The White Swan in Charlton Village

Good news for Charlton fans who enjoy a decent pint before (and after) the game.

  The White Swan in Charlton Village has re-opened under new management and if my sources are correct I understand that its run by the same people that own the Pelton Arms in Greenwich which is a smashing pub with a great beer selection.  If it's anything like the Pelton then the Charlton Village locals are very fortunate.

I popped in on Saturday before the Rotherham match with the former landlord of the Old Loyal Britons and a friend who flies down from Scotland to see the Addicks and we weren't disappointed.

The bar had a good selection with beers from the local Hopstuff Brewery, Caveman Brewery in Kent, Windsor & Eaton and Magic Bus cider.

Of course a pub only survives if we make the effort to visit so if you're in the area do pay it a visit.







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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: 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

A short history of the pubs on the Isle of Dogs

I've had a bit of a rant in my recent blogs about the Chancellor's escalator tax on beer.  While he appears to have axed it in the last budget I thought I would share with you an example of what higher prices have done to the pub trade.

The George is a fine example of an Isle of Dogs pub located near to Crossharbour station on the Docklands Light Railway.   The Landlord has four regular ales on at all times as well as the occasional guest beer.  The regular selection currently consists of Fullers London Pride, Young's bitter, Timothy Taylor's Landlord and Deuchers IPA from the Caledonian Brewery in Edinburgh.

The pub has a cosy lounge with plenty of pictures depicting bygone scenes of the docks and buildings of the surrounding area.  On Sunday however I noticed a new picture that I had not seen before.

This shows a map of all the pubs that existed at one time or another on the Isle of Dogs (excluding the new developments at Canary Wharf and Harbour Exchange).

 To save your eye sight there are 42 pubs listed on the map.  This is an impressive list by any means until you realise that of those 42  only nine are still open.  That's over three quarters of the pubs now closed!! 

Of the other 35 I can remember at least eight closing during my short tenure living in this part of London.  A few such as the Cubitt Arms which closed last year have been converted to residential property and retain a hint to their former lives in the architecture and signage but many have been knocked down and replaced by large modern developments. 

While changing demographics and other factors may also have played their part to the closure of these pubs I for one do not wish to see any more call time, so the scrapping of the tax is to be welcomed.

I'm pleased to say that despite this gloomy news, there has been something of a renaissance for the remaining pubs on the Isle, with a number of them recently changing hands, being refurbished and putting on a decent selection of cask ales.

For those of you interested in the history of closed pubs in the area can I recommend the following link:-

www.closedpubs.co.uk/london/e14_poplar.html

The picture above has been personalised for the George but if anyone could source me a copy of the original print I'd be extremely grateful, please contact me below.

Business on the football front resumes as normal later in the week with a visit by Bolton Wanderers to the Valley.

A trip to the Kernal Brewery in Bermondsey

After coming across the London Brewers' Alliance website ( www.londonbrewers.org) I thought it only right to follow up and visit some of the breweries listed in there.  There is nothing better than doing things first hand so a trip to the the nearby Kernel Brewery in Bermondsey was in order.  The Brewery have managed to place its beers in some very smart restaurants throughout London including Hibiscus and the highly rated Hawksmoor so they must be doing something right.


Today's selection

They are open to sell directly to the public on Saturdays and I thought it would be a good excuse to stock up on a few libations for the coming Easter period.
thekernelbrewery.com/

Its easy to find, just look for the railway arches on the right just after going through the tunnel.  The brewery lies within two arches with a counter (as seen in the picture below) at the front of one and a seating area in the other for those wishing to sample the draft beer on site. Wrap up warm if you are going to stay for a drink  and don't expect any home comforts, as everything (as it should be) is focused on the beer.

I opted for a mixed case of bottle conditioned beers and went for a selection of pale ales and IPAs.  I'll leave the porters and stouts for another visit.

I like the understated branding on the brown bottles and the lack of fancy names.  The labels have a particularly nice touch of explaining which hops were used.  Like the grape varieties on wine bottles this allows you to understand what's contributing to the flavour and allows you to select styles of beer you like rather than just taking pot luck, and I would like to see more breweries taking this up.


Subtle Branding Focuses on the Beer

 Well Easter is not until next weekend and I just couldn't wait until then to sample the goods so later that day after the bottled conditioned beer had a chance to settle down I popped open a couple.

The first to try was the Table Beer.  Don't be fooled by the name, I found this 3.3% beer a decent quaffable pale ale.  The sharper Citra hops were balanced out nicely by another more fruity hop called Mosaic (which appears to be a fairly new variety).  I can imagine spending a summer afternoon in the garden on this stuff.

Later, I popped open the second beer as a night cap.  It was a stronger 5.6% pale ale (they have a number of different styles on offer), with four different hops again including Citra.  While it naturally tasted sharper than the Table Beer it was not overpowering and was a decent palate cleanser.

If the other beers are as impressive as these two then I am very much looking forward to trying them out next week (if they last that long!).

Hops in a Box....Its all about the flavour

Those nice chaps at Meantime Brewing are an inventive lot and their latest initiative is a winner in my books.  They are distributing free boxes of hop seeds with everything you need to grow your own hops and to remind drinkers what's in their beer and how it got its flavour.

Britain has a thriving community of artisan food producers and specialist brewers who are passionate about their products. Yet I am amazed at the number of people I know who opt for the bland and tasteless without a thought as to how their produce has got to them.  From intensively reared and cellophane wrapped chicken breast, mild rubbery cheddar and those mass produced so called lagers which will remain nameless that dominate the supermarket shelves.  So its good to see someone going a step further and taking the time to explain what it takes to put the flavour into the end product.

Hops in a Box from Meantime Brewing

You can pick up a box from Waitrose or a number of other outlets that serve Meantime beer.  For more information on the initiative and to so where you can pick up your own Hops in a Box go to their website

meantimebrewing.com/news-events/news/hops-in-a-box/

 or search the hashtag #hopsinabox on twitter. 

There should be a local near you where you can pick one up.  I picked up my box from the Clarence in Dover Street which is a Nicholson pub that always has a decent and ever changing selection of beers to choose from. You can see from the pictures that they are currently serving a number of good hoppy ales on sale including Jaipur which is a classic example of an Indian Pale Ale and VPA from Vale Brewery which is a golden ale.



The Clarence: Plenty of choice

I have a twelve foot wall in my garden which is currently covered in ivy and the idea of replacing that with a crop of hops is appealing.  The aim for the hops themselves is to end up in my home brew but as a novice brewer I'll need to get a bit of advice first.

On another note its good to see that the Chancellor has taken heed of the damage the beer escalator has been doing to the pub trade and scrapped it.  I know that some drinkers are still moaning about the minimal impact it will have on their pockets but it is an important concession and will stop adding to the future costs of a pint.

Even if the reduction is not passed on to us as consumers it does give the trade a bit of breathing room to cope with other costs, such as fuel for transport, that have also gone up and impact of bulk beer production will mean a greater benefit to them.