Popped into my local for a pint or two...
Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter (4.0%): Tasty with a rounded malty flavour.
Inveralmond XXX (4.4%): Well balanced tasty bitter with a lovely deep red colour.
Fuller's Gales HSB (4.8%): Tastes especially good today, warm and rich.
Having just returned from northern Scotland where I found a lot of Greene King beer, it was suitably ironic to find Scottish beer in my Sussex local.
Managed to escape from my boss for half an hour before flying home, and popped into Carriages, a hotel bar.
Not just any old hotel bar though, this had an impressive semicircular bar area with ten handpumps, all of them with a different real ale on. I only had time to try two...
Houston Hunny Bunny (4.1%): Honey tones and an indistinct hoppiness make this a good but not exceptional beer.
Highgate Davenport's Original Bitter (4.0%): Dishwatery, northern style beer. Not my thing.
The other eight available beers were Youngs Bitter, Adnams Bitter, Caledonian 80, Fuller's London Pride, Black Sheep Best, Flowers Original, Greene King IPA and Courage Directors.
Whilst not the pick of pubs in town, it was certainly the best hotel bar I've even been in! I didn't try enough to say how well the beers were kept. How they manage to turn over enough stock to be able to serve ten different beers, I don't know. Looks like a competition between here and the Prince of Wales which has eight pumps.
Next door to the Globe, from the outside (and from the description in the old Good Beer Guide) this "city basement bar" was not very appealing.
An outside staircase led down to a large square room of tables with a bar along the far end, hence the limited photo opportunities.
Inveralmond Ossian Ale (4.1%): Tasty well kept golden beer.
Caledonian Deuchar's IPA (3.8%): Slightly better than I expected (although I have no idea how a beer of this strength can be called an IPA).
There were three real ales on (I didn't try the Spitfire) and even though I was English, the staff were very friendly and the place was welcoming.
I think the moral of this visit is don't be put off by the description in the GBG.
The barman in the Globe and the bar manager at the hotel both recommended this pub, so as soon as my boss had finished talking buisness over dinner, I headed out (alone) to find it.
I got several stares as I went in and didn't at any time feel comfortable in this pub, but there were eight beer pumps, each with a different real ale on. At last, some local beers to try!
Inveralmond Prince of Wales (4.2%): Presumably brewed specifically for this pub it seemed right to start with here. Disappointingly bland with not much to like or hate.
Highland Orkney Best (3.6%): Delightful light and sweet delicate beer with hints of elderflower.
Fyne Ales Avalanche (4.5%): Lovely fruity, hoppy taste to this pale ale. Excellent beer.
There were a few more beers I'd have liked to try but the atmosphere was not conducive to serious beer study, so I left.
On business in Aberdeen for a couple of days so thought it only right to test the local beer emporia, starting at the first place we found that was listed in my old Good Beer Guide.
The barman was possibly the friendliest and most knowledgeable barperson I've ever met. He was able to discuss the finer details of real ales, lagers and the selection of whiskies available at the bar. He posed for photos, showed us where other good pubs were on our map and I also heard him discussing with some other customers more details about wine than I will ever know.
Unfortunately the beer selection was rather more disappointing.
Belhaven Best (3.5%): Advertised on the pump clip as "Served extra cold; the cream of Scottish beer", I wasn't looking forward to this. All I can say is that it was better than Tetley's or John Smiths.
Greene King Abbot Ale (5.0%): I came all the way to a real ale pub in Aberdeen, and the only real real beer they've got is this? Well this or IPA from the same brewer. It tasted like fairly good strong beer.
InBev Peeterman Artois (4.2%): This was an interesting find. Made InBev (spot the Stella connection) it's a mass produced wheat beer. Very fruity and full flavoured, without doubt the best mass produced superchilled beer yet. In my opinion of course.
The Greene King beers were in evidence because they have recently bought the Belhaven brewery, to whom the pub belonged. But it's all ok because GK say they are not going to touch the brewery. Nobody panic. Much.
I came back later in the evening and tried Belhaven St Andrew's Ale (4.9%), a very pleasant rounded pint with more chewy malt flavour than hoppiness. A music session was in full swing with six fiddles, two 'cellos, a low whistle and a piano. The music was good and the musicians were obviously accomplished.
Those of use not driving were able to use a spare half hour to test beers at another pub in this small town, having visited the museum and seen it from the window!
Butcombe Bitter (4.0%): Lovely hoppy bitter beer. Delicious; a 5 out of 5 beer.
Butcombe Gold (4.7%): A little less hoppy than the Bitter and only slightly lighter in colour, this was good ale.
A rather frosty welcome at the bar meant we didn't stay to taste the Bath Gem or the Everard's Tiger. I was pleased to be able to taste the Butcombe beers as this is one of my favourite breweries.
Driving to a gig nearby, we needed to find somewhere for a pint and some lunch, and we happened to pass this pub advertising a beer festival. With that promise we could hardly drive past so we stopped for refreshment.
Cheddar Potholer (4.3%): Very refreshing but bitter beer.
Sharp's Doom Bar Bitter (4.0%): Mellow and well rounded smooth bitter with hints of honey. Lovely.
Cotleigh Kookaburra (4.4%): Strange bitter taste to this beer made with Australian hops that has an excellent aftertaste. Needs to be drunk slowly to enjoy the best flavour.
Sharp's Will's Resolve (4.6%): Very bitter hoppy beer but with a pleasant taste.
Cotleigh 25 (4.0%): Again very bitter.
Cotleigh Snowy Ale (5.0%): Tried a stronger beer to try to get away from the bitter hoppy taste. This was better, with a rounded flavour, stronger than it tasted and served a touch cloudy.
I think the beer festival was an attempt to put the Cotleigh and Sharp's beers head to head in a tasting competition. We were given score cards and I was able to mark a few beers. I may yet win the prize draw although I didn't get as far as finding out what the prize was.
Certainly in my book the Sharp's had it.
The food was fine and from a fairly standard pub menu. I shall certainly visit again if I find myself in the vicinity. A good find.
A large pub far enough away from the tourists to cater mainly for locals, but friendly and welcoming for visitors who appreciate beer.
Fuller's Gale's Butser Bitter (3.4%): Slightly better than at the recent pub, this was a warming yet hoppy well balanced pint. Lovely.
Fuller's Gale's Festival (4.8%): Wasn't expecting this to be a mild! Better than the Harvey's Mild I tasted earlier, with lots of flavour.
It was a shame we couldn't stay longer and test the other beers on offer, as what we did try was fantastic, but it was necessary to visit one more pub to beat the number we visited in Lewes recently!
Now this is a serious beer-drinking pub. I haven't been in a pub for a long time where there's no mainstream lager available. What a good plan! And with ten real ales, a lager, a cider, a perry and four Belgian beers on tap, I thought we wouldn't be able to leave this Dark Star pub.
Dark Star Orginal (5.0%): Very malty rounded and thick tasty dark beer.
Dark Star Sunburst Golden Ale (4.8%): Incredibly pale yellow hoppy and sweet light beer. Excellent.
Dark Star Hophead (3.8%): Tasting and looking almost identical to the Sunburst this was slightly more lemony.
Dark Star Oatmeal Stout (4.5%): Delicious warming stout without the bitter aftertaste sometimes associated with stout.
Dark Star Natural Blonde Organic Lager (?4.5%): I hate to say it but this tastes like lager... cold, pale and fizzy, but without the usual chemical aftertaste of the mass-produced version.
Dark Star Meltdown (4.8%): Another extremely pale yellow beer, but this one with cinnamon and nutmeg flavours. Good but I don't think I could manage a whole pint.
Custom Centennial Pale Ale (3.8%): Tasting very bitter after the sweet yellow Dark Star beers, this was a decent golden beer with citrus tones.
Oakham Asylum (4.5%): Very fruity interesting bitter with a hoppy taste. The second best beer of the day (see earlier entry at the Hand In Hand for the best), and seemingly the only standard bitter available in this pub - all the others have been very light or dark.
Rectory Ales Pilgrims Progress (4.2%): So fruity it tastes more like a fizzy drink than beer, with an immense pineapple/strawberry flavour. Lovely.
Then after all that I felt it was necessary to sample one of the extensive selection of bottled beers from around the world.
Goose Island IPA (5.9%): Just couldn't resist my favourite bottle with a lovely hoppy flavour. Now this is strong enough to count as a proper IPA. In my opinion.
The whole pub was fitted out in exposed brick and reclaimed timber. It was quite competitive to get a seat and some of the more quirky clientele began to irritate me slightly after a while. But we stayed and tasted as many beers as we could.
The drinks were excellent and my only complaint was that while there were three pale yellow sweet beers, there was not an "ordinary" Dark Star bitter on.
Third on the list was this Harvey's pub near the station.
Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter (4.0%): Think I was expecting it to be as good as it is in Lewes so I was a little disappointed. Still fine beer though.
Harvey's XXXX Old Ale (4.3%): Very good if unexciting beer.
Harvey's XX Mild (3.0%): As good and as unexciting as the Old.
The pub was quiet and dark with the muted sounds of televised football as well as dance music. The reception was decidedly muted too and we felt like interlopers, leaving after the one drink. I couldn't quite work out who they were catering for as they didn't seem too keen on having customers.
So we've come to Brighton for the day. We've had a ice cream and been for a ride on Volks Electric Railway and now it's time to hit the pubs to see what the beer's like here.
As it was near the sea front, we started at the Hand In Hand where Kemptown beers are brewed on site. According to the side of the pub it's the oldest brewery in Brighton and according to the Good Beer Guide it started in 1989. If the beer stays this good I hope it continues.
Kemptown Ye Olde Trout (4.5%): Dark gold well balanced hops and malt.
Kemptown Kemptown (4.0%): Has that distinct taste of an excellent hoppy Sussex brew about it. Very fine indeed. The best beer of the day.
Kemptown Dragon Blood (5.2%): Looks pretty much like cranberry juice - red/pink colour with a small white head. Tastes about 3.4% so at 5.2% this is a little weightless and very dangerous.
Simon the manager and brewer is leaving in December this year so visit soon to be sure of an excellent pint.
Again went to the Dun Horse for a pint and drank Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter (4.0%) and Timothy Taylor Landlord (4.3%). For further details please see the entry for this pub on 20th March 2007.
