It was just
after 10:30am when Parker and Citra arrived at Chez Fuggles. After Tuesday
night’s magnificent performance we had high hopes of stuffing the Canaries. The
early debates were, what pubs are we going to and in what order, by the time we’d
scooped up Pharp the plan was clear, we would go to all the pubs starting down
in Baldock at the Orange Tree.
Arriving just before opening at 11:55am we
checked the pub door and to our delight it was open and it wasn’t long before
we were supping our first of many various ales we would be sampling today. There
was a very large list of ales to choose from, three from Morton Ales, a couple
from Buntingford, three from Greene King, Sarah Hughes Ruby Mild, Woodforde’s
Wherry, St Georges Lazy Days and a couple more that escape my memory. Pharp
went for St Georges Lazy Days, 4.1% light golden ale, not the usual stuff Pharp
goes for but he liked the name. Always the discerning connoisseur is
Pharp. It looked in good condition with
a nice tight head clinging to the glass. Parker and Citra went for Buntingford
Twitchell, always a favourite this one, we’ve had it twice at the Poppies
annual beer festival and it is always one of the first to be supped dry. Another
golden bitter at 3.8%, refreshing ale once again in superb condition and of
pristine appearance. Fuggles went for Morton Ales Gregory’s Gold, I’m sure with
a bit if imagination you can determine the colour of this ale. 4.1% in strength
a dry-hopped bitter delightful taste. So far so good, it was time to have a
look at the sausage menu, on offer was traditional Pork, spicy pork, pork and
stilton, pork and honey, lamb and mint, one with some ginger in it, another
with some leeks and a French Toulouse, lovely. As it was well after mid-day and
had been several hours since we’d thrashed through a bowl of Crunchy Nuts, it
was clear for all to see that the onset of malnutrition was imminent. Citra
looked decidedly peaky; almost ashen in fact, so we ordered our favourite snorkers.
Pork and honey for Citra, Spicy Pork for Pharp and Parker, but with Pharp being
somewhat esurient he had an egg on top. Whilst Fuggles consumed the delightful
Pork and stilton. All very nice, in a baguette and with the obligatory foliage
on the side. If I ever come back as something please let it not be a lettuce, how
depressing it must be to be a lettuce. It must be somewhere in the region of 95%
of all lettuces are thrown into the bin after being no more than decoration
around a plate. When was the last time you saw a smiling lettuce, nothing
wonderful about being a Webb or a bloody iceberg? I suppose there’s some consolation
as one had a Greek island named after it. And so on to more beer, Pharp decided
to try a mild, there’s not much better than Greene King’s XX Mild, at 3% Pharp
wasn’t going to get inebriated on this. Citra and I went for Morton’s Jelly
Roll, named after the jazz musician. I recall a few years back fetching a
barrel of Jelly Roll from the brewery somewhere near Wolverhampton just off the
M54, it was a bit of a surprise when I arrived to find a semi-detached house at
the address I’d been given, the brewery was in the garage, a very micro-brewery
indeed. They have now moved on and have a small 3 barrel plant close by on an
Industrial estate, Jolly good. A nice light golden ale at 4.2% just enough
citrus to put a smile on Citra’s face, either that or he had wind. Thankfully
Pharp was quiet on the wind front, there was still time. That was it for the
Orange Tree, a very nice pub, all the ales in good condition, however, the
prices are high at around £3.90 a pint and Sarah Hughes selling for £4.20,
maybe that’s normal around these parts.
We moved on into Hitchin town centre
and parked up in the Asda car park, across the road was the Half Moon. A beer
festival was in full swing, we walked to the tented bar at the rear of the pub.
A decent selection to choose from but where to start? The green hop beers were
beckoning, Citra and I went for Bexley Gushmere Fuggles Pale Ale, well what
else did you think I’d drink? Pharp had Caveman Brewery’s Swanscombe Woman.
We ventured
up the pub garden to the marquee covered seating area, with a considerable
slope, so much so that the glasses were sliding across the table. Nevertheless
we persevered for about 15 minutes hanging on tightly to our wandering ale
filled glasses. It was also quite damp and chilly outside; eventually we had
the inclination to move inside. The Gushmere was delightful 4% bitter with a
dry finish with a hint of citrus, in reasonable condition considering it was
served direct from the barrel. Pharp likes a mature woman, the Swanscombe lass
is around 400,000 years old. The ale is hoppy dark amber ale at 4.2% looked
good, Pharp didn’t complain, however, some of the newly arrived Poppies
supporters soon had something to moan about. The Weebles had arrived, this band
of boozers from Wellingborough consist of Petit Chemise, Marshall, Wort,
Betweenthesticks and Cardiac who had recently been fitted his very own
metronome. It was within 5 minutes of their arrival when they first experienced
Pharp. Cardiac proclaimed “bloody hell Pharp, you’re infamy proceeds you, my
god how do the PRATS deal with that week in and week out”? Cardiac was some way
off by now has a very large space had opened up around Pharp. We explained to
the Weebles that training as pearl divers had allowed us to hold our breath for
considerable periods of time. The kafuffle quietened down after a few pungent
minutes and the group were able to chat normally again albeit in a husky
voice. It was time to whet the larynx again, this time Pharp went for Woodforde’s Nelson’s
Revenge, most of us thought Montezuma would have been more appropriate under
the circumstances. Nelsons Revenge is a premium malty ale coming in at 4.5%. Looked
in very good condition was drawn by hand-pump at the bar. There was now a few more
Poppies supporters in the bar, clearly contributing to the Hitchin economy. Citra
returned to the ‘bar in the tent’ and came back with a supercilious grin on his face, he was clearly pleased with his
selection, Deeply Vale Citra Storm What else could he possibly choose, first beer
had Fuggles in the name; he had to get something with Citra in the name. What a
beauty, at 4% a pint of grapefruit and lemon pale ale session ale, it was in
good nick could have stayed and had a couple of more of these but it was time
to go to the game.
The Canary clubhouse
has two ales on tap, Fuller’s London Pride and Youngs London Gold. Pharp went
for LP and Citra and I had LG, they were ok, these ales are so readily
available around the country they get a bit boring. The beer was in good
condition, nothing more to say really.
The game,
well Tweety Pie came out of his cage for the first 5 minutes from then on we
controlled the game that was until the last 15 minutes when we spluttered like Sylvester
the cat and decided to have a nap. Oh dear.
Onto the Old
Transporter in Henlow Camp, a converted shop next to a Tandoori take away, nice!
A few tables and chairs, all different, scattered around the one room hostelry.
The eight barrels were all racked up at the back of the bar, with just 4
available. As a lover of all things from Greenjack brewery it was inevitable
that Citra and I went for Waxwing. A refreshing pale session ale coming in at
3.9% lovely. Pharp tried Loddon Russet, we had this on Tuesday in Biggleswade, and
both ales were in good condition, very clear with a decent head, not overly
tight but the head hung around until the glass was empty. Drivers are given a
free drink so Parker had a coke, good on them. The Weebles arrived after going
further up the road to our next destination the Engineers Arms, but not yet we
had another beer first. I went for Springhead Barebones, Citra stayed with
Waxwing, Pharp had Ampthill IPA. Barebones is a premium amber ale at 4.7%,
hoppy with a dry finish, once again beautifully clear with a good head. Pharp’s
Ampthill IPA, at 4.5%. I’ve always had a gripe when an IPA (Indian Pale Ale) is
less than 5.5%, nevertheless, this looked fine, by now the long day was taking
its toll on Pharp and he struggled to get through his ale. It was time to move
on. 5 minutes later we arrived at the Engineers arms, and unbeknown to us they
were holding a beer festival.
The place was heaving, not a table to be had.
Citra and I had a very delightful Blue Bee breweries For’t’ thirst. Best pint
we’d had all day right up our street. 4.1% straw coloured hoppy, zesty,
marvellous. So good we had two. Pharp had a Hanlon’s Devon Darkness, a rich
chocolaty stout. This was one beer too far for Pharp he needed help to finish
it off. The day was done, and it was a good one, apart from the footy that is.
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