In Tamworth tonight with RG. We decided to meet up and eat at the Bolebridge ahead of moving onto see the pre-season game between Bolehall Swifts and Tamworth (quite a dire affair to be honest and I can't call it a friendly after one tackle / red card.)
I decided to continue sampling the ciders available as part of the cider festival and so had...
Thatcher's Traditional
Sandford Orchards Devon Scumpy (note to self this goes well with hot curries!)
After the dire affair as above we returned to the Bolebridge where I had Green Valley Cyder's Strawby Cyder.
We finsihed the evening with a sahed bottle of Tyskie.
Thursday, 18 August 2011
18th July - Birmingham
A day-long meeting at UCB presents an oppotunity to try some Good Beer Listed pubs that I've not visited before. UCB is in Summer Row in birmingham virtually next door to the Shakespeare. I went for Rudgate Ruby Mild.
Next closest venue I had noted was the Prince of Wales in Cambridge st which I soon found. A proper old pub (some might call it down to earth or rough and ready but I quite liked it with its plenty of momentos of days gone by. A rare chance to sample Ansell's Mild from a hand pull did not dissappoint.
Heading back towards New Street I passed and so popped into the Wetherspoons by the Library. They had a guest cider from their forthcoming cider festival list and so an early chance to sample Westons Cider Raspberry Twist (bliss!)
Next closest venue I had noted was the Prince of Wales in Cambridge st which I soon found. A proper old pub (some might call it down to earth or rough and ready but I quite liked it with its plenty of momentos of days gone by. A rare chance to sample Ansell's Mild from a hand pull did not dissappoint.
Heading back towards New Street I passed and so popped into the Wetherspoons by the Library. They had a guest cider from their forthcoming cider festival list and so an early chance to sample Westons Cider Raspberry Twist (bliss!)
15th July - Derby - 2 Pub Fests
On my previous visit to derby I noticed there were a couple of pub festivals on this weekend and so with not much else planned for the last week day of my week off, decided to pop along. The wo pubs in question are The Old Silk Mill and Ye Olde Dolphin.
We arrived at the OSM and manged to find a vacent table. 24 beers were listed, and the vast mjority still available, from which Isampled:
We arrived at the OSM and manged to find a vacent table. 24 beers were listed, and the vast mjority still available, from which Isampled:
- Rudgate Niflheim IPA
- Skinners Ginger Tosser
- Strathhaven Clydesdale IPA
- Hopping Mad Fruit Case
- Wolf Wolf Ale
- Elland 1872 Porter
- Coastal Merry Maiden
- Saltaire Raspberry Blonde
- Buffys Norwegian Blue
- Hornbeam Summer IPA
- Hammerpot HPA
13th July - Penkridge
Visiting the market today and so after lunch popped into the Horse and Jockey for Banks's Mild
11th July 2011 - Gloucester
"Hmm, where to go for a birthday drink? Somewhere not too far, easy to get to / from by train preferably without the need to change, somewhere not been to before (or at least for a good while) and above all with a good choice of real ale pubs plus other things that would make a worthwhile day out."
Plenty of places came to mind but in the end, Gloucester was selected.
Our train arrived on time and after struggling to get off thanks to the shopper in front of us with the most awkward set of bags you could imagine, we exited the station, checked the map and headed for the town centre. (An early) lunch was the first requirement and we spied a small cafe after which we headed over to the Docks area and spent a good hour or so soaking in the sun and the industrial architecture paying especial interest to the various boats either moored up or working along the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. In common with similar areas such as Liverpool this area would no doubt have been less touristy but the recent conversions on the warehouses to apartments and antique centres, etc have made it quite a pleasant place to spend some time. There is still evidence of the tracks of the horse drawn railway in homage to its past (you can see the rails by the crane in the upper right photo. We sat on benches, ventured a bit further (the gardens if that's what you can call them are a credit to the boat owners) and eventually ended up on the banks of the actual canal watching the ducks and fish.)
Time to find some beer. I'd wanted to try the Whitesmiths Arms but alas it was shut during the afternoon and perhaps too far out from the station to return later. We therefore headed to the Dick Whittington browsing as we did in a number of antique shops.
This was originally St Nicholas House, a 15th century town house once owned by the Whittington family. There were a couple of beers on and my option was Robinson's Crusoe.
Next scheduled stop was the Fountain Inn (another 16th Century pub with a most well kept garden. Cotswold Spring Brewery's Olde English Rose (a 4% pale ale) was my choice - so good I went back for a second helping.
We moved next to the New Inn. A strange place with rooms off a central courtyard and clearly evidence of it once being a coaching inn. I opted for a beer from Skinner's - didn't note actual brew at the time alas.
Time was moving on and we recalled passing a Wetherspoons and also a couple of other places near the railway station and so it was we ended up at The Regal where I went for Batemans XXXB.
All in all a good day out and I certainly want o visit again and perhaps take in some of the many other pubs we missed on this occasion.
Plenty of places came to mind but in the end, Gloucester was selected.
Our train arrived on time and after struggling to get off thanks to the shopper in front of us with the most awkward set of bags you could imagine, we exited the station, checked the map and headed for the town centre. (An early) lunch was the first requirement and we spied a small cafe after which we headed over to the Docks area and spent a good hour or so soaking in the sun and the industrial architecture paying especial interest to the various boats either moored up or working along the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. In common with similar areas such as Liverpool this area would no doubt have been less touristy but the recent conversions on the warehouses to apartments and antique centres, etc have made it quite a pleasant place to spend some time. There is still evidence of the tracks of the horse drawn railway in homage to its past (you can see the rails by the crane in the upper right photo. We sat on benches, ventured a bit further (the gardens if that's what you can call them are a credit to the boat owners) and eventually ended up on the banks of the actual canal watching the ducks and fish.)
Time to find some beer. I'd wanted to try the Whitesmiths Arms but alas it was shut during the afternoon and perhaps too far out from the station to return later. We therefore headed to the Dick Whittington browsing as we did in a number of antique shops.
This was originally St Nicholas House, a 15th century town house once owned by the Whittington family. There were a couple of beers on and my option was Robinson's Crusoe.
Next scheduled stop was the Fountain Inn (another 16th Century pub with a most well kept garden. Cotswold Spring Brewery's Olde English Rose (a 4% pale ale) was my choice - so good I went back for a second helping.
We moved next to the New Inn. A strange place with rooms off a central courtyard and clearly evidence of it once being a coaching inn. I opted for a beer from Skinner's - didn't note actual brew at the time alas.
Time was moving on and we recalled passing a Wetherspoons and also a couple of other places near the railway station and so it was we ended up at The Regal where I went for Batemans XXXB.
All in all a good day out and I certainly want o visit again and perhaps take in some of the many other pubs we missed on this occasion.
2nd July 2011 - Derby - BBC Social
Saturday afternoon social outing to Derby finds us twiddling thumbs in the Brunswick in Derby wondering where the members from Burton are. Phone rings to reveal they'll be another 5 - 10 minutes and sure enough soon after in they troop. The Brunswick does do a good range of beers but I again decided to opt for local brews today where possible and so stuck to their range sampling Brunswick White Feather (which was an exxcellent summer supping ale!), Station Approach and finally Railway Porter.
Round the corner to the Alex where I had Oldershaws Caskade.
Moving further along we passed the weir and ended up at the Royal Standard (Local CAMRA pub of the year for 2009 it still proclaims.) JF spotted that they do a tray of 5 thirds from their own beer range so we opted for that sampling Royal Standard Business as Usual, Gold Mine, Roxanne Ruby, Dark Knight, and Hop till you Drop accompanied with some cheese.
Ist July 2011 - Tamworth
In Tamworth tonight with RG.
We met as usual at the Globe where I opted for the Toad Brewery's (from Doncaster) MIB (Malted in Black.)
For a change we (RG actually) thought about trying the Albert. This used to a good venue on the Tamworth real ale circuit but in recent years its been up and down, open and shut. Liitle choice tonight to accompany the lack of punters so we went for Banks's Original Smooth.
Enough og this, need proper ale so it the Sir Robert Peel next for Blue Monkey 99 Red Babboons followed by Sharp's Doombar.
Final port of call tonight was the Bole Bridge where I went for Burton Bridge Eternal Triangle and we finished a pleasant evening sharing a bottle of Tyskie.
25th June 2011 - Another Blackcountry Trip (Sedgley and Upper Gornal)
Eight days have passed since my last outing and yet again I was on route to a part of the Black Country. This time it was as part of the summer social with some of the Craft Brewing Association meaning that JF was again present (also GP joined us for part of the visit.)
After breakfast in Birmingham we joined the train to Wolverhampton and headed via the subway (note to any Americans out there, this is a footpath in a tunnel, not an underground train) and arrived at the the Great Western shortly before opening time.
Although there are some guest beers offered, I decided that as the Black Country has a number of brewers of local note that where possible I would sample their wares. The Great Western is a Holden's pub where I chose their Black Country Bitter, followed by Special.
The plan was then to head by bus to the town of Sedgley and so we soon found the relevant bus stop and boarded the 558 bus alighting just before the Bull Ring in the town centre. The Bull Ring references the fact that there was a bull pit here many years ago before it was outlawed. After a short walk we arrived at the Bull's Head which is also a Holden's pub but this time serving their June special - Jungle Jim. Although we didn't sample the menu, this pub offers breakfasts that look excellent (noted that it opens at 9am) and also a good selection of Thai food.
Further along the road brings us to the Beacon hotel, home of the Sarah Hughes brewery. A fascinating place this with a number of rooms served from a triangular arrangements of small central hatches. I initially kept to my plan of the local brews and with the Sarah Hughes brewery being out the back were very local in this case. From their range I started on the classic Dark Ruby followed by Sedgley Surprise and Amber finishing off with a guest from Thornbridge, Brother Rabbit. Being a group of brewers we soon tried toidentify the hops that have been used in the Thornbridge and later research revealed these to be Cascade, Chinook and Centennial.)
Time to move on for the Jolly Crispin. Our party spy-ed a bus stop opposite and decided to assemble there - I spy-ed the timetable and decided it was better to take the 15 minutes walk to the main road than the hour wait for the next bus. We therefore found our way back to Sedgely Bull Ring and after a few minutes along came the bus to take us to the Jolly Crispin in Upper Gornal.. Titanic Brewery from the Potteries have an interest in this place as witnessed by the house beer, Titanic Crispy Nail. They also feature a wide range of guests with beers mats adorning the beams on the ceiling (a sample of which can be seen above.)
The other classic pub in this part of the world is the Britannia which I could have sworn was only over the road whereas reality is that it's over, and another half mile or so along the road. Batham's beers are served and with only time for one drink it had to be the excellent Mild accompanied by one of their tasty (large - I was sharing!) pork pies.
Time to catch the bus back towards Wolverhampton and having previously proposed the Mount Pleasant which the bus stops opposite. "Great beer choice" I recalled from a previous visit. "It looks a bit dark" said one - "Not surprising as its shut" came another and so we tramped back to the bus stop (at least they're not only once an hour!)
Back in Wolverhampton we went our separate ways with some of the party heading for the station and back to Birmingham finishing at the Shakespheare near New Street where I ended an excellent day on White Horse Saracen IPA.
Back in Wolverhampton we went our separate ways with some of the party heading for the station and back to Birmingham finishing at the Shakespheare near New Street where I ended an excellent day on White Horse Saracen IPA.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)