Great British Beer Fesitval - Guest Blog

It’s the morning after the night before. I wake with a sorry taste in my mouth and a thirst that would struggle to be quenched by drinking the contents of a reservoir. The discomfort is all worth it though, for the previous afternoon we (i.e. James and I) had been unleashed at the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF). More than 700 real ales, ciders and beers all under one roof - I can’t think of many better ways to spend a Friday afternoon.

We met at 13:30 at Bodeans (an American restaurant) in Tower Hill - to line the stomach and have a cheeky beer to get the ball rolling. Bodeans is a great place to eat and drink – the beer menu is generous and the food is fantastic. We both went for IPAs – James opted for the Goose Island and I went for the Moosehead. Both were served with frosted glasses to keep them cold, something neither of us had experienced in the UK and we were very grateful for them too. The beers were fantastic, as was the food.

We arrived at the beer festival at 15:00 and were met by the usual CAMRA stewards on the doors. Apparently CAMRA are keen to attract more young people but they need to shake-off the stereotypical ale drinker image (especially on the front door). After passing through the gate we headed for the first bar – both of us went for Yorkshire ales. I went for the Wold Gold from the Wold Top brewery and James went for the Rudgate Jorvik Blonde. We both tested our taste buds to see if we could pick out any of the flavours marked in the book. Needless to say we failed miserably. Both beers were very pleasant though I must say.

I can honestly say that every beer we had we would have again. The only one I struggled with was the Fuller’s Vintage ale 2008. The 8.5% ABV was a bit too strong after drinking mainly 3.5%-5% beers throughout the day. I would imagine it would be a very nice beer to accompany a nice, rich meal though – all the same, not really one for the casual half-pint.

The main reason we were there was to attend the ‘Master Brewers Tasting’ after James had received two tickets from Henrietta as a gift. It is here where I offer my warmest thanks to James for offering to take me and also to Henri for buying the tickets in the first place. The tasting basically consisted of 100 real ale fans sitting in a room tasting 6 beers from 3 breweries (2 from each) whilst the master brewers from each one spoke about the beers and their breweries. They also took questions. The breweries being represented were Youngs and Wells, St. Austell, and Amber Ales. While it was good to hear from master brewers at the two larger breweries I, personally, found it more enjoyable listening to Pete from Amber Ales as he was sat in the room as a listener 5 years prior, and had been inspired to start his own brewery. 

Beer of the day came from the Thornbridge Brewery – the Jaipur IPA. With its citrus-honey flavours, it’s very pleasing on the palate, and at 5.9%ABV it’s not to be taken lightly. Its quaffable nature mixed with the strength means it has all the ingredients to fuel a monster hangover, although it is a hangover I wouldn’t mind sampling (I’d very much like to spend a Saturday afternoon in a pub which serves this beer – cue James to arrange a visit to Cask Pub and Kitchen, Pimlico).

Bar of the day was the ‘Young and Upcoming Breweries’ bar, which was sponsored by J.D. Wetherspoon. For all the bad words people have to say about Wetherspoon pubs (and rightly so in some cases) you can’t fault them for their promotion of real ales. Walk into any ‘Spoons pub and I guarantee they’ll have at least 3 random ales on tap. Whether they’ll be well-kept or not is a different matter but at least they’re trying. James and I both had a couple of beers from this bar, my favourite being the Flack’s Double Drop, from the Flack Manor brewery in Hampshire. James went out of his way to break my rule that we should only have one stout each (rule put in place as we’ve had our fingers burnt by awful stouts on numerous occasions at previous festivals). I’m glad he did break the rule though because the Dark Peat Stout from the Raw brewery in Derbyshire was a tasty drop.

All-in-all, the day was fantastic – certainly one of the best beer festivals I’ve been to. It certainly put my faith back into the GBBF as well, as in previous years I’ve thought it to be a bit too commercial. This year there was less presence from some of the bigger breweries and more beers from smaller breweries. As mentioned briefly earlier, CAMRA have got some work to do if they want to attract younger members but it certainly seems they’re doing something right. I’d also like to thank Pipers Crisps for having constantly topped-up bowls of complimentary crisps – they went down a treat in between beers. A perfect day all-round and we weren’t even too drunk to make it home before midnight.

 WOODY

Jerusalem

A place of pilgrimage for many devote followers...of good beer.  The Jerusalem Tavern in Farringdon is worth the trip or pilgrimage if you will.  Being the only St Peters pub in London (another holy reference) makes it all the more special. 

The Jerusalem Tavern

Entering the pub and passing the drinkers outside I could immediately tell I was going to like it.  The pub inside is small and having not been there before I asked the bar man if what I could see was the whole pub, he chuckled and confirmed it was.  Both bar men were nice blokes, friendly and willing to chat about the different beers.  People were reading having a nice pint, chilling out, or chatting with mates.  I was early as usual so shared a table and waited.  It was nice to have a moment to have a look at the pub for a while.  The wooden mismatched tables, and benches give an air of time worn charm.  There is a raised platform with some seat up near the bar which would be a cool place to sit if you can get it.  It’s a real historic pub interior with none of the piped music, posters or curly writing of other pubs.  

The pub has a few of the beer on tap if you want to buy those but the bottles were the best bottled beers I’ve had in a pub in a long time.  The pub sells all the bottled beers from the Suffolk brewery and I didn’t have one I didn’t like all night.  The classic oval shaped bottles stacked up around where we were standing outside.  People spill outside the pub and even across the street. 

It was a great visit and a pub well worth making the pilgrimage to drink the holy beer of St Peter.  I’d recommend this pub highly and look forward to my next visit.  

Pilgrims

Old Bank of England

The usual suspects Woody, Ed and I met at Old Bank of England on a Thursday evening (the traditional city drinking day).  Located near the Inns of Court on Fleet Street you can not fail to miss it.  The pub has flames outside it and a huge pub sign.  Up some stairs to a tiled entrance way and you enter the pub.  The pub is similar to several other of the fullers London pubs like the Barrowboy and Banker and the Counting House off Bishopsgate.  A huge central bar rises up out of the floor surrounded by the oval shapped bar.  The central area behind the bar is really impressive rising up at least 30ft like a giant tower cake of mahogany.  Each cove contains a different drink or some advertising.  I don’t think my photos do it justice as I took them from a balcony that overlooks the whole bar.  We went up there to get a table.  The whole décor of the pub is decadent and rich.  Burgundy wall paper, huge oil paintings, and golden chandeliers cover the pub.  

The Bar

This pub may well be the flag ship of this form of fullers pub design because it seemed to have that little bit extra given to it in the way of detail than the other two pubs I mentioned previously.  It’s pretty spectacular for a pub in many ways.  

The beers on tap were the usual Fullers range and we stuck mainly to the Seafarers that evening.  We also had a pie each.  The pies in there were not bad.  I’d not say they were great but they certainly did the job of filling me up. 

Service in there was decent even when it was really busy.  I’d go here again if I was in the area.  I can understand why it made it into the guide as it is a spectacular pub.  The location is also strong for city workers and tourists so it must get a lot of trade.  The only other point I would make is that if you are closer to either of the other pubs I mentioned you’ll be just as well off going in there.  Any one who has been to two of these or even all three will see what I mean as its like going into the same pub.  Still it’s a good formula and I commend fullers for doing a good job.   

The Good Pub Crawl

Time is ticking and having had a few quieter months July was going to have to be the time to pick things back up again.  My friend John, a rugby player not unfamiliar with all day drinking sessions piped up and declared he was free all day on Saturday.  Having not been to any of the pubs on my list so far I felt I better show him what he had been missing out on.  What better way to do that than embark on a pub crawl.  

I had originally decided that the maximum number of pubs on my list I would review in a day would be two because things can get a bit hazy after my minimum quota of two pints in each pub.  However with the pubs on my list now being spread further apart as I’ve ticked them off and with the plan of a pub crawl in mind I scratched my rule and planned three pubs on my list for the day.  Also with time slipping away I thought I better get on with it. 

We decided to go for an early afternoon meet up to make the most of pub hours and with a vague plan of getting back to central London to either make our way home on the last train or carry on drinking into the night.  John is very much of the ‘go big or go home’ school of drinking so I knew it could get messy.  

We started the day at the Fox and Hounds pub in Battersea.  It was a really sunny day so we sat in the pub garden.  Pub gardens in London are always a huge bonus when you find one and also if you can get a seat outside if its nice out.  The pub was pleasantly busy with couples and friends finishing lunch and chatting and a few blokes at the bar having a pint and chatting to the staff.  Outside were some families and two black cats which seemed to live there.  My opinion of families in pubs is still mixed but the kids were well behaved so it was fine.  It’s a nice pub inside with a medium sized square bar.  They had four ales on tap, two from the Sambrooks Brewery, Tribute and Summer Runner by Trumans.  John is a lager drinker and enjoyed some Italian beers in there.  The Fox and Hounds is definitely cashing in on the prosperity of the locals as the beer wasn’t cheap.  I liked the pub though, it had a good atmosphere and it looked like a good pub to have a few pints in with some mates or the girlfriend.  I wouldn’t think it would be great for a big drinking session as I think being loud and raucous in there might be frowned upon.  Not that I should be encouraging that of course drink aware and all that.  The food in there looked good too, gastro pub food at gastro pub food prices.  Who ever invented the phrase gastro pub food must be gutted he or she didn’t own it because the trade in gastro pub food had certainly kicked off big time in the last few years.  I for one am all for it as long as its good quality and not massively over priced.  

The Fox and Hounds Battersea

Having had a few looseners in the Fox it was time to move on.  The next destination on the list was The Cross Keys in Chelsea.  We got the bus over the river (although it would have been just as quick to walk) and found our way to the pub.  The outside of the pub looked interesting and inviting.  There was a huge 8 foot high statue on the façade.  Once inside the pub was pretty quite but it was about 3-4 in the afternoon, between the lunchtime drinkers and the evening crowd.  The bar was also, for me, a bit disappointing with only Doombar on tap.  They did have one interesting feature which was a large table with pour your own beer taps which I can imagine would be a popular choice for the rich young professionals of Chelsea.  Unfortunately they were not able to use it when we were there due to some licensing issues.  Still its good to see some initiative and thought being put into pubs.  The main bar is in an atrium area with a restaurant upstairs and out the back.  The pub was clearly looking to make the most of the opulent surroundings in Chelsea and was pretty much glamming up to attract attention.  There was even a leopard print sofa upstairs!  Being a fan of the more traditional style pub I wasn’t overly keen on the decor or what they were trying to do with the pub.  The owner was clearly more interested in trying to be popular and have a Michelin star than run a good pub.  Overall I’m not entirely sure why the pub is in the guide.  

The Cross Keys

The manager (middle)

Having said that about the Cross Keys however the bar man was excellent and when we mentioned about my blog and my plan to visit all the pubs in the year he introduced us to the gentleman at the bar.  We got chatting to these chaps one who was a former publican and had run several pubs in the Chelsea area and one who was the manager of the Cross Keys and had been a publican at a number of pubs in the area previously.  We had a long discussion about pubs and what makes a good pub.  Also about how to make money from pubs and how to keep the police happy!  These two chaps and seen it all and done it all before.  It was great chatting to them and listening to their stories about being a publican.  Eventually we told them where we were headed next, the Star Tavern in Belgravia.  They said well if you want to visit some good pubs on the way let us write a list for you.  Well we couldn’t turn that down so they obliged and we went on our way with list in hand.  

The list was six pubs long!!  Being several pints down already this seemed like a good idea.  The first pub was the The Phene.  On entering we noticed something strange… The whole pub was full of women.  Not one bloke was there in the whole place.  I went to the bar and noticed all the beer taps had glasses on them indicating they were empty.  I asked for a beer, ‘Corona, Becks or wine is all we have’ the bar man said.  John came back from the bathroom and I said ‘We’re leaving’.  Not the best start to the list. 

The next pub was The Surprise.  We took a place at the bar and ordered some pints I had Knight of the Garter a well kept pint of bitter.  The bar man with his corn row hair cut looked like a football player.  The manager came in and she wasn’t remotely interested in talking to us.  The pub was really nice though.  Some nice touches like a jug of virgin mary on the bar and a selection of cheese and pickles were on offer.  The locals seemed to be very rah.  They were proper Chelsea types talking about the latest shoot and the new carpets at ‘the Club’.  Some old bloke walked in with a younger looking lady.  John leaned over to me and said quietly ‘Is that the lead singer of ACDC?’.  I had no idea so we did a quick google search and it turned out it was.  Being a bit drunk now confidence was high and John asked for a photo.  Brian Johnson was good sport and had a quick chat with us.  He started by saying ‘Can I give you lads some advice?  Never trust anything that bleeds longer than a week’.  This is possibly one of the strangest things anyone I didn’t know had ever said to me but he was a member of rock royalty so it was cool.  Meeting Brian Johnson certainly made Johns day.    

The Surprise

Brian Johnson (lead singer of ACDC) and John

We skipped The Coopers as we were still aiming to get some beers in at the Star and we wanted to keep moving.  Plus I think we needed the walk.  Then we were at the second pub of the day called the Fox and Hounds.  This pub was a lovely small pub owned by Youngs.  The inside was covered in framed pictures mainly of hunting scenes.  It was a quality small pub with a good barman behind the tiny bar.  There was a really good atmosphere in there and similarly to the previous pub I’m surprised it was not in the Guide.  I’d like to find my way back here sometime.  

Fox and Hounds

Recollection of my day out begins to get hazy at this point.  I have photos from The Antelope where we sat at the bar and had a beer.  I liked the quote on the bar area saying ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder’.  I’ve got to be honest I don’t remember much else from that pub other than they were cleaning up while we were there and decided it would be a good idea to spray cleaning up liquid on the bar where we were sitting which pretty much gassed us out of the pub.  Not impressed with that.  

The Antelope

Beauty is the eye of the Beer holder

We did then go to the Duke of Wellington and I’ve got no idea where it was from the top of my head or what it looked like really.  I do remember all the bar staff were French which seemed odd.  Even the manager was French and he seemed a bit of a nob.  He kept yelling at the other staff in French.  John who can speak French fluently was translating for me.  The two younger bar staff were nice though and chatted to us while we sat at the bar (probably trying not to fall off our stools).  The only note I have on the pub was that it smelled like gravy.  This pungent smell of gravy is not one I think does any pub favours and is one I usually associate with the lower end scale Weatherspoons. 

Finally we made it to the Star Tavern we’d drunk a hell of a lot of pints by this point into double digits for sure.  The Star was a beautiful looking pub down a cobbled street with hanging baskets brimming with flowers.  The well presented exterior was matched by the well presented drinkers outside the pub in their chinos and boat shoes.  Belgravia is a particularly well to do part of London and you could tell by the locals.  The bar inside was well divided up into rooms with high ceilings.  It is a fullers pub, not the first of the day.  We ordered some pints and some pork scratchings.  The pork scratchings were rough.  We got the dregs of the jar along with all the pig dust, John didn’t mind them but I thought they were disgusting.  I don’t feel like I can give the most objective report of this pub as I was absolutely smashed by this point.  I remember only a few things from this pub it is quite big, has lots of wood, it has the usual range of fullers beers.  I remember also that we chatted to two blokes who were there playing chess as  some part of a local pub chess league.  John had the idea after meeting Brian Johnson earlier in the day that everyone could have been a former rockstar so he proceeded to ask the chess players if they had been in a band.  I think the room was spinning too much at that point for me to contribute much to the conversation.  I also remember we were talking about the Michel MacIntyre joke about posh people saying they were drunk and how you can use almost anything.  So rather than saying ‘I was absolutely smashed’ you may say ‘I was absolutely trousered’.  We went through a number of these. 

The Star Tavern

 Before leaving we noticed a sign by the door that said ‘NO DRINKS BEYOND THIS POINT’.  It is a note I wish we had listened to.  End evaluation of the Star is that it is probably a good pub and seemed nice of the day we were there.  I think I’ll have to go back to this one but for now it’s going to get crossed off my list.  

The pub crawl ended there as far as this is concerned. For a start neither of us remember what we did next. We know from receipts that we ate a large amount of pizza express and also McDonalds and went to another pub somewhere in London before getting a cab home. Good times…NO…Great times!!!