No. 67 The Wheatsheaf

Visited on 28/7/11. On a warm summer evening what better way is there to while away a couple of hours than to trundle round a few pubs on a velocipede ? Answer: There isn’t. Our tour of Upton began here at this huge community pub up near the Zoo. After some debate, we decided that this is in fact Chester’s biggest pub. It might be, it might not. Who’s going to argue ? Frankly, who cares ? Anyhow, like many similar establishments, it’s been turned into a ‘pile it high, sell it cheap’ food outlet - in this case under the ‘Sizzling Pub’ brand. I’d never eat in a place like this but I guess the name suggests everything is fried. Mmm, healthy. It looks like and is branded in a similar way to No. 62 The Peacock (Flaming Grill), but there the comparison pretty much ends. For a start it’s popular – we reckoned there were about a hundred people in when we arrived. Also, the staff are more mature, polite and efficient. It’s brighter and a bit more sympathetically decorated an’ all. The only real ale on was the unremarkable, vaguely lageresque and probably ‘fast cask’ Marston’s EPA, but it was in reasonable nick to be fair. Not our kind of place, but a hundred people on a Thursday night ?! They’re obviously doing something right. 

No. 66 Kash

Visited on 14/7/11. Kash is a new bar located in the building on Brook street that used to house Donato & Sandro’s. It doesn’t have the feel of a traditional pub because the basic structure remains that of a restaurant. However, although an extensive menu is available, the focus is very much on beer. Blueball beer to be precise, as Kash is the first bar to be opened by this microbrewery from Runcorn. Two cask ales were on and that’s where we started. I’m rubbish at this beer reviewing lark because I can’t even remember what they were called, although one was a very pale and to be honest, fairly tasteless summer type ale, but the second, in contrast was a superb amber ale with a fruity aroma loaded with hops - twas excellent. What’s really interesting about Blueball though is that in common with other so-called ‘craft’ brewers, they’re quite willing to break the ‘keg taboo’ and serve beer pressurised with carbon di oxide. In fact, they insist that some beers are more suited to being served in what they term ‘the American style’. Let’s be clear on this though – Blueball keg ales are unfiltered, unpasteurised and untreated. Heineken it aint ! Four of ‘em were on offer and we went for the Zeppelin – a German style wheat beer which is absolutely superb. I’ll be honest, we had several – and at 5.5%, it’s probably a beer you shouldn’t ever drink several of ! Although we were late out and still depleted in terms of numbers due to holidays, I think it’s fair to say we had a good night ! I hope this place is a success, because the ale really is something new and exciting. Love the branding too – check out the pump label artwork. Plans are in place to extend the bar I believe – which is absolutely essential. Also, they’ve got some good promotional ideas in the pipeline such as cask ale at £2 per pint on Tuesdays. A beer festival with a German theme, provisionally named the ‘OktoberChest’ has also been suggested. Although that might have been by us. And it might have been on the way home come to think of it. Can’t really remember…

No. 65 The Custom House

Visited on 7/7/11. Back in the bad old days before the micro-brewery movement had gained any traction, ‘the Custom House’ was a dependable old school boozer where you were always guaranteed a decent pint – and a decent atmosphere as well to boot. The modernisation which has taken place since then hasn’t enhanced the place to any great extent, but nor has it ruined it. They’ve made better use of the space around the back I suppose, and most importantly they’ve kept the small room (not really a snug) at the front. Also, there’s a much wider choice of ales available now, although admittedly, they’re all still from the Marston’s stable - Marston’s Pedigree, Marston’s EPA (see ‘Fat Cat’), Jennings Cumberland ale, Jennings Cocker Hoop and Wychwood Hobgoblin all being present. Between us we tried the lot - apart from the EPA obviously. They were all in good nick an’ all, with the Cocker Hoop probably coming out on top. This place might have lost some of it’s character, but it remains an oasis of traditional pub culture in a city centre street that’s increasingly becoming a wine bar quarter. We’ll get to the more ‘clubby’ establishments at a later date no doubt …might have to wear cravats. 

No. 64 The Fat Cat

Visited on 7/7/11. Heading into town but still on lower Watergate street, we arrived at ‘the Fat Cat’, a wine bar-cum-bistro sort of affair. I seem to recall that it used to be more of a drinking venue, but now very much has the feel of a restaurant about it. In fact, the first thing we were asked (very courteously by the way) was whether or not we’d be eating. We said no and ordered up a round of the only real ale they had on, despite there being three handpumps on the bar. The ale in question was Marstons EPA – an interesting brew. Interesting in that it’s almost completely devoid of taste, despite being described in various notes as ‘hoppy’, ‘zingy’ and all sorts of other such rubbish. Fact is, it’s a real ale brewed to simulate lager, with a view presumably, to winning over customers who prefer severely uninteresting and mass marketed beer styles. Not quite us then. It was as hot as hell in there as well. Gawd knows what it’s like in the summer. Oh hang on…

No. 63 The Watergate Inn

Visited on 7/7/11. This pub is built adjacent to the racecourse, so it lives a double life. On race days it will be packed to the hilt, and the rest of the time it lies quiet. Very quiet. In fact, when we arrived, it was empty. Also, there didn’t appear to be any sign of initiatives underway aimed at attracting punters in between meetings – no bands or quizzes advertised for example. Perhaps the race days generate sufficient income and they don’t have to try the rest of the time. There are certainly plenty of them in the calendar these days. It’s an attractive building from the outside, but when you walk through the door, it all looks a bit shabby. We sat in a sort of bench-seated alcove. The seats were broken and the table was sticky. However, there is one major thing that rescues this place to some extent and that’s the ale - just a single  handpump on the bar, but it was dispensing the highly acceptable Titanic Sundeck – a dry, hoppy summer beer. Most pleasant. We almost stayed for a second round in fact. Almost.

We're back ! CBP at the Little Oak Beer Festival

Visited on 30/6/11. Despite the fact that it was a bit quiet when we visited this place in April (No. 33), we decided to give it another go when we heard they were having a beer festival. Good decision. Excellent decision in fact. I think it’s fair to say that first and foremost, on the CBP we’re a bunch of miserable bastards, so fulsome praise doesn’t come easily. However, after spending an absolutely cracking evening in here on what was the festival’s opening night, it’s difficult to be in any way critical. It really was a very well organised event – the perfect small beer festival in fact. So, let’s start with the ale. A special bar fitted with cask stillage, coolers and handpumps had been constructed on the back patio and a dozen ales were available here, plus 3 coiderrs. This was complimented by a further 4 or 5 ales at the normal bar. So none of that luke warm cloudy swill dribbling out of barrels nonsense. The selection of ales was impressive and covered most styles, ranging from conventional session bitters, through ruby and amber ales to high octane IPAs. A mild, a stout and a porter were thrown in for good measure and local microbreweries were well represented. Gladiator from Chester Ales is an old fashioned session bitter and was a good place to start, but a couple of early highlights were Gypsy’s Kiss and the Little Oak Special, a beer brewed for the occasion – both by local microbrewery WC. Sadly, this is the last time WC beers will be seen in public, as this most micro of microbreweries has now closed it’s doors. Inevitably though, whenever it is present, it’s impossible to ignore the legend that is Thornbridge Jaipur and sure enough, by ten o’clock we’d racked up the first round. That’s where it finished for the Captain Sensible wing of the CBP, but for the others, just one pint of this near perfect ale was never going to be enough. As a consequence, one or two of us were more than a little ‘Jaipured’ by the time we left. The live music for the occasion was provided by Thom Kirkpatrick with his 21^st century one-man band – a unique and highly entertaining act and a cut above your average pub singer. After 5 minutes, I gave up figuring out how he managed to sing his own backing vocals and play a guitar without touching it. We simply watched and listened in awe. Electronic wizardry or smoke and mirrors ? I don’t care. It was great stuff. All in all this was a fantastic event and it just goes to show what imaginative people can achieve when they’re allowed to break free, albeit temporarily, from the yoke of the Pubco. Rumour has it that there’ll be another Little Oak beer festival before the end of the year. I certainly hope so and indeed if this is the case, you can rest assured we’ll be back. Again. 

No. 62 The Peacock

Visited on 23/6/11. This is a big 1930s pub built in the ‘roadhouse’ style which, over recent years, limped along in a dilapidated state, barely turning a profit before finally closing in mid 2010. It was boarded up for several months and there were rumours that it was to be turned into flats. However, Punch Taverns then surprised everyone by investing a significant amount of money in order to re-launch it as the latest outlet in their ‘Flaming Grill’ portfolio of ‘eat as much cheap, rubbish, unhealthy, badly cooked food as you can – then more’, conceptual pub dining emporia. This ethos is epitomised by the ‘Flaming Challenge’, their signature dish, consisting of 1 kg of meat in a bun accompanied by chips. Customers are encouraged to eat this monstrosity within 15 minutes in order to get their photograph on the ‘Wall of Flame’. Jesus Christ, they should have defibrillators stationed at every table. Anyhow, when we arrived, late evening, the place was practically empty apart from one or two refugees from the past, curious to see how their local had been transformed by the costly refurbishment. Nobody appeared to be that impressed – and with good reason. I can only assume that most of the investment has been in the kitchen, to finance the installation of the massive grillers and fryers needed to produce crap food on an industrial scale, because the interior of the pub itself has only been changed cosmetically. Everything has been painted or varnished and there are new carpets and furniture, all of which look cheap, modern and totally at odds with the style of the building. The first thing that hits you though is the oppressive smell, which is a mixture of paint fumes and fat. Highly unpleasant. Incidentally, for those of you not familiar with the area, the background picture to this blog is the Peacock, mid-refurb. At the point it was taken, everyone thought the lurid orange was the just the undercoat. Unfortunately for the residents of Boughton however, that’s the finished colour – a familiar old building transformed into an eyesore. Surprisingly, two real ales (Hobgoblin and Bombardier) are available here – if you believe ‘fast cask’ is indeed real ale – personally, I think the jury’s still out. The Bombardier came flat and warm as expected and we didn’t bother with the Hobgoblin - one round and we were gone ! We won’t be back either, but as a sort of postscript, it’s been drawn to our attention that some of the pubs we’ve visited on the CBP have printed off their blog entries and put them on the wall. Well of course, the manager of the Peacock is quite welcome to do the same. Maybe this could even go on the ‘Wall of Flame’ ! Just a suggestion.