London 6th - 8th March 2013

I arrived at Clapham Junction on the 6th, and departed from Clapham Junction on the 8th, as you can see, a bit wet then, so a trip to The Northcote, Northcote Road, now it's a nice safe pub to visit, and not just for me, but a very woman friendly environment, together with a wide range of customers, young and old, as well as my age, in the middle a bit, haha, and, of course, male and female.  I was served a pint of the ale shown below by the delightful Ruby, who has been present on a previous visit too, and she asked me to mention their having a young Brazilian lad working behind the bar too, presumably, for my female readership?

So, apart from the obvious, other ales included Youngs Bitter (3.7% and called 'Ordinary' by us older Youngs drinkers, or someone like me who worked in a Youngs' pub in my yoof, when their ales were still brewed in Wandsworth) and Sharps Doom Bar (4%). I'm sure I must have drunk this before, anyway, I tried a pint of the Adnams Ghost Ship, a 4.5% reasonably pale coloured bitter, though not quite the "ghostly pale ale" the brewery describes it as, but a decent bitter nonetheless; and, of course, a pint of the local Sambrook's Junction, a 4.5% medium coloured bitter, what I always think of as a typical London bitter colour, I'm sure you know what I mean, and it tastes like a typical London bitter, very nice too, cheers! 

Previously, my brother, The Routemeister, had met me in The Candlemaker, Battersea High Street, on the 6th, where Kathryn appeared shortly after our arrival (I think that's how to spell her name, sorry if I'm wrong, K) and we were served by a very friendly Antipodean, Holly, who also has family links to South East Sussex. We each had a pint of the Sambrook's Pale Ale, a nice pale and hoppy 4.2% bitter from the local brewer.  They also had available the same brewery's Wandle, a 3.8% session bitter, Kings IPA (5.2%), which I'd have loved to try, but a bit strong for the middle of the day, and their own brewery, Laine's Best Bitter (4.1% and reported on before).  

Finally, we had a drink at The Bricklayer's Arms in Putney, where there were still many ales on from their 'Yorkshire Beer Festival', too many to mention now, but have a look at their website (site) for more information. We had a pint each of Great Heck Brewing Dispensible, a 4.5% pale beer, we were a little disappointed with, as, frankly, it needed more hops. Also, I was a wee bit upset I'd missed the Kelham Island Pale Rider, though I was to drink their Easy Rider at my local, the Dolphin, in Hastings, less than a week later (both ales I have brewed when I worked for Kelham Island). 

 

Cheers!

Friday 26th October - SW11, leaving London again...

I usually return via Clapham Junction, (ie in Battersea, for those who think it's in Clapham, oh no it ain't), which you've likely noticed by now, unless I'm north of the river.  So back to the Junction on Friday, and my first visit was to a pub I hadn't been to for years, The Northcote (website) along from Clapham Junction, on the corner of Northcote Road and Battersea Rise.

I'm very impressed with The Northcote, not really the pub of my memories, though, as it is, quite frankly, not a 'spit & sawdust' pub anymore, no doubt due to the area being more 'upmarket' than it was in my youth.  Anyway, I met the manager, Tom, who's very interested in his ales it appeared, and was served a pint of Dark Star Hophead by the friendly, keen and knowledgeable (I'm running out of good adjectives to use) Ruby, who passed on a lot of useful information to me, many thanks. 

 

There are 4 ales on sale at any one time, on Friday they were the very local Sambrook's Junction  (4.5%), brewed in Battersea; ex-Wandsworth brewer, Young's Bitter, called 'Ordinary' in my regular Young's days (3.7%), now brewed by the new national Wells & Young's in Bedford; Sharp's Doom Bar (4%), now owned by the global giant, Molson Coors; and a brewery more local to me in East Sussex, and a personal favourite, as you'll know if you've read just a few of my blogs, Dark Star Hophead (3.8%).

 

I could have drunk a more local ale, and my brother would have, no doubt, but if I like a beer, why should I drink one of the others, and I have drunk them all many times before, so it was Hophead for me, and in very good condition too, cheers! Though they regularly change their ales, they do like to have an ale from Sambrook's and one from Young's at any one time; they also have ales from Adnams quite often too.  Oh yes, and the food looks pretty good too, served 12-15.00 and 18-22.00 weekdays, and all day at weekends.  I'll be back...

Up St John's Hill, from Clapham Junction, and you reach The Beehive, (website) one of the few Fullers houses in Wandsworth Borough, and, I believe, the only one in Battersea? I may be corrected. Whatever, this is a very good pub, and I have mentioned it before. So, Fullers ales, including Gales Seafarers (now brewed by Fullers, of course), ESB, London Pride, and the excellent Bengal Lancer; oh, how I'm enjoying this 'seasonal' ale from Fullers, cheers.  In addition, they sell food from 12.00 onwards every weekday. 

Finally, that fantastic old monster of a pub on the corner at Clapham Junction, a regular last stop for me when leaving London, The Falcon (website), a Nicholson's pub, that is the proud owner of the longest pub bar in the UK, which, consequently, has a vast array of handpumps around that bar.  The Falcon sells mostly ales from micro-breweries, near and far, I shan't mention them all, but they have got a house ale brewed for them by St Austell Brewery in Cornwall, Nicholson's Pale Ale (4%).

 

I had a good chat with a Southern Railways employee, who had finished work for the day, and was imbibing before happily heading off for home, but I only had one of the ales on offer, I had a train to catch, ie I tried one from the West Yorkshire brewery, WharfeBank, the 3.6% Verbeia Pale Ale (VPA).  My notes say "pale, light & refreshing", coincidentally, the notes in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide say "A pale golden session ale with a citrus, fruity taste. Light and refreshing." There you go then!

 

Some other ales, from among the many, on offer, included Sambrook's Junction, Kelburn Cart Noir (4.8%), Great Heck Angel (3.9%), Ramsgate Brewery Gadd's No5 (4.4%), and Sunny Republic Huna Red (4.2%). Oh yes, food is served 10-22.00 Monday to Sunday!

Cheers!