S & I are generally drinkers as a couple...with the occasional pal thrown in for good measure.
We very rarely initiate a wider social gathering although neither of us completely shun them, either.
However, when The Crown (our esteemed local) gave us a little advanced warning of its autumn beer festival, we felt the need to share with our colleagues.
So it was, that the Saturday evening saw 7 of us crowd around a table and drink far, far too much fantastically kept real ale.
A couple of the guys had never been to the pub; one young lady (a colleague's daughter) had never really been introduced to good beer;and some knew the pub, knew the beer but don't spend enough time there as a rule.
Andy had about 8 beers in perfect nick and I think between us we tried them all.
It was a fun evening (as evidenced by a slight hangover the next morning).
I seem to remember spending most of the evening trying to persuade A, who co-produces a great magazine/paper on beer, that cask ale is the pinnacle of good beer and the rest are pale imitations to whom we run when the real stuff isn't available.
Obviously I didn't actually convince him. He humours me by smiling and saying he likes to hear me rant on the subject and happily drinks both cask and good keg beer during the evening.
This is entirely right and proper, of course.
The other high point of the last couple of weeks has been the presence of my very favourite Harvey's beer: Star of Eastbourne.
Its very seasonality - like asparagus and proper strawberries - is part of its attraction, but the main story is the complex, well balanced hoppy deliciousness of it.
I have to admit when I entered The Victoria and saw it on the bar, I actually let out a bit of a squeal. The pub ended up with two or three casks of it, which we helped consume over the course of October. And now it's gone for another year. Sigh.
What I'm lusting after right now (not right now, it's a tad early) is a really, really good black IPA. This would match the grim weather and the subject of a theatrical event that I'm helping to staff at the Wish Tower. Highly unlikely to get one in Eastbourne, sadly...but I'll keep looking.
Friday, 6 November 2015
Saturday, 10 October 2015
Wanderer Returns
Working more-or-less full time for a spell, and a week's "Let's get away from everything" holiday last week have both prevented me from having much to say...and having any time to say anything on line: about beer, at least, of late.
Much of our beer drinking has been from the usual haunts although we've added the Crown & Anchor on Eastbourne's seafront to our list of frequently frequented places.
It's a Greene King house which would normally have me running for the hills but, of late, they've been putting on guest beers - in summer there was Hopback Summer Lightning which is one of the first golden beers I ever had and it still tastes great, and last night after a return to work for the evening there was Twickenham Naked Ladies which was just what we wanted - light and hoppy without being too in your face.
Anyhow, where have we been for the last week? Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour. Some might think it's a strange sort of venue for us, having no pub (there's a private hotel bar but our one attempt to go in there didn't yield any staff in the bar...or confidence there'd be any any time soon) and no practical way of leaving the island of an evening.
So we'd planned to go off the island every day to try the pubs of Poole, Studland and Bournemouth. In the event, we found ourselves not wanting to leave this tiny (1.5 miles by 0.75 miles) paradise of woodland, bird hides and waders and the odd beach.
We made two trips over to Poole for the collection and delivery of a houseguest and to provision up (there's no shop on the island, either). The first time we went we found the pubs a little lack lustre - although we missed seeing that there's a branch of "The Stable" with it's brilliant pizzas and real cider. When we returned we went into the Poole Arms (not in the GBG) purely on the strength of its fishy lunch menu and we weren't disappointed. The beer was fine (Ringwood 49er) but not its selling point. Then, after shopping and whilst awaiting the ferry we tried "The Drift" which is a microbar on the quay front which you can easily overlook.
Wow!
In Bristol, it probably wouldn't even hit the radar - three cask beers on pump and a fridge full of interesting bottles. But in Poole it was a breath of fresh air (and a mouthful of great beer). The owner, Alex, is a genial chap and engaged us in conversation and giggles about certain sorts of CAMRA members whilst chatting about beers we liked (and didn't). His three beers were a mix of styles and breweries and we had a stunningly good pint of Black IPA (whose brewery I can't remember).
The place is quirky and charming (although with the most uncomfortable stools I've ever experienced...although S didn't find them so bad, so maybe it's my anatomy) and deserves to succeed. Well done, Alex.
Back on the island we made do with Oakham Citra and Scarlet Maccaw and Harbour IPA in bottles (and some wine). Not a patch on the real thing and goes a long way to explain the findings in the 2015 real ale report that cask ale drinkers go to the pub more often, and spend more when they do. It's simply because cask conditioned ale is only available via a pub.
So now we've left the red squirrels behind (that's Sid in the picture at the top) and returned home to pints of Hophead at the Crown (still great).
Now all we have to do is to find a way of setting up a pub and/or a brewery on Brownsea and the place would absolutely perfect.
Sunday, 26 July 2015
Nice surprises
Little time to write about beer of late. Still some time to drink the stuff, but that is most definitely the priority over writing about it.
So, we're spending most of our time in Eastbourne these days, and mostly we tinker with computers, code, electronic and other geek-gear in the furtherance of TechResort CIC. But when the working day is over, we still like to seek out a good pint, and (try to) chill out a bit over some nice beer.
We've been pleasantly surprised by some pubs in town of late:
The Victoria in Latimer Road has definitely upped its game of late - from perfect seller of Harvey's beers through a bit of a spell of lack-lustreness and back to good form albeit with a smaller range of beer on at any one time.
So, this is frequently our "I'm thirsty" after work venue. Olympia is my current favourite offering (athough Waterloo gets an honourable mention).
The Crown and Anchor - on the seafront (more or less) which is even closer to the office has started offering more than the normal Greene King beers. We both dislike Green King beer - even when it is really well kept (which it is at the Crown and Anchor) and would usually walk out of a pub that doesn't offer a guest. So, imagine our excitement when S passed the door one day on his way into the office and said "They've got Hopback Summer Lightning". It's been on a few times since so we're crossing our fingers that they'll continue to offer a decent alternative to GK beers. Their food is also good stuff.
And a little out of town is The Sussex Ox which we went to last night for a birthday treat for the man of the house. We were expecting Longman beers which, although definitely improving over time, are not something we usually get excited about. But instead (or rather, in addition to) last night there was an Arbor Ales beer from Bristol. Food was nice and the surroundings were fantastic. If we can find a way of putting the Ox into a weekend walk, I'll wager it'll happen.
So, whilst Eastbourne still really needs a killer real ale pub...there are pockets of goodness which, for the good of the team, we'll continue to explore just so's you don't have to.
So, we're spending most of our time in Eastbourne these days, and mostly we tinker with computers, code, electronic and other geek-gear in the furtherance of TechResort CIC. But when the working day is over, we still like to seek out a good pint, and (try to) chill out a bit over some nice beer.
We've been pleasantly surprised by some pubs in town of late:
The Victoria in Latimer Road has definitely upped its game of late - from perfect seller of Harvey's beers through a bit of a spell of lack-lustreness and back to good form albeit with a smaller range of beer on at any one time.
So, this is frequently our "I'm thirsty" after work venue. Olympia is my current favourite offering (athough Waterloo gets an honourable mention).
The Crown and Anchor - on the seafront (more or less) which is even closer to the office has started offering more than the normal Greene King beers. We both dislike Green King beer - even when it is really well kept (which it is at the Crown and Anchor) and would usually walk out of a pub that doesn't offer a guest. So, imagine our excitement when S passed the door one day on his way into the office and said "They've got Hopback Summer Lightning". It's been on a few times since so we're crossing our fingers that they'll continue to offer a decent alternative to GK beers. Their food is also good stuff.
And a little out of town is The Sussex Ox which we went to last night for a birthday treat for the man of the house. We were expecting Longman beers which, although definitely improving over time, are not something we usually get excited about. But instead (or rather, in addition to) last night there was an Arbor Ales beer from Bristol. Food was nice and the surroundings were fantastic. If we can find a way of putting the Ox into a weekend walk, I'll wager it'll happen.
So, whilst Eastbourne still really needs a killer real ale pub...there are pockets of goodness which, for the good of the team, we'll continue to explore just so's you don't have to.
Friday, 5 June 2015
Conspiracy Theory
We continue to be hopeful that the general quality of beer continues to improve here, in Eastbourne. I think there's still a fair way to go, though.
Last night we stopped in at the beautiful Tally Ho pub in Old Town. It's a building from 1912 or so...and still advertises itself as a Kemp Town Brewery pub in its leaded lights (just like the Dolphin, as it happens).
The interior has been lovingly refitted and the leather seats compliment the barrel-vaulted ceiling and its decorative plasterwork.
They are also advertising themselves as serving Real Ale...so we thought it was just about time we checked it out.
It appeared to have Timmy Taylor Boltmaker on...which excited us greatly...but we were disappointed when it turned out it wasn't in fact on at all (at least they didn't try and sell us some nasty old stuff). So we had the Eastbourne standard pint of Harveys which was nicely kept and reasonably priced. Then the guys behind the bar started to tell us how this was their first evening open (seems like a change of hands has happened). They have reasonable plans (although I think they confused Craft and Real Ale terms a couple of times...) so we're hopeful.
Still, I can't help think that they'll revert to just Harveys...and some keg stuff before too long.
Maybe Eastbourne doesn't really like their beer all that much and someone has just told them that Harveys is the only taste a beer should have...maybe it's all an East Sussex conspiracy. Just like this cartoon.
Last night we stopped in at the beautiful Tally Ho pub in Old Town. It's a building from 1912 or so...and still advertises itself as a Kemp Town Brewery pub in its leaded lights (just like the Dolphin, as it happens).
The interior has been lovingly refitted and the leather seats compliment the barrel-vaulted ceiling and its decorative plasterwork.
They are also advertising themselves as serving Real Ale...so we thought it was just about time we checked it out.
It appeared to have Timmy Taylor Boltmaker on...which excited us greatly...but we were disappointed when it turned out it wasn't in fact on at all (at least they didn't try and sell us some nasty old stuff). So we had the Eastbourne standard pint of Harveys which was nicely kept and reasonably priced. Then the guys behind the bar started to tell us how this was their first evening open (seems like a change of hands has happened). They have reasonable plans (although I think they confused Craft and Real Ale terms a couple of times...) so we're hopeful.
Still, I can't help think that they'll revert to just Harveys...and some keg stuff before too long.
Maybe Eastbourne doesn't really like their beer all that much and someone has just told them that Harveys is the only taste a beer should have...maybe it's all an East Sussex conspiracy. Just like this cartoon.
Wednesday, 20 May 2015
It's not you, it's me
I've been wondering for quite a long while whether old favourites in the beer world are getting worse, or has my taste changed.
Back when I started drinking beer (ooh, now that was nearly 30 years ago, I guess) I would have been in paroxysms of joy if I'd found a pub with four handpumps of well kept real ale of ANY stripe. Finding Marston's Pedigree, Bass, Sharp's Doom Bar, Wadworths 6X, Fuller's London Pride, or Timothy Taylor Landlord would have seen me squealing in a very uncool fashion.
I can even list some of my favourite "rarer" beers that I used to get a polypin of at Christmas from the Off License (called the Brown Jug) around the corner from my first house:
Archer's Golden
Exmoor Stag
Exmoor Gold
Ringwood 49er
Add in a whole bunch of localish brewers' beers (to the West Country, that is) - Otter, Butcombe, Bath Ales, Abbey Ales and I can honestly say I've liked a lot of beers in my time.
Thing is, with few exceptions, these are not the beers I drink now if I have any choice in the matter.
We've remarked for a while that whilst Harvey's is a really good old fashioned brewer - there's only so much of it we want to drink these days.
Even Everards (which used to be something I really liked when travelling in the Midlands) has fallen into that category. It was on at the Buccaneer at the weekend and S had a pint - and he was in the Midlands last night and tried some in its homeland but just wasn't keen so switched to something a bit newer.
It can't possibly be that all these perfectly good breweries have become rubbish over the last 20 years or so. So - it would seem that even us dyed-in-the-wool real ale drinkers whose drinking spans far longer than the age of some of the newest members of the non-lager-drinking society are not quite as "traditional" as we might think.
I can't pin down precisely what it is about newer style beers that usually appeal more to us. They're not all gold and hopped to f*ck and back - there are some really well balanced darker and deep beers we've tried in the last few years that have really urged us to drink more.
Whatever it is, we have exciting times to enjoy - it's almost like rediscovering beer all over again. How fantastic is that?
Mind you - if you offered me a pint of Timmy's right now...I'd bite your hand off
Back when I started drinking beer (ooh, now that was nearly 30 years ago, I guess) I would have been in paroxysms of joy if I'd found a pub with four handpumps of well kept real ale of ANY stripe. Finding Marston's Pedigree, Bass, Sharp's Doom Bar, Wadworths 6X, Fuller's London Pride, or Timothy Taylor Landlord would have seen me squealing in a very uncool fashion.
I can even list some of my favourite "rarer" beers that I used to get a polypin of at Christmas from the Off License (called the Brown Jug) around the corner from my first house:
Archer's Golden
Exmoor Stag
Exmoor Gold
Ringwood 49er
Add in a whole bunch of localish brewers' beers (to the West Country, that is) - Otter, Butcombe, Bath Ales, Abbey Ales and I can honestly say I've liked a lot of beers in my time.
Thing is, with few exceptions, these are not the beers I drink now if I have any choice in the matter.
We've remarked for a while that whilst Harvey's is a really good old fashioned brewer - there's only so much of it we want to drink these days.
Even Everards (which used to be something I really liked when travelling in the Midlands) has fallen into that category. It was on at the Buccaneer at the weekend and S had a pint - and he was in the Midlands last night and tried some in its homeland but just wasn't keen so switched to something a bit newer.
It can't possibly be that all these perfectly good breweries have become rubbish over the last 20 years or so. So - it would seem that even us dyed-in-the-wool real ale drinkers whose drinking spans far longer than the age of some of the newest members of the non-lager-drinking society are not quite as "traditional" as we might think.
I can't pin down precisely what it is about newer style beers that usually appeal more to us. They're not all gold and hopped to f*ck and back - there are some really well balanced darker and deep beers we've tried in the last few years that have really urged us to drink more.
Whatever it is, we have exciting times to enjoy - it's almost like rediscovering beer all over again. How fantastic is that?
Mind you - if you offered me a pint of Timmy's right now...I'd bite your hand off
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Blossoming
I love watching pubs I know and frequent get gradually better.
This has been the case with The Dolphin, here in Eastbourne. We've been eating and drinking here pretty regularly for a few years now and the beer range has gone from OK, through decent, and is now into "good" territory (obviously if you know us "good" is high praise when it comes to beer).
Coupling that with the general quality of the ambiance and the food in the pub and you've got a great combination.
It's a shame that the strictures of the pubco beer tie system means that guest beer prices are higher than prevailing prices in this part of the country and that is a bit hard to take but The Dolphin remains somewhere I enjoy going and the enjoyment of the beer is ever increasing.
Nice work Rachael and Tim, and well done Glenn.
This has been the case with The Dolphin, here in Eastbourne. We've been eating and drinking here pretty regularly for a few years now and the beer range has gone from OK, through decent, and is now into "good" territory (obviously if you know us "good" is high praise when it comes to beer).
Coupling that with the general quality of the ambiance and the food in the pub and you've got a great combination.
It's a shame that the strictures of the pubco beer tie system means that guest beer prices are higher than prevailing prices in this part of the country and that is a bit hard to take but The Dolphin remains somewhere I enjoy going and the enjoyment of the beer is ever increasing.
Nice work Rachael and Tim, and well done Glenn.
Thursday, 14 May 2015
Old Haunts, Good Times
S had to go to London for a meeting this week and I'd been meaning to go to sell my beloved, but criminally underused, Leica camera so it made sense to make the trip together.
After S had concluded his business, and I'd spent a happy couple of hours at camera shops and bookshops I had a quick look in the Guide to see what pubs there were around to be explored. Neither of us wanted to stray too far from getting back to Victoria for our train home so I was looking around the Charing Cross area. To be honest, I was disappointed in what seemed to be available - lots of Nicholson's pubs (which are fine in their way but we wanted somewhere properly nice) and another couple of not-particularly-special places so we went for ol' faithful...or The Harp, as we know it.
I arrived about 10 minutes before S and so I braced myself for the usual crammed, hot, noisy space. I took a deep breath and pushed inside. It was different. It was pleasantly peopled but there were a few seats available. Ok, it was before 5pm but I was still surprised.
Delighted, I ordered a beer. Stupidly, I failed to read the pump clip properly and just asked for it by name. the lady behind the bar said "It's a strawberry saison, it's very fruity, is that what you want?". She managed to do it without making me feel stupid, either (some skill).
"Errr...no, you're absolutely right...I definitely don't want that".
She offered me a couple of alternatives and I chose sensible beers for both of us and went to get a seat.
If I'm brutally honest, I was a tiny bit disappointed with the range on offer...specifically for us, that is:
London Pride (it's now a Fullers-owned pub)
Harveys Best (probably great if you don't see it often...but...you know...Sussex dweller an' that)
Dark Star Hophead (ditto)
The aforementioned Strawberry Saison (Celt beer)
Oakham Green Devil IPA (too strong for a starting beer)
Kentish Cobnut (I think...so we had one of those)
Brewsters (can't remember what it was but I had one of these)
However, the Brewsters was tip top, and the Green Devil which followed it was superb. S had the Cobnut which was really good (much better than the description on the pump) and followed with a mouth-puckeringly dry cider which was recommended to him by the bar staff by offering him tasters. He joined me in the final pint of Green Devil.
By the time we left the place was buzzing and I was really pleased to see quite so many women also drinking beer.
The Harp keeps up its standards despite the change in ownership. By the time we left we were pleasantly sloshed, ready for food and reveling in our visit.
Happy days
After S had concluded his business, and I'd spent a happy couple of hours at camera shops and bookshops I had a quick look in the Guide to see what pubs there were around to be explored. Neither of us wanted to stray too far from getting back to Victoria for our train home so I was looking around the Charing Cross area. To be honest, I was disappointed in what seemed to be available - lots of Nicholson's pubs (which are fine in their way but we wanted somewhere properly nice) and another couple of not-particularly-special places so we went for ol' faithful...or The Harp, as we know it.
I arrived about 10 minutes before S and so I braced myself for the usual crammed, hot, noisy space. I took a deep breath and pushed inside. It was different. It was pleasantly peopled but there were a few seats available. Ok, it was before 5pm but I was still surprised.
Delighted, I ordered a beer. Stupidly, I failed to read the pump clip properly and just asked for it by name. the lady behind the bar said "It's a strawberry saison, it's very fruity, is that what you want?". She managed to do it without making me feel stupid, either (some skill).
"Errr...no, you're absolutely right...I definitely don't want that".
She offered me a couple of alternatives and I chose sensible beers for both of us and went to get a seat.
If I'm brutally honest, I was a tiny bit disappointed with the range on offer...specifically for us, that is:
London Pride (it's now a Fullers-owned pub)
Harveys Best (probably great if you don't see it often...but...you know...Sussex dweller an' that)
Dark Star Hophead (ditto)
The aforementioned Strawberry Saison (Celt beer)
Oakham Green Devil IPA (too strong for a starting beer)
Kentish Cobnut (I think...so we had one of those)
Brewsters (can't remember what it was but I had one of these)
However, the Brewsters was tip top, and the Green Devil which followed it was superb. S had the Cobnut which was really good (much better than the description on the pump) and followed with a mouth-puckeringly dry cider which was recommended to him by the bar staff by offering him tasters. He joined me in the final pint of Green Devil.
By the time we left the place was buzzing and I was really pleased to see quite so many women also drinking beer.
The Harp keeps up its standards despite the change in ownership. By the time we left we were pleasantly sloshed, ready for food and reveling in our visit.
Happy days
Wednesday, 6 May 2015
Movers and Shakers
OK, it's been yet another month since I've posted anything new in a blog I had originally intended to be more-or-less daily.
I have reasons (some of them good, some of them not so good) but here we are, a month on and it's not like I haven't drunk any beer in that time.
One thing I've noticed is that S and I drink in pubs so often that it's really hard to impress us these days. We can, however, still be surprised.
Such was a trip to the Prince Albert in Brighton.
The first surprise was that the visit was even suggested.
One thing I've learned in the last five years is you don't f*ck with the arrangements on a match day.
The day is:
Still, the last home match of the season had already been messed about with as the kick-off was 12.15pm for televisation purposes.
That meant there was no pre-match pub venue at all - also that lunch was delayed until after the match. But we stuck to the Basketmakers to ensure lunch could be stress-free.
However, after eating and a couple of pints, one of our number suggested that we try a new place: The Prince Albert which is found just down the hill from the station.
So we did.
From the outside it looks a little bit challenging and the presence of jubilant Watford fans inside meant it was always going to be a little bit lively. But we're not people to be put off by that so we went inside. They had a nice few beers on cask - including Burning Sky Plateau and Aurora.
It has to be said that the place is seriously pricey (over £12 for three pints) but there are lots of nice different place to sit and the beer was top notch.
So there we were, sitting with our beer feeling pleasantly surprised. I'm quite interested to try it on a quieter day/time to see whether I could even be impressed by it.
You never know
I have reasons (some of them good, some of them not so good) but here we are, a month on and it's not like I haven't drunk any beer in that time.
One thing I've noticed is that S and I drink in pubs so often that it's really hard to impress us these days. We can, however, still be surprised.
Such was a trip to the Prince Albert in Brighton.
The first surprise was that the visit was even suggested.
One thing I've learned in the last five years is you don't f*ck with the arrangements on a match day.
The day is:
- Meet at the Basketmakers and eat with a couple (probably three, actually) pints.
- Go to the match
- Have a pint or so on the concourse (the Amex serves real ale in the concourse bars - other football grounds please take note) to allow the crowds on the station to disperse a little.
- Train to Brighton station and thence to the Evening Star.
Still, the last home match of the season had already been messed about with as the kick-off was 12.15pm for televisation purposes.
That meant there was no pre-match pub venue at all - also that lunch was delayed until after the match. But we stuck to the Basketmakers to ensure lunch could be stress-free.
However, after eating and a couple of pints, one of our number suggested that we try a new place: The Prince Albert which is found just down the hill from the station.
So we did.
From the outside it looks a little bit challenging and the presence of jubilant Watford fans inside meant it was always going to be a little bit lively. But we're not people to be put off by that so we went inside. They had a nice few beers on cask - including Burning Sky Plateau and Aurora.
It has to be said that the place is seriously pricey (over £12 for three pints) but there are lots of nice different place to sit and the beer was top notch.
So there we were, sitting with our beer feeling pleasantly surprised. I'm quite interested to try it on a quieter day/time to see whether I could even be impressed by it.
You never know
Wednesday, 1 April 2015
Potential Oasis in the Beer Desert
I was brought up in a small town about half way between Bristol and Bath: Keynsham.
People of a certain age will always say "what...K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M?" when presented with that information. (If you want to know why, Google Horace Batchelor).
It's not a bad small town, but I was pretty eager to leave it as soon as I could. However, circumstances drew me back to it this week and we'd arranged to meet my big Brother and his wife in town for a beer and a catch up.
There is one pub in Keynsham which is in the Good Beer Guide: The Lock Keeper and its very near the train station...but no matter how well it's been kept and served, I seldom want to drink Youngs beer these days.
Now, the last time we all met in Keynsham, we tried The Ship and were pleasantly surprised by its decent food and range of decent (if rather dull) beer, so we'd arranged to meet there since, as far as I could remember there we no other decent sellers of real ale.
So we had a pleasant couple of pints of Butcombe, Ringwood and Sharps beers and the decided to head back to the station to come back to Bristol. Then S asked "What about that other place further down the High Street that used to be in the guide?"...He meant The Old Bank. We were a lot less than impressed last time we tried it but we thought we'd pop in and give it a try.
There were four beers on offer so I plumped for "Twisted Oak Sheriff Fatman" and S went for a Porter. We also saw that the Italy vs England football friendly was being shown so we settled down, having had a brief conversation with the Landlord about the beers (and my previous disappointment with Twisted Oak).
After about a minute, the Landlord came over to the table and asked S how his pint was. S says "a little bit borderline maybe...but I thought might be the natural sourness of a porter". Landlord says "it's the bottom of the barrel and I'm not very happy selling it to you - would you mind if I replaced it with a fresh pint of the Coastal Brewery St Piran's Porter straight from the cellar?
As it happened the replacement beer, whilst in perfect condition, wasn't that interesting but both of us were bowled over by the attention to his beer that the landlord - who introduced himself as Simon - had.
We carried on and had a great conversation with him about beer in general and beer in Keynsham, specifically.
Simon's been at The Old Bank for a little over a year now but I'd like to think that it's a pub on the up again and that next time we come to Bristol we'll want to make a special journey to give it another try.
Definitely one to watch out for..
People of a certain age will always say "what...K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M?" when presented with that information. (If you want to know why, Google Horace Batchelor).
It's not a bad small town, but I was pretty eager to leave it as soon as I could. However, circumstances drew me back to it this week and we'd arranged to meet my big Brother and his wife in town for a beer and a catch up.
There is one pub in Keynsham which is in the Good Beer Guide: The Lock Keeper and its very near the train station...but no matter how well it's been kept and served, I seldom want to drink Youngs beer these days.
Now, the last time we all met in Keynsham, we tried The Ship and were pleasantly surprised by its decent food and range of decent (if rather dull) beer, so we'd arranged to meet there since, as far as I could remember there we no other decent sellers of real ale.
So we had a pleasant couple of pints of Butcombe, Ringwood and Sharps beers and the decided to head back to the station to come back to Bristol. Then S asked "What about that other place further down the High Street that used to be in the guide?"...He meant The Old Bank. We were a lot less than impressed last time we tried it but we thought we'd pop in and give it a try.
There were four beers on offer so I plumped for "Twisted Oak Sheriff Fatman" and S went for a Porter. We also saw that the Italy vs England football friendly was being shown so we settled down, having had a brief conversation with the Landlord about the beers (and my previous disappointment with Twisted Oak).
After about a minute, the Landlord came over to the table and asked S how his pint was. S says "a little bit borderline maybe...but I thought might be the natural sourness of a porter". Landlord says "it's the bottom of the barrel and I'm not very happy selling it to you - would you mind if I replaced it with a fresh pint of the Coastal Brewery St Piran's Porter straight from the cellar?
As it happened the replacement beer, whilst in perfect condition, wasn't that interesting but both of us were bowled over by the attention to his beer that the landlord - who introduced himself as Simon - had.
We carried on and had a great conversation with him about beer in general and beer in Keynsham, specifically.
Simon's been at The Old Bank for a little over a year now but I'd like to think that it's a pub on the up again and that next time we come to Bristol we'll want to make a special journey to give it another try.
Definitely one to watch out for..
Thursday, 26 March 2015
End of a beer-a
Last week we packed the contents of the Hitchin home into a large removals van and completed the relocation to Eastbourne.
We bid a private but very fond farewell to our two favourite drinking spots in town: The Nightingale which was the scene of so many reunitings and partings as well as some cracking beers over the years and the Half Moon which Howard and Wendy took from a dingy but otherwise unremarkable place to the most consistent seller of cask ale that I think I've ever come across.
We'll miss our regular fix of consistently lovely Oakham Ales, the occasional injection of Crouch Vale, Brewsters, Oldershaws and sometime Tring (as well as other great brews).
If you want to know how to run a basic, but classy, proper pub - look no further than the Half Moon. It's a simple formula - get good beer, understand how to keep and dispense it perfectly, add in well cooked but not overly fancy food and the job's a good 'un. We could gripe about the crowding at the bar but it would be churlish - I'll miss it.
Down here in Eastbourne pickings remain fairly slim as soon as you discount Harveys pubs (of which there are at least four in town...and then almost all other real ale pubs sell Harveys). However, The Dolphin is going from strength to strength in the quality of their offer. Last weekend there was a choice of three excellently kept guest ales and two of them were perfectly to my taste (no, I can't remember what they were called, sorry). This, matched with really good food and an atmosphere (and staff) that encourages you in for meetings, coffee, lunch, dinner or drinking and it's probably the best all-rounder in Eastbourne.
Our favourite real local remains the The Crown. The clientele are a bit lively at times; the crowd around the bar borders on infuriating and some of the facilities are a bit basic. But the beer - ah...the beer is what matters. The beer is the reason we go back time after time. Perfectly kept; straight from the cask (not to everyone's taste, I know) and, invariably Dark Star Hophead and usually with a rather nice second guest at weekend.
Have to say, we're also looking forward to being able to pop back to Bristol a little more often to make the most of the rich seam of beeriness that continues to grow there.
We bid a private but very fond farewell to our two favourite drinking spots in town: The Nightingale which was the scene of so many reunitings and partings as well as some cracking beers over the years and the Half Moon which Howard and Wendy took from a dingy but otherwise unremarkable place to the most consistent seller of cask ale that I think I've ever come across.
We'll miss our regular fix of consistently lovely Oakham Ales, the occasional injection of Crouch Vale, Brewsters, Oldershaws and sometime Tring (as well as other great brews).
If you want to know how to run a basic, but classy, proper pub - look no further than the Half Moon. It's a simple formula - get good beer, understand how to keep and dispense it perfectly, add in well cooked but not overly fancy food and the job's a good 'un. We could gripe about the crowding at the bar but it would be churlish - I'll miss it.
Down here in Eastbourne pickings remain fairly slim as soon as you discount Harveys pubs (of which there are at least four in town...and then almost all other real ale pubs sell Harveys). However, The Dolphin is going from strength to strength in the quality of their offer. Last weekend there was a choice of three excellently kept guest ales and two of them were perfectly to my taste (no, I can't remember what they were called, sorry). This, matched with really good food and an atmosphere (and staff) that encourages you in for meetings, coffee, lunch, dinner or drinking and it's probably the best all-rounder in Eastbourne.
Our favourite real local remains the The Crown. The clientele are a bit lively at times; the crowd around the bar borders on infuriating and some of the facilities are a bit basic. But the beer - ah...the beer is what matters. The beer is the reason we go back time after time. Perfectly kept; straight from the cask (not to everyone's taste, I know) and, invariably Dark Star Hophead and usually with a rather nice second guest at weekend.
Have to say, we're also looking forward to being able to pop back to Bristol a little more often to make the most of the rich seam of beeriness that continues to grow there.
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