Beers to note - July 2017

Again delayed in getting my July beers to note up on the blog. July was a busy month with the good weather meaning I was able to tuck into a nice variety of beers. I note that most of the ones that managed to be in my list are more high percentage hitters, which might be due to having better flavour in the hotter weather. I've also got one from the different dispensing categories (can, bottle, cask and keg). Below are the beers that stood out most for me during this month:

Antwerpen Stout (Guinness) - 8% | Bottle 330ml
My first beer of the month and what a beer. I'd been hunting down this bottle for a while and finally happened across it in Tesco's. This beer also goes by the name of Guinness Special Export Stout. The beer poured a much darker colour than Guinness and packed a much bigger punch in the ABV but was great.


Mizmaze (Downton Brewery) - 4% | Cask Pint
This beer is labelled as an English bitter but it's actually very light and sweet and goes down a treat.


Brixton Porter (BrewDog) - 5% | Keg Half Pint
Happened upon by chance on one of my pub tours in Brixton. It has a roasted aroma with massive roasted malt taste. Entered my list of good porters.



Clwb Tropicana (Tiny Rebel) - 5.5% | Can 330ml
Fresh, fruity and yes as you'd expect tropical


Beer Camp Golden IPA 2017 (Sierra Nevada) - 6.5% | Keg Pint
I had quite a lot of Sierra Nevada beers in July due to a few pubs running a Sierra beer festival. They had perhaps a keg of each and it would all change regularly. I managed to have this Golden IPA at two different pubs the first time as a half and the second as a pint, and it was beautiful. There wasn't a hop hit but the fresh fruity taste is immense.

JW Lees DIPA - S.E. Drink Fresh (Cloudwater) - 9% | Keg Half Pint
This was quite pricey at £6.50 for the half but as an occasional treat this was worth it. The alcohol doesn't overpower the citrus notes coming through, and sadly the half did go quite quickly.

London Pub Tour 7 - Chelsea: Phoenix, Chelsea Potter and Trafalgar

I'm catching up with some of the pubs tours I've done over Christmas, hence publishing this one on New Years Day. I hope you all had a great time and here's to 2017 being filled with more beautiful beers and discovering more wonderful pubs.

I was once again out in the Chelsea area and used this opportunity to visit three pubs, two of which I've passed many times and never felt the urge to go in. First up, just off King's Road was The Phoenix (SW3 4EE). This is a Young's pub and I've never gone in before as I feel there are some much better surrounding Young's pubs nearby and in a much more convenient location. Once you walk into the pub the space inside feels much larger than it looked from the outside. This seems to be the case as they have very little seating towards the front or opposite the bar, leaving quite a wide opening all the way through the pub to the back where they have the dinning area with plenty of tables. A wide open area like this is either due to the bar area getting busy in the evenings or just providing a large walkway through to dinning area for groups of guest, and I think I side with the latter idea.


There were three hand pumps and as a Young's pub it can be expected that the Bitter would be on. The other two were their Winter Ale and Doombar. The kegs were a standard showing for the area featuring Camden Hells and Pale Ale, along with Peroni, Birra Moretti and Chelsea Blonde (Which can be found in keg or hand pump in a lot of pubs in the Chelsea area). I opted for a pint of the Winter Aleat £4.45 which had only just gone on and so I had to wait a few minutes whilst they pulled through. It's not the best beer in the Young's range but is not a bad middle percentage beer.

I next walked up to King's Road and down to the Chelsea Potter, a Taylor Walker pub. The benches outside the pub had quite a few people sat on and drinking considering it was quite cold. Inside the bench theme continued. Big picnic benches lined up all against the long wall, that seat about 10 people. There was a high stool seating area closer to the bar which is where I opted to sit. On the bar there were the now familiar Greene King ale range of London Glory, IPA, Rudolph, 1730 (Taylor Walker's own in house beer), and the guest ale was Sambrooks Pump House. On keg were some of the mainstreams along with Rekorderlig Smooth Raspberry and Grimbergen Blonde. Since I'd just had the Winter Warmer I thought I'd keep it high ABV and choose the Grimbergen at 6.7% for £5.60. It was a good beer and one to savour rather than attempt to rush down.

My last stop was the Trafalgar (SW3 5XP) which is just a short stroll across the road. This pub has had a make over and the outside garish purple has been tonned down to a blue. Inside if a mighty big and enjoyable pub. When you step inside up ahead of you is the horse shoe bar. There is plenty of sitting all around, a complete mix including high tables and stools, sofas and well, normal table and chairs. The pub was actually busier than the Potter but due to its size it felt less busy. There were nice lamps and lighting all around, in particular the liked the lighting just above the bar. The beer selection here is the best of the three pubs, though in this instance I'm basing best around a mix of beers I've not had/seen before alongside the mainstream, so a choice for everyone.

There were five hand pumps with only 4 in use offering up Tribute, London Pride, Doombar and Thornbridge Wild Holly, so sadly not the best selection I've seen here. On keg though they had the standard Peroni, Guinness, Heineken etc.. but they also had some more rare beers such as Numero Uno, Otra Vez and Wheaty McWheatface. I decided to spread myself across two beers so selected a half of the Wild Holly and half of the Otra Vez which came to £5.15. As the Otra was advertised as a sour beer and boy was it sour. Not entirely my style nor taste but it was worth having a half to give it a try. The Wild Holly was better at 4.8% and was Dark and malty, as winter ales should be on a cold day.

After finishing up my half of Winter Holly I called it a night. I'd managed to drink in two new pubs and tried 3 new beers to me. It wasn't a bad evening and considering it was Chelsea area, it didn't hit my wallet too hard.