CAMRA ANGLE SPRING 2016

The Spring 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 . It is noticeable that the front cover depicts a painting of the Steamboat in South Shields. 

A regular section is a news update on pubs and breweries in the branch.

There are pub features on The Stables in West Herrington, McConnell's Gin and Ale House in Jarrow  , and the Marine in South Shields. 

Mention is made of  the branch pub of the year results, and there is a report about SIBA ( The Society of Independent Brewers) with thanks to Maxim Brewery. 


There are articles by our roving reporters  visiting London and Russia. I kid you not.  


A new feature in the magazine is a pub walk suggestion  set  in the Herrington Country Park area of Sunderland and taking in 5 pubs ( so in theory a pub crawl)

Issue 43 is rounded off by a  pub quiz and where am I  . 

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

( note the download version comprises 2 documents, the magazine and the pub walk map).

And remember, accept no imitations.  

AN EVENING IN A BREWERY - WELL WHY NOT ?

You know you've had a good night when you wake up the morning after the night before feeling rough but satisfied. Such is my state today,  having managed to avoid any Black Friday nonsense in the perfect way. 

Last night was a get together between Houghton Le Spring Round Table and Sunderland & South Tyneside CAMRA branch at Maxim Brewery, in Houghton.

There were a about two dozen of us there enjoying the brewery's hospitality. They have a small bar with three handpulls; last nights offerings were Maximus, American Pride IPA and Hapi Christmas. 

Maximus is a strong (6%) , dangerously easy to drink dark ale.

American Pride IPA is a delicious 5.2% India Pale Ale, also dangerously easy to drink .@@

Hapi Christmas is as the name suggests, a seasonal 4.5% brew  in time for the festivities; this also went down well.

There was also a keg version of Swedish Blonde available.

To complement the beers, a fantastic spread was provided for us by the Smiths Arms pub ( about 3 miles away). In addition there was an optional brewery tour . I declined this,  having grafted , sorry,  worked there for a day in September  (Read about it here)

Maxim are members of SIBA ( Society of Independent Brewers). I was given some really useful information for an article I am preparing for the next branch magazine. You will have to wait till next year for that though.

The 3 hours there just flew by and a great night was had by all. A good start to the festive drinking  yet to come.

@@ Emphasis on Pale. Its not a black Pale Ale or a red Pale Ale, but a pale Pale Ale. There, that's got that of my chest

 

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.

A DAY IN LEEDS FEATURING WHITELOCKS ALE HOUSE

Well, I was drinking in a fantastic pub in Leeds at the weekend; the Whitelocks Ale House. So what was I doing in Leeds? Well every autumn Transpennine Express have an offer of cheap train tickets anywhere on their network for those over 55, Called Club 55. Travel is possible for only £19 (even less if blessed with a senior railcard).

So to take advantage of this offer, a group of 6 mates and myself decided to travel to Leeds. Now when I was working, I used to visit the city at least twice a month, but hardly ever had time to go for a pint. So I was looking forward to seeing the city again and its pubs.

We do a few of these outings a year and its customary to start with a Wetherspoons breakfast. As luck would have it, there was one inside the train station, with the imaginative name of (drum roll), Wetherspoons.

So after a fantastic breakfast, washed down with a pint of Moorhouse Pendle Witches Brew, it was time for our next pub.

Sadly, one of the group is a Newcastle United supporter, whose team  were going to be on the telly that lunchtime. I had a couple of pubs lined up (The Scarbrough and Head of Steam) next , but neither had a TV. A nice barmaid in theformer pub suggested the Griffin, just round the corner.

One of our gang compiles an excellent quiz, which we always enjoy in every pub we visit. So, finding some seats near a TV we started the quiz while the match was on. There were 2 games going on; in one part of the pub the locals were cheering as Leeds United beat Huddersfield, while we saw Newcastle beat Bournemouth 1-0. I had a couple of pints of Daleside Monkey Wrench which I could have drunk all day, but time to move on and find Whitelocks.

Featured in CAMRAs Real Heritage Pubs, this pub is an absolute gem. Mind you, finding it took some doing. Walking up pedestrianised Briggate, looking in vain for the pub. We had to double back to find it. A small sign on a wall indicated it was down a narrow alley off the main street. This reminded me of the Quakerhouse in Darlington, which is also tucked down a narrow alley between some shops.

This pub is the oldest in Leeds, and as luck would have it, was celebrating its 300th anniversary in 2015. All the pint glasses for real ale were commemorating this -  see photo  right (The beer in the glass was Saltaire Hazelnut Porter)

The pub has a long narrow interior and the bar has a copper top and its frontage is adorned with tiles. There are stained glass windows and also several old mirrors hanging up , one of which was for Robert Fenwicks Brewery, in Sunderland. **

There was an excellent range of ales dispensed from 10 handpulls including one,  from the North Yorkshire  Great Heck Brewery,  called Washington Red. I would like to think this is named after my hometown but for some strange reason it doesn't feature on the brewery's website. So unable to tell why it has that name.$$

For more info on Whitelocks click on here CAMRA Heritage Pubs

After a few more beers and continuing with the quiz, we then headed back to the Scarbrough Hotel. The building dates from 1765, becoming a pub in 1826. Settling down to continue and complete the quiz, I think I had a Loch Lomond Silkie Stout and a Redemption Rising Sun. I cant entirely be sure. (do the maths, these were pints 7 and 8)

All too soon it was train time. As is the case with these trips away,  we visit less pubs than planned (I blame the footy), a lot of beer was consumed, and someone fell asleep on the train - me this time. But a good time was had by all. 

PS. The train back was late running. There were some quiz questions left over after we boarded and,  as the guard was handing out compensation  forms,  he let the quiz-master use the PA system to ask some questions. What the passengers in the other 2 coaches must have thought.....????

** Robert Fenwicks Brewery was located in Low Street Sunderland, where we have our Octoberfest !! Sadly it was bombed in an  air raid in 1943

$$ Update -
Washington Red has Simcoe, Citra, Columbus hops from Washington state, USA, with  hint of red from crystal malt

SUMMER DRINK IN WINTER

I don't know if you have seen the Theakstons advert about a drinker complaining about his beer not having any kumquat in it. Well , my daughter, returning from a recent holiday in the US,  brought me back some beer from Houston Texas which included a bottle of Spoetzl Brewery Shiner Prickly Pear summer lager

Now I  have had fruit flavoured beers before. As recently as our Sunderland Octoberfest, there was Darwin Orange IPA and Temptation Raspberry American and Cherry Belgian , not forgetting Titanic Plum Porter. Well here is another one I have just had, but a beer flavoured with prickly pears ?

I have done some digging and Spoetzl Brewery was established in the small town of Shiner in 1909. This therefore predates the so called US Craft explosion by a long way. I would have liked to have stated that Shiner is "On The way to Amarillo" ( as per the Neil Sedaka song), but its not - located approx halfway between Houston and San Antonio. "Is this the Way to San Antonio" doesn't quite make it when you sing it.

Sorry, back to the beer. Shiner  Bock is their flagship beer but they also produce seasonal specials. The prickly pear is a cactus found in Texas (see picture above)  and the brewer uses it to flavour this drink,  along with Citra and US Golding hops. 

So what does it taste like? Making sure there were no spines I  poured it out. The beer comes out as a deep amber colour. I am usually poor at sniffing beer ; the one fruit beer I can do is the aforesaid Plum Porter which  has a distinctive plum aroma -  I'm OK with that one. This beer had a faint fruity aroma, not too powerful.

There is some carbonation in the beer so getting used to the gasiness took a while. The initial taste was sharp, but not having eaten the fruit of a prickly pear ( have you ?) I had no idea if it was that or not. - Its a bit like having Ostrich Burgers or Kangaroo Steaks - how do you know ? Getting used to it, a cranberry flavour  kept coming onto my taste buds. I eventually got used to the bubbles and the fruit taste and finished the rest of the drink. 

During this I imagined lounging outside a cantina on a hot day in the desert, watching a tumbleweed roll past   and having this refreshing drink.Instead, as I type this, its cold and damp outside. Ah well.

  

This is about drinking summer beer in winter, for a winter drink in summer see this previous post ;- Winter lager in summer