30.09.2019 Views

Mine's a Pint - Autumn 2019

The Autumn 2019 edition of the magazine of the Reading & Mid-Berkshire Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

The Autumn 2019 edition of the magazine of the Reading & Mid-Berkshire Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

THE MAGAZINE FOR READING AND<br />

MID BERKSHIRE BRANCH OF THE<br />

CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE<br />

IN THIS ISSUE...<br />

PUB & BREWERY NEWS<br />

MARTIN HOARE<br />

SMALL BEER<br />

FESTIVAL REFLECTIONS<br />

THE PROMOTION<br />

OF LAGER IN THE UK<br />

& MORE...<br />

FREE<br />

Time for<br />

a Cider!<br />

ISSUE FIFTY ONE AUTUMN <strong>2019</strong>


Branch Diary<br />

All meetings and social events are relaxed and friendly. Nonmembers<br />

are welcome to all events except branch meetings.<br />

Please check the website before setting out in case of any<br />

last-minute changes.<br />

SEPTEMBER<br />

Thursday 5th: (20:00) First Thursday of the Month Social.<br />

Crown Inn, 2 Church Street, Theale, RG7 5BT. We will<br />

move on c20:45 to visit 2 more Theale pubs.<br />

Tuesday 10th: (20:00) Branch meeting. Castle Tap, 120<br />

Castle Street, Reading, RG1 7RJ. CAMRA members only,<br />

please.<br />

Saturday 14th: (c12:00) Regional Meeting in the upstairs<br />

room of The Griffin, 10/12 Church Road, Caversham, RG4<br />

7AD. CAMRA members only, please.<br />

Wednesday 18th: (20:00) Gala Awards Night, at Castle<br />

Tap, 120 Castle Street, Reading, RG1 7RJ.<br />

Friday 20th: (19:00) Southall Curry Night. Southall<br />

Conservative Club followed by (20:30) curry at Al-Sultan<br />

(formerly Nagina Karahi/Lahori 786). Trains ex-Reading<br />

at 18:07, Maidenhead 18:21 & Slough 18:29. Return at<br />

22:04 or 22:42. Journey time 40-45 mins to/from Reading.<br />

Contact: pauldabrowski0159@gmail.com<br />

Wednesday 25th: (20:00) New Members Night, Tutored<br />

Beer tasting for new CAMRA members. Nags Head, 5<br />

Russell Street, Reading, RG1 7XD.<br />

OCTOBER<br />

Thursday 3rd: (20:00) First Thursday of the Month Social.<br />

Alehouse, 2 Broad Street, Reading, RG1 2BH. Cider night!<br />

Tuesday 8th: (20:00) Branch meeting. Queens Head, back<br />

room, 54 Christchurch Road, Reading, RG2 7AZ. CAMRA<br />

members only, please.<br />

NOVEMBER<br />

Saturday 16th: (14:00) Branch AGM in the upstairs room<br />

of The Griffin, 10/12 Church Road, Caversham, RG4 7AD.<br />

Followed by a tour of local pubs. CAMRA members only,<br />

please. ALL DETAILS TBC – any changes will be shown on<br />

website.<br />

This is a guide only and Reading & Mid Berkshire CAMRA<br />

cannot be held responsible for any loss due to the alteration<br />

or cancellation of any of these events.<br />

See www.readingcamra.org.uk for more details of events.<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

3<br />

Contact Us<br />

Useful contact details for this magazine,<br />

CAMRA and other important things…<br />

Mine’s a <strong>Pint</strong> Circulation: 3,000.<br />

Outlets: Over 70 across the region.<br />

Editor: Phil Gill<br />

editor@readingcamra.org.uk<br />

0771 455 0293<br />

81 Addison Road, Reading, RG1 8EG<br />

Magazine published on behalf of<br />

Reading and Mid Berkshire CAMRA<br />

by: Neil Richards MBE at Matelot<br />

Marketing<br />

01536 358670 / 07710 281381<br />

n.richards@btinternet.com<br />

Printed by CKN Print Ltd, 2 North<br />

Portway Close, Round Spinney,<br />

Northampton, NN3 8RQ<br />

01604 645555<br />

Reading & Mid Berkshire CAMRA<br />

www.readingcamra.org.uk<br />

Social Secretary: Chris Hinton<br />

social@readingcamra.org.uk<br />

Contact for all other branch matters:<br />

Katrina Fletcher<br />

contact@readingcamra.org.uk<br />

0779 401 9437<br />

Local Trading Standards<br />

From time to time, drinkers receiving<br />

poor standards of service or poor<br />

quality products may wish to raise the<br />

matter with Trading Standards. You<br />

now need to do this through Citizens<br />

Advice, an organisation which provides<br />

free, confidential and impartial advice<br />

on consumer issues.<br />

To contact Citizens Advice Consumer<br />

Service call 03454 04 05 06 or visit<br />

www.citizensadvice.org.uk and click on<br />

Consumer.<br />

The next issue of Mine’s a <strong>Pint</strong> will be<br />

published in early December. Please<br />

feel free to submit any copy or ideas by<br />

1 st November and you could see your<br />

name in print!<br />

The opinions expressed in Mine’s a <strong>Pint</strong><br />

are not necessarily those of the editor or<br />

the Campaign for Real Ale. © Campaign<br />

for Real Ale <strong>2019</strong>.


REAL-ALE AND CIDER FESTIVAL<br />

9 –20 OCTOBER<br />

THE BACK OF BEYOND<br />

104–108 KINGS ROAD, READING, RG1 3BY<br />

THE HOPE TAP<br />

99–105 FRIAR STREET, READING, RG1 1EP<br />

GREAT RANGE OF QUALITY REAL ALES AVAILABLE<br />

Featuring ales such as<br />

4.0% ABV<br />

Various ABVs<br />

5.0% ABV<br />

Subject to local licensing restrictions and availability at participating free houses. Photography is for guidance only. J D Wetherspoon plc reserves the right to<br />

withdraw/change offers (without notice), at any time. See main menu for additional details of our terms and conditions.<br />

323ADVERT19A5A


From the Editor<br />

Welcome to the latest issue of Mine’s a <strong>Pint</strong>.<br />

This month we celebrate CAMRA’s Cider<br />

Month by taking a look at real cider – what it<br />

is, where it comes from and how it’s made. If<br />

you normally only drink beer when you go to<br />

the pub, it’s a great time to “branch” out and<br />

explore a new range of tastes.<br />

Also in this issue we have some reflections on<br />

the Reading Beer and Cider Festival. Now that<br />

a few months have passed it’s right to take stock<br />

and reflect on what went well and what can be<br />

improved. Planning is already in full swing for<br />

next year’s festival. In fact it’s fair to say that<br />

it’s pretty much an all year round activity, and<br />

if you’d like to get involved the organising team<br />

will be very happy to have you on board.<br />

Finally it’s my sad task to report the death of<br />

our CAMRA branch Vice Chairman, Martin<br />

Hoare. Martin had been unwell for some time<br />

but still attended CAMRA events including the<br />

beer festival. We were all shocked when we<br />

heard he had passed away after complications<br />

arising from surgery. Martin will be greatly<br />

missed and it’s only fair that we celebrate his<br />

life in this issue. Wherever you are, why not<br />

raise your next glass to Martin?<br />

Phil Gill<br />

Editor, Mine’s a <strong>Pint</strong><br />

editor@readingcamra.org.uk<br />

Contents<br />

Branch Diary & Contacts: 3<br />

From the Editor: 5<br />

Pub News: 6, 7 & 8<br />

Martin Hoare: 9<br />

Brewery News: 10 & 11<br />

Small Beer: 12 - 16<br />

Festival Reflections: 18 - 20<br />

Cider Month: 22 & 23<br />

The Promotion of<br />

Lager in the UK: 24 - 27<br />

Join CAMRA: 28 & 29<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

5


Pub News<br />

Caversham<br />

The PRINCE OF WALES in Caversham has<br />

closed for refurbishment and will open under<br />

new management towards the end of the year.<br />

The pub, which first opened in 1896, and was<br />

previously owned by Brakspear, has been taken<br />

over by the Dodo pub company. The brand own<br />

pubs, mainly in Oxford but also Cheltenham,<br />

with unusual names such as the Rusty Bicycle<br />

and The Rickety Press. They are to rename<br />

the premises The Last Crumb. Leo Johnson, a<br />

founding member of the company, said that the<br />

pub’s name was a nod to Reading’s old biscuit<br />

industry. Although their pubs are known to<br />

be on the quirky side they want to make The<br />

Last Crumb a place that has a cafe culture for<br />

families as well as provide food all day.<br />

Playhatch<br />

THE FLOWING SPRING in Playhatch have<br />

plenty planned for the upcoming months,<br />

and are even arranging events well in to next<br />

year. Landlord and lady, Nick and Hazel are<br />

especially looking forward to celebrating<br />

their 10 year anniversary at the pub and have<br />

a series of events planned for the <strong>Autumn</strong> of<br />

2020. On 12 September next year a band are<br />

booked to play their outside stage that are at<br />

present not being named but are sure to have<br />

“mass appeal”. The ever popular mini one day<br />

festival, Springstock, will also be returning on<br />

6 June 2020.<br />

Returning to this year, there is a Cockney<br />

themed night on 16 November, which includes<br />

a menu of traditional East End food such as<br />

salt beef, seafood, Chinese, curries, fruit pies,<br />

crumbles and of course pie, mash and liquor.<br />

There will also be fancy dress, a sing a long, a<br />

special guest and a “somewhat familiar London<br />

premium ale.” Well known John Otway is<br />

playing on 5 October, but by the time this<br />

goes to print, it will most likely be sold out.<br />

On Saturday 21 September Sing-Along-A-Nick<br />

is making a comeback and is promised to be<br />

a fun evening. Some other dates for the diary<br />

are Classic Cars and Bikes on 8 September<br />

and 13 October from 9:30 – 11:30am and an<br />

unplugged night on Tuesday 1 October.<br />

Reading<br />

The ELDON ARMS on Eldon Terrace, which<br />

has been closed since April, will reopen on<br />

12 September under the management of local<br />

brewery, Wild Weather. It is reported that there<br />

will be a mix of cask and key keg available and<br />

it will be renamed The Weather Station.<br />

THE MARKET HOUSE in Market Square is<br />

a newly opened premises owned by City Pub<br />

Company, which advertises “rooms, events,<br />

eat, drink”. It has opened in the old Lloyds<br />

bank building and they boast some of the old<br />

features. They have changed the bank vault<br />

into a secret garden with a sliding glass roof,<br />

which can be hired for private functions. They<br />

also have a rooftop terrace. They have three<br />

kitchens, one of which is focused on ever<br />

changing pop up market food, paying homage<br />

to their position and the history of the town.<br />

They also have a separate gin and cocktail<br />

bar and a keg wall. On a recent visit the cask<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

6


eers available were Adnams’ Lighthouse and<br />

Southwold Bitter, Tiny Rebel Stay Puft and<br />

Siren Craft Brew Yulu. There is also a large<br />

selection of craft cans and bottles. They are dog<br />

friendly and have 24 contemporary rooms.<br />

The closed BATTLE INN in Oxford Road<br />

could be replaced with flats. Developer JR<br />

Properties wants to build six flats in its place.<br />

The council have turned down the application,<br />

however the plans could still go ahead if the<br />

developers submit an appeal. The pub changed<br />

its name to become the Gospoda Polish pub,<br />

before being renamed The Royal until it closed<br />

in 2015. Councillor Tony Page, lead member<br />

for planning, said at the Planning Committee<br />

meeting: “It was the Battle Inn for many years,<br />

serving a very respectable pint. Unlike many<br />

pubs in the area, this was a genuine loss.”<br />

On a recent visit THE ALLIED ARMS in St<br />

Mary’s Butts had a good range of beer and<br />

cider on. The beers included Bingham’s Vanilla<br />

Stout, Kazbek Cascade, Rooster’s Brewing<br />

Scrambler, Loddon N.O.T.U.S, Otter Amber<br />

and Clear Water Mariners. The ciders available<br />

were Rosie’s Pig, Old Rosie, Orchard Explorer,<br />

Big Apple and Friel’s Vintage Cider. The pub<br />

runs a quiz night every other Wednesday.<br />

Although one of the main attractions of THE<br />

MODERATION on Caversham Road is their<br />

Thai food, they also have a lot more on offer.<br />

As well as running a quiz night every Sunday,<br />

they hold regular live music at the weekend<br />

and poker nights on the first Monday of the<br />

month. There are daily offers with two for<br />

one main meals on Mondays and curries at £6<br />

each on Tuesday. On Wednesday they provide<br />

Indonesian taster plates at £10 per person, then<br />

on Thursday it is two courses for £12. Prosecco<br />

is £15 a bottle on Friday and on Sunday<br />

brunches and roasts are on offer. Their lunch<br />

deal is two courses for £10 and 3 courses for<br />

£13 Monday to Friday 12-3pm. Loyalty cards<br />

for food are available as well as pizza and BBQ<br />

in the garden for bookings and parties. They<br />

have four real ale pumps.<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

7<br />

THE CASTLE TAP on Castle Street hosts its<br />

<strong>Autumn</strong> Beer Festival on 19-22 September,<br />

featuring live music from Rosedale on Friday,<br />

DJs on Sunday and more.<br />

THE JOLLY ANGLERS on Kennet Side, which<br />

reopened in Spring this year, runs happy hour<br />

on Wednesday between 3pm and 9pm where a<br />

pint of ale is £2.95 or £1.50 a half. The pub is<br />

open all day everyday and serves food between<br />

12 and 9pm.<br />

The former WARWICK in Kings Road has now<br />

reopened as the Cardamom Indian Restaurant,<br />

after having an unsuccessful stint as The Biscuit<br />

& Barrel pub. The food in the restaurant was<br />

excellent on a recent visit and there’s also a<br />

branch in Pangbourne.<br />

The RISING SUN on Forbury Road that closed<br />

its doors permanently in January 2015 was sold<br />

several months ago, but nothing has happened<br />

to the building. The pub which dates back to<br />

1877 was due to be demolished in 2017, but is<br />

still standing.<br />

Planning permission has been given for a new<br />

development in the old pound shop in Broad<br />

Street Mall, which will include an indoor<br />

market, restaurant and bar. The opening hours<br />

will be between 9am and 11pm Monday to<br />

Friday and until 11.30pm on Fridays and<br />

Saturdays.<br />

Admiral Taverns are seeking a new tenant for<br />

THE PHEASANT on Southampton Street.<br />

There are no details on the public house<br />

operator’s website yet but the sign board has<br />

a phone number that you can ring: 01244<br />

502555.<br />

THE TROOPER POTTS in Whitley has been<br />

refurbished and reopened with a new name,<br />

THE VICTORIA CROSS. The Greene King<br />

owned Hungry Horse pub first opened in<br />

March 2016 as The Trooper Potts, named after<br />

a First World War soldier from Reading. The<br />

new name will reflect the soldier’s heroism,<br />

winning a VC for rescuing an injured colleague<br />

under fire. Amongst the refurbishment is an<br />

improved sports viewing area and a larger


garden. There are deals throughout the week<br />

including steaks from £5 on a Monday, curry<br />

and a drink for £5.50 on a Wednesday and buy<br />

one get one free on burgers on a Friday. Greene<br />

King IPA is £2.99 all day every day.<br />

Shinfield<br />

THE BELL AND BOTTLE by School Green<br />

has been taken over by John and Sue who used<br />

to run the Bramshill Hunt and the Arborfield<br />

RBL Club. The beer quality is said to be a<br />

prime objective for the new managers and on a<br />

recent visit the Flying Monk was found to be in<br />

very good condition.<br />

PUB QUALITY<br />

BEER<br />

Pub News compiled by Evelyn Harrison-Bullock<br />

...AT HOME<br />

Drink Rebellion cask ale<br />

at home, fresh from the<br />

brewery shop<br />

Fresh beer, ready to drink<br />

1 litre bottles up to 72 pint barrels<br />

<br />

including 10% OFF beer<br />

Fresh cider<br />

Local produce<br />

Over 300 worldwide wines<br />

Free glass hire<br />

Call 01628 476594<br />

Shop opening hours:<br />

Mon-Sat 8am-7pm<br />

Or visit our website:<br />

www.rebellionbeer.co.uk<br />

@RebellionBeer<br />

RebellionBeerCo<br />

Rebellion Beer Co. Ltd. Bencombe Farm, Marlow Bottom, SL7 3LT<br />

AWARD WINNING BEERS BREWED IN HERTFORDSHIRE<br />

For <strong>2019</strong> our Monthly<br />

Specials will be<br />

raising funds and<br />

awareness for<br />

Gaddesden Row Riding<br />

for the Disabled.<br />

WEEKLY DELIVERIES IN YOUR AREA<br />

Dunsley Farm, London Rd, Tring HP23 6HA<br />

N 01442 890721 D www.tringbrewery.co.uk<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

8


Martin Hoare 1952 - <strong>2019</strong><br />

provided and operated the PA system, which he<br />

used to good effect to run the pub quiz.<br />

Martin loved attending science fiction<br />

conventions, where he provided sound systems<br />

and ran the real<br />

ale bar. He also<br />

loved Belgium and<br />

Belgian beer and<br />

visited Ostend a<br />

few times a year.<br />

There he had a<br />

group of good<br />

friends and was<br />

involved in De<br />

Oostendse Bierjutters, a local beer supporters<br />

club.<br />

Born in Newport, Martin studied Physics at<br />

Brasenose College, Oxford. Later in life he took<br />

a Law Degree with the Open University, one<br />

module of this being Welsh in remembrance<br />

of his roots. He then proceeded to take on the<br />

taxman in court, representing himself, and won!<br />

He was frequently found propping up the bar<br />

in the Alehouse, particularly when Wales were<br />

playing rugby, and had been doing so since it<br />

became the Hobgoblin. He was involved in<br />

the local CAMRA group and, at the time of<br />

his death, held the position of Vice Chairman.<br />

His involvement with the Reading Beer and<br />

Cider Festival dates back to the very beginning,<br />

working as Finance Steward. In later years he<br />

held other stewarding roles, was a valuable<br />

member of the Foreign Beer Bar team and<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

9<br />

Martin was authorised to give firework displays,<br />

and did so until fairly recently with a group of<br />

loyal friends. They would all meet up in the pub<br />

afterwards and greet each other with the shout<br />

“ten”, holding up their hands to prove they still<br />

had all their fingers. Yet another of Martin’s<br />

talents was pickling onions with the help of his<br />

glove puppet Doris Panda, and he entered these<br />

into the Retreat’s annual pickled onion contest.<br />

Martin was a real character who knew an<br />

extraordinarily large number of people, all of<br />

whom will miss him greatly. He died twenty<br />

years to the day after his beloved wife Jean.<br />

Sue Thirlaway


Binghams<br />

The Tap Room at Emma’s Kitchen is<br />

unfortunately no longer open, but there is<br />

now a Tap Yard in front of the brewery on<br />

Saturdays throughout the Summer from 11:30<br />

to 16:30 so you can sit and enjoy a pint or two<br />

of Binghams beer in the sunshine. Wine is also<br />

available. If you want to continue your session<br />

at home, then takeaways are available from the<br />

brewery shop in sizes from 1 to 20 litres. Cover<br />

will be provided if the weather is not good.<br />

Currently there is no food available on site,<br />

but you are welcome to bring your own and<br />

if the idea proves popular then they will invite<br />

food stalls. Updates will be provided on their<br />

Facebook page.<br />

Viennese Whirl, a 5% ABV<br />

Viennese Pale Ale brewed with<br />

a blend of Citra, Centennial<br />

and Chinook hops, proved so<br />

popular earlier in the year that<br />

it has now become part of the<br />

permanent range.<br />

The overall winners of the Champion Beer of<br />

Britain competition for <strong>2019</strong> were announced<br />

at the Great British Beer Festival on 6 August.<br />

In the London and South East Area round,<br />

Binghams Vanilla Stout was judged Gold in<br />

the Speciality Category, and Doodle Stout<br />

won Silver in the<br />

Stout Category.<br />

Vanilla Stout then<br />

went on to be the<br />

overall winner of the<br />

Speciality Category!<br />

In 2016 Vanilla<br />

Stout was judged<br />

Supreme Champion<br />

Beer of Britain.<br />

Loddon<br />

The fifth new beer<br />

produced this year by<br />

the new head brewer<br />

Jake (see the last edition<br />

of Mine’s a <strong>Pint</strong> for our<br />

interview with him) is<br />

‘This is New England’, a<br />

5.8% ABV New England IPA.<br />

Aggressively double dry-hopped<br />

with Ekuanot, Mosaic and Lemondrop, and<br />

fermented for two weeks with New England<br />

yeast, this beer is packed with citrussy, tropical,<br />

green tea and lemon flavours and aromas. It is<br />

naturally hazy, unfined and suitable for vegans.<br />

New Wharf<br />

Word has reached us that Maidenhead-based<br />

brewery New Wharf have ceased production.<br />

Rebellion<br />

August’s monthly beer is Sonic Boom which is a<br />

pale amber ale with a stone fruit hop character.<br />

They are using a newly developed hop called<br />

Callista from Germany. They’ve wanted to use<br />

it for a while but only now been able to secure<br />

enough for a run of monthlies. A hop very low<br />

in bitterness but with strong aromatic qualities.<br />

This creates a thirst-quenching beer with notes<br />

of peach and nectarine.<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

10


Siren Craft<br />

Following successful crowdfunding, Siren are<br />

now producing canned beer, with their 6.5%<br />

ABV Fruit Smoothie IPA, Ten Dollar Shake<br />

being available in a can. To coincide with<br />

launching cans, Siren have also updated their<br />

branding – look out for their new pentagonal<br />

pumpclips in a pub new you!<br />

West Berkshire<br />

The latest cask offering<br />

from West Berkshire is<br />

‘No Worries’, a 3.6% ABV<br />

Australian Pale Ale.<br />

Congratulations are also in<br />

order as Maggs Mild took<br />

home Bronze in the Mild category at the Great<br />

British Beer Festival!<br />

Wild Weather<br />

One of the more interesting unique<br />

recent beer offerings from Wild<br />

Weather is ‘Sprucie Bonus’, a<br />

4.5% ABV Spruce Tip Red Ale.<br />

A Red IPA brewed with locally<br />

foraged spruce tips and dry<br />

hopped with Ahtanum, it is deep<br />

red with malt flavours of oatmeal raisin cookie,<br />

and cherry character from the Spruce.<br />

Brewery News compiled by James Moore<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

11


Small Beer<br />

A round up of news and information<br />

Gala Awards Evening<br />

All are welcome to attend and help celebrate<br />

the great beer and cider community that we<br />

have in Reading. Let’s all raise a glass to that!<br />

Stonegate to Buy Ei Pub Group<br />

The array of awards at last year’s event<br />

One of the highlights of the local CAMRA<br />

year is our Gala Awards Evening. The name is<br />

ambitious, the purpose more down to earth – to<br />

celebrate and mark the wonderful selection of<br />

great local pubs, a multitude of local breweries<br />

and cider makers supplying them and a great<br />

array of people making, serving and drinking<br />

their produce.<br />

It’s a public event, open to all. This year it will<br />

be held on Wednesday 18 September at the<br />

Castle Tap on Castle Street in Reading, starting<br />

at 8pm.<br />

You don’t have to wear black tie or a ball gown.<br />

In fact if you do you’ll look out of place as our<br />

focus is on the awards and the people winning<br />

them, rather than the image. Beer festival T<br />

shirts are more the standard outfit.<br />

The regular awards for branch Pub of the Year,<br />

Cider Pub of the Year and Club of the Year<br />

will be there of course, along with the winners<br />

of competitions held at the Reading Beer and<br />

Cider Festival. Alongside those, this year’s<br />

highlights include a special award to Seona<br />

MacKenzie of the Clifton Arms for 35 years of<br />

service as a licensee in the Reading area, along<br />

with presentations to various local CAMRA<br />

members who have made a real difference with<br />

their service to the branch over a number of<br />

years.<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

12<br />

Stonegate Pub Company has agreed a £3 billion<br />

deal to buy Ei, Britain’s largest pub owner. Ei,<br />

better known by its old name of Enterprise<br />

Inns, owns more than 4,000 pubs. When added<br />

to Stonegate’s 772, it will take the combined<br />

company to nearly 5,000 pubs, the largest in<br />

the country.<br />

Stonegate runs a number of brands including<br />

Slug and Lettuce, Walkabout and Yates’s, and<br />

offered a 38% premium over the previous<br />

value of Ei shares, valuing the business at £1.3<br />

billion. Including debt, the deal is worth £3<br />

billion. Stonegate has promised to invest in its<br />

new estate; we’ll see whether that’s true.<br />

The Competition and Markets Authority<br />

is sure to take a close look at the deal and<br />

could have the power to force pubs to be sold<br />

to competitors in areas where there would<br />

otherwise be a local monopoly.<br />

So what will it mean for drinkers? Given Ei’s<br />

poor reputation, especially in the way that it<br />

treats its tenants, it could be welcome news.<br />

CAMRA has given a cautious welcome to<br />

the takeover and Ben Wilkinson, CAMRA’s<br />

National Director, said: “For many Ei Group<br />

has become a byword for unfair business


practices and disregard for the social value<br />

of pubs. Its custodianship of thousands of<br />

community pubs has not been a happy period<br />

and it’s clear many will welcome this news.<br />

However, such a significant change will create<br />

anxiety and we call on Stonegate to be clear and<br />

open about their plans as early as possible.”<br />

“This deal will make Stonegate the largest<br />

pub owner in the UK, and that brings a huge<br />

responsibility both to consumers and to<br />

their tenants. We hope Stonegate seizes this<br />

opportunity to make a firm commitment to<br />

adhere to the spirit and letter of the Pubs Code<br />

and spearhead a new, more positive era in the<br />

industry by setting a gold standard for thriving<br />

pubs based on fair and equitable business<br />

practices.”<br />

In contrast, City analyst Douglas Jack pointed<br />

out that: “The combined estate should provide<br />

a substantial pool of pubs to either convert<br />

(from leased to managed) or sell. This could<br />

trigger a lot of follow-on corporate activity in<br />

the sector.”<br />

One immediate benefit for CAMRA members<br />

is that their new discount vouchers should be<br />

valid in more places!<br />

CAMRA Discount Vouchers<br />

There are many reasons why you might have<br />

decided to join CAMRA. You might simply love<br />

a good pint, or perhaps wanted to get involved<br />

in a campaign to save a local pub from closure.<br />

Maybe you wanted to learn more about beer<br />

and brewing.<br />

pubs and breweries, which makes it feel all the<br />

better when somebody offers it of their own<br />

free will.<br />

For many years CAMRA has operated<br />

a discount scheme in association with<br />

Wetherspoons, giving £20 of vouchers a year.<br />

Some loved it, some hated it. Now, as of 1 July<br />

this year, anybody joining or renewing their<br />

CAMRA membership will find a different set<br />

of vouchers in the mail: £30 of vouchers (60<br />

x 50p) redeemable in over 1,400 pubs across<br />

the country.<br />

A significant difference is that this new scheme<br />

is promoted by CAMRA itself so it’s not<br />

locked to any particular pub chain. Alongside<br />

Wetherspoons, Brains and some Stonegate pubs<br />

have joined up, with more to follow. Existing<br />

Wetherspoons vouchers will continue to be<br />

valid for the 12 month transition period, and<br />

any discounts offered by individual pubs off<br />

their own back (like the Greyfriar in Reading)<br />

are separate to this scheme and so will be<br />

unaffected.<br />

Reading pubs taking part in the new scheme<br />

include Pavlov’s Dog, the Monks Retreat, the<br />

Hope Tap, Yates’s and the Back of Beyond in<br />

the town centre, plus the Seven Red Roses in<br />

Lower Earley.<br />

Champion Beer of Britain<br />

And don’t forget the discounts that you can<br />

get as a CAMRA member. In the last issue<br />

we focussed on the external organisations<br />

that offer a special rate to members. Now it’s<br />

time to think about the new CAMRA Voucher<br />

Scheme, which offers member discounts at over<br />

1,400 pubs nationwide.<br />

Importantly, all these discounts are freely-given.<br />

CAMRA policy actually prohibits members<br />

from expecting or demanding a discount from<br />

Image from GBBF CAMRA Twitter: @gbbf<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

13


ESTABLISHED 2006<br />

SERVING OVER 1,500<br />

CLIENTS NATIONWIDE<br />

PUBLICANS AND<br />

BAR MANAGERS,<br />

TRY OUR FULLY MANAGED<br />

REGULAR BEER LINE<br />

CLEANING SERVICE<br />

FREE INITIAL<br />

CLEAN<br />

NO COMMITMENT<br />

NO CONTRACT<br />

SEVERAL OF OUR<br />

CUSTOMERS ARE<br />

FEATURED IN THE<br />

<strong>2019</strong> CAMRA<br />

GOOD BEER GUIDE<br />

CONTACT SIMON GRIST TODAY<br />

FOR YOUR<br />

FREE FIRST CLEAN<br />

CALL: 07817 950853 OR 0800 7810 577<br />

EMAIL: SIMONGRIST@CLEARBREW.CO.UK<br />

WEB: WWW.CLEARBREW.CO.UK<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

14


The newly-crowned Champion Beer of Britain<br />

for <strong>2019</strong> is Shere Drop from Surrey Hills<br />

Brewery. Announced at the Great British Beer<br />

Festival trade session on 6 August, this is great<br />

news for the Dorking-based brewery. Shere<br />

Drop is a 4.2% ABV pale beer with hints of<br />

lemon and grapefruit in the aroma, and a hop<br />

bitterness complemented by a balanced malt<br />

flavour. It’s a hard to find beer so if you see it,<br />

try it.<br />

More locally, Binghams followed up their 2016<br />

supreme champion win with a gold award in<br />

the Speciality category for Vanilla Stout, and<br />

Maggs Mild from West Berkshire picked up a<br />

bronze award in the Mild category. Well done<br />

to all involved!<br />

The results in full…<br />

MILD<br />

Gold: Church End, Gravediggers<br />

Silver: Fernandes, Malt Shovel Mild<br />

Bronze: West Berkshire, Maggs Mild<br />

BITTER<br />

Gold: Dancing Duck, Ay Up<br />

Silver: Rhymney, Hobby Horse<br />

Joint Bronze: Wolf, Edith Cavell and Ulverston,<br />

Laughing Gravy<br />

BEST BITTER<br />

Gold: Surrey Hills, Shere Drop<br />

Silver: Green Jack, Trawler Boys<br />

Joint Bronze: Castle Rock, Preservation Fine<br />

Ale and Salopian, Darwin’s Origin<br />

GOLDEN ALES<br />

Gold: Oakham, Citra<br />

Silver: Five Points, Pale<br />

Joint Bronze: Big Lamp, Prince Bishop Ale and<br />

Vocation, Heart & Soul<br />

STRONG BITTER<br />

Gold: Greytrees, Afghan Pride<br />

Silver: Irving, Iron Duke<br />

Bronze: Church End, Fallen Angel<br />

SPECIALITY<br />

Gold: Binghams, Vanilla Stout<br />

Silver: Blue Monkey, Chocolate Guerrilla<br />

Bronze: Colchester, Brazilian Coffee & Vanilla<br />

Porter<br />

WINTER ALE WINNERS<br />

(judged elsewhere but entered in CBOB)<br />

Strong Milds/Old Ales: Tintagel, Excalibur<br />

Porters: Calverley’s Porter<br />

Stouts: Plain Ales, Inncognito<br />

Barley Wines/Strong Old Ales: Lacon’s Audit Ale<br />

OVERALL RESULTS<br />

Gold: Surrey Hills, Shere Drop<br />

Silver: Greytrees, Afghan Pride<br />

Bronze: Oakham, Citra<br />

Good Beer Guide 2020<br />

The UK’s best-selling<br />

beer and pub guide<br />

is published on 12<br />

September. With a new<br />

design and a personal<br />

foreword by Professor<br />

Brian Cox as well as<br />

contributions from Roger<br />

Protz, Emma Inch, and<br />

Tim Hampson, the 47th<br />

edition of CAMRA’s<br />

Good Beer Guide still<br />

lives up to the description<br />

of being the definitive guide to the best real ale<br />

pubs, bars and breweries in the UK.<br />

With 4,500 pubs, bars and clubs selected by<br />

CAMRA members across the UK, the Good<br />

Beer Guide is the only guide you will need for<br />

finding the best pubs that serve real ale. What<br />

makes it unique against other pub guides is<br />

the Breweries section that lists all UK real ale<br />

breweries – that’s over 1,800 of them! – and<br />

their regular beers, along with hundreds of<br />

CAMRA tasting notes.<br />

Go to shop1.camra.org.uk to secure your copy.<br />

CAMRA members get £2 off the cover price,<br />

with a further £2 discount if pre-ordered before<br />

12 September. Do it now!<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

15


Beer Festivals<br />

Local beer festivals – some CAMRA and some<br />

not – that are well worth a visit.<br />

ASCOT BEER FESTIVAL<br />

4th - 5th October <strong>2019</strong><br />

Ascot Racecourse, High Street, Ascot, SL5 7JX.<br />

SHERFIELD ON LODDON<br />

BEER FESTIVAL<br />

7th September <strong>2019</strong><br />

Sherfield Village Hall,<br />

Reading Road, Sherfield<br />

on Loddon, Hook,<br />

Hampshire, RG27 0EZ.<br />

Open 11.30am – 11pm.<br />

Featuring 40+ real<br />

ales and ciders, plus<br />

Prosecco, craft lager and soft drinks. Hot food<br />

and snack food available, with face painting<br />

and live bands Green Embers, Runaway Train,<br />

Blacksmith Band, Jungle Brew and Rosedale<br />

Bandand. Free minibus in the evening to<br />

Bramley station. Tickets £4 in advance from<br />

The Shop, the Four Horseshoes and the White<br />

Hart, or £5 on the day – includes tasting notes<br />

and a pint glass while stocks last.<br />

sherfieldbeerfestival.org.uk<br />

NEWBURY REAL ALE FESTIVAL<br />

14th September <strong>2019</strong><br />

Northcroft Fields,<br />

Northcroft Lane,<br />

Newbury, RG14 1RS.<br />

A family-friendly<br />

event in the centre of<br />

town, which includes<br />

a wide range of ale<br />

and cider and some top-notch music. Over 300<br />

different ales and ciders alongside a wide range<br />

of gin. This year’s theme is drinks from the<br />

local area: West Berks, North Hants and South<br />

Oxon. Hog roast, bratwurst and vegetarian<br />

food available. Music comes from Toploader –<br />

the actual ones! – and a selection of other local<br />

and tribute acts. Tickets £10 in advance from<br />

the website (includes a free glass and 3 drink<br />

tokens) or £12 on the door (includes a free glass<br />

and 2 drink tokens).<br />

newburyrealale.co.uk<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

16<br />

A festival organised each autumn by the<br />

Berkshire South East branch of CAMRA at the<br />

prestigious racecourse. Around 200 different<br />

real ales and over<br />

30 real ciders<br />

and perries on<br />

offer. As well as a<br />

fabulous selection<br />

of drinks, the<br />

festival will also offer some top class flat racing<br />

and the chance to have a flutter if you like,<br />

plus live music. Entrance gates and bars open<br />

at 11am on both days, with racing starting at<br />

approximately 2pm. Bars will close 30 minutes<br />

after the last race (expected to be approximately<br />

6pm). No dress code, but the racecourse<br />

encourage customers to dress smartly. All<br />

normal race-day facilities will be available<br />

including hot and cold food and soft drinks.<br />

Tickets available via a link on the website.<br />

“Queen Anne Enclosure” is the cheapest<br />

option to gain access to the festival at £19 and<br />

CAMRA members can quote “CAMRA <strong>2019</strong>”<br />

code to get over a 40% discount on on-the-day<br />

prices.<br />

ascotbeerfest.org.uk<br />

OXFORD BEER FESTIVAL<br />

24th - 26th October <strong>2019</strong><br />

Town Hall, St Aldates, Oxford, OX1 1BX.<br />

130 real ales and 50 ciders and perries on<br />

Thursday (5pm – 11pm) and Friday (11am –<br />

11pm) and 40 different ales on Saturday (open<br />

11am, closes 8pm or when the beer runs out)<br />

with the main hall cleared and some chairs and<br />

tables. Food available, some seating in the Old<br />

Library. Entry £5 which includes a souvenir<br />

glass. £3 to CAMRA members with their card.<br />

oxfordbeerfestival.camra.org.uk


Get in touch: 01628 638478 or getbeer@newwharfbrewing.co.uk


Festival Reflections<br />

It felt like there was a bit of a sea change when<br />

it came to the annual Reading Beer Festival this<br />

year, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why<br />

this was.<br />

I volunteered through the Thursday trade and<br />

evening session, followed by a jolly good knees<br />

up with my friends on the Friday. I realised<br />

that the sea change was a plethora of little<br />

developments that had all come together at<br />

once, and for the better. All of them were a step<br />

in the right direction.<br />

In 2018, the team that ran the Reading Beer<br />

Festival Games really started to drive social<br />

media. They were all over Instagram and<br />

building engagement in a way I haven’t seen<br />

CAMRA in Reading and Mid-Berks do before.<br />

They utilised Instagram Stories, which love or<br />

loathe, made it pretty clear what was happening<br />

on site. They can be found on Instagram under<br />

‘rbfgames’.<br />

Crucially, they didn’t stop after the beer festival<br />

of 2018. They continued to post content and<br />

photos all year which acted as a small reminder<br />

that the beer festival was coming. And, they are<br />

still drip-feeding photos onto their Instagram<br />

feed right now, using all the right hashtags to<br />

be found by the local communities of the area<br />

who like beer and using Instagram. In the long<br />

term, CAMRA need to embrace this approach<br />

to engagement of a younger audience.<br />

As we got nearer to show time in May, the<br />

output from ‘rbfgames’ crescendoed. The<br />

presence on social<br />

media from<br />

Reading and Mid<br />

Berks proper,<br />

also stepped<br />

up, particularly<br />

on Facebook.<br />

There is a big<br />

opportunity with<br />

Twitter. Culturevulture<br />

Reading<br />

folk are big on<br />

the twitter side<br />

of things. The<br />

account is there but it isn’t used enough to<br />

share what’s happening pub and beer wise in<br />

the area in my opinion, which is an opportunity<br />

for the year ahead.<br />

Then there was card payment. Hurrah! One<br />

of the bar managers told me that the festival<br />

had acquired CAMRA’s entire collection of<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

18


handheld PDQ machines and said “we haven’t<br />

gone out there and massively pushed that we<br />

can take card this year because we need to<br />

stress test it.” Now we know it works, and can<br />

work in Christchurch Meadows without signal<br />

issues etc, pushing this next year as part of the<br />

marketing materials has to be key. For many<br />

customers, it removes another barrier.<br />

Finally, the beer. There was a shift towards<br />

brand ownership for our more local breweries<br />

this year. This is something I have seen<br />

elsewhere, thanks to other events such as Craft<br />

Theory, BCBF in Bristol and many others.<br />

Allocating a separate area within the tent for<br />

Siren, West Berkshire, Elusive, New Wharf and<br />

Double Barrelled made perfect sense. It was<br />

the right thing<br />

to do, to allow<br />

these growing<br />

and developing<br />

breweries to be<br />

in a position to<br />

own what they<br />

do and how they<br />

do it. It allows<br />

them scope to<br />

engage beer<br />

lovers, tell the<br />

stories behind<br />

the brews,<br />

mingle, give support and encouragement to the<br />

countless home brewers out there who want to<br />

be in that very spot that the forever cheerful<br />

Andy Parker is stood. They did need a few<br />

more volunteers with them at points and I’m<br />

not sure whether that expectation fell to them<br />

or to CAMRA but it’s worth bearing in mind<br />

for 2020.<br />

When you’re stood there looking at these very<br />

local and very community driven breweries<br />

it makes you feel incredibly proud to be<br />

from Berkshire. These businesses give back,<br />

and they engage and welcome customers to<br />

their tap rooms. The fact that we now have<br />

several great quality tap rooms in our branch<br />

is great progress to celebrate. Moreover, these<br />

businesses pay it forward by often welcoming<br />

local food traders on site too. I worked my way<br />

through these local breweries in a methodical<br />

manner, trying almost everything that was put<br />

on up until Friday night. Elusive’s ‘Time and<br />

Magik’ was one of my favourites, followed<br />

by another Elusive brew which was ‘Punch<br />

Out Round 1: Citra and Nelson’ - my friends<br />

and I came back several times for this. Double<br />

Barrelled introduced me to other favourites:<br />

‘Hierarchy of Needs’ and the ‘Summer Session:<br />

Pineapple’ which is one I await for Luci and<br />

Mike to put into can form.<br />

I had loved working the key-keg stand in 2018<br />

but it felt like a huge responsibility to look after<br />

these more sensitive brews, and ensure we were<br />

doing them justice at pour. I worked key-keg<br />

again this year and what CAMRA did right,<br />

was bring volunteers into that area who had<br />

worked it previously and were passionate about<br />

it. My favourite beers from key-keg this year<br />

were Simcoe Simon by Beer Hut Brewing Co,<br />

the Organic Cucumber and Grape Gose by All<br />

Day Brewing Company, Hazy Shade of Winter<br />

by Padstow Brewing Company and Skoda War,<br />

a Belgium quad by Brew York which blew my<br />

socks off.<br />

On the foreign beers this year, there were some<br />

subtle changes too. Some excellent breweries<br />

were added to the line up. Two of significant<br />

note were De Kromme Herring and Der Molen.<br />

Both of these breweries have been stocked<br />

regularly by the Grumpy Goat. De Kromme<br />

came to Reading last year as part of the 2018<br />

Craft Theory, and Der Molen were there and<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

19


present this year. I’m always impressed with the<br />

ordering of the foreign beer. It’s no mean feat to<br />

pick and curate a selection that can attract such<br />

a diverse audience, but I think they nailed it this<br />

year. There were some staple classics which are<br />

crucial for beer lovers on their journey and tick<br />

box exercise of trying those signature brews,<br />

but it was fantastic to see the likes of Alvinne<br />

Brewery be stocked with several lines this year.<br />

from the beer woodwork. Some of these faces<br />

I only ever see at the festival, and some of<br />

those volunteers are like those good friends<br />

you have but you seldom see. You find you can<br />

pick your conversation straight back up from<br />

where you left off, giggling along the way. I’m<br />

grateful and thankful to every organiser and<br />

CAMRA member and volunteer behind the<br />

scenes making things happen, putting in their<br />

own time to keep the wheel spinning. And,<br />

I’m grateful for every member who pushes for<br />

change: small changes that when stacked up<br />

make a big change. ‘Continuous improvement<br />

is better than delayed perfection’ - that was<br />

Mark Twain, but I felt a sense of change this<br />

year, for the better.<br />

Onto cask, the backbone of CAMRA. I’m<br />

always ready for a great recommendation, and<br />

this year I was not disappointed. The standout<br />

(and the one beer I keep thinking about, even<br />

now) is Old Chimneys Brewery whose ‘Good<br />

King Henry’, a Russian imperial stout, was<br />

incredible. I’m not a stout person by nature<br />

but perhaps my foray into coffee this past<br />

twelve month served me well. I went back<br />

several times for Good King Henry and it was<br />

gone by midday Friday which says it all. The<br />

‘Plymouth Plum Mild’ by Cullercoats Brewery<br />

was a lovely tipple too, as was (another stout)<br />

‘Flapjack Marmalade’ by Hop Kettle Brewing<br />

Co. One of my finishers for the Friday evening<br />

was the Turning Point Brewery’s ‘Trapped<br />

Under A Cow’ - I had highlighted this one on<br />

my list and it didn’t let me down.<br />

A final note and piece of gratitude. The team<br />

that pull the beer lists together: I know that this<br />

is no small task and yet every year I absolutely<br />

love going through those lists and deciding<br />

what I’ll try. I’ve been known to export them<br />

and print them out and colour code them with<br />

an array of highlighter pens. Oh yes. However,<br />

I didn’t need to do that this year because local<br />

beer blogger Quaffable Reading took the pain<br />

out of the excel spreadsheet and created a<br />

mobile friendly version which he shared with<br />

many of us online. It was great.<br />

I’m always in awe at how smoothly the beer<br />

festival runs when you recognise how many<br />

people it must take to organise it. On a<br />

personal note, it’s genuinely my Christmas<br />

each year. I love it and I kind of live for it. I<br />

love working behind the bar and never fail to<br />

enjoy seeing so many familiar faces appearing<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

20<br />

That was another piece of innovation which<br />

made the user experience better than it was<br />

before. I’m pretty sure that having a good<br />

experience is what we all want, and what<br />

CAMRA would aspire to. All of the above<br />

made <strong>2019</strong> a stellar year. Bring on 2020.<br />

Zoë Andrews


great beers from<br />

oxfordshire since 2003


Cider Month<br />

CAMRA’s real cider and perry months are in<br />

October and May. May is more focused on<br />

getting people to try new or a wider range of<br />

ciders, whereas October is directed at getting<br />

people in to the pubs in the first place.<br />

from Turkey were growing wild in England<br />

in Neolithic times. The first written mention<br />

of cider was in 1204AD, when it was used as<br />

payment. However the Celts made crab apple<br />

cider before this. The Romans continued to<br />

make cider, engineering equipment to press<br />

the apples. The Normans began to introduce<br />

a wider range of apples. Throughout the 17th<br />

Century the number of orchards increased and<br />

cider became a more popular tipple. In the<br />

18th century cider was used to pay the farm<br />

workers. The 19th century saw development of<br />

the importance of the quality of cider.<br />

Apples – the raw material for cider making<br />

CAMRA’s definition of real cider requires it to be<br />

“made from the freshly pressed juice of apples,<br />

not syrup, and not to have been pasteurised or<br />

artificially carbonated.” Although there are a<br />

lot of ‘ciders’ that do not meet this criteria, real<br />

cider has become far more readily available in<br />

pubs.<br />

Although many pubs are tied to what beers and<br />

ciders they can stock, bag in box real ciders are<br />

widely available. It might be worth asking in<br />

your local if they have access to bag in boxes.<br />

They can keep for over one month once opened,<br />

unlike a barrel of beer that needs to be drunk<br />

within a few days.<br />

Look out for our Cider Pub of the Year judging<br />

next year. All the information is on the Reading<br />

CAMRA website but the main things to note are<br />

the quality and condition of the cider or perry,<br />

the promotion and knowledge of the product<br />

from the staff as well as the welcome and<br />

service, the atmosphere of the pub, the focus on<br />

community, the sympathy with CAMRA aims<br />

and the value for money.<br />

Real cider is a traditional drink with a long<br />

history in Britain and pre-dates pubs by a<br />

long way. Apples that probably originated<br />

An example of a cider press<br />

Traditionally cider making has not changed<br />

much in all these years. First apples are washed<br />

and then pulped and pressed. The extracted<br />

juice is then left to ferment. Yeast does not<br />

need to be added to trigger fermentation as it<br />

is naturally present on the skin of the apple.<br />

After the cider has fermented, it is quite often<br />

blended with the previous year’s product to<br />

finalise the process.<br />

There are now more than 600 types of apple<br />

grown in the UK. It is estimated that about 450<br />

of these are cider varieties. These apples have<br />

been developed to have special strains which<br />

gives different ciders their unique taste. Apples<br />

fall into four categories; Bittersweets which<br />

have a low acidity but high tannins, Sweets<br />

which have low acidity and low tannin, Sharps<br />

which have a high acidity and low tannin and<br />

finally Bittersharps which have a high acidity<br />

and high tannin. Most apple varieties contain<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

22


a combination of all four. Tannins give the<br />

cider the colour and the dryness. Most cider<br />

makers tend to avoid bittersharp apples as<br />

the consumer taste today seems to favour the<br />

sweeter less acidic flavours.<br />

Different types of ciders can be made by<br />

carefully selecting a combination of apples. The<br />

making of a cider starts with the planning of<br />

the orchard. They are designed with different<br />

varieties planted at the same time so they can be<br />

harvested together and be used simultaneously<br />

to create different characteristics in the cider.<br />

Although apples taste sweet, cider apples<br />

are unlike the ones we eat. They are usually<br />

smaller, harder and would be too dry to<br />

eat. Unsweetened cider is naturally dry and<br />

this is because all the sugar is used up in the<br />

fermentation process. Cider can later be<br />

sweetened using unfermented apple juice or<br />

artificial sweeteners.<br />

Cider is a very important and historical part of<br />

our British heritage and it is definitely making<br />

a big come back.<br />

Cider and perry judging at a previous<br />

Reading Beer and Cider Festival<br />

Evelyn Harrison-Bullock<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

23


The Promotion<br />

of Lager in the UK<br />

PART 2<br />

Paul Dabrowski continues his series about<br />

lager advertising, including some very familiar<br />

catchphrases.<br />

Following experiments in lager brewing as early<br />

as 1915, with the post-World War I market –<br />

minus Austrian and German imports – in mind,<br />

the branding of Barclay’s new products at their<br />

1922 launch as ‘London Lager’ perpetuated<br />

the tradition established by most UK-brewed<br />

lagers to date in not adopting an inappropriate<br />

pseudo-continental name as a deliberate ploy to<br />

maximise sales at a time when patriotic fervour<br />

was still rampant.<br />

With anti-German prejudice in the UK<br />

somehow proving less resilient after 1945,<br />

the iconic 1958 film Ice Cold in Alex, starring<br />

John Mills, Anthony Quayle and Sylvia Syms,<br />

probably did as much for the rehabilitation of<br />

the notion of the ‘good German’ amongst the<br />

viewing public as did the most memorable,<br />

penultimate, scene – where the protagonists<br />

down several glasses of Carlsberg – in reestablishing<br />

foreign lager (but, unfortunately,<br />

reinforcing the misconceived ‘benefits’ of cold<br />

beer generally) in the consciousness of that<br />

same audience. This blatant product placement<br />

had followed earlier post-WWII export success<br />

in the UK using the somewhat cryptic, ‘In<br />

Danish we say “he 1st en hof”’, tag-line.<br />

Back in 1935, the Welsh Felinfoel brewery<br />

had been the first to successfully can its beers<br />

(although a lager was not amongst them) but<br />

it was the purchase of a bulk beer pasteuriser<br />

from Germany by Watney, Combe, Reid &<br />

Co. Ltd. six years previously that had presaged<br />

their development of the kegging process for a<br />

beer launched, for low turnover club use only,<br />

soon afterwards. The advent of the Second<br />

World War ultimately provided an incentive,<br />

during the mid- to late-1940s when American<br />

servicemen were being stationed in Britain, for<br />

the techniques to become increasingly linked.<br />

However, their particular association with lager<br />

was, oddly perhaps, initially eclipsed by the<br />

artificial gassing process being associated more<br />

with their application to (and replacements for)<br />

traditional cask ales and the creation of canned<br />

products such as Watney’s Party Four and<br />

Party Seven. What is not widely appreciated<br />

is that the carbon dioxide given off naturally<br />

but trapped in sealed fermenters, invariably<br />

now being used for bulk lager production, was<br />

reused at the brewing plant to engender some<br />

effervescence back into the finished products<br />

to not only disguise the lack of any on-site<br />

maturation but also to counter the deleterious<br />

effects of pasteurisation (principally, halting all<br />

fermentation). Reintroduced just prior to the<br />

packaging stage, this practice, theoretically,<br />

enabled immediate despatch to retailers<br />

without the need for any brewery conditioning<br />

and the storage costs involved.<br />

The high-profile promotion of the resultant<br />

inferior substitutes, both in cans and via gaudy<br />

keg fonts established onto bar tops whilst<br />

handpulls were being dismantled, inevitably<br />

created such adverse public reaction that it led<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

24


to a consumer pressure group – the Campaign<br />

for the Revitalisation of Ale – being formed in<br />

1971.<br />

It was the additional, artificial, carbonation of<br />

the latter, in particular, using cylinders of CO 2<br />

to propel the keg beers and lagers to the bar<br />

that invariably caused excessive ‘fizz’ which<br />

attracted their especial opprobrium. And, it<br />

should not be forgotten that, just as the hot<br />

summer of 1959 seemed to mark a turningpoint<br />

in the establishment in the UK of keg beer<br />

over cask, the long, hot summers of 1975 and,<br />

particularly, 1976 did the same for ersatz lagers<br />

over keg brews in public awareness!<br />

The Campaign for Real Ale – as it soon became<br />

once the cumbersome ‘Revitalisation of Ale’<br />

acronym interpretation was dropped – had<br />

undoubtedly provided more than just a catalyst<br />

that aided an eventual volte-face by the ‘Big<br />

Six’ brewing combines of the time as regards<br />

cask beer brewing was concerned, particularly<br />

whilst reliable cooling methodology for real<br />

ale was finally being perfected. But almost<br />

all UK-brewed lager, however, was to remain<br />

inextricably wedded to kegging and canning<br />

techniques well into the 21st century.<br />

In October 1972, a German-themed beer festival<br />

had taken place at Alexandra Palace, predating<br />

the CAMRA-inspired Great British Beer<br />

Festivals at the same venue later that decade. In<br />

fact, a first-and-last jointly-held protest against<br />

the lagers being promoted, involving both the<br />

Society for the Preservation of Beers from the<br />

Wood and the nascent CAMRA, was held to<br />

coincide with the event. Reputedly, the barrelrolling<br />

of real ale casks uphill formed part of<br />

the demonstration – though, if full, probably<br />

not for immediate consumption! The SPBW<br />

was, and still is, a 1963 forerunner to CAMRA<br />

though far less effective through missing the<br />

main picture!<br />

the 1960s onwards, as in Liverpool (Rigsby’s),<br />

with Hull, Leeds and Sheffield spawning a<br />

Hofbräuhaus each and, amongst those opened<br />

in some of the capital’s suburbs (complementing<br />

those extant in the city centre), there was even a<br />

Löwenbräu Keller in Croydon.<br />

A Bristol Bierkeller accompanied several in<br />

Manchester, too, with an ‘Austrian’ biergarten<br />

in Lytham St. Annes from the summer of<br />

1966, and, around 4-5 years later, Blackpool<br />

gained three outlets, the Talbot Bierkeller, a<br />

Hofbräuhaus and, opposite the Central Pier,<br />

a Jager Keller. Then, the vast Harte & Garter<br />

Hotel, Windsor, installed its own bierkeller,<br />

with Southend, Pwllheli in Wales and Peel on<br />

the Isle of Man each gaining one in 1972, 1974<br />

and 1977 respectively. By the end of the 1970s,<br />

Butlins had created a staggering 25 amongst its<br />

seaside holiday camps.<br />

During the penultimate decade of the 20th<br />

century, however, the bars had generally become<br />

seedier, accompanying accoutrements such as<br />

food, music, chasers and even the lager itself,<br />

less authentic as the bigger players had begun<br />

to dominate this lucrative market. The Talbot<br />

and Jager outlets in Blackpool, for instance,<br />

had actually been opened by Bass Charrington<br />

and the Forte Hotel Group respectively.<br />

Nonetheless, German-style beer festivals with<br />

Bavarian oompah bands and cuisine continued<br />

to be established subsequently in places such<br />

as Norwich and Solihull, supplementing the<br />

resurgence of semi-permanent bierkellers from<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

25


Whilst lager, as a beer style, had had a reputation<br />

in the 1960s of classy sophistication, by less than<br />

a generation later, it had become increasingly<br />

associated with football hooliganism and the<br />

risqué advertising that Fosters and Castlemaine<br />

XXXX – latterday Australian interlopers<br />

– particularly exemplified (in contrast with<br />

the wry and offbeat publicity the former had<br />

previously been associated with). Other, moreestablished<br />

brands felt coerced into dumbingdown<br />

their publicity on television, billboards<br />

and periodicals in order to maintain their<br />

market share.<br />

Amongst the almost saturation promotional<br />

material that ensued in the 1970s, 1980s and<br />

1990s, particularly memorable advertising<br />

catchphrases were devised, just as many for<br />

various keg beers had done likewise a decade<br />

or two before. Examples included, ‘I bet he<br />

drinks.....’ (Carling Black Label), ‘Probably<br />

the best lager in the world’ (Carlsberg),<br />

‘Australians wouldn’t give a XXXX for<br />

anything else’ (Castlemaine), ‘Australian for<br />

beer’ (Fosters), ‘Refreshes the parts other beers<br />

cannot reach’ (Heineken), and, ‘For great<br />

lager – follow the bear’ (Hofmeister), the lastmentioned<br />

invariably featuring a life-size ursine<br />

character called George wearing a pork pie hat<br />

and a gold bomber jacket interacting with lads<br />

and ladettes in various pub and club situations.<br />

Harp Lager, which was originally concocted in<br />

Ireland by Guinness in 1960, ‘Stays sharp to the<br />

bottom of the glass’ apparently, whereas Sköl<br />

purported to be ‘Horribly good lager’, using<br />

animations based on the ‘Hagar the Horrible’<br />

cartoon strip from The Sun.<br />

By contrast, against the trend but true to its<br />

reputation, the 5% Alcohol by Volume (ABV)<br />

Stella Artois (originating from Belgium) tried to<br />

maintain that it was, ‘Reassuringly expensive’<br />

despite being dubbed ‘wifebeater’ in popular<br />

parlance! Oranjeboom, was, reputedly, an even<br />

stronger lager from Holland that had been<br />

imported into the UK, like Carlsberg, from<br />

as early as the 1940s but under its original<br />

‘Golden Tree’ branding.<br />

Renowned for its high, even excessive, strength,<br />

Oranjeboom had, actually, been available both<br />

on its home turf and exported in various 5%<br />

ABV versions, as well as in 7.5% premium,<br />

8.5% extra, 12% super, 14% ultra, 16% mega<br />

and even 18% extreme strength varieties. As an<br />

example of how adulterated such beers become<br />

once production is franchised elsewhere, it is,<br />

today, still brewed by Shepherd Neame but as<br />

a diluted beverage with an ABV of only 3.9%!<br />

Conversely, Carlsberg’s canned super-strength,<br />

‘Special Brew’, that had established a particular<br />

niche in the UK market ever since it was first<br />

produced in 1950, was reduced from 9% to<br />

8% earlier this decade over concerns regarding<br />

its high strength.<br />

Tennent’s Lager was first brewed in 1885 and,<br />

eight years later, it won the highest award at<br />

the Chicago World’s Fair. J & R Tennent is also<br />

notable for having produced the first canned<br />

lager in 1935 and the first keg lager in 1963.<br />

One of the brand’s high strength variants,<br />

Tennent’s Super (9% ABV), is no longer<br />

produced in Scotland by the Wellpark brewery<br />

(nowadays made in Luton by Inbev), but the<br />

Glasgow site still produces an 1885 Lager<br />

(5% ABV) which, amongst many other brews,<br />

is flanked by both a weaker Lager (4% ABV)<br />

and a stronger Extra (9.3% ABV). Tennent’s<br />

Lager was once famous for the design of its<br />

cans which, until 1989, featured photos of<br />

various female models printed onto the side<br />

who became affectionately known as “The<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

26


Lager Lovelies”. Authentic, original, cans with<br />

such advertising thereon are much sought after<br />

by collectors even today despite being viewed<br />

as sexist by some. Nonetheless, in 2017, the<br />

brewery partnered with one of Scotland’s bestloved<br />

sitcoms, Still Game, to add two more<br />

well-known faces to the list of Tennent’s “Lager<br />

Lovelies” – characters, Jack Jarvis and Victor<br />

McDade, played by Ford Keirnon and Greg<br />

Hemphill!<br />

Paul Dabrowski<br />

With acknowledgements to Boak & Bailey and<br />

various CAMRA publications.<br />

CAMAL (The Campaign for Authentic Lager)<br />

may be of interest. Please visit camal.org.uk for<br />

more details.<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

27


Join up, join in,<br />

join the campaign<br />

From<br />

as little as<br />

£26.50 *<br />

a year. That’s less<br />

than a pint a<br />

month!<br />

Includes<br />

£30<br />

Real Ale<br />

Cider & Perry<br />

Vouchers<br />

Discover<br />

why we joined.<br />

camra.org.uk/<br />

10reasons<br />

Join us, and together we can protect the traditions of great<br />

British pubs and everything that goes with them.<br />

Become part of the CAMRA community today – enjoy<br />

discounted entry to beer festivals and exclusive member<br />

offers. Learn about brewing and beer and join like-minded<br />

people supporting our campaigns to save pubs, clubs,<br />

your pint and more.<br />

Join the campaign today at<br />

www.camra.org.uk/joinup<br />

*Price for paying by Direct Debit and correct at April <strong>2019</strong>. Concessionary rates available.<br />

Please visit camra.org.uk/membership-rates


1<br />

CAMPAIGN<br />

for great beer, cider and perry 2<br />

3<br />

Enjoy CAMRA<br />

BEER FESTIVALS<br />

in front of or behind the bar<br />

4<br />

Save<br />

5 YOUR LOCAL 6<br />

7<br />

Get<br />

9<br />

Enjoy<br />

great<br />

VALUE FOR<br />

MONEY<br />

great<br />

HEALTH BENEFITS<br />

What’s yours?<br />

great reasons<br />

to join CAMRA<br />

8<br />

10<br />

(really!)<br />

10<br />

Discover your reason<br />

and join the campaign today:<br />

www.camra.org.uk/10reasons<br />

Become a<br />

BEER EXPERT<br />

GET INVOLVED<br />

and make new friends<br />

Find the<br />

BEST PUBS<br />

IN BRITAIN<br />

DISCOVER<br />

pub heritage and the<br />

great outdoors<br />

HAVE YOUR SAY


As our farmers<br />

know all too well:<br />

no pain, no grain.<br />

They say nothing worth having comes<br />

easy. Unfortunately for our farmers<br />

that’s true of the barley we use to brew<br />

our beers. We use a classic variety<br />

called Golden Promise, grown to our<br />

own unique specification. The biscuity,<br />

golden malt it produces is the perfect<br />

partner to our natural spring water,<br />

and is vital to Landlord’s depth and<br />

delicate balance of flavour. It’s also a type<br />

of barley that’s notoriously hard to<br />

grow, and our exacting specification<br />

makes it even more difficult. Which<br />

makes it a costly ingredient and a<br />

real challenge even for experienced<br />

farmers. Luckily we can offer some<br />

liquid therapy.<br />

All for that taste of Taylor’s<br />

Mine’s A <strong>Pint</strong><br />

30


- EVENTS<br />

- TOURS<br />

- REAL ALE<br />

- CRAFT BEER<br />

- SHOP<br />

- TAPROOM<br />

- KITCHEN<br />

OPENING HOURS<br />

TUES - SUN | 10AM-11PM<br />

MON | 10AM-6PM (Kitchen Closed)<br />

SHOP OPEN DAILY 10AM-6PM<br />

01635 767090 TAPROOMANDKITCHEN@WBBREW.CO.UK<br />

WEST BERKSHIRE BREWERY | THE OLD DAIRY | YATTENDON | RG18 OXT


AUTUMN RACING WEEKEND<br />

& ASCOT BEER FESTIVAL<br />

Friday 4 th & Saturday 5 th October<br />

Enjoy top class Flat racing on the track, then toast the unmissable occasion at the Beer<br />

Festival in association with CAMRA with a choice of over 200 real ales, perries and ciders.<br />

CAMRA Member Discount of over 40%<br />

Friday 4th October – Tickets £10.50 per person (standard price £19)<br />

Saturday 5th October – Tickets £14.00 per person (standard price £26)<br />

Book at ascot.co.uk and quote CAMRA<strong>2019</strong><br />

(max. 4 tickets per person, valid for Queen Anne Enclosure tickets only, must be booked in advance)

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!