Reasonable Priced Real Ale... Well, Plus an Update!

From my Steve on Hastings blog... Well, I've not been to many pubs since it became closer to 'normal' times (being careful), whatever that is, but, most appear still to be aware of the Covid-19 Crisis, and hand sanitizer seems to have become 'normal' in many, and many people continue to wear masks , not so worrying, in some, obviously., but not all, so please stay safe...  

And, I was surprised to find out that the best value real ale in Hastings, ignoring 'spoons, was sold at the Nelson at the bottom of The Bourne in the old town, a very decent pint of Fullers London Pride at just £3.20, I have been told, nice one, cheers!  

What can I say? Prohibition, cheers!

So, back drinking a quality real ale at a pub (blog), and gorgeous too, despite the snow yesterday, 😉 which didn't stop the Dolphin Inn in Hastings nearly selling the whole firkin of one of my favourite ales on the first day of reopening, and I returned today too...

And yes, it was the award winning Kent Brewery Prohibiton (website), 4.8% of 'American Pale Ale' style pale dry hoppy bitter that I imbibed, quality! With a variety of hops from the USA, and plenty of them used too, this is, as I've said before, really pale, with a big citrus fruity aroma, grapefruit flavour and dry and bitter finish, refreshing and so easy to drink, quality! 

And the view from my seat on the balcony, the Stacey Marie (facebook page) in the heart of Hastings historic fishing quarter. Oh yes, there were 3 cask-conditioned ales on offer, reduced from the 'usual' 6 due to understandable circumstances these days, including Prohibition, the ubiquitous Harvey's Sussex Best (4.0% - website), and Dark Star Hophead (3.8% - website), 2 from East Sussex and my favourite from Kent, all very local indeed, cheers! 

Happy Easter and 3 Dolphins for you!

First of all, Happy Easter! Not that it will be all that ''merry' with no pubs open, but I'll make an effort with good memories here, so 3 Dolphin Pubs that I have frequented at different times in my life, and will happily return to whenever close by. They are all excellent pubs and were in the 2020 CAMRA Good Beer Guide (I presume they are all in the 2021 Guide too, but with all that's been going on I really haven't had the inclination to buy one so soon after buying the 2020 Guide, which I have hardly used anyway!). And the most recent Dolphin that I have latched on to is my current 'local', and is likely to be the first pub I return to in 2021, fingers crossed.

First, The Dolphin Hotel (facebook), down at The Barbican in Plymouth, which I first visited when I lived in Devon in the 1980s. My earliest memory is of a pretty basic pub, but selling the best Bass I'd ever tasted, served straight from casks stored and cooled behind the bar, I think they were kilderkins, which is still the case. Plus, they now sell up to 7 guest ales, and St Austell Tribute as a regular, at least they were before Lockdown. I cannot remember there being ales served from handpump when I first visited, only the gravity-fed beer, but, as I only thought of drinking the Bass at the time, that's no surprise.

I have visited many times since, but my most recent visit was a few years ago, before going to a football match at Argyle, we sadly lost (Argyle won), and not a lot had changed, and, apart from a sensitive redecoration, the GBG suggests the same still. The walls are adorned with Beryl Cook paintings, many images are of the pub's regulars, as she used to live in the area and frequented the pub herself. The pub is situated very close to the waterfront, from where you may catch a ferry over to Turnchapel, where lies another old favourite pub, and ex-employer, of mine, The Boringdon Arms. The Dolphin Hotel in Plymouth, though, is a must visit, if you like real ale and old pubs, and are in Devon... and the Bass is to be savoured 🍻

The second is Ye Olde Dolphin Inne (website), close by the cathedral in Derby, the oldest and, allegedly, 'most haunted' public house in the city. The building dates back to 1530, but the pseudo-Tudor additions to the exterior were made about 100 years ago, but it's still a great little building to investigate, with nooks and crannies in an unspoilt interior. I first visited here in the 1990s, as I lived in Sheffield at the time, and Derby is very close, and I obviously had to investigate this nearby city with its wealth of very good pubs. More often than not, subsequent visits were in connection with trips to to football matches at Pride Park, or made in conjunction with visits by friends or family.

Coincidentally, the first pint I ever drank here was of cask-conditioned Bass, though served via a handpump and not gravity fed, but it was still very good. I've also even seen cask-conditioned Worthington E here, which is very rare; I think Marston's now brew Bass for AB InBev, but that may well have changed with all that's happened! Ye Olde Dolphin Inne also sells a good variety of other regular and guest ales, which I've always found to be in good condition, including a 'house ale' (that I haven't tried, since it wasn't around at the time of my last visit), but which is brewed for them by Nottingham Brewery apparently, ie a 4.4% bitter called Dolphin 1530AD... but that may soon be old news, who knows? Anyway, if visiting Derby, which does have a great selection of good real ale pubs, Ye Olde Dolphin Inne should be on your list of visits.

The third choice is my current local, The Dolphin Inn (website), situated in Rock-a-Nore Road, opposite the fishermen's net huts and Stade, and at the southernmost point of Hastings 'Old Town'. The situation means you do get fishermen, and retired fishermen, frequenting this pub, a sign of the great continuity here. There are also a variety of other regular locals, and visitors to Hastings too, a true diversity of customers, male and female, young and old, professionals and labourers, I shan't go on, you'll get the point. It's a proper family-run pub, landlord and landlady, son and 2 daughters, and good regular staff, who may as well be family!

The Dolphin Inn supports local breweries from Sussex and Kent, with many local beers served regularly (5 out of 6 on my last visit, I seem to remember), having 3 regular ales, which were Dark Star Hophead, Harvey's Sussex Best and (non-local brewed in Bedford, not London anymore) Young's Special, also a 'changing' regular from the excellent Kent Brewery, plus seasonal regulars, eg Dark Star American Pale Ale and Harvey's Old Ale; usually, in 'normal' times 6 real ales are served by handpump. They are probably re-opening the balcony, with service at the benches, and weather permitting, but fewer ales available, though starting with the excellent Kent Prohibition, from the 12^th of April, ie Step Two/Three/whatever of the steps to freedom! I can only add that, like the other 2 Dolphins, definitely worth a visit if in Hastings, cheers!

Missing Drinking in Pubs...

Missing drinking in pubs, even if like this! 😉 

Roll on reopening, again, cheers! 

2 or 3 Steps to Pubs Reopening, or is it 3 or 4?

Well, it's now 2 (or 3) Government Steps to go before pubs will be allowed to serve beer to patrons in pub gardens, ie outside opening only, from no earlier than the 12th of April, and customers will be allowed to sit inside pubs in 3 (or 4) steps time, that is, no earlier than the 17th of May, when it will be pretty much like previously under Tier 1 last year.  That is, you will be able to drink in pubs, but only being served at table, and can only meet up with one other household, with up to a maximum of 6 people from those 2 households; and no food required, yay!

Back to normal? Well that will be Step 4/5 and no earlier than the 21st of June, but then things may all go pear-shaped well before then. My alter-ego goes into the 'Steps' quite nicely, in my opinion, 😉 and also explains the quandary regarding steps quite nicely too (blog).

Fingers crossed folks, and cheers, hopefully soon! 

87 MILLION Wasted Pints, it brings tears to my eyes...

Now I've seen the stats I'm even more depressed! The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) tells us that 87 MILLION pints of beer will have been thrown away, gone down the drain, however you want to put it, over the last year due to the COVID-19 Crisis. That's worth about £331 MILLION of lost revenue, which would normally pay for hundreds of thousands of jobs in the trade (website).

An example of how this effects individual pubs is explained by Garry Tennant, landlord of the Red Lion in Chobham, Surrey (website), who employs 16 staff and estimates his total losses "could total £130,000 by the time pubs reopen" (BBC).

The BBPA is calling for further help from the Government, reminding them of the huge amount of tax loss that results from pubs being closed, not just Income Tax and National Insurance for staff members, but Corporation Tax and VAT, and BEER DUTY. Emma McClarkin (BBPA Chief Executive) said that  "£1 in every £3 spent goes to the taxman because of excessively high beer duty. We pay 11 times more beer duty than Germany or Spain" (BBPA). The BBPA is asking the Government to support the industry, and to provide further grants if they force pubs to stay closed after March, and to extend the VAT cut and Business Rates holiday.

I've heard a rumour that pubs may reopen in May, fingers crossed it's no later. 

Favourite Ales of the Crisis, so far!

By now regular readers will be aware that my favourite ales are very much like me, pale, dry and very bitter, but in other years I would include some darker ales in a blog such as this, because I do enjoy a good porter or stout. Since March 2020, it hasn't been so easy, first, months without ales as many pubs were shut for much of the year, and when open, limited, often by supply, plus my regular local was selling Harvey's Old Ale under Tier 2, which I find too sweet for my taste, sorry. So this blog is about wonderful pale 'APA' style bitters mostly, many from Kent Brewery (website), as close by where I live, and regularly sold at my local, when open, including...

Two of my favourite ales from Kent, their Tropic Ale (4.9%) and Prohibition (4.8%) were particularly enjoyed, and if I could only ever have 1 ale if marooned on a desert island, I would be happy with either but, if given a choice, I would say the Prohibition edges it, just. And at the end of the first 'lockdown' in July, this was the first ale I drank in a pub and, as I said in the relevant blog, it was GORGEOUS! A variety of hops from the USA make this very much an American Pale Ale (APA) and gives it a big citrus fruity nose and taste, particularly grapefruit flavour, but such a pleasant refreshing pale bitter with a dry and bitter finish, quality.

Their Tropic Ale is also a dry bitter ale, but with a difference, whereas the Prohibition has a predominantly citrus flavour, the Tropic Ale also has tropical fruit flavours to add to the citrus, making it a wee bit more complex. Tropic Ale has a very nice dry bitter finish too, also refreshing, and gives Prohibition a run for its money. Both are very easy to drink, and because of their strength alcohol-wise, easy to get merry by, if only one of them had been available to me over Christmas... 😉 Further down I will discuss quite a few other excellent Kent ales too.

Also from Kent, Angels & Demons (website), who I'm guessing aren't brewing, for now anyway, as their facebook page is unavailable. Anyway, I had a newer ale from them, another great brewer that likes to use plenty of hops, their Evil Thieves (5.1%). Billed as an IPA, really another APA, although you never know these days, American hops are now being cultivated in Britain too, but I'm guessing hops from the USA were used for this ale. A big citrus aroma, and tropical and citrus fruit in the flavour, a pale golden bitter, very nice indeed. I just hope they get brewing again when the COVID-19 Crisis is under control, fingers crossed. I would miss their wonderful I Spy Dragon Fly and A.D.H.ME, and particularly miss Goldilocks is Dead... 😢 

Also from close to me down here in East Sussex, Gun Brewery (website) who brew mostly 'vegan' beers, and many gluten-free beers too, and I did enjoy their rather tasty strong-ish Zamzama (6.5%) back in July during my second pub visit post-lockdown (blog). A 'Vegan IPA'  although more like an APA again, I'm pretty sure hops from the USA used, a big fruity aroma, plenty of body and flavour, with citrus and tropical fruits, very drinkable, very nice!

The only pub I visited away from home in a year now was in August (blog), so you can see my predicament trying to write about different ales from around the country. On that visit to London I very much was brought back to life by drinking a couple of lovely, refreshing, if expensive, pints of St Austell Proper Job (4.5%) after walking for an hour in 37 degrees! Pale golden colour, citrus fruit, dry, bitter and very refreshing, just what the resus doctor ordered, phew... 😷 

St Austell Brewery has been much remembered over the past year, not just for being the only local brewery surviving from when I lived in Cornwall back in the early 1990s, but particularly because of the sad death of the brewer who rejuvenated the brewery after I moved away, Roger Ryman (blog), and the appointment of Georgina Young as his replacement (blog). Also, the lockdowns have meant that their local representative to us has not been able to visit in December, when she was bringing a very nice Proper Job polo shirt for me, missing you Linda!

From further afield, from way up int' North, in Huddersfield, I had 3 excellent ales brewed by Mallinsons Brewing Company (website), though imbibed down here in Hastings. Tropical Blonde (4.3%) does what it says on the label, it really tastes like 'sunshine in a glass' - well, sort of 😉 Brewed with Calypso, Citra and Nelson Sauvin hops that produce citrus and tropical fruit flavours, and with mango and pineapple in a big fruity aroma. A very easy drinking, pale dry bitter, I did like this, but then, Mallinsons is another excellent brewery.

Also, I had their single hopped Amarillo (4.2%), yes, brewed with Amarillo hops from the USA, unsurprisingly, but surprisingly with a bitter orange in the flavour! A very dry bitter finish, and I definitely liked this, but it is a hop I do enjoy. And Shift (4.3%), what can I say? Brewed with Ekuanot and Centennial hops that produce peach, citrus and tropical fruit flavours, and Mandarina Bavaria hops, a reasonably new variant bred in Germany, released in 2012, and a 'daughter' of the Cascade hop, and which adds a tangerine flavour to the mix! Refreshing and very easy to drink, with a nice dry bitter finish, as I said, another excellent brewery.

Anyway, Mallinsons hasn't been the only Yorkshire brewery whose ales I have enjoyed since the first lockdown, for example, Ilkley Brewery (website) and their 4.2% Pale or All Day Pale. This is a nice refreshing pale bitter, as you'd expect, brewed using Nelson Sauvin, Chinook, Centennial and Hallertau Blanc hops, including dry hopping, and which provide plenty of fruity aroma and flavours, and a lovely dry bitter finish... I liked it! 

Sadly, no Kelham Island of Sheffield ales in 2020, hopefully that will change in 2021, but other excellent Yorkshire ales did get down here, including two 4.3% lovelies from the always reliable Rooster's Brewing Company (website), Cogburn and Union Gap. The Cogburn is an ale I've drunk many times over the years, regularly when I was living in Yorkshire, and the name is a homage to the character played by the actor John Wayne in a couple of films. It is pale and dry, with a subtle citrus fruity aroma and flavour, nice one. 

The Union Gap I recorded as even better! Presumably named after the 1960s band that brought out a single that would be very questionable nowadays, labeled a 'West Coast Pale Ale' and appropriately brewed with Chinook, Cascade, Centennial and Simcoe hops. With these hops you unsurprisingly get a mixture of citrus flavours and aroma, tangerine and lemon particularly. Refreshing, pale dry and bitter, yes it hit the spot, thank you very much!

Coming further down the country, we reach Peterborough and I shall mention 3 of the ales from one of my very favourite brewers, the excellent Oakham Ales (website), including their single-hopped 4.2% 'Session IPA' Citra. Their Citra is, as you would expect from that hop, zesty and with a hint of citrus in the aroma and taste, very pale, and a great dry bitter finish. Another ale I love and could include in my luxury ale on my desert island, along with a cooling system. 😉

The other 2 Oakham ales I particularly enjoyed were the Citra on steroids Green Devil IPA (6.0%), plenty of body, pale, dry and bitter. Also a single-hopped ale with Citra hops, but less subtle, packing a punch with grapefruit and tropical fruit flavours, which could replace the Citra Session IPA on my desert island, and I wouldn't need as much of it! Oh yes, and Bishops Farewell (4.6%), a smoother golden ale brewed with Cascade and Challenger hops, plenty of body and subtle citrus and tropical fruitiness, dry and bitter, also excellent, as are all the wonderful ales in the Oakham range, and I've never had a bad seasonal beer from them either!

I managed to get in this excellent 'green-hopped' ale before Tiers 3 and 4 kicked in, just, not to mention Lockdown Mark 3! This one, Dark Star (website) Green Hopped IPA, a very decent annual arrival for my hopmonster palate, and with a full bodied experience, as you would expect from this 6.5% pale bitter. If you aren't aware, green-hopped ales are brewed using fresh hops, ideally picked on the day and thus seasonal, and this brew used Warrior, Simcoe and Ernest hops. The end result was an amber, subtle fruity bitter with a dry finish, and very good indeed!

I've already mentioned the excellent Kent Brewery above (website), a brewery that competes very well with Oakham Ales and their pale bitter beers, honest, I never thought I'd be that lucky to have another reasonably local brewer so good, and we have some other very fine brewers down here in Kent and East Sussex to compete with them too! But, comparable with their Prohibition and Tropic Ale described above, I'll specifically mention the Brewers Reserve (5.0%). This has a big fruity citrus aroma and taste, with a dry bitter finish, quality!

Quite frankly, I could sing my praises of many of their ales, but will just mention here a few more that I have specifically enjoyed during these upsetting 10 months, and I could add even more, but want to publish this blog today! So, other Kent Brewery ales that helped me cope with the COVID-19 crisis include Mayflower 400 (4.2%, and brewed to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the departure of the Mayflower to the New World), the two 4.5% single hopped ales Citra and Mandarina, and the 4.2% 'session APA' The Quiet American, after recent antics in the USA, surely an oxymoron, but a very easy drinking beer indeed... 😉

Well, I hope this was a reasonably fun read, and here's to the reopening of public houses this year, hopefully sooner rather than later, cheers m'dears! 🍻

Hoppy New Beer!

Best wishes for 2021, let's hope things can improve very soon, I'm certainly missing pubs, ales and my social life... I shall be writing about my favourite ales of 2020 in the next couple of days, I was limited, for obvious reasons, notably not being allowed to travel! And remember! 😉

Amused me when I saw it, but do be careful, & hopefully find a decent beer to drink, cheers! 

Merry Christmas!

 Make the most of Christmas, but it'll be bottles for me, Merry Christmas & roll on normal!

Save our Pubs Petition

Do you remember the good old days before the Lockdown? Well, things are getting even worse for pubs and other businesses in the hospitality sector, indeed, the future of many is looking bleaker by the day as more and more lockdowns arrive, and more areas are being placed in higher tiers, despite virtually every other business in the country carrying on trading, even hairdressers and gyms in tier 3! 

Just what has this Government got against Pubs?!? There is very little evidence of COVID-19 being caught in pubs, indeed rates of infection only increased when schools reopened in September, and then rates shot up when universities and further education colleges reopened, whilst pubs have spent plenty of money on 'mitigations' and actually carry out the private track & trace system's work for them!

Then 'wet pubs' were offered a paltry £1,000 because they were closed under the systems of tiers introduced by the Government (blog), have the people in power no idea of the continued costs publicans have to fork out for?

Anyway, here's a petition urging a Government package to support the trade!

Please sign at this link, cheers!

Bad News for Ale Houses

The Government is offering just £1,000 as a one-off payment in December to pubs in Tiers 2 and 3 that don't sell food, that is 'wet pubs,' as announced by the Prime Minister earlier today (sky). What a disgrace! What is it that the apparent puritans in Government have against pubs?!? 

First, how the hell can publicans get by on just a grand, it's as though Government Ministers want pubs to go under, I wonder if they've been given stuffed brown envelopes by property developers? It wouldn't surprise me with this bunch of corrupt incompetents!

Second, why is it just the hospitality sector that is being hit by the Government? Gyms are returning, hairdressers are returning, museums, football crowds, everyone except pubs, the one sector that actually managed the COVID-19 Crisis between the lockdowns, spending out on 'mitigations' requested of them by Government, administering 'track & trace' records, sanitizing regularly, ensuring social distancing etc etc!

Indeed, the rate of COVID-19 is decreasing, see my other blog for example, whilst the Government puts at risk the future of our pubs, I'm sad, but also I'm very angry! 😡

Covid-19 Incidence, Hospitality & Beer!

Before I get too serious, a nice bit of good news... Pubs, bars and breweries are again showing their common sense and, despite early noises from the Government, are delivering ales, ciders and perries, and providing Click & Collect services, thanks to a U-turn from the Government allowing these activities. Yet again, because of the COVID-19 Crisis and travel restrictions, I am limited in my 2020 ale experiences, mostly to Hastings and its environs, where The Jolly Fisherman (from my other blog) is providing similar services to the first lockdown, nice one!

Recently, with my other blog, I vented my frustration with our incompetent and corrupt Government and their handling of this crisis, and the then looming second lockdown, particularly regarding most publicans taking care to follow the guidelines, if not to be respectful of their customers, to ensure they were not closed down by the Police and/or licencing authorities. Indeed, any publicans who weren't following guidelines well deserved to be closed down, as happened to a few for periods in Hastings. Again, further to my other blog, it has been 8 months now for the Government to sort out their Test & Trace programme, wasting £billions in the process by giving contracts to their inexperienced friends in industry, instead of supporting experienced public health authorities, and which would have been a much lower cost too!  

So, I shall leave you to look at the graph above, with figures not much more than 24 hours old, there's up to date for you! I shall just add a few dates to help you consider whether pubs reopening from July the 4th were significant in the rising levels of COVID-19, and whether they really deserved to be closed down at 22.00 hours on the 4th of November, and noting that the majority of COVID-19 cases are now teenagers and young adults up to 24 years old, indeed, by the 12th October, 60% of new cases were university students. 

First, yes, pubs were reopened from the 4th of July; Second, schools were reopened from the 1st of September; Third, the university academic year began on the 21st of September...

Save Pubs, Cut Beer Duty!

I've written before about the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and Long Live The Local campaigns to protect pubs and a previous petition to cut beer duty, now there is an updated petition from Long Live The Local; go to their website for further information.

Campaigns and petitions that I too support, and have signed, and even more necessary in these COVID-19 Crisis times; cheers folks, and stay safe!