Now then,
I recently spent some time in the pubs of Heeley. Well, I say that, I actually spent some time in three pubs within a few minutes walk of each other. I am going to call this area the Heeley Green Triangle of Ale. And I won't even charge for that service.
I headed off from work to a pub called Shakespeares, a pub I may have mentioned before. This, I would hope obviously, is not in fact, in Heeley. I was however expecting Tash to come back from her Doctors appointment at Heeley and to meet me in there for a pint. I noticed I had a text from her that said please ring me. That was an hour ago. I tried calling her but didn't get through. I decided to go ahead and have a pint anyway. It seemed the only rational reaction....
On the bar were numerous delights and I went for a pint of low gravity but brilliantly refreshing Love of Work, a 3.8 or 3.6% Earl Grey pale ale from Siren Craft Brew. It was £2.80 a pint and was deliciously refreshing - not too bitter, but hoppy and tangy enough to satisfy me. Whilst I supped, I hatched a plan to meet Tash at Heeley. And so a mini pub crawl came about.
Our first stop, as we walked down past the Victoria and Waggon and Horses (inside which appeared to be tables covered in bags....?) and after admiring the amazing sky and clouds we found ourselves in the Brothers Arms. It was rammed, and there were numerous treats to taste on cask. A very friendly and enthusiastic lass behind the bar immediately offered us tasters, and we settled on pints of Potbelly hazy Daze for me, and Cluster from Pictish for Tash.
We initially sat outside in the cold to watch the sun set, but with spaces diminishing we ended up in the small room on the left as you walk in. There were plenty of football fans in as there was a match on, and its not far to the ground of Sheffield's other football team. As a result, the pub quietened down after 19.00. We had two very large slices of a local sausage herb and beery jelly pork pie for £2.50 and then shared another pint of the Cluster. The pub was warm, friendly, packed with a wide range of different punters and was the perfect place to spend an hour or two on a cold night.
Just down the hill next, and we were in the Sheaf View. The man who I know who works there but don't know his name was working there, and there was a friendly lass behind the bar offering us tasters. I had the Steel City, which was a deliciously hoppy Black IPA (and kept in perfect condition), whilst Tash had the Portobello Brewery Ginger bread, a 4.4% pale ginger ale.
We sat in the room at the back and the pub was also busy, with us grabbing the last of two remaining tables to sit at. We enjoyed our beers, and then went back for a last one to share. Cornwall's Firebrand brewery had a keg Black Saison at over 6% for £4.00 a pint so we had a half of that . It was an interesting and enjoyable taste but am not sold on the idea of a black saison - although I recall making a similar remark about black IPA's some years ago.....
Down onto the main road our final stop was at the White Lion. Also warm, also busy, we squeezed into the wonderful snug on the left to meet the Portuguese water dog - originally used to catch fish - and its owner and some regulars, and settled down to enjoy 2 pints of excellently kept Jaipur. They now have a card machine, and the Jaipur is on at £3.60 a pint - am not sure that is cheaper than before but its not a bad price for a 5.9% real ale.
We soon got chatting to John behind the bar, and also Mo from Kingfisher Blue, and more Jaipur was bought and supped. John explained that he and Mandy had never run a pub before but had dome training and were committed to selling well kept real ales. John is fanatical about cleaning his lines and his cellar, and many regulars seem to have noticed an improvement in the quality of the ales. There was once again an eclectic mix of music playing, and I understand you can now order pizzas from the Italian restaurant next door.
This was our final stop and a great end to a wonderful evening and night drinking in he Heeley Green Triangle. Of Ale. Looking forward to many more happy nights in the three corners - which doesn't make sense, I realise. Also looking forward to the Brothers, the Sheaf View and the White Lion some time soon!
Cheers
Wee Beefy
Showing posts with label Real ale pub crawl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Real ale pub crawl. Show all posts
Wednesday, 25 March 2015
Saturday, 27 December 2014
Two hours in Retford.
Now then,
on the way back from Cropton Wee Keefy diverted down the A1 to visit his friends in Retford. I was asked if I fancied getting a train back, and discovered I had two hours to wait for it. The question was - what would I do?
Regular readers may assume I went shopping, or to a religious retreat to meditate, or a vegan cafe. Yet, in a surprising move, I opted instead to go to some pubs. I didn't have a GBG with me and I haven't really looked up Retford before but I remembered one pub which was OK and WK recommended the Turks Head. Armed with this and no other info, I set off....
Walking into the town centre wasn't difficult. I soon arrived at a road near Asda and saw the Rum Runner - this was the pub I remembered being OK. Inside it has two rooms at the front, the left one seemingly for games, and a large one up steps at the back. They were serving food (twas a Sunday) and had five or more beers on. This included Hopback Summer Lightning, so I opted for a quick pint of that.
The pub has Batemans signage and carried two of their beers including one from the Salem Brewery which sounds like it might be a Batemans micro plant? Meanwhile there was Castle Rock and Deuchars, so I think the Hopback was the best choice.
Heading into town next I eventually gave up guessing where the pub was and asked a stranger - who wasn't from Retford, but he stopped a passer by who gave me directions to the pub. The Turks Head is a rather fine old pub on a road leading off the square and inside has some pleasant original features, perhaps 1920's or earlier, and not with the austerity of 1930's fittings. There were 4 beers on the bar, an Everards seasonal, Landlord, Black Sheep and St Austell Tribute, so I had a pint of this.
The pub was warm, not too busy, friendly and comfortable, and if I'd had more time, and, to be fair, if they'd had a better range of real ales, I would have stopped longer. I have to say I liked the design of the high ceiling toilets - perhaps my increasing age is represented by how much importance I place on pub toilets....
Back into the square and round the next corner to a church - the pub nearby didn't advertise real ales but the Sun Inn did. This was an old building which seemed half way through a refurbishment, with an old dark area on your right with families in and the rest of the pub in an L to the left. Only one real ale was on, Adnams Explorer at £3.00 a pint, so I had a half and carried on.
Nearly back at Asda I headed down West Street to visit the White Lion,a free house. Inside, the bar, which had quite modern fittings and plenty of space, there were two real ales, Doom Bar and something I couldn't read which I was assured was local. I tasted it and it was incredibly light, although not in colour. So I opted, with time running out, to try this.
My final stop was round the corner in the Rum Runner again, this time once more having the Summer Lightning and sitting down bear the bar soaking up the atmosphere and appreciating the warmth. A brisk walk back to the station nearly resulted in my missing the train as I didn't valise it was so far to Platform 3 from the main station. Once back at Woodhouse I nipped in the Junction.
I hoped it would still sell real ale - it did when me and Davefromtshop visited in 2010 - but alas there were two signs on the pumps stating the real ales were settling in the cellar. Still despite this, I got a bottle of Pedigree and supped that. The Junction still looks similar and still appears to be a family pub, although a lack of lights on the way to the gents means its either short of cash for light bulbs or discourages those who want a wee! It still seems like a good community pub though, and I will pop back soon to find out what real ale they sell.
This is obviously not an exhaustive exploration of Retford's pubs but was a nice change and showed that even with little info you can find real ale somewhere you have never been before.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
on the way back from Cropton Wee Keefy diverted down the A1 to visit his friends in Retford. I was asked if I fancied getting a train back, and discovered I had two hours to wait for it. The question was - what would I do?
Regular readers may assume I went shopping, or to a religious retreat to meditate, or a vegan cafe. Yet, in a surprising move, I opted instead to go to some pubs. I didn't have a GBG with me and I haven't really looked up Retford before but I remembered one pub which was OK and WK recommended the Turks Head. Armed with this and no other info, I set off....
Walking into the town centre wasn't difficult. I soon arrived at a road near Asda and saw the Rum Runner - this was the pub I remembered being OK. Inside it has two rooms at the front, the left one seemingly for games, and a large one up steps at the back. They were serving food (twas a Sunday) and had five or more beers on. This included Hopback Summer Lightning, so I opted for a quick pint of that.
The pub has Batemans signage and carried two of their beers including one from the Salem Brewery which sounds like it might be a Batemans micro plant? Meanwhile there was Castle Rock and Deuchars, so I think the Hopback was the best choice.
Heading into town next I eventually gave up guessing where the pub was and asked a stranger - who wasn't from Retford, but he stopped a passer by who gave me directions to the pub. The Turks Head is a rather fine old pub on a road leading off the square and inside has some pleasant original features, perhaps 1920's or earlier, and not with the austerity of 1930's fittings. There were 4 beers on the bar, an Everards seasonal, Landlord, Black Sheep and St Austell Tribute, so I had a pint of this.
The pub was warm, not too busy, friendly and comfortable, and if I'd had more time, and, to be fair, if they'd had a better range of real ales, I would have stopped longer. I have to say I liked the design of the high ceiling toilets - perhaps my increasing age is represented by how much importance I place on pub toilets....
Back into the square and round the next corner to a church - the pub nearby didn't advertise real ales but the Sun Inn did. This was an old building which seemed half way through a refurbishment, with an old dark area on your right with families in and the rest of the pub in an L to the left. Only one real ale was on, Adnams Explorer at £3.00 a pint, so I had a half and carried on.
Nearly back at Asda I headed down West Street to visit the White Lion,a free house. Inside, the bar, which had quite modern fittings and plenty of space, there were two real ales, Doom Bar and something I couldn't read which I was assured was local. I tasted it and it was incredibly light, although not in colour. So I opted, with time running out, to try this.
My final stop was round the corner in the Rum Runner again, this time once more having the Summer Lightning and sitting down bear the bar soaking up the atmosphere and appreciating the warmth. A brisk walk back to the station nearly resulted in my missing the train as I didn't valise it was so far to Platform 3 from the main station. Once back at Woodhouse I nipped in the Junction.
I hoped it would still sell real ale - it did when me and Davefromtshop visited in 2010 - but alas there were two signs on the pumps stating the real ales were settling in the cellar. Still despite this, I got a bottle of Pedigree and supped that. The Junction still looks similar and still appears to be a family pub, although a lack of lights on the way to the gents means its either short of cash for light bulbs or discourages those who want a wee! It still seems like a good community pub though, and I will pop back soon to find out what real ale they sell.
This is obviously not an exhaustive exploration of Retford's pubs but was a nice change and showed that even with little info you can find real ale somewhere you have never been before.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Sunday, 11 May 2014
Lades
Hello,
I also recently went to the Lades.You know, the city in West Yorkshire. Once again I was inaugurating Miss N into its pubby delights so only ventured to one new pub but as with my other visits, Leodis did not let us down. Here's what happened last week!
We were late leaving and got there about 16.00 and headed straight to Friends Of Ham...about the same time as much of the rest of Leeds. We nabbed a seat at the bar and ordered Cromarty Red Rooster and Amerikaans pale from De Molen and settled down in front of freshly sliced meats to drool over the menu. Lardo was obviously chosen, as was a salami from Tuscany and a rosemary and pepper cured meat, along with a seasoned white cheese from Scotland, (droughtie?) a Bute Cheddar and a goats cheese. The price is still the same and the quality was once again superb, as were the pickles and sliced fresh bread. We finished with halves of Hawkshead Red on cask and halves of Brooklyn Fire and Ice - a cracking start.
Next up was a new venue, the Tapped Leeds. Very confusing on entering as there are no taps of handpumps - beer is dispensed from a wooden wall with signs above the taps but it wasn't clear where the cask beer was to me and Miss N. We asked at the bar and were given the choice of two or three pale ales, and these were nice but it was only after visiting the other end of the bar that we noticed what the cask choice was.
Beers were halves of Kirkstall Dissolution and Bristol Beer Factory Independence, both of which we were given tastes of and were in good form. Having now worked out where the cask and keg lists were we also ordered further halves of Bad Seed IPA on cask and Pressure Drop Freimans smoked dunkel on keg, and once again these were on top form. I think, in fact we both thought, the beer was excellent, but the layout is Brewdog Sheffield like and info hard to come by at first which is annoying. Otherwise a great venue for beer.
We popped to Whitelocks next which was understandably packed, and having secured a seat in the alley outside we had halves of Great Heck Treason stout from a rage of about 8. We took time to survey the chaos inside before drinking the heavy dark ale, then going back for more beer. This time Miss N tried the Elland Pale and myself a very agreeable Taylors Golden Mild. One day I swear I will arrive at Whitelocks at opening time and photograph its sumptuous interior!
Up Briggate next to the North Bar. This was a big favourite with us both and we quickly got a seat and two excellent beers to start us off, with Miss N on a half of Dark arts and myself on an excellent Weird Beard Cutthroat Porter, both of which were on great form. We then decided to try out some bottles and ended up with two bottles of saison - Kaapse Brouwers Harry and Maximus Saison. This came to £9.00 but was well worth it and by this time, a little refreshed, we splurged an unspeakable sum of cash on a bottle of Gueze. We were refreshed and very happy in North...
We finished our trip at the Duck and Drake, where we stood at the packed bar to hear a band finish playing, supping beers that I have forgotten to record, but which were, I assume very nice - as was the food, which may have been a pie, I genuinely don't know however! It was a good contrast to the decor and beer choice at North Bar and a very enjoyable place to stop before our long slog home and taxi to Chez Nuit, since the late bus doesn't run on a Sunday. Overall this was a great if short introduction to Leeds and one which tells us we need to go again, and explore some more.
Cheers
Wee Beefy
I also recently went to the Lades.You know, the city in West Yorkshire. Once again I was inaugurating Miss N into its pubby delights so only ventured to one new pub but as with my other visits, Leodis did not let us down. Here's what happened last week!
We were late leaving and got there about 16.00 and headed straight to Friends Of Ham...about the same time as much of the rest of Leeds. We nabbed a seat at the bar and ordered Cromarty Red Rooster and Amerikaans pale from De Molen and settled down in front of freshly sliced meats to drool over the menu. Lardo was obviously chosen, as was a salami from Tuscany and a rosemary and pepper cured meat, along with a seasoned white cheese from Scotland, (droughtie?) a Bute Cheddar and a goats cheese. The price is still the same and the quality was once again superb, as were the pickles and sliced fresh bread. We finished with halves of Hawkshead Red on cask and halves of Brooklyn Fire and Ice - a cracking start.
Next up was a new venue, the Tapped Leeds. Very confusing on entering as there are no taps of handpumps - beer is dispensed from a wooden wall with signs above the taps but it wasn't clear where the cask beer was to me and Miss N. We asked at the bar and were given the choice of two or three pale ales, and these were nice but it was only after visiting the other end of the bar that we noticed what the cask choice was.
Beers were halves of Kirkstall Dissolution and Bristol Beer Factory Independence, both of which we were given tastes of and were in good form. Having now worked out where the cask and keg lists were we also ordered further halves of Bad Seed IPA on cask and Pressure Drop Freimans smoked dunkel on keg, and once again these were on top form. I think, in fact we both thought, the beer was excellent, but the layout is Brewdog Sheffield like and info hard to come by at first which is annoying. Otherwise a great venue for beer.
We popped to Whitelocks next which was understandably packed, and having secured a seat in the alley outside we had halves of Great Heck Treason stout from a rage of about 8. We took time to survey the chaos inside before drinking the heavy dark ale, then going back for more beer. This time Miss N tried the Elland Pale and myself a very agreeable Taylors Golden Mild. One day I swear I will arrive at Whitelocks at opening time and photograph its sumptuous interior!
Up Briggate next to the North Bar. This was a big favourite with us both and we quickly got a seat and two excellent beers to start us off, with Miss N on a half of Dark arts and myself on an excellent Weird Beard Cutthroat Porter, both of which were on great form. We then decided to try out some bottles and ended up with two bottles of saison - Kaapse Brouwers Harry and Maximus Saison. This came to £9.00 but was well worth it and by this time, a little refreshed, we splurged an unspeakable sum of cash on a bottle of Gueze. We were refreshed and very happy in North...
We finished our trip at the Duck and Drake, where we stood at the packed bar to hear a band finish playing, supping beers that I have forgotten to record, but which were, I assume very nice - as was the food, which may have been a pie, I genuinely don't know however! It was a good contrast to the decor and beer choice at North Bar and a very enjoyable place to stop before our long slog home and taxi to Chez Nuit, since the late bus doesn't run on a Sunday. Overall this was a great if short introduction to Leeds and one which tells us we need to go again, and explore some more.
Cheers
Wee Beefy
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