Regina est Mortuus

There can be few things sadder than watching the steady decline and ultimate passing of a real ale pub, but alas I must now report the closure of the Queen Victoria in Leicester.

What started out as a highly promising new venture began to disintegrate into a shambles, with beer range and quality deteriorating rapidly, increasingly unsavoury clientele beginning to frequent the place and general maintenance going to pot.

It seems that within a couple of days of their last Bogtrotter beer festival (3rd – 5th October) the bailiffs had been in and the place is now boarded up.

The jungle drums here in Leicester indicate that the closure was due to unpaid debts; certainly we here at Ale Affinity have received enquiries from persons within the brewing industry wishing to contact the proprietor.

The Queen Vic had the potential to be a true gem of a pub; the proximity to the train station and the soon to open Curve theatre made it an ideal location, and the intention of delivering quality micro brewed ales should have made it a real winner.

Sadly however something went badly awry, and over a period of perhaps three months a multitude of issues began to rear their ugly heads.

The result was never really in doubt once the rot set in, but somehow I kept holding out hopes of a turn for the better.

Now it only remains to be seen whether anyone will take on the pub and commit to the expenditure required to make it truly viable – a complete cellar overhaul, full renovation of the living quarters upstairs and significant structural work throughout the building.

For now at least, it seems the Queen is dead.

Pan-C

Bladdered @ the Brunswick

As many of you will doubtless be aware, last week (1st - 4th) saw the Brunswick Inn host its annual beer festival and, due to a change to our original plans, the Beer Monster and I had the pleasure of taking a trip over for the Friday session.

Arriving at around 1pm, we found the pub already packed out with an eclectic mix of families, scoopers, students and lunchtime drinkers; after a quick foray through the main bar area we swiftly established that seating was going to be at something of a premium and ensconced ourselves in the separate lounge area to the right of the front entrance.

We had been expecting to find around 30 beers available as this seems to be pretty much the norm nowadays, however we were in for real treat – fifty ales were on offer, and the selection was quite impressive with beers from (amongst others) Brown Cow, Old Bear, Goose Eye, Tigertops and Burton Old Cottage; for those who are interested there’s a full beer list on Natasha Moorfield’s site.

Needless to say, the pair of us were pretty soon drooling at the prospect of the quaffathon ahead and wasted no time in getting the first couple of halves in, kicking off with Phantom Mild from Tigertops and Oh Bullox from Brunswick’s own selection; the condition of the beers was excellent and pretty much reflected the standard across the board, although we did encounter a couple of slightly hazy brews later in the day.

Given that we were in Derby for the day it seemed something of a crime to restrict ourselves to just one pub and, accordingly, after getting our drinking legs nicely screwed on and putting away sixteen halves between us we decided it was time to take a bit of a mission and hit our other chosen destination, the delightful Flower Pot pub, home of Headless brewery.
I fell in love with the ‘Pot on my first drinking visit to Derby, and once again I found myself bowled over by the fine range of ales that were on – fifteen if memory serves me correctly, with the bulk of these being guests rather than Headless brews. As a first time visitor the Beer Monster found herself suitably impressed by the place; there’s been some criticism from certain corners over the slightly higher beer prices charged by the pub, however the beer selection is invariably excellent, the condition usually very good and the pub has a charming ambience, all of which more than make up for the slight premium in my opinion.

Our all too brief visit allowed us to sample nine ales from seven breweries, including the Flower Pot Special brewed by Burton Bridge alongside offerings from Full Mash, Salamander, Holland, Whim, Black Hole and Headless themselves.

With time ticking on it was back up to the Brunswick to grab a final half each and some food. Fortunately the pub had laid on a barbecue out back and were offering a choice of hotdogs or burgers at reasonable prices, so we opted to chow down with the burger option, topped with baked beans – a new taste sensation on me (I’d never have thought to put the beans on the burger, in the bun, but it works an absolute treat!)

Having finished lining our stomachs it was time for the short stroll back up to the station and the Friday night party train back to Leicester, with the pair of us feeling decidedly well oiled and very satisfied with the outcome of the day.
We’re already looking forward to the next Brunswick bash, which will be taking place around the same time next year – it’s a shame they only do one per annum, but I guess the waiting ultimately makes the reward all the sweeter…

Pan-C

Strong as a Bull

Sometimes it's a closely-fought wrestling bout in your mind: do you divulge and promote your undisputed favourite tucked away treasure of a pub to the world? After all, an unpretentious, warm and friendly, classic village pub like this deserves to prosper and be a source of pleasure to as many worthy souls as possible.

Or do you try your hardest to keep it a secret; your own personal, relatively quiet refuge away from the unpleasant realities of big city life? There aren't many places where you feel so truly welcomed and smugly satisfied.

As more and more of Britain's much beloved pubs continue to wither towards terminal closure, there are the odd few that have sprouted new life and are keeping the freehouse tradition alive.

Since we imposed ourselves (as out-of-town regulars) on The Bull in Horton Kirby early this year, we have witnessed a very good pub grow to become truly great. In the last 10 months, we have seen Licencees Garrett and Lynne:

• introduce real ciders and perries and acclaimed American and Continental bottled beers in addition to the excellent ever-changing cask ales from microbreweries nationwide


• arrange pub outings to the Dark Star brewery and Chappel beer festival


• host numerous beer festivals, parties and live music evenings


• launch a website and Facebook group, keeping regulars up to date with developments and upcoming events


• serve up a treat of fine, locally-sourced homecooked food (including special steak and fish nights, lamb and hogroasts and barbeques galore)


• justly pick up the local CAMRA Pub of the Year award, a title dominated by the Cock Inn at Luddesdowne for the past 3 years

There's even a cracking view of the Darenth Valley from the peaceful back garden and the rarity of an adorable pub dog, Chloe, completes the homely, familiar feel of the place. We have never left without a beaming smile on our faces and count our lucky stars that we have a place of this standard within reasonable distance (about a 25 mile round trip from home down the A20).

Happily, far from resulting in complacency, the Pub of the Year status seems only to have spurred the owners on to achieve greater things. A sixth handpump is waiting to be installed on the bar and there is sometimes an extra ale available on gravity. The keg beers have been refined with Stella and John Smiths ousted in favour of imported Löwenbräu and Dark Star Natural Blonde lager. Garrett even has plans to commence brewing on site in the New Year.

This weekend The Bull is hosting its Handpicked '08 Beer Festival, sourcing beers from the corners of the country that you simply do not find in Kentish pubs. There are also a couple of exclusives, including a seldom seen cask of Dark Star Imperial Stout at 10.5% ABV and a festival special also from the Sussex micro. As self-professed aficionados we were given the opportunity to assist in the selection of the ales - so if you don't like the look of these then you've got us to blame!

Beowulf Dark Raven (4.5)

Beowulf Dragonsmoke Stout (4.7)

Beowulf Finns Hall Porter (4.7)

BrewDog Hype (4.1)

BrewDog Punk IPA (6.0)

Brewster Hophead (3.6)

Brewster Hop-a-doodle-doo (4.3)

Dark Star Hophead (3.6)

Dark Star Festival Special (4.5)

Dark Star Imperial Stout (10.5)

Marble Pint (3.9)

Marble JP Best (4.3)

Marble Ginger Marble (4.5)

Newby Wyke Sidewinder (3.8)

Newby Wyke Riverside Special Bitter (4.8)

Purity Pure Gold (3.8)

Purity Pure UBU (4.7)

Thornbridge Lord Marples (4.0)

Thornbridge Katipo (5.4)

Thornbridge Jaipur IPA (5.9)

As well as this impressive beer list, there will be a further 5 ciders and perries, a barbeque, live music, birds of prey display and another mouthwatering hogroast on the Sunday. The atmosphere is sure to be terrific and attendance is strongly advised.

The festival runs from Friday through to Sunday and the nearest train station is Farningham Road on the London Victoria line. I imagine we'll be there more often than not, so do come and say hello if you spot us.

Dubbel

Croydon’s Main Drag

Like any normal person, I wouldn’t ordinarily travel to Croydon by choice. As far as I’m concerned its stereotyped image of an ugly concrete ghetto with a stabbing waiting for you around every street corner is a fair one. The town centre on a Friday night is a microcosm for everything that is wrong with Britain today – both the environment and the scary youth who populate it.

But I do like a good stand up comedian, and so couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see Jimmy Carr let loose his twisted thoughts on South London.

With tickets for the world-famous Fairfield Halls booked (the seamless architecture from concrete theatre to attached concrete NCP car park is a sight to behold) all that remained was for Jnr and I to seek out a decent boozer in the immediate vicinity in which to sink a few before showtime. After perusing the beer guides and B.I.T.E. it seemed our options were limited to the usual dreary Fullers/Youngs London offerings, two Wetherspoons and a Lloyds No.1. Tremendous.

Then I happened upon the existence of a previously unknown pub, the Green Dragon. Located on the High Street, formally belonging to the Hogshead chain, to the untrained eye this looks like any other town centre drinking barn. Spread across two floors with high ceilings, pool tables (pl.), a dartboard, flashing gambling machines and the obligatory government health warning posters, there are a series of awkwardly-arranged tables, some with booths and dividers. Upstairs is a ‘stage’ area complete with high-octane rig and yet more posters advertising the recurrent ‘Psychobilly Experimental Prog Madness’ events. Whatever floats your boat.

It was early evening when we arrived and the clientele was a mixture of office and retail types of all ages winding down after another tough working week. Almost all were drinking the much maligned mainstream lagers and bottled fruit-based fizz. However, a quick perusal of the bar confirmed that the choice of venue had been a good one. Dark Star Hophead and Festival sat temptingly alongside a beer from Ironbridge. In addition was a Hogs Back branded stillage built into the wall behind the bar, offering HOP and Summer Ale on gravity.

The Summer Ale was, as you can see in the photo, sat at a rather ‘obtuse’ angle and did not have much life left in it, although the HOP was pleasant and well presented. I understand that they’ve been known to sell A Over T in this form (if ever there was a beer to get you in the right frame of mind for some comedy) but, alas, not to be on this occasion.

Unsurprisingly, however, the Dark Star beers were the ones that shone brightest. I go out of my way to have the opportunity to consume the fantastic Hophead on a regular basis and its zesty light bitterness and munificent late cascade hopping didn’t disappoint here. The Festival is an altogether different beast, dark and rich with more than a hint of smooth plain chocolate in the prolonged malt-laden finish.

We were so impressed that we returned after the show for further lubrication before braving the arduous bus journey home. By 11pm the place had switched and was now catering to something of a niche market. A DJ loudly spun rock vinyl records interspersed with occasional hip-hop from a central perch and the punters were noticeably younger and grubbier, with the odd inebriated townie thrown in for good measure. Not your average scene in a pub with such an admirable selection of ‘old man ale’ but nonetheless refreshingly different.

Suffice to say, Jimmy was riotously funny and really involved the crowd, who didn’t seem to take exception at all to his constant jibing at their beloved hometown. And if I find myself thirsty in Croydon again - God forbid - I wouldn’t hesitate to make the Green Dragon my first (and in all likelihood only) port of call.

Dubbel

Soggy Celebrations in Peterborough

For the last few weeks both the Beer Monster and I had been eagerly anticipating the autumn beer festival at the delightful Coalheavers Arms, Peterborough (September 4th – 6th).

Having discovered the pub early this year and attended their Easter festival a couple of weeks later, I already had a fair idea of what to expect – great beer in excellent condition, warm and friendly service, plus some of the finest grub it’s been my good fortune to sample at any festival.

Although the event had started on Thursday evening we were sadly unable to make it over until the Friday morning due to work commitments (boo, hiss), and arrived at the pub shortly after 1pm having first lined our stomachs with a McSpoons breakfast (something of a fiasco, but that’s another story).

We arrived to find the pub quite quiet, although the fact that a couple of beers had already sold out gave a fair indication that there had been a roaring trade the night before; after greeting licensee Tom Beran we took our seats in a corner of the pub and, having effectively set up camp with note books, pens, packs of mini Smarties and ornaments (!) spread out on the table before us, set down to the serious business of drinking.

Once again, Tom had pulled out all the stops to offer a diverse range of ales with a number of beers I’d not encountered before. Milton, who own the pub, had provided a couple of specials in the form of Asterix and Obelix, along with their Five Hop, brewed by Coalies volunteers for the Peterborough festival, but these were by no means the only winners on offer with Green Tye (website under construction), Tring and Nethergate all supplying quality scoops, plus new seasonal brew Autumn Equinox from the mighty Dark Star.

A complete list of beers, plus tasting notes can be found here.

Despite some truly foul weather Tom nevertheless braved the elements to man the cooking station in the beer garden, serving up his stunning Beer ‘n’ Beef burgers (with fiery homemade chilli sauce) and a cracking chilli con carne on the Friday night, while Saturday evening saw the burgers complemented by one of the finest curries it has ever been my pleasure to eat.

A fully trained chef, the guy is an absolute kitchen god – for those who don’t believe me, try his recipes yourself; you can find them here, and although the chicken curry hasn’t been posted as yet I have no doubt it’ll be up within the next few days....

All in all another superb effort; my heartfelt thanks to the team at the Coalheavers – they pulled off another cracker.

On a personal note, Friday also saw me record my 1,000th scoop (a hell of a lot more beers have been consumed, but alas many went without recording the gen); for those who are interested, the attached video is the landmark beer going down the hatch…

Pan-C