What's In a Name?

When it comes to modern day mild, plenty it seems.  Many brewers of mild have changed the name of the product to something considered more appealing. One of the first I recall was Brains, whose famous mild was renamed "Dark".  Others have done so including my own local brewery, JW Lees whose award winning mild (GB Mild was Champion Mild of Britain) to Brewer's Dark in an attempt to widen its appeal, alas without much success if local volumes are anything to go by. Resisting this trend though is Joseph Holt whose name resolutely and defiantly remains as "Mild". But the point remains the same, that mild is in deep decline and even Holt's have succumbed to the trend. Where it would once have been unthinkable to go into a Joey's house and find no mild, now it is more or less the norm, though as in the case of JW Lees, stubborn, loyal  pockets of mild drinking remain.

Another factor which needs to be taken into account is that mild, whatever it is called, is sometimes only able to be presented in cask form because of the relative success of smooth dark beer, the volumes of which allow cask beer to be sold where it is still required and without which, there would perhaps be none at all. Smooth and cask beer in these circumstances have a somewhat symbiotic relationship, which is all to the good for us as likes a pint of mild now and then.

Now, oddly enough, this isn't a post singing the praises of mild, though readers of this blog will know I mention it now and then such as in this post. When the Landlady ran the Tavern, my local, she sold Lees Brewer's Dark as a standard beer, though sales weren't high, but our current landlord John sticks to smooth mild beer, while pushing the range of seasonals that Lees brew and, on occasion, the lesser known of Lees standard beers. This was the case last Sunday when on the bar appeared Lees's other mild, Supernova. Now this is a tweaked version of Brewer's Dark, but much fruitier and with a more complex taste profile. On the few times I see it, I buy it. It is lush.  John, our beloved landlord was pushing it for all its worth and it was interesting, in a packed pub, to see so many drinking it, both young and old, women and men.  Whenever I looked up from our table the pump was being cranked and it was good to see so many drinking it. I somehow doubt that if it had been "Brewer's Dark" it would have sold nearly as well. The name helped. A lot.

I believe many regular producers of mild (not all, before someone corrects me) have given up on the name "mild", but this shows that when you have a good beer, the name is attractive and you push it, mild can still sell. OK. It will never achieve the heights it once did, but a swoopable, dark, creamy, cask conditioned beer like this is low calorie, weak in alcohol and can add variety, a great drinking experience and attract itself to new customers.

Mild can sell, so don't overlook it. Two things though. An attractive name helps, but essential is that tight, creamy head.  Watery, flat beer is a general abomination, but much more so when it is dark. Sparkle dark beers, push them a bit and watch them fly out.
  
Brewers Dark  is a fine beer, but publicans reading this, try Supernova and sparkle it.  And readers please remember. Mild beer is for joyous gulping, not sipping.

Nott At All Bad

One last post about Nottingham and the CAMRA Members Weekend, this time about that often overlooked subject beer and pubs.

Nottingham is a bit of a throwback.  Only its greatest fans would call it beautiful, as it seems an odd mixture of old and tatty and new and nondescript.  But it is a throwback in another way. It has a pub on nearly every corner it seems, even in the centre. That moves it up a notch in my esteem.  Our Nottingham CAMRA colleagues had produced a very comprehensive guide to the pubs and while as always some were better than others, they were a pretty good lot really.

Hot off the train we started at two of the best.  Fellows, Morton and Clayton, near the railway station, is the kind of pub you really like to start off in when you are in an unfamiliar city. Several distinct drinking areas, a lovely atrium cascading light into the rear and a good feel to it. A rather mainstream choice of beers - think Doom Bar, London Pride,Landlord and Black Sheep is augmented by a local beer or two. We enjoyed sparkled pints of Nottingham Extra Pale Ale and banter from the very chatty barmaid.  Almost next door is the Canal House, which features, somewhat uniquely I'll hazard, a full size canal boat within, which you can gaze down on as you sup your pint. Converted from a large warehouse, it was strikingly good and as owned by Castle Rock Brewery, we had excellent beer and as always in this group, excellent service from the cheery staff.  A great start.  Beer was properly sparkled as God intended, more of which later.

Around our hotel clustered another fine bunch of pubs. We liked all of them to varying degrees with a special mention going to the Crafty Crow - modern and studenty, but not grungey - the Roebuck which showed off how Wetherspoons can make the most of a building and perhaps most stunning of all, the Malt Cross, a former Victorian Music Hall with a high arched roof, a gallery and lots of wrought iron. On a Saturday night it was busy with youngsters on their way to a club (judging by the skimpiness of their attire).  It had a great atmosphere and friendly staff,  but the beer could have been better looked after. Too warm and not well enough conditioned, it was served without a sparkler, but crashed into the glass to create a head. Minus points for that.

Near the Conference Hall was another fine clutch of pubs.  The Hand and Heart impressed with a great range of well kept local beers (we avoided those on a stillage) and excellent service, the Ropewalk didn't impress though,  showing the tatty side of student drinking.  The wonderfully named Sir John Borlaise Warren had excellent beer, lovely cheese rolls and the kind of barmaid that truly enhanced the drinking experience by great charm and a wonderful knowledge of the names given to bread rolls in different parts of the country (cobs in Nottingham don't you know).  The Falcon and Blue Monkey  both also gave great pleasure, but the Blue Monkey had that bad habit of removing the sparkler to (allegedly) speed up service. This was one of the few pubs that didn't really give that warm a welcome, but the Blue Monkey Brewery Beer was very good indeed. We finished off on Sunday by repeating our visit to Fellows, Morton and Clayton and that was Nottingham done.  The pubs had put on a great show.

Looking back, the pubs invariably had good beer, were plentiful, varied in type and close together. But really it was the great service and charming bar-staff that really shone.  It was noticeably good nearly everywhere and it does make a difference.

I wasn't asked by barstaff "You alright there?" once. That helped too.  I wonder where Nottingham sits in my sparkler map. Just in I reckon.

We also had quite impressive stops in the Sheffield Tap and the Piccadilly Tap on the way home.

Does Civilisation End and Begin at Derby?

He holds him with his glittering eye —

The Wedding-Guest stood still,

And listens like a three years' child:

The Mariner hath his will.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Derby is a great drinking town I'm told. I have been there a couple of times before, but it was quite a few years ago.  This time, fresh from the magnificent Victoria in Beeston, Nottingham, where we had a private behind the scenes tour - one of our party knows the owner - we checked into our hotel just across from the railway station and handy for a kebab house, an off licence and a knocking shop.  What more could a man want?  Well cask beer obviously.  Now my two previous visits to Derby had, I think, confined me to just two pubs.  Who am I to break what could almost be described as a tradition?  Thus it was we convened at an old friend, the Brunswick, a magnificent Brew Pub, fashioned out of a complete mini terrace of houses and with that classic ship's prow, or flat iron front, that I for one find irresistible. I was first there, which is my bounden duty as kitty holder.

Now I am not always the most observant guy in the world and having first of all scanned the pumps to see what was on offer, I scanned the room to get my bearings and check out customers for possible danger, good looking lasses etc.  Thus when the friendly barman asked what I wanted, I didn't spot that the beer was unsparkled, until my glass, brim-full and more or less headless, was presented to me. It was I recall, from Oakham.  My companions joined me and all chose a house beer, which was enjoyed to varying degrees.  I was asked "What's yours like?"  "Pretty good" I opined, "but it would be better sparkled."  At that, a fellow barfly piped up "You should have asked for it to be sparkled then Mate, we do both."  My baleful eye was cast over the piper up.  "I'm the landlord here." he added. Now he was up for conversation and I'm always up for a sparkler debate, so it all looked promising, but this was to turn out a much more wide ranging and knowledgeable discussion than I was expecting.

"Didn't you notice the pumps then?" I was asked.  The bar was "L" shaped.  I hadn't really, but a bank of six or so to my left at right angles had the classic short spout and on/off key .  "Not them" said my new friend. "The ones in front of you."  I tiptoed up.  Each pump had the classic short spout and in addition had the revered and welcoming swan neck and sparkler. Yep. Both.   "You know why don't you?"  I was asked.  Now in sparkler conversations, I like to think I lead from the front, but this was back foot stuff.  "Umm, choice?" I ventured.  " Yes. Obviously that" said my new mentor.  "But do you know why?"  Then he pulled his rabbit out of his hat.  "Because Derby is the dividing line between Northern and Southern dispense.  Below here it is all sparklerless, above, sparkled."  I thought about it and sort of doubted it. I had no backing from my elderly friends who had all long since sat down to discuss retirement pensions, new knees and what kind of jam they like.  Could he be right?  I remembered a map I had published in this very blog about this very subject, back in 2008.  It was possible, though then and before this, I would have put Derby in the sparkled camp.  My new friend had stats.  90% of beer in his pub and elsewhere in Derby is served Southern style.  I looked round.  It was more than that there.  I couldn't doubt him.

The landlord, like the Ancient Mariner of old, had stoppethed one of four (in this case), and I was in his thrall. The telling of his tale could not be denied him.  I was powerless.  He described how unrest had come to this tranquil part of Derby on many occasions, when thirsty travellers from Sheffield, a mere 30 minutes away by train, had descended on the Brunswick, ordered pints and then gently remarked in that laid back South Yorkshire way, "Beer, beer everywhere, nor any drop to drink".  (Expressed more succinctly as "What the fuck have you done to this beer?"  After many such enquiries, the landlord had asked his handpump supplier (CFBS I think) for a solution.  It was as I already described and the second bank of pumps would be converted in due course.  The Sheffielders were happy - well as long as they chose from the converted pumps they were.

My friends were keen to move on, but I could not be denied another ten minutes discussing pulling technique - beer - not women - before I was reluctantly dragged away.  We moved on to the Alexandra, about 50 yards away and my only other visited Derby pub.  A Tynemill House, it had a great beer selection, a friendly welcome,  haggis Scotch Eggs and unsparkled beer, but with a swan neck.   We stayed almost until closing time, but I had to go back to the Brunswick for the last pint, where my new friend, the landlord pulled me a (promised) perfect sparkled pint. So.  Is Derby where North and South divide sparkler wise? My previous line was more likely to have been Birmingham, drawn at an angle though and maybe excluding Coventry below the line and Leicester above. Maybe my readers can venture an opinion or two, preferably town by town and where the line might be drawn.

For now though, I accept Derby as sparkler free by and large, but not as the dividing line.  Does my map look about right?  It doesn't to me really if I'm honest.

It is nonetheless gratifying that the line appears to be heading southward and does anyone else think as I do, that a Scotch Egg is better with just a little heat going through it?  say 30 seconds in a microwave? I know. I'm asking two big questions here.

The Good Thing About Unsparkled Beer

You can't really bugger up an unsparkled pint. Well you can, but it will be hard to tell the difference, or, crucially, how good it could have been, because of course it isn't sparkled and therefore presented at its best. As God intended.

I considered this basic truth when in one of my local pubs last night. The key to pulling a good sparkled pint is in the initial pull, which must be vigorous enough to produce the creamy head. The swan neck must go to the bottom of the glass, with the glass held straight, not tilted. The second pull can usually be less strong and the nozzle should always be kept in the beer, not raised as the glass fills. When the fill is nearly complete,a good barperson will hesitate near the top, take your money and let the pint settle while doing so. Then the pint is topped up by inserting the swan neck back into the body of the beer. It should be topped up from below, allowing the fine collar of cream to remain intact. That's the key to using a swan neck and sparkler, you fill the glass from the bottom.

There's a skill to this, but frankly it is a piece of cake once you have pulled a few pints. This is especially true when the same range of beers are sold. You get used to how they behave, but the principle is the same. Why am I telling you this? Well of course education of the heaving masses might be one reason and an honourable one at that. But it isn't. A couple of my pints were spoiled last night by incorrect topping up from the top which tends to bubble the beer and dissipate the head.

To the sparkler hater, this is neither here nor there, but to those of us that follow the true path of enlightenment, it is a heartbreaker.

At least being the North, the beer was beautifully conditioned and cool. The photos show a Yorkshire pint settling in the Riverhead Brewery Tap and the other one poured by me at home. Neither was the beer drunk last night.

PS Bon Don Doon from Wilson Potter is a lovely beer. As always, I am available to teach the uninitiated for a very reasonable fee.

Well Meaning Bar Staff

If like me you prefer your advice to be solicited, you may be slightly put out by bar staff offering guidance.  Things such as "I like that one" when you are surveying the range of beers are, to me at least, a little bit unwelcome.  While I may well turn to a trusted palate, generally what someone else likes, without knowing their predilections, is likely to be just as hit and miss as guessing and turning down their advice politely makes you seem churlish.  Of course helpful advice such as "it is pale and hoppy, dark and stouty" etc. is more useful, but these can be written on a board and that, frankly is better, though hardly foolproof.

A couple of things occurred on Saturday which I'll share with you.  In one pub after enjoying two sparkled pints of the same beer, I was so impressed with it and since neither me nor my companion were intent on moving on, why not order another?  I looked around me, taking in the scene, as my pints were poured, not by the charming young lass who'd patiently offered us tasters, but by a bebearded hipster type.  I looked at my pint. No head.  I looked at the handpump.  The sparkler had been removed.  "What's going on.  Where's the sparkler gone?" I asked.  "I took it off" quoth he, "the brewer doesn't like sparklers."

Now that may or may not be the case and anyway, a brewer's preference is just like mine. A preference. He isn't Moses.  It isn't written in tablets of stone.  Bad form to change a customer's beer in that way mid stream and anyway, Manchester is the North and beer here is sparkled as a default.  Later in a different pub, the reverse happened. Well sort of.  There was no sparkler on my Buxton beer and when I asked for one, the barmaid tossed her head and advised me that "it doesn't need one."  Hmm.

It goes back to the old adage that the customer is always right (even when he is wrong) and anyway, there is a simple way round presumption.  Just ask.

Can I also slip in a big recommendation for Young's Winter Warmer?  I only had a half, but it was delicious.

I Want One of These

I like sparklers and have quite a few of all shapes, colours and sizes, so it is always interesting when a new one comes along.

According to the marketing blurb:

"The Vari-Head is a unique beer sparkler which allows you to tailor the head on hand pulled real ale without having to remove it from the beer engine.

It fits all existing beer engines with no modification, and is made from food grade plastics and 'o' rings and stainless steel screws.

The Vari-Head also increases your Hygiene levels due to the fact that it is operated by the inside of a clean glass not a server's hand."

We all know the sparkler should be compulsory, but here we may just have the perfect solution for those misguided souls that reckon otherwise.  I say "maybe", as I'd have to try it out first to be sure, but it should at least be something many pubs in the grim unsparkled part of the country could consider?

I may have to send off for one, but who knows, maybe the company will see this and send me one for some road testing.

The details are here.

Talking of sparklers, if anyone has a working "dog's dick" sparkler they don't want, do let me know.  I used to own one, but no idea where it has gone.

Right and Wrong Illustrated

Now we all know that beer is better sparkled. That's a fact that just can't be denied. I know its true; Tyson has said it and I've said it and he knows everything about serving beer and I know the rest.

But a picture is worth a thousand words, so to save me writing two thousand of the buggers and you reading them (or not as the case may be), here's a couple of photos that show why it is so. The first picture shows beer awaiting top up in a pub that serves its beer correctly. The second shows an unappealing unsparkled pint.













The camera doesn't lie. That's another fact, so that's the argument resolved once and for all then. Quod erat demonstrandum. It just leaves one point outstanding. The matter of where the duff pint came from. That'd be telling, but both were bought this week in the North, but its the principle of the thing I'm drawing to your attention, so no names, though I will reveal the lovely sparkled ones were from Yorkshire. They might be a bit gruff there, but they look after their ale well.

So Northern sinners, repent. For it is written, "Thou shall sparkle all cask conditioned beer. Unsparkled beer is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord".

I think it was Moses that said that and he knew a thing or two. And he wasn't a man to cross.

A Date for Diaries

The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) will be holding their SIBA (North) National Beer Competition judging panels in Manchester for the first time ever. SIBA Council has reached an agreement with CAMRA to run their major tasting event in the Palace Hotel, Oxford Road, Manchester from 28th – 30th October. Following the judging on Thursday 28th, the event will then open to the public at 4pm to 10.30pm as a SIBA Beer Festival in association with CAMRA.

Some 300 cask beers from the 128 SIBA North members will cover a wide range of styles and after judging will be available for purchase. There will also be a quantity of bottled beers available to buy following the bottled beer competition. Competition winners will be announced during the early public session. The event, in the (very) Grand Room at the Palace Hotel will be open 12 noon to 10. 30pm Friday and Saturday. A major departure from normal CAMRA festivals is that all beers will be served from hand pumps – 48 beers available at any one time – with, yes - wait for it – a sparkler and a clean pint to line glass for every fill!

This promises to be a very exciting and different event. A lot of the details are still being worked out, but yours truly will be (God help me) responsible for the training of the volunteers in pouring a pint through a sparkler. All the beer will be cooled to cellar temperature and the handpumps and cooling will be set up by SIBA Technical Services, so it should all be spot on.


Hopefully we are in for a fantastic do, with magnificent cask ales from the North, served in proper Northern style through a tight sparkler and conditioned and cooled to perfection. Be there or be square! It is one not to miss.

The Great Divide

I came across this map which would seem to me to be a good way of illustrating where beer is likely to be sparkled and where it is likely not.

Above the line - sparklers, below - no sparklers. All the really good beer drinking cities are above the line. There. That's sorted it.

I'm not certain about Wales, but I reckon it is in the sparkled camp, as is Scotland