My Second Hastings Pub Post-Lockdown...

By Steve the Beermeister: 

A confident message from the publican, Louisa, and amusing too, the story is based on the events of Sunday the 23rd of May 1943, when a bombing and 'strafing' raid was made on Hastings during World War II, with one pub, the Swan Inn in the High Street in the Old Town, receiving a direct hit. The Swan Inn has a long history, indeed the Duke of Wellington was honoured with a dinner and dance there soon after he returned home from Ireland with his new wife, Kitty Packenham, in 1806 (blog). A memorial garden is now on the site, opposite St Clements Church. You'll have guessed by now that wasn't the pub I was in for a few pints...

No, I was at The Tower, 251 London Road, on the corner with Tower Road, in Bohemia, Hastings & St Leonards TN34 6NB, I've been there twice, actually, since my last blog. So, during that air raid back in 1943 an interesting wee story evolved when a 1,000 lbs bomb hit the road outside The Tower, which had its cellar doors open for a delivery, and it bounced along and dropped into the cellar of the pub, I kid you not, and it did not explode! I am certainly grateful for that, because The Tower is one of my favourite local watering holes, thankfully the building is still standing.

The Tower

The sapper who diffused the bomb that day rendering it harmless, and who returned the next day to remove it, was a gentleman from Coventry called Patrick Kavanagh. A photographer from the Hastings Observer recorded the removal of the bomb from the cellar, but the image was never published in the newspaper because of wartime restrictions. Coincidentally, Patrick's daughter moved to Hastings, just round the corner from The Tower in Springfield Road, and when visiting her in 1990 he strolled to the local pub for a drink. Not realizing he was in the same pub he was reminiscing with locals about his wartime experience and was told to have a look at a photograph on the wall, which was the photograph taken 47 years earlier, and the photograph is still on the wall now! I have found an interesting account written by his son 9 years ago (website).

So, drinks at The Tower, excellently served by Lou, and the pub that couldn't be closed by the Luftwaffe, even after they bombed the building, has been reopened with suitable restrictions taking into account Government Covid-19 Guidelines, following Johnson closing the pub!

The photograph immediately above is from my second visit, an interesting variety of styles, but the first ale I shall describe was the very good 'best bitter' I drank on my previous visit, from the Sussex brewer, Gun Brewery (website), their 4.4% Chummy Bluster, brewed with 7 malts and 3 different English hops. It is described as 'Vegan Friendly' being unfined, and gluten free, so drinkable for all! And it did what it said on the label, my notes say: "traditional coloured, plenty of body and flavour, like a good Best Bitter" which says it all!

I started with a guest session bitter for my second visit, from the Kent brewer, Northdown Brewery (website) Pale Ale Mary (4.0%), brewed with Northdown, Brewers Gold and Bobek hops, pale, but not as fruity and flowery as many contemporary pale ales. Indeed, quite subtle flavours with a nice dry bitter finish, a very decent session bitter. I've drunk and written about the 'classic' Dark Star Hophead (3.8%) many times, and I didn't drink it on this visit, as 'researching' and someone has to do the job! But I did try the very different beer from Cumbrian brewer Fell Brewery (website), their Cask O'Joe, a 4.6% 'Coffee Milk Stout.' Very smooth, rich and creamy, not too much coffee in the taste and with a hint of chocolate, a bit too sweet for me really, although it did have a slightly dry bitter finish, but I did drink a pint with no bother!

My last pint was another from Gun Brewery, a 6.5% Vegan IPA with a big citrus and tropical fruit aroma and taste, presumably hops from the USA used, as this is an APA style. It's advertised as being 'hazy' because 'Vegan' but hardly hazy at all, with proteins in the brew obviously dropping naturally. My favourite ale of the lot, hic... cheers to Lou, and to you the reader!

CAMRA Pub of the Year 2017

By Steve the Beermeister:

Congratulations must go to Louisa and her colleagues up at The Tower, 251 London Road, for, yet again, winning the local Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) South East Sussex Pub of the Year, and who was presented with her award yesterday evening. In Hastings we are blessed with a great number of public houses and bars that sell good quality real ales, yet Lou's pub has managed to stand out with CAMRA assessors for three years in a row, and her great range of well-conditioned, good value, 6 real ales (most usually from local brewers) and a similar number of ciders and perry support this award. 

I drank at the Tower very recently and the price of ales started at £2.90 for their regular session ale, East Sussex brewer Dark Star's Hophead (3.8%) at £2.90 a pint, to £3.20 a pint for the strongest that day. Also from Dark Star is the other excellent regular ale American Pale Ale (APA 4.7%) at £3.00 a pint. Other ales came from the up and coming local brewers from Brede, the single-hopped Three Legs Columbus Pale Ale (4.9% and thus the strongest at £3.20), Yorkshire brewer Vocation Bread & Butter (3.9%), Welsh brewer VOG Dark Matters (4.4%), and the excellent Peterborough brewer Oakham, whose 4.2% Citra, another single hopped ale, I couldn't resist drinking!

Nice one Lou, cheers, again!

London ale prices outshone in Hastings!

Last weekend, as I said before, I went up t' frozen North, where it was actually quite mild, but, I went via Victoria, thanks to National Express coaches, OK, it takes ages, but I had a good book to read, and it only cost me £19.50 return from Hastings to Sheffield... Anyway, not trusting buses/coaches to get me there on time, I allowed myself a couple of hours in-between services, so had a wee pint close by at the St George's Tavern, Ebury Bridge, on the way up. This is a Nicholson's house, so usually trustworthy for us ale drinkers, and had 6 ales available, and East Sussex brewery, Dark Star's Hophead was one of them, nothing else interested me anyway, and it was in very good form, but, as would be expected, cost more than I'd usually pay, a 3.8% ale for £4.30 a pint!

Similarly, on the way back I had some time to fill, so bought a sandwich and crossed Chelsea Bridge, and ate my sandwich in Battersea Park, where there were plenty of promenaders! On my way back to Victoria Coach Station I walked via Pimlico and popped into the Cask Ale and Kitchen bar, forgetting this would likely be even more expensive, which it was, of course. Up to 10 ales here, many crafty keg beers, and loadsa bottled beers! I settled on the 6.5% Dark Star (have to support my county of abode and I'm not nicknamed 'Hophead' for no reason) Green Hopped IPA, which was excellent, and so it should have been at £5.35 a pint!

Anyway, thinking back on where you can regularly buy Dark Star ales in Hastings, other than Hophead as a regular ale at £3.60 a pint down at the Dolphin Inn in Rock-a-Nore Road in the old town, of course, but you can buy at least 2 Dark Star ales at any one time at The Tower in London Road, Bohemia, just above St Leonards. This excellent ale house has won the local CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) Pub of the Year award 2 years running, and I have previously congratulated Louisa, the licensee, before for this grand achievement, and it also sells Hophead as a regular ale, at just £2.80 a pint! I also remember it very recently having the Green Hopped IPA, which Louisa was selling at £2.05 a pint less than in London, ie at £3.30 a pint...

I know where I'd prefer to drink a pint, not in London, cheers Louisa! 

National Beer Day!

By Steve the Beermeister 

Celebrating National Beer Day 2016 (website) with a pint, or three, of an East Sussex ale, Dark Star Hophead at the Dolphin Inn, Rock-a-Nore Road, cheers! 

Albion Plays On...

No, not Brighton & Hove Albion, though they have, but I was shown round the Albion in George Street yesterday by Adam, cheers! There's still some work to be completed, but it's looking very good, indeed, eg the new fascia...

Rebuilt in the 19th century, as I wrote recently, and signs of the Victorian influence can be seen around the building, including unveiled William Morris wallpaper upstairs; to acknowledge the historical Arts & Crafts features, they have commissioned bespoke wallpaper in an appropriate style, which includes images of Hastings Castle too! This original wallpaper is in the larger room at the back/opposite the seafront, whilst the tartan and wood panels from the Youngers time here, and the newly built stage, remain in the George Street bar.

6 handpumps, for those who like their ale (like me); yesterday there were 4 different ales available, East Sussex brewed Harveys Sussex Best and Dark Star Hophead, plus Timothy Taylors Landlord and Theakstons Old Peculiar. I was assured that the availability of more local ales is being looked into, cheers!        

Sorry to brag, but CHEERS!

By Steve the Beermeister

Indeed! Sorry, but yesterday, I drank the last 2 pints of the excellent Sussex-brewed Dark Star (website) Green Hopped IPA (6.5%) at the Dolphin Inn at Rock-a-Nore. Just great timing, I suppose... Brewed using 'fresh English hops', actually Simcoe hops, to brew this obviously very seasonal ale, ideally, hops are picked on the day of the brew! Yet again, this year, an excellent ale has been produced, with a deep amber hue and fruity aroma, the taste is fruity, but dry, not particularly sweet, then leaving a dry bitter aftertaste, exceptional, indeed, cheers!   

Today is Beer Day Britain, because of Magna Carta!

By Steve the Beermeister

Well, at 12.15 I shall just have to find a friendly Hastings hostelry in which to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, and Beer Day Britain, with a pint of Sussex brewed ale, probably Hophead from Dark Star!  

Clause 35 of Magna Carta brings ale into the democratic arena, stating "Let there be throughout our kingdom a single measure for wine and a single measure for ale and a single measure for corn, namely 'the London quarter'..." 

The date for the annual Beer Day Britain celebration is today, June 15th. This was the date (in 1215) that Magna Carta was sealed. Today there will be national and international celebrations for the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, so the fact that ale is mentioned in the document, makes June 15th a logical date for Britain's national beer day! See their website for more information.

Congratulations to the White Rock Hotel!

Congratulations to the White Rock Hotel for winning the local CAMRA LocAle (website) Pub of the Year Award!  

The LocAle tag goes to pubs and bars that sell local ales, it does what it says on the label, basically, and fully deserved for the White Rock Hotel, as I've never seen anything but Sussex brewed ales coming from their 4 handpumps! I visited yesterday, and, although only 2 of the handpumps were in use on this visit, they had Sussex brewer Dark Star's Original, and even more local, Hastings Handmade Number 5, their galaxy hopped Hop Forward Pale Ale, a lovely pale, dry and bitter ale. Hastings Brewery has to be local, as I've walked up to it a few times!  

Congratulations again! 

A Bohemian Rhapsody

By Steve the Beermeister 

On the corner of London Road and Tower Road is one of 3 good pubs in Bohemia, though this one is the 'bees knees', a CAMRA Good Beer Guide entry for a few years now, ie the excellent and very friendly Tower; so named as this was the last pub before the former toll gate and tower on London Road. 

The Tower Hotel first opened in 1866 with 12 rooms, 2 parlours and a bar. In 1943 the Tower was hit by an unexploded thousand pound bomb, that landed in the cellar, miraculously causing little damage. It was defused and lifted out through the cellar doors, a photograph of which event can be seen opposite the bar, to the right, as you enter. 

Now, the only danger is being a wee bit too 'merry' here, as the Tower is the best value real ale house in the Hastings area, with prices of their very well looked after cask conditioned ales starting at just £2.60 a pint, and rarely more than £3 a pint! 

The family-owned Tower was purchased in the 1990s, with Louisa the manager for 5 years now, and has been converted into just the one large room, with a lovely warm real fire in the winter. Over recent years, the different ales on offer have grown from 4 to 6 (4 usually regularly changing), with the addition of a sixth handpump just before Christmas. 

Being free of any tie to brewery or pubco makes this an ale lover's paradise, with at least 3 Sussex ales, sometimes all 6! Regular ales are from East Sussex Dark Star Brewing (website), and today they have 3 Dark Star ales: the virtually ever-present Hophead (3.8%) and American Pale Ale (APA, 4.7%), and a 'special' Hophead Vic Secret (3.8%), brewed with an Australian hop, 'Vic Secret', giving a hint of backcurrent aroma, but less fruit in the taste, pale and bitter. Both 'Hopheads' are just £2.60 a pint, nice one. 

There are also another 2 Sussex-brewed ales, the 1648 Hop Pocket (3.7%), a light pale bitter with a citrus hoppy aftertaste (website), and the most expensive pint today from Baseline Brewing (website), the strong 5.5% Dark Matter at £3 a pint, a darker full-bodied ale, with a fruity dry finish. 

The 6th ale came up all the way from one of my old abodes, Cornwall, St Austell (website) Proper Job (4.5%) at £2.80 a pint, a pale bitter brewed with malted Cornish-grown Maris Otter Pale barley and Cornish spring water. 

A great selection of ales there, and Louisa always a pleasure to meet, cheers! 

The Dolphin

By Steve the Beermeister

This is an updated and topical version of my first article published in the Hastings Independent many months ago (expect many more), and I chose the family-run Dolphin pub at Rock-a-Nore, because it had been named the South East Sussex Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Pub of the Year for 2 years in a row. The local CAMRA people do not consider pubs after they have won twice in a row, so we may have to wait for a bit longer before it becomes pub of the year again. Shame they don't just chose the best pub, rather than handicap their choice in such a way, but, hey! CAMRA has some very strange ideas, and members, and I should know, being one... 

So, a 'seasonal' photograph from the Dolphin's balcony, OK, we're very unlikely to see snow in Hastings for a while, if at all, this winter, but I do like this photograph, which I took a couple of winters ago.  

Apart from considering the quality of the ales, how else does CAMRA chose their 'best' pubs? Importantly, they take into account how their 'champion' integrates with the local community. In this respect, the Dolphin raises thousands of pounds every year for local charities, is closely connected to Hastings Fishermens' Museum and has been instrumental in the refurbishment of the Stacey Marie, their retired fishing boat sited opposite the pub (more of very soon), members of the RNLI regularly visit for social events, the pub gets involved in old town festivals such as Fat Tuesday and the Pram Race, and is at the start of the Jack in The Green May Day procession, opening earlier than usual on that day, to provide refreshment for participants and observers, and local musicians regularly play here, do I need to go on? 

Indeed, there is a variety of live music performed here 3 nights a week, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday evenings, and a quiz for charity on Thursday evenings. Food is served every afternoon, and on Mondays the kitchen reopens at 6pm for a 'Fish Supper' deal, where the price of the fish (from Hastings fishing boats whenever possible), hand-cut chips and mushy peas, includes either a pint of beer, glass of wine, or a soft drink. 

Of course, the Dolphin also sells liquid refreshments, soft drinks, wines, 'mulled' wine for December through to the end of January (Mark the landlord's own recipe), spirits, numerous keg beers, including 3 of the newer 'trendy' craft ales, and, of course, what I'm keen on writing about... It sells 6 cask-conditioned ales, and what better way to write about finding such beer in Hastings than visiting the recent champion public house? The Dolphin sells 3 regular ales, 2 from East Sussex brewers, Harveys Sussex Best and Dark Star Hophead, and Youngs Special.  

There are also 3 regularly changing guest ales, very recently these have included Sussex brewer King's Wonderland, a "Winter Pale Ale", a 4.1% very pale bitter with a fruity aroma, good body and a dry finish, not bad at all! Also, from further afield, ie Devon, Hanlons Snowstorm Festive Ale, a 5% "strong winter ale", with a deep amber colour, similar taste to a typical 'old ale', slightly sweet maltiness, plenty of flavour, and a dry finish. Or, if you're very lucky, they may just have a few pints left of either the West Yorkshire brewers, Saltaire's Winter Ale or award winning (though not so seasonal) Cascade Pale Ale.

There are a number of brewers who continue to produce ales of quality regularly, and a few of them in Yorkshire, including Saltaire Brewery. The Winter Ale is a 4.9% darkish amber ale, they say with "toffee accents", but I have no idea what that means! Though I could detect a slight caramel flavour from the malt, and a hint of spice from the Challenger and Brambling Cross hops, all in all, a very good beer of its type. I tried their Cascade Pale Ale yesterday too, which uses Centennial hops as well as Cascade hops, and is described as an "American style pale ale"; good old Saltaire do provide much information on their pump clips! Whatever, it is a 4.8% pale golden bitter, with a fruity aroma and flavour, but more peach rather than the grapefruit I expected, pretty damn drinkable too...    

All of this is why the Dolphin is regarded as a fine example of a community pub, and why it won the CAMRA award twice in a row, and why I have commenced my search for beers of and in Hastings and East Sussex here. Before I go on, I'll add that Harveys Sussex Old Ale is currently on sale at the Dolphin too, and shall be for the next couple of months. Anyway, I trust I do still have your interest, because I shall be looking at local pubs and the local brewing industry over the coming months and years.

Oh yes, and I shall be developing further my research into the older public houses licensed in and around Hastings, as I have mentioned in recent blogs, so much to do, cheers!