The Rake (Utobeer)
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Visits Details
04 Feb 2016 (Stephen Harris)
This pub has been promoting a long series of brewery Tap Takeovers, and tonight it is the turn of Denmark’s Rocket Brewing Co. Rocket specialise in beers soured by Brettanomyces, but myself and a friend are not convinced by them and give up after the first three.
Dark Star - American Pale Ale (some has also been brewed by Fuller's) | 4.70 | | Lovely, hoppy, golden beer. We had two pints to take the taste away of what had gone before. |
Rocket Brewing - Raspberry Warp Speed | 4.20 | | On keg dispense. Pink in colour and strongly raspberry-flavoured. Soured by brett. Better than the cherry beer, but still tastes like a mixture of fruit juice and sour beer, rather than a careful blend. |
Rocket Brewing - Deja Vu | 7.20 | | On keg dispense. A black, sour beer with very strong coffee/chocolate tastes. |
Rocket Brewing - Cherry Moon | 7.20 | | On keg dispense. A cherry-flavoured Gose. Tastes like cherry juice with added penicillin. I do a double take when I see the beer strength as it tastes to me like a low-alcohol beer. |
Oakham - JHB | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
Oakham - Citra | 4.20 | Not Tried | |
Thornbridge / Thornbridge Hall - Baize Chocolate Mint Stout | 5.50 | Not Tried | |
Vocation - Bread & Butter | 3.90 | Not Tried | Ran out. |
14 Jan 2016 (Stephen Harris)
There was a ‘Tap Takeover’ by Flying Dog Brewery of Maryland, USA here yesterday which I managed to forget all about. Luckily, two of the cask beers are still on tonight.
Flying Dog - Easy IPA | 4.70 | | The real thing when it comes to US IPAs. It is neither too bitter nor particularly citrusy. Just good hop flavours and highly drinkable. |
Flying Dog - IPA | 7.10 | | Obviously strong beer, with fruity hop flavours and a long bitter finish. Yummy. |
Oakham - JHB | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
22 Dec 2015 (Stephen Harris)
Jam-packed in the mid-evening.
Squawk - Black IPA | 5.20 | | On keg dispense. Everything I love about Black IPAs was present here in spades. |
Dark Star - American Pale Ale (some has also been brewed by Fuller's) | 4.70 | Not Tried | |
Thornbridge / Thornbridge Hall - Jaipur | 5.90 | Not Tried | |
Thornbridge / Thornbridge Hall - Baize Chocolate Mint Stout | 5.50 | Not Tried | |
22 Jul 2015 (Stephen Harris)
Early evening and pretty busy here, with the crowds spilling into the market.
Orkney (Sinclair) - Dark Island | 4.60 | | A really good, dark, fruity beer. |
Orkney (Sinclair) - Northern Light | 4.00 | Not Tried | |
Saltaire - Elderflower Blonde | 4.00 | Not Tried | |
22 Apr 2015 (Stephen Harris)
A tap takeover tonight by Bermondsey’s Partizan Brewery, with six beers in key-keg and six in bottle, in addition to four non-Partizan cask beers whilst we were here. Naturally, for an event like this, the pub is rammed.
Partizan - Saison Cuvee Blueberry | 4.00 | | On key-keg and unlike any beer I’ve ever tasted before. Think and purple in colour. Like a mildly alcoholic blueberry smoothie. |
Partizan - Raspberry & Lemon Saison | 4.00 | | Great key-keg dispensed fruit beer. Raspberry initially dominates but the tartness is mellowed by the lemon. |
Partizan - Cherry & Vanilla Stout | 7.60 | | On key-keg dispense. A lush, black Stout with obvious vanilla tastes and a more subtle cherry flavour that seems to build up as the glass goes down. |
Partizan - Lemon & Thyme Saison | 3.50 | | - On key-keg. Somewhat odd, but rather tasty. Herbal smell and taste. |
East London (ELB) - Spring Fling | 4.20 | | This golden cask beer initially tasted a little bland after the beers that had gone before. But we soon appreciated some fine citrusy hop tastes. |
Thornbridge / Thornbridge Hall - Kipling | 5.20 | Not Tried | |
Portobello - Market Porter | 4.60 | Not Tried | |
By The Horns - Mick the Miller | 4.00 | Not Tried | |
08 Feb 2015 (Stephen Harris)
It’s been a lovely day in London and I have walked many miles, exploring along the riverside – rewarded by a late-afternoon pint in here.
Oakham - Dolphin Dance | 3.70 | | Pale gold, light, hoppy, quite dry. |
Alechemy - 10 Storey Malt Bomb | 4.50 | Not Tried | Ran out. |
Alechemy - Daylight Strobbery | 6.30 | Not Tried | |
07 Jan 2015 (Stephen Harris)
I met a friend here in the early evening to try some of the Anchor beers – five were available on keg dispense. Whilst ‘key-keg’ technology has surged ahead in England, these imported beers were on old-fashioned keg, filtered, pasteurised (I assume), chilled and carbonated. All of these processes impact negatively on flavour in my view; so the Anchor beers were an interesting diversion, but not fulfilling their full potential.
Dark Star - Darkness | 3.50 | | Lovely – dark, well-hopped and chocolaty. |
Moncada - Notting Hill Red | 6.00 | | Strong Red Ale with a good hop presence. Reminded me of Five Points Hook Island. |
Anchor - Zymaster No. 6 – Saaremaa Island Ale | 6.00 | | On keg dispense. The most interesting and complex of the Anchor beers tonight. Amber in colour. Earthy and herbal. |
Anchor - Merry Xmas Happy New Year 2014 | 5.50 | | On keg dispense. Dark and flavoursome. Spiced, but nothing exaggerated. |
Anchor - Saison | 7.20 | | Amber-coloured and completely clear. Definitely a Saison, but seemed to lack the finesse of some examples brewed closer to home. |
Oakham - Mompesson's Gold | 5.20 | Not Tried | |
06 Jan 2015 (Stephen Harris)
Very quiet in the early evening – a brief visit for me before facing chaotic scenes of congestion at London Bridge railway station. There is an Anchor Brewery ‘Tap Takeover’ tomorrow, and the first of the beers was available tonight.
Thornbridge / Thornbridge Hall - Black Harry | 3.90 | | Black and fruity. |
Anchor - California Lager | 5.50 | | Golden, cold and fizzy from a keg tap. A whole lot better than, say, Fosters. But (just) a straightforward lager nonetheless I thought. |
Thornbridge / Thornbridge Hall - Seaforth | 5.90 | Not Tried | |
Moncada - Notting Hill Red | 6.00 | Not Tried | |
30 Nov 2014 (Stephen Harris)
Early evening and it’s the tail end of a festival of Scottish beers. Several ‘usual suspects’ are here. Three festival beers survive on the bar and seven on the stillage. I did not note all the names.
Deeside - IPA | 5.20 | | Very good, full-blown, US-style IPA. |
Alechemy - Daylight Strobbery | 6.30 | | A strawberry-flavoured Milk Stout. Initially very sweet after the IPA (more Milk Shake than Milk Stout) but it grew on me. Apparently Strobbery is Scottish dialect for Strawberry? |
Stewart - Weiss Christmas Blanc | 4.70 | | Thick, cloudy, yellow, Wheat Beer. |
Windswept - Blonde | 4.00 | Not Tried | |
16 Aug 2014 (Wittenden)
Early doors on a Saturday morning.Three other middle aged beer lovers in.
Hardknott - Katalyst | 3.80 | | I approached this with trepidation,but found it crisply herbal. |
Green Jack - Flower Power | 6.00 | Not Tried | |
Bexar County - Black Eye | 7.40 | Not Tried | |
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