Good Things Coming

Now that the two main traumas of January (NWAF and GBG Selection Meeting) are behind me and my nerves are returning to a more settled state, it is time to turn to more simple pleasures. (No, not that.) First up this week is a CAMRA Branch Meeting, which I intend to make as brief as I can in order to combine it with a side visit to the Regal Moon for their Stout and Porter Festival. This is a bit of an ad hoc festival, as Chris the manager decided just last week it would be an interesting start to February. And why not?

Later in the week I must gird my loins for that most taxing of events, a day out with the legendary Tyson. We will be testing to destruction, the newly opened Port St Beer House. Is it the Euston Tap or Rake of Manchester? We shall see. Tyson being much more on the ball trend wise, has of course already given it the once over, but how will it be once it has settled down a bit and paint has been turpsed from first night glad rags? I will let you know.

Another deadly run in with the Bury Bachant will occur on Saturday, when along with the lovely E and a bunch of other lushes, there will be a close encounter of the third kind with the Sheffield Tap - my first visit there and eagerly awaited - and then a side order of the Hillsborough Hotel and the Wellington.

I'll have an abrupt change of scene the following week, with a (more or less) alcohol free trip to see my dear old Mum in Scotland. I do intend though to squeeze in a visit to at least a couple of Glasgow's finest boozers, so any "mustn't miss" tips for that are welcome, as I'm well behind the curve on Glasgow these days. (Barm?) After that I intend to have a very quiet week before a longish trip to London, where I'll be casting a critical eye over the Kernel Brewery Saturday gig, Cask, the Jolly Butchers and no doubt others. So do make sure that beer temperature and condition is correct chaps. (I will be free to dispense my impeccable beer opinions on Thursday 24th Feb if anyone is around.) My final plan for the time being is too see if we can fit in a little trip to Vienna before the end of March. If the price is right.

That lot should provide the blog with a bit of juicy material and hopefully will be pretty enjoyable too. At least for me.

Cumbrian Capers

I'm off on my annual trip with the boys (well old men actually) tomorrow. Ulverston and Broughton are the destinations. We are expecting some very poor weather and some very good beer.

Tomorrow sees us, among other places, in both the Watermill at Ings and the Hawkshead Brewery Beer Hall for lunch and if it works out, a chat with Alex Brodie, the owner. We have a designated driver, so no good or classic pub on the way need be missed. Should be an excellent couple of days. Wednesday night sees us in Broughton where we also expect good beer and possibly, a meet with the leg-end that is Dave Bailey.

I'll send the odd tweet, but signals are dodgy in the sticks.

Dave - I'll tweet you directly in advance

First and Last

It is the way of things that CAMRA days out are a mixed bag. Sometimes you are lucky and the chosen pubs all produce ale at its best for the descending thirsty hordes, or more usually there are some where, shall we say, optimum standards aren't quite reached. Thus it was on Saturday when our CAMRA branch went to East Lancashire, a lovely part of the country with neat stone built villages and rolling green hills.

Our first stop probably spoiled us. The Swan with Two Necks in Pendleton is in a very pretty village location, with a little stream directly in front of it which is fenced off, no doubt to stop you staggering straight from the pub front door to an unwelcome early bath. When the landlady opened 10 minutes ahead of time for us and we were met with a sparkling pub, shiny handpumps and beer which had clearly been pulled through, we knew all would be well - and it was. It couldn't fail to be with Copper Dragon, Harviestoun, Marble and others on the bar. I had the Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted to start. It was in tip top condition. Others spoke highly of the same brewery's Freddie Truman and the Golden Pippin was well thought of too. Of course Marble Pint was beckoning and didn't remotely disappoint. Wonderfully, clean, bitter and resinously hoppy, it was sublime and a reminder that when on form as it was here*, this is one of the finest beers in the UK. We had an hour there. It wasn't enough and many rightly congratulated the landlady on her wonderful inn keeping.

I won't say much about the next two pubs. Both were just OK, though I did have in the Old Sparrowhawk at Fence (through a duff pint of Bank Top Flat Cap being changed), a pint of Draught Bass, which was a lot better than I expected and didn't taste much of Marston's at all. It was fine in that "I wouldn't want any more of it" sort of way. Likewise in the George and Dragon at Barrowford, a somewhat dull pub was lifted by a very decent pint of Bowland Pheasant Plucker which drank well for its 3.6% gravity. Shame about the name though. We were also lucky enough to sample some excellent Mallinson's Hit for Six as well as very creditable house brewed beer at the Ministry of Ale in Burnley.

Last up was a great pub though. The Crooked Billet Inn at Worsthorne is stone built and imposing. Originally built by Grimshaw's Burnley Brewery, it had many original features; much tiling and mosaic, a fantastic bar and gantry and delightful etched Grimshaw's windows. The beer of choice was Lancaster Gold served in proper brewery glasses with Red Rose emblem. Friendly locals and a chatty landlord ended the day on a very high note indeed.

* Much better than the one I had the night before in the MA.

Sunday, Lovely Sunday

The Sunday trip home on these weekend jaunts invariably gives the best beer of the trip. It's a kind of welcome Sod's Law with the sting in the tail being that time is restricted by the need to get everyone home and of course, the drivers hours are (rightly) limited by law. The dedicated toper has to use his or her time wisely.

We left Tewkesbury in time for a pre noon pint in Worcester. Pre noon means Wetherspoons as none of the GBG pubs opened until 12. The Postal Order was a typical example and absolutely jumping at around 11.30 when we added to the hubbub. Now the usual suspects will moan about JDW, but this one was filled with all sorts, from soaks to shoppers, with as many teas, coffees and breakfasts being scoffed as pints. It also gave us the opportunity to stock up on sandwiches from the nearby Tesco as we were unsure about the availability of grub in later venues.

A quick stop in Uphampton for the Fruiterer's Arms, home to the Cannon Royal Brewery. The pub is down a narrow country lane, with I assume, fruit fields on one side and a straggling hamlet on the other. The pub was old fashioned, full of locals and had a nice ambience with some outside enjoying the sunshine, locals chatting and a family function kicking off in a side room. Clearly a place at the heart of its community. The Fruiterer's Mild was dark and luscious. Some of us collectors regarded the framed poster from a defunct brewery. The old gent in the smock looks quite content does he not? Radcliffe of Kidderminster was taken over in 1947.





Our next stop shook off the brown beer with a vengeance. Coombs Wood Sports and Social Club is a thriving Cricket Club among other things. It was friendly and had an impressive array of six beers, Mauldon's Silver Adder did just fine for Tyson, me and E and the time passed all too quickly before we made our reluctant way to our final stop, the Waggon and Horses, also in Halesowen. What a pub! Fourteen beers from handpumps, bread, cheese and a rip roaringly hot salsa on the bar, the friendliest and chattiest locals you could imagine and the beers in wonderful condition. Bloody great. I can't list them all - I can't remotely remember, but beers from Nottingham, Oakham, Holdens and more were scoffed by Tyson, E and me. I looked around, We were chatting to a couple of locals and most of our group had a local attached, chatting away. We left with considerable reluctance.

It is worthwhile to reflect that when there are unpretentious, friendly pubs like this (and indeed the Fruiterer's and the Cricket Club) thriving and serving fantastic beer, you really know all this talk of the pub going down the tubes is just that. Great pubs, selling great beer in a great atmosphere will thrive, leaving those that can't cut the mustard to fail and that's just how it should be. I've said it before and it is worth repeating. It is really all about the offer.

No pictures of the Waggon and Horses. Sorry. The time just flew by and I didn't get round to it.

The Cotswolds in the Rain

Saturday was a bright and early start for our visit (in persistent rain) to one of Britain's four remaining "cider only" houses. The Monkey House as it is known, is in Woodmancote, not far from Tewkesbury and would be almost impossible to stumble over, hidden as it is. A picturesque thatched cottage with a serving hatch and a basic - and I mean basic - room off the side is all there is. The house dry cider is made by Westons and was decent stuff. A medium cider and a perry were also available. The gents toilets were, shall we say interesting, with good open views. This is the sort of place though, had the weather been nice, that you'd liked to have lingered a bit in the pleasant garden. As it was though, in pissing rain, a half hour was enough.

Much better known was our next visit, to the well known Fleece in Bretforton. Thatched and twee and restored after a devastaing fire, this was welcoming and comfortable. Those of us who had been before revelled in its stone flagged floors and renewed acquaintanceship with the collection of English Civil War pewter ware. Those who hadn't "oohed and aahed" at its lovely interior. The beer was good too with half a dozen well kept and interesting ales.

Stanton is a painfully pretty village near Broadway and has had nothing new built there since God was a boy. Its honey coloured stone glows, even in solid rain. The Mount Inn sits above it up a heart stopping steep hill which would have had a mountain goat wheezing and protesting. Buoyed up, by the thought of beer though we all skipped up. Those at the back were luckiest. We found out how undrinkable the Donnington BB was from others and swapped to the merely unpleasant SBA. Now I have to say I have never found Donnington beers to be much cop despite the pretty brewery and pubs, but these were bloody grim. My mood was not enhanced by the fact that a pint of BBA and a Carlsberg Export (E wasn't chancing the bitter) was an astonishing £7.10! The Carlsberg was an eye popping £4.60 a pint.

Equilibrium was restored at our next stop. The Cotswolds is full of nice little towns and villages and they kind of run into each other after a few beers. Winchcombe is a typically pleasant example. We enjoyed really bitter (and rare) Stanney Bitter from the Stanway Brewery which I visited some years ago, before finishing up in the Plaisterers Arms with an excellent pint of TT Landlord - probably the best I've had in years - then boarding the coach for Cheltenham - an old stomping ground.

Tewkesbury

Tewkesbury is a fine town with a very impressive abbey and the tendency toward sogginess. Indeed should you visit often enough, you are sure to end up traipsing around with water swishing about your kneecaps. Or higher. It was damp when we started out eagerly on the Friday night and finished up throwing it down - which is more than we managed. Having established that the Hop Pole was a brown beer purveyor of some determination, we set out with a list provided by our weekend guide. Did I mention brown beer? Well there was a lot of it. The Nottingham Arms provided Butcome Bitter, Wickwar BOB and OSH. Most of us tried the BOB which was dark brown and unremittingly malty. We escaped to the Tudor House Hotel where another array of brown beers greeted us, but at least the pub was splendidly old fashioned, being a bit of a nineteen seventies (sixties possibly) throwback, with a very comfortable mix of older drinkers. My tipple was Goff's White Knight which was light brown and had just enough hop to make it drinkable.

We pressed on to the White Bear (a bit rough and ready) where the range was not as good as we'd hoped. Lytham Gold was clearly a must, but it was served with a warning as to its cloudiness. Most, me included were very unsure about this beer and opted out. Now our guide is somewhat known as a cider drinker and swooped on the Black Rat cider. I was persuaded and very drinkable it was too, providing just the right level of alcoholic hit (6%) and emotional support to overcome a disappointing night of beer. Sensibly we left just before ten and had time for a quick one in the Berkeley Arms where well kept Horizon provided some pale relief at last. This tied house was a very good pub indeed and shows that you don't have to be a multi tap free house to do well.

It was all over by eleven. All the pubs (even JDW) shut at eleven prompt. Why is this?

Black Rat is made for Moles Brewery by Thatchers

Alcester

On the way to our CAMRA weekend in Tewkesbury, we stopped for lunch in this delightful Warwickshire town. The Holly Bush is an old coaching inn on which a lot of money has obviously been spent. The beer was in splendid form with Purity Gold, served in a branded Purity glass certainly hitting the spot, as did the ploughman's. A word here about the staff. Just fantastic, dealing with 23 of us with smiles, efficiency and good nature. If I lived there I'd be back. A lot.

Of course perfection, while eagerly sought and maybe found is not enough for the dedicated beer type. With Tyson and E, in tow we nipped along the road to the Three Tuns where raging thirsts were slaked by more excellent beer from Purity and another fantastic barmaid. The welcome was all you could want and it does make such a difference.

A little bit of a first next for us. A visit to a winery. Three Choirs is a 80 acre outfit set in rolling hills in Gloucestershire and produces a number of rather good wines from mostly German grapes. It also has a brewery which we were able to glimpse through a glass fronted room, while the expensive wine making kit was there for us to prod and inspect. Particularly interesting was the process of removing sediment from sparkling wine. The samples of wine were small and took a lot of will power not to knock back in two sips.




It was a remarkably sober lot that checked into the Hope Pole in Tewkesbury. That wasn't to last.