Wandering round Hastings and its environs...Part I

What with all the good news about beer duty, and following a bit of a hint by a fellow customer at the Dolphin, I thought I'd start reassessing beer prices in Hastings, and anywhere else I visit.  So, where better to start my research, than at the pub that sells its own ales, where you would expect a bargain, hence, to the First In Last Out, or FILO, to the initiated, and joy! Mike and Sharon, the landlord and landlady, were in attendance this side of the bar, so I had a good chat with Mike, but Sharon had her attention more drawn by other customers, sadly for me.

There are now 6 real ales and a real cider at the FILO, 4 of their own, which were the Cardinal, Old Town Tom, Churches Pale Ale, and the 3.8% very good session bitter Crofters (£3.00 a pint), that I had a pint, and a half of, cheers Mike.  The 2 guest ales were Westerham British Bulldog, a "bronze, malty, hoppy" 4.3% bitter, and my old favourite, Dark Star Hophead at £3.30 a pint. The real cider was the locally sourced 5.5% Laughing Jester.

The FILO is holding a beer festival for the Easter weekend, starting on Thursday 28th March, in the evening.  Mike assured me there would be a variety of very interesting ales from independent breweries, sounds like a must go to me!

The Dolphin was where this quest had all started, following their increasing the price of ales by 20p a pint, sounds harsh, but they hadn't increased prices when the brewers had earlier in the year, and they were envisaging the Chancellor increasing prices significantly; we'll wait and see if there are any more changes in their pricing structure to come.  Anyway, all their ales are now £3.50 a pint, which is a bit expensive for Hophead etc, but a good deal locally for the stronger ales.  Changes to ales since my last mention are the Portobello Star being replaced by Great Yorkshire Yorkshire Golden, a 4.2% rather malty pale golden ale, and the Trade Winds has been replaced by Okell's Castletown, a pale and very easy to drink, as in quite nice thank you, 4% bitter.  

For this blog, the Hastings Arms was visited as well, and, incidentally, they have already taken over the Smugglers Inn at Pett Level, opening on Wednesday just gone. Good to see them keeping on both pubs, and excellent to see the Smugglers coming back to life, for now, opening at 12.00 daily, and no food there yet, but selling Fullers London Pride, Harveys Sussex Best and Sharps Doom Bar.

 

However, back to the Hastings Arms, and 4 Shepherd Neame ales, the regular Bishops Finger (5% and £3.60) and Kents Best (4.1%), and two seasonal ales, Early Bird (4.3%) and I drank the 4% Double Stout at £3.60 a pint.  This was a surprise to me, plenty of flavour, full flavoured, but slightly thin, as I'd expected at 4%, but certainly a very nice pint!

 

So, for now, the FILO leads as selling the best value ale in Hastings, but more to come in Part II, and at least Part III, cheers in the interim!

The Scot invades Hastings

My mate, Jeff MacDonut, stayed with me a couple of days, which meant I had to show him some of the delights of Hastings and its environs... I met him at the station early afternoon on Monday, but had enough time to have a quick pint of Youngs Special, bought from the lovely Ellen behind the bar this time, sadly, at the recently refurbished and reopened General Havelock...

So, I went and met Jeff, dragged him back the 5 minute walk to my place (he was thirsty, so in a hurry to drink), dropped off his bag, and we immediately returned to the General Havelock via the bank.  Jeff had a pint of Special, this time I had Wye Valley HPA, and Jeff was dead impressed by Ellen too, but for a different reason to mine...

We then rushed along the front, being pushed by the wind and rain, nipped up George Street, and visited the Hastings Arms, which Jeff really liked, calling it a "Working Class" pub, happy that the bloke behind the bar said we could come back later, however drunk, provided we didn't start a fight in there, "US?!?"  Haha, anyway, we moved on from there and I had a pint of Dark Star Hophead at the Dolphin, which was incredibly quiet this afternoon.

We then walked up All Saints Street to the Stag, where Jeff was impressed, again, by the barman, this time, and the ales and interior of the building.  When we left, we crossed The Bourne to the High Street and dropped down to the First In Last Out, knocking on my mate John's window to wave at him as we passed, he'll be happy with that!  In the FILO, John's good mate, Paul, was quickly finishing his beer as we entered (maybe he had an early warning from John we were on our way), had a quick chat before he scurried off, and chatted to Tony, the manager/brewer whilst supping a lovely pint of his Church IPA (Jeff had chosen his porter, Cardinal).    

So, on leaving the FILO, we were feeling a bit weary, but ventured back across The Bourne to the Cinque Ports, where we had our final pint (Fullers ESB, lovely jubbly), before returning back to eat and sup some Leffe Blonde with our meal.  Cheers!

Hastings 1 - Old Town, West Side

Yesterday, visited the Old Town, Hastings, really the medieval part of Hastings, a little along from where the Normans first set up shop at the castle (above where I now live), and where the 2 oldest churches in Hastings now sit on the East and West Hills of The Bourne (was a stream, now a road).

The First In Last Out (FILO), a cracking pub with its own micro brewery, was inside the pub, but now moved up the hill to a new home. No food for now, as the kitchen has been moved within the pub out to the back, and should be ready by the end of March (looking forward to my next meal there). Above you see the focus of the pub, the very interesting and positively addictive fireplace, with Elaine at the bar. Also, met Mike, the landlord, and Tony, the manager, for the first time in a while.

The ales at the FILO above, 4 of their own ales and one guest ale is the usual offering. My favourite, Gold, wasn't on the bar on this day, but the Crofters is a great session bitter, and the newer Church Pale Ale (10p a pint goes towards the Church, I believe), a paler bitter.

Finally, for this blog, the Jenny Lind, just down the road from the FILO, 5 ales on at any time, all well known; Directors, Old Peculiar, Betty Stogs, Doom Bar and Wainwrights.