A few beers in London...

I visited The Bricklayer's Arms, 32 Waterman Street SW15 1DD (facebook) a couple of months ago when I was in Putney (blog), and again last week, and confirm that it has certainly returned to form under the guidance of the new landlord Chris, nice one! 12 handpumps, one for cider, and on our latest visit there was a choice between 11 different cask conditioned ales.

We started with the 'East London Brewed' Five Points (website) XPA (4.0%), brewed with Citra and Galaxy hops. I wrote about the Citra hop just yesterday (blog), a hop from the USA with a complex lineage, including Hallertau Mittelfruh, Tettnanger, Brewers Gold and East Kent Golding, and providing 'citrus, grapefruit, lime, and tropical fruits' flavours (hopslist). The Galaxy hop is from Australia, descended from the German hop Perle, producing 'citrus, peach and passionfruit' in the aroma and taste (hopslist). This is a very pale bitter, I since noticed that wheat malt is used in addition to extra pale malt, hints of citrus indeed, but very subtle fruit flavours, a very refreshing and easy to drink session ale, with a nice dry bitter finish.

My brother stayed on the XPA, having just a half (he assured me there were a couple of bottles of Westmalle Tripel at home to enjoy in his garden later!), but I had another pint before we left the pub, this time of the Five Points Best (4.1%), which pretty much does what it says on the label. Brewed with Fuggles hops, a very traditional hop from Kent, named after a Mr Richard Fuggle in 1875, and a very English hop indeed (hopslist), although has been grown around the world, and is also in the lineage of many hops from the USA, eg a parent to Cascade and Willamette. An amber colour, and I also noticed later that wheat malt is used for this as well as darker malts, obviously a favourite of the Five Points brewers. A traditional best bitter with hints of biscuit and the required bitter finish, I've nothing to add, 'tis a nice best bitter. 👌

The next day we visited The Market Porter, 9 Stoney Street SE1 9AA (website), by Borough Market, near London Bridge, which opens between 06.00 and 09.00 weekdays (market licence), before closing for 2 hours and then reopening 11.00 to 23.00; opens at 12.00 at the weekend... We were there on Thursday, but didn't get there until after noon. 😁 Mostly, because we were going to see a matinee performance of The Comedy of Errors at Shakespeare's Globe theatre (website). More of in my alter ego's blog, but to the ale...

We drank the York based Brew York (website) Make It Columbus (4.6%), a single hopped APA style bitter. The Columbus hop (USA) was 'originally bred by Chuck Zimmerman as part of a USDA* breeding programme' in the 1970s, with a herby citrus aroma and flavour (hopslist). Brew York appear to love using the Columbus hop, and so we came to drink this ale of theirs. Very pale golden, certainly a hint of citrus in the flavour, dry and bitter, and very decent! 👍

Cheers m'dears! 

 * United States Department of Agriculture

Happy IPA Day 2022!

Yes, today is IPA Day 2022 (zeebiz), celebrating India Pale Ales on the first Thursday of August every year, and how they have been influenced by craft brewers, and hops, from the USA. IPAs were originally brewed to be transported by boat on the long trip to India from Britain in the 18th century, thus had plenty of strength and with hops as a preservative, to survive the journey. The idea to have an IPA day began 11 years ago in 2011, and is the brain child of American beer enthusiast and author, Ashley Routson, to whom I have to thank for making me also take advantage of this day over here in Britain, cheers!

To celebrate I had 2 ales, one from South Yorkshire, the other from Kent. From up int' North of England, just around the corner from where I used to live in Sheffield, and Little Critters Brewing (website), their #3 Session IPA (4.5%), brewed with Galaxy and Sabro hops, a true international mix! Galaxy hops are descended from a German variety, Perle, and is an Australian hop noted for 'citrus, peach and passion fruit aromas' (Hopslist). Sabro hops, meanwhile, are from the Yakima Valley in the USA, the result of a "cross-pollination of a female neomexicanus hop" with "tangerine, coconut, tropical fruit, and stone fruit aromas" (Yakima Valley Hops). I have to admit I didn't get anywhere near the amount of fruit suggested in the aroma, the #3 Session IPA is a pale golden IPA, very dry and bitter aftertaste, and not bad at all!

From Kent Brewery (website), back down in the South East of England, and their #4 in their single hopped pale series Simcoe (also 4.5%), and, unsurprisingly, brewed with Simcoe hops. Simcoe hops are another hop variety from the Yakima Valley in the USA, with bright "citrus flavours with earthy undertones, aromas of grapefruit, pine and herbs" (Hopslist). Out of the two I prefer this ale, though they are both very decent, again a pale golden bitter, with a hint of the fruit aromas suggested, and a hint in the taste too, nice dry bitter finish, and very good indeed!

Anyway, Happy IPA Day, and cheers Ashley, I've ordered a copy of your book! 🍺

Walking Along/Close To the Thames...

With my brother, The 'Routemeister' Dan, we covered a fair number of miles in two days, certainly 20+ on the first day, probably just a dozen or so on the second day. Leaving Putney, we walked along the Thames eastwards and left the river at Vauxhall Bridge, heading towards Kennington, and a new favourite pub of mine, The Mansion House, 48 Kennington Park Road, London SE11 4RS (tel: 0207 582 5599, website).

The Mansion House is one of the few Oakham Ales (website), of Peterborough, hostelries in the country, in a new building opposite St Mary's Church, with 'Pan-Asian' cuisine served from the kitchen. 4 regular Oakham Ales on tap, all excellent of course, their 3.8% pale and hoppy session ale JHB, and three stronger pale hoppy bitters, Inferno (4%), CITRA (4.2%) and I think they alternate the 4th between Scarlet Macaw (4.4%) and Bishops Farewell (4.6%), as you can see from the photograph, the Bishops Farewell was on when we visited; prices above £4 a pint (20p off for CAMRA members) and a 'Happy Hour' of 2 hours between 5 and 7pm, when a pint of all cask conditioned ales costs just £3! A veritable delight for a lover of Oakham Ales like me, but...

They also have a fifth 'seasonal' ale at £3.50 a pint, which for October is the 4.4% 3 Witches, an excellent pale golden ale with hints of fruit in the taste and a dry bitter finish, very refreshing! The hops used in the brewing process are Amarillo, Cascade and Willamette, so you can see where the fruity flavours and aroma come from, Oakham setting the standard...

We then cut by the Elephant & Castle to get back to the river at Tower Bridge, and wandered westwards to Borough Market and The Rake, 14A Winchester Walk, London SE1 9AG (tel: 0207 407 0557, website). There are 4 ales on offer, though one finished whilst we were there, so 5 available... We only drank the one here, the other 4 being Ghost Mango Reaper (4.4%), Northern Whisper (3.8%), and Burton Bridge Mild (4%), which was replaced by my old employer's Kelham Island Porter (4%). The ale we did drink was Manning Brewers Sha Man (4.5%), a "pale passion fruit beer" which was slightly fruity, pale golden bitter with a hint of sourness in the finish, not bad at all.

The next day we wandered away from the river to begin with, up to Putney Heath, then crossed Wimbledon Common, then across Richmond Park to Sheen Gate, where we left to return to the river at Mortlake, and visited The Ship, 10 Thames Bank, London SW14 7QR (tel: 0208 876 1439, website). I do like this late 18th century pub, and, a surprise! Just after we entered, 3 gentlemen arrived, one of whom I know, Keith, who used to drink at the same pub as me in Hammersmith, and supports the same football team as me too, we hadn't seen each other since meeting up by chance at the CAMRA beer festival in Hove in 2011, great stuff! Keith owned up he had been chatting to another friend about me only recently at the Andover Arms, but I shan't tell you the event they were talking about...

So, great to see Keith again, and meeting his two mates was good too, pleasant chaps all, meanwhile my brother was drinking outside, communicating with his daughters and wife, no doubt, but we did have a drink here, of course. Now, I'm not the best fan of Greene King ales, but this was so good I had to go back for more! This was the 4.2% Starry Night, brewed with Australian Galaxy hops, a pale copper coloured ale, with a hint of biscuit in the aroma, and a hint of citrus in the taste, with a nice dry bitter finish, pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed drinking it. Oh yes, 4 ales on in total, and although I can't remember the price, CAMRA members do get 10% off the price of the cask conditioned ales, nice one!

Then we walked back to Putney along the river...