CAMRA Members' Investment Club

I attended the AGM and lunch of the CAMRA Member's Investment Club yesterday. It was held at the admirable Victoria Hotel, Beeston, a few miles from Nottingham, so there was a superb range of beers to drink from the likes of Castle Rock, Burton Bridge and Holden's breweries to name but a few. There was an interesting speech on the state of brewing from Paul Theakston of the Black Sheep Brewery.

The club exists to invest in real ale breweries and currently has a membership of c3,500 and the fund has grown to over £10 million. You must be a CAMRA member to join the club and the minimum investment is £5 per month and the maximum has just been increased to £166 per month or £2000 per annum. One member one vote is the mantra though.

Of course investments can go down as well as up but the Club has done an excellent job of outperforming the market even in these tough times for brewers. The committee includes such luminaries as Chris Bruton, Neil Kellett, Iain Loe, Dave Goodwin, Chris Holmes and Sean Murphy so it is evident that they are likely to have a greater knowledge of breweries' performance than the average stockbroker. Also, their services are given freely without even the payment of expenses.

CAMRA have not made new members aware of the Club as much as it could in the last few years so if you like the idea of investing a few bob in cask ale producing breweries you can contact the Investment Club here

Beer & Footy

Just one day to go to an important date in the calendar of thousands of real ale drinkers. One which will affect their drinking habits for a period of 9 months.

I’m talking about the announcement of the football fixtures for season 2011/12. I will be looking keenly for Tranmere’s away fixtures at towns with good beer. I will curse if one of my favourite jaunts falls in midweek, when I’m on holiday or at a Belgian Beer Festival.

League 1 has changed substantially for the better next season, from my point of view anyway. A number of southern teams have been promoted or relegated to be replaced by teams that involve less travelling and as a bonus excellent real ales.

Sheffield United, Preston, Chesterfield and Bury (change at Manchester!) are most welcome newcomers. It’s goodbye to Brighton, Bristol Rovers, Dagenham & Redbridge, Norwich, Swindon, Southampton and Plymouth. That’s a lot of miles saved for the committed fan.

Oldham (also via Manchester), Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield remain from last season. Walsall isn’t a bad trip, Charlton & Leyton Orient can be pleasant visits to the smoke if Virgin West Coast are behaving themselves.

So play fair you fixture compilers. No Tuesday nights, August dates, Tuesday nights or clashes with ZBF and OBER festivals please for the teams mentioned above. I don’t ask for much.

RAIB in Aldi

I was surprised to find bottles of Welsh pride from the Conwy Brewery in Aldi.

Bottle conditioned, it sells for £1.39 for a 500ml bottle. Maybe Baron Orm will provide a review?

CAMRA - Stuck In the Past and Complacent

I've had a few days to think about CAMRA Chair, Colin Valentine's rant against bloggers as publicised by Beer.Birra.Bier and Pete Brown.  I presume that like me most  bloggers are long standing CAMRA members, so it seems strange to criticise a section of your membership.

His comments have already been refuted by the aforementioned bloggers but one important point in favour of 'craft beer' went unsaid. CAMRA has consistently ignored the huge number of licensed premises which are resistant to cask beer. Clubs, restaurants, cafes, cinemas, theatres, concert venues and sports events mostly never stock cask beer mainly due to the irregular patterns of trading. CAMRA has never had a coherent policy for promoting bottle conditioned beers in these places which would be an improvement for the discerning drinker. In fact CAMRA branches rarely do much campaigning at all to increase the number of premises selling decent beer preferring to concentrate their efforts on disparaging the output of the larger brewers and praising the microbreweries.

The emergence of quality keg beer should be a cue for a concerted assault on the non-cask venues to persuade some to stock high quality British beers from the likes of Freedom and Meantime or any of the large number of good keg beers from U.S., Belgium or Italy. Some could even convert to cask further down the line. The truth is that CAMRA is ageing fast. They're happy with their 70s outlook hence the proliferation of Jazz Bands, Folk Groups (yes I know it's getting cool again) and Morris Dancers at beer festivals. How can the the Twitter generation relate to CAMRA?

Hawkshead Brewery Beer Hall

Hawkshead Brewery goes from strength to strength. It has gained a deserved reputation for producing high quality cask beers which sell in increasing quantities in the Lake District and discerning pubs elsewhere in the country.

The brewery has recently completed the construction of a new Beer Hall at its Staveley base. It has a warmer feel than the old Hall (still in use on special occasions) and the bonus for drinkers is that the opening hours are extended from the usual 6:00 or 7:00 p.m. closing to 11:00 p.m on Fridays and Saturdays.

 The beer choice on offer has been extended too. Windermere Pale, Bitter, Red, Lakeland Gold and Cumberland Five Hop (aka Citrilla) were all on top form. The Bitter is surely one of the best session beers brewed anywhere but is has strong opposition from the hoppy and citrus Windermere Pale  Ale which drinks well above its 3.5% strength.

I was lucky enough to obtain a few of the remaining bottles of the whisky cask-aged 8.5% Special Brodie's Pride. Only 500 bottles were produced.

Hot food is now available and there is a beer shop stocking an excellent range of beers with many from Belgium. Staveley can be reached by train or the 555 bus from Lancaster via Kendal or Keswick. The superb Eagle and Child is just a few minutes walk away and the home-brew Watermill at Ings just a few miles away. Start planning that weekend in the Lakes now.

Cask & Kitchen mark II

Cask Pub & Kitchen licensee Martin Hayes is spreading his wings by opening a second specialist beer bar. The former 'Clockhouse' in Clerkenwell will open in June with a huge range of craft beers.

“It will be the largest selection ever seen in the UK with 16 handpumps for British ales, 21 international beers on keg, and around 300 bottled beers,” said Hayes.

Cottage Loaf, Llandudno

 I made a trip over the border into Wales the other night. The Manic Street Preachers were playing in Llandudno so I took the opportunity to take in a few pints in the Cottage Loaf. This friendly pub is tucked away down a side street (Market Street, LL30 2SR) and has the dubious pleasure of standing next to a Wetherspoon outlet. It a part of a small chain of eight pubs in Wirral and North Wales owned by Stange & Co.

A stone floor, low ceiling and a large fireplace form an inviting welcome for the drinker and diner. To the side of the bar there is a higher level area with a more modern appearance. To the rear is a large outside drinking area which one presumes is very popular with tourists on warm summer days.

There are four handpumps offering two local beers, usually from the Conway brewery. During my visit the other two beers were Courage Directors and Coach House Innkeeper's from Warrington which seemed to me to be an unusual choice for the area. The beers were well kept and selling well. Food from an extensive menu was popular - Welsh Rarebit starter is an unusual offering but one which impressed me.

This is a friendly, well run pub with a good cross section of customers with cask beer of reliable quality.

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.