Iconic pints of Britain and Ireland

Always keen to try some of the German beers downtown. Recently came across a real undervalued Fruh Kolsch for $4 Cdn. A style distinctive to Cologne, the name Kolsch is protected by law so that only beers brewed in and around the city can bear the name.
 
My Halloween, penny off a pint in the pub was a classic English oatmeal stout, Colbier Nocturne. All the expected coffee and cream, suave yet fruity Cary Grant mouthfeel; silky, complex and dark as one of Fauré’s. Carefully conditioned and poured in Cask Pimlico.

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Chased by a half of Kernel Bière de Saison Cherry from keg. Impressive facsimile of the iconic Belgian style, piercing morello finish.

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Boltmaker is a committee beer. Designed to appeal to the masses. Perhaps an attempt to take in Black Sheep Best and Theakston’s Best. It won best beer at the GBBF but I’ve never had a pint of it that’s been more that ok.

Until now. If a beer can express itself by not saying things then this is what Boltmaker does. It’s not hoppy, estery, malty, strong. TT have lost their way in the last year building on volume over quality. I’m glad someone, somewhere cares.
 
Mild. Here Wantsum Black Prince at Ye Olde Mitre, Holborn.

Very typical malt bill for the style, gentle English boil hops, in the finish a pleasant unexpected twist of high alpha Oregon. The effect, in penny chew terms, is like a handful of Black Jacks followed by half a Fruit Salad.

Ye Olde Mitre is one of the last remaining bastions of proper pub in central London. The front snug is comparable for cold weather cosiness to the distinguished likes of ye olde Cambridge Blue in Cambridge and ye olde Blue Bell in York.

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Had a great week in Orkney which surprisingly for Scotland has a few GBG entries and , two breweries , one of which is a firm favourite. It’s one of those Breweries that doesn’t do a single bad beer , like an iconic vinyl album.
Red McGregor sadly wasn’t on draft and I had to settle for bottled from the coop £2.50 which would have been £2 in the Tesco if they had any. So annoying it’s more expensive from the brewery and Deli shops at £3.50 which is unjustified and I have no sympathy with such businesses.IMG_0966.jpeg
 

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Dan

The 2 pubs you name the mitre and Blue Bell in York are gems. I visit the latter a lot and love the Rudgate Ruby mild which seems to be on permanently.
I also recommend the Golden Ball if in York and the Swan. Two unspoiled gems
 
The Golden Ball was my local when I was a postgrad student in York. Those were halcyon days for beer.

It would merit a special journey for the fantastic 1920s interior alone: pubs are to York what Christopher Wren churches are to the City.
 
Kinley Smith said:
Am I missing something? GK? Always been a fan of Stewart’s 80/-, a proper dark Heavy.
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Assuming you get "GK" as "Greene King" Kinley, I'm just not a fan of their beers as a rule; other opinions are of course valid and welcome :) Some of their pubs can have interesting guest beers but I rarely risk it to find out, as "family-friendly" isn't my tipple of choice :cool:
 
Rob Lockwood said:
Assuming you get "GK" as "Greene King" Kinley, I'm just not a fan of their beers as a rule; other opinions are of course valid and welcome :) Some of their pubs can have interesting guest beers but I rarely risk it to find out, as "family-friendly" isn't my tipple of choice :cool:
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Apologies Rob. I read it as GK having bought Stewarts which was a surprise.

Agree GK beers are generally unexciting and I suspect much is the amount of time it takes from brewing to beer engine. But just occasionally, and I mean very occasionally, there's a pub in Suffolk where a gem of an IPA pint is to be found. Both Abbot and Strong Suffolk make it into Protz's 300 Beers to try list. Must revisit the latter.
 
Marston's Pedigree has long lost iconic status but I am rather enjoying a bottle bought for a startling £1 at Morrisons. I usually pour these fizzy bottled traditional beers into a jug to quickly defroth; on repouring into a pint glass it makes for something just like a very modest pint bought in a very modest pub of the kind with a linoleum floor back in the days when smoking was allowed, and is thus rather comforting. Sort of rubbish, of course, but I'm sure it's better for me on a weekday evening than wine or spirits.
 
Thom Blach said:
Marston's Pedigree has long lost iconic status but I am rather enjoying a bottle bought for a startling £1 at Morrisons. I usually pour these fizzy bottled traditional beers into a jug to quickly defroth; on repouring into a pint glass it makes for something just like a very modest pint bought in a very modest pub of the kind with a linoleum floor back in the days when smoking was allowed, and is thus rather comforting. Sort of rubbish, of course, but I'm sure it's better for me on a weekday evening than wine or spirits.
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Pedigree is a beer that suffers from being too long in the storage and distrubution network. Fresh it's much lighter, cleaner and aromatic than the dark, flat, characterless malt liquid that graces most pubs. Stay within 20 miles of Burton, go to a pub where the regulars drink it, the landlord cares and you'll get a classic malty bitter with sappy orange fuggles, and hints of spice and honey from the Goldings. Try The Red Lion in Hognaston (no connection other than daughter works there occasionally) where it'll only set you back £3.80 too.
 
Neil Holland said:
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A pint of this on Saturday was lovely, a little more to it that I'd expecting when selecting an ale for a post wine dinner 'cleanser'. Will seek out again and pay more attention.
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I first discovered Orkney Brewery in the early 90s with Dark Island, a regular at the Climbers' Bar at the Kingshouse, Glencoe. We used to camp out the back and it was a fine way to prepare for what was usually a cold night (couldn't afford fancy sleeping bags in those days). At the time the head brewer was famous for not drinking yet winning a raft of GBBF awards. Some of their lighter ales (Corncrake, Northern Lights) are exceptional. Probably the brewery that put scottish brewing on the map.
 
This is really a thought about one of the true iconic London pubs of the last 30 years, now sadly defunct in that guise and reborn as something else, the Jerusalem Tavern in Clerkenwell, which was tied to St Peter’s Brewery of Suffolk. The fit-out artfully recreated the impression of great, almost Londinium antiquity and provided on myriad occasions much-needed defusal when I was a junior solicitor. The beer was ok/good if rarely truly first class, but the brewery were in the vanguard of the modern ‘craft beer’ movement with a large range and for a long time a bottle of choice if shopping for such in Waitrose.

Here is a St Peter’s Winter Ale, a very pleasant sessionable chocolate number, by the (unlit) fireside at Ye Olde Mitre in Holborn, another iconic legal institution, currently full of holiday-making southern belles from Kentucky (sic)

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I’m extremely tempted to wander over to the Princess Louise or Cheshire Cheese and whisper a naughty word five times just in case the following classic sequence be made Candyman-like to happen again:

‘In June 2017, patrons were ejected from the Arlington Hotel, a Samuel Smith pub in North Yorkshire. “I had just called in for a couple of pints,” one local man told the Gazette Live. “Next thing, the door burst open and this man started shouting the Samuel Smith policy on swearing. He said he had been outside and heard somebody swear. Then he turned to the girl behind the bar and said, ‘Shut this bar and get these out.’” The Arlington is now shuttered.’
 
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I've thought for some time that a decent beer can be a much-underrated foil for many cuisines, and there can be no better proof than this excellent, if admittedly not truly noteworthy pint of Adnams Ghost Ship, which is elevated to a completely different plane when paired with a packet of Smiths Scampi Fries. The pungent, grapefruity hop character in the Pale Ale acting in an uncannily similar balancing role to the squint of lemon one might apply to battered scampi and hot chips. A truly evocative combination. And as for the Scampi Fries? Well, this irrepressible, time-honoured snack represents surely the best gastronomic experience that seventy-nine English pence can buy, and in this reckoning I am even prepared to include the single spicy wing deal at Morley's. They're that good.

This has become my Friday night tipple, taken each week at the Prince of Wales in Highgate as I wait for my children to finish cricket practice. An exhilarating start to the weekend.Screenshot_20241223_165334_Gallery.jpg
 
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