Twas the season: Excellent ales in Sussex...

So, what excellent ales did I enjoy in the period leading up to, and including the festive period? 

First, at The Tower, London Road, Hastings St Leonards, where, as my previous blog commented on, before Christmas, they had 5 excellent ales on the same day, including old favourites Dark Star Hophead and APA, and Thornbridge Jaipur. Also, there was the new local brewery, 360 Degrees Pacific Pale, and Dark Star Critical Mass, a stronger, darker, and more seasonal ale you couldn't wish for, and 3rd in this blog's list of seasonal ales (though I haven't included pale bitters here, just the darker beers); 4 out of 5 ales all Sussex brewed... 

On Christmas Day itself I drank, from Somerset, the Cottage Full Steam Ahead (4.2%). Now I haven't had a Cottage ale for quite a few years, not sure how much I liked their ales in the past, but I liked this one; a deep amber coloured bitter with a hint of roasted malt, a very well balanced bitter indeed. Also, from Herne Hill in South East London, where the Florence Brewery produce 'Florence' beers for 'Capital Pubs', and a range of ales called "Head in a Hat Brewing", from which I drank GIN, a 4% pale-ish bitter which has been infused with "botanicals taken directly from the still" at the City of London Distillery, so you can guess what that means, yep juniper, amongst other flavours; I'm guessing the citrus comes from the hops used. I'm looking forward to drinking some more of Florence ales, whichever hat they wear! 

OK, exciting ales already, so what did the Albatross Club (RAFA) at Bexhill-on-Sea have to offer? Amongst others, there was Hastings Brewery "Handmade" Number 5, Galaxy hops being used for this one, and named Hop Forward Pale Ale; a 4.8% ale that I've mentioned before, which has an immediate citrus aroma from the hops, citrus flavour too, pale, dry and bitter, I do like this ale! Another local ale, Rother Valley Hoppers Ale was also tasted by me, a nice 4.4% light bitter, fruity with a nutty hint in the flavour, reminiscent of West Country ales.

OK, also, on Sunday, as it was a lovely day, I just had to partake in a 10 mile round walk to Bexhill again, and I met the new barmaid, Karen, nice to meet, and I'll only mention 2 of the ales this time (both of the others available have been mentioned before), again the local Dark Star Critical Mass (7.4%), already reported on, and very good. But an excellent Wessex Brewery (Wiltshire) Russian Stoat, a 9% VERY dark ale, with a rich full flavour, and a hint of liquorice... I have no idea what the joke is about the stoat rather than stout, but this was a wee bit sweeter than I'd expect a stout, personally, but still excellent, and second in the list of dark seasonal ales.   

The Dolphin, back in Hastings, down opposite the fishermen's beach, has had many great ales, as you would expect, the 3 regulars, plus, amongst others: Triple fff Old Dray, a 4.8% traditional best bitter; Wadworth Old Timer, a well-known 5% nutty flavoured old ale from the West Country; Wickwar Rite Flanker, presumably brewed for the rugby union season, a 4.3% bitter with a hint of caramel; and Rother Valley Holley Daze, a 4.2% pale-ish bitter with a hint of caramel and roasted malt. OK, the stand out bitter, though, was from the reliable Yorkshire brewer, Rudgate Volsung, another ale celebrating the Viking influence in this part of the country, 5% pale golden ale with plenty of body, hints of malt, and nice and bitter!  

But the overall seasonal ale award for this Christmas has to go to the very local Hastings Old Town Brewery, FILO, in their own pub, the First In Last Out, High Street, Our Auld Ale, a "Winter Beer" indeed! I could mention their other ales, but shall not this time, though I shall add that they now have 2 guest ales available, in addition to 5 of their own: including, on my last 2 visits, Adnams Ghost Ship and Bath Ales Barnsey, both 4.5%, and Milestone Maid Marian (4.3%). 

But Our Auld Ale, other than getting me 'merry' faster than usual due to the 6.5% strength and being too easy to drink, is a deep dark reddish brown colour, with loadsa body and hints of spice, excellent indeed! I do have to own up to writing some more notes, but I cannot read what I wrote, which says a lot, so maybe I'll have to return very soon and drink some more before they run out. 

See, I don't only drink pale hoppy ales, compliments of the season! 

STOP PRESS! Naked Ladies...

I've been in touch with Twickenham Ales, many thanks for the response from them: here's the older pump clip, and the THREE naked ladies I remember were ONE naked lady and 2 horses! I'd be useless in a police identity parade...

So, always been called "Naked Ladies", but only ever been ONE naked lady pictured, here's the newer pump clip; glad that's sorted out! 

Whatever, Naked Ladies is a crackin' ale, enjoy it wherever you see it, cheers!

Twickenham to Sussex via places up North...

Well, I did visit London, which is up North to me, plus some ales from much further North than London reviewed here. Anyway, I included a visit to the Eagle Ale House, off Northcote Road, and close to the Junction; I never thought it would happen to me and a girl from Clapham, you know the one! This is a decent ale house, though seems to have less of the pale and hoppy ales I prefer. On this visit, they did have a golden ale from Hackney Brewery, H3 (4%); Clarence & Fredericks Best Bitter (4.1%); Woodforde's Wherry (3.8%); and I thought I should try the resurrected Truman's Swift (3.9%), another 'golden' ale, with quite a rich flavour, plenty of body for a lower gravity ale, and nice and bitter. They now have their own new brewery in the East End, and I'd love to have one of their glasses! Anway, more about them @ their website, and good luck to them too.  

I also visited my 'local' in Putney, the Bricklayers Arms, which had apparently been drunk dry by Fulham and Villa fans over the weekend! Anyway, they did have 4 Twickenham ales on sale, sadly, just ran out of Naked Ladies too (I'm sure it used to be called 3 Naked Ladies, the landlady said they certainly had changed their pumpclips, and had a similar opinion to me, though others present didn't agree, oh well). Anyway, Twickenham ales they did have were Grandstand, a 3.5% session beer; Redhead, a 4.1% "red ale", believe it or not; a very nice 3.7% pale and hoppy "golden" ale, Sundancer; and a 4.4% winter ale, Winter Cheer, a not too bad darkish bitter with a mellow maltiness and dry aftertaste.     

I have to mention the Tiny Rebel ale (which is from way up North) Hank (4%), reported on before, and still very good, but this time drunk at the First In Last Out, High Street, Hastings 'old town', nice one, cheers! Of course, the FILO also sells 4 or 5 of their own ales, also well worth trying, of course, but they had the Tiny Rebel on, so... 

Back to the Dolphin, Rock-a-Nore, Hastings, and this time I did manage to have a pint of the excellent pale and hoppy Oakham Bishops Farewell (4.6%), see my recent blog about pale ales that mentioned Oakham too, I do believe. In addition to their regulars, Hophead, Sussex Best and Youngs Special, they also had Ilkley (see, from Yorkshire) Rye N' Dry (5%), a deep copper coloured bitter with a roasted malt flavour, and the more local Franklins Pudding Stout (4.2%), a bit sweet with a hint of coffee and smoky malt flavour, not bad either.  

At the Tower, London Road, Hastings (upper) St Leonards/Bohemia, a number of crackin' ales, including from Dark Star, of course, have been enjoyed recently. They have had Hastings 'Handmade' number 11, their Black IPA, which I've also had at the Albatross Club in Bexhill on Sea, and more to be reported on soon with a blog just about 'Black' IPAs, which sounds like an oxymoron, and also the very good Hopback Citra (4%), which has a very citrusy aroma, hint of malt in the flavour, more than usual in such a hoppy ale, and a dry aftertaste. 

Since then I have enjoyed the great array of ales in the photograph above, with the 'session' ale being the 4.7% Dark Star APA, still just £2.60 a pint! First, I drank the new local Sussex brewery 360 Degrees (website) Pacific Pale #49, a 4.9% pale and hoppy dry bitter, a very good new ale indeed, and at £2.80 a pint, nice one, ta. Also, had a couple of pints of Thornbridge Jaipur, well you have to, don't you, when you can get this 5.9% Derbyshire ale for just £3.10 a pint? It was the best Jaipur I've tasted for a long time too, it appears more bitter and dryer than it used to be, what I always preferred about their Kipling, pale, dry and bitter; could be a good side effect of an accountant getting the grist reduced, so it is fermented out further to reach the strength... it's a thought? Oh! And Dark Star Critical Mass, which I have never had before. The reducing of the strength from 10% to the more manageable 7.4% was lamented by locals, but a darker roasted malt flavoured bitter (£3.20 a pint, usually up to £5 a pint elsewhere!), very good too.

And Louisa the landlady serving me on this visit too, cheers, and many thanks Lou! 

My interests in Dark Star...

Some people must think that I work for Dark Star, or have shares in the company, so I must declare my interests, much as politicians should... The only interest I have in Dark Star Brewing is drinking their excellent hoppy ales! If I was living back up in Sheffield, I'd be talking about Little Ale Cart or Steel City perhaps, or if Magic Rock or Oakham ales were more available to me locally, I'd be talking about them... 

Indeed, I love my hoppy ales... so let us begin with 2 Dark Star ales recently spotted at the White Rock Hotel, overlooking the beach and pier in Hastings. The Hophead (3.8%) is readily available elsewhere, and reported on lots by me, but I see the Art of Darkness (3.5%) much less, so I had to try another pint of it here, dark and hoppy, not easy to get too drunk on, consequently an excellent session ale, I love it! They also had Harveys Sussex Best (4%), and another interesting darker bitter from Rother Valley, the 5% Blues, which was bitter with a hint of coffee, and a dry finish, not bad at all.  

Of course, the Tower, London Road, 'higher' St Leonards/Bohemia, is another regular supplier of Dark Star ales for me in the locality, American Pale Ale (4.7%) being a regular on the bar, and Winter Meltdown (5%) a seasonal medium dark copper coloured bitter, a 'winter warmer' some say, but not up to the level of my old favourite ale of that style the Winter Warmer (5%) from Youngs, as was, which I was weaned on as a baby ;-) The Tower also recently had the very local brew, Hastings 'Vanilla' Porter, a special vanilla flavoured version of their 4.5% Porter at just £2.50 a pint! This has a roasted malt flavour, more what I would expect from a stout, with a dry aftertaste, not bad at all. Oh yes! A hint of vanilla too...  

Talking about Hastings Brewery, at the Albatross Club (RAFA club in nearby Bexhill on Sea), another regular supplier of Dark Star ales too, I recently re-tried the Hastings 'Handmade' number 5, the award winning (eg at the recent Eastbourne and York Beer Festivals) Hop Forward Pale Ale (4.8%). This is brewed with just a single hop, as the 'Handmade' brews are, in this instance 'Galaxy' hops, and like them all, plenty of hops are used too, which is likely why I prefer them to their regular brews. Number 5 is pale, very bitter, and very good too, so good that they brewed a lot more of it, and it is available in bottles and the recent mini-keg version of 'Party Sevens' (just in time for Christmas).

Talking about hoppy ales, the Dolphin at Rock-a-Nore, opposite the Fishermens beach and huts in Hastings 'old town', always has Dark Star Hophead on sale; my nickname in that establishment being 'Hophead Steve' unsurprisingly. However, also, recently, saw the return of Oakham Scarlet Macaw (4.4%), another excellent hoppy ale from Oakham, and this must be at elast the third time it has been on sale at the Dolphin, great stuff, cheers!

West London Thames Path walk, Naked Ladies, real fires and ale...

A visit to my brother, the Routemeister, will more often than not include a long walk, usually 12 to 20 miles long, and a few fine ales, and, now we're approaching Winter, real fires... So why should this visit be any different? The evening before the walk we popped into the Bricklayers Arms in Putney, and also following the walk, before me returning to the Junction to catch a train home.

The Bricklayers (site) is a fine pub that I've written about many times, and they appear to work on getting 5 to 10 ales from a microbrewer at a time, so you usually find at least 3 or 4 from the same brewer when you visit, among their dozen ales on offer, often, 2 or 3 from the last brewer they selected too. Their last brewer appeared to be Hobsons, from whom they had their 3.2% Mild, 3.6% Twisted Spire, a 'blond' beer with a slightly nutty flavour, and the very good Old Henry (5.2%), a "rich autumn ale". 

Their next brewer is the Kent brewer Goody, with many "good this and good that"; over the two visits I tried the very good Good Heavens, a 4.1% 'best bitter', tasted like a typical bitter from the South East, nice deep copper colour. My second one was Goodness Gracious Me, a 4.8% pale bitter with a nutty aroma that reminded me of the Belgian lambics in a way, with a slightly sour taste, pretty good stuff too, apparently, a green hopped ale. 

We also sampled Mulberry Duck Amber Sparkle, a 4.1% light malty dry bitter, and Wildflower, a darker 4% bitter; and Red Squirrel Conservation Bitter, a copper coloured sweetish fruity ale, at first taste, with a dry bitter aftertaste, not bad at all. 

Our lunchtime 'port of call' was the Waterman's Arms in Richmond, a wonderful Youngs house (site), kept to a high standard by the Irish landlord and lady, which we used to enjoy Thai food at quite regularly, before cutting back on our expenditure due to necessity. The usual Youngs ales here, always kept in great condition, Special and 'Ordinary' Bitter, and the seasonal Winter Warmer, but their 'guest ale' outstrips sales of the pub company's own ales, ie Twickenham Naked Ladies! 

Naked Ladies is pretty much a local ale, certainly much more local than Bedford brewed Youngs these days, and pretty damn excellent too! I'm sure it used to be called "3 Naked Ladies", and surely the pump clip included the image of 3 naked ladies on it (all very tasteful of course), but now just the one on the pumclip, despite the plural in the name; maybe a modern day Mary Whitehouse complained or something? Anyway, this is a 4.4% pale bitter, very nice and bitter too, cheers!  

We then walked up to Richmond Park, leaving the Thames Path, crossed the Park, and then crossed Wimbledon Common to visit one of two Youngs pubs, we gave the Hand in Hand a miss, mostly because last time we visited the Crooked Billet (fire therein above), situated in Crooked Billet, Wimbledon Common (site), a few doors down from the Hand in Hand, they had the Naked Ladies too, and we wanted to carry out a  taste comparison. 

Anyway, no Naked Ladies this time, sadly, but the usual Youngs Bitter, Special and Winter Warmer, Wells Bombardier, and Courage Directors, all brewed by Wells these days, of course. We had a pint each of the Special, and it was in very good condition, a nice pint indeed, which it still can be, many thanks, but not as good as the Naked Ladies, oh well...  

Cheers!

Excellent Welsh Ales... TRUE!

I was reminded yesterday evening that I hadn't written a blog for a while, sadly, other commitments had filled my time, but I'm still here! 

So, to the subject headlined, and it is true! I've never found Welsh ales that much to my liking, excepting the odd one here and there, or ales from the Swansea brewer, Tomos Watkin, who do brew very good ales. The last time I drank Watkin's ales was before a match at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff, at the 'Nationalist' Cayo Arms nearby.  Sadly, this is now a Marstons pub, so no more Watkin ales there then...  

However, ales from the Newport brewer, Tiny Rebel (website) have found their way to East Sussex, and I have been very pleasantly surprised, they do brew some very good ales, indeed! Yesterday evening, at the Tower, London Road, Hastings St Leonards, I had a few pints of their Hank, a pale and hoppy 4% bitter with a pronounced grapefruit aroma, very good, and competing with the excellent Dark Star ales, Hophead and APA, and competing well too. I've also recently drank Tiny Rebel Billabong, an "Aussie Pale Ale" (presumably Australian hops used) at the Tower, another excellent pale bitter, this time 4.6%, only £2.70 a pint, with more body, obviously, and peach, as well as grapefruit, flavours and aroma, cheers Louisa!

Of course, the new 2014 CAMRA Good Beer Guide entrant, has also been serving up more local ales too, and others from afar, including, locally, 1648 Gold Angel, a 5% pale golden bitter; Franklins Viva La Rye, a 4.3% very dry pale bitter with a hint of roasted malt; the very new Bedlam Hoppy Golden Ale, an ale that does what it says on the pumpclip, it's hoppy and golden, slightly sweet at first taste, but then becoming dry and bitter; oh yes, and they currently have Dark Star Six Grain, a 4.8% bitter, which is maltier than you would usually expect from a Dark Star ale, must be all that grain... and from afar? Well, in addition to the Tiny Rebel brewery ales, I have to add a comment of the Marble Beers, 5.9% Dubber, all the way from Manchester; and I have to add a further note, their pub, the Marble Arch on the Rochdale Road up there, is always worth a visit if you are in that area at any time, I love the place, interesting exterior and interior, excellent food as well as ales, and I have great memories of toons on the juke box too!   

Whilst we're talking about Tiny Rebel, I had the Billabong at the Albatross Club (RAFA) in Bexhill on Sea too (the local CAMRA Club of the Year), very recently, at £2.80 a pint, more good value; £2.80 being the price of all their ales since their recent price increase, whatever the strength! Also, Old School (OSB) Absent, a 5.5% IPA at their regular Thursday "new brewery" event, a pale bitter, which was much too easy to drink for the strength, could be dangerous if sticking just to that ale and having a 'session'. Also, recent ales have included Black Paw Dark Seam, a 5% VERY dark bitter, lovely roasted malt flavour, with a bitter aftertaste, and Liverpool Craft American Red, a deep red, full flavoured bitter.

I also heard the news here from Peter, before seeing it in the local CAMRA publication, Sussex Drinker, that a merger of Franklins Brewery, Brighton Beer Company and WithSoul 'Cask and Craft', a specialist wholesale supplier of real ale, has been launched, with a new brewery in the near future. Things will change, obviously, so keep an eye out for their "plan to embrace the attitude, ingredients and flavour profiles of the progressive beer styles from Belgium, North America and beyond... in a way that respects the character and historical integrity of British ale." I'm looking forward to that!    

At the Dolphin in Hastings 'Old Town', Rock-a-Nore Road (the local CAMRA Pub of the Year), excellent ales keep on being served too, including the ever-excellent Stonehenge Ales Danish Dynamite (5%); Franklins Grumpy Guvnor (4.5%); Wadworth Blunder Buss (5%); the darker Old Knucker (5.5%) from Arundel brewery; Ramsbury Kennet Valley a 4.1% pale bitter with a slightly sweet aftertaste; and the very good pale 4.2% pale bitter Nuptu'ale from apparently always good Oakleaf Brewery.     

That's it for now, Hastings and East Sussex may not have the huge range of free houses and microbrewers that I used to be spoilt by when I lived in South Yorkshire, but in no way does it lack, as can be seen from above... so, enjoy your ale, cheers!

More great ales and sunny too!

 

Memories! A walk along the seafront, westwards, 5 miles-ish, and I get to The Albatross Club, (RAFA) in Bexhill, and open to CAMRA members too, for a nominal entrance of £1, as are all guests, and to RAFA members free as well, obviously, (both of which I am a member of, by the way), and 4 lovely ales, usually, at a decent price, was £2.60 a pint; but from this week, £2.80 a pint, apparently...

I shan't mention the other, very good, ales on offer, but 2 excellent ales here! I have gone on about both a bit, particularly, the Green Hopped IPA from Dark Star (6.5%); so more can I say?!? And the Cascade hopped, Hastings 'Handmade' APA, a lovely pale, grapefruit flavoured bitter, and one from the local imbiber, and Hastings brewer, who recently won the "beer of the festival" in Eastbourne, nice one, and nice one...

Oops, thinking of 'champion brewer' Brett and Hastings Brewery, up t' Tower! They did have the excellent Oakham 20 Years (5.8%) on, which I have already reported on, surely... and Dark Star APA, at just £2.50 a pint, etc etc... but I have been back again (it's a hard life), and these were the ales on offer the second time,,,



Dark Star Hophead and APA, virtually 'regulars' and 2 great ales I regularly commend, and 2 other interesting ales too, the first of which was (for moi) Brighton Bier English Garden (3.8%), a "golden ale", that was very nice, and tasted like a 'typical South East England 'best bitter'. Also, Cottage Normans Conquest MM (5%), another 'traditional' tasting ale (the name appears to be more to do with the brewer's surname than Hastings!), though darker, a "Strong Premium Ale"; the name appears to be more to do with the brewer's family name (not 1066), and a full-bodied, darker ale, not bad!

Cheers for now!