tonight I have a few details of some pubs I have found myself frequenting of late.
Harrisons 1854
A little less real ale than usual on offer but Harribob had managed to create another outstanding pint of Abbeydale Deception in the 1854. This poured a trifle cloudy, but mainly due to carbonation and slight coldness, but slowly cleared to reveal a lustrous pale gold body, and on tasting, a meritable hoppy bite and slight malt balance. If you are on West Street, get to the 1854 for some of Sheffield's best Deception I suggest!
Dada Trippet Lane.
All thoughts of rating beer here were of course lost when I realised the impeccable Pollard's milk coffee stout was on draught again. Having contrived to miss the Fyne stout and their Black IPA I was hoping for a distinctive taster to tide me over. Disappointingly all the beers on offer were Thornbridge, but that said the range was faultless - Black Harry, new lavender and marmite IPA Puja, Sequoia and as above my absolute favourite Pollards.
I had to sample a pint before I started on a half of the 6.7% Puja Jasmine IPA brewed in conjunction with Dark Star. This had all the hops I wanted but also some thankful balance and a velvety smooth texture making the harsher notes a little easier to ignore. The taste was. well, Jasmine, but am sating that only because it says it on the label. If am to be honest, am unsure what Jasmine tastes like. Instead it had a weird perfumed lavender taste, which was partly but not entirely obscured by the hops, which was perhaps for the best - a single jasmine shot giving way to an excellent hoppy pale ale would have been the best design I think. Still an enjoyable beer though.
Dog and Partridge - Rallying call!
I called in the D&P on the random off chance that some real ale might be on, and to take the opportunity to talk to the man steering this ailing ship. As it turned out a cask of Tetley's was ready, if a little fresh off the waggon, but perhaps due to having been caskless on my last 4 occasions I was offered my half at a severely discounted price.
Paul who is running the pub actually does so on behalf of a holding company. So really, he doesn't work for |Punch at all. He struggles on with an absurd surfeit of stock and limited availability of cask to keep the business afloat. I have noted, and reported recently, that his efforts appear to be failing but it seems he is aware of the burden of responsibility, and the fact he manages to keep the joint trading at all given Punch's disinterest in the venue means he's probably doing as well as he can.
I say you should at least try and find space in your Trippet lane drinking for a pint if you are in the area. There are no guarantees that doing so would save this venerable old institution but its got to be worth the chance to spend time in the many authentic and once characterful rooms before its too late. Good luck to Paul in his attempts to keep this pub afloat.
Three cranes
My last brief stop for a half was the Cranes. Things seemed different and the beer range seemed a little Lancastrian in its slant what with two Robinson's beers on, Double Hop and Robinson's (Hartleys) Cumbria way. I opted for a half of the Moonshine and wondered where regular barkeeps Luke and Rich were. I realise they could have been having a day off but something seemed different and I get a niggly feeling the difference may not be good. I hope I am proved wrong!
All in all I tried a great range of beers, crucially many local, and all in excellent condition, especially the Pollards in Dada and Deception in Harrisons 1854.
More updates soon.
Wee Beefy
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