April 2012 Recap: Birmingham Twissup & Stourbridge Beer Festival

Where have I been since my last blog post on the 18^th of April? Those promising warming months of Spring followed by the traditional monsoon washout called British Summertime have really flown by. Here is a recap of April and two very different beer-based events:

Birmingham's First Twissup

The 21^st of April saw the get together of a pleasant collective of beer bloggers and enthusiasts for Birmingham's first ever Twissup (That's a jovial gathering of Twitter based ladies and gentlemen for the purpose of fermentable nourishment, for the civilized amongst us of course). Twitter can be cited as being responsible for many things in today's world, from organising Arabian revolutions to mocking celebrities trying to hide behind anonymised injunctions, however, having a bunch of random ePeople get together for a few drinks is, as far as I can tell, its most important function to date.

@19irishdragon, @CarlDurose, @ckdsaddlers, @dannybrown76, @hindleyillos, @MarbleTim, @mrdavidj, @OthertonAleman, @therealstewbert and myself. Ten imbibers already illuminated by the benefits of quality beer gathered for drinks at the Lamp Tavern, The Anchor and Post Office Vaults, Birmingham. It was great to finally put faces to Twitter handles and warming to see so many like-minded and friendly beer fans passionate about the exciting, and growing, good beer movement in the region get together and have a jolly good time. Anyone interested is more than welcome to join us for the next one, there'll certainly be a lot more to come from our regional beer pioneers I'm sure!

Stourbridge Beer Festival 2012

Next came the annual Stourbridge Beer Festival. A festival close to my heart having been the Chairman for Stourbridge & Halesowen CAMRA during the last two events. I can't begin to explain how much work goes into organising a beer festival, it really is a colossal undertaking. Months of planning, a week and a half of hard labour and around 90 volunteers were needed at Stourbridge this year. Although when you're a customer walking into the hall on opening day it all looks so easy...

I took the opportunity this year to try and bring in some new and interesting beers that generally don't reach the West Midlands. The hope being that it would expose both local drinkers to a few more quality breweries and the breweries themselves to virgin consumers and publicans alike. I think it's important, when given the chance, to always push the boundaries at events like these.

So for Stourbridge this year in came: Beavertown, Brodie's, Buxton, London Fields, Magic Rock, Redemption, Sambrook's, Steel City, Twickenham Fine Ales and Windsor & Eaton, all breweries rarely seen, if ever, around Birmingham and the Black Country. These coupled with the best of our local breeds: Angel Ales, Beer Geek, Kinver, Sadler's and SarahHughes, amongst others, provided suitable compliment to the occasion. Over 2000 customers later and selling out at just the right time I'd like to pay tribute to all the CAMRA volunteers involved and everyone who attended, I hope to see you all again next year!

I'd started to feel that some local CAMRA beer festivals had stagnated with their beer choices, let's not play it safe, the brewing scene is as vibrant as it's ever been, despite the Government's best attempts to counter it. Lets use these fantastically popular events to showcase excellence, both near and afar.

A look at the Beer Duty Escalator and why it needs to be scrapped

Successive British governments have, over the past decades, had a terrible addiction, an addiction to completely and utterly exterminating all forms of British industry. They have, in the main, been very successful. A snapshot of today's nation will showcase formerly prosperous, world-renowned, proud towns and cities savaged by the Government-lead massacre of manufacturing. Whole communities stabbed in the back when their jobs were pulled from under them and exported around the world. The people who defend these actions will call it an evolution from dirty industry and a lack of working standards to the slightly less class-focused society of tertiary progress. However, other civilised nations have shown you can have progress and workers rights while still having a meaningful engineering and manufacturing base. I'm looking at you Germany.

Britain on the whole still classes itself as a developed and rich nation, but under the financial services haven, propped up by blank cheques from the central bank, lies a country shedding jobs, masses of youth unemployment, fractured places without a sense of community or identity and declining living standards. Pretty picture it ain’t!

So what's all this got to do with a beer tax you might now be asking? Well there aren’t any more British car makers to break, no more industrial towns to force into wholesale unemployment without prospects and no more significant manufactures of machinery to extinguish, we have the second largest trade deficit in the world after all. The last viable, traditional but innovative, and successful industry left in Britain is the brewing industry and the Government has placed it firmly in their crosshairs. Like the famous fabled scorpion of frog stinging shame, they just can't help themselves.

The BBPA say that there are currently 20,000 people employed in the UK brewing industry, and that each person in the brewing industry generates 18 jobs in pubs, 1 job in agriculture, 1 job in the supply chain and 1 job in retail. This means that the UK brewing sector provides employment for 420,000 people. Such a large employer of British workers, and a high percentile of them young people, surely can't be a bad thing in such times of economic hardship? The government believe the opposite. The last two ruling Government's of the UK have raised tax on beer nearly 50% in five years! Yes you read that correctly, nearly a 50% rise. Is there any industry that wouldn't be pushed to braking point after such outright thievery?

Every sound minded person should be shocked to read that we pay more than TEN TIMES as much tax on beer as Germany and that Britons pay 40% of all the beer tax in the EU yet drink only 13% of the stuff. That's not the icing on the cake though, oh no, even the Treasury Department admit that each time beer tax has gone up, the revenue generated has gone down. It's actually costing money to be this extortionate!

We must not let any more people get thrown on the unemployment scrapheap. We must not let more community pubs become unviable for their owners or unaffordable for their patrons thus forcing the wise imbiber into lonely seclusion at home, and the unwise onto the streets with cheap supermarket swill, unchecked, instead of in the cosy safety of a local, charming inn where their peers can set a moral and healthy example. It's not just jobs and the economy at stake here you see, it's the very fabric of British society at risk. Successful prosperous communities exist because of the traditional British pub, not the local supermarket or a heaving Jobcentre Plus. The line must be drawn here. No further.

Sign this petition for starters, it's important, tell your friends, get them to sign it too.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29664

Post Office Vaults

When I first heard that the dive formerly known as Bash Bar on New Street, Birmingham, was to reopen as a craft beer establishment I wondered if the people involved would be brave enough to make it a venue the city centre has been crying out for. A place that not only had great British real ales but also has the bottle, quite literally, to scour the world for foreign excellence too. Hindered by its semi-underground, windowless, petite interior, I can understand why the venue won't have enticed all but the most daring entrepreneurs. Step forward Nigel Barker and Mike Perkins...

Post Office Vaults, as it's now rechristened, opened just before Christmas, its 8 real ale hand pumps are complimented by its large draught cider range and... wait for it... 250 different beers from around the globe. A number that has been increasing each and every week its been open to meet demand. A delightful selection of American, Belgian, German and others are ready to seduce you from the pages of the satisfyingly weighty beer menus available at the bar.

There isn't much you can do with such a small space but what has been done has been done well. Post Office Vaults feels cosy, it feels welcoming, it's a smart place, unlike its garish predecessor. There's beer paraphernalia from around the world on the walls, a few towering jeroboams and other impressively sized bottles of great beers in a corner here and there and even a bar billiard table, though I have absolutely no idea how to play the thing. It's the beer selection doing all the talking here though, along with the, importantly, knowledgeable and friendly staff.

So when you're next in the second city remember you can now sample everything from a Abbaye de Rocs to a Westmalle via a De Molen and a Nøgne. Sounds great doesn't it? The full list is here in all its glory: http://www.postofficevaults.co.uk/foreignbeer.php

Post Office Vaults can be accessed either by its smaller entrance on New Street near the historic Victoria Square or its other more visible entrance round the corner on Pinfold Street.

A flying visit to London, the Big Smoke, my hometown

I popped down to the capital last weekend, I try to get back to the place of my origin as often as possible. I spent the first 18 years of my life growing up there and even now whilst residing in the Principality of Halesowen the past 9 years I still feel like a Londoner. A proper Londoner, mind, not a plastic cockney geezer, nor one of those delightfully brain-dead folks who may possibly use the phrase 'totes amaze'. Actually, take note, if I ever use that phrase in open conversation I’m allowed to be shot.

Last weekend's trip wasn't actually planned as a beer adventure, more a poker night with friends in Raynes Park but with as much beery-goodness as possible crammed in-between. It's the latter though that brings a wry smile to my face. You see, when I lived in London it was pretty much a beer desert, the truly great pubs were few and far between, big breweries existed but the microbrewery revolution seemed to have passed it by. You could get plenty of big cocktails with half a tree inside or a whole banana plonked in, and of course there were hundreds of poncey places too, but real beer? Rare as rocking horse ****.

This has, remarkably, now all changed, London has an interesting situation, almost paradoxical, where the Big Smoke is both a real ale and craft beer novice and rip roaring pioneer at the same time. In recent years top class breweries and venues have exploded on to the scene. There are now more than 20 microbreweries in London and most produce eye-wateringly good stuff.

The pubs and bars too are now first rate, beer enthusiasts need to visit these three at least once in their lives:

The Craft Beer Co – With just short of 40 beers on tap, Craft has a formidable arsenal awaiting the discerning customer. A venue for the truly enlightened drinker, pretty much every beer style is catered for and if it isn't on draught they'll surely have a bottle of it behind the bar. The definitive Ratebeer.com has this as the 4^th best bar in the whole world... who could argue against that.

CASK Pub & Kitchen – CASK, which opened in 2009, has 24 beers on tap and a colossal 500 bottled beers to choose from. Again choice is the all encompassing philosophy here. Imbibers have never been so spoilt!

Lastly, The Southampton Arms – 'Ale, Cider, Meat' reads the sign on the wall outside. A respectable 12 beers, 6 ciders and the best collection of pork pies I've ever tasted reside on the inside. This is a real rustic, traditional pub complete with piano player, roaring fireplace and cosy garden, charm and character abounds. A proper pub. The whole experience here was so good that after leaving to visit another venue I came back for my second visit of the day. How I wish I still lived up the road...

So there we have it, London, a new London, not the old, mostly beerless London but a new action-packed, buzzing, youthful and revolutionary London. What took you so long?

Professor Cornelius Ampleforth's Bathtub Gin

I do love a good gin, the historically maligned social terror of the 18^th century features in an early blog post of mine, (here). However, when I'm in a particularly sophisticated mood, the ice cube clinking, radiant refreshment of a gin and tonic becomes my drink of choice. Sorry Hogarth...

I discovered a new concoction over Christmas, bought from my friends over at Stirchley Wines, the intriguingly named Professor Cornelius Ampleforth's Bathtub Gin. Alas, I have no idea who Professor Cornelius Ampleforth is, but as he is bringing forth such efficacious substances then he is a top bloke in my mind.

So, Bathtub Gin, the bottle design by the way is brilliant. It's covered in slightly crinkled brown paper, flax twine tightly bound round the neck, and a cork stopper covered in dipped wax which you have to peal off first to get to. This along with the hand-drawn printed artwork and very tiny, nearly impossible to read, text about its delights inside makes it a real standout.

With only a relativity small number of botanicals present: Juniper, Coriander, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Orange Peel and Clove, this gin delivers a balanced and extremely drinkable delight. The drink itself bursts with juniper and citrus and has a viscous oily quality that I can only assume comes from it being created using its traditional cold-compounding method. It's bold, aromatic and extremely smooth, so much so that you'd get away with drinking it neat. I also rather expect it to be pretty useful in a dry martini too, though I've yet to mix it with any vermouth.

So there you have it, the only cold compound gin on the market and definitely a welcome addition to the premium gin scene.

Christmas Drinking 2011

With the festive season all too quickly over and the weather in England being its usual bleak mid January self I thought it a good time to reminisce over the magnificent beers I'd stocked for Christmas day. Here they are in all their glory...

Silly Saison, 5.2%

The brewery of Silly is situated south of Brussels on the way to Mons. 16 different beers are produced but it's their Saison that they're really known for. A nutty, caramel beer, spicy and fruity with a balancing citrus finish. Slightly darker than your average Saison. Silly name, serious beer.

Marble Brewery Lagonda IPA 5%

This beer from Manchester based Marble is; quadruple hoped, spicy, peppery, citrusy and includes a very dry finish. Uncomplicated, refreshing and thirst-quenching.

Hardknott Queboid 8%

Hardknott was started in December 2005, it's based in Millom, Cumbria. Their Queboid is an orange amber colour, with lots of American fruity hoppyness in the aroma. Flavour is of citrus, lots of grass and pine and some sugary caramel malt. The addition of Belgian yeast gives an added interesting element to this strong and warming beer.

Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux 9.5%

The Dupont Brewery is located in Leuze-en-Hainaut, Belgium. The current brewery, founded in 1950, is located on a working farm which itself has a rich brewing history dating back to 1759. Their 'Bons Voeux' meaning 'Best Wishes' is their holiday season saison. It's a wonderfully complex beer, spicy and herby with rosemary, sage and coriander notes that are completely captivating. Creamy hops along with Belgian yeast compliment this delicate golden coloured masterpiece with the potency of the alcohol blasting through at the finish.

Gouden Carolus Noël 10.5%

The holiday period wouldn't be complete without the Christmas Carolus. This Belgian strong ale from Brouwerij Het Anker is a lovely deep brown. The nose mixes figs and plums with spices, cloves and nutmeg, the balance is perfect, the aroma intoxicating. The flavours burst out: plum, cinnamon, raisins, anise, dark berries and even a hint of lemon. Each one both intense and delicate. The yeast rounding it all out and keeping the alcohol in check. An excellently rich fireside sipper.

Schneider Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock 12%

To compliment their already popular Schneider Aventinus (8.2%), Weissbierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn reintroduced their Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock. Prior to the 1940s the original Aventinus was transported all over Bavaria in containers that didn't have temperature control. This lead poor Aventinus to freeze along the way. Drinkers, unaware that freezing caused the concentration of the liquid by separating it from the water, were delightfully baffled by the unique (and stronger) beer that arrived. The brewmaster at Schneider decided to recreate this marvellous “mistake” and so the Aventinus Eisbock was reborn. The beer itself is sweet, malty, lots of raisin, dried fruit and port. Mistakes should always be like this.

Odell St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale 6.5%

I suppose this Summer ale was being drunk at the wrong time of the year, however, being a style of beer I adore it was a welcome contrast to some of the strong, dark monsters of early afternoon Christmas Day drinking. Odell Brewing Company, a converted 1915 grain elevator in Colorado opened in 1989, their Lupulin is everything you want in a pale ale. A pleasant new world hoppy beer with pine notes, very floral and fresh.

Schneider Weisse Tap X Mein Nelson Sauvin 7.3%

A German weisse brewed in 2011 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ABT cafés in Holland. The Nelson Sauvin hop, which is an interesting choice for a wheat beer, brings distinctive light vinous, flowery notes to a pleasantly bananary, lightly smoky brew.

Brewdog Hardcore IPA 9.2%

Brewdog need no introduction, their media exploits will have reached all but the most hardened monastic hermit communities. Their Hardcore IPA is true to its name, it's a big bold beer, bitter and sweet, packed full of hops which are only tempered by the extreme alcohol content.

Left Hand Brewing Co Fade to Black Vol.2 7.8%

This American brewery from Longmont, Colorado was founded in 1993 and has since grown to now produce approximately 35,000 barrels of beery goodness a year. Their Fade to Black Vol.2 is a smoked Baltic porter, a black and tan beer inspired by their collaboration with Nørrebro in Denmark. Flavour is of cocoa, smoke, roasted coffee and molasses.

The Kernel Export Stout London 1890 7.1%

The Kernel brewery is tucked away under a railway arch shared with a cheese maker and a salami producer in Bermondsey, just south of the River Thames, London. This beer is based on a recipe from a London Brewery in 1890, it's almost an opaque black with a beige head. Roasted and gloriously rich, flavours are espresso, dark chocolate, leather and coal balanced with a dry, woody finish. A top English stout.

So there you have it, a mighty list from my favourite day of the year, but if like Roy Wood and Wizzard you “Wish it could be Christmas everyday” a visit to the stockist Stirchley Wines, where these were procured, should let you create your own brilliant beer day for yourself.

For readers too far from Stirchley you can also check out Beers of Europe and myBrewerytap.

Meet the... Publican: Alex Marchant

 (Produced for Ales & Tales)

• Name, age, occupation?

Alex Marchant, 26, General Manager – The Beacon Hotel.

• What was your first drink?

I remember my Dad letting me drink the foam of his beer when I was a kid, I couldn't understand how anyone could stand such a foul taste. He said I'd acquire it eventually. He was right. My first pint was Enville Gothic, I was quite underage.

• What are your hobbies and interests?

Other than real ale? Craft beer. I often joke that beer and pubs are my only hobby but it's fairly accurate. I used to be rather pretentious when I was younger and say that I liked fine art, film, new wave fashion and avant-garde hip hop. Now I just like beer and pubs.

• What is your favourite beer?

Hops. I really like bold flavours in beer, über strong hops or really deep malts. I admire brewers who are willing to take a chance and push boundaries with styles, strengths and flavours, even with aspects of the brewing process (Brew Dogs' Sunk Punk for example), I've been drinking a load of craft beers recently, Mikeller's 1000 IBU and Soba Ale; a collaborative beer between Rogue Brewery and Masaharu Morimoto have really stood out. British cask wise I believe that Kinver, Hardknott, Marble and Pictish can do no wrong. I've still got a place in my heart for Black Country bitters even though my tastes may have moved on, I still love Pardoe's Bumblehole. And there's no way I can answer a question about favourite beer without mentioning the Ruby. It's a staple in my diet.

• What is your favourite

-Food?

The restaurant in the Bulls Head, a Holden's pub down the road from the Beacon is my current favourite, really excellent traditional Thai food. I'd eat there every day if possible but it's not open on Sundays.

-Drink that's not Real Ale?

Tea. I drink bucket loads of it.

-Music?

All kinds of crazy stuff.

• How did you get started in the trade?

I started as bar staff at the pub when I was 18, it was a couple of weekends before our first and only beer festival. It was an amazing place to work. I stayed on at the pub while I was studying illustration at Wolverhampton University. About 4 or so years ago, when I was in my second year, I became an assistant manager and became really involved in the pub and the trade in general, then last June I took over as general manager.

• What's the history of your pub?

It was taken over by Sarah Hughes where she began brewing the Dark Ruby in the 20s, after many years of closure the pub still remained in the family. John Hughes, Sarah's grandson, restored the pub back to it's previous Victorian style and décor and in the 80s, after finding the recipe in a cigar tin, started brewing the Ruby again.

• What are your aspirations for the business?

To be the best in the country at least once.

• What's the best and worst thing to happen in the industry in the last 5 years?

-Best

The influx of micro breweries; it's a sign that the demand for real ale is growing, it's an exciting time for our trade and the variety of different beer is as vast as it's ever been. This pleases me greatly.

-Worst

Massive duty increases, ever rising fuel and energy prices, and the stranglehold of pubco's and national breweries.

• How do you feel CAMRA could help you in your business?

CAMRA have done an awful lot for us already, our customers are converted. We're now in a lucky position where with the help of CAMRA, customers and previous management and staff we have a good reputation built up. We now face the hard work of trying to maintain it.

• Which is your favourite pub? (Can be anywhere in the country as long as you don't own it)

I love loads. The Three Kings at Hanley Castle, the Euston Tap, the Craft Brewing Co. and the Greenwich Union in London, the Wagon and Horses in Halesowen, Three Fishes in Shrewsbury, The Baltic Fleet in Liverpool. Basically, all the pubs I can remember ever going in.

Gins you should be drinking

Once again, there is a great interest in gin. However, it's a spirit that has come a long way from the medicinal origins of its inventor, the seventeenth century Dutch physician Franciscus Sylvius.

Following the coronation of William of Orange, a Dutchman, to the British throne in 1689, gin flowed across the English Channel and flooded its shores. The population of England was generally adapted to quaffing copious quantities of relatively, in comparison, low alcohol beer, so the introduction of a cheap, strong drink proved a catastrophe.

Gin Lane was one of two prints produced by English artist, William Hogarth in 1751. In contrast to its companion print, Beer Street, which depicts its people as happy, healthy and thriving on ale, Gin Lane shows starvation, madness, infanticide and decay. Several acts of Parliament (read: a nice little earner for the government) were passed to reduce the consumption of spirits, and given time, gin, after improvements in distilling technology, slowly gained the sophisticated and delectable reputation it has today.

The past few years have seen an explosion of new gin brands on the market so I thought it only right to lend my experienced drinking hand, no not the one with a glass in, the typing one, to a small list of some of the tastiest gins out there.

Martin Miller’s Gin

Martin Miller's Gin is made at the Langley Distillery in the Black Country. Its creator, Martin Miller, endeavouring to satisfy his own tastes, concocted a gin that, in his own words was: “Born of love, obsession and some degree of madness.”

This gin's earthier botanicals are distilled separately from the citrus ingredients thus creating a freshness rarely achieved by other brands. Its alchemic, botanical union consists of juniper, coriander, angelica, orange peel, orris root, cassia bark, cinnamon bark, ground nutmeg, licorice and one other secret ingredient. All gins after distillation must be reduced with water to reach the correct strength, but this is where Martin Miller's Gin goes the extra mile, thousands of them to be exact. An adventurous 3000 mile round trip to Iceland, where its glacial water, filtered through lava rock millions of years old adds yet further freshness and a unbelievably silky texture. Also, for those really special occasions their Westbourne Strength is richer due to its higher alcohol content (45.2%).

Miller's is the perfect balance of crisp, clean juniper and citric sweetness. Ultra smooth, effortlessly drinkable, enchantment in a glass. This is the gin for gin lovers. If you haven't already tried it, place it top of your list of important things to do before you die.

Plymouth

As London Dry has become the dominant style of gin worldwide it's only right to mention the often over-looked but unique Plymouth.

Oddly, Plymouth Gin is both a brand and a style. Plymouth is the only gin to have a Protected Geographical Indication within the European Union, meaning nobody can produce Plymouth style gin outside Plymouth. Plymouth's flavour results from using greater amounts of root ingredients than its London Dry counterparts, which bring a more earthy, full bodied feel. The addition of cardamom and sweet orange give a softer, sweeter but spicy finish. Plymouth gets its water from Dartmoor which adds its own clean, fresh and distinctive flavour. When making Pink Gin, always use Plymouth with your Angostura Bitters, it complements far better then the drier gins.

Their Navy Strength is bottled at 57% as this is the strength at which, if accidentally spilt on gunpowder on board a Royal Navy vessel, the gunpowder would still light! See, don't say drinking never taught you anything.

Edinburgh Gin

Edinburgh Gin launched in 2010 and harks back to the days when Edinburgh was a behemoth of distilling. In fact, in the late 1700s there were eight legal distilleries and an estimated 400 illegal illegal ones operating in Edinburgh. That's not bad going for a city with a population of around 60,000 at the time. In fact, it sounds like my sort of place.

Edinburgh Gin is batch distilled in a Scottish copper pot and the finest Scottish grain spirit is imparted with all the classic gin botanicals you'd expect. Also added to the mix is Scottish juniper, which is softer and less pungent than other varieties. Heather and milk thistle also make an appearance to give a truly Scottish feel.

A clean, refreshing, premium (43%, none of that 37.5% rubbish) gin which is unique enough in its own way to offer a serious alternative to its southern counterparts.

Lastly...

If you're going to go to the time and effort to procure these exceptional examples of botanical brilliance then don't go sloshing supermarket own-brand tonic over them. Use a premium brand with natural ingredients such as Fever Tree. Have enough lemons and limes, and always have plenty of ice cubes ready. Enjoy!

Meet the... Publican: Emily Sadler

(Produced for Ales & Tales) 

Name: Emily Sadler 

Age: 26 

Occupation: Manager of The Windsor Castle Inn

• What was your first drink?

Well the first drink worth talking about that I tried was Sadler’s Jack’s Pale Ale of course! The first batch my dad and brother brewed together in 2004. It was such an exciting experience to taste this real ale that was historically brewed 104 years previous by my great grand father in Oldbury where the original Sadler’s brewery had opened. From that first taste of real ale I was hooked and in fact JPA, as the ale is now called, is still my favourite! Perhaps it is the combination of its citrus, refreshingly zesty flavours plus a little good old-fashioned sentiment that makes this beer so great.

• What are your hobbies and interests?

Outside of work I enjoy going out for nice meals with friends and family, hunting for fabulous real ale pubs! I like to get out into the countryside when I can – I recently went camping with my boyfriend Gareth in Wales, that was fantastic. We went up the Black Mountains, which was breathtaking on a sunny day, we could see for miles! We also found some excellent real ale & cider pubs in Leominster & Hay on Wye. I also enjoy chilling out after a busy day at The Windsor by reading, listening to music; I even enjoy doing a spot of cooking too! I love going to concerts/festivals when I can but it’s sometimes difficult to find the time. I’m off to Worcester beer festival this week and obviously next week we’ve got the Black Country Beer Festival that I’m really looking forward to – fingers crossed for sunshine this year! :)

• What is your favourite beer?

Ooh there is just so many to chose from… as I mentioned earlier JPA has got to be my all time favourite but also I am loving Sadler’s Hop Bomb at the moment so refreshing and packed full of flavour! It’s quite strong for me at 5% but I’m partial to a swift half after work.

• What is your favourite:

-Food?

Chinese, Dim Sum, Seafood, Sadler’s beer battered Fish & chips! Mmm!

-Drink that's not Real Ale?

My dad has just started making home made ginger beer (Grandpa Sadler’s Ginger Beer) that we’re selling at The Windsor Castle at the moment– it tastes sooo good! It's so gingery it knocks your socks off! It has a delicious spiced flavour to it; really refreshing too, it’s definitely worth a taste!

-Music?

I like all types, genres and eras of music – I do love the old classics! I like playing a mixture of folk, blues, jazz music at The Windsor – I love playing the new album by Hugh Laurie at the moment- he plays a mixture of piano and acoustic guitar covering a great mixture of blues classics, everyone really seems to enjoy it – it’s toe tappingly good!

• How did you get started in the trade?

I had always worked in pubs and restaurants part time and thoroughly enjoyed it so when we got permission to convert part of our premises in Lye into a Tap House beside the brewery I was thrilled! Once I had finished my degree in Birmingham I joined the family business, moved in to the pub and have ran The Windsor Castle ever since. I really enjoy working in the trade – it can be a lot of hard work at times but it's really rewarding especially when customers return time after time and enjoy and appreciate the great home made food, real ale and I’d like to think excellent service we provide. I love the buzz of a heavingly busy Saturday night!

• What's the history of your pub?

The Windsor Castle Inn, Lye is historically named after the Sadler’s Tap House in Oldbury, which my Great Grandfather owned and first opened in 1900 beside The Windsor Castle Brewery. Although brewing ended here in 1927, my Grandfather John Caleb Nathaniel (known as Jack) was bought up in the brew house and passed on his passion and knowledge of brewing. Once we had re-started the brewery in 2004 we decided to not only sell to the trade but also through our own off license on site so that people could come and buy a few pints of Sadler’s ale to take home with them or take to one of the local curry houses. The ball started to roll from here and our thoughts of opening a Tap House began to grow. So in April 2006, after a lot of hard work converting and reinventing what was Sadler Print, the premises was transformed and The Windsor Castle Inn, Sadler’s Tap House was opened. We have just celebrated our 5^th Birthday!

• What are your aspirations for the business?

We have just gained permission to convert the flat above The Windsor Castle into three letting rooms. Changing the Tap House into a B & B is really exciting – I want to develop the flat into three high-class bedrooms for our customers to stay and relax in in our lovely pub. Our “Brew a Beer Days” have taken off and we have a lot of people visiting us from all over the country it will be great to offer them a place to stay with a hearty Windsor Castle breakfast in the morning! I plan on opening the pub for breakfast to everyone not just our over night guests

I hope to continue our growth and popularity, continually improving our service and products. We aim to grow as a business and expand where possible; it would be fantastic to win awards, find a second pub and do it all over again!

• What's the best and worst thing to happen in the industry in the last 5 years?

-Best

The appreciation for real ale and real food! The popularity of real ale has increased dramatically over the past few years and we are all very much more aware of the importance of knowing where are food comes from, that it is locally sourced, that the quality is high, and that it is home made! This increased awareness and appreciation has contributed to our success and popularity.

-Worst

The increasingly high beer duty and VAT is the worst thing to happen to the industry. Prices are soaring making it difficult for customers and publicans alike & the number of pubs that have closed over the last 5 years!

• How do you feel CAMRA could help you in your business?

By providing your continued support, awarding our hard work and successes where possible, advertising our pub and brewery, advising other local CAMRA groups from around the Midlands and the Country to give us a try, supporting our beer festivals and events. Keep up the good work in raising awareness for the most fantastic drink that is real ale!

• Which is your favourite pub? (Can be anywhere in the country as long as you don't own it)

My favourite pub for location and quality of food is The Ferry Boat Inn, Helford. It is located in the most idyllic spot situated on the waterfront of Helford Passage near Falmouth in Cornwall. You can sit outside on a sunny day right on the sea front eating and drinking local produce. All their seafood comes from local fishermen and their oysters and shellfish come from the river the pub is situated on – Lovely! Obviously I can’t pop there any time I fancy so day to day I like all pubs that stock a great range of real ales, ciders and interesting local drinks and produce; pubs that make an effort to stand out, be a bit different and stock and look after real ale!

Does CAMRA need a new logo?

Does CAMRA need a new logo?

Produced for BEER Issue 13 Autumn 2011 (p55).

British Airways and The Post Office, what could possibly be the link between these two organisations? Well, the answer is they both belong to a vast legion of disastrous logo re-branding attempts.

In 1996 British Airways with their expensively repainted aircraft tail-fins “representing a more international identity” very quickly fell to public backlash and a media contrasting their costly makeover with the “cost-saving” redundancies also announced at the time. Result? The Union Jacked planes were back in the skies, their new logo crashed and burned.

Forwarding five years to 2001 The Post Office Group blundered their way into redesign. Gone was the iconic crown atop words of Royal Mail in gold and pillar box red, in came, well, that multi-coloured circle thingy and the name Consignia; billed (or should that be posted) as “modern, meaningful and entirely appropriate”. After a £1.1 billion loss the logo, like unnecessary junk mail, was quickly binned.

These two British stalwarts learned a costly lesson here. Re-branding does not inspire trust, passion, or national pride, so does CAMRA need a new logo? The examples above shouldn't be ignored. If the brand isn't broken you better have a good reason for a new one. CAMRA has been an outstanding consumer success story. It's frightening to imagine what the alternative might have been. A quick look at the national site shows a very healthy 125,000 members and elsewhere CAMRA is noted as being the largest single-issue consumer group in the UK. Not doing to badly for itself I'd argue.

We need to beware of too much praise however, this isn’t the time for a round of backslapping, such would dangerously distract from the continued threat to our love of all things real ale. Does CAMRA need to divert precious time and resources to a frivolous exercise such as a new logo? Or in fact should all attention be used to mount a counter-attack against the combined foes of successive Governments hell bent on plundering the industry with monstrous tax and duty rises and the insidious anti-alcohol “health” lobbies who lump all drinkers under the same hooded yobbish garment. I think we know the answer to that one, and it isn't playing about with a drawing.

Thousands of us swell the ranks of CAMRA to rightfully promote their beloved drink, to fight an increasingly difficult rear-guard action against pub closures and to leave a legacy to a younger generation of which I myself at the tender age of 26 am included. New logos can be a success when done tastefully and intuitively but we should be fighting for quality real ale, not doodling your heritage into submission.

Roberto Ross