And there's more!

There were one or two things I neglected to mention in my recent post about Dundee, and whilst some might regard them as fairly trivial, they are still worthy of a mention. The first point regards the hotel we stayed at, as my colleague and I were really impressed with the high standards we experienced at the Hampton at Hilton. The hotel was spotlessly clean, the facilities were good, the service was efficient, and the staff friendly. What was effectively a budget price hotel, knocked the spots off other places I have stayed in recently, which just goes to prove that sometimes, price isn’t everything.

The same really applied to the rest of our experiences north of the border and especially to the people we interacted with. This includes the staff at Edinburgh Airport, the people at the car hire company, and the two taxi drivers who transported us to the post-conference, evening meal – fancy-dress party. On a personal note, I appreciated the chance of seeing Dundee’s waterfront, on our last morning in the city, when I took a stroll in that direction. My walk took me past the city’s new railway station, which opened in 2018.  Built at a cost of £38m, this impressive looking modern building replaced the old station as part of the Dundee waterfront regeneration project.

Reaching the waterfront, I came upon the Discovery, the ship used for the British National Antarctic Expedition of 1902 – 1904. The Discovery was built at Dundee, so it is perhaps only fitting that following careful restoration, the ship was returned to the city in 1992, and berthed in a custom-built dock. Standing almost adjacent to where Discovery is moored, is stunning ultra-modern lines of Dundee’s V&A Design Museum.  There wasn't time to take a look inside, but alongside other redevelopment work nearby, a substantial amount of money is being spent on improving this part of the city.

The other waterside structure well worth seeing was the Tay Road Bridge. Opened in 1966, the bridge replaced the previous ferry crossing, and remains one of the longest road bridges in Europe. A few hours later, my colleague and I drove across it, when we took the more scenic route, back to Edinburgh. This made a pleasant change from the inland route, via Perth and the M90 motorway that we had followed on our inward journey to Dundee. It allowed us to enjoy the picturesque Tayside countryside, at a slightly more leisurely pace.

On my way back to the hotel, I stopped to take some photos of the pub and restaurant we had visited two nights’ earlier. The Trades House Bar with its attractive stained-glass windows, depicting the nine “trades” that Dundee was renowned for, looked particularly impressive. I’d been convinced that the pub was listed on CAMRA’S National inventory of historic pub interiors, so imagine my disappointment when I discovered the whole place was a fake, and that the building was converted from a former bank during the 1990s.

It has to be said that the repro work was first class, and certainly fooled me, but with hindsight the woodwork, the carvings and other fixtures perhaps looked too new, even though they have been crafted in keeping with what would have been the fashion at the time. As if to acknowledge this, the Trades House Bar is listed under a special category, on What Pub, as a “Pub with outstanding Conversions & Restorations.”

It was rather windy when we arrived back at Edinburgh Airport, and we certainly felt it just walking from the car-hire drop off point, to the airport terminal. Our three o'clock flight meant that the airport was quite quiet, and pleasantly so, meaning we cleared security in next to no time. My colleague had a few emails to catch up with, on his laptop, I just sat and read a book, but we both decided that a cheeky pre-flight pint would be in order, and where better than the Brew Dog bar.

I ordered us a pint of Lost Lager each, and we sat down to enjoy it. We had earlier purchased a roll each from Pret a Manger, to eat on the plane, but my companion decided he couldn't wait, so out from his rucksack came the roll, and he started eating. I raised an eyebrow, but his response that having bought a beer each, there was nothing much that the bar could do. He argued that should the management ask us to leave, we could walk across to the benches, outside of the bar, and consume our rolls plus beer there. So, in the best BRAPA tradition, I decided to do the same. Unsurprisingly, no one batted an eyelid, although I was perhaps a little more discreet about eating my roll.

With a strong tailwind behind us we arrived back at Gatwick 20 minutes ahead of schedule, although the approach and the landing were rather bumpy. We parted company as my colleague headed off to collect his car, whilst I boarded a train back to Tonbridge. Our visit to Dundee proved successful, as our products received plenty of really positive feedback from our customer’s sales teams. The event was rounded off with a fancy dress dinner and party, so here is the photo of me, in costume, that I promised.

The theme this year, was to choose a character based on the first letter of one’s first name. So, for me, “P” for Paul, became “P” for professor, and a slightly mad professor at that! I already had part of the costume in the form of my lab coat from work, so all that was required for that “mad professor” look was the wig with the long, white  wavy hair that I purchased from Amazon. A bowtie completed the Albert Einstein look, so here I am, waiting to pick up my Nobel Prize!

 

 

Out at Christmas, from under the Covers

I’ve mentioned before that being a beer lover connoisseur, means that at Christmas time, I sometimes receive the odd beer or two, as a present from well-meaning relatives, or even the occasional work colleague. I published a post about this, three years ago, emphasising the fact that just because I appreciate a decent drop of ale, does not necessarily mean I’m going to be eternally grateful, if you happen to slip a bottle of some quirky sounding beer into my Christmas stocking.

“Paul likes his ales,” is a remark I’ve heard, and in the past, this has often been misinterpreted. To many people the word “ales” signifies a beer that is a cut above the rest; the rest of course being mass-marketed international brands of industrial lager. Regrettably, this often means the likes of heavily promoted Premium Bottled Ales (PBA’s) from brewers such as Badger, Greene King and Marston’s, rather than something far less mainstream, and far more drinkable.

As I said in that article from 2020, these are the types of beers that are unfortunately perceived by the general public as “real ale,” and the ones likely to appeal to a beer lover like myself. If I do find myself on the receiving end of such “delights” I try very carefully to appear pleased and grateful, as after all it is the thought that counts. I also work on the premise that sampling some of these mainstream brands, reminds oneself just how boring many of them are.

Occasionally though, and it is becoming slightly more common, I receive a beer which both surprises and delights. This occurred completely out of the blue, this Christmas, when I was the recipient of an unusual promotional pack of beer, courtesy of the eldest of my wife’s two nieces. To spare embarrassment, I won’t reveal the lady’s name, but she works as a sales representative for a local builder’s merchants.

Not many people will have heard of Covers, where the “o” is pronounced as in "Dover," but the company is a family-owned Builder & Timber Merchants with 15 depots, spread across southern England. Covers works with the building trade and is also open to the public, and last year the company celebrated their 175^th anniversary. To commemorate this significant anniversary, Covers commissioned Powder Monkey Brewing of Gosport, Hants to produce a special brew, and it was a three-can, promotional pack of these beers that I received as a present, on Boxing Day.

The beers are packaged in appropriate 440 ml cans, designed with a typical “tradesmen” look, so as to appeal to builders, carpenters, plumbers and other tradespeople who make up the bulk of Covers’ customers. The beer itself is a “Tropical Pale Ale” with an abv of 4.6%.  Tasting notes on the rear of the can, describe the contents as “A soft and tropical beer with pillowy mouthfeel from oats in the malt body. There are dry hop additions of Galaxy and Idaho hops, which combine to create passion-fruit aromas, with notes of pineapple and peach.”

The beer was certainly heavily focussed on the aforementioned fruits, but my main gripe was its hazy appearance. It is obviously intended to be that way, as the bottom strap-line invites consumers to “Store Cold. Drink fresh. Naturally hazy.” An unfortunate statement, as I am becoming increasingly averse to beers that are designed to be hazy – naturally or otherwise! In addition, I can’t imagine your average bricklayer, chippy, roofer, or sparks, being over-enamoured at receiving a glass of murk. This is a shame, as the beer itself is very good – especially when first poured, and before the sediment has entered one's glass.

So, what about the brewery behind the beer? Powder Monkey Brewing started up, in 2019, and based themselves in an old Naval Gunpowder Store in Priddy's Hard, Gosport. The name Powder Monkey relates to the boys and girls who carried the gunpowder to the guns on board ships. The company produce a wide range of beers across a multitude of styles, although I can find no reference of the commemorative Covers beer on their website, nor indeed on Untappd. It was a good idea, and a nice thought too, from Eileen’s niece, although I will be interested to learn what her customers thought of the beer.

 

A quiet Monday night in Dundee

Even though the programme and the arrangements for my recent business trip to Dundee were virtually the same as the one my colleague and I made three years ago, this time around there was a major improvement, and it was all down to the choice and location of the hotel we stayed at. On the previous occasion we followed the organiser’s recommendation of the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel on the edge of the city. This meant we experienced very little of Dundee itself, so this time around, my colleague booked us rooms at the Hampton by Hilton, an excellent hotel, located in the city centre, and just 15 minutes’ walk from Dundee’s riverfront.

We travelled to Dundee to give a presentation to the sales team of our largest UK customer, who are based in the city. This formed part of what our customer termed, their “January Kick-Off Meeting,” and was an all-day event. Lunch and refreshments were provided, and the event was then followed by an evening meal and entertainment at the Invercarse Hotel, overlooking the Firth of Tay. There was a fancy-dress theme for the evening, but more about that later – perhaps!

Following the same pattern as three years ago, we travelled up the day before the meeting, taking an Easy Jet flight from Gatwick to Edinburgh and then collecting a hire car for the 90 minute drive to Dundee. We returned home, the day after the meeting, which meant three days in total, away from the office. I don’t need to go into more details than that, especially as I don’t wish to repeat myself, but if you really want to know more, you can read about that 2020 trip here

On the morning of our departure, I had a couple of hours spare, so I took a stroll down to the Dundee’s waterfront, overlooking the Firth of Tay. As well as wishing to get some exercise I also wanted to take a few photos during daylight hours, of the pub and the restaurant, we’d visited on our first night in the city. There was a strong, and rather cold, westerly wind blowing, and it wasn’t long before I regretted leaving my woolly hat in the hotel room. I carried on, even though a sensible person would have returned to retrieve it, and manged to get some decent shots of Tony Macaroni – the Italian restaurant we dined at, plus a couple of pubs.

The first of these was Dynamo, a craft beer bar that is part of the Six Degree North chain. The pub had been recommended by a member of the hotel staff, so it was disappointing to find it closed. It was a Monday evening, so perhaps trade is slack at the start of the working week, but despite it not selling any cask, it does gets a mention on CAMRA’s National Inventory, due to having an interior with some regional importance. Fortunately, the Trades House Bar, at the other end of Union Street, was open and impressed by its stained-glass windows, we stepped inside for a closer look.

We were greeted by an interior of high ceilings, supported by pillars, and a bar area divided up into a series of different drinking areas by carefully crafted, carved wooden partitions. There was some interesting cut glass, behind the bar counter, which combined with the woodwork, gave the impression of a solid and characterful, late 19^th Century pub. Belhaven Brewery was the pub’s owner, which effectively meant Greene King, and given the age and feel of the place, it was disappointing not to find any traditional cask ale on sale. Instead, there were a few offerings with a craft feel to them from the GK stable. I chose a 4% session IPA called Level Head, which was hoppy, with a touch of citrus fruitiness, and perfectly drinkable.

We sat at the bar like a couple of Americans, not exactly putting the world to rights, although we came up with a few suggestions for improving things at work. We only stayed for the one beer at the Trades House because we were keen to get something to eat. I noticed that the pub was serving food and mentioned this to my colleague, but his response was the menu was likely to be the standard Greene King fayre. He emphasised he would rather go somewhere that was independently owned, that served food that wasn’t just popped in the microwave and reheated, but instead bore the mark of the chef who created it.

I didn't argue, especially as he was the one with the expense account and the person holding the purse strings. Whilst we’d been sitting at the bar, he’d been looking at his phone and discovered there was an Italian restaurant on the next block. I was happy that we should give this place a try, especially as it was ages since I last dined out on Italian food. We left the Trades House, and walked the short distance to Tony Macaroni, not the most original name for an Italian restaurant but, as we discovered, still rather a good one.

Looking in through the large external windows, Tony’s eatery looked quite busy, and after stepping inside, we noticed that it was spacious and well laid out. After returning home, I discovered that Tony Macaroni operate a small chain of Italian restaurants right across central Scotland, with the odd outlier further north (Aberdeen), and also across the water in Northern Ireland. The group specialises in Italian cuisine, under the motto “Real Italian Food, Always Freshly Prepared.”

They certainly delivered on that last promise, as after being shown to our table, and ordering a couple of beers – Birrificio Angelo Poretti, in keeping with the Italian theme, we were soon tucking into our starters. I went for a bowl of minestrone soup, whilst my colleague opted for some fried chicken. I then had a main course of chicken risotto, whilst my companion had a pizza that was so large it overhung the rim of the plate. There was a nice ambience about the place, and as Dundee has a large student population, young people constituted the majority of the diners, but there were families too, as well as older people like ourselves.

Feeling too stuffed for a dessert, we rounded off the meal with an Irish Coffee each – not especially Italian, but a nice way to end the evening. We had an early start ahead of us, the following morning, so we skipped on the idea of a nightcap back at the hotel and retired instead to our respective rooms.