Something for Everyone

 One of the small disappointments in the lovely town I call "mostly home" (we're here about 80% of the time) is the dismal range of pubs, bars and other drinkng establishments.

It's pretty easy for the boy and I to head off to any one of the places we know for a couple of beers because our needs are extremely simple.  Good beer in a place that feels like it cares that we're there.

Since our Damascene moment with the kegged beer (which we chatted about last night, as it happens) we're none too worried about the dispense method of the good beer.

Pretty much:  Cask > Keg/Tank > Can > Bottle but if what they have is well made beer at a decent temperature then we're up for it.

No, the difficulty comes when we're meeting other people who aren't just in it for the beer...

So today, a gathering with sisters is planned and there's some angst about the best place which will suit.  Brown Cask beer (preferably fairly strong) for one brother-in-law, something soft for another.  Sisters tend to graviate to white wine but are known to give the odd beer or cider a go, in the spirit of adventure.

Do we want to eat or not?  Is there going to be football on at the pub? What about other events?  

 We live on opposite sides of the town so maybe a central place would be fairest?

There are six of us and prone to be noisy talkers when in a bunch...so nowhere too small so that we disturb other people...

Were this the situation in Bristol (or Brighton or even Lewes) we could be pretty confident to find a place that would genuinely keep us all happy.  But we're in Eastbourne...

We reckon that there are maybe 9 places which would meet at least some of the criteria.

But three are also Sky Sports pubs so the TVs will be on, and the locals will be in to watch Liverpool  v Chelsea later.

Two have lovely beer and could probably keep the others happy...but they're very small...

We went to one before and it was OK but the assembled company didn't really look as at home as they could have been.  Another would likely fall into that category too.

That leaves 2

We suggested the one of those that best juggles everything, even though the beer is the weakest point for us...

As it happens, one Brother in Law was really liking the idea of a beer Festival.  So we're back off to the Crown, having had an initial foray yesterday.  Nice and easy for us - let's hope the others will be as happy, too.

Rumbled

 Today I popped out to get my hair cut.

The salon is a stone's throw from my local - The Crown - and so a pleasant 15 minute walk from our house.

As I ambled past the pub I thought I'd peer in the window to see whether was an interesting second beer on cask.  I pressed my eager little nose to the window and saw there was just the usual Gun Extra Pale (always lovely but there's really only so much of it I want to drink in a single session).  As I drew my head away from the window I saw someone inside the pub (it wasn't open at the time) but didn't catch who it might be.

I turned and walked towards the hairdressers and then I heard my name being called.  I turned round and I saw the landlord, Andy, had come out to the street.  He said "Prohibition" and grinned.

See you this evening, Andy!

South Coast Beers

 We're back down south, now, after leaving the Bristol flat in the capable hands of relatives as they enjoy a well-earned break (they're both teachers) in a city.

We (he) drove back in decent enough time and conditions but both of us felt quite wearied by the journey.  As we'd parked almost next to the pasty shop it seemed rude not to pick a couple up to eat post-journey.

So there was tea and a lovely pasty at 4pm.  After that we decided to make the most of the sunshine and stroll to the Crown to sit in the garden.

The Gun extra pale was clearly near its end and we were knackered, so we stuck at one and shuffled back home - I guess a tad disappointed, but mostly just tired.

Thursday we didn't go to the pub at all, dodging the rain and relying on the beer in the fridge.  I did, however, sort out some Bristol beers for delivery.

I was working at the "office" (or lab, or college, or whatever we choose to call it) on Friday and decided to make a day of it, checking up on some jobs I'd been meaning to do for quite a while.  When I was ready to leave, I asked the boy where he might like to buy me some beer.  He suggested town.

So it was that I landed in Ninkaci just after 4.15pm - the boy joining me about 10 minutes later.

Most of the spaces had been booked for later so I found a corner with no booking, grabbed a couple of stools and enjoyed my BBNo beer. In the couple of hours that followed we comfortably drank our way through the draught beers as the bookees gradually took up their tables.

We're becomng more accustomed to the higher prices for premium beer and, for the most point, don't object (even mentally) and we're now even less likely to go to pubs with dreary beer.  Eastbourne still has scope for more interesting places to drink for us, though.  

We mused on how long it can take to build a reputation.  We were thinking about TechResort, but I realised it applies to a culture of beer, too.
When the boy started to come to Bristol I knew all the best pubs because of my involvement in the Bristol Camra group.  But I wouldn't have said Bristol was anything like a beer Mecca.  Bath Ales had filled the local brewery gap left by Smiles (no coincidence that the Bath Ales guys had previously worked for Smiles) after an interregnum of many years.

Bristol Beer Factory then followed...then came Arbor and Moor and now, some 10 years later you really can't move for excellent breweries and the pubs who stock their wares.

Hopefully two nice craft bar plus a quirky brew pub will help Eastbourne up its beer game.  After all, Beak has opened in the home of Harveys.  Surely anything is possible?

Day Saved...

 Best Beer Buddy broke his reading glasses pretty much the second we arrived at the flat.

To be fair, despite having reasonably regular eye examinations to make sure he hasn't got any nasties, he only ever needs to buy really cheap non-prescription glasses.  These, we tend to buy in a bulk (5) pack from Amazon.

This strategy also allows us to keep at least one pair everywhere we live and work...just in case.

There were a spare pair of glasses in the flat but they were very much an impulse (desperation) buy from Poundland a few years back and he doesn't exactly rock the leopard-print frame.

Anyhow, I ordered a new pack of glasses even though he insisted that superglue would get the job done.

As is our wont, we get parcels delivered to an Amazon locker which means a trip into town.  I also wanted to get some drugs to shake a niggling ear-catarrh-blocked-dizzy thing.

Finally, we decided we'd avail ourselves of the shoe recycling point on the way.

The sky looked a bit grey so I checked the forecast.  All the available information said it would likely rain around 7pm so we struck out without coats.

Half-way to town some big, fat drops started to fall intermittently.  We dug in and carried on walking. In the big shopping centre (largely under cover) we were blissfully ignorant, but as we emerged into the outside it was chucking it down.  Checking the Accuweather forecast - which is usually uncannily accurate - it said the rain would cease soon.  So we walked on, completed the errands and then paused under cover.  Still it rained.

We sheltered under a canopy, plotted the nearest pub and the best way to avoid the weather getting there.

Still it rained.

By Corn Street my t-shirt was soaked but I had an idea:  pop into the market, go to the place I get sleeping t-shirts from and buy one - find a pub and change in it.  The chap we bought it from seemed ridiculously happy to have a last minute customer.  So that was nice.

The Crown (which claimed to be good) was closed so there was no real option but to head for King Street.

The rain worsened.

We haven't drunk in King Street for well over a year and we didn't really know what to expect.  The last time we'd passed through, it was the April "opening up" date and there were crowds and queues that we absolutely didn't want to get involved in.

After what seemed an age, we arrived at the King Street Brew Pub.  It was about half full and looked OK.  So in we went.  The boy bought beer and I went down to the loos, put my new t-shirt on and brushed my very wet hair.  Instantly I felt a bit more human (even though the only place I usually wear t-shirts with slogans is in bed)

King Street's beer hit the spot really nicely, we sat and watched the thunderstorm that the Met Office steadfastly refused to admit to.  Even Accuweather struggled, repeatedly updating to say the storm would only last another 30 minutes...for about 2 and a half hours.

We mused on how brilliant it is to be able to say "oooh...where do we want to go to get some beer...?" in this, our second home. In Eastbourne our options are pretty limited and it's a shame.

In the last 12 days we've visited:  Barleymow (3), Moor (2), LHG, Verdant/Newtown Park, Good Chemistry, Cornubia, Fierce & Noble, Greenbank, The Oxford, Lost and Grounded and we've barely scratched the surface of the places we could go and enjoy. 

Every one of these places have suited the need/desire in their own way.  Even the Greenbank whose beer offering a little bit hit and miss, was in in the perfect spot for us.  We'd raided the Sweet Mart for ALL the SPICES and a little stop and regroup was in order. 

Most memorable this time, I think will be King Street Brewery and the t-shirt that saved the day.

Old Friends

 Moor Brewery is located half a mile from our flat.

Like most brewery taps in Bristol it's on a trading estate.  It's also the first tap room any recent Bristol brewery set up (I say this because back in the 1990's Smiles had a brilliant tap room in Colston Street, and I'm sorry, but I don't count Zero degrees as a real Bristol Brewery).

Sadly, at the moment it only opens on Fridays and Saturdays.

Anyhow, because yesterday was going to be our last chance to drink in there again this trip, we decided to tootle up there around 4.30pm.  I made some pizza dough which could prove whilst we were out and then we set out.

Again, no one inside but a goodly group outside meant it felt lively but not too noisy or crowded.  The main member of staff was knowledgeable, enthusiastic and encouraging of us to ask about the beer line up.

I also noticed some 440ml cans in the fridge - their usual offering is 330ml.  I asked about it and they chap was clearly pleased I'd noticed and told me a little of the hassle they'd had setting up their canning line for the new size and what it had meant to their can availability at the moment.

As is usual for us (and probably most regular drinkers, I guess) - we have a favourite spot to sit.  

We ordered a couple of pints of a "starter" strength beer (what used to be Nor'hop, I think) and settled in. We nattered about some of the work we're doing, about pubs and beer and all that.  It was comfortable and pleasant (despite my less favoured style of seating:  tall stools).

The boy went to fetch a second round because he had his eye on something a bit different from the core line-up.  He settled on the collaboration beer: a Saison made with Lost and Grounded.  He also got me a pint of Revelation.  

We'd had Revelation last week and were a bit disappointed at its lack of depth and body when compared to the cans we'd had from them.  This pint was cloudy and deep (I don't like the expression 'dank') and waaaaaaaayy more tasty than the last one we'd had.

When the bar-chap came to collect an empty glass, we asked him about it.

He sat down, at arms length, and told us all about why it was probably different, he also asked if we preferred it this way or the way it had ended up last week.   Again, he was clearly pleased we'd asked the question.  I've often found this with Moor staff at the tap - they're interested, knowledgeable and keen to chat about the process and the beers.  It's utterly delightful.

The conversation left us with a big smile.

As did a couple more rounds.  

We had a couple of strong dark beers and then followed them up with two insanely strong beers (eg an IPA of 10%) but which were so well balanced I could easily have drunk them instead of wine with a meal and they didn't seem at all out of place in summer.  That's quite a good trick to pull off.

This brewery is no fucking-hipster-jumper-on-the-brewing-bandwagon outfit - it's a mature and accomplished brewery with well balanced products and staff who know how to make it - and how to sell it to customers - incredibly well.

I love 'em