5 Pubs Visited in London, 1 New to Me!

You'll realise by the gradually darkening photographs this visit was late afternoon/early evening, except for the last pub. First stop, The Albert, 52 Victoria Street SW1H 0NP (website), once a Taylor-Walker house, now Greene King. The pub is a Grade II listed building, built 1845-52, just over the other side of Victoria Street from the notorious Devil's Acre (Londonist), and originally called 'The Blue Coat Boy' until Artillery Brewery took it over, rebuilt it and named it The Albert in 1867 in honour of Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, following his death in 1861. Now I have to own up to not taking note of the beers we drank, obviously not great or I'd have taken notes, but I hadn't been in the pub for years, probably not this millennium, and it's a lovely old building that avoided bomb destruction luckily during World War 2!👌

These first 3 pubs are all close to St James's Park tube station, near where I worked many years ago, near the old Westminster Hospital, on the edge of the Devil's Acre! I only learnt about the Devil's Acre many years later when referenced in a novel, but I have investigated since. Next was a Nicholson's pub The Feathers, 18-20 Broadway SW1H 0BH (website), the pub being in existence since at least 1745, and rebuilt in 'the Flemish style' towards the end of the 19th century. This was the pub that I had never visited before, so new to me, and a it is a very fine building, both the exterior and interior, so I wasn't disappointed, nor by the ale...

I did drink an ale I haven't had for a while now, from Midlands brewery Purity Brewing Co (website), and their 4.2% Mad Goose Pale Ale, brewed with Pilgrim, Centennial, Chinook and Cascade hops, quintessential hops for an APA style beer! As you would expect, it's pale golden in colour, and look at those hops (!), it has a hint of citrus in the aroma, but much more citrus to the taste, with a nice clean, dry bitter finish, nice one! 👍

Then, literally around the corner and along a bit, another pub I haven't visited for years, still a Young's house, the Buckingham Arms, 62 Petty France SW1H 9EU (website). Originally licenced as the Black Horse in the 18th century, and also rebuilt towards the end of the 19th century and re-named the Buckingham in honour of the Duke of Buckingham in 1901. The pub used to have a second entrance which meant you could walk through the pub from end to end (confirmed by bar steward, so not a false memory), with a narrow bar to your side; the second entrance/exit was removed, presumably along with the interior refurbishment in 2009.

The usual 2 Young's ales were available, the Special and Ordinary, plus 4 guest ales, including 2 from Twickenham Brewery (website) including their very often sold in Young's houses, the 4.4% Naked Ladies, named after statues in York House Gardens in Twickenham. So I drank a pint of this hoppy, pale golden bitter, brewed with Herkules, Celeia and Chinook hops, it has a subtle citrus aroma, a slightly malty taste at the start, and with some citrus flavours coming through as the ale goes down, and a lovely refreshing dry bitter finish, another nice one! 👍

Then we jumped on a District Line train from St James's Park to Hammersmith and visited another Nicholson's pub, The Swan, 46 Hammersmith Broadway W6 0DZ (website). The Swan was re-built by the architect Frederick MIller in 'the Free Jacobean' style as a hotel in 1901 on the site of an old coaching inn, the 'Old Swan', the first and last stop to the west of London. It has an imposing exterior and breath taking interior, and is a Grade II listed building.

As usual for a Nicholson's pub there are half a dozen or so ales on offer, and we went for one from the East Anglian brewery Adnams (website), that was their Ghost Ship (4.5%). This is a pale sharp refreshing ale, brewed with Citra hops, consequently, as you would expect, it has a subtle citrus flavour and a nice refreshing dry bitter finish, and in my opinion Adnams best ale. 👍

I more recently visited (Saturday) The Victoria, 10a Strathearn Place, W2 2NH (website). This is a fine Grade II listed Fuller's pub (Fuller's website) built in the 1830s, named after Queen Victoria as it was opened on the same day as her accession to the throne, and she visited the pub after the opening of the rebuilt nearby Paddington Railway Station in 1854. Slight damage during World War 2, it has a grand exterior and wonderful interior, well worth visiting if nearby.

I didn't take a photograph, so this image is from Fuller's own website, but I did drink, and a few pints of only this, believe it or not, their 3.8% Oliver's Island. Brewed with Goldings, Hallertau Tradition, and Liberty hops, this is a pale golden session bitter, with gentle grapefruit and tropical fruit flavours, and a refreshing dry bitter finish, not bad Fuller's!

And we had something to eat here, sharing their "Hummus & spiced lamb to share with pine nuts, corianders & pomegranate, served with grilled flatbread" and it was pretty tasty, if the 'hummus' a wee bit thin, and they could have provided a few more flatbread pieces. 😉

Cheers folks! 👍

Inaugural UK Belgian Beer Week Now On!

I only yesterday found out that an inaugural Belgian Beer Week (24th February to 1st March Beer Today website) had been arranged in cooperation with Visit Flanders (website), I apologise for my tardiness! Knowing that Oliver at The Jolly Fisherman in Hastings (blog) stocks Belgian beers, I wandered along there in the late afternoon. So what Belgian beer did I drink?

As you can see from the image above, I drank the St Bernadus ABT 12 (10.0%), Brouwerij St Bernadus (website) being another excellent Belgian brewery situated in Watou, Flanders. This beer is a very dark deep coloured red Quadrupel, with a slightly malty/fruity aroma, a wee bit sweet with a dry slightly bitter finish, and tasting of dark plum and damson fruits, another Christmas Pudding of a beer as many Quadrupels tend to be, very rich and rewarding to drink!

There are still a few of the organised events left to visit, lucky you if you are in either vicinity 😉 they are today (28th February) Duvel Moortgat at Den Engel Bar & Restaurant in Leek, and Kasteel at Bundobust in Manchester. Tomorrow (1st March) Duvel Moortgat again, at the Neepsend Craft Beer Festival in Sheffield (beertoday).

If you go to either enjoy yourselves, and feel free to leave a comment with a review of your visit, or nip in somewhere else and buy some Belgian beer, or buy some from an off licence or supermarket, I'll likely head to Morrisons for some Westmalle Tripel (blog), love it! Cheers 👍

A Whiskey for the Road...

I have already written about my February 'Whiskey of the Month' (blog), but a few days ago I had a whiskey, or two, 'for the road' at The Jolly Fisherman in Hastings (blog), and thought it worth sharing; apologies if I'm going on about whiskey nearly as much as ale these days, but I'm enjoying them in my dotage! 😉

Anyway, this second February whiskey was again from Dublin distillery Teeling, who I wrote about back in December (blog), when I had a bottle of their 46.0% Small Batch. This time it was their Single Malt whiskey, also 46.0%, with a deep Chardonnay white wine colour, and matured in a combination of American Oak, Ruby Port, Caravelos White Port, Madeira and Bourbon casks, which add to the complexity of this whiskey!

The Single Malt has an aroma of grapes at first, then forest fruits and spices. It is nicely mellow to drink, with subtle hints of sherry and spices in the flavour. A very smooth luxurious Irish whiskey, with plenty of warmth, a slightly bitter-sweet butterscotch at the finish, and indeed, yet another very easy to drink whiskey, slainte! 👍

Tower Pub, Hastings, Real Ale Festival This Weekend!

The Tower, up on the corner of London Road and Tower Road, Bohemia TN37 6NB (Hastings & St Leonards), is holding its annual Real Ale Festival this weekend (facebook), from Friday the 21st to Sunday the 23rd of February 2025; 11am to 11pm Friday and Saturday, 11am to 10pm Sunday... oh yes, and real ciders will be available too! Some of what will be available below:

ENJOY, CHEERS!

February Whiskey of the Month!

Well, the Christmas cards have been taken down from the bookcase, and we reach the February Whiskey of the Month, The Busker, distilled at Royal Oak Distillery in County Carlow, Ireland (website). They produce 3 types of whiskey for their Single Collection, a Single Malt, a Single Pot Still, and the Single Grain, which is my February Whiskey of the Month.

The Busker Single Grain is a 44.3% whiskey presented in an attractive heavy squarish bottle (image above), and is distilled in a column still, not a more traditional pot still, resulting in a lighter whiskey. Indeed, this is a very easy to drink light straw coloured whiskey that has aged in Bourbon casks from the USA, and then in Sicilian Marsala casks. This smooth and light whiskey is quite sweet to start off, with hints of vanilla, honey and dried fruits to taste, with a warm glowing slightly tart alcohol finish, very reasonably priced, and pretty decent indeed!

And you know you've had a whiskey of 44.3%, slainte! 👍

Westmalle Christmas Gift: Delayed Review, Sorry!

Trappist beers are brewed by Trappist monks within the walls of a Trappist monastery, this one founded in 1794, becoming an abbey in 1836, and Westmalle beers, brewed at the Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle (brewing since 1836 - website), are up there amongst the best beers of Belgium. Although the monks no longer brew the beers themselves, they are still in overall charge of the brewery, ensuring tradition is upkept, and pure ingredients used, their own water, 100% barley malt, hops, and yeast from their own culture. All these are bottle-conditioned.

I had never tasted the just 4.8% Westmalle Extra before, but this light golden blonde is based on the ale recipe first brewed by the monks for their own consumption in 1836. OK, not as pronounced a flavour and impact as the double the strength Tripel described below, which means it is a bit more of a 'supping' beer. But it is recognisably a Westmalle beer, with a Westmalle aroma, and hints of banana and pineapple in the taste, very nice!

The penultimate beer I drank was the 7.0% Dubbel, a dark deep red colour, first brewed nearly 100 years ago in 1926. This has a rich dried dark fruit aroma, and at first tastes slightly sour, then sweet, with malt and dark fruits, but dries out with a slightly bitter finish, very decent.

The best 'til last, and my favourite regularly available Belgian ale, Westmalle Tripel (image immediately above), which I have written about many times before (eg blog). The Tripel, is a 9.5% golden beer, with a subtle fruitiness and quite dry and bitter finish, quite frankly, excellent! There are a number of bars in Brussels where I would always drink this, the waiting staff in the magnificent Le Cirio in Brussels, by la Bourse, always taking care not to disturb the sediment, but leaving the bottle for people to add the sediment if they so wished. Indeed, the owner of the bar closest to where my brother used to live always called me "Monsieur Westmalle", but that bar, sadly, is no longer open, the owner having retired.

You will appreciate just how much I loved this Christmas present brought back from Belgium by my brother, he knows what I like, the beer and the glass, cheers Dan! 👍

2 New Pubs for me in London.

In you go Paul! 😁 Indeed, handily opening at 10.00 at weekends, I was introduced to The Marquis Cornwallis, 31 Marchmont Street WC1N 1AP (website) for our first pint. A wee bit upset that we had recently missed their having the excellent Thornbridge Jaipur there 😣 and giving a miss to the pointless Doom Bar that was on one of the handpumps, we went for the reasonably consistent Timothy Taylor's (website) Landlord (4.3%). Landlord is a pale-ish amber Bitter, brewed with WGV/Goldings, Savinjski Goldings and Fuggles hops, producing a slightly fruity citrus flavour. It's a pretty easy to drink bitter... sad about the Jaipur not being on!

Having been joined by B at the Cornwallis, and Paul having something to eat there, we next moved on further along the road to the Lord John Russell, 91-93 Marchmont Street WC1N 1AL (facebook); opens at 12.00 weekends, at 11.30 weekdays. This is a pretty decently priced pub considering where it is, and had a couple of Sambrook's ales, and crafty keg beers too (website), the brewery now being situated inside the old Young's Ram Brewery complex in central Wandsworth. Good as their beers are, and Paul appeared to enjoy a few pints of their 4.2% Pumphouse pale ale, I have drunk their ales before, but there was something new for me...

I can't remember ever drinking an ale from The Exeter Brewery (website), and certainly never this ale, and I did used to live in Exeter too, so I had to try their Lighterman (3.5%). This was a very pleasant amber session ale, brewed with Goldings hops, and basically does what it says on the label, a traditional bitter, light and easy to drink, if you like bitter beers. I do 👍

So there you have it, 2 new pubs for me in central London, the first named after an 18th century British General and the other (better value/cheaper) after a 19th century British Prime Minister.

Cheers folks! 🍺