Beers to note - August 2017

August wasn't a busy beer drinking month. At the beginning of the month I did manage to try a few different brews down in Cornwall but the last 3 weeks of the month were busy at work which prevented any school night drinking. This also shows in the more standard ABV of the beers compared to July 2017.


Lushingtons (Skinners) - 4.2% | Cask Pint

Not sure if drinking closer to the source makes the beer taste better or is potentially fresher, but this beer was a fine accompaniment to a wonderful pub meal, without having any overpowering or off flavours.




Cali American Pale Ale (Tiny Rebel) - 5.6% | Keg Half Pint

I happened across this beer part way through my London Drinker deliveries. I hadn't seen it before, so had to give it a go. It was a hopped fruity APA that went down oh so quickly. If I hadn't been delivery the mags I would have had turned it into a pint.

Unfiltered Lager (Fullers) - 5% | Keg Pint

I wasn't sure what to expect with this from Fullers. I half expected it to be an unfiltered Frontier as that is their lager, but thankfully it was a completely different pilsner style lager which was hazy.



Small Batch Brews Baobab (St Austell) - 5.2% | Bottle 330ml

I picked this beer up at the Eden Project when down in Cornwall. I was intrigued by the label and what it said Baobab adds to the beer. To be fair, I couldn't tell what it added to the flavour, but I must say this was an nice Wit Bier.

Lager (Truman's) - 4.5% | Keg Half Pint
I not been a fan of the Truman beers I've come across in both keg or cask. I seen the beer but avoided it and ordered something else. However after getting talking to the barman I decided to give it a try and I must say this is the best beer I've tasted by Truman's so far.

London Pub Tour 55 - Lambeth North: Pineapple, The Steam Engine,The Three Stags and Duke of Sussex

I arrived back into Waterloo on a Sunday afternoon after a short weekend down at a wedding in Dorking. The missus was off to meet up with some friends so I took the opportunity to visit some pubs in the Lambeth North area, right near Waterloo. I walked about 10 minutes (including a road works detour) to reach my first pub the Pineapple (SE1 7DZ). The pub sits on what looks like a main road which runs alongside the railway arches. There are benches out front which were full of people who were outside during half time. Entering from the door on the bench side I discovered the pub was split into two rooms, with the majority of people in the other larger room. The floor is wooden and the bar runs across both sides of the pub. Staying on the smaller, and quieter side, I walked up to the bar where everything on offer was standard run of the mill. There were three hand pumps offering GK IPA, London Glory and Doombar, so nothing of interest for me there. The kegs were Budweiser, Fosters, Guinness, Coors Light, Carling, Stella, Carlsbery, Strongbow and John Smith. I selected a pint of Budweiser, for what reason I don't know, which came in at £4.30.

The floor of the pub is wooden but up ahead there is a carpet area with soft seating. The area was empty even though a screen with the match was in here. I sat down and looked around noting that this looks like a conservatory which has had the glass covered up, apart from a single sun light. All the furnishings are red (Chairs, walls etc). To my left were two middle age men playing and then discussing their chess match. They even brought the match back to a previous state after looking at a photo, and discussing what they could have done to change the outcome. There was memorabilia lining the top shelf on the wall from books to bottles to packaging and promo material. The pub had plenty of seating/stools and a clientele of old men and young lads.

Just as I left the pub it started to drizzle outside hence the empty outside photo I managed to grab. Fortunately the walk to the next pub, The Steam Engine (SE1 7BU), wasn't far. The pub sits again on a quiet road and has a dark blue painted exterior. Walking up to the pub I seen the Pub Love sign, which immediately cheered me up as I knew there would be a big selected of beers, and I wasn't disappointed. Aside from the 5 hand pumps (of which three were off and one was serving Old Rosie cider) and the usual keg lagers (Amstel, London Lager, Guinness) there was a selection of 36 cans and bottles, which is too many to list here. 

There is a menu listing all the beers but my eye was caught by a can I seen on the wall. I'm not a fan of peanut butter but once I seen the Peanut Butter Milk Stout by TailGate I knew I that was what I was going to drink. The can was the standard 330ml and cost £5.90, even though the beer was only 5.8% but oh boy it was worth it once I tasted the beer. The beer has a peanut butter nose and the taste is spot on. It's a stout with a beautiful peanut butter taste, which pairs well.

The pub wasn't too busy and it was easy to find a seat. There was a table of 6 seating and a few individual drinking. When entering through the front door your side on to the bar and in the more dinning area seating. There are stalls placed around the bar for those that wish to sit there. The rear of the pub had bench seating with tables and a rug area in front of a fire with soft chairs. A hostel is also based above the pub, with the entrance door being just to the side of the snug area. The walls are white with photos placed around relating to trains. 2000's Indie music is playing lightly in the background and fits with the pubs style.

As I was relaxed and it was still raining outside I picked up the beer menu and scouted for another drink to have. I settled on a 355ml bottle of the Castaway IPA by Kona Brewery. It led with a citrus nose and a grapefruit and hoppy taste. The pub started to pick up a bit from the 10 that were in originally to 30+ who had all come in for the burger menu offered by Pub Love. I finished up my beer and visited the men's where another train photo was hanging.

I made my way out to the main road and to pub number 3, The Three Stags (SE1 7PZ) which is directly opposite the wonderful Imperial War Museum. The Three Stags is a Greene King pub which was very gastro. The entrance is on the corner and your faced with an L shaped bar. The pub is very open plan apart from in the right corner where there is a glass segmented area named Chaplin's Corner. Next to this there is some bench seating. Along the other wall there is a raised seating area. The floor is wooden with tiles around the bar and Chaplin's Corner.

The bar had three hand pumps, which surprisingly had no Greene King ales on. The lagers were more non-mainstream: Pravha, Staropramen, Guinness, Aspall Suffolk, London Lager, London Pale Ale, Cobra, Punk IPA and Noble. I went for a pint of Sir Titus from Saltaire brewery for £4.10 which smelt nice but tasted chalky. All the tables inside were taken, mainly due to a large group booking. There were benches outside which had coverings to protect from the rain, which were in use by people even though on a busy junction. I took a dry seat on the outside bench and forced the pint down.

The sun was back out which made the walk back to Waterloo station easy. On the walk back I passed the Duke of Sussex (SE1 7AY) which I hadn't been in for over 6 years, so it made total sense at this stage to stop for a swift half. The outside had a large covered seating area which was empty at this time. The building itself still has the Truman tiles on the outside and look pretty with the blue exterior and a red bench. I entered via the corner door and wasn't prepared for the way the pub had changed.

The first thing I noticed was that the two bar pub had become a one bar pub. The bar had been moved left on the back wall and the space on the right had been knocked through to create a single L shaped curved bar. The second thing to strike me was the strange/unique hand pumps used for dispensing the ales. 4 ales were on offer Wandle, Black Sheep, Sharps Atlantic and Truman's Bow Bells. The Kegs included Amstel, Heineken, Estrella, Guinness, Aspall Suffolk, Shipyard, Longhorn IPA and Yakima Red. I went for a half of Bow Bells for £2.15. The beer is named after the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons. The badge even had oranges and lemons on it though from the beer I only got a slight lemon taste.

There are no stalls in the bar, with seating round the corner being low tables and chairs, which were all occupied. Opposite the bar there was soft seating with accompanying tables, then a row of high tables in front. The floor is wood apart from a rug with some poofs near the entrance. The pub smelt of garlic pizza, which was certainly making me hungry. On the soft seating there looked to be a homeless man who had bought a half pint, which he a drunk a bit of and then fell asleep seated upright on the soft seating. Who can blame him, I think I would do that in his situation as well. The pub has certainly changed since I used to visit, but it had improved its interior and exterior, which is always a plus. I made my way back to Waterloo to meet up with the missus and make our way home.

London Pub Tour 42 - Westminster: Barley Mow, Royal Oak, White Horse & Bower and Loose Box

Since I swept up some of the remaining pubs in Victoria I thought I would make my way across towards Horseferry Road in Westminster to tick off the four pubs there resulting in another large part of the map being completed. I done this trip in two phases, the first two pubs during lunch the other two after work, but of course, both on the same day. The first point of call was the Barley Mow (SW1P 2EE) a large Enterprise Inn pub. The entrance door on the main road is actually the side entrance as you arrive at stairs to go up to the large function room or turn right to enter into the bar area. If your enter from the side road entrance, you face the bar straight on. The bar is in a U shape hugging around the wall. The space around the bar is very open and the floor around the bar is tiled. The bar has a large selection of ales (8 hand pumps) which on my visit were LPA from Southwark, Naked Ladies, Eagle IPA, Lighthouse, Doombar, Blindside, Session IPA and Sharp's Barley Mow Ale. On keg there was Blue Moon, Guinness, Sharp's Pilsner, Coors Light, San Miguel, 1664, Magners and Carling. Alongside this was a varied bottle selection of ales, lagers and ciders.

As there was a large ale selection I went for two halves. My first half was of Blindside by Truman's, a golden ale at 4.4%. This was a smooth ale and tasted good. My second half was Session IPA from Three Sods Brewery. I've not come across this brewery before which was behind my selection. This beer was also 4.4% but it just felt like something was missing in flavour, it wasn't all there. I had my two beers stood up on the quieter side of the bar. For a lunch this place was very busy, there were bout 50+ people in the pub and the majority were not eating. The pub does normally get busier in the evenings and to control the outside area there are large plastic barriers installed to prevent people spilling too far out onto the pavement. The pub has a wooden interior and where the walls are painted it's a dark red colour. The floor is wood apart from the raised seating area towards the front of the pub which is carpet. There are lots of tables around the pub all suitable for dinning, and there are some high tables scattered around as well. What I did find strange though was the food wasn't being made on site. Staff were ferrying food back and forth across the road from a cafe (about 200m away) on traps with the food wrapped in foil. Then a member of staff unwrapped it and would check to see if order was correct and send out to the table. I can only imagine this would lead to a large number of incorrect orders and delays in food going out.

I left the Barley Mow and made my way a short distance past the source of their food to a pub just off the main road. The Royal Oak (SW1P 4BZ) is a Young's pub set on a tight corner which provide a distinct shape to the pub, a triangle shape without the top point. Due to the shape there are windows on three sides. there are entrance doors on the two large sides to the pub, and both entrances are level with the bar. The bar is a small straight bar and offered up 5 ales but only three were on at the time of visiting, which were Bombardier, Young;s Gold and Young;s Bitter. On keg there was Coast to Coast, Thatchers, Fosters, Peroni, Hells, 1664, Estrella and Guinness. I wasn't interested in any of the cask or keg offering so went for a trusted bottle of Ram Rod. Although only 275ml it comes in at 5.2% so makes for a suitable lunchtime drink.

The area in front of the bar has high tables and always is well lit with the light able to enter from all sides. This section was busy with customers as expected. The pub goes back further on the right hand side and against the wall here are a few tables, with sofa seating on the wall side. These tables seem aimed at diners and there were a few people eating here. The front of the bar is mainly glass with the bits in between being painted white or wooden. The rear section of the pub was painted red. I took a seat on one of the rear tables as it was towards the end of lunch and no one else would be coming in this late for food. There were about 25 people in the pub and all of them were men apart from the two bar ladies working, who were clearing through the two hand pumps for tonight. I seen a sign saying happy hour was 4pm to 6pm Monday to Friday, which entailed 20% off all drinks. Once sat down I did notice the plates people were seating off, small slates, which seemed impractical for eating off and also too small. Excusing the 'plates' the pub was very nice and I could see this as a nice pub to relax in outside of busy hours, whilst the Barley Mow would be best during the after work rush, due to its size and outside area.

I headed back to work to put in the few hours as required before walking back to Horserferry Road to visit the two remaining pubs. My first port of call was the White Horse & Bower (SW1P 2EE) a Shep Neame pub. The pub is on a corner and has a small outside seating area. There are two entrances in, one at the front and one near the rear on the side road. This is a single room pub with the bar stretching about halfway down. The floor at the front is wooden with the other half being carpet. There were a few tables at the front with the majority of tables in the rear including two booth seats. The furniture felt quite basic and minimal though. There were no stalls at the bar which is probably a good idea considering the width of the pub at this part.

Being a Shep Neame pub the ales on sale were all from their brewery. There were 4 hand pumps serving Spitfire Gold, Master Brew, Whistable Bay and Hog Island. The keg beers aside from the Guinness are again all Shep Neame beers produced under licence with the likes of Ashai and Oranjeboom. There were a few Shep bottles including the wonderful Double Stout. In the end I opted for a pint of Spitfire Gold at £4.40. Although the styles are different, I really can't tell the difference between Spitfire and Spitfire Gold. I think I might have to do a side tasting at a pub one day. I found a seat, as the pub wasn't that busy with only about 20 people in. The pub was hot but thankfully not smelly. Towards the rear of the pub there is a dart board and the toilets. On the walls of the pub there were black and white old photos of London including the nearby Whitehall area. I finished up my gold and made my way across the road to my last pub/bar the Loose Box (SW1P 2AA).

I had never even realised this place existed, as its slightly covered with the bushes outside and that it seems to fit in with the government buildings next door. The place is a large single floor open plan pub. There is a slight raised seating area which was reserved for a work party. The rest of the pub had the seating and tables re-arranged to cater for different bookings and as a result although the pub was empty all the seats were reserved. At some points of the pub there were four tables pushed together and the seats arranged around them in a U. The floor in the pub was wood and the walls painted blue and white. The ceiling wasn't high so the pub felt dark, and wasn't helped with the fact the sun was shinning the other way, hence why the other pubs are probably more popular earlier in the evening.

The bar ran all along the left hand side wall. I was surprised to see that they served ale and that the ales weren't your standard national brands like Doombar. On the two hand pumps they served Wimbleon's Common and Truman's Blindside. On keg there was a bigger offering which has Bud Light, Toasted Lager, Honkers, Goose IPA, Leffe, Camden Ink, Caple Road, Camden Pale, Peroni and Estrella. So it was all in all quite a good varied selection of keg beers. I went for a half of the Toasted Lager by Blue Point Brewing Company. Considering the keg was from the US the price of £2.80 seemed reasonable though I didn't taste any toasted notes to the beer as the name would seem to suggest. The pub also had a nice bottle selection and so I opted for a bottle of 312 Urban Wheat Beer by Goose Island. The 330ml bottle cost £4.95 and didn't have as strong a wheat beer flavour as I expected but was nonetheless enjoyable. I would perhaps come to this pub again just to have the Honkers on tap as I really enjoyed it in bottle previously, but other than that I'm not to sure what the appeal of the place is, other than work drinks.

London Pub Tour 3 - Westminster: Constitution, Prince of Wales, Queens Arms & Jugged Hare

I opted to visit some pubs in Victoria that I've been to quite a few times before before but have neglected for a while. The first stop was at the Constitution (SW1V 2LP), which has only recently re-opened after a refurbishment. On the outside the picnic benches had been replace with wooden tables but all looked the same. When walking inside I could immediately see the changes that had taken place although the pub still felt very much the same. The carpet has been pulled up and wood flooring is now throughout, along with wood panelling on the walls. New tables and chairs though very much similar dark colours as before. There was a new tall central communal table, which wasn't plain and was actually very beautiful. I'm unable to recollect whether the ship models have been removed from the top of the walls. The major change was the beers on tap and food menu change. The pub is now under new owners and they have given it a slight bump up market but not too massively.

This pub used to be the only place I knew of in the area that served Worthington Smoothflow though this has been removed. The regulars are still here and I assume haven't been priced out, and they continue to sell some mainstream lagers such as Fosters and Carlsberg, though have added some craft or premium lagers into the mix which didn't exist before. They still had three ale pumps though these were dispensing Doom, Speckled and Greene King IPA. I opted for a bottle of the Orchard Pig, Truffler at £4.70 for the 500ml bottle. It was a run of the mill cider for me, nothing to turn me off but nothing stand out to make me choose this over other brands.

I next headed towards the station to the Prince of Wales (SW1V 1DW). This is a small corner pub with a few benches outside on a busy restaurant street. The pub was very busy and all seats were taken, though to be fair the pub can only probably seat 30 people. I managed to find a space, which so happened to be in the corner near the entrance door, right next to the bar. This pub always has a nice selection of ales to choose from (6 taps) and on this occasion they had Doombar, Pride, Landlord, ESB, Poppy and Over The Bar. Now I'm always tempted by an ESB or Landlord but the Over The Bar was from Otter, and I wasn't going to pass up this as I like their beers and hadn't had this one before. The pint came to £4.40 and it didn't disappoint, and went down a treat.

The pub became busier still, though not sure how, and although I would have liked to try another, I departed and made my way round the corner to the Queens Arms (SW1V 1QT). The Queens Arms is a grand corner pub, that is in perfect condition and good to look at. Now the Queens Arms is not a pub I would generally go to as it is definitely more geared up to being an eatery than a drinkery though on this visit it was actually quite quiet. Not all the tables were full and the bar had a few people standing and drinking at it. There were 5 hand pumps with only 4 in action serving Under Current, Stiff Upper Lip, Ubu and a Sambrooks. Though I had never had Under Current before I felt more in the mood for a lager and this place serves the premium and mainstream craft ones. Looking through I could see Camden Hells, Camden Pils, Amstel, London Stout and a Mondo Brewery beer. I opted for a pint of Pale Ale by Truman's Brewery at £5.10. I've had a few of the Truman's ales but haven't really considered them great so thought I'd give their lager a try. Sadly I felt this too was lacking in the 'wow' or 'I could have another of those' areas. The crowd in the Queens Arms was very young and upmarket and that isn't quite my style. Though the pub does look good inside and offered a few nice bottles, I wasn't going to hang around after my one.

My final stop was the Jugged Hare (SW1V 1DX) which is a Fuller's Ale & Pie pub, which just means a simpler menu choice. The building is an old bank though doesn't stand out too much. Walking into the pub and it feels a nice size. Then you notice there is further seating out the back and an upstairs balcony seating area. One feature I always love is the very large painting on the wall. It's such a busy painting with so much going on in the scene and you always spot something new. The bar had the usual selection of Fullers ales including Seafarers and their seasonal Fire Cracker. They had the Fullers IPA, Honey Dew and Birra Moretti on tap. I had a look at their bottle fridge and immediately seen what I was going to have. I knew that they sold it here, but I'm never quite sure whether today was going to be the day I opted to purchase it.

I decided to go all out and buy a bottle of the Fullers Imperial Stout Limited Edition for £7 something. The Italian barmaid was very friendly and chatty as she served the customers. I poured the silkly black stout into my brandy-esque glass and savoured the smell, before going in for a glup. It was a beautiful texture and good taste. I honestly can't think of a better beer type than an imperial stout, though the only downfall is always the percentage. I thought the bottle would be somewhere along the lines of the Golden Pride, at 8.4% however I was a bit taken back to see it was 10.7%, but hey whats 2% between friends. I sat back and supped the beer ensuring I didn't rush such a beautiful beer as this.