Hulloo,
the first thing to tell you is I have been in hospital, for just over 4 weeks, following a serious hypo and fall. Suffice to say I was quite unwell, but now escaped am finding that things are getting better. It isn't something I want to go through again however, and am now checking my blood sugar more carefully and eating more healthily.
About three months ago I overheard a conversation in a pub, and another on the bus into town, suggesting that the recently closed Cross Keys on Handsworth was to reopen, as a pub selling real ales and kegs. I have been going there on and off for twenty years so I was interested to find out more, although I have to say I found it surprising, Handsworth has had some good pubs, and still has the Old Crown heading down the hill, but in all my time there I have never thought of it as a place to go out trying different beers.
I found a link on Faceache showing purchase or takeover of the pub by Chantry Brewery, a Rotherham based operation whose beers I first tried about four years ago at the Rutland Arms. Work was done sorting out the interior and Chantry beers were chosen and appeared to sell well when they opened a month or more ago. With this in mind I decided to pop in for one last night.
I first went in the Cross Keys in 1999. It was a tidy traditional pub selling two or three beers, one of which was Taylors Landlord and the other Stones, if memory serves. The pub closed in the noughties following a landlord being beaten up and the pub trashed, and then it was taken over by a bloke who may have been called Carl - he was there for a few years and reintroduced real ale before leaving, and another few couples have tried keeping the pub since, presumably with some success. Myself and Tash often went in on a Sunday and it was usually busy, and I also went in a few New Years Eves. What would the now named Chantry Inn do?
Arriving after 18.00 there were 4 or 5 real ales and 4 kegs including two lagers, Lawless Village IPA (gluten free methinks) and Tiny Rebel Tropicana IPA. I had a pint of Kaldo at 5.5% and £3.00 a pint and sat down in the room where the main bar is. The pub was not too busy, the beer was well kept, and there were people sat in all three rooms. The Kaldo was also easy to drink and didn't last long, so I went for half a tiny Rebel which is a fiver a pint on keg, and a packet of bacon fries.
I left after this short visit, but I intend on going back. This is the best selection of beers I have seen in Handsworth, and the prices are very reasonable. The pub looked clean and was welcoming and the whole visit was enjoyable - well done to Chantry for reopening and revitalising a traditional Handsworth Boozer....
The other thing to tell you is that I went out for a walk on Bank Holiday Monday with WK, and afterwards we picked WF up to take him for a meal. Knowing as we do the potential horrors of pub openings and treatment of whether bank holiday Monday is that, or a Sunday, or neither, we did not expect much success, and despite ringing the Old Poets Corner in Ashover (hopefully with the right number) a number of times we got no response. That said, I checked their website and they did seem to do food Mondays, so it seemed like the trek out there may be worth it - I am happy to confirm it very much was.
Arriving just after seven we parked in the back and I headed to the bar to enquire - alas, I accidentally trod on a dog's paw en route, so I was probably quite unpopular, but took more care coming back to the car to inform the food details, before coming back to order drinks for myself WK and WF and to grab a menu. Once WF had safely arrived we sat at a table near the front door and looked at the Monday menu before making our order. I was on Oakham Citra and it was fantastic, WF was on a Titanic porter and WK a single pint of the Ashover. We ordered three as it turned out gigantic meals before I got another pint and a half an Ashover whilst WK transferred to soft drink.
Its fair to say that WF is a slow eater these days so even though he left through the front it was nearly 21.45 when we finally left, but this did not spoil our visit one bit. One thing that is also worth pointing out is that my dad approves of company, especially dogs and owners, and he was once again listened to and treated with respect by all those he encountered. We probably only go to the Poets twice or three times a year but this was yet another example of why we keep going back time and time again.
Well done to both venues for providing an excellent place to visit, eat, and supp in.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Showing posts with label Oakham brewery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oakham brewery. Show all posts
Monday, 17 June 2019
Sunday, 13 October 2013
Quality ale in cask and bottle.
Art'noo
after the mad roller-coaster of the Rutland's birthday bash, and the orgy of overindulgence that was last weekend, I wasn't drinking Monday Tuesday or Thursday to give my body a much needed rest. Luckily, pre bash and Friday and at other times in the last week or so, I was. Hence :
En route to the Rutty I was in Shakespeares having a "warm up". This is both sarcastic and euphemistic - it wasn't like I needed a warm up for the sport of drinking, and it wasn't as if Shakespeares was warm - in fact it was chuffing freezing! Luckily I had a dark beer to shield me from the frost - A pint of Dark Star Original. This tasted a lot thicker and less balanced than I remembered. It seemed to have a slightly black treacle theme running through it and was much sweeter than I was hoping for. It was still enjoyable, but not what I really expected. I also had a a half of the Mallinsons Brewers Gold to cleanse my palate, which it did enjoyably and effectively.
Friday night myself and Miss N were in the Sheffield Tap. Forgetting that here is a board listing the beers and importantly (hopefully?) the prices (not that I can really see it well enough to read it) I relied on spotting a beer from a brewery I liked. I did just that having spotted an Oakham pump clip (two dumplings were stood in front of it with no way of seeing between them without coshing one over the head) so without knowing anything else, I asked for a half of that - it was £2.40! (cue feigned surprise) The beer in question was Oakham 20. According to their website it is 5.8%. So how in the name of Satan does it manage to be £4.80 a pint? Especially when compared to a 7.0% stout which they had on at £4.00.
No doubt Oakham will be described as " a very expensive brewery" like Dark Star were claimed to be. The extent to which that is a disingenuous explanation forms most of the reason why I didn't bother asking why it was so overpriced. It is a matter for concern that they no longer seem to warn customers of the impending damage either - perhaps my closeness to the handwritten board made it seem like I had already considered the price acceptable. Obviously I checked the other prices thereafter....
Miss N was dispatched to find the next drinks and we went Tapped for safety - the Growler Citra beer was on and it was very palatable although I didn't find out how much it was. This was followed by two astonishingly good pints of the Anarchy Brew Co Breakfast Stout, the 7% one at £4.00 a pint. Not over the top, and the beer was absolutely exceptional. I really can't think of a bad Anarchy beer I've had and it was great getting to try the first of theirs that I encountered at SIBA BeerX once more, this time on cask. Indeed, it was so good that I forwent the opportunity to try some Fyne Ales Vital Spark that I'd had my eye on.
Yesterday was a day of staying in, apart from nipping to the shops. Asda has got rid of the only interesting beer brands it stocked, namely the Ilkley range and the BrewDog Punk. Seems we Handsworth folk don't like beers with flavour, brewed with aplomb. Either that or not even BrewDog can afford to sell their beers at a loss to the Walmart behemoth. However, in a rare positive development, they have started selling the Shepherd Neame IPA, a 6.1% recreation of an old recipe with a really pleasing vintage style label. These are on offer at 3 or £5.00 so it seemed silly not to get a few.
The aroma is noticeably Sheps yeast and Kent Fuggles. It has a very warming mouthfeel, and its not really particularly pale, more a pleasant caramel orange, of which there are hints in the flavour. It is very hoppy but not citrussy, and easy to drink probably due to the balance of malts. I love a hop monster pale ale any day but this was a pleasant change, especially on a cold Autumn night, and it stood up well to the slow cooked Moroccan chicken stew which we were having.
Later we had a bottle of the 2007 Fullers Vintage Ale. This is the tenth anniversary brew and it had weathered well. Very well in fact. The surprising feature of this magnificent brew was the extent to which you couldn't detect that signature orangey taste. I have been drinking the Vintage Ales annually since 2000 and although there are subtle differences that orangey yeasty base has always been prominent. This time there seemed much more hops than I recall previously, which after 6 years in the bottle is quite good going.
The hops used in the Anniversary Brew were Fuggles, Target, and Styrian (it says "super styrian" but I wasn't sure if this was a compliment by John keeling or an actual styrian variant!?) and without an older bottle to hand to compare I'm not sure what difference that should make to the overall brew. Whatever the explanation, this was a very accomplished beer that was well worth the lengthy wait to try.
More news to come next week, when I might see some of you at the Blue Feather Brewery Intergalactic launch - the beer brewed in collaboration between Blue Bee and Welbeck Abbey will be launched around 19.00 at The Closed Shop on Commonside. Well worth a trip over.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
after the mad roller-coaster of the Rutland's birthday bash, and the orgy of overindulgence that was last weekend, I wasn't drinking Monday Tuesday or Thursday to give my body a much needed rest. Luckily, pre bash and Friday and at other times in the last week or so, I was. Hence :
En route to the Rutty I was in Shakespeares having a "warm up". This is both sarcastic and euphemistic - it wasn't like I needed a warm up for the sport of drinking, and it wasn't as if Shakespeares was warm - in fact it was chuffing freezing! Luckily I had a dark beer to shield me from the frost - A pint of Dark Star Original. This tasted a lot thicker and less balanced than I remembered. It seemed to have a slightly black treacle theme running through it and was much sweeter than I was hoping for. It was still enjoyable, but not what I really expected. I also had a a half of the Mallinsons Brewers Gold to cleanse my palate, which it did enjoyably and effectively.
Friday night myself and Miss N were in the Sheffield Tap. Forgetting that here is a board listing the beers and importantly (hopefully?) the prices (not that I can really see it well enough to read it) I relied on spotting a beer from a brewery I liked. I did just that having spotted an Oakham pump clip (two dumplings were stood in front of it with no way of seeing between them without coshing one over the head) so without knowing anything else, I asked for a half of that - it was £2.40! (cue feigned surprise) The beer in question was Oakham 20. According to their website it is 5.8%. So how in the name of Satan does it manage to be £4.80 a pint? Especially when compared to a 7.0% stout which they had on at £4.00.
No doubt Oakham will be described as " a very expensive brewery" like Dark Star were claimed to be. The extent to which that is a disingenuous explanation forms most of the reason why I didn't bother asking why it was so overpriced. It is a matter for concern that they no longer seem to warn customers of the impending damage either - perhaps my closeness to the handwritten board made it seem like I had already considered the price acceptable. Obviously I checked the other prices thereafter....
Miss N was dispatched to find the next drinks and we went Tapped for safety - the Growler Citra beer was on and it was very palatable although I didn't find out how much it was. This was followed by two astonishingly good pints of the Anarchy Brew Co Breakfast Stout, the 7% one at £4.00 a pint. Not over the top, and the beer was absolutely exceptional. I really can't think of a bad Anarchy beer I've had and it was great getting to try the first of theirs that I encountered at SIBA BeerX once more, this time on cask. Indeed, it was so good that I forwent the opportunity to try some Fyne Ales Vital Spark that I'd had my eye on.
Yesterday was a day of staying in, apart from nipping to the shops. Asda has got rid of the only interesting beer brands it stocked, namely the Ilkley range and the BrewDog Punk. Seems we Handsworth folk don't like beers with flavour, brewed with aplomb. Either that or not even BrewDog can afford to sell their beers at a loss to the Walmart behemoth. However, in a rare positive development, they have started selling the Shepherd Neame IPA, a 6.1% recreation of an old recipe with a really pleasing vintage style label. These are on offer at 3 or £5.00 so it seemed silly not to get a few.
The aroma is noticeably Sheps yeast and Kent Fuggles. It has a very warming mouthfeel, and its not really particularly pale, more a pleasant caramel orange, of which there are hints in the flavour. It is very hoppy but not citrussy, and easy to drink probably due to the balance of malts. I love a hop monster pale ale any day but this was a pleasant change, especially on a cold Autumn night, and it stood up well to the slow cooked Moroccan chicken stew which we were having.
Later we had a bottle of the 2007 Fullers Vintage Ale. This is the tenth anniversary brew and it had weathered well. Very well in fact. The surprising feature of this magnificent brew was the extent to which you couldn't detect that signature orangey taste. I have been drinking the Vintage Ales annually since 2000 and although there are subtle differences that orangey yeasty base has always been prominent. This time there seemed much more hops than I recall previously, which after 6 years in the bottle is quite good going.
The hops used in the Anniversary Brew were Fuggles, Target, and Styrian (it says "super styrian" but I wasn't sure if this was a compliment by John keeling or an actual styrian variant!?) and without an older bottle to hand to compare I'm not sure what difference that should make to the overall brew. Whatever the explanation, this was a very accomplished beer that was well worth the lengthy wait to try.
More news to come next week, when I might see some of you at the Blue Feather Brewery Intergalactic launch - the beer brewed in collaboration between Blue Bee and Welbeck Abbey will be launched around 19.00 at The Closed Shop on Commonside. Well worth a trip over.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Saturday, 6 July 2013
Being beer (un)wise
Morning,
Last night, to celebrate the end of a long week, I popped in the Bath Hotel for a couple. It was stickily warm, although a cool breeze was just starting to blow through the pub. I was very thirsty, so wanted a light refreshing beer. It was too much to hope for Melba, but more than that it was too much to hope for something sensible. Yes, I could have drunk Roosters Last stand which is about 4%. But they had Oakham Green Devil IPA on. I think its fairly obvious what happened.
I was rather surprised to spot Green Devil - I'd heard rumours (which lets face it, are a great replacement for facts when your'e not sure what your on about....) that because they couldn't purchase enough citra, Oakham had stopped brewing Green Devil. The thing is, I heard that back in April. No-one indicated it was permanent. Steff assured me it wasn't an aged treasure that Thornbridge had matured for them, so it must be new. This is very good news.
For those of you not anointed at the altar of beer brilliance, Green Devil IPA is really very good. Its also 6%. And its actually not that difficult to neck. Green Devil was my friend and enemy last night. But good God it tastes lovely.
On the downside, as well as my still being hungover more than three hours after getting up (I might have had 7 pints of it. But it could be less...) being a Thornbridge pub The Bath Hotel can be face slappingly expensive. Luckily the staff at the Bath have enough about them to not fob me off with drivel like "Oakham are a really expensive brewery". They just quietly said, before puling a pint "it's £4.20 a pint though".
Obviously that's not as silly as the Dark Star Porter at the Tap but its getting that way. However, I absolutely love Green Devil so I swallowed the ignominy of paying over the odds for it, then swallowed a number of pints of it. Welcome to another Wee Beefy session! Location - check. Beer - check. Company - check.
Re the latter, having been chatting with Steff and Jason for a bit, I hijacked some innocent bystanders and "forced" them to stay for many pints. Kerry is from Brum, Owen is from Brizzle and they like beer. Proper people. I had such a great time (apart from some rather inescapable olfactory assaults from Owen...*clears throat*) chatting and supping with them that I don't actually know how long we were stood at the bar demolishing Green Devils. Except that I was last customer out to await my taxi home.
I should recommend you go and drink this wonderful beer yourself (there is only one barrel and its been on at least half of Friday) but in all honesty I want it all for myself. But if you did happen to visit the Bath and drink it, that would be a very enjoyable and rewarding co-incidence.
Enjoy!
Wee Beefy
Last night, to celebrate the end of a long week, I popped in the Bath Hotel for a couple. It was stickily warm, although a cool breeze was just starting to blow through the pub. I was very thirsty, so wanted a light refreshing beer. It was too much to hope for Melba, but more than that it was too much to hope for something sensible. Yes, I could have drunk Roosters Last stand which is about 4%. But they had Oakham Green Devil IPA on. I think its fairly obvious what happened.
I was rather surprised to spot Green Devil - I'd heard rumours (which lets face it, are a great replacement for facts when your'e not sure what your on about....) that because they couldn't purchase enough citra, Oakham had stopped brewing Green Devil. The thing is, I heard that back in April. No-one indicated it was permanent. Steff assured me it wasn't an aged treasure that Thornbridge had matured for them, so it must be new. This is very good news.
For those of you not anointed at the altar of beer brilliance, Green Devil IPA is really very good. Its also 6%. And its actually not that difficult to neck. Green Devil was my friend and enemy last night. But good God it tastes lovely.
On the downside, as well as my still being hungover more than three hours after getting up (I might have had 7 pints of it. But it could be less...) being a Thornbridge pub The Bath Hotel can be face slappingly expensive. Luckily the staff at the Bath have enough about them to not fob me off with drivel like "Oakham are a really expensive brewery". They just quietly said, before puling a pint "it's £4.20 a pint though".
Obviously that's not as silly as the Dark Star Porter at the Tap but its getting that way. However, I absolutely love Green Devil so I swallowed the ignominy of paying over the odds for it, then swallowed a number of pints of it. Welcome to another Wee Beefy session! Location - check. Beer - check. Company - check.
Re the latter, having been chatting with Steff and Jason for a bit, I hijacked some innocent bystanders and "forced" them to stay for many pints. Kerry is from Brum, Owen is from Brizzle and they like beer. Proper people. I had such a great time (apart from some rather inescapable olfactory assaults from Owen...*clears throat*) chatting and supping with them that I don't actually know how long we were stood at the bar demolishing Green Devils. Except that I was last customer out to await my taxi home.
I should recommend you go and drink this wonderful beer yourself (there is only one barrel and its been on at least half of Friday) but in all honesty I want it all for myself. But if you did happen to visit the Bath and drink it, that would be a very enjoyable and rewarding co-incidence.
Enjoy!
Wee Beefy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)