Yorkshire Ales in 2015

I made a trip up to Yorkshire in January, so my first 3 Yorkshire ales of the year were imbibed in dear old Yorkshire, which I do miss a tad...  

Anyway, 6 of us traveled up, specifically to attend a football match in Burnley (which is very close to the Yorkshire border), first destination Leeds, where we had a couple of drinks at the Wetherspoons in the station, and it is just called "Wetherspoons", not very imaginative... We were also awaiting Tom, who had missed our train at Kings Cross, but was coming up on the next one!  

Whilst in the 'spoons, we started with pints of Leeds Pale, a 3.8% very easy drinking pale session bitter, brewed with Slovenian Bobek hops. It was a nice refreshing way to start our drinking (if you ignore what was consumed on the train up), but our second pint was much better... That is, the Saltaire Cascade Pale Ale, a 4.8% ale, more body and bitterness, with a dry grapefruit finish produced by the Cascade and Centenniel hops used, this was getting better and more flavoursome.   

We got to Haworth thanks to another train, and wine provided by Kieran, and by taxi from Keighley, where we stayed at the Apothecary Tearooms and Guesthouse, run by our mate Teapot Dave and his brother Nick, ta muchly. I'll not mention the trip over the border, we came second, but after we'd eaten, we did a few pubs in Haworth, the only one worth mentioning ale-wise being The Fleece. Although it is a Timothy Taylor house, they had a Saltaire guest ale on, which I noted as "3 Cs", so I'm guessing it was the 4.4% Trio Pale, which uses 3 American hops, and I remember it being very good!   

Back to the Dolphin and Hastings, and this month I have savoured 4 more Yorkshire ales here. First, a completely different style of ale, the Rudgate Ruby Mild, a deep red 4.4% richer beer, almost a meal in itself, and not too easy to drink much more than one pint at a time, but very nice and tasty, and in a RNLI glass, respect.  

They have also had 3 pale hoppy ales, much more to my taste, of course. The first 2 of which were from one of my old favourite brewers, that is, the Roosters Cogburn, a 4.3% pale golden bitter brewed with American hops, very thirst quenching and their ever dependable Yankee, another 4.3% pale bitter, that uses Cascade hops also from the USA. Both very nice, indeed, but my favourite so far this year has to be from my old employer, Kelham Island Brewery, which is awaiting a new website, so cannot provide, sorry! Oh yes, their 4.9% Blondie Beer, pale, hoppy, with a nice dry bitter finish, very good, indeed, cheers!    

Wetherspoons open pub in Dublin!

So, Wetherspoons encroach the pub trade in Dublin, next week (Tuesday 8th) opening The Three Tun Tavern (not much on it yet, but here's the link to their website page, which no doubt will gather more information soon) in Blackrock, in the premises previously known as Tonic Bar.

So what is being offered here, at prices that should undercut other bars in the area, when considering Wetherspoons record in the UK? Well, decent value food all day, of course, and they have 12 handpumps for cask ales. They are looking at supplies from microbreweries in Ireland, as well as importing ales from Britain; Adnams ales being mentioned already. 

What they won't be serving is Guinness as they cannot get a satisfactory price, consequently, not being able to undercut other bars' prices, I presume... But they will be serving up Murphy's and Beamish at 5 cents under 4 Euros a pint, which should be competitive, from what I've heard recently! 

So there you go, drinking in Ireland will suddenly become less expensive.. Good luck to The Three Tun Tavern and cheers to Wetherspoons!

2 Riverside pubs. Back to London and the Thames, again...

Back to London, turning up at Clapham Junction, on Friday 21st June. Gave the Youngs pub, The Waterfront, a miss, poor quality overpriced beer, but the Routemeister, my brother Dan, insisted we visit the Wetherspoons pub by Putney Bridge, the Rocket.  This is situated by the historic St Marys church, on the South bank, and seems to have a decent clientele, not what you'd usually expect; indeed, a very interesting couple of fellow clients shared interesting discourse about the merits of limes over lemons with G&T. Anyway, we had a very good pint of Youngs Special (4.5%) each for just £2.29 this time, giving the Youngs pub next door a miss, and I got the 50p reduction for being a CAMRA member, so just £1.79 a pint!

We then crossed Putney Bridge and walked to the Dove at Hammersmith, a great riverside pub, and, where, thanks to Matt the manager, though he assured me it was just a stock email from Fullers themselves that issued the invitation to me to enjoy a free pint of London Pride (4.1%).  Anyway, Pride was enjoyed, by the Routemeister, actually, I enjoyed the more bitter seasonal ale from Fullers, Wild River (4.5%).  There were also Fullers ESB and Summer Ale available. 

We then crossed Hammersmith Bridge and returned to Putney via the South bank, cheers!

18th-19th October - Hastings

As you would expect, the guest ales keep changing at the Dolphin, down opposite the fishermen's net huts at the Stade, Hastings. The female section of the host family were in attendance Thursday evening for the weekly quiz, always good to see, and I had a good chat to Mark at the early session Friday lunchtime.  

So, which ales have changed? Well, there will obviously be more changes, probably the Sussex Pride will be changed this weekend, but, already, the Britannia has been replaced by Whitehorse Saracen IPA, a 4.5% ale, a little darker than my usual choice Hophead, but I had to try a pint on Thursday, and on Friday too, just to be sure of my analysis.  The IPA has an immediate caramel flavour coming from, presumably, the roasted malt, with quite a dry aftertaste, very nice, but I returned to my Hophead to finish the sessions both days, unsurprisingly, and we didn't do too well in the quiz, oh well, can't win all the time.   

I'm not one to regularly visit Wetherspoons pubs, but I've been quite impressed with The John Logie Baird, Hastings version, and their choice of local ales, so thought I should make a point and pass this information on, good luck to them, I say!  I'd just missed Keisa going off shift, shame, but the equally interesting and efficient Chrystal was behind the bar Thursday afternoon. The manager of this pub does seem to employ interesting young women, who are also very good at their job, another plus for the pub.

 

So, the usual ales you see all over the country were on sale, but there were 4 ales from local microbreweries, excellent!  2 ales from Longman, Sussex Pride and Long Blonde, both of which I've reported on before, so I tried the 2 from WJ King.  King's India Pale Ale (IPA) was a not very bitter ale, quite nice, but with less body than I expected it to have at 5.2%, but the Autumn Mist, at 4.1%, was a very good ale, a typical 'Autumn' style, darker, like an 'old ale', I liked it very much. The IPA was £2.15 a pint (less my 50p CAMRA token/discount = £1.65) and the Autumn Mist £1.99 a pint, though I only had a half of it, bargains.  

 

Cheers!

Thursday 27th September, The Harp, London WC2

On my way back to Victoria Thursday morning, I was determined to visit The Harp, 47 Chandos Place, inbetween Covent Garden and Charing Cross. This pub won the CAMRA National Champion Pub of the Year in 2010, and London Cider Pub of the Year in 2011, but I walked right past it!  OK, I wasn't sleep walking, but the frontage is quite narrow, and there was scaffolding outside, it being redecorated at the moment, the windows were wide open (being of the sort often seen more on the Continent); I shall post a photograph of the outside when the work is finished, which should be by my next visit. But I did find it after walking up the (quite short) Chandos Place, and glad I am that I did!

This is what greets you immediately you walk through the door, a big hint of many ales served here in the past, and the many more to come.  Apart from ales, ciders and pump clips, the overall feeling is of wooden boards, bare floorboards (always a promising sign for a real ale pub, I think) and panelling on the walls and bar itself.  To the right of the bar is the standing area and, downstairs, seating is provided by bar stools and high tables and ledges; including upstairs, there must be about 20 stools in the pub.  Upstairs, there is a seating area with a high ledge along the side with stools, comfortable room for up to about 20, I'd imagine, with 14 comfy chairs at 'normal' seating level tables.

 

Also, a very friendly barmaid greeted me, apparently happy to give my many questions answers, and I did ask plenty, hopefully, not boring her too much, and ensuring I didn't interfere with the running of the pub, but you can find out more at the website.

 

You'll see more about the food on offer on the website, the pub opens at 10.00 hrs, Mon-Saturday, and 12.00 on Sundays; though opens at 10.00 on the Sundays before bank holiday Mondays.  Bottles of craft beers adorn cool cabinets behind the bar, usually 10-12 regularly changing ciders and perries (with 30 or so in the cellar for replenishment), and 8 or 9 ales, a fair old choice!  Again, I'll just discuss the ales I drank, but the usual 'regular' ales are Dark Star Hophead (I could be back at home), Harveys Sussex Best (I can't get away from it!), and Sambrooks Junction and Wandle.

 

Now, I've never actually tried the Junction, despite my coming from and growing up in Wandsworth (this brewery wasn't around then, of course), so I felt I'd have to sort that out... It's a 4.5% bitter, with a medium brown colour, the malt and hops are obvious, malt in the quaffing and hops in the bitter aftertaste.  I also drank a half of O'Hanlon's Stormstay, a 5% 'Premium Ale', again, bitter, a bit dry aftertaste, and easy to drink.  My favourite ale today was the Dark Star Kiwi, OK, and I've drunk it before, but this was even better, and I did enjoy it before.  A well conditioned pale, dry, hoppy ale, with a very fruity 'nose', very slightly hazy, which Dark Star own up to, but hardly noticeable, this was so good!  OK, I know I say it often, but I shall return, and looking forward to it.  

I got back to Victoria, via Buckingham Palace (I wasn't invited in, this time), with plenty of time before my train left, so took advantage of the 50p off CAMRA voucher at The Willow Walk, by the railway station. More expensive than my local Wetherspoons, this is Victoria after all, so, with discount, my ale was £2.39 a pint, instead of the usual £1.49 I pay a 'Spoons, but a decent enough pint of Hepworth Harvest Ale, a 4.5% golden ale.  Though I do have to make a note of the service from one of the barstaff, Lydia, who was an excellent example of customer service, who handled all customers with respect and panache; had to be said.  Great stuff, cheers!  

 

Wetherspoons

OK, I have to prove I don't only drink in the Dolphin when in Hastings, and it's true, I don't only drink at the Dolphin, and, being a good member of CAMRA, well, a member who takes advantage of 50p off a pint at 'spoons every now and then, I visited Hastings 'spoons today, and had a pint of Arundel Stronghold, a 'Premium Ale' at 4.7%, and, with the CAMRA discount, a whopping £1.49 a pint, nice one... and it was a pretty decent darkish strongish ale, what you'd expect really!

Update on the Dolphin, though, and I have to giggle now, private joke! The Lemon Head and Heel Stone have been replaced by RCH Pitchfork and Old Slug Porter respectively, RCH do brew some very good beers! Mark (landlord) does like the Porter, and it's pretty good, I even had a pint of it on Monday, but back to my favourite Hophead...

 

Cheers!