Welcome to Norwich. - Norwich and Norfolk CAMRA

“Take Cou
EATON COTTAGE
UNTHANK RD, NORWICH Tel: 01603 453048
Fine Real Ales, lagers, wines and spirits
All Sky Sports • A traditional pub
Good covered outside areas
Doggies welcome
“A festival of beers every day”
A short course at Easton Otley College Norwich
An Introduction
to Micro Brewing
This 10 week course will provide a comprehensive overview
of the brewing process and examine the practicalities of
establishing a micro brewery. By the end of the course
participants will cover the following:-
• An examination of the theory relevant to the brewing process
• Beer styles, recipe formulation and ingredients
• Process of sitting up a microbrewery, consideration of plant,
equipment premises and legal requirements
• Demonstration of quality control procedures
•Visit to a Norfolk Micro Brewery, discussion with staff.
One evening a week (Wednesday) for ten weeks plus one
Saturday session visiting a Micro Brewery.
Start Date: May 15th 2013 Cost £300.00
For further details contact: Tel: 01603 616209
introtobrewing1@virginmedia.com
18 | SPRING 2013
When I were but a lad growing up in the wilds
of Northern Hampshire, my beer of choice was
Courage Best Bitter. It was sold in the Courage
pubs where I lived and also in Reading near The
Berkshire College of Art, which I attended. It was
everything I wanted in a beer and I lamented its
demise and replacement with Courage Tavern,
in pasteurised keg form. Never mind, there was
always Inde Coope Double Diamond, Youngers
Tartan Bitter and of course, Watneys Special. Ho
hum…
The last time I had a pint of Courage Best was
a couple of years ago in The Dog Inn in Horsford.
Ah, I hear you ask, but did it taste just as
good? Frankly, after 50 years I hadn’t a clue, but
it was in fine knick and certainly drinkable. Of
course, I could buy a bottle or two from my local
supermarket and drink at my leisure anytime.
But something is not right. The Courage Best
that I drank all those years ago was brewed in
Reading, I know, I visited the Brewery and drank
it in the Brewery Tap. Now, the brand is owned
by Wells and Youngs and no longer brewed in
that Brewery in Reading.
The point is that the pump clip looks the same,
the label on the bottle looks the same, except
for the name and address on the back of the
neck label.
But it is clever marketing, if it’s aimed at the
likes of me. When I see the distinctive cockerel
and the brand name it brings back memories of
times long gone. It is however, misleading, it’s
Courage Best Bitter in name only – and it is not
the only beer affected in this way.
It is now common practice by many Brewers to
use Brand names of beers formerly brewed elsewhere,
usually in Breweries that they have
closed. You could argue that this is a good
thing – maintaining famous brands which otherwise
would have been lost, but are these beers
as close as possible to the originals or pale imitations,
and does it matter?