Neath Ales at the Cricket Club this Saturday

The award-winning Neath Ales, mmm Green Bullet, will be hosting their second ever beer festival this Saturday (12th November 2011) at Neath Cricket Club, following on from the sell-out success of their first festival earlier in the year.

Over 10 delicious real ales from quality independent Welsh breweries including Rhymney, Cerddin (Maesteg), Neath, and more... Kick off is midday 

The Gnoll Ground, Dyfed Road, Neath, Neath Port Talbot SA11 3
Google Map:

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Find Neath Cricket Club on Foursquare!

Great British Pubs Book

Well it looks as if ATJ has been busy recently with the launch of his latest book.
CAMRA’s Great British Pubs (published Nov 1st 2011, RRP £14.99, Paperback) is the definitive collection of the must visit pubs that can be found from the tip of Cornwall to the Scottish Islands. Compiled by internationally-acclaimed beer writer Adrian Tierney-Jones (1001 Beers You Must Try Before You Die) the book’s categorised reviews detail over 200 public houses of all shapes and sizes that represent the best of this British institution.

Recent research shows 76% of adults in the UK think that the pub makes an important contribution to British life and when asked about why he wanted to write a book on the subject Tierney-Jones explained:

‘The British Pub is a unique institution and despite many efforts to replicate it throughout the world its heart is in these islands — and the other unique aspect of the pub is that it’s also the only place where you can drink cask beer; you cannot do it at home unless of course you live in a pub. I’m a writer, I like pubs and beer. It’s a no-brainer.

‘All these pubs have something to offer beyond the promise of good beer, great food and plenty of cheer. They also offer a chance to step into another world for a while.

‘I visited the majority of the pubs, while the others were recommended to me by friends, colleagues and CAMRA members. Some will agree, some will disagree, but that’s the beauty of the British pub, it stirs the emotions, and makes people care.’

The best...

Every kind of pub is represented in the 23 categories that make up CAMRA’s Great British Pubs, with listings and full-colour photography illustrating a host of excellent pubs from the seaside to the city and from the historic to the ultra-modern.

For the category, ‘The best....beer ranges’, Adrian Tierney-Jones recommends the following pubs as outlets which offer the beer connoisseur a reason to step into their confines and study the beers within-
Bhurtpore Inn, Aston, Cheshire- ‘This is an Aladdin’s cave of drink for cask beer lovers, but what makes it slightly different is that all the ales are guests’
Cambridge Blue, Cambridge- ‘If you have a thirst for beer then this is the right place to come – up to 16 cask beers are often available’
Cask Pub and Kitchen, Pimlico, London- ‘The wall behind the bar is lined with glass-fronted coolers, where hundreds of bottled beers rest waiting to be picked out. Ask for a beer menu and you’ll probably find something you’ve never had before’
Cloisters Bar, Edinburgh- ‘There are usually up to nine cask beers on offer, from both the growing number of Scottish craft breweries and further afield’
Grove, Huddersfield- ‘So many beers, so little time. There can be up to 18 cask beers available at the Grove and if that’s not enough there’s also a trio of draught ciders and nearly 300 bottled beers from around the world’
Halfway House, Pitney, Somerset-‘Above the small bar, a chalkboard offers between eight and 12 West Country cask beers, all of them drawn straight from the barrel in a cool room at the back’
The Pub, Leicester-‘The Pub might have the most minimal name in British pub culture, but there’s nothing sketchy or meagre in what it offers the good people of Leicester’
The Rake, Borough, London-‘Cask beers from all over the country can be found on any given day: Dark Star, Otley, Hardknott and Rudgate for instance. There are also special festivals showcasing beers from various regions of the British Isles’
Southampton Arms, Kentish Town, London- ‘There is no regular beer so expect all manner of treats’
Tom Cobley, Spreyton, Devon- ‘I can testify that every time I pitch up here and taste several of the beers, they’re all in tip-top condition’
White Horse, Parsons Green, London- ‘Cask beer? Six to eight are usually on offer, with regulars Harveys and Adnams joined by beers from across the nation. There are also beer festivals throughout the year with the most famous being the Old Ales one at the end of November’

To further inform the reader, articles on brewing, cider making, classic pub food recipes and traditional pub games are included to emphasise the diversity of the Great British pub, and its many quirks. The publication also acts as a travel guide for all beer and pub lovers, with pubs presented as a stopover from which you can explore the beauty of both urban and rural landscapes, from Scotland to the Lake District to London.

Drink Socially with Untappd

Untappd has been running for about a year now and I joined shortly after it came out so having used it for about a year I'd thought I'd better write something about it.
Untappd is a logical extension of social media into the world of drinking, we already have Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare to update via our smartphones and Untappd has take that next step of bringing beer (and cider) into the social media world. Once you have created an account (free) you can type in what beer you are drinking, rate it and share it with friends via Twitter and Facebook. As in Foursquare this also gives you the opportunity to win badges, for instance yesterday was International Stout Day so by drinking a bottle of the excellent Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbody's Stout I unlocked a badge:

Other badges feature beers from the same country and badges for the amount of different beers you have tried.
Untappd also lets you friend people in the similar way to Foursquare and you can comment on what beers your friends are drinking as well as 'toasting' their drink.

The application also makes a note of your top beers and this appears on your homepage:

No surprises there - although the last 2 on the list were new discoveries to me, both being found in the City Arms in Cardiff during their American and German beer festivals.

Now I don't use Untappd all the time I'm out drinking, it is dependent on mobile coverage or WiFi networks (there are both mobile and desktop versions available - the mobile site is on an m. site, suitable for Symbian and they claim Blackberry, though Jonas claims he has problems using it on the Blackberry. Its also available as native apps on Android and  Apple IOS. I mostly use it via my Nokia smartphone (Symbian) via the Opera Mobile Browser (far better than any packaged browser the phone came with). Works okay and not had any major problems with it.
The native apps for the iphone and Android allow uses to upload photos as well.

All in all a good little free application for those of us who use social media.

Ember Inns launch 4 cask ales for November

Ember Inns, a division of M & B are launching 4 new cask ales this November, or NovEmber as they have called it.
Only Ember Inn in South Wales is the Deri Inn, Heol-Y-Deri, Rhiwbina, Cardiff, CF14 6UH.

Here's the blurb from M & B:
"We have four ales in our festival that are fast, eco-friendly, female-friendly and even inspired by a famous music band...one for each week from 1st of NovEmber at The Deri Inn.
Special stories, unique ales

If ales could talk, what would they say? Well, the four special ales in our NovEmber cask festival have some interesting stories to tell:
Project Green - known as 'the fastest ale on Earth' where the whole brewing process from field to glass takes only 100 hours
Build a Rocket Boys! - created by the band Elbow, this golden ale has a rich rounded body, smooth bitterness, subtle tang of malt and a fruity aroma
Pure Gold - one of the most eco-friendly ales in the country, this is a refreshing golden ale with a dry and bitter finish
Venus Black - a team of seven British and Irish female brewers make this tasty black IPA"

Okay good to see M & B do something like this but 'the fastest ale on earth' - I understand it uses green hops, freshly picked but was the grain freshly malted as well? If not then its hardly 100 hours from field to glass.
Never heard of the band Elbow so I'm a bit of a loss with this one - had to look them up on Wikipedia and still at a loss as to what their songs are. Still they seem to have put Ramsbottom on the map.
Pure Gold - eco-friendly? Well beer is 97% water and as the old saying goes you don't buy beer you just rent it.
Venus Black - female brewsters involved? Hoepfully this beer won't have a yeast infection anytime!

Rummer Tavern, Cardiff

Rummer Tavern, 14 Duke Street, Cardiff, CF10 1AY, 

Open all day

Situated opposite Cardiff Castle, the Rummer Tavern has an unmistakable black and white timber frontage but this no early twentieth-century Brewers' Tudor pub but an older, eighteenth-century building that traditionally dates back to 1713. Although there must have been a building on the site before that, unusually the plot appears vacant on John Speed's map of 1610. The name 'Rummer' refers to a large drinking glass with a studded stem that were popular between the fifteenth to late seventeenth centuries and pub name is unusual, though not unique as there is a hotel of this name in Bristol. During the1950s the Rummer Tavern went under the name of 'Hallinans' before reverting to its original name.

As is common with the older pubs of the City, the Rummer is long and narrow, recognising the original outlines of the burgage plot this pub stands on. The Cottage and the Borough Arms on High Street/St Mary Street also stand on Burgage plots.

The black and white timber frontage of The Rummer features leaded glass windows and leads into a cavernous interior via a stout wooden door. The bar is towards the rear of the building. There are plenty of seating areas in the pub, at the front there is an area with flagstone flooring and an excellent view of the castle, traffic permitting. Other areas of the pub have wooden flooring and there are some sections of old wood panelling still on the walls, others are exposed brickwork. Old pictures and prints are on the walls and above the bar is an odd collection of jars and beer crates. The Rummer does manage to have separate and distinct areas despite being open-plan – from the window seats to the more secluded and private brick lined rear part.

The bar is made up of recycled wood with old table legs forming the shelf supports and old draws forming another part. This mix of wood actually works quite well in this pub where church pews and wooden whiskey barrels all appear as part of the pub furniture. Upstairs, there is a function room available for hire. The pub used to have a basement bar about 15 years ago but this has since been converted into toilets.

The Rummer Tavern serves five real ales from gleaming brass handpumps, with local beer Hancock's HB and more unusually Wye Valley Hereford Pale Ale being the permanent beers and the three others being guests. The pub was formerly owned by Hancock's Brewery and is owned by a pub company. The guest beers change often and Wychwood Hobgoblin, Wells Bombardier and Thwaites Wainright have all featured on the bar recently. Bottled cider from Westons of Herefordshire is also available.

Food is served all day from a traditional menu with everything from baguettes to grills on it as well as chalkboard specials on the bar.

 Above: The Rummer Tavern pictured from the walls of Cardiff Castle with St John's Church in the background

Artisan Brewery open this Saturday

News from Artisan Brewery in Pontcanna, Cardiff:

First Saturday in November sees the Artisan Brewery doors open once more...

A mouth-watering selection of fine cold Bare Naked Beers, brewed on-site and 100% naturally.

Helles Lager 5%
Smoked Lager 5.4%
Vienna Lager 5.35%

Oh, other booze includes wine and house blend cider for those inclined.

Big Scott's on the BBQ, banging out hot food like a machine.

We'll do tunes - low key (in the background)

It's a 'beer-garden' so bring your mates... this time, no dunk pool. Perhaps a fire, or fireworks??? You know the drill by now... good times roll on!

Seats are limited - Entry is still free

Bare Naked Beer

183A Kings Rd

Cardiff

CF11 9DF

Google Map:

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Kingstone Brewery Festival this Saturday

Kingstone Brewery in Tintern, Monmouthshire, will be holding one of their regular festivals this Saturday (5th November '11).

Open Saturday 1130-late
Meadow Farm
Tintern
Monmouthshire
NP16 7NX

Google Map:

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Model Inn to reopen as a restaurant

After being closed for almost a year, the historic Model Inn on Quay Street, Cardiff is set to reopen in December as a restaurant - still owned by Wales' biggest cask ale brewers, SA Brain.

Now I'm all for saving pubs but the problem with the Model Inn (pictured in the snow last December) was that it had become rather tatty to say the least. Here's what I wrote about the closure last year:

 "The Model Inn has seen better days, the pub has been in a slow decline for years with its dark and dingy interior hardly providing a warm welcome to customers. The pub stopped doing food some years ago, though the tiled roof of the food servery is a classic example of late 1960s/early 1970s pub refurbishments. The odd bits of wood around the bar do nothing to attract customers into this surprisingly spacious City Centre bar, though the Brains Bitter was spot on when visited the other night. In the week before Christmas, other pubs were packed; the Old Arcade, Duke of Wellington, City Arms, Goat Major, yet the Model shut early at half six due to lack of custom."

The Model Inn also lacked a smoking area, apart from the street.

Originally called the Ship on Launch (this is Quay Street after all), a building on this site is clearly marked on John Speed's map of 1610 and was renamed the Model Inn, according to tradition, after Cromwell's New Model Army were billeted there during the civil war.

In 1956 The Model Inn was purchased by Cardiff brewers SA Brain, from wine merchants Greenwood & Brown, together with 4 other pubs for around £100,000. The other pubs were the York Hotel on Canal Wharf (Still standing but has been closed for 20 years and is awaiting demolition), Vulcan (still open, just), Ship Hotel (closed) and the Cross Inn on Newport Road, Rumney (still open)

The refurbished Model Inn will be renamed Greenwood & Brown after the previous owners of the building.

It's good to see a pub being refurbished at last, I'm not mourning its loss as a pub, the fantastic City Arms is just a couple of doors away so it would be stupid to have 2 pubs competing for the same custom in that small area, especially as their is a Chaverspoons nearby as well. Also it provides an alternative to the 'Dine for £1.99' offer in the City Arms - pickled egg and a pack of crisps! Some may see this as Brains diversifying from their core business, put together with the recent purchase of Coffee#1, but in the twenty-first century family brewers are having to diversify in order to survive. I'd rather see a pub that cannot succeed reopen as a restaurant than lie derelict, especially when there are other good pubs nearby.

Press release from Brains below:
The Model Inn, on Quay Street in Cardiff City Centre, will reopen in early December after major internal and external refurbishment. Reopening as ‘Greenwood and Brown’, the new venue will operate as a bar and grill, serving simple, great quality food.

The Model Inn has been part of the Brains family for more than half a century. In 1956 Brains bought the pub from a local wine merchant, Greenwood and Brown – which provided the inspiration for the name.

Philip Lay, retail director at Brains, explains: "Food is becoming an increasingly important part of our business, and across our managed pub estate now represents 35% of total sales. Greenwood and Brown therefore feels like a natural progression for us.

"We already have a great pub on Quay Street in the City Arms, which serves 35 different types of beers and ciders. Greenwood and Brown will offer something completely different, and we think it will be a great addition to the area."

To keep up to date with the latest news, follow Greenwood and Brown on Twitter @GreenwoodBrown

Brains Dark is the World's Best Dark Mild

Congratulations to Wales' largest cask ale brewery, SA Brain who have recently won a couple of awards at the World Beer Awards.

Brains Dark, the beer on which Brains was founded, has been named the ‘World’s Best Dark Mild Ale’ and ‘Europe’s Best Dark Mild Ale’ at the World Beer Awards 2011. The award means that it now ranks as one of the world’s 50 best beers.

An international panel of judges described the beer as having a “fresh tobacco nose with liquorice and burnt fruit. Toasty, not too sweet. Nice and dry. Light hops. Coffee, chocolate, bitter hops and roasted grain. Dry Finish.”

Richard Davies, sales and marketing director at Brains said: “We’re thrilled that Dark has won such a high profile award against the best international competition. It proves that regional family brewers can compete with the biggest and best in the world.”

Dark was the heart of Brains for most of its history. It dominated production at the Old Brewery and up until the 1980’s was Brains’ best-selling ale. Today the beer is sold in pubs and supermarkets throughout the UK.

For more information on the award click here

Fullers Brewery of London won World’s Best Stout & Porter with their London Porter 5.4% and the Best Best Bitter Pale Ale  awrd with Gales HSB 4.8%, as well as Best Strong / Extra Special Pale Ale for their ESB, one of my favourite beers.

Prince of Wales beer festival

 
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The historic Prince of Wales pub at Kenfig Hill is holding a beer festival this weekend with some beers available from Thursday
Beers available from Thursday
VALE OF GLAMORGAN - ROURKES DRAUGHT
FELINFOEL - DOUBLE DRAGON
TOMOS WATKINS - OSB - AUTUMN ALE - BREWERY BITTER
SHARPS - DOOMBAR
COORS - WORTHINGTON BEST BITTER
GREEN KING - BASS
GWYNT Y DDRAIG - HAPPY DAYZ

FROM FRIDAY

OTLEY - 04
NEWMANS - CELTS GOLDEN ALE - TWMBARLWM ALE
BRECONSHIRE - GOLDEN VALLEY

There will be a charity day on Sunday for the Gleishon miners fund with music from "Mock Thee Knot"
Prince Of Wales
Ton Kenfig,
Kenfig,
Bridgend,
Mid Glamorgan,
CF33 4PR
Traveline information:
The pub can be reached via the 63B bus from Bridgend Bus Station

Bangers & Beer Festival in Chepstow

The award-winning Coach & Horses in Chepstow, Monmouthshire will be holding their annual Beer & Sausage Festival this Friday & Saturday (28th-29th Friday & Saturday).
Beer, sausages and live music, what more do you want? 25 real ales and 1000 sausages are ready for the festival so its worth popping along to.
Facebook site here
Coach & Horses
Welsh Street
Chepstow
Monmouthshire
NP16 5LN

Shenker sunk!

It's always sad when someone loses their job, unless that person is the neo-prohibitionist boss of fake charity Alcohol Concern, Don Shenker. News broke this morning that after the taxpayer-funded fake charity Alcohol Concern lost their main source of funding from the Department of Health they could no longer afford to pay their Chief Executive and Shenker has been shown the door.
I will be raising a glass or two later this evening to the memory of this lying little shit who manipulated data and took taxpayers money to fund his half-truths and misrepresentations. This is the one good the thing this Government have done - stop wasting public money on neo-prohibitionist organisations who have their own narrow-minded ideas. Hopefully this is just the start and the next fake charity to be culled will be Shenker's bastard offspring, Alcohol Concern Cymru, though with the socialists in power in Cardiff Bay their funding by the taxpayer looks set to continue.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money to spend"
A problem the Welsh Government are finding themselves in at the moment - here's a hit don't spend £250,000 a year on fake charity Alcohol Concern Cymru.
Hope some prospective employers have taken time to google Don Shenker, the first three hits are rather interesting:

 

Fido will no doubt have something to say on his Shenker site here 

H/T to Dick Puddlecote who broke the news via FB this morning 

Murenger in the Telegraph

Newport's very own 'Haven in a Superpub Ghettto', the famous Olde Murenger House has made it into the Famous Grouse Famous pub list in the Daily Telegraph.
The Sam Smith's owned pub and CAMRA Good Beer Guide regular has been a haunt of mine for years, I can remember the days of Musuem Ale (bring it back Humphrey!) and still pop in regularly now as it is the best pub in the City Centre.
The Murenger House was one of the first pubs I ever wrote about on this blog, way back in 2007 and the post can be found here.
Other Welsh pubs featured in the Famous Grouse list are:
Black Boy Inn, Caernarfon

Located in Caenarfon Castle, The Black Boy Inn is a cosy and popular pub.


The Golden Cross, Cardiff
The Golden Cross is famed for its spectacular interior and the exterior is also rather impressive.


The Neuadd Arms Hotel, Llanwrtyd Wells

Come here to enjoy their Heart of Wales Brewery beers and watch the World Bog Snorkelling Championship.


The Packet Hotel, Cardiff Bay

The Packet is one of the last remnants of the old Cardiff docks.


The Royal Oak Hotel, Roath

Built in 1896 or earlier, The Royal Oak has a boxing ring on one of the upper floors, with boxing photographs covering the bar walls.


Ye Olde Bull's Head, Beaumaris

Ye Olde Bulls Head is a historic Welsh pub, having been visited by Charles Dickens, and furnished with an original ducking stool and antique weaponry.

All on the Daily Telegraph website here

Well done to Brains for getting three of their pubs in the list - Packet, Royal Oak and Golden Cross.

Brains in London

 Wales' largest cask ale brewer, the award-winning SA Brain will be holding a series of ‘Meet the Brewer’ events in London, in conjunction with Nicholson’s pubs.

Real ales on this tour of the taste buds will be the hoppy golden ale S.A Gold and the renowned Rev. James. You may be lucky enough to pick up the odd free gift too.

S.A Gold (4.3% ABV) is a full-flavoured, hoppy and refreshing golden ale, brewed at the home of the famous Brains SA in Wales. The beer is late-hopped using Cascade and Styrian Goldings, giving it complex and refreshing citrus aromas and flavours. Equally as delicious on its own as well as with food, this pairs best with light flavours such as white fish and cheese.

The Rev. James (4.5% ABV) is brewed to a traditional recipe and has been described as having a flavour not commonly available these days. Full-bodied and warming, The Rev James is rich in palate, spicy and aromatic with a deeply satisfying finish. Pairs well with hearty meats or nutty dishes.

All events are free and no tickets are required. Just pop down and enjoy their great cask ales.

Wednesday 26th October 2011

The Coal Hole, Strand - 5.30pm
The Wellington, Strand - 5.30pm
Princess of Wales, Villiers St - 6.45pm

Wednesday 2nd November 2011

The Argyll Arms, Oxford Circus - 6.30pm

For more information on the beers available click here or to get directions to the pubs click here.

Don't forget that we're also offering a free half of SA Gold in all Nicholson's pubs until the 31st of October. Click here for your voucher.

Newport Food Festival

Clashing with the fantastic Cowbridge Food Festival, Newport Council have decided to make an attempt at turd polishing and hold a food festival in Newport. The one day event, being held this Saturday, is sponsored by Asda (Wal-Mart!).
Newport is, of course a famous destination for foodies, the kebab and fried kitten shops of Upper Dock Street and Skinner Street rival anything that Caroline Street in Cardiff can offer.
Joking aside I hope this is a success - if places such as Abergavenny, Cowbridge and even Bridgend and Neath can hold successful events then there is no reason that Newport can not hold one.
Let's have a look at the drinks producers then:
Bragdy gogledd Cymru/North Wales Brewery - How this comapany is still trading is beyond me - every beer I have had from them has been off. One to avoid or just pour on your chips.

Gwatkin Cider Co ltd - say hellow to Mark on the stall, he's easy to spot as he will be reading his copy of the Sun. He's not that familiar with big cities such as Newport so may get lost. Don't forget to tell him the football score if Liverpool are playing, he really likes to know these things when he is on the stall!

The Jacobi Brewery of Caio - excellent beers, far better than the North Wales stuff - have previously reviewed their beers here.

Toloja Orchards - horrible people, never heard a good word about them!

Untapped Brewing Company - excellent beers from this company, highly recommended.


Welsh Perry and Cider Society - somehow still trading after making a £30k loss at their recent International Craft Cider Festival in Nelson.

Full details about the Festival are available on their website here

A beer festival is also being held at the Pen & Wig pub, details here.