Something old, something new...

But nowt borrowed or blue, I think...

First, at the Albatross Club (RAFA) in Bexhill on Sea, the reigning local and regional CAMRA Club of the Year, where I had a, now becoming, old favourite, Crouch Vale, and you get very few poor ales from this Essex brewery, Yakima Gold (4.2%), pale, dry and bitter, and not one of the particularly fruity pale bitters on the market, this is a genuine pale bitter, lovely stuff indeed! The Albatross also, on my last visit, had 3 other local ales I have reported on before: Rother Valley RWB, a 4.4% "ruby wheat beer"; Isfield Toad in the Ale (4.8%), a medium coloured ale that was a typical hue of bitters in the past; plus the wonderful Dark Star Revelation (5.7%), though, surprisingly, I did not try that here, preferring to stay on the Yakima Gold, which says a lot about that ale, and not just to do with strength! 

However, Dark Star Revelation, and American Pale Ale (APA, 4.7%) have both been enjoyed by me at the recent addition to the CAMRA Good Beer Guide, The Tower in London Road, Hastings St Leonards, another fine purveyor of my favourite type of ales. The APA was dry, grapefruity, bitter and lovely, actually, and the Revelation was, as ever, packed with hops, Liberty, Centennial, Citra and Cascade, excellent! 

Also available has been fellow East Sussex brewer 1648 Signature (the signature being Cromwell's), a very pale 4.4% bitter with a slight biscuity malt in the flavour. In addition, of course, the ubiquitous Cornish brewer Sharp's Doom Bar (4%), why is it everywhere? Something to do with their sponsoring televised football, I do believe... The beer? Well, it's a medium coloured bitter, which most people will say, including the Cornish, by the way, that it doesn't taste like it used to (though my theory is that we're now spoilt by so many very hoppy ales being brewed, that our tastebuds have been altered significantly, consequently causing false memories). Oh yes, and the Dark Star collaboration with the West Yorkshire Saltaire Brewery, Bock (5.6%) was soon to come on, surprisingly a darker ale than one would expect from these two excellent brewers of pale and hoppy ales!

Meanwhile, back at the reigning local CAMRA Pub of the Year, the Dolphin, at Rock-a-Nore, Hastings 'old town', and a few new ales for me. This, the Salisbury Sarum IPA (4.3%), a very pale dry bitter, with a surprising hint of smoked malt in the aftertaste; the local Kings Poacher's Moon (4.1%), their 'flagship' best bitter; and all the way from the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, Bespoke The King's Shilling (4.2%), a dark brown ale with a nutty flavour. In addition, the Dolphin's 3 regular ales are Harveys Sussex Best (4%), Youngs Special (4.5%) and the crackin' Dark Star Hophead (3.8%), all well reported on before.

Cheers for now! 

The Smuggler - Pett Level

The Routemeister and myself walked over from Hastings, in the mud, wind and rain to The Smuggler at Pett Level, t'other day, and, not long after taking this photograph, hailstones, and then a rainbow impressed themselves on us... 

I hadn't been to The Smuggler for a while, and it's a bit of an achievement, worthy of an ale certainly. 3 ales on at the moment; they had Doom Bar and Sussex Best, not my favourite ales, but OK when nowt else available, but on this day they had a pearler! The Dark Star Hophead (3.8%) was in crackin' form, we enjoyed it immensely, pale and hoppy, as you'd expect, luvverly, indeed... 

More to come very soon, ales aplenty, cheers! 

Coming back from Sheffield via London and even more Steel...

I got back to Victoria, and what a lovely day it turned out to be, anyway, I crossed over Chelsea Bridge to walk through Battersea Park, and up to the mouth of the River Wandle, which, following it upstream, soon brings you to this pub in Wandsworth... 

The Armoury, which used to be called The Crane, in Armoury Way, virtually opposite the back of the old Ram Brewery of Young's, which, sadly, doesn't brew anymore. Indeed, the plan to sell up the real estate has fallen on lean times, it looks like no-one wants to build there in the current financial climate. Anyway, as we all know, Young's ales are now brewed by Charles Wells, Young's now being just a 'pubco'! 

The Crane used to be a Young's pub, of course, and I remember it as a bit of a bikers' pub from my youth, now it appears to be a clean and bright pub, and there was some pretty good music too, for ' bright young things' in still up and coming Wandsworth. There were 2 Young's ales and 2 ales from the new local brewer, Sambrooks (website) Wandle (3.8%) and Junction (4.5%). The Young's ales available were the 3.7% Bitter (or 'Ordinary' to us ex-locals) and the seasonal Winter Warmer, which I had a couple of pints of, a smooth deep dark red beer, full-bodied, with dark fruit in the flavour, still a very nice beer and well worth drinking if you get the chance! 

Anyway, that was it for that day, and I kipped at the old family HQ, still inhabited by my Stepfather. The next day I retraced my steps down the Wandle, then the Thames, to St Mary's Church, Battersea, and headed for the High Street. Just before you reach the Prince's Head, you come upon The Candlemaker, on your right, which used to be called The Greyhound, when I went to school further back up the High Street. This is another pub in the Borough of Wandsworth that has undergone a very good makeover, or having gone upmarket in effect. I had a good chat with a fellow customer, an Irish lad called Steve, and the barman.

There are 5 handpumps on the bar, but only 3 were being used last Monday, including one for their regular ale, brewed by King in Horsham, I do believe, and not at the North Laine brewpub in Brighton, ie the Laine's Best (4%), which I have reviewed before. They also had another Sussex brewed ale, Dark Star Partridge, a 4% 'Best Bitter' not one of their ultra hoppy pale bitters, and Truman's Swift (3.9%). I've had all these before, but wanted to give the Swift another taste, as I hope that the revived Truman's continues to prosper now they're brewing their own ale at their new brewery in East London (website). The Swift is described as a 'golden ale', and it isn't bad at all, maybe not quite the 'gorgeous' it is also branded as though. It's a bit sweet at first, with a slightly bitter dry aftertaste, again, I found it just a wee bit 'sour', and am looking forward to trying more of their ales over the coming years.      

I wanted to get closer to Clapham Junction station, to ensure I didn't miss my train home, but also to visit another couple of pubs I would never have gone into when I was a young man! This is a bit of a theme I hadn't planned to use in this blog, but realised it as soon as I started writing. All 4 of these pubs, discussed in this blog, in Battersea and Wandsworth, are all pubs that I wouldn't have entered in my youth, have all been given a makeover, and are all in the Borough of Wandsworth... and all now are pretty good pubs selling real ales too. The third pub I visited was The Northcote, on the corner of Northcote Road and Battersea Rise... 

There were 4 real ales on sale at The Northcote, including the 2 regulars, Young's Bitter (3.7%) and Sharp's Doom Bar (4%), hardly inspiring, but the guests offered something a bit more interesting. OK, I've had the Adnams Ghost Ship (4.5%) before, and it's certainly one of Adnams' better ales, but they also had an ale from a reasonably local brewery that I hadn't had before. Back to Twickenham Brewery, and this time a 'special' brewed with Australian and New Zealand hops, Galaxy and Pacific Jade, the Summer Down Under. This 3.9% very pale bitter certainly bursts with citrus flavours, I couldn't work out the aroma, but it was very refreshing. 

I decided to get to my fourth pub of this blog with enough time to have another drink before catching my train, so hurried to The Falcon, on the corner at Clapham Junction, diagonally opposite what was the local Department Store, Arding & Hobbs, but which is now a Debenhams. The Falcon is a Nicholsons pub, and, as I have said before, has the longest bar in the country (it is built in a long irregular circular fashion) according to the Guinness Book of Records; my second pub of the long weekend that is listed in that book, including The Dove in Hammersmith from the last blog... and my fourth pub of todays theme, it's all coming together!  

The Falcon has up to 20 real ales on at a time, but I only had time for one pint... so I had to have 2 halves, as seen in the photograph, first the Fullers Steel, a 'blonde ale' as it says on the pumpclip. This has been brewed in collaboration with my old friends, the 2 hop crazy brewers at Steel City Brewing in Sheffield, so my second ale of their's of the long weekend; see 2 blogs ago. This is a nice dry pale bitter, with a sour fruit aftertaste, not your usual Fullers, a few extra hops indeed... 

I also had a half of the Blueberry Ale, a 4.3% beer brewed by Lancaster Brewery, subtitled "Tales from the Brewhouse", which I'm guessing means it's what they term their 'specials'. There are New Zealand hops, and blueberries, unsurprisingly, which provides a very fruity aroma for this slightly darker golden ale. First taste gives you a mouthful of fruit, which is maintained throughout the drinking experience, with a slightly sweet, but drying out aftertaste. Another 2 fine ales from The Falcon...

Cheers!   

2 new pubs in the High Weald.

The Routemeister and I decided a shorter walk was required after the 'marathon' yesterday (Rye Figure of 8, last Tuesday), so we didn't add on to the already reasonably challenging walk planned in the High Weald, but we did get in hop fields, and 2 new pubs for us...

Our lunchtime destination was Burwash, where we visited The Bear Inn (website), which had a very interesting looking menu, and the food we saw being dished up to others appeared of good quality and measure.  They also have a good view from their garden, and we had a wee watch of the Ashes cricket match...

Ale-wise, there were 2 regulars, Sharp's Doom Bar (4%) and Harveys Sussex Best (4%).  There was only 1 guest ale this day, but they often have 2 guest ales. We went for the guest, Cottage M.G.A. (4%); they seem to like the 4% strength, probably related to drivers visiting the pub/hotel for food, which did seem to be being devoured by most customers there, other than us, we had a packed-lunch, of course.  I recounted the story of a lad I used to know who had built an MGA from scratch, following finding a chassis and body in decent nick, then scrounging around all over the place for parts; it was an impressive car when he'd finished building it.  The beer itself, described as "a golden cask ale", had a slight nuttiness in the flavour, and was quite refreshing, but lacked hops for a hoppy lad like me; and Dan is becoming a bit of a hop freak too! 

We carried on for a bit of a walk, passing by Rudyard Kipling's old home, Bateman's (named after a brewer, obviously, not), and our second 'tick' pub of the day, The Wheel Inn, Burwashweald (facebook), which is just down the road from Burwash, if driving, but we did our usual circuitous route through fields, to avoid roads as much as possible, and following the established walk from Dan's book.

The Wheel Inn had 3 ales on, 1 regular, the ubiquitous Harveys Sussex Best (4%), and 2 regularly changing guest ales, which, on our visit, were Sharp's Doom Bar (4%) and Morland Old Speckled Hen (4.5%).  We had the Old Speckled Hen, which I hadn't drunk for quite a while, it still remains an enjoyable dark bitter with plenty of flavour. The young barmaid was friendly, as was another customer, sitting at the bar as I asked questions, quite chatty and good to meet, cheers!



Thursday 7th February - Isleworth

Oops! I thought I'd already posted this, but blogger hadn't saved or published it, so, here I go again, let's hope my memory is up to scratch!
 

Walking along the Thames to Isleworth with Dan, my brother, the 'Routemeister', we usually visit the London Apprentice, but on Thursday, we had a different goal, ie visiting two new pubs to us in Isleworth, the first, the Victoria Tavern on the corner of Worple Road, where we were warmly greeted and served by the knowledgeable and very lovely barmaid, Sam(antha). The Victoria has 2 rooms, we settled for drinking in the room shown below, which was tasteful, and comfortable to sit in. 

Ales? 3 on... Sambrook's Wandle, which I've discussed sufficiently before; Sharps Cornish Coaster, a 3.6% pale bitter, not that hoppy, thus very easy to drink; and Belhaven Robert Burns, a 4.2% darker "Scottish Ale", typical Scot's ale, indeed, if they called it '80/-', you woodnae be surprised!  

We then wandered down to the Red Lion, a 10 minutes walk away, and a much bigger pub in Linkfield Road, apparently run by the daughter of the Victoria's landlord, and a regular in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide. This has 3 rooms, a large room with impressive stage at the back, where there are regular gigs, and two rooms to the front, including the one below, that could be someone's front room, if it were a wee bit smaller!  Up to 10 ales on sale here, of which we drank the 3.8% Twickenham Grandstand Bitter, a very nice pale bitter, and I have to say, I haven't yet been disappointed by Twickenham Brewery and their ales. 

So, what other ales were there? Hogs Back Snout, a 3.8% 'dark winter stout'; Cottage Plunge (4.6%); Guilsborough Nobby's Virtue (4%); Ringwood Old Scrumper (4%); Hardys & Hansons Olde Trip (4.3%); Adnams Lighthouse (3.4%); 1648 Ruby Mild (3.6%); and Vale Black Swan, a 3.9% dark mild.

 

We then wandered back alongside the Thames to Putney and the Bricklayers Arms, more of in my next blog... Cheers! 

9th January - Tower, Hastings Plus

I'm starting to grow increasingly fond of this pub, specifically because of the pale hoppy ales, or full-flavoured stronger ales, they are providing at a very fair price for punters, and the lovely staff and interesting clientele.

There was the excellent 5.7% Dark Star Revelation, with it's abundance of hop flavours, which, of course, I drank, also the same brewer's 4.7% American Pale Ale (APA), which is not quite bitter enough for me to really enjoy, though it's pretty damn good.  A blast from my past up in South Yorkshire, Thornbridge Lord Marples (4%) and Sharps Doom Bar (4%), which wasn't around when I lived in Cornwall, were also available, and a nice chat with the landlady, Louisa, was partaken too, cheers!

An update for the Dolphin, which is currently selling it's current 3 regulars of, one of my favourites, as you'll be aware, Dark Star Hophead (3.8%), Harveys Sussex Best (4%), and the new regular, Young's Special (4.5%), it's seasonal ale, Harveys Sussex Old (4.3%), and two guests still (despite their usually cutting down to only 5 ales at this time of year, it still is 6); from the Nottingham brewery, Milestone, Loxley Ale, a 4.2% 'biscuity' malty flavoured ale, and Anchor Springs Riptide, a light coloured ale with hints of dry roasted nuts and 4.1%.  Cheers to Mark (the landlord) for maintaining the quality and numbers of ales.

Cheers to you too!

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!

5th December and The Tower, London Road, Hastings

I get a bit confused if this is St Leonards up the hill here in London Road, or Bohemia?  Whichever, I visited the Tower and Louisa, and had a few ales. The photograph below is from a few months ago, but I forgot to take a photo this time, and it's quite nice and sunny in this picture, anyhow, I did take a photograph of the beer pumps and fire, further below:

Louisa is great company, keeps a friendly house, and serves up well-conditioned ales at some of the lowest prices in Hastings.  The 4 ales on offer today were Fullers London Pride (4.1%), I hadn't drunk a pint of Pride for a few months, so had to taste it, still a good ale, no doubt about that, despite my tastebuds now going for more pale and bitter ales, and at £2.40 a pint, had some mates of mine, I bragged to by text, very envious.  Similarly, I bragged about the excellent 5.9% Thornbridge Jaipur at £3.00 a pint to another set of friends; I'd forgotten how good Jaipur is, so I can only imagine what it would have been like to be drinking their Kipling!

 

Louisa also had two Dark Star ales on, the American Pale Ale (4.7%) at £2.40 a pint and Rock Star (6%), an "American Brown Ale" that was a collaboration with Magic Rock Brewery, at £2.90 a pint.  A Christmas visit could well be a priority for me, as for the week from 18.00 hrs on Christmas Eve, until 18.00 hrs on New Years Eve, she will be selling Sharps Doom Bar (4%) at £1.99 a pint!  As the pub is also open on Christmas Day from 11 to 3pm, I may just pop in on Christmas Day, just to wish everyone a merry Christmas, whatever, I will be there at some time during the festivities...

 

 

...and another real fire!

Cheers Louisa :-) 

18th September, Bohemia Road and back to Hastings.

The Tower, just down from Bohemia Road above St Leonards, Hastings... and Louisa the landlady wasn't here again, starting to get a complex!

Anyway, great value real ales here, 1648 Britannia (4.1%), Hastings Blonde, and 2 Dark Star ales, Hophead at £2.30 a pint and APA at £2.40! Good company, chat, ales (I drank 2 pints of Hophead, unsurprisingly), I'm fast becoming a fan of this pub, shame it's up that hill!!

The Dripping Spring, just along Tower Road from The Tower, hasn't changed landlord/landlady yet! Usual suspects, Sussex Best, Wye Valley HPA, Ringwood Fortyniner and Black Sheep Best, plus Youngs Gold and Castle Rock Harvest Pale Ale, 3.8% of memories from my local being the Tyne Mill (Castle Rock pubco) New Barrack Tavern at Hillsborough in the early years of this century, which, of course, I drank for old times sake.

The North Star, just off Bohemia Road, and the delightful Paisley serving up the ale, and friendly chat with her and another barfly. The food has changed here, in that, hot food is only served on Wednesday Curry Night now, and rolls are served up from about 1pm every day except Sundays, when gratis food is provided after 3pm when the meat raffle is over.

 

Ales? 2 regulars, Taylor Landlord and Sussex Best, and 3 guests, Jennings Crag Rat (4.3%), Ripple Steam Best Bitter (4.1%, see website) and Rudgate Jolvik Blonde (3.8%), my choice today, a pale, dry bitter.

As usual, 4 local ales at the White Rock Hotel, down opposite the beach and pier, of which, I drank the Dark Star Kiwi, 4% and amazing fruit aroma as soon as your nose reaches the rim of the glass! Kiwi fruit tends to be a bit delicate, flavour wise, not really sure if it was the kiwi, or flavours from the hops used (more likely), but very fruity, pale, slightly 'hazy', and it's meant to be, the informed and always friendly Kerry told me, dry and bitter, I thought sweet for a while, but actually slightly 'tart' when I concentrated on the flavours, I liked it, indeed!

 

Oh yes, 3 other ales too... Harveys South Down Harvest Ale (5% and discussed in an earlier blog when I tried it at the Dolphin), 1648 Britannia Ale (4.1%) and Rother Valley Ebulem, 4.5% and an 'elderberry porter', a very dark ale. 

Finally, the Dolphin, at Rock-a-Nore, Hastings 'Old Town', the super efficient and always lovely two sisters, Laura and Louise working behind the bar today, and the usual regular ales, Sussex Best, Dark Star Hophead and APA, now Youngs Special, and Riptide back on again, and a new one, Sharp's Red Ale from Cornwall, 4.1% and the pump clip adds 'Eden Project' to the name, apparently, some ingredients are being sourced by the Project for a few special brews like this one. The Red Ale is very easy to drink, deep red colour, a bit sweet, with a cherry fruity and dry aftertaste, not really hoppy enough for me, but others were chucking it down!

 

Cheers :-)

Pub of the Week - Leinster Arms, Bayswater W2

On Wednesday, I was drinking at the Leinster Arms, 17 Leinster Terrace W2 3EU, which sells 5 ales, including the ubiquitous Fuller's London Pride and Sharp's Doom Bar as regulars, and a 5.5% Christmas ale from Skinner's, Jingle Knockers (the names people come up with!), an old favourite from my days in Sheffield, when I worked for a while at the brewery, Kelham Island Pale Rider, which I have brewed in the past, and a newer favourite of mine, Dark Star Hophead, which I now regularly drink at my new ‘local’.

In addition to good ales, there is a not too expensive menu on offer, including a variety of sausage and mash at £8.95 a meal, eg Cumberland, Beef & Guinness, Wild Boar & Apple or Veggie sausages with mash of your choice from 'Simple Seasoned', Mushroom, Parsley & White Wine, Tomato, Basil & Parmeson or Chive & Spring Onion. Whoever said 'mash' was boring?!? In addition, they still provide a 'traditional' pie of the day, salads, Ploughman's Lunch, sandwiches, puddings, and bar bites! This is a very friendly place and wasn’t too busy on visit.

The bar looking towards the front of the pub.

Pub of the Week - The London Apprentice, Old Isleworth

The London Apprentice dates to Tudor times, being rebuilt in the early 18th century. Their website reports that it was patronised by a number of eminent people in the past, including Henry VIII, Charles I, Charles II and Nell Gwynne, Lady Jane Grey and Oliver Cromwell, all of whom had close links with nearby Syon House. 

My brother and I had walked a larger circular route, including the north bank of the Thames from Richmond Bridge to Putney Bridge, stopping on the way at The London Apprentice, cracking pub! 

There are 6 ales served by handpumps at the bar, regulars include Fullers London Pride, Adnams Broadside and Sharp's Doom Bar. There are also 3 rotating guest ales, on my last visit these included Young’s London Gold, Brains SA and Purity Mad Goose, the last being in very good form and very much enjoyed! Keg beers are served too, of course, and include Staropramen, Leffe and Hoegaarden, for people with more European tastes. 

We enjoyed ourselves immensely, the bar staff were very friendly, though it was early in the shift (before noon), so it did start getting busier whilst we were there, and investigating the building was a pleasure too. We had only ever seen it from the south bank of the river on a significant number of occasions before our visit, when we kept agreeing we must cross the river sometime. We were suitably shocked and impressed at its history and fine features, not to mention enjoying the beer. One of the advantages of Isleworth is that it is also easy to get to Twickenham or Brentford, only a short distance away. Enjoy it yourselves!

The Eight Bells, Putney Bridge

Stephen H's next posting following QPR's 6-0 drubbing by Fulham on 2nd October:

We ended up drinking in the Eight Bells, Putney, prior to the drubbing at Fulham. Not sure how far we actually walked to The Eight Bells but, by the time we arrived, I was so thirsty I had to have five pints to rehydrate. Lovely old pub where you can get a decent pint of London Pride (ed's note, they also sell Sharp's Doom Bar). The atmosphere was really good with a selection of Fulham, Chelsea and QPR fans all drinking in harmony. See attached pictures.