Week 9 takes us into Home Counties territory. It is the county immediately north of London partly within the M25 as well as stretching up to Cambridgeshire in the north. Whilst not being the largest town in the county Hertford remains County Town. There is one designated city in the county, which is St Albans, which draws its name from the first British saint, St. Alban. The settlement goes back to the Iron Ages, named as Verulamium but was vastly increased under Roman occupation becoming the second largest city behind Londinium. Verulamium was sacked by Boudica’s troops in 61AD, never really returning to same importance as at its height.
Hertfordshire came under the influence of the Anglo Saxons after the Roman withdrawal, Hertfordshire really coming into being during this time. Power transferred initially to Mercia but it became the front line during the Norse / Danish attacks then to Edward the Elders Saxons after his victories. The Normans received the surrender of the English lords at Berkhamstead, completing their initial conquests. The county grew in importance along with the growth of London.
The Chiltern hills are the dominant geographic feature, while the River Lea runs through the county, south to its confluence with the Thames in London. The largest towns are Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Watford and St. Albans.
Ratebeer has 22 Active and 14 Closed Breweries in Hertfordshire, totalling 36, of which 6 are client / commissioner’s including both Tesco’s and Ocado.
The oldest active Brewery we have is McMullen (Est 1827) which is by quite some distance. The brewery is very traditional in its products and still holds 23 pubs through the region and into London, some very famous like The Nags Head and The Old Bank of England in London.
The Brewery that we have with the largest range is Tring Brewery with 238 beers on our site, made up of many one off special beers and seasonals.
Mad Squirrel Brewing were named as the Best Brewery for Hertfordshire in 2019 on here and their Mad Squirrel Bust Le Nut named as best beer. There was no new brewery award made.
The Top 10 beers overall for Hertfordshire on Ratebeer are –
- Mad Squirrel Hold Your Nerve
- Mad Squirrel Roadkill
- Mad Squirrel Bust Le Nut
- Mad Squirrel Triumvirate
- Mad Squirrel Saturation Point
- McMullen Stronghart
- Mad Squirrel De La Creme Stout
- New River Blind Poet
- Pope’s Yard Creme Brulee Stout
- Mad Squirrel Sumo
The Top 5 Places for Hertfordshire (pubs / bars) are –
- Land of Liberty, Peace and Plenty, Heronsgate – 83
- Rising Sun, Berkhamsted – 81
- Mermaid, St. Albans – 79
- Lower Red Lion, St. Albans – 77
- Tring Brewery Tap, Tring – 73
There are 3 Beer cellars high in the list for Hertfordshire –
- BEER:Shop, St. Albans – 87
- Brewery Shop Berkhamsted (Mad Squirrel), Berkhamsted – 84
- BEER:Shop, Hitchin – 84
The Top 5 Raters of Hertfordshire Beers are –
You will require just 36 Hertfordshire Ratings to get into the top 50 at present.
The person who resides in Hertfordshire with the most ratings on Ratebeer is –
@mR_fr0g – very active