Kent's Quarter Century

Well it's official, as I've just received confirmation via CAMRA's Regional Brewery Report, that the number of breweries operating in Kent has  reached 25. Not bad for a county the size of ours, and whilst I have reservations as to whether all these companies can survive, it is still an achievement to be proud of.

The breweries range in size from brew-pubs (we have two in the county; one in the east and one in the west), through to Kent's largest, and the country's oldest, brewery - Shepherd Neame of Faversham. In between are the likes of some of the longer established concerns such as Gadds, Goachers, Hodaemon, Larkins, Millis, Nelson, Westerham and Whitstable,  plus more recent arrivals such as Black Cat, Kent Brewery, Moodleys, Old Dairy, Royal Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge Brewery.

Now with the establishment of brand new breweries in Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Hythe and Maidstone the magic figure of 25 has been reached. As I said at the beginning, I just hope there is sufficient trade in the county for them all to survive as, in common with other parts of the country, we have had casualties in the past; Ales of Kent, Kent Garden Brewery and Swale Brewery spring to mind.

In the meantime though, I haven't managed to sample the wares of all of Kent's breweries yet; in fact I still have a fair way to go with the products of 10 enterprises yet to try! For a list of all the county's breweries please click on the following link. Kent Breweries.

Diamond Jubilee Weekend.

Well  I'm sitting here, enjoying a beer or two whilst watching the end of the Jubilee Concert and there's still one more day to go! The weather's been slightly better than yesterday, which wouldn't be difficult, but hey it's not been a bad Diamond Jubilee Weekend so far.


Saturday saw a group of us attending the beer festival at the Halfway House at Brenchley which, as always, didn't disappoint.  There were fifty cask ales on sale, all in tip top condition, served in the splendid rural setting that is the garden of this legendary West Kent pub. As usual Dave Aucutt of East-West Ales had selected and sourced the beers and also written the tasting notes. Highlights for me were Hawkshead Windermere Pale, Naylor's Velvet, Yeovil Stargazer and York Centurion's Ghost. The weather stayed dry, and the sun even came out for a while in the afternoon. A few of us had walked over, and a couple of us walked back. The festival continues until tomorrow, Tuesday, when a total of 75 different beers will have been served.

Yesterday, we joined friends for an excellent jubilee dinner where, despite the inclement weather we sat out under a gazebo in the garden enjoying our meal and raising a toast to Her Majesty.

Today I've managed to do a bit in the garden as well as catch up on some domestic chores. Alongside the excellent beers I enjoyed at the Halfway House, two bottled beers really stand out this weekend. The first was M & S London Porter. Brewed exclusively for Marks and Spencer by Meantime Brewery of Greenwich, this 5.5% abv beer claims to be brewed to an authentic recipe from 1750. Seven different malts are used in the beer; it doesn't say what they are, (apart from malted barley and wheat!), but the beer is described as having  "A sweet caramel flavour, followed by a smoky maltiness." The beer is dark reddish-brown in colour, as all good porters should be, rather than jet black, (probably a much more authentic colour). There is a definite chocolate flavour, so far as I am concerned, and one that is decidedly moreish.  One would expect a brewery with credentials such as Meantime to have done their research thoroughly, and the end result is one that definitely does not disappoint. This is definitely one of the best beers I have sampled in a long time!

The other beer is an old favourite; Adnams Broadside. The bottled version weighs in at a hefty 6.3% abv, as opposed to just 4.7% for the cask version, but really is the perfect marriage of malt and hops, especially after an hour or so's chilling in the fridge! Enjoying a glass of this excellent beer whilst listening to U2's Beautiful Day blasting out from the computer's speakers really is the way to end a perfect day.

As for tomorrow, well the forecast is showing a promising start, but after that it goes rapidly downhill. If I can finish off what I started earlier in the garden before the rain sets in then perhaps a trip down to our local Wetherspoons in the afternoon is in order, if only to see what beers they've got left on sale. Hopefully the range is more inspiring than it was last time I called in; but that's another story!

The Kentish Rifleman - Dunk's Green

Friday,  like both yesterday and today, was a gloriously hot and sunny day, with not a cloud in the sky. It was the ideal day for a walk in the picturesque Kent countryside, taking in a pub stop, or two, along the way.  I've got some leave to use up, so had booked the day off work and couldn't have been more fortuitous in my choice.

I had been in contact with my friend Don who, like myself, is a keen walker, and we had decided to visit the Kentish Rifleman in the tiny hamlet of  Dunk's Green, situated between Plaxtol and West Peckham. Although Don is quite familiar with this pub, it is getting on for twenty years since my last visit, so a return there was long overdue.

We caught the bus as far as Hadlow, alighting at the far end of the village, and then followed a series of footpaths that led us slowly up towards the Greensand Ridge. We stopped on a suitably sited seat, amongst a field of cows, to eat our sandwiches and take in the view. Although conditions were slightly hazy, we could see back towards Tonbridge and across to Castle Hill on the horizon. We then turned due west, skirting the Victorian pile of Oxen Hoath House before coming across the sadly closed Artichoke pub at Hamptons. Now converted into private dwellings,  I couldn't help reflect on the loss of this fine old attractive inn. I'm not quite certain of the reasons for the pub's closure, (property prices probably) and can't remember quite when it took place, but I remember being surprised when I heard the news, as it always seemed a really popular venue.

Crossing the lane in front of  the Artichoke, we continued through cornfields, along the Greensand Way,  in a roughly north-westerly direction, eventually arriving at our destination around 1.30 pm. It wasn't a long walk, by any stretch of the imagination, but with temperatures in the mid to high twenties it was probably far enough. From the outside the pub looked little changed from how I remembered it 20 odd years ago, and indeed stepping inside not much seemed to have altered either. This, whilst welcoming, was slightly surprising as I knew the pub had suffered a serous fire back in 2007 that had caused substantial damage to this early 16th Century building.

There are still effectively two bars, with the more comfortably furnished "saloon" to the rear of the pub. After ordering our beer we walked through the latter and out into the very pleasant and secluded garden. Finding a suitably shady spot we sat down to enjoy our beer - Tolly Cobbold English Ale, sold at  £2.75 a pint. I have to say that despite its low strength of just 2.8% abv  I really enjoyed this beer. On a hot summer's day it was just what the doctor ordered, and ticked all the right boxes so far as I was concerned. The beer certainly had plenty of flavour, and was so enjoyable that we both decided to go for a second pint as well! Other beers on sale at the Rifleman  were Harvey's Best (it gets everywhere, but is still a cracking pint!), and Native, a 3.7% abv offering from Whitstable Brewery.

I wouldn't say the pub was packed, but there was a steady flow of customers, most of who were taking advantage, like ourselves, of the opportunity of some al fresco eating and drinking. We left the pub just after 3pm, when it closed for the afternoon break (not a lot of point of being  open all day around here). We headed back towards Hadlow, following a slightly different route through the delightful, and virtually hidden, Bourne Valley. What was noticeable about both the outward and return journeys, was the fact we never saw another soul on either walk, which was puzzling on such a lovely day. Perhaps it shows that even here in the over-crowded South East it is still sometimes possible to escape the crowds.

We arrived back in Hadlow shortly before five o'clock, which left time for a quick pint in the Two Brewers, one of the four pubs that now remain in the village, and one that is easily the best. The fact that the Two Brewers belongs to Harveys of Lewes is the first thing in its favour, the second being it is still a proper village local.with two bars and a variety of traditional pub games. Its biggest plus though is the quality of its beer, with Cask Marque accreditation and Good Beer Guide status reflecting this. We were spoilt for choice with Harvey's Dark Mild, Knots of May Light Mild, Hadlow Pale, Olympia and Armada on sale alongside the Best Bitter. Don opted for the 3.0% Knots of May, whilst I went for the 3.5%  Hadlow Pale. Both, I'm happy to report, were in tip-top condition.

We could have stayed for another, but as both of us had a lot of things to do come the weekend we reluctantly left the pub, wandered down to the main square and caught the bus back to Tonbridge. It had been a most enjoyable day out that was made all the more so by the glorious weather, the attractive scenery and two excellent, but very different, pubs, both of which appear to be doing well and bucking the national trend!

Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche

I'm drinking a beer that is getting on for a year past its sell by date. I bought it back in December 2010 whilst on a trip to Bamberg in what must have been one of the coldest, and snowiest, winters of recent times. The beer in question is Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche, and I picked it up, along with a host of others, in what is undoubtedly Bamberg's most famous pub, the Schlenkerla tavern. It is a Doppelbock style beer, and with an abv of 8.0% is not a beer to be taken lightly. It is perhaps slipping down rather too easily for a beer of this strength so it's just as well I've only got the one to enjoy!

Many readers will be familiar with the Rauchbier (Smoke Beer) produced by Heller-Braeu Trum, with its highly distinctive taste derived from the malt used in its production being kilned over fires of beechwood logs. This gives the beer a pronounced smoky character that some people just cannot get on with but which I find most enjoyable and even quite addictive. What makes the Eiche Doppelbock different though is that the malt  is dried over oak, rather than the usual beechwood. This imparts a totally different taste to the finished beer. I don't know if the much longer maturation period my beer has been through has mellowed the smokiness, or whether oak gives a smoother flavour anyway, but this really is a superb beer that is none the worst for being kept way beyond its best before date. Chewy toffee malt is to the fore, although the aroma still has a distinctive smokiness about it. The brewery's own tasting notes indicate that "Oak Smoke Malt has a smoother and more multi layered smoky note than the intensely aromatic Beech Smoke Malt.", and this bears out my comments above.
 
I did sample the beer on draught during my visit some 18 months ago, although I can't really remember what it tasted like. Despite being filtered, my bottle had thrown quite a sediment, so required careful pouring. It was definitely worth  the long wait to finally enjoy this excellent beer.

ps. I still have a couple of bottles left over from my period of abstention that are also well passed  their best before dates. Both are from Woodforde's, and both are bottle-conditioned. They were sent by the brewery's PR Company for me to review.  Regular readers will know I am not a great lover of BCA's, especially as the process seems to be so hit and miss. Hopefully these bottles may have improved, rather than deteriorated,  but I obviously won't  know until I try them.  
(The Brakspear's Triple, which I reviewed recently,  was a similar age, so perhaps the Woodforde's offerings will also be ok.)

The Pubs of Tonbridge - Part One

Well  I've been threatening for some time to post about my adopted home town of  Tonbridge, but the article seems to keep growing. You see when you've lived in a place as long as I have there's so much to write about, so many pubs I have known over the years, and so many changes that have occurred. So where to begin?  Let's start with a short description of the town, mixed in with a bit of history, then we'll look at the pubs. There's a lot to get through, so this feature will be in several parts. The first  is about the three pubs that are virtually on my doorstep.

Tonbridge is a busy market town, situated on the River Medway at the upper limit of navigation. It has a population of  some 30,300 people. Although today it is overshadowed by its larger and better known neighbour,  Tonbridge is far older than the upstart Tunbridge Wells, tracing its origin back to Saxon times when it was an important crossing point of the Medway. The Normans certainly recognised its strategic importance, as they constructed a castle, overlooking the river, soon after the conquest. The castle was enlarged and replaced by a stone-built structure during the 12th Century, when it was held for the crown by the de Clare family. Although slighted by Parliament after the Civil War, when much of the surrounding walls were dismantled and used as a source of high quality building stone, the impressive gatehouse remains largely intact, and indeed was recently re-roofed as part of the town's millennium project.

For many years the majority of the town's trade depended on waterborne traffic along the Medway, but in 1842 the town's fortunes changed with the opening of the line between London and the Channel coast, via Redhill. Today Tonbridge is an important junction on the rail network, with lines to London, Ashford, Hastings and Redhill. The town became known for printing and publishing, but both these industries have declined in recent years along with what was once Tonbridge's other mainstay - the production of cricket balls and other sports goods. Today the largest companies in the town are involved with light engineering, distribution and financial services, but the rail link to London also means that many Tonbridge residents are commuters; a fact that almost certainly has a bearing on the trade in local pubs.

One would expect an important market town like Tonbridge to have its fair share of decent hostelries, and until fairly recently this was the case. Unfortunately, in common with towns up and down the country, a substantial number of pubs have been lost during the last quarter of a century; a process that has accelerated in recent years.

I first became acquainted with the town back in 1979, when I started work as  Company Chemist for a firm involved in the Water Treatment industry. Five years later I moved to the town itself, rather than having to commute each day from Maidstone. I have now lived in the town for the best part of 30 years; far longer than I have lived anywhere else. I therefore feel more than qualified to write about Tonbridge's pubs, both past and present.

I am quite fortunate in so much that within 5 minutes walk of my home there are still three fairly decent boozers; even though they have, without exception, changed out of all recognition since I first knew them. Probably the nearest is the Cardinal's Error which, whilst a centuries old building, has only been a pub since the early 1950's. The Cardinal's started life as two adjoining 15th Century farm cottages, which were converted into today's pub in order to serve the post-war housing development that was springing up all around them. Although the pub has been knocked around a bit over the last 60 or so years, there's only so much one can do with a listed building without totally ruining it. Even though the latest alteration added  an extension to one side of the building,  the Cardinal's retains the essential feel of the two-bar pub it started life as. I visited it with my son, a couple of weeks ago and although it was a Friday night we had virtually the whole of the former public bar to ourselves - all the other punters being crowded into the other section of the pub which houses the TV (why on earth do people go to the pub to watch the tele?). The Harveys Best on sale wasn't the best pint I've drunk, but it was still quite drinkable.

The same distance in the other direction, lies the Primrose Inn. From the outside this is an attractive white-painted, typically Kentish weather boarded inn, but getting on for twenty years ago the former two bars were knocked through into one, and the serving area moved over to one side.  I first knew the Primrose back in the early 1980's when myself plus a group of  work colleagues would go there once a week for a lunchtime drink, (how we ever got any work done in the afternoon after three pints of Fremlins Bitter is beyond me, but that's another story!). Harveys Best and London Pride are the cask ales on offer here today, in what is a small, cosy and  comfortable pub, with low ceilings and a number of different alcoves.

Slightly further away is the Vauxhall Inn,  a former coaching inn situated on the edge of town on what was, until fairly recent times, the main road from London to Hastings. This is another pub that has been altered out of all recognition. When I first moved to Tonbridge my wife and I had a dog and this was a perfect place to go with said hound after she had been exercised around the adjacent fields. Back then, like many local pubs, the Vauxhall was owned by Whitbread.  It was fairly basic and perhaps a trifle run down, but it had character and a welcoming open fire in the winter.

Then the pub was sold off to a local pub company, who had a hand full of pubs scattered across West Kent. It was extended to the rear and also joined to the neighbouring, former stable block. This effectively trebled the pub in size. The original part of the building contained the bar, whilst the rear extension, plus the old stable block formed the main dining areas. The real open fires were replaced by fake, gas-fuelled "log-effect" fires and the place re-opened as a "Chimneys" restaurant.  Dogs of course were no longer welcome, so I too decided that my custom was not wanted either, and took myself elsewhere. Like the Primrose, the Vauxhall is weather boarded and over the years since its enlargement has mellowed with age. Today, unless you are in the know, you would be hard pushed to distinguish the old parts from the new.

Also today, the Vauxhall has new owners, and is now a Chef and Brewer pub. It's a pleasant enough place to go for a quiet drink, even  though prices are on the dear side. The beer range consists of London Pride plus one or two guest ales from the Chef and Brewer range (typically Adnams Bitter and Broadside,  Everards Tiger, Wells Bombardier and Young's Bitter), but the beers are spoilt by being pulled through a sparkler which the pub management are reluctant to remove - even when asked politely if they can do so. (Whatever happened to the customer always being right?). On the plus side, there is a Premier Inn adjacent to the pub, which makes this a good base for those visiting the area.

Well that sums those pubs which are nearest to me. It must be said, they are not a bad selection, even if the choice of beer is rather limited.  Next time we'll look at those a bit further afield, before venturing down into the town centre and exploring what Tonbridge has to offer on a  Friday or Saturday evening.

More Beer Bargains at Lidl's

There's some bargains  to be had in Lidl's at the moment, with three different Brain's beers on sale for just £1.29 a bottle! The beers are Brains Dark, SA, and Reverend James. In my opinion this a much deal than the Marston's Fever Pitch, a 4.2% pale ale brewed in advance of the forthcoming Euro 2012 Championship, which was the offer a couple of weeks ago. Although just £1.19 a bottle, I found this beer a trifle bland, but as I still have a couple of bottles left I am willing to give it another chance.

Going back to the Brain's, this is a good range of bottles sold at bargain prices, so it's certainly worth getting down to Lidl's and grabbing a few bottles, while stocks last.

Brain's Dark, at 4.1% is a fine example of a traditional mild ale, and with CAMRA branches celebrating "Mild in May Month", this is the perfect way to be supporting this endangered style of beer.

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.