Pub closures in Newport & Cardiff

Earlier this year, the Office of National Statistics published "Economies of Ale", changes in the UK pubs and bars sector 2001-2019. What was noticeable about this report was the claim that small pubs and bars have bounced back after 15 years of decline, albeit by 0.4%. This is no doubt to the micropub revolution, however the trend is still downward

Smoking ban introduced in England 2007 so the steady drop happened after that.
Also on this report you can type in your postcode for a look at your local area, Cardiff and Newport areas are below as examples:

A visit to Tennent's Brewery

Tennent's Wellpark Brewery stands on an historic site, just to the East of the City, below the hill of the Glasgow Necropolis. Tennent Caledonian is owned by C & C Group plc, the makers of Magners Cider. Brewing has taken place here since at least 1556 under Robert Tennent, making it Glasgow's oldest business. Founded as H & R Tennent in 1740, the business expanded in the 1790s when a neighbouring brewery was bought and the 5-acre site was renamed the Wellpark Brewery. By the mid-nineteenth century, Tennent's were the world's largest beer exporter. Tennent's Lager was first brewed in 1885.

The company was bought by Charrington in 1963 and merged with their other Scottish interets to form Tennent Caledonian Breweries, later it became part of the Bass Charrington Group, sold to Interbrew (later Inbev) in 2000 and in 2009 C & C Group purchased it. What is unusual for a brewery of this size is that they run brewery tours and popular ones at that, so it is worth booking in advance if you want to see a brewery of this size.

It's also worth walking around the outside of the brewery as the walls and hoardings are taken up with the history of the site.

What would otherwise be a non-descript brick wall is given over to local artists to commemorate Tennent's advertising of the past.

Onto the brewery tour, which starts in the Heritage Centre and features a museum of Tennent's memorabilia and a collection of their television adverts. Not having lived in Scotland I did find these adverts quite fascinating. Luckily the brewery have also uploaded their television commercials to You Tube,

The Heritage Centre also features a selection of cans produced from the late 1950s to 1991 known as the Lager Lovelies 

Hardly pc nowadays!

Inside the brewery complex, the oldest building on this site is this which is today houses the laboratories.

Not part of the brewing process as such, these tanks are bio-digesting the waste yeast, providing power for the brewery.

 The mash tun above and the filters below:

 The "T" is everywhere!

Unfortunately, no photography was allowed on the canning line so it was back to the bar for a tasting and a surprise!

Tennent's produce a unpasteurised lager! This beer is available in a only a few selected outlets.

Unlike everyone else on the tour, I had never sampled Tennent's lager before and it wasn't that bad, not too sweet and quite enjoyable. I admit I only drank the unpasteurised version.

An extra to the tour is a further sampling of some of the other beers Tennent's produces, although their infamous Sweetheart Stout was not available on my visit, infamous as it's only 2% and brewed only once a year, it was the only stout available when I was in the Highlands some decades ago and was such a shock to the system I started drinking single malts instead!

Some of the other Tennent's beers

There is also another brewery adjoining the site, this is the Drygate Brewery, a joint venture between Tennent's owners C & C and Williams Brothers Brewing. This is supposedly the oldest part of the site where brewing started in the 1500s.

All in all, an enjoyable afternoon discovering breweries (the morning was taken up visiting the Glasgow Police Museum, well worth the visit if in the area)

Best Beers in Wales 2020

Time for the annual review of websites to find the Best Beer in Wales
 First up is the Anheuser-Busch Inbev subsidiary of Ratebeer:

1 Mabinogion Mead / Superstition 'Hounds of Annwn' Strawberry vanilla 

2 Polly's Brew Fallow Plans 

3 Tiny Rebel Imperial Puft 

4 Loka Polly Souvenirs 

5 Loka Polly Rosa 

6 Polly's Brew Lo-Fi 

7 Tiny Rebel Stay Puft Imperial Chocolate  

8 Tiny Rebel Stay Puft Amplified Imperial 

9 Loka Polly Spur 

10 Tiny Rebel / Siren Dark Cherry & Chocolate Barley Wine 

11 Polly's Brew What Did You Feel IPA 

12 Polly's Brew Fickle 

13 Loka Polly Double IPA Mosaic Simcoe 

14 Polly’s Brew Every Piece Matters 

15 Polly's Brew India Pale Ale El Dorado Deluxe Edition  

16 Polly's Brew Double IPA Azacca Mosaic 

17 Polly's Brew Livewire 

18 Polly's Brew Patternist 

19 Polly's Brew Avery 

20 Loka Polly Petal 

21 Tiny Rebel / Arbor Bonsai 

22 Tiny Rebel Imperial Stay Puft Irish Cream 

23 Tiny Rebel Stay Puft Imperial Salted Caramel 

24 Polly's Brew India Pale Ale Simcoe Mosaic  

25 Tiny Rebel / Deya NEIPA 

26 Polly's Brew Nada 

27 Polly's Brew Rock The Bit 

28 Tiny Rebel / Siren Didgeridank 

29 Polly's Brew On & On & On 

30 Tiny Rebel Clwb Tropicana 

31 Loka Polly Stout Citra Columbus 

32 Polly's Discount Jazz Hour 

33 Tiny Rebel What's Cooler Than Being Cool 

34 Polly's Brew Here We Are, Again 

35 Tiny Rebel Stay Puft Chocolate 

36 Polly's Brew India Stout Ekuanot 

37 Tiny Rebel Loki Lite 

38 Tiny Rebel Captain Insano 

39 Tiny Rebel Hadouken 

40 Loka Polly India Pale Ale El Dorado Simcoe 

41 Tiny Rebel / Dark Star Rebel Alliance 

42 Loka Polly Pale Ale Citra El Dorado 

43 Loka Polly India Pale Ale El Dorado Mosaic 

44 Loka Polly India Pale Ale Citra Columbus 

45 Loka Polly Wilt Double India Pale Ale 

46 Crafty Devil You Love Us 

47 Polly's Brew Grow, Deliver And Repeat 

48 Tiny Rebel / Fierce Beer Orange Mocha Frapp Stout 

49 Tiny Rebel Stay Puft 

50 Tiny Rebel Dirty Stop Out 

Polly's and Tiny Rebel dominating amongst Ratebeer users

Ratebeer also list the top places to drink in Wales:

1

1. Tiny Rebel Cardiff (91)

2. BrewDog Cardiff (88)

3. Hopbunker (87)

4. City Arms (Brains) (84)

5. Tiny Rebel Newport (83)

6. Fire & Ice (81) Good to see a Narberth outlet here!

7. Beelzebubs (80)

8. Clytha Arms (80)

9. Vinomondo (80)

10. Albion Ale House (79)

Meanwhile on Untappd:

1. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Imperial Salted Caramel Stay Puft
2. Polly's Brew Co. Nada
3. Polly's Brew Co. Rosa
4. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Imperial Chocolate Stay Puft
5. Polly's Brew Co. Spur
6. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Imperial Irish Cream Stay Puft
7. Polly's Brew Co. Lo-Fi
8. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Amplified Imperial Stay Puft
9. Polly's Brew Co Fallow Plans
10. Polly's Brew Co. Every Piece Matters
11. Polly's Brew Co. Dream Like Sequence
12. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Imperial Puft
13. Polly's Brew Co. Chinook Mosaic Double IPA
14. Polly's Brew Co. Mosaic Simcoe Double IPA
15. Polly's Brew Co. Deluxe Edition
16. Polly's Brew Co. On & On & On
17. Polly's Brew Co. Patternist
18. Polly's Brew Co. Citra Simcoe Double IPA
19. Polly's Brew Co. Livewire
20. Polly's Brew Co. Wilt
21. Polly's Brew Co What Did You Feel?
22. Polly's Brew Co. Souvenirs
23. Polly's Brew Co. Azacca Mosaic Double IPA
24. Polly's Brew Co. Simcoe Waimea Double IPA
25. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co What's Cooler Than Being Cool?
26. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Salted Caramel Stay Puft
27. Polly's Brew Co. Discount Jazz Hour
28. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Didgeridank
29. Polly's Brew Co. The Feels Vol. 2
30. Polly's Brew Co. Simcoe Mosaic IPA
31. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Dark Cherry & Chocolate Barleywine
32. Polly's Brew Co. Ekuanot Mosaic Double IPA
33. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Dodge, Dip, Duck, Dive And Dulce
34. Polly's Brew Co. Who Knew?
35. Polly's Brew Co. Petal
36. Polly's Brew Co. Kyra
37. Polly's Brew Co. The Feels
38. Polly's Brew Co Citra Ekuanot India Pale Ale
39. Polly's Brew Co. Rock the Bit
40. Polly's Brew Co.Cassie
41. Polly's Brew Co. El Dorado Mosaic India Pale Ale
42. Polly's Brew Co. Citra Columbus India Pale Ale
43. Polly's Brew Co. Phase Shift
44. Polly's Brew Co Citra Simcoe India Pale Ale
45. Polly's Brew Co Citra Mosaic India Pale Ale
46. Polly's Brew Co Here We Are, Again
47. Polly's Brew Co Fickle
48. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Chocolate Stay Puft
49. Polly's Brew Co. Citra Double IPA
50. Polly's Brew Co An Original Mix

Polly's Brewery dominating there with Tiny Rebel coming up second

According to Untappd "A beer must have 150 ratings or more to qualify for this list".

Untapped also produce a list of top breweries in Wales, according to them "A brewery must have at least 1,000 ratings and at least 5 beers in their portfolio to qualify for this list." Their top Welsh breweries are:

1. Polly's Brew Co.
2. Dog's Window Brewery
3. Lucky 7 Beer Co
4. Crafty Devil Brewing Co
5. BeerRiff
6. Wild Horse Brewing Co
7. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co
8. Top Rope Brewing
9. Tenby Brewing Co
10. Rival Brewing Co.
11. PIPES™
12. Lines Brew Co.
13. Hopcraft Brewing
14. Wilderness Brewery
15. Newtown, Powys Wales
16. Grey Trees Brewery
17. The Waen Brewery
18. Gwynt y Ddraig
19. Cwrw Cader
20.  Heavy Industry Brewing
21. Geipel Brewing
22. Purple Moose Brewery (Bragdy Mŵs Piws)
23. Velvet Owl Brewing Co.
24. Brew Monster
25. Lithic Brewing
26. Llangorse, Brecon Wales
27. Untapped Brewing Company
28. Mad Dog Brewing Co
29. Penperlleni, Monmouthshire Wales
30. Gower Brewery
31. Mantle
32. Glamorgan Brewing Co
33. Cwrw Llŷn
34. Tenby Harbwr Brewery
35. Cwrw Ial Community Brewing Company
36. Hallets
37. Hafod Brewing Company
38. Bragdy Twt Lol
39. Big Hand Brewing Co
40. Caffle Brewery
41.  Kingstone Brewery
42. Tintern, Monmouthshire Wales
43. Pixie Spring Brewery
44. VOG Brewery
45. Tomos & Lilford
46.  Mumbles Brewery
47. Conwy Brewery
48. Great Orme Brewery
49. Bragdy Nant Brewery
50. Tudor Brewery
51.  Bluestone Brewing Co.
52. Tomos Watkin and Sons Ltd.
53. Swansea, Wales Wales
54. Brewhouse & Kitchen - Cardiff
55. Cold Black Label

Once again, over at Beer Advocate, no Welsh beers make it into the top 100 but for the first time they do now have a top list of Welsh beers:

1. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co. Hadouken
2. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co. Stay Puft
3. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co. Clwb Tropicana
4. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co. Cali
5. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co. Urban IPA, Not brewed for a few years!
6. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co.Cwtch
7. Purple Moose Brewery Dark Side Of The Moose
8. Hurns Brewing Co Tomos Watkin's Cwrw Hâf
9. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co.Dirty Stop Out
10. Brains Dark
11. Felinfoel Brewery Co. Thames Welsh ESB
12. English Extra Special / Strong Bitter (ESB) -
13. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co The Full Nelson
14. .Hurns Brewing Co Tomos Watkin Old Style Bitter 
15. Otley Brewing Company O9 Blonde
16. Brains Original Stout
17. Hurns Brewing Co Tomos Watkin's Cwrw Braf
18. Brains Bitter
19. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co. FUBAR
20. Brains Craft Brewery Boilermaker
21. Purple Moose Brewery Snowdonia Ale (Cwrw Eryri)
22. English Pale Mild Ale
23. Brains The Rev. James
24. Brains Craft Brewery Barry Island IPA 6% version, was 5% last time I tried it
25. Brains SA Gold
26. Brains Black
27. Brains SA
28. Felinfoel Brewery Co.Double Dragon
29. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co. Frambuzi 
30. Conwy Brewery Welsh Pride 

The Beer Advocate list does seem to be out-of-date, with beers that have not been brewed for years on it, and the sadly gone Otley Brewery appearing on it.

Lastly to CAMRA, who once again are trying their best to hide the winners of their Champion Beer of Wales competition, with out-of-date information and broken links on their national website and a non-functioning local website. Again no press release of the winners was issued. Anyway, enough moaning about that increasingly sleazy and irrelevant organisation and here are their 2019 winners:

Mild
Winner – Rhymney Brewery, Dark
Runner Up – Facer’s Brewery, Mountain Mild

Old Ale/Strong Mild
Winner – The Untapped Brewing Company, Ember
Runner Up – Purple Moose Brewery/Bragdy Mŵs Piws, Dark Side of the Moose

Porter
Winner – Grey Trees Brewery, Valley Porter
Runner Up – Tiny Rebel Brewing Co., Stay Puft

Stout
Winner – Boss Brewing Company, Black
Runner Up – MadDog BrewingCo, Stouty McStout Face

Strong Bitters
Winner – Grey Trees Brewery, Afghan Pale Ale
Runner Up – Montys Brewery, Mischief

Bitter
Winner – Rhymney Brewery, Hobby Horse

Best Bitter
Winner – Glamorgan Brewing Co., Jemima’s Pitchfork
Runner Up – Cwrw Ial Community Brewing Company, Kia Kaha!

Golden Ale
Winner – Grey Trees Brewery, Digger’s Gold

Speciality Ale
Winner – Mumbles Brewery Ltd, Oystermouth Stout

Worrying about hangovers makes them worse

New research from the University of Salford:

Worrying about how bad your hangover pain will be could make it worse New research suggests that worrying about pain can make hangover symptoms more severe. The recent study, carried out at the University of Salford, examined how experiences of hangovers varied from person to person, and whether this was linked to whether the individual was likely to “catastrophise pain”. Pain catastrophising is the tendency some people have to worry overly about the threat of pain and to feel helpless in managing their pain, as well as dwelling on thoughts about how much something hurts. The research involved 86 participants aged between 18 – 46 years old. They were asked to complete questionnaires asking about a recent time when they had consumed alcohol. From this the researchers were able to estimated participants blood alcohol levels. The participants also reported the extent of their hangover and their tendency to catastrophise pain. The research showed a significant relationship between catastrophising and hangover severity scores. This was a stronger predictor of perceived hangover severity than estimated peak blood alcohol concentration. Further analysis identified that there were two distinct types of hangover symptoms; those that were stress-related and those that were dehydration-related. Both types of symptoms were worse in those who had a higher peak alcohol concentration, while stress-related symptoms were also worse in those who were more likely to catastrophise pain. Lead researcher Sam Royle explained: “These findings suggest the importance of cognitive coping strategies in how people experience hangovers after drinking alcohol. This may have implications in understanding behavioural responses to hangovers, and also for addiction research.” Lead researcher and wizard, Sam Royle, University of Salford

A visit to Jennings Brewery

A spring visit to the historic Jennings Brewery in Cockermouth, Cumbria. The brewery is set beneath the walls of Cockermouth Castle, at the confluence of the Rivers Derwent and Cocker, which proved to be dangerous in the floods of 2009. The brewery almost closed, had it not been for the parent company Marston's, who brewed the beers temporarily elsewhere whilst Jennings brewery was repaired and cleaned out. Jennings started out brewing in nearby High Loughton in 1828. Surprisingly, the brewery cottages and the malthouse still survive, the latter converted into the village hall, now known as Yew Tree Hall, in 1910. The company had moved to its present site by 1874 and the distinctive Grade II Listed maltings were built in 1889. The reason for the move to this site was the abundance of well water which was used for the castle and is still used to brew the beers today. In 2005 the brewery was taken over by Marston's Brewery.

Above: Cockermouth Castle, the brewery is to the right of fortress

Above: Looking upstream of the Derwent, the Cocker is on the right

Above: the buildings on the left are the Grade II Listed former maltings, now unused, the other buildings house the brewery.

The former maltings are the most picturesque part of the brewery buildings, it's s shame they lie empty. There would be problems converting to alternative use due to lack of parking and the danger of flooding.

Below: the Jennings Brewery logo, on glass inside the brewery

Above: the gateway to Jennings Brewery, with the maltings in the centre

Above: the former maltings

Above: the shop and beginning of the brewery tour

Above and below: the tap room

Below: the brewery itself, the grist mill

Below: the hop store

Above and below: the mash tun

Below: the copper

Below: the fermenting room

Above and below: fermenters

All quite modern brewery kit, there were some older mash tuns at the brewery but we went past them too quickly on the tour to be able to photograph them

Below: the sample cellar for the tap room

 Prices for the brewery tour and tasting are (2019 prices) £9.50 for an adult, which isn't too bad for a couple of hours tour and tastings. Full details of the tours are on the Jennings Brewery website.

Cockermouth is easily reached by bus from either Workington or Keswick/Penrith and the Stagecoach bus X4/X5 runs every half an hour throughout the day.
There are a number of pubs in Cockermouth, the Bush offers the best range of Jennings beers outside of the brewery tap and marston's continue to use the Jennings brand for this pub rather than their own.

 The Castle Bar offers the best non-Jennings beers in the town and the building is a lot older than the facade makes out, dating back to the sixteenth century. The pub sign features the lion of the Matthew Brown & Co Brewery of Blackburn, who acquired the Workington Brewery (buildings still standing in 2019) in 1975, Theakstons in 1984 and were themselves taken over by Scottish & Newcastle Breweries in 1987 with the Blackburn Brewery closing in 1981.