Pub Guides: The Coopers Arms, Rochester

Address: 10 St Margarets Street, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1TL

Opening Hours: 12pm – 11pm (Mon-Thu, Sun), 12pm – 12am (Fri-Sun)

Web: https://www.thecoopersarms.co.uk/

Tel: 01634-404298

 

Nestled in a backstreet behind the imposing Rochester Cathedral, lies a pub that is equally as historic as its nearby landmarks. One of the oldest pubs in Kent, an Inn was first built on this site as far back as 1199 during the reign of Richard I. The original building fell into disrepair following the dissolution of the monasteries, but in 1543 it was rebuilt and continues today largely in its current form aside from changes such as the installation of beer engines and electric lighting over the years. The interior is cosy, if not a little cramped which is common of pubs that date from this period, and it has a low hanging beamed ceiling which would make for quite a challenge for any tall person. There are two bars adjacent to each other, that serve two seating areas that provide the pub with plenty of space for sitting. There is a smattering of brick-a-brack ranging from a selection of metal tankards adorning the South bar, and a vast collection of pump clips from various cask beers that adorns the North bar. There is a long and expansive beer garden for sitting out on warmer days, and food is served during the afternoon only on limited days, from 12pm – 2:30pm (Thu-Sat) and 12pm – 4pm (Sun). There’s an occasional supper evening, and quiz nights are held every Tuesday evening from 8:30pm.

Real ale is highly valued at this pub, with a wide selection of cask ales available from local breweries and others from further afield such as Timothy Taylor, Courage and Youngs. The pub showcases a good array of Kentish beers, including Coopers Ale (3.6%) by Tonbridge Brewery, Summer Perle (3.8%) by Westerham Brewery, and Red Ale (3.9%) by Mad Cat Brewery which were on tap at the time of writing, although the pub constantly changes their rotating selection of beers so expect something different when visiting. The latter beer (Red Ale) was a hoppy and rather quaffable ale which suggested more strength than what was advertised, it was a decent example of a session ale to sip away in the beer garden as I listened to the peel of the cathedral bells as the Sunday service concluded. This pub was recently voted the pub of the year by the local CAMRA branch and deservedly so. If you ever happen to visit Rochester, this iconic heritage pub has to be one to tick off the bucket list.

Rating: 9/10

St Albans Beer & Cider Festival 2023

Last Saturday, I travelled to the market town of St Albans for its annual beer and cider festival. This town in close to CAMRA’s heart as not only does it house their headquarters, it was also the location for the very first CAMRA branch meeting at the Farrier’s Arms on the 20^th November 1972, and subsequently the inaugural CAMRA beer festival at the Old Market Hall which was held on the 30^th March 1974. This beer festival now in its 26th iteration has been held at the Alban Arena since 1996; this year marked my third visit to the festival, having visited it twice before in 2012 and 2019 respectively. Since my last visit not much had changed, over in the main auditorium, the Hertfordshire Bar was nestled in the stalls whilst adjacently the National Bar was on the stage and the International Bar was downstairs in the bar area normally used by the theatre. There was also a selection of brewery specific bars that included the likes of Tring, Crossover, Mad Squirrel, Ossett and Vale. Notably absent was the Keg Bar that specialised in exclusively selling cold conditioned beers and lagers, and the range of beers in the Hertfordshire Beer was vastly scaled back, with a third of the space being taken up the more prominently positioned Cider & Perry Bar, and the Tring Brewery bar. I found this to be only major drawback, which I found particularly concerning since this festival was traditionally seen as the premier exhibit in the county for promoting beers made by breweries in the region. Perhaps this was a sign of money troubles for the local CAMRA branch or an excuse for cutting corners.

 

We came the festival on the final day of the four-day event, so I was half expecting some of the beers to be unavailable, although thankfully only a few barrels had run dry. We arrived shortly after opening time in order to take advantage of the wide range of beers, ciders and perries still available. Upon entering the main hall, I made a beeline for the Osset Brewery Bar as I wanted to sample some genuine Northern Beer for a change, an opportunity which I missed out on at GBBF 2022. After some deliberation I chose White Rat (4%), one of the brewery’s core range of beers. It was a traditional session Pale Ale with a rather frothy white head that was difficult to extinguish. The beer itself was distinctly hoppy, bready and exceedingly bitter, the use of Cascade, Columbus and Amarillo hops were particularly potent, giving off a kaleidoscope of flavours that gave the drink plenty of character and could easily be mistaken for a much stronger beer than what was advertised; by eck’ it was a ‘reyt good’ example of Yorkshire beer. After starting on a high, I sought to go local for my second beer of the day since I was at a Hertfordshire beer festival, so I went for Blind Poet (4.5%) produced by New River Brewery based in Hoddesdon. A lightly smoked porter made four varieties of malt, this beer was close to jet black in colour with a tan coloured head. It had a thick and smooth mouthfeel, and there were distinct coffee and chocolaty notes going on, there was also a strong hint of roasted malt which added depth to the smoky bitterness, whilst the hints of liquorice and fruit provided a decent counterpoint. I found this to be a great example of Porter as it managed to hit all the right notes. Taking it up a notch, I decided to visit the National Bar and immediately went for Green Devil (6%) by Oakham Brewery. I sampled this beer before in bottle form, but the draught version has always seemed to eluded me so this was an opportunity too good to miss. A punchy double hopped IPA brimming with Citra hops, this beer is the bigger brother of Citra (4.2%) which was the first British beer to utilize this notable American hop variety. So understandably this was beer was exceedingly hoppy with a profoundly bitter backbone; complimented by a caramel sweetness that underpinned its cloying mouthful. The hops were rather citrussy which gave off buckets of flavour and added strength to this rather strong brew. Overall, this beer was full of depth and complexity in flavour, richly balanced between sweetness, strength and hoppy bitterness, which makes it easy to see why it has one a slew of awards over the past decade.

Notably this year, the festival has showcased a number of rare beers that are seldom seen on draught; one of these was Prince of Denmark (7.5%) by Harvey’s Brewery based in Lewes, which is normally only available in bottle but occasionally appears on draught on the festival circuit; so this was a unique occasion to try this beer in this condition. A strong dark beer produced in the Imperial Stout style, it is based on traditional recipes going back to the 18^th century. I found this beer to be rather potent, with profound winey and fruity flavours swirling around it’s notable treacle like sweetness. There were also hints of chocolate and coffee going on, with a whisp of sourness brought on by the damson like fruitiness. It was smooth in mouthfeel without being too heavy which I found rather rewarding. This beer had echoes of a dessert wine; the variety of flavours present could easily pass it off for such a drink. So understandably given its strength, it should be treated as a sipping beer that should be savoured for its flavours rather than be drunk in huge quantities. Evening was fast approaching, although I had sampled a variety of beers including Pale Ale, Porter, IPA and Imperial Stout, I had not tried a Bitter yet. So, for my final beer I went for Braveheart (5%) by Brentwood Brewery; a classic premium bitter produced in the ESB style, this beer is not part of their core range, it is only available in draught and normally appears in pubs in Brentwood and nearby areas. Deep brown in colour, with a thin off-white head, it was strong and packed with bitterness, there was also a notable hint of roasted and toasted malt that gave it much depth of character. Moreover, there was a vague hint of sweetness but the overwhelming bitterness seemed dominate the balance on flavours. Although a decent and quaffable example of a Premium Bitter, this far off from being the best that the brewery has to offer.

Overall, I enjoyed my visit, had it not been for the Train Strike (now in its 2^nd consecutive year) and other contributing factors, I would have stayed there longer and sampled more beers. This festival had a lot to offer in its beer selection from local Hertfordshire breweries to regional examples from across the country. The presence of the Cider & Perry, and International Beer bars provided decent counterpoints to the main action, the showcase of rare beers was also an added bonus for aficionados and connoisseurs alike and the range of brewery bars gave ample opportunity for people to browse and sample from an assortment of beers that these respective breweries had to offer. This festival was almost like a condensed version of GBBF, since it had all the classic hallmarks, although much like its namesake there was an uneasy feeling that this festival had been scaled down due to the ongoing cost of living crisis which has had an impact on CAMRA and the brewing industry alike. Hopefully this not a sign of things to come, and in subsequent years from now the organisation will recover and build from strength to strength with bigger and bolder beer festivals in the region.

Rail Ales

There’s always been a close relationship between the brewing industry and the railways, after all it was the development and rapid expansion of the railways in the mid-19th century that helped the brewing industry to expand as it became easier to transport beer to all parts of the country, which in turn boosted demand and production. So, it would come as no surprise when breweries got in the habit of naming their beers in tribute to the railways that made their nationwide industry possible. There are a number of beers produced in the UK that have been named or inspired by the railways, some of these beers are regulars in their ranges such as Little Sharpie (3.8%), an award-winning Golden Ale produced by Humpty Dumpty Brewery, or seasonal specials such as Going Loco (3.9%) by Tring Brewery, a bitter that is only sold in January and February. Some of these breweries have devoted their entire range (or a large part of it) to being named after the Railways, The Beer Engine, a microbrewery based in Newton St. Cyres has a number of Railway themed beers including Piston Bitter (4.3%), Sleeper Heavy (5.4%), Golden Arrow (4.5%), Luggage Porter (4.4%) and Pullman’s Progress (4.2%) for instance. Whilst, Bewdley Brewery based near the River Severn in Bewdley have a number of their beers named after classic locomotives of the steam age, including 2857 (5%), Sir Keith Park (4.3%) and Jubilee Ale (4.5%) for example.

Occasionally breweries have been commissioned by railway companies, museums and heritage railways to produce limited edition beers sold exclusively at their premises, for example Hop on Board (4%) by Rudgate Brewery which was originally brewed for Virgin Train’s east coast services, is currently only sold on LNER trains that took over from Virgin several years ago; the National Railway Museum in York sells two beers sold at their shop, including Flying Scotsman (3.8%) and Mallard (4%) both brewed by Half Moon Brewery respectively; whilst the Swanage Railway, a heritage railway based in the Isle of Purbeck, exclusively sells the appropriately named Swanage Railway Ales (3.6%), a blonde ale produced by Hobsons Brewery. Sometimes, breweries based near railway land have named their beers in tribute to the nearby industry, Five Points Brewery based in Hackney which is based near the Lea Valley rail lines, produced Railway Porter (4.8%) a smoky porter that is reminiscent of the steam hauled locomotives that used to traverse the very same rail routes a century before; or Hartlebury Brewing Co. based in a former railway yard at Hartlebury Railway Station near Kidderminster have produced a number of railway influenced beers including Off the Rails (4.2%) and the much missed Old Rusty (3.8%) respectively. Rail themed beers however a not limited to the UK, in places like the US, Canada, Brazil and Poland for instance, there have been beers inspired by the railroads such as Hooscac Tunnel (6.3%) and Steel Rail (5.3%) produced by the Berkshire Brewing Co. based in South Deerfield, MA; or the curiously named Rail Ale Nut Brown (5%) produced by Howe Sound Brewery based in Squamish, Canada. There are a vast number of railway themed beers that are currently available in cask, mini-keg, can or bottle that can be found in the UK, here's a comprehensive list:

Brewery	Name	Style	ABV
The Beer Engine	Rail Ale	Pale Ale	3.8%
The Beer Engine	Piston Bitter	Bitter	4.3%
The Beer Engine	Sleeper Heavy	Strong Ale	5.4%
The Beer Engine	Whistlemas	Strong Ale	6.5%
The Beer Engine	Golden Arrow	Golden Ale	4.5%
The Beer Engine	Leaves Online	Bitter	3.9%
The Beer Engine	Luggage Porter	Porter	4.4%
The Beer Engine	Old Iron Horse	Strong Ale	5.2%
The Beer Engine	Pullman’s Progress	Brown Ale	4.2%
The Beer Engine	Silver Bullet	Pale Ale	4.0%
The Beer Engine	Spring Return	Bitter	3.9%
The Beer Engine	Ace DPA	Session IPA	4.2%
The Beer Engine	Amber Warning	Bitter	5.0%
The Beer Engine	Request Stop	IPA	5.0%
Bewdley	2857	Golden Ale	5.0%
Bewdley	Jubilee Ale	Bitter	4.3%
Bewdley	Sir Keith Park	Pale Ale	4.5%
Brunswick Brewing Co	Railway Porter	Porter	4.3%
Buntingford	92 Squadron	Bitter	4.5%
Caledonian	Flying Scotsman	Bitter	3.5%
Delphic	Level Crossing	Best Bitter	4.2%
Donzonko	Train Beer	Pale Ale	4.5%
Five Points	Railway Porter	Porter	4.8%
Fourpure Brewing Co.	Last Train	Stout	5.1%
Half Moon	Flying Scotsman	Bitter	3.8%
Half Moon	Flying Scotsman Centenary Ale	Pale Ale	4.2%
Half Moon	Mallard	Golden Ale	4.0%
The Hartlebury Brewing Co.	Off the Rails	Golden Ale	4.2%
Hepworth	Iron Horse	Best Bitter	4.8%
Hepworth	Pullman	Bitter	4.2%
Hobsons	The Manor	Bitter	4.2%
Hobsons	Railway Sleeper	Brown Ale	5.0%
Hobsons	Swanage Railway Ales	Blonde Ale	3.6%
Humpty Dumpty	Branch Line Bitter	Bitter	3.9%
Humpty Dumpty	Cheltenham Flyer	Pale Ale	4.6%
Humpty Dumpty	Little Sharpie	Golden Ale	3.8%
Humpty Dumpty	Railway Sleeper	Brown Ale	5.0%
Irwell Works	Steam Plate	Best Bitter	4.3%
Isle of Purbeck	Full Steam Ahead	Session IPA	4.8%
Marstons	Saddle Tank	Bitter	3.8%
Papworth	The Whitfield Citrabolt	Golden Ale	3.8%
Purple Moose	Welsh Steam Ale	Golden Ale	3.6%
Rudgate	Hop on Board	Golden Ale	4.0%
Settle	Mainline Bitter	Bitter	3.8%
Stonehouse	Station Bitter	Bitter	3.9%
Stonehouse	Sunlander	Session IPA	3.7%
Tring	Going Loco	Bitter	3.9%