Penny Black Porter

Penny Black is a 4.5% abv porter from the Hampshire Brewery, which I suppose is in Hampshire! This was the first hand pulled beer (besides the fosters, but that doesn’t count!) I have had this year and I drank it at “The Willow Walk” near Victoria train station. The beer was exceptionally tasty; however it wasn’t as robust as say a Fuller’s London porter but still exceeded itself in what has become one of my favourite beer styles. It was however a really smooth beer and definitely a good session ale that I could not find much information on. This is from the Hampshire brewery website;

Penny Black Porter
4.5% abv
Mellow and enticing aroma of black and
roasted malts, balanced by a clean bitterness and smooth full palate.
Available: December, January and February

The pub itself was nothing to comment on and was nothing more than a glorified drinking factory, but that is what you expect when you give your patronage to a J.D Wetherspoons tied house. One thing that ’spoons pubs do have going for them though is (a) they are really cheap, and (b) they have a good variety of regional ales. I lucked out last night and had a relatively fresh pint but I have had some very dodgy pints in my time from ‘spoons pubs.
The reason I was near Victoria station was that I went to see the London West End production of “Wicked” with our house guests. The production was ok as far as musicals go, so you may want to check it out.