19th December - Hastings 2nd Christmas Fun Day for me.

I'll try to get to many of my regular pubs and bars in Hastings before Christmas, but for logistical and monetary reasons, I shan't make them all, sadly, but I'll have a bash!  First this Wednesday was the White Rock Hotel down on Hastings front, near the pier, and Kerry behind the bar, always a pleasure to see her there, very knowledgeable and a great barperson too.

The ales here are usually £3.10 a pint, unless over 5%, and consequently, we see the 7.8% Harveys Christmas Ale at £4.00 a pint, which was certainly worth trying a half of (I hate to think of people drinking too much of the 10.5% Dark Star Imperial Stout that is due to come on very soon, I'll probably only have a half of that too!).  So, the Christmas Ale, very nice, if a tad too sweet for me, full-bodied, as you'd expect, a bit of a 'Christmas Pudding' of a beer really! I also had the Rother Valley Blues, much easier to drink at just 5% (I'll try to keep seasonal exclamation marks to a minimum), a very nice dark, roasted malt of a stout, very much enjoyed by me.  They also had Dark Star The Original (5%) and Hastings Brewery's best ale to date (in my opinion) their 4.5% Porter.

Up London Road at St Leonards, and on the corner of Tower Road, I reached the Tower, which I still am not sure of the reason for the name, was there an old Norman tower here, or is it named after a church tower? I shall find out, have to really... Anyway, my favourite St Leonards pub, great ales at good value prices and friendly female bar staff, what more could a Beermeister want?  I did mention ales, yes Dark Star's not quite strongest yet Critical Mass, a mere 7.4%, and their APA too, 4.7%, call that strong?!?

Anyway, I avoided the two Dark Star ales, being a bit worried about falling over sometime today before I get near to my bed, so I decided between the other two, Hop Fuzz English (4%), which I have already had before, so it had to be the wheat beer from Rother Valley Golden Valley, and a very manageable 4.2%.  This was a very pale, quite dry and bitter beer, very much to my taste, cheers!

I then crossed Bohemia Road to the North Star, where I found 5 ales on that I've drunk at least a pint of every one in the past, though some very interesting Christmas ales, and Dark Star 'mad' ones, to come on soon, bother... Anyway, the ales were Moorhouse's Pendle Witches Brew (5.1%), always a pleasant dark ale with a strong flavour; the ubiquitous Harveys Sussex Best (4%), OK if you like a dependable bland session bitter; Timothy Taylor Landlord (4.3%), so well written about elsewhere, and a decent pint when well kept, as they do here; Hogs Back TEA (4.2%), it was a bit like being in a Kent pub, see my previous blogs re Kent; and Rudgate Jorvick Blonde, 3.8% and my choice for this visit, a nice pale hoppy bitter, well, that's my taste.  After wishing everyone a "Merry Christmas, if I don't see you before" I decided to go down to Hastings Centre and visit the North Star's sister pub...

the General Havelock.  5 handpumps, which had 4 ales and a cider on, Westons Twist (4%), a "mulled cider", apparently with "a warming winter spice flavour".  Anyway, I looked to the ales, Dark Star Hophead, Timothy Taylor Landlord, and Harveys Sussex Best, and the 4.3% Sussex Old Ale, that I gladly had a pint of, and gratis too, a reward of the sister pubs' loyalty card, cheers and Merry Christmas Jamie!

Wednesday 12th September - Kent and Romney Marsh.

The Tea-meister and I caught the 100 bus from Hastings and travelled along to Hythe, from where we walked up the Royal Military Canal, passing the giraffes again, very surreal... Crossed back over the canal and walked back towards Botolph's Bridge  and stopped for a pint at the Botolphs Bridge Inn (see website).

Like most pubs out this way, it's very food oriented, but also had a number of 'regular' old-timers, it appeared, pretty much blocking off the bar, sitting on 'high-chairs' (stools with arms), not the best way of allowing access to the bar, but probably reflects the pub itself, with outsiders most likely to come to eat, not be bar flies.

 

Anyway, a real cider on, Westons Traditional Cider at 6%, 2 regular ales, Greene King IPA and Sharp's Doom Bar, and  a guest, currently Adnams Broadside; so, not too adventurous, and no local micros ales, but we had the Doom Bar, which was pretty good, I hadn't drank it for a while, so I was pleasantly surprised!

Within Romney Marsh, and opposite the very old, historical church at St Mary's in the Marsh (see reference) is The Star Inn (see website), a crackin' pub with very friendly staff and regulars, a complete contrast to where we drank our first pint of the day.  We were served up our ale by the lovely Lucy, and chatted to very informative regulars, indeed, one of them went out of his way to supply me with the last 2 editions of the local CAMRA mag, Marsh Mash, many thanks to everyone there.

 

Oh yes, and a very local ale among the 2 guest ales, ie Hop Fuzz (see website) of West Hythe's The Goldsmith, a 4% golden bitter, presumably using American hops, and very nice too, plus they had Ringwood Fortyniner.  The 2 regular ales are Youngs Special and Ordinary (like being back in my birthplace, except it's not brewed at The Ram Brewery anymore).  The Star also sells a real cider, Thatchers Heritage.  Though it's out of the way for me, especially not living in Kent, I shall return, certainly the next time the Routemeister visits.

We then route marched to New Romney and the Cinque Ports Arms (see website) another good pub to return to, it certainly appears to be the best pub in New Romney if you want real ale, and especially local ales. 

There are 4 regularly changing ales, which, on our visit, included the excellent Hopback Summer Lightning (5%), St Austell Trelawny (3.8%), and 2 local-ish ales, Long Man of East Sussex Best Bitter (4% see website), and Old Dairy of Kent Gold Top (4.3% see website), which I drank, a slightly sweet pale-ish bitter, very tasty.

 

Of course, we then caught the bus back to Hastings from New Romney, dropping in at the Dolphin before finally heading for home, cheers!