Beers to note - May 2017

So I forgot to post my beers to note for May 2017, so here they are.

1936 Bière (Brauerei Locher) - 4.7% | Bottle 330ml
This is always a beautiful Swiss beer. It has a beautiful smooth taste, which may be due to the water filtering down through the Alps.




Gale's HSB (Fullers) - 4.8% | Cask Pint
This is a solid strong bitter which I consider miles better than the Fuller ESB. I understand Gales had quite a few good beers but it seems the only ones to survive were Seafarers and HSB.





Curiously Dark Mild (Millis) - 3.6% | Cask Pint
A wonderful dark mild that didn't have too much of a malt hit, but was smooth and tasty. Session qualities throughout even being a dark beer during a warm May.





Winter Welcome Ale 2016 - 2017 (Sam Smith) - 6.0% | Bottle 550ml
I'd been looking for this beer for a while and it took till May to find it. Though outside of the cold season I wasn't going to give this beer a miss. It was slightly chilled which enhanced the malts. Slight hop taste but none of the expected alcohol taste or burn you might expect from some strong winter ales.


Peanut Butter Milk Stout (Tailgate) - 5.8% | Can 330ml
I happened across this beer and though not normally a fan of anything peanut butter I thought, why not give it a go, and I'm glad I did. Has a peanut butter nose and the taste is spot on. Stout with peanut butter is amazing.


Velveteen (Dark Revolution) - 4.8% | Keg Pint
A sweet nose on this milk stout, with a slight bitterness to the taste. It doesn't taste so milk stout but its still good.

Beers to note - January 2017

So there were less pub visits in January than a typical month, mainly due to friends being on Dry January or just not going out due to over expenditure in December. Alongside this I didn't drink too many beers outside of the pub. Just to put this into perspective I had a look through my Untappd stats and for last year my average number of drinks a month was 58 (which obviously doesn't take into account measure e.g. halves, 330ml or pints). For January 2017 my drink total was a lowly 39 which did include a few bottles. So below are my beers to note from January 2017.


Santa Paws (BrewDog) - 4.5% | Keg Pint
This was the beer I used to break my New Year duck and ensure I don't follow Dry January. A Christmas beer in January is normally to be avoided after a certain stage by 2nd January is acceptable. I had this beer previously in bottle format but the keg version was far superior as the flavours were more powerful and better aroma. I hope BrewDog have this one out again next year as its definitely one of the seasonable beers I will look for next year.






Organic Cherry Ale (Samuel Smith's) - 5.1% | Bottle 355ml
I didn't even realise this beer was 5% until checking it out for this list. I do like Sam Smith drinks and these fruit beers are no exception. The only problem with them is the high price they always charge, but the beers are always amazing. Cherry has to be one of my favourite as the smell and taste are so perfect, and what I expect from a fruit beer. It's actually quite refreshing to drink, though certainly not sessionable.






Cake Boy Hazelnut Ale (Meantime) - 5.0% | Keg Pint
This beer is from the Pilot Series that Meantime brew and was a special one for the winter period. They have done a fantastic job in capturing that amazing hazelnut taste when sipping the beer, along with some nice malt and chocolaty-ness. This is a beer I would recommend to try but again not something I would consider sessionable.







Hibernate (To øl) - 6.0% | Bottle 330ml
This was one of those beers that you pick up to try and once you open, you wish it was in a bigger bottle or you picked up more. This was a beautiful hoppy wheat beer and I'm not sure what else to say. If you can get your hands on this, do!






Sussex Best Bitter (Harveys) - 4.0% | Cask Pint
This beer is always a beautiful drink, and never disappoints. Harveys brew some wonderful beers but this as a flagship is flawless, and when served in perfect condition in cask cannot be beaten. Easily sessionable.





Old Ale (Harveys) - 4.3% | Cask Pint
Another Harveys beer, and again a great pint served in perfect condition. The beer is dark but light and easy to drink. I haven't tried the bottle version which is a lower ABV of 3.6%, which I'm concerned could impact the flavour, so would suggest sticking with the cask if found. Easily sessionable.







Coconut Porter (Old Hands) - 6.0% | Cask Half
The beer pours dark. There is no real aroma coming off the beer but the taste of the beer is distinctly coconut. The coconut came through and fitted perfectly with the beer. I wouldn't say this was a refreshing pint but I did enjoy the coconut taste which they perfected.

Ægir India Pale Ale (Ægir Bryggeri)  - 6.5%| Can 330ml

I firstly liked the design of the can, which was eye catching. Also the ring pull takes off the whole top half of the can like on a soup can. I admit I did pull a bit too hard and split a little of this precious liquid. It was a nice hoppy pale ale, and one I wouldn't mind trying again, maybe in keg format....a trip to Norway beckons I reckon.

London Pub Tour 16 - Fitzrovia: The Prince of Wales Feathers, The Carpenters Arms and Fitzroy Tavern

I don't believe in partaking in dry January so I always try to get out to the pub as soon as possible in January to prevent it becoming one by accident. This year I managed that task on 2nd January as part of my London Pub Tour. The place - The Prince of Wales Feathers (), the drink, a decidedly Christmas one - Santa Paws by Brew Dog.

I opted for the Santa Paws as I'd had it previously in December and enjoy it, but only in bottle. When I seen it on tap I thought I better give it a try, and the honestly tasted much better on keg than it did in the bottle. The flavours just came through better to make this beer so enjoyable, and a good choice for first beer of the year.

The Prince of Wales Feathers (which in itself is a decidedly strange name for a pub which seems to have just come about by chucking Prince of Wales in front of its original name The Feathers) is located just a few metres away from Warren Street tube station. The front of the pub looks very traditional until you get closer and notice the stained glass windows. The pub has a roof terrace and I believe a beer garden out back, but due to the weather I didn't try to seek out either of these, nor sure if they would be open. When walking into Feathers you will see straight ahead stairs going up and  just to your right are two tall 8 seater tables. The bar is against the side wall, and there is no seating around it, offering a very spacious bar area. Where the bar ends the walls come in slightly, and this is where the tables for the dinning start. There were about 20 people in the pub, with majority sat down eating in the rear. The beer choices available on my visit included Estrella, Heineken, Camden Pale, Camden Hells, Stigel and Numero Uno (which I've had before). On Cask only three of the 5 pumps were in action offering up Landlord, Doombar and Ticketybrew.

After my excellent pint of Santa Paws I took a short stroll, maybe about 5-10mins, down to The Carpenters Arms (W1T 4EY). This was a corner pub on a back street just off the main road. It's also owned by the same company as the feathers, Castle (Which is a M&B brand). This pub was a two part bar with the side I entered into a small bar area, with some seating on the edges, including a sofa and table in one corner, and a small bar. The other side was a large dinning area which had a larger bar and more people. I stayed in the smaller bar area where there were about 6 other people. There were two hand pumps offering Doombar and a Coming Soon Speckled Hen. I certainly wasn't going to wait around for that Hen to come on. On the keg side they had Stigel (which I'm beginning to realise is maybe now more common in London pubs that I originally thought), Peroni, Veltins, Chimay Gold and Pilsner Urquell.

I selected a pint of Pilsner Urquell as I thought the Chimay was going to be a high percentage, but was shocked to discover afterwards that is was only 4.8%, drat. There were craft cans available but nothing stood out too much. The Pilsner Urquell came in a branded jug and was okay. I used to like Urquell quite a bit but now think there are some far more enjoyable Pilsners. I guess the only way to change my mind is to pop into one of the pubs that have freshly brewed tank Pilsner Urquell.

I left the Carpenters Arms and walked again for another 10 minutes, by passing other pubs, to get to the one I wanted, Fitzroy Tavern (W1T 2LY) a Sam Smiths pub. I already knew what I wanted to drink in this pub, hence why I bypassed other pubs. I've not been to this pub before so was unaware that it was separated into 4 separate areas, with no connections between them. The first section I went into had nobody in there and I couldn't see anyone at the bar, so I walked out and into another section where there were about 4 people, but again I couldn't see anyone at the bar. Both these sections would be in what I would consider the rear of the pub. I then walked around to the front (main road entrance) and finally found bar staff, but had to decide which quarter I wanted to sit within. I selected the busier section as this meant bar staff were more likely to hang around on this side and I'd get served quicker.

I order a bottle of the Organic Cherry Ale, which doesn't come cheap compared to Sam Smiths prices, but when compared to fruit / craft beers elsewhere I think it's quite reasonable. The beer comes in a non-standard 335ml bottle (Might like their larger non-standard 550ml bottles which when poured into a glass and creating a bit of head looks exactly like the normal Sam Smiths beer pint measure). The beer has a tart cherry flavour that is delicious, and not sickly sweet. It is my favourite of the fruit beers offered by Sams but I do admire their other beers. Compared to the likes of some of the mainstream belgium fruit beers like Fruli or Timmermans, this beer is vastly superior.

The Fitzroy tavern itself is a wonder to behold. Sam Smith's have spared no expense in recreating an old sytle pub with the wood and glass and privacy screens. It is a pub worth visiting to look at any enjoy, though it's not the best example of what Sam's have done, but it does look stunning. Yes, this might be a modern instalment to a pub, but I like pubs that have character, which this does, compared to a pub that may strip out furniture to a minimum and floors down to boards. Obviously if all pubs looked like this it would be dull and uninspiring, and I that's what I like about pubs. You find so many unique or different styles, different eras and historical impacts. Pubs are ever changing and should adapt with the times, but we all dread when a large swath of pubs follow a new trend, as we all know trends change, and soon those pubs begin to look dated and undergo another change. In each of these changes it loses any original features or identity.

So that's the end of my pontification about pub design and where I ended this beer tour.

London Pub Tour 8 - Victoria: St. George's Tavern, Brass Monkey and Windsor castle

I decided to keep it local for my next pub tour in Dec 2016 and stuck to Victoria. My first stop was St. George's Tavern (SW1V 1QD) which is a Nicholson's pub opposite the passport office. How busy this pub is depends on time of day and how many people are applying for last minute passports before their holiday, so by that measure avoid at lunchtimes during school holiday. I fortunately went in the evening however it was still packed without a seat to call home.

The pub itself is a not so large corner pub. There is a fair bit of seating outside though it is a noisy and quite congested junction at present due to traffic works, plus its winter, so I wouldn't recommend. The pub has a well varnished dark wood floor and typically has low lighting on. There are a few large barrels acting as tables near the front of the pub. The windows opposite the bar are actually doors that fold away during the hot summer spells. Towards the rear are some larger seating areas for big groups, and a dinning area. There is also a downstairs bar that you can book (no charge) if your having a large group coming for a party/celebration/piss up. The bar upstairs is actually quite large though the service area is reduced due to some of the structural pillars which does make queuing, yes queuing, difficult.

As a Nicholson's pub there is a varying array of lagers including Meantime Brewery Fresh which comes from the three large tanks situated to the right of the bar (It's not hard to miss them). I opted to have a pint of the Brewery Fresh as I hadn't tasted it here since it was installed, as I'm normally tempted by their ale range. The Brewery Fresh was okay, but I think I would have preferred a standard meantime tap such as London Lager or Pale Ale instead. I next plumped for an ale, which was my friend the Wild Holly by Thornbridge which I'd had previously at the Trafalgar in pub tour 7.

After the two I opted to move on with hope of finding a seat at my next stop the Brass Monkey (SW1V 1AU). You could easily walk past this place and not notice it is a pub, as it doesn't generally stand out even with its green-ish paint. The pub is not very wide but has a long depth, and right near the rear is where you'll find the bar. There was a selection of three ales (Doom, Swift and Landlord) along with 6 'standard' lagers including the quite familar in these parts Meantime Pale Ale. I opted for a pint of Heineken because, why not. The pump has the now standard frozen ice around the outside to let you know it's cold, just as I would expect all the other beers to be.

The Brass Monkey is usually quite packed with suits who pile in here after work before catching the train home. Surprisingly today it was empty. The raised snug area at the rear just above and behind the bar was empty and that is normally the best seat in the house. I've spent a few too many lunch times chilling in the snug, enjoying a good pint of Landlord. The front area of the pub has hard wearing carpet which stops just before the small bar area where it becomes wood. The tables are the perfect height for dinning and the pub does offer a full menu and snacks. There were some reservations on the tables towards the front meaning there were people due soon, so after the one I moved onwards to my final stop, the Windsor Castle (SW1P 1DN).

This pub re-opened shortly after I moved to Victoria, after an extension refurb and rename from the Cardinal to the Windsor. This is a Samuel Smith's pub and as such the refurb has been done in a Victorian style with the dark wood, lots of glass and the screened/partitioned drinking areas. I've said it previously but I do think Sam Smith's do the best refurbishments. As a Sam Smith's pub in the London the beer selection is as expected, the only ale on tap is of course Old Brewery Bitter with the rest serving the Sam Smith's keg selection which includes Taddy, Double 4, Extra Stout and Wheat Beer. I turned my attention to the pricey but beautiful bottled beers that Sam Smith's offer and settled on one of my favourite, the Chocolate Stout. I pared this bottle of beer with a pack of crisps, what more did you expect. The price was a Sam Smith's eye watering £6.50, though the bottle is 550ml, so with a head fits perfectly into a pint glass. This beer to me is amazing, but it could be as it plays well to my sweet tooth. The chocolate smell and taste of this beer is (currently) to me unrivalled. The beer is so smooth and delicious, although I would never advise more than 2 in a session, as it could become a bit sickly sweet.

The pub was busy but most people seemed to be seated in the large open room at the rear, with all the 'comfy' sofa and arm chairs. Little do most people realise that they're probably sat on a small fortune with the amount of coins people lose in those seats. My mate once found enough for a whole pint of Old Brewery! After finishing off my bottle of the stout too easily I order a half of the Pure Organic Lager to wind down the night. This was a very crisps beer and not one I'd actually sampled before from their range. I had actually checked if they had any of their Christmas bottled beer for me to take home but sadly there was none.

So after my drink I called it a night and made the short walk back to Victoria station. On my route back I passed the Brass Monkey and expected it was heavying with suits. Glad I didn't hang around and tempt fate.