ale trails

A fine trip.   We met old friends and made new ones.  While in Belgium we attended some very cool festivals, visited a number of breweries, and sampled the world’s most unique and special beers.   Can’t say enough about England – beautiful countryside & cities, great culture, and wonderful public houses.

Below is a listing of the pubs, breweries, and festivals we visited.  There’s a lot!  Although it may seem all we did was sample the fine libations that Belgium and England have to offer, we spent much of each day hitting the museums and tourist sites, and walking – a lot of walking.   Honest.

The List:

Cambridge Pubs
Castle Bar
Earl of Derby
Elm Tree
Flying PIg
Free Press
Hopbine
Kingston Arms
Live and Let Live
Maypole
Mill Pub

Chelmsford Pubs
Ale House
Hop Beer Shop

Maldon Pubs
Farmer’s Yard
Might Oak Tap Room
Queen’s Head

London Pubs
Admiralty
Argyll Arms
Barrowboy & Banker
Bree Louise
Cheshire Cheese
Churchill Arms
Craft Beer Company
Crown & Anchor
Doric Arch
Euston Tap
Friend of the Hand
Harp
Hope & Sirloin
Hung, Drawn & Quartered
Jerusalem Tavern
Lamb
Lord John Russell
Mabel’s Tavern
Marquis Cornwallis
Museum Tavern
Prince William Henry
Princess Louise
Rake
Resting Hare
Shipwright’s Arms
Swan

London Breweries (micros)
Anspach & Hobday
Brew by Numbers
Southwark
Ubrew

Belgium Festivals
Gueuze & Kriek Festival – ‘Night of the Great Thirst’
Rondje Roodbruin – Flanders Red/Brown Fest
Zythos Bier Festival

Belgium Breweries & Blenders
De Brabandere
Microbrouwerij Urthel
Omer Vander Ghinste
Oud Beersel
Rodenbach
Strubbe
Struise Browerij
Verhaeghe

pic: Our final pub stop in London – Mabel’s Tavern

 

The first half of our last full day in London was spent at the London and South East Brewing Competition and Festival at the U Brew in Bermondsey, where Dad judged and I was a steward. It was very interesting seeing everything involved; the judges I helped were very attentive and deliberate, and I was able to learn a lot from them.

Afterwards, we caught up with Alex, whom we had met during the Belgian portion of our trip. He took us to several breweries in Bermondsey, which were mostly housed in the arches under the rail bridges. Small but intimate places, and understandably very busy on a Saturday. We visited Southwark, Andspach & Hobday and Brew by Numbers, before returning to U Brew, where Weird Beard Brew Company had done a tap takeover.

We finished up the evening with pints at Shipwrights Arms, The Barrow Boy and Banker (where we also had dinner), The Doric Arch, Crown & Anchor and Mabel’s Tavern. It was back to the hotel after that, to rest and get ready for the flight home.

The day started with a trip to Earl’s Court to see one of the few remaining police boxes in the wild (I’m a Doctor Who fan, this had to be done). Afterwards, we headed to the Churchill Arms, a cozy pub decorated with artifacts of the former Prime Minister and Britain in general. One room featured pictures of U.S. Presidents and bedpans hanging from the ceiling (I will leave it to my readers to decide if these are connected). The pub served Thai food, and very good food at that.

Our travels took us to the Science Museum, where we saw exhibits on space and communication technology.

We then took in the Victoria and Albert Museum, keeping our focus on European history. Two galleries were entirely of plaster casts of other artifacts, including a life-sized cast of Michelangelo’s David.

Our last museum trip was to the Natural History Museum, solely to see the dinosaurs. I liked how the exhibit mounted the dinosaurs close to the ceiling, to take advantage on the floor space for more information displays.

The evening finished with pints at The Admiralty, The Harp, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese and The Lamb. The crowds made it next to impossible to get food, but a local restaurant was able to provide adequate sustenance.

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Continue reading “More Museums”

After breakfast, we paid a visit to the Tate Modern gallery, which, as its name implies, showcases modern art. Pieces by Picasso, Dalí and even Warhol can be found here. My favorite was Babel 2001, a massive tower of radios each tuned to a different station, creating a cacophony reminiscent of its Biblical namesake.

After lunch at the Prince William Henry, we vidited the Imperial War Museum. My favorite exhibit there was on World War I, not only because it showed the conflict from the perspective of soldier and civilian alike, but because it offered a view from a country that had been in the conflict from the beginning, rather than joining later as the United States did.

We them walked along the Thames, getting our views of the Houses of Parliament, the Elizabeth Tower (which holds Big Ben, the bell), Westminster Abbey and the London Eye.

I had intended to step into the National Gallery to buy a birthday gift, but the gallery was closing and I had picked the wrong shop of several in the building. I did, however, get the chance to see Trafalgar Square, with all its hustle and bustle around Nelson’s Column.

After a pint at the Craft Beer Company, we headed to Foyle’s Bookstore, where Dad checked out Ray’s Jazz and I was able to find the gift I wanted.

After dinner at the Argyll Arms, we headed back to the hotel for an early night.

After breakfast, we made our way to the Tower of London. Sitting on the north bank of the Thames, the Tower has served many purposes, including fort, royal residence and prison. Our excellent tour guide was a Yeoman Warder (commonly nicknamed Beefeaters), who showed us the moat, several streets and towers before ending at the chapel where several nobles are buried, sans heads in most cases.

While there, we also saw the Crown Jewels, a wonderful exhibition of armor and foreign gifts, and a small area displaying implements of torture.

Lunch followed at the Hung, Drawn and Quartered, possibly the best pub name in existence. We then headed to Tower Bridge for its Exhibition, which included short films on its construction and footage shot in the 1890s. We also walked along the top walkways; both had a section in which the floor was replaced with glass, so you could see down to the deck and water. I am not in any way ashamed to admit I walked around that section. The Exhibition also featured a tour of the bridge’s engine rooms. 

We headed to Borough Market, just south of London Bridge. The market has just about any foodstuff one could imagine, tucked away among various arches and overpasses.

After a pint at the Rake, we walked along the south bank of the Thames, pausing to snap a picture of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. We headed north on the Millennium Bridge and made our way to Euston, stopping for a half-pint at the Swan along the way. We met our friend Shaun at the Euston Tap, then went for Indian food. After a couple more pints at the Hope and Jerusalem Tavern, we parted company and returned to the hotel for a nice rest. Continue reading “To the Tower!”