Royalist Or Republika

Reading 0 v Sheffield United 1

The Championship

Tuesday 7 March 2023

SUFC 2022/23 Game #50

I feel I made the wrong choices of venue there. The word went out from The Organiser that we were going to walk across The Thames on The Windsor Town Bridge from Windsor to Eton. As you'll know from previous Blogs, the Carrier Bag Firm love The Organiser to bits, but we would also say, on occasions - he's got some front.

But, not as much front as Osbert de Bray, The Trinity Guild and The King. They'd got the bridge game sewn up from the 1100s. One mob charging boats to go under the bridge. The other fuckers charging to go over it. The current stone and iron bridge dates from 1824. Costing 15 Grand, it is the oldest iron arch bridge over The Thames. Bridge Tolls were finally scrapped in 1897. Damage due to the weight of traffic meant that the bridge went pedestrian only in 1970. Perfect for the shambolic wobblers of the Carrier Bag Firm to make their way to the;

George Inn

77 High St, Eton, Windsor SL4 6AF

Which is a Windsor & Eton Brewery pub. There is an intriguing building out the back called The Hop House, turned out that's only used for private parties. The usual untidy mismatch between the chalkboard and the clips. Why can't some pubs sort that shit out (rhetorical)?

I'm scoring it as six Windsor & Eton's on Cask, five on Keg. I don't want to sound too churlish, that's clearly a good hit. But, they felt a bit familiar & core range. I went;

Windsor & Eton Brewery, Windsor Knot, Pale Ale on Cask at 4%

Originally brewed to commemorate the Lizard Marriage of some of the parasites across the bridge. I suppose if you're Windsor & Eton Brewery you have to go down that Royal Naming Route. Although a big shout out to the Bagger who insisted on drinking Republika, the Czech style Pilsner.

Windsor Knot - Sovereign and Nelson Sauvin hops I'm reading. I think my taste buds are not yet Cask Ale Match Fit after the New Zealand jaunt. But, this beer helped. I liked the last third a lot more than the first. I found it rather malty at first. But well balanced against a vaguely ginger bitterness. It got a bit grape fruitier as I got down it.

With some encouragement from the barperson in the George Inn, we sneaked (toll-less) back over the bridge to the revamped since the last time we were in;

Windsor & Eton Brewery Unit 4 Taproom

1-4 Vansittart Estate, Duke St, Windsor SL4 1SE

Absolutely bizarre beer labelling. Pump clips on the Cask Ale handles in front and centre (obvs). But nothing doing on the mass of keg taps on the back wall. And, no obvious clues on the beer boards hung up on the back wall. I asked…

"If the board has a small letter in the corner, it's a Cask Ale. If it has a little number in the corner, it's a Keg beer. Please order by letter or number"

Fucking obvious…

Anyway, I know my onions in this scenario…

"A half of number 9 and a half of number 13 in the same pint glass please."

Met with bemused look and a query.

Because, last refuge of the scoundrel bar, they hadn't got enough beers for the taps. So some taps were doubling up. I fucking hate that. Both #9 and #13 were;

Windsor & Eton Brewery, Storm, Irish Dry Stout on Keg at 4%

A nice enough identikit keg stout. A pleasant, neutral, safe taste. That needed more red fruit ooommmppphhh. I found it bizarrely tangerine to smell. Not much going down really, but there was some treacle if you hung around.

I couldn't really concentrate on my pint because of the odd drinking pattern of another punter sat at the bar. He was deploying three implements. A mahooosive jug (I'm not ruling out Two Litres) of one beer or another. A single pint pot. And a can of Schweppes full sugar lemonade. He was sat there, pouring his own beer out of the jug and adding a good dash of lemonade to each pint. Effectively mixing his own beer (or lager) tops at the bar.

When we walked into the next gaff (been before) my initial reaction was - why didn't we just come straight here;

A Hoppy Place

11 St. Leonards Rd, Windsor SL4 3BN

Ten pukka craft kegs and two cask, which I think were gravity. I'm going to pick out;

Torrside Brewing (New Mills), Candlewick Stout on Keg at 4%

Deep. Dark. Rich.

A subdued performance by The Blades. How much of that subduction was planned, I'll never know. But, I don't think we can accuse them of being subdued by Reading. I get what McBurnie brings to the team. I can read his numbers just like everyone else. That was a great run for the goal. And a great ball from Bogle. Does he make those runs often though? To get in the box in a really dangerous area? I know his game and numbers are all about winning the ball, bringing others into play, winning battles.

But, the proof is right there. Run off the ball, into danger areas, goals come. Don't concern yourself. I'll be happy if he does that once a game and that gets the XGs across the rest of the season. But, I'll be happier if he does it more.

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