Adnam's Old Ale provides a welcome change from Ghost Ship

On Tuesday evening, after dinner, I made a spontaneous and quite uncharacteristic decision to visit a local pub for a couple of hours. The pub in question was the Nelson Arms, Tonbridge’s premier, traditional alehouse, and one of the three runners up in CAMRA’s Pub of the Year competition, 2023. The reason for this decision was a rare appearance on the bar by Adnam’s Old Ale. This seasonal beer is a rarity in itself - certainly outside its Suffolk homeland, but as this lush and mellow dark beer is one, I haven’t tasted, since I can’t remember when, I decided to get myself down to the Nelson, before the cask ran out.

So, how did I know that Adnam’s Old was on sale at the Nelson? It’s all down to a phone app, called Real Ale Finder which, whilst not a particularly well-known app, lists beers on sale at pubs that have signed up to it. In West Kent this includes a handful of well-known pubs, alongside our local JDW outlets. The Nelson subscribes to Real Ale Finder, and regularly updates its entries – a vital point, if these apps are to deliver the service they claim to. The app is certainly useful for someone like me whose pub going isn’t that regular, and in the past, I have been alerted to the availability of a number of “must try” beers, following a quick flick through Real Ale Finder.

In this fashion, I have enjoyed Harvey’s Old, Prince of Denmark, St Austell HSD, and Gales HSB, so after spotting the Adnam’s seasonal dark beer at the end of last week, my intention was to call in at the Nelson and treat myself to a pint or two of it. For a variety of reasons things didn’t quite work out that way, but after noticing the beer still on sale on Tuesday, I decided it was then, or never. I persuaded Matthew to accompany me, and better still, I talked him in to drive me there.  I’m still not sure how I achieved that, although it was well worth me buying him a pint of Dortmunder, in return for the favour.

The Nelson was relatively quiet when we arrived, but this was perhaps to be expected on a chilly Tuesday evening in early February. I was relieved to see that the Adnam’s Old was still on sale, so I ordered a pint for me, plus the aforementioned Dortmunder for Matthew. As expected, the beer was everything it was cracked up to be, but then Adnam’s brew some pretty good beers when they put their mind to it, which makes me wonder why they continue putting all their weight behind Ghost Ship.

The latter is fine when you want something citrusy and refreshing a hot summer’s day, but Ghost Ship, seems to be everywhere. I much prefer Adnam’s Ordinary, known as Southwold Bitter these days, but this is a beer we rarely see in this part of the country. Instead, we’re far more likely to come across Broadside, a malt-driven beer I personally find overtly cloying. I really don’t understand why the brewery dropped the excellent Adnam’s Extra in favour of Broadside, particularly after the former won CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain, back in the day.

The Nelson’s landlord, Matt, came over an had a chat, mainly about beer of course, and primarily about dark ales. Matt is someone who really knows his beers and will often go out of his way to source something special, and out of the ordinary. Just recently, he has featured a range of Scottish beers, in celebration of Burns Night, and knowing my appreciation of the dark stuff, very kindly, gave me a bottle of Orkney DRK ISLD RSRV (Dark Island Reserve) a 10% abv strong dark ale, that has been aged in whisky casks. It is presented in an individually numbered, 330ml swing-top bottle, and is definitely a beer for laying down and keeping for a special occasion.

Whilst we were chatting, a customer came in and asked for his American-style growler to be filled up. I wasn’t sure which beer he went for, although I’ve a feeling it was the Adnam’s Old. I was more interested in his stainless steel “growler” complete with its own swing top cap, and if I hadn’t been talking to Matt, I would have asked him, where the container came from. I haven’t seen many of these robust, US- style steel, take out containers, which are light years away from those brown plastic "Karry Kegs", that you occasionally still see around. We supplies them for take-out cask, when we had our real ale, off-licence, but unless the beer is going to be drunk quickly, it rapidly loses condition, and becomes flat and lifeless. These plastic containers even have a vent cap, and you have to ask for heaven’s sake, why?

There was a second dark ale on the bar, in the form of Storm Surge, a full-bodied stout, from Rother Valley. I gave this one a try, although I much preferred the Adnam’s Old. Rother Valley Brewery are one of those breweries that have been going for a long time, keeping their head down, whilst turning out a well-respected, range of beers, encompassing a wide range of different styles. Based at Northiam, on a hop and dairy farm, just across the border into Sussex, RVBC have been going since 1993. They must be doing something right, but you never hear much about their beers, or see CAMRA giving the company much in the way of publicity

Matthew and I left, shortly before 9.30pm. I had a few items to pick up from Sainsbury’s on the way home, and both of us and work, the following morning. We said farewell to Matt on the way out, and thanked him for an interesting evening.