If The Beermeister Could Do Perfect Drinking Partners!

Thirsty?!?😉

Congratulations to Hastings' Dolphin Inn!

Congratulations to The Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings TN34 3DW (facebook page), for winning the CAMRA South East Sussex Community Pub of the Year 2019. Well done to Mark and Mo, Laura, Louise and Fraser, and all the bar staff, plus to Clare and her kitchen staff for adding a new dimension since she took on the kitchen. 

The Dolphin Inn, its staff and customers do make this not just an excellent place to knock back 6 real ales, always in perfect condition, at any one time, including 3 regulars (Dark Star Hophead, Harveys Sussex Best and Youngs Special), and 3 guest ales, usually locally brewed, for example, I enjoyed a couple of pints of Dark Star Revelation, a truly 'revelationary' 5.7% hoppy ale, one to savour, and brewed in East Sussex still! 

But also, good food, and a true community pub, with locals from all walks of life joining in with community projects, looking out for each other, charity work and fund-raising £thousands, at least three days a week with live music played by local musicians and singers, and welcoming to all ages, and visitors and tourists too... 

Yet again, this is certainly a well-deserved award, nice one and cheers!

Summer of Pub!

1967 was the Summer of Love, 52 years later CAMRA has announced a campaign for 2019 called Summer of Pub to encourage people to get down to the pub over the coming months. So look out for dedicated posters and beer mats in pubs taking part, or encourage your publican to participate, or if you are a publican join in! How to get involved and details of events and participating pubs can be found at the CAMRA website.

Please do enjoy the Summer of Pub!

Seven Cs of Rye...

It seems like I'm making a monthly trip to Rye nowadays, which is a good thing, and to the Rye Waterworks again, at Tower Street TN31 7AT, and which I've adopted as my 'local' in Rye. There was the usual pleasant company, including new faces as ever, and the friendly service of father & son team, David and Eddie.

Inside (above), and as I've explained before, the ever-changing furniture, posters and pictures, and curios, every trip is like entering a different pub, as everything not nailed down is for sale!

And the 8 real ales available listed to the left of the board (above), and a similar number of ciders to the right. Why have I named this the Seven Cs of Rye? Well, I was stuck for a pun, and can't be far off having seven hops used among the 8 ales on offer, with names beginning with C! Cannot be certain, because not all brewers tell you what hops they use, but certainly at least 4 of the following hops were used: Calypso, Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Citra, Columbus and Comet, well I can dream...

Bar to the right

I mostly drank the Old Dairy Uber Brew, 3.8%, and lovely and hoppy (includes use of the hops Citra, Chinook, and Equinox), quite frankly, this is one of the best session pale golden bitters on the market, and very local too. I also had a pint of the 4.2% Old Dairy Simcoe IPA (let me down on the hops used obviously!). This was unfined, so suitable for vegans, and a hazy amber colour, a bit too sweet for me, plenty of caramel from the malt, with a slightly nutty finish, and surprisingly very dry in the finish. Yes, I also tried a pint of the Rother Valley Brew 3500, which I guess is their 3500th gyle, or brew, but it wasn't mentioned on their website when I looked just now. Presumably why it's a 3.5% ale, copper colour, slightly nutty, with a hint of roasted malt, indeed, a very decent traditional style bitter.

As you can see in the photograph above this one, situated at the far end of the bar, tee shirts are now on sale for £10 each, and the photograph immediately above is the one I took home with me, cheers David and Eddie!

I shall return...

The Alchemist - Another Update!

Whilst on the subject of councils enforcing the rebuilding of public houses demolished without planning permission (prior being The Carlton Tavern - blog), I checked up on what was happening to The Alchemist, Battersea SW11 1TH, which I wrote about in 2015 too (blog), and for which Wandsworth Council, in this instance, made the order to rebuild the property. The Alchemist originally opened in the mid-19th century as The Fishmongers Arms (Pub History) and Wandsworth Council reported last year that it had been rebuilt (above - website).

The building as it looked before demolition.

It is good to see it has been rebuilt, ostensibly as a public house, but I cannot find any information about whether it is open now... I noticed it up for sale, apparently as a restaurant, but the link is no longer available, does anyone know if there have been any further developments please? I should be able to get there in a couple of weeks if I cannot find out what has happened, so will report further when I do know more, cheers!

Photograph taken 5th July 2019

I went by on a bus recently and it still looks empty!

The Carlton Tavern Update

I wrote about the Carlton Tavern in Maida Vale NW5 5EU, four years ago now (blog), and the fact that developers had demolished the building without planning permission, and had been ordered to rebuild the public house by Westminster Council... Well, they're taking their time, but I found this image on the facebook page Rebuild The Carlton Tavern (edited a wee bit, but many thanks to the administration of that page for publishing, and good luck with overseeing the pub's return from the ashes), nice one!

And this was how the Carlton Tavern looked before the developers vandalism! Also, apparently, the pub is already up for sale (Ham & High).

Watching further developments with great interest...

Ticket to Rye...

It seems to be a regular event this, visiting the Rye Waterworks micropub (a few blogs now, for example this blog says a bit about it!), this time I traveled by train, but well worth it, yet again! Plenty of pleasant company, obviously the landlord and partner, and Alan (someone I know from Hastings) arrived later for his first visit, coincidentally. Plus five Norwegian lawyers, very pleasant company, women friends from university, who meet up every year, they work all over the place now, coming from Malta to London! Primarily, the lawyers meet up, not just to keep in touch, but to visit vineyards, this time they were about to go to Carr Taylor in Westfield (website) after a quick drink here, and having visited Chapel Down (website) the day before.

As ever 8 real ales, all £3.70 a pint, served straight from the cask by gravity, and a similar number of real ciders, and the odd perry or two. I only tried 3 ales, one more than once, first the Romney Marsh Brewery (website) Romney Gold (4.1%), single hopped with Citra, pale golden bitter, not bad at all! Then the Battle Brewery (website) Black Arrow Porter (4.5%), as usual, porters and stouts are difficult to differentiate (see older blog), as in, it depends on the individual brewer what they call their beers, I'd say this was more like a stout... Anyway, dark, lovely taste and body, though a wee bit lacking in the liveliness stakes, not bad at all though!

The ale I drank the most of was Old Dairy Brewery (website), their excellent session ale, Uber Brew (3.8%), pale dry and bitter, with a lovely fruity aroma and taste from the Citra, Chinook and Equinox hops used. Great that you can get this much flavour and body into a 3.8% ale, wonderful, la même chose!

Oh yes, and this is the toilet flush now in the gents, amuses me, me being a pale dry hoppy ale drinker, not to forget that David (the landlord) is made up with now being included on the Free Town Map of Rye... Anyway, cheers for a very pleasant visit and company, and the excellent ale of course, cheers!