fair, the range available (to anyone in Luton from today until 7th October) is pretty good for Greene King, including Dark Star APA, Osset Blonde, Tribute and Golden Sheep alongside their own IPA and Festival Ale - the last named being the only one on when I was there yesterday.

Beer of the day, despite the well kept Tribute in the Horseshoes, was the super-excellent Ministry of Beer Dark Arts (http://www.spittingfeathers.org/ministry-of-beers.htm) at the Bricklayers, a MILD which was interesting and complex without being overwhelming, and most definitely quaffable.