Open Arms - More real ale in Birkenhead

External works are ongoing

Birkenhead has gained another pub selling a range of cask beers. The Avenue was a pub in Claughton, Birkenhead surrounded by terraced housing. It was built by Birkenhead Brewery to their usual template in the 1950s on the site of The Avenue cinema which took a direct hit during a 2nd World War bombing raid. Birkenhead suffered badly from German raids due to its shipyard, industry and proximity to Liverpool.

Picked up for a song by the owners of the successful Cock & Pullet, on opening day the beers on offer were Brimstage Trapper's Hat, Liverpool Organic's Cascade, Phoenix Spotland Gold (!) and Thwaites' Wainwright. Observing the customer preference for fizzy lagers and the lack of cask ale heritage in the area it will be interesting to see if cask ale is a success.

A Summer's day at Brimstage Brewery

It isn't often that the planets align correctly and we get the idyllic Sunday that sums up all our hopes for the British Summer. The reality is usually a downpour or a blustery wind or both. That's how it is in the North of the country anyway.


Neil Young contemplates a pint of Scarecrow


Neil Young  at Brimstage Brewery pushed the boat out yesterday. He'd invited the great and good from Merseyside branch of CAMRA over for the afternoon. A bit of a PR job this, ther's always a bit of mutual suspicion between Liverpool and Wirral. CAMRA branch trips to the brewery are nothing new. Brimstage wins lots of 'Beer of the Festival' awards and branches like to present the awards in situ in return for a bit of hospitality.

This time though, Neil made use of the the paddock fronting the brewery to lay on a Jazz Band - suits the target audience unfortunately - and provide a hog roast. Amazingly the sun shone and we basked in this rural idyll. Trapper's Hat, Sandpiper and Scarecrow were the thirst quenchers for the 39 visitors from across the Mersey plus assorted friends of the brewery. Merseyside branch were due to visit a number of pubs that afternoon but enjoyed themselves so much that they stayed for an extra two hours. Well you would with free beer and glorious weather. Look out for Scarecrow at GBBF, it's a full flavoured 4.2% traditional bitter.

Gallagher's Pub and Barbers, Birkenhead

Gallagher's (20 Chester Street, CH41 5DQ) is the deserved Wirral CAMRA Pub of the Year for 2011. Frank Gallagher (!) was formerly in the Irish Guards and had recently run two barber's shops in the area. He wanted to run a pub and with wife Sue they decided to juxtaposition a pub and traditional barber's shop on

the same premises.

Originally called the Hamlet, it enjoyed a renaissance under Cain's ownership as the Dispensary until the brewery lost focus following a succession of financial problems. A stone's throw from Woodside where the Ferry Across the Mersey there is an impressive view of the Liverpool waterfront as you enter/leave the pub. Buses stop nearby and Hamilton Square railway station is just around the corner.

The pub has now been fitted out with numerous military artifacts to reflect Frank's background. The emphasis is on cask beer from local breweries. Brimstage Trapper's Hat is de rigeur for any self-respecting cask ale pub in Wirral and impressive sales are clocked up here. Liverpool Organic and p
Gallagher's (20 Chester Street, CH41 5DQ) is the deserved Wirral CAMRA Pub of the Year for 2011. Frank Gallagher (!) was formerly in the Irish Guards and had recently run two barber's shops in the area. He wanted to run a pub and with wife Sue they decided to juxtaposition a pub and traditional barber's shop on the same premises.


Originally called the Hamlet, it enjoyed a renaissance under Cain's ownership as the Dispensary until the brewery lost focus following a succession of financial problems. A stone's throw from Woodside where the Ferry Across the Mersey there is an impressive view of the Liverpool waterfront as you enter/leave the pub. Buses stop nearby and Hamilton Square railway station is just around the corner.

The pub has now been fitted out with numerous military artifacts to reflect Frank's background. The emphasis is on cask beer from local breweries. Brimstage Trapper's Hat is de rigeur for any self-respecting cask ale pub in Wirral and impressive sales are clocked up here.  Liverpool Organic and Peerless beers are also regularly stocked.

The Gallagher's have done an impressive job in reviving this much loved pub and hopefully it will continue to thrive.

Thoughts from Liverpool Beer Festival

The CAMRA Liverpool Beer Festival is hugely popular and I've already said how difficult it is to obtain a ticket. The venue is superb. It's the crypt of the Metropolitan (R.C.) Cathedral which was built before the 2nd World War as the first stage of a project to build a grand traditional cathedral to match the Anglican edifice at the other end of Hope Street. The was intervened and plans were scaled back with designs for an ultra- modern glass and steel building taking its place. 'Paddys Wigwam' was controversial and unloved at first but is now accepted affectionately as an integral part of the Liverpool skyline.

It's as bit dim down there for photos

All stonework and Gothic arches it's a great place to drink beer with seating in the main hall for those who arrive early. There seems to be simplicity in planning the beer order. Quality is the watchword rather than rarity with 200 of the countries finest brews on sale. That's a lot of different beers for a mid-sized festival which means some have sold out by the final day. Liverpool has a number of great pubs, many of which have taken the opportunity to piggy back their own festivals onto this weekend to offer the drinker even more choice.

Brimstage, Hawkhead and Yates. What a line up!

The beers themselves are excellent. Most are £1.00 per half/£2.00 per pint even up to and above 5% with only the real rocket fuel brews at £1.50 per half which is still good value. Local breweries get pride of place near to the entrance with 17 of them represented. I obviously sampled the offerings from the wonderful Brimstage Brewery first just to check that they were as good as ever (they were). Their Rhode Island Red must be a winner one day soon at Earl's Court.

Those 'flavours of the month' Brewdog, Thornbridge and Marble were well represented. I have to say that on this occasion I found the Punk IPA to be overpowering, all sweetness and grapefruit. I was much happier with Dark Star's more modest Hophead.

Marble's Manchester Bitter and Ginger went down well but again I felt the Dobber was a little sweet. Maybe these strong hoppy beers are better with the sharpness of keg !! The new Galaxia from Thornbridge suited my palate better. The citrus notes balanced by good bitterness. This one uses Australian hops.

I'd drank a number of hoppy beers in the first few hours do it was time for a change of tack. Sarah Hughes Ruby is always a winner and I was recommended Liverpool Organic's Russian Imperial Stout. The tasting notes state Liquorice, Dark Chocolate and Coffee. Decadence in a glass indeed. This is a top class brewery with a fine range of cask and bottle conditioned beers. Their version of the much missed Higson's Bitter caused a lot of interest but it's a difficult taks to match that pungent, bitter, headache inducing brew.


One rare that was available was Hawkshead Tripel XBP. I cleansed my palate first with a glass of their Bitter which is one of my favourite beers  but the XBP was a disappointment. A strong and dry old ale there was no distinctive flavour evident. I'd even say it was bland despite the strength.



Spelling lesson needed

Good food is on offer too. The Everyman Bistro provide upmarket fast food and there is also a pie and pasty stall and a huge range of farmhouse cheeses with bread. Ideal ballast for a beer festival.

A justifiably popular festival and a good excuse to spend a weekend in Liverpool. After all if you can't get a ticket for each session there are plenty of good pubs.

Wirral Whisperings

I live in Wirral. There is perception in Liverpool that the peninsula is a leafy oasis inhabited by posh types who look down their noses at the scousers over the water. Well, the well-heeled residents on the Deeside may think like that but the conurbations of Birkenhead, New Ferry and Seacombe on the banks of the Mersey form one of the most deprived areas in the country.

This divide impinges on the beer scene. Conservative West Wirral has numerous country inns and suburban pubs offering real ale, although it is only since the emergence of Brimstage brewery in 2007 that that the market for beers from micros has taken off. Peerless brewery in Birkenhead followed and is expanding its market while breweries from the Liverpool and Chester areas are starting to make their presence felt.

The working class conurbation centered around Birkenhead is a different matter. 10-15 years ago there was a decent real ale crawl to be had in Birkenhead town centre The long term decline of the area has resulted in the sad state of affairs whereby this town of over 80,000 people has no pubs in the 2010 or 2011 GBGs. Hope may be on the horizon with the re-opening of a couple of pubs offering a choice of beers (see Cock & Pullet) but the overall situation is still bad.

Wirral suffers in beer choice for two main reasons. Historically, Wirral pubs were owned a few large players. Birkenhead Brewery was the largest player but was swallowed up by Threlfall’s in the early 60s which was itself already a part of the Whitbread ‘Umbrella’. These keg and tank beer pubs resisted the march of real ale in the late 70’s and early 80s longer than most.

The remaining pubs were mostly former Bent’s and Yates’ houses which eventually became part of the Bass and Allied-Tetley empire. Real ale was hard to track down in these pubs. The only shining light was Higson’s which had a smattering of pubs throughout Wirral, mostly with good beer. Unfortunately, Higson’s were taken over by Boddington’s who themselves were swallowed up by Whitbread, delivering a further portfolio to the bloated behemoth.

Although sales of pubs in the 80’s introduced pockets of exotic beer from Wilson’s and Wolverhampton & Dudley, the dismantling of the big breweries left most of Wirral’s pubs in the hands of the new pub companies. To this day there are few true free houses in Wirral, restricting the choice of real ale.

The lack of good beer in Birkenhead and parts of Wallasey may also be down to the proximity of Liverpool. There are any number of excellent pubs on the other side of the Mersey with superb rangers of beer. A five minute train journey from Birkenhead means that the town is by-passed by drinkers looking for a good pint. Not until critical mass is reached with enough good pubs in a small area for a night out will Birkenhead have reason to be proud of its beer culture.

Anticipation

The last day of the "kill your liver" holiday and I'm off to the match. Looking forward to the compulsory pub visit afterwards to celebrate or drown our sorrows.

It's a GBG pub with seven handpumps. The quality is not bad for Wirral (more on that later). So what's the problem? It is the beer range. Landlord and Bombardier chase the 4.3% "I've heard of that one" market. Abbot and Hobgoblin are there for the "Get drunk quickly" gang. Jennings is there, but it's the insipid Cumberland Ale not the tasty Bitter or Mild. Also Flower's IPA. You didn't know that was still brewed, did you? In Cardiff of course! That leaves one handpump of hope. 50% of the time it's another over-strong malty offering, but otherwise, joy of joys, it's a brew form the excellent Brimstage brewery just down the road. Usually the refreshing and citrus Trapper's Hat. Best enjoyed in quantities of five pints or more.

However, it is still Christmas and I have a forebodeing. It will be 4.5% plus, dark, sweet, possibly spiced and with 'Santa', 'Jingle' or 'Yule' in the name and I won't like it.

POSTSCRIPT:

No Trapper's - "It's only just been delivered". Weetwood Cheshire Cat instead. At least it's only 4.0%. Trouble is, it's slightly bitter but sweet and a little thin. Never mind, we won. Home for a Bocq Christmas, Moinette Brune and suitable cheese. Happy New Year!