1 - Blackfriars to Euston Pubs via Holborn

I'm doing this in 2 parts as we did this on 2 different days, coming at Holborn from 2 different directions, virtually South to North here, it'll be obvious as I go on. 😁 3 old favourites here and 1 new pub for me, starting off with The Blackfriar, 174 Queen Victoria Street EC4V 4EG (website), virtually under Blackfriars train station. A Grade II Listed Art Nouveau building of 1875, built on the site of a medieval Dominican Friary, and redesigned Arts & Crafts style about 30 years later. The image of the empty interior below shared with many thanks to Ann Laffeaty (London Pubs).

Impressive inside and out, with nooks and crannies galore, I loved going to this pub mostly in my teens from work with special friends. Sadly it's now a Nicholson's pub, sorry I can't remember what I used to drink here in my youth. But on my last visit I drank from Cornwall St Austell Brewery (website) their 4.5% Proper Job (5.5% in bottles, and a superb bottle-conditioned ale it is too! Blog), which I don't believe is as good as the bottle-conditioned version 😮 but it's still very agreeable. This was the brainchild of Roger Ryman, who sadly died 6 years ago R.I.P. (blog), when he joined and transformed the brewery as Head Brewer in 1999. Proper Job is brewed with Willamette (hopslist), Cascade (hopslist) and Chinook (hopslist) hops. It is a pale golden ale, with a citrus fruit aroma and taste and a dry bitter finish, and very refreshing too!

We then visited, around the corner from Ludgate Circus, The Old Bell, 95 Fleet Street EC4V 1DH, sadly another Nicholson's pub (website) that I used to visit in my teens, working very close by at that stage of my life. Grade II Listed and built in 1678 by Sir Christopher Wren to accommodate the masons who were working on re-building St Bride's Church (and other buildings damaged by the Great Fire of London in 1666, 360 years ago!); there is also a door at the back of the pub immediately opposite the church in an alley leading to Bride Lane.

When quite a few of us had lunch there in my youth, they used to sell Cask Conditioned Worthington E, and debates about whether it was the same as Draught Bass or not have abounded, but I can assure you they were 2 different ales, and Roger Protz agrees with me (website). 👍 Indeed, I last drank cask-conditioned Worthington E (4.8%), definitely not the keg version 😂 at what was then the Cask & Cutler in Sheffield about 20 years ago (now reverted to its original name the Wellington), when it was being brewed by Bass Museum Brewery in what became the Bass Museum of Brewing (no longer, thank you Coors!), and pretty decent it used to be too, very sad that it's not brewed anymore.

Anyway, this visit saw me have, from West Yorkshire brewery Timothy Taylor's (website) a pint of Boltmaker, their 4.0% Yorkshire Bitter, brewed with Fuggle (hopslist), Whitbread Golding (hopslist) and Styrian Golding (hopslist) hops. Boltmaker is dark copper coloured with a hint of citrus and darker fruits in the aroma, with malt biscuits and fruitcake to taste, finishing off with a gentle bitterness. It's a while since I've imbibed this and I still like it!

Down Fleet Street into the Strand, and behind the Law Courts towards Lincoln's Inn Fields, is The Seven Stars, 53 Carey Street WC2A 2JB (instagram) which was a new pub for us, although very well known by others it would seem! Quite a delight on the day, friendly bar staff, welcoming, and the food looked great. Dated 1602, this Grade II Listed pub unsurprisingly has a very legal theme to the decorating paraphernalia and posters hanging on the walls.

Here, I drank from the East Anglian brewery Adnams (website), their Citrus Pale Ale Ghost Ship (4.5%). As I've said before a fair few times, this is a pale sharp refreshing ale, brewed with Citra hops (hopslist), and as you would expect, it has a subtle citrus flavour and a nice refreshing dry bitter finish, also, as I've said before, in my opinion this is Adnams best ale. 👍

Crossing diagonally Lincoln's Inn Fields behind The Seven Stars and you reach Holborn, where the Princess Louise is at 208 High Holborn WC1V 7EP (website). I'm leaving more of this Grade II Listed pub to my soon to follow blog detailing a route via pubs from Holborn to Euston, but will tease you with a photograph of their famous Grade II Listed Victorian gents toilets, and there are tiles all the way down the stairs too, and I kid you not, the loos really are specifically listed! 😁

Cheers folks! 🍻

Don't forget though, that there are many things that can go wrong drinking alcohol, be aware of limits and potential physical, social, and legal factors. The drinkaware website offers advice, tools to help, where to get support and 'facts' you may not be aware of. Stay safe folks! 👌

Portsmouth's 2 Oldest Pubs?

We only visited 2 pubs when I recently visited Portsmouth as I was a wee bit limited by my company, so unsurprisingly, I chose the 2 that claim to be the oldest pubs in 'Old Portsmouth.' The best on the day was The Dolphin Pub, 41 High Street PO1 2LU (website), opposite the Cathedral, and one of the few buildings in the High Street to have survived bombing during World War II (the town hall next door was flattened!). Apparently built in and certainly licensed from 1716, this Grade II Listed public house has beams made from repurposed wood of ships, and stone flags on the floor. So yes, a very old construction, but in recent times opened out, and more modern decoration, which gives it a kind of 'postmodern' feel inside.

We ate here, which was fine (it was the second of these pubs we visited), and we drank a few pints of Fuller's London Pride (4.1%), which was in reasonable form, indeed, Pride does need to be sold quickly as it doesn't last too long in opened casks (cellar experience there folks!). Brewed with English hops Target (hopslist), Northdown (hopslist), Challenger (hopslist) and East Kent Golding (hopslist), it is a slightly malty and bitter traditional session bitter. CAMRA (website) describe it thus: "Aromas of malt and citrus. The malty sweetness is balanced by spicy bitter hops with orange, apricot, sultanas and toffee." They can have up to 4 ales on, and they did have one other, but I didn't take a note of it as it wasn't something interesting, sorry folks. 😔

We had first visited, a short walk away, The Wellington, 62 High Street PO1 2LY (website), which also claims to be the oldest pub in Portsmouth, built in 1710, but with the frontage reconstructed during the 20th century. The interior had no historical feel about it, but the structure is pretty much as it was built over 300 years ago!

There can be up to 2 ales here, but on the day only 1 was available, St Austell Tribute, a 4.2% pale slightly bitter ale (website), brewed with Fuggle (hopslist), Celeia (hopslist), and Willamette (hopslist) hops; by the by, 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 then called 'Daylight Robbery' and has since been renamed. Because of the English and U.S. hop mix, it's not a 'traditional' English bitter as such, but a slightly darker version of many modern pale ales, gentle citrus, and usually very easy to drink. Not on this day sadly, as it was knackered, hence our only staying for the 1 pint each, oh well! 👎

If you go to Portsmouth, there are many other pubs too, good luck and cheers! ✌

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! 😁

Drinking around Covent Garden, London.

OK, this blog records a wee wander we had between Charing Cross Station and Oxford Street/Tottenham Court Road recently, with 5 pubs we visited in-between, although we could have visited many more on another day, this is a good selection for the few hours we had available. To reach The Harp, 47 Chandos Place WC2N 4HS (website), our first port of call, we walked straight out of Charing Cross Station and across The Strand to a short pedestrianised area up to Adelaide Street with The Harp directly in front of you a couple of minutes walk away.

It is known that this pub has been around since 1805 and was originally called the 'Welsh Harp' - it changed its name when Irish woman Binnie Walsh took it over in 1995, later selling it to Fuller's in 2014, after turning it into an excellent freehouse (my older blog), and good for them for keeping it a virtual freehouse still; London Pride is now available regularly. Indeed, Dark Star APA and Hophead are still available (perhaps an influence in Fuller's buying the pub) as is Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter, and a few other guest ales too! The building is from the 18th century, but most probably a pub was on the site for many years previous. As far as I can find out, the building itself isn't 'Listed' although next door is, as are the lampposts in Chandos Place!

Excellent choice of ales available here; although all these pubs appear to be charging £7 plus a pint! {I will be sharing information soon on pubs up int' North where you can buy your ales for at least £2 a pint less in places!} Anyway, my favourite ale of the day was imbibed here, unsurprisingly from one of my favourite breweries, the excellent Oakham Ales (website), their 4.6% Bishops Farewell, brewed with Cascade hops from the USA (hopslist) and English Challenger hops (hopslist). This is a pale golden 'premium' ale full of flavour, decent strength yet light and so easy to knock back, fruity, indeed zesty citrus, but hoppy too, pretty damn good!

We turned left out of The Harp, then left again up Bedfordbury, walked to the end and turned right where immediately on your right is The White Swan, 14 New Row WC2N 4LF (website), a Nicholson's Hostelry. This is a Grade II Listed 17th century building, tastefully refurbished by Nicholson's after they bought it, reopening in 2012. And that's it for my being able to take photographs of the exteriors on this day without members of the public included, busy busy! 😒

I have become increasingly frustrated with Nicholson's who have been reducing the ales available in their pubs, notably cask ales from small local breweries. But I was very happy to have a pint of this ale from Titanic Brewery of Stoke-on-Trent (website), okay, not local, but another decent brewery indeed, who's brewery tap, The Bulls Head in Burslem, I have written about on my older blog. Anyway, their 4.9% Plum Porter is pretty special as ever, brewed with a "delicate blend of classic hops" which is really teasing us, although I do believe this includes East Kent Golding hops (hopslist), and the beer does what it says on the label basically, dark and fruity, nice one... Oh yes, and it annoys me when staff can't be arsed to put a pumpclip on straight, many seen on this day were crooked! Glad I got that off my chest... 😉

From here, we turned right out of the pub, virtually opposite turned left on to Garrick Street, and right again at the first turning into Floral Street, we walked along and on the corner opposite at the junction with James Street, is The Nag's Head, 10 James Street WC2E 8BT (website). The Nag's Head is a Grade II Listed pub, which was erected in 1900, with a pub called that name at the address since "at least the 1670s." This is my second McMullen's pub ever, after visiting another White Swan recently (blog), despite the Nag's Head being a McMullen's pub since 1927! What have I been doing all these years?!? 😕

I drank their own 4.3% Nag's Head Bitter, brewed by McMullen's of Hertfordshire, of course (website), an educated guess says this is their Country Best Bitter, as it's the only beer they regularly brew at that strength. 😉 Brewed with Fuggle (hopslist), Progress (hopslist) and Bramling Cross (hopslist) hops, producing a very decent traditional best bitter indeed. 👍

To reach our penultimate pub, we turned right out of the Nag's Head, walked along James Street, turned right at the end onto Long Acre, and followed this down to Endell Street where we turned left up to the end and reached the corner pub at High Holborn, Craft Beer Company, 168 High Holborn WC1V 7AA (website). This is a modern built pub (1961), bought by the company in 2014, and here we were met with a pretty decent choice of cask ales and crafty keg beers!

Here we drank, from East Sussex, Lakedown Brewing Company (website) Sussex Pale (4.2%), and their beers seem to improve every time I taste them, an improving brewery indeed. Brewed with English hops Cascade (British Hops) and Ernest (British Hops), this ale brings an English twist to traditional APAs. Notable mandarin citrus in aroma, but gentle fruitiness to taste, easy bitterness to finish and really quite refreshing, will be a great summer ale methinks. 😎

Image thanks to Wikipedia

Finally, we crossed the road, and down Dyott Street opposite to New Oxford Street, where we turned left up to the junction with Tottenham Court Road. Where, just after on the right hand side, and opposite the Tottenham Court Road Tube station entrance is the last surviving pub, apparently, in Oxford Street, The Flying Horse, 6 Oxford Street W1D 1AN (website). Another Grade II Listed public house, built in 1892/93 in a Flemish Renaissance style on the site of an older pub with a history dating from at least 1790, and it does have quite a grand interior! 

It is another Nicholson's pub, so a wee bit uninteresting ale-wise, but I did drink their own Nicholson's Pale Ale (4.0%), brewed for them by Cornish brewery St Austell (website), which ain't too bad! Brewed with English hops Fuggle (hopslist) and East Kent Golding (hopslist), and Australian Galaxy hops (hopslist), so citrus and tropical fruits in the taste, pale, dry and bitter, could do with being a bit more bitterness for me, but very easy to drink, not bad at all.

I have quite a lot to write up to come, please be patient with me... Cheers m'dears! 😁

From Euston to Fleet Street.

We again started at The Marquis Cornwallis, 31 Marchmont Street WC1N 1AP (website) for our first pint, where we met Ian this time, down from Sheffield. Although they had the excellent Thornbridge Jaipur this time, we decided it was a wee bit early to start off with, it being 5.9%, so we started off with, from Herefordshire, the Wye Valley Brewery (website) HPA (Hereford Pale Ale, 4.0%). HPA is brewed with locally grown Target (hopslist) and Celeia (hopslist), originally from Slovenia, hops, which gives the ale its citrus aroma and flavour. Very easy to drink, we had 2 pints each, and 'tis very good indeed. However, we were 'targeting' (excuse the pun) Fleet Street as our destination, at Ian's request, so walked via...

A couple of pubs, including the Grade II Listed The Lamb, 94 Lamb's Conduit Street WC1N 3LZ (website), a pub well known for, amongst other things, it's 'snob screens' around the bar, which are featured when you go onto the website, and a pub I hadn't visited for many years! Primarily a Young's pub (website), but I drank, from Cornwall, the St Austell Brewery (website) Proper Job (4.5%), the brainchild of Roger Ryman, who sadly passed away 5 years ago R.I.P. (blog), when he joined and transformed the brewery as Head Brewer in 1999.

Proper Job is brewed with Willamette (hopslist), Cascade (hopslist) and Chinook (hopslist) hops, all from the USA. Willamette was developed from the English Fuggle hop in the late 1960s, indeed, was bred to replace Fuggle for growth in the USA! Cascade hops were originally developed from the 1950s, when English Fuggle and Russian Serebrianka hops were cross-pollinated, and named after the Cascade mountain range in the West of the country, they were released in 1972, and now represent about 10% of all hops grown in the USA. Chinook hops, which began life in 1985, were developed from Petham Golding hops. Proper Job is a pale straw coloured ale, citrus fruit aroma and taste, with a dry bitter finish, and very refreshing when quaffed during warm summer days, refreshing anytime really, nice one! 👍

Next we visited the first of two Samuel Smith's Brewery of North Yorkshire (website) pubs, the Grade II Listed Cittie of Yorke, 22 High Holborn WC1V 6BN (facebook); 'Sam Smiths' with an eccentric owner, and everything for sale is theirs, including crisps, spirits, wines, whatever, and they don't like mobile phones! This was a new pub for me, it has an almost monastic feel with its wooden panelling, stained windows, and small panelled booths to sit in, very cosy, though we stood at the bar. 😉 At this, and at the last pub, we drank Samuel Smith's Old Brewery Bitter, a 4.0% traditional Yorkshire bitter. A darkish amber colour, malty flavour, quite creamy, easy to drink, not enough hops for me though, but it will always be the same methinks. 😏

Ian's request was to visit the final pub as he'd never visited before, and I hadn't visited for a few years myself, so to the historic Grade II Listed, again Samuel Smith's owned, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, 145 Fleet Street EC4A 2BP (website); the entrance is down a narrow alley off Fleet Street leading to Wine Office Court. It was rebuilt the year after the Great Fire of London of 1666, and is a warren of nooks and crannies, well worth wandering round with a glass in hand.

Cheers m'dears! 😁

Circular Walk, Putney to Richmond and Back.

Okay, not so much a pub crawl, but an excellent circular walk, 15-16 miles, from Putney to Richmond and back to Putney, with many pub opportunities, and virtually all off road, a walk in the country in effect! We started by The Spencer in Lower Richmond Road SW15 1HJ (website), but much before opening time, and walked across Putney Common, passing the wonderful Arts & Crafts All Saints church (London Metropolitan Archives), before reaching the often very busy Upper Richmond Road, which we crossed to Putney Park Lane, which was soon off-road.

We followed Putney Park Lane all the way to Putney Heath and continued onto Wimbledon Common, passing by the Windmill and across to Beverley Brook following the brook to Richardson Evans and the A3. Yes, we had to cross the A3, where there is a good crossing, but you have to stick to the lights because the traffic here can be very dangerous, and quite unsighted. Once across we entered Richmond Park at Robin Hood Gate, with deer all around us (above image, and that close, no zoom lens needed!). We then strolled across to the Pen Ponds and up to Richmond Gate at the top of Richmond Hill (website).

We walked down Richmond Hill, much of it through Terrace Gardens, down by Richmond Bridge to the Thames Path and along to the White Cross, TW9 1NR, originally built in 1740 with some rebuilding in the 19th century (website) at the bottom of Water Lane. The White Cross has been a Young's pub since 1869, so Young's ales on sale, Ordinary and Special, and we started off with a pint of Ordinary each (3.7%), a decent enough refreshing pale amber bitter. Sadly, Young's is no longer a brewery, but a pubco, and their ales are now brewed in Bedford by Charles Wells (website). I have written about the Ram Brewery in Wandsworth closing down before, and what is now there, eg blog.

Young's pubs regularly seem to have St Austell Proper Job (4.5%) as a guest, so I had a pint of that too, an ale I've written about many times before, eg blog. And I've had Twickenham Naked Ladies (4.4%) here too, named after statues in York House Gardens in Twickenham, eg blog. Oh yes, and we dined here, the menu isn't out of this world (website), but pretty decent quality and enough for us to do a share with an extra portion of chips, tasty...

On finishing our lunch, we continued on our circular walk along the Thames Path (though the Thames does meander!) towards Mortlake and had a pint each at The Ship, 10 Thames Bank SW14 7QR (website), a Greene King pub, but I do get 10% CAMRA discount off ales here.😊 The Ship was built in 1781, and the Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race has had its finishing line here since 1845, so extraordinarily busy that day! Excellent views of the river and Chiswick Bridge, not the ugliest bridge crossing the Thames, and you can get 'trapped' in here for a short while every now and then when the tide is in, see photograph below from our previous visit here...

Or, of course, you can get your feet and trousers wet,😉but the tide starts going out again quite quickly, and there is always a wee path you can use along Ship Lane that goes up to the main Lower Richmond Road ('tis quite a long road) and Mortlake High Street. 

Or you can stay and have a drink, indeed, we sat outside (to the left of the photo immediately above, though sunny this day, and the tide wasn't in) and enjoyed a couple of pints of Greene King New Tricks (4.0%), a golden ale with lemon peel and ginger. Now I'm not the greatest fan of Greene King ales, but its location, and 10% off the price, influences our decision to visit here whenever passing. The New Tricks? Very subtle flavours form the ginger and lemon, a gentle bitterness, and wasn't bad at all, always worth dropping into The Ship. 👌

When we'd finished our drinks we carried along the Thames Path to Putney, completing our 'circular' route, and each had a Leffe Blonde (6.0%) to rinse away the dust, cheers!

Leffe website.

Oh yes, and if you want to drink in a pub close by the Thames in Putney, I suggest the Bricklayer's Arms, which is included in a recent blog, enjoy.

Putney & Tooting for Wimbledon!

Because of railway strikes, I travelled to London on Friday and back again on Sunday, so that I could attend a football match on Saturday, had to, see near the bottom. So I stayed at my brother's home, and Friday saw me in Putney, first off at Ghost Whale, 134 Upper Richmond Road SW15 2SP (website), a bottle shop and bar that also sells 8 keg 'craft' beers. I enjoyed pleasant discourse again with staff member Ray, from L.A., who I mentioned before (blog).

I returned again, a wee bit damp on Saturday, and I hadn't written many notes this weekend past, and I deleted some photographs I had meant to help jog my memory, oops, but on Friday I did imbibe the Belgian Abbey ale from St Bernardus (website) ABT 12 (10.0%), simple reason explained below next photograph. ABT 12 is a quadruple style ale (to do with strength), it was a deep dark red/brown/rust colour, a slight perfume to the aroma and taste, sweeter than I usually drink, with caramel and a hint of chocolate in the taste, but dried out slightly at the finish, had to be done, and not bad at all, but one shouldn't drink too many! 😉

Oh yes, and I did write notes of the first beer I drank on Friday, which was from Devon brewer Utopian Brewing Limited (website), their Bohemian British Lager (4.2%). It's brewed as a pilsner style, and, quite frankly, it does what it says on the tin, although I had it from the tap, it's a light crisp fruity lager, simples... See, I do drink lager sometimes!

So why the Belgian beer, and this Belgian beer photographed above from the Brown Dog in Florida? Well, it was Stacey of The Brown Dog, 215 St Joe Plaza Drive, Palm Coast, Florida, USA, FL 32164 (website), who reminded me by posting on their facebook page that Friday was the Belgian National Day national holiday (website), only a coincidence that I was online whilst at the Ghost Whale! Anyway, so I decided to have a Belgian beer to celebrate, top photograph, and Stacey sent the immediately above photograph back whilst I was still there on Friday, nice one! I have written about the excellent Gulden Draak a year ago (blog), and also Stacey contributed a guest blog about The Brown Dog a year ago too, cheers!

I then visited The Bricklayer's Arms, 32 Waterman Street SW15 1DD (facebook), which has 12 handpumps, 11 for ales and one for cider, and they do have quite a few ales from West Yorkshire based brewery Timothy Taylor's (website), although I prefer to drink their beers when I'm in West Yorkshire, notably at The Fleece Inn in Haworth (website). On the Friday I had a couple of ales, one from the South East London based Original Small Beer brewery (website), who specialise in lower alcohol strength beers, their 2.3% Organic IPA. It was a wee bit fruity, hint of orange, quite dry, slightly sour, I noted 'not bad' but I didn't have another.

No, I then went for a very different more traditional bitter from North London brewery Redemption (website), their 4.6% Urban Dusk. It had a deep dark chestnut colour, apparently with Bramling Cross hops to add a dark fruity taste (hopslist), but my notes say 'It looks like a bitter, it tastes like a bitter, and by golly it is a bitter' also 'very good' 😊

And I returned here on Saturday too, when I drank the East London based Five Points Brewing (website) Railway Porter (4.8%), which was very good indeed. Brewed using Goldings hops which give sweetness and spice (British Hop Association), and all things nice 😉 but the darker and roasted malts influence the taste more, as you would expect. It was rich and dark, had plenty of body, and with hints of chocolate and coffee in the taste, it was very good.👍And I shan't go on about whether it should be called a porter or a stout, because I've discussed that many times before, eg blog, but, as a friend pointed out, calling it a stout would betray the name Railway Porter, but maybe it edged more towards a porter anyway... 😏

I walked a few miles to Tooting earlier on Saturday, and had to take this photograph as it reminds me of Wolfy Smith, "Power to the People!" (youtube), you maybe have to be of a certain age to understand why. ✊ OK comrades (oops!), when the programme was on tv I went out with a lass for 2 years, who lived behind nearby Amen Corner (there's another link to popular culture of the past), which is just down the road from the Broadway, and we called ourselves the Tooting Popular Front as a laugh, so it did really exist and wasn't just made up by the writers. 😁

Anyway, back to pre-match drinking, which started at a pub I hadn't visited for many years, The Castle, 38 Tooting High Street SW17 0RG (website), where I followed in the 3 young women pictured in front of me (it's a busy pavement, it was the least busy photograph I managed to take!). It's certainly moved on to be a very foody pub, although haven't many?!? But it did have the England women's football match on television, and Cornish brewery St Austell (website) Proper Job (4.5% in cask), which I have written about many times, eg blog. I must admit that I was a little disappointed, although this is one ale that is better, and stronger, in its bottle-conditioned version (5.5% & blog), and drinking it in a pub just reminds me...

The Tooting pub I had originally planned to visit before the match was The Selkirk, 60 Selkirk Road SW17 0ES (website), which looks a fair size from the outside, but with added on bits, 'tis very big inside! I chose this pub because I had never been in it before, it's on a side street just off the High Street, but I saw it online, and I lived in Selkirkshire when I worked up in the Borders for a couple of years in the late 1980s, 'twas fate! Roomy inside, though with a few divisions, so not just one cavernous room, very friendly bar staff, also chatted to other customers, and a few other football fans, so it wasn't just the rain that kept me inside longer than planned.

Only one cask ale, and one draught cider, the ale was Timothy Taylor's Landlord, and, as I said above, I prefer to drink their beers up int' north, but I had a pint, and Landlord is what Landlord is, a decent enough bitter, gentle with the hops. But they did have quite a few crafty kegs on too, so I had a pint of Greenwich based (S.E. London and of Greenwich Meridian fame) Meantime Brewing (website) fizzy Anytime IPA (4.7%). Unsurprisingly, an American style IPA (APA), brewed with Cascade (hopslist), Centennial (hopslist), Ekuanot (Yakima Valley Hops, I believe also known as Equinox - hopslist) and Mosaic hops (hopslist), producing a light pale bitter, with tropical and citrus fruits in the taste. Now, I own up that I didn't take any notes, my apologies, but I was too busy having a life and chatting... 😁

And, I just had to have another drink before I left, because one of the bar staff said she loved these half-pint glasses (and their pint glasses too), and because the rain was coming down quite seriously outside the pub! And this is a lined-glass, in fact there is a wee bit over the measure here, although it didn't look like more than half a pint, but it was, cheers! So, from North London based Beavertown Brewery (website) Neck Oil (4.3%), who own up to using an enormous variety of hops in this session APA, although maybe not all at once (?!?), including Columbus (hopslist), Centennial (hopslist), Simcoe (hopslist), Amarillo (hopslist), Galaxy (hopslist), Vic Secret (hopslist) and Mosaic (hopslist)! As you could imagine, no doubt, this ensures a cornucopia of flavours, a wee bit too cold and fizzy for me, but very drinkable indeed!

And the reason behind my visit to London for the weekend? It was to go to a pre-season friendly match at AFC Wimbledon's new ground in Plough Lane SW17 0NR (website), and I have a bit of history going to the old Plough Lane ground when they were in the Southern League, and why drink in Tooting beforehand? 'tis far enough away from the ground to not be overcrowded on match days, and near enough to walk to in about 15 minutes. As you can see above, the proof of my attendance, and I got there quite early still, and the ground was still nearly empty, but the attendance was 5,138 for a pre-season friendly, and that's a fair turn-out for a friendly. 👌

Postscript. I bought a couple of 500ml bottles of the very tasty St Austell Proper Job (5.5%) this morning, cheers m'dears! 😉

La Belle Vue on Hastings Pier

I had to write this, although not directly relating to pubs and cask conditioned ale, but I've been waiting to drink on Hastings Pier again for quite a while now, and they do sell bottle-conditioned St Austell Proper Job, at 5.5% a beefed up and better version of the cask ale I believe, and many others agree, and which helped me through the dreaded lockdowns (blog). So I visited La Belle Vue (website) on the pier, a recently opened French bistro and bar, and chatted to the proprietor Keir a couple of days before coming here for a drink, indeed, I took the photograph above on the south facing upstairs 'outside' bar just before meeting her.

I came back on Saturday and drank in the downstairs bar, where I was served by the proficient Lucien, who I got on famously with as he had studied at the University of Exeter, and I had trained and worked in Exeter many years before, indeed, before he was born! 😁 However, when he wasn't carrying out his dealing with other customer duties we did share memories of the wonderful city that is Exeter, and which feels more like a town, and where I haven't visited since 2009, having lived here in the mid/late 1980s (blog written by Kieran).

I did drink a few pints, first, La Belle Vue Cidre (4.8%), which I believe to be from Appleshed Cider of Hereford (twitter), and made with apples that grow in their own "orchards that shelter beneath the Malvern Hills in Gloucestershire." A medium dry cider, not as dry as the usual ciders I drink, but very refreshing, and just £4.40 a pint, on a seaside pier, great value indeed!

I then drank La Belle Vue Lager, or Bière Blonde (4.0%), I haven't been able to work out where it's from, but it was very good, and tasted more like a Belgian blonde ale than a lager to me, although not quite the potency of many Belgian beers. 😁 At 4.0% I could drink this all day, and at just £4.25 a pint, I could nearly afford to drink it all day, excellent value! 😉

My final pint was of Grand Central IPA (above photo and 4.2%), which is brewed in the Manchester area, I believe by Hydes Brewery of Salford. This is what I call a 'crafty keg' beer, and 'vegan friendly' with a slight haze. Brewed with 6 different hops from the USA and Australia, consequently packed with citrus and forest fruit flavours, and quite delicious, cheers!

Oh yes, and La Belle Vue is primarily a French restaurant (website), with traditional French starters including Soupe à l'oignon, Escargot, Leek Terrine et Cuisses de grenouille, main meals as the above menu, and interesting bar snacks too (facebook).

I also briefly chatted to another couple of staff, very friendly respectful service, and met up with Keir again, which was a nice touch to end my visit, I'll be back! 👌

Let's Play Musical Hops!

I drank an ale called Cashmere recently, a single hopped ale from the excellent Kent Brewery (website), and, when I shared it on facebook, a friend immediately did what I did, and linked it to a song by Led Zeppelin (YouTube). I'd thought the same, but had been thinking this Musical Hops idea for a while. However, that song is Kashmir, spelt differently. Anyway, I'm not giving up on this as I'm adding another 5 hops to this blog that start with the letter 'C' - bear with me!

The Cashmere hop was developed by Washington State University and released in 2013, being a 'marriage' of Cascade and Northern Brewer hops. Cashmere has flavours of lemon, lime and melon, exhibiting a smooth bitterness, mildly aromatic with a subtle herbal bouquet* - I certainly don't remember much aroma, but have lost my previous notebook, sadly. So I didn't use an image from that ale, but the image above is of this year's Duvel Tripel Hop Cashmere, and I have recently written about their previous  Tripel Hop (blog), a bottle of which I happen to have in my fridge 😉 and, just now I ordered a few bottles of the Cashmere pictured above!

My second "C" hop is Calypso, which was one of the 3 hops used by the, also excellent, Yorkshire brewer Mallinsons (website) in their 'Tropical Blonde' (above - and blog). This tune is haunting, frankly beautiful, and sung by Suzanne Vega, and Calypso was one of the 2 hops that gave me the idea for this blog well before I'd even heard of Cashmere, so Calypso (YouTube).

The Calypso hop was bred in the Yakima Valley of Washington State, with Hopsteiner lineage. It features crisp, fruity aromas and flavours, and is complex* with hints of stone fruits, apple, pear and lime. For the Tropical Blonde I got citrus and tropical fruit in the taste, noticeably mango and pineapple in the aroma, but then there were 2 other hops involved as well! 😉

My third hop, and another of the earliest influences for this blog is Cascade, one of the 3 hops used by the American brewer Sierra Nevada (website), and you'll likely have noticed these "C" hops are mostly from the U.S. of A. The beers I mention in this blog are of the, highly influenced by the craft brewers over the Pond, and mostly labelled American Pale Ales. So, to the music for this one, and Cascade by Siouxsie and the Banshees (YouTube), quality!

The Cascade hop was pioneered at Oregon State University in the 1950s and is widely used, indeed Cascade hops have been grown in England since 2002, after development at Wye College (website). However, Cascade was originally developed from the English Fuggle hop and the Russian Serebrianka hop and released in 1972. Cascade provides spicy citrus flavours, particularly grapefruit.* Indeed, the Sierra Nevada (blog), certainly has grapefruit in the taste.

So to my fourth hop, and, for the music I had to dig deeper, it wasn't as automatic for the next 3, and so a wee bit eclectic! Anyway, the Crystal hop, which is one of the FIVE hop varieties used in the eponymous Revelation, which is a revelation, and is brewed in Sussex by Dark Star (website). Music is Crystal by New Order (YouTube), never heard of it before, but not bad.

The Crystal hop was developed from Hallertau, Cascade, Brewer's Gold and Early Green hops, with floral, fruity and spicy flavours, notably cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper.* I'm sorry, but the Revelation has so much going for it (blog), that I couldn't guess how much Crystal hops influence the flavour, but influence they must, cheers! 😄

OK, I'm slipping in a couple of 'googlies' here, first although used in many pale hoppy ales (and other styles!), the Challenger hop is actually English, but certainly can be included as a "C" hop! And my second googly is the music, I said eclectic earlier, and a wee bit space agey... Challenger by Creo (YouTube). Oh yes, and Challenger hops are one of 2 hops used by another excellent brewery, Oakham Ales (website), in their session ale JHB.

The Challenger hop, as I said, was developed in England, at Wye College, and is the result of marrying Northern Brewer and German Zattler hops, and was released to the public in 1972; also know as Wye Challenger. Challenger provides floral, citrus and spicy undertones, and is good for bittering ales.* JHB certainly has the citrus flavours expected, as noted in this blog.

My final hop for this blog is Chinook, one of the 3 hops used in Proper Job, which is brewed by the Cornish brewer, St Austell (website). The music is again a wee bit electronic, and bowls us yet another googly, Chinook by Julian Jordan (YouTube), likely more about the wind than hops. 😉

Chinook hops were released in 1985, a cross between a USDA male and Petham Golding hops, and has a spicy pine bouquet and definite grapefruit flavouring. They are widely used in APAs.* I regularly drink Proper Job, whether cask-conditioned, bottle-conditioned (my favourite!), or even from a can (blog), which has forest and citrus fruit flavours, notably grapefruit, nice one!

*If you're surprised by my wealth of knowledge about hops, don't be, I've used the excellent hopslist website as a source of much of the relevant content, many thanks to them.

I do hope you've enjoyed this blog, and some of the music too, cheers!