Rose & Crown, Bebington

The Rose & Crown in Bebington Village is a Thwaites pub about a mile and a half from my house. It was my (very) regular for over 25 years. My first  visit was after my last day at Wirral Grammar School and from then on I could be found there on most days of the week listening to the juke box and playing darts. I captained the darts team and couldn't imagine it not being my local until marriage started to gradually curtail pub visits - as it does. It sold just two cask beers; Bitter and Mild, but in vast quantities.

It was a fixture in the GBG for over 20 years until changes in management and the perception that Thwaites' had lost their way took their toll. Still a very popular drinkers' pub (no food) the beer quality nowadays is pretty good and seasonal beers plus the odd guest have spiced up the range.

Finally getting to the point of this post, it's had a bit of a spruce up recently. Thwaites have been spending a few bob on their pubs and rolling out a new corporate image. You can see the difference  between the investment by the traditional pub-owning brewers and the total lack of it by most of the Pubcos who extract vast sums from their leaseholders while giving little or nothing back in return.

Anyway, it looks pretty smart externally and internally. Who pays you may ask? Amazingly, not the drinker. Thwaites Bitter which was £2.50 a pint previously is now down to £2.25!

Reaching the parts.........

So Lancashire finally won the County Chamipionship after 77 years of trying. It's obvious to me looking at the photo above what made the difference. It had to be sponsorship by a cask beer. Thwaites Wainwright can be a pretty decent IMO.

The message to all you under-performing sports teams is ditch the fizzy lager logo and proudly display proper beer on your chests.

New beers from Thwaites

I tried one of Thwaites' new beers at the weekend. They've spent some money overhauling their seasonal range and designed some pretty natty pump clips which will attract attention at the bar.

The first one to be brewed is OBJ. This is a name that had a good reputation in bygone years and was used by other breweries in Lancashire as well if I'm not mistaken. Please feel free to enlighten me. It is a strong, darkish, warming brew which I'll certainly look out for in future.

Thwaites' have installed a line for bottle conditioning also, which is a move to be applauded. 'Old Dan' has been produced as a trial run and I hope to sample that soon.

Going to the National Winter Ales Festival?

By the time you read this, the National Winter Ales Festival will be underway.  I was invited to the Trade session (honest!) but the thought of getting up for work tomorrow put me off so I'll be there from early afternoon on Friday.


The name always seems wrong to me. The first time I went I was thinking how can Thwaites' Mild be classed as a Winter Ale? Shouldn't the name be changed to the more accurate National Ales Festival in Winter? That would really trip off the tongue.

Also, I haven't fathomed out how the beers are chosen. There are a number of mediocre beers from mediocre breweries and some very good breweries are not invited - in my opinion, and that's the one I respect. Grouse over, the new venue The Sheridan Suite is much better than the impersonal 70's office block that was the venue for a number of years. I'm sure that I'll enjoy it and I'll be making a beeline for XX from the Fuller's new Past Masters range hoping there is some left.