2 Excellent Pale Ales, Spoilt for Choice!

Indeed, yesterday I was in The Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings TN34 3DW (website), and was spoilt for choice, not just the 3 regular ales, Dark Star Hophead, Harvey's Sussex Best and 360 Degrees Bluebell Sussex Best, but Harvey's Old as one of their regular winter guest ales, and 2 spectacular pale hoppy guest ales! And regular readers will be well aware of my love of pale dry bitters, and first I shall  refer to the ale in the photograph above.

From Derby based Shiny Brewery (website), whose goal is to create excellent hoppy beers, but also to make people happy (REM + Kate Pierson of the B52s - YouTube), their 4.6% Affinity. This is a vegan friendly and gluten free golden ale, consequently slightly hazy, although dropped out more for today, so much clearer on the third day after placing on stillage. A big fruity aroma hits you as soon as it's poured, and it stays there in your nose, plenty of body, and apparently with Citra hops used (Hopslist), thus explaining the citrus, particularly grapefruit, and forest fruits in the taste and aroma, and finished with a refreshing dryness, excellent!

For comparative research purposes, obviously, I also drank the more local, from Kent Brewery (website), and a similar strength at 4.5% Pilgrim, #37 in their single-hopped series, and very different from Affinity. Pilgrim hops (hopslist) were developed in England and released for sale in the year 2000, and produce a much more subtle fruitiness than the US developed Citra, but still with grapefruit and pear taste and a hint of berries. This dries out much more than the Affinity to a dry bitterness, I'd advise, if you were to try both, start first with the paler golden Pilgrim, yet another excellent ale from Kent Brewery, and a tad more refreshing than Affinity, nice one!

What can I say in comparison, I'd be happy to drink either in any session, cheers!

London: More Serious than just a Pub Crawl, honest!

I travelled to Charing Cross Station on Saturday because of the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, although I didn't join in with any other commemorations or demonstrations (Independent) as I had my own objective. I did enjoy my walk from the Station, when soon after leaving Charing Cross you reach Trafalgar Square, and can cross to The Mall, which is closed to traffic at the moment, so meaning a peaceful walk along The Mall to Buckingham Palace (above).

Buckingham Palace was originally called Buckingham House when John Sheffield, then the Duke of Buckingham acquired the property and had an older house demolished and the site then rebuilt on at the end of the 17th century. George III acquired Buckingham House in 1762 as a residence for his wife, Queen Charlotte, and when his son (George IV) acceded to the throne in 1820 he decided to turn the building into a palace. Over the years since, and under many monarchs, the building has been altered and added to. For a detailed history of Buckingham Palace go to the Royal Collection Trust website.

If you pass to the right of Buckingham Palace and walk up Constitution Hill you reach the Wellington Arch (above), situated on the Hyde Park Corner roundabout. The arch was originally built as an entrance gate for Buckingham Palace, later becoming a 'victory arch' following Wellington's defeat of Napoleon. Above it was added the largest bronze statue in Europe depicting "the Angel of Peace descending on the 'Quadriga' - or four-horsed chariot - of War." (English Heritage)

From Hyde Park Corner I crossed through Hyde Park, walked north-westerly to Victoria Gate on the Bayswater Road, where I crossed the road to Brook Street. Then walked along a short distance, ignored Hyde Park Gardens, and turned right onto Stanhope Terrace and along to a small roundabout. Here sits The Victoria (above), on the corner at 10a Strathearn Place, W2 2NH (website), a mid-19th century Grade II listed building with an original 1864 built counter and a wonderful interior indeed. Legend has it that Queen Victoria stopped here once on her way to nearby Paddington Station, oh yes, and I drank a couple of pints here too. 😉

Friendly welcome from the staff on entering the pub just after opening at 11.00. I drank Fuller's Grand Slam Spring Ale (3.4%), which the brewery says very little about on its website, so nothing to link. However, I did note at the time that it does what it says on the label, "refreshing, light gold and a subtle fruitiness, nice one" - it must have been, as I did drink 2 pints. 😉

When I left The Victoria I walked straight down Stanhope Terrace to Lancaster Gate and turned right (westwards) onto the Bayswater Road. In just a short distance I reached Leinster Terrace and turned right where, on the right, I reached The Leinster Arms at number 17, W2 3EU (facebook). The Leinster Arms is another Grade II listed mid-19th century pub, and  yes, I had another wee pint. 👍

Again I went for their House Ale called Lennie (4.3%), brewed by nearby West London brewer Portobello (website). Hasn't changed, still a decent enough pale amber bitter, a wee bit sweet to taste at first, and I have no reason to believe that it's not Portobello's 4.3% Star British Bitter, but probably a variation on the theme with English hops used. But I'm only guessing still, however I'm always ready to try something different, and the only alternative was Doom Bar...

On leaving, I headed back to the Bayswater Road, turned right westwards yet again, and continued on to Notting Hill Gate, where the road then becomes Holland Park Avenue. Just before reaching Holland Park tube station, on the corner with Holland Park, on the left (south side of the road), I reached my link to the Ukrainian anniversary day:

The statue of St Volodymyr (above) on the corner of Holland Park Avenue and Holland Park. Volodymyr was from Kyiv, and a major actor in bringing the Russian peoples together in the 10th and 11th centuries. He had been a 'pagan' and converted to Christianity for 2 reasons. He believed having a single deity as in Christian Byzantium (Constantinople), rather than having many pagan deities, would help the unification of the Rus' tribes, and he could only marry the sister of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II if he converted to Christianity (Encyclopedia of Ukraine). 

Volodymyr successfully ensured the unification of the Rus' people, and their conversion to Christianity, and was canonized in the 13th century. However, this statue remains a symbol of Ukrainian defiance of the Russian imperialist assault on Ukraine as you can see from the photograph above, taken yesterday. Incidentally, St Volodymyr is not only the patron saint of Ukraine, but a patron saint of Russia too...

Whilst in the area, I also visited The Castle, 100 Holland Park Avenue, W11 4UA (website), which was originally built in 1827. and the frontage added in 1857. I hadn't been here for about 15 years, and it was strange to discover it is not a listed building when I searched the Historic England website, because it's really a lovely building. 

I drank the Suffolk brewer Adnams (website) Ghost Ship (4.5%), a pale sharp refreshing ale, with a slight citrus flavour from the Citra hops used (and other unspecified hops from the USA) and a dry bitter finish, their best ale, I believe, and enjoyable too.

Oh yes, and I did come for football too.😉

And I was lucky with the weather, that's all for now folks, cheers!🍻

Beer Festival in Hastings 23rd to 25th February 2024

Indeed, commencing 11.00 this lunchtime until 23.00 on Sunday 25th February, is the 7th Tower Beer Festival, strangely enough at The Tower, 251 London Road, St Leonards, Hastings TN37 6NB (facebook). There will be over 20 cask ales (see pump clips in the image above for a hint of what ales will be available) and 7 real ciders for your enjoyment.

Enjoy folks, and cheers Louisa! 🍻

Belgian Beers at Christmas!

For a Christmas present for myself I bought a case of 9 Belgian beers, and a glass, from the Belgian Beer Company (website); I've deleted the email and details so cannot share how much it cost, and I can assure you I'm not being paid for this, but it must have been a reasonable deal for me to go for it! 😁 Subsequently, I'm writing this blog, a little late, to share my opinions.

The first beer I'll comment on, and I didn't drink them in this order, by the way, was from Brouwerij Haacht (website), indeed, all the beers featured in this blog are, and was their 8.5% Charles Quint Ruby Red, which was a deep dark red colour. Slightly fruity and sweet to start with, not too sweet though, and dried out to a mild bitterness at the finish. Apparently, orange peel included in the brew, which I made no note of detecting, but I quite liked it, scores 6.5/10.

Next was the Charles Quint Golden Blond, also 8.5%, and my notes say a very good 'typical' Belgian Blond. A slightly spicy aroma, a wee bit bitter with a dry finish, and, like the Ruby Red top fermented, thus an ale; and as I said, very good, so scores 8/10.

Next was the bottle-conditioned 'Abbey' Tongerlo Blond (6.0%), with a hint of honey in the aroma and a pale copper colour. This was a very gentle ale to drink and I noted that this would be "very easy to drink all day!" It was smooth and dry in the mouth, with a dry bitter finish; 7/10.

Another bottle-conditioned 'Abbey' ale, Tongerlo Prior Tripel (9.0%), comes next on my list. This was a golden colour, with plenty of body and flavour, as I'd expect from its strength. A slightly fruity taste and again I noted 'very good' but this shades it for 8.5/10.

The Ommegang (8.0%), not to be confused with the similarly named American brewery (website) was another bottle-conditioned 'Abbey' ale. Blond in colour, but a bit too sweet for me, indeed, I found it a wee bit bland too. It had a nice dry finish, but scores just 6/10

Not what I expect with Belgian beers, but the Super 8 IPA (6.0%) was a good version of an 'Indian Pale Ale' indeed! With citrus in the aroma and hints of grapefruit in the taste, this amber coloured hoppy ale was full of flavour and deceptively easy to drink and very refreshing; 7/10.

To something very different for me, the 3.4% Super 8 Cherry, formerly called Mystic Cherry. This was a wheat beer with added cherry concentrate (with no preservatives), and you can smell and taste the cherries! A big fruity aroma and taste, as you'd expect a bit sweet for me, but it would go well with dessert... Difficult for me to score but I'll suggest 6/10.

Now to the 2 bottom-fermented lagers, first the Super 8 Export (4.8%), which was a Pilsner style lager. A blond colour with a big aroma, smooth with plenty of flavour. Now, you'll appreciate I'm not a lager drinker, but I could happily drink this were I not able to get an ale, thus 7/10.

Finally, Haacht's 'premium' lager, Primus (5.2%), a pale golden Pilsner, with an aroma I associate with Belgian lagers similar to Stella, that is, Stella brewed in Leuven! 👍 A bit sweet to start off, but not too bad, I'm scoring it as 6.5/10.

You'll notice by lack of cards in the photograph's background, I didn't wait for Christmas to drink the 2 lagers and the Cherry beer, but I was well pleased with the 9 beers I discuss above. The Charles Quint Golden Blond came a close second in my ranking, but the Tongerlo Prior Tripel shaded my scoring, thus my decision, cheers! 🍻

A Wee Pub Crawl South West/West London...

I had a walk westwards along the Thames Path from Clapham Junction station, nipped off a few hundred yards inland to The Crane, SW18 1EZ, which used to be a Youngs pub, sadly sold to Punch Pubco, who now want to sell it on too apparently. This was the oldest pub in Wandsworth (built in 1738), but has ceased trading for a little over 2 years now... I realise I hadn't visited for a while, but presume I'm not at fault for its closure...

So I wandered back by the River Wandle to the Thames and continued westwards to Putney, where I had a pint in The Rocket (website) at Putney Wharf Tower, virtually next door to the historic St Mary's Church, which hosted the Putney Debates in 1647 (website), where members of the New Model Army debated the form of 'democracy' that should replace the Kingdom.

This is a Wetherspoons in a modern building, with an excellent view of the river and Putney Bridge, and usually has at least one very good ale on sale, and they didn't let me down on this visit. The East London (website) Bow Creek, a 4.5% (5.5% in cans) West Coast IPA, brewed with Amarillo, Citra, Columbus and Ekuanot hops, right up my street! Pale golden colour, and they suggest 'marmalade and citrus, crisp and dry' which I cannot disagree with, my notes plainly state "very nice" and I'd recommend it if your taste is like mine in ale, pale, dry and bitter.

I then walked further west to Hammersmith Bridge (above, first opened in 1887), one of my favourite bridges, even more so now it's closed to traffic, basically the money isn't there to strengthen/repair it for heavier traffic, so just pedestrians and pushed cycles. Anyway, I crossed the Thames here to Hammersmith, didn't visit The Dove on the riverfront this time, but...

Carried on to The Salutation, 154 King Street W6 0QU (website), a Fullers pub with an excellent Thai kitchen attached, and where my brother and I ate on my last visit, very nice too!

The Salutation is a Grade II listed structure, built in 1910, and where better to drink a pint of Fullers ESB, their 5.5% Extra Special Bitter (5.9% in bottle)? This is a full reddish brown bitter, basically, it does what it says on the label, plenty of flavour, rich, malty with a bitter finish, I've had my moments after drinking too much, but not for many years, I've matured too! 😉

I then carried on east to Hammersmith Broadway, where I turned north and walked up to the Brook Green Hotel, 170 Shepherds Bush Road W6 7PB (website). Now I have a bit of history of Brook Green, in my teens I used to go to day release study at Brook Green College at the other end of the Green to the pub, this college no longer exists but is something owned by Virgin now, but I did have a few romantic episodes in my yoof, aaah... 💘

Oh yes, and the pub, well I have stayed there a few times when coming to London for evening football matches, but it looks pretty expensive now, although hasn't all accommodation shot up in price since the first Covid lockdown?!? On this occasion I only visited for a pint for old times sake before heading off for other business. There was only one ale on offer, although they do have pumps available for more, I was hoping for a nice local guest ale, like Naked Ladies from Twickenham, as most Youngs pubs have guest ales from microbreweries, but no...

What we used to call Youngs Ordinary, they now call Youngs London Original (3.7%), which isn't brewed in London anymore, but if you've never had this, it is what you'd expect, a session bitter that really needs a bottle of Ramrod added to a half, or Light & Bitter, as we used to ask for in my youth, and you always used to receive significantly more than a pint. Depending on the generosity of the publican and/or staff, you'd have somewhere between just over a half pint in a pint glass, to anything up to about three-quarters of a pint, and then add some of the half pint bottle (not usually Ramrod, but a Light Ale), and you topped up with the light ale, memories...

Cheers folks! 🍻