Happy St. Bernard's Day!

Indeed, Happy St Bernard's Day! Two regulars of mine to celebrate, first the darker English Trappist Ale brewed by Cistercian monks at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire (website), Tynt Meadow (7.4%). Dark ruby red/mahogany colour with a big fruity aroma and flavour. Not the citrus fruits I normally enjoy, but rich darker fruits, with a touch of chocolate and malt/toffee in the taste, plenty of body and smooth, and slightly sweet, Tynt Meadow is bottled conditioned, consequently having a long shelf life, so store in a cool place, drink quite chilled, and pour out carefully, unless you enjoy the addition of yeast particles from the lees. 😁

Second, and which I have written about reasonably often (eg blog), is from Brouwerij St Bernadus (website), their St Bernadus ABT 12 (10.0%), also bottle conditioned. Strictly, not a Trappist ale, but you wouldn't know it, as they had earlier brewed Trappist ales for the Trappist monks at Westvleteren from 1946 to 1992. In 1998 Hans Depypere bought the business and it has flourished since. The St Bernadus ABT 12 is a very deep dark coloured red Quadrupel, brewed with hops grown in their own hop field. This has a slightly malty/fruity aroma, again, a bit sweet, but with a dry slightly bitter finish. Tasting of dark plum and damson fruits, indeed, a Christmas Pudding of a beer, as many Quadrupels tend to be, very rich and tasty, nice one! 😋

But who was St Bernard? Bernard of Clairvaux was a 12th century monk, then Abbot, who was a principle actor in the foundation of the Knights Templar, and in the creation of the Cistercian Order that broke away from the Benedictines. Indeed, the Cistercians are also called Bernardines, after Bernard of Clairvaux, or White Monks, as they dropped the black cowl warn by Benedictines. Unsurprisingly, St Bernard is patron saint of the Cistercians and Knights Templar, and also patron saint of bees, beekeepers, and candle makers/chandlers. Knowledge! 👍

So, to celebrate, maybe raise a glass of Tynt Meadow or St Bernadus, cheers! 🍺

Portsmouth's 2 Oldest Pubs?

We only visited 2 pubs when I recently visited Portsmouth as I was a wee bit limited by my company, so unsurprisingly, I chose the 2 that claim to be the oldest pubs in 'Old Portsmouth.' The best on the day was The Dolphin Pub, 41 High Street PO1 2LU (website), opposite the Cathedral, and one of the few buildings in the High Street to have survived bombing during World War II (the town hall next door was flattened!). Apparently built in and certainly licensed from 1716, this Grade II Listed public house has beams made from repurposed wood of ships, and stone flags on the floor. So yes, a very old construction, but in recent times opened out, and more modern decoration, which gives it a kind of 'postmodern' feel inside.

We ate here, which was fine (it was the second of these pubs we visited), and we drank a few pints of Fuller's London Pride (4.1%), which was in reasonable form, indeed, Pride does need to be sold quickly as it doesn't last too long in opened casks (cellar experience there folks!). Brewed with English hops Target (hopslist), Northdown (hopslist), Challenger (hopslist) and East Kent Golding (hopslist), it is a slightly malty and bitter traditional session bitter. CAMRA (website) describe it thus: "Aromas of malt and citrus. The malty sweetness is balanced by spicy bitter hops with orange, apricot, sultanas and toffee." They can have up to 4 ales on, and they did have one other, but I didn't take a note of it as it wasn't something interesting, sorry folks. 😔

We had first visited, a short walk away, The Wellington, 62 High Street PO1 2LY (website), which also claims to be the oldest pub in Portsmouth, built in 1710, but with the frontage reconstructed during the 20th century. The interior had no historical feel about it, but the structure is pretty much as it was built over 300 years ago!

There can be up to 2 ales here, but on the day only 1 was available, St Austell Tribute, a 4.2% pale slightly bitter ale (website), brewed with Fuggle (hopslist), Celeia (hopslist), and Willamette (hopslist) hops; by the by, Willamette is a hop I used to be very familiar brewing with in my days working at the old Kelham Island Brewery. Tribute was first brewed after the solar eclipse of 1999 and was then called 'Daylight Robbery' and has since been renamed. Because of the English and U.S. hop mix, it's not a 'traditional' English bitter as such, but a slightly darker version of many modern pale ales, gentle citrus, and usually very easy to drink. Not on this day sadly, as it was knackered, hence our only staying for the 1 pint each, oh well! 👎

If you go to Portsmouth, there are many other pubs too, good luck and cheers! ✌

Eel & Bear, Hastings, Update!

I first wrote about the Eel & Bear, 28 Waldegrave Street TN34 1SJ (01424 602055 - website), soon after it opened 8 years ago (blog). Very recently there were fears it would be no more as Nick and Mary had decided not to renew their lease with the landlord. However, it has now been taken over by Claire, who is new to this business, but who has been a successful businesswoman in another field, with only 2 days closed to the public in-between! So, best wishes and good luck to Nick, Mary and family for their future, and a warm welcome to Claire, with support from her partner Jason, WELCOME! 👍

I've visited a few times already and can say that you will continue to receive a warm welcome there, and not much has changed yet regarding beers, ciders and wines available, although no doubt there will be subtle changes to come. What have altered sightly are opening times, to begin with the Eel & Bear will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays; Wednesday-Thursday open 12-6pm; Friday-Saturday open 12-9pm; Sunday open 12-6pm. 😁

Oh yes, and after pressure from John, they will be selling potato crisps, cheers Claire! 😉

St Leonards With New Pub For Me - Hastings

I didn't actually walk these pubs in this order, but this is more of an order to walk, I'll explain as I go on. 😉 My mate Paul and I decided to have a short pub crawl around St Leonards as his wife was away for the day visiting her daughter and grandchildren, we visited 3 of these pubs, one twice, as one was closed that day. So, here I am starting off with the Grade II Listed, very nearly 200 years old, Horse & Groom, 4 Mercatoria TN38 0EB (facebook), with 4 handpumps, the one regular ale being the virtually ubiquitous Harvey's Sussex Best (website).

I drank 2 ales from the reasonably local (East Sussex), and certainly improving, Lakedown Brewing Co (website). First, their 4.5% English IPA Eddy, a light amber colour, brewed with English hops, although not divulged which hops are used. Not quite as dark or as bitter as a traditional IPA, but easy to drink, and I had a tasty cheese and red onion bap/sandwich too.

Then I went for a more interesting 4.8% American Stout Marquee, apparently brewed with Centennial (hopslist) and Golding (hopslist) hops. I'll write what I noted at the time first, "Pretty damn good, a wee bit fruity, hint of coffee in the taste with a dry finish" and less chocolate than I expected. The citrus fruitiness coming, presumably, from the Centennial hops, and the darker fruit flavours from the malt and Goldings. A 'light' stout and I liked it! 😁

Come out of the pub, walk down Norman Road a short distance and turn left and the next port of call is slightly newer (1830s) The Nags Head, 8-9 Gensing Road TN38 0ER (facebook) with 3-5 ales available, again including Harvey's Sussex Best as a regular I believe, where we drank the ale in the photograph below! Oh yes, and apparently Robert Croker, aka Robert Noonan, aka Robert Tressell who wrote The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (Guardian), used to drink here when he lived nearby in London Road in the early 20th century. ✊

So we went for this ale from the East Anglian brewery Adnams (website), their Citrus Pale Ale Ghost Ship (4.5%). This is a pale sharp refreshing ale, brewed with Citra hops (hopslist), consequently, as you would expect, it has a subtle citrus flavour and a nice refreshing dry bitter finish, and, as I've said before, in my opinion Adnams best ale. 👍

Come out and return to Norman Road and turn left, carry on down and cross London Road, then turn left up Western Road just before you reach Warrior Square Gardens. Up on the left is the pub we missed out on (just me visiting a few days ago this time), because it isn't open on Mondays and Tuesdays, when it can be booked by local charities and community groups. The Prince of Wales, 15 Western Road TN37 6DG (website) is a similar age building to the others, but was a bakers before becoming a beer shop called the Coachmaker's Arms in the early 1850s (bsls) then being licensed as The Prince of Wales from 1855. 

If you've used my link to the pub's website page you'll realise that it was re-opened earlier this year, after being closed for 2 years, by the Hastings Project (website), a "community interest company which brews beer to raise money for local charitable and community projects." Hastings Project was set up by Ed (who I met and had an interesting chat with) and Robbie, who have been brewing as a 'cuckoo brewery' here and there. Tending the bar was a welcoming young woman called Adrien who patiently answered my numerous questions, and who has experience working with the public, but has only worked in licensed premises the last few months, cheers!

Here, I drank a couple of pints of Scottish brewery Fyne Ales (website) Jarl (3.8%), indeed Fyne Ales are one of the breweries whose ales I am never disappointed with, and on my older blog 12 years ago, I placed Jarl as my 'champion' session  bitter (blog). If you don't want to look back at it, here is how I describe it: "a crackin' dry, pale golden and hoppy ale, with plenty of citrus flavours, nice and bitter, and very refreshing" and brewed with Citra hops, nowt's changed!

The pub also has a good selection of bottled beers, including Belgian beers, and a number of crafty keg brews of their own, well worth the visit. 👍

The first and last place we visited was The Royal, 1 St John's Road TN37 6HP (website), which can be reached by coming out of the Prince of Wales and turning left to head up Western Road, and it's on the left on the corner at the top, opposite St Leonards Warrior Square railway station, so if you come by train, you can start here! 😉 When first built and licensed in 1876 this was called the Railway Hotel, then Campbell's Hotel (the name of the licensee), changing its name to the Royal Hotel after it was taken over by George Veness in 1884, closing briefly in 2019 it reopened later that year as The Royal.

They had 2 cask ales, Courage Directors Directors Bitter (4.8%), which I believe is brewed at the Eagle Brewery in Bedford, but not so sure since Marston's was taken over/merged (CAMRA), and yes, the ubiquitous, at least hereabouts, Sussex brewery Harvey's (website) 4.0% Sussex Best Bitter! Harvey's do not divulge which hops are used, but they claim it is a "blend of four local hops" 😒 and I always say, they could do better by using more hops! Very easy to drink when you want a refreshing pint after a long walk, slightly malty, hardly bitter, needs more hops, cheers!

 

Belgium National Day 2026 - That Evening's Beers!

Knowing they would have a decent number of Belgian beers available, even if a wee bit expensive, on Belgium's National Day this year I visited The Jolly Fisherman, 3 East Beach Street, Hastings TN34 3AR (blog), and I was correct on both counts! As ever though, pleasant company enjoyed, and with John behind the bar a warm welcome guaranteed. 👍

I started with Orval, a trappist ale brewed in the Brasserie d'Orval at the Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval (website). The brewery was founded in 1931 whilst the abbey was being rebuilt. Lay persons carry out work in the brewery. Orval is a 6.2% ale, ostensibly, as there are more than one fermentation processes in it's development, including being bottle conditioned, and no bottled beer is exactly the same! And unique among Belgian beers, it is dry-hopped, thanks to the early influence of a brewer who had worked in England. Indeed, the hops used are Kent Styrian Golding (hopslist) and German Hallertau-Hersbruck (hopslist).

Orval is a golden beer with an orange hue, indeed, including yeast from the bottom of the bottle can make the beer a wee bit cloudy, or very cloudy for those who like to include all the yeast. The beer is dry and slightly tart with a bitter finish, and has a subtle spicy/fruity aroma. My taste has definitely changed since I first drank Orval when I used to regularly visit my brother in Brussels 20-30 years ago, and at the time this was my immediate 'panic buy' when I entered a bar, I was always overawed by the numerous beers on the beer menus. 😕 Strangely, I wasn't particularly fond of Orval at the time, but drinking it again, I really enjoy it! 😁

Second up, a draught beer from Westmalle, brewed at the Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle (brewing since 1836 - website), whose ales are up there amongst the best beers of Belgium. Although the monks no longer brew the beers themselves, they remain in overall charge, ensuring tradition is upkept, and pure ingredients used, including their own water, 100% barley malt, hops, and yeast from their own culture. Westmalle Duo, a 7.2% Blonde beer, is brewed with 6 European hop varieties, and consequently is hoppier than many other Belgian blondes, quite refreshing following a smooth fruity start, with a slightly bitter finish, nice! 👍

Third, from Brouwerij St Bernadus (website), the St Bernadus ABT 12 (10.0%), situated in Watou in Flanders, with a complicated more modern history. You could be forgiven for thinking this is a Trappist beer, but you would be wrong! They started brewing Trappist ales, under different ownership, for the Trappist monks at Westvleteren in 1946, but in 1992 the International Trappist Association (website) set up with agreed rules including that to be authenticated, Trappist ales had to be brewed in a Trappist monastery and either brewed by, or brewing supervised by, monks. For 6 years they had trouble keeping the brewery going.

Then, in 1998 Hans Depypere bought the business, and it has flourished since, with a new brewing hall added in 2014 (history). The St Bernadus ABT 12 is a very deep dark coloured red Quadrupel, brewed with Hallertau Magnum hops (hopslist) for bitterness, and Goldings for aroma (hopslist); all hops used are grown in their own hop field. With a slightly malty/fruity aroma, it's a bit sweet, but has a dry slightly bitter finish. Tasting of dark plum and damson fruits, a Christmas Pudding of a beer as many Quadrupels tend to be, very rich and tasty! 😋

Finally, and I was starting to feel the effects, 😉 the Trappistes Rochefort 10 (website), with records written that brewing starting at the now nearly 800 years old monastery by 1595, the monks previously worked farming and mining only. During the revolutionary period from 1789, the monks fled from French troops, and didn't return until 1889. Looting and destruction of their original church meant 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, and a new brewery was built in 1960.

Since 2020 brewing has been at a brand new 'state of the art' brewhouse, from which comes the Rochefort 10 I drank on Tuesday, a Quadrupel, 11.3% in strength, with the '10' coming from an older Belgian measurement of wort density. A deep reddish brown in colour, another bottle conditioned beer, with a spicy, fruity and slightly smoky, aroma. Excuse the large head, it wouldn't settle until I'd imbibed some. It's pretty much full of dark spicy fruits in the taste, a little chocolate too, my notes on the day say "Black Forest Gateau in a glass" and quite right too, plenty of body, rich and luxurious, gorgeous, cheers m'dears! 😁

Sheffield Visit - Part 2

Further to my first blog about my latest trip to Sheffield, full of microbreweries, genuine freehouses and micropubs, here's details of other pubs I visited and ales I drank. 😁 Again my abode for this visit was The Crow Inn, 33 Scotland Street S3 7BS (website), which reopened 7 years ago after a few years closure, and has 7 en suite bedrooms. It sells quite a few interesting ales (I drank the 2 below) and crafty keg beers and interesting bar snacks. It opens Mon-Wednesday 3pm to 12 midnight; Thurs-Saturday 12 noon to 1am; Sunday 12 noon to 11pm.

At The Crow Inn my first ale was the 3.8% Titan Pale Ale from dependable carbon-neutral Bristol brewery Left Handed Giant (website). Brewed with Citra (hopslist), Nelson Sauvin (hopslist) and Centennial (hopslist) hops, producing a pale golden ale with citrus in the aroma and hints of orange, grapefruit and grapes in the subtle fruit flavours, light with a dry bitter finish, nice one.

Also, from across the Pennines in Macclesfield, Cheshire, and Red Willow Brewery (website) was their 4.6% Heartless, a Chocolate Stout brewed with chocolate malt, and Columbian cacao added. I cannot find out the hops used, but no doubt they will be typical citrus type hops from the USA like Citra, to balance the darker flavours. As you would expect, mostly dark chocolate in the taste with a hint of coffee, and a bitter finish, a quite luxurious stout indeed. 👍

Closer to the city centre is the Bath Hotel, 66-68 Victoria St, Sheffield S3 7QL (facebook), another excellent pub in Sheffield, where I've had many good times over the years. With Brian (seen in the photograph below) back running the pub following leasing it to Thornbridge Brewery, it's like being home, as his warm welcome always makes you feel at home! And here I met up with Peter the Brewer (Blue Bee); we had arranged to meet, so not a coincidence. 👍

At the Bath Hotel, we both started off with North Yorkshire brewery Pennine Brewing Co (website) Amber Necker, unsurprisingly a 3.8% amber session ale. I immediately thought English hops, as it tasted like a traditional Bitter, slightly nutty, but no, apparently hops from the USA are used as well as English hops! Sadly, I cannot discover which hops are used, and I'm not going to guess for a change, because nothing particularly stood out. Not a bad beer, indeed tasting like a traditional English Bitter, pretty decent and easy to drink. But...

There's a story behind local brewery Abbeydale (website) and their associated pub the Rising Sun (website), which were given by founders Pat and Sue Morton in 2024, to keep their independent legacy, to the 50-odd staff members. 👍 The business is now 100% employee-owned, decent bosses or what?!? I first drank in the Rising Sun many years before Abbeydale started leasing it, indeed, it was the pub I drank in the evening of my interview at the University of Sheffield back in 1994, and Abbeydale Brewery started up not long afterwards in 1996.

I've enjoyed this ale many times before, the 4.1% Abbeydale Deception! This 'New Zealand Pale Ale' is primarily hopped with New Zealand Nelson Sauvin hops (hopslist), but Amarillo (hopslist), Chinook (hopslist), Galaxy (hopslist) and Columbus (hopslist), U.S. hops, are added too, all hops that make my taste buds tingle. 😉 An excellent pale ale, with citrus, grape and gooseberry in the flavour, refreshing, with a dry bitter finish, still as good as ever, cheers! 😁 

Close to Kelham Island, I met up with Jeff and Lindsay at Shakespeare's (facebook), 146-148 Gibraltar Street S3 8UB, which, as you can see from the exterior, used to be a Ward's pub until 1999, when I lived nearby. This Georgian pub was closed for 18 months from early 2010 after 10 years with Punch Taverns (indeed, Jeff, Lindsay and I had helped finish off their array of rums back then!). Since then it's been refurbished, reopening in July 2011 free of tie, and winning CAMRA awards; it's the Sheffield CAMRA July Pub of the Month. They sell up to 9 real ales, many from local brewers, over 50 bottled beers, and a fair few crafty keg beers.

Here I drank, from Newcastle based Full Circle Brew Co (website), their single hopped Waves of Citra (3.4%), obviously brewed with Citra hops (hopslist). 😉 As ever, this hop produces orange and lemon flavours, though predominantly grapefruit, but with hints of tropical fruits too, pale colour, and with a dry bitter finish, it would be very easy to knock back a few of these!

I visited The Wellington, 1 Henry Street S3 7EQ (facebook), at nearby Shalesmoor, two times. The Welly has its own local microbrewery Neepsend Brew Co (website). The first visit was drinking with Peter the Brewer, and then with Jeff and Lindsay, hence why there's a few ales in the photographs below, plus I met up with Richard the Brewer the second visit!

Yes, all these ales are from James' (who worked at Kelham Island Brewery long before I did, and who has run pubs in Sheffield since) Neepsend Brew Co, first Vulcan, a 3.9% Bitter, traditional and brewed with English hops Challenger (hopslist) and East Kent Golding (hopslist). Yes, pretty much does what it says on the tin, a traditional English Bitter, amber colour, slight malt flavour with hints of citrus, and a dry bitter finish, decent indeed.

Next Numakulla, a 4.5% Pacific Pale Ale brewed with New Zealand hops Nectaron (Charles Faram) and Superdelic (Charles Faram), and Australian hops Enigma (John I Haas) and Vic Secret (hopslist). As you can imagine, a much more complex taste, with citrus and tropical fruit flavours in this pale bitter, more tropical dominated, but I even got strawberry in there! Smooth, too easy to drink, with a dry gently bitter finish, very good.

On the second visit I started off with the 3.9% New England Session Pale Aurora, brewed with Galaxy (hopslist), Amarillo (hopslist) and Strata (Indie Hops) hops. Unsurprisingly, with those hops, citrus dominates the aroma and taste, and particularly grapefruit in the taste, very pale, dry and with a bitter finish, refreshing and so easy to knock back! 😁

My final drink, for this visit to the Welly, was Neepsend Proteus, a 5.9% U.S. style IPA brewed with Ekuanot (Yakima Chief), El Dorado (hopslist) and Simcoe (hopslist) hops. You won't be surprised to read this was packed full of flavour, gentle malt background with punchy darker fruits as well as citrus and tropical fruits, I got damson and plum in there too, but pale, with a dry bitter finish, and quality to finish off with, cheers m'dears! 🍺

Happy Belgian National Day!

Happy National Day BELGIUM! I shall have to drink a few Belgian beers later, cheers! 😁

I have written a blog since detailing the Belgian beers I drank in the evening. 👍

Sheffield Visit Part 1 - Kelham Island

I visited both of these pubs, around the corner from each other in the Kelham Island area (Welcome to Sheffield), twice when I very recently was in Sheffield, on my own, and with friends Jeff and Lindsay the second time, hence 2 different drinks at each. First, the Kelham Island Tavern, or KIT, many of us still use the term KitCat when going to drink at the Fat Cat (below) as well as the KIT. The Kelham Island Tavern, 62 Russell Street S3 8RW (instagram), built in the 1830s, was a derelict building when Trevor and Lewis took it over, they then refurbished and reopened it in 2002. It became the best real ale pub in the country, indeed, they won the National CAMRA Pub of the Year in 2008 and 2009, and have won many other awards since. Although now retired, I believe Trevor still owns the property, but now the licensee is Josh, and still winning awards, including being the current CAMRA Sheffield Pub of the Year, congratulations! 👍

You will notice I drank 2 of the Blue Bee ales (website) there, indeed, Josh also works with another friend of mine, Peter the Brewer, at the brewery, busy lads, the two businesses are closely related, and the KIT is effectively the Blue Bee Brewery Tap. So, first visit I drank their 90th version of the 4.3% American Five Hop (#90), always brewed with Columbus hops (hopslist) as the bittering hop, and for this edition Citra (hopslist), Strata (Indie Hops), Dolcita (Yakima Chief) and Ekuanot (Yakima Chief). Another excellent balance of hop varieties used, pale dry, subtle fruits, with a dry finish, quality again, and at just £4.00 a pint, cheers! 😁

Served on both visits to the KIT by the friendly barkeep Alex, and not to forget that the KIT uses oversized lined glasses, so you always receive a full 20 fluid ounces pint, nice one! The evening before I had been drinking with Peter the Brewer who recommended I try his recently brewed 3.9% Motueka Nectaron Pale, brewed with New Zealand hops Motueka (hopslist) and Nectaron (Charles Faram). Another pale golden wonder, with hints of tropical and citrus flavours, with a dry bitter finish, nice one, cheers for the recommendation Pete! 👍

They sell a dozen ales here, in addition to those 2, also from Blue Bee was their 4.0% Bessemer Blonde and 4.3% Parkwood Porter. Other cask ales available on the day were the 4.3% Abbeydale Moonshine (website) and 3.8% Acorn Brewery Barnsley Bitter (website), both regular ales I believe. Also, 3.4% Left Handed Giant Dark Mild (website), 4.3% Pictish Brewing Alchemists Ale (website), 4.3% Abbeydale Sunsprite Rose (website), 4.5% Verdant Brewing (website) Future You (superbawines), 4.7% Red Willow Idaho 7 The Dank (website) and 5.5% Elusive Brewing Final Boss (Stage 1) Simcoe (website). 

To The Fat Cat (website), 23 Alma Street S3 8SA, and people who know me or have read previous blogs, will know that when I was a post-grad student I worked at the associated Kelham Island Brewery. The pub was an original in Sheffield, and virtually throughout the country, when it was bought as the Alma in 1981 by Dave Wickett and his colleague Bruce to provide an alternative to the big brewers, providing an outlet for independent brewers. After separating their business interests, Dave continued with the pub and set up a microbrewery in a shed behind the pub. A bigger brewery was built in 1990, where I worked 1999/2002, and seen behind and to the right of the pub in the photograph above. Sadly, the brewery is no longer in use, but more recently, a group of lads bought the name and are brewing separately at Thornbridge Brewery (website), and I can confirm their ales have improved significantly recently.

Anyway, what did I drink in the Cat? My solo visit saw me drink, from solar-powered Twisted Oak Brewery in North Somerset (website), their 4.2% Creation, brewed with Mosaic (hopslist) and Simcoe (hopslist) hops. This is a U.S. style pale ale with hints of tropical fruits in the aroma and taste, but with citrus fruits more dominant, and with a refreshing dry bitter finish, very pleasant.

I drank outside in their garden, this was the view from my seat, and the original Kelham Island Brewery used to be in the small shed you can just see part of to my left, how did the brewers cope in it?!? 😓 I stayed in the shade and enjoyed the Creation, ambience and butterflies. 🌺

When I returned with the lads, I drank, from West Yorkshire brewery Tigertops (website), their 4.5% Godiva, a 'Fresh Hop IPA' (an alternative name for Green Hop, so I'm guessing this was brewed quite a while ago) and brewed, well I never, with Godiva hops, a variety developed in England (Charles Faram). A more subtle mixture of tropical and citrus flavours in the aroma and taste, pale, dry and bitter, and not bad at all, cheers! 🍻

More Sheffield pubs and ales coming very soon in Part 2. 😁

Orange Wines!

We were at the Eel & Bear, 28 Waldegrave Street, Hastings TN34 1SJ (facebook) very recently, and which I first wrote about when they opened 8 years ago (blog), well, it's soon to change hands as a business, and good luck to them for their future adventures! 👍 Anyway, someone came in and asked for "orange wine" and which they have, and quite a few different ones too, and which raised my interest as I'd never heard of them. 😯 If you don't already know what they are, orange wines, or skin-contact white wines, are white wines that have a limited time in contact with the skins of the grapes when fermenting, which can bring tannin notes into the taste. For more about orange wines see, for example, wset.global. 

A friend was interested too, so we decided to share a couple of bottles, Nick kindly agreed to put these 2 bottles back for our next mutual visit, many thanks to him. The first we drank was the 12.5% Salamandre from the French vineyard in the heart of the Costieres de Nimes, Chateau de Saint Cyrgues (website), which has 10-day skin contact during fermentation. Made with Grenache Blanc grapes, historically from Spain, but since grown in the Rhone area of France too. I got plenty of fruit in the aroma, citrus, peach and tropical fruits, and you could sense it would be a dry wine. As you can see, yes, orange in colour, with subtle peach, apricot and orange to taste, quite complex, but refreshing and zesty with a dry finish indeed, nice one! 👍

Then we had the 12.0% Nu Litr Orange from 'wine maverick' Valentina Passalaqua, situated in the Gargano National Park in Puglia in Italy (website), and which has a 5-day skin contact. Made mostly with Italian Falanghina grapes (66%), and 20% Chardonnay and 14% Fiano grapes too (skin contact with Falanghina and Fiano only), orange coloured of course, lighter and more subtle than the Salamandre. This had citrus fruit and apricot in the aroma, and subtle flavours of orange/tangerine, peach and apricot, zesty and refreshing, and so easy to drink! 😁

Well, that was a distraction from my ales, more of which to come soon, cheers! 🍻

Pale Ales!

I've written about dark beers so much recently I thought I'd remind readers that I am usually more of a pale dry bitter drinker! 😁 So here are a couple I had very recently, first, from one of my favourite producers of ale, Kent Brewery (website), their 4.5% Belma. Another of their single hop ales, #49 in the series, and unsurprisingly brewed with Belma hops (hopslist) from the Yakima Valley in the USA. A very fruity ale, subtle pineapple and strawberry in the aroma, plus citrus flavours, with tangerine and grapefruit, plenty of body, another excellent ale from Kent! 👍

Second, from Manchester brewery ShinDigger (facebook), their 4.5% Pale, brewed with Amarillo hops (hopslist), also from the Yakima Valley. Significantly different to the Belma, as it's much dryer, and very pale, with orange and grapefruit flavours and a hint of tropical fruits. A lovely dry bitter finish, and I noted "very good" 😉 so must be good. Cheers m'dears! 🍻

July Whiskey of the Month

                                 

An anecdote to start with, the first time I drank Powers whiskey would have been 1995/96, soon after I moved to Sheffield as a postgrad student, at O'Hagan's (once the Raven, and the Hornblower when it was demolished), 12-14 Fitzwilliam Street S1 4JN. Sadly, the pub was knocked down for redevelopment of the area, see above image (Sheffield History).

The purpose of this anecdote explains why I drank Powers Whiskey at O'Hagan's, we drank there and (an aside), after eating their soda bread with Irish Stew, my wife baked her own soda bread for a while, great stuff! The licensees were Irish, from Dublin if my memory serves me well, and the lad told me that Powers was the roughest whiskey they had, not to turn down a challenge, and I wasn't really a whiskey or whisky drinker then, I was surprised how smooth it was, and so started the Irish whiskey drinking phase of my life, and Powers was the stimulus. 😁 

Powers history goes back to 1791 when James Power set up his distillery in Dublin, in 1975 they joined forces with other distilleries to form Irish Distillers, and their whiskeys are now produced at the Midleton Distillery in County Cork (website); oh yes, and their Gold Label has been around since 1886. For July I opened the bottle on the 30th June, and wrote this last night. 😉

I purchased the cheapest of their range to be sure I was drinking the equivalent to 30 years ago, a bottle of Powers Gold Label (website). This is a 40.0% strength, blended whiskey (70% pot still whiskey and 30% grain whiskey). Last night I detected honey with hints of lemon, cinnamon and caramel in the aroma, and similar flavours in the taste, with honey definitely there, but pepper and cloves comes through at the finish too. A very light and easy drinking whiskey indeed, and very enjoyable, sláinte! 👍

Chimay - A bit more Eurostar!

On my way back, although I was travelling bog standard class, my sister-in-law, who, coincidentally, was travelling on the same Eurostar train, was travelling at the posh end, as her journey was work-related. This proved beneficial for me, as she could bring a guest through with her at Bruxelles-Midi, and the delights of the Eurostar Premier Lounge (website), although I did get through passport control faster than her. 😉 I was very happy to spend more time with her, of course, and her work paid for the taxi to the station too, many thanks. So, what did we get in here? To start with there was only a few travellers, this was the Sunday 11.56 Eurostar to St Pancras, and we could help ourselves to food and drinks, well, I had a wee nibble, and... 

To the beer, it would have been rude to refuse a free Belgian beer, and from the Trappist Scourmont Abbey in Hainaut, Chimay (website), I drank their Chimay Rouge or Premiere, a 7.0% dubbel or brune beer, their oldest beer, first brewed (not this particular bottle) in 1862. They usually use traditional hops like Tettnanger (hopslist), Hallertau (hopslist) and Styrian Golding (hopslist), and primarily use Hersbrucker hops (hopslist), but the combination used for this particular bottle is anyone's guess! Subtle stoned fruits, orange and malt in the aroma, sweet with hints of fruits, malt and toffee to taste, with a dry finish, lighter than I thought it would be, and very good! I claimed a bottle for the train, but had no bottle opener, so as you can see from the image above, I drank the second bottle at home, cheers! 😁

I had arrived a few days earlier on an early train, paying the small mark up fee to Eurostar Plus, consequently, I had breakfast and a bigger more comfortable single seat. However, not for my return journey, which I mostly spent in the cafe/buffet bar. As you can see, I had the All-day meal deal (£14), which was fairly substantial. 👍 Bye for now, or au revoir! ✋

In the Lounge Beforehand