And a Happy New Year

I hope you had a good Christmas. Mine was pretty good, thank you for asking. I'm lucky that I didn't have to go to work between Christmas Eve and New Years Day, which meant I had plenty to catch up on some of my favourite activities:  stuffing my face full of chocolate, watching terrible TV, and drinking some fine ales. I only got one ale gift this year, a Dutchy Original Old Ruby Ale which came with a fetching tankard. Although branded as Waitrose own, it's actually brewed by the Wychwood Brewery. This was a perfectly suppable brew with some nice caramel and citrus undertones. I certainly enjoyed it and the gift tankard was pretty good with a very attractive sparkly bottom.

Over the Christmas I ended up Southampton to visit The Lovely Jemma's Nan. While we were down there we visited the Hampshire Bowman, a delightful country pub that is located in the middle of nowhere. I don't know how people found this pub before the days of Sat Nav - presumably it was just pure chance. After a endlessly winding road through empty fields the pub magically appeared, like driving into a boozy Twilight Zone. This comfortable boozer has four changing real ales, most of them from the local area. I tried the Bowman Brewery Wallops Wood, a satisfying best bitter with a lovely hoppy finish. I also went for a pint of Alliance Best Bitter, which unfortunately wasn't as good and had a rather insipid taste.

The pub has a strong food focus so I ordered a Fish and Chips. It was both bad and good. The batter for the fish tasted delicious. It was made using the Wallops Wood ale which really boosted the flavour. The texture of the batter was all wrong, doughy and not at all crispy. I didn't know whether to like it or hate it. However I had no problem shoving the fish into my gaping maw so I guess it can't have been that bad.

The pub was full of children and dogs at lunchtime but luckily most of them were fairly well behaved. There's also a £1 charge if you use your mobile phone in the pub so I spent the majority of time after eating my lunch nervously twitching, desperate to record the ales I had consumed on to the Untappd app on my phone, but not wanting to pay a quid. Eventually I could stands no more and popped out "for a wee." Once safely outside the pub, I feverishly pulled out my phone, the familiar glowing brick feeling warm and comfortable in my hands. It then turned out there was no mobile signal anyway so I couldn't really do much. 

Strangely all the children appeared to be on their smartphones and weren't charged a penny. Maybe it's different for the kids - at least it keeps them quiet. Overall the Hampshire Bowman is well worth a visit if you are in the area, perhaps after parachuting out of a plane or chasing a naughty dog through the fields as those are the only ways I could see people getting to this pub by chance.

I've been a bad beer blogger and not tried many Christmas ales at all. The few I have tried have not really been any good. I tried a pint of Skinners Jingle Knocker which sadly was as average as Christmas beers come. I can't write much about it as it was completely forgettable. The same goes for Batemans Rosey Nosey, which although pleasant to drink was not particularly noteworthy, hence why I have no notes about it. Sorry for these essentially useless descriptions of the ales but I really can't think of much to say about them. Not that this will stop me typing this inane drivel in my blog anyway.

My New Years resolution is to remember to take photos for this blog, so expect the next update to be a photo filled extravaganza. As a IT man it's also my duty to say that my other New Years Resolution is 1440x900. Apologies. So far I've managed to avoid signing up for "Dryathlon" so there may even be some beer chat. I wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year!

Merry Christmas

First of all, I'd like to wish a very Merry Christmas to my reader. This is going to be a brief update as not a lot has happened ale wise in the last few weeks. Unfortunately my life is not a thrilling journey where I'm up to my eyeballs in tasty ales while visiting every pub in London. In fact I've only been to the pub about three times this month, which is a travesty. Even worse is that The Lovely Jemma is trying to convince me to not drink any alcohol at all in January. What better way to get through the most miserable month of the year then by going through it stone cold sober? Luckily the doctor on this page suggests that giving up alcohol for a month is "medically futile" so hopefully I'll be able to escape from this crazy wheeze.

As it's the festive season the pubs are putting on the Christmas ales, and I've only managed to try a couple so far. Thwaites Good 'Elf is one I sampled recently, and it was really rather good. The aroma can only be described as Christmas, with a lovely spiced scent. It was like holding a liquid Christmas pudding. The taste was very Christmassy as well, the spices not overpowering the bitter hops. Very good indeed. The second festive ale I got my lips round is Fullers Jack Frost, which was nothing special to be honest. It just tasted like a slightly spiced London Pride. Must try harder Fullers! I don't know why I'm saying this as I'm just a lowly beer blogger and I doubt Fullers give a damn about my opinion. To be honest I hardly care about my opinions. But this is a blog so I guess I should shove some ultimately useless opinions in there. 

The most notable thing about the Jack Frost was that I had to pay a eye watering £4.05 for a pint. Granted this was in The Hereford Arms in leafy Gloucester Road, an area which is trying to be as posh as nearby South Kensington. The pub was completely unremarkable except for the fact that everything was expensive. Had the ale been a bit cheaper I might have enjoyed my pint a bit more, and maybe bought one extra. Surely pubs that charge such high amounts for a pint are missing out from extra income from the "just one more" crowd? Nobody is going to get a cheeky one in at the end of the night at those prices.

Well I did warn you this was going to be a brief one. Christmas is never a good time of year to do anything productive. And if I do end up giving up alcohol for January my next update may be even briefer. If I don't see you beforehand, have a good one!

Crate Brewery Hackney, Barrel and Horn Bromley

I've never been the most trendiest bloke. I've managed to avoid going to any warehouse raves, I've got no idea what a fixie bike is, I still think global hypercolour t-shirts deserve to make a comeback and I had to ask the Lovely Jemma how to spell "fixie". So when I was invited to a friends party at the new Crate brewery in "up and coming Hackney," my first thought was "what the hell is the Crate Brewery?" My second thought was that the only thing up and coming in Hackney is the blood spurting out of hapless saps as they've either been stabbed or shot. For both of these reasons I was a little nervous attending.

Obiligatory blurry shot of a bar.

It turns out I didn't need to be. Despite the walk from Hackney Wick station to the Crate looking like a prime way to get stabbed, the Crate is a bustling, friendly craft ale house with a good selection of beers brewed onsite. It did feel a little bit warehousey, which is now a real word as I've added it to the Google dictionary, but I'll forgive it. Four taps serve beers from the onsite brewery. I sampled the IPA which was a fine example, flowery, hoppy, all the good things you'd expect from a decent IPA. The Best Bitter was also excellent, refreshing and comforting, with a lovely bitter finish. The IPA was the clear winner of the evening and was selling like hotcakes - it was gone before the night was through. All the ales were reasonably priced, and there was a decent bottle selection as well.

Awesome

Crate also offers a tempting pizza menu. The Lovely Jemma and myself went for the spicy salami pizza and it was excellent. Nice, thin crispy base, decent toppings, not too greasy. A good accompanier with the beer. The atmosphere throughout the evening was pleasant and I'm pleased to report that the hipster quotient was low. I had a great night here and would be eager to return if it wasn't for the fact that's in Hackney Wick.

Another hipster-type pub I've started to grown fond of is the Barrel & Horn in Bromley. There's vintage wallpaper and "kooky" trinkets scattered about but it has a shambling charm rather than being grating. It's like someone who doesn't quite know what they're doing has had a bit of a go at recreating a Shoreditch bar. Because it's a hipster pub in a town which has no hipsters the atmosphere is a bit odd but good.  An eclectic mix of families, "trendies" and workers all come together to enjoy the wide range of beer and decent food. Their ale selection is pretty good but when I was last there only two of the four pumps were on. I hope this was just a off night and not a sign of things to come. I opted for a pint of Hairy Dog by Late Knights, a newly started London microbrewery. This Black IPA was great with a really good coffee and chocolate taste. Barrel & Horn is probably the best pub in a town that has the pleasure of two Wetherspoons and is well worth stopping by. And if it looks a bit too trendy for you there's always The Partridge next door.

Two hipster pubs in as many weeks. Maybe I'm starting to mellow in my old age. In my next update expect the blog to be renamed "An Ironically Bitter Bloke" and a picture of me wearing my skinniest skinny jeans. See you then!