Saturday, August 06, 2005

The State Of Boddingtons Brewed At Hydes

Copy of an e-mail I received today:


Hi,

Many of you must now be aware that Hydes brewery has recently been experiencing problems with their production of cask Boddingtons bitter. Reports that the beer has been acidic and undrinkable are widespread. Many Boddingtons pubs and free trade outlets have now withdrawn the beer from sale until the brewery can investigate the cause of the problem and put it right.

I have contacted Hydes for an explanation but to date they have not been able to get back to me. Talking to licensees it would appear that some 4,000 barrels of Boddingtons have been recalled to the brewery because the beer is not in a saleable condition. What this means locally is that cask Boddingtons bitter is likely to be
unavailable throughout the area and will continue to be unavailable until the problem is sorted. The implications of this for a small family brewery like Hydes are likely to be serious.

As soon as I have more information then I will let you know. Until then please continue to support Hydes brewery and all the other cask beers it brews. At the moment I have no idea what the production problem is but it is at times like this that our local family breweries need all the help that we can give them. Please continue to support Hydes brewery.

Thanks for your patience.

Stuart Ballantyne
Hydes CAMRA brewery liaison officer



Updated 31 Aug 2005:

Hi everyone,

As you are well aware, Hydes brewery has been experiencing production
problems with cask Boddingtons bitter recently. I have been in touch
with Paul Jefferies, production and distribution director at the
brewery, and he has issued the following comment.

"I have been away on holiday this last week so forgive me for not
replying sooner. I am pleased to let you know that the fermentation
issues with the Boddingtons cask beer have now been fully resolved and
the improved beer should now be starting to filter through into trade".

As before, please let me know if this is not the case and if you are
still experiencing brewery quality problems with the beer at the pubs in
which you drink it.

Thanks.

Stuart
Hydes BLO


Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Glossop Beer Festival for Victorian Weekend

Glossop Beer Festival for Victorian Weekend with at least Thirty superlative varieties of Traditional British Mild, Bitter and Strong Ales on hand to tantalise the palates of the most Discerning Ladies & Gentlemen, hand selected by the worthy local members of the notable Campaign for Real Ale.

To be held in the Marquee in the Horseless Carriage Yard of Glossop Labour Club, Nos. 11 to 13 Chapel St. Glossop.


Thirsts may be slaked between:
Friday, September 2 between 12 noon - 11.00 pm
Saturday, September 3 between 12 noon - 11.00 pm
Sunday, September 4 between 12 noon - 5.00 pm


POSITIVELY NO: Hawkers, Vagabonds, Horse Traders, Ladies of Ill Repute, Pedlars, Charlatans, Estate Agents or other Purveyors of Moral Turpitude will be admitted.



Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Crouch Vale Brewers Gold




CAMRA NEWS: Golden Ale Voted Best Beer In Britain

Essex Brewery wins Champion Beer of Britain 2005 at the 'Biggest Pub in the World'

Brewers Gold, brewed by Crouch Vale of Essex, was today judged to be the best beer in Britain by a panel of brewers, beer writers and journalists.


The beer is described in the 2005 edition of CAMRA's Good Beer Guide as,
“Striking grapefruit nose leads to a beer of generally citrus hoppy character, underpinned by a perfumed sweetness and an aftertaste of orange wine gums.”

The Essex brewed beer, which was chosen as the overall winner from over fifty finalists in eight categories including beers from tiny micros to major regional brewers.

Roger Protz, one of the finalist judges and Editor of the Good Beer Guide said,

“Congratulations to Crouch Vale. It is great to see a golden ale win this award. Golden ale is a rapidly growing style of beer and one that will appeal to younger drinkers and women as well as real ale aficionados. It’s a wonderfully refreshing beer – the ideal antidote to lager!”

Olly Graham, General Manager of Crouch Vale said,

“We have been in the final of the this competition for a few year’s now but to have gone one step further this year and be voted the best beer in Britain makes me very proud. I would like to thank everybody at the brewery for all of their hard work. They have all played their part in making Brewer’s Gold the best beer in the land.”

The Silver award went to Rutland Panther from Grainstore (Rutland). Bronze went to Woodforde’s Wherry from Norfolk.


Champion Beer of Britain 2005

Champion Beer of Britain: Crouch Vale Brewers Gold

Second: Grainstore Rutland Panther

Third: Woodforde’s Wherry


Mild Category
Gold: Grainstore Rutland Panther (Rutland)
Silver: Brains Dark (Cardiff)
Bronze: Elgood’s Black Dog (Cambridgeshire)


Bitter Category
Gold: Woodforde’s Wherry (Norfolk)
Silver: Holdens Black Country Bitter (West Midlands)
Joint Bronze:
RCH PG Steam (Somerset)
Belvoir Star (Leicestershire)


Best Bitter Category
Gold: Harveys Sussex Bitter (East Sussex)
Joint Silver: Mighty Oak Burntwood Bitter (Essex)
Joint Bronze:
Timothy Taylor Landlord (Yorkshire)
Olde Swan Entire (West Midlands)


Golden Ales Category
Gold: Crouch Vale Brewers Gold (Essex)
Silver: Jarrow Rivet Catcher (Tyne and Wear)
Bronze: Oakham JHB (Cambridgeshire)


Strong Ale Category
Gold: Hanby Nutcracker (Shropshire)
Silver: Bullmastiff Son of a Bitch (Cardiff)
Bronze: Fuller’s ESB (Fullers)


Speciality Category
Gold: Cairngorm Tradewinds (Inverness-shire)
Silver: Young’s Waggledance (London)
Joint Bronze: Daleside Morrocco (North Yorkshire)
Ridleys Rumpus (Essex)


Real Ale in a Bottle category
Gold: Durham Evensong (Durham)
Silver: Young’s Special London Ale (London)
Bronze: Titanic Stout (Staffordshire)

CAMRA NEWS: Pub Closed Forever Everyday

Community Pubs Foundation Launched to Save Britain’s Pubs

CAMRA, The Campaign for Real Ale has published research that shows 26 pubs every month are being closed forever. That is more than one pub every weekday. In response to these startling findings, the Community Pubs Foundation has been launched to help communities save their locals.

CAMRA surveyed Local Authorities to discover how many pubs in their areas were being lost. The startling result was that 26 pubs a month are being demolished or converted to houses, restaurants, shops and offices. Across the country 438 pubs remained closed with an uncertain future.

Find out more at Pub Closed Forever Everyday!


In the 1930s the Anglo-French writer Hilaire Belloc penned the following cautionary warning:

When you have lost your inns drown your empty selves, for you will have lost the last of England!

from The British Pub at greatblighty.com


Monday, August 01, 2005

Beers Currently On At The Cheshire Cheese, Buxton

Beers Currently On
Dent - Wish Ewe Were Here 4.5%
Holdens - Golden Glow 4.4%
Holdens - Black County Special 5.1%
Millstone - Loxley 4.2%
Oakham - J.H.B 3.8%

Beer of the Trip!
Today, Wish Ewe Were Here

Beer Festival At The Cheshire Cheese, Buxton

*NEWS FLASH* There is a pub beer festival on at the Cheshire Cheese this week (August 1-8). There will be ten beers from the cask over the week, five on at a time, plus the usual Hardy & Hansons Bitter, Old Trip and the Seasonal Special.

This is not a pub that I usually drink in dispite it been less than 100yds from my house, but on Sunday it was decided that we should give a try to sample the beer quality. To my suprise there was a large poster outside the pub advertising a summer beer festival, This was a shock to find a festival on my doorstep. The beer avaliable was on form, look like we will have to put this pub on our usual Sunday afternoon stagger.

UPDATE: Beers available throughout the week

Dent - Wish Ewe Were Here 4.5%
Holdens - Golden Glow 4.4%
Holdens - Black County Special 5.1%
Millstone - Loxley 4.2%
Nottingham - E.P.A %
Nottingham - Olympic Flame 4.2%
Nottingham - Legend 4.0%
Nottingham - Rock 3.8%
Oakham - J.H.B 3.8%
Rebellion - Blonde 4.7%