We had a CAMRA branch meeting the other week in a pub called The Grey Horse, East Boldon. The usual suspects were on offer, including Hobgoblin, Old Speckled Hen and Landlord. But tucked in the middle was Jennings Sneck Lifter. As I had not had this strong ale for a while it was an easy choice for me to have a pint. Soon the second pint was going down. Unfortunately I think half the guys at the meeting were doing the same, as it ran out half through the evening, so no third pint !
Still, this has been my favourite beer of the month, despite having competition from Harviestoun Old Engine Oil, Brains Reverend James and Marstons Pedigree. ( to name but a few)
You may recall Jennings Brewery made the news in recent times, for all the wrong reasons. I'm talking about the devastating floods in Cumbria. Thankfully they are still brewing. I love strong beers and Sneck Lifter ticks all the right boxes. Reddish brown in colour , and at 5.1% is very easy to drink. Its Jennings strongest beer and I just wish it were more readily available in my area.
So where did the name come from. Well a sneck lifter is someone who lifts a catch ( the sneck) on the door of a pub. Some say its the name of a person who does a runner when its his round.**
Drinking it stirred a memory about one of my mates, who lives in Warwickshire. Here is his story :-
" About 12 years ago, when my son was about 9 years old he had been playing junior level football for a local team. They were in the final of the Police Cup and the event was to be held on a sunny Sunday afternoon. It was the junior football event of the year ( around May time) and there was a capacity crowd of several hundred. I can't remember who they were playing but I do remember they went to penalties, which they lost.
We headed back to our local, runners up medals in hand. The guest ale was Sneck Lifter and not being too familiar with it tried some. And very nice it was too . I said to the wife I didnt want to be too long as I had a day of meetings the next day".
Before we read on there are two sayings in a pub that spring to mind here :-
1. Someone says :" Its my round, same again ?"
2. You say " Go on then , just one more"
Sorry, back to the story.
" After food, the blokes seemed to be huddling together, talking football, telling jokes etc and the inevitable happened. A round started. However I am more of a quality rather than quantity sort of drinker, and trying to keep up with the flow of Mitchells and Butlers session beer was too much. The Lifter was getting the better of me. and three hours later I found myself hanging onto the wash basin in the gents ( in the style of being in a ship in a storm).
The walk home was equally perilous. Two steps forward, one step back, three to the side and one step forward. The beer compass came in very handy and guided me to the front door. Unfortunately after several failed attempts I let a bemused and embarrassed son put the key in the lock.
I'm pretty certain we must have had a power cut because the blackout seemed to last until it was time for work the next day. The meetings didnt go well, I don't think I had enough spit to get out a full sentence.
In the intervening years, I think Ive only tried the beer a couple more times, in vastly reduced quantities"
When we meet up I sometimes bring up Sneck Lifter ( actually bring up in this context is perhaps the wrong term) ; I sometimes mention Sneck Lifter and I detect a look of panic possibly even fear.
But don't let this story put you off this fantastic ale, just don't drink it for three hours that's all !!
** Final thought - if my friend had been a sneck lifter on the day, all this could have been avoided.
