DIGITAL
CAMRA
The On-line version of the Cornwall CAMRA
Branch Newsletter
ONE & ALE ON LINE
Spring 2006 (archived)
Pub of the
Year Award goes to Penzance
The Alexandra Inn, Penzance |
No-one could have been more taken aback than Peter Featherstone, landlord of the Alexandra Inn, Penzance, when he was told that he had been chosen as Cornwall CAMRA's Pub of the Year 2006. "That's amazing.... truly wonderful" was his startled reaction as the news gradually sank in. And with that, he was gone; "I must tell Rosemary, she'll be over the moon" was his parting shot.
The Alexandra Inn came top of a shortlist of 6 finalists in the Pub of the Year contest, chosen by the votes of CAMRA branch members, after all six were visited by a team of inspectors to judge how they stood up to CAMRA's strict criteria. This proved as ever to be a difficult task, as it always is when you are trying to choose between the best of Cornwall's 670 pubs, and sometimes there can be an element of luck too if one of them is not quite up to scratch on one criterion or another on the day it gets visited. But the Alexandra came through with flying
colours, narrowly beating the two runners-up - the Seven Stars Inn at Stithians and the Driftwood Spars, Trevaunance Cove - into second and third place respectively.
The inspectors had to look at a number of different things, the primary one being the quality of the beer - proper dispense into the glass, good condition and temperature, tasting as the brewer intends it to taste - and Peter's beers could hardly be faulted on this one. The atmosphere of the pub comes into it too, and although the pub was almost empty when the inspectors arrived (bad timing!), it started to fill up within the hour and with a good mix of clientele as well, which is another point that is looked for. |
| The friendliness of the welcome and the service offered to customers is also monitored, although this includes other odd things like the state of the toilets (and aspiring POTY
candidates in some cases could pay more attention to this, especially the ladies' loos!). Sympathy
with the general aims of CAMRA are looked for as well - price lists and opening hoursdisplayed
prominently, for instance, and while inspectors don't look for great displays of CAMRA posters or
literature, things like serving a full measure without having to be asked and showing proper concern
if the beer is not in good condition count highly. Peter scored well here, with his notice asking
customers to draw his attention to anything wrong with the ales in case he has missed it. Finally, the pub has to be good value; not just on price, but in terms of whether the money you spent and
the experience you had was worth the effort you made to get there. |
Peter and Rosemary came to the Alex in July 2002, and brought their experience of a number of
years in the Saddle Inn in Twyford, Leicestershire to bear in taking this popular free house forward from the success their predecessors Mike and Frankie Durose were already making of it when they
handed over in that year. They keep up to six real ales on handpump, a good Skinner's
representation being supplemented by an ever-changing selection from other local breweries, while
a real Cornish cider called Kerb Kisser (for obvious reasons!) is also usually available.
When he's
not dispensing ales, Peter indulges in his other interests which, entertainingly, have included a remote-controlled helium balloon which he has been known to fly around the bar rooms, a working Scalectrix track which folds down from the wall and also doubles as the dartboard, and rather more challengingly, a rebuild of a Model T Ford which can often be |
seen outside the pub and is a familiar
sight around the town (with Rosemary in the dicky seat!).
So congratulations from CAMRA Kernow to Peter and Rosemary on their tremendous win, and also
to the two very worthy runners-up who also came so close. Next year of course they will all have to
look to their laurels as the Blisland Inn will be back again, having had a year's rest as two-time
winner of the title in 2004 and 2005. The Alexandra now goes forward to the next qualifying round towards the title of National Pub of the Year, which looks
first for the South West regional winner in July.
|
ST. IVES BEER
FESTIVAL
2-4 June 2006
Guildhall, Street-an-Pol |
|
Steam
Up at the Countryman
Organised
chaos broke out at the Countryman Inn, Piece, near Redruth on Sunday 30
April when no fewer than 13 steam traction engines and rollers turned up
for an annual lunchtime rally at the pub (right).
With the car park already full when the first engines arrived, there was
only space for two or three on the forecourt, so the others parked
opposite the pub or up the Carnkie side road, causing traffic chaos as the
normally busy road was partly blocked. However, it was all good-natured
and after a pint or so for the enginemen and dozens of enthusiasts who
crowded the pub, the steamers drifted away to their homes all over
Cornwall and beyond.
The engines had been performing on Camborne's Trevithick Day on the
Saturday, and were making a tour via Beacon, Troon and Four Lanes before
stopping at the Countryman for a well-earned thirst-quencher.
|
|
| Ugly
Duckling to Swan?
Not quite perhaps, but the Admiral Boscawen
pub on Richmond Hill, Truro (near the railway station) has been cleaned up
and re-emerged as Richmond's Bar (picture, right). After a preview opening on the
evening of 20 April for invited punters ("to expose the
cock-ups", as proprietor Richard Martin put it), the bar opened its
doors to the general public the next day.
In a startling change of decor the new look bar is a clean primrose
yellow outside, in contrast to the rather tatty ex-Devenish green paint
that once graced the exterior. Inside, the same tiles and
floorboards exist as before, but the whole place has been given a cleanup
and is bright and airy. The outside toilets that were once a feature
of this terraced town pub are now indoors, and the back yard has now been
partly covered over with glass, the intention clearly being to provide
some sort of 'beer garden' with protection from the elements.
When you enter, don't let the prominent bar-mounted shiny T-bars
offering various fizzy chemicals put you off - a quick glance at the rear
shelf will confirm that there is indeed real ale on offer, and
by gravity-dispense from three casks sitting on the shelf itself. As
Richard Martin is also landlord of the Rising Sun Inn in Truro, this is
not surprising as the beer there is also mostly gravity-fed into the
glass. On the preview evening, due to "a cock-up on the
catering front" according to the landlord, only two ales were
available and those Greene King Old Speckled Hen and Courage Best Bitter,
the third beer (from Skinners) not being available for technical reasons
to do with the bar mounting. However, the intention is to have
probably two semi-permanent ales depending on what proves popular, with a
third ever-changing guest ale from the Punch Taverns monthly list.
Certainly, within two days the 'Hen' was still there |
but supplemented by
Ring O'Bells Dreckly and Skinner's Betty Stogs, so things are moving in
the right direction already.
Food is also to be offered, but as the catering facilities are extremely
limited, the plan is to prepare it at the Rising Sun and ship it over as
required. There is also B&B accommodation available.
It is hoped the bar will prove popular with commuters on their way
to the station.
Top of page |
Cornish
Awards at the 2006 Maltings
At one of the biggest SIBA
Southwest beer festivals ever, with some 230 ales from the west of England
on display at Tuckers Maltings in Newton Abbot, two of Cornwall's
breweries achieved awards at the blind tasting held on the Thursday
afternoon of 20 April.
Best of the three awards was Heligan Honey, made by Skinner's of
Truro which was best in class in the Speciality Beers section, walking
away with the gold. Bronze winner in the same class was Charlie's
Pride from Organic Brewhouse on the Lizard peninsula. Winner of the
'silver' in this class was O'Hanlon's Wheat, brewed in Devon at
Whimple, near Honiton. |
Skinner's also came
third with a bronze in the Bottled Beer section, with Cornish Lager,
although this is not a real ale.
This popular beer festival is organised by the south western
section of SIBA, the Society of Independent Brewers, and
provides a superb showcase for many of their products. The venue is
ideal, being on the long ground floor of the Tucker's Maltings building,
where barley grain is turned into the malt necessary as one of the main
ingredients of the brewing process (the others being yeast, hops and water
only, and not preservatives, flavour enhancers and all the other
junk thrown in by big breweries to render their so-called lagers
practically undrinkable).
|
The other
real ale class winners were:
CHAMPION BEER OF THE FESTIVAL:
Archer's IPA
STANDARD BITTERS:
Bath Ales Spa
BEST BITTERS:
Archer's IPA
PREMIUM BITTERS:
Cottage Golden Arrow
STRONG BITTERS:
Archer's Crystal Clear
PORTS, STOUTS & OLD ALES:
O'Hanlon's Port Stout
MILDS:
Moor Brewery Milly's Mild
Top of page
|
|
Countryman Inns Expands
Again
In a
sudden move that seems to have taken many by surprise, Countryman Inns partner
Nick Lake has bought the recently failed roadhouse at St. Erth Praze, the
Smugglers' Inn. As reported in the last edition of Digital CAMRA,
the Smugglers' had been going steadily downhill for sometime, and closed
suddenly in February with the receivers going in and removing all the fixtures
and fittings for sale by auction.
The pub had been long known for its Sunday lunchtime
jazz sessions, being in effect the HQ of the local jazz club, but things had got
so bad even they eventually defected, so robbing the
|
place
of one of its few remaining attractions. Now Mr Lake has acquired
it, the locals can expect a return to a decent pub operation again,
although knowing the predilection Countryman Inns has for national brews
(usually bearing the Courage brand), with a smattering of Skinner's and
Sharp's beers, the offerings in that direction are likely to be somewhat
predictable.
Although it had been planned to open the pub 'by
Easter', it seems that this was rather optimistic, as internal work needed
is going to take longer than originally estimated. The pub was still
firmly closed at the end of April. Meanwhile,
shortly after signing on the dotted line, Nick Lake was spotted at an
auction in Hayle buying back most of the original fixtures and fittings
that were ripped
out just a few |
weeks earlier. He has also bought redundant gear from
the Gurnards Head Hotel, recently closed on change of hands for a major
refit, so the Smugglers' should be well-equipped when it eventually
reopens.
The acquisition brings to nine the total number
of pubs operated by Countryman Inns, which include the Countryman itself
at Piece, near Redruth; the Clock & Key, Trispen; the King's Head,
Penryn; the Tuckingmill Hotel, Tuckingmill; the Rambling Miner, Chacewater;
the Waterfront, Portreath; the Stonemasons, Longdowns; and the Station,
Marazion.
Top of page
|
Neighbour
Trouble for Micro-Brewery
Ales
of Scilly brewer Mark Praeger was dismayed to find recently that a
neighbour of his had taken to complaining about the 'pungent smell'
generated by the brewing process. Mr. H. Whittaker had started what
he called a 'nuisance diary', saying that the smell badly affected his
cottage bedroom and living room just 20m from the brewhouse at Higher
Trenoweth. "We cannot open our windows or sit in the garden
when brewing is taking place", he said , adding that he had
complained previously 'on numerous occasions'.
Mr Praeger has of course refuted most of his neighbour's
claims, saying that brewing takes place only twice a week in the busy
summer period, and as it happens during the working day it is unlikely Mr.
Whittaker would be spending much time in the bedroom anyway.
"The smell only happens for a couple of hours", he added,
"and the wind usually blows it away from the cottage anyway".
The island council planning committee seems to have been
sympathetic to the brewer, however, who claims that the island economy
benefits to the tune of some 50,000 pints of hisales
consumed on the islands every year, plus exports to a few outlets on
the mainland and supply to various beer festivals around the
country. The committee have given him permission to carry on
brewing, and he is going |
to make a conciliatory move in installing a
condensing system to ameliorate the smell on brewing days.
Meanwhile, Mark has decided to take the chance to buy the
freehold on a small industrial unit in the town, which would solve the
neighbour problem, give him an investment to sell if and when he decides
to retire, and free up his barn (where the plant is currently installed)
to do something else with.
Ales of Scilly beers can be found in several pubs and hotels on the
islands, and in the Pirate Inn and Crown Inn in Penzance on a regular
basis. It will be available in the Queen's Arms, Botallack during
the summer months.
First Local Smoke-Free Pubs
The first local pub to go entirely smoke-free appears
to have been the New Inn on Tresco, Isles of Scilly, which brought in the puffin'
ban on 1 January. This was followed by the Maltsters Arms, Chapel
Amble in north Cornwall. Another Cornish pub, the Crooked Inn
at Trematon, near Saltash, has now announced it is going smoke-free from 1
May. All of these pubs are big on food; however, there seems to be a
slow movement building up with pubs declaring a no-smoking policy in
advance of the legislation making it compulsory next year, probably in
May.
|
'Skinner's
Sinners' Recruiting Drive
Fancy
yourself as a pub singer? Steve Skinner, owner of Skinner's Brewery, is on
the lookout for choristers to be able to call on for those occasions -
such as beer festivals - when a touch of proper Cornish singing would be
appropriate.
Last August, Steve took a posse of nearly forty Cornish (and honorary
Cornish) drinkers with a singing problem to the Great British Beer
Festival at London's Olympia, and they went down a storm by simply
wandering around the festival in their distinctive Betty Stogs t-shirts
and striking up rousing choruses of Camborne Hill, Trelawney, and lots of
other songs that can often be heard in village pubs of a Friday or
Saturday night. They called themselves 'Skinners' Sinners', and a very
successful tiem was had by all.
Now Steve wants to be able to convene his Cornish choir for
other appropriate events - but needs more volunteers to ensure sufficient
critical mass of vocalists to make it all work. So, if you fancy a
few beers and a good old sing-song, give the brewery a call, on 01872
271885.
Top of
page
|
| Gluten-Free
Beer for Cornish Coeliacs Sufferers
For Food and Ale loving Coeliacs, eating out can be a challenge. Vague menus, lack of staff
knowledge and unclear labelling can mean you are eating wheat products without even knowing it.
But now, at the Queens Arms, Botallack, not only does the new menu clearly identify gluten free foods but
also dairy product free and Vegan dishes as well.
In addition to this, the Queens now stocks
|
"Against The Grain", an award winning Real Ale brewed
by the Oulton Brewery in Suffolk. Conditioned in the bottle with an abv of 4.5% it has proved very
popular with ale lovers the country over. "Britain's first gluten free
beer is described as 'smooth and creamy, with a good
head and full flavour, this is a real ale which is indistinguishable from a normal
beer. The winner of the Blue Rosette at Chesterfield CAMRA's beer festival gluten- free tasting
event, it held its own against gluten free beers from all over the world."
The rising number of people who have a wheat intolerance prompted
Queen's Arms owner Peter |
Beech to
investigate gluten-free beers. He comments " One of our regular customers, John Wheeler, a lover
of real ale, was diagnosed as Coeliac and thought his ale drinking days were over. However with
some research on the Internet he found that several small breweries were producing
gluten- free beer. More practical research involving a pint glass led him to recommend this one to us!"
The Queens Arms can be contacted on 01736 788318.
Top of
page
|
Cornish
Pub News
West Cornwall
After 12 years in harness at the Queens Arms, Breage,
landlord Alec Roberston was given a rousing send-off on 21 May when a large
crowd of locals and Cornwall CAMRA members turned out for his last night at the
pub. As a bonus, which Alec certainly was not expecting, he was presented
by the local CAMRA branch with their rarely-given 'Gold Award'
certificate. This goes to the landlord or landlady who has striven over a
considerable period to support the local Branch and the principles to which
CAMRA aspires - consistently good quality beer and a good and changing selection
of real ales on offer (in the face of Punch Taverns preference for the usual
suspects) being prime requirements. In addition, the Queens almost made it
- twice - as the winner of the title of Cornwall CAMRA Pub of the Year, being
pipped at the post both times by the same pub a little further to the north and
east. 'Always the bridesmaid....', said Alec on being presented with his
certificate. He is going to take some time out now to contemplate his next
move; meanwhile, the pub was set to close for a few days as the new landlord,
moving from the Victoria Inn down the road at Perranuthnoe, took over.
Shorts.......
The Red Jackets in
Camborne is up for sale again. Another Punch Taverns lease, the pub off the town
centre has never been known as a real ale outlet. When the current owners took
over a couple of years ago there was a brief flirtation with draught beer, but
this soon disappeared again, no doubt with the usual excuse 'this isn't a real
ale drinking area'. Well, no, not if you don't offer something in the first
place AND sell it in consistently good condition..... Also on the Punch Taverns
list, the Peterville Inn at the
bottom of St Agnes has been sold on the remains of a 10-year lease to a local
couple for nearly £140,000..... The Old Quay
at Devoran has been sold again after a relatively short time in the hands of
pub entrepreneur John Nesbitt.... The Gurnard's Head Hotel,
on the spectacular north coast of the Penwith peninsula, has changed hands
again. It closed in February for extensive internal refurbishment, and
was planned to reopen on 30 March. Some of the old fittings have gone to the
Smugglers' Inn (see story, above)...... In Penzance, the Longboat
Hotel opposite the railway station is up for sale as a
leasehold. Not known for its real ale committment (usually offering just
one very cold national ale from a single handpump), the asking price is
£225,000.... The St. Aubyn Arms at Praze-an-Beeble, until
recently a free house, has finally been sold to Punch Taverns, who now of
course dictate the beer list. The regulars suspected that the choice of ales
would be quickly reduced to 'the usual
suspects'. However, the first thing to happen under the new ownership was that
the pub ran out of beer - not even the locals foresaw that! This was another free house to be sold to, sadly, a pub chain in what
seems to be a growing trend (Mason's Arms, Bodmin, is another recent case)....
Recently on the market, the Three Tuns
at St Keverne on the Lizard peninsula has now been sold. One of
two pubs in the village, it has long been the venue for the more contemplative
drinker and diner as compared to its more sports-orientated rival across the square. Tied to a
pub chain, the lease was sold for £140,000. Meanwhile, in another round of
landlords' musical chairs, the former tenants have taken over the Trengilly
Wartha at Nancenoy, near Constantine (the Helston one).
The Trengilly was turned into something more akin to a restaurant with a bar
rather than a pub by its chef owners, but nevertheless they always managed to
keep a decent real ale or two during thir long tenure of around 12 years.... Just outside Penzance, the lease of the Sportsman's
Arms at Heamoor has apparently been sold. A somewhat
bizarre sequence of events, in which chain owners Pubfolio (formed from some of
the former Usher's estate), saw the pub taken from former leaseholder Paul
Hornsby of the Pirate Inn, Penzance and promptly closed down. After significant
refurbishment it is now open and operational again..... A little further to the east, the Old
Inn at Crowlas has been sold for the second time in
two or three years. A St. Austell Brewery tied house until now, the brewery
have offloaded it to new buyers, thought to be Punch (again!).. A snip at a shade
under half a million pounds, it should provide them with an interesting
challenge, with the famed Star Inn real ale haven just round the
corner..... The Clipper Bar in
Camborne town centre has been sold as a free house.... In Flushing,
following the recent sale of the Seven Stars, the other pub in the
village the Royal Standard is also
now on the market. It too is a 'free' house (that is, free of tie to any
particular beer supplier), and the long-serving landlord has decided it's time
to retire. The property was sold as a leasehold for just
£75,000..... The Robartes Arms
at Illogan is another Punch taverns house to have come on the market. Of rather
unprepossessing appearance outside, the pub is nevertheless fairly old, being
built in the 19th century with local stone, and has recently ventured
tentatively into the guest ale scene in an area not especially known for real
ale drinking. The owners want £150,000 for the remaining 10 years of the
lease...... Meanwhile, the Lamb & Flag
at Canonstown on the A30 near Penzance is reported as sold. Yet
another Punch Taverns pub, it has in the past concentrated on food although
having one or two reasonable guest ales. At the moment, despite a board
outside proclaiming 'real pub, real food, real beers', it was nevertheless being
advertised as a 'food-led' operation by agents Miller Commercial.....
In Chacewater, the Britannia Inn has
gone on the market as a 'free of tie' lease with 13 years left to run.
Once a St. Austell Brewery pub, it has been in the same landlord's hands since
1999 and has run beer festivals over past bank holiday weekends...... In the
Camborne area, the owners seem to have problems offloading the St.
Michaels Mount Inn in Baripper. Advertised for many months
now, the agents are reduced to a plaintive 'all offers invited'....
Mid-Cornwall
The Admiral
Boscawen in Truro, having been closed for some weeks with signs of impending and
extensive building work strewn around the frontage, has emerged as something of
a spring butterfly in new guise as Richmond's Bar.
Gone is the old Devenish green paint; now the frontage has been decked out in a
smart primrose yellow colour. The pub was recently sold as a Punch taverns leasehold to
the current landlord of the Rising Sun Inn in the city, Richard Martin.
Occasional forays into real ale were never successful, as the Admiral Boscawen
was never what could be described as salubrious, shall we say, and CAMRA members
have actually been served an opaque brown fluid smelling of vinegar and
purporting to be Greene King Abbot Ale, with the staff comment, 'it's real ale,
that's what it's like' - well, you get the picture! Anyway, we can perhaps
hope for better things - a decent watering hole near the railway station is
something that Truro has sadly lacked for many years. The pub was to reopen
at 19.00 on Thursday 20 April.... No word on the
planned J D Wetherspoon which
everyone is waiting to see on the piazza in Truro, in the old West Briton
newspaper building. Apparently the sticking point is the city council's
refusal to allow outside drinking at tables on account of the traffic passing on
that side of the square, although it doesn't seem to have stopped the MI Bar and
the Hall for Cornwall being allowed substantial outside drinking areas by their
frontages. A decision is expected, not necessarily shortly given the way
Truro City Council continues to dither and prevaricate..... In St. Mawes, another
leasehold pub, the Victory Inn, is on
the market for around £200,000....
East Cornwall
High on the moors above the Tamar Valley, the Rifle Volunteer
at St Ann's Chapel near Gunnislake has made an appearance in the 'for sale'
listings. Licensees Frank and Lynda Hilldrup have run the pub for ten
years or so, but are now looking for something different to do, and are selling
up. The pub is a free house, and is on the Tamar Valley Rail Ale
Trail........ Meanwhile, a Punch Taverns
leasehold pub is on the market. The 17th century Caradon Inn at Upton
Cross, high above Liskeard, is going for an asking price of £150,000.... The
Punch Bowl at Lanreath, between Looe
and Polperro, has been sold.
It is a St Austell Brewery tied house.....
North Cornwall
The Hole in
the Wall in Bodmin is up for sale again. Once a regular in
CAMRA's Good Beer Guide, it has not featured for a while owing to a decline in
the quality of the beer in the glass (with a lack of imagination in beer choice
not helping).
(Sources: CAMRA members, Beer Today, Packet Newspapers, the West Briton and allied
publications,
pub gossip, Scilly locals and Lizard's beer-stained notebook. And One
& Ale!)
Cornish
Brewery News
The Lizard Brewery,
which started brewing just over a year ago, has added a new ale to its
portfolio. A light quaffing ale called Helford River Bitter, it has a
strength of 3.6% abv and was given its first outing at the Crown Inn, Crowntown
to coincide with a CAMRA branch meeting there in March. The brewery has three other ales available in limited outlets in the Lizard area, although the number of
pubs taking the beer is slowly expanding. Kernow Gold and Lizard
Bitter, both around 4%abv, were the first two brews. They were then
accompanied by a third brew, a strong Cornish ale called An Gof (5.2%). Named after the smith who led
the 1497 rebellion, it is appropriately dark and smoky. A further addition
made its appearance in March: a light, golden bitter called Helford River,
surprisingly tasty at just 3.6% abv.
At the Ring O'Bells Brewery near
Launceston, recent rapid expansion into a new building to cope with demand has
allowed production of more of its beer to be shipped ‘up country’ for
distribution through the Jolly’s/LWC network, as well as brewing beer brands
owned by LWC. Ring O’Bells has
also started production of a lager called Cornish Steam, mainly for keg and
bottle although the occasional cask-conditioned version is to be found.
The brew is sent to Burtonwood for kegging and bottling.
Other brews, apparently commissioned by Jolly's, have appeared under the
'Gray's Brewery', 'Lanson Brewery' or 'Duchy Brewery' labels.
Oh yes, and occasionally even under the banner 'Jolly's Beers'. Keep up!
In Stithians, the tiny Bathtub Brewery
('nano-brewery' according to its head brewer) is now brewing on site. Some experimental brews
appeared over the bar in the village pub, and following the success of Pete's
Porter a premium bitter called Stithians Special has been developed. Based on an earlier trial version
called Wasted, it went through
several iterations to its current
incarnation, slightly weaker, at 4.5% abv. Another, weaker brew which has
proved popular has also appeared. Called Stithians Golden Bitter, it
weighs in at 3.8%abv. Brewing remains sporadic,
however, as Peter Martin the brewer strives to get the balance of ingredients
and his other calling, sculpture, right before going into continuous production. He plans to have three
brews in his portfolio, one of which however, the Porter, will be brewed for
beer festivals only.
The Wooden Hand Brewery at Grampound Road goes from
strength to strength, with four beers in their portfolio. The most recent
addition, called Cornish Buccaneer, is a 4.3% abv brew. The other three beers produced by ex-Redruth Brewery employees Kevin Frantham and Mel Hill
are Cornish Mutiny (4.8%abv, their first brew), Smugglers' Gold, a lighter
beer at 3.6%abv that has sold well in spite of limited fine weather; and Black
Pearl (4.3%), not a dark beer as its name implies but a best bitter aimed at the
likes of Doom Bar and Betty Stogs drinkers.
The brewery's premises, the original Ventonwyn Brewery site, was too cramped for
everything that Kev and Mel want to do, so they recently acquired two other industrial
units close by where they can store beer for maturing and bottling.
Sharp's Brewery has been going all
out recently to expand its operation both within the county and beyond. Sales
went up 30% during the autumn quarter of 2004 compared with the same period in
2003, presumably as a result of their new sales team operating all over the
south-west, as far up as Swindon so far. The brewery has installed 6 new fermenters, and
were planning to have doubled
plant capacity to 100 barrels by now, although reports suggest that further
expansion has been put on hold for the moment.
Skinner's
Brewery in Truro have now moved into keg lager to satisfy the demands of the surfing
fraternity. Called
Cornish Storm, the lager is in production and being
kegged by Robinson’s of Stockport pending installation of Skinner’s own
plant. It is reportedly knocking sales of the 'nationals' such as Stella
into a cocked hat in the pubs on the north coast. A recent addition to the real ale portfolio is Davy Jones Knocker at
5%abv. Now appearing in various
pubs, the brewery is donating 5p for each pint sold towards training of beach
lifeguards. Meanwhile, the
seasonal brew Hunny Bunny (4.5% abv) was to be seen at many pubs over the Easter
holiday.
St.
Austell Brewery The
new Admiral’s Ale (5.0%) was been launched in bottle, and is also
available in
draught form during the summer months, albeit as a weaker brew at 4.0%, which puts it
head-to-head with Tribute. Bottles are available in ASDA,
Somerfield and Spar shops. Meanwhile,
brewing overall remains very healthy, with an 11% increase in annual sales
recently announced which takes the total volume produced to 26,000 barrels.
Keltek Brewery has apparently started cask ale production
again, with several of its range appearing at the Lizard 2000 beer festival in
Helston including a new one called 'Pork Pie Stout', believed to be the one they
have been making for Tesco to put in one of their pie products. The range
advertised includes King and Magick as well as several other brands, and the
brewery is offering the beer for sale in firkins, pins etc as well as bottles.
Since moving its 20-barrel plant to Redruth last October, however, Keltek ales
have been noticeably absent from the pubs, so any reports of sightings would be
welcome.
The Organic
Brewhouse is still brewing steadily but suffered a slowdown
over the winter months with operations just barely ticking over. New sources of organic ingredients (malt and hops) have been
identified which brewer Andy Hamer plans to use to widen the scope of his
production of real ales.
The
Driftwood Spars Brewery recently stopped dry-hopping its Cuckoo Ale,
which has reportedly improved the flavour. Blackawton Brewery in Saltash is continuing production of the beers
developed before being sold 18 months or so ago, and the new proprietor/brewer Steve Horn
has now developed a brew of his own - Peninsula Ale. The Scorrier-based micro-brewery,
Doghouse, has broken with its tradition of doggy-themed beer
names with a brew clebrating the birth of railway engineer Isambard Kingdom
Brunel. It is called Brunel's Bridge Builder.
Finally, the small-scale Wheal Ale brewery based at Paradise Park
in Hayle appears to have stopped brewing after around 20 years of operations
behind the Bird In Hand pub. Domestic problems rather than financial are
thought to be the reason.
Pubs
Diary
Welcome to our feature, the
Cornish Pubs Diary. The idea is that anything to do with the promotion
of real ale by our local landlords will warrant an entry here. Events will
mostly take the form of beer festivals no doubt, but with a growing fund of
experience in this field and their growing popularity, we feel that some central
listing is useful - which also helps landlords to avoid clashes! Do let us know
of any planned real ale events at your local boozer.
| Inclusive Dates |
Venue |
Event |
|
2-4 Jun
|
Watermill Inn, Lelant Downs |
Beer festival
|
|
14-17 Jul
|
Seven Stars Inn, Stithians |
Beer festival (Stithians Show 17 Jul)
|
|
25-28 Aug
|
Widemouth Manor Hotel, Widemouth Bay |
Beer festival (Bude Jazz Festival weekend)
|
| (all events subject to confirmation -
check if in doubt) |
In
common with the other branches of CAMRA, the Cornwall branch produces its
own hard-copy newsletter, One & Ale.
It appears about 5 times a year, at slightly irregular intervals because it may
be timed to coincide with the major events such as the local beer festivals. It
is aimed both at the branch membership, who are widely scattered around the
county and each get a copy through the post, and non-members who may pick it up
to read in selected pubs.
One
& Ale contains news of breweries, brews and pubs in the
county, as well as views and reports of pub crawls and the like written by the
branch members. As a free publication, its only source of funding is its
advertising income, which is of course to an extent dependent on how interesting
the contents are. We are always looking for reports or articles from CAMRA
members, and new contributors are especially welcome. Copy should be submitted
to Steve Willmott, who is also the Editor and Distribution Manager (see Contacts
page). If it is a word processor file and sent on a floppy disk, it's even more
welcome!
Some
earlier
editions of One & Ale On-line can be seen in our archive. Just
click on the one you want to see:
January-February 2004
March-April 2004
May-June 2004
July-August 2004
September-October 2004
November-December 2004
January-February 2005
March-April 2005
May-June 2005
July-August 2005
September-October 2005
November-December 2005
The
views expressed in these pages are of course those of the authors, and not
necessarily of CAMRA Ltd or the Cornwall Branch of CAMRA.