Waiting for opening time at the Five Pilchards
Every three months or so there will be a tap on my shoulder in the pub and an invitation. “PHOT¹ tour a week in Saturday — are you in?” This is a silly question. No-one wants to miss out on a PHOT tour. And so it was that we set off on Saturday morning with a larger contingent of travellers than usual, necessitating two minibuses rather than the usual one.
Now, the first rule of PHOT club is that you don’t talk about PHOT club. Locals in west Cornwall may have seen a PHOT sponsorship notice on barrels of beer at the St Ives and Falmouth beer festivals. But you won’t see a contact number or organisation details in the festival programme. And you don’t ask to go in a PHOT tour. You wait to be invited.
It’s a mystery tour. Organiser Derek and the minibus drivers are the only people who know the route. In recent times we’ve been over the border into west Devon, and along the North Cornish coast. The pubs en route are picked because they are interesting hostelries, not because of their beer quality. This isn’t a CAMRA social, but neither is it a binge drinking trip. It’s all, as the Irish Celtic cousins of the Cornish might say, about the craic.
The lovely, thatched Shipwright’s Arms, Helford
On Saturday we visited seven pubs, mainly in The Lizard area but also including the Star, at Crowlas — PHOT HQ — from where we set off and ended up. The other venues were: the Five Pilchards, Porthallow; the Helford River Sailing Club; the Shipwrights, Helford; the Ferryboat Inn, Helford; the Black Swan, Gweek; and the Blue Anchor, Helston.
Helford is second home territory, where free range children underfoot in bars are more likely to go by the names of Jemima and Orlando than Piran and Morwenna. In the sailing club, the Shipwrights and the Ferryboat, Prosecco is a standard tipple, while the Five Pilchards, Black Swan and Blue Anchor have more a feel of community pubs about them. But what, I hear you cry, threatening to click away and see which b-lister has had their birthday suit photos hacked today, what of the beer?
My pint of the day was probably the Gales Beachcomber (3.7%ABV) at the Five Pilchards, full of zesty, grapefruity flavour for its modest alcohol level, although a close second, for exactly the same reason, was the Rebel Brewing Co Surfbum IPA (3.5%) which I have praised before (and criticised the brewers for calling it IPA when it ain’t). An exceptional pint and a beautiful view does a lot to cheer a weary soul at the end of a long working week. Close on the tail were the Bays Gold (4.2%) at the Five Pilchards and the St Austell Tribute (4.2%) at the Ferryboat, both with excellent bodies and vibrant hop notes as well as solid malt profiles. The Tribute in particular was one of the better examples of this brew that I have tasted in a while.
Disappointment of the day was the Spingo Middle (5%) at the Blue Anchor, which was nowhere near as fine as the beers I’d had in the pub only the week before. I sensed a diacetyl note in the brew and didn’t make it to the bottom of the pint. Such a shame as the marquee at the rear of the pub is a delightful spot to sit and chat or listen to music when it’s on.
Back at the Star my tastebuds were re-invigorated by the superb Buxton Blonde which had just gone on and which was an excellent way to round off a fine day, in fine pubs, with excellent company. I’ll eagerly await the next tap call-up…
¹PHOT: the last two two words in the acronym are ‘on tour’. I’ll leave the rest to you.
