Back to Rye and the Waterworks Micropub...

I'm gradually getting around again, but being very careful and administering regular Lateral Flow Tests to be sure, as one does, and yesterday I got to the Rye Waterworks micropub, which I first visited soon after it first opened getting on for 4 years ago (blog). The Rye Waterworks (website) is in Rye, unsurprisingly, in Tower Street on the corner with Rope Walk TN31 7NT (tel: 01797 224110), and just a few minutes walk from the railway station and main bus stops. 

Opening times are 2.00-10pm Monday to Thursday; 2.00 to 11.00pm Friday; 12 noon to 11.00pm Saturday; 12 noon to 10.00pm Sunday. I included a short piece about the history of the building in that first blog I wrote about this micropub, if you aren't already aware!

Everything in the pub is for sale, including all the furniture (except the bar!), consequently, the interior looks slightly different every visit (above, yesterday). As you can see from the board below, they also sell many different real local ciders, and beers from local breweries. I'll write further down about the beers I tasted, with breweries and beers available yesterday here:

Brumaison of Tonbridge (website) Best Bitter and Beulter;

Hopfuzz of Hythe (website) Blacksmith's Stout and Lager;

Only With Love of Uckfield (website) Dance Every Day and low gravity (0.5%) Juicy;

Romney Marsh of New Romney (website) Amber Ale and American Pale Ale;

Three Legs of Brede (website) Pale;

And the Waterworks own ale WW Pee Shooter Best. There is an application for planning permission in for their own brewery, but currently they are a nomadic brewery, brewing at other local breweries. Oh yes, and all 8 ales cost just £3.70 a pint, value!

So, to the ales I drank yesterday, of course I had to start with their own ale, the Pee Shooter Best, at 4.0% a very easy drinking session bitter and they're certainly attaining a decent recipe, very enjoyable. I also drank the Three Legs Pale, another session ale at 3.7%, slightly hazy and I think it's brewed with Columbus and Cascade hops, so quite citrus and fruity, but very light in taste, again, very easy to drink! I also drank the Romney Marsh American Pale Ale, at 5.0% it has a bit more oomph! Big flavour and aroma from the American hops used, the hops change over the months and years, but I believe Simcoe are the current hops of choice.

I just had to taste the Only With Love Dance Every Day, another paler session ale at 3.8%, hazy and full of flavour being dry hopped with Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe hops. Very interesting!

Oh yes, and they still sell those locally produced Scotch Eggs and Pork Pies, very tasty.

Great to see all the family yesterday, and a Happy Birthday to son Eddie, and great to see Lotte working behind the bar again, a great afternoon with much friendly chat, cheers to all!

Congratulations to Rye Waterworks!

David welcomes me!

I recently discovered that the Rye Waterworks micropub, which opened little over a year ago (more details at last years blog), had been presented with the South East Sussex CAMRA Runner Up for Cider Pub of the Year 2019 award, congratulations! So I had to visit asap, and did so yesterday, and what a fine day it was too...

The ever-changing furniture

At opening time, 12.00 noon, there was David and Ulla working at the Waterworks, and local teacher and part-time bar steward Josephine (or Jo to friends), started at 14.00. As ever, a friendly welcome (see first photograph, for example) and warm banter and discussion with people both sides of the bar, including customers new and not so new.

Beers to the Left, Ciders to the Right

The Rye Waterworks doesn't just sell 8 local real ales, but many local gins and very nearly local wines (this isn't the place for that story), but, and very likely why they won the award so early in the pub's existence, they also sell 14 or so local real ciders (including 3 in bottle), usually a perry, and even a 22% locally produced mead! Also, food-wise, and we're talking traditional, and not so traditional, bar snacks including locally made pork pies and scotch eggs, for the vegetarians locally produced vegetable somosas and pickled garlic cloves, and the Roder's neighbour supplies home made spicy chutney and jam to accompany the excellent food on offer.

 

As I've said before, if it's not nailed down, virtually everything you see, inside and outside, that is furniture, curios, pictures/posters, pewter tankards et al, is for sale, which is why it looks a little different every time you visit... And, of course, what's on offer to drink and eat changes here and there too, hence the number of different beer pump clips seen in the above photograph!

Yesterday, as I often do, I mostly drank the excellent session pale golden bitter from Old Dairy Brewery (website), their 3.8% Uber Brew, pale, dry and bitter, refreshing and, indeed, excellent! I also tried a pint of the Goachers (website) Silver Star (4.2%), another golden ale, sweet at first taste with a hint of honey, but with a dry finish and bitter aftertaste, very complex and not bad at all. I also tried a half of Brumaison (website) 1770 London Porter, a 4.7% porter (with not just a small part stout; I've written a stouts and porters blog before!), which was excellent too...

I'll be back... Cheers!

The Catcher in the Rye!

Well, it certainly catches me whenever I visit Rye, The Rye Waterworks micropub, on the corner of Tower Street and Rope Walk TN31 7AT (older blog giving more detail about the history etc, hate to keep repeating myself!). And it caught me yesterday, with the pleasure of David and Eddie working behind the bar, and quite a few other sociable customers, and cider manufacturer!

One of the quaint things about this wonderful wee pub, and I say about it more in the earlier blog, is that virtually everything inside, chairs, tables and paraphernalia, and outside, is for sale! Consequently, it looks different virtually every time you visit...

And there are, of course, the 8 local real ales served straight from the cask by gravity feed, and similar number of local real ciders, not to mention local gins, locally produced pub food, and even the house wines, which are quite delightful, are produced by colleagues (Paso-Primero) of a local brewery (The Three Legs Brewing Company), indeed, one of the original 'three legs' I do believe! I don't really drink white wine, but was given a taster of this 13.5% blended from Chardonnay, Riesling and Gewurztraminer grapes, and it was tasty and very refreshing, but the red is absolutely gorgeous, with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo grapes, what a great pair of house wines, and reasonably priced too!

Real Fire too!

To the ales, I did have a few pints, including 2 from Kent brewer Brumaison (website), never heard of them before, so I had to try both of their ales on offer, didn't I?!? I started with their 4.4% Golden Blonde, made with wheat in addition to pale malted barley, and English hops Challenger and First Gold. I thought it was more pale amber than gold, but what do I know, 'twas very easy to drink with a nice bitter aftertaste, good 'session' ale indeed. 

Then I had a pint of their 4.7% 1770 London Porter, obviously brewed with darker malts (and wheat, though I've since found that out!), and Kent Bullion hops. A very dark ale with a light brown fawn coloured head, looked, smelt and tasted more like a stout to me than a porter, but the difference between stouts and porters often depend on the interpretation of the brewer, and I have written about this before, see an older blog for more detail, and my own interpretation! Actually, Brumaison's version was very good, slightly sweet to my taste, but with a nice dry bitter finish, nice one, cheers!

To flush Gents!

I had to add the image above, it amused me muchly, add jokes as you feel necessary! 😉

Anyway, I also enjoyed a couple of pints of an old favourite session bitter Old Dairy Brewery (website) Uber Brew, a very easy drinking 3.8% pale golden bitter, brewed with Citra, Chinook and Equinox hops, which provide a pleasurable strong fruity flavour and aroma, as one would expect! Still very good, cheers peeps!!