Hastings Jack in the Green Festival

Well, this weekend is going to be very busy in Hastings, with the Jack in the Green Festival (website for more details and its history). We are going to be blessed with 2 special ales for Jack this year, from Lewes brewer, Harveys, is Bogie Man Ale (4.3%), which will be available over the weekend, and at the start of the procession on Monday, at the Dolphin Inn, Rock-a-Nore Road (opens at 09.00 on Monday).

The second ale, brewed by Hastings brewery, FILO Brewing Company, Thirst of May (4.1%), will obviously be available at the First In Last Out (FILO) pub, High Street, over the weekend and on Monday too, of course (opens at 10.00 on Monday), and also at various other pubs, including The Crown, All Saints Street, and...

The Albion, George Street, is having another beer festival this weekend, starting Saturday evening! Ales available will be pretty similar to those available at the St George's Day festival (I blogged detailing ales last week!), but will be including the FILO Thirst of May and Harveys mild for CAMRA's Mild May Month, Knots of May (3%).

I'll report back once tasted, cheers!

St George's Day Festival of English Ale in Hastings

The Albion, in George Street, Hastings, is holding a Beer Festival this weekend, together with fun, music and food... 

In addition to their regulars, including an excellent favourite of mine, Dark Star Hophead (3.8%), which I had a pint of there yesterday, a crackin' ale indeed, Harveys Sussex Best (4%) and Timothy Taylor Landlord (4.3% ), you might just be able to imbibe up to 10 other ales from near and far!

From Sussex brewers, there will be Dark Star Sunburst (4.8%) website, Beachy Head Legless Rambler (5%) website, Rother Valley Chocolate Porter (4.2%) website, Harveys Armada Ale (4.5%), and their pertinent Georgian Dragon (4.7%) website; and from Kent, though the brewer himself comes from much closer to home, there will be Pig & Porter Red Spider Rye (4.8%) and Skylarking (4%), a session pale ale: website.

From further afield will be Adnams Mosaic Pale Ale (4.1%) website, from way up int' North, an early pioneer with their unfined and unfiltered ales, and excellent unique pub where they used to brew, the Marble Arch (website), one of my favourite pubs ever, Manchester brewery, Marble Pint (3.9%) website, and across from Cornwall, and now brewing more fine ales than when I lived nearby in the 1990s, St Austell Spring Fever (4.1%) website.

Have fun, and a Happy St George's Day to you, cheers!

Waterloo, Wellington, and Hastings!

Coming from an Anglo-Irish family, Major General Sir Arthur Wellesley, perhaps better known later as the Duke of Wellington, was born in Dublin in 1769. His family bought him a commission in the British Army in 1787, as he was not that interested in furthering his education after school.

He was Knighted for serving a very successful posting to India from 1796 to 1805. When he returned to England he was then posted to Hastings on 25 February 1806 to take command of a brigade of infantry. His troop was based locally and he first stayed at 54 High Street, which was used as his headquarters.  

The Swan Inn (no more)

The Swan Inn (which was situated opposite 54 High Street, but is now a garden following its destruction from WW2 bombing) was used for a public dinner in his honour, soon after his marriage to Kitty Packenham in Dublin on 10 April 1806. She had been brought back to Hastings, where they lived at Hastings House, a Palladian Mansion at the North end of Tackleway. The plot where Hastings House and gardens once stood is now occupied by Old Humphry Avenue.

Wellesley was MP for Rye 1806 to 1809; he had before sat a couple of terms as MP (for Trim) in the Irish House of Commons in the previous century. 

This Thursday, 18th June, is the 200th anniversary of his famous victory over Napoleon at Waterloo, and Harveys have brewed a special beer in honour of that achievement, Waterloo Rye IPA (6.1%). Rye malt from Belgium has been used in the brew, whilst French bittering hops were added to the wort, and the casks are dry-hopped with hops from Britain and Germany; Belgium was the site of the battle, and France, Britain and Germany were the 3 main protagonists. 

Waterloo Rye IPA should be a very interesting ale to drink, which I am looking forward to drinking, this lunchtime, at the Dolphin Inn, Rock-a-Nore, Hastings old town, cheers!     

Harveys Dray to visit Hastings again...

The Harveys dray is once again visiting Hastings this Saturday, 9 months after the last visit. They start off at the Horse & Groom at St Leonards, I do believe, and then wander along the front to the 'Old Town', calling at various stops on the way, such as the White Rock Hotel, before reaching the Dolphin at Rock-a-Nore, where this photograph was taken last May. 

The dray, plus attendant wee dog, opposite the Stacey Marie (facebook). 

A Seasonal Dolphin in Hastings!

This is an updated and topical version of my first article published in the Hastings Independent many months ago (expect many more), now on the 'Steve on Hastings' blog too, and I chose the family-run Dolphin pub at Rock-a-Nore, because it had been named the South East Sussex Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Pub of the Year for 2 years in a row. The local CAMRA people do not consider pubs after they have won twice in a row, so we may have to wait for a bit longer before it becomes pub of the year again. Shame they don't just chose the best pub, rather than handicap their choice in such a way, but, hey! CAMRA has some very strange ideas, and members, and I should know, being one... 

So, a 'seasonal' photograph from the Dolphin's balcony, OK, we're very unlikely to see snow for a while, if at all, this winter, but I do like this photograph, which I took a couple of winters ago.  

Apart from considering the quality of the ales, how else does CAMRA chose their 'best' pubs? Importantly, they take into account how their 'champion' integrates with the local community. In this respect, the Dolphin raises thousands of pounds every year for local charities, is closely connected to Hastings Fishermens' Museum and has been instrumental in the refurbishment of the Stacey Marie, their retired fishing boat sited opposite the pub (more of very soon), members of the RNLI regularly visit for social events, the pub gets involved in old town festivals such as Fat Tuesday and the Pram Race, and is at the start of the Jack in The Green May Day procession, opening earlier than usual on that day, to provide refreshment for participants and observers, and local musicians regularly play here, do I need to go on? 

Indeed, there is a variety of live music performed here 3 nights a week, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday evenings, and a quiz for charity on Thursday evenings. Food is served every afternoon, and on Mondays the kitchen reopens at 6pm for a 'Fish Supper' deal, where the price of the fish (from Hastings fishing boats whenever possible), hand-cut chips and mushy peas, includes either a pint of beer, glass of wine, or a soft drink. 

Of course, the Dolphin also sells liquid refreshments, soft drinks, wines, 'mulled' wine for December through to the end of January (Mark the landlord's own recipe), spirits, numerous keg beers, including 3 of the newer 'trendy' craft ales, and, of course, what I'm keen on writing about... It sells 6 cask-conditioned ales, and what better way to write about finding such beer in Hastings than visiting the recent champion public house? The Dolphin sells 3 regular ales, 2 from East Sussex brewers, Harveys Sussex Best and Dark Star Hophead, and Youngs Special.   

There are also 3 regularly changing guest ales, very recently these have included Sussex brewer King's Wonderland, a "Winter Pale Ale", a 4.1% very pale bitter with a fruity aroma, good body and a dry finish, not bad at all! Also, from further afield, ie Devon, Hanlons Snowstorm Festive Ale, a 5% "strong winter ale", with a deep amber colour, similar taste to a typical 'old ale', slightly sweet maltiness, plenty of flavour, and a dry finish. Or, if you're very lucky, they may just have a few pints left of either the West Yorkshire brewers, Saltaire's Winter Ale or award winning (though not so seasonal) Cascade Pale Ale.

There are a number of brewers who continue to produce ales of quality regularly, and a few of them in Yorkshire, including Saltaire Brewery. The Winter Ale is a 4.9% darkish amber ale, they say with "toffee accents", but I have no idea what that means! Though I could detect a slight caramel flavour from the malt, and a hint of spice from the Challenger and Brambling Cross hops, all in all, a very good beer of its type. I tried their Cascade Pale Ale yesterday too, which uses Centennial hops as well as Cascade hops, and is described as an "American style pale ale"; good old Saltaire do provide much information on their pump clips! Whatever, it is a 4.8% pale golden bitter, with a fruity aroma and flavour, but more peach rather than the grapefruit I expected, pretty damn drinkable too... 

All of this is why the Dolphin is regarded as a fine example of a community pub, and why it won the CAMRA award twice in a row, and why I commenced my search for beers of and in Hastings and East Sussex here. Before I go on, I'll add that Harveys Sussex Old Ale is currently on sale at the Dolphin too, and shall be for the next couple of months. Anyway, I trust I do still have your interest, because I shall be looking at local pubs and the local brewing industry more over the coming months and years, though I have already written quite a bit about the area on this blog before.

Cheers!

Time for a walk, long time since the last one...

Sorry folks, the best ales blogs are being put on hold for a week or so, but I had a very roundabout walk, mostly cross-country, with my brother, Dan the Routemeister, from Berwick (not the one in North England/Scotland, that would have been roundabout!) but the Berwick in East Sussex, to Eastbourne; we covered about 18 miles, including getting a wee bit lost at one stage. Anyway, this is the land of the Long Man of Wilmington, aka the Giant of Wilmington, aka the Green Man, and so, the location of pubs selling ales from nearby Long Man Brewery (website).  

Our first stop was at The Giant's Rest (website) in Wilmington, a very comfortable 'real pub', clean and bright with uncovered wooden floor boards, and friendly service. They provide B&B, sell what looks like very decent food, though we had a packed lunch with us, so I can only say it looked good (I have seen many good reviews though), and there were 2 ales on sale, from 4 handpumps, so plenty of potential! The 2 ales were both from Long Man Brewery, the 4% Best Bitter, and the 4.2% Copper Hop, which we drank, and what a gorgeous ale too, quenching our thirst suitably. The Copper Hop, brewed using Caramalt and Vienna Malt in the grist, was in very good form, a nice deep amber colour , very hoppy, and quite bitter, as I like 'em, cheers! 

We then meandered a bit more, reaching The Eight Bells (website) in Jevington, after food had stopped being served, so I cannot comment on food again. This is another real pub in the country with friendly service (no Slaughtered Lamb!), and over 300 years old. Both The Giant's Rest and The Eight Bells have great gardens, and we decided to take our beers outside this time. 4 handpumps again, all being used; the ubiquitous Harveys Sussex Best and Adnams Broadside were on sale, plus 2 Long Man ales, Long Blonde and Copper Hop. Dan tends to follow my lead, so we both had the 3.8% Long Blonde, having already had the Copper Hop this day. This is a very pale and refreshing, light golden coloured, quite hoppy, and very easy to drink, happy again! 

We then meandered a wee bit more, before walking at a faster pace once we got up on top of the ridge to Beachy Head, from there we walked back along the 2 mile-long promenade, into Eastbourne and The Dolphin (website) in South Street, near to the railway station. This is a Brakspear pub, which I was looking forward to, but, sadly, they'd sold out of their own ales! However, they did have 3 ales on from 4 or 5 handpumps (I think it was 5, but I didn't note this), including Sussex Best from Harveys and Long Man Long Blonde, and Dan again followed my example, so we tried the one I hadn't had before, from West Sussex brewer, Downlands, their 4.2% Day Tripper. The Day Tripper was a golden beer with a malty aroma, sweet at first and with a dry finish, not bad, but not really to my taste. 

So, ale of the day was the Copper Hop, from brewer of the day, Long Man... 

We should have finished our walk with the Long Blonde, but hey, cheers! 

The Smuggler - Pett Level

The Routemeister and myself walked over from Hastings, in the mud, wind and rain to The Smuggler at Pett Level, t'other day, and, not long after taking this photograph, hailstones, and then a rainbow impressed themselves on us... 

I hadn't been to The Smuggler for a while, and it's a bit of an achievement, worthy of an ale certainly. 3 ales on at the moment; they had Doom Bar and Sussex Best, not my favourite ales, but OK when nowt else available, but on this day they had a pearler! The Dark Star Hophead (3.8%) was in crackin' form, we enjoyed it immensely, pale and hoppy, as you'd expect, luvverly, indeed... 

More to come very soon, ales aplenty, cheers! 

Battle and its environs...

For a change, I'll start with the last pub we visited, for a number of reasons, including my forgetting to photograph the building myself, very unusual for me; so, many thanks to the Bull Inn (website), whose own photograph I've borrowed. 

Also, we'd walked quite a way by now, my brother, Dan the Routemeister, and me, so were well deserving of a drink, and a great pub too, rebuilt in 1688, with Caen stone from France, via the virtually destroyed abbey kitchens (during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries).  This is a lovely old inn, selling 3 real ales, the regulars being the ubiquitous Harveys Sussex Best (4%) and, brewed especially for the Bull, Old Dairy Top Bull (4%), though, unluckily for us, they were out of this (another trip will be required, obviously). However, this was replaced by another Old Dairy brew Gold Top, a nice refreshing 4.3% golden bitter. Their 'guest' ale was from Hastings, ie the FILO Churches Pale Ale (4.2%).

We also met many people here, on entry, I straight away headed for the 2 lads at the bar, the 'Battle Boys', Chris and Al, more often seen by me at the Dolphin in Hastings, also Al's daughter, the lovely Claire (always pleased to see a young woman happy to be out drinking with us older types). Our ale was admirably served by Joss, and I also had a chat with the landlady Kerri, nice one. Sadly we had to leave after just the one pint as the last bus from Battle to Hastings left at 18.20hrs! But I'll be back...  

The first pub of the day we'd visited at lunchtime in nearby Catsfield, The White Hart, a 17th century building, but only a pub from 1840. Another nice friendly pub, with a low ceiling and quite large bar, and just the 2 real ales on sale. They had Sharps Doom Bar (4%), all the way from Cornwall, and, you guessed it, Harveys Sussex Best (4%). Anyway, I hadn't drunk Sussex Best for a while, and for the thirsty me, it hit the right spot, not a bad bitter, if a bit light on hops. 

After negotiating confusing woodland paths, that apparently weren't open to the public, we managed to get to The Squirrel Inn, on the A271, 15 minutes before it closed at 15.00hrs. Surprise surprise, the 2 regular ales were Sharps Doom Bar and Harveys Sussex Best, but there were 2 local ales from smaller breweries as guests. We didn't have the Long Man Best Bitter (4%), but each had a pint of Pig & Porter Ashburnham Pale Ale, a 3.8% light copper coloured bitter, very easy to drink, which was just as well. Not the easiest of pubs to get to on foot, but a nice building, and definitely worth a visit, but allow yourself time.

Anyway, amazing how there was a place called Battle in this part of Sussex, quite convenient for the Normans to ring up the Brits and say "let's battle at Battle", and, well, there's another story...

Cheers! 

CAMRA Great British Beer Festival

The Pubmeister, Mark, and I visited the Trade session of this years CAMRA Beer Festival at Olympia in London yesterday, previously held at Earls Court, where I've visited a few times with the Robbos, ie Kieran, and either Graham or Kath, my brother the Routemeister, and various combinations of other friends.  From the information I have, Earls Court is going to become a massive housing, shops, cinema, whatever project, similar to the Battersea Power Station plan. 

Anyway, as you'd expect, there were a few ales, and other styles of beer too from across the world, and ciders and perry, and not a few I've already had much experience of drinking; I was surprised not to see more ales I didn't know, but your Wells, Fullers, Harveys etc don't seem to want to bring in many surprises, experimentation being left to the smaller brewers, no change there!  I had a couple of beers I've had before, eg Butcombe Bitter (4%), a good bitter I used to serve when I worked in the Boringdon Arms in Devon, it does what it says on the label really. Also, Gadds She Sells Sea Shells (4.7%), which I've drunk at the Tower in Hastings, still very good, a dry paler bitter, my personal like, as ever. 

Obviously I couldn't try everything, but I did try the Slaters Citrus (4.8%), not quite what I expected from Slaters, whose 'ordinary' Bitter is one of my favourite session beers. This was more like a 'real lager' described by them as a "Pilsner" style, with Hallertau hops used; slightly malty, hint of lemon in the aroma and taste and a dry finish, it was actually very good! Also, Crouch Vale Citra (3.9%), pale and hoppy, not bad, and Goachers Silver Star (4.2%), a very pale and bitter ale, a wee bit 'sour', not unlike a lambic, I liked it. 

However, my favourite of the session was the Oakham Citra (4.2%), which I drank before trying the Crouch Vale version, which was unfair to Crouch Vale really, because the Oakham Citra was packed with aroma and flavour, and body. Oakham brew some excellent ales, and this is no exception, pale and bitter packed with fruit, most obviously grapefruit, but maybe peach too, loved it, cheers to Oakham! 

I had to add this photograph again of the XT XPA, which, sadly, wasn't on at this beer festival, but of which I have a great memory (see an earlier blog when I had this at the Bricklayers Arms in Putney). Anyway, I mention them because my previous experience was positive and I met a couple of people who work for XT yesterday, including Hannah, with whom I had an interesting conversation, and I feel like the brewery deserves a bit more exposure, so their website is at www.xtbrewing.com. 

Oh... there was a great selection of food styles too, and many thanks to Harveys for the tickets!

My next blog will deal with the pubs we visited after leaving the festival, where we met our first Londoner, ie my brother, at the Bricklayers Arms in Putney, after my meeting up with a few old contacts from Sheffield at the festival, and our meeting a few people from Sussex too. I even spotted Dawn from Norwich (Bear brewing, Ketts Tavern, The Rose), but she passed so quickly, and I was stuffing a steak sandwich, so I missed the opportunity to chat with her... 

Cheers for now!  

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!   

2 new pubs in the High Weald.

The Routemeister and I decided a shorter walk was required after the 'marathon' yesterday (Rye Figure of 8, last Tuesday), so we didn't add on to the already reasonably challenging walk planned in the High Weald, but we did get in hop fields, and 2 new pubs for us...

Our lunchtime destination was Burwash, where we visited The Bear Inn (website), which had a very interesting looking menu, and the food we saw being dished up to others appeared of good quality and measure.  They also have a good view from their garden, and we had a wee watch of the Ashes cricket match...

Ale-wise, there were 2 regulars, Sharp's Doom Bar (4%) and Harveys Sussex Best (4%).  There was only 1 guest ale this day, but they often have 2 guest ales. We went for the guest, Cottage M.G.A. (4%); they seem to like the 4% strength, probably related to drivers visiting the pub/hotel for food, which did seem to be being devoured by most customers there, other than us, we had a packed-lunch, of course.  I recounted the story of a lad I used to know who had built an MGA from scratch, following finding a chassis and body in decent nick, then scrounging around all over the place for parts; it was an impressive car when he'd finished building it.  The beer itself, described as "a golden cask ale", had a slight nuttiness in the flavour, and was quite refreshing, but lacked hops for a hoppy lad like me; and Dan is becoming a bit of a hop freak too! 

We carried on for a bit of a walk, passing by Rudyard Kipling's old home, Bateman's (named after a brewer, obviously, not), and our second 'tick' pub of the day, The Wheel Inn, Burwashweald (facebook), which is just down the road from Burwash, if driving, but we did our usual circuitous route through fields, to avoid roads as much as possible, and following the established walk from Dan's book.

The Wheel Inn had 3 ales on, 1 regular, the ubiquitous Harveys Sussex Best (4%), and 2 regularly changing guest ales, which, on our visit, were Sharp's Doom Bar (4%) and Morland Old Speckled Hen (4.5%).  We had the Old Speckled Hen, which I hadn't drunk for quite a while, it still remains an enjoyable dark bitter with plenty of flavour. The young barmaid was friendly, as was another customer, sitting at the bar as I asked questions, quite chatty and good to meet, 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!

 

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...

Back again, Hastings updates...

Sadly, mostly because of a 'bug' that decided to help me lose 6 or 7 pounds in weight, ie be ill for 5-6 days, I haven't been drinking for a while, so a bit of 'catch up' required. First, again, sadly, Franks Front Room closed down in Hastings on Saturday 4th May, a loss, indeed!  Good luck to the ex-owners, I see the building is already going up for auction... 

But I have been to the Tower, London Road, with 5 ales there on the day; I just missed the Hopback Summer Lightning as it went off before I could order a pint, but it was replaced by the also excellent Ilkley Lotus IPA (5.6%), already commented on. There was also Sharps Doom Bar for the maltier ale lovers and 2 pale-ish ones from Dark Star too, the virtually ever-present American Pale Ale (APA, 4.7%) and Revelation, at 5.7% a bit more interesting, and, again, been reported on before. So, 4 excellent paler ales, and the Doom Bar of course...

I visited the Dolphin on the May Day public holiday and they had a Kelham Island beer on, a 'ruby mild' called Mistress Flames, 5% and a hint of spice in the aftertaste, loadsa body, smooth, frankly, delicious!  There were also the usual Youngs Special, Harveys Sussex Best, and Dark Star's Hophead and American Pale Ale, and one other new guest, ie Harveys Bogie Man (4.3%), brewed especially for the Hastings May Day celebrations, apparently; it was pale, a bit thin, with a strange flavour I couldn't distinguish properly, but certainly a biscuity maltness flavour in the bubbles.

Hastings seems to have more celebrations than anywhere else I've ever known, the May Day celebrations including a significant motorcycle rally, and 'Jack in the Green', it's very own fertility tradition, procession etc, so many people are dressed in greenery.  Here is the Dolphin's very own living Pre-Raphaelite portrait, Maz, serving up a fizzy drink; I tried to get a good picture serving up real ale, and, if I'd persisted, I would have got a good one, but, I have to own up, I lost patience, and this is a very good photograph, nice one...

I'm back... Cheers! 

Meanwhile...

So, Mark and I wandered the wilds of Kent and East Sussex a bit, but a few updates on other pubs back in my new home town of Hastings, starting with The Jenny Lind in the High Street in the 'old town', where I was pleased to meet up with Sarah again...

This is the new (I believe) raised area at the end of the main bar at the front of the pub, good to watch what's going on from, I should imagine.  Anyhow, they had 2 different ales on from my last visit, J W Lees John Willie's, which, for a 4.5% bitter, was easy enough to drink, but could have had more to it maybe, and Franklins Grumpy Governor, another 4.5% ale that I have discussed before.  I also had a pint of Theakstons Old Peculiar, which I hadn't drunk for many a year: 5.6% of a dark ruby red ale, that looks like a porter, but tastes fruitier than I remember, my taste buds they are a-changing!

It's also always a pleasure visiting the Tower, London Road, St Leonards, Hastings, and Sara (I think it's spelt, sorry if incorrect) was serving up the ales, many thanks, and we may even have a connection through Lewisham Hospital, I shall have to do some research...  Anyway, excellent value ales there, of course, that included Bateman's Yellabelly Gold (3.9% and £2.30 a pint), Sharps Doom Bar (4%), the excellent Dark Star American Pale Ale (APA, 4.7% and £2.40 a pint), and the classic Hop Back Summer Lightning (5% and £2.80 a pint), a full-bodied pale bitter, with a nuttier flavour from the hops than I can remember; though a lot of beer has gone down the guzzet since my last pint of it, great stuff! 

I hadn't been to the North Star, just off Bohemia Road (St Leonards), for a while, so a visit was required, and I saw Jamie there, which was a pleasant surprise, as he's usually opening up his other pub, the Havelock, around late morning/lunchtime. The usual Directors, Sussex Best, and Landlord were on, also Goddards Ale of Wight (3.7%) and Banks's Cereal Thriller (4%), and it does what it says on the label, cornflake flavoured beer, presumably a lot of wheat malt involved!  Jamie said they had a new Dark Star ale coming on soon, Carafa Jade (5%), so watch out for reports...

The White Rock Hotel, on the seafront, continues to sell 4 local ales at a respectable price, usually £3.10 a pint, unless a particularly strong ale.  On my recent visit, they had Isfield Toad in the Ale (4.8%), Harveys Sussex Best (4%), and Full Moon Celestial Blonde (4.3%), which was what I was going to sample... But! At £3.40 a pint, and well worth it, there was Dark Star Six Hop Ale, which I have discussed well before, so I shan't say anything other than 6.5% of full-bodied pale, fruity, hoppy bitter, with a dry finish, with a peach and grapefruit aroma, love it! 

 

Finally, a reminder, the real ale festival at the Albatross Club, near the seafront in Bexhill-on-Sea, starts 11.00 today (guess where I'll soon be?), ending Sunday, depending on remaining ale stocks, I should imagine. It will be open to the public, so not just members and guests, and CAMRA members, and just £2.60 a pint for every real ale, most served by gravity, can't be bad... so hurry up before it's all gone!

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!