3 pubs in the Chilterns, Buckinghamshire.

On Saturday 22nd June, my brother Dan, the Routemeister, and I walked a rather long pub crawl in Bucks, a roundabout overland route from Chesham to Amersham; more than 20 miles, so I slept well that night. Our first port of call was the Cock & Rabbit in The Lee, a hamlet near to Great Missenden; at the bar of which this photograph of Steve the Beermeister was taken ;-)

The Cock & Rabbit has been run by an Italian Landlord for getting on for 30 years now, and featured regularly in John Nettles' television series, apparently, Midsomer Murders and is well known for its good Italian food. This is a lovely multi-roomed building that has been licenced since the mid-19th century, has food, of course, and this includes a large bowl of olives (gratis) in front of the ale handpumps.  

Not too exciting regarding the ales, though, just the 2, Greene King IPA (3.6%) and the house ale, brewed by Morlands (now Green King too), ie Cock & Rabbit Original, a not too bad, actually, 3.6% medium coloured bitter. Decent ale, nice food, an interesting building and garden, though it was a bit damp to use the garden on Saturday, I liked the place!

We walked onto Little Missenden and the Red Lion, a 17th century pub that has also featured in Midsomer Murders, see website.  More traditional English pub food sold here, you can see the menu at the website, and 3 ales served up. There were a couple you'll see anywhere in the country, true of most ales now anyway, ie Skinners Betty Stoggs (4%) and Wadworth 6X (4.3%), an ale I used to love many years ago, still nice, but my tastes have moved on a bit since I first tried it. We had the third choice, Tring Sidepocket for a Toad, a nice refreshing 3.6% light bitter, oh yes, and the nicest Kiwi (the warm and friendly, Lyn the barmaid) since I drank Dark Star's version in September last! The Red Lion is another very good local with history too...

Finally, we reached Amersham, a reyt old town, and the Kings Arms, a 15th century inn with 34 bedrooms to let, and, oh yes, history (see website). Also featured in Midsomer Murders, of course, plus Four Weddings and a Funeral and Miss Marples, the history? Previous guests include Oliver Cromwell, whose troops were stationed in Amersham during the English Civil War/Revolution, and the pub part, to the left of my photograph, is still an old wooden beamed 15th century pub, though the clientele wasn't that old, but mostly people waiting to eat in the restaurant.  

So, a hotel, restaurant, and 3 ales too: Adnams Lighthouse (3.4%), Skinners Lions Pride (4.3%), presumably a one-off to celebrate the current British and Irish Lions rugby union tour down under, and we drank the (Marlow Brewery) Rebellion Mutiny (4.5%). The Mutiny has a deep red colour, with plenty of body, a rich, but still fresh and fruity, and a slightly roasted malt flavour that comes from the crystal malt used, I'd imagine.  The High Street here is full of 15th and 16th century buildings, and there's an even older road round the corner!

A return could visit well be on the cards, cheers!   

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!

Monday 14th May

My brother came down to visit on Sunday, which mostly consisted of watching the football on the tv in a pub I just cannot recommend, sorry, I was only there for the football, and it only sold Harveys, and not in that good condition!  So, yesterday, we went for a circular walk from and to Lewes, strated fine, but rain and wind meant it was a bit of a trying day! 

Our first port of call was the intriguing, and over 500 years a hostelry, the Ram Inn in Firle, a great old building, excellent garden, smashing small wooden panelled bar, and a dark and eerie interior, quite grey and dark (see their website for photographs).  A rather charming young lass served us, and, in addition to the 2 less exciting ales, TEA and Sussex Best, there was a gem from Dark Star, Golden Gate (4.5%) - Yes, you guessed correctly, it's golden in colour, certainly a bitter, and rather sharp and refreshing, loved it!  The Ram also had Westons Country Perry (4.5%) on sale, which was a bonus.  This was the last time in the day we were actually dry, as it strated tipping down soon after our departure, but the Ram Inn is certainly somewhere I will return to.

Following our soaking from the persistent rain and horizontal wind up on the South Downs Way, we managed to return to Lewes without drowning... We immediately headed for the Snowdrop Inn, one of Dan's favourite pubs down here already, as well as mine, particularly, because it always seems to have either/and a Dark Star stronger ale, and something from Thornbridge.

We drank a couple of pints each of Dark Star Revelation (5.7%) and Thornbridge Kipling (5.2%), two of my current favourites, both full of hops, pale and bitter, with sweetness hinted, but dry finishes, crackin'!!  They also had RCH Brewery Steam Showers Bitter (4.8%), Dark Star Ruby Mild (6%), Knots of May Light Mild (3%) and Sussex Best, well, this is Lewes!

Our final visit, before returning to Hastings, was to the Gardeners Arms, Lewes. Another good real ale pub, though none of the people I usually chat to when here were here yesterday, but, as I wasn't alone, that wasn't a problem. On sale were Rother Valley Mild (3.8%), RCH Steam Showers again, Tring Death or Glory (a whopping 7.2%), Lytham Epic (4.4%), a pale-ish dry bitter with a slightly sour aroma and aftertaste, and, from Scotland, The Smart Brewing Company's Wild Thing (4.0%), named after Gareth Ainsworth, beloved by Blades fans (OK, a joke there ;-) - pale and dry, but, unlike Ainsworth, not a lot of strength or taste.

OK, I'll report on Tuesdays visit to Pett Level and Icklesham soon, cheers!