The West Gate Inn, Canterbury, UK

Wantsum Hengist, brewed in Canterbury, is one of the best beers I've tried over here.

 

I found it at the West Gate Inn. See the little Wantsum shield on the far right, attached to the hand pump for cask ale? I told one of the folks behind the counter that I write about beer in the States. He gave me a spare Wantsum Hengist shield. I'm proud of this treasure.

The George, a pub and inn known to Dickens, in the Southwark borough of London

Updated Jan. 5.

Galleried inns like this one led to galleries in the theater ... or, theatre.

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London Calling -- Happy New Year!

Hi everyone -- a very Happy New Year from London! I stood for 5 hours on Waterloo Bridge to get these shots, so I hope you enjoy them!

Hello, from The Anchor pub in London's Southwark borough

 

I really, really liked the Leffe Blond Abbey I had here.

Beerman in London, Part Eleven

To follow up on my column in today's new Weekly Surge, not all cask ales have been good.

I tried one at the Coach & Horses pub in London, not too far from Oxford Circus, at least as far as my long legs and fast walking are concerned.

Royal London Traditional Ale looked like a normal, copper-colored beer, but it tasted like some kind of fruit-and-vegetable health drink. I guess that's due to the yeasts. Maybe it was just the cask or the pour. Royal London Traditional Ale was the first cask pint I received that didn't involve a second pour to top-off.

The beer was so sour and tart, I wasn't sure I could finish it. But I did, and it felt nice in my stomach, and spiritually it was rather uplifting.

Well, tomorrow morning, at an ungodly hour, I'm flying back to Myrtle Beach. I'll miss this throne of beer, this land of ales, this ... England.

Beerman in London, Part Ten

At the Swan pub, near one end of Kennington Garden and Hyde Park, two by Fuller's: one is Chiswick Bitter, and the empty glass was Discovery Blonde. Both were hand-pulled; both were understated and good.

Beerman in London, Part Nine

Tomorrow, as in Friday, I'll go to Hay-on-Wye, a tiny Welsh town on the British border.

Kristi and I are staying at a small hotel known for its bar and ales.

Stay tuned!

From the top of Saint Paul's Cathedral, 1

Yesterday -- July 20, 2010

Beerman in London, Part Seven

I drank Young's London Gold in a pub behind Hard Rock Cafe London.

It was a hand-pumped cask ale, and had just a tiny hint of that bready flavor I notice in some beers, like Heineken -- but not strong.

Mostly, Young's London Gold was a lighter, yummy, summer-friendly beer.

Have you tried it? What did you think?

Beerman in London, Part Six

Today, I was at the amazing Kew Gardens, about a 30-minute train ride from London, with my wife, known children, and in-laws.

Think Brookgreen Gardens with far more exotic plants, far fewer sculptures, and a long history of royal residents.

In a cafe/restaurant, I got in line to purchase a Budweiser Budvar -- the other Bud, the Czech Bud, the subject of a previous column.

Two open-air, refrigerated shelves held various bottles of water, wine, beer, etc., and I picked up a Budvar at the end of the line.

The bottle didn't seem quite cold enough, so I looked ahead, saw the second chilled shelf, and decided to wait.

At the second chilled shelf, the Budvar was barely colder than room temperature.

But there was no way I was losing my place in line -- it's one of those lines where the bottled-water purchaser has to wait behind the big-food-order-purchaser.

As a testament to Budweiser Budvar, it still tasted great, even barely chilled.

But I remember, way back in 1998, when I spent three months over here, seeing a news article on the front page of a tabloid about Brits trying to regulate the temperature of beer. Maybe that was more about pubs and tapped and hand-pulled beer. Either way, apparently, the idea of cold beer is still working against convention.

Beerman in London, Part Six

The waiter poured me just a couple of inches in a labeled, snifter-style glass and stopped.

"For emergency," he said with a laugh.

This was not the Peroni we usually see in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Peroni Gran Riserva is intended to be more upscale than the Peroni Nastro Azzurro we always see at Carrabba's.

I had Peronia Gran Riserva at Ask, an Italian restaurant (with great food!) next to the genius Design Museum.

It was even served in a snifter-style, labeled glass, and was 6.6 percent alcohol. That might be due to the double malting -- "birra doppio malto" -- claimed on the label. Either way, the malting certainly brought out a distinctive, sophisticated taste, smoother and heavier than the Peroni Nastro Azzurro.

For one 12-ounce bottle, Peroni Gran Riserva was about 3.70 pounds, compared to 3.30 pounds for Peroni Nastro Azzurro, if memory serves.

I don't think we have Gran Riserva in Myrtle Beach, but if we do, try it.

Beerman in London, Part Five

Today, between Henry IV Part One, and, incidentally, Henry IV Part Two, at The Globe Theatre, Kristi and I went to Founders Arms Riverside Pub.

I ordered a hand-pulled Wells Bombardier English Bitter.

Hand-pulled beers are not powered by carbon dioxide. Founders had those taps, too, but apparently the hand-pulled, or pumped, beers are unique to the U.K.

The guy pulled my beer, slowly filling the pint glass. He pulled the handle twice, and when the glass filled, with a bit of head on top, he set it aside and got Kristi's Strongbow cider from the regular taps.

Then he returned to my pint, and pulled the handle again, making sure the glass was filled.

That was awesome -- genuine respect and care for beer, even in a busy pub and restaurant.

The lamb kabobs were great, too.

Beerman in London, Part Four

We've placed an online order with the grocery chain Tesco -- and guess what they will deliver to our place here in London?

Well, boring food, of course, but also 500-milliliter bottles of Fuller's ESB -- only one of the best beers, ever, and the original ESB (extra special bitter).

Meanwhile, my Pabst Blue Ribbon cover story for the Weekly Surge is now available online. See what Scott Smallin did to me with his camera! And PBR is not just a big cultural story right now -- it's also one of the biggest business stories of the year: click here.

Beerman in London, Part Three

As in January, so in July: Stella Artois ads everywhere.

The ads in the tube stations declare Stella is made with only four ingredients: malt, hops, maize, and water.

Maize = corn.

Should we thank them for leaving out the rice?

Beerman in London, Part Two

This is cute:

BBC News this morning calls it the "U.S. Oil Spill."

Not the "BP Oil Spill."

The "U.S. Oil Spill."

Beerman in London, Part One

I never see 12-ounce cans on the beer shelves in the grocery stores here.

I haven't studied each can available, but they all appear to be 16-ounce or 24-ounce cans.

Yesterday morning, when we arrived at our place in Lambeth, my in-laws, Kristi and I celebrated by splitting a can of Strongbow cider.

Now THAT is a bottle of wine

LONDON, ENGLAND - A gallery assistant for Sotheby's auction house admires a melchior of Chateau Cheval Blanc 2006 alongside a standard sized bottle on February 12, 2010 in London, England. The melchior sized bottle, which is 18 litres in volume, is to be sold in Sotheby's sale of 'Finest and Rarest Wines & Vintage Port' on February 17, 2010 in London and is expected to fetch up to 4,800 GBP. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Content © 2010 Getty Images All rights reserved.Retrieved via PicApp.

London Postcard: Loving the beers here

Here are some worthwhile brews I've sampled while here in London. I'm heading back tomorrow, but if you travel to the U.K., or if you can find any of these in the States, they are very worthwhile:

Erdinger: A German wheat beer that has become a new favorite.

Budweiser Budvar: From the Czech Republic, this is NOT the Anheuser-Busch Bud. In fact, it pre-dates the Anheuser-Busch dominance of the beer market.

Britannia Ale: Fantastic balance, with hopping that leans toward a proper India Pale Ale.

Sambrook's Wandle: Enjoyable, highly drinkable.

Timothy Taylor's Landlord: Good balance, highly drinkable, very light, watery mouth-feel considering the level of character it delivers.

The Monument, designed by Christopher Wren

I climbed all 311 steps.

Scroll down to the last two or three posts for images from the top.