Return to the Bricklayers in Putney...

So much to write down, and so little time these days, or poorly organised is the reality, rather than an excuse! So, I've been to The Bricklayers Arms (website - though probably better to check Becky the landlady's twitter account for ale updates) in Putney a few times without writing about it, shame on me! 

On these visits, ales have been provided by 3 main brewers, though always others available too! The first time it was ales from Loddon Brewery (website), notably their Ferryman's Gold (4.4%), a nice pale gold bitter that I must have mentioned before! Also, Razzle Dazzle (4.3%), a very pale ale with a fruity aroma, bitter-sweet taste and dry sour aftertaste; their Hoppit Classic Bitter (3.5%), golden, quite pale, a clear crisp session bitter; and Hullabaloo (4.2%), a slightly maltier well-balanced bitter.   

In addition, another day saw the West London brewer Fullers (website) in situ, including the Gales Seafarers Ale (3.6) and their own winter ale Jack Frost (4.5%) and difficult to find Chiswick Bitter (3.5%), probably one of the finest session bitters around, if you're not into the pale hoppy type! This is seriously hard to find even in Fullers' houses, flavoursome, as dry hopped too, but not to be drunk following their ales with stronger flavour like ESB or Jack Frost, as you won't appreciate it at all...  

Finally, my most recent visit was like still being down in East Sussex, with a grand selection of Dark Star ales (website), including American Pale Ale (APA, 4.7%), Hophead (3.8%) and The Art of Darkness (3.5%), all of them being regularly consumed by me in the past. There were also Partridge Best Bitter (4%), Espresso (4.2%) and The Original (5%), sorry, I didn't try either of these 3 on my 2 visits, but the APA was excellent, the Hophead superb, both pale bitters and very hoppy, and my favourite session dark ale, The Art of Darkness, which my brother, the Routemeister, was amazed by, he hadn't really believed my hype, but it is a 'session black pale ale', no other way to describe this wonderful full-flavoured beer! 

Nearly forgot to mention the West Berkshire (website) Dr Hexters Healer (5%), a strong full-bodied bitter with a marmalade 'zestiness', and Downton (website) Chocolate Orange Delight (5.8%), a strong beer, and you can guess for yourself its flavours!   

Back again soon, cheers!   

Birthday bash at the Bricklayers Arms, Putney...

So, when at my brother's abode, where do I go for my birthday ales? Of course, the Bricklayers Arms (website) in Putney, which included, on the bar, 4 ales from Oakham, and 5 from Dark Star, two of my favourite breweries, Happy Birthday Moi! 

First, I went for the Dark Star, serving Hophead (3.8%), The Original (5%), Genesis (4.7%), Partridge (4%), and a new one for me, Elderskelter. I'll have reported on most of these, but definitely not the 3.7% Elderskelter, a very refreshing pale bitter, citrus flavour, with a fruity aroma, and for the Oakham Brewery, celebrating its 20th anniversary, well done to Oakham and their successful business!  

Oakham... included an old favourite session bitter JHB (3.8%) and Rerun (5.5%), and the 2 I drank; plus the excellent Bishop's Farewell to come, sadly missed by me. One was the very good Scarlet Macaw (4.4%), which I have already reported on, but my notes say "Tastes more than 4.4%, body++, lots of dry bitterness, fruity aroma", there you go. The other Oakham ale was an excellent ale celebrating the 20 year anniversary, called 20 Years (5.8%), "fruity aroma++, grapefruit, and taste++", I liked it!

So, me celebrating a few more years than 20, but celebrations all round, had a great weekend, cheers to the Routemeister!

Tuesday 24th July and trip to St Leonards-on-Sea

An early start at the Tower again, first, to prove St Leonards isn't such a scary place, despite 'devil dogs' in the area (typical media exaggeration), but also as they sell good value ales at The Tower... I'd also said I'd lend my copy of The Dice Man to Louisa, but, sadly yet again, she wasn't around... However, I left the book behind the bar, many thanks. 

Good chat and good ales, 4 from Dark Star today, Saison, The Original, Sunburst and the Hophead that I drank. I'm getting more and more to like this pub, and good value too!  I also managed to get a photograph without a smoker lurking outside this time.

I then walked down the hill to the seafront, close by the pier, and visited the White Rock Hotel, despite my reservations about the temperature of the ales here, which regular readers will understand. Another 4 ales from Sussex brewers here, Dark Star's Hophead again, Harveys Olympia, a golden ale at 4.3%, Arundel Castle, a 3.8% 'tawny bitter', as it says on the pump clip, and the Dark Star ale I drank, Hylder Blonde. The Blonde is 4.2% and, apparently, flavoured with elderflowers, it has a flowery, fruity aroma, is pale, dry and bitter, and has a dryish peculiar aftertaste, presumably the elderflowers! Excellent service, as ever, from Kerry behind the bar, who has recently moved down the beach and now lives in the Old Town, hence is a bit of a regular at the Dolphin now, cheers!

From there, into town, and I own up, The John Logie Baird again, well, I do get 50p off a pint for being a CAMRA member... The usual larger regional brewers ales were on sale, Doom Bar, London Pride, Broadside etc, plus a couple that interested me, Beartown Bruins Ruin (5% and bronze coloured), and an ale brewed especially for 'spoons called Koroibos (named after the winner of the 'stadion' race at the first Olympic Games in 776BC).

Keisa served me, a friendly local lass, with very interesting tats and piercings; Koroibos was my choice, which is a collaboration between Everards and Corfu Brewery (yes, there is a real ale producer in Corfu!), however, at 4.5% I expected a lot more. It's refreshing, pale, hardly any aroma, and a bit bitter, but it could do with more hops (to my hoppy bitter taste buds), but it's very easy to drink, which makes it dangerous, especially at £1.99 a pint, and that's before I got my 50p deduction!

My final port of call was just down from Hastings railway station at Frank's Front Room, a reopened pub, very bright and airy in its new incarnation, usually selling 3 ales, Hastings Best Bitter and Blonde, and Sambrooks Wandle Bitter. Now, I live in Hastings, and was born and bred in Wandsworth, so it augured well!  I had a good chat to the hard-working Paul behind the bar, and with one of the three 'Franks' too, ie Geri...

Apparently, the Sambrooks may change and become more of a guest pump, and presently their food is mostly sandwiches, salads and bar snacks, but they are recruiting a chef in August, so things will change... Plans include evening meals, curry nights, quizzes and music; and the 'snug' (this is a 2 roomed bar) can be used for private functions already, and is. A very interesting new find.

Cheers!

8th June 2012

A very windy day in Hastings, and I reached the Dolphin in about 5 minutes quicker time than usual (wind behind me!)

First port of call was the Dolphin, the whole family here today, though only for a short time together ;-) Ales on were the usual Hophead, Directors and Sussex Best, plus Dark Star APA, Hopback Taiphoon and Adnams Broadside.  Then walked back westwards and against the wind now, lost my shades!

To the White Rock Hotel, met a couple of Charlton fans here, including the barman and a postman this side of the bar called Darren, cheers gents! Ales on were Hastings Best Bitter (which I had a few pints of), Dark Star The Original and a 2% ale from Weltons called Light Duty, despite the low gravity it actually had some flavour, and was a medium coloured bitter, surprisingly... Sadly, I had just missed drinking the revelation that is Dark Star Revelation!

Cheers!

Sunshine in Hastings, not to be wasted, so updates...

The White Rock Hotel, still selling ales at £3 a pint... On sale was the ubiquitous Harveys Sussex Best, Westons Horsham Old (4.5%), and Dark Star's The Original and Golden Gate, a 4.5% pale and bitter refreshing ale that I tried for the first time, more bitter than I though it would be...

The Dolphin, back up to 6 ales again, presumably now for the rest of the year into the Autumn at least. 3 regulars, Hophead, Directors, Sussex Best, and 3 guests, Youngs Special, Hastings Best and St Austell Tribute.

Now something is happening 6 of the 7 evenings, with Irish Folk Music being added to Tuesday evenings... Fish Suppers on Monday and Sausage & Mash on Wednesdays (eg Wild Boar, Ostrich, Venison, Lamb & Mint sausages + various more exotic type mash), music Fridays and Saturdays, and Quiz Night on Thursdays.

I drank Hophead, well what would you expect?

Wimbledon Village and Common

We visited Wimbledon on Thursday and Friday, so had to visit the 3 decent Youngs pubs in the area. All sell good ales, all have plenty of friendly staff working for them, and all sell decent food too...

First was the Crooked Billet, Crooked Billet, SW19. All these 3 Youngs pubs sell good ales, not just Youngs, as we have recently come to expect due to the reorganisation of their relationship with the Bedford lot, but guest ales are common too.

Dan and me really like the Crooked Billet, mind we really like the others too. Crackin' atmosphere, good ales, friendly staff, especially love the manager!

I'll not mention the obvious ales, though they are having a Hogsback season at the moment, but I'll just say what we drank, ie Twickenham Original at 4.2%, and I have not been disappointed by any ales from that brewer. This has a fruity aroma, is easy to drink, a medium coloured bitter (proper colour for a bitter to a Youngs drinker from an early age), and is slightly bitter with a pleasant dry aftertaste. Very nice again...

The Hand in Hand seems to always have very lovely bar staff too, and Youngs again, but I decided to order the Otter Bitter, very disappointed... Oh well, can't get it right every time, but should have gone for the Youngs Special straight away, always excellent here!

The 3rd excellent pub in this Wimbledon Village/Common trio is the Rose & Crown, an old coaching inn, that used to be the last outpost when leaving London from this direction, just before the highwaymen robbed you. Good job the staff are warm and friendly; again, we drank Special here, crackin' ale!

Brighton visit and last 2 pubs

The Basketmakers Arms, Gloucester Road, Brighton:

The Basketmakers is a cracking Fullers pub, that sells the whole range of Fullers and Gales ales, plus guests from other breweries, eg an old favourite of mine was on sale yesterday, Butcombe Bitter. There is also a great menu, whiskeys galore, loadsa real ale, friendly, but a lot busier inside than all my other visits of the day.

I took my pint of Fullers Bengal Lancer (5.0% India Pale Ale) outside, when I couldn't really find anywhere to settle properly inside, I just seemed to be getting in the way of others, who were mostly eating too. Decent sized pub too, so they must be raking it in!

Anyway, drinking the very tasty Bengal Lancer outside, and I found myself chatting to a teacher named Emma, who was drinking Fullers ESB, and used to live in Cambridge before moving down to Brighton. As most people who like real ales will appreciate, we can be a bit boring, but far from it, lively discourse was the order of the day, and Emma provided me with significant information about drinking in Cambridge too. Consequently, I shall soon be adding a Cambridge page to my website.

Many thanks to Emma for her company and information provided, always welcome to join me for a drink in Hastings, or elsewhere on the coast, cheers!

Final stop before catching my train home was the always reliable, The Evening Star, Surrey Street, near to the station, and I was not to be disappointed.

The Evening Star is the 'tap' to Dark Star Brewery, being its first pub, and continues to provide excellent ales, specialist beers, Belgian beers, and real cider too. The Star has 4 of Dark Star's own ales on sale and 3 guest ales from other breweries.

On their own side of the bar was Dark Star Revelation (5.7%, and it was a revelation too, cracking beer!), The Original, Hophead (a regular beer I drink in Hastings, great stuff too!) and Winter Meltdown. The guest ales too show a findness for pale hoppy ales, all being versions of pale ale/IPA, the first was a collaboration with Thornbridge Brewery, from up my previous neck of the woods, PUJA (6.7% and reyt interesting), Magic Rock Curious (3.9% pale ale) and the excellent 6.0% IPA from West Yorkshire, the Summer Wine Brewery Diablo, too good and too strong to carry on with, I'm afraid... I was going to have another pint, but common sense won me over, that was my last drink before leaving Brighton.

Interesting coincidences again, the manager would be drinking up in my old haunt, ie round Kelham Island and Shalesmoor in Sheffield, and at my old regular pubs, including the Wellington, drinking pale hoppy Little Ale Cart Brewery ales. Also, they've done collaborations with other brewers too, eg Brodies, a brewery I'm very interested in, and were advertising their Easter Beer Festival at their 'tap', the King William IV in Leytonstone, East London, 6-9 April 2012. All ales at £1.99 a pint at the festival, in line with Brodies pricing policy!

Anyway, a cracking day for me, and many thanks to all those who helped that be possible!