Nelson Brewery Trip

Last Saturday, along with 15 fellow local CAMRA branch members, I visited Nelson Brewery in Chatham. I’m not going to write too much here about the brewery, as there isn’t that much to write about. Suffice to say that Nelson are based in the Historic Former Naval Dockyard in the town and have been brewing since 1995.

The company started life as the Flagship brewery (Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar was, of course HMS Victory, and Victory was constructed at Chatham), but changed its name to Nelson in 2004 following a change in ownership. The current owners PiersMacDonald, and his partner Val, acquired the business in 2006, and since then have re-vamped some of the beers and have tweaked the recipes of others to ensure a more consistentproduct. No brewing sugars are used in the beers, and only the finest pale malt, produced in a traditional floor-maltings at Warminster, together with whole-leaf hops are used to brew the beers. All the Nelson beers have a naval theme to them, with names like Powder Monkey, Dog Watch Stout, England Expects, plus probably their best known beer Friggin in the Riggin.

There is never that much to see when visiting a micro-brewery and Nelson was no exception.The brewery is housed in one of the former workshops of this sprawling site. To say that the brewery looked rather chaotic would be an understatement, but Piers explained he was in the process of moving things around inside to allow the installation of a recently acquired 10-barrel plant, which will double the size of the brewery. His problem at the moment is finding the time to install this new equipment, as he is currently brewing flat out in order to keep up with the demand for his beers

Piers talked us through the brewing process, with particular emphasis on how Nelson brew their beers, and Val then explained about the importance of bottled beer to the company. She should know as she personally fills and caps each bottle by hand, and what’s more she hand labels them as well! Bottled beers account for some 20% of Nelson’s trade, with ASDA taking the lion’s share.

I am not quite certain of the time we left the brewery, but before we departed we were each presented with a souvenir glass. The rest of the day was spent visiting a few local hostelries - more about that in a later post!

Wetherspoons Beer Festival

Apart from last weekend I haven't managed to sample that many of the Beer Festival offerings at our local Wetherspoons. I popped in quite early last Saturday and typically, seeing as I needed to drive later on that day, there were several beers that I would have liked to have tried. These included Wild Blue Yonder from Oregon, Palm Steenbrugge Blond from Belgium and Sinebrychoff Porter from Finland.

I risked a half of the latter with the aim of popping back in the early evening. Unfortunately, this plan never quite materialised, and it wasn't until the following day that I was able to re-visit. Even more unfortunately, all three of the aforementioned beers had sold out, and the selection that Sunday included a few too many fruit-flavoured offerings for my liking. Perhaps it is just me, but I feel that we don't quite get these beers right here in the UK. Having said that whilst I may have the occasional Belgian Kriek or Framozen they are not the sort of beers I wish to drink a lot of.

I therefore gave the Sharps Red Sloe Ale and the Caledonian Raspberry Fool a miss. The Brains Dark and the St Peters Golden Ale were both good though, and it was nice to be able to sit outside and drink them. A glass of the Sinebrychoff Porter would have been really nice to finish up on, but I can perhaps understand the pub's management wanting to put some of the more exotic beers on for the Saturday. I just hope they weren't wasted on the Fosters-swilling crowd that frequents our Wetherspoons later on in the evening.

I'm off to visit Nelson Brewery at Chatham, this Saturday, along with other members of West Kent CAMRA. We'll possibly end up at a Wetherspons somewhere, I just hope there's some Sinebrychoff and Wild Blue Yonder on sale!

Easter

Now that the long weekend is nearly over I hope everyone reading this had a good Easter.

Mine was pretty good. I actually had five days away from work, as I took Maundy Thursday off in order to get my car serviced and M.O.T.'d. That all went smoothly, with no nasty surprises, so afterwards, by way of a small celebration, I met up with a friend for a couple of pints of Harveys in the New Drum.

Good Friday saw myself, plus several other members of West Kent CAMRA joining the ramble organised by Maidstone & Mid-Kent branch. We enjoyed a very pleasant seven and a half mile walk through the Kent countryside, stopping for an extended lunchtime session at former West Kent Pub of the Year, the Halfway House at Brenchley. Thirty-five walkers, plus one dog turned up, and the rain held off until the return leg of the journey. For a more detailed description of the walk click this link.

Saturday was a bit of a non-descript sort of day. I enjoyed a lay-in, then spent a bit of time out in the garden. Later on I made a few phone calls in order to sort out the accommodation for the walk along the South Downs Way that a friend and will be undertaking next month. We will be walking the middle section from Clayton to Petersfield, having done the section from Eastbourne to Clayton last year. We are both hoping for better luck with the weather, as we got absolutely drenched last time; there is not a lot of shelter on top of Firle Beacon! It goes without saying that we will be visiting the odd public house or two en route, especially in the evenings, and I must say I am really looking forward to the four days walking as well.

Easter Sunday saw me getting the bike out for the first time this year. I enjoy cycling, but am a bit of a "fair-weather rider", locking the bike away in the shed during the winter. After giving the machine a good oil, I rode down to the local supermarket filling station and pumped the tyres up (40 psi takes some doing with a foot pump, so I am quite happy to cheat). I rode through the sports ground and picked up the cycleway that leads to Haysden Country Park. We are fortunate to have this local authority maintained amenity in Tonbridge, and having ridden around the lake I carried on along the off-road cycleway towards Penshurt. I only cycled as far as the road into Leigh though, deciding to carry on into the village itself and then return via what are known as the Powdermills.

As the name suggests, Leigh Powdermills were used for the manufacture of gunpowder. They were supplied by barge along the River Medway, and produced much of the powder that was used by Wellington's forces at the battle of Waterloo. There is precious little left of the mills now, and multi-national pharmaceutical giant, Glax0-Smith-Klein now occupy the site. As I rode into Leigh I was quite tempted to stop for a pint of Larkins at the Bat & Ball, one of two pubs in the village itself (there is also the Plough at Powdermills, so Leigh is quite a good place for a mini pub-crawl). However, I had some Wetherspoons vouchers in my pocket and with these I could get two pints for the same price as one in the Bat, so I carried on along the tar-mac path that leads back to the cycle-way and eventually into Tonbridge. Despite the rather dull and over-cast conditions, there were quite a few people enjoying a stroll around the sportsground, and having cycled the best part of eight or nine miles I too felt good about being out in the fresh air and getting some unaccustomed exercise. I did feel ready for a pint though!

Our local Wetherspoons, the Humphrey Bean is Tonbridge's former Crown Post Office, and whilst the front of the building is quite distinct, the much larger section at the rear used to be the sorting office and thus in effect is a large shed. Wetherspoons design team have done a reasonable job on the place though, and the Humphrey Bean is a popular watering hole for the towns people. I chained my bike up to the railings outside and nipped inside. I managed to get served, and much to my pleasure secured a pint of one of the beers that will be on sale during the forthcoming International Real Ale Festival - Lead Dog Ale from the Yukon Brewing Co in Canada.

I sat out in the garden enjoying this dark flavoursome ale, but limited myself to the one as I knew there was a roast dinner waiting for me at home. There was also some more work in the garden that needed doing.

Today, Easter Monday is my birthday. I had a quiet family celebration. My son was working and so was my wife - she is self-employed and works from home. I carried on with digging out the base for our summerhouse and made some good progress. The sun even came out in the afternoon! When it was getting near the time to collect my son from work, I nipped into Wetherspoons again. The Lead Dog Ale was still on sale, so like before I sat out in the pub's garden enjoying my pint.

Tomorrow it's back to work. It's been a good Easter break.

A Week in Cologne

Visitors to this site will no doubt be aware that I have been in Cologne for the past week, helping to man our company's stand at the International Dental Show. This event, which takes place every two years, is by far the largest such show in the world and for any company involved in the dental industry attendance at IDS is pretty much essential. The company I work for is the UK's leading manufacturer of "Private Label" dental materials and although we are not quite up there with the likes of 3M and Fuji, having a stand at the show is very important to the ongoing success of our business.

Myself and three of my colleagues drove across to Cologne last Monday in order to set the stand up ready for the show's opening the next day. Although the show was open from 9am through to 6pm, there was the opportunity for a fair degree of socialising in the evenings. Whilst some of this involved attending a function with our parent company, a dinner engagement with one of our suppliers, plus a lavish "End of Show" party, we did manage to visit a reasonable number of Cologne's brew-houses and bars, and this is primarily what this article is about.

Before going any further it is worth pointing out that the style of beer most widely available in Cologne is Kolsch, which despite its pale golden colour is actually an ale and not a lager. This is because it is brewed with a top-fermenting yeast, rather than a bottom-fermenting one. It can only be brewed within Cologne itself and its immediate environs . It is served in small, tall, thin glasses that typically hold just 20cl of beer, but these are normally brought to one's table thick and fast by waiters dressed in blue aprons who are known as "Kobes" (an abbreviation of Jacob).

Our first night in Cologne saw us dining in the Sion Brauhaus, a large establishment just off the Alter Markt. Sion Kolsch tasted slightly sweet for my liking, but was pleasant enough all the same. The pub's home-made sausages with fried potatoes and creamy cabbage also slipped down well.

The next evening saw us visiting another Kolsch establishment, this time Gaffel am Dom. This huge, cavernous establishment lies close to both Cologne's famous cathedral, or Dom, and the imposing Hauptbahnhof or main station. Gaffel's brewery is also close by and I found its hoppier Kolsch rather more to my liking. The large Schnitzel I ate at the pub was also very good, but left precious little room for more beer drinking. However, two of my colleagues persuaded me that a night-cap or two would be a good idea so we headed off into the Alter Markt and ended up in a bar called "Papa Joe's". From the outside this looked the sort of place I would not normally frequent, however, once inside I was pleasantly surprised. A pianist was bashing away at an old fashioned piano, and when she had finished a mechanical wax-works dummy, played a tune on the accordion. The place was heaving and it was all very jolly. We found that as well as Kolsch, Papa Joe's had Konig Pilsener on tap. This beer is the sole offering from the huge brewery of the same name in Duisburg. It made a pleasant change from Kolsch though, and being served in 40cl glasses meant less time waiting at the bar to be served.

Wednesday evening saw us dining at a Spanish restaurant with a party from one of our main suppliers. Fish featured prominently on the menu and was both well-cooked and well-presented. I had several glasses of Veltins Pilsener to wash my meal down, much preferring this to the San Miguel which was the other beer on offer. We left the restaurant just before 10pm and said farewell to our guests. The fact that we were slightly to the west of the town centre gave me the opportunity to lead my colleagues to a superb Kolsch establishment that I had first visited over 30 years ago.

Brauerei Paffgen is a place that is well-known to beer lovers; not only is its wonderfully hoppy Kolsch brewed at the rear of the premises, but it is also dispensed from wooden casks. A former school friend had taken me to Paffgen during my first visit to Cologne, way back in 1975. My friend was working in the city as part of the language degree he was taking. I was also a student, but at the time was travelling around Europe, by train, on an Inter-Rail ticket with a friend from university. I had parted company from my travelling companion in Hamburg; he had travelled on to Stuttgart to spend a few days with his then girlfriend, whilst I had made the shorter journey to Cologne. The plan was that we would meet up later in the week in Stuttgart and continue with our journey on into southern Europe. Even back then I had a reputation for enjoying good beer so my host, knowing this fact, had taken me to Paffgen as he knew I would be impressed.

This was certainly the case; pubs that brewed their own beer in England were as rare as hens teeth back in the 70's, so Paffgen was certainly a novelty as far as I was concerned. I had always wanted to make a return visit, but never realised it would take me 34 years before the opportunity to do so would arise. This was something I was going to enjoy and was an occasion I would not have missed for the world.

It was with a sense of eager anticipation that I pushed through the door to Paffgen's legendary establishment. There was a central corridor with a small room leading off to the left, and a much larger one to the right. We opted for the latter, and were soon seated at one of the many tables in the wood-paneled room. On the way in we noticed two up-ended wooden casks, tapped and ready for serving. We ordered a Kolsch each and were pleasantly surprised by its hoppy flavour. I had a look round the rest of the pub to see if it would bring back any memories. I recognised the large back room at the end of the corridor as being the place where my friend and I had sat that damp July evening all those years ago. It was great to be back there, even if the memories were rather vague. We enjoyed several more glasses of Paffgen's Kolsch before walking back to our hotel; it had been a long-overdue return and I hope not to leave it that long again before my next visit.

The next two evenings were taken up with a corporate dinner at the Hyatt Regency, where Sion Kolsch was on tap, plus a lavish end of show party held at a massive, converted former engineering workshop called "Die Halle", on the outskirts of Cologne. Gaffel Kolsch was on tap here, and we consumed more than our fair share of it.

Having manned the stand for the five day duration of the show, we were each allocated a free afternoon. My allotted spot fell on a very wet Thursday afternoon. Despite having the corporate dinner to attend that evening, I was determined to visit a few of Cologne's Kolsch houses but without getting too"tanked up" in the process.

My first port of call was the famous Fruh am Dom, a large establishment in the shadow of the Dom. It wasn't exactly heaving inside, and I had no difficulty in locating a table. On my way in I had witnessed the beer being dispensed from a large wooden cask. On reflection, and certainly compared to the casks I had seen in both Paffgen and Pfaffen, this cask looked far too shiny and new to have been used for the transport of beer from the brewery. I suspect therefore that it was purely for show, and that the beer was fed to it via a hidden pipe. Nevertheless Fruh Kolsch was pleasantly hoppy and eminently drinkable.

I moved on as I wanted to visit a place called Pfaffen, which is the only outlet for the beer of the same name. There is a story behind this establishment in so much that it's owner, Max Paffgen fell out with some of the other members of the family and decided to start a brewery of his own. The Pfaffen kolsch was probably the best version of the style that I tasted during my stay in Cologne; in fact it was so good that I stayed for several more glasses. The long, narrow building features some attractive carved, light-coloured wood-work and also some interesting contemporary stained glass. I brought my colleagues here on the last night of our stay and they were well impressed. The beer is served direct from wooden casks, and such was the demand for this excellent kolsch that we witnessed the cask being changed twice in less than an hour, and saw the row of empties stacked up in the corridor.

So there we have it, Cologne in a nut shell. Given the fact that I was there on business, I still managed to see and sample a fair bit of the city. The Dental Show itself is a hugely important event for Cologne. This year there were over 1,700 exhibitors; some relatively small like ourselves, others massive international companies with the large entourage necessary to man their stands. There was a real buzz just walking about in the city at night, and all the bars and restaurants, as well as the local taxi companies, were doing a roaring trade. Although I had been to Cologne a couple of times before, I felt I really got to know it on this visit. It is a lively, vibrant and friendly city with some great places to eat and drink. I am already looking forward to a return there in two years time!

Cologne

I was hoping to complete the posting on my recent short visit to Helsinki. Unfortunately I find I have run out of time as I am off to Cologne next week for a trade show. I expect, as a former boss of mine used to say, that my colleagues and I will be having the odd light ale, or should I say "Kolsch", but it's not all play by a long chalk, as we'll be manning the stand for five days on the trot.

Hope to report back in a week or so's time on the beer scene over there. (It's a good job I like Kolsch - just a shame they serve it in such small glasses!)

Showcase of Westerham Brewery Beers

Last night myself and fellow members of West Kent CAMRA visited the Anchor in Sevenoaks. The pub was hosting a three day mini-beer festival designed to highlight some of the excellent beers produced the local Westerham Brewery , and Friday was the opening night. Landlord, Barry Dennis had erected a stillage to one side of the bar, allowing the beers to be served by gravity. Six Westerham beers on tap; I didn't quite manage to try them all, but I was already familiar with several of them. It was good though to have the chance of tasting them side by side. I will list the beers later on, along with my comments on them, but before doing so here's a bit of background information about the Westerham Brewery.

The brewery started production in May 2004, so the company is just a month or so short of celebrating its fifth birthday. It was set up by former City trader, Robert Wicks, and Robert was on hand last night to answer any questions, and also to give a short talk about the brewery.

Robert's company is not the first to trade as the Westerham Brewery, for up until the mid-1960's there was a substantial brewery on the western fringe of this pleasant small town. Operating from the Black Eagle Brewery The official name of this concern was Bushell, Watkins & Smith (the name the result of a series of earlier mergers), but the company traded under the title of Westerham Ales. In their hey-day they were similar in size to Shepherd Neame, and had a good reputation locally.

In 1948 the company was purchased by the London brewers, Taylor Walker, of Limehouse, but brewing continued much as before. However, when Taylor Walker were bought out by Ind Coope, the writing was on the wall for Westerham, and the Black Eagle Brewery finally ceased production in 1965.

Today's Westerham Brewery has a number of things in common with its predecessor. Firstly, although it is housed in a National Trust owned farm, at Crockham Hill and not in the town itself, the water used at the brewery comes from the same aquifer source. Secondly, and most importantly, the yeast used by today's Westerham Brewery is the same, or virtually the same, as that used by the original company. This came about because the latter deposited a sample of their yeast in the National Yeast Collection at Norwich. Robert had the original yeast re-cultured; it was found to be a 3-strain variety, one of which was a wild strain. This wild strain was omitted when re-culturing took place (wild strains of yeast are NOT a good idea in a brewery). The other two strains though have allowed the present day company to closely replicate the taste of the original Westerham Ales, which brings me on to the third point. Several of today's recipes are based on those from Bushell, Watkins & Smith; the 4.9% Special Bitter Ale 1965, was based on the recipe for the last brew of Westerham Ales, back in 1965.

I have mentioned the Special Bitter Ale 1965, but the first beer I sampled on Friday was the 3.8% Black Eagle SPA. This is a well-hoped, pale ale that has always been one of my favourite Westerham Beers. I moved onto the 4.0% W.G.V - the initials standing for Whitbread Golding Variety. Up until comparatively recent times, Whitbread had their own hop farm, at Beltring near Paddock Wood. W.G.V hops were grown at the farm, which boasted the largest group of oast-houses in the world. Whitbread sold the Hop Farm over a decade ago; it now functions as a "country park" hosting such diverse events as rock concerts and the massive "War & Peace Show"; an event dedicated to those who like to re-enact World War II. Visitors can still see the famous oasts, whilst trying to avoid getting run over by tanks and other half-track vehicles, or dodging groups of Yorkshiremen dressed as Waffen SS troops!

An unusual beer followed next; William Wilberforce Freedom Ale (4.3%) is brewed from a mash that includes 20% free-trade demerrara sugar from Malawi. I am not normally in favour of brewers adding sugar to their beers, as to me it seems like cheating. However, I am prepared to make an exception in this case, as a proportion of the profits from the sale of the beer goes towards a charity that is helping to stamp out modern-day slavery. So not only do the sugar growers of Africa benefit from the sale of this beer, but the ideals of William Wilberforce in helping to abolish slavery are also being supported. The beer itself is pretty tasty, so perhaps I am being a bit too "Reinheitsgebot" in my opposition to the inclusion of sugar in beer.

The last beer I sampled was well worth waiting for, and sensibly worth leaving until last. Audit Ale at 6.4% abv, is a recreation of an old style of beer that was originally brewed for the time of year when tenants would gather to pay their yearly rents to the local landowner. A feast would be laid on, no doubt to help ease the pain of parting with such large sums of cash, and Audit Ales would be a feature of such occasions. Westerham's version was brewed nine months ago and is based on an old Westerham recipe, last used in 1934. Branch members had previously sampled this beer at the SIBA Beer Festival, held at the former Whitbread Hop Farm last August. From memory, that version was sweet, but not cloyingly so. The same beer, after six months extra maturation, was much drier and, if anything, packed even more of a punch! It was the perfect beer to finish on.

Myself and other West Kent CAMRA branch members would like to record our thanks to both Robert Wicks of Westerham, and to landlord Barry Dennis and his staff at the Anchor for a thoroughly enjoyable evening's supping.

Dark Beers

I know that winter's nearly over now and that spring is just around the corner. It may therefore seem a strange time of year to be writing about dark beers, especially when this type of beer is normally sold in the winter months, but I am writing this article primarily to bemoan the fact that not many pubs seem to sell the darker ales.

This is a great shame, especially for someone like me who loves the style. Before we go any further I would like to emphasise that I am not talking about Guinness when I refer to dark ales; instead I am talking about old ales, porters, strong ales and barley wines, and even that real pub rarity these days, cask-conditioned stout.

I have this moan every year, disappointed at the lack of dark beers in the area's pubs. There are a few notable exceptions; Harveys own tied pubs usually have their excellent Old Ale on sale over a long period from October through to March, whilst there are a few outlets that sell the superb Larkins Porter (the brewery's own tied pub, the Rock at Chiddingstone Hoath and the equally unspoilt Spotted Dog, at nearby Smart's Hill, spring to mind). The bee lover's paradise that is the Halfway House at Brenchley will normally have at least one dark ale on tap - usually something from Kings. In addition, landlord Richard will also have a mild on tap. Slightly further afield, the Rose & Crown at Halstead, winner of this year's West Kent CAMRA pub of the year award, normally has a mild on offer, and will sometimes feature an old ale as well.

These pubs are unfortunately the exception , rather than the rule. I really do wonder though why pub landlords are so un-adventurous. When my wife and I had our beer shop, we always tried to have a dark beer on sale at weekends during the winter months. They were always popular with the customers, and invariably sold out over the course of the weekend. Those licensees that do sell the darker ales, all say the same thing; these beers inevitably sell like the proverbial hot cakes, so why is it so many landlords prefer to play safe and stick to one or two well-known, trusted brands of bitter?

Tomorrow evening I will be visiting the Anchor in Sevenoaks, which is hosting a showcase of beers from the excellent Westerham Brewery. I have no doubt the company's Puddledock Porter will be available and I am hoping that their superb Audit Ale (an occasional beer brewed to the original Westerham Brewery recipe) will also be available.

In the meantime, whilst typing this article, I am enjoying a bottle of Pivovar Herold, a superb black lager from the Czech Republic. Last night I enjoyed the equally good Joulu Porter, from the A. Le Coq Brewery - one of several beers I brought back with me from my recent trip to Tallinn. I still have a bottle of Saku Porter to try; after that its back to the Fullers Porter for home consumption.