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

A Few Local Beer Festivals

 

The majority of Charlton fans I know also have good taste when it comes to their choice of libation so I thought it worth giving a short plug for two local beer & cider festivals taking place in and around London.

The first, which is currently taking place is the London Drinker festival.  Over half of the real ales on tap are from London breweries, although there is also a good selection of casks and bottles from overseas too.  Full details and a list of beers can be found here :-

www.northlondon.camra.org.uk/viewnode.php?id=772












The second is the Kidbrooke Beer and Cider Festival which takes place from 30 April to 2 May this year.  I went to last year's inaugural event with a group from the sadly now closed Old Loyal Britons pub in Greenwich.  It's too early for the beer line up to be announced but there were some cracking pints at last year's festival.
http://sel.camra.org.uk/diary/festivals/

It would be good to see some of you there to support this local event and secure its place on the beer festival calendar.

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 !!

Beer of the Week: Sundancer from Twickenham Fine Ales



Sundancer from Twickenham Fine Ales



The end of a hard day of working and entertaining a client from the Far East saw me finishing off the evening in the Golden Eagle off Marylebone Lane (no website but there are plenty of details online) enjoying a pint of Sundancer.

Given that it was almost St George’s day I should have gone for “Englands Glory” from Hogs Back Brewery which was also on offer (www.hogsback.co.uk/our-beers) but I have been dying to try Twickenham’s brews ever since I discovered them a couple of months ago and so I had to go for the Sundancer.

 Its a 3.7% pale amber ale with plenty of hoppiness to it (a mixture of English and American hops according to their website  www.twickenham-fine-ales.co.uk).  Its Silver Medal in the Bitters category at the Great British Beer Festival 2007 was richly deserved.

Outbreak of Spring is a good excuse for a pint

Given the outburst of fine weather we now appear to be experiencing it would make a superb session beer sitting outside in a beer garden.  This was my last pint before heading home and its long dry citrus finish was the perfect way to cleanse the palate and round off the evening.



Other Ales at the Golden Eagle



If the quality of their beers is anything near that of Sundancer then I very much look forward to sampling Twickenham's other offerings in the near future, hopefully at londonsbrewing.co.uk over the May bank holiday weekend.

 

The Golden Eagle is a cosy pub tucked down Marylebone Lane.  Not the largest of venues, its what I would call a proper drinker’s pub.  It’s certainly not fashionable and doesn’t appear to attract the tourist hoards, unlike other venues further along the lane, which is what I like from a pub.  As well as the two beers above they also had St Austell’s Tribute on tap.  Each time I have been there they have had a couple of new beers on tap and each one was well kept and served.  Please do go there by all means but don't tell too many people, it'll be our secret.

 

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