No joyous Noël three months before Christmas

You win some and you lose some, and yesterday I definitely lost, ending up by consigning a bottle of beer, that I’d eagerly been looking forward, to the ignominy of a “drain pour”. As its name suggest, Hepworth’s Noël, is the Sussex-based brewery’s beer, specially brewed to mark the festive season. At 7.4% abv, this vintage strong ale is brewed annually, and is designed to mature and improve slowly, over time.  It is a bottle-conditioned ale, (BCA), which is claimed, will improve with keeping. That’s the theory, and also the USP, but unfortunately my bottle didn’t live up to expectations.

I bought the beer several years ago, from an independent off-licence, called Armstrong’s, just off East Grinstead High Street.  I must have beer meeting up with Matthew, after his shift, and the shop he works at is just a few hundred yards away, it seemed a good idea to call in at Armstrong’s and see what they had on offer. The shop is the one of the only outlets locally for Sam Smith’s beers, and I’m fairly certain that I picked up a few bottles of Humphrey’s finest, whilst in the shop. It was the bottle of Hepworth’s Christmas Ale, with its attractive, and very festive looking, red and gold label that caught my attention.

We don’t often see Hepworth’s beers in Tonbridge, as we are slightly out of the brewery’s trading area. This is more of a problem now, since Hepworth’s relocated from their original home in Horsham, to the large village of Pulborough. The latter is not a location I am familiar with, either, although I note that the settlement does have a railway station, and is just three stops down the line from Horsham. Hepworth’s Brewery was founded by Andy Hepworth in 2000, following the closure of King & Barnes, where Andy had been head brewer. The company moved to Pulborough in 2016, and into a brand new, state of the art brewery, that embraced energy-efficient processes and advanced recycling techniques. Hepworth’s remain independent and claim that they make no compromise in brewing beers that meet their own exacting standards.

Back to the Christmas beer. Somewhat unusually, Hepworth’s give this particular brew a "Best After", as well as a "Best Before" date, with a two-year window between the two.  The Best After date allows a period in which the beer can mature, and with my bottle the date was 20^th April 2023. This meant the Best Before was 20^th April, this year, so by the time I got round to opening it, the beer was five months past its Best Before date.  I admit that I’d let this one slip a bit and had left the bottle gearing dust at the back of the cupboard. In an ideal world I would have cracked the bottle open last Christmas, but for whatever reason, I didn’t.

Unperturbed, I though that despite the Noël being a few months passed its Best Before date, that it would still be OK. Sadly, it wasn’t, and despite the having plenty of condition, it was tart, sour and definitely undrinkable! This wasn’t the first incident I’ve had with a BCA, and it does highlight the potential pitfall with this type of bottled beer. I’m wondering though, that if I’d opened the bottle within that two-year window period, would the beer have been alright? I suspect not, but conversely, would the beer have been drinkable if opened prior to the Best After date, and here I strongly suspect that it would have been.

Whatever the case, the incident highlights my concerns that despite all the hype, and CAMRA designating these type of beers as RAIB (Real Ale In (a) Bottle, the additional conditioning process the beer undergoes in the container, is very hit and miss, and with the risk of the bottle not being 100% sterile, prior to filling, the whole ideas of BCA’s, really isn’t worth the extra effort.

A few alternatives to the Great British Beer Festival

After the shock news regarding the massive loss racked up by last month’s Great British Beer Festival, and the rather less shocking follow-up, that next year’s planned event, will not now be going ahead, it’s time for more than a little soul-searching. That’s something to leave to CAMRA’s national executive, their advisors and their accountants. What follows instead is my own take, not so much on what might have gone wrong, but on what I see as an undercurrent and change in public perception, which will almost certainly mean that 2025’s festival, is the last of these “big ticket” events.

CAMRA as a campaigning organisation, representing beer lovers, has been running festivals in praise of our national drink, for the last half century. The honour of holding the first UK beer festival, belongs to CAMRA’s Cambridge branch who, in July 1974, organised a four-day event at the city’s Corn Exchange. With 6,000 eager drinkers in attendance, the festival was a great success, and proved to the sceptical big brewing concerns that cask ale (Real Ale), could be kept and served in good condition at venues other than a pub.

Three months after the Cambridge event, Stafford & Stone CAMRA branch, organised a similar festival of their own, and a year later the first Kent Beer Festival took place at Canterbury's Dane John Gardens. The event was held in a marquee and was organised by a lady called Gill Keay (nee Knight), who I first met a year earlier, when a former school friend and I attended our first CAMRA meeting at the City Arms, close to Canterbury’s imposing cathedral. In an extraordinary feat of endurance, Gill went on to run a further 40 Kent Beer Festivals, before finally stepping down for a well-deserved rest in 2014.

1975, saw CAMRA holding its first national beer festival, held at the old flower market in London’s Covent Garden. Billed as the Covent Garden Beer Exhibition, the event was a huge success, that helped introduce the delights of cask beer to a much wider, and appreciative audience. I attended the Friday lunchtime session with a friend from university, and we were bowled over by the number of independent breweries with beer on sale at the event. We returned the following evening, but with queues snaking right around the outside of the building, we were unable to gain admittance. 

Two years later, the first "proper" Great British Beer Festival was held at London’s Alexandra Palace. During the 1980’s the event moved around a bit, with events taking place at Bingley Hall in Birmingham, the Queen's Hall in Leeds, and the Brighton Metropole. The latter venue was handy for those of us living in West Kent. The festival returned to London in 1991, when the event was held at the Dockland's Arena. This was a short-lived concert, sports and exhibition centre on the Isle of Dogs. The venue was totally unsuitable for an event like GBBF, and I remember my friends and I coming away feeling very disappointed. (CAMRA ought perhaps to have remembered this disastrous flirtation with a modern exhibition centre, even if it was over 30 years ago!) Since then, and until this year, the festival remained in the capital using both Earl’s Court and Olympia as its base.

The emphasis at those early CAMRA festivals, was on showcasing beers from the 171 remaining independent brewers, in the UK, most of which were family-owned concerns. Whilst not all of these companies supplied beers to GBBF, many of them did, meaning that even four decades ago, there was plenty of variety for all but the most fastidious of beer drinkers to chose from. Where I think things started to go wrong was the unforeseen, but very welcome appearance of a whole generation of new start-up breweries, bringing a variety of different beers and different styles.

Today the number of active breweries in the UK stands at 1641, a decrease of 136 from the previous year, but still almost 10 times the total existing in 1975. This increase is mirrored roughly, by the number of beers on sale at GBBF – 900, compared the 100 or so available to drinkers at the Covent Garden event. I personally feel that 100 different beers are more than adequate, although I am prepared to compromise slightly for a major event, such as GBBF. Unfortunately, that figure is pure conjecture now, although I’m still convinced that 900 different beers is way too many, in fact it’s pointless, as too much choice is actually less choice. By stocking such a crazy amount, festival organisers are adding to their expenses unnecessarily and are running the risk of the event making a loss, as witnessed last month.

Moving away from the UK and across the North Sea to Germany, and the granddaddy of all beer festivals, Oktoberfest. This world-famous event is over 200 years old, and is also very commercial, but you won’t find hundreds of different beers on sale there. Instead, only six breweries are allowed to sell the beers at the event, and then you will only find two or three brews from each of these companies on sale. Only the six large breweries that brew inside Munich’s city limits are allowed to supply beer to the Oktoberfest, and these concerns are Augustinerbräu München, Hacker–Pschorr, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Paulaner, and Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu.

Normally only one style of beer is served, Festbier, a strong, golden coloured, lager-style beer with an abv ranging from 5.9% -6.3%. In these health-conscious times, a 0.5%, low alcohol, Festbier is also normally available. Mrs PBT’s enjoyed a litre (Maβ) of the latter, during our 2017, family visit to Oktoberfest. Some of the beer tents also stock a wheat, or Weiβbier, from one or more of the six breweries, permitted to supply the festival. You are probably getting the picture by now, the most famous beer festival in the world, only has a dozen or so different beers on sale, but what it lacks in variety, it more than makes up for in the atmosphere, which is electric. people from all over the world gather to celebrate and make new friends from diverse backgrounds as they share a table in one of the massive beer tents.

The hearty "Prost!" (cheers) echoing throughout the grounds creates a sense of unity and celebration that is truly contagious. It’s all very different from ticking off numerous half-pints’ produced by breweries you’ve never heard of, and which after a while, all start to taste the same anyway. Of course, people have fun at GBBF, but it’s a lot more subdued, and ends to take place amongst small groups, most of whom already know each other, and may even belong to the same CAMRA branch.

It’s doubtful that such an approach would work in the UK, but you could still have a slimmed down event with say, five or six examples drawn from the myriad of different beer styles brewed in Britain, today. So why not start with mild (light & dark), bitter – both ordinary & best, golden ale, pale ale, India Pale Ale, porter, stout, old ale, barley wine, stock ale – the list goes on and the possibilities are endless. People would come for the chance of meeting up with friends, mixed with the chance of sampling the best that Britain’s brewing industry, with its long heritage, has to offer. There would be no more furtive ticking of scruffily drawn up, hand written beer lists, instead people would be there for the chance to enjoy beers in all its styles and glories, whilst conversing and engaging with their fellow men and women.

Proper food and decent entertainment would be provided, much the same as at present, but whether such an event will ever take place now, given the recent catastrophic failure of GBBF 2025, is highly improbable. Perhaps the way forward is in more local events, organised by individual CAMRA branches – assuming they’ve still got sufficient fit and able-bodied volunteers available to staff the event. Alternatively, an event staged by a local pub is every bit as enjoyable, as witnessed by the highly successful, twice-yearly festival, hosted by the Halfway House, at Brenchley, whose laid-back event, I enjoyed last Bank Holiday weekend. 

And for those who fancy something a little more livelier, then why not plan a trip to Munich’s Oktoberfest next year? There’s also Annafest- an outdoor event that takes place on a wooded hillside overlooking the small Franconian town of Forchheim, situated roughly halfway between Nuremberg and Bamberg. 

Alternatively, slightly earlier in the year, spend a few days at Frankenfest, another outdoor beer festival, this time held in the spacious moat of the massive castle that dominates the skyline of the old city of Nuremberg. There are many more beers on sale there, than at the other two festivals, with 25 - 30 mainly local breweries exhibiting their wares, so this event is much more like a British beer festival, and with sensible, half litre measures, rather than unwieldy litre Maβ Krugs, there’s something to keep the "tickers" amongst us, happy as well.

 

End of an era, as the Great British Beer Festival bows out, for possibly the last time

Wednesday's announcement that the Campaign for Real Ale has been forced to cancel Britain’s biggest beer festival, will probably come as no surprise to those of us who have been watching the situation recently. The event has been culled as part of a cost cutting exercise needed to address budget shortfalls in  CAMRA's finances. Consequently, next year’s Great British Beer Festival will be cancelled, along with its counterpart the National Winter Ales Festival.

The decision comes after this year's festival failed to attract sufficient visitors to cover the rising cost of accommodating the hundreds of volunteers who run the event, hiring the venue, and purchasing the beer. These expenses, along with those associated with running the Campaign itself, are responsible for this drastic decision. I say drastic, because the Great British Beer Festival is not only viewed as CAMRA’s flagship event, but also as an occasion that is eagerly looked forward to by the brewing industry as a whole.

The bad news was broken by CAMRA chairman, Ash Corbett Collins, and is seen as a response from an organisation embattled by rising costs and saddled with stagnant membership numbers. I’m rather surprised at the former, as in common with similar organisations, the campaign has switched to a largely digital platform, thereby saving costs on both printing and postage. So far as membership is concerned, CAMRA claims to have 145,000 paid up members, but given the advancing age of many of these, the situation is unlikely to get any better.  

CAMRA of course, is one of the most successful consumer organisations in the world, and in its fifty plus year history has been instrumental in saving the UK’s unique cask-conditioned ales from extinction. Allied with this, the campaign also helped the country’s independent brewing sector to survive and indeed thrive. CAMRA’s influence extends far beyond these shores and has inspired countries across the globe to embrace their own, small brewery sectors, and encourage their growth.

This is policy is particularly recognisable in the United States, a country once dominated by a handful of global giants, churning out insipid national brands, but now home to a thriving and multi-faceted, home-grown brewing industry. Allied with this, has been a renewed interest in once, largely forgotten styles of beer, and an explosion of interest in all things beer related. CAMRA describes itself as a not-for-profit organisation and as many will know it was founded in 1971 by group of four journalists whilst on a drinking holiday in the Republic of Ireland.

I don't intend going over CAMRA’s
history or indeed detailing my involvement with it, but I was a member for the best part of 45 years, and despite having let my membership lapse, I still have a soft spot for the campaign and fond memories, of the four and a half decades when I was actually involved with the organisation. This meant attending branch socials, surveying pubs for inclusion in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide, as well as the odd local publication. I also helped out at local beer festivals, enjoyed brewery visits or trips to towns with a good variety of characterful pubs, and I even edited a couple of local branch magazines – a task that also involved drafting much of the copy!

There is a major difference though between the campaign group I joined back in the mid 1970’s and CAMRA today, and that is the change in demographics. In its infancy, the campaign was very much a young person’s organisation, whereas today, the opposite is true, and there are insufficient new and younger members coming up through the ranks, to take the place of us old stagers. Young people today aren't “joiners” in the sense many of us were when we were in our 20’s and 30s, and over the last few decades CAMRA has struggled to attract people to replace those who are no longer fit and able, or are even, still alive. The chairman’s concerns regarding a stagnant membership are little more than putting on a brave face, as without new blood, the campaign is ultimately doomed.

Going back to the Great British Beer Festival, the forced two-year hiatus caused by COVID, followed by the non-availability in 2024 of Olympia in West London, the event’s spiritual home, almost certainly took the wind out of GBBF’s sails, so the move this year, to Birmingham’s NEC, ought to have been the catalyst for a new and revived national festival. It was a bold move on the part of the organisers but unfortunately does not seem to have worked. There were numerous reports of not enough punters attending the event, alongside a complete lack of any evening trade. This related to the so-called “suits”, business people coming along to the festival after finishing work or perhaps having taken the afternoon off to attend the event.

As someone who has attended numerous GBBF’s in the past, there was always a palpable increase in numbers after 5pm, but apparently this failed to happen in Birmingham. There is also the venue itself, and anyone who's been to the NEC will no doubt confirm that it’s a rather soulless place, that’s little more than just a collection of tin sheds, that can be joined together or separated, as required. Compare that to somewhere with character, like London’s Olympia, or even Alexandra Palace, in the early days, and you will appreciate what I am talking about.

Now, after the event, comes the soul-searching, and reflection, but with a staggering £320k loss, it is difficult to see the way back for the campaign. Certainly, the GBBF in its two forms (winter and summer) will not now take place, and likely will never happen again. This, in itself is a real loss as the Great British Beer Festival represented a key moment in the calendar of the UK’s beer and brewing sector. The event allowed tens of thousands of beer lovers to sample around 900 different brews, not just from the UK but from all over the world. It also hosted the Champion Beer of Britain awards.

After informing the membership of the reasons behind the loss, and laying out an initial strategy for recovery, national chairman Ash Corbett-Collins sent the following message to CAMRA members. 

"While I hoped I would never need to send this message, my number one priority is seeing our Campaign survive and thrive. Our 50 plus year history must be protected, and I am determined to see CAMRA continue for the next 50 years.”

“Doing nothing is not an option. If we do not act now, the stark reality is we will not exist in the future." 

Footnote: Fellow blogger, and veteran GBBF staff member Tandleman, has more to say about what might have happened to make this year’s event such a financial train-wreck. He rightly points out that CAMRA, acted in good faith in relocating its flagship festival to Birmingham, and couldn’t have foreseen just how calamitous the move would be. Having been involved with similar large events in Manchester, he describes the thoughts that would have been going through the organiser’s heads, as they slowly realised the door numbers weren’t stacking up. An awful situation to be in, especially when on paper, at least, you appear to be doing everything right.

A literary quest - recommendations for a good read, please!

Last weekend, I finally finished "The Secret Commonwealth" - part two in Philip Pullman’s "Book of Dust" series, and whilst I wait for part three to hit the bookstores (it’s due for publication on 23^rd of next month), I’m looking for a book to keep me going until then.  The book will have to be one that’s easy to dip in and out of, as I shall be taking the publication away with us, on our forthcoming cruise, which will see us heading out into the Atlantic during the last week in October.

It’s probably a hard ask, as unless it’s a novel I’m already familiar with – in part, I would appreciate some guidance as to why I ought to read a particular book. I would also like to see a vague outline or in other words, a brief synopsis.  I am not interested in anything trendy, or a book that claims to change my life, and definitely not looking for the latest “must read” publication. Instead, I am interested in a good old-fashioned novel, that will take my mind on a journey and provide a relaxing means of dropping off to sleep.

After devouring umpteen science fiction novels during my late teens and early twenties, I’m not interested in that genre any more, and the same applies to detective stories, although I don’t mind a touch of Iain Rankin’s, Inspector Rebus, the Scottish,  anti-hero, sleuth, whose exploits, and crime cases, now stretches to 25 books.  Autobiographies and biographies will be considered, but only up to a point, and that point is, the subject must have an interesting story to tell, but not one that wallows in self-pity, or one that is boastful, or downright ludicrous.

I also don’t mind if the recommendation is a literary classic, providing it is relatively easy to read, although I’m not interested in a publication full of turgid prose. I’m also unimpressed with anything that’s pretentious or aspiring to be.  I remember well both Eileen and I giving up on Emily Brontës, Wuthering Heights, independently of one another, yet this novel is regarded as a classic, by literary buffs. "Wuthering Heights" is described as being notoriously hard to read, an assessment both Mrs PBT’s and I wholeheartedly agree with. Not for us then, the dark tale of Cathy and Heathcliff, and after checking online, it seems we are not the only ones.

So, what am I reading at the moment? Which literary gem am I devouring, whilst waiting for inspiration? The answer might surprise you, but it is a recommendation from History for the Kents, a commentator on my post Southampton, via the A272cross-country route.  "A272: An Ode to a Road", by Dutch author Pieter Boogaart and his wife Rita. The book has become a cult classic, as it explores the quirks of the A272, and the unique experience it offers to those who journey along it.

Part guidebook, part history, and part travelogue, the Boogaart’s book is a reminder that the A272 is more than just a road, it is a journey through time, and a reminder of England’s rich heritage, as well as a connection between the counties of Kent, East & West Sussex, and eventually Hampshire. For those seeking an alternative to the hustle and bustle of modern highways, the A272 remains a hidden gem, inviting travellers to slow down and enjoy the ride.

 

  

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Český Krumlov - UNESCO World Heritage Site

I’m feeling a little short of inspiration at the moment, especially when it comes to topics, events or places to write about, so instead, I’ve decided to take a look back at a few of the amazing places I have visited over the years. First up is the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Český Krumlov, situated in the far south of the Czech Republic. This picturesque city was a place I’d wanted to visit for a long time, but by the time the right opportunity arose, it had become the number two tourist attraction in the country, after Prague.

The story begins back in the early part of the twenty-first century when I picked up a copy of the Good Beer Guide to Prague and the Czech Republic. Written by Graham Lees, who was one of the four founding members of the Campaign for Real Ale, the publication is very much in the same vein as Lee’s earlier Good Beer Guide to Munich and Bavaria. I bought my copy of Graham’s Czech guide at the London Drinker Beer Festival; an event that until a few years ago was held at the Camden Centre, virtually opposite St Pancras station. That particular year the crowds seemed too much, so I decided to leave early and escape to somewhere less busy and with far fewer people.

My choice of the Spaniard’s Inn, on the edge of Hampstead Heath, might seem a little strange at first, but I had been reading Charles Dickens’s classic The Pickwick Papers and this atmospheric old coaching inn featured in a particular episode of the book. Being in possession of an all-zones London Travel Card, a journey to Hampstead would cost me nothing, apart from my time.

So, after taking the underground to Hampstead, followed by a brisk walk across the Heath, I found myself in the relative tranquillity of the Spaniards. After purchasing a pint, I found a secluded corner to sit in and took the opportunity to get stuck into my Czech Beer Guide. The book was published at a time when the Czech beer scene was in a state of flux, following the changes that happened after the fall of communism and the rush to embrace a free-market economy. The changes that occurred are too numerous and too complex to discuss here, but on a more general note one particular travel reference really caught my eye.

The guide author was describing a small town in Southern Bohemia called Český Krumlov, saying that no visitor could fail to be awestruck by the time-warp medieval beauty of this settlement constructed in a tight loop of the Vlatava River. He went on to say that it was as though some witch had cast a spell over the entire town, leaving it preserved, like Sleeping Beauty adrift from the modern world. For various reasons I had to wait until 2015 to make that trip and by then, as mentioned above, Český Krumlov had soared in popularity amongst tourists, and was now second to Prague as the “must visit” location in the Czech Republic. The concern was that with the granting of UNESCO world heritage status. more and more tourists would discover the town, thereby breaking the spell that had kept the town in a state of preservation, free from the embellishments of the late 20th Century. Wow! This was a place I needed to visit and visit soon.

Son Matthew and I took an eight-day break in early October of that year, spending four days in Prague before travelling, by coach to Český Krumlov, where we spent the second half of our trip. Our stay was characterised by sunny days, but increasingly cold nights. Autumn was definitely a week or two ahead of the UK, with some spectacular seasonal colours from the trees. Snow was forecast for the weekend after our visit but I’m sure that’s probably not that unusual for a mountainous region of central Europe.

Our Student Agency coach dropped us off at Český Krumlov bus station mid-afternoon, and after getting a bit disoriented, we managed to locate our accommodation, Penzion Kriz at the edge of town. After checking in, we took a walk down into the centre of this charming old town, with its well-preserved medieval buildings. Chief of these was the imposing castle which looms over Český Krumlov, virtually dominating the town centre. 

It is the second largest castle in the Czech Republic, after Prague and is well worth a few hours exploration. The views from the castle walls out over the town alone, more than repay the admission charge, although you will have to dodge the hordes of eager tourists – mainly Chinese and American. Apart from a brief look around the courtyard, below the castle entrance, we left our main visit until the following day and set off to find a place to eat. We found this in the form of an old medieval tavern, called U Dwau Maryi, located down a narrow alley. Here we sat out, under cover (it was raining slightly), on a heated terrace, overlooking the Vlatava River. A meal of chicken and smoked meat pieces, with potatoes and salad, washed down with several glasses of locally brewed Eggenberg beer (both pale and dark), left us both feeling satisfied and full, and was a good way to round off our first evening in Český Krumlov. We wandered back to the Penzion and turned in for the night.

Now I’m not going to describe every meal we enjoyed during our stay, nor list every pub we visited, but apart from the medieval tavern described earlier, the large Bohemian-style beer hall attached to the Eggenberg Brewery was a good place to spend the evening. Its location, across the river and away from the town centre, did mean it was mercifully free of tourists. It is worth noting that Český Krumlov is quite a compact town that is easily covered on foot in a day. This does mean that a stay of two or three days is probably sufficient to fully explore the town and experience all it has to offer. Matthew, who was in his early twenties at the time, was a trifle bored by the end of our four day stay, as he was missing the shops and other bright-light attractions associated with larger towns and cities.

Despite these comments, the town did not disappoint, and I would urge anyone who appreciates great architecture in a spectacular setting to add a visit to Český Krumlov to their bucket list. The easiest and quickest way to reach the town is to follow our example and take the comfortable Student Agency coach. Services depart from Prague Florenc bus station, but there are also connections to and from Prague airport. Tickets, which are very reasonably priced, can be purchased in advance online, or from the driver. Journey times are just over two hours.