New Full Measure - issue 120 by Orchard House Media Ltd

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Issue 120 | Summer 2012 | Free, please take one

Trips to Belgium, Devon and... Bacup?!

www.newfullmeasure.org.uk

Also inside:

Sign the Petition against the Beer Escalator

A Mildly Interesting Quiz

Beers for a Desert Island Newsletter of the Leeds Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale

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Welcome! elcome to issue number 120 of New Full Measure. We hope you'll find some items of interest amongst our pages.

Leeds Beer Festival has been and gone for another year, and another success can be claimed. We’d like to thank all our sponsors and all our volunteers for helping to make it happen. 70 new members were signed up, just under 200 cask ales were available, and there were global beers, cider and perry to sample too. A record attendance was achieved on Thursday lunch and we had a popular treasure trail based on the theme of great inventions. The staff party was a rather jolly affair, being kindly hosted by Kirkstall Brewery. The owner, Steve Holt (pictured), was given a certificate of thanks by Staffing Officers Warren Yabsley and Katie Marriott. Dates for the next festival are probably going to be 14th to 16th March 2013. Thanks to all the contributors to NFM, whether they have written articles, worked with research behind the scenes, assisted with distribution, or simply been quietly supportive. You all know who you are, and this couldn’t have happened without you. See you next time! The Editor editor@newfullmeasure.org.uk

NFM Towers Address: Leeds CAMRA, PO Box 215, Calverley, Pudsey, LEEDS, LS28 0BQ. Email: editor@newfullmeasure.org.uk Web: www.leeds-camra.com www.newfullmeasure.org.uk Twitter @LeedsCAMRA Subscriptions may be had at a cost of £3 for six issues by sending a cheque payable to “Leeds CAMRA” to the above address. Back issues are available for £1 an issue by sending a cheque to the same address. Currently all previous issues are available. Contributions are welcome from any CAMRA member, and may be sent to the above email address, or by post, or wrapped round a brick and thrown at a Branch Meeting. Contributions may be edited for reasons of space, and may be held over for future issues. Thousands of copies distributed quarterly to pubs in Leeds and beyond.

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12 minnlyu

by train es fro Leeds Sta m tion!! Based in the heritage village of Saltaire, the pub has won numerous awards: Bradford Pub of the Season Autumn 1997, Summer 2000, 2003, 2008, and this year...

Bradford CAMRA Pub of the Year 2010!

Regular beers are Taylors Landlord, Golden Best and Old Peculier 8 ever changing guest beers always on • Old Peculier now being served from the wood 3 draught ciders and 3 bottled ciders • An array of specialist bottled beers Fanny’s Ale and Cider House

63 Saltaire Road, Shipley, BD18 3JN Tel No. 01274 591419 www.fannysalehouse.com 4

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News

Pub, Brewery and Festival News e start with news that North on New Briggate have commissioned a beer from Kirkstall Brewery as a house beer. As we go to press, they are celebrating being open for 15 years with 15 beers in as many days, finishing on June 30th. If you’re lucky enough to get an early copy of this newsletter, why not visit and help them celebrate.

The management at the Duck & Drake have reportedly taken over the Faversham on Springfield Mount in the university district. The Prince of Wales in the town centre is reported to have four hand pumps up and running. We understand that the Half Moon at Pool in Wharfedale is now being run by WharfeBank Brewery, with four of their own beers and two guests.

is available for hire). Two hand pumps are available, including one ever-changing Ossett beer. See newheadingleyclub.co.uk for more details. Forthcoming CAMRA festivals in the Yorkshire region include:•Keighley from September 6th to 9th •York from September 19th to 22nd For those who want to travel a little further afield there is, of course, the Great British Beer Festival at Olympia in London from August 7th to 11th. Non-CAMRA festivals in the Leeds district include:•Calls Landing on June 30th and July 1st •Village Hotel at Headingley from July 5th to 8th •Yarnbury RFC in Horsforth from July 26th to 29th •Garforth Lions on August 11th

Leeds Brewery have now been open for five years. It seems like only yesterday they opened. We wish them continued success. News from afar. It was reported in the Highlands and Islands newsletter that Sean Tomlinson, whom some of you may know from his days at Tomlinson’s Brewery in Pontefract, is now running a specialist off licence in Inverness. Apart from the hugely successful Leeds CAMRA Beer, Cider & Perry Festival, the Heavy Woollen branch also had a great success and have become established in the regular calendar after their third year. This year saw them sign up approximately 70 new CAMRA members. Back into Leeds, and the inaugural New Headingley Club festival was well attended, with over 50 different beers available. They are based on St Michael’s Road and are actively seeking new members to enjoy their comfortable lounge, spacious games room and function room (which

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Campaigning

What is the Beer Duty Escalator? lion a year in duty and VAT, and over £21 billion to the UK’s GDP. Securing 100,000 signatures for this e-petition is a key aspect of our ongoing campaign to lobby the Government for the escalator to be abolished. The e-petition needs 100,000 signatures in order to trigger a high profile Parliamentary debate which will put pressure on the Government to abandon the beer duty escalator in the 2013 Budget. he beer duty escalator was introduced by the last Government in 2008, and is currently in place until 2014/15. It means that beer duty is automatically increased by 2% above inflation every single year.

So far, over 50,000 signatures have been collected. If you haven't done so already, please add your name to the list at:http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29664

Why Sign the E-Petition? Rising taxation on beer is a serious and growing threat to the future of pubs which is why CAMRA together with the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR), British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) and many others are backing a national e-petition calling for the abolition of the beer duty escalator. The escalator has seen beer duty increase by 42% since 2008 including a rise of 5% in this year’s budget.

Any more increases in beer duty will increase the pressure on pubs already struggling to survive and damage the long term ability of the beer and pub sector to continue contributing over £6 bil-

Real Ales from: Brown Cow, Theakston, Timothy Taylor, John Smiths and now Leeds Brewery

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Desert Island Beers Tony Jenkins of WharfeBank Brewery at Pool in Wharfedale ponders which beers he would take with him to a desert island. he editor asks me to select my eight “Desert Island Beers”. A tricky assignment, but let us assume that this island has a decent pub, equipped with adequate cellar cooling, and give it a go.

I’m not just going to pick beers based on taste. I’m going to pick beers that will remind me of something as I sit on the island. But first we need some ground rules. I will restrict myself to beers that are currently available, and are still brewed by their original brewer. This rules out a few that could well have made the cut; we won’t be visiting the first beer I ever had legally (Younger's No. 3), the first beer I bought my father (Davenport’s Traditional), or the first beer he bought back (Holt, Plant and Deakin Entire), because these are all long gone, or long moved. We’re also going nowhere near any so-called Tetley beers, now brewed far, far away from their home, at least three of which would have been in otherwise. My first beer drinking experiences were in Birmingham or, more accurately, the Black Country between Dudley and Wolverhampton. Here the beers of choice were Banks’s (“Unspoilt by Progress”), Holden’s, Batham’s and the occasional Ansell's or M&B from Birmingham. The whole guest beer thing hadn't been invented – most of the locals were very suspicious of anything from very far away. They had heard of Birmingham, but didn't really believe in it. From this time I'll pick Holden’s Black Country Bitter. It's quite pale for a bitter, with a balance between malt and hops that is just right. If you ever happen to be in Wolverhampton, pop down to the Great Western behind the station and try a pint. You will thank me for this advice.

Now, come with me to Cornwall. I have the misfortune to follow the Leeds Tykes Rugby Union side, and this has meant a lot of long trips recently. Plymouth and Penzance are now regular haunts. Sometimes the Tykes win, but these trips also feature a spot of tasting of the local beers. So to remind me of this, let’s have St Austell Tribute as beer number two. Another pale bitter, hoppier and less malty than the Holden's. Ideally this one should be drunk from a plastic cup at the Mennaye Field as Leeds beat the Cornish Pirates (as if), but if not, the place to go is the Dolphin just up from Penzance harbour. Off to the capital next. Fuller’s London Pride is the beer. In a previous life, and a previous job, I spent a lot of time in London, and this is the beer I researched the most while down there. It’s darker than the first two, but again the balance of malt and hops is spot on. You can even find it in Leeds – look in the Scarbrough for one, but do remember to get them to take the sparkler off if you want the proper London experience. In London, you want the Blackbird on Earl’s Court Road or the Ship in Borough if you’ll follow my advice, but Fuller’s pubs are not hard to find in those parts. Hop on a plane now, and over the Atlantic to Colorado. This is because I want to have some Odell’s IPA on the island. (The pub will therefore need a keg font and a fridge for some bottles, I hope that’s OK). This IPA is a typically American hop-monster weighing in at an impressive 7.0% ABV. Mr Foley’s has it sometimes on its American tap, and it really is astonishing stuff. Apart from just being a stonking good beer, this one’s in to remind me of summers spent working at CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival, where the American bar has been my haunt for the last few years. I met Mr Odell himself once, and he’s a gent.

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Tony JenkinS’s selection This next one might surprise, and it’s coming close to breaking my rule. It’s Greene King Ruddle’s Best Bitter. I'm going to argue that this is not breaking the rule because this beer has no relation at all to the original Ruddle’s Bitter and so it’s OK. This one’s that mid-brown session beer that you’ve probably seen on the bar in Wetherspoons. If you do see it, give it a try. It’s actually very good. This one's also in the list to remind me that the big boys can actually produce good beer and that the big chains can serve it well. From the last Leeds CAMRA WetherCrawl I can recommend it in the Cuthbert Brodrick, Becketts Bank or Station Spoons, and it's probably fine in the Hedley Verity and the Stick or Twist too.

from South Wales. My father drank this beer (and still does), my grandfather drank this beer; I never met my great-grandfather but I’m pretty sure he did too. It's also probably the first beer I ever had when my grandfather sneaked me a half when I was about 10 after smuggling me into the pub, but that’s another story. It's this sort of connection that makes drinking real beers so great – I can’t really believe people can feel the same way about mass-produced lager brands. Right, that’s it. I shall now recline in my deckchair on the island, put the radio on, await rescue, and start working across the pumps. Cheers!

Three to go, and the next one takes us to Wales. Porthmadog is one of my favourite places in the world. It’s on the coast, so there is sea, and Snowdonia is just up the road. There's a little train, Portmeirion (where they filmed “The Prisoner”) is along the coast, and now there's a brewery too. In English it’s Purple Moose, in Welsh Mŵs Piws and the beer's very good in either language. I could pick any beer from these parts, but let’s go with Purple Moose Snowdonia. A light pale one, this, at 3.6% ideal for supping on a summer evening. The best place to sup it is Spooner’s Bar on the Ffestiniog Railway station. There’s been no Yorkshire beer yet, so let’s put that right. Fake Tetley’s is out. I used to like Stone’s but who knows where that’s made these days. So let this island have a supply of Timothy Taylor Landlord, and let the pub have cellar staff who know how to look after it. This is proper Yorkshire beer, it’s won many awards, and rightly so. It should really be sampled near its home in Keighley, at the Boltmakers, say, or closer to home Arcadia in Headingley does a good job. Now for the last one. For that matter it’s the one that I would pick if I could only pick one. It’s Brains Dark, a 3.5% mild from Cardiff. Let me explain. This is truly an excellent beer, but to me there’s more to this beer than that. My family is

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Cider down south Warren Yabsley went to the National CAMRA AGM, and found out that it's not just about speeches and debates. They have a bit of fun as well.

A Trip to Hunt’s Cider Producers orquay, part of the English Riviera, was the destination for this year’s CAMRA AGM. Let's skip the politics and go straight to the trips; the cider excursion was to Hunt’s, just outside of Paignton. After taking much paint off the roof of the double decker bus by having to negotiate low-hanging trees on the byroad, we arrived at Higher Yalberton Farm where all the action occurs in the old barn. Quite a few minutes later we saw the bus attempting to reverse up the steep hill due to a narrow bridge by the barn.

The history of Hunt’s is complex, even the cider orderer for one of the national festivals who studied the history of cider producers had many questions. In summary, a member of the Hunt family started making cider in 1805 but production for Hunt’s as we know it now got underway during the 1950s with the grandfather of the current producer, Richard Hunt. After returning from university, Richard did not intend to return

to production levels of his grandfather but the cider-making bug hit and 5,000-7,000 gallons are now produced annually. Nearly all the apples are sourced from the old 18 acre orchard on the farm and are picked as they fall in autumn by two workmen who turn up annually solely to do this role. The apples are mainly Devonshire varieties such as Tremletts

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Bitter, Sweet Alford and Brown’s. Nearly everything in the barn is as it was, including the cobwebs! The apples are crushed and pressed by 1950s belt-driven machinery, then the juice is stored in fermentation tanks. Many original, large barrels are present in the barn but are beyond use now because production was much reduced between the time of Richard and his grandfather. Ex-distillery barrels from Scotland are sometimes used now but are difficult to source, prompting one visitor to suggest the business idea of being a middleman for barrels. A pasty supper complemented the three ciders available: Dry, Medium and Sweet. All were crisp, highly tasty and enjoyable but had a dry aftertaste and didn’t cover such a diverse range as some other producers’ ciders. However, this is to be expected because no extra sugar or manufactured yeasts are added. My favourite was the Medium which provided a good balance of taste and texture. All would be a very good bet if you’re a seasoned cider drinker, as proven by the number of bottles taken away, but maybe not so much for those who prefer the sweeter end of things. The ABV is approximately 5% for all types.

43 Kirkgate, Leeds LS2 7DR

15 Real Ales 0113 245 5432

Open 10am till late 7 days a week Timothy Taylors Landlord, Saltaire Blonde,Theakstons Old Peculier, Daleside, Ossett, Roosters all available. Westons Old Rosie Cider permanently available WI FI available throughout Tues - Open Mike Jam night Wed - Young band night Thurs, Fri, Sat - Live Music starting at 9pm Sun - Live Music starting at 5.30pm

Richard was an excellent host who was willing to answer all questions which further enhanced the event. All too soon it was time to catch the bus back. It was parked in the road near the top of the long hill where it was finally able to turn around; not the best location for some people after the very enjoyable evening!

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A warm welcome from Neil and Maureen from The Junction

TH SAT 7

JULY,

S L ALE 9 REATHE WOOl D a Fun y it r a ! Ch g Day Raisin

FROMt our annu d a

We supply an ever changing variety of real ales mainly sourced from local Breweries from Bobs Brewing co. and Ridgeside Brewery as permanent guests. Served through a bank of old Melbourne pumps that have never seen a pint of Tetleys or John Smiths.

Open Fires • Friendly Atmosphere Dog friendly • Quiz Night on Wednesday • Only 2 mins from the bus and train station Opening times Monday to Thursday 2pm until 11.30pm. Friday to Sunday 12noon until late.

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As regular readers will know, we at Leeds CAMRA like to give out awards for excellence. This quarter was no exception and we at NFM managed to obtain photos on each occasion.

First, we visited the Ship, just off Briggate, to present them with their Most Improved Pub award for Autumn 2011. A great night was had by all. Some quality ale was supped and we knew that the award was richly deserved.

Last month we were guests at Kirkstall Brewery where we were able to present Dave Sanders with the coveted award from Leeds Beer Cider and Perry Festival for his creation, Dissolution IPA. Voted for by the festival's visitors, this was a delicious amber ale with a substantial hop kick.

Finally, we visited the Abbey Inn at Newlay to present them with the Community Pub of the Year award. We're getting used to making this journey, as it's the third time the Abbey has won this award for pubs at the very heart of the community in five years.

Congratulations to all who have featured this quarter, and we look forward to the presentations at the Grove, Holbeck (Pub of the Season, Spring) on June 21st at 7:30pm, Fernandes Brewery Tap, Wakefield (Joint Mild of the Festival) on July 14th at 2pm, Old Cock, Otley (Pub of the Year) on July 21st at noon, Fleece, Pudsey (Pub of the Season, Summer) on July 23rd at 7:30pm and an award to Leeds Brewery (Joint Mild of the Festival) with a date still to be arranged. More about those in the next edition of NFM.

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We asked David Dixon, the organiser of the Leeds Beer, Cider and Perry Festival, to talk us through some of the global beers that you might think about trying. Here’s what he came up with.

Trip the Light Fantastic Trip to the office more like. There are times when going to the pub just is not an option, but plan ahead and stock up on some bottles from the better off licences and supermarkets and you’ll almost forget about the pub. What we have here is a selection of warmer month beers, summer beers if you wish, no dark beers here, it’s all on the light side. Beer Ritz in Headingley should need no introduction to Leeds beer lovers. This beer may have come from there, too many International Bitterness Units have come this way to remember clearly. A trip there usually results in a heavy bag going home so to lighten the load, why not try smaller bottles? Cuvée Des Trolls comes in dinky 25ml bottles and has a cute hop-headed troll on the label, holding something dodgy in his left hand. But enough of the outside, it’s inside which counts. This is one of those beers with fluffy sediment, and pouring it clear is beyond most people. This is a great summer beer, if a bit strong at 7% ABV. It is honey sweet and like a good strong lager in that it is easy drinking and refreshing. If you’ve enjoyed Leffe Blond before then try this, they are in the same area. A visit to Waitrose is not usually top of my list when in Otley but a while back I found myself caught in the rain and seeking shelter in the booze aisle, as you do. I knew they did a tasty wheat beer and picked up a bottle or three for saving for summertime. This really is a wheat beer which deserves wider recognition. Cloudy amber in the glass with the nose of all great wheat beers – bananas. This also comes through in taste where it is joined by sweet spiciness,

with small bubbles giving a pleasant texture in the mouth. Waitrose chose well when they got Arcobräu to brew it for them. 5.3% ABV, just right for the summer. Curve ball time – pink beer bought from Asda in a wine bottle with a champagne cork! This is a sharer and a centrepiece at any summer gathering, we’re talking Hoegaarden Rosée here. When poured it really is pink, darker than Pink Panther pink, but still pink. Tastewise it is slightly tart and floral. However, it is raspberries which dominate so much that the wheat beer taste struggles to come through, but it does give it a bit of body and somehow adds to the refreshing nature of it all. At 3% ABV this really is a summery drink outside with friends, hence the big

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Global Beers bottle. Fruit beer lovers this is for you, fruit beer haters will probably not be converted though. Brighouse for the next beer and the fantastic wine and cheese shop Czerwik, but don’t forget it does beer too. The final beer selection, Schneider Weisse Tap 5 clocks in at 8.2% ABV and is priced accordingly. The label says it is “an extraordinary and thrilling pleasure for wheat beer lovers”. But does the beer live up to the hype? Well yes it certainly does, and more; to call Tap 5 a wheat beer is like calling Campbell’s Bluebird a fast old car. Poured in the traditional wheat beer way,with sediment, this is a classic cloudy almost orange beer. The pungent smell is not just floral and perfumey but hoppy too, not unlike an American IPA. There is some hop bitterness in the taste but it’s mostly the thick body with a warming feeling that you remember. This really is the top end of wheat beers and one to finish a summer’s evening with, well any evening really.

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Out and about Rawdon is only a few miles up the road from my home, and yet I rarely visit for a pint. Rick Lamb may have persuaded me to visit in the near future.

Rawdon ravelling north by bus from Leeds, you pass through Horsforth before reaching Yeadon and Guiseley. Before reaching these two towns it is easy to forget the village of Rawdon. The centre of the village is on Town Street, which lies north of the main A65, with the parish church of St Peter’s, Rawdon C.E. primary school and a cluster of shops. Behind Town Street the village is dominated by the Billing, a large treetopped hill that is visible for miles around. By bus there are two routes into the district. On the A65 there are services 33, 33A and 757 which all pass Rawdon lights, whereas the centre of the village is served by the 97, which goes via Headingley.

Importantly, there are three pubs in Rawdon. Catching the bus, alight at Rawdon traffic lights and walk through Micklefield Park, by the council one-stop shop and keep to the right of the tennis courts. Walk down the unmade road (Whitelands), to its end, then diagonally left down Princess Street. At the end of this street you come to the PRINCESS. This stone-built pub, on Apperley Lane in the Little London area of Rawdon, is surrounded by a tight cluster of what were weavers’ cottages. It has recently been refurbished throughout and opened out into one cosy dining and drinking area. It is comfortably and stylishly done and is tastefully decorated throughout. Through the pub to the rear is a stone-paved outdoor courtyard with wicker sofas, chairs and tables. The beer range on my visit was Marston's Tetley Bitter, Taylor’s Landlord and WharfeBank Tether Blond.

A couple of stops after alighting for the Princess you find the STONE TROUGH on the main Harrogate Road. This is one of the ‘Sizzling’ pub chain, a 20th century, brick-built roadhouse in mock Tudor style and the emphasis is on dining. Having said that, the pub is openplan with a goodly number of intimate areas for a quiet pint, including one where no children are allowed. Also recently refurbished, it is well furnished, with wood predominating, and warmly decorated in terracotta and cream. There is also a well-stocked log burning fireplace, and someone seems to have a bent for mirrors. Beers on sale were Marston’s Tetley Bitter, Wells Bombardier, York Yorkshire Terrier and Leeds Pale. On Town Street, in the heart of the village, is the EMMOTT ARMS. This solid stone pub has two rooms. The main, well furnished, richly carpeted lounge and bar is on the left. It is dominated by a huge stone fireplace with an iron side oven. The seating is a combination of upholstered benches, armchairs and buffets. Wood-panelled beams and subtle lighting complement the room, which has a number of pictures of old Rawdon. There is also a smaller tap room on the right of the bar. This being a Samuel Smith’s house, only Old Brewery Bitter is on offer. The 97 passes the door. To the left of the Emmott Arms is RAWDON CRICKET CLUB. We understand that, on match days, it serves Taylor’s Landlord and an Old Bear beer. All very different, but well worth a visit if you’re in the vicinity.

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Bacup

A NUTTERS’ DAY OUT Rick Lamb continues his quest to find quality beer. This time, he needs his passport! ast year I brought you culture from Sowerby Bridge in the form of the Rushcart Festival. Today I bring... more culture! This time, accompanied by Paul Titley, we travel to and explore that deep, dark, dangerous and most mysterious of all places... LANCASHIRE, for the Boundary to Boundary Coconut Dance in Bacup. This traditional festival takes place annually on Easter Saturday and has done so for over one hundred and fifty years. The procession starts at 9.00am and finishes, a considerable number of miles later, at 8.00pm, accompanied most of the way by a sizeable proportion of the townsfolk.

Our drive skirted around the boundary of Bradford, down into Halifax town centre and out along the Burnley road, through Hebden Bridge and Todmorden, then over the Pennines. I only mention this as we both noted the large number of pubs in both urban Bradford and Halifax, and along the more rural Calder valley, that were empty, boarded up, or in various stages of dereliction. I would gauge there was an equally large number of premises up for lease or for sale. From Todmorden we climbed the steeply winding moorland road until we reached the Lancashire boundary marker. We knew we had entered a strange land as we lost reception for ‘Sounds of the Sixties’ on Radio Two. We descended the road into Bacup. Returning to culture, we are here to watch the annual event performed by the Britannia Coconut Dancers! This troop of men (affectionately known as nutters) are garbed outlandishly: blacked faces, white turban, black jersey with white sash, red and white hooped kilt, black knee breeches, white stockings, and clogs. They also have five maple ‘nuts’ attached to wrists, belts and knees. The black faces reflect a pagan or medieval background as a disguise against recognition by evil spirits. The origins are possi-

bly from Moorish pirates that settled in Cornwall, then migrated north to work the coal mines after the decline of tin mining. Accompanied by the Stacksteads Brass Band, the group perform a combination of 5 garland dances, with red, white and blue flowers, which supposedly encourages the renewal of crops, along with 2 nut dances. A ‘Whipper In’ cracks a whip to drive away evil spirits.

Performing the Nut Dance After joining the throng from early morning and watching them perform at various stages along the Rochdale Road we reach the centre of Bacup, which is is an unpretentious, old industrial mill town, with a good number of ornate Victorian buildings, although most are now faded and there are a number of derelict mills. Nevertheless, a solid northern working-class town. One of these buildings is the Conservative Club, an impressive structure with balcony, where I imagine many a political declaration has been made. I mention this only as this is our first watering hole. Its proper name is TH’ OWD CON CLUB. (Yes, this is the correct spelling! - only in

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Lancashire.) A plaque on the wall shows J.W. Lees beers are sold. They are, but only in smooth form. Fortunately, we have the choice of Theakston’s Bitter and Moorhouse’s Black Cat (the latter very pleasant). There is a lounge and bar on the left, Outside Th’Owd Con Club recently refurbished and with a fine gallery of pictures of Coconut Dancers, a function room and pool table on the right and concert room upstairs. Incidentally, the Conservatives no longer reside at the old Conservative Club. They have another place, the New Conservative Club!

Lancashire ales; Prospect Silver Tally, Pictish Brewers Gold and Rossendale Glen Top bitter, all in very good condition. The pub sits quietly out of sight, as if not wanting to attract attention, but it is a notable inn. Both the main lounge and the back room are spartanly furnished. The back room had built-in wooden benches and simple wooden chairs and tables, the walls were unadorned and there was a large, central stone fireplace on which sat a substantial, weird, stone carved head. The lounge was similar, with an open fire and dark walls, broken up with a collection of brasses and a hunting horn. As we supped the beers we were accompanied by a lively trio of musicians, on drums, squeezebox, harmonica and balalaika, playing a selection of Eastern European folk tunes. Not a great day, all-in-all, on the beer front, but an excellent one for entertainment.

A wander around the centre of the town is virtually fruitless. The odd pint of John Smiths is all that is to be found. So we spend a pleasant hour in the ‘Nat,’ which is the home of the Bacup Natural History Society. It was founded in 1878 and is based in the former Hare and Hounds public house on Yorkshire Street. This is a wondrous little museum, with a comprehensive historical and industrial collection of all things Bacup and a vast array of artifacts ranging from clogs to ceramics, spears, skulls, snake skins and cases of birds and butterflies.

Bacup Natural History Society But we knew of another venue with real ales on Greave Road, which is just off the main road back to Todmorden, about half a mile from the museum. The CROWN had a choice of three

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Quiz

A Mildly Interesting Quiz To celebrate May being mild month, a number of us went to the Midnight Bell in Holbeck for the unveiling of Leeds Brewery's latest mild. Brewed for our beer festival, it didn’t have a name back then and we invited customers to suggest monikers which we then presented to the brewery. They chose Approaching Midnight and we all agreed it was a lovely beer. We'd been hoping to meet the competition winner, but unfortunately that wasn't possible on this occasion.

When is a mild not a mild? Name the breweries who brew the following milds: 11. Dark Side Pup 12. Dark Hatters 13. Holderness Dark 14. Hooky Dark Name the brewery and mild of these doctored pump clips:

The beer was so good that it won Joint Mild of this year's Festival. We will bring you news of the presentation as soon as we're able. Festival organiser, David Dixon, set us a quiz for the evening. It’s just for fun and the answers can be found on page 28. I don’t think anyone got all the answers right! Name the mild which won Champion Beer of Britain in the following years: 1. 2011 2. 2009 3. 2007 4. 2000

Answers on Page 28

5. According to the CAMRA Beer Style Guidelines, what strength (% ABV) are milds typically less than? 6. Cubanelle, Banana, Peppadew and Rocotillo are names of relatively mild types of what? 7. What sort of take away is the Mild Seven in Birkenshaw? 8. Which country typically produces the mild cheese Dunlop? 9. Which local brewery and mild can be found in Blended Limelights? 10. Complete the following saying from the 1980s Tetley Mild adverts “Ready when you are, ___”.

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Destination Belgium

Branch Treasurer, Warren Yabsley, takes a trip to Belgium with his colleagues from Leeds University. elgium, home to some of the world’s best beers, was the destination for Leeds University Real Ale Society’s annual Easter trip. Prague, Munich and Tallinn (Estonia) have been the previous destinations but none compared with the wealth of beer available on this jaunt. With Alessandro, a Belgian beer aficionado and fellow student, having lots of bars, breweries and bottle shops already lined up, we set off with great expectations. And we were not to be disappointed!

With time to kill before the Eurostar we wandered to Euston Tap, suitcases in tow. 9 ales were available including 4 dark ones and 2 from Magic Rock. Sensibly we sat outside; the spiral staircase is treacherous enough without luggage! Unfortunately the Cider Tap was closed but opened while we were there. The Eurostar would not wait so a venture inside was not possible. Our first beer port of call was the world-

renowned Delirium Bar, Brussels with its 2000+ beers, one for every year, and is the Guinness World Record holder for “most varieties of beer commercially available”. The downstairs bar, completely adorned with beer paraphernalia but with a worrying number of spaces on the ceiling where beer trays were once stuck, was a lot busier and louder than expected for a Monday night. A variety of beers was sampled, some from bottles, others on draft. The beauty of going with a small group is the extra tasting you can do enabling a wider range of styles and breweries to be sampled, which is just as well given the strength; 5-10% is the norm. Each bar had unique beers available so we moved upstairs to the Hoppy Loft, complete with horse-cart and old sink, bypassing the ground floor bar. A tray of 3 x 17cl tasters was available allowing us to sample a wide range of Delirium’s wares though we were saving ourselves for the next morning’s Cantillion Brewery visit.

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Belgian adventures This is tucked down a side street, where no-one would guess what would lie behind the large wooden doors. Over a hundred years of brewing heritage, almost untouched in method and machinery, awaited us. The self-guided tour notes were redundant given Alessandro’s knowledge. This is the fourth generation to run the brewery where fermentation occurs through the actions of natural yeast (I bet they dread the Health and Safety inspections!) creating wonderfully sour and sharp lambic beer. Original machinery from 1900 is still used creating a similar feel to Thwaites Mills Museum in Leeds. In the ‘attic’, where roof shutters admit the surrounding air, the approximately 15 feet square shallow and open copper vessel is filled with 7,500 litres of wort, which is left to cool to 1820oC. Due to this, brewing only occurs from the end of October to the start of April. This is where the wild yeasts and bacteria inoculate the wort. Over 150 strains have been identified in just one lambic type. The wort is transferred to wooden barrels where fermentation occurs, leading to a white foam exuding from the bunghole; the barrel cannot be sealed initially otherwise it might explode. After 3 years, spontaneous fermentation ceases and the lambic beer is transferred to bottles. To produce the more common gueze, a mix of 1 and 3 year old lambics are combined and bottled, where secondary fermentation occurs, producing a sparkling brew. The bottling room has 13,500 bottles stored horizontally, usually for a year. The fruit flavoured brews are produced in a similar way except 2 year old lambic, which has had fruit added then stored for 3 months, is used in place of 3 year old lambic.

Due to Alessandro’s friendship with head-brewer, Jean, we were privileged with sampling the highly prized grape-flavoured variety and both cherry and raspberry varieties (normally it’s a choice), none of which are overpowered by the fruit, plus the standard, very acidic, still lambic and the sparkling gueze. All styles are tart and not to everyone’s taste initially but your taste buds

quickly adapt and you appreciate the unique quality. If you’re a (real) cider drinker (and thankfully I am) the initial taste might appeal more. Lambic beer styles improve with age and can be kept for up to 20 years. Laden down with bottles (taking the 5% on the label with a pinch of salt; it’s more like 10%) we did some sightseeing including paying a visit, for the purposes of editorial content, to the somewhat small ‘peeing boy’. I think he might well have sampled too much strong local beer! Afterwards we headed to Moeder Lambic with 46 beers on draft the majority Belgian with half a dozen or so imports including one from “Thornbridges!” The waiters had excellent knowledge of the beers available. With a long, thin bar and a relaxed atmosphere, parallels with North Bar were drawn.

Delirium Bar, Brussels The jam-packed following day included a trip to Bruges and Antwerp. Due to the exquisiteness of Bruges little beer was drunk save a house tripel at La Garre, a quaint, tiny bar tucked down an alleyway but with a surprising number of tourists, including Loiners (Leeds people for distant readers). After reluctantly leaving Bruges we arrived at Antwerp not long before dusk giving just enough time for a whistlestop sightseeing tour of the Continued Overleaf

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Belgian adventures - continued

Kulminator Bar beautiful cathedral, squares and castle, made all the more atmospheric by the diminishing light. Atmosphere was something our destination, Kulminator Bar, had in abundance. You could easily mistake it for someone’s eccentric house with piles of newspapers lying around, plants growing along the ceiling and the favoured seat of the owner (complete with ‘reserved’ sign). A chalkboard of guests complemented the extensive menu of beers (various prices and sizes), some of which could be viewed in a mini-cellar en-route to the toilet. The wife did most of the work whilst the husband was more at home reading the paper and replying monosyllabically to questions posed to him by customers. After a superlative range of beers was tried the bill was presented to us and consisted of systematic scrawls on a couple of beer mats. A customer gave us most of a bottle of Rodenbach’s Vin de Cereal 2004 because he had to dash, though complete with four bottles to take home. At 10 euros a bottle and given the novelty of it coming in its own wooden box we gratefully received the gift. This was my last beer

in Belgium and the best. A sour, but very different to lambics and guezes, yet sweet and fruity blend that really hit the spot for me. It was similar to the Duchesse de Bourgogne red ale available from the Global Bar at Leeds Beer, Cider and Perry Festival. From previous visits Alessandro remarked that the husband hardly ever says goodbye to customers yet we were honoured by a raised hand and a thank you; we might just have to visit again. Before catching the Eurostar the next day we visited de Biertempel, the Beer Ritz of Brussels, which was made all the better knowing we could take back an unlimited amount of liquids in our hand luggage! Leeds University Real Ale Society is having a break over the summer during the undergraduate holidays but will be gearing up again for weekly socials, trips and events from September. Ex-committee members include brewers at Copper Dragon and Geeves, Leeds CAMRA’s membership secretary, Katie, and Yours Truly. Non-students of various ages are always welcome. The Society can be contacted via luurealale@gmail.com, Facebook and @LUURealAleSoc.

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NEW FOR 2012

RED GOOSE ABV 4.2%

Little Valley Brewery produces an inspired range of beers brewed with 100% organic agricultural ingredients. We carefully select only the best, tastiest organic hops and malts, all brewed with soft Yorkshire water sourced from high in the Pennines. Little Valley is approved by the Soil Association and the Vegan Society and is also a licensee of the Fairtrade Foundation for Ginger Pale Ale. Ask for it at your Local - or Look out for our Bottled range in selected stores of Booths, Waitrose and Asda.

A symbol of 51 Sqn RAF. A rich, ruby, malty beer.

NELLIE DENE ABV 3.7% A fully fermented light refreshing summer ale with a touch of fruit balanced by a ripe hoppy finish.

BLONDE BOMBSHELL ABV 4.0% AN AWARD WINNING PERMANENT BEER

Tel: 01422 883888 www.littlevalleybrewery.co.uk

A pale barley malt, wheat and bohemian hops makes this a delicate and refreshing fruity beer with a sweet finish.

The Reliance Bar & Dining Room

Fine Food & Fine Ales 17 different ales and lagers from the British Isles and Europe. Guest British Micro brewery ales changing weekly. Open for lunch & Supper 7 days a week

76-78 North Street, Leeds LS2 7PN

0113 295 6060 www.the-reliance.co.uk

4 rotating Real Ales at all times

Partners Brewery ales always available

Sunday Lunch Two for ÂŁ12 Served 12-3pm

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Goodbye to a beer hero

Dave Wickett Rest in Peace It was with sadness that cask ale drinkers heard of the death of Dave Wickett in May, aged 64, from cancer. He was instrumental in the real ale revolution, particularly in Sheffield and the North of England. Dave was a lecturer at Sheffield Polytechnic back in the ‘70’s and, being passionate about beer, opened a popular staff bar. When the Alma came up for auction in 1981, he bought it and, despite people thinking he was crazy, relaunched it as the Fat Cat which won Sheffield CAMRA Pub of the Year in its very first year. Other pubs in the district got in on the act and helped turn the area into a real ale haven, now popularly known as the “Valley of Beer”. In 1990, when the Beer Orders came in and opened up a world of guest beers for pubs, Dave took the opportunity to build the Kelham Island Brewery in the pub’s back garden. Eventually he began competing with companies such as Whitbread, Ward's and Stones. This led to a brewery expansion in 1999.

The brewery achieved huge success with Pale Rider which won Champion Beer of Britain in 2004, as well as a range of other successful ales. I had the privilege of interviewing Dave for New Full Measure back in January 2010, the month he was diagnosed with his illness. He told me about his early days in the pub and brewery industry, as well as the Great Sheffield Floods of 2007 which devastated his business. He kept on stressing to me the amount of fun that could be had by running your own brewery and I felt that he was very keen to give pleasure to others. It was an informative and pleasurable afternoon. Thanks, Dave, for all that you did for the real ale industry. I raise my glass to you.

The Regent Four permanent Real Ales, Deuchars IPA, Leeds Pale, Tetley Bitter and Timothy Taylor Landlord plus a rotating Guest Ale. Handpull Scrumpy now available. Sky sports and ESPN on Two Screens Beer garden with Plasma screen and Car Park to the rear

Main meals - Two for £7.00 We are open Mon-Thurs 12noon-11pm Fri-Sat 12noon-midnight, Sun 12 noon-10.30pm Quiz nights: Monday – General Knowledge Tuesday – Music Thursday – Entertainment 15/17 Regent Street, Chapel Allerton, Leeds LS7 4PE Tel: 0113 2939395 Email: barrymcmillan@msn.com

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Leeds CAMRA Members' Noticeboard Do you know of anywhere that offers discounts for CAMRA members? We, at NFM Towers, have been asked to compile a list of all pubs or clubs within the Leeds district which offer a permanent discount to CAMRA members with a view to promoting both the business and the Campaign for Real Ale. If you know of venues which we can confirm offer such a discount, please e-mail us at editor@newfullmeasure.org.uk or use the postal address on page 3 of this newsletter.

Follow @LeedsCAMRA on Twitter or “like” our Leeds-CAMRA Facebook page for up-to-date information about socials, meetings and pubs in around Leeds.

A Mildly Interesting Quiz Answers 1. Mighty Oak Oscar Wilde 2. Rudgate Ruby Mild 3. Hobson’s Mild 4. Moorhouse’s Black Cat 5. 4.3% ABV 6. Chilli pepper 7. Chinese 8. Scotland 9. Leeds Midnight Bell 10. Bob 28

11. Old Spot 12. Robinson’s 13. Great Newsome 14. Hook Norton 15. Naylor’s Pinnacle Mild 16. Coach House Gunpowder Mild 17. Ilkley Black 18. Cain’s Dark Mild 19. Brown Cow Captain Oates 20. Rudgate Ruby Mild

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diary dates

Appointment with Beer Sat 21st Pub of the Year presentation. Old Cock, Otley. Noon. August 2012 Sat 11th Burley Social. Highland from 2pm. Fox & Newt from 4pm. Tue 14th Branch Meeting. Grove, Holbeck. 7:30pm. Please note the new, earlier start time for branch meetings.

eeds CAMRA holds a formal business-style meeting in a closed room (one with a door, not an area of a bar) on the first Tuesday of every month. The meeting starts at 7:30pm and has an approximate finishing time of 9:30pm.

CAMRA members are advised to check “What’s Brewing” for confirmation of meeting locations and for details of other events; alternatively call 07981 297962. A full listing of events is also published at http://www.leeds-camra.com/ where it is regularly updated. Leeds CAMRA is organised and run entirely by unpaid volunteers. Members wanting to become involved with the Branch are always welcome.

July 2012 Tue 3rd Branch Meeting. Pack Horse, Woodhouse. 8:00pm. Sat 7th Canal Walk Social. Starting at West End House, Kirkstall. 1pm. The route will follow the canal away from Leeds with many possible visiting or stopping points. Sat 14th Joint Mild of the Festival presentation. Fernandes Brewery Tap, Wakefield. 2pm. Tue 17th City Centre Social. Duck & Drake from 8pm. Palace from 9:15pm.

Tue 21st Quarterly Wethercrawl. Stick or Twist from 8pm. Hedley Verity from 9pm. Becketts Bank from 10pm. Fri 27th Meet the Brewer from WharfeBank. Stick or Twist. 4pm to 7pm September 2012 Sat 1st Inaugural Super-Regional meeting. Guiseley Factory Workers Club. Noon. Including the presentation of the Leeds Branch Club of the Year award. Tue 4th Branch Meeting. Venue TBA. 7.30pm. Sat 8th Otley Social. Manor House from 2pm. Bowling Green from 4pm. Thu 23rd Pub of the Season, presentation. Fleece, Pudsey. 7:30pm. Thu 27th Briggate Alleys Crawl. Whitelocks 7.30pm, then visit Ship, White Swan, Pack Horse and Angel. Please note the early start. There’s a lot to fit in.

Thank You for Having Us! Whitelocks, Pack Horse on Briggate and Garden Gate at Hunslet for hosting Branch meetings. Also thanks to Kirkstall Brewery for hosting the Leeds Beer, Cider & Perry Festival workers' party.

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