Another New Micropub for me!

I recently visited my fifth micropub, that is, the first micropub in Bexhill on Sea, Brickmaker's Alehouse, 27 Sea Road, Bexhill, East Sussex TN40 1EE (Tel: 01424 602778 - website), opened a couple of months ago by owners Martin and Robin.

The building has earlier incarnations, including a tea-room, restaurant, wholefood shop, and, back in the 1930s the fine mosaic doorstep reminds one it was used by the local Lunsford Brick and Tile Manufacturing Company, which since 1965 has been called Ashdown Brickworks (history - Rotary Club website). Indeed, I received a warm welcome when entering!

The interior has been sympathetically decorated and refurbished making it feel like a comfortable pub, well designed guys. At the end, down there on the left, are the toilets, nice and clean and tidy, and the small bar is to the right just behind me as I took the photograph above.

Oh yes, and beers? The ales and ciders are to the right of you as you enter in a temperature controlled glass-fronted environment (see above photograph), and served by gravity. There are usually 4-6 regularly changing real ales and 4 real ciders, including locally sourced, indeed, on my visit it stretched to 7 real ales as one finished whilst I was there. I started off with the lower alcohol ale from Downlands Brewery in West Sussex (website) Root Thirteen, a 3.6% pale ale brewed with Summit, Cascade and Chinook hops. Hint of malt in the aroma and taste, a pale bitter, easy to drink and not overly hoppy. 

I then tried the Mancunian brewery Marble (website) Pint (3.9%), a session ale brewed with hops from New Zealand and the USA, and labelled 'vegan.'  Now, I first drank their ales when they were still brewing in the pub, The Marble Arch Inn (website) which is well worth a visit when in town, and they were one of the first brewers to produce 'vegan' ales that I was aware of. Indeed the Pint was labelled 'cloudy' but it was clear, vegans really can drink clear bitters! Oh yes, and a very pleasant session bitter for me, indeed.

Then I went for another northern brewery, this time from Yorkshire, Northern Monk (website) Session IPA (4.5%). The Simcoe and Centennial hops producing a tropical fruit aroma, and hints of tropical fruits and citrus in the taste too. Another 'clear' vegan bitter too. This was not quite as pale as some of the other ales today, but had a pale amber colour, and had a dry bitter finish, and an aftertaste that I couldn't quite work out, but not a bad bitter at all.

Next was another vegan beer, I see a pattern here, this time from Bristol based brewery Arbor Ales (website) Blue Sky Drinking (4.4%), which I noted as a traditional best bitter colour and tasting like a 'traditional bitter,' so no surprise that looking at their website it is brewed with English hops, though I didn't grasp the 'delicate citrus notes.' No, I wrote 'slightly sweet at first' (perhaps the delicate citrus?), but a traditional best bitter, and not bad at all.

Oh, and many thanks to Howling Hops (website) for the image above, and a London based brewery new to me, although they appear to have been brewing for getting on for 9 years, and their 4.8% porter New Old London, which was my final and favourite ale of the day. I have written many times about porters, stouts and milds (eg blog) and their differences, or not, this is called a 'porter' and I thought it a stout, very dark with a light brown head, and with a hint of liquorice in aroma and taste, and roasted barley too. Plenty of body, as you would expect, a bitter-sweet taste with a dry finish, and very decent indeed!

Real Ciders too

So, also real ciders (above), some spirits and wines too, tea and coffee, canned Gun lager, more cans and bottles to come, and a facility for 2 pint 'carry outs.' Crisps and nuts as bar snacks, but with plans for more exciting food. Oh yes, and a Battle Brewery (website) 'tap tasting' will be held this Wednesday the 29th January (website).

I'll be back, cheers!

Ticket to Rye...

It seems to be a regular event this, visiting the Rye Waterworks micropub (a few blogs now, for example this blog says a bit about it!), this time I traveled by train, but well worth it, yet again! Plenty of pleasant company, obviously the landlord and partner, and Alan (someone I know from Hastings) arrived later for his first visit, coincidentally. Plus five Norwegian lawyers, very pleasant company, women friends from university, who meet up every year, they work all over the place now, coming from Malta to London! Primarily, the lawyers meet up, not just to keep in touch, but to visit vineyards, this time they were about to go to Carr Taylor in Westfield (website) after a quick drink here, and having visited Chapel Down (website) the day before.

As ever 8 real ales, all £3.70 a pint, served straight from the cask by gravity, and a similar number of real ciders, and the odd perry or two. I only tried 3 ales, one more than once, first the Romney Marsh Brewery (website) Romney Gold (4.1%), single hopped with Citra, pale golden bitter, not bad at all! Then the Battle Brewery (website) Black Arrow Porter (4.5%), as usual, porters and stouts are difficult to differentiate (see older blog), as in, it depends on the individual brewer what they call their beers, I'd say this was more like a stout... Anyway, dark, lovely taste and body, though a wee bit lacking in the liveliness stakes, not bad at all though!

The ale I drank the most of was Old Dairy Brewery (website), their excellent session ale, Uber Brew (3.8%), pale dry and bitter, with a lovely fruity aroma and taste from the Citra, Chinook and Equinox hops used. Great that you can get this much flavour and body into a 3.8% ale, wonderful, la même chose!

Oh yes, and this is the toilet flush now in the gents, amuses me, me being a pale dry hoppy ale drinker, not to forget that David (the landlord) is made up with now being included on the Free Town Map of Rye... Anyway, cheers for a very pleasant visit and company, and the excellent ale of course, cheers!

Battle Brewery Beer Festival.

There appears to be much mentioning of beer festivals down my way lately, but then, don't they come along in couples, if not bunches... Anyway, this weekend, Friday 1st to Saturday 2nd March (it really is March already!), from 11am to 7pm both days, is the turn of Battle Brewery (website) for the latest 'mini' Beer Fest or "Birthday Bash" at The Calf House, Beech Farm, North Trade Road, Battle TN33 0HN. Obviously, you will be able to try their own beers, but there will be beers from other Sussex brewers too, including nearby The Three Legs Brewing Company (website), and ciders as well. Not to mention, food, live music, pub games and a quiz night on Friday.

If going, enjoy yourselves, cheers!