Good evening
despite money running out faster than patience at an automated checkout, I have still managed to cram a lot into the nearly two weeks since I last posted. So here's some news....
Dove and Rainbow Hartshead
The Dove seems to be on its usual tri-annual rollercoaster of fortunes - in the past few years it has gained plaudits a plenty for its range of beers and been an incredibly popular venue despite its hidden city centre location. Now I can't possibly comment on its popularity amongst music fans as I am in my dotage and listen only to the soulful babble of Jim Reeves et al, but I can make an observation on my Monday night visit recently.
Essentially, Mondays are unsurprisingly slow to get going. There were a few people in, a man who disliked Gary Moore but appeared at ease with wearing a cowboy hat behind the bar, some pool players, and the hatted fella's acolytes around the bar.
Beer wise the choice was about 6 but with little of interest - the Kelham Easy Rider was a god send amongst almost exclusively super regional or worse still Grim King offerings, but as always, i can use my sense of perspective to note that choice is the saviour of any good venue and so did not even mind being accused of being a smoker and given a plastic glass in anticipation of my inevitable sojourn outside.
Overall I reckon that a busier Dove is likely a better Dove - the service was an odd mix of aggressive and matey and the lack of any noticable hubris probably laid bare a few failings that would otherwise not matter or be seen. I think a return visit is required, to sample the best of the pub, and see whether it is still the only decent mix of rock bar and real ale pub in Sheffield.
The Venerable Cat
So spoilt are we in Sheff that often folks forget that there used to be but 1 place (quickly followed, admittedly, by about 4 others ) in the town to get a decent range of beer. The Fat Cat on Alma Street is where this trend kicked off and I was in there for a retrospective last week with Stevo. She was on lady beer of some kind, but i was able to enjoy two fantastic pints of the Wellbeck Abbey brewery Portland Black whilst we munched on sublime pork pies. This is a timely reminder that I don't actually have to walk miles round the city for a relaxing after work imbibe, and reminds me, as it should some of you, that the Cat is always worth a visit.
Henrys - Beer Cafe?
I was acutely aware that after an initial flurry of visits I had somewhat neglected Henry's so popped in for a couple of halves one recent Wednesday. Am pleased to report that their enthusiasm for real ale has not wained, and it still commands a central and important place on the bar.
On offer was a fantastic range of 9 real ales including the two I tried, that being Dark Star American Pale Ale, and Brew Company Smokey Joe (note this is a guess - my somewhat vague notes proclaim only the word "smoky" for this ale...). As well as sampling these two fine beers, the Dark Star being excellent and the Brew Co beer exceeding my expectations of just how Rauchbier-like it would be, I also managed to snaffle some free sarnies en route to my next stop. Top marks!
Bungalow and Beers
Yes, that's a deliberate mis-spelling. To my shock and discombobulation, what I had previously considered a trendy bar offering nowt more tempting than expensive continental fare found everywhere, was now worth a visit for the real ale alone. In a shock move, which has somehow evaded my radar, it turns out that popular bar Bungalow and Bears now , and has for 9 months or more according to the barman, sold real ale! Add into the mix a decent selection of music and some eclectic but comfy seating to tempt the dotards in our midst, this makes the Beargalow worth a look.
On my visit there was 1 cask cider and two cask beers; York Guzzler, and to my surprise, Oakleaf IPA from Hampshire. I didn't even find Oakleaf beer when we were in Hampshire never mind oop ere in Sheffield, and this was one of the best beers of the night. This is a pleasant change and an encouraging development matched by nearby venues as I shall report now....
Great Green Gatsby's
The Great Gatsby, formerly the Olive Bar and before that the Forresters, now has real ale. Only one handpump is used, but it proudly proclaims the sale of a Blue Bee brewery beer, and is served in their Pint glasses. The beer, a 4% pale beer called High Bouncing Lover, with a flavour nearer to Bees Knees than Nectar (based only on the fact that I have tried Bees Knees only once and associate it with a maltier style than the nectar) is £3.00 a pint and heralds a swift return to visitability for a venue, which, like many of its neighbours, has noticed that people do actually care about what they drink and want something tasty and well made. This infectious drive towards choice and ultimately the supply of quality independently produced products can only be a good thing.
Up the road, having derided them in May for leading me a merry dance concerning the provision or not of the beautiful drink, I also noted that the Green Room had gone and got a Blue Bee beer as well. This time it was the Nectar Pale, a little less balanced than at the Rutland where it has been excellent of late, but nonetheless signs of a seachange in bar ethos with regards to drinks choice, started by the Old house and the Wick at Both Ends, and now encompassing almost every venue in the Devonshire Green area.
The Rutland Arms, Brown Street.
Just a quick mention for the above, my recent acquisition of a Blue Bee brewery loyalty card for the venue has prompted a few visits of late, where on my first visit I had a truly fantastic pint of the Nectar Pale at £2.60. On my second just this week, I had a half of the light tasting slightly foxed ale from Slightly Foxed Brewing Company ( see http://slightlyfoxedbrewery.co.uk/ ) and a rather unwise, given its early appearance in my drinking line up that night, pint of Blue Bee Tangled up IPA. Always a pub worth a visit, the addition of these Blue Bee cards makes it doubly worth popping in, although am not sure where one gets the cards from ......
And finally, the rumour mill....
No, not the name of a pretentious bar or themed restaurant, but an object that when twisted dispenses an enticing selection of granules of truth and supposition. I am informed that the Three Cranes on Queen Street, shut for some time now, is finally due to reopen. Real ales will e available, but only a few at first in order to gauge demand. I understand the owner purchased this and another pub with more pressing needs (lets face it, the Three cranes, superficially at least, appears in damn good nick) hence the delay in its reopening. Here's to a potential new addition to the Sheffield real ale scene!
More soon, with updates from North of the border. Slainte!
Wee Beefy.
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Wee Beefy's beer bites and Blue Bee Brewery too
Hello
another rapid fire round-up following my epic trip round the mid counties of England (and two in Wales ) with Mr P, Davefromtshop and Wee Fatha, ending a frenetic (but enjoyable August of trips away.
Blue Bee Brewery launch new beer - Rugbee Rugbee Rugbee!
I was lucky enough to be present and taking snaps for the launch of Blue Bee Brewery's new beer Rugbee Rugbee Rugbee. ( see http://twitter.com/#!/bluebeebrewery ) The launch took place at the excellent and now annual Abbeydale Sports Club/Shefield RUFC beer festival on the side of the pitch at the club, near Dore Station.
The club (with able assistance from Sarah Louise Morton) organised a troop of volunteer bar staff, some home made samosas and curry from a local restaurant along with the assembly of an impressive list of beers and ciders to tempt customers to the free festival where all beers were £2.50 a pint, regardless of strength.
Among the beers on sale was Blue Bee's new 4.8% beer Rugbee Rugbee Rugbee. This beer was launched at the festival, and brewed to coincide with the Rugby world cup being held in New Zealand, and brewed using Pacific Jade hops.
I started with a pint of the Blue Bee Nectar Pale by way of a comparison, and found the Rugbee had just as much hoppy bite, and a little more body than the pale, presumable because its a stronger brew. Along with some other fantastic ale this was a beer I tried a few pints of, along with (not in order) the excellent Boggart Rum Porter, Raw Anubis Porter, Spire Twist and Stout, Steel City Brewing Raw Steel IPA, Leadmill Rapture, and Thornbridge Summer ale (not all pints!). Sensibly my last beer of the night, was Thornbridge Geminus, a fearsomely hoppy 8.5% bed coaxer that meant despite heading to Dave's for a last one, I instead swiftly ended up in a taxi unable to recall the way home....
The festival was very busy especially with the crowds enjoying the band, Mahogany Newt, and runs for three days until, well, possibly 18 minutes ago, depending on when they close. Definitely a date to make in your diary for next year.
Forum Cafe Bar
A recent visit saw the beer range down to one, not that this is a venue renowned for its real ale or anything, but the surprise was the choice of beer. Springhead Olivers Army (see http://www.springhead.co.uk/olivers-army) is a ruby beer with strong malt notes that is somewhere between a bitter and a brown ale. I reckonm, if you are only to have one real ale on, this is either an edgy but confident idea, or a risky gamble. The beer was very quaffable but it was a hot day and I was dreaming of a pale ale all the way there.
Otherwise though, no real changes, with cocktails and wines still taking centre stage (and some decent continental draught). My only gripe - table service - sort it out!
Drinks seem to spend upwards of 10 minutes on the bar when they are busy, going warm or worse still, going nowhere - after waiting 15 minutes they then told me that they didn't have the product I ordered after all. A badly executed good plan am afraid....
York, beer from the shire.
Over the bank holiday weekend I was in sunny (and torrential rainy ) York, the capital of our county (that's right, its not chuffin Leeds) and beholder of an excellent range of pubs. Primarily this was a weekend away for me and Chala so tricky excursions to pubs on the outskirts was out of the question, we just wandered around and went in those we found, mostly.
On day one we holed up for an hour in the excellent Pivni near Newgate market and Swinegate. This fabulous old building has a wonderfully quirky tiled floor downstairs, some disconcertingly warped wood upstairs, and a beer to suit all tastes on the bar. In addition to an unusual selection of continental draught, and 77 lager in keg from BrewDog, there were 4 or 5 real ales on the bar.
I tried a pint of a low gravity Salamander Brewing Co beer which may have been their Axolotl but i concede I don't remember, as well as a half of the BrewDog (cask) Alice Porter, which was fantastic. Its a shame we didn't have more time to stick around, but on our way out later we stopped at a typically rammed Maltings, to sample a pint of Dow bridge mild, and half a Kirkstall Pale, both of which were very suppable.
On the Sunday we got to the Blue Bell at just gone midday to be puzzled that they had hired the front bar out for a private party - that's half of the pub! We did however get a seat in the back and enjoyed a Roosters Yankee, which is a beer I haven't had for a while, and Chala had to settle for coke as the Erdinger was all gone.
Later on we finally found the York brewery Yorkshire Terrier pub on Stonegate - not because its necessarily difficult to find, but because Chala had imagined it was accessed from the shambles. This excellent little pub has 4 separate drinking areas and a range of about 7 real ales. I had a very quaffable pint of the York Yorkshire Terrier, which unless am mistaken, seems to have lost a little hoppiness over the years ? Come on the York Brewery, terriers have bite!
Further up Stonegate is the excellent but real ale free Evil Eye lounge, an uber cool cocktail and tapas bar with a range of good bottled beers and a 4 page menu of cocktails and slammers for those who like the harder stuff. As well as trying some truly unwise and quaffable drinks, like a few B52's for yours truly, I also had a refreshing bottle of Schlenkerla Rauchbier. York bottled beers are also available, and there is a specialist off licence at the front. Well worth a look if in York...
Our penultimate pub stop was new to me, the Brigantes bar, a real ale pub similar in style to the Harlequin in good old Sheff, serving a range of about 8 real ales and once again some continental draught. I tried a half of the Kostritzer Schwarzbier from Germany which was a delicious if unusual find, along with pints of York Guzzler and a Brew Company IPA that tasted very faintly, but enjoyably, of oranges.
We did have a real ale with our meal - a half of Sharps Doom Bar at All bar One, a beer now starting to taste more and more malty and less like something I would choose to drink, but ABO only has one pump.
On Monday we somehow contrived to visit no real ale pubs, but with time to spare at the station made the mistake of visiting the coopers Bar. 6 Handpumps, all turned round and having sold 3 beers, Grim King IPA and Abbot, and Theakstons best. Not a continental lager in sight (not even a Kronenburg wheat or similar) and nowt more inspiring in bottle than Newky Brown. In the end, if only to fill in time, I opted for a tonic water and Chala a coke. That really was as food as the place got!
All in all (despite the lack of a decent station bar) York is a magnet for lovers of real ale and pubs, not forgetting of course my absence from the Golden Ball, Swan, 3 Legged Mare, Last Drop Inn, Fleece, Three Cranes and Rook and Gaskill to name but a few.
That's all the beer news I have for now, not withstanding that I have more Scottish cask ale travels to tell of, and our trip round the shires of England and Wales.
Take care and thirst no more
Wee Beefy
another rapid fire round-up following my epic trip round the mid counties of England (and two in Wales ) with Mr P, Davefromtshop and Wee Fatha, ending a frenetic (but enjoyable August of trips away.
Blue Bee Brewery launch new beer - Rugbee Rugbee Rugbee!
I was lucky enough to be present and taking snaps for the launch of Blue Bee Brewery's new beer Rugbee Rugbee Rugbee. ( see http://twitter.com/#!/bluebeebrewery ) The launch took place at the excellent and now annual Abbeydale Sports Club/Shefield RUFC beer festival on the side of the pitch at the club, near Dore Station.
The club (with able assistance from Sarah Louise Morton) organised a troop of volunteer bar staff, some home made samosas and curry from a local restaurant along with the assembly of an impressive list of beers and ciders to tempt customers to the free festival where all beers were £2.50 a pint, regardless of strength.
Among the beers on sale was Blue Bee's new 4.8% beer Rugbee Rugbee Rugbee. This beer was launched at the festival, and brewed to coincide with the Rugby world cup being held in New Zealand, and brewed using Pacific Jade hops.
I started with a pint of the Blue Bee Nectar Pale by way of a comparison, and found the Rugbee had just as much hoppy bite, and a little more body than the pale, presumable because its a stronger brew. Along with some other fantastic ale this was a beer I tried a few pints of, along with (not in order) the excellent Boggart Rum Porter, Raw Anubis Porter, Spire Twist and Stout, Steel City Brewing Raw Steel IPA, Leadmill Rapture, and Thornbridge Summer ale (not all pints!). Sensibly my last beer of the night, was Thornbridge Geminus, a fearsomely hoppy 8.5% bed coaxer that meant despite heading to Dave's for a last one, I instead swiftly ended up in a taxi unable to recall the way home....
The festival was very busy especially with the crowds enjoying the band, Mahogany Newt, and runs for three days until, well, possibly 18 minutes ago, depending on when they close. Definitely a date to make in your diary for next year.
Forum Cafe Bar
A recent visit saw the beer range down to one, not that this is a venue renowned for its real ale or anything, but the surprise was the choice of beer. Springhead Olivers Army (see http://www.springhead.co.uk/olivers-army) is a ruby beer with strong malt notes that is somewhere between a bitter and a brown ale. I reckonm, if you are only to have one real ale on, this is either an edgy but confident idea, or a risky gamble. The beer was very quaffable but it was a hot day and I was dreaming of a pale ale all the way there.
Otherwise though, no real changes, with cocktails and wines still taking centre stage (and some decent continental draught). My only gripe - table service - sort it out!
Drinks seem to spend upwards of 10 minutes on the bar when they are busy, going warm or worse still, going nowhere - after waiting 15 minutes they then told me that they didn't have the product I ordered after all. A badly executed good plan am afraid....
York, beer from the shire.
Over the bank holiday weekend I was in sunny (and torrential rainy ) York, the capital of our county (that's right, its not chuffin Leeds) and beholder of an excellent range of pubs. Primarily this was a weekend away for me and Chala so tricky excursions to pubs on the outskirts was out of the question, we just wandered around and went in those we found, mostly.
On day one we holed up for an hour in the excellent Pivni near Newgate market and Swinegate. This fabulous old building has a wonderfully quirky tiled floor downstairs, some disconcertingly warped wood upstairs, and a beer to suit all tastes on the bar. In addition to an unusual selection of continental draught, and 77 lager in keg from BrewDog, there were 4 or 5 real ales on the bar.
I tried a pint of a low gravity Salamander Brewing Co beer which may have been their Axolotl but i concede I don't remember, as well as a half of the BrewDog (cask) Alice Porter, which was fantastic. Its a shame we didn't have more time to stick around, but on our way out later we stopped at a typically rammed Maltings, to sample a pint of Dow bridge mild, and half a Kirkstall Pale, both of which were very suppable.
On the Sunday we got to the Blue Bell at just gone midday to be puzzled that they had hired the front bar out for a private party - that's half of the pub! We did however get a seat in the back and enjoyed a Roosters Yankee, which is a beer I haven't had for a while, and Chala had to settle for coke as the Erdinger was all gone.
Later on we finally found the York brewery Yorkshire Terrier pub on Stonegate - not because its necessarily difficult to find, but because Chala had imagined it was accessed from the shambles. This excellent little pub has 4 separate drinking areas and a range of about 7 real ales. I had a very quaffable pint of the York Yorkshire Terrier, which unless am mistaken, seems to have lost a little hoppiness over the years ? Come on the York Brewery, terriers have bite!
Further up Stonegate is the excellent but real ale free Evil Eye lounge, an uber cool cocktail and tapas bar with a range of good bottled beers and a 4 page menu of cocktails and slammers for those who like the harder stuff. As well as trying some truly unwise and quaffable drinks, like a few B52's for yours truly, I also had a refreshing bottle of Schlenkerla Rauchbier. York bottled beers are also available, and there is a specialist off licence at the front. Well worth a look if in York...
Our penultimate pub stop was new to me, the Brigantes bar, a real ale pub similar in style to the Harlequin in good old Sheff, serving a range of about 8 real ales and once again some continental draught. I tried a half of the Kostritzer Schwarzbier from Germany which was a delicious if unusual find, along with pints of York Guzzler and a Brew Company IPA that tasted very faintly, but enjoyably, of oranges.
We did have a real ale with our meal - a half of Sharps Doom Bar at All bar One, a beer now starting to taste more and more malty and less like something I would choose to drink, but ABO only has one pump.
On Monday we somehow contrived to visit no real ale pubs, but with time to spare at the station made the mistake of visiting the coopers Bar. 6 Handpumps, all turned round and having sold 3 beers, Grim King IPA and Abbot, and Theakstons best. Not a continental lager in sight (not even a Kronenburg wheat or similar) and nowt more inspiring in bottle than Newky Brown. In the end, if only to fill in time, I opted for a tonic water and Chala a coke. That really was as food as the place got!
All in all (despite the lack of a decent station bar) York is a magnet for lovers of real ale and pubs, not forgetting of course my absence from the Golden Ball, Swan, 3 Legged Mare, Last Drop Inn, Fleece, Three Cranes and Rook and Gaskill to name but a few.
That's all the beer news I have for now, not withstanding that I have more Scottish cask ale travels to tell of, and our trip round the shires of England and Wales.
Take care and thirst no more
Wee Beefy
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Wee Beefy Drinks in Dalriada - Day 2 (finally)
Day 2
Welcome to my celebration of celtic casks, in 7 parts (time period between posts not specified!)
We woke up at Taigh Lusnambansith to a fantastic Scottish breakfast which set the scene for a week of quality morning foods, and 20 minutes, or rather 90%, of the day's sunshine. After a quick wander round the centre of Clackmannan we headed off to Loch Leven castle, in thick grey cloud and a biting wind.
The castle is situated on an island in the centre of the Loch and is reached by a small boat. We had a good hour or two there looking round the castle and grounds before we headed off up over the Tay bridge into Dundee for our first pub stop of the day.
The Speedwell Tavern is one of Dundee's most famous pubs, and shares its place on the Regional and National Inventories with Frews bar, The Clep, and the Tay Bridge Tavern just down the road. Inside is a magnificent multi roomed pub with a panelled room on the left, a long bar curving to run parallel as you enter with an ornate back, a second lounge room on the back left, and a fantastic ornately plastered ceiling, all bathed in warm subdued lighting that shows off the wood brilliantly.
There are two real ales, Deuchars and a Greedy King offering which was off. The Deuchars was OK so we had that in the back lounge admiring the ornate fixtures and fittings - not least the excellent tiling in the gents.
Next we headed down the road to the Tay Bridge Tavern, sporting a red and cream colour scheme with angular almost futuristic style writing and signage on the outside. The main room as you enter is a magnificent high ceilinged bar with a good bar back and a small snug off on the left, reached through a separate entrance within the room, all topped by the striking patterned red and cream ceiling plasterwork. There is another room through a door on the right, with a distinctive sloping (or self emptying) spittoon, also accessed via a small and likely unused side entrance off the main entrance.
The room was not in use on our visit but we asked if we could take a few pics and the barman obliged, before we took our seats, supping McEwans 70/-, in the raised seating area looking towards the entrance.
After dinner we travelled north to the fabulous Dunnottar castle, a sprawling and well preserved picture postcard castle on a rocky outcrop on the Aberdeenshire coast. We managed to get round almost all of the enormous site before struggling back up the path to the car park and heading for a deserved pint at the Marine at Stonehaven.
This is a CAMRA award winning real ale pub on the harbour, with a great reputation for food, and a rather optimistic pricing policy for its accommodation. The old 1900's bar is long and narrow with about 7 handpumps and a board at the end displaying the beers available, next to which is the restaurant.
Alas even the best of pubs can be plagued by idiots who insist on blocking the bar and your view of the handpumps, but we overcame this annoyance to order and enjoy a pint of Burnside Mpire (thats what the clip says anyway), half a Strathven Summer Glow, and an Inveralmond Dunnottar ale, all in excellent condition. The pub two doors up on the quay also does real ales, but we wer short of time and so did not visit.
Before reaching our destination for the night we headed to the Creel Inn at Catterline, the least photogenic pub I have ever visited (unless you are stood on top of a Double Decker bus), but which hides within a small cosy local with an emphasis on real ale as well as their famed food menu. Here we enjoyed a pint of Orkney Corncrake and half of the Iveralmond Lia Fail.
Our final stop was at our accommodation. The Douglas Arms at Banchory is on the Scottish Regional inventory of unspoilt pub interiors, with a splendid unchanged traditional bar retaining the features of a 1900 refit, with a stunning collection of mirrors inlcuding huge Devhana and Thompson and Marshall ones at either end of the room. The room next door is traditional but slightly altered and the rest of the hotel radically changed to encompass a restaurant, a hotel bar and its hotel rooms, all in a sadly jarring modern style.
The food attracts restaurant prices but, despite WF's complaints about the portion size, was fantastically prepared and presented. There were two real ales in the bar, Caledonian Deuchars and Kelbun Pivo Estivo, a fantastic pale ale that I had 3 or 4 pints of just so as to be sure not to miss out.
Alas WF retired early after the exertions of walking to and from and around the castle and his driving, so I retired to a corner of the smaller bar with a copy of Private Eye for my Kelburn appreciation society meeting.
Up next time - more Aberdeenshire drinking, and real ale near Fraserburgh, without a Brewdog in sight.
Wee Beefy.
Welcome to my celebration of celtic casks, in 7 parts (time period between posts not specified!)
We woke up at Taigh Lusnambansith to a fantastic Scottish breakfast which set the scene for a week of quality morning foods, and 20 minutes, or rather 90%, of the day's sunshine. After a quick wander round the centre of Clackmannan we headed off to Loch Leven castle, in thick grey cloud and a biting wind.
The castle is situated on an island in the centre of the Loch and is reached by a small boat. We had a good hour or two there looking round the castle and grounds before we headed off up over the Tay bridge into Dundee for our first pub stop of the day.
The Speedwell Tavern is one of Dundee's most famous pubs, and shares its place on the Regional and National Inventories with Frews bar, The Clep, and the Tay Bridge Tavern just down the road. Inside is a magnificent multi roomed pub with a panelled room on the left, a long bar curving to run parallel as you enter with an ornate back, a second lounge room on the back left, and a fantastic ornately plastered ceiling, all bathed in warm subdued lighting that shows off the wood brilliantly.
There are two real ales, Deuchars and a Greedy King offering which was off. The Deuchars was OK so we had that in the back lounge admiring the ornate fixtures and fittings - not least the excellent tiling in the gents.
Next we headed down the road to the Tay Bridge Tavern, sporting a red and cream colour scheme with angular almost futuristic style writing and signage on the outside. The main room as you enter is a magnificent high ceilinged bar with a good bar back and a small snug off on the left, reached through a separate entrance within the room, all topped by the striking patterned red and cream ceiling plasterwork. There is another room through a door on the right, with a distinctive sloping (or self emptying) spittoon, also accessed via a small and likely unused side entrance off the main entrance.
The room was not in use on our visit but we asked if we could take a few pics and the barman obliged, before we took our seats, supping McEwans 70/-, in the raised seating area looking towards the entrance.
After dinner we travelled north to the fabulous Dunnottar castle, a sprawling and well preserved picture postcard castle on a rocky outcrop on the Aberdeenshire coast. We managed to get round almost all of the enormous site before struggling back up the path to the car park and heading for a deserved pint at the Marine at Stonehaven.
This is a CAMRA award winning real ale pub on the harbour, with a great reputation for food, and a rather optimistic pricing policy for its accommodation. The old 1900's bar is long and narrow with about 7 handpumps and a board at the end displaying the beers available, next to which is the restaurant.
Alas even the best of pubs can be plagued by idiots who insist on blocking the bar and your view of the handpumps, but we overcame this annoyance to order and enjoy a pint of Burnside Mpire (thats what the clip says anyway), half a Strathven Summer Glow, and an Inveralmond Dunnottar ale, all in excellent condition. The pub two doors up on the quay also does real ales, but we wer short of time and so did not visit.
Before reaching our destination for the night we headed to the Creel Inn at Catterline, the least photogenic pub I have ever visited (unless you are stood on top of a Double Decker bus), but which hides within a small cosy local with an emphasis on real ale as well as their famed food menu. Here we enjoyed a pint of Orkney Corncrake and half of the Iveralmond Lia Fail.
Our final stop was at our accommodation. The Douglas Arms at Banchory is on the Scottish Regional inventory of unspoilt pub interiors, with a splendid unchanged traditional bar retaining the features of a 1900 refit, with a stunning collection of mirrors inlcuding huge Devhana and Thompson and Marshall ones at either end of the room. The room next door is traditional but slightly altered and the rest of the hotel radically changed to encompass a restaurant, a hotel bar and its hotel rooms, all in a sadly jarring modern style.
The food attracts restaurant prices but, despite WF's complaints about the portion size, was fantastically prepared and presented. There were two real ales in the bar, Caledonian Deuchars and Kelbun Pivo Estivo, a fantastic pale ale that I had 3 or 4 pints of just so as to be sure not to miss out.
Alas WF retired early after the exertions of walking to and from and around the castle and his driving, so I retired to a corner of the smaller bar with a copy of Private Eye for my Kelburn appreciation society meeting.
Up next time - more Aberdeenshire drinking, and real ale near Fraserburgh, without a Brewdog in sight.
Wee Beefy.
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Wee Beefy's beer bites part 2
Hello suppers of ale,
developments and trips out continue a-pace for Beefy at the moment so am afraid its a whistlestop rundown of recent news rather than polished prose.
Whitby Ales.
First weekend in August I was with Bert on his stag do in the seaside town of Whitby. I have been many times and had fallen out of love with the place considerably, a situation inescapably linked to its dearth of good pubs. Things have changed in the last few years though as this trip proved. On our first night we ventured out after midnight and still found a pub or two open - the Ship, on the station side of the harbour, had an acceptable pint of Black Sheep on offer.
Saturday saw us slow off the mark but our fist stop in the afternoon was The Shambles over the shops in the market place. A large lofty room with comfy seating, a snooker room and a small quay side balcony this pub had 9 real ales on, mainly from super regionals but some unusual offerings from Cotleigh and Wold Top. I also managed to sneak in a very enjoyable pint of Black Dog Whitby Abbey Ale in the Station, formerly the Tap N Spile.
Later we headed out and stopped off (having walked past the Granby/Gatsby? advertising 5 beers including Snecklifter) at the Little Angel. This is a multiroomed very old pub up from the station selling Tetley and Mordue Workie Ticket which was a nice surprise. Being a large group we couldn't visit the tiny Black Horse over the bridge so headed up to the Duke of York at the bottom of the Abbey Steps. This had 5 or more beers on including Deuchars IPA and Taylors Golden Best. The less said about final real ale free stop the Wellington the better.
On the final day only I walked into town for beer (was not that thirsty it turned out!) and I visited the Black Horse. Definitely saving the best for last, i sat at the far end of the back bar room and then next to the entrance in the front bar supping two excellent pints of the Black Dog again. Overall most pubs seemed to advertise real ale and I would suggest that Whitby is well worth a visit.
Robin Hood Little Matlock, Stannington
There is less than a week now until the pub is closed forever, I was in a fortnight ago with Mr P and the sole beer on offer was Tetley, although it was a good pint of it. Usually there are Bradfield and Burton bridge beers if you are considering a last visit - however it might pay to ring and check they have real ale on if they are thinking of exhausting their cellar stocks prior to closing - there were beer glasses and plates and cutlery for sale when I was last in. Only 6 more nights of trading starting tomorrow if you fancy a look.
Walkley news.
Most recent Walkley trips have centred on the Blake so have no recent news or visits to report on, however, on a frustrating hunt for a bus to town recently I noted that the Freedom House had closed. I understand that some of the staff have moved to the Walkley Cottage but as yet do not know what the plans are for the Freedom. It would be a crying shame to lose it, but I would suggest that pivotal to any revival is the retention and availability of the comfy left hand room, which is the antithesis of the stark and less welcoming environment in the bar on the right. Customers love choice - so give em a choice of rooms and all is well.
Trippets, Trippet Lane.
Continue to serve a decent range of real ale although reduced slightly midweek on a recent visit. I tried the excellent Kelham Island Festival Ale and Thornbridge Chiron pale ale, both in excellent form although with contrasting flavours. Across the road I note the Dog and Partridge does not appear to open Monday lunchtimes.
The Lescar
Gawd love um the Lescar are striving to win an award I haven't yet created called "most disorganised and /or perplexing pub experience". On my last visit I was caught out by a yo yo price for the Moonshine, as were the bar staff. On a recent visit it was virtual chaos behind the bar. I spotted the excellent St Peters brewery IPA on handpump and opted for a pint. Although cloudy I wasn't concerned until I smelt and tasted vinegar. The pint was swapped graciously for an excellent pint of Northern Star from Moor Beer Co in Somerset - note this was also served in a handled beer mug, an increasingly common sight in pubs once again. So far so good...
My second pint was Moonshine in the same glass but that ran out and my replacement, back to Northern Star was in a straight glass. Its may seem unimportant but surely my handing back the mug means I require a mug? Although I admit I did not stipulate. My friend asked for an Erdinger from the same barman and he told us they didn't sell it any more, despite us having had two already and him going straight to the pump when I asked. And throughout, the IPA remained on the bar, on sale.
If you have a drinks menu, which the Lescar do, and I have to say its very good and offers a brilliant choice of beers and wines; then any claims made about the real ale need to be supported in real life. The menu proclaims " we know our beer "(unq.) and references Cask Marque accreditation but am not sure that the blurb matched my experience. On returning later the Northern star had run out so it was Doom bar, now a Coors puppy that travels poorly, or the IPA from earlier. I tried a mouthful in the sample glass and here's my admission - it tasted OK, so I ordered a pint. The thing is, as soon as I tasted the now clear pint I realised it was not in fact, any better. I have no idea how I made this mistake and am aware it made my argument a little weak thereafter.....
To their credit they refunded my money and I bought another none real ale - they didn't have to since I had tried the beer - but no-one would admit the St Peter's beer tasted of vinegar (albeit slightly, but noticeably ), and claimed that IPA tastes sharp - as opposed to astringent, or bitter one assumes. When I'd mentioned the yukky taste earlier they suggested it was because it was fresh on - erm, what?
Either that means they don't clean the lines (and I have had too many good beers in there to believe that) or they think that beer at the beginning of the cask is normally sour. I think perhaps a better knowledge of IPA is in order and perhaps a top up of staff and management product knowledge would bring the pub in line with its printed claims, and we could all be happy then. Must try harder, 6/10.
The Firth Hall, Sheffield University
On Saturday I attended a wedding bash at the above and noted that, even on a bar crammed in a corner, the length of a school bench, they had real ale in the form of Kelham Island Pride of Sheffield. Not that this is a venue open to the public (as far as I understand ) but I have to say I was surprised and pleased to be at a wedding with something worth drinking on offer. The Firth hall shows the way, wedding venues!
Real ale to take away
The Crookes branch of Rhythm and Booze has started doing take away real ale, usually from Kelham Island brewery. Whilst this is a welcome development for Crookesians and visitors alike, lets remember who the daddy of take away real ale in Sheffield is, and always will be. The Archer Road beer stop still carries a range of real ales to take away along with cider and bottle conditioned or otherwise conditioned British and world beers. Go there now and buy some beers!
Am awaah in York this weekend then in the Home Counties and Midlands in September so after that normal service will hopefully resume. In the meantime, drink well and live long
Wee Beefy.
developments and trips out continue a-pace for Beefy at the moment so am afraid its a whistlestop rundown of recent news rather than polished prose.
Whitby Ales.
First weekend in August I was with Bert on his stag do in the seaside town of Whitby. I have been many times and had fallen out of love with the place considerably, a situation inescapably linked to its dearth of good pubs. Things have changed in the last few years though as this trip proved. On our first night we ventured out after midnight and still found a pub or two open - the Ship, on the station side of the harbour, had an acceptable pint of Black Sheep on offer.
Saturday saw us slow off the mark but our fist stop in the afternoon was The Shambles over the shops in the market place. A large lofty room with comfy seating, a snooker room and a small quay side balcony this pub had 9 real ales on, mainly from super regionals but some unusual offerings from Cotleigh and Wold Top. I also managed to sneak in a very enjoyable pint of Black Dog Whitby Abbey Ale in the Station, formerly the Tap N Spile.
Later we headed out and stopped off (having walked past the Granby/Gatsby? advertising 5 beers including Snecklifter) at the Little Angel. This is a multiroomed very old pub up from the station selling Tetley and Mordue Workie Ticket which was a nice surprise. Being a large group we couldn't visit the tiny Black Horse over the bridge so headed up to the Duke of York at the bottom of the Abbey Steps. This had 5 or more beers on including Deuchars IPA and Taylors Golden Best. The less said about final real ale free stop the Wellington the better.
On the final day only I walked into town for beer (was not that thirsty it turned out!) and I visited the Black Horse. Definitely saving the best for last, i sat at the far end of the back bar room and then next to the entrance in the front bar supping two excellent pints of the Black Dog again. Overall most pubs seemed to advertise real ale and I would suggest that Whitby is well worth a visit.
Robin Hood Little Matlock, Stannington
There is less than a week now until the pub is closed forever, I was in a fortnight ago with Mr P and the sole beer on offer was Tetley, although it was a good pint of it. Usually there are Bradfield and Burton bridge beers if you are considering a last visit - however it might pay to ring and check they have real ale on if they are thinking of exhausting their cellar stocks prior to closing - there were beer glasses and plates and cutlery for sale when I was last in. Only 6 more nights of trading starting tomorrow if you fancy a look.
Walkley news.
Most recent Walkley trips have centred on the Blake so have no recent news or visits to report on, however, on a frustrating hunt for a bus to town recently I noted that the Freedom House had closed. I understand that some of the staff have moved to the Walkley Cottage but as yet do not know what the plans are for the Freedom. It would be a crying shame to lose it, but I would suggest that pivotal to any revival is the retention and availability of the comfy left hand room, which is the antithesis of the stark and less welcoming environment in the bar on the right. Customers love choice - so give em a choice of rooms and all is well.
Trippets, Trippet Lane.
Continue to serve a decent range of real ale although reduced slightly midweek on a recent visit. I tried the excellent Kelham Island Festival Ale and Thornbridge Chiron pale ale, both in excellent form although with contrasting flavours. Across the road I note the Dog and Partridge does not appear to open Monday lunchtimes.
The Lescar
Gawd love um the Lescar are striving to win an award I haven't yet created called "most disorganised and /or perplexing pub experience". On my last visit I was caught out by a yo yo price for the Moonshine, as were the bar staff. On a recent visit it was virtual chaos behind the bar. I spotted the excellent St Peters brewery IPA on handpump and opted for a pint. Although cloudy I wasn't concerned until I smelt and tasted vinegar. The pint was swapped graciously for an excellent pint of Northern Star from Moor Beer Co in Somerset - note this was also served in a handled beer mug, an increasingly common sight in pubs once again. So far so good...
My second pint was Moonshine in the same glass but that ran out and my replacement, back to Northern Star was in a straight glass. Its may seem unimportant but surely my handing back the mug means I require a mug? Although I admit I did not stipulate. My friend asked for an Erdinger from the same barman and he told us they didn't sell it any more, despite us having had two already and him going straight to the pump when I asked. And throughout, the IPA remained on the bar, on sale.
If you have a drinks menu, which the Lescar do, and I have to say its very good and offers a brilliant choice of beers and wines; then any claims made about the real ale need to be supported in real life. The menu proclaims " we know our beer "(unq.) and references Cask Marque accreditation but am not sure that the blurb matched my experience. On returning later the Northern star had run out so it was Doom bar, now a Coors puppy that travels poorly, or the IPA from earlier. I tried a mouthful in the sample glass and here's my admission - it tasted OK, so I ordered a pint. The thing is, as soon as I tasted the now clear pint I realised it was not in fact, any better. I have no idea how I made this mistake and am aware it made my argument a little weak thereafter.....
To their credit they refunded my money and I bought another none real ale - they didn't have to since I had tried the beer - but no-one would admit the St Peter's beer tasted of vinegar (albeit slightly, but noticeably ), and claimed that IPA tastes sharp - as opposed to astringent, or bitter one assumes. When I'd mentioned the yukky taste earlier they suggested it was because it was fresh on - erm, what?
Either that means they don't clean the lines (and I have had too many good beers in there to believe that) or they think that beer at the beginning of the cask is normally sour. I think perhaps a better knowledge of IPA is in order and perhaps a top up of staff and management product knowledge would bring the pub in line with its printed claims, and we could all be happy then. Must try harder, 6/10.
The Firth Hall, Sheffield University
On Saturday I attended a wedding bash at the above and noted that, even on a bar crammed in a corner, the length of a school bench, they had real ale in the form of Kelham Island Pride of Sheffield. Not that this is a venue open to the public (as far as I understand ) but I have to say I was surprised and pleased to be at a wedding with something worth drinking on offer. The Firth hall shows the way, wedding venues!
Real ale to take away
The Crookes branch of Rhythm and Booze has started doing take away real ale, usually from Kelham Island brewery. Whilst this is a welcome development for Crookesians and visitors alike, lets remember who the daddy of take away real ale in Sheffield is, and always will be. The Archer Road beer stop still carries a range of real ales to take away along with cider and bottle conditioned or otherwise conditioned British and world beers. Go there now and buy some beers!
Am awaah in York this weekend then in the Home Counties and Midlands in September so after that normal service will hopefully resume. In the meantime, drink well and live long
Wee Beefy.
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Wee Beefy's beer bites
Afternoon
recent activity surrounding beer and pubs has been frantic so am going to give you a few small tit-bits to try and cover all that's been going on.
BrewDog vs Asda
Asda recently put up the cost of the reduced strength Punk IPA to over £2.30 a bottle. Responsible you might think - but its still in the 3 for £4.00 offer. Once more Asda's alcohol irresponsibility reigns supreme - the less you buy, and the weaker alcohol in the beer you buy, the more expensive it is. Genius.
Shakespeare Gibraltar Street Shalesmoor
Work continues on the interior and upstairs rooms in particular, bookings are now coming in for bands to play in the large upstairs function room, where a bar is hoped to be installed in the future. A good range of local beers has always been available on my 4 visits so far, last night I had Abbeydale Deception, Spire Dark Side of he Moon, and not so local but the best of the lot, Hornbeam Black Coral Stout. The new signage is half up - one is waiting to presumably go on the side wall; and this identifies the pub as Shakespeares Ale and Cider House.
Welbeck Abbey Brewery
Continue to get their beers into Sheffield, having been seen at the Harlequin, Shakespeares (to reflect their new signage and differentiate between them and the Olde Shakespeare on Well Road Heeley ) and the Old House. Their First Brew was very quaffable at the Harlequin, and their low gravity session beer Henrietta at 3.6% was the stand out beer of an evening at the Old House recently. Me and Davefromtshop caught a pint of the surprisingly heavy ruby biter Red Feather at Shakespeares last week as well. Although they have excellent mentors and distributors in the form of Kelham Island brewery, its noticeable how quickly they have created a recognisable brand, and found that crucial consistency and quality. See their blog on this site or follow http://welbeckabbeybrewery.blogspot.com/
Toad Brewery
The flip side of the Welbeck story is the demise of short lived Doncaster brewery Toad, who have gone into liquidation. I rarely found their beers and I have to say that when I did I was likewise rarely impressed. Perhaps their apparent intention to supply the unusual/one off guest beer market caught them out - an over ambitious beer roster maybe contributed to a lack of consistency and a prevalence at beer festivals. A shame for South Yorkshire to lose a brewery though.
Robin Hood
News of their impending conversion to luxury housing has drawn a few people together to visit - a friend of mine told me he'd met his now wife when she was working behind the bar there and was off for a final visit last week, meanwhile I have finally visited with Davefromtshop - his first visit, and let countless other people know through the debatable wonders of Facebook. Get to the Robin Hood before August Bank Holiday weekend and see what you'll miss.
Wick At Both Ends West Street Sheffield
Two recent visits have seen Sheffield Brewery Tramlines and Thornbridge Sequoia on hand pump, served in handled beer mugs as beer should be - top marks for that. As well as a decent range of music I was also able to experience some excellent bottles of Budels Alt and some offerings from Goose Island brewery. The only drawback is - no beer menu! Sort us a list out The WABe and more people will buy your range of beers.
Old House Devonshire Street
Table service is on offer at the Old House and some very very nice food at sensible prices for the quality provided. Flowers IPA, a beer enigma in that you can rarely be sure where its brewed or by whom, along with Bradfield Farmers Stout, seem to be regular features on the bar now, with the total number of handpumps increased to 5. Drinks offers on Weekdays until eight and large for small wines until nine mean it needn't be extortionate to drink their either.
Tramlines festival beers
I got to a few pubs at Tramlines - more pubs than I saw bands actually, and sampled some decent beer along the way. The Abbeydale Deception at Harrisons 1854 was in fantastic form, perhaps helped by its quick turnover with the venue 8 thick at the bar at times. The Red House was offering two beers including Hancocks HB and Marstons EPA, Shakespeares of course had the biggest range of those tried and I had a very nice pint of something low gravity and pale from Acorn, then there were about 5 beers at CADS in Shalesmoor for the blues and ale festival, including the Tramlines beer and Brimstone from Abbeydale. Our final stop was the Red Deer which was offering, from a range of 7, a very nice pint of Moorhouses Blonde Witch, and serving til gone midnight - showing you can get decent real ale after 11PM.
More news soon, and, I promise, more of my Scotland adventure...
Cheers
Wee Beefy
recent activity surrounding beer and pubs has been frantic so am going to give you a few small tit-bits to try and cover all that's been going on.
BrewDog vs Asda
Asda recently put up the cost of the reduced strength Punk IPA to over £2.30 a bottle. Responsible you might think - but its still in the 3 for £4.00 offer. Once more Asda's alcohol irresponsibility reigns supreme - the less you buy, and the weaker alcohol in the beer you buy, the more expensive it is. Genius.
Shakespeare Gibraltar Street Shalesmoor
Work continues on the interior and upstairs rooms in particular, bookings are now coming in for bands to play in the large upstairs function room, where a bar is hoped to be installed in the future. A good range of local beers has always been available on my 4 visits so far, last night I had Abbeydale Deception, Spire Dark Side of he Moon, and not so local but the best of the lot, Hornbeam Black Coral Stout. The new signage is half up - one is waiting to presumably go on the side wall; and this identifies the pub as Shakespeares Ale and Cider House.
Welbeck Abbey Brewery
Continue to get their beers into Sheffield, having been seen at the Harlequin, Shakespeares (to reflect their new signage and differentiate between them and the Olde Shakespeare on Well Road Heeley ) and the Old House. Their First Brew was very quaffable at the Harlequin, and their low gravity session beer Henrietta at 3.6% was the stand out beer of an evening at the Old House recently. Me and Davefromtshop caught a pint of the surprisingly heavy ruby biter Red Feather at Shakespeares last week as well. Although they have excellent mentors and distributors in the form of Kelham Island brewery, its noticeable how quickly they have created a recognisable brand, and found that crucial consistency and quality. See their blog on this site or follow http://welbeckabbeybrewery.blogspot.com/
Toad Brewery
The flip side of the Welbeck story is the demise of short lived Doncaster brewery Toad, who have gone into liquidation. I rarely found their beers and I have to say that when I did I was likewise rarely impressed. Perhaps their apparent intention to supply the unusual/one off guest beer market caught them out - an over ambitious beer roster maybe contributed to a lack of consistency and a prevalence at beer festivals. A shame for South Yorkshire to lose a brewery though.
Robin Hood
News of their impending conversion to luxury housing has drawn a few people together to visit - a friend of mine told me he'd met his now wife when she was working behind the bar there and was off for a final visit last week, meanwhile I have finally visited with Davefromtshop - his first visit, and let countless other people know through the debatable wonders of Facebook. Get to the Robin Hood before August Bank Holiday weekend and see what you'll miss.
Wick At Both Ends West Street Sheffield
Two recent visits have seen Sheffield Brewery Tramlines and Thornbridge Sequoia on hand pump, served in handled beer mugs as beer should be - top marks for that. As well as a decent range of music I was also able to experience some excellent bottles of Budels Alt and some offerings from Goose Island brewery. The only drawback is - no beer menu! Sort us a list out The WABe and more people will buy your range of beers.
Old House Devonshire Street
Table service is on offer at the Old House and some very very nice food at sensible prices for the quality provided. Flowers IPA, a beer enigma in that you can rarely be sure where its brewed or by whom, along with Bradfield Farmers Stout, seem to be regular features on the bar now, with the total number of handpumps increased to 5. Drinks offers on Weekdays until eight and large for small wines until nine mean it needn't be extortionate to drink their either.
Tramlines festival beers
I got to a few pubs at Tramlines - more pubs than I saw bands actually, and sampled some decent beer along the way. The Abbeydale Deception at Harrisons 1854 was in fantastic form, perhaps helped by its quick turnover with the venue 8 thick at the bar at times. The Red House was offering two beers including Hancocks HB and Marstons EPA, Shakespeares of course had the biggest range of those tried and I had a very nice pint of something low gravity and pale from Acorn, then there were about 5 beers at CADS in Shalesmoor for the blues and ale festival, including the Tramlines beer and Brimstone from Abbeydale. Our final stop was the Red Deer which was offering, from a range of 7, a very nice pint of Moorhouses Blonde Witch, and serving til gone midnight - showing you can get decent real ale after 11PM.
More news soon, and, I promise, more of my Scotland adventure...
Cheers
Wee Beefy
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Shakespeare, Gibraltar Street Shalesmoor reopens; Robin Hood and Anvil, little Matlock and Stannington
Hello
I was heading out to the Robin Hood with Mr P earlier and spotted signs of life at the Shakespeare, which seemed to have been dormant until quite recently, following the announcement that it had been bought by the owner of the New Beehive, Bradford. Mr P spotted a sign announcing its reopening, and we added it to our list of venues for the evening.
Arriving about 21.00 we found the main bar packed out, and the room to the left empty but for its seating and a generous table of nibbles - although as noted by many, for a Sheffield pub launch, there were precious few items of cutlery available to divvy up the quiche....
Furnishings and fittings are basic tables and old chairs with bare flag floors throughout, making it quite echoey in places. This crisp resonance, along with the very real smells of fresh paint varnish and wood, means you can be in no doubt that this is a recently refurbished pub.
There were 8 handpumps dispensing local ales, including a new one from Welbeck Abbey brewery - more on that soon; and 2 real ciders in a box, as well as Continental draught beer including Bellevue Kriek. I had a pint of the Welbeck Red Leather and Mr P a half of a surprisingly dark Blue Bee Bee's Knees bitter, both of which retailed at a sensible £2.30 or so a pint.
The cosy fireplace in the wall feature behind the bar sadly seems to have disappeared, but there is another room to the right of the back of the bar, created by bricking up the former coach entrance on the right, and the loos are much improved; the smell of fresh paint possibly masked any lingering horrors, but i can safely say they were some of the worst pub toilets in Sheffield before.
Being launch night there were about 6 staff behind the bar, which is quite difficult to pull off, and i think i spotted the owner, but did not have time to ask him anything even if it were him. In the left hand room is a fabulous old clock and a number of pump clips all around the walls at dado height. The only potential downer is the fact that the Wards window in here appears to have been lost - perhaps broken ?
Its always a risky business reopening and working in an old pub with an unspoilt or old interior, and the loss of the window - its sibling still visible on the right as you look at the pub - is a real shame. That said, there is now a subtle and attractive new sign outside and the room gained on the right gives more space to what I hope will be throngs of drinkers visiting the pub from now on. There is also a large beer yard/area to the rear.
The pub was getting busier as we left before 22.00, and it looks like even at this early stage there is potential to make something of a business that successive pub companies failed or perhaps wanted to fail at making successful. Here's wishing the Speare (sorry) all the very best for the future.
Robin Hoodoo
As part of my succession of visits to the pub between now and August bank holiday, I continued tonight by taking Mr P to the pub at Little Matlock near Stannington. Luckily they had real ale on but only one, a very nice pint of Yorkshire Farmer. We sat outside defying the threat of rain for most of our visit before heading inside.
The beer situation appears to be that they get a delivery Friday each week, and put the beer straight on - not sure if this is ideal - and its clear that they are operating a hand to mouth ordering system, since on my visit tomorrow I will be having more beer from the same 9 on tonight if I am to get any at all. I understand the need to keep the cellar stocks light but this risks running out of beer, which, as mentioned before, if you don't do food Wednesday and Thursdays, is surely a key component in keeping customers there and buying ?
After we walked back along Greaves lane to the Anvil on Stannington Road. The makeover is complete and doesn't seem to have radically altered the layout i have seen on my last few visits. There are 4 beers on, Kelham, Bradfield Blonde, Lees Bitter with Black Sheep on soon. Not a life changing selection, but both the Lees and the Blonde were very well kept.
More info on Scotland and Welbeck Abbey brewery soon.
Wee Beefy.
I was heading out to the Robin Hood with Mr P earlier and spotted signs of life at the Shakespeare, which seemed to have been dormant until quite recently, following the announcement that it had been bought by the owner of the New Beehive, Bradford. Mr P spotted a sign announcing its reopening, and we added it to our list of venues for the evening.
Arriving about 21.00 we found the main bar packed out, and the room to the left empty but for its seating and a generous table of nibbles - although as noted by many, for a Sheffield pub launch, there were precious few items of cutlery available to divvy up the quiche....
Furnishings and fittings are basic tables and old chairs with bare flag floors throughout, making it quite echoey in places. This crisp resonance, along with the very real smells of fresh paint varnish and wood, means you can be in no doubt that this is a recently refurbished pub.
There were 8 handpumps dispensing local ales, including a new one from Welbeck Abbey brewery - more on that soon; and 2 real ciders in a box, as well as Continental draught beer including Bellevue Kriek. I had a pint of the Welbeck Red Leather and Mr P a half of a surprisingly dark Blue Bee Bee's Knees bitter, both of which retailed at a sensible £2.30 or so a pint.
The cosy fireplace in the wall feature behind the bar sadly seems to have disappeared, but there is another room to the right of the back of the bar, created by bricking up the former coach entrance on the right, and the loos are much improved; the smell of fresh paint possibly masked any lingering horrors, but i can safely say they were some of the worst pub toilets in Sheffield before.
Being launch night there were about 6 staff behind the bar, which is quite difficult to pull off, and i think i spotted the owner, but did not have time to ask him anything even if it were him. In the left hand room is a fabulous old clock and a number of pump clips all around the walls at dado height. The only potential downer is the fact that the Wards window in here appears to have been lost - perhaps broken ?
Its always a risky business reopening and working in an old pub with an unspoilt or old interior, and the loss of the window - its sibling still visible on the right as you look at the pub - is a real shame. That said, there is now a subtle and attractive new sign outside and the room gained on the right gives more space to what I hope will be throngs of drinkers visiting the pub from now on. There is also a large beer yard/area to the rear.
The pub was getting busier as we left before 22.00, and it looks like even at this early stage there is potential to make something of a business that successive pub companies failed or perhaps wanted to fail at making successful. Here's wishing the Speare (sorry) all the very best for the future.
Robin Hoodoo
As part of my succession of visits to the pub between now and August bank holiday, I continued tonight by taking Mr P to the pub at Little Matlock near Stannington. Luckily they had real ale on but only one, a very nice pint of Yorkshire Farmer. We sat outside defying the threat of rain for most of our visit before heading inside.
The beer situation appears to be that they get a delivery Friday each week, and put the beer straight on - not sure if this is ideal - and its clear that they are operating a hand to mouth ordering system, since on my visit tomorrow I will be having more beer from the same 9 on tonight if I am to get any at all. I understand the need to keep the cellar stocks light but this risks running out of beer, which, as mentioned before, if you don't do food Wednesday and Thursdays, is surely a key component in keeping customers there and buying ?
After we walked back along Greaves lane to the Anvil on Stannington Road. The makeover is complete and doesn't seem to have radically altered the layout i have seen on my last few visits. There are 4 beers on, Kelham, Bradfield Blonde, Lees Bitter with Black Sheep on soon. Not a life changing selection, but both the Lees and the Blonde were very well kept.
More info on Scotland and Welbeck Abbey brewery soon.
Wee Beefy.
Friday, 15 July 2011
Robin Hood Little Matlock update - real ale misery.
Hello,
as some of you may know I went to the Robin Hood on Thursday 14th July for a "last visit" (although ironically am going next Thursday with the Daves, but that's another story) and also sent info to numerous people to make them aware that the pub was closing, so that they could aim to get there in the next few weeks.
I now know that the pub will close on August Bank Holiday Monday - assumedly at about midnight that day, and that this is definite. This does of course helpfully give people a bit of notice and may mean a few more of you get chance to visit.
The visit last night was brief, somewhat scuppered by an unexpected disaster. Having got my friend lost driving us there in the car (which is a trademark Wee Beefy error) we arrived at about 6PM to find all 3 pump clips turned round. The lass behind the bar claimed Burton Bridge bitter was on but that was not the case, so all that was available was a very strong Westons cider.
Now, i do like cider, especially draught cloudy (or clear ) stuff, but crucially I like cider that is not carbonated. However, despite this admission, cider is not a first of the evening 6PM drink. So whilst Mr G had a coke I opted for a half of dreadful keg Stones, for which I will surely pay my price in beer hell. Given that we were expecting a couple of other people, this was bad news, although I phoned them and told them we were nipping to the Nags Head instead. This meant I had a brief chance to drink my grim brew outside whilst cursing the lack of ale.
The barman told us that they'd cleared out the cellar and that anything old had been thrown away and that they were expecting a delivery tomorrow. This raises a few questions. How old was the beer that was thrown away? Was this a result of new limited opening hours/days? Does this mean that beer is left to stand for as little as a matter of hours before being put on? And does this mean that things have become so dire that they operate a hand to mouth beer ordering system ?
Either way no matter how much the barman told me how unlucky we were and what would be on the next day, I couldn't mask my disappointment. And what if I had travelled a huge distance to this pub for a delicious pint after work ? Considering they don't serve food Thursdays, without anything decent to drink I couldn't see them generating much trade. Grrr....
The Nags at Loxley was much better, having 5 real ales on at £1.80 a pint, including the 6% pale ale "Sixer". This is where we stayed for a few and were joined by Christingpher, who is soon to lose 1 of his 4 nearby pubs. Hopefully the rogue introduction of the keg impostor at the Robin Hood was not the cause of my bug which kept me in bed most of today, and even if it wasn't, it surely still serves as a salutary warning about the dangers of not drinking real ale.
Lets hope the Robin Hood gets its act together for next week so Davefromtshop can finally enjoy a pint of real ale in there.
Wee Beefy.
as some of you may know I went to the Robin Hood on Thursday 14th July for a "last visit" (although ironically am going next Thursday with the Daves, but that's another story) and also sent info to numerous people to make them aware that the pub was closing, so that they could aim to get there in the next few weeks.
I now know that the pub will close on August Bank Holiday Monday - assumedly at about midnight that day, and that this is definite. This does of course helpfully give people a bit of notice and may mean a few more of you get chance to visit.
The visit last night was brief, somewhat scuppered by an unexpected disaster. Having got my friend lost driving us there in the car (which is a trademark Wee Beefy error) we arrived at about 6PM to find all 3 pump clips turned round. The lass behind the bar claimed Burton Bridge bitter was on but that was not the case, so all that was available was a very strong Westons cider.
Now, i do like cider, especially draught cloudy (or clear ) stuff, but crucially I like cider that is not carbonated. However, despite this admission, cider is not a first of the evening 6PM drink. So whilst Mr G had a coke I opted for a half of dreadful keg Stones, for which I will surely pay my price in beer hell. Given that we were expecting a couple of other people, this was bad news, although I phoned them and told them we were nipping to the Nags Head instead. This meant I had a brief chance to drink my grim brew outside whilst cursing the lack of ale.
The barman told us that they'd cleared out the cellar and that anything old had been thrown away and that they were expecting a delivery tomorrow. This raises a few questions. How old was the beer that was thrown away? Was this a result of new limited opening hours/days? Does this mean that beer is left to stand for as little as a matter of hours before being put on? And does this mean that things have become so dire that they operate a hand to mouth beer ordering system ?
Either way no matter how much the barman told me how unlucky we were and what would be on the next day, I couldn't mask my disappointment. And what if I had travelled a huge distance to this pub for a delicious pint after work ? Considering they don't serve food Thursdays, without anything decent to drink I couldn't see them generating much trade. Grrr....
The Nags at Loxley was much better, having 5 real ales on at £1.80 a pint, including the 6% pale ale "Sixer". This is where we stayed for a few and were joined by Christingpher, who is soon to lose 1 of his 4 nearby pubs. Hopefully the rogue introduction of the keg impostor at the Robin Hood was not the cause of my bug which kept me in bed most of today, and even if it wasn't, it surely still serves as a salutary warning about the dangers of not drinking real ale.
Lets hope the Robin Hood gets its act together for next week so Davefromtshop can finally enjoy a pint of real ale in there.
Wee Beefy.
Saturday, 9 July 2011
The Robin Hood, Greaves Lane, Little Matlock, between Stannington and Loxley.
Last Chance to see
Hello
the above named pub will finally shut its doors this summer, after a long history of refreshing huntsman, hikers and Hillsborough folk out and about for a century and a half. No confirmation has been provided of the final date of trading yet, but this is set to be the last summer of trading at this venerable institution that has been a feature of my life for many years.
I used to go to the Robin Hood when I was a chab (note, not a chav, this was the late seventies/early eighties and a bling wearing social underclass did not exist ) - I clambered all over the garden, in particular a rock feature which was likely not intended for that purpose, whilst my Mum and Dad got refreshments inside.
In the 90's me and my friend Jon (R.I.P) walked out there one evening on a Crookes to Loxley walk and had a few pints before walking all the way home, I got the impression he liked the pub if not the slog back; and me and Carlos got out there a good few times before the noughties (this is an era, not a period of immoral actions ).
I worked at Gloystarne Distribution in Rotherham during the period 1996 to 2003 and one of the Wentworth warehouse managers at the time ended up with responsibility for the pub as his parents had owned and run it ptrviously. This was the start of an uncertain and likely real ale free period when I did not visit, other than once with Chala on one of our first walks together.
Then, about 7 years agop, the pub was taken over and started doing decent but simple British pub meals and offering 3 real ales. Wee Fatha used to go there regularly with his friend and I even went there with Chala's Dad, one of the last couple of meals out we shared before he died in 2007. A year or so after we went with Mum and Martin for a meal after they renewed their vows, and last year I went with Christingpher in a February hike from his Loxley gaffe, to find delicious olives as bar snacks and excellent dark Burton Bridge ale available.
This year I have returned to walking in Crookes, Rivelin Loxley and Bradfield and so have been may times to the pub, which has simultaneously offered excellent beers and hospitality whilst being a resolute feature in my ever changing social and family affairs.
To hear that it is finally to close due to lack of trade is a real blow. Any pub closure is bad news but such an interesting venue in such an eclectic location is a crying shame. On my visits this year I have seen a fantastic range of real ales including sometimes two dark from the range of 3, and this serves only to highlight the loss of this great building and pub business.
In order to try and come to terms with this disappointment, and to make use of the limited opportunities likely afforded to celebrate whats great about this pub, i am going on Thursday 14th July in the evening and hopefully Thursday 21st July in the day, to walk round, breathe in the atmosphere and take in the noble provenance of this hostelry before its too late.
Its not a protest, its not a resigned wake to mark a dreadful passing, not even a frustrated homily, just a good idea where people get to visit together, where otherwise their normal drinking patterns would mean they miss out on the opportunity to do so.
There are full details on my facebook page, which I am trying to make a link to - I am registered under Wee Beefy with full public access as far as I know.
So, in short, lets go to celebrate a history of public beer provision in the area of Loxley and Stannington which Mr Halliday all those years ago likened to Matlock, and raise a glass to all those who have drunk there before us.
Wee Beefy
Hello
the above named pub will finally shut its doors this summer, after a long history of refreshing huntsman, hikers and Hillsborough folk out and about for a century and a half. No confirmation has been provided of the final date of trading yet, but this is set to be the last summer of trading at this venerable institution that has been a feature of my life for many years.
I used to go to the Robin Hood when I was a chab (note, not a chav, this was the late seventies/early eighties and a bling wearing social underclass did not exist ) - I clambered all over the garden, in particular a rock feature which was likely not intended for that purpose, whilst my Mum and Dad got refreshments inside.
In the 90's me and my friend Jon (R.I.P) walked out there one evening on a Crookes to Loxley walk and had a few pints before walking all the way home, I got the impression he liked the pub if not the slog back; and me and Carlos got out there a good few times before the noughties (this is an era, not a period of immoral actions ).
I worked at Gloystarne Distribution in Rotherham during the period 1996 to 2003 and one of the Wentworth warehouse managers at the time ended up with responsibility for the pub as his parents had owned and run it ptrviously. This was the start of an uncertain and likely real ale free period when I did not visit, other than once with Chala on one of our first walks together.
Then, about 7 years agop, the pub was taken over and started doing decent but simple British pub meals and offering 3 real ales. Wee Fatha used to go there regularly with his friend and I even went there with Chala's Dad, one of the last couple of meals out we shared before he died in 2007. A year or so after we went with Mum and Martin for a meal after they renewed their vows, and last year I went with Christingpher in a February hike from his Loxley gaffe, to find delicious olives as bar snacks and excellent dark Burton Bridge ale available.
This year I have returned to walking in Crookes, Rivelin Loxley and Bradfield and so have been may times to the pub, which has simultaneously offered excellent beers and hospitality whilst being a resolute feature in my ever changing social and family affairs.
To hear that it is finally to close due to lack of trade is a real blow. Any pub closure is bad news but such an interesting venue in such an eclectic location is a crying shame. On my visits this year I have seen a fantastic range of real ales including sometimes two dark from the range of 3, and this serves only to highlight the loss of this great building and pub business.
In order to try and come to terms with this disappointment, and to make use of the limited opportunities likely afforded to celebrate whats great about this pub, i am going on Thursday 14th July in the evening and hopefully Thursday 21st July in the day, to walk round, breathe in the atmosphere and take in the noble provenance of this hostelry before its too late.
Its not a protest, its not a resigned wake to mark a dreadful passing, not even a frustrated homily, just a good idea where people get to visit together, where otherwise their normal drinking patterns would mean they miss out on the opportunity to do so.
There are full details on my facebook page, which I am trying to make a link to - I am registered under Wee Beefy with full public access as far as I know.
So, in short, lets go to celebrate a history of public beer provision in the area of Loxley and Stannington which Mr Halliday all those years ago likened to Matlock, and raise a glass to all those who have drunk there before us.
Wee Beefy
Monday, 27 June 2011
Wee Beefy drinks in Dalriada
Evening all,
many weeks ago there wasn't such a thing as new-fangled humid 21degree nights and unbroken sunshine, because we had just stumbled into a meteorologically muddled June. This was the time that I chose to head off for 7 days in Scotland, the country of my birth, the bestower of my nickname, and provider of my most interesting antecedents.
Wee Fatha was to be driver, human guide book and gracious coverer of costs for some of the nights, since originally this was to be a mere 3 night escapade arranged as a present for me and Chala. We started our adventure at 08.00 on Saturday 4th June and set out for the long haul oop north.
Following the snake and some motorways with 6's in them, we headed through the lune valley gorge before stopping at Milnthorpe in that Lancashire for morning coffee. Alas too early for a licensed beverage, we nevertheless had an enjoyable break sat under a tree on the green admiring the church and the sunshine, which was ominously predicted to shrink away before we got to Carlisle - and so it did.
As soon as we entered the lake district the lights went off and the clouds blew in, but it wasn't dull, or indeed cold as we crossed the border, just average. Our first stop proper was Moffat and the Buccluech Hotel. The GBG could perhaps have been a bit more precise in its details but essentially the hotel has a tiny bar with no real ale, but next door is what looks like a separate business, the Coachmans bar.
Here there was the inescapable Deuchars, a shame since on past visits under independent ownership the quality far outshone the pale copy that abounds today; also on the bar was Inkie Pinky from Inveralmond Brewery. This was a pale refreshing beer with a nice malt and balance of bitterness which didn't last very long, but then neither did we. What with much to cram in, and despite an interesting chat with a gent at the bar, we all too soon had to leave for pastures new.
These were Larkhall, on the outskirts of Glasgow, perhaps not as fearsomely lawless as WF made out as he insisted we packed all but our coats into the boot, but nevertheless looking like it may well have seen better times, a considerable number of years ago.
The Village Tavern is on the National Inventory of historic pub interiors (N.I) and comprises two entrances and essentially two different drinking areas either side of the bar, with bench seating along each side, and loos at the end giving the interior a pleasing 1930's design symmetry (although the layout is older ). Much of the old seating area on the left is basic which suits the functional bar fittings, with, I am told, a separate area to the right which may have been a snug or off sales jug and bottle bar. Alas there is no real ale, but we did at least get some acceptable McEwans 60/-. Its an inescapable fact that real ale is probably even less prevalent in traditional pubs on the inventory, so where possible I try and get a 60/- or a "best" to lessen the impact of how grim my drink is. Further disappointment came in the form of the pub being so packed as to make getting a photo impossible, which is a shame.
Next we headed East for the former mining village of Shotts, which was perhaps a good day to visit since the whole place was buzzing with the highland games on up the road, and many people dressed in kilts and full traditional regalia, or put another way, dressed as Americans would assume everyone did in Scotland's urban industrial heartland.
We were uncertain if our intended stop would be open at all though, with WF having got no joy with the phone number provided or from directory enquiries, but having taken a wrong turn and had a drive around Shotts fairly glum environs, we arrived at the Old Wine Store on Shottskirk Road. That said, I only knew this because I recognised it from a picture, and because WF had advised there might no longer be a sign. There is not, just a board where it will one day go, the only written identification being a blue McEwans sign with Old Wine Store in small letters along the bottom.
Now seemingly only on the regional Scottish inventory, it is still obvious what the unique feature is here - its the magnificent bar gantry housing 4 huge old spirit casks that still dispense whisky. Round the far corner of the small bar, with high ceilings and a low partitioned seating area on the right, a couple of ancient handpumps suggest a real ale may have been available once, but its keg only unfortunately. So I had a pint of the Belhaven Best and WF a rather odd choice of McEwans Tartan, a beer from my past when I had no idea what I was drinking that sends shivers down my spine, usually based on how cold its served to mask its barely detectable one dimensional flavour.
The gantry, or at least the ends of the wooden bar back, looks to have a couple of A shapes on it, I wondered if these were part of the design, i.e just shapes/patterns, or were a nod to former ownership by Alloa or Aitkens brewery. There is also a famed miniature mirror round the back left of the bar which WF reckons to have spotted, but even given the friendliness of the staff and the locals, I dind't fancy jostling at the bar for no apparent reason and staring intently at people in line with the said mirror.
We said our farewells after getting a few pics, and headed off up the road to West Calder, and the imposing visage of the Railway Hotel, also on the N.I and complete with a small tower at the left hand end as you look straight at it. Still no real ale here, so Belhaven by default and tomato juice for WF.
The interior of this grand pub was the best thus far. Being busy with regulars watching the England match on a giant screen in the right hand bar, we sat in the quieter left, having walked all the way around the island bar from the entrance and along a slatted wooden walkway at the back. This is a handy feature, not least because the bar splits at the end to allow staff into a room directly behind it, perhaps previously a traditional Scottish managers room, now likely a kitchen.
The thin single bar fitting straddles the exact middle of the island bar and features ornate woodwork, and to the right of the far end of the bar is a corridor to a second room (given that the bar does not reach the ceiling there is no partition and thus essentially only one room), which also provides access to the loos, as well as a snooker room with dark wood panelling at the end. In the left hand bar where we sat is a small window at the end of the bar structure which reminded me of one at Bennetts in Edinburgh, and some nice coloured glass windows.
The lights are in a gas lamp style which adds to the authentic feel, and there is noticable grooved dark wood at the edge of every window, making the frame look as though its as thick as the walls. A decorative old fireplace topped by a Belhaven mirror on the left wall facing the bar completes the scene, in what makes for quite a narrow room.
Our next stop was not drink related but the likely now private Niddry castle - the OS map has the words restored in brackets, which often means its privately owned. There is still a brown sign to follow near the network of local cycleways and paths in the area but we only wandered up the track for a peak, and a pic. Our next stop was more closely related to Mary Queen of Scots, as she is supposed to have stayed at Niddry, that being Linlithgow.
This magnificent town boasts a Palace, which was alas shut, at the top of a steep road above a grand fronted edifice which is probably the council house, and the Linlithgow cross. We walked up to take a look at the Palace and St Michael's church, and then walked down to the loch which we walked round part of in conveniently arrived bright sunshine, admiring the bird life and looking back to the mount with the palace and church on.
We then headed into town and into the Four Marys on High Street. This is one of two GBG listed pubs in the town and halted our real ale drought in some style, with 7 or 8 handpumps dispensing almost exclusively Scottish ales including the Belhaven 4 Marys, which I had a half of, and Houston Peters Well (untried), Williams Bros Ceilidh, and a fantastic pint of the Fyne Ales Avalanche,which had been a highlight of the recent 3 Valleys festival.
We left to watch an impressive circular parade round the square and up and down the main street, which explained the plethora of cones along every pavement, and was likely part of the Linlithgow Festival of the Marches. We then headed out of the town and made good progress over the Forth bridge to our accommodation in Clackmannan outside Alloa. We only briefly checked in before driving out to nearby Sauchie for tea at the famous Mansfield Arms brewpub.
We knew they were serving food until late and we were nearing the end of a long day travelling so just wanted to turn up. eat, and drink some decent real ale, which the Mansfield Arms is perfectly geared up to let you do. The pub, more precisely their Devon Ales brewery, is one of a handful of long established breweries that that have filled the void left by giants like Alloa Ales and Maclays in the area, and is a real ale survivor.
As the market started taking off in a big way in England there was a valiant but unsuccessful surge North of the Border. Here, Bothwell, Alice, Strathalbyn and Devanha breweries (to name but a few) opened and closed during the late seventies and early eighties, suggesting, with the exception of stalwarts like Harviestoun, that real ale and microbreweries didn't suit the Scottish market. The Mansfield Arms however has been brewing since 1993 (1992 according to their website ) and have seemingly gone from strength to strength. The brewery now produces 4 real ales and a smooth/cold version to suit the tastes of the younger regulars.
Real ale is served under air pressure from fonts but its cask conditioned so this makes only a marginal difference to the flavour - I did try them on gravity at Wakefield Beer Festival about a million years ago and recall little difference in taste. With our enormous portions of food we tried a pint ( for me ) of the Devon original at £2.10, WF having a half, a pint of the Thick Black, and a half of the Pride, which may also be called 90/-. All the ales were in good nick and were the perfect accompaniment to our food.
Luckily we had left room for a further drink sort of on our way back to the B&B. We popped in (having spent 10 minutes finding it, even for a 3rd visit ) to the unique survival that is the Railway Tavern in Kincardine. All that suggests there is a pub is a small beermat sized plate above the door stating J Dobie licensee, and a smokers wall mounted ashtray next to the blue door. Inside there is a small room on the right which is usually unused, only opened as an emergency overspill, a corridor off which leads the ladies and the gents at the end, a door on the left to the bar room, and, confusingly, another door on the left to the bar, literally. Given that ther can't be more than 30 square foot behind the bar fittings included, its merciful that this door opens out....
In the bar room is a fireplace as you enter on the pubs left wall and a couple of stools at the bar. Immediately on your left in the window, is a large table which seats 8. And that's it. You may be able to get 6 standing 2 sat at the bar and the table full but that would be absolutely rammed. This seating arrangement makes best use of the minute available space, and has led the regulars to develop an innovative purchasing arrangement. This usually involves a designated orderer being sat at the bar and taking the money from and the products to those sat at the window end of the table.
We were in early enough ( anytime before 21.30 ) to get a seat at the table, with myself occupying the seat against the window, luckily I chose an early point at which to go to the toilet. I had a pint of the Tennents Light, which just to make things clear is a dark beer, and settled down to listen in on the topics of conversation of the evening, including leeks and potato growing, highland blizzards, and catching up on the daily lives of the locals.
All night the blokes who I remembered seeing in there on my first visit were all drinking virtually the same drink - a half a beer and a whisky, sometimes with a cheeky lemonade or ginger beer added. Perhaps this cuts down on disruptive trips to the gents when the bar gets busy. Time passed very quickly even though we were there over an hour, but we had to head off all too soon to get a well earned kip after our lengthy first day.
Next - Loch Leven castle, some Dundee N.I pubs, Dunottar Castle, Stonehaven and Banchory.
Wee Beefy
many weeks ago there wasn't such a thing as new-fangled humid 21degree nights and unbroken sunshine, because we had just stumbled into a meteorologically muddled June. This was the time that I chose to head off for 7 days in Scotland, the country of my birth, the bestower of my nickname, and provider of my most interesting antecedents.
Wee Fatha was to be driver, human guide book and gracious coverer of costs for some of the nights, since originally this was to be a mere 3 night escapade arranged as a present for me and Chala. We started our adventure at 08.00 on Saturday 4th June and set out for the long haul oop north.
Following the snake and some motorways with 6's in them, we headed through the lune valley gorge before stopping at Milnthorpe in that Lancashire for morning coffee. Alas too early for a licensed beverage, we nevertheless had an enjoyable break sat under a tree on the green admiring the church and the sunshine, which was ominously predicted to shrink away before we got to Carlisle - and so it did.
As soon as we entered the lake district the lights went off and the clouds blew in, but it wasn't dull, or indeed cold as we crossed the border, just average. Our first stop proper was Moffat and the Buccluech Hotel. The GBG could perhaps have been a bit more precise in its details but essentially the hotel has a tiny bar with no real ale, but next door is what looks like a separate business, the Coachmans bar.
Here there was the inescapable Deuchars, a shame since on past visits under independent ownership the quality far outshone the pale copy that abounds today; also on the bar was Inkie Pinky from Inveralmond Brewery. This was a pale refreshing beer with a nice malt and balance of bitterness which didn't last very long, but then neither did we. What with much to cram in, and despite an interesting chat with a gent at the bar, we all too soon had to leave for pastures new.
These were Larkhall, on the outskirts of Glasgow, perhaps not as fearsomely lawless as WF made out as he insisted we packed all but our coats into the boot, but nevertheless looking like it may well have seen better times, a considerable number of years ago.
The Village Tavern is on the National Inventory of historic pub interiors (N.I) and comprises two entrances and essentially two different drinking areas either side of the bar, with bench seating along each side, and loos at the end giving the interior a pleasing 1930's design symmetry (although the layout is older ). Much of the old seating area on the left is basic which suits the functional bar fittings, with, I am told, a separate area to the right which may have been a snug or off sales jug and bottle bar. Alas there is no real ale, but we did at least get some acceptable McEwans 60/-. Its an inescapable fact that real ale is probably even less prevalent in traditional pubs on the inventory, so where possible I try and get a 60/- or a "best" to lessen the impact of how grim my drink is. Further disappointment came in the form of the pub being so packed as to make getting a photo impossible, which is a shame.
Next we headed East for the former mining village of Shotts, which was perhaps a good day to visit since the whole place was buzzing with the highland games on up the road, and many people dressed in kilts and full traditional regalia, or put another way, dressed as Americans would assume everyone did in Scotland's urban industrial heartland.
We were uncertain if our intended stop would be open at all though, with WF having got no joy with the phone number provided or from directory enquiries, but having taken a wrong turn and had a drive around Shotts fairly glum environs, we arrived at the Old Wine Store on Shottskirk Road. That said, I only knew this because I recognised it from a picture, and because WF had advised there might no longer be a sign. There is not, just a board where it will one day go, the only written identification being a blue McEwans sign with Old Wine Store in small letters along the bottom.
Now seemingly only on the regional Scottish inventory, it is still obvious what the unique feature is here - its the magnificent bar gantry housing 4 huge old spirit casks that still dispense whisky. Round the far corner of the small bar, with high ceilings and a low partitioned seating area on the right, a couple of ancient handpumps suggest a real ale may have been available once, but its keg only unfortunately. So I had a pint of the Belhaven Best and WF a rather odd choice of McEwans Tartan, a beer from my past when I had no idea what I was drinking that sends shivers down my spine, usually based on how cold its served to mask its barely detectable one dimensional flavour.
The gantry, or at least the ends of the wooden bar back, looks to have a couple of A shapes on it, I wondered if these were part of the design, i.e just shapes/patterns, or were a nod to former ownership by Alloa or Aitkens brewery. There is also a famed miniature mirror round the back left of the bar which WF reckons to have spotted, but even given the friendliness of the staff and the locals, I dind't fancy jostling at the bar for no apparent reason and staring intently at people in line with the said mirror.
We said our farewells after getting a few pics, and headed off up the road to West Calder, and the imposing visage of the Railway Hotel, also on the N.I and complete with a small tower at the left hand end as you look straight at it. Still no real ale here, so Belhaven by default and tomato juice for WF.
The interior of this grand pub was the best thus far. Being busy with regulars watching the England match on a giant screen in the right hand bar, we sat in the quieter left, having walked all the way around the island bar from the entrance and along a slatted wooden walkway at the back. This is a handy feature, not least because the bar splits at the end to allow staff into a room directly behind it, perhaps previously a traditional Scottish managers room, now likely a kitchen.
The thin single bar fitting straddles the exact middle of the island bar and features ornate woodwork, and to the right of the far end of the bar is a corridor to a second room (given that the bar does not reach the ceiling there is no partition and thus essentially only one room), which also provides access to the loos, as well as a snooker room with dark wood panelling at the end. In the left hand bar where we sat is a small window at the end of the bar structure which reminded me of one at Bennetts in Edinburgh, and some nice coloured glass windows.
The lights are in a gas lamp style which adds to the authentic feel, and there is noticable grooved dark wood at the edge of every window, making the frame look as though its as thick as the walls. A decorative old fireplace topped by a Belhaven mirror on the left wall facing the bar completes the scene, in what makes for quite a narrow room.
Our next stop was not drink related but the likely now private Niddry castle - the OS map has the words restored in brackets, which often means its privately owned. There is still a brown sign to follow near the network of local cycleways and paths in the area but we only wandered up the track for a peak, and a pic. Our next stop was more closely related to Mary Queen of Scots, as she is supposed to have stayed at Niddry, that being Linlithgow.
This magnificent town boasts a Palace, which was alas shut, at the top of a steep road above a grand fronted edifice which is probably the council house, and the Linlithgow cross. We walked up to take a look at the Palace and St Michael's church, and then walked down to the loch which we walked round part of in conveniently arrived bright sunshine, admiring the bird life and looking back to the mount with the palace and church on.
We then headed into town and into the Four Marys on High Street. This is one of two GBG listed pubs in the town and halted our real ale drought in some style, with 7 or 8 handpumps dispensing almost exclusively Scottish ales including the Belhaven 4 Marys, which I had a half of, and Houston Peters Well (untried), Williams Bros Ceilidh, and a fantastic pint of the Fyne Ales Avalanche,which had been a highlight of the recent 3 Valleys festival.
We left to watch an impressive circular parade round the square and up and down the main street, which explained the plethora of cones along every pavement, and was likely part of the Linlithgow Festival of the Marches. We then headed out of the town and made good progress over the Forth bridge to our accommodation in Clackmannan outside Alloa. We only briefly checked in before driving out to nearby Sauchie for tea at the famous Mansfield Arms brewpub.
We knew they were serving food until late and we were nearing the end of a long day travelling so just wanted to turn up. eat, and drink some decent real ale, which the Mansfield Arms is perfectly geared up to let you do. The pub, more precisely their Devon Ales brewery, is one of a handful of long established breweries that that have filled the void left by giants like Alloa Ales and Maclays in the area, and is a real ale survivor.
As the market started taking off in a big way in England there was a valiant but unsuccessful surge North of the Border. Here, Bothwell, Alice, Strathalbyn and Devanha breweries (to name but a few) opened and closed during the late seventies and early eighties, suggesting, with the exception of stalwarts like Harviestoun, that real ale and microbreweries didn't suit the Scottish market. The Mansfield Arms however has been brewing since 1993 (1992 according to their website ) and have seemingly gone from strength to strength. The brewery now produces 4 real ales and a smooth/cold version to suit the tastes of the younger regulars.
Real ale is served under air pressure from fonts but its cask conditioned so this makes only a marginal difference to the flavour - I did try them on gravity at Wakefield Beer Festival about a million years ago and recall little difference in taste. With our enormous portions of food we tried a pint ( for me ) of the Devon original at £2.10, WF having a half, a pint of the Thick Black, and a half of the Pride, which may also be called 90/-. All the ales were in good nick and were the perfect accompaniment to our food.
Luckily we had left room for a further drink sort of on our way back to the B&B. We popped in (having spent 10 minutes finding it, even for a 3rd visit ) to the unique survival that is the Railway Tavern in Kincardine. All that suggests there is a pub is a small beermat sized plate above the door stating J Dobie licensee, and a smokers wall mounted ashtray next to the blue door. Inside there is a small room on the right which is usually unused, only opened as an emergency overspill, a corridor off which leads the ladies and the gents at the end, a door on the left to the bar room, and, confusingly, another door on the left to the bar, literally. Given that ther can't be more than 30 square foot behind the bar fittings included, its merciful that this door opens out....
In the bar room is a fireplace as you enter on the pubs left wall and a couple of stools at the bar. Immediately on your left in the window, is a large table which seats 8. And that's it. You may be able to get 6 standing 2 sat at the bar and the table full but that would be absolutely rammed. This seating arrangement makes best use of the minute available space, and has led the regulars to develop an innovative purchasing arrangement. This usually involves a designated orderer being sat at the bar and taking the money from and the products to those sat at the window end of the table.
We were in early enough ( anytime before 21.30 ) to get a seat at the table, with myself occupying the seat against the window, luckily I chose an early point at which to go to the toilet. I had a pint of the Tennents Light, which just to make things clear is a dark beer, and settled down to listen in on the topics of conversation of the evening, including leeks and potato growing, highland blizzards, and catching up on the daily lives of the locals.
All night the blokes who I remembered seeing in there on my first visit were all drinking virtually the same drink - a half a beer and a whisky, sometimes with a cheeky lemonade or ginger beer added. Perhaps this cuts down on disruptive trips to the gents when the bar gets busy. Time passed very quickly even though we were there over an hour, but we had to head off all too soon to get a well earned kip after our lengthy first day.
Next - Loch Leven castle, some Dundee N.I pubs, Dunottar Castle, Stonehaven and Banchory.
Wee Beefy
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Leeds and Huddersfield pubs, Magic Rock brewery launch, Cask Vs Keg - what to be scared of.
Hello surfing slakers
I have been back from my epic journey around old Alba (ironically Scotland may even have been called Albion, a word which always conjures up an image of England ) for nearly two weeks now, but have been too overwhelmed by the prospect of writing up my travels to have managed an entry since.
However, I have returned early yesterday morning from a trip round Leeds and to a brewery launch night, and this is what I will tell you about today.
Waaaarf was off on holiday with Thangor the Motherinlaw and I was instructed, sorry asked, to accompany the Shirley Valentines to the airport to rub in the fact I was staying at home, oh, and to see them off. This co-incidentally was the same date as a brewery launch in Huddersfield and formed the basis of a plan. Having waved them into the terminal from a torrential rainstorm at LBA, we headed off along Kirkstall Road and parked behind the Cardigan Arms, an entry on the National Inventory of unspoilt pub interiors.
The idea was that Davefromtshop would arrive in Leeds by coach at midday and then get a bus up to the pub for about 12.30. We arrived a little before him, getting some good photo's of the exterior before settling down in the public bar on the left.
There is a Tetley's draught poster in the tiled entrance proclaiming its price and alluding to its availability, alas it transpires real ale is only sold later in the week, as they have a delivery on a Wednesday. Had it been on, there would have been a choice between cask Tetley's from Marston's or somewhere, and Leeds Pale from Leeds, making the poster in the lobby doubly ironic.
Wee Fatha opted for a tomato juice and I closed my eyes and tried not to think of the trespass I was committing on my body by having a Tetley smooth or other horror, being as they'd also ran out of Guinness. After Dave joined us I asked if I could take some pictures of the interior, a question which usually elicits some puzzlement, but rarely the single word "why?". Sufficient explanations provided, I got my pass and set off round the large interior snapping away.
What I didn't know was that whilst I was in the smoke room taking some shots, the landlord/licensee asked Dave and WF if they were the police. Now, I don't know what you think, but having been asked that only by drunk customers before, one wonders what reason he thought the police would have taking photo's of the pub's interior ?
This aside, the interior is worth photographing, there is a wide drinking lobby as you enter with the smoke room on the right, and the door to the public bar on the left. Further forward is a small back room labelled Oak Room, a corridor out to the street on the left and the back of the very impressive 3 sided bar with a gantry running all along the top. Immediately left of the passage running next to the stairs is another room with the door closed - I wondered if this was still in use or whether it had been reclaimed for storage. There is excellent etched glass throughout and some impressive tiling. Dave tells me that they are renowned for gigs and other events being on upstairs so hopefully the pub's future can be assured. If visiting, perhaps make it Thursday to Sunday to be sure of real ale.
Next we headed towards Kirkstall Abbey over the canal and down Pollards Lane to the Abbey Inn at Newlay, next to both the railway line and, I assumed, the Leeds Liverpool canal. This free house serves about 8 guest beers and was maintaining an excellent range. WF had a half of the Leeds Pale and from an excellent selection of breweries there was really no question that me and Dave would go for the Kirkstall Brewery Black Band Porter, a sumptuous oaty bitter black beer, which was smooth drinking at 5.5%.
The original Kirkstall brewery buildings nearby are now flats, apparently the new ventures buildings back onto the canal so its a truly local beer for the pub. The landlord of the Abbey told me that the man behind the brewery was Dave Sanders, of Eastwood and Sanders and Elland and Barge and Barrel brewery fame. This explains why such a new brewery had managed to so quickly produce an excellent beer.
We couldn't stop for long as we had to get through Leeds to Hunslet and the ornate Garden Gate Inn, also on the N.I, and almost impossible to reach by car thanks to dreary and inscrutable blobs of new housing. After driving round in circles for 10 minutes we found a road taking us behind the shopping centre and even then could only espy the pub down a footpath, so parked nearby and walked.
The Garden Gate is an incredible site. Its ornate tiled frontage makes it stand out from the modern environs, but arguably even if it were flanked by other buildings of a similar age I reckon you'd still notice it.
Inside 2 doors lead off a main entrance, one straight ahead down a lavish etched glass hallway with a lounge off first right, a small room now used as a kitchen next right, and two further comfortably appointed rooms on the right and left after the bar counter. The left hand door leads to the large bar room which is the only room to have a bar front, an impressive tiled and ceramic half moon shape with an ornate single bar back.
On the bar are 5 handpumps, all from Leeds Brewery. On our visit, their Best, Pale, Midnight Bell and Quality Pays, were all available. The latter is a cheeky and yet brilliant reference to Carlsberg's outrageous decision to close a viable brewery and wipe out an admittedly maligned but nevertheless important brewing tradition in pursuit of a quick profit, leaving Leeds brewery as the only one in the city. The pump clip shows a huntsman's hat and a monocle but no face or body, perhaps a reference to faceless Carlsberg output, but pertinently avoiding copyright infringement, with the words " Tetley's have called time in Leeds " and the phrase "Join us!" in huntsman era red writing below.
WF had some of the darker midnight Bell whilst me and Dave both tried the Leeds best, a surprisingly creamy malty beer perhaps aping the better characteristics of the widely abused Tetley bitter, and one which was actually quite a meaty pint to drink down. We finished on halves of the quality pays which is 5.2% and only £2.50 a pint. This was a heady ale, similar to the Tetley subsidiary Walkers Wild Rover special that they used to roll out now and again to give tied house punters some respite from the same limited choice.
Having received a nod for a potential pub to visit from a bloke called John, the pub I think was the Dock Green on Harehills road, we soon had to leave as they shut at 15.00 during the week. WF went back to the car to drive home, and me and Dave went to catch a bus into Leeds to get the train to Huddersfield.
Whilst trying to find out where best to alight for the station we happened upon the Adelphi, another Inventory offering, and also a good view of the doomed Tetley's site, which will no doubt become "essential" high end housing for a minority of rich city workers or a themed retail park before you know it. The Adelphi is another of the Leeds Gin Palace style pubs, with fabulous etched glass windows throughout and rooms leading off an impressive central corridor. We went to inspect the bar offerings in the public bar on the left and opted for halves of Wayfarer, which was a very bitter pale beer which simply stated "brewed oop north " and half of the Hopdaemon Incubus, which came to a rather frightening £3.15 - I don't think either beer topped 4%...
We decamped to the smoke room on the second right of the corridor to eat our similarly eclectically priced snacks before I headed off for a tour and to try and take some pictures without flash, a task made much less easy by the effects of our early 5.5% beverage and the residual effects of my birthday barbecue a few days earlier.
From here we made our way to the station and the train got us into Huddersfield for 17.00. We went straight into the Head of Steam and had halves of Ossett Mild and Great Newsome Jem Stout, which came to £2.80. The Ossett was a bit fierce for a mild, having quite a lot of bitterness from the roast malt, whereas and the Jem stout was a smooth and drinkable bitter black ale that went down a little too well, given that we were saving ourselves for the brewery launch later. Here we also bumped into Dave Williams form that Camra and everything, who pointed us in the direction of the Sportsman for our pre launch entertainment.
Heading across St Georges square we walked left under the railway bridge and the Sportsman, a 19330's art deco designed pub, was on the street corner on the left. Inside is a fabulous sweeping semi circular bar and small austere wooden drinking booths, and a striking 1930's mirror on the wall. The bar has about 10 handpumps with a good choice of local beers, including the two we tried.
The lady behind the bar explained that the Sportsman Brewing Co was their own brewery, but that it was still being built at present and they were using kit at Golcar brewery in the meantime. This sent a shiver down our spines, as both me and Dave remembered Golcar bitter as being perhaps the dullest and most wearisome beer ever tasted. I don't want to go off on a tangent here but we went to the Golcar Lilly pub a few years ago and they had their bitter and Adnams Old on. It says something about your own pub's beer that the guest ale far outshone the Golcar bitter on all fronts.
Mercifully the Sportsman chaps appear to be the ones brewing so there is no worries of a repeat of the Golcar drudgery, and me and Dave both enjoyed our halves of Pigeon Bridge Porter and Alpha Ale. The porter was uncompromising with massive roast bitter flavours and the Alpha was similarly astringent but with a lot of enjoyable floral notes to balance it out. Definiteky requiring an M in its title to denote its authority.
From here we made our way up to the Grove inn for the brewery launch night. Inside is a two roomed ale mecca with at least 14 handpumps. and an impressive range of keg fonts for continental and UK micro brewery ales. Really its too popular for its size - it could easily have a third large room and still be packed out although I realise that a brewery launch night serves as an explanation for the numbers present.
Magic Rock the Boat
The range of keg beers at the Grove inn raises a few interesting questions about real ale and Camra and the consumption of beers other than cask. It seems, based on the fact that at their launch even brand new Magic Rock brewery appeared to have provided a keg beer, that its both viable and easy to produce both keg and cask ales, and that the desire to do this amongst UK microbreweries is increasing.
In the bad old days only regional brewers tinkered with the gaseous demons, and produced usually dreadful smooth or extra cold versions of their ales to suit dyed in the wool keg only customers across their estate. From the crop of micros currently doing this, I have only tasted the Bradfield offering, and that was nothing like the dread awful fizzy crap of the past, but it was palatable, and its genre seems to divide opinion and rankle Camra.
So here's the background.
Long of tooth and perhaps narrow in outlook, some stalwart Camra members are horrified by the idea of micro brewers keg beers. This is understandable for the more vintage campaigners - Camra was set up in the 1970's to stop the decline of real ale and to try and stem an almost inescapable tide of dreadful fizzy keg rubbish which had nothing to offer the refined palate other than boredom, pneumonia and dyspepsia. I am not a Camra member myself, but I used to be involved, and recall that almost anything that interfered with the determined campaign to secure the survival of real ale was treated with contempt.
In the 90's even traditional cider was seen as an irrelevant sideline to real ale, not helped by the Addlestones fake handpump hoo ha, as a result of which successive Sheffield Beer festival cider lists became more and more tedious and reliant on dross like Saxon which is made with apple-ade or something, and any deviation into perhaps giving a shit about traditional pubs, that god forbid, might be unique time warps but not sell real ale, was also of no interest to the campaign. So unwillingness to concentrate on anything but real ale is both understandable and historically prevalent in Camra.
Against that background, what are the pros and cons of micro brewed keg beer ?
Cons :
1. Brewers may stop brewing real ale.
This seems unlikely. So far I have seen keg offerings from Thornbridge ( actually I only head about this, not saw it!), Brew Dog, Gadds, Bradfield and Magic Rock. I have also heard that Dark Star and Marble have or are to produce keg. I think 5 or 7 out of probably 800 does not represent a threat, especially when, with a question mark over Brew Dog, all these brewers produce a range of excellent real ales and some have won awards for them.
2. It diverts attention from real ale.
Does it ? Everyone knows the difference between the two, and for that reason the two styles should and do promise different things to the customer. Everyone has a favourite style or choice of dispense and everyone knows what they want and expect from a beer. So its surprising then that the idea of kegs at festivals is such a non starter. As a case in point, Camra don't want keg at a real ale festival, and that makes sense, its not real ale after all, but at the recent Grampian festival local brewer Brew Dog wanted to provide only their new keg offerings, not the cask version.
I understand why the Grampian folks turned them down, but playing devils advocate here, what have they to be scared of ? Assuming, as is the central plank of the campaign, that real ale holds its own and outshines the flavour and aroma of keg, surely a keg alternative at a festival would only serve to show drinkers that real ale is best ? Unless of course, it isn't? I know that its best, you know its best, but what if it can't stand up to a keg equivalent, in the eyes of an undecided customer ? Perhaps in that case, consumers will have a hand in steering the UK real ale market towards a more flexible mixed format business plan, with equal emphasis on keg, bottled and cask....
3.Its not real ale. I only drink real ale.
Well, this should be a forceful basic argument - there is after all no arguing with that. The thing is however, all of us, to some degree, probably drink non real ale at some point already. I've never spoken to a beer lover who doesn't have a default choice in case of a lack of real ale such as at parties, or in restaurants or when abroad. Obviously we all want real ale all the time but that's not realistic, so rather like your second third and fourth favourite football teams whose results you rely on when your team plays crap, most people really do have other options, and use them.
Take a continental beer like Franziskaner wheat. You are in a pub selling two real ales and a large number of overseas bottled and draught beers including wheat beers, alt biers, lagers and fruit beers. Its 90 degrees and the beer is warm and of unpromising choice so you opt for a cold refreshing wheat beer. And why not ? Slake your thirst with a cold one and then enjoy the flavours in the cask.
Or maybe you are in a restaurant (or come to think of it, any bar overseas) and don't want to pay out for wine or pissy cold Heineken. You find that in amongst the usual selection of Becks and Carlsberg bottles they have an Alhambra Reserve 5.9% lager, or a Peroni Gran Reserva, bursting with malt flavours and subtle bitterness. This is likely a good choice as opposed to having a soft drink, and you are drinking the best of whats available.
And how many times have we seen, amongst the range of beers in a supermarket (which undoubtedly means only one BCA if you are lucky ) a tempting and impressive Brew Dog offering ? You know it will be bursting with uncompromising flavours and deliver what it says on the label ( except Punk IPA, as previously mentioned ) so who wouldn't try that ? The answer is, we probably all would, just like in the days when real ale was scarce, and Camra members relied upon bottle conditioned Guinness Original or unfiltered Pilsner Urquell. And that's before we even start to think about bottle conditioned beers at home. Basically, we all drink real ale alternatives, and it doesn't have to ruin our taste buds, or diminish our dedication to real ale...
So now the pros.
No need for a list here, as the plus points really all mushroom from the same central idea, that is that the diversity of the changing drinks market is and has to be reflected in the brewers determination to diversify their product.
In reality, brew Dog are in some ways a cataclysm for the above. They brew fantastic bottled beers and very little, and recently no, real ale. Their reputation stretches globally and they have opened a number of keg only outlets, which of course could no doubt serve real ale if they wanted. This has been the case in many of the UK's swanky brew restaurants for years - brew 4 keg beers in continental and classic British ale styles, and have one cask for those who prefer. Beers and breweries like this demonstrate that none cask beer has plenty to offer in terms of flavour and style and crucially, availability. It works well at showing cask fearful types that beer from UK micro breweries can hold its own in terms of new and exciting flavours and isn't a flat cap mild and basic bitter only industry.
So, my advice to beer drinkers, Camra or not, is this. You don't have to buy it. If there is a selection of real ales I will always have them, as that's my favourite drink, full stop. But if I have room for one, I will compliment my choice of real ale with a Kuppers Kolsch or a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, or a bottle of Poperings Hommelbier.
Its inescapable that If micro brewers don't see a future in real ale, that's up to them. Its a crying shame, but you can't force them to produce real ale, especially if people want to buy keg. If excellent tasting keg micro brewed ale gets into places that can't sell real ale then that's a start. Not everywhere can sell real ale, and not everyone likes it, that's a fact. Look at the reach of Brew Dog based on their bottled ales - how else will they fly the flag for British beer overseas, by sending out casks round the world by air freight ? I say let a small number of keg micro brewery ales make their way into an already overloaded drinks market, let people make up their own minds, and carry on drinking the best long drink in the world, real ale.
So, back to the launch night, and the brevity of the rest of the article is reflective of the strange and over in seconds nature of the launch. At 19.00 someone blew a whistle or perhaps a horn, and announced that the beer was on sale. That was it!
Me and Dave had started with pints of Marble Summer at 4.5% which was £2.80 a pint. It was as bitter as you'd expect from Marble but not sufficiently refreshing to be a summer beer. Next, with the beers on sale from Magic Rock, and having let the scrum peter out, we both had pints of their Curious - a refreshing 3.9% session bitter with a lot of light floral flavours and plenty of bitterness.
Dave headed off soon after to get some food - I tried my best to fill up on Pipers crisps and some eclectically priced jerky, but Dave could hold on no longer and headed into town. He did miss the buffet in doing so, but it was devoured in almost no time, although I really enjoyed my beer tapas of black pudding, kabanos, and flat bread. During my solo stint I also tried halves of Oxfordshire Ales Marshmellow, which couldn't make up its mind if it was vanilla or marzipan beer and was deeply weird all round, and a very enjoyable half of the Magic Rock High wire IPA at 5.5%.
Dave soon returned, having fed himself, and had a pint of the Magic Rock Rapture, described on their website as a red hop ale, which may explain why it reminded me of a bitter a mild and Mythos red ale ! This was a very easy drinking pint and Dave had another whilst I embarked on a rather reckless pint of Brew Dog Alice Porter ( on cask and everything ) at 6.2% which was £3.30 a pint.
Plenty of familiar faces abounded at the pub, whether amassing at the bar or stood outside trying to cool off - when Dave returned from town he noted there was a wall of warm air as you entered the pub. Amongst friends we saw were John Clarke who is involved in the Heritage pubs inventory assessments, Dave Williams as per earlier, and Rich from Blue Bee who was trying and failing to do business with Dave based on his somewhat optimistic pricing policy.
As the time came near for Wee Fatha to pick us up ( he very kindly offered, and was recompensed for his efforts ) we both had a final pint of Rapture. Wee Fatha was bought a half of Curious for his efforts on arrival, before me and Dave opted for a final half of the Dark Star Original Mild Ale, at 6%. This proved an unwise decision, as it was a thick vinous concoction that I couldn't help thinking they had got wrong. The huge slab of creamy chocolate malt flavours drowned out any balancing bitterness and the whole thing was heavy chewy and incredibly filling and we really had to labour to finish it. Nothing to do with all the beer we'd had previously of course.....
Wee Fatha soon magicked us home for just past midnight I think and I set about making an odd and poorly produced concoction of foods before I went to bed for a very long time. Overall the day was a brilliant snapshot of Yorkshire heritage pubs and a great opportunity to sample some of the best real ale - and keg if you should like to - that the UK has to offer.
More soon on my epic Scotland trip, as soon as I can get my brain in gear.
Wee Beefy
I have been back from my epic journey around old Alba (ironically Scotland may even have been called Albion, a word which always conjures up an image of England ) for nearly two weeks now, but have been too overwhelmed by the prospect of writing up my travels to have managed an entry since.
However, I have returned early yesterday morning from a trip round Leeds and to a brewery launch night, and this is what I will tell you about today.
Waaaarf was off on holiday with Thangor the Motherinlaw and I was instructed, sorry asked, to accompany the Shirley Valentines to the airport to rub in the fact I was staying at home, oh, and to see them off. This co-incidentally was the same date as a brewery launch in Huddersfield and formed the basis of a plan. Having waved them into the terminal from a torrential rainstorm at LBA, we headed off along Kirkstall Road and parked behind the Cardigan Arms, an entry on the National Inventory of unspoilt pub interiors.
The idea was that Davefromtshop would arrive in Leeds by coach at midday and then get a bus up to the pub for about 12.30. We arrived a little before him, getting some good photo's of the exterior before settling down in the public bar on the left.
There is a Tetley's draught poster in the tiled entrance proclaiming its price and alluding to its availability, alas it transpires real ale is only sold later in the week, as they have a delivery on a Wednesday. Had it been on, there would have been a choice between cask Tetley's from Marston's or somewhere, and Leeds Pale from Leeds, making the poster in the lobby doubly ironic.
Wee Fatha opted for a tomato juice and I closed my eyes and tried not to think of the trespass I was committing on my body by having a Tetley smooth or other horror, being as they'd also ran out of Guinness. After Dave joined us I asked if I could take some pictures of the interior, a question which usually elicits some puzzlement, but rarely the single word "why?". Sufficient explanations provided, I got my pass and set off round the large interior snapping away.
What I didn't know was that whilst I was in the smoke room taking some shots, the landlord/licensee asked Dave and WF if they were the police. Now, I don't know what you think, but having been asked that only by drunk customers before, one wonders what reason he thought the police would have taking photo's of the pub's interior ?
This aside, the interior is worth photographing, there is a wide drinking lobby as you enter with the smoke room on the right, and the door to the public bar on the left. Further forward is a small back room labelled Oak Room, a corridor out to the street on the left and the back of the very impressive 3 sided bar with a gantry running all along the top. Immediately left of the passage running next to the stairs is another room with the door closed - I wondered if this was still in use or whether it had been reclaimed for storage. There is excellent etched glass throughout and some impressive tiling. Dave tells me that they are renowned for gigs and other events being on upstairs so hopefully the pub's future can be assured. If visiting, perhaps make it Thursday to Sunday to be sure of real ale.
Next we headed towards Kirkstall Abbey over the canal and down Pollards Lane to the Abbey Inn at Newlay, next to both the railway line and, I assumed, the Leeds Liverpool canal. This free house serves about 8 guest beers and was maintaining an excellent range. WF had a half of the Leeds Pale and from an excellent selection of breweries there was really no question that me and Dave would go for the Kirkstall Brewery Black Band Porter, a sumptuous oaty bitter black beer, which was smooth drinking at 5.5%.
The original Kirkstall brewery buildings nearby are now flats, apparently the new ventures buildings back onto the canal so its a truly local beer for the pub. The landlord of the Abbey told me that the man behind the brewery was Dave Sanders, of Eastwood and Sanders and Elland and Barge and Barrel brewery fame. This explains why such a new brewery had managed to so quickly produce an excellent beer.
We couldn't stop for long as we had to get through Leeds to Hunslet and the ornate Garden Gate Inn, also on the N.I, and almost impossible to reach by car thanks to dreary and inscrutable blobs of new housing. After driving round in circles for 10 minutes we found a road taking us behind the shopping centre and even then could only espy the pub down a footpath, so parked nearby and walked.
The Garden Gate is an incredible site. Its ornate tiled frontage makes it stand out from the modern environs, but arguably even if it were flanked by other buildings of a similar age I reckon you'd still notice it.
Inside 2 doors lead off a main entrance, one straight ahead down a lavish etched glass hallway with a lounge off first right, a small room now used as a kitchen next right, and two further comfortably appointed rooms on the right and left after the bar counter. The left hand door leads to the large bar room which is the only room to have a bar front, an impressive tiled and ceramic half moon shape with an ornate single bar back.
On the bar are 5 handpumps, all from Leeds Brewery. On our visit, their Best, Pale, Midnight Bell and Quality Pays, were all available. The latter is a cheeky and yet brilliant reference to Carlsberg's outrageous decision to close a viable brewery and wipe out an admittedly maligned but nevertheless important brewing tradition in pursuit of a quick profit, leaving Leeds brewery as the only one in the city. The pump clip shows a huntsman's hat and a monocle but no face or body, perhaps a reference to faceless Carlsberg output, but pertinently avoiding copyright infringement, with the words " Tetley's have called time in Leeds " and the phrase "Join us!" in huntsman era red writing below.
WF had some of the darker midnight Bell whilst me and Dave both tried the Leeds best, a surprisingly creamy malty beer perhaps aping the better characteristics of the widely abused Tetley bitter, and one which was actually quite a meaty pint to drink down. We finished on halves of the quality pays which is 5.2% and only £2.50 a pint. This was a heady ale, similar to the Tetley subsidiary Walkers Wild Rover special that they used to roll out now and again to give tied house punters some respite from the same limited choice.
Having received a nod for a potential pub to visit from a bloke called John, the pub I think was the Dock Green on Harehills road, we soon had to leave as they shut at 15.00 during the week. WF went back to the car to drive home, and me and Dave went to catch a bus into Leeds to get the train to Huddersfield.
Whilst trying to find out where best to alight for the station we happened upon the Adelphi, another Inventory offering, and also a good view of the doomed Tetley's site, which will no doubt become "essential" high end housing for a minority of rich city workers or a themed retail park before you know it. The Adelphi is another of the Leeds Gin Palace style pubs, with fabulous etched glass windows throughout and rooms leading off an impressive central corridor. We went to inspect the bar offerings in the public bar on the left and opted for halves of Wayfarer, which was a very bitter pale beer which simply stated "brewed oop north " and half of the Hopdaemon Incubus, which came to a rather frightening £3.15 - I don't think either beer topped 4%...
We decamped to the smoke room on the second right of the corridor to eat our similarly eclectically priced snacks before I headed off for a tour and to try and take some pictures without flash, a task made much less easy by the effects of our early 5.5% beverage and the residual effects of my birthday barbecue a few days earlier.
From here we made our way to the station and the train got us into Huddersfield for 17.00. We went straight into the Head of Steam and had halves of Ossett Mild and Great Newsome Jem Stout, which came to £2.80. The Ossett was a bit fierce for a mild, having quite a lot of bitterness from the roast malt, whereas and the Jem stout was a smooth and drinkable bitter black ale that went down a little too well, given that we were saving ourselves for the brewery launch later. Here we also bumped into Dave Williams form that Camra and everything, who pointed us in the direction of the Sportsman for our pre launch entertainment.
Heading across St Georges square we walked left under the railway bridge and the Sportsman, a 19330's art deco designed pub, was on the street corner on the left. Inside is a fabulous sweeping semi circular bar and small austere wooden drinking booths, and a striking 1930's mirror on the wall. The bar has about 10 handpumps with a good choice of local beers, including the two we tried.
The lady behind the bar explained that the Sportsman Brewing Co was their own brewery, but that it was still being built at present and they were using kit at Golcar brewery in the meantime. This sent a shiver down our spines, as both me and Dave remembered Golcar bitter as being perhaps the dullest and most wearisome beer ever tasted. I don't want to go off on a tangent here but we went to the Golcar Lilly pub a few years ago and they had their bitter and Adnams Old on. It says something about your own pub's beer that the guest ale far outshone the Golcar bitter on all fronts.
Mercifully the Sportsman chaps appear to be the ones brewing so there is no worries of a repeat of the Golcar drudgery, and me and Dave both enjoyed our halves of Pigeon Bridge Porter and Alpha Ale. The porter was uncompromising with massive roast bitter flavours and the Alpha was similarly astringent but with a lot of enjoyable floral notes to balance it out. Definiteky requiring an M in its title to denote its authority.
From here we made our way up to the Grove inn for the brewery launch night. Inside is a two roomed ale mecca with at least 14 handpumps. and an impressive range of keg fonts for continental and UK micro brewery ales. Really its too popular for its size - it could easily have a third large room and still be packed out although I realise that a brewery launch night serves as an explanation for the numbers present.
Magic Rock the Boat
The range of keg beers at the Grove inn raises a few interesting questions about real ale and Camra and the consumption of beers other than cask. It seems, based on the fact that at their launch even brand new Magic Rock brewery appeared to have provided a keg beer, that its both viable and easy to produce both keg and cask ales, and that the desire to do this amongst UK microbreweries is increasing.
In the bad old days only regional brewers tinkered with the gaseous demons, and produced usually dreadful smooth or extra cold versions of their ales to suit dyed in the wool keg only customers across their estate. From the crop of micros currently doing this, I have only tasted the Bradfield offering, and that was nothing like the dread awful fizzy crap of the past, but it was palatable, and its genre seems to divide opinion and rankle Camra.
So here's the background.
Long of tooth and perhaps narrow in outlook, some stalwart Camra members are horrified by the idea of micro brewers keg beers. This is understandable for the more vintage campaigners - Camra was set up in the 1970's to stop the decline of real ale and to try and stem an almost inescapable tide of dreadful fizzy keg rubbish which had nothing to offer the refined palate other than boredom, pneumonia and dyspepsia. I am not a Camra member myself, but I used to be involved, and recall that almost anything that interfered with the determined campaign to secure the survival of real ale was treated with contempt.
In the 90's even traditional cider was seen as an irrelevant sideline to real ale, not helped by the Addlestones fake handpump hoo ha, as a result of which successive Sheffield Beer festival cider lists became more and more tedious and reliant on dross like Saxon which is made with apple-ade or something, and any deviation into perhaps giving a shit about traditional pubs, that god forbid, might be unique time warps but not sell real ale, was also of no interest to the campaign. So unwillingness to concentrate on anything but real ale is both understandable and historically prevalent in Camra.
Against that background, what are the pros and cons of micro brewed keg beer ?
Cons :
1. Brewers may stop brewing real ale.
This seems unlikely. So far I have seen keg offerings from Thornbridge ( actually I only head about this, not saw it!), Brew Dog, Gadds, Bradfield and Magic Rock. I have also heard that Dark Star and Marble have or are to produce keg. I think 5 or 7 out of probably 800 does not represent a threat, especially when, with a question mark over Brew Dog, all these brewers produce a range of excellent real ales and some have won awards for them.
2. It diverts attention from real ale.
Does it ? Everyone knows the difference between the two, and for that reason the two styles should and do promise different things to the customer. Everyone has a favourite style or choice of dispense and everyone knows what they want and expect from a beer. So its surprising then that the idea of kegs at festivals is such a non starter. As a case in point, Camra don't want keg at a real ale festival, and that makes sense, its not real ale after all, but at the recent Grampian festival local brewer Brew Dog wanted to provide only their new keg offerings, not the cask version.
I understand why the Grampian folks turned them down, but playing devils advocate here, what have they to be scared of ? Assuming, as is the central plank of the campaign, that real ale holds its own and outshines the flavour and aroma of keg, surely a keg alternative at a festival would only serve to show drinkers that real ale is best ? Unless of course, it isn't? I know that its best, you know its best, but what if it can't stand up to a keg equivalent, in the eyes of an undecided customer ? Perhaps in that case, consumers will have a hand in steering the UK real ale market towards a more flexible mixed format business plan, with equal emphasis on keg, bottled and cask....
3.Its not real ale. I only drink real ale.
Well, this should be a forceful basic argument - there is after all no arguing with that. The thing is however, all of us, to some degree, probably drink non real ale at some point already. I've never spoken to a beer lover who doesn't have a default choice in case of a lack of real ale such as at parties, or in restaurants or when abroad. Obviously we all want real ale all the time but that's not realistic, so rather like your second third and fourth favourite football teams whose results you rely on when your team plays crap, most people really do have other options, and use them.
Take a continental beer like Franziskaner wheat. You are in a pub selling two real ales and a large number of overseas bottled and draught beers including wheat beers, alt biers, lagers and fruit beers. Its 90 degrees and the beer is warm and of unpromising choice so you opt for a cold refreshing wheat beer. And why not ? Slake your thirst with a cold one and then enjoy the flavours in the cask.
Or maybe you are in a restaurant (or come to think of it, any bar overseas) and don't want to pay out for wine or pissy cold Heineken. You find that in amongst the usual selection of Becks and Carlsberg bottles they have an Alhambra Reserve 5.9% lager, or a Peroni Gran Reserva, bursting with malt flavours and subtle bitterness. This is likely a good choice as opposed to having a soft drink, and you are drinking the best of whats available.
And how many times have we seen, amongst the range of beers in a supermarket (which undoubtedly means only one BCA if you are lucky ) a tempting and impressive Brew Dog offering ? You know it will be bursting with uncompromising flavours and deliver what it says on the label ( except Punk IPA, as previously mentioned ) so who wouldn't try that ? The answer is, we probably all would, just like in the days when real ale was scarce, and Camra members relied upon bottle conditioned Guinness Original or unfiltered Pilsner Urquell. And that's before we even start to think about bottle conditioned beers at home. Basically, we all drink real ale alternatives, and it doesn't have to ruin our taste buds, or diminish our dedication to real ale...
So now the pros.
No need for a list here, as the plus points really all mushroom from the same central idea, that is that the diversity of the changing drinks market is and has to be reflected in the brewers determination to diversify their product.
In reality, brew Dog are in some ways a cataclysm for the above. They brew fantastic bottled beers and very little, and recently no, real ale. Their reputation stretches globally and they have opened a number of keg only outlets, which of course could no doubt serve real ale if they wanted. This has been the case in many of the UK's swanky brew restaurants for years - brew 4 keg beers in continental and classic British ale styles, and have one cask for those who prefer. Beers and breweries like this demonstrate that none cask beer has plenty to offer in terms of flavour and style and crucially, availability. It works well at showing cask fearful types that beer from UK micro breweries can hold its own in terms of new and exciting flavours and isn't a flat cap mild and basic bitter only industry.
So, my advice to beer drinkers, Camra or not, is this. You don't have to buy it. If there is a selection of real ales I will always have them, as that's my favourite drink, full stop. But if I have room for one, I will compliment my choice of real ale with a Kuppers Kolsch or a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, or a bottle of Poperings Hommelbier.
Its inescapable that If micro brewers don't see a future in real ale, that's up to them. Its a crying shame, but you can't force them to produce real ale, especially if people want to buy keg. If excellent tasting keg micro brewed ale gets into places that can't sell real ale then that's a start. Not everywhere can sell real ale, and not everyone likes it, that's a fact. Look at the reach of Brew Dog based on their bottled ales - how else will they fly the flag for British beer overseas, by sending out casks round the world by air freight ? I say let a small number of keg micro brewery ales make their way into an already overloaded drinks market, let people make up their own minds, and carry on drinking the best long drink in the world, real ale.
So, back to the launch night, and the brevity of the rest of the article is reflective of the strange and over in seconds nature of the launch. At 19.00 someone blew a whistle or perhaps a horn, and announced that the beer was on sale. That was it!
Me and Dave had started with pints of Marble Summer at 4.5% which was £2.80 a pint. It was as bitter as you'd expect from Marble but not sufficiently refreshing to be a summer beer. Next, with the beers on sale from Magic Rock, and having let the scrum peter out, we both had pints of their Curious - a refreshing 3.9% session bitter with a lot of light floral flavours and plenty of bitterness.
Dave headed off soon after to get some food - I tried my best to fill up on Pipers crisps and some eclectically priced jerky, but Dave could hold on no longer and headed into town. He did miss the buffet in doing so, but it was devoured in almost no time, although I really enjoyed my beer tapas of black pudding, kabanos, and flat bread. During my solo stint I also tried halves of Oxfordshire Ales Marshmellow, which couldn't make up its mind if it was vanilla or marzipan beer and was deeply weird all round, and a very enjoyable half of the Magic Rock High wire IPA at 5.5%.
Dave soon returned, having fed himself, and had a pint of the Magic Rock Rapture, described on their website as a red hop ale, which may explain why it reminded me of a bitter a mild and Mythos red ale ! This was a very easy drinking pint and Dave had another whilst I embarked on a rather reckless pint of Brew Dog Alice Porter ( on cask and everything ) at 6.2% which was £3.30 a pint.
Plenty of familiar faces abounded at the pub, whether amassing at the bar or stood outside trying to cool off - when Dave returned from town he noted there was a wall of warm air as you entered the pub. Amongst friends we saw were John Clarke who is involved in the Heritage pubs inventory assessments, Dave Williams as per earlier, and Rich from Blue Bee who was trying and failing to do business with Dave based on his somewhat optimistic pricing policy.
As the time came near for Wee Fatha to pick us up ( he very kindly offered, and was recompensed for his efforts ) we both had a final pint of Rapture. Wee Fatha was bought a half of Curious for his efforts on arrival, before me and Dave opted for a final half of the Dark Star Original Mild Ale, at 6%. This proved an unwise decision, as it was a thick vinous concoction that I couldn't help thinking they had got wrong. The huge slab of creamy chocolate malt flavours drowned out any balancing bitterness and the whole thing was heavy chewy and incredibly filling and we really had to labour to finish it. Nothing to do with all the beer we'd had previously of course.....
Wee Fatha soon magicked us home for just past midnight I think and I set about making an odd and poorly produced concoction of foods before I went to bed for a very long time. Overall the day was a brilliant snapshot of Yorkshire heritage pubs and a great opportunity to sample some of the best real ale - and keg if you should like to - that the UK has to offer.
More soon on my epic Scotland trip, as soon as I can get my brain in gear.
Wee Beefy
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