Courage in The White House

The bank holiday just gone was a bit of a let down for me. A few glimpses of sun through the cloud and the colourful Chapeltown Carnival were all I really saw that brightened up the prevailing dull weather. To make matters worse I will be running Nottingham Marathon on the 13th (ominous date) of September meaning that I am currently experiencing a three week self-imposed ‘wagon’ journey. Or at least I am as on the wagon as someone who jointly runs a real ale blog can be….

My first stop on bank holiday Monday was the Seven arts centre in Chapel Allerton. An iced, sparkling spring water later we had decided to head to Roundhay for some food, hopefully a brief walk in the park during a break in the cloud and, most importantly of all, the one pint that my ration book allowed me for the day.

Prior to moving to Roundhay a couple of months ago now I had never stepped foot in The Roundhay Fox but my impression from driving past in the car was that it was a vibrant sort of place, no surprise given it’s near perfect position for the park and good reputation around town. My first visit there was for drinks only and the range available was top drawer for this type of gastro chain, both the bottled and draught selection were varied and interesting, I could drink in there for hours. Unfortunately my subsequent visits for food did not do the drinks range justice. Perhaps it was because on both occasions we were arriving at odd times (3.30 on a Sunday and 9 on a Friday – not exactly peak times for food) but the service had not been great and in all honesty the food quality had not really justified the prices. Anyway, I will go back and try The Fox at more appropriate times but for the Bank Holiday (and as it was 4pm) I didn’t want to risk it and headed instead to The White House.

The White House is easily accessible from either of the gates from the park onto the Wetherby Road. Simply turn right out of the park and it is a few hundred yards up the road on the right, set back up a drive from the hustle and bustle of the main road. It has Cask Marque accreditation and usually has between two and four draught ales on at any one time. The place is large with a bar area, designated dining area and outside tables designated as non-smoking so that people can eat outside if they wish. We opted for this but, after some attention from a couple of wasps, wished we hadn’t!!

On this day the choice was between Bombardier and Courage Best. I opted to for the Best but, as I did not want it sitting on the table getting warm and tempting me while waiting for the food to come out, I asked the barman if it could come out with the food. This was no problem and a freshly poured pint followed by Chicken and Pepper Kebab Salad when it came out to the table. This might sound a bit lightweight given the poor weather but I had my training to think about and at least I now had some weaponry to fight back at the wasps with in the form of two sharp skewers – for the record I didn’t manage to skewer any!!

Turning back to the beer I must admit that I was patting myself on the back within about two mouthfuls. Courage Best is quite a light ale (in flavour rather than appearance although it is by no means dark in colour) and it sat really really well with what also turned out to be a very nice salad. The flavour was definite but not overpowering, much as the 4.0% abv would suggest, and may well have been overpowered itself if I had been drinking it with a stronger main course.

I was very much reminded of Fuller’s London Pride when drinking this as it seems to have the same ‘session-like’ qualities of not being too strong, not being overpowering to the palate and being smooth and non bloating in texture. I must admit that I came away feeling that I had done myself and Courage a bit of a disservice by sticking to the ration book on this one. I will be hunting it down like a dog once I’m shot of this wagon and having a session that would make Charles Kennedy blush!