Funny how one mention of something and suddenly it’s everywhere. A quick flick through the later chapters of Hops & Glory (to settle an argument in my head over the ownership of some beer brands) and you can’t scan a page without mention of Bass, that famous brewery and brand associated with British beer across the world. Then on Sunday, I drive past a pub in the Halewood area of Liverpool with huge Bass signage, that famous cursive typeface set into the old stonework. Just my luck I find it on Google Streetview and there’s scaffolding around it impairing the view!

Later on the way back across the M62 I spot a second Bass-signed pub somewhere in a village on the border of Yorkshire and Lancashire. “Like buses these Bass pubs” I tell myself. Nice to see the logo still peeping into modern life despite it’s fall from grace.

And then we nip to our local Toby Carvery (and my interesting first pint for Cask Ale Week) the only place in our area you can rely on (semi-decent at best) food on a Sunday evening. As we leave to retire to a re-run of Desperate Housewives and an early night, I somehow can’t miss the framed beer pictures in the entrance hall. Bass, naturally, albeit less fancy type face, but plenty of that brand-building triangular logo.

Bet I won’t see or here another Bass reference for months now…

You might have to change your pronunciation to get it...

Read the rest of this entry »

The Hop, live music and real ale pub opening in Leeds this March

Wakefield’s finest are coming to Leeds in the guise of The Hop, the live music and real ale venue of Ossett Brewery’s pub armada. Situated in the Granary Wharf area of Leeds overlooking the reinvigorated quayside, The Hop will sit under two of the previously disused railway arches that are tucked away between the confluence of the Leeds-Liverpool canal and the River Aire. Read the rest of this entry »

As an adolescent I was lucky enough to have three excellent  local pubs, all within 200 yards on the same road. Set back from the road The Horse and Jockey was a lively pub with one bar and a lounge with dart board, pool table and Sky tv. The beer was lager, one or two hand pulls of something like Hooky Bitter and at one point a Chinese takeaway operating in the back room servng takeaways to the hungry inhabitants. Read the rest of this entry »

A nice piece about beer in a tabloid sized newspaper? Surely not.

Ok to be fair it’s this months ‘What’s Brewing’, but I love the story on page 10 about Martin Brunnschweiler.

More than a decade ago Martin went to visit his sister at her pub on the Isle of Man and ended up staying there to set up a brewery called Bushy’s. The paper is a bit hazy on the details (I’m intrigued as to whether he drank the pub dry and then set up because he was thirsty and what he left behind) but I like to think the Martin fell in love with the island, the pub, the atmosphere and the opportunity. His brewery has ties to the nuclear industry (and sounds like it could double up as a bunker should a Dr Strangelove armageddon arise) and the equipment is based on a headache inducing tower arrangement that requires a certain amount of agility from head brewer Curly (yes, Curly!).

The best I can do is that I have on two or more separate occasions walked into a pub and ended up 1) working behind the bar and 2) doing the dishes, but never quite made the leap to brewing.

Accidental brewer: Martin of Bushy's brewery on the Isle of Man

It seems that Neil Morrissey and Richard Fox are taking this whole brewing thing seriously. Their original brew ‘Blonde’ has become regular sight in several serious cask ale pub bars and a quick glance at their website shows they have developed quite a range since their television programme was broadcast last year.

A new permanent ale to their armory is ‘Proud of Pubs Best’, a beer launched to support  The Publican’s ‘Proud of Pubs Week’ in July.  This appears to be the brewery’s attempt at traditional mild; a suprisingly rare approach these days by modern brewaries who tend to break away from the English traditions and throw more and more hops into ever-paler beers

The dark caramel colour looks like it should be surrounded by a fog of woodbine smoke, making me feel particularly underdressed without a flat capcovering my work-beaten head. It’s a terrific throw back.

A smokey-yellow head, perhaps more commonly seen on darker ales looks great and stays with the beer for the vast majority of the pint.

The malty aroma makes me anticipate a heavy ale that may be hard to stomach in a body used to lighter ales, but the toffee flavour and creamy mouthfeel dissipates with only the slighest of warm traces remaining in the throat.

If I’m honest, it’s a little warm today for such a style as this, but it manages to remain a strangely satisfying pint. As the cold winter nights approach, this is definately one I will be seeking out for a session.

In our quest for new and innovative beers, it is perhaps forgotten occaisionally that there is still a market for a good quality traditional mild. Sometimes it’s nice to be reminded!

View.co.uk are running a competition to win a copy of London’s Best Pubs byPeter Haydon.

http://www.viewleeds.co.uk/prizes/win-a-copy-of-a-new-book-on-londons-best-pubs-details-379.html

Gotta be worth an entry to complement my notebook for my next expedition to the capital!