Beer of the Week (w/e 25th March 2018)

[ROBCamra]

Wittenden: Larkin's-Traditional
Thuck Phat: Fullers HSB
oldboots: Harvey's Porter
rpadam: Harvey's Porter
Mobyduck: Arundel Uptown
aleandhearty: North Riding Cascade
Bucking Fastard: Salopian Lux Nova
Real Ale Ray: Gun Pale Ale
ROBCamra: Pomona Island Pale

[Wittenden]

Kent: West Kent and Sussex trinity.Nothing edgy this week.
Harvey's-Sussex Best Bitter 4%abv: Decent,though I'm usually tough on Harvey's SBB, given its ubiquity.
Dark Star-Hophead 3.8% abv. Doesn't seem to have suffered from the change of ownership.
Larkin's-Traditional 3.4%abv. Taking this after Hophead revealed the toffee and vanilla flavours lurking in the background.My BOTW.

[Thuck Phat]

A fairly disappointing selection from Jericho largely:

Otter Bitter
Purity Mad Goose
Fullers HSB*
Loose Cannon Recoil
Shotover Oxford Scholar
Oakham Bishops Farewell*

An easy winner of BOTW was Fullers HSB partly because the rest, Bishops aside, was bland to poor and partly because it seems to me to be a fair re-creation of the Gales HSB I used to quaff as a callow youth.

[oldboots]

Here's my list from Thursday-Saturday

Fullers - London Pride
Hammerpot - Double Helix
Long Man - Old Man
Greyhound - White Bird
Cellarhead - Bitter Tide
Tiny Rebel - Hank
360° - Pale Ale
Gun - Pale Ale
Franklin - Mama knows best
Foglie D'Erba - Hot Night in the Village
Langham - Halfway to Heaven
Siren - Broken Dream
Southey - Best Bitter
Laine - Breaker
Hercules - Yardsman Original (we think that's the brewery the pump clip was less than clear)
Veterans - .303
Fullers - Gales HSB*
North Laine - Brighton Blend
Harveys - Old Ale
Harveys - Porter
Burning Sky - Aurora
Dark Star- Hophead
Dark Star - American Brown
Vibrant Forest - Black Forest
Wells - Youngs Bitter
Trumans - Gipsy Queen
Rudgate - Hop on Board (bottle on Virgin East Coast)
York - Centurions Ghost

Not that impressive as beers go although the Siren was very good at 6.5% which some naysayers thought a bit rich for only my third pub on Friday lunchtime, but BOTW should go to a Sussex brew and it's Harvey's Porter sampled in the excellent Mitre.

* I disagree with Thuck Phat, it's possibly close to the (inferior) post 1979 version but nowt like the stuff I drank as an equally callow youth, maybe I'm older as I remember the mid 1970s version - pure nectar.

[rpadam]

Not that impressive as beers go although the Siren was very good at 6.5% which some naysayers thought a bit rich for only my third pub on Friday lunchtime, but BOTW should go to a Sussex brew and it's Harvey's Porter sampled in the excellent Mitre.
I'll go for the same, also tasting equally as good earlier in the day at the Constant Service (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/10405/).

[Mobyduck]

A bit more to get my teeth into this week.
Hopback GFB
Purity Pure Gold
Wye Valley HPA
Flowerpots Perridge Pale*
Arundle Wild Heaven
Arundle Uptown*
Dark Star Revelation
Dark Star American Pale Ale
Dark Star Hophead Loral
Pamona Island Pale
Laines Breaker Pale
Hercules? Yardsman Double Chocolate Mocha Stout*
Caledonian XPA
Siren Miniature Hero
Tiny Rebel Hank
Hammerpot Double Helix
Harveys Porter
Franklins Ipa
Exile Whakatu
Red Cat Scratch
Milk Street Taiheke
BrewDog Elvis Juice*
Stonehenge Sign Of Spring*
Elusive Sunset Rider*

In general I found the cask beer in Brighton, although ok a little underwhelming,there were a couple of exceptions, notably the Harvey's Porter in The Mitre Tavern (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/10498/), on Sunday in Southampton I had an excellent Elusive Sunset Rider in the equally excellent Bookshop Ale House. (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/83888/) But for the second week running a keg beer takes the prize and again it was provided in a BrewDog (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/66776/)establishment. BOTW is Arundle Uptown, an unlikely brewery in my book for interesting beer but I found it sensational.

[Thuck Phat]

* I disagree with Thuck Phat, it's possibly close to the (inferior) post 1979 version but nowt like the stuff I drank as an equally callow youth, maybe I'm older as I remember the mid 1970s version - pure nectar.

Your taste buds have an impressively long memory but I suspect that any iteration of HSB would be welcome in amongst the dross we found in Jericho.

[aleandhearty]

Not a lot to titillate the taste buds, this week.

North Riding - Cascade.
Five Towns - Liberty.
Empire - White Lion.
Surrey Hills - Ranmore.
Magpie - Best.

All a bit 'meh', to be honest. The Cascade was the best of an indifferent bunch.

[Bucking Fastard]

Jericho,Brighton and Petersham resulted in a very long list but some very ordinary ales .


Otter -- Bitter
Purity -- Mad Goose
Fullers -- "Gales" HSB *
Loose Cannon -- Recoil *
Prescott -- Spring Season's Best
Arundel -- Wild Heaven
Salopian -- Lux Nova *
Pompona Island -- Pale *
Holler Boys -- Fog Cutter
Laine -- Breaker Pale Ale
Caledonian -- Golden XPA
Red Cat -- Sun Valley * (keg)
Laine -- Hop Bomb
360 Degree -- Pale *
Firebird -- Citra
Titanic -- Plum Porter
Harvey's -- Porter *
Burning Sky -- Aurora *
Dark Star -- Hophead Loral
Dark Star -- American Pale Ale
Adnams -- Broadside
Shepherd Neame -- Spitfire


BOTW goes to Salopian Lux Nova in the Brighton Craft Beer Co (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/10534/). Not as hop forward as some Salopian output but very quaffable and well balanced.

Next week will need to be quiet.

[Real Ale Ray]

Gun - Pale Ale

[ROBCamra]

A top class beer from a fairly new kid on the block in Salford.

Pomona Island Pale. A 3.8% session beer that totally refused to stay in the glass in The Gaslamp (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/73019/)

[Mobyduck]

A top class beer from a fairly new kid on the block in Salford.

Pomona Island Pale. A 3.8% session beer that totally refused to stay in the glass in The Gaslamp (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/73019/)

Had this on the Brighton trip, not bad but not best of the day.