Best pubs in Wales

The votes are in and have been counted for Wales Online Best Pub in Wales, top 30 below:
The top 30 in full:
1.Ty Coch Inn, Porthdinllaen
2. Plough and Harrow, Monknash
3. The Coach, Bridgend
4. Ship and Castle, Aberystwyth
5. Kings Head Inn, Llangennith
6. City Arms, Cardiff
7. Y Mochyn Du, Cardiff
8. The Gwaelod-y-Garth Inn, Gwaelod-y-Garth
9. The Star Inn, Treoes
10. Blue Anchor Inn, Aberthaw
11. Urban Tap House, Cardiff
12. Harbourmaster Hotel, Aberaeron
13. Black Boy Inn, Caernarfon
14. The Pelican in her Piety, Ogmore
15. The Star inn, Talybont on Usk
16. The Pentre Arms, Llangrannog
17. The Bush Inn, St Hilary
18. Bunch of Grapes, Pontypridd
19. Old Swan Inn, Llantwit Major
20. The Sloop, Porthgain
21. The Goat Major, Cardiff
22. Uplands Tavern, Swansea
23. The Pilot, Mumbles
24. The Bear Hotel, Crickhowell
25. The Worms Head Hotel, Rhossili
26. The Lansdowne, Cardiff
27. The Ship Inn, Tresaith
28. The Ship, Llangrannog
29. Rummer Tavern, Cardiff
30. The Queens Hotel, Swansea

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/food-drink/best-pubs-wales-your-vote-6864231

CAMRA Budget response

CAMRA celebrates another brilliant budget for
British beer drinkers
“CAMRA is delighted to see the Chancellor
implementing an unprecedented second
consecutive cut of a penny in beer duty. This is
not only about keeping the price of a pint
affordable in British pubs but helping an
industry which has been in overall decline
continue on its long road to recovery. CAMRA
cares greatly about the future of the Great
British pub and it is clear from this Budget
announcement that the Government do too.
“Keeping the price of a pint affordable is vital
for the long-term health of the pub sector and
CAMRA would hope this latest vote of
confidence in British pubs will go some way to
slowing the rate of closures, by encouraging
more people to make use of their local this
summer.
“No doubt many of CAMRA’s 160,000 members
will be raising a glass to the Chancellor this
evening to toast another brilliant Budget for
British beer drinkers.”
Mike Benner, CAMRA Chief Executive

Aberdare to get a beer Festival!

The town of Aberdare is to get a beer festival in May, on the Saturday 24th & Sunday 25th May 2014. The Market Tavern Pub are hosting the Main Event with support from Grey Trees Brewery. The Marquee will be situated in the Centre of Aberdare in the Market Tavern Car Park.

Brains Brewer gets on his bike to bring beer to boozers!

BRAINS SAVES MATCH DAY WITH BEER SOS BIKE
Brains – the official ale of the WRU – is set to cycle casks of SA through Cardiff city centre tomorrow (15th), ensuring no Brains pub runs dry on match day. Brains has turned a baker’s bike into a brewer’s bike, featuring a specially adapted rack to carry a cask of beer.
The bike embarked on a ‘trial run’ yesterday, but will take to the city centre streets on Saturday, ahead of Wales v Scotland.
Bill Dobson, head brewer at Brains, said: “The Six Nations is bigger for us than Christmas and some of our pubs sell a week’s worth of beer in one match day alone. Because a pint of Brains and a visit to a Brains pub have always gone hand in hand with international rugby in Wales, we’d hate to disappoint fans by running short of Wales’ best loved beer. “The Brains SOS bike will be on standby on Saturday for pubs who need an emergency beer order – the perfect match day solution!”
Jon Adams, manager at the Yard, said,“Match day is incredibly busy so it’s great the brewery is putting on these SOS deliveries to keep fans in stock of SA.”
Bill took the Brains SOS bike on the ‘trial run’ yesterday (13th March) and will be on call to make deliveries on Saturday, adding “Fans can track the progress of the bike on Twitter by following the hashtag #BeerSOS”.

Vote for your favourite pub in Wales

Use the link below to pop over to Wales Online and vote for your favourite Welsh pub - the shortlist now stands at 86!
Oh and there's an interview with me in the Bell in Caerleon as well!

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/best-pubs-wales-now-you-6767647

Now & Then, former Royal Oak, Newport

Former Royal Oak, Newport The Royal Oak on the corner of Chepstow Road and Royal Oak Hill was demolished in 1981 by Welsh Brewers who replaced it with the Toby Carvery that is still on the site today. A building on this site is named Royal Oak on the OS Map of 1830. In recent years the pub has been marketed as 'Toby Carvery at the Coldra', despite being half a mile away from the Coldra!

New life for old breweries

There is a piece over at the BBC on new life for old breweries, concentrating on England so let's have a look at some of the former brewery sites in Wales:

Phillips Brewery, Dock Street, Newport - demolished, now a car park for Asda

Hancocks Brewery, Cardiff Road, Newport - demolished, now the Police Station

Lloyds & Yorath Brewery, Cambrian Road, Newport - demolished, now shops, although it was an open-air car park for years

Brain's Old Brewery, Cardiff is now home to the Brewery 1/4

Ely and Crosswells Breweries have both been demolished and industrial buildings/housing are now on the sites. The 1963 administration block was used until recently by South Wales police (Crosswell site)

Buckley's Brewery, Llanelli - partly demolished, residential accomodation and Aldi now on part of site

Rhymney Brewery (original), Rhymney - demolished, a Kwik Save was built on the site but that closed, demolished and was replaced by an Aldi, which Street View shows still open, though on a visit last year it was closed
View Larger Map Back across the border, someone pointed out to me that the site of the former Ushers Brewery of Trowbridge has become a housing estate

1942 Plymouth Breweries Price List

In case anyone is interested, here is a price list from June 1942, from Plymouth Breweries. Found on the wall of the Dog Inn, Eywas Harold, Herefordshire.

Herefordshire cidermaker recognised by CAMRA

Herefordshire cidermaker Denis Gwatkin of Abbeydore was recently awarded a tankard by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, to celebrate twenty-five years of campaigning for cider and perry. One of only ten recipients of this award in the whole of the country, Denis has won numerous awards for his cider and perry over the years. It’s a double celebration for Denis as well, as he has just completed the installation of two giant wooden fermenting vats of over one thousand gallons each, purchased from another Hereford cidermaker, Ivor Dunkerton. The traditional oak vats are well over sixty years old and help give an oaky character to the cider, something that is appreciated by the more discerning cider drinker.

According to Denis Gwatkin, “It’s a great accolade from CAMRA coming after all the years of effort that all the staff at the farm have put in. And not just our farm, our neighbours across the valley often find themselves giving us a hand! It’s also great that these two wooden vats are going to be used for cidermaking for years to come; Ivor Dunkerton has made sure that these historic vats have gone to a good home and are going to be fermenting apple juice into cider well into the future.”

Denis Gwatkin produces over thirty different ciders and perries throughout the year at his farm and these are often seen at CAMRA beer festivals nationwide as well as in local pubs and off-licenses.

Gwatkin Cider is also sold from the farm shop at Moorhampton Park Farm in Abbey Dore, as well as at around one hundred shows around the country throughout the year. The family-run farm also plays host to a three-day music festival at the end of July.

Denis and his team - Mickey, Fluff and Adam

Catch Rye Beer from Brain this February at Craft Beer Rising

Some news from late last year that I forgot to publish!

Rye Catcher named Brains’ Continental Beer Challenge Winner 

Rye Catcher – an American rye beer – by Glenn Payne has been named the winner of Brains’ Continental Beer Challenge, after a judging panel deemed his brew to be the best of seven continental beers.

Last year the Welsh brewer invited beer writers and journalists to collaborate with them to develop and brew their ultimate continental beer in Brains’ craft brewery. Alongside Glenn, guest brewers were Des de Moor, Adrian Tierney-Jones, Pete Brown, Sophie Atherton, and Robyn Black. While Brains handed guest brewers a continental brief, they were free to come up with their own interpretation. As well as the winning American Rye Beer, other styles included a schwarzbier, marzen and saison. Seven beers, including Achilles Heel from Brains’ head brewer, were independently blind judged. The copper coloured beer came top with the judges, who identified a “beer with lots of appeal” with “lemon and lime on the tastebuds”. Bill Dobson, head brewer at Brains, said: “Following the success of last year’s IPA challenge, we chose to make the collaboration brew challenge an annual event. The guest brewers are incredible knowledgeable and passionate about beer. They’ve produced a fantastic range of beers and Rye Catcher is a very worthy winner".

Rye Catcher will become part of Brains’ beer festival programme, the first being Craft Beer Rising in London in February.

TASTING NOTES Rye Catcher is an American rye beer. Rye and Rye Crystal malts provide a spicy malt base and a vibrant copper colour to this beer which is powerfully hopped with Apollo, Columbus, Amarillo and Citra hops from the USA, producing an assertive bitterness with robust flavours of citrus and grapefruit.

Other beers in the challenge: · Brabo (Belgian pale ale) by Des de Moor · Dissolution (dubbel) by Pete Brown) · Blackbird (schwarzbier) by Robyn Black · Three C-Son (saison) by Adrian Tierney-Jones · The Ides of Märzen (märzen) by Sophie Atherton · Achilles Heel (helles) from Brains

Gwatkin Cider Christmas Fayre

Fancy some Christmas shopping this Sunday together with a bite to eat and some award-winning ciders? Then pop along to Morehampton Park Farm, Abbeydore in Herefordshire, the home of the multi-award winning Gwatkin Cider who will be hosting their second annual Christmas Fayre. More details on their Facebook site.

Available at the farm will be:

Mulled Cider and Mince Pies
Hot Pork and Turkey Rolls
Craft Stalls
Gwatkin Cider Hampers
Bar
Turkeys
Christmas Puddings
Holly and Mistletoe and more 
                                             Santa and his reindeer will also be there!

It's amazing that an Ifor Williams sheep trailer can be made into Santa's Ghetto!

Pictured below is Santa at the Fayre last year, who bears a strange resemblance to the editor of this blog!

"Just remember, there ain't no sanity clause!"

DIRECTIONS

Only 15 minutes from Hereford.From Hereford take the A465 towards Abergavenny, after approximately 10 minutes turn right on the B4348 towards Peterchurch (just after Locks Garage).After approximately 5 minutes, turn left on to the B4347 for Abbey Dore. We are just over a mile on the right hand side.
From Abergavenny take the A465 towards Hereford, ignore the first sign for Abbey Dore. Carry straight on until you see the sigh for Peterchurch (at Locks garage) and turn left on the B4348.After approximately 5 minutes, turn left on to the B4347 for Abbey Dore. We are just over a mile on the right hand side

Gwatkin Cider

Moorhampton Park Farm 

Abbey Dore 

Herefordshire 

HR2 OAL

View Gwatkin Cider in a larger map

Sip Santa's Beard this Christmas

Press release from Brain's Brewery regarding their latest bottled beer.

Santa’s Beard, a Christmas ale brewed by Brains Brewery, will be exclusively available in Tesco supermarkets nationwide over the festive period.

Santa’s Beard will be available in over 250 Tesco supermarkets nationwide in a 500ml amber bottle.

Santa’s Beard is a milk stout brewed with five different malts – pale ale, Munich, crystal, brown and chocolate malts – roasted barley and lactose sugar to create a dark beer with flavours of caramel, burnt toffee and roast coffee.

The recipe was perfected in the Brains Craft Brewery, before being up-scaled to the main Brewery for bottling.

Paul Harvey, Head of Sales, says “We’re delighted to be part of Tesco’s Christmas range with Santa’s Beard, a milk stout. Two years ago we introduced Brains Original Stout into Tesco’s stout range and we hope Santa’s Beard will be just as popular.”

“Christmas is a key period for the Premium Bottled Ale sector, and we think Santa’s Beard is the perfect beer to enjoy over the festive period or to give as a gift.”

Tesco currently stock the Brains range of bottles and cans including Organ Morgan and Jack Black from their Dylan Thomas range and Barry Island IPA and Boilermaker from the Brains Craft Brewery.

Santa's Beard joins three other Christmas ales from Brains - Fir King Good, Secret Santa and I Sea Santa. Fir King Good is the December seasonal available nationwide, Secret Santa will be a small scale beer brewed in the Craft Brewery with treacle and molasses and I Sea Santa has been brewed for Nicholson's by Brains in collaboration with beer writer Melissa Cole and the Nicholson's Cask Masters. I Sea Santa will be available exclusively in Nicholson’s pubs.

TASTING NOTES

Santa’s Beard blends five malts – Pale Ale, Munich, Crystal, Brown and Chocolate malts – with roasted barley to create a dark beer with a rich depth of malty wonderment. With flavours of caramel, burnt toffee and roast coffee balanced by a sweetness from lactose sugars, this is a luxuriously sumptuous sweet milk stout, perfect for Christmas. A great accompaniment to aged cheese or rich, chocolate puddings.

Some tasting notes below of mine which appeared in the South Wales Echo on Friday 29.11.13. Yes my column has moved to a Friday!

Brain's Brewery Santa's Beard, 4.5% ABV, £1.99/500ml bottle available at Tesco.

Since the introduction of their Craft Brewery last year, Brain's have brewed a wider range of beers than they have in the previous 131 years in the history of their brewery. Santa's Beard is based on another beard-themed brew that came out on the smaller scale Craft Brewery earlier this year, it has now been tweaked and upscaled to the main brewing plant and is exclusively available in Tesco for the Christmas Season.

Santa's Beard is black in colour and pours with a rich-foamy brown head. Aromas of sweet coffee and caramel dominate. Roast flavours come through in the initial taste, closely followed by sweet, dark chocolate flavours. The chocolate flavours continue into the aftertaste, together with the roast coffee sweetness. Brewed from a blend of five malts, Pale Ale, Munich, Crystal, Brown and Chocolate, an added ingredient is lactose which is a non-fermentable sweetener, this was used to brew 'Milk Stouts' many years ago.

Rye and Belgian beers in continental Brains clash!

 Some news from Brains Craft Brewery on their final collaborations of the year:

The final two collaborators in the Brains Craft Brewery’s Continental Beer Challenge have been to the Cardiff Brewery to brew their beers.

Glenn Payne, brewing maven, and Des de Moor, beer writer, were in Cardiff earlier in November attempting to steal the crown in the Continental Beer Challenge.

 Glenn brewed an American rye beer while Des chose to brew a spèciale Belge.

Rye Catcher is an American rye beer. Rye and Rye Crystal malts provide a spicy malt base and a vibrant copper colour to this beer which is powerfully hopped with Apollo, Columbus, Amarillo and Citra hops from the USA, producing an assertive bitterness with robust flavours of citrus and grapefruit.

Brabo, a classic, easy drinking Belgian pale ale made with authentic Belgian yeast has a rich amber colour from Munich and Cara malt and a restrained floral, lightly spicy hop character from Czech Saaz and East Kent Goldings hops. It evokes the Grote Markt square in Antwerp with its imposing statue of Brabo, the mythical Roman soldier who slew the giant Druon Antigoon and threw his hand into the river Schelde.

 Both Rye Catcher and Brabo will be contenders in the Brains Craft Brewery’s Continental Beer Challenge. Joining them will be Dissolution (dubbel - Pete Brown), Blackbird (schwarzbier – Robyn Black), Three C-Son (saison – Adrian Tierney-Jones) The Ides of Märzen (märzen - Sophie Atherton) and Brains’ contender Achilles Heel (helles).

The judging will take place on the 5th of December, ahead of the British Guild of Beer Writers dinner. Last year’s winners were Thinking Drinkers. Their Boilermaker was crowned the winner of the Ultimate IPA Challenge, and is stocked in Tesco and Morrisons.

Rye Catcher will be available in cask and Brabo will be available in keg in Brains pubs in December. Rye Catcher will also be available at The Rake, Borough Market and The Bull, Highgate while Brabo will be available in cask at the Dog and Bell, Deptford.

 Full list of stockists here

The pubs of Baneswell

Following on from the 'Pubs of Pill' articles a while back I've decided to look at another area of Newport.

Baneswell is a residential part of Newport, situated on a hillside close to the City Centre, bounded by the railway line to the West and the Cathedral to the South. Although the area was first mentioned as early as 1444 (Paynesgate) and later as Beanswell in 1750 there does not appear to have been much development of the area until the nineteenth century. A feature labelled 'Ancient Remains' is visible on the 1833 map but within a few years this disapeared under the rows of terraced housing that now dominate the area.

Unlike the Pill area of Newport, there appears to have been very little heavy industry in Baneswell, although the Victoria Brewery (1868-1903) was situated on the Northern boundary of the area,  16-17 Bridge Street, behind the former Engineers Arms pub.

What surprised me when researching this is that most of the buildings that were pubs are still standing, albeit converted to residential use.

The pubs and former pubs:

Angel, 39 West Street

First mentioned in 1872, owned by Phillips Brewery in 1905, later Courage. Had been closed for a number of years but reopened in 2013.

Bailey's, formerely London Inn/Tavern, 13 Bailey Street

Still open

First mentioned 1870, in 1905 it was owned by Lloyd & Yorath Brewery. Still open

Black Horse, 1 Blewitt Street/corner of East Street, now Knight's Estate Agents

First mentioned 1848, 1905 Hancock's Brewery, closed 1907.

Brittania Beerhouse, 55 Blewitt Street (listed as 53 Blewitt St in 1877 directory)

First mentioned 1872, closed 1922, demolished early 1970s. Modern housing on site now

Clifton Tavern, 48 Jones Street

First mentioned 1872, 1905 owned by Buchan & Co, Rhymney, closed 1913. The building is noticiably taller than other buildings in the same street, also there is a modern development, Clifton Place, immediately behind the building.

Engineers Arms, 3 Albert Terrace/1 Prospect Place

Closed 2012, converted to residential.

First mentioned 1872

A beerhouse is recorded at 1 Albert Terrace in 1877

Lamb, 6 Bridge Street/5 Baneswell Road (Street name and numbering changed in the nineteenth century)

1872 was owned by Lord Tredegar, 1905 Simonds Brewery of Bristol, later Courage and now Admiral Taverns.

Still open

Le Pub, Caxton Place

Still open. The passageway leads to the rear of the Queen's Hotel.

New Inn, 1 Jones Street

First mentioned 1872, 1905 owned by Phillips Brewery, closed 1909.

Oddfellows & Foresters Arms, 39 St Mary Street

First mentioned 1872, owned by Phillips Brewery in 1905. Later owners were Courage Brewery and Ushers Brewery.

Closed around 2011.

O'Reilley's/Ryan's Bar/Xif/Brittania, 15 North Street

Mentioned in 1877, owned by Lord Tredegar in 1882, acquired by Lloyd & Yorath Brewery in 1933, later Ansells.

Closed around 2010, reopened 2013 as Dutchy's Jamaican Jerk Shack.

Prince of Wales, 1 St Woolos Road/corner of St Mary Street, opposite Oddfellows & Foresters.

First mentioned 1872, 1905 was owned by Phillips Brewery, closed 1958 and license transferred to the new build Centurian ph, St Julians, Newport.

Queens Hotel, 19 Bridge Street

Built 1863, purchased by Phillips Brewery in 1904. Other owners include Courage, Belhaven Inns, Regent Inns, JD Wetherspoons. Still open.

South Wales Railway Inn, 4 Albert Terrace (opposite Engineers Arms)

First mentioned 1870, 1905 owned by Phillips Brewery, closed 1911.

Talbot, 65 St Mary Street

First mentioned 1872, 1905 was owned by Lloyds & Yorath Brewery, closed 1946. Demolished 1970s/80s, new estate on site. Building was 2 houses away from the former St Woolos School, now the Baneswell Community Centre.

Wellington, 9 St Woolos Road

First mentioned 1872, 1905 owned by Phillips Brewery, closed 1953, license transferred to Lyceum Tavern, Malpas Road which only had off-sales before.

Some pubs mentioned as being in Baneswell in 1848:

Star, 2 Baneswell Road

Pilgrim

New Baneswell Inn

Now and Then, former London Hotel Abergavenny

Former London Hotel, 23 Monk Street, Abergavenny

Once known as the London Apprentice Inn, this was first recorded in 1787 and by 1914 it was owned by Rhymney Brewery. The pub was converted into flats in 1978 and is now known as St Mary's Court.

NB This was a particularly difficult building to identify as on the original disk, purchased from ebay, the location of the pub is given as Cardiff, however the photos are definitely of the Abergavenny pub!