Real ale, real football and real good company
The 12.30pm train from Middlesbrough to Hartlepool pulls in to the station and we board in high spirits, the Westwood Wanderers are marauding again!
The Wanderers are a close knit local community whose neighbourliness on this occasion extended to indulging the passion of an expat from New Zealand for football and fine ales who, starved of experiencing both in their purest form, needed a fix before returning down under.
Conversation on the train revolved around the delights likely to be served up on the football pitch, given Hartlepool’s recent poor form, and the stark contrast likely to be served up in the pub before the game. We had prior knowledge of our chosen destination and the “little gem” known as the Rat Race Alehouse had, due to a previous expedition to Victoria Park, provided our beer taste receptors with sufficient memory to have us salivating in expectation. For those who have not had the pleasure of visiting the Rat Race in Hartlepool and wish to do so and experience the full surprising effect, then read no further as this text contains spoilers. The experience will have best effect if you visit the place blind but safe in the knowledge that if you do and like real ales, you are in for a treat.
The Pub, if you can really call it such, is a converted waiting room accessed directly off the station platform at Hartlepool. From a small hut, in the corner of one average sized living room, the barkeep serves real ale of exceptional quality given the cramped nature of his facility. On one wall beermats ingeniously fixed to plastic pipes act as place holders to the multitude of choice in real ales either as past, present or future delights. You can’t help browsing the array and saying to yourself “I’ve sampled that, hmm that one was nice, that one sounds good.”
On the opposite wall the menu for the day was proudly displayed on a traditional chalkboard with the following on offer :-
- Great Heck - Life Begins - 4.0%Pale ale with Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand (believe it or not given our company) , brewed specially for the York Beer Festival 15th 17th September 2011 Organiser’s 40th birthday. Went down very swiftly!
- Gundog - Gundog - 4.5%
Described as a traditional bitter, amber in colour with a crisp bitterness and spicy aroma to finish, Nice!
3. RCH - East Street Cream - 5.0%
Full bodied and fruity chestnut bitter with a good combination of malt and hops. All the way from Somerset to Hartlepool, well-travelled!
Plus but no description notes
4. Bartram's - Captain's Stout - 4.8%
5. Oliver's - Medium Cider - 6.5%
6. Broadoak - Premium Perry - 7.5%
4. Bartram's - Captain's Stout - 4.8%
5. Oliver's - Medium Cider - 6.5%
6. Broadoak - Premium Perry - 7.5%
An evening (or afternoon in this case) visiting a real ale establishment is much more than a visit to the pub and this trip to the Rat Race did not disappoint. Sampling new ales, finding a new favourite or revisiting an old favourite brew, always makes for a memorable occasion. Sharing first thoughts on your chosen tipple, having a sip from a neighbour’s glass, discussions of colour, texture, flavour and smell ensure worthy homage is paid to craft of the brewer and make certain the ale and conversation flows.
There’s another trip across the water in the offing but I have asked if we can stay in the “pub” rather than going to the game!
Blandinio
