Winter Issue 2012 1
The FREE Magazine of the Swale branch of CAMRA
The Campaign for Real Ale
Swale Ale Vol 4 Issue 4
50% MORE! Pub closures and beer prices!
In this issue… Pumps, fonts and return trays
Beer prices
Local cider makers win national awards
T he CAMRA campaign against the tax
escalator (whereby beer duty increases by
2% above inflation each year) had a result; a
parliamentary back-bench debate on 1st
November led to the passing of a motion for the
Government to conduct a ‘thorough review of
the economic and social impact of the escalator’.
A step forward that sends out a clear message
from inside Westminster. However, Treasury
Minister Sajid Javid rejected the claim that such
price hikes were killing pubs. The next step on
this issue is the CAMRA mass lobby of
Parliament on 12th December.
On the same day CAMRA revealed in a
press release that 18 pubs are now closing a
week, 50% more than last year; 450 pubs gone
since March. If the escalator isn’t the main cause
of pub closure what is? Is it perhaps the pub
business model where landlords are
overcharged for their products? The CAMRA campaign is a cause
supported by many in the trade including pubs
and breweries, but tax is a relatively easy and
popular target. Everybody dislikes unnecessary
taxation. But are you aware that a lot of pubs
have to pay 50% more than the market price for
their beer! It has been going on for a long time
and needs to be fully exposed.
In a time of economic belt-tightening it
is normal practice for businesses to maintain
sales levels by offering discounts and special
offers. So why is part of the beer industry so
different?
How much does a cask of beer cost?
Go to a brewery website and you will probably
not find the ‘Firkin’ costs of their staple product.
However my bit of research reveals that a beer
Prices as they were
Winter Issue 2012 3
agency/supplier offers a firkin of a Shepherd
Neame seasonal 4% beer (9 gallons, or 72 pints)
at £72, excluding VAT@20%. So cost of
purchase from the agency is £1.20 a pint.
That same beer is being sold by the
brewery to one of their own publicans for
£113.00, add VAT and hey presto it is £1.88 a
pint. 50% more. To rub salt in the wound the
same local brewer sells a stronger beer brewed
on the pilot brewery for £110+VAT. Whatever
happened to economies of scale within a large
brewery, let alone against the local micro-
brewers.
Look at the Free House? Well, as you
may know there are very few real free houses;
many are free of brewery tie, but are instead
tied to a pub company (PubCo), such as
Enterprise Inns or Punch Taverns. So what do
the PubCo’s charge their Landlords? Well it
depends; it depends on the type of agreement the tenant has and, as I understand with
Enterprise PubCo, whether the tenancy
agreement allows the discount on their beer list.
For Enterprise, the basic discount seems to be a
set amount and a standard bitter will receive a
discount, which was recently £20.79 a firkin.
This gives a discount, depending on the beer, of
around 25%. For Young’s Bitter or Adnams’
Southwold bitter the cost is around £84.50,
excluding VAT. The same discount also applied
recently to their Premium beer range, so the
percentage discounted drops slightly. Fuller’s
London Pride has a discount of around 21%,
costing £97.72 excluding VAT, instead of
£118.51.
If the Enterprise tenant is really lucky (?)
they may be offered a ‘super’ discount but more
common is access to the SIBA list (Society of
Independent Brewers) because of the interesting
range of beers that then become available. But
it is at a cost. No discount shown here. In fact
the prices are pretty scary. Our local
Hopdaemon brewery might sell you a firkin of
Golden Braid 3.7% bitter for less than £70+VAT.
If you buy it from the SIBA list you spend an
amazing £103.67 +VAT. What is more the SIBA
list is progressive on ABV so each percentage
increase raises the price, with a 6% beer costing
around £130 excluding VAT.
Now there are two things that occur to
me; firstly the extra money the landlord pays is
passed onto us and with the enhanced price we
are also paying the increased VAT for a product
it could be argued is 50% more wholesale, than
it should be. Those who benefit from this
overcharging are not just the PubCo’s and some
breweries but also the Treasury, and indirectly
the supermarkets. The losers? Well in the long
term everybody will lose as more pubs will
close, but right now it is the customer and the
landlord.
The second thing is what can we do
about it? Well joining CAMRA is a start;
spreading the information to others will help,
but bearing in mind the importance to tourism
of our heritage of public houses, particularly in a brewing town like Faversham, perhaps a letter
or email to the Tourism Minister, who happens
to be local MP Mr Hugh Robertson. I am sure
he will be pleased to know our views. [JW]
50% MORE! Pub closures and beer prices!
Become an active member of CAMRA
Write to your local MP and or sign the
petitions on the CAMRA national
website to show your support and
views.
Your local MPs are:
Faversham and Mid Kent
Rt Hon Hugh Robertson MP, 11 The
Square, Lenham, Kent, ME17 2PQ.
Sittingbourne and Sheppey
Rt Hon Gordon Henderson, 1st Floor,
Unit 10, Periwinkle Court Business
Centre, Church Street, Milton Regis,
Sittingbourne, ME10 2JZ.
Winter Issue 2012 4
Swale Ale © Winter 2012
Published by the Swale Branch of the
Campaign for Real Ale Ltd (CAMRA).
Circulation: 1000
Editorial Committee and Contributors:
Jeff Waller, Gary Holness, Keir Stanley,
Simon Ing, Les Bailey, Suzanne Collins, Gill
Joiner, Keith Joiner, and the Brewery
History Society.
Print Liaison: Les Bailey
Advertising: Gary Holness
——————————————–————
All correspondence to:
Les Bailey
58 Wallers Road
Faversham
Kent
ME13 7PL
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 01795 538824
———————————————–———
Any opinions expressed within these
pages are those of the individual authors
only and do not represent those of
CAMRA or any of its officials.
The existence of this publication in a
particular outlet does not imply an
endorsement of it by Swale CAMRA .
———————————————–———
Printed by:
Abbey Print, Faversham
———————————————–——
Branch Details
Chairman: Simon Ing
Secretary: Les Bailey
Social Secretary: Steve Bennion
Treasurer: Les Bailey
Editorial
G reeting one and all and welcome to
the winter edition of Swale Ale. Well
the season of mist and mellow fruitfulness
is well upon us. Spooks have spooked us at
Halloween, fireworks have lit up the sky on
November 5th and it’s getting colder. It is
at this time of year, as the nights are getting
darker, that thoughts turn to darker ales.
Gone is the yearning for the golden ales of
summer and here are the warming,
chocolate, liquorice and spice flavours of
some of the fantastic ales available at this
time of year. Christmas will soon be upon
us, and with it Santa brings a sack full of
goodies in the form of delicious Christmas
ales (but only if you have been good boys
and girls!!).
Talking about sacks full of goodies
this issue of Swale Ale is brimming with
them, with pieces as diverse as the current
state of beer taxation in Britain, the
Brewery History Society and pump return
trays, as well as information about beer and
pubs in the Swale area and much more.
So get out there and find yourself a
warm pub with a roaring open fire and
settle down and enjoy what the season has
to offer.
Advertising rates:
Half Page £25
Full A5 Page £50
Minimum circulation 800
Winter Issue 2012 5
Chairman's Chat
N ow is the winter of our discontent. Now
there someone who has just been told
that the in-laws have been invited for
Christmas. It usually goes something like ‘We
are having in laws for Christmas.’ I know you’re
all thinking it - ‘I'd prefer turkey!’
Well with this fait accompli what can a
man do? Well if they have any sense, go to the
pub and consider their options. First thing what
to drink? Stout, Porter, Old Ale or a winter/
seasonal ale. Now make a plan. You know
you’re going to have to go shopping, so
remember - agree to going but make sure you
get to decide on the drinks to buy. That way
you will have a good beer or two to drink over
the festive season. Now as for the rest of the
shopping, it's mostly buying stuff that people
don't want (so keep the receipts). If you have
kids or grandkids it is now time to earn some
goodwill. Arrange to take them to visit Santa.
Now don't fall into the usual trap, i.e. queuing
for hours at a Santa's grotto. It will cost a bit
more but most of the steam railways run Santa
specials.
A day out, a ride on a train and here's
the best bit, most of the railways have a café and
a shop. You’re thinking ‘so what?’. Well they’re
licensed and sell beer. O.K. some only sell
bottles, but it is usually good and often bottle
conditioned. Do your homework and if you
need to take a glass and bottle opener, you will
know. Now sit on the train and drink your beer
while watching the scenery go by and waiting for
Santa to appear.
Now you may well find me in a nice
warm pub, not too close to the fire, making
plans to survive the festive season and drinking a
winter ale. So enjoy what you can and I'll see
you in the pub or at a winter ales beer festival.
Simon Ing
Faversham’s hidden gem The Shipwright’s Arms, Hollowshore,
Faversham
A 17th Century traditional creek side free house. Selling up to five real ales from Kentish brewers, and serving good food. Take a trip back in time and savour the delights of a truly traditional pub.
Rated by Jamie Oliver as one of the top 100 traditional
pubs in the country.
Please check website or phone to confirm hours of
opening.
Tel: 01795 590088
Web: www.theshipwrightsarmspub.co.uk
Directions: At Davington School turn into Ham Road and follow the signs across the marsh.
Winter Issue 2012 6
37 Station Street, Sittingbourne, Kent ME10 3ED 01795 228971
SHEPHERD NEAME ALES SERVED Mon—Sat 11am—11pm
Sun 12—8:30pm
Thai Restaurant and Takeaway
Tue to Sat 12 noon—2:30pm & 5—10pm
Christmas bookings now being taken from a choice of Thai or Traditional English Menu
THE FOUNTAIN SITTINGBOURNE
Winter Issue 2012 7
Swale CAMRA Branch Diary Saturday 24th November 2012
Branch Mini Bus Trip to Rural Pubs
2.00 – 8.00pm (approx. timings) Details via
Wednesday 12th December 2012 Branch Business Meeting: 8.00pm Shipwrights Arms, Hollowshore, nr Oare
Saturday 15th December 2012 Faversham Christmas Pub Crawl 12 noon The Anchor, Abbey Street; 12.40pm The Phoenix; 1.20pm The Swan & Harlequin (others to be decided on the day).
Wednesday 9th January 2013
Branch Business Meeting: 8.00pm
Red Lion, Blue Town, Sheerness
Saturday 19th January 2013 Kent Regional Meeting
12 noon – 3.30pm
The Elephant, Faversham
Wednesday 13th February 2013
Branch Business Meeting: 8.00pm
The Swan, Teynham
Festival news
Pig’s Ear Beer & Cider Festival 2012. 200+
beers. 4th—8th December. Round Chapel,
Powerscroft Road, Hackney, E5 0PU.
National Winter Ales Festival 2013. 300+ beers.
23rd-26th January. Sheridan Suite, Manchester,
M40 8RR.
‘20th’ White Cliffs Winter Ales Festival 2013.
1st & 2nd February. Maison Dieu (Town Hall),
Biggin Street, Dover, CT16 1DL.
Leas Lift Beer Festival. 15-17th March 2013.
Lower Sandgate Road, Folkestone, Kent, CT20
1PR.
Swale CAMRA Branch Meetings
Your local branch holds open business meetings on the second Wednesday of each
month. These meetings are held in a variety of different pubs around Swale.
The branch aims to be inclusive and tries to alternate meetings between town and village
pubs.
At meetings we do follow an agenda, however discussions are light-hearted and we discuss
ways that we can reach our campaigning objectives.
It is also hoped that social trips can also be arranged to pubs in London and Thanet. Our
Social Secretary is also looking to organise a pub games safari around pubs in the
Faversham area (details of all future events to follow in due course).
If you would like any further information about our meetings please check our website
www.camra-swale.org.uk or contact Les Bailey on 01795 538824.
Winter Issue 2012 9
Kent Pub and Brewery News
Shepherd Neame:
The Pilot Brewery has recently produced the
following beers: Oast Dodger (5.5% abv) for
the Kentish Green Hop Beer Fortnight; India
Pale Ale (6.1% abv); Maple Jack (4.5% abv);
Brilliant Pale Ale (5.6% abv); Salutation Ale
(4.0% abv); Special Strong Ale (6.0% abv) and
Deal Storm Warrior (4.0% abv).
The Main Brewery has recently produced the
following beers: Spooks Ale (4.7% abv) - the
Halloween seasonal; Baltijos Red Ale (5.5%
abv) - a collaboration with the Klaipeda
Brewery in Lithuania for the Wetherspoon
Autumn Beer Festival and Red Sails (3.9%
abv).
Hopdaemon:
Has won the following SIBA (Small
Independent Brewers Association) Awards:
Gold for Green Daemon; Gold for bottled
Leviathan and Bronze for bottled
Skrimshander.
Mad Cat Brewery:
Change of use and other approvals have been
obtained. The brewing equipment will be
installed at Brogdale Farm, Faversham in the
first week in December when it is hoped that
brewing will also commence.
Faversham:
The Anchor, Abbey Street re-opened on 26th
October with new licensees Grant and
Natalie Ravenscroft. The pub will now also
have a coffee shop and small general store.
Currently this pub serves six Shepherd
Neame beers, including Bishops Finger, on
hand pump.
The Phoenix Tavern, Abbey Street are
encouraging people not to (eat) drink and
drive by introducing the Phoenix courtesy
mini bus. This is for parties of 6 or more
booking an A La Carte meal on Thursday or
Friday evenings or parties of 8 or more on a
Saturday evening/Sunday lunchtime, within a
12.5 mile radius. Booking is essential.
The Mechanics Arms, West Street closed at
the end of September. We are trying to find
out what plans Shepherd Neame have for this
pub.
The Bear, Market Place recently had Rudgate
Ruby Mild as a guest beer.
The Railway Hotel, Preston Street. Although
Chris is leaving us soon it is good to see he
continues to serve a number of Shepherd
Neame special beers from the main plant and
the pilot brewery, including Brilliant Pale Ale
and the IPA, which sold quickly.
The Old Wine Vaults, Preston Street was
recently selling 3 real ciders. Starting in the
new year Thursday night will be music night
including a music quiz once a month.
The Elephant, The Mall. Jim and Kim have
now completed their purchase of the
freehold. They are planning a celebratory
party some time in the new year. They have
booked Andy Mack to play on Saturday 22
December and will be open on both
Christmas Eve and New Years Eve which
both fall on a Monday.
Selling:
The Sondes Arms has now re-opened and on
a recent visit had Adnams Bitter and
Ghostship and Shepherd Neame Master
Brew.
Rose and Crown, Perry Wood was recently
selling Harveys Old Ale.
Winter Issue 2012 10
75 Preston Street, Faversham
01795 591817
The Old Wine Vaults is a 16th century pub set
in the heart of historic Faversham.
FOUR Cask Ales TWO Cask Ciders
Cider Pub of the Year and Third Place Pub of the Year
Visit our website for Christmas menu and
what's on over the festive holiday.
Starting in the new year Thursday night will be music night including a
music quiz once a month.
20p off nominated ale and cask cider with a valid CAMRA
Card
The pub is open Mon-Sat
11am to 11pm and
Sundays 12pm to
10.30pm
Winter Issue 2012 12
The
PHOENIX
TAVERN Abbey Street, FAVERSHAM
01795 591462
REAL ALES from Around the UK and Local
REAL FOOD prepared freshly daily on the premises
REAL ATMOSPHERE lovely garden and open inglenook log
fires
REAL TRADITION - 14th century oak beamed pub
Quality lagers and Quality Wine from Corney and Barrow
Good Beer Guide 2013
The Phoenix Tavern
Faversham
@Phoenixfav
www.thephoenixtavernfaversham.co.uk
ME13 7BH - 01795 591462
Winter Issue 2012 13
Beer tax escalator campaign
T he Summer
edition of
Swale Ale drew
attention to the fact
that, as a result of
the Government
introducing the beer
duty escalator in
2008, the cost of a
pint has risen by over
40% since this date.
The escalator increases
beer duty by 2% above
inflation every year until
at least 2014/15 and
means that drinkers now pay over a third
of their pint in tax!! This puts tremendous
pressure on all pubs, bars and brewers and
unfairly penalises beer drinkers. It should
be noted that the beer and pub industry
supports almost 1
million jobs and
contributes £21
billion to the UK
Gross Domestic
Product (GDP).
CAMRA is
campaigning to
have this measure
scrapped in the
next Budget and is
l o b b y i n g
Government to
this effect. Over
100,000 CAMRA
members have
signed an on-line
petition which meant that this issue was
subject to a debate in the House of
Commons. This is one of only a handful of
e-petitions to succeed in this respect and
also has the backing of the British Beer and
Pub Association and the Society of
Independent Brewers.
CAMRA is now looking to reinforce
its message through a mass lobby of
parliament, which takes place on
Wednesday 12th December. It is hoped
t h a t o v e r 1 0 0 0
individual members,
including Swale branch
members, will attend to
meet individual MPs to
explain how unfair and
damaging these punitive
tax increases are on
Britain’s national drink.
This will be the most
extensive lobbying
campaign that CAMRA
has taken in its 40 year
history.
This is a major
opportunity to change
beer tax so consider
joining the lobby on
12th December. More background
information, timings and details can be
found at: www.saveyourpintlobby.org.uk.
[LB]
www.saveyourpintlobby.org.uk
Winter Issue 2012 14
White Lion
Selling
The White Lion is a restored coaching
inn dating from 1703, in the village of
Selling, close to the beautiful walks of
Perry Woods
Mon - Fri: 12:00 - 15:00 and 18:00 - 22:45
Sat 12:00 - 22:45 Sun 12:00 - 22:45
Winter Issue 2012 15
Brewery History Society
I nterested in beer? Of course you are, or you
wouldn’t be reading this august magazine. A
number of your colleagues in the Kent branches
of CAMRA are members of the Brewery
History Society and we thought it would be a
good idea to tell you a little about this
organisation, especially as it was formed in Kent
by three local beer enthusiasts.
The BHS was formed in Kent in 1972
and focuses mainly on British brewery history
(including related subjects, such as malting),
although foreign news is also reported. We
currently have over 550 members including
around 90 corporate members, and 15
institutions, major museums and libraries. The
corporate members are mainly brewers and
maltsters, of course, but also include such
organisations as the Institute of Brewing &
Distilling and English Heritage, whilst the
individual members comprise a broad church of industry professionals, historians (both amateur
and professional), collectors and those with a
general interest in beer and brewing.
Publications include a quarterly journal;
typically a perfect bound volume full of erudite
articles, complemented by a quarterly
newsletter full of industry news, readers’
queries (and hopefully answers) and general
informal snippets of information. We also
publish books from time to time, generally
county directories and, of course, ‘A Century of
British Brewers- Plus’, the first essential for all
beer aficionados, containing details of over
10,000 British brewers known to have existed
since 1890. We have recently published our
first colour volume, appropriately a directory of
breweries in Kent.* Entitled ‘Kentish Brewers
and the Brewers of Kent’, author Peter
Moynihan has covered the history of hundreds
of breweries, large and small, in this stunning
volume’s 282 A4 pages.
Fremlin’s specialities
Winter Issue 2012 17
Brewery History Society
Contact address for more information:
Jeff Sechiari, Manor Side East, Mill Lane, Byfleet,
Surrey, KT14 7RS
[email protected] or see
www.BreweryHistory.com
*The book ‘Kentish Brewers and the Brewers of
Kent’ is available from The BHS Bookshop, Long
High Top, Heptonstall, Hebden Bridge, West
Yorkshire, HX7 7PF, and The Elephant, The Mall,
Faversham.
Price £18.95 plus £3.15 postage & package
(£17.95 post free for BHS Members)
We hold a number of meetings at breweries
throughout the year, have a major archive, an
oral history archive and arrange occasional
conferences.
One area that many people, even non-
members, have enjoyed contributing to is our
collection of defunct brewery information and
photographs. This forms a large part of the web
site and records all known examples of now
defunct brewery names still to be seen. It is
arranged geographically and in the Kent section
alone we have over 70 entries, including such
evocative names as Flint, Tomson & Wotton,
Reffell’s, Russell’s, Fremlin, George Beer, Rigden,
Ash & Co., Dartford, New Northfleet,
Woodhams, Style & Winch, Budden & Biggs and
many more. I am sure there are more examples
to be found and we are always keen to hear of
any that we have missed.
Do please have a look at the web site to get a feel for our activities. As mentioned above,
brewery visits form an important part of our
calendar and in the past year alone we have had
visits to several West Midlands breweries, to
Guinness in Dublin, a trip to Nottingham to
include the stunning former Prince of Wales
Brewery, a town walk and another brewery visit;
and a series of walks exploring the brewing and
malting sites in parts of London, Newark, the
Vale of Aylesbury, North Kent, Edinburgh and
Norfolk and an AGM weekend including Fullers,
Camden, Brodie’s & Twickenham. Coming up
we have visits to Kent, Dorset and West
Yorkshire to look at hops and breweries. On a
sadder note we also try to visit any brewery
threatened with closure.
All in all a society of like-minded people,
information and fun. Why not join us? You
would be very welcome. [BHS]
Rigden Ltd of Faversham
Winter Issue 2012 18
Valid from 2nd January 2012 until 29th February 2012
SWALE CAMRA PUB OF THE YEAR 2012—HIGHLY COMMENDED
Winter Issue 2012 19
Pumps, fonts and return trays
T his summer I travelled up to Scotland
for my holiday supping real ale and
fine single malts in Edinburgh and on the
Isle of Islay.
Whilst visiting some of my favourite
pubs in Edinburgh I started reading an
article in Pints of View, the CAMRA
magazine for Edinburgh and S.E. Scotland.
The article gave the case for and against the
use of return trays in pubs. I was sure that
such a practice had died out, and that no
real ale pub would use return trays. It
appears I was wrong.
In Edinburgh (and other places in the
UK) return trays continue to be legally
used. In Edinburgh many traditional pubs
still have a font dispensing system. This air
pressured tap looks like a keg pump,
however it works without the use of CO2.
The article I was reading explains
that ‘if the barperson pours your beer with the valve handle turned towards you, then you are only getting fresh beer straight from the cask. However, if the barperson pours your beer with the handle pointing to him/her, then you are getting a blend of spilt beer from the return tray and fresh beer from the cask.’ It is this practice that
it is suggested leads to an ‘upset stomach’
or illness after a night on the beers. The
article suggests that beer runs not only
down the glass but also over the hands of
the bar staff, contaminating the beer, which
can then be left to sit in the drip tray until
the next customer orders a pint.
This argument leads you to believe
that such a practice would only be used in
pubs where the beer was of dubious quality
and would not be the sort of place that you
would find a discerning real ale drinker.
Well you would be wrong. The traditional
Scottish tall font and return tray system is
used in many of Edinburgh's best pubs,
including those listed in the good beer
guide. I have for many years drunk in these
pubs, and have always received an excellent
pint with no side effects. My initial distaste
for such a system seems incorrect. In
addition it has been brought to my
attention by the editor of Pints of View that
return trays are far more frequently used
with normal hand pumps, where it is even
more difficult to know if the return system
is in use.
The article goes on to provide the
‘case for’ the use of return trays, with the
licensee at the Diggers (Athletic Arms) in
Traditional font style dispenser
Winter Issue 2012 21
Pumps, fonts and return trays
Edinburgh stating ‘At the Diggers we have eight tall fonts and two hand pulls. We feel that the art of pouring the perfect pint in the most hygienic way possible is best achieved using the tall fonts, but only if you have been trained properly. It is harder and more time consuming to train staff to use them, but it is worth it to have well-trained members of staff who can gauge the condition of the beer and dispense that perfect pint. Our Aitken taps have separate return trays so there is no cross contamination of beers. When pouring we can either draw beer straight from the cask or a mix from the cask and return tray. Staff know only to use the tray when the pub is busy so that the beer does not lose condition by sitting in the tray too long and importantly the amount of beer from the return tray never forms more than a quarter of the pint. It is impossible to serve just ale from the return tray as fresh beer from the cask line is required to draw the beer from the tray; by overfilling the glass we can ensure a perfect head on every pint. However staff are also trained not to thrash the beer and create excessive overflow. When pouring, we tilt the glass and angle our hands so any beer overflow does not come into contact with the pourer. Hand sanitizer is there for use at all times and staff are rigorously instructed to wash their hands as often as possible.’ After reading this article I spent
some time watching each of my pints being
pulled, observing if, how and when the
return system was utilised. I discussed its
use with bar staff, landlords and managers
and was told that it never got used when it
was quiet as the beer would go stale.
Pubs to visit in Edinburgh
Bow Bar - eight real ales, huge selection
of single malt whiskies.
Halfway House - four real ales, food,
CAMRA discount.
Blue Blazer - good selection of real ales
including those from micro breweries.
My question is this. Is such a system
actually necessary? I rarely see vast
quantities of beer being poured into the
drip tray, so the wastage must be low. Is
the extra work involved in training and
maintaining such a system financially viable?
This may be because as a southern drinker I
do not expect a thick head on my pint!
I do however want to say thank you
to the editor of Pints of View, Fred
Chrystal, who allowed me to use their
article. If you would like to read the full
a r t i c l e i t i s a v a i l a b l e a t
www.edinburghcamra.org.uk/publications
under Summer 2012.
I would also like to share my
favourite pubs in Edinburgh and to suggest
that it is an excellent city to visit for the
beer tourist. In my opinion the beer is
always of an excellent quality with many
different styles available. [KS]
Winter Issue 2012 22
T: 01795530060 M: 07582556022 E: [email protected] W: www.plumbingandgasservicekenk.co.uk
Winter Issue 2012 23
Bat and trap at The Castle
T his year’s match was again held at The
Castle, Oare, near Faversham, on the
Saturday of the August bank holiday weekend.
Bob Mason the landlord arranged us into seven
teams comprised of CAMRA members, their
friends and pub regulars.
We play a shortened version of the game
with each batsman being bowled ten balls unless
he is bowled out, caught out or bats himself out.
Teams play each other in rotation until every
team had played each other twice and then we
had a short break for food.
After enjoying a spot of lunch we played
a series of knockout matches to determine the
winners and runners up. Many thanks are due to
Bob & Dawn Mason for their organisation and
the very enjoyable food (even homemade
cakes!). A good time was had by all and even the
weather played ball. [GH] Les is bowled over again
Until early 2013 brewed at Kent Brewery, Birling
Winter Issue 2012 24
The Sondes Arms
Selling
Restaurant open Friday / Saturday Night 6:30 to 9:00pm Sunday Lunch 12:00 to 4:00pm
Curry Night Tuesdays Fish & Chip Night Thursdays Bookings taken for Christmas
Booking recommended
Regular Sunday Lunch Music Blues/Jazz Quiz night every Wednesday
Kitchen run by two ex-RAF Chefs
One minutes walk from Selling station
Convenience store open from 6:30am until 11:00pm
Dog Friendly/Children on leads Tel: 01227 752517
Winter Issue 2012 25
For your convenience
beer has been banned!
G reetings Gentle Reader. Since my last
article Old Obadiah has been on his
holidays. Crossing The Pond no less to spend
some time in Chicago and its environs. Now
don’t get me wrong I am not going to regale
you with pages of places you have never been
and beers that you are unlikely to try (although I
would recommend the beer from The Wild
Onion Brewpub, Barrington, Illinois). Suffice to
say I enjoyed some really good and varied ales
from several of the numerous American micro-
breweries, check them out if you are over there
sometime - I think you will be pleasantly
surprised that it is not all Bud, Coors and Miller
Lite!
Whilst I was in the Good Ol’ US of A I
read some interesting pieces about the effect of
Prohibition on beer brewing in America so this
is the topic of my piece this time.
In America they are very keen on making life as simple as possible and will often
presage a new rule with ‘For your convenience’
for example, and I cite Bill Bryson here when
staying in a hotel he came across a notice saying
– ‘For your convenience ice machines are
situated on floors two and seven.’ Next to the
place on the fourth floor where an ice machine
once stood! The implication is that it is for your
betterment but really isn’t. So I can’t help
wondering if there was a notice put up across
America in the Twenties that read something
like ‘For your convenience the 18th Amendment
to the United States Constitution has banned
the production, sale and transportation of
alcoholic beverages’. Now although it was illegal
to make, sell or move beer it was not illegal to
own or consume it. Let’s just think about this
for a minute. On the face of it beer was out,
however America’s pioneering spirit was not
going to be crushed that easily. The average
American realised that if he couldn’t go to a bar
for a beer he could go to his own cellar and as
it was not illegal to buy the ingredients to make
beer there was an explosion in home brewing.
The sale of home brewing equipment
and ingredients went through the roof. Even
Woolworths started selling beer making kits
(something they continued to do until their sad
demise). The government realised that these
sales had gone up enormously but amazingly did
not realise why. One Government Prohibition
Agent, a certain A W McDaniel, deduced that,
due to the amount of malt extracts being sold,
there must be an enormous amount of baking
being done!! This however did not explain why
in one year hop sales exceeded thirteen million
dollars. The Prohibition Bureau finally cottoned
on and it was estimated that by 1929 the
amount of home brewing ingredients sold meant
that Americans must be brewing around seven
hundred million gallons of beer at home!! A
poem, written by a member of the New York State Rotary Club, of the time went: -
Is the guy in the flat hat helping or trying to
stop the beer being poured away?
Winter Issue 2012 26
For your convenience
beer has been banned!
Mother’s in the kitchen washing out jugs; Sister’s in the pantry bottling suds.
Father’s in the cellar mixing up hops And Johnny’s on the front porch watching for
the cops.
Eventually the Feds worked out that the average
American must be making beer and in the first
ten years of prohibition agents seized over one
billion gallons of illegally brewed beer. The
problem arose when it came to prosecution. To
search a private premises a warrant was needed.
However in order to get a warrant there had to
be evidence that that the premises was being
used for the sale of beer, not just production for
home use, so the typical defence was that it was
for home consumption. ‘Honestly your Honour
the twenty five hogsheads of beer in my cellar
was for my own consumption’. This seemed to
work most of the time - even if the Feds had
already seized and poured away your stocks you
were free to go and simply brew some more
with no more than a mild slap on the wrist. A
fabulous example of this was where a certain
Nebraskan attorney, Mr Frank Bartos, was
caught with 700 quarts of homebrew in his
home. The judge said that although Bartos
violated the law it was not an act of ‘moral
turpitude’ and therefore did not reflect on his
ability to practice law and that 700 quarts of
beer would indicate a considerable capacity on
the part of him, his family and guests to his
house!!!
Now I am sure that many of you have
brewed beer at home. Even Obadiah had a shot
at it once or twice with a ‘Geordie Home Brew’
kit and the results were, shall we say, distinctive
but not undrinkable. However the descriptions
of the time were that the beer confiscated
ranged from undrinkable to unsanitary or just
plain filthy. The beer was said to be sludge like,
with a mud brown appearance, a sour yeasty
smell and a taste like laundry soap! ‘But did it do
the job?’ I hear you cry. The effect of the beer
was said to be ‘explosive’ with a tendency to
cause severe headaches and an inability to focus ones eyes. Now dependant on who you ask the
answer could be yes or no. In fact when
Obadiah was a young student at Grumbleweeds
Agricultural College many years ago a night
could have been said to have been a roaring
success if the next day you felt like this!!
However this was not to last as once
prohibition was lifted the average American
could go back to drinking his beloved pale, lightly
hopped ales. In fact on the day that prohibition
was lifted a St Louis brewer delivered to The
White House two cases of beer with the
salutation ‘Here’s to you – President Roosevelt’!
So there you have it. Even the might of
Uncle Sam could not keep the ordinary man
from his beer, even if it was muddy and
unpalatable!!
One final note before I go. Home
brewing did not become legal in the USA until
1979. The homebrew must really have been
bad!!
Cheers!
Obadiah Spillage
The Feds continue their gruesome work
Winter Issue 2012 29
Faversham Hop Festival
T his year’s beer stall at Faversham Hop
Festival was the most successful to
date with increased sales and beer from
five local Kent breweries and cider from
three local producers. We had the stall in
our usual place in East Street, which has
now become almost our recognised spot.
Sales were brisk from early on
Saturday and increased to a steady queue
as the day went on. Our beers came from
Hopdaemon, Gadds, Whitstable, Goody’s
and Canterbury Brewers (The Foundry).
Our ciders were from Dudda’s Tun, Kent
Cider Co. and North Downs Cider. The
fastest selling beer was Hopdaemon’s
Golden Braid with nine gallons going in just
forty minutes and our most popular cider
being Kent Cider Co. Pear & Apple which
ran out first.
On Sunday the weather was even
better with blue sunny skies all day. Our
customers started to arrive at the bar at
around 11o’clock and custom grew steadily
as the day wore on, with groups of Morris
Dancers and other street entertainers
delighting the crowds.
Even though we ordered extra cider
this year above what we sold last year we
still nearly ran out on Saturday so a call
was made to Kent Cider Co. for resupply
which was duly delivered on Sunday
morning (thanks Marcus). It shows that
cider is definitely in an ascendance as we
have sold an ever increasing amount in the
last few years. Some purists may have
made rumblings over the likes of Magners
and Bulmers selling cider type products but
it has made people try cider or retry it and
some people have gone on to try real cider
because of starting out with fizz and have
become interested in discovering the wide
range of tastes and styles available.
Overall The Hop Festival this year
was very successful for us and for many
businesses in the town, with an estimated
40,000 people attending over the two
days. The newspapers highlighted the
relatively small amount of trouble that
happened over the weekend which mostly
went on after the street events had
finished. They were n’er do wells who
apparently got drunk on cheap canned
lager sold from off licences and
supermarkets and not drinks purchased
from stalls like ours or the local pubs.
Criticism was also levelled at this year’s
organisers about certain aspects of the
event, but in my view it was well run with
as much free movement for the crowds as
possible, with a good placing of trading
pitches and stage areas. I hope that the
Hop Festival will be run along similar lines
next year and that the organisers hear and
receive the praise that is due for it being
an overall success. [GH]
Swale CAMRA beer and cider bar
Winter Issue 2012 30
All within a day of Swale
W elcome to the second tour of our series
- to historic St Albans in Hertfordshire,
the long established home of CAMRA
headquarters.
This tour, for the dedicated pub
enthusiast, can be combined with tour one (on
our website and in the summer edition of Swale Ale) which also visits many pubs but is also great
for shoppers and those wanting to absorb
themselves in the history of St Albans.
Leaving St Albans City station, the
starting point for this tour, you will see the
former city prison on the other side of the road.
Cross at the traffic lights and go to the other
side of the railway bridge. Here, you will
encounter “The Horn” (formerly The Midland).
We considered Swale members would feel at
home here and may feel it a convenient first call
for shower dodging only - as peering through
the door on our last visit, we noticed the pub served “Spitfire”. This pub is famous for its
music and stands on the corner of Alma Road,
where we suggest you turn left to continue your
walk on the left hand side of the road passing
CAMRA’s former headquarters at No 34, a
large house on the edge of Oswald Road. Soon
we reached the junction with the A1081
(formerly the A6) London Road which we
crossed – and facing us was “The Great
Northern”. We were not tempted to visit this
place but that is not to say there is anything
wrong with it!
Remaining on the same side of the road
and passing the former Odeon cinema, you will
arrive at “The Farmer’s Boy” in the next five
minutes or so. At this point you will have
walked about half a mile from the station. This
quaint, unusual pub with a rear garden and
attached micro-brewery (The Verulam
Brewery), serves good, reasonably-priced food
to tempt all appetites (main courses were
mostly priced approximately within a £6 to £7
price range). We watched food being prepared
and cooked mostly within sight of customers,
adjacent to the bar. Specials on the board
included the All Day Breakfast, Beef Stew,
Cumberland Sausage & Mash with Red Onion
Gravy and Spag Bol and there were light bites
available with salad on the menu from £3. Ales
on offer were, Gathering Storm – a stout from
Leeds Brewery and Scarlet Macaw and Hare &
Hedgehog by Oakham Ales. Sadly, the micro-
brewery’s own beer was (unusually) unavailable
to sample when we visited - but for cider lovers
a Weston Traditional Scrumpy and Scrumpy Jack
were both tasted and were fine. This is truly a
pub which caters for a variety of tastes.
Just a few minutes further along the
road, past Watson’s Walk and a parade of
shops, continue for a short distance until you
reach a small walkway or alley known as
Keyfield Terrace. We recommend members
don’t miss this walkway. It is the key to an
enjoyable afternoon/early evening for the ale
lover and serves as a short cut to a number of
interesting pubs in close proximity. You will be spoilt for choice – but time may dictate your
being selective. You may wish to refer to the
CAMRA Good Beer Guide (2012), page 204,
where applicable, for further information.
The Beehive, Keyfield Terrace (not
listed in CAMRA GBG)
The White Hart Tap, 4 Keyfield
Terrace
The Garibaldi, 61 Albert Street
The Goat, 37 Sopwell Lane
Hare & Hounds (not listed in CAMRA
GBG)
The White Lion, 91 Sopwell Lane
Turn into the alleyway and immediately on your
Gill and Keith explore the possibilities for
great pub visiting within a day of Swale.
Following on from part one in the last issue
of Swale Ale, the pub trail of St Albans,
Herfordshire, continues with tour two.
Part one of the tour is available from
www.camra-swale.org.uk
Winter Issue 2012 31
Happy Christmas from all at
The Three Hats Milton Regis
93 High Street, Milton Regis, Sittingbourne. Kent ME10 2AR
For all enquiries call Malcolm on 07764 842 478
Winter Issue 2012 32
All within a day of Swale right is The Beehive (refurbished in 2007).
Continuing down the road, within a few
hundred yards you will approach The White
Hart Tap (2012 CAMRA GBG) which has a
good selection of beers. Walk down Keyfield
Terrace for a short distance... the next turning
on the right is Albert Street. Turn right and a
few yards on the right is the Garibaldi (2012
CAMRA GBG). This is a Fullers pub and has a
range of their beers plus guest ales (from
Oakham Brewery at the time of our visit).
On leaving the Garibaldi you could
continue up Albert Street (St Albans Abbey can
be seen ahead of you) but you would miss two
recommended pubs at the next street. We
suggest that you retrace your steps back to
Keyfield Terrace, turn right, then right again into
Sopwell Lane.
On the opposite side of the road is the
Hare and Hounds. This is a very old pub and although the beer was good when we visited,
the decor could do with some tidying up but it
offers CAMRA members a discount. On leaving
the Hare and Hounds, continue up Sopwell Lane
and immediately round the corner you will
come to The White Lion (2012 CAMRA GBG).
A recommended pub with 8 hand pumps with
three regular and five guest beers. Again on the
right you will find The Goat (2012 CAMRA
GBG). A traditional 15th Century pub worth a
visit (CAMRA membership cards at the ready
for a discount).
On leaving The Goat, proceed up
Sopwell Lane until you reach Holywell Hill
where we recommend you turn right and climb
the hill, passing the Cafe Rouge (formerly the
home of Ryders Seeds, the donator of the Ryder
Cup in Golf). Ahead you will see The White
Hart Hotel, a genuine Tudor coaching Inn which
is worth a look around in its own right but
when we visited in March it was serving Adnams
Bitter, Oakham Brewery JHB and guest ales.
For those less keen on churches, even a
short visit to the Abbey may be considered well
worth your while (enter via Sumpter
Yard...immediately opposite The White Hart).
It has the second longest nave in Britain and
there are some beautiful stained glass windows
to admire.
If you have had your fill of beer you can
work off those calories with a further steep
climb on this last lap of the tour, crossing the
London Road and heading up into Chequer
Street. Here you will pass The Cross Keys
(Wetherspoon) but in our opinion this is less
worthy of a visit when time is at a premium. Go
forward and you will next need to cross Victoria
Street into St Peter’s Street and the City
Centre. Here on the right you will pass the Post
Office at about the half way point in the street.
Immediately behind is located The Waterend
Barn (see the final paragraph of Tour One on
our website for details of this meeting point).
However, further down the street near St
Peter’s Church, CAMRA give The Blacksmith’s
Arms a rating in the Good Beer Guide (we had our wedding reception here in 1969 but
personally speaking, we were not impressed
with the changes when we visited!)
You may also wish to bear in mind for a
future visit maybe, that turning down Hatfield
Road, beyond the Blacksmith’s Arms you will
pass The St Albans Museum on the left and
eventually on the right you will reach The
Mermaid (also rated highly in CAMRA’s GBG).
[GJ & KJ]
Visit our award winning website at
www.camra-swale.org.uk
Winter Issue 2012 33
Local cider makers win national awards
T wo of our local cider producers won
national awards at the Brogdale Cider
Festival held in September. Dudda’s Tun Cider
from Doddington won two awards. In the
perry class they won 2nd place for Pear o’
Duddas and in the 5% or below cider category
they won 1st place for Dizzy Dudda.
The Kent Cider Company also won
1st place for Tydeman’s Early in the 5-8.5%
category. All of the awards were from the
National Association of Cider Makers. With
Brogdale being the home to the National Fruit
Collection which has a large stock of apple,
pear and other fruit trees it was an ideal place
to make these awards. Also it was gratifying
to see that Kent and South East England were
judged to be producing some of the best cider
in the country. [GH]
Winter Issue 2012 34
THE BOWL INN
Find us on the top of the North Downs above Charing, in an
area of outstanding natural beauty.
Enjoy a pint of real ale or a glass of wine in our large beer garden or heated patio area.
Regular steak nights, curry nights, and live music.
Four Star Bed and Breakfast Accommodation
For ‘what’s on’ please visit our website www.bowl-inn.co.uk
We can also offer bed and breakfast accommodation with 4
en-suite bedrooms, and a garden room which offers full
facilities for disabled guests. We are a 'dog and horse friendly' Inn
Alan and Sue Paine
Egg Hill Road, Charing, Ashford, Kent TN27 OHG
Tel: 01233 712256 email [email protected]
Winter Issue 2012 35
A guide to beer online
M any websites are popping up offering
information on both pubs and beer. Here
are some that might be of interest to readers of
Swale Ale.
The Beermad website was developed by
Suffolk based CAMRA member and software
developer Tony Green. The website details
every beer known to have been brewed in the
UK since 1976 and searches can be made either
by the name of the beer or of the brewery.
There is also an extensive list of UK pubs.
In October, Tony launched a new
android mobile phone app based on his website.
He says “Today we have over 1000 British
breweries producing over 10,000 Real Ales
every year, giving beer-lovers an unprecedented
choice of ales. Faced with so much choice, many
drinkers now like to keep a record of the many
different beers they have sampled. Whether you
are a hard core ticker or someone who likes to
try a few new beers and keep note of what you
thought of them, you can set up Beermad mobile
to show and edit precisely what information you
want to see. And its incredibly easy to use too”.
Beermad mobile is available from Google
Play Store or via the Beermad website for only
£1.50.
Another useful website is Cyclops, which
you can use to look up information on how a
beer might taste. Cyclops was designed to help
beer drinkers find the style of beer that they
enjoy and to find other similar styles. The
www.beermad.org.uk
www.cyclopsbeer.co.uk
website is easy to use and provides information
on beers brewed by participating breweries
against three simple characteristics: sight, smell
and taste.
This website
can be searched by
ABV, name, brewery
o r k e y
characteristics. This
allows you to find
beers that are similar
or to look up what a
particular beer might
taste like.
Locally we also have the Kent Pubs
Database which lists all pubs in the Ashford,
Canterbury and Swale branches. This website
allows you to search using a map and provides
information on many aspects of each pub
including the beer served. [LB & KS]
www.kentales.org.uk
Winter Issue 2012 38
The Swan Inn
Teynham
Two ‘LocAles’
Award Winning ‘Duddas Tun’ Cider
Sky Sports
Free Quiz Sunday from 4:40pm
Live music Saturdays at 9pm Karaoke Sundays and Tuesdays from 7pm Friendly poker every Wednesday at 8pm
Sunday lunch 12-3.30 2 meals for £9
78 London Road, Teynham, Kent ME9 9QH
01795 521 218
Winter Issue 2012 39
Crossword: Kent breweries
Across
1. The Darling Buds Brewery (7)
5. On one leg you devil (3,6)
6. This brewery can be found all at sea (6)
7. The prehistoric fella’s brewery (4,3)
8. Aging smithy (3,5)
13. Shard Alight (anagram 3,3,4)
15. Funny guy is well balanced we hear (10)
16. Metal working brewery (7)
Down
2. Adhere mesh pen (anagram 8,5)
3. The counties own brewery (4)
4. The monastery and a bit of a blow we
hear (7)
9. This brewery used to produce milk (3,5)
10. Mr Sheep’s way into the field (8)
11. The brewery in the old channel (7)
12. Brewery found on the back of a witch’s
broom (5,3)
14. The beer ingredient needs a shave (3,4)
Winter Issue 2012 40
Rose and Crown
Perry Wood
A proper country pub in outstanding surroundings
Log fire, cask ales, Sunday roast
Open all day weekends
Unbeatable Xmas decorations
Quality menu
Walkers, riders, runners, children on leads &
well behaved dogs welcome.
Open Mon-Fri 11.30-15.00 18.30-23.00
Sat Sun all day (not Mon eves)
Tel 01227 752214
Selling, Near Faversham, Kent, ME13 9RY