Lack Lustre

More busy times and mainly drinking in the usual haunts of late.

Downlands Brewery continues to give glimpses of interest, and the occasional m'eh seasonal beer.  A disappointing pint of Pele on a Saturday was followed by the altogether lovelier Day Tripper a few days later.  Both of these drunk in the Dolphin, of course.
Don't get me wrong - I understand I'm not always going to like a brewer's new recipe so I'm happy to keep trying.

In a group trip for refreshment where more people wanted tea and cake than beer, we compromised in a cafe which had bottled HSB, which was a lot better than we expected - and Guinness in a can for one of our number.  Then a weird thing happened.  After pouring the Guinness out of the can, the barmaid then placed it on a strange contraption which conjured a creamy head.  Our Guinness drinking buddy wasn't completely convinced by this dispense method which I now learn is the Guinness Surger...and it was as close to witchcraft as you can imagine.

Highlight of the past couple of weeks was probably the welcome addition of Dark Star APA in the Dolphin last Saturday when we need a quick fix of something lovely and nerve settling before an event.

Lowlight definitely a bad pint in the DewDrop, a pub which I had been warming to, of late.  Actually it wasn't so much the badness of the pint (although it was rank)...but the initial reaction of the barman as I took it back.  In reply to my "I'm sorry - but the beer's off" he said "let me just check" in a tone that suggested he didn't believe me.  As he pulled a small amount into another glass and sniffed it I'm afraid I said in a slightly irritated tone "Trust me - this beer's off".  To be fair, after that he was apologetic and gracious and happily got me a pint of something else (though he did try to choose it for me, which again irritated me) although even the replacement was a bit tired and murky.
Such a shame because the Dew Drop has really good days but we're less likely to keep trying it when even the best beer on offer is a bit tired.

Prize for consistency goes to Andy in the Crown in Eastbourne's Old Town.  After (well, sort of during) the thunderstorms of Friday night, with S arriving on a train, we met in Crown for a couple of pints.  His regular beers are Harveys Best, 6x and Hophead and he often has a guest on.  So there's never much choice for me...but I don't mind because I think the Hophead is about as good as it gets anywhere (and that includes the Evening Star in Brighton) so it something I never tire of drinking.  So it was on Friday - a lovely start to the weekend.

There's definitely room for more really good real ale pubs in Eastbourne...