A Very Mixed Bag

While in Manchester the worst and more noisy aspects of bathroom replacement were taking place, we fled to London to get some peace and quiet and, importantly, to be able to have a shower.  The re-instating of our bathroom is still taking place, alas with no shower yet, but reassuringly, the connections are there, so it is a matter of time. In the meantime, I have had to resort to washing in the sink again. I say again, because my sister reminded me of our early days at our granny's in Castle Douglas, where that was the daily way of doing things until, once a week, we bathed in a zinc bath in the outhouse.  I must say, washing in such a way today is more vexatious than it seemed then.

It is a while since I have spent a week in London and of course, despite the reason and a determination to act as normally as possible, we did tend to treat it as a holiday.  And why not?   

Given that we had struck lucky with the weather, we determined to get out and about, but we started in the usual way with a pint or two in the Aldgate Tap, having previously had a quick pint in its sister, the Euston Tap. Now both sell cask beer, but also tend to have a good choice of German beer, so, given the temperature of around 30C, that's what we plumped for in both places. The choice was good with at least three beers in each and the standard Bitburger which actually, for a mass-produced beer, is both dry and bitter.

The next day, in a nod to our good intentions, we went shopping to Waitrose - it is nearest - and to be fair, we mainly ate in for a change.  Later that day, I had the pleasure of meeting, by arrangement, with fellow beer writer Laura Hadland. We met in a well thought of pub, the Old Fountain at Old Street which sells a range of cask beers, but my pint of Five Points Gold wasn't up to much and Laura's Oakham was very much end of cask.  Fortunately, as often is the case, the company and conversation more than made up for it.  Then it was a quick bus trip for me to another favourite, the Sutton Arms where the cask was just fine, though the choice didn't appeal, so I switched to Ayinger German lager when E arrived to join me. 

On Wednesday afternoon, we took a very hot number 15 bus to a new pub. Another Bloomsbury Leisure pub, this time on the Strand and a big bugger too, featuring Czech Budvar- and cask too, though I didn't try it. Stranded is aiming to sell beer the Czech way - in oversized glasses with a big head. The measures are two thirds, and it was fun to watch the attempts to pour correctly and then the services of a Czech beer and bar expert - who clipped the assorted staff behind the ear as she showed them how it was done.  Shame she poured the excess beer away, though Jon Dalton, the owner and an old acquaintance of mine, was kind enough to give us a couple on the house. We wish him well and certainly go there. The dark is particularly recommended and while Jon has high hopes that the Czech pours will take off, he remarked that it was a bit of a punt as the presentation is unfamiliar to most Brits.

Thursday saw us in Brighton, where I had not been before. Suffice to say, a very hot day, so no cask beer was supped, but I thoroughly recommend the Hole in the Wall - thanks Retired Martin - and of course the Evening Star. Though we didn't spend too much time in the pub given the glorious sunshine, we will certainly go again, and the railway station is a thing of beauty which entirely gobsmacked me.  More pubs to try for sure too.

On Friday, another new pub, the Hand and Marigold in Bermondsey.  Thanks for the tip, Will Hawkes.  This is a fab place with top-notch cask beer and is well worth a visit. It is air-conditioned too and the welcome was genuinely warm.   Then we bumped into an old BSF colleague, Caroline who will manage the Dutch and Belgian Bar at GBBF this year. She persuaded us to go to Dutch Taproom - It ain't much, if it ain't Dutch -  - where the beers were strong and pricey, but excellent. 

On Saturday we went out to Jack Duignan's new gaff, the King's Arms in Bethnall Green. No issues with beer quality there, and the Charrington IPA went down well. Another positive tick for London cask. We took the long route via the Peacock, another Will Hawkes recommendation. We were the only customers for a few minutes in this splendidly renovated pub in a housing estate. Very pubby, and the guy in charge was great as he explained he had very few beers on due to the cellar dispense equipment  suffering a losing encounter with an untethered gas bottle the previous night. I didn't fancy the cask choices of Five Points Pale and Landlord, but the Guinness on an 80/20 mixture was rather good as a substitute. We will be back.

Sunday, after watching Tweedy Pubs - I'm a big fan - we nipped across Tower Bridge to Bermondsey again, but alas, our target, the Victoria, while scheduled to be open was firmly closed with no way of telling why. A great pity this, as just look at it. A beauty. We hopped back to Borough High Street for another Will Hawkes recommendation, the Blue Maid, but beforehand stopping off at another old haunt, the King's Arms. Alas, my pint of Harvey's Best was north of 17C in temperature - bad old London showing up like Banquo's ghost at last. No excuse here as a fair bit of cask was somehow still being sold, and in winter, I have had pretty good pints here in what is a decent pub.  Get the cooling mended for goodness’ sake and stop doing this.

Our final pub was the Blue Maid. This is a fantastic looking place. Someone has spent serious money here and it shows. Two cask beers on offer, but I have decided that I actually dislike Five Points Best and didn't want a 3.4% Burning Sky offering. What a warm welcome too from the Ozzy barman - manager maybe - but talk about eye watering prices? 2.8% beers for north of £7.50? Me neither. But £5 a pint for cask? Well done, and the taste I had was fine, though I opted for London Black as my last pint of the trip.  E enjoyed a very expensive Ginger Beer and the pleasure it gave her was worth the price, so maybe they are on to something after all.

To sum up.   The new pubs were tremendous, the beer everywhere was expensive, so much so, that I was warned about £8 plus pints more than once. Having said that, in the main those who take cask beer seriously, price it to go - as is wise with any perishable product - and those that don't - just avoid the buggers, though it may cost you a few quid to compile your black list. They do cask beer and their customers no favours in selling it at 17C or higher degrees at top dollar. 

It was great to bump into my beer judging pal, Paul Davies at  Anspach and Hobday. He is a really nice person, and we had a good catch up. Having already met Caroline Debenham by accident, it just shows how small and connected the beer world is.

Finally, a big shout-out to Heritage Brewing of Burton on Trent. Both their Masseys and Charrington IPA were excellent.