Cheers North East magazine #85 - November

cheers WWW.CHEERSNORTHEAST.CO.UK // NOVEMBER 2018 // ISSUE 85

I T ’ S

A B O U T

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URBAN ASSAULT AND QUIET RIOT IT’S ANARCHY AROUND HEATON

FREE PLEA

SEVENTY-YEAR-OLD MYSTERY SOLVED CASTING A NET ON SPANISH MURALS

BRICKS AND PORTER LEGO MAN BUILDS ON PUB CULTURE

Y O U !

SE TAKE A COPY

SLAYING THIRST SINCE AD 2015

A FIREBRICK BEST SELLER COPYRIGHT WYLIE BECKERT, IMAGE UNDER LICENCE TO FIREBRICK BREWERY LTD.

WELCOME We have to admit that it’s tempting on these darker, colder nights to take one look out of the window and decide to not bother with the pub quiz and opt instead for Holby City or whatever else keeps people glued to the settee on a Tuesday night.

Shake yourself out of that miserable option and head for great beer, good crack and a warm welcome in your most local of locals.

We’ve just gone through what is termed Stoptober where misguided (but no doubt well-meaning) individuals give up things like alcohol for a month. Fairly soon they’ll be calling for Dry January when even more pressure will be laid at the pub door as people “detox” from their festive excesses.

Have they no minds of their own?

Pubs need us more than ever. Austerity has been biting for years and it won’t let go. We’re all being affected, assaulted from all directions by rising prices and lowering standards (and that’s before we mention Brexit which will be a disaster for the breweries that have fought hard to enter lucrative export markets just to see that avenue cut off by Tariff McTariff Face).

The only way to save our pubs is to visit them more often and to stay longer. It’s simple. Do it.

Alastair Gilmour Editor, Cheers North East

EDITORIAL

Alastair Gilmour 07930 144 846 01661 844 115 alastair@cheersnortheast.co.uk @CheersPal www.cheersnortheast.co.uk Photography: Peter Skelton www.thepsp.net

CONTENTS 20

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL

Quizzes, pop-up food and televised football are all ways to lure customers to the pub – but there’s one that offers Lego sessions alongside beer and burgers for a great night out. Arch 2 on Stepney Bank, Ouseburn, Newcastle, hosts a monthly building evening led by Bricks McGee where the sound of animated chatter and genuine laughter fill the place as much as the huge sacks of Lego he brings along.

Enthusiasts are encouraged into teamwork and enjoy the creativity with plastic rectangles that they thought they had lost.

COVER: LEGO HELPS THE BEER GO DOWN AT ARCH 2. PHOTO/MONTAGE: PETER SKELTON

IT’S SIMPLY AMAZING TO HAVE AN ANSWER TO ADD TO MY COLLECTION OF POSADA STORIES ANDREW NICHOLSON, CROWN POSADA, NEWCASTLE

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Emma Howe 07854 011 704 01661 844 115 emma@offstonepublishing.co.uk

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While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for omissions and errors. All material in this publication is strictly copyright and all rights reserved.

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When you have finished with this magazine please recycle it

ANARCHY IN HEATON

CHEERS NORTH EAST

brings out the best in pubs and brewing that exists in the region. The magazine, published ten times a year, is distributed to almost 300 pubs, bottle shops and specialist outlets from the Borders to North Yorkshire and across to the fringes of Cumbria. It is packed with stories from them with suggestions on where to go and what you’ll find there. But most of all, Cheers is about people – after all, it’s people who make beer and people who make pubs what they are. And to be able to bring you more information, our A-Z pub guide can now be found at www.cheersnortheast.co.uk Tell them who sent you.

NEWS

TOAST TO A NEW COLLAB When we propose a toast with beer we normally mean raising a glass – but Camerons Brewery has gone one better.

The Hartlepool-based independent brewer has collaborated with Toast Ale to produce Stottie (5.0% abv), a Dunkel Hefeweizen beer made with surplus bread. One third of the normal malt content of this classic German style is made up of bread that would otherwise have been sent to landfill.

Stottie, with its inviting banana and clove aroma leading to a rich malty and toffee aftertaste, is being introduced into Camerons’ Head of Steam estate this month with a Toast Ales tap-takeover in its Leeds outlet.

Camerons and Toast will donate 100% of the profits made from this beer to the charity Feedback which campaigns for a better, fairer food system. Toast, which works with a number of brewers across the UK to highlight food waste, has so far raised more than £12,000 for Feedback since it launched with almost one million slices of unused bread having been used in beers they have developed.

Yousef Doubooni, head of marketing at Camerons, said: “We started working with the team from Toast earlier this year by introducing their bottled beers into our managed pub estate. We really liked their beer concept and we felt it fit perfectly with the ethos in our The Head of Steam pubs.

“During this time we have been working on a collaboration brew so it’s great to see our Stottie beer come to fruition.”

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

Judging by the amount of building work going on in Berwick upon Tweed, the town appears to be shaking off the years of austerity that have blighted its commercial infrastructure. Sadly, many empty shops remain – far too many – but these two pubs on Marygate pictured last month are ready to turn a new face to the world. Let’s hope the offer inside takes note of the massive steps forward that beer and food have taken in recent times.n.”

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NEWS

KEG BROWN WAVES ’BYE

The Strawberry in Newcastle can lay claim to a British record – but not one that can be treasured with a gold medal. This achievement is brown by name and brown by nature.

The renowned pub that sits a mazy dribble away from St James’ Park had a stock of the country’s final brew of Newcastle Brown Ale served on draught – but now it has gone. Owners Heineken have stopped dispensing it in kegs for the home market. Bottles of

“Broon” are still hugely popular in The Strawberry, so the beer hasn’t disappeared totally, but switching off the illuminated font marks another milestone in the 91-yearold brand’s career.

Strawberry landlord Michael Hill invited top regional Heineken figures last month to a tasting of the final pints from a 30-litre keg in what he calls “the end of an era”.

“Everyone coming in recently has been keen to have a pint from the last keg,” says Michael. “But

Left to right: John Wood, Heineken key accounts manager; Dave Embleton, retired regional sales director; Michael Hill, Strawberry landlord; Dave Stewart current Heineken regional sales director my plan was to give the last pint to John Wood from Heineken – he’s a Newcastle lad who was seconded to America for six months as the Newcastle Brown Ale ambassador and has been passionate about the brand for years. It started here and

finished here. Cheers!”

As well as traditional bottled Brown Ale, The Strawberry also offers a range of local hand-pulled ales from breweries that include Great North Eastern Brewing Co and Allendale Brewery.

HITCHCOCK IN GOSFORTH

Gosforth Civic Theatre has a belting series of events for the remainder of this year when audiences will have the chance to enjoy some great nights out with a food or drink offer. There’s alternative Cuban Christmas entertainment in the shape of The Men With Coconuts plus food from Cubanos in Newcastle. This month (November 1) sees a screening of Alfred Hitckcock’s classic 1939 movie Jamaica Inn, starring Maureen O’Hara and Charles Laughton, along with the theatre’s venue manager Joseph Harrop hosting a rum tasting and an insight into the spirit’s trade history. www.gosforthcivictheatre.co.uk

www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 5

NEWS

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Marathon man: Ben Rea about to cross the finish line at the Yorkshire Marathon

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any exercise for about 20 years so was extremely unfit.

“I heard from a friend about something called Couch To 5K where I had to run for a minute then walk for two minutes which I found really hard. This gradually built up until 12 weeks later I could run five kilometres without stopping. I remember when I first ran for 20 minutes I was so proud of myself I cried with joy.”

Ben started off 2017 planning running events in preparation for that September’s Great North Run, so he entered the Northumberland HalfMarathon and the North Tyneside 10K, clocking respectable times which encouraged him to aim for under two

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The traditional image of the pub landlord has been consigned to history. He or she is just as likely to be spotted in the gym or cycling to work rather than perched in the corner of the bar supping with regulars.

One of those is Ben Rea, manager of The Bodega in Newcastle, who pounds out every step of a 26-mile, 385 yards run, having completed last month’s Yorkshire Marathon in a highly creditable time.

“I’ve become quite the running bore, I’m afraid,” says Ben. “In September 2016, I got it into my head that since I had reached my early forties I would like to do the Great North Run the following year – but I hadn’t run or really done

VALKYR

NEWS

hours in the Great North Run. He says: “I finished in one hour 30 minutes so I was absolutely thrilled.

Then I wanted another challenge so I applied for a place in the London Marathon for April 2018 and trained really hard.

“When I’m training I don’t drink alcohol, so I’ve been getting into non alcoholic beers – BrewDog Nanny State and Erdinger nonalcoholic are my favourites and a far cry from the days of Kaliber and Barbican.

“The London Marathon day was so hot – 23ºC which was the hottest one on record. It was the hardest, hottest running I had ever done and I only managed to finish in four hours 25 minutes which I was so disappointed with. I said I would never run a marathon again but within a week I had signed up for the Yorkshire Marathon.

“On the day, it was about 12ºC with torrential rain – perfect. I really enjoyed it and finished in three hours 31 minutes which I was ecstatic with. I had been building up to this for the last two years so was very emotional when I crossed the finish line. My wife Emma had come to support me and it was amazing seeing her at mile 25 cheering me on.

“Bodega customers are very supportive of my running and eager to hear the tales. I now run into work most days and on my break I’ll often pop to the Quayside for some interval training. I’ve really amazed myself – and a lot of other people – with my lifestyle change and it proves you’re never too old.

“One quite amusing aspect is that whenever I run a race I have to tell my little boy I won or he gets terribly upset.”

SUN & MON 4TH & 5TH NOVEMBER

Ready, set: Newcastle Hash House Harriers on the go

HAWKSHEAD BREWERY

BEER HALL

COOL RUNNINGS

The drinking club with a running problem (their words) has celebrated its 1,500th run by returning to the site of its 500th event.

Newcastle Hash House Harriers – a hardy bunch who run “hare and hound” style from pub to pub and man a beer stop at the Great North Run – spent a weekend at The Sill Youth Hostel on Hadrian’s Wall near Bardon Mill, Northumberland.

“A select band of survivors from that weekend took part in this one.” says club secetary Keith Hudson. “Runners had travelled from far and wide – the Lake District, Glasgow, Dublin, Scarborough and even New Zealand to take part in the running-drinking weekend.

“The running was done on routes taking in the Roman Wall and Vindolanda whilst the drinking was done courtesy of the Twice Brewed pub and its excellent range of beers brewed on site.

Vindolanda, Steel Rigg and Sycamore Gap were the favourites, both by beer style and location.

“Huge thanks to Matt and Andy and staff at Twice Brewed as well as those at The Sill for making it a truly marvellous weekend. And the sun shone too.”

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NEWS

PUB HEROES Staff at By The River Brew Co on Hillheads Quay, Gateshead, have received awards for their lifesaving heroics.

Employees at the shipping container village – including David Linslie, Phil Hall, Ben Anderson and Graeme Moffit – rescued people from the River Tyne on four occasions in less than three months and Tyne & Wear Fire and Rescue Service were only too pleased to thank them for their bravery and to hand out certificates of honour.

Members of staff have all been taught how to use lifesaving equipment because of the proximity to the river of the popular dining and drinking spot. Fire service bosses have been amazed at how the selfless individuals involved have responded in the rescue of the four people.

Only July 1, Ben Anderson, Phil Hall and Niall Lamb helped pull a man out of the river who was attempting to swim across. Josh Mellow, Sam Cook and Yannick Thompson sprung into action while off duty to help a

www.bytheriverbrew.co 8 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

Rescue mission: By The River Brew Co (centre) man who fell into the Tyne on August 4, while another man was rescued that same day. A woman was pulled out three weeks later.

Barry Curran, chairman of the fire authority, said: “This is probably one of the most remarkable set of awards ever given by this fire authority. All of these men have shown incredible courage and presence of mind to save the lives of those drowning in the Tyne.

“In such circumstances, timing is everything. These people didn’t hesitate, they quickly remembered the invaluable training they had received form us and immediately put it into practice.

“They are a credit to their community, their employers and to the four people whose lives they have saved. I cannot commend them more highly.”

NEWS

BROAD SMILES FROM DOMESTIC GODDESS Fetch: Visitors to The Central.

Photos: Paul John McGuiness

EVERY DOG HAS ITS PLAY

When Gavin Sinclair and Marcia Mennie took over the running of The Central in Gateshead they improved the food menu, redefined the beer list, and planned to take advantage of every nook and cranny the Grade II-listed pub has to offer.

One of their more left-field ideas was to open a “doggy lounge” on a Sunday where customers can go to let their four-legged companions have a whale of a time running, fetching, jumping and chasing – and now the Temple Of The Derg is open to pooches everywhere.

An upstairs room has been cleared and furnished with brightly coloured playthings for dogs to work off their energy or simply socialise with other like-minded canines. A sniff here and thee is only to be expected.

“When we did a trial run before opening fully, we got 25,000 hits on our Facebook page,” says Gavin. “It was one of our more outrageous ideas, but it’s proving very popular – I can’t think of anywhere else that’s doing something like this.”

There are strict rules to the room – there has to be, else there would be mayhem. Customers obtain a token with a purchase at the bar and must accompany them at all times – it’s not day-care or a crèche. Quiet visits can be arranged for the more nervous dog and any carrying illness or parasites will be discouraged.

The Temple Of The Derg features doggy slides, cushions, ladders, tubes and a ball-pond, just like a toddlers’ playgroup. And, judging by the “wagginess” it appears to be a lot of “dergy” fun.

Nigella Lawson has just had “the most wonderful lunch” at Broad Chare in Newcastle, according to her Instagram account – and a talk she gave at The Sage Gateshead last month.

She writes: “I chose the place (after scouring the internet) on account of the Monday Special, mince and dumplings and which was extraordinarily good. Starter plates of cauliflower fritters and curry mayonnaise, deep fried monkfish cheeks with tartare sauce and pud – steamed syrup sponge with custard.

“Head chef Dan Warren has the lightest touch and everyone there was lovely. I just have to come back again soon and I think it has to be a Wednesday next time when the special is ham shank and pease pudding.

“Maybe I’ll have to spend a week here. I want everything (and I rather liked the look of the Christmas menu).”

www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 9

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BIG IN JAPAN The initiative that helped bring Nissan to the region is still hard at work, writes Alastair Gilmour

Nissan arrived in Sunderland in 1986 and has thrived ever since Margaret Thatcher opened the first factory in what is now a giant complex. But now Brexit threatens its North East future and that of the 7,755-strong workforce and 30,000 jobs in the supply chain.

More than 30 years ago, the chairman of the Northern Development Corporation told The Sunday Times that there were three reasons why Nissan had chosen Sunderland – the people, the skilled workforce, and the welcome they received at The George Washington Hotel.

“It was very nice for him to say that and very exciting for the staff as well,” says John Sanderson, who operated the hotel at the time and now heads STR Enterprises which owns several very successful hotels and leisure businesses around the North East. However, he’d learned a bit about Japanese practice ten years previously.

He says: “When I had an engineering business – Norsted Engineering – I read in The Journal that a Japanese company, NFK Ballbearings, was about to locate to Peterlee, the first in the region. So I got a letter translated and posted it off, offering our services. I never got a reply and was so disappointed.

“Then about six weeks later, a minibus full of Japanese arrived at our office in Hume Street (Newcastle) carrying the letter and asking if they could see the kind of work we did. I quickly phoned around places we had worked in but nobody wanted to meet them. Then Scottish & Newcastle agreed to show them what we had done on their new bottling line at the Tyne Brewery.

“They were very impressed and were invited to the hospitality lounge to try samples of Newcastle Brown

Ale. (John, ever the diplomat, draws a veil over the next few hours.)

The upshot was, we got the job of installing all the machinery in the new Peterlee factory.”

Norsted Engineering, with not one bad debt in 20 years, was later caught up in the collapse of the infamous Canary Wharf development scheme which hit the rocks owing millions – including a good whack to Norsted.

John Sanderson sold the business and moved into the leisure sector, taking over The George Washington Hotel which he built up from 18 rooms to 100, opened the first leisure club in the North East, plus a golf course.

In the mid-1980s Washington Development Corporation was approached by Nissan to advise on somewhere for their delegation to stay while they looked at available sites.

John says: “We all went off from the hotel to Durham University’s Department of Oriental Studies and got to know some Japanese customs and words. They are very superstitious and we made sure they didn’t have rooms with odd numbers and arranged Ikebana flowers in the rooms and in reception.”

In Japan, flower arranging is allimportant, it’s about a fresh approach, movement, balance and harmony.

The philosophy is that a single stem never dies.

“The chef made all Japanese food,” says John, “but they only wanted to eat British – but at least we tried. We also kept the leisure facilities open 24 hours a day so the shift workers could go for a swim in the middle of the night. They are extremely polite and very kind people and I got calendars for years after they went back to Japan.”

STR Enterprises is a real family

ENTERPRISE

Family firm: John Sanderson and Richard, one of his three sons, at The Centurion, Newcastle

business with John’s wife Elizabeth and sons Christopher, Jason and Richard all fully involved. A lot of the staff have been with the company so long they’re treated like family as well.

The business is made up of The Centurion at Newcastle Central Station; The Queen Victoria Hotel in Bamburgh; the Grade I-listed Jacobean-era Manor House Hotel at West Auckland; The Honest Lawyer in Durham, Wallsend Golf Club and Quayside Exhange, Sunderland – all performing very well.

“I wish I had ten Centurions," says John. "We’ve got some fantastic people working for us, it gives me a real buzz – we run the company from the bottom up rather than top down,.

The best people to give you ideas are those who are facing the customer.

"We love the local nature of the business with everything being within 40 miles of Newcastle. It’s a joy to go to work in them.”

Appearing in a list of Three Best Things in regard to Nissan is no bad thing for business. Once, twice, three times a payday.

BEN & LAURA WELCOME YOU TO DURHAM’S FIRST INDEPENDENT BOTTLE SHOP AND TAPS Follow the page on Facebook for events. We have tap takeovers with meet the brewer, bring your own vinyl, Mikkeller running club and much more.... @TheHopKnocker 32 Marshall Terrace, Durham, DH1 2HX

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OPENING TIMES: WEDS & THURS 2pm - 8pm, FRI 2pm - 9pm, SAT 12pm - 9pm, SUN 12pm - 4pm

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NEWS

ALL WORK THEN WE PLAY

STORM FORECAST LOOKING GOOD Black Storm Brewery celebrates its first birthday in December. In this time the company, set up by Paul Hughes, has not only expanded its own range of craft beers, but has also acquired award-winning gluten-free brewing company Autumn Brewing which is now an important part of the expanding family.

Add to this Storm Cellar, the successful bottle shop and tasting rooms in Whitley Bay, plus Beer Box in the Stack social hub in Newcastle city centre, and things are bubbling along nicely for the company.

Black Storm has three new beers planned for release over the next couple of months as part of an experimental seasonal range. Drink and buy at Storm Cellar; buy at Beer Box or order online – or do the lot. www.blackstormbrewery.com

Serving behind a bar is probably one of the best ways to observe people, their actions, mannerisms and figures of speech.

It also allows the creative mind scope to take combinations of characters and meld them into one, if playwriting and acting’s your thing.

Actor Andy Hall works part-time at The Bridge Hotel in Newcastle and he’s not only written a play but is acting in it, plus appearing in another, this month. Journey’s End by RC Sherriff is set in a First World War battlefield and deals with all the themes of war;

backing on The British Legion for it.

“The other show is one I penned myself; Dez & Del is a slapstick Geordie comedy based around the television series’ Blackadder and Bottom. Having performed the production before, it is back by popular demand and is sure to be another hit.”

Journey’s End: The Jubilee Theatre, St Nicholas Hospital, Gosforth, November 8-10.

Dez & Del: The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle, NE1 1RQ, November 15-17. www.FirstActEducation. com/Tickets

Dez & Del: Peter Allan, left, and Andy Hall

comradeship, loss, struggle, grief and all that is life and death in the trenches.

“It is specifically going on to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice in 1918,” says Andy. “We hope to have the

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BREWERY NEWS

MANY HAPPY RETURNS Stu Brew has recruited its new intake of students, eager to combine making beer and selling it commercially – along with disposing the waste products – with their day-to-day studies.

“We meet every Monday and there’s New crew: The Stu Brew collective. Photo: Peter Skelton so much to get through it takes about two hours,” says Dr Chris O’Malley, who One of the North East’s brewing jewels oversees the Stu Brew facility. “It’s mostly is about to celebrate its fourth birthday. third-year students with a lot of them from Stu Brew, Europe’s first student-run chemical engineering. First-year’s are so busy microbrewery, is based at Newcastle with their courses they can’t devote the time but University. It’s managed by students third-year students have a lot of personal study through the university’s Students’ Union periods where they can fit this in. and a partnership with the School of “It’s terrifying how well it’s going. We’ve Engineering, having been set up partly got beer pre-sold that we haven’t even made to involve students in programmes of yet. We just don’t have enough tanks. We’ve sustainability, environmental initiatives and had three significant awards so far and we’re as a research unit.

in for a Green Gown award this month for sustainability.

“We’ve got a bespoke house beer on at Pacific House and Bealim House in Newcastle; a stout on at The Free Trade Inn and we’ve been collaborating with Errant Brewery on new styles.”

Regular brews also find their way to The Town Mouse nearby and the Crow’s Nest. All sales profits are invested back into training and development for students and overall long-term sustainability of the enterprise. Some hops are grown on the student allotments then the residue is composted there while spent malt is sent to a local farmer as animal feed.

Beers include Lab Session Pale Ale, 9am Lecture Coffee Milk Stout, Extended Overdraught IPA (now available again in cans) and Graduation 2018 Saison. A low alcohol beer is also in the pipeline which Stu Brew has had to apply for a special licence from HRMC as the ethanol (alcohol) has to be stripped out.

Pubs wishing to stock Stu Brew beers should contact sales@stubrew.com Many happy returns!

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NEWS

TANK TOPS CITY STYLISH BAR

One of Europe’s best-known massproduced beers is being unveiled this month in traditional delivery form in Newcastle city centre.

Staropramen tank beer from the Czech Republic begins a residency at the Union Rooms on Westgate Road on November 23.

Staropramen has been brewed in Prague since 1869 and the golden pilsner is the UK’s best-selling Czech beer. Tank beer (tankovna in Czech) is delivered in bulk into a copper-faced vessel. It is unpasteurised and continues to mature right up to the moment it is poured, giving the drinker the opportunity to enjoy it as fresh as the brewer

intended. In the Czech Republic, bars receive fresh beer within hours of it leaving the brewery to be consumed within five to seven days.

The Union Rooms, a Grade II-listed former Wetherspoons bar, is currently undergoing an extensive facelift that’s expected to include a new pizza restaurant, private dining area, and a barber’s shop.

“We wanted to bring something a little bit different to Newcastle city centre and give our customers what we believe to be the best tasting beer available,” said Stuart Young, director at Cyclone Leisure, owners of the Union Rooms.

Copper that: A Staropramen tank being installed

CLIMATE THREAT TO BEER PRICES Extreme weather damage to one of beer’s most important ingredients will lead to global price rises and supply problems, according to new research by nature magazine Nature Plants.

Heatwaves and droughts mean barley will become more scarce. Key brewing nations are forecast to be among the worst hit, which include the UK, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Ireland.

Researchers used climate change and economic forecast models to estimate the impact on beer supply and found that if carbon emissions are not curbed, beer consumption in the UK would fall by a quarter. Looking at the impact on price, the research found that in the worstcase scenario, Poland’s beer drinkers would be hardest hit with the cost rising almost fivefold. In Ireland, Belgium and the Czech Republic, prices would double.

These nations would be most affected because they brew and drink a lot of beer and import most of their brewing barley.

www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 15

BREWSTORIES

The Chaps: Dean Marriner, left, and Rich Rogerson

A BUSY TIME FOR BEER LOVERS

Hello and welcome to Brew Stories. It’s our mission to meet the people and bring you the stories behind the best beer around. And what a month October was.

We visited Craft Beer Calling at Wylam Brewery, the annual celebration of all things craft at The Palace of Arts. Sampling some great brews from all over the UK, this year saw a particularly strong North East contingent with Box Social, Northern Alchemy, Almasty and Wylam easily holding their own amongst the country’s best.

While we where there we took the chance to grab a chat with Hawkshead, Yeastie Boys, North and Left Handed Giant to find out what;s going on in their world.

Continuing our Beer And Bites theme, we visited Brinkburn St Brewery and Kitchen for lunch, grabbing a bite to eat and chat with the team to find out more about the thinking behind their beer and bites.

A weekend birthday celebration saw Dean sampling the best By The River Brew Co has to offer, topping the evening off with dinner at Träkol. The special occasion called for a Rueben Fritter to start and Sirloin Steak for mains. Observer food critic Jay Rainer recently described a dining companion at Träkol saying it was “possibly his new favourite restaurant in the whole country”. No chance of getting a table again there then! :) Also, Northern Alchemy held their launch weekend at The Old Coal Yard in Byker. We went along on the Friday evening and had a great time. Lovely people, lovely beer, great food, and great tunes – all with a true community feel. Do yourself a favour. Next time they have a ‘do’ get yourself along.

This month also sees the colossus that is Coppers celebrate its anniversary and word has it that Drew, Dann, and the team have something special up their sleeves. Watch this space.

All that and Anarchy opening the doors in their new brewery and taphouse in Newcastle. Phew!

As ever, we’re doing our best to capture as much as we can on video. After all, we do this for the love of beer!

Dean and Rich, Brew Stories www.brew-stories.com

16 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

STAND CLEAR OF THE DOORS PLEASE Station platform pubs never fail to delight, writes Alastair Gilmour

Ale and rail have long been ideal companions when it comes to tackling a beer circuit. And this could become a regular feature of the Tyne & Wear Metro if plans to develop the station at Newcastle’s Monument come to fruition.

The Metro already features the amazing Left Luggage Room micropub on Monkseaton Station’s platform – having been joined in recent weeks by Platform 2 at Tynemouth Station, another pub newly converted from a coffee shop.

But a new venue is set to join them in early 2019 if plans lodged with Newcastle City Council are

approved. The former travel shop at Monument could be converted into The Waypoint, a real ale and music bar run by the Beldon family (brother and sister Sam and Áine and dad Gerry) and designed by award-winning Collective Design to ooze an air of elegance.

Think first-class on the Orient Express, we’re told. The bar’s curved shape will bend around the station's central pillar and is expected to have fixed seating attached to one wall – plus a grand piano.

So, in a few months’ time, beer enthusiasts will be able to take part in a circular Metro jaunt. Stand clear of the doors please, here comes the next stop.

MISSION METRO

Underground movement: Monument Metro Station

Case study: The Left Luggage Room, Monkseaton Station THE LEFT LUGGAGE ROOM Monkseaton Station buildings date from 1915; handsome solid brick contrasting with cantilevered ironwork and elegant glass canopies, so this tasteful conversion of a disused space into a pub in 2016 was perhaps inevitable.

It’s now worn in around the edges like a well-creased shoe and is a very pleasant spot to boot. The vaulted timber ceiling shows there’s beauty in utilitarian simplicity, while abandoned trunks and suitcases front the pub counter.

The outdoor seating area obviously attracted a lot of

custom during the summer, although the glazed canopy overhead would have appeared somewhat greenhouselike. A few drinkers were sitting outside on a breezy October Tuesday – watching all the Metros, as Elvis Costello might have it.

Beers revolve regularly from the likes of Almasty, Two By Two, Fyne Ales and Tiny Rebel breweries plus a superb Lukas Helles Lager (4.2% abv) from Thornbridge Brewery that has the ability to

transport a body from “the best pub in Monkseaton Station” to a bar in Central Europe in one sip.

Complementing the beer range, a dozen whiskies displaying peat, mandarin and vanilla characteristics meet 20 gins steeped in honeysuckle, hibiscus and lavender.

I continue to be mesmerised by the herringbone-style flooring (actually shortened scaffold boards) and wonder where the boomerang on the windowsill acme from. Perhaps it keeps being thrown away.

The books on the windowsills are heavy on biography – we’d happily leaf through the life and times of David Gower, Jimmy Greaves, Eric Sykes, Peter Allis and Goldie Hawn, but draw the line at The Full Monty, The Autobiography of Jim Davidson.

PLATFORM 2, TYNEMOUTH Compared to the Left Luggage Room and its knick-knackery, Platform 2 craft beer bar at Tynemouth Station is minimalist. It’s neat, tasteful and, after only a few weeks of opening, it has a lived-in ambience.

Platform 2 is an incarnation of Porters Coffee Shop which was set up by Mick and Eve Bowman nearly 25 years ago, but still family-run by their kids Andrew and Jade.

The substantial timber-slatted counter is topped by a layer of zinc (I could be wrong on the metallurgy but classic French bars are called Le Zinc for that raison). A curious image of George Washington blowing bubblegum looks down on drinkers; an emulike creature sits over the bar, as does a stag’s head, while a vintage jukebox offers the likes of Talking Heads, Police, Queen, David Bowie and Wilson Pickett, which, because of possibly dodgy speakers, all seem to sound disappointingly like cover versions. Chris Rea’s Stainsby Girl still manages to prickle neck hairs, however.

There’s a good choice of keg and cask beer, including Two By Two Ouseburn Farm Ale, Almasty Table Beer, Box Social Hybrid Theory, Anarchy Urban Assault and Thatcher’s Somerset Cider, plus Allendale Frank’s Fight, a dryhopped version of the brewery’s Golden Plover, brewed for charity.

Décor-wise at Platform 2, exposed rough brickwork contrasts in colour and texture with flat greys that induce a relaxed rather soothing atmosphere (although regulars at busy times might have a different impression).

Eve Bowman says: “Twentyfive years ago, we were one of only a small handful of cafes in Tynemouth and now the village boasts some of the best food and drink across the region.”

A day-ticket on the Metro costs just over a fiver – not a bad price to pay for a magical micropub tour.

New arrival: Platform 2, Tynemouth Station www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 17

SONIC AGEING

THE IDEAL CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR THE BEER DRINKER IN YOUR LIFE

Good vibrations: Alan Dunlop, Tyne Bank Brewery.

Photo: Peter Skelton

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18 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

PINT OF BASS PLEASE

It’s music to our bars.

Distilleries in the US are using reggae, hip-hop and blues to soothe their spirits and enhance the natural barrelageing process by creating “musically matured” whiskies, bourbons and rums.

Among those is Copper Kings in Louisville, Kentucky, which produces American craft brandy.

It plays music through a set of subwoofers into its barrel room which the team believes alters the evolution of spirits in barrel.

Similarly, Dark Island in New York also musically matures its spirits, believing that the vibrations encourage greater interaction between the liquid and the barrel.

While it might seem fanciful, the science behind it does hold some weight, and it makes sense that increased vibrations within a barrel could alter the ageing process.

Explaining the concept of “sonic ageing”, the Copper Kings team states: “We have five major sub-woofers in our basement

SONIC AGEING

maturation cellar. The principle of sonic ageing is not vibration but pulsation. We pulse music – a bass note in particular – through the cellar. The alcohol molecules, being less dense than water molecules, start to move away from the pulse and collide with other alcohol molecules inside the barrels which eventually collide with the barrel wall. They slide up the wall which starts to create a ‘distillate wave’ inside the barrel, resulting in increased frequency of contact over time between the distillate and the barrel which in our opinion enhances maturation. And at the veryleast, happy brandy makes for happy drinking.”

Cheers North East put the hypothesis to a brewer uniquely qualified in the world of music, having worked in both disciplines in Spain (which adds a touch of exotica to the equation). Alan Dunlop is head brewer at Tyne Bank Brewery with “previous” working for global record giant

EMI and Scottish brewer Williams Bros.

Alan says: “I believe there are a few breweries experimenting with this. Dock Street in Philadelphia, were barrel-ageing a saison in former red wine barrels hooked up to the music of the Wu Tang Clan for six months, 24 hours a day. The theory is that the bass causes enough vibration to move the yeast around inside the barrel, which supposedly creates other flavours during the fermentation.

“Also, Teo Musso, a brewer in Italy, has been experimenting with different styles of music. The vibrations would cause the yeast to grow, which would produce greater flavour compounds.

“Personally, I think the more bass-heavy music would work better due to the increased vibration. Maybe that’s why there are so many heavy metal bands having beers dedicated to them.

“So, Miami Bass playing 24/7 in Tyne Bank Brewery from now on…”

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COVER STORY

BRICKS AND PORTER Pub culture continues to build and expand, as Alastair Gilmour discovers By day Richard Carter is a website marketing consultant, but away from the office he’s Bricks McGee, Lego master and a man lost in a world of brightly coloured plastic and a head full of imagination.

Bricks undertakes Lego model commissions from as diverse a client base as South Shields Museum to a millionaire who wanted his house replicated in tiny bricks. He also runs an events consultancy which hosts monthly gatherings at Arch 2 Brewpub & Kitchen in Ouseburn, Newcastle, where enthusiasts between 18 and 80-odd meet for a couple of hours over beer, burgers and Lego bricks, creating a lively atmosphere punctuated by laughter and animated conversation.

“I’ve been involved with Lego almost all my life, apart from a gap at university,” says Bricks. “Most adult Lego enthusiasts have had a gap somewhere then come back to it.

“Setting up the sessions at Arch 2 was obvious from the first. I came soon after it opened on an Ouseburn beer crawl. I had been thinking about venues and thought this would be ideal – plus the beer’s great – and it’s not particularly busy on a Wednesday evening when we meet (once a

month) with plenty of space to expand into. The numbers attending vary quite a bit – it was quiet over the summer, for example – but most say they want to come back.

“You don’t need to be a master builder to come along. The emphasis is on having fun and expressing yourself creatively with Lego bricks.

We work to a theme at each meeting or you can simply explore your inner child, it’s up to you.

“We progress ideas and sometimes split into groups giving them different themes or challenges, such as taking something apart using your nondominant hand – which can be interesting after a few beers. It’s not about the quality of what you produce. There are synergies with students and retired couples and people who were kids in the Seventies. It’s quite a nice spectrum of ages.

“We’ve got one chap who travels regularly from York – he works on the railways so it doesn’t cost him and he meets his friend here who comes from Blyth.”

Observing Lego builders is almost as much fun as taking part (or taking apart). Lego is definitely a great pub activity and everybody loves a great pub.

It’s about focusing the mind and doing something with your hands; it’s therapeutic, it keeps the brain Dazzling: Arch 2 Brewpub & Kitchen

20 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

active and should be prescribed by the NHS for its positive effects and mindfulness value.

Lego was founded in Denmark in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen. The word “lego” is derived from the Danish words “leg godt”, meaning “play well”. In 2015, The Lego Group became the world’s largest toy company by revenue with sales amounting to approximately £1.6bn.

At the Arch 2 sessions, Bricks flits from table to table, checking, encouraging and advising – all hands-on. Work hard, play hard is the motto. Most of the group are constructing a large wreath to be displayed at a First World War remembrance weekend at Shildon Railway Museum in County Durham. The poppies look as delicate as the real thing and it’s a privilege to see all the hands at work individually but collectively. There are a few first-timers in the gang of about twelve.

“I just heard about it and thought I’d come along,” says one, raking through a huge bag of tiles. “I’d played with Lego 20 years ago but hadn’t

Model of patience: Richard Carter, aka Bricks McGee, at home with his Lego city.

Photos: Peter Skelton

touched it since.”

Bricks McGee admits Lego sessions aren’t something he’s going to get rich on – he has around half-a-million pieces for a start.

“Once you’ve got the bug you’re on a slippery slope,” he says. “It’s not a cheap hobby but pays my beer tab. I have a dedicated Lego room at home kitted out with a full city layout with some recognisable local features like Central Station and the Angel of the North with the rest made up.”

Arch 2, a former tyre fitters, is owned by Leo Bell and his dad Mike. They are very happy with the way the pub and attached Newcastle Brewing Ltd have developed in such a relatively short

time – so much so that they’re on the lookout for additional premises.

“Weekends are just brilliant,” says Leo, “and the kitchen will be fully up and running in November – I think we’ve now got the right person now to run that. Josh Roberts, who is an expert in Indian regional food, is opening our new street food kitchen. He has worked in kitchens all over India and makes everything from scratch.”

As well as the Lego sessions, Arch 2 hosts a Paint Social, a Crafthood Social and Electric Disco.

Leo says: “We’ve been here for 18 months now and are still getting people coming in asking how long we’ve been open, saying it’s really cool. The

whole area place is still spreading its wings; the Ouseburn is still attracting new people all the time and a lot of different accents. I like to find out why they’re here and how they found us; it’s really interesting.

“We also get people who have lived in Newcastle all their lives saying they never knew this place was here. And we’re all independent operators, which is great.

“Newcastle Brewing Co beer all goes through Arch 2, apart from a little bit at Nord bottle shop in Whitley Bay. We’re brewing brewing five days a week to keep up.”

During our conversation, Bricks McGee has inadvertently clicked beer and Lego together. He says: “The mix seems to work really well. It’s to be played with and explored.” www.bricksandbeer.com Arch 2 Brewpub & Kitchen, Stepney Bank, Ouseburn, Newcastle NE1 2NP www. newcastlebrewingltd.co.uk www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 21

FESTIVAL TIME

BEER LOVERS ANSWER THE CALL The final party in the country’s beer festival season was the biggest and best yet, according to the vast majority of people who attended Craft Beer Calling at Wylam Brewery in Exhibition Park, Newcastle.

It represented an assembly of some of the world’s leading craft breweries under one roof – including Beavertown, Siren, Verdant, Northern Monk, Magic Rock, Fourpure and Cloudwater – plus a gin palace, wine cellar, great music, sumptuous street food and an artisan cider cellar.

It was the fifth such festival and an opportunity to also show off what our North East breweries (Almasty, Northern Alchemy, Box Social) are up to, alongside new entrants Box Car, Summer Wine, Burnt Mill, Track, Brouwerij de Molen from The Netherlands and To Øl (Denmark).

“The brewers love coming here and it’s an opportunity to offer good North East hospitality,” said Dave Stone, director of Wylam Brewery. Here are a few images of a memorable weekend.

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FESTIVAL TIME

ALCHEMY: TURNING BEER INTO BRASS

Northern Alchemy Brewery, now producing great beer from a former industrial unit in Byker, Newcastle, held an official opening weekend to underline the range of beers on offer and to promote the events and creative space at The Old Coal Yard facility “It was simply amazing,” says brewery director Andy Aitchison. “Everyone had a great time, it couldn’t have gone better.”

www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 23

NEWS

LEARN DUTCH IN A FLASH

The pop-up bar that is Cafe Amsterdam will next appear at the regular Flash House Brewery open day on Saturday November 24. The brewery is appropriately perched at the top of Brewers Bank in North Shields overlooking the town’s Fish Quay.

Dutch craft beer will feature past favourites and, we’re informed, some exciting new products, including those from Kompaan (The Hague) and a good range of 440s from Het Uiltje’s (Haarlem) brand-new canning line which has inaugurated their Fresh & Fast delivery service. We’re promised more twists on Dutch Jenever and

Two lips: A previous Cafe Amsterdam at the Cumberland Arms, Byker Gin with some great new serves, while food-wise, authentic Dutch bar snacks (think Bitterballen & Kaas Soufflés served with mustard, naturally) will be frying all day.

Organiser Andy Hickson says it's a great opportunity for some rare craft beer Christmas shopping – meanwhile Flash House will be pouring some great cask/keg/cans.

IN THE PIE OF THE BEER HOLDER

The judging panel at the Food Awards England obviously has good taste.

North Shields Pie & Bottle Shop saw off competition from nine other venues nationwide to take home the trophy in the Best Street Food category.

Celebrating the award win on Facebook, The Pie & Bottle Shop posted: “We’ve only went and won!” before following up with a photo of owners Stephen and Victoria Bones enjoying some welldeserved cocktails after the ceremony.

Stephen said: “We are delighted to be recognised nationally and putting North Shields on the foodie map.

“Our customers and reviewers put us forward. They are the people who take time to support us by eating, drinking and sharing. Some of them travel for miles to enjoy Wor Pie Dinnas and Geordie hospitality.”

Resize your wine list this Christmas

www.lanchesterwines.co.uk 24 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

END OF AN ERA

One of the region's most popular beer technical services operators has announced his retirement. Dick Attlee has been around the licensed trade since real ale was a mere drop in an ocean of Red Barrel, so he's decided to spend more time appreciating beer rather than working with it. Colleague Sam Beldons will be running RATS (Real Ale Technical Services) on Dick's behalf – see the advert on page 28. Cheers North East and all beer enthusiasts wish him lengthy and happy leisure time – and you might even catch him in Oddfellows, North Shields, of a late afternoon.

WINE: COMMERCIAL FEATURE

THE CHRISTMAS WINE CONUNDRUM

With Christmas fast approaching (faster than we’d like) pubs across the region will be finalising their Christmas menus and tailoring wine lists to match. While the traditional Christmas dinner of roast turkey and all the trimmings is still the firm favourite, it’s no longer the only option – so where do we start when picking which wines to drink with the year’s biggest meal?

We turned to Lanchester Wines’ Ian Richardson for tips on what wine goes best with what festive foods: Christmas dinner is probably the biggest family event of the year for many of us. Indeed, most of us will have more than one Christmas dinner, perhaps with work, friends and then the big day itself with family. Given that more of us than ever are planning to dine out this Christmas Day, the pressure really is on to make this a meal to remember.

While planning and preparing for Christmas will likely have started months ago for your favourite pubs, we as customers have the final say over which wine we want to pair with our food – and this really can make a difference (think about how orange juice tastes after brushing teeth!!).

But, where to start? Here’s our top five golden rules for matching wine and food (for any occasion): • Match the weight of both the food and wine, so full-bodied wines complement heavy, rich foods while lighter bites require a lighter drink • Think about food pairings you’re familiar with and translate this to wine. For example, lemon is great

with salmon or any fish, so think about matching with citrusy wines such as Sauvignon Blanc • Salt is not found in wine but does clash with tannic wines (usually big, bold reds), so avoid this pairing • However, the more texture a food has (fatty food like goose, chewy like steak) the more tannin the wine should have • Always remember to serve a wine with greater sweetness than the food as sweetness in wine also acts as a foil to rich foods – dessert wine with cake is a great example THE CHRISTMAS MENU We’ve created a sample Christmas Day menu with our suggestions of wines to match. Our key advice is the most powerful flavours are usually found in the accompaniments, so these also need to be considered when choosing wine

Turkey with all the trimmings (traditional) Turkey is not a powerful white meat and has a low fat content – the reason why it can dry out if not cooked carefully. With this in mind, your wine matches should ideally be either a full-bodied white wine, or a medium bodied red, with low to medium tannin and relatively high acidity •M WC Pinot Noir A medium bodied wine with enticing aromas of intense plum, cherry and strawberry fruit with a hint of spicy oak • MWC Pinot Gris, this has a complex, textural and slightly savoury flavour with aromas of pears, lychees and exotic spice.

Roast beef with all the trimmings This is fast becoming the Christmas alternative for those customers who simply don’t want, or don’t like, turkey. Beef demands red wines to match its flavours, but the type of red wine depends on the cut: low-fat cuts like fillet need low-tannin wines while a rib of beef demands a more tannic wine • Moonstruck Shiraz Tempranillo – these big rich flavours which will stand up to the beef but soft and smooth enough to not overpower everything else • Sunburnt Chardonnay a wine with enough oomph to complement traditional accompaniments such as pigs in blankets and bread sauce Caramelised onion and lentil Wellington (vegan) A deceptively grand looking vegetarian pie with a tang of lemon which will make any accompanying wine taste sweeter • Three Thieves Cabernet Sauvignon (vegan) with deep cherry and berry flavours is rich on the palate, leading the way for a powerful, full finish.

• Vallee Longo Branco is something a little different from Portugal which has a dry, round and smooth palate with well-balanced acidity and an elegant finish.

The wines included within this article are available through Lanchester Wines, ask your local bar staff for more details or visit www. lanchesterwines.co.uk www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 25

BREWERY NEWS

Boot Boys: The Anarchy Brewery team in their new premises. Photos: Peter Skelton

ANARCHY IN HEATON

Anarchy Brewery’s move to new premises at Benfield Business Park in Newcastle wouldn’t have come cheap. Owners Simon and Dawn Miles are not averse to spending money where it’s needed – the impressive line-up of brand-spanking new, British-made brewing vessels are testament to that.

But integrity drives in another direction with the new bar in the taproom and events space constructed from the timber packaging the tanks arrived in. Even the bolts that secured the boxes have been stripped down and re-used. It’s upcycling in the most admirable fashion; it all has a purpose, everything belongs somewhere.

Anarchy had outgrown its Whitehouse Farm premises near Morpeth and a big thirst for its beers only exacerbated the situation. A site not far off had been identified for relocation but problems with access soon became apparent.

“The building we’ve moved into in Heaton, Newcastle, was always Plan B and I’m so glad it turned out like this,” says Simon. “What we had here was a blank canvas. We bought all new, all British kit – that’s important to us – and pretty much sold everything else apart from a few vessels which looked huge at White House Farm but look tiny now compared to the other stuff.”

It’s a 20-barrel brewhouse complete with, among other stainless steel monuments, seven 20-barrel conical tanks plus brew kettle, hot liquor 26 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

tank, whirlpool, mash tun and “a beast of a heat exchanger”.

“It’s the best possible kit we could buy,” says Simon. “Superb performance. Our first job was surface drainage which we learned the importance of over seven years at the old place. You need something that’s also easy to clean. There’s actually a rail track under the concrete flooring from the days when the building was a railway maintenance depot.

“We looked at gas and steam to power the place but settled on three-phase electricity. We’ve got the biggest kit we can use on that.”

Malt is brought in in bulk and forklifted to a hopper then raised by elevator to be milled and measured into the mash tun. Everything in the brewhouse has been carefully thought out to avoid doublehandling and man-handling.

It’s automation at every turn.

Light floods in through cantilevered skylights. The area is vast with lovely half-rounded windows.

“When you come in at seven in the morning and see the natural light, it’s brilliant,” says Simon, about to show off the new canning facility.

“It’s a canny machine,” he says, perhaps not realising the pun. “You can’t keep up with it – it fills

24 cans in 45 seconds. Like everything else here, we wanted to get it just right. We took our time over the cold store and a walk-in fridge keeps our hops and yeast in perfect condition. We even went through a few options for the colour on the walls.

“We’ve been ticking over during the move, keeping our regular beers going. It’s amazing how much stuff you collect. We had to get rid of loads before we could even think about moving – nine skips it took.”

Anarchy is a brewery that likes its murals – the previous premises was decorated with images of beer, hops and Marilyn Monroe in honour of its Blonde Star best seller (which Simon also has tattooed on his shoulder). Tattoo artist Laura Hinshaw has painted one wall with a mighty graphic display of the brewing process.

Anarchy started life in January 2012, since when the range of beers has grown dramatically, developing into more than 20 wildly different beers that are constantly under scrutiny to see if they can be improved on. Brands include Blonde Star, Citra Star, Exile (gluten-free), Urban Assault Pale Ale, Boot Boys Brown Ale, Guzzolene Session IPA, AntiVenom IPA and Quiet Riot IPA. The brewery’s new Heaton home, sitting between the East Coast Main Line and the Tyne & Wear Metro, will undoubtedly witness a few changes as it develops. But as the rails under the flooring suggest, they’re on the right track.

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The Grey Horse, 115 Sherburn Terrace, Consett, Co. Durham, DH8 6NE. Telephone: 01207 591 540 www.consettaleworks.co.uk

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NEWS

INSPIRATION FROM A HORSE BOX

Two County Durham businessmen with beer in their hearts have come up with a series of food and drink festivals that have all the hallmarks of originality.

Alastair Wild, who owns Caps Off bottle shop at Bishop Auckland railway station, and Christopher Donovan, managing director of For A Day Ltd, a team-building business, are keen to set up something that will represent County Durham through its beer and food. Alastair had already been taking his horse-truck-bar conversion to festivals around the North East and both men realised – by jotting their ideas down on a beer mat – that this could be the start of something more tangible.

With help from Alan Hogg, owner of the Surtees Arms and Yard of Ale Brewery at Ferryhill, the All Durham Beer Festival started to take form. After the approach to two venues fell through, it looked like the event was never going to take off, but thanks to an available slot at Durham County Cricket Club’s Emirates Riverside, the festival wheels were back in motion.

Eventually, a festival – All Durham Beer Festival and Scran – featuring the county’s

beer, food and music with the occasional guest from either Teesside or Tyneside, would happen.

An invitation-only launch event will take place at The Riverside, Chester-le-Street, on Thursday November 29 from 7pm-11pm which will include a charity auction and the opportunity to network and celebrate County Durham commerce and to share the community aspect that inspired the venture in the first place.

The festival itself will open its doors to the public on Friday November 30 (4pm) with 20 craft ales, 20 cask ales, three gins and a food truck village on offer – and continue on Saturday December 1 (12noon-11pm).

Charities involved are Durham Action for Single Housing, Durham Foodbank, Heel and Toe Children’s Charity and Great North Air Ambulance. A replica Game of Thrones throne will also be on hand for people to be photographed on with proceeds going to the charities.

The inaugural All Durham Beer Festival and Scran is expected to be the first of many.

Durham County Cricket Club Emirates Riverside, Chester-le-Street DH3 3SH. Check out social media: @ADBF2018

Throne room: Have your picture taken for charity

New Years Eve Party with The Baghdaddies 7pm - 2am

Tickets £25 per head & include a Free Glass of Bubbly & Buffet Tickets can be purchased over the phone or at the bar.

All tickets purchased will be automatically entered into a draw with the chance to win a Bottle of Prosecco and £30 Bar Tab for the night through our Facebook page

Tel: 0191 2616611

Grand Central Station, Neville St, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5DG www.centurion-newcastle.com 28 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

NEWS

psst...

Ciao: Sunderland's Italian restaurant owners with staff from Brewlab

ARRIVEDERCI BLAND LAGER

Brewlab, the brewing training and analysis centre in Sunderland, is well acquainted with creative input from its students – but none more so than from brewer Gianni Lombino.

Gianni is visiting the renowned facility to gain more brewing knowledge and to take an innovative idea further. He is developing a lager to be sold in Italian restaurants around Wearside that will delight

customers and complement the food much more so than the current bigbrand offer can hope to do.

A tasting session involving restaurant owners’ creativity and experience in flavour profiles and marketing took place last month and the beer is expected to be released in late November. Results are under wraps at the moment but Cheers will follow the story in the December/ January issue.

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www.mucklebrewing.co.uk | brewer@mucklebrewing.co.uk www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 29

BREWERY NEWS

A HEAD ON BEER

Last summer might be long gone but it does stick in the memory. For one northern brewer who loves the outdoors, however, it was business as usual. Matt Clarke, head brewer at Hawkshead Brewery in The Lake District, spent the summer overseeing the installation of a giant new facility at Flookburgh, near Grange-over-Sands.

“I’m told the weather was brilliant but being indoors all the time I never saw any of it,” says New Zealander Matt.

The new 40-barrel brewery – to run alongside the existing Hawkshead one at Staveley – will triple annual production as the craft brewer targets UK and international expansion which means the business now has the capacity to produce 240 barrels a week, with plans in place to increase

production in line with demand.

That’s a lot of beer – 69,120 pints to be exact.

Matt says: “It’s amazing how far we’ve come – with Alex Brodie starting out in 2002 on a seven-barrel kit in a former milking parlour just outside Hawkshead village itself.

“In 2006 the brewery moved to the Mill Yard at Staveley on the other side of Windermere, expanding into a 20-barrel capacity at the Beer Hall which was followed by an even bigger and better Beer Hall. But it came to the point that we’d expanded into every available building on the site – out, across

Impressive: Hawkshead Brewery's new facility. Left Head brewer Matt Clarke and up.

“We took a hard look at what we do at Staveley and in 2016 Alex decided that maybe he wanted to retire – he felt he’d taken the brewery as far as he could, so we looked at outside investment.”

However, it was important that any new owners would be as interested in the Hawkshead

Brewery people as they were in the beer, so in March 2017 Halewood Wines & Spirits, the UK’s largest independent alcohol distributer and manufacturer, took ownership of Hawkshead Brewery and has funded the building of a new Krones AG turnkey brewery.

“Without their input, it would have been impossible to do what we’re doing now,” says Matt. “They’re not only interested in the beer, they’re interested in the passion,

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BREWERY NEWS the people, the workforce – quite simply, they liked what we do.”

The new brewery is an homage to stainless steel. Welding is second-to-none – you simply can’t see the join in tanks, pipes and drums. One of the biggest demands was Matt’s insistence on using whole cone hops for freshness, not pellets. German brewery manufacturer Krones said they didn’t build a kit like that. Matt insisted, they adapted.

“It was nine weeks from the kit arriving to the first brew which is very fast,” says Matt, still yearning for a spot of British sunshine. “We can do three brews in 16 hours, fully automated. “We’re keeping the Staveley brewery for experimental brewing, barrel ageing and special projects with a lot of one-offs.

“The German team was brilliant.

Their boss Wolfie – actually Wolfgang but he insisted on being called that – is a man who’s not frightened to say what he thinks.

When I told him I’d started the first brew, he said, ‘Congratulations Matt, you’ve pressed start on an automated brewhouse’.”

DEVELOPING A NEW ROLE A fresh face and a new role at Tyne Bank Brewery sees Megan Dryden recruited as business development manager. Her role will be identifying sales leads, pitching the Tyne Bank offer to new clients, and maintaining good working relationships the trade – both new and existing.

Megan’s previous experience includes positions at Revolution Bars Group, Aveika, Danieli Holdings, and more recently as client development executive at The Instant Group.

DIAMOND SET FOR POLISH

Plans are in place to invest in a makeover for The Diamond pub in Ponteland, Northumberland, following a takeover of the popular venue.

Newcastle-based Vaulkhard Group group, which runs a host of bars and restaurants in the North East that include Barluga,

the Mushroom Bar, Bealim House and Blake’s coffee shop, has agreed a deal to take over the management of the pub after being approached by owners, Heineken.

The pub will be run with no immediate change, but will undergo an interior refit in mid2019.

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www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 31

OPINION

Regional representative: The Golden Smog, Stockton

PEERING THROUGH THE SMOG When Her Majesty The Queen opened the newly-constructed Blaydon Bridge on the A1 Western Bypass on December 1

The

1990, it was part of the tradition of Tyneside bridge ceremonies onvolving members of the Royal Family.

But when she stepped out of the car to cut the ribbon, she apparently looked around and said: ”Where’s the bridge?”

She was right; the point at which she was standing, scissors at the ready, is a stretch of carriageway over the Tyne that doesn’t look like any river crossing to crow about.

Not when we’ve got the unique structures that we have.

I’m reminded of that scenario at The Golden Smog in Stockton-onTees. It represents the Campaign For Real Ale (Camra) North East region at the organisation’s annual Pub of the Year (PotY) competition, tensed and ready to go up against some of the nation’s finest in the next round – a super-regional tie at that. The Golden Smog is a fine little pub, well run, with a certain charm, but to my mind it’s not the best we can offer. Cue magazines being thrown in my direction.

Camra’s pubs are judged on the quality of their beer, cider and perry.

Representatives look at style, décor, furnishing and cleanliness. They

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32 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

gauge service, welcome and offering, consider community focus and atmosphere, then align them all with Camra principles to form an overall impression.

I feel they’ve got this one wrong.

My Brass Castle Neveresting bitter was decent but not brilliant, although the welcome and service from the young barman were exemplary. As for style and furnishings, someone’s been trying too hard with nickerynackery and frippery-frappery then expecting it to hang together enough to be termed “décor”.

Fair enough, my drinking times tend to coincide with quieter pub periods; that’s the way I like it. I haven’t been in The Golden Smog on a busy weekend shift, but nothing there gives me any confidence that I’m sitting in what is essentially the best real ale pub in the whole North East of England.

Its TripAdvisor posts rave but I blame the Camra judges for overpromotion. It's a fine pub, but where's the PotY? Alastair Gilmour

VIEW FROM ABROAD

CORFU MEETS ENGLAND

Hadrian Border Brewery’s Andy Burrows follows a trail of opportunity

Greek style: Left to right, Andy Burrows, Hadrian Border; Claudio Mouzakitis, Corfu Brewery, and Alan Jeffrey, Brewed Up North I happened to have samples of Ouseburn Porter with me on a recent sales trip to international food and drink trade fair FHC Shanghai. On the next-door stand was Craig Butler from The Spirit Beer Company who was coincidentally looking for this particular style for the Corfu Beer Festival.

The upshot is I had to take myself off to

34 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

Corfu at the end of August to help brew 1,600 litres of the Porter in readiness for the festival at the end of September – which I also had to attend.

Do you see what I’m getting at? It was hardly arduous stuff.

Three other English breweries were also represented (we all had to brew our recipes at

the Corfu Brewery on their plant) – Thornbridge were invited to brew Single Hopped Pale Ale; Titanic brewed American Pale Ale, and Brewed Up North did their Premium Lager. Two Greek brewers were also invited – Macedonia and Thrace Brewery (Belgian Wheat and Pregamod) as well as Konstantinos Gkaitatzis, a Greek brewer who advises breweries all over the world, who brewed his Premium Lager.

The Corfu Brewery itself had five of their own beers at the festival itself, making 11 beers in total in a range through Wheat, Pilsner, IPA, Red and Dark Beers.

The thing to note is that Corfu Brewery only filter through a diatomaceous earth filter (kieselguhr) from very cold. Earth filters use calcined shells of long-dead sea creatures. There is no pasteurisation or sterile filtering involved but they drink the beer fresh (within three months).

The Corfu Beer Festival has a different

VIEW FROM ABROAD

theme each year – this was Corfu Meets England, whereas in 2017 it was Corfu Meets Czech and in 2016, Corfu Meets Italy. It’s intended as a collaboration of cultures through food and beer. This year’s festival took place over five days and as well as the beers there was an excellent food hall and live music from Sheffield-based rock band Syteria, among others, as well as renowned Greek musicians which attracted the locals in large numbers.

Our hosts were perfect and we were treated like royalty and even beyond that they were all so genuine, friendly and helpful. The Corfu Brewery is situated in a small town called Arillas in the north west of the island, about 40 minutes drive from the airport, and the festival takes place every year at the end of September.

Put it in your diary; there are plenty of flights – and if you find yourself on Corfu at any other time of the year, the brewery opens its doors for visitors every Saturday.

I fully intend to spend a family holiday there at sometime and would highly recommend this tiny resort.

Yamas (Cheers) www.corfubeer.com

TATS ALL FOLKS In the October issue of Cheers we featured a tattoo that CentreAle bottle shop owner Bruce Renwick had inked to celebrate conquering Mont Ventoux on his bike – the most fearsome of all the Tour de France mountains. We invited other contributions – so here are artworks decorating body parts of Ross Holland of Box Social Brewing; Ben Younger, Hop Knocker bottle shop, and Poetic License gin distiller Luke Smith. Any more? Don’t be shy, let’s share your pub/ beer/spirits/wine tats with the world – tasteful ones only, please. Send to info@ cheersnortheast.co.uk

Ben Younger Luke Smith

Ross Holland

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36 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk

JEWELS IN THE CROWN A seventy-year-old mystery has been solved, as Alastair Gilmour uncovers

The year was 1947, it was summer, and a piece of Newcastle public house folklore was being born. The murals now hidden behind the wallpaper in the Crown Posada were getting sketched out in charcoal by three Gosforth Grammar School pupils, Mike Attewell, Tristram Storey and Douglas Wood – each 17 years old.

Seventy-one years later, Mike Attewell’s daughter Helen breezed into the iconic pub earlier this year with a copy of Cheers North East – dated November 2015 – which featured the artworks blinking briefly in the sunlight for the few hours they had between the removal of the old wallpaper and its replacement during a refurbishment.

“My dad did those,” she said to manager Andrew Nicholson, who has spent most of the past decade researching the history of the pub that’s part of the Sir John Fitzgerald (SJF) group. The story of the murals had previously been left to educated guesswork and conjecture.

“I though the paintings’ history was lost to time until I met Helen,” says Andrew. “She

nonchalantly told me her father had done the paintings and more than that he was alive and well and living in Durham. After I picked my jaw up off the bar I got as many details as I could over a pint.”

Theories had abounded over the provenance of the Spanish dancer, bullfighter, guitar players and donkey rider depicted so beautifully on the painted plaster. Were they in homage to a former owner’s Spanish mistress? Did they have something to do with the Spanish embassy that operated further up Dean Street?

Do they contain a hidden message?

We’ll let Mike Attewell take up the story: “It was in the days when you’d find smooth, swift, pollution-free yellow municipal trolleybuses gliding through the streets of Newcastle. We would mount them without queueing and pay the conductor calmly after we had sat down. Ah dear!

“Three young students were idle between school and college. Their old art teacher, Charles Fallows, told them of a potential job decorating a pub with murals. The landlord trusted the decorator, Mr Finlay, and he trusted

HISTORY REVISITED turned to applaud his own backside in the usual style.

“Elsewhere there was a landscape which had to be genuine, though it was out of date because it was copied from an El Greco painting, and there was a figure of a peasant with a donkey, who might have been Sancho Pansa. All this we never saw again – being good students we never went into pubs, although we did allow the exception of the Union bar, where the beer was cheaper.

“We were paid £25

picked out the roundels on the beams as well in red, orange and yellow.

“I also remember Finlay, who had a business in Gosforth, had a handcart with all his materials in. I don’t like to pester Doug who is ‘self-medicating’ after a skin cancer op. Tristram was a brilliant athlete, at least he was until hit in the leg by ‘friendly fire’ during National Service in Malaya. Some clot dropped a Sten gun – the most unreliable weapon ever issued – outside his tent.”

Apart from the fine beer, great crack and enthusiastic welcome,

It's himself: Mike Attewell

by Mike Attewell

Caramba: The murals at the Crown Posada, Newcastle.

The light patches show where damage has occurred

the teacher, and the teacher trusted us boys.

People were like that in those days.

“Naturally the theme for Crown & Posada (as Mike recalls it was named then) was Spanish. Less naturally, the colours were yellow, orange and red – their impact, thank goodness, a little lessened by using an appearance of stencilling. A life-size fightingbull plunged across the bar room wall, its horns level with the pints.

On another wall, a flamenco dancer flared her skirt while her partner stamped his heels – and

Young dudes: Douglas Wood, rear; Tristram Storey and Mike Attewell, partly submerged, in earlier times

between us, without hearing any criticism or praise that I remember.

Inevitably the murals were papered over, being integral with the rest of the interior. Whether that happened years later or the following month, I cannot say.”

The three amigos graduated and followed teaching careers. Douglas Wood went into higher education, with a parallel career as a painter, often of portraits. He and Tristram settled in Australia where Tristram sadly died. Mike also enjoyed a career in secondary school teaching, followed by painting as an amateur.

He says: “It would have been decorators’ distemper we used on the walls after drawing an outline with charcoal. It has a stencil effect due to successive layers of working outwards, getting lighter.

When painting murals you’re not supposed to work in solid colours as it destroys the architectural integrity (he chuckles at this). We

the Crown Posada is also noted for its huge mirrors and two stained glass windows designed by George Joseph Baguley and manufactured by William Wailes, whose private residence was Saltwell Towers in Gateshead.

It’s also worth looking at the ceiling’s deeply recessed panels and frames with their guilloche and egg-and-dart ornament. Until a 2004 refurbishment, they were picked out in amazing reds, golds and greens, but were subsequently whitewashed into history.

“It’s simply amazing to have an answer to add to my everexpanding collection of Posada stories,” says Andrew Nicholson.

And thanks to the very talented Mike Attewell and his two friends – plus his terrific memory and ability to bring a tale to life. Olé.

Mike Attewell’s remarkable works can be viewed at mike-attewell.co.uk

BOG STANDARD

We normally feature a pub toilet in this section – one that has impressed for one reason or another – but here we have the gents' at Carlisle Station. For such a busy public facility used regularly by thousands of needy travellers, they are a model of cleanliness and efficiency. Top marks to the cleaning and maintenance team there.

www.cheersnortheast.co.uk / CHEERS / 37

FUN STUFF

SIGN OF THE TIMES Thanks to Andrew Hebden for pointing us to Alphabetti Theatre on St James’ Boulevard in Newcastle.

The sign points to a lovely hang-out that should be less of a hidden secret.

THE DIRTY DOZEN TWELVE QUESTIONS – CAN YOU GET ALL THE ANSWERS? 1 George IV was the first king to do what in 1822?

2 In which sport would you “hang ten”?

3 The tit bird species is known as what in America?

4 What was US prisoner Robert Stroud better known as?

5 What is the difference between fog and mist?

6 What is basso profundo?

A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BAR… …AND SAYS TO THE BARMAN: “I MADE MY HUSBAND A MILLIONAIRE.” “WOW, THAT’S AMAZING” SAYS THE BARMAN. “WHAT WAS HE BEFORE YOU GOT MARRIED?” THE WOMAN SAYS: “A BILLIONAIRE.”

7 What is the official language of Pakistan?

8 In which song would you find a banker with a motor car?

9 In snooker, what do you score by potting red, blue, red, pink?

10 “Nation shall speak unto nation” is the motto of which organisation?

11 How many republics made up the former USSR? 12 Jackie Stewart was the first Formula 1 driver to do what in a 1967 race?

1048

EEH! NUMBERS

1048 The number of pages in the 2019 Campaign For Real Ale (Camra) Good Beer Guide 1048 The year of the last Viking raid on England SCP 1048 A computer game where players engage with a teddy bear 1048 is the imprint on the pill Lamotrigine which is used in the treatment of bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, seizure prevention, borderline personality disorder and epilepsy 1048 The claim form number for lost, stolen, or destroyed United States savings bonds.

QUOTE

“I CAN HONESTLY SAY I’VE NEVER HAD A BEER IN MY LIFE. IF I HAD, CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT A MESS I’D BE?” DONALD J TRUMP PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

QUIZ ANSWERS: 1 Wear a kilt (on a visit to Edinburgh). 2 Surfing. 3 Chickadees. 4 The Birdman of Alcatraz. 5 Distance. If visibility is over one kilometre, it’s mist; if under it’s fog. 6 The deepest singing voice. 7 Urdu. 8 The Beatles’ Penny Lane. 9 Thirteen. 10 The BBC. 11 Twenty-nine. 12 Wear a seat belt.

38 / CHEERS / www.cheersnortheast.co.uk