I don’t usually do posts like this, I leave the ranting and beer politics to people who do it much better than I do. But the more time I spend in The Alehouse Chelmsford the more it puzzles me to how it has never been awarded for its beer by our local CAMRA branch. Before I go into one, I don’t want this to be thought of as an attack on my local CAMRA branch, because it is not it is an open question. I have met a few of the local CAMRA branch and they are all lovely people, s

10 tall shiny metallic giants stand side by side in a room, watching over a hall full of people, old and young, male and female, “Hipster” and “CAMRA member” alike. These 10 giants are like a visual example of how far beer and the drinking of beer has come within the past couple of years. First we had cask ale changing their pump clips from the same boring selection across most pubs to a much wider and better quality selection, then we had the introduction to beer other than

After my visit to Worthing to sample the excellent Brookstead Alehouse and Anchored in Worthing micropubs I was delighted to hear that Chelmsford had also opened a new mini pub. Chelmsford is a short journey away from me and probably has the best local selection of decent pubs and beer bars, it’s size and choice narrowly beating Billericay and Rochford. After walking through the long wide Chelmsford high Street, past the shops, past the market stalls and crowds of busy shoppe

A short walk away from Worthing train station you will find the Brookstead Alehouse, a hidden gem of a micropub! Although officially it is a micropub I like to think of it more of a beer cafe, I call it a beer café as it reminds me more of the beer establishment’s in Europe than a pub. You first walk in the door and are greeted by a window looking into the drinks room where they stock all their bottled beers, ciders, wines and casks. To the left of this window you will see a

From the outside all you can see is steamed up windows with dried hops pressed up against the top of the window! Sitting above the micropub is a huge multi colour sign which wouldn’t look out of place on a hippys tie dye vest! The words read “Ancored in Worthing micropub… local real ales and cider” … I’ve been in some small pubs before but not sure if they’ve ever labeled themselves as a micropub but Anchored in Worthing certainly deserves that title!!! It is tiny! Have you e

If you’ve never taken a walk down the beautiful seafront at Leigh on Sea then you should! Old Leigh can boast some of the best seafood from this part of the country and walking down this sea front you have plenty of opportunities to sample it. Walking down the roads is almost like going back in time as you walk along the cobbled streets and pass the old red London phonebox! Another reason to check out Old Leigh is the pubs! There are four pubs within short walking distance of

Throughout my memories of drinking in the pubs around Brighton The Evening Star has always been at the top of the list. A short few minutes walk from the station makes The Evening Star the perfect first or last place to visit if you are planning a pub crawl around Brighton! Walking into the pub almost feels like walking back in time! A low ceiling, old wooden pillars, rows of old beer bottles circling the room and dimmed lights help make this pub feel warm and comfortable. Th

Escape Western Road’s busy streets filled with frantic shoppers by taking the turning up Dean Street, you will see a sign pointing out that up this road you will find beer, motivation to soldier on. Walk part way up one of Brighton’s many killer hills and sandwiched between two rows of terraced houses and you will find yourself standing in front of the bright lights of Brighton Beer Dispensary. Brighton Beer Dispensary is the combined venture of Brighton Bier Co and Late Knig

Let me take you back, back to a time where I had never been to Belgium, the term craft beer wasn’t ringing in the ears of London pubs, before a hipster was even dubbed a hipster, my beer belly was a fraction of the size it was now and a time where although I drank ale it was tough to find the amount of decent selection we have now. I take you back to a time where I had no commitments and a weekly paid job which mostly meant weekends away watching Orient around the country and

Day late posting this up! A quick one today as this was a live in the pub #12beersofxmas… A Christmas tradition of my friend Paul and myself is as soon as we finish work at 1pm Christmas eve we are out of that building quicker than santa setting off in his sleigh to venture to Broadway Market so we can have a Christmas beer or two in The Dove. A lovely old looking pub that feels christmasy with its decorations and Christmas beers. This year we were lucky enough to have a gorg

When I hear Riga I used to automatically get this image in my head of big groups of stag do’s running wild in the town drinking loads of local lager and burying their heads in Latvian strippers cleavages, the truth is this previous image, for me, was utter rubbish! Firstly and thankfully my day in Riga didn’t include any stag parties secondly Riga is a slick, smart, trendy beautiful looking city. Arguably it has one of the best collections of Art Nouveau style houses in the w

While my American beer buddies across the pond on Thursday 27th November were sitting down with their families about to tuck into a big turkey and talk about their thanks I was in East London walking through the doors of London Fields Brewery tap room ready to try the new addition to London Fields Brewery arsenal. Thanksgiving is an American tradition that although I feel should be kept American I don’t actually mind, unlike the embarrassing scenes we witnessed the day after

Mikkeller, possibly the modern beer geeks most highly admired name in the world of beer. I am going to hold my hands up, I slept on Mikkeller for ages and maybe in an act of stubbornness ignored the ‘hipsters’ hype around them! As I learnt the story of Mikkeller the more I started to listen, the classic story of two twins splitting up and starting two different beer brands (Evil Twin/Mikkeller) then growing into this mystic gypsy brewer visiting the world’s  famous breweries

It only takes a few minutes looking at this blog or twitter to see that I am huge fan of Belgium! I visited a few years ago and I was instantly hooked, on my return I needed to satisfy my Belgium fix and looked into where I can enjoy Belgian beer around London. I soon found the Dovetail in Farringdon, a small very authentic Belgian cafe with a great selection of some of Belgium’s finest beers on draught and bottle. I signed up to their news letter and had many a great evening

One sound rule in pub rep is, ‘if they offer you a sample before you try then you’re in a good place’…  So going by that rule Mother Kelly’s is a truely awesome place. Last night (Friday 16th May) I made a quick visit to Mother Kelly’s for the second time in a month! As soon as we walked in we were greeted by the incredibly friendly bar staff who talked us through the impressive beer menu and made sure we sampled at least 6 before choosing! So going back to my opening line, g

Now I know there seems to be a bit of a food invasion on here recently but let’s face it… Food and beer are the tag team champions of pairings on a night out! Along with a few work friends, who go by the collective group name of ‘Burger Club’, I spent some time in Bethnal Green this last Friday night in search of a new burger place to battle against the previously visited and tested MEATLiquor. So after researching and putting together a small list of well regarded burger ven

In the build up to my birthday my girlfriend asked if there was anything I wanted as a present. For some time now I have wanted to experience the highly rated ribs from Dukes Brew & Que, so it seemed a perfect moment to be treated to some serious BBQ meaty goodness! All it takes is a quick Google image search to discover the huge beautiful sights of the ribs you can eat at Dukes! Monstrous beef ribs the size of your forearm, wonderful pork ribs and all variations of the BBQ m

I have drank in all sorts of weird, stunning, rough and unusual pubs or bars in my time but Euston Tap must be the most beutifulist odd building I have ever drank in! You could be forgiven if you missed Euston Tap if you was walking from Euston station as from behind it is easy to mistake Euston Tap for a memorial or building at the end of a green outside the bus stop, mainly because this is actually what it is!!! The only clue into what this building is actually used for whe

I have to admit the Olympics passed me by, I didn’t catch the bug like most the nation did and I didn’t go to any of the events. I watched a few things on the telly but nothing I wouldn’t watch any ways like the football, boxing and basketball. To be honest while everyone was loving the stadium I couldn’t help but feel a bit of worry and anger towards the stadium with it’s on going battles of what it will be used for after the games. But one thing that I can say I am happy ab

When I am not drinking beer I am working to get money to drink beer and I work in travel for a small ship cruise company. Sometimes I am lucky enough to experience some of our cruises, last year I spent a week sailing the Baltic visiting Stockholm, Tallin, St Petersburg and Helsinki but this year I wanted to see what it is like on a river cruise so off I flew to Rotterdam to join one of our vessels mid cruise. Over a couple of days I visited Rotterdam, Den Haag, Delft, Veere,