Alechair

Bottle Wreck gets gold

2012-01-23T19:08:00.003+01:00

HammerpotBrewery is delighted to announce that their “Bottle Wreck Porter” has beenawarded GOLD in the Porter category at Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) 2012National Winter Ales Festival in Manchester.

Buy it and taste the gold for yourself

Thebeer, named after a 19^th century shipwreck off the coast of Sussexfound to be carrying hundreds of bottles of porter, was first brewed in 2007.Since then it has won many Beer of the Festival prizes and four regional awardsfrom both CAMRA and the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA). Although severalof their other beers have also won awards, this is the first national award tobe received by the brewery.

LeeMitchell, the head brewer at Hammerpot Brewery said, ‘Despite not being drivenby awards it is very nice to be recognised and it reflects the efforts of thewhole team here.’

Basedin Poling, near Arundel, West Sussex , Hammerpot Brewery was established in2005 by Lee with the intention of producing distinctive, quality craft brewedbeers. They now produce at least 12 different beers throughout the year andcontinue to pursue those same aims.

Withtheir small 5 barrel brew plant Hammerpot Brewery are a micro brewery in thetruest sense and are delighted to be able to show that smaller end of theindependent brewery sector can make great beers worthy of national recognition.

Bottle Conditioning: Living Beer explained

2012-01-11T11:11:00.001+01:00

The term "living beer" can be either high praise or a slap in the face for a brewer. If the things that are "living" in the beer are microorganisms that ought not to be there, then it is bad news for a beer and its brewer.

Live beer, however, generally refers to the presence of noble yeasts left over from the brewing process. Beers that have been bottled unpasteurized and unfiltered, with a significant amount of live yeast, are called "bottle-conditioned" beers. The purpose of bottling beers in such a manner is to give them the potential to age and develop more complexity. Yeast inhibits oxidation and contributes complex flavors as it breaks down slowly in the bottle. Many Belgian ales are traditionally bottle conditioned through a secondary fermentation in the bottle, in a process similar to that which produces champagne.

An unpasteurized beer bottled with its yeast will not age in the manner of a conventionally processed beer. With age, bottle-conditioned beers develop a rounded, smoother mouthfeel, and over the course of years, often take on winey, vinous flavors.

Bottle conditioning is an economical means for small-scale craft brewers to bottle ales without the need for costly pasteurization or filtration equipment. How long one cellars bottle-conditioned beers is a matter of personal taste and will also depend on the specific character of the beer in question.

[courtesy of http://www.tastings.com/bti/about_bti.html ]

Seven days to save the pub!

2012-01-05T19:08:00.001+01:00

We need your help to persuade your MP to support a fair deal for pubs tiedto the large pub companies. This important issue is being debated and votedupon in Parliament on Thursday 12th January and we need your MP's support.Please take 2minutes to email your MP. The pre-written email asks your MPto VOTE FOR a Parliamentary Motion asking the Government to introducemeaningful reform of the large pub companies.

The Government has recognised the existence of "unfair practices" in therelationship between the large pub companies and their licensees along withthe failure of the pub companies to deliver meaningful self regulation. Theunfair practices adding pressure to many pubs include excessively high tiedprices, unjustified rent calculations and misrepresentation. These unfairpractices result in higher consumer prices and unnecessary pub closures.

Following years of campaigning by CAMRA, MPs, small business groups andmany others the Business Minister set out proposals for self regulationlast November. Unfortunately, these proposals have been widely castigatedas naive, unenforceable and insubstantial. The Parliamentary BusinessSelect Committee has secured a vote in Parliament in an attempt to forcethe Government to toughen up its approach.

This Government gave a clear commitment that failure by the pubcos to selfregulate would result in robust Government intervention. Pleasehelp us to hold the Government to its word by asking yourMP to vote in favour of the Parliamentary Motion on pub company reformbeing debated by MPs on Thursday 12th January.

Email your MPnow.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

English sparkling wine comes of age with French boost

2012-01-04T16:57:00.000+01:00

Dramatic growth reported in demand for UK champagne-style wines on eve of release of first English fizz by French maker. [Robert Booth guardian.co.uk, Sunday 25 December 2011 21.20 GMT]

Carr Taylor mixed case of English sparkling wine as an example of excellent UK-style Champagne

English champagne from grapes grown on the South Downs in East Sussex. Photograph: Andrew Hasson/Alamy

The first English sparkling wine made by a French champagne maker is about to go on sale, providing the clearest sign yet that British fizz is coming of age.
Meonhill, made from grapes grown from French rootstocks planted in Hampshire, will be available early in 2012.
Until now French wine makers have not invested in cultivation of the grape in Kent, Sussex and Hampshire – places closely resembling the climate and chalky geology of northern France.
The planned release of the first 5,000 bottles by Didier Pierson-Whitaker, owner of a grand cru vineyard in Champagne, comes as established English vintners of champagne-style sparkling wines report a dramatic growth in sales and demand.
Waitrose says sales of 18 English sparkling wines have risen by almost a third compared with last Christmas, and Ridgeview, a wine maker in the South Downs, reports trebled sales in the last two years.
Marcus Waring's recently opened London restaurant, Sir Gilbert Scott, is now selling more glasses of English sparking wine than Moët et Chandon, the Champagne region's biggest global brand.
"Demand is outstripping production and we can't keep up," said Mardi Roberts, sales manager at Ridgeview, in Sussex, which last month won best sparkling wine in the 2011 International Wine and Spirit Competition. "Exports have been a real growth area and now represent 20% of our sales to places like the US, Finland, Japan and Hong Kong."
Cultivation in the UK of the three grape varieties used to make traditional champagne-style sparkling wine – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier – has more than quadrupled since 2005, according to data held by the Food Standards Agency.
The grape varieties now grow across 550 hectares (1,235 acres), more than half of the space that is devoted to vineyards. Farmers are catching on and four parcels of arable land at Barham Court, in Kent, that until now were planted with cereal crops, are being sold for use as a sparkling wine vineyard.
Meanwhile, Waitrose this autumn pressed the first grapes from its own newly planted vineyard in Hampshire to make an own-brand sparkling wine that will be ready for drinking in 2013 or 2014.
"When I first put English sparkling wine on my wine lists five years ago, people were scared," said Mark Cesareo, head sommelier at the Sir Gilbert Scott, which stocks three English sparklers. "The people who were most averse were the English themselves while tourists and even French people wanted to try it.
"Now I stock three English wines by the glass, Gusbourne, Ridgeview and Nyetimber. If I sell 10 cases of Moët week, I will do six of Gusbourne, five of Ridgeview and three of Nyetimber."
Some wine makers, however, admit to difficulties operating in the UK's nascent wine industry.
"Truthfully, it has been tough," said Imogen Pierson-Whitaker, who is behind the Meonhill wine. "We don't have the massive support system you have in France. We planted in 2005 and the vines have been fabulous some years and there have been poor years. There is a bit of an issue with the wind, but that can help prevent mould. It will obviously evolve, but the beginnings are tough, especially when you are using a new vineyard." Roberts said: "There is possibly a bit of a gold rush going on. There are a lot of people planting at the moment, but people underestimate the cost of producing the wine. We have put in a lot of effort in to get the standard up and we are conscious of the need to keep it there."
Coates and Seely, which makes sparkling wines in the north Hampshire downs, emblazons "Britagne" on the gold foil of its bottle necks and has suggested that other sparkling wine producers do the same to protect standards.
Christian Seely, former managing director of Axa Millésimes, which owns Château Pichon-Longueville and Château Suduiraut, both celebrated Bordeaux houses, wanted the name to stand for a specific "methode brittanique" of vinification. Ridgeview has trade-marked the word "merret" to describe its English sparkling wine. In 1662 Christopher Merret presented a paper to the Royal Society in London which outlined the process of making traditional sparkling wines. This was, Ridgeview says, 30 years before the technique was documented in Champagne.
Carr Taylor mixed case of English sparkling wine as an example of excellent UK-style Champagne

Polypins for parties

2011-12-16T17:59:00.001+01:00

Ironbridge Brewery's Christmas Special. Four Candles features four malts and benefits from four hop additions and is 4%. Named after the four candles of advent it’s not to be confused with “handles for forks”.

Appearance: Chestnut brown with a thick, off-white head.

Hops: Galena, First Gold, Crystal

Malt: Maris Otter, Cara, Crystal and Malted Wheat

Order your Xmas party ale now

20 Litres = 35 pints

Other ales in polypins from Ironbridge Brewery are Centennial (4.3%) This golden ale started out as a one off special as part of our single hop series.
Single hopped with the superb U.S. Centennial hop. Lots of hop character, tons of flavour.

Wenlock Stout (5.1%) Wenlock Stout is a 5.1% traditional stout. The initial dry character is followed by a satisfying smooth finish.

Appearance: Deep garnet black, off-white head.

Hops: Centennial and Cascade

Malt: Careful blend of pale, chocolate, crystal and roast barley

Green Jack Brewery's very fine ales

2011-12-14T18:49:00.000+01:00

Green Jack Brewery, a multi-awarding winning traditionalreal ale brewing company based in Lowestoft, Suffolk and are headed up bymaster brewer Tim Dunford. From modest beginnings Green Jack have now grown toone of the largest real ale breweries in East Anglia, with our new purposebuilt brewery in Lowestoft beginning production of our award winning real alesin early 2009. Beers with a contemporary take on traditional styles.

A mixed case of 2 each of the bottle conditioned alesincluding;

Mahseer IPA (5%, 500ml); An India Pale Ale as it was alwaysintended to be, strong bitter and very hoppy! Our IPA has been Brewed withEnglish bittering hops and American aroma hops, a winning combination! Namedafter the legendary Golden Mahseer, which is most highly prized fish afreshwater angler can catch! Growing to over 120lb in weight the mahseerinhabits the rivers of northern India.

Norfolk Black (4.8%, 500ml); A full flavoured, smoothChocolaty Stout infused with a special blend of spices especially forChristmas.

Baltic Trader Imperial Stout (10.5%, 750ml fliptop bottles);An Extra Strong Export Stout. Smooth, rich and fruity with roasted coffee &vanilla flavours. If you havn’t tried it yet, you need to! Baltic Tradercelebrates the North Sea sailing ships that traded between East Coast portslike Lowestoft, the Low Countries and Scandinavia.

Ripper Barley Wine (8.5%,750ml fliptop bottles); ChampionBarley Wine. Inspired by Belgian tripel ales this multi-awarding winning brewis dangerously drinkable. Rich amber in colour Ripper is sweet and fruity witha warming finish

Gone Fishing ESB (5.5%, 750ml fliptop bottles); TheGone Fishing E.S.B.or “gone missing” as they call it in our pub, is a strong,deep amber coloured Ale, fruity and malty very drinkable for it’s strength.

Lurcher Stout (4.8%, 750ml fliptop bottles); Fruity,chocolaty, rich and fulsome, well-balanced with hops, yet So Smooth. Proving tobe a real winner, if you like stout you will love Lurcher.

Discoverthis fine collection for yourself.

Upham Brewery beers now available

2011-10-18T19:38:00.003+02:00

Upham Brewery is a family-run business, set in the rolling Hampshire downs, not far from Winchester. Our fine real ales are crafted in the grounds of a picturesque, seventeenth century farmstead by a small and dedicated team. We brew using traditional methods, which ensure the beer has great character, and use the best natural ingredients we can get hold of, to give our drinkers a proper pint, full of flavour.

Created under the expert guidance of a top brew-master, Upham Ale was our first tipple, and is still a winner. Since then, the brewery has gone on to create two further tasty tipples, Upham Nectar and Stakes Ale. Find out more about them here.

The business launched in early 2009 and it's been a busy time. We have a fast-growing distribution base, a very loyal drinkership and other plans in the pipeline. You see, some really do like it Upham…

Currently three delicious bottle conditioned beers.

UPHAM ALE

This is our first beer and still a firm favourite. Upham Ale has roasted malt flavours that mingle on the tongue with notes of chocolate and a pronounced, hoppy finish. 4% ABV.

UPHAM NECTAR
First brewed in summer 2010, Upham Nectar is a light, golden-coloured beer with a sweet, hoppy flavour that lingers over the malts. This is a real thirst-quencher with a lovely clean, dry finish. 3.8% ABV.

STAKES ALE
A chestnut-coloured beer, brewed for those who enjoy a stronger drink, Stakes Ale has buckets of flavour. Roasted malts and a hint of chocolate come to a hearty, hoppy finish. 5% ABV.

Boom time for real ale with trendy new image

2011-09-15T11:52:00.002+02:00

Real ale has defied the downturn as pints become more popular with young people, a new guide reveals.

Ninety-nine new breweries have opened in the last year, as drinkers enjoy a ‘golden era’, says the Campaign for Real Ale, which launches its Good Beer Guide 2012 today.

It found that real ale has shed its ‘old man’ image as trendy young men and women drive the boom.

Young drinkers seem to be turning their backs on homogenised, heavily branded beers and switching to high quality local brews.

There are more breweries now than at any time since World War II – despite the closure of at least 40 large breweries since 1997.

‘To see one shy of a hundred new brewers coming on stream in just 12 months is unprecedented, particularly during a time of economic downturn,’ said guide editor Roger Protz.

‘This truly is a golden era for British brewing, and it’s little wonder more consumers than ever are getting acquainted with real ale in the face of so much choice.’

Britain now has 840 breweries, an increase partly driven by tax breaks announced by chancellor Gordon Brown nine years ago.

About 32 per cent of women have tried real ale, compared with 20 per cent five years ago, along with 38 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds.

Jules Whiteway, 39, who opened the independent London Fields Brewery in Hackney, east London, last month, said it had attracted ‘a mixed crowd, to say the least’.

‘People like craft products because they are more local,’ he added.

‘There is a big move at the moment into more interesting beers as opposed to your flavourless, poor-quality ales.’ [Sophie Elks, Metro London]

Parliamentary groups back UK Brewing Centre bid

2011-08-23T15:28:00.003+02:00

The chairmen of two influential pub and beer groups for MPs have lent their support to the National Brewing Centre's bid to set up as a trust company.

National Brewing Centre: tells the history of British brewing

The National Brewing Centre in Burton-on-Trent is hoping to set up a trust company called “The National Brewing Heritage Trust Ltd” but must first prove it is a national organisation. Show your support at http://www.facebook.com/livingbeer

The Society of Independent Brewers is already based there and the centre holds a number of historical artefacts and documents that are of national importance to the history of British Brewing.

“The Centre is without doubt a national organisation,” said Save the Pub Group chairman Greg Mulholland MP. “As a leading brewing nation, the brewing centre is of huge national significance and a hugely important part of Britain’s culture and heritage.

“With SIBA based there as well as a museum holding many historical artefacts and documents on the history of British brewing, it is hugely important the centre is able to secure its long term future.

“I wish the centre the best of luck and the Save the Pub Group and I will of course continue to assist them in any way possible as it seeks to set up ‘The National Brewing Heritage Trust Ltd’.”

Local MP and chair of the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group, Andrew Griffiths MP, added: “I am really pleased to have the support of Greg and the All Party Save the Pub Group for the National Brewery Centre.

“The Centre plays such an important part in the history of brewing, not only in Burton but nationally as well. It is vital for the National Brewery Centre to thrive and succeed to help promote the greatness of the British brewing industry and I am delighted to continue to support them in this.”
[ By Ewan Turney for The Publican's Morning Advertiser]

Lager-brewing yeast isolated from Argentina

2011-08-23T15:20:00.002+02:00

Scientists have identified a yeast that led to the discovery of lager.

The researchers isolated the new species in the frozen forests of Patagonia in South America. Their discovery suggests that this yeast crossed the Atlantic hundreds of years ago and combined with one traditionally used in Europe to make ale. The discovery is described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

A lucky find. The workhorse of brewing, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is used worldwide to ferment fruit and grains to make wine, cider and ale. Lager-brewing, which is fermented more slowly and at lower temperatures than ale, is presumed to be a later invention, and was likely stumbled upon when Bavarian monks moved their beer barrels into caves to store it. In those caves, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which prefers to grow just above room temperature, is presumed to have been outcompeted in the fermenting beer by a species that thrived at cooler climes. The modern-day lager-brewing yeast, Saccharomyces pastorianus, which is a fully domesticated species, is probably a hybrid of this cool-loving strain and the ale-brewing species, and survives because brewers keep back a little of the lager each time to seed the next batch with the same yeast. Lager's cradle "The hybrid almost definitely formed accidentally and people adopted it because the beer came out differently," said evolutionary biologist Chris Hittinger from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, US, who was one of the team behind the discovery.

The UK consumes 20 million barrels of lager each year but researchers have long wondered where the original cool-loving yeast species came from. That is until Dr Hittinger and his colleagues isolated it from a beech tree in the forests of Patagonia this year. These forests, where daily lows average around -2C, are the perfect cradle for modern-day lager-brewing yeast. The species has been designated Saccharomyces eubayanus.

"I personally prefer lagers to ales, and I am very grateful that these two distant cousins met up in a Bavarian cellar hundreds of years ago," Dr Hittinger told BBC News.

Knowing the ancestral strain to the modern day lager-brewing yeast will help scientists pinpoint the effects of domestication in the genome of brewing yeasts. And there is also the possibility that there are other undiscovered species of yeast in those Patagonia forests that could become the next best brew.
[By Jennifer Carpenter Science reporter, BBC News]

Go wild for Oscar Wilde mild

2011-08-02T18:23:00.002+02:00

Oscar Wilde mild beer from Mighty Oak brewery in Essex has been crowned Champion Beer of Britain at the Great British Beer Festival.

The beer is described as a roasty dark mild with suggestions of forest fruits and dark chocolate.

It is a 3.7%abv ale from Mighty Oak. Which has been brewing since 1996.

"I am amazed that we won — its been my dream since 1996 when the brewery opened," said brewery owner John Boyce.

"We can probably get another 20-30% from the brewery and will be able to match demand. Being a mild it won't be a huge seller."

Juding panel chair Roger Protz said: "Oscar Wilde was a stand out winner, universally praised by the judges for its overall quality. Once again a dark beer has triumphed over paler beers.

"It’s a beer with great depth of character, and for the style has a lot of hop bitterness as well. It proves that a dark beer can be refreshing even in very hot weather."

By Ewan Turney

Shipwreck's 'oldest beer' to be brewed again

2011-04-14T10:22:00.001+02:00

Samples of the world's oldest beer have been taken in a bid to determine its recipe - and brew it again.

In July 2010, a Baltic Sea shipwreck dated between 1800 to 1830 yielded many bottles of what is thought to be the world's oldest champagne.

Five of the bottles later proved to be the oldest drinkable beer yet found.

The local government of the Aland island chain where the wreck was found has now commissioned a scientific study to unpick the beer's original recipe.

Divers found the two-mast ship at a depth of about 50m in the Aland archipelago, which stretches between the coasts of Sweden and Finland in the Baltic Sea.

The ship was believed to be making a journey between Copenhagen in Denmark and St Petersburg, then the capital of Russia.

The salvaging operation to bring up 145 champagne bottles - since determined to include vintages from Heidseck, Veuve Clicquot and Juglar - had one casualty: a bottle that burst open at the surface, revealing itself to be beer.

The brew has already been sampled by four professional beer tasters.

"They said that it did taste very old, which is no surprise, with some burnt notes. But it was quite acidic - which could mean there's been some fermenting going on in the bottle and with time it's become acid," said Annika Wilhelmson of the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT).

VTT has now been commissioned to get to the bottom of the sunken beer's recipe.

"We're going to try to see if we can find any living yeast or other microbial cells, because that would be very interesting with respect to reproducing the beer," Dr Wilhelmson explained.

"So far we have seen under microscopes that there are yeast and bacterial cells, but we don't know if they're dead or alive yet. If we can't find living microbes, we will look at the DNA and try to compare it to brewing yeasts that we know today, to see how similar or different the yeasts are."

Pinning down which hops have been used on the basis of further chemical analysis may be difficult, Dr Wilhelmson added, meaning that reviving the 200-year-old brew for modern drinkers may prove difficult.

"Whatever we analyse, we're going to have to do a lot of interpreting," she said. "We need to analyse what it is today and start thinking about what it was like when it was made - when it was fresh, because it clearly isn't fresh now." [By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News]

Beer could be fresher for longer, says chemistry study

2011-04-14T10:15:00.003+02:00

Molecules like this one (tricyclocohumol) are largely responsible for the taste of stale beer

Scientists have identified the chemicals that lead to the bitter aftertaste of stale bottled beer.

Chemicals present in beer's hops break down over time, forming other compounds that result in the unpleasant taste.

Researchers reporting in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry say the trick to avoiding the taste is to avoid that breakdown.

That can be done by adjusting beers' acidity when it is produced, and by always keeping it cool.

The idea that the naturally-present, slightly bitter-tasting compounds are the source of the more bitter, more long-lasting flavours of "aged" beer is not new.

But the exact catalogue of compounds that are responsible and how they develop over time has remained a mystery until now.

Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have been looking into the particulars of beer chemistry for a number of years.

For the recent study, they stored a number of commercially available, pilsner-style beers for as much as 10 years in order to compare the chemistry of aged beers with that of freshly-obtained samples.

The primary offenders are what are known as trans-iso-alpha acids, which over time degrade into a number of chemicals that lead to bad taste - and it is these that the TUM researchers hope to address.

Recent studies have shown that the level of acidity, or pH, has a strong effect on the degradation of trans-iso-alpha acids, but the new study indicated that pH in ageing beer was incredibly stable - so the researchers asked a commercial brewer to make batches of beer with slightly varying pH levels.

They found that by making beer that was incrementally less acidic, the trans-iso-alpha acid degradation process could be much reduced.

However, the reactions that transform the acids into the ingredients of a stale-tasting beer are accelerated at higher temperatures, so the simplest route to keeping beer tasting fresh is to keep it cool. [found on BBC site ]

Ask your MP to take action to stop a 7% beer tax rise!

2011-03-03T11:48:00.002+01:00

email your MP before the next the 2011 Budget now.
Since 2008, beer duty has gone up by an incredible 26%, and VAT has risen by a third to 20%.

In 2008, the Government also introduced the “beer duty escalator”, which automatically increases beer duty by an additional 2% above inflation every year. This year, that would mean a further 7% tax rise and would put 10p on a pint in the pub.

CAMRA has forecast that, with duty and VAT on a typical pint approaching £1, a pint of real ale in the pub could reach £2.90 in 2011 - up from £2.45 in 2008.

Coupled with rock-bottom alcohol prices in supermarkets and large pubcos’ high tied beer prices, these duty increases are putting huge pressures on pubs and are contributing to the closure of 29 pubs every week.

We need your help to persuade the Chancellor to freeze beer duty and end the unfair beer duty escalator in the Budget on 23rd March. Please use this website to email your MP and ask them to sign EDM 1475, “Beer Duty Escalator”, a Parliamentary petition which calls for the escalator to be abandoned. It’s vital that as many MPs as possible sign this EDM to show the Government that we want a fair deal for beer and pubs. Don’t worry if your MP can’t or won’t sign EDMs – we’re giving them the option of writing to the Chancellor instead.

The Prime Minister has said that he wishes to deliver a "pub friendly Government". It's now time for the Chancellor to take action and make this promise a reality.

SIBA launches Proud of Beer video

2011-03-02T19:28:00.002+01:00

SIBA (The Society of Independent Brewers) has launched a 5 minute video explaining why we should be proud of British Beer. It features dozens of the UK's brewers from the smallest to the largest explaining why they are proud to brew British Beer. 1500 people are employed in the UK in brewing beer, it contributes £28bn to the British economy in taxes and jobs and 400,000 people depend on British beer for their work.

These British brewers therefore ask why, if they are proud of British Beer, the Government has raised taxes by 26% in the last two years and if nothing changes will tax it by a further 20% in the next 4 years. Currently 29 pubs a week are closing because of high beer taxes. British beer is being abused say the brewers and they therefore ask MPs to persuade the Treasury to freeze beer duty, end the beer tax escalator and stop more pubs closing in their constituencies.

The stirring music of Gustav Holst's adaptation of his Planets Suite Jupiter for "I vow to thee my country" is the background music throughout the film.
By Iain Loe

British Pie Week recipe: Legendary Game Pie

2010-02-03T17:14:00.001+01:00

The Face of Pie Week recipe, created by head chef Ashley Robins at the Keystone, Guildford

Legendary Game Pie recipe

Serves around 8 people

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil
2 large red onions, peeled & diced
120g field mushrooms, sliced
120g smoked back bacon, diced
1 kg of mixed game meat (incl. venison, rabbit, pheasant & pigeon), boned & diced
1 clove garlic, peeled & crushed
Zest & juice of 1 orange
70ml port
300ml chicken stock
1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
4 bay leaves
30g plain flour
Salt & pepper to taste
1.2kg Jus-Rol shortcrust pastry
1 free-range egg, beaten

Cook in a round metal skillet, 33cm diameter

Method

1. Heat a tablespoon of oil, brown the game in batches, keep on one side.

2. Heat the rest of the oil, sweat off the onions until starting to soften but not colour. Add the garlic, bacon & mushrooms and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.

3. Stir in the flour & cook for 2 minutes. Season well & stir in the bay leaves, orange juice & zest, redcurrant jelly, stock & port.

4. Bring to the boil, add the meat & simmer gently for 1 hour or until the meat is tender. Allow to cool.

5. Heat the oven to Gas 5.

6. Flour the inside of the metal skillet – do not grease. Roll out pastry base & press into the skillet, leaving an overhang of 1cm. Fill with the meat mixture. Roll out pastry lid & attach to the base using an egg wash. Press down edges with the end of a spoon. Cut a steam hole in the centre. Glaze with beaten egg.

7. Bake for 30 minutes on bottom shelf, followed by 30 minutes on top shelf, until the pastry is golden & the filling over 75°C.

To serve:

Cut a generous wedge & serve with creamy mash, steamed savoy cabbage & red onion gravy.

Courtesy of The Publican online [Wednesday 3 February 2010]

'Help for Heroes' beer. Drink to donate.

2009-11-18T18:16:00.004+01:00

Do your bit for 'Help for Heroes' by drinking Oakleaf's SWAGGER - Servicemen's Wives And Girlfriends - bitter where a donation from every bottle goes to the charity. A fine 4.6% bitter which makes you feel good.

Joint beer promotion

2009-11-10T18:41:00.005+01:00

aletalk.co.uk and livingbeer.com have teamed up to offer you an interesting mixed case of British beers with an exclusive aletalk.co.uk discount.

Xmas selection boX OUT NOW

2009-11-09T14:19:00.005+01:00

The Xmas selection boX
- that is the Xstravaganza of 12 Xcellent seasonal brews from British micros and independents -
is finalised and available to order.

Fuller's excellent India Pale Ale now available

2009-11-03T10:16:00.003+01:00

This brew has only recently become available and as a Fuller's ale you know it'll be a fine beer, and this doesn't disappoint - it recreates traditional IPA characteristics beautifully as a hoppy, refreshing ale at 5.3% abv.

Have a case shipped to your out-post

This year's Fuller's Vintage Ale is out now

2009-11-02T18:42:00.004+01:00

Fuller's Head Brewer John marks the 12th year of Vintage Ales with the 2009 brew. Only 160000 bottles produced and as usual each one individually boxed and numbered. This year's beer is absolutley faithful to the tradition of these annual brews with its luxurious richness from its 8.5% abv and those delicious aromas and rich fruity flavours. Perfect for the autumn and winter days and nights.
Discover the evolution of bottle maturation with a case of Vintage Years or indulge purely in this years new brew.

Talk ale with aletalk

2009-10-24T09:46:00.003+02:00

A handy site to keep informed about all things aley

The Punchbowl is knocked out

2009-10-22T11:50:00.002+02:00

Morrissey Fox hand keys back on Yorkshire pub made famous in Channel 4 documentary

Celebrity publicans and brewers Neil Morrissey and Richard Fox have given up the pub made famous in their Channel 4 TV series last year.

The lease on Ye Olde Punchbowl Inn in Marton-Cum-Grafton has now been handed back to the private freeholder just 18 months after it was opened in a blaze of publicity.

But the pair are refusing to give up on the pub industry and are now looking for freehouses in the Yorkshire area.

Fox blamed the closure on problems with bank funding, and a refusal from the landlord to negotiate on the rent at the site.

“It seems for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction: we create a fabulous, successful beer with sales on the up-and-up with loads more to come; and we have to close a pub, and join that ever increasing list of sad statistics,” he reflected.

“On the plus side, we did regenerate what was a very tired establishment facing imminent closure and manage to give it one hell of a make-over and breathe another year and a half of life into it. It’s a shame our other work commitments didn’t allow us to give it the extra attention we should have given it to help battle through such difficult circumstances.”

Fox said he would like to thank all the customers, staff and team who have supported the business. [Source: The Publican]

Crown's beer gems

2009-10-06T09:29:00.004+02:00

The Crown brewery in Sheffield was started in 2000 in the cellar of the Hillsborough Hotel, with a 4 brl brew length and named after the original brewery that was across the road in the 30’s. In 2004 Edale Brewery bought the hotel along with the brewery and added another brewing name - Wellington Brewery, the reason behind this was that the Hillsborough Hotel was previously known as The Wellington. Additional beers were then produced along side the existing range of Crown beers. In 2006 Edale Brewery sold the hotel and brewery to Andrew and Helen Walker and they extended the opening hours which are now Midday – 11pm 7 days a week and introduced a permanent day time food menu. Brewing did not comence until July 2007 when Stuart Ross was employed, his experience at both Acorn Brewery and Kelham Island Brewery brought consistency to the original range.

New recepies were added and the first brew of Traditional Bitter 4% won Champion beer at Sheffield Beer festival in October 2007 along with Stannington Stout coming top of its category. Wheetie-Bits 4.4% and Primrose Pale Ale 4.2% are now also regular seasonal brews and we also produce one off monthly specials.

Some of our permanent range is available bottle conditioned as well as beers brewed especially for bottling such as Wheat Stout 6.6%, Ring of Fire 10.3% and Unpronounceable IPA 7% with more new and interesting beers on there way.

As Dr Ron summed up the Crown brews from a mixed case from several breweries "The Crown beers were great".
To try the range of interesting and unusual bottled ales for yourself order a Crown case.

Sambrook's Brewery Wandle Ale now available

2009-10-05T15:48:00.004+02:00

Brewed using traditional methods and materials sourced locally from English producers. The brewer is proud to use Maris Otter malt from Warminster Maltings, one of the few remaining floor maltings in the country. There is a combination of traditional Fuggles and Goldings hops varieties, together with the more modern Boadicea hedgerow variety to flavour our beers. All of the hops used in the brewing process are whole leaf which give Wandle its distinctive hoppy taste and aroma.
A well balanced thirst quenching session ale. Try this new fine London bottled real ale.

Duncan's story

"City accountant to brewer in three months – a fairly radical shift? I guess on the face of it, it is, but if the truth be told this has been longer in the making than the time between finishing my career with Deloitte in August and sampling our first beer on 26th November 2008.

So where did it all start? Earls Court, Great British Beer Festival, 3rd August 2006.

Simon and Glen, two university friends, and I sat together searching the huge list of beers on offer for a beer brewed in London (other than in Chiswick). To our surprise there was not one to offer. So after (a few too many) beers that day we hatched a plan to bring brewing back to the heart of London. Six months later and still fresh with the novelty of our exciting new idea, I took my first step to becoming a brewer, purchasing three second-hand tanks of a five barrel brewing plant from an ex-brewer. That is when I learnt my first lesson and quickly discovered that three tanks do not make a brewery. Despite my best efforts to get this five barrel plant operational it never saw any brewing during its lifetime with me.

Twelve months on and I decided it was time to take this venture more seriously and found myself signing up for a week long course in Brewing Fundamentals at the University of Sunderland. It was an excellent week and despite the lecturers’ best endeavours to dissuade the class from venturing into the industry, I came out unperturbed and re-focused on what I needed to do – find myself premises.

It was while I was looking for premises that I had the opportunity to meet a successful brewer by the name of David Welsh, previously managing director of Ringwood Brewery. Having been brought up in Salisbury on a staple of Ringwood Best Bitter, the chance to meet him was priceless.

Shortly after our first meeting David dropped a bombshell; he was interested in being involved but only if the plant was four times the size! In retrospect it all made sense but at the time I didn’t quite know what to say...

... So I said yes and here we are, an unlikely partnership, with a fully operational twenty barrel plant in Battersea, marketing our first pint Wandle Ale.

I do hope that reading my story has interested you in our venture and that you will come along to visit us at the Brewery and become a part of bringing brewing back to the heart of London."

Cheddar on board

2009-10-02T09:32:00.004+02:00

It's great to have met Jem - Head Brewer - at Cheddar Ales when I went to taste his brews. Nestling on the slopes of the Mendip Hills, within a stone's throw of the famous Cheddar Gorge, Cheddar Ales is a microbrewery producing premium quality real ales for you to enjoy at home as well as in the best pubs. Jem insists on using only the finest ingredients and time-honoured methods as old as the hills themselves to produce a range of beers for traditional and modern tastes alike, that are best described as Simply Gorgeous. It is a fine range of smooth quality beers. I'm not the only one to rate this brewer. As well as picking up awards Roger Protz has given deserved praise such as "A superb porter" to sum up Totty Pot and made 3 of these brews 'Beer of the Month' on Roger's site beer-pages.co.uk.
Currently the range comprises Goat's Leap: a contemporary IPA full-bodied, strong with a striking bitter finish, brimming with hop character. Gorge Best: intricate blend of hops for a distinguished Best Bitter with a clean bitter taste complementing warm malt flavours perfectly. Totty Pot: rich, dark porter with a deeply satisfying roasted malt character and subtle hop highlights. Brewed using the best quality Maris Otter, wheat and dark malts and hopped with a blend of English whole hops. And finally Potholer: an award winning golden ale, lively and refreshing with zesty fruit flavours, a rounded finish and bags of aroma. To buy a brewery mixed case try the Cheddar Ales Selection.

2009-08-25T10:52:00.002+02:00

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Titanic Stout gets gold

2009-08-20T11:00:00.002+02:00

For the fifth year out of six Titanics' Stout has received an award in the CAMRA Champion Bottle-Conditioned Beer of Britain category...and this year it's gold.
A true old fashioned stout. A dark combination of malt and roast with some hops. Strongly flavoured and well balanced.
Dark brown rather than black in colour, it has a lasting, brownish head that is creamy and clinging on top but with a larger bead further down produced by the bubbles from the lively beer. Nose is heavy with treacle, roast barley and a touch of cheese, surprisingly reminiscent of an imperial stout. On the mouth it is fruity, with lots of red and dark fruit. However, the fruit is quickly succeeded by smoky, dark-roast malt and bitter chocolate notes. Hop character is recognisable but not obvious - it is swamped rather than subdued. Finish is very bitter, but despite the intense flavour in the mouth the aftertaste is quite light, much more typical of the strength than the body. It is also slightly phenolic. Overall, this is a remarkable stout - despite being rich, heavy and complex beyond its gravity, its light aftertaste makes it a very quaffable pint. Deserving of its past awards. [courtesy of www.bottledbeer.co.uk]

Fuller's Vintage Ales collection

2009-07-08T15:40:00.007+02:00

A range of Fuller's boxed Vintage Ales from over the last decade - two each of the following years' brews '99, '02, '04, '05, '06 and '07. Read a comprehensive review of these fine ales here beer-pages.com

Vintage Ale is a truly distinguished bottle-conditioned ale, crafted by Fuller’s Head Brewer. Each vintage is a blend of that year’s finest malt and hops, and of course our unique yeast, creating a unique limited edition brew.

Bottle conditioning means that a little yeast is left in the bottle after bottling, which will mature slowly over time like a fine wine or whisky - well beyond the best before date that we are obliged to state. Fuller's recently opened (in the interests of research, of course) a few bottles of old Vintages: they tasted better than ever so stock up now and you'll be glad you did in years to come!

Wheat Treat - case of British wheat beers

2009-07-08T13:26:00.004+02:00

Here's a mixed case of wheat beers from British brewers - there's

O'Hanlon's Goldblade: Crisp, refreshing, and deliciously citrus-tinted with a hint of spice, it’s a flavour that cuts the biggest thirst down to size.
North Yorkshire's Cereal Killer: A light coloured wheat bitter with a fine distinctive hop nose. Refreshing dry fruity finish. Faint banana aroma with spice.
Meantime Wheat: A Grand Cru - Superior Bavarian Style Wheat Beer, cloudy, golden-orange beer with a moderately dense white head.
Rebellion White: A classic wheat beer, brewed in the style of a Belgian 'Witbier', distinctive spicy, clove aroma and fine, white foam, which gives the beer its name. To best appreciate the full body, aroma and refreshing, citrus, fruit flavour of this naturally cloudy beer.

Fuller's Vintage Ale 1999 experiences

2009-07-06T18:14:00.005+02:00

From Tim's Beer Diary It was a monumental task. To pack up and box the contents of the flat ready for shipping back to Australia. After the hard work, I quenched my hard earned thirst in style - witha ten year old bottle of Fuller's Vintage Ale.

The beer was excellent and had a smooth caramel taste with a hint of alcoholic warmth showing through. Perfectly balanced it was like a super version of London Pride. In comparison with the 2008 bottle I had a couple of weeks ago they are two distinctly different beers. The 1999 Vintage is a lot darker and has more roast caramel notes coming through where the 2008 is lighter in colour and doesn't contain the depth of complexity that the older beer had. Both beers are excellent though, its just that the 2008 will not mature into a beer similar to the 1999. Overall the beer is excellent and I was lucky enough to be able to pick up one of the 80000 bottles produced over 10 years ago. In this instance the 2002 expiry date was well and truly passed but the beer stood up to the test of time nicely!

And from beer-pages.com
Opened in March 2005, this is bottle number 26,330 of the edition. Champion Fuggles hops and Champion Optic malt have produced a ruby red beer, which pours slightly cloudy, with a creamy light-brown head. The nose here is very earthy and wine-like, with an almost Burgundian character of damp, sweet earth, truffle and a hint of rotting vegetation. Remnants of a richer maltiness and still sweet fruitiness add complexity. On the palate it has a typically smooth, immensely rich and dense texture, with immediate sweetness that fills the mouth with flavours of herbs, intense sherried fruits and walnuts and a huge core of powerful alcohol and thick, bitter chocolate malt. This is an assault on the senses, with Christmas spices, green chicory flavours and all sorts of bitterness in an endlessly complex beer. Magnificent. 8.5% ABV, 50cl. Buy some to try for yourself.

Butt's Barbus barbus review by Roger Protz

2009-07-03T13:28:00.003+02:00

Roger Protz has kindly allowed me to re-'print' his latest Beer of the Month review from Beer-pages.
Butt's Barbus barbus: You will go on a magical mystery tour for this beer. Chris Butt opened his brewery in Hungerford in Berkshire in 1994 and now brews only organic beers with a Soil Association certificate. Chris is also a keen coarse fisherman, which shows in the name Barbus Barbus, Latin for the barbel fish: if Chris isn't at the brewery, you'll find him fishing the nearest river. He's also wary of giving away too much information about his beers. He says he used three organic hops in the beer but won't name them on the grounds they change regularly according to availability. As there are only a few English organic hops, there's a good chance you may find some First Gold or Target in the brew. Organic malt comes from Warminster Maltings in Wiltshire. Barbus Barbus is bottle conditioned - there was a rim of yeast inside the neck of my bottle to prove the point - and is straw coloured with juicy malt, hop resins and a powerful hint of freshly-peeled apples on the nose. Hops - peppery and spicy - burst across the tongue, balanced by rich grain, tart fruit and a hint of ginger. The finish is intensely bitter and hoppy but it's also spicy, fruity and wonderfully refreshing. Malt: medium. Hops: high. Fruit: high 4.6% ABV, 50cl

Big Bottled Ale range at The Jolly Coopers, Hampton

2009-06-21T10:36:00.008+02:00

Without doubt The Jolly Coopers now has the biggest range of British bottled real ales
(or Real Ale In a Bottle (RAIB), if you prefer) in the land. Fifty milds, bitters, porters, stouts, pale ales, goldens, fruits, wheats, lagers and barley wines all standing in the cellar at the perfect temperature waiting to be chosen from the handy Ale List. It's a permanent and on-going BRAfest - Bottled Real Ale festival where you can take your time treating your taste buds to the breadth of beer styles and at the same time feasting your eyes on the bottle and label designs created by these craft brewers.
The pub itself is a wonderful traditional local community pub which has been well-established by Jane and Nick over the past two decades. It's not just a place for food and drink this pub is at the heart of the community. In the daytime the food is fulsome traditional fare and the evening offers a Spanish twist with a tantalising Tapas menu or first class cuisine from the Spanish chef. No 'less is more' portions here!
In addition to the horse-shoe main bar the pub has the restaurant at the rear and outside there is a comfortable sunny patio and a small amount of parking.
Well-worth a visit for a straight-forward, honest, traditional pub experience with the only dilemma of having choose from the widest bottled real ale list around.

The Jolly Coopers, 16 High Street, Hampton, Middlesex TW12 2SJ (020 8979 3384)
Map

Fuller's Brewer's Reserve

2009-06-03T13:09:00.013+02:00

A limited batch of this unique, exquisite ale which is strong, full-bodied malty ale that has been aged in 30-year-old single malt casks for a period of 500 days. During this time the ale infuses with flavours and characteristics of the whisky that has absorbed into the wood, leaving a balance of hoppy bitterness and tangy marmalade fruit. Rounded off with subtle smoky vanilla notes and a hint of whisky, Brewer’s Reserve is a rich, amber, 7.7% ABV, limited edition ale that is both complex and distinctive.

2009-06-02T19:41:00.002+02:00

BRAfest or Bottled Real Ale festival is an event based around an Ale List of 50 different British bottled real ales (CAMRA's Real Ale In a Bottle) including all beer styles, mild, bitter, golden, pale, porter, stout, wheat, fruit, lager-style and barley wine from micro and independent breweries in the UK. The event usually lasts 7-10 days and with a case (12 bottles) of each ale supplied.

The pub and event are promoted through local ads, outdoor banner, bunting, posters, online activity, PR etc.
The event and timing is flexible to fit in with your requirements.

If you have a pub or you would like your local to hold a BRAfest please get in touch.

Bottled Summer ales

2009-06-02T19:27:00.002+02:00

O'Hanlon's wheat beer, Goldblade (4%): Crisp, refreshing, and deliciously citrus-tinted with a hint of spice, it’s a flavour that cuts the biggest thirst down to size. Made from only hand selected, traditionally prepared, floor-malted, riband wheat from rolling chalk downs of Wiltshire, this is a truly classic beer. An absolute for Summer barbecues.

2009-05-21T21:14:00.002+02:00

Livingbeer.com's first stall. Having a go at Brighton's Foodie Festival in the middle of the Fringe Festival. And what fun it was, meeting loads of people eager and curious to try the mouth-watering range of bottled real ales from passionate, caring British brewers. The weather was kind, even though it was threatening and wild at set-up on Sunday morning. So many Foodie festival visitors were keen to discover and no-one was disappointed. Having had this experience it's time for more of the same at Hamton Court's Foodie Festival this bank holiday weekend (23-25 May).

BRAfest reminder

2009-04-24T16:03:00.000+02:00

Mud City Stout Chocolate Ice Cream recipe

2009-04-24T11:46:00.004+02:00

Ingredients
1 vanilla pod
250ml double cream
250ml Sadler's Ales Mud City Stout
175g granulated sugar
1½ tsp cocoa powder
4 egg yolks

Serves 2

Preparation
1. To make the ice cream, halve the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Add to a pan with the double cream, stout and sugar and bring up to the boil.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the cocoa powder and the egg yolks, blending thoroughly. Add a small amount of the stout cream to the cocoa powder and egg yolks, whisking quickly to temper the eggs. Add the egg mixture to the pan and cook until thick, whisking constantly. Cool the mixture, and then process in an ice cream maker.

More Hampton activity - Foodie Festival 23-25 May

2009-04-20T10:41:00.002+02:00

We'll be attending this foodie event to promote the virtues of British bottled real ales. Join us in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace for a celebration of fine food and drink over the May Bank Holiday weekend Ales to try and discussions to be had. http://www.foodiesfestival.com/hampton-court/

Meet Mat Follas, the Masterchef 2009 winner as he cooks live at the Olive magazine Chefs theatre at the weekend. He will be joining Michelin star and top chefs from leading restaurants who will cook live every hour on the hour.

Tempt your tastebuds with fine food and drink in the Harvey Nichols marquee and sip champagne in the Veuve Cliquot tent.

Try a sushi, chocolate, cheese or champagne masterclass, sample dishes from leading restaurants and buy fresh ingredients in the local producers market. For budding young chefs there is a chance to learn to cook in the Cooking with Kids masterclass

BRAfest at The Jolly Coopers, Hampton

2009-04-03T19:55:00.002+02:00

The time has come for another BRAfest - Bottled Real Ale festival a the Jolly Coopers in High Street, Hampton, Middlesex.
1-10 May there will be 50 British bottled real ales to discover, savour, critique and above all enjoy. There will be milds, bitters, IPAs, golden ales, porters, stouts, lager-styles, fruit and wheat beers and barley wines. Live music Sunday night from The Scene. A May Day weekend to discover the breadth of British ales.

Beer for brians...proven!

2009-04-03T19:47:00.002+02:00

Beer tax is too high, let's change this

2009-03-03T19:18:00.006+01:00

The demands

The beauty of the Brumas Home Brewery

2009-02-23T12:42:00.002+01:00

Not only is it a thing aesthetic beauty but its functionality is beautiful, making beer production so simple. See the step-by-step process on VideoJug http://www.videojug.com/slideshow/make-great-beer-easily-with-a-brumas-home-brewery

Real ale in a bottle...as explained by CAMRA

2009-02-22T11:48:00.001+01:00

CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, supports real ale in a bottle. This is the next best thing, and the bottled equivalent, to the draught real ales you can enjoy at the pub.

CAMRA has launched a logo “CAMRA says this is real ale” to clearly identify products that are the real thing: natural, living, bottle-conditioned beers. It is important to note that some cask-conditioned real ales do not undergo secondary fermentation once bottled. We hope that this logo will be able to clearly identify real ale in a bottle.

Increasingly you will see this logo appear on bottle labels of bottle-conditioned products. When you see this logo you can be sure that you are drinking real ale in a bottle.

Real ale in a bottle is unpasteurised and is not artificially carbonated. It is a natural live product which contains yeast for a slow secondary fermentation in the bottle. This process provides wonderful fresh flavours and a pleasant, natural effervescence.

How to Identify a Real Ale in a Bottle

The technical term for real ale in a bottle is bottle-conditioned and this is what appears on most bottled real ales. You can also check the label on bottle beers for the “CAMRA says this is real ale” logo which forms part of its Real Ale in a Bottle Scheme.

If you are in any doubt about whether a beer is a real ale in a bottle, just hold it up to the light and see if it contains any sediment – the life-giving yeast that makes all the difference. You can also refer to CAMRA’s Good Bottled Beer Guide available to buy in our online shop.

10 Reasons to buy real ale in a bottle

1. It's a living product, which means lots of stimulating, fresh flavours.

2. It's the nearest thing to a pint of real ale down at your local.

3. It's not artificially carbonated; the pleasant effervescence is generated wholly by the yeast in the bottle.

4. Almost all bottled real ales are made from just four natural ingredients: malted barley, hops, water and yeast – there are no additives or E numbers.

5. It's mostly brewed by small or regional breweries and sold locally, so you'll be helping your local economy.

6. It's a hand-crafted product and brewers take extra care when producing real ale in a bottle.

7. There is so much variety to be enjoyed – well over 500 real ales in a bottle are now produced in the UK.

8. There are some magnificent bottled real ales from other countries, which go to prove that life outside Britain isn’t all bland, international lagers.

9. It makes an excellent accompaniment to food and with so many different bottled real ales available, it's fascinating to try to match their flavours with various dishes. Try real ale in a bottle instead of wine for a change.
Most importantly...

10. It tastes great!

The audacity of hops

2009-02-21T10:49:00.001+01:00

Scottish beer monsters, BrewDog, are creating a 'democratic beer' online. Is this just what the staid world of real ale needs?

Become a livingbeer.com Facebook fan

2009-02-21T10:46:00.001+01:00

The mission is to have more fans than Coke! Why not join the ale gang http://www.facebook.com/pages/LivingBeercom/23583468798

Chuffing nice little film

2009-02-20T19:21:00.003+01:00

From Livingbeer.com's sponsorship of the movie telling the story of the Mid Suffolk Light Railway came this lovely trailer

Brumas Home Brewery

2009-02-20T18:46:00.002+01:00

If this is the mini home brewery machine that James May was using in his caravan in Drink To Britain?

Bottled real ale stockist in Eton

2008-05-01T22:38:00.004+02:00

Now this quaint old wine merchant at 30 Eton High Street Berkshire stocks a range of Real Ale In Bottles from livingbeer.com So far this mini range includes bitters, milds, porters, barley wine, wheat beer and a couple of these are organic.

2008-04-29T14:39:00.002+02:00

What a cracking deal - Entire Butt English (4.8%) - with 30% this remaining bin end stock with this promotion code ENTRBTT Click and buy while while stocks last. Historically the term used to describe a porter blended from a variety of ales, Entire Butt uses 14 different malts and 3 hops to recreate this forgotten style of porter. Black/brown with a crisp white head and is distinctly vinous. It has little hop character as essentially the flavour is derived from malts. See how many your taste buds can identify. Silver Medal at GBBF 1999. An easy drinking companion to seafood and cheese dishes.

Excitement at The Emperor

2008-03-13T13:33:00.002+01:00

I met with Andy and his family last night at the Emperor Inn and the excitement is tangible in the build up to the Easter Festival weekend. All the plans are well advanced for music and musicians, food and, of course, the BRAfest - Bottled Real Ale festival.
If fancy doing a turn you are more than welcome, acoustic or electric - come and entertain us.

BRAfest - a Bottled Real Ale festival

2008-03-11T20:06:00.002+01:00

What better way to discover a range of bottled real ales than sit in a pub with menu to study them and savour them. Livingbeer.com's next BRAfest is at the Emperor pub in Ipswich - for full details see www.livingbeer.com/brafest

So from Friday 21 to Monday 24 March there'll be lots of food, music and bottled real ale to enjoy.