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Beer and pub news round up
It advertises itself as the best-kept secret in King's Cross and hidden in the quiet backwater of Leeke Street, Smithy's Wine Bar and Restaurant certainly meets that claim. Selling Greene King IPA and Fuller's Pride on handpump, the bar occupies the original blacksmith's shop of the London and General Horse Bus Garage, built in the 1860s. The floor is of black mahogany and stone and the ramp used by the horses as they retired each day (they were kept upstairs) can be seen from the main bar. Many of the original Victorian fixtures and fittings still remain visible and intact. Worth seeking out, the food (especially the chips) is said to be well worth trying.
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Fuller's pub, the Drayton Court, Ealing has recently won the CAMRA West Middlesex Pub of the Year award. Alex Kovacevic of the local Branch presented the pub with its award. This is the second time the pub has won the award, the current licensee Mark Foster having trained under Don Witts and Myfanwy Williams, who won the award in 1998.
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Champion Beer of Britain. JHB, brewed by Oakham of Peterborough, has been judged to be the best beer in Britain by a panel of brewers, beer writers and journalists at CAMRA's Great British Beer Festival. The beer is described in the Good Beer Guide as being an 'Impressive straw-coloured quaffing bitter with bold floral, grassy hop, grapefruit and kiwi fruit and a little sweetness followed by a long, dry aftertaste.' Roger Protz, one of the finalist judges, said 'For the first time ever the judges were unanimous in their decision. We were all astonished by the richness and complexity of the beer, with a beautiful balance between malt and hops, stunning aroma and a long bitter sweet finish.' Jake Douglas, Manager of Oakham Ales said "It is a life time ambition and shows that the time and effort that goes into the brewing is all worthwhile. Let's hope it will help to stave off the compulsory purchase that is threatening our brewery." The Silver award went to Hop Back Summer Lightning from Salisbury. Bronze went to Brains Dark from Cardiff.
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Congratulations are also due to our regular advertisers – Adnam's Bitter, which picked up a silver medal in the Bitter category, and Fuller's, who picked up a bronze medal in the Real Ale in a Bottle category, for 1845 (previously a category winner). The full results can be found at www.gbbf.org/2001/drinks/cbob1.htm
Reproduced from the Full Pint, Issue 12.
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