This post outlines my experiences of attempting a social life without the wonderful choice of real ale that I usually enjoy. Research carried out mainly in London.

But They Sell Fruit Juices Don’t They?

Sure, fruit juices are available but they all tend to be a bit sweet and I resent paying extortionate prices for either a miniscule mixer bottle, or for something that could be bought for a fraction of the price at the local supermarket. I wanted something that was a bit more ‘adult’ tasting than that.

Initially I started drinking lime juice with soda water which is quite refreshing but can get a bit dull after a while – except when it’s done well. So step forward the Charles Lamb in Angel and the Harp in Covent Garden who were happy to make me lime and soda with juice from real limes – and without charging me the earth for it.

One snag with lime and soda is that pubs seem to love to give you masses of ice – fine on warm summer evenings, but an over-chilled experience on cold autumn evenings. In fact all non-alcoholic drinks seem to be served as cool as possible and with some options you find out why.

Something More Exotic

Hartridges Ginger Beer

Since I was a child I’ve always loved ginger beer and there are a number of makes available. I found ginger beer to be more satisfying than lime and soda but expect to pay a good price for it – in one north London pub my 330ml bottle of Hartridges ginger beer was more expensive than a pint of real ale!

Not all pubs carry ginger beer but where it is available the most common makes are Hartridge’s and Fentiman’s. Both are not bad but my favourite was a can of Old Jamaica ginger beer from the Barnsbury in Islington – somehow the canned version tastes much better than from a plastic bottle from the supermarket.

Fentimans Ginger Beer and Dandelion & Burdock

When asking for ginger beer you do have to be careful as some pubs now carry alcoholic ginger beer – which I’m sure was delicious but unfortunately ruled itself out of my survey.

Other drinks in this line included Fentiman’s Dandelion and Burdock which I tried at the Drapers in Islington. Once again not a cheap drink but actually quite tasty when you get past the odd and slightly icky smell.

But even ginger beer can get boring after a while…

What About Non-Alcoholic Beers?

There’s always something different about the taste of a non-alcoholic beer – something unreal. Maybe it’s part of the process that strips the alcohol out, or maybe it’s just that the alcohol gives that special oomph to the flavour. Before this year the last non-alcoholic beer that I drank was Kaliber which I seem to remember was disgusting. Happily things have moved on in a positive direction.

Becks Blue in the Harp, Covent Garden

But amazingly a large number of pubs just do not bother stocking alcohol-free beer. This seems odd to me but what do I know? More frustratingly some pubs do feature non-alcoholic beer on their price lists but when you ask for it they’ve sold out. However I did find a couple pubs that do actually carry alcohol-free beers and the experience was generally pretty good.

Lagers

The most common non-alcoholic beer in pubs seems to Becks Blue – a lager style beer as you would expect. It comes in tiny 275ml bottles so you’ll need two for it to feel like a pint – but that may set you back a bit. Overall the taste is pretty good – much better than I was expecting. So well done to the Crosse Keys – a Wetherspoon’s pub in Gracechurch Street and the Harp (again) for carrying it.

I was also looking forward to trying Bitburger Drive – another non-alcoholic lager that comes with a good review, but the only pub where I saw it advertised (the Dispensary, Aldgate) never seems to actually have it. **Update** They sell it at the Cobweb Inn in Boscastle, Cornwall. Another impossible to find brand is Stella NA – which also gets a good review here.

Ale

If you think non-alcoholic lager is hard to find in pubs the try looking for a more ale experience.

Many years ago when Whitbread was a fairly successful brewing company instead of the hotel and restaurant chain of today they produced a non-alcoholic real ale called White Label. I found it on draught in a couple of pubs in Kent and I drank it on occasions when I was driving. It was a brave attempt at a real beer but unfortunately unremarkable and it didn’t seem to last very long.

Harvey's John Hop at the Royal Oak in Borough

The best I came up with during my current ‘survey’ was at the excellent Royal Oak in Borough. I was offered two different bottled beers by Harvey’s that were allegedly alcohol-free – but which on further investigation turned out to be 1% alcohol, so I only had one (is that OK doctor?).

I tried the John Hop which is apparently produced from the Best Bitter and when I poured it the smell of real beer certainly excited my nostrils. The taste was not bad but unfortunately not close to the Sussex Best I know and love. The hops were much more evident (hence the name I guess) and the deeper flavours were absent. The beer was served cool and I purposely left a bit in the glass for a while to see what it would taste like at room temperature. The results weren’t great I’m sad to report – a distinctly odd flavour emerging.

The other Harvey’s beer was called Bill Brewer and is made from the Old Ale. I intend to try this next time I’m in the Royal Oak.

You Haven’t Mentioned Cider

Kopparberg Alcohol Free Pear Cider

No, it hadn’t occurred to me to search out non-alcoholic cider since I very seldom drink any cider anyway. However a chance remark by one of the Wetherspoon’s barstaff at the Crosse Keys in Gracechurch Street led me down that route. They produced a bottle of pear cider by Kopparberg (horrible jumpy website by the way). Whilst this pear cider is on the sweeter end of the spectrum it is very drinkable and the staff at the Crosse Keys were happy to put some real lime into it which helps mask the sweetness a bit. Another great thing about it is that it comes in a 500ml bottle for £1.80 so you can fit more easily into a rounds situation with your mates. Well done Wetherspoon’s!

Summary

I’m hoping my alcohol-free research won’t have to last much longer but while it does I’ll be searching for alternatives You might have guessed from the last paragraph that I was pleased with the Kopparberg Pear Cider and when in Spoons’ pubs I’ll be drinking that. I may have the Becks Blue where I can find it and I’d like to try the Bitburger Drive at some point.

But why is it so hard to get a good non-alcoholic option in a pub? If the UK alcohol driving limit is lowered then far-flung pubs are going to have to try harder to pull people in or they may sink. And the ‘designated driver’ needs some TLC surely.

Have any of you found some other interesting alcohol-free options in pubs where you live? Please let me know, comment on this post below.

I’m preparing another post on the alcohol-free options that are available in supermarkets. That’ll be published soon.

Other Non-Alcoholic Posts

• Morrisons Beer Offers – January 2011 Update Jan 16th, 2011
• Non-Alcoholic Options in Supermarkets Dec 6th, 2010
• Non-Alcoholic Options in Pubs – Update 1 Nov 26th, 2010

But, quality could vary. Whereas 6X and London Pride were fairly presentable in most places, Young’s Ordinary actually never seemed to live up to its Wandsworth promise when drunk in non-Young’s pubs

Now, Wadworths 6X is rare in London and although London Pride and Young’s Ordinary are still available in Fuller’s and Young’s pubs, other beers taken their place in other pubs – including Harvey’s Sussex Best.

Now Harvey’s Best is a particular favourite of mine, so whenever it’s available I’m tempted to try it. But after some recent disappointments I’m being more careful.

The Lewes Benchmark

On our recent trip to Lewes (where Harvey’s brewery is located), Jon and I found that Harvey’s Best was available in practically every pub we visited – and generally it was pretty good. With the brewery so close, non-Harvey’s pubs in Lewes presumably work hard to keep it well so they stand a chance of selling it.

London

In London pubs, Harvey’s Best falls into 3 groups:

1) The Royal Oak in Borough

This pub is Harvey’s only London pub and the beer quality is always superb. You’d hope they would get it right here.

2) The Harp in Covent Garden, The Dispensary in Aldgate

Two superb pubs that carry Harvey’s Best nearly all the time. The taste is up there, but it is still distinguishable from the Royal Oak.

This grouping could also include the Bell at Cannon Street and the Peacock in Aldgate when it’s available.

3) The Rest

Do these pubs carry Harvey’s Best because it plays well with beer drinkers – are they trading on the name? But perhaps without the commitment to keep it well?

Harvey’s Best is a distinctive bitter and can easily be done wrong – just like Young’s Ordinary many years ago in all those non-Young’s pubs. If contemplating a Harvey’s Best now in a pub I’m not familiar with I’d always want to taste it first.

Harveys Brewery, Lewes

This is the third post in a series featuring a pub crawl that Jon and I undertook recently around Lewes in East Sussex. It features the last couple of pubs we visited – the Lewes Arms and the Brewers Arms. You can visit the previous two posts:

• Arrival in Lewes, and the Harvey’s brewery
• The Dorset Arms, the Gardners Arms and the John Harvey Tavern

The Volunteer and the Elephant & Castle

Back across the river bridge and then to the right we came to the Volunteer on Eastgate Street.

It’s an attractive welcoming pub, but was selling just Sharp’s Doom Bar and St Austell Tribute. These are both fine beers but we decided we hadn’t come to Lewes to drink cornish beers so we decided to press on.

Next potential stop was the Elephant & Castle up the hill on White Hill. We decided that this pub didn’t look that inviting and as time we short we passed on that one too.

Retracing our steps slightly and then up a side street we came to the Lewes Arms.

The Lewes Arms (Backstory)

The Lewes Arms in Mount Place has some notoriety in that it was the setting for an extraordinary boycott some years ago by the regulars. At the time the pub was a Greene King pub and like every pub in Lewes it stocked Harvey’s Best. GK went through a stage a while ago of purging their pubs of all but their own beers and the Lewes Arms was no exception.

The Lewes Arms, Lewes

Only here the locals didn’t take too kindly to it and organised a campaign to get GK to change their minds. When Greene King wouldn’t, the boycott was born. All the regulars stayed away and the pub was apparently deserted most nights. I believe Greene King tried all kinds of tricks to convince people that the boycott wasn’t really working – including bussing staff in for quizzes etc from towns nearby.

Eventually though GK threw in the towel and began stocking Harvey’s Best again. After a while GK sold the pub to Fuller’s and now the Harvey’s Best rubs shoulders with London Pride and the other Chiswick-brewed regulars.

In retrospect Greene King argument that Harvey’s pubs tended to stock only Harvey’s beers and that they were only doing the same was a fair one. It is interesting now that the Royal Oak in Borough which is Harvey’s only London pub always carries one beer from the Fuller’s range – usually (but not always) the seasonal guest. It is rumoured that this is a reciprocal arragement for the Lewes Arms carrying Harvey’s Best but that was denied recently by the landlord of the Royal Oak. Incidentally the Fuller’s pints in the Royal Oak are always on top form.

In another recent move many GK pubs now regularly carry guest beers from other breweries – most notably in my experience the Fulflood Arms and the Green Man in Winchester which seem to stock hardly any GK beers. Perhaps GK learned from the Lewes Arms experience – perhaps the two occurences are unrelated.

Anyway I hear you cry, what is the Lewes Arms really like?

The Lewes Arms (Review)

This was my first trip to the Lewes Arms and I really had no idea what to expect. It’s located on a small backstreet and is quite a tiny pub inside. It reminded Jon and I of the Charles Lamb near Angel tube station in London – a larger room with small areas off.

The pub seems friendly and we weren’t treated like outsiders at all. The barstaff were chatty and the atmosphere overall was very good.

Inside the Lewes Arms, Lewes

Beer-wise the selection reflects the Fuller’s ownership plus of course the Harvey’s Best’ Disappointingly the Gales HSB (one of my favourites) was lack-lustre and I thought the Red Fox to be not much good either. Ironically the best pint here was the Harvey’s Best but that wasn’t superb either.

It was a shame that such a nice pub should be let down by the beer quality.

After some hasty but tasty chips in the street from the chippy opposite the Lewes Arms, Jon and I headed off for our last pub of the evening – the Brewers Arms.

The Brewers Arms

The Brewers Arms in High Street, close to Lewes Castle, is quite large when you get inside and has two distinct halves – a subdued dimly lit front bar and a lively bright back bar.

We had no stranger-phobia that you get in some places and the barstaff were very friendly and efficient. They even let me take away a Harvey’s glass for a contribution to their charity box so I’ll always be well disposed to the pub.

The Brewers Arms is advertised as a true free-house and the selection was quite eclectic. I tried a Hammerpot brewery beer (forget which one – oops) which was OK but the Harvey’s Best was very, very good. And so that beer bookended our trip to Lewes. All that was left was our synchronised dash to the station to pick up the train back to London.

A Summary

Our evening in Lewes was great fun despite the rather gloomy October weather. The pubs on a map don’t seem very concentrated but Lewes is quite a small town and it doesn’t take long to get between them. Lewes itself looks interesting and is worth a visit for more than just the beer.

There’s a map of our Lewes Pub Crawl here.

The Dorset Arms

The Dorset Arms, Lewes

The Dorset Arms is a large Harvey’s pub in the cliffe area of Lewes. The pub interior has a victorian feel at the front with a good cast iron fireplace and coloured glass in the dividers. The back of the pub is a bit more modern and bright.

It was a bit hard to judge the atmosphere in the Dorset Arms since for most of my visit I was the only person there apart from the barstaff (Jon was still on his way down). But to be fair to the pub it was 4:20 on a grey Tuesday afternoon.

Wooden pannelling at the Dorset Arms, Lewes

The beers are all from the Harvey’s brewery just up the road. Again it may be down to the lack of customers but the Sussex Best tasted a bit tired. The peanuts however were very reasonably priced – a large portion served for 55 pence in a bowl. They also weren’t too salty either which was good.

Food is also available but I didn’t have any.

Overall, a slightly disappointing start to the pub crawl. So on to the next one.

The Gardeners Arms

Gardeners Arms, Lewes

Back up Cliffe High Street towards the brewery I popped into the Gardeners Arms.

This is a narrow, cosy free house diagonallly opposite the Harvey’s brewery shop. The atmosphere was pretty lively and welcoming despite the time 4:40 ish on a grey Tuesday afternoon. You get the impression that most customers are locals, but it’s not cliquey.

Six beers are available on my visit: Harvey’s Best, Adur Black William, Bartrams Suffolk Trinity, Hopdaemon Green Daemon, Red Squirrel Conservation and Harvey’s Old Ale. I had the Red Squirrel beer which was quite dark in appearance but much more hoppy than malty in taste. Much more to my taste than the Green Daemon which I tried a small sample of.

I didn’t have time to try more than one before I was off to meet Jon at the next pub – the John Harvey Tavern.

The John Harvey Tavern

The John Harvey Tavern, Lewes

Set slightly back from the south side of Cliffe High Street right by the river, the John Harvey Tavern is the brewery tap for the Harvey’s brewery opposite. Jon arrived shortly after I did at about 5pm.

The interior is traditional dark wood with wooden pillars and beams. Some of the seating areas are done up to look like you’re sitting in a huge barrel – a nice 70s touch I felt. There is a buzz about the place even though it’s a large pub and the real fire at one end of the main bar is welcome.

Barrels behind the bar at the John Harvey Tavern, Lewes

The beers are superb – Harvey’s Sussex Best is available on gravity along with a couple of others. Initially the Best seems to hit the spot but after a while you wonder whether it would be better served through a handpump – it’s a little flat. But you can’t knock the flavour though.

Food is available but we didn’t eat here.

Time for a couple before heading off.

The last part of our trip to Lewes is covered in the 3rd part of this series.

There’s a map of our Lewes Pub Crawl here.

I’d been to Lewes before but never drunk there – not even on bonfire night which they take very seriously in Lewes. The town itself is a really attractive traditional old town – well worth a visit for things other than pubs.

Arrival in Lewes

There is evidence of the presence of the Harvey’s brewery all over the town. It starts when you get off the train and see the small distribution warehouse across the station car park.

From here I walked up a curving path that used to be, or used to run next to the southern end of the railway line that once linked Lewes with Uckfield and Tunbridge Wells. Looking back towards the station just a bit after the Harvey’s distribution warehouse there is what looks like a tunnel mouth. I’m not familiar enough with the original path of the railway or its history in Lewes, but was the warehouse directly linked to the railway here? Some historical research needed when time permits.

The Harvey’s Brewery (from the outside)

Harveys Brewery, Lewes

The path of the railway gets lost as you approach the High Street but I soon found myself at the bridge over the River Ouse. Diagonally opposite you can see the classic tower structure of the brewery itself – the view seen in many photos obviously taken from the bridge, including the one shown here.

As I wandered down into the brewery yard I was immediately struck by how small the brewery was – no bigger than a small town church really. Given the growing popularity of Harvey’s beers these days I wondered immediately how they managed to cope. I thought immediately of other small scale breweries that were forced to move by the capacity restrictions of their original premises – eg Dark Star and Hop Back. But fortunately for now the brewery shows no sign of having to move.

I had not booked onto a visit so I didn’t stay for long. I made a mental note to return to look tround the brewery one day – although I gather the waiting list is substantial.

I quickly popped into the brewery shop round the corner in Cliffe High Street. Apart from the expected merchandising for sale, the shop appeared to be surprisingly full of bottles of wine rather than beer. Takeaway containers are available here and presumably the draught beer is served straight from the adjacent brewery.

But I didn’t take advantage of that as it was straight on to the first of the pubs on the list – pausing only to explore the pumpkins outside Bill’s cafe on the High Street.

The next post in the series covers the first few pubs we visited in Lewes. A third post covers the last couple.

There’s a map of our Lewes Pub Crawl here.