The County Hotel (Wetherspoon)
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Visits Details
30 Oct 2005 (Ian)
Sunday lunchtime. You know what? I can't wait for the smoking ban to come in. In order to avoid the smokers I have to go into the family area, which on a Sunday is just full of screaming kids. This is not what pubs were built for!!
Batemans - Blackbeerd | 3.60 |  | Part of the JDW Autumn Beer Festival. Black beer, thin lasting tight dark beige head. Milky dark roasted malts and some hop aroma. Fairly full in mouth with grainy roastedness on finish and good bitterness that tingles the tongue. Nice dark beer |
Everards (see entries against Joule's & Robinsons whilst its new brewery was being built) - Beacon Hill (was Beacon) | 3.80 |  | Copper orange colour with thin lasting white head. Green apple, nettle and caramel aromas. Fullish in mouth with more caramel and some green apple acid. Nettley hop on end. Some muddiness in the middle somewhere too |
Caledonian - Golden Promise | 5.00 |  | Golden colour with thin off white lasting head. Smell of hay and butter, bit of ginger and caramel flavour in mouth. Finish has good tangy hop. Better on cask than in bottle. Malts have nice biscuitiness |
Titanic - Night to Remember | 4.30 |  | Not convinced this was exactly how it is supposed to be. Copper colour with thin lasting beige head and good lacing. Tangerine citrus throughout, touch of caramel. Finish is quite short with more citrus |
16 Oct 2005 (Ian)
Sunday lunchtime, sat in non smoking family area, with lots of families enjoying the Sunday roast. Still has a good turnover of guest beers.
Lincolnshire Craft (formerly Tom Wood's) - Shepherd's Delight | 4.00 |  | Copper colour, lasting beige head. Earthy attractive hop aroma. Creamy in mouth with some red berry and then bitter hop finish. Not a bit fan of Tom Wood, but this is good |
Freeminer - Bitter | 4.00 |  | Hazy pale gold colour, lasting beige head. Pear drops, lemon aromas. OK in mouth some muddy malt. Zippy, tangy hop, citrus finish. Not sure it is supposed to taste like this, but very nice all the same. Lemon is quite intense on finish |
Shepherd Neame - Spitfire (or Spitfire Amber Ale) | 4.20 | Not Tried | |
Greene King - Abbot | 5.00 | Not Tried | |
Marston's - Burton Bitter | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
Marston's - Pedigree | 4.50 | Not Tried | |
09 Oct 2005 (Ian)
My local Wetherspoon's. At least I get a good range of guest beers here, and I know that if I pop in every 4 or 5 days, I will pick up something new. Sunday lunchtime was pleasantly busy with warm October sunshine coming in through the windows
Mauldons - Mole Trap | 3.80 |  | Amber colour with thin white head. Apples and toffee and earthy hops. Nice, pleasant, mix of hops and malt in mouth, leading to finish wi more apples, some lemon and zingy hops Tasty session bitter |
Tring - Huck Me Buck | 4.40 |  | Chestnut colour with thick lasting beige head. Roasted malts and good autumn fruitiness, some red fruits and juicy fruit in mouth. Hops are ther to balance on this good dark bitter with lots of malt/fruit flavour |
Loddon - Russet | 4.50 |  | Russet colour with lasting beige tight head. Orchard fruit and toffee on nose and slightly acidic in mouth with more orchard fruit. Some toasty malts which give a hint of sweetness too. Not bad. Needs a bit more body for an autumn beer |
Hook Norton - Old Hooky | 4.60 |  | Not how I remember it. Light chestnut colour with toffee and stilton aromas. Some herby hop, but stilton flavour really is dominant. |
Shepherd Neame - Spitfire (or Spitfire Amber Ale) | 4.20 | Not Tried | |
Greene King - Abbot | 5.00 | Not Tried | |
Marston's - Burton Bitter | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
Marston's - Pedigree | 4.50 | Not Tried | |
Caledonian - Tattoo | 4.20 | Not Tried | |
Cotleigh - Buzzard | 4.80 | Not Tried | |
03 Oct 2005 (Ian)
Usual stuff. Wetherspoon's with a good turnover of guest beers and the only pub in the centre of Ashford I go into. Lots of wood and the no smoking area is probably the best place to sit. Sat by the front windows watching the early evening crowd pass by on Ashford High Street
Cotleigh - Buzzard | 4.80 |  | Dark ruby colour with lasting thin beige head. Choc/coffee nose. Smooth in mouth. Good flavour carries on with goodish finish with is just a little it short. Would have picked this as a stout rather than an old ale. |
Burton Bridge - Golden Delicious | 3.80 |  | Gold colour with thin white head. Apple aroma, some acid, some yeast. Acidic finish. Bit more red apple. bit of earty hop, caramel and orange and also a bit sweaty. |
Shepherd Neame - Spitfire (or Spitfire Amber Ale) | 4.20 | Not Tried | |
Greene King - Abbot | 5.00 | Not Tried | |
Marston's - Burton Bitter | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
Marston's - Pedigree | 4.50 | Not Tried | |
Herold - Schwartzbier | 5.20 | Not Tried | |
Caledonian - Tattoo | 4.20 | Not Tried | |
Salopian - Shropshire Gold | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
25 Sep 2005 (Ian)
Sunday lunchtime and I had their very reasonably priced roast beef. Fairly busy with families coming in for their Sunday roast. Good range of guest beers on along with usual lagers and world bottled beers
Salopian - Shropshire Gold | 3.80 |  | Gold colour, thin white head. Citrus hop aroma some biscuity malt and touch of yeast on the nose too. Acids in mouth with tart lemon hop citrus finish |
Clark's (sometimes shown as Westgate Brewery) - Golden Hornet | 5.00 |  | Orange/gold colour. Quite a nice honey beer, not too sweet. White lasting head, not a lot of aroma, ok in mouth with honey notes with a honey/hop dry finish. Pleasant and some spice. |
Ryburn - Numpty Bitter | 4.40 |  | Reddish brown colour with thick lasting cream head. Rich biscuity caramel throughout. Hop finish kind of balances the sweetness of the caramel and there is some green apple as well. There is nothing to hold the whole thing together it lacks cohesiveness |
Shepherd Neame - Spitfire (or Spitfire Amber Ale) | 4.20 | Not Tried | |
Greene King - Abbot | 5.00 | Not Tried | |
Marston's - Burton Bitter | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
Marston's - Pedigree | 4.50 | Not Tried | |
Caledonian - Tattoo | 4.20 | Not Tried | |
06 Sep 2005 (Ian)
Sat by the window looking out at the lower High Street doing the Saturday Independent Su Doku and getting very frustrated because I wasted 2 hours on it and still couldn't finish it. Alright Wetherspoon's normally with a goodish choice of guest beers.
Beartown (latterly part of Manning Brewers) - Polar Eclipse | 4.80 |  | Black with dark beige head. Tarry aroma with some chocolate and coffee. OK in mouth, with tarry/coffee/chocolate and grainy finish. Got better as the pint went down |
Shepherd Neame - Spitfire (or Spitfire Amber Ale) | 4.20 | Not Tried | |
Greene King - Abbot | 5.00 | Not Tried | |
Marston's - Burton Bitter | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
Marston's - Pedigree | 4.50 | Not Tried | |
Shepherd Neame - Bishops Finger | 5.00 | Not Tried | |
Rooster's - YPA (Yorkshire Pale Ale) | 4.10 | Not Tried | |
Goffs - White Knight | 4.70 | Not Tried | |
Caledonian - Tattoo | 4.20 | Not Tried | |
31 Aug 2005 (David)
Eagle (formerly Wells & Young's, formerly Charles Wells, formerly Wells) - Wells Banana Bread Beer | 4.50 |  | First thing that came to mind with this one was McDonalds Banana milkshake. Very interesting beer, well worth a try. |
30 Aug 2005 (Ian)
Even though it was steak night, it wasn't overly busy in this Wetherspoon's in Ashford. Some interesting guests on though to back up the usual beer range.
Everards (see entries against Joule's & Robinsons whilst its new brewery was being built) - Sunchaser | 4.00 |  | Pale gold colour, blond citrus hoppy beer. Although not a lot of aroma this is a nice beer with burst of lemony hops on the finish. Refreshing and easy drinking but needs a bit more character |
Caledonian - Tattoo | 4.20 |  | Copper colour, thinnish beige head, typical Cale sulphur, creamy strawberry aromas which aren't too intense and just a little watery in the mouth. Good finish with more strawberry and dry hop |
Eagle (formerly Wells & Young's, formerly Charles Wells, formerly Wells) - Wells Banana Bread Beer | 4.50 |  | Does what it says on the tin. Reddish brown beer with little head, aromas of banana, bubble gum and yeasty dough. OK in mouth, slightly acidic with fruity malty banana tangy finish. Better than I expected |
Shepherd Neame - Spitfire (or Spitfire Amber Ale) | 4.20 | Not Tried | |
Greene King - Abbot | 5.00 | Not Tried | |
Marston's - Burton Bitter | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
Marston's - Pedigree | 4.50 | Not Tried | |
Shepherd Neame - Bishops Finger | 5.00 | Not Tried | |
25 Aug 2005 (Ian)
Same beer line up as Monday's visit. Curry night so quite busy in this Wetherspoon's
Shepherd Neame - Spitfire (or Spitfire Amber Ale) | 4.20 |  | Fine. Good yeast/hop/malt flavours, pretty well balanced. Finish is a bit hoppier than usual. Had a couple of pints and could have kept going to be honest |
22 Aug 2005 (Ian)
Very quiet on an early Monday evening. 4 guest beers plus the usuals in this Wetherspoons. Beers were acceptable but not at their tip top best.
Hardys & Hansons (see now and use Greene King for new entries) - Friar's Fancy | 4.40 |  | Amber beer, some sweet dusty orange aromas and then citrus orange/tangerine throughout with drying finish but not overly hoppy, bit sweet. |
RCH - East St Cream (was East Street Cream) | 5.00 |  | Copper, good beige head very malty with lots of toffee/caramel on aroma and flavour. Not a lot of hop, but some on the end |
Eagle (formerly Wells & Young's, formerly Charles Wells, formerly Wells) - Wells Bombardier (now superseded by 4.1% version) | 4.30 |  | Could drink it but doesn't taste of anything. Just brown water, no trademark maltiness, a little caramel and just a dry hop finish |
Shepherd Neame - Spitfire (or Spitfire Amber Ale) | 4.20 | Not Tried | |
Greene King - Abbot | 5.00 | Not Tried | |
Marston's - Burton Bitter | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
Marston's - Pedigree | 4.50 | Not Tried | |
Shepherd Neame - Bishops Finger | 5.00 | Not Tried | |
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