The search for the perfect pint

2010-03-06T11:28:00.002Z

The next port of call was Alberts Bar on Skunu Ilea. This was an English bar and although we never went back after watching United retain the Carling Cup, it was ok. The barmaids were well worth looking at and the beer was ok - Azagus Aldaris at 1.40 Lats for 1/2 litre and Kiss Cider at 1.50 Lts. I don't think it was cider - more a perry but it was very refreshing.

2010-03-06T11:23:00.002Z

After we'd fed our faces and had a couple of pints we headed towards and Orish pub called Paddy Whelans. What a shit-hole. Televisions all over the place but it was full of ignorant wankers from London watching Spurs on tele. We made the mistake of having a pint in here. Three of us had Guiness for 2.50 Lats whilst Norm chose a Leffe Brun at 2.40 Lats. Utter shite so we quickly left.

Latvia - March 2010

2010-03-06T10:52:00.003Z

It was an early start - especially for me as I had to pick up NL, JH and JP before driving to John Lennon aiport for our early morning flight to Riga. We arrived at the airport at 4 am and remarkably even though JP had been up most of the night he was not that much under the influence.

The first couple of pints were the awful Carling. I abstained but the other three decided to start as they meant to go on.

Norm and I spent most of the time asleep on the flight except when we were interrupted by the irritating announcements for scratch cards and crap cans of Carlsberg for £4 for 33cl. I wouldn't drink that if it came out of Cheryl Cole's minge but JP bought 2 cans and almost threw up the contents after just one sip.

We landed in Riga without mishap and JP quickly grabbed a taxi to take us to the fantastic Hotel Konventa Seta in the heart of Riga Old Town. The exchange rate is currently around 75 Lats for £1. The taxi ride cost 9 Lats.

Twenty minutes later we'd booked in and had to find a pub to watch the United v Aston Villa Carling Cup Final. Normally we don't venture into the ubiquitous Oirish / English bars but if we wanted to watch the match....

The first pub we found was Alus Seta on Tirguna Ilea. I'd been in this place 6 years earlier and rated it highly. It didn't disappoint.

It serves traditional Latvian food, kebabs, roast tatties, a variety of stews plus salad. All were tried over the five days and were highly recommended by each of us.

The beers were Ventspils Lazavas at 1.30 Lats and JP tried a Kiss cider at 2 Lats. Over the next few days we also tried Aldaris and Uzavas Gaisais (pale unfiltered lager type beer), Aldaris Zelta and Uzavas Tumsais a dark unfiltered beer. The background music was apparently traditional Latvian Folk music. It didn't bother me but JH found it annoying.

Passgen - Koln

2009-10-13T18:26:00.002+01:00

Just time for another few 25 cl of Kolsch. This is very different to Alt and is similar to a pilsner. This pub was incredibly busy, serving huge portions of the normal Germanic fare. We only came for the beer and it was worth coming.

2009-10-13T18:16:00.004+01:00

Another beauty of a pub in Koln. This is in a huge square and even though it rained throughout our visit, it didn't stop us standing outside with the locals supping a fantastic Kolsch or ten. They even laughed when Tededned nudged the umbrella stand and drenched one of their party.

2009-10-13T18:08:00.004+01:00

This fine little boozer can be found in the Altstadt in Koln about two minutes walk from the banks of the Rhine. We chacned on this pub after trying unsuccessfully to get into a pub that boasted that it sold 100 different beers. (It was closed and it was Saturday afternoon).

I thought the beer in here was excellent, again priced at 1.70 euros for a 25cl glass but we were served by the most miserable horsefaced cow we've ever had the misfortune to meet. She made us feel most unwelcome although this was quite probably her normal German demeanour. (See below)

Beer Mats

2009-10-13T18:02:00.003+01:00

Bierhaus en d'r Salzgass - Koln

2009-10-13T14:16:00.002+01:00

Brauerei im Goldenen Ring - Dusseldorf

2009-10-13T14:12:00.003+01:00

Originally three separate pubs were on this site, until 1704, when they were combined into one. The current building is a large establishment, in the beerhall style. Despite the name, it's no longer a brewery. It last brewed in the early 1970's. There are the standard pine-topped tables and tiled floor. The bar itself is enormous and runs almost the whole length of the pub. As is usual in this town, the blue-clad köbes are there to deliver a beer to your table whenever your glass is empty. We were served by an annoying Jap who insisted on replenishing our Alt before we'd even taken the top off the last one. The bratwurst comes highly recommended though.

Brauerei Zum Schussel -Dusseldorf

2009-10-13T14:07:00.006+01:00

Another bar that serves Alt straight from wooden barrels, this time served by buxom waitressess instead of the blue clad waiters. Again it cost around 1.70 euros and can be found on the main street in the Altstadt. The whole street is full of bars and restaurants like this and should not be missed. We again sat outside taking in the fantastic Saturday night atmosphere. The only drawback is that you do get to meet some 'interesting' characters.

The Rhineland around Dusseldorf and Cologne

2009-10-13T13:54:00.008+01:00

This was a first for four of the five who travelled to Dusseldorf to sample the Alt. Norm and Derek had raved about in the past and although Derek seems to have disappeared of the face of the earth we could always rely on Norm to show us the way. Hot from his travels around Mid America we might have forgiven him if he was slightly the worse for wear when we met at Manchester Airport, but he's made of stronger stuff and was swiftly into his first pint at 4:30 on a dark Friday morning.

Düsseldorf is the centre of one of the most interesting beer regions of Germany, because here, more than anywhere else, the pre-19th Century top-fermenting tradition has been kept alive. In contrast to Cologne, where Kölsch has, to some extent, mimicked the paleness and softness of pils, altbier has retained much of its individuality in terms of colour and flavour. Pretty well every pub in the city sells alt and even the most commercial versions could never be mistaken for a conventional lager. The altbiers of Düsseldorf are the classic examples of the style: copper in colour, dry and with a long hoppy finish. Complex, yet drinkable beers, Düsseldorf alts (I mean here those from the brewpubs) are as superior to caramel-coloured industrial alts as cask-conditioned beer is to keg. All four brewpubs sell bottles to take away (some litres some half litres), but the only way to taste alt is on draught, straight from a wooden barrel. How is Alt brewed?Superficially, in colour and flavour, alt has much in common with the pale ales of Britain or Belgium. However, the method of brewing alt, which includes an initial fast, warm top-fermentation followed by a long of period lagering at a low temperature, is in fact a hybrid. (You can see on some of the labels the confusing term 'top-fermented lager beer' - a statement which appears to be a contradiction in terms.) The result is a beer which combines some of the roundness of a bottom-fermenting beer with the more complex fruity flavours of an ale. There can be no doubt that the style has developed over the years, undergoing the type of industrialisation which occurred in London, Burton, Munich and Pilsen. The pre-industrial beers were probably darker, cloudy and with perhaps a touch of smokiness (I'm not 100% sure about this one - it depends on exactly how they kilned the malt), imparted by older methods of malt production.

Altbier is served in stubby 0.25l glasses (or eggcups as JH called them) delivered by a blue-clad Köbes, as the waiters are known here, looking appropriately more like brewery workers. Constantly reloading their aluminium trays with beers, they circulate dropping fresh glasses of alt down in front of anyone who looks in need of a new one. They keep score by putting a pencil mark on your beermat. When it's time to pay, they simply count the marks and multiply it by the beer price - fairly simple to do when you only sell a single beer. Currently, the price is around €1.70 for 0.25l (exchange rate is around 1 euro to the pound).

Zum Uerige

This was easily our favourite pub of the tour. This rambling and justly famous brewpub is located on the corner of a busy shopping street in the Altstadt. To the right of the entrance is an L-shaped taproom with beautiful stained glass windows depicting old Düsseldorf scenes and carved wooden panels with similar motifs. The walls are stained in various interesting shades of brown, presumably by a combination of beer and nicotine. Here you can watch the barrels come up by lift from the cellar, be tapped, very quickly emptied and then removed again. A heart-warming sight. The ceiling above the area for the barrels has an intriguing set of stains which must have been occurred when overactive casks were tapped. There is another small room to the left of the main entrance and a more cavernous drinking area to the rear. By the entrance is the usual take away section, where bottles and barrels are on sale. The outside seating seems to be gradually taking up the whole of the street running down the side of the pub. Immediately outside are the usual standup tables - handy for a quick bit of refreshment while shopping. Across the street are beer garden style tables and benches, offering the sheer luxury of sitting under the trees with a glass of alt. They also serve a wheat beer which is very palatable and makes a refreshing change after a gallon or so of Alt.

Buffet Bar Crawl - Dewsbury, Huddersfield & Stalybridge

2009-07-12T15:02:00.007+01:00

Norm, JH and me caught the train to Huddersfield at about 10:40 from Manchester Piccadilly. JP should have been there but Sue fell over the night before after a 'trip' to the Tunnes the night before so a visit to Stepping Hill put paid to his day out.
Forty minutes later we arrived in Huddersfield. After a short detour to the bookies, we made our way to the Grove. This fantastic pub is only about a five minute walk from the train station (it's just behind the bus station over the Ring road). Alas it was shut - it doesn't open until 12 on Saturday.
Stuck for somewhere to go, we popped into The PlumbersArms next to the bus station. I'm not sure what stunk most - the locals, the beer or the toilets. Ten minutes later after a very unsatisfactory pint of John Smiths we headed back to the train station to The Head of Steam. http://www.headofsteam.co.uk/default.aspx?tabid=10270 This is one of two bars at the station. Two excellent pints of 'Summer View - Rail Ale' later JH told us about a great pub called the Dog and Gun. After 10 minutes of fruitless walking we discovered that it had shut down about 7 years ago and was now a cafe.
With the day rapidly going downhill it needed an uplift so we decided to trek back to the Grove. http://www.groveinn.co.uk/index.htm
What a great pub. It is a two roomed pub with 8 regular and about 10 guest beers. Two pints of Springhead and a pint of RCH Steam Silver later we were in a better mood. There isn't much choice of food in this pub although there are loads of unusual bar snacks such as flavoured insect larvae worms and smoked elk and salami we decided on a quite marvelous herby pork pie, had a swift pint of Sprinhead and headed back to the station.
Ten minutes later we were in Dewsbury at the West Riding Licensed Refreshment rooms. This bar is set in the old waiting room and is full of old railway memorabilia. Yet again the choice of beer was fantastic, including the regular Black Sheep and Timothy Taylor. We tried a pint of High House Sundancer and another RCH beer. We could have stayed longer but the music was bit too loud so we hopped on the next train to Huddersfield.
This time we went into The Kings Head which is the other of the two bars at the station. Yet again the choice of beers was first class, Timothy Taylor Landlord and best bitter, Farmers Blonde, Golcar dark mild, Oakhams JHB plus numerous others. We had two pints although not surprisingly I can't remember what they were.
We then junped on a train to Stalybridge to visit the Stalybridge Buffet Bar. This is exactly what it says on the tin. The conservatory has been updated and as it was such a sunny day, there was a good crew both inside and outside the bar. The beer choice was again extensive, Millstone, Copper Dragon, Castle Rock amongst others. The pub consists of four rooms, again full of railway posters, stained glass, railway memorabilia. It is famous for it's black peas and pies although we didn't bother as we just stuck to supping. Three more pints were enjoyed in the evening sun and alas soon it was time to get the 8:44 train back to Piccadilly.
A great day and we'll be doing it again soon.
19/12/09
Well we did it again! This time JP joined us and on a cold snowy day what better than a visit to the Head of Steam.
The first pint was a simply marvellous pint of Old Bear from the Empire Brewery in Halifax. A light zippy hoppy ale of 3.9% at a reasonable price of £2.40. We followed this with a quick walk to The Grove again and had another Empire beer - The Grove grog at £2.20 a pint. Another hoppy 3.9% beer. Beautiful. This was swiftly followed by a 4.2% Brighton Rocks from the White Brewery. This was a malty beer at a cost of £2.30. It seems they charge an extra 10p for a stronger beer. Norm, JH and I then tried a York beer called Nook. Another hoppy 3.7% at £2.20 a pint while JP tried the trusted Tomithy Taylor Landlord (4.34 at £2.30).
We were getting into the swing of things now and tried a Kirkham Island (Sheffield) beer - Santas Little Helper. A dark treacle, caramel flavour at 5.2% for £2.50. This didn't stay in the glass long so we decided to go for a stronger beer - Brewdog Hardcore. This cost £1.30 for a 33cl glass. It was a massive 9.0%. Really strong and nutty and a taste of marmalade. Although JH likened it to jet engines.
Not content with this stronger beer we tried a 56% vodka and a 70odd% Japanese whiskey before having our final pint in the Grove - a stoutish Stout from Thornbridge Brock. 4.1% at £2.30.
We bid a beery farewell and headed for the train. What seemed like minutes later we were in Greenfield and heading for The Railway. We needed food so had a pie for £1.30. Excellent and another hoppy beer - Golden Pippin. £2.48 - the most expensive so far (3.9%). This was followed by a couple of pints of Tiger Rut from the Millstone brewery. Again this was £2.48 for a lovely 4.0% ale. Back on the train to Victoria and a visit to the Marble and The Angel on Rochdale Road. I know we tried a 5.9% Dobber for £2.50 but by then I had almost lost the plot.
Good Day.

Marble Arch - Manchester

2008-10-28T19:04:00.004Z

Time for a look at somewhere nearer home.

The Marble Arch was built at the end of the 19th Century and is now a Grade II listed building, mainly because of the glazed ceiling and the ceramic walls that can still be seen through beer sodden eyes. Anyway, enough of the boring shit.
There is a brewery at the back of the pub which brews some fantasic organic ale, namely Manchester Bitter which has been known to get John H shitfaced and the best ginger beer you'll ever taste. Probably - The Ginger Marble. Another of their favourites is Lagonda IPA and there are lalways a few beers from local breweries. Food is good but quite expensive but the main reason is to go for the beer. Unless you're a Laurel and Hardy fan. Then you can go to the Sons of the Desert film show every 3rd Wednesday of the month, courtesy of Norm.

U Fleku - Prague

2008-10-26T20:46:00.003Z

This pub was founded in 1499 and the brew found there will not be found anywhere else. However I think what you have to remember is that U Fleku's legendary dark lager os simply that. A lager. The original recipe was changed over 100 years ago but the one they sell is still an excellent brew. The dark chocolaty brew almost makes it worthwhile to brave the hordes of Russians, brash Americans and false "oompah" band in the pub. Not to mention the money grabbing waiters who are permanently trying to force feed you with expensive Becherovka schnapps. Believe me though the Flekovske pivo is probably the greatest black lager style drink in the world.

Unmissable.

Pivovarsky Klub

2008-10-26T20:33:00.003Z

Right. I may be a bit harsh here. But. When I've visited Prague in the past I've always visited the Pivovarsky Dum and loved the experience, although John H got the shits through eating green curry on the last visit. This time we decided to try to Klub, the sister of Dum after reading loads of good write ups. We were promised 50 brews from Belgium and Germany and the Pivovarský klub already offers great stuff: Samichlaus, the world's strongest lager, a once-discontinued Swiss legend of 14 percent alcohol now made in Austria. Dark-beer fans can find Ireland's Beamish, fruit beer fans can taste Belgium's Floris, and microbrew hunters can pick up U Medvídků's Oldgott Barrique and X30, the strongest Czech lager, weighing in at 11.8 percent alcohol.
Not only is Pivovarský klub a bar and "beer boutique" with refrigerated bottles available for take-out upstairs, but would-be brewers can even make their own lagers on site. The menu apparently includes a roasted pork koleno (knuckle) — the best-seller at Pivovarský dům — the new place also offers grilled pork, chicken and turkey steaks, all served in spacious rooms with a feel somewhere between a typical Czech pub and a high-end cocktail bar. The downstairs dining room includes a second set of taps, some surprisingly modern recessed lighting, light-wood banquettes and exposed brick arches, as well as what looks like display cases for the bottled beers. In fact, the framed beers along the walls hide reach-in refrigerators with those same bottles inside, making selection a snap — I want this one.

Unfortunately we didn't see any of this. I went for a dump, the rest had a piss and none of us had a drink because they couldn't find room for us. Wank. As it is so far away from anywhere else we wanted to be and was in a shit-hole area (Karlin in Prague 8) I doubt that I'll be back.

Kutna Hora - Czech Republic

2008-10-26T20:09:00.004Z

The principal reason for visiting Kutna Hora was to see the Bone Ossuary in Sedlec but six of the party just couldn't be arsed getting their heads into gear so it was left to Norm, myself and an under the weather Chappie to venture onto the great unknown.

Another worthwhile day out because we found a beer we hadn't sampled before.

The train only took about 50 minutes although we had to change trains at Kolin. Kutna Hora is a UNESCO listed town featuring medieval streets, a museum of mining, the bone church at Sedlec, a gothic cathedral and most importantly of all, a brewery.

We couldnt; actually find the brewery although we visited the brewery tap "Dacicky". This was named after a local hero Mikulas Dacicky z Heslova who apparently loved masturbating (I've no idea why he was a local hero). This was an excellent little boozer with an extensive food menu. Norm had the Goulash and voted it the best of the trip. Yet again I settled for the meat platter. Mmmm.

Anyway back to the beer. We had the Dacicke svetle a 4.1% deep golden brew that was superb and also had the Dacicke tmave which was a deep amber malty brew. Fabulous. After the beer and food, we took a taxi to the wierd Ossuary church. Well worth a visit but we were a bit concenred about the scores of Hells Angels who seemed to be their worshipping the bones rather than realising they were visiting a church. The same could be said for the proprietors who asked all to respect the dead yet allowed thousands of visitors a year to take photographs of them.

All in all a great day trip from Prague. Go for it.

Pivovarsky Dvur -Chyne - Czech Republic

2008-10-26T19:46:00.004Z

The Pivovarsky Dvur can be found 13 km to the south west from Prague. The easiest way to get there from Prague is to get the tram to Zlicin and then get a number 347 bus to the brewery. A three day transport pass cost about a tenner and this trip is covered by it.

The brewery is excellent and the beer was easily the best we tasted in the five days in the Czech Republic. They had four different ales on the day we were there so naturally we had to try them all.

The building is a reasonably large beer hall type restaurant although not in the same league as Munich for size. The beers we tried were a 10% light draught beer, a 12% half-dark lager type beer and a 14% special dark lager. The other beer was a guest from Vienna and Norm, Derek, John H and myself think we tried it in 2005 on our Slovakia trip.

The restaurant offered the normal Czech fare, pigs knees, knuckles, bollocks etc as weel as the meat and cheese platter that I took a fancy to this year.

If you're in Prague, get a ticket to Chyne, you won't regret it.

U Medvidku - Budvar Bar - Prague

2008-10-26T19:24:00.003Z

We last visited this place in 2004 when it was just a bar that sold different types of Budvar and nothing else. Well it's all changed. Since then brewery, hotel and restaurant have been added to the building and very good it is too.

Not only does the U Medvidku (At the Little Bears) have a spacious beer hall to serve Budvar only (although 5 different types) it also has a brand new brewery, surprisingly next to the toilets, serving a couple of excellent new beers "Oldgott" which is a semi -dark lager and is pretty good with a thick head and a bitter sweet finish. It was a tad expensive at 48 koruna for 40cl. The price of the Bud was around 31 (just over £1). The other was called "x beer" and is allegedly the strongest beer in the world. We didn't have one of those because Towey was moaning about spending too much time in there so we left. We managed three visits and if I'm in Prague again I'll be back.

There is also a brew shop where you can buy ale and t shirts etc but I didn't bother.

Three of us sampled a meal in the restaurant next door, all of us having venison meatballs and roast potatoes. Very good value at 95 korunas. Well worth a visit and it's easy to find as it's about 50 yards from Tesco's at 7 Na Perstyne.

The search...

2008-07-07T11:46:00.002+01:00

What to start with?

Varieties of beer

Here are a few varieties of beer among the wide range of beers that we supped over the past few beer travels
Alt: Alt beers are top fermented, dark beers from Germany. It is a malt, smooth beer with a tangy character. Alt beer is copper or amber to dark brown in color. One of Dereks' favourites -last drunk in Cologone I think.
Blanche: a Belgian wheat beer, often enriched with flavoring. It is unfiltered and is characterized by its cloudy consistency and its light, acidic taste. Another of Derek's favourites - drunk when he is particularly thirsty.
Gueuze: a Belgian Beer that is produced by mixing old and new lambic beers and is filled in Champagne bottles. I've yet to try this, but I bet it's one of Derek's favourites.
Lambic: a Belgian beer made of barley, wheat and perennial hops by quick fermentation.
Kriek: a lambic-wier in which cherries are allowed to steep for several months. The success of this fruit beer has resulted in a series of further varieties, for example, strawberry, currant and even mirabelle and banana beers. Was one of Charlies favourites - God Rest Him
Pils: this beer is named after the Czech city of Pilsen where the first pale beer was brewed with bottom fermentation.Czech pils possesses a complex but balanced malt character, a fruity hop aroma and an astringent aftertaste. Found all over Europe and a particular favourite of Mike and leedsscum
Rauchbier: smoked beer is a Bamberg specialty in which green malt is kiln-dried with beechwood fire. This gives the malt, and with that the beer, its typical smoky taste. It is dark amber to brown in color. Norm loves this.
Stout: a British beer, almost black in color, top fermented brewed with strongly roasted malt. The Irish style is very tangy and thick but not too strong, while the flavor of the English stout is sweeter and more well rounded.
Weiße/ Weizenbier: white or wheat beer is a German top fermented beer brewed with wheat and barley malt. It is golden and somewhat darker than the Belgium Blanche. Wheat beer comes yeast-free (Kristallweizen) or yeast-clouded. German wheat beer is very carbonated, moderate to light and very refreshing, which has made it a popular summer beverage. The northern version, the "Berliner Weisse" is in contrast considerably more acidic and is therefore sweetened with woodruff or raspberry syrup to compensate for the sharpness. Unsurprisingly Derek names this amongst his favourites.
Bockbier: bock beers are strong but 'rounded' in taste and are exclusively a top fermented, malt-based brew. They are gold to dark brown and malt-sweet with a defined body.
Kölsch: Kölsch is a light blond, top fermented beer. It is moderately carbonated, accented with hops but hardly bitter.
Schwarzbier: black beer is bottom fermented. It is an extremely dark, almost black beer. This beer is full-bodied, has a malt aroma and a characteristic bitter chocolate flavor. One for me, Norm and JP
Steinbier: stone beer is a German specialty brewed by a method from the dim and distant past. Very hot stones are added to the mash to bring it to a boil. Caramelized sugar forms on the stones. The stones are then returned to the new beer during the aging process to initiate a second fermentation. The beer has a smoky but sweet flavor and is golden brown. We sampled quite a quantity of this in Saltzburg a few month ago.

Haus Der 100 Biere -The House of a 100 Beers - Berlin

2008-07-07T11:15:00.005+01:00

A group of us visited Berlin in October 2007. We stayed in Charlottenberg and one the first night we found this place just round the corner at Mommsenstrasse 45. It's right in the middle of a load of restaurants and near to an Irish bar.

The name of the bar says it all and we were never dissapointed. It's true there are 100 beers although only about 15 or 16 of these are on draught. Some of those we tried were JP's favourite, Andechs Doppelbock dunkel, Duckstein, Klostriker Schwartzbier, numerous different Pilsners, a Kolsch, Weihenstephen Hefewiessbier which was fantastic and some beers from smaller breweries whose names escape me at the moment. Theye seemed to have a weekly? beer that was selling cheaper than the others but as we spent a few nights in there I can't really remember which one was the special. The bottels beer was not just from Germany. Thre were dozens from all over the world but why the hell would anybody want to drink something from the UK or USA when the German beer was so good
The staff are young girls with a good knowledge of English and some knowledge of the different draught ales. One poor bloke spent all night pouring the beers while the girls served the beer and smoked tabs.
The food is good and filling - a lot better than the bog standard sausage and pork knuckle that we seem to have been fed all over Eastern Europe. Derek had the most enormous cheese platter I'd ever seen. Needless to say, he couldn't finish it so we all piled in.
The decor is similar to a lot of bars in Bavaria , dark wood and huge, heavy tables. There was also room for a few hundred drinkers outside, although as it was the end of October, we didn't bother sitting there.

Prices? The normal price was 4 euro for 0.5 litre or 3.25 for 400ml. I'd tried some of these beers before but this was the first time I'd tried Konig Pilsner, Kostritzer Schwarzbier, Flensberger

and Jever. My overall favourite though was probably the Kostritzer because I never saw it anywhere else and it was different.