Brook House Inn, Holmrook

On my latest visit to what has become my favourite pub in Eskdale I chose halves of two out of the four beers on the bar. Carlisle Cumbrian Bitter was NBSS 4, a very well presented but fairly straightforward Norther bitter. Cross Bay Hops Be Trippin' was something else: first of all it had to overcome my prejudice against stupid names, then on the initial taste there didn't seem to be much going on - very good condition but fairly ordinary. Then on the swallow there was a burst of flavour, freshly chopped herbs or something, bursting dramatically in the mouth and nose, quite extraordinary. As I was recording my NBSS 4.5 in the GBG app I noticed that this pub is not in the Good Beer Guide this year, whereas another pub just up the road, where I had two poor quality beers poorly served the previous evening, is. I know that GBG entries are not based on one visit by one drinker, but something seems to have gone wrong here. Clearly I need to come here more often, to boost the scores for this brilliant pub! (It's quite a bit cheaper here too.)