Twitter!

I will be adding beer reviews to Twitter and rating them regularly. This will make it easier to recommend quality beers without having to review a pub that has perhaps already been discussed.

Check back for reviews of: The Bread and Cheese, The Perseverance, The Hog in Armour, Delayneys, The Temple and some of the modern bars in town such as Vodka Revoloution, Essence and 100 Nights.

Stay tuned for the Twitter feed which will be up shortly.

Two more very impressive pints!

Another Norfolk Brewer, The Humpty Dumpty Brewery and another fine beer. A bit darker, but not by much than I usually go for. Recently voted the Beer of Norfolk 2010 and considering the competition from the other players such as Chalk Hill, Grain, Wolf and Elm Tree it has done well to achieve this accolade. It is no less than it deserves as it has a fantastic taste. It contains a combination of pale and crystal rye to sparkle it up a bit and it really makes for a good beer. The Fat Cat often have it on gravity and I would give it a go anytime!

Another beer from Grain Norfolk Brewery which makes it onto my list of favourites! I have to say that Grain are fast become my brewer of choice when it comes to real ale. Described as "A full bodied and hoppy pale ale. A strong bitter taste with resinous finish with a hint of citrus" you can definitely feel the citrus and because it is so light it is perfect for drinking with filling you up too much. I recently had a pint in the Kings Arms in Hall Road, Norwich and enjoyed it so much that I bought a cask for myself at home! A must try of any of the Grain beers.

The Earlham Arms - Previously the Schoolhouse, The Fountain and The Pickwick

Not the best pub around, when it was the Schoolhouse it was very much marketed towards students and when it was the Fountain it was pretty much a restaurant so there isn't a great deal of interesting history about the place. Now it is one of those pubs which is in an ideal location and just upsets me that more has not been done to make it a top establishment because it does have the potential.
On the plus side they show every single Norwich City game live and serve Norfolk Grain beer, which I think is one of the finest local breweries around. The last beer I had in there was a pint of Summertime.

This is really a fine beer, one of the best I have tried in recent weeks. Described as "a ludicously light summer ale, with fruity hops and a full mouthfeel" and I have to say I agree. This is a very light beer and perhaps too easy to drink! This pint was the highlight of my time in the Earlham Arms which was over crowded because of the football and when there is no football on the place is dead. Not too bad in terms of price and a fair selection of drinks to choose from but not a place I would put on my list of recommendations.

The Eagle - Newmarket Road

The Eagle on Newmarket Road is a pub which I have always had a problem with. It has never been a pub for real drinkers, a lack of ales and more of a 'foody' feel have detered me from venturing there too often. However, the pub used to get away with it by having an outstanding restaurant but in the last few years it has undergone serious change. I'm not sure if it is because of new owners or just a change around from the managers but it has changed into one of these 'gastro pubs' where you will find middle aged women eating olives, thinking they are extremley cultured. The food has gone massivley downhill and the wine selction is poor. There is no ales on tap and only two lagers to choose from. The pubs attracts customers with a large garde, ample parking and new interior decoration, which I feel has taken away some of the charm that the building used to have. It is expensive and better for a coffee than any alcoholic drink. Not one I would recommend.

The Trafford Arms

The Trafford Arms is one of those pubs which unfortunately I fear for. Currently it is doing good business with a strong customer base and loyal, local, regulars. They serve a good range of ales, a good range of lagers and also home cooked food. There is a pool table and darts and some live sport. However, the pub is unappealing to younger people, it is a little out of the way and the decoration makes you feel like you are in someones living room. Don't get me wrong, I like this pub. The Woodfordes Wherry is perfectly served and the food is well priced and generously served but I just feel that this pub could die out over the next five years. It is lively at lunch times and at the weekends with a friendly atmosphere so I would recommend it for a visit.

 

The beer is well priced with most ales still under £3 and most lagers under £3.50. Although it is not a city centre pub I feel that more could be done with it to maximise the profit and the customer experience. It does feel a little dated, which in some circumstances can add to a pubs character, but this is not one of those circumstnaces.

The Kings Arms

An old fashioned, traditional pub with wooden benchs surrounding the bar and a conservatory/dining area towards the back. Shows a lot of live sport and ALL of Norwich Citys Premiership games. There are usually between 6 and 10 ales on tap along with the standard lagers and Guiness etc. A real drinkers pub and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a nice pint. On my visit they had Fat Cat Honey Ale, previously discussed and enjoyed in this blog. They also had a selection of Adnams Ales and some Blue Moon Ales which were particularly nice. Very light and perfect for an afternoon session.

 

There are a couple of downsides to this pub. Number one - The atmosphere. It is never really too busy and because of this can seem a bit boring on some days. Number two - The area. The pub is on Hall Road in Lakenham and can occasionally attract one or two unsocial characters which is off putting.

However, this pub is a definite on my pub crawl list.

The Belle Vue

The Belle Vue is one of the pubs that I visit on a more regular basis, purely because it is very close to my house. They usually have a 4 or 5 good ales on tap and the lagers are all kept well. The last time I was in there I had a few pints of Woodfordes Wherry, they also had on Theakstons Old Peculiar which was surprising as I rarely see this beer on tap around Norfolk. The beer was ok, slightly too warm and also maybe coming o the bottom of the barrel as it had that stale taste coming through, making it feel not so fresh.
The pub itself is good, very popular with locals at the weekends and serves food througout the day. The food is, well, generous. You get plenty to deal with. The menu is full of pub favourites (Burgers, all day breakfast, chilli, sausage and mash, etc) and each of them is massive. They are also well priced for the amount you get which is a real bonus. This makes the place popular with younger people and students. The beer is also well priced at £2.80 for a pint of Wherry.
They have a pool table, smoking garden and show all football and sports on a big screen so occasionally you can get some thugs hanging around in there but most of the time it is a good place to be. Defiintely one for the pub crawl.