By Steve the Beermeister...
A wee wander around Hastings, and a walk out to Pett Level and Winchelsea, via the Royal Military Canal, and some great ales to quench the thirst... OK, it was a wee bit late for St Patrick's Day, but, For the Craic (4.8%), brewed by Box Steam Brewery of Wiltshire (website) is an excellent choice to start with. It is labelled a "Bold Fruity IPA", though not as pale as you would expect from US influenced IPAs these days, being a darker amber colour, but it certainly was "fruity!" This had a strong citrus aroma with a citrus and mango flavour provided by the Azacca hops used. Nice, dry and bitter, I liked this very much... Sláinte!
My next choice was imbibed at the Jenny Lind in the High Street (website), whilst waiting for laundry in the machines at the laundrette opposite... A very friendly service was provided, and a choice of 10 ales on offer, 6 of which come from local brewers, of which I chose the Franklins Brewing Company's Resurrection (4.2%, website), which was in excellent form, so much so, that I had to have a second pint during the drying, just to make sure it was so good! Pale and hoppy, with grapefruit in the taste, and a lovely refreshing dry finish, another excellent ale, presumably brewed with hops from the USA too.
My penultimate ale for this blog was enjoyed at the Dolphin Inn, Rock-a-Nore Road, as was the For the Craic mentioned at the beginning of this blog. This one was from Kent Brewery (website), their Prohibition (4.8%), and described as an 'American Pale Ale', which is obviously its type! You've guessed it, hops from the USA are used, though they don't disclose which. Anyway plenty of citrus in the aroma and flavour, a lovely pale golden bitter, and pretty damn good!
Finally, sitting opposite the graveyard where Spike Milligan is buried ("I told you I was ill"), we visited the family owned and run New Inn, Winchelsea (website), and enjoyed 1 of the 5 ales on offer. This was Oakham Ales (website) JHB (Jeffrey Hudson Bitter, 3.8%), an excellent ale, plenty of citrus aroma and flavour from the Challenger and Mount Hood hops used, with a refreshing dry bitter finish, cheers!
This was edited from my own blog.
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