Sign the Petition
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Issue 1048 4th Sept 2020 Sign the petition can be signed by everyone and anyone, as it is not Following on from last weeks page two article CAMRA generated, and we encourage everyone readers might be interested to read what our to bring it to the attention of their family members local CAMRA group have to say on: and friends and persuade them to sign.’ The representative said ‘We are optimistic that Petition to reverse tax rise for small the Government’s proposal can be overturned. independent breweries CAMRA, SIBA and the Small Brewers’ Forum are CAMRA Halifax and Calderdale have always been strongly encouraging the Government to re-think big supporters of small breweries, particularly those its plans and we are confident that, with the sup- within the branch area. The branch have been port of the beer drinkers and MP’s, this intended campaigning vigorously to overturn the change can be defeated. We are hoping that well Government’s proposals to reduce Small Brewery in excess of 100,000 people, throughout the UK, Duty Relief for a number weeks and have will sign the petition and that the Calder Valley and encouraged real ale drinkers to sign the John Hob- Halifax constituencies will continue to be amongst day petition to request a re-think in the the largest supporters of small brewers in the proposed Government policy. The branch have country.’ (At the time of going to press the been involved in persuading National CAMRA to petition stands at over 36,000) support the campaign, which they have now done, writing to local MP’s and requesting their support, notifying members and encouraging them to sign the petition, emailing other CAMRA branches all over the country asking them to get involved and, of course, contacting potentially affected local breweries and offering support. At a local level, ale drinkers have supported small breweries on a big scale and at the time of writing the Calder Valley is amongst the top five constituencies in the UK for signing the petition with the Halifax constituency not far behind. A CAMRA Halifax and Calderdale representative said ‘Halifax and Calderdale has some of the best breweries and pubs in the entire country and we would like to thank all those who have already signed the petition for their great support. The consequences of not supporting small breweries and of not signing the petition could be devastating and the petition, if it reaches 100,000, will encourage a full debate on the issue in parliament’. ‘Some of the consequences if the Government’s proposals go through might include :- the closure of some small breweries (as they will face very large increases in beer duty), the reduction in choice and an increase in the price of real ale for beer drinkers, the loss of jobs in the brewing industry and the dis- incentive for the smallest breweries to grow in size’ ‘CAMRA Halifax and Calderdale urge everyone to sign the petition to oppose the Government’s pro- posed changes and this can be found on the first Contact The PubPaper on page of our website, our Facebook page and on 07923 606224 or email Twitter. The good thing about this petition is that it [email protected] Hogs back brewery to deliver ‘field “Hops thrive on heat and sunshine, but they also need water, so we’ve been grateful for the recent to firkin in a furlong’ ambition downpours. With more rainfall between now and Hogs Back Brewery in Tongham, Surrey, is prepar- harvest early in September, we can expect a good ing for the harvest of its hops later this month, af- crop, especially considering this is our first ter commissioning equipment that will enable it to commercial harvest from the new hop garden.” pick, sort and dry the hops itself for the first time. From 14th September, the Hogs Back team will be cutting down the hop bines in its 8.5 acre hop garden next to the brewery. The hops will then be driven just yards from the garden and fed into a reconditioned Wolf hop picker- which carefully separates the hop cones, required for brewing, from the rest of the bines. The hop cones are then loaded into the kiln,10 yards away, where they are dried, and then quickly vacuum packed to capture their flavour, and cold stored at 5°C on site until required. The new equipment enables Hogs Back to com- plete its own harvesting this year, rather than The Hogs Back hop garden sub-contract the task as previously. The move In previous years, Hogs Back has celebrated the speaks volumes for Hogs Back’s commitment to end of harvest with a traditional Hop Harvest its hop garden, which it first planted in 2014, then Party, where over 2,000 guests enjoy live music expanded in a new location closer to the brewery and other entertainment, as well as pints of Green last year. This will be the first full harvest from the TEA – made from freshly-picked Fuggles hops. So- new site. cial distancing precludes such a large gathering this Rupert Thompson, Hogs Back Brewery owner, year, but Hogs Back is making plans for a number said: “We are looking forward to harvesting our of smaller events of up to 200 each day so that as hops for the first time. Processing our hops at the many of its loyal drinkers as possible can help mark brewery reduces our carbon footprint as now, the the 2020 harvest. hops are moved just yards from the garden to the Thompson added: “Harvest 2020 is going to be hop picker, hop kiln, storage and, when required, different to the previous ones, but then everything to the this year has disrupted by the pandemic. We’re brewhouse where they are added to our beers. glad that, despite everything, we’ve been able to They never leave our site, so they really are share the hop garden with our local customers, by travelling ‘from field to firkin in a furlong’, which opening our new Summer Bar with its commanding has been our ambition since planting the original views over the ripening hop bines, and leading small hop garden six years ago.” groups on tours of the hop garden. We’ve found Hogs Back will harvest three hop varieties this customers are delighted to get out in the fresh air year: Fuggles, used in its flagship TEA or Tradi- after lockdown, and keen to learn about hop tional cultivation, which is such an important part of the English Ale; English Cascade, used in its Hogstar region’s heritage.” beerguild.co.uk lager and Surrey Nirvana Session IPA and Farn- ham White Bine, a traditional local variety that the brewer saved from near-extinction. Harvesting of the Fuggles and White Bine should be completed The PubPaper within seven days of start, while the Cascade hops will be harvested at the end of September to allow Quiz them to ripen further. They are expecting a 70% Many thanks to the local yield from the hop garden this year. CAMRA group for hosting a Matthew King, Hogs Back’s hop garden manager, said: “This will be our sixth hop harvest and we’re selection of quizzes created by confident it will be one of our best for hop quality. ourselves during the lockdown Each year, we’ve learned more about the best way period, there are 28 of them on. to cultivate and harvest our hops, and having our own equipment this year gives us greater control, http://hxcalderdalecamra.org. so we’ll be able to collect the hops at the optimum uk/pubpaper-quizzes/ point, fully capturing the wonderful aromas that are then transferred into our beers. 2 The PubPaper Issue 1048 4th Sept 2020 Salopian Brewery take Overall Gold in first ever Digital Beer Awards An English Bitter from a brewery in Shrewsbury has SPBW Pub of the Year 2014 beaten almost 500 different beers from across the CAMRA Pub of the Year 2014 UK to be named overall Gold at the inaugural SIBA Calderdale CAMRA Pub of the Year 2017 Digital Beer Awards 2020. ‘Darwin’s Origin’ from Salopian Brewery is a copper coloured Bitter given an international twist with an eclectic mix of US, New Zealand and European hops – which give the beer its distinctive lemony aroma and dry finish. Middlesbrough brewery Play Brew Co’s ‘Los Bandi- to’, a hazy double-dry-hopped pale ale with big fla- 3rd Wednesday of the month is QUIZ NIGHT vours of mango and stone-fruit, took the overall Sil- 8 Hand Pulled Beers ver having wowed judges in the Premium Pale Ales category. In the Bronze position overall was London Quality European Lagers Beer Lab’s Session IPA, a wonderfully aromatic, Log Fire fruity and bitter beer from the Brixton-based brewers which beat out rivals in the hotly contested Session IPA category. Judging took place live via Zoom with 50 expert beer Large Covered judges Organised by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) and open to all independent breweries in the Beer Garden UK, the Digital Beer Awards 2020 were a landmark PIES ARE competition, entered by over 180 British breweries. The awards saw almost 500 different beers judged BACK by 50 expert tasters across two live video judging days. Competition Chair Guy Sheppard, congratulated winners and praised the quality of entries overall “Congratulations to our very worthy winners who re- ally did have to beat stiff competition from the rest of Staff of Life the UK to take the top spots, the quality of entries was incredibly high and testament to the passion and tal- Knotts Bend, Burnley Road ent of British brewers in these trying times.