Run-in Matchday Drinking Strategies (coping Mechanisms)...

Pre-match and during the match
Usually Birra Moretti or Bishop's Finger. We tend to get better results when I'm 'on the Bishop's finger', so I'm going for this for the Reading game tomorrow. Currently £1.39 a bottle at B&M. Birra Moretti currently £5 for six cans at M&S.

Post-match
Jam Shed Shiraz or Co-op Cava Rosado.

 

Tea at half-time.

Additional tea after the match to calm down / celebrate / commiserate as appropriate.

Available from India and other reputable sources such as Mr. Tesco.

 

Bet in the other team.

 

Stop at the shop and get 20 cans of cider on the way home from work. Drink about half of them, and not watch the game. I couldn't cope with it, and the shouting isn't fair on the missus and my daughter. If we somehow win I will think about the other 10 cans and the sloe gin on top of the cupboard may get a visit.

 

One for the whippersnappers on here.

To which Watford player did opposition fans sing:

"Stayed in your wine bar
You should have stayed in your wine bar"

#still rankles

 

Does Bishops finger taste like an alter boys ring?

 

Plumley

 

Surely the fact that you know the answer demonstrates that you're not a whippersnapper, Carpster?

 

No good reminiscing about lost semi finals and drowning your sorrows We need to focus on hard core supportive drinking for winners. So it has to be a methuselah of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Vintage 1997.

 

It has to be a Ronco delle Mele Sauvignon Blanc from near Udine.

 

We won f*ck all in 1997 Andrew, primarily because Conti was injured...

 

Delle Mele plays for Spurs m8...

 

Afternoon games has been a cup of tea first half and then sod off for a run with 10 mins to go if it gets tense.
Reading game as it’s a Friday, few beers I think, Amstel probably

 

Like Sir Elton? He leaves his a while to settle before drinking.

Wrote a song about it I believe.

Amstel standing.

I'll get my coat.

 

Does that count as beer?

 

Haven't drunk any alcohol this calendar year since I'm #countingcalories, so I usually start the match with either a Coke Zero or an orange Lucozade Zero that I've put in the freezer for 12-15 minutes beforehand, in pursuit of the ultimate peak cold immediately before it turns to ice.

 

3 of the 660 ml Birra Moretti bottles from Tesco, 3 for £5 and maybe some smaller cans of Budvar.

 

Afternoon game, Lavazza coffee; evening game, box of Amstel.

 

Sounds utterly awful. Life’s too short to waste on that sort of stuff.

 

Don’t drink until Friday evenings so this is we’ll times, it depends what the shop have in stock but front runners, stock permitting, will be Tiger, Asahi, Estrella Gallaci, with maybe a couple pale ales to kick things off.

 

I wasn't young then either

 

Disappointing preponderance of **** foreign lager over proper British beer on this thread, I must say.

 

Do you drink half of them before you get home?
I do like a good cider, Baulmers with plenty of ice hits the spot. I was just wondering if they still sell the massive bottles of White Lightning? That used to ruin me in my youth.

 

Cider with ice? Sacrilege!

Thatchers is by far the best mass market cider. Presumably not available in Norway.

 

Well I used to love Double Diamond it was the only British Beer I drank! Is it even available now? British Lagers are on par with Horse p I s s compared to our European neighbours.
Peroni
Stella
San Miguel
Just a few far superior lagers. Still like an extra cold Guinness now and again though.

 

I wasn’t talking about British lager! IMO no one comes close to the Germans for that type of beer.

You need to get yourself back over here. You’d be astounded at the range of choice. Assuming the pubs ever open again...

 

I used to think the same but it's so refreshing in the summer, even pop a few in white wine sometimes. Be brave and experiment

Never seen Thatchers here but will keep my eye open for it. Thanks for the tip.

 

We do chill it in the fridge. Mrs Keighley is partial to a Thatchers in the summer.

 

Never really been a fan of real ales but then again I've never really give them a go. What needs to be on the list to sample.

 

Good to hear, my main reason for ice is to help me limit my consumption. The price you have to pay in the pubs here is beyond madness.

 

Chang lager.
8 @ 330ml should do the trick
Your legs stop working and you get a bollocking off the Mrs.
Works every time !

 

I have one of these:

https://www.beerhawk.co.uk/perfectdraft-keg-machine

Some excellent lagers on there, but you have to remember to order them and also get the old kegs collected which is a pain.

 

Difficult to know where to start! Very much a matter of personal preference. If you prefer lager, probably go for an IPA. Of the most readily available ales, I like London Pride, 6X, Timothy Taylor Landlord and Abbott, and Bishop’s Finger as mentioned above, is decent. Doom Bar from my home county of Cornwall is popular although I’m not so keen on it. In the days when we used to go to pubs, I would generally try something local - there are probably thousands of local ales now. The days of pubs only stocking Double Diamond and Watneys Red Barrel are long gone!

Anyway, a touch of thread drift here...

EDIT: Tring Ales are reasonably local to Watford and are very good.

 

I love cider and these are the nicest ciders i've ever had: https://craftynectar.com/products/crafty-nectar-rhubarb-cider - utterly fantastic.

 

Looking pretty good without a shirt though

When I am drinking drinking there's a microbrewery in Bristol called 'Left Handed Giant' that does an incredible pale ale called 'Sky Above' that I stumbled upon last year, and I am a big fan of the Kernel brewery in Bermondsey and the products it produces in general.