Visited on 17 April 2012
There’s also a website HERE.
The Borough Arms
And here's a map to help you find it:
Getting to the Borough Arms on foot can require a little
care: Earle Street is busy for most of the day, and especially so at the end of
the week. Don’t even think about just walking across – the hump back rail
bridge and the lousy sight lines can catch you out. Cross over using the zebra
crossing at the other side of the rail bridge, or the light controlled one at
the entrance to the retail park. Especially after drinksh.
The pub advertises its CAMRA awards outside. Is that a good
or bad sign? Whatever, there’s only one way to find out. A slightly cramped
entrance, compact but not small inside (not to forget the beer garden for
summer), it has all the keg taps on the front of the bar with all the real ale
handpumps at the side.
Ticking over nicely midweek – always a good sign – and the
bar staff are happy to be quizzed about the beer range, which is nine different
real ales, with one brewed on the premises. My order is O’Hanlon’s Port Stout,
which is fine. Cask stout? Again? As Spike Milligan once observed, there’s a
lot of it about. It’s not a patch on Higson’s Stout or Brimstage Oyster
Catcher, though.
Can a pub keep that
many choices in equally good condition? I’m not sure. That, of course, may be
just my being of A Certain Age and thinking in terms of pubs that never did
more than two or three cask beers. The own brew is Golden Ale, which at 5.3% I
reckon a little strong for a first pint.
They do continental bottled beers as well. The keg range
includes Weissbier, various other Euro brews and at least one cider. A good
start, I’d be more than happy to come back and sample another. And maybe one
after that. Allegedly.
And that’s the first pub done. The north easterly doesn’t
seem quite so biting now, as I retrace my steps over the rail bridge. Will that
standard be maintained or even approached? Stay
tuned.
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