Liverpool 2009

Chris Greenwoods tour of Liverpool and Birkenhead

On the 17th January. Myself and two mates, Lynn and Mike went on the ever popular trip to Liverpool. This was another of Keith Satterly's excellent excursions.

Armed with a very helpful map, we started off at The Globe in the city centre. This is a down to earth, old fashioned boozer with two rooms some stained glass, interesting memorabilia on the walls and a sloping floor. From the choice of four beers we had the Titanic Anchor, which was very hoppy and had a good long lingering bitter finish.

Our next port of call involved a train journey under the Mersey to the almost deserted Hamilton Square area of Birkenhead where the impressive Stork Hotel is to be found. The pub had a beautiful tiled front and side and was multi-roomed. The pub had a  lovely tiled bar and mosaic floor. There was only three beers on, but the Hook Norton Hooky Gold was good, having a nice hoppy flavour. Lynn had the very malty Caledonian Ale Lang Syne.

We hopped on the train back to Liverpool (Moorfields) and walked to the Ship and Mitre. This pub deserves a lot of praise as one of Liverpool's best pubs. For years it was one of very few pubs to offer a large choice of real ales. We were really pleased to find a really good selection of 13 real ales, including 4 dark beers and a very friendly young woman behind the bar. We stayed here for quite a while, sampling a really good Hawkshead Lakeland Gold which was really fruity, hoppy and bitter. The Shugborough (Titanic) Lordship's Own was fruity and well balanced. The Copper Dragon Black Gold was roasty and the Lee's Winter Warmer was caramelly but not too sweet. The York Centurion's Ghost was a little thin but quite chocolatey.

Next stop was the Lion Tavern another attractive, listed building with nice tilework and a lovely stained glass ceiling. Unfortunately the beer choice did not match the building. The Adnams bitter was quite bitter but too cold and the Beartown Bitter was a little disappointing.

In the Lion we were told about Ye Olde Hole In Ye Wall so we went there next. The pub was very down to earth and traditional. A real old Scouser' s boozer which served a good fruity George Wright's Longboat. The pub had a pretty fireplace dark wood panels and some stained glass and free beetroot on the bar!  

Just around the corner was our next pub The Sir Thomas Rigby. This was an impressive pub, multi-roomed, oak panelling and large beams. There was 6 beers on. The Lancaster Red was well balanced and the Wentworth Rock Spalt had a good bitter finish. Unfortunately the Okells IPA  was very thin.

Our final pub of the trip was the eye catching, flat iron, Baltic Fleet. This is home of the Wapping beers and the pub I was most looking forward to drinking in. However I was not so impressed on this occasion. The beer was good overall. The Blonde, not a blond but a wheat beer, was a good copy of a lemony Belgium wheat beer and the Magna 800 was very bitter and hoppy but a little sulphurous. The Smoked Porter was good nice roasty flavour but didn't last long and the Spanker was a good hoppy beer but very similar to the Magna 800. What annoyed me about the pub was the attitude of the staff. I asked for my beers without the sparkler and was made to feel really uncomfortable about this. One person told me the brewer would do his nut if he saw the sparkler taken off and another kept trying to get me to have the sparkler on when serving me! Despite this I still enjoyed the beer and even got to meet my dad who joined us for a pint.

Thanks to Keith for organising the trip and the coach driver for getting us home through some horrible weather. I can't wait for the next trip to Sheffield and North Derbyshire. 

Chris Greenwood.

This page last updated: February 11, 2009

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