July: and Bitter May!

I'll start by saying, sorry this is so late, but I really wanted to celebrate CAMRA's annual Mild May Month, or whatever it's called, but saw not a drop of Mild! So, I thought I'd mention what I consider were the better bitters I quaffed during May...

The first is a wonderful golden amber bitter from Franklins Brewing Company of East Sussex (website), their 5.5% North Shore IPA. Regular readers will be aware I love my dry hoppy, citrus and fruit flavoured bitters, and the drier and more bitter the better, and this hasn't let me down whenever I've tasted it, great stuff! It is a single hopped ale, with the New Zealand hop, Rakau, and a more in-depth citrus fruit flavour, with hints of peach and apricot, and a great dry aftertaste, excellent.

The second ale to be considered, from Raw Brewing Company of Derbyshire (website), their 4.5% Nid Welsh, a collaboration with The Pigeon Fishers, also of Derbyshire (website), and The Waen Brewery (website) and Hopcraft Brewing (website), both of Wales. Called a "Red IPA" in the literature, but more of a bronze colour, with a strong fruity aroma, and mango in the flavour, dries out with plenty of bitterness, the dry hopping doesn't hurt, I'd imagine. I noted "very good" in my tasting notes, which means what it says!

Next, from Navigation Brewery of Nottingham (website), their 5.5% Apus American IPA, named after the 'Bird of Paradise'. Lager malts and American hops are used, providing for an extremely refreshing lovely citrus hoppy bitter, very nice indeed.

And, what can I say?!? 2 more excellent ales sitting side by side, and from 2 of my favourite breweries... From the Scottish Fyne Ales (website), their consistently excellent 4.5% Avalanche, brewed from Maris Otter Pale and Wheat malts, and with Cascade and Liberty hops, a great combination. A pale straw colour, and this has citrus running up your nose as soon as you reach for the glass, dries out into a lovely bitterness, you couldn't ask for better, but...

Along comes this tribute to Joe Strummer and the Clash, from my old employer in Sheffield, Kelham Island Brewery (website), a 5.3% delight of an ale, London Calling... A deep amber colour, and a very dry bitter, and I mean very dry, using 4 English hops, Phoenix, Bramling Cross, East Kent Goldings, and a regularly used hop by the brewery in my time there, First Gold. I loved this, cheers!

My Local Pub of the Year update, Hastings

Borrowed, and edited, from a contribution to the Steve on Hastings blog...

The Tower

I recently walked up to the current 2015 South East Sussex CAMRA 'Pub of the Year', the Tower, on the corner of London and Tower Roads in Bohemia (251 London Road TN37 6NB). As ever, it was a pleasure to see Louisa the landlady, to meet up with a few friends I hadn't seen for a while, and drink some excellent ales at good value prices, and I hadn't been up there for a while...  

6 real ales (and 4 ciders, £3.10-3.40 a pint), mostly local to Sussex/Kent too, including 2 excellent regular ales from Dark Star, ie Hophead (£2.80 a pint) and American Pale Ale, (£2.90), both of which I've talked about at length many times before, and a refreshing pale offering from 1648, the 3.7% Hop Pocket (£2.90). Also, 2 dark ales, Titanic Plum Porter (4.5%, £3) and Arundel Smokehouse Porter (6%, £3.20), and a 'red ale', Isfield Ethelred (4.4%, £3 a pint), which was certainly not unready! 

Much more to come soon, cheers!

Crackin' East Sussex Ales!

Crackin' pale bitter from the FILO Brewery (Hastings Old Town Brewery), PIRATE GOLD, drinking it as I write! What can I say, pale, dry, bitter, strong, probably more than 6% by now! We'll likely never see it again, as brewed by chance, AWESOME...

Another great and old faithful trusty ale, Dark Star American Pale Ale (4.7%, website), much written about by me before, pale, hoppy, consistently quality!  

Finally, for today, and I have many other crackin' ales, from outside Sussex, to report about very soon, but my brother and I had this 5.5% 'monster' of an ale at the Albatross Cub (RAFA) in Bexhill, recently, Franklins New Zealand Indian Pale Ale  (NZIPA, 5.5%, website), brewed with New Zealand Rakau hops. OK, as I wrote it down, "not too fruity, quite bitter, good body, dry, with a bitter finish - Nice one!"  

The NZIPA arrived, from the supplier, at the Dolphin, Rock-a-Nore, Hastings Old Town, today, so expect it on there within the next week or so... I shan't miss it!  

Sussex Beer Festival, Hastings, starts tomorrow! 20-21 September...

Well, not actually a beer festival, but at the Hastings Seafood & Wine Festival, the FILO has a bar in the main marquee, with 12 different ales brewed in Sussex + more! Here you can see the bar being constructed yesterday... 

So? What ales are there? 

From Hastings Brewery, there is their Porter, and 2 of their 'Handmade' ales, number 5, the single-hopped Galaxy Pale Ale, and number 14, their 3 Cs American Pale Ale. You can find reviews of them elsewhere within my blogs, nice and hoppy! 

From Long Man comes their very good Copper Hop and darker Old Man, similarly reported on before. 

Dark Star provide their ever hoppy Hophead and Vice Beer, a new one for me! 

Of course, the FILO Brewery are also providing 5 of their lovely ales too: Gold, Crofters, Old Town Tom, Churches Pale Ale and Bourne Blonde, so a good variety of their ales, indeed! 

Come and enjoy, cheers!

Goodbye and best wishes to Binnie!

What can I say?!? Surprised I am! Fullers have taken over The Harp, in between Charing Cross and Covent Garden, and they did it last month! I only found out because it is reported in the most recent edition of CAMRA's What's Brewing...     

I've just looked at Fullers twitter page for The Harp, and it still appears to be retaining regulars from Sussex, as had been served up by the previous incumbent, Bridget 'Binnie' Walsh, for example, among the 10 real ales on offer are still Dark Star Hophead and American Pale Ale. They also have Burning Sky Plateau, and many other ales in addition to Fullers, so, not so bad and fingers crossed for the future... 

I'll add my best wishes to the ex-landlady for the future, she did a great job with The Harp, cheers m'dear!! 

Brighton... Well, Lewes actually...

I suppose, if going to a football match at Brighton's (newish still) Falmer Stadium you have a choice or two... you can drink at the ground, and they do have real ale there, one of the few grounds that do! Or, you can drink in Brighton or Lewes, for me, the choice is obviously Lewes, and for anyone coming by train from the London direction probably best for them as well. The match ticket gives you free travel down from Haywards Heath, and you reach Lewes before you get to the ground, let alone Brighton, and it is closer to Falmer than Brighton, just, and all 3 pubs mentioned here are in CAMRA's 2014 Good Beer Guide... 

Anyway, I met up with quite a few people I hadn't seen for a while, some of whom were already alcoholically challenged before I arrived. I started at the best pub in Lewes, I came to decide that evening, the Snowdrop Inn in South Street. It doesn't take long to get around the pubs in Lewes, as it's not really that big, and, as you can see from the photograph above, this pub is below a cliff, because this is where the sea used to come up to here in years gone by, at least that's what I tell people, but it did used to be a major port on the River Ouse, and has a well recorded history from Saxon times, through to the Norman invasion and the erection of Lewes Castle, Tudor times and Anne of Cleaves House, and a hero of mine lived here, Thomas Paine, and much much more, definitely somewhere to visit and enjoy.   

6 ales are served by handpump at the Snowdrop Inn and a 4.8% real cider too, Cornish Orchards on this day. Dark Star American Pale Ale (APA, 4.7%) and Harveys Sussex Best (4%) are 2 regular ales, and there is now always at least one ale from Burning Sky Brewery, but today there were 2, so a treat for me, the Aurora (5.6%) and the Plateau (3.5%), and a crafty keg beer from them too; more regarding Burning Sky below. So, 4 ales from East Sussex and 2 from the Manchester brewery, another old favourite haunt of mine up there, Marble Arch, and their Pint (3.9%), a pale dry session bitter, I think I've written about before, and Chocolate Marble, which I definitely haven't tried before, a 5.5% slightly sweet stout with a balance of chocolate and coffee malt flavours, and very nice indeed!  

From the Snowdrop, I rushed away from the rather lovely barmaid, sadly, towards The Gardeners Arms, around the corner and down a wee bit in Cliffe High Street, as I'd received a phone call that people were arriving... now, they'd all been drinking in Brighton beforehand, and I felt remarkably sober! Things did get a wee bit confusing from here, and I forgot to take any notes. We had a good chat here, between each other (Paul, the Robbo brothers, Kieran and Graham, and Darrel and Jim) and with locals too, but I have no idea what I drank there, it didn't stand out, but I had been drinking Plateau back at the Snowdrop, and that is rather excellent. Anyway, I had a pint of something not too hoppy here; most of the ales were less exciting than the hoppy delights offered at the previous pub...   

Darrel and Jim popped off to a pub nearer to the station to meet up with another mate called Paul, and the remaining four of us dropped into the Lewes Arms, a Fullers pub in Mount Place, well, 3 of us did, we lost the other somehow until inside the ground at half time! I've written about this pub before, a decent Fullers pub that sells at least 2 guest ales usually, though I do remember Graham buying me a pint of Gales HSB (4.8%), though I thought he'd bought it for his brother. I nearly started an argument, but very gently, of course, thinking I was being ignored by the barmaid, sorry luv! Anyway, we went to the match next, got beaten, and I had to wait ages to catch a train back from Falmer, not very well organised at all... 

I did, though, manage to get back to Lewes in time for a couple more pints at the Snowdrop Inn, thankfully, the best pints of ale I had drunk for ages, the first, Plateau, went down in minutes, the second, I took my time over to enjoy the lovely flavours of, the also excellent Aurora, both reported on by me very recently. I had a good chat with Alec the bar manager too, though the lovely barmaid didn't work 'til this late, sadly. The Burning Sky ales are packed with hops, and served in quality straight glasses with the pub name on one side and the brewery name on the other (I love the glasses if anyone wants to know what to get me for my birthday!). 

For information, the head brewer at Burning Sky is Mark Tranter, formerly of Dark Star, and this brewery looks to be the foreseeable future of hoppy ales in East Sussex, you read it here! See their website too (site), good luck to them, cheers! 

Playing cards at the Tower?

Pale and hoppy ales actually, not playing cards, though there is a connection, also a connection with the previous blog about 'black IPAs', starting off very obviously, though also about hoppy pale ales. Maybe trying to be too clever, and just trying to explain it to myself, but this blog starts by reporting a beer I drank early last week, Black Jack at the Tower in Hastings. Black Jack Shuffled Deck is a 3.8% pale bitter with a hint of fruit in the aroma, slightly sweet taste at first, drying out into a decent bitter, very much enjoyed by me and many others. 

Maybe not so obvious, but on Sunday the 4 ales pictured below were available at the Tower at the same time, "Four of a Kind"... From the right, Sussex brewer Dark Star's well known, and reported on in these blogs many times, American Pale Ale (APA, 4.7%), pale, hoppy, and gorgeous... Next, from further afield, Bristol Beer Factory's Nova, a weaker 3.8% 'session ale', a dry and pale bitter with decent body for the strength, and very refreshing too... 

The third ale, again from Sussex, is Burning Sky's response to Dark Star's APA and Revelation combined, though being closer to the strength of Revelation (5.7%) and with a significant use of hops, the Aurora (5.6%) also has already been reported on by me... but I am quite happy to make further comment, this is a stronger 'APA' style bitter, a pale amber, with much fruitiness, peach and grapefruit, in the aroma and flavour, with a dry and bitter aftertaste, and, quite frankly, it is gorgeous! 

The furthest on the left is another pale and hoppy ale, this time from the Kent brewer Caveman, their 4.1% Citra, which, as you'd expect from the name, and from the American 'Citra' hops used, is a pale strongly citrus flavoured bitter with a dry and slightly nutty aftertaste. So, four of a kind indeed... 

Another connection to the previous blog though? The Citra had replaced the very hoppy, but dark, Dark Star The Art of Darkness discussed in depth in my previous blog... See? It all comes together, cheers!  

Sent to The Tower... and more Dark Star ales!

My most recent visit to The Tower, London Road, Hastings St Leonards, with the sky just darkening early evening as the Winter draws ever closer, and a very pleasant chance to meet up with the landlady, Louisa. 

Yep, of course there were excellent ales from the East Sussex brewers, Dark Star, available, all at a very reasonable price too. Their Hophead (3.8% and £2.40 a pint), American Pale Ale (APA, 4.7% and £2.50) and the 'seasonal' Indian Summer IPA (6% and just £3.10 a pint). I'm sure I've already commented about the Indian Summer, not just the decent weather we've had up until very recently, but the ale... It has mucho body, a lovely fruity aroma, and is a deeply delicious bitter, love all 3 actually!  

...and not just Dark Star ales, but Two Cocks Brewery's 1643 Cavalier, described as a 'golden ale', which is a quite pale golden bitter, and very easy to drink, thanks for yet another ale and fun filled evening, Louisa, cheers! 

More 'Red Shift', and something very interesting coming from Hastings Brewery...

The Dolphin in Hastings, Rock a Nore, was my target today, and not just because they have 2 firkins of Dark Star Red Shift (5.5%) to sell, but that's a good enough start! There were the usual Dark Star Hophead and APA, Harveys Sussex Best and Youngs Special, and the other guest was the fruity pale bitter from Salopian, Oracle (4%).

And, sitting by the Dark Star APA pump was the same brewer's Red Shift (5.5%).  I've already reported on it, but just to say again, this is a deep ruby bitter with a pronounced fruity Ribenaesque aroma. It still has a fruity taste, a subtle hint of roasted malts and plenty of body, it is a very nice ale, indeed, a warning though, you probably only have a few days before it's provision is ended here!

Oh yes! And the news connected to Hastings Brewery and one of their 'Handmade' ales to come... I was recently at the Tower, more of soon, but Louisa, the wonderful landlady, let me have a taste of the Handmade Number 6, Columbus, from an advance sample she had been provided me with because I keep on missing Hastings 'handmade numbers', many thanks Louisa!  The Columbus is a 4.8% pale bitter, single hop, with a very peachy aroma, it has plenty of body and a nice dry bitter finish. I liked it very much, so am hoping I'll catch it from the cask...

Anyway, lots going on, a visit to London to come, the CAMRA Beer Festival at Olympia too, and even more from the Tower, etc etc, cheers!   

Congratulations to the South East Sussex Pub of the Year!



 

Congratulations to all at the Dolphin, Rock a Nore, Hastings, for winning the CAMRA South East Sussex 2013 Pub of the Year!

 

A good 'finger buffet' supplied by the landpersons, apparently, but the CAMRA peeps whacked it back very quickly, so no chance of a bite there for me! So, thank goodness I'd already eaten before coming down on Tuesday.  Anyway, a good night was had, and the ales included the usual 3 regulars, Hophead, Youngs Special and Sussex Best, also the seasonal regular, APA, and the returning Milk Street The Usual ( 4.4%) and, from my old employer up int' North, Sheffield, Kelham Island Easy Rider (4.4%).  Good stuff!

Nice to have another of my 'locals' win an award; the RAFA Club in Bexhill, and the Kelham Island Tavern, Cask & Cutler/Wellington and Fat Cat/Kelham Island Brewery, all in Sheffield, being previous winners of CAMRA awards...

I know how to pick my locals, indeed, cheers!

Some disappointment in Hastings...

Not so much at the Tower in London Road, though, but then again... The lovely Sara was working, always pleasant, and some great ales on sale still, Ilkley Lotus IPA and Dark Star Revelation and APA (which I appeared to get the last pint of, thanks very much, but the other 2 are just to strong to only be drinking at a lunchtime visit, and, quite frankly, Doom Bar is very much a reserve for me, like if I'm dying of thirst!). I miss Hophead here at the Tower, longing for its return...

So, to the White Rock Hotel, down at the seafront, which did have Dark Star Hophead on sale, but nothing from the other 3 pumps, though it was after 12 noon, and it appeared 2 other ales may be pulled through at some time, but the lad behind the bar wasn't sure. OK, Hophead at £3.10 a pint, instead of the £2.30 the Tower charges, but... Quite frankly, that's me, 'frank' to the point of candour, I was reminded that, despite selling ales daily from 10.00 here, it's getting close to summer, and the beer was a bit warm, had definitely not been pulled through at all, and I wouldn't serve it up so cloudy (it was OK to drink-ish, and I always say I don't drink with my eyes, so can't be hypocritical, but I'll have no problems with my bowels this week!), this is why I don't drink in this establishment much during the summer, shame, as I like sitting out on the verandah looking at the sea...

So, where did I end up? At the General Havelock, to get my 'loyalty card' stamped and drink a decent pint of Hophead, but at £3.40 a pint now (inflation in a day). They also have Timothy Taylor Landlord and Harveys Sussex Best as regulars, and the Hophead of course, and Dark Star American Pale Ale (APA) as a guest on this day.  They usually sell Westons Old Rosie cider too, but a busy bank holiday weekend had seen that go down many gullets!

Good value food at the General Havelock too, had a wee chat to the lovely Ellen, serving today, and Jamie, the manager came in too, so pleasant company. For £4.45 I had a very nice cheese and red onion sandwich with mayo in brown bread, and a bowl of thick cut chips (the oil seemed a bit 'tired' and they were a bit fatty, but can't complain about the good value).  Cheers for another day...

Sunday 28th April

I wanted to watch football on television, so where in Hastings can you drink a good pint of beer at great value prices, and watch Sky Sports too?  Obviously, the Tower, London Road (now added to our website too, though I shall be adding to that page a bit more soon, ie Hastings St Leonards, and to feature in the next CAMRA Good Beer Guide too, congratulations to the landlady, Louisa, and all her colleagues!).  Great snacks on the bar for a Sunday lunchtime, the lovely Sara behind the bar, Louisa and beau this side when I arrived, and good company at the bar too, and ales...  

Look at the 4 above... 3 Dark Star ales and an interesting pale, quite bitter, ale from a brewery I'd never heard of, Dancing Duck, their 5.5% Abduction, not bad, but a bit strong for lunchtime, and 3 excellent ales from Dark Star to chose from!  I gave the 5% "red ale" Carafa Jade a miss, still a bit too strong, but, quite frankly, I couldn't get past the two other excellent paler ales, and difficult to chose which I preferred, though I may go marginally for the 4.8% Sunburst, a "golden ale", though a very pale 'golden', bitter and thirst quenching, loved it, and at only £2.60 a pint, eat your hearts out folks!  Oh yes, and there was the, also excellent, American Pale Ale (APA) at 4.7%, marginally 'weaker', and £2.40 a pint... So I drank a couple of pints of both, cheers Louisa and Sara, I was spoilt! 

And an update for the Dolphin, Rock a Nore, Hastings, where I had a couple of pints before walking up to the Tower, and a lovely slice of orange cake from the wonderful Maz behind the bar, and cheese and pickled onions, ta Mark.  Their regular 'seasonal' ale for the summer has returned, and probably will be on sale for 4 or 5 months, maybe longer, ie Dark Star APA, and the regular Dark Star Hophead too, great stuff!

Cheers!

Rye to Hastings - Friday 12th April.

On leaving the Red Lion at Snargate, we returned to East Sussex by numbers 11 and 100 buses, for a look into Rye, where neither of us were particularly experienced drinking at, our first destination, The Queens Head (Rye: we dropped into another Queens Head later, as you will see), where we chatted to the manager, the second Kate of the day, and knowledgeable and pleasant she was too.

The Queens Head is a CAMRA GBG entry, and ales? Well, they always have local ales on, usually one from Long Man and two from Franklins, and on Friday there were Franklins Mama Knows Best and English Garden (4.1% and 3.8%; I'm sure I've reported on both before); Longman American Pale Ale, a 4.8% full bodied and fruity ale with a dry finish; and Brains The Rev James, 4.5% and well known... From this you may guess I drank the Longman APA. 

We then walked down to the Ypres Castle Inn (pronounced "Wipers" locally, not too many French speakers around here, I guess, though I seem to remember that was how troops in the First World War pronounced the name). 6 handpumps here for 5 ales and a cider, which was the 6% Biddenden Bushels Cider.  The regular ales are the ubiquitous Harveys Sussex Best (4%) and Larkins Best Bitter (4.4% and a typical South East bitter in the tastes of Youngs and Sheps). They also had Adnams Broadside (4.7% and well known) and regularly have ales from Old Dairy Brewery, on Friday they were the 4.1% "premium bitter" Copper Top and 4.3% golden ale Gold Top.   

We then caught the number 100 bus back to Icklesham and the Queens Head Inn, where there are always a good selection of real ales on, which on Friday included Whitstable Native (3.7%) and Galaxy (the hop used), a golden fruity 4.4% ale. Oh yes, and they had many others, including the 5% Hopfuzz Tomahawk, but my notes were getting a little hopfuzzy by now...

We made it back to the Dolphin in Hastings, where I have since been made aware that I dozed off whilst standing at the bar before realising I should go home!  Anyway, there were the usual 3 regular ales, my usual tipple Dark Star Hophead (3.8%), Youngs Special (4.5%) and Harveys Sussex Best (4%), and, I believe, Isfield Straw Blonde (4.1%), Harveys 'ruby ale' Georgian Dragon (4.7%), and a nice West Country ale, Otter Brewery's Ale (4.5%), a copper coloured ale with that West Country nuttiness in the flavour, typical of the region.

The Straw Blonde and Otter Ale have since been replaced by Loddon Ferryman's Gold (4.4%) and the excellent Yorkshire ale, Ilkley Lotus IPA, 5.6% of pale fruity hoppy bitter! (18th April)  

Anyway, a good day was had, cheers!



Weekend in Hastings (1st-3rd March)

A bit of chat about ales at 3 Hastings bars from over the weekend, and I think my good mate and colleague, Kieran, is going to add a blog about Southampton soon...

It was a bit overcaste, so this is an old photograph of the Tower, London Road, upper St Leonards, not far from Bohemia Road, an excellent place to visit, though, sadly, no Louisa to say "Trouble's here" when I walked into the pub, but her colleagues are all efficient and very lovely young women, so I have no complaints, and ale-wise, no complaints either.  Out of the 2 Dark Star ales, I drank the American Pale Ale (APA), 4.7% of excellent pale and hoppy beer, but there was also their Porter (5.6%, and a bit too strong for me on the day, sorry).  They also had 2 Bath Ales beers on, their Golden Hare (4.4%) and Gem (4.8%), at least one of which I have reported on before, another good brewer!

I hadn't been to the Dripping Well for a while, walking back down the hill (Bohemia Road) to reach it, where I called Nick, the landlord, by the wrong name! See, I said it had been a while...  I drank the Brains The Rev. James (4.5%), and Adnams Broadside (4.7%), which was in excellent condition, really enjoyed it. There was also the 'cooking bitter' Wadworth Henry's IPA (3.6%), sorry, I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but you know what I mean, and they usually have the Hastings Best (4.1%), but the pump clip was turned round, so I guessed it wasn't on at that time.

I also met a great couple there, Simon, originally from up in the North West of England, and a more Southern Belle, I do believe, from her accent, anyway, Rachel.  If you read this, Simon, the art deco pub I was trying to describe, is the Ship & Mitre (I could only remember Ship being in the title, if you remember) on Dale Street, Liverpool.  Well worth a visit if any readers are ever in Liverpool, as are The Philharmonic and Doctor Duncans, and, well, there are a great number of good pubs up there really!

At the Dolphin, on the 3^rd March, there were the usual 3 regulars, Dark Star Hophead (3.8%), Youngs Special (4.5%), and Harveys Sussex Best (4%), and the three guests were 2 Sussex ales from Isfield, Flapjack, a 5.3% ‘oatmeal stout’ and IPA, Imperial Pale Ale, at 4.2%, both self explanatory, and Elland Tomahawk.  The Yorkshire brewery describes their Tomahawk as a “strong aromatic bitter”, which doesn’t really do it justice, it is aromatic and 4.7%, and a full flavoured pale bitter, and it is very good indeed!

 

Debbie and Maz were working behind the bar of the Dolphin, with an excellent plum cake from Maz for the regulars to enjoy, many thanks Maz, great Tomahawk to drink, cheers both, and good company that included an intriguing French woman, Florence, and, later, dinner at Trattoria Italiana, an Italian restaurant in Hastings, obviously.  A good day in all!   

By the 5^th, the guest ales were all different again, the ‘semi-regular’ seasonal guest is now the very good Harveys Porter (4.8%), of which they currently have 6 firkins, so it will be on for a while, and the other 2 guest ales included an ale from a very new local brewery, Pig & Porter, Red Spider (5.5%), a full bodied bitter with roasted malt as a contributory factor; this is what I would call a ‘special bitter’, and very nice.   

 

The sixth ale was the excellent Salopian Golden Thread, a 5% pale bitter with a ‘peach’ fruity aroma and plentiful body, a cracker of an ale, and the Hophead was in very good form too, by the way!  Company today included the landlord, Mark, and behind the bar the two very delightful daughters of the family, Laura and Louise.  

 

I enjoyed my time as ever, of course, cheers!

The Tower in St Leonards, Hastings (20-02-13)

I hadn't been to the Tower, London Road, St Leonards, Hastings, for quite a while, and not because it has a long address, but, well, I've been pretty busy, and a bit short of cash to boot! The Tower probably sells the best value good quality ales in the area, and you're pretty sure to get one of Dark Star's excellent pale beers, so the walk up to the Tower was a sensible move on Wednesday, and Lousia, the landlady, was present too... bonus!

So, what did they have to drink? 4 excellent ales were available, indeed, 2 from Dark Star and 2 from the West Country.  I started with Bath Ales Golden Hare, a 4.4% 'seasonal' full-bodied pale ale with a pronounced bitter aftertaste, very good. I then had a half of the St Austell Ruck & Roll (topical, rugby, see?), a slightly darker light bitter with a hint of nuts to the flavour.  Then a new member of staff arrived, the already efficient Jess, with her intricately painted union flag fingernails; worth taking the picture as I progressed to the Dark Star ales...   

I had a pint of the ever bitter, pale and hoppy, favourite of mine, Hophead (3.8%), at just the £2.30 a pint, can't get better than an excellent local ale at a very competitive price... then the improved (on what was already a very good beer recipe, presumably a variation of hops used) American Pale Ale (APA and 4.7%) at £2.40 a pint. I was a happy bunny on my way home, cheers to Louisa and Jess!

The Dolphin for my next blog...

Weekend 2-3 February and surprise 3.5% Ale!

I watched football on Sky tv at the Tower, London Road, St Leonards, Hastings, and found they had 3 Dark Star ales on sale, the 5% 'winter warmer' Winter Meltdown, the excellent 4.7% pale ale, American Pale Ale and The Art of Darkness, only 3.5%.  They also had Tring Moongazer, a 4.3% lightish ale with "All American Hops".  The Moongazer is a light coloured ale, with a hint of caramel in the aroma, and a little sweet to start with, but with a bitter aftertaste, nice.

But the surprise was The Art of Darkness, Dark Star adding a whopping amount of hops to make this session beer, by strength, a "full flavoured black beer"... Not too bad a description, but the colour was more a deep dark red, and the flavours were certainly there. Yes, full of hops, refreshing, with a dry aftertaste, and I was very happy to drink more than just the one pint, excellent!  

At the Dolphin in Hastings, I again enjoyed the full flavoured 5.5% CITRA IPA from Franklin's, which does what it says on the label, this new brewery from Bexhill certainly is brewing some decent ales very early in its existence.  In addition to the CITRA, there were the Dolphin's usual regulars, Harveys Sussex Old and Sussex Best, Youngs Special and Dark Star Hophead, and there was also:

The Dolphin's first foray into ales from Kent Brewery, which shouldn't be their last, as this is another reasonably local brewery, in adjacent Kent, that brews some very good ales. The 4.1% Cobnut is a dark ruby ale, with a nutty flavour, and reminds me of a stout, very nice.  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!

4th January - Bexhill and the Albatross Club

A lovely walk along the front to Bexhill on Sea and a New Year visit to the Albatross Club. This blog is a bit later than I was hoping to post because I have had problems loading photographs onto Blogger, so this is an older photograph already loaded... hence the rather more sunny aspect!

To drink in The Albatross Club, as I've said before, you need to be a member of the RAFA, or have a friend who can sign you in who is a member, or belong to CAMRA, hence my permission to gain entrance.  Though on Friday, I decided to join the RAFA as an associate member ("about time!" I hear from Geoff and Peter, not to mention John and Jonathan), so my application is now with the membership secretary.

So what 4 ales were on sale for the good value £2.60 a pint for members and friends, and CAMRA members?  2 from Dark Star Brewery, the 4.7% American Pale Ale (APA) and 3.8% Hophead, both nice pale and hoppy ales, as you will have already noted from my previous blogs, and I certainly partook of the Hophead on Friday.  They also had Youngs Special (4.5%) and Rother Valley Level Best, a 4% ale I have drunk before, a nice light coloured bitter with a hint of that nutty flavour you taste from some hops, yes, I had a pint of this before the Hophead.

By the way, when I first visited The Albatross, there were only 3 lines for real ales, now there are 4, and in a couple of months this is to become 5 lines.  Geoff and his colleagues who work the bar and cellar are certainly putting up an excellent showing for real ale in Bexhill... This is the only place to visit for real ale in Bexhill really, and they provide a good value food menu too!

Cheers!