Things Go Swimmingly at the Baths

Take a wonderful venue like Victoria Baths, with its tiled splendour offset by decay that has not yet been reversed by renovation and you have a star that possibly outshines any hirer and indeed, makes you wonder  in the conext of IndyManBeerCon, if the venue  is the event and whether it would be able to survive unscathed a change to somewhere less impressive.  There is something about wandering the three old swimming pools, the tiled corridors and the ornate splendour augmented by subdued lighting that makes you feel well disposed to the place and therefore well disposed to whatever is being hosted within.

There is little doubt too that the second IndyManBeerCon has captured many a youthful imagination and already there have been glowing reviews and a positive flurry of congratulatory tweets.  But what about an old cynic like me?  Was it all it was cracked up to be?

There was a change around this year with all three pools being pressed into use and a mixed bag of cask and keg together on the same bar, rather than separate bars for each.  That worked as well as could be expected and is in keeping with the way that the best craft bars operate, so no complaints there.  There seemed too to be less choice than last year, with the offerings being different depending on which night or day you went and a separate beer list for each night.  You had to like strong beers or somewhat experimental beer of just over 3%,  much of which was of a taste that you'd struggle to acquire.  Something just to drink at a modest yet suppable strength was like hen's teeth, rather hard to find.  An exception was Quantum NZ Light which while excellent is still no Windermere Pale, which is the benchmark for this sort of thing.  In my case I had to wait until the alcohol kicked in to be really able to loosen up a bit.  I'm used to pints of a lot weaker beer.  Funnily though on Thursday as I scanned the crowd, I felt quite at home.  Hipsters were few and far between and it was a rather mixed CAMRA fest like crowd that attended.  There were of course one or two worrying hipster proclivities in evidence, though mostly behind the bar.  E thinks she's spotted a new and unwelcome trend of twirly moustaches to accompany ironic beards.  I kid you not. Just when you thought things couldn't get worse.

There were plenty of people I knew which always makes a festival nicer and plenty of gossip too, none of which I can repeat here.  There were surprising omissions too. Hardknott Dave was there but his beer wasn't, edged out perhaps by even more trendy newcomers. A fickle business this craft keg.  BrewDog were hidden away on a main bar this time and the better for it.  Brewers aplenty served beer and talked about it.  It is one of the abiding upsides of this festival that it attracts brewers to work behind the bar in such numbers.  I wonder though what's in it for them?  You can understand a session, but to work at them all suggests it is either extremely enjoyable or that's just the cheapest (or most lucrative) way to do it.  Either way it's a strange one. 

Food was excellent according to a slightly tottery E, who needed to recover from strong beer and the place was pleasantly busy but not packed which made navigation easy.  Perhaps that's the fire regs, but hey, it worked. Prices (by token) were erratic to say the least.  A 4.8% beer? Two tokens.  A 10.5% one - two tokens?  Strange, but then I have no idea what the structure is, who pays for what, or who sets the prices. I'm equally aware that your average crafteratti is pretty well price blind, a fact that doesn't escape brewers attention. With a minimum price equivalent to three quid a pint, rising to north of £7, that has to be a given.  Certainly one or two more traditional festival attenders told me they found the cost a bit ouchy.

So what were the beery stars?  Thornbridge had a very solid set of offerings from Otter's Tears, a tribute to the late Simon Johnson, a soda water like Berliner Weisse and my beer of the festival, a10.5% Imperial Raspberry Stout.  I liked BrewDog's dark beers too, particularly Hello My Name is Mette Marit and the new Dead Metaphor was rather good too.  I reckon that they brew dark beers much better than they brew paler ones.  Magic Rock were solid but E lamented that their keg offerings lacked the taste of their cask ones and beers from First Chop and Cromarty didn't disappoint.  Dipping in randomly. you did feel though that in many cases you were paying for brewer's experiments.  It isn't that there were many duds, but so many oddities and at times, a curious sameness.

Some of the hyperbole is just that, but IndyManBeerCon was a lot of fun and is a "must go to" fixture, though it is quite possibly a little bit more of a curiosity to the likes of me than a line drawn beyond the rest of beer festivals - unless he means the new wave ones - as one giddy blogger alleged on Twitter..

And after third pints of strong keg beer you might just need a proper pint of cask to remind you that beer is something to sup as well as sip.

I'll be back next year though.  I had a great time with some really nice people and that's what really counts.

Sneak Preview

Well not that sneaky really.  The Regal Moon in Rochdale is one of JDW's flagship ale houses.  It is shutting for some refurbishment soon and was granted permission to start the October JDW Fest a bit early.  Chris, the manager, had promised  us that the most sought after beers, those brewed by foreign (in this case American) brewers would be there in force.  And so it came to pass.

Now I often go to JDW on Wednesday nights, but it was a surprise to see Tyson and his retinue of attendants already there and ticking for all they were worth. Think thirds.  The jungle drums could be heard in deepest Bury it seems and they'd charged over the hill (very appropriate) just to steal a march.  Incidentally while the Regal Moon was fairly busy, I noted that the nearby and almost as big Yates had not a soul in it as I passed.  Funny that, but then again, maybe not if you own the place.

Tyson has already named and shamed and as I often do, I mostly agree with his assessments. I'll add a couple of my own thoughts though. To my palate the Ninkasi Cream Ale was a bit like souped up Deuchars IPA, but not really in a good way, being a touch on the cloying side.  The Ballast Point presumably used Marston's yeast and water.  It certainly was a dead ringer for most Marston's beers and unless sulphur is a joy to you, that isn't a good thing.  Brewing these foreign beers in breweries with a particularly distinctive yeast is probably not a world beating idea.

Mind you, the exception was Stone Supremely Self Conscious Black Ale which is possibly the most stunning beer that Wetherspoons have ever had brewed for them.  Adnams yeast was drowned (a good thing in this case)  in a massive hop attack.  Dark as the ace of spades and with a great body, it drank superbly.

I could still taste it on the bus on the way home.  And that too was a good thing.   Seek it out.  

The Elysian Avatar Jasmine IPA was at 6.3% a bit of an aquired taste, but my advice is to give it a chance. The jasmine is quite pronounced

Back to Cask

After an exciting fly past over our flat - thanks British Airways - above and beyond and all that - we landed safely at London City Airport. I like LCY and fly from there whenever I can and the added bonus of a low level approach on the Eastern runway is possibly the most thrilling flight you can have and still wear the same underpants afterwards. Is it really that low? Well seems so.

The other bonus is a quick DLR ride to Tower Gateway and then we are home. Spain is left behind but the memories remain. Cruzcampo is just about tasteless. San Miguel is dry and can be not bad, Alhambra is tasteless and Mahou is just a bit better - the best of a bad lot, but nowhere as good as Lees Original Lager which I have been known to sup with pleasure. You can see what I'm thinking can't you? I need a pint of cask conditioned beer. But I'm in London. I think of my nearest pubs. Am I going to go to the Brown Bear with its dodgy warm beer? No fear. What about the Princess Of Prussia? I like that as a pub, but seriously, do you want your first cask pint after 15 days to be overpriced Shepherd Neame? Certainly not. What about Goodman's Field? A lottery on choice and quality? The Draft House in Seething Lane? It'll be warm likely as not. So what then? It must be within walking distance and have the certainty of quality. I think and say to E "What about a walk to The Pelt Trader?" E she say "Yes".

I've written about the Pelt Trader here and as a bonus, it is now firmly established, thus guaranteeing turnover.  The cellar is in capable hands and as a bonus,  my favourite and toppest barmaid in London* works there, adding even more quality to the already excellent team.  So we are on. Outside are suits galore. Inside is a much more mixed bunch of drinkers. I am greeted warmly at the bar and spot Stringers Gold on sale. No need to taste - it'll be good. Clean, spicy, cool, well conditioned, the beer is as good as it can be without a sparkler and a handpump. It barely touches the side and is repeated. I try a taste of Arbor Motueka, the follow up pint of which confirms a long held view which I am foolish enough to ignore on many an occasion. That is, a small taste tells you little. The beer itself is a disappointing thin effort of 3.8% with a dose of New Zealand hops to overcome its poor base. It works on almost no level. Ah cask. You lift me up and dash me down. E had fared much better with Tiny Rebel Fubar at 4.4%. Hoppy, pale, a body like a Strictly professional and just as enjoyable. I switched to it and it was a fine finish as grub beckoned.

Next day, at the Euston Tap on the way home, I enjoyed two superb pints of Buxton Moor Top. When in London, though very much improved in recent years,  you still have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your Princess. That's a worrying fact, but you can minimise your chances by careful selection. Both the PT and the ET fall into that category. They are also two of the few places where, with a pint and a half of under 4% beer, you are likely to get change from a fiver.  

Quality and value. In London. Pinch me, but trust me!

* @kirstariffic of course.  Ex Holburn Whippet.  Another good bet and all linked.  Funny that.

Greene King - Craft Brewer?

While many of us in the blogosphere are getting a bit tired of all this "what is craft?" stuff,  a long foreseen development is, well, developing.  Greene King is to open a £750,000  “innovation brewhouse” at its Bury St Edmunds brewery for experimenting with different craft beer styles.

"Now this isn't new" you'll hoot - and it isn't, as some other fairly large breweries have done so, not least of all, Thwaites and Brains, who have both produced excellent stuff from their breweries within breweries. But GK is much bigger and the very entrance of such a big brewer to the so called craft market may dilute (in the eyes of some at least) the value of the term even more than it already is. As the brewery will include a packaging plant, it seems clear they are aiming at the take home trade as well as the on trade and are looking to compete across all boundaries. Muddy waters are going to be even more muddy soon it seems.

One thing the big breweries do have is fully trained brewers with a huge back up from technical and laboratory boffins, sales and marketing.  They are unlikely to produce dodgy beer and if they give the brewers their head, they'll take market share.  A worry for some perhaps?  While you may view this as a good or bad thing depending on your point of view,  the setting up of this brewery is evidence at least that the big boys are sitting up and taking notice and as these things take time to procure and set up, they have clearly been sitting up and taking notice for quite some time.

Everyone else should too.

Set to open on 20 November and beer available from next year. Photo from GK's own website.

More Dobbin Nonsense

When tidying out my garage yesterday, I came across this forgotten piece of Dobbin memorabilia. Odd in some ways, but that's Brendan for you. Note too the warnings about excessive consumption of alcohol.  

He always did that.

I think that's it for Dobbinerana now.  Probably.

Unspoiled by Progress

Did you know that Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire has one of the biggest lesbian populations per head in the UK? Well it does. I am not sure what attracts them to this neat and straggling little town on the Calder Valley, but then I wouldn't would I? For those interested in such things, the Rochdale Canal also flows through it, though I suppose it would be a long, tiring swim back, so it is good that bus from Rochdale, the 590, accepts Greater Manchester First Day Savers. Lesbians notwithstanding, the attraction for us was a day out across the border in Yorkshire, to visit twee shops, walk around, have a bite to eat and a few pints.

The day started off badly as we missed the hourly bus by a few seconds, but arriving an hour later, I confused myself and E by mixing the place up with Sowerby Bridge, therefore finding it impossible to find that pub by the canal I'd been in a couple of years ago.  It's a mistake anyone can make and once my phone had been consulted, all was revealed, so changing our plans we made for Stubbing Wharf which is a perfect canalside pub in every way.  Delightful inside and out, a great range of beers, cheerful old locals and bloody muzak.  What on earth is that for?  The group of local old gents, discussing Syria called on the barmaid to change it to Frank Sinatra since "I know you are not allowed to turn it off".  Black mark for that.  For a good description, I recommend that you read this article from beer writer Arthur Taylor (one of my CAMRA branch members) in the Daily Telegraph.

A bit more wandering around and we felt hungry, so at random we called into the White Swan, just in time as lunchtime service was about to end.  A extremely diminutive barmaid of the old school served us with a cheerfulness that was obviously inherent.  Beer was from Black Sheep and somewhat oddly, from Everards, with their Sunchaser being served, as was the Black Sheep,through an autovac, which to my mind, though it does give a beautiful creamy head, has a tendency to flatten the beer a tad.  The two roomed pub, with a bar area and what we'd have called a lounge at one time, was rather empty, though a few popped in from time to time for a quick glass.  Food prices were as old fashioned as the service and portions plentiful.  You'd be stuffed for under a fiver.
The barmaid, and later the owner, chatted to us.  I remarked that I'd last been in around five years ago and that it hadn't changed a bit.  She agreed, adding ruefully "The only thing that's changed around here is me and I've just got older - and it won't change either as long as I'm here". Good for her.

We supped our beer happily and ate our meals, served by an astonishingly pregnant young woman who was teased about her size by the barmaid.  There was a juke box too. Oddly enough it was one of these modern ones that has every record ever, tucked in a corner by the bar.  I put on some 60's stuff (5 for a pound) and the elderly barmaid sang along happily.  It was just perfect in its warmth and simplicity.

We left with considerable reluctance, but the 590 is only one an hour, it takes a while and having missed one that day, I didn't want to miss another.

I was also able to buy a couple of bottles of Henderson's Relish in one of the independent shops albeit at a considerable mark up to Sheffield.  Result.

More Blasts From the Past

While I'm in the mood, another couple of breweriana items for you. I doubt if the Bass one would meet with much approval today.  

There's lots more of this. I might do some more sometime.

Junk or history?  You tell me.

Pre Nanny State

A few of us have heard of Brendan Dobbin, who was in my opinion one of the earliest pioneers of the use of foreign hops for their own sake (rather than to supplement British hops) but fewer still will remember his very idiosyncratic advertising. I didn't realise I had any of Brendan's stuff apart from some labels, but amongst my bits and pieces, I came across this little beauty.

Not actors?  If you have ever been in his pub in Chorlton on Medlock, you'll not need to take that with a pinch of salt!

Prescient or what?

I used to have a lovely poster for Brendan's Chinese Pale Ale, but it got badly damaged when some water came in my garage years ago.  Or was it Chinese Lager?

The Good and the Not Good

I have a lot of catching up to do after my week in London, so let's start a mixed story of good and bad. The Good? Well to some a surprise maybe, and it is relative, but let's start with JDW's Goodman Fields, a pub near Tower Hill station and now adjacent to many new hotels which are clearly helping trade. This is the nearest JDW to our London flat and that, footsore as I was greatly influenced where we went after I trudged back from Olympia on Saturday night. I just didn't have many more steps left in me. Now Goodman's Field has been piss poor in the past, with the usual set of JDW failings of queues, dodgy beer selection, indifferent service, and zero atmosphere. This time it was different, starting with the fact that it was packed, thus providing atmosphere, continuing with a charming Spanish barmaid who could not have been more pleasant or speedy - especially in that 200 mile an hour way of speaking the Spanish have - and in the beer (I can't remember what is was though) which was excellent and for once in this neck of the woods, pale and hoppy. We ate there and despite the crowds it came quickly, was hot, tasty and well presented and we were asked twice if everything was OK by enthusiastic and cheerful staff. Amazingly, tables were promptly cleared and we were given a cheery goodbye. Clearly they have kicked out the deadbeats they had before. It just shows that in any pub, the attitude and enthusiasm of the staff can make an ordinary place well worth visiting and leave you feeling "That was good".

But into each life a little rain must fall. On Sunday we walked along the re-instated Thames path on the City side of the river and after a quick and satisfying pint in the Harp (temperature exactly 13°C) we went, acting on a tip that it is now a craft beer bar, to the Lyric on Great Windmill St. In a teeming Soho, it was rather empty and to my eye at least, a tad Spartan and dog eared in appearance, but there was indeed craft keg and four handpumps, though the two tasters were warm and unappealing. No matter, what about the craft. E settled on a half of Redwell Craft Pilsner (4%) in an act of solidarity with the bullied Norwich Brewer and after a taste of hers, I decided on a pint of the same. Alas nothing happened when the tap was opened. The gas had gone. Ten minutes later, the young barman came back and confessed himself stumped. He hadn't been trained and could do no more. I didn't fancy a bottle, nor any of the cask, so we paid for our half and left. Now of course that was unfortunate, but leaving an untrained barman in charge isn't. It wasn't his fault, he did his best but overall the impression was of poorly kept beers, an empty pub when all around were busy and general incompetence.  Why would I come back? First impressions really do count.

So lessons? Get the staff, offer and attitude right and no matter how unpromising the pub, you are likely to have a better time in it than in a pub which simply doesn't deliver on any customer level.

I do appreciate that I could find the opposite of what I found on a different day, but like a footballer, you can only play what's put up in front of you.

The Great British Beer Festival

Yes folks, it's that time of year again when the great and the good congregate in London for CAMRA's biggest thrash. Tuesday is trade day where, people like me, while nominally working - well actually I did a fair bit this year - greet and schmooze and say hello to those from the trade that we know. It's rather nice actually, but I did get an impression that there were some faces missing yesterday and it was a little subdued. Maybe just me, but I'm sure that'll soon change.

 Pete Brown has published a handy survival guide and I agree with most of it. In particular, it really is difficult not to overfill thirds, so I would agree that it is a top tip, but never from me you understand. I never overfill, so if at the German bar, and you are hoping for an overmeasure,avoid me like the plague. Another tip Pete didn't mention is to ask for tasters. That's acceptable everywhere, but don't overdo it as a "Bugger off elsewhere or buy something" often offends.

 My tip for foreign beers this year is to suss out some of the Czech exotics on draught. There are good things happening in the Czech Republic beer wise and some of it is on show at our bar.

Do come and say hello.

The Cheshire Set

Ah leafy Cheshire. One of the few places that can match London, to some extent at least, for sheer wealth, but with lovely pubs that aren't charging four quid a pint. Now an old mate of ours CAMRA wise, moved there ten years ago, thus bringing the tone down considerably, but was on hand to lead a merry throng through some of its nicer parts.  We started in Goostrey, a quiet and genteel little village within sight of the giant parabola that is Jodrell Bank.  The Crown is a neat pub that was Marstons owned until not so long ago, but now, free of tie, is thriving and has a wide range of mostly local beers.  It is a well appointed pub (a recurring theme that day) and looked the kind of place that you'd like to have handy, with well kept beer, friendly staff (another recurring theme) and prices that were not unreasonable.  An unusual touch was Wrexham Lager on the bar along with free olives - well we were in Cheshire. I didn't care that much for my Summer Days from Dunham Massey, though E enjoyed it and our Tasting Panel Chairman waxed lyrical about it, showing that beer will always divide opinion. I switched to Weetwood Bitter which was old fashionedly good.

It is amazing what a couple of pints will do to loosen the inhibitions of a busload of lushes.  It was a very cheery throng indeed that wended its way to our next stop,the Railway at Mobberley where lunch was to be eaten.  We were additionally guided by one of my predecessors as Branch Chairman who hails from this neck of the woods.  He was greeted enthusiatically by the landlady who remembered him.  A nice touch. This ex Greenall's pub was not that posh, but busy enough even without our 25 or so. The beer was on good form, but the choice not to everyone's taste. Dunham Massey - they seem to have Cheshire tied up - Black Sheep and Wainwright's leading the charge.  Lunch was filling, but hurried, though the craic was excellent as always on these dos. Our next journey was a quick one, a mere five minutes or so to the delightful Church Inn also in Mobberley, a lovely pub with a nice beer terrace at the back and again, that very friendly and cheery service that so typified the day. Beers were again local with yes, you've guessed, Dunham Massey and Tatton breweries featuring.

The poshness was dialed up considerably next.  We knew when our bus entered the car park amid open topped Porsches, Jaguars and the odd Bentley, that this would not be a dump. The Bull's Head, like the previous Church Inn, is part of Cheshire Cat Pub and Bars.  It had recently been done up to an exceedingly high standard and had a beautiful beer garden at the back, bathed in sunshine and with splendid views of aircraft taking off from Runway Two at nearby Manchester Airport.  This was a very enjoyable stop and again the staff couldn't have been nicer and we left with considerable reluctance.  Beer? Dunham Massey and Tatton featured of course.  Across the way, we noted, the closed and being renovated Roebuck. Owned it seems by a big PubCo, there was rumours of a licensee being hounded out by high rent. True or not, the pub had been closed for weeks, thus missing our finest summer for years. Mistake.

Our final stop was again in lovely countryside. The Parkgate at Over Peover is owned by Sam Smith. Again a delightful little pub with a huge beer garden and of course, providing you stick to the basics, cheap beer.  Old Brewery Bitter at £1.80 a pint was eagerly consumed in the sunshine and was good.  E and I had the bonus of bumping into Jeff, our friend and drinking companion from our local, who was visiting friends in the area.  It's a small world.

So Mobberley and area for a pub crawl?  Certainly, but a liking for Dunham Massey beer would be a considerable advantage.

I wonder if the outstandingly high level of service is because of the general affluence?  It was remarkable and all the more welcome for its relative rareness.

Greenall's Mild?  OK smooth, but joining that world of rare beers from the past. 

How Much is Too Much?

In my post yesterday about Meantime's Old Brewery in Greenwich a few people picked up on the expense of my pint.  I think it was £5.20 for a 5.2% beer - North Friesian Pilsener.  Pretty expensive really. Cookie asked me what is my limit in paying for a pint and I remarked that this was getting near it, though of course in this case I was making allowances for time, circumstance and place.  Greenwich is expensive, I bet the premises and overheads are expensive and Meantime believe in beer being expensive. Brewer and owner Alistair Hook has made that clear many times. 

In my local, a pint of Lees Bitter (4%) is £2.60. Nearby in the Ship, an imported Czech lager, Bohemia Regent (5%) is £3.50 a pint..  I can still get a pint in Wetherspoons using its Wednesday offer (up to 4.5%) at £1.95, or pay a whacking £2.15 at other times. You could well argue that to charge top dollar for beers made in the back of the pub is a bit cheeky, as many of the usual overheads have been removed.  Another example might be The Marble Arch in Manchester, which isn't backwards in coming forwards price wise either, for its beers brewed yards away.

Now London is seen as a special case, where somehow we must pay more.  The £4 pint of ordinary cask is common, usually for beer of pretty dubious quality.  The quality may be better in, say, Manchester, but gougy prices in the Northern Quarter aren't exactly unknown there either.  Converserly, Sheffield, one of the best places to drink beer in the UK is remarkably cheap on the whole.  Clearly property prices and other economic factors have a lot to do with differences, as are pricing policies which set out to attract certain customer demographics.  But on the other hand, you could argue that where beer is concerned, the beer revolution that many speak of is causing a class divide in beer, with exotics for moneyed and dross for the rest, with large numbers in between choosing to drink at home. Even classier beers are drunk at home more than in the pub and why not - some of the prices seem simply ridiculous.

At a time when beer sales in the last quarter fell by another 5.8% in pubs and in the same week we see that according a Mintel survey observes, “While the price of beer has been frozen this year, over two thirds (67%) of monthly out of home drinkers already think that drinking out of home is now too expensive, providing the impetus to switch to cheaper in-home drinking".  So it seems that even of those of us that actually still drink in pubs, only a third are not seriously thinking of drinking more at home as opposed to going out to the pub.  This, if not changed, can only lead to an inevitable further decline in pub numbers, more brewery closures - see Dave Bailey on this too-  consolidation and market decline.
Of course you can take the view that this is just the market performing as the market should and that is a valid view.  As a pub man though it pains me to see the polarisation of the market between the haves and the have nots, to the detriment of all pub users.

When I remarked about "save up and go" to Meantime, I meant it.  For many it isn't just the expensive Meantime that has to be saved for, but their ordinary local pub. Too often there is no option price wise for many other than to feel that the pub is just not affordable any more for what it offers them.   That's bad enough, but when us old codgers die off and the current generation of free spenders have to knuckle down to kids and mortgages, you can't help but think there are plenty of bubbles yet to burst and expensive craft beer might well be one of them, joining other segments that are currently suffering diminishing returns.For one reason or another it seems that inexorably we are losing that most British of habits, going to the pub.  Price is clearly if Mintel is to be believed, a huge part of that change of habit.

It's a gloomy picture.  I reckon I'll go to the pub tonight while I still can and while I still have some company that can afford to do so too. 

While the long term picture is gloomy, in the short term, it will likely be still OK enough for me until I'm brown bread or gaga. But still not a good thing overall.

No Mean Time

London in the sun.  What could be nicer?  Well Manchester in the sun obviously - better beer to be had - but culture? That's a different issue and  London has it all.  After a (half) day out with Tyson and crew, we decided on a trip to an old haunt - Greenwich.  Two or three ideas.  A walk in the park, a look inside the old Royal Naval College, a quick shufti at the Cutty Sark - it was built in my home town of Dumbarton don't you know and there is still a pub on the High St with the same name - and a couple of restorative beers in Meantime's Old Brewery, a place, to which somewhat neglectfully, I hadn't been.

We enjoyed the walk, I thought the Naval College and whatnot delightful and unfussy. They even allowed you to sit on the banqueting seats to allow you to stare more comfortably at the impressive ceiling. The Cutty Sark was rather antiseptically impressive, though like a hammer where you have replaced both the head and the shaft, you have to wonder if it is indeed the original hammer at all.  All that sightseeing and walking about in the sun makes you thirsty, so our arrival at the Old Brewery was welcome.  Outside was a sea of bodies in the grass and in the beer garden.  I observed closely.  A mixture of plastic and glass gave me an inkling that likely you were meant to use plastic outside, so I wondered what would happen.  Inside we found a decent spot in a corner. It was going like a fair busy, but the staff were cheerful and kept good order.  I put my barman through his paces by asking for a couple of samples even though I knew what I would likely have. He was professional and friendly, offering decent advice despite the hordes.  Good stuff.  I settled on North Fresian Lager, a Jever-alike, but really rather magnificent, with good body, freshness, bitterness and a hopsmacking finish.  What's not to like? Well perhaps the £5.20 a pint price?  OK. Certainly the £5.20 price, but it was good. Very good. E was much less impressed with her Pilsner which did seem dull.  Or was that just dull in comparison. She rapidly switched to the same beer as me.

The place was heaving and we watched the dynamics of it all. It seemed that you randomly got glass or plastic and nobody was stopping anyone going outside with glass.  Service was friendly and efficient. My three rounds were all in glass without me asking.  Top marks.  I did have a couple more tasters, but nothing much impressed beer wise.  Perhaps I was spoiled by the North Fresian? Service was brisk and friendly, décor was comfortable to imposing, with the brewery conditioning tanks, clearly signed with exciting forthcoming beery attractions being a high point.

So overall?  I (we) had a good time, thought the North Fresian excellent but expensive, thought the service good all things considered and hopefully when I come back on a quieter day, I'll have more interesting beers to choose from.

It's nice. I liked it. Save up and go.

I didn't experience any of Tyson's bizarre occurrences on this occasion.

Who's Next?

When I was much younger, as I've mentioned before, I trained as a barman under an old school boss. You had to do it right, first time, every time, or you got a bollocking. It was a good training though for subsequent years and why I am sometimes critical of barstaff.  You see. I really do know how it should be done.

I was reminded of this when in the pub on Friday and was passed over more than once by the same barmaid, who always asked "Who's next? before serving the person directly in front of her, no matter whether they'd been waiting minutes or seconds. I was taught to look around as I was serving and acknowledge customers and advise them of their place in the invisible queue.  It isn't difficult, just requiring the most basic of observational skills. I'll be brushing up on it soon at the GBBF if you want to put me to the test. The lazy "Who's next? " is to me an annoying example of the indifferent service we often get in pubs.

Trust me on this one. What you don't want to hear from barstaff is "Who's next?" You want to hear "You're next".

And don't get me started on "You all right there?"  It is more or less the standard question you are asked at the bar now.

CAMRA - Making Brewers and Publicans Happy

There's sometimes talk about how publicans, brewers and breweries hold CAMRA in contempt, though it isn't something I've come across much.  When this talk happens, it tends to be in snide comments on blogs or in asides between non CAMRA types. As I said, it isn't something I've had to deal with all that often and even then, it usually comes down to a remark about beer quality or whatever and it soon blows over.

Again despite rumours to the contrary, one thing brewers love, adore and can't get enough of is awards.  Pubs are the same. Awards mean some kind of recognition for effort and everyone likes to be recognised for what they do don't they?  So last night we (my local CAMRA Branch) had an awards ceremony.  First up was the Oldham Pub of the Year, the Ashton Arms, a comfortable and welcoming town centre pub with a great range of beer and then the awards for Oldham Beer Festival.  Gold and Silver to a local brewery, Greenfield for Silver Owl and Vanilla Stout and Bronze to Millstone, nearby in Mossley, for True Grit.  The brewers and owners were there.  We actually know all of our local brewers extremely well and they were absolutely delighted with the awards.  The pub was delighted. We were delighted that they were delighted and we all had a great night and brought extra trade into the Ashton.

CAMRA - Delighting the good in Pubs and Brewing.

Winning beer, Greenfield Silver Owl is a superbly clean pale, hoppy and bitter beer of around 4%.  I had a lovely couple of pints of it last night. All winning beers were chosen by the general public at the festival itself.