1 - Blackfriars to Euston Pubs via Holborn

I'm doing this in 2 parts as we did this on 2 different days, coming at Holborn from 2 different directions, virtually South to North here, it'll be obvious as I go on. 😁 3 old favourites here and 1 new pub for me, starting off with The Blackfriar, 174 Queen Victoria Street EC4V 4EG (website), virtually under Blackfriars train station. A Grade II Listed Art Nouveau building of 1875, built on the site of a medieval Dominican Friary, and redesigned Arts & Crafts style about 30 years later. The image of the empty interior below shared with many thanks to Ann Laffeaty (London Pubs).

Impressive inside and out, with nooks and crannies galore, I loved going to this pub mostly in my teens from work with special friends. Sadly it's now a Nicholson's pub, sorry I can't remember what I used to drink here in my youth. But on my last visit I drank from Cornwall St Austell Brewery (website) their 4.5% Proper Job (5.5% in bottles, and a superb bottle-conditioned ale it is too! Blog), which I don't believe is as good as the bottle-conditioned version 😮 but it's still very agreeable. This was the brainchild of Roger Ryman, who sadly died 6 years ago R.I.P. (blog), when he joined and transformed the brewery as Head Brewer in 1999. Proper Job is brewed with Willamette (hopslist), Cascade (hopslist) and Chinook (hopslist) hops. It is a pale golden ale, with a citrus fruit aroma and taste and a dry bitter finish, and very refreshing too!

We then visited, around the corner from Ludgate Circus, The Old Bell, 95 Fleet Street EC4V 1DH, sadly another Nicholson's pub (website) that I used to visit in my teens, working very close by at that stage of my life. Grade II Listed and built in 1678 by Sir Christopher Wren to accommodate the masons who were working on re-building St Bride's Church (and other buildings damaged by the Great Fire of London in 1666, 360 years ago!); there is also a door at the back of the pub immediately opposite the church in an alley leading to Bride Lane.

When quite a few of us had lunch there in my youth, they used to sell Cask Conditioned Worthington E, and debates about whether it was the same as Draught Bass or not have abounded, but I can assure you they were 2 different ales, and Roger Protz agrees with me (website). 👍 Indeed, I last drank cask-conditioned Worthington E (4.8%), definitely not the keg version 😂 at what was then the Cask & Cutler in Sheffield about 20 years ago (now reverted to its original name the Wellington), when it was being brewed by Bass Museum Brewery in what became the Bass Museum of Brewing (no longer, thank you Coors!), and pretty decent it used to be too, very sad that it's not brewed anymore.

Anyway, this visit saw me have, from West Yorkshire brewery Timothy Taylor's (website) a pint of Boltmaker, their 4.0% Yorkshire Bitter, brewed with Fuggle (hopslist), Whitbread Golding (hopslist) and Styrian Golding (hopslist) hops. Boltmaker is dark copper coloured with a hint of citrus and darker fruits in the aroma, with malt biscuits and fruitcake to taste, finishing off with a gentle bitterness. It's a while since I've imbibed this and I still like it!

Down Fleet Street into the Strand, and behind the Law Courts towards Lincoln's Inn Fields, is The Seven Stars, 53 Carey Street WC2A 2JB (instagram) which was a new pub for us, although very well known by others it would seem! Quite a delight on the day, friendly bar staff, welcoming, and the food looked great. Dated 1602, this Grade II Listed pub unsurprisingly has a very legal theme to the decorating paraphernalia and posters hanging on the walls.

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

Crossing diagonally Lincoln's Inn Fields behind The Seven Stars and you reach Holborn, where the Princess Louise is at 208 High Holborn WC1V 7EP (website). I'm leaving more of this Grade II Listed pub to my soon to follow blog detailing a route via pubs from Holborn to Euston, but will tease you with a photograph of their famous Grade II Listed Victorian gents toilets, and there are tiles all the way down the stairs too, and I kid you not, the loos really are specifically listed! 😁

Cheers folks! 🍻

Don't forget though, that there are many things that can go wrong drinking alcohol, be aware of limits and potential physical, social, and legal factors. The drinkaware website offers advice, tools to help, where to get support and 'facts' you may not be aware of. Stay safe folks! 👌

Hastings Tap Takeover 2-4 October 2026

Hastings Tap Takeover 2026 is being held next weekend at 19 venues, including from the Crown and Jolly Fisherman in Hastings Old Town, to the Prince Albert and Eel & Bear in the town centre, and the Tower and Prince of Wales in St Leonards, all with different breweries! (website)

Don't forget though, that there are many things that can go wrong drinking alcohol, be aware of limits and potential physical, social, and legal factors. The drinkaware website offers advice, tools to help, where to get support and 'facts' you may not be aware of. Stay safe folks! 👌

September Whisky of the Month

The whisky of the month for September is a wee bit of a mystery, because Marks & Spencer keep it a secret which distilleries make their whiskies (website). 😯 But, regular readers will be aware I particularly like Irish whiskeys, and from Scotland I usually prefer their Speyside single malt whiskies, so here is the Kenmore Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky for review. 

This 40.0% whisky "comes from the shores of the River Spey" and is naturally coloured apparently, that is from the barrels it is aged in, and retrospectively not much more than the required 3 years I imagine. The aroma has hints of vanilla, caramel, toast and coffee, and tastes of fruitcake, caramel and butterscotch. This is a strangely 'rougher' whisky than I expected, but still quite easy to drink, though I'm a wee bit disappointed with it. Oh well, sláinte! 😌

Don't forget though, that there are many things that can go wrong drinking alcohol, be aware of limits and potential physical, social, and legal factors. The drinkaware website offers advice, tools to help, where to get support and 'facts' you may not be aware of. Stay safe folks! 👌

CAMRA & Pub Closures

I had a mixture of emotions on reading the editorial written by Tim Hampson in the latest edition (hard copy being a member, and keeping up the subscription 😉) of CAMRA's BEER magazine (website), advised that we are losing pubs in Britain at the rate of 2-3 a day! However, he reminds us that this is nothing new and has been the case continuously for the last 40 years, down from 80,000 pubs back in the formative years of CAMRA to about 40,000 now. 😞

Where I live, bars and pubs are opening/reopening quite regularly, and I believe that in towns and cities the good pubs will continue to do well, it is mostly the worst pubs that disappear, and here the worst of the cull appears to have already been carried out. I do worry for people living in smaller villages though, where the village pub is often the centre of social life, often opposite or very close to the village church. So, get out there folks and support your local, good luck! 👍

 

Don't forget though, that there are many things that can go wrong drinking alcohol, be aware of limits and potential physical, social, and legal factors. The drinkaware website offers advice, tools to help, where to get support and 'facts' you may not be aware of. Stay safe folks! 👌

Happy Oktoberfest 2026!

Started yesterday (19th of September to the 4th of October), Oktoberfest in Munich gives people the chance to drink some amazing German beers! Last year a pub near to me in Hastings held its Oktoberfest at the same time, but this year they are giving priority to the Hastings Tap Takeover (2nd to 4th October - website). Rumour has it that their Oktoberfest will be held soon.

As I said in my blog about Oktoberfest last year, Oktoberfest developed from October the 12th in 1810, which was a celebration for the wedding of Prince Regent Ludwig of Bavaria, later King Ludwig I, and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, with festivities continuing until the 17th. It was enjoyed so much that an event was organised the following year, but the event was cancelled from 1813 due to the Napoleonic War, returning in 1819. A number of Oktoberfests were cancelled later on during the 2 World Wars of the 20th century, but the start of the event had already been brought forward to September in 1872, basically to ensure that the weather was warmer, usually finishing on the first Sunday in October. More of the history of Oktoberfest is shared on their website. Prost! 🍺

 

Don't forget there are many things that can go wrong drinking alcohol, be aware of limits and potential physical, social, and legal factors. The drinkaware website offers advice, tools to help, where to get support and 'facts' that you may not be aware of. Stay safe folks! 👌

Beer and Biltong in Hastings

Beer & Biltong (facebook) is now open in Hastings St Andrews Mews TN34 1SP (open 10.00 to 17.00 Wednesday to Sunday), and good to see biltong back on sale again in the Mews too. The biltong side of the venture is supplied by Sussex Biltong (website) back in the Mews, and mighty fine it is too, especially the garlic version for me, and many others it would seem! 😋

They serve soft drinks, of course, 2 keg beers (more of below), and the 5.0% Castle Lager in bottle (website), which I've never drunk before, so I had to try it for research purposes. 😉 Castle Brewery was set up in 1886 and brewed as South African Breweries since 1895, but has been a subsidiary of AB InBev for the last 10 years. Brewed using South African ingredients, including Southern Star (hopslist) among the hops grown in the Waboomskraal Valley. Not too much aroma, but very easy and refreshing to drink, slightly bitter with a hint of nuts in the aftertaste.

The 2 keg beers are brewed locally in Guestling by Racketeers Brewing Company (Experience Sussex) or they're on Instagram. I couldn't find out what hops are used for the 3.7% Pale Ale but their 5.2% APA is brewed with Amarillo, El Dorado and Simcoe, apparently, I wouldn't be surprised if similar hops are used for this (hopslist). The Pale Ale is pretty much what you'd expect from U.S. influenced pale ales these days, light and refreshing, hints of tropical and citrus fruits, very easy to drink, not bad at all.

The 4.3% Amber Ale is a wee bit more complex, and brewed with Amarillo (hopslist) and Centennial (hopslist) hops apparently, meaning hints of citrus and tropical fruits in the aroma and taste for this slightly more malty beer. Gentle bitterness, and very easy to drink, very decent.

Decent quality beers and biltong, town centre prices, and worth visiting indeed, cheers! 👍

Don't forget there are many things that can go wrong drinking alcohol, be aware of limits and potential physical, social, and legal factors. The drinkaware website offers advice, tools to help, where to get support and 'facts' that you may not be aware of. Stay safe folks, cheers! 👌

Belgian Beer Weekend Begins Today!

If I was in Brussels today I would be attending the first day of the Belgian Beer Weekend 2026 at the Grand-Place (website), much as I'd love to be there, I'm elsewhere. 😖 But nothing to stop anyone not there joining in at some time over the weekend and knocking back an excellent Belgian ale, perhaps my favourite Westmalle Tripel (blog), whatever, PROOST! 😁

Don't forget there are many things that can go wrong drinking alcohol, be aware of limits and potential physical, social, and legal factors. The drinkaware website offers advice, tools to help, where to get support and 'facts' that you may not be aware of. Stay safe folks, cheers! 👌

La Trappe, History & 4 Trappist Ales Reviewed!

I bought these 4 La Trappe ales because I had only tried one of them before, and I hate being too uneducated; 😉 they are brewed at the Brouwerij de Koningshoeven (website) in the Netherlands. In 1881 French Trappist monks sought refuge in Brabant, setting up residence at farm cottages and a sheep barn (the temporary monastery) on farmland once owned by King Willem II, at Koningshoeven, which means "King's Farmhouses" in Dutch. In 1884 they started brewing beer to sell for an income and to support their charitable work. 

They built a new brewery in 1891, increasing production to raise funds so they could build a new abbey, which they started building in 1894. It wasn't until 1980 that the brand name La Trappe was created, and in 1989 the brewery was completely modernised. To be an authentic Trappist ale, the beer must be 1) brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery either by the monks, or the work must be supervised by the monks, 2) the brewery must only be of secondary importance to the monastic way of life, 3) the brewery must not be a profit-making business, but its income must only cover living expenses and the maintenance of the monastery's buildings and grounds, whatever remains is donated to charity/social work, and to help people in need (website).

The first ale brewed under the name La Trappe was a 7.0% Dubbel in 1980, and I do need to get hold of a bottle, hopefully more of at some future date, fingers crossed. But, back to these ales. The monks originally brewed a 4.0% Blond ale back in 1928, but the present day 6.5% La Trappe Blond has been brewed since 1992, no doubt with a different recipe. I cannot find details of the hops used for the Blond, sorry. It's a golden/yellow colour, and I got fruit in the aroma, particularly peach. To taste, slightly malty, but peach indeed, with hints of citrus, orange, lemon and lime, sweet at first, but drying out in the mouth particularly at the finish, not bad. 😌

My second, the 7.5% La Trappe Isid'or, is the latest of these to be brewed, first brewed in 2009 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the brewery, and named in honour of Brother Isidorus, the first master brewer at La Trappe. A reddish/orange amber colour, the only way I can describe it 😁 with a big fruity, slightly malty aroma. Brewed with Perle hops grown at the monastery (hopslist), and tasting of rich dried fruits, slight caramel, and I got apricot! Sweet at first, but with a refreshing finish drying out to very slightly bitter, and very nice indeed! 👍

The 8.0% La Trappe Tripel was the second of their ales to come out under the brand name a little later than the Dubbel in 1980. As you can see, a golden blond colour, with apricot and pear in the aroma. I've seen reference to the hops used being the same as for the Quadrupel below, which may just be AI gleaning information incorrectly, or lazy journalism from others, but similarities exist, despite the difference in colour, which makes me wonder. There was a hint of apricot and banana in the taste, with a big fruity dry finish, I like it! 😁

I've written about this before, and I've seen La Trappe Quadrupel described as an amber beer, but it pours out so dark it looks more like a dark reddish brown colour, it is that dark an amber, see my photograph above. 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 fruity, notably apricot, and slightly vanilla aroma. I detected apricot and banana in the taste, and dark fruits too. Rich, complex, slightly sweet and smooth to drink, with a warmth from the alcohol, but dry enough finish to ensure this is a very good ale to knock back! 👍

My La Trappe ales and glass arrived in a box unsurprisingly like in the above image, cheers!