as so often seems to happen in Summer (Ha!) when loads of stuff is going on, in depth writing on single subjects is not practicable. In respect of which here is another unseemly blob of information about the fine drop....
Dada
In a recent visit there was Pollards on again, along with a new Thornbridge beer for a housing charity, plus Galaxia, and the excellent Bath Gem. I tried a taste of the Thornbridge chariddee beer and was non plussed, it tasted much like Doc Fest and Pub Scrawl, and er, wait, I'm seeing a pattern here! Great if you don't want to be challenged by tastes I'm sure.
First Pint Pollards was of course immense, and very enjoyable to quaff whilst discussing the nuances of employment and ale with Jamie. I followed this with a really nice pint of Galaxia which is in fact becoming one of my favourite pale Thornbridge beers, which is a shame, since I don't think they produce it all the time. Initially I wanted to know just which Australian hopes were used until I realised with some embarrassment that Galaxia is of course the only hop used in this zesty and fruity "single hopped" pint.
 |
| The Tzara, whilst the real ales watched... |
I finished with a half of Tzara, since it was still hideously warm and muggy out it seemed a good idea to finish supping with a cool quality lager, which hit all the right spots being cool, but not overly chilled, and refreshing.
Red Deer
A visit on Thursday heralded the opportunity to meet Mr Paul the DJ and his chums, along with trying two decent guest ales. One of the great mysteries of this pub to me is that there is clearly a core range of decent if somewhat predominantly hop shy malty beers, but sometimes the guests appear to be more of the same. This time was different, and I had two excellent halves of Great Heck Yorkshire Pale, and Empire Brewery Strikes Back, whilst chatting outside in the beer harden.
Bath Hotel
During yesterday's heaving skies and rivers of rain me and Chala bravely embarked on a rash and unwarranted yomp around Sheffield, including nipping in Tampa Coffee and Gusto for necessary fuel. Alas, the action of walking anywhere around Midday yesterday occasioned full saturation and so we had to go somewhere to get dry.
There were few customers in the Bath when we arrived and the barman very kindly agreed to light the fire in the back room for us, so we could warm ourselves and our layers up. Alas the Tzara was off on draught but Chala was happy with a bottle, and I opted for a pint of the Whim Hartington Bitter.
This was drier and less fruity than I remembers but was nice enough, but again the allure of the Pollards won through and I had a pint of that. I finished on a nice half of Dark Star Pale Ale, which was probably actually a little better than the Whim. Shame I couldn't make it back for the roast pork sarnies...
Rutland
A whistle stop visit last night heralded two excellent beers, which I had halves of due to being in a rush. The wonderfully quaffable Offbeat Wild Blackberry Mild and the dark bitter Elland St Georges Anger were both enjoyed with the mild probably being the beer of the night.
Tap
Still no outside facilities alas, and it was like an oven inside, but mercifully there was evidence of breweries other than Thornbridge on the bar. Having mistaken Marble Dobber for their Porter I switched sides on ordering and had a half of the robust and really quite monumental Beadecas Well from Thornbridge, and Marble Summer, which was another excellent refreshing pale beer Time constraints aside, I could have sunk a barrel of it. Yum!
Punchbowl, Crookes
Not your first choice beer pub in Crookes or indeed Sheffield but some friends were up there to attend an auction where an original Joe Scarborough painting was being sold to raise money for Help The Heroes. It was an interesting auction event, especially since the auctioneer turned singer when the bidding (which raised a lot of money - the picture went for over £2,000.00) had finished.
Some friends of ours know Joe so it was nice to get the chance to meet him and talk to him, and of course to get a preview of the picture before it was sold. Beer wise there was a choice of two - the Everards Whakatu was a low gravity beer promising NZ hops. I suppose being Everards I shouldn't have expected a Summer Wine Brewery or Hawkshead style NZ IPA beer, but it was so weak in flavour and so bereft of hops it was woeful, and also smelt off, even if it didn't taste it.
the other beer on offer was Kelham Island Easy Rider which is not so bad, and I had 3 or 4 pints of that during the evening as well. At least this demonstrates that, assuming the Noah's Ark is open/reopens, you can get real ale in every pub in Crookes, which is no bad thing.
Am off to Sunfest in a bit so hope to have something to write up tomorrow.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
No comments:
Post a Comment