Congratulations to the Brickmaker's in Bexhill on Sea!

I can't believe I haven't written about this excellent micropub for over 2 years (blog), that is the Brickmaker's Alehouse, 27 Sea Road, Bexhill, East Sussex TN40 1EE (Tel: 01424 602778 - website)! But I have been back quite a few times since the first lockdown ended, and very recently I revisited again to congratulate the owners, Martin and Robin (although Robin wasn't present on the day), as the Brickmakers Alehouse has been chosen by the CAMRA South East Sussex branch as their Pub of the Year 2022, congratulations!

I include the Cider Board (image below), although, in this instance I didn't drink a cider, but I did drink a few of the ales (above), including one that I'm amazed I haven't had before, which is the one I started off with. That is, the Kent Brewery (website) Kent Golding Bitter (4.1%), a traditional style best bitter brewed with Golding (unsurprisingly) and Fuggles hops. It did what it said on the label, was an amber/copper colour, and smelt and tasted like a best bitter, my notes say "very good" but now I was not 'amazed' as Kent Brewery is one of my favourite brewers!

The second pint was of Sussex brewery Burning Sky (website) Plateau, always full of flavour and at just 3.5%! Of course, this is the brainchild of Mark Tranter, legendary fine tuner of Dark Star Hophead when he worked there, so is like a Hophead, a little weaker in alcohol, but with more flavour with thanks to hops, Mark suggests "hopped at different stages of the brew with a mix bag of US and NZ hops..." and his finesse. A very pale golden bitter, very easy to drink, with grapefruit noticeable in the aroma and taste, a wee bit hazy, and I'm not sure if Mark is brewing it that way on purpose now (as vegan friendly), but still very decent indeed.

The final ale I devoured was one of my favourite ales from another favourite brewery, Oakham Ales of Peterborough (website), who I have written quite a bit about recently, notably following the sad news of the death of their head brewer, Alex Kean, just before Christmas (blog), and after my most recent visit to Peterborough in February (blog). Anyway, I couldn't miss knocking back a pint of their Citra (4.2%), an ale brewed with the excellent Citra hop, pale golden with grapefruit in the taste and a very dry bitter finish, thankfully I see this in my local quite often, 'tis excellent!

So, to summarise, I drank ales from my 2 favourite breweries, Kent and Oakham, and another from another excellent brewer at Burning Sky, to celebrate the Brickmaker's success, cheers!

Another New Micropub for me!

I recently visited my fifth micropub, that is, the first micropub in Bexhill on Sea, Brickmaker's Alehouse, 27 Sea Road, Bexhill, East Sussex TN40 1EE (Tel: 01424 602778 - website), opened a couple of months ago by owners Martin and Robin.

The building has earlier incarnations, including a tea-room, restaurant, wholefood shop, and, back in the 1930s the fine mosaic doorstep reminds one it was used by the local Lunsford Brick and Tile Manufacturing Company, which since 1965 has been called Ashdown Brickworks (history - Rotary Club website). Indeed, I received a warm welcome when entering!

The interior has been sympathetically decorated and refurbished making it feel like a comfortable pub, well designed guys. At the end, down there on the left, are the toilets, nice and clean and tidy, and the small bar is to the right just behind me as I took the photograph above.

Oh yes, and beers? The ales and ciders are to the right of you as you enter in a temperature controlled glass-fronted environment (see above photograph), and served by gravity. There are usually 4-6 regularly changing real ales and 4 real ciders, including locally sourced, indeed, on my visit it stretched to 7 real ales as one finished whilst I was there. I started off with the lower alcohol ale from Downlands Brewery in West Sussex (website) Root Thirteen, a 3.6% pale ale brewed with Summit, Cascade and Chinook hops. Hint of malt in the aroma and taste, a pale bitter, easy to drink and not overly hoppy. 

I then tried the Mancunian brewery Marble (website) Pint (3.9%), a session ale brewed with hops from New Zealand and the USA, and labelled 'vegan.'  Now, I first drank their ales when they were still brewing in the pub, The Marble Arch Inn (website) which is well worth a visit when in town, and they were one of the first brewers to produce 'vegan' ales that I was aware of. Indeed the Pint was labelled 'cloudy' but it was clear, vegans really can drink clear bitters! Oh yes, and a very pleasant session bitter for me, indeed.

Then I went for another northern brewery, this time from Yorkshire, Northern Monk (website) Session IPA (4.5%). The Simcoe and Centennial hops producing a tropical fruit aroma, and hints of tropical fruits and citrus in the taste too. Another 'clear' vegan bitter too. This was not quite as pale as some of the other ales today, but had a pale amber colour, and had a dry bitter finish, and an aftertaste that I couldn't quite work out, but not a bad bitter at all.

Next was another vegan beer, I see a pattern here, this time from Bristol based brewery Arbor Ales (website) Blue Sky Drinking (4.4%), which I noted as a traditional best bitter colour and tasting like a 'traditional bitter,' so no surprise that looking at their website it is brewed with English hops, though I didn't grasp the 'delicate citrus notes.' No, I wrote 'slightly sweet at first' (perhaps the delicate citrus?), but a traditional best bitter, and not bad at all.

Oh, and many thanks to Howling Hops (website) for the image above, and a London based brewery new to me, although they appear to have been brewing for getting on for 9 years, and their 4.8% porter New Old London, which was my final and favourite ale of the day. I have written many times about porters, stouts and milds (eg blog) and their differences, or not, this is called a 'porter' and I thought it a stout, very dark with a light brown head, and with a hint of liquorice in aroma and taste, and roasted barley too. Plenty of body, as you would expect, a bitter-sweet taste with a dry finish, and very decent indeed!

Real Ciders too

So, also real ciders (above), some spirits and wines too, tea and coffee, canned Gun lager, more cans and bottles to come, and a facility for 2 pint 'carry outs.' Crisps and nuts as bar snacks, but with plans for more exciting food. Oh yes, and a Battle Brewery (website) 'tap tasting' will be held this Wednesday the 29th January (website).

I'll be back, cheers!