magazine of the lunesdale branch of the campaign for real ale

Spring 2020

FREE

CELEBRATING

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FPINT TAKEN

25years

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Pint TakenPint Taken is published by the Redditch &Bromsgrove, Wyre Forest and Worcesterbranches of the Campaign for Real Ale(CAMRA).Pint Taken is designed and printed by CatshillDesign design.catshill.comSubscribe to Pint Taken for a year by sendingfour C5 stamped addressed envelopes toSubscriptions, 4 Tilehouse, Redditch,Worcestershire B97 4PLThe views expressed in Pint Taken are notnecessarily those of the Campaign for Real AleLtd.Citizens Advice consumer helplineMon to Fri, 9am to 5pm Tel: 03454 040506CAMRA Ltd230 Hatfield Road, St Albans, AL1 4LWTel: 01727 867201

10,000 copies of Pint Taken are distributedacross the county of Worcestershire andbeyond.Read Pint Taken online, download previouseditions and find out more atpinttaken.org.ukAdvertising rates are available atpinttaken.org.uk or further details viaadverts@pinttaken.org.ukArticles/comments/photos toeditor@pinttaken.org.ukItems for publication in the Summeredition (published 1st June 2020) shouldbe sent in by 26 April 2020.

This special edition featureshistoric artwork thatappeared in the 1981Worcestershire Beer Guide.

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Welcome from the EditorsPint Taken proudly celebrates its 25th birthday in 2020 but its origins begin much before then, in1983, as a short-lived newsletter. This issue we’ve tracked down every former Pint Taken editor,including Malcolm Glass, who came up with the name. We hope you enjoy reading the magazine.Here’s to the next 25 years!

The Pint TakenTimeline1983 - Pint Taken launched as a short-livedfour page A4 branch newsletter1995 - First production of a four page, blackand white A5 newsletter covering the northeast of the county1996 - Coloured paper introduced. Eight pages2000 - Coverage extended to all ofWorcestershire. 12 pages2003 - Coloured text introduced. 16 pages2006 - Full colour introduced to the cover. 24pages2008 - Full colour throughout the magazine. 28pages2020 - 25 years celebrated, 40 pages

Malcolm Glass (1983 - 1984)In 1983 when beerwas less than £1 apint, we launchedthe first issue ofPint Taken to pubgoers. Thecirculation of thefirst issue can’thave been muchmore than 500copies, deliveredby willingvolunteers to GoodBeer Guide Pubs.35 years ago itwas essential tohave a copy of theGood Beer Guide tohand, especially when travelling out of the area,to help you to avoid the numerous pubs sellingnasty keg beers. The idea behind Pint Takencame from myself as I had recently moved toRedditch from Solihull where we produced asimple bi monthly newsletter called ‘BoroBanter’. Pint Taken took the same format,plenty of beer and pubs news as well aspromoting local CAMRA and pubs andpublicans who had introduced cask ale for thefirst time. In the days before desktoppublishing, my wife would type up thenewsletter for printing manually on a trustyGestetner machine. The first issue was a veryrudimentary publication with good informationbut no design or colour. Miles away from thesuperbly edited and professional publicationwe have today. Likewise the pub landscapewas totally different back then which saw usoften travelling miles to sample decent realales. Through all of the constantly evolvingchanges in the licensed trade, the Coach &Horses, Weatheroak Hill springs to mind. It hasremained steadfast to real ale with its publicbar effectively unchanged since I first visited inthe mid 1970’s. From the first issue, weadvertised meetings at venues such as thePillar of Salt in Droitwich, a newly opened

Banks’s pub. We had a Stoke Works Stagger,which included the Butchers Arms, now closedand replaced by cottages. We also met anddrank Ansells at the Dragoon in Aston Fieldswhich is now the Ladybird. Our favourite beersat the time, however were Sam Smiths,Ruddles, Simpkiss and Bathams.I remember my good old friend Andrew Lyndonorganised pub crawls using vintage buses. Wevisited the Fleece, Bretforton for a skittlesnight one time but didn’t warn the driver of howdifficult manoeuvring a large bus with nopower steering would be. I am no longerinvolved with CAMRA, my focus now is on localand national politics. It is very sad how manypubs are still closing down nationally, but thesituation is the same for pubs as it is for otherbusinesses in that business rates and rentscause difficulties particularly when trade isn’tas brisk as in years gone by. I would like to seemore locally brewed beers being madeavailable in a lot more pubs. Whilst we all liketo try interesting beers coming from the other

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1995 - 2020side of the country, it’s just not sustainable tobring ale hundreds of miles by road when thereare fine ales being brewed within 30 miles orso from our local pubs. Big brewers will still beproducing their mediocre beers and lagersusing licensed foreign brand names, but as hasalways been the case small and local is best.Today younger drinkers probably cannotimagine the lengths we had to go to try someof the excellent beers of the day. We have iteasy today by comparison. Local CAMRAmagazines and local beer guides were a lifelinethen and they are still relevant to this day.Brett Laniosh (1995 - 2005)The birth of PintTaken was a drawnout affair. Malcolmused the name PintTaken when heproduced a black andwhite A4 newsletterwhich first appearedin October 1983. Themagazine, which wasstill called anewsletter, firstbecame a regularpublication in spring1995, hence the 25thanniversary issue that you are now reading.When I first became editor in 1995, Pint Takenwas a monochrome publication printed oncoloured paper to brighten things up. Winter2000 saw the magazine grow into a publicationfor the whole of Worcestershire covering allthree CAMRA branches. I continued to edit themagazine until 2005 during which time itcontinued to evolve as more contributors fromaround the county became involved. I’ve kept arelationship with Pint Taken by contributingarticles and distributing magazines to this day.In 2017, I also got involved with the magazineon a commercial basis with Catshill Design.This includes supporting the editor and liaisingwith our brilliant advertisers. I believe stronglyin independently produced pub magazines.Going to the pub, socialising over a beer andreading a printed magazine are all greatanalogue things to do in today’s digital world.That said, Pint Taken has always embracedtechnology and has been available to

download since spring 2003! I wish themagazine a happy birthday and continuedsuccess for the next 25 years.Charlie Ayres(2006 - 2015)I took over theeditorship of PintTaken for theAutumn 2006edition, havingnever editedanything before.During my time asEditor themagazine movedfrom being a two-colour productionon matt paper to a28-page full colouredition. Quite afew things changed in the beer and pub worldduring my time as Editor. Possibly one of thelargest being the introduction of the smokingban, which came into force in July 2007. Some12 years later, I still believe that this has helpedto open out pubs to a much wider audienceand made many more family orientated,providing another reason to go to the pub!The timescale to produce each edition wasover a three-month period, starting almost assoon as the previous edition was printed anddistributed. Completion of the Autumn editionsoften took place in France whilst we were onholiday. Looking back, the internet was still agrowing entity and places to gain access wereoften limited. Fortunately, we found a superbcafé and bookshop, run by an English couple, ina small town called Gençay, near Poitiers. Hereemails could be collected, articles chased upand all laid out using Microsoft Publisher,accompanied by excellent cakes and hotchocolate! (Google chezchristies.fr for moreinformation).I would like to personally thank all those whocontributed to Pint Taken during my time asEditor, as after all, without input from thosepeople there would not have been anything toedit.

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Welcome from the EditorsPaul Richards (2015 - 2017)I was involved with PintTaken for some timebefore my editorship asI often wrote articlesabout CAMRA’s recentevents, and I also helpto distribute themagazine. I know thatreaders love flickingpages for inspirationon new places to visitand beers to sup (Ihope you do too!), and Ithought that it wouldbe a shame for the publication to cease toexist. And so, on a cold winter’s night CharlieAyres passed his pen onto me.My favourite part of being an editor was to beone of the first people to hear about thenewest venues and of course it gave me agreat excuse to visit them! My first front pagefeatured a beautiful picture of the Black Star in

Stourport-on-Severn. I remember tiptoeinganxiously around the buildings on the oppositeside of the River Stour to capture that perfectshot; having no idea if I was on public propertyor whether I was trespassing. But it was allworth it as a few weeks later I ripped open abox and I was holding my first edited copy. Icarried on to produce another nine issuesbefore passing the pen to Andy Checketts.Andy Checketts (2017 - 2019)I have enjoyed havingthe honour of beingeditor of the last eighteditions of Pint Taken,building on the work ofthe previous editors andsupport teams. The rolehas led me to explorenew places and meetmany new faces withinthe world of beer, pubs,breweries and CAMRA -enjoying great company,

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1995 - 2020real ale and cider. As one of a team ofvolunteers producing the magazine as editor, Iaimed to make the magazine a good read, thatreaders could flick through in a pub and findsomething of interest - be they CAMRAmembers or not. Also, as a photographer, Iwanted to provide images that were of highquality, high interest and sufficient size thatthey gave readers a clear idea of what themagazine was about and wanted to read on inmore detail. This applies particularly to themagazine front cover, whereby I toured thecounty ensuring that good images werecaptured representing all three branches, townand rural pubs and often award winners.As editor, I aimed to promote a wide range ofarticles to include short snippets under suchheadings as ‘Swift Halves’, ‘Pub Photo Quiz’and ‘Readers’ Comments’ as well as longer, indepth items on current issues such as lowalcohol beers, cider, membership, campaignissues and interviews with brewers, licenseesand CAMRA post holders. I have particularlywanted to reflect the active involvement offemale and younger drinkers. My favouritearticle was the one accounting for the first yearof membership ’Story of a New CAMRAMember’ in the Summer 2019 edition.The magazine has successfully attracted agrowing number of advertisers over recentyears and it has been satisfying to see themagazine grow including new advertisersqueuing up for advertising space. I amparticularly grateful for guidance and supportof the Pint Taken Management Team. As I’vesaid at many branch meetings, “The magazineis only as good as its content.” So continue tosupport the team with your articles, snippets ofnews, readers’ comments, photos and adverts.This enables the magazine to continue to keep

Worcestershire readers informed about what ishappening in our unique pub and breweryscene and how we can do our bit to fight forpubs and quality real ale and cider, as well associalising and having fun at the same time.James Griffiths (2020-)Hi! It’s a pleasure towelcome you to theSpring 2020 issue ofPint Taken, but it feels abit redundant becauseyou’ve been welcomed,effectively, already byeveryone who’sformerly edited themagazine and that’s atough act to follow!Spring is traditionally the season of rebirth;we’ve just entered a brand new decade andwe’re now welcoming in the start of the secondquarter-century of Pint Taken, so naturally theopportunity for a fresh start seemed too goodan opportunity to pass up! This bumperanniversary edition is a place for reflecting onwhat’s made the magazine so readable overthe years. In this and coming issues we’llcontinue to publish pub and brewery news,features from around and about the county,and interviews with key players. We’ve gotsome great additional content lined up too,covering all things beer and cider the lengthand breadth of Worcestershire and beyond.Heartfelt thanks to each and every one of mypredecessors for time served, especially to ourmost recent editor Andy Checketts, whosestaunch attitude, thirst for perfection and trulyenviable work ethic has helped keep thingsfresh for two years. I hope Andy will continueto contribute to the magazine and pass on allhe knows.I’m always very keen to hear what’s happeningaround you, and we’re always thirsty for yourinput at Pint Taken, so if there’s something youthink we should know, or you have a story totell, drop us a line at editor@pinttaken.org.ukIn the meantime I hope you’ll enjoy thiscelebration of the magazine before we embarkon some new adventures.

Cheers! James

James Griffiths

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Pub and Brewery NewsRedditch based company Vertivore runs avertical farm using LED lights and nutrients tofind the right combinations to grow variousfood plants (salads, herbs etc). These can thenbe scaled up to provide commercial farms forall year round food. A waste product of theprocess is heat and being eco aware theydecided to use this waste heat to brew beer.Set up as Lab Culture the brewery commencedin late 2018. Bert Roelants, the head brewer,has worked in the industry in the UK andBelgium. The beers are mainly influenced bythe American craft styles. Hops like Simcoe,Amarillo and Citra being initially used but therange of hops and beers is expanding. Initialbeers were named after 19th century scientistsbut recent beverages have used localinfluences in the names. American Style hoppyand fruity beers – IPAs, Pale ale, Rye, DairyMilk Stout, Lime Saison and a BlackcurrantGose using Droitwich salt are in the range.Beers are delivered in kegs, cans and bottles –casks are not planned currently but the beersare unfiltered. Redditch has a history of usingwaste heat but brewing is a new one for thearea.

The Hanbury Turn at Stoke Heath has beensold by pubco behemoth Punch Taverns toBlack Country Ales and is due forrefurbishment prior to re-opening in the Spring.Black Country Ales – who recently acquiredWorcestershire CAMRA Pub of the Year theCross at Finstall hopes to offer a wide range ofits own beers as well as changing ales fromother breweries all over the UK in the HanburyTurn.

Head of Pubs, Graham Manwaring, said: “Wehope to give this lovely little pub a majorfacelift and provide a great offer of many realales and ciders in a traditional, cosy old-fashioned pub. The food offer will be limited.Just good cobs and pork pies to keep hungerat bay but real ales, quiet conversation andcompanionship will be the order of the day atthe Hanbury Turn.” The company is currentlylooking to recruit a management couple tostart off a new chapter in this historic pub’slife.The Talbot at Belbroughton has newmanagement with the licensee being DanDawson overseeing this freshly refurbishedpub servingMarston’s beerswith a wide menuand real fire onoffer.The Queens atBelbroughton isopen, withMarston’s beers onoffer includingBoondogle andPedigree, being runsince late 2019 byJohn Glasspool, butis currently up forsale. Watch thisspace.The Bear and Wolfopened in the centreof Kidderminster inDecember offeringsix beers, includingtheir own producedexclusively for thepub by respectedBlack Countrybrewery FixedWheel. For thosethat appreciateproper ciders thereare four, and forlovers of live music occasional Saturdays arethe events to look out for.In Stourport, a new cosy bar has opened inYork Street. Fedoras is a Mediterranean style

Talbot, Belbroughton

Photo:Andy

Checketts

Lab Culture’s Bottle and Can Range

Queens, Belbroughton

Photo:Andy

Checketts

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Pub and Brewery Newsbistro bar serving two or three real ales fromlocal breweries, particularly the nearbyBrothers of Ale, and the continentalatmosphere is enhanced with bar food such asplatters, tapas and rich stews.The Westcroft Arms, Droitwich is againlooking for a new licensee. The outgoingincumbent has done a lot for the pubespecially by increasing the choice ofbeers and serving them in goodcondition. It is hoped that the ownerswill put in someone who can carry onthis good work.For many years the award winning HopPole, Friar Street has been regarded as ahigh spot for real ale in Droitwich.However, the owners put it up for sale atthe end of last year and we understandthat there has been a lot of interest in takingthis historic pub over. Negotiations areunderway for a smooth transition to newmanagement who have told us to expect “nomajor changes, just improvements”.There are reports that the Cross Keys,Ombersley is due to reopen as apub/restaurant.Unfortunately the Fir Tree, Dunhampstead hasagain become a victim of the weather and asat the end of January was closed as a result offlooding. We certainly hope that it won’t taketoo long to get it dried out and back openagain.The Fox and Hounds, Bredon is now aDonnington pub serving their three ales.The Yew Tree, Conderton has reopened andnow serves St Austell Tribute, Sharps Atlanticand Doom Bar.Brothers of Ale Brewery in Stourport haveadded an oatmeal stout to their range. CalledVVD (very very dark), it’s described as jet blackwith a smooth mouth feel, dark chocolate andcaramel notes with a balanced bitterness.

Worcester PubBeer Festival

The second Worcester CAMRAfestival celebrating the city’s pubsand breweries will be held from27th until 29th March 2020.Following the success of lastyear's festival, the Worcesterbranch of CAMRA has joinedforces with a dozen city venues toorganise Worcester’s pub andbrewery festival across the citycentre.With all 12 venues within a mile ofForegate Street train station andthe city’s bus station, with over 120

beers and ciders, there is an opportunity forbeer and cider fans from across the Midlandsand beyond to visit the city and sample someof the local beers and ciders on offer.Participating venues are Arch Rivals, Cardinal’sHat, Dragon Inn, Swan, Bull Baiters Inn,Imperial Tavern, Eagle Vaults, Oil BasinBrewhouse, Paul Pry, The Sociable BeerCompany, TripelB Belgian Beer Cafe andWorcester Brewing Company.Some of the venues will also be recommendingbeers and ciders to go alongside the excellentfood they have available, and some venues willhave live entertainment.CAMRA volunteers will be meeting andgreeting visitors outside Foregate Streetstation and a special booklet will be availableprofiling each of the participating venues alongwith a map to help visitors find them. CAMRAmembers will get discounts and access tospecial promotions in many of the venues andthere will be opportunities to join the incrediblysuccessful campaign that members waged toget better beer and more breweries in Britain.For more information visitworcesterpubbeerfestival.com or findWorcester Pub Beer Festival on Facebook andTwitter.Send your pub and brewery news to

pinttaken.org.uk/send-newsor email editor@pinttaken.org.uk

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The Worcestershire Beer GuideIntroductionReal Ale OldWorcestershire waspublished by the“combined manpowerof Worcester, Redditch& Bromsgrove andStourbridge branchesof CAMRA” in 1977. Asthe title suggests, itincluded pubs now inthe West Midlandssuch as Cradley, QuarryBank, Silver End,Wollaston, Halesowen,Stourbridge and Lye.No author is creditedbut Basil Sellwood isidentified as ‘chairmanof Worcester branchand area organiser forthe county and knowsfirst-hand the hardwork put in by our members’. “Our approachhas been quiet campaigning, approachinglandlords about real ale and we have beenpleased with the numbers prepared to switchback and ask their breweries to allowthem a bigger freedom of choice.” It isnoted that ‘Mr Sellwood estimatesthat the branches between them havehelped put real ale back into around30 pubs in the county in the last 18months’.In 1981, Shenstone resident andPlough regular Tim Web (now aleading beer writer) edited theWorcestershire Beer Guide.

On risking my life for the causeMy abiding memory of editing andhelping to compile the WorcestershireBeer Guide is of the night I was nearlykilled. To explain, back then, compilinga list of pubs to be surveyed for anyguide involved sending a localRatepayer to each District Magistrate’office to ‘examine’ its licensingrecords. On-License Unrestricted =Pub, list sorted.

The problem wasthat back thenWorcestershirewas not quiteitself. In 1974 ithad morphedinto Hereford &Worcester, whichsaw TenburyWells & District’slicensing moveto Leominster. Ifthere was aHerefordshireBranch back then, we didn’t know them –no mobiles, no internet – so other thanTenbury’s ten pubs, we had no list. Asdeadlines nudged closer, the typed sheetsneatly Tippexed, pages ready to be cut andpasted using actual scissors and glue thatsmelled of ammonia, the white space onthe map in that nudgy-out bit at the top leftof old Worcestershire, became ever moreglaring. On a county map packed with

village pubs, Tenbury looked naked and alone.There was nothing for it but to go and findthem. Four decades on, with a couple of dozen

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beer books behindme, the only time Ihave nearly died inpursuit of myobsession wasduring that lastpush. In the daysbefore quizzes andcurry nights, pubswould drum uptrade by joiningleagues. Anything

would do – football, darts, dominos,cribbage, bowling, or in the case of Tenbury& District, shooting. I was keen andfocussed back then. If an urgent pub runneeded to be done, the half-pintcommandos took the car and whoever rodeshotgun necked most of the driver’s beer. Ata pub in Kyre Park that is no longer there,we did not saunter, we barged – through thedoor and across to the bar, with barely acare for the whistling sound that precededthe thud.Quite why they were shooting air rifles at adarts board was never explained but theyreally couldn’t have been nicer. No Health &

Safety back then, just applied logic. No harmdone but have a couple of beers on us, chum.Small tragedy. Keg only. Those were the days,eh?Since editing the Worcestershire Beer Guide,Tim Webb hasgone on to writeover twentybooks, includingeight editions ofGood Beer GuideBelgium (CAMRABooks). He andhis writing partnerStephenBeaumont arecurrently workingon the thirdedition of TheWorld Atlas ofBeer (OctopusPublishing), dueout in September2020.

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A Different Breed of Coach TripHaving experienced three CAMRA survey tripsthis year, I can say with some authority thatthey’re an entirely different breed to the socialcoach events that take place all year round.Whereas the pubs on social events are hand-picked on account of their greatbeer and enjoyable surroundings,on a survey event they’re chosenmore out of necessity.The purpose of survey trips is tomaintain and preserve theseamless resource that iswhatpub.com, a staggeringCAMRA online database, the key tofinding a great pub anywhere in the country.Entries are factual and accurate. Sadly it can’tupdate itself, and its accuracy relies on willingvolunteers surveying licensee or (more likely)shift managers to ensure any changes areupdated. The results are then uploaded inalmost real time and surveyors acknowledgedby name on the website.Embarking on our coach to the peripherieswithin Redditch & Bromsgrove CAMRA brancharea that includes Droitwich, one visit perquarter affords the opportunity to perusehitherto seldom-visited places whose entrieson the website may no longer be up-to-date.With the pub trade remaining volatile, thingscan change as breweries strive to chasecustomer demographics. That’s where theparticipants on these trips play a vital part inmaintaining the most up-to-date information.One could argue that there’s probably a reasonwhy they’ve not been visited in someconsiderable time, possibly due to the lack ofcask or quality of the beer on offer, but theorder of the day is to ensure that informationrelating to opening hours, the prominence ofregular and guest ale, their available facilities,and other important factors, is obtained.My standout moment - walking into a pub inWashford Mill near Redditch with a coach loadof CAMRA members and watching themanager’s face. You’d think the idea of thebusiness we’d put their way would be cause forcelebration. Not so, as since the last surveywas done, it had morphed into a branch of

Mitchell and Butlers’ fine dining subsidiaryMiller and Carter. High steaks indeed.Yes it’s clear there are pubs that offer food firstand foremost and those that have becomemore interested in serving lager and 54

different gins. But having been onthree trips now, I can safely saymyself and my fellow CAMRAmembers had a fantastic time oneach. New friends soon becameregular faces. Above all, the mostimportant factor is that sometimesbeer is just the catalyst and - likeCAMRA social trips to furtherafield – it’s about enthusiasm for

the journey. The survey trips not only providefun and entertainment, they offer a chance forwould-be investigative types to get out thereand contribute to a great beer resource.

James GriffithsJames is 34 and a civil servant by trade.Something of a modern antiquarian, when notworking, he likes to visit stone circles and othermegalithic monuments. He lives with two catsin a house crammed with books and records.His favourite beers are Enville Ginger, TitanicPlum Porter and Hopback Summer Lightning.For more information on CAMRA social tripssee the branch events page on page 39 and thearticle on page 33.

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Award Includes New Beer StylesCAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, willinclude new beer styles in its Champion Beerof Britain competition, the winner of which isannounced each August at Great British BeerFestival in Olympia London.A review by dedicated beer writers, brewersand CAMRA members was launched todetermine the most relevant beer styles in themarket, resulting in the most far-reachingupdate since 2008.The new styles were unveiled at theManchester Beer Festival in January and theGreat British Beer Festival Winter, Birminghamin February at a series of information/tastingsessions run on opening trade day.Christine Cryne, who chaired the review said:“The range of beers in the UK has moved onsubstantially over the past decade, and ourChampion Beer of Britain competition needs toreflect that. Many beer styles that were notreally noticeable on the market a decade agohave become more prominent and vice versa.

“As a result, the total number of judgingcategories has been increased and new styleswill be entering the competition for the firsttime, such as IPAs and Pale Ales. Thesechanges ensure that the Champion Beer ofBritain competition remains up-to-date andtruly reflects the very best beer in Britain.”

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Dog & Pheasant24 Worcester Road, Bromsgrove, B61 7AE

01527 8363226 Real Ales and 2 Ciders

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up to 20p per pint off Cask AlesHAPPY MONDAYS! 7-11pm

ALL Real Ales only £3except Bank Holidays

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Awards

Wyre ForestWinter AwardWyre Forest Branch of CAMRA have chosenthe Station Inn, in Kidderminster, as the branchPub of the Season Winter 2020.When choosing a pub for the winter season awarm welcome, good beers, a friendlyatmosphere and excellent food are alwayssignificant. These can all be found inabundance at the Station Inn, a true ‘local’ witha strong sense of community. Colin and TrudyFaulkner were delighted to receive this latestaward from Wyre Forest branch.

Colin and Trudy Faulkner with their award

Photo:ColinHill

CAMRA Area Organiser Fred Carter (R)presents website award to Worcester CAMRA

chairman Mark Griffiths (L)

WorcesterCAMRAWebsiteAwardAfter being neglected for a few years, theWorcester CAMRA website was in need of amajor refresh and new look. Consequently, amajor overhaul was undertaken which hasresulted in the web site receiving the WestMidlands region Most Improved WebsiteAward. The branch chairman, and websitemaster, Mark Griffiths graciously accepted theaward from Worcestershire Area Organiser,Fred Carter.

KidderminsterAle Trail WinnerWyre Forest CAMRA’s Kidderminster Ale Trail,as the fully revised and updated secondedition, was published in November. It’s a guidefor visitors arriving in the town centre by publictransport, whether by rail or bus, so that theycan easily find pubs within walking distancethat offer a decent pint. CAMRA members areencouraged in the leaflet to provide their beerscores for pubs they visit so that the trail canbe updated in the future.At the Regional CAMRA Awards Ceremony on28th December, held at the magnificentBarton’s Arms in Newtown, Birmingham, it wonBest Local Pub Trail 2019. Judges wereimpressed by its clear information and layout,and even that it was so up to date as to includea real ale pub due to open in December!Well done to the branch for doing the researchand to Nick Yarwood, Rob Budworth, NeilWoodward and Chris Ashman for the contentand design.The Trail is available to download atwyreforest.camra.org.uk

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Home BrewWinner!Wyre Forest CAMRA member Steve Bevan hasscooped two top prizes in a prestigious homebrew competition in January.Steve produces some remarkably tasty well-balanced beers using fresh raw ingredients. Heeven grows some of the hops he uses in hisback garden.The Worcestershire Homebrew Club neededmore entrants in the Midlands Invitational 2020Competition to take on some of the top prizewinning home brewers in the country.He entered the Strong Bitter category with abeer he’d named 46, a 5% copper coloured beerwith a good white head, high malt with sweetcaramel aroma and contrasting flavours of lowcaramel and toffee flavour with fruity hops. It’sa traditional English recipe with someAmerican hops and a Vermont yeast to bringout the fruitiness of the hops.The competition was judged by Beer JudgeCertification Programme judges from all overthe country. As the results were announced,with his name not being called in 3rd place, hethought he had been out-brewed until, to hiscomplete amazement, he found he’d won 1st in

the Strong Bitterscategory. With ascore of 46 out of 50this also meant thebeer had the highestscore in thecompetition and wonoverall ChampionBrewer 2020!It just goes to showthat the skill of usingand understandingthe ingredients countmost when it comesto brewing championbeers. Well doneSteve!Steve is the CAMRABrewery LiaisonOfficer for Hartleburyand Brothers of Ale Breweries, and he’s beendiscussing developing some collaborationbrews with the latter.

Nick Yarwood receiving the award fromRegional Director Cy Day

Photo:AndyChecketts

Award winning homebrewer Steve Bevan

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Reader’s CommentsCost of Halves vs PintsThere has recently been a lot of grumblingabout the price of halves exceeding half thecost of pints. As I see it, sales of most goods,e.g. sugar, motor oil, and garments, involve aprice per piece reduction on quantity purchase,so I see no problem with charging more thanhalf for a half. It’s a bit like the glass being halffull or half empty (optimists vs pessimists),and I prefer to think of the opportunity to get adiscount on buying a larger quantity. In fact, asa younger man, I should have liked theopportunity to purchase a quart for less thanthe price of a couple of pints!Taking into account overheads, I havecalculated that if it takes 80% of the effort toserve a half rather than a pint. Therefore if abeer is priced at £3.25 pint, then a half shouldbe £2.19 rather than £1.63.

Ray ‘Smithy’, DroitwichAvoncroft Fest-of-AleSaturday 16th November 2019 was theinaugural beer festival at Avoncroft Museum,near Bromsgrove. Held in the historic 14thcentury Guesten Hall, retrieved from WorcesterCathedral, the festival offered 10 real ales,cider and perry, along with bottled beers andcheese, hot pork rolls and beer-bread snacks.Most of the beers were sourced locally, fromWoodcote Manor (just down the road),Weatheroak (Studley), Pershore, WeatheroakHill and Bewdley breweries, ranging from paleand golden ales to stouts and dark mild.

Woodcote Manor Ionosphere IPA andWeatheroak Hill Chocolate Orange Juno wereparticularly memorable. The local CAMRAbranch had a stand and loaned the glasses.The event was announced by the Town Crier ofthe Manor of Bromsgrove Court Leet (Oyez,oyez!). The ale-taster then had to sample thebeer and declare it of the correct quality todrink, before the Bailiff of the Court Leet kickedoff the event. Live music was provided bycountry rock duo “Gasoline & Matches”.Avoncroft Museum is to be congratulated fortheir first endeavours at holding a beer festival,which was well attended and I am sure verysuccessful – the beer was running out only acouple of hours after opening!

Steve James, OldburyBottled Beer Prices - How Much? Really?Nothing beats a well kept pint of hand pulledreal ale, served freshly at the correcttemperature with its tip top condition beingevident through its aroma, flavour and full headthat reveals ‘lacing’ inside the glass as the levelgoes down. However, when needs must, Ioccasionally go for the occasional option oflow alcohol beer e.g. when driving.Just before Christmas, it was such anoccasion, when, out for a pub meal withfriends, and driving. I was pleased to find a‘proper’ beer style available in the bottle ratherthan just an array of fizzy, foreign larger typedrinks being portrayed as ‘beer’. So, I opted fora 500ml bottle of Adnam’s Ghost Ship 0.5% lowalcohol beer - recognisable from the full 4.5%version courtesy of its predominantly orangelabelling. In this smart Worcester pub, near toM5 junction 7, I hadn’t expected to find the costto be so high at £5.20 for the pleasure. Afterchecking with two staff the price was deemedto be correct. I appreciate that pubs have manyoverheads in addition to the obvious price ofbuying beer before it can be put up for sale, buteven I can walk into a supermarket and buythree bottles of Adnam’s Ghost Ship 0.5% beerfor only £3. Does this price mark up makesense for designated drivers and responsibledrinking generally? I wonder what your localcharges for a similar beer.

Andy Checketts, Clent

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Is This the Future of British Beer?Beer designations are changing. Dark beersstruggle when called Mild. Bitter has becomeAmber or Golden. Cask ale is up and down,(undefined) craft beer is rising and brewershave started adding all manner of stuff torecipes. It’s a bit of a mess isn’t it?As diversity takes root in brewing, older-stylesession beers, such as cask ale, are challengedto become good enough to survive as newtypes of beer arrive that vary in quality fromstunning to sad.Across beer styles as a whole, caskconditioning improves relatively few butprominent among these are the lower alcoholales that dominated late 20th century Britishdrinking culture. But if the UK follows the restof the world – and whatever happens withBrexit it probably will – folksy cask ale willcome up against styles that might broadly bedivided into the classic and the experimental.Classic styles are represented by pale ale(including IPAs), porters and stouts, strongerbrown ales, and some foreign examples likeWeizenbier, or even properly made Pilsner orHelles. The most revered will become thosethat represent consistent, well-madeexemplars of the best in style, with plausible,cheaper, less good imitations enjoying a widermarket in their wake.Experimental styles will produce a few classicsof the future, though most will launch andfizzle, none more so than flavoured beers. Wineremains the drink of choice for people whocare about flavour and winemakers do not add flavouringsto their wines. Rather they pullthe best flavours from theirgrapes. Brewers can learn fromthis.It is inevitable that semi-classic, semi-folksy cask alewill be challenged tore-establish ‘brand cask’ as asuperior and distinctive type ofsession beer, distancing itselfas far as possible from thosetop-selling cask brands moreassociated with cheap than

good, produced industrially and sold withoutconviction.It is also predictable that the nature ofbreweries will change too.The next decade will likely see more localbreweries with taphouses, acting as brewpubsthat serve a bit of free trade. The survivors willproduce beers good enough to be the localvariants of more popular beer styles, while amuch smaller proportion of independentbrewers will likely emerge as ‘top names’,producing bespoke ranges of distinctive beersfor the wider beer trade at home and abroad.Competition will continue from brewers largeand small, making brands that look and soundgood but in truth are just dull beers with a bit ofeye liner. But provided consumer groups keepputting forward arguments that counter theglobal companies’ desire to retain unfaircontrol over large parts of the retail trade, topbrand beers will continue to lose market shareto the benefit of all.I suspect it will be a better world for most of uswho like beer, but I am a long way off beingconvinced that beers with ‘citrus, pepper,juniper berries, lemon peel and coriander’ willhave much place in it.

Tim WebbTim is co-author of The World Atlas of Beer andGood Beer Guide Belgium and is a projectcoordinator for the European Beer ConsumersUnion.

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Swift HalvesNew ebook - Weird and WonderfulPubs!Here’s a chanceto read about ourunique institution- The Pub! Justreleased a newe-book formatentitled ‘Weird,Wonderful &Historic Pubs inthe UK’.Yorkshireman,Mikey G. Swannregales readerswith accounts offamous andunknown pubsacross England,Wales, Scotlandand NorthernIreland - facts and photos. Available inpaperback, on kindle, and on Facebook - whatare you waiting for? Read it and then entertainyour friends.

England’s Narrowest Pub?In relation to its height, is this England’sNarrowest Pub?

We know thatpubs are beingsqueezed, but thisold pub looks themost squeezed.Dating from 1549this building hashosted diaristSamuel Pepys andwriter CharlesDickens ahead ofbecoming a pub in1887. What aninspiring buildingto put pen topaper! Now aplace fit to behome for a(Greene) King.

Mickey

GSwann

Truth Stranger than Fiction?There was confusion recently when a petitionto halt the renaming of the Old Bull pub,Inkberrow emerged online. An eagle-eyed PintTaken reader spotted a change.org page called‘Save the Bull, Ambridge’, featuring a picture ofthe (real-life) Old Bull. However, Ambridge isthe fictional village setting of long-runningRadio 4 soap opera ‘The Archers’. To be clear,the real Old Bull, Inkberrow will remain as such.You couldn’t make it up!

Monty and PythonThere are at least two local Monty Pythonconnections.Terry Jones who died in January was a wellknown supporter of micro breweries. As wellas opening the CAMRA Great British BeerFestival in 1977, he also co-founded PenrhosBrewery in Kington, Herefordshire in the sameyear. Brewing ceased in 1983.Former Mappleborough Green resident Eric Idlehas said that the Monty name was partinspired by a well-known regular of the Bootlocated in the village near Redditch.

Photo:AndyChecketts

Old Cock Tavern, London

Terry Jones opening the GreatBritish Beer Festival 1977

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Beer Festival Updates

Bromsgrove Beer& Cider FestivalThe Bromsgrove Beer & Cider Festival willagain return to Bromsgrove Rugby Club thisyear for its 18th year.We will again have 144 different beers and 64different ciders and perries to try from acrossthe country. Selecting the beers, ciders andperries that appear at the festival is a skill initself, we have to make sure that there is agood mix of styles so that there’s something tosuit everyone’s taste, as well as choosingproducts from both established and up andcoming brewers and cider producers. We hopewe do a good job of this. If there’s something inparticular that you’d like to see please let usknow through the websitebromsgrovebeerfestival.org.ukDates for this year’s festival are:Thursday 25th June2pm to 6pm CAMRA Members and Trade Only6pm to 11pm Open to General PublicFriday 26th June12pm to 11pmSaturday 27th June11am to 9.30pm

Bromsgrove Rugby Club is located onFinstall Road in Bromsgrove and is not farfrom Bromsgrove Railway Station, which isnow served by four trains an hour fromBirmingham New Street, as well as regularservices from Droitwich and Worcester.As 2020 marks 60 years since the Beatlesformed, and 50 years since their last albumwas released, this year’s theme will be allthings to do the Beatles, the Sixties,flower-power and psychedelia.So make a date in your diaries, dig out themini-skirts, flowery shirts and tie dye tops,and come and join in the fun - as in previousyears the sunshine is guaranteed for thewhole weekend!

KidderminsterBeer FestivalKidderminster Beer Festival (5th-7thNovember) willonce more be inthe excellentvenue ofKidderminsterTown Hall whichis convenient fortrains, busesand taxis.The festivaloffers:• Over 40 interesting and unusual beers• With a rich heritage in the area, 15+ real

ciders and perries from local producers• A Craft Gin Bar• Entertainment – Friday evening is our live

entertainment night• Beer Tours• Tutored tasting session• Designated Driver offer• Seating and tables in the hall, with drinks

served in the connected Corn Exchange• Hot food and cold snacks availableFestival goers at Bromsgrove

Photos:Andy

Checketts

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Bromsgrove, Kidderminster, Worcester Events for your Diary

More details at wyreforest.camra.org.ukEmail: festival@wyreforest.camra.org.ukAwards were made celebrating the mostpopular beers and ciders at the 2019 festival.Beer of the festival: Moor Beer, Old FreddyWalkerLocAle of the festival: Sarah Hughes, DarkRuby MildCider of the festival: Gwatkins, Red Diesel

Festival goers at Worcester

01527 878014 | gm@ladybirdinn.co.uk | www.ladybirdinn.co.uk

2 Finstall Road, Aston Fields, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 2DZ

conference room available to hire for private functions, parties, christenings and business meetings

Open Sunday - Wednesday

12.00pm - 11.00pm

Thursday 12.00pm - 11.30pm

Friday - Saturday

12.00pm - 12.00am

The Ladybird innA Pub at the Heart of the Local Community

free house | real ales | pub food | car park

First beer to run out: Brothers of Ale, Peace Out

WorcesterCAMRA Beer,Cider & PerryFestivalThe next Worcester CAMRA Beer, Cider andPerry Festival will be held 13th-15th August2020.

Plus...Stratford upon Avon Beer Festival5th - 6th Junestratfordbeerfestival.org.ukBeer on the Wye10th - 12th Julybeeronthewye.org.uk

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Buses to Rural Pubs

Although First Bus Company have cut back alot of services in recent months, some of thesmaller independents have altered their routesto include some of the villages that would haveotherwise have lost their middle of dayservices. First Bus have in some casesretained an early morning and a late afternoonservice but of little use to the daytime pubdrinker. Sadly, evenings and Sundays are stillpretty well a no go area. To the north of thecounty, a reduced service to and fromBirmingham now operates.One of the areas within the Worcester CAMRAbranch that has suffered is the rural villagesaround Pershore. However, as mentioned,Astons have altered their routes and it ispossible to leave Pershore on their VillageHopper 565 service at 11:40 and arrive at theexcellent award winning community Good BeerGuide listed Queen Elizabeth at Elmley Castlejust after lunchtime opening at 12:05. Theyhave four real ales, two of which are usuallyfrom far flung independents, the other twofrom small local breweries and serve food.The return bus (564) leaves at 3:05 and arrivesback in Pershore half an hour later.Pershore town centre is quite a walk from therailway station but LMS run a regular hourlybus service called PlumLine from the stationto the town. First Buses popular hourly X50service from Worcester to Evesham stops inPershore town centre and Cropthorne wherethe Bell Inn can be found, usually offeringlocal ales.

Astons Village Hopper service offers thechance to visit other rural pubs such as the OldBull Inn and Bulls Head in Inkberrow, Boot Innand Flyford Arms in Flyford Flavell, Dolphin Inncommunity pub in Bishampton, the riversideAnchor in Wyre Piddle, the historical OldChestnut Tree in Lower Moor, the WheelbarrowCastle in Radford, the delightful Swan inBirlingham and the Bell and the Anchor inEckington.The rural bus companies are trying very hard tooffer a service and the pubs certainly need usas well. As a reward the Pickled Plum inPershore offers a great range of beers and arest on the walk back to the railway station. Aswith all travels, it is advised to check theopening hours for the pubs and the bus timeson the relevant websites.

Neil Berry

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Day TrippersEvery month the Redditch and Bromsgrovebranch of CAMRA organises a Saturday socialtrip by coach to different parts of the countrythat all are welcome to attend. These trips visitseven or eight pubs during the day, usuallybased on entries in the latest CAMRA GoodBeer Guide, and often search out those hiddengems in villages that would otherwise bedifficult for people to reach using publictransport. The trips pick up from Redditchrailway station at 9.30am and Bromsgrovecoach station at 9.50am, aiming to drop off byat the latest 9.30pm in Bromsgrove and9.45pm in Redditch. The travel times varydepending on the destination but typically wewill aim to get to the first pub somewherebetween 11 and 11.30am. Although these tripsare organised by the Redditch and Bromsgrovebranch, a number of CAMRA members fromother local branches also regularly attend. NonCAMRA members are also very welcome tocome along as guests with a small surchargepayable of £1 per person.The social trips calendar for the full year ispublished in the preceding November so thatpeople can plan well in advance which tripsthey would like to attend, and the individual tripdetails are typically published three weeks inadvance of the departure date. There is alwaysa lunch stop for those that would like to have a

meal in a pub, in a location where there isanother pub available for those that prefer tobring along their own food. Where the trips arevisiting more local areas, there is usually abreakfast stop instead at a pub that is openearlier.To give you an idea of some typicaldestinations the 2019 tripsincluded Bedfordshire Beauties, Beers FromBucks, Gwent's Greatest, MerseysideMarvels, Peak Pulls, Wiltshire Wonders and YowHo Ho!, which was a pre-Christmas tour aroundthe micro-pubs of the Black Country.Typically 22 spaces are available, although a29 seat coach may be used if the demand isgreater. The trips have been running in thisformat since 2015 and are an excellent fun dayout with the opportunity to meet new peopleand learn more about pubs, beer and CAMRAin an informal and friendly environment. Theyare very popular so if you would like to book aplace on any particular trip, please contactSocial Secretary Mark Collinson viamark@rb.camra.org.uk to enquire aboutavailability and receive more information. Theupcoming destinations and dates arepublished in Pint Taken, but once on themailing list you will receive all of the trip detailsautomatically.

Trip goers enjoying a visit to the Fownes Brewery in Upper Gornal near Wolverhampton

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An Introduction to CiderCider, as we all know, is made fromapples harvested, pulped andfermented to produce a variety ofstyles from very dry to incrediblysweet. The addition of other fruitsand vegetables can also create awide range of varieties, such asmango, rhubarb and even dandelionand burdock. It has to be said thatwhatever your taste there is boundto be a cider to suit.From Neolithic times apples havebeen used to produce cider.1204 AD has the first written recordof cider, detailing a payment from amanor in Ruhnam in Norfolk, madewith cider. During the dark agesmonks created orchards and also producedcider. In the 1500’s Henry VIII supported theintroduction of several new varieties of applesfrom France, including the Pippin. The countyof Kent became an area of great orchardsduring this time. The 17th century saw a greatincrease in cider production especially amongthe gentry, and by the 18th century cider wasbeing enjoyed by all classes, often given tofarm labourers as payment. However the TruckAct of 1887 put a stop to payments of thiskind. Today cider is being produced on a hugescale but does still follow the same basicprinciples and is increasing in its popularity.Real cider is made from real fruit, notconcentrates and is still, not fizzy and contraryto popular belief it is not all a high ABV. It isoften no stronger than your average pint ofbeer or lager. So if you haven't tried some yet,give it a go. It's usually vegan friendly, suitablefor coeliac sufferers, and there are numerousorganic varieties too. A full listing of pubs thatserve real cider can be found usingwhatpub.com and ticking the ‘Real CiderAvailable’ filter. As it is usually a 'bag in box'product, as long as it is kept cool it will stayfresh for several weeks which makes it a costeffective product for the licensee. So ask yourlocal if they will stock it today if they don't doso already.

Jan Lawton

Cider ApplesReal-cider.co.uk states that there are over 300cider apple varieties and they are definitely notlike the apples you buy from the supermarket.Cider apples fall into four categories, accordingto the tannin, sugar and acidity levels and mosttraditional apple varieties contain acombination of all four.Bittersweets are high in tannin and low in acid– e.g. Yarlington Mill, DabinettSweets are low in both tannin and acid – e.g.Sweet Coppin, Sweet AlfordBittersharps are high in both tannin and acid –e.g. Kingston Black, Broxwood FoxwhelpSharps are low in tannin and higher in acid –e.g. Frederick, Crimson KingIn addition to real cider, check out perry madein a similar way to cider but using pears ratherthan apples. But make sure you call it perry anddefinitely not ‘pear cider’!

Cider Apples Ready for Pressing

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Black Country Beer Scoops GoldFixed Wheel Brewery has scooped gold inCAMRA’s Champion Winter Beer of Britaincompetition held on the first day of the GreatBritish Beer Festival Winter at The New BingleyHall, Birmingham, with Blackheath Stout, a 5%ABV stout packed with malts, fruits and hops.Following more than a year of local tastingpanels and regional heats, Blackheath Stoutwas named overall champion, with beer writerRoger Protz describing it as “a very fineexample of a stout.” He added: “We were allvery impressed by its rich malty flavour, itsfruity hop aroma and the overall flavour of thebeer.”Runners up were Elland Brewery’s 1872 porter(silver) and Hawkshead Brodie’s Prime Export(bronze).Scott Povey, who owns Fixed Wheel Breweryalongside his partner Sharon, said: “I’m justreally shocked. It’s amazing news for us,fantastic! Blackheath Stout is the first beer webrewed, and is named after where we’re based.

We’re really pleased to seeit get the recognition itdeserves – we’ll probablyhave to brew it a bit morenow! Thank you to all thejudges for voting for us.”Available all year in caskand keg, Blackheath Stoutis a full-bodied fruity stoutdedicated to the home ofFixed Wheel’s Blackheathbrewery. It is brewed withNew Zealand and Englishhops to give an oakybitterness and dark fruits finish.Gary Timmins, CAMRA’s National Directorresponsible for the competition, says:“Congratulations to Fixed Wheel for winningthe Champion Winter Beer of Britain award,which is one of the highest accolades in thebeer world.”

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Branch ContactsThe following events are open to all CAMRAmembers, and non-members are welcome tojoin us.Redditch & Bromsgrove Branch (RB)Email tony@rb.camra.org.uk or call Paul07974 889553 Trips mark@rb.camra.org.ukWebsite rb.camra.org.uk Meetings held on 4thTuesday of the month and start at 8pm.Worcester Branch (WO)Email contact@worcestercamra.org.uk or callMark Griffiths 07968 337487 Websiteworcester.camra.org.uk Members’ meetingsare on the second Wednesday of every month7.45 for 8pm.Wyre Forest Branch (WF)Email contact@wyreforest.camra.org.uk orcall Rob Budworth 07845 901706 Websitewyreforest.camra.org.uk Members’ meetingsare held on the first Tuesday of the month,start at 7.45pm.

Shakespeare BranchEmail contact@shakespeare.camra.org.uk orvisit shakespeare.camra.org.uk CoveringEvesham areaWorcestershire Tasting PanelBreweries are welcome and encouraged tosend info and tasting notes on any new beers.Panel Chair Nick Yarwoodworcstastings@wyreforest.camra.org.uk

Discoverwhy we joined.camra.org.uk/

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£30Real Ale

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Join up, join in,join the campaign

Join the campaign today atwww.camra.org.uk/joinup

Join us, and together we can protect thetraditions of great British pubs andeverything that goes with them.

Become part of the CAMRA communitytoday – enjoy discounted entry to beerfestivals and exclusive member offers.Learn about brewing and beer and join like-minded people supporting our campaignsto save pubs, clubs, your pint and more.

*Price for paying by Direct Debit and correct at April 2019.

Concessionary rates available.

Please visit camra.org.uk/membership-rates

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month!

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Branch Diaries and Beer FestivalsMarchTue 3rdMembers’ Meeting (WF) Royal British Legion,Stourport DY13 9EUSat 7thBranch Trip (RB) - Three Counties around theWye. Contact mark@rb.camra.org.uk fordetails.Wed 11thMembers meeting (WO), Dragon Inn, 51 TheTything, Worcester WR1 2SETue 24thBranch Social (RB) - The Talbot, Droitwich, WR98EJ

AprilTue 7thMembers' Meeting (WF) Bewdley Institute (inthe Blue Room), Load St, Bewdley DY12 2AEWed 8thMembers meeting (WO), Eagle Vaults, 2 FriarStreet, Worcester WR1 2LZThu 16th - Sat 18thSpring Tour in Nottingham (WF) email fordetails.Sat 18thBranch Trip (RB) - Derbyshire Draughts.Contact mark@rb.camra.org.uk for details.Sat 25thBranch Survey Trip (RB) exploring the moreremote parts of Worcestershire. Contactmark@rb.camra.org.uk for details.Tue 28thMembers Social (RB) Bulls Head, InkberrowWR7 4DY

MayTue 5thMembers' Meeting (WF) Hollybush, StourportDY13 9A

Wed 13thMembers AGM meeting (WO), Venue TBATue 26thBranch AGM (RB) - Alestones, Tardebigge, B976QWSat 30thBranch Trip (RB) - Nottinghamshire Nips.Contact mark@rb.camra.org.uk for details

CAMRA FestivalsMarch6th-7th Rugby CAMRA Beer Festivalrugby.camra.org.uk26th - 28th Burton upon TrentBeer & Cider Festivalburtoncamra.wordpress.com/beer-festivalMay1st - 2nd Coventry Beer Festivalcoventry.camra.org.uk