Cultural(e)

This weekend and next sees buildings that are not normally open or fully open to the public being available for visiting. My chums at the THT are a cultural lot who also like a bevvy. A good mix. So today we are touring the 800 year old Rochdale Parish Church and then the Pioneers Museum, which commemorates the birth of the Co-operative movement in Rochdale in 1844.

Now the Co-op Museum just happens to be next door to the splendid Baum, my CAMRA Branch's Pub of The Year, so we'll be in to check quality.

It's a gorgeous day here and there is a beer garden. Sounds like a good day out to me.

Next week we are all off to London for a few days. Pub suggestions welcome. They've already sorted out culture.

Jumping!

I mentioned here about one of our better pubs not doing so well. As E had a work appointment in Manchester and was therefore at home earlier, we found ourselves walking up there again. We got there about seven and the pub was quite busy. When we left around a quarter to ten it was very busy indeed, with a celebration of some sort going on in the function room and the bar packed with ordinary drinkers. The smokers outside seemed to be plentiful too, a beautiful evening making up for their banishment outside. But let's not dwell on that.

Ironically the aforementioned landlady had a night off, but no doubt she enjoyed counting the takings later.

Holt's Nine

Ten years ago Holt's Brewery did some special stuff for their chosen charity. I remember paying a fiver to visit the brewery - by and large they don't do tours - and recall visiting the roof where hundreds of hogsheads (54 gallons) were stored. Our CAMRA lot, well some of them, visited nine Holt's pubs on 9/9/99.

Our Membership Sec recreated this yesterday on 09/09/09 and while due to other things I couldn't go on the whole crawl, I joined them for a quick burst of three pubs, two of which I hadn't been in before. The beer was good in all three and I tried both mild and bitter. It was great to see pubs busy at "tea time" and mild flying out across the bar. I haven't drunk Holt's for a little while now, but that'll be rectified. The mild at 3.2% is fairly bitter, but what a good drink. I can't recall the price, but both mild and bitter were substantially under £2 a pint.

For the record, the pubs were:

The Welcome, Whitefield; The Foresters, Prestwich; The White Horse, Prestwich.


The photos were taken last night. The poster just tickled me and was a Fire Brigade warning. Likewise the name of the pub above, still tricked out in Wilson's regalia, amused me too.

Oh Dear!

E has just phoned from London. She is unwell and though she reckons it it just a cold, she's been looking up swine flu symptoms on NHS Direct, so she must be worried. I hope she is right and that it is just a cold, but as she is due back here tomorrow night, I'm turning the spare room into an isolation ward, just in case.

And ordering a bell for her to wear round her neck.

Sing Something Simple

In Hirschaid, a dead and alive little town near Forchheim in Franconia is Brauerei Kraus. It has a good reputation and a decent sized beer garden. We located it easily enough and walked in past the pub itself and into the pleasant, tree shaded beer garden which doubled as the brewery yard. The brewery, a traditional tower affair, looked a good size.

Ordering from the hatch, I had an excellent kellerbier, while E started off on the pils which she liked. The place was busy at two in the afternoon with a good mixture of types. Suddenly singing started. From one corner, a group of old men, conducted by another old man, burst into song. These were traditional folk songs and were sung with obvious enjoyment, while being warmly appreciated by the audience. We all clapped at the break, while the old guys refreshed themselves with bier and schnapps. The final piece was recognisable as our National Anthem though obviously with different words. This confused some US Army civilians who clearly thought it was an American tune. It confused us for a moment too.

We supped our beers and enjoyed the simple pleasures of beer and bonhomie and joined in the well deserved round of applause when it all finished. Germany is full of surprises.

Proposed Advertising Ban

You can say what you like about an advertising ban on alcohol, but not to have clever stuff like this would be tragic, even if it does advertise some Carlsberg pisswater.

Good Greif

Our trip to four brewery Forchheim was uneventful despite the rail replacement bus that took us there. As the S Bahn line was being extended, no trains were running, but the efficient buses were fine, though DB seemed to have decided to oversee the operation with their dumbest employees, particularly at the Forchheim end.

Forchheim is a quite lovely town, with ancient buildings everywhere and a poignant Jewish memorial reminding us of darker times. A little river runs through it and we enjoyed the stroll round until, by happenstance, we arrived at Sattlertorstrasse where it seems there are two brewpubs. Actually, I'd been looking forward to this. We've been selling Neder beers at the GBBF for years and here was a chance to try them in situ. Next door was Brauerei Hebendanz which Ronbo mentions fondly and accurately here.

We started at Hebendanz, though noting it is now a smoking pub, E sat outside on the self service tables, while I braved the smoky interior. My first impression was that everyone had at least two cigarettes going at once, some maybe three. There is a corridor and one room and as Ron remarks, it is simply full of oddballs. I looked though the gloom, seeking out Ron's waxy faced pal, but he didn't seem to be there. No worry, there was plenty Adams Family escapees to be going on with. The kellerbier was tasty and cheap. I had two before we nipped along to Neder where no smoking is allowed and contrastingly, everything seemed normal. The kellerbier was fine, but not as good as that of Hebendanz. E didn't like it, so asked me to fetch her a bottle of pils. This is well within my German capabilities. A bottle was duly produced and I was then asked a perplexing question. It perplexed me, as I didn't understand a word of it. My blank look brought a reply in German. "Would I like a glass?" Now this part of Franconia has some impenetrable dialects - just try reading some of the handwritten notices - but this was it in action.

Having established that Greifbrau's pub along the street was closed for good and that Eichhorn was on a ruhetag (rest day) we walked up to the Josef Greif Brauerei where Ron mentions you can get a beer. You can. In an odd little garden, sandwiched beween the keg and bottling plants, there is a few tables and a hatch dispensing pils and kellerbier. Both were excellent and we watched the various beery goings on at the brewery happily enough, before a meal and some more beer in town.

Forchheim really is a great little town and recommended very highly, just watch out for the denizens of Hebendanz.

On our return to Bamberg I settled the conflicting information from the two DBahn eejits posted there about which of two buses left first, by simply asking in German "Is this first? Yes or no?" That sorted it!

Tories to Kill Cheap Beer for MPs

If the Tories win the next general election, it seems they will knock subsidised food and drink for members of parliament on the head.

That's shot RedNev's fox!

Copper Dragon Going Well

The MA reports that Copper Dragon Brewery of Skipton has increased its turnover by 50% over last year. Copper Dragon managing director Steve Taylor said: “This is supposed to be a slow time in the brewery trade but we are operating at near full capacity with our hand crafted cask ales and sales of our bottled range are going through the roof." I'd have thought they'd have used the doors myself, but there you are.

Nice to see another good news story from the cask ale front line and to see that Tyson's sterling supping has not been in vain!

The Morning Advertiser story is here.

Bamberg's Bier Kellers - Mahrs

It was almost dark by the time we got to the Mahrs Keller and we realised immediately that this smaller, more intimate keller was different to the other two. Good looking food, waitress only service and candles on all the tables, made it seem more like a pub with a garden restaurant. Nonetheless I enjoyed a couple of "Ungespundets" or simply "U" if you want to appear knowledgeable. E opted for some Silvaner wine, her favourite when she gets beered out.

We stayed until nearly closing time, then wandered back down the hill reflecting that it had been a worthwhile and pleasant way to spend and evening, but I'd probably choose the Mahrs Brewery Tap over the keller.

Next: Forchheim.

You will see that the menu is typical keller grub.

Steel City Brewing

Eagle eyed readers will have noticed that from day one of this blog, I have linked to Gazza Prescott's Beer Site, Scoopergen. Set up to explain that phenonemon known as scooping or ticking, it includes in great detail, Gazza's beery adventures. It is simply a must for anyone who takes his beer travel seriously.

Now Gazza is a hop man through and through. He loves Humulus Lupulus like I love my old mum, which is quite a lot. Unlike most old mums though, the hop can do interesting things to beer and Gazza, an experienced beer man, has decided with a fellow beery type and brewer, Dave Unpronounceable, to set up his own beer company, Steel City Brewing which will be based in Sheffield oddly enough. Unlike most breweries though SCB will be piggy backing on an existing brewery to produce beer, but the beer will be brewed to their own recipes by Gazza and Dave. Full details on the Steel City website.

The first brew will be brewed on 26th September and be ready two weeks later. It will be called Hop Manifesto to set out a stall for the new company's philosophy which is "We know what hops are for...". That should give you all a clue. Expect pale and very hoppy and NO crystal malt. The boys say they are inspired by Brewdog among others. Let's hope for great beer without great hype. I wish them all good fortune and hope they'll succeed, but even if they don't, there will surely be some hoppy marvels along the way. Can't wait to try some.

Good Luck Lads!

My thanks to Wurst for alerting me to this.

Hard Times

I had a long chat with one of my local landladies last night. In the best pub in town, on a Saturday night about eight o'clock, there was perhaps fifteen customers, so she had plenty of time. She tells me her trade has slumped since July, though she had previously been doing well. Weather is one possibility, but she reckons even in our somewhat down market town, it's the recession. Those with money are paying off debt and those "working class" people that are still employed, are doing their sums and buying at the supermarket. As she said to me when we worked out my four pints and E's four halves would have bought a bottle of cheap vodka and four cans of cooking from the supermarket, "for a lot that's a no brainer."

She is a manager running a tied house, so all is well for her at least? Not really, as she, rather than go with the company's standard menu, opted to rent the kitchen and do her own food. She has tried all kinds of meals and deals, but for her, it isn't working. Her salary subsidises the food operation. My advice? Hand that back to the company before the losses become unsustainable. She wants to hang on until Christmas though and her latest wheeze is a carvery. Good luck there.

This is an optimistic lass that knows what she is doing. She is not new to this game and should know about food, as she ran a restaurant in Ayrshire for six years, but you can see she is worried. Tenants are even more worried. It is a world away from £6 thirds of Brewdog at the Rake and drinking fancy dan beers at home and pontificating about them on blogs. This to me is the reality of drinking these days and I don't like where we're at.

For me beer and pubs are synonymous and I know whose side I'm on. I'll keep going to the pub and do my bit, but as I said in my title, these are "Hard Times".

One of the good things about going to London is, despite the general (but improving) lack of good beer, is that there is still a significantly better pub going attitude. It's partly geographical, but it's mostly about money. Still makes for a better pub experience in some ways.

Bonnie Gallowa'

Dumfries and Galloway is Scotland's overlooked corner. People zoom past it on the way to Glasgow, Edinburgh and the North, but it is stunningly beautiful, with neat little towns and villages that time has changed little. I (sort of) come from there. My grandparents lived in Castle Douglas until they died and my mother until she married and I spent all my summers there. It is brilliant, friendly and the beer is crap.

I took E there on a couple of nights of sentimental journey. It's the sort of thing you do as you get older and the reaper's figure is no longer such a speck in the distance. These things can be disappointing, but not here. CD is (externally) virtually unchanged, except for the Tesco which replaces the Railway Station, scandalously closed down by Beeching in 1964, taking my grandfather's job as signalman with it and some might say, his life too.

One thing CD didn't have when I was young, was a brewery. Sulwath Brewery is in the former home of Smart the Bakers. It doesn't tell you that, but I know. It has a neat little shop cum pub which dispenses brewery apparel, bottles and, from the bar, cask beer. That's the good bit. The bad bit is that frankly, the beer is pretty ordinary. Two cask ales were available on both days we called in. Black Galloway is a porter with potential, but had a sourish edge which was way too acetic for my palate, while The Grace was a so-so bitter of no distinguishing features, which did little for me. On both visits the place was full of English tourists presumably seeking a decent pint, plus the same two or three drunks blocking the bar. One might have been the owner I reckon. That wasn't good either. This brewery is missing tricks on all levels. It needs to sort out its beer and find a way of getting it in pubs. The area is jumping with thirsty English people, huntin', shootin', fishin', golfing and just touring. Tap into that I'd say.

You could do the enries in the GBG for Galloway in a day and a half if you tried hard. We tried three. The first was the Farmers Arms in Clarencefield. A nice little pub. The one beer? Greene King IPA! What's the point of that, but the place was festooned with Belhaven signs, so a bit of a clue there. The next was much better and a pub I was last in around 35 years ago. Had the Laurie Arms changed much? Blowed if I know, but I kind of doubt it. Pleasant service, good food and decent beer. Trade Winds from Cairngorm was pale and hoppy while we chatted to a long retired Royal Marine Colonel and his wife who were having a quiet lunchtime bottle of red. A good pub which also had Youngs Bitter on.

The next day brought two more GBG pubs. In Kirkcudbright, we visited the excellent and sparkling Masonic Arms though I passed on Roosters ( I haven't been impressed with their beers for a long time) in favour of Hoegaarden. The barmaid was very friendly and we eavesdropped on the local gossip on which small towns thrive. This did not intrude on excellent service.

Our last GBG pub was in beautiful Kippford on the Solway, where yachts bobbed on a twinkling sea. We passed the lifeboat station and its poignantly half mast flag, wondering why and into the Anchor Hotel. Sulwath Criffel which we'd already had elsewhere and is a weedy Black Sheep Bitter taste-alike, had to be passed over. The other offering was Deuchars IPA. I waited at the bar in a pretty empty pub, while the landlady tried to get a signal on the card terminal while not acknowledging my presence. When she finally got round to me, her one word was "Yes?" We supped our diacetyl bombs while she carried on loud local gossip with a man at the bar. The next customer got similar treatment, with the landlady - and it was the landlady I'm sure - continuing her conversation with the regular at the same time. We left the almost empty bar without a "thanks or a goodbye". It's touristy there, but that isn't an excuse. It is touristy everywhere there, yet we were met with courtesy, friendliness and interest everywhere else. This woman let the side down and that part of the world is important to me. She should be ashamed.

I'm not knocking gossip. It is the very life blood of a small community, but there is a right way and a wrong way!

Bamberg's Bier Kellers - Wilde Rose

Passing the famous Schlenkerla Brauerei where the best known of Bamberg's smoky beers is brewed, you walk up another impressively steep hill to the Wilde Rose Keller. Now this former brewery's keller is big and it is popular, particularly on a glorious evening. It is all self service which is to my mind, how a keller should be. We got a good seat in the middle to watch the dynamics of it all - a most diverting pastime. First we obtained beer. For me kellerbier, brewery unknown, though it seems to be made for Wilde Rose. Bloody good it was too. For E, Keesmann Herren Pils which while maybe not on top form, supplied her with a satisfactory drink. To accompany this we had a "kellerplatte" from the food counter. Thick slabs of black pudding with tongue, ham of various sorts, pate, cheese, a touch of salad and thick slices of course rye bread made a veritable feast, though E wouldn't touch the black pudding. All for €5. the beer was around €2.00 a half litre.

A lot of people were eating. Some from the food counter and many from their own picnics, which is a traditional and acceptable thing to do. These were most interesting. Old ladies all chipping in this and that while supping kellerbier and gossiping heartily, young families with their evening meal brought to be eaten in the dappled sunlight, a birthday party, with delicious looking (and huge) quantities of food, completed the scene with candles and tablecloths and stunningly pretty women. As the evening went on, the before work crowd of retired people made way for the after work crowd and families. One guy read a book while consuming a few beers and a kellerplatte and to our astonishment, later went up and bought a plateful of leberkaese - a meat loaf. Where did he put it? We were completely filled with our shared meal.

Later younger people arrived. All drank beer more or less. The atmosphere was convivial and jolly. It was delight to watch such a mixed crowd enjoying the outdoors and beer in such a civilised way. There was no horrid and unwanted music, no shouting, no drunkenness and no litter. The crowd was self policing, the children played happily in the play area while parents enjoyed a break. All was well with this Franconian world. We reflected sadly that such a thing wouldn't work in the UK. Our society just isn't structured that way any more.

We left with some regret. We had one more keller to visit.

Bamberg's Bier Kellers - Spezial

Much is written about Bamberg and its beery attractions and I did most of them again this time. One thing though I hadn't done much of before was to go to three of Bamberg's loveliest kellers, high above the town. It is a fairly steep hill which takes you up to the earliest opening keller, that of Spezial. Good job this was open, otherwise, we'd have had none - not a problem in E's view - as the Spezial pub was closed for "urlaub" or holidays. Yes my friends, the pub shuts for a couple of weeks at one of the busiest times of year, while they go on holiday. What you must remember though, is that a lot of German establishments are family run and that's just how they do things.

Once you get to the gate of the keller, promptly at 15.00, you walk up another steep gradient to the keller, where to your surprise, the place is already quite busy. How is this? Well there is another gate higher up on the road where the wise can go directly into the keller, thus stealing five minutes on those of us choosing the hill. This keller commands lovely views of the town and has two areas, one with waiter service and one without. We chose the latter and enjoyed - well I did - the slightly smoky kellerbier and the slightly smoky hefe weizen. Now I am not the biggest fan of smoked beer, but compared to my girl, I love it. Our visit was therefore relatively short, as E found the beer undrinkable. Nonetheless for its setting its well worth a look and if you like smoky beer, a must.

The top photo shows the self service area of the keller.