A couple of short posts praising London (calm down !, calm down !), and then I’ll give you my review of GBG19, featuring bits nicked off BRAPA’s post last night.
Amongst the GBG ticking fraternity*, we use the word “professional drinking” to indicate sensible quaffing that maximises ticks without busting the Government limits (the Spanish ones, anyway). As opposed to amateur drinking at York Beer Festival or in Sarajevo, for instance.
My own exemplar unprofessional drinking came 13 minutes later after a bumble through Covent Garden punctuated by stops to admire the scenery.
Just as there’s few new Guide entries outside the Spoons/Brewhouse/Craft chains in the City, so central London seems to plod on with the chosen regulars, making cross-checking between GBGs simple but dull.
Even this Craft Beer Co at the start of High Holborn used to be a Proper Pub called Rudy’s Revenge or something.
This one seems even smaller than the Charlotte, but boasts** London’s largest selection of craft. I counted 29 (twenty-nine) keg taps and 11 cask pumps. Perhaps that’s why it’s taken four years to break into the Guide.
But I’ve always had good cask in their pubs, even if they seem to favour Siren a bit. So I’ll have a half of..
Oh, what’s this ?
Yes, it’s that beer what won CAMRA Beer of the Year last month, pipping Doom Bar and Pedigree. The one I told you you’d never see in a pub near you.
I had a pint (£5.55), because beer tastes best in a pint glass. And because I wanted to see if the barman would caution me against drinking a 6.5% beer in pints. Perhaps he would have cautioned Mrs RM, and she’d have hit him.
I’m glad I had a pint; it slipped down as smoothly as a Plum Porter, which is a compliment (NBSS 3.5). I wouldn’t have had two, but I know someone who might.
Level 42 soundtrack, no mainstream lagers, 29 taps, interesting cask, tiny pub, half a dozen customers. Not sure how it works. But of course, you should never go in pubs midweek or before 6pm.
*£12.99 p.a. for a tie and pink pen, inititation ceremony is sipping a half of Tetley in a Sizzler pub out of season.
**Nothing to boast about, folks
retiredmartin 
Siren Broken Dream is soooo much better than Plum Porter, much more complex than just throwing a load of Plum essence into the brew. Plum Porter seems to split the difference between those who like it and those who think it’s massive Plum hit is all bit artificial? I don’t mind it myself. I like the Craft Beer Co places generally.
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I’m sure there’s just as much disagreement about Titanic’s Plum Porter as there is about the Hop Pole, Ye Olde Rose and Crown, the Stile, the Somers Town Coffee House and the Seven Stars.
I don’t like it, sweet and ‘stewed’, but I love the Grand Reserve, like a proper Belgian fruit beer, which is being brewed about now but I shall probably miss as I don’t get in the Sun often enough.
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I’ve just had a pint of Doom Bar in a basic pub in Sawbridgeworth (Herts) that was as good as anything I’ve drunk all year, so I no longer think there’s anything “good” or “bad” about particular beers, bar that Cotswold one some folk swear by…
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Cant stand Plum Porter, love Broken Dream.
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That’s weird.
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Don’t mind PP, but Broken Dream is far more complex.
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Perhaps all the other customers were downstairs?
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Didn’t know there was one. No noise coming from anywhere, and only a couple of pints pulled while I was there.
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Bigger than upstairs but no bar.
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“BRAPA The Musical surely only months away”
It will be a recording montage of all his visits to the various pub loos. 🙂
“29 taps, less than 29 customers”
And the lettering on the door says it is Great Britain’s largest tap selection.
“and she’d have hit him.”
I like the cut of her jib. 🙂
“but I know someone who might.”
(blush)
“*£12.99 p.a. for a tie and pink pen,”
Pink? Well, that lets a lot of the members of PUB* out of the running.
Cheers
* – Pub Union of Bloggers, according to BBM (although one time he did use PUB and referred to it as Pub Bloggers Union). 🙂
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£12.99 sounds like a bargain. I’d like a pint of Tetleys but a Sizzler out of season would be wonderful.
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Can negotiate the pint, but would be in a Doom Bar glass after my conversion yesterday.
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Is £5.50 now the norm for a pint in London? Looks like it is a slow quaff for that pint! I reckon about an hour…
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£4 seemed typical, more is some of the chains like Fullers and Nicholsons. That stout was 6.5% so not bad; the Craft Co normally do a beer well under £3.50 from memory.
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Ah…that seems more realistic to us country bumpkins!
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“so central London seems to plod on with the chosen regulars, making cross-checking between GBGs simple but dull.” –Surprising to me, as I’d have thought London would be a place where there was a lot of “churn.” But perhaps the high cost of real estate prevents new folks from entering the market?
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That’s a good point about real estate, Mark. Of course, high rents also make life more tentative for traditional beer-led pubs and make churn more likely. Odd.
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