Sherlock Holmes, Dinan, France 27th May 2008

At this very English style pub we found a beer expert who was able to discuss the finer details of French brewing in English, as well as try some interesting beers.

Lancelot Blanche Hermine (4.0%): Sweet, cold light-coloured beer with an elderflower floral smell.
Lancelot Bonnets Rouge (5.5%): Similar to the white, but with a distinct pink colour.
Brasserie Artisanale du Tregor Dremmwel Rousse (6.0%): Lovely malty beer with a definite bitter taste, although stronger, colder and fizzier than the traditional English variety.

We also managed to negotiate a visit to the local brewery, Brasserie Artisanale des Remparts, with tastings and lots of bottles to take home.

A La Truye Qui File, Dinan, France 27th May 2008

Specialist beer research in northern France meant we came here and tried some:

Brasserie Coreff Stout (4.8%): As in the previous pub, this tastes like flat lager, but this time with stout flavouring added. Right consistency, no real flavour.
InBev Leffe Blonde (6.5%): Cold, refreshing and tasteless.

Still remain to be convinced.

Le Fitzcarraldo Pub, Dinan, France 27th May 2008

My eagle-eyed husband spotted a hand pump while on holiday in Brittany, and of course this had to be investigated.

Brasserie Coreff Ambrée (4.7%): A definite malt taste to this brown beer but with the "dead" characteristic of say Newcastle Brown. Like flat lager with malt flavour. Disappointing!

And of course once we'd investigated this pub/bar, the two adjacent establishments needed the same treatment for reasons of equality and fairness.

The Malt Shovel, Horsham 10th May 2008

Popped into my local for some more drinking after a family wedding.

Fuller's London Pride (4.1%): Pleasant and refreshing bitter without a strong flavour.
Hepworth's Pullman's First Class Ale (4.2%): A disappointment from this usually excellent brewer. An unpleasant hop taste.
Wadworth 6X (4.3%): Nicely balanced strong ale. Lovely.

Pic to follow.

"Mild Day" The Malt Shovel, Horsham 3rd May 2008

My local mild event for May Mild Month. Lots of milds, lots of CAMRA members, morris dancers and a talk from the Director and Head Brewer at Harvey's brewery.

Arundel Sussex Mild (3.7%): Lovely open malty taste and a very smooth flavour.
Ballards Mildhurst Mild (3.4%): A traditional bitter mild.
Caledonian Deuchars IPA (3.8%): Unpleasant and soapy. Line cleaner or a clever ploy to get everyone drinking mild today.
Charles Wells' Courage Directors (4.8%): Malty well balanced bitter.
Dark Star Over the Moon (3.8%): A sweet mild with a 'best bitter' flavour.
Hepworth's Iron Horse (4.8%): Sweet, light coloured local bitter, not mild.
Marston Moor Matlock Mild (4.0%): Creamy and mellow; doesn't taste this strong.
Moorhouse's Black Cat (3.4%): Slightly more bitter than others; tasty.
Triple fff Pressed Rat and Warthog (3.8%): Almost a spicy taste to this very drinkable dark beer.
Wychwood Hobgoblin (4.5%): Strong and not much like traditional mild.

The talk by Mike Jenner, Director and Head Brewer at Harvey's, gave a good summary of how the brewery has stuck to traditional beers and respects its history, while embracing technology and changing tastes. It got quite technical at times with various salt contents in the water discussed (Lewes water is lower in sodium that London water).

The future at Harvey's sounds exciting with the creation of a microbrewery to use as a testing ground for new ideas and recreations of some historical brews.

CAMRA members from North Sussex, Western Sussex, Brighton and South Downs, Mid Surrey, East Surrey, Croydon and even as far away as West Kent were in attendance as well as the Regional Director.

The pub did themselves proud, a great day with nine fine beers out of ten.

Pic to follow.

Blog update

Just wanted to let my readers know, I haven't stopped drinking or the blog...!

I'm getting married next month so I'm a bit busy right now, but I will be back blogging about beer very soon.

Ruth

The Royal Oak, Friday Street near Horsham 24th November 2007

I got the opportunity to come back to this pub rather sooner than expected (see post before last), to celebrate the end of the landlady's first year.

Although the pub was again full to bursting with customers, today they were amicable, even jolly, and the atmosphere was good.

Dark Star Sarah (and Clive's) Birthday Beer (4.7%): Solid tasty malty dark bitter. Very pleasant although a bit strong to start the evening.

Dark Star Best Bitter (4.0%): Very bitter tasting dark malty bitter.
Surrey Hills Ranmore Ale (3.8%): Delicate flowery hoppy beer.
Dark Star Smoke (5.0%): Dark smoky malty beer. A bit odd to start but it grows on you.

There was a fantastic buffet, morris dancing, a birthday cake and a traditional music session.

I'm very glad I came back and reassessed my view. An excellent pub.

The BBC Good Food Show, Olympia 16th November 2007

Managed to get a press ticket to this popular event.

The drinks section was branded "The fine wines, beers and spirits show", and I was looking forward to visiting the stands and tasting some of those fine beers.

Unfortunately there were no real ales present; no breweries, no CAMRA, nothing relating to real beer.

So the beers mentioned in the logo? Well there were three lager stands: Kingfisher, Singha (Thailand) and Cusquena (Peru). These were interesting to compare (the Singha was quite good for mass produced lager) but I'm now wondering if the adjective "fine" applied only to the wine.

There were some good whiskies available to try, but as neither my ticket nor any pre-publicity I'd seen failed to mention that the food stands closed hours before the drinks section, I managed to miss the whole of that section.

Overall badly organised and a disappointment. I was very pleased I hadn't wasted the best part of £20 for a ticket.

The Royal Oak, Friday Street near Horsham 10th November 2007

I was really looking forward to visiting this haunt of Sussex beer aficionados.

Whether I happened to go on an unusually busy night I don’t know, but I was unprepared for the sheer rudeness of the customers. It’s a small pub with low ceilings and narrow doorways, which makes standing in them all the more stupid, in my opinion.

I tried twice to get to the bar and twice gave up. There was Cajun food available which was lovely, except for the fight to get a plate, the fight to get a place in the queue, and then the fight to get to the serving spoon.

When I finally reached the bar I found eight real ales and a cider on.

Grand Union English Wheat Beer (4.4%): Pleasant although a bit dishwatery. Very pale.
Grand Union One Hop: Progress (4.5%): Tasty malty light coloured beer with a long, strong hoppy aftertaste.
Surrey Hills Ranmore Ale (3.8%): Unprepossessing tasteless light coloured beer.
Dark Star Old Ale (4.0%): Tasty rounded malty old, with a slight tang.

The first time I was served I had to wait until every other person had been served around me, regardless of how long they’d been waiting. I asked sensible questions about the beers but was not offered any samples, even though others around me were. I was served a half in a lined but chipped pint glass, and was generally disenchanted by the whole experience.

I will give this pub another chance because so many people say how great it is, but I’m nowhere near convinced. The one thing I can’t fault is the choice of beers that was available. The beer quality was good but not spectacular.

The Britannia, Euston Station 20th October 2007

With some time to make my train connection I thought I’d have a quick half in the pub on Euston station.

I was so shocked by the service I received, I didn’t even write down what beer I got. I asked for a half, and although I could clearly see empty and apparently clean half glasses behind the bar, I was served in an unlined pint glass. When I asked why my drink wasn’t in a half glass I was told that there was none available.

I then said that I was happy to drink what I’d been given but I thought it might be illegal to sell beer in this fashion. The bar man, whose English wasn’t great, looked at me with horror, thought I was causing trouble, and ran to get the manager. She appeared and told him that he should have served the drink in a half glass, waived one at him, and ignored me. The beer was close to undrinkable anyway so I didn’t see what difference it made. I didn’t drink it.

The Britons Protection, Manchester 20th October 2007

Unprepossessing although not unpleasant on the outside, this pub is just stunning on the inside. This picture shows the front bar; the corridors have lovely tiling (if that’s your thing) but I’m not good enough at photography to show you those. This stunning interior is worth a visit even if you’re not into beer.

Coach House Farriers Best Bitter (3.9%): Very bitter yet creamy beer with a dense foamy head.
Howard Town Wren’s Nest (4.2%): A huge amount of elderflower and grapefruit in this immensely fruity flowery hoppy golden beer.

And if the décor and the good beer’s not enough, I counted 207 different types of whiskey behind the bar, although the bar man said they have 232. Maybe I lost count.

Although I spent 12 hours travelling for 5 hours in Manchester, I can’t help feeling that it was all worthwhile.

The Rain Bar, Manchester 20th October 2007

Had to travel all the way to Manchester for a CAMRA meeting which was held in this large pub.

Lees GB Mild (3.5%): Complex nutty mild. Very drinkable.
Lees Bitter (4.0%): Very caramelly and smooth creamy bitter. Not quite what my southern tastebuds are used to!
Lees Ruddy Glow (4.5%): Delicious red mellow beer.

I didn’t get to try the Lees Moonraker, the other beer available, which was probably just as well at 7.5% with a long journey ahead of me.

Manchester was a long was to go for the afternoon so I was taken to sample some beer at another pub in town by others from the meeting who were stunned when I admitted I’d never been to Manchester before.

The Malt Shovel, Horsham 11th October 2007

This is great time of year to be a real ale drinker in Horsham. First there’s the Horsham Beer Festival, then there’s the Horsham Old beer festival at Welton’s brewery (see various previous posts), then you turn up at the Malt Shovel and starting tomorrow there’s a five week long beer drinking extravaganza, with shirts and glasses on offer if you drink enough different beers. Lovely.

Today I tasted:
Brakspear Bitter (3.4%): Revolting, so I took it back to the bar where I was told there had been a problem with some of the glasses. It was willingly exchanged for more of the same beer in a different glass, and then it was the lovely crisp session bitter I expected.
Harvey’s Sussex Best Bitter: (4.0%): A decent pint of this distinctive and hoppy beer.
Hepworth's Iron Horse (4.8%): Tasty strong bitter with a thick hoppy flavour from this Horsham brewer.

As usual I was here for the traditional music session. I even managed to get the musicians to pose for a picture this time!

Welton's Brewery "Old Friday Beer Festival" 5th October 2007

Managed to get myself invited to this free event where brewer Ray Welton opens his doors (and barrels) for some beer drinking. I did too much chatting at the start and missed out on a couple of bitters than ran out early on, but still managed to get a taste of three different beers.

The event was in aid of Ray’s daughter Shirley’s forthcoming conservation trip to New Zealand and it is likely that about £400 was raised for this during the evening. Last year’s event (see Oct 06 entry) raised over £400 for a muscular dystrophy charity.

Welton’s Horsham Old Ale (4.5%): Rather better than I remember last year, this is dark and deceptively strong.
Welton’s Bodiam Gold (4.2%): Starts mellow and very bitter but soon sweetens in the mouth.
Welton’s Old Remedy (4.8%): A very sweet and strong, with a similar background taste to the Gold.

A great evening of drinking and chat, some with acquaintances from last weekend’s Horsham Beer Festival (see 29th - 30th September entry) which was topped off with the requisite Morris dancing and revelry.

Free beer at a brewery and it’s all for a good cause. What more could you want?

Beer blog anniversary 1st October 2007

Today marks the first anniversary of this beer blog. If anyone would like to comment on any aspect of the blog, please add a comment to this entry and let me know if there are pubs you would like to see added, beer reviews you disagree with or anything else (constructive please!) you’d like to say, even just a “hello” from wherever you are.

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

All the below test has been copied from a 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 two entries below as it contains the same information.

Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby (6.0%): Wonderful. I always look forward to drinking as much as possible of this mild at this festival. One of my favourites.
Sharp's Doom Bar Bitter (4.0%): Well balanced bitter with a good hop taste and hints of caramelly malt.
Skinners Betty Stogs (4.0%): The name put me off a bit but this was a delicious fruity hoppy bitter. An excellent find.
Thornbridge Jaipur IPA (5.9%): A lovely delicate IPA with a big hop and honey taste.
Timothy Taylor Golden Best (3.5%): Darker than most golden beers, this was thick tasting and disappointing.
Titanic Stout (4.5%): Lovely dark, bitter, roasty stout.
Wadworth 6X (4.3%): Fresh and fruity; well balanced.
Welton's Percy Bysshe (7.0%): This tastes like it’s got apples or some other fruit in it, and is good but a little strong with a strange murky brown colour.
Westerham British Bulldog (4.3%): Smells of roasted malt and tastes like excellent bitter.
Wickwar Autumnale (4.5%): A hint of burnt flavour to this popular yet thick dark bitter.
Wells and Youngs Waggledance (5.0%): Warming honey tones with some hoppiness are present in this strong bitter.

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.

Horsham Beer Festival 29th - 30th September 2007

This year saw a larger festival than previously, with three sessions over the weekend.

As usual, I was serving behind the bar for all the sessions, which gave me the opportunity to sample every one of the fifty real ales on offer.

It’s always a great weekend and this year was no exception. I met up with people that I only ever see at the festival but at last I’m beginning to remember their names now, as well as lots of friends from different areas of life.

I had a tough time deciding on my beer of the festival, and in the end feel I have to mention four that particularly stood out. Skinners Betty Stogs was an excellent bitter, Hepworth's Harvest Ale was a good strong hoppy beer, and Essential Beers Festival Special was delightful golden and moorish. Of course the festival would not have been complete without Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby which is one of the best beers on earth (see picture).

After the event, Gareth, the event organiser who runs the Beer Essentials beer shop on East Street in Horsham (see link on the right), told me that about 4,100 pints were sold and only a little beer was left over from the 84 barrels delivered for the event. This is now being sold in the shop.

Acorn Old Moor Porter (4.4%): Traditional porter. Very good.
Adnams Bitter (3.7%): Lovely dry hoppy session bitter.
Archers Farmers Boy (3.8%): A bit sharp with a hint of smokiness.
Arkells Kingsdown Ale (5.0%): Very malt heavy; rounded and smooth.
Arundel Sussex Mild (3.7%): Gorgeous and creamy if a little sweet.
Bateman's Valiant (4.2%): Very pleasant bitter.
Bath Gem (4.1%): Lovely malty bitter. Tastes stronger than it is.
Brains SA (4.2%): Creamy caramelly taste to this bitter. Very good.
Burton Bridge Golden Delicious (3.8%): Mellow and not too strong. A good beer to drink all night.
Caledonian Deuchars IPA (3.8%): Hoppy but weak beer.
Cotleigh Barn Owl (4.5%): Strong with a bitter flavour which continues to the aftertaste.
Cottage Metropolitan (4.7%): Fruity well balanced mellow bitter. Good but not dark coloured as described in the programme notes.
Downton Red Hop (4.3%): Pleasant malty red coloured bitter.
Elgoods Black Dog (3.6%): You’d have to do well to find a better mild than this at this strength. Even people who profess not to like mild were happily consuming pints of it.
Essential Beers Festival (5.0%): As always an excellent pint. One of my favourite beers.
Essential Beers Festival Special (4.2%): This gorgeous beer was made for the festival by blending Dark Star Hophead (which it tastes similar to but a little stronger) and Dark Star Sunburst. Fantastic beer.
Everard's Original (5.2%): Far too much alcohol and not enough flavour.
Exmoor Gold (4.5%): Slightly citrusy golden beer. Very tasty.
Felinfoel Best (3.8%): A delicate hop flavour to this Welsh session bitter.
Fuller's ESB (5.5%): Good flavour which copes with the high alcohol content.
Garton's Liquid Lobotomy (8.0%): A challenging black beer with a smooth start and tangy aftertaste.
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.
Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby (6.0%): Wonderful. I always look forward to drinking as much as possible of this mild at this festival. One of my favourites.
Sharp's Doom Bar Bitter (4.0%): Well balanced bitter with a good hop taste and hints of caramelly malt.
Skinners Betty Stogs (4.0%): The name put me off a bit but this was a delicious fruity hoppy bitter. An excellent find.
Thornbridge Jaipur IPA (5.9%): A lovely delicate IPA with a big hop and honey taste.
Timothy Taylor Golden Best (3.5%): Darker than most golden beers, this was thick tasting and disappointing.
Titanic Stout (4.5%): Lovely dark, bitter, roasty stout.
Wadworth 6X (4.3%): Fresh and fruity; well balanced.
Welton's Percy Bysshe (7.0%): This tastes like it’s got apples or some other fruit in it, and is good but a little strong with a strange murky brown colour.
Westerham British Bulldog (4.3%): Smells of roasted malt and tastes like excellent bitter.
Wickwar Autumnale (4.5%): A hint of burnt flavour to this popular yet thick dark bitter.
Wells and Youngs Waggledance (5.0%): Warming honey tones with some hoppiness are present in this strong bitter.

The Alma Arms, Uckfield 16th September 2007

We originally arrived at this pub early afternoon to find it closed, even though we had been told it didn’t close on Sunday afternoons, but we found our way back to it at the end of the day, and it was open then.

Harvey’s Sussex Pale Ale (3.5%): Tastes just like the Sussex Best Bitter from the same brewer but with a slightly lower alcohol content.

I was very pleased to get the opportunity to taste this beer as I haven’t seen it before.

All in all an excellent weekend where we discovered some good pubs and a few new beers.

The Abergavenny Arms, Rodmell near Lewes 16th September 2007

Again, the bar man was friendly and chatty at this big pub on the main road. The cars were racing past so fast in the 30 mile an hour speed limit outside that I almost got run over taking the photo.

Hogs Back England's Glory (4.3%): Tasty well balanced light bitter with honey tones.

The Rugby World Cup is on at the moment but this beer was allegedly brewed for the Football World Cup, so I was a bit confused. It’s good beer though.