Shake n Bake

6 hours ago, Eddie said:

Cans are very much the way forward in many circumstances (although beers requiring secondary fermentation may not be an option - I'm not at all sure on that). After all, a keg is just a big can, isn't it? If that's the case, draught beer is just canned beer with a bit more CO2 oomph added.

When I was a junior cellar-man (back in 1967, my dad got his first pub), we were only just moving to keg beers from wooden barrels (in those days, I used to have to thrawl a 36 gallon tub - including the weight of the wooden barrel, around 410 lb, or 1/5 of a ton) before tapping. When we moved to 18 gallon kilderkins or (wonderful) 9 gallon firkins, it was a piece of piss. The only problem was, 'piss' was the operative word in relation to the content.

The first canned beer I really enjoyed was Hoegaarden Grand Cru (apart from Gold Label in the days when I was motivated solely by abv), back in around 2002, when I went to Bruges for the first time. Since then, perhaps like yourself, I've probably relied almost entirely on bottled and draught beers to the exclusion of cans, but the soldering and lining process behind canning (they are now almost exclusively aluminium monobloc) has improved immeasurably - so I'm told.

Of late, I've been diving enthusiastically into Vocation beers (thanks, @sage) - and I can't fault them.

Vocation are excellent. I think the guy that set it up used to be the head brewer at Blue Monkey (in Giltbrook) and left because he wanted brew more craft. I imagine blue monkey wish he'd stayed when you look at the size of vocation now, even their supermarket lines are really good. I wouldn't mind a trip to Hebden Bridge to their taproom one day.

5 minutes ago, Anag Ram said:

You lost me at cans. 

Just me but I'm not a big fan. Draught followed by bottles for me with cans a last resort. 

Nice research piece though. 

That's interesting, cans are the best way to preserve beer as they're airtight (whereas bottles can sometimes not be) and protect from light. I never drink from the can, but find the can doesn't leave any strange tastes. It's a lot better for storing unpasteurised beers too.

I used to be against cans but think I was associating them with warm cheap lager.

2 minutes ago, Brailsford Ram said:

Eddie Thomas, John O'Hare, Frank Wignall, Jeff Bourne, Jeff Chandler, Paul Peschisolido, Matthias Svensen, Andy Todd.

That goal gave me so much hope for that season!

I'm into craft beers and I've been ranking the supermarkets stock for a while. Currently:

1. Morrisons - great choice of of £3-£4 cans but also some goodens on 4 for £6 and a decent 2 four packs for a tenner range.

2. Tesco - probably the best £3-£4 can range but lacking a bit in the 4 for £6 department. They're almost number 1 for their selection of four packs but when you want variety their multibuy offers on individual cans are lacking.

3. ASDA - used to be bottom of my list but upped their game recently with some Vocation and Fourpure additions, plus a few BadCo beers at £1.25 a can. They have a great 4 for the price of 3 offer.

4. Sainsbury's - used to have barely any craft beers but they've upped their game and given us some good beers to choose from recently, but nowhere near the range from the 3 above and no multibuys offers in sight (on my last visit)

5. M&S - for a while my number 2/3 but their range hasn't changed for a while and seems to be getting smaller. Stocking some Amundsen gives them a few points but they'll need Dessert in a Can or a better selection to climb this league table any time soon.

6. Aldi/Lidl - yes I should rank these separately but I'm far too lazy to do so and they're both doing a decent effort with their fake/own brand craft beers, which are definitely worth trying.

7. Co-op - this feels a bit unfair as Co-op had regularly quenched a Sunday evening craving with its brewdog and vocation beers, but it just doesn't have a lot of choice and is usually more expensive than the big supermarkets.

8. Waitrose - too poor to shop there, don't even know where my nearest one is.

What are everyone else's thoughts on the supermarket beers? Any recommendations on some less crafty beers I should be trying?

Just now, EraniosSocks said:

He did! Blackburn at home on a Sunday 

That was it! In my head it was against Birmingham and wasn't sure if it was his debut or the first home game of the season, but yes you're right it was Blackburn!

Did Johnny Russell score a peno on his debut, or did I imagine that?

I need some advise from fellow rams, but also from the irritating bunch in Rushcliffe who seem to always block my driveway on matchdays.

The mrs' dad had a brain injury last year and is still recovering. Everyone thinks it would be great for him to go watch his favourite team and I'm seen as the only suitable person to take him, but the catch is he supports Rushcliffe Rovers. I want to take him to a game, but I'm worried it'll be obvious that I'm not a fan or a neutral and that might ruin his experience too. There are other people that could take him, but their dislike for football would probably make it less enjoyable than me having to beat up a couple of thousand forest fans.

So Derby fans, do I do it? Will I be betraying my Rams blood?

And forest fans, assuming I keep my head down, and take him, where's a good place to sit with an older guy who might struggle maneuvering  through large crowds? 

Anyone else every done something similar? The idea of it doesn't seem right, but it seems a bit silly now to say, I'm not doing that because I'm a Derby fan.

12 hours ago, kevinhectoring said:

Dunno if he can cope with a red ball, Buttler is finding it hard enough and he’s no slouch. I think Crawley is ‘the one’ but he’s been sent back to the counties I think. Will be interesting to see if Malan can do it. We need Pope and Stokes 

Malan is a good player, but I don't think he's a number 3. He's similar to Joe Root and Ollie Pope in that he can accelerate the scoring and increase the run rate once the new ball has been worn down. 

I agree about Crawley, he definitely has the ability but had it not been for that 267, he'd have been dropped a while ago. I've got high hopes for Hameed as an opener. Not a good return test for him, but he's looked great for Notts this year. I feel a bit sorry for Sibley, as he's usually done his job over blocking the new ball, but gotten out in silly ways when England are chasing the game in the 4th innings. Our middle order is a bit weak and #batdeep is no longer so Sibley scoring 20 of 90 balls looks terrible, when for a lot of teams that's a job well done.

I think it's often necessary to make defensively minded changes toward the end of games. It's okay to go for the extra goal and a more comfortable win, but when the other team have changed tactic and are pumping long balls into the box, an extra CB isn't going to do any harm is it?

I'm not proud of this, but I am.

2 minutes ago, sage said:

I thought Shinnie was poor and Sibley faded but what a win. Bird was superb. 

It's great to see Bird doing well again, was worried he'd peaked too soon and had his confidence knocked, but hopefully this year will be his bounce back year!

I believe the Americans call a bad second season after a strong Rookie season a "Sophomore Slump" which I think is quite fitting for Bird.

Yeah! I agree!

...I think. Someone on twitter tell me what to think

Just now, Inverurie Ram said:

ermm how did the Forest get on?

Surely they won? They win every week don't they? By at least 4 goals...

HMS P*ss the League has set sail from the Humber estuary

This is all going to sound very cliché but we really needed that goal. Obviously we needed that goal because it was 0-0 but it was starting to feel like nothing was going our way, EVER. Scrappy goals are good for confidence too.

We're going up

2 minutes ago, kevinhectoring said:

Love it when shaun said: ‘great game for the neutral’.  I mean, of the 27,000 people watching this live or on the telly, would a single one be neutral ?? 

If you support Derby but have a tenner on a Hull win does that make you a neutral? I bet that applies a few people watching!

2 minutes ago, kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong said:

Definetly..we currently tow a caravan so a full electic isn't ideal.yet but my next car will be once it's gone.

My mate doesn't tow, but he goes down south a lot and said the amount of charging points means you can go to the more remote parts of Devon and Cornwall without having to worry. The technology is always improving too, so won't be long before you can comfortably tow a caravan all the way to Lands End on a single charge (if it's not already possible!)

My mate just got a Hyundai Iconiq and he's calculated that his annual electricity cost for his 10 mile commute and a few trips down south will be £89. That's if he only charges it up on his drive, which he never does as there are free charging stations at his local Tesco and workplace. It's making me seriously consider going full electric for my next car.

We don't need a 20 goal a season striker, just a good corner routine and a 20 goal a season Phil Jagielka.

This is my first post in years. I've not been to a game for a couple of years now either. My following of Derby County got to the point where I would find out the weekends results from a smug forest fan (who I'm sure is secretly a bigger ram than any ram I've met). 

I put this down to losing love for football rather than the rams though. I only watch England matches if it's a tournament and I never watch match of the day or the FA cup final anymore. The closest to football I get is the make belief world of football manager.

Despite all this, I feel my interests in Derby County have suddenly perked up again. Maybe I'm a bit of a masochist, but I think all the troubles The Rams have been through recently have taken me back to some of my favourite memories of being Derby fan. My first season ticket was 2003, when we'd just been relegated from the premiership. I used to love going along to the games with my dad and uncle. Even after the dreadful 11 point season I still wanted to be there every week. Then football went crazy and Championship clubs started spending £20m on players and I totally lost interest. 

Now we're in this awful financial mess, but we're still putting out an 11 each week and the young lads are getting a chance I suddenly feel proud of my team again. Football has become boring, but in their time or need I feel drawn to get behind The Rams again!

Is it safe out there?

Imagine Dragons - Radioactive. Massive tune.

The 1975 - Chocolate

Not my usual taste but its such a catchy song.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9XwFecNXyU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9XwFecNXyU

That Jake Bugg guy from nottingham.