Tap East, Stratford

Tucked away in a quiet little corner at the Stratford International end of Westfield shopping centre is the brew pub called Tap East. People who I have taken to this pub are initially surprised by the fact there is a pub with decent beer within the shopping centre. I then show them the brewery area (situated behind floor to ceiling windows) and that really blows their mind! 

There are normally at least four beers brewed by Tap East available, three on cask and one on keg. The beers rotate with reasonable frequency and their stock range is high quality. I'll normally stick to the Tap East beer when I'm there or have at least one of theirs if more than one pint is on the cards. I must admit that I normally stick to either Tap East's Tonic Ale, or IPA if they are on and as such have only really had tasters of the others. I have not been disappointed with any of the Tap East brewed beers. Both the Tonic Ale and IPA are highly recommended. Tonic ale is my favourite. It's light straw in colour, with a fresh and light flavour profile. The slight citrus zing at the end cleanses the palate leaving you ready for the next sip.

Recently, Tap East brewed a Dry Hopped lager which blew me away! It was one of the finest balanced dry hopped lagers I've tasted. Adnams Jack Brand was previously my favourite, but I was blown away by the flavour profile of the Tap's one. I cannot wait for them to brew more! Unfortunately this may not happen for a while (according to their head brewer) as lagering ties up one of their tanks for a lot longer than when brewing the other beers. But if it does come on, I'll be first in line for a pint! 

I realise I've talked extensively on Tap East's own brand beer. Obviously  that's not all they sell. There is a fine range of beers on keg an cask. The throughput is high enough that the range changes quite often. There are two lagers which stay on all the time. Both are brilliant. The first is Frontier Lager by Fullers. It's a decent, albeit a bit commercial, craft lager. The second is Berliner Pilsner by Berliner-Kindl-Schultheiss-Brauerei. It's an excellent German Pilsner. It's my main recommendation to people who don't fancy any of the craft beers on offer. 

Food-wise, the pub does serve food most weekdays. It's a simple menu of sandwiches, chilli (meat and vegetarian), and nachos. Don't let the simplicity of the menu fool you, the one time I've eaten there was to have a sausage sandwich. It was delicious!

In conclusion, I highly recommend Tap East. Their beer selection is excellent. The staff are knowledgeable, and you can see beer being brewed right there in front of you! What more could you want?!


P.S. I also have a Facebook page to go with this blog. It in its infancy, but is a place I want to engage with readers and beer fans. Please feel free to join me there. 

My Goodness! My Guinness!

Recently I was contacted by a person from PeerIndex regarding a promo which is being run by Guinness. It seems quite fun. If you are in certain pubs on a Friday and Saturday night, you can win a one-day drinking session in Dublin, including learning how to pour the black stuff. If that sounds like fun, here is a link to the Guinness facebook page.

One thing this whole Guinness promo has done has made me want to blog a bit about Guinness. So, in the coming days, weeks, whatever, I will post a few thoughts about good old Guinness. In the meantime, here is a picture of what I was drinking last Friday.

*Disclosure: Whilst I did receive a perk from PeerIndex linked to the Guinness promo, blogging, tweeting, or anything else was not a stipulation of receiving the perk. I am doing this since it may mean that you, dear reader, can win some beer. After all, that is what this blog is all about. Beer, sweet, sweet, beer. 

The Pheasant, Chesham

On the way out of Chesham, heading towards Chennies there is a lovely riverside pub called The Pheasant which is run by Jane, her staff, and a couple of dogs.

Located in an area called Waterside, you would be unsurprised to see that the beer garden backs onto the river. In the summer the swans and ducks vie for your attention in the hope of a bit of crisp or anything else food worthy. There are also a couple of pieces of play equipment for the children to climb about on. On a hot summer day, the beer garden at The Pheasant is a wonderful place to laze about in. Although food is not served in the pub, patrons are encouraged to bring their own picnic along. I think it's a great idea. It means you can have a pint in a beer garden on a nice day, but not have to rush home (or to a rival pub) to get some food. Just bring your own!

Inside, the pub has a pool table, dart board, and board games. The pool table is quite well kept as it is the stomping ground of two teams in the Amersham and Chesham Pool leagues. There are also darts and crib teams here during the week.

The beers are quite expensive, even for the area. A pint of lager is £3.60 or so, and Guinness is £3.70. For me, the best value drinks are the ales (but I am biased!). Jane always has Doom Bar (£3.30/pint) and a guest ale on. At the time of writing this was Courage, Directors (£3.40/pint). Doom Bar is as popular here as everywhere else, which results in a good fresh pint every time. There is also enough interest in the guest ale for it to be nice and fresh as well.


Overall, this is a great pub to stop for a pint in. It's a little expensive, yes, but sitting and relaxing by a river while your kids are able to play with the ducks or on swings and slides is definitely worth it.


Images:
Pheasant Sign
The Pleasant Pheasant
© Brapps | Some Rights Reserved

Ye Olde Mitre, London

Has it really been more than a year since I last wrote an entry in this blog? That is shocking! It appears I spend too much time in pubs and not enough time writing about them. That will have to change....well, the latter part anyway!

Ye Olde Mitre
1 Ely Court,
Ely Place,
Holborn,
London,
EC1N 6SJ




The offering for this entry is one of my favourite pubs in the world. I only go there once per year, but I savour every moment of it.

The hidden Mitre

Ye Olde Mitre is a hidden gem in London. It is a fairly small pub, steeped in history. The pub was established in 1546 (yes, I can read the sign!), and is located in an alleyway between Ely Place and Hatton Garden. Blink, and you'll miss it. I did the first time I went searching for the pub.

Inside, the pub is full of dark wood panelling with the bar located centrally between the front bar, back bar (saloon bar?), and the entrance. The selection of beers is excellent. This is the first place I tried Sharps Doom Bar and have been in love with it ever since. When I visited this year I drank Seafarers by Fullers and Deuchars by Caledonian. Lovely beers, both of them.

The food in the Mitre is very simple, and really helps keep the warm homely atmosphere, I feel. There is no kitchen in the pub, so the offerings are limited to what can be heated in a toaster, or microwave. We always have a selection of pork pies and scotch eggs there, but they also provide toasted sandwiches and sausage rolls. I told you it was simple. But you don't go to the Mitre for a gastropub experience. You go there to drink some really well kept beer, and soak up the 460 plus years of history.

My First Brewday – Blackberry Wine – Part 1

Hot off the back of making Sloe Gin, I started to get into brewing proper. Sloe Gin is just a long cocktail. Whereas making blackberry wine is going to be a bona fide attempt at homebrew.

My first dilemma was the recipe to use. My friend who gave me a fermenting bucket sent me this recipe. It’s a good recipe, I’m sure it works fine. While pondering this, I joined The Homebrew Forum. A brilliant place to read up on and ask questions about anything to do with home brewing. It is there my eyes were opened to many, many different Country Wine recipes.  So after reading their recipes, and asking a few questions, I settled on the following recipe:

1. 850g Blackberries
2. 1 Litre apple juice
3. 750g Sugar
4. Pectolase
5. Yeast nutrient
6. Red wine yeast

Note about the sugar – I have since found out that I should have probably added double the sugar. This will be rectified by adding syrup (750g sugar in water) to the demijohns before adding the strained juice.

So, having crushed the blackberries in the bucket, I added 1 gallon of boiling water and stirred. I then added the apple juice. While all this was going on, I melted my sugar in 2 litres of water to make a syrup which was added to the mixture. Add sterilised water (I boiled a large pot of water for 15 minutes covered and left to cool overnight) to bring the mixture up to 2 gallons (about 10 litres).

Finally add on crushed campden tablet to kill off any unwanted yeasts in the mixture . Cover and leave  overnight.

The next day mix in your pectolase to so that the pectin in the fruit gets broken down ready for the yeast. Cover again and leave for 24 hours.

The next day is when the yeast gets added. From then on it will no longer be glorified blackberry juice.

First of all sterilise everything. You then need to take the temperature of the liquid as well as the starting gravity.  This is not entirely necessary, but will help with determining the final alcohol content of your wine. My blackberry juice had a temperature of 19 degrees Celsius and a starting gravity of 1.040. 

All that needs to be done once you have taken those reading is to add the yeast, cover, and place somewhere to ferment for five days. Mine is on top of the fridge, in a bin bag in case the yeast gets a bit overzealous.

 

Make sure you give the whole thing a stir every day (some say twice a day). Nothing vigorous, just enough to push the yeast cap into the juice.

That’s is the end of part 1. Part two will be the straining of the pulp, and setting it to ferment in demijohns.

Sloe Gin Speakeasy

I wrote recently about my following a new blog called Blagger. Reading the blog has inspired me to broaden my skills in the kitchen. I already make a mean tomato chutney, and a decent loaf of bread. But what of brewing? What can I do when I am not on the lifelongpubrun? Blagger has posted about homemade beer, champagne, wine, and schnapps. So I thought I should give it a go….

My friend recently donated a fermentation bucket, and some sloe berries. A whole world of yeasty bubbliness has opened up to me! But before I run headlong into taking on Anheiser-Busch InBev or Magners, I need somewhere a little smaller to start. So with a spring in my step, I headed home last night to take my first foray into making Sloe Gin.

Sloe Gin is easy, most of the ingredients are mentioned in it title. Gin, Sloes, and some sugar. I used the BBC Food Recipe for this, but any will do.

Step 1 – Prepare Your Equipment

To make sloe gin you will need

Ingredients

450g/1lb sloes
225g/8oz caster sugar
1 litre/1¾ pint gin

Equipment

1.5 litre bottle with lid
Funnel
Sterilising powder
Pin/toothpick

It is wise to sterilise the bottle and funnel before starting the mixing process to prevent any spoiling of your drink.

One tip I picked up from talking to friends and passers by about making gin is that the sloes should be frozen beforehand. Some of the other recipes on the internet suggest that freezing the berries simulates a frost and so makes a sweeter drink. My reason for freezing the berries is that it makes them easier to prick.

Step 2 – Ready the Sloes

With everything measured and clean, you will now need to prepare your sloes to mix with the gin. This involves pricking them to allow the sloe juice to seep into the gin.

As mentioned above, it was suggested to me that using frozen berries works best. Once you start on the pricking process (1lb of sloes took approximately 30 minutes to prick), you will be thankful. The firmness of the iced sloes means that there is no spurting of juice, or staining of hands/carpet/pet. I did find my fingers going numb at about halfway. I intermingled the pricking of the berries with the odd sip of beer… for medicinal purposes only, you understand.

As you prick each berry pop it into your bottle. It saves doing this later, and my funnel was no where wide enough at the bottom to let through the sloes.

Once you have finished with pricking the sloes, pour all of the sugar into the bottle. I used the funnel for this as it makes it easier. Don’t worry if any sugar sticks to the funnel as you will shortly be washing everything over with gin.

Step 3 – Mix Everything Together

Right! Now we’re ready to add the gin. You will now realise why you need a 1.5 litre bottle for 1 litre of gin. As mentioned above, you can use the gin to wash all the remaining sugar from the funnel into the bottle. I managed to get nearly all of the gin in there. Nearly. There was just enough left in the gin bottle for a quick drink to reward a job well done.

Put the lid on and you are now ready to mix all of the ingredients for the first time.

Step 4 – Shake, Rattle, & Store Your Sloe Gin

With all of the ingredients in the bottle, you need to give everything its first mixing. Shake the bottle until all of the sugar has dissolved. This only takes a couple of minutes. Already you should be able to see some purple colouring of the liquid. All that you need to do now is store your sloe gin in a cool dark place.

Depending on which recipe you are following, you now need to shake the mixture every day (or every other day) for two weeks. Then shake the mixture once a week for a month. Finally, give your sloe gin a mix every now and then.

The whole process including sterilisation took about an hour.

So, how long before being able to drink this? Most recipes call for a year of maturation, but you should be able to start tasting your sloe gin after about 3 months. Don’t plan on a great big session then as this stuff only gets better with age. Plan on a minimum of 6 months before really starting to dig in.

Further Reading

While you are waiting for your sloe gin to mature, you should check out everything sloe related from The Cottage Smallholder’s blog. Of particular interest is the article on Wild Damsen and Sloe Gin Recipes. At the bottom of the article are some Tips and Tricks. I particularly like the idea of re-using the sloes by adding medium sherry.

Cains Brewery Tour

The more I blog, and read beer/pub blogs, the more I want to know about beer. So, last weekend, while on a trip to Liverpool, I went on the Cains brewery tour.  I have had quite a few pints of Cains beer in the past as it is one of the sponsors of the Liverpool Irish Festival of which Mrs. Mouse is the director. I am particularly fond of their Raisin Beer which has a sweet, and savoury taste to it which makes it go down a treat.
Cains has had quite a history. It is the only brewery left in Liverpool, and even then nearly didn't make it. The Dusanj brothers took Cains over in 2002 at a point where production had all but stopped. Since then they have worked tirelessly on bringing the company into profit, and growing year on year.  I don't want to go too much into the history here as the full story can be seen in the history section of the website.

 

 

 

I am not a brewery tour aficionado, the only other tour I have been on being the De Koninck brewery in  Antwerp. I think the Cains tour was better than the one in Antwerp mainly for the accessibility and openness of the tour. We got to see quite a lot of the Terracotta Palace moving our way from the entrance with the Super Lamb Banana, through the canning area, up past the fermenting area, into their craft beer lab, and culminating in the old Hops storeroom just below the big chimney on the top of the building. I think my favourite place on the tour was the beer lab. It was interesting to see some of the different ingredients which go into their craft beers. It was also interesting to hear that Cains is going to be brewing Cobra, formerly brewed somewhere in Poland. Cobra is made using maize and rice instead of hops and barley, which makes it a very delicate beer to brew. Cains have been busy trying to nail down the brewing process in preparation for full scale production.

After the tour, we went to The Brewery Tap, the Cains brewery pub for our buffet and two complimentary beers (not bad for £7.99). The pub is a clean, well kept, bar which has all the Cains beers currently on sale (some are seasonal beers only, and so weren't available). So what to choose? The 14 taps contained a whopping 11 beers to choose from, Finest Lager,  Liverpool Lager, Organic Wheat Beer (the seasonal choice for July), Finest Bitter, Raisin Beer, 2008 Culture Beer, FA, IPA, and Mild. Or should I choose one of their bottles (Dragonheart, or Double Bock)?
Since Mrs. Mouse wasn't drinking I had a choice of four. With so much choice I found it hard to get my mind around what I wanted. In the end I opted for a pint of Finest Lager, a pint of 2008, a bottle of FA, and Dragonheart.   

 

First the Finest Lager, which was properly 'lagered' for three months. This was one of the finest pints of beer I have ever had. Crisp, clean, with a grapefruit-style citrus aftertaste. The fullness of flavour was amazing. I firmly believe if I ever see this in a pub down London way, I would start drinking it as a matter of preference. You really realise what you are missing by drinking the commercial lagers.
My second pint was of the 2008 Culture beer. Now I am mainly a lager drinker, but am attempting to broaden my palate. I am very pleased for this attitude of mine as I got to try '08 (as everyone else called it). This bitter was light, not too sweet, and had a dry citrus taste to it which made the pint a pleasure to drink.
Since we had to leg it to the Klimt exhibition at the Tate Liverpool we took the two bottles with us. I have since had these and they were yummy.
The Dragon Heart Brown Ale is "brewed to a 19th century recipe". I quite enjoyed this. It had a sort of smokey toffee taste which made the beer go down smoothly and hides it's 5% ABV.  I think I would quickly get through a few of these and then fall over. I did look down at my pint glass and wonder where my beer had gone.
My final beer was chosen by the landlord and was the Cains FA. Quite honestly, this is the reason I prefer lager to ales/bitters. It was flat. It tasted warm even though it had spent two days in the fridge. Even though I drank it last night, I can't remember what it tasted like (sort of watery and smokey, I think), even though it supposedly the cask conditioning produces a 'fuller flavour'. I will avoid this one in the future.

 

  So there you have it. I had an excellent time on the tour, and learnt quite a bit about Cains, and beer in general. I think Cains is an excellent brand which you will probably see more and more over the next few years. Their Seasonal Craft Beer initiative is a stroke of genius which will keep drinkers coming back all year round. The light buffet and two pints included in the tour makes the £7.99 more than worth the price.

Finally, I would be interested to hear of any London pubs which are serving the Finest Lager on tap. I  can't wait to try it again... and again... and again....

 

Cains brewery tours take place Monday through to Friday and begin at 6.30pm - Saturday & Sundays at 1.00PM . Tours must be pre-booked. Tours Cost £7.99 per person (not suitable for the less agile due to being a Victorian Brewery and the number of stairs). Please Telephone Cains Sales office Mon - Fri 0151 709 8734 - or email:tours@cains.co.uk. All tours must be pre-booked.

Beer Blogging: Papastonch

A recently created blog is Beer, Walks, & History by Papastonch. It is a blog which is being written by Stonch's father. Papastonch started by writing the odd article for Stonch's blog, but I believe he enjoyed it so much he decided to start his own blog .

In Beer, Walks, & History Papastonch recalls many of his experiences in pubs during walks and visits across the county (and indeed across the world!).
I always look forward to reading his articles as they are very well written and always contain some quirky little tit-bit which makes  you want to wander in the vicinity of his footsteps to see what he was talking about.

I recommend adding him to your blogroll, as I have.

Siempre Sol, Sosua (Dominican Republic)

One of the towns I visited on my honeymoon was Sosua. It was about halfway between Cabarete and Puerta Plata. It's a small town which is dominated by its market on the beach. This is the place to go if you want to get your souvenirs. Beware though, the shopkeepers are very insistent, and there are a lot of stalls. You have been warned.
Anyway, if you survive the onslaught of shopkeepers  trying to get you into their shop, you will find yourself in need of a drink (I certainly did!). This is handy, because at the end of the market area is a lot of pubs. These mainly cater to the Canadian and German tourists as they are the mainstay of Sosua. 

This little bar is the Siempre Sol, where we sat and wiled away a good bit of time. Not so much retail therapy, more therapy after retail! This is typical of all the bars along the beach, an open fronted shack with some chair outside. This isn't bad, per se, but don't expect a trendy wine bar. You won't find any.

 

 

 

 

The one great thing about working up a thirst is that the first sip of beer tastes all the better. While in Dominican Republic, I mainly drank Presidente Beer. This was a pilsner style beer. Light and refreshing, and best served ice cold. There are other beers made in the Domincan Republic, but this is the main one.
On my visit to the Siempre Sol, I opted for the grande version which came in the bamboo cooler to the right. This did a lot to keep the beer cold in the sweltering tropical heat. One tip for drinking beer in tropical countries: drink fast. Your beer is delivered cold, it won't stay that way for long.

Sosua is a good place to visit. If you are in the Domincan Republic, give it a go. I personally couldn't run the gauntlet of shops again (I would walk down on the waters edge), but would visit the pub/cafe area to enjoy some more Presidente beer.

Viva El Presidente!

Chesham Beer Festival 2008

What are you doing this weekend? Why not go to the Chesham Beer Festival. Details are as follows:

When: 24th at 12 noon until the beer runs out
Where: Chesham Town Hall
Entrance Fee: There is no entrance fee as such but the beer is priced at about £3 per pint but is cheaper the more tokens you buy.
What: 18 ales and 5 ciders ranging from a dark mild through to old peculiar and a range of ciders including "old rosie" at 7.3%

See you there!

The Bell, Chartridge

The Bell
Chartridge Lane
Chesham
Buckinghamshire
HP5 2TF

 

 

High up on the top of the hill that is Chartridge, near the golf club, is The Bell. It is a small gastro- pub which looks like it has benefited from a lot of love from the landlord. We arrived there after an hour and a half of walking through the countryside, but it can be reached easily from Chesham by walking/driving up the Chartridge Lane.  As  you can imagine, I was rather thirsty after 90 minutes of walking, and really wanted my pint of cider. Unfortunately, the tap cider is Scrumpy Jack, which I find too sweet. Instead I went with one of those bottled ciders which they serve with ice (yes I know they are sweet too!) for the refreshment factor.

With such a relatively small bar area (the white part seen in the picture on the right), it is no surprise that there aren't many taps. There were, however, three hand pumps dispensing Brakspear, London Pride (I think), and Bombadier. There were the usual euro-pop lagers Carlsberg and Stella, Scrumpy Jack, and Guinness.

The food was very well cooked. The menus were single sheets of printed paper which suggested that the menu gets changed often, something I like in a gastro-pub. I opted for the Chef's Fish and Chips, while Mrs. Mouse opted for Pork Sunday Roast.
The Fish and Chips were perfectly done; obviously being battered upon ordering and then fried.  The result of this was a beautifully golden and crunchy batter. The tartar sauce which came with the fish was also obviously freshly made; I love fresh tartar sauce.
Mrs. Mouse's roast pork was also of the same high quality. The pork was freshly carved and came with freshly steamed/boiled vegetables roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings. Topping all of this off was a freshly made apple sauce.
Finally, Mrs. Mouse finished off the meal with a coffee and a pudding. I cannot remember which pudding, but it tasted very nice, and the coffee was of a very high quality.

Our overall impression of the pub was that it was lovingly cared for. The food was of high quality, but the portions were perhaps a bit small for the price; there are pubs within a 90 minute walk which serve slightly higher quality food, in larger portions, and at the same price. It was a shame that the cider on tap was Scrumpy Jack, but did not detract from the pleasure of the visit. Both Mrs. Mouse and I agree that we will visit there again, but perhaps only for a drink this time.

Everyman Bistro, Liverpool

Everyman Bistro and Bars
5-9 Hope Street
Liverpool
L1 9BH

Phone: 0151 709 0249

 

 

Tucked away below the Everyman Theatre on Hope Street in Liverpool is the Everyman Bistro.  This is the place to go if you want an excellent atmosphere, great food, and be able to chat amongst yourselves until the wee hours. 

First of all, the beers. They have the general Becks Vier, and Stella on tap, but they also have two guest beers on tap at any time. When I went there last weekend it was De Koninck, and Maredsous Blonde.  De Koninck is one of my favourite beers and I will have at least two "Bollekke" whenever I see it on tap. Maredsous is a beer I had never tried before. Apparently this very drinkable Belgian beer is from the Duvel stable. The flavour is that of a slightly richer Leffe Blonde, but not as heavy as Leffe Bruin. If I see it again on tap, I will definitely have to sample it more extensively.

The food at the Everyman is excellent. Everything is made to a very high standard, and the portions are of a decent size. Their soups come particularly highly recommended as a decent lunch, or even mid-evening snack.

Like the food, the service is excellent. The staff are attentive and polite. Even at its busiest I have never had to wait long to be served at either the bar or food counter.

I think that if you live in Liverpool, or are just visiting, the Everyman Bistro is a place to go if you would like some good food and drink in a clean and welcoming atmosphere. You may also see the odd celebrity there!

Hole In The Wall, Waterloo

The Hole In The Wall
5 Mepham St.
London
SE1 8SQ

Phone: 0207 928 6196

 

 

Last night I met up with a friend in the Hole in the Wall pub next to London Waterloo station. It wasn't my first time there, nor will it be my last. I quite like the HITW. It is just obscure enough to never be overly full. If there aren't any seats, there is usually ample standing room for you not to get jostled too much.

The pub is situated in an arch beneath what I believe to be the one of the main routes used by trains to enter Waterloo station. Every few minutes there is a rumbling throughout the pub which is not due to the food.

The food is very simple fare, chips, burgers, baguettes. This is never going to be a gastro pub, but it fills a gap.

The pub does have a rather large selection of beers on tap. There are five ale hand pumps, but I did not get to see. They also do Leffe Blonde on tap, which is one of my favourite beers. I was rather disappointed to see that they no longer serve Peetermans (of the Stella stables). It is a great tasting lager, which I try to drink whenever I can.  Other beers on tap include Hoegaarden, and Becks Vier, the latter of which I have never really been impressed with. Tastes like someone has watered down a normal Becks.

The staff are quite attentive. I was there during a football match night, and it never got deeper than three at the bar, which was during half time. Whenever I ordered, I barely had time to look around (hence missing what ales/bitters they served).

Overall, a good pub to go to for a nifty-swifty before your train, or for a full on meet up.

Beer Blogging

I have mentioned before that one of the blogs I enjoy reading is The Beer Nut. His link is on the right. Through one of The Beer Nut's posts, I have started reading Stonch's Beer Blog.

I find Stonch's writing to be informative and concise. Since starting in January 2007 Stonch has covered quite a diverse amount of topics including international beers, beer festivals, home brewing, and pubs reviews. He has a London Beer Map which is very helpful. I am currently working on getting a map of the pubs I have visited onto this blog as I feel it will add an extra element. I recommend giving his blog a read.

While writing this post, I realised that I have never said anything specific about The Beer Nut's blog. Given that I visit his blog on a minimum of a weekly basis, I feel that I have not done my duty in pointing out a very well written and informative site about various types of beer. It appears that there is no beer that he is not willing to try and give a well thought out review of.  If there is a beer you have seen but are unsure what it will taste like, go to The Beer Nut's blog to see if he's tried it. That's what I do.

The Bricklayers Arms, Flaunden

 The Bricklayers Arms
Hogpits Bottom
HP3 0PH

Tel: 01442 833322

Email: goodfood@bricklayersarms.com

 

Yesterday we visited The Bricklayers Arms in Flaunden. For us, a good place to stop when doing the Chess Valley Walk is Latimer. It is about one and a half hours walk from central Chesham. The only problem is that Latimer doesn't have any pubs. The last time we ended up there, we asked around and were pointed to The Sugarloaf Inn in Little Chalfont. We weren't impressed. It's a shame, then, that we didn't walk in the other direction towards Flaunden. We may have come across The Bricklayers Arms.

 

This wonderful pub has won a host of awards, which they are not shy in stating in their pamphlet on the bar, the trophies behind the bar, and on their website. And rightly so, I say.

First of all a comment on the drinks. There were your standard lagers, and Guinness. The cider on tap was Scrumpy Jack, which is unfortunate. When out on a Sunday jaunt, I usually have a cider. I am a fan of Harvest Dry which I first sampled in The Rose and Crown, Hawridge. If they had this cider on tap, I would have gone a bit nuts, I think.
There were standard ales on hand-pump (London Pride), and one offering from the Tring Brewery called Royal Poacher. I am becoming quite a fan of this brewery and consider it a mark of quality to see the brewery's products on sale in a pub. I tried the Royal Poacher and it blew my mind. As a bitter goes, this is one of the top. It had so much depth to it; it continued to hit me with flavour long after my sip had gone down. I do recall a quite strong citrus flavouring, which gave quite a fresh aftertaste.

The food was superb. We were actually very lucky as we walked in without a booking, and were able to sit at one of their bar-area tables and eat. I get the idea that if you want to sample the food here, book. So, back to the food. On Sunday's they only do a roast menu. This was by no means an offering of four dishes and a random pudding. No. It was a fully featured menu with superb looking starters, mains, and desserts. Mrs-Mouse-To-Be had the chicken, I had the pork, and Mr. O (our luncheon companion) opted for the vegetable and basil soup. All  three of the dishes were cooked to perfection. I think I won with my pork dish. It was heavenly. The vegetables were fresh enough to have a bite to them, the Yorkshire pudding was crisp, and the potatoes were roasted and not deep fried.
Due  to time issues we weren't able to sample any of the desserts, but they did look good and we will be back to try them.

Overall, this is a well run, well cared for pub which seems to be at the top of their game. The Sunday roasts were excellent, and the service was very good. I would suggest getting there early as the place fills up very quickly, and to the brim.

Newcastle Brown Ale on Tap?

First of all apologies for not posting here in a while. I wanted to write a great big post about my exploits in Chicago covering all of the bars I took photos of, but never got round to it. They will appear here over the next couple of weeks.

Now to this article...

Although this blog is primarily about pubs, I have started taking more notice of what beers are on tap in the pubs I visit. This is primarily due to The Beer Nut whose blog I read regularly and enjoy his analysis of the beers he drinks. The man has the most adventurous palate of anyone I know.
So, while I was in Chicago I went to a bar called English Chicago. I unfortunately didn't get a photo of the place, but did get a photo of the beers they had on tap. 

The reason for this is that I was completely taken aback at seeing Newcastle Brown Ale on tap, something I have never seen before. I must admit, I have never tried the drink before, but I have seen what drinking lots of it does to people, and that is not pretty. I appreciate that in the UK the bottles that Newcastle Brown is sold in is 550ml (about a pint), but to see it available on tap is quite surprising. Personally, I  have always found it easier to keep track of my drinks when drinking bottles compared with drinking pints. 

I am also quite glad I took the photo of the taps in the pub because it is a fine example of the oversized tap handles that seem to be the norm in American bars. I guess that in the UK the tap surround does the advertising of the beer, whereas in the US the brass T coming out of the bar top is standard, so the tap handle does the advertising of the beer.  I must admit, I have no real preference, but the American taps all seem to be leaning at various angles, looking like they are all trying to see around each other to grab your attention; think people standing in a queue waiting for a bus. In the photo above, it looks like the Guinness looks you in the eye, but the rest of the beer taps are only interested in the people coming in the door. :-)

The bar itself was quite nice. It has an English pseudo theme to it. By pseudo theme I mean that it is not trying to be a "Ye Olde Englishe Pubbe" type venue. Instead, their food and drink menus have an English theme to them.  One of the beers they have which I didn't try is Duchy English Ale. It's the ale sold under the Duchy Originals brand, the Prince of Wales's own brand. While I was there, I thought, "if the beer is anything like the biscuits, it will be a fine brew." I have since read The Beer Nut's thoughts and am not sure I care for it much (maybe I can convince him to do a re-test).  On a side note, the ale is brewed by the Wychwood Brewery, which is certainly one of the more interesting independent breweries in England. It was also known for it's chain of Hobgoblinns pubs which I always enjoyed drinking in.

Finally, for this rather long entry, I was going to give an honourable mention must go to the first and only Dutch vodka I have encountered, Effen Vodka. I know the Dutch are big on their Jenever, so you would think they might branch into vodka as another strong spirit.
I was actually quite excited when I saw it being sold, being the first place I have seen it.  However, as I looked around the internet for information about Effen and it's origins, all I could find is that it is "made from premium wheat from Northern Holland" by "modifying a century-old Dutch recipe" as opposed to made in the small town of XYZ in Northern Holland. Rather, I  suspect it is distilled somewhere in Chicago since the company that owns the website, and just about every other hit I got from Google had something to do with Chicago (including the launch party). So, instead of adding my photo of the Effen bottle and linking to their website, I am not. I feel that the company behind Effen is stretching the 'imported' label a bit too far, especially in America. They aren't breaking the law, but I dislike this kind of marketing, and so will refrain from linking to any sites to do with Effen.
Besides, if you want a decent vodka, give Finlandia a go.

The Atlas, London

If in the Earl's Court area, perhaps for a show, I recommend paying a visit to The Atlas pub which is  less than five minutes walk from the exhibition centre. This small pub does excellent food and has a nice welcoming atmosphere. The prices are a bit steep, but what do you expect for a pub just around the corner from Earl's Court.
There are the standard ales on tap (Spitfire, London Pride), as well as the usual suspects for regular lagers, including Hoegaarden.
The food was excellent. I had their steak sandwich which was filling and extremely tasty. Their oxtail stew also looked quite nice.

Click on the picture to see the pub's location.

Rose and Crown, Hawridge

Address: Vale Road, Hawridge, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, HP5 2UG

One of the nicest pubs I've been into has to be the Rose and Crown Pub in Hawridge,  Buckinghamshire. It has good reason for me to feel that way about it, the pub is the 2007 Central Southern Pub of the Year (Mid Chilterns CAMRA) as well as Cider Pub of the Year 2007.

Rose and Crown, Hawridge

The pub's website mentions that they are an outlet for the Tring  Brewery. This was evident by pumps which take pride of place at the centre of the bar. Two of the four pumps contained Tring Brewery beers, Side Pocket and Santa's Helper. I didn't try them, but did try the cider they had on tap. Unfortunately none of the photos I took of the bar area turned out, and I can't remember the name of it (definitely a reason for a return visit!).

The staff were very helpful, as well as being attentive even though the bar wasn't particularly full. I consider this to be quite an important in pubs. Nothing is more annoying than being the only person at a bar, waiting to be served, while the staff do anything but serve you.

Another unfortunate thing is that we weren't able to try the food while we were there. It looked superb. The food prices were about average for a country pub. A Sunday roast would set you back around £10.00, with starters and desserts hovering around £5.00. Check their website for the current menu.

In conclusion, a very nice country pub. It will be revisited with a mind to sampling their menu and perhaps some of the ales available. Certainly I will be having  another pint of the cider.

Hen and Chickens, Chesham

The Hen and Chickens is located part of the way up the hill between Chesham and Ley Hill. It is a wonderful little pub which, when we last visited, had two very welcome open fires going, warming us after being out in particularly inclement weather.

Hen and Chickens, Chesham

The nicest thing about this pub is the locals. They all seem to sit in the very small area around the bar chatting away to each other. In some pubs it can be quite a hindrance. Here, possibly due to the how small the bar area is, it is easy to get served, and the locals will usually move aside for you.

There are a reasonable amount of beers on tap, and the filter coffee is very good. We unfortunately have not been in the pub for food yet and so cannot comment on that.

If you want a nice friendly little pub to visit as during the cold months, Hen and Chickens is one to go for.

This entry was originally shown on Mouse's Musings.

The Swan

High up on the top of Ley Hill are a couple of pubs. One is called the Crown, and the other is called The Swan. I was going to write a combined article for both of them, but my photos of The Crown were pants. I will write an article next time I go there, and will link through to both.

The Swan Pub, Ley Hill

The Swan is a beautifully quaint little pub opposite a tee of the Chesham and Ley HIll Golf Club, as well as the Ley HIll Cricket Club. This is a dream location for a golf, cricket, pub fan such as myself. Towards the end of this summer past Mrs-Mouse-To-Be and I sat outside the pubs watching golf and cricket while enjoying a refreshing pint. It was a wonderful time.
The last visit to The Swan was on a cold wet winter afternoon. Having walked across country from Chesham, the pub was a welcome sight. We went in and sat in a small room just to the right of the big open fireplace. It was warm and cosy. The locals and staff in the pub have been nothing but welcoming. It is always a pleasure to go there for a pint and a sit down.
We have not tried the food in the pub just yet, but that was because it had sold out by the time we got there a couple of months back.

Yet another Chesham pub which is highly recommended.

This entry was originally shown on Mouse's Musings.