Corris pub holds beer festival

The Slaters Arms in Corris, Gwynedd will be hosting a beer festival this Friday and Saturday

The Slaters Arms
Corris
Near Machynlleth
Gwynedd
SY20 9SP

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Celt Beers big in Japan

From SIBA News:
Winner in Japan for The Celt Experience

Celt Bronze has just won the Bitter Category in Japans biggest beer competition. In one day 42 judges evaluated 250 beer entries in Japan Craft Beer Association’s International Beer Competition 32 breweries, 16 countries, 87 beer categories. flights Beer Enthusiasts, brewers from around the world, journalists, beer importers and retailers were ecstatic, never having experienced anything like this event.


The Celt Experience have been consistently one of the biggest selling premium craft ales in many department stores in Japan. Founder Tom Newman commented “It was a fantastic result for our brand and success in Japan, this year has been incredible we are over the moon, its time to hit the bar…..”

The Celt Experience have already won awards in The True Taste Awards, SIBA National, SIBA Regional, Great Welsh (CAMRA), Beer Academy and Soil Association this year.

The brewery in Caerphilly have now began upgrading their plant which is currently at capacity.

Conwy brews best Pale Ale in Wales

Conwy Brewery Win Welsh Pale Ale Competition Hosted by The Beer Academy

Above: Beer Academy sommeliers leading a panel of Judges in the ‘Welsh Pale Ale Competition

Conwy ‘Honey Pale’ has won best Welsh Pale Ale at a new festival competition held in Caerphilly RFC hosted Jointly by The Association of Welsh Independent Brewers (AWIB), The Beer Academy and The Celt Experience Brewery.

The beer style was brewed by 15 Welsh breweries and was put together by AWIB to typify a drink consumed historically and today within the country of Wales. Beer writer Melissa Cole also assisted AWIB during the category preparation.”It’s always exciting and inspiring to see brewers grasp the roots of their local brewing history and I very much look forward to seeing and tasting the different interpretations that will be available within the guidelines. Some people think defining styles is like putting handcuffs on brewers but, in my experience, it can bring out the both the scientist and the alchemist in them to produce something truly lip-smacking”

Breweries such as Brains, Welsh CAMRA Champions ‘Heart of Wales’, North Wales’ Purple Moose and many more were involved in the event. But the overall winner, judged by a Beer Academy led panel of experienced judges was Conwy ‘Honey Pale’. The runner-up was local brewery and joint hosts The Celt Experience with their Welsh Pale Ale.

The festival also featured a number of other exciting beers from around Wales including new breweries Tiny Rebel and Pixie Spring, who both excited people with their high gravity and IBU beers.

Local Brewer, Beer Sommelier and one of AWIB directors Tom Newman commented “The event proved a great success with promotion of both Welsh beers and unity as a beer loving nation. We hope to make this an annual occasion. Profits from the event will be shared between AWIB and Macmillan Cancer charity”.

AWIB Chairman Buster Grant also added “It has happened now and we have set a benchmark for an annual event. Hopefully as a brewing nation we can also gain some recognition for a genuine beer style’”

The Saturday afternoon featured Beer and cheese tying by three Beer Academy Sommeliers Tom, Beer Academy director Nigel Sadler and Ric Brown of Dean Swift in London.

Ric Brown said, “As sommeliers it is part of our job to enthuse and educate people in the ways beer can be drank with diffeent food, and this was what today was about”

The venue for next years event is likely to remain at Caerphilly RFC and will probably be the same weekend in August.

Beer Festival in Caerphilly

A bit of advance notice here for this event which is on Friday 17th & Saturday 18th August at Caerphilly Rugby Club
The Festival will feature a range of real ales from local breweries and also a competition for the best Welsh Pale Ale, a new category of beer based on the historical beer style of the mid-nineteenth century. profits from the Festival will be shared between Macmillan Cancer and the Association of Welsh Independent Brewers, AWIB.

Easy to find, the club is situated off Pontygwindy Road, to the North of the town centre and castle and near the Green Lady pub. Plenty of buses go up that way.
Virginia Park

Virginia Close
Caerphilly
CF83 3JA

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Wales gets its first beer sommelier

Wales First Beer Sommelier – Ready For International Commitment To Beer!

From SIBA News

After starting his employed life with Butcombe Brewery as a cask washer and general worker some 20 years ago, Tom Newman left and set upon his new career as a water engineer. 10 years later after achieving a post graduate and chartership in water engineering, Tom decided take a U-turn by returning to his passion and past-time of brewing. In 2003, after persuading his Welsh father to allow him to construct a brewery in his garage the business set off. Now, nearly a decade on, after 2 expansions Tom is back in his family land of Caerphilly receiving a number of National and International awards for his flavoursome high-end organic beers with his Brewery ‘The Celt Experience’. Now as a newly qualified Beer Academy Sommelier (first in Wales!), Tom intends to travel both locally to his Welsh accounts and globally to his importers to encourage the fusion of a fantastic range of beers with flavoursome food dishes.

When asked on what his new qualifiction meant to him Tom replied “its simply a qualification of responsibility (to educate). Not only does this demonstrate a commitment of the sommelier to understand and respect differing flavours and styles of beers, but more importantly enables us to convey this information in an exciting way to the growing world of beer drinkers wishing to explore!”

Beer Academy Director, Simon Jackson said,

“There is an enormous public thirst to find out more about beer. How different raw materials and brewing techniques are used to produce a dazzling array of flavors and styles. And which beers go best with which foods. The public are looking with for people who combine technical knowledge about beer with the knack of being able to communicate simply and clearly. This is what Beer Academy Sommeliers are all about.

It’s great that Wales now has its first Beer Sommelier to spread the word about beer. But it’s a big country and hopefully Tom will be the first of many!”

Locally, Tom is planning to run a beer academy event at his brewery in Caerphilly, which is currently expanding. “We are going to run a free event for Caerphilly, which will demonstrate how exciting a variety of Welsh beers can be when drank the correct way ot matched with delicious local dishes”, he said.

The explosion of craft beer is an international movement and The Beer Academy provide a fantastic ground to nurture talent to educate drinkers in the most exciting manner.

Celt Experience Dark

Popped into the Pen & Wig in Newport for a quick pint, it was a nice surprise to see a beer from the Celt Experience Brewery in Caerphilly on the bar alongside the usual Brains SA, Flowers IPA and Bass.
It is the first time I have tried this beer and it does not dissapoint, a black with dark red hues and poured with a tight white head, yes the pub does use swan neck handpumps but there is no problem with this particular beer. A rich dark aroma of treacle and coffee leads to a smooth bittersweet taste and complex aftertaste with some liquorice tones. Chewy, roasted flavours in the finish as well. A surprisingly complex beer but highly enjoyable.
Off to the bar for another I think!

The hole with the mint beer festival

 

The historic market town of Llantrisant, often referred to as the Hole with the Mint as the Royal Mint is based there, will be playing host to a beer festival this weekend at the Celt Experience pub, the Wheatsheaf. The festival kicks off on Friday 26th November with a limited range on and will continue on the Saturday and Sunday (27th & 28th).

Beer List, subject to availability:

Fyne Ales - Avalanche

Atlas - Nimbus

Caledonian - Deuchars IPA

Purple Moose - Glaslyn & Special Ale

Skinners - Cornish Blonde, Ginger Tosser, Betty Stoggs, Christmas Fairy

St Austell - Tribute, Proper Job

Sharps - Doombar

Hurns - Tomos Watkins BB, Tomos Watkins Cwrw Santa

Otley - O8, O-Garden

Bullmastiff - Welsh Black, Son of a Bitch

Newmans - Celt Gold, Red Stag, Last Lion of Britain, Wolvers Ale, New Winter Stout

 

Also there are 3 ciders / 1 perry from Gwynt Y Ddraig - Black Dragon, Farm House Vintage, Farm House Scrumpy, and Two Trees Perry.

 

Wheatsheaf Inn
High Street
Llantrisant
Pontyclun
Mid Glamorgan
CF72 8BQ

 

All ales and Gwynt Y Ddraig ciders will be sold at £2.00 a pint throughout the Sat and Sun of the festival.

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 The Wheatsheaf is easily reached by public transport and there is a bus stop outside the pub.

A couple of Celts

 Now it may come as surprise but I do appreciate a good lager, Czech Budvar is one of the best beers in the world, though I have gone off drinking Pilsner Urquell ever since they started brewing in in Poland, it just never tasted the same. However I did fiind this locally-brewed beer which is lagered in the traditional manner and tastes just who a lager should.

Celt Experience Cwrw Lager, 5%ABV, 330ml bottle, direct from the brewery, Unit 2E, Pontygwindy Industrial Estate, Caerphilly. CF83 3HU, 0870 803 3876

Celt Experience Brewery was established in 2007 at Caerphilly, the first brewery in the area for over 100 years. Lager has been brewed in Wales since 1883 and Cwrw from Celt Experience is the latest Welsh brewery to brew this style of beer, Cwrw, of course, means beer in Welsh and this beer is brewed from Munich lager malt as well as Saaz hops. The beer is also matured or lagered for 6 weeks in the traditional continental manner.

Celt Experience Cwrw is golden yellow in colour and has a sweet, malty aroma with a slight hoppy nose. A smooth, sweet initial flavour leads to some astringency and bitterness in the aftertaste, resulting in a dry finish. A deceptively easy to drink beer despite the strength of 5%.

As a complete contrast I thought I would try one of their other beers:

Celt Experience Brewery, Bleddyn, 5.6%, /500ml bottle

Bleddyn is named after a Welsh king who died in 1075. Celt Bleddyn is an organic beer and has deep golden colour with a rich aroma of pear drops and candied pistachio nuts. The beer uses hops from North America and New Zealand to produce these aromas. There is a bitter initial flavour followed by a bitter aftertaste and lingering tangy bitterness on the tongue, as well as a warming sensation. The aftertaste produces flavours such as grapefruit, again caused by the Chinook and First Gold hops to brew this beer, which won an award at the SIBA, the Society of Independent Brewers, awards in Hereford last year.

These beers, plus more from their range are availbale to buy direct from the brewery at:

The Celt Experience Brewery
Unit 2E Pontygwindy Industrial Estate
Pontygwindy Road
Caerphilly
Mid Glamorgan
CF83 3HU 

Meet the brewer at the Dic Penderyn

In an effort to educate the chavs of Merthyr away from pints of wife beater and similar drinks, the JD Wetherspoons outlet in Merthyr Tydifl, the Dic Penderyn will be holding a meet the brewer night on Wednesday 14th July with Celt Experience/Newmans Brewery.
 Now I realise drinking in Merthyr town centre at night is not everyones cup of tea, but this pub is relatively safe as they will not serve you unless you take your baseball cap off so that you can be recognized on the CCTV so its not a bad place for a drink, although the nearby Rhymney Brewery pub, the Winchesterdoes far better beers and almost every night is 'Meet the Brewer' night!

Thousands attend the Bay for Food & Drink Festival

Cardiff Bay International Food Festival

The food festival held over last weekend was definitely one of the best I have been to. This year saw more local brewers involved than ever before with Pen-Lon, Neath, Otley, Kingstone, Celt Experience and Untapped all selling their bottled beers. It was the first chance I had to try the beers from Neath Ales and tried one at the festival, Green Bullet; a 6% IPA brewed with New Zealand hops and named after them. Brewed with Maris Otter malt, the biscuity malt flavour combines with the heavily hopped ale to produce a stunning beer. Also chatted to the owner Jay Thomas whose enthusiasm and passion for brewing really shows through in his beers. I look forward to trying more of his beers in the future, especially in cask as Neath Ales will be taking delivery of casks in a few weeks time. In the meantime their beers are available via Realbeerbox.

 Above: Some bottles from the beer range of Neath Ales

Above: Celt Experience beers

Above: the Untapped Brewery range

The Norwegian Church was the venue of the Otley brewery bar and their new Weissen Beer quickly sold out there. A naturally cloudy wheat beer brewed with 6 different hop varieties this was another refreshing beer from the hop heads of the valleys. Alongside O1, O5 and O-Garden the Otley beers proved extremely popular and the Norwegian Church, set in its own grounds was the perfect place to chill out with a pint and listen to the bands playing at the venue. The church also offers great views across the harbour.

 Above: The Norwegian Church and Otley Bar

Cidermakers were also well represented at the festival with a new bottled drink, Pyder – a blend  of cider and perry, being launched by the Gwatkin cider company and a 3 litre bag-in-the-box of Scrumpy from Gwynt Y Ddraig which will also be available in Tesco's very soon.

 Above: the new 3 litre box of Gwynt scrumpy

Ralph's cider also made an appearance and the stunning perries and wines from Wernddu also went down very well.

 Above: Gwatkin cider bar staff

The festival was extremely popular and the weather for once perfect and well done for Cardiff Council for organising such a great event.  Having attended this event down the Bay for many years, I did think this year was the best ever and is even starting to rival the Abergavenny Food Festival in terms of quality and enjoyment. One problem with the Abergavenny Festival is the increasing prices, both for the stallholders and the customers, as the Festival now employs staff all year round. Cardiff Council have shown it is possible to put on a successful and extremely popular food and drink festival with free entrance for all. Any chance of Newport Council now showing some initiative and supporting our artisan food and drink producers?

I did find time to enjoy myself despite helping out on the Gwatkin stand, here is a photo taken by Dom at Welsh Icons of me at the Festival:

 NB: All photographs are copyright of me or of Dom/Welsh Icons. I realise that there is a common thief out there on the internet who enjoys stealing photographs from the site, along with empty barrels from Welsh brewers. It's okay I realise you are a sad, twisted old thief, you do not have to continue to prove it to me or the rest of the world.

SIBA Award winners - Wales and West

SIBA, the Society of Independent Brewers held their Wales and West competition at Ludlow Castle last week and although the Brew Wales editor was invited along to be judge it, he could not attend as was busy running a CAMRA beer bar at Tredegar House Folk/Dance Festival.
Well done to all the winners, especially Norman at Corvedale who came second overall with his St George's Stout. No doubt we can all look forward to seeing this beer at forthcoming CAMRA beer festivals, especially those local ones in Shropshire.
The full list of winners is available here
List of Welsh winners:
Mild: Bronze for Great Orme Brewery Welsh Black

Best Bitter: Silver for Breconshire Brewery Cribyn

Premium Bitter: Silver for Tudor Brewery Sugarloaf

Strong Bitter: Gold for Waen Brewery Landmark

Strong Ale: Gold for Celt Experience Bleddyn 1075

Porters, Strong Milds and Stouts: Silver for Waen Brewery Blackcurrant Stout

Speciality Beers: Silver for Otley Brewery O-Garden

Wheatsheaf Beer Festival - first for Llantrisant!

The historic town of Llantrisant in Mid-Glamorgan will be playing host to a beer festival this weekend and also the first commercial brewery in the town for nearly a century.

The Wheatsheaf Hotel, owned by Celt Experience Brewery is their brewery tap and this first beer festival of the year will hopefully lead to others in the future.

DATES : 29th - 31st January 2010

FRIDAY : Meet the Brewer - Tasting - Live Music

 SATURDAY : Live Music

SUNDAY : Games etc ... including 'Sheep Racing' ??????

The beer list, subject to change, availabilty etc:

Roosters     Wild Mule    3.9    

White Horse    Village Idiot    4.1    

Highwood    Harvest Bitter    4.3    

Rudgate    Well Blathered    5.0    

Vale        Black Beauty Porter    4.3    

South Hams    Eddystone    4.8    

Black Country Ales    English Winter    5.5    

Summerskills    Guzzale    4.6    

Wolf    Coyote    4.3    57.63

Palmers    Dorset Gold    4.5    

Jarrow    Red Ellen    4.4  

PLUS :

approx. 5 more Welsh breweries to be featured ! 

Newmans Red Castle Cream
Newmans Red Stag
Newmans Last Lion of Britain
Celt Bleddyn 1075
Celt Golden
 

Also Available
Celt Golden, Celt Bronze and Celt Bleddyn 1075 in 500ml Bottle. 

Presentation Packs Also on Sale:
4 bottle pack £10,
3 bottle pack £7.50,
2 bottles and branded glass £5.

Wheatsheaf Facebook Group
Wheatsheaf Inn
High Street
Llantrisant
Pontyclun
Mid Glamorgan
CF72 8BQ
Tel: 01443 226481

Journey Planner Llantrisant is easily reached by bus from Cardiff and Pontypridd:
Bus Stop outside the pub!


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