More Beery Delights From Waitrose

 Top end supermarket, Waitrose just seems to get better and better, with the launch of two new "own label" beers. Waitrose German Pils, is a 5.0% premium beer, produced at the Memminger Brewery, in the town of Memmingen in southern Bavaria. According to the blurb on the back of the bottle, "the beer is made using mountain water sourced from the Vilsalpsee and the Lechtaler Alps from the brewery's own well." It's a crisp, clean-tasting  lager that's right up my street, and at just £1.41 for a 500ml  bottle a real bargain as well.

Also available is Waitrose Czech Pilsner. another 5.0% beer, this time produced at the Herold Brewery at Breznice Castle in Bohemia. Brewed from locally grown  barley malted within the castle walls, and bittered with Saaz hops. The beer itself is deep golden in colour, much darker than the German version above, pleasantly hoppy and full flavoured. Again the beer is priced at just £1.41.

 I'm not certain whether these are introductory prices or not, but at the moment they are too good to be missed. It remains to be seen whether Waitrose will be adding other classic beer styles to this line up; they have been selling an "own label" Bavarian Wheat Beer for a number of years now, but it would be nice to see some Belgian beers putting in an appearance, plus of course, how about some good old-fashioned British ales?
 

A Wet Saturday in November

As I mentioned last week, Saturday was the date set for the West Kent CAMRA Branch  AGM. It was a foul day, weather wise, so what better place to spend the afternoon than in a pub?  The pub in question was the Chequers, an unspoilt 16th Century inn on Sevenoaks High Street. Being close to the apex of the junction where London Road splits away from the High Street, the Chequers also has a back entrance, and it was in this rear part of the pub that our meeting took place.

We had a reasonable attendance of 18 members, plus  Regional Director, Kae Mendham. In view of the atrocious weather the turnout wasn't too bad, but one can't help wondering where the other 480 odd members were? All members would have been notified in advance of the meeting, either by e-mail or post, so they had no real excuse (apart from apathy) for not attending. Having said that I accept that today,  people live busy lives and often have other more pressing priorities, so perhaps we ought to be thankful for the handful that did turn up!

So what of the meeting itself, well the various branch officers presented their reports, there were elections for the various committee posts, branch accounts were presented; in short all the usual formalities that take place at Annual General Meetings. Afterwards, campaign goals were set for the coming year, and a shortlist of pubs was drawn up for possible inclusion in the 2014 Good Beer Guide. In between the proceedings we  managed a short break for solid refreshments, in the form of a buffet, supplied by the pub.

So far as liquid refreshment was concerned, there was a  good choice of beers on at the Chequer, which included Black Sheep, Harvey's, St Austell (Tribute), Tonbridge (Ebony Moon) and Westerham (Spirit of Kent). It was also good to see the pub so busy on such a wet day, although I imagine the market stalls, just outside the front door must have helped to encourage trade.From my point of view, the Chequers takes me back to how I remember town centre pubs; bustling, busy and packed with a good cross section of customers, all enjoying good beer, good food and good company. If I lived in Sevenoaks the Chequers would definitely be my pub of choice.

The meeting broke up around 5pm, and a group of us headed down to the Sennockian, Sevenoaks' Wetherspoons outlet. Unfortunately the beer range was not that inspiring, with just Old Hookey, plus Grasshopper from Westerham Brewery, to complement the usual Greene King regulars. Both the aforementioned beers were on good form though, but after a couple here those of us who aren't inhabitants of Sevenoaks decided to head back to Tonbridge. Two of us had journeyed over by train, whilst the other two remaining members had travelled by bus. We therefore decided on a slightly silly, "Top Gear"-style race to see which couple could make it to the Tonbridge Wetherspoons (Humphrey Bean) first. It went without saying that, as it was virtually door to door, the pair who had  travelled by bus won hands down!


There was a much better range of beers on in the Humphrey Bean, including two beers from Hopdaemon; a very interesting and innovative brewery which, in my mind, is often overlooked. Both Incubus and Golden Braid were on offer, with the latter being especially good. A bit later in the evening Thornbridge Jaipur made an appearance on the bar. Although welcome at the time, it was probably not a good thing in view of the amount of beer we had already consumed. I certainly regretted it the following day! However, it made a fitting end to a good day out, and even made the trudge home through the rain a bit more bearable.

A Breath of Fresh Air

 This post isn't really much to do with beer although the odd few bottles were acquired at one stage in the proceedings.

Feeling somewhat jaded this morning, and not quite with it, after a few too many glasses of Thornbridge Jaipur last night, I decided to walk down into Tonbridge to get some fresh air, clear my head and also pick up a few bits of shopping. After getting rid of a load of plastic bottles in the re-cycling bin, I headed into Waitrose; definitely my favourite supermarket and , as I found, about to get even better.

I filled my basket with a few essentials for the week ahead, but also grabbed a couple of bottles of Meantime Brewery India Pale Ale, which is on special offer at the moment. Priced at just £3.93 for a 750ml bottle, this is an offer that is just too good to miss. Having finished my shopping I headed for the check-out. I had already been given a 50p discount voucher when I entered the store, just for tasting some of their new Christmas shortbread chocolate biscuits and giving my opinion of them (very moreish), when I presented my recently acquired  "my Waitrose" card to the lady on the till. I asked her what benefit(s), if any, the card entitled me to, and was pleasantly surprised when she told me I could have a free cup of coffee in their in-store coffee shop.

I therefore enjoyed a very nice cup of coffee and, as it was lunchtime, tucked into a reduced price sandwich which I had bought earlier, along with my other purchases. Discounted craft beer, reduced-price sandwiches, 50p off my shopping bill plus a free cup of coffee. I think I'll be heading back to Waitrose next weekend for more of the same!

Waitrose are running some very good offers on beer at the moment. As well as the Meantime IPA they have such delights as Fullers Porter and St Austell Proper Job at three bottles for £5. In addition, bottles of Budvar, Dark as well as light, are just £1.50 each. I'm busy stocking up for Christmas!

A Quiet Couple of Weeks

 Not a lot to report at the moment on the beer and pub front, as I've been busy sorting out other matters. Most of these things were boring, time consuming and expensive, especially having to run my car back to the garage for the second time in a week to sort out a nagging fault, but last weekend at least gave the family a chance to relax and celebrate son Matthew's 21st birthday. We spent the day round at the house of a couple of good friends, one of whom is Matthew's Godmother. Janis is also a fully trained chef and laid on a superb roast dinner in honour of the occasion.

Earlier that day I unearthed a 1991 vintage bottle of Thomas Hardy Ale that was lurking at the back of the cupboard. 1991 was the year Matthew was born, and I bought the Thomas Hardy Ale specifically to lay down and keep until he turned 21. It is an individually numbered bottle, and was brewed by the original creators of the beer, Eldridge Pope at their now sadly closed Dorchester brewery. We were going to open it round at our friends, but after we'd given some bottles of St Austell Proper Job a bit of a caning, and then moved on to some rather potent, but very quaffable, Sicilian red wine, thought we really wouldn't  be doing this 21 year old vintage ale justice. Hardy's Ale has therefore gone back in the cupboard to be opened on another suitable occasion (probably Christmas).

During the week I made a couple of forays into our local Wetherspoons, where I had some very good Exmoor Gold, (I'd forgotten just how good a beer this pioneering Golden Ale is), plus some equally enjoyable Brewster's Andromeda.

Tomorrow sees our local CAMRA Branch's AGM, which takes place this year at the Chequers in Sevenoaks. Now I'm no longer on the committee I can watch things from the sidelines, but still continue o support the branch by going along to socials and helping out with activities such as the Spa Valley Railway and SIBA Beer Festivals. It has been quite a successful year for the branch as a whole, so we are all looking forward to the coming year. It will be interesting to see what takes place at the meeting, and to learn what plans our chairman and committee have for the forthcoming year.

In a couple of week's time the round of Christmas meals and drinks will be starting in earnest. Unlike last Christmas, when I was unable to drink, I am looking forward to sampling the many beery delights that I have  been stockpiling these last few months. As well as all these bottles, I may well decide to treat myself to a mini-pin of one of my favourite winter beers - Larkins Porter. I haven't tried any of  this year's offering yet, but I'm certain it will be every bit as good as in previous years.

Well that's all for now. I've got a bit more research to carry out before I publish my final article on Tonbridge's pubs and I'm also keen to continue with the Classic, Basic Unspoilt Pubs of Great Britain theme.

Parlour Pubs

Following on from my last post concerning Rodney Wolfe Coe's list, I was reminded of a pub that would undoubtedly have featured in the "Classic Basic Unspoilt Pubs of Great Britain" had it still been open when the list was being compiled. I only visited the pub I am about to describe once, and that was some 40 years ago; right at the start of my drinking career.

Before I reveal all I want to refer back to the Sun at Leintwardine, described by Mr Coe as "probably still the best pub in Great Britain".  Now I haven't been there, but I've read a lot about it, especially about its legendary and long serving landlady Flossie Lane who sadly passed away back in 2009. Now I know the pub has been given a new lease of life and that this has had to have come at a price (extension to the former tiny bar, serving food, laying on entertainment  etc.), and obviously accept the need for this in order for the pub to survive in the 21st Century. But prior to Flossie's death, the Sun could best be described as one of just a handful of "parlour pubs" left in Britain, and it was just such an establishment that I visited, back in the early 70's, shortly after my 18th birthday.

The Woodman’s Arms at Hassel Street, near Hastingleigh high up on the North Downs between Ashford and Canterbury, was a classic pub that has long since disappeared. I only had the pleasure of visiting it once, and having just turned eighteen did not, unfortunately, appreciate its finer points at the time.

The Woodman’s had been brought to my attention after it had featured on the local television "news magazine" programme - "Scene South East". This was back in the days of "Southern Television" when our local ITV programmes came from Southampton. This meant a distinct bias towards Hampshire, with Kent and Sussex lucky to get a mention. The only exception to this was on Friday evenings when the aforementioned programme was broadcast from the company's Dover studio.

What had caught the presenter’s eye was the fact that the Woodman’s Arms did not have a bar, which even 40 years ago was highly unusual. Instead, drinkers sat around a table in what appeared to be the licensee's front room. Having seen the pub featured, I decided to check it out for myself, at the earliest available opportunity. I therefore set off on my motorbike, one evening in June, in search of this highly unusual pub.

Hassel Street was only a few miles away from my then home village of Brook, but being tucked away amongst the maze of narrow lanes that lie at the top of the North Downs it took a bit of finding. I eventually succeeded, and found the pub located half-way down a “No- Through Road”. From what I remember, it was an unassuming, white-painted building which was considerably older inside than it looked from the outside.

According to a guide to “Kent Pubs”, published by Batsford in 1966, the Woodman’s dated back to 1698, and had three rooms. One was a side room, that doubled up as a children’s room, one was for darts whilst the third acted as the bar-parlour. It was the latter that I made my way into, and I do vaguely remember there being a darts room to the left of the entrance. As shown on the television programme, the room was plainly decorated, and simply furnished. There was a table, complete with tablecloth, in the middle of the floor, and along one of the walls, was a dresser on which were placed various bottles of wines, spirits and bottled beers, plus a selection of glasses. Pushed up against the other three walls were some hard wooden chairs, occupied by about half a dozen or so people.

As I walked in I could see no evidence of any beer pumps, so I enquired as to whether the pub sold draught beer. I was told that it did but, feeling very conscious of the lull in the conversation, decided to opt for just a half of bitter. The landlady retrieved a half-pint mug from the dresser, and disappeared down some wooden stairs to the cellar below.

To digress for a moment, according to the aforementioned “Kent Pubs”, the Woodman’s was renowned for its beer. Although it was a freehouse only one brew was stocked “so that it is always in condition”. “Come here for your Fremlins” said the guide, and you would have had the choice of Fremlins Mild, Three Star Bitter or County Ale. “Every pint or half, is drawn in the cellar, seven steps down and seven steps up, which stays at 50 degrees summer and winter.” The landlord had been told, when he first came to the pub, by a retired publican friend that, “The secret of keeping ale and beer was to order it in advance so that it can lay for two weeks before you tap it.” These days, pubs seldom lay their beer down for more than two days before tapping and serving it!

The recommendation given above would have been lost on me back then, as I didn’t know that much about beer. However, the beer stocked at the time was almost certainly cask Whitbread Trophy from the former Fremlins Brewery in Faversham. When the landlady returned with my drink, I made some half-hearted attempts at conversation, but  felt increasingly awkward and out of place. I had only recently reached the legal drinking age and was a somewhat shy and slightly introspected youth, lacking in social skills and not able to mix well with different age groups.  Most of the clientele seemed to know each other, and whilst they were not unfriendly, I quickly decided that one swift half was enough. This was a great shame as this turned out  to be my only visit to the Woodman’s. Not long afterwards I went off to university, and apart from short visits to see my parents, during vacation time, never returned to live at home on a permanent basis.

I am not certain exactly when, or indeed why the pub closed, but one possible clue to its demise is again given in “Kent Pubs”. The landlord of the Woodman’s worked as a postman in the mornings, which suggests that his main income came from delivering letters rather than serving pints. This indicates that the pub may not have been viable on its own, and given its isolated position, it is perhaps easy to see why. I cannot help thinking though, that had the Woodman’s managed to hang on for a few more years, then people like Mr Rodney Coe may have helped to put it on the map.

The Classic Basic Unspoilt Pubs of Great Britain

Back in June a letter appeared in  CAMRA's "What's Brewing" newspaper, written by one Rodney Wolfe-Coe. Mr Coe informed the readership that after 36 years membership. he was resigning from CAMRA  His principle reason for doing this was the campaign's "dash for obedience to the gods of electronic communication,"  a subject in which he had no knowledge and even less interest. He claimed that the heritage and tradition which CAMRA used to stand for had been swept away in the rush to embrace modern technology, and that even the Branch Events page in "What's Brewing" was guilty of this, as often there were no addresses to which members could write to and few proper phone numbers – "just more electronic wizardry" 

Whilst accepting he may have a point, it is particularly sad to see such a long serving and distinguished member leave in this fashion. I say distinguished because Rodney Wolfe Coe was probably instrumental in establishing CAMRA's National Inventory of Unspoilt Pubs, albeit in his own somewhat maverick fashion. It is obviously an area close to his heart, as he ended his letter by stating that for the past 19 years his principle interest had been the National Inventory. 

To elaborate further, back in the late 90's, reports began circulating amongst some of my friends about a list of unspoilt, classic pubs. Entitled “The Classic Basic Unspoilt Pubs of Great Britain” the document purported to be the UK’s definitive list of such pubs. Ir was was even mentioned in the newsletter of the Brewery History Society,  an organisation of which I was a member at the time. The person responsible for compiling this list was none other than the aforementioned Mr Coe, someone who's name was not totally unfamiliar to me. This is because it had been mentioned in the  acknowledgements to the 1984 edition of Real Ale Pubs in Kent, where special thanks had been given to Rodney Coe "whose unstinting devotion to the promotion of Real Ale had led him to visit every licensed premises in the  County of Kent.".  This had  proved invaluable to the compilers of the guide, particularly in those areas of the county where CAMRA activists were thin on the ground.

I had never met Mr Coe, and still haven't, but it was evident that the list was compiled with the help of a number of people whom I refer to as the "CAMRA Railway Fraternity". A good friend of mine is a member of this group, and several colleagues of his assisted Rodney Coe with his researches.  I was perhaps a little envious of them. Being railwaymen, of some years standing, they all qualified for free or reduced rate rail travel; something that enabled them to visit pubs in the far-flung corners of the kingdom at minimal cost. It would cost me a small fortune to visit such places myself, hence my envy. However, it was through the aforementioned friend that I eventually obtained a copy of Rodney Coe's list, and for that I am grateful. 

I came across my copy of this list last week, whilst sorting through some old papers. It is in the form of a simple folded A5 sheet  and its full title is "The Classic Basic Unspoilt Pubs of Great Britain - 5th Edition",  published in 1998. There are just 21 pubs listed; an earlier edition, published in 1994,  that I managed to track down online totalled 32. It is worth reproducing part of the introductory text to this noteworthy publication:

"This is not just another list of the Classic British Pubs. Many existing lists rely totally on other people's findings. This list is different in that the compiler has personally visited over 140 pubs that possibly warranted inclusion in a definitive list.

Apart from the obvious criteria of being Classic, Basic and Unspoilt, all the pubs in this list normally sell Real Ale (there are an estimated half-dozen others which do not sell Real Ale and for which, regrettably, no place can be found in this publication). Many of the 140+ visited have been "Improved" or found to be just not worthy of the description -  Classic, Basic and Unspoilt. Sadly, many others considered for listing have closed since "inspections" began in May 1993.

The compiler therefore feels that this could be regarded as the definitive list of  "The  Classic, Basic and Unspoilt Pubs of Great Britain". Others may disagree - especially with the star ratings."

So what of the pubs themselves: 
(apologies for the wonkey columns; Blogger wouldn't allow me to align them properly)

                                                *

Derbyshire                    ELTON                                   Duke of York

East Riding of               SKERNE                                 Eagle

            Yorkshire        

East Sussex                  HERSTMONCEUX                Welcome Stranger

Gloucestershire             CHELTENHAM                     Bath Tavern

Gwynedd                     BETHESDA                            Douglas Arms

Kent                             SNARGATE                            Red Lion

Oxfordshire                  STEVENTON                         North Star

                                    STOKE TALMAGE                Red Lion

Powys                          HAY-ON-WYE                      Three Tuns

Walsall                          BLOXWICH                          Turf Tavern

                                                **

Herefordshire               KINGTON                              Olde Tavern

Leicestershire               MEDBOURNE                        Horse & Trumpet

Oxfordshire                  STOKE LYNE                        Peyton Arms

                                                ***

Camarthenshire             LLANDOVERY                      Red Lion

Gloucestershire             AMPNEY ST PETER              Red Lion

Northumberland           NETHERTON                         Star

Pembrokeshire             PONTFAEN                            Dyffryn Arms

                                                ****

Devon                          LUPPIT                                   Luppit

Kent                             COWDEN POUND                Queens Arms

Shropshire                    HALFWAY HOUSE               Seven Stars

                                                *****

Herefordshire               LEINTWARDINE                   Sun

                        and, thus, probably still the best pub in Great Britain.
 

Fourteen years on and I wonder how many of these pubs are still trading? I regret to sat I have only visited two of them - the Queen's Arms at Cowden Pound and the Red Lion at Snargate. Both of these pubs are in Kent, with the Queen's Arms probably only a dozen miles from where I live. Unfortunately it only has limited opening hours, given the advanced years and recent bout of poor health Elsie, is long serving licensee. One doubts for is survival, especially in its present form, when Elsie finally decides to cal it a day.

The Red Lion, on the other hand, probably has a more assured future as Kate, the daughter of long serving landlady Doris, has taken over the day to day running of the pub, together with her partner.. Furthermore, unlike the Queen's Arms, which is owned by Admiral Taverns, the Red Lion is a free house.

News of the other pubs on the list would of course be most welcome, as would thoughts on how classic, basic or unspoilt these pubs still are.


Footnote:

In 1997 CAMRA published, for the first time, its own list of Classic Pubs. The list appeared in that year's Good Beer Guide, and was a complete listing of all the pubs on the campaign's inventory of national treasures. Titled "Pubs to Save - CAMRA's National Inventory of starred pubs, historic gems which must be preserved."

The Covent Garden Beer Exhibition 1975

Boak and Bailey have recently been running a highly entertaining and informative series of posts on their excellent blog about the early days of CAMRA, which have included articles about the legendary Becky's Dive Bar, the Great Air Pressure Schism, How CAMRA got its name, and  The origins of the term "Real Ale.


However, with no disrespect to these two fine and highly regarded bloggers, I believe most of the information used in their researches must have come via other sources, simply because, as far as I am aware, neither Boak or Bailey are old enough to have experienced these places and events personally! I on the other hand, whilst not quite in on the action from the very start, do remember the controversy surrounding Truman’s Tap Bitter, because of the air pressure system ("County Air Pump"), used to dispense it. I can also recall a couple of memorable visits to Becky's Dive Bar in the mid 1970's. My most memorable experience though from those early days of  CAMRA was my visit to the Campaign's first major beer festival.

This pioneering event was actually billed as a “beer exhibition”, rather than a beer festival. It was called the Covent Garden Beer Exhibition, and  took place during September 1975. It was held in the old Flower Market in London's Covent Garden, and was the first beer festival I ever attended. The Flower Market was empty at the time, following the relocation of London's main Fruit and Vegetable market to Nine Elms. The recently vacated historic buildings were under the threat of demolition; indeed, the whole of the Covent Garden area had been earmarked for redevelopment. Fortunately this threat was averted,  thanks, in no small part to the efforts of the Covent Garden Community Association. This organisation played a key role in securing the venue on CAMRA's behalf, and it must be said that the success of the exhibition went a long way in persuading the relevant authorities that this historic site was worth preserving. One only has to take a trip to Covent Garden today, to see just how popular the area is with shoppers and tourists.

The Covent Garden Beer Exhibition was not the first such event organised by CAMRA; that honour belongs to the Cambridge Branch who ran a pioneering festival in 1974. However, the Beer Exhibition, held at Covent Garden, by far exceeded the expectations of its organisers, and set the seal of approval on subsequent events. These, of course, culminated in the hugely successful, annual Great British Beer Festival. I have since discovered that the Covent Garden Exhibition attracted over 40,000 people in total, one of whom was me!

To return to the story; I attended the Exhibition with a group of friends for one of the lunchtime sessions. We had to queue to get in, but the numbers of people present were not so great as to make things uncomfortable inside the hall. It was certainly an eye-opener, so far as I was concerned. I had never seen so many beers on sale in one place. They were all dispensed by gravity, direct from casks, stillaged on the old flower stalls, although I remember that Samuel Smiths had fitted special "cask pumps" to their casks. These were miniature hand pumps, whose purpose was to ensure the beer was dispensed with the tight creamy head that Yorkshiremen are so fanatical about!

It is difficult now to recall exactly which beers I sampled, but I do remember enjoying beers from the now sadly defunct Yorkshire Clubs Brewery. All the beers I tried that day were new to me, and it was very encouraging to be in the company of so many like-minded people, all enjoying decent ale in pleasant, if somewhat basic surroundings.

My companions and I enjoyed ourselves so much that we decided to attend the following evening. When we arrived though, we found the queue stretching right round the building, and were told that we stood virtually no chance of getting in. Reluctantly, we adjourned to the nearby Marquis of Anglesea, and spent the evening enjoying the Youngs beers on sale there. (At the time the Marquis was one of only a handful of pubs in Central London belonging to this once renowned Wandsworth brewery.)

Halfway through the evening, one of our party nipped out to see if the crowd situation at the exhibition had improved. He returned to advise us that, if anything, things had got worse. By this time we were well stuck into the Young's, so we decided to stay put.  Looking back this was a great pity, as I would have liked to have attended a further session, and tried a few more different ales. Oh well, at least I can say I was there and, as proof, I still have my souvenir glass which clearly states “CAMRA Covent Garden Beer Exhibition” - a valuable and much treasured memento of this pioneering event!

 There are some excellent colour photographs of the event, taken by David A.L. Davies, on the Redbubble website,  I have not reproduced them on this post, as they are copyright.