Newsletter of Scunthorpe & District

Campaign for Real Ale

www.scunthorpecamra.org.uk

FFRREEEE AAuuttuummnn 22001133 FFRREEEE

SSuuttttoonn AArrmmss,, SSccaawwbbyy,, WWiinnss SSuummmmeerr PPuubb ooff tthhee SSeeaassoonn

IIRROONN BBRREEWW Published quarterly by Scunthorpe &

District Campaign for Real Ale. Edited by Mark Elsome

29 The Dales, Bottesford DN17 2QF who would be pleased to receive

comments for publication

E-mail: mark.elsome@ntlworld.com

Copy date for next issue: 06.01.14 Web Site:

http://www.scunthorpecamra.org.uk Opinions expressed in this newsletter

are those of the author, and may not be the views of CAMRA locally or nationally

Advertising Rates are: -

Full page £50 (b/w), £70 back page, £60 inside page (colour);

Half page £30 (b/w), £40 (colour); Quarter Page £20 (b/w), £30 (colour).

Contact the editor for details of discounts.

Branch Committee

Branch Chairman: Mark Elsome (Tel: 01724 331056)

Branch Treasurer: Chris Lyon (Tel: 01724 761217)

Branch Secretary: Bev Branton (Tel: 01724 357009)

Membership Secretary: Paul Williams (Tel: 01673 818109)

Social Secretary: Sarah Wullink

(Tel: 07840155637) (m) E-mail: sarahwullink@btinternet.com

BBrraanncchh DDiiaarryy CCOOMMMMEENNTT

Well, the 16th Scunthorpe Beer Festival is now over, but we’re very pleased overall with how it went. There was much praise for the new venue – the Platforms function room of the Bridge Hotel, as it was bigger than previous venues, had lots of seating and plenty of natural light, plus we were blessed with good weather throughout, which allowed those who wanted a spot of al fresco drinking to go outside onto the adjoining terrace. There were also a lot of positive comments about the range and quality of the real ales and ciders on offer. This was testimony to the hard work of the organisers, who set out to provide as wide a range of tasty brews as possible within the relatively small order of 28 beers and 3 ciders. Hopefully we’ll be back next year for more of the same! [2]

Sat 19 Oct Trip to Gainsborough Beer Festival by service bus, Old Hall, 11 am Gainsborough.

Wed 23 Oct Pub of the Season presentation to the Jolly Miller, Wrawby 8 pm Tues 29 Oct Branch social at Blue Bell, Scunthorpe, during the 8 pm Wetherspoon Autumn Beer Festival. Sat 9 Nov Trip by train to Wakefield Beer Festival. Names to Sarah. 10 am

Sat 16 Nov Trip by train to Axholme Brewing Co. brewery, 7 Lakes 11 am Country Park, Ealand, nr. Crowle.

Sat 14 Dec Xmas Sheffield city centre ‘alternative’ pub crawl on foot. 10 am

Fri 20 Dec Branch Xmas party, Malt Shovel, Ashby. [15] 630 pm

PPuubb ooff tthhee SSeeaassoonn AAuuttuummnn 22001133

TThhee JJoollllyy MMiilllleerr,, WWrraawwbbyy

The recipient of our Autumn Pub of the Season award is the Jolly Miller at Wrawby. This is a roadside free house owned by local businessman Mike Godfrey, and an extensive refurbishment of the premises was completed in November 2012. At the helm are joint licensees Adam Pearson and Jenny Harding. The pub is welcoming and very nicely decorated and furnished, and comprises a bar/lounge, which is set out for meals at one end, plus a separate pool room. A large outdoor eating area, termed Miller’s Store, has also been developed, and often caters for parties. In addition there are three rooms used for guest accommodation. The Jolly Miller offers Batemans Yella Belly Gold as its permanent real ale, plus two rotating guest beers - at the time of writing these were Draught Bass and Black Sheep Ruddy Ram porter. There is a strong emphasis on food, and meals are available at lunchtime and evenings from Mon-Fri, from 12 noon to 9 pm on Saturday, with traditional roasts available from 12 noon to 7 pm on Sunday. Recently the Jolly Miller organised a small beer festival in the covered outdoor area featuring ten cask beers and some ciders, and hope to repeat this again in the not too distant future. We wish the Jolly Miller continued success in the future, and will be presenting the Pub of the Season award on Wednesday 23 October at 8 pm. We hope you will be able to join us.

Mark Elsome

All change at the Horn Inn in Messingham as recently installed licensee James Darby, formerly of the Elm Cottage in Gainsborough, quit suddenly over what we understand to be a dispute over wages. Pity really, as there were signs that the choice and quality of the pub’s real ales was on the up. New at the helm are experienced licensees Mike and Angie Ryan, who hail from London.

Batemans Brewery of Wainfleet in Lincolnshire has produced two new draught beers under the banner of ‘Bohemian Brews’. The first of these was Orange Barley, a 6.2% ABV orange flavoured beer, and this was followed by Hazelnut Brownie, a rich, dark, strong ale (6.3% ABV), with a nutty character and flavours of cinnamon and Belgian chocolate. The latter was featured at the recent 16th Scunthorpe Beer Festival, and won the ‘Beer of the Festival’ award.

Wetherspoon’s Autumn Beer Festival starts on 16 October and runs until 31 October. The Blue Bell on Oswald Road will be partaking, and an added attraction this time is the range of ten American craft beers brewed in the UK by American brewers. These will include Stone Brewing Co. Black IPA (5% ABV) and Cambridge Brewing Co. Sgt Pepper (4.2%). Sounds great!

Scunthorpe Rugby Club on Ashby Road is now featuring two rotating real ales, and at a recent social function they had on Theakston Infallible (4.3% ABV), a dark, sweet, malty bitter and Adnams Bitter (3.7%), a tasty session beer, both in tip-top condition. Social membership is offered. Definitely worth an enquiry! Neil Poole, licensee of Pooleys in Messingham, suffered a heart attack recently, and is recuperating in hospital. We wish him a speedy recovery.[4]

IPPuubb && BBrreewweerryy NNeewwssI

This week, a mere forty-one years after I first bought one of his records, I at last saw Don McLean live. The first song of his set was, fittingly, Charles Hardin Holley's "Everyday". Don McLean was a teenager when he saw the headlines announcing Buddy Holly's death. Twelve years later, he released the nine-minute, surreal requiem for him that has now provided the unofficial title of the event. McLean's first album, Tapestry, was not a hit - at least, not until after the release of American Pie - although it contained two songs that have since become familiar standards ("And I Love You So", and "Castles in the Air"). His sophomore effort, propelled to chart success by the title track and thence to stellar status by another requiem piece, "Vincent", was altogether much more commercial. The other tracks tend to be overshadowed by these two huge singles, but they are all worth listening to. Overall, the album is a "protest" record. The songs all evoke loss and pain, and many of them are about the uselessness of war, the Vietnam War being at its height at the time, either directly ("Everybody Loves Me, Baby", "The Grave") or indirectly. Indeed, McLean (it’s rumoured), intended the album to be a concept album on this theme. A number of the tracks have courted controversy. “Empty Chairs” has been said to be the song that inspired “Killing Me Softly with his Song”, although the author of the latter disagrees (the truth, as ever, probably somewhere in the middle). “Sister Fatima”, misspelt on the original LP release and some more recent CD’s, a seemingly innocuous song about a fortune teller, was omitted from re-issues until the 21st century, for reasons that are far from clear. What has changed in the intervening near-half-century? Well, McLean and I have both grown considerably older and, one hopes, a bit wiser. But the songs on American Pie have lost none of their power to move the emotions. Stewart Lloyd [4]

CCllaassssiicc AAllbbuummss NNoo.. 4455:: DDoonn MMccLLeeaann –– AAmmeerriiccaann PPiiee ((UUnniitteedd AArrttiissttss)) TThhee MMaalltt SShhoovveell

219 Ashby High Street Scunthorpe DN16 2JP

Tel: 01724 843318 Open: 10am – 11pm, Sun – Thurs, 10am – 12pm Fri & Sat

‘The Country Pub in the Town’

Serving in tip-top condition Tom Wood’s Lincoln Gold & Best, Exmoor Gold, rotating Oakham + up to 5 ever

changing guest beers from UK microbreweries (tasters available); Erdinger Weiss & Aspalls Cider.

Always at least 4 real ciders. Now serving La Cantina ciders straight from the cellar (100% pure fruit ciders, various flavours and ABV’s)

Freshly Ground Fairtrade Italian Coffee Over 40 malt whiskies (35 ml measure) New Wine Menu by the glass & bottle

New extension available for private functions of up to 35 people with buffet menus to suit all budgets

Home-cooked food served:

12–2pm & 4.30–8pm (Mon – Wed, 9pm Thurs & Fri), 12-9pm Sat

12– 7pm Sun (including Sunday lunches) Teatime Specials available 5 – 8pm Mon – Sat

£4.25 or £6.25 for 2 courses

Quiz nights Tues & Thurs – win beer & loose change Live music every other Saturday from 8.30pm/check press

& blackboards

Book Your Christmas Function Now!

BBeeeerrss iinn PPoorrttuuggaall PPuubbss iinn OOuurr LLiivveess A few weeks ago now (it seems longer), I returned from an enjoyable holiday in the Algarve in western Portugal, and I thought you’d be interested in the beers I found out there. You are, good! Unlike many countries in Western Europe, Portugal hasn’t yet caught up with the trend for craft beers, although there were a few signs that it’s certainly thinking

about it. The country has three major breweries – Cristal, Sagres and Super Bock, but the vast majority of their output goes into almost tasteless fizzy lagers, which look and taste the same wherever you find them. OK, when it’s heavily chilled, as it always is, it can be refreshing on a hot day, but cooling the beer to very low temperatures kills any residual flavor that might be there, and the gassiness tends to blow you up after a couple of pints, such that you don’t feel like drinking any more.

So an eleven night stay loomed without the prospect of any decent beer! Fortunately we found out that all the breweries also did dark stouts, and these were much better by comparison. The Super Bock Stout and Cristal Petra were both dark and delicious, with flavours of roast barley and chocolate to the fore. During a couple of shopping trips to nearby Lagos, I stocked up with these bottled dark beers, and as we had a small fridge in the hotel room, they were nice to come back to after a hard day’s sunbathing. On another trip to Portimao, (there was a train service just outside the hotel), we struck gold in a large shopping mall in the town centre, where a supermarket had a good selection of Belgian and German beers. We bought as many bottles of these as we could comfortably carry, but it was here that I noticed that Portugal was indeed taking the first faltering steps towards craft beer making, when I spotted a large, ornate corked bottle of Super Bock American Lager! It was too big to take back with us, but I hope that if I return to Portugal in a few years’ time, the craft brewing bug will have bitten, and Portugal will be able to offer a range of tasty craft beers to enhance any holiday. Mark Elsome [12]

New research commissioned by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), highlights how important British pubs are in people’s lives and calls on the public to start using them more often before more close. CAMRA’s third national pub campaign of the year, ‘Pubs in Our Lives’, will run throughout October. The objective of the campaign is to highlight how often people use pubs for special events throughout their lives and ask the question ‘Where would we be without the local?’ The main findings of the new research were: Have you ever done any of the following at the pub? 75% have celebrated a friend / family birthday 48% have celebrated a life at a wake 48% have had a date 42% have attended a wedding anniversary 36% have ‘wet the baby’s head’ 20% have met their current partner

CAMRA has distributed approximately 6,500 free ‘Pubs in Our Lives’ promotional packs that include beer mats and posters to help pubs promote these important messages to their visitors. Mike Benner, CAMRA’s Chief Executive, called for support from the British public for the campaign. He said “Almost 4 in 10 pub-goers highlighted in the new research that they are

visiting the pub less often that they did just 12 months ago. This is worrying and as a staggering 26 pubs are still closing every week it is important we use our pubs more regularly and not only for these special occasions. The British pub needs the British public’s support throughout the year otherwise community life will diminish in many parts of the country.” ‘Pubs in Our Lives’ is one of CAMRA’s Key Campaigns to ‘raise the profile of pub-going and increase the number of people using pubs regularly’. [5]

VViissiitt ttoo GGrraafftteerrss BBrreewweerryy

John & Julia would like to

welcome old & young to one of the oldest pub sites in

England

TThhee SSuunn && AAnncchhoorr,, SSccootttteerr Tel: 01724 763444

Two Guest Beers, Good Cheer Welcoming Atmosphere Beer Garden

Children’s Play Area

NO FOOD, JUST A PUB WITH GREAT REAL ALES!

On a sunny day in early September, a group of Scunthorpe & District CAMRA members and friends set off on the Lincoln service bus to the Half Moon at Willingham-by-Stow, about five miles from Gainsborough. On arrival at the pub, we found six Grafters beers on handpump as we entered the bar, plus three guest beers. Once we all had a pint in our hands, Phil Troop, owner and head brewer, gave us a potted history of Grafters and the many awards his beers had subsequently won. He then handed over to assistant brewer

Aaron Taylor to conduct a tour of both the new and old breweries. Grafters has invested a sum of over £100,000 pounds in 2013 to install new brewing equipment, which is housed in a new brewhouse. This gives them a much larger capacity, and able to meet demand for their excellent beers. We concluded the visit with some more sampling of Grafters beers, and consumption of their superb fish and chips. Aaron and Phil were happy to stay with us and answer any other questions we had. A very enjoyable day out, and a visit is thoroughly recommended! [6]

CAMRA promotes Cider & Perry throughout October. Unlike real ale production, which can happen at any time of the year, real cider & perry can only be made when the fruit is ripe. Great skill goes into producing both products. Great store is placed by the brewer in the quality of ingredients and variety of flavours created by the malt, hops, yeast and water used to brew the beer. It is a cider maker rather than a brewer that makes cider & perry. They may use a mixture of bittersweet and bittersharp cider apples or sweet dessert apples, or a mixture of the two to make cider. Perry is normally made from perry pears, but can be made from dessert pears. The choosing, pressing and blending of the fruit to make cider or perry is just as much of a craft as making beer, and produces a vast range of tastes, styles and aromas, similar to those produced in fine wine. Like wine, each year's fruit produces a unique vintage, so much so that cider and perry have been sometimes called 'The Wine of the West'. October is a very active time for cider makers, especially for those who make only a small amount of cider. Harvest time for cider fruit is roughly from September to November and by October production is in full flow. CAMRA has set October aside as Cider & Perry Month, in the same way as May is set aside as Mild Month. CAMRA has a Real Cider Sold Here window sticker scheme to promote pubs serving real cider and/or perry. In our area a number of pubs sell real cider, chief among these being the Brandy Wharf Cider Centre, the Malt Shovel in Ashby, the River Don at Eastoft and the Blue Bell and Honest Lawyer in Scunthorpe. So try a real cider or perry during October – you may enjoy their unique taste!

nnnnCCiiddeerr && PPeerrrryy MMoonntthhnnnn

EEllllaanndd 11887722 PPoorrtteerr WWiinnss TToopp GGoonngg aatt GGBBBBFF GGaaiinnssbboorroouugghh CCAAMMRRAA PPaaggee After a year of local tasting panels and regional heats leading up to the finals, CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale announced that Elland 1872 Porter had been crowned the 'Best Beer in Britain’ at the Great British Beer Festival, Olympia, London in August. The West Yorkshire brewed real ale was judged the Supreme Champion over a host of other finalists in seven different beer categories including beers from both small microbrewers and large regional brewers. Colin Valentine, Chair of the competition and CAMRA Chairman, spoke in praise of the winner, saying, “It was a really tough decision, but Elland 1872 Porter is a fantastic beer and a well deserved winner. A 6.5% ABV, rich and strongly flavoured porter with flavours of coffee and dark chocolate, this result makes it two years in a row that our Champion Winter Beer has gone on to win the Champion Beer of Britain competition.” Michael Wynnyczuk, Head Brewer at Elland, said, “I’m utterly shocked. It’s a great beer but after we won the Winter Ales competition you wonder about it in the summer GBBF competition, as people may prefer different styles of beer in warmer weather. But we know it’s a great beer and we’re really proud to be crowned Champion Beer of Britain.” The overall winners were: Gold – Elland – 1872 Porter (West Yorkshire) Silver – Buntingford – Twitchell (Hertfordshire) Bronze – Fyne Ales – Jarl (Argyll) Although demand for the champion beer is likely to be high across the country, the best places to try this delicious dark beer locally are likely to be the Malt Shovel in Ashby, who feature Elland beers on a regular basis, or the Blue Bell in Scunthorpe town centre. However do remember to try it sensibly, as its high alcoholic strength (and price), preclude necking pint after pint. However for an end of night drink, it can’t be beaten! CAMRA/Mark Elsome [10]

Hi all. Firstly, congratulations to Scunthorpe CAMRA on holding a really wonderful festival, and what a great place to have it in! The choice of beers was also a first class job, with a very good balance of strengths, styles and flavours, something for everyone. The Gainsborough branch would also like to thank all of you who visited our festival and hope you enjoyed yourselves as well. It’s not easy getting things right, trying to suit all the different preferences of the drinking public, and giving them the variety they seem to want. It also gave those who came, the ideal chance to visit the winner of this year’s latest POTS, the Elm Cottage. This is another Bill (The Beer) Smith acquisition that, under the guidance of Dave (Archie) Andrews and his staff, has really turned around and they’re now serving 6 real ales. So, a visit to us every now and then has its benefits, with 7 pubs having a total of about 30 different beers available between them, around the town centre. Our local brewery, Grafters, has won yet another award, a bronze medal for Darker Side of the Moon at this year’s Peterborough Beer Festival. We also hope that this year’s festival special, SCUD, will become a regular brew. Grafters will be hosting a winter warmer beer festival from the 28th Nov. till 1st Dec, with 20 local beers and 6+ ciders and perries, food vendors and live music on the Friday & Saturday it should be a really good event. There is also news of the possibility of at least 3 beer festivals to be held in Gainsborough in the early part of next year, so watch this space for further details. Thanks for reading. Have one for me Kev T. [7]

1166tthh SSccuunntthhoorrppee BBeeeerr FFeessttiivvaall

TThhee BBiirrdd iinn tthhee BBaarrlleeyy Northfield Road, Messingham: Tel 01724 764744 Email: birdinthebarley.messingham@virgin.net

Traditional Country Pub serving traditional home-cooked food, made from the finest ingredients from local suppliers 30-seat Conservatory Dining Area – Fully refurbished Bar Area Bar Hours: Food Served: Tues-Sat 1130am-3pm & 530-11pm Tues-Sat 12noon-2pm Sun 12noon-3pm & 6-11pm & 6-9pm Sun 12noon- 230pm & 6-8pm Menu from Snacks to Full Menu: Lunchtime/Teatime Specials FREE Tues-Sat £5.45 1/3 pint cask ale Cask Pedigree, Jennings Snecklifter with this ad! plus rotating guest ales

The 16th Scunthorpe Beer Festival took place in the ‘Platforms’ function room of the Bridge Hotel in Scunthorpe town centre at the end of September. This was a new venue for us, after our previous location in ‘Campbells’ at the Scunthorpe Conservative Club, closed down last Christmas. So how did it go? Well the venue received the thumbs up from nearly all who attended, no doubt appreciating the extra space, and the ready availability of seating and tables. The outdoor terrace proved popular during the welcome, but unseasonably warm weather.

The range of beers also drew lots of praise, particularly on the Yorkshire Brewers’ Bar, where all six handpulled beers sold out well before the end. Other beers that proved popular included the Batemans Hazelnut Brownie, a strong, dark, chocolate-flavoured ale, Blue

Monkey Marmoset, a lovely, pale, hoppy beer of modest (3.6% ABV) strength, Church End Pooh Beer, a sweet, honey beer and Thornbridge Lumford, a pale, fruity bitter, brewed with New Zealand hops. In fact the Batemans beer was voted Beer of the Festival by those attending. The Dark Beer trail also proved popular, with many people trying five of the six dark beers on the trail, allowing them to drink the sixth or their favourite dark beer for free. Our attempts to select as many different beer styles as possible within our planned range, seemed to work, and we sold more beer than in previous years. This was encouraging, and leads us to think that what we’re doing is what most people want from a beer festival. [8]

We had no live music this year, and tried to use our pre-recorded CD playlists sparingly, just to provide some background atmosphere. The tombola also proved popular, with many people tempted into trying to win a prize from our selection of bottled beers, books, beer glasses and branded brewery clothing. Special praise should go to all the Scunthorpe & District Branch members who worked at the festival (some for very long hours), including a contingent of staff from the Blue Bell Inn on the Friday and Saturday evenings. Thanks guys, we really appreciate all your efforts! Thanks also go to our generous sponsors, and to those who lent us equipment, including Doncaster CAMRA (beer taps), the River Don Tavern (handpumps), Axholme Brewing Co. (handpump) and Gainsborough CAMRA (stillage). So, overall a great success - hope to see you again next year at our 17th festival!