Wednesday 18 July 2007

Web Site Up

The Edwardstone White Horse now has its own site, check it out www.edwardstonewhitehorse.co.uk . Not quite finished, needs a few more details added. If you have ever been to the pub and have any personal reasons why the pub is so great then tell me.

Wednesday 27 June 2007

Pub With No Name Beer Festival

This weekend was not one for camping and bike rides, but in the name of beer drinking it had to be done.
Having never been to the pub with no name before let alone their beer festival, it was a bit of a punt.
Saturday afternoon started at the girlfriend’s house and it seemed the weather might just hold out for our 4 mile cycle up to Hampshire’s highest pub. Just as we’d packed the tent and the rest of our cobber, the clouds loomed at the havens opened. Never the less we braved the damp conditions. After climbing a couple of hundred feet on bikes in the rain it seemed like we’d travelled 40 miles.
Once we were there it was 4 o’clock and the place was already buzzing. We pitched our tent and headed for that other tent full of Ale!
First on the menu was Fever Pitch from the Yates brewery in northern Cumbria. It is advertised as a “real lager”, but in fact it is an ale that is light and hopped using varieties more widely used in lagers. This is probably the best beer I had all night. Although it was light and drinkable, it also had a bitterness and flowery aroma that fitted together well. My thirst and desperation for a pint may have blurred my rating of this beer.
Later I tried Doris’ 90th a beer I tried when I visited the Hesket Newmaket Brewery in Cumbria earlier in the year. It is a lovely warming ale, slightly sweet and creamy. There seemed to be a large number of beers from the North West possibly due to the pub owner also having holiday cottages in the Lake District.
My next blog will be about the Hesket Newmarket Brewery which is community owned.
Back in Hampshire, the festival was getting more busy and the queue for beer getting ever longer. By about 9.45 we heard that they had stopped selling beer tokens. This could only mean one thing. THEY ARE RUNNING OUT OF BEER! I joint the queue and spent my last few pink slips.
By 10.15 the beer had gone and the party. Everyone abandoned the queues and headed towards the music. The mixed crowd seemed to enjoy the oldie and modern rock covers.
Even taking in to consideration the appalling weather (which continued the next day), a good time was had by all. Who needs Glastonbury when you’ve got the pub with no name (and no beer).

Thursday 14 June 2007

The Dove Spring Beer Festival


I have recently had a bit of a break from blog writing, this doesn’t mean that I have not enjoyed any beer.
At the end of May, I visited the Dove Street Inn, Ipswich for their spring beer festival. The Dove is one of my favourite pubs not only because there is normally 20 cask beers available. The pub full of character and all the staff seem very friendly.
This is one of those pubs you don’t want to leave.
The festival saw 70 beers offered. One or two of my favourites such as Dark Stars’ Hophead and Moorehouse Mild were in top condition and slipped down nicely. Caledonians’ Top Banana was one beer I had not tried before. I thought this banana flavoured tipple would be revolting. In fact it was drinkable and mildly pleasant. By no means is it a complex or really interesting drink but it was drinkable and smooth. My girlfriend was a big fan and this may be one for the ladies.
We soaked up the beer with a tasty burger from the outside BBQ which filled the marquee with a delicious smells. Lovely!

Thursday 10 May 2007

Dark Ale Days

Last weekend saw the 10th ‘Dark Ale Days’ festival take place at the White Horse. 21 very different and wonderful dark ales were available (list below but swap Umbel Magna with Mauldon’s Micawbers). I think I sampled them all.
For the first time all the beers sold out. It was about 4 o’clock on the Monday when the last drip went; I was a bit upset but happy at the same time!
The festival best seller was Dark Stars – Over the Moon. This beer smells like a fruit salad is a pint glass and tastes just as good. Sweet, slightly chewy with a citrus hop bite; lovely! The cask of Over the Moon was emptied just before Triple fff – Pressed Rat, Hesket Newmarket – Cockup Porter and Elgood – Black Dog. These are four great examples of how a beer can be low in ABV but still be full of flavour
It was a good weekend even when drafted in to operate the BBQ.
Now I need to get a list together for the summer beer fest. Any suggestions?

Thursday 26 April 2007

Dark Beer Festival – Provisional Beer List

Just got the beer list for the Mayday weekend dark beer festival at my family’s pub.

Batemans- Dark Mild 3%

Bartrams- Mauld 3.5%

Bartrams- McClearys Milk Stout 4.3%

Bartrams- Comrade Bill Bartrams Egalitarian Anti Imperialist Soviet Stout 6.9%

Bear Town- Polar Eclipse 4.8%

Buffys- Mild 4.2%

Dark Star- Over the Moon 3.8%

Elgoods- Black Dog 3.6%

Hesket Newmarket- Great Cockup Porter 3.0%

Iceni- Men of Norfolk 6.2%

Mauldons- Black Adder 5.3%

Mighty Oak- Oscar Wilde 3.7%

Milton- Nero 5.0%

Nethergate- Old Growler 5.0%

Nethergate- Umbel Magna 5.0%

Pitfield- Shorditch Stout 4.0%

Pitfield- 1850 London Porter 5.0%

R.C.H- Old Slug Porter 4.5%

Teignworthy- Marthas Mild 5.3%

Titanic- Last Port’o Call 4.9%

Triple FFF- Pressed Rat and Warthog 3.8%

Not bad list, a bit higher in alcohol than in past years but still some lo ones. Looking forward to Over the Moon and Pressed Rat, two of my favourite Milds. I Have never had any of the bartrams beers. There are a few classics as well. Good List? What do you think?

Tuesday 24 April 2007

The Black Boy, Winchester

After visiting such good pubs in Alton (The Railway Arms) and Selborne (The Selborne Arms) I thought the pubs of Hampshire couldn’t get much better. The misses and I decided to have a day out in Winchester. After a look round museums and the sights I looked in the GBG to find a suitable place to have lunch. The Black Boy sounded an interesting place from the description and it was not far from the town centre so we headed off. From the outside it looks rather bland and almost looked as if it was closed.
As soon as we walked though the door we could see that it was going to be a nice little pub, but nothing could prepare us for the rest of this amazing pub.
At the bar were a number of ales including Hop Back Summer Lightening. This was my first choice. I think my pint might have been from the bottom of the cask as it was not quite right. We also noticed that there was no food being served for some reason.
Under normal circumstances I might have been a bit annoyed but this pub had so much intrigue I soon forgot about my slightly iffy pint. The pub has been extended quite a bit but still looks good from the outside. The inside has been filled with an amazing variety of stuffed animals, plastic meat, old keys and a huge amount of other items. We sat down and just looked around in amazement. It is better than any museum and so packed with interesting things I have forgotten lots of them (wish I had my camera).
The back room was my favourite. Its décor is based on a country style kitchen complete with Aga. Everything makes it feel like a kitchen, apart that is from the stuffed donkey wearing a straw hat!
To find out more about this pub visit their site at http://www.theblackboypub.com/ or even better visit the pub its self.

Thursday 19 April 2007

The Selborne Arms

After a highly enjoyable night in the Railway Arms, Sunday morning soon came. So we (me and the misses) decided to go for a walk around the lovely countryside of Newton Valence and Selborne. Selborne Common was made famous by naturalist Gilbert White, who wrote the Natural History Of Selborne in 1789. Gilbert White as well as being one of the fist naturalists was also a vicar and part-time brewer. Tripple fff brew a beer based on his original recipe, but due to capacity and strength of the beer, is only brewed very occasionally. The beer is ‘6% ABV, smokey ale, golden in colour with a moderate hoppy bite’; sounds nice!
Luckily one of the two pubs in Selborne is a nice little boozer. This is the kind of pub that could be easily ponced up for the tourists. It hasn’t though, it has been extended but the interior has been largely unspoilt. There is a focus on food, but this equally hasn’t spoilt its character too much.
With six hand pumps I was impressed with the quantity, but what about the quality? There were no dark beers so that’s a minus. But the ‘Bitters’ available, were on the whole, good, the best being the Hogs Back Brewery’s Hop Garden Gold (4.6%). It is a beer so full of flavour, sweet beyond belief; almost syrupy, balanced with an enormous hop tang.
We washed down the beer with a healthy sized ploughman’s and enjoyed the afternoon sun in the generous beer garden. A pleasant and relaxing day.

Wednesday 18 April 2007

The Railway Arms, Alton

I thought, while visiting my girlfriend and having a mini holiday in Hampshire, I would investigate some of the counties top pubs. Saturday night saw us visit the Railway Arms in Alton. I was looking forward to this one because it is owned by the Triple fff brewery, who make some great beers. The pub is cosy and was quite busy with customers of all ages. It is one of those places that instantly makes you feel at home. Plenty of brick-a-brack and hops hanging around the bar. Beers available were Alton Pride, Moondance, Stairway and Pressed Rat and Warthog. The latter being my favourite. Being a fan of Mild I will always try it if it is being served, Pressed Rat is one of the best. Full of maltyness offset with sweetness with a slight hop aroma, it is certainly a proper mild. This is the kind of beer that non-real ale drinkers should be weaned on. I think some Milds are more drinkable than ‘golden ales’ that aim to replicate the appearance of lager and attract younger drinkers.
I tried the other beers available and all were highly enjoyable. Camra prize winner Moondance is full of flavour and bursting with hops, in both aroma and bitterness. It is really drinkable and has a great citrus bite.
Later on in the evening I spoke to Mike, (Triple fff's bottling man) he’d had a few. He told me how they have just upgraded to a 14 barrel plant and their is not much bottling to be done at the mo. He was waiting for the real ale train to arrive. The Real Ale Train is a steam train that travels down the Watercress Line from Alton to Alresford and serves beer from across the south of England.
As the train arrived back in Alton a few local trianspotters (including Mike) rushed outside. This was followed by a massive serge of people heading towards the pub. The busy but not noisy Railway Arms soon became very crowded. It was a great atmosphere and everybody enjoyed the superb beer.

Saturday 7 April 2007

Back Soon

It’s been a busy week and the next is going to be just as packed. I have just returned from Hampshire visiting my girlfriend Becky. We frequented 3 great pubs during the week. Reviews of these will be posted as soon as I get back from my next trip, to the Lake District. My dad and I are walking the Cumbria Way over the next week. I’m sure our thirsts will be quenched with some quality brews and a trip around the Hesket Newmarket should be a good insight to an award-winning brewery. Check back on the 16th.

Friday 30 March 2007

Greene King – Real Ale Royalty or Reign of Terror

Born in Bury-St-Edmunds (or BSE if you must), one might expect me to be proud of Greene King's historic brewery which dominates the town. With its small winding streets, abbey gardens punctuated with ruins and a recently renovated cathedral, Bury-St-Edmunds is a some what picturesque place to visit. People of Suffolk are understandably proud of this interesting town but should they be equally proud of its famous brewery?

Greene King has recently been heavily criticized for its takeover and subsequent closure of Hardys and Hansons brewery in Nottingham and its removal of Harveys Bitter from the Lewes Arms after its takeover of the East Sussex brewer. The local residence in Lewes has boycotted the pub in protest and I sympathise with them completely. It seems to go against all common sense to sell a beer brewed hundreds of miles away when a far more superior product, in my opinion, can be sourced just down the road (literally).

Greene King beers are brewed for people who enjoy ale but not for real beer enthusiasts. Of GKs main brands I find GK IPA bland and very uninspiring, Abbot is an OK to good premium bitter and Speckled Hen is not the same since its ABV lowering. Some of their other beers are better: XX Mild is highly enjoyable and Suffolk Strong is a wonderful example of its style. But they do not brew these or any of its quality purchased brews on a large scale. I don’t believe interesting beers are GKs mandate. Porters, Stouts, Milds and Old Ales are not what GK are about. GK IPA is the flagship beer and it is ok for regular ale drinkers, but not for me.

As a Suffolk boy I am proud of the county’s many micros breweries and the regional brewery, Adnams. Choice can be found, even in GKs homeland. Real Ale focused free houses in Suffolk have local breweries such as Green Jack, Victoria, St Peters, Batrams and Cox & Holbrook to choose from. Just over the border in Essex; Nethergates and Pitfield breweries can be found and Norfolk is overflowing with micros. Add Crouch Vale, Woodfordes and Elgoods to that list and choice seems impressive.

Even down the White Horse the best selling beer is GK IPA. I don’t know why when Adnams Bitter and a Mild are always available. I guess people stick with what they know and what is advertised to them (hence the popularity of bland keg lager).

GK sell Real Ale in a rather bland form. If enough people demand a choice of challenging and varying styles of beer then micro/craft brewing revolution will stay alive. Choice is there, but it might not be at your local if your local is a GK pub, this is the shame. I say search out a quality brew in a quality establishment, it’s worth the effort. Even in BSE Old Cannon Streets brewpub makes class beer an option. GK is not that big!

Wednesday 28 March 2007

Short Introduction


Welcome to Tom’s Beer Blog! I love beer. Luckily for me my father owns a pub (The White Horse, Edwardstone, Suffolk). There are also plans for a micro brewery to be built next to the pub.

I already make Cider (Castling Heath Cottage Organic) with my family on a small scale (500 gallons a year) and now wish to become knowledgeable in the process of brewing beer, as to help in the brewery. This is going to be difficult enough, but the plan is also to make it a Carbon neutral brewery and to make it as environmentally streamlined as possible. The pub became the first in the UK with its own wind turbine when it was officially switched on by Tim Yeo MP a few weeks ago.

This blog will chart my journey from beer lover too competent brewer (hopefully). It will also contain articles about pubs and festivals I have visited as well as beer and cider reviews.

I hope my blog will be of interest to any one who is interested in Real Ale, brewing, pubs or environmental issues.