London - A Small Cask Snapshot

I was in London last week for a few days and decided on a whim to have one entire day - or thereabouts - just drinking cask. "Unwise" I hear you say and of course I can see why, but arriving at a somewhat gloomy and rainy Euston and just as gloomy Aldgate, somehow pints of lager didn't appeal.

As usual, we inspected the flat and having confirmed all is well, E ritually dealt with a predictable pile of post, which nowadays is almost entirely junk and then, being creatures of habit, even though this habit is separated by weeks not days or hours, we made tracks, as we always do for the Aldate Tap. 

The Aldgate Tap is very much a pub of the City. Usually in the summer, hordes of people dressed in that smart casual way of work nowadays, haunt the outside area, leaving the interior pretty free for those of us who like to sit inside and people watch.  Harder to do that last Thursday though, not only had that aforementioned pesky and somewhat wintry rain driven many inside, but much of the pub - bar really - had been cordoned off for a corporate Christmas do. Bank of America, I think. And no, I couldn't find out their tab number, but there was a sprinkling of Christmas jumpers and rather a few who didn't seem that familiar with pubs.

Nonetheless, John, the Manager greeted us warmly and we quickly, being veterans in every sense, spotted a group leaving a small table and a swift wriggle later, we were seated. John recommended the Kent Brewery Goldings Bitter. It was pretty good by the third pint and unmistakeably Southermn in style. You can usually tell. It needed drinking through to "fresh from the cask", but it was a good start as we watched the amateur drinkers, unsure of what to do with empty glasses, lay them lengthwise inside each other on the floor behind tables. (I took them back to the bar before someone trod on them.) Still, it was jolly enough and the beer was under a fiver!

Next day, after lunch in Charlotte Street, we called into the next door Fitzroy Tavern. One of Sam Smith's empire, this excellent and expensively refurbished historical boozer was, sadly, almost completely empty on a Friday around half past two. Six of your British pounds for Old Brewery Bitter. It wasn't bad, but it too needed more throughput, and my pint was clearly in the lines for a bit. I'd still recommend the pub, but even by London standards, they are pushing it a bit on price, the bottles, particularly, are eye wateringly expensive. Not all Sam's pubs in London are as nice as this one, and price may be a factor in emptiness. If you pay top dollar, you want something decent from it. An empty Sam's pub offers little in terms of atmosphere. Top spotters tip?  In a Sam Smith's pub, the house whisky is still labelled "Rochdale and Manor Brewery".

Moving on, through Soho and various Christmas lights, we ended up in the Strand.  I've always liked the Coal Hole and we nipped in. Touristy maybe, but it is a proper pub.  It was rammed, but again after a few minutes we got a table to perch at. In the meantime, I'd admonished the barman for trying to slop me with the half filled glass under the tap trick. The dodgy one being switched for the clean one he'd made sure I'd seen in his other hand. Not so fast, Matey. I was doing that to keg customers 50 years ago. A fresh pint of Titanic Plum Porter was so good, I had another. He didn't try the same trick twice. Top tip. Always watch the pour a little from the side of the pumps in tourist traps. You'll spot it and call it out easier if they try something on. 

And then, another Sam's. The Lyceum is an old haunt too, and the beer there was fine in that Old Brewery Bitter sort of way. Worth six quid? No, but a busy pub which could maybe do with an upgrade.

We caught the 15 bus home and went for a last beer in the Sir Sydney Smith in Dock St. Now this is a lovely pub near our flat. A former Truman's house, it has been sensitively refurbished - it used to look as though you could film Goodnight Sweetheart without changing a thing.  It was busy, and I knew trouble was afoot when the server put my glass under the handpump and splashed beer into it while pouring a half of lager. It was the worst pint of Vocation Bread and Butter I'd ever had, but I supped it quietly and left most of it. I hadn't the heart to pull this hard-working lass up about it. Someone should have trained her better.

At our table we started talking with a couple of lads who'd lived locally for a few years, They too had started on cask and abandoned it so we enjoyed Hofmeister instead and swapped tales about the area. We even exchanged details and promised to meet again.

So, while the pub didn't deliver on cask, it did on being a nice place to be in and for atmosphere and friendliness. Overall, the London cask bag was mixed, but on the whole, it could probably do better. 

A bottle of Organic Cider or Perry is the equivalent of £11.84 a pint. Eek.  The rest of their prices are pretty dodgy too, but the did have Dark Mild at £4. Click on image to see details.

I didn't repeat the experiment the  next day, but boy is London getting expensive. £7.80 a pint for Camden Hells in an ordinary Farringdon pub?