Having A Wales Of A Time At Polly's....

New blogging territory for me as I went to North Wales last weekend for a little break and check out a recently-opened taproom by one of my favourite brewers. Here's what I found in what is a lovely part of the world....

It's not like Wales (the North bit at any rate) is that far away, and over the years I have visited it many times, but I have never got round to visiting on a beer-based trip. Which is a bit harsh on the Principality really, as there have been some pretty consistent long-standing entries in the Good Beer Guide. Leaving aside cities like Cardiff, Swansea, and Newport in the South and going for the closer parts, along the North Wales coast, Caernarfon, Conwy, and Colwyn Bay for example all have three pubs in the current guide, whilst Llandudno has five, so there are plenty of reasons to head over there.

Further east and a little inland, Mold's three Good Beer Guide pubs have recently been joined by a new taproom run by local craft brewers Polly's, and having very much enjoyed their beers for a few years now, it didn't need a lot of thinking about to decide make this the focus for my first blogging trip to Wales. I would need to drive there as the town's railway station closed in 1962, so where to stay? There didn't seem to be a lot of options in Mold itself, so I started to look around at nearby places from where I could catch a bus. I'd been in a Wetherspoons recently and had been reading through their list of hotels, and I realised they had one nearby in Ruthin, a small market town situated in the Vale of Clwyd about 10 miles from Mold and so I booked to stay there for a couple of nights.

The Vale of Clwyd

The heavy Friday afternoon traffic meant that what should have been a two hour journey took almost three, although the last part of the journey on the A494 through the Clwydian Mountains was most enjoyable as it took me through some spectacular countryside, and a final steep descent involving hairpin bends and switchbacks made for a dramatic finale as we got closer to Ruthin. After driving round quiet streets for a few minutes I chanced upon the long stay car park where as usual the machine wasn't working meaning I was forced to download and register with yet another parking app.

It was about 5 minutes walk away up the hill to my home for the next couple of days, the Castle Hotel, which is situated in the attractive St Peter's Square in the centre of town. Like a number of Wetherspoons hotels, it is a former traditional rambling town hotel where they maintain the hotel as it was and with a separate entrance that means you can avoid the pub if you want to. I have to say that my room was comfortable and quite spacious, as was the bathroom, and rather better than the average Travelodge or Premier Inn, Downstairs in the bar, unfortunately from a beer point of view it was rather disappointing: the usual stalwarts of Ruddles, Abbot, and Old Speckled Hen, plus Doom Bar and Jaipur, with no guests. So essentially it was Hobson's choice and reluctantly I went for a Doom Bar. As it is supposedly the best-selling cask beer in the country, I'd liked to have said it was really good, I can understand why it's so popular, and that I have missed out on drinking it regularly. But of course I couldn't, it was extremely disappointing and tired, and only worthy of a NBSS rating of 2.5.

Just off the other side of the square which contained, unusually for Wales, several attractive old black and white buildings, was what turned out to be more of a local's pub. The Wine Vaults is a striking white-painted building with a veranda in front. I walked in to what was a pretty traditional town pub, with a room to the left housing a pool table and the room to the right was fairly basic, almost spartan, but several of the tables and seats at the bar were taken. There were a couple of beers on hand pump, both from Welsh breweries unlike across at the Castle, Rev James, a 4.5% premium bitter from Brains, and Snowdonia Ale (or Cwrw Eyryi, as it is known in Welsh) from the well-established Porthmadog brewery Purple Moose. I ordered a pint of this light golden bitter which despite its low ABV of 3.6% had plenty of flavour, and was well-balanced with a dry, bitter finish (NBSS 3.5). I sat at one of the only vacant tables and looked around as I drank my beer. A couple of guys at the next table, pints of Guinness in front of them, were chatting away in Welsh (according to the 2021 census, 38% of the local community identified as Welsh speakers). I got a second pint, the guys at the next table each had another Guinness, and they were joined by another guy who walked in assisted by a single crutch. Due to the space, he perched on the end of my table. We got chatting - in English, I hasten to add - and the Welsh speakers switched to English, and introduced themselves as Rob, Rhys, and Alwyn. It turned out they all sang in the local male voice choir as did the young guy behind the bar, also called Rob, to whom I was introduced in Welsh when I went for my next pint - dyma Chris o Yorcs, mae o'n hoffi cwrw! I was shown a video clip of the choir performing on tour in San Sebastian in Spain, as cheers erupted from the pool room. Everyone was very friendly and eager to chat to this visitor from Yorkshire, and it was the same the following evening when I called in after my day in Mold. A pub that has no frills and pretensions, but one that I would highly recommend if you find yourself in Ruthin.

And so to Mold, or Yr Wyddgrug to give it its Welsh name. I'd had a leisurely Spoons breakfast and wandered down to the local Co-op, from where I caught the bus to what has been the administrative centre of Flintshire County Council since 1996, and before that Clwyd from 1974 to 1996. I arrived just after 12 after a spectacular ride through the mountains, and for some reason or another I decided to get off the bus before the bus station. It meant I had arrived in an unknown town without a clue of which direction to go so, having wandered through the busy market on the high street, I went for a cup of tea in a nice-looking cafe which unfortunately reeked of bacon fat, where I planned my day.

The market on Mold High Street 

Tea drunk, I walked back towards High Street and turned down Earl Road where I found a craft bar called Beer Lab which has a sister bar in Heswall on the Wirral. I was the first customer in for the day and got chatting to the lady behind the bar as she served me a half of Sunrise from Hafod off one of the hand pumps. This was from a brewery that has been based in Mold since 2011, and I found this 3.8% golden beer in fine form (NBSS 3.5). The Beer Lab is situated in a modern building at the side of a square where there was some more market-style activity going on. I liked the place, and so I got a half of the 4.2% Elderflower Ale from Purple Moose (NBSS 3) before I left, and whilst I didn't order any of the beers on tap the kind lady gave me a taster of the Carrot Cake from Scottish sour specialists Vault City. Weighing in at 8%, it was spectacular, though not sour at all, and with vanilla and a hint of ginger coming through it was dangerously delicious!

Beer Lab, Mold

Not far away on a precinct in the Daniel Owen Shopping Centre (named after the 19th century Welsh novelist who was born in the town) I found the the reason I had been drawn to this corner of North East Wales. Polly's Social opened last month and is the first taproom for the brewery who are based on a farm just outside Mold. The brewery was set up in 2018 by Sean Wheldon in former stables that had housed the family horse, Polly, whose named was adopted for the new venture, with the emphasis on brewing fresh, modern, hop-forward US-style beers. The beers took off and expansion was rapid, the stables soon becoming too small and the brewery moved into a bigger space on the farm where a modern state-of-the-art brewhouse was developed. The team expanded too, from an initial two employees to the current total of 15 as Polly's beers continued to grow in popularity and the brewery came to be the highest-rated in Wales. 

Unusually for a modern craft-focussed brewery, Polly's had never had a taproom until now. It occupies two former retail units and with one of them opened up on to the street and the use of light wood and gleaming steel throughout gives the place a modern, welcoming look (opening image). There were plenty of staff both behind the bar and walking the floor, and whilst I felt they were finding their feet, they were all very friendly. The bar is facing you as you walk in, whilst to the left there is a large open serving hatch with a modern and busy-looking kitchen beyond. I walked up to the bar and was greeted by a bank of 5 hand pumps, which was not a sight I was expecting to see, as I was not aware that Polly's had ever brewed cask! So I had to try a pint, so I went for a pint of Floret, the brewery's 4.2% juicy hazy pale, a beer I have drunk many times on keg or from a can. And it made for a great start to the day (NBSS 3.5), with no discernible change in character. But as the likes of Deya and Verdant have gone from keg-only to embracing cask as an important part of their offering it shouldn't be too much of a surprise I suppose.

For the rest of the visit I sampled a few halves from the wide number of kegs on offer, ranging from the 5.2% Little Petal, a West Coast pale featuring Cascade and Simcoe giving the beer a crisp and clean hop bitterness to Spur, a 7.2% IPA with a hop bill of Azacca, Citra and Simcoe resulting in an intense tropical flavour with hints of papaya, peach, tangerine and mango on both the nose and in the flavour. I particularly enjoyed the single hop Strata and Some DDH, a 5.5% with a full-on passion fruit flavour, All that beer was making me hungry so I decided to give the food a try. As part of the menu they offer a range of small plates and I tried three of them - Seafood Arancini, stuffed with prawn, scallop, and rice and served with a lemon aioli, Grilled Wye Valley Asparagus with a wild garlic pesto and shaved Parmesan, and Crispy Belly Pork with Hasselback potato and a parsley veloute. All were cooked to perfection and absolutely delicious!

I enjoyed my visit to Polly's, the beer and food were excellent and there was a very relaxed atmosphere to the place, which had a steady flow of customers with some like myself lingering for an hour or two. Clearly it is early days and they are still finding their way and I would like to visit once again when they have have been open for a few months to see how things are settling down. But who needs an excuse!

I was conscious that the last bus back to Ruthin was at quarter to 6, and with time moving on I wanted to try another couple of places listed in the Good Beer Guide before I left. I re-traced my steps and with the market now gone from the square for the day, I headed over to the Mold Alehouse, or Tafarndy Yr Wyddgrug as the sign outside described it, which was diagonally opposite the Beer Lab where I'd been earlier. Situated within a Grade ll-listed building near to the town hall, it is a popular micropub which opened in 2016 and was CAMRA Pub of the Year for Wales in 2022. It was very busy when I walked in to what is basically a single room bar split into two parts, the bar being located at the far end as you go in. There were four hand pumps on the bar along with 5 keg lines, and I ordered a pint of the 4.2% Bastion Bitter from the Big Hand Brewery who are based on the outskirts of Wrexham. After the modern beers I'd just had it was a pleasant contrast to enjoy a traditional amber bitter beer, and it was served in great condition (NBSS 3.5) in what was a very friendly bar,

With time running out I set off towards the bus station. On the way I came to the other CAMRA Good Beer Guide entry in Mold town centre, the Gold Cape, which is the local Wetherspoons, which at first glance with its gold lettering on a blue background looked like an amusement arcade. Its unusual name refers to a 4,000 year old ceremonial gold cape which was discovered near Mold in 1831, and is recognised as possibly the finest example of prehistoric craftsmanship in Europe. It has been restored and is now held in the British Museum, whilst a copy is held in Mold Library. It features along with other local historic events in panels displayed on the walls of what appears to be a small Spoons, but from a narrow frontage it goes back quite a way. It was busy, but I managed to get to the bar quite quickly and was pleased to see a wider choice of beer than in Ruthin. I ordered a half of Firewall from Salopian, which the pump clip described as being a Junior IPA. It was 4.5%, so I don't know what would qualify as a Senior! It was ok (NBSS 3), but like the pub, not particularly memorable.

I walked down to the bus station and not long afterwards the bus to take me back to Ruthin appeared and we were soon heading back up into the hills on what had been an excellent day. I enjoyed my trip and I don't think it will be long before I am back to Wales again....

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