UK Adventure with some beer too!

Recently I was on an adventure of a lifetime with my family. We took a holiday to London to visit my daughter who lives there. The first day we were in a great stupor, jet lag. Heathrow to Brixton to the center of London until night was a tiring expedition to say in the least! We must have walked 15 miles that day which is easy in London with so many sights to see.

My first beer in London was in the top floor of the Waterstones Bookstore, 5th View Bar and Food. It is a rather nice with many professionals having cocktails and food in a comfortable atmosphere.  We ordered some appetizers with libations.  I had a pale ale from Whitstable Bay, light and crisp and it hit the spot after a long day.

We traveled to York then to the Town Hall of Goldsborough, to what we thought was an ancestral home but later found out our ancestors fought among themselves and burnt the family house down. Oh well, that’s family for you! We were in Knaresborough when it started to rain and we stopped in a local pub. I wasn’t impressed with their beer lineup but we did stay dry.

Back in York, I visited the York Brewery and I wasn’t disappointed. They have been brewing beer since 1996 with many IPAs, Pale Ales, ESBs on tap and something I liked, Imperial Stout on cask. That ‘s what I ordered and what the bartender poured was a large goblet of this luscious stout, at 7.0%, and it went down easy that I had another. The brewery has a 20-barrel system with 6 traditional open top fermenters and 5 conditioning tanks.

Imperial Stout and a Pale Ale

Next stop in York was a Belgian beer bar, Trembling Madness! Yes, that's the name of the bottle shop and pub. The building has been there for many, many years and the beams on the upper floor came from a ship that sailed over 800 years ago. I did manage to buy some bottles of beer to take back home with me. My husband didn’t care for the double IPA and he hasn’t cracked open the two barleywines yet. I had a Westmalle strong ale that was very good.

Westmalle and a pilsner (I don't
the brewery).

On the lower right side is the House of Trembling Madness!

These animal heads have been at this wall for many years.

Later in the week we were in Brixton where we stopped by the Craft Beer Co, it’s a tap house with 5 other locations around London. I had the Double Perle Imperial Stout, at 8.5%  it was really smooth with hints of coffee and chocolate. The next beer stop was at the Brixton Brewery which is located under the railway arch in an industrial area with a metal garage door. The taproom is very small with four long wood tables with bench seats. They had 4 beers on tap and 2 you could buy in bottles. I had the Saison which wasn’t listed on the beer board. It was good but had a sharp horsey aftertaste. My sister bought a bottle of the pale ale and said it was good.  The brewery taproom is only open on Saturday.

Harry Beswick, General Manager.

My sister, Dana out front in the
patio.

James (sales) and Laura (taproom) were
very friendly and helpful that Saturday.

Later we were in the heart of London at the Ten Bells Pub which has been open since 1756!  Two of Jack the Ripper’s victims frequented the pub, it’s always nice to have a bit of history to go along with your beer. They have a limited selection so I had a Guinness stout. It was a kind of go to beer for me in the UK.

The last night in the UK was spent in Brixton at a local pub, The White Horse. We had the Sunday roast of ribeye with mashed potatoes, cooked veggies. I had my go to beer, Guinness stout.

Sunday Roast at the White Horse Pub
in Brixton.

I know there is so many new craft breweries in the UK so my next trip to London will be to check out the beers. Oh I did have Butterbeer at the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studios, not real beer but still cool!