RealAleBlog

Beer is for life and not just for Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:07:00 +0000

The great thing about being known as an ale fan is that when it comes to birthdays and Christmas people thankfully plump for the obvious and buy me beer. You can never have enough beer I find, although there was a time when this perhaps wasn’t the case. Amongst the various beer gifts I was very pleased to receive this mini-cask of Adnams Broadside. I’d forgotten just how delicious and packed full of malty goodness Broadside is. I found out tonight when I opened it. Mmmm. Cheers!

Why, no wifi?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:40:00 +0000

Much has been written and continues to be written about the plight of the British Pub. The current economic climate obviously doesn’t help but the economy doesn’t change the underlying fact that pubs continue to suffer and decline. Some people will blame the price of alcohol in supermarkets, but as I’ve said many times on this and other blogs in the past, “I don’t really buy that argument”. The smart pubs adapt and will survive and thrive. Some very traditional untouched pubs will also survive. Nostalgia and tradition are good selling points. But many pubs in the mediocre middle will continue to struggle and be lost. Of course there is no one magic formula that will secure the future of the pub but I feel sure the answer lies in diversity and quality/attention to detail. One thing that pubs can do if they are not already doing so is to offer free wifi. If I am out on my own I will purposely go for a pub with free wifi, assuming that the quality of the beer is good as well. Even if people only use the wifi for social networking it has to be a good thing. People telling their circle of friends that they are in their local or a specific pub must encourage others to either join them or just go down the pub. There is no such thing as bad advertising. Internet access would be an asset to so many pubs and I have no doubt that it does put bums on seats.

I do acknowledge that there are some pubs that ban mobile phone use along with piped music, TV and gambling machines. These oases of electronic quietness certainly have their own attraction and therefore free wifi would be wholly inappropriate but for many others it would be a useful and welcome addition.

Winter draws on

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

As some might have gathered from my blog I am avid golden ale drinker. I favour drinking this style of ale most of the year round. Having said that as soon as the weather takes that seasonal chilly dip my thoughts also turn to beers of a darker hue. So generally from say November to March I can also be spotted imbibing of darker brown beers, dark milds and the occasional stout. I have to confess that stout would rarely be my first choice when out drinking but under certain circumstances I would partake. Those circumstances are either ‘it’s the last beer of the evening’, ‘there are no exciting alternatives’ or ‘I’m eating chocolate pudding’. But I do like a nice drop of dark mild.

Recently in a pub in Norwich I came across Winter’s Mild 3.6%. Winter’s is a Norwich brewery and their mild is truly a magnificent pint that epitomises this dark non-bitter genre. It is smoky-nuttiness personified. Imagine if you will a briar pipe lovingly packed with hessian and beechnut husks, ignited, puffed and then billowing out its magic. That’s Winter’s Mild in a nutshell. Well a pint glass actually.

The worst beer festival ever?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 19:40:00 +0000

Well possibly not, but it is certainly the worst beer festival that I’ve ever attended. I always look forward to the Ipswich Beer Festival; it is I think my favourite beer festival. Well it was. But as of today it is no longer. This year is the 29^th and for all the time I’ve known and loved it its home has been the Corn Exchange in the centre of the town, and always at the end of September. This year it has moved. It is now in August and situated on the Ipswich Waterfront. On paper this would seem like a smart move, and in terms of attendees and beer sold I have no doubt that it will be considered a success. But I didn’t like it. It appears to have become part of ‘Ipswich Maritime’ a festival highlighting an up and coming part of Ipswich centred on the quay. A very nice part of the town. But the beer festival was shite.

So what was wrong with it?

Well, where do I begin? The directions/signage to the beer festival were very poor, I had to fight my way through crowds of very dozy fuckwhats milling about aimlessly and whose sole purpose for living was to get in my way. So by the time I found/reached the beer festival I was well cheesed off. The festival location was shoved at the furthest point from the station that it possibly could be on the waterfront. It is now an outdoor event which is very bad news. The emphasis has shifted to eating and entertainment rather than real ale! There were long queues to get glasses and beer cards, and there wasn’t not enough seating that was vacant or near the beer action. When I go to a beer festival all I want is a good selection of quality ale, somewhere to sit and chat and enough quiet to hear yourself think. I don’t want entertainment. I don’t want a family area and I only want one or two food stalls. I can tolerate a t-shirt stall but I don’t want anything else! And I most definitely don’t want to be outside. The amount of shelter that had been provided was well under estimated as when the rain started, late afternoon, the two beer tents filled up to capacity making it hard to move about. Then there were the toilets. Portable loos are always bad news and unusually portable urinals had been provided, but there were no washing facilities. The lavatorial dark ages. I always travel with antibacterial hand wash gel in case of situations like this, but I suspect many don’t. Expect an outbreak of Montezuma’s Revenge in Gippeswick tomorrow.

On the plus side I had a great chat with a complete stranger about Lundy. This was due to me wearing my Marisco Tavern: Lundy Pub of the Year... Every year since 1868 t-shirt; guaranteed to break the ice at parties. And, by and large the beer was of sound quality. Two particular highlights were Blonde from Saltaire weighing in at 4%, a pale golden ale with subtle hints of vanilla and Juicy Fruit chewing gum, and Native from Whitstable a brown beer with 3.7% of malty sweetness and lashings of hamster bedding. None of the beers that I had were anything less than acceptable but I was so pleased to leave.

If the future format and location remains the same that will have been the last Ipswich Beer Festival that I ever attend.

Dark Star American Pale Ale

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 21:07:00 +0000

The Vine has really got to offer some of the best kept ale in Norwich. The food’s good as well. We sometimes call in of Saturday lunchtime if we are in the city. One such lunch a few weeks ago offered up a new ale to me, Dark Star American Pale Ale 4.7%. I must say I do like what has surely become a genre in its own right and that is the bitter, strong, pale, golden ale. This magnificent specimen with its light colour, initial fruity/vanilla hints, wisps of hop flavour and a bitter marmalade style aftertaste had me supping in double quick time and going back for seconds. This magnificent ale with its fractal character is a pure joy to the taste buds. Try it when you can.

The Marisco Tavern, Lundy

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:10:00 +0000

When you are the only pub in town with a captive audience you don’t need to try very hard. You could so easily rest on your laurels. But not so The Marisco Tavern, the only pub on Lundy. At the beginning of June we enjoyed a week’s holiday on this isolated island where the pub was but a stone’s throw away from where we were residing; basically through the garden gate and about 25 yards up a slope.

The Marisco Tavern is a pub, a restaurant, and part-time information point and education facility. On Lundy the pub truly is the hub. There were two ‘own label’ ales on hand pump both tip-top quality and both brewed by St Austell; Lundy Experience 3.9% a lightly bittered session ale and Lundy Old Light 4.2% a fruity light coloured malty ale that could well share many similarities with Tribute. The food pretty good as well. Lunches were safe baguette, pie and burger type options but the evening meals were certainly a cut above your average pub grub. I particularly enjoyed the hearty game stew which was made from meat from the island. The portions are generous with the size of the puddings bordering on mildly obscene. The bread and butter pudding weighing in as a major heavyweight. Grande but delicious. A must try.

The walls are adorned with artefacts salvaged from shipwrecks off Lundy. Stone floors and wooden furniture the place is unspoilt and unpretentious. Mobile phones and computers are banned from use in the pub which feels very much in keeping with the island.

Lundy is an idyllic island and the Marisco Tavern is a great pub that I enjoyed having for my local. My favourite bit was that at meal times if we were eating in I could just pop through the garden gate and into the pub, order a pint and bring it back to where we were staying. Heaven.

Norwich City of Ale

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Wed, 25 May 2011 20:33:00 +0000

The festival starts tomorrow:

Norwich City of Ale is a ten-day celebration of local pubs, breweries and real ale taking place throughout our fine city, from 26th May 2011 until 5th June 2011. The festival is organised by Norwich City of Ale Limited which is a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to promote Norwich, nationally and internationally, as the UK City of Ale.

And why not?It’s a bloody brilliant place for beer; fantastic pubs, fantastic choice and great quality ale. As Dr Johnson might have put it, ‘sir, when a man is tired of drinking in Norwich he is tired of life’. This applies to ladies as well of course.

Canary capers

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Sun, 08 May 2011 16:19:00 +0000

I’ve mentioned before that although I’m no football fan living so close to Delia’s place means that you just can’t avoid it. Right at the moment Norwich is buzzing with optimism. Well as much optimism as the Con-Dem government of economic half-wits will allow. Norwich City football club have managed to secure a place in League Division One next year so there is much jollity and celebration in Mustard City. Woodforde’s, clearly not wanting to miss a trick, have brewed a beer in their honour. Had a pint the other night, and mighty fine it was too. A summery golden ale, perfect for May, @ 4.1% and answering to the name of ‘Premier Crew’. Can’t think why! I suspect that the recipe used is not a million miles away from last year’s offering.

Here’s what it’s about straight from the horse’s mouth:

“To celebrate Norwich City Football Club’s Promotion, Norfolk brewery Woodforde’s has released Premier Crew - a limited edition beer fit for the Premier League! The beer, which will be available in a selection of Norwich pubs from Wednesday 4th May, is a 4.1% ale made from quality Norfolk ingredients and pays tribute to the players, backroom staff and supporters who have collectively achieved back-to-back promotion.

Mike Betts, Director at Woodforde’s, comments: “This is a great result for Paul Lambert and his team! We’re a proud and passionate supporter of Norwich City Football Club and what better way to celebrate the promotion than by creating a patriotic tipple that the whole city can be proud of? We hope supporters enjoy it, especially on Saturday when the team are at home for the last game of the season!”

Chris and Glynis Higgins of the Trafford Arms will be stocking the beer. Chris comments: “Norwich City is a first class club and Woodforde’s is a first class brewery so it’s a salute to teamwork which is what pubs, breweries and customers are all about!”

Premier Crew is the fourth seasonal brew released by Woodforde’s in the past year, and the second with a football-theme, after Game On! which was brewed for the World Cup last spring.

Premier Crew will be available in draught and is available for a limited time only.”

Ramble away

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 21:21:00 +0000

A beer for every occasion, and every occasion a beer! This review could well end up sounding like damning with faint praise, but it is not intended to be. I like session ales. Sometimes a man (and no doubt ladies do as well) just wants a thirst slaking beer, rather than savouring and chewing a complex brew of note and strength. I also like to think that I have quite an acute sense of taste. Which is probably why I have found the real ale drinking experience to be such a joy since pubs were rid of the obnoxious tobacco smoke contamination. I’d never heard of the Coach House Brewing Company of Warrington until last night. I called in for a pint on my way home to find that their Farrier Best Bitter 3.9% available. That was the pint for me. And, I was so glad of the choice I had made. I like the term ‘Best Bitter’ it’s not used enough these days. Of course it’s essentially meaningless but even so you sort of knew what you were going to get when ordered it. Farrier Best Bitter is a useful ale. Despite the tag it is not overly bitter. It is hoppy malt water. But hoppy malt water is good. It is pleasing in the mouth, has enough flavour for you to know you are drinking good ale. And, this ale was in good condition. I could have carried on drinking it all evening given the chance. On the strength of this beer (no pun intended) I shall certainly look out for other beers from this brewery.

Festival of The Vine

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 23:34:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago when we called in at The Vine for lunch I was amazed to see that they were organising a beer festival. Amazed because it is quite a small pub and whilst it is in the Good Beer Guide it is a predominantly food driven pub that you would not expect to host a beer festival. Last night was the first night of their self styled “small but beautifully formed” beer festival so I called in for an early evening pint to check it out. The downstairs bar had indeed been transformed into a mini festival. Tables had been moved out of the way, a stillage had been erected against one of the walls and around a dozen ales were on offer. Not only that but they still had three hand pumps offering their usual fare at the bar. The Vine is just off the market in the heart of the city. Don’t you just marvel at this sort of wonderfulness?

I plumped for a pint of Castle Rock Preservation. Not a bad choice as it turned out. A bit on the brown side taste-wise but with enough character to make it interesting and enjoyable. I suspect that in my eyes Castle Rock is a victim of their own success as they’ve set the bar really high with Harvest Pale. The downstairs of the pub was buzzing with plenty of drinkers, all male save one. There also seemed to be a steady flow of diners heading upstairs. So apart from the initial surprise shown by some as they entered the pub it wasn’t turning their food-driven clientele away. a double plus. I’m not sure if I’ll make it back again this week but I shall try.

Pint of beer 'to break £3 barrier'

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:25:00 +0000

So the headline proclaims on this Press Association news item. It is reporting that “The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) said the increase in VAT to 20% would add a further 6p to the cost of a pint of beer, on top of the 26% rise in Beer Tax seen during the past two years.” Of course it is nonsense as, depending on where you are and your chosen tipple, the £3 barrier has been broken for quite some time. But it does highlight the fact that for the pub the future continues to be less than rosy. Today’s VAT rise will hit the pub in two ways, first it raises the price of their wares, but it will also mean that people will have less disposable cash. Pubs will have to fight hard to grab a decent slice of a shrinking cake.

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 22:35:00 +0000

Up until yesterday I’d only ever had one pint of Milton ale that was any good. Apart from that one exception I’d always found their beer to have an odd tang, a sort of hint of TCP. Never an enjoyable characteristic in an ale. But ever since moving to Norwich I’d been meaning to give The White Lion, a Milton pub a go. Yesterday that ‘giving it a go’ day finally arrived. The Lady and I called in at lunchtime for a libation. The Lady plumped for a half of Milton Pegasus (4.1% ABV), whilst I went for slightly stronger Milton Augustus (5.8% ABV). And, do you know what? We enjoyed what we had. Both beers were in perfect condition and served in true East Anglian stylee. The heathens would have hated it! Unfortunately they weren’t doing food and as The Lady was in need of solids we couldn’t dally for a second drink. The White Lion is a mighty fine drinking establishment and I’ve changed my opinion of Milton ale. I hope I don’t leave it too long before returning.

When we first arrived in the fine city of Norwich I was saddened to see an Adnams pub that had apparently, at the time, not long closed down. The pub in question was called The Vine and a fine looking, small but nicely rounded city centre pub it looked too. It hadn’t been empty for too long when it reopened as, what I thought was a Thai restaurant. I don’t have a problem with Thai food, in fact I find it quite enjoyable, but we had found a really agreeable Thai restaurant in Timberhill, which is sort of our side of the city, and hadn’t yet got around to trying any others. Yesterday saw us on that side of the city, coming from the White Lion and in need of sustenance. We called in. You expect Singha and perhaps Tiger in these sorts of establishments but not much else. Surprisingly The Vine isn’t one of those sorts of establishments. Yes it does serve Singha, but it also has three real ales as well as Erdinger Weiss and three not so common lagers on tap and all imported. Whilst it is a restaurant, particularly upstairs, there is nothing to stop you popping in for a pint, and it has made it into the 2011 Good Beer Guide. I had a couple of pints of Humpty Dumpty Swallowtail and two nicer pints you could not wish for. I was truly gobsmacked. The Vine is a true gem.

Yesterday we struck gold. Norwich is still capable of throwing up nice surprises and I look forward to the next one. I do feel that I’ve still only scratched the surface. I think a little more application is needed. Yesterday was a smiley day; well I had a big grin by the time I’d finished.

Sticky tables

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 22:35:00 +0000

#ukpubs

Sticky tables do they irritate anyone else like they irritate me?

Before you've even got to the bar and ordered a pint a good measure of a pub is reveal by the non-adhesive properties of their table tops. It’s a cleanliness thing. If they can't even keep their table tops clean and free from stickiness how good is the rest of the experience going to be? And there really is no excuse for it. I suppose if a pub is busy, having the odd ring on the table from a previous customer, whilst not ideal, is understandable. But when the adhesive is in layers built up over a period of time it really is totally unacceptable. There is no need for it!

I’ll get me coat.

Billy Childish’s Backyard

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 22:07:00 +0000

The weekend before last saw us back in Kent. We stayed at a Premier Inn in Rainham near Gillingham. Our reason for being there was to visit Chatham Dock Yards, and in particular an exhibition of Stanley Spencer paintings. The weekend was to throw up two beer surprises. First was the discovery that nestled in the proverbial bosom of Chatham Dock Yard was a brewery. The Nelson Brewery lives next to a Police Museum and advertises to the world with a sign above a shutter door proclaiming Brewery Tap and a dowdy blue and gold sign with the brewery name. I wandered over to the door. The lights were on but there was no one at home. Shame.

Attached to our hotel was a Beefeater restaurant. Not the most exciting of dining experiences but they are okay, usually. Beefeaters in my experience and my experience tends to be in Kent, usually offer Hobgoblin and Spitfire on cask; two very unexciting brews. On our first night they only had Hobgoblin on. Hobson’s choice, so to speak. So I was quite surprised when it turned out to be drinkable and left me feeling that I could quite happily drink another had time not been an issue. The following night the Shepherd Neame Spitfire was back on so I thought I’d risk it. It was a truly delicious pint. Clearly it was very fresh. In peak condition. The problem with so many brown beers these days is that you could be forgiven for thinking that hops played no part in their brewing. Spitfire normally falls into this category in my experience. The first pint slipped down a treat. A second was a must. If Spitfire was always like that I’d drink it more often. It just goes to show that occasionally a widely distributed and much travelled beer in a corporately cloned pub-grub eatery can exceed expectations. Sometimes two wrongs can make a right!

Another wedge-end that is rather thin?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 22:17:00 +0000

The beer blogosphere is littered with posts on pub closures and the many reasons for their decline. I’ve joined in the debate on a number of occasions on here and commenting on other blogs. There are all manner of theories, reasons and excuses for what has brought about the slow death of the pub; some seemingly more plausible than others. But just when you think that lot of the pub can get no worse another possible threat rears its ugly head.

Up and down the land the planning regulations along with listed building status have been used to thwart scheming breweries/pubcos/developers keen to make shed-loads of dosh. Councils of all hues have at times been successfully persuaded to refuse change of use applications or to list pub buildings that were being threatened with re-development. In fact it happened to a pub in our street just before we moved here. But it now looks as if the planning safety net could possibly be whipped away as well.

In a desperate attempt to try and shove a broom-handle up the arse of the corpse that is Free-Schools, and according to this piece, the ConDems are considering relaxing planning rules. “Apparently the lack of available buildings is one of the reasons cited by government for why they're not exactly being knocked over by a rush of organisations looking to set up a new school.” Pubs, amongst other buildings, are a possible contender to aid the fight for an even more unequal society. Now there are some of you who will accuse me of scaremongering and trying to score cheap partisan political points here, and i would be the first to accept that in its latter days the last Labour government didn’t do a great deal to help pubs either. But all I’m trying to highlight here is that pubs are still under threat and yet another hazard is potentially heading the industry's way. Governments just don’t care about pubs!

Man goes into a pub and enjoys a beer

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 21:12:00 +0000

I think I’m starting to snap out of the beer blogging malaise that has afflicted me since my return from holiday at the back-end of September. I’ve been drinking, but haven’t felt inspired to write about anything beer related. I went to the Ipswich Beer Festival in October which was well up to their usual high standard. And, last week I made a point of not bothering to go to the Norwich Beer Festival. I have had quite a few good beers over the last few weeks and a number of mediocre ones as well it has to be said. But hey, it doesn't really matter as who want to read ‘man goes into a pub and enjoys a beer’?

When a man is tired of ale he is tired of life!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 21:09:00 +0000

I’m not sure I could ever be fed up with drinking real ale. But I do have bouts of being fed up with blogging about it, and reading about it. You may have noticed! I’ve just renewed my CAMRA membership for another year and I’m starting to think that I might not bother next time. It’s nice to get the Wetherspoon’s vouchers again although it is a bit of a mixed blessing especially if you have want to use the first quarter’s worth in a month, as I have to. I realise that it’s not compulsory but, hey, everyone likes a bargain, don’t they? I hardly bother to read What’s Brewing or Beer anymore as I find them both rather moribund journals. I really can’t be bothered to go to meetings and I don’t find beer festivals that enjoyable, apart from the odd exception. Is it my age? Am I developing a US style attention span of a gnat? What was I saying?

I’m not saying that I no longer agree with what CAMRA stand for because I still feel that they do a good job as a consumer interest group. It’s just that I don’t feel enthusiastic enough to be part of it anymore.

Snippets

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:24:00 +0000

Bury St Edmunds

The weekend just past saw me back in Bury St Edmunds. I met a friend for a lunchtime session in the town’s premier real ale pub The Dove. I've blogged about this pub before. The beer quality in this pub is so incredibly good and it’s so frustrating that it wasn’t open when I used to live but ten minutes walk away.

Norwich

A comment on a previous post reminded me of this. In the days when Stonch ruled as beer blogger supreme there was talk of him and his mates paying a visit to Norwich on a mega pub crawl. Anyone else remember that? Norwich was actually the winner in a poll he ran for readers to dictate where they went. I don’t think that the visit ever took place which is a shame as I feel sure that it would have highlighted how lucky we are in Norwich for both quality and choice when it comes to real ale. It certainly has to be one of the top real ale destinations in the country.

Not to be taken seriously

“War Of Words Brewing In Real Ale World
In-fighting within long-time protector of Britain's real ale traditions, the Campaign for Real Ale (CamRa) threatens to break out into war, ...”

more.

Classic - a classic

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:19:00 +0000

Norwich is well on the way to having a new brewery. Norwich Bear Brewing has been launch by the people that own The Rose and Ketts Tavern. They have two beers at the moment. Classic a 3.8% session ale, light golden in colour, crisp with a musty hint of hop lemon rind and an acceptable bitter finish that curiously makes you want to have another sip. Classic is a beer that I would go out of my way to drink. This is a beer that's not easy to put down. I was starting to wonder if I’d be able to get out of the pub in a sober state. The answer was to switch to its only current stable mate Legend 4.3% a very fresh brown beer. It is what it is. You can't fault it. Not a wow but I’d happily order it in preference to many others. I look forward to trying the Platinum Blonde 5% when it’s available. It could be argued that The Rose is my real local in terms of distance. There is probably not much between it and a Wetherspoon pub. On our side of the river it is the nearest yet I don’t frequent it that often, choosing instead to walk by and on to the Kings Arms. I’m not 100% clear why. Both do a varied selection of ales with a reasonable changing selection. Beer quality is usually good. Both pubs are clean and comfortable yet the Rose, despite ticking so many boxes, always seems to lack a certain je ne sais quoi that I can't pin down. Now that they are doing their own beer perhaps I’ll have to work a bit harder at getting to love it.

Fleet Beer Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 21:06:00 +0000

My thanks to Daniel Franklin for this report/press release on the recent Fleet Beer Festival:

Fleet's fourth annual beer festival at Ancells Farm Community centre on Saturday was a tremendous success despite the wet weather.

Fleet Lions raised over £3000 profit to help good causes, and nearly 500 people knocked back almost 2000 pints of beer and cider.

The theme for this year's festival was 'A Stone's Throw', and the motto was 'local beers for local people'. There were a tremendously diverse range of beers on offer, including some unusual brews for a real ale festival. Even lager fans had something to tempt their palates, such as Czech Mate from Loddon Brewery - a Czech-style Pilsner that was very well received indeed, selling out in record time. Festival organiser Ken Carter said, "Once again the festival was a huge success, and the 'Stone's Throw' theme proved very popular indeed. Guests felt they were not only having fun supporting local charities, but local businesses as well. I'm really pleased with how it all came off."

For new Lions member Daniel Franklin it was a completely new experience. He said, "Although I've been on the other side of the bar at previous Fleet beer festivals, this was the first time I've been involved in organising it. Ken entrusted me with ordering the beer and acting as bar manager on the day. It was a really busy day, starting early and finishing late at night by the time we'd cleared up the hall, but a lot of fun."

Next year's festival is set to go ahead again on the middle Saturday in August.

Tab

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 20:33:00 +0000

I find the concept of a tab in a pub to be a bit ridiculous in this day and age. In fact I had assumed that this anachronistic form of credit had long since expired. But not so. A regular in the pub tonight was keen to settle his. It might be a tradition from bygone times but surely it is about time that it was consigned to the dustbin of history, isn’t it? Now it’s a different thing if you've organised a function in a pub and agreed to pay for the drink that's understandable and is normally settled at the end of the session/party. But a tab for everyday use would seem totally unnecessary. It seems unfair of a punter to expect it and foolhardy of a publican to allow it, but on the other hand it’s quite quant.

One of my favourites

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:18:00 +0000

It’s an ale I’ve written about on a few occasions and it’s an ale that has never disappointed so I’m glad to see that castle Rock Harvest Pale has today been named as CAMRA Champion Beer of Great Britain. Well done Castle Rock.

Edinburgh

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:18:00 +0000

Three weeks ago saw the Lady and me in Edinburgh. The Lady was there to do something politically unsound but we’ll gloss over that. We’d decided to add a few extra days on and make a little holiday out of it. Having rented a rather nice flat in a stone tenement in West Bow just off the Grassmarket, a pretty useful spot as it turned out, we went forth to sample some of the local culture. This was my first ever trip to the city, but it felt like going home. I found a little bit of time to visit the odd pub or so. Here are three that stood out:

The Canons’ Gait

Despite being on the Royal Mile, this is a wonderful pub and a great use of the apostrophe. Newly decorated and complete with a freshly installed charmingly lofty barman, I was comfortable here. I like pubs that have quotations painted on the walls or around the edge of the ceiling. The Canons’ Gate ticked all the boxes on this front. It is a clean and modern pub that somehow manages to remain traditional. It might best be described by the popular oxymoron of ‘classic modern’. The excellent quality beer is another reason to recommend this fine establishment. Beers consumed were:

Scapa Special 4.2% The Highland Brewing Co Ltd - a lush ale is fruity with a hoppy finish and very little bitterness, mouthfuls of cream. Truly wonderful. “One of the nicest beers I’ve ever tasted” – The Lady.
Northern Light 4% Orkney – a modicum of bitterness with citrus notes.

Inside the Canons' Gait

The Café Royal Bar

The Café Royal Bar is an outstandingly quant bar from a more genteel age. An age when bright young things called Algernon and Henrietta larked about having a jolly spiffing time. An age when the economically illiterate government of the day plumped for austerity and mass unemployment over Keynesian righteousness, an age that the ConDem knob-heads are hell-bent on mimicking. You half expect Poirot to be sitting sipping whilst sharpening his moustache. Spats, you don’t see many of those worn these days. Upon the walls are tiled pictures depicting romantic scenes of trade and commerce in a way that they’ve never been conducted. U fortunately my photos (as always) don’t do it justice. Whilst the décor is suspended in time the prices have most certainly moved on. A round of drinks in this establishment is quite steep. But I suppose you get what you pay for as the service was excellent and the ale was well looked after. I quaffed a pint of Pivo Estivo 3.9% from Kelburn – a tart lemon marmalade of an ale. Sweet and smooth to begin with but followed up with a tangy finish don’t you know.

Inside the Cafe Royal

The Bow Bar

This bar was my local for the duration being just a couple of floors below our flat. A small one roomed bar with wooden floors, wood panelling, tables and chairs loiter around the perimeter. I especially liked the diddy little tables, thin two-legged affairs with their two legs firmly screwed to the floor. This is very much a locals’ bar as well as catering for the passing tourists.

The bar has an amazing deep red ceiling; promotional mirrors and enamelled advertising signs adorn the walls. Coat hooks are affixed to the edge of the bar and around the top of the wood panelling. This is a bar designed for standing and drinking. If the Bow Bar was my permanent local I would not be an unhappy man

All the cask ale is dispensed by air, something I’ve rarely seen before although I had been warned by the Good Beer Guide prior to entering that this was the case, otherwise it could have been quite disconcerting to be served with something that more resembled a cream-flow nitro-keg rather than a real ale. Eight cask ales appear to be always available with Deuchars IPA, Timothy Taylor Landlord and Stewarts 80/- being permanent fixtures, so I understand. I’m not a big fan of most 80/- beers that I’ve tried but you can’t go to Scotland and not have at least one. So I took the opportunity which in the Bow Bar to have a pint of the Stewarts 80/-. I was pleasantly surprised. This plum-ruby ale was fruity, with no bitterness but a goodly amount of hessian. It could almost be described as sweet, but don’t let that put you off. It is a kind forgiving ale that nobody could dislike.

As I sat drinking in the Bow Bar late on the Tuesday afternoon enjoying the relative calm whilst the Lady was off doing something despicable it all felt close to perfect. Unfortunately the peace was broken by a half a dozen middle-aged female American tourists entering the bar all in search of malt whisky, all wanting something different from their companions and all requiring detailed tasting characteristics before they made their purchase. These were the only tourists that stayed for a drink at this fine bar whilst I was there. A number popped their heads in a then made swift exits, not sure why, but it was definitely their loss.

A couple of other outstanding ales I sampled at my Edinburgh local were:

Houston Killetton 3.7% - a superb session ale, but then you’d expect nothing less from Houston. It’s a dark golden ale with a great hop finish and not too unlike a good pint of Greene King IPA but with a creamier body.
Ascalon from St Georges Brewery 3.6% wheat beer. It is a bit like a less alcoholic version of Thornbridge Jaipur IPA – a brilliant session alternative and you’d never know that it was a wheat beer.

I like Edinburgh and hope to return sooner rather than later.

Slight concern

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:07:00 +0000

The pub I think of as my ‘local’, which incidentally is probably one of the best pubs in Norwich, is losing the present landlord and landlady. I was accused recently by a work colleague of being a ~~‘glass half full’~~ ‘glass half empty’ person. She is probably right. So in an effort to change I’m going to greet the news that the tenants are leaving in as positive manner as possible. It is currently a busy wet-lead pub with around a dozen well kept real ales. It is a good local’s pub with what appears to be a regular and loyal clientele. There are two other pubs in close proximity and they are never as popular as the Kings Arms. This pub is a marvellous opportunity for the right person. I suspect Bateman’s know this. It would need to be run by someone that has an affinity with real ale. With the customer base that this pub has it is ready to be taken to an even greater level. With a little work this pub could be a genuine National POTY*contender. If I wasn’t so old and hadn’t already run a beer related business I would think seriously about applying to take it on. I have no doubt though that they will not have trouble finding a suitable candidate.

*POTY = Pub of the year for the uninitiated

Beer and sandwiches? Not on your Nelly.

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Garrard) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 21:28:00 +0000

As some of you will know I’m quite keen on beer and food matching and promoting beer to go with food. Beer is most certainly more versatile than wine when it come to food accompaniment. So I was pleased to see that Adnams had staged a ‘Beer Lunch at the Swan’. The Swan is Adnams flagship hotel in Southwold, although in my opinion the Crown is a more preferable establishment, but nothing wrong with the Swan!

The meal looks to be a little more sophisticated than beer and sandwiches as Fergus’ blog posting attests. Fergus is the Master Brewer at Adnams so no one better to offer up the full SP. My only complaint is why I didn’t I get an invite? Could it be I marked my card with a dire review of EastGreen quite a while back? Possibly doesn’t always pay to be too honest.

We need more breweries and foodie organisations to be doing stuff like this. Beer with food can be a refined and discerning experience. It’s not all about a ruffian with a pie and a pint. Not that there’s anything wrong with pies and pints I might add. I would also like to point out that I’m not ruffianist either – RealAleBlog is an equal opportunities blog.