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ww w .midchilternscamra.org.uk THE CHILTERN

TAPLER SPRING 2018

MIKKELLER RUNNING ‘PERFORMANCE CLUB COMES TO AND ’ ST.ALBANS

TRAPPIST NIGHT BERKO BEER FEST AT XT BREWERY IS BACK

MID CHILTERNS CAMRA Championing local and telling the story of beer & brewing in the Chilterns. THE CHILTERN TAPLER SPRING 2018

BRIAN KILBEY CONTENTS p.2 – Easter p.3 – St.George’s Day p.4 – Community ’s Month

p.5 Berko Beer Festival Is Back This year Good Friday is the 30th March and nd p.6 – St.David’s Day Easter Monday the 2 April. The Orthodox Church works to a different calendar so their p.7 St.Patrick’s Day Easter Sunday is 8th April – last year both were on the same date but this will not happen again p.8 – Spring Ales until 2025. For us secular folk it is the only four-day bank holiday weekend of the year. p.8-10 – Kent Micropub Odyssey Some pubs are putting on special ales, menus, p.11 – 12 Pray Silence For : Trappist Beer parties or other entertainments – Easter egg p.13-14 – Mikkeller Running Club hunts are still enjoyed by the kids. Check with St.Albans The Boot & Slipper, The Eagle and The Swan (Amersham); The Bellcote (Ashley

p.14-15 – Tring Brewery News & Brews Green); The Old Mill (Berkhamsted); The Bedford Arms (Chenies); The Gamekeepers p.16 – 17 - Performance and Cocktails Lodge (Chesham); The Two Brewers (Chipperfield); The Harte & Magpies p.19-20- A Sardinian Brewing Adventure (Coleshill); The Plough (Hyde Heath); The p.21 – Mad Squirrel News & Brews and Swan (Ley Hill); The Black Cat (Lye Green); Locale The Squirrel (Penn Street) and others. The Pheasant (Chesham) invites you to p.22 – XT News & Brews and Spotted bring the kids and a picnic for some Brews family time beside the river Chess.

p.23 – Chiltern Brewery News & Brews The Bell (Chartridge) and The Red Lion (Marsworth) will hold Beer & p.25 – 2018 Membership Prices miniFests and The Jolly p.26 – 2018 Festival Dates Cricketers (Seer Green) will hold a Beer, Cider & Gin Festival with live p.27 – Branch Contacts & Diary Dates music. Expect more announcements nearer to Easter so keep checking the branch website.

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BRIAN KILBEY “So raise a glass to the Saint and

the Bard, or one to each as the

mood takes you.”

MONDAY APRIL 23RD

.

The most common patriotic ale for Saint George/Shakespeare is Wells Bombardier, because of the pump clip, but there is a good choice of others, e.g., Churchend St. George’s Ale, Harvey’s Georgian Dragon, St. George’s Brewery’s By George and Dragons Blood, Wadworth St. George & the Dragon and Warwickshire Beer Co.’s Shakespeare’s County. LocAle choices include Tring By George and Vale St George's V'ale.

The Boot & Slipper, The Chequers and The Saracens Head (Amersham); The Bellcote (Ashley Green); The

Crown and The Rising Sun (Berkhamsted); The Hen & Brewery tours every Saturday and select Chickens (Botley); The Bell (Chartridge); The Fridays Gamekeepers Lodge, The Generals Arms, The George & Dragon, The Pheasant and The Red Lion (Chesham); The Two Brewers (Chipperfield); The Full House (Hemel Hempstead); The Plough (Hyde Heath); The Crown (Ley Hill); The Craft Beer Shop and The White Lion (Little Chalfont); The Black Cat (Lye Green); The We are now open later during the week Red Lion (Marsworth); The Squirrel (Penn Street); The – swing by after work for your fresh draught beer! Castle and The King’s Arms (Tring); or other pubs I Monday - 10am to 5pm don’t know about. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - 10am to 6pm Friday - 9am to 7pm Saturday - 9am to 5pm Sunday - Closed

Click & Collect or Buy Online www.chilternbrewery.co.uk

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APRIL WILL BE COMMUNITY PUBS MONTH BRIAN KILBEY During the month publicans put on events where people can meet and become part of a face-to-face community, based on their interests. The modern electronic world of the internet, social networking and TV is creating a generation that is not learning and practising the social interaction skills we need to be fully-rounded human beings. We must learn how to be part of different flesh- and-blood communities, not least to be employable, and retreating to our PC, laptop, tablet or Smartphone won’t do it. CAMRA will be promoting community pubs in whatever medium we can e.g., this Tapler. We will have a supporting page on our MidChilterns website where you will find hundreds of events around our patch. We plan to work with any local print media we can to promote pubs and pub-going.

When you check the site you will see that our pubs are major places for eating out. Just about every pub that provides meals is keeping the Great British Sunday Roast alive and saving us the time and effort to prepare it, cook and then wash-up. There are a few pubs with alternatives to the Roast; the Wetherspoon chain has Sunday Brunch and you will find Italian menus at The Cock & Rabbit (The Lee) and The Plough (Winchmore Hill), or Thai menus at The Eagle (Amersham) and The Queens Head (Chesham). Other days of the week have special menus, for example Monday is Pizza at The White Lion (Little Chalfont) and Posh Sausage & Mash at The Jolly Cricketers (Seer Green); Tuesday is Mezze and Charcuterie Platters at The Boat and Posh Pies & Prosecco at Porters (both Berkhamsted); Wednesday is Chicken Deal Night at The Bellcote (Ashley Green) and Burger Night at The Green Man (Leverstock Green); Thursday is Steak Night at The Two Brewers (Chipperfield) and Half Price Fizz with your meal at The Old Mill (Berkhamsted); Friday is Fish Friday at The Crown (Berkhamsted) and The Full House (Hemel Hempstead). There is a growing trend to provide breakfasts. For many other choices see the web page. Music is something else that is more enjoyable live and in like-minded company. The choice is enormous whether acoustic or electronic: Open Mic nights, Karaoke, DJ nights, bands, jazz, jam sessions, Irish, Folk and so on.

You must be in an audience to experience the full skills of stand-up comics and they thrive on audience participation. Behave nicely: they have honed their response to hecklers and are usually more sober than you. Of course a pub is also about interesting drinks; look for nights, beer/cider/perry festivals, events etc. And don’t miss the Easter and St. George’s Day events during Community Pubs Month.

If you are looking to join a local sports team then each typically has a pub where they socialise. For those who prefer indoor games then Monday is Pool, Tuesday is Darts and Quiz Leagues, Wednesday is ‘Mixams’ (cribbage and dominoes) – while the leagues are operating. Participation in Poker is growing. The most common activity is the pub quiz but they are an easy way to create life-long feuds. If you can’t be prised away from your electronic comfort blanket then most pubs provide free Wi-Fi.

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SAINT DAVID - THURSDAY 1ST MARCH THEBRIAN KILBEYFEAST DAY of

Unusually for patron Saints in the British Isles, Dewi Sant (St. David) actually was a Welshman who died on 1st March AD588, 589 or perhaps 601. This date has been celebrated as the National Day of Wales for centuries and the National Assembly for Wales want it to be an official bank holiday.

There are special ales for his day Some of our pubs are planning a Welsh

brewed in Wales: look out for Brains ale/menu for their Welsh expatriates and we St David’s Ale, Coach House Dewi might enjoy them as well. Try The Saracens Sant, Conwy Brewery Cwrw Dewi Head (Amersham); The Crown Sant (cwrw is Welsh for beer) and (Berkhamsted); The Black Horse Inn and The Leeky Barrel Ale, Evan Evans St Generals Arms (Chesham); The Full House David’s Ale, Gwaun Valley St Davids (Hemel Hempstead); The Plough (Hyde Special and Moles Dafydd Ale. Heath) and The Craft Beer Shop (Little Chalfont). It looks like the public are creating a new secular Saint David in the person of Sir David “ Attenborough.

His Blue Planet II TV series has changed the public’s attitude to our use (and misuse) of plastics. Unnecessary

“ products like plastic drinking straws cause massive damage when they reach the sea and there have always been paper options. The people who have campaigned against plastic for years are finally seeing public support.

The Evening Standard is on the case and there are twitter campaigns e.g., #refusethestraw. is working to ban them and the Government is stirring The Chiltern Brewery’s historic courtyard inn at (not meant as a joke). The King’s Head, Aylesbury The pub and restaurant trades are on board, Our Celebration of Beer is now on! especially on plastic drinking straws. The Featuring the best in dark and Wetherspoon, Oakman Inns, Liberation Group, classic from across the country. Breweries featured All One, Laine Pub Co, Redcomb Pubs, Be include Daleside, Titanic, , At One and Wagamama chains are getting rid of and many more. Please see our website for full details. them. So are individual pubs like The Bell (Chartridge), and both The Crown and The Looking for Swan on Ley Hill. There must be others quietly somewhere special to host your meeting getting on with it. or function? http://strawwars.org/ is a site where businesses We have TWO historical function getting away from plastic straws can register so rooms available for private hire! Please contact us for further details. customers can find them. The Iceland

supermarket chain is going further: The King’s Head, Market Square, Aylesbury, HP20 2RW “Iceland has taken the bold decision to remove 01296 718812 www.kingsheadaylesbury.co.uk

plastic packaging from its own label products by @kings_head /kingsheadaylesbury kingsheadaylesbury 2023…”

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GUINNESS has captured the licensed trade for this celebration and ships in vast volumes of keg stout from Ireland. A few UK brewers are striking a blow against ‘Stout Miles’ with their own ‘Irish style’ real ale offerings. My favourite is Wychwood Paddy’s Tout (ho ho). Hilden, a Northern Ireland brewer, has Molly Malone Porter. Our LocAle brewers have Bootlegger Deez Nuts (contains peanut), Bucks Star

Saturday 17thMarch Magiovinium Stout, Chiltern Black, Fisher’s Smoked Porter, Haresfoot Plum Porter, Hillfire Nighthawk Stout, Hornes Triple Goat Porter, Lovibonds Smoked Porter, Mad Squirrel London Porter, moogBREW Wigmore’s Right Proper Porter, Paradigm Black Friday, Tring Tea Kettle Stout, Vale Black Beauty Porter and XT brewery’s XT 8 Dark Roast. . The Rising Sun (Berkhamsted) will hold a “Not that BRIAN KILBEY Stout” event. CHECK WHAT A PUB NEAR Most pubs have some sort of Guinness decorated party, some with Irish traditional music/dancers/menus and some try a little harder and YOU IS PLANNING endeavour to get a different dark ale in. The ones I know about at the Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations have time of writing are The Bellcote (Ashley Green); The Crown followed the Irish around the world and their (Berkhamsted); The Black Horse Inn, The Gamekeepers Lodge, descendants carry on the tradition and invite The Generals Arms with dancers, The George & Dragon with everyone to join in. It is held on 17th March, dancers, The Jolly Sportsman, The Red Lion with dancers (all unless it clashes with the Church’s Holy Chesham); The Full House (Hemel Hempstead); The Plough (Hyde Week as it did in 1940 and 2008. The next Heath); The Craft Beer Shop (Little Chalfont) and The Red Lion (Marsworth). clash isn’t until 2160 so we needn’t worry yet.

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Continental Europe has a centuries- old tradition of Spring Ales. UK brewed Spring Ales are nothing like them but are now accepted as a regular ‘seasonal’, so they should still be SPRING ALES around after Brexit. A typical UK Spring Ale is light coloured, hoppy and thirst quenching, in contrast to the dark, strong winter/Christmas Ales. BRIAN KILBEY Some brewers release them as an Easter or Six Nations Rugby Ale.

On our patch you should find them at: The Our LocAle brewers offer Chiltern Pale Ale, Fuller’s Front Chequers, The Eagle, The Kings Arms and The Row, Gales Spring Sprinter, Malt Touch Point, Rebellion Saracens Head (Amersham); The Paper Mill and Spring Ale, Tring Bring Me Sunshine, Vale Brill Gold and The White Lion (Apsley);The Bellcote (Ashley XT Brewery’s XT15. Expect others as spring approaches. Green); The Boat, The Crown, The Highwayman You will also find Spring Ales at the festivals at The and The Rising Sun (Berkhamsted); The Hen & Rising Sun (Berkhamsted), The Berkhamsted Beer and Chickens (Botley); The Bell (Chartridge); The Music Festival (Berkhamsted Cricket Club), The Bell Bedford Arms (Chenies); The Gamekeepers (Chartridge), The Black Horse Inn (Chesham Vale), The Lodge, The Generals Arms, The George & Plough (Hyde Heath), The Red Lion (Marsworth), The Dragon, The Pheasant and The Queens Head, Jolly Cricketers (Seer Green) and The White Lion (Chesham); The Black Horse Inn (Chesham Vale); (Whelpley Hill. The Full House (Hemel Hempstead); The Plough (Hyde Heath); The Swan (Ley Hill); The Craft Beer Shop and The White Lion (Little Chalfont); The Crown Inn (Little Missenden); The Black Cat BRIAN KILBEY (Lye Green); The Red Lion (Marsworth); The

Squirrel (Penn Street); The Jolly Cricketers (Seer Green); The Kings Arms and The Robin Hood (Tring); plus The White Lion (Whelpley Hill). Many others will have them but I don’t know about them.

KENT MICROPUB ODYSSEY – OCT 7-14th, 2017 - Richard Healey

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th Saturday October 7 saw the ‘Intrepid On Sunday the ‘determined duo’ of Chris and Trisha drove Fivesome’ of Chris, Trisha, Dave, Gill and me out to visit some grandchildren, dropping off the ‘tireless journeying by car to Kent for a week of trio’ in Maidstone where we sat outside ‘The Brenchley’ for micropubbing. Chris drove us to our first some indifferent beer, made up for later at ‘Ye Olde Thirsty stop: the Shipwrights Arms, a remote GBG Pig’, 15th century Grade II listed (and listing!) pub of great pub by an estuary of the Swale, one mile character where we downed some Turbulent Priest and Old North of Faversham. Lunch was washed Dairy Gold Top, both in excellent condition. We three down with the help of Goacher’s Dark Mild pressed on via the Wetherspoons ‘Society Rooms’ for some and Green Giant (a 6% green hopped IPA). solid fuel, and then on to the ‘Rifle Volunteers’ – a Goacher’s Our second stop was at the ‘Corner Tap’ in tied house and Kent CAMRA’s Regional Pub of the Year in Faversham a micropub which opened in 2016. The Crown Imperial Stout was a perfect post prandial December 2016 serving six beers and beverage. On to the ‘Cellars Alehouse’, now as a fivesome, offering a CAMRA discount. We were we descended to a cold and empty underground vault staying for a week in a self-catering house in situated on the former site of the ‘Style and Winch’ Brewery Broadstairs; after unloading the car we for Kent, Dark Star and Old Dairy Brewery offerings. We headed out on foot to the ‘Thirty Nine Steps’ returned to Ramsgate and dropped in to the ‘NauticAles’ to slake our thirsts with an excellent pint of micropub to finish the day off with some Maiden Voyage. Bass or three.

By Monday we were getting into our stride; a noon visit to ‘Mind the Gap’, a railway themed micropub coincided fortuitously with Steve Saunders’own visit, Thanet branch’s BLO and magazine editor. Next on the agenda was the ‘Hovelling Boat’ for some excellent Dreadnought strong smoked chocolate stout of 6.2% calibre and only £3.50 a pint. A decision was made to refuel at the Royal Victoria Pavilion – a seaside Wetherspoons emporium – their largest UK pub, a Grade II listed building constructed in 1903 as a concert hall and assembly rooms. It has been carefully restored keeping to the original concept, at a cost of £4.5 million, and consists of two large floors, two bars, a beer garden and a first floor terrace. There are photographs on the walls of one time Ramsgate residents : Frank Muir, John Le Mesurier, Will Hay and Vincent van Gogh. We took the Loop bus up to the ‘Artillery Arms’ a friendly, solid boozer, where Whitstable Brewery’s Pear of Kent lay in wait at 4.5% abv. We spent the evening in the Churchill on the seafront where, as last year, M.C. Hammered played in the pub quiz with fourteen other teams, out of which we came fourth equal – not a bad effort. On Tuesday the team descended on the ‘Tankerton Arms’, a Whitstable micropub selling Green Hop Stout, Tonbridge American Pale Ale and Dark Star APA. It was half mile walk to the ‘Handsome Sam’, named after the owner’s much loved and celebrated cat, where I downed a perfect pint of English Oak at £3.50 a pint before closing time at 2pm. We walked up to the ‘Black Dog’ micropub and were rewarded with a most excellent liquorice stout from deepest Kent : Dark Horse. Carrying on up the High Street we happened on the ‘Parkerville’ selling 25 gins, 6 vodkas 4 rums and 5 whiskies, alongside the more usual micropub offerings of beers – I sampled a Waterloo Sunset from Kelham Island’s Brewery.

A brief victualling at JDW’s ‘Saxon Shore’ and we were back on the trail of the ‘Bouncing Barrel’ micropub at Herne, so named because the WW II Barnes Wallis bomb was tested off the Herne coast exactly 75 years ago. We toasted his successful creation with Banks and Taylors Plum Porter, Oakham Citra and Blue Monkey’s Funky Gibbon. On our way out of Herne it would have been rude not to pay a call at the revered ‘Butchers Arms’, ’s smallest freehouse and a ‘Mecca’ for the micropub aficionado : Martyn Hillier’s brainchild which became the blueprint for micropubs after he opened it in November 2005. We arrived at the ‘Copper Pottle’ in Betlinge at 8pm to find that three of the four beers were selling for £3 a pint. By now we were suffering from beer lag and were indulging in half pints only of Betty Stogs and Goody’s ales.

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Wednesday saw the five of us journeying to Birchington,

Westgate and Margate, first stop being the small corner Our last full day on the micropub trail - micropub ‘The Tap Room’ where I had a half of Jakehead IPA, “Frolicking Friday” - was a busy one: we arrived a 6.3% copper coloured heartstarter. Onwards to Margate’s at the ‘Old Bay Alehouse’ in Birchington-on-Sea ’Harbour Arms’ towards the end of the granite harbour wall at 12.00: a bright and friendly micropub, where Hopfuzz traditional bitter, Green Hop Stout and Green formerly a family run general stores and post Pale Ale (both Canterbury Ales) lurked. We walked back office; an hour later we reacquainted ourselves towards town, looking in on the ‘Little Prince’ inside the with the ‘Bake and Alehouse’ micropub at arcade, then on to the ‘Two Halves’ on Marine Drive Westgate-on-Sea which was serving two overlooking the sandy beach. The highlight of the day was the Goody’s beers: Good Lord Silk Porter and Good ‘Fez’, an entertaining and quirky micropub crammed with Health. ‘ agricultural/musical/artistic memorabilia, selling Mad Cap (appropriately) Green Hop Ale, Portobello Weizen, Oakham Black Hole Porter and Beartown’s Bear Ass (plus 30 gin varieties).

Onwards in the evening to the ‘Yard of Ale, St Peters, our last micropub of the day, where I imbibed a Gadd’s Black Pearl Oyster Stout (6.2%abv). We sat on straw bales and paid £3 a pint. On Thursday we took a train for an ‘awayday’ in Folkestone and Dover; first port of call in the former was the ‘Troubadour of Kent’, formerly a newsagent’s and opened in June 2017. Live music, storytelling and poetry make this an entertaining spot where culture is accompanied by Gadds No 5, XT8 Porter and Dark Star’s Hophead! We walked on to ‘Kipps’ Alehouse’, a roomy hostelry in the town centre serving four ales and some craft beers. An hour later after a stiff climb we stepped into the ‘Firkin Alehouse’ micropub for an enjoyable sampling of American Pale Ale (Hopp Stuff), Dogbolter (Gadds) and Shangri-La (Arbor). We returned to the railway station and caught the Dover Priory train and made our way to ‘The Lanes’ where we were heartily welcomed by the friendly landlady; this year she had a selection of 26 gins as well as a delicious Green and Black Stout. After a brief supper at the Wetherspoon’s ‘Eight Bells’ we headed to the ‘Mash Tun’, and the ‘Rack of Ale’, sadly to close after five years of trading, but still serving an excellent Plum Porter from Titanic Brewery. We returned finally to ‘The Lanes’ for a tryout of the landlady’s gins – I had a Whitley Neil rhubarb and ginger flavoured gin on recommendation – a nightcap shot to end my day in Dover!

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PRAY SILENCE FOR: Trappist Beer By Russ Taylor of XT Brewing Co

MONKS Trappist beer is brewed by monks of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance. The order was founded at La Trappe Abbey in Normandy in the seventeenth century – they broke away from the regular Cistercians for being too soft. The Cistercians had already broken from the Benedictines as they had preferred more hard work and dedicated worship. So the Trappists like a bit of seriously hard manual labour, idle chit-chat is discouraged, silence is golden. They do however like beer. Trappist beer is more a definition of who can brew it rather than what the beer is like. The beer must be brewed in a Trappist monastery, by monks or under their supervision and the brewing must be for the upkeep of the monastery and not for profit. There is legal protection of the designation through the International Trappist Association, and currently only 11 breweries around the world can call themselves Trappist. If you are not up to the mark on these criteria there are ‘Abbey Beers’ - this is a more loose term for breweries with some vague link to a monastery. There is only one Trappist monastery in England – Mt Saint Bernard in Leicestershire. They are currently working on building a brewery and hope to be the world’s 12th Trappist brewer, similarly in northern Spain, San Pedro monastery are also working towards joining the elite club.

BEERS Although not strictly a definition of beer style, the beers produced by the breweries have similar characteristics. The emphasis is towards estery, fruity flavours from the unique yeast strains. Using warm, top fermentation, the beers are high strength, low on hop impact and utilise specialist malts and candi sugars to give warm, spicy flavours of great complexity. The beers are mainly packaged as bottle conditioned – which combined with their higher ABV and malt characteristics are excellent for long term keeping. Indeed many of the beers improve their complexity with months or years of aging in a cool dark place. The beer categories have evolved over time and their original meanings have wandered a little – but roughly speaking: Patersbier – these are ‘table beers’ generally only available in the monastery for the monks, low strength – quaffing beers Enkel: the ‘single standard beer’ – from which the scale grows… Dubbel: twice the raw materials of the single. Strong, dark and low bitterness, heavy and fruity flavours 6–7 % Tripel: more ingredients again – Stronger and golden, 7-11% Quadrupel: Strongest, dark and vinous sipping beers, 8-12%

Where numbers are used, these represent ‘Belgian Beer Degrees’ – not a university qualification, but an old school take on Original Gravity – the measure of the density of the beer before fermentation. So roughly a Belgian BD 6 = English OG 1060, it gives an idea on the final ABV and the weightiness of the beer.

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DRINKING When you come to enjoy your Trappist beer glassware is all important, both for the theatre and to enhance the aromas and flavours. Use a goblet chalice style glass – the breweries have their own specific styles, but collecting them all does take up a lot of cupboard space. The bottled beers will have sediment – its personal choice if you wish to drink that, so pour carefully after allowing the sediment to settle. Now consider that the finest are bonkers expensive – but the finest beers in the world are within the budget of everyone!

Rochefort - Belgian, 1595, 18,000 Hl/Yr BREWERIES 6 = Red Cap, brown ale, 7.5% Achel – Belgian, 1998, 5,000 Hl/Yr 7˚ Blond = Only available at the abbey, Golden 7% 8 = Green Cap, brown ale, 9.2% 10 = Blue Cap, Dark Ale, 11.3% 7˚Bruin = Only available at the abbey, Brown Ale 7% 8˚ Blond = Golden 8% 8˚ Bruin = Brown Ale 8% Westmalle – Belgian, 1836, 120,000 Hl/Yr Extra Blond = Special 9.5% Dubel = Dark Red Ale, 7% Extra Bruin = Special 9.% Tripel = Golden Ale, 9.5% Extra = Only available at the monastery, 5% La Trappe – Dutch, 1884, 145,000 Hl/Yr Blond = Golden yellow 6.5% Westvleteren – Belgian, 1838, 5,000 Hl/Yr Dubbel = Dark brown ale 7% Blond = Green Cap, 5.8% Isis’or = Jubilee ale, amber 7.5% 8 = Blue Cap, Amber red ale 8% Tripel = Golden blonde 8% 12 = Yellow Cap, Legendary! 10.2% Quadrupel = Heavy, amber special 10% Witte Trappist = hazy wheat beer, 5.5% Chimay – Belgian, 1863, 120,000 Hl/Yr Bockbier = Chestnut bock beer 7% Red = Dubel, 7% Puur = organic blonde ale 4.7% Blue = Dark Ale, 9% Tripel = Golden 8% Stift Engelszell – Austria, 2012, 2,000 Hl/Yr Gold = Golden 4.8% Benno = Golden Red 7% Gregorius = Dark Ale 9.7% Orval – Belgian, 1931, 71,000 Hl/Yr Nivard = Golden 5.5% Orval = Brett Pale Ale, 6.2% Petite Orval = Monks only special, 3.5% Spencer – USA, 2013, 5000 Hl/Yr Trappist Ale = Pale 6.5% Holiday Ale = Dark 9% Monks Reserve = Black 10.2% Imperial Stout = Dark 8.7% IPA = Golden 7.2% Feierabendbire = Golden 4.7% Lager = Pale Golden 7.5%

Zundert – Dutch, 2013, 5000 Hl/Yr Trappist = Brown Ale 8%

Tre Fontane – Italian, 2014, 2000 Hl/Yr Tripel = Blonde 8.5%

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Four years ago in Copenhagen, on what started out as a pursuit between

life-long friends (Mikkel Borg Bjergsø and Søren Runge) to try and lose a bit of weight whilst still being able to enjoy the crafts of their labor; beers. You see Mikkel is the founder and owner of Mikkeller Brewery, one of biggest influencers and innovators in the modern beer movement. The pair put a simple post out on Facebook inviting anyone to come join them on a Saturday afternoon run starting out at their Mikkeller & Friends bar, and to those eight who did, they decided to buy them a beer when they got back to toast their achievement. A month later they posted the same invite, and this time 30 turned up. The following month, a massive 100 participated. With this exponential growth, they knew they were on to something and with it; Mikkeller Running Club (MRC) was born. The event became a monthly ritual in Copenhagen and as with social media, news travelled quickly. They started to get emails from around the globe asking if new ‘chapters’ could be started. Their only rule that new chapters needed to abide by is to find a bar/pub willing to offer the runners a free beer following each run, this is the Chapter Clubhouse. It is also important that they follow the philosophy of not taking themselves too seriously. The MRC is intended so that all are welcome, regardless of running ability. With this they now have become a global phenomenon and currently have around 200 chapters worldwide. We've caught up with Matt Hughes the Chapter Captain of one of the newest to be set up right here in Hertfordshire, the St Albans Chapter. What is the Mikkeller Running Club all about? It’s basically it’s a social way for people who like to enjoy their beers to become active. I know that’s a bit of an oxymoron and they don’t normally come hand-in-hand but that’s the point, it’s supposed to be an outlet and give the opportunity for people to offset their beer consumption with some running. The idea is that everyone stays around afterwards to socialise and enjoy a few beers together. How did you hear about it? I first came across Mikkeller during my travels to Copenhagen in 2016 and my first proper taste into their zany world of beers was after visiting their Mikkeller Bar, Warpigs Brew Pub & Restaurant and Øl & Brød by Mikkeller. A few months later I received my monthly beer subscription from Beer52 and it was a whole box dedicated to Mikkeller. One of the brews inside was a bottle of Running Club; a beautiful light, hoppy pale ale they brewed specifically for MRC and ever since it had stuck in my mind. What does the concept mean to you? 2018 is going to be a big year for me, as my fiancé and I are expecting our first born in April. With this I wanted to try and get myself in a better physical condition, as I’ll soon be running around after a little one! But I am well known for enjoying a few cold ones (or three) so what better way than to involve both together. Being pretty new to running as well the MRC philosophy is perfect; don’t take it too seriously, take it slow and steady then build it up. So the Chapter is in St Albans, how did that come about? I got in contact with Craft & Cleaver about the opportunity of hosting the Chapter, as I know they were already familiar with Mikkeller as they often have one of their brews on tap or bottles in the fridge. The Director of Urban & Rural Pubs Ltd, Adam Richardson got back to me saying that he thought it was a great idea and that being advocates of staying healthy whilst enjoying a few beers as part of a balanced lifestyle, that they would be happy to support the Chapter. Plus there aren’t many better places in Hertfordshire to run around than the Verulamium Park and Cathedral grounds! When and where will it all happen? It’s a once a month meet up, starting and finishing at our Craft & Cleaver Clubhouse. Still being in the early stages I am currently finalising all the plans but I am planning for the first official outing to be in March, and I've set up a few preliminary routes of 3 and 5km.

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Finally, how can anyone interest get in touch?

If anyone is interested they can send an email to [email protected], we are also on Twitter (@MRCSt_Albans), Instagram (mrcst_albans) and Strava (www.strava.com/clubs/mrcstalbans) so watch out for regular updates, or you could always the old fashion thing and pop in to the Craft & Cleaver. The Chapter will also be on the MRC App which syncs with Untappd to log your beers and Strava to automatically log your runs. Mikkeller also run weekly/monthly/yearly competitions via the App with prizes for most beers drunk and miles ran, so it really encourages you to get involved! Everyone is invited, regardless of ability. It will be really good to get some regular runners that will be able to encourage and aid the newbies (including me). Can I just say thank you very much for having me and I look forward to sharing a run and a few beers with you! Matt Hughes Chapter Captain – MRC St Albans

TRING BREWERY news & brews.

Tring Brewery Co. is now a VERIFIED VENUE on Untappd, so be sure to check-in tasty brews when you’re next in the shop or on a tour through one of the most thriving beer communities in the world!

What is Untappd? Untappd is the most widely used, beer-focused social platform in the world, with close to 2 million unique users and over 7.4 million app downloads.

The purpose of the free smartphone app is to connect with friends over the internet whilst drinking beer, with the ability to check-in beers, geo-tag your location and to ‘cheers’ check-ins from other users. Untappd also allows drinkers to share their activity to other social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

Untappd incentivises check-ins with ‘badges’ that are digital achievements, unlocked through the exploration of numerous styles, seasons and settings. The social reach of Untappd is a whopping 655 million per month, and to date, there have been over 500 million check-ins.

Why should drinkers have it? Untappd is a fantastic, fun and friendly app for beer drinkers, a revelation within ‘ticking culture’ where aficionados once made handwritten notes in scrapbooks; logging their beery adventure – what’s the point of trying different beers if you have no way of remembering them?

As with most social networks, Untappd has evolved to become smarter and more powerful over the years since its launch in 2010. The platform has bolstered its functionality nowadays, allowing LIVE draught listings and upcoming events to be published by pubs, breweries and bars, straight into the palm of the drinker.

Why should the industry have it? Breweries, taprooms, bars, bottleshops, brewpubs and beer festivals are now freely pouring a plethora of traditional and progressive styles, offering more variety in beer venues than you can shake a mash paddle at. At the brimming bar fronts of these venues is a

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THE CHILTERN TAPLER SPRING 2018 passionate army of tech savvy explorers, readily blogging and logging their every tipple, taster and tankard, forging a need for live updates and direct engagement; bringing drinker and brewer closer than ever before.

With this new level of interaction, breweries are now completely in tune with the beer you are enjoying the most, and are able to respond to this quick off the mark, the people now get what they want, when they want it!

Also we can create fun badges for you to unlock, and who doesn’t like fun badges?

Over the coming months we will be getting to grips with our verified venue status, as an exciting, multifaceted tool to further enhance your drinking experience, cheers to that!

To download and sign up for FREE, and for any further information on Untappd, please visit https://untappd.com/

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, THE BREWERY SHOP WILL NOW OFFER KEGGED BEER, AVAILABLE TO TAKE AWAY ON DRAUGHT. Tring Brewery’s first such venture beer came in 2017, when we began dispensing our American pale ale Drop Bar in local pubs, bars and clubs through keg; a method traditional to styles of the states.

Kegged beers are served colder than that of cask, with the addition of extraneous C02, to increase their drinkability, adding another dimension to that of the brewing process:

“Which malt shall we use? Which varieties are we hopping with? Which yeast strain would most suit this style? In which fashion should it be dispensed?”

We have found most of the new Small-Batch range to be suitable for keg, elevating the hop aromas of beers such as White IPA and Orange Wheat.

The brewery shop is now proudly donning a multi-tap keg font, capable of showcasing up to four beers at a time.

With the facilities to dispense kegged beers, 200 litre pilot brews, monthly and seasonal specials, along with our core range of ten ales; we feel the need to simplify our range classifications, so from today, our ranges are as follows:

TEST BATCH – formerly known as Small-Batch; this will be the testing ground for the inaugural brews of experimental beers on our 200 litre pilot kit, available in draught takeaway from the shop.

SMALL BATCH – anything that has been rebrewed from its test brew, graduating into keg or glass bottle.

As is and always has been our CORE RANGE are our stalwart, flagship beers such as Side Pocket, Ridgeway and Colley’s Dog to be offered alongside SEASONAL and MONTHLY SPECIALS, which are brewed to suit tastes and trends throughout the year.

Once again, kegged and bottled ranges are SMALL-BATCH and inaugural, experimental brews will be TEST BATCH. We’ll try and keep it simple from now on, promise.

ROGER PROTZ BEER OF THE MONTH : INDIA STOUT "What a way to kick off February!" India Stout has been named February's BEER OF THE MONTH by Roger Protz, acclaimed beer writer, founder of the The British Guild of Beer Writers and editor of CAMRA Good Beer Guide.

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Performance & Cocktails – Alec Latham A man before me (who I’d generously given way to) puts an order in for his small entourage at the bar. No bother. It’s not going to take long – there’s only five in his party. Not sure what he just ordered but then I don’t really know the names of the whiskies, ports or brandies. I’m not fussed. But why is the barman scrutinising a laminated document? He looks nervously around at the shelves. And then he gets out a chopping board. Limes get sliced. Something completely unnatural happens to a cucumber – it’s transformed into curly ribbons. And then a pestle and mortar appear from under the counter! To non cocktail-focussed venues, a member of bar staff scrutinising the cocktail instructions with furrowed brow should be a criminal offence. We might as well pause for them to assemble a Tyssedal Ikea wardrobe whilst waiting to get served….. But every town should have a cocktail bar. Cocktails just need to be done professionally, confidently and quickly.

The Craft & Cleaver in St Albans where these shots were taken is a professional cocktail joint. No amateurs here… The practitioner is often referred to as a flairman/woman because cocktail making is a short burst of performance art which can even include live pyrotechnics (the correct term for that flamethrower is a culinary blow torch). It’s enacted on a higher platform to the spectators. Or maybe we should call that what it actually is – a stage. I’ve also noticed that the members of bar staff tend to be pretty well turned out. Were they ordered from a catalogue? Cocktails require their own bespoke tool kit for assembly. As well as the Tommy Cooper beakers, there are shakers, (thick stirrers), crushers, juicers, reamers (ridged finials that violently ravage the hearts of citrus fruits), and squeezers. A flairman/woman tired of their trade could well make their fortune in the field of torture instead. This bizarre thingy also has a name – it’s called a hawthorne strainer and allows liquid to pass through but blocks any ice from doing so. The spring contracts to “snuggle” into most glass sizes.

A hawthorn/ Don’t say you haven’t learnt something today. Looking through the windows of cocktail bars is akin to seeing the cover art on progressive rock albums. They come up with a concept they like and just run with it. Only the cocktail bars have this freedom in the world of high street on-licence booze. The venues can reflect the culture of UFOs, desert islands, the wild west, Enid Blyton, steampunk or Balmoral Castle.

This cocktail’s ablaze! In market towns, pubs are dragged back to the time of the pre-industrial past – an age which predated virtually all of their traditional breweries. Only the bygone is allowable. Public houses should be jealous of cocktail bars’ creative liberty.

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It’s got me thinking about how I’d envision a cocktail bar of my own.

I’d base it on the ultimate concept album, albeit not from the prog rock cannon: The Planets by Gustav Holst. The bar would be elliptical and there would be a dark backdrop, LED lights in the ceiling would trace the formations of star constellations and extra backup musically would be provided by the scores of Interstellar by Hans Zimmer as well as tracks by our own extra terrestrial – Mr Bowie. It goes without saying that the main cocktails would be named after the eight planets of the solar system (Pluto is on the menu too but only as a planetoid chaser served with ice. Anoraks like me will understand what I’m referring to). Oh, and don’t order the Kahoutahek – you might never recover.

The solar system as envisioned by Holst/little me. But why are cocktails so gender-divisive? Is it just that the men are turned off by the glamour? The cocktails are being consumed by her and not by him, and often by a whole squad of hers together on a night out. For the miserable hims, why is the counterpart to a £10 cocktail a £5 spritz – 330ml – of gassy Lager in a straight glass? It’s hardly like for like. That’s what the hims seem to drink in cocktail bars. If they’re having a good time, they haven’t told their faces. A 10% imperial stout aged in Bourbon barrels is actually the same thing as a cocktail. The only difference is the time required running up to the serve. A spirit-aged imperial stout might take eight months to make, a cocktail maybe eight minutes. But when you’re at the bar, eight minutes in real time outweighs eight months as a backstory. Why don’t cocktail bars stock the imperial porters, barley wines and DIPAs in the fridge/on tap so that the cocktail and beer choices are more equitable? To my mind, they’d be exploiting two markets at once. Both worlds need to connect like the two outstretched fingers in Da Vinci’s The Creation of Adam.

The term “mixology” sounds as reputable and socially erect as a branch of applied physics which I suppose it is. To be an adherent of mixology sounds more acceptable for a man to admit to, but it also sounds like he’s joined a cult. Mixology has also started to creep into beer – “beertails!” Yes they’re a thing – even outside Shoreditch.

Coming soon to a town near you….. For the purposes of researching this post, I’ve been diligently perusing the bars to look for proof that a gender bias is still reflected on the ground, but an interloper has made things more difficult: the resurgence of gin. In gin’s previous heyday, was it ever mixed with the amount of fruit and vegetables it is now? It can be any colour and be served in any glass. Gin now soaks up more fruit than Summer Pimms! This means that I can’t tell the cocktails from the gin anymore. In the not too distant future, the realms of beer, gin and cocktail might completely merge. It seems okay for the men to sink gin, though – even through a bright yellow straw! Are these new waves of male gin quaffers actually closet cockertails hoping one day, when it’s deemed more acceptable, to burst out of the drinks cabinet?

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A Sardinian Brewing Adventure

By Russell Taylor of the XT Brewing Co

Last summer at XT we brewed a Belgian Wit Beer, the ‘Animal Donkey’, with innovative and eccentric Italian Brewery BBBirra from Bosa. The beer was made with wheat and loads of potent Sardinian orange zest brought over by our brewing friend Carl Fitzpatrick.

This year I headed out to the idyllic Sardinian coastal town of Bosa to join Carl again and get our brewing heads together for round two of our international collaboration.

Carl runs his brewery and farm in the medieval town of Bosa on the banks of the river Temo in NW Sardinia. The two ventures are built on very strong environmental and sustainable principles close to Carl’s heart. The farm grows all the barley, wheat and hops for the beers, and his well provides all the brewing ; the yeast even comes from the local wine producers. Both ancient and contemporary varieties of grains are grown to ensure a diverse culture on the farm and remove the need for chemical assistance. The by-products of brewing are fed to the farm animals. Unusual these days – even the used beer bottles are returned by Carl’s drinkers and refilled. The locals are so used to this now; he doesn’t even need to charge a deposit! The whole process from field to glass takes place all within walking distance of the farm.

The first beer we worked on in the four storey brewery, tucked away in the narrow, winding streets of old town Bosa, was based on an Italian speciality – “Doppio Malto”. This very high gravity beer is made with a unique double mashing process. The super strong wort is then munched away by yeast which had been cropped from actively fermenting Malvasia wine. To balance the massively chewy malt flavours, high alpha hops are added for a citrus bite.

If the beers travel further than Bosa, Carl takes them in his mobile pub – an amazing, converted German fire engine. With hand pumps, a bar and a bespoke chilled cellar; the beers are enjoyed in perfect condition while drinkers rest on old wine barrels. One day, between brews, we collected an old oak foeder from an ancient and crumbling wine cellar. The cellar tucked away in a tiny narrow street was an Aladdin’s cave of amazing old wine casks resting unused for many years, I wish I could have brought one home for a bit of whacky fermentation of my own.

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As a balance to the Doppio, we turned our attention to a beverage made from the oldest strain of grain grown by man – Einkorn wheat which was originally cultivated in ancient Egypt. It’s a tough little grain and takes a lot to get it to give up its sugars for brewing. To help the process, our grist needed to be blended with some contemporary malted wheat. The flavours of this hazy, refreshing “Pharaoh’s Ale” perfectly matched the heat of the Sardinian sun.

Sardinia has a hot, Mediterranean climate and the beer culture has grown accordingly – with the locals and visitors preferring lighter and fruity beers, softer IPAs, wheat beers and lagers. The craft beer craze has swept across the whole of Italy and now even Sardinia has over two dozen local breweries.

The beer market is still dominated by Ichnusa – a classic Euro fizz lager. As with many similar brands this brewer is now a part of the giant Heineken, but a raft of small independent producers are making many inroads. My pick of these new kids on the island include:

Marduk from Orosei on the east coast – this is one of the more commercial of the independent producers and their beers include American style IPAs, Czech Lagers and a Munich Alt Bier. But as with BBBirra they also follow a sustainability field to grain principle and have their own farm and maltings.

Birrificio Cagliari, based in the capital, produce a very wide range of styles –and all packaged in beautiful bottles with very stylish labels. Worth it just to enjoy the Italian designer look.

Birra Lara from Tertenia on the south eastern coast is a very modern brewery creating beers using barley grown on their own farm. The owners enthusiastically support the traceability of their ingredients throughout the process.

Sambrinus from Sassari in the north is the oldest craft brewer, operating since 1999. Beers follow a more classical style of traditional brews.

Birrificio 4 Mori based in the south western town of Guspini, the brewery is housed in old mine workings and uses an excellent numbering system for their beers.

Most of the beers are available in bottles – generally I found these to be bottle conditioned, the locals expect ‘craft’ to be cloudy and preferably with lots of foam. Finding the beers on draught was a little tricky, but when you do find them, they are often ‘keg conditioned’ in key-keg or other bag type disposable systems. Many of the beers I tried were unfiltered and unpasteurised. In order to enjoy a really good range look out for one of the many beer festivals around the island. These tend to be laid out in the ‘market street’ style where you can meet and talk to the brewery teams on their own stalls.

It was a pleasure to work with Carl again this year, and get an insight into beer and brewing in Italy. Travelling for beer – what could be better?

After the huge year for Mad Squirrel that MAD SQUIRREL was 2017, there are no plans to slow NEWS & BREWS down in 2018. We started the new year with a new limited-edition beer. January is traditionally the time when people cut down on the good stuff. With that in mind we released “Bijou” a 2.9% Vermont table beer. This unfined, unfiltered, hazy, juicy little number is small and elegant with a body that belies its diminutive stature. Bijou was released on 2nd January 2018, However, there are still a couple of casks left in various pub cellars, so there’s still a chance to try it.

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We have, provisionally, planned all our limited-edition beers for 2018, we are keeping the bulk of them secret for the time being, but next up is an American Brown ale called Kodiak, which will be followed by an as yet unnamed double dry hopped saison. Some of the beers we have lined up are styles we have never brewed before so our brewers are really excited. Despite the persistent rumours, we have no plans to abandon cask ale production in 2018. We are now holding monthly mixed group brewery tours on the last Saturday of the month. Tickets cost £25 and include a full tour of our new premises, brewkit and explanation of the brewing process, a tutored tasting of 6 of our beers and a freshly cooked artisan pizza per person. Tickets can be booked by calling the brewery, office hours Mon-Fri, or at any of our Tap & Bottle Shops. Hopfest & $UMO have sold incredibly well in their new smallpack can format. Expect to see the can line up completed with Roadkill, Flying Squirrel and De La Crème all coming out in the next couple of months We are hoping to install two triple fermentation tanks in the first quarter to keep up with demand for $UMO and Hopfestand give us the ability to increase lagering time for Flying Squirrel. We are having a stand at Craft Beer Rising festival in February, we are really excited about this and will make sure to bring some exclusive beers, more information and tickets can be found at www.craftbeerrising.co.uk We are looking at the possibility of installing a secondary, smaller brewkit which will allow us to really push the envelope with regards to our beer releases, we are also looking at a compact bottling line (so our bottles are filled in house, as well as our cans) and a labelling machine for our canning line so we can start to release limited edition beers in small pack. Expect to see Mad Squirrel beers reaching out into the wider UK market more, as we work with an increasing number of wholesalers and start to deliver directly into new regions. However, we will not be making an appearance in any major supermarkets anytime soon. We are currently working on the negotiations/legals/paperwork for three new Tap & Bottleshopsites, with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work, all of these will hopefully come off within the next year. Alongside these we are always on the lookout for new sites. If you think you’ve found the next location for a Mad Squirrel Tap & Bottleshop, let us know, we’ll make it worth your while (in beer of course). Mad Squirrel is also proud to announce the award of ‘best Hertfordshire brewery’ on RateBeer for the 2018 results of the international beer scoring website!

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After 6 years and brewing over 3 million pints, XT Brewery have announced a rebranding of their cask beer range from March. Following a very busy 2017 with significant investment in new brewing equipment and the new brewery tap room – XT have clearly shown a commitment to producing quality cask beer. The new look brings the XT beers bang up to date and will ensure the brand will continue to grow and appeal to both existing and new beer NEWS & BREWS drinkers well into the future. The new XT look will be launched with a number of special events including: St Aldates in Oxford on Tuesday 27th Feb and at the Rising Sun in Haddenham on Wednesday 28th Feb. Everyone welcome! The Animal beers have continued to grow in popularity over the years and the first ever permanent Animal beer now joins the stable: After a trial run of Red Herring which was a low ABV but high hop beer brewed in 2017 – the dials have been turned up and the recipe fine-tuned for the new: HOPCAT – a Hyper Hoppy Pale Ale at only 3.9% - launched for 2018 this new beer has already hit the right notes and has been selling fast. Packed with Citra and Cascade New World hops to excite your taste buds but with a low strength it is gentle on the head. Do not fear – as there will still be the ever evolving range of new Animals to compliment the HopCat – for 2018 begins with: Tarsier 4.6% Pacific Amber - this little guy is packed with sweet malts and rye and crammed full of Rakau, Casade and Chinook, layered throughout the boil and during Dry Hopping. Malty, biscuity, toffee and raisin flavours are blended with bold passionfruit, grapefruit and citrus from the generous amount of hops. A slight roasty hint with a splash of tropical notes leaves a pleasant sweet and hoppy goodbye. For the real beer connoisseur: In limited availability is the XT Oak Aged Imperial Stout at 8.6% - available in bottle conditioned, keg or cask form – with characteristics carried over from the sherry, brandy, whisky or rum casks in which they have been aging for over 12 months. The aging casks will next be put to work storing a new strong Burton IPA – which will be kept for 12 months and develop some of the character of a true nineteenth century beer headed for tables of the Raj. SPOTTED: BEERS ON TAP IN THE CHILTERNS HEMEL HEMPSTEAD . A stroll around the old town in January found the AMERSHAM . Early in the New Year the old town pubs offered following ales. At the Old Bell the beers were Radlett Premium, Tring the following. Rebellion IPA and Sharps Doom Bar in the Swan, Sidepocket for a Toad and Greene King IPA. Next door in the Olde Kings Brakspear Bitter in the Chequers, Black Sheep Shearer, Greene Arms were Wells Bombardier and Youngs Bitter. Tring Black Hawk could be King IPA, Hardy & Hansons Rocking Rudolph and Morland Old found in the White Hart and Sharps Doom Bar and Wells Bombardier Pale Speckled Hen in the Saracen’s Head, Malt Starry Nights and Ale were in the Rose & Crown. Nearby the Old Bell Gate offered Mad Rebellion IPA in the Crown, Fullers London Pride, Haresfoot Squirrel Mr Squirrel. In the town centre, the Full House continues to offer Conqueror’s, Sharps Doom Bar, Taylor Landlord and Cornish beers from local breweries, as well guest beers and regulars from the Orchards Gold Cider in the Eagle and Brakspear Bitter and Wetherspoons range, with ales from Mad Squirrel, Tring and Vale noted Westons Old Rosie and Rosie’s Pig in the Kings Arms. recently. BERKHAMSTED. Along -side the twelve ciders available in the LITTLE CHALFONT. Amongst their range, the Craft Beer Shop offered three Rising Sun when visited in January, Loddon Hoppit, Paradigm cask ales when visited in early January, namely York Morris the Otter, Black Friday, Raw Cascade Pale Ale, Tring Drop Bar and Riser Chiltern Foxtrot and Wild Weather NW3 Ale. Next door in the Sugar Loaf bitters were on the handpumps. On the same day, the Crown Inn, 3 Brewers Ruby and Youngs Winter warmer could be found. offered Greene King IPA and Abbot, Haresfoot Lock Keeper’s, LITTLE MISSENDEN. A late January visit found Otter Bitter, Tribute, Mad Squirrel London Porter, Sharps Doom bar and Tring Youngs Bitter along with Gladiator, Old Rosie and Thundering Molly ciders in Sidepocket for a Toad. the Crown. LYE GREEN. Youngs Bitter and Taylor Landlord continue to be the CHALFONT ST PETER. A branch visit an area not visited for a regular beers in the Black Cat with one guest also available. St Austell while produced the following. Sharps Atlantic and Doom Bar Trelawny and Brains Fir Kin Good have been among the guests recently. alongside Taylor Landlord could be found in the Jolly Farmer. PENN STREET. The Squirrel offers an interesting range of beers and ciders. The White Hart had Hardy & Hansons Rocking Rudolph, St During a mid -January visit, Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Morland Old Speckled Austell Tribute, Sharps Doom Bar and Adnams Broadside and in Hen, Tring Colleys Dog, West Berkshire Maggs Magnificent Mild and the nearby Greyhound Otter Bitter, Sharps Doom Bar and Westons Rosie’s Pig Cider were available. By the following week, the ales Adnams Lighthouse could be found. had changed to Haresfoot Lock Keeper’s, Mad Squirrel Mr Squirrel, Sharps BOURNE END. The two pubs were visited in January. The range Atlantic and XT/Animal Polar Bear. WHELPLEY HILL. The White Hart in the Anchor was Greene King IPA and Abbot, Sharps Doom continues to offer local beers with Haresfoot Conqueror’s and Paradigm Bar, Wells Bombardier Burning Gold and Millwhites Blackberry Heads Up sampled recently. Blush and Hedgelayer ciders. Next door, the White Horse WINKWELL. Recently noted in the Three Horseshoes were Courage Directors offered Mc Mullen AK, Country Bitter and IPA. and Wells Eagle and Bombardier. – curated by Roy Humphrey

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In January, the brewery were chosen to represent their Chiltern Brewery: News & Brews home county of Buckinghamshire as a ‘Tryanuary Champion’. ‘Tryanuary’ is a nationwide event which was CAMRA, in its ongoing support for independent UK launched four years ago to support the independent beer breweries, was pleased to have received special thanks industry during the traditionally difficult period of January, from the multiple award winning Chiltern Brewery for with its focus being on trying new beers. On the 25th of the support they have experienced from CAMRA over the January, Chiltern Brewery joined forces with West Berkshire last year, which they say has helped lead them to their Brewery to showcase the best of local, independent busiest year yet. breweries across Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, and Oxfordshire on social media. Tom Jenkinson, Partner and Head Brewer of The Chiltern Brewery said, “without the invaluable ongoing support Head Brewer, Tom Jenkinson, has also recently announced we experience from both CAMRA and CAMRA members, what he described as “an exciting development for The particularly their enthusiastic and knowledgeable Chiltern Brewery”, with the unveiling of the brewery’s first feedback, we would have struggled to have achieved so ever low alcohol ale. much as a small independent brewer ”. Tom went on to say that “this is the culmination of over a Just one example of the successes achieved by The year of planning and development in our bid to achieve a Chiltern Brewery in the past year was the limited edition low alcohol ale which while being under 2% ABV, still ‘Imperial Stout’ range which saw extensive positive maintains the flavour and quality our customers have come feedback online, with one influential reviewer awarding to expect in our award winning ales”. Tom went on to state the ‘Dark Coffee’ edition a perfect 10/10, stating that it that although the ale has initially been trialled at a few was “one of the best Imperial Stouts I’ve had all through select pubs, it will be made more widely available in due 2017 – and I’ve drunk lots!” course, with the further promise that 2018 has “an exciting range of seasonal beers planned with some brand new ales to be tried amongst the old popular favourites” Tom closed by saying, “once again, we can’t thank CAMRA and CAMRA members enough for their invaluable support year after year and we look forward to welcoming many more of you to The Chiltern Brewery in this coming year”. THE KING’S HEAD in Aylesbury enjoyed a busy festive period, led by the launch of their new ‘pop up’ dining room in the historic oak panelled ‘Cromwell Dining Room’, so named after Oliver Cromwell who it is believed was a regular guest in the early part of the 17th century, just as King Henry VIII had been before him. Executive Head Chef Paul Adams and his team were kept exceptionally busy throughout the festive season and are now looking forward to focusing on the next stage of exciting development of The King’s Head kitchens.

George Jenkinson, Managing Director of The King’s Head, said, “as well as visitors being able to enjoy traditional classic ales such as the Chiltern Brewery 300’s Dark Old Ale which is still delivered directly from traditional wooden casks, throughout 2018 we will continue to serve a further range of beers from wooden casks stored in our ancient cellars. We have also started to serve ‘gravity fed’ beers from the wooden cask straight to glass! As our main delivery from the brewery is on a Wednesday, the first glass is served on the Thursday, with only 36 pints available at a time. These traditional ales will only be available for a limited time”.

George also spoke of The King’s Head annual ‘Celebration of Beer’ saying that, “yet again our event has proved to be a resounding success, with the best of British breweries being showcased throughout the early part of the year. There is still time to come and join in, with beers from Titanic, Bude, and Daleside, to name but a few being served. However, as always, when each beer is gone, it’s gone! So please keep an eye on our website for full details of what is available daily at the bar in order to avoid disappointment.” Finally, George thanked all regulars and guests of The King’s Head for their ongoing custom and stated “we look forwards to a lot of exciting changes at the King’s Head in 2018 and to raising a glass with you all soon - cheers!”

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CAMRA MEMBERSHIP PRICES DIRECT DEBIT NON-DIRECT DEBIT 2018 SINGLE STANDARD £25 £27 SINGLE £16.50 £19 CONCESSION SINGLE OVERSEAS £38 £41.50 JOINT STANDARD £29.50 £32.50 JOINT £19.50 £22.00 CONCESSION JOINT OVERSEAS £43.00 £47.00 LIFETIME SINGLE STANDARD N/A £450 LIFETIME SINGLE N/A £306 CONCESSION LIFETIME SINGLE N/A £711 OVERSEAS

LIFETIME JOINT STANDARD N/A £549 LIFETIME JOINT N/A £360 CONCESSION

LIFETIME JOINT N/A £810

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2018 FESTIVAL DATES

22nd to 25th February Camelot RUFC (Boxmoor) Real Chaulden Lane, Hemel Hempstead, Thursday 22nd 3-11; Fri & Ale & Cider Festival. Hertfordshire, HP1 2BS Sat noon -11, Sun noon – 8 (if anything left!) Black Lion, 20 High Street, Leighton Buzzard

LU7 1EA 21st to 24th February Dark Beer Fest – 30 beers

14th to 25th March Wetherspoons Beer & Cider Fest Wetherspoons Sat 17th March –noon Amersham Round Table’s St Patrick’s Beer, Rugby and Music Jubilee Scout Hut, Rectory Hill, Amersham Festival

th nd Beer, Cider & Gin Fest with live

ostedon this site. 30 March noon – 2 April Jolly Cricketers, Seer Green music

Mini Beer Fest (14 different beers 29th March (evening) to 2nd rotating across the pumps over the Red Lion, Marsworth April weekend)

30th March (evening) to 2nd Mini Beer Fest (quiz Sunday, The Bell, Chartridge, Nr. Chesham April music Monday)

Chilterns orsurrounding area? th th

- 12 to 15 April Beer & Cider Fest The Rising Sun, Berkhamsted

27th (Comedy Evening – Berkhamsted Cricket Club, Berko Comedy, Music & Beer tickets required) and Saturday Fest 28th April Castle Hill, Berkhamsted, HP4 1HE.

th th 4 May (evening) to 7 May Mini Beer Fest (14 different beers Red Lion, Marsworth rotating across the pumps over the weekend)

th th Black Horse, Chesham Vale, Chesham

withdetails, andhave your event p 4 (eve) May to 7 May Black Horse Mini Fest

Beer& Cider Fest (in aid of St. 5th to 7th May White Hart, Whelpley Hill Francis Hospice)

Mini Beer Fest (in support of 12th May The Plough, Hyde Heath, Nr. Amersham village fete) Webmaster

25th (evening) to 28th May Mini Beer Festival Red Lion, Marsworth 14 different beers rotating

across the pumps over the weekend Are youholding a beerfestival in the Mid Contact the

Details of Beer Festivals are correct to the best of our knowledge but it would be worth checking with the pub before you plan to visit a venue. We can’t accept responsibility for festivals not being on as we have been given the information below in good faith by the pubs. The General’s Arms in Chesham Broadway has 12 Ciders/Perry on all the time so worth a visit.

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THE CHILTERN TAPLER SPRING 2018 DIARY DATES. (S) = SOCIAL. (M) = MEETING BRANCH CONTACTS MARCH 2018 Sat 3rd March Berko crawl – noon (S), (pubs not done on previous crawl) - The Bull, The Rising Sun, Crystal Palace, The George, Chairman and Press Officer The Lamb Dave Badminton 01494 581797 Wed 7th March Greyhound, Wigginton – 8pm (M) Sat 10th March Ashley Green - noon (S) – The Golden Eagle, The [email protected] Bellcote, Black Cat (Lye Green) Vice-Chairman/Membership Secretary/Brewery Liaison Sat 17th March Chipperfield crawl – noon (S) – Windmill, Two Brewers, Officer (Tring) The Paddock Richard Healey 01494 724686 Sat 24th March Chalfont St. Peter crawl – noon (S) – Jolly Farmer, Membership@MidChilternsCAMRA .org.uk White Hart, Greyhound, Waggon & Horses APRIL 2018 Wed 4th April The Swan, Northall - 8 p.m (M) Sat 7th April Potten End – noon (S) – Mad Squirrel Brewery Tap, Treasurer/Brewery Liaison Officer (MIX) Martins Pond, The Plough and Alford Arms (Frithsden) Charles Teuma 20th to 22nd April CAMRA AGM members weekend, University of [email protected] Warwick, Coventry Sat 21st April Little Chalfont – noon (S) – Craft Beer Shop, The White Lion, The Pomeroy Locale Officer/Brewery Liaison Officer (Haresfoot) Sat 28th April Berko Beer Fest, Berkhamsted Cricket Club, Castle Hill, Roy Humphrey [email protected] Berkhamsted, HP4 1HE Pubs Officer/Branch Contact MAY 2018 Sat 5th May White Hart, Whelpley Hill, Beer Festival from William Powell 07913 939761 noon (S) Wed 9th May The Rose & Crown, Ivinghoe - 8pm (M) [email protected] Sat 12th May Regional Meeting - Banbury Beer Fest, Army Reserve Brewery Liaison Officer (Mad Squirrel) Centre, Banbury, OX16 9AN. Also: Cider Month Chesham Cider crawl: Chris Pontin The Pheasant, The Queens Head, the Mad Squirrel brewery shop, The [email protected] George & Dragon and The Generals Arms. Starts at noon at The Pheasant or 11.45 at Chesham Station. Tapler Editor Sat 19th May Winchmore Hill & Penn Street – noon (S) – The Plough, Jared Ward-Brickett Potters Arms, The Hit or Miss, The Squirrel [email protected] Wed 23rd May BRANCH AGM – Black Cat 8pm (m) Beer Information Officer JUNE 2018 Sat 2nd June Boxmoor Crawl – noon (S) – The Grapes, The Fisheries, Boxmoor Social Club, The Post Office Arms, Three Blackbirds, John Lomax 01494 783198 Steamcoach Cider Officer Wed 6th June Half Moon, Wilstone - 8 p.m. (M) VACANT Sat 9th June Chalfont St. Giles crawl – noon (S) – White Hart, Fox & [email protected] Hounds, Stone Place at the Feathers, Merlins Cave then if time the Ivy House Beer Scores Officer Sat 23rd June Kings Langley crawl – noon (S) Rose & Crown, Saracens, Nigel Harris 0845 644 6700 Old Palace, Toby Carvery, 2 Brews Café Bar (at Kings Langley Football BeerScores@MidChilternsCAMRA .org.uk Club) Webmaster/Social Secretary *Please check the Branch Website for the latest details. Contact the Social Secretary if you need more information. Gill BadmintonWebmaster@MidChilternsCAMRA .org.uk **ADVERTISING RATES: Back Page A5 £140. Middle Page A5 £120. Full Page [email protected] A5 £100. Half Page £60. Quarter Page £40. 10% discount for advance Branch Secretary/Young Members payment for one year/4 issues. Ask Editor for details. Deadline for advertisements/submissions/letters for Summer 2018 edition: Officers – Gareth Hawden & Rachael Frost Saturday 21st April Send to: [email protected] [email protected] TAPLER SUBSCRIPTION: [email protected] Subscribe to the Tapler and have it delivered direct to your door. In order to receive 4 quarterly (seasonal) issues, send 8x2nd class stamps (UK) only, along with your postal address to: Tapler Subs, 10 Dean Field, Bovingdon Herts. HP3 0EW. DISCLAIMER: Views expressed in ‘The Chiltern Tapler’ are not necessarily those of CAMRA LTD., its branches or the editors. Page 27 MIDCHILTERNS BRANCH CAMRA COPYRIGHT © CAMRA Mid-Chilterns Branch 2018: All rights reserved. Produced & Published by the Mid Chilterns Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale. CAMRA HQ: 230 Hatfield Road, St. Albans, Herts., AL1 4BR. www.camra.org.uk PRINTING: solopress.com

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