A quiet post-gig drink at this very old pub sadly trying very hard to be a restaurant. 
Once again I was out with the Broadwood Morris Men and tonight we were in Coolham, near Horsham. The weather was awful but like true professionals (or idiots, depending on your point of view), the dancers persisted and got soaked to the skin. The musicians were slightly better off as they sheltered in the doorway. The photographer (me) also had to brave the downpour, but not for long.
Regular readers may be aware that a long time ago I had an issue at this pub, well I'm pleased to say that not only did I receive a warm welcome, but to my delight I discovered that the pub sells beer in thirds (a third of a pint measure) meaning of course that you can try more beers. In spite of this I still didn't get through all of those on offer.
Popped in for some breakfast, and as I was having a beery day, decided to start as I meant to go on.
Rudgate Pursuit of Hoppiness (4.0%): Very drinkable, delightful light, pale and hoppy. An excellent choice for a morning beer!
I haven't been in this pub for some time and I was suitably impressed with the choice and range of beers available.
Just thought I'd share that with y'all!
Not bad for a blog I've not touched for years... well, here we go again, the beer blog is back in action...
This time I was out to watch Chanctonbury Morris Men at one of my favourite pubs.
Andwell King John (4.2%): An excellent malty beer with a very bitter hop taste. The first time I've tried a beer from this relatively new brewer.
Arundel Sting in the Tail (4.7%): Tastes good if you can get away from the unpleasant smell.
Welton's Pridenjoy (2.8%): Top marks to this stunning light bitter which stands up in flavour to beers twice its strength.
Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter (4.0%): A lovely pint.
Another good night out.
Once again we followed the Broadwood Morris Men to a pub in the Sussex countryside. Well actually on this occasion we got there early as we had a small celebration of my son's first birthday (where did that year go?).
Dark Star Hop Head (3.8%): Lovely drinkable sweet beer with a huge hop taste. My first three pints in a long time!
Hogs Back Spring Ale (4.0%): Pleasant and light but quite bitter.
Lovely food, beer and staff at this off-the-beaten-track pub. Oh and we had a great music session as well. Perfect.
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| Brighton Morris perform outside The Beer Essentials © Barry Dewdney - used with permission |
Oh what a shame, I locked myself out of my house and the only place to wait was the local pub with real ale and ice cream sundaes available.
Once I'd finished my large chocolate sundae...
St Austell Tribute (4.2%): Smooth pale ale with honey tones. Served on the colder side of "normal" but still within range.
A pleasant pub with friendly staff, fairly quiet on a mid-week evening.
This large venue was recently known as "Bar Vin" but has now reverted to its original name, "The Anchor Hotel".
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| Black Dragon Morris dancing outside The Beer Essentials © Barry Dewdney - used with permission |
Here again for the World Championship Marbles that is played every Good Friday. This year there was a beer festival. In fact it's still on, it runs until Monday or until the beer runs out.
This is a members' club in Horsham but there are often opportunities to visit, should you wish. Tonight there was a murder mystery play on so I thought I'd investigate.
This was a very busy "town" pub, absolutely jammed full of people. I stood by the bar as there was nowhere else to go and watched pint after pint being pulled.
Caledonian Raspberry Fool (4.0%): Stupidly sweet, this tastes like it has real fruit in it. Surprisingly it grew on me.
Castle Eden & Cameron's Nimmo's XXXX (4.4%): A decent malty brew.
There were also Thwaites and Harveys beers available.
I took several pictures of this pub but they all have these two men in. No, I've no idea who they are, they were just standing there and wanted to be in the picture.
Was starting to feel the worse for wear by the time we left this pub and I knew there were several more to go. My photography skills were suffering.
Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter (4.0%): Well kept beer at this bar.
After drinking gently for most of the day at the CAMRA AGM members' bar, come the evening I was persuaded to go on a pub crawl with the CAMRA Young Members group (just being young enough!). How wise this was you may decide after reading this and the next six entries...
Itchen Valley Pure Gold (4.8%): Cloudy but pleasant golden ale.
Also available was Youngs Bitter, Bombardier and Abbot Ale. The pub was large and had knowledgeable staff.
I was trying to get to the Star which apparently I was within yards of, but it was extremely dark and raining and I didn't fancy negotiating the adjacent supermarket carpark to find it, so I headed up the hill to the Hurst Arms.
This was a delightful local Harvey's pub, with a good variety of Harvey's beers and a good variety of clientele. Including, of course, a collection of CAMRA members.
Harvey's Dark Mild (3.0%): Tasty mild, very similar in flavour to the Sussex Best Bitter. I think it's the Sussex XX Mild by another name.
Harvey's Hadlow Bitter (3.5%): Just not strong enough to hit the spot, even after starting with the weaker beer.
Harvey's Armada Ale (4.5%): Pleasant bitter, very drinkable with a very bitter taste.
A very friendly and inviting pub. As I walked in the door, the lady behind the bar proffered a piece of kitchen towel to clean my glasses, as they were so steamed up. Exactly what a glasses-wearer needs at that moment! The service couldn't have been better and we happily stayed until closing.
Just round the corner from the Lamb, this more genteel establishment was a bit more refined and calm.
1648 St George English Ale (4.5%): Strong hop character followed by a separate mellow malt taste. Ok. Dispensed straight from the barrel.
White White Gold (4.9%): Beautiful fruity initial taste and an interesting hop character.
Leather sofas, modern art and very good tapas.
I was persuaded to go to the CAMRA Members' Weekend and AGM in Eastbourne, which necessitated doing a little research in the local hostelries.
On the Friday evening it was pouring with rain, but I managed to get to this large pub in the Old Town area.
Harvey's Olympia (4.3%): Pleasant but uninspiring golden ale.
Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter (4.0%): Served a bit cold. Considering how much they must sell here, not quite at it's peak. Fine beer though, one of my favourites.
Harvey's Star of Eastbourne (5.5%): I love Harvey's beers but they tend to suffer from all tasting very similar, and this is no exception. A stronger version of the Sussex Best.
At 9pm on a Friday night, with a ska gig upstairs and seemingly most of the 900 CAMRA members in town for the AGM on its premises, the pub was heaving. Too many people in one place for my liking but most of them seemed to be having a good time.
It took so long to get served that for the first time ever I ordered two rounds at once. I was drinking halves and it took less time to drink one than to order one.
Apologies for the dreadful photo, it was dark and raining heavily.
There were three beers on at this annual event - the same three as last year so I think they must be someone's favourites.
Palmer's IPA (4.2%): Drinkable beer but without a distinctive flavour.
RCH Hewish IPA (3.6%): Nutty beer. Not hoppy or strong, so no idea why it's called an IPA! Pleasant.
St Austell Black Prince (4.0%): Dark beer but again without a big flavour. Good for drinking all night.
Managed to find this pub in lovely Axbridge selling both lunch and real ale.
Butcombe Bitter (4.1%): Served a little cold but warmed into a lovely well balanced mellow bitter.
A tasty if rather expensive plate of fish and chips. Would have liked to stay for another beer but my companions were set on returning to the Doom Bar at the previous pub.
Coming to this pub has turned into an annual event. In other years we've got a big plate of lunch but the new management hadn't got the kitchen going so after sampling the beers we had to find somewhere else for lunch.
Sharp's Crown Inn Glory (3.8%): Pleasant light coloured bitter.
Sharp's Doom Bar Bitter (4.0%): A good pint of one of my favourite bitters.
Cheddar Ales Potholer (4.3%): A huge bittersweet hop taste to this 'more exciting than most' golden ale. Almost an IPA.
The beer was so good we came back later for a top up and a take out. And the lovely sunny day meant we could take advantage of the large beer garden.
Stopped in Steyning on the way home to see what this grand looking pub was like.
Dark Star Best (4.0%): Drinkable but uninspiring bitter. I've tasted much better from this local brewer.
Other beers available were Arundel Sussex Gold, Fuller's Gale's HSB, Timothy Taylor Landlord and Fuller's London Pride.
This 15th century inn had two bars, one full of sports fans either watching loud rugby on a big screen or playing snooker in the back, and one laid out as a restaurant.
We had planned on eating but we didn't feel hungry enough, although the menu looked excellent and reasonable. There was also free Wifi which appeared to be in use on the table next to us, incongruous in such an old building!
This was a small "local" pub, which we couldn't get into at first because the doorway was full of excited dog.
There was a bad smell inside, which may or may not have been connected to the presence of the animal.
Cottage Champflower Ale (4.2%): Decent, rounded bitter.
Vale Black Swan Mild (3.9%): A gorgeous dark, mellow, chocolately mild.
Both were served a touch too cold for my taste.
There were about ten locals watching the rugby in the corner of the bar, but it was not loud and didn't get in the way. A lovely pub apart from the smell.
As it was a sunny day and we had use of a car, we drove down to Worthing to see the sea and try some beer at a couple of pubs.
Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter (4.0%): Perfectly kept Harvey's, lovely.
Hop Back Summer Lightning (5.0%): Light, hoppy and strong. A bit sweeter than I remember, but great on a sunny afternoon.
A dark, cavernous interior well decorated with horse-brasses and swan ornaments, although the music was a bit loud.
Just a few yards from the Minster, this York Brewery pub was uninspiring from the outside, but felt very welcoming and friendly once inside. The bar staff were young yet knowledgeable about the beers, a rare combination.
York Wonkey Donkey (4.5%): Dark and smooth strong malty beer.
Tring Colley's Dog (5.2%): A distinctive mellow hop character to this strong deep red bitter.
Having run out of cash and not found a cash machine in the whole of York, I needed to pay by card and round up the price of a couple of halves to £5. The "tapas" menu sufficed and I had the most delicious bowl of cheese cubes and pickled onions for just £2.50.
Probably my favourite pub of the day (in spite of the electric pink toilet walls). I will definitely be back next time I'm in York.
I almost didn't make it into this pub as it was covered in "Private Party" signs. However having walked all the way across York (all of ten minutes) to get here, I went in anyway. As I was on my own they let me into the small front bar which was full of locals. I think the event must have been in the rear bar.
There was an impressive range of seven beers on offer, but after trying two I didn't want to outstay my welcome.
An interesting small pub with a wood panelled interior. Well worth a visit but don't be disappointed if it's full and you can't get in. The friendly barman who served me said that this is the only pub in York which regularly has mild.
I was looking forward to visiting a few good pubs in York as I only had a couple of hours before heading back down south, so there wasn't time to do much else.
This pub was a good local with several beers on, although the choice was not what I'd call inspired.
Everard's Tiger (4.2%): Cold and smooth drinkable bitter.
The other beers were Ruddles County, Caledonian Deuchar's IPA, John Smith's and Shepherd Neame Spitfire. There were several small rooms off corridors and I don't think I found them all. The main bar was full of a birthday party.
Came to York for a CAMRA meeting at this family-oriented pub.
York March Madness (3.8%): Very pale, sweet hoppy beer.
Leeds Special Session Bitter (3.5%): This tasted a little thin after the slightly stronger York beer.
It was good to see local beers available, and especially refreshing to see two session bitter strength beers on offer at the same time.
Managed a midweek drink in London with some friends at this decent Wells and Young's pub in Streatham.
Young's Bitter (3.7%): A good session bitter.
Young's Special (4.5%): Creamy smooth and strong.
Young's Mixed: A delicious way to enjoy the flavour of the Special without the full strength - it's about half and half Bitter and Special, and works surprisingly well. Always my choice when both are available.
Young's Waggledance (bottled, 5.0%): The alcohol is very well hidden in this tasty but not exceptional beer, although I couldn't pick up the honey the bottle advertised. Shame it was kept in the fridge.
As the quality of the pubs in Streatham is not as good as it used to be, it's good to know about this large Young's pub near Streatham Common station.
I wouldn't normally write about bottled beer here but the two I drank this evening were both local and both excellent, so I felt compelled.
Hepworth's Sussex (3.5%): Pale, crisp, hoppy and very bitter. A lovely beer with a bite, great with curry!
Welton's Sussex Pride (4.0%): Dark, warming and mellow. A hint of sugar but overall a very tasty mild style beer.
Both brewed in Horsham and although very different in style, neither had that unpleasant fizzy taste which is common in bottled beer. The Welton's was bottle conditioned, the Hepworth's not.
Popped in for some lunch as I'd been told there was a good "pint and a sandwich" offer on.
