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!

 

The Scot invades Hastings

My mate, Jeff MacDonut, stayed with me a couple of days, which meant I had to show him some of the delights of Hastings and its environs... I met him at the station early afternoon on Monday, but had enough time to have a quick pint of Youngs Special, bought from the lovely Ellen behind the bar this time, sadly, at the recently refurbished and reopened General Havelock...

So, I went and met Jeff, dragged him back the 5 minute walk to my place (he was thirsty, so in a hurry to drink), dropped off his bag, and we immediately returned to the General Havelock via the bank.  Jeff had a pint of Special, this time I had Wye Valley HPA, and Jeff was dead impressed by Ellen too, but for a different reason to mine...

We then rushed along the front, being pushed by the wind and rain, nipped up George Street, and visited the Hastings Arms, which Jeff really liked, calling it a "Working Class" pub, happy that the bloke behind the bar said we could come back later, however drunk, provided we didn't start a fight in there, "US?!?"  Haha, anyway, we moved on from there and I had a pint of Dark Star Hophead at the Dolphin, which was incredibly quiet this afternoon.

We then walked up All Saints Street to the Stag, where Jeff was impressed, again, by the barman, this time, and the ales and interior of the building.  When we left, we crossed The Bourne to the High Street and dropped down to the First In Last Out, knocking on my mate John's window to wave at him as we passed, he'll be happy with that!  In the FILO, John's good mate, Paul, was quickly finishing his beer as we entered (maybe he had an early warning from John we were on our way), had a quick chat before he scurried off, and chatted to Tony, the manager/brewer whilst supping a lovely pint of his Church IPA (Jeff had chosen his porter, Cardinal).    

So, on leaving the FILO, we were feeling a bit weary, but ventured back across The Bourne to the Cinque Ports, where we had our final pint (Fullers ESB, lovely jubbly), before returning back to eat and sup some Leffe Blonde with our meal.  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!