BLACKPOOL FESTIVAL West Stand, Bloomﬁeld Road, Seasiders ...blackpool.camra.org.uk/fa/2013/Issue_85_Winter_2013.pdf · 1 BLACKPOOL FESTIVAL West Stand, Bloomﬁeld Road, Seasiders

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BLACKPOOL FESTIVALWest Stand, Bloomfield Road,

Seasiders Way, Blackpool FY1 6JJ31st October 2013 : 5 - 11pm

1st & 2nd November : 12 - 11pm

Fylde 85_Layout 1 14/10/2013 14:25 Page 1

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Wharf Street, Howley,Warrington, CheshireTel: 01925 232800 • www.coach-house-brewing.co.uk


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Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Branch of CAMRAare delighted to welcome you to our firstBlackpool Beer and Cider Festival. For manyyears we have had successful beer festivals inFebruary in Fleetwood and more recently thepopular autumn event in Lytham. This year weare excited about moving our October festivalto Blackpool and in particular the BloomfieldRoad home of Blackpool AFC. We look forward to working at this stylishvenue in the hospitality suite in the clubs weststand. May we ask you to please respect thevenue by not consuming your own food, notattaching posters to the walls or smoking in anypart of the building?With some 80 British beers, 16 real ciders and46 different bottled beers from all over the

world, we are able tom offer our visitors a hugechoice of almost 150 beers and ciders.Elsewhere in the magazine you will see furtherdetails about some of the stars in our beerchoice. Our next festival will be Fleetwood2014. One for your diary, the event is at theMarine Hall, The Esplanade, Fleetwood and thedate:- 6th, 7th & 8th of February.We look forward to meeting you at theBlackpool Beer festival and as this will be thelast FYLDE ALE before Christmas, Marianand I with the rest of CAMRA BF&W wish youa very merry Christmas and a healthy andpeaceful 2014.

MARIAN & ALAN DOGGART

WE COMEWelcome to Fylde Ale

I would like to welcome you tothe 1st Blackpool Beer & CiderFestival here at BloomfieldRoad.

We would normally be holdingour autumn event at Lytham, which hasbeen extremely successful, but due to financiallogistics we could not hold that event this year,but I think you will agree that the replacementsite is fantastic and would like to thankeveryone at Blackpool Football club forallowing this event to happen.

We are going to hit the ground running withthis festival with 80 cask ales to choose from,some from local breweries and some not solocal. We intend to also have a few Halloweenbeers to try.

There will be around 16 different ciders andperries to choose from as well many beers fromaround the globe from our fantastically popularworld beer bar.

We will be opening from 5pm on Thursday 31st

October, so people can come and join in withwork colleagues after they finish for the dayand open from noon on 1st & 2nd November.

This year we are supporting the local StrokeAssociation, who are well appreciated aroundthe Fylde Coast and money from any unusedbeer tokens will go direct to them.

I would also like to thank our friends fromLytham Brewery, Cross Bay Brewery, ThwaitesBrewery and Fifteens Bar in St Annes who havehelped us through sponsorship.

If you wish to join CAMRA at the Festival,speak to Ian on the door and he will be able toget you £20 of Wetherspoon vouchers as well asreduced entry into the festival.

I just hope that you just enjoy yourself andcome as many times throughout the weekendas you can and support this festival so it canhopefully continue in future.

Paul Smith - Festival Chairman


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CONTACT USCONTACTFylde Ale welcomes letters, photographs, news, viewsand articles for possible publication. Please keep it briefand to the point. Please supply your name and address(this will only be published with your permission).The editors retain the right to edit any submissions. Theopinions expressed in this publication are those ofthe writers and not necessarily those of the editors,Blackpool, Fylde & Wyre Branch of CAMRA or CAMRAitself.

Contact the editors at:7, CARISBROKE CLOSE, POULTON-LE-FYLDE. FY6 7UA:01253 894778: [email protected] Website:www.blackpoolcamra.org.uk

YOUR RIGHTSComplaints about short measure should be addressedinitially to the landlord. If you are still not satisfied youshould contact your local Trading Standards Officer:LANCASHIRE: County Hall, Preston. 01772 254868.BLACKPOOL: Enforcement & Quality Standards,Progress House, Clifton Road, Blackpool.FY4 4US.01253 478359

Listed below are the current Blackpool Fylde &Wyre branch of CAMRA committee members andtheir contact details –:

CHAIRMAN Paul [email protected]

VICE-CHAIR Ian [email protected]

BRANCH CONTACT/SECRETARY Maggie [email protected]

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Ian [email protected]

TREASURER John [email protected]

IT OFFICER Gary [email protected]

PUBS OFFICERS Ray Jackson & Ian Ward

SOCIAL OFFICER Rick [email protected]

NEWSLETTER EDITORS Marian & Alan [email protected]

PUBLICITY OFFICER Russ [email protected]

BEER FESTIVALS CHAIRMAN Paul [email protected]

Karl Oyston & Contacts

A MESSAGE FROMKARL OYSTONCHAIRMAN OFBLACKPOOL

FOOTBALL CLUB

Blackpool FootballClub is pleased to beable to host the 1st

CAMRA BlackpoolBeer & Cider Festivaland to welcome allits customers to ourstadium.

I know that the localbranch has built up areputation for holdingsuccessful events such

as the annual festivals in Fleetwood and, morerecently, in Lytham, and we’re delighted tobe able to help stage their first festival inBlackpool. Here’s to a great festival.

Karl OystonChairman, Blackpool Football Club


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World Classics & World Beers

WORLD CLASSICSGradually, over the years, the beer festivalsorganised by the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyrebranch of CAMRA have gained a positivereputation for the range and quality of bottledbeers we offer from outside the UK. Thiscurrent Blackpool festival selection builds onthe reputation by offering a selection of classic,top quality beers.For the first time we have available one ofthe new, exciting, craft-beers from Italy, acountry, which over a very few years, hasbuilt a reputation for quality beer. You canread more about the beer AMA Bionda,elsewhere in this magazine.Our range of beers from the USA includeclassics, from Anchor in San Francisco,Brooklyn in New York and Goose Island,Chicago. Newcomers from the states are twoterrific beers from Founders from GrandRapids, Michigan.From Belgium, the greatest brewing country onthis planet, we offer you a range of beers each

one a classic in its own right. We have a classyrange of those popular fruit beers. As examplesof monastery brewed Trappist beers we haveRochefort 6° and that superb Chimay Blue-cap.That iconic beer from Antwerp, De Koninck,the finest pale ale ever brewed? Oerbierbrewed by my mate Kris Herteleer from thequirky “Mad Brewers” in Essen. Something new from Japan, their stylishKIUCHI HITACHINO NEST AMBER. The listgoes on, we have the two best beers brewedin Australia, Coopers Sparkling and LittleCreatures. A Biere de Gard from France brewedat the brewery owned by Gerard Depardieu.From Germany we have, fresh from thebrewery, two of the five Munich Oktoberfestbeers – a rare find in the UK. The list really isendless, just be cautious some of these beersare very strong. Simply, enjoy! Our complete list follows, however theremay be some changes to this list if the beersordered are no longer available. All our beersare limited in quantity and when they’re gone,they’re gone.

AMERICAANCHOR - BRECKLES BROWN 6.0%Born in San Francisco, coppery brown an unusualdepth of flavour.

ANCHOR CALIFORIA LAGER 4.8%In 1876, Boca brewery created California's firstlager. This is Anchor’s re-creation of this historicbeer.

BROOKLYN EIPA 6.8%An outstanding example of how an IPA should taste.

BROOKLYN LAGER 5.2%Lager beer in the “Vienna” style, a New Yorkfavourite.

FOUNDERS PALE ALE 5.4%A testament to Cascade hops in a bottle

FOUNDERS PORTER 6.5%Cozy like velvet. It’s a lover, not a fighter Wonderful!.

GOOSE ISLAND HONKERS ALE 4.3%Inspired by visits to English country pubs, an English-style bitter.

GOOSE ISLAND IPA 5.9%A hop lover’s dream with a fruity aroma.

BLACKPOOL 2013 WORLD BEERS


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AUSTRALIACOOPERS SPARKLING ALE 5.8%A tasty pale ale, one of Australia best

LITTLE CREATURES PALE ALE 5.2%An American-style pale ale, arguably Australias bestbeer.

BELGIUMBARBAR BOCK 8.0%A winter beer merges the softness of honey and thestrength of alcohol.

BRIGAND 9.0%Strong Belgian ale with a malty sweetishand fruity citrus aroma

CHIMAY BLUE CAP 9.0%One of the “great” Trappist beers, a true stunner.

CORSENDONK AGNUS 7.5%An abbey beer with a distinctive and delicate, perfumed, hop character

DE KONINCK 5.25%A superb classic pale ale, unbeatable.

DELIRIUM NOCTURNUM 8.5%A nice balance between bitterness, sour and sweet

DUCHESSE DE BOURGOGNE 6.2%Deliciously sour and quenching, a wonderful beer.

KARMELIET TRIPEL 8.4%Straw coloured Abbey beer, a “Tripel” because of thethree grains used.

KASTEEL BLOND 7.0%An uncompromising strong blonde ale,golden in colour.

LA CHOUFFE 8.0%Sparkling, strong, fruity spicy beer with lots offlavour

OERBIER 9.0% Nat en Straf means Wet and Strong,it has a 9% alcohol content. Superb!

QUINTINE HERCULE 9.0%Smooth, robust and hoppy a truly great stout.

ROCHEFORT 6 7.5%Dark, dryish, easy-drinking dubbel.

SAISON DUPONT 6.5%Thirst quencher with a dry bitterness

VEDETT BLOND 5.0%Sweet and fruity with a hoppy background.

FRANCEBELLEROSE 6.5%A blond, easy-drinking Biere de Gard.

FRUIT & CHOCOLATE BEERS(BELGIUM)FLORIS CHOCOLATE 4.2%Bitter, with a dry aftertaste, 60% barley, 40% wheatwith chocolate.

FLORIS FRAISE 3.6%Strawberry flavour, sweet with a slight bitter touch.

FLORIS PASSION FRUIT 3.6%Warm & rich with a perfect harmony betweenaroma & taste.

FRÜLI STRAWBERRY 4.1%The ultimate strawberry beer from Ghent, has itsown fan-club

LIEFMANS CUVEE BRUT 6.0%A very stylish Kriek (cherry) beer on a sour, brown-ale base. Stunning!

MONGOZO BANANA 4.5%Fair Trade product, banana flavour and aroma

MONGOZO COCONUT 3.5%Uses mangozo quinoa and natural coconut milk.

MORTE SUBITE KRIEK 4.5%Classy, refreshing, sweet cherry beer

based on a lambic beer.


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British Beer & Cider List

TIMMERMANS FRAMBOIS 4.0%Delicious, very ripe raspberries hide the sour lambic.

TIMMERMANS KRIEK 4.0%Sweet and velvety, on a lambic base

TIMMERMANS STRAWBERRY 4.0% Its luminous colour and its fruity freshnessare a treat for taste-buds and eyes alike

GERMANY ERDINGER HEFEWEISS 5.3%The best selling and arguably best, German Wheatbeer, cloudy

ERDINGER KRISTALL 5.3%The clear version of the one above

FRÜH KOLSCH 4.8%Light golden colour, clean & crisp

HACKER PSCHORR OKTOBERFEST 5.8%A Marzen Bier released each year for the MunichOktoberfest.

LOWENBRAU OKTOBERFEST 5.2%Always the first beer to be released at the MunichOktoberfest

ITALYAMA BIONDA 6.0%A craft beer well worth trying.

JAPANKIUCHI HITACHINO NEST AMBER 5.5%A traditional amber Japanese beer

MEXICOPACIFICO CLARA 4.5%A pilsener beer, dates back to the beginning of1900’s

BRITISH BEERAND CIDER LIST

Because of publication dates, deadlinesand very last minute ordering, unknownavailability of certain beers and ciders aswell as numerous other reasons beyond theEditors’ control it is impossible to produce acomprehensive and definitive list of the BritishBeers and Ciders that will be available at ourBlackpool Festival. These lists will be availableat the entrance to the festival.Having spoken to Rick and Gary who havechosen the beers there are a number to look outfor. Our two local breweries, Lytham and FuzzyDuck are producing specials for the festival. Abeer produced by Lytham will mark the 75th

anniversary of the local Lytham Round Table,Fuzzy Duck will honour the football club whoare our hosts with a beer called TangerineDuck. Acorn, the award winning Barnsleybased brewery have, as head brewer DaveHughes who is a “sandgrownun,” fromThornton Cleveleys, and a Blackpool fan, hisTangerine Dream is his tribute to the club.CAMRA’s stunning “Champion Beer of Britain”Elland 1872 Porter, brewed by Elland breweryin West Yorkshire. The first porter to win thecompetition, made using an 1872 recipe andcoming in at 6.5% also won the Winter Beerscompetition, will be on sale.The new Fleetwood Brewery, which will be upand running sometime next year has producedits first beer, contract brewed at the ReedlyHallows brewery in Burnley, this will beavailable at the festival. The beer is calledFirst Trawler.Keep your eyes open for a White Stout from theDurham Brewery, that is just a few from the 90real ales from the UK on offer.


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Cider & Perry at the Festival & Sponsors

CIDER AND PERRYAT THE FESTIVAL

The 1st Blackpool Beer and Cider Festival ispleased to be able to offer you a choice of 11real ciders and 5 real perries, in varying styles,sourced from around the British Isles. At thetime of going to press, we have yet to confirmwith the supplier exactly which ciders andperries will available, but as soon as we know,we'll post a list on the Blackpool, Fylde andWyre branch website. Different tastes willbe catered for, with sweet, medium and drystyles. Some will be cloudy, in the style oftendescribes as 'scrumpy', and some will be paleand clear. As with the real ale bar, the ciders

and perries willbe available inpint, half-pintand third-of-a-pint measures,to make it easierto sample themresponsibly.

When we talk about 'real' cider and perry, werefer to traditional products, that have beenneither pasteurised nor carbonated, ideallymade from specially designated cider apples orperry pears. The more heavily processedproducts generally found in pubs are far lesscomplex and satisfying then the traditionalstyles. Unfortunately these traditional stylesare under serious threat, even in theirheartland, the south-west of England. CAMRAsupports the production of real cider and perry,and we campaign to highlight the choice ofthese products available. For more informationabout cider and perry, visit the CAMRAnational website:http://www.camra.org.uk/cider

We'll be happy to help you find a cider you'llenjoy, and so look forward to seeing you at thecider and perry bar!

Vanessa Gledhill - Cider Bar Manager

FESTIVAL SPONSORS

The Festival committee would like to thank thegenerosity of the following companies for theirassistance in sponsoring this festival. Thesebusinesses go out of their way to support ourfestival, we are sure they would appreciate anysupport you can give them. In addition wewould like to thank Blackpool Football Club andtheir generous assistance in allowing us to usetheir facilities. The sponsors of the festival arelisted below:

Cross Bay Brewery

Fifteens Bar, St Annes

Lytham Brewery

Thwaites Brewery


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In August Marian and I paid our annual visit toCAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival at Olympiain London, the festival having moved backthere after a number of years at Earl’s Court. Ahuge event offering an amazing range of beers.However, we inevitably head for the “Bièressans Frontier” area, to sample some of theworld’s great beers. An enormous, diverse andexciting array of US cask-conditioned beers,sadly not always served at their best, often toowarm (American beers are usually so “big” theyneed to be sampled chilled) – and flat, theylack carbonation and could use a good old“northern” sparkler to liven up the beer.We enjoyed an afternoon in the company ofour nephew Barry (who works for the McLarenF1 Organisation in Woking), together with Pamand Stan Eaton from that terrific Preston pub,the Old Black Bull at the bottom of Friargate inthe town centre. In the middle of the afternoonwe were joined by Pam & Stan’s daughter-in-law who I was amazed to realise is MelissaCole, one of the worlds most respected,knowledgeable and entertaining beer writers.In person she is charming and friendly.She had just returned from being part of thejudging panel for the Champion Beer of Britain,incidentally she has made a reputation as avery successful international beer judge.

“LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT BEER” is the titleof a splendid guide to beer written by Melissaand published by Pavillion. If you are lookingfor a suitable Christmas present for yourself ora friend with an interest in beer, this would bea great choice. It is accurately described on thejacket under the following points;-the best basic

beer primer on the market – no jargon, nosnobbery, no previous knowledge assumed –beer styles and flavours clearly explained –practical details; choose, buy, serve and tastebeer with confidence – beer and food matching;get it right every time – over 200 recommendedbeers to try from around the world, withMelissa’s original tasting notes.Melissa is a regular columnist with theGuardian and can often be seen at top food anddrink festivals worldwide.She has an ethos on beer which hinges on threepoints:- - Beer is, and always should be, fun –learning more about beer will help you enjoyit more – you may say you don’t like beer, I sayyou just haven’t met the right one yet.A self-proclaimed “beer-nerd”, she actuallycomes across as not at all pompous or arrogantabout the subject and is, in fact, most charmingand unassuming. She loves to debunk themyths that have grown up around the topic, forexample “Beer is fattening – in fact it is lowerin calories that most other alcoholic drinks”;“It’s gassy and makes me bloated - you mustbe a fan of mass-produced lager, try real ale”;“It doesn’t go with food as well as wine – In factin many cases beer is a much better matchfor food than wine.” Melissa devotes a wholesection of her book to matching beer with food.Melissa was a university student in Preston andfound a job working behind the bar in the OldBlack Bull. It was there that she met the bossesson, Ben and her two loves, Ben and real alecame on the scene at the same time. Somewords from the Authors Acknowledgementspage of Melissa’s book are, “To Pam and StanEaton, love you, and thanks for introducing meto great beer”. Looking back on the many happylunch-hours I spent in that cracking pub whenI worked in Preston some years ago, I owe Pamand Stan a similar debt of gratitude.

ALAN DOGGART

Thanks to Melissa and Pavilion for allowing meto quote from her book.

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT BEER!

Let Me Tell You About Beer!


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There has been a clamour (well OK, a coupleof you have mentioned it) for more local stuffin Fylde Ale. So of course yours truly has fallenfor it and the plan is that this will be a regularfeature from here on in. Please feel free to dropme a line at [email protected] with anything you think mightbe of interest to our readers. So, here goes-

Last time I mentioned that St Annes CricketClub on Vernon Road, St Annes, had recentlyheld its first beer and wine festival. Theyhad over 40 beers and Chris Joy is to becongratulated on putting on such an impressiveselection. Chris was more than ably assisted bynone other than Ian Rigg and next year wehope to be able to give more pre-event publicityfor you. Meanwhile, they are holding a beer,wine and cider festival that co-incides with ourown event at Blackpool Football Club. Checkout their website at:www.stannescricketclub.org.

Blackpool Cricket Club, Barlow Crescent,had also just been voted CAMRA’s LancashireClub of the Year 2013. This is a huge achievementyet again by Pete Campbell and all the teamat the club, beating off competition fromother clubs serving quality real ale all acrossLancashire. The Club recently held its secondannual beer festival and we’re hoping to see itgrow.

The County, Lytham has undergone a majorrefurbishment and is now open again with anItalian twist on the food, with pizza and pastadishes, similar to the Albion.

The Royal Oak on Lord Street, Fleetwood(locally known as Dead ‘Uns) has been takenover by the Fleetwood Pub Company. It isopen and being re-vamped, and the intentionis it’ll be run on the same lines as the nearbyStrawberry Gardens.

Our current branch Pub of the Year, the

Strawberry Gardens now has up to 18 caskbeers available. Both the Strawberry and theRoyal Oak offer discount on cask ale to CAMRAmembers or accept CAMRA Wetherspoonvouchers. Plans are moving ahead for a new breweryat the back of the Strawberry, to be home toFleetwood Brewing Company at around early2014. Until then their beers are being brewedelsewhere under license.

Ma Kelly’s South, Lytham Road, Blackpool,has 5 ales and cider.

The Mount, Fleetwood is to be refurbished,with plans to re-open the vaults.

The King Edward VII on Central Drive, Blackpool,is a real ale gain, having been re-opened as aJohn Barras franchise offering pub food anddrinks with a focus on sports and entertainment.The manager is Ashley Brown and we wishhim success.

The Highlands, in Bispham at the Promenade’sjunction with Red Bank Road, has re-openedafter a spruce up.

A welcome return after closure is the FarmersArms in Great Eccleston, having undergone a£750,000 refurbishment and now owned by theSeafood Pub Company with Jocelyn and ChrisNeve at the helm along with Antony Shirley.The White Bull on the market square remainsa strong real ale outlet but at the time of writingthe nearby Black Bull is closed.

The closure of Blackpool’s Blue Room(formerly the Stanley Arms) on Church Streethas been a sorry tale. It is owned by EnterpriseInns and landlord Andy Daubney had fought along, losing battle to keep it viable.

Work is underway on the conversion of theformer Edge club in Poulton into aWetherspoon pub. I’m told it is to be called

News from the Home FrontNews from the Home Front


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Burlington’s Bar

the Poulton Elk with a mid-Decemberopening date planned. Tim Martin’s company

rarely, if ever, gets itschoice of locationwrong and we cananticipate anotherquality developmentin a small town centrethat is well blessed

with good pubs. The Thatched House isholding a winter beer festival 30th November to15th December.

News reaches me of Joseph Holts plans tobuild a pub as part of the Heyhouses Lanedevelopment in Fylde, and Greene Kinghope to build a pub on Fleetwood Road North,Thornton.

Wardy

Earlier this year one of our local pubs won aprestigious national CAMRA award. It joineda small group of pubs on CAMRA’s NationalInventory of Pub Interiors. Sadly GreeneKing haven’t managed to incorporate thisarchitectural gem into the public area of thepremises in question. The bar I am talkingabout is Burlington’s bar, situated opposite StAnnes on Sea railway station, underneath, butpart of the Town House public house.

It is described as follows in the campaign’sinventory:- “Burlingtons Bar is quite simplyone of the greatest pub rooms in Britain – a lateVictorian below-ground bar covered from headto foot with tiles and having a magnificentceramic bar-counter. When the St Annes Hotelwas demolished in 1985 and replaced by the

Crescent pub – now the Town House – theoriginal basement bar, once known asBurlington Berties, was preserved and becamea night club by the name of Tiles. The bar,which is easily visible through the windows, isan excellent example of complete fitting-out byCraven Dunnill, dating no doubt from the late1890’s, and includes a good geometric tiledfloor, moulded wall tiling (some plain, someflowers and patterns) and an exceedingly longceramic bar-front in one of the firms twostandard designs. It is identical to the bar-frontat the Red Lion, Erdington, Birmingham andthe Crown, Belfast and in colour is mostlyyellow, brown , green and pink, with somefloral motifs. It has a fairly restrained bar-back:the lion heads conceal appertures that onceheld pipes for dispensing spirits”

Green King’s web-site stated in June of thisyear, “The Town House is a famous locallandmark which offers great value food anddrink in comfortable surroundings…….. andhouses a historick (sic) restored many yearsago from the old first-class railway station in adownstairs function room.”

BURLINGTON’S BAR


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Pub News & Beer for Fleetwood

THE POULTON ELKGreat news for Fylde beer buffs, Wetherspoonare to open another of their pubs, the eighth inthe area, if I have counted accurately. Thebuilding which previously housed the Edgenightclub on Hardhorn Road will open onthe 17th December as The Poulton Elk, just intime for Christmas celebrations. Contrary torumours it will be a J D Wetherspoon pub, nota Lloyds.It’s a great name fora Poulton pub. Theoriginal Poulton Elk isa 13,500 year oldskeleton that wasfound in Hardhorn in1970 and can still beseen at the HarrisMuseum and artGallery in Preston.More news in the next edition.

WETHERSPOON BEER FESTIVALThose seven Fylde Wetherspoon pubs in ourarea join those in the rest of the country in a“UNITED STATES MEETS UNITED KINGDOMREAL ALE FESTIVAL”. It runs from the 16th tothe 31st October and features ten beersproduced in this country by American Craftbrewers together with a further 40 from the UK. There are some stunners on the list includinga number brewed exclusively for the festival.Everards are producing a unique Pumpkin Ale;Tring have Waimea using New Zealand hopsand a rye malt; Roosters All Star, cirus hops;Titanic a Cappuccino stout; Brewsters a veryArromatic Porter. One of the American beers iscalled Tree Hugger (5%), brewed by Terrapinbreweries Brian “Spike” Buckowski, this guyfrom the Athens, Georgia brewery is one ofthose American beer-boys that had such a goodtime at our Fleetwood festival a few years ago.It’s a German-style Alt beer well worth lookingfor.

FLEETWOOD BREWINGS NEW OUTLET

Fleetwood Pub Company opened its secondreal ale pub in June this year. On Lord Streetin Fleetwood’s town centre the Royal Oak hasbeen reopened by the local pub group who alsoown the very successful Strawberry Gardens,who earlier this year won our local branch pubof the year.The pub group has a sister company, theFleetwood Brewing Co. They have releasedtheir first beer, First Trawler, which is currentlybeing contract brewed by Reedley HallowsBrewery of Burnley. MD Dave Shaw said,“We plan to open our brewery behind theStrawberry Gardens in early 2014. More newsabout this development in future editions.

PUB NEWS

CHOOSE YOUR BEER FOR

FLEETWOOD 2014Fleetwood Beer Festival for 2014 will beheld on 6th – 8th February 2014, so why notrecommend your favourite beer and we willtry and get it for you.We have over 1700 members within ourBranch, but see less than 100 of thosemembers per year at our meetings and socialtrips and would like to encourage the 1600members we don’t see to get more involved.What better than to start your involvementthan to recommend to us what you want to seeat our Fleetwood Festival. Whether it be light,dark, weak or strong we will try our level bestto get it.Please email myself at:- [email protected] the 1st December and I will keep youinformed on progress.

Paul SmithFleetwood Festival Chairman


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It’s 2 years since Ivisited Corfu, andwrote an article forFylde Ale. I returnedto Corfu for 2 weeksin June 2013, andvisited Corfu breweryagain. I’d emailedClaudio the headbrewer to say I’d bevisiting, and he metme on arrival atArillas in the NW of the Greek island.I told Claudio how I’d enjoyed his beer in theUK at Wetherspoons recently, when he brewedfor their beer festivals as one of the guestinternational brewers. He thinks my article inFylde Ale may have brought Corfu beer to theirattention, prompting his invite to the festivals.He brewed Koroibos Ale for them in Summer2012, and Ionian Coffee Porter in Spring 2013,both brewed under his guidance at Everardsbrewery in Leicester.Brewing in Corfu started 5 years ago, and theoutput has nearly tripled in the last 2 yearswith the addition of new kit, and 15 people are

now employed. The island now seems moreaware of what real ale is, seen by the largenumber of bars that now sell Corfu beer. It iscurrently only sold on the island, but followingrequests from the UK, USA, and Australia, theymay export next year. The 7.5% Barley Wine introduced 2 years agoas a winter beer, has proved so popular it is nowbrewed all year round. There are future plansfor a fruit beer from the abundant fruit grownon the island, and a ginger beer was introducedrecently. There is also a plan for a beer & food festivalat the brewery in October 2013. Guestbrewers from Bavaria are being invited over inSeptember to brew their beer, so it will be readyfor the festival. And they may do he same in2014 with guest brewers from the UK.I was again impressed with Claudio’scommitment to producing real ale, and pleasedto see how well the brewery was doing. I leftwith 2 cases of my favourite, the 5% dark CorfuBitter. Yamas.www.corfubeer.com

Chris Harring

IN FYLDE ALE 84 Iwrote about therefurbishment at theOld England inBispham Village andthe fact that it hada change of name to“The Albion”, seeminglythere had been anearlier pub of thatname on the site. I also

mentioned the fact that there appeared to be nophotographs in existence of the original pub.Well, our wonderful readers came up trumpsagain, I was contacted by a member, John Rylewho knew of such pictures, and thanks to John

I can reproduce below, two photographs of theoriginal pub. Our special thanks to ProfessorDavid Brigden for allowing us to reproduce thepictures.

ALAN DOGGART

THE ALBION

RETURN TO CORFU

The Albion & Return to Corfu


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40th Birthday & Social Trips

And so the summer ends and your branchsocial committee have put their heads together,I'd much prefer that they all have their ownpint but the others prefer to put a straw intomine, and have come up with a number of tripsfor the next few months.

But first a quick note about how we run ourtrips. Those who are irregular travellers with usmay not be aware that we have made a numberof changes to our pick up and set down routes.These are fully detailed on the branch websiteso I won't go into great details here but theheadlines are that the Fleetwood pick up movesto the Strawberry Gardens and we are adjustingthe routes between stops so that all customerswill have one trip round the Fylde, whereas inthe past some had two and some none (in otherwords if the bus picks up Poulton-Thornton-Fleetwood-Blackpool-St Annes, it drops off inthe same order).

And so to our trips

16th November 2013 - Huddersfield (Too manygood pubs to mention in here, but you'llhave plenty of time to explore many of them).Picking up at Poulton 9:30am; Thornton:9:40am; Fleetwood: 9:50am; Blackpool:10:10am; St. Annes: 10:30am.

7th December 2013 - Our Christmas Walkaboutwill be staged on the Fylde Coast. We are firming details at the moment but weintend to start in Lytham about noon, movingto St Annes about 1430. We'll get into Blackpoolabout 1600 and finally arrive in Fleetwoodabout 1830. Feel free to join us at any point. Final details should be on the branch websiteby the time you read this.

14th December 2013 - We'll be heading southfor a trip around some of the heritage pubs ofthe West Midlands. Three, Ma Pardoes, TheVine and The Beacon all brew their own beertoo. Departure time will be about 8:40 fromPoulton but is currently being confirmed and ison the branch website.

And into the new year where after our normalbreak, we are currently firming up plans for atrip around Cheshire in March and a trip toNewcastle in the summer. But more of themnext time.

Cheers!

Rick Pickup

You may not know, but in March 2014, theBlackpool, Fylde and Wyre Branch willcelebrate its 40th birthday. The originalmeeting took place in March 1974 in the KingsArms, which sadly does not exist anymore,being demolished as part of Talbot GatewayProject. To celebrate our Ruby anniversary weare going to hold two events next year. The firstevent is to have the March Branch meeting inthe nearest place to that original meeting,which is the Ramsden Arms, more details to

follow over the next few months.The second event is to open Marine Hall onWednesday 5th February (the day prior to thestart of Fleetwood Beer Festival) to members ofour Branch as a celebration of the milestone. Itwill be limited only to members of the Branchand will be free entry, although unfortunatelynot free drinks. We will look forward to seepeople on the evening, more details to appearon our website and facebook page.

Paul SmithBranch Chairman

40th Birthday

Social Trips


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“All Welsh beer is *@$#!” I’ve heard this saidmany times by a friend who, by wonderfulirony, is now a brewer in Wales! I knew it to bewrong then, and definitely it is now, and so toprove it a social trip to North Wales was on,undertaken at the end of August.It was a bright and breezy morning on theFylde, and following our a quick run downthe coast via a divert past our MembershipSecretary’s house, although he didn’t invite usin for a cuppa, due to Prom being shut becauseof the Illuminations switch on, our merry bandof just under 30 headed off down the M55. Aquick trip around the roundabout at Broughtonto pick up one more and we were on our wayto North Wales.A reasonably clear run, with no delays atPassport Control, resulted in a minute earlyarrival at our first port of call, the AbbeyGrange Hotel on the outskirts of Llangollen.Home to Llangollen Brewery, there werethree of their beers available and due toit’s wonderful country setting a pleasant 40minutes were spent sat at the front of the pubin the sunshine.

A quick 10 minutes trip into the town ofLlangollen was next on the agenda wherearmed with maps people were left to theirown devices for the better part of two hours.Personally my first point of call was the CornMill, an impressively converted mill with intactwater wheel by the river. A good selection ofWelsh beer was found here, the beer I triedfrom Heavy Industry. whose name I won’tpublish as it was apparently Welsh forsomething quite rude, was excellent. Half anhour was easily wasted stood on the riversideterrace watching the day go by. A quick walkto the Ponsonby Arms followed where eightbeers were available. A few very nice beers,although these were all English, were sampledwith Three Tuns Stout being particularlyimpressive.

Back on the bus, and only a few minutes late,it was another short trip on the bus to the mainpurpose of the trip, the Bridge End Inn,Ruabon. This pub as voted CAMRA National

WONDERFUL WELSH BEER

Llangollen Brewery

Abbey Grange Hotel (home of Llangollen Brewery)

General view of Llangollen with the Corn Mill on LHS

Bridge End Inn, Ruabon

Wonderful Welsh Beer


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Pub of the Year 2012 and it wasn’t hard to seewhy. A wonderfully friendly welcome and anexcellent selection of beers, including thetwo that I tried from the on-site McGivernsbrewery, were all absolutely spot on! A friendlytour of the brewery available for those whowanted. The tickers in the group also got abrand new beer straight from the cellar, andeven a crosser sampled it!I’m not sure where the 90 minutes we werethere went but all too soon we were biddingour farewells, note to self must go thereagain, and off for another short trip on the busto the White Horse in Overton-on-Dee. Thisimpressively refurbished Joules pub, aVictorian take on aTudor coachinginn, had four oftheir beers wereavailable, and minewas certainly spoton.Keeping headingeast and crossingback over theborder intoEngland, the nextand sadly final portof call for the daywas the BhurtporeInn in Aston,Cheshire. A multi-award winning pub set in apretty little village, a selection of just 11 beerswere available for all to try. I found all mine tobe on top form, and the large rear beer gardenwas a lovely way to end the day.And so just after 7pm our slightly merrier bandwere back on the bus and heading for home. I’dlike to thank all people who attended for their excellent time keeping. Another swift journey,with thanks to Trevor our driver for the day,and after dropping people off at a number ofpoints along the coast, by half past nine, wewere back in Fleetwood in time for a couple ofexcellent beers in the Strawberry Gardens.“All Welsh beer is *@$#!” No, definitely not onthat evidence!

Rick Pickup

White Horse, Overton-on-Dee


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Brussels & Antwerp

ThursdayAfter catching the Eurostar train from London we arrived in the blistering 36 degree heat ofBrussels, one of the beer capitals of the world. After a quick check-in at the hotel we strolledacross its centrepiece, the magnificent Grand Place, and perched up at the decadent late 19th

century Le Cirio café. Of the drinks selected the highlight was undoubtedly St Feuillien Blonde,a refreshing light ale coming in at the 7.5% mark. We then made our way to Moeder LambicFontainas which with almost 50 taps has the biggest draft beer range in the city including Bandof Brewers, a cask ale brewed in partnership with Brasserie De La Senne one of the most excitingbreweries of recent years. Other highlights from the extensive menu included XX Bitter, TarasBoulba and Zinnebir, three incredible dry hopped blonde ales with long lingering flavour.Delerium Café was the final destination, a lively three floored beer mecca with a Guinness worldrecord for stocking over 2,000 bottled beers! The draft beer selection can be hit and miss andappeal to the youthful crowd but they do sell some thirst quenching rarities including those fromArdenne countryside microbrewery Rulles. The hoppy blonde La Rulles Estivale and carameledged Rulles Brune were sampled and much enjoyed as was Lupulus Brune, honey tinged Barbarblonde, fruity Delerium Cherry Red and the grapefruit sourness of Pink Killer. At 2am we decidedto have an early night in preparation for the next day of sightseeing.

FridayThe heat had intensified by our second day, reaching 38 degrees which is completely unheard ofin Belgium. It was so hot that it could give you sunstroke, so we tried to stay in the shade to avoidan early end to the day! We started the day roaming around the upper town taking in theParliament Building and imposing Palace of Justice before making our way to the excellentCantillon Brewery Museum in Anderlecht. The brewery produces an ancient style of beer knownas lambic which is the base for the making of Gueuze, a spontaneous fermentation beer withnaturally occurring yeast. After a tour of the brewery we sampled some of the sour beers includingkriek which adds cherries and framboise which adds raspberries. We then ventured into the ornatemirrored café A La Mort Subite which translates as instant death! Luckily we escaped unharmedand returned to Moeder Lambic where De la Senne Jambe de Bois, De Ranke Guldenberg, ValeirExtra, Val-Dieu blonde and Jandrain VI wheat were sampled…all a delight! Au Soleil was the nextstop where the group all opted for Zinnebir apart from one of the group who fancied a fruity beerbut ended up with a peach juice by mistake. To make matters worse for Mark the juice was calledLooza which ended up as his nickname for the rest of the trip! St Feuillien blonde was enjoyed inthe quirky and cosy puppet dominated Poechenellekelder, located opposite the weeing boy statueMannekin Pis, before we made our way to La Porte Noire, a cave-like former wine cellar with anexcellent bottled beer range. Delerium Café once again provided an early morning end to theevening, bustling with a party atmosphere the beers sampled included Rulles blonde, DeleriumTremens and St Idesbald blonde.

SaturdayAfter walking up a little bleary eyed it was time for a daytrip to Belgium’s second largest city,Antwerp. Home to one of Europe’s biggest port’s the city provided a very relaxing day. First stopwas the brown café Den Engel on the Grote Markt where we sampled the local brown ale DeKoninck otherwise known as a bolleke due to the shape of the glass it’s served in. With a very

BRUSSELS & ANTWERP BEER BONANZA1st -5th August


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local and lively crowd and long mirrors, it feels like time has stood still in this gem. A greatpanoramic view of the city and river from the top of the new Museum aan de Stroom wasfollowed by the Gollem Café which featured 30 draught beers including Kwak and WestmalleDubble. The day in Antwerp ended with more bollekes in another classic brown café, CaféDe Pelikaan a short stroll from the Cathedral. Once back in Brussels we once again visitedPoechenellekelder for another round of St Feullien blonde’s before a third visit to the franticDelerium Café where we sampled further Rulles Estivale’s alongside Belgoo Lupoo, DeleriumNocturnum and Buffalo Bitter.

SundayThe final day in Brussels was more sedate, taking insouvenir shops to buy chocolates, beers and sandals andwaffle sampling. A further trip to Cirio was followed byMoeder Lambic and a smaller version of Delerium Cafécalled Little Delerium. An early morning Eurostar back toLondon meant we were tucked up in bed before midnight,giving us plenty of rest after a busy few days spent in one ofEurope’s most under-rated cities.

Image Captions:Image 1: Pouring a gueuze at the Cantillon brewery

Image 2: Enjoying one of the 2,000 beers in Delerium Café

Image 3: The group outside DePelikaan (left to right: Jon Sutton,Mark Hurst, Graham Thompson,Michael Duckworth, SimonKnight, Brian Duckworth, GaryCordingley, Sean Taylor)

Image 4: Maturing casks at theCantillon brewery

Image 5: Panoramic view ofBrussels Lower town

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Wardy’s Wanderings...

Wardy’s Wanderings...

If you get the chance to visit Ulverston youreally should call in at the Ulverston BrewingCompany on Lightburn Road. Give brewersAnita and Paul a call on 01229-586870 and you’llreceive a warm welcome as we did when wedropped in. It’s housed in the town’s oldauction mart with its distinctive conical roof,and unlike many smaller breweries it isquite spacious – see photo below. It hasthe advantage of being just a short stroll frommy favouritepub in thetown, the StanLaurel Inn onThe Ellers,which servesexcellent beerand goodvalue food.

My wife Diane and I recently made thepilgrimage to our beloved home city ofLeicester and as usual were impressed bythe city centre pubs. It’s many years since I lastvisited the small but perfectly formed Salmonon Butt Close Lane. Last time I was there it wasa Banks’s place. It was the local branch Pubof the Year (POTY) in 2012 and has just wonit again for 2013. Raw Brewery beers, fromStaveley, Chesterfield, are a speciality andenthusiastic and friendly licensees June andSteve have been at the helm for two years andare now shifting around 25 different beers aweek. By the time you read this they’ll havestarted brewing on their own half-barrel plantin the city. I couldn’t resist trying out Pubon New Walk, the Leicester POTY of 2010 and2011. Pub has been in place for four years now,having succeeded the award-winning Vaultsand Out of the Vaults. It focuses on localregion beers (Locales) and just across the street

is the King’s Head on King Street, which hasjust come a close runner up in the local POTYcompetition. Manager John Davis has beenthere less than a year, having previouslyworked for Thwaites over in Blackburn, and hekeeps at least six real ales on, not bad for a pubthat used to be a temperance bar. Lastly, one ofmy must-visit pubs, the Criterion on MillstoneLane continues to have a staggeringly goodworld beers menu as well as proper cobs.

We followed Leicester with a stay inChesterfield. I know, I’m just a naturallyadventurous guy. Having started out on StMary’s Gate at the Spa Lane Vaults, a goodWetherspoon with top notch Ossett beers, wegot comparable good quality but a real contrastin prices at the Market on New Square. £3.45 apint had me querying my change, but a returnto St Mary’s Gate and £2.95 a pint at the WhiteSwan calmed the nerves a touch. Now this ismy sort of place, it was recommended to us byJune at the Salmon back in Leicester, a goodquality modern conversion of an older propertyand with the local Raw beers to the fore and adecent world beers list too.

I wrote about the current craft beers kerfufflein the last Fylde Ale. You only have tovisit Brewdog inLeeds’ WhiteCloth Hall, CrownStreet (see photo)to understandwhy this companygoes fromstrength tostrength. The pub itself is all brick, concrete,metal and spiral staircase, the beers areflavoursome, superbly presented and the wholeambience, product image (“Live Craft. Die


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Rate Our Beer

RATE OUR BEERAs a CAMRA member one very important taskyou can be involved in is voting for local publichouses to be put forward for inclusion into theannual Good Beer Guide. This can be doneon the members area of the local CAMRAwebsite www.blackpoolcamra.org.uk, orby attending branch meetings to vote. Wecurrently use the 6-point CAMRA NBSS(National Beer Scoring Scheme). Our pointsare given simply on beer quality and no othercriteria at this point. A pub serving one or twobeers at a high standard (very good) shouldscore higher than a pub with a dozen or sohand pulls but with beer of only an average togood standard, and this simple fact seems toconfuse some people. So many of our pubsreceive a score of 3, and marks either side ofthat score are so rarely used. Some people votefor their favourite pubs for whatever reasonand whatever the quality of the beer soldthere. If you can devise a fairer way let usknow and it will certainly be considered. Toassist there is a list below of what the scoresmean:

0 - NO REAL ALENo cask-conditioned ale available

1 – POORBeer that isn’t anything from barely drinkableto drinkable with considerable resentment.

2 – AVERAGECompetently kept, drinkable pint but doesn’tinspire in any way, not worth moving toanother pub but you drink the beer withoutreally noticing.

3 – GOODGood beer in good form. You may cancel plansto move to the next pub. You want to stay foranother pint and may seek out the beer again.

4 – VERY GOODExcellent beer in excellent condition

5 – EXCELLENTProbably the best beer you are ever likely tofind. A seasoned drinker will award this scorevery rarely.

Punk.”) and place scream success. Prices startat £4.05 a pint and I paid £3.80 for a half of SkaBrewing’s 8% Nefarious. It was delicious. It isnot real ale and doesn’t claim to be. Elsewhereand equally impressive, as always, and firmlyin the real ale stable, is my favourite Leeds pubby a mile, theMidnight Bell onWater Lane (seephoto). Smart,clean, anothermodern interiorwithin an oldbuilding, the Bellshowcases the Leeds Brewery range anddelicious food.

And so to London, hot and humid in September.We stayed a couple of days near Fleet Streetand discovered three places to add to Wardy’sMust Visit list. First, the Old Red Cow on LongLane, near Smithfield Market, a small pub withknowledgeable and enthusiastic staff and witha wide range of cask and bottled beers from allover the place. Second, the Craft Beer Co onLeather Lane. The phrase utterly brilliantwould sum it up. The Redwillow Smokelesssmoked porter and Dark Star American PaleAle were to die for and pub has a splendidVictorian character. Third, and jaw-droppinglymagnificent, the Blackfriars close to thestation of that name. My thanks to branchchairman Paul for urging us to visit this Grade2 listed art nouveau building, which was builtin 1875 and remodelled in 1905, then savedfrom demolition in the 1960s. Marble and brassfigures of friars adorn the place both inside andout, the brasssigns (see photo)are superb andnaturally it’shaunted. I couldgo on, but better ifyou just go thereyourself. Oh, andthe Orkney Dragonhead Stout was bang onform.

Cheers, Wardy.


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Nineteen members of our branch set off, takingin a few of the Fyldes pleasant country pubs,it was a sunny, but crisp Spring morningwhen we departed St Annes Square. Ourfirst destination was not a pub, but LythamBrewery, only a very short distance away,where we were greeted by Andy Booker thebrewery owner, who gave us a guided brewerytour. After several of the breweries excellentbeers sampled and a light buffet we went onour way.

Our first pub saw us in the village of Weeton,The Eagle and Child, close to the vast armycamp. Beers on offer were Theakston BB,Deuchars IPA, Wainwright, and Marstons EPA.Our next stop was the Windmill Tavern, as itsname suggests is incorporated into one of theFylde’s oldest windmills. This Mitchells Pub Copub, in the shadow of the giant nuclear fuelsprocessing plant offered three cask beers. Itried Star Port Belio at 4.3% and the refreshingOakham Citra 4.2% also on offer was YorkBrewery Guzzler.

A short drive brought us to our third pub, theRunning Pump at Catforth, on the way, passingwhat was once the former Matthew BrownHouse, Bay Horse, sadly now private houses. Inthe “pump” it boasted “Lancashire’s smallestcorner shop”, selling a range of householdcommodities in an annex of the games room.Previous licensees had used the games room asa small restaurant. On offer on the handpumpswere Robinsons Unicorn Bitter and their

new beer, Hoptimus. Unfortunately theblond wasn’t ready, both on good form. ThisFrederick Robinson tenancy run by CraigCarter and his team for the last 12 months iswell worth a visit, a country gem. It can bereached by bus 80/82 Fleetwood – Preston.

Next on the itinerary was, what is describedas the hardest pub to find in Lancashire –allegedly”. The Plough at Eaves, which is inthe hamlet of Cuddy Hill. A Thwaites tenancyoffered us three of that breweries beers,namely Original, Lancaster Bomber andWainwright, of the two I tried they were ingood nick.

Our next pub was under threat of closure some12 or so months ago, once described as the“World famous Motoring Inn” because of themotoring memorabilia inside. The DerbyArms at Inskip, not to be confused withthe other Derby Arms, is a free house andoffered us three beers. Wychwood Hobgoblin,Cumberland Ale and Old School BreweryDetention. After all three tried we were on ourway.

Our final destination village brought us to GreatEccleston which boasts three pubs of whichonly two were open at the time. The FarmersArms being closed for refurbishment. Myfirst call was at the GBG listed White Bull,here six handpumps offered a good range ofbeers, of which I tried Copper Dragon GoldenPippin and Moorhouses Pride of Pendle. Justacross the square stands the Black Bull, justtime to try two of the five handopulled beers,Cumberland Ale and Acorn Yorkshire Prideboth found to be palatable before we were onour way.

Late afternoon/early evening saw the weatherchange to a drizzle but this did not dampenmembers spirits on what overall was anexcellent day out. Here’s to the next time!

RAY JACKSON

AT LAST A RURAL FYLDE TRIP

At Last a Rural Fylde Trip


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NOTICE BOARDWinter 2013

BRANCH MEETINGSPlease note that Branch Meetings commence promptly at 8pm, unless otherwise stated.

201328 November, Lytham Ex-Service & Social Club, Chapel St., Lytham FY8 5ND

Please note that there is no meeting in December

FUTURE BRANCH MEETINGS TO BE ANNOUNCED – PLEASE CHECK THE WEBSITE

Reduced Price Beer & Notice Board

REDUCED PRICE BEER FOR CAMRAMEMBERS!

Being a CAMRA member carries many advantages, one of them being that a number of pubs willdiscount your pint of real ale on production of a current CAMRA membership card. Of courseWetherspoon send you each year forty tokens that take a huge 50p per pint off their alreadywell- priced real ales.

Our local pubs that offer a further discount are listed below, if you know of any others that offersuch discounts or if you are landlord of a pub that wishes to offer a discount to CAMRA members,please send me details:

ALAN DOGGART

THE ALBION BISPHAMDUTTONS ARMS BLACKPOOLGILLESPIES BLACKPOOLPUMP AND TRUNCHEON BLACKPOOLTHE SHOVELLS BLACKPOOLTHE VENUE CLEVELEYSSTRAWBERRY GARDENS FLEETWOOD

THE STATION TAVERN LYTHAM SHIP & ROYAL LYTHAM ELLETSON ARMS PILLINGGOLDEN BALL POULTONOLD TOWN HALL POULTONTHATCHED HOUSE POULTONFIFTEENS ST ANNES


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A Postcard from...George Street & Ama Bionda

2,000 miles is along way to go for abeer, but when youget there you willfind the street with“the most bars andpubs per squarefoot in NorthAmerica”. That’s25 pubs in one,two-block longstreet, in a towncalled St John’s, atown with 200,000people making it

the largest in the Canadian province ofNewfoundland and Labrador, it’s also theprovincial capital. Located on the eastern tip ofNewfoundland Island, with the honour ofbeing the oldest English-founded city in NorthAmerica – dating back to 1497.

George Street is located in the heart ofdowntown, close to the harbour, and as I said,at last count there are 25 pubs, so far as I knowonly one of them being a brew-pub, the YellowBelly Brewery and Public House. It is on thecorner of George Street and Water Street; thislarge granite building is a survivor of theGreat St John’s Fire of 1892. It is five floors ofcharacter filled brewery, pub and diningspace. Brewer Liam McKenna brews some verydrinkable British-style beers.

Pub with the biggest beer list, probably theGeorge Street Beer Market, it certainly boaststhat it has the biggest selection of beers,draught and bottled, in town.

A new pub to the street is The Brimstone PublicHouse and has an association with the FlatEarth Society. Members believe that BrimstoneHead, located on Fogo Island, only a few milesaway is one of the four corners of the earth.

The street also has a Fat Cat pub, sadly nothaving the same range of beers sold by thepub of the same name in Norwich andSheffield. It calls itself a Blues bar and is hometo local and the occasional visiting blues bandand soloist.

Sadly, the whole street has a run-down feel toit and you will struggle to find any real qualitybeer. There’s also a definite Irish feel to it,which means, like Boston Massachusetts,English accent are not as popular as they arein other parts of the world.

ALAN DOGGART

A POSTCARD FROM..GEORGE STREET

AMA BIONDAA BEER TO LOVE

Some of the new, very highlyrated beers on the craft-beerscene is coming from thatnew guy on the blockItaly. There are new,extremely good breweriespopping up everywhere. Weare introducing to the UKone of the best, from theAmarcord brewery in thetown of Apecchio in thecentre of Italy. The small,medieval town is surroundedby the Apennine mountain range, not too farfrom the Adriatic coast.Ama Bionda itself is described as a table beer,designed to be paired with traditional Italiandishes, seafood, pesto, pizza and tomatosauces. The beer was designed by one ofAmerica’s greatest brewers and food writers,Garrett Oliver of the Brooklyn Brewery. We arefortunate enough to be able to offer you two


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A Day Out to Huddersfield?????

It was Saturday 21 September 2013 and Phil andI decided to go to Huddersfield for the day onthe Northern Rail £10 tickets.We set of on the 07-29 train from BlackpoolNorth and everything was going well until westarted to lose time on the wrong side of thePennines.By the time we pulled into Halifax ourconnection was pulling out, so plan B cameinto action. We went to York instead. We arrived in York at about 10-20 andwent straight to The Punchbowl (JDW) forbreakfast. While we were in there we had a pintof Yeovil Ruby 4.5%. A good start to the dayafter the initial disappointment. From there we

went, naturally, to Brigantes where we starteddrinking in earnest. First we had Hand DrawnMonkey Pale Ale 4.0%. That was followedrapidly by Kirkstall Generous George 6.1%,Brass Castle Burnout 5.8%.

Next we went to the House of TremblingMadness. Very disappointed as there was onlyone cask ale and one empty pump. The placewas rammed and there was nowhere to sit sowe went next door to the Old Starre Inn.This pub hasreally taken offbeer wise. Wehad Sonnet 43Bourbon MilkStout 4.3%, TwoRoses AttitudePale Ale 4.3% andWentworth India Pale Ale 5.5%.

From there we went to The Maltings. This iswhere it started getting serious. We started withDerventio Mabon 4.3% followed by Sonnet 43Depth, Breadth & Height 7.0% and last butnot least Kirkstall Drop Hammer Stout 10.0%.Time was getting on, so we headed for our lastport of call, The York Tap on the railwaystation. What a marvellous ale house. We hadthree Anarchy beers…Quiet Riot 6.6%, Grin& Bare It 5.0% and Grime Scene 5.5%. Afterthat we had we had Oakham Green DevilIPA 6.0% followed by two Wharfebank beersYorkshire SPA 5.8% and VPA 3.6%.We then bought a pasty and caught the lasttrain home.This turned out to be a foretaste of my 60th

birthday trip in October, also to York.More of this in the next issue.

Cheers everybody & happy drinking.

Ian & Phil

A DAY OUT TO HUDDERSFIELD??????(It went wrong at Halifax)

A tale by Ian Shergold & Phil marquis

more examples of Garrets skilfully crafted beerfrom his own brewery, the beers are BrooklynLager and Brooklyn EIPA. The lager is anamber one in a style known by brewers as a“Vienna” style lager of a type brought to theeast-coast of the USA by central-Europeanimmigrants. The EIPA (East India Pale Ale) isa classic, traditional IPA of a quality difficult toequal.Back to the AMA BIONDA, this is a golden beerwith a soft, complex, floral and fruit characteras a result of its three quite citrusy hops andthe addition of Sicilian Orange Blossom honeyand water from springs that date back toRoman times it is served in a most elegantbottle. Another interesting fact is that the labelon the bottle is a work of art in itself, it wasdesigned by world renownedgraphic artist Milton Glasser, who,in 1976, introduced to the worldthe iconic “I NEW YORK” logo.This will be a rare opportunity to try a hard-to-find beer from an excellent brewery andbrewer. Please not that we only have a verylimited supply of this beer.

ALAN DOGGART


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Enjoying Real Ale& Pubs

A Campaign of Two Halves

Join CAMRA today – www.camra.org.uk/joinus


A CampaignA CampaignA CampaignA Campaign

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Documents

BLACKPOOL FESTIVAL West Stand, Bloomﬁeld Road, Seasiders ...blackpool.camra.org.uk/fa/2013/Issue_85_Winter_2013.pdf · 1 BLACKPOOL FESTIVAL West Stand, Bloomﬁeld Road, Seasiders