Traditions

We mainly avoid the whole tinsel and tree affair of this time in December.

But we did really want a proper Panettone, from the best Italian deli you can imagine:  Licata, in Picton Street.

I've been buying Panettone, on and off, from here for 25 years or so.

But it's not just that - it's Sicilian fennel sausage, the best pasta, Italian cheese, huge bunches of basil and what have you.

It's a bit of a hike from home (I used to live a much shorter walk away) so we got the 15:46 train to Montpelier station and ambled down from there.  There's something lovely about the architecture of that area: it's really easy to read its history in its buildings.  It only takes about 10 minutes to fill your basket, pay and pack shopping bags and be on your way - and it's astonishingly reasonably priced.  By 4:10 we were approaching Basement Beer.

We were delighted to see the little "nook" was unoccupied, the only other customer at the time was a chap sitting facing the bar.

There was something lovely about settling into our "usual" seats, repacking our bags to rationalise what we'd bought - mind you there wasn't really anything sensible we could do with the stupidly long leeks!

We drank, variously, a 4%ish pale ale, a stout, a sour and an NEIPA - all really enjoyable.  As people drifted in, the atmosphere became noisier but the nook still allows you to hear each other.  There was plenty of Talking Heads to be heard (and we discussed what era each was from) and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there, once again.

It's lovely to be able to support small brewers/pubs - and when they're as good as this, it's really no hardship to do it.

Today, I'm hoping we can revisit Unwins because...well, just because, really. 

 

How the pub is meant to be

 Two pub visits since we've arrived have reminded me what a great experience a good pub visit is.

In the BM on Thursday, we couldn't sit next to the fire because there were Christmas meals being had.  We looked in the other half and the BBB looked at the two-person table next to the gents and grudgingly settled in there (it's the worst space in the pub).  As I arrived with the beers the two chaps on the next table (the one with the wobbly leg) said "we're just about to go - you're welcome to this table...".

Naturally, we gladly took up the option and settled in.  The leg was wobbly again.

Still, we were in the BM and we were happy.

BBB went to get a second drink but in the fluster of the queue forgot to get beer mats. No matter.

After a while a lone chap settled into the table by the gents, then another guy came in.  Instead of sitting with us where there was loads of space, he asked the other guy whether he could sit at that table.  The resident guy was gracious but I could see a look of near-horror of sharing a really small space with a stranger.

I caught the incomer's eye and suggested there was plenty of room at our table.  He thanked us and said "it's OK, I'm really quiet".  He wasn't.  Clearly a chap wanting a bit of company - and we know, from work, that just a small amount of interaction with people can make them feel better - even though it's not something we necessary thrive on. It would have been churlish not to.  I can't really remember what we chatted about.

I tootled off to get a third beer (and some beer mats to fettle the table) and opted for very strong Wiper and True keg beer.  The lady at the bar poured them and put them on the bar whilst I paid.  They looked quite different colours but I then held them up to check it wasn't just a trick of the light.  To be honest, it was difficult to tell.

The BBB once again took one for the team - tasting them to see if there was anything awry.  He said they tasted slightly different from each other but both were fine.  So we shrugged and settled back in.

Meanwhile the bar manager had noticed that they didn't look quite right - and called over that he wanted to replace them.  I'm not sure he said what the reason was but the replacements were grand.  Maybe the keg had been tipped or something...who knows?  This is god-tier bar management in a pub that was heaving with people.

Then, yesterday, we went to the Kings Head.  We had no idea if it would be busy or not - you can't always tell.  It was. We knew there was a possibility that it would be the stools at the far end of the bar - as I passed them I did notice they were both covered  coats - probably from the blokes on the adjoining stools.  I made a mental in case the snug was  full.

It was very busy with three groups:  one of 8 blokes at one end, a small young group on one side of the entrance and about 5 blokes on the other.  However, between the two groups of blokes there was a bottom-sized gap on the bench, and a table barely being used.

Immediately one of the chaps on the nearest group shuffled along to make more space for me.  I asked the other group of men if they were ok with me using the table and they were delightful and waved me in.  The last piece of the puzzle was a stool.  There was a little cluster next to the young group, confirmed to be unused so I tucked that next to the table and allowed the BBB to sit on the bench so that it was easier for me to get the next round in (he has a  more svelt backside, too).

The big group swelled to 10 but somehow everyone managed to squeeze in with a reasonable degree of comfort. The tramcar snug is the only route out from behind the bar so we despaired of the staff trying to clear glasses.

 Then the small group of chaps nudged us to alert us that they were moving on and that we might want to slide into their space.  We did so gladly but were amazed that the bigger group didn't immediately make themselves a bit more comfortable and spread out.  We were impressed.

It was time for a second, but the previous incumbents of the space we'd moved had left their glasses, so I picked them all up and took them back to the bar.  The lady on duty thanked me profusely and I ordered fresh beers.

The behaviour of everyone in the place (save, perhaps, for the people who be-coated the stools) taking some personal responsibility for the enjoyment of everyone - and of excellent bar work, too.

This is how it should always be. 

 

New Kid in Town

 We had a plan.  Barley Mow when we arrived on Thursday (no contest), Moor on Friday for a catch up and to pick up some cans, new brewery Unwins on Saturday and Martha's on Sunday. 

I checked the various places Moor might have posted their opening times and it looked like we'd be able to stick to the plan...but when we arrived all was in darkness at 4.30pm.

Who knows whether they're ever open now?  So, instead, we walked back down to Unwins.  It was pretty busy when we got in but we got a couple of pints (no 2/3rd glasses yet) and found a little table to settle into.

The modern, keg pale ale was gorgeous - you can tell it was from an accomplished brewer.  There was also an On Point bitter which we didn't fancy and an English Malt lager which we wanted to reserve judgement about.

People ebbed and flowed and although there looked to be a chance we would be the only people sitting in - that never actually happened.

Normally, with only really one beer to be super-enthusiastic about we would only have one but we liked the place enough to stay for a second.  This time we shared a pint of the pale and a half of the lager.  

The lager wasn't really our style but, for all that, it was really good and something that, whilst it wouldn't be a first choice, would definitely make me happy enough to not feel cheated.

 We even stayed and shared a third pint of the pale.  A few more people had started to drift in by then so when we left, the place was certainly not empty.  

As we walked past Martha's, it was rammed and we had a sense that maybe there was an amount of overspill happening.  Sometimes, it just goes like that to start with.  

In conversation with the owner/brewer/barman we learned that he'd been open for a couple of weeks and that there would be a wider range of beer just as soon as he'd brewed it.

It wasn't quite as cosy-feeling as Marthas but, no doubt, it's not just the beer range that will mature.

We'll definitely be going back.  Bravo! 

Comparisons

 So we're back in the Shire until the new year.  There are lots of reasons for this - stuff to do with work, stuff to do with shying away from "sociability" and because of the beer.  Oh, the beer.

Someone has recently messaged me about what the beer scene is like down in East Sussex, compared to Bristol.  They specifically wondered whether it was only about the Harveys. It has set me thinking about recommendations.

 I try and read most of what Jess and Ray/Boak and Bailey write because I learn loads and love the way they write.  Our most enjoyed beers and places rarely overlap all that much - but that's the joy of it all.

But because beer is a matter of personal taste, it also means I can't be sure that anything I say would land with anyone else (and that's fine, too - I mostly write this for my own amusement and to give me something to think about other than digital exclusion).  

So to ensure you have an idea about my beer-drinking tastes and chosen venues:

I mostly switched away from drinking mainly 4% brown bitter around  25 years ago.  

Bath Ales Spa in 4pint jugs to share was initially responsible for this.

However around 2008/9 I discovered the Barley Mow and started drinking "Sunrise" whenever it was available.  I started helping at the Bristol and District beer festival, having been persuaded to be the set-up manager.  I also started to learn about Arbor Ales modern beers and lost an afternoon to pints of cask Yakima Valley at the Three Tuns (what was I thinking?).

 The first day the, now, Best Beer Buddy came to Bristol we went to the Cornubia, then the bar that used to be a place run by Barney Haughton in the main drag of the Harbourside and, of course, the Barley Mow.  We still go to the BM weekly (often more than once) when we're here - we go to the Cornubia much less frequently and we know that we can expect a more traditional range of cask ales - often that's OK, but it's not usually what our preference would be.

Together the pair of us have migrated towards modern styles of beer and we tend to drink in a specific way.  Anyhow, this is all a long way around of saying that we've drifted away from the drinking styles of many of our contemporaries and we rarely drink two pints of the same thing:  we really value having several different beers in a session. I think I blame Tapstone Brewery for the "final straw" of thick, bitter, fruity hopped beers: it was a Damascene moment.

In all this context - how does East Sussex fare?

 I'd have to say "mixed".  I really only get involved in pubs/taprooms in the coastal stretch - we don't have a car and the public transport is very coastal road/rail biased.

Starting from the westmost bit of the East Sussex coast where it basically turns into Brighton you have "Lewes District" - main coastal towns are.

Newhaven:  bit of a desert in many senses.  In the summer Abyss Brewery seems to do a pop up next to the Marine Workshops and there are couple of pubs in the town - they don't look very "beer" focussed.  There is a recent take over a Harveys pub which I really ought to check out when I work over there.  Other than that - not really anything I'd make the No12 journey for.  With some more investment underway in the town - that might change.

Seaford:  The Old Boot pub is a huge "Sunday Lunch" kinda place, always in the GBG and usually has a couple of interesting modern cask beers (Arbor at least a couple of times) but it's not a place we really linger.  Steamworks, at Seaford Station, on the other hand usually has cask and interesting keg available if we're in the area this is where we go.

We find The Cuckmere at Cuckmere Haven is best avoided.  Massive chain pub which mostly relies on its positioning to bring people in - as a result, it doesn't really have to make much beer effort.

The next bit of the coastal residence is probably East Dean (technically, we're now in "Wealden" district).  It's an undeniably beautiful village and the Tiger Inn is in a splendid spot.  The beer offering is way better than it used to be so is a great place to have a walk and beer thing - not, for us, a destination in its own right though.  Gun Brewery Beer often features, along with "Only With Love" and semi-ubiquitous Long Man beers.  Often heaving, and really quite pricey.

Eastbourne is next on the coast.  Harveys Best can be found in pretty much every pub but the bars/taproom type places tend to avoid it.  We've seen a couple of blokes grumpily walk out of Wolf because Harveys Best wasn't available - only Star of Eastbourne (FFS).

Only one non-tied traditional pub (Bohemian), I think, so the best variety comes from the independent non-pub places.   As a result, in town, we tend to drink in "Belgian Cafe", "Beerarama"", Wolf on the Corner", "Ninkasi", and "Frontier" - with the recent addition of the Gun Brewery Tap. Tied pubs in the main part of Eastbourne are, I think Harveys (4), Greene King (4), Brakspear (1) and pub cos.  

Our home local (The Crown) is Heineken so no interesting kegs for us there - but there's always a couple of really good cask beers on and there are the beer  festivals.  The only other pub we go to regularly near home is Harveys but well kept and usually offering the seasonal beer.

We tend to avoid all the other real pubs in town.  Such a shame, to be honest.

Heading west there are a couple of small villages/outlying districts (Harbour, Langney, Pevensey, Normans Bay) we have been to the pubs there but none of them would be a natural choice.

Then you hit Rother District - and Bexhill (includes Cooden Beach and Collington)- there's a micropub which wasn't my bag of spanners although the beer was pretty good, trad beers dominated.  There's a pub which I think has just landed in the GBG - The Ruddy Duck: small but nicely curated range of beers, definitely needs a visit next time I have to work there.  Also the Three Legs Brewery tap - again definitely needs a visit.  

Into St Leonards (Hastings Borough)  - punches above its weight for interesting places to drink:

Very close to Warrior Square station you currently have Heist (by Three Legs) and Collected Fictions (micro pub/wine bar),  which major on f*cking hipster beer but there's also The Piper and the St Leonard who take part in the tap-takover and did a respectable job of it.  Soon to come also the Hastings Project (CIC brewery) are going to open a pub just around the corner from Heist and the Piper.  
A bit of a hike up the (steep) hill is the Tower which is pretty traditional pub, best described as a "locals pub" but you can't fault the range of cask beer in different styles they always have available.

Into Hastings proper there is the Seadog very close to the station.  Not much cask choice usually but a decent range of keg beers - usually several non-big-brand lagers too which cheers me.   Up the hill in Queens road is a micropub which is sort of OK but a bit quirky, further up is The Imperial which is the Brewing Brothers's original outlet.  Always a great choice of cask and keg and a nice range of guest beers.  Fab pizzas.  On the seafront is the Courtyard which houses another Brewing Brothers outlet.    Last time we drank Brewing Brothers the beer was really expensive - we ought to go back to check whether they're still an outlier.

If you carry on east along the seafront you get towards the old town.  I haven't ventured into all the pubs around here but the Dolphin, FILO and the Albion were all pretty respectable and, in addition is the micropub (Fishermans?) which I understand is good.  Probably the best for me around the Old Town was the Jenny Lind although I've not been there for a while.  The pubs in this part of town do seem to be traditional in range.

Harveys is still well represented but a couple of Shepherd Neame places too.

The last place on the coast I can comment on is Rye.  Only been there once but it's definitely a superior beer venue.  The Ypres Castle was the stand out for me because the landlord is in it for the beer and he runs it as if he wanted to drink there.  There were a couple of other places in town we tried which were very nice and with a good range for us to choose from.  Unfortunately it's not a town for pleasant pedestrian ambling and as a result we've not been back yet. 

So that's coastal East Sussex by beer.  

The rural parts of the county can be quite sparsely populated with appalling public transport links and that also means that pubs can be few and far between.  There will be some absolutely corkers - but I'm willing to be they will also be predominated by their food offering.  

Lewes is the only non-coastal place I know in any detail from a drinking point of view.  Despite what you may think there is more than Harveys to be had (though it would be remiss not to try the John Harvey - you won't get a better pint anywhere) but Abyss also have a tap room passably close to the centre of the town.  Beak Brewery tap is a bit more of a pilgrimage on foot because of the topography of the town - but you could combine a trip to Beak with one to the Snowdrop which, when I went to it, was a really nice proper pub, too.

In central Lewes is the Gardiners Arms (my personal favourite for cask beer choice) and up on the high street are a few decent places including the Lewes Arms which, though Fuller/Asahi, keeps their beer brilliantly, does lovely food and is generally a really interesting pub.

In addition to ultra local breweries and more widely there's usually some Old Dairy beer to be had in town. 

One new development on the rail route towards the coast is Glynde (home of Glyndebourne) - from having no pubs - it now has two.  Steamworks (like in Seaford) at the station and a reopened pub also close to the station which looks like a cracker we've not got there yet.  Looks good - likely to be expensive, I would imagine. 

If I were making the move to East Sussex from Bristol now (rather than 14 years ago) I would probably think St Leonards was perfect for me and the BBB.  Hastings Borough is one of the most deprived placesnin the country and that can make it challenging be in.  But the quirky, independent nature of the place makes it very attractive and I feel very comfortable there. That's presumably why, the locals tell me, the place is full of DFLs putting pressure on the house (and beer?) prices.   Maybe its slightly Bristol-like feeling is why I like it?

 So the short answer is - yes there are pockets of good/interesting beer as well as Harveys (see also:  Arundel Brewery, 1066 Brewery, Long Man ) and although it's a long way behind Bristol..it is definitely starting to get the idea. 

 

 

 

 

 

Taking a Pint Back

 We had to do some maintenance at the Wish Tower on Sunday afternoon.  It was bitterly cold and there are no facilities of any sort at the Tower.

By the time we finished, even though we planned to go to Wolf, I desperately needed to warm up and get to a loo.  So we popped into The Bohemian.

There was Longman Long Blonde and Best on but also what looked like something decent from "Only With Love".  I ordered two pints, took them to the table and then dashed for a comfort break.

One pint was a little warm - as if it had sat in the lines a while.  The BBB sniffed and tasted and made a bit of a face and said it was probably "on  the way out".  He tried the second which was, at least colder, but the face remained.

I tried the better of the two but I reckoned it was off.  Only With Love generally don't do weird funky flavours in their cask beers.  So I took them back.

The chap at the bar came straight over when I said "These are off" but then said "Oh, is that the Best?" (they looked nothing like Best from any brewery). 

He also immediately offered "do you want something else" - we took the Longman Blonde which, actually, was fresh as a daisy and much nicer than I'd remembered. 

It has put a bit of a cloud over my feelings for the pub which had been looking up over the last year or so.  It might just be a bad day, and I'm not saying we'll never go again, but it's hard to shake the feeling that a pub that charges this much for beer (upwards of £6/pint) needs to do better to know what condition its product is in.

So we used the facilities, finished our pints and strolled up to Wolf - god, it was great!