Met the family for a Christmas lunch at this pub and had a couple of halves of Fullers London Pride (4.1%) to wash it down. It tasted good and I was pleased to be able to drink beer rather than wine with a meal.
Staying in Mannings Heath near Horsham for Christmas. The local custom here is to buy in minipins of real ale to drink at home over the festive season. What a good idea!
We went over to King's brewery and picked up a polypin and to the Beer Essentials (see 25th November) for a couple of minipins. All of this was, of course, chosen and ordered in advance.
The boxes were set up in the kitchen and left to settle for a couple of days, all the beer being sedimented.
Arundel Gold (4.2%): Usually a lovely slightly hoppy bitter with a beautiful aftertaste, this was disappointing as it never really settled.
King's Horsham Best Bitter (3.8%): A good drinking beer as it's not too strong, with a slightly earthy taste that disappears after the first mouthful.
Dark Star Festival (5.1%): Usually called Essential Beers Festival when I drink it, this is one of my favourite beers of all time and it was fantastic to be able to get up and drink it for breakfast in my pyjamas. Which I only did once.
As I'm staying in the area for Christmas, I popped down to the Malt Shovel to hear the band that was on, the Okee Dokee Band. The band was excellent (although four of the six band members played the guitar at some point - is it a competition?) and there were seven draught ales to be tasted. Everything was set for a good evening!
Rebellion Sleighed (4.2%): So light in colour it looks like lager, but tastes delicious. A delightful hoppy beer although only tastes about 2.8%.
Brakspear bitter (3.4%): Tangy, slightly sharp bitter, as last visit, tastes ok.
Three B's Santa's Skinful (4.0%): Dark, warm and syrupy beer. Not great.
B & T Turkey's Trauma (4.3%): Standard, plain bitter. Nothing bad about it but nothing good. Nothing Christmassy either.
Springhead Rudolph's Ruin (4.1%): Again, plain tasting with nothing special about it. I could, however, imagine it going down very well with some roast beef. Maybe that's all the beer I've drunk.
Thwaite's Good Elf (4.9%): Very yummy, full bodied dark beer. Doesn't taste as strong as it is, dangerous sort of beer. Glad I only got a half in that respect.
Bazens' Santa's Reinbeer (4.3%): Almost tasting of perfume, this beer reminded me of the delicate sweet flavour of whisky. An interesting light beer.
Went down to Horsham again to play in the monthly session at the Malt Shovel.
This time I was determined to keep a track of all the beers I tasted.
Brakspear bitter (3.5%): Tasted a lot better than it did last time I was here (see 2nd December entry) but still not the greatest beer.
Fullers London Pride (4.1%): Surprisingly pleasant, flowery tasting bitter.
Timothy Taylor Landlord (4.3%): Thinner and hoppier than the pride but with an excellent flavour. Sweet and pleasant.
Badger Tanglefoot (4.9%): This tasted tangy and over-flavoured, but still a decent pint.
I really wish I knew why sometimes most of the beer here is very good and sometimes it's really bad. Luckily today was a good day. The session was good too.
Visited this pub on the corner on Smithfield Market near Farringdon with a large group of people. A Shepherd Neame pub, it had four real ales on and, of course, I managed to sample them all.
Shepherd Neame Late Red (4.5%): A very tasty red bitter served at just the right temperature. Yum.
Shepherd Neame Masterbrew (3.7%): Flatter than the Late Red but with a complex aftertaste. Interesting, especially as I thought I didn't like this beer.
Shepherd Neame Spitfire (4.5%): Surprisingly flavourless after the others, which shows how good they were rather than showing this one up, I think.
Shepherd Neame Bishop's Finger (5.0%): Again, this one tasted a little flat, but still a decent pint served at the right temperature.
I inadvertently started with the best beer which made the others taste not so good. An excellent range of excellent beers kept in excellent condition. The pub was too crowded for my liking and had a little too many "traditional" effects, but I could not fault the beer.
Another Tuesday night drinking session in Balham. This time the pub had some Christmassy beer to go with its Christmas decorations which have been up for weeks.
Archers Mr Frostie (3.8%): Served very cold, this was a very light hoppy beer. Tasted ok, but would have been better with a little more alcohol. It also tasted a bit flat, but this might have been the temperature.
Shepherd Neame Spitfire (4.5%): After the weak Archers, this tasted very strong and full bodied. Always a decent pint.
Again, a Weatherspoon's is selling beer too cold. Something needs to be done.
Popped into my favourite pub in London to meet a friend for lunch.
St Peter's Grapefruit beer (4.7%): A delicately grapefruit flavoured wheat beer - very tasty. Another St Peter's beer which really hits the spot. Shame its elderberry brother has been discontinued.
The final part of a short pub crawl around Horsham...
Badger King & Barnes' Sussex Bitter (3.5%): I tried this when Hall and Woodhouse started making it several years ago and was really impressed. However, if today's beer was anything to go by, it has changed a lot recently. Very disappointing, flat beer with not much flavour. Maybe it was the end of the barrel, although my knowledgeable companion said it always tastes like this. Served too cold and barely drinkable.
In spite of the disappointing beer, the pub was a revelation. I must have been here a lot as a child as I recognised the interior and had a strong feeling of deja-vu. A very comfortable and cozy pub with an open fire although it did take an inordinate amount of time to get served.
So we popped into the local Weatherspoon's on the way past to see what they had to offer.
Smile's Holly Hops (4.8%): Extremely cold, dark beer. Tasted of burnt toffee, chocolate and maybe a hint of cinnamon. Was an interesting flavour once it warmed up. The beermad.org.uk website says this beer is 5.0% and dead, so maybe it has recently been ressurected for the season.
Cotleigh Red Nose Reinbeer Xmas Ale (5.0%): Despite it's name and appearance this tasted like stout. In spite of it's name, there was not a hint of any Christmassy ingredients. Good beer but unexpectedly like stout.
I have to say the beers here were better than those at the Malt Shovel, although, as usual for Weatherspoon's, far too cold.
Managed to taste four of the seven real ales this pub had to offer:
Black Sheep Best Bitter (3.8%): Fairly tasteless bland bitter. Not very impressive, I actually struggled to finish my half, which doesn't happen often.
Brakspear Bitter (3.5%): Even more tasteless than the Black Sheep. Was glad I was only tasting someone else's drink as I couldn't have drunk much of this. Dull and lifeless.
Grand Union Liberty Blonde (4.2%): Bland but not nearly as bad as the others so far. Slightly spiced in flavour and, as the name suggests, pale yellow in colour.
Adnams Broadside (4.7%): Solid tasting decent pint. There was still a hint of the tasteless beer about it, but drinkable nonetheless.
We decided to move on after this as the beers really didn't seem to be up to much. I'd love to work out why sometimes all the beers are great here, and other times they're all a bit tasteless. Never experienced this before.
Was very reserved and only tried one beer today - Highwood Tom Wood's Havest Bitter (4.3%). A decent beer, slightly hoppy and fresh tasting. Was good enough to get a second pint when the alternatives were Spitfire and Courage Best.
