Brunning & Price

Craft brewers still doing well - despite all our troubles

2011-02-28T17:42:00.026Z

Craft brewers are still bouncing along nicely, thanks, despite the dire state of economy, the decline in beer drinking generally, and damaging taxation.

The latest Local Brewing Industry Report 2011 from SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers) revealed that volumes for independent brewers grew 9% in 2010. While the overall beer market suffered a 3.9% decline, volumes among SIBA members grew by 8.8%. And the sheer variety of local beer exploded with many brewers trying different styles and a few even diverting from cask conditioned ales into keg and lager.

Some amazing figures: SIBA members produce around 2,500 cask beer brands a year, 3,500 seasonal ales and 1,750 bottled brands. In 1976 it was just 300.

These days a fair bit of that ale finds its way into B&P pubs through the outstanding dedication displayed by the valiant beer buyers in each pub. Some venture boldly where others fear to tread, but overall, they get it right and it is great to see the diverse range we can enjoy.

Much of this burgeoning of the brewers is down to the good work that SIBA, now with some near 500 members, has performed over the years – most notably achieving Progressive Beer Duty under the Labour government. Since this tax relief system was introduced in 2002, the number of SIBA brewers has doubled, their sales have doubled and the number of people employed has doubled.

PBD – also known as Small Brewers’ Relief – offers a reduction of up to 50% on duty to brewers producing fewer than 60,000 (around 37,000 brewer's barrels) hectolitres per year. Last year brewers in receipt of duty relief used it to build a sustainable business – increasing brewery capacity, installing new equipment, marketing and recruitment. The report reveals that 60% of respondents said they believed their brewery would fail if PBD were withdrawn. But SIBA also warns of a real threat to the future of this thriving industry – the punitive duty charged on beer in the on-trade and has called on the government to become more ‘joined up’ up’ in its approach to taxation across the brewing and pubs industries.

SIBA chief executive Julian Grocock said: “Introducing a lower VAT rate across the hospitality sector, and scrapping the duty escalator, would help to bring customers back to into pubs – helping to keep them, and the local breweries, in business and providing jobs at a time when they are sorely needed.”

Grocock concluded: “ We urge the government to think long and hard before making any decisions which could jeopardise the prospects for our young, vibrant sector and of the pubs upon which it depends.”

We should all say hear, hear to that.

World acclaim for our favourite ales

2011-02-23T15:19:00.098Z

Something has recently happened in the beer world for the first time in several years: the Brewing Industry International Awards took place in the UK. It all happened at the new National Brewing Museum in Burton-on-Trent.

The veritable ‘Oscars’ for brewing, they were last held a few years ago in Munich. These are the most prestigious brewing awards in the world covering every beer style on the planet (that we are aware of anyway) and judged by brewers themselves.

Around 800 beers entered the competition, from over 30 countries around the world including Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Norway and the USA, as well as the UK. Even Israel, Nambia and Cambodia were there!

The longest running international beer competition, first held in 1886, the awards were held first held in London, but moved to Burton-on-Trent Town Hall in the mid-1980s. Judges are the most highly respected brewers in the world. Uniquely, they are required to be currently working as brewers, ensuring that beers are assessed by experts with up to date industry knowledge.

Setting up the casks, kegs and bottles to be tasted took an amazing three days.Then over 3,000 glasses of beer were poured for tasting and almost 200 casks of ale tapped and sampled.

The awards are structured into nine categories, for different styles of beer – such as lager, strong ale, speciality beer – and then into 32 classes based on strength. All beers were tasted ‘blind’ and judges had no knowledge of which beers were competing until the winners were revealed. Gold, silver and bronze medal winners in each class were announced immediately after the competition, while the Championship Trophy winners in each category will be revealved at a London event in April (there is no overall winner).

These are the only major international awards to have a cask beer category. And some of B&P quaffer's favourite cask brews excelled there.

Moorhouse's Black Cat took the top gold award for beers up 2.9%abv to 3.8%. The Burnley boys have been dancing around the cauldron in delight ever since. This was the first big award for beer from the new brewery that was commissioned only at the end of last year. So a really terriffic start to their new year and 'new era'. Black Cat is a fantastic brew, one of those truly wonderful beers that punches way above its 3.4% weight in the taste stakes, with dark chocolate and coffee flavours combined with that moreish bitterness that instantly captures the tastebuds. You may have been lucky enough to catch it at the Harkers - one of several championship ales chosen for their sell out Pie Week.

Runner up on their section was Cumbria's impressive Hawkshead Windermere Pale. Often on parade around B&P pubs this is a splendid pale from the stable of ex TV foreign correspondent Alex Brodie and a great filip to his fast growing brewery - now based in Staveley and with a great beer hall to visit if you are in the Lakes.

Down in North Wales there was also a bit of celebrating going on - a bronze award going to Purple Moose for its Dark Side of the Moose in the dark beers category. As mentioned in the last blog this splendid beer comes from Lawrence Wasington in Porthmadog. Englishman Lawrence began brewing commercially only some five years ago, so will be very chuffed with this win as will his loyal following in North Wales.

Intriguingly, former Moorhouse's head brewer Ron Hill also saw an amazing success with two of his Highland Brewing Co beers pulling in accolades - Orkney IPA and Orkney Blast both won golds in their categories. Since Rob took his talents from Lancashire to the far North, we don't see much of his efforts south of the border these days.It will be interesting to see if any enterprising B&P beer buyer can get their hands on the stuff in the near future. Let's hope so.

There were several other deserving winners, including a gold for Jersey's Liberation Ale, which made brewer Paul Hurley very happy indeed (see photo below). Another brew we don't see anything off yet this sounds a delight - golden beer brewed with Maris Otter and lager malt, Goldings, Styrian Goldings and Hallertau Hersbrucker hops.

Here are the full results for the International Cask Ale Competition

Class 1 for Cask Ale 2.9% - 3.8% ABV AWARD
MOORHOUSE’S – BLACK CAT GOLD
HAWKSHEAD BREWERY- WINDERMERE PALE ALE SILVER
HOOK NORTON BREWERY – HOOKY DARK BRONZE

Class 2 for Cask Ale 3.9% - 4.3% ABV AWARD
LIBERATION BREWERY – LIBERATION ALE GOLD
ST AUSTELL BREWERY - TRIBUTE SILVER
EVAN-EVANS - CWRW BRONZE

Class 3 for Cask Ale 4.4% - 4.8% ABV AWARD
HIGHLAND BREWING CO LTD – ORKNEY IPA GOLD
OAKHAM ALES – BISHOPS FAREWELL SILVER
S A BRAIN – S A GOLD BRONZE

Class 4 for Cask Ale 4.9% - 6.9% ABV AWARD
HIGHLAND BREWING CO LTD – ORKNEY BLAST GOLD
WOODEFORDE’S – ADMIRAL’S RESERVE SILVER
JENNINGS – MARSTON’S PLC - SNECKLIFTER BRONZE

Hunting for the Moose in the mist

2011-01-20T10:47:00.206Z

Last week I had a little trip into North Wales. At least I thought it was, but couldn't see a thing as a thick, grey blanket of Celtic mist clung obstinately to Snowdonia.

However I did eventually confirm I was in the right place - I found my way to the Purple Moose brewery in Porthmadog.

This is a five year old craft brewery created by lucky Englishman Lawrence Washington; lucky enough to turn his brewing hobby into a thriving business while also pursuing his second passion - steam trains.

While working as a volunteer on the harbour town’s Ffestiniog Railway, he spotted the market for some beautifully crafted cask ale to complement the magnificent landscape. Now he combines brewing award winning ales with playing trains and even drives the maintenance engines.

Armed with little more than the quirky name he dreamt up while full mash home brewing in Cheltenham, Lawrence put together a ten-barrel brewery, with plant purchased from the Harvieston Brewery, in a former farmer’s warehouse.

The brews that followed clearly reflected his infatuation with North Wales: Snowdonia Bitter (Cwrw Eryri), Glaslyn Ale (Cwrw Glaslyn), Madog's Ale (Cwrw Madog) are in the core portfolio while many specials have been named from the heritage of the National Park. For the past two years the brewery has been named Product Ambassador in the Gwynedd Taste & Talent Awards – last year for a beer series celebrating Porthmadog’s 19th century sailing ships.

Showing me around the spacious brewery in Madoc Street, complete with shop for bottled sales (about a third of total sales), the self effacing Lawrence told me it has all gone better than he expected when he took the plunge and sold his house.

He achieved 40 barrels a week output at an early stage. At the time there were only a couple of craft brewers in North Wales. Now there’s competition from a dozen or so.

Nevertheless, Purple Moose continues to prosper. Last summer output hit 80 barrels a week - ready for the rush of business with the tourist trade in July and August.This year it should be more.

For many B&P cask lovers, who may just have helped with sales a bit, this will come as no surprise. Purple Moose beers (see Beer Page notes) sell well around the B&P estate; they are regularly on at the Pen-y-Bryn, the Pant-yr-Ochain and also often appear in Harkers, the Grosvenor, Dysart and Armoury. At the Glasfryn, Snowdonia Ale (3.6%) is a real flyer.

Snowdonia is the brewery's top seller, it’s easy to see why. This is golden pale ale, crisp, gently citrus and tart - brewed with pale and crystal malts together with Pioneer, Styrian Goldings and the Polish Lubelski hops. It started life as a summer special but is now a regular brew. In June 2009 it claimed CAMRA Champion Beer of Wales accolade and has won gold and silver awards in 2009 and 2010 respectively in the International Beer Challenge.

Glaslyn Ale (4.2%) is the flagship brew and won the best bitters category at the both Champion Beer of Wales competition 2006 and at the Champion Beer of Britain 2007. Golden coloured, it is named after the 'mighty river' that flows from 'Yr Wyfdda - Mt Snowdon - into the Irish sea.

Lawrence steps outside the National Park inspired monikers to indulge himself with Dark Side of the Moose (Ochr Tywyll Y Mws 4.6%). Delicious dark bitter, it displays rich liquorice and chocolate notes then fruity, spicy bitterness from the Bramling Cross hops. It scooped gold in the Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2008.

Following the brewery visit, I tried Madog’s Ale (3.7%abv) at the very splendid Pen-y-Grwyd Hotel – a regular outlet for Lawrence.

This dark amber coloured beer – a tribute to the legendary Prince - is another low gravity quaffing joy. It was a finalist in the CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain Competition 2007.

There's nuttiness and dark fruit notes followed through with a tantalising dry bitter finish from Pioneer and Goldings hops. It just sings out traditional British cask ale – or Welsh if you like – at its best.

The Pen-y-Grwyd is the pub - more than 900ft above sea level - that Edmund Hilary and his team frequented as they ‘trained’ for the bold 1953 Everest expedition. Their signatures are still on the ceiling to prove it. I don’t know what they drank back then, but I can't help think that maybe if this had been around they may not have made it to the inhospitable Himalayas.

All four core beers will compete in the Brewing Industry International Awards this year. These are the real Oscars of the brewing industry, with beers only judged by other brewers. Good luck Lawrence.

The Brave New Beer World of 2011

2011-01-07T11:23:00.148Z

As the hogmanay mist slowly cleared and the New Year quietly gathered pace I took a glance at what was on the go for early 2011.

First came the very worthy news that the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) will launch the first guide to Yorkshire’s heritage pubs on Friday 28 January. Yorkshire’s Real Heritage Pubs will include details of more than 120 pubs in Yorkshire and, curiously, northern Lincolnshire, that have internal features of historic significance. The book has been compiled by CAMRA volunteers and is edited by founding chairman of CAMRA’s Pubs Heritage Group Dave Gamston. It is launched on 28 January in Leeds.

Then, something that escaped my attention in the hurly burly of the run up to Christmas, was the news that global super brewer Molson Coors is getting behind cask ale with a £1m investment in a micro plant at the new National Brewery Centre in Burton-on-Trent - the spiritual home of British brewing.

The William Worthington’s Brewery, which has a brewing capacity of 22.5 brewer's barrels, will concentrate on producing well-known Worthington’s brands such as White Shield and Red Shield, as well as seasonal ales and limited edition brews such as the 8 per cent abv P2.

The new brewery has five times the capacity of Molson Coors’ other microbrewery site. Apparently production of beers that prove particularly popular at the new brewery could be shifted to the main brewery. No doubt this is a tribute to the sheer tenacity of the very talented master brewer Steve Wellington and it will be interesting to see if Steve and his team can come up with a new 'iconic' brand to put the 'Worthy' name back at the pinnacle of British beer. Does this mean that the mega brewer famous for the ubiquitous Carling lager has turned over a new leaf for 2011? Well, maybe not - but perhaps it's a start.

Further down country in Bury St Edmunds, Greene King, it appears, must have spent a little time last year thinking about they could improve sales for its often much maligned IPA. Hard on the heels of Tetley’s 5m spend in 2010 the new national brewer unveiled a £1m ad campaign for the brand with the tagline: "Man Deserves a Proper Pint".

The 'tongue-in-cheek' campaign that will run for several months focuses on how men feel they deserve a treat for carrying out "heroic" tasks - such as trapping spiders and, er, cleaning up dog mess. We are told the ads depict the brand's "proper" beer credentials with its natural ingredients and heritage.It is running across national newspapers and men's lifestyle magazines, to be seen by some 14m people.

Now to me this seems like a slightly weird way to sell beer these days, especially when all indicators point to growing cask ale sales among less traditional groups - such as young people and women. However, GK appears to have a lot of confidence in the creative genius. Dom South, marketing director for Greene King Brewing Company, says: “The new campaign focuses on modern man and the high regard in which he views his efforts around the house. It’s an amusing take on how even the smallest of mundane tasks can take on Olympic proportions. The eye-catching imagery is intended to provoke a self-knowing chuckle among men, but should also cause wry amusement among women, who will no doubt recognise the tendency among men to ‘big up’ the contribution to household chores.”

Mmmm! Well, most successful beer adverts use a bit of humour and it is very good news that serious investment is being made in promoting an ale brand. But beer and dog doo-doo eh? Would the French make this association for Bordeaux? Don't think so. It will be interesting to see the results.

Meanwhile the splendid Camra National Winter Ales Festival beckons, with more than 200 ales, foreign beers, ciders and perrys for our delectation. This is a great tribute to the variety and styles of strong seasonal ales in the heart of the north. It will serve to get us through the gloomy first month of the year. See you in Manchester's Sheridan Suite on Wednesday Jan 19th.

Christmas Ale Treats: What's in Santa's Hopsack? Some seaonal treats for happy festive quaffing

2010-12-13T14:33:00.084Z

It's the time of year again when brewers get all flirty and fickle. Christmas means fun brews. And what a great choice there is this year. Time was when winter ales meant gloopy, heavy beasts that were akin to being hit by a loose reindeer on speed.

But nowadays there are many ales that have been brewed with fantastic ingenuity to deliver tasty tipples that won't make you feel like you have just been bulldozed by an errant Rudolph.

Popping into the Grosvenor the other day I was faced with a serious choice - no less than three seasonal beers. The one that really captured my attention - and tastebuds - for the first time, was, of course, the Phoenix Snowbound (4.3%).

Ideally suited for the present climate, this is a pale gold brew with grassy, tangerine notes on the aroma and then a touch of citrus with rich fruits and gentle spices on the palate. There's a more-ish bitter finish that makes you really, really wish the elements were forcing you to stay put. Sadly I had to move on, but not before trying a couple of others.

Standing shoulder to shoulder on the bar at the Grosvenor was Moorhouse’s Lap Prancer and Hawkshead’s Jingle Fells.

Appearing for only the second year since launch, Lap Prancer (4.2%) is a saucy, fruity amber brew packed with rich festive flavours. This Burnley brewer’s Christmas special certainly makes the taste buds gyrate with delight.

It’s brewed with a Bock style malt (Munich Malt), often associated with religious occasions - those naughty monks eh? - to give a rich, full malty flavour. Cascade and Fuggles hops kick in with a spicy/floral aroma and a long bitter finish. Great with game I should think.

Jingle Fells(4.5%)is a dark ruby red colour with roasted malt on the aroma that leads into dark chocolate and roast coffee in the mouth. With flavour aplenty, this is still a relatively modest strength - another great taste of Lakeland and perfect for mince pies.

Over at the Hand and Trumpet you may find another golden coloured cracker from Titanic. Deck The Halls offers a bitterness burst on the tongue from English Challenger Hops , balanced by sweet Maris Otter pale malt. Wheat malt then adds a biscuity dryness and Styrian Goldings provide a floral aroma and spicy finish that will stand up well to turkey and all the rich trimmings.

Also on the top of the tree is Salopian Firkin Freezin (4.1%), a moderate strength brew from Wilf Nelson’s Shrewsbury stable that hits you with the aromatic, floral, fruity citrus notes – do we detect Styrian Goldings here? - typical of the Shropshire brewer’s style.

And finally, the Harkers' boys tell me that the sturdy Derby White Xmas (5.5%) is well worth a punt. Pale full flavoured and hoppy, apparently this is so good it draws the dedicated Cheshire Cat followers away from their regular tipple. Now that does mean take some doing. After a few of these it could be a bit like meeting with that crazed Santa's beast, but never mind – it is Christmas. Enjoy

Witch beers set for new brewery magic

2010-12-03T15:06:00.282Z

I have been close to Moorhouse’s for several years, so it was a real pleasure to attend a British Guild of Beer Writers' visit (pictured) there recently as a new 'tower' brewery got underway.

This is an terrific story of growth for a business in the back streets of Burnley that was originally founded by William Moorhouse in 1865. Then it simply sold mineral waters and low strength 'hop bitters' to the temperance market.

The switch to full strength cask ales came only in the 1970s - and for years the brewery fought a losing battle against the ubiquitous keg beers of that time.

So it was indeed pretty remarkable that last month (November) saw commercial brewing of the famous 'Pendle Witch' cask ales get fully under way in a new £1.8m brew house - part of a £4m plus investment under current owner Bill Parkinson.

Sadly, the final brewing in the neighbouring 19th century built home took place on October 28. Well, the building was in a poorly state - and they just couldn't squeeze in any more equipment.

Much awarded
Although a much awarded brewer for 20 years and more - Black Cat was Camra Champion Beer of Britain in 2000 - ten years ago only a dribble like 35 brewer's barrels (36 gallons= one barrel) a week were produced, compared to 300 plus in recent years. The new plant trebles production capacity to more than 1,000 barrels a week.

It will put the 145 year old business in with the big boy regional brewers.The final £4.2m complex will be completed in spring 2011. It includes a visitor centre with restaurant and training school, creating more jobs and, hopefully, helping to correct the decline of the once thriving Lancashire mill town.

During the first four weeks of brewing more than 1,600 brewer’s barrels were produced on the new plant. But, as can happen when you move from old technology (aka manual) to the new there were a few ‘teething issues’. These hit two of the brands - top selling Premier Bitter (3.7% abv) and Pride of Pendle (4.1% abv). A difficulty arose with the new fangled computerised programme; this resulted in stronger brews than desired. Modifications were made to the grist to achieve the correct abvs and taste matching carried out.

Feedback was invited from both trade customers and their regular drinkers. Managing director David Grant,who has driven the development, said: “We were grateful for the input. Everyone worked hard to match the brews to the correct taste profiles. We were determined that all the brews should be fully on-song for the festive season.”

"The old brewery performed valiantly until the end. But Halloween once again took us to the absolute limit of our capacity. We simply couldn’t sell any more. We are now anticipating a busy festive season, firing on all cylinders to deliver the very best quality beer.”

What a wonderful story. You will hear - and hopefully drink - a lot more of Moorhouse's in the not too distant future. You can toast that future with some of their brews at the Grosvenor over the next couple of weeks - Dave and Stru there are well and truly under its spell; Black Witch and festive fun special Lap Prancer are on there soon.

Perhaps even William Moorhouse would have been tempted to ditch temperance for a bit and celebrate this success with a glass or two himself. We'll never know, but cheers anyway William.

Is the future 'Anoraks with No Knickers'?

2010-11-23T15:37:00.106Z

Last year the New Imbiber magazine recorded about 4,000 new craft beers. Plenty of choice, you may think. But in Aberdeenshire there’s a group of guys that have declared war on the British beer scene. Dubbed by a rival as ‘Anoraks with No Knickers’, the bad boys of Fraserburgh’s BrewDog regard the scene as bland (think lager) or just plain boring (fusty craft brewers).

Since 2007 they have both irritated and impressed with ‘extreme strong hoppy brews’ combined with maverick marketing. They have grown quickly - reaching a turnover £1.8m. Without doubt, the brews have scored a big hit with hardcore beer nuts who favour US craft brews and, unusually for a novice brewery, done well abroad (bottled). But their mantra, that there’s little decent British beer, quite irks me. To dismiss several hundred UK craft brewers and many excellent beers is, of course, downright rude. Should we take this seriously? Probably not. But it irks.

Recently judging at the SIBA North Beer Competition, fellow judge the ebullient Mayor of Burton-on-Trent damned one beer with the phrase ‘all brag and no sha….’ ahem, sorry ed, but let’s say he meant ‘follow through’.

So when a BrewDog came to Chester I went to see if they were ‘all brag'. The great and the good beards and bellies of the Cheshire beer world were amassed - this despite BrewDog condemning Camra as past its sell- by-date. And their own beers, they say. are best served as keg ( they have opened a bar serving only keg, err, just when cask ale is becoming ever more popular). ‘Hop head’ founders James Watt and Martin Dickie, both not yet thirty, were absent. However their youthful and very amiable Aussie brewer led the night and had brought some cask.

Now BrewDog’s marketing has attracted much media attention with ‘the world’s strongest (bottled) beer’ battle with German brewers. First came Tactical Nuclear Penguin at 32% before Sink the Bismarck at 41% abv. Finally they upped the stakes to ‘End of History’ at a stupendous 55% abv - packaged in a stuffed stoat and priced at a mere £500 a bottle! Achieving these outlandish strengths means using complicated brewing techniques that mere mortal drinkers know little of – freeze hopping plays a big part. I feared it would be a challenging night.

However, it started gently. I have always believed that a truly talented brewer shows his art best by brewing tasty ale at moderate strength. So I fell on the Edge mild ale at 3.2% with alacrity. We were disappointed. I don’t want to be too hard on this beer. It had roasted malt and slight coffee notes and a decent enough bitter finish. We all agreed it was pleasant. But it lacked depth. It was ‘thin’. I know of several other milds, not least a famous Lancashire brew, that knocks spots off this.

Floral fruit
Trashy Blonde came next, at a mere 4.1% abv. This is a floral fruit bomb on the aroma from the new world hops – Amarillo, Simcoe and Motueka. It drank well with lots of mellow fruits and teasing citrus – followed through with a sturdy moreish bitterness. However, since the tasting I have tackled this with a more rigorous ‘three pint test’ – it faltered after two due to that over-the-top kick back of dry bitterness.

Then onto 5am Saint (5%) described as ‘uber-hoppy red ale… dry hopped with Amarillo and centennial for citrus, orange and lychee flavours’. There are five malts thrashing around in there. If you love strong aromas bouncing out of the glass this will do the trick. At first I found it off-puttingly pungent....but, forcing myself, I fought through to discover easy drinking ale that did indeed deliver what it promised.

Moving up the Richter scale we hit Punk IPA, a 6% abv brew with an impressive 68 IBUs (international bittering units). This whacks you with New World hops – US Chinook and Simcoe and the Kiwi Ahtanum and Nelson Sauvin. There’s fruit and light caramel on the nose and lots of tropical fruits with gooseberry in the mouth. There’s a good bitter kick, yet the hops don’t come back to bite you in the same way as Blonde. Harkers’ hopheads devoured it on an appearance there.

Hardcore IPA was next, notching up a robust 9.25 strength combined with a staggering 150 IBUs. Hopped and then dry hopped with three American hops, they claim is it has more hops and bitterness than any other beer brewed in the UK. An impressive tipple – if you favour heavy barley wine type brews – but certainly not for pub quaffing.

Adventure
Up another notch to Paradox Smokehead Imperial Stout at 10% abv. Ale that ‘rests’ in whisky oak casks for six months before presenting an ‘unrivalled taste adventure’. For a young brewer from Wigan’s Allgates it was definitely an adventure too far. Rashly, he was struggling through a whole pint - and he was very much looking like he was already on board with a very hoppy hangover. The sort of ale for a post dinner tipple, I asked the French chef on hand to match a cheese - ‘smelly old goat’s’ was his considered response!

Ever onwards and upwards, it was onto Tokyo hitting a whopping 18.2% abv. With 90 IBUs Toyko is brewed with dark malts and, perhaps surprisingly, just the Galena hop. But it is then infused with jasmine and cranberries and aged on oak chips! Verdict from the discerning Scottish chef present; ‘this is nae beer’. Thereby is the rub. This is not beer for the British pub. A lot is sold in Scandinavia. I can understand that. One for home imbibing on a dark and stormy Norwegian night.

So were they all ‘brag’? No. They do some impressive ale. But many other brewers, not least those on the B&P beer page, can square up to them. There are lots of Imperial Stouts around to tackle Paradox while many IPAs, like those produced by innovative brewers Acorn and Thorn bridge, will happily take on the Punk. James Watt says they will be 'very disappointed if the UK beer scene is not totally different in 15 years'. A scene of strong beers served as keg? Is that what the British beer drinker desires? Doubt it. Good luck James - but Britain may not fall quite as easily as Norway.

Beer is not just for buffs, says report

2010-10-01T09:54:00.039Z

As I discussed the ‘art’ of pulling a pint with my favourite barmaid the other night she suddenly declared that 'ale drinkers are a very strange lot'.
Apparently we make demands that are unknown in other areas of imbibitions. One chap will like his pint with a tight narrow froth (aka Camra full pint campaigners) while another will be very happy with a thick creamy collar on his ale, in true northern style.
Then you have the full pint Taliban (or southerners) who even insist on the sparkler being taken off. Along the way we moan like hell about the appearance, a bit of haze and we make a performance of holding the pint up to the light for closer inspection, too bitter and we ponder, noisily, as to whether it is 'last of the barrel' 'been on too long'. If it clears these hurdles there’s then the whole debate about how good the ale is. Too sweet, too malty, too bitter, too 'thin' or simply bland of flavour.
No wonder poor old Claire thinks it's all a bit of a headache.And the pretty young rookie she was coaching looked terrified by the whole matter; especially when she was told I was very 'benign' compared to some.
But that is what the ale scene is like. We always knew we were a discerning lot, but now the latest ale report, remarkably, says more and more other folk are getting it too.
Despite declining total beer sales and continuing pub closures, cask ale last year outperformed the beer market, increased its share of on-trade beer for the third successive year and grew its drinker base by 1.4%. According to The Cask Report – Britain’s National Drink, 2010-2011.
Some facts: Cask beer grew 5% by value in 2009 to £1.4 billion, against a 2% decline in the total UK beer market.
• Cask ale outperformed the total (on-andoff-trade) beer market in volume terms: cask volumes were steady, compared to a 4.1% decline overall. Last year was the first since 1994 in which cask did not record a volume decline.
• Cask now accounts for 15.2% of total on-trade beer volumes
• Regional and local cask ale brewers recorded volume increases of 1% and 5% respectively, though the multinational brewers saw their cask volumes fall by 11%
• 121,000 people started drinking cask beer, taking the total number of cask drinkers to over 8.6 million. The number of 18-24 year old cask drinkers grew by 17%
• 3,000 more pubs started selling cask ale
• Regional and cask ale brewers saw volumes rise 1% and 5% respectively while multinational brewers saw volumes drop by 11%.

The Cask is greener
The report’s author Pete Brown points out that as we emerge from recession we’ve become more thoughtful about our purchases and in our food and drink choices, we’re looking for tradition, provenance and wholesomeness — ’all values that cask ale can provide in spades’.
Cask’s eco-credentials are one of its strongest suits with consumers who are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of their food and drink. A pint of cask beer from a local brewery bought in a pub has a carbon footprint of 300g of C02 equivalent, compared to 900g for a bottle of imported lager in a supermarket.
All good news. But Pete says: “There is clearly still work to do in recruiting new drinkers. In every issue of the report, we have talked about the importance of providing tasting notes, of letting customers ‘try before they buy’ and other ways of overcoming the obstacles to trial. This is something that Brunning & Price pioneered years ago, of course, and others are once again following.
According to recent CAMRA research among non-cask drinkers, nearly a quarter of those who’ve never tasted cask say they could be persuaded to if there were simple tasting notes on the bar – something that cask ale brewers and licensees could implement more widely to encourage trialists.
Additionally, there’s a need to turn more cask trialists into regular drinkers. Among drinkers who have tried cask, around half say they ‘hardly ever’ or ‘never’ drink it now. Ironically, it may be that cask ale drinkers’ desire for variety means they don’t always drink cask.
So where does all this leave us we ponder. Who knows? But the next time you pop into the local for a pint of cask just ask for ‘a nice tight head that will cling down the glass, a pleasant aroma of sweet malt, maybe a hint of hop, fresh fruits on the tongue followed by a long bitter finish, please bar person? Well, you can only ask.

Gone for a Burton with a Princess

2010-09-22T15:20:00.183Z

Burton-upon- Trent is the spiritual home of British Brewing. In the early 1900s the Staffordshire town boasted an amazing 33 breweries. Believe it or not, there were 87 miles of brewery rail track.

Can you imagine all that? The rich aroma of malt and hops must have pervaded the whole bustling borough. Wow, for beer monsters that would have been wonderful. For others, I guess, they would have just had hold their noses while they took the money.

Back in the 19th century it was the town that made IPA (India Pale Ale) famous throughout the world - attracting the attention of European brewers who wanted to learn how to brew light coloured beers (they did - and brewed lager).
These days it is reduced to six brewers - varying from small craft producers such as the idiosyncratic Black Hole and the celebrated Burton Bridge to the leading national Marston's and the monolithic Molson-Coors.

In fact as you enter by rail from the south you may be forgiven for thinking that this is 'Coorstown-upon-Trent' with their massive badged silos dominating the landscape. Strangely tho', as you disembark, it isn't the waft of brewing aromas that your nose twitches to but often that of oriental spices. This is, apparently, due to the presence of probably the UK's largest kebab factory. Well, what could more befit a place that nowadays produces fizzy lager by the lake full?

However, it was certainly not to celebrate the dubious Friday night o'booze pleasures of Carling and kebabs that I had trekked there. Oh no. Out of the blue I had an invite to the official opening of the new National Brewery Centre - with no less than HRH the Princess Royal. So off I popped with best bib on after acquainting myself with the Royal etiquette. To bow or to shake hands was the dilemma I wrestled with on the two-and-a- half-hour journey from Cheshire.

Lose the beers
I needn't have troubled. My hopes were raised slightly when a minder quietly suggested we may like to 'lose the beers' some of us were clutching (well we were there to celebrate brewing) as we waited in line 'just in case'. In the event my hopes were dashed when Her Royal Highness failed to recognise me and walked quickly on to greet with the worthies of Burton. Such is life in the Beer World.

I refer you to my earlier blog here on the delights of the Brewing Centre (see Beer history comes back to life 30/4/10), which in a former life was the Bass Brewing Museum. It was opened by the very same Princess in 1977 and closed (as the Coors Visitor Centre) a couple of years ago by the corporate bean counters.

The main attractions are housed in a Grade II listed former joiner's shop and visitors are welcomed by 'Pepper's Ghost' a holographic presenter who takes them on a journey through British brewing complete with a model of Burton in its heyday.

There are vintage vehicles and a steam locomotive along with a mock up of a Victorian railway station platform. And there's the Brewery Tap bar and restaurants for refreshments. Actors in period costume interact with visitors while maintaining their Victorian era characters.

During her tour the Princess met with a pair of coopers from Marstons, who demonstrated their skills in making the traditional wooden casks used for the beer before the advent of the modern-day metal alternative.

Great story
Unveiling a commemorative plaque, the Princess told assembled throng: "It is a great story."

She is absolutely bang on there. Burton should be recognised nationally as the power house of British industry it once was, renowned for its 'sulphurous' spring water.

It is well worth a visit for beer buffs not just for the NBC but for its pubs. While in the real world much of the brewing heritage is now long gone, there are still some delightful ale houses that cling on.

Before the date with HRH, I met up with other lost souls from the Beer Writers' Guild and we managed a couple of tasters in the brewery-owned Burton Bridge Inn. I can commend their rich nutty traditional Bridge Bitter and light and fruity Golden Delicious, which has an excellent hoppy bite.

Another splendid venue is the Alfred in Derby Street, also part of the small Burton Bridge estate, a terraced pub that was, long ago,the Trumans Brewery tap.

The Coopers Tavern in Cross Street is also a must. This was once the Bass Brewery bottle store before becoming the brewery tap. It is a 19th century style beer refuge from the glaring modernisation of Burton. Step back in time and enjoy Draught Bass and a great range of guest beers, some served on gravity straight from the cask.

The last time I was there I got mixed up in a home brewers' bash as they tasted their own brews. Amazing but that's just how relaxed the place is. The landlord simply took the view that they were good customers anyway.

The only problem in Burton is that the pub hours are also a little antiquated, with many pubs - exceptions include the Centre's Brewery Tap Bar and Wetherspoons - closing in the afternoon. It pays to check opening times carefully.

Boffin says beer buffs are best

2010-08-12T09:48:00.071Z

It is, of course, what we who have imbibed a pint or two over the years have always known. Beer is inspirational. Winston Churchill knew all about this during the Second World War when he insisted that the beer reached the front line troops no matter what else. This despite the fact that he preferred the bubbly.

I personally have found that a good ruminate over a pint can often solve a tricky looking problem. Anyway, we now know that, whatever the killjoys say, beer is our saviour. The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) and microbrewers should be an “economic inspiration” to the nation as it struggles to emerge from recession.

Experts at the prestigious Nottingham University Business School believe the ever-mushrooming number of microbreweries offers hope for the UK’s small businesses. The economists say that real ale’s rebirth in the wake of the Camra’s founding in 1971 has significant implications for the UK economy.

In the 19th century brewing was a major economic force in the land (although many didn't want to acknowledge this at the time of the Temperance Movement). There were 1,324 breweries in 1900 but by 1970, we are told , the number surviving in England had sunk to just 141. However by 2004 the number stood at 480. The latest count from brewers' society SIBA estimates there to be more than 700 for the UK as the demand for locally produced ales appears to be insatiable, as we well know at B&P.

Yes, Camra had done much to promote the climate for this over many years. But then the Labour Government managed to do something decent for the industry. Gordon Brown, as chancellor, accepted the call for tax breaks for small brewers. The ranks of the microbrewers was consequently bolstered by the introduction of Progressive Beer Duty in 2002. This, says the boffins, demonstrates that tax relief can also help rejuvenate industries.

Professor Peter Swann said, “The fact is that the business world can learn an enormous amount from our beer buffs. The range of products and the number of centres of production in brewing in England declined dramatically between 1900 and 1970."

“As is widely accepted, that process began to reverse with the formation of CAMRA and its fight against bland, mass-produced beers. This has led us to the position we’re in now, with hundreds of small breweries spread all over the country and making thousands of different beers."

Good to hear. Then the prof gets a little proffy: “In technical terms, this represents horizontal product differentiation and a reduction in the importance of the economies of scale."

This, apparently, means that variety is indeed the spice of life and that more discerning tastes can be good for the economy.

He added: “We’re often told small businesses will be key to the UK’s financial recovery. The fall and rise of the local brew offers us a perfect example of ‘small is beautiful’, so it’s vital to see what lessons we can learn from it."

“One of the most important is that a demand for the predictable can lead to the greater geographical concentration of an industry. By contrast, a demand for diversity can lead to greater geographic dispersion — which is the excellent position brewing finds itself in now."

The prof believes that CAMRA and the microbreweries should serve as an economic inspiration — and he states this as a man who proclaims he doesn’t even like beer.

That's a great shame and his loss I fear. But for lots of us it means that we have been 'doing the right thing' all this time - helping to support one of the few British manufacturing sectors that shows real sign of growth. Time for another pint perhaps?

Great British Beer Festival 2010 looks for new record

2010-07-27T10:11:00.080Z

Off we go again. It’s that time of year for jumping on a train to London and having a few pints at the Campaign for Real Ale GBBF – August 3-7. This year they hope to break the attendance record in 2009 of 64,000 or so beer drinkers.

There’ll be 500 British casks ales and 100 ciders and perries all backed up by beers from the Czech Republic, the US, Germany and Belgium. That’s a lot of ale supped in a little corner of London that is Earl’s Court. How people get around to the foreign stuff I will never know. There certainly is enough home grown to keep my taste buds busy.

There will be live music everyday and tasting sessions from leading beer gurus including Roger Protz and Jeff Evans. And we must not forget the indefatigable Ms Melissa Cole doing her sterling work to introduce women to beer with all female festival tours. The first two years of these tours attracted a great deal of interest see Girls' Guide Tours on the festival website.

Shame I won’t be there, but still being in the recovery position from a major operation to stop me listing to port too much, I shall have to give it a miss. One thing you do need at the GBBF is a stout pair of legs - at least to begin with.

However I hope to bring you news of the Champion Beer of Britain – as much of the mainstream media so often ignores this fantastic annual celebration of the terrific British ale industry.

No doubt also the ever generous spirited team from Brunning & Price will bring back reports of new and exciting brews for us to try; that’s when they get around to clearing their heads, emptying their pockets and finding those bits of notes and mysterious phone numbers they have collected during a heavy day of GBBF action. Don't hold your breathe, but I hope to let you know soon.

Thornbridge sees sales soaring to 4m pints

2010-07-13T17:25:00.053Z

Bakewell based Thornbridge Brewery is celebrating “a fantastic set of six months trading figures” says brewery boss Jim Harrison(pictured on the left in the photograph). Jim reports a 115% increase in sales for the first six months of the year compared to the same period last year.

The Derbyshire brewer moved from the historic Thornbridge Hall to a new £2m purpose built site last autumn as reported on the blog of Wed 11 November 2009; Spotlight on Thornbridge.

Jim says: “Despite some very tough trading conditions, the brewery is experiencing the benefits of the investment in both equipment and staff that have allowed us to take up the demand that Thornbridge beers have created”.
He reports that as well as an increase in the local and regional pub market the brewery has also seen interest from national pub companies, so Thornbridge’s beers are now available across the country. Cask sales have been growing month on month and the brewery is on track to sell 4m pints this year.

And the new brewery has meant that the cask sales have been complemented by the launch of a new bottled range of its beers including the multi award winning Jaipur IPA( see beer notes). Now they aim to grow bottle sales substantially over the next five years. Previously they could not keep up with demand,but with the new site Thornbridge is now exporting to the US, the Far East and mainland Europe.

The really good news for Great British Beer Festival goers is that Thornbridge will be showcasing both their cask and bottled beers with their own bar at the Earls Court beer extravaganza on 3rd to the 7th August.

The problem will be that with an array of delights such as Wild Swan, Kipling,Lord Marples and St Petersburg Imperial Russian Stout on offer alongside the famous Jaipur you may not get any further. Never mind!

It tastes good and by golly it really does do you good- that'll be the beer then!

2010-06-29T16:18:00.079Z

There is nothing like a little deprivation to make you appreciate the finer things of life. Lying in a hospital bed, racked by pain, throat like the roughest sandpaper coated with bird dung and assaulted by NHS tea, there was little to look forward to other than attempting to watch England's World Cup struggles on a ridiculously small screen - and for the princely sum of four quid a day.What then, apart from a very unlikely victory in South Africa, was a chap to dream about? Beer, obviously.

Sadly, the days when they doled out a bottle of Guinness or two courtesy of the health service to assist your recovery are long gone.

But should it be so? While pulling around from my recent operation it was a pleasant surprise to read that Beer Really Does Do You Good. But a recent national survey revealed that there is widespread ignorance about the benefits of beer and major misconceptions about its qualities.

The poll of 2,000 people by education group the Beer Academy, revealed that 68 per cent of the sample considered beer to be Britain’s national drink. But many were under the impression that it is fattening or made from chemicals.

A quarter of people the sample believed red wine contains more vitamins, while 10 per cent thought that beer contains fat.

And 13 per cent thought beer was made from chemicals while only two per cent of people realise that beer is a source of silicon – which is good for bone strength.

The Beer Academy report also stresses that beer is one of the healthiest drinks available as a good source of vitamins and fibre and with a relatively low calorific value (of course as we all know it is the salty snacks that pile the weight on), low in sodium and high in potassium which helps control blood pressure.

Professor Jonathan Powell, head of MRC human nutrition research at Cambridge, discovered the links between silicon and bone density.

“Silicon is found in large amounts in the husk of barley, the very substance that is used in the beer making process and is dissolved into the fluid of beer. Even so we were surprised that some of the beers we tested were literally drenched with silicic acid – silicon.”

So, when I return to hospital for a check up on the hip in a few weeks time perhaps I should remain optimistic that I will be cleared to attend the annual Great British Beer Festival in August. After all, if this research is correct, what better place could there be to to build up loads of bone strength? I'm looking forward to a pint. Watch this space.

A stroll through the maze of mild

2010-05-24T15:30:00.094Z

The other day I walked into one of my favourite local pubs and there she was - lusciously dark and dusky. Temptress like, she held my gaze, daring me to get up close and shed the day’s cares. The raven haired barmaid was very pretty too - but it was a pint of magical Black Cat that grabbed my rapt attention.

In fact, the very lovely young lady behind the bar expressed great interest in what I would be enjoying from this black as night pint. So, always ready to help, I gave her some brief tuition in beer tasting with talk of chocolate notes followed through with hoppy bitterness. She seemed to like this.

Anyway, this made me think about mild beers a little more as Camra (Campaign for Real Ale) ran its National Mild in May campaign. A style of beer that held sway throughout the first half of the 20th century, mild fell into the doldrums some years ago. For a time it was written off as an old man’s drink associated with flat caps and whippets – or, possibly worse, Camra anoraks.

But these days it is enjoying a revival. Dark beers generally are still a small percentage of the market, but there are now over 200 mild ales brewed in the UK. More than double the number brewed at the end of the 1900s, this is no doubt something to do with the incessant rise in the number of craft brewers.

However, ale buffs argue about just what should and should not constitute mild ale. Some say mild is a tipple of low strength with a sweetish flavour. This style became very popular with industrial workers of the North and Midlands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as different malt such as pale, crystal and chocolate became available.

They turned from stouts and porters to a more refreshing, sweeter drink to restore them after a long day in the mill, mine and factory. The trend was pounced on by brewers with tied estates who wanted the benefits of quickly produced ‘running beers’ rather than the long matured - and more costly - stronger ales.

But, going back to pre-industrial revolution days, the reason mild earned its moniker was not about the strength at all but the fact that it was ‘mildly hopped'. In late 1800s and early 1900s all ales were dark simply because the malt was roasted over wood rather coal to produce brown malt and mild ale might be brewed to what we would now describe as ‘premium strength’.

Nowadays many variations are brewed. Acorn Brewery of Barnsley encapsulated the options when it brewed two for the May month focus and reported sales went extremely well.

Lightness (3.6%ABV) is a light golden brew with English Fuggles hops in the style of the golden Pennine mild originally brewed for the north’s mill workers. Darkness (4.2%ABV) is also brewed with Fuggles but with black and crystal malts to produce a dark red aromatic beer.

Harker’s put on a good show for the month. I enjoyed a pint of Magic Mushroom (3.8%) from Derbyshire’s Whim Ales. This is of the lighter variety, with a reddish hue and sweet red fruits bursting through, sherbet even. I don’t doubt that had there been any sons of toil among Harker’s regulars back in Victorian days this would have been very welcome after a hard day spinning the loom.

These days they just spin stories, but this was much enjoyed nevertheless despite – as the beer board said – ‘the slightly disappointing lack of hallucinogenic ingredients’. The name actually refers to the variety of flavour.

I moved on to the Northern Brewing Ma-V-Lus. A deep ruby mild with chocolate notes and gentle bitterness this comes from the Cheshire brewery that glories in the hey day of Northern Soul – can you get the connection here? It is complex ale with five different malts - Maris Otter, Mild Ale malt, chocolate, crystal and wheat –combined with the American Galena hop for strong blackcurrant fruit character and Mount Hood for floral and herby notes. Something to sing about perhaps?

Mild's GBBF triumphs
In the 21st century mild ale has already been voted Great British Beer Festival Champion Beer of Britain three times. The aforementioned Moorhouse’s Black Cat won in 2000, while Worcestershire's Hobson’s Mild triumphed in 2007 and last year York’s Rudgate Ruby Mild took the title. Although these wins may have contributed to the style’s growing in popularity, they are quite different tipples.

Interestingly, some years ago as sales struggled, Black Cat - like Banks Original (still the most popular UK mild) - dropped the mild title in an attempt to shed the perceived image. The recipe was changed to make it darker, slightly stronger and a little more bitter.

Then the Champion Beer of Britain accolade brought many new appreciative drinkers to the brand. Still clocking in at only 3.4% ABV, it delivers chocolate malt, fruity and slight liquorice notes, lightly touched by the trademark Fuggles hops - a highly quaffable pint. Sales were up 11 per cent last year.

Hobson’s is just 3.2%ABV strength. A dark copper coloured ale it has a roasted, nutty, malt complexity. Top beer guru Roger Protz said: “It’s bursting with flavour and, unusually for a mild, has got plenty of hop character.”

Rudgate Ruby at a sturdy 4.4%ABV uses dark, crystal and chocolate malts combined with a unique Yorkshire yeast strain and no less than three hop varieties – Challenger, Cascade and Styrian Goldings - to offer a rich nutty and fruity brew. There are toffee and liquorice notes and quite a bit more bitter edge than the traditional milds of the 20th century.

Then we must not forget the majestic Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby, weighing in at a formidable 6%ABV. In 1921 Sarah Hughes bought the brewery behind the Black Country’s Beacon Hotel and began brewing this rich brew. After lying idle for 30 years the brewery was reopened in 1987 by John Hughes. He continues to brew with his grandmother’s recipe, and it remains a closely guarded secret.

The initial fruitiness mingles with a caramel and toffee flavour, with elements of nuttiness from the roasted malt. At first it seems very sweet, but then a bitter dryness comes through in the finish. The aftertaste is lingering and has a pleasant fruit aspect and more-ish soft malt flavour.

So it seems then that, just as within the bitter category, there is a wide range of strengths and taste for mild too. As the beer buffs argue the toss and the numbers of craft brewers grow exponentially, it looks like the mild revival is set to thrive. We can expect ever more choice on the bar.

Personally I am very keen to do my bit to help this revival. So if you know of any attractive young barmaids in need of some tuition…….

Pubs - what for the future without Gordon?

2010-05-14T11:11:00.160Z

And so the shouting is over. The wheeling and dealing is done. Gordon is a Gonner. Now it’s the Dave and Nick Show.

With a humongous £900bn national debt, the bankers still in need of a damn good thrashing and a pledge to some £6bn of spending cuts, the coalition government has got big job on its hands. Pubs, you may reasonably think, will be very low on the agenda.

But should they be? Under Labour thousands of pubs closed, but as Gordon and his crew neared their demise there were signs that the arguments for saving our unique national heritage could be just be hitting the spot. There was even a short-lived Minister for Pubs before Labour’s demise. John Healey put in place a 12 point plan to help pubs.

The new lot might be wise to carry this through. Not least because if they can stop the rot and get people back in the pub it may buck up the nation’s spirit a bit.

There are many complex reasons for pubs being in this mess. Aside from the the dire economy brought on my those dodgy bank deals, supermarket beer discounting, the smoking ban and, not least, the stranglehold of the major pub companies have all conspired against the pub in recent years.

Yes, there are some pub companies that are still doing well. Not least Brunning & Price - with a hugely successful 'formula' entirely different to the leased pub model - which is still opening new pubs. But abandoned and shuttered pubs have blighted the land for far too long; places like Calderdale where historic hostelries once thrived, are a national disgrace. Even here, in rural Cheshire, I pen this piece barely a good stone’s throw only from a derelict edifice to this scandalous neglect.

Do we have any reason to be optimistic? Well, during election night we saw David Cameron visit his local in the Cotswolds (ok that’s not Calderdale but it's a start) – and we are told he has been a regular visitor over the years.

Nick Clegg lives in the ‘pub capital’ of Britain – Sheffield. When I chatted with him at Moorhouse’s in Burnley (see photograph) earlier this year he made the right noises about looking closely at the pub co beer tie. This system has been condemned as a highly unjust financial burden for leaseholders that also prevents beer choice for consumers. Maybe Nick can make a difference.

As the Publican trade paper set out the parties' policies just before the election, both Cameron and Clegg were pictured drinking ale. (Brown was pictured empty handed. I don't know if that was significant. Perhaps he just hadn’t had time for pint for a few years).

Next month, with a new budget we will know more about just how the government will treat the industry – still a massive employer and huge source of revenue through duty and national insurance contributions.

There are some differences between the Tories and Lib Dems on pub issues, although they agree on banning low cost alcohol sales, no rise in National Insurance contributions and granting automatic rate relief.

The Conservatives say they would raise taxes on drinks “linked to anti-social behaviour”, although they would reverse Labour’s planned 10%-above-inflation alcohol tax hike. The Lib Dems would review the “ill-thought-through” alcohol tax system, including the beer duty escalator, so it targets bingeing but not responsible drinkers and pubs. Let's hope they can sort this lot out between them.

On the beer tie the Tories are a bit soft, saying the industry should have a chance to implement self-regulation by June 2011, before enforcing a statutory code. The Lib Dems are tougher, proposing a statutory code to ensure tied tenants aren’t worse off than free-of-tie, and asking the Competition Commission to probe the tie.

Meanwhile, the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has written to the new Prime Minister urging a new pubs minister be appointed.

Mike Benner, CAMRA chief executive,took solace from David Cameron choosing to enjoy a pint on Election Night. And apparently three members of the Cabinet have signed signed the Back the Pub pledge from the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA). This calls for support for British pubs “as part of efforts to enhance community life and promote economic recovery”. Signatories included the formidable new business secretary Vince Cable, so that’s impressive. More than 400 candidates signed the pledge - 138 were elected.

So maybe there is a glimmer of hope that many pubs and communities across the land can look to a brighter future.

I find that life really is full of surprises. Three months ago at Moorhouse's, showing the political acumen at least equal the other Nick (Robinson) at the BBC, I considered Clegg 'a nice chap but with no chance'.

Mind you, this is par for my political judgement course. I recall, back in the eighties as a young journalist in the North East, I made a similar sweeping judgement on meeting another, rather scruffily dressed, aspiring young politician; bloke called Blair. So you just never know with this funny business of politics. I'm sticking to the beer.

Beer history comes back to life

2010-04-30T06:13:00.144Z

Britain has its beer history back. The National Brewing Centre has opened in the cradle of modern British brewing - Burton-on-Trent.

The former Bass Museum closed a couple a of years ago under the cosh of Molson Coors cutbacks - apparently they reckoned they were losing £1m a year. At one time it attraced 120,000 visitors a year, but was much under promoted by the American beer monolith that now owns most of downtown Burton. This proud Midlands town was once home to the great brewers of the 1800s such as Bass, Worthington and Allsops. Today Marston and a handful of craft brewers make a valiant stand against the Coors might.

However, Coors eventually responded pretty wholeheartedly to what appeared to be an unexpected (to them that is) local outcry that followed the closure. Camra also weighed in supported by the British Guild of Beer Writers and eventually the tide of bad publicity reached even the bean counters at Coors HQ in Boulder, Colorada.

Now the international lager brewer has put £200,000 into the new venture, whch will be run by Planning Solutions, a company with a good track record in the visitor venue market. Coors will also further repent their actions by with £100,00 a year funding: so very well done Coors then.

The main attractions will be housed in a Grade II listed former joiner's shop and vistors will be welcomed by 'Pepper's Ghost' a holographic presenter who will take them on a journey through British brewing complete with a model of Burton in its heyday. There will also be vintage vehicles and a steam locomative along with a mock up of a Victorian railway station platform. Adults (children also welcome) will be able to sample four beers in a tutored tasting master class and there will, of course, be bars and resturants to repair to for further refeshments.

Actors in period costume will interact with visitors while keeping in their Victorian era characters. And shire horses Major and Trooper will also be on parade for weekends and school holidays.

It is planned to move the White Shield brewery into the premises. For the past few years former Bass master brewer Steve Wellington has run the micro brewery to keep the famous brand alive and will be able to produce 100 barrels a week, including Red Shield.

Roger Protz, editor of the Good Beer Guide, who campaigned for the museum to be re-opened, said: "This is exciting news. Burton changed the face of brewing in the 19th century with India Pale Ale and then Pale Ale for the domestic market - the first pale beers brewed anywhere in the world. Brewers came to Burton from Austria, Bavaria and Bohemia to see how pale beer was made and used the knowledge to fashion the first golden lagers.

“The museum will celebrate this rich heritage but it will also be a truly national centre that will celebrate beer styles from all over country.Britain remains a major brewing country and the importance of beer - its past, present and future - will be promoted by the museum. All beer lovers should raise a glass in celebration.”

Spot on there Roger. We will.I will certainly be hot-footing to Burton soon clutching my nine quid and a bit of beer money.

Shock & horror - BBC reports on benefits of the Great British Pub as Nick leads politicians support

2010-04-20T09:27:00.168Z

Yesterday I was privileged to share, briefly, in my next door neighbours’ diamond wedding anniversary. Sixty years together is a terrific achievement and a time for a little of reflection amongst the celebrations, the helium balloons and congrats from HRH.

Funnily enough, while perambulating down memory lane, we got to talking about pubs. My neighbours recalled that when they married, our small Cheshire village supported five pubs among a butcher, a baker and, if not a candlestick-maker, a sub-post office. The nearest pub was only about 30 seconds brisk walk away. It is now a private house and antique shop.

These days there’s no post office, no butcher, no baker and just one pub left. It still operates decently - through very hard work - despite being under the cosh of a national pub company with a punitive beer tie and swingeing rents.

Of course, the social landscape has changed dramatically since the first half of the last century. For a start, in the countryside there were a lot more thirsty people about then. And boy, did they deserve a pint or what? Many worked in agriculture or 'service' and families of six or seven and more were commonplace, often living in cramped two bedroom cottages (no bathrooms). So the pub must have been a real haven, even if the ale was moderate. Trade was regular, beer was cheap and rents were low.

These days across the UK there are some forty pubs closing each week due to a complex web of trading problems. Much of these are due to the aforementioned pub companies. Then there is the fall out from the smoking ban, unfair beer tax and general lack of Government support - well until the very recent and sudden appointment of a 'Minister for Pubs' (was that the niff of general election in the air?)

On top of all that the incentive to go to the pub isn't the same. Social circumstances are very different from the forties and fifties.There's much more competition for our leisure time (and money) and we also have much more comfortable homes, with touch-of-a-button entertainment.

Meanwhile, out in the countryside, supermarket delivery vans clog the lanes to bring us all the exotic food and cheap booze we desire.Why bother going out at all eh? But, to repeat a point that is well worth repeating, the pub is a special place that other countries just don’t have (See Move Over Darling blog below).

Just the other week I helped organise a music night in our village local. The terrific Cork based band Two Time Polka performed. I recommend them. The place was hammered, even attracting people who rarely venture out in the evenings. As I enjoyed a post event pint, I heard one of them remark that it was brilliant to be in the pub again, socialising with people that they otherwise rarely see. Now that’s what the pub is all about.

Media bashing
And at a time when pubs are taking an almost constant - albeit largely unjustified - media bashing, it was enormously refreshing to hear a wee piece on Radio 4 (yes indeed, the BBC) yesterday. This programme poignantly and positively pointed up just what is great about the British local.

It seems there’s a pub down in Birmingham near Selly Oak hospital playing an important role in rehabilitating our horrendously injured servicemen on their return from Afghanistan.

The NCO ‘in charge of the pub run’ was quoted roughly thus: “It does wonders for them. Many have had life changing injuries and going to the pub gives them the confidence to socialise again.” There we have it. We need the pub. It is an essential part of our social fabric – and what’s more it does you good.

So, just as I was rather hoping all the political parties were taking note as we head towards May 6th, it was cheering to read today's morning's Morning Advertiser bulletin; over 500 prospective parliamentary candidates — including Lib/Dem leader Nick Clegg — have signed up in support of the Campaign for Real Ale's Beer Drinkers and Pub Goers Charter.

The charter calls for MPs to back "radical reform" of the beer tie and to speak up for community pubs, local brewers and consumers. Among the supporters are Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas, Labour's Ruth Smeeth (who? She's a 29 year old Burton candidate), Conservative Nigel Evans, a nice chap from the Parliamentary Beer Group, and good ol' Cleggy.

For me it was more than little interesting to see this support. I was at Moorhouse’s Brewery when the party-leader-of-the-moment visited the famous Burnley brewer earlier this year (see photograph) and ebulliemt MD David Grant was able to bend his ear a bit. Good result David.

On that occasion the youthful 'Nick' (to friends and fellow party leaders) assured me that he had had a liking for cask ale since his student days. Signing up to the charter he said: "I am proud to be a signatory to the charter and to help bring attention to the much-needed support required for well-run community pubs, local brewers and consumer rights which all contribute to community life and boost the local economy." I think that means he likes pubs as well.

CAMRA chief executive Mike Benner proclaimed the support was "great news" for beer drinkers and pub goers. "We expect the next parliament to contain a huge number of MPs who have committed to vital reforms which are necessary to save the UK pub industry," he said. Let’s hope you are right Mike.

Move over Darling, it’s time for a pint

2010-03-30T09:56:00.094Z

Just the other week, in a Cheshire country pub, I found further real life evidence of the amazing pull of cask beer.

By chance, I met a chap who lives, most of the year, in the Caribbean. There, he confessed to me over a pint, he enjoys the company of not one but two local women – one for day and one for the night, if you like details. So he has the sun, he has the sand and, by all accounts, he has his other comforts well catered for - bar one.

Over sixty, I guess, - and he was looking just a bit tired - he told me, unsurprisingly perhaps, that he loves it out there. Problem is he just can't get any decent ale in a decent pub. He just drinks rum – the beer being, well, indescribable on this blog.

Anyway, every now and then he returns to Cheshire abandoning the sunshine to spend time in the pub and gird his lions, I suspect, over a few pints of Weetwood Best.

Assault
Perhaps, if a certain Mr Darling got out a bit more, he might meet this chap or at least his fellow spirit. Then he may be provoked in to reconsidering his vicious Budget Day assault last week on that great institution that is the British pub.

Yes – despite pubs still closing at the rate of some 39 a week – the Chancellor once again raised the tax on beer. As a result, beer will see duty rise by 2p a pint. Pundits predict this will translate into at least 8-10p at the pumps.

I don’t know what my brief drinking pal has made of this. He’s probably already back on the rum - and the women. But this week the brewing and pub industry is raising a proverbial rude salute to Mr Darling.

Yes it’s National Cask Ale Week. It was planned sometime ago, of course. But it couldn’t be better timed. Backed by various industry bodies, it’s a celebration of two splendidly unique national attributes; the British pub and cask-conditioned ale. No other country in the world has these. US Bars, Italian cafes, French bistros – they just don’t hit the same spot. Where else could you meet up with a complete stranger and, after just one pint, know the details of his love life on an exotic island idyll? This just doesn’t happen in restaurants.

Foreign tourists make over 13 million visits to our pubs each year, and sampling a pint of cask ale is the ‘quintessentially British experience’. Mr Darling, it seems, fails to realise the value of the pub to the country. He remains happy to bash the industry - and the recession beleaguered consumer.

No matter, this week is a real celebration. After decades languishing in the beer wilderness, the news is that cask is fast becoming one of its rising stars. It posted a full 12 months of growth last year - the first time since 1982 according to new figures. It is now the only sector of the UK beer market in growth with some 660 brewers - the highest level since World War II.

The Cask Report – Britain’s National Drink (www.caskreport.co.uk) reveals that although growth in 2009 was a modest 0.04%1, it compares favourably to the 5% fall in on-trade beer sales last year. Among smaller brewers, total cask volumes are up by over 1% and turnover by an average of 16%.

A few facts: 1.5 million new drinkers in 2008 (around half of them women); distribution in 3,000 new pubs between June 2008 and June 20099; CAMRA membership hits the 100,000 mark; 71 breweries opened in the UK last year.

This renaissance is the best news for pubs in a long time. It is the only drink the pub can claim as its own - something drinkers can’t get from the supermarket. And 42% of licensees name cask as the drink that’s outperforming everything else on the bar.

Cool Cask
Beer writer Pete Brown is a chap who knows about these matters. Author of The Cask Report, Pete says: “Cask’s reinvention is impressive. In 2008, a million and a half more people drank cask than in the previous year. And this is against a trend of falling demand for beer and for alcohol overall."

“It isn’t just socially acceptable to drink cask beer now, it’s positively cool. Increasingly, cask is stocked by bars and pubs attracting a younger crowd, not just back street ‘boozers’. Even Glastonbury, a magnet for hip under-25’s, sells cask on all its bars. It’s hard to believe that during the 1980s/90s, the same drink was viewed with a mixture of scorn and suspicion by anyone under-40, female, or slightly fashion-conscious.”

This has happened, says Pete, not through advertising but because of a groundswell in consumers looking for quality, freshness, natural ingredients and local provenance in their food and drink.

Of course those familiar with Brunning & Price (here's the plug) are well aware of all this. B&P pubs have long been bastions of cask ale and refused to countenance keg beers from day one in the eighties. It has paid off in spades for the group. Hundreds of different cask ales flow through the pumps every year.

Some 10,000 pubs are involved in the NCAW complete with promotional packs. But at B&P pubs this week you won’t see any bunting. It will be business as usual - just another great selection of cask ales. At Harkers you could catch any of these: Acorn Blonde, Liverpool Organic Best Bitter, Rooster’s Yankee, Brimstage Oyster Catcher Stout, Hobsons Mild, Lymestone Ein Stein. RCH - Pitchfork, Six Bells’ Big Nev's and Cloud Nine, Brass Monkey - Cheeky Monkey & Silverback. And Crouch Vale Brewers Gold is a treat to expect soon (Dave says regulars only!).

So let’s all have our own quiet celebration. Grab a beer, maybe one you have never tried before; look at it, swirl it, smell that pungent aroma of malt and hops, taste - let that lovely malt sweetness and tart bitterness roll gently round the tongue and across the tonsils - enjoy and toast the Great British Pub. Then have another and to blazes with Mr Darling. Could this, possibly, just possibly, be better than sex in the Caribbean?

Hat trick for Yorkshire brewer at the annual bash

2010-03-16T16:56:00.148Z

March dawned with the big bash for independent brewers – the SIBA Annual Conference. Sadly, I didn’t make it this year. This is a great shame. I have been to quite a few trade conferences in my professional life, but this is the only one where it is actually more or less compulsory to have a few beers.

At most other events you have to wait until the end of the day - and even then you are stepping carefully until it all goes into free fall early in the wee small hours. No such qualms exist at ‘Conference’ with SIBA - and you get to drink fantastic beer. Not that I would want to give the impression that it is just one big booze up. On no, certainly not.

It’s serious. For a start, hangovers nothwithstanding, you have got to spend time closeted in the hall while various speakers update you on the state of the industry, the price of malt and hops, and rather more esoteric matters. This year saw he return of a motivational speaker who appeared two years ago. I was reporting the conference then but it was almost impossible to pin down his ‘act’ – such is his dark art. Nevertheless, he seemed to brighten things ups a bit.

But the interesting stuff for us is the National Beer Competition. To get there involves a tough procedure. Each of the seven SIBA regions has its own contest.The winners of each category go on to the national final. Just ten winners are picked by 50 judges from the 56 cask and seven bottled ale finalists selected from an initial 1,400 beers.

Cartwheels
This year the boys of Saltaire Brewery of Shipley, West Yorkshire, did cartwheels when they pulled a hat trick - a first for this prestigious contest.

First their splendid Cascade Pale Ale took the Champion Premium Bitter accolade. This is an American style pale ale with the floral aromas and strong bitterness of Cascade and Centennial hops.

Then its Triple Chocoholic (4.8%) chocolate stout won the Gold Award in the Champion Speciality Beer category before it went on to snatch the Supreme Champion Beer 2010title. The four year old brewer tells me that 'chocolate malts, real chocolate and chocolate syrups make the stout a ‘real chocolate bomb’!

Bearing in mind this is an award from the UK’s craft brewers – not geeky tickers, scoopers and the assorted rag-tags of the beer world - this is a pretty interesting phenomenon. Especially considering that one of the criteria for selection is the commercial viability.

After receiving the award Tony Gartland, head brewer at Saltaire Brewery said it all: "I thought we stood a good chance in the Speciality Beer category, but to win the overall title was a real surprise and shows that the UK’s beer drinkers are ready for new, different tastes.”

Well, he may be right. But I find it all rather startling. As a youth, drinking Massey's bitter (long defunct)in industrial Lancashire, chocolate was something we consumed after our beer. We believed that it cleared the niff and maybe sobered us up a bit in case you had to face the parents. We used to desperately raid those machines which, back then, were left unmolested outside of newsagents shops.We would never have dreamt of having choccie with our beer – that would have been extremely ‘girlie’ (if that word had been in use then).

But back to the SIBA champ. One brewery executive I know, who has a first class portfolio under his belt, was impressed – yet he couldn't could drink much. It is probably doubtful that we will be quaffing this sort of ale in any sort of quantity. But maybe that isn’t the point.

We have some 700 hundred or so craft brewers in the UK these days and they are all producing ales in several different styles and varieties. It means we can change our ale to suit our mood and inclination. And more women are drinking cask ale and probably will be more open to new styles (interestingly, blind tastings show females have an inclination towards darker beers.)

Personally, probably because of my traditional roots, I generally don't much like beer that has been 'messed with'; I tried a bottle of honey beer from a very good brewer with dinner the other night, but chucked it half way down. That said, a bottle of chilli beer from enterprising tiny Crown Brewery in Sheffield went down well. So best to keep the options open eh?

Saltaire's mission
Saltaire Brewery is one of this new wave of brewers bringing those styles and varieties to us and this is a great result for a brewery that has been quietly brewing excellent beer for four years, but generally been little heralded.

It was established in 2005 at The World Heritage Site of Saltaire, famous for its Victorian industrial heritage. This is home to Salt’s Mill, a showcase for a range of Yorkshire talents such as David Hockney.

Situated in an old generating hall that once provided the electricity for the Saltaire trams, the lofty Victorian architecture provides a perfect home to the specially commissioned 20 barrel brewhouse and visitor centre.

The boys say they are on a mission to inform drinkers about what makes a great beer. The visitor centre includes an exhibition that explains the science and history of brewing!

2009 saw Saltaire enjoy a cracking year, with the business running at full capacity and the company racing to keep up with demand.

Sales were up by 20% year on year. Accordingly, the brewery has invested in extra brewing vessels. This will result in a 33% increase in output - from 17280 pints to 23040 pints a week.

Now they can brew four times a week with lots of specials on top of the core range, including the very popular Saltaire Blonde - another cracker, I think.The increase in capacity also resulted in the recruiting of another member to the brewhouse team. Such is the attraction to craft brewing these days that there were 150 applications for the role!

The team is an interesting example of the mix of individuals attracted to craft brewing these days. Paul Simpson,managing director, has spent many years in the drinks business with all the big boys – including Whitbread and Holsten. Tony Gartland was a lawyer for twenty years who decided to take a different route to the bar! Derek Todd was a chemist with GlaxoSmithkline Beecham when he met Tony on a Brewlab course in 2004. Rashly, he gave up his job, sold his house and moved from his beloved North East! Now he slaves in the brewhouse. And to cap it all he supports Darlington F.C.!

Here's the full list of results from SIBA:

Supreme Champion 2010: Triple Chocoholic, Saltaire Brewery.
Champion Milds (up to 4% ABV): Dark Mild, Bank Top Brewery, Bolton
Champion Bitters & Pale Ales (up to 4%): Lord Marples, Thornbridge Brewery, Derbyshire
Champion Best Bitters (4.1-4.5%): Darwins Origin, Salopian Brewing, Shrewsbury
Champion Premium Bitters (4.6-4.9%) Cascade Pale Ale, Saltaire Brewery
Champion Strong Bitters (5.1-5.5%): Big Chief Bitter, Greenmill Brewery, Rochdale
Champion Strong Ales (over 5.5%): Dorothy Goodbody's Country Ale, Wye Valley Brewery
Champion Porters, Strong Milds, Old Ales & Stouts: Guerilla, Blue Monkey Brewery, Derbyshire
Champion Speciality Beers: Triple Chocoholic, Saltaire Brewery
Champion Bottled Beers: Proper Job, St Austell Brewery

Let's just get out there and give them a whirl.

The year so far - and a quick peep ahead

2010-01-28T16:39:00.380Z

Well, the first month of the year is over. What the heck have I been doing with myself for the past few weeks?

There was certainly plenty to do as 2010 kicked off. Not least there was the trip to the National Winter Ales Festival in its new home somewhere in the wilds of North Manchester. An impressive venue for all that.

On the way there it only seemed right to pay respects to an old haunt- Briton's Protection just behind the GMex centre. This is a terrific proper pub and has been kept by the same landlord through thick and thin for some thirty years. Now that is some going by any standard, especially in these troubled times when pub licensees can hit bankruptcy a sight quicker than an investment banker tot up his outsize bonus.

When I first frequented the place some 20 years ago it was a Tetley-owned house, but now there's a choice of cask ales. It's worth visiting just to see how pubs really used to be. Cosy,clean, well polished rooms with fine tiled work. Somewhere you can either have a few quiet reflective beers or just meet the mistress.

Later we popped into the City (not the City Arms) in the Northern quarter for a pint of Acorn Blonde. Now this is a slightly unprepossessing pub from the outside but the new landlord is busy trying to convert it to a cask ale house. There was a warm welcome and some good beer, so we should give him all the help he can get.

Onto the Crown & Kettle, just across the road, simply, of course, to view the fantastic ornate Victorian ceilings that are being restored there.I used to drink here when the place was the lunchtime haunt of journos and printers when Express newspapers had their northern emporium next door, alas no longer. The Express abandoned Manchester and eventually the pub was shut for several years, but is now a decent ale house once again - 'though not as busy.

Finally, hopping on a bus we headed down Oldham Road to the Sheridan Suite and the festival. It was time to do some serious work with a formidable selection of over 200 beers ,ciders and perries.

This is the Camra festival that features strong old ales, barley wines, porters and stouts, so you have to be careful. Congratulations to the winners: CAMRA Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2010 was 1872 Porter from the Elland Brewery, West Yorkshire.

This 6.5% abv porter is 'creamy, full-flavoured porter, with rich liquorice flavours with a hint of chocolate from roast malt, and a soft but satisfying aftertaste of bittersweet roast and malt.'

Also in the Overall awards, Silver went to old ale Breconshire's Ramblers Ruin, whilst Acorn's Gorlovka Imperial Stout grabbed the bronze.Imperial stout was a style much favoured in the Baltic states in the 1800's and Acorn's is named after Barnsley's twin town in the Ukraine.

The 1872 Porter will now enter into the final of the Champion Beer of Britain competition at the Great British Beer Festival in August.

It was good to see that Harkers stalwart Dave (last seen in the Crown & Kettle) had made it, while some of his his wimpy colleagues (they know who they are) had elected for a poncy wine tasting in London instead. You just can't get the staff these days. Full marks though to Baz from Sutton Hall, who, the last time I saw him, was wrapping his tonsils round some Brewdog Punk PIA at a chunky 6.2% strength. All in the line of duty of course.

Upbeat news
And so the afternoon was spent chatting to brewers and trying the odd half-pint or two. The news was upbeat. Cask ale look set for another year of growth.

Acorn's figures for the festive season were outstanding, coming in at nearly 30 per cent up over the previous year while Moorhouse's continued in the upward curve of recent years with a steady as you go 12 per cent growth as they crack on with building a new £3.5m brewery complex. This will see the 145 year old company aping last years Clarets' success to move well and truly into the Premiership of British brewing.

I also managed a glass of the rather poky 'Otley Motley' with the boys from South Wales. The family business has done very well in five years and they say they are successfully grabbing business among the female and younger drinker sectors with a modern image and first class ales. Hawkshead of Staveley Cumbria also reported business going strong as its beers become known outside the Lake District - including around Brunning & Price pubs.

Huntsman back in the saddle
So there we were. All having a cracking time on a dismal, grey and dreary January afternoon in North Manchester. Meanwhile somewhere in, I imagine, an even drearier Northampton, Carlsberg's marketing elite was working out how to cash in on the cask ale revival with their iconic, but much neglected, Tetley brand.

The Danes are already committed to closing the historic Tetley brewery in Leeds, due to 'falling beer sales'. So, apparently radical thinking was needed to aid the brand. Imagine the scene, brainstorming to pull out a marketing genie:'No one will leave this room until we have a solution'. Oh yes, yes, got it. Let's bring back the Tetley Huntsman. Stick the monocled old boy back on the pumpclips large as life. Yes, that'll do it. It's a return to the brewing heritage and all that tradition stuff that those nerdy cask ale quaffers love.

And that, apparently is it. It appears that they are basing a £3m promotion on the image, including glassware, pumpclips and posters. And just at a time when many brewers (witness Otley) are talking up a modern image for cask ale with all that girlie friendly glassware and such. So let's give them the Huntsman eh?

What do these highly paid Carlsberg whizz kids know that we don't? Time will no doubt tell. Perhaps they should also bring back with the glorious jodhpurs clad 'Huntsman Girls', used to promote the famous Yorkshire tipple in its hey day. Happy days! Now that would be a bold marketing move in these weird PC days.

On a rather more serious note, we should all take a close interest in the nanny state assault on the drinks industry. This kicked off with a vengeance in the New Year - presumably to take the advantage as 'boozed up Britain' tried to shake off its collective hangover.

Statistics are being hurled around about the nation's 'drink problem' as booze follows smoking as the number one target on the health lobby's hit list - despite much evidence that indicates the figures are suspect. Can't go into this here just now, but if you have a look at the blog of Beer-Writer-Of-The Year Pete Brown you will find a detailed and fascinating deconstruction of the so called evidence and a fine old debate going strong.

The slightly good news is that the rate of pub closures does seem to be slowing - down from 50 a week to a mere 39. This is of course a national scandal that the government has so far seemed resolutely determined to ignore - despite the incalculable damage being done to many local communities.

Hopefully this year's National Cask Ale Week in the run up to Easter will bring some focus back not only on our national drink but also on to our Great British Pub heritage. That's if the media will deign to give it publicity; the 'impartial' BBC these days is one of the worst offenders in knocking the industry as it constantly rolls out the aforementioned drivel without query.

Anyway, it looks like the NCAW will be bigger and better than last year's inaugural week as the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) gets firmly behind it. I suppose I am preaching to the converted here, but we must all make a big extra special effort that week. And that means going to the pub. Cheers.

Festive beery book delights

2009-12-18T09:53:00.108Z

This is for anyone out there who, like me, is still struggling with ideas for Christmas presents – or if you just want to spend your tokens on something sensible on Boxing Day.

Hops & Glory, One man’s Search for the Beer That Built the British Empire
By Pete Brown
Published by Macmillan

There is a taxi driver somewhere in Birmingham who knows a whole lot more about IPA (India Pale Ale) than he did last Christmas.

That’s because I happened to spend two hours in his black cab returning to Cheshire one dark and stormy night. I had attended the launch of Hops and Glory in the glorious Coopers Tavern in Burton on Trent.

This book documents the story of IPA in the 1800s - and there seemed to be an echo of the sub-continent in the monsoon-like rains that hammered the Midlands and jiggered up my train journey that night. Reaching Brum too late for my connection- it was the rain not the beer (ok maybe a bit of both) - the kindly rail people whistled up the cabbie.

Anyway, brimming with IPA and enthusiasm after the launch, the journey gave me plenty of time to bore the poor young Asian driver with the beer's fascinating story until, somewhere in Shropshire, I fell asleep and left him alone with his Satnav. He thought Whitchurch was near Wolverhampton.

But boring is the last thing that you can accuse Pete Brown of being in this book that has just earned him the title of Beer Writer of the Year 2009 from no less than the British Guild of Beer Writers.

For the former advertising executive it is his third beer book – and the most ambitious to date. Over a pint with a mate, Pete decided to undertake the journey that the legendary beer used to make from Burton - the home of British brewing - to the Indian sub-continent in the 19th century. And to do it with a barrel of IPA, named Barry, just to see how the beer survived.

The sort of reckless adventure that many of us speculate on after a pint or two, this was no small undertaking. Ships just don’t make that pre-Suez Canal route round the Cape of Good Hope any more. The intrepid Pete made it happen, with a little help from brewers, specialist travel companies and assorted beer writers and, of course, his long suffering wife Liz.

The result is a hugely humourously entertaining tale that relates IPA's pivotal role in beer history and the Empire - and Pete's adventures along the way. IPA was brewed especially for the colonies in response for a call for lighter beers than stouts and porters to tackle the torrid heat. It had to be brewed strong in alcohol and heavily hopped to survive the 12,000 mile journey.But it was still a lot less potent than the indigenous Arak that probably made you blind, if it didn’t kill you first.

It appears that the servants of the British Empire and the dodgy 'honourable East India Company' sort of invented the binge drinking culture – what they put away as they ruled much of the world would make your average Friday night clubber look like the biggest wimp in town.

On his journey Pete sailed the Atlantic in a three mast tall ship, faced the perils of Brazilian prostitutes, Somali pirates and Iranian customs officials.

He survived it all to bring us this terrific beer and travel romp with pace, passion and Pete's acute sense of the ridiculous. It should be enjoyed with a bottle of Worthington White Shield or Thornbridge Jaipur. I wonder, though, if my friend the cabbie will be buying it.

For other beery books consider: A Beer a Day: 366 beers to help you through the year from Jeff Evans. Although published in 2008 by Camra (Campaign for Real Ale) I only recently read and enjoyed Jeff’s ale romp through the ages that links history with beer for everyday of the year.

World’s Best Beers: 1000 Unmissable Beers from Portland to Prague By Ben McFarland, published by Jacqui Small. This gives clear but highly humourous descriptions of the world’s beers, how to pour them and what to eat with them. Ok, it maybe sounds a bit geeky but it is very well presented and worth it for Ben’s quirky writing alone, which offers a whole new world of beery metaphor.

Happy festive reading.

A weird story tale of ale pundits, penguins and, er, vanilla bean white chocolate? Or, just what IS the point of a 32% beer?

2009-12-10T18:03:00.245Z

I don’t normally give bottled ales any space here, for the very good reason that this beer page is about cask ales. But this is a short insight into the goings on in the more rarefied beer punditry stratosphere.

There is something calling itself Tactical Nuclear Penguin – at 32% strength? Yes, that’s 32 not 3.2%abv - If you drank a pint you wouldn’t be able to ask for another that’s for sure. It's a beer that has caused a bit of a spat recently.

This stuff has been brewed by the publicity hungry Brew Dog micro up in the wilds of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire. Up there, until relatively recently, decent ale was almost as rare as aerodynamic porcine.

Anyway this ale has been proclaimed as ‘the strongest beer on the planet’. It is to be sold only in the bottle. An Imperial Stout style ale that has been matured for 18 months in whisky casks, it was condemned last week by no less than the venerable Roger Protz, editor of the Good Beer Guide and the most eminent British beer writer.

Roger proclaimed TNP an impostor because, he stated, beer simply can’t be brewed at that strength with ale yeast. He suggested that it had been given help from, say, champagne yeast. But Rog sparked a right old ding dong on his blog (see www.beer-pages.co.uk). The largely anonymous correspondents poured boiling vitriol on his bemused head for the challenge. They said that it was indeed beer because the brew was frozen to increase the alcohol volume.

You see this is what goes on out there in the beerosphere. But let’s not get technical and just accept that it is a super strong ale. The two young (still in their twenties) and radical (but talented) Brew Dog lads say this is to be ‘savoured’ in small doses - at a whopping £35 a bottle they may be spot on there. They go on to say it ‘pairs well with vanilla bean white chocolate’ – no, not deep fried Mars bars. The question is: what is the point of it?

The pair have brewed several strong ‘progressive ales’-the previous one was Tokyo at 18.2% abv - simply to annoy the alcohol watchdog, the Portman Group - as they follow the fashion in the States for ‘extreme’ brewing. Apparently it plays well in Japan. This apparent obsession with all things strong is what disturbs me a bit. In a world of largely hostile media it doesn't help the cause. But it appears that Brew Dog and their band of supporters to take the view that this is the way forward for British brewing.

Well I don't think we need worry too much about that or for that matter their outrageously sweeping claim that British beer has ‘got a bad reputation’. They don't say with whom exactly, but presumably among their more nerdy followers. I think the 600 or so breweries in brewers' society SIBA(the guys are not members) are proof of the contrary. Think Roosters, Acorn, Anglo Dutch, Dark Star or Hawkshead to name a few that are brewing terrific cask beers at reasonable strengths.

You need only walk into a B&P pub any day of the year to know this statement to be arrogant rubbish. British craft ale is unique and holds its head high among the greatest beers in the world - without drinking like a saki. And my message to the Brew Dog drinkers of this world is that by far the best place to enjoy it is down the great British pub - not sat at home having a sort of nerdy introverted ‘with chocolate’ experience. But perhaps the Brew Dog lads can't get out much in Fraserburgh.

I do know what the ever-so-polite boys down the local would say if I suggested drinking this way. It would go something like: ‘Steve, your intriguing beer views are just a little out of kilter with wider opinion as expressed by the general drinking public’ – or ‘what a load of old cobblers’. What do you think? Cheers.

In praise of Harkers' 20 years - unashamedly

2009-12-01T20:17:00.176Z

Report from a splendid birthday bash

Last night I had a pint of Boddingtons Bitter. The first Bod's for some years, now brewed by Hydes for Inbev, it tasted fine. But I doubt it will ever again be my pint of choice as it was in 1989.

Who can remember what happened, let alone what they were drinking, on any specific day two decades ago? Well, I don’t recall exactly what I was doing the day that the Old Harkers Arms doors were flung open for the first time in Russell Street, Chester.

I do know that - in a neglected area of the city at the time - from my office window just across the road it was an inspiring sight. I promptly did the 30 second dash for a lunchtime pint.

Surrounded by a beer landscape of Greenall's pubs in those days, it was when I had my Ice Cold in Alex moment.In the classic war film the legendary John Mills and his team hit the bar in Alexandria after days fleeing the Nazis through the torrid North African sand. They stare, stunned, at the beer 'so cold there's dew on the outside of the glass'. OK that was lager, but you get my drift. Gazing at an array of hand pulls that splendid day in Harkers was, well, quite similar really.

Anyway, last night I was back for another Bods and a walk down memory lane in Harkers as the first Brunning & Price pub in the north celebrated its 20th. Typical of the B&P style it was just a few laid back beers, no media (except me) no big fuss - just a little well-justified pride modestly expressed by co-founder Jerry Brunning.

The Boddies served to emphasise the affectionate nostalgia of the birthday bash. Chatting with launch landlord Francis (Fran) Hill we recalled the wild times in the early days when expense accounts lunches could be properly enjoyed before the lunch time no-booze gestapo became rampant. Fran now lives 'quietly' in head office where he is still sorting out new pubs

For me the return of Boddingtons also highlighed the huge changes in the beer-scape in recent years. The Cream of Manchester was once the most popular beer, but after changing its recipe and upping its strength it has long ago been usurped by craft beer brands – not least the much celebrated Weetwood Cheshire Cat - for the faithful band of bar stalwarts that haven't moved much over the years.

Thirsty Stalwarts
First brewed just down the road near Tarporley in 1993, it is downed by bucketful, with two or three 18 gallon barrels always ready to go and the bar stalwarts always ready to receive it.

At the birthday bash one of the regulars also in at the start - big Dave - had better recall than I as to the beers on the bar in 1989. He listed Timmie Taylor’s, Thwaites and Oak (now Phoenix) as among the regular brews. Nothing to complain about there in Greenall land. But last night you could sample delights from exciting brewers such as Anglo-Dutch and Purity – unknowns until recent years – as well as Weetwood and B&P’s own ‘Original’, smashing session ale from Phoenix. Now scores of guest ales go through the pumps every year under the watchful eye of ebullient boss Paul Jeffery and youthful beer buyer Dave.

With all this doom and gloom about pubs closing at the rate of some 40 a week we may think this a rather remarkable survival tale, 'tho' it will no doubt go very un-remarked in the mainstream media. So I make no apology for this unashamed praise.

Yes, since Fran first opened the doors, ale has played a big part in Harkers' success. But it is not the whole story. Many pubs in these difficult times may do well to take a close look at the reasons for success.

Some years after the Warrington based brewing dynasty abandoned ale, there is much greater diversity of both pubs and beers in the city. Despite the industry problems, competition grows each year. Nevertheless, the canal side ‘local’, well off the main drag, remains a top destination venue. It has no music, no gaming machines or karaoke nonsense - on a quiet day all you hear is the usual suspects at the bar singing the beer's praises.The pub that was once a warehouse has set the bar for good atmosphere, conviviality, great food and hospitality to attract customers of all types and ages every day of the week. The other day it was even given an airing on Radio 2. And all this without spending a penny on advertising down the years.

I travel around quite a bit visiting breweries and pubs these days. By the nature of the task, I use the train a lot to travel south. And when I return from my ramblings in the flat ale sands of London I almost always take a weary stroll up City Road to relive, just a little, that 'Ice Cold' moment.

To a northern beer writer you see, slipping down that first creamy pint is the cask ale equivalent to sliding into a warm, scented bath - followed a brisk rub down from two geisha girls.That's cask beer for you.

Let's hold that image and raise a glass to Harkers and its next twenty years. I wonder what we will be drinking there then Dave?

Spotlight on Thornbridge: from sheds to starship

2009-11-11T17:28:00.218Z

Five years ago I visited a new ten barrel brew length brewery in the Derbyshire Peak District. It was situated in rather endearing 'sheds' at the back of a splendidly restored stately pile. It was the fledgling Thornbridge Brewery, Ashton-on-the-Water.

A short time ago I revisited Thornbridge; but this time to a state-of- the-art brewery on the nearby Riverside Business Park, Bakewell. The occasion was the official opening - by no less than Garrett Oliver of New York’s outstanding Brooklyn Brewery fame. Now, in the US, Garrett is regarded by the growing army of beer nuts as a bit of a supreme being, so it was a bit of coup for Thornbridge.

Brewery founder, and beer-loving-entrepreneur Jim Harrison (he's the chap with the hair in the pic) had wished to keep the brewery at the magnificent Thornbridge Hall, which he, with business guru wife Emma, had spent several years putting back to its rightful glory. But an obdurate National Park Authority would have none of it.

So instead the ebullient Jim went ahead just down the road. With amazing kit supplied by Velo of Italy there now is the capacity to produce a mighty 30,000 barrels a year.

As beer writers swarmed like flies, interviewing every fermenting vessel in sight, I staggered through the new brewhouse for a bit - Jaipur IPA in hand but note book poised, of course. I peered nervously at the mighty malt conveyor as brewer Kelly extolled its delights of, well, conveying malt to masher, and squinted studiously at the awesome Steele's masher and space pod like fermenting vessels. Then anxiously - afraid of spilling - I climbed the steps to the command centre and and marvelled, totally bemused by now, as Kelly outlined this very scary computer control. It looked like it belonged in the the star ship Enterprise. Only a ten minute drive, this was light years from the sheds.

The trick
I quickly came to the conclusion that it was a very beautiful thing indeed. The trick, you see, was simply to imagine all that juicy malt and tongue tingling hops bubbling away together behind the shiny stainless steel. Then I returned to the bar.

Of course, the big question that kept the Thornbridge team awake at night was: would all this expensive new kit brew the same quality of ale ale that first scooped ‘beer of festival’ with the magnificent Jaipur (see beer notes) at Sheffield back in 2005?

Well, it seems it does. The first brew out of the new Riverside home was, would you believe, victorious at Sheffield Beer Festival 2009. The 'legend in its own brew time' ale has now collected more than 50 awards to date, I think - it's hard to keep up. So the head brewers - Italian Stefano Cossi and the aforementioned Kelly Ryan, a Kiwi - are well pleased. The news came hard on the heels of the Great British Beer Festival success, where their Kipling scooped silver in Strong Bitters and Lord Marples took bronze in the Best Bitters.

This really is a fascinating story of success for a brewery that has embraced innovation from the early days in the sheds. There is a ‘Brew Dog’(those of extreme brews and silly marketing activities fame) attitude to innovation, but tempered by an ice cool business head. The original brewery will be kept going for more experimental brews, but the continental style Riverside will allow the flexibility to brew many different beers. We can all look forward to that.

The repertoire now spans from the wickedly drinkable low gravity session ale Wild Swan (3.5%) with its gorgeous citrus bitterness – I really can't get enough of this beer and it is a huge favourite at Sutton Hall - through a gamut of styles to the new Seaforth English IPA, the rich and fruity St Petersburg Stout and the mighty oak-casked Alliance Barley Wine.

Mouthful
Something very new is the complex Thornbridge Raven(6.6%) created by yet another Kiwi brewer, the recently arrived James Kemp. This is black IPA that combines Maris Otter, Munich, black and chocolate malts with Nelson Sauvin, Centennial and Sorachi hops before dry hopping with Chinook and Aramillo. Blimey, that is a mouthful. I wonder what Kiwi speak is for 'sounds a bit tasty'? Probably 'sounds a bit tasty mate'.

James was no-less than New Zealand’s Home Brewing Champion 2008. I guess down there, by comparison, it makes him an even bigger beer hero than Garrett is in the States.

The best part of a £2m investment. the new brewery means that Thornbridge beers will soon be much more widely available in pubs throughout the UK. And with a bottling line capable of up to 2,000 units an hour, off-sales and exports will no doubt soar.

And in a great piece of craft brewing one-upmanship, Thornbridge has added further to the international team with the recruitment of a boffin with, would you believe, a PhD in bottle conditioning – Dr Andrea Pavlsner, another Italian. Bet not many people knew you could get one of those -the PhD that is, not the Italian.

Cask Report says we are on the way

2009-10-14T16:45:00.043Z

Hard on the heels of the Camra Good Beer Guide (see last post) comes confirmation from this year's 'state of the industry' Cask Report(www.caskreport.co.uk) that the future of Britain's national tipple is really looking pretty good.

It is further confirmation, if needed, of what we who drink in good pubs such as Brunning & Price houses have know for some years; cask ale, kept well, brings people into the pub. It is the cask drinkers that Rule OK when it comes to pub choice. This, apparently, is now called the 'cask value chain' and is hailed as the saviour for many pubs as 52 a week close across the country. It means that those publicans who care enough to keep that tricky cask beer will also care about other things in their pub - like the quality of the ladies loos for instance!

The report - backed by several industry bodies including SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers - www.siba.co.uk ) was for the third year written by independent beer writer Pete Brown (www.petebrown.blogspot.com) and supported by evidence from industry statistics. So it's not just wishful thinking.

Apparently twice as many women tried cask ale last year (proves the point about the loos maybe), and many more younger people are taking to it. Altogether there were 400,000 new cask drinkers last year and it was distributed in 3,000 new pubs.

The hard bitten cask stalwarts of Harkers will be delighted to know that their pioneering work has not been in vain. At last, they are the trendy leaders of fashion and good taste ('though you might not realise it to look at them). They have certainly worked at this for long enough.

Yes, nationwide, cask ale sales are up a 'staggering' 1% - although up 2.5% in B & P pubs (while lager sales are down 4.5%); OK, still some distance to go, but it's all travelling in the right direction.

When we order that last quickie we can throw our heads back, open our throat, drink deeply and think of England. It's good for economy. Cheers!