The Good Old Days?

“Until the 18^th century, or even later, beer was the staple drink of most men and women at all levels of society. Tea and coffee were expensive luxuries; while water might well carry disease. To supply the needs of both owners and servants, every country house with an accessible source of water had a brewhouse, usually close at hand."

“Country House Brewing in England 1500 – 1900” shows the role beer played in the life of the country house, with beer allowances and beer money an integral part of servant’s rewards. Generous allowances were made for arduous tasks such as harvesting. For celebrations such as the heir’s coming of age, extra-strong ale was provided. This book, which is heavily illustrated, is an important and original contribution to architectural, brewing and social history.”

I’m reading a very interesting book at present. It’s titled “Country House Brewing in England 1500 – 1900”. It was given to me back in the summer by a former customer of the Cask & Glass who, knowing my interest in all things beer, thought of me when he was having a clear-out at home. It’s a hardback book which runs to over 300 pages, by the time all the indices and appendixes are taken into account. Being what can only be described as a “learned treatise” it’s quite heavy going, which explains why I’m only just half-way through it, but given the amount of research that author Pamela Sambrook has put into the book, coupled with the astonishing amount of detail, this is hardly surprising.

The period covered by the book begins with the changes wrought by the dissolution of the monasteries. King Henry VIIIth's tour of destruction ended centuries of monastic brewing in England, and led to the establishment of breweries in large country houses, which themselves had evolved from former manor houses. As the nation slowly became wealthier, and conditions became more peaceful, the homes of the landed gentry were increased in size and became more and more opulent. The number of servants and retainers needed to run such establishments also increased, and large estates grew up to support these palatial piles.

Country houses were, by and large, self-sufficient in so far as they were supplied with foodstuffs from the farms on the estate. They also baked their own bread and, of course, brewed their own beer. Lots of beer, in fact, enough to satisfy the entire household and the myriad of servants employed therein. From simple beginnings, brewhouses attached to the local country pile slowly became more advanced, although they rarely matched the sophistication of their commercial counterparts. Even so, many of the larger establishments had separate and well-designed brewhouses capable of turning out substantial quantities of ale and beer. These quantities of course, varied according to the size and wealth of the house, but figures in the region of 400 gallons of ale and double this amount of beer every month, were not unusual!

Note the terms “ale” and “beer”. The former was a much stronger drink, produced from the first runnings from the mash tun, whereas the drink referred to as "beer" was produced from the second or third runnings, and as such was considerably weaker. Beer was the everyday drink of the household, and in particular that of the servants, whilst ale was the preserve of the lord/duke/squire etc and his family. Being considerably stronger, ale also required a much longer period of maturation before it was ready to drink.

Fast forward from the peak of country house brewing, during the latter part of the 18^th and the early part of the 19^th centuries, to the early part of the last century, and brewing in the remaining great country houses was in terminal decline. This dramatic fall-off was aided and abetted by drinks such as tea and coffee which were far easier to prepare, and which also had a far less soporific effect on household staff. Other factors, such as paying employees a proper living wage in cash, rather than a much lower remuneration which included a generous allowance of beer, also contributed to the decline. The effects of two devastating world wars were the final nail in the coffin of private brewing.

As I said I’m still halfway through the book, but the section I’m reading now which describes the faults and afflictions which could often arise in domestic beer, and some of the equally foul ways in which these defects were counteracted, makes me glad for modern, hygienic brewing practices, rather than any romantic notions I may once have entertained about beer in the “good old days”. Fascinating stuff, as they say, and there’s more to come. For anyone with more than a passing interest in domestic brewing, this is a volume which is well getting hold of.

 “Country House Brewing in England 1500 – 1900”. Author - Pamela Sambrook. Published by The Hambledon Press. ISBN 1 85285 127 9

Waitrose Deal Still Available

The deal on selected beers at Waitrose that I mentioned earlier is still on. Not only can you get virtually the full range of beers from Fuller’s at four bottles for £6, but beers from the likes of Badger, Bath Ales, Brains, Black Sheep, Duchy Originals, Hog’s Back and Hook Norton are also available at the same price. Even better, you can mix and match across the entire range of the offer!

Also worth snapping up are the 750ml bottles of Meantime India Pale Ale and London Porter. At 20% off the normal price, they work out at just £4.16 and £4.04 respectively.

I am surprised, but obviously delighted, the offer is still running, as I hinted earlier  it may be coming to an end soon. It might still pay you then to get down to Waitrose sooner, rather than later, especially if you want to stock up on these beers before the offer ends.

Some Seasonal Thoughts for Late Autumn

There’s not a lot to blog about at the moment. Summer is well and truly over, and even autumn seems to be passing with alarming speed. Now, with winter just around the corner, it’s a pretty quiet time of year, even though the countdown to Christmas is well under way. This is especially true in the retail trade where Christmas goodies (and also a lot of Christmas tat), seem to appear earlier and earlier each year. Also it’s the time of year when events such as Christmas parties and dinners are also planned and booked up in advance. In my own case I’ve got our company Christmas dinner to look forward to, followed by our local CAMRA branch dinner a couple of days later. I perhaps should go on a diet in the weeks leading up to these events; otherwise I’ll be finding that much of my wardrobe doesn’t fit me any more!

Speaking of CAMRA, towards the end of this month we’ve got our branch AGM coming up. This year we’ll be holding it at Tunbridge Wells Constitutional Club; a venue which won the Kent Club of the Year award, for 2013. The AGM is always well worth attending for a look back at what the branch has been up to over the past year, and to look ahead, formulate policy and decide the way forward for the coming year. There are also, of course, matters like approval of the branch accounts and election of officers to sort out. As an incentive to encourage members to attend, there is normally a free buffet. The meeting usually ends with nominations for the following year’s Good Beer Guide which, seeing as surveying and selection is done almost a year in advance, will be the 2015 edition. I don’t intend taking much part in the latter part of the meeting, as my thoughts on the Good Beer Guide are well-known, but I might stick around for the pub-crawl which traditionally takes place after the meeting has ended.

Moving on to the closely allied subject of beer, I’ve noticed a distinct lack of dark ales gracing the counters of local pubs, although the Punch & Judy did have Caledonian Poltergeist Porter on sale the other night. As in previous years though, I’m late in tracking down one of my favourite dark ales, namely Harvey’s Old Ale. This delicious, seasonal dark ale has been out for over a month now, but I still haven’t come across any. Unfortunately, due to a prior engagement, I missed the branch bus trip to Lewes, last weekend, where I’m assured there was Old Ale a plenty. The beer seems mainly confined to Harvey’s tied houses, although I do know from past experience that it is available for the free trade. It seems though that many licensees prefer to play things safe and stick to tried and tested bitter brands, rather than stick their necks out slightly and try something different. I’m certain they would have no trouble in shifting a darker ale, it just looks like they are afraid to move too far out of their comfort zone!

This coming week should see the welcome appearance of another favourite dark ale of mine, in the form of Larkins Porter. I know Bob has brewed a batch, but I also know that like every year, he likes to let the beer mature for six weeks, in tank and cask, before releasing it to an eager public. Bonfire night is usually the time for this dark and delicious, full-bodied beer to appear, so I will be looking out for it with great anticipation.

At the end of the month, the Bailey family are off to Prague for a long weekend, to enjoy the splendours of the Czech capital, and also to experience the city’s Christmas Markets, which set up their stalls around this time. Needless to say there should also be plenty of opportunity to enjoy some of Bohemia’s finest beers, in some atmospheric and unspoilt pubs. A full report will follow when the time comes.

Well that’s about it for the moment, with nothing particularly of note to report, apart from me continuing to stock up on beers for Christmas.

The Best Laid Plans??

It’s often said that the best laid plans go astray, and this certainly proved to be the case on our visit to London on Saturday. Mind you, the plans we had weren’t exactly set in stone, and when they did begin to go awry, a bit of quick thinking helped save the day on a couple of occasions.

It was my son Matthew’s idea to have a day in the big city. Saturday made sense as my wife was also visiting the capital, in conjunction with a group of her girly friends. They were going to the theatre; we were doing something far more decadent, namely visiting a few choice pubs, and hopefully enjoying a few good beers.

In order to experience something slightly different, Matthew had requested we travel up not via our usual direct Tonbridge – London Bridge – Charing Cross route, but by means of the Sevenoaks – Blackfriars route instead. I agreed to this suggestion, even though the journey would take twice as long as usual. So after changing trains at Sevenoaks, and a pleasant journey along the scenic Darenth Valley, we had the dubious delights of Bickley, Beckenham, Catford and Elephant & Castle to view, out of the carriage window, before finally arriving at an enhanced, and considerably enhanced Blackfriars station.

As I said earlier, we didn’t have any firm plans, apart from heading north up to Finchley Road and Hampstead, in order to see where my parents originated from, and where I spent the first three years of my life. I did however, want to take in a few “craft beer bars”, rather than sticking to tried and trusted favourites like the Market Porter and the Harp. Exiting the ultra modern station and heading in a northerly direction, brought the wedge-shaped Blackfriar pub into view, and I couldn’t resist the temptation of popping in for an inside view of this wonderfully eccentric, art-nouveau pub. Now part of the Nicholson’s chain, the Blackfriar had several interesting looking ales on sale, as part of the company’s current “beer festival” promotion. The Truman’s US Pale caught my eye, but as it was only just after 11am, I decided a half would be more appropriate for that time of the morning.  Matthew, of course, stuck to his lager – Carlsberg or Carling; I can’t remember which, and I don’t suppose he can either!

The pub was virtually empty, so we had the pick of the tables and chose one towards the back of the pub, admiring the bronze relief carvings of the monks, along with the ornate marble pillars and arches. Our peaceful contemplation of this late Victorian masterpiece was not to last, as not long after we had sat down, what can only be described as a “tidal wave” of yummy-mummies, accompanied by compliant “dadsies”, pushed their way into the pub, along with various buggies, infants strapped in shoulder slings, alongside the walking and slightly older “little darlings”, and proceeded to grab all the remaining tables and chairs, marooning us in a sea of pushy parenting hell!

This was our cue to leave, and we were both glad that we’d opted for pints rather than halves. I rather half-heartedly thought about asking what the occasion was, but thought better of it in our rush to escape the mayhem and get out into the open air. The pub seemed a strange choice of venue for a child’s birthday party, and besides it was rather too early in the day for that sort of celebration. Relieved to have escaped, we walked up towards Fleet Street, as Matt wanted to re-visit the Cheshire Cheese. I also fancied some bargain-priced Sam Smiths in the timeless surroundings of this classic old pub.

It was not to be; the Cheese was well and truly shut. Whether it opened later, say at midday, was a mystery, as there were no opening hours displayed outside the pub – surely a strange omission for a place that is a popular, “must visit” tourist destination?

After two (OK, one and a half), failed attempts at traditional, it was time for some “craft”, and where better than to put his to the test than the Euston Tap, a short train ride and walk away? Now I’m slightly ashamed to say that I’ve never been to the “Tap”. I’ve obviously read  quite a bit about it, and I’d also checked up beforehand on the place, using Des de Moor’s excellent “London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars”, a copy of which was in my rucksack. I therefore knew the pub was on the small side, and that it is popular with beer connoisseurs from far and wide.

Its popularity was not in doubt when we stepped inside, a situation made worse by groups of people hogging the bar. Their presence made it difficult to see exactly what was on tap, and although there were chalk boards, behind the bar, advertising what was available, my eyesight is such these days that in the dim light it was nigh impossible to read them. Now we could have stayed, pushed our way through to the bar and enquired further about the beers from the bar staff, but the very fact these ignoramuses were blocking the way, coupled with the fact that Matt had taken an instant dislike to the place, prompted us to about turn and leave. The “Tap” may serve great beer, but I have to say it had all the atmosphere of a hospital waiting room. Nevertheless I am prepared to give the place another try, next time I am in the area.

With Euston station, and the Northern line a stone’s throw away, we were able to jump on a tube and make our way towards Hampstead. It was raining when we arrived in this fashionable (and expensive) part of town, which put paid to my plan of walking across the Heath to the Spaniards Inn. Instead we headed for another old favourite of mine, the unspoilt Holly Bush, now owned by Fuller’s. The Bush seemed larger than I remember, although I understand it had been extended in recent times to incorporate some rooms which were not part of the original pub. I have to say though, that whoever carried out the work has made an extremely good job of it, and it was nigh on impossible to tell which parts were original (apart from the bar that is!), and which were not.

After purchasing our drinks, we opted for the large room behind the bar, away from the open fireplace which was giving out rather too much heat for the mild weather. I chose Wild River, Fuller’s American-style pale ale, whilst Matt went for Frontier, the brewery’s new “craft” lager. I had a taste of this beer and found it full-bodied and rather good. My Wild River was also equally enjoyable.

It had stopped raining by the time we left the Holly Bush, but time was marching on. A walk across the Heath was now out of the question, so instead we made our way down Hampstead High Street to Hampstead station. After a quick one stop journey to Finchley Road and Frognal, for a look at my grandmother’s old house, it was back on the train, destination Stratford. We had a bit of shopping to do, and the large Westfield Shopping Centre at Stratford seemed ideal for this. The centre is also home to a brew-pub called Tap East, which I believe has a connection with the same people who run Utobeer and the Rake at Southwark’s Borough Market.

Unfortunately after boarding the train, we became aware that due to engineering works on the London Overground, trains would be terminating at Highbury and Islington – an area of London I am totally unfamiliar with. Upon reaching said station, we took the decision to jump on a southbound train in order to alight at Wapping. We were feeling hungry by now, and a quick look through Des’s guide had revealed that the Town of Ramsgate, a well-known riverside pub on Wapping High Street, served food of the pub-grub variety, as well as a reasonable selection of beer.

After initially turning the wrong way out of Wapping Underground station, we eventually found our way to the Town of Ramsgate. The CAMRA guide was right, and it turned out to be a very pleasant pub; long and narrow in its layout, with a terraced area at the rear overlooking the River Thames. The beer range was fairly standard, apart from the Wye Valley HPA, which turned out to be a good choice; pale and fruity, with a good hop bite. Also good was the homemade chicken and leek pie, served with new potatoes and seasonal vegetables. As we sat there enjoying our meal, we noticed the barman setting out a long table, opposite where we were sitting. I asked him if they were expecting a crowd in later, and he told us that the pub is on several tourist circuits, and they receive quite a lot of pre-booked trade from coach companies. The pub’s history and riverside location appeals to foreign visitors especially, and there is obviously a good trade to be had from this attraction.

Suitably fed and watered, we headed off, by tube, to Canary Wharf, where we able to do the shopping we had wanted to do earlier. Then it was a very cramped and crowded underground journey back to London Bridge for our last port of call, the Rake at Borough market. I had a slightly ulterior motive for calling in here as according to the Rake’s Facebook page Oktoberfest beers were on offer at two pints for the price of one, providing one used a phone App called appropriately enough "I Love Free Beer". Unfortunately after ordering the beer I couldn’t get the wretched App to work, despite having connected to the pub’s free Wi-Fi network. (I later found out it was due to a glitch with the GPS system on my phone). We therefore had no choice but to cough up £13.20 for our two pints of Löwenbräu Oktoberfest, which is definitely the most I have paid for a pint of beer outside of Scandinavia.

The beer was good, but not that good, but I wasn’t going to let a glitch with a phone App spoil the end of our day out. Even so, we decided to make that the last beer of the day, especially as I received a text from my wife saying she was on the train home herself. Looking back we probably spent more time travelling than we spent in the pub, but at least we got to see some different parts of London and had some enjoyable beers as well.

Stocking up for Christmas

 

I’ve been quietly taking advantage of various supermarket offers in order to stock up on beers for Christmas. Yes I know it’s still two months away at present, but as usual I want to make sure I’ve something decent to drink in the house over the festive period.

First and foremost of these offers is the one running in Waitrose, which I think will probably be ending soon. Beers from several well-known brewers are available at four for £6.00, and as Fuller’s are included in this offer, I’ve stocked up on London Porter, Bengal Lancer and 1845. The latter is a particularly good bargain at this price, especially as it is an excellent  beer to accompany one’s Christmas dinner.

I will, of course, be keeping an eye out for offers from the other supermarkets, but I will also be using our planned trip to Prague, in early December to bring back a few Czech specials to supplement my Christmas stock.

Full Steam Ahead

The excesses of the weekend’s Spa Valley Railway Beer Festival are gradually fading, and my aching body is slowly recovering. When I say “excesses” I am referring to the sheer physical hard work of getting all the beer racked up, tapping and spiling it and then, once it had reached tip-top condition, serving it to the hordes of thirsty punters. I am not referring to having consumed too much of  the stuff myself, as there just wasn’t time to indulge in more than a few glasses, as it was so busy behind the various bars. Obviously this can only be described as a good thing, and both West Kent CAMRA, and all the volunteers from our Spa Valley Railway hosts, can pat themselves on the back following a job well-done.

So despite upping the beer order by 50% on what we had last year, we still sold out, and had it not been for a handful of gallant suppliers, who came forward at the last minute and replenished some of our stocks, there would have been precious little beer left for Sunday’s festival goers to enjoy! 

The festival opened on Friday 18^th, but owing to work and other commitments I wasn’t able to attend until the Saturday. I had asked to work further down the line, either at Groombridge or Eridge stations, where there were additional bars set up to provide beer to thirsty visitors travelling up and down the line between the latter station and Tunbridge Wells West. The majority of the sixty or so beers were housed in the historic engine shed at Tunbridge Wells West, which acts as the Spa Valley’s headquarters. Six were positioned at Groombridge, in a marquee just along from the booking office, whilst a further four were at the far end of the line, in the waiting room, on Spa Valley’s platform, at Eridge station  - a facility they share with national rail operator, Southern Trains. In addition, four more beers were stillaged in “Kate”, the railways award-winning and lovingly restored dining car.

I ended up at Groombridge, where I joined two other CAMRA colleagues. It was a funny sort of day as we had spells of frantic activity coinciding with the arrival of a train, followed by periods of relative calm. The latter at least enabled me to sample all six of the beers we had on sale, namely Sambrook’s Wandle; King’s Brighton Blonde; Westerham Freedom Ale; Portobello Star; Ramsgate Gadd’s No.3 and Arundel Trident. We also had a plastic cask of Bushel’s Cider, from Biddenden.  Hot food, in the form of chicken curry, lasagne and macaroni cheese, was available at the station, along with cups of tea, coffee, sandwiches and cake at the railway’s refreshment kiosk on the platform. 

As I said, things got a bit frantic at times, but as the day wore on, and the punters started to tail off, so did the beer. By about 7pm we had virtually sold out, although there were a couple of pints of Trident left. It was just as well there was precious little beer left, as no-one had thought to provide lighting inside the marquee. Fortunately one of my colleagues had come equipped with a battery-operated LED light, which at least enabled us to see what we were doing, and to ensure we took the correct tokens and gave the right “change”.

With the beer virtually all gone, and having to fumble around in the dark, we took the decision to close the bar, secure the tent and get the boxes of glasses and other paraphernalia out onto the platform, ready to load onto the 8pm train back to Tunbridge Wells. Unbeknown to us, the down train had suffered a breakdown shortly after leaving Tunbridge Wells. Before going any further, I ought to explain that the festival was also billed as “The Autumn Diesel Gala”, and  because of this the railway had four different diesel locomotives in operation. These ranged from a moderately sized shunter to a large former Inter-City loco. No doubt railway buffs would have described them better, but as I really don’t know the difference between the various types of engine, these descriptions will have to suffice.

Call me old fashioned, but on a preserved railway I much prefer to see steam haulage in operation. Steam locomotives have heart and soul; qualities that seem lacking in their diesel counterparts. The former are also more reliable, once they are in steam and up and running. This proved the case on Saturday evening, and although we were kept informed by the station master, it was approaching 9pm when our train finally arrived to ferry us back to Tunbridge Wells.

In the meantime, things had been equally manic in the engine shed. By the time we arrived back, the stillages were looking very depleted, with around two thirds of the beers totally sold out, and the remaining casks steeply stooped, indicating they would not be lasting long come the morning. It was here that our gallant saviours in the form of Tonbridge Brewery, plus Sankey’s Bar, stepped up to the plate and provided us with some replacement stocks of beer which were hastily racked and spiled, ready for tapping the next day. What was extremely frustrating from my own, admittedly selfish, point of view was that having been down at Groombridge all day, by the time I’d returned to Tunbridge Wells, most of the “interesting” beers I had been keen to try had completely sold out! The four beers stillaged in “Kate” had also been drunk dry.

The following morning I was back at the Engine Shed, a little later than the previous day, but not that much.  Along with a couple of friends, I was dispatched down to Groombridge to collect a cask of Kent Brewery Zingibeer, which was needed for the dining car, and then on down to  Eridge to pick up the remaining boxes of empty glasses. This was my first visit to Eridge during the festival, and I can now see why increasing the number of beers here for next year could be difficult. Due to the confines of the narrow island platform, there is barely sufficient room for the four cask stillage in waiting room, and finding an alternative and secure home for the beer might prove tricky.

After collecting the full cask from Groombridge, and carefully placing it on the stillage in “Kate”, it was back up the line to Tunbridge Wells. I decided to stay on the train and help out with serving the beer. The only one available was another cask of Zingibeer that had been racked up and tapped the night before. Fortunately it had dropped bright and was in good condition. We had somehow ended up with four casks of this slightly unusual, but quite refreshing Kent Brewery beer. It had been part of the emergency supplies obtained the night before, and had arrived courtesy of Sankey’s, in Tunbridge Wells. Despite it being the only beer available on the train it nevertheless proved pretty popular, and my colleague and I were kept quite busy dispensing glasses of it as we travelled up and down the line. The busiest times were just after departing from the stations, when the train had picked up a fresh load of thirsty passengers. It was a bit of a challenge serving beer from our makeshift stillage in a moving buffet car, but the biggest challenge was when I had to tap and spile the other cask whilst the train was in motion. With the help of a couple of bar towels, and a drip-tray on the floor, I managed this task without spilling a drop.

Another couple of volunteers took over from us, mid-afternoon, and I returned to t he train shed to help out behind the bar and enjoy what was left of the beers. A local rock band were keeping the crowd entertained, but we still had our work cut out behind the bar, keeping everyone served. One by one the casks started to run dry, until by just after 5pm, there was no beer left and we were down to two mini-pins; one of cider and the other of perry. Eventually these too were exhausted, and the crowds slowly began to drift away.

That was that and the end of the festival for another year. It is too early to say what we will do next year, but whatever happens the beer order will need to be significantly increased.

Meantime Greenwich Smoked Bock Beer

Brewed exclusively for Marks & Spencer by Meantime Brewing Co, Alastair Hook and his team have put their own slant on this strong, smoked, bock-style beer. According to the label, “This beer is brewed using smoked and Munich malts to create the perfect balance of smokiness and malt sweetness, and is inspired by the strong Bock beers of Bavaria.” It weighs in at 6.0%, but drinks below this strength, which could be dangerous!

I left mine in the fridge a shade too long, which tended to mask the aromas and flavours somewhat, but once it had warmed up a bit, and the smokiness and sweet maltiness, were released, it improved no end, and was enjoyable right to the last drop. Not as intensely smoky as world classic, Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier from Bamberg, but probably smokier than the Spezial Lagerbier from the same city.

This is definitely a very good beer, and one I will be stocking up on, especially as it’s priced at just £2.29 a bottle.