Little Ale Cart

One of the more pleasurable duties I have as CAMRA Branch Chairman is to present the odd award. Yesterday it was the big one- a Pub of the Year Award - to the Ashton Arms in Oldham.

It is not though this estimable pub I write about, but two of the beers on offer, both from Little Ale Cart in Sheffield. First up was a 4.3% pale and hoppy number called either Sir or Saint Gatian. (I should have taken a photo). This was beautifully pale, with delicate but firm hopping and a very floral, perfume aroma. This was so popular it was drank dry in no time at all, to be replaced, fortuitously as I arrived at the bar for a refill, by Tranquil at 4.1% from the same brewery. Again pale and hoppy, it had a more resinous, in your face kind of bitterness, a lovely firm body and a bitter, hoppy finish. Both were in the tip top condition you'd expect from a pub of the year, making the experience even better. These are what Gazza P would call Mid Atlantic Pale Ales.

For those that know about them, Little Ale Cart has been producing lovely hoppy beers for a while now. For those that don't, seek them out.