Sheffield Part II - even more greater ales!

Where do I start when visiting a City with a plethora of genuine free houses and microbreweries, and consequently, loadsa luvverly ale!?! The easiest way would be to start at the very beginning, as a certain governess said in The Sound of Music, so I shall... but I shall also deviate a wee bit from convention, and leave the second pub visited that day until last, particularly as I was drinking there twice that day... 

I was going to have a cheapo breakfast in one of the many Sheffield Wetherspoons, but kept putting it off and didn't in the end, as I don't like the last 'spoons I reached that morning, the one at Hillsborough Corner, it feels reyt unfriendly; though I did meet an old neighbour in there, Dave, before I used its toilet facilities. So, instead, I decided to walk to Hillsborough Stadium, through the Park, and visited the memorial to the Tragedy; a visit here has always helped me to put things into perspective. Then, as I was in the area, I did as people are meant to do whilst in Rome, do as the locals do, so I had a pork sandwich (to my Southern readers, that's a soft bap, called a bread cake there, with pork in it) for my late breakfast, followed by a £1 poke of chips for my early lunch; healthy eating... 

Anyway, a short walk from nearby Malin Bridge tram stop is the bottom of Stannington Road, a wee way up which, on a corner on the right hand side of the road, is The Anvil, an Enterprise pub, now run by long-time friends, and more, Tom (full-time at The Anvil) and Brigitte (who also works full-time elsewhere), as I mentioned in Part I. Tom being a chef, I have no doubt the food will be very good, but I only stopped in for a pint as I had much more to do that day, so cannot report on the food, but the lovely barmaid (I've forgotten her name, as in forgot to write it down) served up a decent pint of Derbyshire brewer, Derventio's Winter King, a 4% pale hoppy bitter with a dry aftertaste. As I hadn't let them know about my likely visit, I also surprised both Tom and Brigitte when I turned up. Good luck to the both of you with your venture! 

Anyway, after visiting the second pub of the day, reporting further down in this blog, I had some more food, and a rest from alcohol, before visiting one of the most recent additions to good ale houses in Sheffield, Shakespeare's on Gibraltar Street, a music venue as well, and for a while closed, when it desperately needed refurbishment. Indeed, this is one of 28 Sheffield pubs in the 2014 CAMRA Good Beer Guide, and 26th of those that I have had an ale or three in over the years, though I had been here in the past under different management. I had arranged to meet up at 6pm with Noel (fellow R), and other mates, Lindsay and Jeff MacDoughnut, all 3 living in Sheffield still, though none of the 4 of us are from South Yorkshire, being 2 Southerners (me with mucho Celt in me), a Scot and a Paddy; good company indeed! 

We all turned up within a couple of minutes of each other, and I was pleased with the work done in the pub, which has not noticeably changed at all architecturally. It was great to meet up with the 3 lads, who are great friends I hadn't seen for a couple of years. This being a beer and pub blog, though, I shan't go over our conversations, but just add notes on the 2 ales I had from their 12 real ale handpumps. The only regular ale is the Sheffield brewer Abbeydale's Deception, a 4.1% pale, fruity hoppy ale, though this wasn't one of the two 'guests' I tried. No, I had ales from further afield, though still from 2 Yorkshire breweries. First, the 4.3% North Riding Brew Pub's Galaxy (4.3%), another fruity pale hoppy bitter, presumably using Galaxy hops, and very nice too. Second, Great Heck's Five, a 5% pale hoppy bitter with plenty of grapefruit aroma and flavour, I liked this very much!     

We then ventured to the Kelham Island Tavern. Shakespeare's has already won awards, which is great, but the KIT, as we like to refer to it locally (oh dear, I'd became a local all over again, if only for 48 hours), has won the CAMRA Pub of the Year, in recent times, NATIONALLY... and 2 years in a row, which is some feat! Immediately, we saw Pete (who works part-time behind the bar at the Wellington) as we entered, the pub was tightly packed, though, with a great variety of people as we expect in here; young and not so young, male and female, it is an excellent success story for Trevor and Louis, the owners/landlords. Indeed, I had a good chat with Trevor whilst there, and with Dave, who I keep in touch with on facebook, though he'd probably deny we are 'friends' ;-) was serving behind the bar, together with a few others, including a rather fetching young lady who, again, I hadn't added her name to my notebook, but she made an impression... 

Ales-wise, there is an excellent choice of ales served from 12 handpumps, regular and guests, as you would expect from such a prolific award winning pub, from local microbreweries, and some from further afar. Indeed, I drank an ale brewed over t' Pennines in Rochdale, Pictish Polaris, a 4.5% dry pale bitter, perfectly suiting my taste, and as recommended by Dave, cheers! 

From the KIT, we wandered round the corner to the Fat Cat (get it? KIT-CAT, as locally referred to) and bumped into 2 more great friends, Bob and his wife Marie, as they left the Cat, which sits in front of Kelham Island Museum, and which has it's own brewery Kelham Island (where I worked for a while at the turn of the Millenium until 2001/2). Bob and Marie were on the way to the KIT with a couple of friends I didn't know, but you can appreciate the general mobility of regulars in this area... 

So, our penultimate destination was the Fat Cat, one of the earliest exponents of real ale in the country, a very early brewpub of modern times, and started up by my old employer, Dave Wickett, who sadly died in 2012, following a lengthy illness with cancer: RIP Dave. We met up with a few folk in here too, and Duncan still the manager too, though it was too busy to chat with him, another pub packed with young and old, male and female alike; who said real ale was just for old men? I didn't drink one of their own ales, from the array on offer, but had a 'guest', from another Yorkshire brewer, Salamander's Scarf & Mittens (5%), a very good pale hoppy winter ale at £3 a pint. Whilst at the Fat Cat, another mate, Will, contacted me to say he'd meet up with us at our next port of call, which he did...  

My second visit of the day to The Wellington (previously, Cask & Cutler and, previous to that, The Wellington), so my second and ultimate pub of the day, which serves up many of its own ales under the label of 'Little Ale Cart Brewery' that used to be brewed out' back, but now brewed elsewhere in the city. They brew excellent pale and hoppy ales, but, as I'd let Will know, this day they had their own dark bitter, and a stout on sale too, hence ensuring his joining us! They also serve, from their 10 handpumps, a real cider, and guests from other micros too; their only 'regular' being Millstone Baby Git, an excellent 4% pale hoppy oxymoron of an ale at £2.40 a pint. There are no keg beers and lagers only in bottle; and quite a few Belgian bottled beers too. 

As soon as we walked into the 'Welly', sans MacDoughnut (who has an issue with Richard the owner here) standing at the bar already were Andy and Jan, two former regular customers at the Bath Hotel; which is why I hadn't seen them at the Bath the previous night, they've moved allegiance. It was good to see them, plus the rest of the regulars here; it was like going back 3 years, and I'd have known everyone who would be there, virtually. Indeed, my earlier in the day visit had seen me meeting up with a few old friends too, NB the other Richard (not owner) and Pete, who was serving behind the bar then. It was excellent to meet up with so many people I hadn't seen for years and who I like; too many to mention individually, but great stuff! 

Little Ale Cart ales? The 2 dark ones that enticed Will to visit and appreciate were the 3.9% brown bitter Farmer's Boy, the pump clip featuring Richard the landlord/owner as a wee lad on a tractor even further up North, as can be seen above; he's not so cute now! The other dark ale was Daft Sheep Stout, 6.2% and just £3 a pint. The 4 pale hoppy bitters I tried during the 2 visits included 2 featured in their steam engine series, Alnwick Castle, a 4.3% fruity bitter and Flying Scotsman Mk 4, 5% with more body and more bitter. 

The other 2 were 'Harley's Dog's Dinner 97' (Harley is Richard's, the owner, dog, and 'Dog's Dinners' are mixes, generally using up ale left over following racking off brew lengths) Sleekit Beastie, a 4% slightly darker beer than usual, in that Farmer's Boy was one of the ingredients, and my favourite ale of the weekend, a 'Harley's Hop Special', Tornado, 4% as well, but much paler, dryer and more bitter with plenty of grapefruit aroma and flavour, and just £2.30 a pint, luvverly!   

Next blog, my journey home via London, cheers for now!

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!

Even more ales!

So, ales on, and ales to come in the near future at the Dolphin, Rock a Nore, Hastings 'Old Town'; especially noting that next Tuesday evening (11th June) at 8pm, or 20.00 hours, depending on which you prefer, they receive the CAMRA award for East Sussex Pub of the Year, be there, or be not there, whatever... 

The usual 3 ales and regular seasonal 'guest' are Youngs Special, Harveys Sussex Best, and Dark Star Hophead and American Pale Ale (APA).  Recent guests have been RCH East Street, a 5% amber ale, and regularly returning from the Yorkshire brewery, Ilkley Lotus IPA, an excellent 5.6% pale, dry bitter ale with plenty of grapefruit, and a hint of peach, up your nose and attacking your taste buds, and with plenty of body, as I've said before, pretty damn good! 

To come on? Obviously quite a few, but including one from a previous employer of mine and another Yorkshire brewery, Kelham Island, their Riders on the Storm, a 4.5% golden pale ale, one of the 'Riders' sequence, named after the Doors' track; others include Pale Rider and it's wee sister Easy Rider.  Update, in error, the suppliers delivered the Easy Rider, bother! Oh well, that's not so bad...

Others to come on include returning ales already approved of by the landlord and customers alike, and reported in previous blogs, Otter Ale (4.5%) from Devon, and Milk Street The Usual (4.4%) from Somerset. 

Cheers!

...and a happier day (9th May)...

A beautiful day, and I headed for the Hastings Arms and Jeny Lind first, but forgot, neither open til 12.00 on Thursdays...

So, down to Rock a Nore, and the Dolphin, hardly arduous, a wee chat with Mark the landlord, and the wonderful Louise behind the bar, what more could I want? Oh yes, Laura made a cameo appearance, and Debs turned up a little early before her shift started, and ale of course!

 

The usual regulars, Sussex Best, Youngs Special, and Dark Star's Hophead and American Pale Ale (APA). The quite exquisite Kelham Island Mistress Flames (5%) was near the end of its second firkin, and the other 'guest' was Moorhouse's Blond Witch (4.5%).  Now the Blond Witch ain't bad, and you'll be aware I love Dark Star's paler and hoppy ales, anyway, I had a pint of the Hophead, and Mark gave me a half of the Mistress Flames, so I was mellow when I made my way back up High Street to the Jenny Lynd, which was now open.

In the Jenny Lind were Tony, this side of the bar, who I'd seen in the library earlier, and who asked for a bit of advice about drinking in Greenwich; I suggested he ignore the pubs near the Cutty Sark and head westwards for the Dog & Bell, but he wanted an easier pub to find, so I now suggested he walk eastwards along the river, past the Palace, to the Trafalgar, which I believe used to be, if not now, a Youngs pub.  But even better, is the Yacht, just around the back of the Trafalgar, and in a little alley, fronting onto the Thames too. 

 

In addition, the second Pre-Raphaelite barmaid I approve of in Hastings {I saw the first working at the Dolphin again the next evening, where Otter Head (5.8%) had replaced the Mistress Flames, a paler ale, a bit of a 'sweet & sour' taste}, ie Sarah, was working behind the bar, dead enthusiastic, and a pleasure to be served by.  Anyway, ales there included regulars Directors, Theakstons Best and Old Peculiar, a couple of Hastings beers, Blonde and Pale Ale, and I had a pint of the Palmers Dorset Gold (4.5%), unsurprisingly, a golden ale with a hint of caramel. 

My final visit of the day, partly because I wanted to meet up with buddies Paul and F***ing John, you need to know him and you'd understand why I call him that, was the First In Last Out (FILO).  Good to meet up with them both again, as it's been a while since I've had a drink or three with them, though I've seen Paul quite a few times outside of pubs recently.  Mike the landlord was behind the bar, and one of his sons too, Sharon the landlady was in the kitchen with their Eastern European colleague, Elena (spelt something like that anyway).  And the manager, Tony, turned up a couple of times too...  

 

5 of their own ales on sale, and Orkney Raven Ale (3.8%) too, which I'm sure I've had before, but today was to be spent drinking their own ales.  The FILO beers were Mike's Mild (3.4%), Old Town Tom (4.5%), Churches Pale Ale (4.2%), and the two I had, first, Crofters, 3.8% and £3 a pint, is a good session bitter.  I was pleasantly surprised to see both Paul and John drinking this too as they're usually Guinness drinkers, so it has been a while since I had a drink with them! 

Anyway, I finished off with the FILO Gold (4.8%), a nice stronger pale bitter with plenty of body, and some of it was served up from the wee cask you see in the photograph above, reyt cute!  Then I had a pint from the cellar...

 

Oh yes, both the FILO and Jenny Lind sell a local real cider too, the 5.5% Laughing Jester, cheers! 

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! 

The Dolphin, Hastings - CAMRA SE Sussex POTY 2013

A few visits since my last post about the Dolphin, and the usual 3 regular ales have continued to be served, ie the Dark Star Hophead (3.8%), Youngs Special (4.5%), and Harveys Sussex Best (4%), the other 3 ales have changed a few times. Harveys Porter (4.8%) has become the ‘seasonal regular’, it does what it says on the label, it’s a fine porter.

The 2 guest ales yesterday were Cairngorm Trade Winds, a 4.3% easy to drink pale bitter (website), not quite as ‘in your face’ as I expected from the pump clip’s description of “Citrus, Wheat, Elderflower”, but you get the message.  I could go on about meeting their brewer in the middle of nowhere up in Scotland a few years back, but I’ll hold back on that anecdote…  

 

Also, the new West London brewer, Portobello’s Star was quickly flowing from the pump, as described very recently, this is an amber ale, and yet another 4.3% beer (website). There’s not much on their website yet, though you can catch them on facebook and twitter too.

  

Other ales that have gone since have included Mauldons Suffolk Pride, a 4.8% medium coloured bitter with a hint of roasted malt (website), and Kelham Island Easy Rider, a 4.3% pale and hoppy bitter (website), I have myself brewed when I worked at that brewery, still a very nice refreshing ale, though I’m sure it was better when I brewed it (only joking).

The team I compete with won the quiz on Thursday, I watched music there on Friday, a duo called the ‘Luvverlies’ were very entertaining, and on St Patrick’s Day, we were treated to roast potatoes by Maz, and she also had these lovely Guinness and Baileys Irish Cream buns available, and very nice too, ta.

 

Just a reminder, the presentation for the CAMRA South east Sussex Pub of the Year is to be on Tuesday 11^th; no doubt more on that beforehand, and all I can say is, may your God go with you, cheers! 

Norwich via Liverpool Street

Reports back from Paul, Tom and Graham about the Gardeners Arms in Norwich ("The Murderers"), which has good Woodforde's Wherry on sale, only to be expected really, they also visited the Compleat Angler, very much a football fans pub! 

Paul also says he had a good pint of Kelham Island Pale Rider at Woodins Shades, a Nicholsons pub in Bishopsgate, near to Liverpool Street Station.

Cheers lads!

Wednesday 15th August, great ale and disappointment too...

We were thinking about another long walk today, ie 15th, but only managed about 6 miles or so in total... the rain put us off...

But, not before we stopped at the excellent, as ever, Dove, by the Thames in Hammersmith. I love this pub, probably in my Top Ten of pubs, a Fullers house, where we drank the excellent 4.5% Wild River, sat overlooking the Thames out the back, well, generally enjoyed ourselves in a very laid back fashion.

We also went inside for a while, and this is a very atmospheric older pub, but my brother, the 'Routemeister', decided to take an amusing (to him) photograph, cheers Dan!

From The Dove, we went to the other great Fullers pub in Hammersmith, the Salutation in Kings Street, where we drank more of the excellent Wild River, well, you have to when it's on, as, apart from the London Porter and darker ales, this is, in my opinion, the best bitter they brew... There! I said it, I even prefer it to London Pride.

I also love the front of the Salutation, and the tiling inside, which gives it a unique decoration. From here, though, we headed back along the Thames to Putney and we made our first ever visit to The Cat's Back, a Harveys house in Wandsworth!

Now, as you'll realise, even though I live in Sussex, I rarely drink Harveys, but this meant I had to. We tried the Olympia Golden Ale (4.3%) at first, a golden ale, but sadly, about to go off... so, the wonderful Natalie, the landlady, poured us out some Tom Paine (5.5%), an ale the Routemeister said I should drink, my respecting the man himself an' all... A very good darker ale, though not tasting too heavy, but quite bitter, nice one!

Oh, by the way, they also had the ubiquitous, at least down in Sussex, Sussex Best and Sussex Dark Mild, though they do change their ales regularly. We'll be back...

From here we returned to the Bricklayers Arms, as described yesterday, still had the Fyne Ale on, so happy to appreciate that again, and it is crackin'!

I had a pint of Kelham Island Pale Rider at the Falcon, Clapham Junction, just before I caught my train back to Sussex; having brewed this ale myself, I hardly recognised it! It's either had a recipe change, big time, or they'd served up the wrong ale from the pump in error, or, frankly, something had gone wrong? Drinkable, but not the Pale Rider I remember... Dave Wickett would be turning in his grave RIP.

When I got back to Hastings at 22.30, sadly, Frank's Front Room wasn't open, looking like it had just closed, so I dropped into Pissarros, where another lovely barmaid, Lucie, served up a pint of Long Man Long Blonde, and I met my neighbour, Robert, to have a chat with.  Now, I've appreciated Long Man ales so far, but this wasn't great, I suspect it was on the way out... not completely my day today then!

Oh well, next time... Cheers!

Part IV - 13th June, the drinking...

I soon came to realise, last Wednesday, that I really do miss Sheffield, certainly the ales, pubs and friends, not necessarily in that order... First to drink at...

The Wellington at Shalesmoor sells great ales, and they have their own brewhouse out the back Little Ale Cart brewery... Absolutely approved of their 4.3% Naworth Castle, pale, hoppy (7 different hops used), fruity, bitter, delicious! I also tried their 4% The Badsworth (6 different hops) and 5% Spion Kop (a mere 5 different hops used). No keg beers here at all, not even the better quality lager they used to sell, just 8 different real ales, only Millstone Baby Git (4%) a regular, and always including at least one dark ale, a stout or mild. Met up with my mate Rob here too, and chatted to Gary (barman) Gee (manager and brewer) and Richard (owner) - I do miss the place!

Rob and I then visited the Fat Cat, also the brewery tap for Kelham Island Brewery. Dave Wickett, the man behind the businesses, sadly died a couple of weeks ago, RIP Dave; but it's still a great pub.  Rob came down here with me and this is where we met up with Jeff and Bob. The Kelham Island Pale Rider is still good!  I tried their 5.5% Wild Rider too, but not as good as the Pale Rider, and apart from the usual Kelham Island ales and regular Landlord, there were 5 other guest beers on sale. Enjoyed one of their excellent pork pies, baked with their own ale in the recipe as well. Had a brief chat to Duncan (the manager), cheers mate!

Round the corner, to the Kelham Island Tavern, and back down to just Jeff and me now; what more can you say about this pub than it won CAMRA's NATIONAL pub of the year 2 years running, the first pub to ever do that, I believe, and Sheffield's pub of the year about 10 years running.  

Shouldn't have done this, as 13 ales on sale, but I drank Dark Star Hophead here, a crackin' ale, and it travels well; only drank it as an experiment - honest!

Before leaving the area we visited Shakespeares, another recently refurbished and reopened pub under new ownership. Still just Jeff and I, and up to 9 ales on sale here. They have one regular, Abbeydale Deception, but today I had Full Moon Brewery's Celestial Blonde, 4.3%, smooth and creamy with a bitter aftertaste, nice one, cheers!

Walking in a Mackie Wonderland

OK, that title may not make much sense to some who look at this blog, but it makes a point for me, pre-football match, so... Only 3 pubs yesterday, here goes...

The Old Coffee House in Beak Street, just off Regent Street, London. An outlet for Brodies Brewery. Came in from a lovely sunny afternoon to be faced with 6 Brodies ales, Old Street Ale (5%), Brainwave (possibly 3.6%, couldn't make out), Bethnal Green Bitter (4%), Dalstone Black IPA (a massive 7%) and Shoreditch Sunshine, 3.9% of a pale, very dry and bitter ale with huge grapefruit aroma and taste; you can take it I drank the 'Sunshine', but, as I was meeting someone at the next pub, sadly, only the time for one pint, but very glad I made the spontaneous visit.

My next visit was to the Coach & Horses, Bruton St, just off New Bond Street, a very interesting oasis run by Nicholsons, though a tad more expensive than the first watering hole, with more 'national' type ales; Youngs London Gold, Bombardier, London Pride and Marston's 'Single Hop' East Kent Golding at 4%. Having drunk many pints of all the others in other pubs, I stuck to a couple of pints of the 'Single Hop', which was a decent middle of the range and colour bitter... It did what it said on the label, basically.

A very interesting pub I've never been in before, bit expensive, great building, well worth the visit, in my humble opinion...

We finally met up with the rest of today's gang at the Leinster Arms, Leinster Terrace, just off Bayswater Road. A free house, that now offers a special 'sausage' menu, they still sell pies though (this used to be a pie and ale house). I'm a bit of a regular here, even if my visits are only about every 2 months or so now, but sells 5 ales, including, last night, 45 RPM from my old employer, Kelham Island Brewery (4.5% strangely); Pride and Doom Bar; Holdens Purple Haze (4%), a fruity pale ale with not too much going for it, not up to their usual bitters and mild; and North Yorkshire Fools Gold (4.6%), a much more refreshing pale ale with a dry aftertaste and a peachy aroma, loved it!

Brigitte was the only one of us who ate here, that is, until I was entranced by her meal, so I ended up buying a meal too. They have a choice of sausages, choice of mash, and even a choice of gravy; the only difference between our 2 meals was the gravy, Brigitte had the onion gravy and I had the red wine gravy. The sausages were full of flavour, rich and meaty, a 'Wild Hog' with all the flavourings, and the mash was an interesting mix of potato, cheese and tomatos... Delicious!

So, a good few hours and a great start to the evening, more of which elsewhere, cheers!

Pub of the Week - Leinster Arms, Bayswater W2

On Wednesday, I was drinking at the Leinster Arms, 17 Leinster Terrace W2 3EU, which sells 5 ales, including the ubiquitous Fuller's London Pride and Sharp's Doom Bar as regulars, and a 5.5% Christmas ale from Skinner's, Jingle Knockers (the names people come up with!), an old favourite from my days in Sheffield, when I worked for a while at the brewery, Kelham Island Pale Rider, which I have brewed in the past, and a newer favourite of mine, Dark Star Hophead, which I now regularly drink at my new ‘local’.

In addition to good ales, there is a not too expensive menu on offer, including a variety of sausage and mash at £8.95 a meal, eg Cumberland, Beef & Guinness, Wild Boar & Apple or Veggie sausages with mash of your choice from 'Simple Seasoned', Mushroom, Parsley & White Wine, Tomato, Basil & Parmeson or Chive & Spring Onion. Whoever said 'mash' was boring?!? In addition, they still provide a 'traditional' pie of the day, salads, Ploughman's Lunch, sandwiches, puddings, and bar bites! This is a very friendly place and wasn’t too busy on visit.

The bar looking towards the front of the pub.