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M e r s eyA l e
CAMRA Liverpool & Districts M a g a z i n e March 2009
F R E E
Welcome to
M e r s e y A l e
Greater 09
C H E E R S !
This Issue :
That Was The Year That Was The Future’s Orange
Liverpool Beer Tourism
Isle of Man News Cains Crunch 2 New Real Ale Pubs and Much More
www.merseycamra.org.uk
C i rculation 10,000
Photograph Neil Lloyd Nikon D2X

Lion Tave rn Belvedere Arms Lion Tave rn Belvedere Arms Lion Tave rn
Lion Tave
w w w. l i o n t a v e rn . c o . u k
6 7 M o o r f i e l d s L i v e r p o o l L 2 2 B P Te l e p h o n e : 0 1 5 1 2 3 6 1 7 3 4
PUB OF EXCELLENCE 2008 BEST QUALITY ALE 2006
Belvedere
T h e
Arms
Hello to all our customers
We hope you enjoy your
future visits to the Belvedere.
Changes will be ongoing over
the next month or so as we try
to bring out the best in this
fantastic pub and offer an
interesting range of drinks
and food.
I look forward to seeing
you soon.
Cheers,
John O’Dowd, Licensee of the
Lion Tavern & Belvedere Arms
Traditional 2 room Grade II Listed pub situated in the heart of
Liverpool’s Georgian Quarter. The pub is listed in CAMRA's
National Inventory of Unspoilt Pub Interiors and has 4 handpulls
Grade II listed Edwardian Gem.
An extravaganza of etched and
stained glass, carved wood and
beautiful tiling.It has an ornate
bar and two cosy side rooms
8 H A N D P U M P S
supply a va ried selection of pri ze winning
real ales and cider
O ver 80
M a l t W h i s k i e s
The Lion Tave rn has one of the largest
selections of malt whisky on Merseyside and
holds regular tasting eve n i n g s
CHEESE BOA R D + AWARD WINNING PORK PIES & BLACK PUDDINGS
QUIZ NIGHT T U E S D AY EVENING 7.15 & 9.30
B OARD GAME CLUB MEET 6pm EVERY MONDAY
BOB DYLAN SOCIETY MEET FIRST T H U R S D AY OF MONTH 8.30 pm
CASK MARQUE CAMRA NATIONAL INVENTORY PUB
serving excellent quality real ales and regular guest beers. The
comfortable lounge and separate traditional public bar have
welcoming real coal fires. Outside drinking area.
8 S u g n a l l S t r e e t ( o f f F a l k n e r S t ) , L i v e r p o o l
MerseyAle
CAMRA Liverpool and Districts Branch
Mersey Ale Editor
John Armstrong
Mersey Ale Contacts
C o m m e n t s / n e w s / l e t t e r s / p h o t o s
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A d v e rt i s i n g
a d v e rt s @ m e r s e y c a m r a . o r g . u k
Cost - Full page £200
Half page £100
Liverpool and Districts CAMRA
Main Branch Contact
Steve Downing
contact@merseycamra.org.uk
Contact for Socials and
Coach Trips only
Ian MacAdam 07521 741 586
CAMRA Branch Chair
Geoff Edwards
c h a i r @ m e r s e y c a m r a . o r g . u k
St Helens Sub Branch Contact
M i ke Barber
s e c r e t a ry @ s t h e l e n s c a m r a . o r g . u k
Web Sites
Liverpool and Districts
CAMRA Branch
w w w. m e r s e y c a m r a . o r g . u k
Mersey Ale
w w w.merseyale.com
(back copies on line)
w w w. m e r s e y c a m r a . o r g . u k
St Helens Sub Branch
w w w.sthelenscamra.org.uk
Isle of Man Branch
w w w.isleofmancamra.org.uk
CAMRA national site and
CAMRA Books
w w w. c a m r a . o r g . u k
Front Cover
Zoe - Ship & Mitre
The opinions expressed in Mersey Ale are
not necessarily those of the Editor, the
CAMRA Liverpool Branch or
CAMRA Ltd.
The 08 Capital of Culture
year may have come and
gone, but now CAMRAis
ready to launch into
Liverpool Great 09 with
another massive year of
real ale campaigning
in prospect.
The European Capital of Culture
title may have passed into history,
but now Liverpool can lay claim to a
new title - The Real Ale Pubs Capital
of Britain. And that is a title which
will not finish at the end of the year!
Let’s spread the word nationally that
Liverpool is a national centre for
Beer Tourism with great classic real
ale pubs and real ale brewers.
Great 09 kicked off with the
Liverpool Beer Festival, - a new
national sponsor Caledonian
Deuchars IPA, a new campaign
theme, plus new Champion Beer of
Britain judging - read all about it!
Next is the ground breaking
National Cask Ale Week 6th - 13th
April. Over 5000 pubs nationwide
are taking part to promote real ale
with schemes to encourage people to
give it a try. See page 35.
Read about why real ale is the
Intelligent Choice with Try Before
You Buy an important way
of introducing new people to
the drink.
Welcome to
Mersey Ale
From
Liverpool 08 to
Liverpool Great 09
Liverpool & Districts CAMRA has
already introduced many of the
r e p o r t ’s recommendations by
running innovative events
including:
● Womens Tastings and Real
Ale Fashion Shows
● Free Real Ale Street
Tastings
● The Liverpool Real Ale
Pubs Passport
● Meet the Brewers Events
● Real Food and Real Ale
We say - “Take Real Ale to People -
Once tried often liked and then
tried again.”
So look out for more CAMRA
campaign events in 09
“It’s Our Time - It’s Our Place
It’s the Time and Place for
Real Ale.”
John Armstrong
Editor

THE DISPENSARY
That Was The
(European Capital of Culture)
Year That Was
Dispensary Beer
Festival
9th -13th April
UP TO 50
BEERS!
available over the 5 days of the festival
Welcome to the
Dispensary from Pauline,
Dave and all their staff
The Dispensary has up to
9 ever changing cask ales
a traditional cloudy cider,
and holds regular beer
f e s t i v a l s
C E L E B R ATING 10 YEARS OF THE DISPENSARY
( F O R M E R LY THE GRAPES)
R E N S H AW STREET, LIVERPOOL
2008 – Liverpool’s
special year in the
sun as European
Capital of Culture.
And Liverpool and Districts CAMRA
rose to the challenge to give everyone
a Real Ale Welcome to the Real Ale
Pubs Capital of Britain. A full year of
campaign activity and events took the
Real Ale message to locals and visitors
alike. The biggest ever CAMRA
Liverpool Real Ale Pubs Festival and
the sell out Liverpool Beer Festival
showed the world that Liverpool can
claim European standing as a Centre
for Beer Tourism. The City has classic
pubs serving a wide range of real ales
plus a unique pub culture that is the
Heartbeat of the City. Deservedly it
claims the title of Real Ale Pubs Capital
of Britain.
Capturing the 08 Zeitgeist
CAMRA caught the cultural 08
zeitgeist with a series of Mersey
Ale covers and stories.
In April we had our own CAMRA
Superlambanana before they multiplied
and populated the City for a month.
What’s more ours
was the only one
to have walked
through the
Mersey Tunnel!
When the Spider
came to town we
gave it our Pubs
Passport to check
out the city centre
real ale pubs as it
toured the city,
before settling down for a nightcap
pint on Concourse House. No wonder
it needed a crane to help it reach
its perch!

B r e w e rynews
Cains in a Book
The long awaited book “Cains: the
History of Liverpool in a Pint” by
Chris Routledge was published in
December 08 after a rapid rewrite
to the final chapter, Full Circ l e .
The original theme of Dusanj
B ro t h e r’s Made Good had to
undergo a major recasting when
Cains went into administration
following the misjudged takeover
of Honeycombe Leisure. The
chapter comments that,”the sheen
had been taken off the previous six
years of expansion and awards”.
The book charts the history of
Cains from the arrival of founder
Robert Cain in Liverpool in 1844
f rom Cork. He bought the
Stanhope Street site in 1858,
constructed the redbrick brewery
in 1887, and by 1900 he had 200
Merseyside pubs including the
classic Vines (Big House), Lime
Street and the Philharmonic, Hope
Street. The Higsons era is covered,
the takeovers by Boddingtons and
W h i t b read which lead to the
eventual closure of the bre w e r y
and its subsequent sale to the
Danish Brewing Company and its
re - e m e rgence under the Cains
name. Remember the clever
Raising Cain adverts?
The book is published by
Liverpool University Press
price £14.95
Tetley Brewery to Close
in 2011. Are We Bovvered?
The Leeds brewery of Tetley is to
be closed in 2011. It is not clear
what arrangements will be made
for the future brewing of Tetley’s
cask beers, the Bitter, Mild and
Dark Mild plus the peripatetic
Burton Ale. Danish giant
Carlsberg took over Tetley in 1992
and is now set to cash in on the
high redevelopment value of the
city centre brewery site, bringing to
an end 186 years of brewing with
the loss of 170 jobs. Carlsberg
also have a lager brewery in
Northampton and commented that
they could not justify running two
breweries in the UK..
On Merseyside it may be difficult
to generate much concern and
support for Tetley’s. It was Tetley’s
who closed the Wa r r i n g t o n
Walkers brewery back in 1996,
dropping the popular Peter Walker
beers and forcing us to drink
inferior Te t l e y. So what goes
around comes around. Few real
ale drinkers outside of Yorkshire
ask for Tetley’s as their first choice.
In recent years the bitter has
become a pale shadow with little
hop character and a thin flavour.
The Dark Mild remains a
respectable beer.
Readers may be surprised to know
that Tetley’ are currently the largest
brewer of real ale in Britain. It is
always a matter of regret to see a
b rewery closed, especially one
with the history of Tetley’s, but
brewing indifferent beer is not the
way to survive in the current real
ale market.
York Brewery Taken Over
In December 08 York brewery was
taken over by Mitchell’s Hotels
and Inns of Lancaster. Mitchell’s
has 65 pubs in Lancashire and
South Cumbria and has plans to
buy pubs in Yorkshire. York beers
will be made available in the
Mitchell estate. York brewery has
four pubs, three in York and one in
Leeds. Mitchell’s withdrew from
b r e w i n g
some years
ago, closing
its Lancaster
brewery.
Cains is facing a Tr i p l e
Whammy which could lead
to jobs cuts and potentially
put a big question mark over
the future of the Stanhope
Street brewery and the new
RC Brewery Company.
Cains are in negotiations with HM
Revenue and Customs over being
granted crucial separate tax
licenses to brew, store and sell
b e e r. When Cains Bre w i n g
Company went into
administration in August 2008
owing £50 million, the HMRC was
owed £11 million, and as an
u n s e c u red creditor re c e i v e d
nothing.
The tax licenses are central to
the future of the company.
In September 2008 the Dusanj
B rothers bought the company
f rom the administrator for
£103,750 and set up a new
company RC Brewery which
continued brewing Cains at
Stanhope Street and operating
nine pubs.
The new company is facing
difficult trading conditions.
Beer sales account for 40% of the
company income, but sales have
fallen substantially by 15% since
the buy out from administration.
Cains have a number of
supermarket beer accounts, but
several supermarkets are
reducing the amount they
purchase. RC Brewing no longer
has the Honeycombe Leisure pubs
as a channel through which to sell
its Cains beers. The ninety odd HL
pubs are in the hands of the
Administrator and are either
being returned to their pubco
owners, with some then being
closed, or have been put up for
sale by the Administrator.
RC Brewing now has only nine
pubs of which the Old Colonial in
Birkenhead has been closed for
some time.
Interviewed by the Daily Post, the
Dusanj Brothers commented;
“It’s very challenging but we have
some strong brands, the pubs are
doing well, and the supermarkets
are still a core business.
Cains
Crunch 2
A Triple
Whammy
■ New Tax Threat
to Brewery
■ 15% Drop in Beer
Sales and Production
■ Shifts Cut From
Three to One
■ Job Cuts a possibility
We are a new company so it’s
difficult to say how we are doing
but it is a challenging environment.
We have to take it week by week and
make sure we run tight controls
a c ross the board and make
s u re our cost base is right.”
So will Cains as RC Bre w e r y
survive? Will there be job cuts?
Will the Stanhope Bre w e r y
survive? Once again we live in
troubled times.
8 9

B r e w e rynews
A Golden Tide Comes in
at Southport
The Tide came in at Southport
when Paul Bardsley of Southport
Brewery won both the Supreme
Champion Award and the Bitter
Aw a rd at the Society of
Independent Brewers Northern
Brewers Competition for his beer
Golden Sands.
Golden Sands emerged as
Supreme Champion in competition
with over 100 SIBA beers fro m
across the North of England. The
competition was held at Barons Bar
in the Scarisbrick Hotel, Lord
S t reet, so it was very much a
Home Win!
Brewer Paul Bardsley was Over the
Sands with the win. A w e l l
deserved success for a very good
brewer and a really nice guy. Look
out for his regular beers,
Sandgrounder and Natterjack.
George Wright Cheeky Pheasant
was runner up in the Premium
Bitter category, and Dr Okells IPA
from the Isle of Man was third in
the Best Bitter category
The Supreme Champion
results were;
First - Golden
Sands -
Southport
Brewery
Second - Nutty
Slack - Prospect
Third - True Grit -
Millstone
Continued
Punched Out at PubCo
Punch Ta v e r n s gave four top
executives the final count at the
end of January. The Commercial,
Strategy and Corporate A ff a i r s
directors were all counted out
This comes as the share price
plummeted over the past twelve
months. There are market
concerns that Punch would not be
able to service the massive debt
which had been borrowed against
the value of what are now rapidly
falling pub property prices.
In short the Punch business model
has unravelled spectacularly in the
face of the credit crunch and
collapse in values, giving rise to
1 0
speculation that the company may
not survive in its present form.
Punch Pubs - Make Us An Offer
Punch is inviting any of its 7590
licensees to make an offer for the
pub they currently run.
New Managing Director Roger
Whiteside said;
“ We are genuinely interested in
selling for the right price. Our
presumption is that the vast bulk
of our estate will remain with us,
but with finance costs so low, there
is a window of opportunity now
for some of our licensees to obtain
a freehold.”
Our Forgotten
Brewery
Boosts Profits
and Turnover
Thomas Hardy Holdings (THH),
our forgotten brewery at
Burtonwood, has re p o r t e d
i n c reased taxable profits of
£525,000, up from £208,000, in
addition to increased turnover of
£31.7 million, up from £23.4
million. Originally a partnership
formed in 1998 between
Burtonwood and Thomas Hardy
b re w e r y, the Burtonwood
company withdrew from brewing
in 2004, with THH taking sole
control of what was then a loss
making brewery at Burtonwood.
The Burtonwood pubs were taken
over by Marstons.
THH brews and packages beers for
a number of companies, including
a renewed contact for Scottish and
Newcastle (now owned by
Heineken), and Carlsberg.
THH spent £3 M on the brewery
installing new lager fermentation
tanks. There are also two bottling
lines capable of 600 bottles a
minute. The company has
benefited from the trend for
companies to outsource the
brewing of many brands.
Punch has already put 500
underperforming pubs up for sale.
Punch Price Rise
Punch has announced an across
the board 4% drinks price rise from
the end of March.
Admiral Newspeak?
What’s in a name? Admiral PubCo
has placed 733 of its struggling and
underperforming pubs in a
newspeak “Phoenix” division.
This is twice as many as had been
expected. Admiral business
development managers are to
work with groups of 40 pubs to
review their business prospects.
PubCos Crunch
“Reckless” Pubcos have 929 failed
pubs and “unsustainable debts”
of £20 billion
The House of Commons
business and Enterprise Select
Committee described the level
of debt taken on by Pub
companies as “reckless”, and
“eye watering”. Punch Taverns
and Enterprise Inns jointly own
over a quarter of Britain’s 56,000
pubs, and have taken on debt of
£4.6 billion and £3.8 billion
respectively. In the last twelve
months 929 of their pubs failed
and publicans handed back
the keys.
Private equity investor Jon
Molton described a “good
chunk” of the £20 billion debt
owed in total by Britain’s
PubCos as “unsustainable”, and
that the capital structure of of
many PubCos was “desperately
i n a p p ropriate in a falling
market.” The six biggest PubCos
are carrying borrowings of £14
billion between them, yet the
stock market ascribes a
combined equity value to these
companies of just £2.4 billion.
Morgan Stanley, which is joint
broker for Punch, said there was
a good chance trading at Punch
could deteriorate to crisis level,
leaving the company unable to
access cash and forcing a debt for
equity swap. They concluded
“This would leave minimal
value in the equity, which we
estimate at 10p.”
Despite this evidence the Chief
Executive of Punch, Giles
Thornley, described this debt as
comparable with a conservative
mortgage on a private house.
His view ignores the fact that in
the last twelve months one in 13
of his publicans failed. Morgan
Stanley analyst Jamie Rollo,
estimates that 28% of Punch
pubs and 17% of Enterprise’s
were in 2007 generating less than
£20,000 a year profit for the
publican. For a couple running a
pub this equates to £3.30 per
h o u r. Since 2007 trading
conditions have worsened
further so publicans’ incomes are
likely to be even lower.
Given the record of pub failures
and the low incomes, where are
new potential publicans going to
come from to take on the PubCos
pubs and bail the companies out
of their mountain of debt?
The Select Committee chair Peter
Luff told Punch and Enterprise;
“ We cannot sacrifice an
industry because you have
made financial misjudgements.”
However that is precisely what is
in prospect. The economics of
the pub industry are crazy and a
further PubCo Crunch waits in
the wings.
PubCo Debts
PubCo Total Value
£0.4bn
£0.8bn
JD Wetherspoon
£1.2bn
£1.6bn
Marston’s
£1.6bn
£2.1bn
Greene King
£0.7bn
£2.2bn
Whitbread
£2.6bn
£3.2bn
Mitchells & Butlers
£3.8bn
£4.1bn
Enterprise Inns
£4.6bn
£4.8bn
Punch Tavern
1 1

The Future ’s Orange - Betwixt the Bottle and the Bar
Betwixt Brewery Birkenhead Brews Up
The Future is Orange and it is to be found in a former
cane furniture factory in Birkenhead.
Mike McGuigan has set up his
own ten barrel bre w e ry in
Cleveland Street Birkenhead
and the equipment is painted
a bright orange. The new
p roduction capacity means
that Betwixt beers can now be
made available to the pub
trade as well as sold as
h i t h e rto in the bottle at
F a rmers Markets. Bre w i n g
commenced in November 08
so look out for a ray of
Sunlight on a bar near you!
Originally named to denote
being Betwixt Mersey and
Dee, Mike built the business
by being what he describes as
a “cuckoo brewer” using the
Northern brewery plant first at
Runcorn and then Northwich.
Virtually all production went
into bottles for sale at the
1 2
many Farmers Markets around
the area. Unfortunately this
was not really an economically
viable arrangement and Mike
recognised he needed to
expand and operate his own
b re w e ry. This was made
possible by a business
partnership with Steve Briscoe
who also brings experience in
sales and marketing.
Mike is a well travelled brewer.
His first brush with beer was
when his brother brought a
bottle of wheat beer home
from Australia and it exploded
in the hold of the plane. A
stint at Oddbins led to him
becoming the branch Beer
Expert. He then moved to the
Beer Shop, a Brew Your Own
Badged Beer for 40p a pint
brewing plant in Canterbury,
w h e re he learned the
rudiments of brewing with
support from Shepherd Neame
staff. Cheap European duty
free beer imports put paid to
the Brew Shop concept, and
Mike moved to the Firkin brew
pub in Norwich. From there
he headed to the large 20
barrel Wolf Brewery, where he
was given the big bre a k
through to be head brewer
and significantly extend his
experience by using a larger
brew plant. A further move
to Brakspears of Henley
introduced him to big league
brewing, as a member of a
brewing team which had 140
years combined bre w i n g
experience between them.
The then version of the
B r a k s p e a r ’s Bitter had a
massive 40 units of bitterness,
described by Mike as “beer
for adults”.
A move to the Zero Degrees
and Meantime breweries in
London broadened Mike’s
brewing repertoire, producing
a wide range of diff e re n t
world beer styles. His skill
received recognition when he
received not one but two
awards in the Champion Beer
of London competition for his
American style Pale Ale and a
Czech style Pilsner.
Not only is Mike a well
travelled brewer, but so is his
brewing plant. It originated in
Canada at Price Edward Island
in 1996, before turning up at
the Mash n ’Air brew bar
in Manchester and then
becoming the plant for the
Grand Union Brewery, Hayes
Middlesex, from whom it was
bought by Mike. Mike
characterises the plant as
akin to a well maintained
old Mercedes.
A low loader moved the
vessels to Mike’s brewery at
the former Cathay Cain
F u rn i t u re premises in
Cleveland Street Birkenhead,
close to the site of the former
Birkenhead Brewery Company
PHOTOGRAPHS NEIL LLOYD NIKON D2X
which operated from 1865-
1962. So brewing returns to
Birkenhead for the first time in
forty six years.
The plant can brew both ales
and lagers, being equipped
with cylindrical conical
f e rmenters which facilitate
lager brewing. This fits Mike’s
plans to brew a lager and a
wide range of world beer
styles in addition to British
style real ales. His stints at
Zero Degrees and Meantime
Brewery in London gave Mike
a taste for brewing different
world beer styles and now he
has the chance to put this into
action. He believes there is a
place for an English style lager
which would be filtered but
unpasteurised and then
bottled. (We recall a certain
Liverpool brewery expressed a
similar view on the potential
of English lager). His
comment on British brewed
Carlsberg was “I wouldn’t use
it to kill slugs”
However he reassures everyone
that “British Real Ale will
be the bread and butter of the
new brewery”
The new brewery should also
mean that his beers will be
more widely available in pubs,
so look out for Sunlight, Red
Rocks and the new Dark
Matter on a bar near
you soon.
1 3

BEER STYLESIPA - India Pale Ale
IPA is a much abused
name. Many brewers
call their beer an IPA
yet apply this to beers
that do not comply
in any way with the
key features of this
beer style.
IPAs were brewed for
export, primarily for the
troops in India. In order
for the beer to survive
the long sea voyage and
high temperatures,
certain key
characteristics were
required;
● High alcoholic strength (7% and
above was commonplace).
● A very high hop rate to protect
the beer from infection
The result was an intensely hoppy
dry full flavoured beer with a high
alcoholic strength.
London, Burton, Liverpool
IPAs originated in London between
1780 and 1820 with George
Hodgson brewing the beer at Bow
and exporting via the nearby docks.
He had a virtual monopoly of the
India trade. However with the
collapse of their export trade to the
Baltic area, brewers in Burton on
Trent switched attention to the India
export market, and in alliance with
the East India Company took the
trade from the London brewers. The
mineral salts in the Burton water
ideally suited the IPA brewing style,
and Burton in Trent became the
home of IPAs.
A Liverpool connection
arose in 1827 when a ship car rying
IPA was shipwrecked in the Irish
Sea. The cargo was salvaged and
auctioned in Liverpool. The story
goes that the IPA was so well
received as a totally new beer style,
that a clamour began for IPAs to be
made available in Britain. In
response Burton brewers began to
make a lower strength version for
Britain. Whether the Liverpool
auction was responsible is subject
to doubt, but the IPA style beers
did enter the domestic market in a
big way.
You Cannot Be Serious!
Sadly few of today’s beers which
carry the IPA name live up to the
classic profile. In many cases beers
of less than 4% are given the
name. Examples are Cains IPA
3.5%, Greene King 3.6% and
Caledonian 3.8%, none of which
have a very high hop rate. As Mr
McEnroe would say “You cannot
be serious!”
It is understandable that in today’s
world there would need to be
some reduction in strength of beers
that weighed in at 8% plus, but
there is a point at which the
essential character of a beer style is
lost. Would malt whisky drinkers
accept a malt of 35% proof rather
than 70%? One thinks not.
Four Modern Classics
Thankfully there are some
breweries producing classic IPAs,
which whilst slightly lower in
strength, still weigh in around
6% and have a very high hop rate.
We select four Modern Classic IPAs
in no particular order as they are
all excellent.
Marston’s Old
Empire
Praised by Roger Protz of
CAMRA as a classic IPA,
this beer revives the
proud tradition of Burton
brewed IPAs. At 5.7% it
offers intense hoppiness
and character. Optic
malt is used to give a
subtle flavour with
Goldings and Fuggles
hops added for the
distinctive bitterness.
Finally it is dry hopped
with American
Cascade hops.
A case of the Burton
IPA Empire Strikes Back!?
Thornbridge
Jaipur IPA
A serial award winner,
this beer fully justifies its
Indian name and its
high reputation. Jaipur is
known as the pink city
hence the colour of the
pump clip. Harking
from Thornbridge Hall
Brewery, Ashford in the
Water Derbyshire, this
5.9% beer flies the flag
for the IPA beer style,
offering a lemony
freshness of tropical
fruits and citrus hop
leading into a long dr y,
bitter aftertaste.
Punk IPA
Described by brewers
Brew Dog of
Fraserburgh Scotland as,
“a post modern Classic
Pale Ale with inherent
contradictions,” this 6%
beer will not disappoint.
The delicate tropical fruit
flavours of lychees, kiwi
and passion fruit are
followed by a
developing massive
bitterness as the hops
come to the fore. Light
in colour it fully warrants
its description as “a Wolf
in Sheep’s Clothing.”
Meantime IPA
This bottle conditioned
classic IPA weighs in at
7.5% and has a massive
bitterness from the use of
2lb of Fuggles and
Goldings hops for every
barrel of beer. Brewed by
Meantime in Greenwich it
revives the history of
London brewed IPAs and
can be found on sale in
outlets such as Sainsburys.
The Meantime website
claims that they are “the
only British brewery to brew
a true IPA”. A massive attack
of peppery hops combines
with citrus flavours and
juicy malt.
Liverpool Real IPA
Wapping Brewery rises to the challenge of producing a real classic 8% IPA for the Liverpool Beer
Festival 2009. Read all about it on page 21, tasting notes on page 41.
Want to Know More?
Order a copy of Roger Protz book India Pale Ale which is the definitive account.
Available from www.camra.org.uk or from bookshops.
1 4 1 5

In the Foot
Steps of a King
Spitting
Feathers
Brewery Tap
Chester
A new arrival on the real ale scene is the eagerly
awaited Spitting Feathers Brewery Tap. If you find
yourself “spitting feathers” ( a Cheshire saying for
a raging thirst; elsewhere a saying for re a l l y
angry!), then head for Gamull House 52-54 Lower
Bridge Street Chester, and climb up the stone steps
1 6
to the imposing black door of the Brewery Tap.
The timber frame of the building dates from 1510
and was the home of the Gamull family who were
local leaders of the Royalist cause in the Civil War.
Beyond the black door a surprise awaits. You
enter into a large 30 foot high baronial Jacobean
hall. It’s Big, It’s White, even Peter Crouch could
put his feet in bed here. The massive sandstone
open fireplace is where King Charles warmed his
backside before the battle of Rowton Moor. As that
was an Away Win for the Parliamentarians and the
fireplace is now part of the bar, you will not be able
to emulate the actions of the only English King to
be beheaded. The room also features two massive
wall hanging tapestries and high windows which
add to the period ambience.
The pub opened on Thursday 20th November.
Formerly a Pizza Express restaurant, a stylish
refurbishment has created a pub atmosphere yet
retained the sense of grandeur. The main hall is
supplemented by a smaller side room with a lower
ceiling, whilst downstairs is another which may
become a function room. The small room features
a dart board, darts being one of brewer Matt
Walley’s passions.
The main room is dominated by a wooden bar
which gives pride of place to an array of eight
handpumps. Four are for changing guest ales and
three for Spitting Feathers beers, including Old
Wavertonian Stout, which is a permanent feature
instead of Guinness. The final hand pump is used
for a real cider. The beers are listed on separate
chalk boards arrayed on the mantelpiece of the
sandstone fireplace. There is a massive board
which would do a school classroom proud, which
displays the menu of specials and light bites.
The menu features produce from Mathew
Walley’s own farm, especially the pork, with
other meat coming from Vernon’s butchers. Fish
and vegetarian options also feature and the chips
are a cut above the average (excuse the pun). It is
also planned to offer produce from the farm’s
own smokehouse, appropriately matched with
the brewery’s smoked beer.
The pub is managed by John Thomas who was
formerly with Brunning and Price at Harkers
Chester and the Corn Mill Llangollen. He also
orders the beers for the Chester Beer Festival so
look out for some interesting guest beers.
Chester is a different world as was demonstrated
by the young women in the bar with Chester Polo
jackets and the arrival of a delivery of
champagne. However this is a pub which looks
set to become a favourite, especially as it is a few
yards from the characterful Okells Bear and Billet
further along Lower Bridge Street, there b y
making an excellent cluster of quality
real ale pubs.
Like the King you may find yourself
lingering here a while but make sure
you don’t lose your head!

Pub News
Baltic Fleet Wapping
Changes on the food front at the
Baltic. As of January 09 Fydle’s is
no longer running the food
operation. The menu has now
been simplified to concentrate on
pub food dishes
Gardeners Arms Wo o l t o n .
Licensee Elaine Crookell at this
GBG listed pub has been awarded
a Cask Marque for real ale beer
quality.
Roscoe Head Roscoe Street.
The only pub in the North West to
have been in every edition of the
Good Beer Guide, and one of only
ten in the whole country, has a
new manager, Will Robson, who is
standing in for licensee Caro l
whilst she takes a break. There
need be no fears about standards,
as Will was a Roscoe regular who
holds the pubs’ values close to his
heart, and he comes from the hotel
hospitality trade having been
Assistant Food Operations
1 8
manager at the Liner Hotel
Liverpool. His aim is to provide
top quality real ale including if
possible beers from local
b reweries, and to maintain the
Roscoe’s reputation for civilised
conversation with no electro n i c
intrusions. The pub has a new
chef who is offering lunches
Monday to Friday 11.30 to 2.30,
and Will is keen to extend the food
offer. So call in and give Will
your support.
Hole in the Wall,
Hackins Hey off Dale Street has
been offering two George Wright
beers instead of the pre v i o u s
Pedigree and Black Sheep. The
pub is keen to support local
breweries.
Post Pub Column Saved
The weekly Daily Post Pubs
Column has been saved. It is now
appearing in the Friday edition
following major changes at the
Daily Post, including job losses
and the termination of the
Saturday edition.
Mike Chapple, the award winning
writer, will continue to write the
column, even though he is leaving
the staff of the Post. Being the
winner of both Glenfiddich and
Guild of British Beer Wr i t e r s
Regional Writer of the Ye a r
Awards, the column will be in
good hands. The column is an
important channel for bringing
the special qualities of Liverpool’s
Mike Chapple
pubs to a wider audience and
raising the profile of the city’s
very special pub culture.
In recognition of Mike’s
contribution over the years to the
pubs and real ale cause in
Liverpool, CAMRA invited him
to be our special guest at the
b rewing of the Liverpool Beer
Festival Special Festival Beer, A
Liverpool Passage to India. Read
all about it on page 21.
Gerard Madden
Bar Person and Real
Ale Ambassador of
the Year
For 2008 European Capital of
Culture Year we were all
encouraged to be Ambassadors for
Liverpool and to welcome visitors
to our city. One person who
exemplifies the qualities
of an Ambassador, not only for Liverpool
but also for Real Ale, is CAMRA’s Bar
Person and Real Ale Ambassador of the
Year, Gerard Madden. Not only that but
he is also an Ambassador for Everton FC,
o ffering anyone who asks an encyclopaedic
knowledge of the club history and its matches. It is
an education to watch Gerard greet customers with
a polite grace and then quietly offer his knowledge
of the city to guide visitors to places of interest.
Many visitors have had their visit to Liverpool
enhanced by Gerard’s guidance.
Attila, a 7.5% Barley Wine from
Oakham Brewery of Peterborough
Cambridgeshire is the winner of the
CAMRA Winter Ales Festival Supreme
Champion Winter Beer of 2009.
Oakham Head Brewer, John Bryan,
described Atilla as having fruity notes
and an elderflower aroma, with the
taste of ripe red berries and citrus fruits
and a long bitter fruity finish. The beer
takes five to six months to mature.
Festival organiser Graham Donning,
commented;
“This is a spectacular beer
with a great following and is
a deserved winner. There are
now few barley wines around
in the country, and Attila is a
wonderful example for
anyone yet to try this rare
beer style.”
Second place went to Elland
Brewery’s 1872 Porter, with
third awarded to Sarah
Hughes’s Dark Ruby.
Beer category
winners:
Old Ales and Strong Milds
Gold Sarah Hughes, Dark Ruby
Silver Bryncelyn, Buddy
Marvellous
Gerard will be known by many readers, having
worked at the Dispensary, Dr Duncan’s, Colin’s
Bridewell, the Blackburne Arms and currently at
Rigby’s where he supervises the unique table
service in the side room.
A special presentation of the Award to Gerard
was held by CAMRAat Rigby’s.
Supreme Champion Winter
Beer of Britain 2009 - Attila
Bronze Joint: Orkney,
Dark Island and Theakston,
Old Peculier
Stouts
Gold Bristol Beer Factory,
Milk Stout
Silver Beowulf, Dragon
Smoke Stout
Bronze Spire,
Sgt Pepper Stout
Porters
Gold Elland Brewery,
1872 Porter
Silver Joint: Fullers, London
Porter and Townes, Pynot Porter
Barley Wines
Gold Oakham, Attila
Silver Hogs Back, A over T
Bronze Otley, O8
1 9

Brewery Tap Ale House, Gamull
House Lower Bridge Street Chester
A Real Liverpool
Passage
to India
To say it was a privilege would be
an understatement - to be chosen
by CAMRA to be this year’s guest to
help in the creation of the Festival
Special for the 2009 Liverpool
Beer Festival.
Not only that but to do it in the company
of legendary Liverpool brewer Stan Shaw
made it even more auspicious.
Ten years ago he jacked in his successful
job as an engineer to indulge in a home
brew hobby full time.
He hasn’t looked back since brewing dozens of
wondrous, original concoctions under the Wapping
banner inside his wizard’s den, the old smuggler’s
tunnels and cellars beneath the creaking timbers of the
Baltic Fleet.
The seeds of this year’s special were sown when
Merseyale’s editor John Armstrong threw down the
gauntlet after the Meantime Brewery based in
Greenwich (geddit?) made the proud boast that it was
the only British brewery creating a “true” India Pale Ale
with its bottle conditioned IPA of 7.5%.
John playfully thought that anything the Cockneys
Mike and Stan
could do us Scousers could do better, believing that
Stan the Man was just the man for the job.
Sprightly and sparky 61-ye a r-old Stan, a perfect
a dvertisement for ale and its, er-hem, medicinal
qualities, wasted no time in taking up the challenge.
Which explained why Yours Truly ended up with him
alongside the aforesaid Mr Armstrong and CAMRA
stalwart and ale guru Steve Downing down in the
bowels of Baltic taking part in the creation of Stan’s
latest Wapping masterpiece: the Liverpool Passage to
India IPA which was due to clock in with a whopping
ABV of 8%.
The marvellous thing about watching Stan at work is
that he has all the attributes of a master chef at work,
possessing the casual elegance that hides an awareness
of precise timings and ingredient measurements which
are the prime requisites of a perfect result.
My contribution amounted to no more than a few
minutes with the paddle at the mash tun stirring up
S t a n ’s luscious porridge, a traditional IPA with a
secretive Shaw-fire twist thrown in.
The proof of the pudding came just over a month later
when Stan, John, Steve and I tasted the fruit of his
labours on Thursday February 19th, the first night of
another victorious Liverpool Beer Festival.
Stupidly, like the greedy kid in the sweetshop, I’d
masked the taste buds by initially indulging in the
passion for dark porter supping on the Abbeydale Black
Mass with its, wait for it, 6.66% ABV.
But Stan’s Passage exorcised it no problem it being a
light but powerfully heady brew with a refreshing
citrus aftertaste.
Mr Shaw, with a jaunty grin
and a happy glint in his eye,
was sure that mission had
been accomplished - and in
trumps after putting aside
the casks not used at the
festival to slowly mature to
a greater incarnation.
“You wait - in a year’s time it
will taste even better,” he
said, quietly truimphant.
We ’re sure it will, mate.
We’re sure it will.
Mike Chapple
See page 41 Liverpool Passage to India the Taste
2 1

The Richmond is a traditional
family-run pub in the heart of
the city centre and has been
trading as a pub for over a
hundred years.
The Real Ale on offer is
World Champion Ale
Caledonian Deuchars IPA,
Black Sheep Bitter, Cains
Bitter and of course the
famous Bass Bitter
We now have
Rotating Guest
Beers from local
Breweries
Paddy Golden
1926 - 2004
Richmond
Regular
Take
ThreeNew
Liverpool
RealAle
Pubs
Who would have thought it! The
Shakey on Williamson Square has
risen from the rubble and is now a
modern pub serving two real ales.
The original pub was flattened
some years ago due to claims that
it was structurally unsafe and the
site left empty. Now a speculative
glass building has risen on the
corner site. Remarkably the
building has been put to use as a
pub, and even more remarkably it
is offering two hand pulled real
ales, Wells Bombardier a n d
D i r e c t o r s, which are in the
ground floor bar. Upstairs is a
glass walled bar which has
spectacular panoramic views
a c ross the Square and
comfortable couches. Ideal for
people watching! But be warned
there is no real ale upstairs so you
The Shakespeare Williamson Square
have to bring it from the
downstairs bar.
Good to a see modern style pub
opening in Liverpool with faith in
real ale. It shows it can be done.
So give it your support!
The James Monro
Tithebarn Street
Is it a restaurant, is it a pub, is it
a US President, is it a bird?
Well probably not the latter!
Opened in the former Brunswick
pub this is a sister establishment
to the Monro gastro pub on Duke
Street. Promoted as a New York
diner with a speciality of US food
such as gourmet burgers and ribs,
it is firmly pitched at the food
market. Yet remarkably it offers
three real ales from the Marstons
list, with a special emphasis on
Jennings beers. The tables may be
set for dining giving a restaurant
ambience, but certainly at quieter
times you can go in for a quiet
pint, in addition to the benefit of
being able to marry a meal with
some good quality real ale. Again
a positive development to see a
food led new pub offering some
serious real ale. So give the
Monro a try!
Whether it is a restaurant or a pub
is for you to decide. And yes, it is
a US President, being named after
the 5th President who was in
office 1817-1825.
THE RICHMOND 32 WILLIAMSON STREET L1 1EB
The James Monro Tithebarn Street
The Stables Garston
See article on page 24
2 3

At last! An oasis to irrigate the
Great Garston Real Ale Desert.
The ongoing Great Garston
Regeneration Revival has gained
a top class real ale pub and
eatery right at the centre of
historic Garston. The Stables Pub
and Eatery on a landmark site at
the junction of Church Road and
St Mary’s Road, (for those in the
know that is next to Under the
Bridge), is now flying the flag for
Real Ale and Real Food.
The Stables – New
Real Ale Pub
Garston Real Ale
Revival
to initially limit the offer to just two real ales to ensure
beer quality until trade has built up. The two beers are
both from George Wright Brewery Rainford. The
Stables is the house beer at £2.40, 3.9%, citrus, dry
and hoppy and very drinkable. The other is a changing
George Wright beer, at the time of visit Cheeky
Pheasant 4.8%, at £2.50. Also on the horizon is a
hand pumped real cider. Given the rapidly growing
popularity of the pub and its real ales, an expansion of
the range may not be far away, with local breweries in
pole position to feature on the bar. Jonathan reports
that sales of real ales are exceeding those of lager and
Guinness, with many people giving it a try and then
sticking with the real thing.
Excellent freshly cooked food is available all day from
11am and can be served either in the restaurant area in
the former stables area at the rear, or in the main bar.
at the Stables for quality fresh food. There are meal
deals during the day and on Sunday there is a very
popular Carvery from 12 noon to when food runs out.
It is hoped the Stables will participate in A p r i l ’s
National Cask Ale week, and there are plans for a Pub
Real Ale Festival in the Spring.
This is a venture which dramatically raises he bar in
Garston and deserves to succeed. So give it your
support and keep Garston irrigated with real ale
and real food!
Local lad Jonathan Santer and business partner
Wayne Nutbeen, have taken the bold step of investing
substantially in the former Queen’s pub premises and
extending into the adjacent property. The result is a
very high quality pub environment, which is modern
yet retains historic features and a proper pub
atmosphere. An example is the use of the original
stables manger as a room divider. Décor is a relaxing
mix of creams, greens, exposed brickwork, polished
floorboards plus some original floor tiling. Photos of
the pub in earlier times adorn the walls in
the corridor.
The bar area has been extended substantially into the
next door premises, whilst the original stables at the
rear have been roofed over to create an eating area of
considerable character focused around a courtyard.
The design usefully separates the dining and pub
areas, although it is possible to ask for food to be
served in the bar.
The long bar has an impressive array of six hand
pumps, but Jonathan has taken the sensible decision
2 4
The chef Stuart St John (yes he is related !) has a high
reputation for his cooking, having worked in a number
of city restaurants. He is passionate about fresh
produce and fresh cooking, to the point that he bakes
the bread used in the restaurant himself – and very
good it is too. Written on the wall is a commitment to,
wherever possible, source ingredients from within a 50
mile radius. Stuart is determined to build a reputation
2 5

THE INTELLIGENT CHOICE
Real Ale is the Saviour of the British Pub
The Real Ale Challenge
The challenge to licensees and
breweries is to persuade people to
try real ale. Once they do 40%
of them are converted and will
drink it again.
65% of UK drinkers have never
tried real ale.
Among those who do try, 40%
covert to drinking it.
Conclusion - There is huge
potential for real ale growth
Of those who try real ale;
4 6 % in 25-44 age range stick with it
4 6 % of women who try it stick with it
5 6 % of 24-34 year olds would try re a l
ale if they could sample it first.
Conclusion; A programme of
education and trial tasting is
easily capable of boosting the
number of people who drink
real ale.
That is the message of “The
Intelligent Choice”, a new
report on the British pub trade. It
shows that sales of real ale have
stepped up in the past year to
outperform the rest of the beer
market and rescue the British pub.
Research contained in the report suggests
that pubs serving well-kept real ale have
seen year-on-year trading growth of 14
per cent, compared to a fall of 2.5 per
cent for similar pubs without real ale.
“This is solid proof that where real
ale is sold and kept well, it’s
profitable for a pub, and that’s
got to be good news in this
current trading climate,” said
report author Pete Brown. visit
www.caskalereport.com to
download report.
The Keys to Real Ale Growth are;
■ Attracting the occasional real ale drinker to
drink it more often
■ Attracting women to try real ale
■ Offering Try Before you Buy free tastings
Attracting the Occasional
Real Ale Drinker
■ 640,000 people drink real ale occasionally
– not as their main drink but as a support
choice.
■ 88% of them are male
■ 45% of them are in the 25-44 age range
■ They are more affluent than average drinkers
and are three times more likely to earn above
the national average income.
■ One in five visit pubs once a week or more –
over double the national average.
■ Less adventurous in their choice, they tend
to go for national real ale brands.
The Occasional Real Ale Drinker is
a prime target for real ale growth.
Encouraging them to drink real ale just a little
more frequently and to be a little more
adventurous in their choice of real ales, is a
prime opportunity for licensees and for
regional and micro breweries to increase sales.
There is potential for further growth in real ale,
according to The Intelligent Choice. Sixty-five
per cent of UK drinkers have never tried it, but
among those who sample it 40 per cent are
persuaded to broaden their repertoire to
include cask ale.
Pete Brown said: “The report shows how
Britain's national drink is really helping
landlords and landladies keep business -
and even grow it - in challenging times.”
Real Ale is the Unique Selling Point of the
British Pub
“It gives a real point of difference for
pubs over supermarkets. You can't buy
pub atmosphere in a shop and neither
can you buy cask beer. Great quality cask
ale is one of the key elements to keep
attracting people into their locals. It's a
massive reason to visit.”
“Wherever people are actively investing in
cask ale, they are reaping the rewards.
Many regional brewers are seeing
sustained growth in their brands and
some are starting to become national in
their scope and reach.”
2 6
2 7

FIRST
National Sponsor
of the Festival
Stephen Crawley
MD of Caledonian Brewery
B rewers of Deuchars IPA
LIVERPOOL BEER FESTIVAL FIRSTS
FIRST Liverpool - a National Centre
for Pub and Beer Tourism
“Liverpool pubs are an integral part of
the city’s fabric and culture.
As the regions tourist board we welcome
this type of improvement and
broadening the destination’s appeal
to visitors”.
Pam Wilsher Acting Head of Tourism the Mersey
Partnership, the regions Tourism authority.
Pam, Stephen and Liverpool & Districts
CAMRAChair Geoff Edwards
raising their glasses to the future of Pubs
and Beer Tourism in Liverpool.
“Liverpool pubs are something special.
I know having spent quite a bit of time
in them myself. And Liverpool Beer
Festival is a fantastic event organised
by fantastic organisers. Let’s work
CBOBjudging panels hard at work
together to establish Liverpool as a
National Centre for Pub and Beer
Tourism’.
Wirral Born Stephen Crawley MD of
Caledonian Brewery
Pam Wilsher ActingHead of Tourism
Mersey Partnership
The Marks String Quartet Provided
music with a difference
FIRST
Champion Beer
of Britain Judging
The Most Coveted award
in the brewing industry.
The Liverpool
North West
regional results
were:
B E S T B I T T E R
The Festival hosted judging panels for
two CBOB categories - Best Bitters and
Golden Ales from the North West
Region. The winners go forward to the
final National Judging for Champion
Beer of Britain in August.
1 s t G YPSY ’S K IS S
W C B r e we r y ( C h e st e r )
2 n d G o l de n S a n d s
S o u t h p o r t B r e w e r y
3 r d Ko di ak Bitt er
B e ar t o w n B re w e r y
Oyll give it Foive
G O L D E N A L E S
1 s t KI RK S T IL E G O L D
L o w es w a t er B r e w e ry
2 n d Wh i te Mo n k
P h o en i x B r e w e r y
3 r d We st mo rl an d G o l d
B a r n ga t e s B re w e r y

Isle of Man News
Focus on Port St.Mary
In the far south of the Island, and often
overlooked by visitors, Port St. Mary has three
cracking real ale outlets, all very different, but
giving a true flavour of island life away from the
hubbub of the capital Douglas.
The Albert
First up The Albert, at the far end of Port St. Mary
close to the harbour and next to the terminus bus
stop. This bustling local, in The Good Beer Guide for
many years, stocks Old Bushy Tail (abv 4.5%),
B u s hys bitter ( abv 3.8%), and Okells bitter
throughout the year, along with guest ales depending
on the time of year.
The three roomed pub, complete with roaring real
fires in the winter months, is at the heart of the
community, and hosts pool and darts teams in the
left hand bar area. To the right lies a small room,
often used by local groups/societies. There is a quiz
every Sunday evening, and on the last Friday of each
month a traditional Manx music group can be found.
The pub is also used by a small group for Manx
language lessons.
Inauspicious looking from the outside, the pub can
be a welcoming sight after a days fishing out at seaand
very difficult to leave after a few well kept ales
in the warmth of the open fires! Alternatively there is
a beer garden at the side of the pub overlooking the
harbour. As well as commercial fishing vessels, a
couple of boats operating from Port St. Mary
harbour,(Gemini and Hannah Louise) can be booked
by parties for fishing trips around the south of the
island and Calf of Man nature reserve.
Focus on Port St.Mary continued overleaf

Isle of Man News
Focus on Port St.Mary contd.
huge subsequent explosion with the
loss of over 30 lives.
The Shore Hotel
Around a mile away in a
spectacular location on the seafront
in Carrick Bay is the Shore Hotel.
The Shore has a dining area to the
right, opening 12-2.30pm
lunchtimes (3pm Sun) and 6-9pm
Mon-Sat. The atmosphere is
modern and informal, with the food
being of a particularly high
standard. The Shore can cater for sit
d own functions for around 40
people, with buffets for up to 60.
M a ny high quality photogra p h s ,
taken by the landlady’s father in
law, pack the walls, featuring both
local scenes and pictures from
around the world.
On the front left side of the building
there is a small bar area, with
unusually low ceilings. Okells
bitter, Old Bushy Tail and one guest
ale usually feature. The pub has
been in The Good Beer Guide for
several seasons now, and in 2008 a
visiting CAMRA group from
This is a fantastic pub location in all
weathers. In winter the tides in
rough weather can be spectacular
(if a little too close for comfort), and
in summer the outdoor area
(currently being expanded) give s
ample opportunity to take in the
surrounding views. Landlady
Debbie has been at the Shore for
some seven and a half years now,
and her and her team’s efforts
highlight just what can be done
with a rural pub away from main
centres of population.
Readers of previous Mersey A l e
editions will know that there is a
fourth outlet in Port St.Mary,
The Station
adjacent to the Steam Railway
station. As reported earlier the pub
More Isle of Man News
Pub Closures.
After seve ral years of eve r
increasing real ale availability on
the Isle of Man, it appears that the
tide may be turning, as a series of
pub closures begin to take their toll
on the islands traditional pub stock.
A combination of factors is at work
here, from the first winter of the
Islands smoking ban, to credit
crunch, as well as the increasing
differential between pub and
supermarket drinks prices. Several
of the islands closed outlets that
have been in existence for over a
hundred years.
It’s worse than grim up north, where
both the Islands pubs north of
Ramsey are closed at time of going
to print. In Ju r by, the highly
individual Jurby Hotel has closed
due to lack of trade. The landlord,
himself a real ale fan, had stopped
stocking the regular Black Sheep
best bitter (abv3.8%) some months
ago. A frequently misunderstood
point here that may surprise many.
CAMRA does not support real ale
availability in all pubs. On occasion
where demand is deemed too low
to sustain quality, CAMRA does still
support the traditional community
pub, even though real ale cannot be
offered. Alas The Jurby, essentially a
large long hut with several full size
snooker tables has closed
regardless. The pub was originally
an officers mess for the adjacent
Ju r by RAF station and runway,
during World War Two.
Once again bleak news from
Andreas, where the once popular
Grosvenor Hotel has closed again
for the second time in as many
years. There are plans to reopen
soon, but there has to be an
attritional effect on repeated pub
interruptions for rural outlets at this
time. Meanwhile south of Peel at
Glen Maye, The Waterfall Hotel
(circa 1880) remains closed and for
sale, and the nearby Ballacallin
Hotel has now been closed. Only a
few miles inland, and the Farmers
smoke room and private smoke bar.
How times have changed!
Elsewhere and of historical note
only now, the Old Falcon Brewery,
which had been trading as an off
license for much of the last decade,
is currently being converted into
apartments.
Beer Festivals
M u ch more positive news
elsewhere in the many remaining
outlets, with two beer festiva l s
being planned before the summer
season starts. The Creek in Peel will
Bay View Hotel
A few hundred yards up from the
harbour can be found the Bay View
Hotel. This traditional two roomed
local offers Okells bitter year round,
with Bushys in the busier summer
months. The pub hosts pool and
Arms at Tynwald remains closed.
be holding a(now annual) festival
from 19th to 25th of March.The pub
in recent years has established
itself as a leading real ale venue on
the island, after a huge and
sustained effort, with frequent real
ale promotions.
darts teams in the left bar, along
The capital Douglas is not The Rovers Return in Douglas, now
with TV for the sport. Pictures of a
nautical theme adorn the walls. Bay
View is the name, and it is worth
unaffected. Following the loss of
The Waterloo on the main Strand
Street which was reported in earlier
under a new landlord, is currently
resurgent and intends to hold a beer
festival the week before Easter, and
visiting the small beer garden
Mersey Ale editions, Th e over Easter weekend, featuring 30
has been redeveloped into largely a
across the road, with spectacular
Cornerhouse on Ridgeway Street guest ales. Festivals in the Douglas
dining venue, but a small bar area
views across the bay and harbour
area have been rare over recent
area, possibly the best views from
still exists for drinks only. No real
years. This contrast sharply with
a ny beer garden on the Island.
ale is served, although a range of
bottled beers is available.
outlying areas, where pubs such as
Open in winter from 3pm (earlier in
The Sulby Glen Hotel, The Bay
summer), the pub makes full use of
Port St.Mary can be accessed
( Port Erin), and The Sidings
the 24 hours drinking laws, and can Cumbria voted it one of the from Douglas by an hourly bus
( C a s t l e t ow n ) h ave been running
be open very late depending on friendliest pubs on the Island, after service (no 1). If wanting to be
annual events for some years now.
customers. The Bay View has been visiting all Good Beer Guide pubs. dropped off at the door of the
in existence since at least the
1850’s, and was the venue for the
enquiry into the Brig Lily disaster
off the coast. In late 1852 in bad
weather the160 ton Brig Lily sailing
The small (but not cramped) seating
areas make for a relaxed and cosy
atmosphere, and pool is available,
as well as TV for the sport. The pub
is a meeting point for the IOM
Shore catch the less frequent no2
or 8 service. Otherwise it is a
mile or so walk from Port St.Mary
centre. Additionally for Po r t
St.Mary, steam trains operate for
closed for the last time last month.
Both these outlets had been in
existence for over a century, the
from Liverpool to West Africa with Triumph Motorcycle club at both TT m u ch of the ye a r, from both
Cornerhouse having formerly
40 tons of gunpowder and supplies
on board, foundered in poor
and Manx Grand Prix weeks, and
the pub also organises events for
Douglas and nearby Port Erin,
with the Albert and Bay Hotel
traded under the name Wheatsheaf.
A certain Dr.W.Okell the brewer
w e a t h e r. Local officials were locals during the year, with a party about a ten minute walk from
himself, had originally purchased
d i s p a t ched to guard the ve s s e l
against plunder, but there was a
of 23 heading off skiing as Mersey
Ale goes to print.
the station.
The Cornerhouse plot to build a
hotel, with three bars, including a
32 33

Isle of Man News
contd.
E l s ewh e re in Douglas Th e
Rosemount has ceased to sell real
ale, but bottles of Dr Okells IPA(abv
4.5%) and Maclir (abv 4.4%) are
available behind the bar attractively
priced. Alternatively, and only a few
hundred yards away, Th e
Woodbourne Hotel goes from
strength to strength in its real ale
offering. As well as the bitter and
the mild, Okells seasonals can often
be found, along with guest ales.
Note here that despite some of the
excellent seasonal offerings by
Okells, the real ale drinker on
island can still find difficulty
sampling more than two Okells
beers at the same time in
one outlet.
Finally, the Castle Arms (Gluepot)
in Castletown, nestling between the
harbour and historic castle has a
new landlord, John Fe r g u s o n .
I m m e d i a t e l y, five ever ch a n g i n g
guests were introduced as well as
the usual Okells bitter. John is a
former CAMRA pub of the season
award holder back in the UK. When
asked about his real ale strategy, he
simply pointed to the heav i l y
beamed ceiling and said he was
going to fill it all up with pump
clips. No nonsense here then, and
having been in situ. for only a very
short period, 29 pump clips had
3 4
already appeared by mid January.
Guest selections will come from all
over the UK and will include many
of the less well known brewers.
Brewery News
A quiet time of year for all the
Islands brewers, but it appears that
new offerings are in the pipeline
from more than one brewer, so
catch the next edition. The Heron
and Brearley refurbishment
p r o g ramme has now slow e d .
Previous editions of Mersey A l e
highlighted the increased offering
in all refurbishments. Reflecting
b a ck, whilst this has not been
universally sustained, many of the
refurbs. have continued to offer
more choice than before, and in
particular The Cro s by, and Th e
R ave n at Ballaugh have seve ra l
guest offerings throughout the year.
Incidentally, whilst there has been
much speculation on Island about a
change of building use at Th e
R aven, both the landlord and
immediate manager are unaware of
any truth in this speculation, and at
time of going to press, the pub was
trading as normal, with no other
declared plans.
Heron and Brearley hit the front
pages of the newspaper on more
than one occasion in January, with
large price cuts to lagers, Guinness
and real ale in its
owned pubs. Much
speculation ensued as
to the reasons for the
cuts, and all except
the real ale price cuts
were reversed a short
period later. Over the
years there has been
much criticism of the
brewery for high
prices. The brewery
has often responded
with the line that
island operation is
more costly from a
transport point of view. Whilst this
is true, in recent years prices in their
Liverpool outlets have on occasion
been noted to be lower than on
Island, despite the double journey
the beer and raw materials have to
take. It would be fair to say the
timing and mode of
implementation of these price cuts
has surprised many in the trade,
and some flak has come the
brewery’s way from the free trade
and seve ral other quarters. In
defence of the brewery, significant
monies have been spent on (some)
of the pub stock in recent years, and
although seen as a big player on
Island, it must be remembered that
Heron & Brearley is relatively small
in British Isle and European terms.
A cut is a cut though, whatever the
history and politics, so it must only
be encouraged and welcomed.
Dave Halliwell
National Cask
Ale Week
A new concept to promote real ale with 5000 pubs
nationwide taking part to offer events which will
attract new people to try real ale. Some of the
events taking place in Liverpool pubs are:
Allgates Meet the Brewer at The Lady of
Mann 6th April 6pm
The Mersey Morrismen
Rigby’s Courtyard 6th April 7.30pm
Stamps Too Waterloo Beer Festival
Stamps Crosby Beer Festival
Turks Head Beer Festival St Helens
12 Beers Each Night Cask Ale Week
Baltic Fleet Wapping Easter Weekend
Beer Festival 30 plus beers
The Dispensary Beer Festival
9th - 13th April
up to 50 Beers over 5 days
Look out for National Cask Ale Week Posters or visit www.merseycamra.org.uk
for further details

Liverpool &
Districts
CAMRA is
going LocAle
Liverpool and Districts CAMRA
Branch Launched the LocAle
scheme in the Branch area in
Stamps Too on South Road
in Waterloo.
Stamps Too became our first
LocAle pub and received formal
recognition on the evening of
M a rch 9th. Stamps Too has a
reputation for supporting local
real ale brewers, especially the
a w a rd winning Southport
Brewery which recently won the
Supreme Champion Beer Award
at the SIBANorthern Competition
(see Brewery news article page 10).
The Branch will also be launching
a LocAle web page on
www.merseycamra.org.uk which
lists all of the LocAle pubs in the
Branch area.
CAMRA LocAle is a new
i n i t i a t i v e that promotes pubs
stocking locally brewed real ale.
The scheme builds on a growing
consumer demand for quality
local produce and an increased
awareness of 'green' issues.
The CAMRA LocAle scheme was
c reated in 2007 by CAMRA's
Nottingham branch which
wanted to help support the
tradition of brewing within
N o t t i n g h a m s h i re, following the
demise of local brewer Hard y s
and Hansons.
It is now been rolled out
nationally with each Branch
deciding what their LocAle
mileage distance is to be. This is
the distance from the brewery
to the pub.
Liverpool and Districts CAMRA
have agreed that their
LocAle distance is 30
miles and the ale must
have a locale identity.
T h e re f o re we would
not expect a Fullers ale
to be Locale even if
its contract bre w e d
locally.
B e f o re displaying
any CAMRA L o c A l e
publicity material a
pub must be awarded
a c c reditation by the
C A M R A Branch. A c c reditation
is at the sole discretion of the
Branch and subject to the licensee
agreeing to the following:
•That they will endeavour to
ensure at least one locally
brewed real ale, as defined by
the local CAMRA branch, is on
sale at all times.
•Only real ale, as defined by
CAMRA, can be promoted as
a CAMRALocAle.
Karl Critchley Stamps Too
•Where the standard of real ale
sold falls below an acceptable
quality accreditation will be
withdrawn.
JOIN LOCALE
If your pub is interested in
joining the LocAle scheme
please contact Mel James-
Henry, Local Campaigns
Coordinator at
c a m p a i g n s @ m e r s e y c a m r a . o r g . u k
Once CAMRAis satisfied
that the pub meets the above
criteria we will provide
posters, window stickers,
leaflets and pump clip
toppers.
BALTIC FLEET JOINS
LOCALE
The Baltic Fleet Wapping is
joining the CAMRALocAle
scheme. There will be a
launch night on Thursday
9th April.
All welcome. Enjoy beers
from Liverpool’s only brew
pub, Try LocAle!
Liverpool Beer Festival is much
more than just a beer festival. It
has an impressive re c o rd of
p romoting a changing annual
campaign theme and pushing the
real ale boundaries. Backed by an
extensive media campaign this
enables CAMRA to bring real ale
issues to a wide audience across
the area and not just the fortunate
Festival goers. Over the last five
years the Festival has feature d
campaign themes on;
2005
The Merseyside Brewers Bar
brings our locally brewed beers
into the media spotlight thre e
years before CAMRAconceives of
the LocAle concept. Te n
Merseyside brewers showcase
over 50 beers and demonstrate the
amazing re s u rgence of real ale
brewing on Merseyside.
3 6 3 7
2006
Liverpool the Real Ale Pubs
Capital of Britain. The focus
shifts to Liverpool’s great pubs
More Than Just
A Beer Festival
The Festival With an Annual Campaigning Theme
heritage and the Branch publishes
the Aw a rd Winning Liverpool
Historic Pubs Guide. Liverpool
o ffers an unparalleled range of
great pubs, with over 50 in the city
centre alone serving real ale.
2007
L i v e r p o o l ’s
8 0 0 t h
B i r t h d a y
and the
message is
that real ale
and re a l
pubs are an
e s s e n t i a l
element of
any visit to
the city.
Later CAMRA launch the
Liverpool Pubs Passport and the
Liverpool Real Ale Pubs Festival.
2008
European Capital of Culture Year
and the Theme is Bringing New
People to Real Ale. The Festival
f e a t u res a
w o m e n ’ s
guided re a l
ale tasting,
a t t r a c t i n g
over one
h u n d r e d
women, who
taste six
different beer
styles and
show there is no such thing as
women’s beer. The CAMRA
Young People’s Group staff
one of the Festival
sessions to show you’re never
too young to appreciate real ale.
2009
Liverpool A National Centre for
Pub and Beer Tourism. CAMRA
invites tourist organisations to a
That’s
Beer
Tourism!
special reception to promote the
development of Liverpool as a
national centre for pub and beer
tourism. Caledonian Bre w e r y
become the first national sponsor
of Liverpool Beer Festival and
s h a re their experience of
p romoting the links between
Organisers:
Frank Kennedy,
Steve Downing and
John Bowen
Edinburgh, Ian Rankin’s detective
character Rebus and Deuchars
IPA as essential elements of a visit
to the Athens of the North.
2010
Watch this Space! We have a
reputation to live up to!

CAMRA’s Liverpool
Beer Festival won
recognition as an event
of European
Champions League
stature with the news
that the Champion Beer
of Britain, Caledonian
Deuchars IPA, was to
sponsor the 2009 event.
Caledonian is the
winner of over one
hundred brewing
awards and is
recognised as a leading
brewer of real ale.
Stephen Crawley the Managing
Director of Caledonian and a
regular visitor to the Festival,
said;
“In my opinion Liverpool Beer
Festival is one of the best beer
festivals in Britain, and in my job I
go to quite a few! The atmosphere
and setting in the Metropolitan
Cathedral Crypt make this a unique
event. It is not every day you get to
sponsor the world’s only beer
festival to be held in a Cathedral!
3 8
Champions Line Up for
Liverpool Beer Festival
Brewer of the Champion Beer of
Britain Sponsors Liverpool’s
Champion Beer Festival
Caledonian is delighted to be the
official sponsor and to be working
in Partnership with CAMRAto
take forward the legacy of the
European Capital of Culture year
and Liverpool’s reputation as a
great city for real ale and great
pubs.”
Geoff Edwards Chair of
Liverpool and Districts
CAMRAsaid;
“We are proud to announce that a
real ale brewer of the standing of
Caledonian is our official sponsor.
The Champion Brewer is teaming
up with a Champion Beer Festival
to show the nation that Liverpool is
the place to be in 2009.
Caledonian’s sponsorship puts
Liverpool firmly on the national
beer map. The fact that this is
Probably the Only Beer Festival in
the World to be held in a Cathedral
gives Liverpool a unique worldwide
selling point. The Festival leads off
an exciting year of real ale events
planned by CAMRAto enhance
Liverpool’s standing as the Real Ale
Pubs Capital of Britain.”
Caledonian Deuchars IPA
is itself the winner of over 40
national and international
awards, whilst Caledonian has
won over 100. In 2002 Deuchars
IPA won the ultimate accolade of
being judged Supreme
Champion Beer of Britain, whilst
in 2005 it was judged to be the
Champion Beer at the Beer
Brewing Industry International
Awards.
In 2009 Caledonian is
celebrating 140 years of brewing.
It is the only remaining brewer
from the 40 plus breweries that
operated in Edinburgh in
Victorian times. Caledonian’s
Brewery in Edinburgh is
described as a living, working
museum, which uses much of
the original equipment to
produce a wide range of award
winning traditional real ales.
The Victorian Brew house
remains relatively unchanged
since its opening in 1869,
continuing to use Britain’s only
remaining direct fired open
coppers.
Phoenix From the Ashes –
Not Once But Twice!
The new sponsor of CAMRA’s
Liverpool Beer Festival,
Caledonian Brewery, has risen
not just once, but twice from the
ashes of disastrous brewery fires
which nearly wiped out the
company. After both the fires
the staff team rallied round to
restore the brewery building so
that production could continue.
Their efforts were rewarded
when Caledonian Deuchars IPA
was judged the Supreme
Champion Beer of Britain in
2002, and then the International
Champion Beer in the 2005 Beer
Brewing Industry International
Awards
What is more the Managing
Director, Stephen Crawley, is a
local Wirral lad.
Stephen was born in the Wirral
and is an Old Birkonian, having
been educated at Birkenhead
School. He has family ties with
the Wirral and returns regularly
from his base in Edinburgh.
In 1987 the management team
were successful in saving the
brewery from possible closure
by mounting a management
buyout, when previous owners
Vaux decided to concentrate
their brewing in Sunderland.
Stephen commented;
“It is a great feeling to be
sponsoring one of Britain’s leading
beer festivals in my home area in
2009, the same year that
Caledonian is celebrating 140 years
of brewing. Having come back after
two major fires I think you can see
Caledonian is fully committed to
brewing top quality real ale.
Sponsoring Liverpool Beer Festival
brings two champions together to
promote real ale on a national stage
and to show the way forward post
2008 Capital of Culture year.”
Beer Tourism an
Untapped Market for
Liverpool
Liverpool has the potential to
become a national centre for
beer tourism. That is the
message from the CAMRA
Liverpool Beer Festival.
CAMRAinvited leading figures
involved in Merseyside tourism
to a reception and presentation
held at the Cathedral Crypt on
the subject of the Potential for
Beer Tourism in Liverpool. The
Festival sponsors Caledonian
Brewery discussed their
experience of promoting the
Rebus theme in their marketing,
which capitalised on the
popularity of Ian Rankin’s
detective character Rebus and
his association with Edinburgh.
Tourism authority The Mersey
Partnership lent their support to
the proposals to promote
Liverpool as a National Centre
for Beer Tourism.
Geoff Edwards, Chair of
Liverpool and Districts
CAMRAcommented;
“Beer Tourism has massive
potential, and Liverpool as the Real
Ale Pubs Capital of Britain, is
supremely placed to benefit from
this growing sector of the visitor
and tourism market.
Munich and Dublin have long had
an international reputation for their
beer and their pubs, attracting a
massive number of people keen to
experience both. Here in Liverpool
we have an unrivalled combination
of great pubs with great choice and
quality of real ale. This is a major
opportunity to open up an
additional niche market for tourism
in Liverpool.”
Tourist chiefs have flagged up
that hotel room bookings for
2009 are down on those for 2008.
They have highlighted the need
to continue finding means of
attracting visitors to stay in
the city.
Geoff Edwards commented;
“Beer Tourism short breaks are an
ideal opportunity for Liverpool. We
have a unique offer for the Beer
Tourist. Encouraging people to stay
over for a short break to experience
our great range of real ale pubs and
our brewers will help fill hotel beds.
This can be a win, win for everyone,
our hotels, our pubs, our brewers
and the visitors.”
The annual four week
CAMRALiverpool Real Ale
Pubs Festival and Passport
event
held in
September/
October is a
natural focus
for Beer
Tourism,
which can
be further
developed.
3 9

A Runner-up
for the
CAMRA
NATIONAL PUB OF
THE YEAR
CAMRA
REGIONAL
PUB OF THE
YEAR
Liverpool &
Districts CAMRA
PUB OF THE
YEAR
2nd Year Running
12 BEERS
Each Night
A traditional friendly pub with a great
atmosphere, real fire
and an ever changing range of real ale.
12 handpumps
Serving Traditional Ciders and Perry
• 5 draught continental beers
• Wide selection of bottled continental beers
• Tuesday - Quiz night 9-30 p.m.
• Thursday - Curry and jazz night
• Cask Marque • Good Beer Guide 2009
Cooper St. St Helens Tel 01744 751289
News from St Helens
Sub Branch
It is 12 months since a dozen or so
members from St Helens met in
the Black Horse at Moss Bank to
discuss the possibility and
viability of forming a Sub Branch
of the Liverpool and District
Branch of CAMRA. It was
decided that the idea should be
taken to the next step and to
approach the Branch for advice
and guidance.
A postal ballot of members living
within the WA9, WA10, WA11, L34
and L35, (eff e c t i v e l y, St Helens,
Rainford, Haydock, Rainhill, and
Prescot) was held. In the Ballot the
majority of those re p l y i n g
indicated that there was sufficient
support for a Sub-Branch. On the
9th. July, 2008 the very first full
independant meeting of the Sub-
Branch was held.
Beer Festival
Since that meeting we have held
our very first Beer Festival, on the
last weekend in November. This
was the coldest start to winter this
country has known for many years.
It was held in probably the
quirkiest venue ever, the North
We promised a Festival Special
Real Liverpool IPA, and boy did
it not disappoint!
Full strength at 8% and very
hoppy, it more than matched the
classic IPA characteristics.
It weighed in with a massive 75
European Units of Bitterness, (your
average bitter has about 25 to 30).
This comes from the high alpha
West Museum of Road Transport,
situated in the old bus depot in
Hall Street, St Helens.
The festival was a success in many
areas. It put St Helens on the map,
it put the Museum on the map, it
b rought some new beers to the
delight of the members, and it
made money for the Campaign. It
is with great delight that we were
able to declare that all beers and
ciders sold out.
Due to the success of the Festival
we will be holding another in the
same venue, but earlier in the year,
over the weekend 1st, 2nd and
3rd. October, 2009, with a slight
i n c rease in the number
of beers and ciders available.
Full details can be found on
the Festival website
w w w. s t h e l e n s b e e r f e s t . c o . u k
Membership
The Sub-Branch has successes in
other areas. Since the formation we
have increased the number of
members living within our Sub-
Branch area by 90, taking the total
number to 342. This re p re s e n t s
almost a third of the total
membership of the Branch are a ,
hops used in the brewing, namely
the Chinook, Sorachi (a Chinese
hop), and Pioneer. East Kent
Goldings, Chinook and Pioneer
were used for late hopping. The
malt used was Maris Otter.
The Result?
A beer full of flavour and
hoppiness. Initially sweet on the
palate, that leads to a full tropical
fruitiness with hints of banana and
mango. Then comes the hop attack
as the massive hop presence comes
to the fore, creating a satisfying dry
depth of flavour. In the aftertase
the hops combine with the
returning fruitiness to provide a
long lingering finish with no
alcohol “burn” despite the
strength.
and is more than many
full branches.
Real Ale Pubs
An inventory of Pubs within the
Sub-Branch area revealed that a
total of 46 outlets supply Real Ale.
Of these 4 appear in the Good Beer
Guide 2009, 12 have Cask Marque
accreditation and one, The Turks
Head has been voted Branch
Pub of the Year two years
in succession and was a finalist
in National Camra Pub of
the Year. All the Pubs are listed on
St Helens CAMRA website at
w w w. s t h e l e n s c a m r a . o r g
Arecent addition to the list of Real
Ale Pubs in St Helens is t h e
Phoenix in Canal Street, St Helens,
a Pub of the Year over 20 years
ago in the old Liverpool and
Districts CAMRA Branch when
it still included the Wirral and
Southport Branches. The current
Licensee is keen to promote
Real Ale.
Tony Biggs
For details of St Helens Sub Branch
meetings and socials see page 55
A Liverpool Passage to India
This is is a big drink which will
continue to develop and add
further depth and complexity of
flavour over future months.
Remember the original IPAs were
on the high seas for three months.
We were considering putting a
cask on a Mersey Ferry for a
similar length of time, but the
temperatures are not as tropical!
A cask has been laid down to be
sampled at the 2010 Festival. But
b e w a re! this 8% beer drinks as
easily and smoothly as a session
beer and is extremely moreish!
The Editor of MerseyAle considers
his challenge to have been met in full
and hopes the Festival goers enjoyed
their Special Passage to India.
4 1

St.Helens
Beer
Festival
30 BEERS PLUS SPECIAL FRUIT BEERS AND A GREAT BBQ
Thursday 9th April Launch of LocAle at Baltic (see page 36)
The first CAMRA St Helens
Beer Festival was brim full
of atmosphere. It is not
every day you have the
opportunity to sample 50
real ales and 10 real ciders,
surrounded by 50 classic
preserved buses. But then
no other Beer Festival is
held in a bus garage
museum! The North West
Museum of Road Transport
provided a venue
conveniently and
appropriately located next to
St Helens Central Station
and the Bus Station.
Also it was probably the coldest
venue ever used for a beer
festival. Not so much Ice Cold in
Alex as Ice Cold in a St Helens
Bus Garage on a fre e z i n g
November night. It would have
been in keeping if the Brass
Monkey Brewery had been the
o fficial sponsor, and Ti t a n i c
Iceberg the Beer of the Festival
(yes we know …. It Goes Down
Well). The temperature or rather
the lack of it, did deter a number
of people from staying for any
length of time. The toilets which
w e re the only rooms with
heating, suddenly became a
place to linger! The cold also
affected the flavour of the beer,
taking it well below cellar
temperature.
Nevertheless the staff provided
excellent service, whilst the beer
choice was varied, with a
number of micro bre w e r i e s
supplementing regional bre w s .
The 7.3% Pushing Out brewed by
the Outstanding Brewery lived
up to the brewery name with a
great flavour and a massive hop
presence. Thornbridge Imperial
Russian Stout led the line for
dark beers, supported by no less
than eight milds. The real ciders
offered an introduction with a
cross section range of sweet and
dry varieties which were
clearly popular.
The venue would have benefited
from more table seating, and the
food provided by a burger van
was unfortunately true to the
Stella Artois model of Festival
food, namely Reassuringly Poor
and Reassuringly Expensive.
Nevertheless the beer was sold
out by 8pm on the Saturd a y
night so the Festival had clearly
proved popular.
The Museum is certainly a very
interesting venue for a Festival
but in the interests of customer
comfort and beer temperature,
the Spring or Autumn would be
a more appropriate time of year
to hold the event. The St Helens
Branch is planning a repeat 2009
Festival for October 1st - 3rd.
4 3

Tom Ford
The Delifonseca Stanley Street has
clearly been imbibing the newly
available bottle conditioned beers.
The Deli has scored a Double in the
Academy Ambassador Awards, which
recognise staff who provide excellence
in customer care and create a lasting
positive impression of the City.
Tom Ford was winner of Waiter of the
Year and Martin
Cooper Chef of the
Year. Last year Emma
Morris won Waiter of
the Year. Is there
something about
Delifonseca staff and
names of cars!
Martin Cooper
Restaurant Real Ale
Discussions with
CAMRA have led two
leading Liverpool
restaurants, the Side
Door, Hope Street and
the Delfonseca,
(pictured above)
Stanley Street to offer
Real Ale in a Bottle
from the Wapping
Brewery, This is a
breakthrough in
demonstrating that
restaurants without
cellars can still offer
the real thing!
Side Door
Belvedere Arms
John O’Dowd takes
over as licensee
The Belvedere Sugnall Street. Change
of licensee at this Grade II listed pub.
John O’Dowd of the Lion Tavern
Moorfields has taken over the licence
from Ivan Jenkins, and will run both
pubs in tandem. By the time
MerseyAle goes to press the pub
should be open after redecoration.
John intends to offer three micro
brewery ales and one national, and
will be selling pies and baguettes.
4 5

Roscoe Head
The
The Roscoe Head is a real traditional pub with warm
cosy surroundings where customers can enjoy a nice
pint with no distracting music.
Traditional Pub with Te t l e y ’s Bitter, Te t l e y ’s Mild, Jennings Ale,
Burton Ale - PLUS 2 CONSTA N T LY CHANGING GUEST BEERS!
Why not come to our popular Quiz night on Tuesday?
We also have a cribbage night on Wednesdays
Try our delicious home-cooked food
s e rved Monday to Fr i d ay 11.30am - 2.30 pm
24 Roscoe Street L1 2SX 0151 709 4365
The only Merseyside pub to feature in every edition of the Good
Beer Guide. That’s 36 years of Good Beer Guide entries!
C r o w’s N e s t
63 Victoria Rd, Cro s b y. 0151 924 6953
Merseyrail - Blundellsands & Crosby station - 10 min walk
Four Regular
Real Ales
and constantly
changing Guest Ales
Beers from breweries all over the country!
The Crow’s Nest is a charming grade II listed
building with a cosy bar, tiny snug and comfortable
lounge. You’ll enjoy a warm welcome and great beer
in this beautiful old pub.
Voted Best Community Pub 2004/5
Pub of Excellence 2002/3
Above awards from Liverpool and districts CAMRA. Recommended in the Good Beer Guide
Liverpool Echo Paddy Shennan
feature Thursday 8th January
“Raise Your Glass to
Capital of Pubs
Capital of Beer Festivals
Capital of Real Ale Pubs
Capital of Real Ale.”
The Echo article gave recognition
to CAMRA,s work pro m o t i n g
Liverpool as the Real Ale Pubs
Capital of Britain. When giving
awards for achievements during
2008, Paddy gave three awards to
Liverpool and Districts CAMRA.
Save The
Pub
All Parliamentary
Group To
Work With
CAMRA
Southport Liberal Democrat MP John
Pugh has co-founded a new
parliamentary group to fight to save
the British Pub.
He commented;
“I am deeply committed to saving the
local pub. I have already been
working with CAMRA and licensees
in Southport to try to halt pub
closures. The new All Parliamentary
Group will allow me to pool resources
with other politicians, allowing me to
tackle the problem at both local and
national levels.”
The Group is calling for legislative
changes to stop pubs being closed
unnecessarily.
Save Your Local Pub
The Save the Pub Campaign has a
section on www.camra.org.uk which
p rovides a dossier on how to
Save Your Local Pub and
useful links.
What the Papers say
■ Liverpool and Districts
CAMRABranch – passionate
promoters of real ale
■ Mersey Ale – The Damn Fine
Read – (Glossy and Good
Looking Too) – the award
winning Mersey Ale produced
by CAMRALiverpool and
Districts
■ The Mother and Father of All
Beer Festivals – the always sold
out, always atmospheric, and
always excellent Liverpool Beer
Festival
Paddy also highlighted the fact
that Liverpool offers a larg e
number of quality pubs. It has
more city centre pubs in the Good
Good News on Cask 2
Beer Guide, a massive 23
c o m p a red with just 15 for
Manchester. Paddy comments;
“All the main pillars of
sustainable success are in place
(in Liverpool), including a major
b rewery (still), a gro w i n g
network of small local brewers,
loads of traditional pubs, and a
strong and loyal supporting cast
including those passionate
promoters of real ale and real
pubs who belong to Liverpool
and Districts Branch of CAMRA,
and most importantly you,
the customers.”
We couldn’t have put it better
ourselves Paddy!
Good News on Cask
M&B report that cask ale
volumes in their pubs rose by
18% in the first 17 weeks of
their financial year.
This compares with a national picture of the
general beer and lager market falling by 9.9% in
the same time period.
SIBA Beer Sales Up 10%
Sales of Society of Independant Brewers real ales rose by 10% in the
last 12 months, whilst the average number of accounts per brewery
rose from 79 to 94.
This SIBA success story contrasts with the drop in lager and
beer sales experienced by the big national and global
brewery companies.
New Real Ale Pub for Bootle
Wetherspoons is spending £600,000 renovating the Merton Inn on
the corner of Stanley Road and Merton Road, with a planned
opening date of May 6th. The Merton is 300 meters fro m
Wetherspoon’s Wild Rose.
4 7

Kerneing up the Cut with Steamboat Willy
Real ale has an affinity with a
number of other real activities
such as heritage, rambling,
preservation, steam, railways,
transport, folk music and jazz. If
you don’t understand why this
should be so then to paraphrase
Louis Armstrong’s comment when
asked to define jazz - “If you have
to ask then you’ll never know.”
The affinity was much in evidence
at the Little Leigh Steam Party
which was held at the Leigh Arms
Acton Bridge Cheshire. Star of the
show was the Liverpool based
steam tug Kerne, which steamed in
style to the event via the Mersey,
Manchester Ship Canal and the
Weaver Navigation to moor next to
the pub. The Kerne has been
visiting this event since 1979.
Around 15 steam traction engines
joined the two day informal
gathering of steamy people to
celebrate the end of the steam rally
year, plus the fact that this was the
fortieth anniversary of the event.
The crews demonstrated the
affinity between real ale and steam
by drinking the pub dry. Many
were the tales and many were the
pints. Well you can’t run a steam
engine on lager can you? Acton
Bridge has a remarkable total of
four pubs selling real ale, with the
H o r n s , the Holly Bush and the
GBG listed Old Pear Tree opposite
the station, in addition to the Leigh
Arms.
Another affinity was that between
Chairman of the Kerne
p reservation group, Bob A d a m s ,
and his local, the Telegraph pub,
Mount Pleasant Road, Wa l l a s e y,
which was having its Pub Beer
Festival that weekend. Bob,
4 8
disappointed to miss the Festival
and keen to have one of the
commemorative T shirts, had been
presented with one which had the
legend Steamboat Willie on the
front. Mersey Ale was there to
record the moment.
The Kerne is a remarkable survivor,
being one of only four surviving
British coal burning steam tugs.
Built in 1913 by Montro s e
Shipbuilding of Scotland, she was
named Terrier and used by the
Admiralty at Chatham in Kent, and
was then bought in 1948 by JP
Knight for work on the Medway.
The name Kerne is Gaelic for
Vagabond Foot Soldier, and she
continued her wanderings when
bought by the Straits Steamship
Company in 1949 for service on the
Mersey. Later she passed to the
ownership of Liverpool Lighterage,
who eventually retired her in 1971.
She was saved from scrap by an
intrepid group of would be railway
p reservationists, who decided to
redirect their efforts to the high
seas. They formed the North
Western Steamship Company and
clubbed together to raise the scrap
value of £525. After completing the
deal they celebrated with a coffee
in Cousins. Well in those days the
pubs were shut in the afternoon!
Many thousands of pounds and
many more thousands of hours of
volunteer work were recognised in
1990 when the Kerne won the first
prize in Steam Heritage Aw a rd s
Marine category. She is of national
significance, being on the
Designated List of the National
Historic Ships Register, along with
the tug tender Daniel A d a m s o n
which is also being re s t o red in
Liverpool. Suddoko fans will have
worked out that the Kerne’s one
h u n d redth birthday comes up
in 2013.
An Award Winning Magazine
salutes an Award Winning Steam
Tug with a blast on the whistle
and a pint of real ale.
For more information see
www.tugkerne.co.uk
The Little Leigh Steam Party is held
annually on the first weekend in
October at the Leigh Arms, Acton
Bridge.
The next Telegraph Pub Festival
will be
Summer
28th-31st
May 09.
Bob
“Steamboat
Willy”
Adams
The Telegraph Connection
While Steamboat Willie was
Kerneing Up the Cut, his local
the 167 year old Telegraph Inn in
New Brighton held its first
“OctoberFest!” over the weekend
of October 4/5.
The theme of the Festival was
“when it’s gone, it’s gone”. This is
in contrast to another event held a
few miles away where the theme
tends to be “when it’s gone it’ll be
back later on if you’re still here”.
When I arrived on a windy
Saturday afternoon there was still a
good range of beers available on
stillage and at the main bar on
hand pump. The Te l e g r a p h ,
situated on one of the highest
points in Wallasey, has been on the
real ale scene for a number of years
but has really taken off under the
c u r rent management team.
I managed a word with two of
them, Geoff Rees who has been at
the Telegraph for eight years and
K a ren Dewhurst who formerly
worked at the nearby Albion, and
joined the staff in 2006. They have
played a major role in increasing
the number of cask beers in the bar.
The Telegraph is an Enterprise
house but Geoff, being on the SIBA
list, can source a wider range of
beers. He also told me
about an old lease
arrangement with
Whitbread that enables
him to sell extra cask
ale, notably Tr a p p e r’ s
Hat from the Brimstage
B rewery which is
outside the SIBA
scheme. Intere s t i n g l y,
despite the excellence of
the Tr a p p e r’s, it’s the
slightly darker Rhode
Island Red that’s preferred by his
local drinkers.
The pub’s name has a maritime
connection, being named after the
Holyhead to Liverpool telegraph
system which was used for
signalling shipping movements.
Geoff Edwards
4 9

That’s
Beer
Tourism!
Caledonian – Promoting Pub and
Beer To u r i s m
The Caledonian Brewery is the last
remaining brewery in Edinburgh.
At the turn of the 19th century the
Brewery was one of 40. Described
by the beer writer, the late Mich a e l
Ja ckson, as a ‘living wo r k i n g
Victorian museum of beer
making', Caledonian is alive and
k i cking today. Alongside the steely
determination to succeed,
C a l e d o n i a n ’s survival can be
attributed to really flavo u r s o m e
beers and its ability to adapt to
changing environments along with
its location.
Scotland had never had a market
for cask beer. Indeed, prior to
1987, (the now defunct Vaux of
Sunderland) sold 99% of
C a l e d o n i a n ’s beer as keg Lorimer
S c o t ch Ale in the NE of England.
Roger Protz heralded Caledonian
as 'the pioneers of the Scottish
beer renaissance'.
Vi b rant Edinburgh and
C a l e d o n i a n
To d ay Edinburgh is a vibrant city
for drinking cask beer and the city
is on the tourist map. Edinburgh
5 0
has the annual international
Fe s t ival in August, wh i ch now
includes the Book, the Film and
the Science Fe s t ivals along with
the fantastic Fringe Fe s t iva l ,
including a huge comedy Fe s t iva l
too. The Edinburgh Military Ta t t o o
sells out in hours (not too
dissimilar to the Liverpool Beer
Fe s t ival!). Edinburgh hosts hordes
of Irish, Welsh, English and
Fr e n ch, and now Italians for the
Six Nations Tournament and this
year hosts the final of the
Heineken Cup. Edinburgh's
H o g m a n ay finishes every year off,
so it’s not a bad location for a
brewery to opera t e !
A long-term aim for Caledonian
has been to be to Edinburgh wh a t
Guinness is to Dublin. In the
meantime, despite all the activ i t y
going on in Edinburgh the aim is to
take a little bit of Edinburgh to
other parts of the UK (like
L iverpool) and the wo r l d .
Edinburgh was the city of the
enlightenment with a famous
u n ive r s i t y. How e ve r, in more
recent times authors such as
Alexander McCall Smith, J.K.
R owling have carried on
E d i n b u r g h ’s writing tradition. Ye t
the city has an interesting crime
history that dates back to infamous
b o dy snatchers, Burke & Hare and,
of course, Robert Louis
S t e ve n s o n ’s Je kyll & Hyde
ch a ra c t e r.
An Inspector Calls – Enter Rebus
The most recent crime history that
has reached ‘bestseller’ status is
that of Inspector Rebus – written by
Ian Rankin. With no small thanks
to the good offices of Ian Rankin,
King of Crime Writers, Caledonian
were delighted to form an
association with Ian Rankin in
2007 for (probably) his last Rebus
book - Exit Music.
N ow both Ian Rankin and Rebus,
both drink Deuchars IPA and
Caledonian 80/- in the Oxford
Bar in Edinburgh. So in real life,
the books and in the
TV series Caledonian's cask
beers are associated with a
top selling author’s stories
and Edinburgh on TV!
Rebus 20th A n n ive r s a ry
2007 was the 20th year since the
creation of Inspector Rebus. To
c o m m e m o rate this, Deuchars IPA
adopted the strap line “Deuch a r s
I PA – Brewed by hand in
Edinburgh”, and a core
promotional message wa s
d e veloped: “Worth Closer
Inspection”. Ian Rankin wa s
brilliant fun and would frequently
appear at the brewery, sometimes
by him or sometimes with a
punter who had bid at a ch a r i t y
auction for the chance to have a
p r ivate tour of Caledonian.
E very tour ended with a pint
of Deuchars IPA in the
Caledonian Sample Cellar in
the heart of the brewery
and sometimes continued onto the
Oxford Bar.
Edinburgh Pub Guide
Ian wrote a forward for
the Edinburgh Pub guide,
specially commissioned by
Caledonian and there was
one other lovely story to come
out of the collabora t i o n .
Rebus Special Ingre d i e n t
Caledonian created a special
Rebus beer and it was to have a
special ingredient - only known to
the Head Brewer and Ian Rankin.
The samples were tasted in the
Caledonian Sample cellar under
total secrecy with the Head
Brewer making sure he didn’t
influence the tasting. After a few
samples Ian said; “ Th a t ’s the
beer!” to wh i ch the Head Brewer
said; “ Great, lets go with that one
Ian” - to wh i ch Ian replied “No
that's the one I like - but Rebus
would prefer this one!”
I n c i d e n t a l l y, the secret ingredient
turned out to be ginger wh e r e -
as many of the consumer’s
competition entries suggested it
would be blood!
L iverpool Pubs and Beer To u r i s m
So, as sponsors of the Live r p o o l
Beer Fe s t ival we share yo u r
organisers belief in beer tourism.
Edinburgh and Liverpool may have
got to 2009 in different ways
but both have some fantastic
n a t u ral features and some
great pubs.
Indeed, I think both have as many
entries in CAMRAs National
I nventory of pubs worth preserving
as any - where else. So
C a l e d o n i a n ’s delighted to be on
sale in great pubs in Liverpool and
hope you all might make it one
d ay for a trip to the Tattoo and a
pint in the Oxford Bar - you neve r
k n ow Ian might just be supping
D e u chars IPA !
Cheers – to Pubs, Beer and Beer
Tourism! (And Ian Rankin and
R e b u s ! )
Stephen Craw l ey
M a n a g i n g
D i re c t o r
C a l e d o n i a n
B rewe ry
Pub and Beer Tourism
in Liverpool
The theme of the 2009
Liverpool Beer Festival is
“Liverpool – a National Centre
for Pub and Beer Tourism”. A
special reception was held at
the Crypt to welcome
representatives from Liverpool
tourism organisations. Stephen
Crawley, MD of Caledonian
spoke of how his company had
built the reputation of
Edinburgh as a centre for Beer
Tourism based on the link
between the city and Ian
Rankin’s Rebus character.
Liverpool is ideally placed to
develop as a National Centre
for Beer Tourism. We can
already lay claim to the title of
Real Ale Pubs Capital of
Britain, with an unrivalled
combination of great historic
pubs and real ale. Now
CAMRA is working to offer that
experience to visitors from far
and wide,opening up a new
niche tourism market for the
city. The message is “Stay
Another Day” and enjoy to the
full the many excellent pubs in
the city.
Watch for more details in
future editions of Mersey Ale.
5 1

CAMRA Liverpool
& Districts
Coach Tr i p s
These offer the chance to visit
i n t e resting quality real ale
pubs outside our area with
someone else doing the
driving. The coach departs at
10am prompt from Dale Stre e t
outside the Ship and Mitre
and costs £12. Return is
usually between 9-9.30pm.
Trips are open to non
members so bring a friend
along.
To book phone Ian Macadam
on 07521 741 586 or email
s o c i a l @ m e r s e y c a m r a . o rg . u k
or book at Branch Meetings.
C O A C H
T R I P S :
28th March, West Midlands.
Black Country and classic
Birmingham pubs.
25th April, L u d l o w. Real Ale,
Real Food, Real Market To w n .
D o n ’t miss out on
t h e upcoming
C A M R A
Coach Tr i p s .
23rd May, Derbyshire and
Chesterfield area.
13th June, North Yo r k s h i r e ,
Croptonand Scarborough
11th July, Bishops Castle the
annual pubs festival
Ve rnon Arms Back from the Dead
After years of closure the Vernon Arms,
Dale Street is to reopen as a real ale pub.
John Monaghan, the ex
licencsee of the Excelsior, is to
take on the Vernon and to
revitalise the pub, with plans to
offer a range of guest ales.
The Vernon closed controversially
in 2004 with plans
for it to be sold as the missing
element in a sheme to redevelop
the whole block as offices and
apartments. This plan failed to
go ahead. The pub has laid
derelict and deteriorating since
then, increasingly becoming
an eyesore.
It is a major boost for real ale in
Liverpool to see the Ve r n o n
rising again, and its reopening
will re establish an important
link in the Dale Street real ale
pubs crawl. CAMRA w i s h e s
John Monaghan all the best
with his venture.
Recent photo through the
Vernon window.
The pub has remained
frozen in time since the day
it closed in 2004.
5 3

Alternatively you can send a cheque payable to CAMRA Ltd with your completed
form, visit www.camra.org.uk or call 01727 867201. All forms should be addressed
to Membership Secretary, CAMRA, 230 Hatfield Road, St Albans, ALI 4LW.
Your Details
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Date of Birth (dd/mm/yyyy)..............................................................................
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..............................................................Postcode .....................................
Email address............................................................................................
Tel No (s) ..................................................................................................
Partner’s Details (if joint membership)
Title ..........................Surname .................................................................
Forename(s) .............................................................................................
Date of Birth (dd/mm/yyyy)..............................................................................
INSTRUCTION TO YOUR BANK OR BUILDING SOCIETY TO PAY DIRECT DEBIT
Please fill in using ballpoint pen and send to: The Campaign for Real A l e
Ltd 230 Hatfield Road, St Albans, Herts. L1 4LW
1.Name and full postal address of your Bank / Building Society
To:The Manager ..............................................Bank or Building Society
Address: ..................................................................................................
Postcode..................................................................................................
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( Pa rtner at same address) £ 25 ■ £ 27 ■
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w w w. c a m r a . o r g . u kor call 01727 867201
I wish to join the Campaign for Real Ale, and agree to abide by
the Memorandum and Articles of Association.
I enclose a cheque for ..............................................................
Signed ......................................................Date ......................
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Please pay The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd Direct Debits from the
account detailed in this Instruction subject to safeguards assured by
the Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand that this Instruction may
remain with The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd and, if so, details will be
passed electronically to my Bank/Building Society.
Signature: ........................................................................................................
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The Direct Debit
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(This guarantee should be
detached & retained by the payer)
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all Banks and Building
Societies that take part in the
Direct Debit Scheme. The
efficiency and security of the
Scheme is monitored and
protected by your own Bank
or Building Society.
If the amounts to be paid or
the payment dates change,
The Campaign for Real Ale
Ltd will notify you 10 working
days in advance of your
account being debited or as
otherwise agreed.
If an error is made b y The
Campaign for Real Ale Ltd or
your Bank or Building Society,
you are guaranteed a full
immediate refund from your
branch of the amount paid.
You can cancel a Direct Debit
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Please also send a copy of
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MerseyAle
Credits
Editor
John Armstrong
merseyale@merseycamra.org.uk
Layout Design
Dennis Jones
denjones@uk2.net
Photographs
Neil Lloyd
neild2x@btinternet.com
Dennis Jones
denjones@uk2.net
Anita Smith
anita@anitasmithphotography.co.uk
Keith Smith
keith@keydesign.biz
John Armstrong
David Mee
Contributors
Dave Halliwell
Alan Lloyd
Steve Berks
Neil Lloyd
Printed by
Tech Litho 0151 922 5999
info@techlitho.co.uk
Useful Contacts
CAMRA National Office
230 Hatfield Road
St Albans
AL1 4LW
01727 867201
camra@camra.org.uk
website - www.camra.org.uk
Southport CAMRA
Ian Garner 01704 876819
ianjools@hotmail.co.uk
website www.southportcamra.org.uk
Wirral CAMRA
Dave Hutchinson 01516 440625
daveandjeanh@ntlworld.com
website www.camrawirral.org.uk
Isle of Man Branch Contact
Angela Aspin 01624 491613 -
mobile 07624 491613
angelajaspin@manx.net
Merseytravel Line
for public transport times
0151 638 5002
0871 200 22 33
www.merseytravel.gov.uk
Trading Standards
0151 233 3002
Liverpool Branch
Meetings
All welcome - come along
and discuss future
campaigns and socials
Weds 18th March at Lady of
Mann, Dale Street 8pm
Weds 20th May at Lady of Mann,
Dale Street 8pm
Liverpool & Districts
Branch Annual General
Meeting
Weds 22nd April at
Lady of Mann, Dale Street 8pm
Visit merseycamra.org.uk for
more details of Liverpool &
Districts meetings, coach trips,
news and events.
CAMRA National Pub
of the Year 2008
The Kelham Island Tavern
Sheffield
Has been crowned the best pub in
Britain 2008 in CAMRA's National
Pub of the Year 2008 competition.
Julian Hough, CAMRA's Pubs
Director said:
"The Kelham Island Tavern is a
regular in the Good Beer Guide
and has been treasured by pubgoers
from Yorkshire and beyond. It
truly is a pub for everyone, and its
attention to detail is fantastic”.
St Helens Sub-
Branch Meetings
8th April, Griffin, Eccleston
13th May, Star Inn, Rainford
10th June, Brown Edge
8th July, Beecham’s Bar
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
12th August, Turk’s Head
9th September, Sun Inn, Prescot
All meetings are on Wednesdays,
commence at 8pm and are subject
to confirmation. For up to the
minute information please log on to
www.sthelenscamra.org.uk
The Sub-Branch conducts survey
trips on the first Saturday each
month and regular socials, for
details please log on the
www.sthelenscamra.org.uk
The Sub-Branch has a Yahoo Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/
St_Helens_CAMRA/
and a Facebook Group
h t t p : / / w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / h o m e . p h p
? # / g ro u p . p h p ? g i d = 2 6 0 3 9 3 1 0 8 3 4
both groups are kept up to date with
all the latest news.
National Members
Weekend
17th -19th
April
Eastbourne
Sussex
A weekend of
Great Discussion, Great Pubs,
Great Brewery visits at the
Sussex seaside. Your chance
to hear about CAMRA
Campaigning and have your
say and meet up to 1000
members!
To book visit
w w w. c a m r a . o rg . u k
Members weekend including
guide to accommodation.
Advertising in Mersey Ale
If you wish to place an advertisment you should contact us by email at;
adverts@merseyale.co.uk sending in your advert design and copy by attachment. Cost is £100
per half page, £200 full page payment in advance.
If you require our designer to produce an ad for you, please email your copy to us and we
will send you a design and price for your approval.
The opinions expressed in the Mersey Ale are not necessarily those of the Editor, Live rpool Branch or CAMRA Ltd.
5 5