The All New Weekly Stat Attack: 1 Wales

When we were last there you could get bottles of a local Welsh beer in the cafe on the top of Snowdon, which you could drink while taking in the views.

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I will definitely do that if I’m there. Thanks

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Yeah…well it quite frequently appears in the media alongside mentions of the Welsh Assembly (also no longer a thing) and complete inaccuracies, so an understandable mistake.

Incidentally, if anyone is ever in Cardiff and fancies a beer or needs help with Region ticks, give me a shout!

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South Wales is reasonably accessible for me (direct trains to Cardiff), so most of my beer drinking trips have involved journeys to Cardiff. Swansea maybe once or twice. I’ve never been for a drink around Newport.

I’ve rated a massive 30 Welsh beers & ciders (plus one mead) with an average of 3.24, I have managed to tick all 8 regions, via 16 breweries (3 closed), 2 cideries plus one meadery. Tiny Rebel with 9 nine rates is my most ticked Welsh brewery, no huge surprise there.

Top rated beers:

  1. Mabinogian Mead Transformation to Eagle 4.8 (WTF!)
  2. Polly’s Brew DDH Pines 4.3
  3. Polly’s Brew The Weekend Radio 4.0
    4.Tiny Rebel Imperial Puft 3.6
  4. Wild Horse The Serpent & the Worm 3.6
    Plus a couple of others with the same score

I’ve rated six venues, my favourites were:

  1. Small Bar, Cardiff 86 (closed)
  2. Tiny Rebel, Cardiff 86
  3. Hopbunker, Cardiff 84
  4. Brewdog, Cardiff 82
  5. City Arms, Cardiff 78

I should get the train up and visit a few more venues.

Cheers

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My highest rating at GBBF 2019 was in fact a mead.

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Sadly Hop Bunker is also no more and the City Arms is on the market and no longer sells anything of interest (I gather all the keg lines have been stripped out).

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Interesting new stat attack which I’m a couple of weeks behind on, Wales is a country I visited 6 times, twice as a child with my parents, with my school, in the late nineties enroute to Ireland with my late grandads clapped out Ford Orion when I consumed much less alcohol.
Back in 2014 I made a tour in my wife’s mini through the border region going North visiting Rhymney, Otley & the Bunch of Grapes in Pontypridd, the rustic charms of the Neuadd Arms Hotel in Llanwrtyd Wells, home of the Heart of Wales brewery as well as the World Bog snorkling Championships, Man v Horse Marathon and Mountain Bike Chariot Race, Hay-on-Wye for the books rather than the beer, I really enjoyed Llangollen with the walk upto the brewery at the Abbey Grange Hotel, the Chainbridge hotel, the Corn Mill & the Ponsonby Arm making a good day out with scenery, walking, fresh air & beer.
Most recently in the glorious April of 2019 I was blessed with 5 days of sunny dry weather and made a highly enjoyable tour of Swansea & the Gower, Tenby & West Wales, highlights been the Pilot in Mumbles, hiking upto the Joiners Arms home of Swansea brewery, Victoria Inn in Roch serving 3 of there own excellent beers & the Gwaun Valley brewery tap. Unfortunately as @minutemat mentioned the timeless gem had been shut by a fire, I hope it has been able to reopen. The Pembrokeshire coastline made for some great hiking.

Pleasant surprised to just make the top 50 raters in the country, equal 48th with 162 ratings.
Dyfed is my best rated region (where ever that is!) placing 13th with 38 ratings
Best beers - Tomos a Lilford Cwrwgl & Loka Polly IPA Ekuanot Simcoe with a 4.0
Best Brewery - Tiny Rebel with an average 3.46 over 8 beers
Best beer shop - Fire & Ice in Narbeth
Best brewpub - Pilot Inn, Mumbles

I can’t wait to go back, and my wife is pretty keen to make her first visit, we just hope the weather will be as kind the next time as well!

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Bump, for more posts!

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I’ve got a lot of catching up to do on these threads - sorry @BlackHaddock!

I have been to Wales many, many times (both hillbagging and family holidays), so I know my arafs from my heddlus (although I almost certainly pronounce them wrong!). It’s a gorgeous country, and although the beer scene was historically a little behind the times, it’s definitely started to catch up recently.

I’ve rated 102 beers from Wales (my 4th most-rated country). They’re fairly evenly spread between the counties with the exception of West Glamorgan where I’ve only had 3. Like many other countries and regions, I stopped targeting Welsh beers once I hit 100 (darkest blue), but now that it’s regionalised I’ll definitely start picking them up again.

My top beers come from quite a mix of different breweries:

I’ve had beers from 38 breweries, 2 cideries and 3 meaderies. As a particularly obscure stat, I’m in fact joint top in the list of most Welsh meaderies rated, which must be about the only list I do top! My most rated producer is brains with 14 rates, with Tiny Rebel and Conwy a distant second (6 rates each). My highest rated producer (5 rates or more) is Tiny Rebel at 3.35.

I’ve rated 11 places, which makes Wales my second highest country for place ratings. My place ratings come from 4 Welsh counties, and my top rated place is the Fire & Ice bottle and ice cream shop in Narbeth. I think the amazing ice cream may have boosted my score for that one!

My favourite areas are:

  • the whole Pembrokeshire coast, but especially Skomer Island - the puffins, lizards, seals and spectacular sunset made that an amazing day out.
  • Anglesey generally, but especially the religious islands of Ynys Llanddwyn and Church Island, which in different ways are quite amazing places.
  • Snowdonia - if you can get away from the crowds (not so easy these days!).

I’d also like to back up @BlackHaddock on his two bridges, they really are impressive structures.

@Jow, if you’re doing the three peaks challenge I suspect you’ll be guided towards the long boring slog with the crowds up the Llanberis Path. If you’re doing Snowdon in daylight and fancier a quieter, shorter and more attractive path up consider the Rhyd Ddu path - we only saw 5 other people on that when we climbe it a couple of years back (on a day when there were long queues on the summit). You can make the Rhyd Ddu even nicer by swinging out around the Allt Maenderyn, although not if you’re pushed for time.

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Take your time posting on these threads mate, It’s OK to be late sometimes, helps to Bump them up too. Others may follow who missed them earlier.

<*))))))><

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Thanks. These aren’t normally the types of peaks I’d go guided on but mostly relying on for transportation ( i can rest between without driving); and also since I have such limited time and it’d be fairly arduous having a group setting would be great, but i agree probably taking most standard route up all 3. below is link to the guide company i picked out for future. still theoretical until my father in law and his golf buddies pick a year to go back to scotland.