FREE The Award WinningSwan Supping Issue 80 Oct/Nov 2010 COVER STORY Get ready for the Aylesbury Beer Festival October 29th/30th See page 4 Newsletter of the Aylesbury Vale & Wycombe Branch of CAMRA www.swansupping.org.uk Circulation 6000 Swan Supping Swan Supping �������������������������������������������������������� Drink Real Ale at No need to pre-order. � Real Ale from � home! £1.40 per pint � FREE tasting of all our �� Mon-Fri 8am - 6pm beers available in the shop �� Sat 9am - 6pm �� FREE glass hire Further information about our ��� beers, map and prices, visit � Shop open 6 days a week www.rebellionbeer.co.uk 2 Please keep us informed about your local pub Swan Supping Swan Supping NEWS FROM THE EDITOR Like a lot of people, I can’t believe that Real ale is currently enjoying a revival as the ‘Cask Report’ (which can be October is already here - where does the found on www.caskreport.co.uk) revealed recently. Younger drinkers and time go to! women are embracing a drink which may be shedding its traditional ‘flat cap’ image. This is always a special time for the branch as it means that we will be having Despite declining total beer sales and pub closures, research shows that to prepare for our annual beer festival that cask ale has outperformed the rest of the beer market for the third year we hold to raise money for the Aylesbury running, increasing its share of beer sold in pubs and clubs and recruiting Hospice. Run in conjunction with the 100,000 new drinkers. ‘Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity’ According to the report, the real ale market grew by 5% in 2009 to £1.4bn, it is held at the community centre in Stoke against a 2% decline in the total UK beer market, which remains dominated Mandeville over the last weekend of by carbonated beers such as lager. October. Food appears key to this renaissance, with sales of real or cask ales booming This will be the 17th festival (our cover in pubs where sophisticated consumers picture by Alex Wright shows a scene from last year’s festival) and we hope are choosing ale in preference to wine that as many of you as possible can come along and ‘Drink for Charity’ as with their meal. you help us get through the thirty real ales as well as a great selection of cider and perry. We are still looking for local CAMRA members who are Real ale now accounts for 15.2% of willing to help with all aspects of setting up and serving etc. Free entry will total beer volumes in pubs – about one be available to volunteers and you are guaranteed to enjoy yourself. in every six pints sold. More than 8.6 This time of year also sees the release of the latest Good Beer Guide. The million people now drink cask beer standard of pubs in our branch area has improved steadily over the last few and the number of younger drinkers years and the choice of pubs to go into the guide gets even more difficult. aged 18-24 grew by 17%. We are limited to a set number of pubs that we can put in our section of the Lets hope this trend continues! guide and there will be a lot of pubs who will be asking why they didn’t get selected or why they have been dropped. My usual thanks to all our contributors and a special thank-you to Colin All the pubs are selected by the branch members and the final selection Stanford for another of his wonderful meeting can get quite heated, so if you don’t agree with our choices, why cartoons. not get involved with the branch and put forward your own suggestions. All pubs are judged on their beer and how well they have scored during the past David Roe year on the CAMRA beer scoring system, forms for which can be found on Swan Supping Editor and Chairman the branch website (www.swansupping.org.uk). of the AVW branch of CAMRA NATIONAL CAMRA NEWS CAMRA calls for Government rethink based on full cost recovery, putting more pressure on the Tuesday afternoon. on pubs. in Licensing Review response • Over 1,000 new members joined CAMRA. • Restricting the ability of magistrates’ courts In September, CAMRA issued a response to • Over 200,000 pints were sold at the Festival at to hear appeals on licensing decisions, leaving the Home Office’s review on ‘Rebalancing the a rate of over 75 pints poured per minute. Licensing Act’, calling for a targeted, nuanced appeals on bad licensing decisions in the hands approach to tackling alcohol-related harm, which of licensing authorities which will have an • 1881 gallons of cider, and 855 gallons of perry supports well-run community pubs and not-for- incentive to justify their original decisions. were sold throughout the week. profit members’ clubs. CAMRA has highlighted the dangers and risks • Over 1,000 volunteers pitched in to help out at After just a six week consultation process, the of unintended consequences in this approach. We the Festival, making it a massive team effort. have called for the Government to ensure their new Coalition Government is proposing reforms • Champion Beer of Britain went to Castle measures reflect the role of cheap alcohol in the which are every bit as radical as the 2003 Rock’s Harvest Pale (Nottingham). Licensing Act. off-trade, while focussing not just on punishing premises where irresponsible drinking takes • The Champion Bottled Beer of Britain was The Consultation contains a number of measures place, but on encouraging and rewarding well- St Austell’s Admiral Ale which as a result will which would be beneficial to community pubs, run pubs. feature in Travelodge bars and cafes as a result of such as allowing greater community involvement their sponsorship of this competition. in licensing decisions, banning the sale of alcohol We expect the outcomes of this review to be in at below cost price and repealing the failed the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill • Smuttynose Brewery’s Big A IPA wiped the Alcohol Disorder Zones. due to be debated in Parliament later this year. competition clean in the Michael Jackson Award (American cask beer competition), coming out as However, the review also considers measures Great British Beer Festival the winner. which could cause significant harm to pubs, not- Round Up for-profit members’ clubs and pub customers. • CAMRA staged the longest and fastest beer Among the potentially damaging measures are: It has been another record-breaking year for the trail from Land’s End to John O’Groats. The trail Great British Beer Festival which was held in was hosted by Official London Ale Taster and • Allowing local authorities to determine a August at Earls Court. There was almost a 5% over 800 people tuned in. uniform closing time for licensed premises increase in attendance figures from last year’s • CAMRA and the Beer Academy combined throughout the local authority area, which could festival, which makes this year’s festival the forces at the start of the week to convey the potentially see a return to 11pm or even 10pm biggest ever. closing times. message that drinking beer can be part of a The festival highlights were: healthy lifestyle. • Introducing a late night levy on licensed • 66,922 through the door - up from 64,000 last • Around 500 visitors attended tutored tastings premises. year, which is an increase of almost 5%. plus a further 75 attended Melissa Cole’s Girls’ • Further increasing licence fees so they are • 6,700 trade visitors attended the Trade Session Guide to Beer tours. Please contact the editor if you would like to help distribute Swan Supping 3 Swan Supping Swan Supping DRINKING FOR CHARITY Following the success of introducing live music last year, the group Dragon Drop will appear again on the Saturday evening This is our 17th festival that we have raised money for the Hospice and the beer tends to taste better when you know that the money you have paid is going to a worthwhile cause. All profi ts will go to the charity and if you wish to sponsor a barrel, please contact the editor (details on page 22) or Andrea Maggs on 01296 429975. Local CAMRA volunteers are required for this festival. Please contact the editor if you wish to help either in the setting up, serving or helping to take down the barrels at the end. We can guarantee a great time (plus free entry!) and the more people that help, the less arduous the work will be. Haddenham Winterfest Haddenham Winterfest will take place on Saturday 11th December from Aylesbury Vale Beer Festival 12 noon to 5.00 p.m. at Banks Park, Haddenham HP17 8EE. It will occupy most of the Village Hall complex, the Scout and Guide Centre, and in Halloween will again be celebrated at the Aylesbury Vale Beer Festival marquees on parts of the Banks Park play area. which is run in conjunction with the Florence Nightingale Hospice On offer will be 25 real ales plus real lagers Charity who raise money for the Aylesbury Hospice. and real ciders, and a selection of bottled beers. The aim of the Hospice is to provide a fi rst class specialist palliative care The wine bar will feature mulled wine, and a service which is accessible and free of charge to those with a life-limiting variety of seasonal foods will be available. illness. Hospice care is all about the person being more than a patient and Entertainment will include the Ian English fi nding ways to improve quality of life through symptom control, pain Jazz Band, Christmas Carols and much more.