The Mitre, Holborn 13th January 2009

Continuing the theme of celebrating my birthday, I was taken to this amazing little old pub down an alley off busy city streets.

Harviestoun Haggis Hunter's Ale (4.6%): Citrus overtones to this crisp, tasty, golden ale.

The pub was in the middle of a Scottish beer festival, but as it was lunchtime and I had to go back to work, I was unable to try any more. Regular beers here are Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Adnams Best and Broadside. The pub is clearly very old, with a tiny front bar and a not much bigger back bar, a small alcove and a function room upstairs. It serves sandwiches and scotch eggs, which we also sampled.

And I didn't have my camera with me so it's a great excuse to come back in the near future, maybe with an afternoon to spare. This is truly one of London's hidden gems and I'd encourage you to try it, but get there early because it is very small.

Horsham Beer Festival 29th - 30th September 2007 (copy entry)

All the below test has been copied from the previous entry. In order to fully link each brewer with a searchable 'label' I have had to create another blog entry, as there is a 200 character limit in the labels field. So for the full version, please go to the previous entry. If this means nothing to you, don't worry, just ignore this entry and read the one below as it contains the same information.

Goddard's Ducks Folly (5.0%): Caramelly strong bitter.
Green Jack Ripper (8.5%): Excellent sweet strong beer with enough flavour to carry the alcohol.
Hadrian and Borders Gladiator (3.8%): Very malty red bitter with a crisp hoppy finish.
Hampshire Pink Elephant (5.4%): Unusual beer with a hint of the taste of red wine but no pink colour. Somehow this was voted “Beer of the festival” by drinkers over the weekend.
Hart Ice Maiden (4.0%): Pleasant bitter but with no distinguishing features.
Harviestoun Ptarmigan (4.5%): Very pleasant beer with a light spicy and zesty flavour.
Hepworth's Harvest Ale (4.5%): An excellent beer with a sharp hop taste. Almost tastes like an IPA.
Hogs Back HBB (3.7%): Mellow citrusy tones to this pleasant bitter.
Hop Back Entire Stout (4.5%): A very palatable and easy drinking stout.
Leyden Black Pudding (3.9%): Lovely creamy well balanced mild.
Moorhouse's Black Cat Mild (3.4%): Tasty mild with a mellow roasted malt flavour.
Oakham JHB (3.8%): Very fresh and citrusy beer with bitter undertones.
Oakleaf Green Gold (4.3%): Pleasant ‘chewy’ hoppy golden coloured bitter.
Old Bear Hibernator (5.0%): Seriously smoky dark beer.
Orkney Dark Island (4.6%): Dark Scottish beer with a chocolatey burnt malt taste.
Palmers Copper Ale (3.7%): Pleasant and hoppy beer.
Ringwood Fortyniner (4.9%): Tasty strong bitter.
St Austell Proper Job (4.5%): Very sweet bitter.

The Romans, Southwick near Shoreham 15th September 2007

Harviestoun Ptarmigan (4.5%): Very sweet but slightly too strong for its fruity and interesting flavour.

An immense pub where most of the patrons were sitting outside on picnic benches eating.