St George's Day Festival of English Ale in Hastings

The Albion, in George Street, Hastings, is holding a Beer Festival this weekend, together with fun, music and food... 

In addition to their regulars, including an excellent favourite of mine, Dark Star Hophead (3.8%), which I had a pint of there yesterday, a crackin' ale indeed, Harveys Sussex Best (4%) and Timothy Taylor Landlord (4.3% ), you might just be able to imbibe up to 10 other ales from near and far!

From Sussex brewers, there will be Dark Star Sunburst (4.8%) website, Beachy Head Legless Rambler (5%) website, Rother Valley Chocolate Porter (4.2%) website, Harveys Armada Ale (4.5%), and their pertinent Georgian Dragon (4.7%) website; and from Kent, though the brewer himself comes from much closer to home, there will be Pig & Porter Red Spider Rye (4.8%) and Skylarking (4%), a session pale ale: website.

From further afield will be Adnams Mosaic Pale Ale (4.1%) website, from way up int' North, an early pioneer with their unfined and unfiltered ales, and excellent unique pub where they used to brew, the Marble Arch (website), one of my favourite pubs ever, Manchester brewery, Marble Pint (3.9%) website, and across from Cornwall, and now brewing more fine ales than when I lived nearby in the 1990s, St Austell Spring Fever (4.1%) website.

Have fun, and a Happy St George's Day to you, cheers!

Guest blog from The Routemeister

I've been talking about visiting the Sussex Oak in Warnham, West Sussex, (website) with my brother, Dan, The Routemeister, for ages, and he went and done it without me! Oh well, he's become a 'guest blogger' for the trouble, cheers Dan, and many thanks for the photographs too! 

The Sussex Oak has 6 real ales served from handpumps on the bar, including Fullers London Pride, Harveys Sussex Best, and Timothy Taylor Landlord, all well known and regulars at the Sussex Oak. Dan, though, tried one of the guest ales, the Surrey Hills Ranmore Ale, a 3.8% golden ale, that he enjoyed, and recorded its flavour as "lemony and zingy!" They also had Dark Star Partridge and Hophead, both reviewed by me in the past, as people will be well aware, NB the Hophead...

Dan also visited The Scarlett Arms (website), a fine 16th century pub in Walliswood, just over the border in Surrey, and somewhere I have been to before, and reviewed in an earlier blog. This is a Badger (Hall & Woodhouse) house, and Dan tried a pint of their seasonal ale, Badger Holy Moley, a light golden/pale amber bitter made with spring water from this Dorset brewer's own spring (I presume). He said it was very agreeable, though he believed it to be a "bit thin" for a stronger ale at 4.7%. So there you have it, The Routemeister's debut blog.

Cheers Dan!

Some disappointment in Hastings...

Not so much at the Tower in London Road, though, but then again... The lovely Sara was working, always pleasant, and some great ales on sale still, Ilkley Lotus IPA and Dark Star Revelation and APA (which I appeared to get the last pint of, thanks very much, but the other 2 are just to strong to only be drinking at a lunchtime visit, and, quite frankly, Doom Bar is very much a reserve for me, like if I'm dying of thirst!). I miss Hophead here at the Tower, longing for its return...

So, to the White Rock Hotel, down at the seafront, which did have Dark Star Hophead on sale, but nothing from the other 3 pumps, though it was after 12 noon, and it appeared 2 other ales may be pulled through at some time, but the lad behind the bar wasn't sure. OK, Hophead at £3.10 a pint, instead of the £2.30 the Tower charges, but... Quite frankly, that's me, 'frank' to the point of candour, I was reminded that, despite selling ales daily from 10.00 here, it's getting close to summer, and the beer was a bit warm, had definitely not been pulled through at all, and I wouldn't serve it up so cloudy (it was OK to drink-ish, and I always say I don't drink with my eyes, so can't be hypocritical, but I'll have no problems with my bowels this week!), this is why I don't drink in this establishment much during the summer, shame, as I like sitting out on the verandah looking at the sea...

So, where did I end up? At the General Havelock, to get my 'loyalty card' stamped and drink a decent pint of Hophead, but at £3.40 a pint now (inflation in a day). They also have Timothy Taylor Landlord and Harveys Sussex Best as regulars, and the Hophead of course, and Dark Star American Pale Ale (APA) as a guest on this day.  They usually sell Westons Old Rosie cider too, but a busy bank holiday weekend had seen that go down many gullets!

Good value food at the General Havelock too, had a wee chat to the lovely Ellen, serving today, and Jamie, the manager came in too, so pleasant company. For £4.45 I had a very nice cheese and red onion sandwich with mayo in brown bread, and a bowl of thick cut chips (the oil seemed a bit 'tired' and they were a bit fatty, but can't complain about the good value).  Cheers for another day...

Monday 9th July 2012 - Crossing the border (into Kent)

We ventured across the border into Kent, and virtually straight away you come to 'Danger' areas (firing ranges) near Dungeness... However, we continued further east to Folkestone, which we promptly left walking back eastwards to the start of the Military Canal at Hythe, where we then walked northwards and reached the 2000 year old Roman fort, wall, and port, HQ of the Roman fleet in England, Thomas a Beckett's home and castle, and these 4 giraffes!

We carried on to Burmarsh and visited our first hostelry of the day, the Shepherd & Crook, a lovely old 16th century pub, restored in the 18th century, with a high beamed ceiling, plastered walls and cricket paraphernalia and photographs adorning the walls.

There was Weston's Organic Cider, Adnams Southwold and Naylor's Black & Jan being served from the bar. We drank the Black & Jan, a very good 4.4% porter, a crackin' pint.  We also made friends with the 12 year old pub dog, Jess, a grey collie cross, sadly, I forgot to take a photograph of her :-(

We then ventured further, saw many Norman churches, for some reason, walked a few miles southwards along the coast, then came back inland to New Romney, where we enjoyed the ale and convivial company at the 18th century Cinque Ports Arms.

There are 4 ever-changing ales at the Cinque Ports, today were Wadworths Red, White & Brew, Landlord, Whitstable Brewery's Fathersham Creek (3.8%, pale-ish biscuity tasting bitter, that the Routemeister enjoyed) and Crouch Vale Yakima Gold, that I rather enjoyed! The Yakima Gold was 4.2%, fruity, quite bitter, even a little bit 'sour' maybe, but excellent, in fact.

We then returned to Hastings by the 101/100 bus, having visited 2 excellent pubs today... cheers!

Sunday 8th July - General Havelock

The Routemeister visited for a few days, so started drinking at the General Havelock in Hastings Sunday afternoon...

The General Havelock has up to 5 ales on now, today were Youngs Special, Sussex Best, Landlord, Doom Bar (which had just gone off) and Adnams Flame Runner, which I drank, 3.9%, a sharp pale bitter, with a rather strange aroma...

Then we went off to the Dolphin, Rock-a-Nore, where we enjoyed Dark Star Hophead, cheers!

St Leonards, Hastings+

A short walk to St Leonards via Bohemia, then back via Warrior Square and the front...

First stop was the North Star... 5 ales on sale here, including Hogs Back TEA, Landlord, Sussex Best, Woodforde's Nelson's Revenge, and Dark Star Rye & Juniper 'SAHTS Inspired Beer', at 5.2% a rich fruity, full-bodied pale ale, with a bitter and dry aftertaste... You'll take it from this that I drank the Rye & Juniper, yep indeed, very good!

Next, I visited the Dripping Spring, the only pub in the Hastings area where you can find Wye Valley HPA, as far as I'm aware, a really easy to drink pale bitter, and, therefore, one of the reasons to visit this pub. The new managers appear to have kept up the good name of previous incumbents, and a friendlier pub would be hard to find.

In addition to the HPA, there was Black Sheep Best, Bombardier, Sussex Best, and Courage Best on sale, with more coming on for the weekend, NB tomorrow (Friday 29th) Fullers ESB will be available, thankfully not today, as experience tells me I'm not at my best after a few pints of ESB.

I also tried a half of the Jennings Lakeland Stunner at 3.9%, pale, with hints of grapefruit, and a bitter sweet, a bit sour even, taste; it says 'full bodied' on the pump clip, yes it is, probably why the 'sweet & sour' taste in particular. Wasn't bad, but I decided to concentrate on the HPA.

Finally, I'm glad to have stopped at the White Rock Hotel, where I sat on the balcony, overlooking the pier and sea, crackin' weather, and very pleasant company to talk to, consequently I handed over my card, and it would be very nice to hear that she looks at this blog, if not the website...

I again drank the Dark Star Rye & Juniper (at only £3 a pint here!), well, it is very nice, and they also had Hastings Blonde (3.9%) and Porter (4.5%), and Rother Valley Blues, a 5% dark beer. As ever, the White Rock Hotel sells locally brewed ales from Sussex at a decent price, locale indeed!

Hastings 4 - Town Centre

OK, the town centre. Now, I've been down here a while, and the town centre isn't necessarily the place to take out your woman friends, or any friends for that matter, if they are of a nervous disposition...

Or so I was led to believe! Before I moved down here I checked up on the crime stats, as you can do that now on a special website. Now, I compared the stats between the area of Sheffield I previously lived in and central Hastings. Hastings came second with just a quarter of the reported crimes, so why do those living in more celubrious areas of Hastings have such a downer on us living in the centre of town? The real Old Town, ie, the Castle sits above US, although most of the buildings are Victorian or newer, this is where Hastings was when Willie the Conker landed a few miles away, and set up his HQ above this, the real OLD TOWN!!

So, I'm losing my way here... The Clarence, as you can see, work is ongoing here to refurbish the building, and I shall post further photographs when the work is completed. Mr Big of the FILO advised me The Clarence is selling real ales, and what a delight to discover in the town centre. It opens 10.00, or soon after, and serves up 3 regular ales and a guest. The regulars are the ubiquitous Sussex Best, Directors, and Landlord; the most recent guest was Brains Reverend James. I drank the Landlord, which, for pubs down here aside from Weatherspoons, was a bargain £2.50 a pint (they try to keep one ale at that price, others £3+), the cheapest ale in the centre of Hastings, apart from in t' 'Spoons'. They also sell a great selection of beers in bottles, eg Waggle Dance, Tanglefoot, 6X and Old Peculiar.

Had a good chat to the landlord, Mick, or 'Savage' to his mates, don't ask! Opening will be from 09.00 to midnight in April, when the work should be finished, and to 02.30 Fridays and Saturdays. This is a live music venue, and the place to be if you want a long night out coupled with real ale drinking. Good luck to Mick!

The Dripping Well, a freehouse, selling all its real ales under £3.00 a pint! Henry's IPA at just £2.60 a pint, Adnams Bitter, Directors and London Pride. The more I come into this pub, the more I want to return, friendly, and, well, good value too. Music (jazz/blues) every second Sunday lunchtime, I'll report back ;-)

Finally, Pissarros, OK, only 2 real ales, the uniquitous Sussex Best and, for now, Dark Star Old Chestnut, is the second ale, though this may change in the Spring (soon then!). Comfy, foodie bar, with live music for many evenings, late nights, and fun. Plus the 3 barmaids (including manager) today were in co-ordinated black and purple! Very fetching...

OK, so it wasn't quite finally, but the General Havelock hasn't re-opened yet. Jamie, the landlord from the North Star, will be the new boss here when it does reopen in April. He'd hoped to get the pub opened before then, but a few problems with planning permission have arisen, so you can expect it to be very sensitively refurbished when you do visit. There will be real ales, but, because of history (not the nicest place to drink at in recent history apparently) no children and no live music. Watch this space, as I want to give Jamie support for this venture. Good luck mate!

Elephant & Castle and Lewes Arms

So, from the Black Horse, I wandered back past the church and around the back of the castle to the Elephant & Castle in White Hill. Nice large bar, plenty of room, with green wood panelling up to about 3 or 4 feet along the walls, being refurbished as I drank there!

Another pub with interesting food menu and 3 ales and Old Rosie cider. 2 regular ales are the uniquitous, down here, Harveys Sussex Best, and Timothy Taylors Landlord! The third choice was Brains SA, which I drank, but they've also had recently Caledonian Deuchars IPA and Arundel Old.

I then wandered down the hill a bit to the Lewes Arms, a Fullers house, where I drank Fullers London Porter, had to, it is so good! They also had Bengal Lancer and London Pride. From the Gales range there was HSB and Seafarers, and guest ales include the regular Harveys Sussex Best and Adnams Bitter. Food is available from 12 noon until 8.30pm-ish.

Had to include a photograph of Harveys Brewery...