mine's a pint issue 32
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The CAMRA magazine for Reading and Mid Berkshire, winter edition 2014TRANSCRIPT
CAMPAIGN for REAL ALE
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THE CAMRA MAGAZINE FOR READING AND MID BERKSHIRE ISSUE THIRTY TWO • WINTER 2014 • FREE - PLEASE TAKE A COPY
IN THIS ISSUEPub & Brewery News Small BeerNew Plans for The ButlerCo-ALE-itionJoin CAMRAYour Branch is Forty!
See page 24 for the full story
Contact UsUseful contact details for this magazine, CAMRA and other important things…Mine's a Pint Circulation: 3,000.Outlets: Over 70 across the region.
Editor: Phil [email protected] 455 029381 Addison Road, Reading, RG1 8EG
Magazine published on behalf of Readingand Mid Berkshire CAMRA by:
Orchard House Media [email protected]
For advertising enquiries please contact Jane Michelson:01778 [email protected]
Reading & Mid Berkshire CAMRAwww.readingcamra.org.uk
Social Secretary: Quinten Taylor [email protected] 424232
Contact for all other branch matters:Katrina [email protected] 401 9437
Local Trading StandardsReading Borough Council:www.reading.gov.uk 0118 937 3737
West Berkshire Council:www.westberks.gov.uk 01635 519930
Royal Borough of Windsor &Maidenhead:www.rbwm.gov.uk 01628 683800
Wokingham Borough Council:www.wokingham.gov.uk 0118 974 6400
The next issue of Mine’s a Pint will be published in March. Please feel free to submit copy or ideas by 8 February
The opinions expressed in Mine’s a Pint arenot necessarily those of the editor or theCampaign for Real Ale. © Campaign forReal Ale 2014/15.
DECEMBER
Sat 13: Branch 40th Birthday event. Nags Head, 5 RussellStreet, Reading, RG1 7XD. Time TBC.
JANUARY
Fri 9: Southall Curry Night. Meet 19.30 onwards fordrinks at the Conservative Club, High Street, Southall, UB13HB, then Nagina Karahi restaurant at 20.45. ContactJohn Robinson on 0118 940 2787 / 0790 434 3187 /[email protected]
Sat 24: Regional Pub Crawl of London.
FEBRUARY
Thu 5: First Thursday of the Month Social. 20.00 start.Butchers Arms, 9 Lower Armour Road, Tilehurst, RG316HH.
Sat 7: Launch of the 2015 Ale Trail. Butler, 85-91 ChathamStreet, Reading, RG1 7DS. 12.00 (tentative).
MARCH
Thu 5: First Thursday of the Month Social. 20.00 start.Swan, Basingstoke Road, Three Mile Cross.
See www.readingcamra.org.uk or details of these events as theycome available.
For details of an event with no contact listed, to suggest an eventor to receive regular e-mail updates of the branch diary, contactcontact Quinno (Quinten Taylor): [email protected] /07887 424232.
Branch DiaryEvents are open to all unless specified.
21st Reading Beer and Cider Festival30 April - 3 May 2015
Kings Meadow, ReadingLook out for information closer to the date on
www.readingbeerfestival.org.ukor follow us on Twitter: @Readingbeerfest
25 October saw local drinkers out in forcevisiting local pubs. The reason? Reading’sbeer census.
First undertaken two years ago, this is a snap-shot of the real ales available on one day inReading and the surrounding area. Althoughwe didn’t get 100% coverage (for instancethere was nobody to survey pubs in Tilehurst)the results make for fascinating reading andshow that the real ale scene in our area is alot more diverse than expected. Here are somehighlights from the stats:
Pubs visited: 88Different real ales available: 160Different breweries: 87LocAle breweries: 15Breweries most available:Sharps (27) and Greene King (26)Local brewery most available:West Berkshire (14)
Average price per pint: £3.38Lowest price per pint: £1.99 (various Wetherspoons)Highest price per pint: £4.50 (Great House, Sonning)
Many thanks to the Retreat for acting asCampaign HQ for the day.
CAMRA in this area is coming up to its 40thbirthday and, in that time, real ale has beensaved and the brewery scene is thriving. Butpubs are under pressure like never before, andsurveys like those above remind us of the needto fight to keep such a breadth of choice alive.We're lucky to have such a diversity of pubsand real ale available in the Reading area andwe need to keep it that way.
What can you do to help? Put very simply, gointo a pub and buy something. There are3,000 copies printed of this magazine. If thereare 3,000 readers, and we all go out and buya pint this week, that’s an extra £10,000 thatwe can put into the local economy. Let's go
and do it now!
Looking for inspiration for where to go? Then come along to the launch of our 2015Ale Trail on 7 February at the newly-refur-bished Butler, which you can read more aboutin this magazine. Complete the trail and col-lect stickers from all the participating pubs towin prizes!
There will be 21 pubs on the trail this year tomark the 21st Reading Beer and CiderFestival. More details about that in the nextissue, but mark the dates in your diary now:30 April to 3 May. The future of KingsMeadow was uncertain as we went to press,with landscaping proposals for the Lido development potentially making the site unusable for events from 2016 onwards. But the council has assured us that the festivalwill remain in its current location for 2015 atleast, so come along and help celebrate 21years of one of the country's premier beer andcider events.
Cheers.
Phil Gill - [email protected]
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From the Editor
Contents From the Editor 4
Pub & Brewery News 5 - 10
Small Beer 12 - 13
The Butler 15
Co-ale-ition 16 - 19
Fantastic Forty 21
AGM 23
Campaigns Update 23-24
Sports Beers 27
Trumans 28
What Pub? 29
Join CAMRA 30
Pub News
CAVERSHAMThe former BRIDGES bar on Bridge Streetby Caversham Bridge has become KarmaIndian restaurant and bar. It’s the latest in along line of business models to be tried inthis location, so let’s hope that this oneworks out. The area isn't short of Indianrestaurants but this one, with its riversidesetting and terrace, should be in with a goodchance.
The FOX AND HOUNDS onGosbrook Road continues tooffer a great range of real aleswith up to eight handpumps inuse, and has recently addedPaulaner lager from Munich tothe keg range alongside someinteresting foreign bottled beers.
EARLEYWe have received good reports about theSEVEN RED ROSES in Maiden Place. Foodis available all day, there's a weekly quiznight, and live music on the last Saturday ofevery month. We understand that St AustellTribute is a regular real ale.
HARE HATCHClosed earlier in the year, the QUEEN VICTORIA is being refurbished. This pub isvery close to the A4 just west of Knowl Hill,but just slightly tucked away out of directsight as you drive along. We look forwardto it reopening.
HENLEYSlightly out of our area, but news worthrecording, is that we understand the HENLEY BREWHOUSE has been boughtand closed by Marstons (Brakspear).
NEWBURYThe COW AND CASK, Berkshire’s firstmicropub, was due to open in Inch’s Yardabout the time we went to press. This is inWest Berkshire CAMRA’s area and contin-ues their habit of getting in there first – theywere, after all, the first CAMRA branch inthe royal county, even if only by a fewmonths. Let’s hope that the micropub con-cept works and that it's the first of many inthe area.
PANGBOURNEWe have been getting goodfeedback about theSWAN. A typical recentvisit found three real aleson sale (Greene King IPA,IPA Gold and Olde Trip,in good form) togetherwith Tutts Clump
Scrumpy cider and Brewdog Punk IPA. Ourreviewer continued, “Interior nicely lit, obvi-ously foody but plenty of seating spaces,friendly service.”
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Pub and Brewery News
CONTINUED OVERLEAF
READINGWe hear that there are new licensees at theHORSE AND JOCKEY on Castle Streetand that it will become another real ale freehouse. The names behind the venture arewell known on Reading’s real ale scene andcome with a good pedigree (not the onefrom Marstons). They are due to take overthe pub in the spring, which is great newsfor the town. We hope to have a fullerreport in a future issue.
Further down Castle Street, the new RYNDbar (what was last Evissa) doesn’t appear tohave any real ale and may be focussing onthe cocktail market. Almost opposite, theSUN offers real ales and also a beer garden,live music twice a month and occasionalstand up comedy. Pool, darts and Sky Sportsare also available.
Due to reopen around the time this maga-zine went to press was the FISHERMAN’SCOTTAGE on Kennetside. The promise is“A modern riverside pub with a strongfocus on quality, cleanliness and a welcom-ing atmosphere for all.” The pictures of therefurbishment look good and we're lookingforward to visiting when it opens.
The PURPLE TURTLE on Gun Street hasbeen seen to offer Tutts Clump cider along-side the range of four or so real ales. Thelarge, multi-level garden to the rear is agreat place to spend an afternoon. Theatmosphere and volume ramps up a notchor several in the evening, as with any towncentre late night bar.
The CORN STORES on Forbury Road hasbeen open irregular hours of late – so muchso that we were forced to move our branchAGM to a new venue at short notice. Pleasehelp us keep an eye on this Fullers pub.
Many thanks to GREAT EXPECTATIONSon London Street who stepped in at veryshort notice to host our AGM. Three realales on, a variety of areas in which to drinkthem, and a Dickensian theme throughoutall make for a laid-back atmosphere and aplace that’s worth a visit.
It's a warm welcome to Mick Musson, whohas moved from the Crispin in Wokinghamto take over from Katrina Fletcher at theALEHOUSE on Broad Street. The bulk ofthe staff team remain in place and Mickreassuringly says that he doesn’t plan tochange much about the pub. One aspectwhere there has been some welcome changeis some building works at the back, wherethe toilets and cask store are. Things havedefinitely improved, with the main visiblechange being a brand new roof and repaintedwalls, making things much drier andbrighter. Also some electrical works meanthat it’s now possible to utter the great sen-tence, “there’s a motion sensor in the toilets.”
The GEORGE HOTEL on King Street isreported as no longer serving real ale. Youngsbitter used to be the sole offering here.
The WARWICK on Kings Road has alsoreportedly stopped selling real ale and isnow focussing on being a Thai restaurant.It's a shame as the previous manager was areal ale convert who kept a very good pintof Greene King and often got Oakham beerin as a guest, which complemented the foodvery nicely.
Nearby pub the LYNDHURST onWatlington Street had closed just before ourlast issue but has now reopened. The realale offer is a mix of national and local
PUB NEWS CONTINUED
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brands, so why not pay them a visit and letus know what you think?
Oxford Road’s New Inn has been renamedthe WHITE EAGLE.
On Eldon Terrace, the ELDON ARMS hashad its lobby removed to create one big bar.That will spell the end for one of the bestmeeting spaces in the area, and will meanseveral other groups as well as CAMRA willnow sadly need to look elsewhere for some-where to meet. The important thing,though, is that it’s still a pub.
O’NEILLS at the end of Friar Street haveadded a third beer – St Austell Tribute – totheir range.
The HOOK AND TACKLE on KatesgroveLane is due to reopen in December.
The GREYFRIAR on Greyfriars Road cannow be accessed from the front of the sta-tion, now the road works have finally beencompleted.
SULHAMSTEADOn the A4, right at the limit of ourCAMRA branch area, is the SPRING. It wasclosed earlier in the year but has nowreopened, with an early report stating“Dining-focused. Aiming to be upmarketand succeeding judging by the cars in thecar park.” West Berkshire Good Old Boy(£3.60 a pint), Otter Ale and Fullers LondonPride were the real ale offerings on that day.
THEALEThe planning application to convert theRED LION on Church Street into housing,with demolition of the skittle alley and itsreplacement with flats, was refused by WestBerkshire Council. Unfortunately none ofthe reasons for refusal related to the loss ofthe pub or its impact on the life of the localcommunity.
WALTHAM ST LAWRENCEWe’re told that the STAR is closed again.
WARREN ROWA planning appeal against refusal of permis-sion to turn the SNOOTY FOX into ahouse has itself been refused, so the lawfuluse remains as a pub.
WHITLEYFor so long a beer desert, Whitley is goingto get a new pub at last. Jansons Propertyhas been granted planning permission for aretail and leisure development on the site ofan empty office building next to Morrisonson Basingstoke Road. Included in thescheme is a new pub for Greene King,expected to be one of their Hungry Horsebrand. The scheme also includes an Aldistore and a Pure Gym.
Work is due to start in the new year withcompletion scheduled for the autumn. Wehave some other Hungry Horses in the area– the George and Dragon on Bath Road, theSix Bells in Shinfield and the Wee Waif atTwyford.
WOODLEYThe GOOD COMPANIONS on LoddonBridge Road was offering a 10% discountfor CAMRA members when visited in theautumn. Wychwood Hobgoblin andAdnams Broadside were the real ales onoffer.
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PUB NEWS CONTINUED
BREWERY NEWS OVERLEAF
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The Royal Oak at Knowl Hill, Bershire is a smallHomely family village pub. The locals say “It’s thehub of our village”, ideal for walkers, cyclists andis situated by The Knowl Hill Bridel Path, so it is
also great to hack out to for lunch.
Call 01628 822 010for more information
3 Real AlesOpening Times: 11am to 11pm Mon to Sat,
12pm to 10.30pm Sunday
Food Served: All day Saturday and Sunday
KNOWL HILL COMMON RG10 9YE
The Bull Hotel WARGRAVE RG10 8DD
TEL 01189 403120 email:[email protected]
A delightful 15th Century former coaching inn, totally refurbished following Jayne’s return.
We have a well deserved excellent reputation for food and Jayne’s Sunday Roast is a firm favourite.
For the beer lovers we serve Brakspear ales, a regularguest ale along with wide selection of quality wines.
WELL APPOINTED EN SUITE ACCOMMODATION
Kitchen Closed Sunday and Monday Nights, however, party bookings available by arrangement.
£5 LUNCH MENUWEEKDAYS
From Jan 5th
MID WEEKEVENING SPECIAL
2 COURSES with a bottle of house wine - £20
Tues and Weds only from Jan 6th
FRIDAY NIGHTS£30 per couplefriday night only. Fish and chips
with a bottle of fizz.
JAYNE’S FAMOUSSUNDAY ROAST
from £25 per couple
XMAS PARTY MENU NOW AVAILABLE
Brewery News
ASCOT ALESLatest beers are Ebony &Ivory at 4.5% for theMonster Raving LoonyParty Co-ale-ition range(the rebranded version ofPenguin Porter) and thewelcome return of WinterReserve. At 5.2%, this redcoloured winter warmer is lightlyspiced and will be available from midNovember.
BINGHAMSThe Craft Hop series continues and one par-ticularly interesting beer was the one forOctober, a 4.5% very pale ale calledMinstrel. It was triple hopped with a brandnew English hop variety called Minstrel fora generous helping of spiced berries andorange and grapefruit flavours. Minstrelwas only ramped up to full scale productionthis year so Binghams were one of the firstbreweries to use it. The hop was developedby hop merchant Charles Faram as part oftheir Hop Development Programme, whichaims to produce different English hopswhich can compete with hops from aroundthe world with “New World” characteristicslike those from America and New Zealand.
LODDONTo help us cope with winter, Hocus Pocusold ale (4.6%) is available on draught until
the end of March, orwhile stocks last. Tastingnotes from the brewerysay: “Brewed using theever popular EnglishGoldings with the addi-tion of Fuggle Hops, paleand dark malts, with a
small amount of invert sugar, combine toform a rich, smooth traditional dark ale”.
SIREN CRAFTIn a new departure, Siren played host to“Boardgames in the Brewery” in lateNovember. The Reading Boardgames Socialgroup organised the event which combinedboardgames, beer and food. We hope tofeature more about this group in a futureissue, as they love good beer and oftenhold boardgaming events in pubs.
UPRISINGA new brewery, or at least a new namebrewing at an existing brewery – this isKieran Johnson, son of Paddy, the HeadBrewer at Windsor and Eton. Kieran andPaddy are now both brewing on theWindsor and Eton brewkit, and the friendlyrivalry was launched at the Nags Head inNovember when Kieran poured the firstpints of his first beer, Treason – a 5.8%west coast IPA.
It's currently only available in keg, butKieran says “at the moment we are obviouslyonly in very early stages, we want to know
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BREWERY NEWS
CONTINUED OVERLEAF
that people out there like us and like theproduct. Once that has been established wecan then start focusing on all the other ven-tures: bottle conditioning, cask racking andeventually (maybe) canning. The truth isthat I am a cask ale drinker first and fore-most.” It's fair to say that the beer was verypopular that night and we look forward tomore from this new venture.
WEST BERKSHIREYule Fuel is the Christmas special. At 4.3%on draught or 5% in bottles, this deep redale has a warm, hop / malt finish withraisin, liquorice and wild berry fruit over-tones. Upcoming monthly seasonals includeGrizzle for January (4.2%, tawny withearthy hop flavours) and Fullness of Timefor February (4.3%, pale and spicy with afloral hoppy finish).
All West Berkshire beers have had a rebrandwhich is meeting with mixed reactions fromsome publicans. The brewery explain theirintentions like this: “Our brand is the facewe show the world. Some may feel thattotal communications consistency spells bor-ing sameness, but for us, it stands for com-mitment attention to detail and craft; essen-tial tools in presenting our products to cus-tomers, suppliers and competitors in a waythat best reflects our strengths and values.So when we use the right logos, the righttypefaces and the right colours, it’s notbecause we’re a boring conformist, it’sbecause we care.”
The company is issuing an InformationMemorandum putting together a prospectusfor a further share offer, under theEnterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). You cancontact [email protected] for more details.
WINDSOR AND ETONThe brewery have received planning permis-sion to convert an empty 17th Centurybuilding in Thames Street to recreate a historical tavern opposite Curfew Tower.Previously the West Cornwall Pasty Co, thenew pub is intended to be a free house thatwill showcase all of the Windsor & Etonbeers to both local residents and visitors tothe town.Once some conservation issues areresolved - inevitable in a town like Windsor- it's hoped that the new pub will be opensome time in March.
ZERO DEGREESAngela Würges is leaving Zero Degrees andgoing to brew in Vietnam. We shall all besorry to see her go, which is likely to besometime around the end of the year. Angelahas a great reputation for brewing goodbeer and we wish her well in her new venture. Hopefully she's made sure therewill be plenty of Christmas Bok to goround!
BREWERY NEWS - CONTINUED
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PUB TRADESpirit Pub Company has accepted a bidfrom Greene King. If it goes through it willvalue Spirit at about £774 million and willcreate a 3,127-strong pub company. Notablyfor our area, this includes the three Chefand Brewer pubs (Griffin in Caversham,George at Loddon Bridge and Old Bell atGrazeley Green). It remains to be seen whatwill happen to the beer range but GK prod-ucts will obviously be expected to featurestrongly.
CAMRA’S NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVECAMRA has appointedTim Page as its new ChiefExecutive. Tim joins thecampaign from the EastAnglian Air Ambulanceand has a great deal ofexperience in the manage-
ment and operation of organisations in thecharity and not-for-profit sector.
Colin Valentine, CAMRA's Chairman, said,“His passion and experience shone through,greatly impressing the National Executiveand staff team. I firmly believe that Tim is
Small BeerA roundup of news and information...
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BRITAIN’S BEER REVOLUTIONA new book from CAMRA is a full-colour celebration ofBritish brewing and beer. Local brewers Siren Craft andWindsor & Eton feature in the book, which reflects thedramatic changes to Britain's beer scene in recent yearsand looks beyond the beers to the breweries and person-alities who are driving this revolution.
Authors Roger Protz (300 Beers to Try Before You Die!)and Adrian Tierney-Jones (Great British Pubs) set out thekey figures in British brewing – hop growers, maltsters,brewers, pub owners and critics – to celebrate Britain’sBeer Revolution. These experts look behind the beerlabels and shine a spotlight on what makes British beerso good. National and regional brewers applying gener-ations of tradition in new ways rub shoulders with newmicro-brewers, and twists on popular classic beers jostle
for space at the bar with innovative new masterpieces. Everyone featured in the book is ded-icated to one thing ... revolutionary British beer.
It's available now on http://shop.camra.org.uk/ for the special promotional price of £10 –the usual RRP will be £14.99.
the right choice to take our great organisa-tion forward and that he will play an integral part in our future campaigning andthe preservation of both real ale and Britishpubs. I am sure you will join me in welcomingTim and raising a celebratory pint to thefuture.”
SUBSCRIPTION RATESThis is your last chance to join CAMRAbefore the subscription rates increase on 1January 2015. The last rise was back in2012 and the new rates are shown on theadvert in this issue – but if you join beforethe end of the year you can benefit from theold rates for a further 12 months. It makesan ideal Christmas present! More than167,000 people are members of CAMRA sowhy not join today and help support thereal ale and pubs that you love?
REGIONAL ROLESWe're looking for some volunteers to fill avariety of roles at a regional level withinCAMRA. We’re part of the CentralSouthern branch, which covers Berkshire,Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Theroles that need to be filled are:
Regional SecretaryRegional Cider CoordinatorBerkshire Area OrganiserOxfordshire Area Organiser
If you'd like to make a difference at aregional level within the campaign, theseroles are an excellent stepping stone. To findout more about what's involved, contactDan Cane-Honeysett [email protected]
BRIAN MACKIE
To end on a sad note, we were sorry tolearn of the passing of Brian Mackie on 25September. Brian, alongside his wife Anne,ran the Eldon Arms for many years and wasvery much a fixture of the Reading pubscene. Although illness meant he could nolonger work behind the bar in recent times,Brain's presence was nevertheless still felt inthe pub and our memories of him remainstrong. We send our very best wishes toAnne on the occasion of her sad loss.
SMALL BEER
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Brian Mackie (right) and his wife Anne (left)being presented with their 35 year long-servicecertificate by Sandie Gill of CAMRA in 2009
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Call: 01628 826622 / 2781 Email: [email protected] Visit: www.birdinhand.co.uk
The Bird in Hand, Bath Road,Knowl Hill, Twyford,
Berks RG10 9UP
A charming 14th Century Country Inn betweenMaidenhead and Reading. The Inn serves a host
of regularly changing Real Ales.
The beautifully refurbished Restaurant overlooksthe garden and the Inglenook fire provides a
warm and cosy setting.
The Inn has 22 en-suite bedrooms - standard,superior and suites. One room is adapted forthe disabled. Free wifi available throughout.
Join us for ourQuiz Nights
Free Entry. Winning team geta free round of drinks.
No charge just a bit of fun! 8pm start
14th December, 4th & 25thJanuary, 15th Feb & 10th March
Supplying all your brewing needs throughout Reading and the surrounding areaWe currently have the largest stock of beer, lager, wine andspirit kits in Berkshire. Pop in and be spoilt for choice.
See for yourself just how easy it is to make your own homebrew and become part of a fast-growing breed of ‘masterbrewers’ in your own home.
Perfect for Parties, BBQ’s or watching thebig game with your mates!
DELIVERYSERVICEAvailable
Opening TimesMonday to Friday: 11am - 6pm
Saturday: 10am - 5pmSunday: Closed
We have boughtThe Butler – Wehave bought TheButler – Ta da da-da– Ta da da-da!
I wandered past the Butler one winter'sevening and saw the “For Sale - Freehold”sign. The Butler is an iconic pub and anyonewho lived in Reading through the sixtiesand seventies will remember what a busyvibrant place it used to be. I wanted it. I hadmoney in the bank, but not enough to do iton my own.
The next Friday, drinking with my pals, Isuggested that we could buy the place as agroup with each of us buying as manyshares as they could afford. There wasimmediately enough money on the table tobuy and renovate the place. However, overthe next few weeks, reality dawned on thosewho’d now sobered up, and friends starteddropping out till there were only three drag-ons left. Steve was still mad keen and hearranged a meeting with the Bank to makeup the shortfall. We approached the agentand found that there was a rival group whowanted to turn it into an Indian restaurant.We made an offer anyway, subject to survey.
The survey was as expected (dreadful!) andwe reduced our offer, which was accepted.In the end, Fullers just wanted to be free ofthe place, so it was ours. By coincidence, wecompleted the same day as the FishermansCottage. Fullers seemed to be leaving town!
We met the Fullers free trade rep soon after-wards, and Lynne’s face was a picture whenshe found out how much you could buy
London Pride for if you were not their ten-ant. How can this be a good businessmodel, if you run your building down sobadly (that numpties like us can afford tobuy it) and at the same time charge yourown tenant so much for your own beer theycan’t compete with other pubs in the area?Bonkers.
There’s been so much demoralisation that itwill be a long uphill struggle to coax thiswonderful but tired old pub back to health.As we go about it we are learning moreabout the history of the place, which we willtry to use as we think about its appearance.There’s a lovely old photo of the frontfaçade from 1900 that we’re trying to re-create, but in our own way.
We intend to stick to proven local breweriesand have 5 hand pumps serving ale and onecider. Live music will feature strongly, as ithas for many years, we’ve re-opened thekitchen in partnership with a great team ofcaterers and the rest of the time it will be anold fashioned drinker’s pub, with a few sur-prises that may have been revealed by thetime this is published.
No matter what we do with our new acqui-sition always remember – education isimportant, but real ale is importanter.
Steve, Ted and Pete
If you're a local landlord with big plansfor your pub and want to tell us all aboutthem, get in touch and you could feature
in a future issue of Mine's a Pint.
Mine’s a Pint15
Steve, Ted and Pete, new owners of the Butler in ChathamStreet, tell us more about the place and their plans for the future.
The Butler
My intention from the start was to havesome fun with Co-ALE-ition and also to fur-ther help promote and publicise the excel-lent micro breweries and locally producedreal ales in our area.
Co-ALE-ition as a brand name first originatedfrom a social event in August 2013 when Iwas sat at the same table as Alan “HowlingLaud” Hope (Leader of the Official MonsterRaving Loony Party) and Phil Robins
(Owner and Head Brewer of Longdog brewery in Basingstoke). 2013 was the 30thanniversary of when the Monster RavingLoony Party first stood at an election(Screaming Lord Sutch at the Bermondseyby-election in Feb 1983).
I suggested to Phil that Longdog breweryshould produce a special real ale to commemorate this anniversary. Phil wasinterested and very supportive so we set to
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The Co-ALE-Ition 1st anniversary event at the Nags Head
You may have seen the Co-ALE-ition aleswhich have appeared recently in severalReading town centre pubs, and wondered whatthey're all about. The answer is that they're alla bit loony. To find out more, we talked toDerrill Carr, who has been one of the maindriving forces behind this range of beers thatcelebrate the Monster Raving Loony Party.
Derrill takes up the story...
Co-ALE-ition
work on designing a pump clip after makingthe early decision that this new ale would bea rebranded version of an existing awardwinning Longdog ale. After a tasting sessionat Longdog brewery we selected the excel-lent Brindle Bitter as the first Co-ALE-itionale and chose a photo for the pump clip featuring David Cameron and Alan Hopefrom the Witney General Election count inMay 2010. We named this new ale“Winning Co-ALE-ition” and successfullylaunched it in Sept 2013 at both theLongdog brewery and the Prince Arthur inFleet, at an event attended by more than300 people.
Longdog’s Winning Co-ALE-ition was anoutstanding success and a decision wastaken in November 2013 to expand the Co-ALE-ition range to include other differenttypes and strengths of real ale. I approachedtwo other micro breweries in different coun-ties – Langhams in Lodsworth (West Sussex)and Ascot Ales in Camberley (Surrey) – tosee if they would be interested in producinga Co-ALE-ition ale. They both were and inearly December 2013 Langham’s Arapaho (a4.9% APA) was rebranded and launched asCo-ALE-ition GOLD and Ascot Ales’ 4.6%Single Hop IPA was rebranded and launchedas Hope & Glory. The fun element contin-ued with the pump clips depicting that theALE in Co-ALE-ition stood for “AnotherLoony Experience”, IPA stood for “InsanityPrevents Austerity” and GOLD now standsfor “George Osborne Lowers Duty” whichcelebrated the reduction in beer duty as adirect result of CAMRA’s extensive andfocused campaign.
Through a CAMRA contact in Somerset, wethen approached two micro breweries MilkStreet in Frome and Cheddar Ales inCheddar Gorge and asked them to producea Co-ALE-ition Stout and a Porter. Thesetwo new rebranded Co-ALE-ition ales werelaunched in late December 2013 but neitherof them was successful as both of these
breweries struggled to get enough orders fortheir Porter and Stout to make regular deliv-eries viable into Hampshire, Surrey andBerkshire.
There has been a flurry of activity in 2014with three more Co-ALE-ition ales beingsuccessfully launched. Wild Weather brew-ery in Silchester rebranded their Black Night(3.9% dark mild/old ale) as HowlinGale inApril just in time for CAMRA’s Mild Monthcampaign, Mash brewery in East Stratton,Hampshire rebranded their Mash Gold (4%golden ale) as Monster Mash in May andfinally the jewel in the Co-ALE-ition crownwas when Chris Gill of Ascot Ales allowedus to rebrand their multi award winningAnastasia's Exile Stout (5% dark ale) forCo-ALE-ition as Monsters In The Dark inearly July.
Mike Tempest of Wild Weather breweryorganised a fantastic launch event forHowlinGale in April which also involved apub crawl in Reading Town Centre wherewe visited The Alehouse, Greyfriar andNags Head. All three pubs had HowlinGaleavailable on handpump and the beer wasserved in excellent condition. Our party of24 people really enjoyed their visit toReading in April and were especially pleasedwhen Jody Oates of The Nags Head prom-ised to arrange a special Co-ALE-ition eventwith all 6 Co-ALE-ition ales available on thesame night.
Jody was true to his word and, on 27thAugust 2014, our party of 20+ turned up atthe Nags Head for a very special Co-ALE-ition 1st year anniversary event superblyhosted by Jody, Lola and Sylvia. Jody waspresented with a special certificate forbecoming the 1st pub to have all six Co-ALE-ition ales on sale at the same time. Theevent was arranged around the CAMRAReading & Mid Berks visit to present theNags Head with their Pub Of the Year
Mine’s a Pint17
CONTINUED OVERLEAF
Mine’s a Pint18
2 Broad Street Reading, RG1 2BH
01189 [email protected]
A Community pub in theheart of Reading
Follow us on twitter @AlehouseReading
3 West Berkshire Ales5 Guest Ales
Real Cider, Perry and Mead
Local CAMRA Pub of theYear 2014 Runner Up
Local CAMRA Cider Pub of the Year 2013 & 2014
Pub quiz first Monday of the month
e e
award for 2014. We had another excellentnight at our favourite Co-ALE-tion pub.
Highlights in the first year of Co-ALE-ition include:• 25,000 pints of Co-ALE-ition have been
sold in more than 120 different pubsacross 8 different counties plus CentralLondon.
• A Co-ALE-ition ale has appeared in 43CAMRA Good Beer Guide pubs, six ofwhich are Branch Pubs of the Year.
• Longdog’s Winning Co-ALE-ition wasavailable in the Strangers Bar in theHouses of Parliament in June – 5 caskswere sold in less than a week.
• Co-ALE-ition ales have already featured at12 Ale Festivals including HowlinGale atReading.
All the micro breweries involved have benefited greatly in terms of increased salesfor all of their products and have experiencedgrowth in their client base and footprint fromtheir involvement with Co-ALE-ition.
I met with some early resistance regardingthe Co-ALE-ition policy of rebranding existingales. But after a year it is already apparentthat the Co-ALE-ition brand has encouragedlots of new real ale drinkers, includingyounger people, to try real ale and becomeCAMRA members. The best quote was
when a Pub Manager said he struggled tosell a cask of a particular local ale in 5 daysand therefore only put it on 3 or 4 times ayear … now that it's rebranded as a Co-ALE-ition ale he is selling 3 to 4 casks ofthis very same ale every week!
There is a dedicated Co-ALE-ition sectionon www.omrlp.com for anybody who wantsto follow this story.
Derrill Carr
Mine’s a Pint19
Serving London Pride permanentlywith weekly changing guest ales
Friday Fish Supperonly £7.50
Bar Food Served Monday - Friday noon until 2pm
Hog Roast SpecialistsRing for details
Regular Jazz Nights18th December, 22nd January,12th February & 5th March
Marquee available for eventsArborfield Road,Shinfield,
Reading,Berkshire,RG2 9EATel: 0118 9884130
A UNIQUE, TRADITIONAL BAR
Mine’s a Pint20
Award-winning, family Cider makers since 2006
Tel: 0118 974 4649or 07836 296996
Our CAMRA branch is 40! Way back inDecember 1974 the very first meeting of“The Reading and East Berkshire Branch ofC.A.M.R.A.” was held in the Hope andAnchor in Wokingham, and was reported inthe very first newsletter for the area. You cansee it in all its typewritten glory (to the rightand at full size on page 25).
While West Berkshire branch had come intobeing earlier in 1974, this was the first testmeeting for CAMRA in central and easternBerkshire. It was followed by another inJanuary 1975 at the Queen of England,Slough, to test support for a Slough branch.Two branches evolved out of these initialmeetings and shortly afterwards representa-tives of both got together and decided thatMaidenhead should go with Slough andWindsor and the rest of East and MidBerkshire should stay with Reading.
Much later, around the turn of the century,members in the south east of Berkshire set
up a sub-branch to better look after their
area, and Berkshire South East achieved fullbranch status in 2004. That set up the current pattern of branches in the county.CAMRA activity in this area can thus betraced back to that first meeting inWokingham in 1974, and we plan to celebrate turning 40 in style this year.Happy birthday to us!
Fantastic Forty
Branch AGMCAMRA is made up of around 200 branches, andyour local branch is Reading and Mid Berkshire.We campaign on beer and pub related issues at alocal level, run (with a lot of help from others) theReading Beer Festival, and produce the magazinethat you're reading, among many other tasks.
All that means we need a committee, and to have acommittee you need an AGM. Our AGM was heldin November at Great Expectations, where a newcommittee was elected for the coming year.
Left: Chairman DanThe core roles, essential for anyCAMRA branch, were elected as:Chairman – Dan Cane-HoneysettTreasurer – Martin HarborSecretary – Phil Gill
Membership Secretary – Brian JonesPubs Officer – Dave McKerchar
Other roles elected were:Cider Officer – Paul ScrivensBranch Contact – Katrina FletcherYoung Members' Contact – James MooreMagazine Editor and LocAle Coordinator – Phil GillPublic Affairs Officer – Gareth EppsSocial Secretary and Deputy Chairman – Quinten TaylorPub Preservation Officer – Steve CooleyGood Beer Guide and Beer Scoring Coordinator – Sandie GillBeer Festival Organiser – Dave ScottDeputy Beer Festival Organiser and Health &Safety Officer – Pat RapleyTasting Panel Coordinator – Dan Cane-Honeysett
Unfilled roles included Campaigns Officer, ClubsOfficer, Press and Publicity Officer and Webmaster.If you're interested in helping with any of these rolesor want to find out more about them, get in touch.
Finally we had a “motion for debate”. This doesn'thappen very often so we were all quite grateful tohave something different to do. The exact wordingof the motion was a bit long and complicated, butin plain language it asked the branch to investigateallowing proxy or remote voting at meetings. Themotion was carried, and so a small group aregoing to sit down and work through the detailsbefore bringing back a proposal to a future branchmeeting. If it's accepted there, it will need to beratified at an SGM because it would mean achange to our branch constitution. Watch out forsomething happening in the new year.
Phil Gill
FORESTERS
The
Arms
Offering 3 Real Ales with a selectionfrom local breweries, regular live
music nights and wine and real aletasting evenings.
We have a large beer garden at therear with a kids play area and
are a dog friendly pub.
Families are more than welcome.We hope to see you soon!
The Foresters Arms79-81 Brumswick Street,Reading RG1 6NY
Tom and Vikki welcome you totheir community pub...
THE MAIDEN OVER
There has been no stranger or higher-profilepub closure than this in our area in recenttimes. The Good Beer Guide-listed MaidenOver was a genuine community pub; a hugenumber of the town’s community groupsmet there. The pub had enjoyed somethingof a renaissance even though EnterpriseInns' ownership always meant it was atsome risk.
It was no surprise to see that even before thepub had closed, over 200 residents hadjoined a Facebook group formed to fight theclosure. But there was only one thing thatcould be tried to save the pub: an obscureruse called an Article 4 Direction, which EricPickles had said should be used to stop super-market conversions. Many were rightly amazedthat a pub could be converted to a supermarketwithout needing planning permission.
Working with supportive local ward andtown councillors and residents, we wereable to get Wokingham Council to debate arequest to use an Article 4. Fearful they
would be exposed to compensation claims,officers were opposed to this measure tosave the pub. But late one August evening,councillors disagreed and by a clear marginvoted to grant an Article 4.
But that wasn’t the end of the saga. Tescosent a threatening legal letter to WokinghamCouncil - and we now have a copy follow-ing a Freedom of Information request. Itclaimed the council's reaction was “irra-tional” - as if councils should have a say onpubs closing! The truth was that there havebeen so few, if any pubs saved from super-market conversion that the Article 4 on theMaiden Over was a threat with potentialnational consequences.
Officers panicked. Although no council hasever been successfully sued for issuing anArticle 4, the threat of losing hundreds ofthousands of pounds was enough for themto recommend to councillors that they goback on the decision. So four weeks after issuingthe Article 4, they unissued it: removing the lasthope of keeping the pub open.
CAMRA’s Pubs Matter campaign wasdesigned to prevent just this sort of astonishingabuse of local democracy. Of course a community facility should not be lost without even the need to seek planning permission. But there is a silver lining.
PUB CLOSURES ON LOCAL COUNCILS' AGENDASAs a result of the actions of Enterprise Innsand Tesco in Earley, we have bothWokingham and Reading Councils debatinghow to better protect pubs under threat.
Mine’s a Pint23
Campaigns Update
The Maiden Over before Tesco got their way
CONTINUED OVERLEAF
Both councils were due to debate the matterjust after we closed for press; we’ll update inthe next issue.
ASSETS OF COMMUNITY VALUETwo steps forward and two steps back ingetting valued community pubs listed underthis relatively new method of giving commu-nities the right to bid for a building up forsale.
We got the Eldon Arms and Three Tuns listed as ACVs in early November, but onlyafter a huge delay by Reading BoroughCouncil.
The two steps back were our first rejectionsof ACV nominations. That for the Alehousewas rejected on the basis that seemingly atown centre pub could not offer communitybenefit. Wokingham waited until after Tescohad its grip on the Maiden Over to rejectthat ACV nomination on the basis that thepub had never been a community asset andwas now not capable of being used as such.
The only answer to that was that, if thecouncil had showed some backbone and notrolled over to Tesco's legal threats, it wouldhave been! But under the legislation it stillshould have been listed. The branch will betaking this one further.
Mine’s a Pint24
CAMPAIGNS UPDATE - CONTINUED
Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill
Imag
e © C
AM
RA
A huge campaign featuring CAMRA andthe Fair Deal for your Local coalition hasgot the support of MPs across all parties -including Government MPs voting againstthe whip - to end the scandal affectingBritain's tied pubs.
In November MPs debated a proposal togive publicans the chance to opt for aMarket Rent Only option. Talk to any publican in the area running a pub under
the big pub companies and they will tell youhow inflated their wholesale prices are -often more expensive than the price atWetherspoons - with no compensating benefits. This change would only affect thebiggest pubcos with 500 pubs or more.
As we went to press, we heard the wonder-ful news that MPs had voted in favour ofthe proposal by 284 votes to 259.
Gareth Epps
Mine’s a Pint26
LONDON IRISHFirst up, London Irish fans and visiting supporters can enjoy a pint of real ale at theMadejski Stadium after the club agreed anew three-year sponsorship with theHampshire-based brewery. Upham will bethe club’s Official Cask Ale Sponsor from the2014/15 season, and will lead the sponsor-ship with its flagship brand of ale, Punter.
In addition to in-stadium and shirt brandingrights, hospitality, player access and ticket-ing, Upham Brewery will have exclusivepouring rights for ale at the MadejskiStadium for all London Irish home matches.To help establish the brand among supporters,Punter will be served in the club’s first everdedicated real ale “Punter Bar” which ishoused in the East Stand and also withinhospitality suites and fan lounges.
David Butcher, Director of Upham Brewery,said: “The match day atmosphere and expe-rience at London Irish is up there with the
best in the Premiership and we’re reallylooking forward to enriching it by introduc-ing Punter to both home and visiting fans.”
Keep up to date on www.london-irish.com
BRACKNELL BEESOn a smaller scale, Uphambeer is now also availablein the bar at Bracknell icerink, so fans of theBracknell Bees ice hockey
team can finally enjoy a decent beer whilewatching the game. At first a cask was triedon match nights, but the rink bar can getincredibly hot and, even with a cooling jack-et, the beer quality suffered. So the choicewas made to switch to bottles, and now achoice of three bottled Upham beers is usu-ally available. In this previously keg-onlyvenue, the real ale is a welcome change andis proving popular.
Follow the Bees' progress on www.bracknellbees.co.uk
Mine’s a Pint27
Sporting Beers
Two local sports teams haveannounced sponsorshipdeals with Upham brewerythat see real ale on sale atgames
London Irish players at the launch of the Upham sponsorship deal
One of the welcome beer events of the lastyear was the reappearance of Truman’sbeers after a gap of over 20 years, thoughnow brewed in Hackney some way from theoriginal site.
Brewing ceased at the Black Eagle Breweryin Brick Lane in 1989, perhaps an inevitableconsequence of the various brewery mergersof the preceding quarter century which hadseen Truman, Hanbury and Buxton, onceclaimed to be the largest brewer in theworld, taken over by Grand MetropolitanHotels and merged with its brewing arm,Watney Mann.
The Truman brewery had come near todestruction at an earlier stage in its history,nearly 200 years ago. At that time one ofthe Buxtons involved in the business wasThomas Fowell Buxton, a devout Christianwho is perhaps better known for his politi-cal campaigns, motivated by his faith, incarrying on the work of William Wilberforcetowards the abolition of slavery than for hisbrewing activities.
One Saturday night in 1817, Buxton wassleeping in the brewery house at Brick Lanerather than at his house in Hampstead, asall the other partners in the business wereaway for the weekend. On Saturday morn-ing he paid a visit to the brewhouse and hisattention was drawn by one of the workersto a vat of beer, weighing 170 tons, whichwas giving some cause for concern. Buxtonmade a note to have it repaired and thenproceeded to a nearby chapel to pray. Whilehe was praying for guidance, he becameconvinced that he should go back to thebrewery rather than return to his home.Suspecting the vat in question to be now ina dangerous state he immediately ordered
the drawing off of the beer and summoned asurveyor who said that but for his promptaction the vat would have collapsed anddestroyed the whole brewery with it.
These were the good old days when beerwas regarded as a wholesome drink, a giftof God and much to be preferred to thetwin evils of tea and gin! Regrettably, to mymind, the heresy of teetotalism took hold ofthe churches from the 1840s onwards but ifone believes in the power of prayer one canhardly deny that it was divine providence in1817 that intervened to save Truman’s beerfor another 170 years!
I am not sure whether the new Truman’swill be seen much in Reading but the oldcompany did have a number of pubs in thearea, mostly acquired as a result of a“swap” with Courage’s in 1970. Theseincluded the College Arms in WokinghamRoad.
John Dearing
Mine’s a Pint28
From the Archives – Trumans Brewery
