I like going out for a drink. I’m not that fussy where I go; it could be a trendy cocktail bar, a dive bar or even a fussy gastro-pub. But more often than not, it’s an ordinary pub.
It’s not so much the beer I go for, although that’s a bonus. The reason I like going to the pub is that it gets me out of the house and provides the opportunity to have a relaxed natter with friends, family and even random strangers so we can all put the world to rights. It’s somewhere to relax, unwind and feel, ‘safe’.
The pub was something to aim for after a long day. Something to crave. Something to make the daily graft worthwhile. Lockdown was going to be a problem. I couldn’t leave the house, and even if I could, there was nowhere to go – everywhere was closed.
The only solution. Build a pub.
Not literally, of course, but I could put a few things together that could simulate a pub. I had the space. I could get some bar snacks, some beer, and then meet up with friends online at the end of the day so that regular service could be resumed.
The biggest problem I faced was the beer consumption method, or BCM as I’ve started calling it.
I started with bottles and cans, but it just felt like drinking in my kitchen. It was nothing different; it just felt flat and unexciting. So I moved on to large kegs that you tap yourself. It felt better, more of an occasion, but the problem was the temperature – you need a lot of space in your fridge to get them cold.
But then to a chorus of angels wearing Interbew branded baseball caps, I came across the Perfect Draft system.
It was perfect. You buy kegs that go inside the machine, where it gets chilled and then served by a little tap in virtually the same way as in pubs. It was amazing. I had fresh, refreshing crisp draft beer next to my BIG D peanut card.
So even though my pub is my kitchen, post 5 pm it feels like a pub. Moreso if I sit in my garden. I can drink draft beer, eat scampi fries, and chat to friends on House Party. I’ve something to look forward to at the end of a hard day spent job hunting, and somewhere to relax.
Having my ‘virtual’ pub at hand stopped me getting fed up with not being able to get to my local pub during the lockdown. It’s also much easier to stay motivated, knowing that at the end of the day, you can pour yourself a cold one. The Perfect Draft, or beer machine as we’ve taken to calling it was vital to that.
I do, of course, have to make sure I keep on the right side of the other half. The threat of being barred is always just around the corner.
Right, now to source a fruit machine…
Welcome to my journey through redundancy 