Hillsborough Social

Our annual Hillsborough Social took place on Friday 21 Feb at The Pangolin on Middlewood Road. On arriving from town, after meeting an old St Luke’s friend, there was a healthy dozen or so drinkers ready to sample the delights the district has to offer. 

My drink of choice was Brid’s Cross, a brewery I was not familiar with, Ash and Elm, a pale with piney, malty notes. A very pleasant APA of 4.5%. 

Next was the short hop over the tram tracks to the excellent little Micropub, The Beekeeper. This bar always has 3 pumps on, one normally being a new Neepsend brew. To that end, I sampled their Muisca, a 5.5% American IPA. 

Heading to Hillsborough corner, we popped in the Northern Monkey who are making an effort to stock 2 cask, one of which was the nice Doctor Morten’s Duck Baffler, a simple American pale ale of 4.1% for easy quaffing. 

Across the traffic lights sits The Hillsborough Tap, always quite lively and has 5 cask pumps. Unfortunately, they had the SWFC match on, and it wasn’t going well, so after a quick half, we made our way to the Rawson Spring. 

This Wetherspoon establishment is set in the old swimming baths, and the spectator gallery is still visible. There is always a selection of 5-6 guest ales, and at a very good price with your CAMRA voucher. Mine was a pale, although being later in the night, I forgot to note it. 

Finally, to conclude the evening, we decamped to the Beer House S6. This larger ale bar has a regular 5 cask, a cider on handpump, then 4-5 keg. There always seems to be a Two by Two or a Big Trip on, so a safe pair of hands on choice. 

So, another one over, and again a good turnout to support this thriving little beer community.