BEER Winter 2022

Regulars

05 Welcome

There are so many benefits to travelling to find good beer 15 Roger Protz

Dark delights are back on our bars and selling fast 28 History

Bat and trap pub game is still a hit 29 Action stations

CAMRA calls for a change to the Pubs Code for England and Wales 36 Food

Susan Nowak sets sail for France in search of fine food and beer 41 Your shout

One reader tells of “Fashionable yellow things I don’t like” 44 Food pairing

Katie Wiles joins US brewers aiming to inspire the next generation of chefs 48 Get quizzic-ale

How well do you know your Devon and Cumbrian breweries? 49 Bottled beer

Des de Moor seeks out barley wine 50 Last orders

Author Will Ashon celebrates ordering at the bar and community pubs

06 Beer traveller

How Marjorie and Elmer inspired author Tim Webb to explore the globe in search of great beer 12 Want to brew?

If you fancy trying your hand at professional brewing, read this 16 Hop pioneer

John Bryan changed British brewing with Citra – now he is stepping down 20 Handpump hunt

Len Wainwright searches for the cask ale holy grail in New Zealand 24 Real ale hero

Brewery History Society hits 50

30 My Local

Laura Hadland explores pubs that serve and help their communities 34 Learn and discover Jeff Evans on the ‘bathroom beer’ 38 Tasting

Adrian Tierney-Jones on carrot soup, crocodiles and the cream of UK lager 42 Heritage

The latest pubs to benefit thanks to CAMRA/Historic England joint project 46 Debate

Are neighbours wrong to complain about noisy pubs or do they have a right to peace and quiet in their homes?

From the editor

So, is it better to travel than arrive? The main ingredients of the best long drink in the world –malted barley and kilned hops – are unlikely to have come about by chance. Cider and wine can all be made using the detritus of their source fruit. Wild yeasts play a major part in the conversion of tainted fruit to alcoholic drink. But beer demands the intervention of a human to harness the potential of its ingredients.

One of the best scenes is in the climax of the classic 1958 film Ice Cold in Alex. It is a World War II adventure in which three thirsty Brits struggle across a North African desert in the company of a German spy. At the end they make it to a bar, where finally they can order the beer they have fantasised about while trying to extricate themselves from fatal quicksand and German patrols wanting to murder them. Led by Captain Anson (John Mills), the beers are served slowly from chilled bottles by an unhurried barman.

After what seems like an interminable wait, Anson downs his in one. “Worth waiting for,” he says. The film is fictional, but the benefits of travelling for beer are not. Travel runs like a golden thread through this issue.

In our lead feature, Tim Webb’s beer journey begins with a chance encounter with two American tourists in a telephone kiosk in his home town.

Susan Nowak dusts off her passport and travels to the continent – yes, people can do it now – to enjoy crêpes and good beer in Brittany.

Closer to home, Adrian Tierney-Jones reflects on English lager, no doubt influenced by his roving to many breweries overseas where good lager brewing is the norm, and not the exception.

And CAMRA member Len Wainwright travels just about as far as it is possible from the UK in search of cask ale in New Zealand.

Enjoy the reading and the beer.

wb.camra.org.uk

GUEST CONTRIBUTORS

Paul Ainsworth and Michael Slaughter explore six protected heritage pubs

Jeff Evans recounts the story of the Baby-Faced Assassin first made in a bathroom

Want to be a brewer? Martin Ellis reveals where you can learn to brew commercially

BEER

Editor: Tim Hampson (tim.hampson@camra.org.uk)

Sub-editors: Kim Adams and Rica Dearman

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BEER is the quarterly magazine of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). CAMRA campaigns for real ale, real pubs and consumer rights. It is an independent, voluntary organisation with more than 180,000 members and has been described as the most successful consumer group in Europe. BEER is available online to all CAMRA members. To receive a hard-copy version every three months, members need to opt in. Our campaigning newspaper, What’s Brewing, is now online at wb.camra.org.uk. To join CAMRA, help preserve Britain’s brewing and pub industry, get BEER and What’s Brewing updates – and a host of other membership benefits – visit camra.org.uk

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Tim Hampson

Beer traveller

A love of beer has seen Tim Webb comb the world in search of a good brew

The search for ultimate beer

I met Marjorie and Elmer on a freezing February morning sometime in the early 1990s. Elmer was hanging off the door of the telephone kiosk on our village green. He was wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, while waving at his wife of 40 years, stood four metres away, dressed in a long coat, fur hat and boots, her mittens dangling free, so she could work the camera. They were American, of course.

Nothing in my upbringing had prepared me for this kind of behaviour,

so I nodded good morning, and passed by to collect my Sunday newspaper.

On my return, Elmer was covering up with cold-weather gear, so I threw safety to the wind and asked them what they were doing. Their answer changed part of how I look at life.

Travelling dangerously Elmer had just retired after 40 years of working for the US telecoms giant AT&T. He and Marjorie had always wanted to travel, but never seemed to get round to it. “We told ourselves we

didn’t have the time or the money,” Marjorie said, “but mostly I think we were just afraid. Europe seemed as far away as outer space.”

Elmer’s retirement had brought a generous lump sum and monthly pension, plus a new life full of free time, so they looked at the idea more seriously. They figured they were too old to go backpacking, hated the idea of organised travel with strangers and couldn’t afford a tailor-made tour of top hotels, so they chose a more dangerous route.

Above: Amsterdam and Brussels are good places to start on your journey to find a good brew

IMAGES FROM BEER BREAKS , BY TIM WEBB (CAMRA BOOKS)

Elmer was obsessed with all things telephonic, so Marjorie suggested they head out to look for bits of telecoms history. They would start in Ireland, where her grandfather had been one of the first telegraph men, move on to the UK, which she had always wanted to visit, then head to mainland Europe for who knew what. They had booked a one-way flight to Dublin in the postChristmas dip and would carry on until they got bored, when they would find a flight back to the Midwest and regroup.

Week five had brought them to our village green because, I discovered, it had one of only three remaining Giles Gilbert Scott original rural kiosks from the 1920s. With the morning’s photoshoot, Elmer had been snapped hanging off the door of all three. His tropical attire was to prove to friends back home that he was on vacation.

Small things you love

What stuck was their reply to me asking whether they would recommend this way of setting an itinerary. Each gushed, their gist being that if you travel in search of

small things you love, you get to know far more of a place and its people than from visiting all of its castles, museums and beaches.

They were heading to Cornwall to see the buildings of the first transatlantic cable company and radio transmitter before catching the Brittany ferry. I suggested that while in Plymouth they visit a new pub, created in a converted telephone exchange. They loved the idea, more so than any of the Pilgrim Fathers’ stuff.

In return they made me promise to stop aiming to drink beer on my holidays, instead taking holidays where I wanted to drink beer. Their words proved to be subtly life-changing advice.

God and the Good Beer Guide

I have always travelled. I was weaned onto going abroad by parents who understood the importance of seeing the

world beyond. As children in wartime Britain, their only travel experience was being evacuated from the industrial West Midlands to rural mid-Wales.

On package holidays I learned to put up with overcrowded swimming pools and the hotels’ limited cooking, but relished the night-time forays into town where, on makeshift café terraces, wrinkly, tanned seniors pulled on intense local cigarettes and drank glasses of something clouded by aniseed. The further off the itinerary we went, the more I liked it.

When university arrived and holidays became self-funded, I thanked God for creating the 1974 Good Beer Guide, and conjured train travel, hiking boots and youth hostels to find bizarre and remote pubs in hitherto unexplored places like the Black Mountains, Fenland and the Yorkshire Dales. In 1975, I explored Scotland, a place where the local brewers seemed never to have heard of hops or cask ale.

God helped again in 1977, when the first monthly pay cheques saw my girlfriend and I venturing to

Clockwise from left: Schlenkerla brewery tavern, Bamberg, both inside and out; Abseits, Bamberg

‘They made me promise to stop aiming to drink beer on my holidays, instead taking holidays where I wanted to drink beer’

Amsterdam. Ambling down Spuistraat, the Lord did not so much speak as pull on my collar, urging me to divert down the next small street on the right. That’s how we found the treasure that is Gollem.

A new world dawns Gollem was and still is a tiny candlelit backstreet bar selling well over 100 beers, mostly from Belgium. In a single afternoon I was introduced to Oud Hoegaards (5 per cent ABV), a cloudy beer made from wheat; something strong and brown named Westmalle Dubbel (7 per cent), brewed by monks; a sharp, sweet-andsour, aged ruby-brown ale called Rodenbach Grand Cru (6 per cent); something described as Oude Gueuze (around 6 per cent) that was tangy and musty, like grainy vintage cider; and a rich liquid called Rochefort 10 (11.3 per cent) that doubled as an anaesthetic.

As a young man raised on mild and bitter, with the occasional pale ale or barley wine thrown in for variety, that afternoon expanded my beer world explosively.

It has carried on expanding ever since, though I soon realised that when it comes to finding new experiences, divine intervention is no substitute for careful research and relentless networking.

Flipping forward nearly half a century, I like to think beer has used me well.

It has certainly brought a life full of fabulous and unique experiences, most so small that they would not have been spotted from the main tourist track. The draw of beer, pursued wisely, brings countless introductions to great places and how to understand them.

Even in a time defined by post-Covid-19 neurosis and the inconveniences of Brexit, travelling for beer remains easier in every sense than it was when my exploring began. Indeed, the only thing that is more difficult is that there is so much more to discover.

Entry-level beer travelling

Asked by trainee beer travellers where they should start, I recommend what I call the Big Four. Along with the

UK, this means visiting the three other countries that had retained an active and distinctive brewing heritage at a time when interesting beer and brewing hit its historic low point in the mid-1970s: Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Belgium is unique for its massive array of heritage beer styles, formed by and in some ways forming the soul of a country blessed with so many enjoyable qualities. Often imitated but never bettered, Belgian brewing is defined by nuance and balance, its brewers being the virtuosi of fermentation and conditioning. Its boundless cuisine, the striking townscapes, great industrial archaeology and all those funny ways are just bonuses.

German brewing owes most to Bavaria, the world capital of small-scale perfectionist beer making, seen at its best in Oberfranken (Upper Franconia) and its UNESCO-ranked economic hub, beautiful historic Bamberg.

Oberfranken’s smoked beers recall the time before the invention of coke ovens, when all beer was smoky, while the local

Left: Szynkarnia, Wrocław, Poland Right and below: Berlin has a vibrant brewing scene

Right: Head to Berlin for Vagabund Hauptstadt Helles

varieties of kellerbier are the primeval lagers from the days when local brewers first stored beers in Alpine caves to keep them fresh over the summer months.

My first visits to the Bohemian part of the Czech Republic were when it was still Czechoslovakia and under Soviet control. Our tour guide, relaxing off duty in a young hopefuls’ cave bar under Prague Castle, confided to me her rule for life: “First survive; everything else is luxury.”

Hops, beer tax, brewhouses and blonde lager all originated in Bohemia. Nobody understands beer until they experience the differences in flavour and texture between a glass of Stella and a pul (sic) of the supreme style of Bohemian blonde lager, Svetlý Ležák (4.8–5.1 per cent), or 12 degrees, poured slowly by a veteran server in a wooden-walled hostinec, full of Czechs of all ages.

The grand tour

So, armed with the basics, where to next? This is what has changed most in the past 40 years and in many ways

was the driver behind Beer Breaks, a handpicked selection of 30 of the best and most enlightening places in Europe to drink beer.

Even as recently as the 1990s, after touring the Big Four, there was little more to explore. The rest of the world’s brewing highlights were written in the past tense. Today, in contrast, there are few national beer scenes outside the Islamic world that are not worth exploring, with new experiences arising all the time.

For ease and affordability, pick up a copy of Tim Skelton’s Beer in the Netherlands (Skelton Ink) and go enjoy the new Dutch beer scene, the most improved in Europe. The European country with the most breweries is now France, with 2,400, though it will take hard graft and

‘I soon realised that when it comes to finding new experiences, divine intervention is no substitute for careful research and networking’

a good map to locate most of its taprooms and beer bars.

A few days in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, where rye beers are trending within an exceptionally high-quality beer scene, should leave a strong impression. Ditto Wrocław, the stout –and porter – rich craft beer bastion of Poland. If you prefer the heat, try Barcelona, where all brews are on trend, or Rome, where many of the finest beer venues are conveniently placed along the same tram route.

For unique, fly to Iceland, where regular strength beer was only decriminalised in 1989 and none of the 30 or so breweries is owned or even part-owned by any of the global brewers. With the marketing of alcohol outlawed, beer now accounts for two-thirds of that consumed in the country, with bigtasting pale and dark ales punching well above their weight. Every brand can be tried in the compact capital, Reykjavík, along with an array of local delicacies like dung-smoked char, salt cod and fermented shark.

Above: Beer lovers are spoilt for choice in Paris where accessing good beer is easier than for many other parts of France

Clockwise from left: Barcelona has many beer gems; Belgian beer at Lambicus; a beer tasting flight at Abirradero

The world beyond

When you have wrung the value out of Europe, consider the US, which now has more than 8,000 breweries; its far roomier and altogether nicer northern neighbour, Canada; and most of Latin America, where, for example, countries like Mexico and Brazil now have around 2,000 breweries apiece. Brazil even has brewpubs that follow what it believes to be the UK model: brewing and serving uncarbonated cask ales via cannibalised handpulls – typically one for IPA, a second dispensing a beefy porter and the third an imperial stout.

Then there is Japan, where the brewers are as inventive as their Belgian colleagues, while national firms Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo gradually accumulate large craft brewers across the world, sometimes letting them carry on as normal.

I love the South African scene, where the hardiest bunch of brewing pioneers on the planet have battled an industrial monopoly, local and national government, water shortages, spiralling costs and the fact that the nearest other

craft beer country is several thousand miles away, to bring a huge range of foreign and increasingly home-grown beer styles to market, most successfully in the Western Cape.

Travellers should note that all these countries also have great food options, loads of cultural history and large numbers of beer lovers with remarkably similar interests to yours, and most are keen to chat.

From the beer bucket list

Of the nations with impressive beer revivals, I have yet to visit Australia or New Zealand, though their bids for my time have recently been bumped up ahead of Russia and Ukraine, for obvious reasons. With the bucket list dwindling, however, the promise I made to Marjorie and Elmer has seen me drawn all the more to extreme travel.

‘I liked Port Rexton Brewing, too. Its all-female crew makes a dozen beers so well that it is the toast of the provincial capital 200 miles away’

I recommend Svalbard, formerly Spitsbergen, the northernmost community on Earth and an extraordinary destination. This Arctic archipelago used to be a mining area. Then, as the Russian and Norwegian companies gradually withdrew, the latter’s government decided to develop it as a climate research area, with tourism for maniacs. Emerging from Svalbar, a cosy beer tavern in Longyearbyen, after sampling the superb beers from the Svalbard Bryggeri, to find the sun high in the night sky at frozen midnight is memorably weird.

I liked Port Rexton Brewing, too. Serving a local population of 350, on a remote peninsula in Newfoundland, its all-female crew makes a dozen beers so well that it is the toast of the provincial capital of St John’s, 200 miles away. Its taproom in the old village schoolhouse has a great North Atlantic vibe.

In Singapore, one of the island’s 40 breweries sits on the 42nd floor of a global bank’s regional HQ, serving up exceptional views, good food and perfectly adequate beers.

Lessons from your beer

With experience you learn that trading centres tend to have advanced beer cultures. It’s the sad, tax-dodging enclaves like Andorra, Gibraltar, Luxembourg, Monaco and San Marino that make do with the so-so. Money obsessives often don’t care much for quality.

Beer is way too socially cohesive to appeal to the obscenely rich. Its ability to bring people together can show itself in strange ways. The surprisingly impressive Palestine brewery Taybeh enjoys cult status among Israeli craft brewers and beer lovers, just as the growing number of small independent producers and stockists across Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia like to trade brands, as memories of the last Balkan war fade with commendable speed.

Another thing that dawns with time is beer’s terroir, not from the soil in which its ingredients grow – grain and hops are both traded globally – but for being shaped to the preferences and diktats of a local market.

In northern Europe, brewers create big bold beers for countering the winter

cold, while along the Mediterranean and Adriatic coasts, their equivalents brew lighter, drier, quenching brews, often containing local fruits. Countries where flavour hops thrive, such as Slovenia, spawn hop-forward beers that name the variety on the label, while those that tax beer heavily, such as the UK, perfect lower-strength beers in larger measures, as with cask ale.

And my point is…

Writing Good Beer Guide Belgium

,

The World Atlas of Beer and Beer Breaks is a huge privilege. All are travel guides of one sort or another. I use my accumulation of lived experience to shape them, based on an original idea by Marjorie and Elmer.

Owning a book is not essential to finding good beer, but it helps. Type ‘craft beer’ into Google Maps and it should find you a good enough mix of excellent, adequate and occasionally dreary bars and stores that feature better beers, often with more accurate opening hours. What the best beer books offer is the washed and combed version, leading their

readers to waste a lot less time and money enduring the mundane ahead of enjoying the memorable.

The 20th-century revolution that nearly did for classy brews came about because large companies shredded their competitors and cajoled disempowered drinkers into buying dull beer, sold way too cold, at inflated prices.

The 21st-century counter-attack, which CAMRA was critical to creating, was built around a loose collective of concerned locals, interested travellers and reliable platforms, coming together in a sort of global self-help group to offer each other tips.

In 2022, beer has survived and everything else is luxury. So, go and enjoy it. This is not a rehearsal.

Tim Webb is the author of Beer Breaks (CAMRA Books). He has also co-written three editions of The World Atlas of Beer (Octopus, 2011 to date) with Stephen Beaumont, and penned eight editions of Good Beer Guide Belgium (CAMRA Books)

Right and below: Tallinn delights – Hell Hunt and Põhjala taproom

Right: Íslenski Barinn, Reykjavík Below: Beergeek, Prague

Brewer in training

Looking back over the past 30 years or so, many might consider the ubiquitous use of computers and mobile phones to be the most positive lifestyle change. The greatest life-changing development in the beer world is, arguably, the phenomenal increase in breweries (the Brewers Journal suggests more than 3,000, the Good Beer Guide has a figure of about 2,000).

So, where are the brewers of the future going to come from? How are they going to learn their craft? Perhaps careers officers now have brewer added to the list of dream jobs alongside professional footballer, pop star, celebrity, etc, when asking disaffected teenagers what they would like to do to pay the rent or mortgage when they leave school?

Probably not. However, if you want to work as a brewer, how and where do

you learn the skills and knowledge? As you would expect, there are many routes to becoming a brewer, some requiring long-term academic study, others more condensed and practical.

The most important organisation awarding brewing qualifications is the Institute of Brewing & Distilling (IBD). Originally formed as the Laboratory Club in 1886, it was renamed the Institute of Brewing four years later in 1890.

Even during World War II, examinations were undertaken in prisoner of war camps and, after the conflict, in 1947, the IBD represented the UK at the European Brewers Congress. It has a major role in developing syllabuses for brewing courses,

setting standards and running examinations around the world.

It oversees around 4,000 brewing examinations annually, with 55 per cent for international students, and the rest from the UK.

It is the global professional body for brewers and distillers. The IBD is involved in brewing courses from entry level aimed at people who wish to learn out of interest, and upwards to master brewers managing large breweries. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, courses are becoming more often delivered online.

The IBD’s Steve Curtis says: “Distance learning, similar in many ways to the Open University, has made our online tutor-led courses available to a global audience.”

So, you want to be a brewer? Martin Ellis investigates

Another trend following multiple lockdowns with people having time on their hands has been increased interest in courses for home brewing.

Heriot-Watt in Edinburgh is an old and respected institution that started classes back in 1903, when courses were described as the study of brewing mycology. It has been teaching brewing long before the university was formed in 1966. The Heriot-Watt brewing department is now the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (ICBD). The undergraduate programme features a BSc in Brewing and Distilling, while MScs in the same disciplines are available as a taught course or by research.

PhD students research diverse aspects of contemporary brewing and microbiology. I asked Dr Dawn Maskell, a director of the ICBD, what she considered to be the benefits of an academic approach to becoming a brewer. She says: “High levels of scientific and technical understanding make good problem-solvers.” She adds the courses enable people to identify problems that may occur and use their expertise to avoid issues. Following graduation, students go on to a range of roles within brewing, becoming assistant brewers, operations managers, working

“Distance learning, similar in many ways to the Open University, has made our online tutor-led courses available to a global audience”

in fulfilment, or allied trades such as maltsters, yeast companies and a few work in research.

Nottingham university teaches brewing at its International Centre for Brewing Science (ICBS). Most of its courses are at a postgraduate level, but it also runs short courses and, in partnership, delivers training to apprentice brewers on an 18-month programme.

Students at Newcastle university can learn about beer and brewing while studying something completely different. Stu Brew is a student society first established in 2014. The committee asked Chris O’Malley, a lecturer from the chemical engineering department, for advice about what equipment to buy and, ever since, he has taken the role of project leader. Stu Brew started as a home-brew club and got a government grant to buy equipment. At first, the society was mainly chemical engineering students –now it has people from a diverse range of

subjects. It was also helped by a National Union of Students Green Fund grant.

Members create and develop recipes, brew and learn about beer, brewing and the trade. Management of Stu Brew is by students elected to the committee.

Many join at the freshers’ fair, some after attending the Stu Brew monthly bash where members and fellow students meet and drink at the brewery.

Committee member Jude says: “I am looking for a career related to beer, in particular a sales role for a brewery.”

Freddie in quality control says: “It’s an easy and good way to learn about beer and brewing. Superfriendly and welcoming.”

I was told that when Stu Brew students see their beer in pubs they feel “like a proud parent”.

Stu Brew students after graduation have gone on to work at large breweries including Diageo, Heineken (via the graduate entry scheme) and BrewDog. Other students have been hired by smaller breweries such as Full Circle Brewing Co, Gipsy Hill Brewing and North Brewing Co, while others have successfully set up their own brewery.

First & Last, now firmly established in Northumberland, was set up by one of Stu Brew’s first committee members.

Brewlab in Sunderland is a major resource to the brewing industry. Hundreds of small breweries that are not big enough to have a laboratory of their own use Brewlab’s facilities. It has also been the starting point for many operations. Alumni include Logan Plant, who set up Beavertown, and Gareth Williams from Tiny Rebel.

Since the mid-1980s, it has run a range of courses: a one-day taster session; a three-day course for people interested in setting up; a four-day course for those who have decided to start a brewery; while longer courses of three and nine weeks “turn a novice into a professional”.

The longer courses attract people from all over the world; many of the international students choose Brewlab because they are interested in producing cask beer. The courses attract a range of people – some are young and have decided on a career in brewing, and others are mature students who have decided they want a career change. Brewlab’s foundations are linked back to Sunderland university, but the approach is very much practical. Course coordinator Richard Hunt says: “We get people brewing as soon as possible.”

The courses cover brewing theory and science, however, while it is useful

to have scientific knowledge, it isn’t a requirement because students will learn on the course. I was told many attending Brewlab courses haven’t been in a classroom for years.

Brew-School based in Bakewell, Derbyshire, runs courses aimed at both amateur and professional brewers. Many are people who have decided they want to set up their own brewery.

Brew-School started with a one-day course in brewing and over time has developed a range of other options.

The school’s Chris Horne says: “The General Certificate in Brewing from the IBD is a basic brewing qualification equivalent to an A-level; we also run a training programme over a fortnight equivalent to an 18-month apprenticeship.”

Cider-making courses have become popular in May and September (perhaps

due to CAMRA’s cider months). Those taking the course range from those keen to make cider at home, while others plan to start small-scale production.

People who have made the decision to set up a brewery might wish to consider training from companies that supply brewery equipment. PBC Brewery Solutions based in Salford and Yorkbased Brewing Services have between them been involved in setting up hundreds of breweries.

Both companies have an impressive track record of training brewers that win awards at CAMRA, SIBA and other beer competitions. They run courses, provide bespoke training and act as consultants.

A one-day course might be a sound investment for those who wish to dip their toe in the industry.

Highly successful Stewart Brewing in Edinburgh, Brewlab, Hukins Hops in Ashford, and London Beer Lab all have one-day brewing experiences, as does the Brewhouse & Kitchen brewpub and restaurant chain. Wetherby Brew Co has a half-day course.

It has not been possible to mention every course and training provider, and some may prefer to learn how to brew in other ways away from the classroom.

Some brewers are self-taught and learn by trial and error, first as keen home brewers and then scale up to a nano and then a microbrewer.

A more informal approach to learning how to brew is to get a job at a microbrewery. Some operations are very happy for people to come and learn on the job. This can work well – just don’t plan to set up your own operation nearby.

It is reassuring to see that with all the opportunities to learn how to brew, there shouldn’t be a shortage of skilled brewers to ensure we continue to have a vibrant UK brewing industry.

Martin Ellis is a book publisher. A member of CAMRA’s Tyneside & Northumberland branch, he was on the Books Committee for more than 25 years

‘Some operations are very happy for people to come and learn on the job. This can work well – just don’t plan to set up your own operation nearby’

New beer craze

I was enjoying a beer last summer in one of my favourite London pubs, the Harp in Covent Garden, when I was aware of unusual activity at the bar. It’s a Fuller’s pub but I noticed that, even on a hot day, a large number of customers were ordering Guinness.

Nothing wrong with that, but it seemed an odd choice given the weather and the availability of Fuller’s ales. But just a few days later, I read Guinness was claiming that one in 10 pints of beer being poured in London was its stout.

I then recalled that, a couple of years earlier, a marketing guru had predicted that the next new beer craze would be stout. How we laughed. “Haven’t you seen the stats?” we guffawed. “IPA is unstoppable.”

But he had the last laugh. Guinness has responded to demand for its beer by building a new brewery in London, fittingly in Covent Garden close to the Harp. It’s costing an eye-watering £73m, but Guinness’s owner, Diageo, has deep pockets. It will be built in Old Brewer’s Yard, once the site of the Combe brewery that made porter and stout in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Historically, the strongest version of porter was known as stout porter, later reduced to stout.

Guinness had a brewery in Park Royal, North West London, from 1936 to 2005. At its peak it produced 1.6 million barrels of stout a year, but demand dropped and the site was closed. The new brewery will be smaller at 50,000 square feet and will produce special beers for the London market. Let’s hope some beers will be in cask- or bottleconditioned form. Original, when it was bottle-conditioned, was one of the joys of the beer world.

Guinness is not alone in witnessing a revival in sales of stout and porter. The independent London brewer Anspach & Hobday launched a London Black Porter (4.4 per cent ABV) in 2021 and has seen sales rocket. It’s now its bestselling beer and the draught version is in pubs from Newton Abbot in Devon to Glasgow.

It’s not the only brewery where stout or porter is the leading brand. Titanic in Stoke, one of the country’s oldest and most successful small independent brewers, has seen its Plum Porter (4.9 per cent) grow to account for 50 per cent of production. It’s so popular that drinkers have formed a society called the Plummers who hold regular tastings of it.

In Scotland, Belhaven, owned by Greene King, has had considerable

success with its Stout (4.2 per cent) that’s available south of the border. In the far north, Black Isle near Inverness brews a fine organic Porter (4.6 per cent), while Fyne Ales near Loch Lomond names its 6.8 per cent stout Sublime and also brews a 4.4 per cent porter called Vital Spark.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, at the height of the popularity of dark beers, London brewers produced strong versions for export to Russia and the Baltic states that were known as imperial stouts.

Thornbridge in Derbyshire brews an exceptionally fine example of the style called Saint Petersburg (7.4 per cent), while in Lewes in Sussex, Harvey’s uses an original recipe to make its superb bottle-conditioned Imperial Extra Double Stout (9 per cent).

The Bristol Beer Factory has led the way in bringing back another version of the style known as milk stout. Back in the 1950s and 60s, Mackeson Milk Stout accounted for half of Whitbread’s annual production and it vied with Guinness in popularity. Mackeson is now owned by AB InBev and is hard to find, but there’s now a growing number of milk stouts. They are brewed with the addition of lactose or milk sugar that contains glucose, which can’t be fermented by brewer’s yeast. As a result, lactose adds a pleasant creamy character to the beer. That marketing expert was right: dark beer is back in fashion. Guinness may be opening a new brewery in London, but it won’t have the market to itself.

Roger Protz’s book, World Beer Guide (2021), is on sale from CAMRA’s online book store. Follow him at @RogerProtzBeer

The boys from the black stuff are back on our bars and beer lovers can’t get enough of their dark delights

‘The new brewery is costing an eye-watering £73m, but Guinness’s owner, Diageo, has deep pockets’

Citra pioneer

When John Bryan discovered a new hop in the United States, he brought a batch home and changed the course of British brewing. Now, as he retires after 20 years of brewing, he looks back on his career, with Roger Protz

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TONY C FRENCH

John Bryan bowed out from Oakham Ales in style. He took to the skies in a World War II Spitfire and performed a barrel roll over the Cambridgeshire countryside. It had to be a barrel roll –he’s the former head brewer.

John sat behind the pilot and was allowed to take over the controls for a few moments. The pilot said he was impressed by John’s ability, without any training, to steer the plane. But he was talking about the man who, singlehandedly and without a co-pilot, changed the face of British beer.

For it was John who discovered a new American hop, brought it back home and brewed a beer that entranced drinkers and went on to win many awards. The hop and the beer are called Citra. Drinkers were introduced to the flavours of citrus fruits, markedly different to the grassy, spicy, peppery and blackcurrant character of English varieties.

So why, having achieved so much, has John decided to step down from Oakham at the early age of 50?

“It was the opportunity, after 27 years at Oakham, to do something else,” he says. There was also sadness involved. “Eight people I knew well, including close friends like Roger Ryman [St Austell head brewer] died – and that was before Covid. My girlfriend had had a stroke and I decided to stop working eight days a week and live a quieter life.”

As well as the main plant at Woodston, John, as brewing director, was also in charge of beer production at the city-centre Brewery Tap. He was further devastated when his head brewer, Alex

Kean, was killed in an accident in December 2021. It was time for a break.

“I’d achieved everything I wanted to,” he says. “And expansion at Woodston had been put on hold because of Covid.”

John is from farming stock in Cambridgeshire. He says he never took to the farming life and when his father decided to sell the business, he knew he had to look for another career. As a hobby, he’d brewed at home using kits, then moved to full mash.

in Peterborough’s Westgate in 1998. It’s designed along the lines of an American brewery taproom and was called the biggest brewpub in Europe.

“For the first six months, I was never fully in control of brewing,” John admits. “But there were no calamities and I muddled through.” The main beer was JHB (3.8 per cent ABV), which put Oakham on the map when it won the Champion Beer of Britain competition in 2001. Bishops Farewell (4.6 per cent), first brewed for Peterborough beer festival to mark the retirement of Bishop William Westwood from the city’s cathedral, was brought back as a regular brew.

“There weren’t many hoppy beers around in my early drinking days,” John says. “Cains FA [5 per cent] was good and I discovered Exmoor Ale [3.8 per cent] and Hop Back Summer Lightning [5 per cent]. When I first tasted Sierra Nevada Pale Ale [5.6 per cent] in the US, I thought it was insane and it encouraged me to increase the hop rate of JHB.”

“I also knew about crops,” he says, “so I understood the basics of making beer. I met a few brewers, including John Wood, the founder of Oakham. I offered to lend him a hand and helped with brewing. When John said he was leaving in 1995, Paul Hook, the new owner, kept me on and promoted me to head brewer.”

John went on a short course to improve his brewing skills, then took over the 35-barrel brewery Paul had installed in a former Labour Exchange

He had the good fortune to meet Paul Corbett, MD of hop merchant Charles Faram. In 2002, Paul took John to the US hop fields to see the varieties available. Other brewers joined the annual trips but they dropped out in 2009, which proved a fateful year. John went alone with Paul and they drove thousands of miles between farms in Oregon and Washington State.

And then came epiphany. “One farmer said he had a new experimental hop. Sierra Nevada had used it in Torpedo IPA [7.2 per cent] and the farmer

Left: Looking forward to doing something new – John Bryan Above: Citra was an instant hit and inspired other brewers

Left: John is looking for a quieter life, but will still be involved with Oakham

had a small amount left over. When I rubbed it and sniffed it, my hair stood on end. I knew it was special, with gooseberry and lychee aromas. The farmer said it was called Citra and I bought a chunk and arranged to have it flown back to Britain rather than send it by sea.

“I swear it ripened on the flight! I wanted to brew a strong IPA, but a session beer was a better commercial option. So the day after the batch arrived, I brewed a 4.2 per cent beer and called it Citra. It was the first sensible commercial decision I took at Oakham.”

It was an instant success. There was one brew in 2009 and six in 2010 before joining the core range in 2011 when John could get sufficient supplies of the hop: four tonnes at first, then increasing every year until he was using 20 a year.

“By 2016, Citra was outselling JHB,” he says. “It’s the only hop that does the complete job as a single hop, with lychees and tropical fruit aroma and palate, with a good level of bitterness in the finish. It’s both soft and sharp.”

What makes Citra special? It’s a cross between a German Hallertau Mittelfrüh and the American version of Tettnang. German ‘noble’ hops are renowned for their floral and spicy character, whereas Citra booms with citrus fruit.

The difference is caused by what wine makers call terroir – climate, soil, sunshine and rain. Citra was produced by the Hop Breeding Company in the US and it benefits, John says, from volcanic soil, pure snow-capped mountain water and superb growing conditions.

Citra’s success was capped when it won the Golden Ales category in CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain competition in 2014 and 2019. In 2011, John achieved his ambition of brewing a strong IPA with Citra. Green Devil (6 per cent) went on to win the title of World Champion Cask Beer in the prestigious International Brewing Awards in both 2013 and 2015. The brewery had also notched up further commercial success with the launch in 2008 of the golden ale Inferno (4 per cent).

John and his team were brewing seven days a week at the Brewery Tap and a bigger plant was essential.

“The original brewery in Oakham used Rutland water and we had to stay with that,” John says. A new site was found at Woodston in 2003, but it took three

years to get it up and running, with secondhand kit such as mash tun, hop whirlpool and conditioning tanks from the closed Redruth and Mansfield breweries, and additional vessels from the confectionery and dairy industries.

“By October 2006, we had a brewery with a 75-barrel brew length,” John says. “But then came the financial crunch. It was tough, but we struggled through.”

Expansion continued. When Thwaites in Lancashire closed its large brewery to downsize, Oakham bought fermenting vessels and conditioning tanks from the old Blackburn plant that enables it to brew a proper lager.

Then came Covid-19 and lockdown. Woodston can brew 35,000 barrels a year with room to grow to 75,000, but expansion is on hold while the industry recovers. Brewing is currently suspended at the Brewery Tap, but there were plans to restart by the end of 2022.

John says beer sales are slowly picking up, but the industry is hit by rising prices for fuel and raw materials. Oakham uses the finest malting barley, Maris Otter, that’s on course to cost £1,000 a tonne.

“Nobody is getting rich at the moment,” John says. “The current climate is not good for crops. Winters are wet and that’s not good for winter barleys like Maris Otter.”

But he’s confident about the future for cask beer, with Oakham supplying around 350 outlets plus its four pubs.

John plans a new life, but he is not leaving brewing completely. He will remain a partner at Oakham and will continue to explore the American hop scene every year.

“I’ve made so many friends in the US over the years, it would be remiss of me not to pester them for a few more,” he laughs. Does he think the success of Citra may have one downside – that many brewers now produce beers that are opaque and taste like alcoholic fruit juice?

John won’t be drawn but says, enigmatically, as he sips a pint of crystal-clear Citra: “I like beer that looks like beer and tastes like beer.”

Definitely worth a barrel roll in a Spitfire.

“I brewed a 4.2 per cent beer and called it Citra. It was the first sensible commercial decision I took at Oakham”

Insearch ofthe holycask

A daughter living in Wellington, New Zealand (NZ), means I get to visit once every couple of years. As it takes so long to get to NZ, when I do visit, it tends to be for upwards of a month, which gives me ample time to explore the bars and beers of the capital city and sample some excellent small-brewery craft beers.

NZ has something like 150 independent breweries and a good proportion of them are in or around Wellington. However, what are my chances of finding real ale?

Well, on my visits to the bars in Wellington, I occasionally come across

one or two handpumps (or beer engines as the locals call them).

The two breweries that advertise themselves as brewing real ale are Galbraith’s in Auckland and Cassels in Christchurch.

According to Galbraith’s website: “Galbraith’s Alehouse opened in 1995 as New Zealand’s only producer of cask-conditioned real ale in well over half a century. We make our real ales the same way we have for years with the finest English malt, noble English variety whole hop flowers and unique strains of ale yeast.

“Our ales contain no sugars (unless otherwise stated) or preservatives and are not filtered or pasteurised to retain as much flavour as possible. We are proud to be considered the best producer of authentic real ale outside of the UK.”

However, it only serves it in its own pub in Auckland.

Meanwhile, on one of my wanderings around Wellington, I came upon the Fork & Brewer pub and brewery. It was the winner of the New Zealand Brewers’ Guild Small Brewery title in 2018 and 2019. The circular bar has an astonishing 42 keg taps, one serving cider and two

Len Wainwright visits New Zealand for a family holiday and goes on the search for cask ale

Handpump hunting ground – Wellington, New Zealand

handpumps. On my last visit, it served a dark porter-style ale and a classic amber beer, both in excellent condition. They were not as gassy as you would expect a keg beer to be and, intriguingly, the same beers were available via the taps.

Asking the bar staff about the handpumped beer, I was introduced to the brewer Brayden Rawlinson. Over a pint we had an informative chat about the handpumps and beer in general.

First the technical stuff: the beer is initially keg, however, it is taken out of the chiller and allowed to reach a

temperature of 10˚C. The CO2 level and hence the pressure is lowered to 5 psi. Such a low pressure means the vacuum action of the handpump is responsible for drawing up the beer, resulting in a smoother, less gassy brew. CO2 is then introduced into the keg via a valve to replace the beer drawn up and keep it fresh for a longer shelf life.

Technically not real ale by CAMRA’s definition, but definitely a smooth pint in excellent condition.

A few other pubs in the city use handpumps in this way. On my last visit to NZ, two years previously, I visited

Don’t miss the Fork & Brewer pies

Splendid circular bar at the Mussel Inn

the Mussel Inn pub and brewery in the South Island, which had five handpumps serving beer brewed on the premises –another recommendation if you are ever in the north part of the South Island.

Brayden inherited the handpumps from the previous brewer. He has been brewing since 2015, having previously had a background in horticulture and botany. He trained online via the internationally recognised Institute of Brewing & Distilling scheme.

Some interesting facts came out of our conversation, for instance, unlike the UK, there are no tied houses, so pubs are free to choose which beers they stock.

There are two big brewers: Lion and DB. Similar to the situation in the UK, they tend to be part of larger multinational corporations.

They also had a habit of taking over smaller breweries and closing them (sound familiar?); however, according to Brayden, the pandemic seems to have put a stop to that.

Licensing of pubs is via the local authority and the standard measure you will get if you ask for a pint is 425ml as opposed to 570ml in the UK. However, the Fork & Brewer has some UK pint tankards, which means you can get a ‘proper’ measure if you ask.

Hops are imported from America, the Czech Republic and the UK. The hop

harvesting season in NZ is March/April, and Wellington pubs have a Hopstock festival four weeks after the crop is in.

Hazy IPAs have been popular in NZ recently, however, Brayden has observed the growing popularity of good craft lagers and pilsners, so it’s possible the drinking public in NZ, like their UK counterparts, are rejecting excessively hoppy beer.

Cask-aged beers are also becoming popular. For instance, the Kererú Brewing Company just outside Wellington produces a range of barrelmatured beers such as Over the Moon Truffled NZ Whisky Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout (12.8 per cent ABV), which is aged for 21 months in whisky casks. This black beer is described as presenting “a glorious harmony of black truffles and single malt whisky with notes of sherried walnuts, milk chocolate, dry spices and Christmas cake, with a lingering red wine finish”.

It retails at NZ$56 (about £27) for a 500ml bottle.

Brayden has recently started his own business called Nine Barnyard Owls, where he produces spontaneously fermented beers. In this he was inspired by visits to Belgium to create high-quality, high-gravity bottled beers, which tell a story and recreate the sense, taste, smell and romance of faraway places.

Before we parted, Brayden told me he was sure there must be at least one pub in the city selling cask ale. So, on his recommendation, I went to the

Mussel Inn pub and brewery is worth visiting in the north of the South Island

Cassels built a wood-fired brewery to replace the one destroyed in 2011

Little Beer Quarter pub. It had two handpumps, one of which served Cassels English Bitter (4.3 per cent). There, I met Douglas Williams, who is the national on-premise manager for Cassels.

He said the beer starts out as cask ale in its Christchurch brewery. It is then decanted into bags, which are kept chilled at 10˚C (50˚F) and transported to pubs to be served via handpumps. The resulting beer is 100 per cent vacuum pulled. Very few pubs in NZ have cellars like those in the UK and this is the best way of keeping its cask beer.

Cassels started 13 years ago as a family business. The Christchurch earthquake of 2011 demolished the original brewery, so it built a wood-fired version and imported Simon Bretherton, a brewer from England, who brought his UK brewing skills with him.

It has grown steadily since and is now the fourth-largest independent brewer in the country. At the time of our conversation, a yeast propagator was en route to the brewery, so it hopes to be producing bottle-conditioned beer soon.

Like Brayden, Douglas was also full of interesting information. For instance, he believes the English-style beers are popular among the UK expatriate

population, with a growing number of younger people becoming aware of them. However, it was an uphill struggle to convince NZ drinkers that beer doesn’t have to be freezing cold.

He told me that, although there is no tied-house system, the big brewers do offer financial incentives to pubs to exclusively stock their beer.

The resulting contract can be timeor volume-limited. This means the publican is bound to the contract until a specified amount of beer is sold. Outside the big cities, most small town and rural pubs tend to sell the big brewers’ beers.

Also worth noting, again like the situation in the UK, the big brewers will buy up a small brewery and keep its brands while centralising production.

Drinking at home has also become more common for similar reasons to the UK – drink driving, cheaper beer, etc. This, combined with the Covid-19 pandemic, has left many pubs struggling.

On Douglas’s recommendation, I visited the Moon Pizza Music and Beer Bar, where it had two handpumps with the beer in bags. Or “bladdered” as the barman put it. One of the two beers was an English-style bitter brewed by the Whistling Sisters brewery. It was a lovely full-bodied, well-balanced bitter similar to a Fuller’s beer.

You can imagine my excitement when, passing its brewery bar, I noticed a handpump selling its bitter. Surely, having brewed it in a cask would dispense it straight from one? Alas, once again the beer came out of a bag.

And so I left New Zealand having failed to find a pint of cask-dispensed ale, however, I had a lot of fun trying, and tasted a lot of good beers in the trying.

Must try harder next time.

Are you a CAMRA member and have a story to write about a pub, brewery or your travels? If so, contact wb.editor@camra.org.uk

Whistling Sisters’ Fuller’s-style beer was one of the brews served through handpump at the Moon Pizza Music and Beer Bar

Len Wainwright is a member of West Cumbria CAMRA branch

‘The Moon Pizza Music and Beer Bar had two handpumps with the beer in bags. Or “bladdered” as the barman put it’

Number 40: Brewery History Society

Real Ale Heroes

Preserving our brewing past

Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the Brewery History Society has compiled a vast amount of information and published many books that trace the development of British brewing and its key role in a changing society, writes Roger Protz

The anniversaries come thick and fast. Last year marked 50 years since CAMRA was formed, and 2022 celebrates 50 editions of the Good Beer Guide. And not to be ignored, this year also marks the 50th anniversary of the Brewery History Society (BHS).

The BHS may not enjoy such a high profile as CAMRA, but its contribution to our knowledge and appreciation of beer and its history are equally profound. Britain’s role in the development of brewing is of major importance. The rise of porter and stout in the 18th century and pale ale a century later helped drive a commercial brewing industry, and these beer styles transformed both the nature and the quality of beer.

But British brewing has deeper and older roots, and it’s thanks to the BHS that we can learn of beer being brewed centuries earlier. Mike Brown, one of the key historians in the society, says in his weighty, 426-page tome London Brewed, that in the 15th century, Fleet Street,

best known as the centre of the modern newspaper industry, was home to many small breweries run by women known as brewsters, who used water from the Fleet river that ran beneath the street.

Mike’s book dispels the myth that commercial or ‘common’ brewers scarcely existed before the arrival of porter. London Brewed lists commercial breweries from 1650 when the government introduced duties on beer and brewers moved from medieval guilds to a recognisable industry that grew at a rapid pace and saw many mergers and takeovers. By 1800, Mike says, the six biggest London brewers had outputs of more than 100,000 barrels a year each and they were starting, through loans to publicans, to create a tied-house system.

‘The BHS was created by a few people who not only enjoyed beer, but were fascinated by the history of the industry that made their favourite tipple’

CAMRA was founded by a handful of beer lovers determined to save cask beer. In a similar fashion, the BHS was created by a few people who not only enjoyed beer, but were fascinated by the architecture and history of the industry that made their favourite tipple.

BHS chairman Jeff Sechiari says the society grew out of three men of Kent, Bob Burdon, Roger Kelly and Tony Page, who immersed themselves in the history of brewing in the county. They decided

to form a society that would delve into the history of brewing throughout Britain. Peter Moynihan and Norman Barber, who became two of the BHS’s most influential members, joined soon after and Peter helped stage an exhibition of breweries in Maidstone. Norman went on to write, in collaboration with CAMRA, a widely read book, Where Have All the Breweries Gone?

Jeff joined the society in 1978 by a similar route to the Kentish founders. He went on Rail Ale Rambles, the first

Clockwise from left: Happy and healthy – Beer Street print by William Hogarth; play your cards right – beer to the fore in this image; brewery cooper’s art captured in print

to Bath and South Wales, organised by Crookham Travel using chartered trains to take beer lovers far and wide throughout the country. He met people who shared his interests and he heard about the formation of the BHS.

From these humble beginnings, a society emerged and grew. Today, it has 500 members who include 69 corporate members, mainly brewers and maltsters. Jeff describes the members as “beer and breweriana enthusiasts” who have used their skills over the years to find images,

descriptions and beer recipes that have helped create a formidable resource of information. There are more than 10,000 breweries on the BHS Wiki pages with priceless images, a resource that’s available to all beer lovers.

In return for an annual membership fee of £33, members receive a chatty quarterly newsletter edited by former Bass brewer Roger Putman, and a quarterly journal with long and impressively researched articles on

Left, right and below: Images are a vital part of the society’s archive

breweries in both this country and throughout the world.

Dr Tim Holt has edited the journal for a remarkable 20 years. He says some articles come from people approaching him with their work, others are the result of his hearing of PhD or MA theses that have not been published elsewhere and contain priceless information about breweries. A third strand comes from blogs and Tim helps the writers to organise their thoughts in a way that’s fit for publishing in the journal.

He studied for a PhD in London in social theory and archaeology, which led him to develop an interest in pubs and breweries. He says the current times are a golden age for beer writing and history, and he’s especially proud of the work the BHS and the journal have done on brewing in the 19th century.

“Brewing was the second most important industry in the country,” he

says. “Men like Michael Bass were not just brewers but were politicians as well, deeply involved in the emancipation of the working class at the time. Brewing had a massive impact on the economy and politics.”

Online information has become “amazing”, according to Tim. Before the arrival of the internet, academics would look for original material in universities. Writers would spend hours in the vaults of newspapers, while others would search for documents in county record offices.

Martyn Cornell, beer writer, historian and a member of the BHS journal editorial board, agrees with Tim that it’s a golden age for beer writing due to the internet and online information.

“There’s now so much information on the web,” he says. “Newspapers have been scanned, which saves vast amounts of time when researching.” He also

agrees with Tim that one role played by the society is to break down myths about brewing history, and he’s spent a large amount of time researching the origins of porter in the 18th century.

As a result, he can say with authority that the long-held belief that East London Ralph Harwood “invented” porter has no evidence to support it.

“Harwood’s role was written about in 1802, 80 years after he was alleged to have invented porter,” he says. “If he had, there would have been written evidence at the time.

“Porter was the result of the government imposing higher taxes on beer to pay for the war with France. To keep prices down, brewers used cheaper malt and more hops. The malt

was smoky, so the beer was stored to allow the smoky character to go away.

“Brewers took a popular brown beer of the time and added more hops. Later, there became a fashion for mixing fresh porter with aged porter. The longer it was aged, the better it tasted.”

BHS archivist Ken Smith agrees with Tim and Chris that online information has changed research for the better. He says Mike Brown spent 10 years researching London Brewed and he had to devote months looking at family wills, newspaper cuttings and cross-referencing licensing records. A lot of the basic information came from Post Office directories and Roger Kelly’s directories that gave basic information about when breweries opened and closed or were

taken over. The London Metropolitan Archives were an especially valuable source of information.

Ken is a photographer and he’s used his skills to build the image side of the BHS archives. He has photographed many old breweries and he says supporters have donated priceless images. They include six boxes of glass negatives of Young’s and other London breweries in the late 19th century.

“I’ve also nicked a few!” he laughs. All the images are in the public domain.

Beer can’t be made without grain and Amber Patrick plays a special role in the society by researching the history of turning grain into malt. She has spoken to archaeologists currently involved in a major dig in Norfolk on an AngloSaxon site where they have unearthed not only a brewhouse, but maltings that show malt was produced on an industrial scale and used not only by lords but also made available to local churches and to villagers for home brewing.

Amber says making malt for brewing dates from the Iron Age, with digs finding kilns sunk into the ground.

‘Tap, tap, tap went Jeff on his keyboard, then he said: “Ah, yes, Adey & White, 1868, taken over and closed in 1936 by JW Green of Luton with 56 pubs”’

In Norfolk, she adds, rye was often used as well as barley and wheat.

She also dispels an urban myth that production of pale ale was made possible only in the early 19th century with the development of coke as fuel for kilns. She says coke was available in the late 16th century, but the main sources of fuel used in kilns were wheat straw and gorse, while malt used to make brown beer was heated over beechwood.

As the society celebrates its 50th year, its work continues unabated. Books about regional breweries have joined national publications, and the monumental work, A Century of British Brewers 1890–1990, is currently being revised for a new edition that will be extended to 2012. Regular visits to breweries are held and the 2022 annual meeting was held in Burton-on-Trent.

And proof that research into longdead breweries is easier today was clear when I told Jeff Sechiari that my home town of St Albans had a brewery called Adey & White. Tap, tap, tap went Jeff on his keyboard, then a moment later, he said: “Ah, yes, Adey & White, 1868, taken over and closed in 1936 by JW Green of Luton with 56 pubs,” followed by an image of the brewery.

It’s simple when you know how. breweryhistory.com

All aspects of brewing are recorded by the society including coopering

Game’s still a hit

It’s a simple premise: hit the ball as it flies into the air as hard and as far as you can. And do it in a pub garden – it’s easy to see why bat and trap has been so popular over the years.

The batsman starts by putting the ball in the trap. The batter hits the back of the spoon on the trap with the bat and this throws the ball in the air. Then with the same bat, they try to hit the ball between two posts.

If it doesn’t go between the posts, the batter is out. If it doesn’t travel a certain distance, then it is out. The non-batting team can also try to catch the ball.

Although the exact origins of bat and trap are unknown, it can be traced back as far as the 13th century, and there is recorded evidence of it being played in the West Country in 1671 – although many believe Kent has always been its true original home.

Today, Canterbury carries the bat-and-trap torch for most of the county, as the game has been played there for many years, but its spiritual home is Shepherd Neame’s Ye Olde Beverlie pub in St Stephen’s Green, where it has been long been played.

Its origins go a long way back, but the game really gathered pace after World War I, when it was used as recuperation therapy for injured servicemen returning from the trenches.

A Canterbury-based expert on the game, Jakey Janes, said: “Bat and trap gave soldiers elements of active competition; quickness of hand and eye coordination, and the beneficial open-air environment that was loved in the Edwardian era.”

‘In 1922, the Canterbury and District league was founded –minus the ladies’ team, which was voted out by the men’

It wasn’t just recovering soldiers who benefitted from it. In 1922, Bill Humphrey arranged a meeting at the pub when the Canterbury and District league was founded – minus the ladies’ team, which was voted out by the men.

Five teams participated in the opening season in the summer of 1923, with Ye Olde Beverlie going on to win the first title. As the season passed, more teams were added and a Division Two was introduced. By 1928, teams could enter various competitions, with cups now available for the winners.

In the mid-1980s, the league hit its optimum

80 teams – eight divisions of 10 teams – while pre-Covid and its lockdowns it had 31, and 96 competing weekly in the various series across Kent.

The league celebrates its centenary this year and held a tournament at Whitstable Cricket Club with 16 teams and 118 players taking part. Evenhill Crusaders B won the cup and Chislet Club took home the shield.

Find out more at batandtrapleaguecanterbury.uk

Regional beers might have all but disappeared, but local pub games still exist including Kent’s bat and trap, writes Tim Hampson

Ye Olde Beverlie

Bat and trap still popular

1950 treble winners Brewers Delight

The Campaign is calling for a fundamental change to the Pubs Code for England and Wales, which was introduced in 2016 to balance the relationship between pub companies and their tied tenants.

CAMRA has raised serious concerns about its operation and effectiveness and is calling for the Code to include more types of tenancies, give licensees the right to serve a guest beer, tackle the ongoing issue of dilapidations, require pub companies to publish information about rent assessments and give the Pubs Code Adjudicator more power and resources.

The policy submission follows new research from the Campaign, which found that most licensees with regulated tenancies do not feel that they are fairly treated and lawfully, nor that they are no worse off than a free-of-tie tenant – the two core principles that the Pubs Code was introduced to uphold.

CAMRA is also calling for direct communication between the Pubs Code Adjudicator and tied tenants, clarity over gaming machine ties and for more public information made available by pub companies.

CAMRA’s campaigns director, Nick Boley, said: “As consumers, it’s important that tied tenants can make a long-term success of their pubs and shape the unique character of their businesses to become

Fair treatment

an integral part of their community. This isn’t possible without a balanced relationship between licensees and pub companies, and CAMRA is keen to see the review of the Pubs Code in England and Wales used to its full potential.

“It’s vital that the Pubs Code works as originally intended by Parliament so that tied tenants are guaranteed fair and lawful dealing, and that they are no worse off than free-of-tie tenants –particularly given the challenges currently faced by the whole pub trade.

“I hope that Government takes this opportunity to make substantive changes to the Code and creates a fairer system that works for licensees and consumers, as well as pub companies.”

“It’s vital that the Pubs Code works as originally intended by Parliament so that tied tenants are guaranteed fair and lawful dealing, and that they are no worse off than free-of-tie tenants”

Tied tenants survey

CAMRA conducted a survey of tied tenants between 15 July and 8 August 2022, which included the following questions and answers:

Do you think that you are treated fairly and lawfully as a tied tenant?

Do you think that in terms of all costs and support provided to you as a tenant, you are no worse off than a free of tie tenant?

CAMRA is urging the government to ensure that licensees are fairly treated

CAMRA calls for fair treatment of pub licensees

Tied tenants deserve fair treatment

Worth their weight in gold

Pubs are supporting their communities up and down the British Isles, writes

Laura Hadland

Our attention was focused on the staggering levels of child poverty in the UK at the end of 2020. Word spread like wildfire across social media, fuelled by the passion and personal experience of Premier League footballer Marcus Rashford. We were all forcibly reminded that in one of the richest countries in the world, an estimated 2.5 million children were going hungry during the holidays when they did not have access to free school meals.

The surprising army that sprang up to support Marcus and give real, practical help to hungry families were our pubs. Up and down the land, publicans collected donations for food banks and offered free meals to kids and their families. Not just for the school holidays, but in many cases for much longer after they had returned to the classroom. Two years on, many schemes, or their legacies, are still burning brightly.

Despite their businesses having suffered the harshest financial conditions in living memory thanks to lockdown restrictions, many within the on-trade chose to put the wellbeing of others first. I wanted to find out more about how pubs are playing important, and often unexpected, roles in our communities up and down the British Isles.

The Alexandra, a Young’s pub in Wimbledon, is held up by many as a shining example of a local that actively seeks to support its community. Prior to lockdown, it already held Meet up Mondays, with free tea and coffee,

Above and right: The free Christmas Day lunch at the Alex helps those who would otherwise be alone

sandwiches, a raffle and bingo at lunchtime to help combat loneliness.

The free Christmas Day lunch at the Alex is also the stuff of legend, providing a warm welcome to people who would otherwise spend the day alone. One commentator described them as “the heart of their part of Wimbledon”.

The Grainstore Brewery Tap in Oakham hosts a monthly Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club. It’s part of a national scheme to bring people with shared experiences together in a relaxed and sociable environment. The Oakham club was set up by Tracey and Mark Taylor. Ex-Army chef Mark found his own transition to civvy life very hard

and was inspired to take positive action when a close friend and colleague sadly took his own life.

The taphouse gives them a venue and heavily subsidised breakfast, essentially at cost price. Some guests are unemployed, elderly or struggling with mental health issues. Others have settled well into new civilian careers. However, they all come together at the tap to provide mutual support in an informal setting. They don’t have to arrive on time, and they can leave whenever they want to. “For some of the guys and gals, especially the older ones,” Megan from the Grainstore says, “it can be their only time out during the month.”

Alex Hylton runs the Salmon pub in Leicester city centre. I stopped by during

a books and bakes sale to raise money for Project Breakfast Club, its 2022 fundraising project. The aim of the project is to raise £3,000 to put on a breakfast club at Lancaster Academy High School in South Leicester. Here, one in three children lives in a home that is under or just about meeting the definition of the poverty line. Those children often miss out on breakfast, which affects their ability to learn and how they grow and develop.

“We’d been looking for a way to return the support and the generosity that the pub had received from the community during the pandemic,” Alex told me. He’s been organising a stream of activities, including tapas nights and

live music events where bands gave up their fee for the cause. The Aqua Ladies of Nuffield Health gym have got in on the act to raise some funds, and one customer even volunteered to do a skydive. “People have really embraced the idea,” Alex says. “We’ll keep doing it as long as the school needs the money.”

I asked Alex why a pub should go to all this trouble and his answer was: “I don’t know really, it just seems like the right thing to do.” This imperative to do the right thing is very common

among hospitality workers. Spending so much time with people puts publicans in a unique position to understand the problems faced by local residents.

“I get very misty-eyed and romantic about pubs,” Alex continues. “It really humbled me when people came and spent £100 on takeaway beer during lockdown that they could have got for half the price at the supermarket. They wanted the pub to survive. So now we want them to know that they mean something to us. We want to be the focal point for everyone to come together and build something better.”

The Salmon is not the only one working to make a difference.

“We’d been looking for a way to return the support and the generosity that the pub had received during the pandemic”

The Oakes Barn in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, uses the strapline ‘a communityspirited free house’ because adding value for its guests is embedded within the DNA of its business. Its befriending service checks in regularly on members, reaching out a hand of friendship to people who don’t have anyone else.

There are also a huge number of creative pursuits supported at the venue. This includes ukelele playing, knitting, beginner’s French, origami and even a print group meeting regularly at the pub.

The Oakes Barn’s tireless fundraising supports local charities like the St Nicholas Hospice. The staff collectively

completed a virtual walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats in 2021, raising more than £1,000.

In my opinion, pubs are integral to community building within modern Britain. This isn’t just because of their charity fundraising and active support for people who need food and companionship. Many play a vital role in fostering creativity and the arts locally. This goes far beyond simply providing

wall space to showcase local artists, although that in itself is a welcome resource. At a time when local authority spending on the arts and social spaces is at an all-time low thanks to central government cuts, this is a unique resource.

The Paxton in Gipsy Hill, South London, has set out to support its local creative communities across fashion, music, art, dance, design and wellbeing. One of just three Greene King pubs to now be free of tie, its aim is to make art more accessible. A programme of interactive fine art and light installations called Sky Art was born out of a response to lockdown, putting tent projections outdoors when customers weren’t allowed inside. It has become an integral part of what it does.

The Paxton is a constant work in progress, giving local residents a blank canvas to work with. Its activities are diverse and numerous: classical recitals during Saturday brunches in the garden, kids’ theatre workshops and even ballet in the boozer. The Paxton’s CEO, Alan Grant, said: “We are focused on serving all our communities. It’s about laying down roots and listening.”

It’s encouraging to know that this kind of activity makes solid business sense

Above: At least half the performances at Upstairs at The Western are artistically led by women or non-binary talent

Above: Grainstore’s tap hosts an Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club

because, hopefully, it will become more common. Focusing his attention on what people want has paid dividends for Alan’s business. “We have built a loyal local audience across the whole week,” he says. “This has allowed us to open on a Monday and Tuesday when all the other hospitality businesses on our street choose to close. Creativity and creative programming in our pub is a key factor in the resilience of the business in these challenging times.”

Back in Leicester, I talked to Alison Dunne, one of the directors of Upstairs at The Western. It is a pub-based, 42-seat theatre that started on the first floor of the Western pub in 2013. It became a community interest company in 2019. It stages high-quality theatre and comedy performances with at least 50 per cent of the pieces being artistically led by female or non-binary talent. It also nurtures local creative work. It is the only pub theatre in Leicester and offers a different, more intimate theatre experience compared to larger venues or more conventional commercial operations.

The schedule includes high-quality touring shows on Fridays. Wednesdays are dedicated to local work that needs a platform and pieces in development. The theatre also supports the thriving local comedy improv scene – a big thing in Leicester, as the home of the oldest comedy festival in the UK. Covid-19 emergency funding from Arts Council England meant visiting artists have received 100 per cent of the box office takings, which made a massive difference when live performers suffered such hardship due to lockdown.

The pub has changed ownership, recently joining the Everards family. The brewery gave Upstairs at The Western funding to help strengthen community ties after the pandemic. It put on crafting sessions, art walks and a free ticket scheme to encourage local people to make use of the facility.

Just like the arts programming at the Paxton, Upstairs at The Western brings new people into the pub as well as offering additional experiences to existing customers. A festive season

show for families over Christmas 2021, Roti Moon brought more than 300 people into the building, most of whom had not visited before. Thanks to the warm welcome they received, many have already returned to make use of the pub, its café and to enjoy more theatre at Upstairs at The Western.

There is no excuse for children going hungry in the fifth-richest country in the world. It is disheartening that in some areas access to the arts is so limited. We are lucky to have caring publicans who keep their ears to the ground and understand their communities. We can be proud that the UK’s pubs, quietly and without fanfare, do so much to foster the altruism and creativity that makes life worth living.

Laura Hadland is a food and drink writer, and author of 50 Years of CAMRA. She writes about beer, among other things, on her blog The Extreme Housewife

Clockwise from top: Alex Hylton of the Salmon; the Salmon raises money for a breakfast club at a nearby school; local beers; volunteer Carole Baker-Allen

“A beer first brewed in my bathroom”

It began in 2011, when Tom Fozard was brewing beer in his bathroom in Yorkshire and could only fantasise about creating a beer that could be sold commercially and win awards. At the time, Tom was working at the Leeds beer retailer Beer Ritz and doing a little home brewing in his spare time with, as he admits, mixed results. “I’d had a 50/50 success rate of producing beer that I considered to be better than average, but had become frustrated that I wasn’t getting the desired levels of flavour and aroma,” he recalls. “I’d brewed a couple of good porters and the odd pale ale that were acceptable and worth sharing with friends, but what I really wanted was to create a beer that resembled the American IPAs I’d come to love.”

Around this time, his boss, Zak Avery, managed to get his hands on a kilo of highly sought-after American Citra hops that Tom ended up sharing. “At that time, even the pros were struggling to get their hands on Citra,” he says. “While Zak rationed his hops between a number of recipes, I decided to go for bust and concocted a beer that used 95 per cent of my score. Every ounce of hop was used in order to create a juicy IPA that had a relatively restrained bitterness.”

Having committed nearly 500g of such a rare hop to what he felt was a final attempt to create a beer that delivered the end product he’d been searching for, Tom says he was “practically giddy” when he first drew off a sample towards the end of fermentation. It was pretty good. In fact, Tom was so pleased with what he’d created, he offered people the chance to

win a bottle on Twitter and was delighted with the winner’s feedback.

Tom decided to call his new creation Baby-Faced Assassin. “I always gave a proper name to every beer I brewed and, with a background in publishing, I also created my own label artwork. Some people believe that Baby-Faced Assassin is so called because I’m a Manchester

United fan – one of their former players, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, was given this nickname – or that it reflects my boyish good looks,” he jokes. “As a supporter of Leeds United, this couldn’t be further from the truth and, while I acknowledge that I appear to be younger than I am, the name simply fell into my head as I was walking to catch a bus. I’d been thinking about how the beer was deceptively drinkable and that the ABV could sneak up on consumers if they weren’t careful, so the name also acted like a tasting note.”

The next stage in Tom’s success story came a few months later. “The opportunity for my family to buy Rooster’s from Sean Franklin presented itself and, following a successful takeover, I found myself living my dream job,” he says. Soon, people who’d tried his original Baby-Faced Assassin started asking when it was going to be upscaled into a commercial product.

Tom felt he knew the answer: “Probably never.” He couldn’t see

Jeff Evans looks into the story behind Rooster’s Baby-Faced Assassin

Where better to enjoy Assassin than at Rooster’s tap?

Assassin is an award-winner in cask

how this could be financially viable, given that, even by home-brew standards, the beer had been expensive to make. As he mulled over the good reputation it had built up and the fact that the name was too good not to use, his twin brother, Ol, dampened his enthusiasm even further.

“With a background of working in the brewing industry since leaving school, Ol has always been mindful that the reason a beer’s being brewed is so that it offers enjoyment to the consumer while also being profitable,” Tom says. “When I suggested brewing Baby-Faced Assassin on a commercial scale, Ol wasn’t convinced. He’d tried the home brew and loved it, but recognised that it wasn’t practical. By this point, however, I was adamant we had to at least give it a go, even if only as a one-off.”

What was needed was to rein in the hop bill without losing any of the bold,

punchy notes that Citra brought to the party. Experimentation with dry hopping, therefore, as well as the addition of Munich malt to help broaden the beer’s backbone, was the key to the beer going from a 25-litre brew to one that’s now produced in 4,800-litre batches – the first of which was brewed as a one-off under Rooster’s Outlaw brand, at 6.1 per cent ABV, at the end of 2013.

Demand for that initial brew was so great, and feedback from drinkers and landlords so positive, that Baby-Faced Assassin became part of Rooster’s core range in 2015. That same year, the cask version scooped a bronze medal at the 2015 International Brewing Awards. Numerous other awards have followed as Baby-Faced Assassin has become Rooster’s most popular beer for export, while remaining a go-to IPA in cask, keg and can for drinkers closer to home.

Limited-edition spin-off beers have been released and include New England Assassin (6.1 per cent), Tropical Assassin (6.1 per cent), Double Assassin (8 per cent), Easy-Going Assassin (4.3 per cent) and Barrel-Aged Assassin (6.5 per cent), so the one-time home brew is now a much sought-after brand with its own extensions.

That’s quite a story and, as Tom says, “not bad for a beer first brewed in my bathroom”.

“With a background in brewing, Ol has always been mindful that the reason a beer’s brewed is so that it offers enjoyment to the consumer while also being profitable”

Living his dream job

– Tom Fozard

Assassin is available in several forms MARK

Ooh, la la

Susan Nowak digs out her passport and heads to France

Escape! With one bound we are free and heading to Brittany on the good ship Armorique. Breton crêpes and cider, langoustines and steak frites beckon on our first trip abroad since before the pandemic. Hoping entente is still cordiale – perhaps we should wear badges proclaiming “Down with Brexit and Boris” – but actually confident the Celtic connection between us on the cusp of Cornwall and our cher amis in Brittany will transcend that.

Aussi, 2022 marks our golden wedding anniversary, and we’re celebrating with 50 ‘highlights’ during the year. We should knock off several in France and anyway, it’s the nation of l’amour. We drive our car merrily onto the ferry to Roscoff, and it’s anchors aweigh.

We commenced the culinary experience in the ship’s cafeteria, where I began with eight huge juicy langoustines followed, in French fashion, by boeuf bourguinon (excellent red wine sauce and smooth mash, beef bit tough). Inexplicably, the beer was Lagunitas IPA (6.2 per cent ABV) from California. The bottle apprised us of its ‘raging hop character’, bit of an exaggeration, but the Kerne artisanal French cider was spot on, apple sweetness tempered by a sharp, dry

note. As a seafood accompaniment, très bien Not haute cuisine, but the meal only cost £12 each.

Slightly bleary-eyed next morning, we drove off the ferry, muttering “keep on the right”. Though our hotel was in the port, with only three full days in France, for this first trip back we want to cram in as much as we can, so headed inland to the medieval town of Morlaix, its architecture almost Tudor in style. Just outside was the hamlet of Plourin-lès-Morlaix, where the marketplace had been

hijacked by a group of strolling players, talented mime artistes who held us enthralled. Then Morlaix itself, and husband Fran had done his homework. He took us to Ty Coz, close cousin to a proper English pub, where he drank what he later said was the best beer of the trip – a real ale IPA (5.6 per cent) brewed by Brasserie Coreff. We had the French equivalent of a ploughman’s – for me a tasty panini – fresh baguette filled with ham and mozzarella plus cabbage slaw. Fran’s choice was even better, a petillaint balein – open

toasted sandwich on superior yeasty bread topped with ham, goat’s cheese and honey.

Back to Roscoff, and our hotel in a quaint little square by the Gothic-style church. Our room, right above the sea, looked across to the Promenade bridge, about half a mile long, where folk catch the ferry to Île-de-Batz (which has a brewery).

The town itself is a bracing seaport with ancient granite houses, loads of bars and restaurants serving the freshest fish and seafood you could desire. You see people eating alone, steadily chomping their way through great platters of seafood from cockles to lobster – deftly cracking open the shells of everything from our familiar brown crabs to terrifying spider crabs. Yet despite this abundant harvest from the sea, I would say that Brittany’s signature dish is a simple pancake: the Breton crêpe.

Clockwise from top: French cider was the perfect onboard dining companion; British pub close cousin Ty Coz serves locally brewed cask IPA; strolling players entertain in Plourin-lès-Morlaix

We embraced them at the Crêperie Cabioc’h with its beautiful stone frontage and simple intimate interior. The beer was local Rosko Blonde (4.5 per cent), delicate fruit on the nose, citrus flavours, described as d’esalterante – thirst-quenching. I drank a Kir Breton made, not with the usual white wine, but with local cider.

The range of crêpes was mind-blowing: savoury made from wholewheat flour producing a dark, lacy crêpe folded into quarters around the filling. I had La Forestiere of wood mushrooms, sour cream and bacon lardons. Fran went for La Raclette of air-dried ham, potatoes, raclette cheese and yet more sour cream. It’s not easy choosing from so many fillings, everything from salmon to a confit of the famous Breton red onion to L’Anglaise containing – yes, you’ve guessed – bacon, eggs and mushrooms.

And so dessert. These crêpes were more like English pancakes and again, choices made us feel like kids in a sweetshop – we shared one with a blueberry jam and home-made chocolate filling.

The next day, we went the pretty route to Quimper over high hills stopping in the hamlet of Pleyben where we found a classy little wine store and deli that had space for a wall of beers. Fran spent lots of his holiday euros here.

Again, he’d done his homework, but clearly lacked application. After driving all that way because Finnegans Wake in Quimper was supposed to sell Proper Job (4.5 per cent), instead we found Delirium Tremens (8.5 per cent) plus keg beer from Brasserie Lancelot, founded in 1990 by Bernard Lancelot on the site of a gold mine in Roc-Saint-André, Morbihan.

Here, too, was our only gastronomic disappointment. My vegetable risotto was a

ghastly mush of overcooked rice that seemed more like pudding with tiny slivers of vegetable relieving the mush. Serves you right for ordering risotto in France, I hear you say. Fran quite liked his sausage ragu in spicy tomato sauce, but his frites were charred chips.

And then his research paid off. On the way back, in the charming riverside town of Landerneau, he led me to a pub with handpumps – we could almost be at home! The pub Keltia (more Celtic links) had beer badges on the wall and the barman pulled a half litre of Brasserie Coreff Ambrée (5 per cent), a smooth, slightly sweet ’n’ sour amber beer, more malty and yeasty than hoppy.

Alors, our final night in Roscoff. We splashed out at the elegant Hotel Les Arcades. Fran began with a spectacular whole artichoke, but lost heart nibbling the

edible bits off all those leaves, and I snaffled the choke. Our dessert was a house special – Isle Flottante, or floating island, the airiest, softest meringue covered in toasted almonds floating in a delicate crème Anglais (custard).

The Val de Rance cidre was a particularly good partner. Produced by a cooperative dating back 65 years, it owes its richness and depth of flavour to the local climate and terroir of Breton cider apples.

For mains we had duck confit and ham with spicy sauce. Why, you may wonder, in a restaurant famed for its seafood where all around us were scoffing great platters of the stuff? Because we had saved that treat for the final day when we would lunch at Les Chardons Bleus, known as ‘le Bistrot de la Mer’.

It never happened. The following morning, “au secours!” our car would not start – and we had to be at the ferry by 3pm. It was only the fantastic team effort of French RAC, the jolly guys at Brittany Ferries who towed us on and off, and English RAC awaiting us in Plymouth that got us home. So, sorry there’s no seafood feast photo, but think of moi. You don’t get to see it – but I never got to eat it… au revoir.

Clockwise from top: Plenty of choice at the Crêperie Cabioc’h; Kir Breton is made with cider; artichoke in cider; just like home – handpulled beer in Keltia

Susan Nowak writes CAMRA’s GoodPubFood, and has made many TV and radio appearances talking about pub food and cooking with beer

New-wave lager

Adrian Tierney-Jones seeks out the cream of British-brewed lager

Pint of lager? How about this? Easily the worst so-called ‘super’ in these tastings, with lots of sugar syrup and carrot soup-like flavours besides the pungent lager alcohol; extremely crude and sticky.

Or maybe you’d fancy this instead? Suggestions of chocolate, mocha coffee and a soft roastiness on the nose. Full-bodied and creamy on the palate, with more chocolate, milky coffee, and a soft roastiness before it finishes dry and lightly bittersweet.

The first tasting is from former Good Beer Guide editor Andrea Gillies’ World Beer Guide, published in 1995. It describes her encounter with LCL Super (8.5 per cent ABV), brewed by Federation in the North East. This was the kind of carrot soup-like horror that led many CAMRA members to develop a lifelong aversion to lager (for let’s be honest, LCL Super seemed to have as much in common with an authentic lager as a cow has with a crocodile). The second beer is more benign and I encourage even the most steadfast of lager loathers to take a second sip. It is Devon-based Utopian Brewing’s Cerné

Speciální (5.9 per cent), the brewery’s tribute to the dark lagers of Czechia and among 28 fantastic members of the lager family that feature in my latest book, United Kingdom of Beer Lager has been brewed in the UK since the end of the 19th century, with several of the producers employing German brewers who brought along with them the techniques of their homeland. However, with the onset of World War I, these Teutonic tradesmen were sent packing and British lager began its long decline to the kind of mediocrity that Andrea experienced with LCL Super. However, change was coming: in 2000, London saw the appearance of Meantime, whose founder Alastair Hook was vocal in his search for authenticity. He was also a steadfast believer in time, and lagered those beers that needed it. I recall him producing a northern German pils regularly, while one of the beers he brewed exclusively for Sainsbury’s was branded as a Franconian Dark Lager (5.4 per cent). They were both excellent. Then what we used to call the craft beer revolution saw

breweries such as Thornbridge, Four Pure and Camden Town produce excellent lager beers, using long lagering times and hops from Czechia and Bavaria.

I would argue, however, that we are currently experiencing the next wave of British lager beers with the likes of Utopian, Geipel, Lost and Grounded, Braybrooke and Manchester Union making use of the processes of central European brewing, including doubledecoction mashing, while exploring a full range of lager beer styles. The results are superb and they can easily make us forget the heinous crimes of liquidity that Andrea was witness to. These breweries are making lager with the aim of being as authentic as the beers many of these brewers have tasted on their travels through Franconia and Bohemia.

“Authenticity is very important to us,” says Luke Wilson, who started Braybrooke on a farm in Leicestershire. “We use decoction mashing, horizontal fermentation tanks, five-plus weeks of lagering, etc. Our techniques are quite modern, though, as we still want to have a clean fermentation and no off-flavours. All our brewing involves a rolling boil, you don’t want to simmer it, but boil it vigorously to let out all the DMS/nasty volatiles produced. We love the profile that decoction mashing gives: an extra texture to the body, and the beer has more grainy/bready/caramel-like flavours. The process takes a little longer, but it’s definitely worth it.”

Decoction mashing is a process that originated in the lagerlands of central Europe. It involves a portion of the mash being siphoned off and boiled, and then returned. In the meantime, the mash will have been maintained at a constant temperature. Many brewers in Bohemia

Above and left: Jeremy Swainson trained in Munich and now creates several European-styled beers

and Bavaria still swear by it, but detractors say it is a waste of energy, especially as well-modified malts are commonly available (apparently the practice stems from a time when the malt to hand wasn’t so well-modified). It is the opposite of the British tradition of infusion mashing, but as the case of Braybrooke demonstrates, there are British breweries that are using it.

Decoction mashing has always fascinated me ever since being introduced to it in a Czech brewery more than a decade ago. I even have a notebook with a childlike drawing of how the system works. When last in Bamberg in 2018, I recall a brewer at rauchbier specialist Schlenkerla telling me that decoction mashing gave more body and malty flavour. During the same visit, another Franconian brewer said that even though

‘Decoction mashing has always fascinated me ever since being introduced to it in a Czech brewery a decade ago’

he had stopped using the process in 2000, it was brought back because it was thought to be better for the beers.

Over in mid-Devon we find Utopian Brewing on a farm near Crediton. Here, head brewer Jeremy Swainson, who trained in Doemens in Munich and was formerly at Camden Town, produces an exhilarating selection of beers from the family of lager, including the aforementioned Cerné Speciální, as well as a Vienna Keller (4.8 per cent) and an Unfiltered Pils (4.7 per cent). Not only does he solely use British hops and malt to make these beers, but he’s a glutton

for punishment in that he swears by decoction mashing. “We are a small brewery focused on making the besttasting lager we can,” he says. “Decoction mashing is one technique that we use, which gives our beer its distinct character. Decoction mashing is inseparable from lager-brewing tradition and the best I have tasted are typically brewed using it.”

Another brewery using decoction mashing is Manchester Union, though founder and head brewer Ian Johnson sounds a note of caution, especially with increasing energy costs. Authenticity is important for him. “But it needs to be balanced with costs and time,” he says. “With energy costs increasing, we have to find the most efficient method of using decoction. We also find it difficult to complete a brew day in 10 or 11 hours with our adapted single-decoction regime. So we have to strike a balance. Having said all that, we believe our beer styles, the ones we have released, stand up to the same central European styles.”

Several years back, I went on a press trip to Carlsberg and during a talk

Above and left: Luke Wilson’s Braybrooke brewery produces authentic style in a modern way

led by the brewers in their R&D department, you could hear the sound of several beer writers’ jaws hitting the ground when one of the brewers said, in his opinion, lagering was no longer necessary to produce lagers.

When I mentioned this to Matej Krizek, head brewer at the Czech-run Bohem brewery in North London, his response was immediate: “If a beer isn’t lagered, then it is not lager! We use a minimum of five weeks’ lagering, so our beers take roughly seven weeks to produce in total, including fermentation and lagering. We have huge respect for Carlsberg as a brand, but it’s perhaps worth noting that Carlsberg itself tells the story on its website of how its founder JC Jacobsen had a serious falling out with his son when the younger Jacobsen cut the lagering time. We believe lagering is a necessity for lager, giving it its characteristic clean taste and its clarity.”

It is worth noting that Matej, like Jeremy, Luke and Ian, is also a fierce advocate of decoction mashing: “We

do it because it is traditional and the only proper way to brew lager. It’s like asking why Cheddar tastes better when it’s fully matured, or freshly ground coffee is better than instant.”

So far, so traditional, however, let’s look at Donzoko’s peerless riffs on the family of lagered beers, which have impressed me ever since my first tasting of the brewery flagship Northern Helles (4.2 per cent). Reece Hugill is owner and head brewer, and he brews beer at Newbarns in Edinburgh and has a separate area in the brewery for fermentation and lagering. After talking with him, I have him down as a bit of an iconoclast in the traditional lager-brewing scene.

Reece says that he used to focus a lot on authenticity, but now: “I just focus more on deliciousness. I don’t think there’s much

point in being authentic to something that already exists if it does not make your beer more delicious. You can spend your time trying to make your beer taste authentic to a certain region, but I prefer to make it tasty in its own way, and go and visit that region and enjoy the classics.”

He occasionally uses decoction mashing, but tells me that he doesn’t think it has a “mystical power”.

“It is a useful tool and a technique which can impart a slightly different malt character, which is important in the beers I brew such as Select Pils [4.8 per cent] and Lil’ Foam [2.8 per cent]. But its importance, I think, has been inflated by marketing. Pitching temperature and fermentation health has a much greater effect on the character of a beer, but is less romantic.”

Whether or not it is mystical, romantic or sheer bloody-minded, all I know is that the brewing traditions of central Europe being transplanted to this rain-lashed island are making for some delicious beers. These are beers that all too often make me feel as if I am sitting in a wood-panelled tavern in Bamberg or Pilsen with a plate of sausages to go with whatever I have in my glass. LCL Super, anyone? I thought not.

“We do it because it is the only proper way to brew lager. It’s like asking why Cheddar tastes better when it’s fully matured”

Adrian Tierney-Jones is editor of Beer, In So Many Words – The Best Writing on the Greatest Drink (Safe Haven Books). He tweets at @ATJbeer and writes at maltworms.blogspot.com

Above, from left: Matej Krizek of Bohem; Donzoko head brewer Reece Hugill; Donzoko focuses on “deliciousness”

Above: Manchester Union balances cost and time in producing its lager

Your shout

Write to BEER, CAMRA 230 Hatfield Road, St Albans, Herts AL1 4LW or email wb.editor@camra.org.uk

A good article on Nottingham pubs (BEER, autumn) apart from two errors. Greene King (of Bury St Edmunds) certainly is not a “local Nottingham brewery”. Also, it was the Great Central Railway which tunnelled beneath the Cross Keys.

Tim Arnold, Milford, Derbys

It would be interesting to see the demographic that buys the top 10-selling cask ales. There are only three, Landlord, Wainwright and Tribute, that I’d file under “fashionable yellow things I don’t like”. The rest are old men’s bitters.

I’d doubt if these are the beers that are drawing in new adherents to cask ale. I think it is over-hopped citrus pales (plus black stouts) that are the gateway beers, but people grow out of them and move on to brews where the market is dominated by these rather bland national brands. We need to vote with our cash to prevent a reversion to the Big Six keg days I remember when Courage Tavern was the biggest-selling beer in the country.

Nik Wood, London E9

Laura Hadland’s mention (BEER, autumn) of the Big Six national brewers reminded me of how successful CAMRA was in making them realise there was demand for better than their keg beers. With her identifying the brewers of the current 10

Nik Wood files Timothy Taylor’s Landlord under “fashionable yellow things I don’t like”

best-known cask beers as the ‘Modern Big Six’, it’s clear the Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company is the only one of the four massive brewers with a commitment to cask beer.

Maybe some of CAMRA’s campaigning effort should be directed towards persuading AB InBev, Heineken and Molson Coors that they, too, should brew the quality beers that many pub users expect.

Paul Mudge, Stafford, Staffs

In reply to Stephen Dearing (BEER, autumn), broadband first became affordable for residential properties more than 20 years ago; 96 per cent of the UK now has a

reliable connection and a device capable of accessing the internet. In 2022, the majority of the remaining four per cent are making a choice not to use the internet. That is up to them, but there is a limit to how much of CAMRA’s resources should be used on them. It is akin to only making programmes for the 7,000 people who still purchase a black and white TV licence, even though every television these days has a colour screen. The difference is, anyone deciding to get online won’t only use their internet connection for CAMRA purposes.

Ed Taylor, Bingham, Notts

As CAMRA was founded by four journalists, you must expect scrutiny of the writing in BEER. My beef is the wrong negative of ‘interest’. There are two: ‘disinterest’, which means not having a vested interest; and ‘uninterest’, which means bored. Think of it like a cricket umpire: they must be disinterested in the game (ie, impartial), but not uninterested (ie, bored)!

Richard Ley, Rothwell, Northants

Pub protection successes

Paul Ainsworth highlights six more pubs that have benefitted from CAMRA campaigning

In the previous issue, I highlighted some of the results from the latest joint initiative between CAMRA’s Pub Heritage Group and Historic England to have more historic pubs statutorily listed and to enhance the descriptions of those already enjoying the protection. This article covers a further six pubs that have benefitted from this exercise.

Three pubs were listed (at Grade II) for the first time. As well as the Admiral Vernon, Dagenham, mentioned last time, a further London-area pub gained a listing – the Blythe Hill Tavern in Forest Hill. This delightful Victorian corner local received a makeover in the 1920s and has happily avoided any significant alterations since. There are three separate rooms – a public bar on the corner, a saloon to the left and another room at the back. The servery has an

unusual T-shaped layout designed to create a counter in each room. An especially unusual feature is that customers are welcome to walk across the serving area between the saloon and back room. The fittings are typical of their era, being largely simple and undemonstrative as opposed to the Victorian extravagance that no doubt preceded them – but survivals of largely complete schemes from this period are rare, hence the listing.

The third listing is a more difficult case, unresolved at the time of writing.

The New Beehive Inn, Bradford, was rebuilt in 1901 and then refurbished in

1936, resulting in an interesting mix of Edwardian and interwar work. Much of the original floorplan survives, though only the front right-hand bar retained its 1901 fittings. Left of the entrance foyer are the Commercial and Pink rooms, with the Music Room at the rear. This really is a special interior but, shortly before the listing was announced, the pub was sold and the new owners (whose intentions for it are unclear) had already begun work, removing a counter and replacing the front windows with uPVC. The council’s planning enforcement team has been alerted and we hope that any further damage can be prevented.

Two already listed pubs were upgraded to Grade II*, Whitelock’s Ale House, Leeds (mentioned last time) and the remarkable Prince Alfred in Maida

Above: Under threat – changes at New Beehive Inn, Bradford

Above: Inner Sanctum at Bridge Inn, Topsham, Devon

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL SLAUGHTER LRPS

‘The council’s planning enforcement team has been alerted and we hope further damage can be prevented’

Vale, London. Here, we find the country’s only peninsula-style servery that retains all its original surrounding drinking areas – five of them no less, each with its own street entrance.

What you see now dates from an 1898 internal rebuild with the main space divided by ornate timber and glass screens, all with a low service door for use by cleaners and potboys.

The smallest compartment has a full set of very rare snob screens – small, swivelling glazed panels at eye level, which stopped customers elsewhere in the pub seeing you. Magnificent tall carved fitments adorn both the centre of the servery and the back wall. A 2001 refit gave the place more of a caférestaurant feel, but without damaging its delicate Rococo character.

Our last three pubs have all benefitted from greatly expanded internal

‘One has snob screens – small, swivelling glazed panels at eye level, which stopped other customers seeing you’

descriptions, which are important to help planners understand historic buildings when faced with applications for change. They are:

l North Star, Steventon: the main bar here sports a once-common, but now almost extinct, arrangement of settles in the centre, focused on the fireplace, with attached ironwork that once carried curtains for greater privacy. The lack of a bar counter is also a great rarity – only five other traditional pubs still serve in this way.

l Black Horse, Preston: by way of contrast, this is an exuberant towncentre pub from the heyday of Victorian pub building. The multi-roomed interior

is a delight in itself but the star attraction is the glorious public bar, dominated by a semicircular ceramic counter fronted by intricate mosaic flooring and also featuring a tiled dado and rare ceramic fireplace. The small smokerooms, either side of the mosaic-floored corridor, also have many original fittings.

l Bridge Inn, Topsham: in Devon, this splendid old pub has been in the same family since 1897 and famously received a visit from the Queen in 1998. Again, there are many rooms to enjoy, the most unusual being the Inner Sanctum, a small parlour area behind the servery where customers may be invited to sit. Only one other pub (the Arden Arms, Stockport) now has an arrangement like this.

Work is still under way on compiling an enhanced description of the interior of the Fleece, Bretforton.

Clockwise from top left: Right-hand bar at the Blythe Hill Tavern in Forest Hill, London; peninsula bar at the Prince Alfred in Maida Vale, London; North Star, Steventon, Settle Room; Black Horse, Preston, semicircular ceramic bar and mosaic flooring

Putting beer on the menu for the next generation

Katie

appetite for beer and food with a tasting of American brews designed to inspire tomorrow’s top chefs

Wiles whets her

Anyone who’s lucky enough to take part in a fine-dining experience will know that the drinks offer rarely extends beyond the categories of ‘red or white’.

In fact, opening the drinks menu at most restaurants – fine dining or not –tends to leave the seasoned beer drinker properly disappointed, as you flick through the various options of greenbottled imported lagers.

Wine is historically best known for pairing – and with good reason. Its tannins and acidity help balance salt and fats, allowing other flavours to shine brighter. Yet beer can play an incredibly powerful role in the kitchen and at the table, and in many instances, pick up where wine leaves off.

Furthermore, the beer industry has increased its scale, size and variety over the past two decades, with nearly 2,000

Right: Fine-dining partners: cannelloni of Brixham crab, mango and chilli salsa with Joint Resolution and Weekend Vibes on the side

breweries up and down the UK. There is more than enough to choose from – and to pair with.

According to the craftbeer.com’s Beer & Food course: “Beer has varying acidity and tannins from both malts and hops. It has unsurpassed flavour harmony potential with grilled, roasted and smoked proteins thanks to the flavour of kilned and roasted malt. It has additional flavour echoes from hop’s floral, herbal and citrus notes.

“Beer’s bitterness from hops and roasted malt counters both sugar and fat. Its yeast character’s fruity esters and personality-filled phenols find further flavour connections to food. Beer’s residual sugar pairs and plays well with hot and spicy food. And carbonation scrubs the tongue, getting it ready for the next bite.”

Beer and food matchings can clearly provide an elevated experience for fine diners, yet take-up for it is still relatively low. Beer seems to have retained a century-old stigma of being a workingclass drink and enjoys a lower status than wine, especially at fine-dining restaurants. But it’s high time to take beer more seriously, and it’s clear that, in this regard, the US is forging ahead with impressive speed.

I had the opportunity to join the Brewers Association (BA) at Westminster Kingsway Catering College for a special four-course pairing event, where I had a sneak peek at some of the work the BA is doing to help put beer back on the menu.

The BA encouraged student chefs at the college to build a four-course menu based on America’s finest highquality craft beers. Participants were asked to think about the paired beer as a supporting ingredient and consider how it will interact with different characteristics of the dish.

BA American craft beer ambassador for Europe Lotte Peplow says: “We want to encourage catering students to experience the amazing flavour combinations and versatility of beer when paired with food to gain familiarity with beer and use such knowledge and experience in their future careers.”

Its menu consisted of: salad of heirloom tomatoes, pickled watermelon, wasabi and ginger granita paired with

“We want to encourage students to experience the amazing flavour combinations and versatility of beer”

Chuckanut Asian Lager (4.8 per cent ABV) and Paradox brewery Paradox Pilsner (5 per cent); cannelloni of Brixham crab, mango and chilli salsa paired with Coronado Brewing Company Weekend Vibes (6.8 per cent) and DC Brau Joint Resolution (5.5 per cent); Aylesbury duck, roast and confit, potato press, heritage carrots, veal and blackberry sauce paired with Virginia Beer Company Baker’s Ordinary Bitter (4 per cent) and Upslope Brewing Company Kriek (5 per cent); Josper charred pineapple, coconut ice, lime meringue paired with Maui Brewing Company Pineapple Mana Wheat (5.5 per cent).

The BA is making headway with this concept in the US and has worked with craftbeer.com to design a specific course on beer and food pairings. This is something that is urgently needed here in the UK, with the only accredited beer and food programme run through the Institute of Brewing & Distilling currently on hold for more than two years.

If chefs are rarely exposed to the amazingly versatile drink that is beer

during their training and coursework, how can we expect them to pair or upsell it in our restaurants?

Reading through the American coursework, I soon discover what a massive impact the explosion of craft beer has had on the sector, with the entire US beer category reaching more than $100bn in sales. Comparing these numbers to wine ($50bn) and spirits (almost $70bn), it’s clear that beer is not a drink to be ignored.

Of particular interest to me was the encouragement for chefs to focus on flavour styles – such as dark and roasty or fruity and spicy – rather than predefined styles. This process can be challenging, as every palate will taste and react

Left: Perfect pair – Aylesbury duck, roast and confit, potato press, heritage carrots, veal and blackberry sauce with Virginia Baker’s Ordinary Bitter and Upslope Kriek

differently to the same flavours. However, it encourages chefs to take time to develop a descriptive vocabulary so that they will find reference points that make the language of beer more accessible. Clearly, it’s a fine balance between science, art and personal preference when it comes to food matching.

There’s a lot to learn, but it’s a huge opportunity for retailers who are ready to break the rules and give beer the leading role it deserves in restaurants. Here’s to hoping the next generation of chefs are up for the challenge.

You can find out more about beer and food pairings by visiting CAMRA’s Learn & Discover platform at camra.org.uk/learn-discover/ learn-more/learn-more-about-beer/ beer-and-food-pairing

Katie Wiles is CAMRA’s communications manager and keen real ale fan. Read more of her work at wilesaboutbeer.com or @wilesaboutbeer

Fortunate few – beer and food writers at exclusive tasting

Noise nuisance?

“British pubs are noisy places – let’s keep them that way,” says Matthew Fort in The Times. However, one pub, the Compton Arms in North London, is being threatened with closure due to “noise pollution”.

Are neighbours right to complain?

If they’ve lived next to the pub and the style of the pub has changed, then, yes! Although you would hope that the publican talked to local residents about their plans.

If they’ve moved next to the pub and the style of the place hasn’t changed, then absolutely not!

I’m not a big fan of them as I generally go to a pub for conversation.

However, there is a place for them in our community whether it be as a music venue or a sports pub.

Tony Wells

Frankly, I think pubs should be able to complain about neighbours who move in and threaten their existence.

Pubs are community hubs that create noise. As long as that noise is within the law, then any new neighbours need to accept that as part of buying a property there.

Imagine moving next to an airport and complaining about the noise from the planes.

Ash Corbett-Collins

Isn’t noise a subjective thing? Someone can cope with noise if it is a type of music they enjoy, but not a style they loathe.

I don’t mind drinking in a noisy pub so long as the beer is in good condition, although it can be difficult sometimes to communicate with the bar staff when ordering drinks and the like.

Andrew Day

I am a retired environmental health officer, so often had to deal with complaints like this. If the complainant has moved into the area where the noisy activity has been happening without complaint in the past (church bells, chiming clocks, cockerels, nightclubs, motor sports), then apart from making conciliatory comments, no action should be taken other than to bring it to the attention of those making the noise.

Stephen Collingwood

I much prefer a quiet pub to a noisy one. But then I am a solitary, miserable sod.

Basic rule of thumb is I don’t want to shout or raise my voice to make myself heard. Some micropubs I have been in have terrible noise issues mainly because the walls are bare brick, and the sound reflects badly off them, so it raises the noise level and then everyone else has to speak louder again, which just exacerbates the problem.

John Norris

I hate super-noisy places. I like a bit of background music (just chatter makes me anxious for some reason) and for people to not shout and bawl! Once one person starts shouting, then someone else does and it’s a screaming match all over the pub!

Gillian Harrison

I have slightly iffy hearing, so if I’m socialising with family and friends, I’ll prefer a quiet pub. However, some pubs are designed to be noisy – they host discos, karaoke and live music –and when I’m out to take part in those activities (normally the latter), I’m all in favour of them.

Keep the volume down? All comments are taken from a discussion on CAMRA’s online forum at discourse.camra.org.uk

As for those who move in next to existing pubs, I believe the law should protect existing long-standing activities from complaints by those who have chosen to move close to them.

John O’Donnell

Compton faces licence review following neighbours’ complaints

Compiled by James Daly. The quizmaster’s decision on correct answers is final when choosing the prize winners.

*The prize can only be awarded to entrants on the UK mainland. Readers can enter the competition multiple times, but can only win a month’s membership to Beer52.com once. Repeat winners will be offered a £10 voucher for Beer52’s online shop (the minimum spend of £30 applies).

GetQuizzic-ale

Does real ale improve your general knowledge? Find out by tackling our quiz

first three correct entries to be drawn

win a month’s membership to Beer52.com* l Send entries to Quizzic-ale, BEER, CAMRA, 230 Hatfield Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL1 4LW, by 30 November 2022. l Your details will be passed on to Beer52.com, but if you would prefer this not to happen, state so clearly on your entry.

Name:

number:

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Enter online

To enter online, follow this link: surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ beerquizwinter2022

1 Green beryl is the proper name for which valuable gem mineral?

A: 2 In which European country is the Grande Dixence Dam? A: 3 Who dreamed of a ladder that reached from Earth to the heavens?

A: 4 Why is the silverfish misnamed? A: 5 What is porphyrophobia? A:

6 Which song has the lines “Won’t call her friends ’cause she’s ashamed of being locked into bed / can’t feel her legs and feeling like a liar at best”?

A:

7 Which Devonshire brewery produces ales Firing Squad, Pilton Hopster and Agincourt?

A:

8 Which medical complaint is caused by excess uric acid in the blood?

A: 9 What does a hyetograph record?

A: 10 What’s the connection between Kirsty Young, Sue Lawley and Michael Parkinson?

A:

11 What was the name of the Portuguese singer created by Steve Coogan?

A:

12 Who said: “We asked their opinion of the Monarchy. Do you know what they said? They said abolish them – we’ve had enough”?

A:

13 Which beer won the Champion Beer of Britain in 2001?

A:

14 Which insect is sometimes called a twitch-bell?

A:

15 Which book’s last line is: “She died last month at the age of eighty-two”?

A:

16 In which film is the lead character served by a valet called Riff-Raff?

A:

17 Which people used the quipu as a means of calculation?

A:

18 Who adopted the stage name of Walter Busterkeys?

A:

19 Which Cumbrian brewery produces ales Tag Lag, Cat Nap and Red Bull Terrier?

A:

20 What year saw the start of interregnum in British history?

A:

Autumn winners: John Page, Swansea; Nigel Poulter, Warlingham; Phil Smithson, London

Wine not?

Full-bodied, dark red-brown barley wines can make great seasonal treats

Beer traditionalists who bristle at the notion of Black IPA should ponder the term ‘barley wine’, another style name that may be selfcontradictory, but still gives the drinker a reasonable idea of what to expect. It originates in the oncecommon practice of brewing beers strong and hoppy enough to mature in cellars for long periods. By the late 19th century, it was used both to reflect the strength and borrow the upmarket cachet of wine. Though it hasn’t attracted quite as much interest among the younger generation of UK craft brewers as other strong heritage styles like imperial stout, there are some fine examples that make perfect seasonal treats.

One of the earliest references to the commercial style is a mention of the “matchless home-brewed barley wine” from the White Lion, Digbeth, in 1870, so I was delighted to discover Mr. Wood Four Roses (10.5 per cent ABV) from

Dig Brew, founded in 2017 less than a mile from the now-closed pub. Aged 18 months in a bourbon barrel, this deep amber beer has candied fruit, glacé cherries and tantalising wood vanillins, a restrained bourbon note balanced by tartness and a long, soothing finish. It arguably doesn’t need its extra sweetness from added lactose, but it’s still a luscious and complex bottleful.

Attic Brew Co, not far away in Stirchley, Birmingham, contributes the strongest entrant in this selection. Super Deluxe No. 1 Sparkling Barley Wine at a hefty 13.5 per cent has an unsurprisingly warm and boozy palate, but uses it as a platform for a constantly evolving blend of flavours, making suggestions of salted caramel, figs, dark toffee, sherry, orange rind, chewy brown toast and sappy oak, with mellowed earthy hops gripping the long finish. This magnificent mid-brown beer will stand a few years of bottle ageing and also boasts a classy retro-style label.

Elusive Sunset City American Barleywine (9 per cent) recalls interpretations of the style from the first

generation of US craft brewers. A dosing with Centennial yields the expected piny aroma alongside rose and citrus, while a punchy palate has a raisin-biscuit malt sweetness lifted by citrus zest, mint and pepper, with a warming bitter grapefruit finish. The brewery near Wokingham was founded by Andy Parker, sometime home-brewing contributor BEER, in 2015.

Alan Thomson’s Old Chimneys brewery, founded in 1995 in Market Weston, Suffolk, closed in 2019, but some of its beers have since resurfaced as collaborations. It’s best known for strong stout Good King Henry, but also lends its name to Artefact Old Chimneys Barley Wine (9.5 per cent),

now brewed in Bury St Edmunds. The aroma really does have a hint of wine, alongside chocolate, raisins and wood, with sherry and a suggestion of coconut emerging from its deeply nutty flavours. It finishes with a flourish of marzipan and spice.

One of my all-time favourites remains awardwinning Chiltern’s Bodgers (8.5 per cent) from what’s now Buckinghamshire’s oldest independent brewery, opened near Aylesbury in 1980. This hazy amber beer has a very fruity orange jelly aroma, layers of sweet toffee malt, with green olive, pear and tropical fruit hints on a richly textured palate, and earthy hops and orange marmalade on a lingering finish. Big, but immaculately balanced, it’s surely the contemporary benchmark of the style.

Des de Moor is one of the country’s leading writers on bottled beer, and author of The CAMRA Guide to London’s Best Beer, Pubs & Bars. Follow him at @desdemoor and read more of his reviews at desdemoor.co.uk

Super Deluxe No. 1 Sparkling Barley Wine

The heart of culture

Pubs are at the heart of British culture, says Will Ashon, whose recent book paints a portrait of contemporary Britain. Here, he shares some of the stories

I started doing interviews for my book, The Passengers, back in 2018 by hitchhiking. I chose that as a method because I liked the idea that the interviewees were picking me rather than me choosing them. It’s a book about how we find meaning in the chaos and how we give shape to our lives, so I had 12 very broad questions – some almost to the point of being nonsensical, like “how does it feel?”. I asked them to pick a number and that would be the question they would get.

I liked the idea of bringing people’s stories together like a collage, but without me joining the bits together. I used to run a hip-hop record label called Big Dada, which is obviously, in essence, a sampling form of music. It’s collaging, so to me it was interesting to bring those two sides of my life – writing and hip-hop – together.

My plan was to travel all over the country and meet people face to face including in pubs, but then Covid hit and it obviously wasn’t possible. So instead, I randomly picked postcodes and sent people letters.

People, particularly in the first lockdown, felt more eager to connect. They were spending more time on their own thinking about their lives and what they were doing with themselves, and how things fit together. So they were maybe more open to having conversations about that kind of thing than they normally would have been.

I think it was the most surprising thing about my interviews – the kind of things people were willing to discuss with a complete stranger. Sometimes I’d sit down for a call and 15–20 minutes later, I’d be really hit hard about the topics we were discussing and the bits of their lives they were sharing that were difficult or upsetting to listen to.

At that time, people really missed the places that you’d go to interact with people. The pub is one of those, and a real social hub of British culture.

I’m not sure people missed the drinking so much, as everyone was buying more than enough to drink in their houses, but it was more about the interaction.

Even ordering on an app (I’m really so glad we don’t have to do that any more)

l Will Ashon (above); non-alcoholic Guinness –“a work of genius” (below)

just takes away from the experience of being in a pub and interacting with customers and staff.

I was on the Suffolk/Norfolk border a few weeks ago and I went into this community pub by the river. Everybody we spoke to was so proud of this pub, because it was something they’d all saved and invested in locally. People were telling me it was the best pub in the world – and it was nice – but it was the sense of real community pride in the fact that they’d done this thing together that made it special. I’m really fascinated by it, and how pubs allow for people to communicate freely with each other.

I’m an old-school beer drinker. My drink of choice would be a pint of bitter; in fact, that’s what I ordered at the pub last night. But I’m also quite into non-alcoholic beers these days, like the non-alcoholic Guinness – that’s a work of genius.

“People were telling me it was the best pub in the world – and it was nice – but it was the community pride that made it special”

HAYLEY BENOIT

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Coors axes museum

to close

BRITAIN’S brewing heritage has been dealt a savage blow by the decision of global giant Molson Coors to close the National Brewery Centre (NBC) in Burton upon Trent.

The centre has displays over several floors that trace the history of brewing in Burton. It also houses the Heritage brewery that recreates old Bass beers.

Molson Coors says the National Brewery Heritage Trust’s archive will be moved to a new Burton Heritage Centre on the High Street but it’s unclear what will happen to the displays in the museum, including old brewery vehicles and locomotives.

The museum is closing as a result of Molson Coors selling its current head office in Burton to East Staffordshire Borough Council for £5.7m. The

company will rehouse its 500 staff in the museum buildings.

CAMRA has called on Molson Coors to keep the museum open. National Executive member Gillian Hough said: “The closure will be a devastating loss to the nation’s brewing history. A limited display in a new location is not an adequate replacement for the only museum in the UK focussed solely on our brewing heritage.”

More cash support for rural pubs

ALISON Brewster (right) runs the Ferry Inn, Norfolk which is much more than a community pub as it also hosts the only grocery shop for miles. She sought support when she decided to become a shopkeeper after the village’s only store shut 18 months ago.

Thanks to a grant from Pub is The Hub, people can skip the six-mile round trip to the nearest town for essential groceries.

Now, other rural pubs can benefit from the up to £110m allocated to support country communities across England. The money will be

invested in projects which will boost productivity and create job opportunities.

Money available includes the £150m Community Ownership Fund which helps locals take ownership of assets at risk of closure protecting, for example, the last shop or pub.

Major changes needed

CAMRA is calling for a fundamental change to the Pubs Code to ensure it protects pubco tenants.

The code regulates the relationship between pubcos owning 500 or more tied pubs in England and Wales and their tenants.

CAMRA has raised serious concerns about the code’s effectiveness in a policy submission and is calling for it to include more types of tenancies, give licensees the right to serve a guest beer and tackle the problem of dilapidations. It also wants the code to require pubcos to publish information about rent assessments and give the adjudicator more power and resources.

The submission follows research from the Campaign which found most licensees with regulated tenancies do not feel they are treated fairly, or that they are no worse off than a free-of-tie tenant – the core principles of the Pubs Code.

● Burton’s National Brewery Centre

Worthington bottle car is just one exhibit looking for a new home following closure

End of the line for Jennings

conversion to housing or another use.

CAMRA has attacked Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company’s (CMBC) plans to close the historic Jennings brewery, Cockermouth, in October and make staff redundant.

National chairman Nik Antona said: “This is a devastating blow for the area’s brewing heritage. It is vital that CMBC does everything it can to keep the site as a working brewery rather than having part of our history lost to

“Instead of shifting production of Jennings Cumberland to Burton, we’d also encourage CMBC to look at ways of continuing to produce the beer in Cumbria.

“Sadly, this is now an expected consequence of global brewers entering and consolidating the UK beer market – shutting distinctive regional brands and eroding the nation’s brewing history.”

The confirmation of the brewery's closure comes as

no surprise to local CAMRA members, who forecast its demise in January, when post-lockdown the brewery announced the permanent end of its popular tours and the shutting of its shop.

CMBC CEO Paul Davies said: “Jennings has operated below capacity for a number of years and has seen a significant decline in volumes, the impact of which has been made more significant by the pandemic. We have considered all options and have reached the difficult decision to close the brewery.”

Heineken completes takeover

BEAVERTOWN, London has become the latest craft beer producer to be taken over by an international brewer. Heineken, which took a £40m minority stake in Beavertown in 2018, has now agreed to buy the remaining shares.

After Heineken took its minority stake, Beavertown almost tripled its sales from £12m in 2018 to £35m in the year to 31 March 2020.

Beavertown founder Logan Plant (pictured left on left) will step down as boss and be replaced by Heineken’s Jochen Van Esch (right).

Plant, who is the son of Led Zeppelin founder Robert Plant, said: “Beavertown began in my kitchen 10 years ago. From brewing in a rice pan to one of the most successful British brewers in recent years, employing over 160 people and brewing 360,000 hectolitres of beer.

Beavertown used the 2018 deal to build a new brewery in Enfield.

New venture pounces on Lion beer brands

ODYSSEY Inns, a new company incorporated in 2022 in Westerham, Kent, is the new owner of Magic Rock and Fourpure beers.

The brands were sold by Lion Little World Breweries and were put up for sale in January

following corporate changes in the Australian beer market.

New owner Odyssey lists Stephen Cox, who founded Devon’s Utopian Brew, Brian Bolger and Brian Burkey as its principal officers.

Utopian, based in Bow, Devon, began brewing craft lager in 2019.

Japan’s Kirin brewery subsidiary Lion entered the UK with its purchase of Fourpure in 2018, before acquiring Magic Rock in 2019.

● Fury over closure of historic brewery

Pubs need more help

tackle the crisis facing the licensed trade.

BEER drinkers and pub-goers across the country are being mobilised in their thousands to contact their MPs and push for government action on energy bills to stop pubs and breweries closing.

CAMRA says the number of long-term and permanent pub closures is set to grow unless the new government uses its announcement on energy to

The plea from CAMRA members and supporters comes as the Campaign publishes new statistics showing that the number of long-term pub closures –where the business has failed, or the future of the pub is uncertain – has doubled in the first half of this year compared to the last six months of 2021.

In the last half of 2021, 254 pubs were recorded as “long-term closed,” a rate of

9.8 per week, but in the first half of 2022 this had increased to 485, or 18.7 per week.

CAMRA has also written to business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, detailing examples of licensees struggling with bills or choosing to close their business altogether.

CAMRA national chairman Nik Antona said: “We fear this rate is set to go through the roof unless pubs get the urgent help that they need.”

Doggy stout’s home brew first

THE “brewer of tomorrow” was unveiled at the Great British Beer Festival – the first home brew contest hosted by the event.

Berkshire’s Stephen Folland took home the crown with his beer Doggy in the Woods – a 16 per cent full-bodied stout,

which is the strongest beer to win a CAMRA award.

One of the judges Christine Cryne said: “Our overall feedback was wow.”

Stephen will be invited to commercially brew his winning beer at Brewhouse & Kitchen in Worthing. He will have the chance to

brew his winning beer on site, which will be sold and distributed across nearby CAMRA festivals.

London’s Mark Sanderson’s Crooner was runner-up with a 3 per cent mild. Bronze went to Thomas Corry for his Margarita Gose.

CAMRA’S current holder of its Pub Saving Award, the Blue Bell in Stoke Ferry, Norfolk, has opened a community cafe to provide a place for people to socialise and help combat loneliness.

Nominations are now open for CAMRA’s 2023 Pub Saving Award. The award can be made to any group which has campaigned to save a pub over the last 12 months. To enter visit camra.org.uk/ pubs-and-clubs/awards/ pub-saving-award/ before 14 November.

Winner’s new role Perfect threat

A NORTH London pub that helped inspire George Orwell’s PerfectPub essay is threatened with losing its licence following complaints about noise.

The Compton Arms in Compton Avenue, Islington dates from the 18th century, and its licence is now under review by Islington council following complaints from four neighbours. They claim it is noisy and poorly run.

Supporters of the pub, including North London CAMRA branch members have sprung to the pub’s defence.

George Orwell's son Richard Blair has also joined the fight to save the Compton and has appealed to the council to maintain it as a vibrant pub.

MPs urged to provide extra support for pubs

Manager Chloe Gibson (right) offers a range of homemade food at the Blue Bell’s Pub Cafe

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Labour's right to buy plan

SHADOW levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy has said a Labour government would introduce a community right to buy for local assets in England, which CAMRA believes could be a game changer for saving locals.

Best Beer City hosts AGM

Book your place now at Members’ Weekend

SHEFFIELD and District CAMRA will host the 2023 Members’ Weekend, AGM and Conference (21-22 April) at the Octagon Centre, University of Sheffield, with the Members’ Bar pouring in the adjacent Students’ Union building. Next year’s event follows conferences at the venue in 1991 and 2011.

In his 2016 report, beer writer Pete Brown described Sheffield as The World’s Best Beer City.

Since then, things have only improved. Sheffield has niche pubs and an excellent, diverse cask beer scene.

It has 30 pubs in the GoodBeerGuideand more places on the CAMRA Heritage lists than any other city in Yorkshire.

Outside London, it is the only UK city to have its own Heritage Pub Guide. To view go to: sheffield.camra.org.uk/rhp/ It also hosts the only pub to win the CAMRA National Pub of The Year Award in successive years.

Sheffield is centrally situated, by train, just over two hours from London.

For more information about accommodation, and the weekend itself (including attending and volunteering) visit camra. org.uk/beer-festivalsevents/members-weekend

The new right would allow a community group putting in a genuine market-level bid to be granted first refusal on purchasing any registered pub buildings when they come up for sale.

CAMRA national chairman Nik Antona said: “Giving communities in England a right in law to have first refusal on buying privately-owned community assets would be a game changer.

“Until the law is changed to provide for a community right to buy assets of value, a dedicated pub-saving fund and support scheme is needed from government to make sure people are fully supported to save their pub if it is under threat.”

Treasury attacked for delay in duty reforms

CAMRA has criticised the government for delaying its review into alcohol taxation until at least the autumn.

The Campaign is calling for a lower rate of duty for draught beer and cider to help pubs and clubs compete with the likes of supermarkets.

Campaign chief executive Tom Stainer said: “With the beer and pubs sector continuing to be hit hard by rising prices, spiralling energy costs and the knock-on effects of a dip in consumer confidence and spending, it is clear that our locals – and the great

breweries and cider producers that serve them – need more help from the government if they are to survive and thrive in the coming difficult months and years.

“CAMRA welcomed the government’s commitment to this new way of taxing

beer and cider, but we are now calling on the Treasury to bring forward firm plans on how this will work in practice and announce when it will be introduced as quickly as possible to give our pubs the helping hand they desperately need.”

Labour’s pledge could see more pubs follow the Lowther Arms into community ownership

SEARCH FOR TOP PUB DESIGNS

CAMRA is on the hunt for entries for its Pub Design Awards, held with Historic England (HE).

The competition looks for the highest standards of architecture in the refurbishment and conservation of pubs as well as in the construction of new ones.

Past winners include the Boleyn Tavern (pictured), Wells & Co’s state-of-theart Brewpoint and the King’s Arms in Dorchester.

The competition is free to enter and closes on 13 November. To enter visit: camra.org.uk/pubs-andclubs/awards/pubdesign-awards

WIN DOUBLE FOR BELHAVEN

A POPULAR Scottish brewery tourist centre has just been named Visitor Attraction of the Year at the World Beer Awards.

Belhaven brewery’s Dunbar visitor centre beat stiff competition from around the world at the awards which honours people and organisations who have worked to produce and promote beer.

It was a double celebration as the Belhaven’s Scottish Oat Stout was also crowned the World’s Best Oatmeal Stout after winning the UK title in August.

MP PRAISES PUB PEOPLE POWER

NORTH Shropshire MP Helen Morgan practised her pint-pulling and praised people power

during a visit to her constituency’s only community-owned pub.

The White Lion in Ash Magna was bought by 170 members of its community in 2017. The Lib-Dem MP pulled pints of Shropshire Gold, brewed by Salopian in Hadnall, and Station Bitter, made by Stonehouse in Oswestry.

Morgan said: “The only thing better than a local pub is a communityowned local pub stocked with some of North Shropshire’s finest ale – so it was an honour to be invited behind the bar.”

CIDER CONTENT CHANGES BACKED

A YOUGOV survey has found the majority of people support the Campaign’s call for the minimum amount of juice in cider to be increased to improve quality and safeguard orchards.

The survey found 93 per cent of people think the preservation of traditional orchards is important with 87 per cent supporting raising the minimum juice content to help its decline.

The Treasury currently requires a cider to be just 35 per cent juice. CAMRA is calling for it to be raised to 50 per cent.

UNAFFORDABLE PINT CONCERN

A SURVEY commissioned by CAMRA found a 10 per cent jump to 52 per cent in the number of people who say the average price of a pint is unaffordable. It comes as pubs are facing rising

prices and a dip in consumer spending power prompting CAMRA to make another plea to government for action. CAMRA would like to see: – the new, lower rate of tax for draught beer apply to containers of 20L and above, so all pubs and brewers can benefit – a cut in VAT on food and drink served in pubs, clubs and restaurants – reform of the Pubs Code for England and Wales, to give more tenants the right to buy beer on the open market.

COLOUR BAR ON LEARN & DISCOVER

WRITERS Hollie Stephens and David Jesudason are the latest contributors to CAMRA’s award-winning education platform Learn & Discover.

The new articles are: – What was the Colour Bar? David Jesudason on the history of racial segregation within British pubs – Pub snack pairing for beer and cider. Hollie Stephens compares tasting

notes and flavour profiles for the perfect pairing. To discover more, visit camra. org.uk/learn-discover

Jesuadon has also led a new initiative to support diversity in beer writing as a British Guild of Beer director. The Diversity in British Beer Writing Grant, launched in partnership with Good Beer Hunting, will highlight stories that celebrate diversity within beer, pubs, and the hospitality industry. For details go to: goodbeerhunting.com/ british-guild-grant

CAMPAIGN BACKS STAFF TIPS LAW

CAMRA has given its backing to a change in the law to make sure that bar staff always receive tips left by customers. The bill will change the law, so employers are required to pass on the full amount left as a tip to workers.

YOUR NEWS

If you have news for this page email editor@camra.org.uk

Design winner – former gin palace Boleyn Tavern, East Ham

Should cask beer be pulled through before each session?

In a regular series for WB Online our experts answer reader questions. Here John O’Donnell tackles cellarmanship

THIS depends on the pub and how good its cellar installation is. The best fitted pubs will get the beer from the cellar to the bar via insulated pythons, which are cooled using circulating cold water or glycol, keeping the beer in the lines at cellar temperature.

At the bar, there will be pump cylinders with cooled insulated jackets, so even beer sat in the handpump overnight (typically a quarter or third of a pint) will be kept at cellar temperature.

With this kind of installation, the publican only needs to pull off a very small amount that may sit in the connection between the handpump cylinder and the spout.

Cooled handpumps are relatively rare, but most pubs will have cooled pythons between the cellar and the bar. In such cases, the beer in the handpump will warm overnight, losing condition and flavour, so should be pulled through at the start of the shift.

Again, this will typically be a quarter, third or in some instances half of a pint.

Only where the lines between cask and handpump are not cooled (or not well) should it be necessary to pull off any significant amount of beer at the start of the shift to ensure a good pint.

As the lines in a large pub could easily hold three or four pints of beer, it would be very expensive to have to pull through and throw away that amount of beer per cask every day, which is why most pubs have cooled pythons.

This assumes pubs clean their lines regularly to prevent yeast and proteins building up on the walls of the lines. If the line-cleaning routine is not effective and deposits are allowed to build up, then beer sat in cooled lines for any extended time will begin to pick up undesirable flavours from them.

Some modern beer bars avoid all these problems by opting for what is known as

‘If the line-cleaning routine is not effective, then beer sat in cooled lines for any extended time will begin to pick up undesirable flavours’

direct draw dispense. In these bars, the cellar sits immediately behind the bar and beer is dispensed via handpumps mounted in front of the cellar wall, or via taps on the back of the bar sited partially in the cellar.

Pubs dispensing cask beers via this system (London’s Euston Tap is one well-known example) will use electric or gas-driven diaphragm pumps to get beer from the cask.

GOT A QUESTION?

If you have a topic for our experts, email wb.editor@camra.org.uk

John O’Donnell is a member of CAMRA’s Technical Advisory Group, Great British Beer Festival bar manager and editor of Beer Buzz