TOPIC:

Have to spend 2 weeks in London from Monday. This thread will come in very handy !

"oblivious":t9p75ugg wrote:

"oblivious":t9p75ugg wrote: No I loved the wendlock on the other hand my did not![/quote:t9p75ugg]

Should be "on the other hand my wife did not![/quote:t9p75ugg]A case of the brain moving faster than d auld digits,I know I being that soldier <!-- s:mrgreen: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt="" title="Mr. Green" /><!-- s:mrgreen: --> a note on fullers ESB cask it is so different than its keg or bottled version as to make a completely different beer.I only prefer the cask.

My exploits in London took me to the following places and ales:

[u:3vw4gbas]FRIDAY 24 SEP 2010[/u:3vw4gbas]
[b:3vw4gbas]PUB: The Crosse Keys (Wetherspoons)[/b:3vw4gbas]
7 Gracechurch St, LONDON EC3V 0DR, United Kingdom
Ales: Had one ale here / can't remeber what it was called
Went in here on the Friday night. They had an extensive ale list, but I only managed to sample one - group pressure to move on. A huge place with about 20 taps on the go.

[b:3vw4gbas]PUB: The Swan Tavern[/b:3vw4gbas]
77 Gracechurch St, City of London, London EC3V0AS, United Kingdom
[i:3vw4gbas][u:3vw4gbas]Ales:[/u:3vw4gbas][/i:3vw4gbas]
[i:3vw4gbas]London Pride (Fullers)
Chiswick (Fullers)
Discovery (Fullers)
Harvest Pale (Castle Rock)[/i:3vw4gbas]
Moved on to here form the Cross Keys and sampled all the above. We were upstairs in what is not much more than a sitting room (a lot of suits).

[b:3vw4gbas]PUB: Cheshire Cheese[/b:3vw4gbas]
42 Crutched Friars, City of London, London EC3N2AP, United Kingdom
[i:3vw4gbas][u:3vw4gbas]Ales:[/u:3vw4gbas][/i:3vw4gbas]
[i:3vw4gbas]EPA (Marstons)[/i:3vw4gbas]
Just had the one here after dinner on the Friday night, before we were kicked out at closing (so early!)

[u:3vw4gbas]SATURDAY 25 SEP 2010[/u:3vw4gbas]
No ales were imbibed unfortunately (lager only <!-- s:( --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_sad.gif" alt="" title="Sad" /><!-- s:( --> )
Went to see Arsenal v West Brom at the Emirates. Had a few beers in Finsbury Park, but no evidence of any ales in the pub we were in.

[u:3vw4gbas]SUNDAY 26 SEP 2010[/u:3vw4gbas]
[b:3vw4gbas]PUB: unknown near Covent Garden[/b:3vw4gbas]
[i:3vw4gbas][u:3vw4gbas]Ales:[/u:3vw4gbas][/i:3vw4gbas]
[i:3vw4gbas]Wainwright (Thwaites)[/i:3vw4gbas]
After doing the open top bus tour had a bit of lunch and two pints in this place. Excellent food - if only could remember the name of the place.

[b:3vw4gbas]PUB: Angel & Crown[/b:3vw4gbas]
58 St Martin's Ln
LONDON WC2N 4EA, United Kingdom
[i:3vw4gbas][u:3vw4gbas]Ales:[/u:3vw4gbas][/i:3vw4gbas]
[i:3vw4gbas]Broadside (Adnams)
Grasshopper (Westerham Brewery)[/i:3vw4gbas]
After lunch a few of us moved on to this pub while others went shopping. The Grasshopper stood for me as the best ale of the weekend.

[b:3vw4gbas]The O Bar[/b:3vw4gbas]
Cocktail bar somewhere in Soho
Spent an hour or two while the ladies enjoyed cocktails. They didn't even have a beer tap. Bottles of Kronenberg and Corona for the lads. Low point of the weekend.

[b:3vw4gbas]PUB: The Three Greyhounds[/b:3vw4gbas]
25 Greek St
Westminster, London W1D 5, United Kingdom
[u:3vw4gbas][i:3vw4gbas]Ales:[/i:3vw4gbas][/u:3vw4gbas]
[i:3vw4gbas]Doombar (Sharps Brewery)
and something else I can't remember the name of.[/i:3vw4gbas]
Finally got out of the cocktail bar and back to a proper pub. My wife tried a cider (a half) in here, which was quickly passed around to get rid of - woeful stuff, sent shivers down the spine.

I would like to have got to a few more places and may do a return trip, with the purpose of sampling beer (with some nerdy beer notes <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) --> ). Most of the beers I had were pale ales with the exception of the Broadside and Grasshopper. This was my first foray into real ales and quite enjoyable. I want more!

&amp;quot;dhat&amp;quot;:opuuoiwg wrote: Harvest Pale (Castle Rock)[/quote:opuuoiwg]The reigning Champion Beer of Britain. Any good?

&amp;quot;TheBeerNut&amp;quot;:1lkt25ls wrote:

&amp;quot;dhat&amp;quot;:1lkt25ls wrote: Harvest Pale (Castle Rock)[/quote:1lkt25ls]The reigning Champion Beer of Britain. Any good?[/quote:1lkt25ls]

It was nice, a quite hoppy blond ale as I recall but with the malt evident. It was easy the pick of the four beers we had at the Swan, making the other three somewhat lack lustre in comparison.
It was the second of the four we tried, preceeded by the London Pride which was OK.

&amp;quot;dhat&amp;quot;:1a46znd8 wrote: [u:1a46znd8]SATURDAY 25 SEP 2010[/u:1a46znd8]
No ales were imbibed unfortunately (lager only <!-- s:( --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_sad.gif" alt="" title="Sad" /><!-- s:( --> )
Went to see Arsenal v West Brom at the Emirates. Had a few beers in Finsbury Park, but no evidence of any ales in the pub we were in.
[/quote:1a46znd8]
I used to go to the Bank of Friendship when visiting Highbury, it has a couple of pumps and is a friendly spot. It's full of framed jerseys including one of Liam Brady's from the late 70s and a poster of the Irish team during the Brady/Stapleton era. I once saw Ray Parlour pop into the beer garden after a match while still in his kit. I think he was drinking water, that wouldn't have been his drink of choice in the old days I'm sure <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

There aren't too many real ale pubs near the Emirates, The Coronet is up the street on Holloway Road, it's a Wetherspoons which used to be a cinema. They have seevral pumps but the beer is hit & miss. You're better off heading down to Islington, there are a lot of pubs around Upper Street. Can't remember them off the top of my head but I'll post them after my next visit.