A few weeks ago, Jo (the missus) and I popped down to see her folks in Bridgnorth, deep in the picturesque county of Shropshire. One of the highlights of the trip was an evening out at The King’s Head in the middle of town, with brother-in-law Richard and his girlfriend, Lisa. Rich is a builder by trade and one of his projects, about eighteen months ago, was a refurb of the pub in which we met up. And a very nice job of it he made, too, especially the micro-brewery that they put in the back yard for the Bridgnorth Brewing Company.

Jo and I arrived early to grab a table. It being the BBC’s home turf and all it would have been exceptionally rude of me not to at least start the session with one of their beers and so I ordered a pint of their Castle Keep (4.5% abv) to kick things off with. This was a rich and malty bitter with just a hint of spiciness – quite possibly ginger, maybe cinnamon – which went down extremely well. By the time I was half-way down that one, our drinking buddies had arrived. Rich is an avowed addict of Town Crier (4.5% abv) which is brewed by Hobson’s in nearby Cleobury Mortimer and won’t be persuaded onto anything else for love nor money, so I decided to join him for pint #2.

I’d already tried Town Crier on a previous visit, and was more than happy to give it another go. It’s a pale, easy-drinking bitter with a dry, hoppy character and subtle citrus notes that makes for a fine session beer – Rich is no fool to stick with this stuff, I can tell you. I, on the other hand, was moved by the spirit of experimentation to try another Bridgnorth Brewing beer, and went for the Apley Ale (3.9% abv). Not the best move. By comparison with the first two it was a thin, slightly watery, relatively tasteless bitter with really very little about it worth writing home about. No wonder Rich was shaking his head sadly when I brought it back to the table. Should have stuck to advice from my native guide instead of wandering off-track.

I’m a bit hazy on the next one – purely because the conversation was flowing by this stage and it seemed rude to break off and take notes on my phone – but I think #4 might have been a pint of Bridgnorth Best (4.4% abv). I’ll go ahead assume it was and if not then it’s definitely one I tried on that previous visit, so I’ll give it a mention anyway. It’s another pale, hoppy bitter – that sort of thing seems to be the Bridgnorth Brewey’s speciality – and (according to the notes I made a while back) it tastes “like Boddington’s Cask used to in it’s heyday”, so again it’s a light, hoppy easy-drinker that I’d have no problem settling in with for an extended session.

After that, another pint of Town Crier called time on the evening’s drinking and chatting, if only because I knew I was on driving duty the next morning and those country roads are evil buggers at the best of times, never mind with a head full of bitter-fumes. All in all, a very good evening enjoyed in good company and I’m looking forward to the next trip – probably in December, when perhaps Bridgnorth Brewing or Hobson’s will have rolled out a couple of winter ales? – with eager anticipation. Beers of Shropshire #2 to thereby follow in due course…