Holland Tringham, Streatham 19th November 2006

Popped into my local for a swift half and a gossip and tried a few beers of the interesting range available at this Wetherspoon’s.

Itchen Valley Fagins (4.1%): Peppery light beer, pleasant but not as good as other Itchen Valley beers I’ve tasted recently. Good hoppy aftertaste.
Stonehenge Ales Old Smokey (5.0%): Pleasant, mellow stout with an interesting but sweet flavour.
Greene King LBW (4.4%): I wasn’t going to have any more beer, and GK’s not my favourite, but never having seen it before I felt it my duty to sample this. A sharp initial taste led to a rounded, hoppy flavour. Although unmistakably Greene King, this unusual dark bitter was better than IPA or Abbot. Possibly the best pint of Greene King I’ve tasted.

Overall, the beers were good, and, other than my usual Wetherspoon’s complaint of the low beer temperature, I was impressed with both the range and quality of the beers. It’s a shame the company policy of no TV sport has changed, as this detracted from the beer.