Norwich -
Following a recent survey undertaken by Norwich and Norfolk CAMRA *, Norwich now
appears to have more real ales per capita than any other place in Britain -
Since I was travelling by train from Darlington to Norwich, I had to change at Peterborough and in between connections I had the opportunity to call in at the Oakham Brewery Tap for half an hour or so. The full range of Oakham Ales was on offer of which I chose the golden coloured Inferno at 4%.
Despite the brewery having moved to much larger premises to meet demand, “The Tap” has retained the original six barrel plant where trial brews are now produced. It is an icon that has been under the threat of demolition with it being situated on the edge of a car park that has long been mooted to become a shopping centre over the years but gladly it has stood the test of time.
And so onto Norwich. On arriving at the railway station I headed up Thorpe Road to
the Coach and Horses, the home of Chalk Hill Brewery and near to Norwich’s Royal
Mail Sorting Office -
Having been referred to the blackboard for the range of Chalk Hill beers available,
as a starter I went for the CHB (Chalk Hill Best) at 4.2%, described as being a “quality
premium bitter which is everyone’s favourite” as was stated on the blackboard. Tasting
notes for each beer were also listed against each beer on the blackboard -
* In the survey conducted by Norwich and Norfolk CAMRA, they found 215 real ales on sale in 136 of the city’s pubs and in one evening 489 handpumps were being used and 24 real ciders and perries were also on offer.
(Information courtesy of What’s Brewing, August 2011)
(Information courtesy of What’s Brewing, August 2011)
On leaving the Coach and Horses, I then headed back down Thorpe Road and on reaching the Wensum, turned right following the river and ring road until I reached the bottom of Kett’s Hill and the Kett’s Tavern (pictured left).
Run by Dawn and Kevin Hopkins, the Kett’s Tavern is one of the brewery taps for the Norwich Bear Brewing Co Ltd. However, brewing is currently been done at Norfolk Square Brewery with help from its owner Carlos Branquinho but work is underway at Dawn and Kevin’s other pub, the Rose Inn in Queen’s Road on the other side of the city centre to install a micro brewery and this will allow guests and enthusiastic brewers the opportunity to get involved.
The Kett’s Tavern stocked four Norwich Bear beers (pictured left). I first tried Legend at 4.3% which is a copper coloured fruity ale. Next up was Classic, a 3.8% session beer with a golden colour followed by Pooh Bear 4.2% brewed with hints of honey and orange. Finally, I had the NPA (Norwich Pale Ale) which weighed in at 4.7%. Having tried all the beers my favourite was the Classic - certainly a classic !.
Run by Dawn and Kevin Hopkins, the Kett’s Tavern is one of the brewery taps for the Norwich Bear Brewing Co Ltd. However, brewing is currently been done at Norfolk Square Brewery with help from its owner Carlos Branquinho but work is underway at Dawn and Kevin’s other pub, the Rose Inn in Queen’s Road on the other side of the city centre to install a micro brewery and this will allow guests and enthusiastic brewers the opportunity to get involved.
The Kett’s Tavern stocked four Norwich Bear beers (pictured left). I first tried Legend at 4.3% which is a copper coloured fruity ale. Next up was Classic, a 3.8% session beer with a golden colour followed by Pooh Bear 4.2% brewed with hints of honey and orange. Finally, I had the NPA (Norwich Pale Ale) which weighed in at 4.7%. Having tried all the beers my favourite was the Classic -
Following the excellent hospitality at the Kett’s Tavern which included being given a copy of the Norwich “City of Ale” programme for my research, I checked into my hotel in Unthank Road in the west end of the city in what is known as the “Golden Triangle”. A short walk from the hotel was the Alexandra Tavern, a street corner local stocking three Chalk Hill beers: CHB, Gold and Tap along with Oakham JHB and Robinson’s Young Tom. Beware when visiting this pub as I found its location is on the next street corner heading towards the city and not where it is marked on a map.
A short walk from the Alexandra Tavern and on the other side of Dereham Road and in among the back streets was the Fat Cat, twice a CAMRA National Pub of Year in 1998 and 2004 - ironically in 1998 it beat the Number Twenty-2 in Darlington as a finalist in the competition.
The Fat Cat bar, pictured left, had an excellent range of beers with twelve beers on handpump and sixteen on gravity, two of which on handpump were previous CAMRA Champion Beers of Britain, Castle Rock Harvest Pale and Crouch Vale Brewers Gold. Also included in the choice of beers were beers from the Fat Cat’s own brewery: Bitter at 3.8%, Honey Ale at 4.3% and Cougar at 4.7%. However, the Fat Cat Brewery is not
The Fat Cat bar, pictured left, had an excellent range of beers with twelve beers on handpump and sixteen on gravity, two of which on handpump were previous CAMRA Champion Beers of Britain, Castle Rock Harvest Pale and Crouch Vale Brewers Gold. Also included in the choice of beers were beers from the Fat Cat’s own brewery: Bitter at 3.8%, Honey Ale at 4.3% and Cougar at 4.7%. However, the Fat Cat Brewery is not
based at the pub but at the Fat Cat Brewery Tap (formerly known as the Cider Shed) on Lawson Road in the north of the city.
Along with trying Green Jack’s Summer Ale and the Fat Cat Cougar which is a fruity golden ale, I also tried City Gold from yet another brewery from Norwich, Golden Triangle, which was straw coloured which had a very dry taste. This beer had been brewed especially for Norwich’s “City of Ale Festival” which had run from 26th May to June 5th this year and involved thirty one pubs serving beers from Norfolk breweries.
Along with trying Green Jack’s Summer Ale and the Fat Cat Cougar which is a fruity golden ale, I also tried City Gold from yet another brewery from Norwich, Golden Triangle, which was straw coloured which had a very dry taste. This beer had been brewed especially for Norwich’s “City of Ale Festival” which had run from 26th May to June 5th this year and involved thirty one pubs serving beers from Norfolk breweries.
The following day I paid an “out of town” visit by train to Reedham on the Norfolk Broads, to the home of Humpty Dumpty Brewery, and just like Norwich it had been ten years since I had been there. A new visitor centre had been opened since my last visit and there were plenty of their beers available in bottles along with Norfolk cider plus the usual brewery merchandise. Before catching the train back to Norwich, I had time to visit the two pubs in Reedham in the current CAMRA Good Beer Guide, The Ship situated next to the rail swing bridge, pictured left, where I had a pint of Woodforde’s Wherry followed by a visit to the Lord Nelson where I sampled Winter’s Bitter at 3.8%.
Unfortunately, I made a point of calling at the Lord Nelson a day early as the following day was the start of their ten day beer festival featuring over eighty beers plus live music !.
On returning to Norwich, I then took in the Tombland area of the city and popped into Take 5, a cafe bar which had four real ales along with two ciders. I tried Tipple’s Redhead at 4.2%, a traditional reddish/amber coloured best bitter with a hoppy aroma and Wolf’s Moonlight at 2.8% which despite its low strength in abv had plenty of flavour and was easy drinking !. A short walk along Palace Street from Take 5 brought me to the Wig and Pen, a Grade II listed building dating from the 16th century. Five real ales were on offer including Woodforde’s Norfolk Nog and Wolf Golden Jackal and there was also an excellent range of whiskies available.
On returning to Norwich, I then took in the Tombland area of the city and popped into Take 5, a cafe bar which had four real ales along with two ciders. I tried Tipple’s Redhead at 4.2%, a traditional reddish/amber coloured best bitter with a hoppy aroma and Wolf’s Moonlight at 2.8% which despite its low strength in abv had plenty of flavour and was easy drinking !. A short walk along Palace Street from Take 5 brought me to the Wig and Pen, a Grade II listed building dating from the 16th century. Five real ales were on offer including Woodforde’s Norfolk Nog and Wolf Golden Jackal and there was also an excellent range of whiskies available.
The Duke of Wellington on Waterloo Road was next on my “visit list” with a large selection of real ales on tap consisting of five on handpump and up to fourteen on gravity, the gravity ones being served from a small tap room visible from the bar, pictured left. Local beers on handpump were Elgood’s Black Dog Mild plus Straw Dog and Golden Jackal from Wolf Brewery but from the cellar I had the Oakham Citra, an excellent session ale with citrus flavours. Also available was a keg lager produced by Wolf Brewery at 4.4% in strength.
Just around the corner from the Duke of Wellington and at the far end of Lawson Road is the Fat Cat Brewery Tap which until February this year was previously known as the Cider Shed and once inside I found the layout is very similar to a shed. Though not as many beers available as its sister pub, the Fat Cat, it still had eight beers on handpump and seven on gravity including six of their own Fat Cat beers brewed on site, pictured. Also available were ciders, draught fruit beers and continental bottled beers. One thing that did catch my eye was a set of traffic lights positioned on one of the beams close to the bar. At the time the green light was on and I am assuming the colours related to bar service ie. green meant bar open, yellow meant last orders and red indicated time at the bar ?. If this was the case, a very clever idea.
Just around the corner from the Duke of Wellington and at the far end of Lawson Road is the Fat Cat Brewery Tap which until February this year was previously known as the Cider Shed and once inside I found the layout is very similar to a shed. Though not as many beers available as its sister pub, the Fat Cat, it still had eight beers on handpump and seven on gravity including six of their own Fat Cat beers brewed on site, pictured. Also available were ciders, draught fruit beers and continental bottled beers. One thing that did catch my eye was a set of traffic lights positioned on one of the beams close to the bar. At the time the green light was on and I am assuming the colours related to bar service ie. green meant bar open, yellow meant last orders and red indicated time at the bar ?. If this was the case, a very clever idea.
Walking back to the city centre, just across the ring road near to the Barn Road roundabout was the Milton Brewery owned White Lion. I had hoped to try the Pegasus at 4.3% which had just run out but as the rest of the Milton beers were strong in Nero at 5%, Cyclops 5.3% and Colossus at 5.6%, I instead plumped for Vale Brewery’s Wychert Ale at a much lower 3.9% !. From here heading eastwards along St Crispin’s Road to Magdalen Street I walked down the street to the King’s Head and a choice of eleven ales to choose from. Amongst these ales were a house beer “KHB” at 3.7% brewed by Winter’s which I tried plus beers from two Norfolk breweries I hadn’t heard of in Elmtree from Snetterton and Panther from Reepham of which I tried the Red Panther, a copper coloured best bitter.
The Ribs Of Beef was the next pub on the list and just a short walk from the King’s Head situated next to the River Wensum. Eight Handpumps dispensed beers that with the exception of Woodforde’s Wherry included ones from large regional breweries in the form of Adnams Bitter, Fuller’s London Pride, Moorhouses Honey Ale and Wells IPA plus a handpulled cider from Kingfisher Farm.
Settling down with a pint of Oakham JHB, I found it a great place to chill out and on the beams above the bar it gave a detailed history of the city of Norwich. Did you know that in 925 AD Norwich was first mentioned on coins and that in 1927 the Round Table charity was founded by Louis Marchesi in the city ?.
Settling down with a pint of Oakham JHB, I found it a great place to chill out and on the beams above the bar it gave a detailed history of the city of Norwich. Did you know that in 925 AD Norwich was first mentioned on coins and that in 1927 the Round Table charity was founded by Louis Marchesi in the city ?.
The final port of call for the day for last orders was the Gardener’s Arms on Timber Hill. It is also known as the Murderer’s due to a murder back in 1895 when an ex-Cavalry man bludgeoned to death his estranged wife and the two names for the pub have stuck ever since. A range of nine ales were available from Norfolk breweries including Blackfriars, Golden Triangle, Humpty Dumpty, Spectrum, Winter’s and Woodforde’s while the house beer, Murderers Ale at 3.6% is brewed by Coors. Blackfriar’s Mitre Gold at 4.2% was a good nightcap.
My last day in Norwich covered an area of the city close to Queen’s Road. The Trafford Arms, pictured, was first on the agenda being only a short walk from the city centre close to Sainsbury’s. There were eleven handpumps on the bar from nine different breweries from which I chose Winter’s Mild. Also available was a keg version of Meantime’s London Stout described on the blackboard as being, “Keg but good !” plus Kingfisher Farm Cider. The Trafford Arms is an unusual pub in that after being bombed in World War II, one half of the pub was rebuilt so that the licensee could reopen it up as a pub and continue trading while the remainder of the pub carried on being rebuilt.
Heading out of the city along Newmarket Road and at least a good half hour walk in the sunshine, I reached The Beehive just in time for opening at midday and was welcomed in by the licensee. A choice of six beers included ones from Golden Triangle, Winter’s and Wolf breweries. The Winter’s beer was “On The Beer City”, brewed to celebrate Norwich City Football Club’s return to the Premier League. Green Jack’s Excelsior was my choice, at 3.7% an easy drinking golden ale.
The Beehive is a great hub of the local community and it was great to see it also stocking beers from local breweries and this was enhanced further by the addition of Humpty Dumpty’s Ale being added to the range of beers on sale while I was there.
The Beehive is a great hub of the local community and it was great to see it also stocking beers from local breweries and this was enhanced further by the addition of Humpty Dumpty’s Ale being added to the range of beers on sale while I was there.
Retracing my steps back to the city, I walked back past the Trafford Arms and onto the King’s Arms in Hall Road, one of the few pubs I had visited during my last visit to Norwich. Owned by Bateman’s there were twelve handpumps serving a selection of Bateman’s beers plus guest beers which included Castle Rock Harvest Pale and my choice, Beeston’s Worth The Wait which after a long walk from the Beehive certainly was !.
Following a pint of Harvest Pale, I then headed around the corner along Queen’s Road to the Rose Inn, the sister pub to the Kett’s Tavern which I had visited earlier on my trip. The beer range was from the Norwich Bear Brewing Co Ltd and had the same range as the Kett’s Tavern so as you can imagine I had the Classic again !.
Work is underway at the Rose Inn to incorporate a micro brewery behind the bar and this area leading to the toilets is currently boarded up due to the refurbishment but the plans of the brewery are displayed on the wall, which will include the brewery being visible from the bar area. Judging by the plans the future looks bright.
Following a pint of Harvest Pale, I then headed around the corner along Queen’s Road to the Rose Inn, the sister pub to the Kett’s Tavern which I had visited earlier on my trip. The beer range was from the Norwich Bear Brewing Co Ltd and had the same range as the Kett’s Tavern so as you can imagine I had the Classic again !.
Work is underway at the Rose Inn to incorporate a micro brewery behind the bar and this area leading to the toilets is currently boarded up due to the refurbishment but the plans of the brewery are displayed on the wall, which will include the brewery being visible from the bar area. Judging by the plans the future looks bright.
Finally, the last place on my list was the Vine, pictured left, situated just off the Market Place on Dove Street. It is Norwich’s smallest pub and it reopened a few years ago including a Thai restaurant upstairs. Four ales were available including Elmtree’s Mad Maudie which I chose plus Humpty Dumpty’s Nord Atlantic, Oakham JHB and Wolf Moonlight. Being a lover of curries I took the opportunity to indulge in a beef curry which was excellent and certainly filled a corner and was then washed down with a pint of Nord Atlantic.
Following the visit to the Vine, it was time to head off to the railway station and catch the train back to Peterborough and onwards home. On the evidence of my visit, it was clear to me that Norwich has certainly overtaken both Derby and Sheffield as the “Real Ale Capital” and that besides the ales on offer, the hospitality shown by the staff and regulars in the pubs was been second to none.
Following the visit to the Vine, it was time to head off to the railway station and catch the train back to Peterborough and onwards home. On the evidence of my visit, it was clear to me that Norwich has certainly overtaken both Derby and Sheffield as the “Real Ale Capital” and that besides the ales on offer, the hospitality shown by the staff and regulars in the pubs was been second to none.
TRIP DETAILS:
I would recommend the following websites to anyone if planning a visit to Norwich:
Visit www.trainline.com or www.eastcoast.co.uk for ticket details and travel to and from Norwich.
For hotels and B&B’s in Norwich including late deals visit www.laterooms.com.
I would recommend the following websites to anyone if planning a visit to Norwich:
Visit www.trainline.com or www.eastcoast.co.uk for ticket details and travel to and from Norwich.
For hotels and B&B’s in Norwich including late deals visit www.laterooms.com.