Fuerstenberg Premium Lager

I described a couple of the Thwaites beers I bought in Morrison's recently, but what I didn't mention was the excellent "Premium Lager" from the Fuerstenberg Brewery, situated in the town of Donaueschingen in Germany's Black Forest, that was also on sale in the store. Priced at just £1.49 a bottle, this extremely pale coloured beer has a slight floral nose, and is one of the smoothest and cleanest tasting beers I've come across in a long while. By that I don't mean it's bland, just a very pleasant 5.3% abv beer that's not too challenging, but just very pleasant to drink and enjoy. I don't know if it's a permanent feature on Morrison's shelves, but with that price and quality it's well worth checking out.

A Walk to the Dovecote

On Bank Holiday Monday I joined three friends for a  walk out to the Dovecote at Capel. We were fortunate in picking what turned out to be the best day of a wet and cold Bank Holiday weekend, and even saw the sun for a few short moments along the way.

We passed through several woods carpeted with bluebells, and it was nice to hear the birds singing in the trees. The weather, whilst still cool for the time of year, at least stayed dry and was certainly a lot warmer than it had been for most of the weekend and preceding week.

 After being cooped up in doors, decorating for two days, it was really nice to be out in the fresh air!  However,  following April's record rainfall, the ground was very wet and soggy underfoot and we were all glad we'd chosen stout walking boots to wear. At least our feet stayed dry, but I have to question the Environment Agency's assertion that we are still in a drought situation, as given the saturated nature of the ground underfoot I feel that the reservoirs and underground aquifers must surely be well on their way towards being replenished by now.

Our route was a  familiar one; up past the Victorian grandeur of Somerhill House, through the woods at the back of this stately pile, and then through the estate to Tudeley. From here we followed an undulating course that took us through more woodland, the occasional orchard and a very soggy field of rape. We arrived at the Dovecote shortly after midday, and after removing our muddy boots, made our way inside and grabbed a table.

The Dovecote doesn't have a website, so a few words first about the pub itself. It is situated in the small settlement of Capel, which lies to the south of Five Oak Green, on the back road between Colts Hill and Tudeley. From the outside it is a typical Victorian building, that has been extended at the front and the side, whilst to the rear there is a part-covered terrace, plus an extensive garden and large car-park.

Being in such a rural location the Dovecote has to have something different to offer its customers. It does this by selling a wide range of cask beers (up to six), direct from the cask together with good, home-cooked food all served in comfortable and uncluttered surroundings. On the day of our visit there were four beers on tap,  and whilst some of us were slightly disappointed not to see any local beers on sale (the Dovecote is a regular outlet for beers from Tonbridge Brewery) we were compensated by the choice of a couple of beers that we don't often get the chance to drink in this area. These beers were Brakspears Bitter and Gales HSB,  served alongside Harvey's Best and Taylors Landlord.

Most of us opted for the Brakspears to start with, and it was so good that I chose it for my second pint as well. At just 3.4% this beer manages to pack in bundles of flavour combined with that unmistakable Brakspears taste that comes from the use of the original yeast and the famous "double-drop" fermentation system. It certainly is the perfect session bitter. A couple of us were bemoaning the demise of the company's Special Bitter, but with the ordinary being so good, the absence of the Special didn't seem to matter quite so much.

The pub was starting to fill up quite rapidly, with a good mixed clientele, including a couple of groups of bikers who had ridden back from Hasting following the annual May Day Run.  What is nice about the Dovecote is there is no recorded  music or other electronic distractions to disturb the gentle art of conversation.

 We ordered our food and didn't have long to wait for it to arrive. When it came it was as good as the beer; my prawn baguette being a meal in itself, especially as it arrived accompanied by a plateful of chips as well. I was going to have Landlord for my final pint, but after a friend had pointed out how good the Harvey's was I decided to go for the more local brew instead. Apart from at the brewery it's not often one gets the chance to drink this beer straight from the cask, and I have to say it really was in tip-top form.

We left the pub some time after three, but not before having a brief chat with landlord Nick. After we'd complemented him on his beer and his food, and saying how pleased we were to see the pub so busy, he told us that they had been like that for some time. It was good to see somewhere that is bucking the trend, but just goes to prove that if you give people what they really want, namely good beer, good food with fast, friendly and efficient service in pleasant surroundings, then they will come back for more. Incidentally the beer prices ranged from £3.25 for the Brakspears through to £3.40 for the HSB, which are pretty good for the area.

Our walk back followed a slightly different route and led us through both Capel and Tudeley churchyards. There had been a heavy shower whilst we were in the pub, but the weather remained dry on our homeward route, and the sun even came out for a while. All in all it was most enjoyable day out and a good way to end what would otherwise have been a disappointing Bank Holiday weekend.

Brakspear Triple III

It's a cold and slightly damp early May evening and definitely NOT the sort of weather we should be experiencing at this time of year! What better then than to crack open a bottle of Brakspear Triple III that I'd had laying around at home for ages. From memory I believe I bought it for Christmas 2010, but never got round to drinking it. By following the instructions on the label, and clicking onto the Brakspear's website, I was able to check when my individually numbered bottle was filled (4th September 2010), so it is now over a year and a half old. It is none the worse for this though, as being bottle-conditioned the beer has matured like a fine old wine.

It was very lively when poured, but not excessively so that it fobbed everywhere. Even so, and despite slow and careful pouring on my part, it formed a thick, fluffy head which meant I had to drink half of it before I could get the rest into the glass! Fortunately both halves poured perfectly clear, and I was left with a glass of  sparkling, light-mahogany coloured beer with a hoppy nose and a wonderfully complex and very satisfying taste. The notes on the label describe the beer much better than I can, viz: "Thanks to the two fermentations in the Brakspear 'Double Drop' system, this highly aromatic and satisfying strong beer delivers its rich flavour with subtlety and balance. Crystal, Black and Maris Otter pale malts provide the backbone of this outstanding rich beer. Hops are added three times to provide a good balance between bitterness and fragrance."

Whilst the head brewer adds: “This is a remarkable beer which is a challenge to brew but a pleasure to drink. It is triple hopped, triple fermented & brewed by the infamous “Double Drop” method in the brewery. A connoisseur’s beer, with a wonderfully complex flavour, aroma & bottle conditioned. Beer at its best.”

That sums up this excellent beer nicely. My bottle had certainly matured well and had developed a slightly vinous edge, reminiscent of a Madeira wine.It was also a full 500ml rather than the sissy 330ml size it is sold in today!

A Taste of Lancashire

We've a new Morrison's supermarket in Tunbridge Wells. Well it's not exactly new, it's a re-opened store; the original having been closed by the company just a few years after they acquired it as part of their takeover of Safeways.

I was looking forward to an outlet stocking a different selection of beers, but when I popped in last weekend I found what was on sale a trifle disappointing. I did however, pick up a couple of beers from Blackburn based brewers Thwaites. I don't often get the chance to drink the company's beers, as apart from a few of the better known ones, such as Wainwright, Lancaster Bomber and Old Dan, one doesn't often see them on sale in this part of the country.

The two bottles I bought were unfamiliar to me; Indus IPA 4.6% and Tavern Porter 4.7%. The former
is a well-hopped, amber-coloured beer named after a former trading ship. The profile notes on the bottle read. "When Daniel Thwaites was embarking on his brewing career, the INDUS would have been voyaging to the East Indies – trading Lancashire cotton for exotic Eastern delights. Our INDUS Pale Ale celebrates ales of that period with a refreshing brew enriched with abundant hops for flavour that stays fresh and crisp to the finish."
The latter is described as a "Traditional porter, with a slightly sour taste. Full roasted flavours with a hint of smoky liquorice."

Whilst neither beer was over exciting they were still eminently drinkable, and of the two I preferred the Porter which, incidentally, was bottle-conditioned. I do have a slight soft spot for Thwaites, as when I was at Salford University, during the mid 1970's,  Thwaites beers were served in the Students' Union bar. They were brewery-conditioned, rather than cask, but they were still a vast improvement on the Scottish and Newcastle slop that had been on sale when I first arrived on campus. The company had quite a few pubs to the north of Manchester, particularly in and around Bury, and in my final year a Salford I quite frequently drank in some of these, especially as I had a couple of friends living in the area. At the time, Thwaites brewed two milds alongside their bitter, and whilst I've never been a huge fan of mild ale, I recall that the darker of these two milds was particularly good.

Thwaites were one of the first breweries I visited. Their modern brewery in the centre of Blackburn had only been operating for 8 years at the time of our visit during the mid 1970's. Whilst modern in construction, it was still a traditional tower brewery, but apart from that I don't remember much about it. There was no sampling room as such; instead we had been taken to a nearby pub by our guide in order to sample the beers, and this was before the tour!

Given the above, I was all the more interested then to read that Thwaites are planning to build a new brewery, on a green-field site, and move out of their current home (Presumably to realise the value of what must be a prime site right in the centre of Blackburn). This represents a major investment for the company, and confirms their commitment to remain in brewing. They state that the new brewery will be "state of the art", and plan to incorporate a visitor centre as part of the development. According to their website, they are still looking for a suitable site at the moment, so brewing will obviously continue in Blackburn for the time being. When the new plant does finally open I hope to pay it a visit so I can compare the new with the old and, of course, renew my acquaintance with some of Thwaites's draught beers.

Two Good Pubs

I've been to a couple of excellent pubs these past two days; one out in the country and one right in the centre of town. Both were completely different, but both had that certain something that many pubs seem to lack nowadays.

The pub in the country was the Spotted Dog, in the isolated hamlet of Smart's Hill, between Penshurst and Fordcombe to the North-West of Tunbridge Wells. I walked there from Leigh station, with my son Matt, on what was probably the only dry day last week; our route taking us through Penshurst Place, followed by a steep climb up to the aforementioned hamlet. For such a small, isolated settlement, Smart's Hill is particularly well served with good pubs, as besides the Spotted Dog there is also the Bottle House a mile or so up the road in the other direction.

The Spotted Dog is a white-painted, part weather-boarded 15th Century inn that clings to the side of a hill. To the rear there is a terrace which affords spectacular views across the Medway valley, whilst inside are all the usual low beamed ceilings one would expect from a building of this age. There are a number of distinct drinking areas, plus a separate dining room. Despite the sun shining outside,  a log fire was smouldering away in the large open fire place,on the day of our visit, but keen to make the most of the currently very rare fine weather we opted to sit outside on the terrace in front of the pub. It was certainly very pleasant to be able to enjoy a pint with the sun beating down on our necks!.

So far as the beer was concerned the Spotted Dog had three ales on tap that day; Black Cat Original, Larkins Traditional and Skinner's Betty Stoggs. I opted for the Black Cat, which was so good I just had to have another, leaving my plans for a pint of Larkins on hold until another occasion. It was a well-hopped, amber coloured ale served with just the right degree of coolness; it certainly slipped down a treat. The pub wasn't packed but there seemed to be plenty of people coming and going. The welcome was warm and friendly and the aforementioned Black Cat beer came with the landlords recommendation, which is always a good sign.  We didn't eat at the pub, having eaten our prepared rolls en route, but the food selection looked good and would  have complement the beer well.

The town pub was the Bedford, in Tunbridge Wells, literally a stone's throw from the town's main railway station. The pub formed a welcome refuge from the wet and wind-swept streets on an unseasonably cold Saturday lunchtime; my visit being as a member of our local CAMRA branch who had gathered there to present licensee Simon Lewis with a well deserved certificate as joint runner-up in our annual Pub of the Year competition. It was my first visit to the Bedford since Simon took over the running of the pub in July of last year, and I have to say I was well impressed.

For those not in the know, Simon is the owner of the Royal Tunbridge Wells Brewing Company, and the man responsible for bringing back brewing to the town after a lapse of 25 years. As someone with over 20 years involvement in the brewing industry Simon also managed to negotiate a new lease on the Bedford, with owners Greene King, that allows him to sell beers from his own brewery, plus a range of different guest ales, alongside GK's usual offerings of IPA and Abbot. When I called in, the pub had Dipper, Royal Best Bitter and the seasonal Helles from RTWB,  together with Gadd's No.7, Tring Colley's Dog and Milestone Lion's Pride on sale, along with the aforementioned GK beers. Bushels Cider, from Biddenden was also available on hand pump.

So what about the pub itself?  Well  inside it has a contemporary feel, with several comfortable seating areas. The walls are hung with plenty of old photo's of Tunbridge Wells, pump clips, plus display boards informing punters as to what beers are coming on and which ones they've just missed. The eight hand pumps also look pretty impressive, and it was encouraging to see them being worked at a steady pace, and not just from the demands of thirsty CAMRA members! One nice touch was the bar-staff asking customers whether they wanted a straight glass or a jug? Now I've always preferred the former, but it seems that here in the "soft south" at least, the glass with a handle is making a comeback, and what's more they are proper dimpled mugs as well!

I'm still taking things a bit easy on the beer front at the moment, but the pints of Gadd's No7 and RTW Spa Helles I had were both excellent. Most of my CAMRA colleagues departed just before 2pm in order to catch the bus over to Edenbridge, where another presentation was due to take place; the town's Old Eden Inn being the other joint runner-up in our Pub of the Year contest.

I bade them farewell,  finished my pint, before crossing the road and popping into Tunbridge Well's newly re-opened Morrisons to pick up a sandwich, plus a selection of bottled beers for drinking at home later in the week It was then a short hop back to the station and the train home. All in all it's been a most enjoyable two days back on the local pub scene.

So what was it about these two very different pubs that was so good? It wasn't just the beer, the food, the architecture, the setting, the people behind the bar or the general ambiance that made them good. It was a combination of all these factors plus, and it's a big and very important plus, both pubs are run by  people who are passionate about what they do,  people who care and people who listen to what their respective, but quite different customer groups want. These factors surely are the hallmark of a good pub!
 

Taste the Difference

OK, I know this post was supposed to be about the local pub scene in Tonbridge; well I am still working on it, so in the meantime here are my thoughts and observations regarding beers from the Sainsbury's "Taste the Difference"  range, which were on special offer the other week. After giving most of them a try I was quite impressed, so here is my review of the beers I sampled. (By the way I didn't  receive  any, cash incentives or any other rewards from Sainsbury's for reviewing their products, but if they'd like to send me further samples to try, then I wouldn't say no!)



Westmorland Ale at just 4.0% is brewed by Jennings, and is described as "a lovely golden amber ale with subtle hints of toffee and caramel. beautifully balanced by hoppy notes from the Fuggles, Goldings and Challenger hops." It's also got a rather attractive label, depicting sailing boats on one of the regions many lakes.  A trifle on the weak side for my liking, but still eminently drinkable, and easy to recognise as coming from the Jennings stable.

London Porter at  5.0%  is brewed by Shepherd Neame, and whilst obviously NOT brewed in the capital, takes its name from the style of beer first made famous by the City's market workers. Regular readers will know that despite them being Kent's largest independent, Shep's are not my favourite brewery,   but to their credit the Porter is an excellent beer. Back in the late 1990's the company had a draught Porter available as a seasonal beer and I'm wondering whether this bottled version is based on the same brew. The tasting notes describe it as "A rich, dark beer packed with intense  flavours of  chocolate  and spicy liquorice.", whilst the front label promises a beer that is  "Rich and aromatic with notes of chocolate. Dark and intense with a hint of spicy liquorice". I have to say I wholly agree with these descriptions, and thoroughly endorse this particularly fine beer.


Yorkshire Bitter 5.0%.  Brewed in Masham by Black Sheep, this beer is described as "a classic and beautifully balanced Yorkshire bitter combining hoppy notes with bittersweet malty undertones and a dry, refreshing finish.". The front label also highlights "Demerara sweetness with full malt body and citrus overtones." I don't have anything else to add to that, except that this is a pleasant and highly quaffable bitter, instantly recognisable as coming from Black Sheep and, yes I can detect the Demerara sugar lurking in the background.


Celebration Ale 6.0%. Another offering from Black Sheep; not a company noted for the brewing of dark ales. This 6.0% rich dark winter warmer certainly hits the mark on a cold, mid-April evening. Described as "a dark, velvety stout with a complex chocolate and spice finish. Beautifully balanced with sweet raisin notes.", it is still currently on offer at three bottles for just £5.00.


India Pale Ale 5.9%, brewed by Marstons at their brewery  in the home of IPA's, Burton-on-Trent. I'd been saving this beer until last as I thought it would be a cracker. At 5.9% it ought to be, but  I found it rather disappointing. Described on the tasting notes as a "Traditional IPA with fresh aromas of and citrus with a clean, bitter hop flavour.", this beer unfortunately doesn't quite deliver for me. On paper it's got everything that a proper IPA should have; the right colour, strength, plenty of bitterness, so why am I not enthusing about it? The beer was perfectly drinkable, but was nothing out of the ordinary, and I'm sorry to say wasn't a patch on the Fuller's Bengal Lancer IPA that I'm sitting here enjoying at the moment!

There are three other beers in the "Taste the Difference"  range, but for various reasons I gave them a miss. The first is  Scottish Craft Lager, brewed by Harviestoun and presumably based on their well-known Schiehallion brand, but at just 4.1% abv, a touch on the weak side for a decent lager. The other was the Suffolk Golden Ale, from St Peter's Brewery. I gave this one a miss as the tasting notes make clear it is a wheat beer, and I've never been a fan of wheat beers.Somehow I just can't get on with them; I can dink one, at a pinch, but one is invariably enough and after that I have to switch to a more traditional.style, based on barley malt.

The final beer is Traditional Kentish Ale, a 4.5% beer brewed by Shepherd Neame. I've already made my views on Shep's quite clear, and whilst their Porter is very good, this paler offering is unlikely to be any better than their run of the mill Master Brew or Spitfire, both of which I avoid drinking.

So that sums up the current "Taste the Difference" range. From a personal point of view I am disappointed that Sainsbury's dropped the continental styles of beers that were formerly part of the range. They were all brewed by Meantime and included a Helles, a Franconian-style Dunkel, a Kolsch style beer plus, I believe, a couple of Belgian-style ales. These beers disappeared from the shelves several years ago. I'm not quite sure why, but perhaps the great British beer drinking public were just not quite ready for them  at the time. Possibly they were just that bit too esoteric and  too far outside  their comfort zone. During the last few years however,  drinkers do seem to have become  more adventurous and discerning in their choice of beer, so if Sainsbury's were to re-launch them they would probably fare much better than they did first time around.

CAMRA - A Local Perspective

I attended my first CAMRA meeting of the year last night. It was an open business meeting, and whilst I'm no longer on the  committee, it was good to get along and find out what's been happening in the branch, and also what is planned for the future. It was good as well to meet up with old friends, many of whom I hadn't seen since before Christmas.

I'm pleased to report that the West Kent Branch is doing alright. On the campaigning side LocAle is continuing to be rolled out, with more and more pubs being signed up to this noteworthy scheme. Preference is being given to outlets serving beers from micro-breweries, rather than larger regional concerns. The branch's involvement with various beer festivals also continues to gather pace, with the SIBA South-East Beer Festival again being held at Tonbridge Juddians Rugby Club in July, and the successful beer joint festival, held in conjunction with the Spa Valley Railway, (which I unfortunately missed last year), going ahead again this coming October. In addition there is the Pantiles Food & Drink Festival taking place in Tunbridge Wells next month, plus the beer tent at the Neville Cricket Ground in Tunbridge Wells, during Kent's forthcoming games there as part of the town's cricket week.

I learnt at the meeting that there are some 480 odd members in the branch,  most of whom we unfortunately don't see, but I'm sure they all do their bit by belonging to the Campaign and drinking real ale whenever they can. Of  those who do make their presence known, only a small hand full  are active which means, as in many clubs and similar organisations, the workload falls on just a few shoulders. Understandably people often have other more pressing commitments, but it would be nice to see some new faces becoming more involved in branch affairs. This particularly applies to younger members, especially as none of us are getting any younger, and there's a real danger there will be no new blood to replace committee members like myself who, for whatever reason, have decided to stand down. I'm certain we're not the only CAMRA branch facing this issue at present, and it's one that needs to be addressed before it becomes too serious a problem.

On a more positive note there are some interesting socials planned for the coming months, including several trips by bus to outlying pubs that we don't often get a chance to visit, a trip on the recently extended Spa Valley Railway across the Kent-Sussex border to Eridge with a couple of pub stops on the way, a circular pub walk in the Darenth Valley again taking in a number of pubs, an historical pub tour conducted by one of our members who is a qualified tour guide, a couple of joint socials with neighbouring branches plus, later in the year, trips further afield to both Hastings and Lewes.

This all ties in with my belief that CAMRA should be fun and not all hard campaigning. Looking at the national website I can't help thinking that there are just too many irrelevant and distracting campaigns running at the moment, ranging from National Cask Ale Week, Mild Month (a waste of time if ever there was one!), Cider and Perry Month (we're the Campaign for REAL ALE for heaven's sake!), Below Cost Alcohol Sales (nothing to do with CAMRA what retailers charge for off-sales in their own shops), Clubs Campaigning (why should we have anything to do with outlets that operate a policy of restrictive entry?) and the Take it to the Top, Full Pints Campaign (ask for a top-up if you get a short measure pint, don't get the Government involved on this or heaven only knows what we'll end up with!!).

Anyway, that's enough griping, on the whole there are far more positive things to be said about CAMRA than negative ones. On top of that I had a most enjoyable evening the other night and have some interesting observations regarding the local pub scene to report on in my next post.

Getting Back into the Groove

I'm just getting back into the swing of things with regard to beer drinking, but at the moment am still taking things slowly. There are two reasons behind this; the first is my system has become unaccustomed to alcohol over the last nine months or so and needs a bit of time to re-adjust. The second is I'm slowly weaning myself off the medication with another four weeks to go at the lowest practical dose, before I can say goodbye to the tablets. GP's really need to act more responsibly, and think of the consequences, before dishing out what after all are powerful psycho-active drugs! However, that's another story and one I don't wish to dwell on; onwards and upwards is the motto!

One thing I'm very pleased to report is that I haven't lost my taste or appreciation of good beer during the intervening period; in fact abstinence has made my enjoyment of a decent glass of beer all the more satisfying. Talk about "absence making the heart grow fonder"!  I have noticed though that beer prices have shot up, even in the supermarkets!  There are still bargains out there, but one must be prepared to look around for them.

I posted some time ago about the excellent cut price Oyster Stout from Marstons, on sale in Lidl's, and the other week I picked up some 500ml bottles of Czech Boheme 1795 (incorrectly labelled as a Pilsner!)  for 99p each in Tesco's. Last weekend the same supermarket was offering Pilsner Urquell at 3 bottles for the price of 2, and I noticed on their website such delights as Adnams Broadside, Fullers Bengal Lancer and 1845 at 4 bottles for £5.50. Our nearest Tesco though is one of their smaller stores, and doesn't stock the full range of beers; hence I was unable to pick up the White Shield which was also on the same 4 bottles for £5.50 offer.
   
Not to be outdone Sainsbury's also had some of their "Taste the Difference" beers on special offer over the Easter weekend. Two in particular caught my eye, so I decided to purchase them. The first was Porter, whilst the other was  Celebration Ale. I've yet to try the latter, which is a 6.0% dark beer from Black Sheep, (unusual for then to be brewing an ale of this sort). However, I have sampled the Porter which is brewed by Shepherd Neame. Many of you will know that I am not a huge fan of Sheps but to give credit where it's due their Porter is a cracking beer. I'm not sure if it's the same beer that was available on draught some 10-15 years ago, which allegedly had liquorice root added to the copper, but tasting notes for this 5.0% bottled version describes the beer as having "intense spicy liquorice flavours alongside chocolate ones". It was certainly a good example of the style.

The Easter weekend saw me enjoying a range of different beers at the mini-beer festival organised by the Nevill Bull pub at Birling - see previous post, but apart from that, and the odd pub stop on recent walks in the country side, I haven't done a lot of drinking in pubs. One beer probably more than any others that I am looking forward to sampling again is my old favourite, Harvey's Best. There are plenty of pubs around selling it, I just haven't had the opportunity to pop into one to try a pint recently.

Hopefully this will change at the weekend, especially as its my birthday. I will let you know how I get on.

The Annual Good Friday Ramble

On Friday I enjoyed a very pleasant walk through the Kent countryside, which always looks splendid at this time of year, having joined friends from Maidstone and Mid-Kent CAMRA on their annual  Good Friday Ramble. I've attended quite a few of these walks, but after having missed last year's event it was particularly good to turn up to this one and meet up again with old friends and acquaintances from my former branch.

I've written before about this annual event, most of which have been led by keen rambler Dick Wilkinson. This year's walk was no exception and Dick reminded us of the fact that as we were all getting older, the walks were getting shorter. The first one, back in the mid 1970's was 14 miles in length; this year's was barely half that distance! I mentioned getting older, a fact borne out by Dick now being a grandfather with both his son and daughter, along with their various off-spring in attendance. Some of us too are starting to feel the slow advancement of the years, with the odd age-related aliment beginning to crop up

This year saw nearly two-dozen of us gathering at West Malling station; not a particularly easy place for those of us travelling from Tonbridge to get to, but after two changes of train and the best part of an hour we duly arrived at our meeting place.  The day had dawned bright and cold, after a frosty start, and most of us had wrapped up warm against the unseasonably cold weather. A week or so previous, the county was basking in temperatures in the high teens, but not so today. We were aiming for a pub called the Nevill Bull in the small village of Birling. Not only were we buoyed up by the fact that the pub regularly serves beers from the recently established Kent Brewery, but being a public holiday, and the start of the Easter break, it was also holding a mini-beer festival.

For me the opportunity to try Kent Brewery beers was an eagerly anticipated one. The company was set up in late 2010, and whilst they were waiting for planning permission, installation of equipment etc,. commenced brewing operations using the equipment at Larkins Brewery at Chiddingstone.  As former CAMRA Brewery Liaison Officer for Larkins I was particularly keen to sample their beers, especially as I had heard good things about them. Brewing at Larkins lasted longer than Kent anticipated as objections from local residents saw the company's original choice of site at Offham being rejected, but fortunately an alternative venue became available at nearby Birling. The Nevill Bull is therefore the nearest outlet to the brewery, and was the ideal place for me to sample the Kent Brewery beers for the first time.

The walk was not an arduous one, with no hills to climb and no stiles to clamber over. Fearing we would arrive at the pub ahead of opening time, Dick was forced to add an extra loop to our route in order to ensure we arrived bang on midday. As the sun was shining and it was quite warm when sheltered from the wind, most of us opted to sit outside on the patio at the rear of the pub, This was also conveniently sited for the barn, just the other side of the car park, where the majority of the festival beers were to be found. Payment for the beers was by means of tokens, with all beers priced at £3.00 a pint; £1.50 per half. The pub itself had Harvey's Best, and Taylors Landlord on sale, alongside Kent Brewery Cobnut. I started though with Spring Top 4.0%, a well-hopped, pale bitter from Ed's excellent Old Dairy Brewery, down at Rolvenden. Then, nipping into the pub to order my food, I opted for a glass of the aforementioned Cobnut.  Described, quite correctly, as a "ruby ale" this 4.2% offering was perhaps not the best introduction to Kent Brewery beers, but then  I have never been much of a fan of this style of beer. Ruby Ales tend to be synonymous with Irish "Red Ales" and always seem to me to have an overdose of crystal malt and roasted barley. This one was no exception, although it was probably amongst the more drinkable examples.

After an excellent fish pie lunch I was ready for more beer, but wanted something lighter in colour and more refreshing on the palate. Westgate Gold 4.2% from Clarks Brewery and Amarillo, a 5.0% from Crouch Vale both fitted the bill and were both in good form. To end with though I selected another Kent Brewery beer, the 5.5% Enigma. Described on their website as a black IPA, this was a style of beer I have not sampled before. Nevertheless it was a good one to finish on. Well-hopped, as one would expect, but dark and malty to balance this beer did not disappoint. My only regret was that the brewery's three regular pale ales/bitters had not been available for me to try.

Most of the party opted to stay for a few more beers at the pub. but my friend John and I left just after 3pm as we had an awkward train journey to make. For differing health reasons neither of us are drinking particularly large amounts of beer at present, so it made double sense to leave when we did. As luck would have it we arrived back in West Malling town with plenty of time to spare, so nipped into a local coffee shop for a welcome cup of tea, before catching the first of three trains that would see us home.

Once again the Good Friday Ramble had been a good day out, with an excellent choice of pub, fine weather and the chance to renew acquaintances with old friends.

How to Deal With Bad Beer

In a post entitled  "Dealing With Bad Beer", renowned blogger and beer writer Mark Dredge describes two beers he tried recently; one a stout and the other a golden ordinary bitter. He found both extremely unpleasant. Neither were off or past their sell-by-date, but  they just didn't taste right in fact, as Mark points out, they were horrible.

I'm sure many of us have had similar situations where we try a new beer only to discover, to our intense disappointment, that it's thoroughly unpleasant. We can't send it back, or ask for it to be replaced, because it's not actually off. With this sort of experience in mind, Mark concludes his article by asking the following questions.

" If I ran that place and I put those beers on the bar, would I continue to serve them after tasting them or would I pull them off the tap? How much responsibility should the bar/pub have on serving beer like this?


It damages what I think of the place as well as the breweries. But what can they do? Make the call that says they don’t like the beer or serve 70 pints of it and hope for the best? As the only fault is the flavour, then can the customer return the beer and ask for something else? When a bad beer gets to the pub then who should deal with it and how?" 

Speaking from personal experience those are difficult questions to answer. When I ran the Cask and Glass, an off-licence specialising in serving cask ales to take away,  I personally tasted every draught beer that went on sale. I also regularly tasted the beers throughout the time they were on sale, just to make sure they were still up to scratch. This is something I would expect every self-respecting licensee to do, but sadly many don't follow this practise, as we all know to our cost. ( I would also like to add  that I always gave people the opportunity to taste the beers before committing to buying a full 2 pint or 4 pint container).

Despite this attention to detail,  something of a dilemma  can arise when you order a beer you are not familiar with. You go through the ritual of tapping and spliling the cask, you draw some off and are pleased it has cleared nicely and appears suitably lively in the glass. However, when you come to taste it, it's just not right. It's not off in so much that it's oxidised, sour or infected, it's just plain bad! The beer could be overtly bitter or cloyingly sweet. It could be too thin, unbalanced or just badly brewed. It might even be as the brewer intended and it's just down to personal preference that you don't like it. If you're a regular beer drinker though, with faith in your own judgement,  you know deep down that for whatever reason something is not right with the beer and worryingly you could be left with 70 odd pints of beer that you will struggle to sell! As Mark says "When a bad beer gets to the pub then who should deal with it and how?" 

As a licensee or bar owner, the first thing  to remember is not to panic. I quite often found that beers I personally didn't like still sold; some people even enthused about them!  There was one brewery who's beers were so un-balanced  that I'm not surprised they're no longer trading. I won't mention their name but they were based a dozen or so miles from where I live and their beers all had a "cricketing theme". One beer in particular was so overtly over-hopped you could smell the resins in the glass - they were that over-powering. Now I like hoppy beers, but there has to be the right amount of malt flavours to balance the bitterness, and that balance was certainly lacking in this particular brew! It definitely wasn't to my taste, and I don't think it was to many other people's either,  but strangely enough the odd customer or three enthused about it and despite my initial fears I still managed to sell the beer. In practise  it was very rare that I was ever left with beer that had to be thrown away, and given the earlier comments, this often amazed me.

As drinkers we all like to think we are good  judges of beer, and no doubt we are in our own way. However, we're all different and what appeals to one person may not necessary tick the right boxes with another. So just because you think a beer is "bad", it doesn't necessarily mean that others will judge it the same way.. Therefore put it down to experience and make a note to avoid that beer, or indeed any beers from that brewery in future.

And if you're running a pub or bar and you find yourself in this position, wait and see what happens first before deciding to take the beer off sale. If you get loads of negative feedback, then fair enough, cut your losses and remove it from sale, but don't be too hasty.  If you DO have  to take it off then you owe it to yourself, your customers, and also the brewery responsible, to pick up the phone and tell them why you had to stop selling their beer. Any self-respecting brewer should be able to handle criticism. so long as it's constructive and fair, so tell them the truth, without being too negative about it.

If you find  the beer sells, but moves noticeably slower than normal, and in addition you receive only lukewarm praise for it, or indeed no praise at all,  make a mental note not to order that one again. The brewery concerned may still phone you, especially if they are looking for repeat orders. Again, tell them the truth about the bad experience you have had with their beer. At the end of the day you have the final say, and it is your reputation as a good licensee/cellarman that is at stake here.

The bottom line in all this is whether you are a drinker, a licensee or a happy combination of the two, over time you will gradually  build up a mental picture of those beers you rave about, those you enjoy, those you tolerate and those you wish to avoid altogether. Sure you will get caught out from time to  time, especially as you become more adventurous in your sampling, but that's part and parcel of the joys of beer drinking. Learn from these experiences; revel in the good ones, put the bad ones behind you and move on. There are always more beers out there for you to sample, enjoy and, if you're a licensee, there's the added bonus of serving the best of  them to an appreciative public as well.

Marston's Oyster Stout

Just a very quick post, almost a "tweet" in fact - except I don't do Twitter! Lidl's are currently selling Marston's Oyster Stout for just £1.29 a bottle, and very nice it is too, especially when you haven't had a dark beer in ages, and you've been working in the garden all weekend!

I might just have to grab a few more bottles on my way home from work tomorrow, before it all sells out. Happy drinking !

A Walk to Pembury

 

After my last post about pubs struggling to survive, it was good to visit one on Friday that was thriving. Seeing as the walk Eric and I had  planned along part of the Wealdway was thwarted by the closure of the Hare and Hounds in Bidborough (see below), we were debating where to go instead, and in what direction to walk. We eventually decided to walk cross-country to Pembury, have a couple of pints in one of the villages four pubs and then catch the bus back to Tonbridge.

We had more or less made up our minds beforehand as to which pub we would visit, deciding against both the Camden Arms Hotel and the King William IV. The former establishment, an old coaching inn, was ruled out as it has recently been purchased by Shepherd Neame. Neither of us are fans of this brewer's beers, and neither are we fans of Greeme King, who own the latter named pub. In fairness to the King Will, the current licensees have done an excellent job in turning round what was once a rather run-down establishment. In fact, last year it was voted as the "most improved pub" by my own local  CAMRA.branch, (West Kent). This made the Black Horse, on the village High Street,  the obvious choice, as we had also ruled out the sport-oriented Royal Oak on the northern fringes of Pembury.

The weather was dull and overcast when we left, with a chilly wind blowing. This was in complete contrast to  the previous day when I had gone out for my lunchtime walk without a coat! Not to worry, at least it wasn't raining, but the rather overcast conditions did mean that as we climbed toward Pembury the views the views back towards Tonbridge and across the Medway Valley were less than spectacular, being shrouded in haze.

Our route took us through the grounds of Somerhill House, once the manorial seat of the d'Avigdor Goldsmid family, but now home to a couple of fee-paying schools, and then down towards the hamlet of Tudeley. From here we followed the busy B2017 for a short while before turning off and beginning the ascent towards our eventual goal. We passed the racing stables of Daniel O' Brien, who runs a highly successful stud farm, before crossing the interestingly named Dislingbury Road. We were passed by several jockeys on their steeds out for a morning's ride, before turning off through woodland. From here we skirted the grounds of Pembury College, an elite fee-paying girls school. The path then passes through the churchyard of St Peter's Old Church, a most attractive building constructed from local sandstone, before joining up with the road that leads from the college passed the slightly less attractive, but still interesting looking water works that in part reminded me of a brewery.

We crossed the busy A228 Pembury Northern Bypass by means of a footbridge and then passing through more woodland arrived in the village itself. We gave the Royal Oak a miss, and headed into the centre of Pembury. Neither of us have done much walking during the last year or so, so we were a bit foot sore and weary by the time we arrived at the Black Horse, an attractive tile-hung pub fronting the Hastings Road, which before the opening of the A21 Pembury Bypass was a very busy thoroughfare.

Arriving around 1.30pm on a Friday lunchtime we expected the pub to be quite busy, which it was, but we nevertheless managed to find a seat at a table next to the fireplace. The beer selection was perhaps on the safe side with Fullers London Pride and Taylors Landlord complemented by the pubs "own" Black Horse Bitter, but as the latter is just re-badged Courage Best  we opted for the guest beer, Adnams Ghost Ship. This pale-coloured beer has a good assertive bitterness with a malty background and  a citrus flavour  from the use of  Citra, and  other American hop varieties. This was my first taste of this 4.5% abv beer. and it didn't disappoint. I also tried the Landlord which was equally good.

There was quite a crowd in the rear of the pub watching the racing from Chelternham, perhaps connected to the racing stables we had passed earlier. I have been visiting the Black Horse on and off for the best part of the last 25 years, What surprised me was that this was Eric's first visit to the pub since 1973 and he's more of a local lad than me! Apart from the pub being extended to the rear, Eric reckoned it hadn't changed all that much, so after checking on the pub's website it was comforting to see that it has been in the capable hands of landlord and landlady Gary and Michelle  for the past 22 years. The couple are obviously doing something right!

From the Black Horse, it was a short walk along the High Street to the crossroads, and then a similar distance downhill to the new Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury. From here we were able to catch a bus back home to Tonbridge, after what had been a most enjoyable day out.

Pembury is a large just to the north-east of Tunbridge Wells with a population of around 6,000.  The village centre, including the village green and High Street,  is a conservation area.