The Offie, Leicester

After work last night I drove over to The Offie on Clarendon Park Road, Leicester.
It's a specialist beer seller stocking over 500 different beers from around the world.

I was met at the door by the shops lugubrious owner Muree Squires, a man who likes a natter as much as he likes a beer.
Muree wandered around the store with me chatting and pointing out beers he thought I might find interesting.
On the shelves are some pretty expensive drinks - Brew Dog's Abstrakt 06 and Tokyo, Thornbridge's Bracia and a few heftily priced American imports. We talked about them but at no point did he try to make me spend anything at all.
It was a very clever ruse.
I spent a few quid.

I lined up my chosen purchases on the counter and we started adding up the cost.
All the while we talked.
Of beer, of Leicester, of CAMRA and its ways.
And we laughed.
We laughed a lot.
Muree is a man who likes to drink beer, and talk, and laugh.
It took longer to have my purchases totted up and for me to pay than it had for me to browse the shop.

Go and visit The Offie, it's a real treat and its owner is a very nice man indeed.
But be warned, time will stand still and you'll come out with your pockets much lighter.

The Offie is on Clarendon Park Road, it's open from (usually a bit after) 4.30pm until 9pm Sunday to Thursday, from (a bit after) 4.30pm to 10pm on Fridays and from 11.30am (or nearer 12) until 10pm on Saturdays.

The Offie website