York could very easily stake a solid claim to the title ‘beer capital of the North’ (if such a thing were ever up for grabs). The whole city centre is pretty much one great big historical tourist trap and ‘traditional pub’ seems to be one of the most commonly deployed weapons in the York tourist board’s arsenal. This, I firmly believe, is a Very Good Thing Indeed.

Jo and I have been to York a few times in the past couple of years but always on a weekend – so the historical sites we’ve actually wanted to visit have usually been closed to the public due to weddings. To get around this problem we nipped over on the train last Thursday. Arriving round about lunchtime, we headed in search of sustenance at the one York Brewery pub that we hadn’t visited on previous occasions: the Three Legged Mare.

I was Jonesing for a pint of light, hoppy Terrier and a baked spud (or something like that), but alas the only food on offer was sandwiches (not much good to us wheat-intolerant types) so plan A fell at the first hurdle. Turning around, I spotted a Marston’s pub – the Hole in the Wall – just down the road. Worth a gamble?

As it turned out: yes, it was well worth a visit. Inside it was a case of low ceilings, exposed beams, plaques on the wall proclaiming its historical associations with the nearby Minster and four hand-pumps on the bar. The Hobgoblin must have finished a the precise moment we walked in the door, so we opted for Mansfield Bitter, which turned out to be well-balanced hop/malt combo and an ideal lunchtime pint at a genteel 3.9% ABV. We also ate heartily: a well-portioned plate of pork steaks and black pudding served on a big dollop of creamy mashed spud with apple gravy (recommended!) for me and an equally generous helping of pan-fried white fish in a crayfish sauce with new potatoes. If that’s standard Marston’s fayre then I might seek them out more often…

Nicely refuelled by our dinner-sized lunch we then headed off to do some tourist-stuff – namely have a shufty around Barley Hall, a medieval residence just off Stonegate – and then Jo very kindly let me wander back around the corner to The Bottle, a specialist beer retailer that just had to be done. After perusing the US imports section (once again: more on the results of that in a future New Arrivals post) we chatted to the owner, who mentioned that he’d opened a bar upstairs earlier in the year. We reckoned it was probably about time for a pit-stop and frankly it would have been rude not to, so Jo and I climbed the stairs to The House of Trembling Madness, a former tea-room that also happens to be the oldest medieval hall in York and looks a little like this:

We opted for draught Anchor Steam Beer, which was served well-chilled but was still very flavourful, with a big malty base and a pleasantly sharp, hoppy after-bite. The rest of HoTM’s draught beer selection was interesting – Kwak, La Trappe Dubbel and Timmermans Kriek – and the fridge was stocked with a good selection of bottles from downstairs. About the only thing missing was a session bitter, but then there are plenty of other session-bitter filled public houses in town after all. A bit of a hidden gem that’s worth seeking out, the House of Trembling Madness has a lot to offer if you’re feeling slightly more adventurous.

Time was ticking on and we’d missed the chance to spend a decent amount of it looking round the Merchant Venturer’s Hall (which sounded very much like a good excuse for another trip to York at a later date) so we set off to stroll around the city walls and enjoy the sunshine for a while instead. That done, we then wandered back through the city centre and headed south of the river towards The Old Siam; a rather good Thai restaurant on Mickelgate that we’ve eaten at three or four times in the past. And as we were a little early even for early-doors, we stopped off at The Ackhorne on the way.

The Ackhorne is a proper drinking pub. Situated a couple of hundred yards up narrow, cobbled St Martin’s Lane, it’s far enough off the main Mickelgate drag to be out of sight to passing gangs of revellers, which means you’ve got a decent chance of enjoying a quiet pint. Mind you, The Ackhorne really does seem to specialise in session bitter – the selection last Thursday comprised London Pride, Greene King IPA, Marston’s Pedigree and Deuchars IPA, with a tempting-looking Rooster’s Yankee tucked in between them. Good choice: a 4.3% golden ale with a a big hit of malt and tangy, caramelised orange flavours, it was very drinkable indeed.

After a very tasty Thai meal Jo and I decided we had time (and room) for one more pint before heading back to the station, so we nipped three doors down to one of our favourite York pubs, Brigantes. It’s part of the Market Town Taverns mini-chain of 10 pubs (all in Yorkshire) but manages to maintain a Free House feel with a range of eight to ten real ales on tap, a couple of real ciders and a good bottled beer list.

The friendly barlass explained that the three Kelham Island pumps were left over from the ‘meet the brewer’ event they’d hosted the night before. Jo and I thought we’d help them reduce their surplus stock; I fancied something big and flavourful to end the evening on so I went for a pint of Pale Rider. This 5.2% pale ale was rich and hoppy and, because it was poured via sparkler, I do have to say much better presented, with a much better mouthfeel than the sparkler-free pint of the same that I’d had at The Gunmakers earlier in the week (memo to self: remember to ask them to stick a sparkler on the pump next time you’re in The Gunmakers, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind).

Jo opted for a pint of American Stars and Bars, a 4.5% US-inspired pale ale brewed using a trio of American hops. Once again, it was light, fresh, hoppy and very tasty.

We’d ideally have liked to stay for a couple more before staggering off to a guest house, possibly via the York Brewery Tap around the corner (can you believe it – a whole day in York and not a single York Brewery ale passed my lips, never mind a Rudgate brew or two… something of a missed opportunity there, surely?) but the timetable suggested we should make our way to the station if we were to be home at a decent hour. Passing through both Dewsbury and Huddersfield on the way back to Manchester meant that we were forced to resist further temptation as well. Maybe next time we should factor in an overnight stay and a couple of stopovers on the way back, eh? Now there’s a thought.

Jo and I spent the weekend just gone on a tourist jaunt to London. Which went something like this:

Saturday

Morning: Virgin Pendolino from Manchester Piccadilly, tube across town to base-camp: Fuller’s Mad Hatter, Blackfriars.

Afternoon: Quick stroll down to Borough Market. Alas, The Rake was hammered, hadn’t read Mark Dredge’s review of Brew Wharf yet, so passed that one by. Dodged a rain shower by nipping into The Wheatsheaf, situated in the cellars of the old Hop Exchange. Perfectly pleasant pint of Phoenix Arizona (I know, all the way to London to drink beer from up the road in Rochdale, eh? You can take us Northerners out of the North…)

Also wandered into Utobeer, brilliant little place (about the same size as Beer Ritz), cracking selection of fantastic beers (more on that in next New Arrivals post). They should open a branch in Manchester, definitely.

Evening: Train out to Bromley, visiting good friends Sam and Chris. Takeaway from Tamasha – ordered something that turned out to be rabbit in creamy, lightly-spiced sauce – accompanied by a couple of bottles of Westerham‘s Little Scotney Pale Ale – red-brown, deliciously malty – then a more-than generous measure of Laphroig Quarter Cask (cheers, Chris!) Got back about midnight, extremely full and happy but too late for the hotel bar. Never mind.

Sunday

Morning / Afternoon: Weekend Tourist Destination #1: Hampton Court Palace. Good few hours mooching through medieval / baroque palaces; peering into display cases, suitably impressed by the architecture, generally soaking up the culture. Almost tempted by King’s Table Ale at lunch’ but £3.50 for 4% bottled session bitter helped decide against (bit early in the day and hot weather to boot). Had ice-cream instead. Two scoops. Also almost temped by leather tankard; which smelled great, looked pretty nifty. Flipped the thing over, saw £40.00 price tag (£5 cheaper online, apparently). Sanity quickly restored.

(Also, I spotted this fella in the courtyard, perched on top of so-called “wine fountain”… but I reckon I know a happy ale-drinker when I see one:)

Evening: Train back to town, quick tube ride up to Covent Garden. Dropped in on The Porterhouse for steak dinner (served with mountain of straw chips and rather pleasant bernaise sauce). Few pints of probably the best stouts to be found in London (well, outside of Greenwich, that being Meantime territory, obviously). Jo went for Plain Porter, I sampled Oyster Stout, switched to the Wrasslers XXXX for number two, stuck with that for the duration. Thought about Brain Blasta (strong ale, 7% ABV or so), decided to remain coherent instead.

(Incidentally, the Porterhouse has the best interior decor in the world. If you’ve been there, you’ll know exactly what I mean: floor-to-ceiling cabinets filled with the most fascinating selection of bottled beers you’re likely to see in your life. Here’s a quick snapshot, which I hope I’ve been able to capture okay, given the suitable atmospheric conditions:

Love the place. Absolutely love it. They should also open a branch in Manchester, most definitely.)

Back to Mad Hatter for quick night-cap. Choice of several Fuller’s ales, went for London Pride (I fancied something with more bite than Seafarer’s Ale looked like it might deliver and I’d been disappointed by Chiswick bitter on a couple of occasions. The Pride was okay, but nothing special – honestly it really could’ve done with a sparkler to liven it up a bit, it was flat as the proverbial witch’s what-not – but perhaps I should have gone for the ESB. I’ll know better next time.)

Monday

Morning / Afternoon: Dropped suddenly-rather-heavy bags (again: next New Arrivals piece…) at Euston Left Luggage. Wandered round to Euston Square, jumped back on tube, headed down to Weekend Tourist Destination #2: Tower of London. Before joining heaving throng of tourists, headed across London bridge to Butler’s Wharf in search of food. Passed site of Anchor Brewhouse; original Courage brewery, converted to apartment block (inevitably). (There was a plaque on the wall, which I duly snapped; click for a larger, more readable version:)

Next: The Tower. Apparently 2,400,000 visitors a year. Most seemed to turned up on same day as us. Can’t blame them, weather was lovely, but queue for Crown Jewels (“royal bling” as Yeoman Warder Tour Guide put it) was quite ridiculous, likewise queue for ‘Torture in the Tower’ exhibition. Skipped those; did the medieval bits, checked out display of Royal Arms and Armour (well worth a look if you’re a bit of a medieval military buff, although the £17.00 Tower entry ticket might be understandably off-putting), stuck our heads around gift shop door, checked out tourist tat. Once again, King’s Table Ale and leather tankard both called. Once again, their allure was easily resisted.

Evening: En-route back to Euston, Jo suggested stopping at that Gunmaker’s place that I keep going on about (I was only too happy to oblige). Wandered in, eyes drawn magnetically to chalk-board menu. Curses! Food plans foiled: kitchen not open until 18.30 (apparently they allow their chef time to rest, the mad, compassionate fools). Have to get back to Euston for 20.00 train (reserved single tickets, no choice). Too close to risk it.

Consolatory pint of Woodforde’s Wherry – a pleasant golden session beer with light, hoppy profile – then, half-way through pint of Kelham Island Pale Rider – stronger, slightly darker, much more pronounced hop-bite – legendary landlord Jeff appears from upper rooms, proceeds to win uber-Landlord Award. (He did this by catching sight of us out of the corner of his eye, stopping in mid-stride with an impressive double-take and then proceeding to remember not only the last time he spoke to me – which was just over a year ago – but also my name – which, to a bear of very little brain and even less useful memory like me, is pretty darn impressive, I can tell you. I introduced Jo, we chatted for a bit and then Jeff headed off to entertain his regulars, leaving us feeling thoroughly welcome and absolutely determined to head on back there the next time we’re in town. We’ll make damn sure we’re there when the kitchen is open, too.)

Definitely needed food before two-hour train journey home. Aforementioned regular helpfully suggested The Bree Louise. Bloody good idea. Back on the tube, off again at Euston Square, round corner to Bree Louise. Ordered 2x New Yorker chicken (fried breast fillet covered in bacon and cheese, pile of chips, just the ticket) washed down with utterly underwhelming pint of gravity-dispensed Nethergate Umbel Magna (I’ve had both gravity beers at the Bree Louise and Umbel Magna elsewhere and they’ve both been much better, but so it goes…) followed by pint of Rebellion Mild – smooth, nutty, dark, quite pleasant – for the road.

Train. Taxi. Home. Bed. Pretty much exhausted, but extremely happy.

(We’re already planning our next London jaunt: Brew Wharf, The Rake, Utobeer again, definitely The Gunmaker’s, definitely The Porterhouse, maybe a trip over to Greenwich… oh, and perhaps some more tourist stuff as well. But no leather tankards for me. Not at £40 bloody quid a pop…)

Brewery: Kelham Island
Location: Sheffield, England
ABV: 4.3%
Version: Draught
Source: The Trackside, Bury

As I was up in Bury this lunchtime running some errands I figured it would have been rude not to drop into one of the best real ale pubs in the area – the Trackside – to see what they had on draught.

Amongst assorted best bitters and Robinson’s Hatters Mild, I spotted Kelham Island’s Easy Rider, which I’d vaguely heard good things about a while ago. Not knowing much else about it I wasn’t sure what to expect but I opted for a pint anyhow and luckily I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest…

Easy Rider turned out to be a pale ale, and a lovely, golden-coloured one at that. The nose is quite malty and that’s the first impression you get on the taste as well, although by the time you’re halfway down the pint (which probably won’t take long – this is a very easy-drinker) the fruity hop flavours start to come through more distinctly. There are hints of fresh-baked bread, biscuit and caramel in there as well to keep things interesting and all in all this is a very nice drop indeed; one that I wouldn’t hesitate to try again if the opportunity arises.