The long summer, xmas and easter holidays are always appreciated. So are the welcomed single weeks in February and October, oh and the September long weekend, in fact Hector does not do too badly for holidays. There is one weekend in the year when Hector is disadvantaged, this one.
The Friends of Hector headed off to Manchester yesterday, some Winter Ale Fest, they say. I did not arrive in Manchester until 20.30 this evening after a full day’s work, professional to the end. A cooperative taxi driver took me from Piccadilly to Upper Brooke St where I checked in to the Travelodge in record time. Three pounds had still accrued on the meter in what felt like seconds out. He had to consult his map before heading off to Salford. Could he not work his Satnav?
The New Oxford in Salford was where the Chaps were now ensconced. Craig and Yvonne had already succumbed before I arrived. I expected to meet up with ?Stan! and Jonathan, I was surprised to see Howard and Tracey still going strong, Robin was there too.
It took three attempts to find out which of the twenty ales on draught was recommended for my first Bier since last Saturday. There was a group at the adjacent table who only spoke at one volume, eleven.
Allgates (Wigan) New Zealand Cascade at 4.3% was the starter. It had slight Citrus and Hops, not as in your face as previous New Zealand Hops ales of the last few weeks. I was back at the bar in minutes. Round 2. Salopian’s (Shrewsbury) Blackwater Kangaroo Court at 4% was a step down in strength but a major step up in flavour. This had much more Hops and again went down very quickly. It was time for something serious. Offbeat’s (Crewe) Out of Step at 5.8% was exactly what the Hector ordered. This had Hops and Citrus in abundance, the type of Ale our company craves. There was more.
The highlight of the night came in a phone call from Marg. A couple of weeks ago her friends were on holiday in what we thought was Bamberg (from their text) but turned out to be St Lucia. Are they close? They claimed to have met the owner of Pyraser (Pyras, Deutschland). I still cannot work out why Bamberg was mentioned. My reply was to tell them that Pyraser was brewed in Pyras near Hilpoltstein and that the
owner of the brewery was in fact a Lady. This was to test the mettle of the person claiming to be the owner. I pointed out that I had met the Braufrau at a Garden Party one Sunday morning in 2009 just before she took part in the local pageant as part of Das Burgfest, she was the main character. It turns out she remembered me. I was now a very proud and happy old Hector.
This was my first visit to the New Oxford, I can see why the Chaps had taken up residence for the night. The choice of Ale was impressive; they had other outstanding Biers on draught too. With a room to the front and rear of the bar there was plenty of space. It was just a pity that the crowd next to us had to shout, perhaps they are used to places with loud music and had not compensated.
Only ?Stan! and I were left, being out of phase a small glass of La Chouffe (Achouffe, Belgium) at 8% would polish of the night before I headed for the day’s main objective: the first visit of Hector to the Manchester Curry Mile. ?Stan! walked south-west, I took a taxi.
The solitary pub visited today:
The New Oxford – 11 Bexley Square, Chapel Street, Salford, Manchester, M3 6DB