Posts Tagged ‘Brain’s’
Morrison’s Bottled Beer Deals Update 2
Jul 27th, 2009 |
** Please note this post has been superseded by Morrisons Beer Offers – September Update **
Wychwood Hobgoblin has now joined the ranks of the £1 per bottle deals at our local Morrison’s. There are big empty gaps where some of the other beers in the offer were.
The Hobgoblin is a dark and malty bitter – on the strong side at 5.2%. I find the taste OK, but I wouldn’t want to drink a lot of it.
The Brains SA pictured is not on special offer but I haven’t seen the ‘normal’ SA at Morrison’s before – they do normally carry the young upstart SA Gold. Mmm, perhaps someone made a mistake and ordered the wrong stuff…
Now I do have a soft spot for Brain’s beer having been at university in Cardiff many years ago so I leaped on this one. The aroma is unmistakably Brain’s but the lively nature of this bottled beer seems at odds with the smoother, subtler consistency of the draught version.
Clerkenwell to Angel to Old Street
Jul 23rd, 2009 |
Before I get started on the Winchester trip which happened last night I wanted to finish this one and get it out.
Last week, Jon and I had a strung out pub crawl in London to take in a few places new to us and two of our favourites. It involved more walking than crawls we normally do but it was worth it.
The Jerusalem Tavern
We started at the Jerusalem Tavern in Clerkenwell – surely a favourite of all real ale drinkers in London.
If you’re not familiar with the Jerusalem Tavern it’s a traditionally traditional pub. Lots of wood – walls, benches, chairs, and no carpets. The pub is the London outlet for the Suffolk-based St Peters Brewery and there are usually 4 or 5 draught beers on from their range. There are no handpumps, the beers served from taps in pretend barrels on the back wall of the bar. I’ve no idea how the beer is dispensed then – an electric pump? (The Hoop & Grapes in Aldgate used to have a similar set up.)
I think the Jerusalem Tavern also carries the whole range of St Peters bottled beers too.
We had a lot to get through so quickly moved on to the next one.
The Peasant
At 240 St John Street the Peasant is a cavernous old pub with a mosaic tiled floor and enormous windows. If you read the Beer in the Evening reviews you could be easily put off going here, but I’m glad we did. The pub had a friendly, laid back atmosphere and good beer. I’ll come back for longer next time.
The Charles Lamb
Our next stop was the Charles Lamb just round the corner from Angel tube (at 16 Elia Street). We liked it here and the Dark Star Hophead was superb.
The Charles Lamb is reviewed glowingly at Boak and Bailey’s beer blog – a review which prompted me to want to go. The pub was very busy for a Monday night with a good atmosphere, and good food.
After this we headed off down City Road to an old favourite.
The Wenlock Arms
Another pub that you hope never changes. Visiting the Wenlock Arms (26 Wenlock Road) is a real ale dream come true. There must be at least 8 handpumps and the beers are always tip top.
You can read more on my boyish excitement at finding Brains Dark in the Wenlock Arms in a previous post.
The Old Fountain
Our final stop on the evening was the Old Fountain (3 Baldwin Street) close to Old Street tube station. By the time we got there it was dark and I was feeling a bit tired so I don’t really remember much about the pub other than the very impressive beer selection. I can’t remember what I had but I do remember that is tasted good. Jon’s pint was alright too – whatever it was.
We’ll definitely come back here again. A good pub to combine with the Wenlock and the nearby Artillery Arms for a more compact evening’s drinking.
See this Google map to follow our route.
Brain’s Dark Sighted in London
Jul 18th, 2009 |
I was out in Clerkenwell/Angel/Old Street the other night with a friend and we popped into the Wenlock Arms off City Road for a while. I got very excited when I noticed they had Brain’s Dark on draught.
Brain’s Dark was my beer of choice when at university in Cardiff many years ago. It’s a beautifully smooth pint – a bit like Guinness but nowhere near as bitter. And it’s so rare to get it in London that I just had to have one.
But, things don’t always go as well as you think and although the pint tasted a bit like Brain’s Dark it had none of that creaminess I was expecting. After a short time I realised what had happened when my beer became an old-style London pint with practically no head – something that would of course never happen in a Brain’s pub in Cardiff. There was no tight sparkler on the pump – none of the pumps in the Wenlock have them.
I am grateful that the barstaff eventually found a tight sparkler from somewhere and I was able to enjoy a glass of Dark how it should be. It’s frustrating for the staff though if they’re not used to it – one of the other barstaff at the Wenlock who wasn’t involved in the discussions just took the sparkler straight off later. In Brain’s pubs in Cardiff you’ll see pints lined up waiting for a top up – it should be poured in stages like a Guinness.
I’ll be posting about the other pubs we visited that night soon.
The Wenlock Arms picture was from Flickr. Thanks to Andy Roberts for allowing his picture to be used.