Cheers Jeremy.
Well, a whole Principality in one go, taking some sorting as I keep my records by county and Ratebeer by Districts. We are frequent visitors to the country and it has some lovely parts, and some pretty grotty bits too! I absolutely love Snowdonia, the Cambrians and the Brecon Beacons, had some great times in all of them and some pretty decent tales. Even better is the West Coast of Wales, done it in bits so far but the next project is to the whole of it, should be great.
The pubs can be hit or miss we have found. I remember when a few of us had done the Snowdon Horseshoe walk, a classic. We hit a pub in a remote village in the evening and it was quiz night. The beer was going down well, so we joined in. The first 3 or 4 rounds we were going like a train, in the lead, however, what we didn’t know was the last round was completely in Welsh, needless to say we didn’t win, but it was a great laugh.
Our last visit was in 2017, when my son got married on the in-laws farm in Cardiganshire, probably the hottest day the country has ever seen and it was a very special day. Sport wise, been to both Cardiff grounds and the National Arena for a play off final, beating Norwich. Swansea also, still never been to a good pub in Swansea though. That’s about it.
I have had 711 beers from the Principality placing me in 3rd place, must be a contender for 1,000 rates in a few years. My Welsh beers average 3.21, which is bang on average for me. My 711 beers have been across 99 Breweries, just spotted that, must get one more together for the 100 which incidentally would put me equal first with the phone lover, hunting a new Welsh Brewery high in the targets now.
The Welsh Breweries I have had most beers from are –
- Tiny Rebel – 83
- Brains – 50
- Hopcraft Brewing – 50
- Evan Evans Brewery – 25
- Polly’s Brew – 25
I have scored 29 Welsh beers with a 4 or over.
The Best Beers I have had from Wales are –
- Otley Calif-O-rnia Gold – 4.5
- Otley O5 – 4.2
- Newmans Spring Cottage Biscuit – 4.2
- Tiny Rebel XLPA – 4.2
- Hopcraft Something Must Break – 4.2
The Breweries with my highest average mark for Wales are (5 beers and over) –
- Pollys Brew – 3.679
- Newmans (Closed) – 3.562
- Otley Brewing (Closed) – 3.527
- Lines Brew Co. – 3.48
- Hopcraft (Closed) – 3.456
I have reviewed just 39 places in Wales with a rather lowly average of 59. Hoping to top these up in 2022.
My favourites were –
- Myrddins Café Bar, Barmouth, Gwynedd – 84
- Hopbunker, Cardiff – 84
- Parrot Music Bar, Carmarthen, Dyfed – 82
- City Arms, Cardiff – 80
- Tiny Rebel, Newport, Gwent – 74
- Kilverts Inn, Hay on Wye, Powys – 72
- Tiny Rebel, Cardiff – 70
Looking forward to my 100th Welsh Brewery, hope it’s a good one.