Swale Ale Summer 2013

Summer Issue 2013 1

The FREE magazine of the Swale branch of CAMRA

The Campaign for Real Ale

Great British Beer - back to basics

In this issue…

Faversham Hop Festival guide

Pub and brewery news

The quest for real Irish ale

Thanet micropub trip

Swale Ale

P robably one of Britain’s

most iconic achievements

in the modern era is the much

loved public house and the real

ale that flows from its hand

pumps – whether this being in a

busy high street or in a sleepy

countryside location it is very

much part of the British way of

life.

This article aims to give

you an insight into the

wonderful and exciting portfolio

of the Great British pint

covering the more regularly

found beer styles.

The beer sold through a

hand pump is usually ‘real ale’. It

can also be called ‘cask-

conditioned beer’. Real ale is unpasteurised, unfiltered and is

a living product brewed from traditional

ingredients: malt (malted barley), hops, water

and yeast. Once brewed, it is put into a cask

where it continues to ferment (secondary

fermentation); this develops the flavour and the

natural carbonation and is served without added

carbon dioxide.

‘Keg beer’ undergoes the same

fermentation in the brewery as real ale but then

it is filtered and/or pasteurised. This kills off the

yeast and so the beer cannot undergo

fermentation in the cask. As the beer lacks the

natural carbonation, carbon dioxide has to be

added artificially.

Today some keg beers

have a mixture of nitrogen and

carbon dioxide added; these are

known as nitro-keg beers. This

includes Guinness (which is not

real ale).

Most lagers sold in the

UK are keg, although there are

a few ‘real lagers’ that are

served through hand pumps.

The difference between a lager

and ale is the type of yeast used.

Lagers use a ‘bottom fermenting

yeast’ and the fermentation

t akes p l ace a t co lder

temperatures than ales, which

use a ‘top fermenting yeast’.

Traditional lagers are

stored for many weeks, allowing the flavours to develop. Many UK

produced lagers do not undergo long storage,

which is why they often lack the page 3

Dark Star Hophead

Summer Issue 2013 2

Chris & Marie Annand and staff welcome you to this historic 15th Century inn in the heart of Faversham.

Immaculately kept Shepherd Neame beers

Traditional home made lunches served every day

Join us for our popular Quiz Night held on the last

Wednesday of every month

Find us on Facebook

The Bear Inn, 3 Market Place, Faversham, Kent ME13 7AG, Tel 01795 532668

THE BEAR Faversham

Summer Issue 2013 3

Great British Beer – back to basics depth of flavour associated with the best

continental lagers.

Some background

Over recent years, Britain has seen a

growth in the number of small breweries and,

consequently, an increase in the number of

beers available and experimentation including

more unusual ingredients such as elderflowers,

ginger and chocolate! However, traditional beer

styles are in plentiful supply. Most hand pumps

will have a pump clip that will give not only the

name of the beer but also the alcohol content,

usually stated as ABV (alcohol by volume). In the

case of the bitter style of beers, the different

categories are defined by the alcohol content. If

you are intending to try a few different beers,

then it is advisable to start with the weakest as

they tend to be more delicate in flavour. But be

warned, some of the dark beer styles have strong flavours that can saturate the palate

regardless of the alcohol strength. Many of the

darker beers are only available in colder months

and are normall badged winter beers.

Ingredients and flavours

Like a good chef, brewers will decide

which ingredients to use to get the end result

they desire.

If the brewers want a strong beer, they

will use a high level of malt, as it is the malt that

provides the food for the yeast, which then

produces the alcohol. Malt also gives the beer its

sweetness and body as well most of its colour. A

beer’s colour can range from very pale yellow to

black, according to how long the malt is roasted

for, and at what temperature. The malt gives

toffee, biscuity and roast notes in a beer,

including chocolate and coffee. Black malt can

also give a burnt bitterness but hops are usually

the main source of a beer’s bitterness. There is a

huge range of hops and you will come across

British beers using hops from all over Europe

and America and further afield as well as Britain.

Hops are usually responsible for fruit notes;

citrus, peach and pineapple are not unusual.

They can also give floral and peppery notes. In

stronger beers, the combination of the

ingredients tends to give very complex flavours

including caramelised fruit and you may also pick

up the warming impact of the alcohol.

Beer Styles

Milds

Although an old style of beer, mild is not

always widely available in Kent/London now with

only a small number of pubs regularly stocking

the style. There are two types of mild: light or

dark and so the colour can be black to dark

brown to pale amber. Both types are malty and

sweet tones tend to dominate the flavour profile

but there may be a light hop flavour or aroma.

Light milds may be slightly fruity and dark milds

can have roast and caramel notes. Milds are not

very bitter and are typically less than 4.3% ABV.

To promote this style CAMRA page 11

Shepherd Neame Mild

Summer Issue 2013 4

Swale Ale © Summer 2013

Published by the Swale Branch of the

Campaign for Real Ale Ltd (CAMRA).

Circulation: 1,000

Editorial Committee and Contributors:

Les Bailey, Derek Cole, Suzanne Collins,

Gary Holness, Simon Ing, Andrew Kitney,

Mick Lewis, Keir Stanley, Jeff Waller,

Malcolm Winskill.

Print Liaison: Les Bailey

Advertising: Gary Holness

——————————————–————

All correspondence to:

Les Bailey

58 Wallers Road

Faversham

Kent

ME13 7PL

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 01795 538824

———————————————–———

Any opinions expressed within these

pages are those of the individual authors

only and do not represent those of

CAMRA or any of its officials.

The existence of this publication in a

particular outlet does not imply an

endorsement of it by Swale CAMRA .

———————————————–———

Printed by:

Abbey Print, Faversham

———————————————–——

Branch Details

Chairman: Simon Ing

Secretary: Les Bailey

Social Secretary: Steve Bennion

Treasurer: Les Bailey

Editorial

Advertising rates:

Half Page £25

Full A5 Page £50

Minimum circulation 800

Contact [email protected]

Visit our award winning website at

www.camra-swale.org.uk

W elcome to the summer edition of Swale Ale. As usual we have tried to cover a

wide range of topics that will hopefully inform

and entertain you about the wonderful world of

beer and cider. Inside you will find articles that

vary from beer economics to the quest for real

Irish ale. Also there are reports on pubs and

breweries in the area and articles on some of

the social events that Swale CAMRA has

undertaken. If you like the sound of these days

out why not join CAMRA and come along to

enjoy good company and a good pint or two.

(You’ll find a membership form inside).

Hopefully the inside of your glass will be

the only dampness around as we enjoy a

fantastic summer. So seek out a good pub that

serves a good pint of what you like and enjoy.

The Editorial Team

Summer Issue 2013 5

Chairman's Chat

I f we are lucky summer has by now returned,

and you should be in the pub garden reading

this. You will be sitting under an umbrella if last

year was anything to go by, trying not to get too

much rain in your beer. If by some miracle we

do get some sunshine and no rain, so you can sit

outside, where better to do it than at the pub.

In the last year the beer duty escalator

was scrapped, but only the beer duty one. Cider

still has one, as do other drinks. So no

automatic duty rise on beer, but how much

does you pint cost? In pubs there can be quite a

range of prices; in some a pint can cost as little

as £2.50, in others near or even over £4. Now

CAMRA tries to price watch, but in order to do

this we need to know the prices in many pubs

regularly. You can help with this by letting

CAMRA know what you paid and where it was.

At least that way when you go to a pub it won't

come as a complete shock when you come to pay. Let us know and we will let others know.

Alcohol in the supermarkets is or can be

sold very cheaply and this is not necessarily a

good thing. Think about it - 10 or 12 cans of

nasty fizz for less than a tenner. Cheap yes, but

not good for real ale drinkers or pubs. We

should be trying to educate people, a good pint,

in a good pub, with good company, is much

better for you then sitting at home just drinking.

Real ale bought locally usually means money

staying in the local economy, if you buy it in a

pub doubly so. Most real ale drinkers don't get

fighting drunk or vomit on the pavement, so less

antisocial behaviour. Not everyone is a paragon,

and yes we all sometimes drink more than we

should and get drunk. But most of the time you

have two or three drinks and then quietly go

home. Most landladies/landlords and good bar

staff won't let you get silly drunk, as they can

lose their license if it keeps happening, especially

if there is trouble and complaints. So go to your

local pub, drink real ale, drink sensibly (we have

to tell you that, it's the law or something like

that) and let CAMRA know the price of your

pint.

Finally, before you head back into the

pub for another pint and maybe to dry off,

Swale CAMRA will again have a beer stall at the Faversham Hop Festival on Saturday 31st

August and Sunday 1st September. Come along

and buy a beer or cider and maybe have a chat.

Oh yes I nearly forgot, this year we will have

hard plastic reusable glasses for sale, so there is

no danger of spilling your pint.

Simon Ing

Three Hats Swale Pub of the Year

T he Three Hats in Milton Regis has been

awarded the title of Swale Pub of the Year

for the first time.

Situated in historic Milton Regis the

Three Hats (the only pub in the UK with that

name) holds regular beer festivals which focus

on beers from particular regions.

Licensee Malcolm Winskill, pictured

opposite, has been a member of the CAMRA

discount scheme for a number of years and has

worked hard to encourage locals to join the

Swale branch. Malcolm is also a regular

contributor to Swale Ale. [KS]

Summer Issue 2013 6

The White Lion Selling

Three course dinner menu served 6 to 7 Mon to Fri £19.95

Sunday Roast 12 to 3 as well as all day menu serving

fresh fish, steaks and pizzas

White Lion quiz every 2nd Wednesday of the month

Live music weekly

Themed events

Check website for seasonal opening times.

www.whitelionselling.co.uk

[email protected]

01227 752211

Summer Issue 2013 7

Kent Pub and Brewery News

Swale CAMRA Branch Diary

Saturday 6th July 2013

BRANCH AGM: 7.30pm

The Swan, London Road (A2), Teynham

(10 minute walk from Teynham Railway

Station – buffet provided)

Saturday 10th August 2013

Social Event

Mini coach trip to rural pubs in branch area

(see website for further details in due course)

Wednesday 14th August 2013

Branch Business Meeting: 8pm

The Wheatsheaf Inn, Warden Road

Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey

Shepherd Neame The Cask Ale schedule for the

remainder of 2013 is as

follows: July: Samuel Adams

Blonde Ambition (4.5% abv)

& Goldings Summer Hop Ale (4.1% abv).

August: Queens Court Harvest Ale (4.5%

abv). September: Brilliant Ale (4.0% abv) &

Late Red Autumn Hop Ale (4.5% abv).

October: Green Hop Ale (4.5% abv)& Spooks

Ale (4.7% abv). November: Porter (4.8% abv).

December: Christmas Ale (5.0% abv).

The branch Brewery Liaison Officer is Bob

Thompson.

Hopdaemon Tonie Prins continues to brew at full capacity.

His bottled Leviathan won a recent SIBA silver

award.

The branch Brewery Liaison Officer is Howard

Gates.

Mad Cat Peter Meaney continues to brew a full range of

cask and bottled beers. Peter hopes to be able

to host a Swale CAMRA Branch visit later this

year.

The branch Brewery Liaison Officer is Doris

Munday.

Faversham The Phoenix Tavern. As usual the Phoenix

continues to offer a wide range of national and

local beer. They now regularly serve six real

ales on hand pump. Two pumps are now

dedicated to Timothy Taylor’s beers and Harvey’s Sussex Best. The Phoenix will be

hosting the first Timothy Taylor Appreciation

Society International weekend 9 – 11th August,

brewers coming from Barcelona and folk coming

from US, Holland and France to take part.

The Elephant. For personal reasons the

advertised opening hours may not always be

strictly adhered to. Please phone 01795 590157

to check if you are travelling from some

distance.

The Old Wine Vaults. Has a St Arnold’s Day

Wednesday 11th September 2013

Branch Business meeting: 8pm

The Black Lion, Lynsted

Wednesday 9th October 2013


The Elephant, The Mall, Faversham

Wednesday 13th November 2013


The Three Hats, High Street, Milton Regis

Summer Issue 2013 8

Summer Issue 2013 9

Kent Pub and Brewery News Beer Festival from 5th – 7th July and is currently

selling a selected range of beers at £2.50 a pint.

The Bear regularly serves Shepherd Neame

seasonal and pilot brewery beers including the

excellent mild. The Bear has a general pub quiz

on the last Wednesday of each month (booking

essential) and also organises interesting themed

food nights on the first Monday of each month.

For more information please access their

facebook page.

The Sun has now opened its additional bar/

coffee shop which is accessed via a door to the

left of the main bar. They now offer the full

range of Shepherd Neame Heritage Ales in

bottles and have also started serving a breakfast

menu until 9.30am each day.

Iwade The Woolpack now serves Sharp’s Doom Bar.

Lower Halstow

The Three Tuns now has Goacher’s Real Mild

as a regular beer and will be holding a beer

festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Milton Regis

The Three Hats held a Norfolk Ales Beer

Festival from 28th – 30th June. A further beer

festival will be held from 13th – 15th September.

Recent beers include Purity Mad Goose, Otter

Ale, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and Golden

Best, Marston's Single Hop Amerillo and

Windsor & Eton - Knight of the Garter and Bath

Ales - SPA.

Minster

The Prince of Waterloo is subject to a planning

application to convert to residential use.

Sheerness:

The Crown Hotel, High Street is currently

closed.

The Blacksmiths Arms, Clyde Street is subject

to a planning application to convert to

residential use.

The Red Lion, Bluetown was closed at time of

going to press.

Sittingbourne

The Jenny Wren now regularly sells four real

ales.

The Red Lion recently served Black Sheep Bitter

along with their normal Doom Bar. According

to their social network site they have

introduced Fridays as Cask Ale Club Night.

Upchurch

The Brown Jug. Currently serving four real ales

including two from Harveys of Sussex. On our

recent visit this pub was one of the only local

pubs to be serving Harveys seasonal beers.

Beer Festivals

SIBA South East Beer Festival, Tonbridge

Juddians Rugby Club, 12th to 14th July 2013.

Kent Beer Festival: Merton Farm, Canterbury,

19th – 21st July 2013.

Three Hats Beer Festival: Milton Regis, 13th to

15th August 2013.

Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) 2013:

Olympia, London, 13th – 17th August 2013.

The Three Tuns Kentish Beer and Cider

Festival: Lower Halstow, near Sittingbourne, 24th

- 26th August 2013.

SWALE CAMRA Real Ale Stall at the Faversham

International Hop Festival, East Street, 31st

August and 1st September 2013.

Kent Green Hop Beer Festival: Merlins,

Leysdown, Isle of Sheppey, 12th October 2013.

Summer Issue 2013 10


Great British Beer – back to basics page 3 recently introduced ‘Mild in May’

where participating breweries and pubs stock a

varied range of milds throughout this month. It

has proven to be very popular and has certainly

increased the ‘NEW’ mild awareness in recent

years.

Bitters

These beers are often described as session

bitters as their alcohol content is below 4%

ABV and, as they tend to have a light mouth

feel, they are easy drinking. Bitters have a

medium to strong bitterness and some malt

character. Hops are evident and there is

sometimes some fruit, often citrus. Colours

vary from brown to amber but can be paler.

Best Bitters

These are more robust than ordinary bitters

with a richer, smoother mouth feel. They also

have a stronger hop character and citrus notes can be present. The alcohol content is between

4% and 4.6% ABV. They are typically brown,

tawny, copper, or amber but can be paler. They

have medium to strong bitterness with a more

evident residual maltiness.

Strong Bitters

These are full bodied beers with alcohol

content between 4.6% and 6.5% ABV. They

have a strong hop character and a medium to

strong bitterness. The malt character is usually

more pronounced than a best bitter. They are

typically brown, tawny, copper, or amber but

can be paler. Fruitiness may be medium to

strong and the aroma or flavour can

reminiscent of flowers or fruits.

Golden Ales

This is a relatively new beer style for Britain,

which has become more prevalent in the last

decade. Golden Ales differ from the bitter style

in their fruitiness. They often use imported

hops, with more intense fruit than Britain’s

traditional hops. These beers are pale amber,

gold, yellow or straw coloured. The aroma and

flavour are usually strong with hops and fruit,

often citrus, creating a refreshing character.

There is a little malt on the palate and a low to

strong bitterness. Alcohol content is up to 5.3%

ABV and the mouth feel tends to reflect the

strength; stronger beers having a medium body.

Porters

This beer style was developed in London in the

eighteenth century and named after the London

Porters who worked on the docks and the City

of London. It is thought to be the first global

beer as, at one time, it was exported around the

world. This is always a dark beer (black or dark

brown), which comes from the use of dark

malts. It is complex in flavour with a full mouth

feel and a pronounced finish through bitter

hopping. Usually 4% to 6.5% ABV.

Stouts

There is often confusion between stouts and

porters. Stouts are typically black and are less

hopped than porters. There are two types of

stout: dry and sweet. Dry stouts have an initial malt and caramel flavour with distinctive dry

roast bitterness in the finish. The dry roast

character is achieved by use of roasted barley,

which dominates the flavour profile, often

preventing other flavours from appearing. Hop

flavours tend to be lower than porters. Mouth

feel is often rich. In comparison, sweet stouts

are distinctively sweet in taste and aftertaste

through the use of lactose and may have a

cloying body. Stouts often contain roasted

barley and sometimes oats (Oatmeal Stouts).

The alcohol content ranges from 4% to as high

as 12% ABV.

Barley Wines

Amber to tawny in colour, these strong beers

can either be sweet, owing to residual sugars, or

alternatively can be fermented to dryness with

the yeast given time to ferment the majority of

the sugar from the malt, leaving only a little

sweetness. They have lots of flavour with floral

and fruity characteristics balanced by the

bitterness. With their high alcohol content

(6.5% to 12% ABV), barley wines are often

warming. Barley wines are often stored and

develop wine-like notes with age.

page 12


THE BOWL INN Find us on the top of the North Downs above Charing, in an area of

outstanding natural beauty.

Enjoy a pint of real ale or a glass of wine in our large beer garden or

heated patio area.

Regular steak nights, curry nights, and live music.

Four Star Bed and Breakfast Accommodation

We can also offer bed and breakfast accommodation with 4 en-suite bedrooms, and a garden room which offers full facilities for disabled

guests. We are a 'dog and horse friendly' Inn

Alan and Sue Paine Egg Hill Road, Charing, Ashford, Kent TN27 OHG

Tel: 01233 712256 email [email protected]

Great British Beer – back to basics page 11 Bottled versions have long shelf lives

and can be kept for years before drinking.

Old Ales

These beers are typically black or dark brown

but can be paler and are usually available from

Autumn to Spring. Old Ales are full bodied with

a malty richness. Fruity, floral flavours are often

present. The alcohol content is between 4.3%

and 6.6% ABV.

Strong Old Ales

Strong old ales have similar characteristics but

are fuller favoured. They are typically dark

brown or black and may have a very rich malty

character with light roast malt in aroma and

taste. Typically 6.5% to 12% ABV.

IPA

IPA stands for India Pale Ale. The recipe is

believed to originate from London but it was the

Midland town of Burton on Trent that took the lead, exporting the beer around the world

including to India, hence the name. A true IPA is

strong (6% ABV and 7% ABV are not

uncommon) and very hoppy. The hops and

alcohol were used to preserve the beer on the

long journeys. However, you will sometimes see

beers called IPAs with a much lower alcohol

content, as low as 3.5% ABV. These are not

true IPAs, rather they are bitters and certainly

would not have survived the journey to India!

Speciality Beers

There are a number of British cask beers that

are produced using one or more novel

ingredients including fruits, herbs, spices, honey,

cereals other than malted barley and flowers as

well as, or instead of, hops. This is not as

unusual as it sounds. British beer only started

using hops in the 15th century! Ginger and

coriander are quite traditional beer flavourings

and elderflower and honey are not unknown. Some of these beers can be quite a challenge

but take a risk and you could be delighted! [AK]



Rate your beer

L ike many branches throughout the UK

Swale CAMRA use the data compiled from

beer scores, submitted by CAMRA members

over the course of the year, to help choose

which pubs go in the Good Beer Guide. Every

branch member has the opportunity to

contribute to GBG selection. The core group (it

fluctuates, but there are about 15 of us) simply

cannot make it to all the pubs often enough to

give them a fair go.

To help us decide which pubs in our

patch are worth considering for the CAMRA

Good Beer Guide we utilise the CAMRA

National Beer Scoring System (NBSS).

Importantly all CAMRA members are eligible to

submit scores for any pubs they visit.

This system consists of a 6-point scale

that rates a beer on quality. The emphasis on

‘quality’ is important and this the most

challenging thing about the system. You need to

judge whether the beer is in good form, not whether or not you happen to like the beer (in

fact a beer worthy of a 5 could very well be one

that you don’t like very much).

You need to consider whether or not

the pub has kept and served its ale in good

condition: is it clear (unless it’s marked

otherwise), does it taste and smell fresh, does it

have an appropriate level of carbonation?

Sometimes cask ale can taste and smell vinegary

(oxidised, sometimes infected) or may be at the

end of the cask - if it is particularly bad you

should let the bar staff know!

Please note that NBSS scores do not

form a ‘linear’ scale. Anything over 2 is good

beer, just degrees of ‘goodness’. The CAMRA

HQ website has some additional information on

the NBSS at www.camra.org.uk/nbss. You can

enter your scores online using the national

website.

0: Undrinkable. No cask ale available or so

poor you have to take it back or can’t finish it.

(Note that a ’0’ for ‘no cask ale’ and a ’0′ for

‘undrinkable’ are two different things and are

recognised as such in the scoring.)

1: Poor. Beer that is anything from barely

drinkable to drinkable with considerable

resentment. As with a score of 0, if a beer is

actually this bad it is really worth having a chat

with the staff. Sometimes it might be reaching

the end of the barrel, or the staff may have

forgotten to pull the line through for the first

pint of the day. Give them the benefit of the

doubt and the chance to make amends!

2: Average. Competently kept, drinkable pint

but doesn’t inspire in any way, not worth moving

to another pub but you drink the beer without

really noticing.

3: Good. Good beer in good form. You may

cancel plans to move to the next pub. You want

to stay for another pint and may seek out the

beer again.

4: Very Good. Excellent beer in excellent

condition.

5: Perfect. Probably the best you are ever likely

to find. A seasoned drinker will award this score

very rarely.

In all of this it is always worth talking to

the staff about beer quality, especially the

landlady/landlord if around. Without direct

feedback how can they improve? Compliment

them on a great pint, certainly – but if you think

things aren’t up to scratch it is worth talking

about that too. Sometimes bar staff will take it

badly and be confrontational about your

opinions, grin and bear it. Of course, if the

landlord or landlady looks like he or she is in a

bad mood, it might not be a good idea to start

telling them their beer isn’t good enough!

Use your judgement and offer feedback

when you feel it may help. Be prepared to be

told you’re wrong – and sometimes even learn

that you are wrong! (Some unfined and specialty

beers may be cloudy, for example.)

[AK]

Rate your beer online at

www.camra.org.uk/nbss

http://www.camra.org.uk/gbg

http://www.camra.org.uk/gbg

http://www.camra.org.uk/nbss


Free House

A selection of national and local real ales served Mon - Sat 11:30am - 11pm

Sun 12 noon—11:30pm

Outstanding patio overlooking the church and village

green and a well established pub garden

Restaurant

Mon - Sat 12 noon - 2:30pm & 6pm - 9pm Sun 12 noon - 8pm

Red Lion


The

PHOENIX

TAVERN Abbey Street, FAVERSHAM

01795 591462

REAL ALES from Around the UK and Local

REAL FOOD prepared freshly daily on the premises

REAL ATMOSPHERE lovely garden and open inglenook log

fires

REAL TRADITION - 14th century oak beamed pub

Quality lagers and Quality Wine from Corney and Barrow

Good Beer Guide 2013 'Official home of the Timothy Taylor Appreciation Society'.

The Phoenix Tavern

Faversham

@Phoenixfav

www.thephoenixtavernfaversham.co.uk

ME13 7BH - 01795 591462


Beerconomics

I know economics is a heavy topic to

consider whilst relaxing in the pub, however

any legislation to bring in a minimum price per

unit of alcohol would have a massive impact on

the brewing and licenced trade.

We campaigned hard to remove the

beer duty escalator, and so it would be easy to

assume that all CAMRA members would say no

to a law that makes it illegal to sell cheap beer.

Successive governments have used taxation as a

way of persuading the public to follow a

particular course of action. Cigarettes and

alcohol are heavily taxed and the forces of

supply and demand dictate that if the price of

beer is increased then demand

will be curtailed. Customers

will either stop consuming

these products or will transfer

their spending to a substitute

product. This leaves us with the

question how can a government

halt planned increases in the

price of alcohol and at the same

time research the possibility of

introducing a minimum price per unit?

The answer to this question is that it

depends on the objective of each policy. The

government might increase taxation as a way of

enticing customers to consume healthier

products, or it might tax in order to increase

revenue. A minimum price per unit would not

itself increase government coffers, however if

the overall price of a pint increases, then their

percentage share of that increase will also rise.

So would a minimum price for a unit of

alcohol actually increase what you pay at the

bar? The answer really depends on what you

buy. A 4.4% pint of real ale contains 2.5 units of

alcohol. If the government were to introduce a

50p per unit minimum (the current suggestions

are anything from 40p - 50p with different rates

possible in England and Scotland) then the

minimum price of a that pint would be £1.25.

Now I know that you are all thinking a pint for

£1.25 that would be nice. In which case a

minimum price of 50p per unit would have no

impact on real ale drinkers. In which case what

is the point?

There are calls for the government to

do something to stop binge drinking. But if such

a policy would have no impact on the price of a

pint how would that be achieved?

It may be considered that a minimum

price on a unit of alcohol would have a positive

impact on the pubs. People would be unable to

purchase subsidised alcohol from supermarkets

and so would return to the pub.

Supermarkets are often blamed for

under age drinking on the streets. It is argued

that it is easier (and cheaper) for

under 18s to purchase cheap

booze and consume th is

wherever possible. Shops sell

bottles of beer as cheap as £1.

With each bottle of 4% beer containing approximately 2 units

of alcohol, then the supermarket

is already just complying with the

legislation.

What about stronger beer

I hear you ask? Well a bottle of 6.5% premium

ale would have a minimum price of £1.65 which

is still not too extreme. In which case we may

not actually see any impact on the real ale take

home market and no positive impact on public

houses.

It appears that the products that will be

harshly hit by these plans are extremely cheap

supermarket beers, spirits and wines. As

CAMRA members we have fought since the

days of Red Barrel to improve the quality of

beer, we could argue that minimum pricing

actually helps our cause. As cheap products are

removed from the shelves as they are no longer

legal, consumers who can afford to drink may

well select on quality rather than price.

One final point on this subject is does

this new legislation actually mean that the poor

can no longer afford drink? Is it a pseudo tax on

the less well off? It will be interesting to see if

this will this lead to an increase in homebrew or

maybe fuel the black market? [KS]


O ver the past few years Kent has seen an

explosion (all be it a small one!!) of new

micro-pubs. For those of you who are unfamiliar

with the concept, the Micropub Association

(www.micropubassociation.co.uk) describe them

in the following manner: - “small, conversion of

an existing premises, serving primarily real ale,

NO lager whatsoever, lively banter and chat

with no music.”

As Thanet in particular is a hot-bed of

this pub phenomenon it seemed too good an

opportunity to miss, so a few gallant fellows

from Swale CAMRA set out on the train one

sunny Saturday to find out what all the fuss was

about.

We started out in Broadstairs at the

Four Candles, a short walk from the station. The

pub is named after the famous sketch by the

Two Ronnies and which is said to have been

written by Ronnie Barker while on a visit to

Broadstairs to see his comedy partner, Ronnie

Corbett. Dogs and their well behaved owners

are welcome.

From the Four Candles we then

proceeded down Broadstairs High Street to The

Thirty Nine Steps. The alehouse takes its name

from John Buchan's 1915 novel of the same

name written and partly based in Broadstairs.

The original steps that inspired the novel still

exist on the North Foreland. One of the more

unusual features of this pub is that the ales are

kept behind glass in a temperature controlled

chiller cabinet. From The Thirty Nine Steps it was but a

short walk to The Chapel. The building has had

various different uses. It was once a chapel,

which is no surprise, however the visitor who

likes a good read will be delighted to discover

that its immediate

past incarnation was

as a bookshop and

the entire stock

remains for the

drinker to browse

and purchase if

desired.

On leaving

The Chapel we

boarded the train

back to Margate to

visit The Lifeboat,

situated in the old

town near to the

T u r n e r

Contemporary Arts

Centre and named

after the nearby

RNLI station. This

pub has won many


Four Candles, Broadstairs

The Thirty Nine Steps, Broadstairs

The Chapel


Free House Ever Changing Guest Ale

Under New Ownership

Food served Tuesday - Saturday 12 to 3 and 6 to 9 Sunday Lunch 12 to 4

Locally Sourced Home Made Food Booking Recommended

Weekly Live Music

Themed Events Contact for Catered Functions

THE

SONDES

ARMS

Selling Road

Selling Near Faversham ME13 9PL

Tel: 01227 752517



awards including the Thanet Times Pub Oscars -

Best Real Ale Pub in Thanet and Kent CAMRA

Cider Pub of the Year.

The next port of call was a short train

ride to The Why Not in Westgate. It is about a

ten minute walk from the station and although

the origination of the pub’s name is a little fuzzy

in my memory (probably because by then

everything was a little fuzzy!!), I guess that it

could have had something to do with the

landlord being asked why he was opening a

micro in a ex hairdressers to which he replied

“Why Not!” I would be grateful to anyone who

can clarify how the name came about.

The last pub of the trip was the Bake

and Alehouse a very short walk from the station

at Westgate, where we rounded off the trip

before falling onto a train back home.

All in all, a most enjoyable afternoon

The Lifeboat, Margate

out. All of the pubs mentioned are easily

accessible by train so no need for someone to

sit supping lemonade while the rest enjoy the

many different ales and ciders available. Talking

of ales and ciders I have deliberately steered

clear of listing everything we sampled for the

simple reason that when you visit it is highly

likely that the range will be different. Suffice to

say that the range was varied with many beers

from Kent and just as many from further afield. I

would recommend a visit to the pub websites to

see what is on before you visit or just go along

and see what they have on at the time. I would

be very surprised if you did not find something

to your taste. A word to the wise before I go,

check out the opening times as not all of the

pubs are open all day. [SB]

The Why Not, Westgate

Since this Swale CAMRA visit a new micropub has opened on the harbour wall in Margate. The

Harbour Arms is a tiny micropub that seats approximately 14 people inside, has an outside seating

space and currently serves three national and local beers including Gadds’ and Dark Star.

If you have any news that you think might be of interest to Swale Ale readers please contact us at

[email protected]. We are particularly interested new or re-opened pubs that are not

yet on our radar and/or pubs that have started selling real ale again. Remember when visiting a pub it is always helpful to score their beer at http://whatpub.com/beerscoring/


Ever changing selection of cask ales

Large Beer Garden

Mobile Bar and Catering Service Available for Weddings, Christenings and Birthdays

No Function too big or small

Call Malcolm on 07764 842478

Three Hats, 93 High Street, Milton Regis, Kent, ME10 2AR

SWALE CAMRA PUB OF THE YEAR 2013

THE THREE HATS MILTON REGIS


75 Preston Street, Faversham

01795 591817

The Old Wine Vaults is a 16th century pub set

in the heart of historic Faversham.

FOUR Cask Ales

TWO Cask Ciders

Faversham Hop Festival, live music all weekend.

3 bars serving the largest selection of cask ales in Faversham. Hog Roast Saturday, food all weekend.

20p off nominated ale and cask cider with a valid CAMRA card

The pub is open Mon-Sat 11am to 11pm and Sundays 12pm

to 10.30pm.


S wale CAMRA would like to welcome you to the 2013 Faversham

International Hop Festival, taking place Saturday 31st August and Sunday

1st September. This small market town is blessed with a variety of pubs serving

both local and national beers. In addition to these favourites you may stumble across a

number of beers that are being brewed especially for this event.

Whilst visiting Faversham we recommend that you step outside of the main festival

route to visit some of the other pubs that will also be holding beer festivals and staging live

music during the weekend. We also recommend that you visit our own stall serving a

variety of beers from our local area. You should also consider booking yourself onto one

of Shepherd Neame’s brewery tours.

Albion On the opposite side of Faversham Creek, just 4 minutes form the main

town centre, this waterside pub offers a range of Shepherd Neame beers.

At festival time this pub often offers an outside bar, BBQ and live music.

During the rest of the year the pub provides a menu of Mexican and

English food.

Anchor At the opposite end of Abbey Street to the town centre, by the flourishing

Standard Quay with its historic sailing barges, this 300 year old Shepherd

Neame pub has a large garden which during festival time features live bands

and a BBQ. A wide range of Shepherd Neame beers are served.

Bear

This historic Shepherd Neame pub which has recently been sympathetically

renovated has three small bars off a small corridor, each with their own

atmosphere. Three Shepherd Neame beers served including those from

the pilot-brewery.

Brents

Tavern

On the opposite side of the creek this local free house is just five minutes

from the town centre. This pub serves a range of national and local real

ales.

Bull This oak-beamed Shepherd Neame pub was being built in 1409, and was

visited by both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The pub boasts a large garden

and at festival time often stages live bands.

Chimney Boy Close to the railway station this Shepherd Neame house is located

opposite the Preston Street music stage. A restaurant and beer garden are

accessible to the rear.

Crown &

Anchor

On the quieter side of the station, this Shepherd Neame local is accessible

via the pedestrian underpass.

Faversham Hop Festival


The Brents

Free House

The Albion

Shepherd Neame

The Bull

Shepherd Neame

The Three Tuns

Shepherd Neame

Old Wine Vaults

Free House

The Sun

Shepherd Neame

Swan & Harlequin

Free House

Crown & Anchor

Shepherd Neame

The Elephant

Free House

Faversham International Hop Festival Pub Guide: 31st August and 1st September 2013

The Chimney Boy

Shepherd Neame


The Anchor

Shepherd Neame

The Phoenix

Free House

The Bear

Shepherd Neame

Market Inn

Shepherd Neame

Leading Light

Wetherspoon

The Railway

Shepherd Neame

CAMRA

Real Ale Stall

Open Street Map

Faversham

Homebrew Shop

Faversham International Hop Festival Pub Guide: 31st August and 1st September 2013


Elephant

As Swale CAMRA Pub of the year 2007 to 2012, this local free house is only

a two minute walk from the station via the pedestrian underpass. The five

ever-changing beers include many from local Kentish micro-breweries. In

addition this pub also offers excellent real cider by hand pump. A beautiful

walled garden is to the rear.

Leading

Light

This Wetherspoon pub in Preston Street has a tradition for serving a wide

range of beers, enhancing the chain’s normal range with many from local

micros.

Market Inn This lively Shepherd Neame pub on East Street offers a good range of

Faversham brewed beers and excellent live music throughout the year. The

Market Inn is just a 3 minute walk from the town centre.

Phoenix This ancient pub on Abbey Street is only two minutes from the town

centre. Offering six ever changing beers on hand pump and many more on

gravity including Harveys Best Bitter, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and other

national favourites. At festival times live music is held in the garden.

The Old

Wine Vaults

This town centre local serves up to four real ales on hand pump and two

real ciders all year round. At festival time they expand this range with an

outside bar in the garden and live music.

Railway

Hotel

A grand Shepherd Neame pub opposite the station with many original

features. The Railway Hotel often has an extensive list of live music over the

festival weekend.

The Sun Close to the market square, this historic Shepherd Neame house has large

sunny terrace on multiple levels.

Swan &

Harlequin

With its lively music stage and a minimum of 12 real ales the Swan and

Harlequin free house is just behind the Shepherd Neame brewery.

Three Tuns Just five minutes from the Market Place this ancient Shepherd

Neame pub is said to have been visited by Nelson. A large garden is to the

rear.

CAMRA

Stall

The CAMRA stall in East Street will be selling the products of

several small East Kent breweries. We should have beers from the

Hopdaemon, Ramsgate, Canterbury Brewers and Whitstable breweries, plus

local cider and perry.

Key

Good Beer Guide 2013

The above information is intended as a guide and it is given in good faith. Since

going to press it is likely that some items will have changed, especially the beers

offered in each pub.


93 High Street, Milton Regis, Sittingbourne. Kent ME10 2AR

For all enquiries call Malcolm on 07764 842 478

****SWALE CAMRA PUB OF THE YEAR 2013****

The Three Hats

Warwickshire

Beer Festival

13th - 15

th Sept 2013

Open from 11am - close

Three Hats Milton@Three_Hats1 www.facebook.com/thethreehats

https://www.facebook.com/thethreehats



A walk to the pub (or three!!)

W hat could be better than a walk on a

fine, sunny spring afternoon through

orchards and woods taking in a trio of pubs on

the way? The walk started at Selling station and

after a short stroll through the village headed

Rose and Crown, Perry Wood

out on a footpath past poly-tunnels full of

strawberries and raspberries all showing the

promise of an abundance of summer fruit later

in the year. Leaving the tunnels behind we

walked through apple orchards laden with

blossom with sheep and lambs grazing and past

the idyllic looking cricket ground to arrive at

our first pub, The White Lion, where we

revived ourselves with a pint of Shepherd

Neame Master Brew before heading on. The

second leg of the walk took us past more

orchards and into Perry Wood. Perry Wood

covers about 150 acres with Chestnut, Scots

Pine and abundant wildlife (we saw rabbits,

pheasants and Red Admiral butterflies) all amid

the rolling chalk of the North Downs. There

are many woodland walks, a picnic site, and

panoramic views across the Kent countryside

and at the time we visited the woods were

carpeted with Bluebells. Best of all is the Rose and Crown which nestles, hidden in the heart of

this ancient woodland. Here we stopped for

lunch and a couple of pints of Harveys Best

before wandering back along the woodland

trails to meet a lane that took us back to the

final pub of the day, The Sondes Arms, where

we had a further pint of Master Brew before

walking the few yards back to Selling station.

[SB]

The White Lion, Selling


Faversham’s hidden gem The Shipwright’s Arms, Hollowshore,

Faversham

A 17th Century traditional creek side free house. Selling up to five real ales from Kentish brewers, and serving good food. Take a trip back in time and savour the delights of a truly traditional pub.

Rated by Jamie Oliver as one of the top 100 traditional

pubs in the country.

Please check website or phone to confirm hours of

opening.

Tel: 01795 590088

Web: www.theshipwrightsarmspub.co.uk

Directions: At Davington School turn into Ham Road and follow the signs across the marsh.

The Brown jug

Free house

Upchurch

Regularly stocking Greene King IPA, Harveys Sussex Best and/or Dark Mild and Mad Cat Platinum Blonde and Auburn Copper Ale Bar food served all day but with specials on Friday and Saturday night 7-9.30 and Sunday Lunch 1-6pm

Beer Garden Dog-friendly

Horsham Lane, Upchurch ME9 7AP

01634 366543

http://www.theshipwrightsarmspub.co.uk/


David Lloyd George

Trouble with DORA and a Welshman

G reetings gentle reader. Fear not the title

of this issue’s piece may be leading you to

think that it has turned into a salacious agony

column. If you are disappointed at this point I

respectfully suggest that you are reading the

wrong publication!! The aforementioned DORA

is the Defence of the Realm Act of 1914 and the

Welshman is none other than David Lloyd

George. Now I hear you cry what has any of

this to do with beer, this is a CAMRA

publication after all, but bear with Old Obadiah

and all will be explained.

David Lloyd George, it could be argued,

was one of the greatest statesmen that Britain

ever had. He was the Prime Minister from 1916

to 1922, helping guide The Empire through the

First World War, founder of the welfare state,

an icon of 20th-century Liberalism and voted

one of the top 100 greatest Britons in 2002 but

for all this in my opinion he had one slight flaw. Now, now, behave yourselves, it is nothing to

do with him coming from West of Offa’s Dyke

(having some the blood of the red dragon

coursing through Obadiah’s veins I would never

say that!!). It is just that he was fervently

opposed to beer, well all alcohol in fact, being

an avid teetotaler.

You have probably realised that we are

at the start of the Great War and Lloyd George

believed that beer was an evil influence. His

pulpit like speeches contained lines such as

‘Drink is doing us more damage than all the

German submarines put together’ and ‘We are

fighting Germany, Austria and Drink; and as far

as I can see the greatest of these deadly foes is

drink!’ Hard hitting stuff I think you will agree.

To wind back a bit David Lloyd George

had tried to introduce Bills into the House of

Commons since 1888 to bring prohibition to

Wales but had been blocked by the MPs (no

doubt fearing for their seats at the next general

election if they voted this through!). Lloyd

George described this as ‘The brewers ring,

that seems to govern England’, however with

the implementation of DORA Lloyd George

was able to get his revenge. DORA had

sweeping powers that increased as the war

progressed and the brewing and pub industry

felt its full force.

In 1915 a Central Control Board was

established which imposed strict opening hours

on pubs in areas deemed to be of military

importance. Opening was restricted to five and

a half hours a day and pubs could only sell beer

between noon and 2.30 in the afternoon and 6

o’clock and 9 o’clock in the evening. On

Saturdays closing in the evening was an hour

earlier at 8 o’clock. To add insult to injury for

the poor old beer drinker, prices shot up as

taxation was raised massively. The cost of a pint

doubled from 2d to 4d between 1914 and 1916.

To compound the misery the average strength

of beer was reduced from 1052 to 1030 over

the duration of the war. Troubles always come

in threes they say and the third hit on the beer

drinker was that output was nearly halved from thirty nine million bulk barrels to nineteen


million bulk barrels so was not only beer

expensive and weak, it was getting harder to get

hold of. War is hell!! Not content with all these

measures, the government actively discouraged

buying your mate a beer (known as treating)

although I know people who still take this

seriously today!!

In 1917, Ernie Mayne, a popular music

hall performer, recorded a song that satirised

the changes to beer brought about under Lloyd

George's premiership. Its lyrics summed up the

thoughts of many.

Lloyd George's Beer

We shall win the war, we shall win the war,

As I said before, we shall win the war.

The Kaiser's in a dreadful fury,

Now he knows we're making it at every

brewery. Have you read of it, seen what's said of it,

In the Mirror and the Mail.

It's a substitute, and a pubstitute,

And it's known as Government Ale (or

otherwise).

Lloyd George's Beer, Lloyd George's Beer.

At the brewery, there's nothing doing,

All the water works are brewing,

Lloyd George's Beer, it isn't dear.

Oh they say it's a terrible war, oh law,

And there never was a war like this before,

But the worst thing that ever happened in this

war

Is Lloyd George's Beer.

Buy a lot of it, all they've got of it.

Dip your bread in it, Shove your head in it

From January to October,

And I'll bet a penny that you'll still be sober.

Get your cloth in it, make some broth in it,

With a pair of mutton chops.

Drown your dogs in it, pop your clogs in it,

And you'll see some wonderful sights (in that

lovely stufo).

Trouble with DORA and a Welshman

Lloyd George's Beer, Lloyd George's Beer.

At the brewery, there's nothing doing,

All the water works are brewing,

Lloyd George's Beer, it isn't dear.

With Haig and Joffre when affairs look black,

And you can't get at Jerry with his gas attack.

Just get your squirters out and we'll squirt the

buggers back,

With Lloyd George's Beer.

At this time America was moving

towards prohibition and put pressure on Britain

to go the same way. The US Food

Administrator said that an increase in vital US

grain exports to Britain would be difficult to

secure without an end to brewing in Britain.

All these measures were designed to

help the war effort and on the face of it may

have had some degree of sense to them, but as I

have mentioned before depriving an Englishman of his beer is a very dangerous game to play.

Ministers gradually began to realise this as

rumours of strike action were beginning to

circulate, so in July 1917 Sir George Cave,

Home secretary, told the House of Commons –

‘The beer shortage is causing considerable

unrest, and is interfering with the output of

munitions and with the position of this country

in the war. There is unrest, discontent, loss of

time, loss of work and in some cases even

strikes are threatened and indeed caused by the

very fact that there is a shortage of beer’. I

would like to think that the house resounded to

choruses of ‘Here, Here’ and the waving of

order papers at this statement.

Once the war ended the Central

Control Board was abolished but the limiting of

pub opening hours was not relaxed to all day

opening until 1988.

So there you have it. Once again it is

shown that beer is vital to the wellbeing of the

Nation.

Obadiah Spillage

I am indebted to Brian Glover and his excellent

book Brewing for Victory.



The Swan Inn

Teynham

Two ‘LocAles’ including a Wantsum pump

Award Winning ‘Dudda’s Tun’ Cider

Sky Sports

Free Quiz Sunday from 4.40pm

Live music Saturdays at 9pm Karaoke Sundays and Tuesdays from 7pm

Sunday lunch 12 - 3.30 2 meals for £9

78 London Road, Teynham, Kent ME9 9QH 01795 521 218


The Quest for Real Irish Ale

N ow as a pub landlord you don’t get many

perks, people constantly coming into your

front room, berating you about how bad their

life is and how the dole has not paid them what

they are due (note if you are receiving the dole

and are in the pub all day you don’t get paid, you

get donated to!), so imagine my surprise on

mayday to open up a letter from Guinness,

informing me I had won a trip for two to visit

the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Eagerly I

rang the attached telephone number, enquiring

what the package entailed. Luckily I had won

return flights to Dublin, one nights’

accommodation at the Grafton Capital hotel and

two tickets to the Guinness brewery at St

James’s Gate.

Now being married to a colleen from

the emerald isle and despite visiting Dublin on

numerous occasions, I had never visited the

Guinness factory. Here I should thank or not my erstwhile alcoholic customers who enabled me

to win the trip.

After an early start leaving home at

5.45am we made good time to Gatwick after

battling the M25, the worlds biggest car park,

arriving just before 7am. Fag, coffee, fag,

security, all done!

Off for breakfast whilst watching the

planes take off and land. Fantastic omelette,

scrumptious freshly squeezed orange juice and a

brilliant view, if you like that sort of thing.

Please go to gate 16, the screen

informed us. With plenty of time we arrived at

the designated gate, watching with amusement

as the customers who had paid for priority

boarding formed in a neat little queue. Sitting

down we fastened our seat belts and awaited

the in-flight version of agadoo (exits to the left,

exits to the right etc... trust me if there was an

emergency sod the women and children, it

would be fat landlords first throwing screaming

brats out the way)! Sitting patiently we waited in

vain for our departure before, after an hour, our

pilot in his best train platform announcer’s voice,

informed us we couldn’t depart due to an

indicator failure. Now don’t get me wrong I’m

all for safety when you’re 40000ft up in the air,

but honestly who can see if you’re indicating to

turn left or right?

Back to the departure lounge awaiting

information on our 9.40am flight. 11am nothing,

12.30pm no news but a £3.50 voucher for food

which equates to about a packet of crisps at

Gatwick. At 1.30pm at last an email from the

airline, unfortunately informing me they have a

£15.99 flight sale and to book fast as the offer

ends midnight Thursday, so still no news. At

2.30pm we eventually take off after a near five

hour delay, but hey ho we were off on our jolly

to explore the real ales of Dublin’s fair city.

Arriving in Dublin we jumped in a taxi

to our hotel. Looking forward to the drive into

the city with a knowledgeable local who could

regale us with local history after swallowing the

Blarney stone, imagine our disappointment

The Guinness Brewery, Dublin



when Kevin our driver spoke revealing a broad

North London accent.

Hotel, dump bags, pub. The Hairy

Lemon, according to the locals, allegedly the

most expensive pub in Dublin. Here we

discovered a strange new brew featuring an

almost black but actually ruby red body and

thick cream head. This brew was named

Guinness Mid-Strength. A new, weaker version

of the world’s best selling stout. Feeling obliged I

had to try a blind tasting and found the Mid-

Strength at 3.9% more bitter and

less smooth then its older brother

at 4.5%. After trying some

Smithwicks bitter (with bubbles),

we headed off to a pub renowned

for its ales, J W Sweetman,

formerly Messy Maguire’s. Here

we tried an in-house brewed Red

Ale 4.6%, malty sweet and slightly hoppy. Followed by Pale Ale 5.0%,

lightly hopped and light gold in

colour. Next was a JWS pilsner

5.0%, a lager styled craft ale, very

rich in hops.

To finish the night we

sought out the Porterhouse on

Parliament Street. When I googled

‘real ale Dublin’ this was the top and only result,

so imagine my excitement when we entered and

saw four hand pulls, unfortunately only two had

badges on, Oyster Stout 4.6% and Hophead

5.0%. Busy as the bar was, we were served

almost immediately - the bars in Dublin have got

service down to a fine art. I ordered a pint of

both only to be told they had run out! Bloody

typical.

Undeterred I ordered a pint of Hophead

on keg, amber coloured and distinctly malty in

character using centennial and cascade hops.

The beer was rich and fruity with a wonderful

rich, oily full mouth feel. And so to bed in the

hope of better luck tomorrow.

Bright and early the next morning off we

headed to the Guinness Storehouse. Well

worth a visit for any dedicated drinker. We

were taken through the interesting history of

Guinness and its innovative distribution

processes using canal barges, internal steam

trains on custom built tracks and their own

freighter ships. We ended our tour by pouring a

perfect pint of Guinness and receiving a

certificate for our achievements, bit of a

busman’s holiday but a nice memento of our

tour. The tutor told us the water comes from

the Wicklow mountains and not the River Liffey

as is the common mis-perception. The

difference between Guinness in

Ireland and pints served in Great

Britain is not the stout but the

gas. Over here we use 70%

nitrogen and 30% CO2, whereas

in Ireland they use 80% nitrogen

and 20% CO2. Finally we enjoyed

our perfect pints in the sky bar

which overlooks Dublin and has great views of the Wicklow

Mountains and the city centre.

Back into the city centre

we persevered on our quest for

ale by revisiting the Porterhouse,

but alas still no real ale! In for a

penny in for a pound. I tried a

Porterhouse Red 4.2%, fruity with

caramel notes.

Having now given up on finding any real

ale in Dublin, we headed back to JW

Sweetman’s on Burgh Quay. Here I tried a

Weiss Blue Moon, a traditional Bavarian style

wheat beer, with citrus flavours 4.3%. This was

an experience as it was my first time drinking

ale with a slice of orange in it. However it

worked perfectly and was my favourite beer of

the trip.

Time for one more pint before heading

in a taxi to the airport so we called into Kehoes

Heritage Pub on South Anne Street where I

enjoyed a lovely pint of Smithwick’s Pale Ale.

Now don’t get me wrong I loved my

time in Dublin and had some fantastic craft beer

and some good keg ale, but if you don’t like the

gas, Dublin is still the place to go for a gas craic.

Slainte. [MW]

The Quest for Real Irish Ale

Blue Moon


Faversham Homebrew “For All Your Brewing Needs”

www.homebrewkent.co.uk

14A East Street

Faversham Kent.

ME13 8AD Tel-01795-229073

Soon To Be At

52 St Mary’s Rd Faversham

Mob-07764363253

F aversham Homebrew is

hopefully on the road to

success when it moves to its new

premises in August. Currently

situated on the corner of East

Street and Crescent Road the

business, established nearly two

years ago, is planning a move to

bigger and brighter premises in St

Mary’s Road, Faversham.

Proprietor Colin Shadbolt

said “We are moving to our new premises at 52

St Mary’s Road sometime in August. Although

our current location has served us in good

stead, the new larger unit will allow us to

expand further into selling new product lines

and also enable us to open an on-line/mail order

service. The new location should also be much

better for customers with on the door step

parking.”

Mr Shadbolt added “Since

opening the shop back in August

2011 the interest in home

brewing has increased month on

month, with the price of alcohol

in pubs going through the roof

and the state of the economy,

people now realise it makes sense

to make your own at a fraction of

the price. Long gone are the days

of awful home brew beers and wines, you can

now make pub quality beer and wines from easy

to make kits, ready to drink in under a month”.

If you are interested in making your own

beers or wines, pop in and find out just how

easy it is to make your own or call

07764363254.

Homebrew’s ‘moving up’ in Faversham

http://www.hombrewkent.co.uk


CAMRA discovers 25 year old apple

I n 1988, the world of real cider was

completely different to the situation we have

today. It was mainly looked on as an obscure

drink that the majority of the drinking public

never saw. It was usually found in the West

Country, and if you didn’t know which pubs sold

it, you had to go direct to a cider maker to buy

it. The same applied to other cider making areas

as well, for example Kent.

It was, of course, found at

most CAMRA festivals, but

often in very small

quantities. In fact, real cider

was in a similar position to

that of real ale when

CAMRA was formed in

1971. There was clearly a

market for it, but finding it

could be a real problem.

CAMRA had, by this time, published its first

Good Cider Guide, but

there was no official group

within CAMRA to collate

all of the knowledge that

was floating about amongst

its members, and certainly

nobody to actua l l y

promote it. So I decided to

do something about it, and

in 1988, at CAMRA’s AGM, proposed a motion

to get a national cider committee formed so

that cider had a real voice within CAMRA. And

25 years later APPLE, as the committee is

known, is still going strong. One of the first

things that we did was to formulate a definition

of what real cider is, compared to the fizzy

concoctions still found in most pubs. We have

modified this definition over the years, but we

still have one and it can be found on CAMRA’s

website.

We started CAMRA’s annual cider trip

each October, where members visit two or

three producers and see how it is made. These

have become so successful that they are often

sold out within weeks. It was only the very first

one that didn’t do too well financially. The

organiser (who I won’t name) forgot about the

VAT when doing the figures. And what’s his

profession? An accountant! We also held four

national cider festivals in London, all of which

generated a lot of publicity as they were real

novelties at the time, which is where we started

the Cider and Perry of the Year awards, voted

for by the staff and the

c u s t o m e r s . T h e s e

competitions continue to

this day at regional

competitions with judging

panels, culminating in the

finals which are held at

Reading Beer and Cider

Festival in May each year.

Over the years,

we have supported and

adv ised producers , compiled a database of all

k n o wn p r o duc e r s ,

published several cider

guides, introduced a

window sticker scheme

for pubs that sell real

cider, run cider training

courses for members,

liaised with both cider

a s s o c i a t i o n s a n d

Members of Parliament, appointed regional cider

co-ordinators for the whole of the UK, advised

and helped CAMRA festivals, run cider bars at

outside events, have a National Cider Pub of the

Year competition, and use October as the

month for promoting real cider and perry. And

a whole lot more that I can’t think of at the

moment. Oh, and drunk quite a lot of it as well!

So when you see or hear CAMRA banging on

about real cider and perry, don’t think that

we’ve taken the organisation away from real ale

because we haven’t. CAMRA will always be

about beer, but cider and perry as well. There

may not be many of us on APPLE, but we make

a bloody loud noise!

Mick Lewis


The Swan & Harlequin

HOP FESTIVAL 30th August & 1st September

Largest Stage in Faversham

Minimum 7 Top Bands on

Saturday and Sunday

REAL ALE BAR

Minimum 12 Real Ales

Come and Join Us


O ne of the cider producers in the Swale

area is Dudda’s Tun of Pine Trees Farm

near Doddington Village, a few miles south of

Faversham. Cider was first produced in 2009 by

the farm’s owners, father and son team Kevin

and Robert Paine. Robert had returned to work

on the farm after attending university and as a

way of increasing earnings for the farm they

began to attend farmers markets selling their

produce, which included apple juice for which

they won a Taste of Kent award in 2008.

In 2009, after speaking to an

experienced cider maker, Robert decided to try

his hand at cider making and

was mentored through his

first year, but ever since has

produced it on his own,

experimenting with the

fifteen varieties of apples

grown on the farm. Originally only a dry

cider was produced but after

looking at the market they

decided to make other types

of cider including sweet,

medium and spiced, which is

made with a spice mix to

Robert’s own recipe. They

now also make a perry called

Pear O Duddas and a cherry flavoured cider

Cheery Old Dudda. Next in the family of

Dudda’s is to be a lightly sparkling cider called

Dizzy Dudda.

The production of cider has doubled

every year to try and meet demand, which has

meant continued investment in equipment and

storage to their current capacity, with plans for

the future to upgrade production facilities to

meet an expected growing demand for their

cider and perry. This has been fuelled by a

growing demand for all types of cider across the

industry in recent years and the rediscovery by

the general population of one of our once most

popular drinks from years past. In bygone times

farm labourers were part paid in cider for their

work.

Dudda’s Tun Cider Another addition to their market sales

was a purpose built cider bar, constructed by

Robert and his father Kevin, which has been at

numerous events recently. The bar has been sign

written with their logo which was designed and

painted by a local Doddington artist and which

has been their brand label from the start. The

character is a depiction of an 11th century

person who has come to be known as Dudda.

So where did the name come from I hear

you ask? Well the name Dudda’s Tun comes

from the origin of the village name Doddington

where the farm is. “Dudda” is thought to have

been an 11th century person

or tribe and “Tun” meaning

farmstead or dwelling place.

Last year at the

National Association of Cider

Producers Awards (NACM)

held at The National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, near

Faversham, Dudda’s Tun were

awarded 1st and 2nd place

awards in two categories for

their cider and perry (see

Swale Ale Winter 2012 for an

article on the NACM). This is

qu i te an ach ievement

considering that they have

only been making cider for four years.

Robert says that his aim is to get people

who say “I don’t like cider” to try it and from

past experience a lot of people say “actually

that’s really good”. With demand increasing he

reckons that he must be doing something right.

Robert also has plans to increase

business with production of Dudda’s Tun

merchandise such as T-shirts and pint glasses in

the future to sell online.

Robert also says that he wants to put

Kentish cider on the map, not by imitating West

Country cider or big commercial brands, but by

using everything naturally given to them by the

region and by the fruit grown on the farm.

[GH]



Rose and Crown

Perry Wood

A proper country pub in outstanding surroundings

Log fire, cask ales

Open all day weekends

Best Quality English Pub Food

Walkers, riders, runners, children on leads &

well behaved dogs welcome.

Open Mon-Fri 11.30-15.00 18.30-23.00

Sat Sun all day (not Mon eves)

Tel 01227 752214

Selling, Near Faversham, Kent, ME13 9RY


37 Station Street, Sittingbourne, Kent ME10 3ED 01795 228971

SHEPHERD NEAME ALES SERVED Mon - Sat 11am - 11pm

Sun 12 - 8:30pm

Thai Restaurant and Takeaway

Tue to Sat 12 noon - 2:30pm & 5 - 10pm

THE FOUNTAIN SITTINGBOURNE

The Why Not


Brilliant Ale Shines Again

B ritain’s oldest brewer Shepherd Neame has

launched Brilliant Ale (5.6% abv), a bright

golden ale from the Classic Collection, inspired

by an original mid-19th century recipe unearthed

in the Faversham brewery’s archives.

Now available for the modern-day

drinker to savour, Brilliant Ale follows hot on

the heels of Double Stout and India Pale Ale, the

first two beers from the Classic Collection

released in October 2012. The original Brilliant

Ale pre-dates Double Stout and India Pale Ale,

brewed in 1868 and 1870 respectively, by

several decades.

Brewery folklore has it that the bright

golden straw-coloured hue of Brilliant Ale was

inspired by the vision of the early morning sun

sending its golden shafts of light through the

brewhouse window. Historically this recipe was

formulated with 100% pale malt and was

bittered by the brewery’s signature East Kent

Goldings hops, resulting in a golden, brilliantly

bright, hoppy ale.

Says head brewer Richard Frost,

“According to brewery records, Brilliant Ale

was first brewed sometime between 1825 and

1855, making it our oldest Classic Collection

beer to date. Although we’ve rejuvenated it by

using modern hop variety Cascade, we’re staying

true to the spirit of this great pale ale, which

was hugely popular in its day.

“We’re very proud to be able to

revitalise unique brews like Brilliant from bygone

days to share with today’s beer drinkers. We’ll

leave it to them to judge whether the brilliance

of its colour is matched by its taste!” In keeping with its historic credentials,

Brilliant Ale is presented in a traditional amber

glass bottle embellished with the brewery’s 19th

century logo on the label, neck and crown.

The historic labels which inspired the

new design and a Brilliant Ale poster printed on

sugar paper, which is thought to be the

brewery’s oldest surviving advertisement, are on

display in the brewery. For more information

on brewery tours www.shepherdneame.co.uk/

tours-functions.

Brilliant Ale is available in 500ml bottles

from all good stockists and online

www.shepherdneame.co.uk/shop.

A Brilliant Ale

Heritage Range

http://www.shepherdneame.co.uk/tours-functions

http://www.shepherdneame.co.uk/tours-functions

http://www.shepherdneame.co.uk/shop


07762301364 07762301364 07762301364 07762301364

Kent Green Hop Beer Festival 12th Oct 2013

Merlins Entertainment Complex 47 Leysdown Road, Leysdown on Sea, ME12 4RB

Variety of Green Hop Ales from Kent Micro Breweries

*** Kent Ciders

*** Meet the brewer

*** CAMRA members first ½ pint free

*** Families Welcome, Top Entertainment

*** Food and snacks available

***


We enjoy receiving letters, rants and comments from

readers of Swale Ale, landlords and local pub goers.

If you would like to make a comment about what you

have read in Swale Ale please contact us at:

[email protected]

W e’ve just been adopted by a Bat and Trap

team, and I have to say that the rate

those people knock back pints makes this

grumpy old landlord unusually cheerful. (Don’t

worry, it won’t last). It’s good to see these old

pub games still going strong and what’s more

attracting lots of young players.

To see twenty plus people enjoying

themselves without the aid of any electronic

devices is good, but at the same time they are

helping to ensure the survival of those of us who

are trying to keep the traditional pub alive and

well.

Wide screen televisions, quiz machines

and all the other paraphernalia to be found in

the ‘trendy’ pubs may be all very well for those

who like that sort of thing. Personally I prefer

the quiet hum of conversation and the intimacy

of the traditional local, (complete with farting

cat, miserable landlord and regulars who throw a tantrum if somebody sits in ‘their’ seat).

I’m pleased to say that we still have a

couple of regulars who come down most Friday

nights to enjoy a few pints and a game of

dominoes, a game which seems to be losing

favour down here in the south.

Pubs have developed in many ways over

the years, but it is interesting to see that in

these times of economic downturn and pub

closures, it is the more traditional, ‘old

fashioned’ pubs that seem to be surviving.

Like most landlords I have a mixed bag

of regulars, (some more regular than others).

The Grumpy Landlord on pub games and regulars

You know you have become a regular at the

Shipwright’s when you are allocated a nickname,

most of which are complimentary but some

aren’t and for obvious reasons are known only

to the staff.

The names we can disclose feature

‘Dangerous’, ‘Railway Steve’, ‘Tony the Pole’ -

(before the complaints start rolling in it refers to

the fact that he owns a scaffolding company) -

‘The Vicar’ - (no he isn’t one) - and ‘The

beanpoles’. We also have a ‘Beaver’ and the

‘Brothers Grimm’ (don’t ask).

Regulars make a pub unique and the

landlord who doesn’t listen to their opinions

charts a dangerous course in these straightened

times.

What really sends me off on one are

those ‘regulars’ who turn up once a year with

their friends from London in tow, who invariably

gaze wide eyed with wonder at this ancient monument of a pub with firkins of beer behind

the bar and state how lucky their friends are to

have such a place.

“Oh it’s our local you know,” state the

once a year regulars, giving me a cheerful wave,

(which is usually met with a frosty stare), “we

come here all the time!!!”

Regards

Derek,

Grumpy Landlord of the Shipwright’s Arms at

Hollowshore.


Documents

Swale Ale Summer 2013