The River Ale House (Free House)
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Stephen Harris
Visits Details
16 Jan 2025 (Philip Pirrip)
Late evening visit until close.
Leatherbritches - The Bounder | 3.80 | | Zingy mouthfeel. Good enough to have a second one |
Little Critters - Christmas Quackers Clementine Pale | 4.20 | | I picked up just some of the alleged clementine flavours |
Milestone - Shine On | 4.00 | Not Tried | |
Oakham - Green Devil IPA | 6.00 | Not Tried | Ran out as I was about to order |
Tonbridge - Traditional | 3.60 | Not Tried | |
Castle Rock - Krush (collaboration with Siren Craft) | 4.60 | Not Tried | |
Elusive - Coconut Morrisman | 5.60 | Not Tried | |
Ossett - Chomp (collaboration with Neon Raptor) | 4.30 | Not Tried | |
14 Jan 2025 (Philip Pirrip)
Late evening visit until close.
Oakham - Green Devil IPA | 6.00 | | Best GD I have had for months. At last presented with clarity, not a slight haze |
Elusive - Coconut Morrisman | 5.60 | | Absolutely flat |
Milestone - Shine On | 4.00 | Not Tried | |
Track - Sonoma | 3.80 | Not Tried | Still holding the stage |
Pig & Porter - Jumping Frog | 4.20 | Not Tried | |
Kent - Kent Golding Bitter or KGB | 4.10 | Not Tried | |
Ossett - Chomp (collaboration with Neon Raptor) | 4.30 | Not Tried | |
12 Jan 2025 (Philip Pirrip)
Late evening visit until close.
Kent - White Noise | 5.00 | | Very zingy mouthfeel |
Kent - Kent Golding Bitter or KGB | 4.10 | | Unusual slight haze |
Elusive - Coconut Morrisman | 5.60 | | Needed more natural carbonation to carry off the intense flavouring |
Track - Sonoma | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
Pig & Porter - Jumping Frog | 4.20 | Not Tried | |
Ossett - Chomp (collaboration with Neon Raptor) | 4.30 | Not Tried | |
11 Jan 2025 (Hogan Sampling)
Busy with usual Saturday regulars for last 40 minutes of serving.
Oakham - Below Zero | 4.10 | | Good head and lacing on this Peterborough pale. A real bite to it and described as zesty. Lots of tropical fruit within. A slightly medicinal aftertaste. One sufficed. |
Milestone - Cromwell Best Bitter | 4.40 | | Good head and lacing. A very bitter, bitter first hit on this Newark amber bitter. Was not holding its head and lacing very well. There was a slight sourness in all the maltiness lingering. |
Track - Sonoma | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
Elusive - Coconut Morrisman | 5.60 | Not Tried | |
Ossett - Chomp (collaboration with Neon Raptor) | 4.30 | Not Tried | |
New Bristol - My Galaxy Romance | 4.60 | Not Tried | |
09 Jan 2025 (Philip Pirrip)
Late evening visit until close.
Oakham - Bishops Farewell | 4.60 | | Perfectly clear on pour. Probably best of the regular Oakham lower gravity ales |
Oakham - Below Zero | 4.10 | | New cask, fresh on |
360° - Double Decker | 4.90 | | Poured quite flat |
Oakham - Citra | 4.20 | Not Tried | Ran out |
Track - Sonoma | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
Tonbridge - Easy Street Pale | 3.90 | Not Tried | |
Pig & Porter - Pigs in Blankets | 3.40 | Not Tried | |
09 Jan 2025 (Hogan Sampling)
Very busy footfall for last 30 minutes of serving. Everyone is back from their Christmas and New Year celebrations elsewhere! Timed getting to the bar to miss the odd mad rush to it and I guess on arrival was lucky as only one in front of me.
Oakham - Bishops Farewell | 4.60 | | The saviour of the evening's visit was this Peterborough golden ale. Totally good head and lacing and a dry, moreish flavour to die for if I had not already quite died from the two offerings earlier sampled. It had a slightly fruity mouthfeel but a moreishly dry finish. |
360° - Double Decker | 4.90 | | Why did I try this again after trying it on Tuesday? An occasional regular was raving about it and had done two pints of it when I asked him how it was or even how he was? Thankfully only a half requested from our barman for me. Minus much head and lacing and another chocolate gravy was it in this Uckfield-based milk stout, east of Haywards Heath in East Sussex. I have promised myself not to do it again! |
Pig & Porter - Pigs in Blankets | 3.40 | | The first of this evening's offerings tried and a session bitter from Tunbridge Wells. Given I am not an overall fan of Pig and Porter, I sought a sample as I really thought I should ought to do this as the best way to proceed! One pint then sufficed. Some temporary head and lacing. A very sweet first hit from some fruitiness it contained. A lacklustre finish and did not note from the tasting notes, the hints of Christmas cake, currants, prunes and dates, but certainly a touch of sugar to help the medicine go down. |
Track - Sonoma | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
Oakham - Below Zero | 4.10 | Not Tried | |
Tonbridge - Easy Street Pale | 3.90 | Not Tried | |
07 Jan 2025 (Hogan Sampling)
Busy for last 30 minutes of serving with the fiddlers all back after a couple of weeks' absence for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. Plus a good few regulars in and the more occasional visitor too.
Vale - Tickety Brew | 4.00 | | It has got better since first trying this Sunday when one sufficed. I had a sample first to be sure although someone else also recommended it. Good head and lacing. A dry, bitter mouthfeel with lingering bitterness. Then had a good few pints of this. |
360° - Double Decker | 4.90 | | It was apparently fresh on and indeed it presented with a good head and lacing on this Uckfield-based milk stout, east of Haywards Heath in East Sussex. I thought I would just try a half as missed trying it the first time it went on here a few weeks earlier. A first hit of chocolate and a bit like a chocolate gravy. It was a heavy consistency in the mouthfeel with some 9 different malts cohabiting in it by all accounts. |
Oakham - Citra | 4.20 | Not Tried | |
Titanic - Cappuccino | 4.50 | Not Tried | |
Tonbridge - Easy Street Pale | 3.90 | Not Tried | |
Anspach & Hobday - Hop Pickers' Pale | 4.50 | Not Tried | |
05 Jan 2025 (Hogan Sampling)
Quite busy for last 30 minutes of serving with a mix of regulars and the not so regular.
Titanic - Cappuccino | 4.50 | | Second night for me to try it and still not much head and lacing on this Stoke-on-Trent stout. A first hit of sweetness which I did not welcome. A dry mouthfeel lingering with the unmistakeable taste of cappuccino. One half sufficed. |
Anspach & Hobday - Hop Pickers' Pale | 4.50 | | Good head and lacing on this Bermondsey pale. A sour first hit. A dry mouthfeel with a hoppy aftertaste. A very murky appearance to it. |
Vale - Tickety Brew | 4.00 | | Good head and lacing on this bitter, whose brewery is based north-east of Oxford, as fresh on today. A very bitter, bitter first hit. Slightly lacklustre in flavours. |
Ossett - Silver King | 4.30 | Not Tried | |
Tonbridge - Easy Street Pale | 3.90 | Not Tried | |
05 Jan 2025 (Philip Pirrip)
Late evening visit until close.
Ossett - Silver King | 4.30 | | Easy drinking golden ale |
Titanic - Cappuccino | 4.50 | | Needs more condition to carry off this intense flavouring |
Vale - Tickety Brew | 4.00 | | Basic bitter, uninspiring |
Tonbridge - Easy Street Pale | 3.90 | Not Tried | |
Anspach & Hobday - Hop Pickers' Pale | 4.50 | Not Tried | |
04 Jan 2025 (Hogan Sampling)
Not overly busy for last 40 minutes of serving but with a good few of the Saturday regulars in. As always, fast and friendly service.
Titanic - Cappuccino | 4.50 | | It was minus much head and lacing on this Stoke-on-Trent stout. A dry and chocolatey first hit. Very much the flavours of cappuccino, hence its name, with a malty sweetness lingering. |
Tonbridge - Country Best | 4.00 | | Good head and lacing on this East Peckham-based brewery's bitter, just outside Tonbridge, as only its first day on. A very sweet first hit which was not very welcome as in caramel and toffee flavours. The malty mouthfeel however made it moreish and so stuck with it and with a hint of spice and dark fruity malts in the dryish aftertaste. |
Ossett - Silver King | 4.30 | Not Tried | |
Bewdley - Worcestershire Way | 3.60 | Not Tried | |
Lost Pier - Lost in Citra | 4.50 | Not Tried | |
Elusive - Impulse | 4.90 | Not Tried | |
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