Tower Pub, Hastings, Real Ale Festival This Weekend!

The Tower, up on the corner of London Road and Tower Road, Bohemia TN37 6NB (Hastings & St Leonards), is holding its annual Real Ale Festival this weekend (facebook), from Friday the 21st to Sunday the 23rd of February 2025; 11am to 11pm Friday and Saturday, 11am to 10pm Sunday... oh yes, and real ciders will be available too! Some of what will be available below:

ENJOY, CHEERS!

More Real Ale Available during this crisis...

The Tower

Apologies to readers from elsewhere, but this is mostly local to me and where I live on the south coast, but I did write a blog not so long ago about initiatives around the country, so please don't feel left out. Anyway, I more recently wrote a blog about real ale brought to me by The Jolly Fisherman in Hastings, but now I have an extra source of cask-conditioned ale, yay! 

The Tower (see, for example, an older blog), up on the corner of London Road and Tower Road in Hastings & St Leonards TN37 6NB, is holding a launch opening on Monday 1st June 2020, and then will be opening 3 evenings a week from Wednesday 3rd June to provide off sales, with 'social distancing' facilitated, and hand sanitizer provided too:

Monday 1st June 4-8pm; THEN

Wednesdays 4-8pm

Fridays 4-8pm

Saturdays 4-8pm

There will be 2 cask-conditioned ales on sale at a great value £3.99 for 2 pints, changing as each cask runs out: kicking off with 2 Sussex ales this Monday, from Dark Star Brewing Co (website), their superb 3.8% pale refreshing session ale Hophead, brewed with Cascade hops providing plenty of citrus flavour and bitterness, a dependable old favourite. 

The second is a darker ale from Franklins Brewing Co (website), and a very interesting Porter style too, their 5.0% Sriracha Ace, brewed with Sorachi Ace hops to add a citrus note to dark chocolate and coffee flavours subtly spiced with Guajillo Peppers... I so need to try this one!

They are also selling 6 different real ciders (2 pints for £3.99, again, great value); keg beers, beginning with Guinness, Fosters and Stella Artois; cans, including ale and lager (2 cans for £3.80 or 4 for £7.49), from another local brewer, Gun Brewery (website); bigger cans (!) as in Mini Kegs from Gun Brewery too (small and large cans, I gather, will change as stock changes, and 'showcasing' different breweries); and 3 bottles of wine for £20. 

2 pint reusable plastic bottles are available, but customers are asked to please bring their own bags in which to transport them. It is excellent to see another local business helping us real ale drinkers survive the Coronavirus Crisis, and I wish good luck to, and express my thanks to, Louisa and her colleagues, who I may just see very shortly. 😉

Look after yourselves folk and be careful out there, cheers!

Beer Festival at the Tower in Hastings this Weekend!

This weekend, Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd February 2020, sees the third Tower Beer Festival, at the reigning 2019 South East Sussex CAMRA Pub of the Year (see blog from last year): The Tower, on the corner of London Road/Tower Road, Bohemia, Hastings & St Leonards, East Sussex TN37 6NB. Opening times are 11 am to 11 pm every day.

Above are the tasting notes for the ales being sold over the weekend, and there will likely be a few more available too, and there has always been a rather tasty stew served up so you don't go hungry (there is a vegetarian option too, today {21st} I enjoyed eating a very tasty, not too spicy, bean and vegetable stew). The previous 2 years have provided a lovely range of ales, also they will be selling 9 real ciders, and you may just see me serving a few ales up too, as I shall be there every day, cheers!

This is International Stout Day!

OK, I announced the other day that today is International Stout Day 2019, so I had to go and find somewhere selling a stout, or hopefully two, and I was really praying for an Iron Pier stout/porter (website) special, but no luck there... However, I walked up to The Tower in London Road (facebook) and drank, before drinking 2 excellent strong pale bitters (that will come out soon in another blog), a very nice dark bitter, virtually a dark mild/bitter, and a milk stout. 

You can guess the milk stout, but before that I drank, from North Yorkshire, Great Heck (website) Dave, a 3.8% deep dark red bitter/mild (oxymoron maybe, but drink it and you'll know what I mean!), roasted barley in the taste, hint of liquorice, so much flavour for such a session ale, virtually a weak stout, with a dry bitter finish, and very good indeed! 

Then it was the Sussex brewery Gun (website) Milk Stout (4.1%), which does what it says on the label, vanilla milky, hint of chocolate and coffee, so very smooth, and so easy to drink! What more can I say, but cheers... Happy International Stout Day! 😀

Congratulations to The Tower!

Alexandra Park

One of the advantages of walking up to The Tower from the centre of Hastings, or from the seafront, in addition to the reward of great ales on arriving of course, is the journey through one of 2 wonderful green spaces. Walking up from the seafront at St Leonards and you can ignore the roads, mostly, and come up through St Leonards Gardens (blog). So I don't really need an excuse to visit The Tower, but yesterday, following the pub's CAMRA award presentation earlier in the week, I took advantage of walking up via the alternative route, through the gorgeous Alexandra Park (older blog) from near the town centre.

So, not far from the park, across Bohemia Road, and down Tower Road to The Tower, on the corner with London Road, indeed, at 251 London Road, Bohemia, St Leonards, Hastings, East Sussex TN37 6NB, where I received a warm welcome from the landlady, Louisa...

As I suggested, earlier in the week Louisa and her colleagues had received the award from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) South East Sussex Branch Pub of the Year 2019. So, congratulations to Louisa and her colleagues, and many thanks to Louisa for allowing me to use the photograph above (I had been unable to attend on Tuesday evening), cheers m'dear!

So, 6 local (ish) ales, although Dark Star Hophead (3.8%) is not now brewed in Sussex, but up in Chiswick, presumably for more volume since Fullers took over Dark Star, and subsequently their brewing interest was taken over by Asahi (see earlier blog). Of the 4 above, I had a pint of Weltons (website) Horsham Pale (3.7%), a pale golden bitter, aroma and hint of citrus from using hops from the USA, for its strength quite a big flavour and certainly a very bitter finish.

Then I got onto the other 2 ales, apologies for the intrusion of the sun on my photograph above, but next I had a pint of the Gun Brewery (website) Zamzama IPA (6.5%), so going up significantly in strength, and CAMRA South East Sussex Branch Beer of the Year for 2 years running. More hops used from the USA, many more indeed! With tropical and citrus fruit in the aroma and taste, much more body, as you would expect, a slightly sour, dry and bitter finish, 'twas very nice! In addition, this is a 'vegan' ale, and consequently unfined; the brewery states "naturally hazy" but yesterday this was well conditioned and really quite clear, so vegan friendly doesn't necessarily mean cloudy... 

I then ventured on to a pint of the Gravesend based Iron Pier (website) 7.3% Speyside Whisky Barrel Aged Porter, possibly the longest name for an ale that I've ever drunk. What can I say, incredibly dark, a 'near-stout' (OK, I have written about this before, eg blog), opaque, with a light brown head, body +++, hint of whisky (Speysides are my favourite Scottish whiskies), roasted barley, I wrote "bl**dy gorgeous!" So there you go, I must have loved it, but I had to drink another half before I wandered home, just to make sure though. 😉

Again, congratulations to Lou and The Tower, cheers m'dears!!

Congratulations to the Tower PotY 2019!

Congratulations again to The Tower for being chosen as CAMRA South East Sussex Pub of the Year 2019! The Tower is situated on the corner of London Road and Tower Road, Bohemia, Hastings & St Leonards TN37 6NB, and I revisited on Tuesday, during which I congratulated Louisa the landlady, and had a few pints, of course! 

6 ales, including 2 regulars (Dark Star 4.7% APA and 3.8% Hophead), and a similar number of real ciders, and usually a perry too, are available. I concentrated on the 2 guest ales in the photograph above, Manchester-based Bootleg (website) Cheeky Monkey (4.2%), and I could only ask for it using my standard 'Northern' accent, sadly not appropriate here as it is basically South Yorkshire, sorry peeps in other parts of the North! I've seen Cheeky Monkey described as a dark ale, but to me it appeared more like an old-fashioned best bitter with a nice deep colour, and quite a good bitter too. But I mostly drank yet another an old favourite, Oakham Citra (4.2% - website), regular readers will realise I love the Citra hop, and Peterborough-based Oakham Ales is an excellent brewer too, pale, grapefruit, dry and bitter, quality as ever!

The other 2 guest ales were both darker beers, the Staffordshire-based Titanic (website) Plum Porter (4.9%) is excellent, and North Yorkshire-based Great Heck (website) Voodoo Mild (4.3%) is pretty good too, though I didn't drink either on the day, but have tried them both before!

Full Pints!

The two regular ales are from local brewer Dark Star (website), though now owned by Fuller's of West London, whose brewing business is to be taken over by Japanese group Asahi (blog), so who knows what is going to happen to the Dark Star ales! At the moment, their Hophead (3.8%) is being brewed in London and all other Dark Star beers, including their American Pale Ale (APA - 4.7%) are still being brewed in Sussex; these cost a good value £3.10 and £3.20 a pint at the Tower; the other ales cost £3.20 a pint (Cheeky Monkey and Citra), £3.30 a pint for Voodoo Mild, and £3.50 a pint for the Plum Porter. Also, a you can see in the photograph immediately above, lined oversize glasses are used, so you always get at least a full pint, great value!

Once again, congratulations to Lou and The Tower, and cheers m'dear! 

Hastings: The Tower Beer Fest 2019

Last weekend I wrote a blog about the ale and cider festival being held this weekend at The Tower in London Road, Bohemia, Hastings & St Leonards TN37 6NB, and yesterday I put in a couple of hours voluntarily working at the festival bar. This is one of only 2 pubs I am aware of in Hastings that serve all their ales in over-sized lined glasses, which means a full half or pint every time, and, for their what is now an annual festival, they use bats with 3 thirds of a pint glasses, if you want to try a large number of the ales on offer, cheers Louisa! 

Sorry about the quality of these last 2 indoors photographs, but above is the pub's bar which had 6 of the stronger ales available, out of 18 being served at any one time, plus 7 real ciders and a perry. I only drank 1 of these yesterday, though I have enjoyed before the excellent pale dry hoppy bitterness of Burning Sky Aurora (5.6% - website), and the wonderfully full rich dark Gun Brewery Whisky Imperial Stout (7.4% - website), both from Sussex breweries. Yesterday I tried the Cwrw Ial The Apache Line (website), a 5% pale bitter, with a huge fruity aroma, mango and citrus in the flavour too, not so bitter and dry, but very easy to drink!

And at the bar where I worked as a volunteer for a couple of hours, 12 of the less strong ales were available, plus the excellent stew was served here too. I'll start with the weakest I drank, the 3.9% Salopian Push, and I have to admit a little disappointment, as I'm usually impressed by Shrewsbury based Salopian's ales (website), though for many others it appeared a favourite; exactly why drinking ale is so much fun, nearly an infinite number of possible recipes and something for most! Push is a quite dry bitter ale with hints of fruit and sweet to taste at first, though not quite enough flavour for me, though regular readers will appreciate that I am, and have been called, a "hop monster." Not enough hops for me, certainly not as many as expected.

I then tucked into Yorkshire based Great Heck Brewery Proverbs (4.5% - website), with 2 excellent hops, Citra and Mosaic, used in the brew, which provided a lovely fruity and citrus aroma and taste, and lovely dry bitter finish.  Sticking with the Mosaic hop I enjoyed drinking the single hopped Downlands Mosaic (4.8% and does what it says on the label - website) from West Sussex, a vegan friendly beer, so a wee bit hazy, as no finings used, and with a very BIG aroma, fruitiness bursting up into the nostrils! At first taste I caught a slight sourness to it, but this disappeared as I drank more of this pale golden ale with its lovely dry bitter finish.

The final 2 ales I tried were the Scottish Redcastle Brewery Tower IPA (4.8% - website), a new brewery for me, and apparently using a mix of hops from Britain and the USA; this had a slightly fruity and caramel aroma, with malted biscuit in the taste and a nice dry bitter finish, very enjoyable. The other was the local Sussex Long Man Brewery Special Tower APA Brew (4.8% - website), which I'm guessing was a dry hopped cask of their usual APA, with Willamette and Cascade hops used, hint of citrus fruitiness, and very dry bitter finish.

My favourite ale of the day? Close, but the Downlands Mosaic, cheers Lou!

Hastings: The Tower Real Ale & Cider Festival Reminder

Further to my blog last weekend, just a reminder that I shall be heading to The Tower pub up London Road, Bohemia, Hastings & St Leonards for Lou's second (now annual, presumably!) Real Ale & Cider Festival, Tower Fest 2019, this weekend, and which starts in half an hours time! I shall be helping out over the weekend, and I trust that, should you be in East Sussex this weekend, you will attend too, and I may just see you... If so, enjoy the ales, and cheers!

The Tower in Hastings: Ale Festival Next Weekend!

The Tower, up on the corner of London Road and Tower Road, Bohemia TN37 6NB, and following its successful Real Ale & Cider Festival last year (blog), is next week holding its second real ale festival from Friday the 22nd to Sunday the 24th of February 2019, 11am to 11pm Friday and Saturday, 11am to 10pm Sunday; oh yes, and real ciders too! There will also be good value, and great tasting, food served on Friday and Saturday, from Cafe 67 of Bohemia Road (facebook), including at least one meal containing an ale from the festival, and one containing a cider. Plus a raffle on Saturday and a Meat Raffle (vegetarians please look away) on Sunday...

Excellent ales on when I recently visited!

Ales for the Festival (with tasting notes) - may be a few extras too:

Gun Brewery Whisky Imperial Stout 7.4% Dark English pale and roasted malts give a rich, full body to this strong ale;

3 Legs Brewery Oatmeal Stout "7ish%" Dark Special brew;

Cromarty Ghost Town 5.8% Dark Classic dark roasted malty porter with blackcurrant & liquorice;

Burning Sky Aurora 5.6% Pale Premium strength pale ale with juicy malt backbone and big citrus and tropical hop flavours;

Goose Eye Pommies Revenge 5.2% Gold Extra strong single malt bitter;

Cwrw Lal Apache 5% Light Big mango fruit aromas with a smooth bitterness. Hoppy awesomeness;

Downlands Mosaic 4.8% Light Single hopped APA. Festival of tropical and citrussy notes;

Redcastle Tower I.P.A. 4.8% Amber Combination of British and American hops. Fruity aroma with a hint of toffee on the palate;

Long Man Special Tower APA Brew 4.8% Light DDD dry hopped;

Iron Pier Cast Iron Stout 4.7% Dark Dark chocolate and coffee notes with a smooth bitter finish;

Wild Beer Co Millionaire 4.7% Dark Salted caramel stout;

Purple Moose Dark Side Of The Moose 4.6% Porter Bramley crossed hops making a delicious dark ale with a dry biscuit flavour;

Long Man Old Reserve Special Tower Brew 4.5% Dark A twist on Old Man with cherry and blackcurrant;

Old Dairy No Bull 4.5% Dark Milk Stout with chocolate and coffee;

Great Heck Proverbs 4.5% Golden Citra and mosaic hopped golden ale;

Thornbridge Rocky Road 4.5% Porter Ice cream porter;

Great Heck Swanky 4% Light;

Holler Boys Honest Burger 4% Pale Limited edition oaty hoppy pale;

Salopian Push 3.9% Golden Pineapple aromas and tropical fruit cascade over floral and grassy hops;

Dancing Duck Ayup 3.9% Pale Session pale ale, subtle malt and floral notes, dry finish;

Ilkley Joshua Jane 3.7% Brown Rich nut brown Yorkshire ale;

Dark Star Pekko 3.8% Light Tropical fruit with herbal notes;

Franklins Cigar Sour 3% Amber sour beer brewed with a smoked malts, based on a German Licteheiner.

As you can see, many local ales included, plus a vast array of styles, enjoy!

Ale & Cider Festival Final Day!

OK, it's the final day of the first ale and cider festival at the Tower (also see previous blog) in Bohemia, St Leonards, and I'm hoping they have many more festivals, a great show Louisa! I worked as a volunteer there again earlier today, but drank just 3 different ales this time and, sadly, the excellent Downlands Mosaic had already sold out (see Steve on Hastings blog). However, the Salopian Matrix (4.2%) was very good too, a pale golden ale with a fruity aroma, citrus taste, grapefruit and something more exotic, with a dry bitter finish, and...

Well, the Kent brewer Old Dairy provided another excellent ale to enjoy, that is, their session 3.8% What the Heck! Described as an 'orange pale ale' and it did what it said on the label, an enormous orange aroma, and taste too. This was beautiful, pale, dry and bitter, just what I love... oh yes! If you want to sample the ales, it'd be best to get there today, as they're fast running out, but, if you cannot make it, you never know what good value prices you may get tomorrow, if you're lucky enough that some of these ales are left, if not, still great ales every day anyway, starting at just £3 a pint, cheers!

Hastings: The Tower Ale & Cider Festival:

As previously mentioned The Tower on the corner of London Road and Tower Road, Bohemia, St Leonards, the reigning CAMRA South East Sussex Pub of the Year, is running a beer festival from tomorrow, Friday 23rd of February to Sunday the 25th, open 11.00 to 23.00. There will be up to 16 different ales available at any one time, with up to 25 different ales expected to be served over the weekend! 

These are the tasting notes provided (and there are about 8 real ciders and perry too!) with a bit added here and there by moi (in italics):

ORKNEY SKULL SPLITTER (8.5%)  A rich fruity wine-like complexity on the palate includes fresh & dried fruits, warm exotic spice and light summer citrus fruits. Red colour. All the way from the Orkneys, a very reliable brewery. 

FUNKY HOP (RAW) DONKEY BIG FUNKY (6.2%) A collaboration between Raw and The Pigeon Fishers. A New England IPA, packs a donkey punch. Pale

PHOENIX WOBBLY BOB (6%) An amber coloured beer, with a strong malt and fruit balance, evident in both the aroma and flavour. A slight sweetness leading to a dry finish. Amber. I remember first drinking this at the Royal Oak in Lostwithiel, Cornwall (about 1990), and TOO easy to drink for the strength, an excellent premium bitter!

LOUD SHIRT PSYCHADELIC IPA (6%) A fantastic IPA, that will take you to another plain of thought. Pale. From Brighton.

DARK STAR HOPHEAD EXTRA (5.8%) Extra describes it beautifully double hops and 25kg of citra thrown in for good measure. Pale/Light. Hophead's excellent, but this is EXTRA!

BURNING SKY AURORA (5.6%) Premium strength pale ale, US hops and big citrus and tropical flavours. Pale Amber. From Mr Tranter who consolidated the Hophead recipe at Dark Star, excellent!

ARBOR WHY KICK A MOO COW (5.5%) Big malty NZ pale ale, large quantity of southern cross and rakau hops. Dry hopped with green bullet. Pale

TRING’S COLLEYS DOG (5.2%) Dark ruby premium ale is all about the malt. It’s nutty, malty and full of body. Ruby

DANCING DUCK INDIAN PORTER (5%) A modern twist on a classic style of beer. Smokey bonfire flavours with a spicy hop and pleasant warming afterglow. Dark. Another tried and trusted excellent brewery...

TINY REBEL FULL NELSON (4.8%) Maori inspired pale ale, musty flavour of nelson sauvin, with sweet munich malt compliments. Pale. Excellent Welsh brewery from a young company of men, multiple award winners too.
DOWNLANDS MOSAIC (4.8%) Vegan friendly single hopped APA that is a festival of tropical and citrussy notes. Pale

GUN SMOKED RYE (4.7%) Vegan friendly . Beech smoked German Bromberg malt provides a subtle smokiness with the spiciness of the rye. Smokey

OLD DAIRY MAD COW (4.5%) Milk stout with coffee and cocoa nibs. Dark

ILKLEY TRIBULUS LUPULUS (4.4%) Mandarina & Huell Melon bring fresh fruit. Ekuanot from the US brings a tropical punch to the party. Pale. Another excellent Yorkshire brewery.

FYNE ALES VITAL SPARK (4.4%) A dark rich beer that shows glints of red. The taste is clean, slightly sharp with a hint of blackcurrant. Mild. Another Scottish brewery, and one of my all time favourite breweries too.

DANCING DUCK WET FEBRUARY (4.2%) A crisp, clean 4.2% pale ale with hints of lemon, lime, tangerine and sherbet,a biscuity malt characteristic and a dry finish.

SALOPIAN MATRIX (4.2%) A refreshing golden yellow ale. Prominent hop flavours are balanced by biscuit malt dry finish. Golden. Another consitent great brewery.

HUMPTY DUMPTY LEMON & GINGER (4.1%) Pale amber crisp ale, finished with a refreshing ginger and lemon tang. Golden

CAIRNGORM NESSIES MONSTER MASH (4.1%) A pleasant mahogany best bitter, malt predominating, gives a satisfying fullness of flavour. Red

RAT WHITE RAT (4%) Very pale, hoppy ale is made from low colour Maris Otter malt. A combination of three high alpha American hops produce an intensely aromatic finish. Pale

OLD DAIRY WHAT THE HECK! (3.8%) Orange pale ale. A juicy banger straight out of the cattle shed. Pale

FUNKY HOP DONKEY FUNKY LITE (3.6%) Collaboration beer, hybrid IPA. Pale

BURNING SKY PLATEAU (3.5%) A beautiful pale ale with a crisp malt edge and sharp bitterness. Pale

WANDER BEYOND PEAK (3.8%) A beautifully crafted English pale bitter. Pale

Food will be available Friday and Saturday lunchtimes, and snacks all the time, and there will be lve music on Saturday evening from 8pm, cheers!

First Real Ales of 2018!

Well, my first trip to a public house in 2018 was on Tuesday to the Tower, 251 London Road TN37 6NB (tel: 01424 721773), which, depending on how you consider your geography, is described as St Leonards on Sea, which is in the borough of Hastings, but the smaller area the pub is in is called Bohemia... Whatever, it is up the hill about 1250 metres from the beach, and I prefer to call it Bohemia, because, well it sounds more bohemian (see Ordnance Survey website). And, by "real ale" I mean cask-conditioned ale, see CAMRA website; though Belgian beers do come a close second to proper British cask-conditioned draught ales, in my opinion...

The Tower is the reigning CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) South East Sussex Pub of the Year 2017, and sells 6 real ales from hand pumps; 2 regular excellent ales from Sussex brewer Dark Star (website), their 3.8% session ale Hophead and the stronger 4.7% American Pale Ale (APA), so-called because of the style and the use of hops from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. There are also 4 regularly changing guest ales (and more often than not from local breweries too), and 6 real ciders and 1 perry (the perry currently from Westons; concerning 'real cider and perry' see CAMRA website).

The 'guest' ales included Hopback Summer Lightning (5%, see website), an excellent pale bitter I've used to help convert lager drinkers to real ale many times over many years! Also, the 3.9% pale session bitter from Red Willow (website), their Stateless, which is brewed with more hops from across the Pond, Cascade, Columbus and Chinook... it does what it says on the label, it's pale with citrus flavours and finishes with a dry bitterness. But...

OK, it's obviously the right time of year to be appreciating darker beers, but I particularly want to express just how good the Porter shown in the photograph was, however, I next drank, from Kent, Whitstable Brewery Christmas Spirit (I noted 4.6%, the website says 4.7%, I could be wrong! Website). Darker, a reddish chestnut colour, and brewed with English hops, Admiral and East Kent Goldings, as one would expect, producing a slightly spicy beer, not too heavy but with more body than the paler ales, and with a hint of chocolate in the aroma and taste too...

To the Aromatic Porter (4.5%) from Brewsters then (website), a brewery I've mentioned before when talking about women, brewing and witchcraft (eg blog and blog)! I didn't really get the 'aromatic' here though, and the chap sitting next to me at the bar, a well-known local CAMRA enthusiast, had been put off by the term 'aromatic', he needn't have been. Of course there was an aroma, but more subtle than the name implies, I tried to work out what it was, and I think I've come up with a dark berry, mostly blackcurrant, to the nose, certainly fruity. A much darker, well-bodied, bitter beer, with a dry finish and a hint of roasted barley in the taste, it was pretty damn excellent, and just £3 a pint, cheers Louisa!

Not to forget, ignoring Wetherspoons, the Tower is the best value real ale pub in Hastings, with the two regulars £2.90 a pint for Hophead and £3 a pint for APA, and on the day, the most expensive ales were £3.20 a pint, eg the Summer Lightning, and all in lined glasses too...

Keep up the good work Lou!

Old Favourites at The Tower

I've visited The Tower, 251 London Road, Bohemia, Hastings TN37 6NB (tel: 01424 721773) on a few occasions recently, last time a couple of days ago, when I enjoyed drinking a couple of old favourites!  In addition, I enjoyed chatting with the lovely landlady, Louisa, and with a friend, Darren, who's birthday it is today, so Happy Birthday Darren, have an excellent day!

There was a mild and a stout available too, but I'm going to be writing about darker ales very soon, so not in this instance, but, all the way from the beautiful west of Scotland, from Fyne Ales (website), was their refreshing 3.8% session ale Jarl. I've written about this before, and what can I say, it's a dry, pale golden hoppy ale, with citrus flavours, a slightly nutty flavour too, and a fruity aroma. Good old Citra hops are used in the brewing of this ale, and it finishes with a slightly sour bitterness, and at just £3.20 a pint, nice one!

And the ever excellent 5.7%, more than a session ale, indeed a 'revelation', Dark Star (website) Revelation! This is packed with hops, Warrior, Columbus, Crystal, Chinook and Cascade, and dry-hopped too, I seem to remember, so in your face hops! The Revelation is a deep coloured golden ale bursting with flavours with a fruity aroma, tasting of mango, peach and plenty of citrus too, plenty of body with a dry finish, and just £3.50 a pint... Yes, I do love this!

Of course, there are 6 ales in all, plus 5 or 6 real ciders and perry, and the two regular ales are also from the Dark Star Brewing Co. Their 3.8% Hophead, is the regular session ale, brewed with Cascade hops, with more flavours than you would expect for a session ale, indeed, one of my nicknames is 'Hophead Steve' and not just because I'm a 'hophead', but because I regularly drink this pale golden bitter, it is excellent, and costs just £2.90 a pint at The Tower. The other Dark Star ale regularly sold here, at only £3 a pint, excellent value, is their 4.7% American Pale Ale (APA), brewed with Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops, obviously with more body than the Hophead, and with a greater variety of citrus and tropical flavours too, and a yeast strain from the USA is also used to create this APA style ale, again, an excellent beer!

Many thanks again to Louisa for keeping and serving up excellent ales, and a Happy Birthday again to Darren, cheers! 😎

South East Sussex Pub of the Year.

OK, this may seem a wee bit parochial, but it's where I live, so very important for me, many thanks... Congratulations must go to Louisa and her colleagues up at The Tower, 251 London Road, for, yet again, winning the local Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) South East Sussex Pub of the Year, and who was presented with her award on Tuesday evening. Indeed, in Hastings we are blessed with a great number of public houses and bars that sell good quality real ales, and yet Lou's pub has managed to stand out with CAMRA assessors for three years in a row now! There is available a great range of well-conditioned, good value, real ales (most usually from local brewers), six in all, and a similar number of ciders and perry support this award too.

I have visited the Tower very recently, though sadly couldn't make it on Tuesday, but on my most recent visit I noted the price of ales still starts at £2.90 for the regular session ale, East Sussex brewer Dark Star's Hophead (3.8%) at £2.90 a pint, an excellent pale hoppy bitter with hints of grapefruit from the Cascade hops used in the brew. Also from Dark Star (website) is another excellent regular ale, the stronger American Pale Ale (APA 4.7%) at £3.00 a pint, and brewed with Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops, providing a more complex full bodied pale bitter.

Other ales were from up and coming East Sussex brewers, Three Legs (website) Columbus Pale Ale (4.9% and the most expensive at £3.20 a pint), a more traditional pale ale presumably brewed using Columbus hops; West Yorkshire brewer Vocation (website) Bread & Butter (3.9%), another fruity pale bitter using American hops; VOG Brewery, (website) in the Vale of Glamorgan, Dark Matters (4.4%), a blackcurrant porter; and the excellent Peterborough brewer Oakham Ales (website), whose 4.2% Citra, another single hopped ale, I couldn't resist drinking, a dry and bitter pale golden ale with grapefruit big in the nose and taste, excellent!

Nice one Lou, and cheers, yet again!