That Quality Thing Again

I have a lot of sympathy for my CAMRA colleagues in the South West of Scotland. Real ale is rather thin on the ground around these parts and it must be difficult, in a sea of Tennents, to keep the cask beer flag flying.

I was in Dumfries and Galloway a couple of weeks ago and though my friends and I didn't try all the pubs that sold real ale, we had a go at quite a few of them.  Some, it has to be said, even though they were listed in the Good Beer Guide were less than enthralling quality wise.  The most common fault being tired beer and warm beer, probably  indicating turnover wasn't all it could be. There was exceptions though and hats off to the  Cavens Arms in Dumfries for spot on beer - though dining pushes drinkers rather to the side here - and the Selkirk Arms in Kirkcudbright whose beer was immaculate and, as we were the first customers of the day, was carefully pulled through to ensure quality. The resulting pints of Kelburn Pivo Estivo were well up to snuff and the beer garden, in unscheduled sunshine, was quite a bonus too.  So it can be done.

One thing we did notice was the dominance of beers from Greene King, supplied no doubt through their Scottish subsidiary, Belhaven. Fair enough, but not once in the half dozen or so pubs that sold Greene King, was a single cask ale from Belhaven available. Shame that.  It was sad too to see that beers in the local Wetherspoon in Dumfries were dominated overwhelmingly by Greene King and Marstons, though in fairness here, quality of what we had was good.

Now of course where there is a brewery tap, one can breathe a sigh of relief and relax in the knowledge that here at least will be a friendly welcome and beer as the brewer intended. Well you'd like to fondly imagine so wouldn't you? Sadly in the visit to the local brewery and tap, in my second Scottish home town of my youth, Castle Douglas - my grandparents lived there - that wasn't to be.  The beers were lifeless and warm and frankly near enough undrinkable. A quick look under the bar showed that the casks were not temperature controlled in any way and when this was mentioned to the barman, we were advised that real ale was meant to be served at room temperature. 

We made our excuses and left.

Yes, I will be dropping a note to my CAMRA colleagues in South West Scotland about the brewery tap. Brewery taps should be a beacon of real ale excellence. After all if you can't get cask beer there in the best form possible, then where can you? The only other bar in Castle Douglas purporting to have real ale, didn't have. We beat a hasty reteat to Dumfries for liquid sustenance.

The photo isn't beery, but shows Dumfries railway station at night. I spent many a time there with my Mum and sister waiting for the train to CD. Alas the line was axed by Beeching.

Forty Years in the GBG

The Good Beer Guide is, depending on your predilections either a worthless and outdated way of telling you where you'll find good real ale, or, on the other hand,  a vademecum, without which you'd never venture out of your home territory on an amber nectar seeking mission. Either way there is little doubt that pubs and breweries value their entry in it greatly and competition to gain entry is very fierce indeed.  It is therefore most unusual to have the same pub in it for forty years - just one short of the maximum possible - very rare indeed in fact, with around six others nationwide in the same enviable position.

Thus it was I was called to the Cross Keys in Uppermill to present a certificate to the current licensees to mark this milestone.  The Cross Keys is up a very steep hill from Uppermill Village and is owned by JW Lees.  Splendidly traditional, with stone flagged floors, it was built in 1745 on the Marsden Packhorse route over the Pennines and became a pub in 1763.  It sells rather a comprehensive range of Lees beers and in addition, is home to many different groups including the Oldham Mountain Rescue Team, a Ukelele Club and of course a folk music one. Really a traditional pub at the heart of its local community. The place was packed with CAMRA members, representatives of Lees Brewery and of course locals.  It was a very jolly scene on a lovely sunny afternoon.

In my speech I remarked that the award was a tribute not only to the current licensees, but those before them in the previous forty years. I pointed out how hard it is to get in the guide in the first place and the remarkable difficulty of persuading local members year after year of the case for entry.  I highlighted the importance to the community of such pubs and their service to local people.  It was one of those moments that makes being the Branch Chairman an absolute pleasure. It was equally pleasurable to talk to the licensees. That's essential if you are to do your CAMRA job properly.  I tried two beers.  Lees Brewer's Dark, a fine mild, was a rare treat in cask format and the seasonal, Hoptimist lived up to it name.

The beers were in superb condition.  I expected no less.

Lees kindly bought us all a pint. Cheers for that.

Alive Alive O

If Conwy had gone some way to restoring our faith in cask ale, Chester had it centre stage and shouting its quality to all comers.  Handily underneath the Premier Inn where we were staying, Harker's is a well known Brunning and Price pub on the canal-side.  Lavishly appointed, the haunt of Chester's well heeled and with a great range of beer, we struck lucky with superb Crouch Vale Amarillo, which was by a long chalk our best beer so far.  The handpump was red hot as it cranked out pint after pint, so we had a second as we assumed it would be gone soon and we had other places to visit.

Next stop was the beautiful Cross Keys and Joules (pronounced Jowls) beer. The pub is a Victorian masterpiece and as good a place as you'd want to spend an hour on a Wednesday night. The beers surprised me.  Since I last had them in Eccleshall around a year ago, they seem to have improved beyond all recognition.  Across the road was Okell's Bear and Billet and there it was the Manx Pale Ale that stood out, with the charming service a close second. MPA is is a beer that you want to drink a lot of and we should have stayed for more, but the boys wanted to visit the nearby Spitting Feather's Brewery Tap in what was once a Jacobean Banqueting Hall.  Now I did warn my friends that the place outshone the beer in the way a lighthouse outshines darkness, but they wanted to see it.  Suffice to say other than the wonder of the surroundings, only the superbly attentive young lasses behind the bar, gamely trying to fashion a silk purse out of a sow's ear, made the visit worthwhile.

Our second last official port of call was a Sam Smith's house (can't remember its name) which one of our number had always wanted to visit.  The OBB at £1.80 was just about OK but comfortably better than our previous experience.  Then to JDW and one of the oddest, strangest, bestest, differentest pints ever.  Bateman's Hazelnut Brownie (6.3%) was a liquid version of its name.  It did what it said on the tin and no mistake.  We all loved it and it was still a talking point at breakfast the next day.  Round the corner, and back at our hotel, Harker's beckoned again, but alas it had closed at eleven.  All wasn't lost though, as two of us nipped across the road to the Cellar and the very welcoming sight of Marble Manchester Bitter. Again the hospitality couldn't be faulted and the beer was on superb form.  We staggered back across the road around the half one mark, slightly the worse for wear. 

So there you have two of the simplest ways to make your pub shine.  Offer a warm welcome and good beer. See a theme developing?

Such was the welcome that my companion was hugged by a barmaid from Harker's who was supping at the bar.  This was by way of apology for being unable to serve us at 11.15 she said.  He was also hugged by the landlord as we left.   Nobody hugged me!

I Echo What Tyson Says

After a hectic day which included a visit to a far off world to judge a pub in the Greater Manchester Pub of the Year competition, I thought I'd come home a write up a few lines on our own Pub of the Year, the Hare and Hounds at Holcombe Brook near Bury, well Ramsbottom, which is near Bury. But I find that newshound and beerhound Tyson has beaten me to it, so I'll have to think of something else. Tyson had complained to me earlier last night about me stealing his thunder when we went to the American Beer Festival preview at the Port St Beer House, so I suppose that's all fair enough.

The pub is the current runner up as Publican Cask Ale Pub of the Year to none other than the Sheffield Tap (so it must be good - right?) and previously has won the award outright.  I can only echo as Tyson recommends, that you should indeed visit the Hare and Hounds for top quality cask beer.

None of that flabby, over vented, warm stuff is offered and the beer is all around £2.60 a pint.

Beer of the night was Oakham Inferno. It didn't last long.

Back to the Day Job

NWAF is receding slightly though I'm still tired. We will have a wash up meeting in February and then think about it again, but for the meantime, it's back to being a CAMRA Branch Chairman, with my next duty chairing the 2010 Good Beer Guide Selection meeting. The GBG Co-ordinator tells me we have 29 new nominations for the guide as well as our current entries, so it looks like being a lively and (probably) heated meeting. People do get passionate about pubs and competition among licensees and CAMRA members to get "their" choice in is fierce. Also more nominations usually means there is more decent beer about. That's never a bad thing.

Then after we have narrowed it down and done our reserves, there will be a round of visits to ensure all is well and to get the stuff off to HQ by the deadline. A lot of work.

This brings me back to NWAF and why people do it? Well of course it's their hobby and their passion, but, having talked to so many CAMRA members over the last few weeks, it is also because they like to give something back, to spread the "beer is good" word to others, to project their love of beer as widely as possible. Beer Festivals and the GBG are two examples of just such selflessness. A lot of CAMRA work isn't glamorous, but it provides the means to allow others, CAMRA members or not, to enjoy the fruits of their labours, by being able to drink lots of different beers at a festival, or find a decent beer in a strange town.

You know, CAMRA may not be all good, but it sure as Hell isn't all bad.

Pub Surveys

Now this isn't my favourite bit of being an active CAMRA member, though it does give me as Branch Chairman, a much needed chance to talk to more licensees. I had five to survey this year and did two at lunchtime. Both were fully up to snuff I am happy to say and well deserved of their GBG nominations. I rarely have a drink on these visits, as I'm driving, but today, a pint of Lees Brewer's Dark was luscious with chocolate and roast malt notes, while Holt's Mild was full bodied, quite bitter for the style, with a dry finish. Two lovely and contrasting local milds. Grand.

I suppose surveying does have its compensations.

More Good Beer in Rochdale

The Good Beer Guide Selection Meeting went well. It had a very good number of attendees, debate was sensible and considered and we came up with an excellent set of pubs to survey.

The Baum, our hosts also excelled. I started off with Nottingham Pale Ale, a pale, hoppy little 3.8% number. I knew this wouldn't last. Despite other excellent beers including a new "Ticker's Beer" from Phoenix, word of its quality spread and all too soon we had drunk them dry of it. Replacements included a superbly hoppy and bitter Marble Pint - served in much better condition than the Marble Arch sometimes manages and a wonderful example of Phoenix West Coast IPA which was resinously hoppy and moreish, despite its 4.6%. The Regal Moon offered us Elland Savannah among a pretty good selection, while a boisterous (United were live on Sky) Flying Horse gave us a slightly off the mark Phoenix Arizona (unusual) and some very acceptable Moorhouses Blonde Witch.

I've said it before, but Rochdale rocks at the moment beer wise. All we needed was some Pictish, though I did have a pint of Pictish Liberty in the Marble Arch on Friday, which was frankly, disappointing, lacking the smack of Liberty hops I'd expected. Still you can't win 'em all can you?

Yes all the beers I drank were pale and hoppy!

Good Beer Guide Selection Meeting

Ours is tomorrow. Due to the long lead in times, we will be discussing GBG 2010 entries. I am hoping that it will be a fruitful and democratic meeting, where we will pick the best pubs for our branch and ultimately for those who purchase the product.

A lot of guff is talked about how cabals of CAMRA insiders decide in advance what is what and who will be in the guide. In my branch, despite being Chairman, I have no more idea than the next man and will argue for the pubs I support with passion, as well as listening carefully to the arguments of others. The list we will choose from has been compiled by asking every member we have what they think. The system isn't perfect, but I have no doubt, in other CAMRA branches, my counterparts will be trying hard to be fair and democratic too. Then begins the onerous job of surveying the pubs to ensure they are fit for selection and the complicated process of getting the entries to CAMRA centrally.

The work of CAMRA branches behind the scenes is never ending. It is a labour of love for most of us, so when you pick up your copy of the Good Beer Guide and agree or disagree with our selection, remember we are (mostly) just doing our best.


I am told unofficially that CAMRA membership is expected to break the 100,000 barrier early next year.