A Mixed Bag

I've written about the Castle in Furnival Street before. I like it as a pub. Hidden down a side street off Holborn, it is as you'd expect during the day, a haunt of business types in suits. I used to wear one you know; every working day for 30 odd years, so it still feels somewhat discomknockerating to feel out of place amongst them, by being dressed in mufti; but I digress. The pub is bright and airy, one single room, with a bar and many beers. I tried two of them in halves. Both were pretty flat and turgid looking, though fresh enough. Derventio Emperor's Whim, was as odd tasting as its name, while Dark Star Espresso had its light hidden under a bushel by poor cellaring and presentation. Not GBG quality on this visit.

I was tempted by the Mitre as I passed, but I decided to save that for the return journey. Instead, a ten minute walk to the Gunmakers and a cheery welcome from landlord Jeff Bell. Purity Mad Goose was on and this provided such a good return on investment quality wise, that my intended trip to the Mitre was forgone while Jeff and I caught up and discussed this and that. My pints - yes it was pints by then - were in tip top condition and properly pulled through a sparkler. Others at the bar were giving Woodeford's Wherry some serious biff, though their preference was an unsparkled pint. It still looked good though.

My plan was then to meet E after work. Her workplace now is in the heart of Soho. I'd not been down that way for many a year and had forgotten how interesting and diverse it is. After a cursory look at her anonymous building, E led me through a maze of narrow streets to the Old Coffee House, a pub leased by Brodie's Brewey and featuring their beers. The pub is wonderful, with every available space filled by bric-a-brac and photos. (Our spot featured some interesting handwritten letters by David Beckham from his early days at Man Utd.) Our beer choice was Amarillo which was clean, hoppy, cool, but slightly flat. It had condition, but somehow the presentation rendered a beer which entirely lacked even the merest trace of head. That just doesn't look attractive. I tried the Brodie's IPA too, which was decent enough, but lacked character and oomph. Still, overall, rather good. They even had smoky bacon crisps, so what's not to like? I'll be back.

So, as the title says, a bit of a mixed bag. This ends my little trilogy of London GBG articles, but I'll leave you with this thought. My visits are a snapshot and may or may not be representative of the pubs taken over a longer period and more experiences, but most people use the GBG for just such one off visits. For them that's how it is.

Pretty Good Really

A quick ten minutes walk towards London Wall takes me to two Good Beer Guide boozers in the same street - well I say the same street and it is, but with two different street names. The first, the Nicolsons operated Crutched Friar, is an interesting place and is so popular with suits that you will feel completely out of place if you aren't wearing one. There's a good selection of decently priced beer here. My two halves, one Thornbridge Lord Marples and the other of Brewdog Punk IPA were rather warm and poorly conditioned. Shame. I don't care for Lord Marples at the best of times and this wasn't the best of times. The Punk was grapefruity and alcoholic, but didn't impress either. Not good for a busy pub, where cask beer was turning over pretty well.

It was a different story fifty yards away at the Ship, a neat little one room pub, which despite a rather pedestrian choice of beer, seemed well run and popular. The ubiquitous Doom Bar, Courage Best, Spitfire and Butcombe hardly enthrall, but you could see they were well looked after. Cool, sparkled and bright was the order of the day. My Butcombe Bitter was brown. It was spot on condition and temperature wise, but tasted of virtually nothing. While you may dislike the choice, you couldn't argue with the quality and cellarmanship.

A further ten minutes walk took me along the astonishingly busy Fenchurch St, where heads turned, including mine, as a girl in a short crimson dress walked across the road, a vivid contrast to the dark suited (male and female) conservatively dressed mass. At the end, a right turn and into the Crosse Keys, a large JDW. Two beers tried here; Bateman's Autumn Ale and RCH Old Slug Porter. Both were cool and in GBG form, but why nothing pale and hoppy with 21 beers on offer?

Back towards home now and the White Swan in Alie St. Now readers of this blog will know I'm no fan of Shepherd Neame's beers, but the Whitstable Ale, though predictably harsh, had some leafy hop and was cool and well conditioned. Whether it was worth an astonishing £3.40 a pint is an entirely different matter, but no other complaints.

Last port of call was the Dispensary in Leman St, where a half of the new Truman's Runner was slightly warm, but well conditioned, though to my taste a bit too malty. The bitter, hoppy finish did make up for it somewhat, but that elusive "drinkability" just isn't there. My final half was from Dark Star. Oktoberfest was a bit dark compared to the current Munich offerings, but was made with German malt and hops, with a full bodied bitter finish. It was pretty decent really, as you'd expect from this brewery. It was cool too.

So there we have it. Five GBG pubs visited and four were up to snuff and one just wasn't. I guess that's probably par for the course, but I'll try the Crutched Friar again soon. All in all, a good result for the Good Beer Beer Guide.

Testing the GBG in London

I'm in London for a few days. Despite it being my other home, I kind of regard it as a holiday, so like on all holidays, I'm going to have a few beers. In the pub of course, though my fridge here has one or two beers that need supping soon. (Rogue Shakespeare Stout and Stone Russian Imperial Stout might make an interesting comparison I suppose, but if I drank two very large bottles of those, I might be a bit pissed.) So it's the pub.

Where to go is the problem. I'm going to use my new Good Beer Guide 2011 (GBG)I think and see where that leads me. The good news for pubs is that my Cask Marque thermometer's whereabouts cannot be determined, so it'll just be "too warm" or "temperature fine", or, in extreme cases, "very warm". I have already made a start though. I popped into the Bree Louise as I passed. Now this pub has a very bad record, so I wasn't expecting much. My first half of Adnam's Koelner was murky and undrinkable and was exchanged for a rather tasty (but way too warm) half of Dark Star Espresso, so no improvement there. Later I had a pint of Itchin Valley Single Hop (Cascade) which was served in top condition and lacked only hops! That was in my local JDW, Goodman's Field, which like the Bree Louise, unaccountably has Good Beer Guide status. Unlike the Bree Louise, it did have good beer on this occasion.

Later if I'm up to it, I'll stroll across Tower Bridge and seek out Dredgie who is apparently haunting the area tonight. E has (so far) declined to accompany me for that excursion, as she has work tomorrow. I don't of course. Retirement has many advantages.

Oktoberfest 2010

Today I received some photos of the Oktoberfest from my friend Moyra who has lived in Munich for many years. She took them today (yes I know they say 3rd October, but that's what she said), though as far as I know she doesn't drink beer. Can't exactly guarantee that mind you, since I haven't seen her since 1972!

I have already complained to her that she hasn't included enough young women in dirndls, but you can't have everything I suppose. Nonetheless I was struck by the first photo. It isn't often you see an Oktoberfest tent this quiet. This contrasts with yesterday when the area was closed to visitors with beer tents and beer gardens in the area having to be closed for several hours due to overcrowding. The historic Wiesn area was packed within 45 minutes of opening and the entrance was closed by noon. On Saturday though the 800,000 crowd got ugly according to police with the "folksy" mood being lost and incidents with beer mugs rising as the jam-packed atmosphere (and copious drinking) frayed tempers. Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that the number of assaults with the festival’s famous one-litre glass beer mug rose from 38 last year to 60 this. Somehow, the thought that I might be brained by a maßkrug at Oktoberfest hadn't occurred to me. I'll bear it in mind now.

It all ends tonight in perfect weather and hopefully perfect tempers!

Additional material from The Local

Hawkshead Brewery

Picture yourself in a rain sodden Cumbrian village on an October Wednesday. This is power shower rain, drumming down relentlessly, with the kind of ferocious insistence that makes you wonder if you should start building an ark. Fortunately for us, we weren't seeking a cup of tea refuge from a tent or caravan, nor traipsing some God forsaken Cumbrian fell, but heading for a beery bright light in all the gloom, the Hawkshead Brewery Hall in Staveley.

I first encountered the building last year when judging beer at the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) North competition and was very glad to be back. It is in a somewhat unlikely location, just off the single main road, in an industrial estate, amongst all sorts of other odds and ends of business, in what is a small Cumbrian village, much as any other. It can probably be fairly described as a large metal shed. But this a actually a rather remarkable place. The brewery and hall are the brainchild of Alex Brodie, a former BBC Foreign Correspondent, who exchanged a life of danger, for the perhaps just as precarious, but less fatal career of micro brewing. He started out in Hawkshead itself, but soon outgrew his previous premises and moved here. It is very impressive. Belying its external industrial look, it is all light wood and metal inside, with benches and wooden tables and a warm atmosphere. The stainless steel, German built brewery is off to one side and can be seen through viewing panels. The barstaff are friendly and welcoming.

When we called Alex was in a meeting, so we sampled the beers on offer. There were five Hawkshead beers on the bar, but we all plumped for Windermere Pale, a 3.5% golden coloured hoppy ale, more of which later. Despite what might be thought of as a remote location, on a bad midweek day, the hall was fairly busy. Apparently it is packed at weekends. It also holds a couple of large beer festivals each year, which are always sell-outs. It is clearly doing something right. We marvelled at our beer. It was pale, golden, properly conditioned and clear as a bell. It packed in so much hoppy taste and wasn't, unlike a lot of weak beers, thin. It was superb. Hawkshead Bitter is its "big" brother. It's a proper light brown session beer, with a good body and an easy drinking style, through to a bitter lingering finish, weighing in at only 3.7%. We were to encounter it again many times in the forthcoming days and it didn't disappoint once.

When Alex joined us for a pint, we asked him about the Windermere Pale. It has a complex hopping regime he says, with Fuggles, Styrian Goldings and Bramling Cross among others, but it is the addition of the wonderful Citra hop that really brings this beer to your notice. Alex is brimming with energy and enthusiasm. Despite having a beer that would make other brewers weep with jealousy he says " I think we can squeeze a bit more flavour in." We discuss the Citra. He has bagged what he reckons is the lion's share of what is still available in the UK. A definite "A" for foresight there.

Nor is Alex a man to rest on his success. He takes us round the existing brewery, then through a plastic curtain to the large unit next door, which is being transformed into a brewery extension, further bar, kitchen and shop. No cobbled together job this, with hand crafted ash everywhere and in pride of place, two towering, gleaming, 75 barrel dual purpose fermenters/conditioning tanks, needed as they simply can't keep up with current and projected demand. It is very impressive. Heading back to the brewery we look at the brewing operation. After fermentation all the beers are held in conditioning tanks for three days. This allows the beers to mature a little and to drop out some more trub. It makes them astonishingly clear and clean tasting, while allowing a very healthy viable yeast count for secondary fermentation. It is this kind of attention to detail which makes the beer so good.

Back in the bar we try the remaining beers and discuss the forthcoming Great Northern Beer Festival, which Alex is organising from the SIBA end. I'm involved too. It's an ambitious project and I'm glad that Alex is the SIBA man. You just know he'll pull it off. He's that kind of person. As Alex heads back to work, we have a taste of the Organic Stout which impresses too, before braving the elements once more. By this time, the rain has reduced to a downpour and we head to the local pub for lunch. Of course Hawkshead Bitter is on the bar.

It really is heartening to see a brewery doing so well with what might be called mainstream beers. We encountered them all over Cumbria and it was easy to see why they are so popular. While there is always a place in brewing for innovation, extremes and odd ingredients, there can still be success to be had by making beers that aren't too strong and that people want to neck by the pint. Long may it remain so.

Alex is second left with the "boys".

Cumbrian Capers

I'm off on my annual trip with the boys (well old men actually) tomorrow. Ulverston and Broughton are the destinations. We are expecting some very poor weather and some very good beer.

Tomorrow sees us, among other places, in both the Watermill at Ings and the Hawkshead Brewery Beer Hall for lunch and if it works out, a chat with Alex Brodie, the owner. We have a designated driver, so no good or classic pub on the way need be missed. Should be an excellent couple of days. Wednesday night sees us in Broughton where we also expect good beer and possibly, a meet with the leg-end that is Dave Bailey.

I'll send the odd tweet, but signals are dodgy in the sticks.

Dave - I'll tweet you directly in advance

Be My Guest

From her lofty perch in the Pennine outpost of Delph, an excited Landlady rings me. She has just been to Blackburn - no that's not what she was chuffed by, though it isn't as bad as you might imagine - but her visit to Blackburn was to Thwaites Brewery where she and other leading cask pubs in the Thwaites estate were given some excellent news. Thwaites, who I have mentioned before, are upping their cask game, announced to the agog throng, that in addition to an enhanced seasonal and occasional range, a choice of guest ales from other brewers will be provided by the brewery. The Landlady is delighted. She wasn't sure at the time of speaking, what the guests would be, but Bateman's, St Austell and Champion Beer of Britain, Harvest Pale were mentioned.

Today, as if to confirm, the press release from Thwaites popped into my in box. It will feature 16 artisan ales from Daniel Thwaites’ Signature range of ales. as well as 16 guest beers from a range of brewers. The Landlady can't wait.

It seems that this will be part of a reciprocal arrangement, so Thwaites beers will get greater exposure too. This has become a feature of rather a lot of small brewers and has the potential to increase sales all round. Here in Manchester, Hydes and Holts do it, Robinsons as far as I know don't and Lees definitely don't. Will that change I wonder?

Nagging Worry

Since the publication of the Cask Report yesterday, there has been a flurry of comment on blogs including this one. My perception is that the overall feeling among commentators is one of cautious optimism, which is I reckon, the overall tone of the report itself. In blogging comment the report has had largely favourable and positive reaction, though some have been keen to push their own interests in bottled and(quality) keg beer, which is not covered by the report at all. (That's what they are complaining about.) The ever practical Cookie did though knock wind out of sails, by pointing out the inconvenient truth, that no matter how well it is doing, at 15% of the on trade, cask pong is still running far behind lout.

The analysis in the Cask Report itself is pretty compelling stuff though, suggesting that good though things are, we are in for better times still, with a shift towards younger and smarter people drinking the real stuff, while (presumably) the less enlightened head for Tesco and Sainsbury for their slabs of yellow fizz. Less reassuring, nay worrying, is the section on "Barriers to Cask Beer Growth" which makes dismal reading really, as does the trend analysis, with 38% of so called cask beer drinkers confessing to "hardly ever drinking it." Not exactly reassuring or a cause for optimism. A red light blinks in the mind too, as we consider the warnings about quality which is still a major trade issue. Nonetheless there is overall a pretty encouraging tale to tell, with more pubs selling it, more younger people and more women drinking it, CAMRA membership booming, real ale becoming a "must have" and increasing sales figures.

The Cask Report is good news, but there remains a worry that any cask beer boom will be followed by a cask beer bust, as quality, already a problem in many places, lags behind expectations and creates a destructive perception of the product. It's what has happened before. It mustn't be allowed to happen again.

Cask on the Up

The Cask Ale Report 2010 has been published. It will take a fair bit of reading before I have fully absorbed its contents, but suffice to say it is good news that cask continues to outperform the market with 3000 more pubs selling it since the last report, an increase in volume of 5% against a market decline of 2% for other beers and a tendency towards it by younger drinkers. All in all good news.

One or two things caught my eye. I was interested, as I always am in regional variations. The fact that 41.8% of all cask is sold in London and the South East is hardly a surprising one given the increasing move to cask by more affluent ABC1 types as mentioned in the report. Somewhat surprisingly given that backdrop, cask volumes in London fell, though not nearly as much as here in the North West, where a 6.2% decline took place. The London drop is surprising given the claims that London is becoming, according to some, firmly on the UK Beer Map once again. (This, by the way, has seemed to possibly have a basis i wishful thinking and may be the subject of a blog post at a later date.)

It was particularly pleasing too to see a piece in the report on beer quality, which is a pet subject of mine. Some practical and useful advice is offered as is advice about where to go for more help on the subject. Cask beer quality is immensely important if we are to consolidate and make further progress. The report recalls that the last surge in cask foundered on quality concerns. (Given that, I was surprised to see on page 22, that the prospect of warm beer wasn't one of the non cask ales drinker's considerations. Aren't they in for surprise in some places?)

One note of slight displeasure is the assertion that cask ale isn't expensive enough; that publicans are missing out on margin; that most drinkers feel they should pay more for cask than Carling. This is a complex argument which couldn't be readily covered in the report I suppose, but I'd suggest that once you add in other factors which affect the price and quality of the pint, the results may be a little different. It's all in the question you ask. Still, that's just a quibble.

So. Do read the report.* It's positive, well put together, contains a lot of fascinating statistics, puts cask beer firmly in the limelight and is a credit to its author Pete Brown.

*One slight black mark. As I finish this at 9.40, the official website doesn't have the report available, but you can get it from the Publican here.

You All Right There?

I approached the bar of the pub where I'd gone for a quiet drink with E after taking her to see her bereaved aunt. In a piece of deja vu, the barmaid asked me an identical question to the one I'd been asked at the same bar, by a different barmaid, exactly a week ago. The question was "You all right there?". Having responded to the same question last time by assuming my general well being was not being enquired about, but the question could be translated as saying in a roundabout way, "What would you like?" I decided to answer her question by having a little gentle fun with her. "Not so bad really" quoth I. She was nonplussed and there was an uneasy standoff for a brief second until I added (with a smile) "But I'd be even better with a pint and a half of bitter".

She still looked slightly puzzled. I know of course that an old git like me trying to have a joke with most young women is a nil sum game, but I reflected that one barmaid saying this rather odd question to a customer was, well odd; and two saying it odder. I suppose one copied the other.

What's wrong with "What would you like?" or "What can I get you?"

Not April the First

Tell me please, that if you saw this bollocks on April Fool's Day that you wouldn't be taken in by it? What kind of moron would drink this stuff?

Surely it's a spoof?

Cheeky Devils

Carling brewer Molson Coors has decided not to process supplier invoices until 90 days after receipt. The Forum of Private Business today included the brewer in its "Hall of Shame" for the move, which took effect this month. FPB spokesman Phil McCabe said many small businesses couldn’t afford to wait so long in order to be paid. Molson Coors finance director David Heede said: "There is a fundamental challenge for the beer industry – the total beer profit pool is down approximately 30% over the last five years. As part of a global initiative on working capital, we are changing our Supplier Payment Terms from 1 September.

So there you have it. "We as brewers are suffering, so you as a supplier have to wait over three months for your payments". The article doesn't say if MolsonCoors would be just as happy to wait three months for money owed to them, or, how they'd feel if told by someone ordering a pint of Carling, "I'll pay you in 90 days".

Would they think it such a great idea then I wonder?

The Morning Advertiser and the Publican both have the story.

Busy Tied Houses

Prevailing opinion is that to succeed in the pub business, generally you have to be free of tie, or if not, the only pub for miles around and in a highly populated area. I know - not always the case - but I'm sure you recognise the broad picture I'm painting.

On Friday evening, a time when I am rarely in the pub due to "meeting E at the station duties", I met with a fellow CAMRA committee member to discuss some business. We decided to kill two birds with one stone and rendezvous in a conversion from smooth to cask. The pub is tied to Thwaites and at 7 pm it was heaving. We found a relatively quiet spot in the games room with our (excellent) pints of Wainwright, but lasted only 30 minutes or so before sheer weight of numbers and the volume of conversation drove us out. We decamped along the road to a Lees pub, hoping to try the new seasonal offering, Fool's Gold and complete our form filling. The pub was again full to bursting, with nowhere to sit in the lounge and just two seats in the packed vault. We squeezed into them enjoying the very bitter Fool's Gold and doing our best to finish our business against an atmospheric background of happily supping customers. It took us back to the old days, so beloved of Curmudgeon, when most pubs were like this and was heartening in the extreme.

It did make us realise though that pubs are regretfully rarely like this, but nonetheless we both felt real delight to see them doing so well.

The pubs were: Thwaites' Hare and Hounds, Oldham Rd, Middleton; Lees' Rose of Lancaster, Haigh Lane, Chadderton

Sneak Preview

It's almost time for all the pub snobs out there to don their most disdainful sneer. J D Wetherspoon is running its second beer festival of the year from October 27th to November 14th. As usual there will be up to 50 beers available and the provisional list looks rather impressive. The usual clutch of "brewed for the festival" beers will be joined by a handful of foreign brewers, strutting their stuff on the British stage, either with one off brews or tweaks of beers for which they are already well known.

Perhaps one of the most interesting of these is a 5% version of the famous Lion Stout* from Sri Lanka which will be brewed at Marstons and promises " roast malt, chocolate and coffee and a lingering silky finish". Other exotics include a blonde beer brewed by two of Sam Adam's brewers using "fresh from the field", East Kent grown Cascades that will go from bine to kettle in "a matter of hours" to flavour a 5.1% very pale beer. As you might imagine, Shepherd Neame will host this effort. Chestnuts feature in Castagnale, by Leonardo Di Vicenzo, to be brewed at Everards; juniper in a beer brewed at Caledonian; and New Zealand hops in Steenhuffel Blonde from Palm, which will be specially imported and casked.

Notable British beers include Brew Dog Edge, Ettaler Cask Lager (using the original yeast, but brewed by Cotleigh), Thornbridge Lumford, Titanic New York Wheat Porter, Pixley Black (based on a 1900 Wadworth's recipe) with pure blackcurrant juice and Lees Chocoholic, made with real chocolate and chocolate malt and, for the nostalgic, Young's Ram Rod.

So if you are of the toffee nosed persuasion, put the dates in your boycotting book now. Everyone else, I think, will be looking forward to it. I am anyway.

* Lion Stout used to be sold in cask conditioned form at the brewery tap in Sri Lanka, so nice to see it back on handpump.

Proper Lout

It is bottom fermented, unfiltered, unpasteurised and lagered for three months. Served cold and from a keg, it's bloody excellent too. Way better than most British brewers lager efforts.

Of course Tony Allen of Phoenix knows how to brew good beer. That helps a lot.