SIBA Great Northern Beer Festival in Manchester This Week

The headline says it all, really. The 2011 SIBA Great Northern Beer Festival kicks off at the Mercure Piccadilly (formerly the Ramada Piccadilly) Hotel in Manchester on Thursday and runs through to Saturday, with 250 cask and 100 bottled beers on offer.

Tandleman has checked the casks and is in charge of health and safety at the event so you know that beer and drinkers alike are in good hands. And it will all be served in the proper, Northern manner, with a sparkler on the pump for body and head alike, and a clean glass for each drink, which is quite simply the most civilised way of running a beer festival.

Jo and I had a great time at last year’s event, which was by far the best beer festival we’d been to to-date (and still is, unless this year’s can beat it). So we’ve done the sensible thing and booked Friday off work so that we can get on down to the Thursday evening session with our drinking trousers most definitely on and the prospect of a mere 50 yard stagger to the tram stop to see us safely home again

Anyone else planning on being there on Thursday evening? Drop me a note via the comments below and maybe we can say hello and have a beer on the night.

[A Few More Than] Six Links to 03.08.11

In which I usually post a half-dozen links to items of interest I’ve spotted around the Beerblogosphere since my last Six Beer Links post. But seeing as I’ve been on holiday for a couple of weeks since my last proper read-through my RSS feeds and tuned back in to find 717 unread items waiting for me, I’ll be posting stuff in longer-than-usual batches until I’ve caught up…

1. Here’s a video chat with three members of Bellowhead, back-stage at this year’s V Festival on the subject of touring, brewing and diverse other things [via ‘Local Beer Champion’ accreditation scheme for pubs who do their bit to support breweries in their region. More info at www.siba.co.uk/sibalocals.

2. This year’s 2011 CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain – Mighty Oak Oscar Wilde – looks like one I’d definitely like to try. And I’ve enjoyed many a pint of the always excellent runner-up (Marble Chocolate) and a one or two of the third-placed (Salopian Shropshire Gold) before now. Congrats to all three breweries!

3. The People’s Pint y’say? Good idea, having a lower-strength option on the bar for extended sessions. Bloody stupid name though. Would you be tempted to try a beer that sounds like a government initiative?

4. Via www.siba.co.uk, news that Molson Coors has announced plans to invest £175m in its UK breweries, including the recently-acquired Sharps. Which is a Good Thing in anyone’s book, surely?

5. Gotta love those Ralph Steadman labels from Flying Dog. Here’s news of a new one, courtesy of beernews.org.

6. Will Hawkes has profiled Sussex brewer Dark Star for The Independent Online [via Is Saison the New Citra?, decided it isn’t and then explained his flavour-profile-based conclusion.

7. Mark Dredge got a few things off his chest with a piece on beer branding and I have to say I find myself nodding in agreement with just about everything he says there.

8. …his piece also prompted Boak and Bailey to follow up with a few simple but rather excellent Branding Tips for Small Breweries.

9. …and on the same topic, Jeff Pickthall’s PumpClip Parade blog was featured in a Guardian Online article on Real Ale’s Image Problem.

10. Over at Eating Isn’t Cheating, Neil has been looking into the world of Foreign Export Stouts and mentions a couple I haven’t tried yet.

11. Via Brew Wales, news that Brains Original Stout may soon be appearing in a larger Tesco near you. Any new bottled stout on the supermarket shelves is a cause for celebration (and worth a try or two) if you ask me.

12. Pete Brown encountered brilliant bar service at BrewDog Edinburgh, based around the principle of friendly, good-looking young people handing out hundreds of free samples of beer (he’s got a point there, what’s not to like?)

13. Martyn Cornell got a bit hot under the collar about Roger Protz and Otley Brewery’s new Burton Ale, which due to an accident of 1970s brand reinvention, apparently isn’t a Burton Ale.

14. BrewDog have announced the winner of their 2011 Photo Competition. I voted for the swimming dog myself, but there you go :)

Six Beer Links to 10.07.11

In which I post a half-dozen links to items of interest I’ve spotted around the Beerblogosphere since my last Six Beer Links post.

1. Our local CAMRA branch has announced its Pub of the Year and the honour goes to the Hare and Hounds in Holcombe Brook. Reckon that’s do-able by bus from Bury town centre, if we picked the right one. And by Jove, they have an Alecam on their website so you can see what they’re serving before you set out. Fantastic idea!

2. Keeping it local: as a fully paid-up and positively evangelistic member of the pro-sparkler brigade, I thoroughly enjoyed Tyson’s paean of praise to the humble yet wonderful sparkler. “Never has something so small given so much pleasure to so many.”* Hear, hear and well said indeed!

3. Fantastic idea number two: these rather fantastic animated images look like an excellent idea. I don’t know how much the US agency that came up with the process would charge for putting them together, but if I was working for a brewery, I’d be straight on the phone to see what it would take to get them on our website. That last one in particular – doesn’t looking at that just make you incredibly thirsty? [via International IPA Day. “Attention all craft beer evangelists, brewers, bloggers, and suds-savvy citizens! On Thursday, August 4th 2011, you are cordially invited to participate in the largest international craft beer celebration and virtual conversation the world has ever seen.” It looks like there might be an event on at The Port Street Beer House. I’ll be needing to book a day’s holiday for August 5th, then…

4. This thought-provoking post from the blog of online beer retailer Beermerchants.com had me nodding in agreement throughout. It’s perfectly true, when you stop and think about it for even a minute, it really is an amazing time to be a fan of excellent beer.

5. Equally thought-provoking: Sharp’s Head Brewer Stuart Howe talks about the value of feedback; good when it comes in the form of up-front, constructive criticism and not so good when it involves somebody slyly taking the piss. “Spare a thought for brewers like me when you are sampling beer but most of all be honest and constructive with them. Some of the most important improvements I have made to my techniques have been wrought from criticism. The most profound betrayal of a brewer is to slag his beers off behind his back.” Sounds like a bit of a no-brainer, but maybe it’s something that we beer reviewers and beer bloggers could do with keeping in mind from time to time, eh?

*I was going to insert a gag about the rampant rabbit, but someone beat me to it in the comments on Tyson’s post ;)

Lurking next to the Orcs Black Ale, I found this bottle of CAMRA 25th Anniversary Ale.

Brewed back in 1996 by George Gale & Co (who were acquired by Fuller’s back in 2005), this 7.1% ale was brewed with Maris Otter barley and Fuggles, Goldings and Challenger hops.

I’m guessing it’s an IPA-style golden ale? Hard to tell through the brown glass, of course. I can’t find any information on the CAMRA website and Google isn’t turning up anything either.

I’m pretty sure this came into my possession by accident a few years back. I think it was courtesy of Jo’s Nan, who had decided to clear out her own drinks cabinet and had found this bottle lurking behind the sweet sherry, Bells whisky and Canada Dry. I said “thank you very much” and brought it home, at which point it disappeared into our drinks cabinet and was forgotten about until a few weeks ago.

The best-before date is given as April 2000, but with its 7.1% ABV and – from the sounds of the label – plenty in the way of hop-content, I suppose there’s a chance it might still be drinkable..?

What do the beer congnoscenti among you reckon? Best keep the cap firmly on? Possibly rank, but worth risking? Entirely safe to drink and most likely delicious? Or even, worth saving for CAMRA’s 50th anniversary in 2021? I’d love to know what the experts out there think.

Here’s a close-up of the label. Click for a larger version if you’d like to see it in a bit more detail:

CAMRA have announced that this year’s National Pub Design Awards are open for business.

So, if your favourite boozer has been tarted up recently, or you’ve found a new pub that’s a sight for sore eyes and a pure pleasure to drink in, why not give the landlord/lady a nudge in the direction of the online entry form? I’ll bet if they win they’ll be only too happy to show their beer-flavoured appreciation, eh?

Interesting article by Ed Gillespie on www.guardian.co.uk yesterday, on the subject of saving money and reducing your carbon footprint by buying local beer from independent breweries.

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According to the latest CAMRA real ale Premier League table there are twenty-five breweries in the Greater Manchester area. This total puts us a slightly disappointing 11th in the table; well behind our always-friendly rivals over t’Pennines, West Yorkshire, who are sitting pretty in the top-spot with 34. (Dammit, we need to open another 10 breweries in Greater Manchester! Tandleman, Tyson, what are you waiting for?)

But anyhow, Wars of the Beer-Roses aside (that not actually being the point of my post) I’m immediately intrigued to know how many of those 25 breweries’ brews I’ve managed to sampled to-date. Off the top of my head I’d guess maybe half of them. Then again, the figure could actually be higher. So here’s the plan:

Step one: Obtain a copy of the list. That’ll involve purchasing a copy of this year’s Good Beer Guide, then. Right, over to Amazon.co.uk (sorry CAMRA shop, but they’re only asking £7.99 and I get free next-day Amazon Prime delivery as well) and that’s on the way now (along with a copy of Pete Brown‘s Hops and Glory – been meaning to read that for ages) and should be here tomorrow.

Step two: Double-check the list against my posted Tasting Notes to-date and the as-yet un-posted scribbles in my pocket notebook. I realise that this technically constitutes some form of ticker-like behaviour, but I’m prepared to take one for the team there, in the name of supporting local (indeed: locAle) businesses.

Step three: Aim to track down one example of each as-yet un-sampled brewery’s best beers, hopefully before the end of the year (it’s always good to set yourself a deadline for this sort of thing, I reckon).

I rather suspect that step three might be the best bit. And there’s a Manchester Beer Festival on in at least one of the Manchester city centre Wetherspoon’s branches in a couple of weeks. That might help.

Chocks away!

CAMRA have announced this year’s supreme Champion Winter Beer of Britian. It’s Oakham Ales Attila, a 7.5%abv barley wine described by the brewery thus: “Fruit notes and elderflower on aroma. Taste of ripe red berries and citrus fruit with a long bitter fruity finish.”

Sounds bloody delicious, and I’ll bet there’s none left by the time I get to the NWAF tomorrow evening (my drinking buddy Howard is available, so that means a double-session for yours truly. Nice.)

The silver and bronze awards went to Elland Brewery‘s 1872 Porter and Sarah Hughes’s Dark Ruby mild, respectively, so that’s another two for the target list for tomorrow and / or Saturday. I’m looking forward to the next couple of evenings immensely…

In an act of joined-up thinking and cooperation apparently rare among beer-related interest groups, CAMRA and the British Beer and Pub Association have joined forces to launch the Axe the Beer Tax, Save the Pub! campaign, with an online presence at www.axethebeertax.com.

By signing up to the mailing list, you can send an automatically generated email to your local MP asking that they join the campaign and protest the estimated 40% hike in beer duty this year (including the recently-announced rise intended to “off-set” the 2.5% drop in VAT that’s supposed to rescue the ailing UK economy) that beer writers like Pete Brown have been vociferously challenging.

Head along to the site, sign up, show your support. Axe the Beer Tax!

I was bitterly disappointed to read on the BrewDog blog the other week that The Portman Group’s complaint against BrewDog’s packaging has been upheld. There’s plenty of background information via the link above, although of course we only have BrewDog’s side of the story at the moment: a quick glance at the Portman Group’s press release page shows that they still haven’t posted anything relevant to the case.

Anyhow, looking at the excerpts from the complaint that have been quoted (and vigorously contradicted) by BrewDog, it’s clear that it’s just one specific area of the marketing of BrewDog’s products that the Portman Group are objecting to. And as a marketer by trade, I feel reasonably qualified to comment on that sort of thing, so I shall.

The first thing to note is that it’s not the graphic design of the packaging, or the shape of the bottles, or even the name of the product that the Portman Group is objecting to, merely the wording on the labels (and the back-labels, at that). Neither – to the best of the available knowledge to-date – have they produced any actual data or statistical evidence that supports their claim: that the wording on the back-labels of BrewDog’s bottles leads to the sort of anti-social behaviour that the Portman Group is apparently (apparently…) so keen on stamping out.

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