Author Archives: Intoxicated Rich

Bite Size Reflections on #EBBC15, Belgium and Bloggers

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EBBC15badgeSo the dust settles on another European Beer Bloggers Conference and once again the first place to start is with a massive thanks to all the sponsors and Zephyr Adventures for a brilliant few days of generous hospitality, high quality beers, stimulating discussion and much revelry. It really wouldn’t be possible without them and the conference represents astounding value for money.

Much has been written as a result and a good place to catch up is the Facebook page. For now I’d just like to add some bite size reflections…

Quaint – Before and after the conference I’ve started to follow the sponsor breweries on Twitter, as you do. Several have clearly joined just recently, it’s a long time since I started following a world famous brewer who had only tweeted about 20 times with a few hundred followers. I guess we’ll have to tell them about Facebook soon. Or are we wasting our time? They have been successful enough without it.

They are family

They are family

Family – The Belgian Family Brewers were a major sponsor. They are family, they care. No fast track entry scheme, 50 years it is. They will experiment, they will innovate – but not on you. Once they have got it right, then they will release it. Admirable imho. Some modern breweries make me feel like a guinea pig, they know some stuff won’t work, they don’t know which, are they real brewers?

Heritage – The Belgian Brewers are a more inclusive group as the name suggests but there is still a massive thing about heritage. Although diminished from the numbers in their heyday they know they brew some of the most famous and iconic beers in the world. Why would you want to change that? Belgian traditions and heritage are such that anything new is viewed with healthy suspicion. It might be good but experimental does not necessarily equal good and consistent quality is paramount.

Bloggers – Quite a lot of introspection here. The British blogging scene certainly represents a bit of a love-in sometimes. No surprise when a fair percentage are doing it partly as a reason to get free beer and ‘access all areas’ invitations – and there’s nothing wrong with that. The real writers are a slightly different kettle of wort, but again, there is not much constructive criticism. People trying to make a living (or a ligging) can’t afford to be too critical it seems.

Language – It was taken for granted that the whole conference was conducted solely in English. Yet the non-native speakers (viz, every Belgian brewer for starters) consistently had impeccable colloquial English. Bravo. I am ashamed of myself.

Belgian Beer & Food – Paul Walsh, the editor moderated several of the talks and Brendan Kearney (sorry for the omission of your crazy Irish accents). Proper journalism. Asking probing questions, not stopping until answers were given instead of lapping up the marketing PR along with the free samples. There is a big gap in the UK market for something like this in my humble opinion. If you are travelling to Belgium or just interested in keeping up to date with the Belgian beer scene this mag is indispensible.

Belgian beers – It’s all been said and it’s all good. I feel slightly sorry for Pilsner Urquell, they bought a lovely fresh tank of beer which we didn’t make a big enough dent in – all eager to go exploring and pub crawling Brussels.

Innovation – We saw dry hopped beers, we saw saison in cans, we saw Cantillon in disposable kegs, we saw a brewer encouraging us to blend his beers in the glass, we saw popular old beers that had been revived. We also saw history, tradition and the heritage of some of the world’s great beers, beers that people try to copy everywhere in the world. We didn’t see any experimental brews on sale that hadn’t been fully developed, or brewers with a ‘we’ve brewed it so we might as well sell it’ attitude.

The Wars – Don’t mention them. Older British brewers should feel incredibly lucky that their businesses and breweries and kit were not destroyed by invading armies. Mentioned several times this is clearly a big factor in the reduction of Belgian breweries and the renaissant state of the industry for the last 40 years.

Beer Tourism – Major sponsors included Visit Flanders and other Belgian tourist groups. They know what they’ve got. I’ve never seen any tourist board activity of this sort in the UK. Certainly in Surrey you can’t even get a brown road sign pointing to your brewery.

It’s going to be a hard act to follow.

I’ve sat on these thoughts so long that I’ve forgotten my other incisive comments. The end.

Not the greatest beer festival London has ever seen

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Chutzpah is us

Chutzpah is us

Billed as ‘the greatest beer festival London has ever seen’ you’d never accuse the Craft Beer Co of lacking chutzpah. These guys know how to organise festivals, their Craft100 festivals have featured 100 of the best beers in the country including several rare, special and new releases. In fact it’s been a victim of it’s own success in some ways, the Clapham bar is nowhere near big enough.

So the London Beer Carnival was going to be different. 50 of the best beers from around the world chosen for taste, not marketing considerations (no tittering at the back), unlimited 90ml pours, £50 a ticket, a venue in Waterloo. It had to be done. So imagine my surprise dear reader, when I received an email advising me monies were being refunded. So what went wrong? Who knows? Team Stonch normally have their finger on the pulse but may or may not have missed the mark, though Craft Beer Co’s Martin Hayes left more questions unanswered than answered with his reply.

But never fear, the beer was bought and various events were planned instead. The headline act was ‘Route CBC’ at the Clapham bar featuring the American beers. Now we know rare, strong, artisanal beer does not come cheap but some were £6.50 for a 1/3? In some cases they were not high abv and, according to the check-ins on Untappd, not particularly rare. (I am currently sitting in a Brewdog bar where a De Molen/Fyne 9.5% collab is £4.90 a half and Stone Old Guardian, 11.2% is £4.55 a third). Unlike Craft100 festivals there was no programme, just a menu mentioning name of beer, brewery, abv and price – nothing else. And there was £3 deposit for a glass, why? The bar at the front was operating as normal but also with deposits on glasses.

Some of the beers were great, they were all in good condition, lots of BA goodness. The number of breweries represented curiously low. But hey-ho, there was also the free bus to the Brixton bar where they had the Nordic beers. We cashed in our glasses and headed out front. Sightings of the free bus had been rare (not every 30 mins as per menu), but it did exist. So we had a couple of nice ordinary beers in the front bar – still having to pay a new £3 deposit. Eventually we gave up waiting and took an ordinary bus. Of course we forgot to get our £6 back, it’s so unusual to pay a deposit for a glass when you are sat at a bar for simple half. Halfway to Brixton, sat on the bus I realised this. I could faintly hear the kerching of the CBC accountant’s till and a triumphant ‘gotcha’ ringing in the air.

This was my first time in CBC Brixton, it is small but in a trendy area, the serving area of the bar is particularly small. A nice bar on a normal night, this wasn’t. First impression was a relief to see normal prices, most were under £3 a third. Regrettably the beers were exceptionally normal too, this was a poor showcase for the Nordic lands.

Intrepid is our middle name at Team Intoxicated. We could still make it to Leather Lane in the City for the German and Polish beers. The evening took an upturn with the arrival of a Scotch egg and the militant wing of Bexley CAMRA but otherwise more dreary beer, not even a menu here as far as we could see.

On the Sunday there was an uninspiring list of Irish and Italian beers to coincide with the rugby. Then a week later Covent Garden CBC had some of the Route CBC beers with new additions. The Intoxicated litigation fund being what it is, I will not call them the dregs.

What a letdown. The more so because of the previous great beers at Craft100 festivals. So what went wrong? Staffing issue, low ticket sales, some weird H&S concern? I would suspect that craft beer bubble has reached an optimum size, it hasn’t burst. There are a lot of people who really enjoy a beer festival where they will pay a fiver a pop for half a dozen premium halves (or more). But the thought of sticking up £50 in advance is a different matter, one that appeals to a limited audience – indeed if the beer list was the same as we saw at the events above even I would have felt short changed. And nobody likes ticking a box (or getting a badge) as much as me.

Craft Beer Co competes in the London market with Brewdog, Draft House and Barworks. To my mind, despite being a ‘family firm’, they are the most achingly hip. As a beer salesman they are the most difficult to engage with. Their beer selection is certainly no better than Barworks or Brewdog. The vibe is cooler in Barworks, more laid back in Draft House. Brewdog service and knowledgeability is, I hate to say, the best.

Without doubt though, CBC have the worst toilets. Now, when I was young drinking gallons of cheap session bitter in spit and sawdust pubs this didn’t matter. Now I am in my dotage and drinking premium beer at a premium price I expect a premium sanitary experience as well.

Have CBC got a bit up themselves and not noticed the trends? Is the firm run by accountants, not beer lovers? Did you enjoy the events? Have I got it wrong? It wouldn’t be the first time.

What’s Brewing, August – September 2015 – Agony Column

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Providing much needed help for the writers to What’s Brewing.Whats Brewing AugSep 15

It’s all rather mundane stuff in August to be honest. The ‘star letter’ from A C-C of Newhall is particularly avant garde though, ‘Internet vital to engage our younger members’ – apparently this is how the younger members communicate but sadly for most CAMRA members there is no description as to what this ‘internet’ is. I have a suspicion that computers could be involved. Seriously though, at their AGM they discover that 11 out of their 500 membership is active, and average age is 51. Nobody is surprised at this stat, but it is sad.

My theory is that all the writers are so old that the kids have flown the nest, grateful to get away. Hence they were on holiday during the submission time for last month – before the schools broke to get a good price. Pontins gets so crowded during the school hols. Now in the September edition we are back to good form.

KR of Beckenham thinks that CAMRA are ‘hell bent on supporting the micros to the detriment of the longer established brewers’. Quite so, who would want to drink a pint of something hand crafted a few miles away when there’s a good reliable pint of Greene King IPA on offer. NW of East London adds a new descriptor, ‘urine coloured’ – for modern pale ales presumably. I have yet to see breweries follow his lead in describing their beers thus, likewise the Farrow & Ball colour cards do not use this. Indeed it is confusing as from personal experience I have seen a number of hues. Several appear to think that CAMRA is becoming far to inclusive, no, not just a laissez faire attitude to craft keg bashing, but cider! Cider is clearly not real ale. AP of Hartlepool mentions ‘cider and other fringe drinks’, NM of Eastleigh suggests that cider drinkers should set up their own organisation.

A Saturday stroll through southeast London

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There is a lot more to beer in southeast London than Bermondsey nowadays. Team Intoxicated and Kev decided that we should do the research so you don’t have to. It’s the first beerwalk©* that we have written up.

* Beerwalk is not a dance by a posthumous, cosmetically challenged singer songwriter, it’s exactly what is implied, an unsponsored walk involving beer.

Things were running late so regrettably we had to miss Orbit Beers and assembled at Brick Brewery close by Peckham Rye station. Well knock me down with a table beer, we could have been in Hoxton or Bermondsey. A cool little courtyard outside the railway Brick Breweryarch where they brew, natch, complete with pulled pork vendor. Due to a late arrival (well, me actually) most beers were tried. This brewery is well worth a visit because of the ‘taproom exclusives’ and quality-wise all up to scratch. The raspberry wheat was right up there. My reference for this style is Little Beer Corporation’s Little Rosy, beautifully dry and tart, one of the very best aperitif beers imho. Well Brick’s version is slightly sweeter (bad) but is paler and has far more banana-y wheat beer flavours (good). Kiwi Steam is also an easily approachable beer in an uncommon style.

We could have walked to East Dulwich, but we didn’t. There’s a nice quarter mile stretch that includes East Dulwich Tavern, The Flying Pig and Hop, Burns & Black. The EDT as it’s called is an Antic pub, a proper pub unlike some of their other ventures (that’s for another time, but try going to The Job Centre in Deptford for an alternative experience). Situated in a really buzzy area at the top of Lordship Lane this is really a place to sit with the Saturday papers and have a pint of good local ale (think Gipsy Hill, Volden or Clarkshaws). Nothing exciting but good, solid stuff and well tended but maybe they could rotate a bit more. If you’re getting peckish by now then toddle on to The flyingpig_home1Flying Pig, one of my favourite pubs in London. The beer range here is always interesting, not just the same as other craft locals. My guess is that they don’t buy solely on price or trendiness or availability. (It’s always easy to see when the latest, say, Lagunitas shipments arrive on these shores – however good the beer is – it floods the market temporarily.) They are independent, the food looks great, seating has something for everyone, Simone and Justine are lovely (all the staff actually) but above all it is unpretentious craft. Real ale and craft are equally well represented. Now it’s time to up the trendiness factor, in the same parade is Hop, Burns & Black only opened this year. The fact that Jen, one half of the ownership, comes from Nelson gives the place instant hop cred. Apart from a great selection of beer – think locals from SE London, trendy beers and NZ beers – they also have a growler filling machine with four beers on keg. And it gets better, there is some seating outside. There’s more, the ‘Burns’ refers to a great range of hot sauces and the ‘Black’ to a couple of bins of vinyl. This is a great place, my only criticism is that it’s a tad too hip for an old fogey like me.

I started off my sales career repping in SE London and it was my manor. Nunhead was one of those vague areas on the other side of the Rye with nothing memorable, less than 10 minutes walk from HB&B. Now it’s a lovely little neighbourhood and for the beer enthusiast there is the Old Nun’s Head ( another addition to the Laine’s London portfolio but not brewing on site yet), Bambuni, a great deli with a good craft selection but we chose the newest addition, The Beer Shop. A modern micropub, unlike some others I’ve

Bijou but airy

Bijou but airy

been to. Micropubs, in my experience so far, often have six identical session bitters bought solely on price in a converted shop with little natural light, but it doesn’t have to be like that. This is very small but it is airy and light. It has a keg line. It has ‘craft’ scotch eggs and pork pies, not only are they craft they are bloomin’ tasty too. This would be a great place to have within walking distance.

Still thirsty, where to now? The Ivy House (community owned, good session selection, cask and keg) is a fifteen minute walk south, to the southeast there is Brockley Brewery (nice but ordinary?) or to the southwest Herne Hill has Head in a Hat (interesting but depends what the pub has on) at the Florence and Canopy (needs further investigation).

So we headed north. A ten minute walk took us to Peckham Beer Rebellion part of the Late Knights Brewery group. I am no interior designer and I don’t know if it’s the Late Knights guys or the fact that this is southeast London but, imho naturally, they only pull off the first half of shabby chic. Beer is variable, this outlet has more keg lines than some others and that’s the direction to look. Late Knights themselves tend to stick to themes on a cask ale.

It’s not like me but prior research had discovered a relatively new (aren’t they all) brewery operating out of a pub further down Queen’s Road. Now I have been in some weird pubs in my time, the Montague Arms, home of the Monkeychews brewery is right

Home of the Monkeychews Brewery

Home of the Monkeychews Brewery

up there. I have passed this pub many times in the car, it is black. Inside it is just very dark. Peering through the gloom it is actually quite comfortable to the left, nice chairs, ephemera, taxidermy and tables with globes in the middle. To the right a stage (has been a nearly famous music venue in the past) and what appeared to be a jumble sale? We didn’t like to ask. There were two Monkeychews beers on cask. Kev, who had consistently chosen the dud all day, had the one that was definitely off, it was swiftly replaced and removed from sale. Ours was almost off, it would be unfair to review it. My only complaint is that they shouldn’t have served it, I’m sure someone can make ok-ish beer there but suspect they don’t have the turnover to sell it.

So a slightly odd experience to end an interesting day walking and drinking in the newly vibrant heart of southeast London. Well it wasn’t quite the end, that was in a BYO Vietnamese restaurant eating frogs legs and pigs ears swilled down with Guinness Foreign Extra – but that’s another story.

 

 

Women, Beer and CAMRA

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dea-latis-website-header_v1Women, beer and CAMRA, which is the odd one out? Looking at all the desperate campaigns and articles in What’s Brewing, looking at the demographic in Bermondsey on a Saturday morning, comparing GBBF and say, Craft Beer Rising, the answer is clearly CAMRA. What got me thinking was an article by Annabel Smith, a founder of Dea Latis in What’s Brewing.

Without presuming to understand what goes on in women’s minds let me give you my observations, gleaned from watching women in pubs, Bermondsey and well, everywhere.

– women are not put off by alcoholic volume, they enjoy say, 250ml of 12% alcohol

– women like nice glassware

– women do not want high liquid volumes

You know what, it sounds an awful lot like what I want too!

Let’s go back in time. Pubs were full of men, lots of them were manual labourers. And what did they want? Fluid replacement and to be able to go to work the next day. 3.5% session bitter? Perfect.

Think about it. Six pints is over three litres, is it really enjoyable to drink that much liquid, whatever the taste? If any men are in denial about drinking six pints in a session by the way, whatever the government says is safe, then it scales down also. It’s generally a lot of liquid for the flavour (notwithstanding some notable weaker beers nowadays, some of them real ales too. Thornbridge Wild Swan, Kernel Table Beer, Otley Tri-O and Moncada Summer Blonde spring to mind.)

Snap. Back to today, it’s now 40 years since wine bars became the sophisticated place to drink. Everyone cares about something local. And America has discovered that Fuggles is not the only hop. Everything about food and drink is going extreme, from coffee beans that have been passed through the intestinal tract of a coypu to beef from cows that have personally massaged every day. Likewise beer.

In the cities where they are, craft beer bars and microbreweries are cool places to drink. City pubs rarely cut it.

In general women have resisted the charm of session bitters, real ale and CAMRA since they began. You can lead a lady to the pub but you can’t force her to drink a pint.

By contrast, the ‘craft beer’ scene has everything to attract both sexes equally, as it should be. The most amazing range of flavours, strengths, complexities, styles and glassware. Nobody is hung up about whether a flavourless, odourless gas is added to the beer or not.

One of the reasons why I love the ‘craft beer’ scene is the great generational and sexual equality in it. I don’t want to look at a bunch of old gits in sandals at a CAMRA festival, I’ve got a mirror for that.

So, of course women like beer, who wouldn’t? CAMRA need to be more inclusive of other beers, then they will be more inclusive of women.

What’s Brewing, June – July 2015 – Agony Column

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Whats Brewing JJ 15 2Providing much needed help for the writers to What’s Brewing.

In June, regular correspondent DS of Chelmsford is bemoaning choice, too many ‘unknown and often undrinkable’ beers. So give up now all you new brewers, DS wants to stick with what he knows. It was like that back in the seventies, ah, the good old days.

But what of the kidz? FC of Whitley Bay thinks that left well alone the ‘youth will embrace the values of their elders’ when they are ready. I don’t think FC has had a chance to visit the Bermondsey beer mile yet.

The voice of reason comes DH, president of a Uni real ale society who identifies their enemy as bland, flavourless beers and reads CAMRA’s original mission as giving consumers ‘greater choice and quality’.

In July, carbon dioxide and the dreaded ‘c’ word get a proper hammering. SB of Quedgeley says the enemy is keg and lager. So basically it’s back to WW2, the Germans and their lager are the enemy. That’s how many years of brewing tradition gone west then? LW of Worcester thinks that a ‘focus on quality’ is a bad thing. Oh dear.

Honestly, when you read stuff like that I really do consider leaving CAMRA but then you read Bob Southwell, the Volunteer Voice this month. Whilst not endorsing the ‘c’ beer revolution he does recognise the outdated ideas of CAMRA in some respects. Under the heading ‘Have we just become moaning relics’ he declares the need for action before CAMRA has the same fate as dinosaurs. Articles like this give me hope.

One of these days CAMRA is going to have aggravate a large minority of its members (and risk their resignations) in order to progress and increase membership. Or else another organisation will be more attractive and CAMRA will end up like the Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood.