Tag: beer

  • Peeving in Portugal: Pt.2 – Porto.

    Peeving in Portugal: Pt.2 – Porto.

    SATURDAY 25/6/22

    We made the 186-mile journey from Lisbon to Porto by coach for an insanely cheap price of 11 Euros each. The journey was comfy enough and took in some lovely scenery along the route, although the large, loud woman in front was taking constant calls on speaker phone and the girl across the aisle was jabbing her mobile for the entire four-hour ride, save for preparing a rolly at the one ‘comfort’ stop we took. I felt like snatching her phone off her and chucking it out of the window. Kids, eh?

    Upon arrival in Porto, we decided to Uber straight to the AirBnB, rather than fart about negotiating the public transport only to end up miles away again, which could be my speciality subject on Mastermind. Again, we found our digs to be a good distance (seven miles) out of the main town in the Matosinhos district. The tram route was, once more, right outside our accommodation. Thankfully, due to the thickness of the stone walls and the depth of the building, this time the trams rolled by unheard from our room.

    View on AirbnbHome in Matosinhos · ★4.86 · 1 bedroom · 1 bed · 1 private bathroom

    Here’s the map I’d prepared for our Porto trip:

    We dropped the bags and had a quick freshen up, and then it was off to explore. After half-sussing the tram tickets (the system must have been devised by a committee of mathematicians or sadists, or maybe a select combo of each), we boarded the tram… and a half-hour later got off at completely the wrong stop! A short exploratory wander around some dodgy-looking side streets told us we were in the wrong district and as it was getting dark we decided to eat. We found a local restaurant that looked popular with the locals and ordered some tapas, which included my first taste of chicken gizzards, and jolly nice they were too. I had a glass of the ubiquitous Super Bock which tasted like your Nana’s wee-wee, but it’s all they had. A google search revealed we weren’t too far from the Brewpub Fabrica Nortada R. de Sá da Bandeira 210, 4000-427 Porto.

    Tank beer at Fabrica Nortada.

    Immediately upon entering, it was obvious that the place was busy with diners, rather than beer drinkers, and the unimaginative beer menu reflected that. After some deliberation on whether to walk out or not, I opted for an India Pale Ale 6.0%, which was a wishy-washy excuse of the style. I struggled to finish it and we were about to leave, when the chap sat behind us struck up a conversation so, to be polite I stayed for another. This time a 5.3% Weisse Beer, not one of my favourite styles and obviously not of the brewer’s either. The chap turned out to be a Brazilian-American from New York who had sold his hostel business in the States and emigrated to Portugal to attempt to start up a similar business in Porto. I managed to finish the beer and wished him well for his new venture. Time for bed said Zebedee.

    Saturday’s route.

    SUNDAY 26/6/22

    After consulting the signage at the tram stops, ticket office, tourist information, Lonely Planet guide and google reviews, I finally worked out how the tram tickets worked – only I didn’t, ‘cos I paid too much for the zones we were travelling to/through/in – and we were off for the first day in Porto proper. This time we alighted the tram at a more suitable stop and walked through the main town on our way to the picture-card pretty and touristy Av. Gustavo Eiffel, the main walk along the Douro Riverside which is lined with eateries and trinket stalls, whilst hoards of tourists browse and stand watching the various buskers and street entertainers. It was a lovely atmosphere and actually not too busy.

    Wanting to get away from the main tourist hotspots for something to eat, we wandered to the far end of the Avenue we encountered a paved ramp. The Calçada das Carquejeiras takes you to the upper level of the town via a 28% incline. For some inexplicable reason, we decided to make the climb. Halfway up, gasping for breath, we encountered a lady, accompanied by an Al Capone lookalike on her arm, making the descent in killer five-inch heels. I felt like a right amateur. I bet I was a far better beer drinker than her, though.

    Pollo with the locals.

    At the top, we found a large, make-shift tented eating place, obviously hugely popular with locals and exuding a marvellous meld of garlic and barbeque smells. After regaining composure and breath, we decided to stop for something to eat, so we joined the queue to get in and after a short wait we were shown to a table. There was no written menu and the waiter had no English, but after some translation help from the chap on the table beside us we ordered (we thought) pork for me and grilled fish for Mrs Belvoir.

    Ten minutes later we had a colossal plate of barbequed chicken and enough chips to keep the average MacDonalds open for a week. Great food and astounding value for money – always look where the locals eat, rather than use the tourist areas. The place afforded great views over the Douro River Valley and it was a magnificent accidental find. We enjoyed the food (and another glass of Nana’s wee-wee), taking in the sights and atmosphere. The place didn’t have a google or Facebook entry (I suppose because it was only temporary/seasonal) so I can’t give you an actual address, other than ‘at the top of the ramp’.

    Full to bursting, we exercised it off by walking through town, back towards the Ponte Luiz I, the iconic bridge that spans the Douro River. To the left on the approach to the bridge was our first beer stop. CAL Craft Beers Av. Vimara Peres 56, 4000-544 Porto. A strange little place inside, that didn’t seem to know whether it wanted to be a restaurant or a bar. They had, if I remember correctly, four taps behind the small bar, all serving ‘CAL‘-branded beers. I managed to coax out of the miserable bloke behind the counter (who seemed to be pre-occupied with keeping people out of the toilet) that these were all brewed by Post Scriptum brewery, although due to the small size of the place, I really couldn’t imagine these beers being exclusive to CAL. I suspect they were just rebadges.

    Hipster beer outside the CAL.

    I had a rummage in the fridge and selected another Post Sriptum beer: Cryo Hoperation 2nd Edition, a 7.2% NEIPA which was totally hip (thanks Gazza) and fab. We sat outside on the busy pedestrianised walkway people-watching for a couple of hours, during which I had another can from the fridge, this time a Dois Corvos X Brewfist (Italy) collab – Scigoli Lingua Double NEIPA at 8.0%. Stupendous! We tried to revisit this place several times over the next few days, but despite its superb location and hundreds of people passing by constantly, we never found it open again. Along with the fact they don’t seem to have a web presence or Facebook page makes me doubtful it will be around for long. I hope I’m wrong.

    Next on the list was Armazém da Cerveja R. Formosa 130, 4000-254 Porto. Another specialist bar with a very ordinary shop-looking frontage, but once in you immediately realise that this place knows what it’s good at! As well as the 12 beers on tap, there was a shed-load of cans and bottles in the cold room behind the bar, visible through a window. From the taps, I chose a Fuerst Wiacek (Germany) – Jejune, a luscious 6.8% American IPA. We sat at one of the tall tables next to another couple, who immediately commented on my Yards Brewing (Philadelphia) T-shirt, asking me if I’d actually been there. When I confirmed that I had, we struck up a conversation. It turned out that Adam and his lovely lady (I’m embarrassed to say I’ve forgotten her name) were from Pennsylvania and knew the brewery well. Small world.

    New friends at the Armazém.

    Adam and I decided to do a can share and selected one each from the back room. I chose a Sibeeria (Czech Republic) – Yummy/Gelato Strawberry & Rhubarb 5.4% pastry sour, which was frickkin’ awesome and he went for a Nepomucen (Poland) – Maria, a 5.4%, fruited Berliner Weisse, also mighty tasty. Adam told us he worked for some kind of tech company and had recently, along with his co-workers, had his name etched into a plaque attached to a probe (oo-er, missus) destined for the moon (or Mars, I can’t remember), which I thought was pretty damn cool! We enjoyed their company for an hour or so, then it was time for the next and last beer stop of the day.

    Letraria Porto Rua da Alegria 101, 4000-042 Porto, advertises itself as ‘Porto’s Beer Garden‘, but we elected to sit inside as the early evening had sprung a chilly breeze, despite the pleasant sunshine.

    Great selection at Letraria Porto.

    An impressive 24 taps here, but just two sampled: Moersleutel (Netherlands) – Fruit Bomb Batch #1 8.0% which was fantastic, and one of their own beers, Letra – Mango Berliner Weisse BA 5.5% which was also very tasty. The evening was drawing on now and we had to find the station for the 50-odd minute tram ride back, so we decided to call it a day in order to be back at the flat before we turned into pumpkins.

    Sunday’s route.

    MONDAY 27/6/22

    Today, we decided to cross the Ponte Luizi I and explore the other side of the river, along the Av. de Diogo Leite. This side of the river is, as you would expect, somewhat quieter. It’s a little less characterful too, but still has many bars and eateries along the front, along with another rather large food hall, whose name escapes me. We ambled along the riverfront, browsing the gift stalls until we reached the terminal for the Teleférico de Gaia Cablecar. The cable car runs along the length of Av. de Diogo Leite, back to the Ponte Liuz I and serves no other purpose than to be for tourists, as far as I could fathom. Anyway, we took the bait and paid €6 each to make the 600 metre, five-minute ride back to the bridge. It wasn’t particularly good value for money, but at least I can now say ‘done that’ and it did actually afford fantastic views of Old Porto.

    By 3 o’clock it was time for a beer and today’s first visit was to the newest addition to Porto’s craft beer scene, Baobab Rua do Almada 377, 4000-303 Porto, which had only opened eight weeks previously. And you could tell! The place was immaculately clean, the paintwork blindingly white with large expanses of unadorned wall. It all felt a little too clinical. I really hope it develops some character. The place was a single room, with a WC off to one side. No cellar room, no storage area, no office. Nowt! It just shows how simple it is to set up a craft bar nowadays, but I can’t help thinking that the owner would struggle once the business takes off. The beer selection, although small, was pretty decent.

    Beans at the Baobab.

    I chose two beers: Dois Corvos – Benta APA 5.4% and a Maltgarden (Poland) – Trunk Full of Fruits, a 3.5% fruited Berliner Weisse, both of which were fine. The beers came with a complimentary bowl of beans. I thought they were a bit leathery, but ate them anyway. Apparently you’re supposed to bite and split the outer shell to squeeze out the contents and then discard the skin (thanks Gazza!). A bit late now, but at least you’ll know how to eat them. I bet the bar lady thought I was a right doilum! Before we left, the owner told us of another recent start-up, so we decided to make that the next port of call.

    An hour’s walk and a mile or so later, we arrived at Cask Beer R. da Arménia 54, 4050-066 Porto, tucked away in a cobbled street, adjacent to the main riverside road. Upon entering, it was immediately apparent that these guys knew what they were doing! Despite the bar’s name, they didn’t serve any cask beer, but did have thirteen on tap plus shed loads of bottled and canned choices. I must say the cans seemed a bit on the expensive side, for example, a can of Ārpus beer would set you back around between 11-13 Euros, something you could get for maybe seven or eight quid in the UK. No matter, there was a great selection on draft to go at!

    No cask at Cask Beer!

    I ordered four: Piggy (France) – All in 2022 Edition 8.0% DIPA, Burguesa (Portugal)- NEIPA HBC472 at 6.0%, Fuerst Wiacek (Germany) – Logic Maze, a 6.8% NEIPA and a Lupum (Portugal) – Triple IPA Citra a whopping 9.6% DNEIPA. All massive, massive beers. Not content with those, I also dipped into the fridge and bought a can from another German brewery, BrewHeart – Tour de France at 8.0%. Again, a cracking DNEIPA. All the beers I had here were superb.

    Cask Beer had been open for three months. Their location, I felt, was a bit off-track and I’m not sure what the skull logo had to do with cask beer, but everything else they were doing right, and I’m sure these guys will make a massive impression on the Porto craft beer scene. Totally recommended!

    Our last call for the day was Catraio R. de Cedofeita 256, 4050-174 Porto. Catraio ‘Craft Beer shop & Bar’ was a pub on three levels, with a winding staircase from the street level taking you to a covered second bar, which lead to a raised outdoor terrace. The ‘kitchen’ was a hipster with a home-barbeque precariously perched on the stairs outside. Very H&S, and I’m sure he would’ve been pulled up by the authorities in the UK! Anyway, he was doing a roaring trade. It felt all very ramshackle-make-do, but it all seemed to work.

    It’s hard to say how many beers were available as the taps were spread over two bars, but the overall offering seemed good. We located a table in the second bar area. Only 10 taps here! Mrs Belvoir ordered some food from Chef Makeshift whilst I fetched beer. Two sampled here: Piratas – Sailing the Milky Way 22:02, a 4.5% fruited Gose and a Maltgarden – Red Carpet Stars, a banger 8.2% DIPA.

    The food was basic but tasty and good value. Both beers were delicious and a great end to another very tiring day. More adventures tomorrow.

    Monday’s route.

    TUESDAY 28/6/22

    A full day’s walking around today, general sight-seeing, including the magnificently decorated São Bento Station (the Portuguese sure do like their tiles) plus the Museo do Vitral and after about eight miles, we thought we’d earned a beer or two. First stop was Cervejaria do Carmo (Goulden Draak) Praça de Carlos Alberto 124, 4050-526 Porto. As the name might suggest, they majored on Belgian-style beers. I chose one from the tap: Madam Lindinha Lucas – The Margarita Gose Solo 5.0% followed by a bottle of 6% APA from Athor (Argentina). I couldn’t work out the provenance of the former, despite asking the lady behind the bar for some gen. I got the impression that they like to say they brew their own, but suspect it’s all contracted. Whatever, both beers were very average, and summed the whole place up for me really.

    Average beer at do Carmo.

    We sat outside in the sun but the constant screeching of the ‘walk now’ alarm of the nearby pedestrian crossing was starting to grate on our nerves and we quickly drank up and left.

    Time had taken us by surprise today, so we decided to find some food before walking back to the tram. I had spotted a tucked-away spit-n-sawdust Asian restaurant on our first day in Porto, so we decide to eat there before making a second visit to the superb Armazém as it was on our way back to the station. The Royal Nobab Grill & Halal Restaurant was obviously catering for the local Asian population as many popped in and out during our short stay for the food. The menu was simple and basic but delicious and marvellous value for money. As I said before – always eat with the locals!

    Great VFM at the Nobab.

    On to the Armazém now, but unfortunately only time for two. I had one on draft; Attik (Spain) – Bushido, a superb 6.5% DDH IPA, and a can (that I had spotted on our last visit) selected from the cold room – Three Little Birds, a stunning 8% Double NEIPA from Dutch hop masters Floem. Time to head towards the tram.

    Superb Double NEIPA at Armazém.

    We had visited a bar near our digs in the Matosinhos district the previous evening only to find it was closed on Mondays, so rather than call it a night we made the short walk from our home tram stop to HopTrip R. Heróis de França 617, 4450-159 Matosinhos, our last call of the night and boy, was it a winner! Despite a superb selection of 15 on tap and dozens more in cans, I was limited to two, as their card machine was kaput and I only had a few Euros on me. No matter, I would make a return visit tomorrow with plenty of dosh! I chose two from the wall: Fuerst Wiacek – Nodding Dog 6.8% NEIPA and a Maltgarden – Most Beautiful Places 8.2% Imperial IPA.

    Great selection at HopTrip.

    A perfect finish to the evening and, to be honest, I was ready for my pit! Tomorrow was our last full day and we were going to make the most of it.

    Tuesday’s route.

    WEDNESDAY 29/6/22

    By now, we’d seen most of what we wanted, so our last day was spent just browsing around the shops and sitting around the various squares enjoying the street entertainers and general people-watching.

    By mid-afternoon, it was food time and I decided that before I went home, I had to try the traditional Portuguese dish of Francesinha. This is a heart attack on a plate, a sandwich of sausage, ham and steak with fried egg top and bottom, smothered in melted cheese and coated in a spicy sauce. It was a Herculean effort for me to actually finish it and the lady that took our order had asked me if I wanted fries with it! Luckily, I had declined.

    Totally pigged-out, it was a good job we had chance to burn calories during the fair walk to the first bar, Musa das Virtudes Passeio das Virtudes 28, 4050-629 Porto. A small entrance off the street led to a long, narrow bar running back from the frontage. The plain stainless steel-topped bar had 15 taps behind it. Truth be told, the beer choice here was pretty lacklustre. I chose two, both from Post Scriptum, Calapa, a 4% APA and Catarônica, a 7% sour. Both were below average, which was strange as I’d had a superb Post Scriptum at the CAL bar a couple of days before. The overall atmosphere was lacking here, but I couldn’t really put my finger on what it was. Hey-ho, time to move on.

    Lacklustre beer at Musa.

    Next on the list (and our last bar visit in the city) was a tiny brewpub, A Fábrica da Picaria
    Rua da Picaria 72, 4050-477 Porto. This bar had a tiny space at the front which, by any definition of the term, was a micropub. I selected two from the nine taps on the bar: A Fábrica American Pale Ale 5.0% and a Milkshake IPA at 6.2%. Sadly again they were both below par and we decided to cut our losses and make our way back to the HopTrip at Matosinhos for the last drinkies of the holiday.

    All their own at A Fábrica.

    In the event, Mrs Belvoir decided to call it a night and go back to the AirBnB early to pack our bags and do wifey stuff (is that PC? – I never know nowadays). I reached HopTrip to find it bustling both inside and out. The beer menu had changed slightly since last night’s visit and I chose one on tap from local boys Dois Corvos – POGO 8.5%, an OK Milkshake IPA, but this was blown out of the water by my last selection, a can of Prizm (France) – On Phone Lines & Letterheads – a monster, monster 10% Triple NEIPA. A superb beer to finish the holiday on and I couldn’t have chosen better.

    Final winner at HopTrip.

    And that was it. Time to take the short walk back to the digs and prepare for the flight home tomorrow.

    Wednesday’s route.

    Overall, I enjoyed Portugal. Porto (IMO) was better than Lisbon in every way (but of course, much more touristy). Both cities were easily walkable (I estimate we covered around 80 miles on foot over the whole nine days) although public transport was cheap if that was your option. Ubers are another really cheap alternative, especially if there are two or more sharing.

    Highlights for me (beer-wise) were the Quimera and Outro Lado in Lisbon, and Cask Beer, Armazém and especially HopTrip in Porto (although the latter is a fair way out of the main city). The craft beer scene seems to be burgeoning in both cities, but more so in Porto. It was a little frustrating that many of the craft establishments didn’t open until around 4pm, but I guess that’s the norm in many European countries where socialising doesn’t really get going until early evening at least.

    I hope my brief reports give you some insights into the beer scene in Portugal. Many thanks to both Gazza Prescott and Owen Ogletree for their recommendations whilst planning this trip. Go check their web sites.

    See the first leg of our Portuguese trip: Pt.1 – Lisbon

    Find me on Untappd
    Some tinnies wot I have necked.
    And some more pics from Porto below.

  • Peeving in Portugal: Pt.1 – Lisbon.

    Peeving in Portugal: Pt.1 – Lisbon.

    This visit was actually a rearranged trip, the original having been cancelled two years previously because of the Covid-19 malarky. Then, the plan was to fly into Porto, then bus to Lisbon and fly home from there.

    As it happens, because flight routes have changed since lockdown, we were doing it the opposite way and on June 21st 2022 we flew out to Lisbon on the first leg of our Portuguese break.

    Because this trip was primarily about the beer (don’t tell Mrs Belvoir), I’d already researched the beer scene and come up with a lot of recommendations. Here’s my Google map for Lisbon:

    Arriving at Lisbon airport, we promptly found the ‘AeroBus‘ stop outside the terminal and awaited the cheap shuttle bus to take us into the city. Despite a sign saying that the shuttle ran every ten minutes, after a wait of about thirty minutes with no sign of a bus, we were approached by a taxi driver who informed us that the service had been suspended until further notice. He pointed to a sign on the bus shelter which said so. Unfortunately, neither Mrs Belvoir nor I can read Portuguese.

    After offering his (rather expensive) taxi service to us (we politely declined as he was cash-only and we didn’t have any), we entered the adjacent metro station and tried to figure out a) how to purchase a ticket and b) which station to get off at. We sussed out a) quite quickly, with the help of a friendly local. Point b) was a bit trickier, and of course, we ended up on completely the wrong side of town. We finished up getting an Uber. At least they didn’t want cash.

    Our AirBnB was duly located in the Belém district, and by early evening we were installed in our new temporary home. It was a lovely apartment, but we were soon to find out why it was so cheap. It had been a long day and there was really no time to go beer hunting, so we just had a meal in a nearby eatery and went back to have an early kip so that we were refreshed for our first day’s exploring tomorrow. Or so we thought.

    View on AirbnbRental unit in Lisboa · ★4.87 · Studio · 1 bed · 1 bathroom

    AirBnB advertised this place as being handy for the tram into town. And it was. The tramline was literally right outside our window, and they rumbled by with monotonous regularity every 10 minutes or so. Until 2 am. And started again at about 5.30 am. We were also directly underneath the flight path of planes taking off from Lisbon airport. And the icing on the cake (literally) was that the ovens for the bakery, situated immediately beneath our flat, roared into life at 7 am on the dot. We certainly weren’t going to get any meaningful sleep here, that was for sure.

    WEDNESDAY 22/6/22

    On the first day of our holiday proper, rather than take the tram into town, we decided to walk and get a feel for the place. When we booked the flat, we didn’t realise how far out of town the Belém district is from the main city. It was a good five miles or so into the main areas, but we had no schedule so it didn’t matter. Despite being very overcast and drizzling with rain, we walked along the ex-industrial seafront. // Big warning here! Most of the walkways are stoned with a patchwork of very shiny ceramic-looking tiles. They are very slippery in the dry and lethal in the wet, especially when some of the pavements are very narrow and the traffic and trams pass by with seemingly little regard for pedestrians. Please be careful! \\ Eventually reaching the more ‘picture book’ areas of the town about an hour and a half later, we had a few hours of just general nosing around and getting used to the layout of the place, and by about 2 o’clock, it was beer time. Yaaay!

    The first establishment on the list was Crafty Corner R. de São João da Praça 95, 1100-519 Lisboa, a one-roomed bar with an open frontage onto a cobbled alley, offering 12 beers on tap. I had a flight of five, consisting of: Praxis – IPA 6.4%, HopSin – American IPA 6.5%, Lince – Ariana 6.0%, Aldeana – Pale Ale 6.7% and Oitava Colina – Joe APA 5.5%. They were all pretty average, to be honest, the Aldeana being best of the bunch, but I enjoyed them all.

    Crafty Corner, Lisbon
    Beer flight at the Crafty Corner.

    Onwards, and a leisurely 40-minute stroll away took us to the Duque Brewpub Calçada do Duque 51, 1200-156 Lisboa, another one-roomed establishment, with a couple of tables outside on the steep killer-tiled terrace. I tried just the one here, Duque – SOURreal 5.0%, which was only slightly tart but very refreshing in the building heat of the day.

    Duque SOUReal
    Duque SOUReal on the terrace, complete with lethal tiling!

    After another hour of meandering around the tiled streets (it was dry by this time but we still had to mind our footing), we arrived at 8a Graça (Oitava Graça) R. Damasceno Monteiro 8A, 1170-112 Lisboa, where I sampled two of their own creations: Devil’s DIPA at 8.0% and Sour Imperial Gose at 7.3%, both very tasty. Another tiny bar, this time with an industrial feel, and additional seating out on the street, overlooking Lisbon and out to the sea. Very relaxing, (albeit windy) and it was worth the hike up the hill for both the views and the beer.

    8a Graça (Oitava Colina)
    8a Graça – Worth the hike.

    It was approaching evening now, so it was decided that the next stop would be the last, and in another half an hour or so, we were at 21 Gallas Brewpub R. Angelina Vidal 53A, 1170-122 Lisboa. Again, I tried just two of their own beers, Simcoe IPA 6.0% and Dona Filipa 9.0%, a Double NEIPA, the latter of which turned out to be the best beer of the day and a nice way to round off the evening. Home now for some kip – or not!

    Wednesday’s route.

    THURSDAY 23/6/22

    A five-minute stroll from our front door was the World-famous Pastéis de Belém, bakers of (amongst other things) the traditional Portuguese custard tarts, or Pastéis de Nata. The shop was more full of masked Oriental tourists taking photographs than paying customers, but I waited my turn and bought two very reasonably priced and delicious custard tarts for breakfast. Well worth the wait.

    There was more touristy stuff to be done before starting on the peeve, and today we decided to do the famous Tram 28, which starts (or finishes, depending on which way you travel) at Martim Monez and finishes (ditto, vice-versa) at Campo de Ourique. We walked through some pretty dodgy-looking areas to get to the stop at Martim Monez, but (obviously) still here to tell the tale! The tram’s route meanders around the twisty (and sometimes insanely steep) streets of the old city, some of them being so narrow you feel you could almost stretch out and touch both sides! The trip lasts about 40 minutes and cost (I think) less than 4 Euros. If you’re going to do Tram 28, be sure to get a window seat. If the window seats are all taken, it’s worth hanging back for another 10 minutes or so to catch the next one. We did, and it was totally worth the short wait.

    By about 2 o’clock, we (well, only me actually) began to think about beer and first on today’s list was The Beer Station Largo duque de Cadaval 17 Quiosque D, 1200-160 Lisboa. After doubling back several times, we eventually located the place underneath the terrace we were standing on and duly made our way down the steps toward its door, which was open. Alas, the pub itself wasn’t (until 4 pm), so the owner directed us to the establishment next door and told us to ask for ‘an IPA’.

    Self service at the Pisco Bar.

    The Pisco Peruvian Bar Largo Duque Cadaval, 1200-090 Lisboa, was basically a serving hatch in the side of the building, with a ‘SELF SERVICE‘ sign hanging above it. What they actually meant was no table service, which I didn’t actually twig onto until after about 10 minutes of sitting at the table, waiting for someone to take the order. I went to the bar and asked for an IPA, as instructed. The beer served was a 5.9% Dois Corvos 1 of 6 Cold IPA. Disappointingly average, but it would suffice whilst waiting for next door to open. At the stroke of 4 o’clock, we moved a couple of yards across the, er, yard, to sit outside the aforementioned Beer Station. The four-tap selection here wasn’t inspiring, so I delved into the well-stocked can fridge and found a Dois Corvos X Basqueland (Spain) collaboration brew, TOPA! an 8.0% Double NEPA. I love Basqueland beers, and this was a stunner!

    Whilst searching for this place a little earlier, we had noticed signs in various windows such as ‘NOT A STATION‘ and ‘NO TRAINS‘. I asked the owner of the Beer Station (now there’s a clue) what the significance of that was, and he told us that the buildings were originally on the periphery of the courtyard leading to an underground railway station that was decommissioned many decades ago. Every day’s a learning day.

    TOPA!

    The next stop was only a fifteen-minute walk away, and by about 5.30 we had reached the Sacarrabos Beer Co. R. Moeda 12, 1200-275 Lisboa. Another brewpub, this one had around 15 taps, of which I sampled two: Sovina 500 Double IPA 7.3% and one of their own brews: Crocodilo APA at 6.0%. The former was the better of the two, by some margin. Sacarrabos was OK, but I didn’t feel like there was anything there to attract me back again. We decided to take the long trudge back by Shanks’s Pony and call in one further place en route to our AirBnB.

    All quiet at Sacarrabos Beer Co.

    Just before 8 o’clock, we arrived at our last call of the day, the excellent Quimera Brew Pub
    R. Moeda 12, 1200-275 Lisboa. Situated just off the main street, it is easy to miss. But once found, everything about it is charming. Entering through a shaded courtyard, you enter a stone-walled vault which to me – and to anyone of a certain age and location to remember – was reminiscent of the old (now closed) Cornhill Vaults in Lincoln. The place had real character, as did the owner, who came over to explain the beer menu at our table. The pub has 12 taps, all offering Quimera beers. I chose a flight of four which were promptly delivered and described once more. Excellent service. I chose a Bloody Mary Sour 4.3% DIPA at 7.0%, NEIPA at 5.3% and finally a Raspberry Sour at 4.7%. They were all good, the sours being better than the IPAs. They weren’t face-puckeringly sour like some of your favourite Belgian Lambics, but very acceptable nonetheless. If you visit but one pub whilst in Lisbon, make it the Quimera!

    Plenty of character at the Quimera.

    Embarrassingly, we walked out of Quimera without paying and the poor barman had to run about five minutes down the road to catch us. We backtracked to pay our dues, of course… and that was the end of our second full day. A short hike back to the digs to try and get some shut-eye between trams. All to do again tomorrow.

    Thursday’s route.

    FRIDAY 24/6/22

    Another morning and early afternoon was spent just wandering and taking in the sights, including the massive Time Out Food Hall, so busy we couldn’t find a seat, despite its size. After a strenuous uphill trek to see the Castelo de São Jorge and have a well-earned ice cream, we settled on a more modest family-run establishment amid the maze of tiered streets of the Alfama district. Incredulously, some motor vehicles still drive through these streets, when it was obvious that even a donkey would’ve struggled to get through.

    Thoroughly knackered, but now well fed, it was time to get watered (read: ‘beered’). First on today’s list (and fortuitously nearest to our current location) was Outro Lado Beco do Arco Escuro 1, 1100-585 Lisboa. In another blink-and-you-miss-it location, it is situated up a cobbled side alley, but once in you are rewarded with a magnificent array of 15 taps from some fantastic craft breweries. This was by far the best selection (IMO) I’d seen so far in Lisbon.

    A superb selection at Outro Lado.

    The place itself was a little dingy, due to there not being any window light, but the beer selection and the pleasant bar lady more than made up for the lack of sunlight! I opted for a flight of four beers: Nepomucen (Poland) – Time for Tropics a pastry sour at 7.5%, Sibeeria (Czech Republic) – Blackcurrant Sorbet, a 4.4% Berliner Weisse, Aguarela (Portugal) – Impressing an 8.0% DIPA and another one from Sibeeria – Star Factory 6.5% IPA. They were all mightily tasty and impressive – and a great start to the evening. Well recommended.

    Another 30-minute’s walk and another mile away, we arrived at Sputnik Craft Beer R. Andrade 41A, 1170-014 Lisboa. This bar was a bit trendier, with large plate glass windows to the frontage and a light, airy, modern feel to the inside. This was possibly the busiest bar we’d seen so far. The modest 10 taps offered up mainly local breweries. I sampled three tasters: a Dois Corvos – Creature 6.3% and two from Letra – Plata, a Fruited Berliner Weisse at 5.0% and Rebendita, a 6.0% Milkshake IPA, which was absolutely lush.

    Busy at the Sputnik.

    Our last port-of-call was supposed to be Livraria Ler devagar R. Rodrigues de Faria 103 – G 0.3, 1300-501 Lisboa. It is a bizarre industrial unit/library/art centre/bar hybrid, and part of the LX Factory. Alas, tonight there was no beer (except some dusty and presumably warm) bottles on the back shelf and the bar appeared permanently closed. The LX Factory itself, situated underneath the supporting columns of Ponte 25 de Abril – Lisbon’s own Golden Gatesque bridge (designed by the same geezer) – is now a bustling avenue of various bars and eateries and it seemed very popular with the trendies. Not for these old duffers though, and we decided to call it a night. Tomorrow we were starting our second leg of the holiday and travelling to Porto.

    Friday’s route.

    Lisbon is a big city, lovely in parts and underwhelming in others. Once you’re in the centre it’s very walkable (though I estimate we walked about 40 miles over the three days), despite the steep hills and the killer paving tiles. I wouldn’t go out of my way to return any time soon but would not put anybody off visiting. I’m glad we’ve been and hope the above report gives any potential beery tourists at least some pointers.

    Thanks to Gazza Prescott and Owen Ogletree for their recommendations whilst researching this trip.

    See the second leg of our Portuguese trip: Pt.2 – Porto

    Find me on Untappd
    Some tinnies wot I have necked.
    And some more pics from Lisbon below.

  • American Adventure Pt.7: Hamilton & Toronto

    American Adventure Pt.7: Hamilton & Toronto

    WEDNESDAY 5/9/18

    The day started with us making the journey from Buffalo back to Niagara Falls to drop off the hire car, before making the crossing over Rainbow Bridge into Canada by foot. The difference between the US and Canadian sides of the Falls on each immediate side of the bridge is quite different, and if you ever visit, you really should see them from both sides.

    The US side is quite tasteful, with lots of green space and treed terraces from which to observe the Falls. The Canadian side, however, is somewhat tacky, resembling something like Blackpool, with amusement arcades, casinos and cheap cafes, which is a shame as the views afforded are far better than the American side. After having a quick scout around (we would be back for a proper look) and picking up another hire car, we made the two-hour drive to our hotel in Hamilton.

    If we thought the last couple of hotels were posh, this one was a level above and, to be honest, I felt a bit out of place here! We dropped off our stuff and got a cab back into town for something to eat and quick nosey around before making a pre-arranged meet with an old pal later that evening. After stuffing our faces on some Portuguese nosh, we walked done the street and found the Merit Brewing Company – 107 James St N, Hamilton, ON L8R 2K6. A modern building, purpose-built I suspect, with a spartan industrial vibe, but more importantly, 14 taps on the back wall.

    Early doors at Merit.

    Just the one here, seeing as it was still early doors and we (hopefully) had a good session ahead of us. I sampled their 6.3% Cali Creamsicle Milkshake IPA, which was superb. Just half an hour in here, before having a scout around the town for a couple of hours, then diving into Augusta’s Winking Judge – 25 Augusta St, Hamilton, ON L8N 1P6. This was a truly wonderful pub, and I would say the nearest we found to a traditional British pub we found on the whole holiday (see the photo’s on their web gallery). Sadly, this is another pub that has closed permanently since our visit. The place was very busy when we called in, despite being 4 pm on a Wednesday afternoon and we struggled to get a seat. It’s a real shame that nobody has stepped in to take this place over.

    Augusta’s Winking Judge.

    Happily, we were able to spend an hour or so in here, during which time I savoured a pint of 4.5% Fox Hunter Sour w/Mango from the Muddy York Brewing Co which was fab. It was over too soon and we planned to revisit later with our friends to sample some of the food, which looked very good. A quick ride back to base for a freshen up and then out again, this time to Collective Arts, where we were going to meet my old mate, Jonno.

    Ian Johnson and I used to play in 80’s metal band Paralex. He later moved to Canada, where he has been ever since. We collaborated again, over thirty years later, on our 2016 album Key to a Thousand Doors. I had seen him briefly back home in 2016, but as he only lived a couple of hours away from here in Union, we planned to meet up again over a beer. We arrived at Collective Arts Brewing – 207 Burlington St E, Hamilton, ON L8L 4H2, at around 7 o’clock, with Johnno and his wife arriving a few minutes later. We spent a lovely couple of hours here catching up and talking shit in general, during which time I had three of their excellent brews: 5.2% Jam Up the Mash sour, 4.5% Prophets and Nomads gose and 6.1% Life in the Clouds NEIPA.

    Great friends, great beer.

    Time was marching on and as Jonno had over a two-hour drive back, we decided to return to the Winking Judge to get some nosebag. Unfortunately, when we got there it was full to capacity and we couldn’t even get in. We had noticed another pub at the other end of the street so we decided to call in there. The Ship – 23 Augusta St, Hamilton, ON L8N 1P, was another traditional style boozer, a bit more spit ‘n’ sawdust than the Judge, but welcoming nonetheless. A half-decent beer selection on the menu here, from which I tried a pint of 5.6% Jelly King sour from Bellwoods, which was excellent and a 4.1% Strawberry Kettle Sour w/Lactose from Anderson Craft Ales which was pants but did a decent job of washing down my pie and mash anyway.

    All too soon the evening was over and we had to say cheers to our friends then it was back to the hotel for some shut-eye. Hopefully, I’ll meet up with Johnno again before long.

    Wednesday’s route.

    THURSDAY 6/9/18

    Today we were exploring the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We parked our hire car up and took a walk along the Niagara Parkway, which runs adjacent to the river and affords great views of the Falls. We also went up the Skylon Tower and booked tickets for later that evening so we could get a night view. A five-minute car ride took us the four miles or so north to the Whirlpool State Park, where we took a ride on the Whirlpool Aero Car. This antique cable car, in service since 1916, carries passengers over 200ft above the water and interestingly, although it travels between two points on the Canadian shore, it actually crosses the international borderline between Canada and the US a total of four times each trip due to the meander in the river below.

    But enough of the touristy stuff! Before we left the UK, a friend recommended that we visited Niagara-on-the-Lake, so that’s where we headed for next, just another 10 miles or so away. A quick reference to Google told us that a brewery was nearby, so that’s where we headed!

    Beer for the boys at the Oast House.

    Niagara Oast House Brewers – 2017 Niagara Stone Rd, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0, was situated on a country lane on the way out of the town in a ranch-style building. We found a bench on the balcony at the rear of the building the looking out onto the hop fields below. To accompany my excellent BBQ pork, I tried a pint of 6% Farmer’s Tan Summer IPA which, although not brilliant, still went down well.

    After getting fed and beered, we headed back into the main Historic Old Town, where we parked up. This was basically a long main street with lots of quaint shops and artisan businesses… including a brewery. The girls wanted to go shopping so Scary and I headed for more beer. The Exchange Brewery – 7 Queen St, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0, situated in the building of Niagara’s first telephone exchange (hence its name), is a tiny microbrewery on the high street and has the brew kit visible at the back behind a glass wall and a small bar as the shop-front.

    Excellent beer at the Exchange.

    We spent a pleasant couple of hours in here, during which time I sampled three, all very enjoyable: A 5.8% #61 Grapefruit Pale Ale, the 7.6% +Golden Ale (a Belgian Blonde), and the 4.6% #5 Session IPA. The girls caught up with us again and it was time for the short ride back to the Skylon Tower, from which we saw the Falls illuminated at night. Overall, a lovely relaxing day of sightseeing and beer. Tomorrow we were going to visit Toronto.

    Thursday’s route.

    FRIDAY 7/9/18

    We set off on the 45-minute drive to Toronto on the long, straight highway and the appearance of this enormous city steadily growing in size on the horizon as we approached was an amazing sight.

    After eventually finding parking space in a multi-storey, we got a fantastic al-fresco breakfast at Fran’s Restaurant, followed by some general walking around and sightseeing for a couple of hours before stumbling upon the brilliantly-named Thirsty & Miserable – 197 Baldwin St, Toronto, ON M5T 1L8, and with a fantastic name like that, we just had to pop in for a bevvy. Really rough-and-ready in here with rickety, chipped Formica tables and graffiti on the walls and doors, and the barmaid played the role too and really made you NOT feel at home. But it had a really good beer list. Mine was a superb pint of 6.4% Meanwhile… Down in Moxee IPA from Great Lakes which was very enjoyable and worth the misery.

    Only in it for the beer! – Thirsty & Miserable.

    Our next stop was a nine-minute walk away: The Kensington Brewing Company – 299 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2M2. This was another long deep bar with a small frontage to the street and brewing plant situated at the back. I tried four in here. All were good, but the sours were particularly noteworthy. 6.5% FishEye IPA, 8.5% Breaking Point NEIPA, 4.5% Convergence w/ Guava & Passionfruit sour and the excellent 5% Qullqa fruited gose.

    I felt quite at home in the Kensington, as my shirt was almost a perfect match for the wallpaper. However, we’d spotted another bar only a couple of doors away, and it was time to move on.

    Spot the Belvoir.

    Trinity Common – 303 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2M2, was a bar and grill with plenty of street seating out front. The food menu was excellent and there was a row of 18 taps behind the bar, from which I chose just the two: 4.5% Delta Mango fruited sour by Forked River and a 6% Ale of Two Cities (2018) sour IPA from Stone City, which was absolutely stunning and quite possibly the best sour of the trip. Time was getting on and Tracey had a fair drive back to the hotel and we had one more stop on our list.

    A 45-minute walk away, the CRAFT Beer Market – 1 Adelaide St E, Toronto, ON M5C 2V9, was a recommendation from a friend, and wow! Was he right! This place was cavernous, with a central bar sporting an unbroken row of 200 taps around its entire length. Beer is transported from the vast array of kegs behind glass wall panels, over the heads of the drinkers through suspended stainless steel ducts and down to the bar. Very impressive. If you like that sort of thing.

    Despite its bewildering range, I thought the actual choice was somewhat disappointing, focusing on mainstream and commercial breweries (maybe we visited on a bad day). There were some gems to be had though, and I tried a 5.2% Armed ‘N Citra APA from Rainhard and a 5.5% Bang-Bang, another superb sour, this time from Left Field.

    Massive choice at CRAFT.

    CRAFT was rammed with happy drinkers, and I shuddered to think how much money was going through the tills. This place, though, demonstrated that beer is still big business despite its general decline in recent years. It was late evening by now and a big day was ahead of us tomorrow – we were going home – so we decided to call it a night.

    Friday’s route.

    SATURDAY 8/9/18

    This was sadly the last day of our epic American Adventure. Luckily our flight wasn’t until early evening so we had most of the day to fit in just a few more things (e.g. beer). We took our time packing and didn’t check out until midday, arriving back in Toronto at around 2 pm. We decided to take the Jack Leyton Ferry ride across to Toronto Island. It was a long wait and fairly chaotic queue but we eventually made it, arriving on the Island some 20 minutes later.

    Toronto Island is a pleasant enough space, but not really much to see there, so we decided to get something to eat at the Toronto Island BBQ & Beer Co – 120 Center Island Dock, Toronto, ON M5J 2E9. This place was about as tacky as you could get. It was a really run-down place in urgent need of some TLC. We sat outside in the beer garden with our complete waste-of-money food and were immediately plagued by what appeared to be the entire wasp population of Southern Canada. Still, the view of the city over the water was good.

    Making the return ferry crossing back over the lake to the city, we found the nearby Amsterdam BrewHouse, 245 Queens Quay W, Toronto, ON M5J 2K9, which was to be our last beery stop of the holiday*. This was a large, modern glass and metal constructed building and, being Saturday afternoon, was extremely busy. We had to wait in line for a few minutes to get a table and then were guided by a very friendly and helpful waitress to our seats.

    Busy at the BrewHouse.

    We had a long slog in ahead of us, so sensible was the word, and I only had two, both brewed on-site: A 6% Space Invader IPA and a 4.9% Cruiser Pale. Both were pretty average, but it was a nice end to a perfect holiday.

    It was a 14-mile drive to the Airport and a further eight-and-a-half hour flight back via Reykjavik. I only saw the canteen at the airport (where I was charged 14 quid for an inedible sandwich) but at least I can say I’ve been to Iceland!

    Saturday’s route.

    *We did actually have one more beer, breaking the journey down from Manchester airport at Real Ale Corner – 415 Chatsworth Road, Chesterfield S40 3AD, where I had a disappointingly average pint of C-BOMB 4.2% session IPA from The Brew Foundation. My first pint of cask since New York!

    FINAL THOUGHTS

    I loved everything about this trip, except for the constant humming of air-conditioning units! Granted, we only saw a glimpse of all the places we visited, but all the people we met were super-friendly and helpful (except for the driver on the Greyhound bus), it felt safe everywhere we went (and we walked – A LOT!) and everywhere was clean and seemed to run efficiently. Prices were reasonable, on par with home I would say, and the whole trip, including flights, hotels, Ubers, and spends cost less than £4k each.

    The bustle of New York was not really to my liking, but even there you could find some quieter corners. Washington D.C. has some lovely green spaces also, but the most picturesque city for me was Pittsburgh. If I had to recommend just one city to visit, it would be Boston. It just felt a bit less hectic and I felt ‘at home’ there. And, of course, it’s home to the brilliant Trillium Brewery!

    I was particularly impressed that everything is built for the purpose. The city blocks are constructed in a grid system so everything is reasonably easy to find. The car parks are huge and parking spaces are big enough to fling your car doors open without bumping next door’s vehicle. I could go on… I guess that all comes from being a fairly new Nation and having the space to build on.

    I was less impressed with the amount of throw-away waste still being produced, for example, polystyrene plates and plastic cutlery being used in sit-down cafes when proper plates could’ve been used. I suppose it’s no different from other countries, but when you imagine how much rubbish is being generated every day in this giant country, it’s very worrying.

    I’d like to thank my great pals Chris and Tracey for sharing this adventure with us and particularly Tracey for taking on the driving duties on the latter part of the holiday. Also to Mark and Sue for spending both time and money travelling the width of America to be with me on my 60th birthday and making it so special. I will cherish the memory forever.

    Mrs. Belvoir and I have a trip to visit Mark and Sue in San Francisco pencilled in for later this year, but with all this Covid-19 malarkey, it’s looking increasingly doubtful. Rest assured though, when we do make the trip it will be fully reported in these pages!

    SEE THE REST OF THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE HERE:

    Part 1: Boston | Part 2: New York | Part 3: Washington | Part 4: Philadelphia | Part 5: Pittsburgh | Part 6: Erie & Buffalo

  • American Adventure Pt.6: Erie & Buffalo

    American Adventure Pt.6: Erie & Buffalo

    SUNDAY 2/9/18

    We left our Pittsburgh motel around 10ish to start the 120 mile-odd drive to Erie, which is on the coast of Lake er, Erie. Having not taken advantage of the stale bagels back at the motel, we were all getting rumbly tumblies it was time to look for somewhere to stop for breakfast. After passing several off-ramps, we picked one at random, this one headed to Slippery Rock. And what a winner this turned out to be.

    Rolling into the village down a long, green leafy avenue, it resembled a Hollywood movie scene. The sort of American idyll that we had thus far not seen on our journey, and it was lovely. There wasn’t a soul about to ask for recommendations, so we parked up and walked a few hundred yards until we came upon the Camelot Restaurant. We opened the door and found what must have been the entire population of Slippery Rock – the place was absolutely heaving! After waiting to be seated for 10 minutes and getting our order, it was easy to see why the place was so popular. Wholesome, home-cooked food at a reasonable price, served on proper plates with real cutlery (for a change). Excellent!

    Finishing up a satisfying breakfast at the Camelot, we came back out into the sun and, only 20 yards away, was the North Country Brewing Company – 141 S Main St, Slippery Rock, PA 16057, a beautiful wood-constructed pub originally built as a cabinet maker’s shop in 1805. The place was lovely inside and, more importantly, they brewed their own beer. To wash down breakfast, I ordered six, just to make sure: Locals Only 4.5% Session IPA, Paleo 6.2% IPA, Cascade AF 4.6% APA, Summer Dew 5% Honey Beer, Bucco 4.9% Blonde, and the 4.5% Kölsch .45. Six beers already and it was before midday on a Sunday. Me likeee! Slippery Rock was an ace chance find and I was really happy we made the decision to choose that highway ramp at random.

    North Country Brewing.

    Back onto the Perry Highway 98 and a few miles north, there was a severe weather warning broadcast on the car radio. Within a few minutes, it had started to rain. And by rain, I mean RAIN! Now I know it sounds a cliché, but I’ve never seen rain fall as hard and fast as this. We had to pull over and stop for some time, waiting for it to abate somewhat before continuing on our journey. Frighteningly, cars were still passing us at full speed during the downpour. Maybe they’re used to it!

    Reaching Erie around two hours later, we parked up for a quick reccie, this time finding the Lavery Brewing Company – 128 W 12th St, Erie, PA 16501. Lavery seemed to specialise in recreations of classic beer styles. None of them turned out to be spectacular, but I thought I’d better try six (just to make sure): Amarillo Apricot 7.1% IPA, Pretty Visitors 6% APA, Out Come the Wolves 10% DIPA, Vanguard 5% Lager, Rauch Bier 5.8% smoked Lager and a Gold Leopard 5% Farmhouse Ale. It was time to find the hotel whilst we were still capable (although Tracey was in charge and sober).

    We found the Avalon Hotel & Conference Centre about 20 minutes away and this place was well posh, for the money we had paid. By 5 o’clock we had all freshened up and it was out again. Lake Erie is mahooosive. If you didn’t know, you would think you’re at the seaside. And the girls wanted to go to the beach, so we ordered an Uber from the hotel to Pettinato Beach, dropping us lads off at the Sandbar Drafthouse – 2835 W 8th St, Erie, PA 16505, on the way. This place was a bit of a rough-and-ready dive but preferable to the sandy shenanigans that the girls wanted to get up to.

    It looks like the Sandbar is another victim of closures since our visit, but frankly, I’m not really surprised. We still spent a couple of pleasant hours here nonetheless, during which Scary thrashed me at pool (I blamed my bad shoulders), and I sampled a pint of 6% Nu Skool IPA from Southern Tier and a 7.5% Fully Loaded IPA by Timber Creek, both average but enjoyable anyhoo.

    We had arranged to hook up again with the girls at 7 o’clock, but by half-past they hadn’t turned up and seemed to be out of phone signal area so we decided to go and look for them. We walked as far as the Sara Coyne Campground to try the phone again. This place was manically busy, with vehicles queuing to get into the car park. After several tries, we got a call through to find that there had been a traffic accident somewhere between them and us and the tailback was causing delays. They eventually caught up with us and we joined the long queues of folk at the food cabin on the side of the car park. I chose a hot dog. I wish I hadn’t bothered – it was utter shite and a waste of money. It’s astounding what some people will put down their necks!

    Meet the Simpsons.

    Another Uber was called, which dropped us back in town, and then we found the nearby U Pick 6 Tap Room – 333 State St #110, Erie, PA 16507, a smallish corner bar with 22 taps on the back wall. Another two pints in here before making our way back to the hotel for some well-earned kip. I tried the Fresh Haze, a 6.5% NEIPA from Deschutes, and an 8% Hopsouloution DIPA from Bell’s.

    It had been a brief stop-off in Erie, but I found it to be a lovely place and the little visit to Slippery Rock had been a nice Brucie bonus.

    Sunday’s route.

    MONDAY 3/9/18

    Another 100-mile drive to Buffalo today, and two short stop-offs at Aldi in Dunkirk for some supplies and the Eden Seafood and Pizzeria in Eden for some nosebag. Alas, no beer at either. No matter, we were in our hotel, checked in, and Ubered back into town for a 2 o’clock drop-off at the Buffalo RiverWorks – 359 Ganson St, Buffalo, NY 14203. This was a Massive ex-industrial complex for various sporting events and concerts with large sprawling bars and dining halls. The six enormous ‘Labatt Blue‘ towers at the entrance immediately put us off and, after taking a quick look around one of the bars, we decided not to linger.

    Impressive, but not today, thank-you.

    Back the way we came, walking adjacent to the railway lines, we reached the Pearl Street Grill & Brewery – 76 Pearl St, Buffalo, NY 14202, a large and imposing building with a balcony all around it and a lovely garden terrace on the top floor. Now, this was more like it! We found a table on the terrace to take advantage of the sun while it lasted – ominous clouds were gathering on the horizon. I elected to try a pint of Lake Effect 6% APA, brewed on the premises. We were right about the weather; there was soon a downpour and we had to seek shelter inside. It soon abated, however, and after an hour we decided to have a walk to another couple of nearby brewpubs.

    What we didn’t realise, or obviously plan for, is that this was Labor [sic] Day in the US and almost everything was shut here (apparently everyone goes out of town for the day). Indeed, walking around town in the warm drizzle, we found Buffalo to be a near ghost-town, not even the tram service was operating. We reached the Big Ditch Brewing Company – 55 E Huron St, Buffalo, NY 14203. CLOSED! Next was the Sato Brewpub – 110 Pearl St, Buffalo, NY 14202. CLOSED! We decided to cut our losses and go back to the Pearl Street and have another whilst we waited for an Uber to pick us up for the ride to what would, in my opinion, be one of the beery highlights of our entire trip. I had a pint of aptly-named Nautical Disaster NEIPA, which was delicious.

    Thin man – OPEN!

    12 minutes and two miles later, we were at Thin Man Brewery – 492 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo, NY 14222. I’d not heard of this brewery before our visit, but it has since become one of my favourite US breweries. The rain had stopped and the sun was back out, so we chose to sit on the balcony, taking in the last of the day’s rays. Truly fantastic, world-class beer here. I had a Bliss 8% DIPA, Badger Assassin 5.5% Sour Berliner Weisse, and Burning Money 6.6% IPA, all brewed on-site, plus a None of Them Knew They Were Robots 7.4% IPA by Barrier. We spent almost four hours in here, savouring these splendid beers to the full, before making the seven-mile taxi ride back to base for some sleepy times. Tomorrow we were off to Niagara Falls.

    Monday’s route.

    TUESDAY 4/9/18

    We started out at around 10 am in the hire car from the hotel for the 20-mile journey to the Niagara Falls State Park, arriving about an hour later. We grabbed some brekkie before going to the visitor centre to buy tickets for the Falls. Coincidently, it was outside here that we encountered the only roundabout of the whole trip. Apparently, they’re not a ‘thing’ out there!

    The Falls experience was, to use a cliché, ‘awesome’. This natural feature is truly breathtaking and the power of the water has to be seen to be believed. It’s hard to imagine that, just three months later, we saw on the news that the Falls became totally frozen. But not today! Tracey and Chris did the ‘Lady of the Mist’ boat ride into the death pool, but Mrs. Belvoir and I chose to watch them from the relative safety of the parapet above!

    Spot Tracey – The only one without a poncho!

    After a really pleasant afternoon visiting the Falls and exploring the adjacent park, it was back to the hotel to freshen up (and dry off). Beer time was approaching. On the way back in, we discovered the Hotel bar – the Twigs Lounge – 2040 Walden Ave, Buffalo, NY 14225. Scary and I decided to do the decent thing whilst we waited for the girls to get ready, so I had a pint of 7.2% Hayburner IPA by Big Ditch, which was very tasty and made the wait somewhat more tolerable.

    The Uber arrived and took us out to Gene McCarthy’s Old First Ward Brewing Company – 73 Hamburg St, Buffalo, NY 14204, a lovely traditional-style brewpub in the middle of the sleepy Old First Ward neighbourhood which was full when we arrived, apparently due to the weekly quiz that was already underway. We managed to squeeze to the bar and get drinks, which we took outside and sat at one of the benches so we could enjoy the last of the evening sun.

    I tried two, both brewed on the premises: The 5.8% This is Not a Pale Ale (which WAS a pale ale) and the 7% Hoppy Oasis IPA. Both were delicious. Whilst we were sipping our drinks, I noticed another brewery a little further up the road – Pressure Drop Brewing – 65 Vandalia St, Buffalo, NY 14204. We took a short walk towards it, but it soon became obvious that they had already shut up shop for the day. Shame.

    Gene McCarthy’s.

    After a pleasant couple of hours, we decided to move on and take another four-mile taxi ride to the Resurgence Brewing Company – 1250 Niagara St, Buffalo, NY 14213. Another two pints here: A CitMo IPA and a Passionfruit Sour, both 6.5%, both brewed by Resurgence, and both delicious! We stayed here until about half 10 before calling it a day and returning to base.

    Tuesday’s route.

    And that was the end of this leg of our journey. Again, only fleeting visits to Slippery Rock, Erie and Buffalo, but from what I saw they were all lovely places that I’d heartily recommend to anyone. Tomorrow we were going over the border into Canada.

    SEE THE REST OF THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE HERE:

    Part 1: Boston | Part 2: New York | Part 3: Washington | Part 4: Philadelphia | Part 5: Pittsburgh | Part 7: Hamilton & Toronto

  • American Adventure Pt.5: Pittsburgh.

    American Adventure Pt.5: Pittsburgh.

    FRIDAY 31/8/18

    For this leg of the journey, we decided to get a hire car, which Tracey had volunteered to drive. Although I was very grateful and more than happy to have her do the driving duties, it was a little disconcerting that she went to get in the car on the wrong side when we set off 🙂 It was almost 300 miles to Pittsburgh so most of our time would be spent travelling today.

    It was gone 10 o’clock before we got on our way. We made a stop at Brecknock Township in search for something to eat at around 2ish. Asking for recommendations in a ‘gas’ station proved fruitless, but one of the other customers overheard our request and offered to show us to ‘the best diner in town’. He got in his car and proceeded to lead us around a couple of blocks, where he indicated for us to stop. He even got out of his car and opened the door for us to go in. What a genuinely nice man!

    The Hilltop. Thankfully, Bates wasn’t in residence.

    About five hours later, we reached our destination – The Hilltop Inn, our first taste of an American Motel. And it was everything I expected! Tatty magazines, stale cakes and broken coffee machine in the reception. Peeling woodwork outside, grimy tobacco-stained walls and frayed curtains in the room, and a television which looked like it was made in the ’60s, with a coat hanger for an aerial. All that was missing was an Anthony Perkins lookalike. But it was cheap and comfortable and although some of the residents looked a bit scary, they seemed chatty and friendly enough. We booked in and freshened up and as time was marching on – it was about 19.30 by this time – it was beer o’clock.

    An eight-mile taxi ride took us to the Grist House Craft Brewery – 10 E Sherman St, Pittsburgh, PA 15209, and it was busy here tonight. The tap area was a wooden built lean-to off the main brewery building, spilling out onto the yard, where there were several marquees and a food van selling British ‘FISH & CHIPS’. ‘Yes, we DO mean fries’ read a sign attached to the van! After queueing at the van for half-an-hour to get some nosebag for the girls, I was finally allowed some beer. It was worth the wait: pints of Hazedelic Juice Grenade 6.4% NEIPA and Space Cactus 6.8% NEIPA, both brewed on-site, both spectacular. One of the locals told us about another brewery that was literally a few minutes’ walk away, and what a contrast that was!

    Great atmosphere at the Grist House.

    Strange Roots Experimental Ales – 501 E Ohio St, Pittsburgh, PA 15209, a small, one-roomed bar set back off the street was empty when we got there, which we thought odd for this time on a Friday night. When we tasted the beer though, it became apparent why! Now, I’m all for experimentation, but I’m not so keen on being the guinea pig. I tried two here: Desert Wolf 5.1% IPA, which was just about neckable, but the Summer Ghost 5.1% Farmhouse Saison was undrinkable and hands-down the worst beer of the whole trip. In hindsight, I wish we’d stayed for another one at the Grist House, but no matter, onward to the next stop.

    Another 8-mile Uber ride and we were dropped off at Hitchhiker Brewing – 190 Castle Shannon Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15228. This was a bijou town-centre tap room (although the brewery is in another part of town) which, though busy, wasn’t overcrowded. I tried a flight of three in here: a 15th & Canal 5.8% APA, 7.1% Spatial Influence NEIPA (which was superb) and an Into the Fade 8% Double NEIPA. Much needed after the shite we’d just suffered back at Roots.

    Superb NEIPA at Hitchhiker.

    Time was getting on now, but we had to make up for a lost day’s drinking due to the car journey! Another short cab ride took us to the Korner Pub – 4 Bower Hill Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15228. Looking like a supermarket from the outside, with a big neon-lit Coors sign in the window, I wasn’t expecting much. It turned out OK. Stepping through the doors to find it rammed with customers, we managed to find some table space, sharing with some locals, and I ordered a pint of Hop Knife 6.2% IPA by Tröegs Independent Brewing which was a very tasty nightcap before calling it a night. It was nearly half-past midnight by now and it had been another very tiring day. Tomorrow we were going to explore the city.

    Saturday’s route.

    SATURDAY 1/9/18

    A little sightseeing this morning, starting at the PNC Park, home ground of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team, followed by brunch (it’s like a cross between breakfast and lunch, apparently) at Nola on the Square, 24 Market Square, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, a New Orleans-style restaurant. It appears to be another venue that has closed since our visit which is a real shame as it had excellent table service and some really delish food here, accompanied by a 7% Two Hearted Ale IPA from Bell’s which wasn’t anything special but started the day off nicely.

    Our bit of non-beer culture for the day was the Andy Warhol Museum, where we spent an interesting hour-and-a-half before getting all pop-arted out and having to find more beer, this time at Mike’s Beer Bar AKA Beerhead – Boggs Building LP, 110 Federal St, Pittsburgh, PA 15212. An amazing beer supermarket-cum-bar with over 500 beers, 80 of them on tap, plus a great food menu. Beerhead is one of a franchise of specialist beer bars springing up around the NE of the States. A great concept, I wonder where they got the idea from? Anyway, back to the beer. We sat out on the street and I ordered three: Strawberry Mango Smoosh 7.8% Milkshake DIPA from Separatist Beer Project, 6.2% Victorious IPA #2 NEIPA from Victory and a 6.3% Misfits & Misanthropes #13 from Helltown, which was totally wowsers!

    A small section of the menu at Beerhead.

    Suitably refreshed, it was time for a bit more sightseeing and me and Chris decided we’d take the girls up the funicular, fnar fnar! The Duquesne Incline has a 19th-Century wooden cable-car running up and down every few minutes. There were fairly long queues and the short ride cost $5 but, once at the top, the sweeping views of the city below were totally worth it. By the quaint little payment kiosk (built in 1877), we found the Coal Hill Steakhouse, where we sat on the balcony sipping glasses of ice-cold Pepsi (no comments, please) and taking in the views below. Without a doubt, Pittsburgh was the most picturesque city we had visited on the whole tour so far.

    On the way back into town, we passed The Tap Room, 555 Grant St, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, and thought we’d pop in for one. We shouldn’t have bothered. A very lacklustre choice in here. We should’ve left but we all needed a rest and some respite from the sun. I opted for a 6% 60 Minute IPA from Dogfish Head, which was decidedly average. Move on there…

    Next was a quick one at Sharp Edge Bistro – 922 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, where I wasn’t expecting much of the 6.8% Samuel Adams NEIPA from Boston Beer Company, but it was surprisingly good. Just the one here before we made the two-minute walk to the Proper Brick Oven & Tap Room – 139 7th St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, where we spent another hour and I had a pint of 7.5% Jal Alai IPA from Cigar City, which was OK, at best.

    Grand views over Pittsburgh.

    We all elected to finish the evening back at Beerhead where we spent another hour until 10 o’clock, when we decided to call it a night. I chose a 6% Wild Sour Series: Synchopathic from Desthil, which was stupendously good and the perfect end to our short stay in Pittsburgh. Tomorrow was a long drive toward the Canadian border and our next stop, Erie.

    Saturday’s route.

    Pittsburgh was, from the little we saw of it, a lovely, safe and well-organised city with lots of green and community space and a thriving craft beer scene. Highly recommended for a visit.

    SEE THE REST OF THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE HERE:

    Part 1: Boston | Part 2: New York | Part 3: Washington | Part 4: Philadelphia | Part 6: Erie & Buffalo | Part 7: Hamilton & Toronto

  • American Adventure Pt.4: Philadelphia.

    American Adventure Pt.4: Philadelphia.

    TUESDAY 28/8/18

    We boarded the 10.20 Greyhound bus bound for Philadelphia, another four-hour journey including a 20-minute stop-off in Baltimore. It was on this bus that we encountered the only miserable person of the entire holiday. The driver was a surly and downright rude man who could obviously do with some lessons at Charm School. When Tracey made a call on her phone, he shouted back that she was endangering the bus as he was being distracted from his driving. Tracey ended her call and soon after, he spread out a whole picnic across his knees and proceeded to eat his lunch whilst driving on the highway!

    Arriving at the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal I was, as you can imagine, bostin’ for a pee, so I immediately went off to find the ‘bathroom’. When I got there I had to navigate around a uniformed security guard who was in the doorway shouting into the room: “Come out of there! You’ve had long enough!” This continued whilst I stood against the wall doing my own thing, until the guard came in and started hammering on a cubicle door “COME OUT, COME OUT!”

    The trap door eventually opened and a skinny, shirtless youth darted out, obviously high as a kite, carrying a shirt covered in blood and with three perfectly round (bullet) holes in his torso. “Sorry Sir,” he said to the guard “I don’t mean to be any trouble”. He dodged the guard’s attempt to grab him, pushing past me in his dash to the door. He then did a 180 spin and raised his thumbs. “Cool hair dude!” he said to me before he disappeared into the crowds outside! What an exciting introduction to Philadelphia!

    After finding our AirBnB, we explored the locality on foot for a bit and found the Roy Pitz Barrel House – 990 Spring Garden St, Philadelphia, PA 19123. We popped in for a bevvy and something to eat. Roy Pitz is a light, airy and modern bar with a glass frontage, trendy artwork murals to one side and tiers of oak ageing barrels the other. The back wall houses the bar, equipped with 15 taps, all dispensing their own beers, plus one hand pump.

    I tried a taster flight with five beers: Truly Honest 6% American amber, Cherry Hound 6% sour, Das Pretzel Gose 4.5% sour, Berlina Blue 4% sour blueberry Berliner Weisse, and the superb 5% NEIPA Step Up your Game – their flagship beer. The later was so good, I decided to take a can home for fellow BeerHeadZ colleague, Lincoln Beer Baron to review on his Instagram feed. I think he was suitably impressed.

    Flights at Roy Pitz.

    We’d had a pretty long day and I think the heat, travelling and previous eight days of intense drinking were starting to get to us. After a nice relaxing three hours, we elected for an early finish and walked back to the flat (via an off-license we had spotted on the way). Chris and I picked up a couple of cans each, mine being 6.3% Live Transmission Milkshake from Flying Monkeys which I sipped back at the flat with my feet up watching Netflix whilst the girls did the washing. Happy days!

    WEDNESDAY 29/8/18

    29th August 2018, and today I was 60 years old. This was what all the holiday was about and I didn’t care what we did today, as long as it involved beer! After breakfast, we did some general walking and sightseeing, including the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary Soldier. Just after midday, we decided to look for a pub and seemed to be wandering aimlessly. Undecided whether to take a left or right turn, we chose right… and bumped into my great pals from California, Mark & Sue! Well, you could’ve knocked me down with a lump hammer.

    Unbeknownst to me, Mark and Sue had secretly been talking to the rest of the gang about meeting up in Philly for a birthday surprise and had planned to meet up at a nearby pub. Before we made the rendezvous, we bumped into them in the street by chance! Despite the random meeting, it was a brilliant surprise and lovely gesture from Mark and Sue, who had travelled the breadth of America to be there.

    Less than 30 minutes later, we were in Monk’s Café – 264 S 16th St, Philadelphia, PA 19102, a Belgian beer bar. My first beer at 60 was a 6.5% mono.tone.citra IPA by Tonewood. Followed by a 5.5% Monk’s Cafe Flemish Sour Ale from Brouwerij Van Steenberge and a 7.5% Confluence American wild ale from Allagash. Great beer with fantastic company. Cheers!

    Birthday beer with wonderful friends.

    We decided to move on. Yards Brewing Company – 500 Spring Garden St, Philadelphia, PA 19123, was a 20-minute cab ride away. Another tap with an ultra-modern, industrial feel to it. I sampled four of their beers in here: 4.6% Grapefruit Philadelphia APA, 7% Signature English IPA, 5% Sons of Ben Belgian pale, and a mighty 9.3% Cape of Good Hope DIPA. A couple of hours in here before a revisit to Roy Pitz for a quick last pint of Step Your Game Up before Mark and Sue had to catch a train back to New York. It had been a wonderful and memorable 60th birthday and thanks to Chris, Tracey, Mark, Sue and Mrs Belvoir for making it happen.

    Wednesday’s route.

    THURSDAY 30/8/18

    We decided to separate into couples again this morning to do our own thing for a few hours. Mrs Belvoir and I made for the Independence National Historical Park to do the Independence Hall and see the Liberty Bell (for the compulsory selfie). Tracey and Chris went to visit a local prison. Hopefully, they would get released. Most of the museums and historic attractions around the Independence National Historical Park are free to enter, but you still need to queue to get a free ticket and allotted time slot. Nobody tells you this, so take note if you ever visit!

    By early afternoon, we were all Independence Day’d out and it was beer time. We passed the Rittenhouse Square and found the Tria Taproom – 2005 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19103. Another long, deep bar with a small frontage to the street, offering no less than 24 taps. Just the two for me here. 6.9% Citra by Funk and a 5% Action Bronson’s 7000 fruited sour from Stillwater Artisanal, both excellent.

    Quiet inside the Belgian Cafe.

    Back out onto the street, right turn and a mile’s walk was the Belgian Cafe – 601 N 21st St, Philadelphia, PA 19130, another bar which has sadly permanently closed since our visit. It had a very similar layout to Monk’s Cafe, visited yesterday. There was no one inside the pub so we elected to sit under the awning outside whilst we waited for Chris and Tracey, who duly turned up a few minutes later. I sampled four here: 6.6% County Line IPA and 5.2% J.A.W.N, both by Neshaminy Creek, 7% Grapefruit Sculpin IPA by Ballast Point, and a 7.5% Racer 5 IPA from Bear Republic. We spent a lovely couple of hours here. The waiter was very chatty and helpful, giving us a long list of recommended craft bars in town. Alas, it was too late – we were leaving for Pittsburgh tomorrow. However, we made one of his tips our next destination.

    Bottle Bar East – 1308 Frankford Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19125, was a hell of a recommendation and Christ on a bike, am I glad we went! I immediately warmed to the place when we stepped through the door as Slayer was playing on the sound system. Then we saw the seemingly endless row of fridges – apparently over 600 beers to choose from in here – where to start? It was our last night in Philly and I was gonna make the best of it!

    600 beers at Bottle Bar East.

    First, The Fujiwhara Effect, a 7.5% IPA from Captain Lawrence. Followed by a 6.2% My Name is Citrus Maximus by River Horse, Tart ‘n Juicy 4.5% sour IPA by Epic, The Flava Influencer 7.8% Milkshake IPA from Evil Twin, Saison Aux Baies Ameres 6.8% Farmhouse from Left Hand, Jenny Says 7.7% DIPA from Singlecut Beersmiths, and finally an 8.5% Fresh IIPA v5 NEIPA from Hubbard’s Cave. Wow! Just WOW! It was the perfect end to our Philly visit. It was only a mile back to our digs, but I don’t think any of us would’ve made it so, we ordered an Uber.

    Thursday’s route.

    Again, three days is too little time to see even a fraction of this city, but what I did see, I enjoyed. A surprise meeting and drinking beers with great friends made my 60th birthday really special and I’ll treasure the memory forever.

    SEE THE REST OF THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE HERE:

    Part 1: Boston | Part 2: New York | Part 3: Washington | Part 5: Pittsburgh | Part 6: Erie & Buffalo | Part 7: Hamilton & Toronto

  • American Adventure Pt.3: Washington.

    American Adventure Pt.3: Washington.

    SUNDAY 26/8/18

    After getting the obligatory eggy breakfast, we boarded a Greyhound bus at 10 o’clock bound for Washington. We were scheduled to cover the 200 miles or so in just over four hours. Sho nuff, we arrived at Washington Union Station – another fine piece of architecture – at just gone 14.00. We grabbed a cab to take us to our hotel, which was over eight miles away. After a quick freshen up and another cab, we were dropped off at the National Mall back in town and standing on Jefferson Drive in front of the Whitehouse for a selfie opportunity by 17.30.

    It had been hot today – about 36 °C – and the gentle evening breeze was welcome. After having a quick nosey around and getting the lie of the land, we decided it was beer time. Capitol City Brewing – 1100 New York Ave NW #710W, Washington, DC 20005, was about 25 minutes’ walk away.

    Capitol City Brewing.

    Capitol City was a large, modern bar situated on a busy street corner and looked about as American and commercial as you can get, devoid of any real character. But we wanted a beer and some much-needed sustenance, so we decided to stay for just the one. As feared, the 6.6% Cap City IPA I ordered was nowt to shout about and after we finished the food we swiftly moved on.

    A 20-minute walk brought us to ChurchKey – 1337 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20005. When we found the place, it looked like a fine dining and wine venue and actually walked out. When we doubled-checked the address, we asked one of the waiters who directed us out the door and up some steep wooden steps which led to their craft beer bar. It turned out to be a hidden gem. A single long and deep room with drinking area to one side and bar along the other, sporting no less than 48 taps, plus five hand pumps.

    ChurchKey – worth finding!

    There was a printed beer menu here, so I suspect that most of the beers were permanent offerings. Nevertheless, it was a pretty decent selection. I chose six from the list: Peeper, a 5.5% IPA from Maine, On the Wings of Armageddon, a 9.2% DIPA from DC Brau, an 8% Double NEIPA Hollow Horse from Bluejacket,  Kodachrome Dream(ing), a 4.5% Radler (I didn’t realise when I ordered it!) from Right Proper, a Hoof RARted 9% DIPA from RAR and one of the cask choices, the 5.9% Ghost IPA DDH+Grape from 3 Stars. It was the first cask I’d tried since arriving in the States, and this one was a belter! It was nice in here, but the air conditioning was making Mrs. Belvoir cold, so we felt obliged to move on after a couple of hours.

    Next on our list was the Bier Baron Tavern, but when we got there it was just closing, being a Sunday an’ all, so we went in search for another place. Unfortunately, in spite of being keen rambler, Tracey managed to stumble on an uneven paving stone and fell over (nothing to do with the beer, honest) and ripped off the end of her big toe. Ouch! Luckily there was a pharmacy on the other side of the road, where we went to buy some first aid supplies. On inspection though, it was evident that the wound would need more than a plaster, so we asked a police officer who was parked up in his car where the nearest A&E was.

    The Two Sergeants!

    Being a Sergeant in the British Police Force herself at the time, Tracey quickly struck up a conversation with the officer, and within minutes there was an ambulance in attendance for some curb-side treatment. It could only happen to Tracey. Amazing! By the time all the excitement was over, it was time to call it a day and we got another cab for the twelve-mile ride back to the hotel.

    Sunday’s route.

    MONDAY 27/8/18

    In the light of morning, it became apparent how bad Tracey’s wound was and it was obvious a lot of walking was not practical today. So it was decided that her and Scary would split from the Belvoirs today and we would do our own things. A cab dropped us all off back at the National Mall where we arranged to meet up again later that day. Tracey and Chris decided to do an open-top bus and water tour, whilst Mrs. Belvoir and I decided to start with the nearby Smithsonian Institute tour. This place is split up into several sections along the length of the Mall and is so extensive you could spend all week exploring. We decided to do the National Museum of American History.

    This alone is a massive place, and I’m sure we only saw a fraction of it, but to be honest, after an hour we’d seen enough. So back out into the sun and along the Mall away from the Capitol Building and past the Washington Monument (which, unfortunately, was closed due to refurb) toward the World War II Memorial, where we stopped for a few minutes to pay respects and take on some water. It was baking hot here today, about 38 °C, and there was absolutely no shelter around. We walked the length of the reflecting pool and eventually reached the Lincoln Memorial. By the time I had climbed the steps, I was that hot I thought I was going to pass out! Still, we got our obligatory selfie.

    Sightseeing in DC.

    After a bit of a sit down in the shade we recommenced our walk, jinking right behind Lincoln’s statue and continuing adjacent to the Potomac River, and through the Georgetown Waterfront Park. There was some lovely green space here and I bet the real estate prices were at a premium. Our intended destination was actually the steps that featured in the 1973 film, The Exorcist. After much searching and asking three locals (the first two didn’t know!), we found the steps at the intersection of M Street NW, Canal Rd NW, and Whitehurst Freeway NW and boy, are they steep! When we got there, a lady was jogging up and down the flight for fun. Every time she completed a cycle, she put a pebble on a window sill at the bottom. We counted 21 stones and she was still going strong! Just watching her was making me feel thirsty, so I decided I needed beer!

    The Tombs – 1226 36th St NW, Washington, DC 20007, an aptly-named cellar bar, was close by and the air conditioning was a welcome relief from the heat outside. For a Monday lunchtime in a hidden underground bar, it was pretty busy in here. Despite this obviously being a foody place with only a limited beer choice, we settled on some stools at the bar and perused the menu. I opted for a 5.2% Vienna Lager by Devils Backbone, which was bog-standard and sickly sweet (as expected, being an Anheuser-Busch sub), accompanied by a plate of hot wings (which were very nice). Nice bar, shame about the peeve. No matter, it was a welcome oasis in a time of need. Time now to start the walk back to meet our travel pals.

    We caught up with Scary and Tracey at Stoney’s on L – 2101 L St NW Suite #103, Washington, DC 20037, another smallish modern bar, this time with 24 beers on tap. I had a 4.4% Blood Orange Gose by Atlas, which was very acceptable and a perfect quencher in this weather. We were getting a bit peckish by this time so it was off for some din-dins.

    A two-mile hike took us to the Right Proper Brewing Company – 624 T St NW, Washington, DC 20001. We found space on one of the benches on the street outside and got a tray full of beers, which we sipped while we waited for our food to arrive. Some proper good beers here: Ravaged by Wolves – a 6.5% Brett, New Weird America – 5% APA, Humulus Lycanthropus 6% APA, Eno – 5.1% Saison and a Vintage New Weird America 5% APA, all brewed on-site. Suitably fed and watered, we ordered an Uber to take us to our final stop of the day, back to the Bier Baron to make good on our aborted visit from last night!

    Proper good beer here!

    The DC Comedy Loft and Bier Baron Tavern – 1523 22nd St NW, Washington, DC 20037, to give its full name is, as you may have guessed, a bar with a resident comedy club. Or is it a comedy club with a bar? Either way, a fantastic setup with almost daily comedy performances in a separate area from the bar by amateurs and professionals alike. Tonight there was a ‘comedy school’ where new hopefuls took a five-minute spot on stage overseen by a professional comic, who would interrupt the routine to comment on their technique in order to improve their material and/or delivery. It was fascinating to watch and we sat there sipping a beer for half an hour or so before we returned to the bar area for some serious drinking.

    Sourtastic!

    Great selection in here, and tonight it was sours all the way! 6.4% Queen of the Seven Kingdoms from Ommegang, 8% Crimson Tart from Uinta, 5.2% Mr Kiwi from Highway Manor, 5% ChiChi 5% from Denizens, and finally a 2015 sharing bottle of 10.3% Tangerine Dream from the mighty Cascade, which was about $35 but worth every penny. We had a great session here and were the last ones to leave at gone 11 o’clock when the Uber arrived to take us home.

    Monday’s route.

    And that was the end of our stay in D.C. I was aware that in two days we didn’t really see much of it and I know the city has had its troubles in the recent past, but I liked what we’d seen and done and would definitely go back. Next stop – Philadelphia.

    SEE THE REST OF THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE HERE:

    Part 1: Boston | Part 2: New York | Part 4: Philadelphia | Part 5: Pittsburgh | Part 6: Erie & Buffalo | Part 7: Hamilton & Toronto

  • American Adventure Pt.2: New York.

    American Adventure Pt.2: New York.

    THURSDAY 24/8/18

    Around 08.30 we boarded a BoltBus bound for New York, a journey of about four-and-a-half hours and 200 miles. The bus was comfy enough and the ride smooth. On the roads there didn’t seem to be any lane discipline, vehicles swapping lanes on a whim, but it all seemed to work well enough. I’d be interested in what it says in the US Highway Code (if there is one?). The bus dropped us off at a road-side terminus somewhere between the Lincoln Tunnel and the Theater (sic) District and, obviously, by this time we were bustin’ for both a pee and a beer, so we decided to find the nearest bar whilst we figured out where we were in relation to our pre-booked AirBnB.

    Rounding a couple of corners, we found Hellcat Annie’s Tap Room – 637 10th Ave, New York, NY 10036. Two banks of 10 taps each in here, but I must’ve been so excited I forgot to make a note of what I drank in here. How remiss! Suffice to say I enjoyed it. Suitably refreshed, we upped again to find our digs.

    We duly found our flat, where we unpacked, freshened up, and then off out again, this time toward ICONYC Brewing – 43-63 11th St, Long Island City, NY 11101, which was a mere 20 minutes’ walk away. This was a tiny space that served as the tap for the brewery just across the road. Only ICONYC beers in here, but we tried them all! As you can see from the bill, it was a hell of a session. Three hours later, we were the only customers left and we sensed our host wanted to get home, so we called it a day. A great little place and well recommended.

    Flights at ICONYC.

    FRIDAY 25/8/18

    Breakfast, and I’m feeling I will soon look like an egg. We decided to walk into town today. It was a fairly long one – four miles – but it gave us time to look round and get a feel for the city. Plus the traffic was that busy it was going nowhere quickly. We had the day part-planned and were going to do the touristy thing today, starting with the water tour. So we set off toward the Gantry Plaza State Park, where we could board the boat.

    En route, we stumbled upon the Fifth Hammer brewery. The shutters were up but the brewer was too busy to come and talk to us, so we made a mental note to go back later to get some beer (we didn’t make it!).

    No entry at Fifth Hammer 🙁

    We started the boat tour, which took us down the East River, under the Brooklyn Bridge and into the Upper Bay, giving us great views of the city, Brooklyn, Jersey City and of course the Statue on Liberty Island. The trip lasted about an hour, so we had time to visit the onboard bar and get a beer! It was only Goose Island IPA served in a plastic beaker, but hey, it was better than nowt!

    We disembarked where we got on and the next stop was the 9/11 Museum. We all voted to walk it and stop off somewhere at random for a midday beer or two. We ended up in the Irish American Pub – 17 John St, New York, NY 10038. In hindsight, it was a bit of a mistake, as it was probably the naffest pub visit of the whole holiday. Never mind. At least it offered shade and had a modest selection on the bar. I opted for a 6.3% Bronx APA, followed by 6.2% Lagunitas IPA. Both were really average, like the pub.

    Onward with the sightseeing and we reached the 9/11 Memorial and Museum at about 13.15. The queues were only modest and we had done the whole thing by about 15.30 so it was off to the next drinkie station. This time, it was a recommendation from my American pal, Mark. It was a fair walk to get there – but we were still going faster than the traffic. But what a pub we were rewarded with! The Blind Tiger – 281 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10014, was rammed to capacity and you could immediately see why it was so popular. Proclaiming itself as ‘N.Y’s Premier Craft Bar’, it’s difficult to disagree with them. A modest selection of 12 taps here, but what a selection! Grimm, Trillium, Equilibrium, Other Half and a ‘House Beer’ from KCBC!

    I tried Bloomerang, a 6.4% NEIPA from Two Roads, a Holy Icon 8% Sour from Hudson Valley, and Mmm… Fruit (w/ Plum), a 4.2% sour Berliner Weisse from Other Half. Outstanding! The food was great too. Everybody we spoke to in here were obviously beer connoisseurs, and one chap gave us a list of places to visit during our stay. Unfortunately, we only had one more day so wouldn’t be able to visit. If you’re ever in NY, the Blind Tiger is a must-visit.

    We still had to make use of our pre-booked Empire State Building tickets, plus we wanted to find the building depicted on the album cover of Led Zeppelin‘s ‘Physical Graffiti’ album, which is located in the Ukrainian Village area (the building, not the album). We eventually found the building, happily seeming not to have changed one bit. Strangely, we couldn’t find any mention of the building’s significance anywhere around. Anyone not knowing would just walk past. There was, however, a little cafe situated on the ground floor which calls itself ‘The Physical GraffiTea Shop’

    Anyone for tea?

    Then it was off to find the Empire State Building, which we did easily (it was that tall mofo on the horizon), only to find that we couldn’t secure a time slot for the tour for another couple of hours. So back out onto the street, we killed a few minutes calling into the Grand Central Station to have a gander at the architecture and went to look at the Rockefeller Centre, which we also had tickets for, but alas no time to do the tour. A few hundred yards later, we happened upon the Flatiron Hall – 38 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10010, which is the Heartland Brewery Tap. It would’ve been rude not to call in, so we did, where I sampled a 5.5% Summertime Apricot Ale by Heartland. It was very average, but no matter, we had to get a move on.

    Back to the old Empire to do the tour. The place was absolutely bustling with tourists and to be honest, it’s not something I’d generally do but hey, when in Rome (or NY…). By the time we got to the top of the tower, night had fallen but the 360-degree views from the outside parapet over the neon-lit city made the effort totally worth it.

    Time for one more stop before home on what had been an utterly exhausting day. Our final call was The Ginger Man – 11 E 36th St, New York, NY 10016. A charming English-style bar of mainly wood construction, with over 20 beers on tap, from which I tried two; a Robot Fish #12 Optic/Centennial 6% APA from KCBC, followed by a Super Stario, an 8% DIPA from Peekskill. Both were absolutely superb and a great end to a very busy day. We were all so tired that we couldn’t face the four-mile-long walk home, so for the first time, we ordered an Uber.

    Friday’s route.

    SATURDAY 25/819

    A lot pre-planned again today, so we set off early at 07.30, opting this time to make the journey uptown on the Subway (that’s a train, not a sandwich). Taking in, amongst other stuff, Central Park, American Museum of Natural History and USS Intrepid floating Air and Space Museum, it wasn’t until about 18.45 that we got our first beer, but man! it was worth the wait. Another 45-minute Uber ride dropped us off at the Other Half Brewing Company – 195 Centre St, Brooklyn, NY 11231. In my opinion one of the best craft brewers in the World today, Other Half are at the top of their game. Basically, just an industrial hangar in a run-down part of town, this place is about as hip as you can get. Hip-hop music blasting on the speakers, tattoos and baseball caps a-plenty, the place was heaving with customers.

    Like a kid in a sweetie shop here with around 20 tap choices. We’d come a long way for this, so I was determined to make the best of it! I had six; DDH Double Mosaic DIPA 8.5%, Simcoe Daydream IPA 6%, DDH Cheddar DIPA 7.9%, DDH Double Citra Daydream 8.5% DIPA, DDH Hop Showers (w/ Eldorado) IPA 7.4%, and a Go With the Flow IPA at 6.5%. As with the Trillium guys, if you haven’t checked this brewery out yet, you really should!

    Take-away menu at Other Half.

    We were a fair way from base, so we ordered another Uber and decided to break the journey at another of Mark’s suggestions; Mugs Ale House – 125 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211. Sadly, from researching this article, it appears that after 27 years, Mugs‘ closed its doors for good in June 2019. I’m glad I got to visit it. To be honest, as soon as we entered the place, I thought it was noticeably quiet for 9ish on a Saturday night. With hindsight, this ‘old-timey’ (their words, not mine) pub was obviously already in decline and missing out to the trendier places in town. It just shows how you must keep on top of your business and adapt to survive.

    Despite being quiet, it was a lovely place, with a homely ‘English’ pub feel to it and a strong beer line-up, including cask choices. We spent a couple of hours in here, during which I sampled three beers: Splish, an 8% IPA from Grimm, Mercury Rising 6.8% IPA by Foreign Objects and Money, a 7.3% IPA from Barrier. All were very enjoyable and the perfect wind-down to another exhausting day before we took the final four-mile Uber journey home. Tomorrow we set sail (on a bus) for Washington.

    Saturday’s route.

    I found New York too manic and busy for me. The traffic was crazy, the crowds in some places (like the Empire State) overwhelming. I prefer things a bit quieter. Maybe spending a little longer there and being able to do things at a more leisurely pace might have made a difference. But it truly is an amazing city and I’m glad I’ve been.

    SEE THE REST OF THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE HERE:

    Part 1: Boston | Part 3: Washington | Part 4: Philadelphia | Part 5: Pittsburgh | Part 6: Erie & Buffalo | Part 7: Hamilton & Toronto

  • American Adventure Pt.1: Boston.

    American Adventure Pt.1: Boston.

    As I said in the last post, lockdown has enabled me to catch up on loads of things I’ve not really had the time or inclination to do. One of them is to record my 2018 visit to the USA with Mrs Belvoir and two great pals, Chris (a.k.a. Scary) and Tracey.

    This trip had been a long time in the planning – about two years to be precise – and was timed to celebrate my 60th birthday. None of us had visited the States before so we decided to make it worth our while and stay for three weeks, taking in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburgh, Erie and Buffalo then over the border into Canada taking in Niagara and Hamilton, ending the tour in Toronto. As usual, I had researched the trip extensively and came up with a list of visits beforehand.

    Of course, the trip was all about the beer as usual and that’s what I’ll be concentrating on here. To be honest, most of the beer was excellent, so I’ll not waffle on about tasting notes unless they were extra good or exceedingly poor. As it was a long tour with many stops, I’ll split this report up into several parts, generally three days/one city’s worth, and link to the separate reports at the bottom of the page.

    MONDAY 20/8/18

    We made the eight hour flight from Manchester, arriving into Boston Logan International Airport at around 15.30 local time. After a laborious one and-a-half hour’s queue to get through customs, we eventually caught a bus outside the terminal which dropped us off in Downtown Boston. It was a further 45 minute (a bit further than we’d anticipated) walk to find our AirBnB, where we finally arrived at about 18.45. After dropping our bags and looking around the place (it was to be home for the next three nights), the girls decided that they wanted to crash. Scary and I, however, were gaggin’ for a brew so it was back out to search for a bar. 

    We were drawn toward some bright lights in the distance, which turned out to be Fenway Park – the ground of Boston Red Sox, and tonight was a home game. We turned left onto Brookline Avenue, adjacent to the ground, where we found a string of bars both sides of the street. The first one we tried was Bar Louie – 121 Brookline Ave, Boston, MA 02215. The place was deserted and the barkeep told us that everybody was at the match. So we perched on barstools and watched the game on a TV above the bar. I reckon we had the best seats!

    This was a big bar and, to be honest, we were too tired to look around, but they had a decent selection of taps. I chose Be Hoppy, a 6.5% IPA from Wormtown plus a Voodoo Ranger by New Belgium 7% IPA and a Strawberry Rhubarb 6.4% sour from Great Divide. I was certainly ready for these and they all hit the spot.

    Menu at the Yard House.

    Next we tried the Boston Beer Works, a little further down the road but we were turned away as it was hosting a private party and asked to come back later. So over the other side of the road to the Yard House – 126 Brookline Ave, Boston, MA 02215, which we initially thought was closed because of the particularly dark window glass it was fitted with. To be honest, once inside it did feel a bit dark and dingy, but wow! what a selection. Around 100 taps! Just the three again in here: The Juice 5.8% pale by Peak Organic a Tangerine Hop Nosh 7.3% IPA by Uinta and the 6.6% Half-Stack APA by SingleCut Beersmiths. Fantastic stuff! If this was a preview of what was a head, then Hey, Hey, USA!

    Now back to Beerworks Brewing Co. – 61 Brookline Ave, Boston, MA 02215 and we were duly let in, as promised. Again, three were sampled, all brewed on-site: 6.6% Man Da Man APA, 5.8% Fenway Pale and a 4% Watermelon Ale. They were all pretty average, but we’d had our fill by now so decided to make our way back for some well-earned kip.

    TUESDAY 21/8/18

    Nice ‘n’ refreshed in the morning, we set off on foot into town for our first full day’s exploring, calling in at a diner on the way for some much need brekkie. Looking at the extensive menu, it looked like you you could have anything, as long it was eggs. Anyway, suitably egged up we were off to do a bit of history at the Massachusetts State House before making the obligatory visit to the world-famous Cheers – 84 Beacon St, Boston, MA 02108. Strangely, even though we’d never been here before, everybody knew our name.

    Despite it being before midday, the place was absolutely rammed with folk, many of them obviously not drinkers, but only here for a touristy photo-op and to buy overpriced, tacky merch. We managed to get some stools along the wall and tried to squeeze between the people sat at the bar in order get the barkeep’s attention which we eventually did and were duly served by a surly woman who obviously hated her job. Our choice was a pint of 6% Harpoon IPA from the local brewery of the same name. It was worth the effort. To be honest, although I’d watched Cheers back in the day, there was nothing here recognisable to me as being an original part of that TV series, apart from the approach to the pub from the street. Whether the place has been re-jigged since the series finished or was never used to film inside I don’t know. Suffice to say I found it a somewhat disappointing experience. Still, I can at least say I’ve been.

    Back at the State House, we were talking to one of the attendants about local history and, of course beer, and he told us to visit Green Dragon Tavern – 11 Marshall St, Boston, MA 02108, Boston’s oldest pub, so we made it our next stop. This place supposedly dates back to 1795, although I suspect it’s the the site of the original tavern, not the actual building. Nonetheless, it was a charming place and we found seats inside next to the open window where we could get some respite from the baking sun whilst people-watching outside. We were served at the table by a very pleasant lady (maybe she should go and have a word with the woman at Cheers), who took our order for a tray full of 6.1% Green Monsta IPA from Wachusett. Just the job.

    Beer at Boston’s oldest Tavern.

    Time for a bit more history and so we trekked through the Boston National Historical Park to the Bunker Hill Monument. Built to commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill of 1775, this monument stands 67m high. Of course, we had to climb it and by the time I reached the top, my thighs were on fire. The view we were rewarded with from the top was worth it though.

    We all thought we now deserved more beer, so we made for the Sommerville Brewing Company – Slumbrew, 15 Ward St, Somerville, MA 02143, and what a find this was! A 45-minute walk brought us to an anonymous-looking car park, where we saw a lady unpacking the boot (or should I say trunk?) of her car, who looked up, greeted us like life-long buddies and told us to ‘go inside, I’ll be with you in a minute!’

    We duly obeyed, settling at the bar. I ordered a taster board with five beers, all brewed on-site; 6% Message in a Bottle NEIPA, 4.9% Gose the Destroyer Sour, 9.5% Hop Angel TIPA, 7.3% Luma Luma IPA, and 5.8% Garden Grove – a ‘White’ IPA. They were all delicious. The lady from outside came in and introduced herself as the owner (sorry – lost the name) and gave us a brief history and insight into the Slumbrew ethos. As well as a brewery, the place acted as a community centre, hosting things such as bread-baking classes and suchlike. She also gave us a brief tour of the brewhouse and told us of its amazing history.

    Beer flights at the Slumbrew.

    She told us that before it became a brewery, the building was a research lab belonging to the Dept. of Defense (sic) and it was here that scientists had invented the material that was used to manufacture the heat-proof tiles on the American Space Shuttle. After the lab was closed and became a brewery, the top scientist chappie (who was apparently a beer fan) came back to visit and brought with him a beer mat-shaped section of tile which he had made especially. The owner still has it and showed us it back at the bar. Great story, even if it’s not true. Which I’m sure it is. Probably.

    Anyway, it was a great finish to the day, and seeing as it was now around 20.30 and we were still two-and-a-half miles from base, we decided to call it a day and started a slow walk home over the Charles River. A lovely start to our American Adventure, perfect balance between history, culture and beer.

    Tuesday’s route.

    WEDNESDAY 23/8/18

    For breakfast today, we stumbled upon the Trident Bookstore and Cafe, a novel place that was actually a book store but also had a food bar. Our selection, chosen from another eggy-orientated menu, set us up for the day ahead. Then it was another walk down to the harbour to visit Abigail’s Tea Room where we learned about the Boston Tea Party and had a chance to taste all the types of tea that were thrown overboard on that historic day. A taster flight of teas! How awfully civilised.

    Anyone for tea?

    But tea’s not really my bag (see what I did there?) man, so we set off to find the brewery of the mighty Trillium, which we duly did, half a mile away at 50 Thomson Pl, Boston, MA 02210. We didn’t realise though, that the brewery doesn’t have a tap, only a takeaway shop. But were informed that they run a ‘pop-up’ garden bar, located over the other side of the harbour. We pocketed that info for later, and carried on our walk along Seaport Boulevard to the Harpoon Brewery, 306 Northern Ave, Boston, MA 02210.

    It was only 14.00, but this place was rammed already. A big, modern bar area with rows of benches and expanses of windows affording a sea view (if you craned your neck). Small groups of people were being called in for brewery tours every twenty minutes or so. This place must’ve been raking the money in!

    Busy at Harpoon.

    I had a flight with four of their beers; Camp Wannamango, a 5% APA, the House Golden at 4.7%, Lime-y Vice, a 4.7% Gose and Take 5, a 4.3% Session IPA. I enjoyed them all. I also tried a 9% Space Cake DIPA from the fantastically-named Clown Shoes brewery, which was out of this world (geddit?). After a couple of hours, we decided to move on to find the Trillium beer garden we had been told about earlier. We set off back down the way we had come.

    Looking out to sea we could see some very ominous clouds and lightning flashes. It was very obvious that a cloudburst was imminent, so we made an unscheduled stop and darted into a Sports Bar called Tony C’s – 250 Northern Ave, Boston, MA 02210, just before the heavens opened up. Now I’m no expert, and I realise this was a sports bar an’ all, but I reckon they could have squeezed a few more TVs in here – I only counted 34 of them! Anyway, the beer selection was decent – 20 taps in all – from which I chose a Life 4.5% Session IPA from Lord Hobo, which was pleasant enough, and sipped whilst we waited for the rain to abate, which it did about an hour later.

    Back out into the evening sun and after a twenty-minute walk, we reached the Trillium Garden on the Greenway – Atlantic Avenue &, High St, Boston, MA 02110. This was literally a cordoned-off area (no door control) situated between two busy roads with a beer van selling some of the best beers in the world. This is a fantastic concept, but with all the red tape and licensing restrictions we have, I couldn’t see it taking off in the UK. Shame.

    Trillium on the Greenway.

    The place was extremely busy despite the recent downpour (there was no shelter here apart from some flimsy foliage) and we ordered some fantastic Trillium beers: Permutation 55, a 5.7% fruited gose, DDH Summer Street (aptly named!), a 7.2% APA and a 5.7% Launch Beer APA. All superb. If you are a craft beer fan, you really have to try these guys. They are the bollocks! We stood drinking and talking to the locals. One chap told us that there was another beer garden in the city and luckily it was on our way back to base. So after a couple of hours, we decided we should start the long walk via the other garden, of course!

    We didn’t reach the Night Shift Owl’s Nest Esplanade – Black Bay East, Boston, MA 02116, until about 21.30. Unfortunately, they closed at 22.00 and we’d ‘just missed’ last entry, but after Tracey sweet-talked the guy at the entrance and explained that we’d travelled over 3,000 miles to get there, he kindly let us in for last orders! I sampled just the one; The 87, a massive 8% Double NEIPA by Night Shift brewery, which I savoured for the last half-hour. Again, a simple roped-off area, this time situated on a grassed area adjacent to the Charles River, with a pop-up van serving fantastic beer. By this time it was dark and the rope lights in the trees made for a wonderful atmosphere and lovely end to the day.

    Great atmos at the Owl’s Nest.

    And that was it. The end of the first leg of our American Adventure. Tomorrow it was bye-bye Boston and off to New York. I loved Boston. It was clean, felt safe, the people were friendly and, being New England, it had that homely feel about it that you could feel comfortable in. If I were to recommend anywhere from our journey to a first-time visitor to the States, Boston would be top of the list.

    Wednesday’s route.
    SEE THE REST OF THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE HERE:

    Part 2: New York | Part 3: Washington | Part 4: Philadelphia | Part 5: Pittsburgh | Part 6: Erie & Buffalo | Part 7: Hamilton & Toronto

  • Bangin’ Barcelona!

    Bangin’ Barcelona!

    Lockdown has given me lots of time to catch up on things, so I’ve finally been able to get around to writing up about our 2019 visit to banging Barcelona. Only eighteen months later. Oh well.

    Because it’s so long ago now, I can only recall vague detail although I can tell you that Barcelona is a vibrant, bustling city with something for everybody. Compared to some other European cities I’ve visited, Barcelona is clean, organised and just a very nice place to spend time in. As well the as culture, shopping and architecture, it also has a fantastic craft beer scene, which is what I’ll be focussing on here of course!

    Before we get into the boring old beer stuff, here’s a little video montage I made of our visit.

    In stark contrast to my report on Rome, Barcelona is quite the opposite! It is clean, the traffic behaves and all road and track users are considerate and courteous with drivers, cyclists, scooterists (is that a word?), skateboarders, Segwayists (??) and pedestrians all using the same space and getting along just fine. Rome – watch ‘n’ weep!

    Before we left the UK, I researched first and made a map of all my intended beery destinations. Any sightseeing in between would be a bonus!

    Mrs Belvoir and I travelled out on Tuesday 4th June, arriving tea-timish. We had booked an Airb’n’b in the El Poblenou area to the north-east of the city. The airport shuttle dumped us mid-city at the Plaça de Catalunya, and we opted to walk the couple of miles or so to our digs, giving us ample time to take in the sights and sounds around us.

    The AirBnB was duly located in a characterless block of flats, but it was clean, reasonably priced and, although a couple of miles from the city centre, it was literally yards from the beach. More than that, I would soon discover, there were two cracking little craft beer bars nearby!

    View on AirbnbRental unit in Barcelona · ★4.60 · 1 bedroom · 1 bed · 1 private bathroom

    After fucking about trying to connect to our WiFi (our hosts had given me the router’s serial number, not the password), I gave up after 20 minutes and we decided to explore before the main heat of the day had gone. We walked along the promenade for a mile or so and found a little cafe where we had our first taste of authentic paella. It was only lukewarm (is this the way it’s supposed to be?) and a bit disappointing, truth be told. The beer choice here was piss poor, so I decided to hold off, hoping to find a bar on the way home. And what a winner I found!

    Hoppiness – Ramón Turró, 180 Barcelona, Cataluña is on an unassuming back-street corner that could easily be overlooked, but a bar frontage that stood out from the other buildings and the bustling crowd spilling out onto the street encouraged me to stick my nose inside. A small (compared to other establishments we were yet to visit) selection of twelve taps and two handpumps, serving a fantastic choice of craft goodies, from which I sampled three.

    The twin handpumps at Hoppiness were both redundant.

    Flor De Llúpol, a 6% IPA by La Vella Caravana. I was ready for this after a tiring day so far! It tastes of cannabis. Apparently. Second up was the 8.5% Lupulus Tripel by Brasserie Lupulus which was good, but the best came last. Patrons Project 17.02 Ethel Tropical IPA at 7%, a collaboration brew between the UK’s Northern Monk, Sweden’s Stigbergets and Garage, which was situated here in Barcelona. What a beer! This would set the scene for the rest of the holiday and was just what I needed to end the day. I loved this little place, and I would return several times over the next few days.

    So here’s a breakdown of our beery travels over the next week or so.

    WENESDAY 5/6/19

    Refreshed, we started off the day by walking down the promenade again. Apart from the beach having well-kept sands, the stretch is interspersed with communal areas such as skate parks, volleyball nets and public exercise areas kitted out with various gym equipment, all available at no cost. Even at this early(ish) hour on a Wednesday, all the spaces were being well used.

    A thirty-five minute stroll brought us to Ciutadella Park, a wonderful green space in the heart of the city, where we found a bench and took in the early morning rays and a sandwich before contemplating the rest of the route. We continued along to end of the promenade until we reached the entrance (or exit, depending upon your view) to the world-famous La Rambla, a bustling thoroughfare of shops, stalls and street entertainers that runs for over a mile toward the city centre.

    We walked the length of La Rambla, taking in Virreina Palace and Font de Canaletes before reaching the Plaça de Catalunya again, full circle from where we began yesterday. Mrs Belvoir agreed I had earned enough Brownie points by this time, so I informed her it was now gone 1.30 and was therefore pub o’clock.

    A lot of the bars didn’t open until around 4pm. Luckily I had researched this in advance and the nearest open watering hole was a fifteen minute walk away, the oddly-named CatBarCAT – C. Bòria, 17 Barcelona, Cataluña.

    Mrs Belvoir uses the toilet at the CatBarCAT.

    The Cat Bar is a quirky little bistro/cafe/bar selling a reasonable selection of beer, from which I just tried the one; Cyro IPA by Cerveza Fort, a delicious 6% IPA, which I drank as gracefully as possible, being that we had a toilet seat as a table!

    Another short walk south(ish) took us to Craft Barcelona – Carrer del Paradís, 4, 08002 Barcelona, Cataluña, another small foody-led place with beer that becomes a music venue in the evenings. The beer I tried – La Rumbera by Cerveses Almogàver wasn’t very NEIPA-ish as advertised, but was tasty nonetheless. Continuing our route in the same direction for another few minutes, past the Basillica of Santa Maria del Mar and into the Gothic Quarter brought us to our third stop, and what a gem this was!

    CraftBarcelona.

    Kaelderkold – C. Cardenal Casañas, 7 Barcelona, Cataluña has a long bar with no less than 24 taps on the back wall serving a plethora of world-class beers. It was difficult to know where to start, but confident that I’d be back, I opted for a taster board with five selections.

    Purp – a 5% fruited sour from Danish brewer Gamma.
    Glow – a 5% Session IPA by Basqueland, which was lemontastic.
    Slayer – a 6.6% thrashtastic American IPA brewed by local boys Garage.
    Dankey Kong – a delightful 6.5% NEIPA from Swedes Spike.
    Cartoons – another by Garage Beer, this time a whoppa DIPA at 8.6%. My cheeks (upper) were now glowing.

    Magnificent choice at Kaelderkold.

    We decided to reverse direction and start a slow walk back to our flat and half a mile later we hit our final stop, the Ale&Hop – 10 Carrer de les Basses de Sant Pere Barcelona, Cataluña. This was less a pub, more a bottleshop with a small bar sporting a modest six taps plus two handpumps (which were not in use). Time was marching on and the heat was getting to me so I just had the three!

    Patrons Project 10.06 – a 6.4% Yuzu IPA colab by UK’s Northern Monk and New Yorkers Finback. Splendid!
    Saison 5.5% by Cyclic Beer Farm. I thought his was OK, but I’m not a real Farmhouse style fan, so I may have been doing it an injustice.
    The Sunglasses Story 4.8% APA from Twisted Barrel Ale, who are located in Coventry UK.
    By now, the future looked so bright, I thought I’d better buy some shades.

    …and that was it, end of day one. A thirty-five minute walk and we were back at base camp by 9 o’clock. Indecently, the city nightlife doesn’t really get going much before ten, but as we’re old duffers we prefer it a bit quieter. Night night.

    Wednesday’s route.

    THURSDAY 6/6/19

    If I included all the places we visited in this report, you’d be scrolling from here to Hades, suffice to say there is a lot to see and Barcelona truly is a beautiful city. On Thursday we walked about 12 miles in total, taking in some wonderful sites on the way. But this is all about the beer, so here goes.

    First stop was Bar Centro – 55 Carrer de Casp Barcelona, Cataluña. Again, an unassuming frontage leading to a long, thin bar. It was all about the burgers in here, but they did have a good selection of beers. Indeed, there’s a sign in the window encouraging you to ‘DRINK CRAFT NOT CRAP’! I savoured just the one; Halloncinationer by Good Guys Brew, another Swedish brewery, and what a belter it was! A mere 4.5% sour fruited Berliner Weisse, but bursting with flavour. Sourcraftastic mate.

    A bit more sightseeing and then for our second stop, this time the Ølgod – Hospital 74 Barcelona, Cataluña. A ridiculous amount of taps here – 30 of them – offering a bewildering choice. I tried two: Xino Xano a 4% DH sour by Cyclic Beer Farm which was pretty average TBH, unlike the stupendous Patrons Project 13.04 – Omega Vortex 8%, another Northern Monk DDH DIPA collaboration, this time with US breweries Other Half and Equilibrium

    Beer and olives at the Ølgod.

    The third stop was unscheduled and unlisted, but we happened upon the Barcelona Beer Co – C. Muntaner, 7 Barcelona, Cataluña, so thought it would be rude not to call in. A nice enough bar, but the 5% Barcelona APA I sampled was nothing to write home (or here) about, so we swiftly moved on. Very average.

    Barcelona Beer Co.

    Much, much better was our final walk break of the day, the mighty Garage Beer Co. – C. del Consell de Cent, 261 Barcelona, Cataluña. These guys are brewing world-class beers ATM, IMO (why all the abbreviations?) And why is abbreviation such a long word? Anyways, as time was drawing on and certain I’d be back, I selected just two stonking NEIPAs; Gold on Blue at 5.7% NEIPA and Soup at 6%. It was a three and-a-half mile walk back to base, but by this time I didn’t care.

    Thursday’s route.

    FRIDAY 7/6/19

    Another long walking day – about 11 miles in all. We decided to trek up to the Gaudi-inspired Park Güell. We started a slow 4-mile walk toward the Carmell Hill and arrived around 1 o’clock. The last bit is a fairly steep climb, but is absolutely worth it to see the wonderfully laid-out gardens and views back over the main city. There is a little village of Gaudi-designed buildings, which I thought reminiscent of Portmeirion in Wales, that you could walk around for an entrance fee. Being that I’m a tight arse, and hating queues, I chose to sneak peeks through the gaps in the trees where I could. I’m sure it was very nice.

    After about an hour taking in the sites, it was time for a walk back into town via a totally random route. Mrs Belvoir needed some sustenance so we stopped at what seemed to be a little cakey shop on the corner of a lazy village square, but wow! What a corker we lucked upon!

    La Rovira – Plaça Rovira I Trias Barcelona, Cataluña seemed like a small bistro from the outside, but behind the cakes and pastries on the counter was a row of sixteen taps, serving a fantastic range of craft beers, some breweries I hadn’t even heard of!

    I had a 6.7% Batsquatch, an NEIPA from US brewers Rogue Ales for starters, which certainly hit the spot, but couldn’t prepare me for the brilliantly-named Boogie Till You Barf, a stunning 10% TIPA from the German Sudden Death Brewing. Superb. I wish all our cafes and bistros back home were like this! I couldn’t even find a website or Facebook link to this bar, which shows how anonymous the place was. Well worth the walk out of town though.

    Back out into the afternoon heat and another mile and-a-half brought us to La Menuda – C. Provença, 318 Barcelona, Cataluña, basically another burger bar with a ‘modest’ (only nine) selection of beers. I had three here;
    Nebula a 6.5% NEIPA by Spain’s Castelló Beer Factory, which was good.
    Galactic Sunrise another NEIPA, this time 7% by Cervecera Península from Madrid, which was faaab.
    Glory a massive, massive 10.5% TIPA by Northern Monk, which was nom nom noms. Northern Monk seem to have a good foothold in the city. Maybe because of the number of collab’s they’ve done over the years. It seems to be working!

    Massive choice at the CocoVail.

    The next stop – CocoVail Beer Hall – Carrer Aragó 284 bis Barcelona, Cataluña, 24 taps in here, but I just had the one because me chaps were still laughing from the Northern Monk I’d just had. Vulcano by Cerveses La Pirata was a 6.8% Sour IPA. Not the best of class but pleasant enough.

    It was all getting a bit fuzzy now, so we decided to find somewhere nearer to base for the last couple of scoops. The Cerveseria L’Alternativa – Pallars, 294 Barcelona, Cataluña – wasn’t originally on my radar but we just happened upon it on the way home, just two corners away from our digs. How fookin’ fortuitous was that?

    Again, a modest selection of eight taps but put to good use! I finished off the day with a Patrons Project 17.02 from Northern Monk, which I’d already tried at the Hoppiness on our day of arrival. It didn’t disappoint! The last of the evening was Engorile Bcn, a 6.4% APA from Engorile by U-hops, a nano brewery sited somewhere in the city. It was the perfect end to another lovely day.

    Friday’s route.

    SATURDAY 8/6/19

    By an amazing coincidence, we found out that Mark and Sue, our great friends from San Francisco, were on a European tour and were actually in Barcelona at the same time as us! We duly arranged to meet them for a fleeting half hour or so and managed to find them among the throngs of folk gathered in front of the magnificent Sagrada Familia (it’ll be nice when it’s finished) for the obligatory touristy selfie. It was lovely to see them again. We are due to visit them in the States in October 2021, but with all this Covid malarky it looks increasingly doubtful.

    Friends reunited!

    Our brief encounter was over all too soon, no time for a beer, but I made sure Mark had a can of Garage in his palm before we waved them away on the coach. Mrs Belvoir and I continued our day’s random sightseeing and it was almost 3 o’clock before we hit our first beer stop, HomoSibaris. – Plaça d’Osca, 4 Barcelona, Cataluña. Basically a small bottle shop with a few benches but a decent selection from fifteen taps. I chose the 5.5% Vanilla Milk Shake and 6.3% Gierzo DDH APA, both by Azimut Brasserie, which is located in the Bordeaux region of France. Both hit the spot.

    Tap menu at the HomoSabiris.

    I’m not really a BrewDog fan – they have lost their ‘punk’ roots and become the Corporation IMO, but seeing as we were passing, we called into BrewDog Barcelona – 69 Carrer de Casanova Barcelona, Cataluña, where I tried the Sheena 6% APA collab brew by BrewDog X Verdant which was very enjoyable. Just the one here, not wanting to give the Corporation any more Euros.

    Next up was BierCab – C. Muntaner, 55 Barcelona, Cataluña. Another cracking bar with 30 taps and rows of bottle fridges. They were playing metal on the sound system, so I requested some Rammstein, which came on immediately. To get me fully into the German groove,  I ordered an Anaconda Harmonica, a superb 8% TIPA by Fuerst Wiacek. These guys are rapidly becoming my favourite German brewers and if you haven’t checked ’em out yet, you really should. I followed up with Mind Control, a 7% IPA by Spain’s Naparbier which couldn’t really match the quality of the TIPA I’d just had but was nonetheless enjoyable.

    Bangin’ at the BierCab.

    It had been a long, hot day so we decided to head back home and revisit Cerveseria L’Alternativa, the local bar we had discovered a couple of days ago, for a nightcap. I wasn’t disappointed with my choice; Primavera by Cerveses La Pirata. A piddling 3.5% but very tasty hazy pale ale. Over and out.

    Saturday’s route.

    SUNDAY 9/6/19

    Our Sunday morning started with a walk down to Ciutadell Park then through the Gothic Quarter and down to the marina area of the Maremagnum shopping mall, where one could see the Telefèric de Montjuïc cable car which runs from the Montjuïc Park to the Montjuïc Castle on the summit of the hill. Again, as with much of Barcelona, even if you’re not into the shopping thing, it was just a nice place to just sit for a while, taking in the rays and people-watching. Continuing the walk down to the end of quayside we passed an area where street traders spread their wares over the pavements and entertainers er, entertained. Big crowds and a lovely atmosphere.

    Working our way through the throng then jinking right and to the rear of the imposing building that now faced us, we arrived at BlackLab – Plaça Pau Vila, 1 Barcelona, Cataluña. Being a brewery tap, they only sold their own beers, so I opted for a taser board with five selections; Punto De Rocío 5.7% Session IPA, Claudia 7% IPA, Drupe, a Sour Berliner Weisse, plus a Little Sister 4.3% session. They were all good, but the clear winner was the 6.5% Strawberry Shakedown Milkshake IPA nom noms.

    Beer board at the BlackLab.

    Fábrica Moritz Barcelona – Rda. de Sant Antoni, 41 Barcelona, Cataluña was on my list but when we arrived it was quite evident it was going to be a disappointment. It’s a pretty impressive place (the building is cavernous inside) but it was obvious to me they didn’t get the ‘craft’ thing. This was confirmed when I tasted my Moritz BaPA 6% APA, which was decidedly mediocre. Nice building, average beer. Move along there!

    Final one of the day was a re-vist to Hoppiness near base camp. I opted for the North X Jakobsland collaboration Double NEIPA at 8%, which was so good I went back twice for it. Yaaaaaaaw Nanna!

    Sunday’s route.

    MONDAY 10/6/19

    To be honest, in five days, we’d probably exhausted the sightseeing potential of the city, and it was a getting a little repetitive but there were still pubs on the list to visit!

    The first one today was Beer’linale – C/ Del Carme, 7 Barcelona, Cataluña. An impressive selection here with no less than 30 taps. Not being shy, I chose the 10.9% Hay-Z-Daze from Czech brewers Pivovar Raven which was not an NEIPA as advertised but still good.

    Take your pick at the Beer’linale.

    Next up was the already visited Kaelderkold, where I sampled the Outlier 4.8% session IPA by Garage which was fab and The Prep from Barcelona’s Wylie Brewery, a 5.4% NEIPA which was not quite so fab but tasty enough.

    Ølgod Craft Beer Bar followed, another second visit. This time trying the 5.5% Phenomena, again by Garage Beer Co. Wow! It’s sour! it’s coffee! It’s fab! I followed this with another Wylie beer, Rocky Rolla Coasta a 6% APA which was equally as good.

    The first ‘new’ bar of the day was Abirradero – 77 Carrer de Vila i Vilà Barcelona, Cataluña, a craft beer and tapas bar sporting no less than 40 taps. Unfortunately, I was less than impressed by the beer menu and thought I’d try a couple of their ‘House’ beers, which I was told were brewed by Fermun Beers. I couldn’t find much gen on these guys, so I suspect they are a fake brewery. If you can enlighten me, please leave a comment! Suffice to say that neither the 6% CitraMango Juice IPA or 6% MosaicPassion Juice IPA did anything for me. I assumed by the names and ABV that they were just ‘syrupping’ up versions of the same beers. Let me know if I’m wrong.

    And that was it. Disappointingly, a somewhat lacklustre end to to the day.

    Monday’s route.

    TUESDAY 11/6/19

    RAIN! And lots of it. After sitting in our room for two hours waiting for it to abate, we decided to brave it and find somewhere to buy an umbrella. This was easier said than done but we did eventually find a shop which had some ‘in the back’. I’m sure I paid a hell of a premium for the thing, but hey! Mrs Belvoir was now happy(ish). A least sightseeing was off the cards and today would be a pub crawl. Yay!

    En route, we popped into the La Boqueria Mercat, a massive food market. Extremely busy here with venders selling virtually everything you could name that’s edible. Mrs Belvoir tried another (lukewarm) paella. I tried a pot of locally produced pork scratchings followed by chocolate-covered strawberries on a stick.

    Fast food at Boqueria Mercat.

    Lunch out of the way, we soon arrived at Garage Beer Co where I sat and savoured a selection of their beers, whilst we watched through the widow at the rain-sodden, miserable looking folk pass by. Every beer in here was a winner; The 4% Session IPA (good), 6.2% Trouble NEIPA (wooot!), 5.7% Loose NEIPA (good), 5.6% Michael’s fruited Berliner Weisse (melonsourtastic) and old dependable 6% SOUP NEIPA (fab). These boys really know how to brew craft beer.

    Then onwards, back to the BierCab where I had another beer from Fuerst Wiacek, the stupendously delicious Subtopia 6% sour IPA. But even this didn’t prepare me for the taste sensation that was Zoetrope, an 8% TIPA by Spanish micro brewers Gross. Wowsers!

    Ale&Hop was next and another two crackers; C.R.E.A.M. 6.8% Milkshake IPA by Basqueland Brewing (superb) and Sine Qua Non 4.5% session IPA from Twisted Barrel Ale. Unsurprisingly, things we starting to get a bit fuzzy now so we decided to make our way back.

    Ale&Hop. Small on the outside, beautiful on the inside!

    Last call was back at Hoppiness where I enjoyed a Rangers Things 6% NEIPA by Cerveza Malandar. An excellent finish to a very soggy day.

    Tuesday’s route.

    WEDNESDAY 12/6/19

    Our last full day today and, to be honest, just over a week and we’d had enough. Nonetheless, this turned out to be the ‘walkiest’ day we had… 14 miles! The rain had stopped and we were determined to make the best of it.

    We started the day again with a nice leisurely walk down the length of the promenade to the marina and shopping area, and onward to the Columbus Monument. We turned back toward the Gothic Quarter ,where we passed the tastefully-named Bollocks, a burger/cocktail and rock ‘n’ roll bar. It didn’t open until 7pm, but to be honest I think we’d have given it a body swerve anyway.

    Mmmm. Niiice!

    Not too bothered about not being able to access Barcelona’s Bollocks, we carried on our aimless stroll, reaching the BlackLab at just gone 1 o’clock. A new beer had appeared since our last visit, so I tried the 7% Claudia Passion IPA, along with the fab Strawberry Shakedown I’d already had previously. It was hot today and I kept having to shift my position under the parasol in an attempt to stay in the shade. Eventually all angles were exhausted and we were forced to move on.

    Brewplant at BlackLab.

    The next bar was again found by accident, and I would’ve kicked myself if I’d missed it. Mikkeller Bar – Carrer Valencia 202 Barcelona, Cataluña, is situated a little out of town, but again worth the walk. As seemed to be the norm here, there was a small, almost anonymous frontage, leading in from the street to a long, deep bar area. The modern interior wasn’t what I’d describe as homely, but here it’s all about the beer. We chose to sit in a sheltered area just outside the door, where I sample three excellent beers;

    Splat, a 6.8% IPA and a Bean Geeks Hazy NEIPA at 4.7%, both by Danish brewers and hosts Mikkeller. Rød Grød med Fløde , a 6% fruit beer by fellow Danes To Øl followed, which was truly splendilicious.

    In the shade at Mikkeller bar.

    By this time it was about 6.45 and as it was our last day and we still had to pack for tomorrow’s flight, we decided to call it a day and start walking the 3 miles or so back, taking the last one in my favourite bar of the holiday, Hoppiness.

    Once there, I found the North X Jakobsland NEIPA that I’d sampled a couple of days ago was still on so I took full advantage and had three of them. Last of the holiday and a sooooperb end to a fab break in a cracking little corner bar.

    Wednesday’s route.

    Barcelona, quite apart from the beer scene, is a beautiful place to visit and I can’t wait to go back again once all this Covid shit is over. We had a smooth flight back on the 13th and then it was onward to the Nottingham Craft Beer Festival on the 14th. But that’s another story.

    Find me on Untappd
    Some tinnies wot I have necked.
    And some further pics from Barcelona below.

  • From the Archives: Drowning Poole.

    From the Archives: Drowning Poole.

    The second of my archive ramblings from Newark CAMRA’s newsletter is from July 2003.

    After several weeks of unseasonably warm weather, it was finally time for our planned long weekend trip south to Poole. No surprise, then that the weather broke the day I drove down to Wiltshire, raining torrentially for almost two days without stopping. Never mind, most of my holiday was spent in pubs, so it didn’t really matter!

    The first stop was to break the journey and I chose a pub from the 2003 Good Beer Guide, the Earl of Normanton in Idmiston, Wiltshire, situated about three miles away from Stonehenge.

    This was a marvellous country pub with a raised-terrace drinking area at the rear of the pub with excellent panoramic views of the surrounding Wiltshire countryside. Alas, it wasn’t much use this wet July evening, except for a few pigeons and care-free sheep. Instead, we chose to sit inside the large horseshoe-shaped bar and sample the beers.

    Although a free house, the pub had a tie-in with Cheriton brewery and beers on offer were Cheriton Pots Ale, Village Elder and Best Bitter. Also on was Hopback Summer Lightning. I tried them all, and although they were all in excellent condition, the Village Elder stood head and shoulders above the rest and I settled on that for the rest of the evening.

    After six pints and a very good home-cooked supper, we retired to our B&B which was a recently converted barn across the courtyard from the pub. Thanks to the half-dozen I’d consumed, I slept soundly and didn’t hear the intruder trying to get in, who was consequently chased away by the landlord at 3 a.m.

    I  did, however, hear our early-morning call, which took the novel form of a car leaving the bend and smashing into a wall about six inches away from our chalet and two feet away from the rear of our parked car! Over breakfast I was assured that not all guests receive this special treatment!

    Friday morning we continued on to Poole, our B&B situated on the road, about central to our planned pub crawl and only ten minutes walk from the town centre. Some more sightseeing took up the afternoon, and then on with the all-important bit, exploring the pubs. The 2003 GBG lists eight, plus an Inn Brief, and I intended to do them all, bar the one out-of-town.

    Friday evening we walked down to the quayside and found a charming little boozer, the Poole Arms. Cosy and one-roomed, its narrow frontage is completely covered in green tiles. Although it wasn’t GBG listed, I couldn’t pass it without going in, and was rewarded with an excellent pint of Ringwoods Best, which was enjoyed sitting outside on the quayside, people-watching for half-an-hour.

    Apparently, the pub is up for sale and the owners want to be very careful who they sell it to, lest it falls into the hands of someone who doesn’t care about pub tradition and turns it into less than it deserves. It is only too easy to see how this could happen along this trendy stretch of the waterfront. Let’s hope they get the right buyers.

    The next three pubs were all in the GBG. First the Blue Boar. This pub is split into two levels the Lounge Bar and the Cellar Bar. We chose the latter. The cellar bar was very reminiscent of the (now sadly closed) Cornhill Vaults in Lincoln. The walls were covered with nautical items and relics from the now demolished Poole Power Station. Here, I chose a pint of Cottage Southern Bitter, again very good condition. There was a band set up for live entertainment, but we left before they came on.

    One thing that I had never seen before was that the necks of the beer engines were extended above the bar, allowing the glass to sit on the bar under the nozzle and beer dispensed into it. This was of course possible because the beers were not served with a sparkler and therefore didn’t have the unnecessary one inch of unwanted froth on the top.

    It is also worth pointing out that beers served in this way (usually) don’t need topping up. Indeed, we went all holiday without seeing any beer wasted over the side of the glass, or having to ask for a top-up. Lined glasses? Certainly not around here. Nor are they needed!

    Next up, the Royal Oak and Gas Tavern. Situated on a back street, just three or four minutes from the Boar, the Gas Tavern was my favourite pub of the whole weekend. No frills, no gimmicks, just a great, unspoilt, welcoming local serving another great pint of Ringwood’s Best.

    Final call of the evening was back around the corner, onto the Old High Street, and into the Brewhouse. Until recently this was the site of the Poole Brewery, which I was told has relocated. Another no-frills pub, probably catering for the younger drinker, with TV, two pool tables and loud music. Strangely, in comparison to the Gas Tavern, which was heaving with customers, the Brewhouse was pretty quiet. A good selection of beers, though, from which I chose Mermaid, and though I can’t remember who brewed it, I can still taste it! Great stuff. Then it was back to base via the Tandoori Nights curry house.

    Saturday morning – no let-up in the rain, and another five GBG pubs to fit in. After a good full English, we started the long walk up Parkstone, onto the Bournemouth Road, and reached the Branskome Railway Hotel at just gone noon.

    The frontage of the Branskome is magnificent and inviting, with its strong Victorian architecture adorned by blossoming hanging-baskets. Alas, step into the bar and you stand in a dingy, smoky, run-down, establishment that is not at all welcoming or enticing. Sticky-topped, rickety old tables, ripped upholstery with its stuffing spilling out, tobacco-stained walls that haven’t been painted for years, and the wall behind some furniture or something that’s been pulled out that hasn’t been painted at all!

    Add to this a very dodgy pint of Hampshire Brewery Strongs Bitter, and I can’t think of one reason to return there. Shame, because this has the potential to be a great establishment.

    Next, back up towards the Ashley Road to the Hogshead. Nothing exciting here. The usual Hogshead layout, décor and standard beer range. I settled for an OK pint of Boddingtons and waited for the rain to abate, with no luck.

    Back out into the rain, reversing the way we came and we found three GBG pubs, quite literally within (if you are very good at it) spitting distance of each other. The Bermuda Triangle is situated perhaps a hundred yards from the main road, but could have been in the middle of a village. A pub of real character with little snugs and annexes. The walls and ceiling are decorated with maps, news cuttings and memorabilia of the Bermuda Triangle, including part of an aircraft wing. Four constantly-changing beers are available here.

    I asked for Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbody Summertime Ale. It was in good condition, but slightly warm, perhaps because there weren’t many drinkers in and I had the first one out. But you could tell that this is a serious drinkers pub, and I would like to go back when its busier. A strange thing; As I left the Bermuda, I turned to take a snap of it. When looking at the photo later on my PC, a ghostly grey shape could be made out in the left upstairs window. Spooky, eh?

    Directly opposite is the Bricklayers Arms, our next port of call. Another basic pub, lacking any real character, but serving a fine pint of Ringwoods Best. Ringwoods seem to have a good foothold in this area, the brewery being situated at just over the Hampshire border in nearby, er, Ringwood. Fortunately they produce a good range of traditional beers.

    Out of the Bricklayers, turn left, back past the Bermuda, and the Central is located on the corner to Commercial Road. The Central is Hall & Woodhouse owned, another large traditional boozer. A fine interior with large potted plants, spectacular marble fireplace, brass fittings, etched windows and grand curtains. My pint of Badger was OK, but nothing to write home about. Very nice surroundings, though.

    And that was it! Id cracked my list of GBG pubs, and it was only about five o’clock. But this little chappie wasn’t ready to retire yet. Oh, no! We took in four more pubs – the Britannia: a plastic pub serving an average pint of Ringwood Best; In and out of the Conjurer’s Half Crown (no real ale); A good pint of Tetley in the Shah of Persia and finishing up at The George. A large, bustling town centre pub serving a good drop of Hampshire Romsey Bitter.

    Poole, especially the old town, has some great pubs and is well worth a visit. In fact, considering the proximity of Bournemouth, it might be worth taking in both towns next time.

  • From the Archives: Go Go Goa.

    From the Archives: Go Go Goa.

    For the next few posts, I thought I’d reproduce some beery ramblings I wrote for the local CAMRA newsletter. The following appeared in Newark CAMRA’s Beer Gutter Press and was from April 2001

    India doesn’t immediately spring to mind when a real ale enthusiast thinks of heaven and they’d be right! In fact, its a beer desert, as BoldBelvoir discovered on a recent trip to the Indian state of Goa.

    India does, however, have a large and thriving beer-making industry with several large breweries such as Kingfisher, Impala and Arlem. All the beers produced here are bottled, but sadly not of the conditioned type and usually in the Pilsner style. The most popular varieties in Goa seemed to be Kingfisher, Belo, San Miguel and Kings.

    The popular Kingfisher, produced by United Breweries in Bangalore, claims itself to be the ‘King of good times’. Belo, brewed by the Impala Brewery at Assolda Quepem, states on the label that it is brewed with spring water, choicest German hops and specially selected malt. The strength of both these beers is stated on the label as alcohol content less than 5% which I suppose could mean anything from 0 to 4.9%! My guess is, though, that they are around 4.6 – 4.8%.

    In bars, the beers will sell for around 40 to 50 Rupees (61-76p) for a 650ml bottle. In supermarkets they are considerably less, thanks to Goa’s low taxation. All the mentioned beers are fairly dry, crisp and clean, but sadly lacking any form of flavour!

    In his quest for knowledge of all things beery, BoldBelvoir arranged a visit to the Arlem brewery at Raia, North Goa. After some haggling over price, we set off by taxi on the 50km ride to the brewery, or ‘beer factory’, as the locals call it.

    Road travel in India is not to be undertaken by the faint hearted. One needs a couple of beers even to dare setting foot in a cab! However, after about an hour-and-a-half and ten near-accidents later, we arrived at the gates of the Arlem brewery, to be met by a uniformed guard sitting in a sentry box behind a barb-wired fence. Our cab driver negotiated for us, and after a while and a bribe of 20 Rupees, we were allowed in and directed toward the reception entrance.

    After walking the length of the beer factory, which more resembled an Iraqi aircraft bunker than a brewery, we arrived at the doors, where we were greeted by a bewildered looking chap who informed us “Sorry, brewery broken down. No production. Can you come back in six weeks?” “Can we just look around?” we asked. “No, all doors locked” we were told. “Have you any publicity materials we can take please? We’ve come a long way”. “No!” We persisted – “Please can we just take some photos, then?” “No photos, strictly prohibited” (presumably this was to stop people seeing the dilapidated state of the building!).

    Eventually, after much haggling and a few sycophantic comments about the Indian cricket team, we were invited to sit for tea (the man had apparently attended a test match at Trent Bridge). The chap then disappeared and returned about twenty minutes later with a selection of bottle labels and then proceeded to explain them all, one-by-one. They were all lagers, ranging from the 8.75% Pilsner Beer to the 5% Arlem Diet low-calorie beer. A few more words about cricket and that was it. Our visit was over without even getting past the reception!

    So, India a beer paradise? Not really. All the beer tastes the same and it is served so cold that it anaesthetises the tonsils. But to be honest, in this place where the sun shines constantly, the leaves of the coconut trees rustle in the breeze as if applauding each other and curries burst with flavour, it doesn’t really matter.