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The magazine from the Wigan branch of The Campaign for Real Ale
May to July 2016 Team Fox in the brewhouse
WILY FOX
WIGAN’S NEW MICROBREWERY
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Wigan branch of The Campaign for Real Ale
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May - July 2016
Branch Contacts Chairperson: Pete Marsh e: chair@wigancamra.org.uk Vice-Chairperson: Ken Worthington e: vicechair@wigancamra.org.uk Branch Secretary: Vacant e: secretary@wigancamra.org.uk Treasurer: Brian Gleave e: treasurer@wigancamra.org.uk Membership Secretary: Carol Worthington e: membership@wigancamra.org.uk Pubs Officer: Donald Appleton e: pubs@wigancamra.org.uk Public Affairs Officer: Robin Gibson e: public@wigancamra.org.uk Pubs Heritage Officer: Pete Marsh e: heritage@wigancamra.org.uk Young Members Officer: Joanna Whalley e: young@wigancamra.org.uk Webmaster & Social Media: Roy Pearson e: social@wigancamra.org.uk Cider Officer: Carol Worthington e: c/o vicechair@wigancamra.org.uk Contributors to this edition: David White, Andrea Cox, John Lomas, Carol & Ken Worthington and Christine & Roy Pearson. Web: Twitter:
www.wigancamra.org.uk @WiganCAMRA
The Editor reserves the right to amend or shorten contributions for publication. All editorial copyright © Wigan CAMRA 2016 Disclaimer: Views expressed in this publication are those of their individual authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Editor, branch committee or the Campaign for Real Ale nationally. Wigan CAMRA accepts no liability in relation to the accuracy of advertisements; readers must rely on their own enquiries. It should also be noted that acceptance of an advertisement in this publication should not be deemed an endorsement of quality by Wigan CAMRA.
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May - July 2016
MESSAGE FROM THE EDITORS WELCOME
W
igan is a fantastic place to be in the midst of the resurgent beer scene. Why? In this edition of Swiggin we take a look at Wily Fox, Wigan’s newest and biggest brewery. They have recently started production and their beers are now spreading like wildfire across our local pubs. If a new brewery isn’t enough, we also take a peek at the Northern Beer Temple - a new craft bottled beer shop recently opened on the edge of the town centre. If that’s still not enough good news …. we also have news of plans for another micropub in the town centre to be owned and operated by a popular local microbrewery. We also take a look back, and a look forward, to the Wigan CAMRA Beer Festival through the eyes of a festival organiser. Hops are a vital part of the brewing process but there could be troubled times ahead. We look at how this could impact upon the beer we drink. The organisation we represent – CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) - is currently taking a critical look at itself and conducting a wholesale review into its purpose and strategy. We look at the reasons why this could be the end of CAMRA as we know it. Thinking of going on holidays? Malta? If so, we have news of a small brewery on the nearby island of Gozo that produces some excellent beers. We explore some of the social outings we have planned and take a look back to our most recent trip to Lymestone Brewery and Newcastle-under-Lyme. Our regular items include news about our local pubs and breweries. Of course, no edition of Swiggin would be complete without the ever popular ‘Mists of Time’ – a look at the local pub scene of yesteryear (going back up to 25 years). We hope you enjoy this news packed edition of Swiggin. Christine & Roy Pearson
Co-editors of Swiggin in Wiggin, Wigan CAMRA
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TROUBLE BREWING?
due to better than
CAUGHT ON THE HOP
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long with water, malt and yeast, hops are one of the main ingredients of beer. Fans of real ale, but craft beer in particular, could soon face higher prices as small, independent brewers face a potentially serious shortage of hops. Popular styles of beer, such as India Pale Ale, can use six times as much hops as typical lagers. The hot and dry weather last summer blighted the European hop harvest, and strong demand for craft beers, many of which use a large amount of hops, is putting small brewers’ profit margins under pressure and forcing them to raise prices which is a difficult decision to make in an increasingly competitive market. Germany and the US are the two dominant hop growers, each accounting for one-third of global production. Germany’s harvest fell by 27% last summer, according to the International Hop Growers’ Convention. There were also sharp declines in the Czech Republic and Slovenia. Hops from the USA have been in high demand and short supply in Britain for some time due to the boom of the craft brewing industry in America. In fact, there is a recent trend of US breweries increasing demand for European and British hops due to the shortage of their own hops. One British hop grower in Kent says ‘The growth of craft brewing in the US has boosted demand for English varieties. I sell most of my hops under contract to small brewers in the US and prices have risen by 20% in the past three years. It’s a good time to be a hop farmer.” Many ‘savvy’ UK brewers have contracts in place with hop growers and hop merchants that provide some degree of protection from sudden price surges, but future supply is at risk. The scarcity is getting worse as multinationals such as AB InBev and SABMiller buy up craft beer brands and ramp up their production. However, it is not uncommon for successful small breweries to require more hops than projected 4
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expected sales and are often seen requesting help from fellow brewers. One likened this to ‘having to go around and knock on doors like a neighbour trying to borrow a cup of sugar’. A British Hop Merchant recently quoted “Europe will need at least an average harvest in 2016; otherwise, we could see serious supply shortages.” Let’s all hope that 2016 is a bumper year for hop growers around the world.
May - July 2016
THE ST A
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Cross Street, Standish, Wigan, WN6 0HQ t: (01257) 424007 | e: standish.unity@standishunityclub.com www.standishunityclub.com
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Wigan branch of The Campaign for Real Ale
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OUT & ABOUT SOCIAL TRIP TO STAFFORDSHIRE
T
he first Wigan CAMRA social trip of the year took place on Saturday 9th April to Lymestone Brewery and the pubs of Newcastle-underLyme. The trip also doubled-up as the ‘Festival Thank You’ trip for volunteers at the Wigan CAMRA Beer Festival in March. Thankfully, we weren’t delayed in the M6 roadworks and arrived on time at Lymestone Brewery in Stone, Staffordshire. We were met by Brad, owner and head brewer, and led directly to the brewery’s tasting room where there was 108 pints of three different Lymestone beers waiting for us. Brad gave us an entertaining and educational talk about the history of the brewery and local area. This was followed by a tour of the brewery, which is also home to 3 bee hives. We were then treated to a generous bowl of Lymestone lobby and a parting gift of a bottle of beer per person. Having drunk the brewery dry, our next stop was just a 45-yard stroll away – The Borehole, Lymestone’s on-site brewery tap. Built on the site of the old Bent’s Brewery well, this cosy micropub offered a choice of 8 real ales and a real cider. Upon re-joining our coach, we headed towards our final destination, Newcastle-under-Lyme. As we were slightly ahead of time, we made an unscheduled stop at a pub we enjoyed visiting on a previous outing – The Holy Inadequate in Etruria. Despite short notice of our visit,
we were greeted like old friends. Next stop was The Hop Inn on the outskirts of Newcastle-under-Lyme, CAMRA Potteries Pub of the Year 2015. With 12 real ales and 4 real ciders on offer it’s easy to appreciate the credentials of this excellent pub which only opened in 2014. Finally, we arrived in Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre were we had targeted five real ale establishments within a few minutes walk of each other. These were:Lymestone Vaults – another Lymestone Brewery tap with up to 8 real ales and 8 real ciders on offer. CAMRA Potteries Pub of the Year 2013 and 2014. Old Bulls Head – owned by Joules Brewery with 2 Joules beers and 5 guest ales to choose from. Bridge Street Ale House – Converted from an old antiques shop in 2014 now serving four real ales and a real cider. CAMRA Potteries Pub of the Year Runner-up 2015. Hopwater Cellar – Small cellar bar owned by a local CAMRA member specialising in bottled beers but with 3 ales on draught – 1 handpull and 2 key kegs. Ten Green Bottles – Craft beer bar with up to 10 taps and extensive range of bottled beers. Overall, a great day out.
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TO DEBATE OR NOT TO DEBATE CAMRA MEMBERS WEEKEND & AGM
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must confess that when I get my new diary each year one of the first things I do is put in dates of the CAMRA Members Weekend and AGM (April) and the Great British Beer Festival (August) as these are generally “must do” activities for Ken and myself. At the AGM, we enjoy meeting CAMRA activists from other branches, we like to hear and take part in debates on issues which might affect CAMRA and we enjoy visiting another part of the country (often the seaside) where local real ale pubs tend to make a special effort for the AGM. So off we went to Liverpool for the 2016 AGM in April. It was well attended with 1400 members preregistered to attend and, as it was fairly ‘local’, we had even more of our active branch members attend than usual. Ken in particular looked forward to visiting his home city to see if some of the pubs of his youth, which we never normally get to on occasional half day trips, were still going strong. Conference business itself included 4 special resolutions and 11 motions. For the first time, all CAMRA members not attending the AGM had been given the opportunity to cast their vote on these special resolutions by proxy. Around 5,000 members took this opportunity. As a consequence, all 4 special resolutions were carried, though the attendees at conference were virtually unanimously opposed to the resolutions. Whilst seemingly more democratic, there was a general feeling amongst conference attendees that proxy voters were disadvantaged by not being privy to the ensuing discussion and debate about each resolution. Perhaps somewhat ironically, a recent editorial heading in CAMRA’s What’s Brewing publication states ‘Make sure you are part of the debate’. The remaining 11 motions, mostly submitted by CAMRA branches or individuals, were then actively and passionately debated providing an opportunity for any pre-conceived ideas to be challenged. Most motions were carried by conference. Perhaps of particular note is that Motion 10 was defeated. This
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was a proposal to extend the number of entries in the Good Beer Guide but was defeated upon grounds of practicality. Ken and I intend going to the 2017 AGM at Bournemouth (7th – 9th April 2017) but sincerely hope that our trip ends up not just being for the beer and sea air and that the votes of members present is better reflected in the outcomes of conference. by Carol Worthington
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LOCAL BREWERY NEWS KEEPING YOU UPDATED All Gates Brewery
www.allgatesbrewery.com All Day Coffee IPA, a collaboration brew, was so well received at the Manchester Beer and Cider Festival it is intended to retain this as an occasional brew. California Mango - a special version of their old time favourite California, was showcased at Wigan Beer Festival in March. However, Boston Plum Porter stole the show and was awarded the gold award in the ‘Brewed in Wigan’ category. On the pub front, following the surprise departure of Jenny and Greg from the Crooke Hall Inn, one of our old acquaintances Dean McDonald has stepped into the breach.
Hophurst Brewery
www.hophurstbrewery.co.uk
There has been a great response to the keg version of Cosmati and are now looking to expand the keg range. They are at full brewing capacity with all three fermenters permanently full. Sales are continuing to grow to the extent that they are looking to expand and take on another unit or potentially move premises. They have also applied for a premises license for a micro bar in Hallgate, Wigan.
Martland Mill Brewery
www.martlandmillbrewery.co.uk
Beer sales are continuing to do well and are on the rise. Artic Convoy, the latest beer, has been really well received with feedback far exceeding expectations. Another new beer planned for June or July is Bombers Blonde. New fermenters have arrived which will allow 5 day a week brewing very shortly to keep up with demand. The Tap n Barrel goes from 8
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strength to strength and a beer festival is being considered in the summer – expect 15 to 20 beers.
Problem Child www.problemchild brewing.co.uk
The brewery is going from strength to strength with pints being served (and well received) in far flung corners of Derbyshire, Liverpool and Warrington. The team has doubled in size with Phoebe joining to provide dedicated sales support and Jonny has been busy ferrying beer for bottling in Cockermouth. Good Spankin (5.1%), Rascal (3.8%), Scallywag (3.7%), Scoundrel (4.6%) and Tantrum (4%) are all now available. A new beer has been produced, Dirty Beer a 5% Bavarian style Golden Ale.
Prospect Brewery
www.prospectbrewery.com
Nutty Slack was judged to be the ‘CAMRA Champion Beer of the North West’ at the Manchester Beer & Cider Festival – a very prestigious award which was very much appreciated. Nutty Slack has also recently been bottled and now available in shops. The search for premises continues, but the lease on the existing brewery has been extended to May 2017. If all goes well, it is hoped that Arch Number 2, adjacent to Wigan Central, will be ready for opening sometime in May.
Wily Fox Brewery
www.wilyfoxbrewery.co.uk Brewing has now commenced and their beers are rapidly becoming available in pubs around Wigan and further afield. Initial brewing will concentrate on their core beers:- Blonde Vixen (3.8%), Crafty Fox (4.0%) and The Fox Hat (4.2%). A series of monthly specials are planned starting with Mutiny IPA (5.0%). A launch of their beers was held at The Hoot in Standish on 13th April were their three core beers were joined by Dublin’ Up, an Irish stout.
OTHER BREWERIES A planning application have been approved for a new brewery at Standish Hall Farm in Wood Lane, Standish. The applicant is The Windmill Pub Company in Parbold. May - July 2016
LOCAL PUB NEWS KEEPING YOU UPDATED Hophurst Brewery have submitted plans to open a micropub on Hallgate in Wigan town centre. Expect up to 6 real ales and 3 key keg beers. Located in a premise previously occupied by ‘Seriously Silver’. Next door to a pizza/kebab shop and opposite a chippy - it cannot fail!!
presented with a ‘Commitment to Real Ale Award’ at Wigan Beer Festival. They become only the third recipients of this award in the history of the branch. Refurbishment of The Royal Oak on Standishgate seems to be nearing completion. Latest estimate for re-opening is May. No doubt It will be a boost to the Wigan Lane real ale scene. Casa Carlos in Standishgate has recently been offering one real ale (Copper Dragon ‘Golden Pippin’). Hart’s Bar (formerly Officers Club) has closed and is for sale. Having been open just over six months, it is believed that Downtown Crofters on Market Street in Wigan will be closing down.
Although not a pub, a fabulous addition to Wigan’s Real Ale and Craft Beer selection has opened in Standishgate - the Northern Temple Beer Shop. A dedicated beer shop with a huge selection of real ale and craft beer bottles.
A summer beer festival is being planned for the Tap ‘n’ Barrel in Jaxons Court. Expect 15-20 beers.
The Crown at Worthington has seemingly closed its doors for good as plans have been submitted for it to be demolished. However, locals have arranged a petition in an attempt to save this historic and community central pub and are looking for signatures. Links to the petition can be found at www.change. org/p/save-the-crown-at-worthington
Wigan CAMRA Pub of the Season for Spring 2016 has been awarded to Wigan Central. A date has yet to be arranged for the presentation.
The refurbishment of Arch 2, adjacent to Wigan Central, is expected to be completed for opening in May.
Greg and Jenny Liptrot have now left the Crooke Hall Inn. Wigan CAMRA recognises their outstanding contribution to the local real ale scene and they were
ARTICLES FOR SWIGGIN IN WIGGIN? Local beer related articles are always welcome! If you would like to contribute please let us know or email your copy to editor@wigancamra.org.uk Please note that for legal reasons that a full name & postal address must now be submitted with any contributions.
Trading Standards
Have you ever... received a short pint? Deliberately been overcharged for your beer? Been to a pub that serves only keg beers despite advertising cask ales? Firstly let the publican know about the problem but if you don’t get a satisfactory response these matters should be reported to Trading Standards, which exists to protect the rights of consumers. Wigan Council Trading Standards, Unity House, Westwood Park Drive, Wigan, WN3 4HE. t: 01942 827476 e: ts@wigan.gov.uk
May - July 2016
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THEY THINK IT’S ALL OVER BUT IT STARTS AGAIN SOON!
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s some of you will know Wigan CAMRA recently held their 29th annual beer festival. The event took place at the Robin Park Sports & Tennis Arena from Thursday 3rd to Saturday 6th March. So, job done until next year and we can now sit back and relax you may think? This is most definitely not the case! Although the brunt of the activity has been concluded apart from finalising the accounts, which is imminent, our team of 16 festival organising committee will very soon be starting work on preparations and planning for Wigan CAMRA Beer Festival 2017. The dates have been confirmed (2nd4th March 2017) and a basic poster has already been produced and is available upon the Wigan Beer Festival Facebook page. Planning meetings resume in August and run virtually every month until February. At these meetings we discuss and agree major items such as festival theme, how many glasses we order, entertainment, sponsors, admission prices and times, down to minor things like the colour of tokens! Although the festival is open to the public for one evening (Thursday) and two full days (Friday/ Saturday), it can get very busy as we have an overall attendance of between 3,500 and 4,000 happy drinkers. Some of our platoon of volunteers work as much as 6 days from laying down floor protection on the Tuesday to packing
everything up on the Sunday morning. Our total number of volunteers this year was 114 with about 12 of them working almost all day for each of the 6 days (around 80 hours in total) and about 30 of them working at least 4 days (about 40-50 hours). Towards the other end of the spectrum, we have some volunteers working just a couple of sessions and others just working a few hours. As Tesco says ‘every little helps’ – we couldn’t agree more! Volunteers are required for many duties (not just pouring beer) so if you feel you might want to be involved in next year’s event, email our staffing officer wiganbfstaffing@gmail.com. Incidentally our next festival is our 30th and we are currently looking for a theme for the event, ideally one which reflects the occasion. If you have any suggestions please contact Ken Worthington, joint organiser, vicechair@wigancamra.org.uk If you have any ideas please let us know before 15th August 2016! Carol Worthington
Online with Wigan CAMRA Do you know that a third of Wigan CAMRA Branch members keep in touch with happenings within the branch via email?
We send out monthly bulletins about what is going on within the real ale scene locally plus beer lists for local festivals and other ‘hot off the press’ news. If you are a Wigan CAMRA member and do not currently receive our e-mails, please contact our Membership Secretary and let us know your e-mail address. This will only be used for internal CAMRA communications – we do not forward our e-mails list to any other organisation. 10
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WILY FOX UP & RUNNING
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CRAFTY CRAFT BEERS
t all started with an enthusiasm for real ale and good beer. The Wily Fox is a brand new microbrewery located on the outskirts of Wigan town centre. Exciting times ahead for the Cox family who have a spirited desire to produce a diverse range of consistently, high quality ales. First thing on the agenda was designing the footprint for the new brewery. We first of all sought the services of the industry guru, David Smith, who has set up microbreweries in numerous countries. A plan was hatched, and the next step was to appoint an engineer to manufacture and install a bespoke brewery kit. This was Vincent Johnson, of Johnson Brewery Design. Things were now moving on and just to prove that the old adage of ‘‘things happen for a reason’’ is true, a chance meeting led to John Williams joining the team as Head Brewer. John’s views on what makes a beer good were the perfect fit for the kind of ales the team wanted to brew. John brings a wealth of experience, having spent the last 35 years at Thwaites. Whilst the plant was under construction, John the Head brewer, and the business M.D Andrea, set about designing the new beers. In consultation with Bev, our Sales Director, we decided on the three core beers for our initial launch and a list of monthly speciality beers. BLONDE VIXEN 3.8% This hand-crafted Blonde session ale, is light, refreshing and straw coloured.
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Brewed with the finest Maris Otter malt, and hopped with American Cascade & Chinook hops to give a spicy, citrus character with grapefruit overtones. CRAFTY FOX 4.0% An amber-coloured, traditionally crafted Lancashire Ale, brewed with Maris Otter & Crystal Malts, triple-hopped with classic English varieties Northdown, Fuggles & East Kent Goldings to create a quaffable, full bodied bitter ale with a spicy, earthy aroma. THE FOX HAT 4.2% This artisan hop-infused Golden Ale, is brewed using only the finest Maris Otter malt and complemented by the addition of American Cascade & Chinook hops to create a bitter, zesty, but well balanced, moreish ale with distinctively spicy, citrus and grapefruit notes. We have a very exciting IPA brewing, ready for our April monthly special. Things have started to move very fast since our launch and we are planning to have our range of beers in bottles and cans available in outlets throughout the region. Andrea Cox
May - July 2016
NORTHERN BEER TEMPLE A PLACE OF BEER WORSHIP
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arch saw the welcome addition of a bottle shop to the Wigan beer scene. The Northern Beer Temple (at 116 Standishgate) offers the drinker a choice of nearly 300 Real ales, craft beers, world beers and ciders. For owner, John Lomas, it’s a complete change from his former job as a Kitchen Fitter. He chose to open the shop after becoming increasingly frustrated at the availability of quality bottled beers locally. “I seemed to be spending a lot of time driving out to shops further afield chasing the beers I wanted to try, and I figured I couldn’t be the only person doing that.” The wealth of choice available to the beer enthusiast today has never been greater and John hopes to capitalise on that. John’s love of beer started at a young age growing up in Germany “I was amazed at the pride they had in their tradition of brewing, something lacking in this country at that time, thankfully the work of CAMRA has been instrumental in changing that”. Upon moving back to England, John rediscovered a taste for good British beer, an interest that has strengthened with the resurgence of real ale and the growth of microbreweries. With a wealth of beer festivals in the North West and as an avid Wigan Athletic fan, away days have often provided an opportunity to seek out new breweries and beers. The shop opened with a choice of around 200 bottles and the choice has already increased by around 30% in just over a month. John feels that he’s been only able to achieve this by concentrating all his resources into creating a great Bottle Shop. “My plan is that the shop will grow organically to meet the full range of services my customers need but to begin with I need to concentrate on becoming a really good Bottle Shop. This allows me the opportunity to source beers, including many specials, that have never previously been available in Wigan. I simply couldn’t have managed that if my time had been more divided.” The shop is a good size with two rooms, the front being the actual shop and a back room in which
May - July 2016
John plans to host tasting nights and meet the brewer events once he’s established himself a little more. “It’ll be great to learn more about the brewing processes, experience new tastes and explore beers with like-minded people, I think there’s a real sense of community amongst beer enthusiasts and I already feel that I’m not just making customers but friendships too” It’s early days but, with local support, it looks as though Wigan could have a bottle shop we can all be truly proud of. Jon Lomas
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WIGAN CAMRA ON THE ROAD SOCIAL TRIPS & OUTINGS
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e arrange around 5 or 6 social trips throughout the year. To make the trips varied and interesting, we often stop at a brewery on the outward journey, then a town with a good selection of real ale pubs and/or a beer festival. As you’ll see in a previous article, the first of our social outings in 2016 took place to Lymestone Brewery and Newcastle-under-Lyme in April.To date, other planned trips include:Saturday, 21st May - Chesterfield and Barrow Hill Rail Ale Festival: over 300 real ales in a unique setting with train rides and live music. Often referred to as ‘the most atmospheric beer festival of the year’. Saturday, 4th June - Three Valleys Beer Festival: A beer festival with a bit of a difference as it is spread across 18 venues over 3 valleys in the Derbyshire Dales. Venues includes town pubs, country pubs, a brewery, a farm yard and a pop-up pub! Saturday, 2nd July - Peakender: a festival of
beer arranged by Thornbridge Brewery in the grounds of Thornbridge Hall near to Bakewell. A great range of outdoor activities, live music and fantastic beer from the likes of Thornbridge, Tiny Rebel, Hawkshead, Dark Star, Wild Beer and Fyne Ales. Our trips prove to be very popular and often are complete sell-outs. For more information, check out our website, Facebook page (see below) or, for more details, contact our Social Secretary via e-mail at social@wigancamra.org.uk
ONLINE WITH WIGAN CAMRA KEEPING YOU INFORMED
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or some time now Wigan CAMRA has had a presence on Twitter (@wigancamra) and with over 2600 followers it’s proving to be one of the most popular CAMRA sites in the North West. For even longer, Wigan CAMRA has had a website. Although the information on it is kept pretty much up-to-date it’s design is now a little dated. As such, we’ll be giving it a makeover within the next couple of months. In 2008, our website won a national CAMRA award for the ‘Most Improved Website’. For the first time this year, we provided Wigan Beer Festival with its own website which also proved to be popular. Despite having a Facebook page for Wigan Beer Festival, it may come as a surprise that, unlike many other local CAMRA branches, Wigan CAMRA did not 14
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www have a presence on Facebook. However, this has now been rectified - so check out our brand new Facebook page at www.facebook.com/wigancamra next time you go online and give it a ‘like’. We’ll be keeping it updated with details of real ale news and events across our branch area and further afield. This will include pub news, brewery news, local beer festivals, branch meetings, social trips, etc.
Bookmark these links for Wigan CAMRA: Website: www.wigancamra.org.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/wigancamra Twitter: @wigancamra Wigan Beer Festival Website: www.wiganbeerfestival.wordpress.com Wigan Beer Festival Facebook: www.facebook.com/WiganBeerFestival May - July 2016
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FROM THE MISTS OF TIME A LOOK AT THE LOCAL PUB SCENE OF YESTERYEAR Thirty-five years ago
Fifteen years ago
Nobby and Nora Clark retired in October 1981 after six years at the Horseshoe in Standish and, before that, seventeen years at the Dog & Partridge, Wallgate, leaving when it became the Bee’s Knees. Elsewhere in Standish, the Wheatsheaf was rumoured to be due for conversion to a wine bar and restaurant. As the late Alan Ball remarked at the time, “Anything done to this pub would be an improvement!”. Cask Tetley mild and bitter were available at the Walmesley Arms, Spring View.
The Spinners Arms in Hindley Green reopened after a tasteful refurbishment but remained on Burtonwood smoothflow. In Appley Bridge the word was out that the Inn Between, which had been closed for a while, was to reopen as a restaurant. The Stag Hotel at Orrell Post reopened. The pub still catered for the young and deaf, but handpulled Tetley bitter and Marstons Pedigree were now on the bar.
Thirty years ago Moorhouses Premier Bitter (75p a pint) and Pendle Witch (80p) were on sale at the Turnkey Cellars, King Street, alongside McEwan’s 80/-. Rumour had it that the Traveller’s Rest, a longclosed Greenall Whitley pub in Hindley, was to be converted into apartments. Walkers best bitter (73p a pint) joined Walkers mild (69p) and bitter (72p) at the Springfield Hotel, Springfield.
Twenty-five years ago Real ale returned to the Victoria Hotel, Wallgate with Tetley bitter at £1.18 a pint. Pretty good value compared to Harry’s Bar just up the road where a pint of Theakstons Best or Youngers Scotch Bitter would set you back a hefty £1.30. The keg emporium up the Wiend known as Let’s Wine Bar, then Dollars, reopened its doors as the Old Brick House, serving Tetley fizz. The Flamingo Hotel in Scholes reverted to cask ale with Greenalls bitter served from unmarked handpumps.
Ten years ago Berkeley Square on the corner of Wallgate and King Street reopened as the Berkeley and now offered four real ales: Fullers London Pride, Marstons Pedigree and Theakstons mild and Old Peculiar. Rosebridge Brewery in Higher Ince was expected to be operational in June 2006. Philip Little of Marble Brewery was in charge and some of the equipment came from Manchester’s former brewpub the Lass o’Gowrie. The Miner’s Lamp in Lamberhead Green closed. Further down the A577 in Pemberton the White Swan was still closed.
Five years ago Real ale came to that bastion of keg, the Hawk in Hawkley Hall: John Smiths bitter. The Balcarres Arms in Haigh now sold four beers from the Marstons range. Just down the road in Aspull, however, the New Inn (also Marstons) had closed. The Rock Ferry (aka the Little Rock) in Lower Ince was set to reopen as a Thwaites free house. Dave White
Twenty years ago Traditionals, a free house in Springfield became a Holts pub. The Mount at Orrell was renamed the Priory Gate; otherwise, no change. Cask-conditioned beer (Tetley bitter) came to Lower Ince Labour Club, though it had to compete with an array of Bass keg ales.
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www.wigancamra.org.uk
The Rock Ferry Inn & The Horseshoe May - July 2016
TIME TO REVITALISE COULD THIS BE THE END OF CAMRA?
Michael Hardman
A
fter 45 years of being one of the largest single-issue consumer groups in the world, the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) could be coming to an end. The organisation has embarked on a consultation of its 180,000 members to ask them who and what it should represent in the future - and it may no longer be focussed on real ale. One of its four founders, Michael Hardman, has returned to lead the Revitalisation Project - a wholesale review into the purpose and strategy of CAMRA. Members will be invited to share their views about the future of CAMRA by completing surveys and attending around 50 consultation meetings across the UK this summer. They’ll be asked whether CAMRA should move away from promoting and protecting traditional real ale and become more inclusive, or shed subsidiary issues which have become attached to the organisation over the years - such as cider - in order to narrow its focus exclusively on cask-conditioned beer. The Revitalisation Project is CAMRA’s response to a beer and pub industry which has changed hugely since the organisation was founded in 1971. The rise of craft beer and a resurgence of interest in beer in recent years, plus renewed threats to pubs, has challenged CAMRA to review if it is best positioned to represent its members in the future. Options include becoming a consumer organisation for all beer drinkers, all pub goers regardless of what they drink, or even all alcohol drinkers, regardless of where they drink it. Revitalisation Project Chairman Michael Hardman said: “This could mark a fundamental
turning point for the Campaign for Real Ale. So fundamental it may no longer continue as the Campaign for Real Ale and instead become a campaign for pubs, or a campaign for all drinkers.” Watch this space!!
IN May - July 2016
www.wigancamra.org.uk
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Wigan branch of The Campaign for Real Ale
IN
A TEASER FROM MALTA CRAFTY GOINGS ON IN GOZO
M
alta is one of our favourite holiday destinations but not necessarily one of the first places you would think about when considering the production of craft beers. However, on one of our previous visits we were in for a pleasant surprise. Upon visiting the ‘Sun in Splendour’ pub in St Julians in search of Belgium beers, we noticed that they sold bottled beers from the Lord Chambray brewery, on the nearby island of Gozo. We bought the last bottle of a beer called ‘Blue Lagoon’ which was superb. The brewery website advertised that brewery tours were available and free of charge, so naturally we had to give it a try. Upon arriving at the brewery we were greeted by co-owner, Valentina Rosetto. Before she took us around the brewery, which opened in July 2014, she showed us some of the ingredients used in the production of their beers. They use two types of dry yeast. Hops are imported from the UK, Japan, Slovenia, Germany and America although they were having problems obtaining supplies of American hops and they may since have stopped brewing the awardwinning ‘San Blas’, which would be a great pity! They also use coriander and dried orange peel in the ‘Blue Lagoon’ brew. The water has to be treated, a form of Burtonisation, to get rid of the chemicals which make brewing a great beer impossible. The brewing plant can only be described as ‘state of the art’ and no expense has been spared on equipment to produce consistent, quality craft
beers. Their filtration system uses special filter paper which costs 100 Euros per brew! They also have plans to install their own lab on the premises to check the quality of the water and the beers throughout the brewing process. The brewery is owned by three Italians - Samuele D’Imperio, and his partner Valentina, who are now resident in Gozo; master brewer Andrea Bertola who still lives with his family in northern Italy and travels over once a month for 9 days at a time to brew the forthcoming month’s beers. Andrea is a man of few words (certainly in English anyway) but the quality of the beer says it all! The brewery produces four bottled beers: Blue Lagoon (5%), Golden Bay (5.2%), the award winning San Blas (5.7%) and a dark IPA type beer Fungus Rock (5.5%). All beers are named after locations on Gozo. Naturally, we asked why the beer was bottled and not sold on draught. Valentina explained that Farsons (Malta’s major brewery) and Stella Artois had contracts to supply draught beer to the vast majority of bars and restaurants in Malta and Gozo, that they can only take bottled products. As such, they can only supply independent bars in Malta and some supermarkets. Perhaps it’s no surprise that their ultimate aim is to export their beers. It is nice to see a small microbrewery take on the ‘big boys’ in Malta. We wish them every success and will most likely take the ferry over to Gozo to visit them again on our next holiday in Malta. Carol Worthington
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www.wigancamra.org.uk
May - July 2016
IN May - July 2016
www.wigancamra.org.uk
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