DNA on Draught?!

It was another one of those rare Friday evenings off work, I had some laundry to do which made for a wonderfully fun Friday night. I started doing my laundry at my parent's house in Walton-on Thames, after a disagreement with the local launderette... a long story. I planned to ride my bike to my parent's place with the good intention of putting my wash load on as soon as I arrived so the cycle would finish and I could dry it in the tumble dryer before going to bed that night.

Unfortunately I got a little side tracked at the bar after work. I'd been bought some beers, a couple of bottles of DNA to be precise. So I decided I would have them as soon as I finished, make them swift then have a bite to eat and ride straight to Walton do my laundry and meet my mates for a beer at a local pub. I ended up having a meaning I was running late and had to rush. My idea of sorting my laundry out went straight out the window, I could always sleep in my old bed and do it in the morning as I wasn't due to start work until 7pm so had plenty of time.

I rode my bike as fast as I could carrying my 15kg rucksack full of dirty laundry. I arrived incredibly sweaty, so much so that my mum didn't even want to give me a hug when she said hello to me. I put my things down, said hello and goodbye and left for the pub.

I assumed they'd be in the Swan's huge beer garden chilling with a beer right by the Thames' riverside. I went through the pub from the street so I could buy a beer before going out to the beer garden. I glanced about and ordered a Doombar but quickly changed my mind luckily before the barman had a chance to start pouring my beer. I noticed that they had DNA on tap. I immediately ordered one of those instead. I was quite shocked when my beer was put in front of me and the barman asked for £4.84 for the pint. What a ridiculous price and how steep too. I thought. In reality I handed over the money without fuss.

Over £4.80 for a pint of ale is verging on the extortionate price charged in some places for the fancy continental lagers, prices so astronomically high that the days of buying a pint for under £2.50 will seem like a million years ago. I recently paid £4.70 for a pint of Fuller's ESB which I struggled with the idea of but £4.84, oh my goodness.

I cannot deny the fact though, it is a marvellous beer, one that has certainly become my drink of choice at my pub.

Another thing that annoyed me about the beer, other than how expensive it was, was the glass. It quickly got on my nerves mainly because of its design. It has the same design that's on the bottle, the bright garish almost Caribbean themed (probably not really but I think it looks that way) label, complete with the jagged little black bit along the bottom. It was a dark dull autumnal evening and in the fading light my mind was tricked by that bloody black bit. Not only did I try and take a sip and there was nothing as the glass was empty, I did it three times. Perhaps it was cunning or maybe more likely because I had only eaten half of a vegetarian lasagne and drunk a few beers and rode my bike so fast that all the alcohol had gone straight to my head.