ALESALES && TALESTALES The newsletter for the Campaign for Real Ale in Stourbridge & Halesowen and Dudley & South Staffordshire SUBSCRIBE Get Me BEFORE I get to the pub www.stourbridgecamra.org.uk www.st ourbridgecamra.org.uk www.stourbridgecamra.org.uk & www.dudleycamra.org.uk& www.dudleycamra.org.uk WYE’S WORDS No. 17 ONE GOOD ROUND “ DESERVES ANOTHER ” HPA is a truly delightful pale ale that gives thirsty real-ale lovers a taste that’s distinctively different. Carefully made using Celeia and locally grown Target hops, HPA is smooth on the palate and boasts a citrus hop aroma leading to a balanced bitter fi nish. 4.0% ABV facebook.com/wyevalleybrewery @wyevalleybrew www.WyeValleyBrewery.co.uk SHARE OUR TASTE FOR REAL LIFE 2 Ales & Tales 24 ALES & TALES ISSUE 24 Articles in this Issue © 2013 Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. Meet the ......Licensee 4 The views expressed in this newsletter Fountain, Lower Gornal are not necessarily those of the Campaign for Real Ale Ltd, or the Green Hop Festival 6 editor. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information in this The Talbot at Knightwick publication is accurate and up to date, no responsibility for errors and National Winter Ales Festival 2014 7 omissions can be accepted. Meet the new kids on the block… 8 ALES & TALES is published by Green Duck Brewery Co! “Stourbridge & Halesowen” and “Dudley & South Staffordshire“ A sixteen mile circular cycle route from 10 branches of CAMRA - the Campaign for Real Ale. Shifnal railway station For advertising, please contact Simon Chocks Away – Trip to the Weighbridge Beer 12 Hanson on [email protected] Festival, Alvechurch or 0845 224 1832. (please leave a message) Manchester Beer Festival 14 Stourbridge & Halesowen List your local 16 Simon Genner Branch contact Email [email protected] Wollaston Crawl 22 Dudley & South Staffordshire Ale in Oswestry Steve Thompson (chair / contact) 25 Tel: (01384) 864817 or email [email protected] Netherton Rangers and their trip to Australia 26 Pete Clarkson Beryl's GBBF dress 30 [email protected] London Circle Line Crawl 32 Editor Simon Hanson National Cider and Perry trip 34 0845 224 1832 [email protected] Apple—Jargon Buster one—Cider 36 Local Consumer Advice whatpub.com 42 For consumer advice in our area, contact: Dudley Trading Standards Festival Diary 42 3 St James's Road, Dudley, DY1 1HZ Tel: 01384 814677, fax: 01384 814670, Event Diary 44 [email protected] Hitchmough’s Lost Pubs 46 Subscibe - To get your copy via post or email To get the next issue via an email link Scan the QR code on the front of this issue or go to bit.ly/18QnCZT . To get a copy posted to you send a cheque for £4 (4 issues). To Simon Hanson, 53 Chawn Hill, Stourbridge, DY9 7JA www.stourbridgecamra.org.uk & www.dudleycamra.org.uk 3 Meet the ......Licensee Fountain, Lower Gornal Name, occupation? What’s the best & worst thing to happen Alan Davis, Owner & Licensee, Fountain, to the industry in the last 5 years? Lower Gornal. The worst is the way supermarkets are selling beers as loss leaders to the detriment What was your first drink? of community pubs and the way beer duty Banks‘s Bitter. increases year on year leads to unfair situations for pubs. What are your hobbies and interests? Riding my motorcycle and supporting What are your aspirations for the Kidderminster Harriers football club. business? Sell it and have a long and happy retirement. What is your favourite beer? How do you think CAMRA could help you Any Real Ale. Titanic Wreckage, in in your business? particular. Host more events in my pub. What is your favourite food? A good curry – Tawa. Which is your favourite pub? (Could be What is your favourite drink that’s not anywhere in the country as long as you don‘t real ale? own it.) Pironi Currently it is the Black Swan in Ironbridge. Best pub of all time is the Vine (Bull & What is your favourite Music? Bladder), the Bathams brewery tap in Northern Soul and Motown Brierley Hill. How did you get started in the trade? By Steve Thompson In the 80‘s my carpet business was in decline. I was stood at the bar in the Red Man in Kidderminster and thought… ―This is the job for me‖. The rest is history. What’s the history of your pub/club? First licensed in 1853. There was an onsite brewery and a community shop. 4 Ales & Tales 24 BathamS Best Bitter £1.99 per bottle a case of 12 bottles SUPPLIES FOR ALL GRAIN BREWING, Bottle Conditioned Real Ale KIT BREWING, WINE & CIDER MAKING Discounts on bottled beer to CAMRA members EQUIPMENT SALES & HIRE G27 Kinver Edge Kits from Kinver Half Centurion FESTIVAL MUNTONS YOUNGS WOODFORDE’S HAMBLETON BARD Kinver Khyber BREWFERM BETTER BREW TOM CAXTON GEORDIE COOPERS Kinver May Bug BREWMAKER SOLOMON GRUNDY Kinver Over The Edge BEAVERDALE WINEBUDDY CANTINA CALIFORNIA CONNOISSEUR CELLAR 7 MAGNUM Exclusive to Brewmonkey AAngengel GGingeringer SStouttout 2727 HIGHHIGH STREET,STREET, CRADLEYCRADLEY HEATH,HEATH, WESTWEST MIDLANDS,MIDLANDS, B64B64 5HG5HG OPPOSITEOPPOSITE TESCOTESCO Tel:Tel: 0138401384 620238620238 www.stourbridgecamra.org.uk & www.dudleycamra.org.uk 5 Green Hop Festival The Talbot at Knightwick We enjoyed the Green Hop festival at the concoction called ‗Rhubarb Cider‘ from Talbot Knightwick in 2012 so much that we ‗Steve the Chef‘ of Pershore. The description decided to make a return trip this year. To say explained that this was not really a cider and the arrangements went smoothly would quite that it probably didn‘t have a name, yet urged frankly be a lie, in fact it was rather a the drinker to try it anyway! headache. Support was so popular for this The local breweries were all well represented, event that we soon, due to a communications with Malvern Hills supplying 3 different green ‗cock-up‘, over-filled the minibus and had to hopped beers. Teme Valley provided 6 of arrange an additional 6-seater taxi to avoid their own beers, including Hop Nouvelle, disappointing any of our members. Emails using green hops. There were also a few from were exchanged with the transport company – outside the region – surprisingly none from the all good so far! other traditional hop growing region of Kent – Then on Saturday 12 October, the majority of including an unexpected offering from the party waited outside the Duke William in Skinner‘s in Cornwall, named simply Green Stourbridge. The taxi with the 4 picked up in Hop, which proved very popular amongst our Halesowen, arrived on time and set off with 2 party. extra passengers from Stourbridge. Next the All the beers were well presented and minibus arrived – empty – the driver had not enjoyable. For old time‘s sake we had to try been informed of the first pick up of 3 people the ‗Green Manalishi‘ 4.5% from Irwell from the New Inn in Wordsley. Not to worry, Works Brewery, Ramsbottom, Lancs. (Yes phone calls were exchanged to reassure the we‘re aging hippies and have fond memories Wordsley 3 that they hadn‘t been forgotten of the ‗real‘ Fleetwood Mac). Musical and were duly picked up. En route the ‘sat- entertainment was belting-out in the marquee nav‘ missed a turn and we ended up travelling and along with pork baps – always works well along a narrow country lane – very well with beer – the day was almost perfect ! negotiated by Taz junior, our driver. This We had arranged the transport to pick us up at route afforded us the most fantastic views of 7 pm – or so we thought. The minibus duly the Worcestershire countryside – a arrived and the passengers climbed aboard. spectacular part of the country, right on our Unfortunately the taxi was late – there doorstep. followed several phone calls between the We were all rather thirsty by the time we got anxious taxi passengers, Adrian, the minibus to the Talbot. The festival offered 36 different driver and his office. Glad to say the taxi did beers, 14 of them brewed using green hops. turn up, an hour late, to transport everyone This year many of the local brewers had safely home. By Joy Stevens collaborated with the hop growers of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire on a project to inform the public about the importance of hops grown in the English midlands. The festival featured a beer from each of the participating breweries. More information on the Hopshires project may be found at www.thehopshires.co.uk. Cider and perry were also available from Oliver‘s of Ocle Pychard, plus a curious 6 Ales & Tales 24 National Winter Ales Festival 2014 19th - 22nd February 2014 The Roundhouse, Derby, DE24 8JE 2014 sees CAMRA‘s National Winter Ales selection of different Brewery‘s beers from all Festival move from Manchester to over the UK. Derby. The venue is historic as Derby‘s The Roundhouse itself will have stillage Roundhouse is the around it serving real ale, world‘s first and oldest cider, perry, continental beer surviving railway and mead (honey roundhouse. It was originally wine). There is a corridor developed in 1839 by four leading to another stillaged rival rail companies, area known as The Carriage including North Midland Room which will include the Railway (NMR) for whom Champion Beer of Britain George Stephenson and his beers to be judged in the 4 son Robert were engineers. style categories. Live music Located in the Midlands, in the evenings will be in an Derby is excellently placed to additional marquee. Overall receive real ale from all the capacity for the venue is around the country thereby 2,500.