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.

What Future If Pubs Like This Can't Survive?

There's been a lot  happening on the beer and pub scene during my year's absence, not all of them good I have to say. Probably the most depressing thing  has been the continuing demise of that great British institution - the pub. It seems everywhere one looks there are more and more of them calling time on "last orders".


I was reminded of this fact just today whilst deciding where to stop off for a lunchtime drink on Friday. My friend Eric and I have pencilled in a walk in the country, and were planning to follow part of the Wealdway footpath that we completed a couple of years ago. The idea was to head out of Tonbridge along the Medway, before ascending Bidborough Ridge - with its spectacular views over the flat ground towards the Greensand Ridge. The Hare and Hounds in Bidborough village seemed a good place to stop, but it was only after mentioning this plan to a work colleague that I was informed the pub had recently closed. A quick glance at the pubs website and the reason for the closure became all too clear!

If you click on the link you'll see that it's our old friends Enterprise Inns up to their tricks again, with the pub's proprietors stating "The business in its own right, is unable to sustain the disproportionate rent and beer surcharges of the Enterprise Inns tie." That says it all, so far as Enterprise Inns are concerned; surely the modern day equivalent of the "robber barons"? What particularly concerns me though is if a pub such as the Hare & Hounds cannot survive, what future is there for the English pub?

For those not in the know the Hare & Hounds was everything a village pub should be. Warm and welcoming with a choice of several different bars, ranging from a traditional public bar with darts, pool and a juke box, to a saloon with comfy sofas and a library of books, a main bar with tables for bar food, plus a separate restaurant to the rear. There was a  good selection of beers, with food options ranging from a keenly-priced pensioners menu to gourmet dishes. The pub was home to Bidborough's many sports teams, and housed the cups and trophies won by the various clubs.

I can't say I was a frequent visitor there, but by all accounts the Hare & Hounds  seemed to be doing alright. It was certainly  busy when I popped in one Sunday lunchtime a couple of years ago, as described here. I therefore find it all the more disturbing to learn of the pub's closure, and can only hope this is a temporary state of affairs. However, despite the team that ran it doing everything right, one can only despair for the future of a much cherished institution all the time companies such as Enterprise are in control of things!

Bidborough is a village in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England, north of Tunbridge Wells and south of Tonbridge. It is situated on Bidborough Ridge, an area of high ground with spectacular views north across the Medway Valley.

Which Beers to Stock?

My last post concerning the difficulties experienced by micro breweries in finding suitable outlets for their beers begs the question how do free-house owners go about selecting the beers they wish to sell? Leaving aside for the moment  issues such as loan-tie agreements and other financial incentives, should licensees play it safe and stock well known brands?, or should they be more adventurous and stock something out of the ordinary?

A good licensee will listen to what his/her regulars want and will not be  motivated solely by profit. Speaking from my own experience (running an off-licence for five years that specialised in draught ales to take away), I tried to strike a balance by stocking what the majority of my customers wanted (one would be stupid NOT to do this), but also offering a couple of regularly changing guest ales.The two most popular beers, ie. the one's requested the most,  were Harveys and Larkins. I therefore alternated between these two as my regular beers. They were complemented by a couple of guest ales, which would be on sale at the weekends when demand was at its peak. I would then gradually run stocks down over the course of the coming week, before repeating the cycle all over again. I also made a point of stocking seasonal ales, in particular old ales and porters in winter (sometimes from Harveys and Larkins), refreshing golden ales in summer and other interesting beers when they were available.

This approach worked, and as well as keeping the Harveys and Larkins drinkers happy I was able to introduce other customers to the delights of  brews from both near and far. Near, included the likes of Westerham and Hog's Back,  who's beers I took on a fairly regular basis, whilst beers from further afield were primarily sourced through Beer Seller, now known as Waverley TBS, who offered monthly promotions on a wide range of cask ales from both micro breweries and established regionals.

I was also approached from time to time by other micro's, most of whom I was happy to deal with on an infrequent basis, although I did find it annoying when pestered with phone calls by certain breweries trying to persuade me to take another firkin of their beer, particularly when I had only recently purchased one! It seems  that once some companies get a foot in the door they just won't leave you alone! (Counter productive in my case, as the more they pestered the more inclined I was NOT to take any more of their beer). Some breweries would offer substantial discounts if one agreed to take several of their beers in one hit. Whilst this made sense for  them by cutting down on their delivery costs, and was an obvious attraction for cash-strapped licensees, I seldom went down this route preferring instead to ring the changes and not tie myself down to a particular brewer's products. I also believed that such practices work against more local breweries keen for the chance of seeing their beers on sale.

There was one practice that I thoroughly disapproved of, and still do. I don't know how wide spread it is now, but six or seven years ago it was quite common. I am talking about so-called "badge brewing". This is when a brewery churns out a plethora of different beers, often with silly names, that to all intents and purpose are just a variation on a handful of basic recipes. By doing this they are catering primarily for the "tickers" market, and are duping those licensees foolish enough to believe they are getting something new and different each time. I won't name the guilty parties, but I'm certain many people, both in the trade as well as  industry observers, will know who I am talking about!

Fortunately, none of the breweries in this neck of the woods can be accused of this practice, but companies from outside the area that do indulge in it, plus pub landlords who stock their products, are doing a dis-service to local concerns by effectively tying up space on the bar with gimmicky products designed to cater for a small niche section of the market.

I appreciate things have got a lot tougher since I left the trade and that it must be tempting for free-house proprietors to either go for one or more of the deals described above or, more tempting still so far as the licensee is concerned, take out a loan offered by one of the larger regionals, (again mentioning no names!). However, as we all know these loans come at a price, as they normally require the pub to sell a certain barrelage of the company's beer in order to qualify for the low interest rates offered.

What is the way forward then? What should individuals do when they are in the enviable position of owning a free-house and able to afford the luxury of saying "no" to loan tie agreements? My answer is they should follow their hearts and their instincts, and not be afraid to go out on a limb. There is a heck of a lot of good beer out there, providing one knows where to look, and people who get this vital part right stand a very good chance of getting the rest right. I believe this is exactly what those behind the real success stories in the trade are doing, and as long as there still are people with a passion for good beer, people able to brew it, plus of course people keen to drink it, then decent pubs stand a good chance of not only surviving, but prospering as well!

What Future for our Micro's?

Whilst compiling my recent post regarding the new breweries that have commenced operations in West Kent during the past two years I was struck by the thought can they all survive? They all seem to be reporting a steady growth in sales, which is obviously good news, but with beer sales declining generally, and falling off quite dramatically in the pub trade, are they all chasing a declining market? Where are these extra sales coming from?  If beer sales in the on-trade are declining as much as we are led to believe,  this sales growth can only be coming at someone else's expense! The question is who's?

We know that cask is the one growth area in the pub trade, so hopefully our local micro's are increasing their sales at the expense of the huge conglomerates that  dominate the market. If they are taking sales away from  heavily promoted global lager brands then so much the better. However, I fear this is not the case and suspect much of this growth is either at the expense of each other, or at the expense of the remaining old established family firms. To a certain extent the latter are cushioned by their own tied estates; a luxury our small, newly established concerns do not possess, (Royal Tunbridge Wells and Westerham, both have one tied pub apiece, but this is small beer, if you'll pardon the pun, and like their competitors they rely almost exclusively on the free-trade.)

However, genuine free-houses are becoming few and far between, with the more successful of them being snapped up by larger regional firms such as Fullers, Greene King and Shepherd Neame. Even those still in private hands are often effectively tied, by way of loan agreements, to taking beer from the likes of the aforementioned. Although many will feature a "must stock" beer such as Harveys (nothing wrong with Harveys I hasten to add!), this leaves precious room on the bar for beers from our budding local entrepreneurs. Some of these firms will undoubtedly strike lucky and find a more or less permanent place on the bar for at least one of their beers. Others may find free-trade outlets taking their wares on a rotating basis with products from one or more of their competitors. Nothing wrong with that either; I am all in favour of competition, so long as it's fair, and from the drinker's point of view there's nothing better than being offered a wider choice of beers.

Rather than rely totally on the vagaries of the free-trade, one or two of our local brewers have branched out into selling bottled beers. Most successful of these is Westerham who's beers are stocked in local branches of Waitrose and Sainsburys. Moodleys appear at the moment to be concentrating solely on bottled beers (bottle-conditioned), which they sell  mainly through local farm shops, specialist off-licences, direct from the brewery and the odd pub.

With schemes like CAMRA's  LocAle in place,  a reduction in "food miles" combined with the provenance of local produce very much in favour at present, it seems more vital than ever that our local breweries be able to sell their products  into a market place that is close to home, rather than have to ship them miles outside the area. However, as pubs continue to close and more and more "free-trade" outlets are either bought up, or become tied up through loan agreements, it will become increasingly difficult for our micro's to find suitable outlets for their beers. I hope I am wrong, but I do fear for the long term future of some of them.

A Day at the Wells

Yesterday, (Friday) , I took the day off work and instead of the daily grind enjoyed a short walk over to Tunbridge Wells in the company of my good friend and walking partner, Eric. It was short in comparison with the walks we completed a few years ago (South Downs Way and  Weald Way), but for two people who haven't carried out much walking recently, it was long enough.
 
 The weather was dull,  over cast and a little chilly when we left Tonbridge, but the forecast had promised that if the sun managed to break through then we could expect temperatures in the low teens - not bad for late February! The forecast turned out correct and by the time we two-thirds of the way towards our destination it was time to discard the coats and enjoy some unseasonably warm weather.


The first half of our route was across the rolling countryside, part wooded and part grazed, that separates the two towns. It was a journey I have made countless times before, either by road or train, but never on foot. Eric on the other hand has walked the many paths in this area on numerous occasions, so much so that we didn't really need to refer to the map we had brought for reference. We passed under the impressive brick viaduct at Old Forge Farm, that carries the Tonbridge to Hastings rail line, before climbing again and making our way into High Brooms. The scenery unfortunately became steadily more built up as we approached the aforementioned, which is in effect nothing more than a suburb of Tunbridge Wells. This area is also the location of the town's industrial and retail parks, and evidence of this was especially visible when our path became sandwiched between the various car-dealerships that have sprung up in recent years and the railway.

Our path then took us round the back of the gasworks (lovely!) and on through several newly-constructed estates, before coming into Tunbridge Wells itself.  Eric, who spent his childhood years in the town can remember when all of the built up area we passed through was open countryside, but alas all that is now a distant memory, and  evidence of a rapidly increasing population in this already over-crowded part of the South East is all too  clearly visible.

Sustenance was called for, both solid and liquid; the first was supplied in the form of a bacon baguette, purchased from one of the town's bakers, the second was naturally enough a glass or two of beer. We ate our baguettes in Calverley Gardens (the local park), taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather. This left us in the vicinity of one of Tunbridge Well's best pubs, the Grove Tavern. Situated in the "village" area of the town, the Grove claims to be one of Tunbridge Well's oldest pubs. Ably run by landlord Steve Baxter and his team, the Grove is the perfect place to drop into for a warm welcome, a well-kept pint (or three), plus some lively conversation.

The pub was quite quiet when we walked in, but we received a friendly welcome from barmaid Sally, who turned out to be an old acquaintance of Eric's. The Grove has Harveys Best and Taylor's Landlord as its regular beers, alongside a couple of guest ales. Yesterday these were Goddards Scrumdiggity 4.0% abv and Acorn Yorkshire Pride 3.7% abv. Normally I would have gone for one of the guest ales, (probably the Acorn), but seeing as this was the occasion of my first pint of cask ale of 2012  I wanted to drink something  I was familiar with. Although both Harveys and Taylors are personal favourites, this time it just had to be Landlord, and what a mighty fine pint it was! It's difficult to describe just how good it tasted, but when you've gone the best part of a  year without a pint of cask ale passing your lips you're hoping for something special when you finally break that drought, and I was not disappointed!

I could easily have drunk several more pints, but having been off the beer for so long made me wary of over-doing things, and besides I'm still on the medication. Eric made up for me my moderation though, and as we sat at the bar, enjoying the beer, the pub slowly began to fill up. It turned into a good afternoon, with some interesting and lively discussion, mixed in with the odd joke or two. The whole thing made me realise just how much I had missed sessions in the pub.

I risked another half, and Eric had a couple more pints., but eventually we decided to call it a day, said our farewells and walked down the hill towards the station, from where we caught a train back to Tonbridge. It had been a good day out, and a most welcome back to the world of beer and pubs!

Exciting Developments on the West Kent Brewing Scene

There's been a lot of exciting new developments on the West Kent  brewing scene over the last 18 months or so. I had other concerns during this time and unfortunately many of these developments passed me by, but as I begin to recover from my annus horriblis I'm taking note of what has occurred so that once I'm firmly back in the saddle I know which new beers to look out for.

 We now have seven breweries operating in the area, five of which have started up during the past couple of years. They join the long established Larkins Brewery, who have recently celebrated their 25th anniversary, plus Westerham Brewery, who started operations back in 2004.  Apart from the addition of a blonde summer ale, Larkins beer range has changed little over the years. The beers are full bodied, with plenty of crystal malt used in the grist. They are also well-hopped, as one would expect from a Kentish beer. Westerham, on the other hand, brew a wide range of seasonal beers in addition to their distinctive core brands, some of which are based on recipes from the original Westerham Brewery which ceased brewing in 1965. New last year were a range of continental style beers, including examples from Germany, Belgium and the Czech Republic.

I've yet to try the beers from  the Black Cat Brewery, based in Groombridge right on the Kent-Sussex border, and Kent Brewery, based at Birling, a short hop from West Malling, both of which are new on the scene, but I have tried some of the beers brewed by  Moodleys, Royal Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge breweries, all of whom started operations a couple of years ago. All of these new breweries offer a wide range of interesting beers, but rather than me attempt to describe them , why not click on the links and check out the brewery websites concerned. Unfortunately, Larkins  don't have a website, but all the other breweries  listed do.

 Local drinkers are therefore spoilt when it comes to a choice of cask beers. and I look forward to sampling the new brews that are available, as well as renewing my acquaintance with some old favourites.Indeed, just reading about all them  is a sufficient spur for me to get better as quickly as possible!
 

Frustration at the Bar

Without wishing to become a bore on the subject I want to continue with the theme of my last post and look further at the options available to non-drinkers in  pubs.When reasons such  as work restraints, potential adverse reactions with medication or perhaps when one has to drive to the pub, whether as "named driver" or  just because there is no other way of getting there, not drinking alcohol in a pub can be a really frustrating experience.

Often when you're in this position Sod's law will apply and not only will the beer selection be something to die for, but the quality of said selection will also be second to none. You can just imagine your friends telling you how good the beers are, and "isn't it a shame you're unable to sample them yourself!". Small matter, we all have our crosses to bear from time to time, and hopefully on another occasion the tables will be reversed and you can get your own back. When you are in this position though the question of  "what to drink?" once again arises.

Normally I would have a pint of an average strength beer (say around 4.0%), before switching to something non-alcoholic. This is always a difficult decision as, ever since my mid-teens, when I began to acquire a taste for beer, I've not been a huge fan of  soft drinks. Drinks such as lemonade, Colas etc not only just don't do it for me taste-wise, but because they're so packed full of sugar I tend to avoid them for health reasons as well. Colas are even worse than lemonade as they're highly acidic in nature and likely to quite rapidly lead to the rotting of one's teeth. So-called "diet" versions are little better, being packed full of artificial sweeteners and additives, and still with the tooth-decay risk, especially in the case of "Diet Colas". Fruit juices provide a better option, but they once again are full of sugar, albeit in a more natural form. I once drank a  pint of pure orange juice and ended up feeling thirstier than when I started!

Often it's down to good old mineral water, but again there's only so much one can drink of this and also bottled water is expensive, particularly in pubs. I appreciate pubs have to make a living, but the mark up on soft-drinks in licensed premises is nothing sort of scandalous and does nothing to encourage non-drinkers to venture along to their local hostelry. For people in my current position, visits to the pub can therefore be not only a frustrating experience, but also an expensive one as well!

What to Drink?

 
As I mentioned in my previous post I have drunk very little beer over the last 10 months. This is hopefully a temporary state of affairs, but during this time I have obviously missed the taste, so to compensate  have tried various alcohol free and low alcohol beers. I have to admit none have been particularly enjoyable, but some have still been better than nothing! In the pub trade Becks Blue appears to be the best most widely available  alcohol free beer, having pushed the likes of Kaliber and Clausthaler to one side. However, as I haven't been feeling particularly sociable for the best part of a year, visits to the pub have been few and far between, and the majority of the alcohol free and low alcohol beers I've sampled have been consumed at home.

My thoughts on  three alcohol free/low alcohol beers are given at the end of this post, but after months of struggling with them  I've recently come across an excellent website for the Alcohol Free Shop. Based in Greater Manchester I was surprised to see that the shop stocks 24 different types of alcohol-free beer, including some interesting offerings from Erdinger, Krombacher, Maisels, Schneider, Veltins and most surprising of all Bernard from the Czech Republic. The shop also stocks a wide range of alcohol free wines (I hope they taste better than the one from Sainsbury's my wife and I tried the other weekend!), plus alcohol free ciders.

With the exception of the Bernard beer, which is an amber coloured Czech lager, all the others listed above are pilsner style beers. For ale drinkers there's virtually nothing available (I don't know whether the former Whitbread-brew, White Label is still around, but from memory it was pretty awful). Harveys  however, stock two low-alcohol beers in their pubs. Both are produced from regular Harveys beers, before some of the alcohol is removed. John Hop is produced from the company's Best Bitter, whilst their Old Ale is used to produce the dark beer, Bill Brewer.  Both have an abv of 1.0%.  I haven't tried either in many a long year, but from memory the Bill Brewer was slightly more drinkable than the John Hop.

Before ending I want to stress that the sole reason for my avoiding alcohol has been that whilst I enjoy it at the time, it seems to make my anxiety symptoms worse, particularly the following day. It is difficult to know the reasons for this; they may be purely psychological, or alternatively the alcohol may be interacting with my medication. On the other hand it could just be down to the simple fact that alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, and can enhance any feelings of depression. Whatever the reason. I don't want to turn into some rabid anti-alcohol crusader, and as I start to gradually feel better, and slowly cut back on the medication. I will start to gradually re-introduce my system to some proper beers!

Review Time:

Becks Blue -  Probably the widest available alcohol free beer, but in my opinion the worst of the lot. Thin and metallic with a nasty aftertaste to match, this beer to my mind isn't even a distress purchase. In fact when faced with this beer or no beer in a pub I would  go for a mineral water instead!


Bavaria Holland 0.0% alc Premium Original. - It has always puzzled me as to why a company in the Netherlands should adopt the name "Bavaria" for its brands, but nevertheless this alcohol; free beer is  a huge improvement on the Becks version, and quite drinkable, However, it still lacks that certain something.  Most alcohol-free beers can contain up to 0.5% alcohol-by-volume, but Bavaria claim their version is different in that it's specially brewed to contain no alcohol and is a genuine 0.00% beer.


Sainsbury's Low Alcohol Czech Lager. -  Brewed at the Staropramen Brewery in Prague which I know is more of a beer factory than a traditional Czech brewery, but this 0.5% low alcohol beer is the best of the bunch, and at least tastes like a lager.

I'm Still Here!

It's been a month short of a year since I last posted anything on this blog, but a quick look at the stats shows there are still some visitors to these pages. A word or two of explanation as to why nothing has appeared during this time is therefore long overdue.

Back in March 2011, shortly after my last post, I experienced what can only be described as a mental breakdown. Looking back, the situation had been building for several months (or even longer), prior to that, but came to a head whilst on a visit to Cologne, where I was helping to man our company's stand at the International Dental Show. This event takes place every two years, and normally is something I would have looked forward to, especially as the evenings afford the opportunity to enjoy a few Koelsches, in some of the city's unspoilt taverns. This year though was different, I felt really anxious prior to the event and  didn't want to go at all. Once there, as well as feelings of extreme anxiety, I started to experience some bizarre  physical symptoms, that included fluid retention in my legs, extreme thirst and chronic fatigue.

Convinced I was suffering from something sinister; kidney problems or diabetes sprang to mind, I took full advantage of my E111 card and presented myself at a local hospital. Here I have to take my hat off to the German Health Service, as after just half an hour's wait I was seen by a doctor who, after noticing my swollen lower legs, gave me a thorough check up. This included checking my blood pressure, heart rate and even a full ECG. A blood sample was also taken and I was told to return 24 hours later to obtain the results. (Back home this procedure takes nearly a week!) On my return, the doctor showed me the results, which were entirely normal. After informing me there was nothing physically wrong, he looked me directly in the eye and said the symptoms were almost certainly psychosomatic in nature.

When I returned to the UK my own GP carried out further tests, which confirmed the findings of his German counterpart. I was diagnosed with severe depression and  prescribed anti-depressants, primarily to relieve the anxiety symptoms I was experiencing at the time. Despite this I was reluctant to take this type of medication, but after being signed off work for a period of six weeks, did so out of desperation. Had I known then what I know now I would never have taken the tablets, especially as  this type of medication (known as SSRI's) alters one's brain chemistry. The medical profession claim that SSRI's are non- addictive, and whilst this may be true physically, one's body still gets used to this chemical poison, making it  extremely difficult to wean oneself off them, even when one is starting to feel better. (I have read of people suffering from extremely unpleasant withdrawal symptoms for several weeks when trying to do so.)

The worst thing about depression is one loses interest in virtually everything, and things that once afforded the greatest pleasure no longer matter or seem important. Included amongst this unfortunately,  has been my love of beer, and since returning from Cologne I have been virtually teetotal. Whilst the beer did help me relax initially, I found myself waking the next day, or even in the night, feeling more anxious  than ever; hence I knocked it on the head (temporarily I hope!).

Over the course of the last last year I've neglected many things. Our once neat garden, whilst not totally overgrown, is looking very sorry for itself. The house is in bad need of decorating, both inside and out, but worst of all though is the way I've neglected friends, my family and myself. Physically, although I lost a lot of weight initially, I've started to put some of it back on through a combination of unhealthy eating and lack of exercise. When I look at how my thigh and calf muscles have wasted away through inactivity I feel a deep sense of shame - these aren't the same legs that walked the Weald Way last year, or the South Downs Way a year previous to that! My upper body looks frail as well, compared to what it was just 12 months or so ago.

Mentally, I've found it extremely difficult to concentrate, and not only has this affected my work, but also more everyday tasks. Sadly I had to give up the German class I was taking, despite making good initial progress with it. In the end  I just couldn't concentrate, so despite having shelled out nearly £300 on course fees I had to call it a day, as it became just one more mental stress too many.

My not drinking, visiting pubs or socialising, combined with ongoing difficulties in concentrating, have meant that blogging has been the last thing on my mind. However, as I said at the beginning I felt I owed people a long over-due explanation as to why I stopped. I still try and keep up with developments in the world of beer, even though it's extremely difficult to read about something I formerly enjoyed so much and miss such a lot.

This year though I am determined to get myself better,  get my confidence and fitness back and to start living again. I am also determined to wean myself off this horrible medication and get back on the beer!!