Here’s to a pint of Best of British «

Here’s to a pint of Best of British

05 April 2007 at 13:13

In these days where the national identity can barely look at itself in the mirror, not knowing whether to wear a baseball cap, hood, veil or paper bag on its head. It seems we need a reminder of what it is to be quintessentially British.Just off the M4 junction 18, on the A46 towards Stroud, there is a turning left onto the B4465. Half a mile down a steep incline, it levels off and on the left there is an entrance. If you blink you’ll miss it. As inconspicuous and innocuous as this entrance maybe, it will take you to a place where you can witness living proof that the indomitable British spirit is alive and kicking. It is here that it has manifested itself in a pint of Codrington Codger (4.2%).	Nick ‘The Bear’ Milo tasting the next batch.
Please don’t think beer guts and beards, think Branson and Brunel, think Great Britons. Here is a tale of courage, ingenuity, tenacity, destiny, a dose of business acumen, and a minor case of kidnap.Two friends John Worlock and Warren Bryant, both directors of their own companies, realised too much time spent on the road racing with the other rats was not conducive to a happy and fulfilling home-life. Warren had the idea of setting up an independent brewery. His inspiration came from “a fella I knew, who had his own small brewery”. Warren and John formulated a business plan, aptly over a pint in the Codrington Arms; (I like to think on the back of a beer mat). On board hopped another friend Vic Giles as a shareholder. Then came tales from across the water of a man known as “The Bear” a brewer for over twenty years, discontented with working at the Coreff brewery in Brittany. John and Warren set out on a quest to find and persuade him to come and work for them in England. When asked how they tempted him back, “transit van”, “bundle” and “back of” seem to be the key factors. The Bear aka Nick Milo is now the head brewer at the company.
John Worlock with a pint of Codrington Codger and Nick ‘The Bear’ Milo looking on.
‘Cotswold Spring Water’ The source of their name and beer.Where else to site a brewery with an ethos for using the purist, highest quality local ingredients, then at the source of a natural spring. Their brewery is housed in a custom made building adjacent to The Cotswold Spring Company (for directions see intro). They take the water for their beer and with due homage to the spring, take the company name, “The Cotswold Spring Brewery Company”.They had the name, building, equipment (care of The Felon and Firkin in Leeds), ingredients and their brewer. It was time for the beer. “We didn’t have much confidence with the result of our first ‘trial’ beer.” John reminisces. “Nick our head brewer started the process but had to go back to France in the middle of the brew to wrap up some loose ends.” (Something to do with the abruptness of his leaving). It was left up to Warren and John to finish it all. “Warren and I recall that we worked well together, relying on intuition, improvisation and keeping a cool head. Friends say we fought like tomcats and just winged it.” There were a few glitches, the ‘copper’ overheated, causing it to over flow and melt the brand new ceiling. ” We had to describe to Nick over the phone what the ‘fermenting wort’ looked like at its various stages during the fermentation. It was all part of the ride on the learning curve, but at the end we had beer, we just weren’t sure if it would sell”. It was entered at the Avon Valley Railway Beer Festival under the name of CSB (Cotswold Spring Beer) Mystery. It out sold all the other beers 5 to 1 and claimed the Gold Beer award from the Patrons. The certificate is proudly displayed on the wall at the brewery. This fledgling ale eventually grew up to be their flagship beer Codrington Codger (4.2%). This ale with other stalwarts: Codrington Royal (4.5%)Old English Rose (4.0) is available with other limited edition beers, sold in boxes from the brewery or on pump in a number of local pubs. An impassioned John tells me of the company’s hopes for the future. “As with any new business, it takes a while for it to become a going concern. We started off by producing forty casks a week. We’re getting our beer into more and more pubs, and are up to eighty casks a week because of the demand. This means we can start putting money back into the business. We want to build a shop and a place for beer tasting. The concept from the outset was a brewery that was accessible to the public. A place you can get great beer from, learn about it and be part of the whole brewing experience.” He pauses. ” You have to a believe in yourself and in what you’re doing to begin a venture like this, but then it becomes a passion, so who knows what we’re capable of.” The Cotswold Spring Brewery Company along with others must be rattling a few of those ubiquitous homogenised pub chains. If not they should, because the ‘brewing experience’ gives you a taste of something a bit more wholesome, a bit more unique, a bit more individual. What better exemplifies the British character than a pint of independently brewed beer with a tang of the original and the smack of doing it your own way. So raise a glass to the very Best of British. In this instance Codrington Codger (4.2%) or even a pint of Honeybear (5.2%) or maybe Uncle Dicks Cottage Ale (6.3%), I haven’t even tried the Olde English Rose L-R: Head brewer Nick ‘The Bear’ Milo, Director John Worlock and Shareholder Vic Giles.

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This entry was posted on September 30, 2008, 2:11 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, south west. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.