This crawl was originally planned a few weeks earlier but I had cancelled it due to a demo in central Birmingham but with this being a free Saturday it seemed appropriate to reschedule for today.
First port of call was in Birmingham at the Wellington for some food (actually purchased from a bagette shop near New Street.)
With RG in tow, PD from Burton joined us and my first beer of the day was from Empire, a Huddlesfield brewery, in the shape of their Blowers Best (beer name from memory however.)
We then headed off to the Metro and the Black Eagle (Sogo Benson Road stop.) The garden here is is an oasis in an industrial area but at this time of year the roses weere past their best. I opted for Wye Valley Summertime, part of their Dorothy Goodbody's heroes range, described on their web site as follows - Just as our Summer arrived, so did Dorothy Goodbody’s Summertime Ale. This 4.2% pale amber beer is brewed with local Fuggles hops to give it a prominent bitter character. Dorothy Goodbody’s Summertime Ale is an old favourite and is now available in pubs throughout the region.
Off next to the Trumpet at Bilston (Bilston Central) which whislt we had expected would only be opened till 2pm was still in full swing when we left. Being a Holden's pub I opted firstly for the Special and thence for the Bitter. Whilst there we enjoyed an impromptu rehersal from a group called the Bandits.
Up the road to the Olde White Rose and RG spied Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby so we opted for that. I must say tnat summer is not the best time for strong beers like this and it was clearly past its best, not bad enough not to be drinkable but approaching it.
Back to the Metro and towards Birmingham to Dartmouth Street Guns Village and towards the Wheatsheaf (passing an argument en route) - beer chosen here was Black Hole Brewery Milky Way ('A 6% pale wheat beer. Honey and banana nose advises the sweet taste but not the sweet, dry spicy finish from this wheat beer.')
Back towards the Metro, passing another argument for the Old Hop Pole and Enville Enville Ale ('Based on a 19th century recipe, this traditional beekeepers ale is light in colour with fruity notes and a hint of sweetness to compliment the dry hoppy taste. Brewed using our own natural spring water, 100% Maris Otter floor malted barley, top fermenting ale yeast, specially selected honeys and pure English hops, it is no surprise that our flagship Enville Ale has been a consistent CAMRA and beer festival winner and collected twenty four awards since we began in 1993. ')
Getting peckish, then the must visit pub is the Vine at Kenrick Park and specifcially the indoor Indian BBQ (Chicken Tikka and Garlic Naan Bread. As for beers, they now have two real ales, both being sampled and which were Ilkley Gold (3.9% and hopped with Cascade and Dana) and thence Ludlow Gold (4.2%)
We headed back towards Birmingham with the intention of visiting the Brown Lion. We arrived to find another party asking where the ral ale had gone to and were told aboutn a change of ownership. We about turned and walked back into Birmingham for the Post Office Vaults. First beer was By The Horns Hopslinger (a 5.5% single hopped beer using Columbus hops) and finally Beowulf Folded Cross (a 4.3% mid-amber ale inspired by the Staffordshire Hoard.)
