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!   

My interests in Dark Star...

Some people must think that I work for Dark Star, or have shares in the company, so I must declare my interests, much as politicians should... The only interest I have in Dark Star Brewing is drinking their excellent hoppy ales! If I was living back up in Sheffield, I'd be talking about Little Ale Cart or Steel City perhaps, or if Magic Rock or Oakham ales were more available to me locally, I'd be talking about them... 

Indeed, I love my hoppy ales... so let us begin with 2 Dark Star ales recently spotted at the White Rock Hotel, overlooking the beach and pier in Hastings. The Hophead (3.8%) is readily available elsewhere, and reported on lots by me, but I see the Art of Darkness (3.5%) much less, so I had to try another pint of it here, dark and hoppy, not easy to get too drunk on, consequently an excellent session ale, I love it! They also had Harveys Sussex Best (4%), and another interesting darker bitter from Rother Valley, the 5% Blues, which was bitter with a hint of coffee, and a dry finish, not bad at all.  

Of course, the Tower, London Road, 'higher' St Leonards/Bohemia, is another regular supplier of Dark Star ales for me in the locality, American Pale Ale (4.7%) being a regular on the bar, and Winter Meltdown (5%) a seasonal medium dark copper coloured bitter, a 'winter warmer' some say, but not up to the level of my old favourite ale of that style the Winter Warmer (5%) from Youngs, as was, which I was weaned on as a baby ;-) The Tower also recently had the very local brew, Hastings 'Vanilla' Porter, a special vanilla flavoured version of their 4.5% Porter at just £2.50 a pint! This has a roasted malt flavour, more what I would expect from a stout, with a dry aftertaste, not bad at all. Oh yes! A hint of vanilla too...  

Talking about Hastings Brewery, at the Albatross Club (RAFA club in nearby Bexhill on Sea), another regular supplier of Dark Star ales too, I recently re-tried the Hastings 'Handmade' number 5, the award winning (eg at the recent Eastbourne and York Beer Festivals) Hop Forward Pale Ale (4.8%). This is brewed with just a single hop, as the 'Handmade' brews are, in this instance 'Galaxy' hops, and like them all, plenty of hops are used too, which is likely why I prefer them to their regular brews. Number 5 is pale, very bitter, and very good too, so good that they brewed a lot more of it, and it is available in bottles and the recent mini-keg version of 'Party Sevens' (just in time for Christmas).

Talking about hoppy ales, the Dolphin at Rock-a-Nore, opposite the Fishermens beach and huts in Hastings 'old town', always has Dark Star Hophead on sale; my nickname in that establishment being 'Hophead Steve' unsurprisingly. However, also, recently, saw the return of Oakham Scarlet Macaw (4.4%), another excellent hoppy ale from Oakham, and this must be at elast the third time it has been on sale at the Dolphin, great stuff, cheers!

County Arms, Wandsworth Common

Another Young's house, that was no doubt a coaching inn, or something, a hundred to a hundred and fifty years ago. Big old pub, typical Victorian pub/inn, on the main road coming from Wandsworth Bridge, and sitting just in front of the prison!

We all drank the excellent Young's Winter Warmer, best I've tasted this winter, and I've had a few pints of it at various pubs too. They also served Young's Ordinary, Special, and Wells' Bombardier.

At the back is an enormous eating/restaurant part of the pub, and a cracking beer garden too, if a bit too close to a very busy road these days.

Kieran doing a bit of pole dancing within the County Arms ;-)