Return to the Bricklayers in Putney...

So much to write down, and so little time these days, or poorly organised is the reality, rather than an excuse! So, I've been to The Bricklayers Arms (website - though probably better to check Becky the landlady's twitter account for ale updates) in Putney a few times without writing about it, shame on me! 

On these visits, ales have been provided by 3 main brewers, though always others available too! The first time it was ales from Loddon Brewery (website), notably their Ferryman's Gold (4.4%), a nice pale gold bitter that I must have mentioned before! Also, Razzle Dazzle (4.3%), a very pale ale with a fruity aroma, bitter-sweet taste and dry sour aftertaste; their Hoppit Classic Bitter (3.5%), golden, quite pale, a clear crisp session bitter; and Hullabaloo (4.2%), a slightly maltier well-balanced bitter.   

In addition, another day saw the West London brewer Fullers (website) in situ, including the Gales Seafarers Ale (3.6) and their own winter ale Jack Frost (4.5%) and difficult to find Chiswick Bitter (3.5%), probably one of the finest session bitters around, if you're not into the pale hoppy type! This is seriously hard to find even in Fullers' houses, flavoursome, as dry hopped too, but not to be drunk following their ales with stronger flavour like ESB or Jack Frost, as you won't appreciate it at all...  

Finally, my most recent visit was like still being down in East Sussex, with a grand selection of Dark Star ales (website), including American Pale Ale (APA, 4.7%), Hophead (3.8%) and The Art of Darkness (3.5%), all of them being regularly consumed by me in the past. There were also Partridge Best Bitter (4%), Espresso (4.2%) and The Original (5%), sorry, I didn't try either of these 3 on my 2 visits, but the APA was excellent, the Hophead superb, both pale bitters and very hoppy, and my favourite session dark ale, The Art of Darkness, which my brother, the Routemeister, was amazed by, he hadn't really believed my hype, but it is a 'session black pale ale', no other way to describe this wonderful full-flavoured beer! 

Nearly forgot to mention the West Berkshire (website) Dr Hexters Healer (5%), a strong full-bodied bitter with a marmalade 'zestiness', and Downton (website) Chocolate Orange Delight (5.8%), a strong beer, and you can guess for yourself its flavours!   

Back again soon, cheers!   

The Bricklayers Arms in Putney, February 2013

So, 2 visits to the Bricklayers Arms in Putney in just a few days of February… First with my brother, the ‘Routemeister’, then alone-ish; but I’m never alone, obviously, as I chat so much.  As Dan says, this is MY local in Putney, not his, despite his living very close and me not. Always, up to 12 real ales available, unless a beer festival is in progress, or just ended, and then, well, the Pub’s your oyster… eg the current 'Yorkshire Beer Festival', 20^th to 24^th February (website), which should be a home from home for me, though I’ll, sadly, not be able to make this one.  

Amongst the many ales available on the Thursday were Front Row Collapsed (5.6%), a full bodied pale beer; Downton Dark Delight (5.5%), with a dark roasted malt flavour; Sarah Hughes Pale Amber, a 4% easy drinking pale beer; and Otley Rosie, a 4.3% redcurrant/berry flavoured ale.  On the Monday were ales including Downton Chimera IPA (6.8%) and Chocolate Orange Delight (5.8%), and Hobsons Old Henry, a 5.2% rich ‘auburn’ ale, Mild (3.2%) and Town Crier, an excellent 4.5% pale bitter!  

 

Then I walked back to Clapham Junction, but you, please do try to make the beer festival (me? Jealous much) - cheers!  

10th and 11th December - Bricklayers Arms, Putney

2 drinking shifts for me earlier this week at The Bricklayers Arms in Putney (website) whose landlady collected an award, on the 14th, as a finalist of 'Headway Campaigner of the Year', warm congratulations to Becky!   

Anyway, the Monday was spent in the company of my brother, the Routemeister, but solo on Tuesday whilst he was running an errand for my niece.  The Monday was virtually a Yorkshire beer festival, with ales from Ilkley Gold (3.9%) and Best (4%), the Gold is a nice pale bitter; my brother tried the Acorn Barnsley Gold (4.3%), having drunk many Acorn beers in the past and having worked with their head brewer (not sure if he still works there, though), I gave this a miss purely because I know their ales, and they are very good; Wold Top Bitter (3.7%), a nice traditional bitter, and the excellent Wold Gold, 4.8% of full-bodied golden bitter, very nice.

 

Amongst the other ales, there were also 2 from Bath, the 3.7% Spa and 4.1% Gem, and Downton Chocolate Orange Delight (5.8%), which I was hoping to drink the following day, but missed out on, that's life and ale drinking at 'London's Permanent Beer Festival', aka the Bricklayers Arms, my Putney 'local'. Oh yes, and yet another real fire for me...  

On the 11th, I returned early evening, missed the Downton choccy one, but tried the very good Bowman Quiver, a 4.5% pale bitter ale and the equally very good, but very different, Vale Brewery Black Swan, described as a 'dark smooth rich mild', certainly plenty of body for a 3.9% mild and very drinkable!  There were also, from Vale Brewery, Red Kite (4%), a 'chestnut red malty bitter' and the 3.4% Brill Amber, and many other ales on their 12 handpumps, including another Yorkshire ale, Clarks Twister (4.2%) from Wakefield.

 

2 enjoyable sessions... Cheers!

9th & 10th October, still in London.

Thursday evening, the 'Routemeister' and I drank in his new local, though he likes to say it's MY local in Putney, The Bricklayers Arms, (website) which had had a Kent beer festival very recently, and was still selling just ales brewed in Kent... A sort of home from home for me these days!

 

Anyway, we had a choice of Kent beers that included Downton's German Pale Ale and Quad Hop; Old Dairy Soft Top, a 3.5% dark mild; Kent Brewery Cobnut, a 4.1% ruby ale; Nelson Brewery Powder Monkey, and a few others...

 

We drank the 2 Downton ales, we both had the German Pale Ale, a 4.2% pale bitter, and I also tried the Quad Hop, which I'm sure I've had before, a 3.9%, even dryer and more bitter pale ale. Both were very drinkable, thank you!

 

We returned to The Bricklayers for our Wednesday late lunch, having done a bit of work in the Routemeister's flat into the afternoon.  Now, they don't do meals here, but we sat outside with sandwiches we'd brought with us, which they were happy for us to do, swilling even more ale; Dan sticking to the German Pale Ale we'd had a few pints of the evening before, but I progressed to a few pints of the Nelson Powder Monkey, a 4.4% even dryer pale bitter! Loved it...

 

Just to the left of the bar as we entered, the same bloke was drinking there who had been there with a mate the evening before, not sure if he'd moved, but, with the lovely Hungarian barmaid, Anett, very ably serving the ale today, I could see a good reason for being there that afternoon session too.

I returned home, late that evening, via Clapham Junction, and a drink at The Roundhouse (website) at nearby Wandsworth Common, and I have written about this place before.  Indeed, I used to go there quite often when I still lived in London, as they had a lot of live music in those days, but not so much these days, apparently.  

 

I had a good chat to the barman, a Scot from Stirling, and I drank the Hobsons Town Crier, another pale golden ale, 4.5%, with a slightly nutty hop character.  This was not even a 'Hobson's Choice' though, as they also had Sambrook's Wandle Bitter and a 3.4% Adnams beer Lighthouse. 

 

Then I walked the short distance to Clapham Junction Railway Station and caught the train home... Cheers!

Le Gothique - Final couple of pints...

So, we came to our final drinking post of the day, Le Gothique, Royal Victoria Patriotic Building, off Windmill Road. Neither Dan or me had ever known of this place until I read about it in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide, yet it's a well established restaurant, open for many years, within this amazing Victorian gothic building, which was originally an orphanage for dependents of troops lost in the Crimean War; Queen Victoria laying the foundation stone in 1857. It has since had various uses (I remembered it as a school), including an interrogation centre for the British 'Intelligence' services during WWII, near to Wandsworth Prison, but with its own cells, and excecutions!

It is now includes a 'French' restaurant see www.legothique.co.uk - together with a bar that serves real ales...

Dan and Kieran endulging in friendly, lively, and very interesting, discourse with the landlord, above.

We had a couple of pints here to end our perambulation of the Common. They have 3 ales served from handpump, usually an ale from each of Sambrooks, Downton, and Shepherd Neame. Sadly, for me, as I live somewhere dominated by Sheps, there were 2 of their ales on, Kent's Best and Late Red (just the circumstance of beers in the cellar being ready to serve), and we drank Downton Baltic Red, quite appropriate for the prevailing weather conditions outside!

A very interesting, and bountiful, statue commissioned by the landlord, by the large screen tv.

We joined an interesting list of previous customers to Le Gothique, that includes Skin of Skunk Anansie, Billy Piper, Sir Alex Ferguson, Rachel Hunter, Aimee MacDonald, and many more; a very interesting visitors book...

Anyway, that finished our day, and what an excellent time we had. Kieran journeyed back to Watford, Dan to, much closer, Southfields, and me back to Hastings, cheers! 

www.drinkaware.co.uk

Back to the Bricklayers in Putney...

Back to the Bricklayers, and why not, if in the area, it's got to be done, and it's not a hard job.

Fulham were player Arsenal later in the early evening, apparently, plastic 'beakers' are used for the beer match days for Fulham, not the best drinking vessel, but, as I was there just after 12.00, I managed to have my beer in a proper straight glass. I was only going to have one pint, but felt I should have another too (drank Downton's Quadhop, a pale, dry, hoppy bitter with a hint of a slightly nutty flavour. Very good!

Also, met a young Australian family, new to West London, so had a bit of a chat about pubs and real ale with them. Enjoyable time, loved the craic!

16th December - Pub of the Day, Roebuck, Richmond Hill

The Roebuck is a 200 year old pub at the top of Richmond Hill overlooking Petersham Meadows, painted a few years ago by Turner, and, consequently, known worldwide. Below is the view from the front of the pub, ie behind me in the photo above :-)

The Roebuck sells good food and has 4 real ales available, being a free house. Richmond is really the land of Youngs (still!), but the Roebuck had 4 ales on and no Youngs, but did have Fullers London Pride (ubiquitous on the other side of the Thames); the fruity and hoppy Red Squirrel RSX 3.8%; the pale and hoppy White Horse Village Idiot 4.1%; and a dark rich and roasted malt 'stouty' (complicated) Downton Winter Solstice 4.6%.

There are a number of Youngs houses down in the centre of Richmond, a few I would recommend, and Fullers is available down there too, but the Roebuck has that great view and provides you with more diverse ale... and it's close to the gate to Richmond Park, if you are coming from, or going, there. Enjoyable visit!