Hastings Old Town

Hastings Pier view east towards West Hill and East Hill

Hastings Old Town, just east of Hastings, is distinctive but in a different way than St Leonards-on-Sea, just west of Hastings. Hastings Old Town and St Leonards on Sea both have indistinct borders to separate them and are within easy walking distance along the seafront.

East Hill Lift, Hastings Old Town

Walking east from Hastings, after passing the amusement arcades and the West Hill lift (for Hastings Castle) on George Street, but before reaching the East Hill lift (for Hastings Country Park) you reach the narrow High Street which is the setting for both the Jenny Lind and the First In Last Out (FILO).

St Clement's Church

The Jenny Lind Inn

After passing St Clement's Church, set back from the High Street on Swan Terrace, you reach the Jenny Lind on the left as you walk further up the High Street.

Jenny Lind Inn 'Famously Hastings' Hastings Old Town

Named after a Swedish opera singer, the Jenny Line free house and hotel has a brick frontage with large windows and two entrances. The front bar has wooden floorboards, both low and high tables and some quirky decor including an old petrol pump topped with an illuminated sign.

The Jenny Lind

Ten cask ales on handpump are mainly sourced nationally, eg Courage, Theakston, Wadworth, JW Lees, Caledonian, Butcombe, McMullen with typically two local beers. Traditional ciders are supplied by Orchard Pig.

On our visit in April 2016, Long Man Long Blonde and Franklins Mama Knows Best were the East Sussex ales. Franklins Brewing Co are based about five miles away near Bexhill and other Franklins beers include English Garden.

Blackboards above and behind the bar give details of music events at the pub including Sea Shanties on Thursdays (9pm) and live music on Fridays (8.30pm) and Sundays (4pm).


 

The First In Last Out

Further up the High Street, after passing near St Clement's church, you will find the First In Last Out (FILO) on the right. It has been a free house since 1976 and the building dates back to the sixteenth century.

Café de Paris at the First In Last Out

There may be a fire burning in an open grate giving the pub a cosy feel. When we turned up on Tuesday 26 April, Café de Paris had just started playing delightful 1930's Parisian Café Jazz and Swing Musette.

Cask ales from the FILO Brewery including Crofters (3.8% ABV Best Bitter), Gold (4.8% Premium Ale) and Cardinal (4.6% ABV Sussex Porter) are among six avalable from the bar. The St Clements Brewery was originally situated at the back of the pub. In 2000 the brewery was overhauled and renamed the FILO brewery and in 2011 the brewery moved up the road to Torfield Cottage.
Regular music events are held at the FILO. Tuesday and Thursday events start at 9pm and when there is jazz on Sundays it starts at 6.30pm. 

The Crown

The Crown

The Crown lies two streets east of the High Street on All Saints' Street and can be easily approached from the Jenny Lind along Courthouse Street. Instead of a traditional pub sign, it can be recognised by the crown over the corner doorway. We visited the pub / restaurant on a Tuesday and a Wednesday and no tables were free on either evening.

With good beer, food and service it is easy to understand the popularity of the pub. The efficient staff keep track of customers waiting for tables and we could sit at the bar knowing that we would be informed when a table became available.

At the Crown, four cask ales are supplemented by craft beers and Rothaus Pils from Germany's Black Forest. On our visit cask ales were from Franklins (Bexhill, Sussex), Caveman Brewery (Swanscombe, Kent) and Three Legs Brewery (Broad Oak / Brede, East Sussex).

Cabin by Josh Ross at The Crown

There are changing art exhibitions at the pub with artworks available for sale. Art by illustrator Josh Ross was on display during our visit. Special events like book launches also take place at the Crown. Emmanuel Hadjiandreou launched his book 'How to make Sourdough' there in April. There is a monthly quiz, capably hosted by Jim on the last Wednesday of the month. There are also music events especially during Hastings Folk Festival in early May.

Good food lovers will appreciate the changing 'simple, honest, tasty' menu that includes bar snacks, smaller plates, bigger plates, sweets and cheeseboard sections.

One more thing to like about the Crown is finding simple fresh flowers on the bar, tables and windowsills.

The Albion

The Albion, is situated on George Street at the junction with Albion Lane and almost opposite the West Hill lift entrance. It was once a hotel and named the Royal Albion. We had noticed a sign outside previously.

The opportunity to see a string quarted performing in a decent pub was not to be missed so we ended up here on 27 April after a meal at the Crown.

After getting beers from the bar which has six handpumps, we found seats with a clear view of the Albion String Quartet and enjoyed hearing them perform some popular classical music.

The furnishings of the pub included solid oak tables that may have been there for as long as the wooden panelling on the walls featuring various tartans from the days when the pub served beers brewed by William Younger & Co..
The Albion regularly hosts live music and DJ events catering for all musical interests.

We were particularly impressed to find a high quality of free music events in Hastings Old Town pubs on a Tuesday and a Wednesday night when in most towns you would be lucky to find anything going on at all. Based on our experience, Hastings Old Town can definitely be recommended for a midweek visit for music loving beer drinkers!

NB There are other good pubs in Hastings Old Town, Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea not featured in this post.

For further details of all the pubs featured follow the links in the text above.

Brussels Beer Project and Café Walvis

From the centre of Brussels or Place Saint-Géry, find Rue Antoine Dansaert and head north west to find Brussels Beer Project and Café Walvis just before reaching the canal and the Molenbeek neighbourhood beyond.

Place Saint-Géry

Although less than half a mile from Place Saint-Géry and Place de la Bourse, you will notice the change in style from smart bars and exclusive fashion shops towards unimpressive fast food outlets as you head towards Molenbeek.

Café Walvis

On Thursday 17 March 2016, we stopped for lunch and a beer at Café Walvis after noticing the colourful Brussels Beer Project posters in the windows. 

Inside the cafe / bar has an airy feel from windows on both sides. There are tables by the windows and bar stools provide seating at the angled central bar counter. Some good indie music was playing on the sound system including Herman Dune. This may reflect the fact that regular DJ and live music events are held here.

I chose Vedett Extra White, brewed by Duvel Moortgat, from a choice of six draught beers that also included La Chouffe and De Koninck.

A waitress took our lunch order for soup of the day and a portion of cheese which would be served wrapped in striped paper. The vegetable soup (of the day) was served in large bowls with bread and butter and was good value.
With the advantage of a situation near Porte de Flandre tram (#51) stop and opposite Brussels Beer Project, Café Walvis is well worth a visit.

Brussels Beer Project

 

It was now after 2pm and across the street at 188 Rue Antoine Dansaert, Brussels Beer Project had opened.

The limited opening hours are shown in the window.

A multi level stainless steel bar is the first thing you notice on entry. The beer fonts are located behind the bar counter. Further inside the building is the tasting room and brewery.

Between the bar and the tasting room a boldly decorated area states 'We are who we are' and provides background material on the Project.

 The list of draught and bottled beers is projected onto a wall at the end of the bar.

To start, I ordered two 12.5 cl glasses of Grosse Bertha and I like it Bitter costing 1.6 & 1.9 euros respectively and we found a table in the tasting room. Glasses on the table had malted barley grains and hop pellets.

Grosse Bertha, a 7% ABV Belgian Hefeweizen was my favourite beer here and I would later buy two bottles to take home (at a bargain price).

My slightly lower score on Untappd for I like it Bitter, a 8.1% ABV Double IPA probably reflects that I don't like it very bitter (70 IBU)!

It was great to be drinking good beers at the source and to have a chance to see the brewery itself. There was a lively atmosphere as we had turned up during a visit to the brewery by a group from Goose Island Beer Company of Chicago on a 'Migration Week' tour of Europe.
The founders of Brussels Beer Project, who raised finance by crowdfunding, Olivier de Brauwere and Sébastien Morvan as well as the head brewer, Yves Leboeuf, were all on hand to answer questions.

Simon and I kept out of everyone's way and enjoyed our beers from a table at the far end of the spacious and stylish tasting room which also has storage for crates of bottled beer and room for parking bikes!

For our next beers, Simon and I shared bottles of Smells like Hops Spirit, a hoppy session beer, and Princess Jasmine, and Oriental Witbier, but found these 'Limited Edition' beers less impressive than the draught beers we had enjoyed previously. The unusual styles and titles reflect one of the project's taglines 'Leave the Abbey, Join the Playground!'.

Head Brewer - Yves Leboeuf

Before leaving, I was able to have a quick chat with Yves and give him a copy of Ullage, the West Berkshire CAMRA magazine which I edit.

Now it was time to leave and catch a tram to Brussels Midi station in time for our Eurostar train to London St Pancras International.

Brussels Beer Project - Brewery and Taproom
Rue Antoine Dansaert, 188
1000 Brussels
Website: www.beerproject.be

Taproom Open
Thursday, Friday and Saturday
from 14h to 22h / 2pm to 10pm
 
NB Check details above in case of changes after publication (April 2016).

Café Walvis
Rue Antoine Dansaert, 209
1000 Brussels
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cafewalvis 

Brussels Map

Brussels Beer Project is the orange marker in the top left of the map above. 
Map link for an interactive map with notes and photos that can be displayed by clicking on the markers:  www.google.com/maps

North Bar, Leeds

My previous visit to North Bar, Leeds, was in December 2012 when the bar was decorated for Christmas.

North Bar - December 2012

Some more photos of the bar were included in my Huddersfield, Batley and Leeds blog post under the heading 'Sunday (3)'.

North Bar - March 2016

On the evening of Monday 21 March 2016 my plan was to revisit North Bar and continue on to Oporto Bar for some Gaslight Club live music. However, there was such a good atmosphere and so many good beers to choose from that I stayed in North Bar until closing time!

I found a table near the back next to the 'beer wall' which has the names of beers served at the bar over the years.

Among original artwork at the back of the bar is a painting of Belgian cyclist - Eddy Merckx.

My first beer was Comfortably Numb, a cask golden pale ale brewed by Bad Co of Dishforth, Leeds which cost £1.65 for a half pint.  

My next beer was Prototype, a 3.8% ABV cask session pale ale that is a permanent house beer at North Bar, brewed by North Brewing Co. 'just 900 metres up the road'. A good feature of the North Bar is that there are water glasses next to a tall jug of iced water with sliced fresh lemon on the bar for customers to help themselves from.

My clear view of the bar made up for the lack of company. Behind the bar, hanging on hooks, is an impressive display of personal beer mugs.

Further away, the neon sign behind the bar declares We ❤ Beer. When my glass was empty and I was thinking what to order next, James the bar manager kindly offered to fetch a beer for me but I wanted to go up to the bar to do this myself.

This was when I discovered that the We ❤ Beer logo also appears on some North Bar glasses. The half pint keg Beavertown Bloody 'Ell in the photo turned out to be one of a select few beers which I have scored over 4 points on Untappd.

With beer and service this good I decided to stay in North Bar but opportunely moved a bit closer to the entrance when a group found a table near my first table towards the back and proceeded to cheer each other while drinking some shots!

While ordering my next beer I persuaded James and Bridie to pose with a copy of Ullage and introduced myself as the West Berkshire CAMRA magazine editor. James explained to me that there are other North bars, including Harrogate and Otley, in the North Bar 'family', apart from this one at 24 New Briggate, Leeds. 
I'm sure it's good for customers to see staff who obviously enjoy their work and take pride in it.

The keg Magic Rock Cannonball (7.4% ABV) India Pale Ale, brewed in Huddersfield, was another rare beer for me to rate over 4 on Untappd, confirming my opinion of North Bar as a top bar.
As the evening wore on the bar became busier and some band members dropped in carrying instruments in cases. 

When I took my empty glass back to the bar with the intention of leaving, James was telling a customer about the merits of Swannay Brewery (Orkney Islands) Banyan. I decided to have a third of a pint of Banyan, a keg pale ale hopped with Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe and ended up chatting at the bar with Mick, the customer who had just ordered a pint. I was happy to find a third beer to rate at 4+ on Untappd.
Mick mentioned that ShuffleDog, a BrewDog bar with shuffleboard tables and pinball machines in the basement was quite near and so I resolved to visit ShuffleDog the next day.
It wasn't long before James was ringing the bell for last orders and then for closing time.
Good night to my favourite bar in Leeds! 
Don't miss North Bar when you visit Leeds. Please pass on my regards to James, Bridie and Mick.

On the map of bars and pubs visited on this visit, North Bar is shown in dark red and ShuffleDog is shown in purple. An interactive map which displays photos when markers are clicked can be accessed with this Google Maps link.

North Bar, 24 New Briggate, Leeds LS1 6NU

Wakefield's Black Rock & Beer Exchange

Wakefield Westgate railway station

Most of the Wakefield pubs featured in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide are closed at 2pm on a Monday. However, the Black Rock was open and only a short walk from Wakefield Westgate station, so after leaving the train from Kings Cross, I headed there via Cheapside and Silver Street.

The Black Rock 

The ceramic tiled exterior give the Black Rock a distinctive look and research shows that it was originally a Melbourne Ales (Leeds) public house.

The Wakefield Civic Society blue plaque under the decorative window records that John Potter (1674-1747), a former Archbishop of Canterbury, lived here as a boy in the family home above his father's draper's shop.

On the way to the bar, an engraved CAMRA mirror and a beer board showing six cask ales give a favourable impression.

A half pint of Kelham Island Easy Rider was served through a sparkler, to give a creamy head, for the reasonable charge of £1.30.

From a comfortable seat at the furthest point from the entrance I could survey the main room of the pub, decorated with views of the city and mainly populated with older men. A succession of classic 1960s pop songs playing on the pub's decent sound system appealed to my ears and compensated for the lack of conversation.

Wakefield Beer Exchange

 

A conveniently placed pedestrian crossing makes it easy to reach Wakefield Beer Exchange on the north side of Bull Ring, opposite the Black Rock.

A  blackboard in the doorway mentions 6 cask ales and keg beers are available at the 'Beer Cafe & Bottle Shop'.

The exterior and interior of Wakefield Beer Exchange and the Black Rock are about as different from each other as it is possible to get! The same probably applies to their respective clienteles although it was quiet here on a Monday afternoon.

A changing exhibit of original art adorns the walls at the Wakefield Beer Exchange. In March prints by Ron Wilson were on display.

My first half pint was Fox Glove by Slightly Foxed (£1.55). The bad news is that the beer is more expensive than at the Black Rock but the good news is that 1/3 pint glasses are available so it is still possible to try the keg beers without major expense.

The beer exchange was quiet so I was able to have a chat with the barman. It was great to discover that Adam was familiar with the End of the Road festival and festival bars operated by The Really Good Bar Co. I hope to meet up with Adam again at the 2016 End of the Road festival.

I persuaded Adam to pose for a photo with a copy of Ullage, the West Berkshire CAMRA branch quarterly magazine which I edit.

Wakefield Beer Exchange is associated with The Revolutions Brewing Co and many of the beers served at the bar have been obtained by beer exchanges with this brewery, hence it's name.

Before leaving to catch a train to Leeds, I enjoyed a third pint of Chinook, Southern Cross and Bravo IPA, a collaboration beer between Northern Alchemy and dAt bAr brewed in Newcastle.

The Google map above shows the position of the two bars. Click on the link to see photos of places passed on the way from Wakefield Westgate station.

I will try and time my next visit to Wakefield for after 4pm when the majority of pubs open. However, an earlier start would give me a welcome opportunity to revisit the Black Rock and Wakefield Beer Exchange!