Artisan Brewery Microbeerfestival 5

This weekend Cardiff will play host to the 5th, yes 5th
beer festival this year at the home of Artisan Brewery

MicroBEER Festival #5

5th & 6th December 2009

Artisan Brewing Co. in conjunction with Kings Road Art Studios is pleased to announce the fifth MicroBEER Festival

Starting 12pm - 8.30pm

Saturday & Sun

Xmas Market Stalls, Open Studios, Live Music, BBQ chili beef burgers (Veg option also) and several specialty beers on tap. Outdoor event so dress for warmth - we will have some heating...

Join us... entry is free

SATURDAY 5th DECEMBER

ALL PINTS £2.50 12 till 2pm (£3 thereafter).

Barenaked Beers...
** Helles Lager 5%
** Chocolate Wheat 4.9%
** Belgian Raspberry 4.6%

Food available:
Chilli Beef Burgers £3 / Stuffed Mushroom Burger £3 / Sausages £1 

Bar Opens at 12noon - Live Music from 1pm

Live Music (Starts 1pm)

-- Jonathan Powel        
-- Klezma Kollective    
-- Matthew Joseph           
-- Thoby Davis                
-- Ginge and Cello Boi      
-- Sarah Louise             
-- Evening Chorus         
-- OK                            
-- Little Eris                  
-- Dirty Skanky Buskers

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Worthy of a Blue Plaque?

It's not just Newport where the pubs are closing - this photo is of the Woodfield in Blackwood, formerly the Mason's Arms and the birthplace (or so he claimed in a television interview) of former MP Neil Hamilton. The pub was run by his grandfather.
The Mason's used to do a couple of real ales about 15 years ago - it has been years since I visited it and it did feature in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. Think the brewery was Courage so the Mason's may well have been part of the Phillip's of Newport pub estate. Not sure which pub company owns it nowadays but the freehold is for sale.
Not even a blue plaque outside to mark the birthplace of one of the more colourful former Members of Parliament, if this had been a Labour MP the local authority would be naming streets after him.
Woodfield, former Mason's Arms
Bridge Street, Blackwood, NP12 1AX

Newport Pub Closures - November update

Part of an occasional series in which the latest pub closures/openings in and around Newport are mentioned.
Errors and omissions accepted, if any readers have anything further to add please put them in the comments section. NB Comment moderation is enabled due to spam.

Photo above is the former King's Arms, Belmont Hill (Enterprise Inns). Currently being converted into Indian restaurant.

Newport Pub Closures since 1997:

1. Simpsons, High St, Closed – empty building
2. Chartist Arms, High St – closed – premises converted into a restaurant
3. Carpenters Arms, High Street – closed – freehold for sale
4. Lloyds, Cambrian Rd, became Jarcals, then Tesco Extra. Beer quality has improved!
5. Breeze, Cambrian Rd, closed, lying empty
6. Newport Brewhouse, Market St, now a nightclub
7. Trout, Market St, became Can-Cans, closed, building derelict
8. Ale House, ex-Sovereign, John Frost Square, closed and demolished
9. Welsh Prince, Commercial St, closed – premises converted into a Thai restaurant. Freehold for sale.
10. Langtons, Charles St, closed – premises auctioned 11.08
11. King William IV, Commercial St, closed – derelict building
12. Scrum Half, Commercial St, closed, retail premises
13. Westgate Hotel, Commercial St, closed, part retail premises
14. Royal Exchange, became Harveys in Pill, Commercial Rd. Closed, building derelict
15. Mariners Hotel, Commercial Rd, closed
16. Welcome Home, Commercial Rd, closed, residential accommodation
17. Black Horse, formerly Celtic Bar/Falcon, Commercial Rd
18. Waterloo Inn, Alexander Rd, closed and re-opened as a restaurant and hotel
19. Cumberland house, Courtybella Tce, - closed -residential
20. Orange Tree, St Michael St, - closed and demolished
21. White Hart, Tredegar St, closed, business unit
22. Old Rising Sun, Malpas Rd, closed, building derelict
23. Pentwyn House, Bettws – closed
24. Chaplins, Caerleon, demolished, residential development
25. Cotton Club, Cambrian rd
26. Three Salmons, Rogerstone, now an Indian Restaurant
27. Jolly Roger, Rogerstone, now an Indian restaurant
28. Old Globe, Rogerstone , now an Indian/Chinese restaurant
29. Dolphin, Dolphin St, Pill, closed residential
30. Seven, was Yates Wine Lodge, converted from the Tredegar Arms, High Street. Closed
31. Victoria, Corporation Rd, closed – converted into restaurant
32. Crown Inn, Albert Avenue, closed
33. Seven Styles, was Lliswerry Hotel, closed and demolished, residential development
34. King, Somerton, closed, awaiting demolition, residential development
35. Black Horse, Somerton, closed, awaiting demolition, Tesco Extra
36. Pullmans, Spytty, demolished, KFC on site
37. New Inn, Bishton, now residential
38. King's Arms Belmont Hill, Enterprise Inns, conversion to Indian restuarant
39. Waterloo, Pill, converted to restaurant and hotel
40. O'Reilleys, Baneswell, became Ryans Bar, then Xit, closed
41. Gladiator, Malpas, closed
42. Merry Miller, Bettws, closed

Pubs closed since last update (July)

43. Angel, Baneswell, closed
44. Corporation, Corporation Road – boarded up, fire damage
45. Carpenters' Arms, Maindee, closed, boarded up, freehold for sale
46. Oddfellows, Baneswell, closed
47. Drover's, Caerleon, closed, boarded up
48. Roman Lodge Hotel, Ponthir Road, - planning permission granted for conversion to residential
49. Griffin, Market St

Under threat

Hereford Arms, Maindee, planning permission applied for residential apartments

New Pub openings since 1997

Dragonfly, Cardiff Rd, M & B

1995 Wetherspoons, became John Wallace Linton, JDW

1999 Godfrey Morgan, Maindee, JDW

2002 Tom Toya Lewis, Commercial St, JDW

Banc, Maindee

Page, High St

2009 Valerie's Bar, Commercial Street

NB Clubs are not counted above, I define a club as somewhere that charges membership or an entrance fee. However the following has opened and is open during the day:

Newport City Lounge, Commercial Street

Reopenings

Friendship, Ringland has become Harveys of Ringland

Hornblower, Commercial St. Admiral Taverns

Engineers Arms, Baneswell, Admiral Taverns

Church House, Pill, Harveys

Maindee Hotel, Maindee, S & N pub enterprises (Freehold for sale though)

Queens Hotel, JDW, was Walkabout

Golden Hart, Cardiff Rd

Globe, Maindee (Enterprise)

Culture Show does pubs - tonight

Tonight the BBC Culture Show is featuring the British Pub. Some of the footage was filmed in the Vulcan Cardiff.


From BBC Pravda:

This edition of the Culture Show is presented by Lauren Laverne, and looks at the past, present and future of the British pub. With an estimated 50 pubs a week now closing across the UK, 2009 could be the worst ever year in the history of British pubs. What's behind the decline? What's being lost as pubs go to the wall? Writers, thinkers and philosophical drinkers join Lauren to discuss whether it's now last orders for pubs.

For the Culture Show, Sting goes the Cumberland Arms, one of the oldest pubs in Newcastle and the heart of the city's folk scene. Sting performs from his new album If on a Winter's Night, accompanied by Kathryn Tickell on Northumbrian pipes, Peter Tickell on the fiddle and Julian Sutton on the melodeon.

Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy has written and performs a special poem - John Barleycorn - for this pub-themed Culture Show. It's both a lament for and a celebration of the pub, once a cornerstone of British cultural life.

There's also a rare TV interview with John Cale. He talks about his life in music and the recent performance of his most celebrated album Paris 1919, at the newly reopened Cardiff Coal Exchange, his only UK date in 2009.

With the crucial Climate Change Summit starting in Copenhagen in December, Simon Mayo, Mark Kermode and a room full of film fans debate the pros and cons of films which deal with the end of the world including Deep Impact, Beneath the Planet of the Apes and both versions of The Day the Earth Stood Still.

All that plus Martha Wainwright, who joins Lauren in the bar to sing a song from her new album - a tribute to Edith Piaf called Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, a Paris.

Not a mention of the Vulcan in the BBC write-up.






Broadcast times are:

1. Thu 26 Nov 2009
   19:00
   BBC Two (England, Wales only)
2. Thu 26 Nov 2009
   19:00
   BBC HD
3. Thu 26 Nov 2009
   23:20
   BBC Two (except Northern Ireland (Analogue), Wales (Analogue))
4. Thu 26 Nov 2009
   23:20
   BBC HD

The programme should be on the Pravda I-player later (UK only).

Back the pub

The 'Axe the Tax' campaign has been relaunched as 'Back the Pub' campaign.
The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) and the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) are therefore launching a new campaign – “I’m backing the pub” – calling on consumers, publicans, politicians and all who value the British beer and the British pub to sign up in support.
The manifesto will be launched tonight in Westmister, in the Westminster Arms.
The manifesto, called “The life and soul of Britain’s communities”, calls on the Government to reverse the 8 per cent increase in duty on beer imposed at the time of the VAT cut last January when VAT returns to its 17.5 per cent rate on 1 January 2010, and to scrap plans to increase duty by 2 per cent above inflation in the Budget in March next year.

The other main findings of the opinion poll carried out by ComRes last weekend are:

• 80 per cent of all people think that the pub is an important symbol of the British way of life. This is true across the board and particularly high among people aged 65 or over (86%) and for people aged 45-54 (85%).

• 71 per cent of people think that more needs to be done to support and promote the British pub.

• 77 per cent think that pubs in Britain make a valuable contribution to the economy

• 74 per cent of all people think that the planned increase in the tax on beer and pubs next March is not justified.

• 67 per cent of all people agree that Government policy should encourage people to choose lower strength alcohol drinks like beer, and 74 per cent support a policy of lower taxation for lower strength drinks like beer.

• 65% of all people think that the proportion (one third) of the price of a pint of beer that goes to the tax man is “too high” and in line with this, 74% of all people think that the planned increase in the tax on beer and pubs next March is not justified. People in social groups AB (28%) and C1 (25%) are the most likely to think that this potential increase is justified. Having said this, one quarter of all people (24%) say that tax increases will cause them to visit their local pub less often.

Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the BBPA, said:

“There is a clear and compelling public consensus amongst the British people that the pub is a vital part of their community and the social and economic character of Britain. This is coupled with deep concern at the record number of pub closures we are witnessing today and a resounding call for action to support the British pub.

“It is time for a concerted effort by government, industry and all those who value the pub to work together to adopt and implement policies to promote the great British pub.

“The manifesto we are publishing today sets out a range of policies which could make a real difference. We are therefore calling on all – including politicians and political parties - to back this agenda and to pledge their support for our ‘I’m backing the pub’ campaign.”

Julian Grocock, chief executive of SIBA, said:

“Pubs are an integral part of Britain's rich culture, our national heritage, and the life of our communities. Reducing duty on a low strength drink like beer would be a good start in helping to promote a unique British product, supporting a unique British institution, and launching an effective strategy to encourage responsible drinking in controlled and convivial surroundings."

Among comments included in the industry manifesto, Richard Lambert, Director-General, CBI, said:

“The British Beer and Pub Association highlights some key priorities for the beer and pub trade and companies at large, including lowering the tax burden and ensuring levels of regulation do not hinder the business environment.”

Feargal Sharkey, CEO, UK Music, said:

“The combination of pub and music can knit local communities together. It is vital that such a network exists, and for the sake of future creativity it is something we must continue to protect, nurture and encourage.”

Sandie Dawe, chief executive of Visit Britain, said:

“The pub is at the heart of the community; a place to champion great local food and drink; a community hub; a job and wealth creator for the local economy.”

Download the manifesto "The Life and Soul of Britain's Communities" here (pdf)

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Eclipse Ales

There are a few old advertising windows left in the pubs in Monmouthshire but the most intriguing involves the Eclipse Ales windows in the Coach & Horses, Chepstow and the King's Head, Abergavenny (pictured left). Both these pubs still have their old windows with Eclipse Ales and Monopole Scotch Whiskey. Now I can't find any reference to a local brewery ever producing Eclipse Ales and the Century of British Brewers Book only lists an Eclipse Brewery, off Deansgate, Manchester 1860-1877, eventually acquired by John Lees in 1894. Don't think that is of much help as it would be unusual for the windows to survive over 140 years and to be from as far away as Manchester. The King's Head was owned by Arnold, Perrett & Co Ltd of Wickwar, Gloucestershire, between 1914-1938. The Coach & Horses, Chepstow is now a Brains pub and was formerly a freehouse, so the ownership of these pubs does not help anything.

Below are 3 pictures of the windows of the Coach & Horses, Chepstow.


So over to my readers, anyone know where Eclipse Ales were?

Sebastopol Social Club

On the outskirts of Pontypool, just downgill of the Monmouthshire-Brecon canal stands the Sebastopol Social Club. Now the Brew Wales editor used to be a regular here in the days he worked in Cwmbran, nowadays the visits ard few and far between so it was nice surprise to pop into tonight and find the club redecorated. Wooden floors, new tables and chairs with padded seatings all in a mauve/light brown setting. The beers on at the moment are Otley O1, Tring Side Pocket, Jennings Biggest Liar and Burton Bridge Have a Heart. Brew Wales is on the Otley O1 of course. The cribbage boards are coming out in the front bar though so will be moving to the back bar or catching the bus home.

Hen & Chickens, Abergavenny

An old favourite of mine in Abergavenny is the Hen and Chickens. When Brains bought the pub a few years back there were fears that the interior would be completly ruined, what followed was a sympathetic refurbishment that took in the former hairdressers next door to produce a modern pub with an almost unspoilt appearance. The side rooms still exist, the winding staircase around the fireplace is still there, the wooden floorboards happily mix with Victorian floor tiles in the next room. If you did not know this pub had been altered then you would not notice. The real ales on are Bass, Brains SA and Rev James and a guest beer. Today the guest is from Batemans, the delightfully named Miss Lucious. The beer is also nice with a good hoppy aroma and bitter taste. Not going into too much tasting notes today as the taste buds are getting a little tired. Still another good pub to pop into if you are in Abergavenny. Some of the locals are even taking snuff in the pub! Can't fault the place!

Another one bites the dust

It came as a bit of a shock to see the Somerset Arms pub in Abergavenny shut, boarded up and the freehold for sale. I've been using this pub on and off for about 20 years and it was a regular in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. The 2-bar pub had a thriving trade and served good food. It was also a good community local and even had its own brewery back in the 19th century. The Somerset always supported local breweries and was a rare local outlet for beers from Cwmbran brewery. A sad loss to Abergavenny.

King's Arms, Abergavenny

Abergavenny is also home to the Tudor Brewery, in fact there are 2 breweries, the main one at the Celtic Spirit Company base and a smaller plant at the Kings Arms pub. The Kings Arms is the brewery tap for both the Celtic Spirit Company and the Tudor Brewery. The beers of Tudor Brewery have improved lately, due to a new brewer being employed. The most popular beer is the 3.6% Blorenge - a light and hoppy, thirst quenching beer, in fact this is so good I don't want to try the others but will out of duty to my readers. The Skirrid (the beers are named after local mountains) is a mid-brown 4.2% beer, and is a sweeter, more fruity ale with a bitter aftertaste. Unfortunately the 4.7% Sugarloaf was not on at the time of the visit. The King's Arms is a truly ancient inn, as it was next door to the old Tudor Gate and town wall. Some of the surviving internal partitions still exist and are a possible indicator of the old burgage plots from medieval days. This pub has plenty of character with old fireplaces and wooden partitions, even the former outbuildings, once home to Delafields Brewery, have been enclosed and a cinema has been installed out the back. The food range is impressive as well with an emphasis on local ingredients, even the crisps are local as the Real Crisp Company products are available here. A local pub serving local beers and local food sounds a bit Royston Veasey but it works here in the King's Arms. Right another pint of Blorenge coming up. Live blogged from the King's Arms using the Sony Ericsson k550i.

King's Head, Abergavenny

The Kings Head is situated next to the market hall and Abergavenny has a thriving market with Tuesday being market day. A pleasant single bar pub, the Kings Head only does 2 real ales, Charles Wells Bombardier and a guest, Ringwood Huffkin today. For cider lovers the pub has 8 different bottled Welsh ciders from Gwynt Y Ddraig, the Welsh Cider and Perry Company. Stone-flagged floors, a separate restaurant area and an old jukebox all add to the unique ambience of this town-centre pub. Some etched-glass windows still remain with adverts of long forgotten distilleries and breweries on them. The old ornate fireplace has been somewhat spoilt with a 1970s gas fire but apart from that not a bad town centre boozer.

Organic Cherry Beer

Okay the last Sams beer of the night. After the tastebuds being overwhelmed with the stouts earlier have decided that something different can only bring them back. Step forward Sam Smith's Organic Cherry Beer at 5.1% ABV and available in a 330 ml bottle. Brewed at Sam's other brewery, the Melbourne Brothers brewery in Stamford, Lincolnshire and blended and bottled at the Old Brewery in Tadcaster, this is an interesting addition to the range. A cherry red colour of this organic beer leads to an intense aroma of, well cherries, think Black Forest Gateux in a glass. The taste is again of cherries with a swoop of flavour over the tongue. This is not a sweet beer though, the bitterness of the cherries comes through very well. A beer to cook deserts with I think or even as a marinade, for venison I think. Right off to poach a deer.

Oatmeal Stout

Well it is the season for dark beers and where better to have a few than the Murenger in Newport. On the Sam Smiths Oatmeal Stout now, there are not many pubs or even breweries that carry 2 different stouts in their range. Sams even have a third, the Extra Stout on draught, but keg only. Back to the beer, again Oatmeal Stout is in a 550ml bottle and is an intense black beer with a slight reddish hue, the aroma is of roast coffee and dark chocolate. The initial taste is a sweet bitterness, followed by the intense aftertaste of bitter roasts that form the astringent lasting flavour that lingers. Not as strong in flavour as the Taddy Porter but a good flavoursome stout that is worth trying.

Taddy Porter

Sam Smith's Brewery is very traditional or set in its ways as some might say. This is even shown in the size of their bottled beers which are 550ml instead of the more common 500ml. Its a bit of a suprise when you are used to pouring a 500ml bottle into a pint glass and suddenly realise this bottle is not going to fit! Anyway the Taddy Porter is 5% and is an intensely black beer with an aroma of roast malts and fruits, am detecting caramelised apple in the aroma. The taste is a bittersweet flavour at first before the tongue is swept by a tsumami of roasted and charcoaled taste sensations. As the beer warms up, it came straight from the fridge, the full complexity of Taddy Porter is revealed. Lots of flavour and lots of taste, packed into a beer from the oldest brewery in Yorkshire.

Old Brewery Bitter

Not a Welsh beer, but brewed at Sam Smith's in Yorkshire and available in Ye Olde Murenger House in Newport for the bargin price of £1.90 a pint. This brown coloured ale is drawn from oak casks - Sams are the last brewery to do this on any scale. Wadworths still employ a cooper but you hardly ever see their wooden casks apart from in a few of their pubs. I think the wood does impart some flavour to the beer, tannins are noticable in the aftertaste of the OBB and the harsh, bitter flavour of the beer is not to everyones taste but I like it. Its a shame the brewery no longer produces the stronger Museum any more but that's what you get with this brewery which does not even have a website. Back to the beer. Live blogged from the Murenger on the Sony Ericsson k550i