Praise the hops and pass the malted barley, a new brewery is starting in Rochdale. Called The Greenmill Brewery, the premises are in the labyrinthine cellars of the Queensway Snooker Club and is the brainchild of a father and son partnership, Phil and Matt Wild. The initial installation, supplied by David Porter, is a two and a half barrel plant with two fermenting vessels allowing production of five barrels a week, but there is room for expansion. If everything goes to plan the first brew should be on sale as this magazine hits the streets.
I went to the brewery to meet the pair as installation was almost complete. Their idea of starting a brewery came to them about a year ago when Phil (the father), a bit fed up with his job and Matt, even with a Chemistry Degree unable to find suitable employment in that line, began talking about it over a glass of home brew. Both of them play snooker and pool with Phil being the captain of the pool team at the Queensway club and in conversation with the owner was offered the cellars at a reasonable rent. And so it started, the first brew is to be a 5% ABV IPA called “Pearly Gates” (from the use of pearl malt), this is to be followed by a 3.5% session bitter, “Greenmill Gold” using mostly Maris Otter and some crystal malt. Future ideas include a porter (probably called “Pot Black”) and a wheat beer. The first outlet will be The Queensway Snooker Club which is no stranger to real ale having sold J.W. Lees Bitter for years. They have already had several enquiries from well known free trade outlets. We at More Beer would like to wish them all the best for the future. There is a phone number for enquiries about beer, it is 07967656887.
Bernie Jackson
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Welcome, everyone, to Issue 8 of More Beer and my first issue as Editor – many thanks to Allan for all his previous efforts.
Here we are on the downside of the year already, but as the days shorten and become cooler there’s no need for seasonal depression to kick in, as conditions become ideal for beer festivals. Hopefully the torrential rains of June won’t have affected supply of the beery raw materials!
All things going to plan, this issue will be available at the Great British Beer Festival which this year celebrates its 30th birthday. If you happen to be visiting London from 7 – 11 August, come along and say hello, as several of our local members will be volunteering.
And if you’re looking for somewhere to go on a spare weekend, why not take a look at www.quaffale.org.uk – every known festival is listed, whether Camra, pub, Round Table, or other, and constantly updated. Add more if you
know of any!
Chairman: Peter Alexander
Email – peter@peteralexander.plus.com
Secretary: Pam Ellis
Email – pam@pamellis.fsnet.co.uk
Membership: Mike Robinson
Email - jmikerobby@aol.com
Social Sec: Ken Holt
Email – kenjan.holt@btopenworld.com
Treasurer: Clive Taylor
Email – camraclive@uk2.net
Pubs officer: Bernie Jackson
Email – acksionman@ntlworld.com
More Beer Editor: Sue Barker
Email – suebarker@bulldoghome.com
MORE BEER is produced by the Rochdale,
Oldham & Bury branch of The Campaign for
Real Ale Limited. The editor, the Branch
committee or CAMRA does not necessarily
endorse any opinions expressed in this
newsletter. The editor would be pleased to
receive contributions on relevant topics – by
post or E-mail. Publication cannot be guaranteed, of course, as space is a premium in any
free publication, contributions may be edited
and certain grammatical errors corrected – if
spotted in time.
Copyright © 2007. The Campaign for Real Ale
Ltd., Rochdale, Oldham & Bury Branch.
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The new owners of the Grey Horse, Hollinwood, John Lax and Alan Morgan have been in touch. In the last edition of More Beer it was mentioned that the pub was closing for efurbishment with no mention of an opening date. It has now been confirmed that the pub will have re-opened by the time this edition hits the street. Stop Press: The bar has moved and now features Cask Lees Dark Mild and the Seasonal!
I was pleasantly surprised to find Cask Green King IPA on tap at the Foresters Arms (www.foresters-arms.co.uk) but even more surprised that THE Ricky Valance will be appearing there in August - they do lots of Live Music.
The JW Lees, Millgate has had a very fast re-fit, it was closed for around one week but has been extensively re-decorated and carpeted, the toilets are now much easier to find.
Smoking Shelters are appearing everywhere, the most impressive of these being at the Dog and Partridge, Woodhouses. The most sympathetic I have seen so far belonging to the Woodhouse Gardens.
BURY ROUND TABLE’S SEPTEM’BURY’FEST 2007! NEW VENUE.
What: Bury Round Table’s Beer Festival is a
fantastic social event now in its second year.
With 25 superb real ales from the best
micro-breweries plus real cider, plenty of
seating, good food and live music from a
national star - what a great way to raise money
for Macmillan Cancer Support! All money raised
at the SEPTEM’BURY’FEST will be donated to
Macmillan Cancer Support.
When: Friday 14th (5pm - 11pm) and Saturday
15th (12pm - 11pm) September 2007.
Where: NEW VENUE! Bury Sports Club (Radcliffe Road, Bury, BL9 9JX - turn right off Manchester Road at the crossroads immediately past Holy Cross College). Only a 10 minute walk from Bury town centre, and easily accessible by public transport - the regular 135 service (and many more) stop only a couple of minutes walk from the Sports Club.
Further details: Please visit the Bury Round Table website www.bury109.com or contact Matthew Parr on 07734 66 1212 or mrdpuk@yahoo.co.uk. Alternatively, just turn up on the day and enjoy yourself. We hope to see you there!
Matt Parr
Delph is one of the main villages in Saddleworth with an interesting history and some unique buildings, a description which can equally be applied to its pubs. The pick of these is the Royal Oak (Th’Heights) a genuine free-house located on the tops overlooking the Tame Valley which has been featured previously in More Beer.
In Delph village itself the White Lion is a tidy Thwaites pub with well-kept bitter and Lancaster Bomber. It was run many years ago by Sonny Ramadin the great West Indian spin bowler who still holds the record for number of balls bowled in a test match (774). The current tenant is Esther Howard who previously ran the Dog and Partridge in Springhead for 5 years. Plans are in hand to refurbish and redesign the pub layout to provide better access to an outdoor smoking facility and after this is completed food will become available.
Down the High Street the White Swan, a JW Lees tied house, is currently surrounded by various building projects including Delph Bridge which is closed for 10 weeks. The new licensees have tried the Lees seasonal beers without any success and the only cask beer on offer is now their bitter.
Further along, the Bull’s Head now concentrates on good-value tapas and Spanish food during weekend nights and cask beer of ariable quality is available from Timothy Taylor and Black Sheep, amongst others.
Continuing along to the edge of Delph village, the Old Bell is an historic coaching inn on the A62 which offers comfortable accommodation and food in either the well appointed bar lounge or the rather pretentious Blue Room Restaurant. Three cask beers are on offer - Taylor’s Golden Best and Landlord and Black Sheep Best Bitter – and the cost of the Golden Best (£2.40 per pint for a 3.5% ABV beer) is high even for the inflated prices in the Saddleworth area.
In Dobcross the new tenants in the Swan (Top House) have made relatively few changes since taking over in May. The accent remains on home cooked food and tablecloths have appeared on most of the tables; the small room near the bar has been brightened up by replacing the dark green decor by one of
primrose yellow and terracotta. To complement the regular Jennings beers - Bitter, Cumberland Ale and Cocker Hoop – two guests are now offered and during a recent visit these were Hook Norton’s Hooky Gold and Wadworth’s Summersault.
Down the road the Navigation had added speciality sausages and mash, and home made curries to their established menu, washed down with a choice of the popular Dobcross Bitter, Millstone beers, John Willies bitter, Bombardier or Pendle Witches Brew.
Brass band concerts are held here throughout summer on every other Sunday afternoon, alternating with similar concerts at the Diggle Hotel.
In addition to the Waggon in Uppermill, the Railway next to Greenfield station is also included in the latest CAMRA publication “Beer, Bed & Breakfast”. It has four comfortable recently redecorated rooms with shared bathroom, two of which have fine views over Chew Valley and the other two over the village and station. A good opportunity to listen to live music, have a few pints of Millstone True Grit, Landlord, Deuchars IPA or real cider and totter upstairs to bed – for just £25 per person B&B. The other Saddleworth entrant in the publication is, not surprisingly, the White Hart in Lydgate.
This year the annual Beer Festival in the Saddleworth Museum will take place on Friday night 31st Aug and Saturday 1st Sept. As usual, variety of cask beers will be offered from local breweries such as Greenfield, Millstone, Shaw’s, JW Lees and Phoenix, with live music on both nights.
Greenfield Brewery has been steadily expanding its business and Dobcross Bitter (a 4.2% golden beer using Cascade hops) is now a regular at the nearby Clarence Hotel, the Woolpack in Dobcross as well as the Olive Branch in Marsden where it has replaced beers from nearby Riverhead Brewery. Black Five (a 4% [very!] “dark bitter”) also features at the Uppermill Con Club.
Ken Holt
The Flying Horse offers three real ales but none
of them is in good condition. Perhaps focussing
on food means they have taken their eye off
the beer quality.
The Cask and Feather offers three cask ales, two of which are Phoenix and one guest that at the time of our visit was from Leyden Brewery.
The Reed is also offering three real ales from Marstons and on the night the Jennings Cock a Hoop was on fine form.
The Baum continues to support microbreweries both old and new- some very new. The beers are kept well and on recent visits the
opportunity has been taken to try a number of beers not usually seen in this area. We commend you to support the landlord and encourage him with his policy of supporting the smaller breweries.
The Regal Moon also continues to support the local brewers and Moorhouses and Phoenix beers have featured regularly. No complaint in that respect and the pricing is also attractive.
The Merry Monk maintains the standards we hold dear of a good real ale pub, good beer, good range and good prices. Carry on the good work Joe and Anne.
The Cemetery is gradually rebuilding its reputation as a pub offering a good pint. The range on offer is varied and the beer quality much improved.
The Whitworth Road crawl is changing. The manageress of The Albion has left to take the reins at The Railway in Ramsbottom whilst The Cross Yates has closed, rumoured to be opening as an Indian restaurant. The former Lees house, The Mark Twain, has reopened following an expensive refurbishment, as a free house being run by the former manageress of The Flying Horse. On the day of the visit Thwaites Bomber and Phoenix Navvy were the guests at £1.75 and £1.50 per pint respectively, both beers in good form.
The Pineapple Inn is now offering two guest cask beers in response to demand and Joseph Holt Bitter and Theakstons Old Peculiar were available, both at £1.60 per pint. No surprise that the beers are popular at these prices.
The Healey Hotel continues to be a popular stop off for the drinker wanting a good pint of Robinsons.
The Admiral pub group hostelry The Clog and Shawl on Roch Valley Way has closed and the lease is available. Not renowned for its cask beers it is unlikely to be missed. Another lease available is the only pub in the Rochdale area in the Jolly Greene King group, The Ladybarn at Milnrow. Well situated in the village, under previous owners the pub served half decent
beer and good food. Along comes the Jolly Green King giant with a good beer portfolio but with poor beer, indifferent food and cellar support, struggles to make the business viable. Good old Jolly Greene King some say. Many know better.
The Success to the Plough has reopened after a short closure following a fire. Early reports suggest that the beer quality is well below expectation but perhaps in line with what we have come to expect from JWL in recent months.
The two Littleborough pubs in the branch area in the GBG guide, The Moorcock and The White House continue to maintain the good standards we have come to expect. The Moorcock appears to be following a common theme at
present of supporting local breweries with Pictish beers regularly available whilst the White House continues to offer beers from further afield.
We are fortunate that the range and quality of beers on offer is on the increase particularly from the microbreweries and if current rumours come true then this range will be further increased with an excellent import from across the “border”. With this increasing competition it is becoming more difficult for the tied pubs to compete offering a limited range and varying quality, JWL please note.
The Rochdale Cowboys
Owing to a change of responsibilities within Lees, this edition’s news is somewhat limited. We hope to bring you the full up to date “comings and goings” in the next edition.
Lees to Import Czech Lager
Bohemia Regent is brewed in the Czech Republic and the draught version is being imported directly into the UK, exclusively by JW Lees. This is a premium lager at 5% abv. It comes from one of the oldest breweries in the world – the Trebon brewery in the Czech Republic. The beer will be tankered in bulk to Greengate Brewery, where it will be kegged and distributed to Lees pubs and the free trade.
This beer in its bottled format is described by Good Bottled Beer Guide Editor Jeff Evans as having “herbal, peppery hops, backed by light buttery malt, good firm, crisp hoppiness,herbal, tangy notes and a hint of a hint of lemon. It finishes with lots of tangy, herbal hops with the edge taken off by a little lingering malty sweetness. As Lees say, “Czech it out!”
The Success to the Plough, opposite Springfield Park in Rochdale has re-opened after a major fire. Lees say “this is not just any pub refurbishment though. This is a “Be Yourself” refurbishment: the first of a new breed of pubs which will show just how distinctive and innovative JW Lees can be.”
Designed by Mark Mason it features huge photos – some from times past, some from 2007 – taken at Greengate Brewery. These dominate the wall surfaces in a striking manner, which in turn, creates an immediate
impact. Hugh Smyth, the manager of the Success is very happy about the changes. “We had a terrible fire in March and I wondered if we could rescue the pub. Well if the proof of the pudding is measured in popularity then this new design has done that and more. It’s made a world of difference. People love the look of the pub now”.
Peter Alexander
George Bateman, the head of Lincolnshire family brewer George Bateman & Son, has died. Mr. George, as he was affectionately known at the Wainfleet-based firm, is perhaps best known for fighting doggedly for three years in the 1980s to safeguard the future of the brewery. Good Beer Guide Editor Roger Protz said: “George was one of the nicest people I’ve met in the brewing industry in 30 years. He was funny, passionate and committed to brewing - a benchmark for family brewing in this country. I wish other family brewers had a similar commitment. It was a tremendous victory for him to save the brewery. I will remember him with tremendous warmth and affection.”
More than £900,000 has been spent on a new cask- packaging plant in Faversham by Britain’s oldest brewer. Shepherd Neame. The plant enables production staff to centralise cask-packaging in one location - the former keg plant in the middle of the town. Chief executive Jonathan Neame said: “By increasing our efficiency with this investment, we are not only minimising our impact on the environment, but also underlining our reputation as a producer of first-rate cask beer.”
Claude Arkell, owner of Donnington Brewery, has died aged 89. He is believed to have taken his own life after it emerged he was found dead at his home with a ‘shotgun injury’. This highly respected and knowledgeable brewer had run Donnington Brewery for over 50 years, having taken over from his father after war service in the RAF. Donnington Brewery, based at Stow on the Wold, was founded in 1865. It owns 15 pubs and is still powered by a waterwheel.
With no immediate relatives, Claude was nevertheless keen to keep the business in the family and has left the brewery to cousins Peter Arkell and his son James. and James plan to keep Donnington Brewery open and brewing its special beers. Before taking over at Arkell’s Brewery in Swindon, James learned the art of brewing at Donnington Brewery.
Fuller’s has announced its results following an “exceptional year”. Company revenue was up 23% to £178.2 million and operating profits up 31% to £29.4m. The reverse takeover of 100strong north-west pub operator Honeycombe Leisure by Liverpool brewer Cains has been passed at an Extraordinary General Meeting. There are a few pubs which will be re-branded as Cains in the ROB area, so watch this space for further news.
Marston’s is to become Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) official partner of Lord’s. In addition to extensive branding at the Home of Cricket, Marston’s Pedigree will become the “official beer of Lord’s” and will be available to purchase in the public Food Village and in MCC Members’ areas.
Peter Alexander
JULY
Tues 3rd Branch Meeting, Eagle & Child, Higher Lane, Whitefield
Sat 7th Coach Campaign Independents’ Day, Branch Area
AUGUST
Tues 14th Branch Meeting, Healey Hotel, Shawclough Rd., Rochdale
Sat 18th Coach Social* ‘Last of the Summer Beer’ Holmfirth
Sun 26th Saddleworth Rushcart Social* Cross Keys/Church Inn Uppermill
SEPTEMBER
Tues 4th Branch Meeting, King George, Hollins Rd., Oldham
Fri7th/Sun9th Weekend Coach Social* Hereford incl. Hop Farm visit
OCTOBER
Tues 2nd Branch Meeting, Friendship, Scholes Lane, Prestwich
Sat 20th Coach Social* Facer s Brewery, Flintshire
Sun 28th Autumn Social* Tandle Hill Tavern, Thornham Lane, Middleton
NOVEMBER
Tues 6th Branch Meeting, Old Boar s Head, Long St., Middleton
Fri 9th Evening Coach Social, Bank Top Brewery, Bolton
Fri16th/Sat17th Bury Beer Festival The Met, Derby Hall, Market St, Bury
DECEMBER
Tues 4th Branch Meeting, Royal Oak, Manchester Rd., Werneth
Tues 11th Christmas Social* Cemetery Hotel, Bury Rd., Rochdale
Fri 28th Walking Social* ‘Drown the Turkey Crawl’ NQ Manchester
JANUARY ‘08
Tues 8th Branch Meeting The Woodthorpe, Bury Old Rd., Prestwich
* Further details of social events are available
from branch contact or social secretary.
All branch and committee meetings start at 8.30
unless otherwise indicated or announced.
Changes to the diary and other events may be
announced at branch meetings or publicised on
the website.
‘More Beer’ editorial meetings are held from time to time at the Royal Oak, Werneth - details available from the editor.
CAN’T ALWAYS GET TO OUR BRANCH MEETINGS?
BUT WANT TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE ACTION !
Make sure we have your up to date E-mail Address on
our Secretary s data-base. Information and Social
Events can be E-mailed out to you.
The sun yet again shone on the righteous as we set off on our June trip to Burton-on- Trent, the ex-Bass and now Coors Brewery Museum, White Shield Brewery and sundry pubs.
On arrival we split into two groups, one heading off to sample the Burton Bridge Golden Delicious at the Burton Bridge Inn on Bridge Street before it closed for the afternoon, whilst the majority were taken round the small tower brewery by the brewster Sarah. We then retired to a marquee (the Brewery Tap having been taken over for a wedding) where we enjoyed White Shield on handpump. Sarah provided us with samples of Brewery Tap (extremely hoppy, cutting through the sweetness of the White Shield), St Modwen (a bit thin, we thought) and Worthington E (very tasty). A World War II weekend and the presence of the Shire drayhorses added interest to the visit.
Next a short journey to the Wetmore Whistle on Wetmore Road, half pub and half transport cafe and one of the latest additions to the Tynemill stable. Here a hot and cold buffet awaited us and was rapidly consumed, together with excellent pints of Castle Rock Harvest Pale and Jarrow Westoe. Live music is also available weekend evenings. (see www.wetmorewhistle.com).
The Plough, Ford Street, was in the middle of a housing estate and offered a range of Burton Bridge Ales and guests. A black labrador wanting to play ‘fetch’ and a large trampoline awaited our attention in the garden.
The Devonshire Arms, Station Street, also offered a range of Burton Bridge plus guests and a nice yard with fountain in which to sit and drink them. Turn right out of the front door and you come to the back door of the Coopers Tavern on Cross Street - the covered-over passageway providing sitting space. A wide range of ales was served directly from barrels racked behind the counter, with assistance from the bar staff if you weren’t quite sure what you fancied.
An excellent and compact crawl - we did it by coach but it would be possible to walk between each pub.
Sue Barker
On a warm and sunny April evening 22 members of Rochdale, Oldham & Bury Camra departed on a branch first – a visit to an organic brewery.
The Little Valley brewery was established in
the Upper Calder valley high above Cragg Vale
near Hebden Bridge by Dutch-born Master
Brewer Wim van der Spek in 2005 and is one
of only eight organic breweries in the country.
There are currently six beers on offer ranging
from 3.9% to 5.5% although one – Moor Ale –
is a seasonal beer for autumn and winter.
Included in the range, perhaps reflecting the
current trend and the brewer’s origin, is a
wheat beer – Hebden’s Wheat –and this
together with two other beers - Stoodley Stout
and Tod’s Blonde - has already received awards
at local festivals. The portfolio is completed by
Withens IPA and Cragg Vale Bitter. Another
beer is imminent – Penumbra. Wim aims to
ensure that all his beers are environmentally
sound, using not just the best natural
ingredients but, wherever possible, locally
sourced ingredients. This starts with the local
water, which Wim ra tes as perfect for quality
beers and is one reason for siting his brewery
in Cragg Vale. He’s working towards full Soil
Association organic certification for his entire
production – a prized status that very few UK
breweries achieve.
All the beers are available in both cask and bottle and by the time this article is published the brewery shop (and bar) should be open on site. Wim carries out all his own bottling – 1500 at a time - and keeps a sample of each batch in case of roblems. An expiry date is stamped on each bottle.
The 6-pack which I bought as a souvenir was 4 months old and, in my opinion, even better than the draught. It was all bottle-conditioned but was not fizzy as many bottled beers tend to be. The hops in the IPA really came through and lingered.
An interesting visit even for some of our most seasoned branch members with a refreshing range of beers of differing taste available and hopefully something to everyone’s taste.
A convivial evening was concluded with a call
at the White House at Blackstone Edge for a
potato pie supper washed down with a few
pints for good measure. The views are
fantastic – you can even see the Winter Hill
mast, and at night the town lights twinkle most
romantically. Four well kept ales were
available - Little Valley Cragg Vale, Copper
Dragon Golden Pippin – incredibly hoppy –
Theakston’s Best Bitter and Jennings
Cumberland Ale.
Mike Dale and Sue Barker
The Beautiful Beer Awards are a new scheme, launched in March 2006, to recognise and reward pubs who deliver 'excellence in beer’. To gain an Award, pubs have to pass a thorough inspection of all aspects of beer service from cellar conditions to the beer in the glass. Successful pubs receive a Beautiful Beer plaque to display outside, as a guarantee to drinkers that the beer inside is of excellent quality.
The Beautiful Beer campaign, owned by the
British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), aims to
encourage more consumers to make beer their
drink of choice on more occasions. Within this
campaign, the Beautiful Beer Awards are
designed to recognise pubs, bars and
restaurants that can demonstrate measurable
standards of excellence in beer quality and so
enhance the consumer experience of beer
drinking. Locally J.W. Lees, Enterprise Inns and
Punch Taverns have subscribed to the scheme,
so look out for the plaques in a pub near you.
The Beautiful Beer Awards recognise
excellence across all beers – draught and
bottled. The better known Cask Marque
concentrates solely on cask ales and as such is
likely to be viewed more favourably by the real
ale drinker. Nonetheless, as the assessments
for Beautiful Beer will be carried out by
independent, trained Beautiful Beer assessors,
who are also Cask Marque inspectors, the
schemes should be seen as complementary,
rather than of rivalry.
The pub’s knowledge and practical ability will be evaluated by a series of questions and through an on site full house audit of cellar management and beer dispense. The intention of the scheme is to create awareness among consumers of Beautiful Beer as a badge of beer quality, and lead to increased beer sales in the pubs that achieve it.
There are two levels in the Beautiful Beer Awards:
• Gold Award - Excellence in Beer Quality
To achieve a Gold Award, the licensee must demonstrate that best practice in the areas of cellar management, beer dispense, bar presentation and beer quality at the point of dispense are carried out as a matter of course on a daily basis.
• Platinum Award – The Beer Experience
The Platinum Award requires the same excellent standard of beer quality as for Gold, plus a ‘beer experience’ for consumers.
The awards are valid for 12 months and each pub is visited by a mystery assessor during the year to ensure standards are being maintained. Feedback from customers is welcome, so if you don’t find the beer “experience” up to snuff, don’t hesitate to contact Beautiful Beer via email to ros.shiel@beautifulbeer.com.
The following pubs in the Branch area have
achieved Gold Awards:
Clayton Arms, Oldham;
Rose of Lancaster, Chadderton;
Lancashire Fold, Olde Boar’s Head, Middleton;
Spring Inn, Rochdale;
Same Yet, Simister.
Lambic is a style of beer that dates from before the 13th Century. It is only brewed in Belgium, in and around Brussels and the Senne Valley, usually only between October and May as high temperatures can spoil the distinctive fermentation.
The term itself is a catch-all word for a range of beers including Lambic, Gueuze, Kriek, Framboise, Faro and other specials. The cost of the beer seems high until you find out what goes into making it: the process is significantly different from most other types of beer. These are not known as the champagne of beers for nothing.
First of all, the mash is a combination of 40%
unmalted wheat and 60% barley. The mashing
process follows the decoction method, in which
boiling water is added to the grain in stages.
The resulting wort is then boiled for at least
three hours with aged hops that have lost
their bittering power, but still retain their
antiseptic properties. Once the mash has
finished, the wort is pumped up to the top of
the brewery into very shallow fermenting
tanks. Then special louvres in the top of the
brewery are opened which allows wild yeast to
flow in and start the fermentation. Once the
fermentation has started, usually the next
morning, the wort is pumped into wooden
casks, where it is left to ferment for up to three
years. Some is sold off after three to six
months. Known as Fos or Fox (young) lambic,
this then tends to be very sour, cloudy and
golden yellow to orange in colour . It is very
difficult to find on sale.
The brewers are not the only people involved
in lambic. To make a gueuze, lambics of one,
two and three years old are blended together
by a specialist blender - rarer even than
lambic brewers! A well-blended gueuze such as
Cantillon (brewer and blender) or Drie
Fontainen (brewer and blender) is probably one of the most complex, beautiful drinks in the
world. Gueuze is sharp, tart and sour, with subtle, complex undertastes. If left for a few
years, subtle changes in the flavour leave a
gueuze more rounded and not so sharp, but
extremely drinkable.
Faro is a blended version of young lambic, sweetened with caramel and candy sugars. It has a rare and unusual sweet and sour taste. Kriek and Framboise are produced by adding lambic that is between six and twelve months old to a cask of cherries or raspberries respectively, and then left to ferment for months. The fruit is slowly dissolved into the beer and tastes like no fruit drink you have ever had. Not everyone will like the proper, sour lambics, and a lot of Belgian breweries market sweet industrial fruit beers, which in my opinion are nowhere as good as the real thing.
So where can you get these wondrous beers? The best place is, of course, in Belgium. Getting off the Eurostar at Brussels South, the Cantillon brewery and gueuze museum is but 200 yards away and well worth a visit.
If you’re after good food and a day drinking
lambics, a good place to go is a town south of
Brussels called Beersel. All the cafés here sell
lambic and there are two lambic brewers in the
town: Vandervelden (also known as Oud
Beersel) and Drie Fountainen (Three Fountains),
which is on the town square, and an excellent
place to eat. You can also find lambics in Ghent,
Brugge, Ostend, Antwerp and many other
smaller places, though not usually on draught.
It can also be pricey, especially Ghent.
In the UK, many CAMRA beer festivals that have a foreign bar may have some lambics, as do the specialist beer shops, like Belgium Belly in Chorlton, Manchester.
Mike Robinson.
Landlord Roger of the Good Samaritan in
Ramsbottom has recently organised several
trips for his regulars (and other interested
parties) to Copper Dragon Brewery in Skipton
and Bank Top Brewery in Bolton. We joined the
tour to Bank Top on Saturday 30th June (an
excellent way to mark the end of the first half
of the year). Located in a picturesque ex-tennis
pavilion fronting onto a little park, this must be
one of the prettiest ‘urban’ microbreweries –
although with less room in the actual brewery
and a lot more space for visitors and overall
than their previous premises near the Howcroft.
Arriving almost an hour earlier than the main
party, due to the vagaries of the bus
timetabling system, we had to shelter from the
torrential rain in the porch until the premises
were unlocked. Once inside and having dumped
our wet coats, we were invited to have a drink
while waiting for the others who were coming
by coach. We were shocked to discover two
5% beers (we thought): Port O ‘Call and
Smokestack Lightning. This could have made
for an interesting (and short) session, but on
investigation it was noticed that the barrel had
been changed but not the pumpclip – it was
actually Flat Cap at a more reasonable 4%.
Later when this had been finished there was
Volunteer Bitter.
The dark wood bar was backed by shelves containing gift packs of assorted bottles, glasses, polo shirts and t-shirts. Plastic jugs were also available if you fancied a take-away. Comfortable settles lined two walls or the intrepid could perch on bar stools. One wall was covered with Best Beer awards from various beer festivals.
After several pints Dave Sweeney took those
interested on a guided tour of the cellar
brewery with an informative explanation of the brewing process for the newcomers, also
explaining the origins of the terms ‘copper’
(which can no longer be used for food
production) ‘wort’ – sweet water, and ‘mash’ –
a Yorkshire term, and the regional preferences
for beer with/without a head. We were
interested to hear that the hop is a distant
cousin of cannabis! The water used for brewing
is Bolton Corporation pop i.e straight out of
the tap. He passed round two hops, a Styrian
Golding and an American Centennial so that
people could note the differences. He
explained how hops bitter the drink and give
aroma – the point at which they are introduced
to the brew makes a lot of difference. The last
type of hop pitched into the brew as the heat is
turned off is the one that gives the aroma.
The yeast used is Thwaites, and Dave could
not understand how they managed to brew
such bland beers and found it amazing! He
explained that there were more bad landlords than bad beer – you might not find a particular
style of beer to your liking, but all beer pleases
someone’s palate unless it’s kept badly. There
were 5 landlords to whom he would not sell
beer on principle because they would not keep
it in good condition. He samples the beer to
ensure quality.
We returned to the bar for more excellent beer and conversation. Unfortunately, we had to leave before 10 as they wanted to lock up. An excellent night out and one we can recommend – roll on Roger’s next trip!
A wide range of Bank Top beers will be
available, along with a couple of hundred
others, at the Bolton Beer Festival, 12-14
October, in a large marquee on the Howcroft
Inn bowling green – all proceeds to Bolton Lads& Girls Club.
Sue Barker