Infidel Castro
Producto Falso
I'm reasonably impressed by the Felinfoel beers in the Queen's Vaults. Haven't had a duff one yet, so my fears of feeling foul have been washed away. Marvellous.
A thread devoted to Real Ales in Wales
- Thread starter William of Walworth
- Start date
Infidel, or whoever, is the QV that ale-friendly and old fashioned pub pretty much next door to Zero degrees (v near the City Arms as well), and bang opposite the Millennium? Can't quite work out the QV location ...
poisondwarf
I have a chance...and it is fat.
im drinkin SA smooths, worthys creamflow, joseph jones/knotty ash which is quite a commercial one i guess packin 5%, and old speckled hen which is one of my faves..5.2% im tryin to stick to lower % stuff these days though but kinda goin off the worthy's lataly ide rather a john smiths green or these SA smooths which havant been out that long... must say they SA smooth comes in the can pretty much as good as tap...surge lasts proper ages like in pub and just tastes like your having something better than worthys or tetleys or whatever.. i was abit slow to start with 'em but yea they my favorate smoothflow job atm.
i dunno much about the world of ales though.. i like drinking em and savoring the flavour more than with any lager.
peace
i dunno much about the world of ales though.. i like drinking em and savoring the flavour more than with any lager.
peace
To be honest Meth, and just wearing my CAMRA hat, it's definitely worth your while concentrating more on the handpulled proper ales. Especially those from smaller breweries if you can find em, but also the more mainstream real ales from Brains and otehrs are worth comparing against the smoothflows and JohnSmiths too.
Check all over this thread earlier up for suggestions of ales and places to try them ....
TBF, what I'm suggesting is usually more costly. But if you're pushed for cash some Spoons branches -- depending on where you're located obvs -- can have have a fair range of pumps, some offering cut price but tasty ales and not all of them Welsh ......
Check all over this thread earlier up for suggestions of ales and places to try them ....
TBF, what I'm suggesting is usually more costly. But if you're pushed for cash some Spoons branches -- depending on where you're located obvs -- can have have a fair range of pumps, some offering cut price but tasty ales and not all of them Welsh ......
Reliable rumour 
reaches me from festivaldeb that Yates here in Swansea, top of Wine Street 
, has started to stock a couple of Otleys on pump. If to be relied on as a regular thing, and if it wasn't just a rare one off last weekend (I was away), this could be promising. Nowehre else in Swanmsea stocks Otleye excep as a VERY rare/occasional guest, we're well out of Otletys territory.
We need to avoid the bloody place at full-on 'Wine Street in full fling' type times....
But! We're rechecking early tomorrow evening -- however early we get there though, maybe we'll be taking our lives in our hands in pre-Christmas week!!
reaches me from festivaldeb that Yates here in Swansea, top of Wine Street , has started to stock a couple of Otleys on pump. If to be relied on as a regular thing, and if it wasn't just a rare one off last weekend (I was away), this could be promising. Nowehre else in Swanmsea stocks Otleye excep as a VERY rare/occasional guest, we're well out of Otletys territory.We need to avoid the bloody place at full-on 'Wine Street in full fling' type times....
But! We're rechecking early tomorrow evening -- however early we get there though, maybe we'll be taking our lives in our hands in pre-Christmas week!!
Watch this space soon for news of a new very-microbrewery on the Gower, at the Greyhound at Oldwalls. More research needed .... have tasted one of them though as a one off last (Black!) Friday**. At, of all pubs, the Brunswick in Swansea -- I'm far from a fan to say the least of the B's ale choices and standards, although the pub itself is lovely. It just needs better and more beer focussed management IMO.
Anyway this Greyhound ale, I can't now remember the name, was lovely. Deb remembers more about it though!
**If memory serves. Which it doesn't
Anyway this Greyhound ale, I can't now remember the name, was lovely. Deb remembers more about it though!
**If memory serves. Which it doesn't
We've been told today by the manager of the Prince of Wales in Aberdare, a very nice Rhymney Brewery owned and managed pub, that they have recently opened a new pub in Cardiff -- City Road I think.
Just delving ...
Rhymney Brewery pubs that I can find on line right now are :
The Patriot, Pontypridd
The Prince of Wales, Aberdare
The Winchester, Merthyr Tydfil
Struggling to find any reference to any Cardiff Rhymney pub, but the bloke assured us this afternoon that there was a recently opened CF one!
If true, Rhymneys Export and Dark (especially) kick proper arse. And the brewery's real focus in their pubs is handpumped ales.
Also, it would seem that from what this friendly feller told us, that Rhymney want to expand their pub outlets (their actual brewery HQ has I think expanded already last year).
Rhymney are, it seems, interested -- at least in principle -- in the possibility of a Swansea outlet ... we'll keep them informed on suitable empty properties
Watch this space
Just delving ...
Rhymney Brewery pubs that I can find on line right now are :
The Patriot, Pontypridd
The Prince of Wales, Aberdare
The Winchester, Merthyr Tydfil
Struggling to find any reference to any Cardiff Rhymney pub, but the bloke assured us this afternoon that there was a recently opened CF one!
If true, Rhymneys Export and Dark (especially) kick proper arse. And the brewery's real focus in their pubs is handpumped ales.
Also, it would seem that from what this friendly feller told us, that Rhymney want to expand their pub outlets (their actual brewery HQ has I think expanded already last year).
Rhymney are, it seems, interested -- at least in principle -- in the possibility of a Swansea outlet ... we'll keep them informed on suitable empty properties
Watch this space
We also visited the Red Cow in Llwydcoed, near Aberdare. Mid Glasmorgan CAMRA's piub of the year 2011 and 2012 ....
Just outside in the yard is the Grey Trees (micro)Brewery.
Truly cracking ales. Pub is tough to get to, but it's very ale friendly in general (see link).
Unfortunately, we found out this from the bar manager. Their twice a year beer festival (with music), that we were planning to find out about, seems to have been squashed for the time being because of a horrible fun hating neighbour in the village
We had to head up the road to the truly excellent Red Lion in Penderyn to get over that news!
(That's an old article be warned, ignore Arfur's reference to 'this year's' beer festival there)
Just outside in the yard is the Grey Trees (micro)Brewery.
Truly cracking ales. Pub is tough to get to, but it's very ale friendly in general (see link).
Unfortunately, we found out this from the bar manager. Their twice a year beer festival (with music), that we were planning to find out about, seems to have been squashed for the time being because of a horrible fun hating neighbour in the village
We had to head up the road to the truly excellent Red Lion in Penderyn to get over that news!
(That's an old article be warned, ignore Arfur's reference to 'this year's' beer festival there)
ChrisFilter
Like a boss.
Rhymney Export is lovely. Had some in Brecon Beacons.
davesgcr
Reading books
Any Cardiff suggestions please (our annual 1st March expedition is b**ed by my having a meeting in central Cdf till 1300 , friends can make a start before me - this is not a session , but a lunchtime gathering ?) Last year went to Taffs Well which was excellent , but travel there would take too much time out as looking for a return on the train to London after 1600.
"The Goat Major" would suffice I suppose , - just happy to be the right side of the Severn !
"The Goat Major" would suffice I suppose , - just happy to be the right side of the Severn !
ddraig
kicking against the pricks...
you could try the revamped City Arms not too far away
lots of choice now
http://www.thecityarmscardiff.com/our-range/resident-beers
lots of choice now
http://www.thecityarmscardiff.com/our-range/resident-beers
Gavin Bl
terrible awful baaad
Had a couple of (lovely) pints of the Rhymney Dark in there - the place itself would make you weep, as missed opportunities go - but fab beer. I heard that they had moved the brewing out of Dowlais.
Talking of Brains, I think the Lewis arms in Tongwynlais has been mentioned before, but was in there for a couple of hours before going to the Scotland game, and they are keeping some cracking Brains in there now.
Brains Dark is my first love
, but the IPA is really nice, good pint for a session - and tried a new one 'Bread of Heaven' whcih despite the terrible name is really nice too. All £2.50 a pint or less. Pubs a bit non-descript to be honest, but easy to get to off the A470 or a 20 minute walk from Coryton station, prolly similar from Taffs Well, reasonable food too...
ddraig
kicking against the pricks...
just by Westgate st too, so almost a straight line dash to the stationExcellent - thank you
Sounds good.
pepper78
Well-Known Member
Would love to see a proper bar like this in Cardiff. I'm often down city road and I don't recall seeing a new bar there. I've found this article from last year referring to a potential site on Albany rd. May take a look on the weekend and see if it's up and running.
haven't spotted that on City rd and can't think where it would be...
hope it is true and welcome any news
thanks
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/cardif...-would-hark-back-to-the-1950s-91466-29750102/
Thanks for that link pepper! And apols for not getting my info right 
-- Albany Road, not City Road.
By pure chance, it could well have been Steve Evans, Rhymney Brewery MD, who we were chatting with on Sunday ...
This Cardiff Rhymney pub is an imminent plan rather than a present reality then, but a very promising one
We're going to be in contact soon with him or with Rhymney anyway, to push the possibility of an outlet in Swansea too -- where a decent pub directly owned/managed by a quality brewery** is very badly needed.
**This would definitely not include Evans Evans -- Simon Buckley can whistle as far as I'm concerned
And Tomos Watkins seem to be focussing predominantly on bottled ales/exports, several of the pubs that bear their name locally, don't even have cask versions of their rather bland beers
Meanwhile, the Rhymney Brewery website is very interesting about local drinking history in the Merthyr and Dowlais areas and roundabouts!
-- Albany Road, not City Road.By pure chance, it could well have been Steve Evans, Rhymney Brewery MD, who we were chatting with on Sunday ...
This Cardiff Rhymney pub is an imminent plan rather than a present reality then, but a very promising one
We're going to be in contact soon with him or with Rhymney anyway, to push the possibility of an outlet in Swansea too -- where a decent pub directly owned/managed by a quality brewery** is very badly needed.
**This would definitely not include Evans Evans -- Simon Buckley can whistle as far as I'm concerned
And Tomos Watkins seem to be focussing predominantly on bottled ales/exports, several of the pubs that bear their name locally, don't even have cask versions of their rather bland beers
Meanwhile, the Rhymney Brewery website is very interesting about local drinking history in the Merthyr and Dowlais areas and roundabouts!
Whenever I visit places like Bristol, Cambridge, Brum, Manc, York, anywhere else in Yorkshire, and even London!!! I could bloody weep at how restricted we are in choice for decent ales round here relatively speaking -- you really have to search for them ....
I also hear secondhand that the real ale revolution in Scotland has progressed to a point whereby the choice of breweries, ales and pubs, at least in the towns, is undrecognisably good compared to a couple of decades ago. We have further to travel still in Wales I think.
In more positive news, last night we (local CAMRA we) had our first planning meeting for our 2012 beer festival here in Swansea (Bank Holiday weekend August, and my birthday weekend too).
Watch this space!
I also hear secondhand that the real ale revolution in Scotland has progressed to a point whereby the choice of breweries, ales and pubs, at least in the towns, is undrecognisably good compared to a couple of decades ago. We have further to travel still in Wales I think.
In more positive news, last night we (local CAMRA we) had our first planning meeting for our 2012 beer festival here in Swansea (Bank Holiday weekend August, and my birthday weekend too).
Watch this space!
.... and not very long after posting the rather dejected post above, cheerier news!
festivaldeb has just alerted me to a new plan of hers for us to grab a train some weekend soon to check the Commercial Inn, Risca (happily located v near a station!). This was once a Gwent CAMRA Pub of the Year ....
Among other beers, this place should imminently offer beers from the very new Newport-area microbrewery, Tiny Rebel, which have surely got to be tried ...
And further into the spring we still aim to cycle the Taff Trail from Cardiff to Pontypridd with a fair few excellent pubs en route (train back to Cardiff afterwards, obvs! )
So Wales isn't so bad for beer choice after all!
festivaldeb has just alerted me to a new plan of hers for us to grab a train some weekend soon to check the Commercial Inn, Risca (happily located v near a station!). This was once a Gwent CAMRA Pub of the Year ....
Among other beers, this place should imminently offer beers from the very new Newport-area microbrewery, Tiny Rebel, which have surely got to be tried ...
And further into the spring we still aim to cycle the Taff Trail from Cardiff to Pontypridd with a fair few excellent pubs en route (train back to Cardiff afterwards, obvs!
)So Wales isn't so bad for beer choice after all!
Last Thursday eve, our gang (Swansea CAMRA) hired a bus to visit this very new but ambitious micro, the Gower Brewing Company, which frustratingly doesn't seem to have much if any specific web or Facebook presence yet.
Their principal outlet so far is the Greyhound Inn in Oldwalls, North Gower, and the beers are also selling well at the Kings Head, Llangennith, not far away.
The main men at the Brewery are the managers of the above two pubs.
Beers are highly recommended. Watch this space for developments.
Their principal outlet so far is the Greyhound Inn in Oldwalls, North Gower, and the beers are also selling well at the Kings Head, Llangennith, not far away.
The main men at the Brewery are the managers of the above two pubs.
Beers are highly recommended. Watch this space for developments.
Gavin Bl
terrible awful baaad
[quote="William of Walworth]And further into the spring we still aim to cycle the Taff Trail from Cardiff to Pontypridd with a fair few excellent pubs en route[/quote]
Names please!
Names please!
Off the top of my head ...
The Gwaelod Inn and Fagins' at/near Taffs Well are both excellent. In Pontypridd itself, Otley's The Bunch of Grapes (very near the river) is superb, and there's a Rhymney's The Patriot in Ponty town centre too.
There will almost certainly be more than these, on different parts of the route, but we need to do more research.
The Gwaelod Inn and Fagins' at/near Taffs Well are both excellent. In Pontypridd itself, Otley's The Bunch of Grapes (very near the river) is superb, and there's a Rhymney's The Patriot in Ponty town centre too.
There will almost certainly be more than these, on different parts of the route, but we need to do more research.
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