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.)

Eskdale has become my most often visited Lake District valley in the last two or three years, so I have, as you'd expect, visited this and the other pubs quite a lot. The beer here, in my experience, is always good and often a bit less pricey than at the Woolpack up the road. They often have a Barngates beer (brewed at the Drunken Duck outside Hawkshead): Cracker, Tag Lag or the excellent Goodhew's Dry Stout. Although the interior of the pub strikes me as being a little too food oriented (each table, made from a slice of tree trunk, has its own place mats especially designed to cope with the distorted surface), there is a pleasant sun trap at the front for those magical days of unexpected sunshine. Eskdale is a beautiful valley with high level walks not far away, but the woodland walks near the river and the nearby falls are very relaxing, with the prospect of a beer adding to their charms.