Pub Crawls week commencing 23.4.07
Pub Crawls week commencing 23.4.07
My week started as usual with my husband and I paying a visit to the Wellington in Birmingham – a good specialist real ale pub with 15 handpumps. The board showed plenty of beers I had not tried before, and we started with Hanby Dragon Heart and Heart of Wales Aur Cymru. I need to check whether Heart of Wales is a new brewery or a new name for an old one. Next came E & S Elland St George’s Anger and Blackwater Venom. We were joined by friends and discussed a visit to Sheffield on Thursday, and also whether I would be going to a festival at the Crown in Oakengates at Telford the following week.
Wentworth St George, Tower Gone for a Burton and St George’s Dragons Blood followed and there were no more new beers for me after that. The next round was therefore a couple of beers I had had before, Crouch Vale Essex Boys Bitter and Cottage Windsor Castle. The empty pumps got their beers on but I had a taste of Kinver Over the ?. It was a strong beer at 7.6 and as this was the same ABV as Over the Edge I was unsure as to whether it was a new beer or not. Two more beers had come on so we finished in the Welly with Mitchell Eastwood Brew 500 and Downton Apple Blossom.
We called in to the Briar Rose to see what they had on, and had one new beer, White Horse Saracen IPA and a couple of repeats O’Hanlons Port Stout and Mauldon’s Cuckoo.
We all went to the Anchor in Digbeth to see what was on there and had the following 4 beers before getting transport back home: Milestone Sup-porter, Hoggleys Pump Fiction, Milestone North Rock and E & S Elland St George’s Bitter.
As I was going to Sheffield Thursday, I went to Cannon Hill Park to visit the MAC – Midlands Art Centre – and see what was on in their bar. It was a lovely day so I took my Black Sheep Bitter outside to drink. The beer was fine but I didn’t like the fact that it was served in plastic glasses if it was being taken out.
Thursday I was on the train with friends to Sheffield followed by a tram to Shalesmoor to visit the Cask and Cutler. While waiting for it to open at 12 it was noticeable how it had been smartened up since being taken over. I had 2 beers here: Carm Brea Beeches and West Berks Mash Tun. They were both lovely beers, so I bought 2 more and bottled them along with Glentworth Amarillo Light to take home to share with my poor working husband. We walked down to the Fat Cat another first class pub, where I had Kelham Island Because the Night and Rudgate Simcoe. This pub also had a good selection of food available, and I was tempted with one of their excellent meals. We then had a short walk round to the popular Kelham Island Tavern where I had Rudgate Ioun’s Ale and 2 Acorn beers Darkness and St George’s Best. We were sat in a lovely room looking out to a very colourful garden. Our next stop was the excellent Gardners Rest and I couldn’t believe the selection here as there were 11 beers on that I had never had before. I bottled the following 5 to take back with me: Station House Slain, Sheffield Seven Hills, Sheffield Blanco Blonde, Bullmastiff Old Snarler and Boggart Bigun. I enjoyed the following: Sheffield Crucible Best, Bridestone St George, Sheffield Five Rivers, Wentworth Admiral Keppel, Wentworth Imperial Ale and Bradfield Ye Old English Ale. There is a sunny outside seating area overlooking the river here, and a lovely coracle on the wall. I would have loved a go in that! It had been a lovely day, and we caught a tram back up to the station then the train home.
