Pubs may reopen on July the Fourth...

I have been searching the Government website to no avail, the advice regarding pubs and restaurants reopening isn't published yet, all they provide is a copy of Johnson's statement to the House of Commons (website), further guidance to come. I wanted to write this last night, but was awaiting further guidance, but couldn't hold the thought to myself any longer.

Johnson said very little really, apart from social distancing of 2 metres becomes 1 metre from 4th July, or one metre plus (ie with mitigation, eg face coverings), but regarding pubs "we (ed -  notice the "we") will re-open restaurants and pubs. All hospitality indoors will be limited to table-service, and our guidance will encourage minimal staff and customer contact." 

You can almost sense the guidance going on to say 'paying by debit card whilst ordering your drinks and food online with your smart phone...' I wonder where he got his advice from? We still await the full guidance, perish the thought!

Oh yes, and people will have to give their names, Micky Mouses galore!

And what about pubs that won't be able to reopen on July 4th, because of insufficient space, notably micropubs, or because they'll be losing money if they do reopen, and staff now being laid off due to not reopening, indeed, not quite that independent a day...

Community Pubs R.I.P.   I fear...  😕

Beer Day Britain is TODAY!

I only just realized that today is Beer Day Britain 2020 (website), well, the cask-conditioned version isn't available these days, but I do have a bottle-conditioned version of the St Austell Brewery (website) Proper Job, which comes a wee bit stronger at 5.5% and is as good as, if not better, than the cask version... Maybe it's the strength? 😉

Raising a glass right now in celebration of the day, but also with much respect to Roger Ryman R.I.P. (blog), cheers Roger!

Chilli Porter or Stout

I had to try to be the first customer up in Bohemia yesterday afternoon, following my blog the other day about the Tower being the latest real ale provider to return to business in Hastings with off sales, but I was second, oh well... But I did get to buy a couple of pints of the very interesting sounding Franklins (website) Sriracha Ace (5.0%) which, as I said, is brewed with Sorachi Ace hops to add a citrus note to dark chocolate and coffee flavours, apparently subtly spiced with Guajillo Peppers...

Well, it pretty much does what it says on the tin/what the brewery says, my notes give it a coffee in the aroma with a hint of chilli, flavour-wise, there is coffee and chocolate, though I didn't really get the citrus, but then, there are other very dominant flavours, and I caught the chilli, just, yes it is very subtle, in the aftertaste, just at the back of the throat. I'm not going to go on again about the difference between stouts and porters, you can read my thoughts here if you haven't already done so, but I thought it was more of a stout than a porter, there you go! But very nice, I'd drink it again, cheers! 😀

More Real Ale Available during this crisis...

The Tower

Apologies to readers from elsewhere, but this is mostly local to me and where I live on the south coast, but I did write a blog not so long ago about initiatives around the country, so please don't feel left out. Anyway, I more recently wrote a blog about real ale brought to me by The Jolly Fisherman in Hastings, but now I have an extra source of cask-conditioned ale, yay! 

The Tower (see, for example, an older blog), up on the corner of London Road and Tower Road in Hastings & St Leonards TN37 6NB, is holding a launch opening on Monday 1st June 2020, and then will be opening 3 evenings a week from Wednesday 3rd June to provide off sales, with 'social distancing' facilitated, and hand sanitizer provided too:

Monday 1st June 4-8pm; THEN

Wednesdays 4-8pm

Fridays 4-8pm

Saturdays 4-8pm

There will be 2 cask-conditioned ales on sale at a great value £3.99 for 2 pints, changing as each cask runs out: kicking off with 2 Sussex ales this Monday, from Dark Star Brewing Co (website), their superb 3.8% pale refreshing session ale Hophead, brewed with Cascade hops providing plenty of citrus flavour and bitterness, a dependable old favourite. 

The second is a darker ale from Franklins Brewing Co (website), and a very interesting Porter style too, their 5.0% Sriracha Ace, brewed with Sorachi Ace hops to add a citrus note to dark chocolate and coffee flavours subtly spiced with Guajillo Peppers... I so need to try this one!

They are also selling 6 different real ciders (2 pints for £3.99, again, great value); keg beers, beginning with Guinness, Fosters and Stella Artois; cans, including ale and lager (2 cans for £3.80 or 4 for £7.49), from another local brewer, Gun Brewery (website); bigger cans (!) as in Mini Kegs from Gun Brewery too (small and large cans, I gather, will change as stock changes, and 'showcasing' different breweries); and 3 bottles of wine for £20. 

2 pint reusable plastic bottles are available, but customers are asked to please bring their own bags in which to transport them. It is excellent to see another local business helping us real ale drinkers survive the Coronavirus Crisis, and I wish good luck to, and express my thanks to, Louisa and her colleagues, who I may just see very shortly. 😉

Look after yourselves folk and be careful out there, cheers!

Roger Ryman R.I.P.

Roger Ryman, the man who transformed St Austell Brewery over the last 21 years, has died, sadly, "following a brave battle with cancer" (The Packet), and aged just 52. R.I.P. 😢

He was the Proper Job I know, my having lived in Cornwall in more fallow years.

My thanks to the Falmouth Packet for their photograph.

A Love Affair With Pubs...

Not my 'love affair' with pubs, but yesterday I read Roger Protz's piece in the June edition of CAMRA's What's Brewing, which I still get in hard copy (can be read online here) A Love Affair With Pubs. Roger mentions 14 pubs, a good number of which are from where he has worked and lived, a few in London when he worked in Fleet Street, and 4 in major cities around the country; those 4 he appears to have particularly liked because of their architecture and interiors.

Please note I've had some problems with websites, presumably Covid-19 induced. 😕

The Philharmonic, Liverpool

I was a wee bit surprised to see the pubs he chose, but I shouldn't really have been. Of the 14, I've never been to any of his local/Suffolk pubs, of the 4 in London I have been to 2 of them, coincidentally because I used to work close to Fleet Street in the 1970s too, maybe, but the 4 from major cities, very interesting, because I love all 4 of them, indeed, 6 years ago they were all in a national top 10 of pubs I'd chosen! The Philharmonic (website) in Liverpool, came in at number 7 on my list, and a pub I have very recently written about (blog) after it had become Grade I Listed, if you haven't already read the blog I'd suggest you do, as it gives a bit of history of the pub, plus a bit of history of my interest, and all these pubs have a football interest in them for me too, as in visiting whilst in town for a football match, but 3 of them I've visited just to go there for a drink when I hadn't even been living locally, that's how good they are!

Next, The Bodega (website) in Newcastle, number 8 on my list, but why Bodega? The name comes from a small wine cellar or wine shop in Spain, and there are a few pubs called this in Britain, notably this one in easy reach of Newcastle FC, although I have also drank here before and after matches at nearby Sunderland FC too! Another lovely interior in another Victorian pub, with a long bar extending way back, an elaborately tiled floor and 2 stained glass domes, or cupolas, in the ceiling. I haven't visited for a while, but last time there were 8 real ales on offer, 4 guests supporting 4 regular/semi-regular ales from 3 of my favourite brewers, Oakham Ales, (website) Fyne Ales (website) and Durham Brewery (website), no wonder I like returning!

Next, and number 4 on my old list, is The Marble Arch Inn (website) in Manchester, another wonderful listed Victorian building. Gorgeous tiling, some of which, it appears, was found by chance when the ceiling fell in because of dampness! This used to be a brewpub, and you could see the brewery out the back, and, in the past, I had often chatted to the brewers about the ales on offer, but now Marble Beers (website) are brewed around the corner in larger premises, supplying organic, vegan-friendly, ales to the pub and the free trade, indeed, I last drank their 3.9% session ale Pint at the Tower Pub in Hastings not too long ago. Their pub though, sells not just excellent ales but very good food too, and they had a great jukebox when I was last there.

And, top of the shop at number 1 for me 6 years ago was The Bartons Arms (website) in Birmingham, particularly suited for attending Aston Villa FC matches (safe for away fans), but I have traveled to Birmingham alone just to drink and eat here. Yet another gorgeous Victorian pub, the Victorians certainly knew how to build them, built as the Mitchell and Butlers brewery flagship, and now one of the handful of Oakham Ales pubs (website). Beautiful interior, superb ales, and fine Thai cuisine, other than a victory at Villa Park what more could you want?!?

So Roger Protz obviously chose wisely pubs that I value too, but, that just supports how interesting they are as buildings, and what good pubs they are as public houses... I shall now have to have a rethink of my top 20 pubs nationally and write about them soon; oh well, gives me something to do before pubs are open again, cheers! 😉

Not to mention Cask Conditioned Ale, cheers!

I recently posted a blog about ale, cider and perry delivery initiatives around Britain, and elsewhere a blog about similar but specifically closer to where I live in Hastings. Indeed, last Friday I had delivered by the jolly crew of The Jolly Fisherman (website) Alfred, Becky and Oliver (respectful social distancing), 2 litres of genuine cask conditioned ale, a luxury indeed!

The cask ale, you will have gathered from the image immediately above, was the Kent-based Iron Pier (website) 3.9% Long Ferry, described as an 'easy-drinking dry-hopped golden ale' which I shall disagree with a smidgeon...  It is certainly 'easy-drinking' cannot argue with that, very drinkable indeed, however, it was a wee bit darker than one would expect from the description, I'd written down pale copper colour, and for a style of ale I noted it as tasting like a "very good traditional best bitter, light and refreshing!" Anyway, much enjoyed...

Oh yes, and also delivered were 2 litres of a genuine real Perry, from Bartestree Cider Co (website), their 7.0% Taynton Squash, made from a specialized single Perry Pear, believe it or not, the Taynton Squash. 😉 Apparently (see, I do undertake a wee bit of research other than just drinking beers, ciders and perries), a highly rated Perry Pear going back to the 17th century, so drinking a real bit of history too. So, what was it like?

Well, I'm not a great expert on ciders and perries, but I know what I like, and I've drunk some rough stuff in my time, particularly when I lived down in Devon and sourced from local farms, or went to the Cider Bar in Newton Abbot, which is a great experience, please do read the blog regarding this award winning bar! What was it like, get on with it Steve!?! (Too much time alone in this 'lockdown' is encouraging me to talk to myself 😮) Well, I've ordered another 2 litres to be delivered this week, which lets on that I liked it, but then I do tend to prefer perries to ciders, not always though, but they tend to be more dry and bitter, like the ales I tend to drink. Yes, it's dry and bitter/sour, with that more subtle pear flavour that you get rather than the more robust flavours of apples in cider, very more-ish, cheers!

And cask ales being delivered from The Jolly Fisherman this week are local, from Gun Brewery (website) Project Babylon, a 4.6% APA that is vegan friendly, and from Pig & Porter (website) a 4.0% Blackbird Stout which I would imagine is also vegan friendly, knowing their beers, and a stout. You can guess what I've already ordered, or just wait until I write about it/them... If you live down here in Hastings, go to the website to order for this Friday delivery, and they provide keg beers, bottled beers and ciders, wine, well, look at their website for more detail.

If you don't live down here, check in your own locality for suppliers, or I provide some ideas in a recent blog, anyway, good searching and drinking, and cheers!