T ay Ale ‘let’s keep it flowing’ FREE Newsletter from the CAMRA Tayside Branch

Winter 2014/15

Pitlochry

Aberfeldy Blairgowrie Dundee Perth

Kinross Inside Issue 14 Tayside & Brewery News Tayside Pub List Festival Reports Real Cider & Perry Early Brewing in CAMRA News Membership Benefits Cycle Trails And as always much, much more….

44 MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR READERS

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 2 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 43 Tay Ale Pub Quiz 4 Answers A warm welcome to the latest issue of Tay Ale 1. Counting House (Dundee); Stags Head (); Lochlands (Arbroath); View from the Chair Clova Hotel (Glen Clova); Craigvrack (). th 2014 represented the 40 anniversary of CAMRA in 2. Mor; Loch Ness; Tryst; Eden. Scotland, and a special 44-page booklet has been produced to celebrate the milestone. Copies of the 3. The George Orwell. booklet, which is free, can be found in many of our real 4. The Cyprus (). ale around Tayside; copies also get taken to various 5. ; ; Guildtown; ; ; Crieff. beer festivals. 6. Williams Brothers (Alloa); Strathbraan (); Strathaven. There are a lot of genuinely interesting articles about what ale-drinking life was like in the 1970s (challenging!); in most cases these are written by CAMRA stalwarts who have been supporting the cause for all those years. The particular article about Tayside is from the pen of Forbes Browne, and includes a rare photograph of a long-gone pub called The Windmill, which served real ale on the Hilltown, Dundee. If you can’t find a copy of this booklet, drop me an email ([email protected]) and I’ll post one to you. Real Ale Pubs throughout Scotland www.glasgowcamra.org.uk If you are travelling around the country (list of outlets by sub-area) --- and looking for real ale pubs, the Highlands & Western Isles The reduction in the legal limit for driving is another trying development for websites of all the Scottish CAMRA our rural pubs, the experience of this limit in Ireland being that people do branches have full listings, as indicated www.highlandcamra.org.uk actually observe it. But pub & small hotel owners are resourceful people these below. (all pubs named from map) days, offering good food, good ale, and (often) good music. These attractions Kingdom of Fife make it worth the effort for travellers to go by bus or train, or to team up in a Aberdeen Grampian & Northern Isles car with a designated driver. We’ll all have to make some adjustments, but the www.kingdomoffifecamra.org.uk rewards are worth it. www.aberdeencamra.co.uk (listing by town/village) --- (list by sub-area, with short notes on each) Renfrewshire It may have passed many reader’s notice but CAMRA also campaigns for ‘real’ Ayrshire & Wigtonshire www.renfrewshirecamra.org.uk cider and perry. In this and future issues of Tay Ale, we aim to raise awareness www.ayrshireandwigtownshirecamra.org.uk (listing by town/village, with beer notes) of ‘real’ cider and perry in the hope that more people will also give them a try and discover how deliciously mellow, aromatic and intoxicating the flavours can (list of pubs, by sub-area, with beers Tayside stocked) be.. www.taysidecamra.co.uk Dumfries & Stewartry Alan Lawson Tayside Branch Chairman (listing within sub-areas, with photos, beer- www.dumfriescamra.org.uk notes and descriptions) This issue of the Tay Ale is the second to be produced with colour (list of outlets by sub-area) throughout, on top-quality paper, and we hope that readers and our valued Edinburgh & South-East Scotland advertisers continue to appreciate the improvements. www.edinburghcamra.org.uk (list of outlets by sub-area) Forth Valley www.camra-forth-valley.co.uk (listing by town/village, with photos & notes) Glasgow & West of Scotland

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 42 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 3 TAYSIDE REAL ALE PUB NEWS A Good Excuse ….For a Bike Ride ANGUS In the early days of Tay Ale we featured a number of walks in the vicinity of real ale pubs. In future issues we intend to follow up the ‘healthy lifestyle’ by introducing some Kinloch Arms, Carnoustie: Recently re-opened under new management following an cycling real ale trails in the Tayside area. Of course we are not condoning ‘cycling under extensive refurbishment. Three handpulls dispensing a variety of ales. the influence’ but rather we are hoping to encourage an alternative way of getting to and , Glenisla Hotel: The Glenisla Hotel is under New Management and supporting some of our more rural real ale outlets. We are fortunate that across Tayside was taken over in March 2014 by Husband and Wife Team , Alan and Clare Bell. Two there is a wide range of pubs and hotels located in breath-taking scenery, providing handpulls currently on the bar. accommodation, good food and most importantly serving real ale. The Clova Hotel in Angus is one example, Glen Isla Hotel another, as are the Loch Tummel Inn and the Strathardle DUNDEE & District Inn in ., and there are many others. Kingsway Farm: Recently opened pub eatery under the Farmhouse Inns brand. Back in September I decided that rather than driving up Glen Clova to deliver the 2015 Located on Kingscross Road, Good Beer publicity pack to the Clova Hotel (a regular Campbeltown Bar: Hawkhill bar now dispensing real ale from two handpulls. GBG entry), I would drive through to Forfar and then cycle up Glen Clova and on the return leg call in at the PERTHSHIRE Drovers at Memus. This turned out to be a round trip The Quaich, Crieff: A complete refurbishment (and new name) took place in summer of 39 miles on rather undulating and twisting although 2014 for this establishment on Crieff’s main street; 1 handpull currently on the bar, good roads. The scenery (including stunning views serving local ales. eastwards across Clova to the corries above Loch Brandy and Loch Wharral) and good weather (although The Murraypark Hotel, Crieff: The one handpull in the bar has long served Deuchars a strong westerly) made it all worthwhile. As did the IPA, but the management are now broadening things out and encouraging patrons to live a half-pint ‘energy’ drinks (Timothy Taylor Landlord & little more adventurously! Loch Ness ales have been seen, and others are to be tried Orkney Corncrake) I sampled at both stopping points! soon. Although I started Taybank Hotel, : New local owners Lucy Davidson & Roddy Hand have taken Looking north up Glen Clova my trip in Forfar over the famous (but somewhat run down) Taybank, and recognise that there is much to be done… notices on the wall declare that it is “a work in progress”. On the bar there are (follow signs now 2 handpulls; four had been used in the past, but they feel that standards of ale will northwards for The Glens & then Glen Clova), Angus be better with just the two… usually from the local Strathbraan brewery. And folk music Council (www.angusahead.com/cycling) provides a will continue to be an important feature at the Taybank. detailed route card (Route 3) starting and finishing at Cherrybank Inn, Perth: There are now 6 handpulls in operation at this busy Dykehead which is passed through on the way up from establishment, where weekly real ale consumption is at impressive levels. Outdoor decking Forfar. On return to Dykehead, head eastwards is being planned, so outdoor drinking may be possible next summer. through and then on to Memus (approx. 3 Mackay’s, Pitlochry: Apologies to this establishment on the main street of Pitlochry miles). The Drovers is located just on the southern that they had not been included in our previous Newsletters. Three handpulls dispense a edge of Memus. The return to Forfar (approx. 7 miles) is signposted from variety of ales. Clova Hotel below Ben Reid Memus. ————- If you have any news about developments at your local or other real ale pubs in Tayside By Martin Fox we would like to hear from you. Please contact us at: [email protected] Look out for more real ale cycle trails in future issues of Tay Ale.

Drovers Inn

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 4 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 41

13 Wellmeadow, Blairgowrie, PH10 6ND 01250 872469 [email protected] Tayside’s Premier Real Ale Pub Six beers on hand pump plus real cider.

Multiple Award Winner. Supporting Small Brewers. Proud to be Independent. Nothing Corporate Here!

drinkers’ rights since 1971 and membership is currently approaching a huge 170,000. Without CAMRA, real ale would probably be non-existent today, as might be the hundreds of small new breweries which have been founded since the 1970s. As a member, you can claim your place in keeping alive the centuries-old traditions of ale brewing and cider-making, along with preservation of the traditional Scottish pub in which they are served. By Richard Barnes Tayside CAMRA Membership Secretary

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 40 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 5 Some Thoughts on Early Brewing in Scotland CAMRA has an online Real Ale pub guide The Bank Bar called WhatPub. Members score the real Despite the belief that whisky is and always has been Scotland’s national drink, this is ales they drink in nearly all of Britain’s real probably true only of the highlands and northwest. The east, lowlands and northern isles 7/9 Union Street ale pubs, and these scores are used to all seem to have traditions of ale drinking, though not ale as we know it! As all CAMRA select the best pubs for the Good Beer DUNDEE members are aware, the term originally meant beer brewed without hops, became inter- Guide. changeable with “beer” and was chosen by the founders as being a slightly feistier name The CAMRA Pub Discount Scheme gives Tel: 01382 205037 at a time when bland, over- fizzy keg was rampaging through the country. licensees the chance to promote their real ale offering to card carrying CAMRA In Scotland, the earliest references to alcoholic drink are of ale brewed from a coarse members by offering them money off a pint grain and flavoured with heather and various plants with a number of references to or half pint. You can find pubs that offer “heather ale”. Archaeological and botanical research have shown that brewing probably these discounts near you using CAMRA's took place in Orkney and the Isle of Rum around 3000 BC or earlier, and in Galloway the online pub database whatpub.com remains of what are believed to be Pictish breweries – pear-shaped enclosures on The membership benefit most familiar to hillsides near streams – have been identified. new members is the JD Wetherspoon Vouchers. These are included in the R.L.Stevenson’s poem “Heather Ale” tells the story of the loss of the secret recipe for membership welcome pack and provide each heather ale: new and renewing member with £20 worth of vouchers. In line with both CAMRA’s and “From the bonny bells of heather JD Wetherspoon’s promotion of responsible They brewed a drink long-syne, drinking, the vouchers must be used Local Real Ales Was sweeter far than honey throughout the year to receive 50p off a Was stronger far than wine.” pint per visit to a Wetherspoons or Lloyds Homemade Food Available outlet. and how the secret was denied the Scots by the cunning Picts, also told in Sir Herbert So for those of you who are already Free Live Music Fridays & Saturdays Maxwell’s book “A Duke of Britain” and Neil Munro’s short story in “The Lost Pibroch”, members, what about those benefits you but in fact the recipe, in some form, was never lost. There may well have been a slaugh- may be unaware of? CAMRA membership ter of Picts in Galloway by invading Scots, as told or alluded to in the stories, but “The offers discounts on a wide range of leisure Gallovidian” publication reported that “down to comparatively recent times [heather ale] products and services: was brewed locally in the pear-shaped kilns, notably in the parishes of Minigaff and Kirk- mabreck.”  Cotswold Outdoor Clothing - 10% discount on all non-sale There are also records of heather being used in ale brewing from the 18th century on, in products Islay, Perthshire, Morayshire and Orkney, sometimes as an addition to a malt and hops  cottages4you -10% discount on brew. The social historian F.Marian McNeill tells of an experimental brew in the 1930’s self-catering holiday cottages from a recipe in an old cook book : “ we had to agree it was, but in spite of that it  Hoseasons – 10% off UK was agreeably exhilarating, and behind the bitterness was a faint, heather-scented holidays sweetness.”  Merlin Entertainments Group – A WARM WELCOME TO A SPECIAL up to 52% off entry to UK top Nonetheless, few in Scotland had any knowledge of the existence of the ale or the reci- HOTEL! attractions, pe until the Williams Brothers launched their famous Fraoch Heather Ale. Scott and So much to offer from wonderful meals, Bruce say that they were given a translation of the recipe from a lady of Gaelic descent  National Express – 15% off fine wines, real ales and whiskies. who came into their homebrew shop in 1988, in return for instructions on how to brew it.  Red Letter Days – 20% off all Woodlands Bistro Now Open - Extensive After experiments and tweaking they perfected their version, took over a small brewery brewery tours and “brew a Menu Using Local Produce in the old Taynuilt Station and the rest is history. beer” days For more details of what we can provide to make your visit special, contact:-  Toprooms.com – 10% off I remember my first taste of it in the Fisherman’s Tavern, Broughty Ferry, sometime in ROYAL DUNKELD HOTEL  Beer Hawk – 10% off the 1990’s – it was absolutely excellent, with a strong aroma of heather. Next time was a Atholl Street, Dunkeld PH8 0AR disappointment: there was an unpleasant woody taste, but once consistency was reached, Full details of these products, terms & it became and remained a favourite. conditions and how to book are on the Tel: 01350 727322 CAMRA website www.camra.org.uk/benefits www.royaldunkeld.co.uk By joining CAMRA you become a member The Williams Brothers, of course, went on to experiment with other botanicals and they Car Parking Available at Rear of Hotel developed beers using seaweed, elderberries and gooseberries – the latter from a 16th of the UK’s most successful campaign. We century monk’s recipe. As well as heather, there is evidence that spruce, royal fern, dar- have been campaigning for real ale, pubs & nel, bog myrtle and meadowsweet were used in the past to flavour alcoholic drink and in (Continued on page 40)

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 6 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 39 some cases, possibly like hops, as preservatives. Hops can be grown in Scotland – I have seen them on the Galloway coast and, not surprisingly, in the Caledonian Brewery yard – but given our climate, it is not surprising that they have never flourished and that other ingredients were found to flavour ales.

No concrete evidence exists that the Picts brewed heather ale – not surprisingly, since they did not go in for written records of their lives – but the Greek explorer Pytheas reported that they brewed a potent drink and the wine-drinking Romans did mention ale in north Britain, albeit disparagingly. Lack of records also makes it difficult to do other than speculate how brewing developed and given the minimal fermentable material in heather flowers, what produced the alcohol. Given that brewing from malted barley did not reach Scotland until the 12th or 13th century, honey is a possibility – mead being popu- lar further south – and it has been suggested that because sheep nibbled the tips of gorse and broom and became somewhat inebriated, these plants might have been noted by shepherds and used in early brews!

By Forbes Browne (Pintale)

Why Join CAMRA? The Benefits of CAMRA Membership Some of you reading this will already have joined CAMRA - the ; others will be thinking about joining, while many may not have considered the benefits of membership. For a mere £24 per year, you receive CAMRA’s monthly colour newspaper informing you of beer and pub news plus listings of events and beer festivals nationwide. You will also receive a quarterly copy of the magazine ‘BEER' which is packed with superb features on pubs, beers, ciders and breweries. If you are under 26 or over 60 then you qualify for a reduced annual membership fee of £15.50. There is a CAMRA Young Members Group which every young member (18 to 30) is part of. You can contact the YMG at [email protected]. There are also joint and life membership categories available. CAMRA has a UK-wide network of some 200 local branches; our Tayside Branch covers the former Tayside Region, comprising Perth & , Dundee and Angus. Meetings are held normally monthly at pubs throughout Tayside. While we welcome members, guests and non-members alike to our meetings, membership entitles you to vote on decisions taken, such as selection of our Pub of the Year. As a member you are entitled to become involved in CAMRA’s Active Campaigning to save pubs and breweries under threat of closure, for the right to receive a Full Pint and a reduction in beer duty that will help Britain's brewing industry survive. There is a CAMRA Member Investments Club too. Membership provides a wide range of discounts: CAMRA produce a variety of books every year and as a member you are entitled to discounts on all of the books we produce including CAMRA's best-selling, annual Good Beer Guide. There is also discounted entry to over 160 beer festivals across the UK each year.

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 38 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 7

We will We do whiskyfor and gin exactly what we have craftforbeer. Keep it

ThisSeptember, something monumental ishappening in Scotland, Eden

Brewerywill evolve become to Eden.Mill Distillery & Brewery, making us small scale. Keepitidiosyncratic. Keepitfor idealists, purists and those

The Corn Exchange edenmillstandrews.com/trade Market Place

wetherspoon find To out moreabout our limited editionwhisky and gin, visit whoknow theirown (malts mind and botanicals), likewe do.

Arbroath WHISKY GIN AND

Tel: 01241 432430 TO GOING IS BE

With up to 8 handpulls offering regular and ever changing Scotland

guest ales The Corn Exchange has been a regular entry in THING BIG (Not to mention from a a brewery) from to (Not mention

CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide. Located just off the High Street BREWERY & DISTILLERY

this well-managed Wetherspoon pub occupies a 19th century THENEXT ’

former corn exchange. Although largely open plan there are a sonly distillery and brewery one. in ST ANDREWS ST

number of booths offering some privacy. EDEN.MILL An extensive menu is served from 8am until 10pm.

Children are welcome until 9pm. orgive a us wee on01334 call 834038

TINY.

IN

Tayside CAMRA Pub of the Year 2014 - Nominations Please! We are inviting all CAMRA Tayside branch members to help us select our Tayside Pub of the Year (POTY) and Newcomer of the Year for 2014. At this stage we are asking branch members to forward nominations for Tayside POTY and best Newcomer by 31 December 2014. We then will draw up a short list for consideration at our January meeting (7:30pm Tuesday 13th January - Milton Inn, ). If you are a CAMRA member resident in Tayside, please send your nominations for Tayside POTY and Newcomer of the Year by email to: [email protected] Please include your name, CAMRA membership number and most importantly, why you think your nomination should be considered for Tayside POTY or best Newcomer. Please show Tayside POTY 2014 in the email subject box. The only stipulation is that all nominations must be located in the Tayside area. NB: Newcomer of the Year nominations are for pubs / hotels which have only started serving real ale in the past 12 months. For consideration, all nominations must be received by 31 December 2014.

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 8 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 37 For more information about real cider and perry, visit the main CAMRA website and follow the links.

By Martin Fox

Glenisla Hotel "A Warm and Friendly Welcome" UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT OPEN 7 DAYS 6 ENSUITE ROOMS TRADITIONAL HOME COOKED FOOD SERVED DAILY FROM 12 NOON A SELECTION OF REAL ALES ROARING LOG FIRE PET FRIENDLY Are you thinking about setting up FREE WIFI

a brewery? TEL. 01575 582223

www.glenisla-hotel.com Scotia Welding & Fabrication The Strathardle Inn is a traditional family run country (see advert on p.16) has been inn nestled by the River Ardle just outside Kirkmichael operating for 20 years from the in the heart of the Perthshire highlands. Borders, between Lauder and Open all day, every day, offering delicious home Greenlaw. Run by qualified welder cooked food with local ingredients along with local cask ales as featured in the Good Beer Guide 2015. James Sampson, it has moved into the specialist business of adapting and

constructing bespoke brewing equipment. The geographical spread of

customers is now from Shropshire to the Highlands. 'Sam' is now working on

whisky distilling equipment as well. And [email protected] has constructed his own pilot brewing

plant at his premises! Bar - Restaurant - Accommodation - Free Wi-Fi Beer garden - Dog friendly - Log fires - Free parking

The Strathardle Inn, Kirkmichael, Blairgowrie, Perthshire PH10 7NS

Tel: 01250 881224 Email: [email protected]

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 36 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 9 My Favourite Pub….on THIS planet: The Inn support for real cider & perry is as equally important as that for real ale. By Garry Sharp (Branch Treasurer) At a recent CAMRA Tayside branch meeting the consensus was that we ought to do something to promote real cider and perry so we agreed that we should include a ‘real

 The landlord and landlady: Rab & Susan cider and perry’ section in Tay Ale. As you can probably guess, I’m not the most informed Wallace person on real cider and perry matters, in fact ‘hardly informed’ is perhaps a more accurate description but I volunteered in my capacity as Tay Ale editor to produce  Well-mannered canines on site: Otis & Ruadh something for this issue. As a starting point I did trying contacting CAMRA HQ for a who make my own dog very welcome! possible informative article on cider & perry and my request was referred to the ‘Apple Committee’ but in the timescale for this edition they could not provide something. I was  Kasha the cat, so chilled out that when a however advised it was ok to pull some information from the CAMRA website which I customer moved the barstool she was asleep opted to do and some of which is reproduced below. So, if you didn’t know already……. on she didn’t even blink! Real cider is a long-established traditional drink which is produced naturally from apples  Regular folk nights (every Wednesday evening and is neither carbonated or pasteurised. Unlike real ale production, which can happen at but please check beforehand). any time of the year, real cider & perry can only be made when the fruit is ripe. Great skill goes into producing both products. Great store is placed by the Brewer in the quality  Good hearty food – my favourite, chicken Jalfrezi made to the level of heat I of ingredients and variety of flavours created by the malt, hops, yeast and water used to desire. brew the beer.  A choice of 3 regularly changing cask ales. It is a Cider Maker rather than a Brewer that makes cider & perry. They may use a mixture of bittersweet and bittersharp cider apples or sweet dessert apples, or a  2 annual real ale festivals. mixture of the two to make cider. Perry is normally made from perry pears, but can be made from dessert pears.  Good selection of malt whisky for one’s nightcap! The choosing, pressing and blending of the fruit to make cider or perry is just as much  Breakfast: Full Scottish with black pudding, coffee, toast & fruit juice. of a craft as making beer, and produces a vast range of tastes, styles and aromas, similar to those produced in fine wine. Like wine, each year's fruit produces a unique vintage, so  Coal fire if you’re feeling the chill or tables & much so that cider and perry have been sometimes called 'The Wine of the West'. chairs out front & in the beer garden if you are October is a very active time for cider makers, especially for those who make only a made of hot stuff! small amount of cider. Harvest time for cider fruit is roughly from September to  A simple user-friendly, online booking system November and by October production is in full flow. to help check room availability and make Depending on facilities and turnover in the licensed premises, real cider is usually served reservations. from a polycask or similar container on or behind a bar, (Most festival goers will probably have seen these.)  I am registered disabled (balance & memory stuff) and stayed for one night with my mostly Real cider is in a similar situation to that which faced real ale some 30 years ago with trained assistance dog. We went for the wee the number of outlets for real cider diminishing, even in the West Country. The situation bedroom (no.6) and it ticked all our boxes. They even with perry (which is made from pears) is even worse, as it is rarely available away from allowed access to the beer garden for a canine the farm gate. It is unfortunate that many of the best known ciders in the UK are cold, Rab & Sue receiving CAMRA Tayside fizzy keg products which have been produced artificially rather than naturally. CAMRA POTY 2013 runner-up award needing relief during the night (from the snoring!) The facilities ideally cater for & exceed all of my has been campaigning for real cider and perry since 1988 working hard in support of real needs; I was delighted. cider & perry consumers. CAMRA has designated October as Cider & Perry Month, in the same way as May is designated as Mild Month. CAMRA’s National Cider Pub of the Year is  The ales which are always in good form and served in good order are a particular usually announced to coincide with the start of Cider & Perry Month and this year’s pleasure. winner was the Castle Inn, West Lulworth, Dorset. The Castle Inn is a traditional 16th century thatched roofed pub and at any one time has around fifty to sixty (yes...50 to  The highlight of our stay was the folk night where local talented individuals 60!) different real ciders available. Even I as an infrequent cider drinker am attracted turned up and gave it plenty, and this happens every week at no charge! Bring by that prospect! along your weapon of choice or just get some air in your lungs! CAMRA Tayside branch will endeavour to identify pubs and hotels serving real cider in  Ambience leaves you feeling a friend rather than just a visitor. Tayside and update our Real Ale Pubs list accordingly. If you can share some news about real cider in your local, etc. please contact me at: [email protected]

(Continued on page 36)

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 10 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 35 Real Cider & Real Perry In this issue of Tay Ale we include reports on the recent Alloa and Carlisle Real Ale festivals. I don’t know about other Tay Ale readers but I personally look forward to any festival I attend as a chance to sample a range of different beers but especially as an opportunity to search out those ales I’ve never had before. I guess that with a large number of ales to select from at most real ale festivals then this must be the main reason that there is always one area that gets no more than a cursory glance from me, and that is the ‘real cider and perry’ section. It’s not that I don’t like cider but I’ve got to admit that when I peruse festival ‘menus’, I note that most ciders and perry tend to have fairly high ABVs. If I was to try one or two I’d be a bit ‘worried’ about (1) the impact on my coherency, (2) my ability to stand up, and most importantly (3) my ability to sample more than just 3 or 4 pints. PRINT MATTERS Also, although I’m not now 100% convinced that it is fact,, as a youngster I was once told that the only way to tell if a good scrumpy was ready for drinking was to throw in a dead cat and when only the skeleton was left it was good to pour. I’m a cat lover so potential cruelty to cats (even deceased cats) is another important consideration I have as to whether or not I should give real cider ago! If any reader can confirm or refute the understanding I’ve grown-up with then I’d be happy (or potentially not) to hear from you. Irrespective of my own personal preference for ‘real ale’ and my lack of adventure when it comes to crossing the room to the ‘dark side’ it is evident that there are many festivals goers who ‘are only there for the cider’ so to speak. And when you start to research a wee bit as I did for this piece, then you start to understand why CAMRA’s campaign and

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 34 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 11 Tayside CAMRA Pub of the Year 2011 The Cherrybank Inn 210 Glasgow Road, Perth PH2 ONA Booking and Information Tel: 01738 624349 Fax: 01738 444962 The Cherrybank Inn, with its large car park, can be found easily. When entering Perth from the A9 down the Glasgow Road, take the 2nd right then immediately left - and there it is!

Tayside CAMRA Newsletter

Situated at the western entrance to Perth (from the A9), The Cherrybank Inn has been a popular venue for passing travellers for over 200 years. Featuring well appointed rooms with en-suite facilities, good food, excellent staff and a high standard of service, suitable for tourists or business people alike - also ideally situated for golfing parties. We are regularly listed in the Good Beer Guide and always have a minimum of five real ales on draught including several from the award winning Inveralmond Brewery in Perth. Ample car parking available.

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 12 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 33 www.cornishorchards.co.uk

Inveralmond Brewery News A Belgian ale called DE MONS has been developed as another of our Inspiration Series. This 6% abv abbey-style beer is craft brewed with its authentic Belgian top-fermenting ale yeast. De Mons is described by head brewer Ken Duncan as “apricot gold with hints of clove fig & raisin on the nose, and a malty biscuit palate, to render it excessively drinkable and truly scrumptious!” It will be available very shortly in 330ml bottles; however, a small amount is being conditioned in its unfiltered form and might possibly be found at the Ericht Alehouse in time for Christmas. We have another new member of our brewing staff; Kieran German is training up on the dark arts of brewing, fermentation, conditioning and racking. A leading authority in single malt whiskies, he is believed to have a PhD in Jacobite History to boot! Wonderful things are also happening underneath the Pear Tree in Edinburgh. As we go Tayside CAMRA Facebook Page to print, a 2½ bbl brewing plant is being installed at Usher’s of Edinburgh in Nicolson Street. Usher’s (anybody remember that name from the dim & distant past !?!) will be If you're interested in keeping up-to-date with all the latest news from the supplying draught unfiltered beers brewed on the premises by our own Graeme Tayside CAMRA branch, why not "Like" our new Facebook page? We list details Hirstwood, just as soon as a licence to brew is granted by HM Customs & Excise. We of all the upcoming events and meetings, and it’s a great way to stay in touch wish him good luck and look forward to the grand opening! with us. You can find us at;

http://www.facebook.com/TaysideCAMRA

or scan the QR code. See you there!

And if you’re not into Facebook don’t forget our branch Beer Festivals website: For information about those in Tayside and further afield visit the following: http://www.taysidecamra.co.uk/ www.taysidecamra.co.uk/beerfestivals www.camra.org.uk/beerfestivals Please refer to page 42 for other Scottish branches web addresses

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 32 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 13 Tayside Branch Contacts (Web address: TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK ) Autumn Beaches, Gardens and Beer: A Cornish Break Chair (& webmaster): Alan Lawson - 01382 732613 A trip to Cornwall in October wasn’t primarily about beer or cider but rather a late ( [email protected] ) break to be spent more centred on windswept beaches and gardens in autumn colours. At first glance, opportunities for sampling local ales would be particularly limited as the time Vice-Chair: Forbes Browne - 01382 731563 was to be split between nights in the campervan on the coast and a forest lodge miles from the nearest pub. However, armed with the latest edition of the Good Beer Guide, Secretary & Branch Contact: Tom McLaughlan which is permanently kept in the campervan, it was possible to get a good idea of what ( [email protected] ) Cornwall has to offer and to be a good taster for future visits. Treasurer: TBC ( treasurer@taysidecamra. co. uk ) A quick check of the GBG showed there are currently 29 breweries in Cornwall! Most Membership: Richard Barnes (membership@taysidecamra. co. uk ) of these are small scale microbreweries but it includes Sharp’s, which since 2011 is part of Molson Coors and have moved into mass brewing supplying their ‘Doom Bar’ far and Newsletter: Martin Fox - 01241 870248 wide. St Austell, founded in 1851 and still an independent family owned brewery, has cask beer in all its 170 pubs and proved to be a good bet when seeking real ale in most places ( [email protected] ) that I visited, particularly if no GBG listing. Their 4.2% Tribute, a finalist in the CAMRA To make sure your membership details are correct, please visit the 2014 Beers of the Year, was also available on handpump at the restaurant and hotel at CAMRA website where amendments can be made on-line. Watergate Bay near where we camped and became my most regular tipple. The Surfers pub here also sold Atlantic ‘Fistral’ a 5.2% crisp golden citrusy beer. Skinner’s Brewery is another independent family owned venture established in 1997 at Truro, which uses only local barley and has a wide range of beers, several of which are also CAMRA award winners. I sampled an excellent pint of their 4.8% ‘Porthleven’ golden citrus ale on the riverside terrace at the Galleon Inn, the only free house in Fowey and selected from the GBG. There were also several other old stone-flagged, timber-beamed Tayside Real Ale Pubs Kinloch Arms Hotel Royal Arch pubs nearby, mostly serving St Austell real ales, that looked very tempting. Stag's Head Ship Inn The following Inns and Station Hotel Dundee Both St Austell and Skinner’s offer regular brewery tours and have great looking Hotels are known to sell Finavon Bank Bar tasting rooms and shops, so are well worth a visit. (or to have recently sold) Finavon Hotel Braes The nights spent in the forest lodge didn’t prove to be the ‘desert’ that I anticipated. cask-conditioned ale. Forfar Campbeltown Bar The ‘Retreat’ shop and café, the only place where you could get internet connection, sold Please let us know about Osnaburg Capitol (Lloyds) a good range of Cornish bottled beers and ciders. This included the excellent ‘Proper the quality of real ales on Stone Cask and Cork Job, a 5.5% golden bitter beer from St Austell Brewery and a CAMRA Champion Bottled offer (see page 39), Plough Inn Cerberus Beer in 2012. They also sold Cornish Orchards 4.8% draught ‘Farmhouse Cider’ out of a The Stag Clark’s particularly if you think ‘Bag-in-Box’. Even better, at my request, they also opened up a box of the 7.2% 2012 Glen Clova Counting House CAMRA Gold Champion ‘Vintage Cider’ and sold it at the same price. This didn’t do a lot Good Beer Guide inclusion Glen Clova Hotel Drouthy’s for my abilities to keep surfing the internet! is merited. We make no Kirriemuir Duke’s Corner claims as to the quality of Roods Bar George Orwell The only other micro-brewery beer that I the beer and you should Kirkton of Glenisla Gourdie Croft (Beefeater) managed to try was the 3.8% ‘Cornish Shag’ copper- note that some pubs Glenisla Hotel Kingsway Farm coloured session beer in the Roseland Inn at Philleigh; originally brewed on the premises since listed may only stock real Nether Inn Memus Nicoll’s 2009, the barmaid informed me that this particular ale on a seasonal basis brew had been ‘outsourced’ to one of the three (annotated S). Drovers Inn Pillars Monifieth Phoenix small breweries at Redruth. Angus Milton Inn Playwright restaurant This trip proved to be very much only a ‘reccie’ Arbroath Montrose Speedwell (Mennies) and demonstrated that it would take many more Corn Exchange George Hotel Star and Garter trips to exhaust the real ale and ciders on offer in Corner Bar Market Arms Taybridge Cornwall, I will be back. Trades House Bar Lochlands Bar Dundee & District Brechin By Barnhill Brechin Arms Doubletree by Hilton Bill Grigg Cambustay Brown Horse / Stables Panmurefield Broughty Ferry Caledonian Hotel Bell Tree www.atlanticbrewery.com ; www.sharpsbrewery.co.uk Anchor Carnoustie West Ferry Fisherman's www.skinnersbrewery.com ; www.staustellbrewery.co.uk Aboukir Hotel Taychreggan Hotel Jolly’s Hotel

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 14 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 31 Kinross-shire Atholl Arms Hotel Muthill Kinross Royal Dunkeld Hotel Barley Bree Green Hotel Perth Arms Pitcairngreen Kinross Curling Club Taybank Hotel Pitcairngreen Inn Kirklands Hotel Errol, Strathtummel Muirs Inn Rattray’s Restaurant Loch Tummel Inn Glenshee Village Inn Dalmunzie Hotel, South Perthshire Kirkmichael (south of Perth) Well Inn Kirkmichael Hotel Abernethy Wester Balgedie Strathardle Inn Crees Inn Balgedie Toll Tavern Kinloch Arms Smiddy Haugh Hotel Perth City Abbotsford Inn Meikleour Hotel Craigrossie Hotel Bridgend Bar Moulin Bridge of Earn Capital Asset Moulin Inn Cyprus Cherrybank Inn Pitlochry Dunning Christie’s Auld Smiddy Kirkstyle Inn Dickens Craigvrack Hotel Foundry Festival Theatre Glendevon Glover Arms Kingfisher (Fisher's Hotel) Tormaukin Hotel Greyfriars McNabs Glen Farg Isle of Skye Hotel McKays Bein Inn Lovat Hotel Old Mill Inn Hotel The Maltings Scone Old Ship Inn Scone Arms If your local serves ‘real ale’ MòR Brewing News Royal Bar Wheel Inn and is not included in this The Sandeman Stanley listing please let us know. MòR Brewing recently launched a beer in memory of The Tavern Tayside Hotel Thank you. Dundee musician, Michael Marra, called Hermless. A 4.0% ale, the beer was initially launched in the Taybridge Bar, East Perthshire West Perthshire Dundee (the bar features in a few of Michael’s songs). (north of Perth and east of (north of Perth and west of This ale has since been available in a number of local pubs the A9) the A9) in Dundee and Angus, namely the Taybridge Bar, Aberfeldy Speedwell Bar, Phoenix Bar, Ship Inn, Royal Arch, Milton Airlie Street bar Black Watch Inn (Monifieth), Drovers Inn (Memus) and Lossett Inn Losset Inn Schiehallion (Alyth). Ardler Aberfeldy/ Two MòR ales (MòR Tea Vicar (3.8%) & MòR Please (4.5%)) are now available in bottles The Tavern Ailean Chraggan in selected Spar stores throughout Scotland. Following on from Aldi’s successful Bankfoot Summer Ale Festival, MòR Please (4.5%) bottles were available in every Aldi store in Macdonald Arms Hotel Bankfoot Inn Scotland for their Winter Ale Festival. And with Christmas market in mind, the brewery Birnam Crieff is producing presentation packs containing two bottles and a pint glass for sale prior to Birnam Hotel / Tap Murraypark Hotel Christmas. They also plan to bottle the ‘Michael Marra Hermless’ ale in time for Quaich Bar Christmas. Atholl Arms Hotel Tower Hotel Blairgowrie MòR Brewing continue to supply cask ale to outlets in Tayside, Fife and Edinburgh and Ericht Alehouse Fortingall Hotel are currently exploring availability in other areas. In a further development, they are Fair o Blair looking at working with Gilbert Grossett of Grossett’s Butchers and Garry Watson of Royal Hotel The Tully hostel Gordon’s Restaurant to see how locally produced ale can be used in food. Stormont Arms Kenmore Blairgowrie (Rattray) Kenmore Hotel Old Cross Inn Courtyard Restaurant Bridge of Cally (Taymouth Mains) Bridge of Cally Hotel Dunkeld Ben Lawers Hotel

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 30 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 15 Speedwell Bar (Ma Mennie’s) at The Royal Arch Bar at West End (Perth Road) Dundee Broughty Ferry

By Dundee Tel: 01382 779741

CASK MARQUE accredited **** CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2015 Trading Standards Offices: For issues such as consistent short measures or no price lists, contact: **** CASK MARQUE accredited Angus – 01241 435600 Perthshire – 01738 476476 Listed in CAMRA’s CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2015 Dundee – 01382 434000 NATIONAL INVENTORY of Eat Scotland acclaimed for food quality heritage pubs ************* ******* www.royal-arch.co.uk www.mennies.co.uk

Advertising in Tay Ale Tay Ale could not be produced without the support of our advertisers many of whom have supported us since our first issue in 2008. With 2250 copies of Tay Ale printed and distributed twice yearly throughout Tayside and beyond, why not raise the profile of your pub, hotel or brewery by placing an advert in our next issue due November 2014. We are always seeking to improve Tay Ale and this issue is our second full colour publication. Providing we continue to maintain the support of our advertisers it is our intention to print future issues in the same format and also look to increase our circulation. If you would like to place an advert in the next issue of Tay Ale, please contact Martin Fox on 01241 870248 (or via our branch email address) for more information and details of our rates. [email protected] Please note that adverts are accepted on condition that inclusion does not necessarily imply an endorsement or approval of content.

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 16 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 29

TAYSIDE CAMRA BRANCH DIARY Kenny Smith’s Grand Day Out - THE CARLISLE BEER FESTIVAL Isn’t First Scotrail’s Club 55 promotion a great incentive? At certain times of the year Weekday meetings are held on a Monday or Tuesday being able to travel anywhere in Scotland and even across the border to Carlisle or and start at 7.30pm. Berwick on Tweed for £19 return!! So 07:50 on a warm bright November 1st found me (solo due to friends Avril & Bruce having washing machine problems) at Dundee railway Please check either What’s Brewing, our website station heading to Carlisle for the Carlisle Real Ale Festival (30 October - 1 November) (WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK), Facebook page or hosted by the Solway CAMRA Branch. I intended to catch the 08:29 to Edinburgh, but contact Branch Secretary for details of branch due to engineering work the Perth trains were leaving from Dundee, so there was one at meetings and social events during 2015. 08:02, ( 158 726 ) getting me into Waverley at 09:22, and with time for a bit of train spotting (did you guess?) before the 10:12 ( 185 103 ) to Airport, arriving in Tuesday 13th January 2015 Milton Inn Carlisle at 11:25. Monifieth After finding a wee café for some sustenance, I retraced my steps to the Hallmark Hotel (about 12 paces from the station exit). Following the "Real Ale" signs I entered Monday 9th February 2015 Bank Bar Dundee the splendid Ballroom, showed my membership card, paid my £1.00 entrance, collected my Monday 16th March 2015 The Ship Perth fixture list, left some copies of ‘Tay Ale’ & 40 Years of Scottish CAMRA, collected 1/2 pint tumbler (recycled from other festivals), took a deep breath and headed for the bar All Tayside CAMRA members are very welcome to attend branch meetings and at the far end of the room. social events. We would especially welcome new members. With payment by vouchers purchased on entry (1/2 pint increments), I started with a For The Attention of all CAMRA Members half of Cumbrian Legendary Ale AMERICAN INVASION 5.0 %, found a wee seat and perused the fixture list, noted the 4 I’d had before & the 6 that had bit the dust, the To ensure your CAMRA membership details are correctly recorded, please Ales were set out alphabetically by brewery, Andrews - Yates, with a fair selection of the ensure you notify CAMRA HQ of any change of address or other contact 50 ( 23 ) coming from the Border area, (full list on local website), ABV ranged from 2.6 - details. 7.5 , variety from pale to / . This will ensure you continue to receive your monthly copy of What’s Brewing As the afternoon progressed I was joined by Grant & Tony, a couple of local CAMRA and the quarterly Beer magazine as well as other CAMRA communications. members (& Carlisle United supporters), a good blether ensued about ale, football, politics & everything under the sun. As the day drew to a close (and with the Ale running out and Tony having left) Gary & I adjourned to the Woodrow Wilson to check out the Wetherspoons festival (3 on that I hadn't had). Taking leave of my new best friend, Tony, I returned to the station to catch the 19:02 ( 221 107 ) to Waverley. Hoping to get a pint in Edinburgh, I found there was a train at 20:44 ( 170 458 ) ( would have been the Perth train ) to Dundee, so I caught this, arriving back in Dundee at 22:00 in time for a pint of HANDSOME DEVIL 4.3 % from Thwaites in the Bank Bar. A cracking day out, and I’m recommending that we try to organise a branch trip to the Carlisle Festival next year when hopefully the Club 55 promotion will be on again! Ales sampled: AMERICAN INVASION 5.0 Cumbrian Legendary Ales; BIBBLE 4.2 Wild; SMALL BEER 2.6 Quantum; CUMMERTREES 4.0 Andrews; CUMBRIAN Ale 4.2 Yates *; BRIM FELL 4.5 Hesket Newmarket; ERIMUS Pale Ale 3.9 Truefitt; REDRUM 4.2 Nine Standards; DARK HORSE 3.5 Winster Valley; CASTLE MILLS Mild 3.6 Chadwick (new brewery); SALTIRE CROSS 4.5 Sulwath. * My beer of the festival By Kenny Smith Frank Benzies Advert

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 28 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 17 (a) Real Ale in Northern Donaghmore Brewery Ireland Brewer’s House/McAusland’s 3) Owned by the The Losset Inn, Alyth Bangor Bar Whitewater Brewery Jenny Watts Killinchy 4) Licensed restaurant, Ballymena Daft Eddy’s not a pub Spinning Mill Enniskillen Belfast Linen Hall (1) Appendix courtesy of “The Crown Liquor Saloon Hillsborough Ulster Ale”: Kings Head Hillside Horatio Todd’s Plough Inn Botanic Inn Holywood John Hewitt Dirty Duck The Bridge House (1) Lisburn Molly’s Yard (4) Tap Room (2, 4) Sunflower Tuesday Bell Errigle Londonderry/Derry Point Bar & Grill Diamond (1) Garrick Bar Ice Wharf (1) Bittles Bar Newtonards Carrickfergus Spirit Merchant (1) 2 Real Ales – Real Cider – Malt Whiskies Central Bar (1) Saintfield Home cooked locally-sourced food 5pm – 11pm Carrickmore White Horse (3) Poker Tree En-suite accommodation – Free WiFi – Log fire Coleraine 1) Part of the JD Tel: 01828-634153 www.lossetinn.co.uk Old Courthouse (1) Wetherspoon / Donaghadee Lloyd’s No 1 chain 1 Losset Rd, Alyth, Perthshire, PH11 8BT Moat Inn 2) Owned by Hilden

2016 GOOD BEER GUIDE PUB SELECTION Tay Ale Pub Quiz no.4 Have you wondered how CAMRA selects pubs for the annual Good Beer Guide? Each (20 points available) CAMRA branch is responsible for the entries in its area within the county and each listed pub must consistently serve real ale (and real cider if offered) of good quality. 1. Unravel the following anagrams to reveal 5 real ale pubs or hotels in Tayside: To help us do this, we collect beer quality information through CAMRA’s National Beer Sue Hunting Coo; Stage Dash; Coll Shand; Vocal Thole; Viagra Crck. Scoring System (NBSS) in which members are asked to contribute scores for pubs 2. Which breweries are located in these 4 places: throughout the year. It is easy to score your beers in NBSS. Log in to CAMRA’s online pub guide, WhatPub ( http://whatpub.com ) using your membership number and the same Kellas; Drumnadrochit; Larbert; Guardbridge. password that you use to enter the CAMRA national website. Search for the pub and th enter a score for each beer that you drank in the Submit Beer Scores panel on the right 3. Which real ale pub in Dundee is named after a famous 20 century writer? of the screen. There is plenty of help and information about NBSS on the Beer Scoring 4. Which real ale pub near Perth has the name of a Mediterranean island? tab. 5. In which communities are the following 6 Tayside real ale pubs to be found? A version of WhatPub optimised for use on a smart phone was launched in August and a downloadable app will appear later, so you can score your beer in the pub while you drink The Drovers Inn; Roods Bar; The Anglers; The Kirkstyle; The Barley Bree; it! If you don’t have online access at all, then ask your NBSS Coordinator at a branch meeting for paper forms and we will enter your scores for you. We ask members to score The Quaich. the pubs continually not just once or twice. NBSS works across the country not just in 6. Which breweries produce these 3 beers? Joker IPA; Look West; our branch. If you are not a member but would like your opinions of beer quality in pubs Clydesdale. (Answers on Page 42) to count, then join CAMRA!

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 18 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 27 CAMRA Scotland Issues (1) Pub Company reform Reform of the terms & conditions imposed by big pub-companies on their tenants is currently under review north and south of the border. The Scottish Government is to consider evidence on whether the new Pubs Code and Adjudicator should apply in Scotland; 99% of tied licensees agree that protections to be afforded to tied licensees in & Wales should also be enacted in Scotland. CAMRA’s Scottish Director, Ray Turpie,, recently put our position to Fergus Ewing, the Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism … Pub Company Reform is an issue critical to the longevity and well-being of Scotland’s beer and pubs industry. For too long, large pub companies (those with over 500 pubs) have been taking more than is fair or sustainable from pub profits, leaving their licensees struggling to make a living. Research shows that 74% of those tied to the large pub companies consider themselves worse off as a result of their tie, with 64% of large pub-co licensees earning less than £15,000 a year. The detrimental effects of the current pub-co model mean that the sector is unable to attract and retain talented publicans. The introduction of a Statutory Code and independent Adjudicator as part of the Small Business, Enterprise, and Employment Bill for England & Wales represents a big step forward in helping to ensure thousands of publicans are protected from unfair practices. The Adjudicator will be empowered to ensure that the tied licensee and pub company relationship is subject to a requirement of fair and lawful trading, ensuring that tied licensees are no worse off than a free-of-tie tenant. Still, things are looking a lot more promising than they were on previous visits to the CAMRA believes it is vital that the Scottish Government also introduce a legislative Republic in the 1990’s and the North in the 2000’s. Given past experience in Scotland, it consent motion to ensure licensees are provided with the same protection across can only get better. Scotland. By Forbes Browne (2) How the Rates System penalises pubs & hotels (by Colin Valentine, National Chairman of CAMRA) When domestic rates were abolished in Scotland in 1989, to be replaced by what became known as the poll tax and, subsequently, the council tax, business rates remained and have been a bone of contention with the licensed trade ever since. However, last year, the Scottish Government launched “Supporting Business – Promoting Growth Business Rates Consultation” with a view to reviewing and amending the current business rates. This was an ideal opportunity to correct the anomaly whereby every other business in Scotland’s rateable value is based on their square footage, but for pubs and hotels it’s based on their turnover – not profit, but turnover. Market Bar Unfortunately, the Scottish Government’s response paper to the consultation appears to have totally ignored the concerns that were flagged up by publicans and hoteliers. The document’s ‘outcomes and action plan’ states that “The current property-based tax system will be retained”. This suggests that there is no proposal to end the commercial rating system which penalises Scotland’s licensed on-trade sector. The rates burden on hotels and pubs is in the region of 9% of turnover, but for supermarkets – whose below-cost selling of alcohol is primarily responsible for the closure of so many pubs across the country – it’s about 2% of turnover. There are also knock-on effects of this regime: publicans and hoteliers have to pay more for licensing application fees, water charges and even satellite TV charges. Individuals pay satellite TV subscriptions based on which particular channels we want and takes no account of any other factors, but publicans and hoteliers pay for their satellite

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 26 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 19 TV channels (almost exclusively sports) based on their rateable value. So, the unfair burden set by our un-natural system of valuation can be further exacerbated by additional charges which are also set at a false and inflated level. Further, less that 0.5% of the money distributed through small business rates relief in 2011/12 was directed at publicans and hoteliers, whilst many clubs which operate bars in the same way as pubs and hotels do qualify. Given that the licensed trade has been battered from all sides more than most in the last ten years, the Scottish Government must surely introduce a commercial ratings system whereby all business sectors are treated in the same way. The current scheme also takes no formal account of the valued role many of our pubs play in their immediate area. Whatever problems this country may have with alcohol consumption, well-run community pubs are part of the solution while cheap supermarket hooch is almost the entire problem. It’s time the Scottish Government woke up to this fact, and ensured that the current commercial rating system is replaced with one where rates calculations are equally applied to all businesses.

The 23rd Alloa Octoberfest The 23rd Alloa Octoberfest took place on Friday 31st October (1400-2300) & Saturday 1st November (1200 – 2300). Fellow Tayside branch member Bill Grigg and I arrived at Alloa town hall (right) on the Friday at around 1630 and paid our £3 admission (CAMRA members’ rate) which also gave us our festival glass and programme. I was initially surprised before we set off from Tayside that the beer list was not available on the hosts’ website (Forth Valley CAMRA) or Facebook page. I therefore emailed one of the event organisers who very kindly emailed the excel spreadsheet with the ales & ciders available at the event to me. From this I selected my ale plan for the day and saved it to my mobile from which as I bought each one from the list I tasted it and photographed it and put the picture with my comments onto our branch (Tayside CAMRA) Facebook page. There was no Wi-Fi so my check in beer entries on Facebook all look like I was drinking in ‘Alloa West End Park’ which I haven’t done for many years M’lud!! The

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 20 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 25 across the road had also introduced real ale and would certainly have visited it! next port of call was buying beer tickets on a card which is the As it was, my next port of call was the village of Saintfield and another GBG-listed pub, currency required for ale purchase as no cash changed hands at the the White Horse. Some years ago I had driven past it not realising it had just acquired pumps. With our £10 cards in hand we were ready to procure ales! cask beer (seems to be a habit!) and it is now the one tied house of the Whitewater There was an extensive selection of ales, ciders and perries available Brewery near Kilkeel, to the south east of the county. Like all the bars I visited, this was served by large numbers of friendly competent volunteers which comfortable, smartly decorated and slightly rambling: I managed to walk past the bar into ensured the event ran smoothly. As the day progressed we eventually the dining area on first entering! got seats which were in fairly short supply. Bill had an egg roll from On the bar were Copperhead, Belfast Ale, Belfast Black Stout and keg Belfast Lager. I the catering area and said it was fine (I was watching my figure!!). tried the first two, both of which were excellent, then noticed a selection of newspapers Mid evening we were joined by Neil Lafferty an old school pal of mine and magazines at one side of the bar area. It was there that I picked up a copy of “The from Alloa whom I had accompanied to many of the early ale festivals Ulster Ale”, mentioned earlier. My perusal was in Alloa town hall. brief at the time, as I became involved in a As the evening progressed and the floor space got more heavily conversation with a friendly local who had identified occupied the live band Soundcradle kicked off on the stage and they my Scottish accent (?) and started quizzing me were lively without being intrusive (there was no negative effect on our ale consumption). about the Referendum (a topic I’d been shy of At some point during the evening I misplaced my mobile phone and was exceedingly discussing earlier given the plethora of Union and distressed by this; good people spent their time and effort and kindly searched high and Ulster flags flying around the area). low until I found it in MY back pocket (I still contend I never put it there!!....it wusnae The local CAMRA magazine proved very interesting, me!!) providing an update on N.I. breweries, real ale pubs Bill, Neil and I voted Oakham Green Devil our and general gossip. What really struck me was the favourite ale of the festival. Bill left as planned news that the Wetherspoon’s empire has spread to and made his train from Alloa > Stirling > Perth the Republic of Ireland. N.I. CAMRA members had without incident. I left around 22:15 as I still had Toale’s Bar been invited to the opening last July of the Three Tuns to walk to my accommodation and take Zoe out for Tavern at Blackrock, in south east Dublin and while there were only two Adnam’s beers bedtime walkies. When I left the attendees were and one local craft (keg?) ale on, they were assured that the range would increase in well mannered and having fun; a very good night future. oot! We didn’t get as far as Dublin, but a trip across the border to Dundalk proved By Garry Sharp interesting. First, we were forced to make a detour from the A1 which was closed due to Festival Bar (photo courtesy of a fatal accident, but we eventually made it. Wandering around the town we came upon a Fife CAMRA) likely-looking pub, Toale’s Bar (above) in Crowe Street. It appeared open (it was 1.00pm) but as I stepped in, an anxious bar worker, breaking off from conversation with the manager (?), cried “We’re closed”, ushering us out before I could ask about the line of three handpumps halfway down the bar. I’m intrigued as to whether these were ornamental – they were quite an old design – or actually in use. Anyone in the area should check it out – after 2.00 pm! Solace and toilets were sought in the nearby Market Bar in Clanbrassel Street. There, as well as most of the usual suspects, there were four or five keg craft beers, notably Rebel Red from the Franciscan Well micro in Cork (now owned by Molson Coors) and Brehon Blonde, from the Brehon brewery in Killany, Co. Monaghan which, given the usual reservations, were quite acceptable. My attitude to keg craft beer in this context is that, while I would rather have cask- CAMRA’s National Winter Ales Festival conditioned, the explosion of micro-breweries in Ireland, north and south, is an immense 11th – 14th Feb 2015 improvement in choice and a big step in the right direction. It would, for example, have been encouraging to see even keg micro-brewed beers in the area of Co.Down where we THE ROUNDHOUSE were staying. As well as those hostelries mentioned, I also visited the Albert Bar, Banbridge and Mulholland’s on the Square, Dromore, where the range of beers was DERBY depressingly similar to that of the Halfway House. There seems to be a good number of bottled beers from the micros in the supermarkets – I did a trawl of a very impressive For more info: nwaf.org.uk independent one called Milestone in the small town of Rathfriland – but more need to be in the pubs.

(Continued on page 26)

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 24 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 21 Pintale in The Province I recently spent a few days’ holiday in County Down, Northern Ireland. Outside Belfast, the County is one of the best areas for cask beer in the Province – but only to the north. Glen Clova Hotel Where we were staying, while the countryside was beautiful and the wildlife plentiful, it is still largely a beer desert. For example, I can thoroughly recommend the hospitality, food and ambience of the Halfway House, a few miles out of Banbridge on the busy A1 Belfast-Dublin road, but the beer range was disappointing- keg Bass, Guinness, Stella Artois and Tennent’s- and sadly, typical for the area. Anxious to get some decent beer, I insisted on a visit to Hillsborough and the GBG- listed Hillside Bar (left) in the main street of the picturesque town. Arriving not long Set in the idyllic serenity of the Angus after opening time, despite a few customers in the cosy snug bar, there was no sign of any staff but I managed to Glens, Glen Clova Hotel is the perfect get track them down in the lengthy bar to the rear. The ale away. Our country hotel dates back to is in an area joining the snug, which has a hatch, to the the Drovers Inn of the 1850s. The charm larger rear lounge bar and has, I think, four handpumps. Two were serving ales, both from Hilden Brewery: the and allure of the hotel has been carefully first I tried, Hilden Ale, was on good form, but even preserved and we have added exactly better was the amber Headless Dog. The pub has a what you need this modern day to relax garden to the rear and holds an annual beer festival. and escape. Along with the hotel we have our 8 Luxury Lodges & a 32 bed Although a CAMRA-friendly pub, it was a pity they had none of the N.I. branch’s newsletter “The Ulster Ale” on bunkhouse. display or I would have learned that the Plough Inn Hillside Bar The hotel offers a range of freshly prepared (Continued on page 24) food, including Bar Lunches & Suppers. Quality local fish, game and home reared Listed in every CAMRA Good Beer Beef & Lamb are available, together with guide from 1975 to 2012 and making a welcome return in 2014 delicious homemade desserts. Fisherman’s Tavern After an active or leisurely day, relax in the Climbers Bar and mull over the days 10 - 16 Fort Street activities in front of a roaring fire. Good Broughty Ferry storage facilities together with drying room Angus DD5 2AD for your walking gear and excellent showering facilities. Our regular hand pulled Tel: 01382 775941 ales include Houston beers . 19th century hostelry full of character and boasting many For more information visit our website:- original features in the public bar and snug and with a real coal fire in the lounge www.clova.com Six cask conditioned ales and a fine selection of malt whiskies

Excellent home cooked meals served all day - everyday Or contact us at:-

Seafood specials Glen Clova Hotel, Glen Clova, Nr Walled beer garden and pavement terrace Kirriemuir En-suite accommodation available all year round

Annual beer festival every May in support of the RNLI DD8 4QS Recent- ly rec- [email protected] Tel:- 01575 550350 ommended for CAMRA’s 2015

WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 22 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 23