Novemberfest at Bexhill on Sea's Albatross Club

From today, the RAFA Albatross Club at 15 Marina Arcade, Bexhill TN40 1JS, is holding its Novemberfest! There will be live music each day, food available, and, of course, 10 extra ales served straight from casks downstairs, in addition to the 5 poured by handpump on the bar at ground level. Opening hours are 11.00 to 23.00 today (Friday 23rd) and tomorrow, and 12.00 to 17.00 on Sunday (25th), and you don't have to be a RAFA member or CAMRA member to visit this weekend, all sensible drinkers are welcome, cheers!

The Albatross Club (RAFA)

Festival ales come from up and down the country and include Gunpowder Mild (3.8%) from Coach House Brewery in Cumbria (website); Blackthorn Sloe Porter (5.0%) from North Yorkshire Settle Brewery (website); Saltaire Blonde (4.0%) from the excellent Saltaire Brewery in West Yorkshire (website); the ever excellent Titanic Plum Porter Grand Reserve (6.5%) from Titanic Brewery in the Potteries (website); Pop Up IPA (5.0%) from The Cronx Brewery in Croydon (website); Gadds Dogbolter Porter (5.6%) from Ramsgate Brewery in Kent (website); plus 4 more pale, golden and copper coloured bitters from Rudgate Brewery (website), Acorn Brewery (website), Potbelly Brewery (website), and Westerham Brewery (website)!

The Albatross Club (RAFA), Bexhill on Sea

Yesterday, I visited the Albatross Club (Royal Air Forces Association) at Bexhill on Sea, the 2016 winner of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) National Cub of the Year award, and congratulations to them for winning this, and this years local CAMRA Club of the Year too (the national winner in 2017 is the Cheltenham Motor Club). This a members club (RAFA, which I belong to, but you don't need to have been in the Air Force to join as an Associate Member), but CAMRA members are allowed in too, and sensible people should be able to get a member to sign them in, though a £1 donation to the club would be appreciated. Today, whilst the Ale & Arty Beer and Music Festival is on today at the wonderful nearby De La Warr Pavilion (see the festival website), the Albatross Club is open from 11am for all beer lovers to visit.

Four real ales on sale from handpumps (and blackboard behind showing some of the ales to come on soon!), all at £3.20 a pint, and as you can see, yesterday this included Yorkshire brewery Saltaire New World Red (5.2%), and local brewers Pig & Porter Temporary Truth (4.2%), one of their single hop pale ales (Centennial hops), and Bedlam Benchmark, a 4% copper coloured bitter, with a hint of roasted barley in the flavour.

The fourth ale was an incredibly sumptuous milk stout from Bristol brewery, Wiper and True, (website), their Milk Shake (5.6%). Brewed with chocolate malts, and enriched with vanilla, to present a creamy rich stout with body+++ and liquorice flavour too, sweet for my usual palate, but what an enjoyable pint, cheers! 

For more information about the Albatross Club see their website.