Bank Holiday

I am back at work now after spending the bank holiday weekend in a lazy fashion. Luckily it is ticker Tuesday and I can fill you in on what I have been up too. On Friday evening I managed to get down the Roebuck in Chiswick for pint of Adnam's bitter (which was a little plain) and a pint of Erdinger. I decided to go for the proper real keg as I have yet to have a decent pint of ale there on cask. After this I enjoyed an awesome ribeye steak down the road at The High Street Brasserie. I am going to rave about this steak for a bit as it was pretty awesome. Probably over 400 grams worth with the marrowed bone still attached. I enjoyed it rare as all good steak must be enjoyed! (BTW I washed this down with two pints of Staropramen) I am a little bit ashamed with the after dinner activities which saw me drinking pints of Foster's lager in Belushi's at Hammersmith - a circus of a venue with maybe just a smidge more class than a Walkabout, but not much more. The Fosters was cold and refreshing though and certainly suited to the warm evening.

Saturday evening I nicked down the Parr's Head for a Thai feed and had an excellent pint of Hancocks HB, which tastes pretty similar to Fuller's London Pride (I had the two back to back and I couldn't discern between the two). After dinner I managed to crack open a bottle of T.E.A from the Hog's Back brewery. It was a little disappointing, but it did have a nice solid yeast cake which fell into my glass during pouring. The positive of the solidarity was that I could remove it easily with a spoon!

Sunday was another lazy day and I managed to read a whole book from cover to cover. I didn't end up drinking any beer at all, but did enjoy half of a very nice bottle of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc at Gordon Ramsey's Boxwood Cafe. I highly recommend the Veal and Fois Gras burger which really is something special. The crispy pigs trotter entree I had was a little bit too oily and the gingerbread cheesecake I had for desert were a little bit disappointing but overall it's a good place to go for a meal if you are interested in eating in overpriced restaurants (as I am!).

I managed to get one beer in yesterday (Monday) which was freebie sent to me by Nicky who does PR for Marston's. This was Wychwood Beewyched (5% abv) which is a honey laced ale that has a soft honey aroma and avoids the excessive dryness that most braggot (beer brewed with honey) suffers from. I actually enjoyed this beer and would probably drink it again if I was forced to!

So maybe I didn't really get the most drinking out of the long weekendas I could have, but I needed a break and there is more to life than beer - OK well not much more.

The Angel Inn

On Sunday we said our farewells to Cornwall and headed towards the New Forest. We were a little slack in booking accommodation for Sunday evening and a quick glance through the English edition of Lonely Planet highly recommended 'The Angel Inn' in Lymington.

Firstly I would like to express my disappointment with the New forest area in general. I don't see the fascination with the place. The scenery is generally just low level shrubs with some rather tame 'wild' ponies eating grass by the side of the road. WTF?

We finally made it into Lymington, which is a small Hampshire market town with a nice harbour quay which provides access to the solent. Our accommodation: The Angel Inn was only OK. Basically it's a Marston's pub, but they had a couple of Ringwood beers on as well. After checking into our room which had a four post bed, we went down to the quay and had a drink in a harbour side pub. The weather was nice so all the Hampshire pretentious types were out shining their toys. Some bloke even had a Lamborghini parked up down there - he obviously has a small dick.

After the sunset we enjoyed a few beers in the Angel, I initially went for a pint of Pedigree which as usual was pretty ordinary (Sorry Nicky!) and then decided to stick to Ringwood Best which was not much better. Dinner consisted of steak and pedigree pie for myself and a roast for the lady. The pie was only passable although it did have an impressive pastry hat. After dinner we retreated for an early evening.

After breakfast the following morning, which was a poorly presented and rather small full English, we hit the road towards Shaftsbury so we could take a look at Gold Hill. Whilst this may seem a rather strange tourist attraction, known only to most as the backdrop to a 1973 Hovis bread commercial - I wanted to check it out as my great uncle painted a picture of the scene and gave it to me as a Wedding gift. After a coffee in the sun at the base of the 600 year old town hall overlooking Gold Hill, we had a quick look around town and headed back to London. The highlight of the return journey was witnessing pigs having sex as we passed a pig farm on the A303 somewhere in Wiltshire. Overall our trip to Cornwall and New Forest was a good break from London, but not as fruitful in the beer department as hoped. I think it confirms my thoughts that London and Clerkenwell in particular, is the beer and pub capital of the world.

India Pale Ale

Another IPA (5.5% abv) I picked up in M&S. This one is apparently brewed with Burton-on-Trent water.

It was ok, but not as good as the Cornish IPA.

I have just dug a little deeper on the web and I have decided I do not like this beer. I have copied an excerpt from Roger Protz below. See if you can guess why I am not a fan!

"Marstons, (for Marks & Spencer) India Pale Ale (England) Brewed for M&S by marstons of Burton-on-Trent using Optic pale malt and Fuggles, Goldings and Cascade hops. It pours a rich toffee colour with a thick, creamy and persistent head. On the nose it is very appealing, with caramel and nutty notes, but plenty of zesty grapefruit, orange and leafy, hoppy notes. On the palate it is rich and smooth, with a full-bodied, creamy and warming cappuccino texture, and nice balance between quite bitter, punchy hop flavours and racy, citrussy fruit. The malt is subtle and just fills out the finish, in a lovely, quite complex beer. Almost worth four stars. 5.5% ABV, 50cl, £1.99, Marks & Spencer. "

Arghhhhhhhhhhh!

Marston's Oyster Stout

I did a quick trip to Morrison's to get some milk last week and ended up buying a few beers while I was there. I think I will start sourcing my bottled beer there as they have a pretty decent selection, although I don't tend to drink at home that often. (BTW - I regularly drink in pubs rather than at home. I usually just have whatever cask bitter is on but, I only post about the session beers that I have not had before otherwise this blog would get a bit repetitive!)

Anyhow Marston's Oyster Stout (4.5% abv) is an unusual beer. Its rather sour for a stout and has a sharp acidity and a relatively thin body. Not quite what I was expecting. Contrary to the beers name, there are no Oyster's present in this stout and the name mearly refers to the golden age of porters in London when a Porter and some oysters were considered as good hearty food.

Fast Facts
- Best bottled Stout 1998 Brewing Industry International Gold Medal Winner
- Champion Bottled Beer as voted by CAMRA

I have yet to be impressed with any beers from Marston's. They always seem to get good write ups but fail to deliver when I taste them. I challenge someone from Marston's to prove me wrong and send me bottles to help change my mind. Website

Marstons Pedigree

Ok, Ok, I may have sunk to new lows! This beer was terrible, and I knew it would be before I ordered this pint and the only saving grace was that it was included with the Curry I bought with it!
Where: is the Shakespeares Head (JD Weatherspoons tied house) on the Kingsway near Holborn tube station. What: Curry Club on Thursday nights and; Why: is because we (Rich and I) were damn hungry and needed a cheap feed before finding a nice pub to have a few “good” pints. Pedigree (4.5% abv) is a special bitter from Burton on Trent and beers from this region especially the IPA’s are awesome beers due to the water conditions. This is due to the hardness of the water in the area which allows really bitter beer to taste really good. For some reason, Pedigree is a good beer close to home – or so I hear, but for some reason it does not seem to travel well, especially to London and especially to JD Weatherspoons tied houses. Let me say that I finished the beer, and let me say next time I go to curry club I will probably have a Fosters! BTW I have had Pedigree in a bottle and it is ok, its just the casks that do not seem to travel.
Here is some independent stuff I found on the web about Marstons Pedigree;

Marston's have recently completed a £1M expansion at their brewery in Burton - this means that more of their beer can be brewed in the now famous Burton Union Sets. The hard Burton water helps to make this fine bitter world famous. Pedigree is a pleasing session pint. The primary aroma is of the Maris Otter malt, with a characteristic sulphurous, eggy hint, though this is less noticeable than in the draught version. The Fuggles and Goldings hops push through powerfully in the flavour and last well into the finish. The flavour is not overpowering, however, and is tempered by a hint of syrupy sweetness, lending a richness to the brew. This is a good session bottle, but make sure you try the draught version too.