Today, Hastings...

Lovely weather back, but just one visit today, to the Dolphin Inn in Hastings, and a great chat, as usual, with the landlord, Mark, who keeps a crackin' pint and a friendly house...  

6 ales on today, Summer's coming, so expect this for at least the next 6 months, the usual 3 regulars, Hophead, Directors and Sussex Best, together with 3 guest ales, Brains Reverend James, Hastings Blonde and a new one, from my late 1980s haunting of the Scottish Borders, Broughton Clipper IPA, 4.2% of pale, hoppy, fruity apple aroma with a hint of sourness that comes through in the dry and bitter aftertaste... When I lived in Scotland it would have been rare to taste a beer like this! 

Early warning, an even more favourite ale of mine from the Dark Star brewery, American Pale Ale (APA) is soon to come on for the Spring/Summer as a regular; I know what I'll be drinking a few pints of over the next few months... 

Dripping Well visit and 'hot off the press' news...

"Hot off the press"? Yep, Tony and Carole have, sadly (for us, though not for them, I presume), retired from the pub-trade, yesterday being their last day in charge of the Dripping Well, 1 Dorset Place TN34 1LG.

Here's trusting any new ventures bring you happy times, Tony and Carole, best wishes to you.

So, apart from a rather emotional day at the Dripping Well, and for other reasons too, which included a plaque for a previous regular becoming a fixture, what happened at the Dripping Well yesterday?

The usual jazz Sunday, that occurs every second week, an even bigger buffet than usual with some great food being appreciated, an extra band playing more diverse music later in the day, I not only chatted to the new landlord and landlady as well as Tony, more chat and sharing beers with Chris and Steve the Fireman, and others, on this side of the bar, and I became a little bit 'merry' too...

The 4 ales on sale, all at under £3 a pint, despite recent tax increases, were Fullers London Pride (my choice for the day; my historic connections to West London mean I've drunk a fair few pints of this in my time), Wadworth's Henry's IPA, Adnams Southwold Bitter and Courage Directors. All ales, as ever, served up in great condition, good stuff.

So, if you're in the centre of Hastings and fancy a visit, carry on up the gradual hill that is Cambridge Road, first go past the Post Office on the right, and a couple of minutes up on your left, on the corner with Dorset Place, is the Dripping Well. Always friendly, and with a similar service to be continued by the new landlord and landlady, with a bit more music envisaged, so welcome to the previously described 'lovely' Pinar and Nick Brookes (I can't yet put such a friendly epithet for Nick as I've only just met him, and he is a bloke, but he certainly showed a friendly visage yesterday ;-)...

Great to meet you both, Pinar and Nick, and a very warm welcome to the Dripping Well, trusting your tenure will be memorable for all the correct reasons. Cheers!

Pub of the Day - Dripping Well, Hastings

A lazy sunny Sunday afternoon...

... and every second Sunday lunchtime, the Dripping Well in Hastings has a Jazz gig, so this was my target today.

The Dripping Well is a freehold pub, near the centre of Hastings town, that serves decent cask conditioned ales, at a very reasonable price for the area.

I'm not a regular here, in the every day of the year way, but I always receive a decent reception with friendly discourse to be shared, and Sunday lunchtimes not only include the ubiquitous 'meat raffle' and great free Sunday grub, but jazz too, every second week.

Amongst others, earlier today, I chatted to Tony the landlord, Steve the (retired) fireman, Chris the ex-publican, and the very lovely Turkish barmaid, sigh...

... There are 4 cask conditioned ales on sale at the bar, all at under £3.00 a pint, which are very reasonable prices down here, if not too acceptable for people from up in t' North, but I don't live in Sheffield anymore! Indeed, Wadworth's Henry's IPA costs just £2.60 a pint...

... and very enjoyable free live jazz music is provided, from a less than the regular sized combo today (due to other Mother's Day demands!) This is a good session to be enjoyed, even for me in my knackered state, due to working a 13 hour night shift and no sleep for over 30 hours!

Cheers m'dears ;-)

Revelation

I wont be posting much this week, trying to recover from last week, to start with, but also having trouble trying to renew my website, consequently, this blog as well. If I do lose them, I can assure people I shall return, probably as Steve the Beermeister, but, fingers crossed my emails will get some response asap.

Meanwhile, yesterday, I drank a couple of pints of Directors at the Dolphin in Hastings; always have to be careful as I have some very strong memories following drinking sessions in Courage pubs in the past, NB The Paviour's Arms in Westminster (beneath Westminster Hospital in the past, but no longer there).

So I wandered off and, silly me, found Dark Star Revelation at 5.7% in the White Rock Hotel, but only drank the one pint, but this is superb, hops+++, four of the US type hops, I believe, plus dry hopped too... I tried it in the Evening Star in Brighton a few weeks ago, so I knew it would be tasty, it certainly is a revelation!