It's Wednesday morning and I am getting ready to set off to the beer festival at around 8:30am ish, when CK will pick me. Looking at how busy it was last night on the webcam (Didn't spot Henry), I am really looking forward to working their again this year. See you in the South Marquee if you are going, somewhere around the WXYZ bar area, just by the Batemans bar.
Hope to have further posts here throughout the week, if not then a full report at the weekend when I have recovered.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Peterborough CAMRA Beer Festival: Day One
Tue 23rd to Sun 28th August, 2005
The Embankment, Bishop's Road, Peterborough
The Embankment, Bishop's Road, Peterborough
Day one and it looks like it has been a very busy night
Greene King Threat To Scotland’s Largest Regional Brewer
CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, is urging Belhaven’s shareholders to reject Greene King’s bid for Belhaven Brewery. CAMRA's call follows the announcement that Greene King has made an agreed bid for Belhaven Brewery.
Belhaven is a very successful Scottish brewer with rising sales and profits and an estate of over 300 pubs. Belhaven has recorded 15 years of unbroken growth.
Belhaven is a very successful Scottish brewer with rising sales and profits and an estate of over 300 pubs. Belhaven has recorded 15 years of unbroken growth.
We are hugely disappointed at the prospect of losing Scotland’s largest Independent Brewery. Belhaven is a successful independent Scottish company that brews excellent beer and runs excellent pubs.
While we welcome Greene King’s intention to keep the Brewery open, the loss of Belhaven as an independent company is a bitter blow to consumer choice and competition in Scotland. Greene King needs to reassure Scottish drinkers that they will continue to brew and promote Belhaven’s unique beers such as Belhaven 60/-.
We hope that Belhaven’s many individual shareholders will pause for thought before selling their shares to Greene King.Ken Davie, CAMRA Scottish Director
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Peterborough CAMRA Beer Festival: The Beer keeps On Comming
Most of the beer is stillaged
And another beer delivery
You can see more pictures in the Album on the Peterborough CAMRA Beer Festival website.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Peterborough CAMRA Beer Festival: A Second Webcam In The South Marquee
There is now a second webcam in the south marquee at the festival site. You can watch the the beer arriving.
The Gnomes Are Back!
Yikes! It looks like the Gnomes are back at the Peterborough Beer Festival site. You may catch a glimpse of a Gnome here on the webcam.
Friday, August 19, 2005
Glossop Beer Festival Beer List
Here is the provisional Beer List for the Glossop Beer Festival 2005 to be held on:
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
UPDATED: 01 Sept 2005
Acorn
Sovereign 4.4%
Harvester 4.5%
Eastwood & Sanders
1872 Porter 6.5%
Mosquito Photo Reccy 4.0%
Great Gable
Liar 3.4%
Holme Valley
Waterside Mill Bitter (Special)
Uncle Orinoco's Mild
Howard Town
Glott's Hop 5.0%
Dinting Arches 4.5%
Lowes Arms
Red Rose Porter Special Edition 4.7%
Kingston Bitter 4.5%
Millstone
Square Peg 4.1%
True Grit 5.0%
Peak Ales
Bakewell Best Bitter 4.2%
Swift Nick 3.8%
Plassey
Offa's Dyke Bitter
Hobroyd Mill Bitter
Shaws
Sumners Special Ale
Woody's Ale
Golden Globe
Thornbridge Hall
Blackthorn Ale 4.4%
Lord Marples 4.0%
Foxwood 3.5%
Jiapur IPA 5.9%
Tigertops
Wilmans Mill Light 4.1%
Waterside Mill Hop 4.4%
Turnlee Mill Ginger 4.1%
Titanic
Turnlee MGY 4.4%
Full Kiln 4.0%
Black Ice 4.1%
Laster Porter Call 4.9%
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
UPDATED: 01 Sept 2005
Acorn
Sovereign 4.4%
Harvester 4.5%
Eastwood & Sanders
1872 Porter 6.5%
Mosquito Photo Reccy 4.0%
Great Gable
Liar 3.4%
Holme Valley
Waterside Mill Bitter (Special)
Uncle Orinoco's Mild
Howard Town
Glott's Hop 5.0%
Dinting Arches 4.5%
Lowes Arms
Red Rose Porter Special Edition 4.7%
Kingston Bitter 4.5%
Millstone
Square Peg 4.1%
True Grit 5.0%
Peak Ales
Bakewell Best Bitter 4.2%
Swift Nick 3.8%
Plassey
Offa's Dyke Bitter
Hobroyd Mill Bitter
Shaws
Sumners Special Ale
Woody's Ale
Golden Globe
Thornbridge Hall
Blackthorn Ale 4.4%
Lord Marples 4.0%
Foxwood 3.5%
Jiapur IPA 5.9%
Tigertops
Wilmans Mill Light 4.1%
Waterside Mill Hop 4.4%
Turnlee Mill Ginger 4.1%
Titanic
Turnlee MGY 4.4%
Full Kiln 4.0%
Black Ice 4.1%
Laster Porter Call 4.9%
Peterborough CAMRA Beer Festival Webcam Is Up And Running
The webcam is now up and running at the festival site. You can now see what is going on in one of the site offices.
UPDATE: There is now a second webcam so you can now see the beer in the south marquee.
UPDATE: There is now a second webcam so you can now see the beer in the south marquee.
SSMCamra News: The Owl Brewery, Oldham Is One Year Old
A little news on the oldham front, owl brewery is celebrating its first birthday this weekend, it is twelve months since landlord gordon potts formed the owl brewery in greenacres oldham, this was as you know derelict until gordon potts took over and trasformed this pub into a real ale pub, with its own brewing tower and excellent beers to match, this pub is worthy of our support and well worth as visit. Gordon has even brewed a special beer to celebrate this anniversary called hoppy birthday. Anybody interested there will be a buffet on sat this week, but I am not sure when this is to take place this is a good pub to visit even though this is not in our branch areaCheers Glen
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Peterborough CAMRA Beer Festival: The Marquees Are Well On The Way
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
beer-pages.com Beer Of The Month: Ridley's Old Bob Strong Premium Ale
Beer Of The Month, August
Ridley's was sold to the Greene King brewery on July 4th 2005. Greene King has already announced the closure of the old Ridley's brewery in Essex, and transfer of several beer brands, including Old Bob, to Bury St Edmunds. So for traditionalists, snapping up a few bottles of the delightful Essex-brewed Old Bob now may be your last chance... [More on beer-pages.com]
About beer-pages.com
beer-pages.com - all you need to know about beer, is an online magazine dedicated to real beer. Their main focus is bottled beers: bottle-conditioned ales, world beers and anything that catches our attention as a distinctive "real beer". They will look at cask ales and pubs too. You can become part of the community via the UK Beer Forum. Beer-pages.com is open to your suggestions for the beer-related things you'd like to see.
Tom Cannavan
Tom is Publishing Editor of beer-pages.com. Tom is one of the UK's most respected wine writers, who has published his wine-pages.com, magazine since 1995.
Roger Protz
Roger is Contributing Editor of beer-pages.com. Roger is Britain's foremost beer writer and taster, who is also well-known to beer connoisseurs in the United States and mainland Europe.
Ridley's was sold to the Greene King brewery on July 4th 2005. Greene King has already announced the closure of the old Ridley's brewery in Essex, and transfer of several beer brands, including Old Bob, to Bury St Edmunds. So for traditionalists, snapping up a few bottles of the delightful Essex-brewed Old Bob now may be your last chance... [More on beer-pages.com]
About beer-pages.com
beer-pages.com - all you need to know about beer, is an online magazine dedicated to real beer. Their main focus is bottled beers: bottle-conditioned ales, world beers and anything that catches our attention as a distinctive "real beer". They will look at cask ales and pubs too. You can become part of the community via the UK Beer Forum. Beer-pages.com is open to your suggestions for the beer-related things you'd like to see.
Tom Cannavan
Tom is Publishing Editor of beer-pages.com. Tom is one of the UK's most respected wine writers, who has published his wine-pages.com, magazine since 1995.
Roger Protz
Roger is Contributing Editor of beer-pages.com. Roger is Britain's foremost beer writer and taster, who is also well-known to beer connoisseurs in the United States and mainland Europe.
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Peterborough CAMRA Beer Festival: The Site Build Begins
Today the Peterborough CAMRA Beer Festival site build has begun with the outer fencing.
You can check out further photos on the PBF website. They also say that from next Thursday the Beer Festival webcams shoud be up and running.
The main event runs from Tue 23rd to Sun 28th August, 2005 at The Embankment, Bishop's Road, Peterborough. See you there from the 24th!
You can check out further photos on the PBF website. They also say that from next Thursday the Beer Festival webcams shoud be up and running.
The main event runs from Tue 23rd to Sun 28th August, 2005 at The Embankment, Bishop's Road, Peterborough. See you there from the 24th!
Real Ale Pubs In Wilmslow, Cheshire
I Spent a few hours in Wilmsolw, Cheshire on Saturday evening while my wife went shopping. After checking out the Good Beer Guide 2005 I was droped off at the King William and decided to take a look round first to see what else I could find. Just up the road I passed the Lloyds No.1 and eventuly came across the Coach and Four, a Hydes Pub.
This turned out to be an excellent find with four beers available on Handpump. I started on the 1863 which was in excellent form (as all the beers I tried), then moved on to the Bitter. I did not manage to try all the beer so I will have to return. The food available also looked very tempting.
Next I poped in to the Lloyds to see what, if anything, they had on. Two half beers were samnpled as I did not wish to spend too long in there. Both were very nice with the Bollin Special having the edge.
Finally back to the King William which turned up the biggest supprise of the night, to actually find an excellent pint of Robinsons, which is not something I would normally say. There were two beers on, the Hatters and unicorn, and a couple of pints of both were sampled. This should have been no suprise as this pub has won Robinsons Best-kept Celler Award six years in a Row!
So if you find yourself in Wilmsolw, then I would defiantly reccomend checking out the Coach and Four and King William.
Hydes - Coach and Four, Wilmslow
1863 3.5% £1.40
Bitter 3.7% £1.63
Jekles Gold 4.2% £-.--
HPA 4.7% £-.--
Weatherspoons - Lloyds No.1, Wilmslow
Titanic, Bollin Special %5.2 £1.80
Herold, Wiessbier %5.1 £1.80
Robinsons - King William, Wilmslow
Hatters Mild %3.3 £1.90
Unicorn Bitter %4.4 £2.00
This turned out to be an excellent find with four beers available on Handpump. I started on the 1863 which was in excellent form (as all the beers I tried), then moved on to the Bitter. I did not manage to try all the beer so I will have to return. The food available also looked very tempting.
Next I poped in to the Lloyds to see what, if anything, they had on. Two half beers were samnpled as I did not wish to spend too long in there. Both were very nice with the Bollin Special having the edge.
Finally back to the King William which turned up the biggest supprise of the night, to actually find an excellent pint of Robinsons, which is not something I would normally say. There were two beers on, the Hatters and unicorn, and a couple of pints of both were sampled. This should have been no suprise as this pub has won Robinsons Best-kept Celler Award six years in a Row!
So if you find yourself in Wilmsolw, then I would defiantly reccomend checking out the Coach and Four and King William.
Hydes - Coach and Four, Wilmslow
1863 3.5% £1.40
Bitter 3.7% £1.63
Jekles Gold 4.2% £-.--
HPA 4.7% £-.--
Weatherspoons - Lloyds No.1, Wilmslow
Titanic, Bollin Special %5.2 £1.80
Herold, Wiessbier %5.1 £1.80
Robinsons - King William, Wilmslow
Hatters Mild %3.3 £1.90
Unicorn Bitter %4.4 £2.00
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Vores Øl: The Worlds First Open Source Beer
Here is a first, at least it is the first I've heard of!, an open source beer recipe. So the question now is, Will CK at the Fairfield Brewery be doing a corriander version 1.01?
What's this "Vores Øl"?
Vores Øl (Our Beer) is a great tasting energetic beer and it's the world's first open source beer! It is based on classic ale brewing traditions but with added guarana for a natural energy-boost.
Version 1.0 is a medium strong beer (6% vol) with a deep golden red color and an original but familiar taste.
Check out the recipe and more information at Vores Øl Recipe
What's this "Vores Øl"?
Vores Øl (Our Beer) is a great tasting energetic beer and it's the world's first open source beer! It is based on classic ale brewing traditions but with added guarana for a natural energy-boost.
Version 1.0 is a medium strong beer (6% vol) with a deep golden red color and an original but familiar taste.
Check out the recipe and more information at Vores Øl Recipe
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
CAMRA Celebrates A Record-Breaking Great British Beer Festival
CAMRA is today celebrating the success of their flagship event, the Great British Beer Festival held at London Olympia last week. The Festival enjoyed a record attendance this year with over 47,000 visitors through the door from August 2nd –August 6th. This is an increase of nearly 2000 people from last year making this CAMRA’s most successful beer festival ever.
Festival Facts
Over 47,000 visitors
240,000 pints pulled
1,000 new CAMRA members
1,400 corporate guests
Community Pubs Foundation launched
Wedding reception held for the first time in the Corporate Lounge
Over 1000 visitors attended tutored tastings
“We are delighted that this has been CAMRA’s most successful beer festival ever. We had over 47,000 visitors through the door and sold a record amount of British beer with 240,000 pints pulled over the five-day period. The most popular beer on sale at the festival was Crouch Vale Brewers Gold which was also the winner of this year’s Champion Beer of Britain competition. Despite placing an reorder for this beer, we still had to ration it and at one point it was selling at a rate of 144 pints every twenty minutes with queues of visitors waiting to try it out.”
Louise Ashworth from CAMRA
Festival Facts
Over 47,000 visitors
240,000 pints pulled
1,000 new CAMRA members
1,400 corporate guests
Community Pubs Foundation launched
Wedding reception held for the first time in the Corporate Lounge
Over 1000 visitors attended tutored tastings
Saturday, August 06, 2005
The State Of Boddingtons Brewed At Hydes
Copy of an e-mail I received today:
Updated 31 Aug 2005:
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.
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
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,
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,
Olly Graham, General Manager of Crouch Vale said,
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)
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:
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
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