A (post-lockdown) Brighton Pub Crawl

At the beginning of this week a last-minute decision took us on a trip down to Brighton, where we'd find...
Heritage pubs...

Amusements on the pier...

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...and street art...

I got to paddle in the sea, get sunburnt, eat and drink a lot, get a bit lost in the side-streets looking for a bar, and take photos of all the touristic hot-spots.  So, despite missing out on a summer holiday this year, we managed to pack all the key ingredients into 24-hours on the south coast.

First stop for a pint of Harvey's 'Sussex Best' was this outstanding mock Tudor building which overlooks Victoria Gardens.

King and Queen (13-16 Marlborough Place, BN1 1UB - web).

It advertises itself as being Brighton's largest public house, which would probably be beneficial for practicing social distancing.

As was drinking before noon on a Monday morning, to be fair.

There's been a pub on this site since 1860, but the spectacular building that you see today dates from 1931.  I'm not quite sure why they decided to re-build it creating a large Tudor hall complete with minstrels gallery, huge fireplaces and a ton of intricate carvings throughout.  But it's a sight to behold.

(More about the King and Queen on the Heritage pub site here)

I didn't take the Good Beer Guide with me, nor did I spend time making plans of which pubs to visit. Mainly because I was afraid of finding the pubs I most wanted to go to closed.  

Numerous pubs have quite understandably taken the decision to hold off on opening their doors, as we saw walking up through the North Laines, passing several of Brighton's classic boozers that aren't quite ready for us yet.

So we were winging-it, and ended up in The Pond (49 Gloucester Road, BN1 4AQ - web).

I approached the Pond with a bit of skepticism.
Gun-metal grey paint job... modern mural on the side... a baby bao kitchen?
But all was fine, and this was a pleasant lunch stop.

We did pretty well with our selection of Taiwanese street food.
Look out... Foodie Pic Alert...

Beers were all on draft, with no cask ale, but featured a couple of interesting choices and I suspect the range is wider at other times.
The Arundel Brewery 'Pondwater' seemed an appropriate choice at the Pond.

After lunch we ambled along the seafront for a while and had a pint of local Laine's 'Ripper IPA' at a beach front bar, before heading for some craft beer delights.

The Craft Beer Co (22-23 Upper North Street, BN1 3FG - web)

We were served at our table by the friendly barman, asking our viewpoint on his face-mask or visor dilemma.
Oxford United were on the TV screens, making their way to the League One play-off final.
And the beers... what a great selection of beers...

This offering from Wylam and De Molen was a contender for beer of the day:

But one thing I've always liked about Craft is the mix of craft keg lines and cask ale.  From the choice of three real ales, I followed the Wylam with a wonderful 'Parabelum' milk stout from Gun Brewery. 

We received a tip from one of the locals in Craft that Easy Tiger was just down the road, was open, and would have some decent beers on, so that's where we headed next.

Time for a bit of sightseeing en-route as I stopped to look at a window display with a dried rat - a "generous donation"...

My, what a generous donation.

A little further along Upper North Street was our destination,
Easy Tiger (57 Upper North Street, BN1 3FH - web)
To be fair, we didn't really see much of the interior of this pub - we followed the direction arrows through to the small back yard and settled on an outdoor table.  Safety first and all that, but following one-way systems through pubs is a little odd and deprives me of my usual snoop around.

Easy Tiger is owned by the same folks as The Pond - as we discovered with the identical beer menu.
Having never visited when this was painted white and still called The Hampton, I don't know whether the change is a good thing or not.  It's a pub/Indian street food tie-in and although we didn't try the food, it did look good.

It was time to visit somewhere that I had planned ahead and double-checked was open.

The Evening Star (55-56 Surrey Street, BN1 3PB - what pub).
I've usually been in the Evening Star on football visits to Brighton, so have been used to squeezing in and finding a spot to stand.  So it's strange to see it quiet, with around a dozen punters in besides us on a Monday evening.
The beer range has been reduced for re-opening, but still offered a great choice.

Decisions, decisions...

From the Evening Star we headed down to Brewdog for a burger and, in my case, the decadent choice of an 11% imperial stout from Omnipollo.

After that the final stop was The Mucky Duck (7 Manchester Street, BN2 1TF - web).

What did we drink in the Mucky Duck?  Was the place any good?  

Oh, I don't remember - I'm blaming the imperial stout.

So, the conclusion?  Plenty of places open, which was good to see.  All with reassuring measures in place to make visitors feel safe, and all with a great friendly welcome.

Obviously drinking on a Monday helps alleviate problems with availability of tables and crowds, which suits me down to the ground.

A big thank you to our friends for the invite and the driving - I didn't expect I'd be exploring any pubs outside of Oxford this soon after their re-opening, so this was a great surprise.

Cheers. 

The Admiral keeps an eye on the re-opening pubs of Brighton