Real Ale w/c 17.9.07. Local-Hereford-Burton-Sheffield. What a week it has been. We started on Monday with a trip to the Gate Hangs Well at Woodgate where we had a superb meal with Redditch and Bromsgrove CAMRA, and enjoyed beers from Bricktop, Weatheroak and Jennings. Our usual Tuesday run into Birmingham started at the Anchor where we had beers from Roosters, Elland, Ossett and Kelham Island. We went on to the Lamp Tavern where we had beers from St George’s and Elland. We finished at the Wellington where we chose 2 beers from Traditional Scottish Ales, plus beers from Sadlers, Kinver and Titanic. On Wednesday I went out with a birthday celebration run to Hereford and we stopped off at Worcester where I had a Burton Bridge beer in the Postal Order. Once in Hereford, we went to the Barrels and I had a Wye Valley beer before going out to find a mini fish and chips. I need to eat when drinking, and I was feeling a little under the weather with a cold starting. I rejoined the party in the Barrels for another Wye Valley beer before we left to go to the Victory. It was a disappointment here as of the 8 pumps we ended up with only 2 with beers on as the others ran out or were off when asked for. I did have a Northumberland beer but it was one of the beers that were taken off so not at its best. We did have a treat of being shown the Spinning Dog Brewery at the back though, and some of their bottled beers were brought out for us. I had Spinning Dog Mutleys Revenge. Around 5pm I decided to leave the others to it, and caught the train home. Thursday there was a beer festival at the Bartons Arms, so we called in at the Anchor on the way down and had a Blackawton and a Hanby beer, then bussed down to the Bartons. We had some beers from the pumps, and some from cellar runs shared with friends, and had beers from the following breweries – Blythe, Church End, Kinver, Olde Swan, White Horse and Wylam. On Friday we took the caravan off to Rolleston near Burton for the weekend. This is a lovely grassy site with cut grass and trees round. There are rabbits, and birds came to the feeders we put up. After getting set up, we caught the local bus into Burton, and had fish and chips before joining the queue to get into the beer festival. We got seats and chose 14 beers as follows – Beowulf, Brewsters, Leatherbritches, Naylors (2), Nelson, Spectrum (2), Tipples (2), White Shield, Woodlands and George Wright (2). It had been a good festival. Saturday we were going to Sheffield for the day, but plans went wrong at the start as first a bus to Burton had been withdrawn, and it was quicker for us to get the alternative to Derby rather than wait for its Burton service. Once we had the Sheffield ticket in Derby, we found the train had been cancelled, and we had to bus to Chesterfield then to Sheffield making us later than expected into Sheffield. We got our tram ticket though, and headed off to the Wellington where we had Salamander, Foxfield and Glentworth beers. Down to the Milestone where we had Sheffield and Wentworth beers. At the Fat Cat we had a lovely steak pie dinner and beers from Northumberland, Tigertops and Caledonian. At the Kelham Island Tavern we sat out in their beautiful garden and had Marston Moor and Rudgate beers. At the Harlequin we had Sheffield and Wentworth beers. The Riverside was not open, and we walked to the Gardners Rest so that I could put a note of support through the door. This pub is having a major refurb following the Sheffield floods. We walked up to the Moon, an Abbeydale pub and had their guest beers Spire and Potbelly. We found out that Abbeydale had taken over the Harlequin 2 days before. We caught a tram to the Hillsborough Hotel and had Idle, Northumberland and Crown beers from the pumps, and an Idle beer from the cellar. It had been a brilliant day in Sheffield and we headed back to catch a train this time, back to Burton after having enjoyed 18 beers, all different and 15 of which I had never had before. At the end of this week, my beer total stands at 5390.
Real Ale Birmingham and Bridgnorth 11.9.07 – 15.9.07 What a great few days I have had going out looking for real ale. On Tuesday 11.9.07 I went out with Ray to the Prince of Wales in Moseley, then to the Anchor, Lamp Tavern, Wellington and Briar Rose in Birmingham. We had 9 new beers that included a new brewery for me, Prospect. On Thursday 13.9.07 I went to Birmingham beer festival and worked the first session there before going to the Bull with my husband for a meal. We went back to the festival and shared a number of beers. I sampled 15 beers here altogether, and the new breweries for me were Atlas Mill and Leeds. When Ray finished work on Friday, we went to see what was on at the Anchor as they had a festival on, and had 4 beers there before going back to the Birmingham festival at Aston. We shared 8 beers here including the new brewery Swaton then went to the Bartons Arms where we had a Cottage beer before going back home. On Saturday 15.9.07 we went into Wolverhampton by Metro then caught a bus to Bridgnorth to the Severn Valley beer festival. There is always a great atmosphere here because of its situation, and we had plenty of beers available too. We sampled plenty from the new Bridgnorth Brewery, and found another from Leeds brewery and had 15 beers in all. I found the Ludlow beer Boiling Well was a fantastic flavoured beer so voted it beer of the festival. We went into the high town at Bridgnorth to find the Kings Head, the home of Bridgnorth brewery, and had a couple of beers there. The stable bar at the back of the pub is very impressive. We caught the bus back to Wolverhampton, and found time for a quick one in the Great Western before catching the train back to Birmingham where we had a meal and a drink in the Briar Rose before heading home. A fantastic weekend to end to fantastic week for real ales. My beer total has now reached 5340.
Real Ale Derby, Tamworth and Liverpool 6.9.07 What a great few days I have had going out looking for real ale. On Thursday 6.9.07 I went to Derby with my husband to attend the Smithfield Beer Festival. We started at the Babington where we had a meal with a Falstaff and Sawbridgeworth beer. We then made our way along the riverside to the Smithfield to wait for them to open the festival at 7pm. What a brilliant list it was. We sat in the garden till they opened up, and then went inside with the first of our beers. Flowerpot launched their beer, First Bloom, and we also had beers from Abbeydale, Blackhole, Bowland, Foxfield, Leadmill, Mallard, Newby Wyke, Old Bear, Owl, Peakstone Rock, Rodhams, Saddleworth, and Shardlow. We drank half and bottled half take with us the following day went we went out in the caravan. Friday 7.9.07 we went to a 5 van site in Warton just north of Polesworth so that we could get a local bus to Tamworth on the Saturday for the beer festival. There were a number of caravans there already, and it looked as though some of them had been put there for workers to use as a base. We went into the adjoining field and got set up. We enjoyed the beer that we had bottled the night before so we didn’t go out that night. Saturday we went for the bus to Tamworth and found ourselves a table in the assembly rooms. It was a good list, but as the festival was on its last day quite a few of the new breweries had sold out. There was still plenty of beer though, and we enjoyed beer from the following breweries: Amber, Arbor, Atlas Mill, Battlefield, Brew Wharf, Festival, Greenmill, Grindleton, Nutbrook, Prospect, Quercus, Glastonbury, and Malvern Hills. When we left we called into the White Lion as we had not been before, and had a Blythe and Oakham beer. We got the bus back to Warton and walked up to the Boot where we had a lovely meal with Wells Bombardier. On Monday 10.9.07 I had made arrangements to go to Liverpool to visit some of the good pubs there with a friend from the Wellington. We had taken advantage of Central trains over 50 offer and went for £10 return. At the Ship and Mitre I had an Old Bear and Hydes beer, then on to the Lion Tavern where there was no new beer for me, but my friend had one. At Thomas Rigbys I had a new Gales beer, then a Bowland one at the White Star. The Baltic Fleet had a few on we wanted, so we stayed there for lunch while I had three Wapping beers and also an unrefined Connoisseur beer brewed on their site. We went to the Fly in the loaf where I had Blackwater Yakuza and Newmans Bicycle, and there was an amazing pulpit in the pub so I went and stood in it. Brilliant! Our last pub for a drink before heading back to the station was the Dispensary where I had Ossett Moores Malts. We had called into the Philharmonic and Roscoe Head as we went round but did not have anything to drink, as there were only regular beers on. All the pubs were brilliant in terms of their rooms and décor. Another trip to Liverpool is a must to visit some again, plus the many pubs we did not manage to get to. My beer total now stands at 5292.
Birmingham Real Ale Trail 4.9.07 We decided to start today’s trail at the Prince of Wales in Moseley today. This pub is lovely with a front bar area and two rooms at the back and a brilliant tiled passageway that has shelves where glasses can be placed. We chose two of the guest beers from Newmans and Copper Dragon Breweries and took them outside to the suntrap of a garden. Covered areas have been put up in the garden. One has a television screen and another a dartboard. The garden is still large enough to enjoy a drink in even if a non-smoker. We then went to the Anchor where we found beers from 4 new breweries on. We had the beers from Ascot, Arbor, Coastal and Three Castles, plus one from Church End brewery. We were told there was a new beer on at the Lamp Tavern, so called in there and had Sarah Hughes Special Mk 1 apparently the first brew from their new brewer Mark. We also had one from Greenfield brewery. We finished the night at the Wellington where we had one from new brewery Coastal, plus beers from Quartz, Bank Top, Boggart, Empire and Derby. A good night out and my real ale total now stands at 5245.
National Feast of Lanterns 31.8.07 On 31.8.07 we took our caravan to the West Point Showground near Exeter as we were attending the Camping and Caravanning Club’s biggest rally. It is a wonderful event where tents and caravans are decorated with lights to show a scene, and the subject this year was myths and legends. The journey was not too bad, and it was about 150 miles down the motorway, and we got onto the site and found the field we were to stay in. Our friends were already there, so we got set up and made our way to the admin to book in. The big disappointment was that there was no real ale on in either of the bars so we retired to our friend’s caravan after a brief look round and had some beer that I had bottled in the pubs in Derby on Wednesday. Saturday morning we had a wander round the trade area then took the cars out to Topsham looking for real ale. We took the bottles so that we could bring beer back to the site for the evening. What a gem we found. The Bridge was a lovely old pub with small interesting rooms but we sat outside looking over the river. Best of all was the beer on offer. There were 7 beers available served direct from casks and they were not regular beers. I drank one from Red Rock brewery, and we bottled 6 beers including the 8% Garton Chocolate Frog. We also enjoyed the Stilton and Cyder soup with lovely crusty bread. We found it more difficult to get into the car park at the Globe Hotel, and there was not such a selection available, but I had Otter Ale before we headed back to the site. We were just in time to see the Mardi Gras where the various regions or individuals dressed up and created all sorts of floats to represent myths and legends. There were lots of George and dragons, wizards, Trojan horse that towered above the caravans. How on earth people carry everything to the site I don’t know but it was a wonderful display. That night we went to the Cat and Fiddle pub in Clyst St Mary as we could walk from the site and we had booked a table for a meal. We had Otter Bitter and Otter Ale with a lovely dinner. We walked back to site then wandered round the fields looking for street scenes lit up as the evening wore on. There were some wonderful displays lit up and we were tired by the time we retired to our caravan to drink the beer we had collected earlier. We had a lazy Sunday morning going to see the pennon parade into the arena for the closing ceremony and raffle before packing up and heading home. It was not the best one we had been to, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway with our friends.
