Watching Playoffs in the Pub

 I'm not really a serious football fan - but there are certain events I find quite entertaining.

About 12 or so years ago, I sat with the BBB in a pub which would charitably be called a "locals" pub and watched all the playoffs for various football divisions.  All accompanied by McMullen's beer (probably IPA).  It was the closest pub to the BBBs house in Hitchin and the only one we knew would be showing all the football.

The Saturday of this Bank Holiday, I was volunteering at the Wish Tower but, following a couple of weeks of a lot of peopling, I excused myself a little early and, instead of the BBB meeting me in Town (it was ridiculously hot) we convened at The Crown.  

 We were quite excited that a Beak/Harveys collab beer could be on offer.  Sadly, it was gone before we even arrived.

However there was Oakham "Citra" and Pentrich "Wish Fulfillment" on offer so we definitely couldn't complain.

We were able to sit next to a window offering the combination of a bit of shade (admittedly from the portaloos which were outside and ready for a Sunday event that we knew we'd avoid, but they were freshly delivered and not in use) and an open window with a bit of a breeze.

Only one playoff match on offer:  Hull v Middlesborough following some shenanigans over spying or something and follow-up pouting about Hull having prepared to play Southampton or somesuch.

There was never a chance that all the people could have been pleased, even some of the time.

After 90 minutes of dull as ditch-water play it very much looked like there would be extra time and penalties.  Thankfully, an added-time goal put us all out of our misery.

It was very jolly and convivial in the pub, the beer was excellent and, because we had no real skin in the playoff result, even the entertainment was low-stress.

Being a only a 10 - 15 minute walk home, it made for the perfect venue - even though the day had been so stupidly hot.  

Yesterday, we could sit in our garden with fridge beer (not something we can ever do in Bristol) and listen to the event at the Crown at a distance (a little bit 80's-tastic to be honest).  We kept an eye on the closing day of the premier league season only in text format and I was glad (given the 3-0 defeat to Man Utd) that we were sat amongst greenery with birds, bees and butterflies rather than watching the match in the pub.

Seasonal Change

 So summer landed with a sizzle this week.  So from huddling in my fleece-lined hoodie to try and keep out the sharp wind to suddenly realising that it was boiling hot outside work (though still blissfully cool inside thanks to a Victorian building with immense thermal mass).

So it seemed fitting when we knocked off work to stroll back to the Gun Brewery Tap at the sports club across the road.

The first beer we tried was a 5% cask beer (can't remember its name but it wasn't one of their regular brews) - brownish, a bit hazy and rather indistinct.  Like the third attempt at making the recipe having gone through tweaks to make it better.  We weren't quite sure what it was supposed to be like - and it felt like the brewer wasn't sure yet either. 

It wasn't awful, by any means, it just wasn't...great.  It unusual for Gun, their brews normal call the style and you can recognise it.

The bar was quiet when we arrived and we opted to sit on the new terrace overlooking the main cricket pitch - sadly no match on, but we were entertained by one of their girls' teams having a training session.

We became aware of more people joining the terrace and how much smarter they were dressed than us (we set a low bar, admittedly, but the contrast was stark).  It was kinda "Ladies who lunch" meets "Off duty estate agent convention" meets "pink flowery shirt with a panama hat" brigade.

We were happy to be outside because the increase in noise would have been difficult were we inside.

Turns out there was a fund raising gala type affair for the local hospice and the great and the good (and the...) had turned out to support it in all their finery.

There was a LOT of lager and local sparkling white being drunk - very little cask beer by the looks.

 It wasn't bothering us one iota, we were happy that the tap room was getting so much custom - and it was nice to see lots of people milling around the sports club.  Sad there wasn't a cricket match to see but you can't have everything. 

Himself fetched the second pint and a half (no 2/3rd here) - having started a little too hard, there was only one place to go: Zanzama at 6.5%

It was so much better than the other one - we enjoyed it and the thronging around us.

We decided a final shared pint would be nice before we strolled home.  So I set off into the bar.

Pandaemonium!  People were about 8 deep at the bar and, clearly, not at all capable of "doing pub" properly.  

Shouted in orders to the bloke being served by people joining at the back.  Blokes gesticulating wildly and nearly punching me in the face (accidentally, obviously because being of Hobbit proportions I was below their eye-line).  "Are you in the queue" shouted at me from behind a couple of times...other guys (it was ONLY blokes buying drinks) aiming to push past (I was having NONE of  it) - and patted on the shoulder more than once (really, WTF!) 

 I've not been in such a quagmire of annoying testosterone at a bar for so long and I nearly ducked out...but then one bloke was especially patronising  and I became determined to dig in.  So I did.  I finally came to get served and asserted my place and the bloke next to me said something facile about what I had just ordered. I shared a sigh with the lass behind the bar, gave him my coldest look whilst I paid for the beer and got out with my beer intact.

When I got back outside the BBB said "you could have given up" and I had to confess it was my stubbornness at fault (again).  

...and yet, I still really enjoyed our time there.  Not really quite sure why, maybe it was being able to sit outside, looking at greenery on the first warm summery evening.  Ach, you get your kicks where you can.

 

 

Back into the Swing of it

 We've been back 6 days now and most of our days have been...busy and a bit weird.

The day we arrived back we were straight into an evening meeting that then took us to "Frontier" for a quick beer and then a meal at the nearby Thai restaurant.

 Wednesday I was in work all day and got caught in the rain afterwards so it was home and sofa and fridge-beer.

Thursday I was in Hastings and St Leonards where I was, as I indicated, delight to go to the Prince of Wales.

Friday we were split between Town Hall and our current HQ and the rain came again when it was home time so we dashed around the corner for a couple of pints of Belgian Cafe beer.

Saturday and Sunday didn't really lend themselves to going out so we called on the Fridgebeer again (note to self:  needs topping up).  This means we haven't really done our usual after work "where shall we go?" calculation since we've been back.

Still.  This afternoon we'll pop around to the Crown.  The beers on aren't the most exciting (appears to be Quiet American by Kent, and APA from Longman, according to the Real Ale Finder app) but we'll go anyway.  Fresh cask in Eastbourne (with the exception of Harveys) is a little bit like Unicorn Droppings.

 

Beer for Good

 One of the (many) things I like about Bristol Beer Factory is their commitment to supporting other local organisations - either via charitable routes or collaboration ones.

I'm not naive enough to think it's 100% altruistic, but the vibe I get from every touch-point I have with them is a good one.  It makes me want to support them more:  from the brilliant barstaff in the Barley Mow who make you feel valued (and who remember that you like a straight glass, even if it's been 6 weeks since you've been there), to the fact that their no-alcohol beer specifically supports a mental health initiative and their commitment to donate a specific % of profits into the community via various forms of support.  

Even better, this Social Value doesn't seem to come at the expence of the quality of their offering, unlike some things I've tried to support in the past (ethical coffee or whatever).  

It feels like a proper win-win-win.

So, naturally, when I found out, a good while ago, that the Hastings Project Brewery was a CIC I was keen to learn more.  The first beer of theirs I tried in Beerarama was OK, but not memorable - this was pretty early on and as I've remarked so many times before, even good brewers who have set up a new venture can take a while to get into their stride.

Hastings is half an hour away from Eastbourne by train (3 per hour), I'm a trustee of a charity there, and I do work with other charities in the town so I do find myself going there reasonably frequently.  

I learned that the brewery were taking on a pub in St Leonards (the western edge of Hastings proper) and it's just around the corner from another couple of nice placess there.  This part of St Leonards still feels a bit scruffy but the steady gentrification from the DfLs is definitely noticeable.

I'd been wanting to try the pub (The Prince of Wales) since it opened about 6 or 7 months ago but I haven't had to be in St Leonards and it still feels like a bit of an indulgence to get on a train, just to go to the pub.

Anyhow - this week I had a meeting with a bunch of colleagues related to poverty-support projects that we all collaborate on and the meeting was in CAB in St Leonards.  All the assembled company are female in the age band 40-something to 60-something - we probably cut a bit of a scary air about us when en masse.

We'd all agreed a swift pint would be in order and I suggest that we go to the Price of Wales which only one (another regular beer fan) had even heard of. We arrived at the pub at 5pm-ish and it was empty.  We were greeted cheerily by the lady behind the bar. I immediately ordered a pint of a 4%ish pale cask for me and one colleague gravitated towards lager (Helles).  Bit by bit we coaxed orders out of the the others (we don't pub together often) and sat down.

Blimey!  The beer was great, the lady behind the bar incredibly knowledgeable and encouraging - helping a couple of women to choose what they wanted. There were two cask guests as well as their own and some beers were offered on both cask and keg.

The layout of the pub is quite traditional for a corner-pub and has lots of small tables and stools to keep things flexible:  this was quite helpful since there were six of us plus a small thing in a pushchair.

I learned that they offer all their beers in 2/3rds and also learned that 2/3rds glassware is relatively expensive so might go some way to explaining why not everyone wants to sell that way.

I had to go and get a train (station about 200 yds away) but I could have sat there for much longer and tried more of their lovely beers.  I immediately felt at home and really want to engineer a chance to go back.  All the others agreed it was a great place and everyone enjoyed the beer - vowing to make this the default venue in future.

I really want to take the BBB there - I'm pretty sure he'll like it much better than Heist and Collected Fictions which we visited the last time we had to pass through.  It feels very "us".

Even better?  Being a CIC all their profits are used for community good.

Another great example of Social Value from brewing where the product doesn't appear to be a compromise.   

 

Good Chemistry

 On Friday we'd popped to Unwins.  We'd not seen the lass on bar before but soon got onto the obvious "were you working the EBBT?" question.

She was, and was staggered by how busy it had been -  she'd never seen so many people.  She was, apparently, also slightly horrified to learn there was also an "autumn" event. 

They had very little beer of their own - it all having been drunk the previous weekend (the best possible reason to be out of beer) but their cask 4% bitter (were I a pedant, I might call it a pale ale) was absolutely knockout.

I have to say the collaboration beer with Full Court Press (coffee roasters and cafe who I think are probably setting up in another arch nearby???) which was a Strawberry and coffee sour was really not our bag at all.  

Thankfully they still have the wonderful dark mild with which we finish.

Yesterday was warm and sunny so I suggested we pop round the new incarnation of Good Chemistry brewery which now has regular weekend opening times.

GC has never been a go-to brewery for us - the beers have always been restrained and "fine" but not something we've sought out.  I was curious whether the takeover by an organisation who, on the face of it, seem to have a less understated personality, might change our opinion. 

Again, this brewery is about a 7 or 8 minute walk from us (if you're counting, that means 4 breweries within 10 minutes on foot from our flat).

The main thing that seems to have changed at the brewery is their house graphic style - from precise, scientific-looking diagrammatic livery to bright, whimsical characters. 

After the "obligatory" exchange with engaging chap behind the bar (they were very busy last weekend, unsurprisingly) we settled on two 4% pale beers - me:  Kokomo Weekday, him something else (can't remember the name).  KW was a good, decent keg beer, his had more of a lager characteristic - nice, but not quite what we expected.

There were about a dozen people there when we arrived and the numbers ebbed and flowed - there was a nice hubbub on the whole.

Our second beers were in the 5.5 - 6% range (me a Canadian IPA, whatever that is, him Vienna Lager which was a colab with Little Martha) and both were really good.

Because it's a standard industrial estate unit, it's very much an "open fronted" affair and most seating is in the line of the open frontage. Not a place for inclement weather and, like a lot of taprooms like this - quite homespun in nature.  People stood in the street outside, people sat inside and I would guess we saw 30 or people during our visit.

Lasties was always going to be Kokomo weekend which I loved in the brewery's old incarnation.  It's lost nothing - hefty 7% but very drinkable.

We'll be back, I have no doubt.  The BBB, initially sceptical at the suggestion, was really pleased I'd suggested it and we both really enjoyed the session.

Only downside would be (like Unwins) the lack of 2/3rds measures but it's a small gripe, isn't it.

It's made me want to make the effort to find their other pubs (or maybe to give the Collie a second go).  But that's for next visit.

 

 

 

LHG

 On Wednesday we went for a bus/walk visit in the, aptly named, Magpie Bottom.  It's part of the city (sort of East Bristol towards the old suburbs) I don't really know at all.

It was a bit painful getting there because the roads were thoroughly rammed with traffic on all the main roads.  The bus was also very full at 2.30pm - I guess that shows that a lot of people move around the city at all times of day.

Still, after 25 minutes or so, we arrived at this quiet little green area and the sound of traffic receded almost immediately, to be replaced by birdsong.

We saw, well, magpies (obviously) but also wrens, robins and a greater spotted woodpecker and we heard blackbirds, chiffchaffs, tits and some sort of warbler, maybe.  It was quite the tonic.

The nice thing about the walk was that we could go the length of the greenspace, pop out at the other end and walk for less than 10 minutes through a quiet neighboourhood to Two Mile Hill which is a key bus route. We didn't have to wait very long until a suitable bus arrived to convey us back into town.

We decided to give the Old Castle Green another go.

We were greeted effusively and there were about 5 keg beers to choose from.  Most of them local.

We ordered a couple of pints and settled in.  It's a really good, inclusive, space and whilst not exactly understated, we didn't feel out of place at all.  Good trick to pull off.

We weren't inclined to try any of the other beers as they didn't appear to offer any contrast or progression from our first ones so we decided to head home.  It's a bit like the Old Market Assembly in terms of beer offering for us:  OK but we'd need a pressing reason to go there.

Yesterday I had to pick up an Amazon parcel so, naturally, we decided to pop into LHG's brewpub.  We rarely venture there on a Thursday and, sure enough, but 4.30pm when we approached it sounded pretty busy.

The usual groups of undecideds were lurking in the space between the door and the bar and, although the staff were effcient, quite a lot of customers weren't.  

On the bar was a choice of 4 different casks beers:  4% Bitter, LHG;  5% pale, LHG, 5.5% Porter LHG, Old Ale - Tileys.  I love this development - time was, there weren't casks at all and then it was Shroedingers cask now there are always casks.

Before too long we had two pints of a 5% pale cask beer in straight glasses and a pleasant seat.  Fresh as a daisy, clear as a Penzance beer and delicious. 

There was a small period of excess local noise when a couple of new mums loudly shared infant tips but that didn't last too long.  We were then joined by a couple of folk who were jolly but with better volume control.

Second pints were LHG Porter (Casks) for him and something pale and keggy for me.  I never remember their keg beer names since they're always new/different with only fairly subtle diffences between different brews.  That's not derogatory, exactly, since I will always choose one of the IPAs by strength but there's no point learning the name.  It was, however very nice indeed with a lovely bitterness and little obvious sweetness.  He adored the Porter and said "that's the sort of beer I would have really enjoyed 35 years ago, and still really enjoying it now" - that's high praise indeed.

Lasties were two shared drinks - 2/3rds of something pale and 6% as a collab between LHG and Verdant and something 1/3 and 8% LHG's own.  Both lovely, and shared nicely.

It was interesting watching the ebb and flow of people:  5.05pm huge groups in and then off to find a place to sit or stand.  Staff prioritise efficiency over engagement (fine by me) and the place swallows up more and more people.   Then you look up and realise that equilibrium has been attained.

Obviously there's nothing cosy about what amounts to a gigantic industrial building housing a brewery and a 100 or so seater venue but its very capacity is one of its virtues - it swallows up vast swathes of people and its atmosphere doesn't really change.  

For us it delivers a consistent offer, a range of beers and now, with the cask range, a great choice.  It's also nice and close to home - and that goes a long way too.

Nicely done. 

  

  

...and a Third

We wanted to make up for not being able to go to Martha's for boardgames on Sunday.

So we went yesterday instead.

We were greeted cheerily by the folk there and we spent a little while catching up with them to find out how their weekend had gone.

They'd sold 30% more beer this time than last which they said was a surprise since two arches is Unwins' taproom, also selling beer and, halfway through Saturday the heavens opened whereas last year it was sunny all the time.  They declared themselves really happy.

They're part of a campaign to make this row of railway arches more of a destination, I really hope they're successful because it would pay better respect to the quirky, rough around the edges history of this bit of town than the retail units in all the new shiny buildings that have been going up over the last 10 years or so (most of them empty, by the way).  I definitely prefer my urban development to be organic.

After catching up with the guys, we settled into a booth.  A large group (probably off the train colleagues for a conference or meeting or whatever tomorrow) came in and very noisily hung around for about 30 minutes - it was hard to resent them too hard because it was nice to see the place with a few people in on a Tuesday after a bank holiday.

We played our new birdy game, now starting to get the measure of it so it didn't feel like such hard work - he won.

The beer?  Oh, yeah - we had their house beers:  Halo Orbit, Mysterious intergalatic object and Neighbour we left behind - plus the newer pale one.  Nothing novel (they probably sold it all over the weekend) but beers we know and like.  It worked well