Peterborough pub recommendations for travelling Charlton supporters

As Charlton Athletic are visiting Peterborough on Tuesday night I thought I'd flag a couple of previous posts for those Addicks making the trip and looking for decent watering holes

http://wrongsideofthethames.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/posh-pints-peterboro-beer-guide-for.html

http://wrongsideofthethames.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/pints-in-peterborough.html

The pubs are all pretty decent but the Posh's squad is somewhat depleted since we last played them.  However, it will be far from a pushover for what I expect will be a youthful Charlton squad.

Happy drinking and COYR !

Deptford Pub Walkabout

You may remember many moons ago that I wrote a piece on a pub crawl from Charlton to Greenwich

(Link here wrongsideofthethames.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/charlton-to-greenwich-pub-crawl.html).

Since then I’ve done a few more of these and it was fellow Charlton blogger Hungry Ted who suggested that I should put pen to paper to share these with you.

The introduction of the pedestrian bridge over Deptford Creek means that there is now a pleasant walk west from the Greenwich foot tunnel along the Thames rather than walking along Creek Road.  The river side is all built up with modern high rise flats but the view down the Thames is still spectacular and you can take in the statue of Peter the Great (Glaisher Street) a one time resident of Deptford, on the way. 

As you follow the path away from the Thames around a huge tract of land that was once Convoys Wharf you come to the Dog & Bell on Prince Street.  This is a quiet unassuming pub untouched by the need to gentrify or attract the hipster crowd, tucked away down a quiet side street away from the hustle and bustle of Deptford High Street.

The bar billiard table in the corner is a rare sight in pubs these days as was the lack of music which encourages good conversation.  On our walk we noticed the tell tale signs of number of former pubs nearby and this is the last surviving pub in the area that served the dockers from the massive but now mostly derelict Convoys Wharf.

It survives as an independent real ale pub and the walls bear witness to this with certificates for pub of the year from the local CAMRA group amongst others.  They always have four or five guest real ales there and the few times I’ve been the beers have always been new to me.  We plumped for a pint of Gravesend Shrimper, a best bitter from Loddon Brewery.

It's then a short walk down  Deptford High Street to the Job Centre (jobcentredeptford.com)and the contrast could not be more different.  This is part of the Antic pub group and as appears to be the trend with Antic pubs the place looks like it is part way through a refit but to be honest I don’t really care as long as the beer and atmosphere is up to scratch.  The music is loud and the beard count in the double figures but they do serve a good pint.  There are approximately five ales on cask and many more on tap again with a nod to London beers.  The London Fields' Hackney Hopster was pouring particularly well that night served in the hipster's vessel of choice, the toby mug.

They currently have a kitchen hijack where every weekend the latest street food merchant runs the kitchen.  On our visit it was the turn of Prairie Fire BBQ (slow cooked meat smoked the Kansas City way), and jolly good it looked but we were there for the beer.

The trip back to Greenwich took us along Creek Road and past the Duke (www.thedukedeptford.com) a more modern pub run by the Inn Public group but still retaining that local bar feeling.  It has two cask ales which change frequently.  The offerings on the night were Sothwark Brewings LPA and Truman’s Zypher, both well kept and well served.  The Duke has music most nights but is spacious enough that you can still avoid the music and have a good conversation if you want a quieter evening.

Creek Road takes you back into Greenwich where the Lord Hood, a truly local pub, is often overlooked but serves a decent pint of Gypsy Hill Brewing's South Paw as its regular bitter.  There has been an ongoing development battle surrounding the Lord Hood and its not clear how long this local will last so you should visit while you have the chance.

In all, four decent pubs all offering something different and a reasonable three mile walk (including the trip through the foot tunnel back to the Isle of Dogs) which will burn of roughly a pint and a half of those beer filled calories.

Don't forget that SE London CAMRA hold the second Kidbrooke Beer Festival at the end of April.  More news on this event at the following link  wrongsideofthethames.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/a-few-local-beer-festivals.html

Musings on Charlton's first friendly of the Season at Welling

First Friendly of the Season

I'm pleased to say that I am now an expert on the streets of Welling having spent the best part of an hour looking for free parking for the duration of Charlton's friendly of the season at the Wings.  In the end I caved in and paid to park at the Danson Festival car park.

Unfortunately this meant missing out on a visit to the Door Hinge micro pub which was recommended to me, and has had some great real ale reviews.  That will have to wait another time, but certainly well before next year’s friendly.

I’ve also increased my road knowledge to the West of Welling, after being diverted away from Shooters Hill Road on the way back owing to what seemed to be a fire on the railway track over the A207.  I’ve no idea where I went suffice it to say every road I took had those blasted speed bumps on them.  This normally wouldn’t be so bad but given the good weather I had decided to take the kit car out for the journey and with about 4 inches of ground clearance I can say that there is not a lot left to my sump tank after negotiating all those humps.

Anyway, on to the game and the noticeable absence of Rhoys Wiggins and Ben Hamer.  However, there was nothing suspicious about either, with Wiggins carrying a small injury and a chance for Pope and Button to show their skills.  It was also a good to see a run out from the youngsters after their successful campaign last season.  I was perhaps a little disappointed that Ade Azeez did not get a run out, but Joe Piggot made the most of it, neatly linking up with Kermorgant to score a hat trick.  The chants of “Get in there Smudga” clearly showed that the more youthful Charlton supporters need to use their social media a bit more, as they would then have known from the various Charlton feeds that it wasn’t Michael Smith hammering them in.

Good Crowd of 2104

There were rumours in the previous few weeks that Cedric Evina was still with the club after apparently having turned down a renewed contract offer as being too short.  Some fans had said that they’d seen him at the training ground but I was more hopeful that things might have come to an agreement when I saw Ceddy’s tweets on Thursday.  An “Optimistic” was then followed up with:-

“Putain, a la fin j’en es marre d’attendre mdr”

which, using my basic French skills, roughly translates as “dam, in the end I am tired of waiting ! I believe the “mdr” is short for "mort de rire” or “died laughing” and is the equivalent of our “lol” or “rofl”.  I really hate these abbreviations but Google translator had no problem deciphering what it meant which shows how common they are now used.  So it was good to see that the rumours appear to be true as I believe he has a lot to offer the club.

It’s always difficult to tell about form in a single friendly, especially when the players only had a 45 minute run out but I thought trialist Richard Wood handled himself well in defence.  My one issue though is that if we are trialling a central defender then why get rid of Matt Taylor at the end of his contract in the first place?  The only thing I can think of is he might be a cheap replacement.

Scorching Play in the first half

The fans were in fine form that afternoon with Captain Johnny Jackson got a taste of his own medicine on the pitch.  Well known for showing the “red card” on twitter to his fellow team mates for their fashion faux pas he was on the other end of the stick as he lined up to defend a corner.   I just wish I had caught on film the look on his face as he was jibed by the Charlton faithful with chants of “White boots, straight red, white boots straight red”.  Their taunts turned to the rather less slim Welling keeper Turner in the second half with some less than friendly comments but I have a feeling he’d heard them all before.

While it was good to see a number of fans sporting the new season’s shirt, it was noticeable that the team were still wearing last year’s kit.  There may be a number of good reasons for this but I really don’t have a problem with it and would rather it was used in these apparently austere times than wasted.  Given our current financial constraints it’s good to know that the money is hopefully being spent on more useful things elsewhere.  In any case, I was there to see the players and not their outer wear. 

Strong Support from Rose of Denmark

Elsewhere the Jon Obika rumours are still doing the rounds.  Given their recent signings and the depth of the Tottenham squad I can’t see him staying at White Hart Lane if he is serious about playing first team football (which of course any self respecting player is) but it is clear that Spurs will want a fee for this promising youngster.  It may be fortuitous timing that Charlton will be receiving an incremental fee from Liverpool for the sale of Jonjo Shelvey to Swansea, which could be deployed to ensure that this transfer gets done.

Finally I have taken the plunge and joined the CAS Trust.  It’s very easy for us fans to sit on the side lines and moan, or in my case blog, about the club but we should all really get a bit more involved.  At £5 for the year its a snip (just sacrifice your first pie and pint at the first home match and its paid for).

Update
Did anyone take advantage of the 2 for 1 local restaurant offer on the back of the Welling ticket?  I think Charlton are missing an advertising trick!

Bar Review - Oaka in Kennington

You may remember my review of the Brewery Tap in Peterborough back in March (see the following link wrongsideofthethames.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/pints-in-peterborough.html).  This is the main retail outlet for Oakham Ales, but thanks to a retweet from South East London CAMRA on twitter I am pleased see that they have now expanded into London.  Incidentally @selcamra is an excellent resource for London real ale drinkers and it saves you having to sign up to lots of different pubs and venues.

Good location - Excellent Food

Oakham have now opened up a new venue called Oaka which is but a stone's throw away from Kennington tube station.

www.oakalondon.com

My apologies to Oaka for the lousy pictures as they really don't do the place justice but I was concentrating more on the beer than my photography skills on the night.  However,  its in a great spot just minutes away from Central London. 

I started off with Citra which is and Oakham regular and one of my all time favourites.  Its a bit extreme for some palates as it just screams hops at you but was the perfect drink on a beautiful summer's day.

Says it all

 They had all the familiar favourites regularly on the bar but I hadn't seen the Bishop's Farewell before.  I was reliably told by the bar staff that this was the beer of choice of the Brewers once they had finished their shift so what's good for the brewers is good enough for me.  After all they must know something, and what could be a better recommendation!

At 4.6% it was slightly stronger than the Citra but much less intense on the hop front.  Unfortunately I think having had the Citra first dampened my taste buds, but it was an extremely pleasant ale that could easily go into the dangerous session beer category.  They must be pretty proud of it as it has won tons of awards (www.oakhamales.com/beers/bishopsfarewell.html)





 The staff were all very friendly and knowledgeable about their product. They tell me that as well as the regular stable of beers you can see in the picture they introduce a few guest beers from their range at the weekend.

Note the Cider Kegs in the background

While they do concentrate on their own selection I did see that the menu had a few bottles from other breweries including the Kernel in nearby Bermondsey.

Like their other places the food menu concentrates on pan Asian flavours.  Its a good choice as the chilli's and herbs compliment the flavours of the beers.  I really liked their Gap Glam menu which had lots of tasty Asian tapas style dishes to graze at. 

With benches outside it was the perfect place to relax and watch the world go by.

How to Survive a Beer Festival

Well with the football season , almost out of the way, I’m looking forward to concentrating on another great British tradition, the beer festival.  The first ever London's Brewing organised by the London Brewers' Alliance (londonsbrewing.co.uk) took place over the weekend of 3-5 May and first reports sound encouraging although apparently a bit more organisation was required.   

Then of course there is the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) at Olympia (gbbf.org.uk) in August which is a must.

Now of course it does in part depend on what your aim is, but any enjoyable festival trip will usually leave you a tad sozzled. If your aim is to sample some new beers and remember them for the future I hope the following will help.

1. Book your tickets in advance and do a little homework

This will save you queueing on arrival and immediately get down to the job in hand.  If you know in advance the layout of the festival, you'll know what they have on offer and where it is so that you won't miss out on anything. 

2. Arrive early

Its not the most fashionable thing to do these days but its worth it.  Less queues, less danger of beers running out and you'll avoid the scrums of sozzled people all vying for a sample.  You will also avoid the after work hoards

3. Graze and snack.  Its very easy to fill up on the beer

4. Try and order your drinks according to some sort of strength

Start with the lighter pale ales and session beers and them finish off with the crazy stuff.  If you immediately dive into the strong beers your palate will be ruined and anything else after that will just taste like water. 

A friend of mine did this at a recent event starting with a German rauchbier (smoke beer) at 8%.  After that all of his drinks tasted like a barbecue in his mouth.

Alternatively, I sometimes just stick to one style of beer during the whole session.

Lovely drop of Ale at GBBF

5. Use your smart phone

If like me you wish to impart your experience in a blog, it’s pretty difficult to keep tabs on all the beers you tried so just take a photo of each of them.  This will also give you a chronological order  The photo shown is one I took at last year’s GBBF .  You could use your electronic note pad or email to write notes or just stick your thumb up or down in the picture to indicate your approval of said beer.

6. Ask!

Beer festivals are usually staffed by volunteers but some of the specialist stands or larger breweries will have staff from the breweries on hand.  Many will have had an opportunity to sample or will have had feedback from other festival goers and it doesn’t do any harm to get an idea of a beer's characteristics before you buy from the person manning the pumps.

7. Its not about the volume

The introduction of the third of a pint measure is a recent but thoroughly sensible innovation that has appeared at beer festivals.  You don’t even have to stick with a third pint glass as the full pint glasses have third and half pint markers down the side of them.  Remember, if you like a beer you can always come back for more.  It may be sacrilege in some people's books but don’t be afraid to throw away drinks you don’t like them, or even better share them with a friend. 

8. Have fun!

The most important rule which goes without saying and if it means throwing all this guidance out the window then I say go for it !!

The Panic is Setting in ...!!!!!

 No, no, no......don't worry!  For once I am not worried about Charlton’s form on the pitch and whether we will survive in the Championship or not.  The football season is effectively over for us on 4^th May (unless by some miracle we manage to squeeze into the playoffs).  We have done well this season with a strong home form finally kicking in at the back end to compliment our fine away form.  In addition our under 21 and under 18 teams have won their respective leagues ensuring a good potential supply of youngsters for the future.



Stress Free Alternative to Charlton



What I am panicking about is that with the end of the season I will have little, football wise, to celebrate or moan about over the summer leading to a potential lack of blog activity over the next few months.

I’m not a die hard Charlton blogger, in that I don’t do the full pre-match build up and then a blow by blow account of the game.  I would just be repeating better reports by people far more skilled than me at this.

I also don’t have any insider contacts or people who can supply me with hot tips as to who has allegedly been seen at the Valley (if you do and would like to let me know you are more than welcome - I'll buy you a pint if you are right!!).  I suspect that Chris Powell will also have a limited budget to spend and will concentrate on keeping the current squad together.

So apart from a few small moans when the new fixture list comes out about why we have to play Brighton away on a Tuesday night, the blogging is going to be rather limited.   

For my few regular readers (for which I thank you) you will know that I try to write at least two entries a week, alternating between the trials and tribulations of my football team with my love of real ale.  So it looks like I will have to sacrifice my liver rather than my nerves, and trawl around a few more watering holes to bring you some juicy reviews.

Look for the Sign

So for all you Charlton fans out there, don’t abandon me, lets chill out and enjoy stress free Saturday afternoons and explore our capitals finest offerings of hops and malt.

To get the ball rolling let me suggest an ale and a pub for you to try.  As a starter keep an eye out for Hoptimus Prime from Robinson's brewery. Its a seasonal ale that only appears in April and May so you only have a limited time to try it out (www.robinsonsbrewery.com )



Thames side Pub: The Gun

 

Also if you like pubs with a river view try out the Gun on the Isle of Dogs which has a small but smart terrace looking onto the O2 (www.thegundocklands.com) .  They currently have a nice collection of beers from Battersea's Sambrook's Brewery including Jugged Hare Pale Ale which is made especially for them. 



Beer of the Week: Hackney Hopster

In a change from my usual after work Mayfair venue, I wondered over to the Coach & Horses in Bruton Street (not to be confused with the nearby Coach &Horses in Hill Street which is a superb Shepherd Neame pub).  This was an old haunt but we hadn't frequented it for a while and fancied a change.  (www.taylor-walker.co.uk/pub/coach-and-horses-mayfair/s5155)



Coach & Horses*


Being just off Bond Street, it can sometimes be a bit of a tourist trap, especially in the summer but this Taylor Walker pub do look after their beers and have never failed to have something new on tap each time I have walked in.  They usually have four beers on the go and as you can see from the pictures they have had a wide variety over time. 

Amongst other things I was delighted to find a beer from London Fields Brewery which has been on my list of places to try, so no time like the present!   

The first surprise was that it was a beautiful copper coloured ale, more akin to a Yorkshire bitter rather than a straw coloured golden ale that one tends to associate with hoppy pale ales (see my previous blogs on the IPAs and Pale Ales from the Kernal Brewery).  The full bodied flavour really hits your palate and then follows down to the back of the throat to leave a pleasing after taste.  The brewery themselves describe it as follows:-

London Fields Hackney Hopster

"The Hackney Hopster is a debonair young chap of a pacific pale ale. Dressed in hops from New Zealand & West Coast USA, the Hopster shows off flavours of grapefruit, lemon zest and gooseberry."

(www.londonfieldsbrewery.co.uk/shop/hackney-hopster/)

I'm afraid I don't know what a pacific pale ale is (for once the Internet let me down so if anyone can enlighten my I would be grateful, but I suspect its something to do with the origin of the hops) but whatever it is I want more!  I could definitely feel the pleasing sour note of the hops in my mouth.  The beer is 4.2% and was definitely tempting as a session beer but I can see myself getting into a lot of trouble if I tried (my frailty rather than anything to do with the beer)!  I can imagine it going well with spicy food as the hoppiness of the beer will cut through the strong flavour.  The brewery will also be the venue for London's Brewing (www.londonbrewers.org/londons-brewing-festival/), a three day festival in May to celebrate the best of London's breweries and if the standard is as good as this it should be a blast.





This Week's selection at the Coach & Horses



Previous Beers at the Coach & Horses



 

 

 

Acknowledgements
*Coach & Horses picture from Square Meal www.squaremeal.co.uk/restaurants/london/view/99735/Coach_and_Horses