Congratulations to the Tower PotY 2019!

Congratulations again to The Tower for being chosen as CAMRA South East Sussex Pub of the Year 2019! The Tower is situated on the corner of London Road and Tower Road, Bohemia, Hastings & St Leonards TN37 6NB, and I revisited on Tuesday, during which I congratulated Louisa the landlady, and had a few pints, of course! 

6 ales, including 2 regulars (Dark Star 4.7% APA and 3.8% Hophead), and a similar number of real ciders, and usually a perry too, are available. I concentrated on the 2 guest ales in the photograph above, Manchester-based Bootleg (website) Cheeky Monkey (4.2%), and I could only ask for it using my standard 'Northern' accent, sadly not appropriate here as it is basically South Yorkshire, sorry peeps in other parts of the North! I've seen Cheeky Monkey described as a dark ale, but to me it appeared more like an old-fashioned best bitter with a nice deep colour, and quite a good bitter too. But I mostly drank yet another an old favourite, Oakham Citra (4.2% - website), regular readers will realise I love the Citra hop, and Peterborough-based Oakham Ales is an excellent brewer too, pale, grapefruit, dry and bitter, quality as ever!

The other 2 guest ales were both darker beers, the Staffordshire-based Titanic (website) Plum Porter (4.9%) is excellent, and North Yorkshire-based Great Heck (website) Voodoo Mild (4.3%) is pretty good too, though I didn't drink either on the day, but have tried them both before!

Full Pints!

The two regular ales are from local brewer Dark Star (website), though now owned by Fuller's of West London, whose brewing business is to be taken over by Japanese group Asahi (blog), so who knows what is going to happen to the Dark Star ales! At the moment, their Hophead (3.8%) is being brewed in London and all other Dark Star beers, including their American Pale Ale (APA - 4.7%) are still being brewed in Sussex; these cost a good value £3.10 and £3.20 a pint at the Tower; the other ales cost £3.20 a pint (Cheeky Monkey and Citra), £3.30 a pint for Voodoo Mild, and £3.50 a pint for the Plum Porter. Also, a you can see in the photograph immediately above, lined oversize glasses are used, so you always get at least a full pint, great value!

Once again, congratulations to Lou and The Tower, and cheers m'dear! 

Hastings: The Tower Ale & Cider Festival:

As previously mentioned The Tower on the corner of London Road and Tower Road, Bohemia, St Leonards, the reigning CAMRA South East Sussex Pub of the Year, is running a beer festival from tomorrow, Friday 23rd of February to Sunday the 25th, open 11.00 to 23.00. There will be up to 16 different ales available at any one time, with up to 25 different ales expected to be served over the weekend! 

These are the tasting notes provided (and there are about 8 real ciders and perry too!) with a bit added here and there by moi (in italics):

ORKNEY SKULL SPLITTER (8.5%)  A rich fruity wine-like complexity on the palate includes fresh & dried fruits, warm exotic spice and light summer citrus fruits. Red colour. All the way from the Orkneys, a very reliable brewery. 

FUNKY HOP (RAW) DONKEY BIG FUNKY (6.2%) A collaboration between Raw and The Pigeon Fishers. A New England IPA, packs a donkey punch. Pale

PHOENIX WOBBLY BOB (6%) An amber coloured beer, with a strong malt and fruit balance, evident in both the aroma and flavour. A slight sweetness leading to a dry finish. Amber. I remember first drinking this at the Royal Oak in Lostwithiel, Cornwall (about 1990), and TOO easy to drink for the strength, an excellent premium bitter!

LOUD SHIRT PSYCHADELIC IPA (6%) A fantastic IPA, that will take you to another plain of thought. Pale. From Brighton.

DARK STAR HOPHEAD EXTRA (5.8%) Extra describes it beautifully double hops and 25kg of citra thrown in for good measure. Pale/Light. Hophead's excellent, but this is EXTRA!

BURNING SKY AURORA (5.6%) Premium strength pale ale, US hops and big citrus and tropical flavours. Pale Amber. From Mr Tranter who consolidated the Hophead recipe at Dark Star, excellent!

ARBOR WHY KICK A MOO COW (5.5%) Big malty NZ pale ale, large quantity of southern cross and rakau hops. Dry hopped with green bullet. Pale

TRING’S COLLEYS DOG (5.2%) Dark ruby premium ale is all about the malt. It’s nutty, malty and full of body. Ruby

DANCING DUCK INDIAN PORTER (5%) A modern twist on a classic style of beer. Smokey bonfire flavours with a spicy hop and pleasant warming afterglow. Dark. Another tried and trusted excellent brewery...

TINY REBEL FULL NELSON (4.8%) Maori inspired pale ale, musty flavour of nelson sauvin, with sweet munich malt compliments. Pale. Excellent Welsh brewery from a young company of men, multiple award winners too.
DOWNLANDS MOSAIC (4.8%) Vegan friendly single hopped APA that is a festival of tropical and citrussy notes. Pale

GUN SMOKED RYE (4.7%) Vegan friendly . Beech smoked German Bromberg malt provides a subtle smokiness with the spiciness of the rye. Smokey

OLD DAIRY MAD COW (4.5%) Milk stout with coffee and cocoa nibs. Dark

ILKLEY TRIBULUS LUPULUS (4.4%) Mandarina & Huell Melon bring fresh fruit. Ekuanot from the US brings a tropical punch to the party. Pale. Another excellent Yorkshire brewery.

FYNE ALES VITAL SPARK (4.4%) A dark rich beer that shows glints of red. The taste is clean, slightly sharp with a hint of blackcurrant. Mild. Another Scottish brewery, and one of my all time favourite breweries too.

DANCING DUCK WET FEBRUARY (4.2%) A crisp, clean 4.2% pale ale with hints of lemon, lime, tangerine and sherbet,a biscuity malt characteristic and a dry finish.

SALOPIAN MATRIX (4.2%) A refreshing golden yellow ale. Prominent hop flavours are balanced by biscuit malt dry finish. Golden. Another consitent great brewery.

HUMPTY DUMPTY LEMON & GINGER (4.1%) Pale amber crisp ale, finished with a refreshing ginger and lemon tang. Golden

CAIRNGORM NESSIES MONSTER MASH (4.1%) A pleasant mahogany best bitter, malt predominating, gives a satisfying fullness of flavour. Red

RAT WHITE RAT (4%) Very pale, hoppy ale is made from low colour Maris Otter malt. A combination of three high alpha American hops produce an intensely aromatic finish. Pale

OLD DAIRY WHAT THE HECK! (3.8%) Orange pale ale. A juicy banger straight out of the cattle shed. Pale

FUNKY HOP DONKEY FUNKY LITE (3.6%) Collaboration beer, hybrid IPA. Pale

BURNING SKY PLATEAU (3.5%) A beautiful pale ale with a crisp malt edge and sharp bitterness. Pale

WANDER BEYOND PEAK (3.8%) A beautifully crafted English pale bitter. Pale

Food will be available Friday and Saturday lunchtimes, and snacks all the time, and there will be lve music on Saturday evening from 8pm, cheers!

Old Favourites at The Tower

I've visited The Tower, 251 London Road, Bohemia, Hastings TN37 6NB (tel: 01424 721773) on a few occasions recently, last time a couple of days ago, when I enjoyed drinking a couple of old favourites!  In addition, I enjoyed chatting with the lovely landlady, Louisa, and with a friend, Darren, who's birthday it is today, so Happy Birthday Darren, have an excellent day!

There was a mild and a stout available too, but I'm going to be writing about darker ales very soon, so not in this instance, but, all the way from the beautiful west of Scotland, from Fyne Ales (website), was their refreshing 3.8% session ale Jarl. I've written about this before, and what can I say, it's a dry, pale golden hoppy ale, with citrus flavours, a slightly nutty flavour too, and a fruity aroma. Good old Citra hops are used in the brewing of this ale, and it finishes with a slightly sour bitterness, and at just £3.20 a pint, nice one!

And the ever excellent 5.7%, more than a session ale, indeed a 'revelation', Dark Star (website) Revelation! This is packed with hops, Warrior, Columbus, Crystal, Chinook and Cascade, and dry-hopped too, I seem to remember, so in your face hops! The Revelation is a deep coloured golden ale bursting with flavours with a fruity aroma, tasting of mango, peach and plenty of citrus too, plenty of body with a dry finish, and just £3.50 a pint... Yes, I do love this!

Of course, there are 6 ales in all, plus 5 or 6 real ciders and perry, and the two regular ales are also from the Dark Star Brewing Co. Their 3.8% Hophead, is the regular session ale, brewed with Cascade hops, with more flavours than you would expect for a session ale, indeed, one of my nicknames is 'Hophead Steve' and not just because I'm a 'hophead', but because I regularly drink this pale golden bitter, it is excellent, and costs just £2.90 a pint at The Tower. The other Dark Star ale regularly sold here, at only £3 a pint, excellent value, is their 4.7% American Pale Ale (APA), brewed with Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops, obviously with more body than the Hophead, and with a greater variety of citrus and tropical flavours too, and a yeast strain from the USA is also used to create this APA style ale, again, an excellent beer!

Many thanks again to Louisa for keeping and serving up excellent ales, and a Happy Birthday again to Darren, cheers! 😎