The December issue of our digital magazine “CAMRA Angle Online” is now available from https://sst.camra.org.uk/
I hope you enjoy the read.
This is a another bumper edition and the final one of 2021.
In addition to the usual local pub & brewery news there is news about the branch Pub and Club of the Year voting for 2022. There is an update on Small Brewers Relief, the 2022 Good Beer Guide launch, a new initiative from CAMRA called Drink Greener and another update about Pubco's, and much more !
In this issue, as well as the usual pub, brewery, membership and pub preservation reports is a major announcement
See inside for more
PLUS - Champion Beer of Britain, branch and CAMRA AGM's, Campaigner of the Year, an interesting pub sale and much more
Click on the link below for rad and/or download this issue.
This is the branch magazine for the Sunderland and South Tyneside CAMRA and is a substitute for a printed version which we are unable to publish and distribute.
In this issue, as well as the usual pub, brewery and membership reports, there is news of our branch Annual General Meeting , the first for some time, which will take place next month. More inside
There is a report from the Gateshead Rugby Club SIBA Awards ceremony and news on the opportunity for members to vote for the Champion Beer of Britain
Click on the link below to read and/or download this issue
Past issues can also be downloaded using the above link
This is the branch magazine for the Sunderland and South Tyneside CAMRA and is a substitute for a printed version which we are unable to publish and distribute.
In this issue, as well as the usual pub, brewery and membership reports, there are the TWO key items of news :-
The Steamboat in South Shields win major CAMRA award.
Maxim Brewery secures a five year deal with Sunderland Football Club and a national brewer.
Click on the link below to read and/or download this issue
Past issues can also be downloaded using the above link
There are three updated and one new real ale guide on the Sunderland and Sth Tynesid website
Those updated are for
Sunderland, Roker & Seaburn
South Shields
Washington
The new guide covers Cleadon, Harton and Whitburn
Click on the link below to read and download
This is the branch magazine for the Sunderland and South Tyneside CAMRA and is a substitute for a printed version which we are unable to publish and distribute.
In this issue, as well as the usual pub, brewery and membership reports, there are the following features
Great British Beer Festival at your local
Beer Styles
Booze on the box
CAMRA Archive
Volunteering
Cask Ale Week
Pub Companies
Click on the link below to read and/or download this issue
Past issues can also be downloaded using the above link
This is the branch magazine for the Sunderland and South Tyneside CAMRA and is a substitute for a printed version which we are unable to publish and distribute.
In this issue, as well as the usual pub, pub protection, brewery and membership reports, there is an update on our Beer & Cider Festival.
Also featuring - Lockdown Heroes ; Barley Wine ; Blue Plaque Pubs and the Carlisle State Management System
Click on the link below to read and/or download this issue
Past issues can also be downloaded using the above link
Also , for a list of open real ale pubs in the branch, click on the link below :
This is the branch magazine for the Sunderland and South Tyneside CAMRA and is a substitute for a printed version which we are unable to publish and distribute.
In this issue, as well as the usual pub, pub protection, brewery and membership reports, there is a feature about heritage pubs in the branch. This also incorporates some branch members reminisces about their first pubs, usually when underage !!
There is also a list of pubs that opened, an ongoing list of which can be found here:-
Anyhow, click on the link below to read and/or download this issue
This is the branch magazine for the Sunderland and South Tyneside CAMRA and is a substitute for a printed version which we are unable to publish and distribute.
In this issue there is a list of real ale pubs that will be opening from 12th April - there are 28 in the list, but since then another 10 have announced plans. So for an up to date list
There are the regular reports about membership, pubs and pub protection, breweries and regional news, as well a personal view by our branch chairman
CAMRA have release a document about clubs, which is reproduced here. There is also a review of the 1974 Good Beer Guide and the new CAMRA 50 book.
Finally am update about Trappist Beers and a look at Spingo & Stingo ( who ? what!?) Read the magazine for more.
Oh, nearly forgot the quiz !
Anyhow, click on the link below to read and/or download this issue
One of these Winters ones was in the National Cycling Centre in Manchester, held in the middle of the cycling track in 2014 . I remember Laura Trott whizzing past every minute training for the Olympics.
With that background and considering the fact I have now missed two national festivals it was time to address this. The group I meet up with are from all over the UK so when it was announced that CAMRA would be holding a virtual Winter Festival in March, some likeminded thought waves travelled the UK and agreed that , rather than join an official one, we would have our own. On the same day as the official one !
So last Friday, without knowing how it would go, seven of us joined in a zoom call for a few hours. Beer had been sought from various places ; online, supermarkets and one guy from his own home brew in his garage.
I had
explained what beers I would be having with Mrs Ken a few weeks before and
mentioned a few I always drank. She reminded me the whole point of doing a beer
festival was to try some I hadn’t tasted before. Fair enough. I also decided that , like a real festival, I would drink halves, so 330ml bottles. Winter festivals focus on dark strong warming beers so that was factored in to my choice.
So, placing an order online, I had six delivered but unfortunately drank half of them well before last Friday. This left me raiding my secret stash in the garage and so came up with this list, all 330ml bottles :-
De Konick Belgian Amber Beer with the unfortunate name of Bollecke ( 5%)
Ayinger Celebrator 6.7% BockWestmalle Dubbel 7% Trappist Ale
Sam Smiths 7% Imperial Stout
Tynt Meadow 7.4% English Trappist Ale
Robinsons Old Tom 8.5%
I had thought we would soon run out of things to talk about, but no chance. We were treated to a brief garage brewery tour, showing his brewing vessels etc and what kits he brewed. I noticed a stash of bottles on a shelf as well.Obviously a worthwhile retirement and lockdown hobby. Just waiting for the invite now.
We then touched on such diverse subjects as the vaccination rollout ( we had all had one), sewage farms, what we did during the lockdown(s) and pony tails. I should explain the last one.
During the summer my hair got rather long so decided to have a pony tail. Ok it was only just over an inch long, but even so. Then one chap, who used to work at the sewage farm in question stated that before his very first job interview he had very long hair, which he proceeded to have removed. " Ive still got it, if you all want to see" So disappeared out of shot for less than two minutes and reappeared proudly waved this brown hairy thing which was over a foot long. (he had kept his pony tail, in case you had other thoughts!)
The way I see it, there are several things wrong with this
1. He has kept it all this time
2. It only took him under two minutes to find it.
3. We all marvelled at this ( well I think we all did.) It could have been a tail off a real pony for all we knew.
At a real festival you wander off, check out the bars, have a natter, find the loo and return to the table and drink your beer. Obviously this time there wasn't much wandering off so I managed to get through all my beers in over four hours that our session lasted. It was a great way of catching up with the guys and given that wont be a GBBF this year, I feel another one of these coming on.
One final thing. At GBBF 2009 at Earls Court nine of us met and we all wore the same t shirt. - Sorry, not all of us wearing one shirt. Ive still got it after 12 years but its getting a bit tight round the middle now ( it's a Large )
When CAMRA recently asked for photographs to celebrate the 50th, I submitted it, and its there !
Follow the link below, we are on page 1, bottom row. I'm third from right with the dodgy looking zip.
On page six there is a photo of a Vaux Brewery March which I had not seen before.
https://camra.org.uk/50-years/50th-anniversary-photo-gallery/
So a great time was had by all and we all agreed we need to meet up in person as soon as we can, and are all waiting for the pubs to open. I'll drink to that.
There are four feature articles this time ;
News about the 2022 Good Beer Guide, Reflections on Beer in the UK in 2020 and a review about a BBC Food Programme. There is also a look at what will be normal and finally a look at a press release from Sunderland University. Intrigued ?
There are the regular membership, pub, pub protection and brewery updates. And this month a cider update.
Maxim announced the release of two beers in bottled form for the first time.... Also Darwin will be continuing their click and collect service once things return to some form of normal.
There is also a look back at last year ( pre lockdown ) and ten years ago !
Finally the quiz. There is a typo in the first question ! It should read
" Name the top Premier League Goalscorer who retired in 2006"
The missing "top" makes all the difference.
Sack the quizmaster !
Anyhow, click on the link below to read and/or download this issue
Past issues can also be downloaded using the above link.
Cheers
There are three feature articles this time ;
In the summer Mrs Ken and I had a pleasant trip to North Northumberland and found a really smart pub and a brewery in the middle of nowhere. There is also a mini pub crawl just outside our branch area, and a second article about whisky, from India this time.
There are the regular membership, pub, pub protection and brewery updates. Its been a fact that despite the lockdown, there are still stories out there, some of which occasionally change. There are two items like this :-
It was announced just over that Marstons Brewery had received an offer from a private equity firm. This offer was nevertheless rejected by Marstons, after having gone to press !
Another change is that Maxim Brewery had announced in the New Year their Saturday drive thru openings would be monthly. Yesterdays drive thru was very successful, so I am pleased to announce, they will reinstate their weekly Saturday openings !
Past issues can also be downloaded using the above link.
Cheers
Now I'm not a fan of whisky ; or should I say whiskey? I was sent an article before Xmas about whisky with an "e", namely Irish whisky...sorry whiskey. That produced in Ireland has an "e". Who knew, well not me for one.
On one lockdown afternoon , I was looking through brewery scction of the 2021 Good Beer Guide and was struck by a) the number of breweries I had not come across and b) where they all were. So after extensive research I've worked out who they are and where they are. Read about it all here
There is an update on the Tryanuary Campaign and what its all about and CAMRA's 50th . News about the CAMRA AGM and Winter Beer Festival ( both now online) feature, as well as the usual pub, brewery and regional news.
On the subject if the Winter Beer Festival, a group of us always attend GBBF and also visited the last Winter Beer Festival in Birmingham last year. So we have decided to do our own online festival in March. It will be good to have a good chat and a moan.
One drawback I see is that , at a festival we drink halves. This time we will be drinking full bottles, mostly of string dark winter ales........ should be interesting. What I can remember of the event will be the subject of a future blog.
Past issues can also be downloaded using the above link.
Cheers
As well as the usual pub, brewery and membership news, their is a review of the year by our branch chairman. There is an article about a Lockdown Hero Recognition initiative and you can read about which two pubs in the branch will receive awards,once it is safe to do so.
A recent book by Roger Protz called "Family Brewers" is reviewed, which I can highly recommend ( the book, that is). There is also a review article called " Beer on the Box".
For those that follow national pub news, The Roscoe Head in Liverpool, which is one of the famous five pubs in every edition of the Good Beer Guide. has been saved for disposal by the pubco owner.
There is an update on the February CAMRA Winter Beer Festival - it will be online ! and finally, a look back through the archives at heritage pubs.
So here is the link : - and enjoy the read .
Previous editions can also be found here.
This time of year, as editor, I would have been putting finishing touches to the Winter edition of CAMRA Angle, the Sunderland & Sth Tyneside branch magazine. Sadly since issue 59 was published just before the lockdown was introduced, it has not been possible to produce any physical magazines.
So instead I have been concentrating on producing more online newsletters ( CAMRA Angle Online) as a substitute, primarily to keep fellow branch members informed , but also for anyone read and download. There has been no shortage of news ! In fact, during the final stages of putting this one together the news was changing on practically a daily basis.
Why ? Well the Government announced Lockdown 2. which included no takeaways allowed from pubs or breweries. A statement was issued by CAMRA which was no hold barred. This statement was added to the newsletter. 24 hours after that statement, the Government reversed their decision, which prompted a new CAMRA response and a hasty reedit of the Angle Online.
A running story in recent months has been that of Small Brewers Relief. This was a review of the amount tax smaller breweries would pay. It was known this was coming and it was hoped that help would be given to those breweries that sit between the big boys and smaller breweries who currently benefit. But no,! What the Treasury actually did was reduce the tax threshold at the lower end, so some of the smaller breweries would end up paying more. A petition was launched and at the time of typing it had over 50000 signatories.
If you haven't already signed and wish to do so please see the link below.
So what else is in the newsletter ? Well there is the usual pub,brewery and membership news, a review of the new 2021 Good Beer Guide, plus some feature articles :- The Lord Nelson pub in Jarrow, visits to three pubs in North Cumbria, and a look back at our old beer festival venue.
To read this issue and more follow this link :-
https://sst.camra.org.uk/wordp
You can either click the link at the top of the page to download onto your device else stream the document online inside the pageframe.
Previous Newsletters can be found from this link:
https://sst.camra.org.uk/wordp
Mentioned in the newsletter:
The link to the Small Brewers Relief petition is:
https://petition.parliament.uk
Brew2You can be accessed here or by downloading the app from the appstore:
You can nominate a "Lockdown Hero" here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/
To organise a "Save your Local" group resources can be found here:
https://camra.org.uk/pubs-and-
Enjoy the read !.................
Well, it was ten years today that I joined the Campaign For Real Ale. (CAMRA). In that time we have seen the rise of the micropubs, more beer choice and then suddenly - bang a pandemic !
I was going to launch into a review of my last 10 years, but its a nice warm sunny day outside, possibly the last this year ?, so instead I think its time to review my top ten beers. Ive done this in a previous blog but since then a couple more have appeared. One criteria is , if its on in bar , it will be first choice.
So this is the list, in no particular order, with a few notes.
Theakstons Old Peculier
I first drank this in The Fountain Hotel in Hawes, North Yorkshire and was blown away by the complexities of the flavours. The bottled version is readily available but not a patch on the cask. The last cask of it I
had was in 2016 at 11am in the Old Black Swan, Bedale, about 5 miles from the brewery in Masham.
Jennings Sneck Lifter.
This used to be in Jennings core range but is now an "occasional". Shame is its a great beer to drink. A friend of mine had an afternoon session once and had to be assisted back into his house. Happy days
Robinsons Old Tom
I first came across this gem at a Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) about 15 years ago. Three of us looked warily at the description in the programme, " A full bodied dark beer, 8.5%" We saved that one till last . Mostly seen in bottles these days , had it once in cask a couple of years ago
Marstons Owd Rodger
I used to drink this 7.4% cracker in the Cooperage in Newcastle then go to work for an evening shift. Sadly the Cooperage closed a while ago and only seen Owd Rodger once on cask in a local Marstons a couple of years ago. I get the occassional bottle from B&M's, although during the lock-down the visits increased !
Maxim Maximus
Broughton Old Jock
I first read about this in the book "300 Beers To Try Before You Die" by Roger Protz. As my daughter lives in Glasgow who better to provide some bottles every time she visits us ! Been having these for Xmas, Birthday and Fathers Day for about five years now. The Sunderland Beer Festival had the beer on cask for the last two years.
Darwin Extinction
This barley wine won CAMRA Champion Beer Gold for Barley Wine and Strong Old Ale category in GBBF 2016 where I first drank this strong (8.3%) ale. Last time I enjoyed this was during lock-down in bottle form.
Brass Castle Bad Kitty
Ive been to the Brass Castle Tap House in Malton. The Bad Kitty, a 5.5% Vanilla Porter, is available on an occasional basis at the Station House in Durham. During lock-down, I ordered a minicask from the brewery. They make great beer but are crap at packaging. The cask was stuffed in a cardboard box with no padding. It looked like it had been used as a football when I opened the box.
George Samuel Harvey
This brewery in Spennymoor closed last year and the only beer I had drunk of theirs was called Harvey. This 5.6% porter hit the spot when I first tasted it in The Station House Durham. It made occasional appearances and I had my last ever pint in February this year. Of so I thought.
George Samuel and Harvey are back ! This time in a brewery and cafe in Shildon. I feel a trip out coming on !
So there you go ; most are dark beers and the "weakest one" is a mere 5.1%.
Since my first visit to a pub after July 4th I have been to have few more and have observed all pubs have approached the new guidelines differently. Some have erected screens on the bar but most haven't. Most have either a sign in book or an app to register your presence. One in Northumberland wouldnt let us in but more on that later. I have to admit all have been a relaxing experience with great beer and food. .
First the screens. The Washington Arms had one across the entire length of the bar, with a small gap to pay. It looked like a railway ticket office counter. Drinks and food were brought to the table.
Another, The Engine Room at Eighton Banks has two tills with a three foot gap between. The tills had screens in front of them , but not the gap, which is where you queued and ordered and paid - bizarre. The other bizarre experience was the gents toilets. There was a large sign on the door, "only one in at a time". Fair enough but inside the middle of the three urinals was covered in a black bin bag, preventing use. So I did a solo social distance, singing to myself so no one would come in. The food at the pub was excellent as usual as was the Double Maxim, which is always kept well.
Some pubs had directional arrows, most of which were
how to get to the bar or the toilets, and in some cases, no arrows to
follow to get out !. It reminds me of those Wetherspoons pubs where its
a trek up several stairs and along corridors, past numerous doors ,
following signs to get there, but crucially , no signs on how to get
back to the bar !
All my pub outings so far had been afternoon ones and most have been fairly busy. I drink in Durham every Tuesday night and last week was my first night out since March 17th. Both pubs visited were very quiet. It may be people have got used to staying in. Its a worrying sign when pubs close before 10pm.
Below is the link to previous issues
https://sst.camra.org.uk/wordpress/?tag=newsletter
At
no time over the last few weeks have I felt uncomfortable or threatened
, if that's the right word, by other people being there. So I'm
already looking forward to my next pub visit., which will be part of the
Government drive against obesity by partaking in the Eat Out To Help Out
initiative.
By coincidence, earlier that day I was reminded of the fact that it was nine years ago to the day a group of us were on a pub crawl in Berwick. The best pub we visited was The Barrels Ale House, famous locally for having a old dentist chair at the bar. Around the walls were plastered old signs and notices, including this "Rules of the Inn" dated 1786.
