The National Beer Scoring Scheme

For quite a few years now, members of West Kent CAMRA have been submitting beer scores for pubs they visit onto the Campaign’s National Beer Scoring Scheme (NBSS for short). The scheme ranks the quality of a particular beer in a pub on a scale from 0 -5, where 0 signifies No Real Ale and 5 denotes a Perfect pint. (see below for more details).. 

What do the scores mean?

0        No cask ale available.

1        Poor
Beer that is anything from barely drinkable to drinkable with considerable resentment.

2        Average
Competently kept, drinkable pint but doesn't inspire in any way, not worth moving to another pub but you drink the beer without really noticing.

3        Good
Good beer in good form. You may cancel plans to move to the next pub. You want to stay for another pint and may seek out the beer again.

4        Very Good
Excellent beer in excellent condition.

5        Perfect
Probably the best you are ever likely to find. A seasoned drinker will award this score very rarely. 

Branch members can access the system and see which pubs are persistently clocking up high scores and which rank lower down the order. Of course the reason pubs may be ranked lower could be that they’re not visited so often, due perhaps to location or, simply because they’re just not as popular with the membership as others.

The scheme is especially useful to branches when it comes to selecting entries for the Good Beer Guide, so why have I, up until now that is, had nothing to do with it? You could say it’s because I’m a miserable old bugger, but anyone who knows me, (apart from my wife!), will say this isn’t true. Is it because I eschew modern technology? Again not true, as I am fully computer literate, (I wouldn’t be writing this blog if I wasn’t). Or, is it because I just can't be arsed?

The answer to that last question was yes, but very recently I have had a “Road to Damascus-like” conversion, and it’s all down to CAMRA’s new “WhatPub” database, probably the first national pub database of its kind. In the early days of the NBSS members had to submit their scores on cards, either to their branch pub-coordinator, or by posting them off to CAMRA Head Office, who would then notify the relevant branch accordingly. This was the main reason I ignored the scheme, as I had far better things to do with my time than fill in scraps of paper!

Eventually the campaign did move to an electronic system, but it was still a pain in the backside so far as I was concerned, having to sit in front of a computer screen, inputting data. Then last year (2012), I finally moved into the 21^st Century and treated myself to a Smartphone, (Android type, as I don’t like Apple). Now I can access “WhatPub” whilst I am actually in the pub (assuming there’s a Wi-Fi connection), and input my scores whilst the information is still fresh in my mind, and what’s more the system is easy to use.

I know there have been a number of teething problems along the way and that it was not possible to transfer data across from the old system to the new. This did cause quite a few problems for branches during the transition phase, but that all seems to be sorted now. I also know that many branch pub-coordinators have spent a lot of time ensuring the basic pub information on “WhatPub” is as up to date as possible. Our own branch chairman, Iain spent many hours sorting out software which enabled the comprehensive information on our own branch pub database to be seamlessly transferred over to “WhatPub”, but the job’s been done now and we’ve got a very good system and one which actually works. So next time any one sees me in the pub, tapping away on my phone, then I’m not playing games, or updating Facebook, but rather submitting data onto the national NBSS.

One Way to Make a Living or Desparate Times Call For Desparate Measures

There was a story in our local paper (Kent & Sussex Courier) this week about the closure of yet another pub. Sad, but hardly headline news you might say, but for the last six years, the Harp Inn at East Peckham hasn’t really been a pub in the true sense of the word. Instead it has functioned  as a licensed “sexual entertainment venue” (strip club to you and I). Until now that is, because on 30^th May, Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council refused to grant the Harp a new licence, following objections from 43 local residents.

Living reasonably local to East Peckham, I was obviously aware of this establishment, although I must admit I didn’t realise it was still operating in this fashion. Four years ago I remember hearing lurid tales of seedy goings on at the Harp from a couple of drinkers my friend and I were chatting to in a Tonbridge pub, but put this down to the beer-fuelled ramblings of a couple of "likely lads" and the tendency of people to embellish a story for effect. It didn’t strike me as the place for a quiet pint of decent ale, so I filed the place away right at the back of my memory and forgot about it until I saw yesterday’s paper.

Back in the nineties, the Harp had a reputation as a half-decent boozer; in fact at one time it majored quite heavily on serving a good selection of cask beers. For example, it was one of the few places locally to stock Hog’s Back beers at a time when they just weren't available in this part of the South East.  What I think did for the pub, was the unfortunate death of the then landlord, coupled with its location right on the edge of East Peckham, in fact so far on the edge that it is necessary, and a lot safer, to drive there. According to the local paper, “Struggling with falling trade in 2007, Lee Swainsbury, landlord of the Harp Inn, decided to liven things up by bringing in some raunchy entertainment” This was after he had tried staging live music events and taking on a chef in a bid to attract custom.

The strippers obviously did the trick, but owing to the nature of the “entertainment” the windows were boarded up and the once quite attractive pub building had become a bit of an eyesore. Mr Swainsbury still has 21 years lease remaining on the building, but was quoted as saying he has no plans for the future of the Harp Inn. Manager, Graham Hammond was rather more outspoken over the closure though, stating that "The locals have no right to claim they lived in a traditional English village."

He may have a point, as East Peckham is no picture-postcard, snapshot of Old England, although I perhaps wouldn’t go quite so far as refer to it as a “s***hole” as Mr Hammond did in print. When I first moved to this part of West Kent, nearly 30 years ago, the village boasted five pubs. Now, with the closure of the Harp, the number has dropped to just two, with one establishment trading as an Indian restaurant, and the other, an attractive old building at the opposite end of the village from the Harp, empty and boarded up. Given this environment it is perhaps not surprising that the landlord of the Harp had to resort to what is euphemistically referred to as “adult entertainment “in order to pull in the punters.

Final word from Mr Hammond, who said, “The place cannot operate as anything other than it is. The village is simply going to end up with another derelict building or an even more undesirable pub.”  I for one hope he is wrong and that some entrepreneur takes on the Harp and re-opens it as a traditional pub, but being realistic, for a moment and given the depressed state of the pub trade, I’m afraid I can’t really see that happening anytime soon.

Footnote: No discussion about an establishment of this nature could be complete without thought for the  ladies that used to work/perform at the Harp. It is well known that workers in the “sex industry” are often vulnerable young women who find themselves open to exploitation for a variety of reasons. I do know from my brief encounter with the two local drinkers, four years ago, that most of the girls who worked there were East European. I am not suggesting for one minute, that they were exploited by the Harp’s management, but who really knows what brought them to these shores in the first place, and what exactly led them to have ended up working in the so-called “adult entertainment “business.

A Welcome Return to English Ale

Last night I had my first proper session on English ale since my return from Japan, just over a week ago. This followed a layoff of several days whilst I allowed my body to adjust itself back to a new time zone, and to catch up on some much needed sleep. True, I did enjoy a very welcome pint of Hog’s Back Hop Garden Gold on Saturday, plus a bottle of Goose Island India Pale Ale the following day, but up until then I’d been quite abstemious.

Last night I attended a meeting of the sub-committee formed by West Kent CAMRA, to organise the beer festival we’ll be holding later in the year (October), in conjunction with local preserved railway, Spa Valley. The festival will be our third collaboration with the Heritage Railway, and promises to be the biggest and best yet. One of the main attractions of the event is that it allows drinkers to travel up and down the line between Tunbridge Wells West and Eridge where, not only can they enjoy a drink or two on the train, but they can also find a selection of different ales awaiting them at each of the three stations.

The largest selection will be at Spa Valley’s Headquarters, the engine shed at Tunbridge Wells West, but this year we hope to have an enhanced selection at both Eridge (the other end of the line, where there are connections to mainline services to London), and the intermediate halt of Groombridge (once an important junction on the rail network in this border area of Kent and Sussex).  As well as the beer selection, there are a whole range of logistical and associated issues to sort out, but with Spa Valley’s General Manager in attendance we made good progress last night, and now have plenty to build on.

So what about the English Ale I referred to earlier? Well the meeting took place in the Good Beer Guide listed Royal Oak, in Tunbridge Wells, and on the bar alongside Best Bitter and Knots of May Mild from Harvey’s were Dark Star Hophead and Gadd’s No. 3 from Ramsgate Brewery. Leaving the Harvey’s to one side, I started on the Hophead and then graduated on to the No. 3 when the former ran out.

Both beers were pale in colour and well-hopped. The Hophead had the edge with regard to hoppiness, but the No. 3 weighed in a lot stronger at 5.0% which probably accounts for the fuzzy head I had this morning, (either that or having lost my tolerance for beer, following my six day layoff). Both though, provided a welcome return to the delights of English Ale.

As an aside, Ramsgate assign numbers to several of their regular brews, but strangely enough the stronger the beer the lower the number. Thus we have Gadd’s No 7 at 3.8% and No.3 at 5.0%. In between is No. 5 at 4.4%. The idea behind this apparently is that one could drink seven pints of No. 7, but only 3 of No. 3 without falling over, or otherwise feeling the after effects. I don’t know how true this is, but it makes a good story, and is a good advertisement for some fine beers which we don’t often see in this neck of the woods.

Beery Thoughts From Japan

Perhaps this post should be titled “Beery Thoughts ABOUT Japan”, as I'm home now and think I’ve just about recovered  from my lengthy journey back from the Far East, to comment on my recent trip. I will begin by saying that it was a fantastic experience and almost like something out of another world. Familiar in parts, yet almost totally alien in others, my visit to Japan must surely rank amongst the best experiences of my life.

The first thing which struck my colleague and I as we journeyed by train from Kansai Airport, through the vast urban sprawl that makes up Osaka, towards our final destination, Kyoto, was how clean everything was. We saw no buildings disfigured by the ugly scrawls of graffiti that despoil so many European and North American cities; neither did we see, once having alighted from the train, any litter. Everything was clean, tidy and well ordered. The people were calm and polite, with none of the pushing and shoving one witnesses in towns and cities in the UK. The trains, of course, were spotlessly clean and ran exactly to time, and our centrally located hotel was the height of sophistication.

For most of our time in Kyoto, we were looked after by people from our parent company  When I say “looked after” we were very well looked after, as the Japanese are fantastic hosts, who are proud to show their country off to foreign visitors, and with good reason as they have much to be proud of. We spent three very full days engaged in meetings, fact-finding tours and various other discussions at head office, and in the evenings our hosts took us out to dinner. We visited a variety of different restaurants, ranging from modern Japan meets South East Asia fusion type places, to a traditional Japanese establishment, where we had to leave our shoes downstairs and sit on cushions on the floor at a long, low table facing our hosts. I won’t pretend the cuisine was my favourite, but I tried virtually everything that was placed in front of me, although I did baulk at the raw octopus!

Whilst there might be considerable differences between the palates and preferences of Japanese and Europeans, one thing we do have in common is an appreciation of good beer. Everywhere we went, beer seems to be the preferred drink, and is enjoyed by men and women alike. I don’t know much about the history, or indeed tradition of brewing in Japan (although I expect Tim Webb and Stephen Beaumont's World Atlas of Beer will have something to say on the matter, once I get round to looking it up), but there appears to be a strong German influence on the type and styles of beer drunk there. This was manifested in an establishment we visited on our last two evenings in Japan; Kyoto’s Beer Restaurant.

Unashamedly styled on a Bavarian Beer Hall, the Beer Restaurant is sited in the basement of a tower block, just outside Kyoto’s sprawling central; station. As well as serving locally brewed  Asahi, one of Japan’s best known brands, the Beer Restaurant also offered draught Löwenbräu, bottled Export Bass plus a couple of bottled Belgian beers whose names escape me. I opted for the Asahi Kuronama, described as Japan’s favourite dark beer. Brewed from three types of roasted malt:-Dark, Crystal and Munich malt, the  blend of these three types of malt maximises the goodness of each and creates the distinct richness and smoothness of the beer. I have to say it really was very good, and served in three sizes – small, medium and large I ended up over-indulging on our first visit there, consuming three "medium" sized mugs of this excellent beer. Fortunately the following day was our final one in the country, and was reserved for sight-seeing rather than business.

This particular visit was our first evening without our Japanese hosts, which was the prime reason for our choosing a European style restaurant, rather than a more locally themed one; and the following evening we returned there again, having been joined by a more senior colleague who had just flown in from England. This latter individual is a seasoned visitor to Japan and after a meal in the Beer Restaurant he suggested we move on to a bar housed in the maze of shops and commercial outlets below Kyoto station. The Man in the Moon Pub is themed as an Irish bar, and whilst it does serve Guinness, it also has a number of more locally brewed beers. The first of these beers, Yona Yona Ale was presented in a can, and is one of a range of beers brewed by Yoho Brewing based in the small town of Karuizawa, near Nagano. The company promotes itself as producing Japan's best selling craft beers, and their portfolio includes an IPA, a Black Porter and an Organic Ale.

The Yona Yona was very good and I was all set to order another, when my colleague spotted a row of interesting looking bottles arranged on a shelf above the bar. They had English labels, and included an IPA, a Pale Ale, a Pilsner and an Imperial Stout. Enquiries revealed they were from Minoh Brewery, based in nearby Osaka, but unfortunately the bar only had the Pale Ale left. Two of us gave the beer a try. It was bottle-conditioned, but the bar staff were not aware of this, so we ended up with a cloudy glass of beer. Despite this, it was rather good with a strong citrus flavour from the Cascade hops used to brew it. I wisely made that my last drink though, as we had an early departure the following morning. Nevertheless, after a week on the “regular stuff” it was good to sample some Japanese Craft Beer.

So what of the “regular stuff”?  Well, again I have to report that this too was pretty good, and with 30 degrees of heat to contend with outside, provided some welcome and cooling liquid refreshment. Of the big Japanese brands we sampled Asahi’s best known brand – Extra Dry, sold in large (600ml?) bottles and tasting considerably better than the UK version, which is brewed under licence by Shepherd Neame. We also sampled beers from Kirin, Suntory and Yebisu. All are pilsner style beers, and served in substantial tapered glass mugs. From memory, the Suntory and Yebisu beers stood out above the Kirin, although I later found out that Yebisu beers are produced by Japanese brewing giant Sapporo, and are positioned as the the company's "Premium Brand".

Finally, a word or two about takeaway beer. In Japan it seems the can is very much king, with precious little beer sold in bottles. Living on a crowded island, the Japanese are very keen on environmental issues and claim that because cans are lighter and easier to transport, and also easier to collect and recycle, beer packaged in this fashion is the way to go. I brought a few cans back with me to try, and also to see how they would survive the long flight home, (ok as it happens). There’s nothing that exciting amongst them, but they are something to wet my whistle at the weekend, and also something to remind me of a fantastic trip to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Land of the Rising Sun

I'm off to Japan early tomorrow morning, so won't be blogging for a while. It's a business trip and together with a colleague, I will be visiting our parent company's head office and manufacturing facility in Kyoto.

For both of us, this will be our first time in Japan, and we're really looking forward to it. We've a busy schedule ahead of us, with lots of meetings, tours and demonstrations to fully occupy our time there. Several of our evenings are also marked out for us, with many of our Japanese colleagues keen to wine, dine and entertain us. We do, however, have some free time for sight-seeing, shopping etc., next weekend, before flying back on the Bank Holiday Monday.

I don't expect there will be much opportunity for beer-hunting, although I've managed to do a bit of forward research on-line. There are several breweries in Kyoto, including a couple of brew pubs. The on-line guide I saw advises that bottles from most of these breweries are available in major department stores, so if I don't manage to track down any of these breweries, at least I should be able to pick up some bottles to bring back with me.

I'll be reporting back in about 10 days time.

Last Night in Tunbridge Wells

 As promised, here's a resume of last night's outing to Tunbridge Wells

I met up with Eric at Tonbridge station where we were also joined by Jon. We made the short train journey to TunbridgeWells and then had a leisurely walk, up the hill, to the Royal Oak. We found the pub packed, and although we could have found a seat, it was rather warm inside so, feeling a little flushed after our walk up from the station, decided to sit out on the terrace in front of the pub - after ordering our drinks of course!

 As I probably mentioned in my precious post, the Royal Oak was holding a beer festival, and we soon discovered that the theme was London breweries. It was a "rolling festival", which meant not all the beers were available at any one time. Instead, fresh beers were put on sale as soon as the current ones sold out. This of course had the advantage of most of the beers being "cellar cool", although there were a couple served direct from casks perched up on the bar. These were protected by insulated jackets, which ensured that they too were kept at the correct temperature.

All the beers, and indeed some of the breweries, were new to me, but the knowledgeable staff were able to issue guidelines as to the style, taste and appearance of each beer - other outlets, please take note! We all started with Mayor of Garratt, a 4.3% Best Bitter from By the Horns Brewery. We all agreed that this was an excellent example of a proper London Best Bitter, and for me this beer was the best of the evening. Two of us then moved on to Orchid, a 3.6% dark mild from East London Brewery. The barmaid was quite right when she advised it had liquorice and vanilla notes, and it certainly was another excellent beer. For our third, and final beer at the Oak, my colleagues chose Diamond Geezer, a 4.9% strong bitter, again from .By the Horns Brewery. I opted for Notting Hill Ruby Rye from Moncada Brewery, brewed as its name suggests with a portion of rye. Normally I steer clear of "red ales", but I have to say this one was certainly very pleasant, and didn't taste as strong as its 5.2% strength might have suggested.

We made this our final pint last at the Royal Oak. It was getting chilly outside, and the pub was becoming more and more crowded inside. The band had started up, and whilst all three of us appreciate live music, we really wanted to chat. Besides, we were hoping to meet up with our friends Iain and Carole. We assumed they would be in the Grove Tavern, so we made our way through the back streets to the Little Mount Sion area of Tunbridge Wells.

They weren't in the pub, but no matter, there was Harvey's Best and Olympia, plus Taylor's Landlod to tempt us to stay. We all went for the Landlord, which was in fine form, in fact I would sat the beer seems to have returned to something approaching its old best. There was talk of moving on to the Compasses, over the road, but we were comfortable where we were, and it wasn't that long before we would need to depart anyway to catch the last train home. A second, and final pint of Landlord was duly called for before we strolled back down the hill to the station, in plenty of time for our train.

Once again another good night over at the Wells; it's just a pity we don't have pubs of this calibre in Tonbridge.

Not Going Out - Part 3

The flip side of course about “Not Going Out”, is “Staying In”. So how does someone who really likes a glass or two of decent beer equate this with not venturing down to the local pub?

Easy, just pick up a selection of decent bottles from whichever supermarket or off-licence is offering the best deals. Then, drink and enjoy! The first thing I want to get straight is that whilst I’ve been a member of CAMRA for nearly 40 years, apart from my early days with the campaign, I’ve never really gone along with this Real Ale in a Bottle (RAIB) nonsense. I’ve gone on record before to say that whilst RAIBs can sometimes be excellent, more often than not they are pretty dire (primarily due to poor bottling techniques, inadequate hygiene measures etc at many small breweries), and I don’t see any advantages in them whatsoever. CAMRA needs to alter its position on this, but somehow I can’t see that happening anytime soon.

Moving on, all the major supermarkets now offer a goods selection of bottles beers, sourced both from her in the UK as well as some of the better known examples from abroad. Obviously they wont carry as wide or diverse a selection as a specialist off-licence, but generally speaking, the larger the store, the greater the selection.  Waitrose, in my opinion,  are the best of the major supermarkets, and my local branch makes a point of stocking beers from some of our better known local breweries, such as Westerham, Whitstable and Hog’s  Back, alongside some of the more usual suspects. They also carry a reasonable range of foreign beers, both ales and lagers, alongside “own brand” lagers, ales and wheat beers from the Czech Republic, Germany and Belgium.

Our local Sainsbury isn’t too bad either, also stocking Westerham beers alongside a number from the rarely seen (in this neck of the woods) Hopdaemon Brewery. For budget stuff, “cooking bitter”, Lidl’s step up to the mark with bargain basement offers, from time to time, on beers from Marstons or Shepherd Neame. I usually avoid the latter, I really dislike Shep’s, but recently we’ve seen Oyster Stout from Marstons, alongside Jennings Cocker-Hoop for just £1.19 a bottle!

Both Sainsbury’s and Waitrose run promotions along the lines of three bottles for five pounds or, less often, three for the price of two, and I normally take advantage of these offers to stock up on beers I am partial too. Prior to Christmas, I built up quite a stock of both London Porter and 1845 from Fullers, as well as Budvar Dark and Goose Island IPA. Incidentally, the latter is currently on promotion at Waitrose at two bottles for three pounds – an absolute bargain!  I’ve also been enjoying the Duchy Originals India Pale Ale, brewed at Wychwood Breweruy and bittered with English Sovereign hops. Nice beer, and nice price at three bottles for a fiver!  Morrisons and Tesco also run similar promotions to their rivals, but for me both stores involve a trip to either Tunbridge Wells or Sevenoaks respectively.

If I am feeling a bit more flushed I will pop into M&S and take advantage of their six bottles for the price of five offers which allows customers to “mix and match”. They also do a half decent Czech lager, from Regent Brewery I believe, at just over £1.50 a bottle.

Other sources of good bottled beer include our local farmers’ market, where Hepworths usually have a stall, or visits to certain breweries. Harvey’s have a wonderfully stocked shop, adjacent to their brewery in Lewes, but it is also possible to pick up bottles from Westerham when they hold their brewery open days. Since my wife and I sold our own off-licence, the Cask and Glass, six years ago, and following the recent closure of the similarly-styled Bitter End in Tunbridge Wells, there aren’t any specialist beer shops locally that I can think of, although Noble Wines in Tunbridge Wells does carry a small selection from Harvey’s, Nelson and Old Dairy from time to time.

Well that’s enough about sourcing the stuff; what about drinking it? First, I don’t drink anything like as much at home as I would in a pub. I normally find a single 500ml bottle quite sufficient, although sometimes I will follow it with say a 330ml bottle of something a bit more unusual, or that little bit stronger. Occasionally, mainly at weekends, I will stretch to a couple of 500ml bottles, but this doesn’t happen that often. Contrast this to when I go to the pub where three of four pints would be quite normal, mainly because I will be drinking with a group of friends, and somehow on these occasions the beer just seems to slide down so much easier!

So what do I do with the time that I might otherwise be spending down the pub? Well, I write this blog for a start, that keeps me out of mischief. This time of year and indeed right through from early spring to late autumn, I spend a lot of time outdoors. I won’t go so far to say I am a keen gardener, but I do like to keep our back yard looking neat and tidy, and just recently I’ve started growing a few vegetables. During the winter months there are usually plenty of DIY projects to keep me busy.

All in all, staying in, enjoying the odd beer or two, spending time with the family, blogging, gardening etc does make me appreciate far more those times when I do venture out. I’m off over Tunbridge Wells tonight, meeting up with a good friend whom I haven’t seen in ages. We’re heading to the Royal Oak, who are holding a rolling beer festival in the pub. It’ll be good to have a nattier over a few pints of something out of the ordinary. I’ll let you know how it goes.