Beer, Bank Holidays and burgers

Bank holiday Beers

There was a bank holiday coming up, we had decided to meet up to while away a long bank holiday in the company of ourselves and a couple of local pubs.  Harry has recently taken up running and had found a nice route around Kew Green and as all people when exercising thought – “I really should do a pub crawl around here!” I like his style.  I made my excuses from home and decided to make my way down the M4/5.  We had a list of four pubs, nicely located around the green so we could get a few pubs off the list and also get to see the sights south of the river.

Being a bank holiday, the forecast the weekend before had been good.  “We’ll have a BBQ in your garden” we thought.  Being a bank holiday the forecast suddenly turned bad.  “Stuff it, we’ll do it anyway” we thought.  There was a forecast for thunder and lightning and wouldn’t you know it, it was a balmy night in London!  I don’t care what the weatherman says, when the weatherman say’s it’s raining.  You’ll never hear me complaining.  I’m seeing sunshine.  Hey, that’s catchy I might write a song about it or something.

We made our way to the first pub [Editor: After washing the BBQ down with some strong Polish beers – I think we had 4 cans each before heading out].

The Greyhound Inn.

I really enjoyed this place.  I mean really enjoyed it. Being a younger cousin I grew up knowing that my old cousin Harry was infinitely better at most things than me because I am younger. Tonight however we met as equals.  This as a result led to a competitive streak against each other.  A healthy one, but one, none the less.  As we walked past the entrance, I saw straight away the collection of board games, there were all sorts there but I plucked for the thinking man’s game.  Connect 4.  The game of champions.  

But what about the pub, I hear you say? The pub is light and airy,  it has the look more of a restaurant than a pub but it’s all the better for it.  Out the back is a nice and spacious beer garden with individual booths or tables.  You can have a conversation without feeling as if you are impeding on anyone and no-one is impeding on you.  It creates a sound of a welcoming atmosphere you can relax in. We had ourselves a couple of Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and settled down for a bit of healthy competition.  Harry didn’t get the memo.  I beat him 4-0! 4-0,  if it was a boxing match he would have thrown in the towel (if that comment makes the edit I’d be amazed!).  The pint of Landlord was smooth, it was a good light beer just what you need at the start of a crawl and basking in the warm glow of victory and a London sun it was perfect.

Having finished our pint we made our way clockwise around the green towards our next destination.  There is a lovely little duck pond in the top right corner.  It is really easy to forget that you are in London, block your ears and you would think you were in a quiet country village. 

The coach and horses.

The Coach and horses is situated on the southern part of Kew Green,  It’s a very grand pub that also doubles as a 31 room hotel.  It’s now run as a Young’s pub so has been gentrified and they do love a good pint of Camden Hells in there [Editor: I had the spring ale - very refreshing and not gassy]. 

Given our history and our love of a good pint we opted for that and settled down on a table by the South Circular.  It was noisy, as you would expect but facing the sun that’s when my bladder had decided to start kicking off.  I made my way to the toilets,  here’s a thing I have found about Young’s pubs they always seem to smell of fish and chips.  I don’t know why and it could be the same for all gastro pubs but the smell of fish and chips is strong.  After relieving myself I noticed a sign saying “secret garden”.  I made my way back.. A secret Garden.  This has to be investigated.  Navigating past the bar, the old library rooms that lead off from it we found the secret garden.  I found a haven!  It’s situated at the back, the road noise from the other side is non-existent and yet again, we weren’t in London but far, far beyond.  Putting the world to right, absorbing the last of the sun’s rays it was time to make our way to the third pub on our short hop.

The Botanist

The Botanist is a stone’s throw from the Coach and Horses.  It’s a roomy and airy place with the bar being the centre point of the pub.  How it should be!  It’s located within the confines of a green-house with a great selection of spirits to choose from.  The floors are stone, there are lots of beer mats on the walls and the place definitely has a laid back vibe.  I was feeling at home!   Harry’s confidence was clearly coming back after the connect 4 killing from earlier and found a Jenga set amongst a grand selection of board games.  We found ourselves a table in the beer garden and started round two.  As we sat there drinking our pints of Seafarers a hush set upon us.  Competition was brewing. Harry wanted revenge.  He hadn’t needed, I won 2-0.  We pondered about staying on for another but I think we both knew that would have just led to more victories we didn’t say it.  In fact we were talking about something else.  However,  the subtext of the conversation would have had dickens himself proud.

The night drew in and we made our way to our fourth pub…

The Cricketers

The pub itself has a couple of beer tables out the front and inside is decorated with a lot of bare beams and wooden floor, it has a really good sight of the green and the cricket green directly outside.  I imagine in the heat of summer you wouldn’t be able to move in this place.  Having been used to drinking al-fresco for the majority of our evening we made our way out to the front when I overheard a group having a discussion.  “no way, domino’s is the best pizza” oh no.  This is a debate I just have to be part of!  I will state this now; Domino’s is never the answer. Ever [Editor: Dominos got me through Uni…although admittedly I haven't touched it since!!]. We all put forward our cases and their points were dismissed.  We finished chatted about other things then heard the bell for closing time [Editor: Oh nooooo we didn't!!].  Having debated whether to find somewhere closer to carry on drinking we decided against it.  Then went past The Plough in Ealing on the way home and thought better of it.[Editor: I was hoping we could go to a microbrewery near where I live called the Owl & The Pussycat…sadly after Googling, we learned it closed at 10:30pm…it was around this time when we were on the bus…that's when we decided on The Plough.]

The Plough

The Plough is a Fullers gastropub situated in Northfields, it’s a spacious pub where you can always find a seat they also have a good selection of spirits.  It was the end of the night and thought “ah, what the hell” and tried a couple of coffee tequila’s [Editor: You're order two Kraken rum which they gave us in shot glasses, which is plain wrong but we knocked them in anyway. Then when it was my round I got the coffee tequilas].  They went down rather well.  So we got another couple as well.  We settled down to a nice pint of Seafarers, discussed a new found love of Kew Green and our complete dismay that people actually order a domino’s.

We had a busy day ahead of us the following day.  As a closer to the night I would like to say, if you got a VHS tape through your letterbox for instance, old copies of Sex and the City, some Dolph Lungren action movies or even a box set of Friends.  It wasn’t us.  Promise. [Editor: A few days later I saw some Eddie Murphy movies growing out of the trees!]

Saturday.

We woke up, had our bacon sandwiches and alka-seltzer and, made our way over to the Angel, Islington, that is.   The trip from Harry’s to Islington is a long ride, especially in the heat and with a slightly sore head.  How on earth in the 21st century there is still no air con across the whole tube I don’t know.  We had pre-booked tickets to see Solo, A Star Wars Saga.

***Spoiler alert***

Watch A New Hope and you get the synopsis.  Get the anticipation that you had about how great The Last Jedi would be combined with the disappointment of how that turned out and you sort of get a rough feeling of the roller-coaster ride that you are in for.

***End of the spoiler alert***

After leaving the cinema we made our way to The York just set back enough from the A1 to be quiet enough to chat without shouting.  We managed to manoeuvre a couple of seats and discussed the film and people-watched.  The pub itself is very dark wooded, it has a spacious feel to it and although busy the staff were quick to serve.  We ordered a couple of Camden Hells and let the relaxing begin.  The sun was shining, there was a good beer in our hand and we had an hour to kill.  This is what Saturdays were designed for.  Even I only had one moan.  If you are outside a pub, with glass would it kill you to put the glass preferably inside, failing that on a table.  The amount of times you see glass strewn on the floor is ridiculous.  These things are taken into account when licenses are renewed.  If you want a pub, respect it and its surroundings otherwise the council are more than happy to turn it into flats!

Moan over, now onto the main event.

The Brewhouse & Kitchen – Islington

We arrived at the B&K in good time and decided to sink a pint before we started our tasting session.  The pub itself is very relaxed with wood throughout.  It has a good selection of beers – I’ll get to that in a minute – and in the past was a Pizza Restaurant.  Which you can tell from the layout.  We got there at 5 and the bar had a couple of people in which left it more on the quiet side than most would like but enough people in to not feel dead.  We made our way over and settled down.  There were 8 people in our group, 4 in our party and another party of 4.  We were then joined by our Czech host - - I’ve done all sorts of tours of breweries in the past and from experience they spend a bit of time showing you the history of the place, the brewing equipment and you get a pint at the end.  In here the opposite is the case.  You get no tour – it’s a microbrewery.  You don’t get to marvel at the equipment – it’s a microbrewery.  You do get to try a lot of beer – you guessed it, it’s a microbrewery.  The structure goes, you get a host.  Who will explain the beer, the process that goes into it and a 1/3 pint to taste, and here’s the best bit, you get a sheet to score points against!  Then at the end, to help sober you up you get a selection of either burgers or hotdogs.

I warn you in advance, this is beer nerd heaven!

Arch-Angel – 3.8%

First up is the Arch-Angel, It’s a session beer which means it is designed for exactly that.  It had a dark caramel appearance with a cocoa-esqe taste.  That does it probably less of a justice than it should.  It was light to drink without being substantial.  I gave it a middling 6, it would have been good for a starter, however there was no way I could have drunk it all night.  However, enthusiasm and the earlier few pints meant I was in the mood for beer, so I drank it quicker than I should have!  Looking around I think I was probably more inclined than others, I think I gave it the highest score on the table.

Whilst that beer settled our host went and got the next beers.

Westwood – 4.8%

Beer #2 was called Westwood,  our host took us through the different processes that make things different between making an IPA and a session beer and how the different flavours and notes come through, like I said, Beer nerd heaven.  Anyway, the next up was the Westwood it’s an IPA which was light cloudy beer with citrus tone to the palate.  In the old days an IPA (Indian Pale Ale) would have been made in the UK and shipped to – house point for anyone who guesses my next word! – India.  When the empire was strong it required the workers to be kept happy  and the best way to keep them happy is to give them lots of beer.  Traditional beer would, given the travel conditions be dreadful so London breweries worked out that having higher hops and higher alcohol preserved the beer for longer.   IPA’s then went into a decline before a Renaissance in the 80’s and 90’s to becoming the staple of craft brewers that it is today.  Enough however of the history lesson, how does this taste?  In all honesty I wasn’t a fan, it was a bout cloudy and though being citrus flavoured it wasn’t one I’d go back for.  I rated it a 4/10

Chaplin – 6%

Next up is the Chaplin,  so named because of the close proximity to the brewery to where the silent era star lived.  This is a bitter, hoppy dark coloured drink.  It was better than I thought it would be.  If I’m honest Bitter is probably the last drink I would order at the bar.  I always associate it with being the 99p pint in a crap pub.  I had to put my prejudices aside and gingerly raised the glass to my mouth.  Bizarrely,  it wasn’t as bad as I thought, I could even be tempted to not immediately skip past the bitter section at the bar next time!  This onehad a nice undertone to it and a taste that changed as you sipped it.  I gave it a 5/10 because although it was better than the bitter I remember, it was still, a bitter.

Wine Stephani – 5.4%

Probably the most shoe-horned beer name in the world, ever!

Weiss beer has a peculiar history, originating in Bavaria wises beer was due to laws there banned from being brewed unless Under Reinheitsgebot, the German brewing purity law, wheat was prohibited as an ingredient in beer. Apart from one exception if you were part of the royal family.  Although I have no evidence of this I’m sure this in part led to the downfall of the royal family in Germany.  The beer itself had all the hallmarks of a Weiss beer.  It was very light with a good head [Editor: That's what SHE said!] on the top and millions of little bubbles.  It also tasted of banana,  as it should  the taste it self reminded me of the foam bananas you used to get from pick’n’mix.  I gave it a favourable 8/10 to start with but by the end was gasping for Rennie so I knocked it down 2 points to a 6.  I would definitely drink it again, just have to remember anti indigestion tablets.

I have to admit, I was feeling a bit tipsy at this point, we had to knock the first 4 in in an hour combined with fag breaks and the heat I was definitely feeling the sauce.  You could tell that others were as well as the entries on their sheets had a lot less on compared to the beginning.

So far we had had session, IPA, Bitter and a Weiss.  Next up, Lager.  Now I do like a good lager, by that I mean a lager that is good.  The Carlings, Stellas and Kronenbergs of the world can fuck off, but the good quality ones I could drink forever.  Which leads me onto…

Legend - 5%   

This lager was a nice, smooth and clear Lager.  It also had little to no fizz in the glass and after the Wine Stephani from earlier was a warmly welcome.  I really enjoyed this one.  It was my favourite one of the beers we tasted and went down well. I gave this an 8/10 and if I was to go back there would certainly comeback for more.   

At this point everyone was starting to relax there was a good rapport going with the host and I was getting into the groove. 

Tom Gellow – 6.2%

Here we go, we are getting into the strong stuff now and this is a quality blonde ale and it packs a punch.  You could tell we were getting closer to the end and I think this was dragged out to make sure that any sober people at the table weren’t leaving that way.  After a lager, a blonde Ale is my next choice.  There’s a whole contrast of history about where these ales originate from.  I like to think it was monks getting pissed and finding a recipe that worked and sticking with it.  I doubt it but I’m a dreamer!  I gave this a strong 8/10.

Ok, so having traversed the board and trying a little bit of everything our host then decided to give a devilish smile and wanted to take us off the beaten path and into the realms less travelled

Tailgate Peanut Butter Milk Stout – 5.8%

So here’s the thing I’ve spent how long learning about all sorts of beer and how hops can make things taste of banana, can give a caramel taste and so on and so forth.  I’ve drunk a few drinks in my time and thought I knew it all.  Then this comes out of nowhere and hits me.  A beer, that smells like peanut butter, but tastes like coffee.  Thank god I was drunk at this point as I don’t think my mind could have handled it any other way!  As with all stouts, it’s dark but also sweet at the same time.  This would make a good dessert beer and although it was heavy I actually enjoyed it – I scored it a healthy 7/10.  Maybe it was the novelty, I don’t know but I have had my mind opened.  This left us with one beer left to try.  [Editor: I enjoyed it too but don't think I could drink a pint of it. 1/3 of a pint was about right.]

Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen – 5.1%

Now, there is no way I would order this at the bar simply because there is no way I would have been able to pronounce it.  This is another stout but this time it tasted of bacon.  Now I love a good bacon butty, as my waist line will show.  I think especially after a few drinks a bacon sandwich and an alka-seltzer can settle the roughest of stomachs and settle you down for the next day.  The combination of the two was a bit too much for me, it really was and as a result I didn’t finish my beer.  That’s unheard of.  I can only give this a 2/10 as a result and hope that it doesn’t affect my love of beer or bacon in the future! [Editor: I really enjoyed the smokey taste and it went really well with the butter milk chicken burger, I had. Again, I wouldn't be able to drink a pint of it. 1/3 of a pint was about right.]

Post drink burger.

 The food selection at the Islington - B & K is limited but it’s the sort of stuff you want after a few beers and ours arrived in good time,  the table had a whole range of them and certainly helped sober up a bit.  The time was now approaching 7pm and we had to say our goodbyes and make our way through the streets of Islington to find a pub to watch the Champions league final.

The Castle

After a long trek we all managed to find a pub we were happy with called The Castle.  This place has a bit of infamy, it was where the Hatton Garden Jewellery heist was planned.  The pub itself is a nice open cosy pub with monopoly stylings around the walls.  Although some of it looks as if it is time for a refurb in general the place is relaxed without feeling too busy.  I learned afterwards that it claims to have the best roof terrace in the Angel.  That’s a bold claim and I wish I had sampled it whilst I was there.  We settled down to watch the football and had 3 pints of Peroni during the course.

The Joker of Penton Street

Final call of the evening before we went our merry way we stopped at the Joker of Penton Street.  Tonight it wasn’t that busy a couple of people dotted about the place with a bit of background music [Editor: I still have the image of that amazing peach with saw right next to us….but that's another story for another time!!].  We did witness, however, one of the greatest lightning storms I have ever scene.  I had thought it was a firework display taking place in the city but it was mother-nature providing the best kind of all! I wish I had more to add on this pub but I have to be honest, I was very, very drunk.  [Editor: How could you forget the big clock from the Oasis Be Here Now album and tour (See image below)]

We made our way to kings cross, had a burrito.  Lost each other, found each other and experienced that party atmosphere of the tube at midnight. 

It was an end to a great bank holiday weekend, we had a mixture of randoms, trivia and great beer.  Set to the backdrop of sun, great company and a city that really knows how to show a visitor a great time.