Snippets from Stoke

Saturday 10th November 2018 saw Dad and I joining forces with Nick to visit the Potteries where the Spode China Halls were hosting the 38th edition of the Stoke Beer Festival...

- Venue located -

Yes we're all aboard the beer bandwagon once more as Dad and I meet Nick on the 10:49 train from Wolverhampton. The journey takes little more than 30 minutes in giving Dad chance to regale Nick with observations from a works training trip to Germany. Upon arrival in Stoke, we set about tracking down the festival venue which actually proves very straightforward - the China Halls are located on Kingsway just across from Stoke Town Hall and the Cenotaph. Lyn Sharpe (CAMRA recruiter extraordinaire) is on hand to greet us and recommends a quick look around Stoke Minster while we await opening time.

- A Titanic Tipple -

After a drizzly walk around the block, the clock has now ticked past midday and we eagerly make our way inside the China Halls. The interior presents a vast post-industrial space that is finding a new purpose staging events - it's certainly bleakly atmospheric in among the grim girders! Getting stuck straight into the ales, we start our sampling with Titanic's Chocolate and Vanilla Stout, Fixed Wheel's Through and Off, and Brampton's Lest We Forget (highly appropriate at this time of national remembrance). 

- Tokens at the ready -

Also among our selections are Old Man (Long Man Brewery), Charrington IPA, Brewsmith Bitter and our old friend Titanic Plum Porter. Sadly the Plum Porter Grand Reserve has sold out but Marts Dutch Letters still gives us our fix of 7.3% potency, a heady resinous treat. Additional entertainment comes from the Trentham Brass Band with a repertoire including a lively Abba medley. Some of the ales are starting to run low so we return our glasses, cash in our unspent tokens and set out to see what the local pubs have to offer...

- A Shakespearean Segment -

The White Star is thus immediately on hand for more Titanic temptation whereby we indulge in Plum Porters all round to accompany our well-priced lunch (the giant onion ring on my beefburger proves especially notable). The wider sights of Stoke then beckon as we do a little exploring, spotting the markets building and the former town library (the latter complete with porthole windows and a mosaic depiction of William Shakespeare).

- London Road Ale House -

Passing a Sainsbury's supermarket, we follow the London Road out of the town centre to happen across two more establishments that require our attention. The London Road Ale House is a micropub which boasts an extensive array of continental beers; Dad therefore comes over all Belgian while Nick and I stick to the Irish Stout. A few doors back towards town is the Sutherland Arms, wonderfully cosy with a proper coal fire to warm us up. Black Grouse Stout here goes very well with a bit of rugby watching, England agonisingly losing 15-16 to the All Blacks. 

- 'bod' on Stoke Station -

Finally we have something of a curiosity to investigate prior to our homeward train. Platform 1 at Stoke-on-Trent Station is now home to 'bod', a newly opened cafe-bar operated by the afore-mentioned Titanic Brewery. Several of their ales are on show (Lifeboat and Plum Porter among them) as we settle in for a swiftish half - this is definitely my kind of waiting room! The departures board tells us that the 18:07 is imminent so we sup up and say our Stoke farewells. Until next time, cheers!