Category Archives: Bars

The Brew, The Strand, Sliema – Malta’s first Brewpub

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I stumbled into The Brew by accident. Like, I’ve been disappointed before with pubs whose nomenclature purported them to be brew pubs. Besides, most of the premises on the swish Sliema strand are typical tourist joints or frequented by younger Maltese kids. Anyway, nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I had a walk down the stairs.

Inside it’s very well furnished and has more of a New York feel to it than a continental European style café bar. The food element was quite prominent and there was nothing unusual on the long bar top, apart from the usual suspects. Then my eyes focussed on a cylindrical copper glow at the far end of the bar. Quite an impressive copper glow actually, three shiny Schulz brewing vessels sat on a bespoke gantry. Unfortunately the lad behind the bar wasn’t Maltese and his command of English was poor. He pointed out a pallet load of shrink wrapped boxes indicating they were part of the brewing set up, and he thought they would be commencing brewing in November. Other than the brewer being ‘some German guy’ he couldn’t tell me much more about it, apart from having some ‘craft beers’ in bottles. Ah well, you can’t drop on every time.

I had a look on The Brew website when I got back to the hotel. It was all a bit Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet and mentioned nothing about any brewing operation. When we were out and about, I was asking people if they had heard about The Brew, but no one had, which seemed a little strange. Some sort of mental displacement activity threw up the idea that it was very similar to Tapped in Leeds, in both style and appearance, if only for the brew kit. So, I decided it was worth a photo or two and inclusion in my beery round-up of Malta which led to a second visit with the camera.

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I took a couple of shots of the modern exterior and the logo before wandering inside and asking some guy if it was okay to take some photos of the brew kit? He immediately asked me why? I outlined my intentions which led to a broad smile and the explanation that today (28-10-16) was the inaugural brew. Alex, the General Manager then gave me the full tour and introduced me to his partner and Director of the operation, Dimitri Tolok, a Ukranian. Even though he continued to insist that Marko Devic’s shot was over the line when John Terry cleared it (Ukraine 0-1 England – European Championship – 19/6/2012), Dimitri was a charming young man. I think it’s universally acknowledged that it should have been 1 – 1 and the linesman got it wrong, I apologised for this.

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He told me they were going to brew seven different beers on rotation so there would always be five different styles on the bar. The first brew was a Pilsner, and they showed me the bags of milled pilsner malt from Weyerman of Bamberg and the pile of sealed silver packets of Hallertau hop pellets. The Schulz brew kit was a three vessel set up and although the language barrier didn’t allow much technical detail, they told me it had a maximum 500L production. Essentially there were three copper brewing vessels downstairs, and, at least, seven or eight fermenters/storage tanks behind a screen in the upstairs seating area.  I’m guessing, but it looked like they were planning to dispense directly to the bar using some of these vessels as bright beer tanks? There was no evidence of any bottling or kegging facility. The set up was quite impressive, very professional, state of the art and looked to have cost an awful lot of money. Apart from smiles and nods the exact cost proved difficult to pin down. I reckon the set up costs for the premises and brewery will have been over a million Euro.

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Apart from the Pilsner, the other brews were going to be; Honey beer, Pale ale, Dark beer, Rye beer, Lager, and a Ginger IPA style.

The penny never dropped until I asked Alex his surname – Friggieri. Not the Friggieri’s that have Busy Bee I asked? ‘Cousins, my Grandfather and their’s were brothers,’ Alex replied. Now if you ever visit Malta, you just have to visit Busy Bee est. 1933, on Ta’ Xbiex, seafront, Msida. It’s a sort of glitzy, glass, mirrors and marble Caketeria; confectionery and savoury items, light lunches, sandwiches and pies, tea, coffee and milk shakes, wine and beer if you want, lunch no dinner service. It’s well off the tourist beat and almost exclusively locals, and it’s wonderful. If I was going to get assassinated by Michael Corleone, then it would be after lunch in Busy Bee, and I would only let him visit the washroom after I had eaten all my pasta, it is just the best, as good as Mama’s.

So there you have it. Malta’s first brew pub on Sliema Strand. Give it until the third week in November (2016) and you will be able to try their first ever brew, a Pilsner. If I’m honest, I won’t get to taste it for a while yet, maybe next year. From what I saw, from the history of those involved, and the amount of cash invested, I reckon this Maltese/Ukranian venture will be a winner, it just can’t fail.

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Malta Part II – The Sun in Splendour and WMC’s

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The Sun in Splendour Triq Ross, St Julians, promotes itself on the back of it’s quirky beer garden out the back. It’s also a very nice place to sit outside on the street and watch the world go by. Having said all that, inside it’s a pub, and not a bar, with ex-pat Brits and Irish chatting to Maltese, other nationalities seemed to stick to the outside seating. Around the two rooms, there’s banquette seats, low wooden tables and loads of football ephemera, a feature of many Maltese bars and TV’s showing football. One feature of the more pubbier bars in the islands is the presence of live football. The Maltese are mad for it and everyone supports a Serie A team, a Premier League team and there own local team, of which there are many. An interesting feature is the fact they can tap into live football feeds from across europe and the middle east at low or no cost, with an appropriate decoder, no exorbitant Sky subscriptions here!

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In terms of beer, there’s the full Farson’s complement; they really have everything tied up on the island, as well as a reasonable selection of Belgian bottles and the Gozitan Lord Chambray bottles. I liked the No U17’s in the bar approach, although like other bits of regulation, this probably wasn’t going to get observed. Prices were €2.50 for a pint bottle of Hopleaf and €3 for a pint of Cisk.

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If you don’t much care for Lager then go for Hopleaf a 3.8% pale ale that comes in pint, half pint bottles, and cans. I’m going to cover Farson’s separately but again, a throw back to the times of British occupation. It’s not bottle conditioned or anything but it’s a nice drink and sort of reminds me, and my old man too, of the old Bass Prize Medal. The bottles come straight from the fridge and are ice cold. Although it’s unseasonably hot in October at around 28 – 30 C, it gets very hot in the summer and you wouldn’t really appreciate a warm beer in the heat. To keep it cool most people opt for the pint bottle and half pint glass routine.

While your round at St Julians there are a couple more examples of pubs on Spinola Bay. there are also a few in nearby Paceville, pronounced Par-chee-ville, but give them a miss unless you want cheap shots and a fight with young drunken tourists.

There’s even an Irish pub which wouldn’t be out of place in any UK town centre, so I’m not going to describe it, apart from to say it was busy on a Saturday tea time and didn’t float my boat, nor exactly fit into the British Pub in Malta theme I was interested in.

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Also nearby there’s Saddles which is definitely a British style pub, again with Maltese owners and the usual victuals which is worth a visit. Again the clientele base leant more to ex-pats and Maltese. The guy in the yellow t-shirt was Maltese born, but raised in UK and couldn’t speak Malti, essentially resigning him as barranin (outsider).

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The City of London bar, despite it’s name, is very much a pub and one with a heritage going back to 1914. Again evidence of a long term, sustaining British influence, driven by the presence of thousands of servicemen on the island. We didn’t have a drink in here. I’ve had one before, a good few years ago and it doesn’t seem to have been decorated since … well, since 1914 actually. It does however have character and a Maltese trade. The main reason we didn’t have a drink was because the young lad behind the bar couldn’t find any bottles of Hopleaf (3.8%). He called the owner, who produced two bottles of Double Red strong ale, at 6.8% ABV and tried telling me it was the new Hopleaf, saying it was now out of production. I didn’t believe him and left it at that. A visit to the brewery a few days later proved me to be correct.

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The Salisbury Arms , 81 Triq Il-Kbira, Sliema, actually bills itself on the web site as an English style and enthused pub. The description is actually spot on and there is absolutely no outside seating here. A smallish room with a bar and seating all round with a smaller overflow room off it. A bit bigger than a micro pub, yet still intimate. Yeah, I know, it’s the same beers on the bar, but that’s Malta for you. If you visit when there’s a decent football match on you probably won’t get a seat, the whole main room has a reserved signs everywhere, on the tables, on the stools at the bar. We watched the Chelsea V Man U game in there, but were resigned to table service in the overflow room. If there’s no ‘big game’, on match days expect to see several games on offer around the room, depending on where you sit/face. As well as the atmosphere there is good cheap food as well and the toilets are exceptionally well maintained. Two pint bottles of Hopleaf are €5.40 here.

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I don’t claim to have been in all the British style pubs in Malta, nor is this a list, it’s just a few I revisited recently.

Just to emphasise the Britishness of the island, or at least the influence, there’s also what translate to our Working Mens Clubs. These come in different guises like the Società Nazionale and Partit Laburista; in very simple terms, the UK equivalent of the Con club and the Labour club. There is also, an unusual one to us, the Kazin tal Banda or Band Club, every town or village has a band which are held in great esteem. The various clubs vary in size and scope, but will all have a bar and provide some sort of food. The larger ones will have snooker and pool tables and may be extremely ostentatious as the Societa nazionale  club in Valetta, built in the style of a grand hotel, you walk through the entrance lobby and through double doors under a fantastic art nouveau fan light, into a nineteenth century French salon and the clacking of snooker balls.

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Another exceptional example is the Ghaqda tal Mużika San Gejtanu, a 1906 break away from the the original San Guzepp society that proclaims itself as something much grander. I doubt if (m)any tourists get out to see the ‘people of the knife’ in the village of Hamrun. They should, it’s real Malta and this Band club is a baroque influenced feast with ornately decorated ceilings and marble corridors. If it wasn’t for the well appointed bar room and the snooker table you might even think you were in a sacred place. The old photos of past Festa, concert parties, and snooker players around the walls of the snooker hall are particularly interesting.

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Malta and The Pub

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I was looking forward to going back to Malta after ten years absence, and hoping that, in terms of beer, things might have moved on a bit? It’s not that there aren’t any decent beers on the island, there are, it’s just, apart from the mainstream continental type lagers, the only brewer is Simonds Farsons Cisk, and even then they produce many other brands under licence.

I tried every permutation I could think of on Google – beer, real ale, craft beer, you name it. The only new thing that got thrown up was a new brewery on Gozo, Lord Chambray and a blog about craft beer which was little more than a list of a few bars that had a few bottles of Belgian beers in the fridge.

Clearly a little more digging was required, some hands on environmental scanning and research. This, essentially, turned into a series of blog posts, a sort of beery round up of the island. A bit of history about Malta’s pubs, brewing – past, present and future, Malta’s first craft brewery and maybe their second, as well as the archipelago’s first brew pub and the green shoots of a Beer Revolution.

A bit of background is probably required, as there’s an undercurrent running through everything that happens on the islands. Basically, Malta is a very conservative sort of place where the old ways and traditions are still strictly observed. There’s definitely a clear hierarchy, which sometimes is obvious, and at other times goes unseen by an outsider, it’s only when you start talking to people that it begins to become clearer. Okay, it doesn’t manifest itself in the extreme violence that Mario Puzo describes, but … well lets say doing business in Malta can be complicated. Although it was never the intention to write about this aspect, you may detect evidence of these customs in the half dozen or so posts that will follow.

The colourful history of Malta has always fascinated me, particularly the period of British occupation (1800 – 1979), and I can’t visit the Malta WWII museum or consider the summer of ’42, Pedestal, Ohio and the brave islanders without significant amounts of Kleenex. So, I’m going to start with the Pub in Malta because amongst the myriad bars and restaurants there is actually a history of pubs. Places that call themselves pubs, which look and feel like pubs, and function like British pubs.

There isn’t, that I can find, any literature outlining the history of the British pub in Malta. I did however, manage to get a copy of Strait Sreet – Malta’s red light district revealed by John Schofield and Emily Morrissey. This fascinating, academic text, outlines the history of the eponymous street, but essentially their theory of the island providing a diversionary release for thousands of British servicemen, and occasionally women, over nearly two hundred years, translates to why there are British style pubs across Malta.

When I say pub, there is a clear distinction between the café bars and what essentially are British style pubs. There’s also a distinction to be made between what may call themselves pubs, but are actually café bars. Unlike British pubs in other holiday locations, especially on Spanish territory, these pubs are all run by Maltese families and I doubt you will (you won’t) find one that is in British ownership. Hence, I would propose that the Pub in Malta is a wholly Maltese phenomenon that arose out of a Maltese/British alliance over an extended period of time.

The first example is simply called The Pub, Archbishop Street,Valetta. There’s no fancy web site or anything just a Facebook page; around 95% of the population have a Facebok account, I was told. There are numerous online references to The Pub being the place where Oliver Reed tragically died whilst filming Gladiator. Some would maintain that it’s become a shrine to Reed? There are a few photos, but it’s not overwhelming.

The stand out for me are the naval cap tallies and other contemporary Royal Navy memorabilia that adorn the walls of the small downstairs bar. You can see from the colour of some that they have been there for some time. There is also an upstairs room which although undoubtedly a complex social archive of many years graffiti, is best avoided, especially what are meant to be the toilets.

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The main bar itself is a bit jaded too, but it would probably be instantly recognisable to Matelots of the 70’s, 60’s and possibly earlier. On a late Thursday afternoon (tea time) there is a nice mix of British ex-pats and tourists with more people sat around the room and at the bar than there are on the tables outside, which is unusual when it’s been 28 C all afternoon. This distinction is clearly one of the factors that sets it apart from a bar where everyone seems to sit outside whenever possible. The tables on the pleasant Valetta side street seem reserved solely for smoking at The Pub.

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The beer is the usual choice of Farson’s brands, their own, John Smith’s, Strongbow, etc and Cisk was €2.60, the ex-pats were all drinking the cheaper Marten’s at €2 per 50ml can, a Belgian beer best described as a Lidl/Aldi own brand type lager.

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Despite it’s run down appearance there is no doubt that The Pub really is a pub, a place with atmosphere, where people can go and sit on their own or join in with a bit of friendly craic with strangers and friends.

 

The Lyme Regis Brewery

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Glasses of fine ale, blue sky, warm sun, sitting in a cobbled courtyard outside a brewery …  doesn’t get much better does it?

The Pearl of Dorset is a lovely little place, famed for fossils, scenery, seaside holidays and The French Lieutenants Woman. More importantly, it’s the home of The Lyme Regis Brewery, and I’d heard, now boasts Cellar 59, a  bar showcasing local newcomers Gyle 59 brewery, making it a must visit destination for beer lovers in the area. So one sunny morning we set off on the Jurassic Coastliner X51 from Bridport, the drivers announcement of the price of a return ticket prompting a chorus of the Yorkshire war cry!

The Lyme Regis Brewery is located in Town Mill, which some may recognise, as prior to 2015 it was also the name of the brewery. It’s worth a visit just for the historic mill, and the pretty setting. Interestingly the mill has it’s own hydroelectric generator and you can walk along the goit from it’s juncture with the Lymm right to where it disappears into the turbine. You can also pay and go for a toby inside to see the original workings, which are still in operation and regularly used. The impressive thing for me is it’s all self sustaining, and they actually sell power back to the national grid. What price a self sustaining hydro electric brewery? I bet there is one … somewhere? As well as the brewery and mill there are a few crafty type shops, including a working pottery, and a tea room to keep partners and family happy while you have a pint.

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The micro brewery has been going since 2010, brewing on a four barrel kit which is on full view to the public. In fact everything is on full view as the brewery, tap, and shop are almost sat on top of each other in the small building. They’re open every day from 10 till 5, except for January and February, for the sale of bottles, cider, and draught ales. The winter hibernation is probably a good thing as there is no inside seating, and the ale has to be enjoyed at one of several tables and benches in the yard outside. If I’m honest, although I’ve spent some pleasant afternoons sat outside in the summer, I don’t think I would fancy sitting outside with a pint once it starts to get parky.

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They used to sell the ale in jugs and provide the glasses, it’s now dispensed in pints, halves or third taster flights. There’s five beers in regular production and when I visited there were two of these, and a seasonal special on the bar; Summer Breeze, Lyme Gold and Revenge. All the beers are drawn through a beer engine without a sparkler, they appeared to be traditionally fined ales, of the highest clarity, and in excellent form, prices were reasonable for the area.

Summer Breeze (I didn’t get the ABV, it tasted 3.6 – 3.8%) a, not particularly originally named, summer beer, was pale gold, dry and citrus hoppy. It felt just a bit thinner in the mouth than Lyme Gold (4.2%), one of the staple brews which I thought was much better; a fleeting honey sweetness at first, followed by smooth citrus notes and then a dryness at the end with almost sour hints.

I liked the Lyme Gold, but my out and out favourite was Revenge. Billed as a strong IPA (5.3%), it was firmly in the category of English IPA, although it is hopped with Cascade as well as Fuggles hops. Pale in appearance, hoppy and bitter with a nice crisp bite. I could have sat and drank this one until I fell off the bench! I reckon this ale would have suited traditionalists, as well as those with a more progressive taste looking for a ‘big C’ hop kick.

The other regulars are; Cobb, a 3.9% Bitter, Town Mill Best, a stronger (4.5%) Best Bitter and Black Venn, a very dark (5%) Porter. I’ve drank all of them in the past, the stand out for me being Black Venn, named after a local cliff renowned for being rich in fossils, and coincidentally an ammonite is the brewery logo.

No, I’m not hinting that these beers are relics. Okay it’s a traditional sounding range of beers, but they’re very good beers, well brewed, balanced, clean tasting, and several including noticeable additions of Cascade hops. Overall I reckon these are very good ales, brewed with just enough modernity to make a difference, without breaking the traditional mould.

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Anyone looking for The Lyme Regis Brewery ales on the bar in a pub should concentrate on the Dorset area, as 80% of current distribution is within a 2o mile radius of the brewery. I’m informed, they have recently managed to get as far as Bristol, and I recall them being in one of the Weymouth Wetherspoon’s when the Olympic sailing was on. It’s worth pointing out that although a lot of supermarkets are selling huge quantities of bottled real ale, which aren’t real ales. You can buy from The Lyme Regis Brewery with confidence as all their bottled beers are bottle conditioned, something we seem to be seeing less of in mainstream outlets.

Verdict: Excellent traditional beers served in a delightful setting. Wrap up when there’s an ‘r’ in the month. Enough alternative attractions on site to keep non-drinkers happy for a good hour or so.

 

The Old Cock, Otley

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As soon as I walked into this pub several years ago, I knew it was good. You can instantly feel when something is right, and presumably Leeds CAMRA members feel the same as they voted it their pub of the year 2011, 2012 & 2013. It being surpassed only by the excellent Kirkstall Bridge Inn which repeated the treble and is the current Leeds CAMRA pub of the year. There’s no doubt in my mind that both are very excellent, but different, ale houses.

The Old Cock is a typical olde worlde tavern of the sort tourists and visitors to the market town of Otley would love to stumble across. The only thing is, it isn’t old at all. I remember it being a bit of a derelict, ramshackle sort of place for a good few years and it only opened as a pub after a long planning battle with the good burghers of Leeds city council. The owners persevered however, going to a national planning appeal and their vision finally came to fruition in September 2010.

Now Otley is one of those towns reputed to have the most pubs per head of population in the UK? A bit like the oldest Inn in the UK, this is a difficult one to resolve. It did have over thirty pubs once and still has twenty to go at, which is impressive given it’s size. At one time it had a reputation for being a drinkers paradise on market days as the towns pubs were allowed to stay open all day, as opposed to the 3.00pm closing rule elsewhere and hence on Mondays and Fridays the town would be packed with all day drinkers from nearby Leeds and further afield.

You’d think that such an abundance of pubs would mean that the closure of an odd one or two would be neither be here or there to the little town? Not so, they’re pretty proud of their pub heritage out here and they actually have an Otley Pub Club, who as soon as the concept of ACV’s came into play, assisted by local MP and Pub Champion Greg Mulholland, applied for ACV’s on every pub in the town. Some of the licensees didn’t like this, including Linda Exley and Lee Pullan who own the The Old Cock, and they were a little cross. Especially when their request to be withdrawn from the application was ignored. You can read the owners thoughts in a letter which was originally sent to The Morning Advertiser (now apparently unavailable on their site?) and which was re-printed in Bradford Tyke Taverner July/August 2016, the Bradford CAMRA branches’ excellent magazine.

I have to agree with most of Mr Pullans points and I think I have iterated most of them before. I do not however see this venture being anything other than an extremely viable going concern. Unless, God forbid, some unfortunate incident or illness beset the structure or the management. This is also a point against ACV’s I have made before. What if something drastic happens and you can’t go on or need your money out sharpish. It’s the infringements on an individuals rights by others that grinds with me, others that just think it’s a nice idea, but who haven’t put their money down or invested a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

Anyway, there’s nothing to fear here because this quaint, cosy, atmospheric little boozer is throbbing with vitality. Flag floors, exposed brick work, a proper bar with a tap room feel, plenty of room to stand around and a little ledge around the walls to stand your drink on, plus a few comfy seats to sit at and read a book, perhaps. I really like the window seat in the main bar and in the adjacent room and upstairs there’s more seated areas. There were even a couple of guys having an impromptu jamming session upstairs when I last called in, on a Thursday afternoon!

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I’ll make a comparison with the previous Otley pub I mentioned, The Otley Tap House, a micro pub. Both bucking the trend, in so far as they are thriving successful ‘new builds’ in old buildings, that were previously occupied by other trades. The only difference being that The Old Cock is properly a small pub, owing to the presence of proper, separate, substantial, gender specific toilets. Strangely enough, the Otley Tap House met with the same blanket ACV application, despite there previously being much local opposition to it’s own change of use application – too many pubs in the town you see! Personally I don’t.

Dotted around The Old Cock, there’s a few beery books and collated info about the pub, together with CAMRA promotional leaflets and magazines. A landlord recently asked me what could he do to improve his chances of getting in the GBG? Well, apart from the obvious, forge links with your local CAMRA branch, get involved in LocAle  and get some leaflets from your local branch. Oh, and beer books, I think it was Boak and Bailey who mention somewhere that the presence of beery literature is a very comforting feature in a pub. If I were a landlord I’d get a few copies of the GBG and put them on a shelf in full view, whether I was listed in it or not. Most folk would see them and instantly assume that the pub was featured, without ever delving between the covers or noticing how good, or otherwise, the beer was!

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I like the little plaques above the bar showing full details and tasting notes of each of the nine real ales on sale. Very neat, very informative and I wished I had handwriting like that! They were all in price order from £2.90/ pint of Theakstons to £3.50/pint for Kelham Pale Rider. Pricing was on ABV and I worked out the average at £3.10, which isn’t bad. I know from talking to Lee, a long time ago, that there is a bit of a premium, which along with the absence of cheap lager ensures a more select clientele, whom were a proper cross selection of locals when I last visited, plus the odd metro bus day rider like myself who had come for the beer.

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Beer quality was spot on. I tried a Pale Rider, I really do like this ale and a Stancil Black, which wasn’t black at all, it was very dark ruby when held up to the light. It was though good enough to warrant a second half of it. I could have gone for; Taylors Landlord, Ilkley Mary Jane, Kirskstall Pale, Saltaire Pride, Everards Carnival, and Barlow Black Stout. There was even a Beavertown Gamma Ray at £5.50/pint as well as a real cider, two keg ones, Staropramen and Amstel lager, Guiness and some Belgium bottles.

The only concession to food is bar snacks, the most substantial thing on offer was a sausage sandwich. Dogs allowed but no kids and sadly the need to return to Leeds on the X84 came around all too quickly.

Verdict – Destination venue for good beer and good crack. This is the type of small, town centre pub with an emphasis on quality, that defies any need for legislative intervention, and in the hands of good owners (which it has) will always thrive. Anyway, what ever happened to market forces?

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The Otley Tap House

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The Otley Tap House  probably falls into the category of a micro pub, in so far as it hasn’t always been a pub. It was a shop until it opened in it’s present guise, two days before the Tour de France came through Otley, which was Saturday 5th July 2014. I know that because I was there and what a cracking day it was for Otley, Yorkshire and British cycling in general.

I called in one sunny Thursday afternoon, shortly after one o’clock. There were only two older gents in, sat at the bar in conversation with the very nice bar man. It wasn’t dull though, because it’s that sort of place where within two minutes you get absorbed into the conversation, whether you like it or not. One of the blokes was keen not to be photographed as he was meant to be out walking the dog over Pool bridge, which is about three miles away, the bonny Spaniel seemed happy enough though, laid on the cool flagged floors.

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If I’m honest, it’s a bit bigger than your standard micro pub and there’s plenty of room to spread out or even sit away from the bar. There’s some tables out front on Boroughgate as well as a beer garden at the rear. Inside there’s wooden wainscoting in ‘that shade’ of green paint that is so currently in vogue, along with a trendy, random assortment of tables, benches and bentwood chairs. To be fair, they’ve pulled it off and it all works nicely. There’s some nice touches with posies and other interesting table pieces and ephemera dotted around too.

I was impressed with the community feel, not just with the friendly folk, which is a prominent feature of Otley anyway, but also with the many events on offer. I was pleased they had a reggae band on and anywhere frequented by Scooterists will do for me.

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Although there is a half decent bottle selection, including out and out crafty stuff, the focus is on real cask ales. Now when I say real cask ales you need to think of the CAMRA faithful, rather than hipsters and you won’t be far off the mark. Sadly, wherever I go that has a tap list on the wall it seems to be a recurring theme in my life that I much prefer what’s coming next rather than what’s on the bar now!

This was definitely the case on this occasion. Two from Marston’s, two from Black Sheep plus Saltaire Blonde. Now, if I were independent, and it is, I wouldn’t be having anything on from The Marston’s stable or from Black Sheep. I would be having all those on the ‘almost ready’ list though! Perhaps other people think the same and that’s why the Marston’s and Black Sheep gear were hanging about on the bar? I didn’t have Saltaire Blonde on the grounds that it is a decent ale I’ve supped before and in the interests of beery research I was going to try something I’d never had.

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Believe it or not, I tried the Black Sheep Cascade Pale, a small batch special. The quality of the beer was very good. I’d score it 3.5 on NBSS. Regarding my personal thoughts on the very pale beer, I wasn’t so sure. If you’re going to do a single hop brew then for pity’s sake make sure it’s bang full of hops, this wasn’t. This conservative approach just seems to be a feature of many traditional brewers, almost a case of trying to jump on the band wagon then falling off before it gets going. Going back to the Tour de France, I remember a similar Black Sheep ale called Velo and suspect this beer may simply be a Velo variant or even the same thing by another name? Don’t tell me you don’t do this sort of thing brewers, because I know you do.

As well as the five cask ales there were three lagers, including Warsteiner and Brooklyn, some quality Gins and prices were reasonable, particularly the house wines by the bottle.

Now the toilets were quite quaint as there was a single urinal bowl and an unpartitioned toilet bowl in the same room . Although they easily passed my test with flying colours, this got me thinking about the point where a micro pub becomes a pub, because The Otley Tap House  was clearly large enough to enter into the small pub category? However, after consideration, it became apparent to me that one of the factors differentiating this is the existence of substantial and gender specific toilet facilities i.e. Gents with at least one trap and a couple of urinal bowls and Ladies with at least two closets. I therefore concluded it was by sole virtue of the toilet department that The Otley Tap House remains in the category of micro pub. A very good micro pub.

As a small market town, Otley is renowned for it’s number of pubs, quite a few of which are only fair to middlin’. The Otley Tap House is however, one that is definitely worth visiting.

The Cobblers Arms, Filey

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Cobblers front

The Cobblers Arms, was a cobblers, that’s now a pub, a Micro Pub, the smallest pub in Filey, a very nice one too.

Chris Storr the landlord has been here since October last year, but the pub has been open for about two years. Chris has a background in the social care arena and told me he just fancied having a go with a pub, so he took it on. I know a landlord closer to my W.Yorks home with a similar background, who is as good a licensee as you can get, so there might be a natural progression here, based on, like … talking to people? Something a lot of bar staff don’t get these days. Anyway, it was nice talking to Chris on the two occasions we called in.

Cobblers Chris

Inside, it’s very nice and it’s been converted really well. With it’s classic, yet contemporary theme, you could be forgiven for thinking it had been here for ages. It really had a pub atmosphere, as opposed to a bar, if you get what I mean. Bare wooden floorboards, wooden backed banquette seats around the walls and some heavy cast iron bottomed tables. There’s two rooms, the main bar area at the front and a smaller room to the rear which looks out onto a small garden. I really liked the place, but I’ll be honest, if I had to sit in the back room I would have felt short changed on the pubiness front. I’ve never liked these sort of overflow rooms, unless they are decked out in interesting memorabilia, ephemera and a roaring fire or something else to provide a bit of atmosphere. The toilets, as usual in this type of place were small and unisex, but got top marks for cleanliness, as did the whole pub. Dogs are welcome, but not on the seating – too right! You wouldn’t do that at home would you? You would? Not coming round to your house then!

Cobblers inside

In terms of customer comforts there was Wi-fi, newspapers and a bit of a community pub feel coming on. It wasn’t busy when we called in, but it was early doors. I think I mentioned before, Filey sort of closes down at tea time as there are only a couple of small hotels and apart from locals, most holidaymakers are either day trippers or accommodated in holiday homes and caravan sites. We chatted with a nice bloke, a retired caravanner from Huddersfield, who had nipped out for a couple while his wife put the grandkids to bed. Otherwise, the handful of people all seemed to know each other and there was even a bloke on his way home from work who had forgotten to take his Hi-vis jacket off. Chris did say we would be welcome to stay for the weekly (Tuesday) quiz night where there would be complimentary pizza, contestants for the partaking of.

Okay, so what about the business end? Five rotating cask ales and six real ciders. Two halves of ale was a reasonable £3.25. You can see on the picture with Chris on, or the cask ale list, which they were. I didn’t have Cameron’s on principle. I’m still reeling over their latest attempt to further take over Leeds City centre and am currently view them as a large Pubco. Mentioning Pubcos, there were also the usual fizzy suspects on the bar, although comparably, only a limited choice.

Cobblers cider
Cobblers cask ales
Cobblers sign

Looking at the glory wall displaying pump clips of the various beers that had been on, the choice tended towards more traditional, solid choices, rather than anything post modern in attitude, but there’s nothing wrong with that and I couldn’t see a North Bar style drinks list going down a bomb in Filey. We called in the next evening for a couple and 40% of the beers had changed, which on a Tuesday/Wednesday was good. All the beers we had were of good quality, fresh and well kept.

My discovery of The Cobblers Arms, Bohommes and the fact that The Cobblers Arms is directly opposite the finest Fish and Chip shop/restaurant in the world has firmly re-imposed Filey onto the all time best seaside resort ever list. Category of small UK resort – this is really what it should be like.

Tip – Buy a property in Filey now! Before prices go through the roof. Gentrification is occurring (in a nice way too) and we need real people to continue to colonise the town to prevent people with more money than sense coming in and spoiling exactly what they went there for in the first place!