Wild for Mild

opening times Huntingdonshire Branch of CAMRA Issue 135 the Campaign for Real Ale Summer 2008 WILD FOR MILD Also inside: Good Beer in Prague Pub of the Year Microbrewery Takeovers George, Buckden A look back in time LocAle Pub Pieces Half Pints Booze on the Ouse, St Ives Beer Festival, Thu 11—Sat 13 Sep 2008 2 Support your local pub - don't give them an excuse to close it! WILD FOR MILD The month of May has become linked with CAMRA promotional kit. real draught mild ale through CAMRA’s Greene King Brewing annual May Mild Month campaign. Many Company MD Justin Ad- brewers give a push to their regular milds ams said ‘XX Mild is an and others produce seasonal milds in important part of our di- May. verse portfolio of quality Mild can be dark, light or strong. Brewed ales and we’re working with a lower hop rate, it is rounder and hard to ensure ale-lovers slightly sweeter than bitters. But it is can still experience the strong on flavour and brewers are increas- unique taste of mild in ingly bringing out the best in the style. pubs across the country.’ Roast malt, caramel, roast barley or ex- XX is a distinctive dark tracts from roasted grain are used to mild with liquorice and roast flavours from darken most milds and a variety of fla- the use of black malt in a blend with crys- vours can result - notably, liquorice, roast tal malt and a delicate hop aroma from or caramel, but light hop or malt flavours Northdown hops. and aroma can also be expected. One local Greene King pub that stocks XX Locally, Elgoods produce Mild is the Waggon and Horses in Steeple Black Dog mild with its Morden. Opening Times would like to hear liquorice character and from readers who discover XX in other distinctive bite. Cambridge Greene King pubs following Mild May, or Moonshine brews Harvest indeed any mild in any local pub. Details Moon Mild. Milton Mino- will be published in future issues. taur is an impressive reddish-brown mild Elgoods Black Dog is a regular line at the with roast and liquorice layers and a bitter- Cock at Hemingford Grey and is expected sweet balance. A stronger mild with an this May at the Floods Tavern in St Ives. appealing chocolate malt flavour and a In St Neots, the Lord John Russell offers great name is Smokestack Lightning from Batemans’ nutty, fruity Dark Mild and a Fenland brewery in the Isle of Ely. real cask mild is also stocked at the Hyde Look out also for milds from just over the Park. Huntingdon’s Market Inn is another county border, including Pargetters dark good mild outlet, with Potbelly’s 4.2% Bei- mild from Buntingford brewery near Roys- jing Black from Kettering a regular offer- ton, and Beijing Black from Potbelly. ing. But praise is also due to Greene King who Huntingdonshire CAMRA is celebrating have written to 2,000 of its licensees urg- Mild May Month on Friday 30th May from ing them to support CAMRA’s Mild Month 830pm with simultaneous gatherings in campaign by stocking Greene King XX the Lord John Russell and Mild, CAMRA’s Champion Mild of East Hyde Park in St Neots, Anglia 2007. There will be targeted mar- The Market Inn at Hun- keting in May and licensees who order XX tingdon and the Cock, will receive a joint Greene King and Hemingford Grey. OPENING TIMES 135 SUMMER 2008 THE CHEQUERS THE SWAN 71 Main Road, Little Gransden Main Street, Old Weston Tel: 01767 677348 Tel: 01832 293400 REAL ALES and REAL FOOD HUNTS CAMRA Pub of the Year 2008 Adnams Southwold Bitter Bob and Wendy Mitchell Adnams Broadside invite you to try their unique Greene King Abbot + Guests unspoilt village local with its Hunts CAMRA Pub of the Year 2004 own special atmosphere Fish & Chips Wednesday Evening Restaurant open Friday & Saturday Different Real Ale each week evenings & Sunday lunchtimes THE OLIVER CROMWELL Wellington Street, St. Ives, Cambs. Tel: 01480 465601 Serving six real ales: Adnams Bitter plus regularly changing guest beers No smoking bar Enjoy a good pint of traditional ale in traditional surroundings. Reasonably priced lunchtime bar snacks available Mon to Sat Huntingdonshire CAMRA Pub of the Year 2006 4 Support your local pub - don't give them an excuse to close it! PUB OF THE YEAR Chequers, Little Gransden family run pub, from Bob and Wendy and the village regulars. The Chequers truly is a community pub, and the heart and soul of this Cambridgeshire village. Many of the regulars are country people who work in agriculture. Bob opened a brewery at the Chequers in November 2007, the first operating brewery within the branch area since James Paine closed in the 1990’s. Since then a steady stream of distinctive The Huntingdonshire Branch of CAMRA beers of a wide variety of styles have ap- has this year selected the Chequers, Little peared, as the collection of pump clips Gransden to be awarded Pub of the Year below attests. Bob freely admits that he is 2008. This is the fourth year in a row that still experimenting, and he has yet to ar- the Chequers has won the award. rive at a series of regular brews, all beers brewed to date being “one offs” CAMRA gives this annual award to the pub that it judges to provide the widest The Chequers is also very much a family appeal for its combination of good beer, business. As well as Bob and Wendy, atmosphere, style, service and value. their son’s Andy and David are involved in running the pub. Bob hopes that he will Bob and Wendy Mitchell have owned and one day pass this pub onto the next run the Chequers, Little Gransden for 13 generation. years and the pub has been in the Mitchell family since 1950. There was a presentation of a framed certificate to licensees Wendy and Bob Bob has a passion for real ale. As well as Mitchell on the occasion of the the pubs St the house beer Oakham JHB, at least one Georges Day celebrations. Pictured are unusual guest beer is always available (on Bob, Wendy and Branch representative special occasions as many as 6 real ales Roy Endersby. are available). Bob also has a passion for good food. Friday night is fish night at the Chequers, and on a recent visit, Bob had organised a home made pate competition which he, numerous pub regulars and CAMRA visitors took part in The cosy public bar with its plain wooden seating and open fire is an unaltered gem and there is a choice of two other rooms. There is always a warm welcome at this OPENING TIMES 135 SUMMER 2008 A LOOK BACK IN TIME 25 YEARS AGO from June 3-5 1983. That summer the James Paine brewery of St Neots branch met at the White Hart at Alconbury announced a doubling of beer production Weston and there were socials at the to 100 barrels a week in the year since Oliver Cromwell in St Ives and the Prince March 1982, during which time the of Wales, Hilton. company had been given a boost by its Ipswich brewers purchase from Paine and Company by Tolly Cobbold faced four successful members of the travel an uncertain future business. James Paine was also boosting as their owner production by entering into trading Ellerman Lines was agreements with Charrington, part of the put up for sale, following the decision of Bass brewing group, and Blackburn charitable trusts to look for a better return brewer Matthew Brown. XXX Bitter was on their investment, worth 80% of the the biggest selling James Paine beer, Ellerman group. Ellerman had bought making up 60% of total production, with Tolly Cobbold six years earlier. Camerons EG at 15%. Four of the 20 Paines pubs Hartlepool brewery, which the group had had recently been sold, three with a bought in 1975, was also part of the licence, but one, the Royal Oak in St proposed sale. Neots, to a property company for redevelopment. CAMRA’s group of eight pubs was renamed Midsummer Inns and there were Three more cask milds were lost as plans to concentrate on owning pubs brewers found mild brewing to be within 60 miles of its Cambridge uneconomic in the face of a slump in headquarters, and to increase its stock of demand. Following the loss of Elgoods pubs to 25. mild earlier in the year, Greene King in Biggleswade discontinued their dark mild CAMRA’s Norwich Branch reported a XX. Other losses were Youngs Malt Ale renewed East Anglia pubs purge by and national brewers Whitbread and national brewers Watney. Following an Watney announced losses of Wethereds earlier campaign of pub closures in the and Manns Milds respectively, the latter 1970’s after Watney had taken over the only two years after its introduction. estates of three Norwich breweries, Meanwhile, another branch of the Watney CAMRA had catalogued over 40 closures group, Websters Yorkshire brewery, in 1982 and 1983. launched a new mild, Websters Dark Mild, Hereward Brewery was launched at in both cask and keg forms. Market Deeping in May 1983. The first CAMRA’s pint was drawn by Cambridge resident St Neots Tony Millns, chairman of CAMRA and was branch held drunk by the mayor of Peterborough, who its ‘Booze was so impressed with the cask Hereward by the Bitter that he ordered a firkin for the Ouse’ beer mayor’s parlour at Peterborough Town festival in Hall.

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