Sad News that Dark Star won't be brewed in Sussex...

Since Fullers took over Sussex brewery Dark Star, we saw early problems when Fullers tried to brew Hophead at their West London Griffin Brewery to maximise production. Subsequently, brewing of Dark Star's full range of ales was returned to Partridge Green in West Sussex (website). Then Japanese giant Asahi took over Fullers (blog), and a little under 4 years later, the sad news is that the brewery at Partridge Green is to be closed down, maybe we should have seen that coming, it shouldn't be a revelation...

Because the brewery at Partridge Green is operating "significantly below capacity" it is to be closed down (not increase output there) and the brewing of Dark Star's range of beers is be moved to another Asahi acquisition Meantime Brewery in South East London. A spokesperson for Asahi suggests that the Dark Star beers will remain 'exactly as they are today' being brewed to the same recipe, but we all know what happens when beers are brewed away from their origins and water supply, 'tis not promising. A good short history of Dark Star Brewing and details of this sad news was written by Jessica Mason at the drinks business, worth reading.

Not great news, but it's what happens when accountants take charge... 😢

Reasonable Priced Real Ale... Well, Plus an Update!

From my Steve on Hastings blog... Well, I've not been to many pubs since it became closer to 'normal' times (being careful), whatever that is, but, most appear still to be aware of the Covid-19 Crisis, and hand sanitizer seems to have become 'normal' in many, and many people continue to wear masks , not so worrying, in some, obviously., but not all, so please stay safe...  

And, I was surprised to find out that the best value real ale in Hastings, ignoring 'spoons, was sold at the Nelson at the bottom of The Bourne in the old town, a very decent pint of Fullers London Pride at just £3.20, I have been told, nice one, cheers!  

Fuller's to become just another Pubco!

So! It's goodbye and cheers to Fuller's who are to become another pubco, similar to Young's following the death of John Young! Reported this morning, Fuller's are selling their brewing, wholesale and distribution departments to Japanese group Asahi for £250 million, hmmm...

Cheers for that 🙈

A Beautiful Walk, and 3 Pubs in/near Lewes, or not!

Well, we were out yesterday, ducking political news, and it should have been a pint in the Trevor Arms, which backs onto Glynde railways station, but it has recently closed we were disappointed to discover, and it looks like that is it, a no-hoper, sadly... so I didn't photograph it! However, we were undertaking a 15/16 mile circular walk from Lewes, so we moved on to the next hostelry, meanwhile, here's a photograph I did take yesterday, from up on the South Downs Way.

Our packed lunch was to be eaten out in the countryside anyway, but we wanted a pint, so the next nearest pub on our route was the 15th century Ram Inn (website) at Firle. In their atmospheric wood panelled bar we did enjoy ale from the very local brewer (Mark Tranter, previously of Dark Star, website), Burning Sky's Plateau (3.5% and £3.80 a pint), despite the low strength, this in no way lacks flavour and body, it is very pale with a lovely refreshing grapefruit aroma and taste, a dry bitter aftertaste and is packed with hops, quality... and a result! They have a real cider too, 2 guest ales, and their regular is Harveys Sussex Best Bitter (4%) at £2.60 a pint, a very decent price for Harveys, who aren't afraid of charging the earth!

We then continued, and completed our circular walk (more of on my other blog), finishing off with a couple of pints each at the Lewes Arms (website) before catching a train home. Now, the Lewes Arms is a Fullers' pub, but, similar to the Fullers' pubs in Brighton they serve a mixture of Fullers and Gales beers, and always have a few guest ales available too, plus the very local Harveys Sussex Best (4%) as a regular. I had one of the guest ales, the East London brewer Five Points (website) Five Points Pale (4.4% and over £4 a pint, this is Lewes!). Brewed with 2 American hops, Amarillo and Citra, you can guess what you're going to get, an ale packed with flavours, with strong citrus aroma and flavours, and this golden ale had plenty of body too, and was quite sharp and bitter... I loved it! 

Expect another visit to Lewes from me soon, I've got the taste 😋