Autumn/Winter 2013

Swale Ale THE FREE MAGAZINE OF SWALE CAMRA

SWALE’S NEW MICROPUB

IN THIS ISSUE… A Micropub in Faversham?

Green Hops in Kent Oast Farm Visit

Hop Festival Report Hidden Pub Gems Saloon, Snug, Bottle and Jug

1 AUTUMN/WINTER ISSUE 2013

THE

ELEPHANT THE MALL, FAVERSHAM

Primary Business Addr ess Your Add ress Line 2 Your Add ress Line 3 Your Add ress Line 4

Phone: 555 - 555 -5555 Fax: 555 - 555 -5555 E-mail: s ome one@ exa mple.c om

Freehouse Swale Camra pub of the year 2007, 08, 09, 10, 11,2012.

EAST KENT PUB OF THE YEAR 2010 Excellent selection of real ales

BEST BEERS FOR MILES. 01795 590157, ME13 8JN 2

Swale Gets Micropub ‘At Last’

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he Paper Mill, 2 Charlotte Street, Milton Regis opened on October 12th, proof that the Micropub revolution has finally reached Swale. Congratulations and a big welcome to Marianne and Harvey who will be running the pub. Following best practice from other Micropubs in East Kent ‘The Paper Mill’ features bench seating around the walls, ensuring most people face inwards, and robust solid wooden block tables.

So what is a Micropub?

A Micropub is a pub without all the overheads of the traditional public house. Usually just one room for real ale and conversation to be enjoyed by likeminded individuals, together with a t e m p e r a t u r e controlled room for the cask beer to be kept; somewhere for glass washing and of course unisex toilet facilities. As the Micropub Association (www.micropubassociation.co.uk) says ‘KIS KIS’: Keep it small keep it simple. Not a lover of real beer? Well, most do stretch to selling a glass of wine, or real cider. However, absolutely no food, other than a few snacks; no music; no fruit machines; no pool tables and no lager or spirits.

The first Micropub opened in Herne, Kent in 2005 and following the Landlord Martyn Hillier’s presentation on the Micropub concept to the 2009 CAMRA AGM in Eastbourne, many have taken up his advice and followed his business model to set up their own Micropub.

There are now 17 in East Kent and several more in the pipeline.

To set one up is amazingly simple; find empty shop premises in an area which you consider lacks choice for the real ale enthusiast; seek advice from other Micropub owners (perhaps start with the Butcher’s Arms, Herne www.micropub.co.uk) prepare your plans and provide information on the proposal and talk it through with the Local Planning Authority. Then submit the planning application and sort out the arrangements for obtaining the required licences for the sale of alcohol (personal and premises).

Once you have planning approval start converting the shop into a Micropub. There is no set layout and provided you have ensured there is a proper cooling system for the storage of beer, you are well on the way. The end result is the real ale drinker ends up with a place that provides real ale as its main selling point and not an also ran with everything else; while the Micropub landlord fulfils their dream of running a pub. While there are the inevitable costs, it avoids the millstone of debt around the Photo by Andrew Kitney neck associated with pub companies. Plus the Micropub owners choose their own hours of opening!

Micropubs are not to everyone's taste of course and I along with many others still enjoy the surroundings of a traditional pub. CAMRA is about consumer choice. However when you cannot get a well kept pint of beer, from one of the many small breweries, local or from far afield, at a reasonable price, then sometimes the Micropub is the only option. There are many supposed ‘free houses’ that offer nothing other than a regional or national bland brand. Well it may be time for them to re-think because competition is arriving!

[JW]

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Swale Ale ©

Editorial

Autumn/Winter 2013 Published by the Swale Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale Ltd (CAMRA).

Circulation: 1,000 Editorial Committee and Contributors: Les Bailey, Derek Cole, Suzanne Collins, Christine Cryne, Mick Gall, Gary Holness, Simon Ing, Paul Irving, Andrew Kitney, Keir Stanley, Jeff Waller, Malcolm Winskill.

W

elcome to the latest edition of Swale Ale. The summer is now behind us and we can look forward to warming ourselves by a roaring fire in a cosy local with a pint or two of winter ale. This issue is, as usual, packed with a wide variety of articles and reports alongside adverts for many of the fine real ale pubs in the area. We also report on the opening of Swale’s first Micropub, The Paper Mill in Sittingbourne.

Print Liaison: Les Bailey Advertising: Gary Holness

Chairman’s Chat

——————————————–—— All correspondence to: Les Bailey 58 Wallers Road Faversham Kent ME13 7PL Email: swaleale@gmail.com Telephone: 01795 538824 ———————————————–— Any opinions expressed within these pages are those of the individual authors only and do not represent those of CAMRA or any of its officials.

The existence of this publication in a particular outlet does not imply an endorsement of it by Swale CAMRA .

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s the nights are now drawing in and the clocks have gone back, the attention of the branch is now focused on one of our major tasks, the Good Beer Guide. Over the coming months we will need to decide upon those pubs that will be considered and given a final survey to meet our allocation for the Good Beer Guide 2015. There are a few new contenders but despite CAMRA national membership of over 150,000 and Swale branch membership being higher than ever before, we still need your help.

Any members who drink real ale can assist by providing information and scoring though the What Pub site (www.whatpub.com). Thanks for all your help in anticipation of YOUR exciting pub news. Me? I am off to drink some lovely dark ales.

Simon Ing

———————————————–— Printed by: Abbey Print, Faversham ———————————————–—— Branch Details Chairman: Simon Ing Secretary: Les Bailey Social Secretary: Steve Bennion Treasurer: Les Bailey

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Trading Standards If you believe that you have been treated unfairly in a local pub or bar you should contact your local trading standards department. Trading Standards exist to ensure that customers are treated fairly and neither cheated nor mislead by traders.

The Trading Standards organisation in Swale is entitled ‘Environmental and Consumer Protection’ and can be contacted on: Telephone 01233 898825 Email trading.standardseast@kent.gov.uk

Shepherd Neame AGM The Shepherd The Shepherd Neame AGM was held on Friday18th October with shareholders gathered in St. Mary’s Church, Faversham. I attended as a proxy for a friend. An overview given by the Chairman Miles Templeman said Shepherd Neame had put in a solid performance in difficult market conditions; growth in turnover of 1.4%. So positive news.

Of particular interest were the Business and Board reorganisation. Business changes, firstly, brought a phased exit of contract brewing, to better utilise the plant capacity (I wrote down getting out of low margin trade).

Secondly, a ten year agreement with ‘Kuehne+Nagel’ for distribution and warehousing. How do they affect the real ale drinker? Well in terms of real ale the contract brewing it doesn’t; as for distribution, it seems the Waverley TBS beer agency collapse caused problems and this is a way to ensure the products go out to market smoothly, and also reach into new areas covered by Kuehne+Nagel.

The Board are reorganised into two divisions ‘Brewing and Brands’ and ‘Retail and Tenanted Pubs’. Interestingly the brands are split into three categories ‘Heritage’ (connoisseurs), ‘Mainstream’ (regular drinkers) and ‘Discovery/Craft’ (premium, world and craft beer markets). Heritage brands are Bishop’s Finger, 1698 and new beers from old styles and recipes; Brilliant Ale, Double Stout and IPA. Mainstream brands are Master Brew and Spitfire and the third category, well, decide which one fits which heading; Sam Adams, Asahi and….. Whitstable Bay? Whitstable Bay draught brewed in the main brewery but no reference to Shepherd Neame on the pump clip. Must be for the craft market then.

The other news was that the disposal of primarily wet led sales pubs is almost complete.

Quite a few old names have now disappeared (some 51 sold since 2008) and we still wait to hear the fate of The Mechanics. On the plus

side the company have purchased a prime outlet in Royal Tunbridge Wells, ‘The Royal Wells Hotel’ and its Beau Nash Tavern, making 26 acquisitions since 2008. There are also a number of significant refurbishments to other prime sites.

A few questions followed, one in particular was about micro-breweries and their effect on the company business. The answer ; yes, they are key competitors but the trend towards cask ale is also good for business overall. Another question about the overall reduction in beer drinking was responded to with agreement that the six pint session drinker is now probably down to two pints, however, this reduction was being met by a move to increasing the ‘value’ of sales and also pubs being developed to cater for wider audiences.

But, as to news of the Pilot Brewery and its different and varied brews: nothing. While breweries such as Thwaites, Camerons and now even Greene King have identified a craft ale market and feature exciting new brews from their microplants, the Pilot Brewery remains parked in the hangar waiting for the next op!

What Ho chaps stand down!

[JW]

Branch Diary Wednesday 13th November 2013 Branch business meeting, 8pm The Three Hats, High Street, Milton Regis Wednesday 11th December 2013 Business meeting, The Swan, Teynham, 8pm Saturday 14th December 2013 Christmas pub crawl Wednesday 8th January 2013 Business meeting, The Elephant, Faversham Wednesday 12th February 2013 Business meeting, The Red Lion, Badlesmere Wednesday 12th March 2013 Business meeting, The Bull, Newington

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THE BEAR Faversham The Bear Inn, 3 Market Place, Faversham, Kent ME13 7AG, Tel 01795 532668

Chris & Marie Annand and staff welcome you to this historic 15th Century inn in the heart of Faversham.

Immaculately kept Shepherd Neame beers Traditional home made lunches served every day Join us for our popular Quiz Night held on the last Wednesday of every month Find us on Facebook

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Pub & Brewery News Shepherd Neame WHITSTABLE BAY PALE ALE: This is a new 3.9% cask beer that is now part of the permanent range. It is brewed with US Cascade and Styrian Goldings hops. The company is launching it under a new title “The Faversham Steam Brewery” which is a name they used in the late 18th century. It is intended as an easy drinking beer and is not overly bitter, belying its golden colour.

QUEEN COURT HARVEST ALE: This 4.5% ale ran simultaneously with Goldings for a while. Unfortunately it came to the pubs some time after the intended launch date as it was delayed by a late hop harvest caused by the earlier variable weather. It is dry-hopped with h ops f r om t he N at i o na l Collection for which Shepherd Neame are custodians at their Queen Court farm in Ospringe, near Faversham.

I liked it very much and was impressed by the smooth finish. The main hop is Admiral from Kent and there is a hint of Cascade, also grown around Faversham. This is a beer that could change a bit as each batch is brewed. This is because the green hops used will be the freshest at the time of picking, so could be of any variety. It was available from 19th August to 18th September.

TALLYMAN’S SPECIAL: This seasonal beer was brewed for the Kent Green Hop Beer Fortnight. This is where around thirty participating Kentish breweries, each brews a beer using freshly-picked hops which have to be added to the copper within twelve hours of them being harvested. Last year the vast majority of the beers were absolutely fabulous, I tried all twenty-four available. A change this year though, as Shepherd Neame’s offering was from the main plant rather than the pilot brewery as it was last year when it

was known as Oast Dodger. What was also different is that the beer was available in a lot more pubs. It is 4.5% and in pubs from 23rd September to 6th October. That’s not long, but it should be on sale into the middle of October.

LATE RED: This seasonal beer returned at the end of September for the whole winter period right round to March. It had been in the permanent range until this year, when it dropped back to being a winter season beer again. It’s a 4.5% ale made with Pale Ale and Crystal Malts. The hops are East Kent Goldings and Kent Cascades. Both of these are added again right at the end of the process as the beer is dry-hopped.

SAMUEL ADAMS BLONDE AMBITION: This is a 4.5% pale ale designed for the summer, with a blend of English and American Cascade hops, along with Target and First Gold, brewed in collaboration with the Boston Beer Company. It has staged a come-back as you are likely to come across it on sale in the pubs of major pub-owning companies. It has medium bitterness with citrus notes in the body. It should be available from now right up to the Christmas period.

It is still intended to brew a special beer for the Wetherspoon Autumn Beer Festival and also to host a foreign brewer in Faversham for a further beer in the International series.

The branch Brewery Liaison Officer is Bob Thompson.

Hopdaemon The branch Brewery Liaison Officer is Howard Gates.

Mad Cat The brewery appears to be supplying a good number of pubs in East Kent with Platinum and Auburn Copper Ale both 4.2%. Their Jet Black Stout at 4.8% is in production and should be available as we go to press.

The branch Brewery Liaison Officer is Doris Munday. page 9  7

CAMRA Kent Pub of the Year 2013

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Pub News Conyer The Ship continues to serve three beers including Master Brew, Adnams and a rotating guest (recently including Old Diary).

East Church The Wheatsheaf at Warden Bay has been advertised for sale.

Faversham

been no pilot brews available. We look forward to these in the future.

The Sun continues to sell a range of Shepherd Neame real ales including Master Brew and Spitfire. This pub regularly takes the seasonal beers and stocks a full range of bottled beers including the heritage ales.

The Brents Tavern currently selling Wells and Young's Directors at £2.60 A PINT which to our knowledge is the cheapest real ale in Faversham.

There are lots of rumours that a new pub, possibly on the lines of a micro, is being planned in Preston Street, Faversham. Pre-planning discussions are understood to have been made with Swale Council regarding the former wet fish shop, with an anticipated opening date before Christmas. An informed source said that the pub would make full use of the cellar available, with a working beer engine(s) and may also stock wine, cider and in a deviation from the normal ‘Micropub concept’, possibly an unspecified single malt and a range of bottled European lagers/Belgium beers.

Swan and Harlequin. In addition to the delicious Dark Star Hophead and APA, Mark has been selling Gadd’s beer instead of the Ruby Mild.

These have included Seasider, No.3 and No.5 at the still reasonable price of £2.70.

The Phoenix Tavern. The Timothy Taylor Appreciation Society Christmas event with the opportunity to have your picture taken both with Timothy Taylor and Father Christmas will be on 13th November. The Phoenix again guarantees that we will have snow this Christmas!

Halfway The Heritage is a new Micropub planned to open at Halfway on the Isle of Sheppey. The pub will be taking the building that housed the old Post Office on Minster Road. Early thoughts are that it will have a house beer by Westerham and others as guests. The internal set-up will be a little different to other Micropubs in that there will not be a cold storage room due to space restrictions, so all the beers will be on stillage in the main room under cooling jackets.

The Elephant. Jim is now back in the Elephant serving five excellent beers.

Jim is now advertising the beers in his cellar on www.perfectpint.co.uk. However he still won’t tell us what's on next.

The Chimney Boy. The tenancy on this Shepherd Neame house is currently up for sale.

Rumours are that Dave might be moving on to another Shepherd Neame pub elsewhere in Kent.

The Bear continues to sell two real ales normally featuring Master Brew and a Shepherd Neame seasonal beer. Unfortunately there have

Dargate The Dove. The tenancy of this pub has been put up for sale. The current tenants have moved to the Anchor, Abbey Street, Faversham.

Eastling The Carpenters tenancy currently up for sale.

Lower Halstow The Three Tuns is holding a Christmas market on the 30th November 2013 including a range of Christmas ales and ciders.

Milton Regis The Three Hats. During cask ale week The Three Hats offered all real ales at £2.00 a pint to CAMRA members and signed up nine new page 11  9

A pub for everyone !

The Swan & Harlequin at Faversham Welcome to our traditional English pub. We offer real ales in two contrasting bars and we have eight en-suite bedrooms

Real ales ÂŁ2.70 per pint, Seven days a week Conduit Street, Faversham, Kent. ME13 7DF Tel: 01795 532341

www.swanandharlequin.co.uk 10

members as a consequence. Excellent campaigning from our Branch Pub of the Year.

The Fountain serves two Shepherd Neame beers and a range of bottled beers including the heritage range. This pub has live music on Friday nights.

Minster Harps Inn has been advertised for rent.

Old Oak East Street is closed and has been sold. It stands bereft of any pub signs.

Newington The Bull is now advertising the sale of beers from Whitstable Brewery.

The New Inn, Murston, is rumoured to be on the list for a refurbishment early in the New Year.

Oad Street The Plough and Harrow has been advertised for sale.

The Jenny Wren serves up to four beers from the Marston’s range.

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Queenborough Queen Phillippa. Boarded up at time of going to press.

Old House at Home continues to serve up to three beers from the Enterprise range.

Sheerness Tudor Inn and Blacksmiths Arms has now closed.

Royal Hotel has been advertised for tenancy with plans for a refurbishment in the New Year.

The style is intended to have a contemporary edge but highlighting the traditional architecture features including the bar counter and back bar.

The refurbishment will also cover the function rooms and toilets but will not change the hotel facilities.

The Red Lion continues to offer three beers including local beer from Mad Cat Brewery.

Sittingbourne The Billet regularly serves a guest beer – recent brews have included Skinner’s Betty Stogs along with Greene King IPA, Abbot and Speckled Hen. The Brickmakers Arms is likely to be replaced with houses and commercial units.

The Cherry Tree. Swale Council have approved the development of the site into retail and residential. Rumours are that Tesco is behind this development.

The Summoner is now serving up to four guest beers including those included in Wetherspoon beer festivals.

The White Horse has been advertised for sale.

Ypres Tavern has been advertised by owners Punch Taverns for tenancy.

Stalisfield Green The Plough. The new owners continue to sell a good selection of local real ales. In addition they intend to vary the selection with interesting beers to match specific menus.

Beer Festivals Wetherspoon Beer Festival From 16th October 2013 for two weeks.

Swan, Teynham Beer Festival 29st Nov – 1st Dec 2013 Three Tuns, Lower Halstow Christmas Fair with Christmas ales and ciders 30th November 2013 The 30th Pig's Ear Beer Festival, Round Chapel, Hackney, E5 0PU. 3rd - 7th December 21st White Cliffs Festival of Winter Ales Maison Dieu (Town Hall), Biggin Street, Dover, CT16 1DL. Friday 7th February 2014 to Saturday 8th February 2014

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Kent Green Hop Beer Fortnight

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or the second year running Kent brewers enthusiastically embraced the idea of brewing with green hops and the event was opened to the public with a beer stall in the Dane John Gardens, Canterbury as part of the Food and Drink Festival.

Hops are normally picked and then dried (hence the oast house is such a feature of this area). Green hops are undried fresh hops used to brew beer within 12 hours of being picked.

Hops lose approximately 80% of their liquid content when dried and lose some of their oil flavours; so using them when green represents a ‘fresh’ challenge to the brewer but results in special flavour characteristics. As with most harvests the crop differs each year, depending on the weather during the growing season.

This year the fortnight was launched at The Foundry Brew Pub in Canterbury and two of the editorial team were fortunate to attend and taste some of the beer. A number of the 22 Kent brewers involved were there to explain their brewing process and what particular hops they had used. There were some very interesting results experienced in our glasses,

Green hop beers on sale Photo by Andrew Kitney

some brews were quite astringent; others surprisingly sweet but all quite different. Also present was Dr Peter Darby of Wye Hops Ltd where the necessary research is carried out for the hop industry. He explained that ‘there was a cold spring, which gave a slow start to growth, followed by minimal rainfall, so they didn’t catch up. The result is generally a lighter crop which fill the frame work, however this resulted in a clean high quality crop with hardly any trace of any disease and easy for the pickers to separate’. Crops are variable however depending on the individual area’s microclimate.

The green hop beers were made widely available to the pub trade but if you missed out on tasting them make a note in your diary for next year!

[JW]

Kent green hop brewers toast the hop Photo by Jeff Waller 12

The Plough Inn Stalisfield, Faversham ME13 0HY

A friendly independently run pub restaurant in the picturesque Faversham area.

Local beers, wines & ciders and a choice from the constantly changing selection of unique homemade dishes from our blackboard come as standard in our family-run country pub. Come and try from our selection of real ales from the local brewers in Kent. www.theploughinnstalisfield.co.uk / 01795 890 256 / theplough@stalisfieldgreen.co.uk 13

A Visit to Mockbeggar Farm Oast House

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recently had the great privilege of being shown around the Oast House at Mockbeggar Farm on the Lower Road between Teynham and Faversham. It was a real eye opener into the skill and dedication required in drying and pressing hops to the perfection required by brewers. Mockbeggar Farm fulfils this requirement superbly while still using a traditional method.

During September hops are harvested from the farm’s nine hop gardens and taken to the huge barn for processing. Here the hops are stripped and separated from the bines and leaves and sent on conveyer belts to an area at the back of the kilns or drying rooms where they are put in sacks ready for drying.

As John, the Head Drier, explained, six hessian cloths are laid on the slatted floor of the drying room and then up to 96 sacks of hops are

spread on the floor in 8 by 12 rows to be dried.

Mockbeggar Farm has four drying rooms, each producing approximately 21 bales of hops per firing. There are two firings per day, with four drying rooms loaded in the morning and four in the afternoon/evening. With the heat reaching 160 degrees Fahrenheit for between 5 ½ to 7 ½ hours, John uses his skill and judgement deciding

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when this part of the process is complete.

Once dried, the hops are spread on the floor of the cooling room adjacent to the drying room, then moved to the press for baling.

Darren and Peter were involved in the moving of the dried hops, in a process known as ‘scuppering’, taken from the name of a large shovel-like tool called a ‘scup’. As the hops are scupped the outside of the pile is mixed towards the middle. This is to stop ‘come back’ which is the drawing in of moisture to the outside of the

hop pile during the drying process (the drier hops of the middle helping to re-dry those from the outer edges). If mixing isn’t done, one side of the hop pile will be heavier than the other and this will affect the weight of the bales.

The press goes from the cooling room to a lower floor and consists of a large rectangular box and a weight – the structure is similar to a Dumb Waiter found in hotels. The hops are scupped until they are level with the top of the box, then the weight comes down and compresses the hops and depending on the variety of hop, this is done three or four times (Mockbeggar grows Goldings, Challenger and Cascade varieties). Before the final press a top sheet is laid on the hops which will make one side of the bale, precision being needed to avoid a wonky bale being created – this is done just as carefully at the bottom of the press on the lower floor.

Once the final press is made the box is lifted up and the man on the lower floor, Aaron, swiftly and dextrously stitches up the sides to Page 17 

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****SWALE CAMRA PUB OF THE YEAR 2013****

Happy Christmas from all at

The Three Hats Milton Regis

93 High Street, Milton Regis, Sittingbourne. Kent ME10 2AR

For all enquiries call Malcolm on 07764 842 478 16

 page

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produce a perfect bale. Then he has to haul the bale of the press and weigh it (the weight can vary between 81kg – 94kg although the aim is for 87kg) and place it on a pallet. By the time this is done the next bale is waiting.

Before being sent off to the brewers, three samples are taken from random bales.

These are sent off to laboratories, brewers and the British Hop Association for analysis (in 2008 John won a trophy for the best dried hops in the UK and he also regularly wins awards when his hops are exhibited at shows and ploughing matches).

So next time you’re enjoying a pint, raise your glass and say cheers to the unsung heroes of brewing, the hop driers, men like John, Darren, Peter and Aaron.

[MG]

Good Beer Guide Selection Criteria

H

ave you wondered how CAMRA selects pubs for the annual Good Beer Guide?

Each CAMRA branch is responsible for the entries in its area within the county and each listed pub must consistently serve real ale (and real cider if offered) of good quality.

To help us do this, we collect beer quality information through CAMRA’s National Beer Scoring System (NBSS) in which members are asked to contribute scores for pubs throughout the year. It is easy to score your beers in NBSS. Log in to CAMRA’s online pub guide, WhatPub (www.whatpub.com) using your membership number and the same password that you use to enter the CAMRA national website. Search for the pub and enter a score for each beer that you drank in the Submit Beer Scores panel on the right of the screen. There is plenty of help and information about NBSS on the Beer Scoring tab. WhatPub is optimised for use on a smart phone and a downloadable app is planned, so you can score your beer in the pub while you drink it! If you don’t have online access at all, then ask your NBSS Coordinator

The pressed hops showing four presses Photos by Mick Gall

at a branch meeting for paper forms and we will enter your scores for you.

Having collected thousands of beer scores over the year, we generate a report in January giving the average, best and worst scores for each pub and a confidence factor based on the number of scores received. The Branch Committee uses these data to draw up a list of eligible pubs with the highest average score, supplemented by other sources of information, and then visits them to update the pub details ahead of a selection meeting in February. All branch members are invited to that meeting at which we select our quota for the next Good Beer Guide.

To make this work better, we need many more members to enter their scores. We value the opinions of all members whether active or not and we need as many opinions as possible for as many pints in as many pubs as possible. This is so we can have confidence in the statistics. We ask members to score the pubs continually not just once or twice. NBSS works across the country not just in our branch.

If you are not a member but would like your opinions of beer quality in pubs to count, then join CAMRA! [CAMRA HQ]

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Faversham Hop Festival Report

T

his year’s beer stall at Faversham Hop Festival went ahead only after a meeting was held between us and the Hop Festival Committee as they had informed us seven days before the event that they were going to cancel our booking (which we have had for the past fifteen years) and run their own bar. They said that this was so that they could make more money for the festival due to their fears of making a loss this year. We successfully persuaded them that they would lose out if we were not allowed to attend and we agreed to a small donation to their fund.

With the permission to attend sorted out we arrived early on Saturday morning to set up for what is always the busiest day of the festival. We began selling beer and cider from a little after 10.00 which by 11.00 had become a challenge to serve as quickly as possible to the large queue waiting to try our excellent beers and ciders. The queue of people did not subside for the best part of five hours and by 2pm it looked like we would run out of beer which meant a quick dash back to the storeroom to get more! This was our most successful Hop Festival to date with an increase in sales to over 1000 pints of beer and with cider sales rising to around 450 pints.

We were back again early on Sunday morning to set up for another hopefully busy day. Though always less hectic as there are less out of area visitors, Sunday seemed hardly any less busy than Saturday this year. Our customers startied to arrive at the bar around 11.00 which grew steadily as the day wore on with groups of Morris Dancers and other street entertainers delighting the crowds. With more beer being needed to satisfy customers on Saturday it only left us with six firkins to sell on Sunday, with this all being sold by 2:30pm, which left only cider for sale for the remainder of the afternoon. Beer

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Lads Enjoying the Festival outside the Swan and Harlequin Photo by Andrew Kitney

for this year was sourced from seven Kent breweries with notably fast sale of Mad Cat Brewery beers from Brogdale near Faversham and Black Prince Mild from Wantsum Brewery of Hersden, which were our joint second fastest sellers. This was our first time selling mild at the festival and by its demand will not be the last!

Our fastest selling beer was Hopdaemon’s Golden Braid brewed locally at Newnham with the whole firkin going inside of an hour.

So this year’s Hop Festival was our most successful yet and with an estimated attendance of over 45,000 people visiting Faversham over the weekend a good thing for the town, which benefits over a longer period than just the weekend of the festival. It remains to be seen what will happen next year but it would be a great loss to everyone if the festival does not go ahead.

[GH]

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No Show of Support From Local MP

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ask Ale Week 2013 - only in Britain, only in pubs!

Locals up and down the country featured numerous events during Cask Ale Week, well ten days between 27th September and 6th October. Aimed at promoting the consumption of cask ale in Britain's boozers, events varied from venue to venue, ranging from price reductions, special offers for CAMRA members, beer quizzes, food menus linked to beer and of course charity based events.

Why not invite your local Member of Parliament to visit your pub to show their support of cask ale and the great British pub?

Well that's what I thought!!!

After contacting the office of Sittingbourne & Sheppey's MP, I eventually got a reply from his Constituency Office Manager,

saying Gordon Henderson MP would try and fit in a visit on the Wednesday afternoon. Sitting at the bar I waited in vain in my most conservative, blue shirt. Alas no MP, no show of support for Cask Ale Week, no contact from any of his numerous staff to say unfortunately Mr Henderson is unable to attend.

Now why do I feel aggrieved? I understand Members of Parliament are very busy people, working for the good of our country, but have large backroom staff who can pick up a phone. Alternatively they could have walked two minutes from Mr Henderson's constituency office to visit in his place!

Please contact your local MPs, encouraging them to support initiatives like Cask Ale Week, Pub is the Hub, etc. It is your local Member of Parliament who can vote for or against legislation affecting licensed premises and the brewing industry. Without pressure from the Great British Beer lover, we would be paying even more duty on our beer than exorbitant amount already paid.

Please feel free to reply and discuss your views.

[MW]

Faversham’s hidden gem The Shipwright’s Arms, Hollowshore, Faversham

A 17th Century traditional creek side free house. Selling up to five real ales from Kentish brewers, and serving good food.

Take a trip back in time and savour the delights of a truly traditional pub.

Rated by Jamie Oliver as one of the top 100 traditional pubs in the country.

Please check website or phone to confirm hours of opening.

Tel: 01795 590088

Web: www.theshipwrightsarmspub.co.uk Directions: At Davington School turn into Ham Road and follow the signs across the marsh.

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Firkin Ale – 07762301364 Real Ale Wholesaler to the Licensed Trade Many Breweries – One Delivery Casks & Bottles

Presidential company for Medway & Gravesham Licensed Victuallers Association

Email: FirkinAleLtd@live.co.uk 21

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Hidden Pub Gems An Occasional Series The Square and Compasses, Worth Matravers, Dorset

T

ucked away in a quiet corner of Dorset just a few miles from the busy seaside town of Swanage is a rather remarkable pub, The Square and Compasses at Worth Matravers. The pub is situated on the high ground overlooking the village at the head of a valley that runs down for a mile or so to the stone ledges at Winspit on the coast where Purbeck limestone was once quarried and loaded onto ships to be taken away to be used to build many a fine building. The valley sides are covered in strip-lynchets which are evidence of ancient field systems.

The low whitewashed walls and stone slated roof contain two rooms, one rather snug, that have many pictures of the area in times gone by which are accessed from the corridor that leads in from the garden area at the front.

The bar is at the end of the corridor and drinks are served via two hatches. This often requires queuing along the corridor to order your drinks and dodging people exiting with laden trays, but it is worth it as the excellent local real ales and

Photos by Stephen Bennion

ciders are drawn straight from the barrel.

The pub has been run by the same family, the Newmans, since 1907 and for the past ten years has been managed by Kevin Hunt, which allowed Charlie Newman to concentrate on making cider and furthering the collection of fossils and archaeological artefacts that his father started, which are displayed in a small museum.

On fine days you can enjoy your chosen drink looking over the fields to the sea from the large terraced garden which has many stone slab tables and interesting sculptures in stone - in particular a three dimensional wooden sculpture of a square and compasses. If you get peckish the homemade pies and pasties are well worth investigating.

There is live music on many nights and there are many different festivals throughout the year including a stone carving festival, pumpkin and beer festival and cider festival (see their website squareandcompasspub.co.uk for details).

If you find yourself down Dorset way why not seek out this hidden gem of a pub, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

[SB]

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History and Beer

A

t this year’s Great British Beer Festival, the daily auction once again offered a chance to bid for a place to join the trip to two breweries. This year, it was to the heartland of British hops, Kent. So in September thirteen lucky people, from all over the UK, visited the Shepherd Neame Brewery, to see a family brewery whose history can be traced back to 1678. After a trip around the brewery, some fine Kentish Ales (of course) and a spot of lunch, the group left Faversham heading south east by train to the historic city of Canterbury, to visit a brewery at the other end of the brewing spectrum. The tiny Canterbury Brewers is a microbrewery based within the city walls of Canterbury, in sight of the Cathedral. It is just two years old but their premises are rather older. The brewery, pub and restaurant are in a stunning building known as the Foundry. This

Photo by Christine Cryne

was part of the Drury & Biggleston’s Foundry, which from the early 1800s to the late 1900s supplied the South East Railway and constructed one of the very first torpedoes. It comes as no surprise then that their debut brews were Foundryman’s Gold and Foundry Torpedo, which the visitors were pleased to test out!

[CC]

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Saloon, Snug, Bottle and Jug

G

reetings gentle reader. I was sitting in the saloon bar of my local the other evening enjoying a pint of the landlord’s finest when I got to pondering why there were so many different bars in pubs. There still remain some public bars, saloon bars, snugs, smoking rooms (now not used for their original purpose of course) tap rooms, parlours, bottle and jug rooms, vaults and private bars. So I did a bit digging and it seems to stem from the Victorian idea of station in life and not wanting to mix with the wrong classes.

Prior to the 19th century pubs mainly consisted of a single room, however as the Victorian era progressed a distinct hierarchy of spaces developed which reflected the status of the different social groupings that frequented them.

Let’s start at the bottom of the social pile with the Public Bar. It had various guises, also being known as the Vaults or General Bar. Pubs of the time were almost exclusively frequented by men and the Public Bar was the haunt of the poorer working classes. There was a subsidiary to the status of the Public Bar in some pubs, which had a Private Bar, sometimes called the Bar Parlour. It was not necessarily better appointed than the public bar nor was it frequented by a better class of person but there was exclusivity to the clientele found in said room. Typically the entrance to the Parlour was via a door off the Public Bar and I am sure that you almost needed to be invited into this room by the regulars. Imagine the glares of disapproval you would have received if you inadvertently defiled the sanctity of this room by accidentally going in without said invite.

The name Tap Room, or as it was called in East Anglia, Porter Room, suggests that it was a room where beer was poured and at one time this may well have been the case, but by the 19th century the Tap Room was usually a room set away from the main servery which offered a quieter area in which to discuss the topics of the

day.

Moving up the social scale we find the Smoke Room, Lounge and Saloon. These rooms were more refined and the probable origin of the Smoke Room is a term derived from the large country houses of the time where gentlemen would retire to the smoking room after dinner. These rooms were better furnished and often larger than the Public Bar and drinks were often charged at a premium. I well remember an awful faux pas when a young Obadiah bought a pint in the public bar of a pub in the North East and, not finding a seat, (a social gaffe in itself as men did not sit to drink they stood at the bar!!), I wandered into the Saloon in search of a seat. Now nothing was said and I am not sure about the telepathic abilities of your average Geordie landlord but I felt a sudden guilty urge to put a few pence on the bar before sitting down, which said landlord immediately put in the till and it seemed that I had atoned for the error.

Other rooms that could be found in pubs were the Commercial Room where presumably traders could do deals over the price of commodities, Billiard Rooms for the playing of games and Coffee Rooms which offered (not surprisingly) coffee for the more genteel clientele who did not want an alcoholic drink. Club and Assembly Rooms were usually on the first floor and offered venues for clubs and societies to meet.

Some pubs had ladies only rooms (pity the poor fellow who inadvertently stumbled into this room on his way back from the gents!).

Some bars had Public Kitchens which was probably a place where poorer families could Page 29 27

The PHOENIX TAVERN Abbey Street, Faversham SIX REAL ALES Changing regularly, but always Timothy Taylor Landlord, Harvey’s Sussex and a Blond!

REAL FOOD prepared freshly daily on the premises REAL ATMOSPHERE lovely garden and open inglenook log fires REAL TRADITION - 14th century oak beamed pub Five Quality lagers and Quality Wine from Corney and Barrow, Cask and Keg Cider

Good Beer Guide 2014

'Official home of the Timothy Taylor Appreciation Society'.

@Phoenixfav

The Phoenix Tavern Faversham

www.thephoenixtavernfaversham.co.uk - 01795 591462

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 page

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get their meals cooked.

All of these different rooms were of course the pub’s way of getting as many people as possible into the pub to part with their hard earned cash, whilst ensuring that the different social classes avoided each other. This social segregation in pubs has now ceased and many pubs have swept the distinction between the various areas away, but if you look carefully there are still many indications of the status of the room in which you are drinking.

If you are interested in reading more about the development of the pub may I recommend The English Alehouse: A Social History, 1200 – 1830 by Peter Clark and the English Heritage book Licensed to Sell by Geoff Brandwood, Andrew Davison and Michael Slaughter.

Obadiah Spillage

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A Day on the Buses Circular trip to Hythe

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he plan was simple – a train to Canterbury and a day bus ticket to visit a few rural pubs in East Kent. I thought I was doomed from the start as, unusually, Southeastern’s 10.29 from Sittingbourne to Canterbury arrived late, but at least it managed to shunt into Canterbury and, after short stroll (canter) along Canterbury City Walls, enabled me to get my first bus – the number 18 – a two hourly scenic route through a number of Kent villages.

My first stop was Bossingham, a small quiet village, 20 minutes on the bus. I arrived before 12 at my first pub – the Hop Pocket.

Looking through the pub window I could see the beer selection – Hophead, Green Daemon and Adnams Southwold Bitter. I opted for the Green Daemon – the first pint of the day and on good form. It was reasonably priced at £3.40.

Refreshed, I walked the 30 minutes to my next target – the Rose and Crown at Stelling Minnis. This large country pub was set back from the main road and had a large camping site.

By the time I arrived, just before 1pm, the lunchtime rush had started. Looking at the beer selection I noticed three beers and opted for the Goacher’s Dark (£3.10 a pint). I replenished the energy I had used with a very nice ham sandwich and some chips, which I finished just in time for the next number 18.

The bus sped through Lyminge, Sandling and Saltwood but no time for me to stop as I

was on a mission. Arriving at Hythe I found my way to the Three Mariners – Hythe’s Good Beer Guide pub. Six Kent beers were on tap. I had a half of Goachers and then, after a quick wander around town to see if there were any other interesting pubs (nothing took my fancy), I took the bus to Folkestone.

After arriving in Folkestone’s bus station – which still has a gated entrance requiring someone to lift it up – I had an hour or so before the number 17 (scenic route) back to Canterbury. I headed to Chambers – a basement bar with three beers on tap – Skrimshander, Adnams Lighthouse and Wantsum 1341. I opted for the Wantsum at £3.30 a pint (although I only had a half). Again the beer was on good form.

I arrived back at Folkestone in time for the bus to The Photo by Paul Irving Kings Arms in the very nice village of Elham. The Kings Arms was my favourite pub – a nice location with a large beer garden and lively banter inside the pub.

Two Hopdeamon beers were on tap – Golden Braid and Skrimshander. Both were on good form.

Like all the other buses [but not like some Sittingbourne buses], the next number 17 was on time and delivered me back to Canterbury bus station by 7pm – time for a quick drink in the Foundry before heading back home.

[PI] 31

The Swan & Harlequin Bookings taken now for our famous Sunday roast with 9 fresh vegetables!

£6.50 Linda’s homemade desserts (including Gypsy Tart) from £3.50

There is always a minimum of four real ales on offer, often more!

Only £2.70 a pint Some served direct from the cask.

Always one Dark Star beer

The Swan & Harlequin We have the largest covered outside drinking area in town Do you Follow Sport ?

We have all the big matches on SkySports and ESPN in HD on

three big screens 32

CAMRA Needs You

E

ver wondered what it is like to run a pub and serve a pint of real ale to a thirsty customer? Yes, well then why not volunteer to work at your next local or national beer festival?

Anyone and everyone can sign up to do this – you do not need any previous experience or expertise in beer/cider etc (although it may help when you inevitably get that question from the public asking “what do you recommend mate?” or “what beer style is this and what hops are in it” or “do you serve lager!!”).

CAMRA currently has over 154,000 members and over 5000 of those volunteer all over the country, involved with doing everything from running branches, organising and working at beer festivals, lobbying MPs, liaising with breweries, surveying pubs and a lot more. Some roles will involve attending branch and county meetings but many don’t. There is a job out there to suit all tastes and interests in the real ale community.

I have been an active CAMRA member and volunteer since February 2005 and during those 8.5 years I estimate that I have worked at over 70 beer festivals serving hundreds of pints.

The venues include our very own Swale supported events (Faversham Car Show and Hop Festival) to many others including Kent, Peterborough, Redhill, St Albans, London Drinker, Battersea, Ealing and of course the big one GBBF at Olympia (previously Earls Court).

The Great British Beer Festival

Photo by Andrew Kitney

Why do I do it? Well its simple – great fun, meet and talk to hundreds if not thousands of ale drinkers and brewers alike, plenty of benefits including free entry to festival, heavily subsidised food (if not free), plenty of beer vouchers to swap for half pints of ale, the odd taster (or two!!) when serving, free festival t-shirts and much more. If you volunteer to work at a festival but pulling pints is not your thing there are many other jobs you can volunteer to do – finance, glasses, CAMRA shop or behind the scenes.

Give it a go, even if you only manage a few hours, next time you attend a festival - you get a feeling of achieving something worthwhile and giving something back to the community.

For more information about getting involved visit www.camra.org.uk or look at the What’s On and Beer Festival listing pages in What’s Brewing, or failing that ask a fellow CAMRA member.

[AK]

Swale CAMRA Branch Meetings Your local branch holds open business meetings on the second Wednesday of each month. These meetings are held in a variety of different pubs around Swale.

At meetings we do follow an agenda, however discussions are light-hearted and we discuss ways that we can reach our campaigning objectives.

If you would like any further information about our meetings please check our website www.camra-swale.org.uk or contact Les Bailey on 01795 538824.

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A New Style of Campaign...

Get Involved!

T

he main objective of Swale Ale is to campaign on beer quality, styles and the preservation of pubs that sell outstanding beer.

In our branch the opportunity to purchase a wide range of real ales is improving and we are continuing to search for ways to encourage people to visit excellent pubs and try real ale.

As our membership is now closing in on our 400 target (well done Alex, membership secretary) we have a number of new challenges and opportunities. How do we: contact our members on a regular basis fit 20+ members into a small pub for a branch meeting encourage more people to join our cause distribute our magazine over the whole branch.

   

Our aim now is to continue increasing our membership and to provide more information to people in Swale about national and local campaigns.

Since our last edition we have seen particular success in publishing Swale Ale digitally.

This has enabled us to reach a worldwide audience. We have been surprised by new readers in Sweden and Australia, with our overall online operation reaching over one thousand people in the past three months.

Swale Ale is now available online at www.issuu.com/swaleale and can be read on a variety of devices including laptop and desktop computers, tablets and mobile phones.

Navigation around the magazine is touch sensitive and links to external content including pub websites, national campaigns and beer related sites. We are indebted to Keith at Ashford branch for introducing us to such an excellent system but are still interested in developing our own exciting ideas for campaigning.

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Recently branch members have been suggesting interesting and exciting methods of communicating with people. These suggestions have included:   

branch beer mats and bar runners post cards depicting local pubs/pub crawls transport maps identifying pubs in the locality.

We would love to have our own Swale CAMRA logo and I would like to include a greater number of high quality photographs and drawings created by those in the branch.

If you have a skill or talent and would like to contribute to Swale Ale or in the production of campaign material please contact us at swaleale@googlemail.com.

[KS]

More information on campaigning: www.camra-swale.org.uk www.issuu.com/swaleale

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36

Swale Mail My problems with bottle conditioned beer

B

ottle conditioned beer is a good thing isn't it? Well of course it is... as long as you know you've bought bottle conditioned beer and pour it carefully. There are at least four occasions in recent years, however, when I've bought a few bottles of beer to enjoy of an evening and not realised that one or more of them are bottle conditioned. The result is a very long way from the "nearly as good as being pulled from a cask" experience that can be achieved with careful pouring. Basically one is left with the following choices: 1. Drink it cloudy and yeasty - tastes unpleasant and may well give you a touch of the runs.

2. Throw it down the drain.

3. Try to get it back in the bottle and hope it will settle out after a couple of days.

I usually go for a combination of 1 and 2 - I'll try to drink it, get about a third of the way down, realise I'm really not enjoying it and throw the rest away. So why am I ruining and wasting good beer? Simply because the words "Bottle Conditioned" have been written microscopically small somewhere on the back label amongst a lot of other stuff I'm not going to read. Why can't brewers realise that it makes very good sense for all concerned to have such essential information clearly displayed on the label so that even my weak, alcohol degraded eyes can see it? Perhaps we need a CAMRA guideline for bottled beers to make this clear and obvious even for idiots like me; such as where to place the words "Bottle Conditioned" and how large they should be. It's not in my interest and it's not in the brewers' interest for me to pour

perfectly good beer down the drain just because the labelling isn't clear.

Keef Pankhurst

Swale Ale Response Keef, I see that your problem is not with bottle conditioned beer but rather the lack of information on the label. CAMRA has introduced a scheme which adds a logo to each bottle saying “CAMRA says this is real ale”.

This logo indicates that the beer you have chosen is part of the Real Ale in a Bottle Scheme.

If you are in any doubt about whether a beer is a real ale in a bottle, just hold it up to the light and see if it contains any sediment – the life-giving yeast that makes all the difference.

You can also refer to CAMRA’s Good Bottled

Beer Guide available to buy in our online shop at www.camra.org.uk/shop.

Almost all bottled real ales are made from just four natural ingredients: malted barley, hops, water and yeast – there are no additives or E numbers. Some of the main reasons for choosing bottle conditioned beer are: It's the nearest thing to a pint of real ale down at your local and it tastes great.

[KS]

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The Grumpy Landlord... ...on CAMRA members

N

ow CAMRA members are a fine body of people, and all in all are a force for good in the trade, but amongst their ranks you will find the odd one or two who take their interest to the extreme. One chap visited us this summer and told me that he is spending all his time off and holidays travelling around England intending to visit every CAMRA pub in England!

Then there are those who sit down with their pint, pull out well thumbed notebooks and proceed to tick off the beer they drink on their list, with points for presentation and taste. I call them beer spotters and award them one, two or three ‘anoraks’ depending on their eccentricity. One such enthusiast even asked me if I’d heard of the scheme where CAMRA members were given a discount. When I’d recovered from the shock of such offensive language being used in my establishment, I awarded her five ‘anoraks’ and sat her in the draughtiest corner of the pub, where she sat glowering at me over her pint.

We also have our fair share of CAMRA outings, with mini buses arriving from all corners of the country. I well remember the CAMRA party who arrived all eager and enthusiastic over the gravity fed ales displayed behind the bar. Beer was duly ordered and the cry went out for Fred – who was holding the whip. No Fred! After much discussion and a search of the bogs, Fred failed to appear, then one of the party had the bright idea of telephoning the previous pub. There was Fred, bless him, sound asleep in the garden with a contented smile on his face.

Fred was duly retrieved by the driver and was greeted with a rousing cheer when he arrived. “Some mates you are,” he grumbled, “I bet If I hadn’t had the whip you would never have thought about me – and now I’ve missed a round!”

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Gravity fed ale is becoming more available now with the advent of micro pubs, but it wasn’t so long ago that visiting members from the less enlightened areas of the country would go all misty eyed and wax lyrical when they saw the stillage behind the bar. One chap who hailed from north of Watford, gazed with open mouth at the array of real ales displayed temptingly before him. “Oh my,” he said, “I shall have to try them all”. He did – several times each – and when he left the pub, supported on either side by a burly assistant, the look on his face was enough to give any landlord that feeling of satisfaction achieved when you know you have made a beer enthusiast happy.

Our local branch members are pretty straight forward compared to some I’ve encountered, they enjoy good pubs and good beer and are usually pretty quick to point out if there is a problem and give praise where it is due – no ‘beer spotters’ in my lot. There are however one or two whose ruddy complexion and portly figures indicate an enthusiasm for real ale that goes beyond the call of duty!

Bless ‘em all though, the long and the short and the tall, keep up the good work.

Derek.

Grumpy Landlord of the Shipwrights Arms at Hollowshore

Advertising rates: Half Page £25 Full A5 Page £50 Minimum circulation 1000 Contact: swaleale@googlemail.com

THE THREE HATS MILTON REGIS Ever changing selection of cask ales Large Beer Garden Mobile Bar and Catering Service Available for Weddings, Christenings and Birthdays No Function too big or small Call Malcolm on 07764 842478 Three Hats, 93 High Street, Milton Regis, Kent, ME10 2AR

SWALE CAMRA PUB OF THE YEAR 2013

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THE BOWL INN

Come and relax and enjoy the good company and friendly atmosphere with a glass of fine ale - always 4 available.

We have a welcoming real fire & heated patio area.

Regular steak nights and live music.

For ‘what’s on’ please visit our website www.bowl-inn.co.uk We can also offer bed and breakfast accommodation with 5 en-suite bedrooms, including a garden room which offers full facilities for disabled guests and is dog friendly We are a 'dog and horse friendly' Inn Alan and Sue Paine Egg Hill Road, Charing, Ashford, Kent TN27 OHG Tel: 01233 712256 email info@bowl-inn.co.uk

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