Pub News 6

some of these in the next edition, but who knows? In addition, the Fenman in Stanground has been demolished and it will not be long before the Solstice in Peterborough city centre disappears too.

It is not all doom and gloom, though, as I am informed that the Packhorse in Northborough, which was going to be on the closure list, is due to re-open once the renovations are completed, and Deeping St James now has a micropub, the Thirsty Giraffe in Manor Way, which is closed for renovation as I write this but is due to open again this month serving local brewery ales.

Finally, here is a tip for gourmands who are prepared to spend a bit more for top quality food: The Willow and Brook in Apethorpe is producing fabulous food in a safe environment with the bonus of Nene Valley ales on pumps.

Bill Taylor

Alun Thomas adds......

I’d heard favourable reports about the Red Lion in West Deeping, so Tina and I called in early in January for a spot of lunch. A pleasant experience! Local couple Frazer and Emma King (aptly for a pub based on King Street) have been landlords since last April and they offer a cosy yet roomy bar with a separate restaurant. More importantly – their house ale is King Street, brewed specifically for the RL by Deeping-based Hopshackle Brewery! It certainly drank very well on my visit.

A Warm Welcome In West Deeping Up the A15 to Bourne and the news that the Masons Arms, in South Street, was due to reopen on 6th January. The pub had been closed for a year, but new landlords Richard Gutteridge and Sabrina Iredale are “really happy and excited” about the reopening. “We want to restore it to what it was before, a good, community-feel pub” said Sabrina – who is also the landlady at the nearby Five Bells in Edenham as well as the Cock Inn, Werrington.

At last there’s some good news from the East Northants part of the Branch area! The Queen’s Head in Bulwick (this Branch’s Pub of the Year in 2013) should be open by the time you read this, after being closed for the best part of a year. Guy Kersey is the man at the helm and it sounds as though he knows what he’s doing. Guy (who hails from Market Harborough) and his associates also run the Carington Arms in Ashby Folville, near Melton Mowbray, and the Dewdrop Inn at Hathern, near Loughborough as well as a restaurant in Leicester.

Guy expects the bar to be open from February 15th with food available from March. Encouraging news on the ale front – Bass is to be complemented by LocAles from Grainstore and King’s Cliffe, just up the road. Once the food is up and running, diners should be in for a treat – running the kitchen will be Masterchef finalist Andrew Greasley! Guy and Andrew promise “classic British dishes with a twist – at affordable prices”.

I live in Stamford, as you know, and two of my daughters live in Bourne so I pass the Toft House Hotel regularly and it’s invariably in darkness. Don’t know what’s happening there; it’s been an occasional stopping-off point for a decent pint over the years.

Pub News

Just outside our Branch area, the Willoughby Arms in Little Bytham, the original home of Newby Wyke brewery, remains closed following the sad passing of landlord Kip Hulme.

In Stamford, neither of the Samuel Smith’s houses have reopened. Even before the pandemic bit, both were subject to Smith’s strange and stifling policies, which had seen cask ale, including the iconic Old Brewery Bitter, withdrawn from both pubs. What’s going on? Answers on a postcard please.....

Al

WHAT’S ON AT THE BREWERY TAP

MARCH 2022

FEBRUARY 2022

Thu 3rd The Big Deal Comedy ‘Comedy night at Tap’ from 8pm *

Tickets £10 plus booking fee. Available from Eventbrite. Tickets on the door, subject to availability

Fri 4th DJ Eddie Nash ‘Thank Funk It’s Friday’ from 9pm till late Sat 5th DJ Rick Allen ‘Saturday Night Groove’ from 9pm till 2am Sun 6th Open Mic Night from 6pm till 11pm Fri 11th Lazoons live music from 10pm Sat 12th DJ Rick Allen ‘Saturday Night Groove’ from 9pm till 2am Mon 14th Happy Valentine’s Day Fri 4th DJ Eddie Nash ‘Thank Funk It’s Friday’ from 9pm till late Sun 6th Open Mic Night from 6pm till 11pm Sat 5th DJ Rick Allen ‘Saturday Night Groove’ from 9pm till 2am Fri 11th DJ SAV ‘Disco Funk Fever’ from 9pm till late Sat 12th DJ Rick Allen ‘Saturday Night Groove’ from 9pm till 2am Fri 18th DJ Tk & T3lsy ‘The session’ from 9pm till late Sat 19th DJ Rick Allen ‘Saturday Night Groove’ from 9pm till 2am Fri 25th Let’s Funk live music from 10pm Sat 26th DJ Rick Allen ‘The Sensational 70s & 80s’ from 9pm till 2am

Enjoy Thai food from our A la Carte and Noodle Specials menu

Fri 18th DJ Tk & T3lsy ‘The session’ from 9pm till late Sat 19th DJ Rick Allen ‘Saturday Night Groove’ from 9pm till 2am Sat 19th DJ Eddie Nash and Guest DJs “House Music” from 9pm

till 2am * In The Function room, £5 entry Thu 24th The Peterborough Big Band from 8pm *

In The Function room, £5 entry

Fri 25th Hard2Please live music from 10pm Sat 26th DJ Eddie Nash ‘The Get Down’ from 9pm till 2am

Sun 27th Happy Mother’s Day Enjoy our 2 course meal for £12.95 per person

Food served all day from 12pm – 9.30pm

* Free entry except Thu 3rd Comedy night, Sat 19th House Music and Thu 24th

Peterborough Big Band

MONTHLY SPECIALS £3 a pint

01733 358500 thebrewery-tap.com

80 Westgate, Peterborough PE1 2AA

FEBRUARY MARCH

*not valid with any other offer.

Brewery News

BEXAR COUNTY

www.bexarcountybrewery.com

BLUE BELL

www.thebluebell.net

BOWLER’S

https://bowlers.beer/

As this is our first Brewery News update for Beer Around ‘Ere, I thought I’d do a quick introduction and history of Bowler’s Brewery through its relatively short existence. The brewery is jointly owned and run by myself, John Bowyer, and my old pal Dave Gowler (Bowler’s is an amalgam of our surnames) and is based in Deeping Gate – in my garage! We produce bottled and cask conditioned ales and have the capacity to produce up to 400 litres in each batch that we brew. Dave and I took the decision to set up the brewery back in 2019 and, after all the shenanigans of obtaining licences, buying the brewing equipment and building out the brew house, we were finally ready to begin brewing in October 2020. By then, of course, we were well into the pandemic with associated lockdowns and devastating impact on the pub and brewing industries. With a lack of pubs and festivals to supply to, our initial focus was exclusively upon bottled beers. Unsurprisingly, with a brewery of our size, most of our processes are fairly manual – packaging and labelling up to 800 bottles in a batch can be a laborious process that takes its toll on the brewers’ old bones! We are therefore delighted that we have more recently been able to begin packaging into casks for pubs and festivals. We have gradually increased our range of beers during 2021 and now have seven in production. These include various IPAs, a Best Bitter, a Brown Ale, a Golden Summer Ale and the most recent addition, a Winter Porter. We’ve been delighted with the feedback that we have received on the beers and were honoured to receive a Silver award from the 2021 SIBA Independent Beer Awards for our Lonesome Pine American Pale Ale. Our bottled beers are available locally from the Deeping Market Gate Deli, Sam’s of Deeping and Bourne, the Vine House Farm Shop and the Nisa stores in Stamford and Corby Glen. They can also be purchased online from our shop at www.bowlers. beer as well as from www.thirstbourne.co.uk. Cheers!

John Bowyer

CASTOR ALES

www.castorales.co.uk

Traditionally a quiet time of year, giving us the opportunity to reflect and decide that the brewery was looking a bit of a tip and needed redecorating. Unfortunately there was no money left in the kitty, so we sent the bank manager a What’s App, and she quickly confirmed that the bank would fund the redecoration. All she wanted in return was a wedge of interest, which, frankly, was unaffordable, so we asked her if she knew any rich benefactors – and now we’re embroiled in a bank loan for favours scandal. Faced with no alternative but to try and fund the work from our already stretched resources, progress has been slow. However, we have been able to finance a new kettle and can now make four cups of tea in one go. It may not improve the beer quality, but it certainly cheers the hard-pressed workforce. As if that wasn’t enough bad news, there has been major disruption to our brewing schedule due to a shortage of wheat and some specialist malts. According to our supplier, this is due to supply side difficulties brought about by the B-word. Who could have predicted that leaving a free market would

have resulted in such inconvenience? Still, at least we get the crown stamp on pint glasses (did it ever go away?) and we can “weigh out” in pounds and ounces, so it was all worth it! On a more positive note, Castor Ales have once again won the much-coveted “Best Brewery In Castor” award for the twelfth consecutive year. It may well be a very niche award, lacking any real credibility, but that doesn’t stop us banging on about it all the time – and we would like to thank anybody who voted for us. At the time of submitting this article, hospitality is hanging on by a thread, so hopefully the fact that you are reading this means there is still life in the industry. It really isn’t important whether you drink gallons of Castor Ales or not. What is important is that you drink gallons of beer (in moderation of course) in one of the many fine pubs in the Peterborough CAMRA area. Who knows, if you continue to do that, we might continue to brew – and might even notch up thirteen awards in a row..... Cheers!

Duncan Vessey

DIGFIELD ALES

www.digfield-ales.co.uk

DRUM AND MONKEY

Drum and Monkey Brewing of Stamford is located next to, and named after, the sadly demolished pub of the same name. This nano brewery produces unique small batch craft beers in keg, cask and bottle. Brewer Rupert Gibson produces a range of beer styles including pale ales, IPAs, stouts and sours which can be bought at the King’s Head in Stamford. Look out for “Half Beast”, a malty breakfast beer (3.33%), “Hello Twenty Two”, an American IPA (5.4%), “(This Is The Way To) Amarillo”, a singlehopped pale with loads of Amarillo (5.0%) and “Even Monkeys Need Nuts”, a fruity NEIPA (5.8%). For more news and updates, follow the brewery on Instagram@drumandmonkeybrewing.

Rupert Gibson

ELGOOD’S

www.elgoods-brewery.co.uk

Elgood’s have started their seasonal beer programme with La La La La Amber for January, followed by Twist and Stout in February. They will produce a limited number of kegs of Export Blonde and Export Red (both 8.7%) at the end of February. The pubs remain steady, with just the Bell at Murrow needing a new tenant. Work continues on what was the Visitor Centre, which the brewery are converting to a wedding/ conference venue and which will hopefully be open in July.

Jonathan Boyall

HOPSHACKLE

www.hopshacklebrewery.co.uk

Well, I suppose that any first contribution to BAE for 2022 should include a look back and review of the previous year. It was certainly a better year than 2020, but still had its peaks and troughs for both casks and bottled beer sales. Casks were fairly steady through spring and summer, continuing up until the point when the weather changed, and it was no longer a pleasant experience to sit outside your favourite hostelry in the cooler and damper weather of the autumn and then winter of England. There was still a demand from pubs serving food and those with covered, heated outside areas, but there was definitely a sharp decline. That was about the time that the bottled beer sales started to take off, with many people choosing to drink at home instead of going out. As would be expected, December was an extremely good month, with strong sales of gift packs and mixed cases every day, reaching a peak just before Christmas and then all was gone, zero stock. This year has got off to a reasonable start with casks moving out steadily, and enquiries from local farm and garden centres and the occasional high street retail outlet as well. My cask beers can be found at most local free houses, with permanent or semipermanent beers at the Red Lion in West Deeping, the Goat in Frognall, the Nag’s Head in Bourne and