Southampton Visit

I arrived by train in Southampton and literally walked due south following the sun, slightly to the right of south, and didn't need to check a map, the sun did its job! My first destination was the Grade I Listed 14th century warehouse, The Wool House, Town Quay SO14 2AR (Historic England), now the home of Dancing Man Brewery, and Bar and Restaurant (website).

My first ale was Dancing Man Jesus Hairdo Pale Ale (4.0%), which the brewery doesn't divulge in writing anywhere I can find which hops are used, but it is suggested in places that English hops are used. This is born out on tasting as this has a gentle fruitiness to taste, it is slightly hazy, dry and bitter, and quite refreshing, it would make an excellent summer ale methinks!

I loved this spiral staircase coming down from the restaurant upstairs, so had to take a photograph and include it here. The brewery is downstairs towards the back, but no photographs from me of that here. I received a warm welcome when I entered the bar, good discourse with both lads, and I was enticed into having a second pint (below), I coped! 😉

Hazy, perhaps a wee bit more than the Jesus Hairdo, the Voodoo Jazz Hat, a New Zealand Pale Ale (4.7%) brewed with Motueka (hopslist) and Nelson Sauvin (hopslist) hops. Certainly much more to it, absolutely packed with tropical and citrus fruits, and with a dry bitter finish. As regular readers will be aware I'm not much into hazy ales, but this was pretty damn good!

Close by the Wool House and old town walls is the Grade II Listed Pilgrim Father's Memorial (or Mayflower Memorial - Historic England), a 50 foot high column made of Portland Stone, with a cupola and bronze model of The Mayflower atop. This was designed and erected by Garret and Haysom, and unveiled in August 1913 by the U.S. ambassador to Britain, Dr William Hines Page. In 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers, Protestant 'separatists' from the Church of England, having escaped persecution, and having lived in Leiden in Holland for 12 years, joined up with The Mayflower, and the 65 people who had earlier embarked in that ship at Rotherhithe in London. Their other ship, the Speedwell, was declared unseaworthy when they first set sail for America, but they finally set sail to cross the Atlantic on the 16th of September 1620 (Heritage Calling).

For reasons regarding links to Arthur Wellesley, The Duke of boots and victor at the Battle of Waterloo, and other military victories, oh yes, and he became Prime Minister (twice), I then chose to visit the Grade II Listed Duke of Wellington, 36 Bugle Street SO14 2AH (website). Originally a house built in the early 13th century, with the foundations and cellars still lasting from that date (Historic England).  It became a pub called the Duke of Wellington following victory at Waterloo, previously called Bere House, possibly Southampton's oldest brewery then. Various restorations and work has been done over the centuries, particularly noting damage from a French raid in 1338, and more recently after serious damage caused by bombing in World War II.

This pub is a tied house to the Devizes brewery Wadworth (website) who were established in 1875. I first drank Wadworth 6X (4.1% in cask, although it was 4.3% when I first tasted it) back in my twenties in a Devon pub then called The Palomino Pony, now The Greyhound Country Inn (website), when friends lived close by in a village called Feniton. Anyway, a friendly lad behind the bar, who poured the cask conditioned 6X via an electric pump. 6X is a traditional amber bitter, brewed with Fuggle (hopslist) and Golding (hopslist) hops, with a slightly nutty, malty taste, and a dry, not overly bitter finish, and nice memories jogged too.

I then walked uphill away from the Quay and Old Town towards where I stayed the night, passing through the Grade I Listed Bargate (Sotonopedia), the northernmost gatehouse to the medieval town. The oldest part of this structure was built around the year 1180, with many modifications and restoration since, notably in the 13th, 18th and 19th centuries (Historic England).

After dropping off my backpack at the hotel, I carried on northwards to London Road, just behind which is the Raven & Bine, 16 Carlton Place SO15 2DY (website). This is Dancing Man's second bar/public house which they took over in 2024, and used to be called The Smugglers. I've tried to find out the history of the building, with little luck, although Carlton Place appears to have been built around 1840. The Raven & Bine is quite an airy place inside, having quite a classy interior with 'vintage art' adorning the walls. Again, a friendly young lad behind the bar, and I just about beat the crowds as I reached it earlyish (opens at 16.00).

You may have guessed from my reporting of the other Dancing Man ales above, that their ales are un-fined, thus hazy is the norm, and they appear proud of this fact. Here, I tried their 'Best Bitter' Old Fashioned (3.9%), brewed with Bramling Cross hops (hopslist), slightly hazy, a light traditional English bitter, gentle malt and hints of fruit, and very easy to drink.

My final port of call before heading towards the football was London Road Brew House, 67-75 London Road SO15 2AB (facebook). It used to be The Varsity pub, but little information seems available, brewing on the premises, but nothing really up to date available about that either, but it appears to be a rebuild with slightly art deco frontage following bombing in World War II.

I drank here, what I believe was Greene King Scrumdown Golden Ale (4.1%), brewed with Pilgrim (how suitable for this blog! hopslist), First Gold (hopslist) and Styrian (hopslist) hops. Certainly golden, quite refreshing ale, not overly fruity, floral or spicy, easy to knock back.

I'll not mention the match, trying to forget, but cheers m'dears, 'til next time! 😁

Drinking around Covent Garden, London.

OK, this blog records a wee wander we had between Charing Cross Station and Oxford Street/Tottenham Court Road recently, with 5 pubs we visited in-between, although we could have visited many more on another day, this is a good selection for the few hours we had available. To reach The Harp, 47 Chandos Place WC2N 4HS (website), our first port of call, we walked straight out of Charing Cross Station and across The Strand to a short pedestrianised area up to Adelaide Street with The Harp directly in front of you a couple of minutes walk away.

It is known that this pub has been around since 1805 and was originally called the 'Welsh Harp' - it changed its name when Irish woman Binnie Walsh took it over in 1995, later selling it to Fuller's in 2014, after turning it into an excellent freehouse (my older blog), and good for them for keeping it a virtual freehouse still; London Pride is now available regularly. Indeed, Dark Star APA and Hophead are still available (perhaps an influence in Fuller's buying the pub) as is Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter, and a few other guest ales too! The building is from the 18th century, but most probably a pub was on the site for many years previous. As far as I can find out, the building itself isn't 'Listed' although next door is, as are the lampposts in Chandos Place!

Excellent choice of ales available here; although all these pubs appear to be charging £7 plus a pint! {I will be sharing information soon on pubs up int' North where you can buy your ales for at least £2 a pint less in places!} Anyway, my favourite ale of the day was imbibed here, unsurprisingly from one of my favourite breweries, the excellent Oakham Ales (website), their 4.6% Bishops Farewell, brewed with Cascade hops from the USA (hopslist) and English Challenger hops (hopslist). This is a pale golden 'premium' ale full of flavour, decent strength yet light and so easy to knock back, fruity, indeed zesty citrus, but hoppy too, pretty damn good!

We turned left out of The Harp, then left again up Bedfordbury, walked to the end and turned right where immediately on your right is The White Swan, 14 New Row WC2N 4LF (website), a Nicholson's Hostelry. This is a Grade II Listed 17th century building, tastefully refurbished by Nicholson's after they bought it, reopening in 2012. And that's it for my being able to take photographs of the exteriors on this day without members of the public included, busy busy! 😒

I have become increasingly frustrated with Nicholson's who have been reducing the ales available in their pubs, notably cask ales from small local breweries. But I was very happy to have a pint of this ale from Titanic Brewery of Stoke-on-Trent (website), okay, not local, but another decent brewery indeed, who's brewery tap, The Bulls Head in Burslem, I have written about on my older blog. Anyway, their 4.9% Plum Porter is pretty special as ever, brewed with a "delicate blend of classic hops" which is really teasing us, although I do believe this includes East Kent Golding hops (hopslist), and the beer does what it says on the label basically, dark and fruity, nice one... Oh yes, and it annoys me when staff can't be arsed to put a pumpclip on straight, many seen on this day were crooked! Glad I got that off my chest... 😉

From here, we turned right out of the pub, virtually opposite turned left on to Garrick Street, and right again at the first turning into Floral Street, we walked along and on the corner opposite at the junction with James Street, is The Nag's Head, 10 James Street WC2E 8BT (website). The Nag's Head is a Grade II Listed pub, which was erected in 1900, with a pub called that name at the address since "at least the 1670s." This is my second McMullen's pub ever, after visiting another White Swan recently (blog), despite the Nag's Head being a McMullen's pub since 1927! What have I been doing all these years?!? 😕

I drank their own 4.3% Nag's Head Bitter, brewed by McMullen's of Hertfordshire, of course (website), an educated guess says this is their Country Best Bitter, as it's the only beer they regularly brew at that strength. 😉 Brewed with Fuggle (hopslist), Progress (hopslist) and Bramling Cross (hopslist) hops, producing a very decent traditional best bitter indeed. 👍

To reach our penultimate pub, we turned right out of the Nag's Head, walked along James Street, turned right at the end onto Long Acre, and followed this down to Endell Street where we turned left up to the end and reached the corner pub at High Holborn, Craft Beer Company, 168 High Holborn WC1V 7AA (website). This is a modern built pub (1961), bought by the company in 2014, and here we were met with a pretty decent choice of cask ales and crafty keg beers!

Here we drank, from East Sussex, Lakedown Brewing Company (website) Sussex Pale (4.2%), and their beers seem to improve every time I taste them, an improving brewery indeed. Brewed with English hops Cascade (British Hops) and Ernest (British Hops), this ale brings an English twist to traditional APAs. Notable mandarin citrus in aroma, but gentle fruitiness to taste, easy bitterness to finish and really quite refreshing, will be a great summer ale methinks. 😎

Image thanks to Wikipedia

Finally, we crossed the road, and down Dyott Street opposite to New Oxford Street, where we turned left up to the junction with Tottenham Court Road. Where, just after on the right hand side, and opposite the Tottenham Court Road Tube station entrance is the last surviving pub, apparently, in Oxford Street, The Flying Horse, 6 Oxford Street W1D 1AN (website). Another Grade II Listed public house, built in 1892/93 in a Flemish Renaissance style on the site of an older pub with a history dating from at least 1790, and it does have quite a grand interior! 

It is another Nicholson's pub, so a wee bit uninteresting ale-wise, but I did drink their own Nicholson's Pale Ale (4.0%), brewed for them by Cornish brewery St Austell (website), which ain't too bad! Brewed with English hops Fuggle (hopslist) and East Kent Golding (hopslist), and Australian Galaxy hops (hopslist), so citrus and tropical fruits in the taste, pale, dry and bitter, could do with being a bit more bitterness for me, but very easy to drink, not bad at all.

I have quite a lot to write up to come, please be patient with me... Cheers m'dears! 😁

February Whisky of the Month

OK, I own up, I opened this bottle for Burns Night on the 25th January, to go with the haggis and mashed neeps and tatties, but kept some back for February as I wanted this to be my whisky of the month, and January already had a Whiskey of the Month (blog). So, my February Whisky of the Month is from Tomatin Distillery (website), on the road (A9), and near to, Inverness in Scotland. Tomatin is classified as a Highland Whisky, but is very close area-wise to being a Speyside Whisky, and is similarly non-peaty and very smooth. The distillery was set up in 1897, when they also built homes for their workforce (still used), as it was an isolated location.

The Tomatin Legacy Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (43.0%) is made from Scottish barley, with the naturally soft water of the Alt-na-Frith burn as its water source, then matured in used Bourbon casks and Virgin Oak casks. This produces a fruity grape aroma with hints of spices and vanilla, and a light peachy, biscuit and butterscotch flavour, and very easy to drink! If you haven't tried whiskies before, I would suggest this, a Speyside, or an Irish whiskey, would be a good start, and you can pick up a bottle of the Tomatin Legacy for less than £30, sláinte! 👍

Trappist January 2026

You'll have already noticed I ignored the call for 'Dry January' of course, but for this blog I went for the 3 Rochefort bottles they had at Hastings Eel & Bear (blog). I'll deal with them going up in strength, with a bonus La Trappe to finish off the blog. First the Trappistes Rochefort series (website). Brewing had started at the 13th century Abbey of Notre-Dame de St-Remy by 1595, whilst the monks worked on farming and mining beforehand. During the revolutionary period from 1789, the monks fled from French troops, returning 100 years later. Because of looting and the destruction of their church they built a new church and brewery and, as farming failed to meet the monastery's financial needs, they supplemented their income by selling their beers. 

By 1952 professional brewing became their main source of income, a new brewery was built in 1960, and since 2020 brewing in a brand new 'state of the art' brewhouse. They started brewing all 3 of these ales in the 1950s, Rochefort 6 being the first brewed from 1950. Hallertau (hopslist) and Styrian Golding hops (hopslist) are used for all their beers. Rochefort 6 (7.5%), aka as the "Trappiste" is a deep reddish amber colour, with a gentle fruity aroma, and fruity, slightly malty taste, a dry bitter finish, very easy to drink, nice one! 😁

The Rochefort 8 (9.2%) aka "The Speciale" was the third of these brewed from 1955, originally for the Christmas season. The aroma is dark fruits with a hint of cloves like a fruit cake, the colour is a darker tawny, and the flavours appropriately include a BIG fruity taste, with dark and dried fruits, and a very subtle toasted bread and malt, ending with a dry finish, but not quite as bitter as the Rochefort 6. I did like all of these, it's pretty darn good! 😋

The second eldest, first brewed in-between the other 2 in the early 1950s, Rochefort 10 (11.3%) aka La "Merveille" (trans. wonder or miracle). A deep reddish brown in colour, with a spicy, figs and dark fruits, slightly smoky aroma. It's sweet at first, and pretty much full of dark spicy fruits in the taste, a little chocolate too, drying out with a nutty slightly bitter finish. Indeed, a Black Forest Gateau of a beer, plenty of body, rich and luxurious, gorgeous. And not to forget that all the Rochefort ales are bottle conditioned of course, and all superb! 👍

Finally, the 10.0% Quadrupel from La Trappe (website), which La Trappe claims to be the first Quadrupel ever brewed! La Trappe Quadrupel is a dark reddish brown colour, and brewed with Hallertau Northern Brewer (hopslist) and Slovenian Super Steirer (also known as Super Styrian, ie Aurora grown in Slovenia - hopslist), this Quadrupel has a dark fruits and slightly vanilla aroma, as with many malty or slightly malty ales I detected butterscotch, as well as dark fruits in the flavour. Rich, slightly sweet, and smooth to drink, with warmth from the alcohol, but a dry finish, making it very drinkable, good stuff, cheers folks, Happy Trappist January! 😉

Siren CCC Caribbean Chocolate Cake Series

I had to drink these 4 beers from Berkshire brewery Siren Craft Brew (website) as soon as I saw the cans in Hastings Eel & Bear (blog), drinking one on the day, and the other three at home in the period leading up to Christmas, as you'll see from the other photographs. These beers are the 4 from their 2025 CCC (Caribbean Chocolate Cake) Stout series, apparently they brew something new every year, and they have been developing these series since 2013. There are a couple of uniquely used in Britain (at least they were) additions to these beers: they use wood infusion spirals (The Malt Miller), including "Cypress Wood and the distinctive spicy notes of Amburana" plus Cacao husks as well as nibs, in the maturation, producing big flavours! 😁

The first was the 7.4% Dark Chocolate CCC Imperial Stout, and I'm going to be using some similar terminology as I go through these, so let's start off by saying they are all pretty luxurious! 😉 As well as the aforementioned ingredients, Sabro hops (The Malt Miller) and lactose is added to all the brews, and coffee and liquorice to this. They say a "Tropical Stout with Cacao & Cypress Wood" and my notes say "I was surprised there was very little aroma, but boy, very much dark chocolate flavour, not very sweet at all, amazingly dry finish and refreshing!" Quality!

Next is the, again 7.4% Milk Chocolate CCC Imperial Stout, with vanilla added to this brew. They say a "Tropical Stout with Cacao & Cypress Wood" and my notes, "Says 'Milk' Chocolate, but has smooth real/darker chocolate flavour with a hint of vanilla." I thought it was pretty good too, but I added no superlatives for this. 😏

The third beer was the slightly stronger 8.4% Deconstructed Barrel CCC, with Bourbon 'Barrel Aged Cacao' added during maturation and also aged on chopped 'Barrel Staves'. They say "Tropical Stout aged on Bourbon Barrel Staves" and I wrote "BIG Chocolate flavour, hint of Whisky and Vanilla in the aroma, Dry Finish, Excellent!" 😊

Finally, the rather strong 14.0% (Darth By) CCC, apparently brewed with Emperor's Brewery of Leicestershire involvement (website), with vanilla and spices (not specified) added. They say "Imperial Tropical Stout with Cacao & Cypress Wood" and I noted "Subtle Chocolate Aroma with a hint of Coffee and Vanilla. Incredible Dark Chocolate taste +++ Rich and Thick. A dry finish after a sweet initial flavour." Luxurious indeed, loved it, cheers! 😋

PS. Just realised that I have had a CCC before, a 2024 version (blog). 👍

January Whiskey of the Month

The Christmas cards give a hint that I first tasted this a couple of weeks ago as my seasonal whiskey, but I'm presenting it as my January Whiskey of the Month, that is The Busker Triple Cask (40.0%), distilled at Royal Oak Distillery in County Carlow, Ireland (website). I had the stronger 44.3% The Busker Single Grain as my whiskey of the month 11 months ago (blog), so I may repeat myself a wee bit here, but this is a significantly different whiskey. 😊

The Busker Triple Cask is a blend of the Single Grain, Single Malt and Single Pot Still whiskeys in the distillery, and presented in a similar heavy squarish bottle, but with a different label obviously! This whiskey is matured in 3 different casks, first in Bourbon casks from the USA, then in Sicilian Marsala casks, and finally in Spanish Sherry casks, with the whiskey gaining unique influences in taste from each cask. It is pale amber in colour, quite sweet at first taste, with hints of dark chocolate, dried dark fruits, vanilla fudge and cinnamon to taste, and with a clean, but robust finish, again very reasonably priced, and very enjoyable, sláinte! 👍

Jolly Fisherman Dark Beer Festival Report

Indeed, I have attended the 2026 Dark Beer Festival held at The Jolly Fisherman (blog), 3 East Beach Street, Hastings TN34 3AR, and there were some very interesting beers available, and the 'rare classic' I mentioned is first on this blog's list. I'm starting off with the cask ales first, followed by the crafty keg beers, and with the full list in the bottom image, because I haven't imbibed them all. 😉 There are a few not great images, but those photographs were taken in the evening, so lighting wasn't great, my apologies, I trust you'll cope! 🍺

The 'classic' in question is Thomas Hardy's Ale (11.3%), originally brewed by Eldridge Pope, who sadly no longer exist, closing in 2003. In 2013 ownership of the recipe/brand was bought by 2 brothers, Sandro and Michele Vecchiato, in more recent times it has been brewed in West Sussex at Hepworth Brewery (website). You will notice that this barley wine, and the one following, aren't really dark beers at all, but they certainly are strong ales!

Thomas Hardy's Ale is brewed with Maris Otter pale malt, a small amount of Crystal malt in the grist, and with a small amount of cane syrup to increase the gravity. The hop varieties used are Fuggle (hopslist) and Golding (hopslist), producing a complex flavour, certainly big malt taste from the Crystal, my notes say "sweet start, dry bitterness, almost metallic finish, good stuff! 👍 The image I used includes the charity box for cystic fibrosis remembering my training module at Sydenham Children's Hospital, who were then the local 'experts' for the condition.

The second barley wine is a wee bit paler, brewed in the West Midlands at Sarah Hughes Brewery (website), renowned for their 6.0% Dark Ruby Mild. However, this ale was their Snowflake, named CAMRA's Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2 years ago. Similar to the Thomas Hardy's it is brewed with Maris Otter pale malt and a small amount of Crystal, and the same hops too, Fuggle and Golding, a barley wine recipe indeed, but with no added sugars to make it as strong. So, not as powerful, but still a big 8.0% with a fruity sweetness at first taste, with spicy orange and a hint of vanilla, but dried out to a bitter finish, nice one. 😁

My third cask ale here, though drunk earlier, was from the traditional heartland of Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire, and Burton Bridge Brewery (website), their 4.0% (dark) XL Mild. I believe brewed with the same hops as the 2 barley wines, but this is a much darker brew, very easy to drink, smooth with hints of liquorice and caramel in the taste, a little nutty, smooth and, yes, very easy to drink indeed, good stuff! 😊

On to my first keg beer and, from German brewery Konig Ludwig (website), their 5.5% Weissbier Dunkel, a Bavarian dark reddish wheat beer. They use Hallertau hops (hopslist) for their lighter weissbier, probably for this too, but certainly other hops from the same region must be used, although I do apologise for not being able to ascertain which hops. I found, quoting from my notes, it has a very fruity aroma and taste, dark and stoned fruits, hints of spices, chocolate and banana, light in depth and a dry bitter finish, very drinkable. 👍

Next, from the North West in Salford, Pomona Island Brew Co (website), their 6.5% Frangipane/Pastry Stout, No 'Rabbit in a Hat' Tricks, which does what it suggests, tasting of almond, vanilla and with hints of caramel and chocolate. I cannot find the hops used, but the flavour is dominated by the malts used and additions, it is a rich smooth luxurious beer! 👌

To Belgium for this one and Brouwerij Rodenbach (website), their Vintage, a classic 7.0% Flanders Red, matured in (not all of!) 294 enormous oak casks (foeders) for 2 years in cellars below the brewery, in which a secondary fermentation is created by wild yeasts. An older style of porter has a very important influence following Eugene Rodenbach's visit to England in the 1870s, where he learnt how to brew the porter of that time, which probably influenced his choice of hops too. Hops used in the copper include English types like Target and Brewers Gold, but the hops are used for retarding bacteria, not to balance the beer, the flavours develop in the foeders! Rodenbach Vintage tastes of red berries and tart apples, it really is bitter-sweet, not overly tart but gently pronounced. Surprisingly easy to drink. 😮

My penultimate beer reviewed is also from Belgium, but this time from a Trappist brewery, that is Chimay (website), and their 9.0% Grande Reserve (Blue). Chimay primarily use Hersbrucker hops for their beers (hopslist), sadly, I cannot discover whatever else is added for this one. Dark and dried fruits in the aroma and taste, with subtle hints of liquorice and chocolate, my notes say "complex and delightful" and yes, I liked it a lot, pretty darn good! 😁

Finally, the strongest ale here, just, a collaboration between West Yorkshire's Amity Brew Co (website), where it's brewed, and Leicestershire's Emperor's Brewery (website), Twelve Parsecs, a 12.0% Tiramisu Imperial Stout. Brewed with 8 different malt varieties, and for the tiramisu edge, Brazilian coffee beans are suspended in the fermenter for 2 days, replaced by cacao nibs for 5 days. The hops used are not divulged, but the aroma and taste are all about the malts, coffee and cacao, and they produce the desired effect, with chocolate, coffee and vanilla significant. It's described as a 'rich and decadent tiramisu stout' and that is what you get. 😉

I didn't drink every beer, as said above, a few too many for just a couple of visits, but the full list of what was available is in the image above, cheers folks! 🍻