Seeking solace in Salzburg

Following the rather lengthy, but quite necessary scene-setting of my last post, it’s straight off to the charming Austrian city of Salzburg for a quick round-up of what Mozart’s birthplace has to offer the beer-loving tourist.

My flight to Salzburg departed on Boxing Day afternoon, and with no trains running I had to  drive myself to the airport. This meant my Christmas Day alcohol intake was rather modest; certainly when compared against a normal Christmas, but I made up for it once I touched down in Austria.

I was disappointed not to see any snow on the ground when we landed; although I had noticed a covering on the tops of the mountains as the plane made its final approach. However, despite the lack of the white-stuff, the temperature was considerably colder than the damp and cloudy England I had left behind.

Salzburg airport is small, pleasant and compact, and it is also close to the city, so I jumped on a bus for the short ride to central Salzburg, alighting at the main railway station. From there it was a 15 minute walk to my hotel, although it did take me slightly longer to find my accommodation, after mis-reading my map.

I decided to stay close to the hotel for my first night, and the PitterKeller, just a block away from where I was staying, suited my purposes perfectly. As the name suggests, the Keller was sited slightly below street level, its beamed ceiling and part wood-panelled walls serving to reinforce the claim of Salzburg's oldest beer cellar.

Being Boxing Day evening, the Keller was fairly quiet, so I had no difficulty in finding a table. I ordered myself a mug of Helles, brewed by Privatbrauerei Wieninger, who are based just over the border with Bavaria, in Teisendorf. The beer was cool, refreshing and tasty, and I ordered a Schnitzel with parsley potatoes to go accompany it.

There was something about just being there, in the peaceful and relaxing surroundings of the Keller, miles away, both physically and mentally from the stresses which had built up over the course of the previous six months. As I finished my meal and ordered another beer, I felt felt a deep wave of contentment wash over me as the stresses, cares and concerns associated with the craziness of holding down two very different and demanding jobs, literally just melted away.

I slept really well that night, far better than I'd done for a long time. After waking refreshed and relaxed the following morning, I set out, on foot, to explore the city, but not before I had devoured a hearty breakfast. I made my way across the Salzach river,  to the impressive Festung Hohensalzburg; a massive and well-preserved former fortress perched on top of a large rocky outcrop that dominates the city and overlooks it from a height of 540 feet.

I could have taken the funicular railway which runs up to the fortress, but instead chose to walk up the steep slopes and climb the hundreds of steps which to the top. It seemed a good way to work off some of the excesses of Christmas over-indulgence. The climb was certainly well worth the effort, as the fortress at close quarters was even more more impressive than it had looked from city below.

The Festung Hohensalzburg is claimed to be the largest fully preserved castle in Central Europe, and doesn't disappoint in this respect. originally constructed by the Prince Bishops who once ruled over Salzburg, the fortress has been added to over several centuries. Inside there are state apartments and a banqueting hall, plus rooms given over to various exhibits. The display I saw related to the Alpine Front from the First World War, when troops from Austria were engaged in a series of campaigns against the Italians - their southern neighbours.

I walked back down into the Altstadt, looking for a place to eat, and also somewhere to warm up in. The Stiegl Keller I'd earmarked earlier was closed, so I crossed the bridge into the Neustadt and found a welcome refuge from the cold at Gablerbräu. The notes I made at the time record that I had sausages (Wurst) and chips, plus a couple of beers. Gablerbräu underwent a major revamp, in 2013 and now brews its own range of beers, but I'm not sure what I drank on that initial visit.

That evening I set off in the rapidly fading daylight and the increasingly cold air to find the what was the undoubted highlight of the trip. Augustinerbräu Kloster Mülln is a brewery and beer hall attached to a monastery, not far from the centre of Salzburg, and is legendary amongst lovers of good beer. It was a short walk from my hotel down to the river Salzach, which I crossed by means of a footbridge. It was then a case of following the road along the riverbank until the floodlit exterior of the monastery church, perched on the edge of the Monchsberg hill, came into view.

The entrance to the Bräustübl is through a large, anonymous-looking wooden door, where a flight of steep stone steps leads down into the heart of the building. This then opens into a long tiled passage where there are a number of kiosks selling a variety of hot or cold food to accompany the beer. Alternatively you can bring in your own picnic, as many of the locals do.

There are three large, cavernous beer halls, plus a number of smaller, more intimate rooms that are available for private hire. For the summer months there is a large, shaded beer garden to the rear. The main attraction is of course the beer which is served direct from large wooden casks. A full-bodied lager, known as Märzen  with an ABV of 4.6%  is brewed all year round, whilst from November through to Christmas a stronger Weinachtsbock (Christmas Bock) at 6.5% ABV is produced.

The entire stock of the festive beer had unfortunately sold out, so I had to make do with the Märzen. This was a well hopped, malty and satisfying beer, but unfortunately, as it is served in stoneware mugs, it is impossible to see what colour it is. On the plus side, being served straight from a wooden cask, there is no excess gas to bloat one’s stomach, and the beer slips down a treat. It was so good that I sank four half litre mugs over the course of the evening!

There is a bit of a ritual involved  in order to obtain a beer, and it means a visit to the serving area just round the corner from where the food kiosks are situated. You then help yourself to one of the stoneware mugs (litre or half litre) laid out on a series of wooden shelves. You then need to rinse the mug at a rather ornate marble fountain before queuing up and paying the person sitting behind a glass screen.

In exchange for your money you are given a ticket, which you  hand to the person dispensing the beer who will  fill your mug with beer before sliding it back to you across a perforated metal counter. You then have a choice of beer hall in which to sit and enjoy your beer. When you want a refill you simply take your mug back to the central kiosk, pausing perhaps to rinse it clean at the fountain, before repeating the process.

I tried all three different beer halls during the two visits I made to the Augustinerbräu Bräustübl on that trip, but preferred the non-smoking one to the left of the serving area. As it was still relatively early in the evening there were plenty of wooden tables to sit at. What I especially liked was that Augustinerbräu appeared popular with people from all walks of life and also from all age groups. Groups of young people were just as eagerly getting stuck into their mugs of beer as their older counterparts.

There was a  thick frost covering the ground, as I made my way back to the hotel, my way lit by the moon and the many stars shining through the crispness of the sub-zero night. The temperature was cold enough to make my eyes water and take my breath away, but with all that beer inside me, the rest of me felt quite warm!

After breakfast the following morning I walked back into town via the gardens of Schloss Mirabelle. These featured in the film version of the Sound of Music, forming the backdrop for Maria and the Von Trapp children to dance around whilst singing. The gardens though, are much smaller than they appear on the big screen.I then caught a bus to Bräuwelt - a brewery museum and beer "experience" housed in the former maltings attached to the Stiegl Brewery, on the edge of the city.

Stiegl are the largest and best known brewery in Salzburg, and whilst Bräuwelt is billed as Europe's largest "Beer Exhibition",  I have visited much better laid out, and more informative brewery museums elsewhere. It was pleasant enough though, and my admission ticket included a couple of glasses of beer, plus a hot pretzel. I enjoyed the brewery's Paracelus Naturtrüb - unfiltered beer, plus their Christmas Weinachtsbier, before catching the bus back into central Salzburg. 

After a spot of shopping for a present or two for the family, I crossed the river back into the old town and found a very nice place to eat, just off the Getreidegasse. I have been trying to find this restaurant on a map of Salzburg, so far without success but suffice to say I enjoyed a really good meal of roast potatoes with diced chicken, bacon and onions served up in a cast-iron pan. I ordered a mug of Kaiser Pils (brewery unknown), to go with my meal.

It goes without saying that I made my way back up to Augustinerbräu afterwards; my experience being much the same as the previous evening. According to the notes I made at the time, I only had three mugs that evening, but the beer was still as tasty as the night before.

This was my last evening in Salzburg as I had to fly back to England the following day to try and kick-start the stalled sale of our business.  I was glad to have chosen Salzburg as my bolt-hole as it is person-sized with a touch of class about it. The trip was everything I wanted it to be,  providing a place to escape to, where I could relax, unwind and re-emerge energised and ready to face the music.

I have made two subsequent visits to Salzburg, which I have written about previously, but if you are thinking of going, either for business or pleasure,  a visit to Augustinerbräu Kloster Mülln is a must. Not only is the Bräustübl tavern the largest in Austria, it is also one of the finest and most traditional of beer halls anywhere in the world!

Moonlighting whilst contemplating a visit to Salzburg

Whilst having one of my regular sort-outs I found an old article I’d written, lying around at home. It’s about the lovely Austrian city of Salzburg; birthplace of  Mozart and the setting for a musical about how a singing nun became involved with a family of children. The article doesn’t mention these famous sons and daughters of the city; instead it mentions beer, so no surprises there, but before diving into the story, there’s a considerable amount of background to wade through, as to how and why I took the trip to Salzburg in the first place.

My visit took place at the tail end of 2006, and was my first proper visit to the city. Thirty years previously, whilst I was still student, a friend and I had passed through Salzburg by train, whilst undertaking a four week Inter-rail journey through western Europe. As we didn’t stop there on that occasion, it doesn’t really count as a visit, but I thought I’d mention it anyway, as what did matter is the trip in 2006 was just what I needed following a very stressful period of my life.

During the second half of that year, I was juggling two jobs, whilst at the same time struggling to sell a business. It was all getting too much; I was having trouble sleeping, finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate and feeling like I was at the end of my tether, so when Mrs PBT’s suggested I take a short break I jumped at the idea. The perfect window of opportunity opened up between Boxing Day and New Year, so my kind and caring wife booked the flights for me, whilst I found a suitable (cheap) hotel.

If any of you have read the biopic on the side of this blog, you may have noticed that,  in conjunction with my wife,  I once ran my own specialist beers, off-license.  We’d been trading around five years and whilst we weren’t exactly making a killing, the business was sufficient to pay me a wage so we could manage our bills and pay our way.

The downside was it involved being open long hours, seven days a week, with no time off for holidays or much time to ourselves.  We had only taken a six year lease, so we weren’t committed for too long, but even so, despite generally enjoying the work, I was wondering what  the future might bring, and what sort of retirement I could look forward to.

It came as something of a shock then when, out of the blue, I was offered a job back in industry, working in my old field of quality control. The offer came from a customer, who also happened to be a fellow CAMRA member, and came about whilst we were comparing careers and talking about mutual professional acquaintances at a CAMRA Christmas dinner. My companion asked me if I'd ever considered resuming my career in industry, as if I had, he reckonned his company could make good use of my skills and experince.

I mulled the offer over, but it didn’t take too long for me to decide. I concluded that whilst I would miss being my own boss, there were far more benefits to be had by accepting what was a very good offer. A regular monthly salary, considerably in excess of what I was drawing from the off-licence business, combined with paid annual leave, sickness and pension benefits far outweighed the relatively minor kudos which went with being the person in charge. What’s more the new position would be 8.30am – 5pm, Monday to Friday, so with no weekend or evening work my free time would be increased by several orders of magnitude.

After discussing the matter with my family, I took the job, but told my new employer that I would first need to dispose of the business, as it wouldn’t be a good idea running that alongside my new position. This proved easier said than done, as having put a considerable amount of effort into building the business up, I didn’t want to just walk away. If I did, not only would I be kissing goodbye to the profit and good will we’d accrued, but we also stood to lose a substantial amount of money.

This was because when you take out a lease on a commercial property, you are legally obliged to fulfil your all your obligations until the end of the agreement. Basically, if you decide to quit, you are still  obliged to continue paying rent on the property, along with any business rates. It therefore made scene to either re-assign the lease or, attempt to sell the business as a going concern.

The latter option made the most sense, certainly from a financial point of view, and with the business turning in a reasonable profit, I thought we’d have no trouble in selling it. Unfortunately  it was nowhere as easy as I’d thought, and with my new employer becoming increasingly eager for me to start, and more and more frustrated by me not providing a start date, I reluctantly decided I would somehow have to start in my new position, whilst continuing to run the off-licence during the evenings and weekends.

Whilst I could manage these extra hours, for a short period at least, I needed someone on the premises to take charge of deliveries and also place orders with our many suppliers. I managed to persuade a recently retired friend that he might like to supplement his pension, by acting as my manager, by looking after the shop over the relatively short lunchtime period from midday to 3pm.

So far so good, the only trouble was my friend wasn’t the most organised of people, so I ended up having to place the bulk of the orders. I made the necessary phone calls during my lunch hour, leaving my friend to look after the relatively quiet lunchtime trade, and get the stock priced-up and on the shelves.

I started in my new position mid-way through July 2006, and my first day was the Monday following the 2006 World Cup Final. I won’t go into much detail about my job as twelve years down the line, I’m still there. It wasn’t exactly plain-sailing to begin with, as I was thrown in at the deep end and had to start from scratch. What didn’t help was the fact that one particular, long-serving member of my new team thought that he should have been offered the position of departmental head, rather than it being handed to an upstart who just happened to be a friend of the General Manager.

As well as having to deal with this individual, I was also involved with trying to sell the off-licence business, so it was quite a stressful  period, all round. We employed a business sales agent, to market the shop to prospective buyers, and after a few false starts,  received and accepted a firm offer by the end of August.  Things seemed to be going well until the various solicitors involved, started throwing their weight around, and that’s where the fun and games started and the stress levels began to climb.

There were three sets of lawyers in total; ours, the buyers and finally the landlord’s, and it was the latter who proved the most obstructive. Leases should be relatively straight forward, but then so should house purchasing, but as we all know these  people have perfected the art of dragging things out, just to ensure the maximum return for themselves.  It was quite a complicated process, but eventually things started to slide into place, but with Christmas fast approaching, and the busiest time of the year upon us, we ran into trouble with the tenants in the flat above the shop.

I won’t go into detail, but I was concerned that the unreasonable behaviour of this young couple could end up scuppering the deal by putting off our buyers. Contracts had not been exchanged, largely due to our solicitor taking himself off to the ski-slopes for the whole of December (see why I hate the legal profession), and this was the reason for me wanting to take myself off somewhere during that lull between Christmas and New Year.

I’ll save the article about Salzburg for next time now, as I’ve dragged this introductory section out much further than I intended, but suffice to say we concluded the sale of the business during the first week of February 2007, and I was a free man at last.

My wife and I didn’t exactly come out as rich, but we didn’t lose out either; even after the solicitors and business sales agents had taken their cut. I’m not sure I’d run a business like that again, as whilst it allowed me to indulge in my passion for beer, it also robbed me of time which I could have spent with both family and friends.

Looking back it did teach me resilience, patience and determination, but most importantly it led me to my current and well-paid job. It also covered the expense of my trip to Salzburg – which was undertaken solely in the interests of “market research”.

Spa Valley Railway Beer & Cider Festival 2018

First no apologies for this unashamed publicity plug for my own CAMRA branch, whose beer festival, run in conjunction with local Heritage preservation group, the Spa Valley Railway, kicks off this Friday (19th October). The three day event runs until Sunday and will offer visitors a wide range of beers (both cask & Key-Keg) and ciders, at three separate locations along the seven mile length of preserved railway.

This is now the 8th festival, and the organisers claim it is bigger and better than previous events. You could argue that they would say that, but after last year’s festival there was a lot of soul-searching,  particularly in relation to issues of space, staffing and over-crowding, and a number of changes have been made.

I haven’t been involved with the organisation of this year’s event, but will no doubt find out whether the changes are working,  when I turn up to do my stint behind the bar on Saturday evening. The idea behind the festival is to encourage visitors to travel up and down the line where they can sample different beers at each of the three stations which constitute the Spa Valley Railway.

The main bulk of  the beers (and ciders), can be found in the Victorian Engine Shed, which acts as SVR’s headquarters. The shed was once part of the former Tunbridge Wells West station, but there will also be a range of beers at both Groombridge and Eridge stations.

The latter acts as an entry point for those travelling down to the festival by train, as Eridge station provides direct, cross-platform connections with Southern rail services from London Bridge, Croydon and Uckfield.

The organisers claim to have around 200  Real Ales, a figure which includes 25 Green Hop Ales. There will also be a craft beer bar featuring UK Keg & European Beers, plus over 30 Ciders. These bars are located in the engine shed, along with most of the real ales. I have just seen the beer list and have to say that it looks amazing.

The railway people will be operating a 50 minute interval service, with trains  running down to both Groombridge and Eridge Stations.

As mentioned previously, there will be beers on sale at those locations and on the trains themselves, but also included are:

• Trains to High Rocks, Groombridge & Eridge.
• Fullers Butcher BBQ.
• Thai Food Stand.
• Live Entertainment throughout the event at selected times.
• Ticket office, toilets and main departure point of train services.
• Station shop stocking a large variety of railway and children's products.
• Train travel from 17:30 is just £10, £5 for CAMRA and Spa Valley members on production of a valid membership card.

A potted history of the Spa Valley Line:

During the latter half of the 19th Century, Tunbridge Wells had two stations built by rival companies; Tunbridge Wells Central, opened in 1845 by the South Eastern Railway, which is now the sole mainline station, and Tunbridge Wells West, which was opened by the London Brighton & South Coast Railway in 1866. This former station is the headquarters of today’s Spa Valley Railway.

Around 1876, these two stations
were linked by a tunnel enabling connections between the London to Brighton and the London to Hastings lines. From Tunbridge Wells West there were direct services to the south coast at Brighton and Eastbourne and northbound  to London Victoria. Passing into the ownership of the Southern railway in 1923, the route became a very popular cross country link with over 100 trains passing a day.

During the latter half of the last century, as the popularity of the motor car as a means of travel increased, services started to be cut back, and many of the surrounding lines closed. For example Eridge to Hailsham branch (the Cuckoo Line) in 1965, East Grinstead to Groombridge in 1967, and then Uckfield to Lewes in 1969.

This left the remaining lines through Tunbridge Wells West both isolated and exposed. Finally, on 6th July 1985, the Tunbridge Wells to Eridge section closed. The depot at Tunbridge Wells West survived for another month and a few years later, the link to the mainline at Birchden Junction was finally removed.  A Sainsbury's superstore now occupies much of the site of the former West station, although the old  station building survives, and today houses a restaurant and hotel.

Shortly after closure, a preservation society was formed with the aim of restoring  train service on the railway, and after a herculean effort by local volunteers, the line was reopened through to Groombridge in August 1997.

Many improvements have been made since then including the introduction of new steam locomotives and rolling stock. In 2005, the railway marked the 20 years since the closure of the line by opening an extension just short of the former Birchden Junction, a further mile from Groombridge.

In mid 2007, after discussions with Network Rail,  work began on extending the line through to  Eridge.  Contractors were hired to restore the section of running line parallel to the mainline between Birchden Junction and Eridge, and after numerous delays and complications, the extension finally opened to the public in March 2011.


I appreciate this is rather short notice, but do try and come along if you can. Surely there can’t be many better ways of spending a fine autumn weekend than sampling a few of the excellent range of beers on offer at the festival, especially when there’s the added attraction of riding up and down this preserved line, through the glorious Kent and Sussex countryside which lies between Tunbridge Wells and Eridge.

Further details of the beers and ciders, opening times, train timetables and fares can be found by clicking here on the SVR website.

Walk of life

A year or so ago, I wrote a post about keeping fit with a particular emphasis on walking. I described a desire I had to walk the North Downs Way, seeing this as the logical follow on to the South Downs Way; a walk  I completed nearly 10 years ago. I  bought a guide and had it all mapped out in my head but, as is so often the case, life gets in the way of our dreams, and conspired to stop me - for this year at least!

Fortunately the North Downs Way was only a minor goal in the general scheme of things, and certainly in comparison to those I have achieved this year. The most notable of  achievements have been my visit to the United States, via Iceland, and once in North America, my Amtrak train journey across one third of the continent. (The ultimate goal is to complete the journey, travelling westwards from Chicago to the Pacific Coast, but that’s for several years in the future).

Back to the walking, where the main problem has not been lacking the will, but rather having insufficient annual leave left after taking two foreign holidays, one domestic  vacation and time off from work to help with Mrs PBT’s recuperation from a particularly nasty illness.

Fortunately, for both my levels of fitness and my sanity,  I work in a very pleasant rural location,  where there are ample opportunities to get out in the fresh air at lunchtime and enjoy a walk in the lovely Kent countryside. I’ve spent over 12 years in my current position, and virtually every weekday, come rain or shine, I’m out walking for between 35 and 40 minutes; a period of time  which still allows me to enjoy my sandwiches and a cup of tea, when I get back to my desk.

I said virtually every lunchtime, as there are the odd occasions when a visit to the pub intervenes – today being such an occasion. In addition, sometimes the weather is so inclement, that even I don’t venture out. I’m talking about torrential rain here, as I quite like walking in snow; even when it’s ankle deep!


It’s nice and relaxing and being outside allows any stress that has built up during the day, to disperse, but what I really enjoy about these walks is experiencing the changing of the seasons. Watching the newly born lambs skipping about on a cold, but bright late February afternoon, or seeing the snowdrops poking through the snow. Slightly later in the year, one can see the primroses coming into bloom on a south-facing bank.

I don’t see many bluebells whilst out walking, as my routes are almost exclusively through open countryside, although I do notice them on my drive in to work, as the road passes through a couple of areas of woodland.

Come August and September, there are plenty of blackberries amongst the hedgerows, so I'm often tempted to stop and pick a handful to eat on my way round. When winter comes upon us, the landscape takes on a much bleaker appearance, and on my usual route I can see across to the line of hills formed by the Greensand Ridge in the distance.

At this time of year, the wind really whistles across the most exposed part of my walk, especially when it is coming from the east. Then it is biting and cold, piling the snow up into drifts, and I am sometimes tempted to call in at the local pub; especially if I know they've got Larkin's Porter on tap.

I have a standard circular route, which I can add to if time allows, and I am not in a hurry to get back. I describe the walk as circular, but when viewed on a map, the route is more triangular in shape. The walks vary in length, from between 1.25 to 1.75 miles. I know this from the "Map my Walk App" which I have on my phone. The App also conveniently estimates the number of calories burned off during the walk, and these range from 200 - 300 Kcal.

Whichever direction I set off in, my route takes me across the old  Penshurst airfield; an airfield which was  in operation between 1916–36 and 1940–46. Although initially developed as a military airfield, after the First World War it was used as an alternate destination to Croydon Airport, with some civil flying taking place. The airfield closed following a fatal crash at an air display in 1936, and was converted to a polo ground.


It re-opened during the Second World War as an Emergency Landing Ground, RAF Penshurst. As well as serving in this role, it was mainly used by Air Observation squadrons of the RAF. The airfield finally closed in May 1946, but evidence of is former military role can be seen in the form of a couple of concrete pill boxes, built to guard its perimeter.

Today, the western boundary of the site is crossed by a handy tarmac path, which means my route is an all weather one, with no need to get my work shoes covered in mud. The latter is important, as whilst I could change into a pair of walking boots, for going cross-country, that would eat into my one hour lunch break.

There are some alternative routes that I walk, that do involve crossing fields or following footpaths, and these are obviously fine during the summer months, when there have  been spells of dry weather, but at other times of the year the footpath options are out of the question.

There is another route I sometimes take, which involves crossing the railway at nearby Penshurst station, and then following the road which leads to the station from the south. I can then either double back or, if I'm feeling brave/foolhardy, I can follow another road back up the hill to the village church. However, given the way that many motorists treat country roads as racetracks, I'm not a fan of the latter option. 

I mentioned earlier an addition to my normal route, and this involves a loop around the tiny hamlet of Charcott. The latter is home to the Greyhound pub, now lovingly restored following a lengthy period of uncertainty and indeed closure, and is the perfect place to call in for a pint, should I desire.

Not far from Charcott and the former Penshurst airfield, is another relic of conflict, this time from the Cold War, in the shape of a nuclear bunker. I'd been aware of the existence of  this structure, from a work colleague who live locally, but in January 2017, a group of us saw the bunker for ourselves, during  a walk to the Greyhound. 

We came across a volunteer who was carrying out some restoration work, and it turned out he belonged to a preservation group which had bought the bunker, when they were all sold off by the M.O.D at the end of the Cold War. I took a few photos, including one looking down the quite deep entrance shaft. I’m not sure that I fancied climbing down there, but as it happened, we weren’t offered the opportunity.

I realise I am fortunate to be able to undertake these sort of walks, in the middle of the working day, and accept I am doubly fortunate to work in such a pleasant rural location. I am not alone in doing these lunchtime walks, as several of my colleagues do the same thing, but as we all walk at a different pace, as well as setting off at different times, we tend to walk alone.

To me, this individual form of exercise is far preferable to the physical stretching and similar activities which employees at our Japanese parent company are "encouraged " to participate in at the start of the working day. Fortunately, I can't see it catching on over here!

A perfect storm?

Well we've had quite a spate of light-hearted, travel-related posts, highlighting idyllic parts of the British countryside, with just the odd snippet or two about pubs and beer, but with the holidays behind us now and the nights drawing in, it's time to get a lot more serious.  So where better to start than with an issue which is already having repercussions for a type of beer which is claimed to be the "pinnacle of the brewer's art".

I am talking of course, about cask-conditioned ale; the style of beer which is unique to Britain. With sales seemingly in decline, there are dark rumblings about the future of this unique style of beer, and with no real consensus as to what to do about it, let alone how to save it. the future is not looking good.

It can't have escaped the attention of those who care about beer that the recently published Cask Report (an annual review of the state of the cask-ale market), has highlighted a 6% fall in sales of cask.

Several prominent beer writers have picked up on this including Martyn Cornell (Zythophile), Pub Curmudgeon, Ben Nunn (Bon Viveur), and Tandleman and all have written posts on what may have caused this dramatic decline in casks' fortunes, and have put forward various suggestions as to how to turn this situation round.

Martyn Cornell asks the question, "Why after nearly 50 years after the birth of CAMRA, can't he get a decent pint in most pubs?". He suggests appointing "cask ale champions" to ensure quality standards are met, and also believes Cask Marque should implement accurate record keeping, so publicans can demonstrate just how long a particular cask has been on sale. Finally he wants to get the message across about the problems associated with stocking too many cask ales, as this is contributing to the quality problems which is one of the prime reasons for the drop in sales.

Pub Curmudgeon suggests that because hand pulls allow customers to instantly recognise cask beer, they also give them the chance to instantly reject it as well. His proposal is to mix up the cask with the keg, by putting it on the "T bar".

Benjamin Nunn asks the question, "Is cask ale going the way of vinyl?", and if so, would it not be better if it was promoted as a "niche" product? Whilst this could see cask disappearing from many main-stream pubs, it would at least ensure its survival in specialist outlets, which know how to keep the beer properly.

Tandleman conducted his own research into cask quality, by trying several pubs in an area he doesn't usually drink in. In the four pubs he visited, there was only one pint he'd describe as very good. This, coupled with regular visits to London, where he often comes across poor quality beer, reinforces his view that cask has a problem.

And this is where I come in, as Tandleman's findings closely mirror what I experienced during our recent trip to Norfolkand Yorkshire. It is becoming abundantly clear to many people that ordering a pint of cask ale has become something of a lottery; and an expensive lottery at that, given the price of a pint today.

If further proof were needed, take a look at Retired Martin's blog where Martin is reporting much the same in the many pubs he visits up and down the country. What makes this situation even worse, and potentially explosive, is the news that most of the pubs Martin visits are Good Beer Guide entries!

From where I see things, quality has always been the Achilles Heel of cask ale, and whilst its short comings can be mitigated by quick turnover and proper cellarmanship, the fact that cask-conditioned beer is reliant on being cared for by someone apart from the brewer, is asking for trouble.

So with cask sales seemingly in terminal decline, you may well ask what has been CAMRA's response to this news? Well if the October edition of  "What's Brewing", the Campaign's monthly newspaper is anything to go by, not a lot. CAMRA at present is pre-occupied with its campaign to save the nation's pubs.

In a way, I can see where CAMRA is coming from, as there is no future for cask (Real Ale) without pubs to stock and serve it. But equally, if CAMRA continues to ignore the quality issue inherent with cask ale, drinkers in pubs which the Campaign has managed to save, will continue to avoid it, and will switch to something more consistent and reliable.

CAMRA appears then to be caught in a cleft stick, but one would have thought that the drink which is the group's main raison d'être is worth fighting for. My membership of CAMRA stretches back over 40 years, during which I have witnessed various highs, as well as lows in the Campaign's fortunes, but I feel that the group has a real fight on its hands to try and rescue cask ale from oblivion, and the trouble is it doesn't seem to realise the problem exists.

There is a perfect storm heading cask ale's way, as the genre comes under pressure from all sides, but what makes things worse is the situation is being masked by the seemingly unstoppable rise in the number of new breweries coming on tap. With over 2.000 breweries in the UK, no neighbourhood is far from a brewery, so from CAMRA's viewpoint, everything in the garden is rosy.

With all these breweries fighting for space on the bar, and many CAMRA members on the look out for a new beer to "tick" or a new brewery to scoop, the temptation, when it comes to Good Beer Guide selection time,  is to pick pubs offering a wide selection of real ales, whist turning a blind eye to the obvious quality problems ensuing from stocking too many ales. This issue has been around for a long time, and whilst some branches are now belatedly addressing it, they are still the exception rather than the rule.

I'm not sure what is the best way of saving cask ale, because no matter what innovations are put in, its quality is ultimately linked to the person or persons who handle it in the pub cellar or serve it at the bar. Keg, or "container " beers, which are the default  option in virtually all areas of the world, apart from Britain, get round this problem because they are kept in, and dispensed, from a sealed containers. They therefore  receive virtually no exposure to oxygen and, more importantly, spoilage organisms which might be present in the air.

A couple of months ago, whilst I was visiting the United States for Beer Bloggers Conference in Virginia, I had several conversations about cask-conditioned ale with  some of the delegates. The universal response was that Americans just don't get "cask", with the reasons most often cited being it is flat and served too warm. During my travels I only came across two or three bars stocking cask, and wisely I wasn't foolish enough to try any of it.

Now I'm not advocating an abandonment of cask, in favour of keg, but perhaps the future of "real ale" does lie more in specialist outlets, which cater for that specific niche. Whilst this may have been Ben Viveur's perception of where the market is heading, and was where the comparison with vinyl came about, Ben was quite adamant that wasn't the destination he wanted to see for cask.

I too don't want to see cask disappear from mainstream pubs, but on the other hand, if the style is struggling to sell amongst a myriad of global lager brands, I would rather that the pubs concerned knock it on the head. In some cases "no cask is better than bad cask" - now where have we heard that sort of argument, before ?