County Stat Attack Week 11 - Devon

Apart from ‘F***ing Birmingham!’

Only a miserable 4 Devon ratings for me. And none of them memorable – the highest rating is only 3.0 for Powderkeg Speakeasy.

Used to go down to Devon for holidays fairly regularly when I was young, but that stopped before I was old enough to drink. I have a friend who lives near Exeter, who keeps suggesting that I come down and stay with him. I shall have to take him up on his word !

Needless to say I’ve not rated any places in Devon. I can probably count the number of Devon places that I’ve drunk in on my fingers. Is the Luppitt Inn still with us ?

Almost forgot. My own records show I’ve drunk 46 Devon beers from 16 different breweries. Mainly Otter and Hanlons.

4 Likes

A blank for me along with Rutland but I do have a memory from over 30 years ago.

My mate was working for a newspaper in Tiverton & my brother-in-law was in the Navy based in Plymouth. One of them had told me about the Topsham Ten beer crawl & eventually we all arranged to meet up & complete it.

The first pub of the night we visited had a local band playing. which we watched & had a couple of beers while planning our route for the night, then decided to move on to to complete the rest of our challenge.

Many hours (& beers later) after we left Pub number 9 we started looking for the 10th & final Pub in our challenge.

At this point, my brother-in-law thought it would be a good idea to see the end of the band’s set at the first Pub. We tried to convince him to come with us to complete our challenge in the 10th Pub but as he was by now heavily under the influence (as we all were) he could not see reason. My mate & I visited the final Pub & completed The Topsham Ten.

My brother-in-law’s nickname in The Navy at the time was Shiner. 30+ years later he’s still known as Shiner The Topsham Niner.

6 Likes

The Topsham Ten. Still gives me a headache thinking about it. Not sure there are 10, or even 9 pubs in Topsham anymore, sadly.

2 Likes

Devon is not a busy county for me.

O’Hanlons Special Reserve the only 4 scoring beer.

132 rates makes it mid table for most rated county but with a just ‘Ok’ score of 3.21 given by myself for beers from Devon, there are only 13 lower scoring counties so nearer to the relegation zone.

A traditional brewing county I can’t say I ever seek anything out from here.

My other half is from South Devon but her parents recently moved away from the county to Kent (annoying as her brother lives there so already have a Kent base!).

Therefore I’m familiar with Salcombe and the surrounding area and maybe picked up 20 or 30 ticks on the backs of visits down there, Salcombe (formerly Quirkus) and South Hams being the predominant breweries I encountered. Shame there was no pub with a decent guest list in the vicinity and would likely have added more Devon rates but we last visited in Summer '19 and hadn’t got down there since due to lockdown.

I’ve only ever passed through Plymouth on the way to Cornwall … so haven’t drank there other than at the Spoons near Holme Park for Plymouth vs Leicester last day of 2004/5 season. It really was the most tedious game I’ve ever attended … 0-0 and neither team having anything to play for with City finishing a pathetic 15th some 16 (SIXTEEN) points short of the play offs. Was a strong league in the championship that season mind … Sunderland, Wigan and West Ham went up with the likes of Ipswich, Derby, Sheff U, Reading, QPR, Brighton, Stoke, Burnley, Leeds and Cardiff also vying for the promotion spots … in fact 7 of todays 20 PREM clubs.

I did do a pub crawl in Exeter and Newton Abbot the night before the match but wasn’t rating on here back then.

3 Likes

Looks like Devon is difficult for most of us to get rates. I was due to do the coastal path last summer and would have taken in a few pubs on the way. Can’t see that happening for a while now.

Only 130 beers from Devon. Highest count for a brewery is less than 10.

Exeter and Newton Abbot are pretty good for ale and have visited a few times over the years. Plymouth isn’t really that great but may be showing some signs of improvement

Really like the Bridge Inn at Topsham. Cracking trad venue.

Also liked the Beer Engine at Newton St Cyres. Cracking Sunday lunch.

Managed a visit to Dartmouth last year too. Pubs not that great but is a decent bottle shop there.

1 Like

Seeing ‘Plymouth’ written down has reminded me of when a mate went there to watch Plymouth v Newcastle. I got a phone call at 3:00am to tell me that they’d found a pub that was still open.

“That’s nice, now fuck off.”

My turn! Not doing too bad on Devon - 63 rates, which is my joint 10th most rated county (joint with Cornwall, which has weirdly been neck and neck with Devon on both beer & place rates since I started on this site). It’s one of the few counties I’m in the top 50 for (albeit in a lowly 41st place).

My top 8 beers are amazingly all from different breweries:
Edwin Tucker’s Empress Russian Porter - 4.2
Moonchild Gypsy Queen - 4.1
New Lion The Barrel Thief - 4
Utopian Vienna Keller Lager - 3.9
South Hams Sherman - 3.8
Teignworthy Martha’s Mild - 3.7
Bridgetown Shark Island Stout - 3.7
Hanlon’s Port Stout - 3.6

I’ve rated stuff from 25 breweries & 5 cideries. My most frequently rated ones (just) are Otter and Hunters, with 7 each.

My top rated place is Tuckers Maltings, beating our regular Darts Farm stop into 2nd place.

I love Devon as a county; all the beauty of Cornwall but with (slightly) less crowds. I’ve been here many times, both on family holidays and on walking trips. The highest point is on High Willhays on Dartmoor; I couldn’t tell you much about it as it was pissing down so hard I see more than 20 yards and just wanted to get down again. The coast path (especially the northern coast) is as magnificent as you’d expect and then some, and I’d highly recommend walking it.

Non beery places I’d recommend are:

  • the Valley of the Rocks at Lynmouth
  • the House of Marbles at Chudleigh Knighton (touristy but fascinating)
  • the Dartmouth estuary is simply stunning - walk from Dartmouth down to the coast for constant Mediterranean - like vistas. And the Darmouth Food & Drink Festival is one of the best free foodfests I’ve been to.
  • Brunel’s sea-battered railway through Dawlish.
  • the lovely town of Totnes

One downside of Devon though - it’s the county from which Buckfast, the scourge of Scotland, comes from (never tried it myself).

1 Like

I read in the Beer52 mag that the Buckfast Tonic Wine, or Buckie in Glasgow, isn’t made at Buckfast Abbey any more. I haven’t done any further research though.

Another great county and one that I have holidayed in on many an occasion. One of my earliest holiday memories was one of them school holidays when I was at primary school and it was to Yenworthy and I’ve just checked and it’s still going strong Yenworthy Lodge Outdoor Centre, Lynton, Devon. We walked to Watersmeet, Lynton, Lynmouth, had a teacher read Lorna Doone to us each night. A more recent trip to Devon was about 4-5 years ago to the incredible lighthouse keepers cottage again on that same stretch of coast near Lynmouth. The last couple of miles drive to get there is along one of the hairiest roads I’ve driven on in the UK, in fact the National Trust strongly discourages you from arriving in the dark. If there are a group of you family or friends please take a look. The Lighthouse Keepers' Cottage | National Trust

I have visited most of the main towns and cities, had many, many cottage breaks, and I really like the county, I always fancied doing some walking across Dartmoor and Exmoor and whilst I have done a few walks certainly not enough.

I have always thought of Devon as one of the most traditional of traditional counties when it comes to beer, and would be hard pressed to name a craft brewery that is premier league. I am hearing things about Utopian and one or two others but are they up there yet? Anyway 87 beers from Devon puts me in a respectable 29th place, however I cannot recall the last one that I had from the county.

Only one beer over 4 only reinforces my suspicion that Devon whilst great for holidays is not really a beer destination. Edwin Tucker’s Empress Russian Porter with a 4.1 is the lone 4+ highlight.

Devon sits somewhere like 26th in my county ratings equal with Lincolnshire.

My top five beers are

  1. Edwin Tucker’s Empress Russian Porter 4.1.
  2. Edwin Tucker’s East India Pale Ale 3.9
  3. Wizard Druids Fluid (cask) 3.8
    =4) Art Brew Hop Centennial 3.7
    =4) Art Brew Hop Motueka 3.7

I have had beer from 19 breweries 4 of which are sadly closed. Top breweries for number of rates are.

Teignworthy - 16
Artbrew - 13
Hanlon’s - 9
Otter - 4
Country Life - 4

Only 3 place ratings which has really surprised me, Tuckers Maltings rated in 2009, I have both been there and ordered online from them, they are top then the Well House Tavern, Exeter (now closed) rated in 2006, Sidmouth Wines is my only other place rating from 2014.

4 Likes

Answering my own query, it’s now made under licence at J. Chandler & Company in Andover, Hampshire plus another place in Ireland. The Abbey made £8.8 million out of its sales in 2015.

I’ve visited Buckfast Abbey, it’s pretty impressive, I’ve also drank the notorious/famous beverage.

<*))))))><

The last time I stayed in Devon, I was ten and visiting a wealthy relative in Ivybridge who had a week hosting my mother and her four children and never invited us back! Unsurprisingly, I never sampled the beers and it seems the habit has stuck as far as Devon ale is concerned as the county languishes in joint 40th position with just 7 samples: 2 from Otter and 2 from Exe Valley and the only decent one Fat Pig Porco Rosso which I tasted at the 2017 Leicester Beer Festival and liked better than leaparsons did.
I would take as a working hypothesis that Devon is better for cider than beer and certainly Cornwall is better for beer. But overall this thread is confirming for me that I have lead a sheltered life!

2 Likes

We have the New Awards now. Catching up with Devon first. Best Brewer is Utopian Brewing and Best Beer is Hanlon’s Port Stout.
Having a quick scan above, both get a mention or two.
No New Brewer award and with the year we had last year I doubt there will be many in any County list.

2 Likes

Oh, Devon
Devon was my first encounter of England back in -79, I was attending a language school in Torquay for 3 weeks. I was 17 and lived with a friend at a family house close to Babbacombe Beach. 4 boys and 27 girls………what more could a boy ask for, maybe a visit to a pub? – I had read about them, to say I was curious would be an understatement, tried to enter several pubs, met by “No students” at most of them, I got rid of the shortest guy in my company, besides being short he was wearing a backpack with a tennis racket, screaming student 150 yards away……….
I don’t remember my first beer on British soil but it was from cask , a bitter with almost no head and at body temperature, but the buzz and atmosphere got me instantly.
Also a fond memory: going to a gig at Torquay town hall with Eddie and the Hotrods (experienced pogo for the first time), only fueling my love for British music, I used to buy both NME and Sounds each week, listening to Radio Luxemburg and all those strange bands playing my favorite music: Damned, Clash, Sham 69, Dr. Feelgood, Buzzcocks………

Our English teacher took us 4 boys to a proper pub crawl in Teignmouth, I think he was about 21, his girlfriend drove us there and picked us up later on, I think we managed 4 pubs before we were comfortably numb, floored is a more correct word.

Beers from Devon; I have tasted 24 beers, make it no 15 of counties. Those beers are from 13 different breweries (5 from Bays, 3 from Fat Pig, Hanlons , 2 from Exeter brewery, Hunters, and Otter) Visited Devon twice after -79, summer of 2011 on my way to Cornwall for a cycle trip, and January 2019 on my rail journey thru 22 counties, we stayed in Exeter and had a small crawl in the evening. Rated 9 places in Devon, 8 in Exeter,(best was Pursuit of Hoppiness and fat pig) and the closed London Inn (JDW) in Torquay, also visited Hole in the wall twice but never done the rating.
Back in 79 I drank some cider as well, bought from a local farmer in a plastic jerry can (5 liter size) My English teacher John was my supplier, I needed it for a beach party at Babbacombe Beach, luckily I lived quite close, never fancied cider after that incidence………

10 Likes

Ahhh, that’s the reason you never ask for a cider when I’m hosting a beer tasting :thinking:

I really like Dartmouth but the beer scene is pretty shite there. So resurrected this thread because I saw that the Brewed Boy chain of bottle shops/micro pubs is opening a venue there shortly*.

*Who? This is actually their 5th venue but other than the one in Bath none of the others have been rated - original one in Frome, Sherbourne (where they also have the Imaginery Friends brewery) and a new one in some village in Somerset called Rooks Bridge.

2 Likes

I will be in Bath shortly, I must take a look.

I was considering an away trip to Frome vs Farnborough so I could go to the one there.