A Brief Overview of Annafest

 I’m not quite sure how to describe Annafest, apart from to say it was unlike any beer festival I have ever been to before. But then German beer festivals aren’t the same as those we have in the UK anyway. For a start they’ve been running a lot longer than home-grown events; sometimes by as much as a couple of hundred years. Take the grand-daddy of them all, Munich’s Oktoberfest, which began in 1810 and, with the odd break for wars plus a couple of cholera epidemics, has been going strong ever since!

Visitors to this world-famous orgy of beer drinking will be aware that despite the large number of “tents” (temporary halls would be a more accurate description), only the six brewers based in the city are allowed to sell their beers at Oktoberfest. Contrast this with CAMRA’s forthcoming Great British Beer Festival where there will be getting on for 800 different beers to choose from and you get an idea of just how different festivals are in Germany compared to the UK. Whilst British beers festivals are about sampling as many different beers as possible, German beer festivals are about having a good time, with some serious drinking as an essential accompaniment, of course, and this is how I would describe Annafest.

 The event takes place at the Kellerwald, a wooded hillside on the edge of Forchheim, where there are a series of natural rock cellars cut into the hillside. These cellars were originally constructed for the storage and maturation of bottom-fermenting beer, in the days before refrigeration was developed. Today there are two dozen such “Kellers”, the majority of which are just open for Annafest, although a handful remain open all year.  During the summer evenings the Kellerwald is the perfect location for a cool beer in the shady woods  The event is held over a 10 day period around the 26^th July, which is the feast of St Anna (Anne), the mother of the Virgin Mary

Although pilgrims had been journeying to a nearby chapel consecrated to St. Anna since the early 16^th Century, Annafest in its present form began in 1840, when the Forchheim shooting club moved its main shooting ground from the "shooting meadow" on the river Regnitz to the Kellerwald.  As well as plenty of beer drinking there are other attractions such as fairground rides, various stalls, plus six stages which feature a wide range of different musical acts. The local Forchheim breweries Hebendanz, Greif, Eichhorn and Neder all brew a strong Bock beer especially for this festival, the so-called Annafestbier, and a number of other local breweries also supply brews of their own as well.

With seating for about 30.000 people, the Kellerwald provides sufficient accommodation for the 450.000 - 500.000 visitors who come each year over the course of the 10-day festival period. A regular shuttle bus service is provided from the town and surrounding areas to the Kellerwald and back again, so getting to the festival is not a problem. For those of a more energetic disposition, it is not that far to walk up from the town and many people choose to do this, working up a king-sized thirst on the way!

One comment I have seen sums up the whole event quite nicely. "A great atmosphere and very cool location, in the woods above the town. It's everything the Oktoberfest isn't: cool woodland beer gardens instead of hot, smelly tents."

Mass Overload?

A litre is not a sensible measure for drinking beer. I say this after my recent visit to Annafest where the litre, or Maß (Mass) to give the unit its correct name, was the only measure beer was sold in. This, combined with the fact that most of the Kellers only stocked a strong “Festbier” with an abv of around 5.7%, meant it was necessary to pace one’s self very carefully when it came to knocking back the beer. Fortunately most of the Maß mugs were stoneware, rather than glass, so this at least helped the beer to remain cooler for longer.

Unlike the southern half of Bavaria, especially the area around Munich, Maß measures are relatively uncommon in Franconia, with much more sensible stoneware half litre mugs, known as Steinkrug or Krug, (but never “Stein”), the norm in most pubs. Jon Connen confirms this in his “Guide to Bamberg & Franconia”, stating “Litre measures are the exception rather than the rule in Franconian beer gardens. Franconians tend to consume more beer with less fuss than the macho Bavarians of Munich.” It was therefore doubly strange to see them being used at Annafest.

 Litres, of course, are roughly the equivalent of an imperial quart. I say roughly, because a quart actually works out at 1.136 litres, so the Maß is slightly less than two pints. Leaving this small difference aside for a moment, when was the last time you saw anyone drinking out of a quart pot in an English pub? Your most likely answer is, like my own, never, but quart measures were relatively common in England, back in the times of Charles Dickens, and I’m not certain when they fell out of favour. For some reason though this heavy and cumbersome measure has continued to be used in southern Germany.

I have three main criticisms of the Maß, the first of which concerns the weight of the vessel itself plus that of the contents, ( one litre of beer will weigh approximately one kilogramme). The second is the beer slips down a bit too readily, and the mistake I always make is by the time I’m on my second Maß the first has started to kick in, and it’s then I realise that ordering a second one was not such a good idea.! The third, of course, is that I like to sample as many different beers as possible, especially when I am visiting somewhere for the first time. Volume and alcoholic strength constraints make the Maß a most impractical vessel for the beer connoisseur. I’m not saying the Bavarians  should go the whole hog and offer the equivalent of the third or half pint measures one sees at beer festivals here in the UK, or the “thimbles” used at the Great American Beer Festival, but there has to be a happy medium somewhere along the line.

Perhaps what this all boils down to is that centuries of usage have proven the English pint to be the perfect measure for social beer drinking. What do other people think?

Café Abseits - Bamberg

Café Abseits, in Bamberg, is one of those places I’d always meant to visit, but somehow never quite got round to doing so, despite having made three previous visits to the city. Billed as Bamberg’s “premier beer speciality pub”, Café Abseits is tucked away down a side street on the “wrong side of the tracks”, to the east of the station. However our recent visit to Franconia included a day spent in Bamberg, and whilst on this occasion we didn’t manage to visit the pub, we did notice a newly constructed entrance to the station on the eastern side; a facility we were to make use of on a return visit a couple of days later.

We had spent the first part of the day in Coburg, a town which is almost as far north as one can travel and still be in Bavaria. It was a blisteringly hot day; far too hot unfortunately to climb up to the impressive Veste (fortress) Coburg, which overlooks the town. Instead we found a backstreet pub, (the Bratwurstglöcke) with some nice shaded outside tables where we could sit in the relative cool and enjoy a couple of mugs of locally-brewed Coburger Brauerei beers. The plan was to stop off in Bamberg on our return journey to Forchheim, in order to pick up some bottles from the shop attached to the internationally-renowned Weyermann Maltings, which are on the east side of the station.

 

I had taken the precaution of  contacting the company by email, to confirm the opening times of the shop, but unfortunately their reply contained an error and did not state  that on Friday’s the shop closed at 3pm, an hour earlier than we were anticipating. My son was not best pleased after having walked up, through the swelteringly hot heat, to find the place closed. I wasn’t over impressed either, but put the mistake down to experience, and made a mental note to call back on a future visit. I then began to quickly search for somewhere where we could grab a beer and cool off.

Fortunately I had with me Jon Conen’s excellent “Guide to Bamberg & Franconia”, an essential travelling companion in this part of the world. The nearest pub to us was Café Abseits, less than 10 minutes walk away and, what’s more, it was described as having a beer garden attached as well.

We found the pub without too much trouble, and walked through the side entrance straight to the aforementioned garden, which was at the rear of the pub. Fortunately, given the extreme heat, the garden was nice and shady and we were soon sat at a table studying the beer menu prior to the arrival of the waiter. I opted for the Huppendorfer Vollbier, an amber coloured and well-hopped beer from the village of the same name, situated in the Fränkische Scheiz, (Franconian Switzerland) area to the east of Bamberg. Matthew’s choice was Mönchsambacher Lager, a much paler beer from Mönchsambach, a village to the west of the city, in the area known as the Steigerwald. He followed that up with another of the same, whilst I went for the Gänstaller Kellerbier; origin unknown, but very drinkable all the same.

We weren’t the only visitors from England that day. Sitting a few tables away from us we couldn’t help over-hearing a group of men speaking in our mother tongue. After a while, I went over and had a word with them. It turned out they were a group of beer enthusiasts, (I didn’t ask whether they were CAMRA members or not), from Nottingham, doing much the same as us really – spending a few days at Annafest, interspersed with visits to other towns and villages in order to track down and sample some of the local beers. They were staying in nearby Buttenheim, at the Löwenbräu Brauerei – one of two neighbouring breweries in the village. We swapped notes and shared a few recommendations, one of which we decided to follow the following day.

The beer enthusiasts left, shortly before us, but before we departed I had a closer look at Café Abseits’s beer extensive list (see photo’s). As well as the three draught beers already mentioned, the pub carries a wide range of bottles, including a number from the pilot brew-plant at Weyermann Maltings, home of our abortive visit earlier. There were also some examples of what, for Germany, can only be described as experimental styles of beer, such as pale ale and porter!

We decided to leave such beery delights for another occasion, as Café Abseits’s is definitely somewhere worthy of a much longer visit. Not only that, with the weather as hot as it was, we never got to see the inside of the pub, having spent the whole of our visit in the garden at the rear. However, at least I can now say I’ve visited Bamberg’s “premier beer speciality pub”. As for the pub's unusual name, it apparently translates as "the other place", so now you know!

Franconia 2013

We arrived back home last Monday evening, after a most enjoyable week in the northern area of Bavaria known as Franconia. We based ourselves in the small, picturesque town of Forchheim; a town of just 20,000 inhabitants, but with four breweries, which lies roughly halfway between Nuremberg and Bamberg. The prime, but not sole, reason for our stay here was to visit Annafest, an event which began life as a religious festival, but which is now one of the largest folk festivals in Franconia. I ought to add that by “folk” I don’t mean lots of bearded men in chunky jumpers wailing out sea-shanties or traditional rural ballads with a finger stuck in one ear, but rather folk as in “something for the people”, something which everyone can join in with and have a good time.

Naturally, as in much of Bavaria, beer plays an important role in such events, and Annafest was definitely no exception to this. I will be writing a much more detailed post about Annafest a bit later, but for now I just want to say that we visited the event on three separate days, which were interspersed with days out exploring some of the surrounding Franconian towns and villages; towns such as Bamberg with its eight breweries and villages full of rural charm and, as like as not, a brewery to match. In the countryside we came across Bierkellers tucked away in the unlikeliest of places, serving cool refreshing Kellerbier – beer which smacked of locally grown hops and sold at unbelievably low prices (€1.90 per half litre). Whilst in towns such as Bamberg, Coburg and of course Forchheim, there were unspoilt basic boozers, tucked away down side streets mixed in with internationally renowned establishments such as Schlenkerla and Spezial in Bamberg.

All in all it was like visiting a beer lover’s paradise; somewhere which at times just seems too good to be true. I will be recalling some of our discoveries over the next couple of weeks or so, depending on time and other commitments (I’m acting as beer buyer for this year’s Spa ValleyRailway Beer Festival, and I’ve got quite a bit of ringing around and chasing to catch up on). In the meantime attached are a few photo’s to wet your appetites.

Annafest

Beer festivals are like buses, you wait ages for one to come along and then three arrive at once! OK, not quite all at once, but one after another, and this time of year always seems a particularly busy one for celebrating the fruits and delights of the brewers’ art.

Last weekend saw the highly successful SIBA South East Region Beer Festival, which I’ve already reported on here. This weekend sees the similarly- sized Kent Beer Festival, one of the longest running events of this nature in the country; in fact the Kent Beer Festival is the second oldest CAMRA festival in Britain. The first one took place in 1975, so next year, 2014, will be the event’s 40th anniversary. After a gap of several years, I attended last year’s festival and, after thoroughly enjoying myself, made a commitment to go along this year. Unfortunately the event immediately precedes another beer festival; one which takes place abroad, and one which I have wanted to attend for quite some time. 

The event I am referring to is known as Annafest, and is held every July in the small Franconian town of Forchheim, in northern Bavaria. The event is primarily a folk festival, held over a 10 day period to celebrate St Anna’s day (July 26^th). St Anna (Anne in English), was the mother of the Virgin Mary, and Bavaria being a staunchly Catholic country celebrates such events in style, and with the help of more than a few beers of course! We’re not actually flying out until Monday morning (22^nd), so in theory I could have joined my friends at Canterbury yesterday for the first day of the Kent Festival, but with going away there were a lot of loose ends to tie up at work, but shopping and packing to do today, (not much fun with a hangover!), so I reluctantly decided that Canterbury would have been one festival just too many.

So what of Annafest? Well, not having been before I’m not quite sure what to expect. The festival takes place on a site occupying a wooded hillside, just on the edge of Forchheim. The “Kellerwald”, as the area is known, has 23 Bierkellers (beer gardens really), most of which only open for Annafest, although a small number are open all year. There are also fairground rides and attractions, plus six stages featuring a wide range of different musical acts, (quite what sort of acts remains to be seen). About nine or ten local breweries supply the beer, including the four breweries based in Forchheim itself, with many of them brewing a special “Annafest Bier”.

The event opened today (Saturday 20^th), with a parade through Forchheim, followed by the ceremonial tapping of the first cask by the Bürgermeister, (town Mayor), but hopefully there will still be some beer left by the time we arrive late Monday afternoon. We’re renting an apartment in the centre of Forchheim, so shouldn’t have far to travel, and anyway a shuttle bus runs between the bus station and the Kellerwald. Whilst there, we’ll obviously be visiting the town centre taps of the four Forchheim breweries, as well as exploring a bit further a field. Forchheim is roughly halfway between Nuremberg, (where we’re flying in to) and Bamberg. We’ve visited Bamberg before. Not only is this beautiful city home to eight breweries and famed for its “Raucbier” (smoke beer), it also contains some smashing pubs. A return visit will definitely be on the cards.

I’ve got two books for guidance: John Conen’s excellent Guide to Bamberg & Franconia, plus Ron Pattinson’s Trip! (South), which covers a much wider area of southern Germany. I’ve also got the Annafest App for my Smartphone, which gives details of the various Bierkellers, opening times, beers sold, availability of food, music or music free etc. It also has a plan of the Kellerwald showing the location of the various Kellers, names, times and venues for the various music acts, plus general information about the event.

All in all it promises to be an excellent event, especially as the weather looks set to remain fine, for the first half of the week at least. Tandleman, who has been to Annafest before, gave me a few words of advice. “Take plenty of insect repellent”, he said. When I asked why, he reminded me that warm summer nights and forested areas are a bad combination when it comes to attracting biting insects. Thanks for the tip Peter, my “Jungle Formula” insect repellent is already packed.

A Few Random Beery Thoughts

Does anyone know who brews the Firestone Walker American Independence Pale Ale, currently on sale in Wetherspoons outlets? Actually, what I probably should ask is which UK brewery is brewing this 5% beer under licence, as I doubt very much that it's all being imported from across the pond.

Anyway, it was by far the best beer I had last night in our local JDW in Tonbridge, unlike the much vaunted Robinsons Trooper which distinctly underwhelmed. I enjoyed Robinsons ales during my time in Greater Manchester, back in th mid 1970's, but every time I've tried a pint of their beer down here, it's always disappointed. Perhaps Robinson's beers just don't travel, although going back to the Iron Maiden inspired Trooper, Curmudgeon also found it underwhelming, and that was on its home patch in Stockport!

Also disappointing were the two  bottled IPA's from Traditional Scottish Ales which I picked up cheap in Lidl's a week ago. Both Rok and Ben Nevis are just 4.0%, and both fail totally to deliver. Weak and insipid with that nasty "woody" after-taste which to me is normally a sign of yeast infection. There is a brewery not a million miles from here which seems to suffer from the same problem, yet amazingly keeps going. Perhaps some people actually like this in a beer, but I'm not one of them, and I'm glad now that I didn't return to the store, as I was threatening to, and buy some more. I've still got a bottle of Wild Stout, from the same company, to try, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I also came across some beers with this "woodiness" back in April, whilst in Norwich for the CAMRA Members Weekend. I won't name and shame, as this was three months ago, and the brewery concerned might well have cleaned up its act, but selling beers in this sort of condition, doesn't do anyone any favours, and tarnishes the micro-brewing industry with a largely unwarranted name for producing beers that are hit and miss.

I've got a few more beers to try over the weekend, which I hope will be somewhat better. In the meantime, who is brewing Firestone Walker American Independence Pale Ale?

SIBA South East Festival Overview

This year’s SIBA South East Regional Beer Festival, was probably the most successful  to date. Held over last weekend, from Friday to Sunday evening, and hosted by Tonbridge Juddians Rugby Club, the festival featured around 150 cask ales alongside a range of bottled beers, all brewed by SIBA members based in the south east region. This is a large area, stretching from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in the west, to Kent in the east, but also taking in Berkshire and London as well.

As I mentioned in a previous post, as well as giving the general public the opportunity of trying a wide range of beers, many of which they rarely see, there is also a serious side to the event. Prior to opening its doors last Friday evening, some intensive tasting and judging of different beers (eight styles for draught and six for bottled) took place, with awards for Bronze, Silver and Gold in each category. Those interested in the final results can see which breweries won what by clicking here, but the overall winner, ie. the beer judged to be the best from the winner of each category, was Hopspur, from Redemption Brewing Company based in North London.

By the time I’d made my way down to the festival on Friday evening, shortly after 9pm, this beer had already sold out. As is often the case at festivals, the strongest beer on sale, Chocolate Vanilla Stout from Canterbury Brewers – a 9.6% stunner, was also in danger of running out, and by the time I’d worked my way up to sampling it had indeed disappeared.

Apart from the obvious skill which had gone into brewing this beer, one other reason for its popularity may have been due to all beers being sold at the same price (£3.60 a pint). In such situations, those interested in oblivion rather than enjoyment will view such beers as “more bang for their buck” and so without any thought or reverence to the craft of the brewer concerned will go straight for the strongest beers on offer. On the other hand though, uniform pricing kept things simple for the bar staff, especially as a token system was in place, and for beer geeks, who really wanted to try this beer, it was available at a bargain price.

The majority of the staff were volunteers from Tonbridge Juddians (TJ’s). Each year the beers are all racked in a large marquee adjacent to the clubhouse; a convenient arrangement as the tent is hired for the club’s end of season ball, and then kept up for a further week to accommodate the beer festival. Last year though the unseasonably wet summer really put a spanner in the works, and the tent, together with the majority of the already racked beer, ended up under several feet of water and the event had to be cancelled,

There were no such concerns this year, and with wall to wall sunshine the weather was, if anything, a trifle too hot. Despite near record breaking temperatures, the cooling system employed on the beer ensured things in the main stayed cool, and the beer remained in good condition.  (It appears not everyone was satisfied though, as we did notice one gripe from a Twitter user claiming the beer was lacking in condition – something I would, by and large, strongly refute).

As well as Friday evening, I also put in appearances on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. Our local West Kent CAMRA branch had a small stand there, publicising our forthcoming festival with Spa Valley Railway in October and of course promoting CAMRA’s aims and achievements in general. I didn’t stay right until the end on Sunday, but imagine most of the beer would have run out. .

All in all it was a jolly good event and, as several of our members pointed out, we are extremely lucky to have an event of this magnitude, offering 150 different beers, right on our doorstep. Long may this continue, and here’s to next year’s festival!

Traditional Scottish Ales at Lidl's

I picked up these three bottles of beer in Lidl's last night. They're brewed by TSA - Traditional Scottish Ales, and were selling for the bargain price of just £1.29 each. The beers concerned are Ben Nevis and Rok, both described as India Pale Ales, plus Wild Oat Stout.

 I  won't get the chance to sample them this weekend, as I'm committed to attending the SIBA South East Regional Festival. This will probably mean that by the time I do get round to trying them, Lidl's will  have sold out, but I'll let people know what I think when I do crack them open. However, at such a low price, I'm tempted to take a punt and buy a few more anyway.

SIBA South East Beer Festival 2013

This weekend sees Tonbridge Juddians Rugby Club once again hosting the SIBA South East Regional Beer Festival. After the debacle of last year, when the event had to be cancelled due to flooding, the weather over the next few days looks set to be sunny and warm, just the weather for a spot of beer drinking. The gates open at 5pm this evening, and I am planning to go along a little later to see what's on offer.

Actually, having downloaded the beer list, I already know there's around 150 beers on offer supplied by SIBA members from all over the South East. The festival has a serious side of course, in so much that prior to opening to the general public, beers are judged by a panel of experts and awards are given for Bronze, Silver and Gold over a number of different categories and styles of beer. Having just looked on the SIBA website, there are eight different categories for draught (almost exclusively cask) ales, plus six for bottled beers. Several members of our CAMRA branch committee will have been involved with the judging, so it will be interesting to see what they come up with.

I've made a short-list of beers I want to try, and as well as this evening, I also hope to be going along tomorrow. As well as all this beer there are all the other things one would expect at a festival, including food and live entertainment. Coupled with that is the parkland setting of the festival itself, housed in a marquee attached to TJ's clubhouse. If you are in the area and fancy trying something a bit different on the beer front, get yourselves along to Tonbridge Juddians. Full festival information, together with a list of all the beers, can be found here.

Shepherd Neame India Pale Ale - Limited Edition

 
Regular readers of this blog will know I am no fan of Shepherd Neame, despite them being by far and away the largest brewery in Kent, and owning some iconic pubs. Ironic considering I was once a huge devotee of the company's beers; particularly their bitter, but this was back in the day when it was just plain "bitter" and not  a beer with a fancy title such as "Master Brew".

Sometime between the late 1980's and early 1990's, Shepherd Neame beers underwent a dramatic change in both taste and character. Gone was the well-balanced traditional Kentish ale with a lovely flowery hoppiness, which generations of local drinkers had cut their teeth on, and in its place was a beer with a harsh, stewed bitterness and a nasty metallic taste . This was combined with a change in character of the beers, which became thin-tasting, lacking in body, with an unpleasant and very dry aftertaste. Rumour has it the changes were due to the brewery "cleaning-up" its yeast, changing from a multi-strain variety to a single-strain one, thereby losing a lot of individuality and character along the way.

I don't know how true this story is, but try as I might I just can't get used to what Shepherd Neame beers taste like these days, and therefore tend to avoid them. However, towards the end of last year I was intrigued by a post on Mark Dredge's Pencil & Spoon site in which he reviewed two limited edition beers from Shep's, both of which were based on historical recipes from the company's archives. One of these beers was a Double Stout, whilst the other was an India Pale Ale. Being brews from a bygone era, both beers were on the strong side, but intrigued as I was,and despite my best efforts, I never managed to track these rarities down.

Until last weekend that is. Whilst browsing the shelves of Tesco's huge superstore in Sevenoaks, I came across a single bottle of  Shepherd Neame India Pale Ale.. There was no price or descriptive label on the shelf, so this must definitely have been an end of line. I eagerly snapped it up and am now enjoying a lightly chilled glass of it.

I have to day it's rather good. In fact I'd go further and say it's excellent and if the bog-standard Shepherd Neame beers tasted anything remotely like this one, then I would have no hesitation of drinking in their pubs.The only slight drawback with this particular offering is that because it's based on an historic recipe, it's a rather strong 6.1% abv beer that, whilst good for a beer to enjoy and savour, definitely isn't one to have a session on. However, I'm very glad I managed to find it, and am pleased to report that despite its strength it really reminds me of how good Shepherd Neame beers used to taste back in the day when I first started drinking. Now all I need to do is to track down that Double Stout!

The blurb on the back label reads as follows: "An historic brew which conjures up images of high seas and faraway places. An IPA encapsulates centuries of brewing tradition, a quintessentially strong and hoppy beer with a bold, stirring character. Our India Pale Ale delivers this magnificently; pale in colour and generously bittered with locally grown Fuggles hops.
The high hop rate in this brew originally protected the beer during its arduous journey across the continents. The same Kentish hop notes can now be enjoyed for their own sake in this original recipe from Britain's oldest brewer."

Disappointment on the Beer Front

 

It was very disappointing on the beer front the other night; doubly so after the excellent choice of top quality beers we had enjoyed a couple of days previously.  I had turned up to the third meeting of the organising committee of the Spa Valley Railway Beer Festival, held at the normally reliable Royal Oak in Tunbridge Wells, looking forward to something pale, hoppy and refreshing. Instead I was confronted by three brown beers - Harvey’s Best, Mighty Oak – English Oak and Tonbridge Copper Knob; all perfectly good beers in their own right, but not what I was looking for at the time.

One could argue that drinkers are spoilt for choice these days, and in certain pubs we are. However, many pubs continue to offer just one or two “safe” options – (Harvey’s Best, London Pride or Greene King IPA in this area), but at least with those type of pub one knows there what will be on offer. When one is relying on a pub which is normally renowned for sourcing something out of the ordinary, then it comes as something of a disappointment when it doesn't come up with the goods.

It wasn’t just the Royal Oak that failed to deliver last Tuesday. When the meeting had finished, a couple of us called in at the Bedford on our way back to the station. There were around eight beers on sale, but again despite lots of apparent choice, I didn’t really see anything that grabbed my attention. In the end I opted for Clarence & Fredericks Best Bitter, which was a very disappointing pint to finish on, reminding me of a pint of home brew, back in the bad old days. My friend fared rather better with the same brewery’s mild.

So what of the beers back at the Royal Oak? Tonbridge Copper Knob is a fairly dry, fruity 3.8% beer, copper in colour, as its name suggests. English Oak, on the other hand, was a full 1.0% higher in strength, and was fruity in character with caramel malt being the main characteristic.

OK, perhaps we shouldn’t have expected too much on a quiet Tuesday evening and I’m being more than a little churlish here, but with the preponderance of pale golden ales available these days, it was odd to find nothing apart from malt-driven brown ales.

Bargain Beer at Lidl's

From time to time supermarket chain, Lidl run cut-price promotions on certain bottled English beers. The offers are either from Shepherd Neame or Marstons, but given my antipathy towards Shep's it's only beers from the latter group which interest me. Earlier this week our local branch of Lidl, in Tonbridge, was selling two different Jennings beers at the bargain price of just 99p per 500ml bottle. The beers in question were Jennings Bitter or Cocker Hoop, and it was the latter brew which took my fancy, as I rate it as by far the best beer to come out of the Jennings stable. Golden in colour and with just the right balance between juicy malt and resinous bitterness, this 4.2% beer really hits the spot so far as I'm concerned.

At such a bargain price, both beers were selling like hot cakes. I picked up an eight-bottle case yesterday, but when I returned earlier this evening, both beers had completely sold out. I'm not surprised, but if you're quick, it might still be worth checking your local branch of Lidl to see if there's any left on the shelves.

A Day in the Kent Countryside

I have written on at least two previous occasions about the CAMRA National Inventory listed Old House, at Ightham Common. Sometimes described as a “hobby pub” in so much it is only open during the evenings and at weekends, as owner Nick Boulter has a full time job elsewhere, it should more accurately, and more kindly, be described as a labour of love. It is always a wonderful experience to visit this marvellously unspoilt pub, not least because one is assured of being able to sample some excellent beer there.

So it was that last Saturday, a group of nine local CAMRA members and friends boarded the 222 bus outside Tonbridge station, to make the short journey up to Ightham Common. En route we passed through some unbelievably pretty places, including the large village of Plaxtol. This area was once known for paper making, and this industry is celebrated in the name of one of Plaxtol’s two pubs, the Papermaker’s Arms. However, we were leaving the delights of Plaxtol for another day, and another outing, and after our bus had climbed the steep escarpment of the Greensand Ridge, and deposited us just outside Ightham village, we made the short walk down along Redwell Lane, reaching the Old House just after 11.30.

Apart from regular customer and local CAMRA member Clive, we were Nick’s first customers; in fact he had nipped outside for a crafty cigarette before opening. He ushered us in and after we’d had the chance to peruse the beers on offer, suggested to keep things simple we hold a “whip” whereby each of us put a tenner into a kitty, and he would then take the drinks money from that, as and when required. This seemed a good idea, so we all chipped in and then proceeded to order our drinks. I started with Dark Star Hophead, a bit of a no-brainer really. It was pale, cool, refreshing and wonderfully hoppy, and I was tempted to go for another had it not been for  my attention being caught by a beer from the Bristol Beer Factory, called Seven. Now beers from this company are something of a rarity in rural Kent, in fact I haven’t come across them outside of London, so I made this  my second pint of the day, and was glad that I did. Not quite as overtly hoppy as the Dark Star, Seven was nonetheless an extremely good pint. Several of my companions thought so as well.

Before going any further, a word or two as to the intended format of the day. The 222 bus service runs back and forth between Tonbridge and Borough Green. It is operated by the same driver, which means that it runs once every two hours in each direction, with a three hour gap mid-afternoon to give the driver a break and the chance for some lunch. The idea was we would catch the 14.09 return service to Tonbridge, but would break our journey at the small hamlet of Dunks Green, home to the Kentish Rifleman, another excellent country pub which we don’t get to visit all that often. We could then spend the next three hours there, catching the 17.19 service back to Tonbridge or, mid afternoon, we could walk across country to the somewhat up-market Chaser Inn at Shipbourne, and then pick up the same bus there a few minutes later.

Either option meant a problem with food; apart from nuts and crisps, the Old House doesn’t do food, and we knew that the kitchen at the Rifleman closed at 2.30pm. We didn’t think the kitchen staff would fancy a rush, last minute scranble for food, so the sensible option was to bring a packed lunch. Nick had no problem with us eating our rolls inside the pub, but as it was such a nice day, several of us went and sat outside, enjoying the sun which has been sadly missing for much of the summer so far.

Alongside the Dark Star and the BBF beers, were Wickwar Coopers Ale, Mauldons Black Adder and Young’s Ordinary.  Dismissing the latter as no longer worthy of consideration since its move to Bedford, I gave both the Wickwar and the Mauldons a try before leaving, The pub had become quite crowded by the time of our departure; not just with ourselves, but a healthy sprinkling of regulars, plus a group from Croydon and Sutton CAMRA branch, It was also reported that a mini-bus load of SPBW (Society for the Preservation of Beer from the Wood) would be calling in as well. (We spotted them in their bus, en route to the Old House, whilst waiting for ours.) We departed shortly before 2pm, thanking Nick for his hospitality and his great beer, and were waiting at the stop in time for the onward bus to our next destination.

As I mentioned earlier, Dunk’s Green is nothing more than a hamlet, but it is fortunate in still having its own pub, and a pretty fine one too. Dating in part from the 16^th Century, the Kentish Rifleman survived a serious fire back in 2007, which necessitated some major restoration work, especially to the roof. Looking at the pub today it’s difficult to imagine just how bad the damage was at the time. The front entrance leads straight into the main bar, which is long and low. Leading off from this is another long and quite narrow room, which is slightly more upmarket, and is mainly used by diners. At the rear of the pub is an attractive and secluded garden, and this is to where most of us gravitated; all that is except Eric and I who stopped to chat to a couple of characters sitting at the bar.

The Rifleman had four beers on offer – the low strength Tolly Cobbold English Ale, Whitstable Native, Harvey’s Best and Westerham 1965. The first two beers were on sale at £3.00 a pint, whilst the latter two were more expensive, at £3.50. This price differential reflects the wholesale prices charged by the respective breweries, as both Harvey’s and Westerham are well-known in the trade for charging higher rates for their beers. I sampled the Native and the 1965 and am pleased to report both were in tip-top condition.

Eric and I joined the others in the garden for our second pint; after all it was a shame to be stuck indoors on so pleasant a day. It was from here that the majority of the group decided that a cross-country walk to Shipbourne would be a good idea, as not only would it gives us some exercise, but it would also give us a bit of break from the beer. It was the perfect summer’s afternoon for a walk, most of which was across fields and through the odd copse. Eventually we could see the tower of Shipbourne church beckoning in the distance across the grassy expanse of the common.

I can’t remember the last time I’d set foot in the Chaser, but I wouldn’t mind betting it was a quarter of a century ago. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a somewhat up-market sort of place; nothing too stuck-up mind, just rather expensive. The pub is part of a small chain called Whiting &Hammond. The chain runs seven pubs in total, most of which are leased from Greene King. One of these is the Little Brown Jug at Chiddingstone Causeway, which is five minutes walk away from where I work.  My company uses the Jug for entertaining customers; leaving do’s and staff drinks each Christmas Eve, so I know the sort of package the group offers. It is a good package, and the food is especially recommended, with generous portions and some imaginative dishes, but of a normal lunchtime I tend to steer clear, if only so as to keep a clear head for the afternoon.

 As well as Greene King beers the Jug regularly stocks Larkin’s beer brewed just down the road, but like most local pubs the Larkin’s on tap is the 3.4% Traditional Ale. Now for a lunchtime pint this is a very good session beer that packs in lots of taste for its low strength, but it’s not often one sees any of the other beers that the brewery produces. I was especially pleasing therefore to walk into the Chaser and see Larkin’s Best Bitter on sale. At a much more respectable 4.4% abv, the Best is packed full of chewy-toffee, juicy-malt flavours which are perfectly complemented by the WGV and Bramling Cross hops grown on the brewery’s own farm.  In fact, so good was the beer that I didn’t mind paying the rather steep £3.80 a pint price tag.

We sat out in the garden at the side of the pub, which is just in front of the church, enjoying the beer and making those who had remained at the Rifleman jealous by posting text-messages telling them what they were missing!  We joined up with them just before 5.30pm, despite their having primed the bus driver not to stop for us! Back in Tonbridge, most of the party, being gluttons for punishment decided to call in at the local Wetherspoons. Myself and a colleague decided that discretion was the better part of valour and that we’d had more than enough ale for one day. Not only that but Spoons would have been somewhat of an anti-climax after three such excellent pubs, so we stayed on the bus for a couple more stops before walking back to our respective homes.

A Day Out in London - Part 2

After crossing London Bridge, we headed along Gracechurch Street towards the Crosse Keys, our next port of call, and one of Wetherspoons flagship pubs in the capital. However, when Gracechurch Street merged into Bishopsgate we realised we must have missed it. Undeterred we turned right into the covered splendour of Leadenhall Market for the chance to visit the Lamb Tavern, an unspoilt gem of a  pub which dates back, in its present form, to the 17th Century and is on the site of a much older establishment of the same name. Alongside the usual Young’s offerings was Sambrook’s Pumphouse Pale. This turned out to be a very good beer, but at over £4.00 it pint it jolly well ought to be! One of the Lamb’s most attractive features was a large Bass mirror (see picture below), which would look nice on my wall at home!

We asked the barmaid as to the whereabouts of the Crosse Keys and were told it was definitely in Gracechurch Street, but on the opposite side of the road to where we had been looking.  Re-tracing our steps I  spotted the small, unobtrusive sign (no wonder we missed it), hanging next to the entrance of what must be one of Wetherspoons most ostentatious pubs. Converted from the palatial marbled banking hall that was once the London Headquarters of the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank, the Crosse Keys offers one of the widest ranges of cask ales of any JDW outlet; up to 24 in fact! These are displayed on TV monitors above the bar, but we hadn’t noticed that, so spent quite a bit of time perusing the pump clips before deciding what to order. We opted for Wayland Smithy, a 4.4% American red ale brewed by Oxfordshire brewers White Horse of  Stanford-in-the-Vale. I think Eric enjoyed his but I found the beer not really to my taste.(a touch too much roast malt for my liking).

Soon it was time to move on again, and we had a bit of a route march ahead of us, especially as we wanted to get back to the Charing Cross area. We made our way up Cornhill,  passing the Bank of England, before continuing  along Cheapside and the back of St Paul’s and then along towards Holborn to the Cittie of Yorke, a well-known London pub, and one of a number in the Capital  belonging to Yorkshire brewers, Samuel Smith. Sam’s are renowned for their keen prices and for their policy of only stocking “own-branded” products in their pubs, so as well as their one cask ale Old Brewery Bitter (OBB), their pubs sell their own lager, stout, an extensive range of distinctive bottled beers, own-label wines, plus even their own branded crisps! We opted for the OBB; I didn’t notice what the price was as it was Eric’s round, but knowing Sam’s value for money policy it would have been on a par with what we paid in Wetherspoons.

The pub itself is well worth a visit, consisting of one long bar, with a high vaulted ceiling. It looks very much like a baronial hall, so it is surprising to learn it was only built in 1924. The sides of the building, away from the bar, are lined with booths which resemble confessionals, or the sort of enclosures once found in courtrooms for lawyers and their clients to discuss matters relating to the case, privately. Being a Friday afternoon, the pub was starting to fill up quite rapidly; not just with city workers finished for the weekend, but with a healthy sprinkling of tourists as well.

We drank up and departed for our final stop of the day, the Harp in Covent Garden. I wasn't certain whether I’d visited this award winning pub before, but I was certainly glad that we called in on our way back to Charing Cross. The pub was packed when we arrived, with people spilling out onto the street. This wasn’t a problem as the Harp has what must be removable windows. These help give a feeling of space and on warm summer days, allow both light and air into the pub. Once at the bar we were spoilt for choice with around eight different cask ales to choose from. To start I went with the Red Squirrel London Porter, whilst Eric opted for the Dark Star Original.

We spent longer than intended at the Harp, such was the atmosphere and the quality and range of the beer. There was also a bevy of attractive barmaids pulling the pints and serving the customers with just the right mixture of efficiency and charm. I ended up sampling the Conqueror, Black IPA from Windsor & Eaton and then finally Sambrook’s Lavender Hill, a 4.5% pale ale, before finally calling it a day.

From the Harp it was a short step to Charing Cross station and the train home. It had been a good day out, with some excellent pubs visited and quite a few good beers dunk as well. This trip wasn’t about searching out “extreme”, cutting-edge beers, but more a chance for a couple of old friends to get together, visit a handful of decent pubs, and catch up on what’s been going on over a few decent pints. Our next day out is likely to be to Hastings – local inhabitants, you have been warned!

A Day Out in London - Part 1

“A trip to London” my friend Eric suggested, “taking in a few pubs around the London Bridge area.” This seemed like an excellent idea; I had spent most of the week at home doing some decorating, and I ached from climbing up ladders and crouching down to reach awkward spots. Besides, I had not really had a chance to catch up with Eric since my return from Japan, so a day’s drinking in some of Southwark’s finest hostelries seemed the perfect opportunity for a break from the painting and a chance to swap experiences about the Far East, (Eric has visited Japan in the past, so we had a lot to talk about).

After a train journey of just over half an hour, through the pleasant and very green-looking Kent countryside, we alighted at London Bridge. Although it must only be two months or so since I was last up there I was surprised at the amount of alterations that had taken place. The station is undergoing a massive redevelopment programme, the first part of which seems to have been the demolition of the train shed on the “Surrey side”. This left us with an uninterrupted view of the Shard, London’s latest white elephant, (anyone who remembers Centre Point from the 1960’s will know what I am talking about!)

I had brought with us, for guidance, Des de Moor’s excellent “CAMRA Guide to London’s Best Beer Pubs & Bars”, but to start off I suggested we call in at the historic George Inn, just off Borough High Street. Eric hadn’t been there before, despite being a member of the National Trust, and was very impressed with the antiquity and character of what is the last remaining example in London of a galleried coaching inn. As it was only shortly after 11 o’clock, the pub was fairly quiet, and in view of the early hour, and the fact we had the whole day in front of us, I suggested we just have a half. The other reason for this was the George is leased to Greene King, not our favourite brewery, although we did spot a beer from Portobello Brewery, called Star on the bar. We were charged two quid a half, and later found out from looking at the price list, that the George charges a premium for halves, as pints were £3.85. This is a money grabbing practice which unfortunately has become much too common. It made our minds up to drink pints for the rest of the day.

The beer itself was not particularly great, not down to the brewery I hasten to add, but much more likely the end of the barrel. Never mind, we had a good look round before crossing the road and heading through the bustling Borough Market opposite. The majority of the construction work involved with squeezing in the new railway viaduct, high above the heads of the market below, has now been completed and the Wheatsheaf pub which had the top sliced off it in order to accommodate the new structure has now re-opened for business. However, it was not our intention to be drinking Young’s beers as since their move to Bedford they really are a shadow of their former self. Instead we headed for everyone’s favourite real ale pub in these parts, the Market Porter.

The pub was virtually empty when we arrived, in fact this was the quietest I have ever seen it, but then it was just before midday and I was certain that by early afternoon the place would be heaving as usual. With a choice of 12 cask ales on offer it was difficult to decide what to go for. In the end we opted for Signal Mainline from the recently opened Settle Brewery. We had purposely chosen a weak beer to start with, but whilst this 3.6% abv brew was pleasant enough, but a little on the sweet side so far as I was concerned, and thus didn’t really hit the spot. I said that there weren’t many people in the pub, but despite that there weren’t many places to sit down either. I put that down to the fact that tables and chairs take up too much floor space, and when the Market Porter is as packed as I’ve seen it every available square foot is needed to accommodate all the punters. We did however, manage to grab one of the last small tables, together with a couple of stools, in the extension at the rear of the pub. This gave us a chance to sit down, consult the guide and peruse the map, not that Eric could do much perusing as he had left his reading glasses at home!

We could, of course, quite easily have spent the rest of the day in the Porter. After all there were plenty of other beers for us to try, but onwards and upwards we decided to give somewhere else a try and decided on the Southwark Tavern, described in Des’s guide as a “contemporary pub”. The pub is situated right on the edge of Borough Market, fronting on to Borough High Street, and with its attractive tiled frontage, and evidence of its one time owners Meux and Co still clearly visible, we stepped inside. Apart from the dreaded Doom Bar, there were three other cask ales which caught our eye – Stonehenge Eye-Opener, Red Squirrel Jack Black – Black IPA and Wharfe Bank Fair Dinkum. We opted for the latter, a 4.3% cask lager, brewed using Australian hops. It was nice and refreshing and this time really did do the trick. The Southwark also offers a number of keg beers, including several foreign ones, and I’d made a mental note to look at these more closely on my trip back from the gents, but unfortunately quite forgot to do so when the time came.

We thought it wise to get something more solid inside of us before any more beer was consumed, so where better than one of the many food stalls operating in the adjacent market. A freshly cooked, hot, salt beef sandwich, served up in a doorstep wedge of crusty bread with English mustard and gherkins proved just the right amount of nourishment before moving on to our next port of call.

I’d had it in mind to visit Katzenjammers, a German-themed bier Keller sited in the basement of the old Hop Exchange. My son was rather impressed with the place when he and a friend had visited the other year, but after taking a wrong turning and ending up next to the cathedral, I decided to go along with Eric’s suggestion of crossing the river and seeing what was on offer in the City. This fitted in with the vague plan we had of gradually making our way westwards towards Charing Cross station.

 (To be continued).