CAMRA ANGLE 60 SUMMER 2020 ?

Before I start this blog I need to point out that the letter E on my laptop keyboard is loose so every so often that letter will not com out, so apologies in advance. Its very frustrating, being the most common letter in the alphabt. In no way is this an excuse for my crap typing - I totally refute any accusations

Anyhow back to the subject in hand. It would have been this time of year when the Summer edition of CAMRA Angle would have been published and hitting the streets. Sadly, this wont happen so Issue 60 will have to wait till later in the year ( fingers crossed).

In the meantime Ive been keeping busy, in between painting the garden fence , producing a monthly newsletter. Surprisingly there is a lot of news out there. I am going to resist mentioning all the crap that is being reported about what pubs will look like if and when they open. Waste of time till it happens.

So, since CAMRA Angle 59 three  months ago there have been three newsletters, which I hope covers most CAMRA news, and also where local takeaway beer can be sought from local breweries and pubs   ( other than supermarkets). CAMRA HQ have set up a dropbox for magazine editors to post their own articles to share with other branches, so Ive been tapping that source, with three more to use !

In the latest one there is uniquely I think, two articles about films. One is a review of a DVD put together about pubs in South Shields. Hopefully this will be available for sale in the town when things return to normal. The other is about the British Film Institute free archive of short information films. There is a fascinating film by Dr David Bellamy giving a tour of Camerons Brewery.

Recntly branch members were asked to partake in a survey about the affect that pub closures was having including the question "have you been drinking more?"  My last pint in a pub was on March 17th, and since the closure date I thought I would keep a record of what Ive been drinking. Mistake. Ive  gone through five minicasks and 35 bottles, mostly from Maxim. So that's more minicasks in a couple of months than I get through in two years !   


Anyhow, without more ado, this is a link to the last three newsletter, the most recent of which has the survey results and the articles mentioned above. You can also see under "Publications" previous issues of CAMRA Angles

https://sst.camra.org.uk/wordpress/?tag=newsletter
 
Enjoy the read, off now for a beer stock check.................
 




         

LOCKDOWN MAY 2020

Despite the fact there are no pubs to visit, or pub crawls or beer festivals to enjoy, there is still a lot going on. 

Everywhere I look online, there are breweries selling mini casks. Ive got four empties as garden decorations. So I got to thinking , whoever is making these to sell to the breweries must be raking it in. All of my empties say made in Germany but one says Huber packaging. 

https://www.huber-packaging.com/english/ 

Anyhow, while doing my research I ended up on the Adnams Brewery website ( dont ask how). On it are  detailed instructions on how to open a mini cask and dispense the beer. 

The first step, according to them, is to pull out the tap from the base on the cask, turn the tap anti clockwise to pour 20ml of beer into a glass then discard.  I could read no further for a while. Discard ? What planet are they from!.

Recovering from this, I kept reading. Step 2 is to left the top tab and turn from 0 to 1. Fair enough Then step three..there it is again. Turn the tap clockwise to pour out the beer, if the first 20ml has sediment and is cloudy......discard !   Sorry Adnams, I can't read anymore.

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A couple of weeks ago one of our local,brewers, Darwin started selling bottled beers again. Brewed in small batches, they are bottled on site and they have a click and collect service, offering a free delivery for SR postcode customers. One of the beers, Extinction caught my eye, Its an 8.3% barley wine so I ordered 3 bottles. Not living in SR I drove the next day to collect, and came home.

The next day , while Mrs Ken was out shopping, I unpacked the beers and had just finished stashing them in my secret  cupboard when she returned. " Ive got you a couple of pressies"

A bottle of zero alcohol German beer and a bottle of low alcohol Old Specked Hen ( 0.5%) WTF ?

"Its if we go out anywhere you can drink and drive" I was told. So think about it, five minutes ago I had held an 8.3% barley wine, now I'm holding a 0.5 % Speckled Hen.

Ive drank  then both...nothing special. Will stick with the proper stuff. 

The barley wine ? Wonderful.