Back to Rye and the Waterworks Micropub...

I'm gradually getting around again, but being very careful and administering regular Lateral Flow Tests to be sure, as one does, and yesterday I got to the Rye Waterworks micropub, which I first visited soon after it first opened getting on for 4 years ago (blog). The Rye Waterworks (website) is in Rye, unsurprisingly, in Tower Street on the corner with Rope Walk TN31 7NT (tel: 01797 224110), and just a few minutes walk from the railway station and main bus stops. 

Opening times are 2.00-10pm Monday to Thursday; 2.00 to 11.00pm Friday; 12 noon to 11.00pm Saturday; 12 noon to 10.00pm Sunday. I included a short piece about the history of the building in that first blog I wrote about this micropub, if you aren't already aware!

Everything in the pub is for sale, including all the furniture (except the bar!), consequently, the interior looks slightly different every visit (above, yesterday). As you can see from the board below, they also sell many different real local ciders, and beers from local breweries. I'll write further down about the beers I tasted, with breweries and beers available yesterday here:

Brumaison of Tonbridge (website) Best Bitter and Beulter;

Hopfuzz of Hythe (website) Blacksmith's Stout and Lager;

Only With Love of Uckfield (website) Dance Every Day and low gravity (0.5%) Juicy;

Romney Marsh of New Romney (website) Amber Ale and American Pale Ale;

Three Legs of Brede (website) Pale;

And the Waterworks own ale WW Pee Shooter Best. There is an application for planning permission in for their own brewery, but currently they are a nomadic brewery, brewing at other local breweries. Oh yes, and all 8 ales cost just £3.70 a pint, value!

So, to the ales I drank yesterday, of course I had to start with their own ale, the Pee Shooter Best, at 4.0% a very easy drinking session bitter and they're certainly attaining a decent recipe, very enjoyable. I also drank the Three Legs Pale, another session ale at 3.7%, slightly hazy and I think it's brewed with Columbus and Cascade hops, so quite citrus and fruity, but very light in taste, again, very easy to drink! I also drank the Romney Marsh American Pale Ale, at 5.0% it has a bit more oomph! Big flavour and aroma from the American hops used, the hops change over the months and years, but I believe Simcoe are the current hops of choice.

I just had to taste the Only With Love Dance Every Day, another paler session ale at 3.8%, hazy and full of flavour being dry hopped with Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe hops. Very interesting!

Oh yes, and they still sell those locally produced Scotch Eggs and Pork Pies, very tasty.

Great to see all the family yesterday, and a Happy Birthday to son Eddie, and great to see Lotte working behind the bar again, a great afternoon with much friendly chat, cheers to all!

Oakham Ales Sad News...

I have written about Oakham Ales quite a lot recently (eg blog), but was saddened to discover when I was looking to contact them, that their head brewer, Alex Kean, passed away just before Christmas. My thoughts and condolences go to his wife, family, colleagues and friends. 

Alex Kean R.I.P. 

HASTINGS OLD TOWN NEW YEAR VISITS!

The Albion, 33 George Street TN34 3EA (website), plus it has an entrance opposite the seafront, sells 3 ales from Sussex and Kent brewers, normally Harvey’s Sussex Best (website) and a pale bitter and a darker beer; one usually from Bedlam Brewery (website). If visiting make sure you have a debit card with you (or other electronic payment device, how thinks change!) as they do not take cash. Oh yes, and they sell some amazing pies and Cornish Pasties!

The Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock-a-Nore Road TN34 3DW, which opens at 11.00 every day of the week, please ignore the 12.00 opening mentioned on the website, and with its South-facing balcony virtually opposite the Fish Market, has changed its ale range from 3 regular and 3 guest ales to 2 and 4 respectively, sort of 😏 The regular ales are Harvey’s Sussex Best (website) and Dark Star Hophead (website), and the guest ales have been including a dark beer (Winter/Old Ale, Porter or Stout), an equivalent to a Special/Best Bitter from local breweries, or Young's Special, I refuse to call it anything else (especially as it is no longer brewed in Wandsworth - website), and usually an APA style dry pale bitter, often from the very excellent Kent Brewery (website) or also excellent Oakham Ales (website). Live music has returned on Saturday evenings, and very decent food is usually served every lunchtime/afternoon except Tuesdays, plus special evenings, including a good value Fish Supper deal on Monday evenings.

The First In Last Out (FILO), 14-15 High Street TN34 3EY (website), which brews its own ales a short way from the pub up Old London Road, continues to sell 5 of their own beers, and 1 or 2 guest ales. Their range includes pale to darker beers, including a Porter, the award-winning Gold, and had their own dark seasonal Winter Warmer when I last visited. They also sell excellent food; open 12.00 to 14.30 and 18.00 to 21.00 Monday to Saturday, and 12.00 to 15.00 Sundays.

The Jolly Fisherman, 3 East Beach Street TN34 3AR (website), a cosy micropub, continues to sell a good range of real ales in addition to crafty keg beers, and not forgetting some very interesting bottled beers, noticeably some great Belgian ones! Just recently, in early January, they had a Dark Beer Festival, with 10 Stouts and Porters on offer; outside of festivals they have darker beers regularly too. Opening hours are a wee bit limited; 16.00 to 23.00 Wednesday to Friday, 14.00 to 23.00 Saturday and 14.00 to 22.30 on Sunday, so not the first place to visit.

The Lord Nelson, 1 East Bourne Street TN34 3DP, at the bottom of The Bourne (facebook page), sells Courage Directors (website) and Harvey’s Sussex Best (website). Live music is played here on Sundays, early evening.

Cheers! 🍻

New Year Ales!

I have had some excellent pale, dry and bitter ales over the past week, notably the excellent 4.8% Oakham Frozen Fresh Hop Citra, a delight, and a variation on a green-hopped ale, where fresh hops, usually used on the day they are picked, are used in the brew. In this instance, the U.S. Citra hops used were 'flash frozen' within a few hours of being picked and arrived at the brewery in the middle of November, when they were thawed out and used a day later for this brew. I can only repeat what I wrote in my notes: very pale with a BIG fruity citrus aroma, bl**dy good with a clean dry bitter finish, and I added 3 ticks, which I don't often go that far, exceptional!

Since that 'Citra' ran out, I have been drinking the more regular 4.2% 'Session IPA' Oakham Citra which they describe as 'feisty, hoppy, citrus' and, in this instance, they are very correct, it does what it says on the label. More easily available dried Citra hops are used, but they still produce a big citrus aroma and flavour, also pale dry and bitter, and very good indeed!

You may take it from this blog I have been drinking plenty of Oakham Ales (website) beers recently, one of my favourite brewers, including their superb 4.6% Bishops Farwell. I have also been drinking other excellent pale dry bitter ales from another of my favourite brewers, Kent Brewery (website), just sneaking into the photograph immediately above is their 5% Brewers Reserve, but also other quality pale bitters, including their own 4.5% Citra (there's a lot of it about 😉), the 4.2% The Quiet American, with a more subtle use of hops from the U.S.A., the 4.9% Tropic Ale, and the excellent 4.8% Prohibition, quality, and with its own 'fan club' of drinkers who follow the beer around Kent and East Sussex to grab a few pints of Prohibition!

I have also sampled some other fine paler ales from nearby and further afield, and for my next blog I will write about some darker ales I have enjoyed, cheers and a Happy New Year!