Passport to Pimlico?

I could have called this blog just Pimlico, but I had to get the film pun in, not hilarious I know, but that's me folks. 😉 Anyway, very close to our port of entry to London, Victoria Railway Station, again we first visited the Victoria Taps, 27 Gillingham Street SW1V 1HP (website), for breakfast and a couple of pints, and the friendly Spanish manager is a welcoming senorita/senora! 👍 Built in 1828 and originally called the Warwick Arms, it was enlarged towards the end of the 19th century, and changed its name to the Victoria Taps earlier this century. Open from 10.00 every day of the week, although you can't buy alcohol before 12.00 on Sundays, but where we usually start drinking if we're in the area for the another obvious reason...

Not too expensive for beer, and a great value brunch, the above costing just £9.00. That's not for just the 2 fried eggs, 2 rashers of bacon, 2 sausages, 2 hash browns, flat mushroom, baked beans, tomato and a slice of toast, as there is a deal where you can get a pint too, making it £9.00 instead of £7.50 (price of the Full English Breakfast). Paul ate the 'Boss Benedict' seen in the background, costing  £6.50 (so just £8.00 with drink), and a souped up Eggs Benedict, which I had on my previous visit, also superb value and quality!

We each started with a pint of St Austell Tribute, a 4.2% pale slightly bitter ale (website), brewed with Fuggles (hopslist), Celeia (hopslist), and Willamette (hopslist) hops; Willamette is a hop I used to be very familiar brewing with in my days working at the old Kelham Island Brewery. Tribute was first brewed after the solar eclipse of 1999 and was called 'Daylight Robbery' at its inception. Because of the English and U.S. hop mix, it's not 'traditional' as such, but a slightly darker version of modern pale ales, gentle citrus, and very easy to drink. Inch's Cider (website) was in the choice of £1.50 add on drinks, including lager and pale ale (not cask), and wine and soft drinks. So, suitably satiated, we ventured on towards Pimlico. 😋

On reaching the Grade II Listed White Ferry House, 1A Sutherland Street SW1V 4LD (publove), we were surprised at the number of youngsters from abroad hovering around, I'd forgotten it is a hostel with 74 beds, as well as a hostelry! 😂 First licensed in 1832, and re-built in 1894, the pub offered hotel accommodation, probably from when, and possibly why, it was rebuilt (CAMRA).

Only 1 cask ale served at a time here, I believe usually ales brewed in London, and there was on offer, from Sambrook's Brewery, now situated in the site of the old Young's Ram Brewery, at 1 Bellwether Lane SW18 1UD (website), their 4.5% Junction. This is a 'Premium Bitter' brewed with Challenger (hopslist), East Kent Golding (hopslist), and Bramling Cross (hopslist) hops, and named after the famous Clapham Junction Station, nearby in Battersea. Junction is an amber ale, with a malty, nutty and fruity hop aroma, and a big malty flavour, slightly sweet to start, but a nutty and strong bitter aftertaste. This is a very traditional English bitter, nice one! 👍

Getting closer to Pimlico tube station is the Cask Pub & Kitchen, 6 Charlwood Street (corner with Tachbrook Street) SW1V 2EE, which has been trading here since 2009, being "London's first craft beer focussed pub" (website). The building is Grade II Listed, I kid you not, but as part of the Thorndike House Lillington Gardens Estate (Historic England). If you want to know anymore about the history of the Cask Pub & Kitchen have a read of London Drinker. 

From among 10 cask ales, from near and far, and we were offered tasters too, cracking service many thanks, I drank Waves Away, a 4.6% Pale Ale produced in East Sussex by Burning Sky Brewery (website); NB think Mark Tranter finessing Dark Star Hophead, but now with his own brewery. 👌 This is an American Pale Ale (APA) style ale, brewed with Citra (hopslist) and Mosaic (hopslist) hops, producing a big bodied pale ale bursting with tropical and citrus fruit aromas and taste, with a lovely dry bitter finish. After such a good version of a completely different style of beer at the previous pub, this was an outstanding version of an APA, Mr Tranter certainly knows his hops. Sadly we ran out of time for more ale... 😣

So, onwards to Pimlico tube station and the Victoria Line, cheers m'dears! 😁

Congratulations to the Brickmaker's in Bexhill on Sea!

I can't believe I haven't written about this excellent micropub for over 2 years (blog), that is the Brickmaker's Alehouse, 27 Sea Road, Bexhill, East Sussex TN40 1EE (Tel: 01424 602778 - website)! But I have been back quite a few times since the first lockdown ended, and very recently I revisited again to congratulate the owners, Martin and Robin (although Robin wasn't present on the day), as the Brickmakers Alehouse has been chosen by the CAMRA South East Sussex branch as their Pub of the Year 2022, congratulations!

I include the Cider Board (image below), although, in this instance I didn't drink a cider, but I did drink a few of the ales (above), including one that I'm amazed I haven't had before, which is the one I started off with. That is, the Kent Brewery (website) Kent Golding Bitter (4.1%), a traditional style best bitter brewed with Golding (unsurprisingly) and Fuggles hops. It did what it said on the label, was an amber/copper colour, and smelt and tasted like a best bitter, my notes say "very good" but now I was not 'amazed' as Kent Brewery is one of my favourite brewers!

The second pint was of Sussex brewery Burning Sky (website) Plateau, always full of flavour and at just 3.5%! Of course, this is the brainchild of Mark Tranter, legendary fine tuner of Dark Star Hophead when he worked there, so is like a Hophead, a little weaker in alcohol, but with more flavour with thanks to hops, Mark suggests "hopped at different stages of the brew with a mix bag of US and NZ hops..." and his finesse. A very pale golden bitter, very easy to drink, with grapefruit noticeable in the aroma and taste, a wee bit hazy, and I'm not sure if Mark is brewing it that way on purpose now (as vegan friendly), but still very decent indeed.

The final ale I devoured was one of my favourite ales from another favourite brewery, Oakham Ales of Peterborough (website), who I have written quite a bit about recently, notably following the sad news of the death of their head brewer, Alex Kean, just before Christmas (blog), and after my most recent visit to Peterborough in February (blog). Anyway, I couldn't miss knocking back a pint of their Citra (4.2%), an ale brewed with the excellent Citra hop, pale golden with grapefruit in the taste and a very dry bitter finish, thankfully I see this in my local quite often, 'tis excellent!

So, to summarise, I drank ales from my 2 favourite breweries, Kent and Oakham, and another from another excellent brewer at Burning Sky, to celebrate the Brickmaker's success, cheers!