Liverpool Beer Festival

The Beer of the Festival (possibly)



I had a great afternoon at the Liverpool Beer Festival yesterday. A great setting in the crypt of the RC Cathedral and some excellent beer and food.

I got the train over at about 10am - the others went an hour earlier but I thought that was just too early. They wanted to see the model of the original plans for the cathedral at the Walker Art Gallery but when they got there it was not on display. Another good decision by MickeyMo! I met up with the two Steves, Ronan and John and we wandered up to the crypt taking in the bombed out church and the RC cathedral (where I made my last confession 27 years ago!).





John and Ronan had gone to queue up and we joined the queue about 11:45 (see pic)








The doors opened at 12:00 and we got in and grabbeda table by one of the windows. There was a fine selection of beers available with a commendable concentration of local brews from Liverpool, Prescot, Southport, Ellesmere Port and Rainford. Unfortunately, due to the uncertainty until quite late about whether the festival would go ahead there were no commemorative glasses this year but we did get vouchers for a half of a Cains brew and a half of Wapping Gold (another Liverpool brew).


The view from our table (right)













One thing certainly worth mentioning is the large pork pie on offer at the food table. I bought one at £2.50 and had it cut into five. I took it back to our table and it lasted about 5 seconds. It was closely followed by two more - a testament to their quality!



John ('the Mountain Goat')












The quality of the beers was excellent and I can recommend a few good uns. Top of the session for me were Natterjack from Southport and Drunken Duck from George Wright in Rainford (nr St Helens).




Ronan and Steve (2) deciding what to have next.











Steve (1) doing the same


I also met a mate I was at school with (junior and secondary) whom I see intermittently at Saints games. We had a good drunken natter.




Me and Phil Rignall (left)













While we were chatting one of the Mums from the RL club I coach at came over to introduce herself.




Phil and Cath (left)












Cath (right)















Steve 2 had the idea that eating Hula Hoops between beers would cleanse your palate. Hmmm ....











Discussions about the merits of Steve 2's beer.
















Me, feeling very mellow after about 3 hours imbibing.



























2 monks who seem to have wandered in by mistake.

John doing his Eric Morecambe impression.

Towards the end some fellas that the others had met last year brought some food over for us to try - there was a tremendous game terrine that one of them had made that didn't last very long.




The Providers of Quality Game Terrine. Meandering back to the Station

I'm glad in a way that the session only lasted 4 hours - any more and I would have regretted drinking so much but the time was enought to allow me to sample a good selection of brews, half of them local Merseyside beers. On to the station to get the train to St Helens where Saints were hosting Castleford in Super League XI. But that's for a different post.

Saints v Harlequins (pt 2)

Ickle Rabban (Luke) refusing to show his face - LittleMo2 looks suitably confused

And so to the game. Saints started with a couple of errors but nothing that the Londoners could capitalise on and it wasn't long before debutant Jason Cayless, sporting Rio Ferdinand-style locks, took a flat ball from Keiron Cunningham and crashed over under the sticks. Jamie Lyon added the easy two. Not long after Saints succumbed to an old weakness - the high ball to the left wing. This time, with the 'Barrow Arrow' (copyright Ron Hoofe) on the right it was new boy Francis Meli who misjudged the ball and allowed Tyrone Smith to score. The conversion made it 6 apiece. Not long after Paul Wellens took a pass from the impressive James Graham and spun out of the tackles of three Harlequins players to go over. Lyon's conversion made it 12-6. When Wellens went under the sticks after some fine handling and Lyon converted it looked like the floodgates would open and Harlequins would go under. 18-6. Just before half time your correspondent had the splendid idea of popping off to the bogs and the bar to 'beat the half time rush'. I was successful in that aspect but unfortunately missed the best move of the match in the process. Sean Long kicked to the corner for Jamie Lyon to chase. It looked as if the ball was going to bounce out of play a couple of yards from the line but with an incredible piece of skill Lyon got both hands on the ball and flicked it inside into Gardner's hands before it went dead and left Ade with an easy 4 points. Lyon duly converted and Saints went in 24-6 to the good. LittleMo2 and LittleMo1 at half time

Half time was passed with a conversation with 'Saint Rabban' (Paul) and before we knew it the second half was upon us. Harlequins needed an early score to stay in contention and it duly arrived when Ade Gardner took a chance on an interception from Leuluai's pass. If he had taken it he would have been under the sticks 80 metres away but he missed it, allowing Ricky Sherriffe to go over unopposed in the corner. With 25 minutes left Wellens took a great pass from Cayless around halfway and stepped the last line of defence to complete his hat trick. Long then set up Hooper to stroll in under the posts before Lyon completed the Saints scoring picking up a loose Harlequins pass on halfway and outpacing the defence, finishing with a cool hand-off on (I think) Haumono. This was the only kick Lyon missed all afternoon. Quins got a late consolation when Sykes went over following a nicely angled run from Purdham. Full time finished 40-16 in favour of Saints.

My man of the match was Paul Wellens for his positional awareness and support play. Jamie Lyon picked up where he left off last season and Pryce and Cayless had sound debuts. With Paul Sculthorpe and Vinnie Anderson set to return this Friday against Cas things are definitely looking promising. The only downside is injuries to Paul Anderson and Jon Wilkin.

LittleMo2's Liam Gallagher impersonation (Oasis not Shameless version)

Back to Euston in good time to take advantage of the bar in the First Class Lounge, only to find it closes at 3pm on a Saturday. Oh well, a good excuse to visit the Head of Steam and introduce the young uns to a decent boozer before purchasing a couple of bottles of beer from M & S for the journey home, which was much enlivened by the score updates from France where the Pie Eaters got beaten by the new boys, Les Catalans. Allez La France! Slight delays on the journey but nothing too serious and even the boys seemed too tired to argue or bicker so a fairly quiet return with a good few Saints fans also in attendance.
The Card Sharks

A great day out and meeting Saint Rabban and Ickle Rabban was a definite bonus. Roll on Friday when I will be at Knowsley Road following my attendance at the Liverpool Beer Festival in the afternoon. I will let you know how much of either I remember shortly.

Colin Welland

Click on the image to enlarge.

Saints v Harlequins (pt1)

A thoroughly enjoyable day out in London. LittleMo1 and LittleMo2 came along and we joined a surprising number of other Saints fans in First Class from Preston, courtesy of Mr Branson. After spending much of the journey separating the two youngsters and trying to stop them winding each other up it was a relief to pull into Euston to start negotiating the London Transport system. To be fair everything went well travel-wise and we got to Twickenham Station around 1:15pm. Hunger was kicking in so we queued up at the nearest chippy for the driest chips I have ever eaten. They tasted as if they were made from reconstituted potato and I wished I had taken Peter Kay's advice and got summat moist on them.

The Stoop is a great ground for watching rugby and I was impressed with the staff in the East Stand Bar who were many and speedy. Ok, £6 for a pint of bitter and a pint of Guinness is a bit on the pricey side, but at least it was a cask ale. There were also a number of staff walking round with beer dispensers for those not wishing to venture as far as the bar. There was a good turnout from the Saints fans and the North Stand was more or less full, with pockets of supporters elsewhere around the ground 3 -4,000 I reckon.
Saints warming up before the game

Day Out at Harlequins

Meeting Saint Rabban at last!

Boffin

I just watched Balderdash and Piffle on Teleport Replay and they were discussing the word Boffin. Someone caled Armando Pacono Rabano (or similar) who seemed to be from the Anglo-Italian side of Brian Sewell's family, claimed to be a boffin because he knew rather a lot ... about history.

Balls.

Everyone knows that there are three characteristics of a boffin:

1. He must have a 'high forehead' (technically, Tefal Man Syndrome);

2. He must wear a white coat; and

3. He must be involved in science in some way.

History? Pah! The archetypal boffin is Profesor Patpending from Wacky Races. (ok his coat is beiger than Terry Wogan's trousers but that's not the point, honest)