Best pub in Britain is Welsh

For the first time ever a Welsh pub wins CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year!

-Revived village local, Bridge End Inn, Ruabon, scoops CAMRA national title 
-Pubs from Bedfordshire, Cornwall and Lancashire make up other finalists

WINNER: Bridge End Inn, 5 Bridge Street, Ruabon, Wrexham, LL14 6DA, 01978 810881
PRESENTATION (AT THE VENUE): Friday February 10^th 2012, 1pm

A small community pub in north Wales transformed by a local family has today been announced as the best pub in Britain by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.

The Bridge End Inn, Ruabon, not only enters CAMRA’s history books as the first ever Welsh pub to win its National Pub of the Year competition, but having only been re-opened by its current owners in March 2009, becomes one of the most remarkable success stories in the competition’s history.

CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year competition recognises all the criteria that make a great pub, including atmosphere, decor, welcome, service, value for money, customer mix, but most importantly, the quality of the beer.

The Bridge End Inn was taken over and subsequently revitalised by the McGivern family in 2009, with the pub earmarked as the ideal premises for the family microbrewery – McGivern Ales - overseen by son Matthew. Having reopened the pub 5 weeks after taking it on, the McGivern family were praised by CAMRA members for restoring the pub’s interior, and for introducing an extensive real ale and cider range.

Now serving 7 real ales and a selection of local ciders at any one time, the pub has stocked real ales from over 100 breweries since opening, with a particular emphasis on local produce. As well as acting as the brewery tap for McGivern Ales, other breweries from north Wales, Cheshire and Shropshire feature prominently at the bar.

Peter McGivern, Bridge End Inn licensee, said:

‘We are a family business, and the pub has been a real labour of love. What we strived to do was create a pub not focused on food that we would enjoy visiting, putting the product first and offering a wide range of traditional beer styles. As a result we’ve built up a mixed trade of locals and beer lovers from all over Britain.

‘We are delighted with this national award, particularly as we were told when first taking on the pub that there was little demand for real ale in the area. Through a lot of passion and hard work for what we do, we’ve enjoyed great success in a short space of time, which couldn’t have been achieved without the support of family, close friends, staff and customers.’

Hailing the success of the pub, Julian Hough, CAMRA Pubs Director, said:

‘The pub is an unbelievable success story, and is a perfect case study of a local outlet playing a pivotal role at the heart of a small community. By investing time into providing a quality beer range full of choice, the pub in a short space of time has become revered across Britain by many beer lovers. I offer my personal congratulations to the Bridge End Inn for such rapid progression in taking CAMRA’s national pub title.’

The presentation of the National Pub of the Year competition will take place at the Bridge End Inn on Friday February 10^th 2012, at 1pm. 

The Bridge End Inn beat 3 other finalists this year to claim the crown. These pubs are-

Engineers Arms, 68 High Street, Henlow, Bedfordshire, SG16 6AA
Tel. 01462 812284, 

Front, Custom House Quay, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 3JT
Tel. 01326 212168

Swan with Two Necks, Main Street, Pendleton, Lancashire, BB7 1PT
Tel. 01200 423112, 

North Wales pub in final of competition

 A pub run by a North Wales micro-brewery is in the running for the UK national Pub of the Year, competition. The Bridge End Inn in Ruabon, Wrexham, run by McGivern Ales, is one of four finalist selected by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale in their annual competition.

Bridge End Inn, 5 Bridge Street, Ruabon, Wrexham, LL14 6DA
Tel. 01978 810881, www.mcgivernales.co.uk
'This former coaching inn close to the station has been completely revitalised since it was taken over by the McGivern family in 2009. It has proved so popular with locals and real ale aficionados from further afield that it was voted CAMRA Branch Pub of the Year in 2010.'
Peter McGivern, Bridge End Inn licensee, said: ‘We are genuinely chuffed to be in the final, being a small family business having only taken over the pub two and a half years ago. Our bar staff here are dedicated to knowing about their beer, and how to look after it, and we have an ever changing range, with over 100 different microbrewers on show on our pumps each year.’

Other contenders for Pub of the Year are:

Engineers Arms, 68 High Street, Henlow, Bedfordshire, SG16 6AA
Tel. 01462 812284,
'This lively two-bar pub in the centre of the village is a must for real ale fans, with 10 handpumps featuring a wide range and style of beers. There are also five ciders and a perry on offer, typically from Westons. The bar room walls are covered in pictures dedicated to local history, sports stars and brewery memorabilia.'
Kevin Machin, Engineers Arms licensee, said: ‘We are elated to have reached the final four, and it’s a great honour. Everyone’s so excited around here that we’ve reached this stage of the competition. We were delighted just to have won the title of best pub in East Anglia.’

Front, Custom House Quay, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 3JT
Tel. 01326 212168
'Tucked away in a corner of the picturesque Custom House Quay, this small cellar-style pub with low-vaulted ceiling lies below Trago Mills store. A popular student haunt, a whole range of live entertainment is on offer during the evenings- folk, shanty singers, open mike and more. Guest beers constantly vary to provide a year-round beer festival. There's no food, but you may bring your own from various nearby outlets.'
Matt Reay, Front general manager, said: ‘It’s a quite unbelievable achievement for us bearing in mind we are only a little bar on the waterfront. We put so much work into serving our beer in tip top condition, and we are dedicated to giving good service to our customers, and providing a great atmosphere.’
 
Swan with Two Necks, Main Street, Pendleton, Lancashire, BB7 1PT
Tel. 01200 423112,
'A true local in every sense, with a friendly, relaxed atmosphere and traditional, home-cooked food with ingredients from local suppliers. The licensees are both CAMRA members and are celebrating their 25th anniversary running the pub. Four handpumps regularly feature beers from George Wright and Phoenix, and sometimes also from one of the local micro-breweries. Westons cider is a standard here. Rosie the cat is a local legend, as is the vast collection of teapots.'
Christine Dilworth, Swan with Two Necks proprietor, said: ‘We have never been recognised like this before, so to reach these final stages is fantastic. We are a village establishment, and there is a real buzz around the community, with new people from across Britain coming to visit the pub in light of our success. Being the national winner would cap a great 25 years running the pub!’
Julian Hough, CAMRA Pubs Director, said:
‘It’s great to see four finalists which haven’t featured at this stage of the competition over the last decade, as this shows just how many exemplary community pubs remain across Britain.’
The winner of CAMRA's National Pub of the Year 2011 is to be officially announced mid-February 2012.

New brewery for North Wales

A beer inspired by the bardic legends of Bardsey Island, off the Llyn peninsular has been launched by a new cooperative brewery

Cwrw Llŷn’s first ale, brewed at Llwyndyrys, Pwllheli, is named “Brenin Enlli” after Bardsey’s last known king, as barley used to be grown on the island.

One of the group’s members is acclaimed poet Myrddin ap Dafydd, owner of Gwasg Carreg Gwalch Publishing.
He said: “In Llyn many of us already have the experience of running a successful co-operative venture in the community – the local pub, ‘Y Fic’ in Llithfaen, near Pwllheli.
“When friends in the Conwy Valley decided to develop their micro-brewery business, their small scale brewing equipment became redundant.
“Over a pint at the Fic, I introduced the idea of setting up our own micro-brewery using their equipment. Everyone was keen on the idea!”
Cwrw Llyn members come from various walks of life – some farm, one is a coal man, another is a national chaired bard. Maths teachers, stonemasons and accountants also make up the mix.
Casked Brenin Enlli ale is currently sold in four Llyn pubs, with orders being lined up at another six.
Already demand is outstripping supply and there is talk of expansion. Members are assessing plans to bottle the brew and are examining whether to introduce more lines, including a lighter coloured ale and a form of mild beer.
All are likely to maintain local themes in their names.
Cwrw Llyn member Euron Griffiths, a builder from Nefyn, said it had been a steep learning curve.
“You can imagine the party we had when the first ale was brewed,” he said.
“We currently source the malt barley from a company in Nottingham, but as we have Llyn farmers in the co-operative, we are keen to grow the barley ourselves.
“We already have eight acres of barley planted, which will make us more self- sufficient and lower our food miles.”
The co-operative has received support from Cywain, an RDP-funded project spearheaded by Menter a Busnes set up to add value to agricultural produce.
Alwen Eidda from Cywain said: “We brought in an expert consultant to advise on different aspects of their product, including financial planning, marketing advice and branding.
“The initial success and customer response to ‘Brenin Enlli’ bodes well for ‘Cwrw Llyn’s future plans.”
These include the purchase of a building to be adapted as a micro brewery. Visitors would be encouraged to witness the brewing process.
Two members have already been on fact-finding tours to micro breweries in Pembrokeshire and Copenhagen.
Myrddin ap Dafydd said the group had been astounded by customers’ initial reaction to their first ale.
“Because our beer is produced naturally, the taste is completely different to the mass product you usually buy from supermarkets and pub chains,” he said.
”We don’t add any chemicals to the beer, which more often than not, cause the dreaded hangover the following day.

“Many of our members, who were passionate about their previous tipple, have now been converted to drinking ‘Brenin Enlli.”

Taken from the Daily Post 

The Caernafon and Denbigh Herald also run with the story

Follow the brewery here on Twitter

Website here

Blog here

Facebook site here

The beer will be officially launched on July 23rd at Tafarn y Fic, Llithfaen.

Flintshire Real Ale Trail

 Well the weekend looks like its going to be good and for those readers in North Wales, the Flintshire Real Ale Trail will be running again this year.

The Real Ale Trail is a bus based beer festival running from Mold and up onto Halkyn Mountain with buses operating, 2 in each direction between 11am and 11pm.

Nine pubs are planned to be en-route providing a variety of real ales, other refreshments and entertainment. For £4 in advance or £5 on the day, a Real Ale Trail bus pass will allow you to use the special buses all day.

The following pubs are taking part in the festival:
...
o Gold Cape, Mold
o Antelope, Rhydymwyn
o The Oak, Hendre
o Pwll Gwyn, Afonwen
o Piccadilly, Caerwys
o Royal Oak, Caerwys
o Crown, Lixwm
o Black Lion, Babell
o Blue Bell Inn, Halkyn 

There is a Facebook Site for the event here

Meet the brewers at the Blue Bell

For those of you around North Wales on Wednesday night, the award-winning Blue Bell in Halkyn will be playing host to a 'Meet the Brewer' night from 5pm on Wednesday 16th February with members of the Association of Welsh Independent Brewers, AWIB, popping along.
Brewers attending so far: Breconshire, Conwy, Facers, Jacobi, Jolly Brewer, Montys, Purple Moose, Sandstone, Otley, and Waen, with a few others likely to turn up as well it looks like we will have to invent a collective known for a group of Welsh brewers - a bevy of brewers? Or a cwtch of Welsh brewers?
More details can be found on the Facebook group here.

Blue Bell website and directions to find the pub here

Blue Bell
Rhosesmor Road 
Halkyn
Flintshire
CH8 8DL
Wales
Google Map:

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Pub Closures - North Wales

Some interesting facts from the Daily Post

1,033 pubs in North Wales in 2005
1,005 pubs in North Wales in 2007
956 pubs in North Wales in 2009

A breakdown shows most pubs have closed in the Clwyd South constituency, with 18 of the 137 shut up for good.


The full article is here, about the latest plans from the Bunker, via Health Stazifuhrer Andy Burnham to halve the number of UK smokers to 1 in 10 by 2020 by extending the smoking ban to beer gardens. Yes you read that correctly, the latest headline grabbing scheme from this failing government is to want to ban smoking in beer gardens. Country almost bankrupt and the idiots in 10 Downing Street can only come up with this. Makes the Brew Wales editor want to take up smoking!