Greetings!
have been quite refreshed recently so have posted slightly less than usual. Well, slightly less than in 2012 and 2013.... Anyhoo, here are some details of a "never tried the same pub twice" four days pub crawl which I did over the bank holiday weekend, I'm told.
Friday started in the Harlequin with folks from work. I was on a couple of pints of the Exit 33 Mosaic pale ale, which is ace, not least because it has mosaic hops in it. I also tried it on keg (note, this is £3.70 a pint on keg. I.e. its a pound dearer, and that is all...). To be honest, whilst it should be better on keg, it was in fact better on cask. #science
Over to Shakespeares next to see Saara and Adele and others and to be joined by Tash and Matty. I definitely had a Blackjack beer, possibly 50 Dollar Chip, and maybe some of the Track and Squawk mango and marmalade gose. Which I made up. We finished the night in the Dove and Rainbow where, despite my age, and in celebration of Rachael's birthday, I moshed for about 3 hours. My neck and shoulders hurt for the next 3 days. Despite that, I enjoyed the do, and the company, and the Hambleton nightmare beer.
Saturday me and Tash headed for the Bath Hotel. If memory serves me right (rarely!) there were only 4 cask beers on and although the Blackjack tasted OK, the keg beers were once again the star offerings. Cloudwater had their English lager on, made with lager malts and seasonal English hops to give a refreshing, crisp and none too bitter pale lager ale. Th real star of the show however was the amazing Wiper and True Ella. A red copper colour almost, the fabulous flavours of the Ella hops and potentially red malt were stunning. Despite these being expensive beers, we both had two pints each along with some Karkli to eat. Its a shame in some ways to not find much worth drinking on cask but am sure this is a temporary blip. Either way, the Ella was amazing.
We finished the bight in BrewDog. I started on a half of Hardcore IPA, which seems a little less rounded and hoppy than the amazing version I had on cask at the Coach and Horses years ago, and Tash had 2/3rds of a Mad Hatter beer, the name of which escapes me fore a change. We finished on another of the same for Tash (!) and a mango Gose and Pineapple Berliner Weiss for me. Am not usually a fan of fruit beers but both were amazing - refreshing and sour and not too fruity. An excellent end to the night.
Sunday saw us in town shopping, before we headed for the Devonshire Cat for a change. We had pints of Abbeydale Alchemy (it had an |A in it...) which was a lower strength ale that tasted of grapefruit, an excellent and refreshing beer. I also tried a Monty's stout on keg which was perfect, along with some breadcrumb coated fried brie wedges.
We walked down next to the Beer Engine. We were just in time to catch Tom but he was soon away and we sat outside in the sun and the rain supping a range of Bad Seed Brewery cask and keg beers. I particularly liked trying their Cascade pale on both types of dispense - I think there was little difference in quality, but they tasted very different. The Espresso stout was also lovely, as was their saison. As usual, a stellar range of beers was available.
We finished the night in the Albion across the road, having a half of Camden Ink on keg and a pint of Sheffield brew Co Five Rivers on cask. An interesting mix of beers in three very different pubs on Sunday.
Bank Holiday Monday arrived, as did the rain. Luckily, when it rains, it keeps the large majority of pricks out of Bakewell. So we were able to go and have 4 hours of prickless entertainment in a refreshingly quiet Bakewell. We started in the Red Lion, and I had a pint of Chatsworth Gold and Tash, gawd luvver, a cup of tea. It came to a fiver, which is still expensive, but not for Bakerwell based on certain nearby establishments.
We went for a walk down the river and poppped in a couple of shops before retiring to the Manners for several pints of the Robinsons Hop beer - which the staff claimed wasn't as hoppy as the Blonde. Alas, I really don't get on with Robbies blonde so stuck to the Hop ale for three pints, whilst Tash had one and another of the Wizard Amber. Cracking beer and pork scratchings made this an enjoyable visit.
We finished our visit in the Castle. A depressing range of Greedy King beers awaited us (although I think they had a guest comping on) and we had halves of the Greedy King extra IPA at 5.6% or similar. The pub is probably quite old but loses a lot of its character to its food service and lack of original features. The beer was actually OK though....
We finished the quartet of quaffing in the Sheffield Tap where we had beer. I'm not even going to try and remember what I had, it was beer and it was very tasty thank you. Alas we had to leave about 22.30 for me to get the bus home and Tash to get back to hers but this had once again been a good day of travel and drinking.
So, overall, we visited 12 pubs in 4 days and had numerous delicious and completely varied types of ale in wonderful surroundings. Another, potentially not required, reminder of the merits of boozing in the Steel City and nearby.
With Cheers
Wee Beefy
Showing posts with label Manners pub Bakewell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Manners pub Bakewell. Show all posts
Sunday, 6 September 2015
Sunday, 15 March 2015
There are, much better pubs, in the shire
Hello,
following my complaints about the poor customer service at the Peacock in Bakewell, I thought it only fair to point out the better side of pubs in the area. To say "the area" I must admit this is a large space, but all the pubs featured are in the shire of Derby.
Prior to Bakewell myself and Tash had traveled, in the pouring rain, to Matlock. Matlock gets very crowded in Summer and at Bank Holidays, traffic gets snarled up and my patience quickly wears thin. What a treat then, to arrive mid downpour. The streets were deserted. The park was empty. The only people we could find were enjoying the warmth of the indoors.
After a quick shop and dinner in a well known bakery chain, we wandered into the park to look at the river and make our way to our first pub. MoCa Bar is near the junction with Olde English Street and overlooks , if I recall, the river Derwent. Inside its modern, with a long bar bestowed with keg pumps and hand pumps. It sells coffees, wines, excellent sounding pork pies, and beers mainly from Abbeydale, Kelham Island, Dancing Duck, Oakham, Brampton and Blue Monkey.
On this occasions we had pints of the Blue Monkey Rhesus to be cheerful, and Oakham Bishops Farewell. I haven't tried the Oakham brew for a while but it was reassuringly bitter and very moreish. The Blue Monkey was simlarly excellent, not actually pale but more reddish in colour. Both beers were perfectly kept, and as a steady stream of customers and dogs came in, we were able to relax and chat and listen to some excellent music.
In Bakewell, we opted to try the Manners. This Robinsons pub is on the road heading towards Matlock and used to have, a couple of decades or more ago, a reputation for opening late. I hadn't been in for at least 10 years but I remembered it being a traditional boozer selling real ale - the perfect antidote to the greed and lack of customer service in our former venue the Peacock.
The Manners has been recently taken over and is a perfect local. OK, some of the decor is a bit odd, its is on places quite modern and others old, but that aside its a friendly boozer where you are treated well and not charged extra for halves. We both had Robinsons Double Hop from a range of 5 or 6 real ales. This was £3.20 a pint and in very good form. We sat in the room on the right and in the room next door a whole family had come out to eat. A friend of mine says that this is where the locals go in Bakewell - how accurate this is I don't know, but its my certainly favourite place for a pint and a relax in the town.
Recently, in less rain, we visited Chesterfield. Being creatures of leisure, and thirst, a day off does not see us up too early but we arrived about 15.30 and went to look at some charity shops. We also went to the excellent cheese factory for lemon Wensleydale and Innkeepers cheddar amogst other delights.
Our first stop was the micopub on West Bars. The Chesterfield Ale House has seating for about 16 or 18 downstairs and an upstairs room, and the bar is up some steps at the back. There are six real ales on, the strongest on the day being nearly £3.20 a pint but most being much less. Tash had a heavy but enjoyable Gyle...2...x..not sure from Lincoln Green Brewery, an Imperial Pale Ale in style if not taste, and i had excellent pints of something pale that probably came from Atom brewery. Although it might not have.
The pub became busier as we sat there and the beer range was of a very high quality, as were the snacks on offer and decent bottled beer list. However, as the light faded and the train time approached we scooted off for a quick half in the White Swan. We had halves of a saison and a Raw pale (work that out!) in our short visit, before jumping on the train to Dronfield.
Here we visited the Dronfield Arms, now run by our good friend Edd, previously manager at the Bath hotel in Sheffield. The two pubs are very different, clearly in terms of architecture, also in terms of tie as well, and in terms of customers. Despite this, Edd seemed perfectly at home in his new pub, and there were dogs and people of all ages enjoying some excellent beer.
We also tried some olive stuffed with Sicilian chillies - to be far these were absolutely amazing and very moreish, as was the pork and apricot pie, and the beer we had three or more pints of - alas, somehow, in the weeks since, the knowledge of the name of this beer has escaped me entirely. I assure you however that it was very tasty.
Overall, its still well worth your while heading out in to near or far Derbyshire to sample cracking ale in traditional - or non traditional, real ale pubs. Lets hope this situation does not change.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
following my complaints about the poor customer service at the Peacock in Bakewell, I thought it only fair to point out the better side of pubs in the area. To say "the area" I must admit this is a large space, but all the pubs featured are in the shire of Derby.
Prior to Bakewell myself and Tash had traveled, in the pouring rain, to Matlock. Matlock gets very crowded in Summer and at Bank Holidays, traffic gets snarled up and my patience quickly wears thin. What a treat then, to arrive mid downpour. The streets were deserted. The park was empty. The only people we could find were enjoying the warmth of the indoors.
After a quick shop and dinner in a well known bakery chain, we wandered into the park to look at the river and make our way to our first pub. MoCa Bar is near the junction with Olde English Street and overlooks , if I recall, the river Derwent. Inside its modern, with a long bar bestowed with keg pumps and hand pumps. It sells coffees, wines, excellent sounding pork pies, and beers mainly from Abbeydale, Kelham Island, Dancing Duck, Oakham, Brampton and Blue Monkey.
On this occasions we had pints of the Blue Monkey Rhesus to be cheerful, and Oakham Bishops Farewell. I haven't tried the Oakham brew for a while but it was reassuringly bitter and very moreish. The Blue Monkey was simlarly excellent, not actually pale but more reddish in colour. Both beers were perfectly kept, and as a steady stream of customers and dogs came in, we were able to relax and chat and listen to some excellent music.
In Bakewell, we opted to try the Manners. This Robinsons pub is on the road heading towards Matlock and used to have, a couple of decades or more ago, a reputation for opening late. I hadn't been in for at least 10 years but I remembered it being a traditional boozer selling real ale - the perfect antidote to the greed and lack of customer service in our former venue the Peacock.
The Manners has been recently taken over and is a perfect local. OK, some of the decor is a bit odd, its is on places quite modern and others old, but that aside its a friendly boozer where you are treated well and not charged extra for halves. We both had Robinsons Double Hop from a range of 5 or 6 real ales. This was £3.20 a pint and in very good form. We sat in the room on the right and in the room next door a whole family had come out to eat. A friend of mine says that this is where the locals go in Bakewell - how accurate this is I don't know, but its my certainly favourite place for a pint and a relax in the town.
Recently, in less rain, we visited Chesterfield. Being creatures of leisure, and thirst, a day off does not see us up too early but we arrived about 15.30 and went to look at some charity shops. We also went to the excellent cheese factory for lemon Wensleydale and Innkeepers cheddar amogst other delights.
Our first stop was the micopub on West Bars. The Chesterfield Ale House has seating for about 16 or 18 downstairs and an upstairs room, and the bar is up some steps at the back. There are six real ales on, the strongest on the day being nearly £3.20 a pint but most being much less. Tash had a heavy but enjoyable Gyle...2...x..not sure from Lincoln Green Brewery, an Imperial Pale Ale in style if not taste, and i had excellent pints of something pale that probably came from Atom brewery. Although it might not have.
The pub became busier as we sat there and the beer range was of a very high quality, as were the snacks on offer and decent bottled beer list. However, as the light faded and the train time approached we scooted off for a quick half in the White Swan. We had halves of a saison and a Raw pale (work that out!) in our short visit, before jumping on the train to Dronfield.
Here we visited the Dronfield Arms, now run by our good friend Edd, previously manager at the Bath hotel in Sheffield. The two pubs are very different, clearly in terms of architecture, also in terms of tie as well, and in terms of customers. Despite this, Edd seemed perfectly at home in his new pub, and there were dogs and people of all ages enjoying some excellent beer.
We also tried some olive stuffed with Sicilian chillies - to be far these were absolutely amazing and very moreish, as was the pork and apricot pie, and the beer we had three or more pints of - alas, somehow, in the weeks since, the knowledge of the name of this beer has escaped me entirely. I assure you however that it was very tasty.
Overall, its still well worth your while heading out in to near or far Derbyshire to sample cracking ale in traditional - or non traditional, real ale pubs. Lets hope this situation does not change.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
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