THE MAGAZINE FOR READING AND
MID BERKSHIRE BRANCH OF THE
CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE
IN THIS ISSUE...
PUB & BREWERY NEWS
BEER MAT COLLECTING -
PART 1
SMALL BEER
SIREN CRAFT BREW
& MORE...
FREE
ISSUE FIFTY THREE SPRING 2020
Branch Diary
All meetings and social events are relaxed and friendly. Nonmembers
are welcome to all events except branch meetings.
Please check the website before setting out in case of any lastminute
changes.
March
Thursday 5th: (20:00) First Thursday of the Month Social.
Moderation, 213 Caversham Rd, RG1 8BB. It’s St Piran’s
day (the patron saint of Cornwall) and there should be
Cornish pasties available! Please let Phil know if you plan to
come as he needs to book a table.
Please email phillgill@yahoo.co.uk
Thursday 5th: (19:30) RBF20 volunteering meeting, at
Castle Tap, 120 Castle St, RG1 7RJ
Tuesday 10th: (20:00) Branch Meeting, Foresters Arms, 79-
81 Brunswick St, RG1 6NY, CAMRA members only, please.
Saturday 14th: (13:00) Social, hosted by SWM CAMRA
branch. Meet at Reading Station at 13.00 to walk to the
Fisherman’s Cottage and other pubs.
Friday 20th: (19:00) Southall Curry Night, meet Southall
Conservative Club, Fairlawn, High St, Southall UB1 3HB,
moving on at (20:30) to Al-Sultan.
Contact: pauldabrowski0159@gmail.com
Sunday 29th: (10:35) Ale Trail Walk. Meet outside the
Catherine Wheel, Station Rd, Goring RG8 9HB at 10:35.
Walk to the Bell Inn Aldworth via the Ridgeway, arriving
at about 12:30 (5 miles). We will stop for a drink and filled
rolls, then walk back to Streatley via the Ridgeway Path,
arriving at 16:00 (5 miles) The total distance is 10 miles.
Once back in Streatley / Goring there are plenty of options
for more pubs. Train times from Reading 10:18. Return
trains at 45 mins past the hour.
April
Thursday 2nd: (20:00) First Thursday of the Month Social.
Retreat, 8 St John’s St, RG1 4EH. We will have a post box
for Ale trail booklet between 20:00 to 21:00. Please email
social@readingcamra.org.uk, if you would like to join us at
Lyndhurst, for pint & curry (£9.99) before social, we will
book a table for 7pm.
Tuesday 14th: (19:30) RBF20 volunteering meeting, at
Castle Tap, 120 Castle St, RG1 7RJ
Friday 24th: (19:30) Branch Events Planning Meeting.
Phantom Brewing Co. Unit 3, Meadow Rd, RG1 8LB. We
will be looking for events in June to September. All members
welcome.
Contact Us
Useful contact details for this magazine,
CAMRA and other important things…
Mine’s a Pint Circulation: 3,000.
Outlets: Over 70 across the region.
Editor: Zoë Andrews
editor@readingcamra.org.uk
07985 199101
Magazine published on behalf of
Reading and Mid Berkshire CAMRA
by: Neil Richards MBE at Matelot
Marketing
01536 358670 / 07710 281381
n.richards@btinternet.com
Printed by CKN Print Ltd, 2 North
Portway Close, Round Spinney,
Northampton, NN3 8RQ
01604 645555
Reading & Mid Berkshire CAMRA
www.readingcamra.org.uk
Social Secretary: Chris Hinton
social@readingcamra.org.uk
Contact for all other branch matters:
Katrina Fletcher
contact@readingcamra.org.uk
0779 401 9437
Local Trading Standards
From time to time, drinkers receiving
poor standards of service or poor
quality products may wish to raise the
matter with Trading Standards. You
now need to do this through Citizens
Advice, an organisation which provides
free, confidential and impartial advice
on consumer issues.
To contact Citizens Advice Consumer
Service call 03454 04 05 06 or visit
www.citizensadvice.org.uk and click on
Consumer.
The next issue of Mine’s a Pint will be
published in early June. Please feel free
to submit any copy or ideas by 1 May
and you could see your name in print!
The opinions expressed in Mine’s a Pint
are not necessarily those of the editor or
the Campaign for Real Ale. © Campaign
for Real Ale 2020.
Mine’s A Pint
3
May
Thursday 7th: (20:00) First Thursday of the Month Social. 26th Reading Beer & Cider Festival,
Christchurch Meadow, Cav RG4 8BY. We will be entering a quiz team. (Quiz TBC)
Monday 11th: (10:30-18:00) Social. Join us at the site of Reading Beer & Cider Festival,
Christchurch Meadow, Cav RG4 8BY for a working social where we’ll be helping to take down
some of the beers and equipment.
Wednesday 20th: (20:00) Branch meeting. Royal Oak, Ruscombe Lane, Ruscombe RG10 9JN.
CAMRA members only, please.
Other Upcoming Events
7th-10th May 2020: 26th Reading Beer & Cider Festival, Christchurch Meadow, Cav RG4 8BY.
See website for volunteering. https://readingbeerfestival.org.uk/
This is a guide only and Reading & Mid Berkshire CAMRA cannot be held responsible for any
loss due to the alteration or cancellation of any of these events.
See www.readingcamra.org.uk for more details of events.
Mine’s A Pint
4
From the Editor
I couldn’t possibly start this issue without a
heartfelt thanks to Phil Gill. Phil has steered
Mine’s a Pint for 13 years and for over 50
issues. Consider, for a moment, how many
festivals, ale trails and pubs he has supported
and encouraged us all to visit over those years.
Phil has dedicated much of his free time to
bring Mine’s a Pint to life and built it into an
easily recognisable and enjoyable read.
As a newcomer to the town, or CAMRA, MAP
becomes an invaluable source of information.
It builds a clear picture of the enthusiasm for
great beer in this area and where to find it.
Phil has set a high benchmark for this local
publication. As I take on the task of continuing
this branch magazine, I really want to continue
with Phil’s inclusive spirit. There were several
of us sat in the Allied Arms working out
what happens next, and between us, we have
it covered. That said, we really welcome
contributions from the passionate beer
aficionados among you and we thank Phil for
his continued support.
As spring fast approaches, there’s a preview
of the Beer Festival, which runs this year at
Christchurch Meadows from May 7 th -10 th , and
with Friday 8 th May being a bank holiday in its
own right, we hope to see many of you there.
There’s also a deeper dive into Siren Craft
Brew, and a conversation with their head of
marketing, Chris Nolan. Paul Dabrowski
has written a feature on the task of beer mat
collecting, the history and the insights he has
discovered and you’ll find the first part of
research in this magazine. We also have our
regular features of pub and brewery news.
Wishing you all a fantastic spring,
Zoë
Editor, Mine’s a Pint
editor@readingcamra.org.uk
In MAP 53, we cover a range of topics: there’s
the much loved Ale Trail, which launched in
February but will still very much be under way
when you read this edition.
Contents
Branch Diary & Contacts: 3 & 4
From the Editor: 5
Pub News: 6, 7 & 8
Brewery News: 10 & 11
Small Beer: 12 & 13
Beer Mat Collecting - Part 1: 15 - 18
Ale Trail - Now On: 20 & 21
Reading Beer & Cider Festival 2020 -
A Preview: 22 & 23
Siren Craft Brewery: 25 - 28
Join CAMRA: 30
Mine’s A Pint
5
Pub News
Caversham
The Fox & Hounds in Gosbrook Road
helped Tiny Rebel celebrate its 8th birthday in
February with a tap takeover. Eight new kegs of
the brewery’s beer were on offer. Between the
27 th - 29 th March there will be a tap takeover
featuring The Kernel Brewery and The Five
Points Brewing Co. The pub serve Barrel &
Stone pizzas and Sunday roasts. They have a
regular quiz on Wednesdays from 8pm.
As this goes to press a West Berkshire Brewery
showcase week is underway for the public and
trade.
Mortimer
The Horse & Groom in The Street closed on
27 th December and is rumoured to have been
refurbished and reopened by new licensees.
Reading
The Castle Tap
in Castle Street
celebrated their 5th
birthday with five
days of events. This
included live music
from Dolly & The
Clothespegs, gin
tasting with West
Berkshire Brewery
and special brews
from Double
Barrelled and
Inside the Castle Tap Elusive Brewing.
The pub holds regular events throughout the
week including a monthly Sunday Quiz, a
book club, Saturday night live music, Shanty
Sessions and even acts as an eco refill station,
for detergents, shampoo and soap, on the 1st
Wednesday of each month. In February they
hosted a communal garden tidy/social to get the
courtyard ready for the summer months.
The Purple Turtle in Gun Street is celebrating
its thirty year anniversary with a number of
events across the year. Festivals will be held
to celebrate beer, gin, electronic music, chilli,
Pangea and Blues to name a few. Other activities
are garden parties, Foosball tournaments,
vintage days and a BBC Music Introducing
week takeover. The celebrations began on
25 th January with a birthday party featuring
a 1990s twist, including 90s drink prices and
music, moving on one year throughout the
decades every 15 minutes.
Brew Dog are also celebrating; they have been
in Reading two years. On Saturday 14 th March
there will be a special beer list, cake and beers
from Left Handed Giant.
The three pubs that make up ‘The Village’ will
be holding their annual festival over the Easter
Bank Holiday Weekend. The Retreat, The
Lyndhurst and the newly reopened Weather
Station will have music from 10 th - 13 th April
with, reportedly, the Polish Club getting
involved as well.
The Haunt in Meadow Road is Phantom
Brewery’s tap room which opened in November.
The brewery is owned by Dane White and
Dom Gemski and the tap room is managed
by Matt Crook. It sells its own beers along
with a selection of guest brews across 12 taps.
The tap room is cashless. It has visiting street
food vendors on a Saturday and is open 1pm –
10pm. On Fridays it opens from 3pm – 10pm.
Mine’s A Pint
6
Since October last year, political activists
have taken over a derelict Reading pub.
The Red Lion in Southampton Street is now
known as the Kobani House. The group says
it commandeered the building to create a
“political space”. On the door there is a sign
which reads: “We are a squatted social centre
occupied in solidarity with the people and
the revolutions of Kurdistan, a revolutionary
movement based on the principles of people’s
democracy, women’s liberation and ecology.
These are the ideas on which we create this
space. Please knock and come in to hang out,
chat and have a hot drink.” The pub closed in
2015 and has had planning permission granted
to turn it into eleven flats, but work has not
started yet. The group held their first openmic
night on 7 th November, which featured
Kurdish songs accompanied by Turkish guitar.
The group enforce Kobanî House as a drug
and alcohol-free space. One of the occupants,
Maya, told Get Reading; “There’s a big history
of squatting in the UK, and there are a lot of
reasons for it. We want to honour the radical
history of Berkshire too, such as the Swing
riots.”
The Three B’s in Friar Street reopened in
September last year as The Pantry Cafe and
Kitchen. It serves breakfast, brunch and lunch
in a cafe setting from 8am – 5pm Monday to
Saturday.
Matchbox in Friar Street is to undergo a
complete transformation this Spring when
work will start to turn it in to a gin bar.
Owners Greene King are teaming up with Big
Smoke Brew Co to bring to Reading a new
establishment, pitched as a “high end craft beer
and gin bar.” It is rumoured that the new bar
will house a games room with electronic darts
and shuffleboard.
The Back Of Beyond in Kings Road reopened
in early January after a fire forced them to
shut on Christmas Eve. The JD Wetherspoon
pub had to suspend the electricity supply and
shut for the entire Christmas period after the
electrical cupboard overheated and caught
fire. It reopened, running on a generator, only
serving drinks. A week later the kitchen was
also up and running.
Former pub, The Queen’s Head in Great
Knollys Street, has been put to good use since
May 2017, as a homeless shelter called New
Beginnings. Last year it was nominated for a
Pride of Reading Award. As well as helping the
homeless they also provide an after school café
for families on Wednesdays and a community
fridge, which opens twice weekly to provide
food to take away. The All Night Café, which
is a homeless shelter open at the weekends, was
able to open every night in December thanks
to government funding, however it has been
suspended until April, whilst the local churches
provide their Bed For A Night Scheme. The
charity receives help from Costco who donate
surplus food. They also try and salvage sleeping
bags and tents from the Reading Festival site.
Pavlov’s Dog in St Mary’s Butts closed on 19 th
January for refurbishment and reopened on
18 th February as The Boundary.
After a mass brawl on New Year’s Eve, and
another shortly after, Yates’ on Friar Street had
its license suspended until the end of January,
with a full hearing to follow. Urban and drill
music has been blamed for these troubles and
the owner, Stonegate, has said it will ban the
playing of these genres at all its venues.
Mine’s A Pint
7
Tilehurst
The Butchers in Lower Armour Road has
a new landlord, Martin Durkan, who is the
brother of the landlord of The Fox and Hounds
in Caversham. A recent visit found the beer in
good condition and Martin already has plans
for beer and cider in the future.
The Victoria in Norcot Road is now serving
Dirty Rucker by Wadworth to celebrate the
Six Nations. On a recent visit Gem by Bath
Ales and Boxsteam’s Tunnel Vision were also
available. The pub is looking for people to
join their darts team on a Tuesday night. They
serve food 9am – 8pm Tuesday to Saturday
and have roast offers on Sundays and a Fish
Friday. They have music every Friday night,
as well as acoustic open mic night every other
Sunday, which complements The Plough in
School Road who run a full band open mic on
the alternate Sunday.
Theale
The Fox and Hounds in Station Road has been
named the most dog friendly pub in the country.
It provides dog walk maps, a photo booth and
a menu with a choice of chicken or sausage
with ice cream for dessert. The pub was also
recognised for its dog friendly status in 2017
as well as being named pub of the year 2019
at The Reading Retail Awards. The Wadworth
owned pub serves a rotating selection of their
beers including 6X, Henry’s IPA, Game of
Stones, Horizon, Swordfish and Old Timer.
The Bull in High Street is situated next to
Brewery Court, which used to be the site of
Blatch’s Brewery who brewed in Theale up
until about 1965. The pub is another owned
by Wadworth and prides itself on “home
cooked food” and “excellent wines, lagers and
traditional ales”. On a recent visit they were
serving Swordfish, Sharp’s Coaster, 6X, Henry’s
IPA and also Old Rosie was available. Regular
events include a quiz every other Thursday, live
music on the last Saturday of the month and
fortnightly poker tournaments. The upstairs
Rodeo Bar is equipped with a pool table, dart
board and big screen TV showing BT and Sky
sports. The bar is available for hire and can
cater buffets for functions. Food is served all
day and roasts are available on Sundays until
7:30pm.
The Falcon in High Street is a grade two listed
traditional pub and former coaching inn.
Pool and sports TV is available in the Public
bar whilst the Saloon bar offers a more placid
atmosphere. A selection of Pieminister pies and
Chinese dumplings are available from Midday
to 2pm and 5pm – 7:30pm, Monday to Sunday.
On a recent visit Timothy Taylor Landlord,
Rebellion Top Gun, Marston’s Pedigree and
Robinson’s Trooper were available.
Evelyn Harrison-Bullock
Mine’s A Pint
8
1
CAMPAIGN
for great beer, cider and perry 2
3
Enjoy CAMRA
BEER FESTIVALS
in front of or behind the bar
4
Save
5 YOUR LOCAL 6
7
Get
9
Enjoy
great
VALUE FOR
MONEY
great
HEALTH BENEFITS
What’s yours?
great reasons
to join CAMRA
8
10
(really!)
10
Discover your reason
and join the campaign today:
www.camra.org.uk/10reasons
Become a
BEER EXPERT
GET INVOLVED
and make new friends
Find the
BEST PUBS
IN BRITAIN
DISCOVER
pub heritage and the
great outdoors
HAVE YOUR SAY
Chiltern
2020 marks the 40th anniversary of Chiltern
Brewery’s first brew back in 1980. To start
their 40th year they wanted to brew a beer
that represented their unique heritage and
commitment to innovation and
authenticity. In their brewing
archives they came across one of
the most popular beers they have
ever brewed – a beer they brewed
in collaboration with CAMRA and
Mr Roger Protz to mark the 40th
Anniversary of the Good Beer Guide
back in 2013. It was a dark ruby hue
with a lusciously rich and complex
malt base. They have recreated that
beer in draught form at a quaffable 4.5%
ABV (1045 OG). The five grains and five hops
produce a big and bold beer with notes of cedar
and raisins. Each grain and hop represent one
of their four decades; the fifth is a nod to the
future.
Following their popularity when first released
in 2019, Table Beer and 3 Thread Stout will
return in February.
Celebrating the
traditional style of
table beers, Table
Beer is the result
of over 12 months
tweaking &
improving to create
a perfect lowalcohol
ale (2%
ABV). Packing the
same amount of ingredients and flavour of a
stronger beer, Table Beer offers marmalade
notes with a malty base.
3 Thread Stout is a blend of the Vintage ale
with fresh 300s Old ale and Table Beer to
create a dark & indulgent 5% ABV stout.
Loddon
Head brewer Jake has lined-up a load
of new beers for 2020, carrying on
the theme of brewing totally new
styles while remaining loyal to core
brands. Forthcoming beers are:
Monthly Specials
January – Glaistig 5.5% Scottish
Wee Heavy (Burn’s Night)
February – Six Pack 4.2%
Blonde Ale (Six
Nations rugby)
March – B’Gorrah
5% Oat Stout (St Patrick’s Day)
Session IPA Quad Series
Jan-Feb – Eureka Quad 4.4% (US hop, dark
fruits and herbal flavours)
March-April – Rakau Quad 4.4% (NZ hop,
passionfruit and pine flavours)
Hocus Pocus was awarded Gold in
CAMRA’s Champion Winter Beer
of Britain contest in the Old Ales /
Strong Mild category.
Siren Craft Brew
Hard Rollin’ (7% ABV IPA) is a
smooth and creamy IPA, with
plentiful rolled oats, flaked oats
and milk sugar. It’s hopped with
Ekuanot, Citra, Hallertau Blanc
and Mandarina Bavaria.
Another release that they’re very
excited about is REFRACTIONS,
Mine’s A Pint
10
but for the time being this one is keg only. It’s
a brand new 4.2% ABV Session IPA and we’re
all super excited about it. Expect it to make its
way into cask, and possibly cans at some stage
in the future.
with local honey
from Meadow
Honey Farm. Honey
nuances complement
the bold US hop
additions, achieving
the perfect blend of
flavour, aroma &
refreshment.
West Berkshire
To kick off their 25th anniversary celebrations,
West Berks has released the first of their
quadranscentennial beers, Golden Age. This
is an 4.8% ABV American Pale Ale brewed
Windsor & Eton
To coincide with the Six Nations
Rugby, their rose-red bitter Last
Drop will be back on the taps in
time for the 1 st of February - a 4%
ABV ruby ale.
James Moore
Mine’s A Pint
11
Small Beer
A round up of news and information
CAMRA Podcast
CAMRA will be launching a new podcast called
Pubs, Pints & People on 14 April 2020. A small
group of volunteers have been working closely
with the Communications Team to develop 10
pilot episodes for the launch date.
The primary objectives are to:
1. Encourage non-active CAMRA members
to get involved with their local branches
and festival
2. Recruit non-members with an interest
in beer, cider, pubs or clubs to join the
Campaign
To accomplish this, each episode is organised
around a different topic and split into a few
different segments:
1. A ‘Learn & Discover’ interview with
brewers, sommeliers, beer writers and the
like
2. A ‘Desert Island Beer’ interview with
another prominent person in the industry
3. A ‘Dive into the Archives’ segment where
we pull out relevant news or stories from
past issues of What’s Brewing, BEER,
branch magazines, leaflets etc.
4. A ‘Last Orders’ chat over a closing beer
The format was designed to maximise
opportunities to share CAMRA news and
information, remind people of CAMRA’s rich
history and help listeners learn and discover
more about the industry. The first series is now
in post-production and the intention is to hand
over production of future series to volunteers if
the podcast is deemed a success.
The Weekend is a great opportunity for members
to get together, discover great beer and cider,
take part in discussions and other activities.
Members from York Branch are planning some
exciting trips to breweries and walking tours of
some of the best real ale pubs across the city.
For more details about the organised trips,
fringe activities, food and drink offers and the
AGM and Conference activities, go to: camra.
org.uk/beer-festivals-events/members-weekend
A British Pub on Mars?
The Perseverance is a proper British village pub
in Wraysbury, near Windsor. Licensees Nick
and Sarah recently spotted that Perseverance
was one of the names in NASA’s “Name the
Rover” vote for the 2020 Mars mission. The
winning name is due to be announced in March
so keep an eye on mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/
participate/name-the-rover/ to see whether a
little piece of Berkshire ends up on Mars!
Parliamentary Debate
In February, Westminster Hall hosted a debate
on the taxation of beer and pubs. This was
secured by Dudley MP Mike Wood, who is
chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Beer
Group and current CAMRA Parliamentarian of
the Year. The timing was designed to influence
the budget scheduled for early March.
Beer Festivals
Apart from the big one – the Reading Beer and
Cider Festival from 7-10 May – here are some
other local festivals that are well worth a visit.
CAMRA Members’ Weekend
There’s still time to preregister
for the 2020
Members’ Weekend, AGM
and Conference, this time
being held in the wonderful
and historic city of York
between 3-5 May.
Mine’s A Pint
12
WANTAGE BEER FESTIVAL
13th – 14th March 2020:
Beacon, Portway, Wantage, OX12 9BY.
The 10th Wantage Beer and
Cider Festival will take place
from 11am until 11pm on
Friday the 13 th and 11am
until 10pm (end of France vs
Ireland!) on Saturday the 14 th
of March 2020. 28 real ales from throughout
the country will be available, together with 4
ciders and 2 perrys. Food and soft drinks will
be on sale, and there is parking at the venue.
Admission will be £2 (£3 Friday 5-11) for
the general public, but free to card-carrying
CAMRA members; under 21s will need to
show some ID. Glass hire is £2, and festival
glasses will be available. All Six Nations rugby
games will be show live on Saturday, and local
Musician Neil Dwerryhouse, “The man with
the stereo hands!”, will be performing live at
8PM on Friday.
whitehorsecamra.org.uk/wantage-beer-festival
44TH FARNHAM BEEREX
23rd – 25th April 2020:
Farnham Maltings, Bridge Square,
Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7QR.
Open Thursday 6-11pm, Friday
6-11pm, Saturday 11am-3pm
and 6-11pm. Real ale and cider,
including a special St George’s
Day Ale and St George’s Day
Cider (both available only on
the Thursday), a festival special
ale from Langhams and a bar featuring beers
from Yorkshire. Food available and a live band
playing at each session. Advance tickets only
– include a glass and programme – available
online.
farnhambeerex.org.uk/index.html
35TH EGHAM BEER FESTIVAL
7th – 9th May 2020:
Egham United Services Club, 111 Spring Rise,
Egham, TW20 9PE.
Thursday 7 th : 10am – 11
pm. Friday 8 th : 10am-
12am. Saturday 9 th : 9am
– 12am.
The festival is open to
non-members. Entry to all
sessions costs £4 plus a £2 refundable deposit
for a festival glass. £1 discount to NUS, CIU
& CAMRA card-carrying members and also
guests of EUSC Club members. Entrance is free
to EUSC members throughout the festival, but
you are urged to pay the deposit for a festival
glass.
eghambeerfestival.co.uk
Mine’s A Pint
13
BRACKNELL ALE AND
CIDER FESTIVAL
24th May 2020:
Bracknell Rugby Club, Lily Hill Park, Lily Hill
Drive, Bracknell, RG12 2UG.
10th birthday festival. Details
still to be confirmed at time
of writing but we’re promised
more ale, cider, local banging
music, delicious grub and a
proper good time.
festival.bracknaleevents.co.uk
CRAFT THEORY FESTIVAL
12th – 13th June 2020:
South Street Arts Centre, 21 South Street,
Reading, RG1 4QU.
Craft Theory is back for year
four and promises to bring even
more from local, national and
international breweries. Meet
the brewers and chat about beer.
Also expect musical vibes from
quality DJs and acoustic sets while munching
on some delicious gourmet street food.
crafttheoryfestival.co.uk
11TH TWYFORD BEER FESTIVAL
12th – 13th June 2020:
Stanlake Meadow Recreation Ground,
Waltham Road, Twyford, RG10 0AB. Just 2
minutes walk from the station.
Open 5-11pm on
Friday and 12-10pm
on Saturday. Admission
£5 including a glass.
Come on Friday and get
in free on Saturday. Real ale, cider and perry,
rum and gin available, accompanied by food
stalls and music from a selection of great local
bands. Raising money for Orchid: Fighting
Male Cancer. Previous festivals have managed
to send over £60,000 in total to the Orchid
Charity. Last year they sent £10,000 – let’s help
make this the best year yet!
twyfordbeerfest.co.uk
Phil Gill
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Mine’s A Pint
14
Beer Mat Collecting
So often taken for granted, the familiar beer
mat, drip mat or coaster is more than just a
piece of absorbent material but, nevertheless,
is so easily overlooked. It’s probably just when
they’re not around that their absence is most
keenly felt but, in becoming objects of historical
value and artistic worth, they extend well
beyond their utility as point-of-sale advertising
material. Probably, the nostalgia for lost
breweries that commissioned their manufacture
or past beers now consigned to history realises
their true worth to the casual observer but it’s
also in terms of commemorating past events,
from coronations to beer festivals, from jubilees
to sporting fixtures, that they come into their
own just as readily.
Whether as mementos of changing fashions,
both in apparel and beer styles or with some
humorous intent, beer mats are often exquisitely
designed and have thus become targeted by
‘tegestologists’, the technical name accorded to
collectors of these modest but essential items.
‘Teges’ itself comes from Latin, meaning
a covering or mat, although the term
‘dripsomaniacs’ is often unkindly used to
describe such hobbyists. They would invariably
counter that it would be a rare pub-goer
indeed that has not been tempted at one time
or another to purloin a beer mat or two, such
is the range of topics that have been covered
by a brewery or virtually any other drinks
manufacturer. Not that they’ve been solely
commissioned by companies associated with
the beerage as transport undertakers, road
safety campaigners, charity fundraisers, cigar
and cigarette manufacturers, crisp, nut and
meat pie factories and even banks and sports
clubs have all issued their own promotional
drip mats.
Likewise, the range of topics covered is almost
endless and, sometimes, they have formed part
of a numbered series to actively promote their
Mine’s A Pint
15
Part 1
acquisition, just as cigarette cards did in their
day, thereby decrying the accusation that, as
being disposable, they have no intrinsic value!
Their appeal can be, perhaps, best likened
to stamps, which philatelists devour as new
issues and denominations come into the public
domain.
Similarly, beer mat collecting has its own club,
the British Beermat Collectors’ Society, for
tegestologists to meet, swap and disseminate
information on the subject. Founded in 1960,
the BBCS was suggested by a Mr Chris Walsh
who placed an advertisement in ‘Exchange &
Mart’ (a printed bound newspaper for both
trade and public to advertise and sell items
that predated e-bay) asking for like-minded
individuals to contact him. An enthusiastic
response gave rise to an initial membership
that was 20-strong which had, by the 1980s,
grown to 1,200 worldwide and even had, as
its first joint presidents, that famous comedic
partnership of Morecambe
& Wise for a time. A film
was made promoting
the new Society
outside the Battersea
Park Funfair Beer
Hall by British Pathé
which featured the pair
adopting various ruses
to acquire, from another
customer, a different beermat to one of those
they’d been given!
Local meetings are held all across the UK
monthly with a national annual meeting, very
much like CAMRA itself. Members receive a
special BBCS beer mat when they first enrol and
then whenever their individual collections reach
a particular milestone, be it 1,000, 2,000 or
whatever with one Austrian collector amassing
a world record to date with over 150,000 mats.
If placed in a line, end to end, they would reach
to nearly 10 miles in length!
The Society had undertaken to catalogue all
recorded UK beer mats issued to date, ably
assisted by the various breweries and printers
concerned but, in the cause of this marathon
task, the existence of some fakes has even
been detected, mats that had been deliberately
reprinted specifically to sell to collectors,
sometimes legitimately and, occasionally,
fraudulently.
Large batches of previously-rare examples
that became available or those with subtle
variations in design or colour have had to be
regarded somewhat suspiciously and with good
reason – those that are scarce can command
high prices – but, with their mass production,
there are bound to be variations in definition, in
cutting-to-shape or card quality such that few
mats are ever completely identical.
However, this article will not concern itself
with the minutiae of subtle variations between
individual beer mat issues, be they changes in
size for the same design, or colour variations,
or shaded outlines to motifs as opposed to
unshaded ones, all of which concern only the
most avid tegestologists. Instead it intends to
present a broad overview of their development
over the years and an idea of the varieties
available.
The forerunner to the beer mats or coasters of
today were most likely a porcelain or pottery
stand principally utilised to prevent heated
tankards of mulled ale from damaging table
or bar tops in taverns or inns. In parts of the
former British Empire, the term ‘coasters’ was
adopted instead of ‘drip mats’ used elsewhere
though, in France, these are known as ‘sousbocks’
and, in Germany, as ‘bierdeckels’. As
the costs for producing these porcelain coasters
became prohibitive, the first card or paper
alternatives which began to appear were clumsy
wood pulp creations.
The beermat which we know today made its
debut in 1880 when Friedrich Horn & Co.,
a German printing and board mill concern,
created small cardboard mats. They printed
various advertising messages on them and,
soon, their simple invention was becoming a
firm favourite under beer glasses across the rest
of mainland Europe.
But, it was not until 1892, also in Germany,
that a Robert Sputh was credited with having
patented the first drip mat in Dresden and their
utility, coupled with their advertising potential,
spread them further around the world though
it is not known when, exactly, they were first
introduced to the UK. Around 1920 is the
best current estimate and, strangely, c. 1900
for north America seems most likely! Bar staff
liked them as they protected tables which didn’t
need washing as frequently; neither did they
cost anything since advertisers financed them
while attempting to reach new markets.
And, bar goers liked them (and still do) as they
kept tables from being awash with spilt beer
which kept clothing cleaning costs down after
a visit to the pub! It is particularly regrettable
that virtually every pub refurbishment –
particularly gastrofication by companies such
as Fullers (now Asahi) – in the UK these days
seems to be accompanied by the withdrawal of
drip mats from regular use.
Promoting Reid’s Stout and their Pale Ale, it
was the Watney, Combe, Reid and Company’s
brewery that is believed to have issued the
very first beer mats to these shores in 1920.
Made from a thick, embossed, board that
had regularly-spaced pits or indentations
across the surface, these heralded the more
usual promotion of a brewery’s own products
rather than other concerns’ goods and services.
Typically, small slits could be discerned along
the edges of these and others which followed
indicating that the mats had not been fully
compressed.
Mine’s A Pint
16
Until the 1940s, the printer’s name quite often
appeared but, as quickly as the trend for thinner
and smoother mats became evident, the identity
of the printer became less so. As late as 1960,
Worthington & Company issued a set depicting
six notable personages in both embossed and
smooth board versions. And, therein lies the
appeal of beer mat collecting, encouraged
by the brewers themselves, consciously in
supplying variations on a theme which are
eminently collectable in themselves (the subject
matter) and, unconsciously, by employing
different manufacturers to produce and print
them (the raw material).
Should a printer’s mark, if not a full name, be
apparent, this is an invaluable aid in dating
a particular mat. More often, it is a case of
identifying as accurately as possible when
a particular ale was available or a specific
advertising campaign was underway.
Most beer or drip mats are individual rather
than parts of sets and tend to reflect the mood of
the period and, thus in their own, unique, way
record history, particularly brewery history.
For example, in 1933, when the Watney,
Combe, Reid & Company finally attempted to
rationalise their respective trademarks of a stag,
a malt rake and a griffin respectively (they’d
amalgamated a mere 35 years earlier!), they
organised a national competition with a first
prize of £500 to find a new corporate identity
motif. From 26,000 entries, a Mr Ranklin won
with a simple ‘red barrel’ device and the rest, as
they say, is history.
Conversely, when Ind Coope merged with
Samuel Allsopp in 1934, the fortress-like
building associated with the former was
phased out completely and Allsopp’s ‘red hand’
became adopted by both concerns and even
continued after the name Allsopps was dropped
completely from beer mats c. 1950.
After Courage & Co. Ltd. merged with Barclay,
Perkins & Co. Ltd. in 1955, mats began to
be issued jointly illustrating the cockerel of
Courage alongside the Dr. Johnson device
used by Barclays. But, upon this company
in turn merging with H. & G. Simonds Ltd.
of Reading, mats initially bore the titling of
‘Courage, Barclay & Simonds Ltd.’ before
the ‘Courage’ branding became predominant
and the identities of its other constituent
companies, including Simonds’ hop leaf motif,
became consigned to history. However, since
the emergence of the Campaign for Real Ale,
a renewed interest in traditional ale meant that
many of the remaining breweries were less
ashamed of their previous takeover activities
and began to reissue beer mats that recalled past
beers when these were revived along with their
originating brewer’s names where appropriate
such was the impetus of both nostalgia and the
need for some marketing nous.
Probably, the first
collectable set of mats
issued in the UK were
by Bass, Worthington,
Ltd. in 1928 which
featured a character
called ‘Bill Stickers’
and the craze for
issuing complete sets
probably reached its zenith with three series of
large-sized sets of 15 each by Ind Coope Ltd.
in the late-1970s that, between them, told the
‘Story of Beer’. Their issue encapsulates all the
appeal of beer mat collecting. There were two
No. 1s in the first 1976 series since, apart from
the official No. 1, that number was additionally
used as invitations to Burton Ale sampling
sessions which differed by dates and venues.
And, there were two No. 9s since the original
wording on the first version proved contentious
as it had stated, ‘thus keg beer was more
dependable but said to have less ‘character’ than
cask beer’. As Ind Coope produced the most
widely-available keg beer at the time – Double
Diamond – and that this assertion was only an
‘opinion’ – by a CAMRA mole in Allied’s HQ
perhaps? – this mat only appeared well after all
the others with the wording changed to, ‘cask
beer and keg beer co-existed each enjoying its
own popularity’.
Mine’s A Pint
17
Both sets won the BBCS ‘beer mat of the year
award’ for 1976/7 though any suggestion that
the two series, with their No. 15 mats featuring
‘Tegestology’ as the topic, unduly influenced
the Society is pure speculation! And, the No. 15
mat in the third series of c. 1980 again covered
‘Tegestology’ but lauded the fact that the earlier
two series had won a Silver Award from the
Designer and Art Directors’ Association for
the graphic design content involved. Then,
in around 1990, Ind Coope Burton Ale was
promoted with another set of beer mats entitled
‘A Traditional Crafts Series’.
Equally impressive was another large-sized set
issued by the same company, but masquerading
as Taylor Walker (a revived brewery name to
promote a ‘local’ version of their 1037 o (original
gravity) bitter in the London area) that featured
notable events in the capital’s history. A 1961
set of 20 also issued by Ind Coope from as many
years earlier still at the more normal size for
beer mats was of particular interest to brewery
history aficionados as each one was tailored to
every brewery where a trading agreement to
offer Double Diamond had been reached. This
even included Blatches of Theale (later taken
over by Ind Coope Ltd. in 1965 and closed) but
also Simonds of Reading (which had already
merged with Courage & Barclays Ltd. a year
previously!).
Paul Dabrowski
with acknowledgements to Keith Osborne &
Brian Pipe, The International Book of Beer
Labels & Beer Mats, Anthony Springall, Beer
Mats A Fascinating History, Mad Cow Edition
No. 51, & Keith Sunderland, A History of
Brewing in Beer Mats, Full Measure Edition
No. 145.
Mine’s A Pint
18
great beers from
oxfordshire since 2003
Ale Trail - Now On
Every spring sees
hundreds of people
getting out and about
and enjoying the pubs
on the Reading & Mid
Berkshire Ale Trail. It
started in FeBREWary
– the perfect antidote to
Dry January – consists
of 24 pubs and appeals
to anybody who enjoys
a drink, anybody who likes exploring the area
and anybody that just likes to “collect the full
set”.
The idea is simple. Pick up a booklet for a pound
from the Nags Head or Alehouse in Reading,
or the Fox and Hounds in Caversham. Enjoy a
load of great trips out to the participating pubs
and collect a sticker for every pint or half or
real ale or real cider that you have. Then send
in your completed booklet – you have until 8
April – for the chance to win prizes including
vouchers for the Reading Beer and Cider
Festival, exclusive T shirts and entry to a prize
draw.
The 24 pubs are chosen to be a good mix of
urban, suburban and rural destinations and
to provide a good deal of variety from year
to year. It’s not supposed to be our idea of
the 24 best pubs in the area – that’s what the
Good Beer Guide is for – but instead to give
people the chance to experience a wide range of
pubs that they might not have had the chance
to visit before. You’ll always find our current
branch Pub of the Year and Cider Pub of the
Year on the list though. If you’re interested in
the full selection criteria you can read them at
readingcamra.org.uk/aletrail
Pubs taking part in the Ale Trail this year are:
Alehouse, Reading
Allied Arms, Reading
Bell, Aldworth
Bell, Waltham St Lawrence
Castle Tap, Reading
Crispin, Wokingham
Elm Tree, Beech Hill
Fox & Hounds, Caversham
Fox & Hounds, Tilehurst
Golden Cross, Twyford
Mine’s A Pint
20
Greyfriar, Reading
Griffin, Caversham
Last Crumb, Caversham
Lyndhurst, Reading
Magpie & Parrot, Shinfield
Market House, Reading
Nags Head, Reading
Park House (University of Reading), Reading
Retreat, Reading
Royal Oak, Tilehurst
Three Tuns, Reading
Six Bells, Burghfield
Swan, Three Mile Cross
Weather Station, Reading
We’ve included two guest pubs from outside
our branch area this year – the Crispin at
Wokingham and the Bell at Aldworth. At the
time of writing we know that the Bell has
reached the final four in the national Pub of the
Year contest … will it have been announced as
the winner by the time you visit?
Have an excellent time on the trail, and please
take the opportunity to send in your beer scores
by visiting whatpub.com - this helps us gather
more data about pubs and might even mean
that your favourite pub gets into the Good Beer
Guide next time.
Phil Gill
Main images by Brian Jones
Quality food, Real Ales,
Fine Wines
Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and
Ringwood Razorback on Tap
Traditional Country Pub with
3 Open Fires, Beautiful Views,
Decking Area
01189 883505
Email: elmtreebeechhill@hotmail.com
www.theelmtreebeechhill.co.uk
Find us on
The Elm Tree, Beech Hill
RG7 2AZ
Events & Large Parties welcome
Opening Hours
Drinks served:
12 til late
Food served:
Monday – Saturday 12-2.30, 6.30 – 9.30,
Sunday 12 – 5
Mine’s A Pint
21
Reading Beer &
Cider Festival 2020 - A Preview
my teens. Disclaimer: I sometimes still crave a
lager, and I have zero shame about that.
I sincerely hope that the beer festival offers
that same voyage of discovery to others too.
It is, without a doubt, a chance to showcase
wonderful breweries who specialise in cask,
craft or both. An opportunity to try them
out. It’s a chance to talk about beer, grab a
recommendation, meet new people and, maybe
(just maybe) have a jolly good knees up. There
is always an excellent se-lection of perry and
cider, too. Friends from further afield tell me it
is one of the best run beer festivals in the UK.
The beer festival is nothing without its
wonderful volunteers: they keep everybody
safe, they support across the whole site, often
giving up their annual leave to do so. The
volunteers behind the bar want to talk beer
with you and help you make sense of what’s on,
what’s in the guide and what you should try.
It is a joke amongst family and friends that
the Reading Beer and Cider Festival is my
Christmas. It might be a joke to them, but I’m
not sure that it is for me: I really do love it.
My friend Andy, a keen home brewer with big
beery ambitions, was rather excited about it
himself when we chatted away in late December.
“You know, we aren’t that far off now. It’s only
five months away” he said excitedly. He goes
most years, and I’ve known him attend every
day of the festival.
Well, by the time you read this it will be a mere
two months away, and I can’t wait.
From a personal perspective the beer festivals
have been the springboard to my love affair
with beer. Proper beer, not the pints of
Kronenbourg I used to drink as a staple in
The beer festival is a place that I have made
friends, re-connected with old friends and
sometimes it’s the only time in the year I get to
see certain friends.
Over the past two years, CAMRA have had a
‘key keg’ stand, which should suit the craft beer
connoisseurs amongst you. That said, the cask
selection is huge. My favourite beer of last year
was Old Chimneys Brewery with their Good
King Henry, a Russian imperial stout, which is
an incredible beer on cask.
What can you expect from the festival this year?
It is scheduled to run over the (later than
normal) May bank holiday weekend of the
7 th -10 th May 2020. Tickets are now available
to purchase online at readingbeerfestival.org.
uk. The Friday 8 th May is officially the bank
holiday, so it should prove to be a wonderful
day with so many people having the day off
Mine’s A Pint
22
work. For the first time, there will also be an
all weekend ticket available for £70, allowing
access to all sessions.
There will be street food available onsite, and
lots of games over the long weekend; last year
the games team did a fantastic job, so this is
definitely one to watch. The beer festival is
under cover but there is plenty of the lovely
Caversham Meadows grounds to overspill
onto if you’d rather be outside. Be dressed for
all seasons, because sometimes, we get all four
over the weekend!
Expect the Thursday night to showcase as much
beer as is humanly possible. The post-traders
session is always a a slow burner that gradually
fills out into a thoroughly enjoyable evening,
and it’s the chance for volunteers to get to grips
with what is where. It is worth keeping an eye
on the Facebook group where the lovely beer
ordering team will publish a beer list ahead of
time, so that you can plan what you want to try.
I’m obviously a little biased, but do invite your
friends and families along, because the Reading
Beer and Cider Festival is always a thoroughly
enjoyable affair.
Zoë Andrews
Mine’s A Pint
23
ESTABLISHED 2006
SERVING OVER 1,500
CLIENTS NATIONWIDE
PUBLICANS AND
BAR MANAGERS,
TRY OUR FULLY MANAGED
REGULAR BEER LINE
CLEANING SERVICE
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SEVERAL OF OUR
CUSTOMERS ARE
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GOOD BEER GUIDE
CONTACT SIMON GRIST TODAY
FOR YOUR
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MOB: 07817 950853 OR 0800 7810 577
EMAIL: SIMONGRIST@CLEARBREW.CO.UK
WEB: WWW.CLEARBREW.CO.UK
Cheers!
Family brewers since 1980!
A range of award-winning draught and
bottled ales to sample and takeaway!
Brewery tours every week! *
*except for late November & December
BUY ONLINE
www.chilternbrewery.co.uk
Mine’s A Pint
24
Siren Craft Brewery
Siren refer to themselves as having four
‘sirens’ - four key beers, so to speak. There’s
the afore-mentioned Calypso, a 4% dryhopped
sour. There’s also their best selling beer
Soundwave, and IPA, session pale ale, Yu Lu
and the wonderful - and CAMRA Champion
Beer of Britain award-winning - Broken Dream
(a breakfast stout). Outside of this, there is
their craft lager Santo: it’s not a Siren, but it
is available all year, like the wonderfully sour
Pompelmocello. Siren don’t believe in cutting
corners, or cost. If an ingredient is deemed
the right one, so be it. There has also been
the fantastic Rainbow Project which saw
collaboration with other UK breweries. Siren
have now handed that cap to Left Handed
Giant in Bristol to develop further.
It was a combination of three things that
converted me to craft beer. I’d been visiting
the beer festivals for several years in an almost
constant hunt for a ‘banana’ flavoured beer
(I’ve got over that now). Then I lived in Bristol
where the beer scene was incredible, and I
made great friends with some very keen beer
enthusiasts. Finally, I moved back to Reading
and a colleague of mine put me onto Siren Craft’s
Liquid Mistress. They sold it at Bluegrass, and
they sold Calypso at the Oakford. I liked them
both and I soon became aware that in terms of
21st century craft beer, Siren were the ones to
beat. There was a polish with Siren that I hadn’t
found elsewhere.
Like many breweries, Siren have used
crowdfunding to help propel them forward
to the next stage. They successfully smashed
their £750,000 target in 2019 (raising £1.2m),
allowing them to purchase a new canning line
and re-brand their product.
Siren Craft are based in Finchampstead,
Wokingham. They have had an amazing success
story. They were formed in 2013 with a genuine
obsession over creating brilliant beer and
introducing it ‘to as many people as possible.’
When you look through their website, and
consider the things they have achieved in such
a short space of time, it is quite remarkable.
Within two years Siren won Rate Beer’s ‘Best
Brewery in Britain’ award.
Mine’s A Pint
25
Talking of which, the branding is clever, and
artistically draws the eye in. It is consistent
across packaging, product, Siren apparel and
the website. Siren have a key following of
enthusiasts who have supported them from the
off with a passion that is palpable. Siren have
featured at Craft Theory, for the past few years
at South Street, but also been far and wide
across the country and the globe.
The breakaway projects such as ‘Project
Barista’ (if you ever got the chance to try the
amazing Affogato, you probably still think
about it. I know I do) and ‘Seasonal Brews’
have been vast, with a huge brewing schedule
on the go. For the beer enthusiast it can become
a personal ambition to try all these one-off
brews. I haven’t managed it despite giving it a
good go.
The setup over at the brewery is organised and
compact, but looks are deceiving. What was one
unit is now four. It’s incredible to think that this
once small brewery is now making rather large
waves nationally. The taproom (in the barrel
store) is small but inviting, with regular events
in place. Pizzas are served to your drinking
bench, and everyone is friendly and welcoming.
There is a regular quiz, and the website shows
many other events in the lineup too. Over the
weekends, and in better weather, you can also
sit outside where there is plenty of room, and
there are regularly food traders present.
Finally, there’s plenty of Siren swag and beer
to take home, with fridges full of gift packs,
new brews and more. The taproom is open
Wednesday to Sunday, with the only challenge
being getting there (especially when the buses
are playing up). However, I’m sure the rest of
the time this isn’t a problem, and If you’re in
a group, you could minibus it between you for
about the same money.
I’ve been in touch with Siren’s marketing
Manager, Andy Nowlan, to find out a little
more about what’s coming up.
How long have you worked with Siren, and
what drew you in?
I’ve been at Siren for around 5 years now, which
seems pretty crazy to say out loud. I had fairly
recently moved to Reading at the time, and
with a passion for the burgeoning beer scene
it didn’t take too long to discover a brewery
making some of the best beer in the UK based
just down the road. I was looking for a project
that I really believed in to get stuck into, and it
was the quality of the beer, the ambitious ethos
and the passion of the people there that made it
a great fit at the right time.
The Siren website is quite amazing: there’s
always something new to read. How do you
constantly make things fresh?
Thank you! Right from day one, Siren has
been about telling the stories behind the beer.
Whether it’s the provenance of ingredients,
the history of a certain beer style, equipment,
processes or recipes, tales from our barrelageing
project or exciting collaborations from
in or out of the beer world, we are never short
of things to talk about. Perhaps the more
challenging bit is choosing which stories to
tell, and making sure we do them - and all the
people involved, hard work and end products -
justice with the way we present things. Luckily
I have some help on that front in the form of
Tim, whose main priority is to make sure our
output across the board looks great and is
interesting to read.
Siren were the first new local brewery I became
aware of back in 2015, how have things
changed since then?
I think things have changed drastically and to a
point of no return. In many ways this is hugely
positive. As beer drinkers we certainly do have
more choice and more access to great beer than
we did in 2015, with a host of fantastic new
breweries and tap rooms on offer, incredible
ranges in our favourite pubs, and beyond that,
craft beer making its way into more and more
restaurants, mainstream bars, music festivals,
supermarket shelves, football stadiums and so
on. On the flip side, the reaction in recent years
from ‘big beer’ has been forceful and effective,
in particular through aggressive acquisition of
Mine’s A Pint
26
breweries and the knock-on impact this has in
tying up routes to market. Small, independent
brewers like us are under a lot of pressure in
an incredibly competitive space, as indeed
are many pubs. We all have to be at the top
of our games to keep growing in a considered,
sustainable way that keeps the beer the priority.
for customers if we get too ‘loud’ about every
single beer that comes out of tank. So our
approach is to try to prioritise certain projects
throughout the year for a nice ebb and flow,
while making sure consistent, accurate and
engaging information is always available all
year round about everything we’re doing for
people to dive in and out of.
What’s coming up that you’re really excited
about?
So much! To name just a few things... our 7th
Anniversary is just around the corner, which
means the return of Maiden, our celebration
barrel-aged, blended barley wine. That will
be joined by two very special beers this year,
inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins & Heavenly
Virtues. Stay tuned for that. Personally I can’t
wait to bring Project Barista back in May, we
team up once a year with different independent
roasters to push the boundaries of how beer
and coffee can work together in four different
coffee beers. It’s always a treat to be involved
in and always a great event at the brewery.
Locally, we’re all excited for the return of Down
at the Abbey festival later this year, which was a
superb event in 2019.
Siren have a huge brewing schedule, as the
marketing manager, how do you tackle promoting
these?
We’ve always aimed to keep a good balance
between reliable, flavour-forward, go-to
flagship beers available all year round and
a prolific range of one-off, collaborative or
seasonal brews that people love to try. We also
try to keep a range of styles, formats and price
points. In practice this means we’re in a constant
cycle of working on new ideas, new recipes,
new artwork, new events and everything else
that goes along with it (obviously including the
hardest thing of all - new beer names). It would
be impossible, and frankly super annoying
You currently have a range of four ’Sirens’, so
to speak, how does the team decide what makes
the cut, and what might be the next?
In general, I suppose for a beer to join our
flagship Sirens it has to tick a lot of boxes for
us. Do we love the beer? Does it make sense in
the range? Does it represent us as a brewery? Is
it something that we want to dedicate precious
brew slots to on a regular basis? Does it have
a great story that can resonate? Can we do this
just because we like drinking it? Just kidding,
that last question never comes up ;) There will
be a new Siren this year and it’s going to be
a very important beer for us. We’re trialling
recipes now under a different guise and the
early feedback has been very encouraging.
Hopefully we’ll have more news on this in the
spring, as the project has literally just kicked
off this month.
Mine’s A Pint
27
Will Siren be making an appearance at Craft
Theory and the Beer Festival this year?
Absolutely! Anne-Marie has done an incredible
job building Craft Theory (of course, along
with the Grumpy Goat that has been a crucial
pillar in the Reading beer scene for a long time)
and we’ve been proud to support it since day
one. It’s a nailed-on date in the calendar for us.
The CAMRA festival is one of the best of its
kind and we always do our best to sneak in and
get involved where we can.
What beer trends do you see on the horizon?
Right now there is a real surge in low and
no-alcohol. Whether that’s something we
can take on and add value to, with a ‘Siren’
interpretation, is a little bit undecided at the
moment. Gluten free beers have also been very
popular and we’re keen to build on the success
of ‘Futurist’ - our 4.8% Gluten Free Session
IPA. Modern takes on traditional styles is
something I think we’ll continue to see more
of. Aside from that, we’re still seeing lots of
demand for soft crushable session beers, full of
flavour, with just a hint of bitterness to balance
things up. We’re also blessed right now with
some amazing new projects starting up in the
UK concentrated on wild/farmhouse/mixed
ferm. Exciting.
Siren hold regular events and get a host of local
food traders in on site, how far have you had
customers travel in from?
Brewery parties have been great for us over
the years, and opening our on-site Tap Yard
in 2017 has allowed us to build on that on a
regular basis. It always blows my mind how far
people travel from. To be honest, it’s a bit of
a pilgrimage to Finchampstead, even if you’re
local! At the end of 2018 we raised £1.2m in
crowdfunding, and now have around 1,500
investors on board based all over the world.
We’ve already had visitors from the US, Hong
Kong, Australia and all over Europe. It’s
humbling and hugely appreciated.
What has been your biggest learns since
working for Siren?
Far too many to list! Perhaps not to underestimate
what a team of talented, dedicated people can
achieve when they have the freedom and trust
Mine’s A Pint
28
to do their thing. Also - don’t organise an anniversary
party/festival when Beast From The
East II is kicking off. Although the incredible
re-sponse we had from customers that day will
stay with me for a long time!
What other brewery, over the past year, have
you all talked about? And why?
That’s a tough one, we’re always meeting other
great breweries and trying beers from all over
on a regular basis. Burning Sky immediately
springs to mind though, an incredible example
of a brewer and brewery with a vision, doing
things the right way and producing some of the
best beer in the world. Stouts from the likes of
Cycle and Cigar City are always held in high
regard, along with a lot of chat about lambic
at all times.
Aside from the team you work with, who’s the
nicest person in the beer world that you’ve met?
Aside from the people I work with, who are
all terrible, we’re incredibly lucky to work
in this industry which is full of passionate,
collaborative, like-minded people. Mostly
though, the local scene is genuinely exciting
right now. It’s almost a cliche at this point to
namecheck Andy Parker of Elusive fame. He’s
officially the nicest guy in brewing and makes
some exceptional beer from a brewery I can see
from our office. Not bad! Likewise where I live
in West Reading, Mike & Luci are great people
building something really special at Double-
Barrelled that I feel very lucky to have on the
doorstep, along with Jody, Lola and the team
and regulars at The Nags Head which is an
abso-lute gem of a pub.
What has been your favourite Siren and non-
Siren beer of the past 12 months?
This is a killer question! I could give you a
different answer every day. Right now I’m
going to pick something super fresh from
Siren, an IPA called Hard Rollin’ brewed in
collaboration with Denmark’s Dry & Bitter
that’s definitely worth checking out. Non-Siren,
it really could be so many beers. It may be a cop
out but I’ll go for something tried again in the
past week, Hill Farmstead - Arthur. Flawless.
Zoë Andrews
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