NEW INN CROPTON BEER FESTIVAL

Earlier this year, in May 2015,  Mrs Ken found on T'internet a special offer not to be sniffed at. Dinner, Bed and Breakfast at the New Inn Cropton, including a trip round their own brewery.

The  Great Yorkshire Brewery, perhaps better known as Cropton Brewery, is in the village of Cropton close to the North York Moors National Park and  near Pickering, . The New Inn is the Brewery tap. 


After our tour, we adjourned to the bar for some free sampling ( well why else do it ?) when one of the locals happened to mention that a Beer and Live Music Festival was being held in November. Apparently it has been held for the last 20 years. Given that the first night coincides with my birthday in November, it was a no brainer to book another overnighter to visit their 21^st festival. 

 

At the back of the pub a large marquee had been erected when we arrived mid afternoon. I managed to sneak in before proceedings started at 6pm. At one end was a small stage for the two bands that were to perform later , at the other end  was the beer. I immediately noticed something different. ( Have a close look at the picture below ) Well for a start the casks don't have any chillers, the principle reason being it

was bloody cold ( less than 7deg). Also note no piping to handpulls !. All beer was served by gravity. Chatting to the head brewer later that night, he said it saved a hell of a lot of time and effort just having stand alone casks. Every beer was in perfect condition , just the right temperature. One bonus was that as it was fairly dark later, the barmaids couldn't see the half pint line on my glass so every beer I asked for in the bottom row was served about half an inch above the line. Great !

Obviously the brewery itself showcased their own beers, eight in total being available in the pub's two bars. The brewery with the most beers ( in the marquee) was Wentworths ( South Yorks) with seven, three of which were stouts. One of these, Frambrozen Noir had an aroma and taste of sweet raspberrys. Gorgeous ! There was one North East representative , Camerons Gold Bullion. Having said that , there were choices from all over the UK. 

Now getting back to mine host the head brewer. He was helping out behind the bar while the first band was on ( cant recall their name but very good doing guitar based covers) He was also helping himself to the beers,  one in particular- Vocation Divide and Conquer - a 6.4% Black IPA. Now I don't do black Indian Pale Ale - emphasis on the words Black and  Pale- but everyone who came to his part of the bar was persuaded to try it, He kept saying it was the best beer at the festival, even better that the ones he brewed himself ! I had one just to shut him up. Saw him the next morning in the bar when we were checking out and he looked decidedly worse for wear, more so than me!

Now I believe I may have a Doppelganger ! After the first band had finished we moved into the pub conservatory and sat on a table opposite a couple. Hello she said, I remember you from last year's festival . Me :- Er I don't think so, this is our first time.   The look on her face was priceless. These people who drink to much. Shocking !


I would thoroughly recommend checking out this place to either stay over, visit the brewery or the beer festival or all three !  Its one of the best festivals I have ever been to. There was a cover charge of £3 which included a glass, and every pint was £3 , so good value. People we chatted to return regularly. Great birthday night  ; we will certainly go back next year .

.Check out Pub and Brewery here

  

   

 

OUR BRANCH MAGAZINE - CAMRA ANGLE WINTER 2015

The winter edition of CAMRA Angle , the quarterly magazine of the Sunderland and South Tyneside branch of CAMRA, has  just been published. Copies are now being distributed to real ale pubs throughout the area , and beyond . 

Our annual beer festival, Octoberfest , in Sunderland is featured, as well as news on pubs, breweries, and beers. 

There are reports by our roving reporters  from Maxim Brewery, Heritage Pubs in Cambridge and in Sunderland, plus Kent Micro Pubs. 

There are pub features on Vesta Tilley's and Port of Call, both in Sunderland. 

The Camerons Brewery 150th weekend anniversary is reviewed as well as a  report on the Regional Pub of the Year Presentation in the Steamboat in South Shields.

Now, as proof reader of the CAMRA Angle,  I have a confession to make. The branch logo has been changed from Sunderland Wear Bridge ( left ) to a miners lamp, as depicted on the beer festival T shirt, right.  I have been wearing this  for over a month ( it has been washed twice before you say anything !), and never noticed it !! Advertising is wasted on me. 

Issue 42 is rounded off by a guide to using Whatpub, CAMRAs online pub database , and a  pub quiz. 

If you cant find a copy, follow this link to download your own,  and for more branch news. .http://sst.camra.org.uk/

And remember, accept no imitations but beware, I'm on page 8. 

EXCLUSIVE - POSSIBLY A WORLD FIRST - DOUBLE MAXIM BREAD

Do you remember Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet ? He was a TV chef active in the 70's and one of his trademarks was drinking wine while cooking. Well I've just had a similar experience, except with beer.

There was an article in a Sunday newspaper magazine recently looking at beer flavoured bread recipes. Now I occasionally bake bread, nothing complicated , just from a bread mix. So I thought, why not have a go using beer instead of water. After all beer is 97% water.

Now this is not as daft as you think. It is believed the earliest brewing technique , in the Middle East and Egypt, involved soaking bread in water, then letting the wild yeast ferment the liquid into beer. There is already on the market a Banana Bread Beer brewed by Wells and Young

So, which beer then ? Well why not try  Double Maxim?

The instructions require 350ml of water, and as a bottle of the beer is 500ml , that leaves 150ml to do my Galloping Gourmet impersonation. 

1. Mix bread mix, olive oil and beer for 5 mins then leave to stand.
2. Finish drinking what's left of the beer.
3. Realise more baking left to do so open another bottle.

4. After allowing the dough to rise in a warm place, time for another slurp. 
5. Next, place bread in oven to rise for half an hour.
6. Have a few more sips.
7. When ready , remove bread from the oven. 

8. Finish beer off.

Now , given that Double Maxim is a brown ale, there was a definite brown colouring to the loaf - (no it wasn't burnt !) . And the taste ; well, all I can say is move over Nigella ! Went well with soup for our tea.

  

May try something darker like Old Peculier or a Stout next time.