Peterborough - A New City (for me) Visited...

A trip to Peterborough and dreams of Oakham Ales (website, and more later), base of one of my 2 favourite breweries, real ale bars, and maybe a point or three at football, fingers crossed... I had been looking forward to this day for ages! My first port of call was the Bumble Inn (website), close by the railway station at 46 Westgate, PE1 1RE, which opens at 12.00.

At the Bumble Inn I met three friendly Peterborough lads, 2 brothers and a son/nephew, who each had their own pub in their gardens, I kid you not, I was shown photographs... dead impressive and useful during the lockdowns no doubt! Anyway, this micropub sells 5 ever-changing real ales, 2 of which were from that excellent Yorkshire brewery, from Huddersfield, Mallinsons (website), and they, apparently, as I didn't partake, sell home-made pork pies, 'jumbo' sausage rolls and/or scotch eggs; 'pop-up' food events held on the third Thursday of the month.

I had a pint each of the 2 Mallinsons ales, both pale and hoppy, both 4.0%, their Denimes Denimes, and, my favourite of the two, the single hopped Kohatu (New Zealand hops), quite bitter with a dry crisp finish, not bad at all. As we decided, I press-ganged them really, I went along with the lads to my next port of call, the Oakham bar on a barge, Charters (website).

Charters Bar was packed, as was the bankside area next to it, which provides a huge outside area which must have been very useful during the first phase of returning to 'normal' last year. As usual at a bar near a football ground on match day, it emptied out between 2.30 and 3.00 pm, but not before we shared a few pints each, me of the excellent Oakham Citra (4.2%), a wonderful session pale bitter, like me, pale, dry and bitter, great company. Great ale at just £3 a pint ('special' regular deals), and 5 friends of mine (including my ex-wife) turned up here just before 2.30 (Noel and Ian in the photograph above, just as we were leaving to go to the ground).

After the match, sadly an upsetting last 10 minutes for me, but not for my new mates from Peterborough I imagine, 5 of us met up at The (Oakham) Brewery Tap (website), which is just a few minutes walk from the railway station in Westgate...

Here I drank, again at a bargain price, 2 or 3 pints of Oakham Inferno (4.0%), brewed with Sterling, Amarillo, Centennial, Cascade and Chinook hops, those who know me well will appreciate I approve of brewers using these hops from the USA 😉 - And again, great ale, again, pale, dry, refreshing and bitter, great company, and another decently priced ale too, thank you very much Oakham! The journey home was a wee bit rowdy, but not due to me guv...

And, just because I didn't take a photograph of a beer I was drinking, here's one I took earlier, last week at the Dolphin Inn in Hastings (website), my local, 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!

Back to Rye...

I hadn't visited for a while, so thought it best to take a trip to Rye, to the Rye Waterworks micropub (my first descriptive blog of this micropub), in Tower Street, corner with Rope Walk, TN31 7AT. Met by the friendly family staff of David and Eddie, and the usual pleasant banter with them and other customers, old, and always new as well. When I did leave to catch the train home, a 5 minutes walk to the station, there was a bit of a mess, this was on Friday, and the countrywide power problems seemed to have messed up signals towards Eastbourne. The train was stationary and very crowded so I decided to pop back for another drink, lo and behold Ulla had also turned up to work behind the bar, the pub-related working family all present now...

Anyway, to the drinking! I started off with the 3.8% Old Dairy (website) Uber Brew, always reliable, and I was not let down at all, as ever, refreshing, hoppy, grapefruity, pale, dry and bitter, excellent! I then tried the Old Dairy Gold Bullion, (4.3%) which I believe is a version of their Gold Top, a golden ale, easy to drink with more subtle hops. I then re-tried Romney Marsh (website) Romney American Pale, which at 5%, and with the use of hops from the USA, I am always a little disappointed by. It is pale and golden, a bit too sweet for me though, with a caramel taste, and nowhere near the amount of citrus I prefer in the flavour. Remember, like the ales I prefer, I am pale, dry and very bitter! But where would we be if everyone was the same, thankful for the variety of ales available to us!?!

Oh yes, I returned to the Uber Brew, as I also did when returning from the station, from where I later caught a lovely much quieter, and cooler train with working air-conditioning, and I had an extensive chat to the conductor, who also loves real ales too, nice one, cheers!

Seven Cs of Rye...

It seems like I'm making a monthly trip to Rye nowadays, which is a good thing, and to the Rye Waterworks again, at Tower Street TN31 7AT, and which I've adopted as my 'local' in Rye. There was the usual pleasant company, including new faces as ever, and the friendly service of father & son team, David and Eddie.

Inside (above), and as I've explained before, the ever-changing furniture, posters and pictures, and curios, every trip is like entering a different pub, as everything not nailed down is for sale!

And the 8 real ales available listed to the left of the board (above), and a similar number of ciders to the right. Why have I named this the Seven Cs of Rye? Well, I was stuck for a pun, and can't be far off having seven hops used among the 8 ales on offer, with names beginning with C! Cannot be certain, because not all brewers tell you what hops they use, but certainly at least 4 of the following hops were used: Calypso, Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Citra, Columbus and Comet, well I can dream...

Bar to the right

I mostly drank the Old Dairy Uber Brew, 3.8%, and lovely and hoppy (includes use of the hops Citra, Chinook, and Equinox), quite frankly, this is one of the best session pale golden bitters on the market, and very local too. I also had a pint of the 4.2% Old Dairy Simcoe IPA (let me down on the hops used obviously!). This was unfined, so suitable for vegans, and a hazy amber colour, a bit too sweet for me, plenty of caramel from the malt, with a slightly nutty finish, and surprisingly very dry in the finish. Yes, I also tried a pint of the Rother Valley Brew 3500, which I guess is their 3500th gyle, or brew, but it wasn't mentioned on their website when I looked just now. Presumably why it's a 3.5% ale, copper colour, slightly nutty, with a hint of roasted malt, indeed, a very decent traditional style bitter.

As you can see in the photograph above this one, situated at the far end of the bar, tee shirts are now on sale for £10 each, and the photograph immediately above is the one I took home with me, cheers David and Eddie!

I shall return...

Another Hastings Micropub - Twelve Hundred Postcards

Hastings newest micropub very recently opened at 80 Queens Road TN34 1RL (opposite Morrisons petrol station), so I had to visit, obviously...

... and very happy I was too when I got there (above), well I was already quite happy, but pleased with how Twelve Hundred Postcards is shaping (the story behind the name is described in great detail on their website, so I suggest you have a look there if you want to know more), and I got to meet up with a couple of friends there I hadn't seen for quite some time too, nice one! 

On entering I was impressed with the bright decor, and how far back the bar room goes, consequently providing plenty of seating (I calculate room for 30-40 seated, and plenty of room for standing), as you can see from the photograph above.

The man in charge using modern technology to aid his efficiency, and the cooled beer storage area behind him, pretty much an enormous fridge that you can see into.

To the 4 cask conditioned ales available (above, what was available yesterday evening 3rd November, but no regular ales, I believe, so these will regularly change as they run out, and I also believe there are ales to come very soon from quality local Sussex brewers Franklins - website - and from Burning Sky - website).

I have to admit the ales available yesterday (3rd November) included 2 of my longstanding favourites, from Peterborough brewers Oakham Ales (website), their excellent 4.2% Citra, a pale golden bitter brewed with the eponymous Citra hop, producing a gorgeous citrus aroma and grapefruit flavour, refreshing and gorgeous! Plus, from Derbyshire brewers Thornbridge (website), and also excellent, their 5.9% Jaipur, another ale with citrus aroma and flavour, but with much more body, not quite a supping ale, though quality indeed!

Looking back towards the front

So what else is available? In addition to the ales there are 3 ciders available and a crafty keg beer, plus numerous bottles and cans in a fridge behind me when I took this photograph, including some Belgian beers, 2 red and 2 white wines, and a variety of crisps to snack on. As I said above, Twelve Hundred Postcards is bright, clean and roomy, to which I can add, very friendly too, so well worth a visit, or many visits for that matter, cheers! Oh yes, opening times: 

Sunday, 12-4 pm

Monday, not open

Tuesday, 5-9 pm

Wed/Thursday, 12-2 and 5-9 pm
Fri/Saturday, 12-9.30 pm

Evolution of Hastings Micropub!

The Jolly Fisherman (facebook page) is at 3 East Beach Street, Hastings TN34 3AR (tel: 01424 428811), and is now a micropub as well as a B&B. Opening hours (usual, but can be a little flexible) are Wednesday/Thursday 12 noon to 10pm; Friday/Saturday 12 noon to 11pm; Sunday 12 noon to 10.30pm; closed Mondays and Tuesdays (and for a one off, also closed just for this Wednesday 15th August 2018). Previously, it had been a cafe bar, as well as a B&B...

The current owners, Oliver and Becky, took over the premises a couple of years ago, converting it from a Pie & Mash shop/cafe/restaurant and B&B, into the Cafe Bar and B&B, and which is now a Micropub and B&B; and can be found on the Micropub Association micropub finder.

Foyles Pie N Mash

In its earlier life, The Jolly Fisherman was a public house for the 125 years from 1834, when James Mann became the first licencee there, until 1959, when the landlord was Brian Hone. Brian had held the licence from 1954, and Hastings Winkle Club (see fraternal blog) was based at The Jolly Fisherman between 1954 and 1959, with Brian as the Winkle Club Treasurer during those 5 years. Please note, I have found this information in David Russell's informative book The Pubs of Hastings & St Leonards 1800-2000 (2014, pub: Lynda Russell, pp171-174). It is great to see the building returned to an earlier use, more of below...

Walking into The Jolly Fisherman I was rewarded with a friendly greeting from Oliver, as I was bombarded with information above, in front, and to the side of me! First there is an impressive list of Belgian beers available here; memories of 15 years of regular visits to my brother when he lived in Brussels came to mind. Immediately above the bar (photograph below) are details of the 3 ciders/perries, 2 crafty keg beers, and 3 cask-conditioned ales (all local) on offer, though only 2 real ales were available this day because of the extra day closed this week.

Real ales available were Pig & Porter (website) Black Pale (4.2%) and Brighton Bier (website) Batting Practice - Three C's Pale (3.5%), a refreshing seasonal pale bitter, very easy to drink, and with tropical and citrus in the flavour, obviously the result of the 3 C's hops from the USA used late in the brewing process, and dry hopped too. Also, me loving ales from the not-so close brewery, I had to have a pint of the Tiny Rebel perry (website) Peariscope (4.8%), which did what it should, nice balance of bitter and sweet, and very nice too, thank you very much!

What of the B&B and food then? Well, there are 3 large bedrooms upstairs, one family room and two doubles, one of which can take a further camp bed if required, so a maximum of 9 people at a time, and there is just about enough room to seat them all for breakfast in the bar area. Food on offer is a Tapas style menu at lunch, and in the evening; as can be seen to your right as you enter The Jolly Fisherman (photograph above); a very interesting selection indeed!

Well, I shall be returning soon, cheers Oliver and Becky! 😉

Rye Waterworks micropub, my first!

OK, not MY first micropub, but the first micropub I have ever visited, I've tried before, for example when visiting Deal a couple of years ago, but Deal's micropubs weren't open; NB make sure you know a micropub is open before visiting! So, what is a micropub? It appears to be accepted that a micropub essentially serves ale from casks, no lagers, probably wine, few spirits, and traditional bar snacks, but with no television, electronic games or fruit machines, and they're often situated in ex-shops! So, to my first, and also the first micropub in East Sussex...

The Rye Waterworks micropub

To The Rye Waterworks, Tower Street (corner with Rope Walk), Rye, East Sussex TN31 7AT (01797 224110), which was originally a water pumping house (1869), and has since been a soup kitchen, public lavatories, and a shop selling antiques and curios more recently (still is, sort of, but more later). However, with a history going back at least 300 years! See further down for the 'potted history' I have written, following talking to David (the licensee), and from researching a 19th century book by William Holloway and a recent online engineering journal.

David when he first held the keys!

The above photograph is borrowed from the Rye Waterworks facebook page, many thanks, and there are some great photographs showing the progression of the considerable work done on the fabric of the micropub since, so well worth a look! David is the licensee, and a warmer and more friendly publican you could never expect to meet, indeed his enthusiasm for this project, a micropub he opened just over a couple of weeks ago, seems unlimited (by the way, many thanks to Rod, who tipped me off about the Rye Waterworks, cheers!). David told me that the interior still has a small amount of work to finish off, "93% complete" he estimates, but it is already comfortable. Indeed, on this blue sky day, it was lovely and cool inside, but in the evening he lit the wood burner to ensure his customers remained comfortable.

Regarding the 'curios' I mentioned earlier? Well, David is still selling furniture and curios on behalf of the last incumbent at this address, indeed, most of what isn't nailed down you can buy, including all the tables and chairs, stools and other furniture, framed prints and curios! For example, just out of shot of my photograph to the right, there is a crackin' brass pub bell and a rather fancy ice bucket for sale... so, the Waterworks isn't just a unique micropub for being in an old pump house rather than an old shop, it will also look different every time you visit, as the furniture and decorations change each time some are purchased! Of course, all this is evidence of the great character of the place, but I really do need to talk about the ales...

There are 8 ales available (all from microbreweries within 20 miles of Rye), and served by gravity from this rather large fridge behind the bar. The 8 include 2 'regular' ales, one brewed by Old Dairy Brewery (website), a 4% session ale called Carrot Top (£3.60 a pint), much beloved by Sussex Best drinkers it appears, and the one we drank, from Three Legs Brewing Company (website), their excellent 3.7% session pale golden and hoppy session bitter Pale (£3.70 a pint). My notes: "Golden with a strong fruity aroma, a gorgeous fruity bitter." Can't say better than that! We also drank the 'guest' Black Pale (4.3% and £3.70 a pint) from Three Legs, a deep very dark red colour, roasted barley in the aroma and taste, quite bitter and "sharp on the palate" said my brother, couldn't disagree, very nice too, but I did prefer the golden Pale, as is my taste!

There were 5 other guest ales, FILO Cardinal (a 4.6% Porter, £3.80), Rother Valley Copper Ale (4.1% and £3.70), Hop Fuzz English (3.8% and £3.70), Range Ales Double Tap (4.1% and £3.70), and I also had a half of the 4.4% Romney Marsh Brewery (website) Amber Ale (£3.70 a pint), a sweetish complex fruity and nutty bitter which is sweet to taste, but dries out at the finish... There were also 3 ciders, Norman Hunt & Sons Conquest (4.8% and £3.70 a pint) and Big Kev's Summer of Fruit (6% and £3.8) and Dickens (8% and £4). Also, of course, some fine gins, wines and soft drinks are available too.

David has recently received his Food Hygiene Certificate, so expect to see rolls with various fillings on sale, sausage rolls, pork pies and scotch eggs, and the usual crisps and nuts, not to mention homemade spicy pickled eggs, and I do love pickled eggs!

Oh yes, so you don't attempt to visit when it is closed (noting my earlier failures when trying to visit micropubs elsewhere) the opening times at present are: 

Mon-Thursdays 2-10pm

Fridays 2-11pm

Saturdays 12-11pm

Sundays 12-10pm

Brick Cistern & Tower

"Potted History" (as promised!):

A 'water-house' was known to have been built on this site by 1628, but the present building includes what appears to be a foundation stone from when it was rebuilt in 1718, with a pump driven by a 'horse gin' piping water from the Ashdown Sands Springs; a horse gin was a wheel which had a horse harnessed to it, the horse walked around in circles and powered the pump.

A lead water pump was added in 1826 to pump water up Conduit Hill to the oval brick cistern (now grade II listed) that is by St Mary's Church. Then, in 1869, the Victorians rebuilt the water-house again and installed a steam engine and pump. As I said earlier, it has since been a soup kitchen (1907), public lavatories, and a shop selling antiques and curios... 

Now it is a micropub, cheers! 

My sources: 

Roder, David  Licensee, The Rye Waterworks.

Holloway, William  The history and antiquities of the ancient town and port of Rye, in the county of Sussex. With incidental notices of the Cinque Ports, published by J R Smith (London) 1847.

Rye Ancient Water Supply on www.engineering-timelines.com 2018.