Irish Americans are stereotypically dubbed world class drinkers, but the Scots have put them to shame on their home turf of Boston as they literally drank bars dry before and after their country’s World Cup match over the weekend.
Scottish patrons emptied bars and liquor stores of Corona, Budweiser, Coors, seltzers, ciders, and Tennent’s Lager, Scotland’s most popular beer, according to interviews with business owners by the Boston Globe.
“We’ve been here for over 30 years, and we’ve never seen anything like it,” said Noelle Somers, chief operating officer at Hennessy’s Bar in downtown. “We tripled St. Patrick’s Day.”
Some bars, like McBride’s Irish Pub in Providence, didn’t foresee so many visitors because its location outside of downtown. Their expectations were greatly exceeded starting on Friday.
“They’re drinking everything,” said McBride’s co-owner Jennifer Monastesse.
Saturday arrived with the same intensity as fans left nearby Airbnbs early and headed for Boston Stadium. After Scotland’s 1-0 victory over Haiti, McBrides was jammed and a bagpiper showed up to play out front.
Scottish soccer fans affectionately called the “Tartan Army” took over other pubs and eateries from Thursday through Sunday and also took in a Red Sox game at Fenway Park.
According to NBC:
Sam Adams says its Boston Taproom ran out of Samuel Adams Boston Lager over the weekend because Scottish soccer fans drank it dry. From Thursday to Sunday, it said the Tartan Army drank four times as much Boston Lager as it normally sells during a typical four-day holiday stretch like the Fourth of July. The company had to schedule an emergency delivery on Saturday morning just to keep up.
In Boston’s financial district, Federal Wine & Spirits in the told the Globe it sold out of Budweiser and Corona on Saturday. Patrons literally drank the doors off one of its refrigerators as it broke from being opened and closed so many times.
And as legendary New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra would tell Bostonians if he were still around, “It ain’t over ’till it’s over.”
Boston bars are stocking up and getting ready.
Scotland is next scheduled to play Morocco at Boston Stadium in Foxborough on Friday.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.