48 crafty cans of Flavourly

At the beginning of March, I ordered myself a mixed case of 48 cans of “craft beer” from Flavourly. The case was duly despatched, but the courier service were unable to deliver, as no-one was at home. The fact that DPD had chosen the only day of the week when Mrs PBT’s  works away from home to drop my package off , was just sod’s law, but they did re-direct it to a local shop, from where I could collect it.

I turned up at the designated collection point – a Londis operated retailer in Tonbridge High Street. Fortunately, I was able to park reasonably close by, as 48 x 330ml cans are quite heavy – so much so that the shop manager asked if it was a case of bricks I was collecting?

After struggling back to the car, I managed to get my mixed case of beers safely home. I was now the proud owner of four dozen cans of craft beer, but what were they? Well, I’ve worked out that there are 22 different brews, which suggests that whilst there are two cans of most of the beers, there must be three of a couple of them.

Before going any further, it’s worth taking a closer look at Flavourly. The first thing to note is that unlike certain other online beer retailers, Flavourly are not a subscription service. This means there is nothing to sign up to, and you can just order, as and when you please. Having said that, they do tend to pester you a bit with emails, highlighting their latest offers, but with no obligation to buy, you can just delete these messages.

Flavourly tend to work with certain breweries, such as Quantock, First Chop, Freedom, By the Horns, Hilden and Beatnikz Republic, to name a few. As well as showcasing beers from these, and other, breweries, they sometimes commission “one-off” collaboration brews with certain of these companies. This provides a certain volume for the breweries concerned, and there is the bonus of a firm commitment from Flavourly to take the entire batch. The beers that the company sell are packaged solely in the 330ml can format, which helps streamline their mail order despatch, business model.

My motives in buying this rather large case were mixed but were underscores by a desire to have a selection if different beers at home, to choose from. I’m not sure whether this has actually worked, as some of the beers have, quite frankly, been disappointing. You could argue that with such a large selection to choose from, there are bound to be a few duds, and you would be right in thinking this.

However, at the other end of the spectrum you might expect here to be a few stunners, and quite frankly there aren’t any. Fortunately, there are some very good ones, and these include Freedom Brewery - Urban Lager, West Berkshire Brewery – Detour Pale Ale, Renegade Lager, By the Horns – Levitate Pale

Ale. Worthy of special mention are veteran Northern Ireland brewers Hilden Brewing, whose Spectrum Pale Ale came extremely close to being a stunner, and First Choice, whose collaboration brews, with Flavourly, included a very drinkable West Coast Session IPA, plus that rarest of beers, a Vienna Lager.

It would be churlish for me to name and shame the dud brews, and also un-becoming for a member of the British Guild of Beer Writers, but why would any self-respecting brewer decide to add orange juice concentrate to a beer? Surely, it is beer that is supposed to be brewed, rather than a “beer cocktail?”

At the end of the day, you win some, you lose others, and on the plus side I’ve had the chance to enjoy some interesting beers. The flip side is the continual search for the new and the original does, at times, invoke a deep-seated sense of longing for the comfort and sense of security that goes with the familiar. In which case, make mine a pint of Harvey’s Sussex Best!

 

First Sunday in April

Judging by recent reports, last week’s Tonbridge Beer Weekend appears to have been a success, with all seven outlets experiencing additional footfall, and of course extra sales. I found evidence of this when I called in at the Beer Seller in Tonbridge, late on Sunday afternoon, having just returned from an invigorating and most enjoyable hike along a section of the North Downs Way. What I wanted more than anything at that moment, was a nice cool and refreshing glass of beer.

Son Matthew had kindly offered to pick me up from the station, so I suggested us meeting at the Beer Seller – the nearest of the seven pubs participating in the Tonbridge Beer Weekend. I met him outside the pub, after he had parked the car, and we entered the pub full of anticipation.

There was a fair sprinkling of customers in the bar but judging by the lack of beer signs above the taps on the back wall, behind the bar, it was obvious there had been a run on the beer. So, good for the pub, but not so good for a thirsty drinker with a craving for a pint of Goucher’s Gold Star.

“Sold out, I’m afraid,” was the grim news from the girl behind the bar, “Tonbridge Beer Weekend, has been taking place, and we’ve been rushed off our feet.” Disappointed, but not entirely surprised, I inquired about the O.W.L. beers I noticed on sale. Apparently, they are a new brewery based in Uckfield, with the letters standing for "Only With Love." After glancing at the few remaining beers, I decided that O.W.L. Wingding Transatlantic Pale Ale would fit the bill.

The beer might have been Transatlantic and Pale, but little did I realise it was a keg, rather than a cask beer. No matter, such was my thirst that anything wet and cool would have done the trick. According to the brewery, the beer is “A pioneering piece of crossover magic that spans the big pond. We've smashed together the best of US and British hops to create a banging gooseberry and spice hazy pale that flies oh so right. Hops: Citra, Magnum and Goldings.”

I posted the following entry on “Untappd,” whilst in the pub. “Interesting. Very hazy looks like a milkshake but hits the spot after a seven-mile hike,” which summed up the beer quite nicely. Matthew though, was far more reserved with his choice of a lager from Gun Brewery.  We only had the one, but it was a nice, calm, and relaxed session, but then it had been a nice relaxing day’s walking on the North Downs as well.  If I’m honest, it was one of the nicest stretches of this long-distance footpath to date, and that’s saying something, seeing as I’ve now walked the majority of the trail, with just two sections left to walk.

Ascending the steep chalk escarpment, and finding myself on top of local beauty spot, Colley Hill, was almost like a revelation, despite the traffic noise from the rather too close M25 motorway. Next came Reigate Hill, where the whole of Surrey seemed out and determined to enjoy itself. There were families plus attendant children and dogs, lapping up the mid-spring sunshine, and whilst there was still a chill in the air, it was really pleasant to be out in the fresh air, walking across the springy turf.

With far-flung views south across the Weald to Ashdown Forest, and even beyond, to the South Downs, silhouetted against the far horizon, it felt like being on top of the world. After a welcome “comfort” stop at the café and picnic area overlooking Reigate, far below, I began the long and slow descent as the trail skirted around Gatton Park, towards Merstham and the train home.

Merstham station, with its friendly staff, quaint little waiting room and immaculately kept toilets, is worthy of a special mention, and is a place I remember as the start of a previous walk, last autumn. Unfortunately, with just one train an hour, there wasn’t time to call in at the nearby Feathers pub, although the interior certainly looked inviting as I walked by, which brings us nicely back to Tonbridge and the Beer Seller.

 

 

Tonbridge Beer Weekend 2022

Tonbridge Beer Weekend 2022, is in full swing at the moment, with seven local pubs participating in an event designed to showcase the best in local beers and, of course, local pubs. Seven pubs and bars in the town are participating, and the selection includes a couple of newcomers, as well as familiar places such as the Beer Seller, Fuggles, the Nelson, and the Humphrey Bean. New to the party are the Ivy House, Verdigris, and the Constellation Brewery Taphouse.

Each outlet will feature beers from a particular brewery, with Fuggles, for example focussing on the excellent Time & Tide Brewery, from East Kent, and the Beer Seller stocking O.W.L. beers, (I can’t find this one online). The event is slightly ad-hoc, and it’s not entirely clear who the organisers are, but it promises to a good opportunity to sample beers that aren’t often available locally, as well as supporting local pubs and bars.

With a busy weekend ahead, and not being completely footloose and fancy free, I took a walk down to the Nelson Arms last night, as I knew from their website that they had beers from Sheffield-based, Abbeydale Brewery on tap. My visit was a rare act of spontaneity, as usually my evenings out are planned in advance, but seeing the line-up of beers, along with messages on the various beer-related WhatsApp groups, nipping out to the Nelson seemed the logical thing to do.

I met up with a friend who I hadn’t seen since last November. It turned out he’d been even busier than me, with what sounds like a punishing work schedule. He too was taking the opportunity of a break, as well as sampling the extensive range of beers that landlord Matt, had laid on, and with a couple of beers from Kent Brewery complementing the Abbeydale one, it could have turned into a dangerous night!

The pub was quite crowded when I walked in, and I recognised a few familiar faces, including our local Green Party councillor, who as chairman of the local residents’ association, played an instrumental part in getting the Nelson listed as an ACV, thereby helping to save it from unwanted development.

I acknowledged him from across the bar, and then made my way towards the rear of the pub, where I found my friend sitting in a small alcove, reading the paper. We exchanged greetings along with beer recommendations before I headed back to the bar and ordered a pint of Abbeydale Absolution. Before doing so, I asked my friend if he wanted a top-up, but he said he wouldn’t be staying too much longer, as he’d arrived much earlier than I had, and needed a clear head for the following morning.

The Absolution was a fine, straw-coloured, pale ale, with a good balance between hop and fruit flavours, but my second pint came from a source, much closer to home. Chocolate Orange Porter, from Kent Brewery, did exactly what it said on the tin and was an interesting blend of bitter oranges and dark chocolate. It was back to Abbeydale for the final beer of the evening, and as it was a strong one, I just had a half. Black Mass, with an appropriate devilish strength of 6.66%, was similar, in some respects, to the Chocolate Orange, but with cherry and raisin flavours replacing the oranges.

I wasn’t just there for the beer though, as it was good to catch up with my friend, and also with Matt the landlord, who stopped by for a quick chat. I left the pub shortly before 10.30pm, the strong beers helping to fortify me against the cold, on the walk home.

I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to make it to any of the other participating pubs, this weekend, as today I was working on a project in the garden and tomorrow morning, I’m off on a hike– North Downs Way again, but from what I’ve seen, and heard, Tonbridge Beer Weekend seems to have been a rip-roaring success.

Even in the most unexpected places

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned I had called into the Vauxhall Inn, for a quick pint. It was a Sunday afternoon, and the weather, which was wet and windy, wasn’t exactly conducive to gardening.  So, needing an excuse to stretch my legs and get out of the house, the Vauxhall fitted the bill, even though at the time, I considered it something of a distress purchase.

I was feeling too lazy to walk down to a proper pub, such as the Nelson, or a beer café like Fuggles, so the Vauxhall it was, because when it comes to pubs, there is not much choice within the proximity of Bailey Towers. In fact, since the closure and subsequent demolition of the Primrose, the Vauxhall and the Cardinal’s Error are the only hostelries within 10 minutes’ walk of home and picking a pub from those two is pretty much Hobson’s Choice.

The Cardinal’s has been unknown territory since before the pandemic. It’s a typical estate pub, but not your typical estate
pub building. So instead of a flat-roof, concrete box, we find instead an attractive old tile-hung pub which in 1949, was converted from two former farm cottages to serve the surrounding post-war housing development.

As with the Vauxhall, which I will come onto in a moment, I’ve enjoyed a mixed relationship with the Cardinal’s Error over the years. When I first started working in Tonbridge, which was some five years before I moved to the town, the Cardinal’s was a good place to enjoy a lunchtime drink. No one really batted an eyelid back then, about having a couple of pints at lunchtime, and the pub did serve a particularly well-kept pint of Fremlin’s Bitter.

The pub had two bars, back then, which were very different and distinct from one another, but this arrangement worked. Things changed a decade or so later, and whilst I can’t remember exactly when the changes took place, they were to the detriment of both bars. Today, the Cardinal’s is divided internally into two distinct drinking areas by a massive brick chimney, with open fireplaces either side.

The cosy atmosphere of the former saloon bar vanished, as did the rough and ready feel of the public bar, and today there is still an uneasy truce between the two halves. The Cardinal’s also turned into much more of a local’s pub than it had been previously (probably due to the demise of the lunchtime, office, drinking crowd). There’s nothing wrong with this change, of course, but the pub isn’t really some where to go for a quiet drink, especially when one is on ones’ own.

For these reasons, it was the Vauxhall that I headed along to the other Sunday, and despite my initial misgivings, the pub managed to tick many of the right boxes. The Vauxhall is a former coaching inn, sited on what was, once the main road between London and Hastings. When my wife and I first moved in with one another, we had a dog, and our canine companion needed plenty of exercise.

There is an area of enclosed grassland, sandwiched between the A21 Tonbridge Bypass and a track leading up from the Vauxhall pub. It is the site of the former municipal tip, although the tips has been filled in and the area grassed over. It is known, rather unimaginatively, as “The Field,” but it provided a good area to allow the dog a good run around, and then repair to the Vauxhall for a couple of pints.

The Vauxhall was the perfect place to go, as with The Field sandwiched in between home and the pub, the dog and I could combine exercise with an hour or two in the pub. Like many local pubs back then, 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, plus a couple of well-kept cask beers from the Whitbread stable.

Sometime in the late 80’s the Vauxhall was sold off to a local pub company, who had a small number of pubs scattered across West Kent and underwent a major renovation. This was much more than just a quick paintjob, as the pub was changed out of all recognition. It was extended to the rear and was joined with the adjacent, free-standing, former stable block, effectively increasing the size of the pub by a factor of three. The original part of the building contained the bar, whilst the rear extension, plus the old stable block formed the main dining areas.

The proper open fires were replaced by fake, gas-fuelled "log-effect" ones 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 off elsewhere. That was getting on for 30 years ago, and the Vauxhall has slowly mellowed since its enlargement. The extension has blended in so seamlessly with the original pub, that unless you are in the know, you would be hard pushed to distinguish the old parts from the new.

The Vauxhall is now a Chef and Brewer pub, and despite various ups and downs over the years, is a pleasant enough place to go for a quiet drink. Mrs PBT’s and a group of her friends, reported back on a very nice post-Christmas meal, and get together at the pub, which provided further encouragement plus a reason for me to call in. I noticed that the customers are encouraged to use the side entrance, rather than the one at the front, and this is possibly a left-over from Covid restrictions. The sign, asking customers to wait to be seated was probably the same, because as soon as I was spotted and declared that I just wanted a drink, I was informed I could go and sit anywhere in the front part of the pub.

There was a reasonable number of customers in the bar area, including a student working away on a laptop, at a table in the corner. I walked up to the counter and ordered a pint of Black Sheep Pale Ale – the other cask ale was Greene King IPA, and stood at the bar for a while, watching the comings and goings. Judging by the number of people with dogs, the Vauxhall seemed very canine friendly, a real change from when it first re-opened after its enlargement.

There was a young girl with a puppy, sat at one side of the bar, plus an older gent with a quite boisterous beagle. I struck up a conversation with him, and it turned out that he lived locally, and normally drank in the Nelson. He had called in at the Vauxhall, for a change – rather like me really, and again like myself, was enjoying the Black Sheep. This was a pale coloured and well-hopped ale, which I believe is a relatively newcomer from the Black Sheep pen (horses are kept in stables, whilst sheep are kept in pens!)

Later on, as if to complete the canine line-up, a couple came in accompanied by a large and rather elegant looking Afghan hound. All in all, it was a pleasant half hour or so’s interlude, and all things being equal, I’m quite likely to call in again.

With the diners tucked away, in the lower (rear) part of the pub, it was difficult to tell how busy the lunchtime food trade had been, but there were plenty of cars parked outside, so I imagine business must have been quite brisk.

For those contemplating a longer stay, there is a Premier Inn adjacent to the pub, which makes this a good base for those visiting this attractive part of West Kent; although like many of the chain’s other hotels, there is a busy main road within earshot.

 

Re-visiting the Bourne Valley

Last Friday’s trip made use of the 222 bus, operated by Autocar. It is a service the local CAMRA group and I have used in the past, and it runs between Tonbridge and Borough Green. It also runs to Tunbridge Wells a couple of times a day, but this seems to be connected with the school run.

There were three pubs on our schedule that day, starting with an old favourite, and ending with one that we don’t often manage to visit. It was a lovely sunny day, with hardly a cloud in the sky, as we boarded the 11.22 bus in Tonbridge. There was a reasonable number of people on board, apart from ourselves, which is encouraging given the looming threat of cuts to bus services.

We alighted from the bus on the edge of the hamlet of Dunks Green, right outside the Kentish Rifleman – our first pub of the day, and the one we would be spending the most amount of time at. As I mentioned earlier, this attractive 16^th Century pub is a long-time favourite and one we have visited on numerous occasions, but only once before by bus. Previous visits have normally involved walking uphill from Hadlow, towards the slopes of the Bourne Valley, and then cutting across to Dunk’s Green.

The Rifleman is a very difficult pub to photograph as the sun is invariably behind the building making the chances of a decent photo almost impossible, and given the conditions on Friday, the same applied. Inside the pub, there is a long room at the front, which serves as a public bar, with another room behind. This also has access to the bar-counter/serving area, but then leading off to the right, and behind the centrally placed chimney breast, is a further room still, which serves as a dining area.

The pub opens at 11.30, so arriving 15 minutes later there was still plenty of room inside. Given the fine weather we opted to sit in the garden, although as the lawn had been re-seeded, we were directed to a marquee at the back, that had been erected on the patio. The landlord advised us that those of us wishing to eat (all of us), would be wise to order sooner, rather than later, as they were expecting several parties of visitors that lunchtime.

There were four cask beers on sale – one too many as we subsequently discovered, and these were Harvey’s Best, Tonbridge Traditional, Old Dairy Blue Top and Pig & Porter Jumping Frog. I had a half of the Tonbridge, plus the Pig & Porter beer, before ending up with a pint of Harvey’s.  All were very good, so when one member of the group announced that the Blue Top wasn’t at its best, I felt somewhat relieved not to have chosen it. However, it does begs the question, is four one cask ale too many?

Food-wise, I opted for the homemade, steak & ale pie – somewhat predictably, although only after checking that it was a “proper pie.” I do think that the message has got through on this issue, as the infamous casseroles with pastry lids, masquerading as pies, now seem few and far between – good! Served with new potatoes, gravy, plus a selection of seasonal vegetables it was not too filling, but just the right amount. As the lunchtime wore on, all these areas started to fill up, mainly with diners, but their number did include a good sprinkling of drinkers.

After a most pleasant stay, where we witnessed the Kentish Rifleman as busy as I can remember, it was time to move. We thanked the staff and moved outside to wait for the bus. The sun was still problematic as far as photography was concerned, but the thing that really amazed us, was the row of parked cars stretching out down the hill, as far as we could see.

One member of our party remarked that it was a shame that some of these customers didn’t think to travel to the Rifleman by bus, but as another replied, fuel prices will have to rise far more steeply, than at present, for people to even contemplate abandoning their cars.

The second pub was just a five-minute ride away, in the nearby village of Plaxtol. We were somewhat surprised when the bus came into view, to discover it was a double-deck vehicle, particularly in view of the narrowness of some of the lanes on this route. We flagged it down, and the tour leader asked the young driver if we could be dropped off outside the pub, rather than at the official stop, which is the church, at the top of the hill. “No problem,” was the reply, although still somewhat amused to have picked up six passengers in such a rural location.

The Papermaker’s Arms, is an imposing Victorian building that is now the only pub left in a village that once boasted seven, and it seemed to have had something of a makeover since the last time I visited. That occasion was over a decade previously, and despite my initial surprise at the alterations, they seem to have worked, and if anything, the Papermaker’s seems more popular than ever.

The interior has been divided into two, by a sleeper wall, with a dining area to the left and the bar, plus drinking space to the right. Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and Larkin’s Traditional were the beers on sale, although I couldn’t help noticing the hand pulls were dwarfed by the line-up of oversized keg fonts dominating the bar counter. The two girls behind the bar were pleasant and friendly, and appeared to have everything well under control.

The Landlord was "drinking well," as the saying goes, and it was standing room only in the bar area. Contrast this with the dining area, where only a couple of tables were occupied, although to be fair, the area of raised decking at the rear of the pub, was well occupied – hardly surprising in view of the fine weather. Checking back on the photos I took during my previous visit, the decking wasn’t there, and neither was the car park, but I didn’t get a chance to see whether the rather pretty and rustic looking garden at the far rear of the plot was still in existence. We only had a half hour at the Papermaker’s before the return bus was due, but we saw enough to confirm that the pub was thriving.

It’s worth noting that this part of Kent, which is known as the Bourne Valley, was formerly a centre for paper-making, on a pre-industrial scale. The area takes its name from the stream which flows through its midst, so given Plaxtol’s association with this once thriving industry, the Papermaker’s Arms is a highly appropriate reminder of this trade.

We waited outside for the return bus, which took us on to the final pub of the day – the Chaser, at Shipbourne. Apart from the parish church, and the adjacent pub, Shipbourne has the appearance of a village without an obvious centre, but the large open space opposite the pub, which is where the bus dropped us, is popular with walkers and others who appreciate the great outdoors.

Judging by the number of parked cars, we expected the Chaser to be bursting at the seams, but it is a rather large pub, with an equally large garden, and given the warm weather, many customers were enjoying a spot of early spring sunshine. We made our way indoors, and after traversing the rooms at the front of the building, reached the centrally located serving area.

This was only my third visit to the Chaser, a pub which takes its name from the racehorses that are trained and stabled at the nearby Fairlawne Estate. The Chaser is part of the Whiting & Hammond group, a small, local chain of slightly upmarket food-oriented pubs. One of the company’s other pubs is the Little Brown Jug, just 10 minutes’ walk away from where I work in the linear village of Chiddingstone Causeway.

Comparing the two, it is relatively easy to spot a common thread, although I should add that pubs within the group are permitted a fair degree of autonomy. The beer range at the Chaser was certainly interesting with Musket Ball Puller, and Gun Brewery Chummy Bluster, complementing local favourite, Larkin’s Traditional.

We took our beers through to the front room at the far-left corner of the pub, and for a while had the place to ourselves. My pint of Musket beer was very good, demonstrating that beers from this brewery, who are based just outside Linton, to the south of Maidstone, have improved in quality over the past few years.

This final session afforded the perfect opportunity of catching up with friends, most of whom I hadn’t seen since before Christmas. Like me they’d been slowly resurfacing and getting back into the swing of things, although again like myself, two of them had also had Covid. It’s fair to say that all of us remain thankful that the vaccines had mitigated the worst effects of the virus, allowing us to get back on with our lives after a relatively brief period of isolation.

Being a CAMRA outing, most of the group were discussing the weekend’s forthcoming Good Beer Guide selection meeting, but not having to attend such an event was, as far as I was concerned a real bonus and yet another reason to be thankful!  We caught the 15.29 bus back to Tonbridge, where five of us decided to give the recently rennovated, Ivy House a try. There’s not a huge amount to report, although I might post a short article at a later date. Spoiler alert – the pub is still operating a table service regime –  you have been warned!