I feel a con writing about St Albans when Alec has that gig covered, but this was my last tick in Hertfordshire and a goodie.
To be fair to CAMRA-HQ, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a bad Beer Guide pub in the city, though the homebrew at the Farmer’s Boy was always a bit testing. If honest, I miss the Farrier’s Arms, a bastion of McMullens in it’s day, albeit also a bastion of Gooners.
The Robin Hood is a bastion of good beer rather than choice, always a good line to take in my experience. It’s also a bastion of early ’80s cheesy pop, greeting me with this classic;
Personally, I believe pubs that play Sheena Easton should get a free pass into the GBG, but apparently some branches believe beer quality should be the overriding factor.
The Robin Hood isn’t in for stunning architecture, or breadth of beer range. Or even Locale credentials.
Just quality, the best Harvey’s I’ve had since Hailsham. Cool, rich, tight head, proper glass, I rated it NBSS 3.5+, in another undemonstrative St Albans boozer.
Some very plain bench seating, and a sense of not much changing over the decades, bar a diminution in lunchtime drinking. I used to have meetings here across the road occasionally in the ’90s, when the Mermaid was always the post-work boozer of choice for the Oakham (probably still is).
Just a skipping CD player and the one cheery chap for company, and I’ve no idea what he was drinking in that giant glass.
“Senses Working Overtime” replaced “9 to 5” on the jukebox, just as it is written, and all was well with the world.
Just keep picking Beer Guide entries for beer quality, South Herts CAMRA.
retiredmartin 
There’s something to be said for having a short, but quality, selection. 🙂
Cheers
PS – What’s with the single and double check marks in your guide?
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They’re the number of times I was attacked for taking photos of the locals. BRAPA had far more ticks
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Oh, sorry, THOSE ticks. That’s my scores (out of 3) for beer quality. Roughly 1 tick is NBSS 3, 2 ticks is NBSS 3.5, 3 ticks is 4 or better. All very scientific, obviously.
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So… a half tick would be 2.5? (You’ve had some of those). 🙂
Cheers
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Yep. An x would be “not Beer Guide standard on that dining occasion” i.e. 2.5 or below..
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Or check minus check = 2.5, therefore check minus check check = 2. Or do you prefer no bad checks.
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Too confusing for little me. No wonder you Americans drink Bud, no worries about NBSS there.
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Is Bud a beer? Cannot remember if I have ever had one.
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Your Sheena Easton criteria may be historically disregarded in Glasgow – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSfU5Zmgioc
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I went in the Robin Hood on the 24th June 2017 and found two real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Harveys Bitter,which went down well,the other real ale was Loddon Hullabaloo.
By standards it was a pretty shambolic pub crawl,i got there well before 10am but only managed 21 new pubs,i had been there years ago with the wife on a Nottingham Camra pub crawl.
I made so many mistakes in my planning and execution of the pub crawl.
I have promised myself not to do a pub crawl like that again.
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Alan, you are incredible! “Only managed 21 new pubs,” an amazing feat.
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Alan is winding you up, Dick. I’m sure he did 3 more back in Nottingham to get up to his allowance 😉
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“Alan is winding you up, Dick.”
Considering it takes at least 14 1/2 pints before Alan falls down I’d say it would take a lot to wind Alan up! (j/k) 🙂
Cheers
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Not for me,Richard,
I like to do my limit of 23 pubs,i took a photo of a pub i thought i had been in and then found out i had not done it the next day,it was a catalog of mistakes.
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Martin,
The pint in Nottingham and two pints of home brew are on top of my normal 23 pubs,which takes it up to 14 and a half pints,my wife did ask why i had not done my usual amount of pubs.
At last years Nottingham Robin Hood beers festival we both went well over our limits as we had 8 hours drinking in the beer festival and a couple of pints before going in,but all went awry when we went in Southbank City for a quick drink,a DJ playing music we liked so we soon started dancing,then a group came on so more drinks and dancing,not sure how many we shipped in there but well over five pints for me and five halfs for the wife and yes i did fall over in the kitchen when we finally got home.
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I missed this post back in September somehow – I just can’t keep up with you, Martin. The Robin Hood is growing more and more on me (it had a bit of a rocky time several years ago when an ex-employee had to do jail time). Beer condition excellent, place tidy and always friendly even if it’s often under-populated.
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