Real Ale w/c 10.12.07. Local – Leicester – Nuneaton. I had a surprise when I went into Birmingham on Monday. While shopping in the German Market, I found a craft area and there was real ale on sale from handpumps. The beer was being sold for Wood and I had a half of Shropshire Lass. Very good it was too. Later that day I went to the Pear Tree in Kings Heath and had White Horse Village Idiot. On Saturday, we went into Leicester to visit beer festivals at the Criterion and Out of the Vaults. We had a couple with breakfast in the Mc Spoons Last Plantagenet, then went on to Out of the Vaults. There was a well set up festival there and we found a table and enjoyed 11 beers and managed to keep clear of the heavy ABV beers. I popped out to the Criterion to check what was on, and found only 3 beers I had not had before. We found out there was another pub festival on at the Ale Wagon, so went to check it out on the way back to the station, and enjoyed 3 of their beers. We didn’t want too many as we planned to call at the Crown in Nuneaton on the way back. We enjoyed 4 beers at the Crown including 2 from new breweries. My December total of new beers is now 54.
Real Ale w/c 3.12.07. Local – Hackney – Much Wenlock On Tuesday I decided to visit some Birmingham Good Beer Guide pubs that I hadn’t been to before, and started out at the Utopia, a bistro in the town centre. It was a smart clean establishment, and I had a Church End beer there. It was fine, but at £3 a pint a bit pricey for a 3.8% beer. I caught a bus out to Aston where I called at the Villa Tavern. This appeared to be a community local, and had 2 handpumps showing Ansells real ales, but all they had to offer was keg beer so I left. I caught a bus to Harborne and visited the Green Man where I had an Everards Christmas seasonal. This was an Ember Inn and looked like a comfortable chain pub, as did my next pub, also an Ember Inn. This was the Country Girl at Stirchley where I had a Burton Bridge beer. Later Tuesday afternoon I went with Ray to town and we started at the Lamp Tavern and had an Elland and a Crown beer, both of which I had drunk before. There were 4 new beers at the Anchor, still being painted up following winning Birmingham CAMRA’s 2007 Pub of the Year award. I had beers from Beowulf, Magpie, Phoenix and Kelham Island. I had 2 beers at the Wellington of which a Riverhead was new, and 2 old beers at the Briar Rose. On Wednesday I caught a train to Hackney with friends from the Wellington, and we went to the Pigs Ear beer festival. This was a lot better organised than last year, and was excellent for variety of beers. We were first in at 12 noon, and stayed till around 5.30. As Ray was not with me, I bottled 13 beers to take back for Thursday and Friday evening, and managed to drink 12 beers, mainly due to being able to get a third of a pint glass. There were lots of breweries new to me and I managed to get 9 Good Beer Guide ticks too. It was a smashing festival and I won a bottle of beer on the tombola, and bought some cheese from the samples available, and had brilliant meals too. On Friday we took the caravan to a 5 van site in Much Wenlock to met friends and were lucky that we got there just before dark and were able to get set up easily. The field was slightly sloping, but we managed to level the caravan and have something to eat before joining our friends for the evening. We drank the beer I had brought back from the Pigs Ear festival Saturday was wet – very wet. We went into Much Wenlock in the car, and had a wander round before having lunch and a drink of Marstons Ugly Sisters in the Talbot. We had a Hobsons and a Titanic beer in the George & Dragon. The Raven Hotel did not have a public bar, so we went up to the Gaskell Arms Hotel and had Woods Shropshire Lad. Much Wenlock had a lot of interesting buildings, and we enjoyed our day despite the weather. We returned to the site and after tea spent the evening in our caravan with some bottles of beer. Sunday was dull but dry and we had a lazy morning watching to see if the promised storm clouds would gather, but it was a calm day, and after coffee morning we packed up and had a good journey back. It had been a lovely weekend despite the gloomy weather forecast of gales and torrential rain that never really materialised. My December new beer total was 32 and my total to date 5743.
Real Ale w/c 26.11.07. Local – Derby - Broadway This week’s real ale quest started on Tuesday with a visit to Birmingham. We started at the Lamp Tavern, and had 2 lovely beers from Allgates and Brown Cow. We found another 2 beers at the Anchor that was in the process of being decorated. Something to do with Pub of the Year? The Wellington had a lot of new beers on. It is a long time since we found 7 new beers at the Wellington, and the beers and the company made for a good night. We managed to find a new Titanic beer at the Briar Rose, before going for a meal at the Bella Italian. A good night out. I had made a decision to join a rambling club, and on Wednesday I went to the MAC car park to meet a group for an 8 mile urban walk. It was a lovely walk through Canon Hill Park, through the University grounds to join the canal by the University station. We walked towards Kings Norton and came out to a pub for Lunch, the Lifford Curve. It was a smashing 2 course meal for £3.95, and I had Marston’s Pedigree to help it down before walking back to the MAC along the River Rae walkway. A brilliant day and I will look forward to the next one. On Thursday I had a trip into Derby, and started at the Babington where I had a Milestone and Derby beer along with a breakfast. Next was the Flowerpot where I had a Headless and Peakstone Rock beer. At both of these I had to leave a lot of new beers as I was not able to drink them all. I started making my way back to the station, having a Harviestoun at the Alexandra and a Clarks at the Brunswick. On Friday we took our caravan to the Club site at Broadway and found a lovely spot by our 2 caravanning friends. After setting up, we all had a walk to the special Christmas events the shopkeepers put on for a couple of Fridays leading up to Christmas. There were some hot toddies and nibbles and some lovely Christmas cake in the Christmas shop. It was a shame the weather was so wet and wild. We walked up one side of the street and down the other, and finished off in the Crown and Trumpet where we had something to eat and a Stroud and RCH beer. We went back to our friend’s caravan for a whisky nightcap before turning in. Saturday was dry and we wandered round the shops after lunch in the Horse and Hound where we had a Moreland (GK) and Hook Norton beer. Later in the evening we had another walk into the Crown and Trumpet where hey had a singer playing a guitar of old favourite music, and it was a smashing night. We had Stanway, RCH and Taylor beers. The wicked weather returned Sunday morning, but we had coffee and mince pies together while planning where we would go for Christmas and New Year 2008/09. I had 123 new beers in November, and my total to date was 5711.
Real Ale. w/c 19.11.07. Black Country – Dudley – Newport – Cardiff What a great real ale week this turned out to be. We started out on Thursday going to the Dudley beer festival, but went early so that we could take in a few pubs first. We caught the Metro to Bilston, and had a look in the McSpoons Henry Newbolt, but there were no new beers there for us so we left as we knew it would be a heavy day. We went into the Trumpet, a Holdens pub. It is like a time warp with the décor. Very interesting to walk round looking round the walls and the musical instruments, old tickets round the bar and marvellous drawings. The pub has musical events most nights. We had a couple of beers here while looking round and reading various write ups of the history of the pub. On to the Old White Rose where we had one of their wonderful carvery dinners along with a couple of beers. From there we found our way to Great Bridge where we visited the Port n Ale. We had a look round the pub and chatted to the landlord while enjoying 3 old beers. It was still too early to go to Dudley for the festival, so we caught a bus to the Fountain in Lower Gornal where we had 3 beers, one of them a Good Beer Guide tick. We got to Dudley before the festival opened, so were able to secure a table for the evening session. We had a lovely session on 12 new beers for us, two of them being Good Beer Guide ticks from Empire and Tigertops breweries. We were joined by friends, and also enjoyed the food provided at the venue. Friday we took our caravan down to Wales, a Caravan Club site at Tredegar just outside Newport. We set up on a lovely pitch where we could get out bird feeders out, and when our friends arrived and set up, we went out in the bus to Newport. We had a meal in the Mc Spoons – Tom Toya Lewis and had a new Wyre Piddle beer there, Piddle over Transporter. I only knew of the Transporter at Middlesborough so it was great to see one at Newport. It was all lit up too. We walked up to the Red Lion but there was a large screen with sport on, and the pub was really hot from extra heaters. Two old beers were had here. We called in another large pub, the Pen and Wig and found a new Sharps beer here. We finished the night off at Ye Olde Murenger House where we had excellent Sam Smith Old Brewery Bitter. Saturday we went to Cardiff, and soon found out a Rugby match was on. We looked into the McSpoons – Prince of Wales. It was brill inside and had retained a lot of the old theatre boxes and decor. There were 16 handpumps, all displaying Brains SA clips as Brains sponsor the rugby. We had a wander round till the festival opened, and found ourselves a table. The beers were brilliant, and there were so many for us to aim for. A lot of the newer breweries had gone, but we enjoyed 25 different beers over the course of the day along with a smashing meal. There were loads of Good Beer Guide ticks too. Before catching the bus back we popped into the Cottage, but there were no new beers for us, and we were pretty full! A great day. Sunday we had a walk round Tredegar Park before heading home. There were lovely walks, a lake and woods and I would love to spend more time there to look round. It was a smashing site and a great weekend. My new beer total this month now amounts to 104.
Real Ale. w/c 12.11.07. Local – Worcester – West Malvern. Our real ale quest this week started with our usual Tuesday visit to Birmingham. We went to the Lamp and found a couple of new beers there, then to the Anchor where another 2 new beers were found. The Wellington range was a little disappointing this week and we had 4 beers, two were new ones and two we had drunk before. The Briar Rose produced 1 new one and 1 previously drunk, so it had not been a great night for new beers, but we had a good night in good company anyway. I had received a voucher for a free pint of beer at an Ember Inn, so on Thursday I called into the Kings Arms at Kings Heath where I had a couple of halves free. I had drunk them before but they were in good condition and enjoyed. On Friday we took our caravan to the Caravan Club site at Blackmore where we stayed with friends. After a quiet night in on Friday, we went out on Saturday to Worcester. We had 3 old beers in the Postal Order, then found a new Good Beer Guide pub for us, the Cricketers. This had interesting cricketing décor inside, and we enjoyed an Arundel beer there. We went on to West Malvern and pulled into the Brewers Arms first. The SatNav took us a strange way in, but we made it. We had a lovely meal here washed down with Ludlow Gold, and had a look through one of the books showing Worcester'’ Historic Pubs. On to the Lamb, a fascinating place. The décor has to be seen to be believed. There are flags and all sorts of party regalia from the ceiling and round the walls. One room had a gramophone and LP’s stacked by, and one was put on for us. It was a really friendly place even though there were not many people in. We had a strange but nice beer called Wucking Mords Fuddled but found it difficult to identify the brewery – possibly Northumberland. We only had 8 new beers this week and my total for the month is now 66.
Real Ale. w/c 5.11.07. Local – Sheffield. Our quest for real ale this week started on Tuesday at the Lamp Tavern in Birmingham. We had beers from Bank Top and Ossett before going to the Anchor. There were beers from 2 breweries new to me here. They were Red Rat and Discovery. We also had beers from Stonehouse and Brunswick, then walked up to the Wellington. We had 3 beers here from Full Mash, Derby and Bells breweries, and while here, I went into the Old Joint Stock and had Fullers London Porter. The Wetherspoons Beer Festival is on, so we walked down to the Briar Rose and had beers from 3 Rivers, and a Banks seasonal. A friend took us to the Old Moseley Arms as it was a pub we had not been to before, and it was lovely with a couple of real fires burning. We had a Burton Bridge here, then went on to Moseley to the Prince of Wales and had Blackwater Satan. It had been a good night out. My new beer total for this month is now up to 23. On Thursday I was going to the Pub-Tic Tram-sport beerfest in Sheffield. I had a good trip up on the train arriving at 11.10 so made my way to the first of the three pubs covering the festival, The Devonshire Cat. Having got myself a beer list and a Scatty Bitter, I worked out the beers I wanted from the pubs that day while a horrendous storm raged outside. I drank 2 beers and bottled 4 in this pub, and as it had stopped raining, I carried on to the second pub, the University Arms. Here there were beers set up in the conservatory, and it was lovely out there. It leads onto a grassy garden area. I had one beer and bottled 2. The third pub was the Hillsborough, and I decided to have lunch there. The menu was great, and I chose a curry made from sweet potatoes and butter squash as it was completely new to me. I drank 2 and bottled 3 here. I thought I couldn’t come to Sheffield and not do the Fat Cat and Kelham Island Tavern, so caught the tram to Shalesmore and went to those two. I had a Black Dog beer in the Fat Cat, and bottled a couple of beers in the Kelham. I made my way back to the station, and caught the 15.23 train back. Due to adverse weather conditions I think, it took nearly 4 hours to return instead of the 1 ½ hours there. It had been fine in Sheffield apart from the storm while I was in the first pub, and my month’s beer total is now 40. On Saturday I went back to Sheffield, this time with my husband Ray. We started at the Wetherspoon’s Rawson Spring where we had a good breakfast and 3 of their festival beers in third pint glasses. We got to the Hillsborough Hotel in time for opening, and found seats in the conservatory and enjoyed 6 beers. Back on the tram to the University Arms where we had another 2 beers. We decided to do a few of Sheffield’s other pubs, and caught the tram to go to the Moon, where we enjoyed a smashing lunch for £4.50 each. The pie with mash and veg was so tasty. I really want to go back and have the crab and chilli fishcakes starter sometime. The meals were washed down with three beers that included an Abbeydale I had not had before – Temptation – very nice. Back on the tram to the Wellington where we had 2 beers, then we walked down to the Fat Cat for a Beartown, then on to Kelham Island where we managed a couple. Much as we wanted to get to the Harlequin, we decided to call it a day and made our way back for the train. It had been a great festival, and our Sheffield crawl had been fantastic as usual. The months new beer total is now up to 58, and total new beers to date up to 5646.
Real Ale w/c 29.10.07. Local – Warrington-Liverpool Our Tuesday quest for real ale in Birmingham started at the Lamp Tavern where we found the Stanway seasonal Wizard Brew and Elland Snetzlers Special. From there we went to the Anchor where we met up with friends. There had been a beer festival at the weekend and some of the beers were still on and we had 5 ales here including a brewery new to me, Dunham. On to the Wellington where we found 3 more new ales including one with Cherie Blair on the pumpclip called the Blair Witch. We finished at the Briar Rose where we found 3 new ales. As I am not going to be out on 31st Oct my October total of new ales is 146. On Friday we took our caravan up to a site in Riseley near Warrington. We had a bad trip up the motorway and didn’t arrive till 6.00. Our friends were already there, and helped us to get the caravan on the pitch but they were small pitches and it took a bit of manoeuvring. We had gone there as friends we had made from America while in York last Xmas were coming to the UK to meet up with some Warrington friends, and we had agreed to go up so we could all have a weekend together. We found they had been doing a trail in North Wales and agreed to meet them at the Tavern in Warrington. We thought the bus wasn’t coming so caught a taxi. We got to the Tavern first, and found it to be a lovely single room free house with a good range of beers from micros. The 4 returning from Wales joined the 4 of us and we had a good night drinking beers from All Gates, Phoenix, Rudgate and Bowland. We decided to go to Liverpool for the day Saturday, so parted company and caught a taxi back to site after finding some chips at a fast food outlet. We retired after 1pm after having a whisky nightcap. The 8 of us caught a train from Warrington to Liverpool on Saturday morning ready to do a pub-crawl, and what a great day it was. The pubs were all great to wander round, and as with my last visit in September, I vowed to come back as there is no way all the good pubs can be done in a day. We did the Head of Steam, Crown, Doctor Duncans, Thomas Rigby, Lion Tavern, Ship & Mitre, Roscoe Head and Philharmonic. They all had their own character and styles, and we enjoyed looking at the décor. It got a bit hard as the evening wore on as a lot of the pubs had the Liverpool match on TV. As for the beers, I managed to find 8 new beers that included 3 Good Beer Guide ticks. We got back to the station just as the Liverpool fans were returning from Blackburn, but managed to get on the train before they were released from theirs. Back to Warrington we found the town full of clubbers, and there were some sights to see. We stood eating fish and chips watching the antics of those around us before catching the taxi back to site, where we enjoyed a whisky and wind down from a good day out before bed again. Sunday morning was a little foggy, but we took some photos of the site and had a coffee morning before making our journey home. The site served us well, but was a bit tight to get into the pitches and our friend would have really struggled without a mover on. It had been a good weekend though, and my beer count for the month is 12 and in total 5600.
Real Ale w/c 22.10.07. Norfolk. After breakfast ON Monday we looked up some pubs near the English Whisky distillery as we fancied a tour there, and we wanted to visit the Locks where the landlord who used to work at the Bartons Arms in Birmingham now runs. We drove down to the Angel at Larling, and what a gem this was with a very friendly landlord. We were there about 10.30 and Ray had a coffee while I sampled a mild. It is a lovely pub with 5 ales on, and holds a beer festival in a building by their campsite. Well worth making a note of for future reference. We picked up two new beers there and bottled them for later. We got to the distillery about 11.30 but the next tour was not till 12.00 so we decided to carry on. It looks a very modern purpose built site, so we may call in later this week. The next pub was the Green Dragon at Bungay and Ray had another coffee while I had the Green Dragon Chaucer and bottled a couple including the strong mild for later. This was a very friendly pub, and there was a bit of banter with the locals this time. We had fun trying to find the next pub, the Locks at Geldeston. The sat nav took us down a rough track on the wrong side of the river, then we tried to get to Geldeston on the small unclassified roads. We did pick up the right road eventually, and enjoyed a chilli and chips, and a lovely desert. I enjoyed the Green Jack beers and we bottled another for later. Unfortunately, we did not see the landlord as he was at the Norwich Beer Festival trade day, but I left a note for him. We tried to get to the Royal Oak at Poringland, but it was just after 3pm and they wouldn’t let us have any beer to take out. There is a beer festival starting there on Friday, so we may get back. On Tuesday we went into Norwich and found the beer festival venue. What a lovely set up. We found a base and set about sampling lots of lovely beers, concentrating on the Norfolk ones and new breweries for us. We had 14 Good Beer Guide ticks and they were brilliant. We called into the Ribs of Beef where we had a couple before walking back to the site. We walked back to the festival on Wednesday and there were more beers ready. We were in the other hall and saw the trapped Sparrowhawk. The daft bird had followed a pigeon in but when the pigeon u-turned out, it didn’t. It was flying round the rafters and falconers were coming in when the festival was closed to try to rescue it. On our way back this time we called into the Coach and Horses, the Rosary and the Wig and Pen. On Thursday we went into Great Yarmouth and visited the three Good Beer Guide pubs there. First was the Mariners, where I had a Highgate beer, local to home, and Ray had a coffee. Next was a lovely community local, the Red Herring where we had a Blackfriars Yarmouth Twos – a mix of mild and bitter, and we bottled Marston Moor Mongrel. We were able to sit at the bar and chat to the landlord here as it was quiet. We had to hurry to get the St Johns Head as the car park time was getting close, but the I had a Burton Bridge beer and bottled the new Ruddles (Greene King) beer for later. It had been a good day out, and we called into another pub on the way back, The Shoulder of Mutton at Strumpshaw. It was an Adnams house, and we bottled their Old Ale for later. On Friday we called into the festival, and found another 4 on that we wanted, then we decided to walk round the rest of Norwich’s Good Beer Guide pubs that we had not done this visit. First was the Kings Head where we found about 13 beers spread between 2 bars, and had 3 new beers. We walked to the Whalebone – not in the guide but one we remembered from our 2004 visit to the city. We had a Courage beer here. There were about 8 mainstream beers on, but rather quirky trophies on the wall in the room we were in. One a bedpan and the other a toilet seat! We found a GBG tick in the Fat Cat, then 3 new beers in the Duke of Wellington. The bar here has a load of casks in a glass room behind the bar, so there are plenty of beers on offer. At the Alexandra we had a local CHB beer. At Eaton Cottage we had Winters beer for the pub and a Mauldon’s we had drunk before, so I left Ray with these and headed for the Beehive. I drank one and bottled one from Tindalls brewery here, and had a lovely chat with a local about the North East. Met up with Ray again and went to the Trafford. This was very busy, but found a Taylor’s Dark Mild, a GBG beer I had not had before. A tiring walk back to site finished off a varied and interesting day. On Saturday we caught the bus into town to look for some Xmas gifts and after a wander round the shops we found ourselves outside the festival venue, so we went in to have lunch in the crypt. It was a lovely meal. We found out from the paper that the Sparrowhawk had died. Such a shame the falconers had been unable to save it. It was by now a struggle to find beers we had not had before, as they were no longer alphabetical, and there were lots of empty casks about. We managed 4 then made our way back to site on the bus. I had a wander round the site and the tenting area by the river. There is also a lovely dog walk through the trees that most people would not find. The site is small with no hard standings, but very pleasant to stay on. TV reception is very iffy. We put our aerial up and had most freeview channels, but there was interference on ITV and some of the sky channels. The weather this week has been dry and not too cold. One night was a bit chilly, but I was able to get around in my T-shirt some days. It is now Sunday morning and I am closing as wet windy is forecast so we will be packing up for home. It has been a great week.
Real Ale w/c 15.10.07. Local - Norwich This was to be a poor week for real ale as I was working on a stand at the Caravan show at the NEC from the Tuesday, so we did not get into Birmingham for our usual trip round the pubs. We arranged to leave the NEC early on the Thursday as the Wellington in Birmingham was holding a beer festival and we wanted to go to that. We managed to get there shortly after the festival opened at 5pm. There were some great beers on, and we enjoyed 11 ales that included two Good Beer Guide beers we wanted. I had meant to go to the Nottingham festival on the Friday, but as I was feeling unwell, I decided not to go, and went to the NEC to do a turn on the stand later in the morning instead. On Saturday we picked up the caravan and went to Norwich to a camping and caravan club site there. It is close to the centre and only takes 30 minutes to walk into town. We got pitched up on a lovely grassy pitch with some trees behind us. We put the bird feeders up and spent the afternoon round the van. On Sunday we had a walk into town to visit some of the excellent pubs, and started in the Reindeer where we had a lovely carvery dinner with a couple of Elgood beers. From there we walked to the Nelson where we found there was a beer festival on. We had a couple of Iceni beers and one from Black Dog then went to the excellent Fat Cat pub. We had Fat Cat Honey Cat and a Foxfield beer, but I was very disappointed to be served from a pint glass standing on the drip tray. This is not a practice I like to see, and when I queried it I was told it had just been poured. I observed beer going from the glass again quite a bit later for someone else, and then another pint glass appeared on the drip tray with beer in it. This time I spoke to the landlord and he said it was asked for in error, then that it was his beer. Hmmm. We walked back to the caravan site via the Kings Arms, another lovely pub, and had Tindalls Seething. By the end of this week my real ale total had reached 5524.
Real Ale w/c 8.10.07. Local - Ockbrook – Local. This week’s real ale quest started off with our Tuesday visit to the Anchor in Digbeth. There were some interesting beers on this week, and we had 4 new beers and one I had drunk before. We went on to the Lamp Tavern and found 2 new beers there too. We had been told the Briar Rose had a couple of new beers, so we went there before the Wellington, and there was one new one there for me. The Wellington was busy by the time we got there as there was quite a large group having a tasting session, but we eventually got a table and enjoyed 3 new bees that included 2 Good Beer Guide ticks, and a repeated beer. It had been a great night with 10 new beers. When we were at the Brunswick, we found a leaflet advertising a beer festival at the Royal Oak in Ockbrook, Derby, and on Thursday we went up in the car to visit the festival. There were stillages set up in a large room in the pub, and as Ray was driving he had orange juice while I sampled a few beers and bottled 13 to take out with us on Friday. I concentrated on bottling new breweries and beers we had not had, and drank some old favourites. Some friends from the Wellington in Birmingham joined us and we had a good night. We also enjoyed a tasty meal at reasonable cost. On Friday we took our caravan to Chapel Lane in Wythall to meet friends for the weekend, and enjoyed beers from the Royal Oak festival on the Friday night. We went into Birmingham on the bus Saturday morning and went to the Wellington where we had 4 beers including 2 new ones. I popped next door to the Old Joint Stock where I found a Beowulf beer I had wanted for ages. We also visited the Anchor and the Lamp Tavern enjoying beers on offer. The journey back was rather eventful and we ended up in a taxi, but it had been a great day, and we finished off the beers from the Royal Oak that night. A lazy Sunday morning followed before returning the caravan to storage. My beer total after this week stands at 5509.
