BEER BOTTLES WITH STRING LABELS

I always get beer for Xmas, I'm easy to buy for ! This year, amongst  the ten I got were three called Hammond XXXX Old Tom, from Darwin Brewery in Sunderland.

Not heard of Hammond XXXX so did some research, but first bottles with string labels.

I first came across these in 2015 in the form of Three Kings Tyneside Tommy. It was reported at the time that 1200 bottles were brewed at the end of 2014, in memory of the thousands of Tynesiders who fought in the First World War. I acquired two. 

The beer turned up again  at the Woodhorn Mining Museum  Ashington,  when they had the giant poppy display on. I was given for 3 for Xmas, which makes 5. I am guessing they brewed more than 1200 then, or I'm very lucky.

Anyhow, fast forward to Xmas and the Hammonds XXXX. Hammonds were a brewery in Bradford, now defunct. Darwin, who's beers include Flag Porter & Extinction Ale, seem to specialise in digging up old recipes. The Old Tom, not to be confused with Robinsons Old Tom, was a strong old ale coming in at 7.45%.****

I tasted one the other day. It has the look and the body of an old ale, a bit like Owd Roger $$$. The initial taste was nice and fruity, but here's the strange thing ; after swallowing, the taste disappeared ! It wasn't till I got to near the bottom of the glass that the strong taste lingered.  Obviously, being 7.45% there was the inevitable euphoric warm feeling one gets when drinking  a strong beer such as this, but the delayed aftertaste sensation was weird. 

I have 2 more bottles to get through, so more vital research is needed.

****page 166 from the book Amber Gold and Black.

$$$ Sad news, my local B&M's doesn't stock Owd Roger anymore. Distraught !!

TAKING THE WATER

At around the time of my birthday in November I am asked what I want for birthday and Xmas. The usual response is  

"Beer".

" OK what beer ?"

 "Well get me some of that Innis & Gunn you usually get me."

 And so it is I will drink some of their beers around this time of year, and then that's it till the cycle starts again in November. I never see their beers in pubs or at beer festivals, only ever in bottles in supermarkets. Some even come in a special box. There must be some in  pubs somewhere, probably up in Scotland where it is brewed.

So where is it brewed ? That used to be a mystery. Although they are registered in Edinburgh it has always been the case that their stuff was brewed by "an unnamed brewery". Doing it a bit of digging this time round the beer is brewed by Tennants in Glasgow.

So what do they sell. Perhaps the most iconic is their Oak Aged Beer, which as the name suggests is brewed in oak casks. A one I got in a box is Hopped Bourbon Cask Ale. I haven't opened it yet but the tasting notes say there should be an aroma of Turkish Delight (?)

 

Anyhow, to get to the point of all this, I was looking in a supermarket to see what other Innis & Gunn beers were available and found some in cardboard boxes (  see photo). It appears that last year they launched a crowdfunding scheme to raise some cash. This was after they had bought the Inveralmond Brewery in Perth in April 2016.

When I Googled the crowdfunding story my mind was completely blown by another story  - that they had been catching rainwater to brew a new beer !  It was how they did it that got me checking the calendar to make sure it wasn't April 1st. 

Apparently four people travelled to The Devils Beef Tub, near Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway and collected 500 pints of cloud water. ( which by my crude maths is over 1/4 of a ton!!).  The resultant product is called Sky IPA.

see link in case you don't believe me :- RAINING BEER

At first I thought they were taking the piss but no, they were taking the water !

BEER FESTIVAL GLASS

I was having a clear out of one of my cupboards the other day, the one with loads of beer glasses in. Stuck in the back was this one, which I had forgotten all about.

The Great Tyneside Beer Festival 1973

I have to say I haven't a clue how I got it ; Ive been racking my brains over Xmas. It was either given to me as a present  or I visited the festival and got so blotto its wiped from my memory.

A fellow CAMRA mate has thankfully come to my rescue as he has  hazy recollections of the day.  This wasn't a real ale festival, there was precious little of the stuff in those days.  It was held in a large marquee at Gosforth Park -  Newcastle Racecourse. 

He recalls going to see if he could get some Australian beer to welcome a new cricket professional, Australian  Bob Thomas, to the South Shields Cricket Club. At that time - 1973 -  Fosters and Castlemaine 4X were quite rare in this country so the objective was to buy as much of the stuff as he could with what little money he had. 

He has vague memories of the festival being a total cock-up and meeting the organiser who was dressed in a sheepskin coat and looking very flustered ( sounds like Arthur Daley - Ed). He  was at the end of his tether when he met him. Desperate for any amount of money, hence his "How much money have you got to spend?" 

I have a friend who now lives in OZ , he keeps coming back on visits every 5 years or so. One year, as a welcome, one of us bought him a can of Fosters. He rolled his eyes and said " no one drinks Fosters Lager in Australia". They have inflicted it on us but don't drink the stuff themselves ! 

Anyhow, back to the glass. I googled "Great Tyneside Beer Festival 1973" and the results only show memorabilia of the day. So there is what appears to be a beer mat from Federation Brewery ( remember them ?) advertising a  7.3% beer. Some wit - and I'm being generous with that description , has suggested I was drinking that all day, hence the memory loss !

The truth is out there somewhere.

REVIEW OF 2016

Last night the BBC held their Sports Personality of the Year Awards. As usual, I didnt watch it . So to celebrate that fact, here are my own awards,  beer related awards, in no particular order.

Best beer at 11 o clock in the morning goes to Theakstons Old Peculier in The Black Swan Bedale. Some say Old Peculier doesn't travel. Bedale is less than seven miles from Theakstons Brewery and, considering it was pulled 1 minute after opening time, it was perfect. So good in fact that I had 2 pints. This made the rest of the pub crawl I was doing with some mates that day a bit of a blur. Not, however enough to forget our last pub ( see next award)  :

Best Pub to take over and have a private karaoke was Tullulahs. Hidden down an alley off Bedale Market place, the manager spotted the 7 of us lurking outside so let us in. Soon an Elvis karaoke session was in full swing. Captured on video for prosperity ****   

The Smallest Pub visited in 2016 was The Nutshell in Bury St Edmunds. The place was rammed with 15 drinkers. Good pint of Abbott Ale as well.

The Largest Pub visited in 2016 was The Corn Exchange, bizarrely across the street from the Nutshell. a Wetherspoons, the main entrance was up some stone steps , at the top which was a small sign :- " disabled entrance round the side".  It couldn't be seen from the bottom of the steps !  

Best pub building of 2016  This has to be the Philharmonic Dining Rooms in Liverpool. The sheer splendour of the interior just takes your breath away. 

You're not too old to get a bollocking off the landlord award goes to one of my mates, who cant be named for legal reasons ( the case comes up in January ). 

We were doing a pub crawl in Gosforth , Newcastle. On entering our 5th pub(which goes some way towards explaining this), the Gosforth Hotel, we discovered an unused quiet back room with no staff in . The guilty party "accidentally" walked through the bar hatch ( well,  that will be the main case for the defence) and pretended to serve the drinks. 

" You shouldn't be behind there !" this voice shouted out from the main bar. There were 7 of us so he let us stay.

Quietest Pub in 2016 - On our 2nd family visit to Glasgow, planned to coincide with the Glasgow Beer Festival, I arranged to meet a former colleague in the Clutha which was next door to the venue. This was the pub that saw a helicopter crash on its roof in 2013. Eerie.

Worst Noise of 2016 - for the second year running this accolade goes to the Caledonian Brewery Bagpipe Band at the above beer festival. Even some of the local CAMRA guys were moaning on about it.

Worst drink of 2016 - at the Sunderland Octoberfest I braved a half of Beetroot and Orange Cider. Never again !

Most dedicated punter at a beer festival. Ive been to a few this year , and worked behind the bar at the Sunderland Octoberfest. One guy on arrival headed straight for the left end of the bar , declaring he was working his way along. It was great seeing him come up as I could get ready behind the appropriate beer. As the session wore on , his walk was less direct , until at one point he forgot where he had got up to. I couldn't help him by now as I was still recovering from the beetroot cider . After number 10, never saw him again. 

Surprise of the year - we try and visit Whitby once a year. Great pubs, great beer and steam trains !. There was onepulling into the station as we arrived so walked into the station entrance to catch a glimpse. Immediately screeched to a halt, with Mrs Ken bumping into me. The old waiting room was now a micropub, appropriately called The Waiting Room. Great ales and company. Went back a second time to listen to some folk music.    

 

Best city for a pub crawl 2016 - Given that we visited the place three times, it has to be Glasgow. A lot like Newcastle, there are discreet areas to have a crawl with loads of great people and boozers. 

Best food photo 2016. On our third and last Glasgow trip , drove down to Largs on the Ayrshire coast for the best ice cream ever ( £14.95 in Nardinis)

Best pub of 2016. There have been many good pubs Ive been in this year, some of which are mentioned  above. Now, every Tuesday night we go to a quiz in Durham, and before it starts 2 of us nip into The Station House for a quick half. Its one of those places where you never know which beers are going to be on until you walk in , but one of them will be a dark beer, which suits me. I would present the award when I can find one ! 

Most eagerly awaited drink of 2016 will be Fyne Ales Sublime Stout. Over Easter, on our first trip up north, the car mysteriously found its way up the Clyde coast , along Loch Fyne and up a farm track to the Fyne Ales brewery. Ive been keeping this 750ml bottle for New Years Eve.

So 2016. Some great pubs and pub crawls. 

Added Liverpool to my list of favourite pub crawl cities. Several beer festivals , again !. As usual managed to find some great beer and already looking forward to a busy 2017.  

*** Do a search for "Completely Directionless" then videos if nothing better to do with your life

STATION HOUSE BIRTHDAY BASH

I always look forward to December and the many possible social activities that present themselves during the festivities. The weather may be crap and it gets dark too early but there is nothing like a few seasonal drinking and eating sessions to raise one's spirits.

Such an event happened last night in Durham. I received an invite a few weeks ago ( well it's who you know!) to attend the Station House pub’s first birthday party. I drink there most Tuesday nights, having a quick half before heading over the road for a pub quiz.  

Four real ales and four real ciders are always available and a running total of ale and ciders sold since opening is kept on a blackboard.    
(I wonder where that idea came from ?) 

Although most probably out of date as I type,  410 casks have been sold , with 343 different beers from  114 breweries. 

Among the beers on last night were Gt Heck Black Santa, Orkney Red McGregor, Osset New Generation IPA ( at a cheek sucking 7%) and a mystery beer. Guess the name and win a prize ! I had a go but don't hold out any hope of winning. Didn't recognise the taste at all. Anyhow, the prize was a gift pack of Durham bottle conditioned beers, just like one I had bought two days earlier !

 

As I intended having a few last night I thought I would cross over to the Dark Side and try a cider. I don’t normally drink the stuff, probably because of a bad experience at our recent Sunderland beer festival ; Beetroot and Orange ! Never again, it was bloody awful ; smelt and tasted like a beetroot sarni.  I opted for Rhubarb Cider this time. Not bad at all, fairly sweet and not overpowering, in fact I could hardly taste any rhubarb at all.

Now some nights when I go into the Station House ,  there is a dog belonging to one of the punters lying around looking bored. So when I was handed the invite , on the bottom  it said, “ Nibbles will also be available”  Naturally you assume it’s the name of the dog, but no!  A fine spread was put on as part of the celebration. 

Usually at local beer festivals you spot some local brewers. For the first time that I can recall this was the first pub event;  with at least 3 local brewers ( Arcane Bridge, Errant and Durham). That and the fact several CAMRA members from three local branches were there meant a good night was had by all.  

Fantastic beer ( & cider) and food.  Already looking forward to same time next year 👍👎?

CAMRA ANGLE WINTER 2016

The Winter edition of CAMRA Angle , the quarterly magazine of the Sunderland and South Tyneside branch of CAMRA, has  just been published. Copies will soon be distributed to real ale pubs throughout the area , and beyond. 

As usual , this is another  packed issue and well worth a read.  

This edition looks back on the Sunderland Octoberfest with  a belated award presentation to Darwin Brewery and charity cheque presentation to the local RNLI. Another award presentation goes to The Steamboat as Regional Pub of the Year.

A regular section is a news update on pubs and breweries in the branch as well as Locale pubs and those that offer discounts. There is a feature article about the Society for the Preservation of Beer from the Wood.

There are articles from our roving reporters in Barcelona ( again) , Liverpool, Alnwick, London and York.Once again  CAMRA Angle travels the world.  

There is no pub walk this issue, based on the fact no one would be mad enough to walk it this weather. However, the feature will return in the spring.

This issue features the Biddick Inn in Washington and  some local anonymous writer shows us the boot of his car 

Issue 45 is rounded off by a  pub quiz and where am I.

Oh and not forgetting the Shetland Dragon !!

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.  

FANCY DRESS AS FIDEL CASTRO

The announcement of the death of Fidel Castro reminded me of a time way back in the 70s when a group of us attended a fancy dress party.  I think I went dressed as a court jester but unsure on that one ( so it must have been a good night !) but most of us were assembled in the Cross Keys Washington when in walks a tallish guy dressed as Fidel Castro.

He wore an army uniform with cap, and a long beard. Most of us ignored him as we didnt know who he was.

Some of us asked, " so wheres Davy then ?" The lone figure then proceeded to remove his hat to reveal a familiar ginger mop, then pulled out the beard on its elastic. It was Davy ! The disguise was so good none recognised him. We still talk about it to this day.

At the same do my mate and his girl friend came dressed as mice ( I know, just use your imagination !) We left the Cross Keys and headed along Washington Village Green to the Washington Arms. Bursting for a pee, Mr Mouse headed for the gents. He was standing there at the urinal relieving himself when in walked someone who wasn't in our group. He just stopped and stared at my mate, who turned to him and said

" Whats the matter, have you never seen a mouse have a piss before ?"

True story.