2018 Pubs of the Year 2018 Pubs of the Year
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DATES for the DIARY GIN FESTIVAL Monday 11th – Sunday 17th June CIDER & RUM FESTIVAL Monday 9th – Sunday 15th July LAST OF THE SUMMER WINES Monday 20th – Monday 27th August GERMAN BEER FESTIVAL Monday 17th – Sunday 23rd September ARMISTICE BEER FESTIVAL Monday 5th – Sunday 11th November 5–7 Little Church Street, Rugby, Warwickshire CV21 3AN TEL 0178 8 571119 EMAIL [email protected] www.merchantsinn.co.uk EDITORIALE & BRANCH CONTACTS SUMMER 2018 EDITORIALE By general consensus the beer list at the 2018 Coventry Beer Festival was the best ever. Unfortunately the festival coincided with the most appalling March weather that I have ever seen in this country. The blizzard arrived at the worst possible time - on Friday afternoon - and its effects continued overnight so that many of those people who would have travelled any distance on public transport were prevented from doing so for fear of not being able to get to or home from the venue. This obviously had a huge impact on numbers with the weather being such that most people would have stayed at home in the warmth and comfort of their own homes. A couple of points arising from the festival: Whatpub beer scores (for CAMRA members) were introduced but not a single one was recorded; the first beers to sell out were: 1 Church End Restless Coffins, 2 Twisted Barrel Assume the Mantle, 3 Kissingate Black Cherry Mild (last year’s winner), 4 Byatt’s Playtime Milk Stout, 5 Woodman’s Wild Ale. Happy supping Graham Paine Editor Pint Sides Branch Contacts To place an advert or enquire about our rate Secretary - Louise Madder card please contact: [email protected] Neil Richards - 01536 358670 Chairman - Mike Tierney [email protected] [email protected] Editor - Graham Paine Trading Standards [email protected] All initial requests for consumer advice are Social Secretary - Paul Hamblett dealt with by Consumer Direct, the national Consumer [email protected] advice helpline. Consumers can contact Consumer Direct on Telephone 02476 427675. 08454 04 05 06 (Minicom users should call 08451 28 13 84). Email: [email protected] Consumers can also email Consumer Direct via their website: www.consumerdirect.gov.uk Branch Website Consumer Direct telephone opening hours: Monday - Friday Coventry & District 8am - 6:30pm, coventry.camra.org.uk Saturday 9am - 1pm. twitter: @covcamra Copyright CAMRA. All rights reserved. To Advertise Pint Sides is published by the Coventry and 2000 copies of PintSides are distributed throughout District Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale. the Coventry & Warwickshire area, as well as The views expressed are not necessarily those of CAMRA Ltd Birmingham and Northampton. or its Branch. PiNT SiDES Summer 2018 3 SUMMER 2018 2018 PUBS OF THE YEAR 2018 PUBS OF THE YEAR The Coventry & District branch of CAMRA straddles dedication of their staff which was a contributory West Midlands & Warwickshire county boundaries factor in the pubs receiving the accolade. and covers Coventry, Meriden, Kenilworth and various villages in Warwickshire. Each year the branch presents a Pub of the Year award to what were judged to be the best pubs in those areas. Those pubs that were nominated were whittled down to a final selection and several pubs in both counties made it through to the judging stage. Each of the selected pubs were visited anonymously by individual judges on at least two occasions and were scored on a variety of criteria. It goes without saying that quality of the beer on sale is a major consideration but other factors as to what Each branch area winner will put forward to the overall make a great pub were also taken into consideration. West Midlands and Warwickshire counties pub of the These include atmosphere, service and welcome, year where pubs are then judged against the winners clientele mix and value for money. from other CAMRA branch areas. Good luck to them both on the next round of judging. Mike Tierney Chairman Coventry and District CAMRA We are pleased to announce that the winners of Pub of the Year 2018 are the Broomfield Tavern in Spon End, Coventry and the Old Bakery in High St, Kenilworth. Awards were recently presented to Ange Cherry at the Broomfield Tavern and Alan Blackburn at the Old Bakery. At the respective presentations both winners acknowledged their pleasure at receiving the award and made particular mention of the hard work and 4 Summer 2018 PiNT SiDES LOCAL NEWS SUMMER 2018 LOCAL NEWS COVENTRY The Watchmakers Coventry Vegan Beer Festival will be held at Fargo in Earlsdon (known Village on 28 July. As well as beer vegan food will universally as the be available and there will be a karaoke. Vegan beers Earlsdon Cottage) are growing in popularity and availability. The key which closed last criterion that determines whether a beer is vegan or year, has reopened not is finings. Finings are used to clarify beer, by pulling and is now called yeast sediment to the bottom of the cask. These are Kiki Lounge & usually made from isinglass, an extract from the swim Loft. Styled as bladder of the sturgeon. Although the finings drop an LGBT bar the operatorsperators claim that it has been to the bottom of the cask with the yeast and are not transformed into a stylish and exclusive lounge/bar consumed, the use of any animal product to produce with live music acts aimed at attracting a very mixed the beer is objected to by vegans. Some brewers don’t crowd every Friday and Saturday evening with DJs fine their beer, but this means the beer needs longer to and live performances. Only weeks after opening in its settle before serving in the pub and still turns out hazy latest guise the premises were put up for sale. or even cloudy in the glass. Another new LGBT venue called Glamorous has Two hand pumps have recently been installed in the opened on Short Street on the edge of the ring road in Twisted Barrel Brewery and Tap House in Fargo the building previously occupied by Rainbows. Village. Previously all their beers at the bar were served via key casks. Depending on availability it can be A recent visit to Meriden saw the Bull, Queen’s Head possible to try the same beer on cask, key cask and and Strawberry Bank each stocking three real ales. in tins. The Nursery Tavern in Chapelfields, Coventry will be Inspire Bar at Christchurch Spire in Coventry city holding its annual summer Beer Festival 29 & 30 June centre now sells Twisted Barrel beer on key cask. Two (Friday & Saturday) in the garden at the rear of the beers are stocked. pub. The festival is the longest established pub beer festival in the area. As in previous years, a “Pre-fest” music event will be held on the evening of Wednesday 27 & Thursday 28 June. The “Pre-fest” will have live music and some beers will be available direct from the cask from the Festival proper. Mike Tierney ThThe 111-year-old 111 ld AlbAlbany pubb on AlbAlbany RRoad d iin Earlsdon which closed in March 2017 after being leased to Marston’s brewery for many years has a Let sign on the front. Rumour has it that it is an established landlord in the city. When the pub closed last year a local campaign led to it being locally listed and registered as an Asset of Community Value (ACV).It would be nice if the work of local people resulted in it being restored as a community pub. PiNT SiDES Summer 2018 5 SUMMER 2018 MEET THE PUBLICAN MEET THE PUBLICAN AP Harvey Wines Your vision for the future of the business? To carry on providing the best wines, spirits and beers in Coventry. Regular events? We haven’t held any regular events over the years but we have and will continue to have various tastings on the day of the Earlsdon Festival. How do you see the future of the shop? The future for us looks good as long as we continue to provide a unique brand of alcoholic drinks that the supermarkets do not. Are there any interesting historical connections with the building? Not that I know of although it’s been an off licence for at least 30 years. How did you get into the industry? I’ve been in the licensed trade for over 40 years. I Current beer choice and rationale behind started as a glass collector at a working man’s club, it? then ended up being the club steward. I have managed Too many to list – constantly changing. several other pubs along the way but this is my first shop. Do locals have any input into beer selection? What is the most enjoyable aspect of Very much so; every week we have requests for running the shop? different beers, wines and spirits. Being able to source unusual wines and beers and stuff that I recommend; this provides repeat business for me. Are there any amusing (and printable) stories about the shop that you can tell How long have you been running the us? shop? A man once came in and took out of a bag of various This will be my eleventh year. The first year it was a pieces of plastic from a glass washing machine that franchise from Thresher’s but they went bust so I took had broken and asked if we had the replacement parts over the lease. for it! What are the least enjoyable aspects of And finally… A very big thank you to all our locals who running the shop? support our shop.