Plastic Glasses

I had a lovely day out last Saturday with E. In London for the Beer Writers thrash and with some spare time on our hands and the rail strikes on Southern settled, we went to Lewes for the day - a long time ambition of mine - though E had done some work for the local council there, had been several times, so would be my guide.

The first surprise after a surprisingly long journey from Victoria is how steep the hill is between the station which lies below the town and the town itself. I found that out in a most unwelcome way, as my bad knee literally gave way on the one in ten gradient, or whatever this North Face of the Eiger alike, was. (It is bothering me still on stairs if nothing else.) After planting my nation's flag on the summit, we explored a bit. A long, quaint High St, dotted with individual businesses  both to left and right, so on E's recommendation we went left until the town more or less ran out, noting a couple of decent pubs on the way.  E explained the more modern part of the town - and that is very relative as it all was entirely delightful - was at the bottom of another steep hill, as was Harvey's Brewery.

After a look at the castle - which dated back to Norman times - of course I didn't pay to go in - £17 my arse - we set off for the bottom of the town down another fearsome hill to admire the brewery and take the customary photo. Very picturesque, but a drink was required, Harvey's of course. A handy sign pointed us to the equally picturesque (both in looks and setting) of the John Harvey, Harvey's Brewery Tap. That'll do very nicely. As we approached on a cold but sunny day, I noticed that the hardy outside drinkers had plastic glasses. I assumed that was because of outdoor drinking and its fleeting mark on my conscious mind was dismissed.  Inside the pub is a delight. Low ceilinged, lots of wood, a bar with both hand pumped and gravity fed beer and a good buzz of conversation. I looked at the pumps. "A pint of Mild please" quoth I.  Mine host, a cheerful young fellow replied "Is a plastic glass OK?" I'd rather not said I. He looked a bit embarrassed and replied that it was all plastic glasses. Hmm. Now I dislike plastic glasses intensely. I dislike even more those that are so flimsy you need to carry them with two hands. I politely declined and we left. For me it was a point of principle.

Settled comfortably in the Dorset round the corner with a pint of Sussex Pale in a proper glass, we wondered what the reason could be. Now Brighton, just down the road were playing Liverpool at home and we had see the odd Brighton fan waiting for a bus or walking about, but none were in the John Harvey, which frankly was rather a posh gaff with rather a posh clientele. Surely that couldn't be it? Bloodshed, or the potential for it there, seemed highly unlikely and we hadn't seen and didn't see a single policeman in the whole time we were there. A mystery.

After a bit of light shopping and a few more pubs - all of which were served in glass - we made our way to station and a last pint or two. Our destination, just across from the station was the Lansdown Arms, a proper bustling pub of character.  It was heaving with returning Brighton fans, still groggy after a good hammering.  We found a seat and got into conversation with two philsohical supporters of a similar age to ourselves. We asked about the John Harvey as we supped our beer, again from a proper glass. They didn't know why there was plastic either.

I recommend Lewes highly. We enjoyed the Dorset, even more the eclectically decorated Snowdrop, our "tea" in the Brewer's Arms - a splendid throwback to the seventies in every way including the menu - a quick visit to the old fashioned Rights of Man and our final pints in the Lansdown Arms, but the John Harvey left a note of disappointment which still lingers.

Plastic glasses in a brewery's showcase pub? I don't think so.

The pubs in Lewes are old fashioned in a really good way, though I have to say that the Harveys seemed better in the Royal Oak in Borough.

We bought some fancy cheese and E, a devotee of Seasalt, Cornwall, a pair of trousers.  Everybody happy then.

PopUp for a Drink

Somewhat perversely I suppose, I left London before the main piss up of Craft Beer Rising started on Friday of London Beer Week.  I had arranged to go to London long before I had even thought about that and I couldn't stay on as I had an important CAMRA meeting on the Saturday.  A pity as I think I'd have enjoyed it.  Next time, I'll try and be there.  Such is the business of my better half, that I like to come when she has a little less to do, then I get the pleasure of taking her out for an overpriced pint, but this time she had a little free time and I had access to a little free beer. Hooray.

Many readers will know that the vast Truman's Brewery in Brick Lane was more or less abandoned when the brewery closed in 1989. It is now home to many arty type projects and a hub of London Beer Week.  Two pop up brewery led bars were of interest and I had an invitation, as a guest, to one. Sharps had a neat little pop up bar, open to the public, with a fair number of their lesser spotted ales on cask as well as, of course, Doom Bar.  It was good to try Cornish Coaster, Atlantic, Wolf Rock and Special. All were pretty good actually, though hardly enhanced by being served in flimsy plastic glasses.  The fun bit was an invitation to Sharp's Secret Bar, where spoonfuls of various foods were matched to Sharp's Connoisseurs range and boy did it work. This range of beers is excellent and I have to say that the Vintage Blend, described by the brewery as "Five beers of diverse styles and vintages – a Trappist Dubbel, a sweet barley wine, a Quadrupel fermented with yeast, a soured honey wheat beer and a US dry-hopped double IPA – aged for one month and blended with a base beer for truly unique results" was as stunning a beer as I've had in a long time.  The experience was great fun and while I won't divulge details in case anyone gets a chance of going, if the opportunity ever arises, jump at it.  We all trooped out with immense grins on our faces and you can't say fairer than that.  It was interesting too to talk to Sharp's (surprisingly young) brewer Andrew Madden who was a really good sort.  All in all it was a great afternoon out and you learn, if you hadn't already, that big brewers can brew bloody good beer.

Just around the corner was the Guinness PopUp.  This was clearly aiming to promote their new lager Hop House 13.  All the founts bar one were for this beer and much memorabilia and clothing was on sale. Along with my pack from London Beer week, I had a voucher for a free half, so I tried it. Not bad really, rather thin bodied and weedily bitter, it was certainly a little more tasty than many, but not likely to be my go to lager. Ever.  Of much more interest was that they were selling one off beers from the Open Gate Brewery. I won't go into this Guinness experiment here, rather, I suggest you turn to the Beer Nut who wrote about it all in his blog in early December.  Talking to the delightful guys behind the bar, they were sent a different beer three or four times and the current offering was Milk Stout. Now surprisingly to me at least, this 6.4% beer was served on plain old CO2, not nitrogen like Draught Guinness and it displayed all the negative qualities I associate with that kind of serve for ales and stouts, most notable of which was a fierce carbonic bite and the fact that the head lasted seconds.  This rendered the beer into sugar water. Not great and annoyingly sold at £3 a half while the lager was £3 a pint. Bonus was the great staff and welcome, a free bag of the best pork scratchings I've had in  along time and the fact that all the beer was served in proper glasses.

Last up in this little trio of reports was another invitation, this time by Goose Island.  This was a closed event and we were offered  three different bottled beers to go on with, Honkers, an English style Pale Ale, Goose Island IPA and a lighter wheat beer, 312. Now is that Goose Island IPA dumbed down? This was the talk and even though I have supped it at source, I couldn't say for sure, but the consensus, which I probably go along with, is that it has lost something in up-scaling it.  Nonetheless all the beers were very enjoyable in the context. There was plenty nice seafoody stuff too and a chance to scoff rather a lot of Dungarvan Oysters which certainly wasn't a hardship.  Slightly citric, salty sweet and a real treat, they were good to wash down with a swig of 312.  Later on we were invited into a holy of holies where the Goose Island Innovation Brewer, Tim Faith, talked us through tastings of Goose Island Bourbon County in its "ordinary" and aged incarnations.  All in all a good night too, though I preferred the straight Bourbon County by far.

It was great too to hook up with the Beer Father, Justin Mason and @tabamatu Andy. Great company for a good night out at any time.

E and I also went to the Pilsner Urquell pop up which was more or less next door to the Guinness one. Rather dingy inside, Tankovna PU wasn't enhanced one bit by plastic glasses though E liked an old favourite of hers, Kozel, also served from a tank, but with the same reservations on plastic. Can't remember the prices though sadly.

Read Ed's Report here too. 

Cheltenham and a Moan

When E and I used to go to Cheltenham many years ago, it was to the annual rally in support of sacked workers from the Government Communications Centre (GCHQ) based there. We also had a few libations, but sadly though I remember drinking Wadworth's, the nature of the pubs is long since forgotten, though the reason for being there isn't and won't be.


Last Saturday though we went to visit two free houses. Firstly to the Kemble Brewery Inn which was a busy back street local holding a music festival. We were greeted at the door by the newly elected Lib-Dem councillor who had fought for them to get a licence for the event against local objections. I had a chat with him. He explained that the objections had been on noise levels, lateness, frequency of sets etc. He had proposed and agreed some restrictions which both the pub and the objectors had agreed to. Good for him. I was in the front of the pub and could scarcely hear the music at all, so it must have been a successful compromise, though one or two locals remarked that they'd have liked it louder. All well then? Not exactly. Another restriction had been placed on them. All liquor had to be sold in plastic glasses. "Had glass been a problem I asked?" Not as far as he knew was the answer.

Now I hate drinking out of plastic. I hate even more these petty bureaucrats who decide, on no evidence whatever, that the freedom of others should be restricted. I can just about understand it where certain places have a record of glass based violence or vandalism, but to have these "just in case" restrictions without evidence is just too much for my sensibilities. Unremitting brown beer didn't help either, but my gloom was lifted by Thatchers Scrumpy and the sheer friendliness, not only of the councillor, but the chatty music loving locals.

Our last Cheltenham stop was a bigger venue, the Jolly Brewmaster. This was bustling and boisterous but the beer choice was again brown, though I recall the ubiquitous Deuchars IPA. No matter though. The company was good and having given up on beer for the afternoon, pints of the now familiar Black Rat were enjoyed instead, providing a pleasant end to an interesting afternoon.