Whisky makes me frisky, Brandy makes me Randy, Beer I never touch

Ever since I have been 16 it has been painfully obvious to anyone that knows me that I am incapable of holding more than 3 pints of beer of any description.
As a young man wandering the watering holes of Newcastle it was always vital that my drinking strategy was worked out before the night was in progress as it was not unusual for most of my friends to go through the first 3 pints in the first 20 minutes of the night.
Drinking at the same speed of my friends and drinking partners left me with a night on the town that lasted about as long as a trip to the chippy and a very bad head the next morning.
After a while I learned that having 6 drinks a night was acceptable, and that if you claimed to be thirsty between each pint of beer you could have a Coke and make that last two or three rounds by pretending not to enjoy it and having to drink it very slowly.
This made my night of rounds go: Beer, Coke, Same Coke, Another Beer, Another Coke, and finish the same Coke and then one more beer. This strategy could stretch me around seven drinking rounds and take me from 7pm to about 10pm or 10.30pm.
It has always had it’s advantages too, I can have 3 of any kind of beer before this effect hits, and it has never cost too much to get myself pissed if the occasion arose.

I don’t know what it is about beer that does this to me as it really can’t be that I can’t handle alcohol content.
It isn’t unknown for me to drink a few bottles of wine in a night or a very great amount of Gin and be happy as a sunny day and bouncing round the next morning.
It would have been nice if there was the acceptance of wine when I was younger that there is now. I was sitting in The Phoenix in Stockton Heath (in picture to left of pizza express)last night with Chris, slowly sipping my third Guinness and knowing that there was going to be a ‘mild’ head the next morning when I noticed a group of lads come in and order bottles of wine and lots of glasses.
The group was about the same size as the group of drinkers that I used to travel round Newcastle with, they seemed to have the same sort of diverse sense of dress and they seemed to be having the same sort of general good time. But in my youthfull days the suggestion of a ‘bottle of wine’ and a few glasses may have had me sent to drink at the Barking Dog, which even in those days had it’s reputation of keeping your back to the wall.
I’m glad that the trend has changed and that there is a little more freedom to drink what you want, but I had to have a little smirk to myself as we walked out of the Phoenix. The group seemed to be entranced by a pretty blonde and they were giving her all their attention and she was lapping it up, but there at the far side of the table was a young lad looking a little lost and sipping his coke very slowly. That’s the modern me I thought, cant handle his wine, I wonder if he needs a beer?

Comments

[Tim the Enchanter]

Ian - slightly late in the day, but from the heart...Happy Birthday!

[AndyC]

I just need to say what a thoroughly well-written and interesting piece this was.

Thank you.

[Liz Marshall]

What about gin?

[Delightful]

It's so interesting how differently everyone reacts to different types of alcohol. I'm actually better with beer than with many types of liquor. Tequila is the worst. This was a great blog entry!

[Jason]

Beer doesn't have much of an effect on me, and I have to drink lots to get any effect - and I don't like drinking lots of fluids. So I prefer gin and tonic, or sparkling wine. Gets you there quicker, and tastes like pop. If I'm in the right mood I can drink maybe 2 - 3 glasses of red wine, with food (preferrable a lovely steak) and on occasion I've even had white wine - sometimes it's just the thing. But I've never really enjoyed whisky. I've tried many times to see what it is that whisky lovers taste, but it just doesn't happen for me. Maybe I'll grow into it when I'm a miserable old bugger. Here's hoping...

[Ian]

Being a MOB is a pre requisite of whisky enjoyment

[Mr. Mavin]

Is this the same Barking Dog just down from the old C.A.T. in Newcastle? Hmmmm frequented there alot ... but purely for the Pool Table .... and thats's proably just made it worse!