British Guild Of Beer Writers Newsletter February 2013 WHERE WAS health and safety? Company. As in all things brewing, history ‘Die!’ yelled the wild-eyed never runs in a straight way. Fire once or rather twice again played an important part Scotsman as he swung his in the story of the brewery as two infernos claymore. It hit the low ceiling severely damaged the building. The with a loud clang, before nearly brewery's maltings buildings, though cleaving a table in half. But, the unused, were destroyed by fire in 1994 and another fire in October 1998 destroyed one deed had been done and the of the three original coppers, one of which ‘great chieftain of the pudding was installed in 1869. race’ was split in two. Thankfully, phoenix like Caledonian has I was in Edinburgh along with other Guild always reasserted itself as a brewer of members, who had been invited to a Burns fine ales and as part of the repairs a new night supper at the Caledonian Brewery, yeast room; cask-racking system and new and the haggis was being addressed. tanks were added. Fire has done much to shape the history In 2004, the brewery site and production of the brewery. It was a fire that killed facilities were bought by Scottish & George Lorimer Snr at the Theatre Royal Newcastle following their closure of its in 1865. His son George used his McEwans Brewery in Fountainbridge, inheritance to found the Lorimer & Clark Edinburgh. At the same time, several Caledonian Brewery in 1868 along with his former shareholders and directors of the friend Robert Clark. pre-2004 business joined together and The rest of the story as they say is formed a new Caledonian Brewing history. Well not quite. On George’s Company (CBC). The company owned the death the company was bought by the Caledonian brands and operated the Sunderland based Vaux brewery, which brewery site on behalf of the owners. kept it going until 1986 when production And given that nothing seems to stand was transferred south of the border. still for long — in January 2006, CBC The flames that heated the brewery’s bought Harviestoun Brewery, makers of direct-fired copper were in danger of being Bitter & Twisted and the legendary Old extinguished forever. However, a Engine Oil. management buyout led by head brewer By 2008, S&N was locked in a three-way Russell Sharp kept the dream alive with takeover battle with Heineken and the formation of the Caledonian Brewing Carlsberg. In 2008, S&N bought the CHAIRMAN: Tim Hampson Tel: 01865 245711; 07768 614283 [email protected] TREASURER: Paul Nunny [email protected] SECRETARY: Adrian Tierney-Jones Woodcote, 2 Jury Road, Dulverton, Somerset TA22 9DU Tel: 01398 324314 [email protected] www.beerguild.co.uk BRITISH GUILD OF BEER WRITERS NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2013 remaining shares in CBC to take full control aroma and passion. Best known is Bitter & of the company. Then, with the takeover of Twisted, which is distinguished by rich S&N, Heineken now owned CBC. Harviestoun grapefruit and lemon notes. was not part of the takeover and was retained The company was keen to show off its new by Caledonian's shareholders to run as a visitor centre and beer store. Here we saw separate concern. barrels of Ola Dubh Ale, a strong, gloopy and Fears are often expressed for the future of a viscous beer that was slowly maturing in brewery once a multi-national company, wooden casks from Orkney’s Highland Park especially one that specialises in the distillery. First the cask had contained sherry production of ales, owns it. then whisky and now it was the turn for beer. And given that Heineken’s main brand is a And while we talked and took photographs, pale 5% lager, which is brewed in more than the wood was quietly and assiduously doing 40 breweries around the world, such fears its work of adding soaring whisky notes to the could have some justification. But there is fire beer. TIM HAMPSON in the belly of the management team at With thanks to Stephen Crawley, Guild Caledonian, and the Heineken family have member and managing director of Caledonian, declared that the Caledonian is their favourite who arranged the trip. brewery to visit, for here they can see hands- on craft brewing of the highest order. Today, the fires still burn bright and hot NEWS under the brewery’s three direct fired coppers, A SPECIAL batch of Craft Beer Rising which the brewer claims is the reason why a Festival beer will be brewed in partnership hint of burnt caramel can be detected in the with brewpub The Lamb Brewery. There's a beers, which we drank at the Burns supper. whisper that it's going to be a black IPA with With dinner finished, our wild-eyed, claymore a hint of horseradish. Follow the story on swinging cicerone returned and proceeded to www.facebook.com/craftbeerrising. recite in full the Tam o' Shanter, a narrative Re-established in 2012 from its 1790 origins, poem written by Robert Burns in 1790. the Lamb Brewery in West London is one of Like a manic Tommy Cooper, he told the London’s newest ventures bringing artisan story of Tam, a farmer who gets drunk with beers to the high street. his friends in a pub and then rides home on Craft Beer Rising is an adventurous new his horse Meg. In a mixture of Scots and London beer, music & street food event. English our narrator plays the part of Guild members are welcome to come with a witches, warlocks and even the devil playing guest to enjoy the press and experts session the bagpipes. We get sprayed with water — on Friday February 22, 11am-6pm. Email the narrator drops his trousers, but Guild member Su-Lin Ong, who is also on eventually Tam gets safely home, though the event team, [email protected]. poor old Meg does loses her tail. If you can't make that session, a few The following day we visited Harviestoun, a complimentary tickets are available for other heartening example of the success of Britain’s CALENDAR 2013 new brewers. Life started with a five-barrel • Beer Innovation Summit, Burton-upon-Trent, Feb 12 plant in a barn on a farm in Dollar in 1983, • Craft Beer Rising, London, February 22-23 when it was founded by Ken Brooker, but it has • SIBA BeerX, Sheffield, March 14-16 now moved to a purpose built brewery in Alva, • BGBW lecture on beer and health, White Horse, near Alloa and is producing more than 10,000 London, March 21 barrels of beer a year. Ken is now retired but • European Beer Bloggers Conference, Edinburgh Stuart Cail, who joined the company in 1995, July 12-13 brews his beers and managing director Chris • Great British Beer Festival, Olympia, August 13-17 Miller oversees the whole shebang. The Please send details of any relevant events company’s ethos is to brew beer with flavour, to Adrian Tierney-Jones BRITISH GUILD OF BEER WRITERS FEBRUARY 2013 times. The guest list will close after Feb 18. ingredient, and also showcases the new More details: www.craftbeerrising.co.uk. and interesting ways in which different hop varieties have been used by innovative INSPIRED BY the success of Budvar’s brewers in recent times. For more unpasteurised Yeast Beer in the UK and a information and updates please contact comment by Roger Protz that it would reach [email protected], or 0207 736 2115.’ brewing perfection if only it were completely unfiltered, Adam Broz, Budweiser Budvar’s CORPORATE MEMBER Thornbridge is the brew-master, returned to the drawing board subject of a fascinating book celebrating at the end of last year with brewer Ales beer and food called Craft Union, whose Dvorak (the designer of Budvar’s dark lager) subtitle Matching Beer with Food says it all. to see if they could brew a version that It’s a gorgeous looking book that features would achieve Protz-perfection. They have recipes (some from Guild members), beer done it and this new treat for beer tastings, thirst-invoking photographs and enthusiasts will be widely available in the UK a general sense of beery goodness. It’s the from February completely superseding first book from a British craft beer to version number one. explore this fascinating area. Priced By being completely unfiltered as well as £14.95, you can find more details about unpasteurised, Budvar’s revamped Yeast it at www.thornbridgebrewery.co.uk. Beer raises the bar considerably. Being GUILD MEMBER and Derby CAMRA Winter unfiltered means that it becomes a little hazy Festival Chair Gillian Williams gets touch to in appearance, a bit like a good wheat beer. say that the 12th Derby CAMRA Winter Beer Nowadays the hazy look being regarded as a Festival runs from Wednesday February 20 bit cool and fashionable has led some to Saturday February 23 at The Roundhouse, brewers to induce it. Not so Budvar. Broz Derby College, Pride Park, Derby, DE24 8JE. emphasises that the Budvar Yeast Beer hazy This event is a prelude to the 2014 CAMRA look is produced by a completely natural National Winter Ale Festival (NWAF), which is action of the yeast and is not the result of moving from Manchester to Derby. The 2013 adding alien substances like pectin. Budvar’s Derby Festival has over 300 real ales, real Yeast Beer will now, he says, take drinkers a ciders and perries, continental beers and major step nearer to Budvar’s ultimate goal meads (honey wine).