You’ll notice a theme in this blog; the more I learn, the less I learn. Having been served beer soup with scum in it in the name of localism, I really should have taken the hint and stuck to mega brews.
There were enough of those in the Sun in Dunfold, a pub with a sign clearly drawn by the village cat (top).
It’s another pretty village in the built-up Surrey/Sussex borderlands, with vast greens and barns stocked with enough Bollinger to see them through the war with Russia.
It’s a comforting looking village pub, retaining the much-loved Friary Meux sign and a sense that craft beer is some decades off.
Actually, this was a charming village pub with stone floors, real fire, fresh flowers and middle-aged men in leather jackets. And excellent service, including a landlady who recognised my presence with a “Won’t keep you a minute love“. Makes all the difference.
You’re going to ask yourself how I resisted the Pedigree, aren’t you ? I just didn’t want to be disappointed, that’s all.
Another pub where those pathetic jam jars are absolutely pointless, unless you really are supposed to use them as samplers.
Perhaps it was the “10p from every pint goes to protecting ears of corn from mice” message that made me go local. Anyone ever heard of/seen Tillingbourne beers ?
One of those cases where the pub is making a decent job of a dull beer. Not unpleasant, not “Donnington” bad, just a bit homebrew buttery. I didn’t finish it, anyway. But I bet you some CAMRA folk post-revitalisation will declare Pedigree BAD, local beer GOOD.
More Proper Pub credentials, four old boys playing cards,
the gentlefolk splitting the bill,
and the dog walkers arguing over whether to have pudding, based on the relative calorific contents of the Banoffee pie and donuts.
None of them looked like they would explode if they caved in and went for the Banoffee pie. I left before they reached their momentous decision.
retiredmartin 
A tough one indeed – I’d have gone with the Pedigree and then sent a cheque off to Surrey Wildlife Trust when I got home. Dormice are cool ! 😀
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Pedigree bad! Marston’s (and all they touch) very bad! Local beer – can be bad, if it’s not good.
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Boooooo.
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Lovely interior in this one. Though I do question the wisdom of attaching Christmas lights to exposed ceiling beams!
That Pedigree logo change isn’t going quite as planned, it seems– licensees are sticking with the old pump clips, and I can’t say I blame them.
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I don’t blame them, and there’s at least two other Pedigree clips you’d see in the east Midlands. You sometimes see the really old small one from the ’80s, and psychologically you expect better beer the older the pump clip !
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Old clips to me denote an enthusiast running the pub with excellent beer, and I’m rarely disappointed in that respect.
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Indeed. It also suggests some allegiance to particular beers (often Pedi/Bass/6X etc) over a long time.
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Tillingbourne took over the old Surrey Hills Brewery site when they moved to bigger premises. Their beers normally tend to the hoppy and are usually decent.
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Hoppy ? Ah, that’ll be the problem.
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My local CAMRA branch visited Tillingbourne back in 2014. I can back up what Ed says about their beers; one of them even won Beer of the Festival at the 2013 SVR Beer Festival. http://baileysbeerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/theres-beer-in-them-thar-hills.html
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Had you had the one I tasted ?
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Are you sure it wasm’t made from mice?
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Or included mouse pee 😮
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What, the Banoffee pie ? Weird.
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That’s craft for you.
Or Donnington, which must be proto-craft of some description.
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“a pub with a sign clearly drawn by the village cat (top).”
What, with no ball of twine! Hardly! 😉
And that map has some lovely paint names in it (Peartree Green, Highstreet Green – which is probably a shade of vomit). 🙂
“where the pub is making a decent job of a dull beer”
I say; you’ve been on a fair run lately with ‘scummy’ beer. 😦
“and the dog walkers arguing over whether to have pudding, based on the relative calorific contents of the Banoffee pie and donuts.”
If they’re walking their dogs that should be excuse enough to opt for the calories. 🙂
Cheers
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Not had that particular beer, looks a bit brown, Tillingbourne are usually very good for hoppy pale beers as well as dark beers.
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I haven’t come across that particular Tillingbourne beer before, but as Citra says their beers are usually very good.
Btw, why the downer on Donnington beers? I admit it’s a while since I last tried one of their beers, as they don’t seem to supply the free-trade, but I’ve got happy memories of cycling round the Cotswolds, visiting Donnington pubs en route.
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The pubs and their settings are lovely, the beers (in many people’s opinion) rather so-so.
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I suppose I always reckon I can tell the difference between a well-kept average beer (e,g, GK IPA) and a poorly kept good beer (e.g. Harveys in many gastro pubs). Be interested to taste Tillingbourne in what they consider their brewery tap, if they have an outlet that sells their beer consistently.
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Your commentary was on point. Great post man.
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Thank you. Love the Ferris Bueller GIF on your blog !
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Thanks dude! 🙂
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