The Bell Inn, Bath

Following the Chancellor's decision to get rid of (we hope for ever) the Beer Duty Escalator, today's news is about the offering of shares in a cooperative to own the CAMRA Good Beer Guide entry, The Bell Inn, Bath (site).  OK, we're not likely to see any decrease in the price of ales in pubs due to this tax reduction, but it should help publicans to keep increases in prices to a minimum, taking into account the brewers' own price rises, which many pubs have already passed on, but some have not awaiting the Chancellor's announcement.

The Bell Inn is a music venue, as well as offering 9 real ales, and has the support of many celebrities, including Peter Gabriel, Clare Teal, Robert Plant, Midge Ure and Will Gregory of Goldfrapp, who should all be able to contribute a few coins between them.  This looks to be an interesting project, and great if it keeps a good real ale house, and music venue, alive and kicking.

 

The Bell has 7 regular ales, that include quite a few I have recently commented on: RCH Pitchfork (4.3%); Stonehenge Danish Dynamite, a 5% light golden ale much enjoyed recently at the Dolphin in Hastings, and both soon to be available there again; Abbey Ales Bellringer, a 4.2% amber ale; Otter Brewery Otter Ale, a 4.5% bitter; Bath Ales Gem, a 4.1% ale that includes wheat and barley malt; and 2 of my favourite all-time ales, the excellent 4% Butcombe Bitter and the 5% pale and hoppy trendsetter from Hopback, Summer Lightning, always sampled by me if available. 

 

In addition, 2 weekly changing guest ales are available, usually chosen from a host of reasonably local small brewers, including Arbor Ales, Cotswold Spring, Milk Street, Plain Ales, Spinning Dog, and many more.  If you're ever in Bath, I'd suggest you pay this pub a visit, if you do, I'd be happy to publish your findings, cheers!

Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas, Bon Noel, whatever... Christmas and St Stephen's/Boxing Day were spent in Hastings for me and with no work this year, yay!  Most of my drinking outside my home was spent at the Dolphin, Rock-a-Nore, opposite the fishermen's huts, and Santa Claus/Father Christmas/St Nicholas/whoever, had landed a bit early on the lower roof.  The day started very wildly, with driving wind and rain, but the sun later came out, so it was a very mixed bag of weather of, what will become, the wettest year on record in the UK.

Ales at the Dolphin included the usual Dark Star Hophead, Harveys Sussex Best and (lately) Youngs Special, all very well known to readers, if not most ale drinkers in the World, by now, and the seasonal regular Harveys Sussex Old Ale, and RCH Pitchfork (4.3%), which I believe I have noted elsewhere to be a decent pale ale, nice and bitter, and all the way from Cornwall, Sharp's Winter Berry Ale, more about below.

However, before I visited the Dolphin, on both days, I walked up the hill to the Tower, on the corner of London Road and Tower Road, (upper) St Leonards, and bordering Bohemia.  Good to see Louisa, the Landlady, here on Christmas Day, when she had Dark Star American Pale Ale (APA, 4.7%) and Critical Mass (7.4%, hence why I gave it a miss at 11am), a darker strong ale from the Sussex brewer; Sharp's Doom Bar, seen all over the Country and only £1.99 a pint here until 6pm on New Years Eve. 

The previously reported Rother Valley Golden Valley had finished at the end of the previous evening, but Kent Brewery's KGB, aka Kent Golding Bitter (4.1%) was being pulled through as I left, hence my Boxing Day visit to try that one too.  So, Christmas Day saw me drinking the more bitter than usual APA, a very nice surprise, and the single hopped (presumably) KGB was my drink on Boxing Day, a nice refreshing golden hued bitter with a dry aftertaste, worth the revisit indeed!

I had planned to try a half of the ludicrously strong Dark Star Imperial Stout (10.5%) at the White Rock Hotel on Boxing Day, but it was not on and they only had two ales, not the most exciting either, so I made a deviation to the Dripping Well, Cambridge Road, and a wee drink and chat with Mark the landlord (and other patrons, of course).  OK, no Christmas ales here either, but I had a decent pint of Hastings Best, and the usual Wadworth Henry's IPA and Adnams Broadside were on sale too.

So, I ended my 2 days Christmas 'bar drinking at the Dolphin, where I met up with all the family barstaff, though not all working both days, including Mark and Mo, and Laura and Louise, and had drinks bought for me by Joe and Mark, cheers mateys! Following a pint or two of the Dark Star Hophead, I finished both days, actually, by drinking the Sharp's Winter Berry Ale, a seasonal ale flavoured with morello cherries, and very tasty too...

Seasons Greetings to everyone who reads this... well, to everyone anyway, cheers!

Wetherspoons

OK, I have to prove I don't only drink in the Dolphin when in Hastings, and it's true, I don't only drink at the Dolphin, and, being a good member of CAMRA, well, a member who takes advantage of 50p off a pint at 'spoons every now and then, I visited Hastings 'spoons today, and had a pint of Arundel Stronghold, a 'Premium Ale' at 4.7%, and, with the CAMRA discount, a whopping £1.49 a pint, nice one... and it was a pretty decent darkish strongish ale, what you'd expect really!

Update on the Dolphin, though, and I have to giggle now, private joke! The Lemon Head and Heel Stone have been replaced by RCH Pitchfork and Old Slug Porter respectively, RCH do brew some very good beers! Mark (landlord) does like the Porter, and it's pretty good, I even had a pint of it on Monday, but back to my favourite Hophead...

 

Cheers!

August Bank Holiday 27-08-12

No wandering too far today, so just off to the old town in Hastings, and the Dolphin, which I reached before it opened, but, luckily, the stall selling 'fishermen's rolls' had just started producing, and I was first in line to enjoy one of their wonderful sandwiches/baps, with 2 filleted fish (usually a dab and a plaice, bap sized), cooked in olive oil and seasoned with pepper and lemon juice... Only £2.50, very good quality and excellent value!

Anyway, I only had a few minutes to wait after I had finished eating the sandwich, and entered the Dolphin, where 2 new guest ales were on sale, including Stonehenge Ales (Bunces Brewery) Heel Stone...

Thanks to a taster from Mark, I found the 4.3% Heel Stone to be a golden ale, fruity, with an easy bitterness to it, though not quite bitter enough for my taste, so, before my usual Hophead, I also had a taster of the RCH Pitchfork, also 4.3%, and then a pint, as it was pretty good.  It's a paler golden colour, and a very easy to drink bitter, which can also be found in bottles.

 

The name comes from the last battle to be fought on British soil during the English civil wars, in 1685, when James II was on the thrown (the Monmouth rebellion).

Anyway, the usual 3 ales were on sale, Hophead, Directors and Sussex Best, and the summer regular, Dark Star American Pale Ale too, making it 6 good or excellent ales at the bar, and, as usual, I drank a few pints of the Dark Star Hophead, this in the convivial company, earlier, of Mark the landlord.   Working behind the bar were, early on, Laura and Louise, and Fraser, Joe and Debs appeared too, as did Mo.  Later, after Mark had left, there were also Dave, Kevin and Al to chat with at the bar, a nice afternoon, indeed, with the family and friends...

 

Cheers!

Links for Stonehenge (link) and RCH (link).