Back to Rye!

I returned to Rye yesterday and re-visited the Rye Waterworks, my first 'micro' pub (older blog giving history etc). Why did I return so soon, following our walk there from Hastings last week (Steve on Hastings blog)? Frankly, we'd walked for 4 hours to get here last week, nearly missing the rain, at a fair old pace too, and couldn't get into the Waterworks because it was packed, so I had to return at the first opportunity, just to wish them a Merry Christmas and have a few beers, of course...

The photograph above is from last week, before the rain came, and as we 'marched' alongside the Royal Military Canal from Pett Level, but yesterday, certainly lazier as I caught the train to Rye and back. Anyway, I reached the Rye Waterworks this time just before it opened, so I was the first customer, hurray! Sadly, I didn't see David, the proprietor, this time, but did see his wife Ulla and excellent son Eddie, as he opened up the bar a wee bit early, not for me, but for a tradesman; never mind, I was still happy. 😉

Anyway, to the beers (above, all at £3.70 a pint) and ciders, which I didn't try any of; and the gap above left was filled by Hastings brewed FILO Cardinal (4.6%), a fine dark ale that the brewer calls Sussex Porter, though a wee debate with fellow customer Paul found we didn't agree it is a porter, so I shall be writing a blog very soon about porters, stouts and other dark ales. 

So what did I drink? I drank 3 of the paler ales, including Battle Brewery (website) One Hop Wonder (4%), brewed using just Chinook hops; a golden bitter, less citrus aroma and flavour than I thought it would have, but a very easy ale to drink. Then I tried the stronger Romney Marsh Brewery (website) American Pale (5%), brewed using a variety of different American hops, so every brew is subtly different; a more fruity pale golden ale, a bit sweeter and with more body, as you'd expect...

But my favourite ale of the day was the Old Dairy Brewery (website) Uber Brew (3.8%), brewed with 3 hops, Chinook again, Citra and Equinox, and I started with a pint and finished with another pint of this; a fair amount of body for such a session ale, and much more citrus in the taste, pale and golden, with a nice dry bitter finish, pretty damn good, cheers!

Oh yes, and a friend I hadn't seen for quite a while, Harrison, caught the same train as me coming home, good discourse made for a good journey, cheers again!

Excellent Beers Conditioned in the Bottle.

I was stimulated to write this blog after reading Roger Protz's column in the most recent copy of What's Brewing, December 2018, the newspaper of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), and a letter in the same issue written by Peter Murray. Roger writes about 2 legendary Bottle-conditioned ales, including Fuller's Vintage Ale (8.5%), which I just so happened to have sampled their 1998 Vintage a few years ago, a bottle of which had been left behind by a previous owner of the Dolphin Inn, Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings TN34 3DW (2018 South East Sussex CAMRA Community Pub of the Year - blog). Mark, the landlord for the last 14 years, agreed we should sample this after me hounding him for ages that he should take it home before someone else decided to remove it from the premises, thus negating his chance to sample it...

The Vintage Ale is brewed using different malts and hops each year; in 1998 Alexis Pale and Crystal malts were used, and hops used were Challenger, Denall, Fuggles, Goldings, Northdown, Organic First Gold and Target. Mark allowed me the honour of opening the bottle, thank you very much, and pouring the deep reddish-amber nectar that it contained, very carefully of course, to avoid disturbing the lees at the bottom, and it came out in perfect condition, beautifully clear and with a perfect head! So what was it like after 17 years in the bottle? Here's what I wrote in my notes: "Rich, slight malty aroma... Creamy, fruity (notably damson with a hint of orange), slightly sweet but dries out in the finish... Gorgeous!" I do need to start buying a bottle or two every year...

The second bottle-conditioned ale Roger talks about in his column is Thomas Hardy's Ale, originally brewed by Eldridge Pope (no longer exists, sadly) at 11.7% in 1968 to celebrate the life of the author, 40 years after his death. Following the demise of Eldridge Pope at the beginning of the millennium, there have been years without and years where this has been brewed elsewhere, but the brand is now owned by brothers Sandro and Michele Vecciato, who have it brewed at Meantime Brewing in London at 13%. I saw the bottle in the photograph in the Jolly Fisherman in Hastings, East Beach Street, Hastings TN34 3AR (blog). Sadly, they won't let me share it, neither will another friend, Rod, who has told me he has bottles from May 1978 and 1986...

Oh well, I am jealous of the others and, as I haven't tasted any since the 1980s, my ability to describe it has diminished considerably, I just remember liking it immensely... So, Mr Protz, what do you think? Roger reports that Maris Otter malted barley and Crystal malts are used, with Fuggles and Goldings hops, and the beer isn't released until just over a year after it was brewed, allowing for maturation, including 9 months in the bottle. This year is the 50th anniversary of the first brew, and he describes "figs, dates, fresh tobacco (worrying!) and chocolate on the aroma and palate, backed by peppery and spicy hops." There you are...

The beer that Peter Murray mentions is Worthington's White Shield (5.6%), originally developed from Worthington's early 19th century East India Pale Ale, and which has moved around in more recent years, now brewed at Coors brewery in Burton, was Bass etc etc. Another I haven't been drinking recently, and I notice many online reviews aren't too favourable, but I always remember enjoying drinking White Shield, so here goes a couple of anecdotes...

First, after recently moving to Tavistock in 1992, I entered the Tavistock Inn, 19 Brook Street PL19 0HD, and saw that they had White Shield behind the bar, but the landlord said it was past date, so we came to an agreement that I'd finish off nearly a crate of White Shield for £1 a bottle, we were both happy with the arrangement, I was sad when they ran out! The second anecdote includes my attending the Great British Beer Festival in 2011 having been at a football match previously, and they had virtually run out of beer... There were still beers here and there, of course, but I found that they had cask-conditioned White Shield, gravity fed, served straight from a tap in the cask, and it seemed pretty gorgeous to me, it was all I drank!

Finally, for this blog, I do need to mention my favourite Belgian beer, bottle conditioned too, like many Belgian beers, the 'Trappist' Westmalle Tripel (9.5% - website); and not to forget the recently available British 'Trappist' ale brewed in Leicestershire, the also excellent bottle-conditioned, though very different, Tynt Meadow (7.4% - blog). Oh yes, the Westmalle Tripel, is a golden beer, subtly fruity, quite dry and bitter finish, quite frankly, excellent! There are a number of bars in Brussels where I would always drink this, the waiting staff in the magnificent Le Cirio in Brussels, by la Bourse, always taking care not to disturb the sediment, but leaving the bottle for people to add the sediment if they so wished. Indeed, the owner of the bar closest to where my brother used to live always called me "Monsieur Westmalle", sadly no longer open...

Cheers for letting me reminisce!

Fiddles, Waste and Duty: Full Pint or Not?!?

I have written about this subject before, consequently my apologies if this all sounds old hat, but trying to explain my thoughts to a friend recently found him unable to listen without continuously interrupting, so this is specifically for him, if he really wants to know my opinion...

Too much froth!

Trading standards officers have regularly found that publicans take advantage of guidelines that pints of beer can be served containing only 95 per cent liquid, thus allowing for a 'head' on the beer. The Weights and Measures Act 1985, however, stipulated that a pint of beer should be a pint, not 19 fluid ounces, nor 17 or 18 fluid ounces, but a full pint, aka 20 fluid ounces. Indeed, in the 1970s up to 50% of real ale was served from metered electric beer pumps into over-size glasses, meaning there was no wastage and a full pint was delivered every time. If you have never seen or heard of this, it was more regular in the Midlands and further North, notably in pubs owned by the following breweries: Banks, Greenalls, Boddingtons, Hydes, Robinsons, Wards, Stones, and Gales down South. 

Too much waste!

Frustratingly, a 1982 court ruling stipulated that a head of froth was "an integral part" of a pint, and that it was fair to serve beer provided the head was "not excessive or unreasonable." At the beginning of the millennium, in 2000, the Government announced that pubs that sold pints of less than 95 per cent liquid could be prosecuted, facing fines of up to £1,000, and landlords were given two years to stock up on over-size glasses, but this was never enforced, and you often still see beer wasted as it pours over the top of brim measure glasses into drip trays. Brewers and publicans, consequently, have been allowed to make the customer pay for wasted beer, and/or make extra profit that isn't taxed, for example, by selling more than 72 pints of ale from a 9 gallon firkin/cask, not an uncommon request to local pub managers by their pubco area managers, asking for up to 80 pints of beer sold from a 72 pint firkin. Consequently, Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs lose out on tax revenue too, meaning that we all pay more tax!

Brings a Tear to the Eye!

So why do I believe this is so important? Well, apart from the customer, ie you and me, and HMRC for that matter, being fleeced, a sad fact is that draught beer in licensed premises is the only produce in the country which is allowed to be sold less than is advertised. Imagine the uproar if retailers were allowed to sell any other produce short, eg 18 fags in a pack of 20, 450mls of milk in a pint bottle, put 18 litres of petrol into your car and get charged for 20 litres, 300g of tomatoes in a tin of 400g etc etc... Indeed, selling pints that are not 100% liquid enables brewers and pubs to boost profits by effectively selling air, especially in the North where a 'big head' is actively encouraged by using tight 'sparklers' and, again frustratingly, this practice is even arriving down South these days, frothy beer rules, it seems! And we, the consumer/customer/taxpayer continue to be laughed at by breweries and pubcos as they continue to fleece us... 😕 

I originally wrote this blog regarding finding lined oversized glasses in Hastings, so go to the Steve on Hastings blog if you'd like to know which pubs in Hastings use them!

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)!

Another Hastings Micropub - Twelve Hundred Postcards

Hastings newest micropub very recently opened at 80 Queens Road TN34 1RL (opposite Morrisons petrol station), so I had to visit, obviously...

... and very happy I was too when I got there (above), well I was already quite happy, but pleased with how Twelve Hundred Postcards is shaping (the story behind the name is described in great detail on their website, so I suggest you have a look there if you want to know more), and I got to meet up with a couple of friends there I hadn't seen for quite some time too, nice one! 

On entering I was impressed with the bright decor, and how far back the bar room goes, consequently providing plenty of seating (I calculate room for 30-40 seated, and plenty of room for standing), as you can see from the photograph above.

The man in charge using modern technology to aid his efficiency, and the cooled beer storage area behind him, pretty much an enormous fridge that you can see into.

To the 4 cask conditioned ales available (above, what was available yesterday evening 3rd November, but no regular ales, I believe, so these will regularly change as they run out, and I also believe there are ales to come very soon from quality local Sussex brewers Franklins - website - and from Burning Sky - website).

I have to admit the ales available yesterday (3rd November) included 2 of my longstanding favourites, from Peterborough brewers Oakham Ales (website), their excellent 4.2% Citra, a pale golden bitter brewed with the eponymous Citra hop, producing a gorgeous citrus aroma and grapefruit flavour, refreshing and gorgeous! Plus, from Derbyshire brewers Thornbridge (website), and also excellent, their 5.9% Jaipur, another ale with citrus aroma and flavour, but with much more body, not quite a supping ale, though quality indeed!

Looking back towards the front

So what else is available? In addition to the ales there are 3 ciders available and a crafty keg beer, plus numerous bottles and cans in a fridge behind me when I took this photograph, including some Belgian beers, 2 red and 2 white wines, and a variety of crisps to snack on. As I said above, Twelve Hundred Postcards is bright, clean and roomy, to which I can add, very friendly too, so well worth a visit, or many visits for that matter, cheers! Oh yes, opening times: 

Sunday, 12-4 pm

Monday, not open

Tuesday, 5-9 pm

Wed/Thursday, 12-2 and 5-9 pm
Fri/Saturday, 12-9.30 pm

London Beer Flood 1814...

I meant to write about the anniversary of the London Beer Flood that happened close by what is now the Dominion Theatre in London's West End, on the 17th of October 1814 (though some reports record this tragedy to have been on the 16th, the evidence to support the 17th looks to be stronger), but I forgot to, so... 

In those days, London drinkers were supplied by dozens of competing breweries, and competition saw some of the breweries build enormous vats in which to ferment and condition their ales. The enormous porter vat of the Maux & Company had a capacity of over a million pints! At about 6pm, on the 17th of October, 204 years ago, one of the steel restraining bands that enveloped the vat broke and released the contents!. Together with the million plus pints of porter released, other vessels in the brewery released more beer into the flood as well. The resulting deluge damaged the brewery and a nearby pub, the Tavistock Arms, and flooded the basements of nearby homes.   

Sadly, depending on which reports you read, between 7 and 9 people died as a direct result of the flood, most drowning in their own basements, and many more were seriously injured, including some of those who came to help rescue survivors. 

Some may joke "what a way to go" but I say R.I.P. to those who sadly died in their own homes... 

Congratulations to the Dolphin in Hastings!

So, congratulations to the Dolphin Inn (website), Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings TN34 3DW, for winning the South East Sussex CAMRA Community Pub of the Year 2018!

 The Award

The Dolphin sells 6 different cask conditioned ales, 3 of which are regulars, ie Dark Star Hophead, Youngs Special and Harveys Sussex Best, so 2 local ales there. In addition, they always have 3 guest ales, with an emphasis on providing ales from local brewers.

Receiving the Award

Community pub? Certainly, the Dolphin is in the centre of the fishing quarter, opposite the Fish Market, and provides a service for the local community. You'll see fishermen, local tradespersons and artisans, retired and working, male and female, young and old! Regulars who need help get it, whether it's dropping off coal at their homes or providing food at home for those not so well, the landlord and a regular annually paint the Stacey Marie RX134 opposite (Hastings Fishermen's Museum outdoor exhibit), and various other locals help as well, including rebuilding and adding a fibreglass deck, as volunteers. And the catering side of the business is a firm champion of the local fishing industry and Hastings Fish (blog). 

Also, £thousands are raised every year for charity, including the local Winkle Club, RNLI Hastings Lifeboat, St Michael's Hospice, and, this year, making a specific campaign to raise money to support the grandchild of a local fisherman, Elsie- Rose, and for the Elsie-Rose & Friends Foundation (blog).

All in all, nice one Mark, Maureen, family & colleagues!