Slipping and Sipping in Hastings!

Sorry, I've not written for a while, I had a bit of a shock slipping on an icy road, had a wee head injury, but all fine now, and drinking these was fun!

During the first 'lockdown' I wrote a blog about ale, cider and perry delivery initiatives in Hastings, and I wrote other blogs about elsewhere too. Well, I couldn't cope with just tins and bottles for what seems a lifetime, so recently I had delivered by the same jolly crew from The Jolly Fisherman (website) Alfred, Becky and Oliver (respectful social distancing maintained at delivery, of course), 4 litres of genuine cask conditioned ale, that is, 2 x 2 litres of two very different styles. 

The first cask ale, you will have gathered from the image immediately above, was a stout from the Bristol-based Arbor Ales (website), their vegan friendly 5.8% Midnight Blue, a rather luxurious delight! Amazingly easy to drink for such a full bodied and fairly strong stout. As you can see, it was very dark, with chocolate and coffee in the aroma and taste, and just a hint of liquorice, finishing off with a dry roasted bitterness. I wrote, "not bad at all!" which means I liked it rather a lot, I just wished I'd bought more than the 2 litres of it. 😉

The second ale, as you can see, was a much paler ale from Newcastle-based Wylam Brewery (website), their 4.2% Hickey the Rake 'Limonata Pale'. This was a very pale beer brewed with 2 of my favourite hops for such ales, Chinook and Mosaic, producing a big fruity aroma and taste. Of course it's citrus fruits, initially grapefruit with a hint of lemon, as I expected from the name and hops used, dry and bitter and very refreshing and so easy to drink; I wrote "very good!" in my notes. So there you go, very good indeed, and again, not enough bought!

If you want something delivered from The Jolly Fisherman deliveries are made most afternoons, usually with a new cask ale added for the Friday delivery, plus they sell keg and bottled beers, ciders, wine, well, have a look at their website for more details and to place an order, cheers m'dears! 👍

Shop & Buy Local...

 

Of course we all want to shop and buy local, as has been encouraged by Love Hastings (website), and also by Hastings Borough Council, but I fear for local businesses, not just shops and artisans, but hairdressers, pubs, bars, restaurants, and many other local businesses. I added such a comment to a post on a social media page, and was informed that many businesses are delivering or providing click & collect, as I discussed in a recent blog that included The Jolly Fisherman. 

These were the businesses I was informed of: Soak, Mame's Place, Red Gallery, Warp & Weft, Butler & George, Courthouse Cooperative, Reste, and my thanks to Soak for that information, cheers!

If anyone wishes to add about other local businesses offering similar services during these strange times please feel free to add about them in comments and I will include any I am told about in a future blog (providing they are legal, of course 😉)