A Public Service Announcement

Dated 8th June:

Last night, thieves broke in to Saltaire Brewery and stole a large quantity of casks and bottles of beer.

It is thought that they may have been stolen in order to offer to pubs or festivals. The casks are so far the only "Bavarian Gold" to have left the brewery, so please be aware and pass this information on to licensees and festival organisers who you think might be approached. The identity of the beer may of course have been disguised.

Over 70 casks were taken, all full of Bavarian Gold, from a locked, refrigerated compound. Empty casks, all accessible, were not taken, so it seems the thieves were not after scrap metal. The casks were rented, metal casks, with the "e-cask" name on the side, with 2 bright orange hoops painted on.

3 pallets of bottled Saltaire Goldings and 3 pallets of Cascade, all 500ml, were also taken.

So, if you hear of any cheap beer going, please let Saltaire Brewery (and your local Plod) know.

The Cotswolds in the Rain

Saturday was a bright and early start for our visit (in persistent rain) to one of Britain's four remaining "cider only" houses. The Monkey House as it is known, is in Woodmancote, not far from Tewkesbury and would be almost impossible to stumble over, hidden as it is. A picturesque thatched cottage with a serving hatch and a basic - and I mean basic - room off the side is all there is. The house dry cider is made by Westons and was decent stuff. A medium cider and a perry were also available. The gents toilets were, shall we say interesting, with good open views. This is the sort of place though, had the weather been nice, that you'd liked to have lingered a bit in the pleasant garden. As it was though, in pissing rain, a half hour was enough.

Much better known was our next visit, to the well known Fleece in Bretforton. Thatched and twee and restored after a devastaing fire, this was welcoming and comfortable. Those of us who had been before revelled in its stone flagged floors and renewed acquaintanceship with the collection of English Civil War pewter ware. Those who hadn't "oohed and aahed" at its lovely interior. The beer was good too with half a dozen well kept and interesting ales.

Stanton is a painfully pretty village near Broadway and has had nothing new built there since God was a boy. Its honey coloured stone glows, even in solid rain. The Mount Inn sits above it up a heart stopping steep hill which would have had a mountain goat wheezing and protesting. Buoyed up, by the thought of beer though we all skipped up. Those at the back were luckiest. We found out how undrinkable the Donnington BB was from others and swapped to the merely unpleasant SBA. Now I have to say I have never found Donnington beers to be much cop despite the pretty brewery and pubs, but these were bloody grim. My mood was not enhanced by the fact that a pint of BBA and a Carlsberg Export (E wasn't chancing the bitter) was an astonishing £7.10! The Carlsberg was an eye popping £4.60 a pint.

Equilibrium was restored at our next stop. The Cotswolds is full of nice little towns and villages and they kind of run into each other after a few beers. Winchcombe is a typically pleasant example. We enjoyed really bitter (and rare) Stanney Bitter from the Stanway Brewery which I visited some years ago, before finishing up in the Plaisterers Arms with an excellent pint of TT Landlord - probably the best I've had in years - then boarding the coach for Cheltenham - an old stomping ground.

Tewkesbury

Tewkesbury is a fine town with a very impressive abbey and the tendency toward sogginess. Indeed should you visit often enough, you are sure to end up traipsing around with water swishing about your kneecaps. Or higher. It was damp when we started out eagerly on the Friday night and finished up throwing it down - which is more than we managed. Having established that the Hop Pole was a brown beer purveyor of some determination, we set out with a list provided by our weekend guide. Did I mention brown beer? Well there was a lot of it. The Nottingham Arms provided Butcome Bitter, Wickwar BOB and OSH. Most of us tried the BOB which was dark brown and unremittingly malty. We escaped to the Tudor House Hotel where another array of brown beers greeted us, but at least the pub was splendidly old fashioned, being a bit of a nineteen seventies (sixties possibly) throwback, with a very comfortable mix of older drinkers. My tipple was Goff's White Knight which was light brown and had just enough hop to make it drinkable.

We pressed on to the White Bear (a bit rough and ready) where the range was not as good as we'd hoped. Lytham Gold was clearly a must, but it was served with a warning as to its cloudiness. Most, me included were very unsure about this beer and opted out. Now our guide is somewhat known as a cider drinker and swooped on the Black Rat cider. I was persuaded and very drinkable it was too, providing just the right level of alcoholic hit (6%) and emotional support to overcome a disappointing night of beer. Sensibly we left just before ten and had time for a quick one in the Berkeley Arms where well kept Horizon provided some pale relief at last. This tied house was a very good pub indeed and shows that you don't have to be a multi tap free house to do well.

It was all over by eleven. All the pubs (even JDW) shut at eleven prompt. Why is this?

Black Rat is made for Moles Brewery by Thatchers

Alcester

On the way to our CAMRA weekend in Tewkesbury, we stopped for lunch in this delightful Warwickshire town. The Holly Bush is an old coaching inn on which a lot of money has obviously been spent. The beer was in splendid form with Purity Gold, served in a branded Purity glass certainly hitting the spot, as did the ploughman's. A word here about the staff. Just fantastic, dealing with 23 of us with smiles, efficiency and good nature. If I lived there I'd be back. A lot.

Of course perfection, while eagerly sought and maybe found is not enough for the dedicated beer type. With Tyson and E, in tow we nipped along the road to the Three Tuns where raging thirsts were slaked by more excellent beer from Purity and another fantastic barmaid. The welcome was all you could want and it does make such a difference.

A little bit of a first next for us. A visit to a winery. Three Choirs is a 80 acre outfit set in rolling hills in Gloucestershire and produces a number of rather good wines from mostly German grapes. It also has a brewery which we were able to glimpse through a glass fronted room, while the expensive wine making kit was there for us to prod and inspect. Particularly interesting was the process of removing sediment from sparkling wine. The samples of wine were small and took a lot of will power not to knock back in two sips.




It was a remarkably sober lot that checked into the Hope Pole in Tewkesbury. That wasn't to last.

More Higgies

I often mention Higsons beer here. The beer was brewed at the Stanhope Street Brewery now (and formerly) occupied by Cains. The offices were in Dale Street however, next to the Ship and Mitre. The building, which is still in use, is clad in grey marble and still bears the Higsons name.

The photo was taken from the inside of the Ship and Mitre.

In My Liverpool Home

Having lived in Scousely for nearly ten years, it is always a pleasure to go back, particularly when the attraction of drinking in one of the finest boozing cities in England is enhanced by seeing old friends. My mate John emigrated to Australia nine years ago and when he comes "home", we always get together along with another mate Mike. We worked together many moons ago and the attraction of a reunion and chewing over old times never wanes. Along to act as referee was the lovely E, who knows all of us of old.

We met in the Doctor Duncan, a Cains tied house which was rather quiet, being one of the few pubs that didn't have the FA Cup Final (featuring Everton) on. Cain's Mild was cool, creamy and moreish and for me, easily the best beer of the day. Mike had the bitter, E had the IPA and both were pronounced good and John surprised us all (he's a Toohey's New man now) by ordering bitter too, reminding us all of the countless pints of Higsons we consumed back in the day.

Now I could go on about this beer and that, but I won't. It wasn't about the beer. We moved next to the re-opened Vernon Arms watching Liverpudlians support Chelsea and drinking beer from an old pal of mine, Mike McGinley of Betwixt Brewery which I will mention. Betwixt Sunlight was pale and golden with a delicious biscuity nose, but a lot too heavy on the crystal malt and light on the hop to demand another. Amid searing reminiscences, bickering, nostalgia and raucous laughter, we moved on to Rigby's for Manx beers, The Lady of Mann for more Manx beers, The Lion for very tasteless Youngs and the final stop at the Ship and Mitre where Lees, Paulaner, Veltins and other stuff was drunk. Oh and I had a couple of pints of Hoegaarden too, possibly in the Vernon Arms.

We tottered out of there very much the worse for wear and back to Lime St for our train. I had hiccups all the way back to Manchester and we were both starving, food having been overlooked. Today I had a hell of a hangover which is still lingering. As I said, it wasn't about the beer.

Hail to the Hop

Hops are a most essential part of beer and German brewers in particular are keen to ensure that only the finest hops of their required variety are used. Unfortunately, a giant hail and wind storm hit both the Tettnang and Hallertau crop last week, devastating according to some reports, around 25% of the new growth in the Bodensee area. In some instances hop bines were completely stripped of their leaves and shoots. In the worst cases only the wire remains.

It is unlikely that hop crops will reach long-term averages for the Hallertau and Tettnang after the damaging storm. The total effect to the German crop could be a loss of 15% or close to 5000 metric tons. Nonetheless, hop merchant John I Haas is reporting that they do not predict another hop shortage for crop 2009 at this point.

I recall similar bad weather at the end of May a few years ago when I was in Munich. I'm keeping clear of Bavaria during that time.

Who's Top Dog in the Pub Game?

According to my friends at the Morning Advertiser it is none other than Tim Martin of JDW. He leads a glittering cast of the great and good, knocking Giles Thorley of Punch off the number one spot. The reason Timbo is up there at the top? "When he talks, people invariably listen and he remains a precious flag-waver and talker-up of pubs and beer."

CAMRA's Mike Benner pops in at 29, up from 42, which seems to give the lie to any thought of a decline in CAMRA's influence and Paul Nunny of Cask Marque is up a couple of places too, reflecting perhaps, the rise in cask beer's prominence.

Nice also to see the Manchester Family Brewers (Lees, Robinson Hydes, Holt ) getting a joint mention at number 43.

The MA story is here.

We're Dead Nice We Are

Remember how Parliament found that PubCos were screwing their licensees. Seems they have got it wrong. Enterprise Inns have surveyed all their licensees and found that only 5% have a bad relationship with them.

Tough looking Ted Tuppin, the main man for Enterprise said ""Clearly, an in house survey does not carry the same weight as an independent review, but we will provide the full set of responses, on a pub by pub basis, so that the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) can validate the answers should they so wish."

There's the key. They know who said what. You wouldn't want Ted round at your door having a "quiet word" would you?

Full stories in the ever reliable MA and Publican

Return to Flavour

I was entirely knackered on Friday on my return home, but after a few hours kip, I was fit enough to pick E up from the station. We went to the Angel to talk over our respective weeks. Catching up is always better over a pint is it not? Two beers on offer. Lancaster Blonde which was a little sweet, but very drinkable after Efes - and Mallinson's TR7 which was pale, easy drinking, with a very pronounced hop nose.

A National Winter Ales Fest meeting meant a trip to Manchester on Saturday, so I kicked off with the reliable Copper Dragon Golden Pippin. Later in Micro Bar, more TR7 followed by a bottle of Brew Dog's 77 - described as an "artisanal rebel pilsner" - which was hoppy and rather ale like really. I've said it before, but this really is a delightful little bar and well worth going to.

Our final stop at the Marble Arch gave me three more beers with more than a nod to excellence. First up Ashford New World Brown from Thornbridge which did exceed my expectations with a lingering hoppy, bitter finish in a very brown body. (You couldn't get them under the Trades Description Act.) Another Thornbridge beer, Kipling, followed which was again in top form. It was nice to see such a hyped up brewery delivering the goods, which is a compliment, not a swipe. One final beer completed a beery day. On E's recommendation, back to basics with a superb pint of Manchester Bitter. We left overbeered. It was good to be home.

Why is the desire for a curry so overwhelming when you've had a few?

Three Things About Turkish Drink

Thanks for the kind messages about my hols. I can assure my more sensitive readers that getting my kit off was kept to a bare minimum!

On the way to our hotel we stopped at a Karvanserai for a drink - well I guess the driver gets a kick back for bringing his prisoners there. Efes Pils was our first holiday drink and it wasn't that bad. Quite full bodied, not too gassy and with a slight hop tickle, it was drinkable stuff. Our hotel did Tuborg Green Label, though it was sold as "Troy Pilsner". I know, as the kegs were easy to check. This was frankly crap. The third thing is that Turkish Gin and Tonic made from local spirits and local tonic was very and dangerously drinkable. As we were all "all inclusive" I drank infeasibly large amounts of it. The tonic was more Schweppes than Britvic, so all was well.

The weather was mostly 30c+ and some bits of me are brown. I only got slight Turkish tummy. Result.

I was with my pal Graham who discovered a forced liking for vodka, there being no free whisky!

Sunshine

I'm off for some. See you all in a week.

Guilty!

The Business and Enterprise Committee (Bec) report has found “alarming evidence” that there may be serious problems caused by the dominance of the large pub companies. Well we all knew that didn't we, but now it's official?

The Bec found among other things, that the evidence from Punch Taverns and Enterprise Inns gave only a 'partial picture' or was 'positively false'. Appallingly it reveals that 67% of PubCo licensees are earning less than £15,000 a year, despite in some cases having a turnover of over half a million pounds. The Chairman of the committee said “There must be a legal framework that takes account of the imbalance of bargaining power between licensees and pubcos.” The Bec doesn't recommend the scrapping of the beer tie, but says that more detailed analysis of the market is required and that there is a need to protect regional brewers.

So what next? The Committee recommends that the Government refer the matter to the Competition Commission for action, but this could take between two and three years. There is an alternative view, favoured by CAMRA, that the operation of the beer tie could be referred to the Office of Fair Trading to deal with the matter more quickly. However, such is the damning picture painted by the Bec, that a full referral to the Competition Commission seems inevitable.

Danny Boy

Daniel Thwaites has been brewing in Blackburn for 202 years. Their cask beers are starting to reappear more widely after a long (and most would say unsuccessful) love affair with nitrokeg. Now they are picking themselves up and getting over it. Good.

Though, as is common these days, it isn't actually called a mild, Thwaites have brewed a four per cent cask mild for May. I had some last night at the Bury Beer Festival Organising Meeting. Highwayman is rich, dark, chocolatey with decent roast malt and a creamy head. Most of us drank it.

Must have been all right then.

Packing Flavour In

While out shopping with E in Manchester on Saturday, we nipped into the Micro Bar in the Arndale for a much needed refresher. The only pale beer was a horrible example of random phenols, roughly hewn into an approximation of beer, which had E grimacing and me advising her not to drink it. She didn't actually need that advice, as her mind was rapidly made up on that point. My choice was wiser, though a bit of a tongue twister. Brewdog "How to Dissappear Completely" was the odd name given to a very good beer. Chestnut brown in colour and despite an initially off-putting wet dog aroma, the beer itself was very enjoyable and intensely bitter, with C hops in abundance and a very full body for its strength - a mere 3.5%. My first half was rapidly followed by a second and then a pint, while E consoled herself with Kuppers Koelsch. It was good to see Brewdog using their undoubted skills at the weaker end of the spectrum.

We sat for half an hour or so, sipping beer and watching the astonishingly mixed international clientèle eating ethnic snacks (the Brazilian stuff looked really good). Great for beer, great for people watching, it's a good place. Go there if you can.

The horrible beer was Empire Brewing Shiver Me Timbers