AGM at The Wheatsheaf, Shedfield, 11th December 2014

After another year of dedicated devotion to duty in 2014, the gentlemen members of the Pie Club gathered together at The Wheatsheaf Inn, Shedfield for their annual general meeting.  Our choice of venue was, of course, an acknowledgement of the very special place in our hearts occupied by the Wheatsheaf.  We will never forget that momentous pie we were served in 2012 which won the Pie of the Year Award that year. Add to that the excellent range of Flowerpots Ales available here at very low prices and we have what has become the spiritual home of the Pie Club and the gold standard against which all other pubs are measured.  Knowing that our hosts, Tim and Sally, had laid on another very special pie for us, we were eager to get the formal business of the day completed quickly so that we could get on with the much more important business of tackling another Wheatsheaf pie.

We agreed that in future our annual award for excellence would be "The Pie Club Pub of the Year" rather than "The Pie of the Year". This is a more accurate reflection of the fact that our award is based not just on the quality of the pie, but also on the overall experience of the pub visit.

We then went on to consider which pub should receive this coveted award for 2014. Here are the scores for each of the pubs that we visited this year:

1. The Black Dog, Waltham Chase (27/11/2014): 22.34
2. The Bucks Head, Meonstoke (25/09/2014): 22.32
3. The Kings Head, Hursley (29/05/2014): 21.59
4. The Brewery Bar, Botley (24/04/2014): 21.54
5. The Ship Inn, Owslebury (23/01/2014): 21.13
6. The Rising Sun, Swanmore (30/10/2014): 21.07
7. The Hampshire Bowman, Dundridge (26/06/2014): 20.70
8. The Queen Inn, Winchester (24/07/2014): 20.58
9. The Brickmakers, Swanmore (27/03/2014): 19.98
10. The Hurdles, Droxford (28/08/2014): 19.20

It was a very close contest, with the Black Dog in Waltham Chase winning by a very narrow margin. Our hearts go out to Nicki and Shaun at The Bucks Head, who must have thought that with their bold imaginative move of serving us 2 pies each they had the award in the bag, and perhaps in any other year they would have won, but they were just pipped at the post by Peter and Kathy at the Black Dog with their equally bold and innovative idea of offering us a Sausage, Bacon & Black Pudding Pie. Commiserations are due to all the other venues - there were no bad pies here, and everyone did very well.  

Congratulations to Peter and Sally at The Black Dog for a well-deserved win. We are looking forward to our next visit to The Black Dog, in March, when we will present the award.

Now on to more important matters.  While we were deliberating over our AGM, we were well assisted by the excellent range of beers which were available:

We found that these ales were a great help in our decision making. Meanwhile, Sally had prepared a special Steak & Kidney Pie for us. When it was brought out for us there was a moment of respectful silence followed by a buzz of appreciation as we saw just how good it was. 

We helped ourselves.  Made with short crust pastry, and served with perfectly cooked carrots, brocolli and new potatoes, with a jug of gravy on the side, this was as near perfect as a pie can possibly be.

The end result was inevitable - a full set of empty plates and very happy gentlemen:

To use our usual methods to evaluate this experience would be an insult to all concerned. This experience is sublime. It is beyond evaluation. Suffice to say, this pub will continue to be the spiritual home of the Pie Club, and sets the standard by which all other pubs are measured. We are looking forward to our next visit to The Wheatsheaf, which will probably be in December for our next AGM, unless we can think of some excuse for not waiting as long as that. 

The Hampshire Bowman, Dundridge, 26th June 2014

Doug's choice for our June outing was another visit to one of our favourite local pubs,  The Hampshire Bowman.  Doug probably thought that this would be a safe choice as this pub won the coveted Pie of the Year award for 2011, and did very well on our last visit on 28th November 2012.   On our last visit the pub had just been taken over by a new landlord, Mark, and we were a bit suspicious of him, but of course we were prepared to give him a fair chance to make a go of things, and he was very reassuring to us, so we gave him the benefit of the doubt. And now we had a chance to see how he was getting on.

It being a very pleasant summer's day, we decided to walk there from Bishops Waltham.  Past experience has told us that this walk is just right: long enough to work up a bit of an appetite and a bit of a thirst, but not so long as to get us all exhausted.  So, we arrived fresh, and raring to get on with it. Externally, the place hasn't changed a bit.

As we walked in we immediately felt the welcoming atmosphere that this pub has always had, and suspected that we might be in for a long session.

As before, a glance at the beer board confirmed that the ales available here are up to the usual high standard that we've come to expect from this pub (or at least most of them are), and we were pleased to see that the prices hadn't gone up since our last visit:

Mark had kept true to his promise that there would always be at least 5 real ales available, so, as is customary, we started at the top of of the list and worked our way down, except for Tall Paul, who, as usual, preferred to stick to Guinness. So except for Paul we tried the Bowman Ales Swift One 3.8% first.  This has long been one of our favourite ales, so we were a bit disturbed when we noticed that it didn't taste the same as usual. We didn't think the beer was off, but it certainly tasted different.  We don't know if this was just a one-off glitch, or a permanent change. Pieman has raised a query with the brewers, and is awaiting a response. The other ales (Bowman Ales Wallops Wood 4%, Stonehenge Ales Eye-Opener 4.5%, Fullers ESB 5%, and Elgood's Black Dog 3.6% (a dark mild)) were all sampled and found to be very satisfactory. Tall Paul reported that the Guinness was "very good here", which means that it must have been exceptionally good, because he can be a difficult man to please sometimes.

For the pies, we were offered a choice of Chicken & Bacon Pie or Lamb & Leek Pie, served with seasonal freshly-cooked vegetables and mashed or chipped potatoes.

We had Lamb & Leek Pie last time we visited, and we were pleased to see that the pie prices hadn't gone up at all since our last visit. Here's what the Lamb & Leek Pie looked like this time, served with chips:

And this is what the Chicken & Bacon Pie looked like, served with mashed potatoes, which were very nicely presented:

As before, the pies had short-crust pastry all around, holding a filling crammed with meat and plenty of tasty gravy, but once again we noticed that the gravy had been pre-applied, whereas we prefer it to be served separately in a jug. The accompanying vegetables, and mashed potato were very nicely cooked, but the chips were perhaps a bit overdone.

Those of us who had room for puddings had a choice of Lemon Posset, Bread & Butter Pudding, or Summer Berry Crumble. They were all consumed with much pleasure.

The ambience of the pub was generally very good, although it was a very quiet mid-week lunchtime so there weren't many other customers around, and we sat outside for the meal, so really there was no ambience apart from the one we made for ourselves, but still, the weather was good it was very pleasant. Mark gave us a warm welcome as always; it was easy to get served at the bar; the table service was good; the pub was clean; and Mark has resisted the temptation to add unnecessary distractions such as music or fruit machines. It's still a dog-friendly pub, which can be a  problem for some, but the dogs were all well behaved.

On value for money the score was good. The pie was only £9. The beers are all very reasonably priced, and we were pleased to see that the prices haven't gone up over the last 19 months.

Scores (max. 5 in each category, 25 overall):

• Pastry 4.10
• Filling 4.13
• Beer 3.92
• Ambience 4.11
• Value 4.43
• Overall 20.7

Congratulations to Mark. This was a very enjoyable outing for us all. You have continued to maintain the high standards that we have come to expect at the Bowman, and you'll be relieved to hear that we no longer have any doubts about you.

The score of 20.7 is consistent with our previous score for the Bowman in 2013, which was 20.6, and is highly commendable (but stilll below the 21.5 they scored in 2011, when they won the Pie of the Year Award). Once again this means that the Bowman currently ranks 4th in the pubs we have visited this year. 

The next meeting would normally have been on 31st July 2014, but as several members will be at the Test Match that day (no doubt sampling the pies at the Rose Bowl), it has been brought forward to 24th July 2014.

The Hampshire Bowman, Dundridge, 28th November 2012

Since our last visit to one of our favourite local pubs,  The Hampshire Bowman, there has been mounting consternation among Pie Club members since we heard that the pub had closed. You will doubtless recall that when we visited there on 21st April 2011 the pie was rated very highly indeed, and in fact went on to win the coveted Pie of the Year award for 2011. So when we heard that the pub had reopened under new management, we felt obliged to pay a visit as soon as possible, but there was a problem.

After the wettest summer in a million years it still hasn't stopped raining, and conditions underfoot are really bad, making it virtually impossible for us to walk there. It's a delightful walk when conditions are good - not too far, but far enough to allow the walker to work up a decent thirst and a bit of an appetite - but under these conditions we decided for once to abandon our principles and go by taxi. So we met up outside The Bishops Waltham Tandoori (a fine curry house, by the way, but unfortunately they don't do pies there) and waited patiently for the taxi to arrive. Having ordered an 8-seater, a 6-seater came; the driver offered to do 2 trips instead of one, so some of us had a wait a little longer.

This was the first occasion on which all Pie Club members were present.

On arrival, things looked reassuringly unchanged:

 And as you walk into the pub the first thing to see is a sight to gladden the heart of any serious ale drinker:

A glance at the beer board confirmed that the ales available here are up to the usual high standard that we've come to expect from this pub (or at least most of them are):

When faced with such a choice of beers it was difficult to know where to start, so some of us took the easy option and decided to work our way down the list from top to bottom. Those who tried it all agreed that the Bushy's Ruby Mild was poor, probably getting near the end of the barrel, and had been reduced in price for a good reason. The other ales were all excellent, with special commendation for the South Sea Spice 3.9%, which has a subtle touch of ginger in it. The Guinness drinker remarked that the Guinness tasted a bit metallic.

We spoke to Mark, the new landlord

who did his best to allay all our concerns about the future of this pub by telling us that the only thing he plans to change is the service and staff morale, which seems fare enough. He confirmed that there will always be at least 5 ales available, and, being a free house, he intends to introduce new beers on a regular basis. And  there was evidence for this:

We'll see. He looks a bit young to be a pub landlord.

The menu looked very interesting, although smaller than we're used to, but allowances should be made for this being mid-week in winter:

 There being only one pie on the menu, Lamb & Leek, we all chose to have Lamb & Leek Pie. When it arrived it looked magnificent:

Short-crust pastry all around, holding a filling crammed with vegetables and succulent pieces of lean tender lamb and plenty of tasty gravy. The only slight criticism was that the gravy had been pre-applied, whereas we prefer it to be served separately in a jug. The accompanying vegetables, chips, and mashed potato were very nicely cooked, and there were plenty of them:

Judging by all the empty plates at the end of the meal, we all found it very satisfactory. Some of us even had room for a pudding, but there was NO CUSTARD! We had to make do with ice cream instead:

(Strictly speaking, puddings do not form part of our assessment as we are concerned only with pies and ales). 

The ambience of the pub was generally very good, although it was a quiet mid-week lunchtime so there weren't many other customers around. Mark gave us a nice welcome when we arrived; the pub was busy but not too crowded; it was easy to get served at the bar; the table service was excellent; the pub was clean; and there were still no unnecessary distractions such as music or fruit machines. A  problem for some is that this pub is a country pub and therefore attracts a number of people with dogs. In fact the new landlord owns dogs himself. On this occasion the dogs were all well behaved - no barking, scrapping, begging for food, and no dog mess on the floor. But all the same, some people don't like there being so many dogs in the pub, and our score for ambience reflects this.

On value for money the score was good. The pie was only £9. The beers are all very reasonably priced.

Scores (max. 5 in each category, 25 overall):

• Pastry 4.16
• Filling 4.28
• Beer 4.03
• Ambience 3.72
• Value 4.41
• Overall 20.6

Congratulations to Mark. This was a very enjoyable outing for us all. The score of 20.6 is not far off our previous score for the Bowman, which was 21.5, and is highly commendable. Some of us were surprised with the final outcome, which is that the Bowman ranks only 4th in the pubs we have visited this year. With a score of 22.7, the winner of the prestigious Pie of the Year Award for 2012 is The Wheatsheaf Inn, Shedfield, which we visited on 29th May.

Congratulations and thanks to all Pie Club members for another year of devotion to the cause. There will be no formal Pie Club meeting in December because of something called Christmas, but Pieman expects that there will be a number of informal gatherings, and reminds all members that Mince Pies are actually a form of pie and expects you all to do your duty.

The next meeting is arranged for 31st January 2013.