A pub is for life not just for Christmas
Pub of the month:Woodcock Inn
Pub of the year(north):Strathmore Arms
Pub of the year-South:Tiger Inn
This was hard work!!
Last edited by Wittenden; 01-01-2014 at 02:12.
"At that moment I would have given a kingdom, not for champagne or hock and soda, or hot coffee but for a glass of beer" Marquess Curzon of Kedlestone, Viceroy of India.
Pub of the month Tapping The Admiral
Pub of the year The Gunmakers
New Pub of the Year Cock Tavern just pipping
Tapping The Admiral,two fine pubs and contenders for champion 2014.
Last edited by Mobyduck; 01-01-2014 at 08:22. Reason: addition of NPOTY
"Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer."
-W.C.Fields
No contest
Harrogate Tap
My pub of the month for December goes to The Royal Exchange a great pub with a lively atmosphere and a very good choice of real ales on the bar.
My December pub is the Harvey's Lord Nelson in Brighton. On a flying visit taking in four GBG pubs near the Station this was by far the best as the others were too small and crowded, too studenty or had a boring beer selection. It's the first time I've tried Harvey's for well over a decade, and in the recent climate where newer small breweries abound, Harvey's beers aren't the attraction that they once were. What really appealed to me about it was that it was exactly as I remembered it rather than being an extraordinary pub with a fantastic ale selection.
I just hope the refurb that was apparently going on doesn't spoil it.
Very interesting Aqualung - used to be always one of the first on our Brighton tour map, but has been so awful on 3 or 4 visits that we gave it a swerve last time. Disinterested management serving Harveys in such poor condition that I had intended (but failed) to suggest that the brewery did a spot check. If it's back on the up maybe they've had a jolt, or moved on...
The beer certainly wasn't awful but the quality in the other three was probably better. This and the Battle of Trafalgar were the only ones I went to that were comfortable (ie I got a seat). Of course Saturday evening a week or so before Xmas was bad timing! I was trying to remember when this became a Harvey's pub as my recollection from the mid seventies was that there were no Harvey's pubs in Brighton, so I referred to Frank Baillie's the Beer Drinker's Companion which confirmed my suspicions. When he wrote the book Harvey's only had 24 tied houses!
A visit to The Old Fountain,Old Street was as wonderful as ever but I have nominated it for POTM so many times over the years,that to do so again verges on being boring.
So POTM goes to The Spyglass Inn,Ventnor .On a rough ,windy day with waves crashing below it was a cosy retreat and could tempt you to stay for a long session.
"Good people drink good beer" Hunter S Thompson
An easy winner this month. The Flying Duck , in Ilkey, reopened in November after a 250K refurb and is an absolute gem. Exposed stone walls, a real fire and terrific vaulted ceiling. Plus, nine hand pumps and a microbrewery out back. A fantastic addition to the local drinking scene.
'And where he supped the past lived still. And where he sipped the glass brimmed full' John Barleycorn, Carol Ann Duffy.