Oldest Pub in Hastings

I've been writing a separate blog recently about Hastings and its environs, having been challenged to work out which pub is the oldest local pub, it hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be! I shall add the odd article here, certainly this one, following my visiting The Bull Inn (website) in Bexhill Road. 

Very soon after passing the sign welcoming you to Hastings & St Leonards you reach The Bull Inn, 530 Bexhill Road, Hastings, East Sussex TN38 8AY (website). Some may argue this is really in Bexhill, but The Bull falls within Hastings Borough Council's boundary and is licensed by Hastings, and is on the Hastings' side of this sign... 

The main building, bar area and kitchen of The Bull Inn is Grade II listed, built in the late 18th century, with an early 19th century extension added to the eastern side, ie to the right as you look at my photograph of the pub. According to licensing records, this building was first licensed to James Kenward in 1795, though records show a license for the pub in 1622, obviously for an earlier building.  

A couple of hundred years ago, the sea came up much closer to the pub and the port of Bulverhythe, but nothing now remains of that port except the ruins of the Church of St. Mary, which is virtually in the back garden of the only other older building in the area, The Bull Inn. There is evidence to suggest that stone used in the construction of the pub is very likely to have come from the ruins of the church; church cornerstones, windowsills and window tracery are all in evidence, and much old stone work can be seen at the rear of the building. 

Stories of tunnels from the pub and smuggers abound and, almost certainly, the earlier Bull Inn played host to the investigators of the wreck of the Amsterdam, the Dutch East Indiaman that was beached the other side of the railway bridge (which was built much later of course) in 1749, and which can still be seen when the tide is out, notably at Spring and Autumn tides. Though the last time I walked out to it, the deck was virtually full of silt and sand (see below). 

The Shepherd Neame website mentions this premise too, and says that "in the eastern part of the old pub, John Keats sat and did his writing while looking out to sea. Part of the pub was used as a court house and in the basement under the bar were the cells where condemned prisoners were held before hanging at Gallows Hill." 

You can take it from this that The Bull is a Shepherd Neame pub, though with an interesting alternative more local ownership and brewery linkage over the years. Indeed, Thomas Breeds bought The Bull Inn a few years before establishing the Hastings Brewery in 1828; The Bull becoming one of the first pubs to trade under the Breeds’ name, as was the Duke of Wellington in the High Street, Hastings. 

The Bull was later sold to George Beer and Rigden of Faversham in 1931, then Beer and Rigden was taken over by Fremlins of Maidstone in 1949. In 1967 Fremlins became part of the Whitbread group before Lord Young's Beer Orders from 1989 restricted the number of tied pubs that could be owned by individual breweries to 2,000. Shepherd Neame bought up many of the Whitbread pubs in the Hastings area, including The Bull Inn and others I am researching for this project.  

A year ago, The Bull Inn was faltering, but the return of the present tenant, Dawn, and her daughters, has brought life back to the pub and its restaurant trade. When I walked into the pub yesterday, I immediately warmed up, with the 2 real fire-places no doubt helping, then I noticed the beer handpumps, a few photographs above, which I imagine are late Victorian, art nouveau methinks! 

Anyway, The Bull is now a Shepherd Neame tenancy, so 3 of their beers are served from the handpumps, and it is open all day, except on Mondays during the winter, when it closes at 3pm and for the rest of the day. Food is served 12-2pm every day, and from 6.30-9pm Tuesday to Saturday, with an impressive looking choice of 3 roast dinners at Sunday lunchtime. 

To ales! I tried 2 of the 3 on offer, the Spitfire (4.2%) and the very good Kent's Best (4.1%), which was nice and bitter, and both were in very good form, and well served by the affable chap behind the bar, Steve; as was the rather eatable BLT with salad on the side I enjoyed for just under a fiver. The other ale was their Masterbrew, and they have plans to replace the Kent's Best with the brewery's 'micro' 3.9% Whitstable Bay Pale Ale, a very pleasant session bitter, I usually find. 

I also had a nice chat with Dawn, and I wish her well, my only suggestion would be to have a 'guest ale' from a more local Sussex brewer, but what do I know? Dawn's the person making a success of The Bull Inn, not me! 

My thanks to John Hodges for suggesting I investigate The Bull Inn, and for sharing some of the historical information with me; more about the pubs of Hastings can be found on my Steve on Hastings blog, cheers!  

Tenterden in the Kent Weald, and ales of course!

I met up with 3 friends from my late teenage years yesterday, 2 who now live in Ashford, and the other who has lived in Florida for nearly 20 years, and is over visiting family and friends. She decided she should visit the other 3 of us, so Tenterden provided a reasonably easy meeting place for us all, and I had never been there before. You would expect Shepherd Neame to be dominant here, and 2 of the 4 public houses on the main road are pubs of Kent, indeed, and the provider of my favourite ale of the day, at the last pub I visited! 

However, the Woolpack Hotel (website), affectionately called the "Woolly" by locals, apparently,  is situated right in the middle of this busy small town High Street, with the tower of the Norman Church, St Mildred's, peeping over the top in my photograph, and is run by Enterprise Inns. This 15th century inn now comprises a pub, hotel and restaurant, has open fires and wooden beams, and recently has undergone a major refurbishment. Consequently, like all these old pubs in the town actually, has quite an open bright atmosphere. 

Similarly, the barman had a bright personality too, and was very welcoming and friendly, even happy to serve one of our group with a pot of tea for one, such is the modern hostelry. All these pubs serve food, as expected, and there were 3 real ales on offer here. From nearby Sussex was Harveys Sussex Best, regular readers will know my opinion of that ale, so nothing to be said here today, and also Timothy Taylor Landlord was on offer, another ale that can be very good, but not quite my cup of tea really! Oh yes, and the one I had a pint of, the ever reliable, Hopback Summer Lightning, enjoyable as always, even if a wee bit too strong for this time of the day. Consequently, the ales provided were all very well-known and easily available everywhere, not surprising for the ever-careful Enterprise Inns. 

The William Caxton (website), a little further down the High Street at West Cross, is a Shepherd Neame pub, and is a hotel and restaurant, and 15th century too. The pub is named after some lad who had something to do with the printing press, and maybe had been born in Tenterden, though this is supposition, as no-one really knows where he was born, but they happily go along with the idea the pub should be named after him, as are other place and building names around the town! The other 3 all ate in the William Caxton, and apparently enjoyed their decent value food, but I had already eaten a fair sized meal before I traveled, so can only take their word for it, but the ham, in particular, appeared to get a firm nod of appreciation. 

All ales were provided by Shepherd Neame, of course, who have certainly expanded the range of ales they brew; looking at their website, they now brew over 20 ales! There was the familiar Whitstable Bay and Master Brew, and I had their Goldings Ale (4.1% and subtitled Summer Solstice, so a seasonal summer ale). The Goldings is a golden ale, bitter, with a slightly sweet fruit-flavoured contrast, though I didn't get the mango and bananas suggested in the tasting notes, not bad though. I had a chat with the lass behind the bar, as you do, and found that this seasonal ale will soon be replaced by their American collaboration I recently reported on, the 4.5% Samuel Adams Blonde Ambition, so locals have a very good ale to look forward to there too! 

Back up the High Street, we also visited, twice, the merely 16th century coaching inn, the White Lion Hotel (website), sorry, my mobile phone was getting very tired, and would not agree to take a photograph of the building, despite many attempts (I really do need to bring my camera with me these days), but if you link to their website, you'll see a large picture of the hotel, plus a few other images! Inglenook fireplaces, wooden beams, hotel, pub and restaurant etc etc... and, again, bright and airy. This is a Marstons/Ringwood hostelry, so quite a few of their ales, plus a local guest brewery.

From Ringwood are 2 old dependable ales, their Forty Niner (4.9%), reported on before, and a nice darker full-flavoured bitter, and Best Bitter (3.8%), an easy drinking best bitter, it does what it says on the tin, not bad. From Marstons their Old Empire (5.7%), which I have had before, a very decent full-flavoured darker bitter, and, I believe it is brewed by them, but have had trouble checking up, the label gave no hint, and the lass behind the bar hadn't a clue either, Lion Heart (4.5%), which Martin appeared to enjoy, another darker bitter. From their guest Kent brewer, Old Dairy, was their regular Gold Top (4.3%) and the seasonal Sun Top (3.6%), a very pale bitter with a slight malty biscuit taste. So 6 ales, from quite dark to pale bitters, provided quite a variation in style for the buying public.  

The final pub, which I visited alone, having said goodbye to the others, and opposite where I would catch a bus to take me back to Sussex, was the relative baby of the bunch, a mere Victorian child by comparison to the rest, the 19th century The Vine Inn (website), and the second Shepherd Neame pub of the day. Bright and airy, blah dee blah, serving food, but I don't believe accommodation is available here, so I'm guessing that staff live upstairs because it is quite large, as you can see from the photograph. If they live here or not, the staff were exceedingly enthusiastic and friendly, all keen to serve, none more so than the bubbly Jazz, who served up my pint after offering a taster, which, well, I'll tell you about that in my ale analysis below. 

Ales? All from Shepherd Neame again, as expected, Master Brew, Whitstable Bay and the Goldings I had already tried at the William Caxton, so, please see above, but also a gem from the brewery's 'pilot brewery', where I've reported in the past that the 2 sisters from the Hastings Arms have brewed before. Drum roll... one from the No 18 Yard Brewhouse (more ales to add to the 20+ Sheps ales already alluded to!), The Classic 442 or 4-4-2, named after the football formation, thus seasonal regarding the World Cup. As soon as I sampled this beer I felt a rush of hops up my nose, it was hard to explain, but also I thought wheat and barley, but I was wrong about that, as I found out following a bit more research, back to the website!

The effect I got of a wheat ale must have come from the hops, because wheat or lager malt was not used in the grist, so maybe from one of the 3 German hops, Halletau Hersbrucker, Herkules, or Halletau Mittelfruh, or perhaps from the Czech hops used, Saaz? Or maybe, even one of the SIX hops used from Kent made an impact?!? Yes, 10 hops in all were used for this impact ale, the Kent grown hops being Goldings, Fuggles, Admiral, First Gold, Challenger, and Cascade; so the Yanks getting their foot in the door too! Whatever, if you see this ale, have a try, and feel free to pass on your opinion. Cheers to Jazz for her professional and friendly manner, for offering a taster, and for putting up with this blogger... 

Cheers to you all!    

Battle to Hastings...

The Routemeister and I walked along the 1066 Country Walk (mostly): caught the bus to Battle, then from there to Westfield, where we stopped at The Plough (website). 

This is a new pub for me, so good to 'tick' a pub this day, and is situated at the south-eastern edge of Westfield at The Moor, and I think it is on Rock Lane, at least that is what I believe the road is called. A nice old building, haven't been able to find out about its history, sadly, that includes a large restaurant area (40+ covers), plus bare wooden boarded floor throughout the bar area, wooden panelled bar, and wooden panels up to waist high throughout. There are also 2 games tables, including pool, and television, for the conversationally challenged. Some excellent music nights too, including the local band Cushty booked for Christmas Eve night, so there's good entertainment for the locals that night then! 

The service was warm and friendly, and the barmaid was an excellent model for barmaids, she had a very husky voice too, apparently always as she wasn't suffering from a cold! 4 handpumps, though only 2 were used on this visit. Being a Shepherd Neame pub, mostly their own ales are served up, of course, though their website suggests guest ales are sometimes available. This day had their better pale bitter offering, Whitstable Bay (3.9%), featured before on this blog, and a new ale for me, Samuel Adams Blonde Ambition (4.5%). The Blonde Ambition is a collaboration with the Boston (USA) brewer, Samuel Adams, and described as an "American Craft Ale". This is a nice dry pale golden bitter, with that hint of walnut dust dryness in the aftertaste, pretty damned decent actually!  

We returned to the 1066 Country Walk (See website) and carried on to Icklesham, where we dropped into the Robin Hood on the Main Road (to the west), a 17th century inn that has been in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide for quite a few years now. I have discussed the Robin Hood before, it serves food, has a pool table etc, but also, it has an excellent very large outside area at the back, with a great view across the valley towards Hastings Country Park. Real ciders, and up to 7 real ales are served. On this day we had Potbelly Pigs Do Fly, a 4.4% golden bitter with a hint of caramel, it was OK, but the view was better!  

From Icklesham, we wandered down into the valley, and back up to Hastings Country Park, coming down into Hastings 'old town' from the East Hill. We were a trifle tired, and had little time before we ate dinner, so only popped in for one pint, this time at the First Inn Last Out (FILO) in the High Street. I am going to write a bit more about the FILO very soon, so shall just say we had a pint of their own Gold (4.8%), and it was excellent, cheers!

Bexhill update

 

I recently visited the Albatross Club (Royal Air Force Association club) in Bexhill and tried a pint of Reedley Hallows Monkholme Premium, all the way from Burnley in Lancashire.  This is a 4.2% pale and dry bitter, very refreshing following the 5 mile walk here, and still just the £2.60 a pint!

There are still 4 ales served from handpumps at the Albatross, though another handpump is still planned for, but a wee bit of carpentry is required to make room for glasses, then the pump shall arrive...

Whilst in Bexhill, I had to try a pint of the Shepherd Neame India Pale Ale (4.5%) at the Royal Sovereign there, and found it to be a reasonable pale bitter with a slightly fruity aftertaste, not bad, cheers!

Hastings updates and some excellent ale

So, where haven't I visited for quite a while in Hastings? Oh yes, the Cinque Ports, All Saints Street, in the medieval 'old town', rather than post another photograph of the outside of the pub, I decided to post this photograph of a model of the bar constructed for the crackin' Greek barmaid, Andee, and it's not a bad likeness to the bar either!

Ale-wise, they're selling up to 3 ales now, the usual 2, ie Fullers ESB (5.5%), an excellent darker full-bodied ale, that I usually imbibe here, and the ubiquitous 4% Harveys Sussex Best, which I rarely imbibe, it's very drinkable, but lacks hops and flavour for me!  They are also trying guest ales, and I had a couple or three pints of the Otter Ale, a 4.5%, very nice, premium bitter at £3.30 a pint, enjoyed the visit and seeing Andee again, cheers! 

 

I had a meeting at The Windmill, Seddlescombe Road North (A21), the 'Brewers Fayre' part of the Premier Inn in Hastings, a couple of miles inland, and up the hill from me, so I thought, have a drink (I got there earlier than I thought I would).  As they only had Shepherd Neame Spitfire (4.2%), that's what I drank a pint of, not bad for £3.14 in a hotel bar, and not bad to drink either, maybe I should drink Sheps a bit more...  

 

Anyway, rather than turn down towards the award winning Alexandra park, more directly to home, I carried on down London Road after my meeting, and visited the Tower, and what a great spontaneous decision that was, with the excellent Sara behind the bar, good banter, and a great ale or 4!

 

The always good Hopback Summer Lightning (5%), an early example of the pale hoppy ales I drank many years ago, and 3 Dark Star ales: Summer Meltdown (4.8%), always good American Pale Ale (APA), a 4.7% pale hoppy ale, and a new one to me, a bit of a rarity, a darker ale I loved, the, also 4.7% Genesis, an excellent dark, porter coloured bitter with a lighter taste, and at only £2.60 a pint, loved it.

 

Many thanks to the landlady for the choice of ales, Louisa, and to Sara for the excellent service on the day, cheers!

 

A walk in the country, starting and ending at Robertsbridge, Sussex, 5th April.

As I say above, this started at Robertsbridge, a bit of a hike through muddy fields ensued, with our final drinks at the Salehurst Halt, about a mile from Robertsbridge.  It was wet, cold, strong winds, snow, sleet, let's face it, not nice walking weather, but each of the following pubs had real fires (I'll post some more photographs soon on my facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Steve-the-Beermeister/220910834601992), so not so bad...

Our first stop was at The White Horse Inn (site) near Hurst Green.  Shirley was behind the bar, a font of information about Hastings, in particular, and very happy to share her knowledge, as we (my brother, the 'Routemeister' and I) were happy to hear. A lovely big pub, with a great looking restaurant area, and, we were assured, excellent views out the back in better weather, but only selling the ubiquitous Harveys Sussex Best (4%) ale-wise, which we all know by now, but it was still greatfully imbibed, and a big CHEERS to the great barstaff! 

We then walked the long way round (avoiding roads whenever possible) to Bodiam, it's late Norman castle, and The Castle Inn (site).  This is a Shepherd Neame pub, and a fine example of one, though, sadly, not much call for Bishop's Finger here, as most patrons are drivers... One real cider, Thatchers Heritage (4.9%) and 3 ales from the Kent brewer, ie the paler Early Bird (4.3%), Spitfire (4.2%), and we drank the Master Brew, a typical Kent session ale at 3.7%, and still with more flavour than the Sussex Best!  The lady behind the bar, not sure if she was the landlady or not, but very amazingly, didn't complain when the Routemester took his walking boots off to dry his feet, very friendly and a nice one to 'boot', cheers! 

Our favourite pub of the day was our last choice of the day, the Salehurst Halt (site), which used to be a railway station, but is now a nice 'free house', a mile away from our destination, Robertsbridge, and not as bad a walk between the two as we'd worried about, and the weather had improved significantly by now. This was a very friendly establishment, a helpful barman/landlord (forgot to ask), who let me try the excellent cider, cheers!  This was obviously a popular pub, being Friday evening by now, people had already booked tables for dining and it quickly became quite busy. 

The 1 real cider was East Stour's 6% Traditional Cider, and the three local ales included their 'regular', Harveys Sussex Best (4% and yawn!), and two guest ales. The first was Pig & Porter Red Spider Rye (5.5%), which I've seen elsewhere very recently, and our choice, OK, I'm not too original, but I do love the stuff, as does the Routemeister, ie Dark Star Hophead, 3.8% of lovely pale hoppy bitter, and in fine fettle too, we didn't try the suggested (by the barman) 8 pints extra, but did stay for a lovely second pint.

I'll be back, as indeed, I'm sure Dan will, cheers!

Wandering Part II

Part II of my research saw me visit the Jenny Lind, High Street, Hastings, and The Stag, All Saints Street, Hastings.  My first stop was at the Jenny Lind, which I hadn't visited since the new ownership, and was suitably impressed.  I received a warm welcome from Sarah behind the bar, who even admitted to reading my blog, nice to be appreciated, many thanks!

So, apart from a lovely barmaid interested in the ales, always a good sign, there were 6 real ales (all having 1p off a pint since the budget, this is a first!) and a real local cider, Laughing Jester (5.5%). The real ales included 2 from Hastings Brewery, Blonde (3.9% and £3.19 a pint) and Pale Ale (4.7%); 2 from Theakstons, Best Bitter (3.8%) and Old Peculiar (5.6%); Courage Directors (£3.49 a pint); and my ale for this visit... 

The 'guest ale' was Wadworth's Bishop's Tipple, 5% and a typical tasting ale from that brewer, pale 'amber' coloured, a bit sweet at first, but actually quite bitter with a nutty aftertaste, a very nice beer that I seemed to remember from my last drinking this many years ago, cheers Sarah.  A friend, Tony, also came in whilst I was drinking there, and I was next going to visit his own pub of choice (a burden of course). 

The Stag is another Shepherd Neame pub in Hastings, this and the Hastings Arms are the best 2 of many, in my opinion.  Of course, they sell their own brewery brands, and there was a 'guest' from Okell's, a nice 3.7% bitter called Bitter, a good choice of name, if unoriginal, which I drank (£3.50 a pint). Their own ales were Kents Best (4.1%), and 2 'seasonal' ales, that I have recently reported on, the pale golden 4.3% Early Bird and the very good Double Stout (4%). I had a good chat with the landlord, Alan, and with another customer (who knew too many people from Sheffield that I do for comfort!), and Tony came in towards the end of my visit.

So, in Hastings 'old' town, the FILO is the leader for the best value ales...

Cheers all!

Wandering round Hastings and its environs...Part I

What with all the good news about beer duty, and following a bit of a hint by a fellow customer at the Dolphin, I thought I'd start reassessing beer prices in Hastings, and anywhere else I visit.  So, where better to start my research, than at the pub that sells its own ales, where you would expect a bargain, hence, to the First In Last Out, or FILO, to the initiated, and joy! Mike and Sharon, the landlord and landlady, were in attendance this side of the bar, so I had a good chat with Mike, but Sharon had her attention more drawn by other customers, sadly for me.

There are now 6 real ales and a real cider at the FILO, 4 of their own, which were the Cardinal, Old Town Tom, Churches Pale Ale, and the 3.8% very good session bitter Crofters (£3.00 a pint), that I had a pint, and a half of, cheers Mike.  The 2 guest ales were Westerham British Bulldog, a "bronze, malty, hoppy" 4.3% bitter, and my old favourite, Dark Star Hophead at £3.30 a pint. The real cider was the locally sourced 5.5% Laughing Jester.

The FILO is holding a beer festival for the Easter weekend, starting on Thursday 28th March, in the evening.  Mike assured me there would be a variety of very interesting ales from independent breweries, sounds like a must go to me!

The Dolphin was where this quest had all started, following their increasing the price of ales by 20p a pint, sounds harsh, but they hadn't increased prices when the brewers had earlier in the year, and they were envisaging the Chancellor increasing prices significantly; we'll wait and see if there are any more changes in their pricing structure to come.  Anyway, all their ales are now £3.50 a pint, which is a bit expensive for Hophead etc, but a good deal locally for the stronger ales.  Changes to ales since my last mention are the Portobello Star being replaced by Great Yorkshire Yorkshire Golden, a 4.2% rather malty pale golden ale, and the Trade Winds has been replaced by Okell's Castletown, a pale and very easy to drink, as in quite nice thank you, 4% bitter.  

For this blog, the Hastings Arms was visited as well, and, incidentally, they have already taken over the Smugglers Inn at Pett Level, opening on Wednesday just gone. Good to see them keeping on both pubs, and excellent to see the Smugglers coming back to life, for now, opening at 12.00 daily, and no food there yet, but selling Fullers London Pride, Harveys Sussex Best and Sharps Doom Bar.

 

However, back to the Hastings Arms, and 4 Shepherd Neame ales, the regular Bishops Finger (5% and £3.60) and Kents Best (4.1%), and two seasonal ales, Early Bird (4.3%) and I drank the 4% Double Stout at £3.60 a pint.  This was a surprise to me, plenty of flavour, full flavoured, but slightly thin, as I'd expected at 4%, but certainly a very nice pint!

 

So, for now, the FILO leads as selling the best value ale in Hastings, but more to come in Part II, and at least Part III, cheers in the interim!

New Year 2012-13 - Hastings

Happy New Year!

So, apart from visiting the Dolphin, Rock-a-Nore, 'Old Town', have I been anywhere different, or drunk anything special over the New Year?  Well, yes, actually... The Dolphin had it's usual Dark Star Hophead, Young's Special and Harveys Sussex Best on, as well as the Harveys Sussex Old and Hastings Porter, plus the 4.2% St Austell 'Cornish Pale Ale' Tribute, another pale and hoppy beer, so Christmassy beers no more...

But not at the White Rock Hotel, on the seafront, vitually opposite the Pier, where I wandered in on the off chance to see if the Dark Star Imperial Stout, a massive 10.5%, was on tap yet, and, luckily, it was being drawn through by Kerry as I waited!  A whopping £2.50 a half, but then, when considering the strength, a half of this is like drinking a pint of strong ale at an equivalent 5.2%, so not so expensive really. "What was it like?" I hear you ask, well, it was nothing like the 10% Imperial Stout I remember drinking many years ago, that was brewed by Durham Brewery, in fact, if given this in a blind tasting, I would have guessed it was either a barley wine or Christmas beer, because it released a Christmas Pudding basinful of flavours in my mouth, very full bodied and nice, but a tad too sweet really for me really.

What else did I get up to? I visited the Tower, London Road, to watch a football match on Sky, and to take advantage of their excellent value ales. I started with a couple of pints of the Kent KGB, that I recently reported on, gave the Sharp's Doom Bar (only £1.99 a pint for a seasonal special price until New Years Eve), and even the Dark Star APA, a miss, because the 5.7% Dark Star Revelation was available at £2.90 a pint, crackin' ale and crackin' value...  The Revelation, as I've probably said too often, is a revelation, a pale ale bursting with hops and flavour, and from this month, it becomes a permanent ale on the Dark Star inventory, crackin'!   

Finally, I also visited the Hastings Arms, George Street in the 'Old Town', a Shepherd Neame pub, so the choice was... well, as you can see in the photograph above. Although the ale you can see me about to drink is in a Bishop's Finger glass, I had that fine ale last time I was here, as recently reported, but I drank the 5% Christmas Ale, at £3.50 a pint, more the norm for Hastings prices, a more easier to drink ale than the Imperial Stout, which had tasted like a 'Christmas' ale to me, maybe even like one of those big beers from Belgium, like Gulden Draak.  No, Shep's version of Christmas Ale was lighter than expected, quite bitter, and with a nutty, maybe 'walnut', hoppy aftertaste. Liked it! 

So that was it, I've plans to go further afield soon, but in the meantime, it's Hastings for me, cheers!  

13-14th December, back in Hastings

On the Thursday morning I visited The Albatross Club at Bexhill on Sea, five miles walking there, along the front, and 5 miles back, for a pre-Christmas drink and to meet up with the folk of the RAFA, as, in my capacity of being a CAMRA member, I am allowed to imbibe there, thankfully. As ever, great company and Geoff had 4 excellent ales on, including old favourites Dark Star Hophead (3.8%) and Youngs Special (4.5%), both of which I've written plenty about before.  There was also the excellent stout from Anchor Springs, the 5.2% Black Pearl, and Franklin Citra IPA (5.5%), both very good beers! A merry Christmas had commenced...

That evening, and the following afternoon, I had missed the Dolphin, so I attended the quiz on the Thursday night, then just a 'normal' visit in the pouring rain on the Friday, following a bit of a beer drenching too at the Hastings Arms, which I shall add about at the end of this blog.  Didn't do too bad in the quiz, our team came third, in a very difficult pre-Christmas Quiz Christmas Quiz, yes... Ales on were the usual Dark Star Hophead, Youngs Special, Harveys Sussex Best and Old Ale, and Wadworth Swordfish (5%) and a not a bad little pale beer from Isfield, their 4.1% Straw Blonde.

On the Friday afternoon, I popped into the Hastings Arms to try one of Shepherd Neame's seasonal ales, and to dry-off in front of their fire, and found out the latest news of the Smugglers at Pett Level, which sadly isn't now re-opening soon, the once prospective 'deal' being off, it is now rumoured that it will not open until Easter at the earliest and no-one knows who will be doing the opening, if it happens at all, sad, that pub needs some loving!  Anyway, Shepherd Neame ales, the well-known Spitfire (4.2%) and Late Red (4.5%) were on, but a much lesser known ale from their 'pilot' brewery, which I cannot find out about on the internet, and I've noted as South Downs Premium Ale (4%), a nice 'ordinary' bitter, and the very seasonal Christmas Ale (5%), which I thought would be a dark beer, but was a very easy to drink reddish brown ale, I do enjoy being seasonal! 

Oh yes, I was nudged by a friend whilst he quickly turned in the pub, hence the ale down my fleece and trousers, and me smelling of beer until I got back in that evening, I suppose drinking ale helped too...

I returned to the Hastings Arms on 20th December to find the Late Red replaced by Bishop's Finger, 5% of dark strong flavour, always loved this beer, certainly my favourite of their ales ever since I drank it in my youth at a pub that was nicknamed "The Bishop's Finger" and was situated at the edge of a thriving Smithfield Market, I cannot remember the real name of the pub, but just looked it up on the internet to find it is now called "The Bishop's Finger", well well! 

Oh yes, and Sue of the Hastings Arms was involved in the brewing of the South Downs Premium Ale at the Shepherd Neame's pilot brewery in Faversham, so it really is a one-off, so if you want to try this good session bitter get in quickly, nice one Sue.

Cheers!

Friday 12th October - Hastings, and a new pub too!

Below, posing outside the Dolphin, Rock-a-Nore, Hastings in my alias as 'Snoopy' on the facebook 'Steve the Beermeister' page (link), Friday was a foray into a few central Hastings pubs too.

 

 

The Dolphin had the usual Hophead, Sussex Best, Youngs Special and Dark Star APA; together with guests 1648 Britannia, a pale, dry and fruity 4% ale, which early in the barrel was almost apple or cider like, but as it carried on conditioning, was even better, maturing into a very good bitter; ale doesn't fail to surprise me at times!  The other ale was Long Man Old Man, which has since been replaced by Long Man Sussex Pride, what I would call a very decent traditional bitter, 4.5%, and very pleasant, it has certainly improved since I first tasted it, Long Man are fast becoming a very consistent brewer, excellent news for Sussex.

 

As ever, great company in the Dolphin, Mark the landlord in fine fettle, mostly on our side of the bar, and the landlady's daughters, Laura and Louise, behind the bar, always pleasant, cheers!

From the Dolphin, in the 'Old Town', I walked back into the town centre and, at first the General Havelock, which lies between Cambridge Road and Havelock Road; in fact, there's an old 'right of way' through the pub, indeed, there used to be an alleyway, which can be noted quite easily! 4 ales on, and Westons Old Rosie, the real cider available. Ales included Hophead, Doom Bar, Landlord and the ubiquitous Sussex Best; I of course, chose to drink the Hophead, tasted good, as it should, and well served by the lovely Ellen, who has worked behind the bar since the pub reopened (not literally). Food looks good, especially the paninis, and the chips looked excellent, only £1.50 a bowl (LARGE portion) and £1 as a side dish, good value. 

 

I then ventured round the corner/across the road to The John Logie Baird, Havelock Road, the 'spoons of Hastings, which also features Old Rosie as it's real cider, and millions of ales, well, quite a few, including London Pride, Abbott Ale, Youngs Special, Bishops Finger, Deuchers IPA, Hook Norton Old Hooky, and my choice today, Elgood's Greyhound.  The Greyhound is a 5.2% bitter, pale, it was slightly hazy, not as great as I'd expected, but not bad, certainly at £1.45 a pint (priced £1.95, but with my CAMRA 50p off voucher, thank you Mr Spoon). Very happy to see the interestingly adorned Tash working behind the bar again, always a pleasure. 

Finally, I visited a new pub, for me, under new management, which has been a Shepherd Neame pub, The Fountain on Queens Road.  I believe it is now a freehouse, but still getting their beers from Sheps; a bit confusing the status! The only ale they had on was Shepherd Neame Master Brew, though there are 2 handpumps, so room for variety as they develop their new regulars.  The ale was very good, actually, well conditioned, and much better than I remembered, though I hadn't drunk it for a while.

 

The barstaff were friendly, though it was very quiet for a late Friday afternoon, and the pub was quite bright and 'airy', ie quite large and well served by good sized clear windows.  I got the feeling of a bar for younger people as my first impression, and they do have live music at weekends.  Good luck to the new management, we could do with better ale houses in this part of town.

 

Cheers!

Back to Hastings

OK, only the first photo here is new, after all, the other two are pubs I've been to many times before, and it was a pretty dire day, what would be the point of taking damp photographs? So, the Hastings Arms...

I've not been here before, hence it's dominance in this blog today, a Shepherd Neame pub that sells food, although, on this Bank Holiday Monday, they were fast running out of some food options; much food was still available, however, but it had been very busy yesterday + it was wet and relatively cold today, so, on this bank holiday Monday, people were soon seeking shelter in pubs and eating, good business...

4 of their own (Shepherd Neame) ales are on sale; today, I drank Bishop's Tipple, always a very good beer! They also had Dragon Fire (for St George's Day, a strangely newly visited 'celebration' in England, as I can't remember ever caring about celebrating a Turkish or Hungarian knight, whichever version you believe, in my early years), Amber Ale, and Spitfire had just run out. Spitfire and Kent's Best are regulars, usually...

Their lagers are above average choices, with Orangeboom and Hurlimans Export on sale, live Blues is performed on Monday evenings, 9-11pm, and a warm and friendly reception I did receive. The manager, I presume he was anyway, and barmaid, were both easy to talk to, and at least one customer caught my eye, nudge nudge ;-)

Of course, as it is my local, I had visited the Dolphin first and had a few pints there. As you know by now, I love the regular Dark Star Hophead, among their 5 ales on sale at the moment. Mark, the landlord, accepted a glass of Hastings HPA, a guest ale, from me...

Then, I met up with 2 friends, Paul and John, both from South East London, Millwall and Charlton respectively, this is South East London on Sea, after all, at the Cinque Ports...

As they always sell Fullers ESB here, that's what I drank today, as ever, also the ubiquitous Sussex Best was on sale, and Hastings HPA too. Happy Easter!

The Junction to Wandsworth

The Woodman, Battersea High St, SW11 3HX (www.woodman-battersea.co.uk) has reopened, after a refurbishment, on 30th March. This used to be a smaller pub when I was a youngster, togther with the 'Original Woodman', and was where us school lads used to sneak our early years ale, it being very close to school ;-)

It has recently been taken over by a chef, James Rogers, and his partner, Annie Broom, consequently, some interesting food options here, and not too expensive either. But it remains a pub too, with 3 ales usually on offer, but with handpumps for 4, should their trade increase in that area, and I hope it does.

We visited on Thursday afternoon, quite early, so it was fairly quiet, it's clean and very neat, a pleasure to visit. Friendly barman, and with 2 ales on offer, we tried the Badger First Gold at 4.0% (nice easy to drink bitter); they also had King & Barnes Sussex (3.5%). I loved sitting on a stool at a barrel turned on its end. I will re-visit when they've had a bit more time to settle in.

The Hope Pole, Wandsworth, is a Shepherd Neame pub, the first of their pubs I ever drank at following drinking at the Bishop's Finger in Smithfield Market, many years ago! It's a real pub, sells Shepherd Neame ales, and Bishop's Finger is a crackin' pint...

Hastings 2 - Old Town, East Side

Second day of Hastings (only 2 more to go).

The Dolphin, selling 5-6 real ales at any time. A great place to drink in for barflies like me, sells well-conditioned ales, friendly staff and customers. The 5 ales on at the moment are the 3 regulars, Dark Star Hophead (OK, by now you'll know it's what I usually drink), Courage Directors and the ubiquitous Harveys Sussex Best. 2 guests at the moment, Youngs Special, and Harveys Porter has replaced the Old Ale. In a Youngs pub, I'd drink Special, but then, if a Youngs pub was selling Hophead, I'd likely drink that ;-)

Last night they had a 'Mexican' night with food and music; I missed the chilli and fajitas, they've added Sausage & Mash night to the regular evening food nights (used to be just fish & chip night on Mondays), so keep on watching, the chef is looking to expand.

The Stag, allegedly, the oldest pub in Hastings, though there are many who would argue... A Shepherds Neame pub, which, on this weeks visit had the regular Bishop's Finger, Kent's Best and Thatcher's Heritage cider, and Shep's Amber Ale (a 'winter warmer' - not in my opinion) and Thwaites Wainright. I love Bishop's Finger, so guess what I drank?!?

Finally, the Cinque Ports Inn, which sells Sussex Best and Fullers ESB... OK, those who know me will know what I drink here, as one has little flavour, and the other is a favourite of mine from the West London brewery, oozing with flavour ;-)

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! 

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