London Docklands - Thursday 27 May 2021

For a first stay away from home since December 2019, advantage was taken of a bargain flexible rate at the London Docklands Travelodge in the Republic Estate near East India DLR station.

Faced with the option of a £10 charge to check in early at 12 noon instead of 3pm, a decision was made to save the fee and spend it on beer instead!

Travelling with luggage by train from Newbury, the nearest pub to the hotel featured in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide and close to a station was Pepper Saint Ontiod, near Crossharbour DLR station.

This Antic pub is situated on the north west edge of Millwall Outer Dock and is approached via Pepper Street and Glengall Bridge.

Si BRAPA Everitt describes Pepper Saint Ontiod as looking like a NHS walk-in centre, in his 11/9/2020 blog post which includes more photos. Si also thanks ‘a kind Twitter person called Mr Bravery’ for explaining the pub name - ‘they’ve made Street into Saint’ and Ontiod is ‘On The Isle Of Dogs’. Now you know!

Outside tables give good views of the dock and a row of three cranes. Some tables next to the railings are in the sun while others are shaded.

Looking into the pub, there were three handpumps on the bar but only two had pump clips and these were for beers from Antic Pub Company’s house brewery - Volden Pale and Volden Session Ale.

Thinking that there might only be time for one pint I ordered Volden Pale (4.6% ABV) which was served in a dimpled glass with a handle. This had a fresh tangy bitterness and was refreshing in the sunshine, especially after the journey by bus, train, tube and Docklands Light Railway.

It turned out that there was time for another pint and an opportunity to enjoy Volden’s Session Ale, a 3.8% ABV bitter which is excellent value at £3.30 pint.

On 20 April 2021, Volden had tweeted

London prices

Got you down?

Try our beer

To fix that frown

Volden Session. A mere £3.30 at @AnticPubs up and down London #threepintsatenner #CraftBeer

Inside the pub there are two levels with a variety of mirrors and a quirky collection of items on display to add character to the functional stairway that leads to the upstairs toilets.

After a bus ride to Poplar from outside Crossharbour DLR station and a walk to check in at the hotel there was time to visit East India Dock Basin, Trinity Buoy Wharf and Virginia Settlers’ Monument before a 7pm table booking at BrewDog.

The Canary Wharf BrewDog is located at 2 Churchill Place, at the east end of the main Canary Wharf commercial district and near a bridge over Bellmouth Channel which links North Dock and South Dock.

The outside seating area has windows on three sides and the roof was open on our visit. We were given a warm welcome and shown to a seat at our table. It was a relief not to be seated at the central long high table. Customers are encouraged to use an App to order drinks but it proved possible to order from a passing member of staff who was very helpful.

It was Mikkeller Showcase week and two thirds of a pint of the Mikkeller Henry Hops (4.1% ABV) was pale, hoppy and refreshing.

Sticking with relatively low alcohol beers, my choice of a guest beer from Swansea, a half pint of Beer Riff Finger Gunzzz IPA was pale and clear with some honey sweetness.

After dining at Franco Manca, a wander around Canary Wharf led to The Ledger Building, a Wetherspoon pub situated near the Museum of London Docklands. Unfortunately the Wetherspoon App only offered a choice of Doom Bar or Greene King IPA and we moved on with the intention of visiting The Henry Addington, a Nicholson’s pub on the north side of Middle Dock. However we found ourselves on the south side of Middle Dock and ended up catching a bus to Poplar instead.

The D8 bus passed The Pensioner in Bazely Street so we got off at All Saints Church and walked back to it past the churchyard and Mountague Place. The traditional Taylor Walker sign and glazed green tiles looked attractive in the light from the pub’s lamps. Taking a peek inside through the pub’s high windows showed that several tables were occupied and it was obvious from signs at the bar that an interesting range of keg craft beers are served here.

There would be opportunities for cask ale elsewhere tomorrow!

Langham Brewery #Follow The Swallow

 

#followtheswallow 

Based in a rural location, near Lodsworth, in the South Downs National Park, Langham Brewery supplies local and independent pubs including the Hollist Arms in Lodsworth, Petworth’s Angel Inn and the Duke of Cumberland Arms, Henley village, north of Midhurst.

Village sign at entrance to Langham Brewery shows the Hollist Arms pub.

With pubs closed during parts of 2020 / 2021, due to lockdown restrictions, the brewery embarked on an ambitious four point plan to overcome reduced sales of casks and kegs of beer:

• Open a Taproom at the brewery site

• Open a Shop onsite for drive through collections

• Launch an Online shop for local and national deliveries

• Add a Canning line at the brewery

The Taproom reopened in 12 April 2021 with a large gazebo in the sheltered courtyard. Additional outside tables are available in the courtyard with views of nearby fields and woods.

The Shop operates from a counter at the front of the Granary building which houses the brewery. The Canning line is due to be installed in June 2021.

Lesley Foulkes, Langham Brewery

The brewery’s 10 Barrel (BBL) kit was sourced from Wickwar Brewery and relies on steam for heat. The Wickwar vessels had all been given names including Martha the Mash Tun, Cathy the Copper and Fiona the Fermenter. Recently the original brewery has been augmented with fermenting vessels ordered from China including a 20 BBL conical fermenting vessel and a further 10 BBL fermenter named Fanny.  

A door on the south side of the brewery looks out towards the South Downs. What a lovely place to work, with swallows flying over the brewery from late spring!Taproom customers enjoy table service from friendly and knowledgeable staff like Bex, originally from Berkshire. With my young childhood spent near Redford, west of Midhurst, it makes absolute sense that she would want to settle in this beautiful part of West Sussex with its sunken lanes and rolling hills. My parents once used to live even closer to the brewery, at Bexleyhill, some years before I was born! No wonder that I feel so connected with Langham Brewery! As a superannuated wannabe hippie, even the brewery’s beer names resonate with me – LSD first caught my attention years ago - it stands for Langham Special Draught!

Taproom customers enjoy table service from friendly and knowledgeable staff like Bex, originally from Berkshire. With my young childhood spent near Redford, west of Midhurst, it makes absolute sense that she would want to settle in this beautiful part of West Sussex with its sunken lanes and rolling hills. My parents once used to live even closer to the brewery, at Bexleyhill, some years before I was born! No wonder that I feel so connected with Langham Brewery! As a superannuated wannabe hippie, even the brewery’s beer names resonate with me – LSD first caught my attention years ago - it stands for Langham Special Draught!

Langham Brewery Hip Hop

Draught beer from cask or keg is served in half pint, schooner (2/3 pint) or pint measures. Glassware may be from the brewery or local beer festivals. For schooner measures, Teku glasses with a tulip like bowl and a thin curved lip are used. The long stem prevents your hands from transferring warmth to the beer.

The hallucinogenic Op art style label for LSD is the work of Gianni A. Sarcone. LSD is a strong (5.2%) auburn beer with sweet maltiness and Bramling Cross fruit notes.

The use of a three letter acronym for this beer makes a link with the brewery’s pioneering use of What 3 Words as a geographical location method. The App can identify a spot with three words e.g. ///hence.mute.lizards for Langham Brewery.  

In June 2020, Langham Brewery adopted the ///hence.mute.lizards brand for an exclusive What3Words range of occasionally brewed beers like Freedom, a golden ale featuring Citra and Simcoe hops, available from 1 June 2021.  

As well as being a collective name for a group of swallows, The Gulp is the name for a free, new club for Langham Brewery customers. The application form suggests supplying the three words that identify the property to make deliveries easier. The ethically sourced silver birch membership card is posted to applicants and gives a 5% discount on draught beer and 10% off the ‘Beer of the Month’ among other benefits.  

Many awards for the brewery and its beers from CAMRA, SIBA and beer festivals are on display inside the brewery, visible from the counter for the shop at the front entrance.  

As it is difficult to sample all the beers on a visit to the Taproom, it is a good idea to take home some beer after a visit. Langham Brewery beers are available in 500ml bottles and can also be supplied in takeaway containers of various sizes. Merchandise like brewery caps and t-shirts are also on sale.

Bottles of cider from The Garden Cider Co of Mill House Farm, Chiddingfold are also available from the shop and taproom. Surrey Hills Bottling, also based at the farm in Chiddingfold, are the bottlers for some of the Langham Brewery beers.

A few days after visiting Langham Brewery I enjoyed a bottle of South Downs Best Bitter at home.

The Taproom makes a good stopping off point for walkers and cyclists exploring the beautiful countryside of the South Downs National Park.

Pubs near the South Downs Way that serve beers from Langham brewery include the Amberley Black Horse and the White Horse Inn in the village of Sutton,

You can also find Langham’s beers at pubs near the coast like the Shore Inn in East Wittering, Lancing’s Stanley Ale House and the Golden Lion in the Hampshire village of Southwick.

My introduction to the Langham Brewery was a visit to the Duke of Cumberland Arms, Henley village, with a coach load of CAMRA volunteers who had helped at Reading Beer and Cider festival. The 16th century hillside pub with brick floors and a garden with ponds was the brewery’s first pub customer, stocking Hip Hop initially. This July 2010 late afternoon visit had been preceded by a visit to Dark Star Brewery in Partridge Green and pubs including the Sportsman Inn, Amberley and the Black Horse Inn, Byworth, earlier in the day.

After our Langham Brewery visit we enjoyed a walk along footpaths near Cowdray Park Golf Club from the free car park at Benbow Pond. 

Bus stops on the A272 near Halfway Bridge Inn serve the Stagecoach #1 bus service from Midhurst to Worthing via Petworth and Pulborough. Google Maps estimates the 0.7 mile route to the brewery would take 14 minutes to walk. The road to the brewery (The Street), west of the bus stops and northwards from the A272, is signed for Lurgashall, Lickfold and Lodsworth and there is also a brown sign for Langham Brewery.

Visit the Langham Brewery website for more details about the brewery, beers, events, taproom, shop and brewery tours.

Langham Brewery, The Granary, Langham Lane, Lodsworth, Near Petworth, West Sussex GU28 9BU

Tel. 01798 860861      langhambrewery.co.uk

ADDENDUM   (18/5/2021)

Photos: Langham Brewery

Farretti pizzas are now available at the Langham Brewery Taproom and from the nearby Farretti unit.

Photos: Langham Brewery

There are taps for keg beers behind the bar and handpumps for cask ale on the bar of the Taproom.

Photo:Oliver Dixon

Don't forget to take some Langham Brewery beers home with you!

A review of Brussels Beer City

Originally from Ireland, Eoghan Walsh has lived in Brussels for around ten years. Eoghan founded the Brussels Beer City blog in 2017. He was awarded Best Young Beer Writer of 2018 by the British Guild of Beer Writers. Eoghan contributes articles to Ferment, Pellicle and other publications.

Based on his articles featured in the now-defunct Belgian Beer & Food magazine, Eoghan published Brussels Beer City: Stories from Brussels’ Brewing Past as a printed book and e-book with a launch event at Brussels Beer Project on 7 October 2020.

On 22 October, an online book launch event and drink-a-long with Eoghan Walsh was hosted by Breandán Kearney, Belgian Smaak on Zoom. The beers suggested to complement the Q&A session were: Zinnebir, Zenne Pils (both Brasserie de la Senne) and Cantillon Gueuze, all brewed in Brussels.

An introductory chapter ‘A Tumultuous Past’ charts the history of brewing in Brussels through its vanished breweries leaving Cantillon as Brussels’ sole commercial brewery for nearly two decades until Brasserie de la Senne opened their brewery in Molenbeek in 2010.

Subsequent chapters cover vanished breweries: De Boeck; Atlas; Vandenheuvel; Wielemans-Ceuppens; Leopold; Belle-Vue and Caulier.

Boulevard Maurice Lemonnier - near Brussels Midi station

An Epilogue ‘In search of lost beers’ describes a Sunday spent with Joe Stange on a mission to drink a beer from each of the last four centuries of Brussels brewing history – Boon Lambic, Cantillon Geueze, CTS Scotch and Zinnebir ‘a Brussels pale ale’.

‘Catch a Falling Star’, the Vandenheuvel chapter looks at 1958, when the Atomium was the centrepiece of Expo 58 in Heizel and the brewery’s Ekla Pils was the ‘star of the Expo’. Within a decade many of the 32 breweries supplying Expo 58 had been merged or closed. Vandenheuvel was shut down, by its new owner Watneys, in 1974.

‘Monsieur Constant’, the Belle-Vue chapter describes the career of Constant Vanden Stock as patriarch of the Belle-Vue brewery which transformed the Lambic industry and president of Anderlecht football club. Eoghan’s interest in the football aspect reveals that he ‘always wanted to be a sports writer’.

The slim book, illustrated with a photograph for each chapter, lacks a map. After tracing online the brewery locations mentioned, my interest in visiting the remaining brewery buildings or traces, resulted in the production of a rough map (below) to illustrate this article and to complement the book. The map’s key identifies the icons which indicate whether any traces or buildings of the historic breweries remain.

The paperback book and Kindle edition can be purchased at: Amazon

Quinno in Norway

A guest post by Quinten Taylor, Vice Chair of Reading & Mid Berks CAMRA (2020) who is on Twitter as @SirQuinno. [Photos by Quinten Taylor & Tanya Kynaston]

The author drinking at Øx Brew in Trondheim

Dr Strangebrew or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love £15 a pint Norwegian craft beers

So we all know the cliché – Norwegian beer costs a bloody fortune and if you are a serious beer drinker, you’d best have a king’s ransom in tow in order to enjoy yourself like you would at home.

And folks, having spent a week on holiday there, it’s entirely true.

My job, having spent an amount of money that means my wife now says it’s best I don’t see the credit card bill, is to guide future Nordic beer travellers and help them navigate the pratfalls and pitfalls of drinking in this wonderful country.

Tip 1 – Be prepared (mentally)

If you are on a budget, be realistic about how many beers you can afford if you are drinking out. For example the cheapest third available at Oslo’s RØØR bar (the premier venue for craft beer choice in the city) in January 2020 was 62kr. At current exchange rates that’s about £5.20. At that price you’ll burn through a ton without even bothering the higher end of things. Off-sales are split. Beers up to and including 4.7% abv are available in supermarkets; anything above that must be purchased at a Vinmonopolet, the Norwegian state offy. Beware that the Vinmonopolet has restricted opening hours.

Tip 2 – Price usually signifies quality

Almost all Norwegian craft brewers understand the wallet pain that drinking their product can cause, and therefore are rarely in the habit of passing off sub-standard or shoddy beer. Price indicates time, quality and brewing cost in a way that sometimes doesn’t happen in the UK.

Tip 3 – Tasters are a rare treat

Due to the way the Norwegian taxman operates, all beer sold must be accounted for. Therefore a lot of places don’t offer tasters or, if they do, it’ll be a few drops.

Tip 4 – Sharing is caring (about your cash)

If you’re travelling with other beery companions, put any squeamishness about trying other people’s beers aside and dive in. Share the wealth and find the best brews quicker. Flights (which are called 'planks' here, 'flights' are what happen at the airport as far as Norwegians are concerned) are also often available in bars, though often not obviously advertised.

Tip 5 – Brewpubs are cheaper, but refer to Tip 2

I tried half a dozen or so brewpubs and to be honest the quality wasn’t that brilliant in most cases (with a couple of honourable exceptions). By all means try one for a tick but don’t think you’re being clever by drinking exclusively in them to save cash and that you’re getting a comparable experience to drinking more commercial scale products in regular craft bars.

Tip 6 – Card machines are weird in Norway

Bar staff will put in the total on the card machine but often you will also need to re-enter the total yourself (which does give you the option to tip if you wish) before you tap.

Tip 7 – Untappd is your friend

Got a smartphone? Download Untappd and use it to research the beers before you buy. Whilst it certainly isn’t foolproof it often gives you a fair indicator of whether you’re likely to get a great taste experience for your cash.

Tip 8 – Bar service is the norm

And make sure you try a bit of Norwegian lingo when you can, staff will appreciate the effort and will be more willing to give you an exemplary Tip 9.

Tip 9 – If in doubt, ask

Unless it’s Saturday night and the bar is rammed, most Norwegian bar staff are more than happy to help you navigate the beers available if you smile and ask nicely. Spoken English is often impeccable and there remains a great affinity for the British - so you’ll often be engaged in conversation anyway, whether you’re asking about beer or not!

Tip 10 – Know what the Norwegians are best at brewing

This is my final – and I think most important – Norway craft beer tip. Great beer in Norway costs good money. You want to get the best, so why pay three times the price for beer that tastes the same as it does back in UK? You need to hit the rich seams. There are two solid options;

Apollon, Bergen

• Dark beers, namely porters and stouts; the quality of these styles go way above the average of what I’m used to back in the UK. There were at least three beers I tried which I would hail as world class in this category, with a further half dozen or so eliciting long and sustained appreciation. Norwegians know what they’re doing with this genre, so take advantage.                
• Kveik beers. There exists a farmhouse brewing culture in western Norway which has passed down yeasts referred to as kveik for generations. This practice has resulted in ale yeasts which are typically highly flocculant and phenolic. Sounds off-putting? Well, the Norwegians know how to use this yeast to their advantage and there is an emergent trend of adding these yeasts not just to traditional farmhouse beers but also to modern brews in order to bring out a taste similar to funk, orange peel and clove, a taste which I really began to appreciate. Often (though not always) kveik beers will be marked on the blackboard or menu. Read more at http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Kveik

Bonus tips!

Find below a list of bars and breweries that really impressed me during my visit. It isn’t exhaustive, just what I visited, drank and would thoroughly recommend.

BARS

Oslo

RØØR, Oslo

RØØR (Rosenkrantzgate 4)

The most comprehensive tap list in Norway - 71 of them!! Immaculately kept shuffleboards upstairs.

Hopyard (Mathallen Oslo Maridalsveien 17a)

A bar in the covered market with an eclectic selection, run by a bubbly and extremely knowledgeable young lady.

Café Laundromat (Underhaugsveien 2)

A local coffee shop, bar, restaurant and clothes washing facility. And it happens to offer one of the better beer selections in Oslo. I ate here and can recommend the food too.

Grünerløkka Brygghus (Thorvald Meyers Gate 30B)

Friendly backstreet brewpub with a British style atmosphere. And their Løkka Tropicana beer is to die for.

Café Sara (Hausmanns Gate 29)

Cosy and upmarket bar/restaurant with an eclectic range.

Bryggen (the dock), Bergen

Bergen

Pingvinen (Vaskerelven 14)

Small and intimate bar and diner. The food is Norwegian ‘what granny makes’ comfort fodder and comes highly recommended by me. It is really popular, so come early to bag a seat.

Henrik Øl og Vinstove (Engen 10)

A discreet doorway and a flight of stairs leads to a basic and uncomplicated bar with 54 taps. All beer available in thirds.

Apollon, Bergen

Apollon (Nygårdsgaten 2a)

A fun little venue which is half record shop and half bar. Not many seats, so try and visit off-peak.

Røverdatter (Neumanns Gate 5)

Trendy lounge bar with friendly service and some leftfield choices.

View from Gamle Bybro (Old Town Bridge), Trondheim 

Trondheim

Øx Tap Room (Munkegata 26)

Huge modern subterranean brewpub who produce excellent quality beers and also have a wide variety of guests.

Den Gode Nabo, Trondheim

Den Gode Nabo (Øvre Bakklandet 66)

Housed in a centuries old wooden building on the iconic riverfront in the old town, this is a feast for those who love history and quirky hostelries. The beer list ain't bad either!

BEERS AND BREWERIES

Nøgne Ø

One of the few Norwegian brewers to get their products over to the UK in decent quantity, you can’t go wrong with any of their beers in any style. Their Gale Force Imperial Stout and Porter are world class dark beers.

Cervisiam

A cuckoo brewer who make the most amazing beers – if you like big taste, this is the one for you. Their Bourbon & Rye Barrel Aged Pecanisher was a ‘tell your kids about it’ beer, a Top 10 in my lifetime beer. It was that good.

Lysefjorden

The brewer makes his own cola. He decided to try making a sour beer with it – the result is incredible (always available at Pingvinen, Bergen). So good I went back a second day and had it again.

Drum Brew

For their Gulrot Gose, made with Norwegian carrots. Tasted like nothing I’ve had before and if it hadn’t have been for time at the bar, I would have had another!

HaandBryggeriet

Found in most craft bars, they were a new brewery to me when I arrived in Norway and I left having enjoyed a good number of their brews which are consistently high quality.