No.175 Winter 2015/16

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Also Inside:Pub News

Join CAMRALocAle Pubs

United States trip

Magazine of the Norfolk Branches of the Campaign for Real Ale

ChesterWalkabout

Join Stig in his travels up North

BoudiccaRises

Iceni influence fromnew Norfolk brewery

Norwich BeerFest 2015

Report and photos, didwe snap you there?

Wetherspoons are rarely out ofthe news. As they spread acrossthe country into smaller andsmaller towns, it seems likeeveryone has an opinion, withthe latest scheme to comeunder the microscope beingthe conversion of the WhiteHart in Downham to a Wether-spoons outlet. Yet all is not wellin the world of Wetherspoon.

The latest results for thegroup show a 25% fall in profitover the last year to 26th July,with then group only making£58.7 million despite a rise inlike for like sales of 3.3%.Outspoken founder, TimMartin knows exactly wherethe blame lies. First there is thedisparity in price between thesupermarket prices and thosein pubs.

One particular gripe is theway VAT is levied, with most ofsupermarket food beingexempt, but food eaten in apub attracting VAT at a rate of20%, a situation which it isclaimed allows supermarkets tosubsidise alcohol sales. I can

see his point, and indeed somecountries have a lower VAT rateon food purchased in bars andrestaurants in order to help toencourage small businesses,which therefore will increaseemployment and cut thewelfare budget.

However there is a certainlogic to the present system inthat everyone has to eat, andtherefore VAT is not chargedon an essential item such asfood. On the other hand,everyone does not have to eatout and steak night down theLattice House could be consid-ered a luxury, for which there islittle reason to exempt fromVAT.

A couple of years agoBrandon Lewis, then Parlia-mentary under Secretary ofState at the Department forCommunities and LocalGovernment spoke to theCAMRA AGM and categoricallystated that any reduction inVAT for pubs was not going to

Norfolk Nips | Barman

In this issue:

Winter 2015 | 3

Continued Overleaf

All not well in the world ofWetherspoon?

World of Wetherspoon 3-5

Local Brewery Scoops Awards 5

Stig’s Words 6

The Ed’lines 7

Pub and Brewery News 8-10

Your Membership Details 10

West Norfolk POTY Shortlist 12

Boudicca Brewing Co. 15

Craft Beer Pubs - How Much? 17

Exploring Chester 19-21

Summer Days 23

Exploring Nelson’s County 25-27

Cider Competition Resuts 29

38th Norwich Beer Festival 30-35

Whiteboard 37

Win the Good Beer Guide 2016 41

LocAle 45

Whatpub.com 49

CAMRA Discounts 51

CAMRA Beer Festivals 51

CAMRA News 52-53

Join CAMRA 54

Beer Festival Diary 56

Christmas on the Death Star55-56

Last Orders 59

CAMRA Branch Calendar 61

Contact Details 62

happen. Still, things havechanged and we can allwonder what Jeremy will do ifhe goes on from being theLabour party leader to a posi-tion of real power.

The second gripe Tim Martinexpressed was the chancellorsplan to increase the minimumwage. Many of his staff are ona zero hours contract payingaround the legal minimum andit is the view of a landlordfriend of mine that they earnevery penny of their pay. Thereare few bar stools in Wether-spoon pubs to discourage thepunters chatting to the staff,hopefully giving them time toscoot around and clear tablesbetween serving thecustomers. Tim claims that itcosts the average pub about

85p in wages to serve a pintcompared with about 10p in asupermarket. Inevitably underhis logic, a rise in the minimumwage will result in higher over-heads and possible pubclosures, predominantly in thepoorer areas of the country. I feel ambivalent about this.

Some employees like the flexi-bility of the zero hourscontracts and one of the staffdown at the local Wether-spoons was telling me how shecan earn more than her salariedboss by putting in long hours.

However many peopleearning low wages have theirincome topped up by benefitsof various kinds and it seems tome that it is wrong that staffshould be so low paid that they

have to be subsidised by thestate, whilst the companieswho employ them bankmillions of pounds of profit. It is strange that when benefitsare paid to individuals, someelements of the media are keento portray the recipients asscroungers, whilst if the bene-fits are supporting companyprofits by making it possible toemploy people at a non-livingwage, silence reigns.

This article first appeared inthe Lynn News and in the inter-vening time Wetherspoons haveannounced that they are to sell34 pubs, including the LatticeHouse in Kings Lynn.

bar.man@btinternet.com

Local Brewery scoop two Regional Awards

Norfolk Nips | Barman - continued

Winter 2015 | 5

Local brewer Grain from Alburgh, nearHarleston in south Norfolk have won twovery prestigious awards in the 2015CAMRA ‘Champion Beer of East Anglia’competition. Grain Porter won gold in thePorters category and Grain India Pale Ale(IPA) won gold in the Strong Bitters category.

Warren Wordsworth, Grain BreweryLiaison Officer, presented the awards to co-owners, Phil Halls and Geoff Wright atThe Cottage pub in Norwich on Thursday19th November at a presentation withseveral local CAMRA members present.

Stig’s WordsIt’s that time of year again! What can I say that

isn’t a repeat of last year’s missive? Tough ques-tion. One thing I will repeat with no apology isuse your pub in January and February and hope-fully it will still be there in the summer, youknow it makes sense!

This year has seen some pretty nasty stuffgoing on in the wider world, so I’m going togive Christmas a rest this year, except to say theChristmas you get what you deserve (hmmheard that somewhere before).

In this issue you will, at least I hope you will,read about the famous Norwich beer festival inall its glory, thanks to the Norwich branch fortheir hospitality, it was excellent as always.

Now to some West Norfolk goings on, else-where in this issue you will see the four pubs

short listed for our Pub of the Year if you wish tojudge them (you must be a member of CAMRAin the W. Norfolk area listings) follow theinstructions in Jeff’s announcement. All four aregreat candidates, and only fractionally lowerbeer scores eliminated other excellent nomina-tions.

We often have publicans ask us “how can I getin the Good Beer Guide? We would like to meetnew publicans keen to get to know us, so if youfeel you are doing good things for real ale andwould like to meet your local branch contact usand invite us over for a branch meeting.We have a small number of active members

who cannot be everywhere so bring yourselvesto our attention. If anyone would like to join usfor our Christmas tour of Norwich the details areon the Whiteboard, page 37 of this issue.

We’ve tried to provide some varied and inter-esting reading on the subject of beer and pubsso I hope you enjoy our contributors efforts, andmay I add my thanks to all who havecontributed their time and effort to this maga-zine and Norfolk CAMRA events andcampaigning generally.

Finally peace and joy be upon you in the NewYear, see you out there!

Stig(If you are affected or have any opinions on the

issues raised in this magazine please let us know,feedback makes it all worthwhile)

6 | Winter 2015

Well another Norwich Beer Festival has comeand gone with nearly 20,000 customersenjoying the many beers and ciders on offer.

Even though I was a Nips Editor this year I wasas usual in my red overalls as part of the hard-working cellar team. I say hard-working as wehad to taste all the beers to make sure they wereperfect. We did increase the amount of goldenbeers this year and yet again they were verypopular. They are just the correct beers to offerthe new drinkers when they want to try real alefor the first time. Unusually at our Beer Festivalwe ask our customers to choose their beers andciders of the festival and a list of winners areinside. Congratulations to Beeston’s Worth theWait which won Gold and the new BreweryBoudicca Spiral Stout which won Bronze. I'msure you will remember having drank a numberof the winning beers and enjoyed voting forthem.

As I have mentioned before I welcome yourcomments and Stig and myself will considerthese for the next edition. I have been askedwhy some of the articles are written under nonde plumes – well funny names. Some are writtenby the Editors but I take on board the issue assome contributors would like to remain anonymous and I agree the choice is theirs.However let us know if you think otherwise. We have an article on the Maris Otter 50 cele-brations which we hope you will enjoy. We havebeen considering having interviews with localPublicans and Brewers which we feel will be ofinterest to our readers in Norfolk and beyondthe shire. If you have any suggestions thenplease contact us.

As the festive season approaches I would like tomention the Christmas Crawls on the 18th and19th December. I hope you can make some ofthe Pubs as it is a great way to finish the year. Ido seem to have a habit of trying to visit all ofthem but do have difficulty remembering theoutcome. Must be my age.

Finally I would like to wish you all a MerryChristmas and a Happy New Year.

Graham Freeman

Norfolk Nips | From the Editors

The Ed’lines

We have a growing number of postalsubscribers to Norfolk Nips and Cask Force,and I would like to send my thanks for the kindcomments and best wishes from those whohave renewed their subscriptions recently.

If you would like to join them in receiving thenext 4 issues by post, send 10 first classstamps or £6.50 cheque payable to WestNorfolk CAMRA, 91 Tennyson Road,Kings Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 5NG. Themagazine is also viewable online at issuu.com

Subscriptions

Winter 2015 | 7

For those that don’t know me,I’ve just taken onthe role of Norfolk nips distribution Co-ordinator for the Norwich and Norfolkbranch,and I need your help. I need to knowwho delivers to what pubs/areas,so we can seewhich pubs are getting their Nips,and whicharen’t. All existing distributors and indeed anywho would like to help,can you please let meknow either via the Norwich and NorfolkCAMRA website,or direct to me atgannaway6@icloud.com.

I’ll keep you all updated as to when each issueis ready for collection,and If required I can runcopys out to any who can’t make it to the FatCat to collect. So please get in touch and I lookforward to hearing from you all.Cheers!

Adam Gannaway

Calling all Nips Distributors!

8 | Winter 2015

News from Norwich& Norfolk

Great news this quarter -having achieved our first Assetof Community Value listing inJuly, we have since submittedanother 35 nominations, andhave nearly a dozen more inthe pipeline - a big thank youto everyone who has given usthe information we needed!

Councils have eight weeks todecide whether to accept anomination, and list the pub asan ACV, or reject it. Of thethirty-five we’ve submitted,we’ve had 17 back, with 14being listed - click the List YourLocal icon on our website fordetails - and 2 rejected, both inGreat Yarmouth.

One nomination, for theBerney Arms, was accepted,and added to the list, but theowner appealed on thegrounds that there was no‘community’ which the pubcould serve as an asset to.Broadland District Council,who I must commend for theirexcellent co-operation andassistance with this and otherACVs, took legal advice, andunfortunately decided that thewording of the ACV rulesmeant that there must be a‘local’ community, andremoved the pub from theregister of assets. However, allmay not be lost, as we under-stand that the pub is underoffer from a potential buyer

who wishes to run it as a pub -let’s hope so!

Some interesting developmentsin Norwich, with Brewdogconfirming that they have (as Iguessed in the summer!) takenon the old Gundry White’s,Queen St, which may be betterknown to those of you bornafter 1960’s as the Hogshead,Indigo, Knowhere or mostrecently Hideout. No openingdates yet, but it can’t be far off,and it will be good to see thatlovely interior as a pub again!

Two pubs which have beenclosed for a while have beenbought, we understand, bywell-known local businessmen,with Number 12, Farmer’sAve now to let, as RichardElkin, the previous lessee, haspurchased the freehold ofKings in King St, while ColinKeatley of Fat Cat fame hasacquired the Perseverance,in Adelaide Rd

The Pig & Whistle, Westle-gate, is to let, while the KingEdward VII, Aylsham Rd,and the Mitre, Unthank Rd,are both for sale, and theWoolpack Yard closed for arefurb in September

On the plus side, the MaidMarian, on Ipswich Road,has been renamed the OakTree, and will be re-openingsoon after a refurbishment, andwith, we understand, arevamped menu and range ofreal ales.

In the county, the SalhouseBell closed for a refurbSeptember, and re-openedwith new landlords in October.Three good ales, includingTimothy Taylor’s Golden Best,were on sale when I visitedwith a stock of Norfolk NIPSrecently.

The Ship, South Walsham,is believed to be for sale by theColchester family, who alsoown the Black Boys, Aylsham,and the Recruiting Sergeant,Horstead.

Just to show that miracles canhappen, it seems that theSuffield Arms at ThorpeMarket, which was closedseven or eight years ago, andconverted to residential use,has been bought by Ivor Brakaand Sarah Graham, the ownersof the nearby Gunton Arms,and will be totally gutted,refurbished and re-opened as apub in 2017!

And lastly, some good newsfrom Martham, where theParish Council nominated bothof their pubs as Assets ofCommunity Value over a yearago - I hear that Adnams havesold the King’s Arms, and itis, according to my correspon-dent ‘becoming a busy pubonce again’, with four or fivereal ales regularly available!

News from the West

It’s a bit odd being a writer.You work on an article for

Pub and Brewery NewsPub and Brewery News | Norfolk Nips

hours, composing, deleting,revising until the time comes topress the send button and itdisappears into the ether like achick leaving the nest. Fromthis point you have little idea ifanyone likes it, hates it or evenreads it, so it is always inter-esting to have some feedback,so imagine my excitementwhen a real letter arrived forme to pass on the editor. It wasshort and to the point with nopreliminaries such as ’Dear Sir’or a return address. Just twopoints about issue 174. A)There is not an address towhich letters may be sent. Noteveryone uses the Tools ofSatan (ToS) for correspon-dence. B) Pg 62 – The BerneyArms is not the only pubwithout road access. There aretwo on the Thames wheredeliveries have been made byboat. Get your facts right.

Thanks to Simon and Jude fortheir invaluable comments andin future I for one will try tomake it clear that when I amwriting in Norfolk Nips, I amnot writing about the RiverThames.

A more surprising communi-cation came from Ron asking ifI had heard the rumours thatthe Lattice House, theWetherspoon’s pub in KingsLynn, was up for sale. Myimmediate reaction was one ofdisbelief, but a bit of researchwith the Tools of Satan (I ambecoming quite an accom-plished ToSer), revealed thatthe Lattice House is on the listof 34 pubs placed on themarket by Wetherspoon’s.

According to CoStar commer-cial property specialists, the 34are in strong town and citylocations and have an averageturnover of £22,000 per week,with over a third of thatcoming from food. It isexpected that they willcontinue as pubs and thatthere will be strong interestfrom existing operators andnew entrants.

Facing a much more uncer-tain future are some of theclosed pubs around the area.The Wenns Hotel, by Lynn’sSaturday Market, remainsempty as I write, though I haveheard that work of an unspeci-fied nature is due to start soon.By the bus station, the LordKelvin remains closed anddrifts towards dereliction.Surely a pub placed at a major(for West Norfolk) transporthub should present a realopportunity? Meanwhile, outin West Winch, the Winchcowers behind its metalcurtains. There have long beenrumours that the pub was tobe sacrificed as part of ahousing development, andalthough the ‘To Let’ sign is stillposted outside, my eyebrowsmay be slightly raised if it everopens again. I was so worriedabout its future, especially as itis the only pub in a large andexpanding village, that Iapplied for an Asset ofCommunity Value listing for it,but after a long and drawn outprocess my application wasrefused as I could not demon-strate to the satisfaction of theassessors that the pub played arole in the community. The

news that the RampantHorse at Gayton has followedthe Albert Victor in CastleAcre as having been refusedplanning permission for resi-dential development, buthaving this overturned onappeal gives me déjà vu again.

Better news for the Washand Tope, up in Hunstantonwhich is now owned by theLifeboat Pub Company whorun the Two Lifeboats in Sher-ingham, which is to undergo amajor refurbishment. Closingtowards the end of September,it should be open about amonth before Christmas in itsnew guise as a family venueoffering quality dining.

We have been impressed byour visits to a couple of otherpubs which have had changesin recent times. The Marsh-land Arms out on the Smeethis bright and contemporaryand when we called to deliverNips on a cold and wetmidweek evening, the placewas buzzing with customers ofall ages. There was not a greatrange of beer, but the food wasinteresting and good value sothis could be a place to watch.Out at Bawsey, the Sandboyseems to have put the uncer-tainty of recent years behind itand is once again on the up.There were a couple of goodbeers and a cider on handpump when we called and,again we had a very pleasantvisit.

Norfolk Nips | Pub and Brewery News

Winter 2015 | 9

Continued Overleaf

10 | Winter 2015

John, another of our distribu-tors, was in touch to praise theGin Trap at Ringstead, whichhad five beers on offer when hecalled. With Wherry at £3.30 itis one of the cheaper of thesmart North Norfolk pubs andwe are heading up there for ameeting after Christmas to seefor ourselves. John was alsoimpressed by the BedingfeldArms, down in Oxboroughwhich has come from being aclosed pub in 2012 toachieving Finalist Status in EDPNorfolk Food & Drink Awardsin Front of House category. Theproprietor, Catkin Parker isrelated to the Wells family, sothere is a good chance ofseeing their beers if you call. At the moment work is takingplace on an extension which

will see a private function roomopen in the New Year.

It is good to see that theBushel and Strike up inHeacham has a new landlady.Ros has lived in the village for afew years local and is keen onreal ale, having in the past runa pub near Cambridge. Theplan is to keep IPA and have acouple of guest beers.

Further round the coast, JollySailors, at Brancaster Staithe,was awarded the title of UKBest Family Pub 2015 in theGreat British Pub Awards runby The Publican’s MorningAdvertiser, whilst the Rose andCrown in Snettisham is listedas one of the top ten pubs in

the country in the Good PubGuide.

Pretty much all the localbreweries will be producing aseasonal beer for Christmas.My favourite so far is ‘WinterCock’, brewed especially forthe Cock at Wiggenhall StMary Magdelen by...I’m notallowed to tell you. Go and tryit for yourself and see if you canwork it out.

So, with great beers and greatpubs out there, what are youwaiting for? Just rememberthat the pub is not just forChristmas. I am sure your newpuppy would like a walk out ona January evening to watch youdrink a pint or two.

Jeff

Pub and Brewery News - continued | Norfolk Nips

In the Norwich & Norfolk Branch we are now E-Mailing as many members as possible a circulareach month informing you of all Branch activitiesand any other important notices. At present wehave around 3,200 members but only E-Mailaddresses for about two thirds of you. With somany members it is impossible to post up todate details of Branch activities and occasionallydates or times of activities change at shortnotice. So to get the up to date information it isimportant that we have as many of your E-mailaddresses as possible.

Up dating your contact details via the CAMRAHQ website is easy. All you need do is go to

CAMRA HQ website onhttp://www.camra.org.uk and then login byinserting your membership number in the username box and your postcode in the passwordbox. Once in, click onto ‘My Membership’ thenyou can see if all your contact details are up-to-date including whether your E-Mail address ismissing. If anything is out of date such as no E-Mail address then go to ‘edit my membershipinformation’ and insert any changes that arenecessary. By doing this simple operation youwill then receive your monthly letter from theBranch informing you of all our activities andcontact details of how to participate in any ofthem.

Getting your membership contact details up to date

West NorfolkCAMRA Pub of theYear 2016 ShortlistThe shortlist for our Branch Pub of the Yearhas been announced. We had nine nomina-tions and the scores on the NBSS beer scoringsystem were used to choose the four finalists.(http://whatpub.com/) The results are below.

Name Location AverageScore

Kings Arms Shouldham 3.87Victory Clenchwarton 3.73Angel Larling 3.65Queen Victoria Snettisham 3.64

Coach and HorsesDersingham 3.59Chequers Wimbotsham 3.54Jolly Sailors Brancaster 3.38Peddars Sporle 3.13Willow House Watton 2.67

Therefore the short list is comprised of theKings Arms, the Victory, the Angel and theQueen Victoria. Any West Norfolk CAMRAMember can take part in the judging. All youhave to do is to complete a survey form foreach of the four pubs and return them to meat or before our Branch meeting in February. We have a new form this year which can bedownloaded from the national CAMRAwebsite, or I can send you a copy.

We are also looking for nominations for thebranch Cider Pub of the Year. Let me knowyour selection at or before our next meetingon December 8th which will be at the Peddarsin Sporle. News views, questions as always tojeffhoyle@btinternet.com

CheersJeff

Privately owned freehouse and restaurant with awide selection of real ales, lagers and ciders.

Freshly cooked locally sourced food.

Child friendly, large beer garden, pool table, easyaccess from A47, ample parking and on 23A bus

route from the city centre.

Visit www.thehartenorwich.co.uk tocheck out the menu and opening times

Old Costessey, Norwich, NR8 5BS Tel: 01603 742755

FREE

ACCESS

The Harte

“The Country Pub On The Edge of Town”Bacton Road, North Walsham NR28 0RA

OPEN ALL DAYFIVE REAL ALES

Meals Served 12noon to 2.30pm

and in the evening 6.30 to 9.30pm

Bookings 01692 404800

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An iconic part of Norfolk's rich past has provedan inspiration for a new brewing venture in thecounty. The newly founded Boudicca BrewingCompany is taking inspiration from the Celticculture and artefacts of the Iceni, and theirlegendary queen.

As well as an independent view and a drive toproduce really good, distinctive, quality beers,the core parts of the Boudicca BrewingCompany’s ethos are sustainability and inclu-sivity. To that end, the beers are produced fromorganic ingredients, and vegan. Furthermore,gluten free beers are planned.

The Boudicca Brewing Company has beenfounded by friends Helen and Simon St Ruthand Emma Pinder who are all passionate aboutreal ale, as well as members of the Norwich andNorfolk branch of the Campaign for Real Ale(CAMRA). Simon commented “Beer isn't evergoing to be everyone's cup of tea, but we aremaking our beers suitable for as many people aspossible”.

Head brewer at Boudicca Brewing Companywill be Andy Mitchell, a professional and awardwinning brewer of many years’ experience, andformerly proprietor of Spectrum Brewery inSouth Norfolk.

The decision to produce vegan beers and,therefore, not use isinglass finings, which aremade from the swim bladders of fish, was astraightforward one as Andy explains “There'smore to it than just the vegan and inclusivityaspects. Isinglass also removes some of theflavour and aroma of a beer. Not using it resultsin a more flavoursome pint”.

The name Boudicca (pronounced /�bu�d�k�/)was chosen in honour of the strong, inde-pendent Queen of the Iceni people from theEast of England who led an uprising against theoccupying forces of the Roman Empire in Britain.She led the Iceni to several victories over theRomans before finally being defeated. She wasnever captured by the Romans, and her fate isunknown.

The logo for the Boudicca Brewing Co. featuresa torc inspired by the golden necklaces whichwere a sign of status and power in the Celticworld to which Boudicca belonged.

Several of these torcs were found as part of theSnettisham hoard discovered in a field inNorfolk. A feature of the torc in the logo is thedragon head design to reflect the long historicallink between dragons and Norwich. Not moredragons!

The beers will be named after Iceni artefactsand other important items and places inNorfolk’s rich heritage. The first beer to havebeen brewed is Spiral Stout, named after thecommon spiral designs found on coins and artefacts from the Iceni period. It's a 4.6% ABV,traditional, full bodied beer with flavours of

dark autumnal berries, coffee, dark chocolateand a gentle, lingering dry roast finish with ahint of smoke. Spiral Stout was available at theNorwich Beer Festival and must have been goodas the customers voted it Bronze for overallchampion beers of the festival.

It’s good to have another brewery in Norfolkand I expect it will not be the last.

Iceni Queen Influences New Brewery Venture

Winter 2015 | 15

Norfolk Nips | New Brewery

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Some years ago I penned an article in this magazine about the then new phenomenon of“craft” beers springing up in London.

Particularly with reference to the fact that theywere keg brews almost exclusively of highgravity and equally high price. The argument tojustify this was twofold, firstly that as highgravity beers the alcohol content justified thecost plus the old chestnut that they were“premium” products handcrafted by artisans(whatever that means).

I confess at that point I did not foresee thespread of this style being quite so successfuloutside London with increasing numbers oftrendy craft outlets springing up though mostlystill in cities. I have been told by drinkers andpublicans alike that craft beer is the future of realale and that there is no conflict for CAMRAmembers in supporting the “new scene”.

First let me say I don’t have a problem withpeople drinking wherever they wish, but despiteattempts to convince me otherwise craft beer ishardly ever real beer. Pasteurised and fizzy, it isnot real ale in a bottle!

My understanding of CAMRA is that it is firstand foremost a consumer organisation dedi-cated to the promotion of the traditional Britishreal ale style and its consumption in pubs, that iscertainly why I remain a member.

As I have said freedom of choice in yourdrinking habits is fine but if you are committedto CAMRA aims then don’t forget that the last

time keg was the “future” for the British pubindustry it was the touchpaper that producedCAMRA and the real ale revolution which it hasproduced.

The issue with trendy establishments is thatthey don’t last (alcopops anyone?) and tend tobe high priced as well. Now you may well saythat a manufacturer can charge what they likefor their product and you would be correct,however the customer doesn’t have to pay it.

Now to my main point which is that wherever“premium” craft beers are sold they inevitablysell real ale at a similar elevated price, I recentlyfound myself paying £3.80 for a pint of mild and£4.10 for a porter, these were both fairly run ofthe mill real ales being sold in a craft beer outletin East Anglia.

The knock on effect is that real ale prices inadjacent pubs tend to go up as well. With manyestablishments already struggling to attractcustomers who have access to supermarket beeror Wetherspoon this can’t be a helpful trend. Ofcourse I’m looking at this from the point of viewof a consumer, not from that of the industrybecause CAMRA is a consumer organisation,isn’t it?

So think hard about why you joined CAMRAand if you can see any place for pasturised craftproducts in the future of real ale.Personally Ithink they are a threat to pub culture as weknow and love it, some have called it beer evolution but there are two issues with this,firstly that which is left after evolution is expectedto crawl away and die and secondly for beer toevolve it has to be alive in the first place!

Stig

Winter 2015 | 17

Craft beer pubs – How much?

On arrival the b&bwas in Hoole Road, ashort walk from theBawn Lodge Hotelhousing the Lodgebar home of an everchanging menu ofreal ales and wherebagatelle is played!

The next day started with a visit to the impres-sive cathedral then lunch at the Pied Bull, whichis about as close to the typical British market innas you could get plus it houses the only microbrewery (also named Pied Bull) within thecompletely intact city walls hidden in its cellar.Bull themed beers are served including“Matador” and the Excellent “Black Bull”.

After an afternoon looking at the amazingblack and white two tiered shops called “rows”a term we would be more likely to assign toYarmouth!

Then to Bridge Street and the Brewery Tap,premier outlet for the brilliantly named SpittingFeathers brewery, the tap is an architecturalgem. Situated in a restored 17th Century hallbuilt onto the front of a much earlier building it has been sensitively restored and is lit predom-inantly by candlelight.

The range of beers (plus a couple of real ciders,Andrea) is extensive backed up by a locallysourced menu.

Winter 2015 | 19

It’s hardnot togrin inChesterI haven’t produced a beer travelogue in ages so here is an account of a recent visit tothe ancient city of Chester, agreat place for a city break and for a bit if real ale hunting.

Pied Bull

Continued Overleaf

20 | Winter 2015

Chester visit - continued | Norfolk Nips

The ambience is marvellous as the light fromthe large windows fade and the candles comeinto their own. My personal favourite SF beerwas “Thirst Quencher” but I confess thatRoosters Londinium with a great coffee taste wasprobably my favourite beer of the trip.

The next day was spent visiting Speke Housenear John Lennon Airport, as obviously wehadn’t seen enough black and white buildingsyet! Interestingly, evidence suggests that blackand white was the favoured colour schemeapplied by the Victorians and in fact most timberframed buildings didn’t look like this originally.

That evening we visited Telford’s Warehouse,surprisingly a converted warehouse on the canalbasin. Very much in the craft beer hip style of

the moment it still boasted a good range of realale at a premium price, the most interestingthing happening that night was salsa lessons inone of the smaller bars. It was packed, particu-larly with women, but conversely it was the onlypub with a bouncer and on one occasion he wasneeded! Real ales came from the likes of Barngates, Salopian and Pennine.

Above: Brewery Tap, Bridge StreetLeft: The rows

Two Queens

The last day saw return visits to the Pied Bulland brewery tap this was also the day when theQueen outlasted her illustrious forebear Victoriato become the longest reigning British monarchtwo giant figures of Elizabeth II and Victoria wereparaded through the city escorted by Romansoldiers. I spotted them in the morning marchingpast Café Nero appropriate to say the least!

Finally we visited the Cross Keys a traditionaltiled late Nineteenth Century city pub withstained glass panels in the windows, an outlet forJoules brewery (the subject of the windows)holders of one of the oldest registered trademarks in history, “Slumbering monk” and “Hairof the dog” were tried.

In conclusion every pub visited was distinctive andhad its own style; all were worth of your attention.We by no means visited all the promising pubs inChester and will no doubt return soon.

Winter 2015 | 21

Norfolk Nips | Chester visit - continued

Traditional Country Puband Restaurant

5 Real Ales•Great Food•Log Fires

Colby Road, Banningham, Aylsham, NR11 7DY

01263 733534www.banninghamcrown.co.uk

THE BANNINGHAMCROWN FREE HOUSE

We are in it!

BOXING DAYKemps Men Morris Dancers

12 noon

22 | Winter 2015

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

Back in the golden days of summer we headednorth. For once, it was not for football, butinstead for the 18th birthday party of thedaughter of a former work colleague who nowlives near Preston. We travelled up a day earlyand had time for a few pints with old friends inChorley. This Lancashire market town was oncea centre of cotton production, but these days isprobably more famous for Chorley Cakes, flatshort crust pastry cakes filled with currents. Theyare in my opinion far superior to the betterknown Eccles cakes and when I was young weused to spread butter on them before eating.Just the job for a bit of ballast before a night onthe beer, and there are plenty of pubs to choosefrom in this corner of Lancashire.

Our first call was yet another micro pub, aconverted shop with room for about four tablesand half a dozen hand pumps. These seem to bespringing up faster than the weeds in ourgarden and I look forward to seeing one in WestNorfolk. One tip – most of those that I havevisited are very loud on account of the hardsurfaces and wooden floors. If you are going toopen one, include a few soft surfaces to absorbthe noise of the conversation. From there it wason to two or three big multi roomed traditionalnorthern pubs with wood panels, glass and tiles.Different styles, but nowhere was the beer over£3 a pint and in some less than £2.50.

Saturday dawned and I hopped on the traindown to Warrington to watch the Wolves playLeigh Centurions in the Rugby League Challenge Cup. In the past I have been a bit

dismissive of Warrington, but on a bright sunnyday strolling through the cultural quarter itlooked pretty good. In my time I must havevisited well over 200 sporting venues, but I don’tever remember a cacophony of noise like thatwhich greeted me at the Halliwell-JonesStadium. Not only was it about the best atmos-phere at any sporting event I have everexperienced, but they had cask beer on handpump. Disappointingly the work of semi fictionthat passes for the Virgin train timetable meant Iarrived too late to take full advantage. Still, therewas always the party. Not quite what I hadhoped for on the beer front, though I supposethe 18 year olds had other things on their mindthan Tetley Bitter.

I did manage to find a few bottles of Staro-pramen, which tastes especially good when it isa prize for finishing last in the paper airplanecompetition. The DJ/animator tried to make usoldies welcome and included a quick quiz. Withtrue or false questions you need somethingseemingly ridiculous that might just be plausible,so I quite liked this one. When the 50p coin wasintroduced, the treasury added the edges tomake it easier to use a wrench to remove it froma Yorkshireman’s hand. Probably false, but youare never quite sure.

At least the Yorkshire contingent had theirrevenge by winning the flappy fish race. I strug-gled with the dance moves for Oops UpsideYour Head and Whigfield’s Saturday Night, but at least I remembered the songs and it givesme time to practise for my next big birthday. Ihope I have as good an evening as Kirsty did – but I will be drinking cask beer.

A version of this article first appeared in theLynn News.

bar.man@btinternet.com

SummerDays

Winter 2015 | 23

Norfolk Nips | Barman up North

24 | Winter 2015

The Farmer’s Arms

‘The pub on the hill’

The Ancient Mariner Inn

‘The pub by the sea’

BEST WESTERN PLUS Knights Hill Hotel & Spa, South Wootton, King’s Lynn PE30 3HQ

email: reception@knightshill.co.uk tel: 01553 675566

BEST WESTERN Le Strange Arms Hotel, Golf Course Road, Hunstanton PE36 6JJ

email: reception@lestrangearms.co.uk tel: 01485 534411

All food purchased when you spend £25 or more

50% OFF

Terms and Conditions - Coupon valid only when £25 or more is spent on food, cannot be exchanged for cash, does not apply to spend on drinks cannot be used in conjuction with any other promotion, not valid for parties in excess of 8 people. Valid until 28 February 2016 excluding 24th,

If you do not wish to receive further promotions please tick here

Name

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www.traditionalinns.co.ukOpen for meals 12 noon – 9.00pm daily - Real food, Real ales, Real pub

25th, 26th, 31st December 2015 & 1st January 2016.

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

To celebrate the Norwich and Norfolk Branch40th Anniversary we decided to have a tour ofPubs that we are unable to easily get to eitheron a Friday campaigning trip or via public trans-port. The first stop was The Hunny Bell,Hunsworth.

Est 1836 this Pub has considerable characterwith a welcoming bar with a small snug off toone area. There is a fine dining area and even abarn with wooden beams and exposed brick-work. The beers on offer were Adnams Bitter,Wherry, Greene King Abbot, Scrum Down andSadlers One Stop Hop. We decided on the latter

and were upset when it hopped off the bar afteronly one pint. Fortunately the GK Black IPAreplaced it and many pints were ordered. Thenext on the agenda was The Bluebell, Langham.

We were surprised this Pub was closed and upfor sale. We need to investigate further. As withmost CAMRA trips we had a back up plan andthat was The Chequers, Binham. This popular17th Century traditional Pub was the old homeof the Front Street Brewery but alas no more. A large fire was quickly surrounded by our partyas they sampled the beers on offer. MoongazerGolden, Adnams Bitter, Woodfordes Tap & Goand the new Moongazer Cellerbration at 6.6%was just the warmer we wanted.

Into Walsingham next and our party split up tovisit the next two pubs. The last time I was inWalsingham was on a pilgrimage fromManchester. Having married a Catholic I wasmade to come down on the coach. However afew of us spent the time in the pubs as wepreferred drinking to praying. We didn’t tell thewives. Back to the present and The Bull Inn. This

Exploring Nelson’s Own County

Winter 2015 | 25

Continued Overleaf

Hunny Bell, Hunsworth

is a quirky and unique Pub frequented by locals,pilgrims, tourists and business people. Lots ofreligious artefacts on the walls and a welcomingambiance. We had an appetising meal with thechoice of Doombar, Adnams Bitter, Crouch ValeBrewers Gold. Our selection was not difficultwith the latter in excellent form.

The Black Lion has recently been refurbishedand re-opened and featured a wood fire burningaway in the restaurant area. Wherry and GhostShip were in reasonable condition. A local toldus King Edward and Henry VIII had stayed therebut we didn’t see them.

Onwards to The Plume of Feathers, SouthCreake. A village local with a warm friendlyatmosphere. There is a large restaurant withhome-cooked fresh meals which made us feelhungry. A pity we had just eaten. So the Wherry,St Austells Tribute and Ghost Ship had to do.

The Hourglass, Sculthorpe was closed on aSaturday? So The Bell, Hempton was an excel-lent replacement. A traditional villagecommunity pub with views over HemptonCommon. Wherry, Doombar, Elmtree Best,Sharps Rise & Tide was an interesting selectionwhich were all tried.

Last stop was The Blue Boar, Great Ryburgh. A 17th Century listed coaching inn with cosynooks and crannies welcoming customers sincethe reign of King Charles II. I hope he paid hisbar bill. A large dining area at the rear andmouth watering menus on the boards. Blue BoarBitter (Winters?) Adnams Bitter, Abbot, andGhost Ship was complemented by some freechips supplied by the landlord. How kind as weare always a bit peckish. Overall a very inter-esting outing to pubs I had not visited before. Inoted quite a number offered accommodationand the pubs are ideally placed to exploreNelson’s own county.

Graham

Winter 2015 | 27

Norfolk Nips | Exploring Nelson’s Own County

The Black Lion, Walsingham

Blue Boar, Great Ryburgh

28 | Winter 2015

Serving a good selection of changing local real ales

Also serving home cooked food.Sunday roast 2 courses for £9.50.

Two main meals for £10.00 from our set menu.

(Monday and Tuesday lunch times only.)

The Street, Catfield, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk NR29 5AATelephone: 01692 580128

Email: catfieldcrown@hotmail.co.uk

Christmas Fayre Menu - Now Available

running from 1st - 20th December

booking essential and New Years Eve

menu now available, call in, ring or

email for more details.

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

East Anglia CiderCompetition ResultsThe East Anglian Cider Competition wasagain held at Norwich Beer Festival this yearand, although Norfolk producers did not winthe top awards in cider or perry, twoproducers did well in the competition.Burnards Stray Perry came second in theperry category and Whin Hill Browns camethird in the cider competition. The fullresults are:-

Cider1st – Hardings, 3 Peace Sweet2nd – Pickled Pig, New Seasons Porker3rd – Whin Hill, Browns

Perry1st - Cambridge Cider Co., President’s Perry2nd – Burnards, Stray Perry

Congratulations are due to all the winnersas since the competitions inception, whenthere were only around 10 entries in total,cider production in East Anglia has increaseddramatically. This years competition againattracted record entries with 36 ciders and14 perries.

Winter 2015 | 29

Local Ales • Guest BeersCider Selection

Quiz Nights • Real Fire

Rampant Horse country alehouse & restaurant.

2 Chapelfield, Freethorpe NR13 3LYTel: 01493 700103 www.rampanthorse.net

Rampant Horse

The 38th Norwich Beer Festival, organised bythe Norwich & Norfolk Branch of the Campaignfor Real Ale (CAMRA), was held at St. Andrew'sand Blackfriars' Halls from October 26th to 31st2015.

Over 200 cask-conditioned Real Ales fromBritain's independent brewers were on sale,along with draught and bottled beers fromContinental Europe.

There were also a large range of traditionalciders and perries, with over 40 varieties fromEast Anglia, the West Country and elsewhere.

This year the Branch and Wolf Brewerydonated 100% of the Edith Cavell ale to theCavell nurses trust. We do not have details of theamount involved yet but you will note the photoopposite of Dawn Collins, Deputy Director ofNursing at the Norfolk and Suffolk FoundationTrust and Rob Whitmore, Secretary of Norwich& Norfolk CAMRA. The beer was extremelypopular and many thanks to Wolf Brewery fortheir generous contribution.

Many thanks to all our volunteer staff whohelped through the week and also to our manycustomers – we hope you enjoyed your time atthis year’s festival. We hope to see you againnext October!

2015 Norwich Beer Festival Report

30 | Winter 2015

See pictures of the festival overleaf

Beers of the Norwich Beer Festival 2015Each year, drinkers at the festival vote for theirfavourite beers, ciders and perries. The results of this year’s Beer Of The Festival voting are:

Overall Beers Of The Festival1 Beeston Worth The Wait2 Brass Castle Bad Kitty3 Boudicca Spiral Stout

Category winners: Mild1 Great Newsome Holderness Dark2 Nethergate Black Shadow3 Moonshine Harvest Moon Mild

Bitter1 Jo C’s Norfolk Kiwi2 Wolf Edith Cavell3 Lacons Pale

Best Bitter1 Mile Tree Larksong2 Jo C’s Bitter Old Bustard3 Felinfoel Double Dragon

Strong Bitter/IPA1 Green Jack Fruit Bat2 Adnams Broadside Extra3 Great Heck Black Jesus

Stouts and Porters1 Brass Castle Bad Kitty2 Boudicca Spiral Stout3 Elmtree Winter Solstice

Speciality1 Moonshine Raspberry Wheat2 Felstar In The Pink3 Waveney Rocky Myrobalan

Golden1 Beeston Worth The Wait2 Golden Triangle Simcoe City3 Green Jack Canary

CiderMonk & Disorderly

PerryPickled Pig Wills Perry

ForeignHuyghe Delirium Tremens

Winter 2015 | 31

32 | Winter 2015

Winter 2015 | 33

34 | Winter 2015

Winter 2015 | 35

36 | Winter 2015

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

Open from Midday EverydayChoose from our bar menu and specials board for some

of the best pub food in the area.Top notch Sunday roasts • Ever changing selection of

regional real ales to be sampled.Fifty whiskies and much more on offer!

Check out our website and Facebook page for events throughout the year

Our Christmas menu is now available,bookings taken from the 23rd November

6 Church Street, Wymondham, Norfolk NR18 0PHt: 01953 607907 e: info@greendragonnorfolk.co.uk w: www.greendragonnorfolk.co.uk

Don’t forget that you can read Norfolk NIPS and Cask Force on line on the

Norwich and Norfolk Branch website www.norwichcamra.org.uk

Latest info will also be posted on the Branch facebook page.And Norfolk NIPS and Cask Force has a Twitter account @norfolk_nips

Next issue of Norfolk Nips and Cask ForceCopy to editors by Friday 29th JanuaryOn the streets by: Thursday 3rd March

West Norfolk GrandChristmas CrawlSaturday 19th December, 11:00 – 19:30 This year the route is:1100 Fat Cat & Canary (Thorpe Road)1155 Coach & Horses (Thorpe Road)1240 Jubilee (Saint Leonard’s Road)1330 Lollards Pit (Rosary Road)1415 Red Lion (Bishopgate)1500 Ketts Tavern/Virtuoso (Ketts Hill)1545 The Cottage (Silver Road)1630 The Leopard (Bull Close Road)1715 The Plasterers (Cowgate)1800 King’s Head (Magdalen Street)1845 Mischief (Fye Bridge Street)1930 Take 5 (Tombland)

Contact; Tim Spitzer (07950) 823270. Come along withus for festive fun & ales in the fair city of Norwich,

Norwich & Norfolk

CAMRA Xmas CrawlFriday 18th December starting 5pm

17.00 – 17.30 The Duke of Wellington, Waterloo Rd

17.30 – 18.00 The Angel Gardens, Angel Rd

18.00 – 18.30 The Rosebury, Rosebury Rd

18.30 – 19.00 The Whalebone, Magdalen Rd

19.00 – 19.45 The Fat Cat Tap, Lawson Rd

19.45 – 20.15 The Leopard, Bull Close Rd

20.15 – 20.45 The Cottage, Silver Rd

20.45 – 21.30 The Wig & Pen, Palace Street

21.30 – 22.00 The Ribs of Beef, Wensum Street

22.00 – 22.30 The Kings Head, Magdalen

Street

22.30 – 23.00 The Plasterers, Cowgate

We like to travel and see the world and it’salways interesting to see what types of beer areavailable to try. Very often it’s just a disap-pointing over-cold tasteless lager type drink, anda few days into our trip to America’s south west Ifeared that it was the same old story. We wereon a coach trip taking in some of the NationalParks and understandably there wasn’t a wholelot of choice at the hotels where we stayed. Iwas starting to think there wasn’t anything tosample other than the wares of Anheuser-Buschor SABMiller. Beer was a part of colonial life inthe US but in 1919 the Eighteenth Amendmentprohibited all sales of alcohol and virtually allAmerican breweries were forced to close. Withthe repeal of Prohibition most beer wasproduced by these enormous internationalconglomerates and they still retain their domi-nance in the 21st century. But as Bob says thetimes they are a changing.

My first decent pint came when we arrived atDeadwood, South Dakota. This little town isprobably best known as the place where WildBill Hickock came to an untimely end whilstplaying poker (quiz freaks will probably be ableto tell you the cards he held – nowknown as the Dead Man’sHand). There were two likelyhostelries in the town and inter-estingly both claimed to be thesite of the original shooting. Ihad been advised to try theKentucky beer in Bar Ten so that’swhere I headed. It was 5pm on aTuesday evening and the place

was heaving – apparently there is a daily re-enactment of this infamous event. I found thebeer I was looking for and it was excellent. Ithen sat back and watched the thespiancowboys run through their routine. I didn’texpect it to last quite as long as it did so I hadno choice other than to sample another pint,this time from a local Deadwood brewery. Againit went down a treat and was so refreshing afterall those Buds.

Despite the goliaths of the industry still holdinga dominant position the majority of breweriesthat have opened in the US over the past threedecades have been small breweries and brew-pubs. In 1977 there were only two craftbreweries in the whole of the United States, butby 2012 that number had risen to 2,751. It isreckoned that they now account for about atenth of the industry’s revenues.

Our tour moved on and few days later wefound ourselves in Jackson, Wyoming. You know– it’s the place Johnny Cash went to after‘getting married in a fever, hotter than a peppersprout’! It’s now probably most famous for

being home to Harrison Ford. Therewe were wandering around thislovely town trying to get used to thetemperature being a mere 48degrees F when we turned a cornerand there it was. The wonderfulSnake River Brewery was about tomake my day. Before entering weobeyed the instructions on the signand left our dogs and firearms

38 | Winter 2015

outside! It turns out that wehad stumbled acrossWyoming’s oldest brewery(despite it only beingfounded in 1994). In thetwenty odd years of its exis-tence it has managed totwice be named SmallBrewery of the Year at theGABF (Great American Beer

Fest) and it’s not difficult to see why. Thebrewery produces a vast range of beers but atany given time there are about a dozen on tap. Itried a few not knowing what to expect - butthe beer was excellent and if I had been in theUK I would have been dashing back to mycomputer to register a high score on theWhatpub website. We also sampled the ‘EightDollar Lunch’ and it was worth every cent,complementing the beer perfectly. Themicropub served food right through to 11pm,but according to the brewery ‘Wyoming says

when it’s 2am you gotta go home’.

My only previous experience of Amer-ican ales has been at beer festivals. Ihave to say it was a very pleasantsurprise to find such an active beerscene the other side of the Atlantic.There was only one disappointment forme – the wonderfully named SnakeRiver has got no connection whatsoeverwith snakes, it is so named because ofthe river’s meandering course. Oh wellthe beer was good!

Winter 2015 | 39

Norfolk Nips | United States of Beer

40 | Winter 2015

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

Fresh fish

& chips

every friday

(alongside main menu)

Main Road, Clenchwarton, King’s Lynn PE34 4AQ

Traditional

Roast

every Sunday

(12 - 4pm)

2 Course

senior citizen

Meal £8.50

Tuesdays

(afternoon)

All you have to do is identify these five famousbeers and their breweries from the pump clips,which have been stripped of information.Good luck!

Answers to “Clip Comp, 19 Kemps Lane,Hockwold, Thetford by 15 February 2016.

Win a copy of theCAMRA Good BeerGuide 2016

Winter 2015 | 41

In 2015 Maris Otter celebrated its 50th harvestwhich is truly exceptional. Maris Otter is a mainlylocally grown barley used to produce top qualitymalt which is the backbone of many real ales. Inthe last 50 years many other barleys have comeand gone but Maris Otter has stood the test oftime to be one of the best. So to celebrate 50new beers were created especially for the MarisOtter 50th Anniversary festival in Norwich.

Brewers from 44 different counties of Britainand 6 countries from across the world provideda birthday beer for the event. Participating breweries ranged from Baird Beer in Japan andCervezas DouGall’s in Spain to St Austell inCornwall, Otter in Devon, Eden in Cumbria andI remember a beer from New Zealand. Therewas a stall from the National Institute of Agricul-tural Botany which was fascinating andexplained the reasons why Maris Otter wascreated.

Many speeches were given telling the story ofthe Maris Otter from the field to the pint. Weeven had a speech by Roger Protz whomentioned that in the US a brewer haddescribed the Maris Otter being grown in thehigh plains of North Norfolk. No idea wherethey are! The Champion Beer was an excellentbeer from Woodfordes called Redcracker. Icertainly enjoyed it.

Maris Otter 50 - A Festival to Rememeber

42 | Winter 2015

Maris Otter 50 | Norfolk Nips

Winter 2015 | 43

Norfolk Nips | Please support our advertisers

The pub with no bar, ales direct from cask.

Watch www.nelsonslocal.co.uk for forthcoming events.

Tongue twizzling food, and great value.Huge garden and children’s play area.

Shooting parties, lunch & dinnermenus available

Victory Barn Function Roomfor Weddings and Parties

Come & visit Nelson’s local.Walsingham Road, Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk PE31 8HN

01328 738241

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

44 | Winter 2015

Horseshoes, AlbyBlack Boys, AldboroughLondon Tavern, AttleboroughCrown Inn, BanninghamBerney Arms, Berney ArmsChequers Inn, BinhamCock Inn, BarfordKings Head, BrookeArtichoke, BroomeGreen Gate, Caister-on-SeaReedcutter, CantleyCrown Inn, CatfieldGeorge Hotel, Cley-next-the-SeaThree Swallows, Cley-next-the-SeaVictory, ClenchwartonMuskett Arms, ClippesbyRed Lion, ColtishallUgly Bug Inn, ColtonAlbion, CromerCottage, CromerRed Lion Hotel, CromerRoyal Standard, DerehamBob Carter Centre, DraytonRailway, Downham MarketRoyal Standard, East DerehamQueens Head, EmnethErpingham Arms, ErpinghamBull, FakenhamWellington, FeltwellKings Head, FilbyRampant Horse, FreethorpeLocks Inn, GeldestonWherry, GeldestonDock Tavern, GorlestonMariners Compass, GorlestonDabbling Duck, Great MassinghamBarking Smack, Great YarmouthMariners, Great YarmouthOliver Twist, Great YarmouthRed Herring, Great YarmouthSt. Johns Head, Great YarmouthFox & Hounds, Heacham

Kings Head, HethersettGreyhound Inn, HicklingPleasure Boat Inn, HicklingVictoria, HockeringSwan, HilboroughEagle, Hockham Buck, HoninghamWhite Hart, HoptonNelson Head, HorseyBrickmakers, HorsfordElm Farm Country House,Horsham St. FaithLive and Let Live, Kings LynnStar Inn, LessinghamSwan Inn, LoddonDog Inn, LudhamFox and Hounds, LyngAnchor Inn, MorstonWhite Horse, NeatisheadRelish Restaurant & Bar, NewtonFlotmanRailway Hotel, North ElmhamOrchard Gardens, North WalshamAdam and Eve, NorwichAngel Gardens, NorwichBeehive (Leopold Rd), NorwichBell Hotel, NorwichCellar House, NorwichChampion, NorwichCottage (Silver Road), NorwichDuke of Wellington, NorwichEarlham Arms, NorwichEaton Cottage, NorwichFat Cat and Canary, NorwichFat Cat Tap, NorwichFat Cat, NorwichGarden House, NorwichJubilee, NorwichKetts Tavern, NorwichKings Head, NorwichLeopard, NorwichLollards Pit, Norwich

Lord Rosebery, NorwichMaids Head Hotel, NorwichMurderers, NorwichPlasterers Arms, NorwichRed Lion (Bishopgate), NorwichReindeer, NorwichRibs of Beef, NorwichRose, NorwichSir Garnet, NorwichTake 5, NorwichTemple Bar, NorwichTrafford Arms, NorwichVine, NorwichWig and Pen, NorwichRoyal Oak, PoringlandFerry Inn, ReedhamShip, ReedhamKings Arms, ReephamSwan, RinglandThree Horseshoes, RoydonLobster, SheringhamWindham Arms, SheringhamChalk and Cheese, ShouldhamKings Arms, ShouldhamGoat, SkeytonPeddars Inn, SporleSprowston Manor Hotel &Country Club, SprowstonFerry House, SurlinghamLynn Arms, SyderstoneRed Lion, SwaffhamPelican Inn, TacolnestonRed Lion, ThetfordGunton Arms, Thorpe MarketQueens Head, ThurltonWhite Horse, UptonCherry Tree, WicklewoodWillow House, WattonStag, West AcreBell, WivetonWhite Lady, WorsteadGreen Dragon, WymondhamThe Mill, Yaxham

Here is a current list of all the pubs in Norfolk which are part of the CAMRA LocAlescheme. New entries are in Bold.

Winter 2015 | 45

46 | Winter 2015

48 | Winter 2015

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

Mini Beer Festival Every Day!with over 24 real ales, ciders and continental beers

Fresh rolls served daily or bring in your favourite take-away

Free Wi-Fi • Dog friendly

Live Bands, Quiz and Poker Nights

Check our website and Facebook page to stay updated

Open Mon - Thurs 11-11,

Fri -Sat 11-11:30 Sun 12-10:30.

Christmas parties catered for, ring or pop in for details.

We’rein it!

FOUR REAL ALESWednesday Irish Folk Music

ursday Folk & Singing MusicFriday & Saturday Live Music

Sunday Folk Music

Large garden overlooking the River Wensum

OPEN: Mon - urs 12-11Fri & Sat 12-12 • Sunday 12-11

The Gatehouse Pub 391 Dereham Road, Norwich NR5 8QJ Tel: 01603 620340

A popular pub with locals and holidaymakersalike, the Crown Inn is perched right on theclifftop overlooking the beautiful sandy beachesof Sheringham in Norfolk.

Enjoy a meal or snackfrom our extensive and

popular menu.

Tel: 01263 823213crownsheringham@hotmail.co.uk

www.crownsheringham.co.ukLifeboat Plain, East Cliff Sheringham NR26 8BQ

Five Real Ales always availableEvery Saturday - Live Local Bands

Monday nights - Pub Quiz with prizes, refreshments and free entry

50 | Winter 2015

Brewers of award winning East Anglian ales stouts and portersOur range of Permanent Ales

CLIFF QUAYClassic BitterAnchor BitterTolly RogerTumblehomeSea Dog

EARL SOHAMGannet MildVictoria Bitter

Sir Rogers PorterAlbert Ale

Brandeston Gold

Jolabrugg 5.2%a blast of winter chill is warmed

up with this golden amber coloured seasonal ale.

Old Strong 4.7% A glorious warming chestnutbrown ale. Fruit and spice flavours and lots of them.

Our winter seasonal ales

Our January and February SeasonalRoaring Forties 4% Amber coloured aleCrisp full fruity and citrus aroma. with a

good balance of malt and hops.Our beers are available throughout East Anglia and also atour brewery shop in Debenham (Unit 1A Meadow Works

Business Park Kenton Road Debenham IP14 6RP)For further details contact us on 01728 861213

www.cliffquay.co.uk or www.earlsohambrewery.co.uk

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

London Tavern, Attleborough:20p off a pint of real ale

Green Gate, Caister-on-Sea: 20p off apint of real ale

The Ugly Bug Inn, Colton:£1 off per full pint (no discounton halves, sorry)

Albion, Cromer: 10% offreal ales, draught and bottled

Red Lion, Drayton: 10% offof real ale

Oliver Twist, GreatYarmouth: 10% off acrossthe board - please show cardbefore ordering

Brickmakers, Horsford:10p off a half, 20p off a pint ofreal ale

Railway, North Elmham:10% off B&B and camping

The Bell, Norwich: 20% offall food. 50p off a pint (withyour CAMRA vouchers)

Compleat Angler,Norwich: 10% off all real ales

Glasshouse, Norwich: 20%off all food. 50p off a pint(with your CAMRA vouchers)

The Leopard, Norwich:10% off real ales

Lollards Pit, Norwich: 10% off

The Pig & Whistle,Norwich: 10% off real ales

Plasterers, Cowgate,Norwich: 10% off all real ales(available to all customers onMondays)

St Andrews Brewhouse,Norwich: 10% off their ownbeers

The Whiffler, Norwich:50p off a pint (with yourCAMRA vouchers)

The Woolpack, Norwich:10% off real ales

Grange Hotel, Ormesby St.Margaret, Norwich: 10%off all real ales

Lighthouse Inn, Walcott:10% off all real ales Cherry Tree, Wicklewood:30p off a pint of Buffy’s

If your pub or business offers adiscount to CAMRA, but isn’ton this list, please contactpubsofficer@norwichcamra.org.uk and let us know the details(including any restrictions).

Please note: We believe thediscounts listed are offered atthe time of going to press,however pubs may of coursewithdraw or change offers atany time!

Grab a CAMRA Discount at your local!The following local businesses offer a discount for CAMRA members (usually on presentation of aMembership Card, discounts are on real ale only unless stated). Full details of all pubs can be foundat WhatPub.com

Winter 2015 | 51

CASK ALE SALES IS THEFASTEST GROWING SECTOROF THE BEER MARKET

This year’s Cask Report – how pubs can profitfrom cask is supported by Cask Marque, CAMRAand many of the country’s brewers and pubcos.It finds that cask ale is in sustained volumegrowth, significantly outperforming the on-tradebeer market. According to the author PeteBrown, cask is forecast to hit 20% of on-tradebeer by 2020, hugely significant when beeraccounts for 64% of the average pub’s wet sales.

Cask ale gives people want they from pubs – apremium experience that can’t be replicated athome. Cask ale drinkers visit the pub twice asoften as the average person. Cask drinkers seethe quality and selection of cask ales as a reflec-tion of the overall quality of the pub. And realale drinkers are keeping pubs’ tills ringing: thecask ale drinker spends £967 a year in pubs,almost double the average person’s spend.However, the report recognises that people havea range of leisure experiences to choose fromand are going to the pub less. But when peopledo go to the pub, they’re looking for somethingthey can’t get at home or from the supermarket.Cask ale can’t be replicated at home, so it’s partof the less frequent but more valued pub experi-ence for a growing number of people.

THE BENEFITS OF BEING ANASSET OF COMMUNITY VALUE

New CAMRA research in England has found thatpubs benefit from being listed as an Asset ofCommunity Value (ACV). More than nine out often licensees of ACV-listed pubs said theywanted a window sticker to use the status toattract new customers and increase trade. Inaddition, more than four out of five licensees ofACV-listed pubs believe it has benefited them. People prize their local being listed too and are

more likely to feelloyal to their puband use it regularly.And now pubs canshow their listing bydisplaying CAMRA’sThis Pub Matterssticker.

WHITESHIELD’S BACK!

Good news for fans of the great White ShieldIPA. Burton on Trent’s Worthington brewery hasbeen idle for 18 months but is now to reopenunder a new owner. Molson Coors installed theequipment in 2010 but has now sold it to Plan-ning Solutions (PSL), the company whichoperates the National Brewery Centre museumon the site. PSL’s acquisition means a return tobrewing for former Bass brewer SteveWellington, famed for saving the iconic, bottle-conditioned Worthington White Shield.Wellington will once again be brewing bothWhite Shield and Red Shield under licence fromMolson Coors. Here’s hoping we see it back onsale pretty soon!

NOTTINGHAM’S ROBINHOOD - FROM ALMOST OUTTO CHAMP IN 18 MONTHS

A Nottingham pub which was derelict 18months ago has been named National CiderPub of the Year. The Robin Hood and Little Johndates back to 1750. Closed in 2013, the pubwas reopened in 2014 through a partnershipbetween Hucknall’s Lincoln Green BrewingCompany and Leicestershire’s Everards brewery.Since reopening under the management ofMark and Lorraine Swain, the pub has wonNottingham branch’s Pub of the Year 2015 aswell as being named the East Midlands cham-pion and the region’s Cider Pub of the Year. The

CAMRA News

52 | Winter 2015

pub has become famed for its eight ciders andperries which are always from smaller producers. How often have we heard from pubcos ‘this

pub isn’t viable and has to close, to be a convenience store/housing/whatever’? Here’sclear evidence that with the right tenants a pubcan revived and come from nothing to a cham-pion in only a few months!

A BUSINESS DEAL BEYONDHUMAN COMPREHENSION

After the usual ‘will they, won’t they’ dance, theworld’s largest brewer AB InBev has had its offeraccepted for the global number two, SABMiller.

Keen pub quizzers will know that SABMillerstarted in 1886 when Charles Glass beganmaking Castle beer for South African miners. It became the biggest brewery in South Africa,but plans to expand overseas were scuppered bythe trading restrictions imposed during theapartheid era. However, in the 1990s apartheidended and the company started buying up over-seas rivals and moved its headquarters toLondon. Among others it bought Grolsch,Foster’s and the Miller Brewing Company.

AB InBev was formed in 2008 by the merger ofAnnheuser-Busch (the US maker of Budweiser)and InBev, itself a merger of Belgium’s Interbrew(owner of Stella Artois) and AMBev the Brazilianmaker of Brahma.

The deal is not expected to have any imme-diate impact on UK real ale brewing sinceneither firm produces cask-conditioned beerhere. But it’s interesting just to consider theenormous numbers involved. Together, the twocompanies are worth something like £275bn.The merger is the biggest in UK stock markethistory and means, if successful, that one inthree beers drunk in the world will be made bythe new company. This leaves the next largest,Heineken, trailing with a paltry 10% of worldsales.

How all this will pan out is anybody’s guess -huge mergers often come unstuck eventually.And there is a definite desire in many parts ofthe world for something better than anonymous over-priced watery lager.

GREENE KING – BIG IN CHINA

When Chinese president Xi Jinping visited theUK last month, David Cameron invited him outto the Plough at Cadsden in Buckinghamshirefor a quiet pint – presumably in front of severalhundred press photographers. But the contrivedphoto-op had an unexpected consequence.Cameron’s favourite beer is, we are led tobelieve, Greene King IPA. The picture of Xidrinking it appeared across China and resultedin an explosion in the demand for anythingbranded Greene King. Normally around 6,000bottles of IPA are imported into China eachmonth - at least 80,000 bottles are planned fornext month.

Winter 2015 | 53

Norfolk Nips | CAMRA News

EATON COTTAGE UNTHANK RD, NORWICH Tel: 01603 453048

Fine Real Ales, lagers, wines and spirits

All Sky & BT Sports • A traditional pub

Good covered outside areas

Doggies welcome

“A festival of beers every day”

PLEASE TURN OVER...

56 | Winter 2015

...I have felt your presents!”

Beer Festivals CalendarSo many Beer Festivals, so little time. For further information, please see What’sBrewing, the CAMRA website, or contact the relevant Branches.

December 14 - 30Railway, North Elmham Christmas BeerFestival

January 25 - 30Vine, Norwich Winter Beer Festival

January 297th Elysian Winter Beer FestivalMembs Free, non Membs £2. Hot & Cold foodavail. More info see www.ely-camra.org.uk oremail elysianbf@ely-camra.org.

January 30Angel Gardens, NorwichLandlord Ian’s 28th Year anniversary party. Livelusic and free food.

February 8 - 14Trafford Arms Valenine Beer Festival60 Beers, Live Music including hog roast andBBQ

February 17-20CAMRA’s National Winter Ales FestivalLocated by Pride Park exit of Derby station.400+ Real Ales, bottled world beers,ciders/perries + mead. More infowww.nwaf.org.uk

February 16 - 21Whalebone, Norwich 20th Annual BeerFestivalCask ales on tap and gravity. Live Music, Quizand BBQ

Winter 2015 | 57

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FOUR REAL ALES & CIDER

Our 38th 2015 Norwich BeerFestival has come to its finishand volunteers including myselfare just recovering. The final

figures have yet to emerge but everythingseems to indicate that this year has been abumper breaking all sales records. Firstly, Iwould like to thank all those who came to thefestival and I hope you all enjoyed our splendidevent. Secondly, as Chairman of Norwich &Norfolk CAMRA and on behalf of TheCommittee, I would I like to thank the 350 plusvolunteers who contributed and made thisfestival such a successful event. I can think of noother organisation who could raise such enthu-siastic numbers. Without volunteers this eventwould not be possible.

There is now less than a month to go beforethe deadline for nominations for selection ofpubs in the next ‘Good Beer Guide’ (2017). The deadline for nominations or pubs in TheNorwich and Norfolk Branch is 31st Decemberso if you know of a pub that merits nominationfor the ‘Good Beer Guide’ (GBG) please nomi-nate it. This can be done by visiting our Branch

website www.norwichcamra.org.uk then fromthe homepage click onto “Good Beer Guide” andthen “nominations”. A list of those pubs alreadynominated will then appear. If you wish tomake any entries you must login by clicking’here’. Then put in your membership number inthe user name box and your postcode in thepassword box. You may then add your nomina-tions(s) to the list. Please remember that justbecause a pub is in the current guide it does notautomatically mean that it is on the 2017 listand all pubs whether in the current guide or nothave to be nominated. So if you are not sure ifyour favourite pub(s) have been nominatedplease check on the website so as not to arriveat the February voting meeting and just assumeyour favourite pub(s) will be on the voting form!

The autumn ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ is coming to an end and winter isapproaching and thoughts are now turning toChristmas. So it is time to take the opportunityto wish all NIPS readers a Merry Christmas anda Happy New Year.

Warren WordsworthNorwich and Norfolk Branch Chair

Warren’s Words

Winter 2015 | 59

Norfolk Nips | Last orders

As I write this, the last few days have been verycold. The first frosts of the winter have occurred.I wish I could say that I am writing this by aroaring fire with a good pint of real ale in myhand, unfortunately not.

At our last meeting we announced the shortlist of pubs for our Pub of the Year 2016. Thefour are Victory at Clenchwarton, Kings Arms atShouldham, Angel at Larling and Queen Victoriaat Snettisham.

The winner is again to be decided by you thebranch members. Simply, request the scoringsheets from Jeff, score all four pubs (All forms toJeff by the first Tuesday in February) and the pubwith the best score wins.

This time of the year heralds the Winter BeerFestivals. In addition to the excellent offering ofdark and winter beers, many breweries roll outtheir Christmas offerings. It never fails to amazeme how they think up some of the names! Enjoythe many offerings.

On 16th February, we shall be meeting atNarborough Sports & Social Club to decidewhich pubs will be in the GBG 2017 allmembers are welcome. The winner of Pub ofthe Year will also be announced. This is one ofour longer meetings, but really enjoyable.

Finally, on behalf of all the members of theWest Norfolk Branch may I wish you all a MerryChristmas and a Happy New Year.Cheers

Steve Barker W.N. Chairman

Steve’s Words

60 | Winter 2015

Norwich and North Norfolk Branch

Tuesday 8th DecemberBranch Christmas Quiz – Fat Cat Brewery Tap,8pm

Tuesday 15th DecemberBranch Meeting – Whalebone, 8pm

Wednesday 16th DecemberBeer Tasting Panel – Red Lion, Bishopsgate

Friday 18th DecemberChristmas Crawl around Norwich, see white-board for full timetable.

Wednesday 6th January 2016Beer Tasting Panel – Compleat Angler

Friday 8th JanuaryFirst Friday Five – Surrey Tavern, Pig &Whistle, Lamb, Bell, Murderers. 8pm

Tuesday 19th JanuaryBranch Meeting – Angel Gardens, 8pm

Wednesday 27th JanuaryBeer Tasting Panel – Wig & Pen

Friday 29th JanuaryCampaign Trip – up to 5 pubs in Norwichsuburbs

Friday 5th FebruaryFirst Friday Five – Red Lion, Adam & Eve, Take5, Glasshouse, Lawyer. 8.00pm

Tuesday 16th FebruaryBranch Meeting & GBG Voting – Venue tbc

Friday 19th FebruaryCampaign Trip – up to 5 pubs to the south ofNorwich

Friday 26th FebruaryCAMRA Awards Evening – Top of the Terrace,Norwich City FC. 7.30pm

Friday 4th MarchFirst Friday Five - Garden House, Mad Moose,Unthank Arms, York Tavern, Eagle. 8.00pm

Tuesday 15th MarchBranch AGM – Take 5, 8.00pm

If anyone has any other suggestions for tripsand social events in 2015 or to book seatsplease contact Michael Phillips on socialsecretary@norwichcamra.org.uk

West Norfolk Branch

Tuesday 8th DecemberPeddars Inn, Sporle � Saturday 19th DecemberChristmas tour of Norwich (See listing elsewhere)

Tuesday 12th January Coach & Horses, Dersingham, brief meetfollowed by Dinner.�Tuesday 9th FebruaryGin Trap, Ringstead�Tuesday 8th March TBA (See What’s Brewing)

Note: all Tuesday meetings start 8pm andnormally include a social

Norfolk Nips | Dates for your Diary

CAMRA Branch Calendar

Norwich & Norfolk BranchChairman: Warren WordsworthTel: 01603 665557Email: chairman@norwichcamra.org.uk

Secretary: Rob WhitmoreEmail: secretary@norwichcamra.org.uk

Social Secretary: Michael PhilipsEmail: socialsecretary@norwichcamra.org.uk

Pubs Officer: Ian StampEmail: pubsofficer@norwichcamra.org.uk

West Norfolk BranchChairman: Steve Barkeremail: steve.barker495@btinternet.com

Secretary: Ian Bailey

Contact: Ian BaileyTel: 01553 766904

Branch websites:www.norwichcamra.org.ukwww.camra.org.uk/wnorfolk

Branch mailing list web page:groups.yahoo.com/group/CAMRA_Norwich

Published every 3 months by the Norwichand Norfolk & West Norfolk branches ofthe Campaign for Real Ale © N&N CAMRA 2014 Norfolk Nips is producedand distributed by members of the branch in their own time. Views expressed in Norfolk Nips are not necessarily those of the editor or ofCAMRA.

Edited by:Graham FreemanEmail: freem_kwak@yahoo.co.ukChris LucasEmail: chris-stig@tiscali.co.uk

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Advertising:For advertising enquiries please contactJane Michelson on: 01778 382718jane@orchardhousemedia.co.uk

Distribution:12,000 copies / four times a year

Norwich and Norfolk District: Adrian Simpson

West Norfolk District : Ros Harre r.harre@btinternet.com

Branch contacts | Norfolk Nips

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62 | Winter 2015

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