Must have ales in the UK

Not sure where to post this so here goes. I'll be in the UK to attend the Chelsea Flower Show in a few weeks...anniversary present for my wife. We will be in the Cotswolds and St. Ives for a few days before the show. My main mission is to enjoy the best ales in England. I've been brewing mostly ale for 20 years and can't wait to try the real thing. Any suggestions for must have commercial ale is much appreciated!

BillinKC said:

Not sure where to post this so here goes. I'll be in the UK to attend the Chelsea Flower Show in a few weeks...anniversary present for my wife. We will be in the Cotswolds and St. Ives for a few days before the show. My main mission is to enjoy the best ales in England. I've been brewing mostly ale for 20 years and can't wait to try the real thing. Any suggestions for must have commercial ale is much appreciated!

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Otter Head from the Otter Brewery in Honiton ... one of the best I have ever tried, you should be able to get it somewhere in Cornwall or on your way through Devon.:
In London ... Fuller's ESB ... but be careful, I have never got beyond four pints, it's a bit of a strong one, excellent excellent though.

There are thousands of ales in the UK. My advice would be to find the best pubs/bars in the local area, because cask ale dominates the UK scene and it's a volatile product that needs careful handling and often doesn't get it.

You can list the top rated beers by country and region on ratebeer.com, I find this useful when travelling. It's a reliable source, I find. Beers by Harbour Brewery and St Austell are highly rated in Cornwall. Fullers, the Kernel, Beavertown, Partizan, Weird Beard are the top rated ale brewers in London. In the Cotswolds you may well find beers by Arbor of Bristol, and the Bristol Beer Factory.

You can also find Places to drink on ratebeer.com but this is less reliable as there are very few reviews of places. Try the Camra website, or buy the Camra 2014 guide. Hopefully people on here can advise the best pubs in St Ives, the Cotswolds and London. If you nip up north to Manchester I will be able to tell you what and where to drink. :wink:

Perfectpint.co.uk is a good site for finding pubs and ales.

You could also use the Camra Good Beer Guide Mobile app or the Caskfinder app. The Camra app does the best job of locating the best pubs near me.

Here are some good places in London:

There's a pub called the Ship & Shovel near Charing Cross station that has all the Badger beers, Poacher's Choice is a favourite of mine.
http://shipandshovell.co.uk/

Jerusalem Tavern stocks all the St Peters Beers and is a great little pub:
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restau...-Reviews-Jerusalem_Tavern-London_England.html

Euston Tap usually has some interesting ale and it's right outside Euston station so very easy to find:
http://www.eustontap.com/

It's worth going to a Brewdog pub if you like craft ale as they're a good UK brewery for that kind of thing. There are a few in London

Travelling round is a good idea as the different regions will have completely different beer.

The Euston Tap has served me well in the past. You will get ales from all over England in London. Ales from the north that I like and are highly rated include Thornbridge, Buxton, Magic Rock, Summer Wine, Redwillow and Pictish. Euston Tap is likely to have ales from some of these breweries.

I wouldnt go searching for ale.

Go searching for a quality pub. The best pint in the world kept badly will not go down well. an ok pint kept well improves it

I spend most of my holidays in Cornwall - mainly for the beer!

Anything from the St Austell or Skinner's breweries is great. If you can find Pennycomequick from Skinners it's probably the best stout I've ever drunk. Harbour IPA from North Cornwall is also good stuff.

In the Cotswolds, Broadway is a lovely spot to head for, especially if you can track down a pint of Ubu.

Speccy said:

In the Cotswolds, Broadway is a lovely spot to head for, especially if you can track down a pint of Ubu.

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Cotswold Dark Lager is also worth tracking down if you're in the area. It's one of the beers that got me into craft.

Hi
I'd also suggest that regional beers tend to be at their best in their home territory, where they're known and understood. Fuller's ESB has been mentioned as a London pint, but their London Pride is pretty much ubiquitous around here. Sharp's Doom Bar is now owned by Coors, and is being rolled-out nationally as an archetypal Cornish beer. I think it's worth trying in Cornwall.

I'm sure you won't be disappointed, whatever beers you find. Enjoy your visit.

Cheers,
Chris

I don't know where in the Cotswolds you'll be, but I can recommend three great microbreweries near me. Wickwar, Stroud, and Uley. Tom long and Budding from the Stroud brewery and Pigs Ear and Uley bitter from the Uley brewery are particular favorites. As already stated, find a good pub and and try whatever local cask ales they have. A copy of Cameras good beer guide would be a good investment. Have a great trip and cheers! :drunk:

Thanks to all for the tips, especially about finding a good pub as opposed to a good brand of beer. I used to be able to get excellent Fullers ESB in Lawrence, Kansas [home of Kansas University]. The restaurant owner knew how to keep the beer at the proper temperature but alas she became ill and is no more. Other bars in Kansas City do keep Fullers ESB but at very cold lager temperatures.

BTW, I'm based in Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds but plan on getting around to many of the near-by towns and gardens.

Thanks again

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

Speaking of Fuller's ESB...I tried for years to capture the caramel flavor that the beer has. Never got close. I used to correspond with some UK brewers on the Home Brew Digest about making a beer like Fuller's ESB, especially about the caramel flavor. One of the best suggestions was to add some caramel flavor to the keg and drink it fast. Never tried that since I bottle most of my beers.

I recently made a beer similar to Dog Fish Head 90 Minute IPA. The og was high [1089] enough that the beer finished at fg 1020. I was concerned about bottling a beer with that high a final gravity but so far no problem. The beer does have a tremendous body and mouthfeel with some residule sweetness that I attribute to the fg. That may be an approach to brewing a Fullers ESB type beer...leave enough residule sweetness to complelment the caramel malts.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

Don't forget Fullers do brewery tours if you are in London.

They were selling off 12 bottle clearance cases of bottled beers at £15 to £18 per case. Bargain as you get to drink the beer and keep the bottles on the cheap.

BillinKC said:

Speaking of Fuller's ESB...I tried for years to capture the caramel flavor that the beer has. Never got close. I used to correspond with some UK brewers on the Home Brew Digest about making a beer like Fuller's ESB, especially about the caramel flavor. One of the best suggestions was to add some caramel flavor to the keg and drink it fast. Never tried that since I bottle most of my beers.

I recently made a beer similar to Dog Fish Head 90 Minute IPA. The og was high [1089] enough that the beer finished at fg 1020. I was concerned about bottling a beer with that high a final gravity but so far no problem. The beer does have a tremendous body and mouthfeel with some residule sweetness that I attribute to the fg. That may be an approach to brewing a Fullers ESB type beer...leave enough residule sweetness to complelment the caramel malts.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

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Well, I've had pints of London Pride where the caramel flavour was overwhelming. I think Fullers had a prob with that brew, 'cos it wasn't good. I'm confident it comes from adding sugar (glucose/whatever) to the boiler.

I don't brew clones, but try to capture the character of various commercial bitters I enjoy. Many have those caramel/burnt caramel tones, despite the brewers' assurances that they only ever use finest Maris Otter. Strange, that... Anyway, I capture a hint of it by adding 5% sugar during the boil.

Cheers,
Chris

Many have those caramel/burnt caramel tones, despite the brewers' assurances that they only ever use finest Maris Otter. Strange, that... Anyway, I capture a hint of it by adding 5% sugar during the boil.

Cheers,
Chris[/QUOTE]

Graham Wheeler says pretty much the same thing ... I like convergence ...

Whilst in Stow, Hook Norton and Donnington ales are local favourites. Mate of mine lives in Stow: he recommends the Queens Head, which is a Donnington pub and the head brewer Patrick drinks in there, pub grub also good. Some of the Cotswold pubs can be a bit pretentious IMHO - the Cotswolds has attracted the London set, with some pubs becoming more like restaurants, I've been kicked out of a seat before because we were drinking and not eating. And I've come across some very stuffy landladys in several Cotswold pubs that I've never expereinced anywhere else in the country (and sad to say this, as I'm a local). My mate was a barman in one of them and served a lot of rock stars who live up that way, like Steve Winwood and John Entwistle before he pegged it, and some pubs have got delusions of gradeur as a result.

Donnington is very localised, only sold in their pubs I think, of which there used to be 17, but I now think there are less.There's a tradition round here of the "Donnington Run", hire a minibus for the night and visit all pubs spread across the Cotswolds, with a half in each, or even a pint in each.

Uley was mentioned earlier: you MUST try their beer, their Old Spot is my all-time favourite. Again a very localised brewery only selling beers in the Stroud Valley. The owner Chas is a bit of a local character. http://www.uleybrewery.com/

As North Wales lad there were very few local breweries making cask ale when I went to work abroad. I returned to live is Suffolk for a time and lived near the Adams Brewery and was introduced to cask ale. Abbots and London Pride were also common all three good and all three not seen in North Wales.

Today there are quite a few micro breweries but because the publican has as much to do with how good the ale is as the brewery who brewed it one can drink a really good ale in one pub but it's rotten in the next.

So when travelling where I don't know which are good pubs I look for pubs where I know the staff are well trained rather than for a particular brew. So Weatherspoons is where I head for as they always have cask ales and the staff are generally well trained.

There are clearly some really good local pubs and if around for 6 months yes hunt them out but for a short visit it is down to luck and if in a strange town I look for Weatherspoons.

I fully agree with clibit post 23 april. Also, if you are able to find a good bottled beer shop, I would recommend Kernel, Bristol Beer Factory, Mallinsons, Durham, who all produce consistent bottle-conditioned ales.

CAMRA has an online good pub guide at http://whatpub.com/

Once in a good pub just ask advice from the bar staff and they should be happy to give you tasters before you commit to a full pint.