St Albans Pub Crawl

Having visited the Fighting Cocks at opening time, I planned to get around as many of the St Albans Good Beer Guide pubs as possible throughout the afternoon.
That started with a short walk through the charming Verulamium Park, sunshine on the lake and the cathedral standing out in the distance.
At the northern end of the park is St Michael's Street, where my second pub of the day was located.

The Six Bells, St Michaels Street, with a similar pub a little further along the road.

Six Bells (16-18 St Michael's Street, St Albans, AL3 4SH - web)
This is a picture-postcard-pretty 16th century free house which was looking wonderful in the sunshine today.

The 'saloon' price list next to me was sadly out of date. 
Not 4d for a pint of Batemans ale. 
Not much change from a fiver actually.

I'd expected the Fighting Cocks to be busier than it was and it turned out everyone was in the Six Bells instead.  It was certainly a popular luncheon spot.  

I grabbed the last remaining table, squeezed in a corner next to the giant fireplace and underneath a dormant TV screen.  A sure-fire head-cracking hazard when standing  back up.

The six retired gents on the nearest table had managed to sort Brexit out before the end of their main course.  There's also a bunch of blokes in the Vat & Fiddle in Nottingham who know how to get Forest back to the Premier League.  

The Six Bells felt for all the world like a popular village local rather than somewhere within 10 minutes walk of a city centre.  With the fire burning and a busy hum of conversation, this was a cosy and pleasant pub.

As it was just a short walk away, I figured I'd go and have a look at the Roman Theatre of Verulamium.

Roman Ruins.

It's good to do something touristic.  It means when I tell my mum I've been somewhere I can make it sound like I've done something other than drink beer.  "What's that?  Did I spend the whole day inside pubs?  No, never, of course not..."

...checking my list of 9 pubs to visit, I headed off along Fishpool Street.  This is a street of spectacular terraced cottages which I'm guessing have equally spectacular price tags too. 
In the midst of them was my next calling point...

Lower Red Lion, St Albans

Lower Red Lion (34-36 Fishpool Street, AL3 4RX - web) 
There are just a handful of visitors inside this lunchtime. But that doesn't detract from this being a magnificent, historical inn. You can tell it dates back to the 17th century because it has lopsided door frames and fantastic timber beams holding the ceiling up.
The room to the left appeared to be more set-up for dining, but the St Alban room to the right was the nicer of the two, with one side taken up by a majestic fireplace.
From a choice of six ales I picked a Tring 'Nosebag', served in a tulip glass which almost certainly made it taste better.

The Alban Bar at the Lower Red Lion.

Following the Lower Red Lion, I continued along Fishpool Street which led to the centre, the clock tower and the next pub...

The Boot Inn (4 Market Place, AL3 5DG - web)
St Albans has no shortage of historical pubs and the Boot dates back to 1422.  It's an attractive single-roomed pub with low ceilings.

The Boot, St Albans.

As I'd been sensibly instructed that a cheese twist from Tesco's wasn't a sufficient lunch for a day's pub-crawling, I decided to order some food in the Boot. My choice of beer came from Leighton Buzzard Brewery - 'Corporal Rogers' a hefty 5% IPA which tasted stronger than that. It was a fine choice alongside a nice bowl of veggie chilli.

With a prime central location it was no surprise that the Boot was doing a good trade on this afternoon, with a wide ranging clientele.

Always beware the beers
with the home-made
pump clip.

Delving into the residential side streets, I made my way to the...

White Lion (91 Sopwell Lane, AL1 1RN)
I'll level with you - I can't remember much about the White Lion. Possibly the previous 5% IPA followed by my choice here, 'White Lion Amber', weighing in at 6.5% ABV.

I missed the small front bar so didn't see the cask ales on offer.    The section of the bar in the larger room to the side was dominated by this, possibly unwise, keg choice with a home-made badge - not sure if it is something that is brewed specially for the White Lion?

The White Lion, St Albans.

A little further along Sopwell Street and around a corner is the White Lion's sister-pub...

White Hart Tap (4 Keyfield Terrace, AL1 1QJ - web)
On another occasion I reckon this could have been challenging as my favourite pub of the day.  But with just an small group of locals at one end of the bar, it was so quiet this afternoon and hence had little atmosphere - not really a visit to fairly judge a pub on.

On the plus-side - a great beer: 'Hop Stash Denali' by Nene Valley, a 5% ABV pale ale.

White Hart Tap, St Albans.

Great Northern (172 London Road, AL1 1PQ - web)
The same goes for the Great Northern really - 4.30pm on a weekday afternoon and I had the place to myself when I arrived. But, again, beer-wise it was superb. Arbor 'MEGS Bomb' was probably my favourite beer of the day.

Great Northern, St Albans.

Just a short walk up Alma Road took me to a pub I'd passed earlier in the day...

Robin Hood (126 Victoria Street, AL1 3TG - web)
A 'proper pub'.  It says so on the banner on the front of the pub, next to a board advertising Roy's Tasty Toasted Sandwiches.
And it is a great, authentic backstreet (sort of) boozer, handily located on the route to the centre from the City train station.

Robin Hood, St Albans.  Proper Pub.

There were three real ales on the bar, with Harvey's 'Sussex Best' being the house beer, well kept and tasting great.
There were a number of folks in today, with a regular at the bar proudly informing the trainee on her first shift that putting up with him was the hardest part of the job.

I'm not completely sure what it is about the Robin Hood that made it so good, but I'd sure be happy to have this pub at the bottom of my road.

Proper Pub Game.

Proper Pub Snack.

It had been something of a marathon pub-crawl in the end.  Maybe trying to do all the Good Beer Guide pubs in one visit was a little fool-hardy.  Fool-hardy idea's - I'm full of 'em...

The Mermaid (98 Hatfield Road, AL1 3RL)

This was the last pub of the day and another cracker.  Friendly welcome, a good crowd of customers and great choice of beers.  I opted for another strong one to finish the day, the 'Manifesto' stout by Revolutions was wonderful.

Arsenal's Euro fixture was about to kick off on the TV screens and an unreliable part of my head was tempted with the idea of grabbing another beer and staying to watch the first half.  Sensibility won on this occasion, as I headed for the train.
St Albans had been a long day out, but with the park, various Roman remains, its cathedral and a host of good pubs it had been a rewarding and enjoyable visit.

The Mermaid, St Albans.