CAMRA Great British Beer Festival 2016

OK, I've taken a while to write this, but I can only say that I have quite a few other responsibilities too, well, that's my hogwash out of the way, so, to the beer festival, and ale! We were a wee bit concerned about visiting this year, mainly because of industrial unrest on Southern Rail, but we came up anyway by way of South Eastern, so to Charing Cross rather than Victoria, that is, Mark, Dermot and myself.

I'll start at the very beginning, and have to admit I pretty much enjoyed every ale, but, after collecting my Festival pint glass on entering Olympia, I first tried the Marble Lagonda IPA (5%) and eventual Bronze winner in the Golden Ale category, this was an excellent first choice! Nice body, grapefruit flavour, dry and bitter, my kind of ale!

People happy to be here, mostly!

From that bar, I moved on, my next ale was another quality brewer and ale, from the Welsh brewers of the 'Supreme Champion' last year, Tiny Rebel Juicy (4%), a brand new seasonal ale with "American" hops, which does what it says on the label, intense tropical and citrus fruit flavours and a lovely dry bitter finish; a brewer that continues to not disappoint!

I then had another seasonal ale from another of my favourite brewers, from Yorkshire, Ilkley Summer (4%), with Citra, Chinook and Galaxy hops from the USA, a fruity refreshing golden ale I could drink all day, but I couldn't this day, as I had so much more to choose from...

This bird doesn't look so happy!

After being chased off by the big bird, we went on to our first free drinks... I'll have to explain a wee bit about this first. Dermot and I had accompanied Mark, a local pub landlord to us down in Hastings, with free entry to the festival on the Trade Day, so many thanks to Mark for sharing with us, cheers! And our first free drinks were courtesy of Harvey's of Lewes, who had supplied us with the free trade passes, so many thanks to them too! The others had some darker ale, may have been the Dark Mild, but I had the hoppier golden ale, Armada Ale (4.5%), not as fruity as many of the golden ales, but nice and bitter, cheers to Harveys!

My next ale was from another Yorkshire brewer I trust to provide excellent ales, and they certainly didn't let me down, this was Salamander Blondie Pale Ale (4%), not Debbie Harry on the pump clip this time, sadly, though an interesting adaptation of Botticelli's Birth of Venus... This Blondie was another lovely dry pale golden bitter ale, true to West Yorkshire ales, indeed!

From one Italian job, to another Italian Job (5%) from Cornish brewers, St Austell, brewed with Sorrento lemons and Mount Hood, Waimea, Dr Rudi, and Pacific Jade hops from New Zealand, a pale new-style IPA with lemon in the aroma and taste, unsurprisingly. This was another free drink, luckily, Mark knows the local rep, cheers again to him, and to her!

On to an ale from Grantham in Lincolnshire, and a brewer I haven't drunk anything from for years, but only because I moved to where I don't see their beers, sadly. This one was Oldershaw Sorachi (4.2%), brewed with the Sorachi Ace hop, which was originally developed in Japan in 1984 for Sapporo Breweries Ltd! Another golden ale with a lemon aroma, (are you getting an image of what I like here? Though I usually prefer the 'grapefruity' hops), pale and quite bitter, nice...

But to my favourite ale of the day, and from the other side of the Pennines in Lancashire, Pictish Citra (4.5%), obviously brewed with Citra hops, hence the strong citrus aroma and lemon, grapefruit and peach in the taste. Another pale golden ale with a lovely dry bitter finish, loved it!

But it wasn't a nice pale dry bitter than won the CAMRA "Supreme" Gold award, nope, it was something much darker, hence my not having drunk any of it, but the Berkshire brewers Binghams Vanilla Stout (5%), you can guess, dark and infused with vanilla pods, congratulations to the Binghams lads! A quick mention for the overall Silver award winner, Kent brewers Old Dairy Snow Top (6%), a winter ale, so 'seasonal', just not this season; see an earlier blog of mine for my opinion, it's pretty good!

I can't believe I only drank 8 different ales at the beer festival, though we did sample some of each other's ales during the afternoon, but there was an excellent choice of food too, much more than I can remember from previous years (best was an amazing Game Pie!). I met some old friends from when I lived up in Sheffield and elsewhere, nice one! And, walking back to Earls Court tube station we did pass the last abode of Harold Laski, an old political and academic hero of mine, which was interesting...

If you've read my recent blog you'll know where we went drinking near London Bridge Railway Station, ie Borough Market, a good time was had, cheers!

Pre-Sequel: After the Beer Festival 2016

On the way back home from the 2016 CAMRA Beer Festival yesterday evening, we had our last pints (and shared a cheeseboard), before catching our train back to Hastings, at the Market Porter in Borough Market SE1, where I drank a pint of G2 Brewing (website) Vella, a 4.2% golden "blonde" bitter, not too bad, with a dry finish. Beforehand, we'd drank at a bar I personally prefer in the area, though with only 3 ales at a time, a more interesting selection usually, though, plus all sorts of cask and craft beers, where we had our penultimate pints...

ie The Rake (website), on the other side of Borough Market, which has a nice view of Southwark Cathedral, and which was where my great-great grandparents were married before it became a cathedral many moons ago! Here we'd all drank the 4.2% Crouch Vale (website) Yakima Gold (4.2% also), named after the Yakima Valley (which was named in turn after the Yakima Nation, whose reservation is on the east side of the Cascade Mountains), here is where the Amarillo hops used for this ale are grown. Indeed, 77% of all U.S. hops are grown in the Yakima Valley, and many grape vines too! I've had Yakima Gold in many different bars and never had anything but a great pint or three, samples of my notes say "fruity, quite bitter, excellent"; "refreshing and very pale, fruity bitter with peach aftertaste, very good"; "genuine pale bitter, lovely stuff indeed!"

Another wonderful thing about drinking here was that, despite my mate telling me I'd paid £1.05 a pint more than I had (!), and I apologise for anything I may have said detrimental following our many ales imbibed beforehand, we were served a quality ale by quality bar staff, in this instance, the very wonderful, patient, and beautiful Alex, at about 17.15 (09/08/16), please give her a pay rise (!); and I understand there is more than just the one Alex working here!

Anyway, more to come about the beer festival itself, very soon...

CAMRA's National Club Champion, the Albatross Club!

So, I walked along the seafront to Bexhill-on-Sea from Hastings, a nice little 10 mile 'round trip', plus or minus, depending on which part of Hastings you start and finish at, because I hadn't been here for a while, and they have come first in the country, out of over 28,000 entries!

I am a branch associate member of the Royal Air Forces Association, Albatross Club, although CAMRA members are also allowed to enter. Non-members of the RAFA are asked to make a £1 contribution to the club, which, considering their ales cost just £3.10 a pint, is fair enough.

They have a regularly changing 4 ales served from handpumps at any one time, with a board at the back of the bar showing what else is to come on soon! This visit, their 4 ales included Sussex brewers, Rother Valley (website) Well Sprung (4.3%), which I didn't try this time, but my first drink was from Somerset brewers The Wild Beer Co (website) Bibble (4.2%), an unfined, so slightly hazy, pale dry bitter, pale gold, with a very fruity aroma, the result of the Mosaic and Amarillo hops used in the brew, no doubt, very nice too!

The third ale, which I didn't try either, was again local, from Sussex brewers Downlands (website) Devils Dyke (5%), described as "salted caramel!" But I did enjoy the very good Derbyshire brewers Shiny Brewing (website) Affinity (4.6%), which I'm sure I've drunk before, less obviously fruity than the Bibble, but a citrus aroma all the same, with a hint of honey, a wee bit sweet at first but drying out bitterness, another nice one!

Taking a photograph of the award wasn't so easy, as you can see, with lights on, lights off, using flash, not using flash, anyway, you get the point; I probably need a better camera! Oh yes, and the Albatross Club also has 2 real ciders and some bottles of Belgian beers too, well worth a visit!

Again, congratulations to the Club and staff!

Congratulations to the Albatross Club (RAFA)

Congratulations to the Albatross Club (RAFA - Royal Air Force Association) in Bexhill for beating more than 28,000 other club entrants to become the National Club of the Year 2016, as chosen by CAMRA (website). 

That reminds me, I must pop in to collect my RAFA membership card!

My Local Pub of the Year update, Hastings

Borrowed, and edited, from a contribution to the Steve on Hastings blog...

The Tower

I recently walked up to the current 2015 South East Sussex CAMRA 'Pub of the Year', the Tower, on the corner of London and Tower Roads in Bohemia (251 London Road TN37 6NB). As ever, it was a pleasure to see Louisa the landlady, to meet up with a few friends I hadn't seen for a while, and drink some excellent ales at good value prices, and I hadn't been up there for a while...  

6 real ales (and 4 ciders, £3.10-3.40 a pint), mostly local to Sussex/Kent too, including 2 excellent regular ales from Dark Star, ie Hophead (£2.80 a pint) and American Pale Ale, (£2.90), both of which I've talked about at length many times before, and a refreshing pale offering from 1648, the 3.7% Hop Pocket (£2.90). Also, 2 dark ales, Titanic Plum Porter (4.5%, £3) and Arundel Smokehouse Porter (6%, £3.20), and a 'red ale', Isfield Ethelred (4.4%, £3 a pint), which was certainly not unready! 

Much more to come soon, cheers!

Congratulations to Tiny Rebel!

Congratulations to Tiny Rebel and their 4.6% Cwtch for not only winning Gold in the Best Bitter category in the CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain awards, but also for winning GOLD for overall winner!   

All Results: 

Champion Beer of Britain 2015 CAMRA are pleased to announce this year's Champion Beers of Britain as follows:

Supreme Champions Gold  Tiny Rebel - Cwtch Silver Kelburn - Jaguar Bronze Dancing Duck - Dark Drake

Mild Gold Williams Brother- Black  Silver Rudgate - Ruby Mild  Bronze Great Orme - Welsh Black

Best Bitter Gold Tiny Rebel - Cwtch Silver:  Highland - Scapa Special  Joint Bronze: Barngates - Tag Lag Salopian - Darwin's Origin

Speciality Gold Titantic - Plum Porter  Joint Silver  Kissingate - Black Cherry Mild  Saltaire - Triple Chocolate  Bronze Hanlons - Port Stout

Bitter Gold Pheasantry - Best Bitter Silver  Acorn - Barnsley Bitter Joint Bronze Purple Moose - Madog's Ale Timothy Taylors - Boltmaker

Golden Gold Kelburn - Jaguar Silver Adnams - Explorer  Bronze Blue Monkey - Infinity

Strong Bitter Gold Dark Star - Revelation Silver Salopian - Golden Thread Bronze Grain - India Pale Ale

Champion Bottle-Conditioned Beer Gold Harveys - Imperial Extra Double Stout Silver Fyne Ales - Superior IPA Bronze Mordue - India Pale Ale

Congratulations to Louisa at the Tower!

Congratulations to Louisa, and her colleagues at the Tower, London Road, Bohemia, for winning the local South East Sussex CAMRA 2015 Pub of the Year, and Cider Pub of the Year too, nice one, or two! I've known Louisa, the manager at the Tower, for 3 years now, and can honestly say that I've never had a bad pint there. In fact, she has brought this pub into CAMRA reckoning by maintaining ales in excellent condition, with many local Sussex ales too, along with excellent value. 

Consequently, I have been writing about the Tower for 3 years now, and have had a look back over my blogs to help with this one. However, I didn't really need to, because Louisa has continued to sell good quality and good value ales. I first noted the cheapest ale as £2.30 a pint in 2012, now it is still usually just £2.60 a pint, a fair comparison relative to other pubs regarding changes in pricing, but still so much better value than most, and in lined glasses ('spoons apart for price!). The Tower has also been in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide for 2 years now. 

Also, that early 'cheapest' ale was the excellent Sussex brewed Dark Star Hophead (3.8%) at £2.30 a pint, and the other virtual regular from Dark Star brewery (website) American Pale Ale (APA, 4.7%) at £2.40 a pint. They were both on for my most recent visit this week at £2.70 a pint and £2.80 a pint respectively, great stuff!  

Over those 3 years, Louisa has also added 2 handpumps from the 4 when I first visited, meaning usually at least 4 regularly changing ales in addition to the 2 virtual regulars. Other ales on this week were the even more local Franklins (website) Pudding Stout (4.2%); from the North West, Robinsons Voodoo Dawn (3.9%), a 'deep red ale'; and from South Yorkshire, Abbeydale Accent Compensation (4.1%), a pale bitter.   

Oh yes, and the 6th ale on this visit, from Peterborough, was the excellent Oakham Bishops Farewell (£2.90 a pint), 4.6% of pale hoppy, citrus fruity, dry and bitter ale. I've written so often about this ale, as I have the Dark Star pair, that I really don't have anything else to add, except, I continue to love drinking them! 

And to add to Louisa's collection of awards was the local Cider Pub of the Year! She sells 2 keg ciders, Strongbow and Symonds Founders Reserve, and 2 real ciders, as can be seen from the photograph. There is Shepton Mallet Somerset Snuffler (4.8%), and the legendary Westons Old Rosie, 7.3% and dangerous!   

Congratulations Lou!

A Seasonal Dolphin in Hastings!

This is an updated and topical version of my first article published in the Hastings Independent many months ago (expect many more), now on the 'Steve on Hastings' blog too, and I chose the family-run Dolphin pub at Rock-a-Nore, because it had been named the South East Sussex Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Pub of the Year for 2 years in a row. The local CAMRA people do not consider pubs after they have won twice in a row, so we may have to wait for a bit longer before it becomes pub of the year again. Shame they don't just chose the best pub, rather than handicap their choice in such a way, but, hey! CAMRA has some very strange ideas, and members, and I should know, being one... 

So, a 'seasonal' photograph from the Dolphin's balcony, OK, we're very unlikely to see snow for a while, if at all, this winter, but I do like this photograph, which I took a couple of winters ago.  

Apart from considering the quality of the ales, how else does CAMRA chose their 'best' pubs? Importantly, they take into account how their 'champion' integrates with the local community. In this respect, the Dolphin raises thousands of pounds every year for local charities, is closely connected to Hastings Fishermens' Museum and has been instrumental in the refurbishment of the Stacey Marie, their retired fishing boat sited opposite the pub (more of very soon), members of the RNLI regularly visit for social events, the pub gets involved in old town festivals such as Fat Tuesday and the Pram Race, and is at the start of the Jack in The Green May Day procession, opening earlier than usual on that day, to provide refreshment for participants and observers, and local musicians regularly play here, do I need to go on? 

Indeed, there is a variety of live music performed here 3 nights a week, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday evenings, and a quiz for charity on Thursday evenings. Food is served every afternoon, and on Mondays the kitchen reopens at 6pm for a 'Fish Supper' deal, where the price of the fish (from Hastings fishing boats whenever possible), hand-cut chips and mushy peas, includes either a pint of beer, glass of wine, or a soft drink. 

Of course, the Dolphin also sells liquid refreshments, soft drinks, wines, 'mulled' wine for December through to the end of January (Mark the landlord's own recipe), spirits, numerous keg beers, including 3 of the newer 'trendy' craft ales, and, of course, what I'm keen on writing about... It sells 6 cask-conditioned ales, and what better way to write about finding such beer in Hastings than visiting the recent champion public house? The Dolphin sells 3 regular ales, 2 from East Sussex brewers, Harveys Sussex Best and Dark Star Hophead, and Youngs Special.   

There are also 3 regularly changing guest ales, very recently these have included Sussex brewer King's Wonderland, a "Winter Pale Ale", a 4.1% very pale bitter with a fruity aroma, good body and a dry finish, not bad at all! Also, from further afield, ie Devon, Hanlons Snowstorm Festive Ale, a 5% "strong winter ale", with a deep amber colour, similar taste to a typical 'old ale', slightly sweet maltiness, plenty of flavour, and a dry finish. Or, if you're very lucky, they may just have a few pints left of either the West Yorkshire brewers, Saltaire's Winter Ale or award winning (though not so seasonal) Cascade Pale Ale.

There are a number of brewers who continue to produce ales of quality regularly, and a few of them in Yorkshire, including Saltaire Brewery. The Winter Ale is a 4.9% darkish amber ale, they say with "toffee accents", but I have no idea what that means! Though I could detect a slight caramel flavour from the malt, and a hint of spice from the Challenger and Brambling Cross hops, all in all, a very good beer of its type. I tried their Cascade Pale Ale yesterday too, which uses Centennial hops as well as Cascade hops, and is described as an "American style pale ale"; good old Saltaire do provide much information on their pump clips! Whatever, it is a 4.8% pale golden bitter, with a fruity aroma and flavour, but more peach rather than the grapefruit I expected, pretty damn drinkable too... 

All of this is why the Dolphin is regarded as a fine example of a community pub, and why it won the CAMRA award twice in a row, and why I commenced my search for beers of and in Hastings and East Sussex here. Before I go on, I'll add that Harveys Sussex Old Ale is currently on sale at the Dolphin too, and shall be for the next couple of months. Anyway, I trust I do still have your interest, because I shall be looking at local pubs and the local brewing industry more over the coming months and years, though I have already written quite a bit about the area on this blog before.

Cheers!

Congratulations to the Dolphin!

Congratulations, once again, to the Dolphin at Rock a Nore in Hastings, for winning the CAMRA South East Sussex Pub of the Year in consecutive years!

For those who do not know the Dolphin, it has been in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide for many years now, and is a genuine family-run pub, with Mark, Mo, Laura and Louise as main participants in that success (Frazer, their son, managing to avoid getting into the photographs on this celebratory evening, though he was there somewhere!).  

The congratulations has to go to all of the family, who have their unique positions and roles within the business. Of course, this being a CAMRA award, the ales have a significant contribution to make towards receiving this award, and Mark keeps an excellent cellar, with 3 regular ales, and 3 guest ales, at any one time.  

Of course, to outdo other pubs, there also has to be other factors going toward why a pub wins the award. The Dolphin is a friendly establishment, and this is provided not just because of the warmth of the 4 family members in this photograph, but because all other staff members reflect the spirit of the family and continuity at all times the pub is open. In addition, excellent day-time food is served up by Maz and her team in the kitchen, with a special 'Fish Supper' night on Mondays, great value too, the pub is a centre for the local community, raising many thousands of £s for local charities every year, and also helping to preserve the Stacey Marie across the road from the pub, a retired fishing boat in the trust of the nearby Fishermen's Museum.

So, I'll leave with a photograph of that award, which will end up above the mantelpiece next to the 2013 award certificate, congratulations and cheers!



Top 20 pubs Part I

What pub is my favourite? I was recently asked! How to answer, as I've been to so many great pubs over the years? So, I thought, which pubs do I want to return to before I die? Then, I thought, OK let's think of 10, no 20... but I kept thinking of more! Anyway, I've decided to go for the first 20 that came to mind, excluding any where I currently live in Hastings, though I could immediately add the Swan & Rushes in Leicester or Ye Olde Black Boy in Hull, indeed, I could carry on adding, so I've decided to leave it to the first 20 I thought of. In order of merit, starting with numbers 16-20...

At number 16 is the Peter Tavy Inn (website), a 15th century pub on the western edge of Dartmoor, and, as found in many small village pubs, close by the church. The Peter Tavy Inn has been in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide for many years, and is just one of the 5 Devon pubs that came to mind for my top 20; I do have many great memories of visiting and living in Devon. I'm not sure when I first discovered this wonderful building and public house, I certainly visited here in the 1980s, when I lived in Exeter, but may have visited when staying with Devonian friends, Steve and Jude, in the 70s! Up to 5 real ales on at a time, with the latest 3 regulars being Dartmoor Jail Ale (4.8%), Tavy Ideal Pale Ale (4.8%), and Branscombe Vale Summa That (5%); you'll notice, all Devon ales, and brewed close by too. Guest ales can also come from nearby, or sometimes from further afield. 

This is in a tiny wee village, usually driven to, but I have walked there when I lived in Tavistock. Why do I chose this Inn in my 20? Well, I've many happy memories of visiting, it sells crackin' ales, and good food too, lovely building, and good to sit outside too. Strangely, I remember once visiting and seeing, for the first time ever, a tight sparkler being used to dispense Tetleys Bitter! If you are in the area, the Peter Tavy Inn certainly is worth visiting, and I do want to re-visit here before I die...   

At number 17 is the Dolphin Hotel, down near the water at the Barbican in Plymouth, so another Devon pub, and one that I did first visit in the late 1970s! This is another CAMRA Good Beer Guide regular for years, and my first memory was of the many kilderkins of Bass stillaged behind the bar, serving the ale straight from the cask, and always in crackin' form too. I have been back many times since, including most recently before a match against Argyle, and sincerely hope I haven't had my last pint there. They sell other ales from handpumps too, with up to 7 guests, plus St Austell Tribute (4.2%) as a second regular ale.

The Dolphin is often described as a bit basic, which it is, but it's also very clean and well-lived in, however, the walls are adorned with many original works donated by Beryl Cook, who used to frequent the pub; as the picture here shows! Also nearby is Cap'n Jaspers (website), renowned for good value food, particularly visited after a few pints. I remember it as a caravan type stall when I first ate there, but it is more static now in a purpose built unit. Whatever, The Dolphin's close proximity to the Barbican, and involvement with the local fishing industry, makes this a very special pub to visit when in Plymouth, I look forward to my next pint there! 

My 18th pub is the Honest Lawyer in Scunthorpe. Amusingly, Adam, of the FILO brewing businesses in Hastings, recently asked how many of the pubs I write about on my website (www.beer-meister.co.uk) I have actually visited? Of course, it's not all, though quite a few, but I do get recommendations from friends and other people I meet too. My brother, Dan, asked Adam to quiz me about any town and I'd give a suggestion. Adam thought he'd done me with Scunthorpe, so was amazed when I immediately replied with the Honest Lawyer, which I have, indeed, visited and wish to do so again, particularly as the landlord retired recently, so I'd like to compare how it changes after a year or two more. 

I've been here before and after football matches at Scunthorpe, and Alan certainly kept a tight ship with up to 8 excellent ales, and very good bar grub too, indeed, the pub had a well known restaurant upstairs too (The 'Gallows'). It is surprisingly roomy for such a narrow building, going back quite a distance, and used to have some of the best barmaids, and fittest, I'd ever met, quite a number being from Europe. Alan even used to phone up for taxis for people going to the match, I loved the place. Apparently, the ownership hasn't actually altered too much, though the new publican only has 3 real ales on sale now. An up-to-date report would be most welcomed, but, whatever, I do wish to return here before I die!  

Number 19 is a pub I have regularly reported on, as regular readers will be well aware of, and is The Bricklayers Arms (website), built in Putney in 1826, and a regular winner of the CAMRA London Pub of the Year. The Bricklayers is another 'basic' pub, I don't go in for frills so much, but like to see that pubs are clean and tidy, 'traditional' if you like, and who keep ales in excellent condition! Consequently, The Bricklayers comes into the reckoning, and I call it my 'Putney Local', it has regular beer festivals, as can be seen from its website, and the landlady, Becky, is regularly off on a charity fund raising adventure, cycling the Great Wall or whatever, but the pub stays true to her wishes when she's away. 

I first drank here at the start of the 1980s, when I still lived in London, and seem to remember it selling Fullers London Pride in those days; since then it's been a pubco pub, a Timothy Taylors pub, and now as a genuine 'free house' sells up to 10 real ales from microbreweries. Typically, there will be 6 different ales or so from a single brewery, followed by 6 or so from another, at a time, eg recently from Twickenham, Dark Star, Blackjack and Oakham breweries, with other ales from here and there. I am sure I shall return here many times, and very soon, and am amazed myself that I've placed it down at number 19, but that just shows how many great pubs there are in this country, and I hope to find many more before I die!  

Down at number 20 is the only pub on this page that I've actually worked at, though for a previous owner 2 or 3 times removed, the summer before I went to university down in Plymouth, so another Devonian pleasure! The Boringdon Arms is in Turnchapel, the other side of the River Plym 'estuary' from the Barbican in Plymouth, and from where you can catch a 'water taxi' between the two. This 18th century pub has a garden at the rear carved into the cliff/rock face, and a lovely peaceful garden it is too, certainly early in the morning and before the pub opens. I worked here in 1992 when the opening hours moved to 'all day' and they used to sell Butcombe Bitter (4%) as a regular ale, and their other regular ale was brewed by Smiles Brewery, which closed in 2005, sadly, but which was then re-badged and called Golden Guinea and sold for just £1.05 a pint (get it? A Guinea). Now the regular ales appear to be from Cornish breweries Sharps and St Austell. 

The Boringdon Arms still provides good value B&B, I believe, and crackin' food too. In the 1990s they used to have curries produced using a curry paste that an older Jack Tar made up for them, and if you managed to finish the hottest one, you got it free and received a special certificate... It was hot! I loved the position, the building, the ales and the food, and I often stayed overnight following a late evening shift, had a great breakfast, went for an early morning walk up on top, then sat out in the garden once I'd finished preparing the bar for the day... Work the lunchtime shift, then catch the bus back to Tavistock via Plymouth, great memories, and I want to return! 

I'm looking forward to more anecdotes and Part II, cheers! 

CAMRA’s National Winter Ales Festival starts tomorrow at...

CAMRA's National Winter Ales Festival starts tomorrow at The Roundhouse in Derby, not a bad place to go to for real ale at any time! (See Beermeister website). The festival will be held from Wednesday the 19th to Saturday the 22nd of February in the oldest roundhouse in the world, built in 1839, and Grade II listed, and close to the railway station, of course, so easy to get to.  

Further details can be found at the Festival's website (link), enjoy if you do go there, and I'd be very grateful for any feedback, as I cannot make it to the festival, cheers!

The Beer Goddess

I got the idea of writing this blog from reading Travels with Barley, written by the American journalist Ken Wells, within which he discussed the idea of the "Beer Goddess"; a book, incidentally, sent to me by a good friend of my yoof, Anne (I was her witness at her wedding), who now lives in Florida. I immediately thought of the Sumerian Goddess of Beer, Ninkasi, as you do...

But, no, Mr Wells was really looking at the influence of women on men drinking beer in the USA, we could be talking about poor lagers, of course, but we are also talking about the craft beer revolution that has been going on over there for quite a few years now! Craft brewers in the USA have, in recent years, been instrumental in, not just the development of new strains of hops, but also the use of hops++ in the brewing process, most of their beers aren't 'real' beers as us Brits expect, but they can certainly pack a punch with flavour, and strength!  

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Women have had an enormous influence on brewing over the years, indeed, many many years! As far as the history books show, women dominated brewing from the first beers brewed in Sumeria 4,000 years ago, and for most of the centuries since, and there are quite a good number of women brewing  for micro brewers now, thank the goddess of brewing! 

But, Mr W also was referring to what we in the UK call "barmaids", which apparently, is too sexist a term for the Americans and their pressure groups, so, to him, a barmaid is a "beer goddess" apparently. However, although the Bavarian barmaid can carry many glasses of foaming beer without spills, as this photograph attests to, and which may show a propensity towards being superhuman, they are well oversized glasses, so nowhere near full. Us ale swilling Brits, not always the most beautiful aesthetically, do enjoy the company of barmaids, let alone goddesses. However, I have only ever had one relationship with a barmaid in my life, when I was in my early 20s; maybe many are goddesses, whatever, they've certainly avoided me! 

More seriously, though, in recent years the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has used the female image to help its cause too, eg with this more up to date image of the goddess, Ninkasi, which I imagine was partly a way to encourage more women to drink real ale, as well as to encourage more men to drink even more real ale! Now this is an image of Ninkasi I am happy to remember...

Since then, Jennifer Ellison has been used very recently as part of CAMRA's successful campaign to stop the Government's beer tax escalator; she may well be a caricature of how barmaids are supposed to look, maybe a 'beer goddess' even. However, barmaids and barmen are usually much like the rest of us, ordinary people, not gods or goddesses, carrying out a wonderful role serving up quality ales to us, and may they continue to do so, many thanks.

Mr Wells also mentions a beer writer in the USA who calls herself "The Beer Goddess", Lisa Morrison, whom I have started to follow on Twitter and Facebook, and I look forward to reading her articles, whatever...

Hale Ninkasi, cheers!

More 'Red Shift', and something very interesting coming from Hastings Brewery...

The Dolphin in Hastings, Rock a Nore, was my target today, and not just because they have 2 firkins of Dark Star Red Shift (5.5%) to sell, but that's a good enough start! There were the usual Dark Star Hophead and APA, Harveys Sussex Best and Youngs Special, and the other guest was the fruity pale bitter from Salopian, Oracle (4%).

And, sitting by the Dark Star APA pump was the same brewer's Red Shift (5.5%).  I've already reported on it, but just to say again, this is a deep ruby bitter with a pronounced fruity Ribenaesque aroma. It still has a fruity taste, a subtle hint of roasted malts and plenty of body, it is a very nice ale, indeed, a warning though, you probably only have a few days before it's provision is ended here!

Oh yes! And the news connected to Hastings Brewery and one of their 'Handmade' ales to come... I was recently at the Tower, more of soon, but Louisa, the wonderful landlady, let me have a taste of the Handmade Number 6, Columbus, from an advance sample she had been provided me with because I keep on missing Hastings 'handmade numbers', many thanks Louisa!  The Columbus is a 4.8% pale bitter, single hop, with a very peachy aroma, it has plenty of body and a nice dry bitter finish. I liked it very much, so am hoping I'll catch it from the cask...

Anyway, lots going on, a visit to London to come, the CAMRA Beer Festival at Olympia too, and even more from the Tower, etc etc, cheers!