Well, I didn't walk there and back this time, indeed, a quiet Friday and it seemed a good time to catch the train back to Rye (£6.30 cheap day return from Hastings, not bad) and revisit the
Rye Waterworks micropub (
facebook) on the corner of Tower Street and Rope Walk, TN31 7AT. Not much more work on the building to do for David now, I imagine, just the usual upkeep, and no doubt he has many small alterations he wants to make here and there! Anyway, I wrote about the history of this lovely cool wee building before, so, if you haven't already read it I suggest you go to my previous
blog, cheers!
This was the array of beers and ciders I was presented with even before entering the building, so a good time to talk about what I had to drink, regular readers will know I prefer pale hoppy ales, but, as you can see, there is a good variety of traditional bitters, darker ales, and ciders too. I went for 3 of the ales again on this visit... From
Hopfuzz of West Hythe (
website), and remember, David sources his beers from a 20 mile radius of Rye, I began with their 3.6%
Fallout, a golden session bitter, with a slight maltiness and hints of fruits, starting off with a sweetness to the taste, but a nice bitter finish. Not a bad start at all...
Then I moved on to the stronger ale from
Romney of New Romney (
website), their 5%
American Pale, slightly darker golden/amber, does what it says on the label, apparently using American hops that may change between brews, eg they have so far used
Azacca,
Citra,
Summit and
Simcoe hops in their brews. I'm guessing they hadn't used
Citra in this brew, at least I didn't detect any hints, this ale had much more body, as you'd expect, a little bit too sweet for me at first taste, but certainly dries out with a nice bitter finish, getting there...
Before I go on to the third ale of the day I'll quickly mention that David is now providing
local gins for customers too, a selection of which arrived just after I wandered in; and included
Tom Cat Dry Sussex Gin (
website),
Chapel Down Bacchus Gin (
website), and
Mayfield Sussex Hop Gin (
website). I'm also aware that David is also seeking out local producers of perry, indeed, as I write, so there's even more to look forward to...
Oh! And remember that I told you in my previous
blog that, basically, if it's not nailed down, all the furniture and curios at Rye Waterworks are for sale, consequently every time you visit you are likely to be witnessing a slightly different micropub. See the image below for a comparison from the last time I visited, similar view/different furniture.
Oh yes, and my final ale, well actually I had more than just the one pint of it, but I do like their regular pale session bitter, from
The Three Legs of Broad Oak (
website), that is the 3.7%
Pale. I haven't written much different in my notes this time: "pale golden, lovely, dry and bitter, fruity aroma and taste, very nice!" And with a smiley face too 😊
Anything else to add? Well I ate one of their locally produced (that morning!) Scotch Eggs (please look away of you're vegetarian), it was nice, tasty and large, and served up with English Mustard and/or a very locally produced spicy chutney, indeed, made by David's next door neighbour I seem to remember him saying, both Scotch Egg and Chutney were quite delicious!
I must have enjoyed myself, because I stayed for a few hours, cool inside on a hot day, nice ale and food, and plenty of pleasant company and dscourse...
Finally, for today, David told me that, due to the huge number of charities that keep asking for support or wanting him to display their collection boxes, he has chosen just the one local charity as the defined charity of Rye Waterworks, ie
Little Gate Farm (
website), which "helps adults and children with Learning Disabilities and Autism." Nice one, cheers again David!
