Contemplating the "beer scene" in Eastbourne doesn't make me smile.
Our lovely cask-ale local is a bit of an oasis of quality - but not necessarily of huge variety. This not a criticism but a reflection of pragmatism in the landlord who knows what he can sell reliably both in terms of quantity and style. This is how it needs to be, for sure.
Beerarama has variety but no cask.
The Tiger and Bohemian are pretty good on cask quality, a little bit of variety - but pricey.
The Lamb has good quality Harveys but that's all.
Ninkasi usually has great beer but can be oddly quiet at the times we want to go in - and excessively crowded at other times.
Belgian bar is...well, unique.
We haven't been to The Hurst, The Vic (both Harveys), The Eagle, the Dewdrop or the Dolphin (limited cask options) for ages.
There are a load of pubs we simply don't and wouldn't go to for a variety of reasons.
Then there are the little outliers...
"Bibendum" wanna be chic restaurant/bar, where a cosy corner to sit in is in short supply because the bar area feels like the waiting space for the restaurant.
"Frontier" half record shop, half bar is definitely a compromise venue usually has decent beer. If you're with coffee-drinking pals then the coffee-beer crossover time threshold can be painlessly managed.
So, when I got off my train on Wednesday having been a little traumatised by a 'spoons at lunchtime (has to be said the beer was really well kept) I wanted to hunker down in my "depeopling" mode. We stood there wondering where to go. Himself said that Ninkasi would probably be too quiet, suggest Belgian Bar - but I said I wanted to go there after work on Thursday (with pizza in prospect afterwards). Beerarama chaps were on holiday. So we ummmed for a bit.
Eventually I tentatively suggested "Frontier" because we'd not been there for ages, it was close and, well - you know where else????
They had three good beers on (two from a Welsh brewery, one from Pollys), there were sufficient, mostly young, people in evidence to make it perfectly peopled. It's true that it wasn't cosy but, on the other hand it was comfy enough for us to stay for all the beers before grabbing a bus home...and we agreed that we'd really enjoyed it.
Then old school friend of Beer Buddy got in touch to ask for recommendations for meeting up in Eastbourne over the weekend. Much agonising ensued and it's highly likely these two old men will spend a lot of time on Sunday grumbling over the "not as good as they used to be" pubs of their youth,