ADVENTURES WITH HIGHGATE MILD

To break away from the usual tales of relentless news of the EU takeover and occupation of our nation, which this blog mostly covers, there is a little cheer in my neck of the woods, Walsall, with the news that our one and only brewery in the town, Highgate brewery which went into receivership a short time ago, is on the verge of reopening and begin the process of brewing its unique dark mild ale once again.

Highgate mild was always a favourite tipple of mine; it first passed my lips in the now closed Duke of Wellington pub in Walsall, which had the reputation of serving the best Highgate mild in the town. Highgate was a beer that needed the services of an expert cellar-man and many pubs, sadly, were not up to the job of serving a pint of Highgate – which put many off the beer. However, if you went to a pub that knew what it was doing and took a sup of this sweet creamy beer it was just like drinking nectar. From my first swig of Highgate I was hooked.

The only trouble was, as mentioned, was finding a pub in my own locality that could serve it as it was supposed to be served. At one time I used to drink in the Three Crowns pub where we could walk to with the dog. It was a good pub with a friendly landlord and many people we knew went there too – but the Highgate was hit and miss there. One day the brewery announced it was going to spend £500,000 upgrading the pub – and promptly wrecked it – hence the reason it is now closed, so we all moved to the Broadway pub where you could get quite a good pint of Highgate.

I was quite happy in the Broadway, which had not changed too much since it first opened in the early sixties, although the little pool and fountain, which sat in the lounge bar just under the mural of leather making in Walsall, had long since gone. Sadly, that pub too became the victim of the upgrade and I no longer frequent it. One of my eternal claims to fame is in the fact that just days before the pub closed for its so-called ‘refurbishment’, when they were running everything down, I had the privilege of drinking the very last pint of Highgate mild ale ever to be served there.

I have now moved on to watering holes new, but since the Broadway I have seldom had the pleasure of a pint of Highgate, my regular these days, the Lyndon House Hotel, did not serve Highgate and it was back to bitter for me. However, with the return of the beer my adventures with Highgate mild ale, with luck, may return again one day – cheers!