South East Sussex POTY again!

Congratulations, yet again, to Louisa at the Tower, London Road, St Leonards, Hastings, for winning the local CAMRA Pub of the Year again! I've made 2 trips there recently, just to make sure, of course, nothing to do with excellent ales at good value prices, oh no... Anyway, both trips 6 ales from handpumps, none more expensive than £3 a pint, can't be bad, and all in good nick too!

The ales are mostly from local brewers, her 2 regulars being the excellent, and Sussex brewed, Dark Star (website) Hophead (3.8% and £2.80/pint) and American Pale Ale (APA, 4.7% and £2.90/pint). Other local-ish ales were Gun (website) Scaramanga (3.9%) an extra pale refreshingly light bitter, Long Man (website) Copper Hop (4%), a more typical bitter which I have reported on a few times before and very good, and Pig & Porter (website) Skylarking (4%) a refreshing pale golden bitter hopped with Ella and Galaxy, so hints of exotic fruits.

And, from further afield, Derby brewer Shiny (website) Pail (4%) brewed with Ella and Cascade hops, pale and lovely and bitter, Yorkshire brewer Ilkley (website) Rombald (which was £3 a very fair pint and 4.6%) a hoppy 'American' amber ale brewed with Cascade, Chinook, Nugget and Columbus hops with a biscuit malt flavoured base, and, from even further afield in Scotland, Fyne Ales (website) Maverick (4.2%) a reddish copper coloured bitter brewed with Bramling Cross and Challenger hops, always good ales from Fyne Ales!

But, not only did the Tower win the POTY for ales, but for Ciders and Perry too, nice one! Ciders included Orchard Pig Explorer (4.5%), Biddenden Bushels (6%), a favourite of a Scottish mate Jeff, Westons Old Rosie (7.3%) and Old Badger (I think, can't read my own writing! 4%), and their Country Perry (4.5%), and priced between £3.10 and £3.40 a pint... I can remember paying 25p a pint at the old Cider Bar in Newton Abbot in my youth!

Oh yes, and ales shortly to come on, if not already available, include excellent ales from Oakham Ales (Endless Summer), Fyne Ales (Highlander), Downlands (IPA), and Franklins Citra, enjoy them if you see them, you lucky people!

My Local Pub of the Year update, Hastings

Borrowed, and edited, from a contribution to the Steve on Hastings blog...

The Tower

I recently walked up to the current 2015 South East Sussex CAMRA 'Pub of the Year', the Tower, on the corner of London and Tower Roads in Bohemia (251 London Road TN37 6NB). As ever, it was a pleasure to see Louisa the landlady, to meet up with a few friends I hadn't seen for a while, and drink some excellent ales at good value prices, and I hadn't been up there for a while...  

6 real ales (and 4 ciders, £3.10-3.40 a pint), mostly local to Sussex/Kent too, including 2 excellent regular ales from Dark Star, ie Hophead (£2.80 a pint) and American Pale Ale, (£2.90), both of which I've talked about at length many times before, and a refreshing pale offering from 1648, the 3.7% Hop Pocket (£2.90). Also, 2 dark ales, Titanic Plum Porter (4.5%, £3) and Arundel Smokehouse Porter (6%, £3.20), and a 'red ale', Isfield Ethelred (4.4%, £3 a pint), which was certainly not unready! 

Much more to come soon, cheers!

ALBATROSS! A return visit...

It's been a while since I've walked the 10 mile round trip along the seafront to the Albatross Club (RAFA) in Bexhill, but great to return! Following Geoff's departure, it is now run by Head Steward Karen, with Peter as her very able assistant.

4 real ales on still, and all at £3 a pint. 2 I drank on the day, and 2 I didn't, though 1 of those I have had a few times before, ie the very easy to drink pale session ale, Franklins English Garden (3.8%). The other was the 4.9% Weltons Red Cross Mild, close to St George's Day as it was...

The 2 I enjoyed on the day were the 4.5% Boadicea Ale from Rother Valley, a very good golden beer with a hint of caramel from the malt, and nice dry and bitter finish; I had more than 1 pint! Also very good was the dangerous 6% Pig & Porter Disgraceful Behaviour (not a portent on the day), smooth, rich, loadsa body, very very dark, with a dry coffee/nutty aroma and flavour, and a dry finish, nice one! 

They also sell a good range of ciders in bottles and 'real' from boxes too, cheers!   

Congratulations to Louisa at the Tower!

Congratulations to Louisa, and her colleagues at the Tower, London Road, Bohemia, for winning the local South East Sussex CAMRA 2015 Pub of the Year, and Cider Pub of the Year too, nice one, or two! I've known Louisa, the manager at the Tower, for 3 years now, and can honestly say that I've never had a bad pint there. In fact, she has brought this pub into CAMRA reckoning by maintaining ales in excellent condition, with many local Sussex ales too, along with excellent value. 

Consequently, I have been writing about the Tower for 3 years now, and have had a look back over my blogs to help with this one. However, I didn't really need to, because Louisa has continued to sell good quality and good value ales. I first noted the cheapest ale as £2.30 a pint in 2012, now it is still usually just £2.60 a pint, a fair comparison relative to other pubs regarding changes in pricing, but still so much better value than most, and in lined glasses ('spoons apart for price!). The Tower has also been in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide for 2 years now. 

Also, that early 'cheapest' ale was the excellent Sussex brewed Dark Star Hophead (3.8%) at £2.30 a pint, and the other virtual regular from Dark Star brewery (website) American Pale Ale (APA, 4.7%) at £2.40 a pint. They were both on for my most recent visit this week at £2.70 a pint and £2.80 a pint respectively, great stuff!  

Over those 3 years, Louisa has also added 2 handpumps from the 4 when I first visited, meaning usually at least 4 regularly changing ales in addition to the 2 virtual regulars. Other ales on this week were the even more local Franklins (website) Pudding Stout (4.2%); from the North West, Robinsons Voodoo Dawn (3.9%), a 'deep red ale'; and from South Yorkshire, Abbeydale Accent Compensation (4.1%), a pale bitter.   

Oh yes, and the 6th ale on this visit, from Peterborough, was the excellent Oakham Bishops Farewell (£2.90 a pint), 4.6% of pale hoppy, citrus fruity, dry and bitter ale. I've written so often about this ale, as I have the Dark Star pair, that I really don't have anything else to add, except, I continue to love drinking them! 

And to add to Louisa's collection of awards was the local Cider Pub of the Year! She sells 2 keg ciders, Strongbow and Symonds Founders Reserve, and 2 real ciders, as can be seen from the photograph. There is Shepton Mallet Somerset Snuffler (4.8%), and the legendary Westons Old Rosie, 7.3% and dangerous!   

Congratulations Lou!

Top 20 pubs Part II

This covers numbers 11 to 15 from my list (see the previous blog for 16-20), and doesn't have the domination of Devon pubs this time, but has more pubs from the South East of England. However, number 11 is a Devon pub... 

So, this blog's Devon pub and number 11 is The Bridge Inn at Topsham (website), the village being on the River Exe, though The Bridge is actually by a bridge over a smaller river, the Clyst. This is a historic inn, much of it built in the 16th century, though the family that run the pub have only been here since 1897! The Queen visited the pub in 1998, though I also have memories of the Queen Mother visiting, and pouring a pint, quite a few years previous. I first visited in 1985 with my ex-wife, Julie, whilst working and living in Exeter, when I was presented with my first ever beer 'menu'. Other memories of that first visit included listening to 2 farmers whose dialect meant neither of us could understand what they were saying, so not really listening at all, and that in those days it closed at 10.30pm (Winter Time, so out of tourist season).  

This is a crackin' old building, full of atmosphere, with the staff serving up to 9 ales fetched directly from the cellar, as they are 'pulled' by gravity straight from the cask, plus they have real ciders; they also have a newer extension at the back where some ales are also served by handpump, but this is from a seasonally opened separate bar. Ales available are regularly from local microbreweries, and the one regular ale is the 3.8% Branscombe Vale Branoc. I have visited The Bridge Inn many times, either by driving here, or by catching the train direct from Exeter, consequently allowing for proper drinking at this and other pubs in Topsham. However, I haven't visited for some time, and believe it is a different generation of the family in charge now, who I do hope to visit and drink with very soon! 

At number 12 is the Kelham Island Tavern in Sheffield (website), a pub resurrected by Trevor and Lewis in 2002, having been closed for quite a while (I seem to remember it being called the Swan or something, though happy to be corrected). Since then, they have won the Sheffield CAMRA Pub of the Year many times, no mean feat in Sheffield, and are the current 2014 PotY! Indeed, during those 12 years they have also TWICE won the National CAMRA Pub of the Year, an even greater feat... So, what have they got to offer? 13 real ales, many from local microbreweries, indeed, 3 of their 4 regular ales are from Sheffield brewers, including from Bradfield Brewery, where my old colleague at Kelham Island Brewery (round the corner from the pub, but no connection business-wise), Paul, now works.  

But it's more than that... They serve excellent ales, real ciders, decent food, have live music and other events, and I have fond memories of winning a few quid at dominoes here too. They have also created a friendly warm pub, where women feel happy to visit, though also the real ale brigade too, plus many other regulars and visitors in a rather eclectic mix. Indeed, when I visited earlier this year, I had the usual amusing 'hello' from Dave behind the bar, don't ask, and a good chat with Trevor too, and I also knew quite a few folk there, and not just the 2 lads I came in with. Oh yes! They have a 'no swearing' policy, with heavy fines for those who flout the mores. So, I have been back recently, and felt as welcome as ever, and I do need to return again before I die, hopefully many many times! 

OK, back to the 3 pubs in the South East, starting with The Snowdrop Inn in Lewes (website) at number 13, and in Sussex actually. This is a great pub, and I've been to The Snowdrop on quite a number of occasions, alone and with friends and/or family, mostly to do with long walks, being a 'tourist', or just a Lewes 'pub crawl', and also before and after football matches at Albion's newish ground in Falmer (next station on the line to Brighton). Crackin' staff, including some very interesting lasses, good food, beer festivals and well conditioned ales, why wouldn't you want to return?  

So, to the ales, a very important factor, and the new 'kid on the block', well, not so new now, but certainly, in my opinion, the current best brewer of pale and hoppy ales in East Sussex, Burning Sky, provide the regular ales here now; so expect to see at least Plateau and Aurora pumpclips on the bar, and probably one of their 'crafty kegs' too. Also, served in specially manufactured 'lined' straight glasses with the names of Burning Sky and The Snowdrop Inn on opposite sides of the glass; I'm looking forward to their next beer festival, and trusting I shall be able to purchase one of these glasses, as suggested to me by bar staff recently; OK I've a few glasses already, but these ones are quality. Anyway, up to 6 excellent ales, real cider, good food, friendly staff etc etc... this is a pub I want to return to again and again!  

Across the border to Kent now, and the Red Lion in Snargate is at number 14, and which I believe my last blog that included comments referring to it was the one about pubs with no keg beers, but that isn't the only reason why... The Red Lion is another 16th century pub, with a farm next door and a church opposite, and not much else around, but the population of Snargate is listed as 102 persons, so I'm guessing there are some other farms and houses thereabouts that aren't so obvious. One of its charms is that it is in the middle of nowhere, in-between Walland and Romney Marshes, and the closest you can get to it by public transport is a little over a mile to the south at Brenzett, and next is 2 miles to the north at Appledore.

Another charm is the building, of course, with a captivating room at the back, and much more, evidence of this being a museum to the past, certainly to the 1940s; you have to visit to see it and appreciate what I mean.  This has been in the same family's hands for a little over 100 years, and is known locally, and further afield, as Doris's, the landlady being the daughter-in-law of the original family owner I do believe. However, her own daughter is more likely to be serving up your ales these days, both lovely people. The ales you'll be served will probably be from a local microbrewery like Goachers, and are served from the 4 handpumps on the antique marble bar, plus a couple of real ciders. I've not been for a while, so shall have to organise another wander into the marshes of Kent very soon. 

Back across to Sussex and the 15th pub on the list is The Evening Star (website), just a couple of minutes walk from the railway station in Brighton, and the 'flagship' pub of Dark Star Brewery. As I've said before, I first tasted Dark Star Hophead when I lived in Sheffield, quite a few years ago now, and have even acquired the nickname of 'Hophead Steve' in the Dolphin in Hastings, for some reason, since moving to the South Coast... One of the first places I visited when in Brighton following many years absence had to be The Evening Star, of course, and I have returned, a few times since, to this unpretentious hostelry. 

Obviously, I'm going to say excellent ales are served up here, ie 7 ales from handpump (plus usually a perry and cider); 4 ales usually being from Dark Star, and another 3 guest ales. The bar staff really do know their business, and regularly are involved with the brewery, and involved in collaborative brews with other brewers, such as Magic Rock and Brodies. Always friendly, with an eclectic mix of customers and, following an earlier in the day visit to the beer festival in Hove one year, I was tolerated by virtually everyone in here, staff and punters alike! Consequently, of course I want to return again... 

Cheers for now, numbers 6 to 10 coming up soon, with an even greater variation of pub and from 5 different cities and towns! 

Another Beer Festival starting tomorrow! In Hastings this time...UPDATED 17th April

For this weekend, From Thursday 17th in the evening to Monday 21st of April, though I doubt all the planned ales will still be available by Easter Monday, and to be held at the First In Last Out (FILO), High Street, Hastings 'Old Town', East Sussex TN34 3EY. The 'festival' ales will be sold in the room at the back, and FILO's own ales will be available at the bar, of course...  

The photograph below shows last years offerings, but this year include: 

FILO Mike's Mild (3.4%) 

Elgoods Spring Challenge (3.7%) 

Moles Moles Gold (3.8%)
Dark Star Seville (4%) 

Hammerpot This England (4%) 

Elgoods Golden Newt (4.1%) 

Roosters 41 degrees South (4.1%) 

Hopback Spring Zing (4.2%) 

Lymestone Flagstone (4.2%) 

St George's Midas (4.4%) 

Wharfebank Golden Ticket (4.5%) 

Cairngorm Wild Cat (5.1%) 

As you can see, ales from all over the country, and many typical of the month, ie Spring and St George's Day 'specials', plus FILO Crofters Best, Churches Pale Ale, Old Town Tom (flavoured with ginger), Cardinal Sussex Porter and Gold in the main bar. No doubt a couple of surprises will appear on the bar, indeed, today (17th) there is Nine Standards Silver Standard (4.3%), plus 2 real ciders will be available as well: Westons 1st Quality and Thatchers Cheddar Valley, plus food...

Thursday evening 18.00-20.30 Indian Thali. 

Friday and Saturday evenings 18.00-21.00 Hot bar snacks. 

Monday evening 18.00-20.30 Tapas.

Friday, Saturday and Monday Lunchtimes 12.00-14.30 Regular FILO menu. 

Not sure when the Beermeister will be there, but it has to be done and enjoyed, cheers! 

The FILO's own website is www.thefilo.co.uk 

www.drinkaware.co.uk

Bexhill Beer Festival Part IV (Final Resolution)

OK, back to Bexhill for the second day, and a new pale hoppy bitter had been put on upstairs in the Club bar, ie Lacons Affinity, a 4.5% fruity bitter, not bad at all, but not on a par with the 3 mentioned at the end of the previous blog, which I had to try again before comparing beers, of course, if only for scientific purpose... Anyway, here goes for the darker beers... 

I started from the weakest again, and one that others had spoken with great warmth about yesterday, whilst dunking bourbon biscuits in their pints (true!), the Sonnet 43 Brewery Bourbon Milk Stout (4.3%). Yes, the biscuits did work with this stout, very pleasant, though I didn't 'dunk', just ate a few. However, I found it a bit 'thin', hardly surprising as it was the weakest stout/porter here. Then I tried the very good 4.8% Deeply Dale Breakfast Stout, which had much more body. lovely and well-balanced, and a wee bit bitter too, it hit the spot!

Actually, I came to find that the 4 darker beers downstairs were all very good, and not too much to chose between them really. The next 2 had mucho body, the Londinium (5.5%), brewed by Roosters Brewery, was very well balanced again, I tasted more coffee than the tasting notes suggested, too easy to drink at the strength though! The final stout I drank was the impressive 7.4% Russian Rouble, brewed by Flipside Brewery, another very good beer, if a wee bit too sweet for me. I liked them all! 

I had to try the 3 real ciders too, it would have been very poor not to, and quite a few visitors to the beer festival, certainly seemed to be here for the cider, not the ales! Memories of the old Cider Bar in Newton Abbot came to mind, in the days when I first went there and they still had only 3 draught ciders, before their expansion in the 1980s, and, like there then, Geoff had brought in dry, medium and sweet ciders. So a good choice, and all 3 certainly were true rough-ish ciders, one was even called a 'scrumpy', the 'dry' PalmersHayes Kneebender Scrumpy (6%), which, like they all did, did what it said on the label, it was dry and real cider, indeed, very good!

The other 2 were similarly true to their labels, the 'medium' cider, Hancock's Real Devon Cider (6.5%), was also quite dry really, and very nice (I could have drunk this all day if there hadn't been ales to drink). The stronger 'sweet' cider was the cloudier Gwatkin Yarlington Mill Cider (7.5%), which was certainly a wee bit sweetish, but with a nice dry aftertaste. All in all, 3 pretty decent real ciders reminiscent of my years living in the West Country, cheers! 

Anyway, I changed my mind and gave the Derventio Cleopatra (5%) the winners certificate, well, there wasn't a certificate, but you get the meaning... after resting the night and certainly developing, and my directly tasting all the leaders from the day before, it just shaded it from the Niamh's Nemesis (5.7%)in second place; with Deeply Vale Breakfast Stout (4.8%) coming in third, best of the stouts! As regular readers will know, I do like hoppy bitter beers, so this may not surprise them...

An excellent beer festival, indeed, and another will be held very soon at the First In Last Out in Hastings (more to come very soon, as it will be held over the Easter weekend), I shall be able to stand back and make more critical judgement as I'll not be working there, unlike I did at the Bexhill festival, cheers!

5th Bexhill Beer Festival 4-6 April 2014

The 5th Bexhill Beer Festival is to be held at The Albatross Club (Royal Air Force Association), 15 Marina Arcade, Bexhill-on-Sea TN40 1JS, at the end of this week, with free admission to all of legal age!  

Friday 4th April, 11am - 11pm 

Saturday 5th April, 11am - 11pm 

Sunday 6th April, 11am - 7pm.

All real ales will be £3 a pint; £1.50 a half-pint; £1 a third-pint... Planned ales: 

5 Towns Niamh's Nemesis 'IPA' 

Big Hand First Hand 

Dancing Duck 22 

Dark Star Seville 'Spanish Orange Bitter' 

Deeply Vale Breakfast Stout 

Dervento Cleopatra 'Pale Apricot' 

Flipside Russian Rouble 

Hand Drawn Monkey What would Jephers Do? 

Heavy Industry 77 'Big Amber IPA' 

Hopstar Lush 'Copper' 

Kirkstall Pale 

Red Willow Headless 

Rooster's Londinium 'Coffee Porter' 

Sonnet 43 Brown Ale 

Also, bottled 'craft' beers from Tiny Rebel Brewery at £3.50, including Fubar, Urban IPA and Hadouken, and 3 real ciders at £3 a pint; £1.50 a half; £1 a third-pint.

Great ales, excellent value, and good company too! 

www.drinkaware.co.uk

Reading, Berkshire, not reading the GBG...

This is a collaborative effort by 2 Guest Bloggers, both called Robert, both from Sheffield, but supporters of rival football clubs, the Owls and Blades... Not bad for me to bring them together, though I don't think they have ever met each other, despite me knowing them both from different areas of my past life up in t'North. What they have in common, apart from both knowing me, is a love of football and real ale, a great combination for the Beermeister Blog, indeed! The most recent visitor (very recently) was Rob the Owl, who passed on details of The Alehouse, Broad Street GR1 2BH, which Bob the Blade (also happy enough to be called "Rob", but I need to differentiate a bit here) has told me is his favoured first port of call when in Reading.

The Alehouse (website), formerly called the Hobgoblin, is an "excellent pub, just 5 minutes from the railway station" reports Rob, where he enjoyed drinking a "nice pint of Havant Decided, a 3.8% hoppy IPA style of beer". This is a small pub with wee little "nooks and crannies" away from the bar, allowing for children, dogs and mobile phones to be 'tolerated' at the pub, because they are banned from the bar itself! There are 8 handpumps providing real ales from microbreweries, 3 dedicated to the 'locale' West Berkshire brewery (website), and 5 rapidly changing guest ales. 2 keg 'craft' beers (my last view of the website showed from Art Brew and Magic Rock breweries), cider, perry and mead are also available, and a fair selection of bottled Belgian beers too. 

Bob added that he would then move on to the Nag's Head, Russell Street RG1 7XD. The Nag's Head (website) is a "friendly pub with loads of pumps, good food, but best of all, they lay on a double decker bus to and from the Madejski Stadium for about £3. Straight back to the pub after the match!" There are 12 handpumps serving up constantly changing real ales from mostly local breweries, and usually more than a dozen varieties of real cider and perry, plus an eclectic mix of bottled beers. 

Cheers Rob and Bob!   

Swinging from the scaffold with a flagon of ale in each hand...

... not really, though the scaffold's still up, but even more great ales! Latest, at The Tower, St Leonards, with 4 great pale hoppy bitters!  2 from Hop Back Brewery, the famous Summer Lightning (5%), and the lemon grass flavoured Taiphoon (4.2%), which I hadn't drunk for a while, so I gave a pint a try.  It had a maltier flavour than I remember, maybe I'm just getting too used to the excellent pale and hoppier ales now brewed by Dark Star, amongst many others. So, I also drank a pint of Dark Star Hophead (3.8%) at £2.40 a pint, and more than one of the excellent American Pale Ale (APA, 4.7%) at £2.50, and had a good chat with Louisa, the landlady, cheers!

Louisa also suggested I note these upcoming ales from Hastings Brewery, apparently, single hopped beers "handmade" by Brett, a regular drinker at the Tower. Both of these use Australian hops: No4 Australian Blonde Ale (4.4%), which was brewed using Ella hops, and No5 Hop Forward Pale Ale (4.8%), which used Galaxy hops.  If I do get the chance to try either of these ales, I'll write up about them, and it looks like I must have already missed 3 of the brews... 

Back at the Dolphin, Rock-a-Nore, Hastings Old Town, down opposite the fishermen's working beach, the same regular 4 ales have been available, and I have started getting much more into the Dark Star APA, though still have been drinking the Hophead too, both excellent.  2 other ales of note that have been on sale there very recently include Triple fff Moondance, a nice pale 4.2% bitter, with citrus flavours and nose, initially a sweet taste, with a drying out on the palate, and a bitter finish, "sweet & sour" beer, nice one! Also, on Sunday in particular, I've drunk a few pints of an ale I've reported on before, and it is still outstanding, ie Salopian Hop Twister, 4.5%, obviously hoppy, tasting of grapefruit, with good body, and a very dry and bitter finish, love it!

I've visited the First In Last Out (FILO), High Street, Hastings, a couple of times too, and have grown back into their own FILO Gold (4.8%), amongst their own 5 ales on sale; they have had Dark Star Hophead on too, a good choice for the summer, which appears to have arrived.  Anyway, the Gold is a nice pale golden bitter with plenty of body, and you know you've had a drink too. I was even talked into helping out as a traffic 'marshall' in the old town for Pirate Day (last Sunday, 21st) by Adam there, and I had a couple of pints of Gold after 7 hours standing in the sun, Hastings does love to dress up and 'party', cheers Adam!

Finally, for this blog, I had a pint of Palmers Dorset Gold (4.5%) in the Jenny Lind, further down High Street, with the wee Pre-Raphaelite, Sarah serving up. The Dorset Gold is another pale dry golden full-bodied bitter, but don't let the aroma put you off, it's a decent beer... Oh, and, for a change, I've included a photograph of their cider pump clip, with the locally produced Trappers Laughing Jester (Pear) Cider, it tastes like ciders should taste from my memory of living in Devon, nice one.

Cheers!

Tuesday 13 November 2012 - Icklesham and real fires again.

More real fires and real ale in Icklesham this time, a dreary day, so a good reason to seek out real fires, and where better than this East Sussex village?  First stop the Queens Head...

 

A few fires in here, but I only photographed the one below, it's not so easy to take decent photographs in old pubs away from windows, and with my mobile phone too; I'll have to remember to bring my camera with me!  Anyway, there were ales too, of course, including Greene King Abbot Ale and IPA, Rother Valley RWB (all ales I've already written about or that are well known), Long Man Long Blonde (3.8%, pale golden hoppy ale), and Harveys Sussex Best and Old Ale (4.3%, dark seasonal ale)  Both of the male staff members have joined in 'Movember' with impressive moustaches, good stuff, though unlikely to ever see me with one, though I have 'sponsored'. 

I also met someone here from Long Man Brewery, great to be able to put faces to brewery peeps!  Then I wandered back to the main road and followed it westwards to the Robin Hood, another delightful old pub...

...and I was very pleased to meet up with Fred, on this side of the bar, always a good conversationalist, and I'd been a bit worried about him, not having seen him for quite a while, a real fire, of course, and Darcy and Debbie behind the bar, always good too.

2 ciders from handpumps, Westons Old Rosie and Wyldwood Vintage Organic Cider, both at 7.3%, and five real ales. Available were Brains The Rev James (4.5%), Triple fff Pressed Rat & Warthog (3.8%), Wychwood Hobgoblin (4.5%), and the two I drank from Full Moon Brewery, ie Hop Dance and Red Pacific.  The Red Pacific is a 4.8% full bodied deep red coloured bitter, and the Hop Dance is an easier drinking pale bitter at 3.9%, both good examples of a seasonal ale and a 'session' bitter.

 

Cheers!

1st November - The Bricklayers Arms, Putney

A trip to London, mostly to help out my brother, but we managed to slip in a crackin' couple of pints at his/my new Putney local, The Bricklayers. 

As I've no doubt said before, The Bricklayers has 12 ales and a cider served from handpump; incidentally, there were ciders and perries left from the small cider festival held here at the weekend, and a spare handpump, so just the 11 ales to chose from and loadsa cider, 'just'.  I'll mention Potton Brewery in Bedfordshire, because they had 4 of their ales on, and I've never had an ale from there before, hadn't even heard of them actually: Penny Bitter (4%), Potton Gold Bitter (4.1%), The Village Bike (4.3%), and Shannon IPA (3.6%). Of course, there were quite a few other ales on, so we had to try a couple...

 

... and these were the 2 we drank, not because they were next to each other, so easy to photograph, that's just a coincidence, but because I felt they were the obvious choices for my tastebuds, and the Routemeister went along with my advice. We started with Moorhouse's Blond Witch, a 4.5% pale golden ale, with a hint of malted biscuit at first, and a dry aftertaste, very tasty!

 

We then tried an ale from a microbrewery very close to where I live in East Sussex, Franklin's CITRA IPA, a 5.5% pale bitter with plenty of body and a fruity aroma, I noted 'peachy', certainly a more subtle fruity taste too, and a lovely dry finish, loved it, cheers!

Icklesham - today's visit

Today I visited Icklesham, and it was a very good decision, 2 crackin' pubs, both free houses...

The Queen's Head, Parsonage Lane, TN36 4BL, a 17th century inn, was my first port of call, where I met John, behind the bar, who was a great source of information (many thanks John), and a fine chap to chat with. Like most pubs in the country, the Queen's Head relies quite heavily on food sales, (the chap I met outside beforehand warned me that I'd better have a good appetitie if eating here), and, despite my being there very early (opens at 11.00 and I was waiting outside by then), the evidence of reserved tables for a Thursday lunchtime tells its own story.

The Queen's Head also sells a fine range of real ales, between 5 (during the week) and 10 at weekends are on offer, plus a real cider; the beer range includes 'locales' from Dark Star, Old Dairy and Whitstable breweries, for example. Today, I drank Adnams Ghost Ship, not quite so local, but an ale that's been served in my more local pub very recently, and it was very pleasant, and a bit too easy to drink.

I then visited the Robin Hood, Main Road, TN36 4BD, another freehouse (quite reminds me of being back in Sheffield, freehouses galore), parts of the building dating back to 1607. The Robin Hood also is renowned for its good food, and also its good ales and 2 ciders (including, more rarely, a perry). There are 5 regularly changing ales on offer, I drank the 'locale' Old Dairy Spring Tap and finished off with the 3.7% Harviestoun Ruck & Maul, a rather away from home Scottish ale, very pale and hoppy, with a grapefruit taste... just has to be cascade, or a US similar, hop, but, and I'll be honest, I haven't researched it, but very nice...

The ciders are the very familiar Old Rosie and Westons Vintage Organic, both 7.3%.

I had a good chat to Ollie, the barman, and to a regular, Fred, who does have some very interesting tales to tell from his service in the army in WW2, very good company.

Oh yeh, and it's the CAMRA South East Pub of the Year, apparently...

I caught the bus back to Hastings from very close to the pub, a very 'happy bunny', cheers!

We're Not The Good Beer Guide . . .

First rule of Beer-Meister is not that nobody talks about Beer-Meister.

Our first rule, or perhaps thing you'll need to be aware of, is that although we are keen on "Real Ale," we are not CAMRA, and this is not the Good Beer Guide.

Great British Beer Festival, Earl's Court, 2011

We admire and respect everything they do, but this blog and Beer-Meister's main site is more to do with pubs and pub experience, particularly matchday pub experience. The Good Beer Guide is a source of constant inspiration to us; as is word of mouth recommendation,

We drink "fizzy tasteless stuff" as well as ale, and really do enjoy a pint of the black stuff. In fact, "mass produced" cider served over ice is ok too if a thirst needs quenching.

We're about the drinker as much as the drink, and supporting the pubs we drink in.

Cheers!