Thursday 31 December 2015

BEER REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2015

At the end of every year it is traditional for "Reviews of the Year" to appear in the media ; though I don't recall ever seeing a beer one. Time to rectify that I think, with my own "Beer Review of the Year Awards". 

Its been a great year for me. Pub crawls , new pubs visited, breweries , festivals and great beer supped . Theres a couple of new micropubs in the region that I enjoy visiting Split Chimp Newcastle and Station House Durham) ; in fact over Christmas did both in two days.

So I thought by way of a review I would honour my personal best with my own awards, so here goes.


Pub Crawl of the Year Award.

Its good to have a pub crawl. I do this several   times a year. and 2015 was no different, with visits to The Tyne Valley,  Washington (UK), Edinburgh, Leeds, Sunderland, Newcastle and Durham.

And the winner is Edinburgh. 

When I was working I used to visit Edinburgh on a regular basis. Unfortunately it was usually just there and back on the same day. There was never the opportunity for a drink. Although, having said that, one Christmas last century I had had a few ( OK more than a few) and fell asleep on  the train south  coming back home  , missing my Newcastle stop and waking up in Durham.

This year I was slightly more sober. There was one pub I had always wanted to see, the renowned Cafe Royal. Despite being busy and expensive , it was an experience just to marvel the decor and the bar prices . Next door is The Guildford Arms, where I managed to have my first ever purple beer, or was it red ? . Brewed by Windswept in Lossiemouth, its called Marooned, so I guess its maroon then !

There's always doom and gloom talk about pubs closing down. I can't see this happening in Scotland's capital, they were nearly all full !!


Unluckiest Pub Award.
 
This is awarded to The Bridge End Ovingham ( Tyne Valley).

Situated on the north bank of the Tyne west of Newcastle , Ovingham's direct access to the south bank is a bridge that was closed for repair for vehicular traffic when we visited  in March. As a result the pub was suffering from lack of custom. So there were seven of us who came to the rescue for a couple of rounds.

At the beginning of December the bridge reopened again , but then closed a day later by storm Desmond  which damaged the remaining bridge scaffolding. Its now closed till after Xmas although the pub is still open, as is the bridge for pedestrians. Worth a visit.


The Best Pump Clip Award of 2015

I spotted this handpull in Fitzgeralds Sunderland during all the FIFA revelations . The brewer is called RAT.





Oddest Thing Said To Me In A Pub Award  : 

Back in January I visited the newly opened Josephs pub in Sunderland City Centre and asked for a pint of Blackhill  70 Fathom, brewed in Co.Durham. The barman responded, " Would you like to have  a pint of Carlsberg instead , special offer". Er No thank you. Bizarre.


The Best Pub Ive Visited For The First Time Award  Goes to the Endeavour,  Whitby.

Mrs Ken and I had a day out to this North Yorkshire town for the Whitby Regatta. The Endeavour pub, is across the harbour bridge from the town centre, turn right, walk past the chippie.  Actually, don't walk past the chippie ; get some fish and chips and take them to the pub. They actively encourage this and even supply salt and vinegar. 

Good quality beers, served in proper glasses,  were on offer with great customer service.

The Best Trip Away with Mrs Ken Award.

There are several to chose from. In 2015 we visited Carlisle (  before it was flooded). I needed to try out the recently opened Moo Bar, which claimed to have 24 real ale  handpulls. This turned out to be too optimistic for the owners, so had been reduced to 18 when we got there. 

In the same county we popped into The Crown in the village of Hesket Newmarket, which claims to be the UK's first cooperative pub. We stood on the same carpet, (and possibly visited the same urinal ) as Prince Charles, who is a regular, having visited in 2004 and 2007. So thinking about it, he's been to this pub more than me !'

It was good to visit Britain's Highest Pub, Tan Hill Inn again . It brought back memories of my first ( aborted) visit in the 70s when it had burnt down ! Enjoyed a pint of Old Peculier this time round.



But the award for the Best Trip goes to our Eurostar trip  to Brugge in Belgium.

I had always wanted to travel through the Channel Tunnel and also to visit this historical city. Both were on my bucket list. So the choice of beers when we got there was phenomenal. What became our favourite pub , Cambrinus, sold  that many beers they had a menu about an inch thick with them all listed. The food was excellent as well. A highlight was visiting the Half Moon Brewery in the city centre for a tour and some samples. See next award.

Best Brewery Tour Award

I have visited five breweries in 2015. Two weren't tours ( Hill Island  and Maxim).

Jarrow Brewery happened just before they closed - we may well have been the tour they did.
 
Cropton Brewery on the North Yorkshire Moors was interesting because we found out during our tour that they were having a Beer and Music Festival. It would be held  in their brewery tap, The New Inn,  later in the year, starting on my birthday in November. ( so we returned, as you will read)

And the winner is the Half Moon Brewery Brugge 

As well as the standard brewery tour spiel, two features stood out . The beer they brew for bottling has to transported by tanker off site to a bottle plant 2km away outside the city centre. There are constant problems with traffic in the narrow streets , so an innovative decision has been taken to build a tunnel between the brewery and the bottling site, piping the beer quickly underneath the cobble streets ! The second highlight was climbing onto the roof of this tower brewery for an awesome view of the city. Recommended.


The Pub Rip Off The Year Award

On our Brugge trip, we stayed in London the night before our Tunnel journey. Visiting a Fullers pub near our hotel , I discovered a pint of Gales was £4.14 - that's Four Pounds Fourteen ! I still have recurring nightmares.


Best Beer Festival Of 2015 Award.


Ive just worked out , Ive been to nine festivals in 2015.

The Courtyard Washington had its customary Easter and August Festivals. Also Wetherspoons held two as usual. I mostly drank in the Sir William De Wessington, who as usual had a good selection available, including John Bull Stout - more of which later.

As usual, I got well sozzled at the Newcastle Beer Festival in April ; as well as for my first visit to the Glasgow Beer Festival in July. This was also the case at my twelfth trip to the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) in Olympia London in August. I  dare not think how much I've spent over the years on this one ; the train fares, cost of entry, the beers, the food. ( although lately I have been buying discount pies from local supermarket and taking them with me !)

  • Funniest comment at a Beer Festival. 
Apart from sarcastic comments about my pies there was the incident of the Shepherd Neame brewery bar. Britain's oldest brewer had six beers on offer including Spitfire, Red Sails Cheery Porter and Bishops Finger. I picked up a sheet of tasting notes and passed it round our group. One of them read down and declared " Ive had a Bishops Finger "  Best laugh Ive had in ages
     
  • Worst Noise at a Beer Festival. 
Our daughter moved up to Glasgow for a new job in June, which by a fantastic coincidence saw the relaunch of the CAMRA Glasgow Beer festival. It was held in an arts venue called The Briggait, which is next door to The Clutha  ( remember the helicopter crash?). 

I was sitting at a table , the only Englishmen, with about 6 Scots drinkers, when the Caledonian Brewery Pipe Band walked in, droning and wailing away. Now I don't do bagpipes, so had to just grin and bear it as my fellow drinkers were cheering and hooting away. Relief was at hand, however.....

  • Best Beer At A Beer Festival Award :  

Fyne Ales Sublime Stout - Glasgow. Drank this to take my mind off the bagpipes. Sublime.  

These next two on my list are the Joint Winners. It has been impossible to separate these. 

First  , the New Inn Cropton. As stated we visited on my birthday in November and had booked an overnighter, staying in the pub which was hosting their 21st  Beer and Music festival. A large marquee had been erected adjoining the pub. Inside was a stage and 80 beer casks, all gravity fed. No need for  handpulls and, being November no cask cooling problems. 

During the proceedings  we were entertained by two bands, all for a cover charge of £3. Full of bikers, rockers and Ken lookalikes, with a great choice of beer and great music, must go back for their 22nd.  


Last but not least , the Sunderland Octoberfest. Ive helped out here for the last 5 years and have enjoyed all of them. It brings it home to you the effort that goes into these festivals, largely done by volunteers, who give up their time. OK , its also an excuse to have a few beers, or several beers if truth be told.


Highlight Of The Year Award.

(Also known as The Oldest Intern In The Business Award) .

Back in September I was invited to spend a day working at Maxim Brewery in Houghton Le Spring near Sunderland . Despite being hard work I really enjoyed myself and learned a lot about brewing. Usually brewery tours take place on an evening when all is relatively quiet. Also you can read as much as you like about how beer is made, but you don't get the experience you do actually being involved. I made me realise how much hard work is put into getting that pint of
real ale into your hand.  

I helped start a brew of Double Maxim and the racking of some John Bull Stout till my back gave in.  

Still it was a tremendous day and thanks to all at Maxim for putting up with me.

So Happy New Year and here's hoping 2016 is just as good.


For background posts on some of the above, follow the appropriate links below