It’s the night before the all Ireland football final and RMTTB is dreaming of crisp sandwiches in Croke Park, washed down with creamy pints of Guinness in plastic glasses.  Is there a sweeter taste (other than the sweet, sweet taste of victory, of course)?

RMTTB has true blue blood running through our veins but we’re benched for tomorrow’s game and will be forced to enjoy the action from the confines of the parlour.  No Hill 16, no pre-match pints at Gaffneys and no crisp sambos.  Insert sad face here.

So what to do and what to drink?  Draught Guinness has been our match-day staple for so long and we’re not hugely enthused by its bottled counterpart.  We dropped into Martins in Fairview this afternoon for inspiration and left with a couple of Dublin porters to audition as match day brews for the stay-at-home fan.

First open is Guinness Dublin Porter and it’s… strangely disappointing.  Limply effervescent, like a dying cola, it’s bitter but not bitter enough and then goes flat & watery with a sour, malty after-taste.

Next up is the Celebration Stout from the Porterhouse brewing company.  It’s better.  Peppery, roasty, toasty with a lovely long finish.  Slight carbonation, somewhat thin-bodied but pleasant, although deceptively strong.  More than a match for our cheesy crisp sandwiches!

The last bottle we’ve chosen is Rascals Chocolate Ginger Porter.  This is a brew we’ve loved many, many times on draught.  It’s different in the bottle, not quite as creamy, but still retains that milky zing, good head and robust after-taste.  Of the three, it’s probably our favourite- on its own, but it doesn’t quite get on with the old crisp sambos.  And match day is as much about the white bread and Tayto as it is about the GAA.

So, on mature reflection, our winner is… the Celebration Stout, which we’ll be knocking back as we enjoy the match tomorrow.

Let’s hope for a vintage Dublin-Kerry display.  And just in case it doesn’t go our way, we’ve got a couple of bottles of Beoir Chorca Dhuibhne’s best stashed in the fridge as well!

COYBIB!