The Double Locks is one of our very favorite pubs and the location, on the canal outside of Exeter is divine. As a kayaker you will love it. Make sure you have good directions, it can be tricky to find. Also near there is the Turf Inn, another great pub. Newton Ferrers is also wonderful for kayaking with great ale at the Dolphin and maybe the Ship.

Are you in southern Devon for long? There are many good pubs and creeks just west in Cornwall as well.

What an interesting post, friar. I'll watch how they dispense the ale! Since I am not familiar with the brand names I should think I'll be asking for recommendations by the taste, ie, stronger, milder, etc. Or maybe it would be fun to try something seasonable or strictly local instead (particularly for the cider, which I love), again on an expert rec. I will, however, be sure to drink only the real stuff.

No worry anyone about us drinking and driving. We have two college age children and we've drummed it into their heads so much about the effects of alcohol that we're hardly likely to pull one of those "do as I say not as I do" stunts. It's stupid to drive drunk everywhere in this world.

Let's see, we'll be basing ourselves in Lynton for four nights. This is our rough plan, so if anyone knows of any good places in the vicinity, I'd be glad to know!

We'll be walking the coastal path from Lynton. One day we'll be driving west to Tintagnel, another day to Totnes to take the boat down the river to Dartmouth, an afternoon in Exeter, another drive east to Minehead, and we want to explore Doone country since I am in the midst of plowing through the book.

I don't often post here, but I'm a Master Brewer so thought I'd weigh in.

Someone earlier said "avoid Carling". I wouldn't be so damning. Carling is the only mainstream UK lager to have DMS, (dimethyl sulphide) which is normal in European lagers, and gives it a fuller taste than the Australian lagers that are often on UK bars (Fosters, for example, uses bitter yeast, which obviously doesn't work in a lager) Lager isn't to the taste of ale drinkers generally, but Carling is unfairly criticised IMO. As you are familiar with Miller/Coors etc, I think it would be an interesting comparison.

In terms of real ales, our pubs are very good at this these days, and as long as you don't hit some hellish high street chain you'll have a lot of choice. Certainly ask for advice at the bar (but not if its busy) and looking for the hand pumps will help you tell whether its a "real" ale. We have a massive massive range, and the good thing now is that so many are local. unfortunately this means I can't particularly advise you as I don't know the brews in the area you are going to. I would have thought that the local camra branch (google camra and the area) would be happy to hear from you and point you in the right direction, and would also respectfully suggest that you have a quick look at http://www.sirc.org/publik/passport.pdf

Good luck on your travels

When I visited Cornwall (it was 2 years ago), most of the larger and popular pubs had Tribute from St. Austell. It's an excellent local cast beer. Should try it if you're in the Southwest.

Anyways, when I travel, I always for recommendations while there for local favorites. It's worked for me all the time - in the US and abroad.

Near Totnes -- look at the Maltsters Arms. It is very nice and on a sweet creek for paddling.

Seems like you are covering a lot of ground to embrace paddling / walking and real ale...how long are you in the west?

libuse, that's interesting reading you provided. Funny that the only place you don't queue up is at the pub! And I gather it's no longer unlady-like to order a pint these days? I went to Ireland when I was a college student (more than a few years ago) and it was NOT the thing. I will say that sometimes I don't want to drink a pint of anything, but if it's hot outside and I'm thirsty, I can down a pint with the best of them.

As to covering a lot of ground--we never go on vacation to relax! We can do that at home. I know we won't get to do half of what we want to. There's simply way to many opportunities in Devon to ramble and paddle so we'll have to content ourselves with only a sampling. I have, however, made a note of everyone's suggestions and they're in my pocket travel notebook so you can't say that I won't be prepared. LOL

Hi mermaid - I'm glad you liked the link, I think its a great document. You are right about pints, I'm a mid-thirties female and would only order a half in a very few situations. You'll be absolutely fine drinking pints if you fancy one. The important thing is to enjoy what's in the glass!

bookmsrking

mermaid, it will be so great for you that you are traveling with someone who speaks the language :D

St Austell's Tribute Ale is mentioned above. They sell this in a pub I use in Lewisham (about as far from rural Devon as it's possible to get) and it's a cracking pint.

One word of warning - a bad pint of real beer can have devastating gastric consequences. You can spot a bad pint (ie one that has outlived it's shelf life - real beer is a living product) pretty easily - it will smell of vinegar and bad eggs. It will also be dead flat and look mucky. A good pint should be "bright" ie transparent.

If you aren't happy with a beer - take it back. It's not considered rude or anything - certainly don't drink it. If you do you won't be wearing white trousers for a day or two.

Make sure you have some pork scratchings with it!

Do a search about any beer festivals in the area as well, as these will normally have a wide range of real ales to try. Some pubs will have an annual beer festival. You'll also often find a beer tent (usually serving real ales) at folk music festivals/events too.

The things I learn here! I hadn't a clue as to what "pork scratchings" are (though I figured it was some kind of rind) so I looked it up. This is good for a laugh--
http://forum.lowcarber.org/archive/i.../t-332810.html

I searched for beer festivals but we shall be in Devon during the week, missing the weekends, so we'll miss out. I was particularly sad to see there's a cider festival going on mid-October...but not for us. Next visit I shall plan a little better. I've never had anything but bottled cider and some of the stuff here is ghastly so it would have been a treat to try different samples of Devon ciderat a fair. (I honestly don't think I've ever had real ale either; such gaps in my education!).

Scarlett, you may think because my husband is Windsor born-and-bred that he'd be answering all my questions, but I have to tell you the man is useless. He's strictly a porter and stout man. Every business trip he makes to the UK, I ask him "What'd you have to drink?" "Guinness" "Guinness" "Guiness" Every now and then he'll slip in a Murphy's just to confuse me, but not very often! I love a stout as much as the next person, but I'm hardly going to drink it every day. So you can see if I want to learn something, I have to come to Fodor's.

Mmmmmmm Somerset Cider -- brings back memories of my very first trip anywhere on my own. We stayed not far from Wells, and had Cider in the pub. Then we stood up. Then we sat right back down again - quickly!!! Yum!

Is Real Ale also obtainable in the Republic of Ireland? If so any sources?
Thanks,
sj

There's a very informative post about beer in Ireland at http://www.xs4all.nl/~patto1ro/irlbrew.htm

While Ireland is apparently the only country in the world that consumes a majority of its beer top-fermented (i.e., ale, porter, stout), versus bottom-fermented (lager), almost all of that top-fermented beer is stout, not ale. Almost all non-stout beer consumed is lager -- and lager by definition is not Real Ale. The only real ales produced in Ireland are going to be microbrews, and most microbrews are not going to be cask-conditioned either. And honestly, the quality may be extremely variable, compared to a big mass-market carbonated ale like Bass. Most of the real ale is going to be in Northern Ireland, not the Republic.

On that page, he lists the following cask-conditioned ("real") ales brewed in Ireland:
* Biddy Early Brewery - Real Biddy (County Clare)
* Maguire - several kinds, both pressurized and cask-conditioned versions (Dublin)

Northern Ireland:
* Hilden - four varieties: Hilden Ale, Molly Malone's Porter, Scullion's Irish, Original (County Antrim)
* College Green - two cask varieties, Molly's Chocolate Stout and Headless Dog (Belfast)
Whitewater - eleven varieties, all cask-conditioned -- I'm always skeptical of a brewpub that puts out this many different kinds (County Down)

If you want a real beer experience in Ireland, drink the stout. A lot of the locals will be drinking Tennants or Carling lagers; don't imitate them!

Is the cider that Janisj and wasleys and others mention called 'Scrumpy' ? or scrumpy more of a very strong farmers cider and more readily available on a farm than in a pub ?

mathieu, here's a useful website. My husband says about scrumpy "One and you're done."

www.zider.co.uk

I don't know (yet) how easily found it is.

In Dublin, I believe the Porterhouse also serves up a cask conditioned ale or two. Maguire's has a long list of beers that they brew, but not all will be available (same with the Porterhouse). Both have excellent beers. Biddy early is an interesting place to visit between Ennis and Doolin in the tiny village of Inagh. I drove (stupidly) right past the Carlow brewing company enroute to Kilkenny. They brew a very fine stout that can be found in the States.

Despite the claims of CAMRA, not all great beers are real ales and unless you have a well trained palate, you may have a hard time finding a huge variation between many of the varieties. They will taste quite a bit different than Bud and Coors ... thankfully. I find that after a while of drinking real ales, I'm dying for some more malty like a porter or a stout. There are a few p[laces that draw some slightly maltier beverages from the cask.

I am with the folks who enjoy St. Austell but try some of their other brews aside from the Tribute. They do a very good job.

I can't tell you that Coors is a great brewery but I recently learned a few things about them that helped me gain some respect for them. Whereas Bud did everything they could to shoot down the small craft brewers, Coors has been very supportive and has even helped with the distribution. In fact, Coors makes a number of small batch beers and the tiny Boulder Brewery (oldest micro brewery in the States)has been given the responsiblity of kegging them for them. In fact, Coors makes a couple of 'craft" beers that are sold at the Sandlot Brewery at Coors Field (wherethe Colorado Rockies play). They do a pretty good job and if you happen to be in Denver for the Great American Beer Festival (one of the greatest weekends in the country), the Sandlot will have their entire line available.

Bill

Scrumpy is a type of cider, yes.

I had some Biddy Early when I was in Ireland (yes, in Clare) :) While I don't usually care for beer, it was very rich and tasty.

And for those of us who prefer their real ale hoppy, rather than malty, St. Austell's Proper Job is preferred over Tribute, or the also widely available Tinners, every time. But as another poster said, it can be difficult to find lots of variation within the real ale choices offered at the majority of pubs. I think this is what makes a good free house or the "guest" pumps so much fun -- to find something different with some flavor.