The Bar of Doom

Or a welcome respite from a Saturday shopping trip, the Bluebell Inn in Emsworth offers a safe environment where husbands can be left for a few hours allowing wives to concentrate on the important work of retail therapy.

For readers who may be unfamiliar with English ale, Doom Bar is a west country beer named after an infamous sandbar at the entrance to the Camel estuary on the north Cornwall coast.

The head brewer claims "The aroma of Doom Bar combines an accomplished balance of spicy resinous hop, inviting sweet malt and delicate roasted notes. The mouth feel is a perfectly balanced and complex blend of succulent dried fruit, lightly roasted malty notes and a subtle yet assertive bitterness. The bitterness remains into the finish with dry fruity notes which implore the drinker to go back for more." I have to confess that on occasions I have been temped to exceed the recommended daily limit for alcohol.

Please beware English beers are an acquired taste, they should be served warm with a piece of rusty chain in the bottom of the glass for added flavour!