Beer Blog

The Globe, Leicester

Leicester-14

We were visiting The Globe on our beer bloggers three way collaborative visit to Leicester so that Martin Taylor could ‘tick’ it off his list, as the pub is a new entry to the GBG2018. Apparently it’s been a pub long before Pucurmudgeon last visited in 1978, and dates back to the early eighteenth century, having diverse uses prior to that. The exterior is commensurate with a long proud heritage and it commands the corner of Silver Street and Carts Lane. It’s reputedly haunted, thankfully we didn’t see no ghosts.

Inside it’s a mixture of old and new. The main bar and small snug have a very original feel and there is some wonderful tiling in the corridor. There’s a smaller bar to the rear in a bigger room with some interesting nooks and crannies, which has a more contemporary feel to it, and a small but well presented ground floor dining room. I’m told the gas lights actually work and at times they do have them lit, maybe they encourage the ghosts to appear?

It was neither totally quiet nor very busy, mid afternoon Tuesday. A couple around the bars, a few people sat down, singles, couples and small groups. The barmaid was wonderful, so friendly and helpful, she fair brightened up my day. She never battered an eyelid when Pucurmudgeon pointed out his Everards Old Original was on the turn (gone actually), replacing it instantly, without quibble. I’d gone for a paddle of thirds, at £3.90 and as soon as I sniffed my own glass of this beer, Mudgies observations were confirmed. I thank him for having saved my palate.

I ended up with Oakham JHB, Everard’s Tiger, and Dancing Dragon Fly Golden Ale. I’m not going to comment on my preference of the beers other than to say JHB isn’t my favourite Oakham beer, and I had to have Everard’s Tiger in an Everard’s pub in their home town, and the Dancing Dragon Fly beer was a replacement for the other Everard’s ale, ditto original reason for choice. In terms of quality I had the Tiger at near 3.5 and the others at 3 on NBSS which is the minimum I’d expect in a GBG pub in a city full of pubs.

The only gripe I have, is not with the pub, but with the brewery. I’ve no problem with contract brewing, but if it’s happening I’d like to know. I understand Everard’s have closed their brewery for redevelopment, and their ales are being brewed here there and everywhere. I would ask whether your average punter knows this? My view is, if it’s contract brewed it should say ‘Blogs Beer brewed by a.n.other at some other place’ on the pump clip. I mean, if you bought a case of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild you would expect it to have been grown and produced solely on that estate, and not to have been farmed out to the local wine cooperative. Maybe the example is a bit extreme, because this sort of thing is so important in the wine trade and would never happen with quality wines, but I think you’ll get what I mean?

Toilets were fine and everywhere was clean, tidy and well maintained. It was a nice pub, that would suit all sorts of people from lone drinkers to business people, a proper nice city centre pub. I would happily take my mother in The Globe for a pint and a bite to eat from the mid-range priced menu; pub classics, burgers and steaks. Not that she drinks pints of course, but I’m sure the Amontillado would be up to her usual standards.

Verdict: Characterful city centre public house with a bit of history that does food and would suit all types. Decent Everard’s ales, plus guests.

 

 

 

15 replies »

  1. I’d say the Globe had just the right amount of “ticking-over-ness” and customer mix that you would want in a city-centre pub mid-afternoon on a Tuesday. You were a bit more charitable about the beer than me – my Tiger was only worth a 2.5.

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    • Yes, it was about right wasn’t it, and it was that dead period – after lunchtime trade and before people start sneaking out of work. I’m going by my notes on the beer?

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  2. I think Joule’s do the Tiger now; it’s about the 5th different place it’s been brewed in it’s history. Everards were very upfront about it in the local press but they have understandably lost some credibility. They are no longer a brewery and won’t be again for 3 years, if they go with the current plan.

    The Globe had a refurb a few years ago and changed tennants. It’s now a company rather than an individual landlord and more food orientated.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Will they then be a ‘new start up’? Makes you wonder? Will they ever re-start is my next one? Three years is a nice window of opportunity to gauge the market and public feeling, would anyone really notice if they didn’t re-open the brewery, apart from the traditional real ale die hards?

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  3. I’m glad you highlighted the barmaid who I thought was exceptional. To be fair I thought all the pubs we visited were cheery and had some character, though the Globe was a standout. You and Mudge scored the beers slightly better than me, but of course you were drinking pints, which always taste better than halves.

    I couldn’t care less where the beers are brewed. I’m an Internationalist, me (Paul Weller reference there).

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    • I think we should care. They put ‘brewed under license in Someplace’ on the bottles of foreign beer brewed here to differentiate between the original product and the imitation. So why don’t they have to put it on when beers are contract brewed elsewhere? Same difference to me.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Totally agree about listing where it is brewed. Over here we have “glacier fresh” and “brewed with Rocky Mountain spring water” and the like. The major players over here are either part of InBev or SABMiller or some such.

        Some of these beers are most likely also brewed down east, which is over 2,000 miles from the Rockies. And there is one American beer which states it uses only water, barley and hops… but they are only talking about their specialty beer. 🙂

        Heck, back when I was a big fan of Guinness I made the mistake once of buying a pack of Guinness “brewed under license” in Ontario rather than Dublin. Bleh! Never made that mistake again.

        Mind you, at times it’s better to drink before you look. If I like that taste I don’t give a toss where it’s made (similar to Martin’s affirmation above); although that will cloud my judgement at times. 🙂

        Cheers

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  4. “I’d gone for a paddle of thirds”

    Wait; Martin didn’t complain about pints being the only way to enjoy a beer? 🙂

    “thankfully we didn’t see no ghosts”

    I’m guessing that’s a Ghostbusters reference, otherwise double negative? Tsk, tsk.

    Cheers

    PS – Minor nit; both reference to Pubcurmudgeon are missing the “b”. 🙂

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    • I firmly believe the place and person/company brewing the beer are important. Like you can’t call certain types of cheeses by their specific name unless they were made within a defined area of origin. A bit like the French Appellation laws and DOCG in Italy, Cheddar is a good example, it should be produced within the Cheddar area, it isn’t everyone produces a Cheddar cheese. At least Canada calls their Cheddar Canadian Cheddar when on sale in UK (quite like it actually)!

      Going back to brewing, if it doesn’t matter who or where it’s brewed then the brewers shouldn’t mind putting the full details on the pump clip/bottle. The reason they don’t tells me that it does matter and people expect Brewer A’s Best Biter to be brewed by Brewer A, and not Brewer X, Y or Z!

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      • “At least Canada calls their Cheddar Canadian Cheddar when on sale in UK (quite like it actually)!”

        😁

        And fully agree on full details on where and with what the beer was brewed. 👍

        Cheers

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Double negative/positive is a colloquial pattern of speech where I’m from as in, ‘I’m not bothered, me!’, And the example you point out. Check out South Yorkshire dialogue. There’s a good article on BBC done by Ian McMillan, a poet/writer who comes from where I do; Barnsley area!

    Thanks for pointing out errors, that’s what you get when you cut & paste links!😕

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    • Apologies if the double negative remark came off as snarky. Figured it might be colloquial but as I couldn’t be arsed to write too much. 😉

      And I’ll check out South Yorkshire dialogue. All I know at present is from various Monty Python clips. 😀

      Cheers

      Liked by 1 person

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