2 New Pubs for me in London.

In you go Paul! 😁 Indeed, handily opening at 10.00 at weekends, I was introduced to The Marquis Cornwallis, 31 Marchmont Street WC1N 1AP (website) for our first pint. A wee bit upset that we had recently missed their having the excellent Thornbridge Jaipur there 😣 and giving a miss to the pointless Doom Bar that was on one of the handpumps, we went for the reasonably consistent Timothy Taylor's (website) Landlord (4.3%). Landlord is a pale-ish amber Bitter, brewed with WGV/Goldings, Savinjski Goldings and Fuggles hops, producing a slightly fruity citrus flavour. It's a pretty easy to drink bitter... sad about the Jaipur not being on!

Having been joined by B at the Cornwallis, and Paul having something to eat there, we next moved on further along the road to the Lord John Russell, 91-93 Marchmont Street WC1N 1AL (facebook); opens at 12.00 weekends, at 11.30 weekdays. This is a pretty decently priced pub considering where it is, and had a couple of Sambrook's ales, and crafty keg beers too (website), the brewery now being situated inside the old Young's Ram Brewery complex in central Wandsworth. Good as their beers are, and Paul appeared to enjoy a few pints of their 4.2% Pumphouse pale ale, I have drunk their ales before, but there was something new for me...

I can't remember ever drinking an ale from The Exeter Brewery (website), and certainly never this ale, and I did used to live in Exeter too, so I had to try their Lighterman (3.5%). This was a very pleasant amber session ale, brewed with Goldings hops, and basically does what it says on the label, a traditional bitter, light and easy to drink, if you like bitter beers. I do 👍

So there you have it, 2 new pubs for me in central London, the first named after an 18th century British General and the other (better value/cheaper) after a 19th century British Prime Minister.

Cheers folks! 🍺

Griffin IPA, a Proper English IPA!

Brewed in Chiswick, West London, by Fuller's (website), and I shan't waffle about ownership (blog), but I recently drank their very English-style India Pale Ale, Griffin IPA (4.9%). Presumably named after the name of the brewery building, the Griffin Brewery, and brewed with British malt and hops, specifically Goldings and Fuggles hops, indeed, this is not an APA! A deep golden/amber colour, with a hint of orange in the aroma, slightly fruity and spicy, with a nice dry bitter finish, it's pretty darn good, and does what it says on the label, cheers!

Spring Ale, a Chocolate Ale too, plus...

Well, last week heralded the beginning of Astronomical Spring (Met Office), and Stonehenge Ales (website) have again brewed their seasonal ale Sign of Spring (blog). As you can see above, this is a pale ale which they label a 'Premium Bitter' but it has a touch of green (food dye presumably) about it 😉 and it's a jolly good 4.6% pale dry bitter indeed! There's a general fruitiness, with a nice dry bitter, slightly nutty, finish, please can I have another? 👍

And then I had this totally different ale from Saltaire Brewery (website) up in Skipton, West Yorkshire... their 4.8% Triple Choc, an ale I last remember drinking in December 2019 (blog), and my opinion of it hasn't changed at all. With chocolate and a hint of liquorice in the aroma, it's proclaimed as an 'Indulgent Chocolate Stout' and who could argue with that, unless I wanted to suggest it's a porter, not a stout, but see my blog which discusses the difference between stouts and porters. So, whichever style we call it, Triple Choc is brewed with Fuggles hops, and is a very deep red colour, and very rich ale, tasting of chocolate indeed, but incredibly easy to drink, though I probably wouldn't drink too many pints in the same session 😉

And then a pale hoppy ale that isn't green. The Kent Brewery (website) 4.5% Loral, a single hopped very pale ale with a hint of citrus, not too overpowering for those who don't like citrus flavoured ales, slightly spicy and with a crackin' dry bitter finish, very refreshing. This is an ale that I have had quite recently too, before yesterday, but my notes were included in my last destroyed note book 😞 so I quickly included this ale in this blog, I would hate to mess up again 😏 Kent Brewery is my favourite local brewer, and they do brew very excellent ales of all styles. Anyway, to the Loral hop, which has forbears from the USA, that is Glacier and Nugget, and Tardif de Bourgogne from France (Yakima Valley Hops), billed as 'floral, herbal and citrus' but I didn't pick up the 'floral' myself, but a very decent ale indeed, cheers!

I enjoyed the above ales this week, imbibing at the Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock a Nore Road, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 3DW (website), until the next time, cheers! 😁

Last and First Beers - 2017/2018

OK, my first beer of 2018 has not been a British ale, but I do like many Belgian beers too! For a Christmas present from friends Mark and Maureen, I was given a presentation case with four bottles of beer and a stone chalice from relatively new Belgian brewery, Brasserie de Waterloo (website), which has been brewing since 2014, indeed, since my last visit to the area which I went to with my brother when he was living in Belgium. The brewery is in a wing of Ferme de Mont-Saint-Jean, a 13th century farm adjacent to the famous battlefield and which was used as a hospital for the Duke of Wellington's troops during the battle.

Adrien Desclee and Anthony Martin, grandson of John Martin, the man who brought Export Guinness to Belgium over 100 years ago, opened the brewery at Waterloo to continue brewing the Triple Blond and Strong Dark that Adrien had already been brewing since 2005. I was given 2 bottles of each of these beers, and will talk about the dubbel style Strong Dark soon, once I have tasted it of course! So, to the Triple Blond...

An 8% tripel style (tripel/triple, depending on the Dutch Flemish/French Wallonian language used), brewed with the usual water, malt, hops and yeast of course, but also with herbs too. This is a top-fermented beer, as are British ales, and has a secondary fermentation in the bottle, thus producing sediment, so to be poured very carefully if you don't like to drink the yeast product with your beer! This a golden beer with a spicy, fruity and slightly citrus aroma, full-bodied, sweet at first, with a similarity to Leffe Blond, but dries out with a more bitter finish. A very decent example of a tripel/triple indeed!

My last two ales of 2017 were imbibed yesterday at the Dolphin Inn, Hastings (website), and were both golden ales too. First, from the Staffordshire based Burton Bridge Brewery (website), their Screwbydoo (4.5%), with the pump clip depicting engineer Joseph Whitworth, who was born on the 21st of December 1803, and who devised a standard for screw threads, the British Standard Whitworth (BSW), still recognised today. 

Anyway, the Screwbydoo is a 4.5% golden bitter with Progress and Pioneer hops used in the brew. There is a slightly fruity aroma and taste, gentle sweetness at first taste, and a wee bit too easy to drink for 4.5%, unless that's what you call a supping strength! I had been warned by another customer that it had seriously influenced him the day before... Not bad, but not bitter enough for a hophead like me though, so, what about:

From West London, and one of my old stomping grounds in my youth, White City, the Portobello Brewing Company (website) and their White City, another 4.5%, slightly darker, golden bitter, indeed, all 3 of the Dolphin's guest ales (6 ales in total) were 4.5% yesterday! Hops used in the brew are Fuggles, East Kent Golding and Cascade, producing hints of pine, and citrus and tropical fruit, in the flavour. A bit more bitter, with a very slight 'sourness' to the taste, apparently not everyone's favourite of the two, but I thought they were at a pretty similar decent level... 

Cheers Mark and Maureen!