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The Great Hoodie Debate 2023: Hertford Pubs

 I strongly advocate that the shorts and hoodie combination is top tier fashion, for this time of year. Others disagree, and I agree that it has one flaw. What do you do with your hoodie, if it’s too hot to wear it? Taking a bag for this task isn’t an option. Anyway, more hoodie talk later. My friend, who lives in Hertford, invited a couple of us over for some beers. I don’t turn down pubs creds. My own worry was that we were deep inside McMullen’s territory, and they’re my joint least favourite brewery. 


The Old Barge:



A free house! This pub was lovely. A classic, yet classy interior with a decent range of beers and a nice outside area. We opted to sit outside and found a little covered space. 


I opted for the Castle Rock, they’re a brilliant brewery! The beer was in decent condition too!



My cider drinking friends were happy!


The White Hart


The first venture into a McMullen’s pub. I swerved the McMullen’s beer and had this above average Guinness. The pub itself had just undergone a refurbishment, so was decent inside. It was however, a case of a characterless pub. 


Blackbirds:

Round the corner from The White Hart, we ventured into another newly refurbished pub. I neglected to take a photo of this one. The Guinness was decent though! 


The Woolpack: 


We ate at this riverside McMullen’s pub, swerving McMullen’s pubs is hard when you’re in their backyard. The fish and chips were fine, nothing special. What was special though, I opted for the seasonal McMullen’s beer. No, the beer wasn’t special, me drinking a McMullen’s beer was. 


Bootwarmer was served in decent enough condition. It had that consistent McMullen’s taste, which I find really bland and watery. 


The Six Templars:


We headed into the local spoons for some dessert. The warm cookie dough filled a space! The Guinness here was appalling but the sambuca (don’t look at me like that) went down a treat! We reignited the hoodie debate and took it to my insta followers. 80% think this is not acceptable: 


I stick by this being a top tier choice. 


The Old Cross Tavern: 


The Old Cross Tavern became my favourite pub in Hertford. German beers available in bottles and keg, large selection of pub snacks and a cask line up of:


I sampled all three. The Rudgate was my favourite, what a top quality brewery Rudgate are! Verdant won the battle of the bitters! The covered outside area here was perfect for this time of year. 


Hertford is more than just McMullen’s! Thanks for reading!

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Comments

  1. retiredmartinNovember 20, 2023 at 8:14 PM

    For many years Hertford has been everything but McMullen, in the Good Beer Guide at least ! Local CAMRA folk don't like cask breathers or some other techy nonsense.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beer MooseNovember 20, 2023 at 8:22 PM

    Common sense always wins in the end, or something like that.

    ReplyDelete

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