A beer in Beer? Don't mind if I do... a box ticked on my travels

The bar at the Dolphin, the highlight of the pubs in Beer, owned by the historic Hall & Woodhouse brewery.

A bit of a travelogue for my latest piece, as I fulfilled a long-held whimsical idea to have a beer in Beer.

Beer is an absolutely delightful village on the south Devon coast, a seaside village without amusement arcades but with beach huts, deckchairs for hire, clifftop walks and the opportunity to buy the day’s catch from the fishing boats hauled up on the beach – a list of updated prices is at the seafront.

I hadn’t heard of it until my good friends Mick and Helen returned from a trip there and presented me with a BEER cloth patch, on account of my liking for beer, of course.

A quick digression… the patch came in an envelope exactly the same colour and size as one containing a restaurant voucher which I had bought as a wedding gift for two colleagues. In a rush, I sent the patch to them for their wedding, along with a card. They were too polite to mention it but, suitably embarrassed, I did get in touch and sort it out when I realised the mistake. They got their meal in the end.

Deckchair hire, and plenty of it, is a big feature of the beach at Beer in Devon.

Anyway, the idea of going to Beer stayed with me, as I had a couple more recommendations for the village from people whose opinion I value, and, last week, I finally made it. Sad to report, then, that the beer in Beer is not spectacular… but all was not lost.

The best of Beer, beer-wise, is in the Dolphin, a vast pub run by Hall & Woodhouse, independent Dorset brewers who will have been around for 250 years next year. While it is food-led and needs to be, given its size, the Dolphin had three beers on and the traditional bitter Fursty Ferret was most enjoyable. I drank it in an armchair in plush, wood-panelled surroundings, with lots of artefacts on display.

Apologies, but the "beer in Beer" selfie was promised in a weak moment...

I knew there was a pub called Barrel of Beer, obviously a neat name, and I’d decided in advance to take a selfie outside it. The sight of a Doombar pump upon entry was deflating. It seems to be the pub the locals frequent, which is no bad thing of course.

Perhaps I expected a more imaginative choice of beers but there was a pale, hoppy one from Branscombe Brewery, based in the neighbouring village. There was nothing wrong with this one, just a bit sharp for my tastebuds.

The other pub I saw was also large, with food and accommodation, the Anchor, right opposite my BnB, the entirely appropriately-named and highly recommended Bay View Guest House.

Well, I’m afraid prejudices got the better of me and the words “Greene King” on the wall stopped me from venturing into the pub.

On my second day in Beer, I took the cliff-top walk to Branscombe, not a long one but quite steep in parts and the downhills are as tough on my old knees as the uphills.

You would almost miss Branscombe Brewery as you pass by but for the tell-tale pile of casks.

Arriving in the village, I passed the brewery itself, not far from the beach in old farm buildings. It wasn’t open but, piled high with empty casks outside, did not look unlike many other small country breweries.

The Mason’s Arms in Branscombe had also come recommended and with good reason, a traditional old gem with several rooms, again with a good food choice and with most welcoming staff.

It’s a St Austell Brewery pub but they also had a Branscombe beer on and this one I found much more to my taste, again a traditional bitter (they prefer to call it “amber ale”) called Summa This.

The Masons Arms at Branscombe came recommended and did not disappoint.

St Austell’s own Tribute and Proper Job were alongside. Proper Job appears up here a lot, so I opted for Tribute and very good it was too.

The following day, I was on a mission. My old work colleague and friend, Peter Green, says that the Square & Compass at Worth Matravers, on the Dorset coast, is his favourite pub in the world and he’s been on at me to make it there for years, so I did.

The Square & Compass at Worth Matravers in Dorset is a traditional gem of a pub and hugely popular.

Well, it lived up to its billing. It is indeed another traditional gem and worth finding but it’s also extremely popular and queuing down a narrow corridor to be served at a hatch doesn’t lend itself to quick service. That said, the staff were well-versed and handled the rapid turnover of pies, pasties and pints very well – you would have waited as long at a traditional bar, probably.

A mild ruby ale, not really ruby in colour, called Tiger Tom, from Cerne Abbas Brewery, was a lovely drink, among a selection of five from local breweries. The village itself is better known for the Cerne Abbas Giant, that well-endowed naked man with a club etched into a hillside!

The Square & Compass is not far from Corfe Castle, a National Trust property not to be missed… as long as you are into ruined old castles of course.

And with that, I was off back to Derbyshire. An enjoyable few days but also with the reminder that we are very fortunate around these parts to have the wide variety of beers and breweries that we do.