Brewdenell 6
Jan. 15th, 2018 10:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeIt's been another rather quiet weekend, due to the need to save money, but we did head over to the Brudenell Social Club for the sixth annual Brew-denell Beer Festival. We ended up going to the Sunday last year and were pleasantly surprised by the range of beer on offer, so we thought we would do it properly this time around. We booked weekend tickets with the intention of going on both Saturday and Sunday, while we were also tempted by the Friday, but having to work late put paid to that. Still, we did manage to get down on the Saturday after spending most of the afternoon upstairs constructing a cage underneath the bed. This had gone quite well so at around 4pm, we headed out into Leeds, with the intention of walking to Hyde Park, which is where the club is.
Fearing we hadn't eaten that much, while in the city centre we tried to scout out food. However, as we were near the LGI rather than in the heart of the city, there weren't many options and most of them were closed. However, we did find a place called Fettle which was a nice little cafe, where we had smashed avocado on sourdough toast, with halloumi thrown in. This was very delicious and the vibe in the cafe was rather fantastic. I also liked the fact you had to walk through the kitchen to go to the bathroom so you could say hi to the chef who prepared the food.
After this, we walked the twenty minutes or so to the Brudenell, going through the university area and thus exploring leafy suburbs to which I had never been before. There were a fair number of police cars for some reason, but it seemed like a good area. Cutting through the school of law and towards Woodhouse Common, we were soon in terrace town, descending down a steep hill until we made it to the social club. We got lost initially, but soon found our way in, and were greeted to a busy not thronging event. They had sold out but the numbers were perfect - it only took about five minutes to get drinks and there was enough seating for everyone. There were regular patrons as well as beer festival goers here, but everyone mixed well and I've never been to as friendly an event in my life. The tone was set when we were in the queue to get our first beers, where a bearded man started recommending all the ones to try. He had been there since noon, and a ginger lady in a wheelchair soon chipped in with her recommendations too. We grabbed a Cloudwater Blackforest Beer and a cool IPA, heading outside as this was the only place I could get phone signal. Needing Untappd, I had taken a picture of all the beers they had had on tap and then had to cross-reference the ones we hadn't had. Soon, we found about six and headed to the Games Room, where we sat on the sofas around the periphery while watching people play snooker and pool.
We soon started talking about holidays and a forthcoming trip to Armenia, at which point a guy in a floral shirt interrupted us and inquired about our discussion. It turned out that he and his friend, who was also with him but away buying beer, had been to both Georgia and Armenia last June so we had many stories to tell. The coversation lasted a good hour, as we discussed various holidays we had taken and compared notes. It was a shame when he headed off really but we swapped Facebook details and I hope to stay in touch. As the night progressed we spoke to more people, with the leisurely vibe being quite infectious. Towards the end, I went up to spend our two gold stars, which enabled us to get a free half of less than 5% real ale. These days I find most real ales quite disappointing but there were some good breweries here, so we at least found something. Sadly, one of the things I found was a cider, which wasn't particularly pleasant and set Wolfie off. These were our fifth pints so we headed outside, where Wolfie grabbed some food from a pizza truck. With time ticking down to our last bus, we snaffled the pizza, finished our beers and although tempted to get one for the road, pocketed our glasses and headed for our last bus. Alas, even with a stop at Sainsbury's for a cheese and onion sandwich, I messed up the timings and we had 25 minutes to kill before the bus. Not fancying a wait at the cold bus stop, we popped into the Ibis Hotel where I grabbed a half, Wolfie grabbed nothing and we ended up leaving our glasses behind. Much disappointment.
The next morning wasn't too bad in terms of hangovers and we still managed to get a lot done on the cage, with Wolfie's parents also visiting briefly having just come back from four weeks in The Gambia. We had intended to go back in the evening for more beer, but it's quite a hassle to get to the Brudenell from Pudsey and we thought money saving would be the better option.
The only other thing that happened last week due to our Harry Potter film night being cancelled due to illness was our trip to Everyman on Tuesday to see the new Star Wars film. We did this after the Leedsfurs coffee meet, which had its first double figure attendance of ten. It was good to see Layne's quite lively in general, particularly at such an early time of the year, and we had to scramble to get chairs for all of us. It was a nice little event though and I am glad they are starting to take off, with Taneli attending for the first time due to his new job being in the city centre. We had offered for him to come and see the movie too, but he decided against it as he said it wasn't really his thing. He chose wisely as I don't think I have ever been as bored in a theatre in my life. Star Wars is just something I don't particularly get, and I had a real issue empathising with the characters. Indeed, the redemption plot in particular could have been done well, but the characterisation was something with which I couldn't engage. Furthermore, the movie was just too long with too many action sequences in it for my liking. I think I just have to accept that, like Taneli, it's just not for me. Wolfie didn't think it was much better though and it very much is his sort of thing, so I was relieved that it wasn't just me who thought it was overrated. I'm glad I saw it - and we got to try the cinema's pepperoni pizza too which was marvelous - but I am not sure I'll watch the final episode.
Fearing we hadn't eaten that much, while in the city centre we tried to scout out food. However, as we were near the LGI rather than in the heart of the city, there weren't many options and most of them were closed. However, we did find a place called Fettle which was a nice little cafe, where we had smashed avocado on sourdough toast, with halloumi thrown in. This was very delicious and the vibe in the cafe was rather fantastic. I also liked the fact you had to walk through the kitchen to go to the bathroom so you could say hi to the chef who prepared the food.
After this, we walked the twenty minutes or so to the Brudenell, going through the university area and thus exploring leafy suburbs to which I had never been before. There were a fair number of police cars for some reason, but it seemed like a good area. Cutting through the school of law and towards Woodhouse Common, we were soon in terrace town, descending down a steep hill until we made it to the social club. We got lost initially, but soon found our way in, and were greeted to a busy not thronging event. They had sold out but the numbers were perfect - it only took about five minutes to get drinks and there was enough seating for everyone. There were regular patrons as well as beer festival goers here, but everyone mixed well and I've never been to as friendly an event in my life. The tone was set when we were in the queue to get our first beers, where a bearded man started recommending all the ones to try. He had been there since noon, and a ginger lady in a wheelchair soon chipped in with her recommendations too. We grabbed a Cloudwater Blackforest Beer and a cool IPA, heading outside as this was the only place I could get phone signal. Needing Untappd, I had taken a picture of all the beers they had had on tap and then had to cross-reference the ones we hadn't had. Soon, we found about six and headed to the Games Room, where we sat on the sofas around the periphery while watching people play snooker and pool.
We soon started talking about holidays and a forthcoming trip to Armenia, at which point a guy in a floral shirt interrupted us and inquired about our discussion. It turned out that he and his friend, who was also with him but away buying beer, had been to both Georgia and Armenia last June so we had many stories to tell. The coversation lasted a good hour, as we discussed various holidays we had taken and compared notes. It was a shame when he headed off really but we swapped Facebook details and I hope to stay in touch. As the night progressed we spoke to more people, with the leisurely vibe being quite infectious. Towards the end, I went up to spend our two gold stars, which enabled us to get a free half of less than 5% real ale. These days I find most real ales quite disappointing but there were some good breweries here, so we at least found something. Sadly, one of the things I found was a cider, which wasn't particularly pleasant and set Wolfie off. These were our fifth pints so we headed outside, where Wolfie grabbed some food from a pizza truck. With time ticking down to our last bus, we snaffled the pizza, finished our beers and although tempted to get one for the road, pocketed our glasses and headed for our last bus. Alas, even with a stop at Sainsbury's for a cheese and onion sandwich, I messed up the timings and we had 25 minutes to kill before the bus. Not fancying a wait at the cold bus stop, we popped into the Ibis Hotel where I grabbed a half, Wolfie grabbed nothing and we ended up leaving our glasses behind. Much disappointment.
The next morning wasn't too bad in terms of hangovers and we still managed to get a lot done on the cage, with Wolfie's parents also visiting briefly having just come back from four weeks in The Gambia. We had intended to go back in the evening for more beer, but it's quite a hassle to get to the Brudenell from Pudsey and we thought money saving would be the better option.
The only other thing that happened last week due to our Harry Potter film night being cancelled due to illness was our trip to Everyman on Tuesday to see the new Star Wars film. We did this after the Leedsfurs coffee meet, which had its first double figure attendance of ten. It was good to see Layne's quite lively in general, particularly at such an early time of the year, and we had to scramble to get chairs for all of us. It was a nice little event though and I am glad they are starting to take off, with Taneli attending for the first time due to his new job being in the city centre. We had offered for him to come and see the movie too, but he decided against it as he said it wasn't really his thing. He chose wisely as I don't think I have ever been as bored in a theatre in my life. Star Wars is just something I don't particularly get, and I had a real issue empathising with the characters. Indeed, the redemption plot in particular could have been done well, but the characterisation was something with which I couldn't engage. Furthermore, the movie was just too long with too many action sequences in it for my liking. I think I just have to accept that, like Taneli, it's just not for me. Wolfie didn't think it was much better though and it very much is his sort of thing, so I was relieved that it wasn't just me who thought it was overrated. I'm glad I saw it - and we got to try the cinema's pepperoni pizza too which was marvelous - but I am not sure I'll watch the final episode.
