24/09/16 - Cheltenham Pub Crawl

Distance - 3 Miles
Pubs - 4
Geocaches - 1

An emotional day.  We drop our youngest off at Bath University.  To celebrate our new found freedom and delaying the return to an empty nest, we decide an overnight stay is in order.  Nothing can be found in Bath or its environs.

Armed with the 2017 CAMRA Good Beer Guide, we choose to stop in Cheltenham.  Home of the 2015 National Pub of the Year.  There are 7 others in the Town.  We aim to hit 4.

A suitable route is created in Pubdroid.com.  A very pleasant evenings walk through Regency Cheltenham, admiring the crescent, the gardens, some fine looking restaurants and two theatres.  It's a lovely place.

And the district of Montpeiller looks an especially fine place to live.

The Jolly Brewmaster, 39 Painswick Road, Betty Stoggs

Random BeerintheEvening Quote - "Six constantly changing ales, and four ciders.Great ales, friendly staff, top atmosphere."

Tucked away down a residential side street, we've had to go out your way to find it.  But its worth it.

Lit up to guide you in

The curved central bar has as many ciders on offer as ales - around 7 of each.  I make a grab for the last table and Sonia goes and checks out which cider she would prefer.  She hasn't heard of any - so sends me with the instruction to get a pint of something dry.  Kingstone Press sounds a bit like Stowford Press and I know she likes that.

My choice is simpler.  Skinners Betty Stoggs.  Because it reminds me a wonderful Cornish holidays. When we had children.

This is a fine pub.  If I was a Montpeiller local, it would be my local.

The Beehive, 1-3 Montpeiller Villas, Timothy Taylor Landlord

Random BeerintheEvening Quote - "do they pump the smell of sheep shit in? Only the Beehive knows..."

I have no idea what this reviewer was getting at, but a) it made me laugh and b) it reminds me that as much as I like pubs, I really don't want to run one.

A short walk from the Brewmaster and again, tucked down a residential street.  A sign says that outdoor drinking and smoking is not allowed after 9pm.  I don't know if this means you can smoke inside.

Seating available outside until 9pm

This was pub of the night for me.  I loved the layout of the pub - which seemed to be built from 3 terraced houses, with the bar, lounge and restaurant all separated from each other.

It was also the best pint of Timothy Taylor Landlord I think I have had.  And I include my weeks long walk around the Yorkshire Dales earlier in the year in this comparison.

We sat outside.  Along with a group of other pub tickers.   They leave.  I know where they are going.

A real gem of a pub and the Good Beer Guide has already paid for itself in the first week of ownership.

The Strand, 40-42 The High Street, Otter Bitter

Random BeerintheEvening Quote - "Very disappointing after visiting the nearby Stanford Ale House"

This is weird.  A GBG Pub and yet it has only one review on BITE.  And an average score of only 5.5.

Maybe its because it looks like a shop rather than a pub.  And its ironic that we past several fine pub examples that have not been deemed worthy of inclusion.

Not how I imagine a pub to look

This may sound obvious, but its saving grace is the beer.  I'm a big fan of Otter and for the first time, I am presented with more than just the delightful Otter Bitter.  Otter Amber and Otter Ale are also available.  Unfortunately Otter Head was not, although it stopped someone calling the RSPCA, should I have ordered it.

Like a man who stars at the menu in a fish and chip shop for 10 minutes before ordering fish and chips, I revert to type and stick with the Bitter.

Damn good pint but we stare wistfully out the window at the Vine over the road.  Now, that looks like a proper pub.

Transpires its a Thai restaurant and I highly recommend it

Sandford Park Ale House, 20 High Street, Purity UBU

Random BeerintheEvening Quote - "This is clearly the best place for beer in Cheltenham"

A bold claim from a town where we have had some quality beer.  Even if it is Pub of the Year.

Beware Drink Riders

Its busy.  The other pub tickers are here, along with some impressive beards.  The extra revenue of being a destination pub must help with paying the electricity bill.  I don't think I have ever been anywhere so bright.  Advice, take sunglasses.

Despite the new fangledness of spouts coming out of tiled back walls and electronic boards proclaiming the beers, its rather traditional inside.

Pumps Front.  Pumps Rear.

Spend your prize money on dimmer switches

My Purity Ubu was as spectacular as it looks in the photo.

We had planned on going to the Kemble Brewery Inn as well, but Match of the Day was about to start.

Is there anything finer but crueler in life than lying on a Premier Inn hypnos bed, trying to keep your eyes open but knowing that the Albion will be on last?

Thank god for the Sunday omnibus.