tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post3595691346945279009..comments2024-03-29T08:01:51.705+00:00Comments on The Pub Curmudgeon: Hooked on HookyCurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-10815963876332144962017-08-13T16:19:07.270+01:002017-08-13T16:19:07.270+01:00Festival was this weekend - just got back - The ba...Festival was this weekend - just got back - The bar for many years has been run by Wadworth's. Beer is handpumped, but delivered by tanker. Both of the village pubs had a Hook Norton beer on handpump.Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03609117151758466752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-27707751319894925512017-08-12T12:01:32.980+01:002017-08-12T12:01:32.980+01:00They also brew a beer for 99 Sqn called Bravo Zulu...They also brew a beer for 99 Sqn called Bravo Zulu (BZ being both the naval signal for well done and the first two letters of the trigraph for RAF Brize Norton). When I was posted from the sqn a chap from the brewery delivered a barrel to the station gate for my leaving do.TomJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-72230855067271583032017-08-11T16:07:09.291+01:002017-08-11T16:07:09.291+01:00A lot of the pubs were rather unsympathetically re...A lot of the pubs were rather unsympathetically refurbished in the 60s and 70s, with a distinctive "rustic" style of furniture, but have rather grown in to it since then. And it can't be denied that many of them are very attractive Cotswold stone buildings in stunning locations. <br /><br />I wrote <a href="http://pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/donnington-disappointment.html" rel="nofollow">here</a> about my somewhat equivocal feelings towards Donnington.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-30499194683317068432017-08-11T15:36:02.807+01:002017-08-11T15:36:02.807+01:00I agree Paul. You always feel that you really *oug...I agree Paul. You always feel that you really *ought* to like Donnington beers but they disappoint too often (well they have on the relatively rare occasions I've encountered them in recent years).John Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00132845616834779091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-75046149415507833252017-08-11T15:31:41.756+01:002017-08-11T15:31:41.756+01:00Funnily enough Waitrose has a presence in the nort...Funnily enough Waitrose has a presence in the northern wastes of Tyneside, with a decent size store in the city centre, smaller branches in the 'posh' suburbs of Jesmond and Ponteland, and a store at Hexham. electricpicshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09144970068645280352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-1533607140688021972017-08-11T15:23:59.997+01:002017-08-11T15:23:59.997+01:00Hook Norton beers definitely win hands down over D...Hook Norton beers definitely win hands down over Donnington. It’s a long time since I was last down that part of the world, but I understand many Donnington pubs have been unsympathetically modernised.Paul Baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09678639237696546268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-44127284224977000372017-08-11T15:11:40.772+01:002017-08-11T15:11:40.772+01:00I remember a Greater Manchester CAMRA trip to Hook...I remember a Greater Manchester CAMRA trip to Hook Norton many years ago. No shop in those days and the "hospitality room" was a barrel each of Mild and Bitter plus a box of glasses in the cellar.<br /><br />Always been a Hook Norton fan too - their bitter is what I call a classic "country" bitter. Not sure how to define that but I know what I mean.John Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00132845616834779091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-52558157894231555472017-08-11T11:38:55.217+01:002017-08-11T11:38:55.217+01:00Had I read these comments before I visited, I woul...Had I read these comments before I visited, I would have bought some Double Stout at the brewery shop, but not in general being a "stouty" person, I didn't :-|Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-67774907023590738672017-08-11T11:13:22.197+01:002017-08-11T11:13:22.197+01:00Andy, don't know how far "up North" ...Andy, don't know how far "up North" you live, but Waitrose often sells the Double Stout. They do have some shops in Yorkshire, but as far as I'm aware there's nothing further north than York and Harrogate.Paul Feltonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-15814208675459708002017-08-11T00:28:00.177+01:002017-08-11T00:28:00.177+01:00That's a fair assessment. Best Hooky in my ex...That's a fair assessment. Best Hooky in my experience in the classic Peyton Arms in Stoke Lyne, where it had a lot more body than in the foody pubs,but then turover of it was 10x the norm. MTAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-44305668538202285042017-08-10T22:08:04.631+01:002017-08-10T22:08:04.631+01:00I've never been to Hook Norton land but I'...I've never been to Hook Norton land but I've liked all the bottled beers of theirs that I've tried - especially the Double Stout, which you rarely see in the shops now, up North at least. I had a very lively bottle of Double Stout once; when I opened the bottle it fizzed out in a great fountain, almost hitting the ceiling. Most of the beer was lost; there was about one inch left in the bottle.Andy.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-65323205260366049142017-08-10T22:01:29.060+01:002017-08-10T22:01:29.060+01:00I used to go to the Cropredy festival, back in the...I used to go to the Cropredy festival, back in the 80s and early 90s. The bar was run by Wadworths. The beer was always flat! Put me off Wadworths for years, but now that their "6X" is appearing in the shops, I don't think it's so bad.Andy.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-34046953776131200112017-08-10T20:46:02.817+01:002017-08-10T20:46:02.817+01:00Their annual bash is at Cropredy, near Banbury, wh...Their annual bash is at Cropredy, near Banbury, which is right in the middle of Hook Norton country.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-1536386602701484172017-08-10T20:45:24.856+01:002017-08-10T20:45:24.856+01:00I'd certainly be interested to read about your...I'd certainly be interested to read about your visits to the Hook Norton tied estate, Alan, just as I was with Donnington and Elgoods.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-39012398220360676582017-08-10T18:20:08.769+01:002017-08-10T18:20:08.769+01:00I seem to remember that folk-rock band Fairport Co...I seem to remember that folk-rock band Fairport Convention used to favour Hook Norton beers - perhaps they still do.RedNevhttp://rednev-rearm.blogspot.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-4423145157331955622017-08-10T18:04:06.707+01:002017-08-10T18:04:06.707+01:00I have made a serious effort to do most of the Hoo...I have made a serious effort to do most of the Hook Norton tied estate over the years,which will probably bore you.<br />But there is an interesting thing about two pubs in Hook Norton that i did with my wife while on a Nottingham camra bus crawl.<br />We ended up in Hook Norton after doing loads of pubs in Henley on Thames and Woodstock and we soon found two pubs next to each other in what looked like the middle of the village,we went in the Sun Inn first because it was an Hook Norton tied house and then next door and into the Red Lion which was a Banks's tied house,this was on the 16th July 1988,the Red Lion is no longer a pub has Hook Norton bought it and extended the Sun Inn into it,so there is now only one pub there when there was two,i have photos of both pubs though it was getting dark,but you can see the signage of both pubs and which brewery was running them.<br />I hope you like that snippet of information.Alan Winfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13143831341388857795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-91164049473298683332017-08-10T14:35:28.357+01:002017-08-10T14:35:28.357+01:00The most surprising thing about the Twitter poll w...The most surprising thing about the Twitter poll was how Black Sheep managed to come second...Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-37382636491095150792017-08-10T14:17:46.270+01:002017-08-10T14:17:46.270+01:00So you've finally made it to the Elephant &...So you've finally made it to the Elephant & Castle in Bloxham: told you it was good. I do like Hook Norton ordinary bitter, one of my favourites in that general class along with Adnams and Holden's - contrary to your twitter poll, I've never really rated Harvey's Sussex Best at all. I'm not sure about Hook Norton's rebranding of bitter as "Hooky", though, not when you've already got "Old Hooky" - it seems to me to be unnecessarily confusing.Paul Feltonnoreply@blogger.com