"A quick pint"

The Beer Seller -  the latest addition to Tonbridge’s burgeoning pub scene, has been open now for just under three months, but with just the one visit under my belt, I thought it high time to pop my head round the door and pop in to see what’s on offer.

I needed to buy some new shirts for my fast approaching business trip to Cologne, and after persuading Mrs PBT’s that we could leave the weekly food shop until the following day, headed over to Tunbridge Wells, on the train.

Travelling by rail is definitely the best option particularly on a Saturday, as not only does the town get snarled up with traffic, but parking the car is both difficult and expensive. So with a return fare costing juts £2.90, thanks to my “Senior Railcard”, I caught the 10.29am service over to the Wells, and 10 minutes later was walking up the hill to the town’s main shopping centre.

M&S was my destination, as I find their shirts both comfortable and long-wearing, but with the need to look the part whilst on the company’s stand at the International Dental Show (IDS), it was high time I treated myself to some new ones. IDS takes place every two years, and looking back I recall doing exactly the same thing back in 2017!

It didn’t take me long to select five suitable shirts, make my purchases and leave the store, calling in at a couple of charity shops on the way back to the station. With many music lovers switching to digital downloads, I find these outlets an increasingly good source of CD’s, at bargain prices. Some of us still prefer to have a physical item, rather than an electronic “virtual” one.

I struck gold, not with a CD, but with a 4-disc, special extended box set DVD of the "Two Towers"; the second Lord of the Rings film. Nicely packaged in a fold-out box, and priced at just one Pound, this had to be the best bargain of the year so far.

My return train saw me arrive back in Tonbridge at 12.20pm, with a visit to the Beer Seller firmly on my mind. I had heard via one of our West Kent CAMRA “WhatsApp” groups, that Goacher’s Old Ale would be on sale, so after striking lucky the previous weekend with Harvey’s Old, a small glass of Goacher’s finest would be just what I was after following my shopping expedition.

I headed off along the High Street, and that was where what I’d intended as just a quick drink, turned into a much longer one. A dozen or so yards from the Beer Seller I bumped into my old friend, and walking partner, Eric. I hadn’t seen him since before Christmas, and the irony was that particular meeting had also taken place in said drinking establishment.

It was rather inevitable then that we should adjourn to the Beer Seller, for that mythical “quick pint”. Of course there’s no such thing, despite the best of intentions, so after noticing that whilst Goacher’s Old was indeed on sale, its high octane  (6.7% ABV) persuaded me that something a little weaker would be much more suited for lunch-time drinking.

So spying Kent Brewery Porter at a mere 5.5% ABV, I settled for this more moderate dark ale. Eric did likewise, and we stood at the bar, enjoying a bit of banter with Wendy the barmaid and a chap sinking at the bar. Eric knew both these persons, and we were soon chatting merrily away.

The porter was very good, smooth, dark and full of lots of roast flavours. I scored it at 4.0 NBSS, but I knew full well that when two Englishmen “go for a pint”, there’s always more than one beer involved. Throwing caution to the wind, we both decided to risk the Goacher’s Old, but half-pints only!

The halves were dispensed into our empty pint glasses, which meant they were on the generous side. This was one time when I would have preferred an exact measure, but when I tasted the beer it was definitely something special. Like several other smooth, “old” beers of this nature, it didn’t drink to its strength, although it was very full-bodied.

It would have been very easy to have sunk another half, which is exactly what we ended up doing, because although I had every intention of calling it a day, Eric ordered us another half each whilst I was in the gents.

A short digression here, as I know there are quite a few fans of “toilet art” out there, and I wanted to share some of the magazine and newspaper clippings pasted on the wall above the urinals. Not as good as some, but for those of us who grew up in the late 1960’s-early 1970’s, a touch of pure nostalgia. (For something more up to date, check out the mural below, which is from the gents toilets at the Wuppertaler Brauhaus, -a former swimming baths in the conurbation  of  Wuppertal,  North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.)

I obviously finished my “unwanted” half of Old, but we definitely decided to call it a day at that point. Whilst not packed, the Beer Seller was doing a reasonable trade for early on Saturday; a time when many people would still be out shopping.

With a good selection of gravity-drawn beers on tap, and all priced at just £3.60 a pint, along with a selection of snacks from the butcher and fishmonger just down the road, you can’t really go wrong. Incidentally, the lagers are also local (Curious Brew and Westerham), and a very reasonable  £4.00 a pint.

Mrs PBT’s wasn’t entirely surprised when I breezed in, with that slight look of silliness about me. She’d guessed I’d bumped into someone and also surmised I’d been to a place where drink was sold. Son Matthew had taken her shopping, so all was right with  the world, but the Beer Seller, strong beer and an old friend I hadn’t seen in ages were probably not the best of combinations.