Sorry folks, the best ales blogs are being put on hold for a week or so, but I had a very roundabout walk, mostly cross-country, with my brother, Dan the Routemeister, from Berwick (not the one in North England/Scotland, that would have been roundabout!) but the Berwick in East Sussex, to Eastbourne; we covered about 18 miles, including getting a wee bit lost at one stage. Anyway, this is the land of the Long Man of Wilmington, aka the Giant of Wilmington, aka the Green Man, and so, the location of pubs selling ales from nearby Long Man Brewery (website).
Our first stop was at The Giant's Rest (website) in Wilmington, a very comfortable 'real pub', clean and bright with uncovered wooden floor boards, and friendly service. They provide B&B, sell what looks like very decent food, though we had a packed lunch with us, so I can only say it looked good (I have seen many good reviews though), and there were 2 ales on sale, from 4 handpumps, so plenty of potential! The 2 ales were both from Long Man Brewery, the 4% Best Bitter, and the 4.2% Copper Hop, which we drank, and what a gorgeous ale too, quenching our thirst suitably. The Copper Hop, brewed using Caramalt and Vienna Malt in the grist, was in very good form, a nice deep amber colour , very hoppy, and quite bitter, as I like 'em, cheers!
We then meandered a bit more, reaching The Eight Bells (website) in Jevington, after food had stopped being served, so I cannot comment on food again. This is another real pub in the country with friendly service (no Slaughtered Lamb!), and over 300 years old. Both The Giant's Rest and The Eight Bells have great gardens, and we decided to take our beers outside this time. 4 handpumps again, all being used; the ubiquitous Harveys Sussex Best and Adnams Broadside were on sale, plus 2 Long Man ales, Long Blonde and Copper Hop. Dan tends to follow my lead, so we both had the 3.8% Long Blonde, having already had the Copper Hop this day. This is a very pale and refreshing, light golden coloured, quite hoppy, and very easy to drink, happy again!
We then meandered a wee bit more, before walking at a faster pace once we got up on top of the ridge to Beachy Head, from there we walked back along the 2 mile-long promenade, into Eastbourne and The Dolphin (website) in South Street, near to the railway station. This is a Brakspear pub, which I was looking forward to, but, sadly, they'd sold out of their own ales! However, they did have 3 ales on from 4 or 5 handpumps (I think it was 5, but I didn't note this), including Sussex Best from Harveys and Long Man Long Blonde, and Dan again followed my example, so we tried the one I hadn't had before, from West Sussex brewer, Downlands, their 4.2% Day Tripper. The Day Tripper was a golden beer with a malty aroma, sweet at first and with a dry finish, not bad, but not really to my taste.
So, ale of the day was the Copper Hop, from brewer of the day, Long Man...
We should have finished our walk with the Long Blonde, but hey, cheers!
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