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.
