Bangers & Beer Festival in Chepstow

The award-winning Coach & Horses in Chepstow, Monmouthshire will be holding their annual Beer & Sausage Festival this Friday & Saturday (28th-29th Friday & Saturday).
Beer, sausages and live music, what more do you want? 25 real ales and 1000 sausages are ready for the festival so its worth popping along to.
Facebook site here
Coach & Horses
Welsh Street
Chepstow
Monmouthshire
NP16 5LN

Gwent Pub of the Year hosts beerex this weekend

It's the start of July so that means that it is time for the annual beer and cider festival at the Coach & Horses, Chepstow, Monmouthshire. Starting Friday and continuing on throughout the weekend, this festival gets better and better every year, so expect a range of beers on from both local and distant breweries. Earlier this year the Coach won the Gwent CAMRA Award for 'Best Town Pub', and has gone forward to the regional competition, currently being judged around Wales.

Above: The beer range is impressive even on non-festival days!

Below: Some of the beers the Coach & Horses has had on over the years 

No beer list as yet butt there is bound to be a good selection if previous festivals are anything to go by.

Coach & Horses

Welsh Street
Chepstow
Monmouthshire

NP16 5LN

T: 01291 620626

Facebook page here

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Journey Planner:

 

 

Chepstow Beer festival this weekend

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Another beer festival this weekend (2nd, 3rd & 4th July) will be at the Coach & Horses, Chepstowas part of the The beer festival is an annual part of the Chepstow Festival.


Some of the beers are:
KINGSTONE CLASSIC,
THEAKSTON'S BLACK BULL,
CALEDONIAN NECTAR,
FULLER'S LONDON PRIDE,
TIMOTHY TAYLOR LANDLORD,
HARVIESTOUN BITTER & TWISTED,
BUTCOMBE BITTER,
EVERARD'S TIGER,
THEAKSTON'S BEST,
TWAITES ORIGINAL,
ST PETER'S SUFFOLK EXTRA GOLD,
OTLEY'S O1,
WADWORTH ST GEORGE & THE DRAGON,
WYE VALLEY BITTER, SHARP'S DOOMBAR,
WADWORTH HENRY'S IPA,
YOUNG'S WAGGLEDANCE,
BATH GEM,
BEARTOWN KODIAK GOLD,
WYE VALLE BUTTY BACH
Along with cider, perry and live music.

Keep up to date with events from this pub via their Facebook page.
Coach & Horses
Welsh Street,
Chepstow,
NP16 5LN

Tel: 01291 622626

Journey Planner:

Eclipse Ales

There are a few old advertising windows left in the pubs in Monmouthshire but the most intriguing involves the Eclipse Ales windows in the Coach & Horses, Chepstow and the King's Head, Abergavenny (pictured left). Both these pubs still have their old windows with Eclipse Ales and Monopole Scotch Whiskey. Now I can't find any reference to a local brewery ever producing Eclipse Ales and the Century of British Brewers Book only lists an Eclipse Brewery, off Deansgate, Manchester 1860-1877, eventually acquired by John Lees in 1894. Don't think that is of much help as it would be unusual for the windows to survive over 140 years and to be from as far away as Manchester. The King's Head was owned by Arnold, Perrett & Co Ltd of Wickwar, Gloucestershire, between 1914-1938. The Coach & Horses, Chepstow is now a Brains pub and was formerly a freehouse, so the ownership of these pubs does not help anything.

Below are 3 pictures of the windows of the Coach & Horses, Chepstow.


So over to my readers, anyone know where Eclipse Ales were?

A queue at the bar

Went back into the Coach & Horses in Chepstow, their beer and sausage Festival is in full swing, there may be a queue at th bar but everyone gets served quickly. WTF is it with companies like JD Chaverspoons where they promise to have staff on the bar and you wait for 10 minutes to get served, yet a tenanted pub manages to serve the customers faster? Best beer tonight and hence best beer Festival has been the Coach & Horses.

Beaufort Arms, Chepstow

Saw the CAMRA Good Beer Guide sticker in the window here so thought I might get a good pint. Well had an average pint of Rhymney Bitter, Bass was also on, what put me off were the staff members eating behind the bar and not washing their hands inbetween serving customers. Pictured above is the barmaid enjoying her sandwich in the bar servery. She served customers between bites without washing her hands. Barman was also seen to be eating crisps behind the bar as well. Looks like a big food hygiene fail here and Brew Wales will be contacting Monmouthshire council on Monday with regards to this flagrant breach of the food hygiene laws.

Bellhanger, Chepstow

The third beer festival of the day and in a place as small as Chepstow. This time popped into the JDW Bellhanger for their range of ales. After drinking some fantastic Otley O1 up the Coach & Horses the tastebuds may be a little tired but went for a Toshi's Amber Ale brewed by Bank's. A sweet, malty ale, hardly in the style of a Japanese beer, more like the bland Wolverhamton & Dudley ales we come to expect from them. Why make a bland beer for a beer festival? Still at least this JDW does not have the offspring of chavs running around off their leash as the Newport ones do.

Coach & Horses Beer & Sausage Festival

The Coach & Horses in Chepstow is holding a beer and sausage Festival this weekend. 7 real ales on at a time, all served from the handpump, apart from the Kingstone Gold which is on the bar and served straight from the wood. Over 20 different real ales will be served over the weekend and 12 different sausages are on the menu. The Coach & Horses is a great little pub with oak beams covered with pumpclips and etched glass windows. Two fireplaces but with the Indian Summer we are having they are not needed. Otley O1 has just come on as well.

Beerex at the George in Chepstow

It's been a few years since the Brew Wales editor stepped into the George and the new interior was a bit of a shock. The new bar on the right hand side as you enter replaces the old cozy left hand bar which used to back onto the town wall. Bigger bar means more handpumps and 6 of them grace this new installation. The beerex is a bit dissapointing as the local beers from Kingstone are not on yet, instead we have a good selection of Marstons beers including Jennings Cocker Hoop and World's Biggest Liar as well as Brakspear Oxford Gold, Hobgoblin and Ringwood Best. Pub is decked out in a Halloween theme which the feral kids running around the pub must be enjoying. Last time I was in the pub had lunch with the local MP, don't think will be popping in again for a while. Still the beers good despite the ambience of the pub which half-heartedly attempts to be a Weatherspoon without putting in the effort. Still there are worst pubs in Chepstow. Off to the Coach & Horses next for their Beer & Sausage Festival. First time I tried Brakspears Oxford Gold was today, a wonderful autumnal hoppy aroma leads to a bitter and moreish aftertaste. Definetly a beer to have again.

Beer festival in Chepstow

The historic George pub in Chepstow will also be holding a beer festival this weekend from Thursday 29th October through to Sunday 1st November 2009. The george, owned by the Barrucuda Group will be featuring mainly beers from marstons but also some from a local brewery.

The ales that will be stocked are:

Dogs Bollocks                 abv 5.2%
Hobgoblin               abv 4.5%
Ringwood Old Thumper          abv 5.6%
Ringwood Best Bitter          abv 3.8%
Jennings Worlds Biggest Liar  abv 4.3%
Jennings Sneck Lifter         abv 5.1%

And from the local micro brewery Kingstone, located at Tintern,
Monmouthshire:

Kingstone Gold                abv 4.0%
Kingstone Tewdricks           abv 3.8%
Kingstone Classic       abv 4.5%

Thursday 29th October 2009
£1.99 all day pricing on all ales!

Beer Festival in Chepstow

Coach and Horses Beer and Cider Festival 4 -6 July 2008
Welsh Street, Chepstow, Monmouthshire. NP16 5LN
Confirmed Beers:

Fullers London Pride
Greene King IPA
Everards Tiger
Highgate Fox's Nob
St Austell Tribute
Wells Bombardier
Freeminer Tormentor
Adnams Explorer
Adnams Regatta
Batemans Summer Swallow
Wadworths 6X
RCH Pitchfork
Hydes Jekylls Gold
Everards Sunchaser
Dartmoor Best
Caledonian XPA
Rhymney Bevans Bitter
Breconshire Sarn Elunid (Wheat Beer)
Plus all the usual selection of Brains Beers

Confirmed Ciders and Perries:

Westons Scrumpy
Old Rosie
Hereford Country Perry
Blakeney Red Perry
Gwynt-y-Ddraig Orchard Gold Scrumpy
Gwynt-y-Ddraig Fiery Fox
Gwynt-y-Ddraig Barnstormer

Plus more expected.

More info from the Coach & Horses website