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04-12-2022, 08:21
Visit the Shut up about Barclay Perkins site (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2022/12/what-i-noticed-in-london.html)
I’m not going to give you a blow-by-blow account of my trip to London. I’ve written far too many of those recently. And this wasn’t a beer trip. A holiday with Dolores, for once.
Instead, just a few observations on London. As beer and pubs go, of course. Or maybe some other crap as well. If I can remember anything.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkNS5thjItcDfkhNOdC9o8o6sQQnwaHYQ5TL4sZ4rrZY sdJ8PnLc2v4FehH_7GyPcaZbwStKP_LGSaI_dXANCfQ0Z9Il1s xlkTsYC_xPWVNAy3GyJE3y6cwki2fOxQhkMBVnc6GmtKmHoSys dWSHW_hlvjQ0SFi2TsmfxwhlmHg9jzsuu3NOvXxw67/w640-h480/train_beer.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkNS5thjItcDfkhNOdC9o8o6sQQnwaHYQ5TL4sZ4rrZY sdJ8PnLc2v4FehH_7GyPcaZbwStKP_LGSaI_dXANCfQ0Z9Il1s xlkTsYC_xPWVNAy3GyJE3y6cwki2fOxQhkMBVnc6GmtKmHoSys dWSHW_hlvjQ0SFi2TsmfxwhlmHg9jzsuu3NOvXxw67/s2000/train_beer.jpg)
For the first time, we travelled to London by Eurostar. Which meant I could Take my own beer for the journey. Bluejacket Company porter, in case you’re wondering. An East India Porter brewed to a recipe of mine in DC. It’s one of the beers I brought back from my last US trip. Very nice it was, too.
We didn’t visit a huge number of pubs. Just six in total: The Euston Flyer, Friend at Hand, Brewhouse & Kitchen, Shakespeare’s Head, Marlborough Head and The Museum Tavern. Three of which are Greene King tied houses. As many of the pubs in central London seem to be.
We called in The Euston Flyer on the way in and way out. As it’s handily positioned directly opposite St. Pancras. Only one Fullers beer on draught – London Pride – and three bottled. Though there were two Dark Star beers. Slightly worrying, if typical.
I was concerned when Fullers left brewing. Such splits in the past have mostly led to both brewery and pub chain disappearing. How are sales of Fullers beers doing in their pubs? Have they boosted sales elsewhere?
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMeRDN47GmWlWyZ6C_x_Mv2pDAxd3gfDnQbfnlr9YQE wTyjwgWB77CXnqHuGC8S2m7-ZpktrcAyaWgC_rEuK1OLsAzNdaqWLTcCGa7pErZjU4Vp0rSYZw xeX_Xd5b1O6zj5f3am-vo54Uhe3sbdZdgR_gyrtmyXnkMc96GTwH8kPKW9esSL1TlI3a/w640-h480/Pride_and_Xpresso.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMeRDN47GmWlWyZ6C_x_Mv2pDAxd3gfDnQbfnlr9YQE wTyjwgWB77CXnqHuGC8S2m7-ZpktrcAyaWgC_rEuK1OLsAzNdaqWLTcCGa7pErZjU4Vp0rSYZw xeX_Xd5b1O6zj5f3am-vo54Uhe3sbdZdgR_gyrtmyXnkMc96GTwH8kPKW9esSL1TlI3a/s2000/Pride_and_Xpresso.jpg)
The quality of cask we encountered was pretty good. Neither of us had a duff pint. Nothing even close to needing returning. The Brewhouse & Kitchen was the most disappointing, only have one cask beer on, a whisky Stout that tasted like it had been on for a while. Dolores had to resort to drinking keg Bitter.
Visiting several Greene King pubs, I ended up drinking quite a bit of Abbot. Nothing wrong with it at all. Full of malty goodness. Dolores reassures me that London Pride is still as good as ever.
Their pubs did have some interesting guest beers from small London breweries. Bermondsey Best in the Museum Tavern, for example. Bitters which were able to satisfy Dolores’s cask beer craving.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip6OUYw4p5Kf6u3TE2zUb1s0wbnb3FPdx66ozKP6k8r1 ichWNSSGusdZ4dp4Gr0zFaqtvz22ssT3Lhava3qJyRcXv4YCFe gy4hHHeg8M4ZLZcZqf8XZp06_2FO6-hevOrXUbFmIsd2pTODUCtZlv4TYCseh65AfPxhX732tYV9q0Y9 8RXHN6vgZbFG/w640-h480/public_bar.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip6OUYw4p5Kf6u3TE2zUb1s0wbnb3FPdx66ozKP6k8r1 ichWNSSGusdZ4dp4Gr0zFaqtvz22ssT3Lhava3qJyRcXv4YCFe gy4hHHeg8M4ZLZcZqf8XZp06_2FO6-hevOrXUbFmIsd2pTODUCtZlv4TYCseh65AfPxhX732tYV9q0Y9 8RXHN6vgZbFG/s2000/public_bar.jpg)
Biggest disappointment – apart from the fucking prices – was the lack of Old Peculier at the Museum Tavern. I’d been looking forward to that. As for the prices, well, I’d sort of expected it. Everything well north of a fiver a pint, except in Spoons, where it was still over four quid.
Most pubs were pretty full. But we were in central London. The pubs are always busy. So very difficult to say anything sensible on how trade is holding up.
Most pubs were pretty full. But we were in central London. The pubs are always busy. So very difficult to say anything sensible on how trade is holding up.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnd-4RDNIsufKXJzNi6whNJG3RPRH3GpOXNZsS8NK-OCb1NGvARCqnpSM9qsy8eHMzfnIl59XGzLbHelvlOEmtVLP9nz lw1T4T-G3wFtRc3B-X0b2K0LBMED4n-5WNoeKEJS-_a0vOV6ohwlb6tAt0TNS224J71oSeHOhR3G90UlVgXQs1M2tbI 16b/w640-h480/cool_beers.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnd-4RDNIsufKXJzNi6whNJG3RPRH3GpOXNZsS8NK-OCb1NGvARCqnpSM9qsy8eHMzfnIl59XGzLbHelvlOEmtVLP9nz lw1T4T-G3wFtRc3B-X0b2K0LBMED4n-5WNoeKEJS-_a0vOV6ohwlb6tAt0TNS224J71oSeHOhR3G90UlVgXQs1M2tbI 16b/s2000/cool_beers.jpg)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMesQqfd3_OryC34fUKh9VqKvTcQXNg_Ef4IIhZActPZ mRIjasxbx3W8nZqXXUFz7fX2S9LDSFeytSf3tRXwECvNyhvVfI _vtbN0FiEZsGjRJDV8KpuX64BIivfn5e-CwQveLlPsjwRIzgq9bGFtjDikFFpi_BMRqrVrrMQc7wIDngKwl rTkyXpDUB/w640-h480/fuddy_duddy_beers.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMesQqfd3_OryC34fUKh9VqKvTcQXNg_Ef4IIhZActPZ mRIjasxbx3W8nZqXXUFz7fX2S9LDSFeytSf3tRXwECvNyhvVfI _vtbN0FiEZsGjRJDV8KpuX64BIivfn5e-CwQveLlPsjwRIzgq9bGFtjDikFFpi_BMRqrVrrMQc7wIDngKwl rTkyXpDUB/s2000/fuddy_duddy_beers.jpg)
In Waitrose, there was a sort of beer apartheid: shiny cans of craft on one side of the aisle, bottles of trad stuff on the other. Except for cans of Camden beers. It implies that there are two types of beer drinker. If so, my purchases made pretty clear which I was.
The Euston Flyer
83-87 Euston Rd,
London NW1 2RA.
Friend at Hand
2-4 Herbrand St,
London WC1N 1HX.
Brewhouse & Kitchen - Hoxton
397-400 Geffrye St,
London E2 8HZ.
Shakespeare's Head
Africa House,
64-68 Kingsway,
London WC2B 6BG.
Marlborough Head
24 N Audley St,
London W1K 6WD.
Museum Tavern
49 Great Russell St,
London WC1B 3BA.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2022/12/what-i-noticed-in-london.html)
I’m not going to give you a blow-by-blow account of my trip to London. I’ve written far too many of those recently. And this wasn’t a beer trip. A holiday with Dolores, for once.
Instead, just a few observations on London. As beer and pubs go, of course. Or maybe some other crap as well. If I can remember anything.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkNS5thjItcDfkhNOdC9o8o6sQQnwaHYQ5TL4sZ4rrZY sdJ8PnLc2v4FehH_7GyPcaZbwStKP_LGSaI_dXANCfQ0Z9Il1s xlkTsYC_xPWVNAy3GyJE3y6cwki2fOxQhkMBVnc6GmtKmHoSys dWSHW_hlvjQ0SFi2TsmfxwhlmHg9jzsuu3NOvXxw67/w640-h480/train_beer.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkNS5thjItcDfkhNOdC9o8o6sQQnwaHYQ5TL4sZ4rrZY sdJ8PnLc2v4FehH_7GyPcaZbwStKP_LGSaI_dXANCfQ0Z9Il1s xlkTsYC_xPWVNAy3GyJE3y6cwki2fOxQhkMBVnc6GmtKmHoSys dWSHW_hlvjQ0SFi2TsmfxwhlmHg9jzsuu3NOvXxw67/s2000/train_beer.jpg)
For the first time, we travelled to London by Eurostar. Which meant I could Take my own beer for the journey. Bluejacket Company porter, in case you’re wondering. An East India Porter brewed to a recipe of mine in DC. It’s one of the beers I brought back from my last US trip. Very nice it was, too.
We didn’t visit a huge number of pubs. Just six in total: The Euston Flyer, Friend at Hand, Brewhouse & Kitchen, Shakespeare’s Head, Marlborough Head and The Museum Tavern. Three of which are Greene King tied houses. As many of the pubs in central London seem to be.
We called in The Euston Flyer on the way in and way out. As it’s handily positioned directly opposite St. Pancras. Only one Fullers beer on draught – London Pride – and three bottled. Though there were two Dark Star beers. Slightly worrying, if typical.
I was concerned when Fullers left brewing. Such splits in the past have mostly led to both brewery and pub chain disappearing. How are sales of Fullers beers doing in their pubs? Have they boosted sales elsewhere?
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMeRDN47GmWlWyZ6C_x_Mv2pDAxd3gfDnQbfnlr9YQE wTyjwgWB77CXnqHuGC8S2m7-ZpktrcAyaWgC_rEuK1OLsAzNdaqWLTcCGa7pErZjU4Vp0rSYZw xeX_Xd5b1O6zj5f3am-vo54Uhe3sbdZdgR_gyrtmyXnkMc96GTwH8kPKW9esSL1TlI3a/w640-h480/Pride_and_Xpresso.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMeRDN47GmWlWyZ6C_x_Mv2pDAxd3gfDnQbfnlr9YQE wTyjwgWB77CXnqHuGC8S2m7-ZpktrcAyaWgC_rEuK1OLsAzNdaqWLTcCGa7pErZjU4Vp0rSYZw xeX_Xd5b1O6zj5f3am-vo54Uhe3sbdZdgR_gyrtmyXnkMc96GTwH8kPKW9esSL1TlI3a/s2000/Pride_and_Xpresso.jpg)
The quality of cask we encountered was pretty good. Neither of us had a duff pint. Nothing even close to needing returning. The Brewhouse & Kitchen was the most disappointing, only have one cask beer on, a whisky Stout that tasted like it had been on for a while. Dolores had to resort to drinking keg Bitter.
Visiting several Greene King pubs, I ended up drinking quite a bit of Abbot. Nothing wrong with it at all. Full of malty goodness. Dolores reassures me that London Pride is still as good as ever.
Their pubs did have some interesting guest beers from small London breweries. Bermondsey Best in the Museum Tavern, for example. Bitters which were able to satisfy Dolores’s cask beer craving.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip6OUYw4p5Kf6u3TE2zUb1s0wbnb3FPdx66ozKP6k8r1 ichWNSSGusdZ4dp4Gr0zFaqtvz22ssT3Lhava3qJyRcXv4YCFe gy4hHHeg8M4ZLZcZqf8XZp06_2FO6-hevOrXUbFmIsd2pTODUCtZlv4TYCseh65AfPxhX732tYV9q0Y9 8RXHN6vgZbFG/w640-h480/public_bar.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip6OUYw4p5Kf6u3TE2zUb1s0wbnb3FPdx66ozKP6k8r1 ichWNSSGusdZ4dp4Gr0zFaqtvz22ssT3Lhava3qJyRcXv4YCFe gy4hHHeg8M4ZLZcZqf8XZp06_2FO6-hevOrXUbFmIsd2pTODUCtZlv4TYCseh65AfPxhX732tYV9q0Y9 8RXHN6vgZbFG/s2000/public_bar.jpg)
Biggest disappointment – apart from the fucking prices – was the lack of Old Peculier at the Museum Tavern. I’d been looking forward to that. As for the prices, well, I’d sort of expected it. Everything well north of a fiver a pint, except in Spoons, where it was still over four quid.
Most pubs were pretty full. But we were in central London. The pubs are always busy. So very difficult to say anything sensible on how trade is holding up.
Most pubs were pretty full. But we were in central London. The pubs are always busy. So very difficult to say anything sensible on how trade is holding up.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnd-4RDNIsufKXJzNi6whNJG3RPRH3GpOXNZsS8NK-OCb1NGvARCqnpSM9qsy8eHMzfnIl59XGzLbHelvlOEmtVLP9nz lw1T4T-G3wFtRc3B-X0b2K0LBMED4n-5WNoeKEJS-_a0vOV6ohwlb6tAt0TNS224J71oSeHOhR3G90UlVgXQs1M2tbI 16b/w640-h480/cool_beers.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnd-4RDNIsufKXJzNi6whNJG3RPRH3GpOXNZsS8NK-OCb1NGvARCqnpSM9qsy8eHMzfnIl59XGzLbHelvlOEmtVLP9nz lw1T4T-G3wFtRc3B-X0b2K0LBMED4n-5WNoeKEJS-_a0vOV6ohwlb6tAt0TNS224J71oSeHOhR3G90UlVgXQs1M2tbI 16b/s2000/cool_beers.jpg)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMesQqfd3_OryC34fUKh9VqKvTcQXNg_Ef4IIhZActPZ mRIjasxbx3W8nZqXXUFz7fX2S9LDSFeytSf3tRXwECvNyhvVfI _vtbN0FiEZsGjRJDV8KpuX64BIivfn5e-CwQveLlPsjwRIzgq9bGFtjDikFFpi_BMRqrVrrMQc7wIDngKwl rTkyXpDUB/w640-h480/fuddy_duddy_beers.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMesQqfd3_OryC34fUKh9VqKvTcQXNg_Ef4IIhZActPZ mRIjasxbx3W8nZqXXUFz7fX2S9LDSFeytSf3tRXwECvNyhvVfI _vtbN0FiEZsGjRJDV8KpuX64BIivfn5e-CwQveLlPsjwRIzgq9bGFtjDikFFpi_BMRqrVrrMQc7wIDngKwl rTkyXpDUB/s2000/fuddy_duddy_beers.jpg)
In Waitrose, there was a sort of beer apartheid: shiny cans of craft on one side of the aisle, bottles of trad stuff on the other. Except for cans of Camden beers. It implies that there are two types of beer drinker. If so, my purchases made pretty clear which I was.
The Euston Flyer
83-87 Euston Rd,
London NW1 2RA.
Friend at Hand
2-4 Herbrand St,
London WC1N 1HX.
Brewhouse & Kitchen - Hoxton
397-400 Geffrye St,
London E2 8HZ.
Shakespeare's Head
Africa House,
64-68 Kingsway,
London WC2B 6BG.
Marlborough Head
24 N Audley St,
London W1K 6WD.
Museum Tavern
49 Great Russell St,
London WC1B 3BA.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2022/12/what-i-noticed-in-london.html)