The new GBG should “drop”, as annoying people say, sometime soon.
Am I excited ? Not really. But frankly it’s getting tough getting more pink ticks in GBG20 as my nearest new Guide pubs are now 4 hours away and it’s getting darker.
So I’m doing a bit of “random pubbing“. You should try it. Just go in a pub. It doesn’t hurt (except in Carluke, obvs).
Let’s try Coopersale.
By a staggering coincidence I’d also walked here from Epping EXACTLY four years ago, finding the Theydon Oak a bit OK.
The Garnon Bushes (crazy name, I’ll visit all the Garnon Bushes in the UK) looked a bit less “Brunning & Price”.
No greeter, not much fuss, food finished. I even got a chance to approach the bar before being invited to find a seat before the R rate for Mid Essex rose to double figures.
A plain pub, which I like, enlivened by a dozen drinkers spread around the pub.
What a duff pump clip, what a wonderful glass.
And what a gorgeous creamy pint.
So, which tiny brewer contract brews this legendary beer, long regarded as dishwater by most CAMRA members ?
Er, that would be Marston’s I guess. But who cares ?
Not a classic, despite the beer, but the potential for BRAPA to end up in the wrong loo is huge.
retiredmartin 
When I see Courage I typically see Directors. Is Best a fairly rare find?
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Yes. I guess Directors (the 4.8% one) is what you see in a bigger Marston’s pub with Youngs Ordinary and Bombardier etc on. The Courage Best tends to be the stock beer in smaller drinkers pubs in outer London. It’s the original Doom Bar in that sense.
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By that you mean one of the world’s best beers?
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To you Yanks, yes it would be ;-0
You’d certainly have enjoyed this, though I doubt the pub will ever make the GBG.
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Courage Best is also often seen in old-fashioned drinkers’ pubs around Bristol, such as the Black Horse at Clapton-in-Gordano.
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Indeed. That says as much about the character of the Landlord in avoiding unnecessary change!
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Or the Post Office Tavern in Westbury-on-Trym, where it’s by far the best seller. (And they’ve got Doom Bar!)
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Which pub in Westbury used to be a Bass stronghold, Bill?
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The P.O.T. has Bass on gravity, probably the second best seller after Best. The Prince of Wales had it back in the day and so did the White Horse (AKA Hole in the Wall) but the latter’s gone a bit gastro and probably doesn’t have it any more.
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If there’s some new GBG entries out there when the 2021 Guide arrives I’ll be tempted to visit Bill.
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Don’t think the P.O.T. has much of a chance of making the GBG, being a BBB temple. Mighty fine pub though.
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I’ve been to the POT, 20 years ago. Last time there was a new Guide entry there I think.
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“So I’m doing a bit of “random pubbing“. ”
Sigh. It’s come to this?
“finding the Theydon Oak a bit OK”
Blimey! I was commenting on this blog that far back?
“I even got a chance to approach the bar before being invited to find a seat before the R rate for Mid Essex rose to double figures.”
But that’s to the right of the decimal, yes? 😉
“And what a gorgeous creamy pint.”
Yowzas.
“But who cares ?”
None but the brave dear fellow.
“but the potential for BRAPA to end up in the wrong loo is huge.”
LOL! 🙂
Cheers
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