In this issue... Updates and features on local breweries and pubs News about Manchester Beer & Cider Festival 2019 And LOTS more
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Buzzing about beer, cider, pubs and breweries across Manchester, Salford and Trafford
FREE Winter, January – March 2019: Issue Number 1
In this issue...
Updates and features on
local breweries and pubs
News about Manchester
Beer & Cider Festival 2019
And LOTS more
The magazine of the Central Manchester, Salford &
District and Trafford & Hulme branches of CAMRA
www.manbitesfrog.com
Contents
Editor’s Welcome 5
Join CAMRA 5
Pub News 6–9
Brewers’ Corner 10–11
Beatnikz 12–15
Manchester Beer & Cider Festival 16–17
Casks, Kegs and KeyKegs 19–23
Tuesday Tipples 24
Cider and Perry 25
Micropubs - The New Big Thing? 26–27
Branch Diaries 28–29
Letters Page 30
All About Beer Buzz
Beer Buzz is the cross-branch magazine regarding the establishments, firstly
which covers the Central Manchester, it is better to take it up with the
Salford & District and Trafford & Hulme management of the said practice.
branches of CAMRA (the Campaign for Contact the Citizens Advice Consumer
Real Ale). Check out Beer Buzz EXTRA Service at www.citizensadvice.org.uk.
at beerbuzz.beer/extra for additional Telephone 0345 04 05 06.
articles including: Chorlton Pubs, more Disclaimer:
info on Beatnikz Republic, more info on Readers are reminded that the editorial
Cloudwater Brew Co. team or the Campaign for Real Ale
Public Transport: Transport for may not necessarily share the views
Greater Manchester (TfGM) is the expressed by the contributors. These
local government body responsible contributions are always welcome
for delivering Greater Manchester’s and gratefully received, but may be
transport strategy and commitments. edited without altering the concept or
More than 5.6 million journeys are made meaning.
across Greater Manchester’s transport Contributors to this issue: Sue Barker,
network each day. For information on Steve Davis, Graham Donning, Beverley
buses, trams and trains please go to Gobbett, Jon Gobbett, David Harris, Tim
the website: www.tfgm.com or visit the Field, Brett Laniosh, Caroline O’Donnell,
travel shops at Piccadilly Gardens or John O’Donnell, David Rigby, Steve Smith,
Shudehill Interchange. Jack Summers-Glass, Ann Ward, Richard
Information supplied courtesy of TfGM Withecombe, Neil Worthington.
Trading Standards: Beer Buzz is designed and printed by
Should you wish to make a complaint Catshill Design.
concerning certain aspects of service www.design.catshill.com
3
4
Editor’s Welcome
F irstly, I would like to start by
welcoming all readers to the new
Beer Buzz magazine, covering all three
We welcome contributions and opinions
to editor@beerbuzz.beer from those of
you out there and are happy to receive
CAMRA branches located in Central newsworthy items, comments and
Manchester, Salford & District and suggestions. As a quarterly magazine,
Trafford & Hulme. It reaches the places the next issue is due out in April 2019.
other magazines don’t reach! The copy date for the next issue is the
It is quite some time since there 26th February 2019.
has been a branch magazine covering This issue should reach you before the
the areas of Manchester, Salford and advent of one of Manchester’s biggest
Trafford. events on the beer calendar, namely the
I, together with a good editorial MBCF (Manchester Beer & Cider Festival).
team have come up with what should See elsewhere in this issue for more
be a topical and popular magazine. It details.
behoves me to try and keep this on a Here’s to happy reading, and don’t
permanent basis, so let’s hope it appeals forget, drink responsibly.
to those interested in what’s going on in As a quarterly magazine, the next issue
the beer and cider world. is due out in April 2019.
A lot of thought, planning and effort
has gone into putting such a publication Steve Smith
as this together, so it can be enjoyed by all. editor@beerbuzz.beer
5
Pub News
announced in August that the brewery
had bought Kosmonaut bar. The
in and around the region stripped back décor of the bar already
echoed Northern Monk’s Leeds Refectory
meaning a quick turnaround was
T he last quarter of 2018 was a mixed
period for the bar scene in central
Manchester. With 18 pubs a week
possible with the major work involving
stripping out the bar area to install a 16
line keg wall alongside four cask lines
closing nationally, it should be no secret (three for Northern Monk beers along
that times are tough for those who run with Timothy Taylor’s Landlord) which
the city’s pubs and bars as austerity are positioned to the right of the bar. The
bites into the drinkers’ pockets and the bar’s opening day saw queues around the
temperance movement drives into our block and it has quickly established itself
lives. as a major addition to the bar scene.
Nevertheless, it was a big blow when Manchester brewery Beatnikz
four of the city’s best-known bars Republic opened their tap a week after
along with three more in the southern Northern Monk, just down the road
suburbs closed as their parent company on the corner of Tariff Street and Dale
went into administration. Mark Andrew Street. Here 12 keg lines draw directly
Developments (known as MAD Ltd) may from a cellar immediately behind the
not have been a household name, but bar with four cask lines coincidentally
the firm was behind Northern Quarter mimicking their neighbour’s layout
bars Walrus, Rosylee, Hula and The Blue being positioned side-on along the right
Pig along with two more Hula bars in hand end of the bar. See our interview
West Didsbury and Heaton Moor and with brewery founder Paul Greetham
Tusk, also in Heaton Moor. The firm elsewhere in this issue.
has only rescued The Blue Pig earlier Another addition to the city’s
this year when its former owner Odd enviable beer scene arrived at the end
Group also collapsed. All the bars closed of November with the long-awaited
suddenly on 30th October with the loss sister to Liverpool Road’s legendary Cask
of over 120 jobs. opening in Ancoats. The bar which was
However, October also saw a boost for originally expected to open in the spring
beer drinkers in the city with two major of 2018 is located in a glass fronted
new beer-led bars opening on Tariff double unit on the canal side in the new
Street in the Northern Quarter within Cotton Field Wharf apartment complex
a couple of weeks of each other. Leeds (behind the defunct Ancoats Retail Park).
based micro-brewery Northern Monk The interior is spacious with a mixture
raised over £1 million in a crowdfunding of banquette seating, free standing
exercise earlier in the year with a pledge tables and high drinking shelves.
to open tap rooms in Manchester and The bar running along the rear of the
London with some of the proceeds. unit is festooned with 20 fonts including
The Manchester bar originally wasn’t permanent lines from Paulaner,
expected to emerge until at least mid- Beaverton, Cloudwater, Kona, La Pirata
2019 so it was a surprise when it was and Lervig along with fixed nitro stout
6
and gluten-free lines and five rotating of the community that they apply in
guest lines. their Wythenshawe outlet. Three cask
With one of the city’s most experienced ales feature including Greene King IPA
and knowledgeable landlords in Warren and Robinsons Dizzy Blonde.
McCoubry, moving across the city from Locals in Altrincham were alarmed
Liverpool Road to lead the new bar, when news broke that the town’s Old
there was never any doubt that beer Market Tavern had been sold by owners
quality and range would be second to Punch Taverns. There were concerns
none. Six cask lines feature at the end that the new owners may be seeking
of the bar, with a similar focus on local to develop the pub for alternative use
breweries as their Castlefield sibling - leading regulars to start an online
there is a permanent Squawk pump and petition to ask Trafford Council to reject
five guests; when Beer Buzz called there any change of use.
were offerings from Pictish, Thirst Class, The popular live music and real ale
Mallinsons, Roosters and Cromarty. outlet became a regular in the Good Beer
Guide under the
stewardship of
John Glover who
passed away
suddenly in 2016.
The pub was
taken on by local
businessman
Steven Dale,
who has been
in extended
discussions with
Punch to get the
same free of tie
lease which the
The Stonemasons Arms
pub enjoyed previously and had hoped
In Timperley, The Stonemasons Arms to buy from Punch himself.
has reopened under the leadership of Following an application by Trafford
Simon and Rachael Delaney – the team & Hulme CAMRA, the pub was listed as an
behind the Firbank Pub & Kitchen in Asset Of Community Value by Trafford
Wythenshawe which they have had for 21 Council in 2016. This should have seen
years taking the title of Best Community the local community advised when the
Pub in the 2016 Great British Pub pub was put on the market, however,
Awards. They have taken on the Greene the council were very slow in advising
King owned pub in Timperley following CAMRA as the applicant and failed to
an ill-fated attempt by previous tenants advertise the fact in the local area as
to turn it into a ‘Gastro-pub’. The couple required by the Localism Act.
have committed to putting the same However on 23rd November the pub
emphasis on the pub being at the heart posted on their Facebook page that they
7
had met with the new
owners of the building
who had assured them
that they intend to keep
it open as a working
pub, with additional
refurbishment of hotel
facilities throughout.
News has also reached
Beer Buzz HQ of a new
specialist beer bar
heading to Altrincham.
The Black Cat is expected
to open in late January
or early February. It will be co-owned by Old Market Tavern
Rowan Molyneux who has spent 10 years offering is likely to consist of four real ale
working in pubs, bars and breweries in handpumps and twelve keg fonts, with
Manchester and London, and Rodger a roster of ‘meet the brewer’ events, tap
Molyneux, licensee of the community takeovers, quiz nights and live music. As
owned The Hope, Carshalton, which has Beer Buzz went to press the location was
five times been named CAMRA’s London still under wraps but will be revealed in
Pub Of The Year, and The Trafalgar, our expanded online edition Beer Buzz
South Wimbledon (five times South West Extra at beerbuzz.beer/extra/ as soon as
London Branch Pub of the Year). The the covers come off.
Thousands of pubs at your fingertips!
whatpub.com
Featuring over
35,000 real ale pubs
Over 96% of Information updated Created by CAMRA
Britain’s real ale by thousands of who produce the UK’s
pubs featured CAMRA volunteers best beer & pub guide
9
Brewers’ Corner
Blackjack
F ormer Marble Beers and North Bar
(Leeds) manager Bryony James has
joined Green Quarter’s Blackjack Beers
as Brand Ambassador, responsible for
organising tastings, tap takeovers and
other events at pubs and bars across
the north. For the annual Tryanuary
campaign, which counters the
temperance movement’s dry January
campaign by encouraging drinkers to Barrel filling at Cloudwater Brewery
expand their beer horizons by trying
new styles and new venues, Bryony Festival at Upper Campfield Market.
has organised the Blackjack Tryanuary This will be taking place in the Grade II-
tour which will see the Blackjack team listed Victorian market hall in the heart
present at over 20 events stretching from of Manchester, very close to a range
Chester to York and Nottingham over the of transport links, accommodation,
month of January. independent restaurants, and
Bryrony has also taken over some of Manchester’s best independent bars
the brewery’s social media presence from and pubs. There are two sessions each
co-owner Rob Hamilton who continues day, with the first running from 11am to
to focus on sourcing beers for the 3.30pm and the second from 4.30pm to
Glassworks Drinks distribution business 9pm with an all-inclusive single-session
which is responsible for delivering many ticket, on sale for £60, covering entry, your
of the craft beers in cask and keg which festival glass and unlimited pours of
you see on bars across the city. beer, with measures ranging from 50ml
Day to day operation of the expanded to 100ml depending on the brewery and
brewery which is now capable of beer. Also provided will be a selection of
producing 15,000 pints a week falls to high-quality and wholesome food from
Brewery Manager Rich Andrew and head a range of independent traders at each
brewer Keiran Johnson. session, which will not be included in the
Blackjack Beers will also be present at ticket price.
Manchester Beer & Cider Festival from
23rd - 26th January. Manchester Union Brewery
Cloudwater A s this edition of Beer Buzz hits the
bars of Manchester, we should be just
S cheduled to take place between Friday
March 1st and Saturday March 2nd
2019 is their Friends & Family & Beer
days away from being able to sample the
product of Manchester’s first dedicated
lager brewery. Manchester Union Brewery
10is used to release melanoidin to make
Manchester Union Lager an authentic
Czech style lager brewed in the North of
England.
Look out for Manchester Union’s
Pilsner at bars across the city from mid-
January.
Runaway
R unaway brewery have said farewell
to brewer John Major (no, not that
one) after four and a half years with the
Manchester Union Brewery brewery. John has set off for a new career
in the Lake District with Hawkshead
is another addition to the ‘Piccadilly Brewery.
Beer Mile’ of breweries occupying
railway arches along Temperance Street
and North Western Street but aims to
produce a very different type of drink.
The brewery has been put together by
Will Evans of nearby Cave Direct North
and events and marketing specialist
Jamie Scahill. Head Brewer Dr Ian
Johnson previously ran Six O’Clock Brew
Co out of a small corner of Blackjack John Major from Runaway Brewery
Beers’ Green Quarter arch. John was Runaway’s first employee
Although the first brew day on the back in 2014 - initially helping Mark
40 hecto-litre plant took place in mid- hand bottle beers and helping to set up
November, good lager can’t be rushed the quality focussed process they still
- each drop of Manchester Union Lager use today. He went on to become their
takes eight weeks to reach maturity. first formally qualified brewer in 2017
They believe that they are the only and was literally part of the fabric of
commercial brewery in the UK to use a Runaway whether out delivering beers,
decoction mash technique - a process behind the bar in the brewery tap or
that extracts more from the malts by on the road representing them at Meet
separating part of the mash (the soup The Brewer sessions. Regulars at The
of water and grain that is at the heart Smithfield Market Tavern may also
of every beer), boiling it and then have encountered him knocking out a
returning it to the main mash. The rendition of Toto’s Africa on the piano.
system is commonly used with German Everybody at Beer Buzz wishes John all
and Czech styles such as pilsners, the best for the future and we hope we’ll
bocks and doppelbocks with Pilsner see him back in the city in the future.
Urquell being one leading example of a Images courtesy of Cloudwater Brewery,
decoction mashed beer. The technique Manchester Union and Runaway Brewery.
11Interview With The
Beatnikz John O’Donnell
contract brewing but it became clear I
needed my own brewery to keep control
- which brought me to a railway arch in
Manchester in January 2017.
G rimsby born Paul Greetham is
the founder of Beatnikz Republic
Brewery, based on Red Bank in
Manchester’s Green Quarter and their
eponymous bar on the corner of Tariff
Street and Dale Street in the Northern
Quarter. Beer Buzz met up to learn about
his beer journey so far…. When you moved to Manchester, what
were your ambitions?
Where did your beer journey begin? My interest was in recipes and the
At Big Hands and Sandbar when I came business side – brewing as a one man
to Manchester as a student. At Big Hands band was damned hard work. Fifteen
I remember being blown away by a bottle months in, I’d reached my targets but the
of Schneider Aventinus Eisbock. physical work was taking its toll and I
I was living in London when Kernel decided that I needed to increase volumes
started in 2010 and travelling to New to afford to employ a brewer.
York for work where one seminal night Was that where you started producing
I first tasted Bear Republic’s Racer 5 IPA - cask ale?
wow!!!! That was the night I first decided I Not directly. In my time in London,
was going to start brewing. cask wasn’t on my radar - it didn’t feature
So did you? greatly in the bars I frequented.
Yes - from the kitchen of a one bed flat Coming to Manchester, I started
in London I brewed constantly every drinking in The Pilcrow, The Marble Arch
Saturday - I must have done 100 brews in and The Smithfield and I was loving
that flat. cask beer. When rental company KegStar
In 2015, I brewed my first commercial offered me a pallet of rental casks I
beer, Beach Bum, on UBrew’s 100 litre kit, grabbed them - that pallet was pre-sold
selling the bottles around bars in South before it was brewed, as were the next two
East London. A year later, I was gypsy and pallets and the next….
12Now around 70% of our production is
cask.
And now you have your own bar. How
did that come about?
It wasn’t really in the plans but a
friend who is a commercial surveyor
kept talking to me about properties and
when I was contacted by an investor
who wanted to invest in the brewery,
I suggested opening a bar. A few days
later the deal was done and we started
looking for the right site.
How was the process? pleased with it and are working on a
We lost our first site due to legal regular programme of events.
delays but when I walked into the site And the future?
on the corner of Tariff Street and Dale We’ve just started exporting and we’re
Street, I knew it would be perfect. Our going to start canning again in January
contractors Lancaster Construction which will take up all of our remaining
were amazing, working day & night to capacity so growth by some means or
turn a 12 week fit out around in 5 weeks. other is on the cards.
The bar’s been really well received - Read more of our interview with
even when we were in our soft opening Beatnikz Republic at
phase without proper seating or toilets. beerbuzz.beer/extra
Now it is fully finished we are really
15Manchester Beer & Cider Festival 2019
- It’s Impossible to Miss!
15,558 in 2018. But
organisers, mainly
drawn from the nine
Greater Manchester
CAMRA branches,
carefully examine trends
to refresh the parts other
festivals can’t reach.
Retained from the last
festival is the popular
100 Club bar, featuring
some of the historic
names in UK brewing
with at least a century
of brewing experience
W hatever the weather, the Manchester
Beer and Cider Festival (MBCF) is the
North’s biggest crawl. Safely protected
- including local favourites J W Lees and
Holts alongside Harveys of Sussex and
Wiltshire’s Wadworth among others.
from the winter, the Manchester Central The Little Ireland bar sold out last time
hosts the January drinkers’ treat for the and will be back with an extended and
fourth year. improved selection from both sides of the
2019 will mark the 50th anniversary border – so, not so Little...
since the former rail station saw its last New for 2019 will be a bar featuring
locomotive, and with 750 or so different beers all served from the wood. The
drinks, there’s bound to be something to
wet all whistles.
The festival is a great way to ‘Tryanuary’
– a drinkers’ response to the killjoys
promoting Dry January. This campaign
aims to inspire people to seek out and try
new beers in what is often a slow month
for the trade. And the festival beer and
cider orderers never disappoint with a
selection which will feature specially
commissioned beers, collaborations
and ales rarely, if ever, seen in Greater festival is working with the Society for
Manchester. the Preservation of Beer from the Wood
MBCF has a winning formula, evidenced (SPBW) to encourage breweries to provide
by the record-breaking attendance of interesting beers in a range of aged oak
16casks. Expect a strong representation gradually since. Many drinkers relish
from the North East and Yorkshire where the chance to sample and compare the
several breweries, including Ossett, same beer in cask and keg.
The cider and perry bar will have the
largest selection in the North. Fans of
the foreign stuff can expect a superb
range of beers from Belgium, Germany
and the Czech Republic supplemented
by a curated choice of beers from the
rest of the world. And for those who
like their ales in bottles – or would just
like to take some home – the Real Ale in
Bottle bar will have a UK-wide selection.
Elland and Wylam have consistently Organisers are grateful to the
supplied beer in the wood, but maybe generosity of the many sponsors who
also a few surprises. And if you’d like to support the festival, mainly drawn
know more about the history of beers from the brewing
from the wood, esteemed beer writer industry.
and Good Beer Guide editor Roger Protz The public
will be running a special tasting event sessions are from
on the Friday. Thursday 24th
The huge main bars will be split into to Saturday 26th
two, not three as in past years. But tickers January 2019
and traditionalists will still be treated and advance
to a fantastic tickets are on
range of cask sale from the
ales from festival website
across the UK. mancbeerfest.
The lineup uk. Card carrying
of brewery CAMRA and SPBW
bars looks members are also
formidable welcome admission-free to the preview
with a baker’s evening from 5pm on Wednesday 23rd
dozen of local January. And if you’re a CAMRA member,
and national have you considered volunteering at the
favourites. festival? Such a mammoth event needs
Bollington around 330 helpers and you’d be most
returns alongside the perennially welcome – details on the website,
popular Hawkshead, Tiny Rebel, STOP PRESS - MBCF will be running
Runaway and Blackjack; and another a Gin Bar with specialist Gins form
big name, Thornbridge, makes its debut local distilleries and Fever Tree will be
at the Manchester festival. sponsoring a special, limited edition,
KeyKeg was introduced by the festival souvenir glass!
in 2016, and the dedicated bar has grown www.mancbeerfest.uk
17Manchester Beer & Cider Festival 24 - 26th January at Manchester Central 18
Explaining Beer Containers
– Casks, Kegs and KeyKegs
by Jack Summers-Glass and John O’Donnell
O n the way from the brewery to
your glass, beer is delivered from a
variety of containers, including bottles,
in the container without having any
significant impact on the flavour.
Generally, most cask beer contains
cans, kegs, casks and KeyKegs. You yeast, while mass market keg lagers and
all know about bottles and cans, you ‘smooth’ beers are filtered/ pasteurised
probably know about casks but what and artificially carbonated. The modern
about keg and KeyKeg? generation of Keg and KeyKeg beers
Before we go on, we had better briefly blur the boundaries as the beer they
mention the difference between contain can be container or brewery
container conditioning or not - we will conditioned.
return to this subject in more detail in
future issues.
If beer is container conditioned it
means that when put into the container,
it still has some yeast and sugars and can
continue to ferment and mature in the
container. This gives a natural carbon
dioxide (CO2) ‘condition’ to the beer–gas
is dissolved in the beer naturally and
produces the head and ‘bubbles’ when
released into your glass. If the beer is
pasteurised and/or filtered, then yeast The Cask
is killed / removed and the beer doesn’t The cask is the container from which
‘condition’ and will typically have CO2 most ‘real ale’ is served. Most casks are
(or nitrogen) injected under pressure to made of stainless steel, although many
give the head and bubbles. smaller breweries use lower cost plastic
Some beers are conditioned in tanks casks and some traditional wooden
at the brewery before put into casks casks are retained.
so the beer in the container is ‘bright’ Usually containing some yeast
– it contains very little yeast but is when filled, cask real ale continues
not pasteurised. Brewery conditioned to ‘condition’ in the brewery and/or
beer can be “primed” with the addition pub cellar. Cask beer is “vented” before
of sugar and/or a small amount of service, allowing the carbonation to
yeast at packaging to gain condition settle to a natural low level prior to
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20being served – most commonly from will result in the beer oxidising and
handpumps, sometimes directly from spoiling if not sold within around 3
the cask and in a small number of pubs days. There is a device called a ‘cask
by pumps to a tap. breather’ that draws CO2 at low pressure
Cask beer can be ‘fined’ (where a to replace the beer drawn out to prolong
material, usually isinglass, is added to the life of a cask. Some drinkers don’t
help the yeast drop to the bottom), or approve and for many years CAMRA
‘unfined’ when the yeast drops naturally, barred beers served on cask breathers
sometimes leaving a ‘haze’ to the beer from the Good Beer Guide, but this has
which is quite natural and not a fault. now been withdrawn.
Tap to The Keg
Air / breather tube
pump This is the container that most of the
major mass-market beers come in. These
have no yeast in the keg and the beer is
Float pressured from a gas bottle (usually a
mix of 60% CO2 and 40% nitrogen) in
Beer
order to get it from the cellar to the tap,
usually through a flash cooler to give
the ‘ice cold’ beer that the marketing
folks love.
Beer drawn
from top ‘Smoothflow’ keg beers (including
Guinness) use nitrogen as well as CO2
and are served using a mix of 70%
nitrogen and 30% CO2.
Yeast / sediment
(if any) Gas in Beer to tap
Traditionally, the cask is placed
horizontally and beer poured or drawn Gas
from a tap at the bottom. Casks can pressure
also be stored upright and served using on top
‘spears’ that draw beer from the bottom
or ‘widges’ that float just below the Beer
surface of the beer. This means the beer feed Beer
is always drawn from the top and avoids spear
risk of drawing yeast sediment into the
feed - assuming of course that the cask
has been allowed to settle in the cellar!
As the beer is drawn out, air is drawn
in either through a porous spile placed Beer forced
in the shive or, if the cask is vertical, up spear by
through a vent that forms part of the gas pressure
extractor. Air is cask beer’s enemy and
21Many newer ‘craft’ beers are also brewers to collect empty kegs. You should served from kegs. Most of these are not not confuse a keg with a KeyKeg, which is ‘conditioned’ in the keg but they will a relatively recent invention… often have lower carbonation than the mass-market lagers and are intended to The KeyKeg be served warmer. KeyKegs are an invention of a Dutch The keg connector applies pressure company called Lightweight Containers from the top, forcing the beer out from and consist of an outer plastic container the bottom of the keg via the spear. The with an inner non-porous flexible bag pressure applied and the gas used can that contains the beer. Pressurised gas affect the product in the glass and it is or air is fed into the gap between the up to the landlord to set the pressure outer and inner containers and the beer appropriately for the beer although is forced out of the feed at the top to the many pub cellars are set up for serving tap. The gas never touches the beer so the mass market lagers without the carbonation level is set by the brewer and adjustment needed for serving lower cannot be changed by settings in the pub carbonation ‘craft kegs’. cellar. Most kegs are made from stainless If the beer is conditioned in the KeyKeg, steel, but there are now several variants as gas never touches the beer, such beers of plastic keg in use which are intended meet CAMRA’s definition of ‘real ale’. Some to be disposable, removing the need for brewers are intentionally producing 22
KeyKeg conditioned ales which contain – KeyKeg conditioned beers need to
active yeast but the majority of KeyKeg be settled in the cellar just like a cask
beers are brewery conditioned. (although KeyKeg conditioned beers are
rarely fined so will likely have a ‘haze’).
Beer to tap The majority of the plastic of a KeyKeg is
Gas in PET, the same material as plastic bottles,
however the UK’s recycling industry still
Gas
makes recycling KeyKegs difficult. To
Outer surrounding counter this, the manufacturers have
inner bag initiated a “OneCircle” project to build a
Container
network to recover used plastic kegs for
Inner recycling.
non-porous Hopefully, this helps you understand
Beer bag how your beer gets from the Brewer to
your glass. Now what the Brewer puts
into the container, that is an entirely
Yeast / different discussion!
sediment
FULL (if any)
KEYKEG
This article has been adapted from an
The beer exits via the top of the original piece written by Jack Summers-
container with any yeast/sediment Glass for InnQuirer, the magazine of
collecting at the bottom of the bag CAMRA’s Furness branch.
Picture Quiz
Can you guess on the side of which
Manchester pub wall this is?
The answer will appear in the next
issue.
23Trafford & Hulme Tuesday Tipples
… Goes To Stalybridge
Jon Gobbett
O ur November tour was to
Stalybridge, so we arranged to meet
at Manchester Piccadilly at midday with
Street to the Wharf Tavern, our next stop.
Unfortunately, as our timings were awry
due to the cancelled train, the pub was
the intention of catching the 12:17 to closed and we had missed the 12 - 2pm
Stalybridge. However, Transpennine lunchtime opening session. So onward,
had other ideas and we arrived on the still in the pouring rain, to the Society
concourse to find that our train had Rooms, a Wetherspoons’ establishment
been cancelled and the next available which, as is fairly usual for a ‘Spoons,
being the 12:47. So, to save wasting time had a reasonable selection of cask ales
the group decamped to the Piccadilly Tap available and all of the ones tried by our
for a ‘quick half’; after all why not? On group were in pretty good condition. We
returning to the station concourse we also had a very genial conversation with
found another regular Tippler waiting the Manager who had picked up on social
for us so five became six. media that our group was on tour.
Eventually we caught the 12:47 Our final port of call was Bridge Beers.
although that was eight minutes late and This is where the organiser’s navigation
off we went. First port of call, obviously, and map reading skills went out of the
was the Stalybridge Buffet Bar for food window. We walked for fully 10 minutes,
and refreshment where at least two of us still in the rain, to locate this very fine
sampled one of the new cask ales from little bar only to discover, as we reached
Cloudwater, the Brown Ale and very good the door that we were in fact less than 50
it was too. On leaving the station we yards from our previous hostelry! I guess
discovered that the weather had turned you’d have to call Bridge Beers a micro bar
very inclement; ie, it was pouring with as the arrival of the six of us along with
rain, so as quickly as we were able, we about eight existing customers just about
made our way down Market Street to the filled the place. All the beers are stillaged
White House on Water Street. on a purpose-built wooden stillage
This is an interesting Hydes’ house in behind the bar and served by gravity. The
the fact that as well as a good range of stillage has room for eight firkins and on
Hydes beers there were three other guests, our visit three were available. The beers
Bradfield Brewery Farmers Blonde and we tried were in such good form that
Belgian Blue along with Ahopcalypse. All several of us delayed our departure in
the beers sampled were in fine form and order to sample yet another one.
were much enjoyed by our group. We also For anyone interested, see the Trafford
spent some quality time with the pub & Hulme branch diary for more of our
dog, Rosie, who was very friendly. Back Tuesday Tipples and the thcamra.org.uk
out into the rain and off down Water website for more details.
24What Is Meant By Real Cider
and Perry?
Richard Withecombe
C AMRA and its Cider and Perry wing
have long campaigned to promote
the merits of real cider, and a definition
of real cider can be found on CAMRA’s
website – with a list of ciders that
unfortunately do not conform to that
standard.
Sadly, British legislation is very poor
when it comes to guaranteeing quality
cider; only 35% of cider actually has to
come from apple juice. As an example,
in recent correspondence Carling
Customer Services replied to James
Finch @TheCiderCritic, disclosing
that the juice content in Rekorderlig
Premium Apple Cider is 36.4%.
CAMRA’s Cider and Perry wing has, standard, the Small Independent
therefore, welcomed a new body which Cidermakers Association (SICA).
campaigns for a 90% minimum juice https://www.
smallindependentcidermakers.co.uk/
SICA believe that cider and perry
should be made from fresh juice, not
from concentrate. They are the first
association of cidermakers to offer a
National Quality Mark of there being
at least 90% fresh apple juice in ciders
and at least 90% fresh pear juice in
perries. This translates into the highest
quality drinks with a fascinating range
and depth of flavours. Cider from fresh
apple juice, never from concentrate.
Cider makers who have publicly signed
up to SICA include Udders Cider from
Huddersfield and Hallett’s cider.
CAMRA recommend that members
look out for the SICA quality mark when
they make their cider choices.
25Micropubs - The New Big Thing?
Tim Field
Tim Field, CAMRA’s Greater Manchester my nearest pub was the Raven in Little
Pub Protection Advisor, reflects on beer Hulton. At the weekends it often benefited
drinking trends over the years whilst from a free supply of additional strobe
enjoying the odd pint or two in some of lighting provided by the emergency
Greater Manchester’s burgeoning supply of services. It has gone now and although a
micropubs. new pub did open nearby often such pubs
close with little prospect of a community
If you sit in the back bar of the iconic take over. However, Salford does boast
City Arms in Manchester, you can gaze the country’s first cooperatively owned
up at the words of Hilaire Belloc, an urban pub, the Star Inn in Broughton. It
anglophile French writer, who once has been going now for over 9 years and
penned: proves that the community pub is not
“When you have lost your Inns, drown just a rural model.
your empty selves, for you will have lost the My next port of call was Chorlton and
last of England”. in the late 1980’s pub losses were creeping
With pub closures still running at 18 in there too, including the disappearance
per week you might well feel that his of the Feathers (made famous by the
stark warning was prophetic but I’m not other Royle Family). Little did we know
so sure. then that things were about to change
Around the time Belloc was writing and the arrival of the Marble Beer House
those words of wisdom, my great (now simplified to just Beer House) in
grandfather was downing pints of the late 1990’s was the vanguard of what
real ale in the Berkshire countryside. was to become an explosion of new real
Quite a few of them accompanied his ale outlets over the following 15 years or
breakfast having already worked a few so; transforming places where I had once
hours in the surrounding fields. Habits bought a newspaper, a loaf of bread or
change, and very few, if any, rural pubs washed my underpants.
would now open that early and, sadly, Chorlton was well ahead of the game in
many do not open at all. Much of the filling the holes left by those retreating
media coverage about pub closures from the traditional high street and
have featured headlines such as ‘the perhaps this would happen more often
loss of the last pub in the village’. Some, were it not for business rate levels and
often involving CAMRA’s support, have unbalanced beer taxes choking off
managed to raise the funds to keep going entrepreneurial spirit. There are now well
as community facilities with the banner in excess of 25 real ale establishments
of ‘pub as the hub’, often achieved at the in Chorlton which really does make
price of hosting a seemingly obligatory Trafford & Hulme CAMRA branch’s annual
royal visit. ‘Chorlton Challenge’ (an audit of the local
Outer estates have suffered such losses hostelries) live up to its name.
too. When I first moved to Manchester, Most of these newcomers are not pubs
26in the traditional sense, so what are to define themselves. A quick glance
they? The current fashion is to call at the list and you’ll spot quite a few
yourself a micropub but when is it a bar, omissions. CAMRA’s own Whatpub,
or an ale house, or a brew tap, licenced which probably contains the most
market stall, or a micropub? comprehensive list of pubs, doesn’t
The Micropub and Microbrewery even attempt to define a micropub.
Association was founded in 2012 The reason given is that it is difficult
following the opening of the first to agree a subjective, evidence-based
micropub in Herne, Kent in 2005 definition.
(Manchester’s MicroBar in the Arndale I imagine Hilaire Belloc would have
Market was quick to follow in 2006). struggled with definitions too. In his
It sets out to share experiences on quote he refers to Inns. Coaching Inns?
matters relating to running a micropub Who knows, but he was also likely to
and defines such an establishment be referring to pubs, ale houses, hotel
as ‘a small freehouse which listens lounge bars, etc. Whilst we might be
to its customers, mainly serves cask unsure how to define a micropub, the
ales, promotes conversation, shuns new wave of drinking establishments
all forms of electronic entertainment do in my view have certain general
and dabbles in traditional pub snacks’ characteristics that differentiate them
Mmmm. A bit vague if you ask me and from what existed previously. These
yet also a bit arbitrary as to what this might not apply in every case and
definition might exclude. certainly there are fuzzy, sometimes
A website called Pubs Galore tries interchangeable, boundaries between
to list micropubs but its definition is them but I see the differences as
pretty much based on how people want follows:
Traditional Pub New Style Pub - Micropub
Long established (often with some sort Established since around the turn of
of history, good or bad) the Century
Of a particular architecture (sometimes Shopfront style
worthy of listing)
Has a car park/garden/yard In a row of existing buildings
Purpose built cellar Cellarage at ground level (often
cramped)
Traditional selection of ales Real ales and craft beer range
Increasingly food based Focussed mainly on (quality) wet sales
Brewery of Beer Company owned Independent
27I admit that this is crude but no
doubt you’ll get my drift and will also
see the potential pros and cons that
could result from these different
characteristics on both sides of the list.
It would be interesting to hear what
you, the Reader, think about this. A key
differentiator of ‘micropubs’ is that they
have been established since around the
new Millennium and therefore, are new
stock offsetting (at least in part) the
haemorrhage of traditional pubs and a
new source of draught real ale.
So, we are still losing pubs at a rate
of 18 per week but this is slowing.
Perhaps this is due in no small part to
the campaigning work that CAMRA has
done to save pubs. Just recently, Central
Manchester CAMRA Branch worked with
others to mount a successful lobby to
save the Sir Ralph Abercromby from
demolition, another of Manchester’s
iconic pubs.
The challenge of pub preservation Advertising Rates
remains, particularly for many outer
estate pubs, those in the suburbs and Size Cost Dimensions
in certain town centres. If you, like me (h x w)
(and Hilaire), love British pubs, we must
remain vigilant. However, that should Quarter page £55 93.5 x 62mm
not stop us from enjoying the new
wave of smaller pubs. It is argued that Half page £90 93.5 x 128mm
the range and quality of beer has never
been so good and I would imagine that Full page £160 210 x 148mm
it is a far better experience than that
had by my great Grandfather. Yep, things Back cover £275 210 x 148mm
are much better in the good new days,
so let’s do all we can to keep it that way Inside back/ £240 210 x 148mm
by preserving traditional pubs where front cover
we can and promoting new ones where
trends are changing. To remain relevant All artwork needs to be 300dpi CMYK.
CAMRA must look forward as well as Full page ads. need 3mm bleed.
back … and have a pint in the meantime. To book your advert contact Graham
on advert@beerbuzz.beer
28Branch Diaries
Tue 8th Jan 6pm Branch Meeting, See branch websites / social media
Briton’s Protection (CM). for further information.
Tue 8th Jan 8pm Branch Meeting,
Beech Inn, Chorlton (T&H). Branch Contacts
Wed 9th Jan 7.30pm Neil
Richardson Award, Presentation to Central Manchester (CM)
the Duke Of York (S&D). www.centralmanchester.camra.org.uk
Fri 11th Jan 8pm Altrincham Social @mcrcentralcamra
Malt Shovels (T&H). Branch Contact: Steve Davis –
Tue 15th Jan 11.45am Tuesday treasurer@centralmanchester.camra.
Tipples in Marple. (T&H). org.uk
Wed 16th Jan 7.30pm Branch
Meeting, John Gilbert. (S&D). Salford & Districts (S&D)
Wed 23rd Jan 5pm: Manchester www.salford.camra.org.uk
Beer & Cider Festival 2019 (Trade @SalfordCAMRA
and CAMRA Members Only) (All). Branch Contact: Joanne Massey –
Wed 6th Feb 6pm Annual General socialsecretary@salford.camra.org.uk
Meeting Town Hall Tavern (CM).
Mon 11th Feb 6pm Good Beer Trafford & Hulme (T&H)
Guide Final Selection Meeting at www.thcamra.org.uk
Terrace (CM). @thcamra
Thu 7th Feb 8pm. Branch Meeting, facebook.com/thcamra
Barking Dog, Urmston (T&H). Branch Contact: John O’Donnell –
Thu 14th Feb 8pm Whalley Range enquiries@thcamra.org.uk
Social, Nip & Tipple (T&H).
Tue 19th Feb 12pm Tuesday Tipples
in Hyde. (T&H).
Sat 23rd Feb 12pm to 5.30pm
Brewery Trip to Seven Bro7hers.
£10 per person (T&H).
Tue 5th Mar 8pm Branch Meeting,
Old Packet House, Altrincham (T&H).
Thu 7th Mar 8pm Sale Moor Social,
Carter’s Arms (T&H).
Tue 19th Mar 12pm Tuesday Tipples
in Ashton-under-Lyne. (T&H).
Sat 23rd Mar 11.15am: Away Day to
Chester. (T&H).
Fri 29 March 8pm Sale Social, Kings
Ransom Volunteer Hotel (T&H).
29Your letters Dear Editor, What is it that pubs have got against it; it was just what the electronic till people drinking halves? We get the same demanded. thick head on a shorter glass, meaning This is inflation by stealth. Most we lose a greater proportion of the beer people know the price of a pint, and we’ve ordered than if we’d asked for a pint. would object vociferously if charged We’re not even guaranteed a stamped over the odds for a drink that wasn’t half pint glass - several pubs intermix worth it. But halves are often bought as stamped and unstamped glasses on the part of a round or at the end of a long grounds that they all look the same. Or, session. Perhaps the pubcos think we like the Piccadilly Tap, they just don’t won’t notice. stock stamped halves. And increasingly we are paying over the odds for halves. Yours faithfully I recently went in the Royal Sovereign (formerly the Hope) near Salford Royal Arfur Bitter Hospital (formerly Hope Hospital). I was (Trafford & Hulme branch) pleasantly surprised to find cask ale on offer - Greene King IPA and Abbot Ale. I [It appears to me that pubs in this country ordered a half of Abbot and was charged are now adopting the Irish influence, £2.05. I asked how much a pint would where for a number of years now, two half have been. The answer? £3.34. That makes pints were always more expensive than a two half pints 23% dearer than one single pint. Ed.] single pint. The barmaid couldn’t explain 30
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