A landlocked brewery has taken the unusual step of sponsoring a sea shanty folk crew and their first Album.

Titanic Brewery, based in Stoke-on-Trent, has  backed the production of a CD by the Nine Tenths Below shanty crew.

The CD – Songs of Ale and Sail – will be launched during a tour of Staffordshire pubs on Friday and Saturday, 23 and 24 March.

The shanty crew will perform at the White Star, Kingsway, Stoke, on Friday, 23 March at 8pm.

On the following day they will then give short performances during a whistle stop tour taking in the Sun Inn, Stafford (12 noon), the Royal Exchange, Stone (12.45pm), the Greyhound, Hartshill (2pm), the Bulls Head, Burslem (3pm), the Huntsman, Cheadle (3.45pm), and the Roebuck, Leek (4.30pm).

Nine Tenths Below are made up of folk scene regulars Barbara and Andy Hindley, Pete Hopkins, Len Devey and Tom Perry.

They first performed as Nine Tenths Below at a variety of festivals last year and already have 15 festival bookings for 2012.

Malcolm Hawksworth of Titanic Brewery said: “Nine Tenths Below are talented performers who bring great energy to their repertoire of sea shanties and traditional drinking songs.

“We believe that Titanic is the only brewery in the UK to sponsor a shanty crew and we are delighted to have been able to help with the CD Songs of Ale and Sail.”

Titanic Brewery is named as an affectionate tribute to the fact that Captain Edward Smith, Master of the Titanic, was born in Stoke-on-Trent.

All the brewery’s beers have names with links to the sea or the Titanic and the shanty crew shares a name with the award winning Nine Tenths Below IPA which was launched in 2011.

The new CD can also be obtained from Titanic Brewery, any Titanic Pub, other selected pubs, or it can be ordered on line from the website above.

Samples from the CD are available online at the group’s website: www.ninetenthsbelow.co.uk.

John Hickling, Blue Monkey Brewery and Rachel Matthews, Dancing Duck Brewery with Bread and Bitter manager, John Francis, and Castle Rock’s managing director, Colin Wilde

Locally produced beers are being given a dedicated day a month at Castle Rock pubs across the East Midlands and Yorkshire.  With the first Thursday of the month becoming LocAle Day, at least one, and as many as four real ales will be featured on draught with each conforming to the strict criteria set out when Nottingham CAMRA first created the environmental awareness scheme in 2007.

For the launch at the Bread and Bitter on Mapperley Plains, manager John Francis chose beers from Blue Monkey, Dancing Duck and Prior’s Well Breweries.

Now, other pubs in the group including Sheffield’s New Barrack Tavern, Nottingham’s Lincolnshire Poacher and Stratford Haven will stock and promote LocAles on the regular first Thursday each month to be available alongside the pubs’ regular favourites from Castle Rock and other regional and national brewers.

“This is a celebration of all that’s good from local micro breweries,” says Castle Rock’s managing director, Colin Wilde.  “With some of our pubs having over a dozen real ale hand pumps available, there’s certainly room at the bar.  Giving local brewers an easier route to market fits our business philosophy perfectly and for our customers it means an interesting regular Thursday theme that’s bound to become a barstool talking point.

“It’s thanks to CAMRA for formalising a scheme that celebrates localness,” says Colin.

Local microbrewer Springhead (www.springhead.co.uk) has recently appointed Owen Reilly as Regional Sales Manager for Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. Owen brings many years of experience having worked in the brewing industry his whole career. He started out life with John Smiths in 1978 at the James Hole’s brewery in Newark as an Area Assistant, and served at both Barnsley and Tadcaster Breweries. Owen has remained in the trade for 32 years surviving numerous takeovers and mergers including Imperial Inns and Taverns, Hanson’s, Elders, Inntrepreneur Pub company, Spring Inns, Unique Pub Company and finally with Enterprise Inns as a Business Development Manager (BDM) for Newark and district.

Owen says ‘’I live in Collingham, near Newark, and am very familiar with the local area so the chance to work with a progressive family company like Springhead is a great opportunity for me. I am keen to raise awareness and availability for the fantastic range of quality beers that Springhead produces using natural ingredients, locally sourced where possible, and free from artificial additives. Our recent addition to the all year round range is a light golden beer made with local wild flower honey, known as The Bees Knees. I am hoping I can be the Bees Knees too!’’

Managing Director, Helen Teasdale, is delighted to welcome Owen to Springhead having known him for the past 10 years.
The Springhead marketing slogan is ‘Love at first pint’. This has proved to be very true for 2 employees. Phil Owen, National Accounts Manager and Mel Lavin, Regional Accounts Manager for the local direct trade are getting married in April!

Nottingham East MP Chris Leslie has visited his first brewery, describing his guided tour of Castle Rock Brewery as an absorbing eye-opener. “I wasn’t brought up in a beer drinking household and, having now seen and tasted what real ale is all about, I regret missing out on valuable early lessons and experiences.”

Chris was speaking in the Vat and Fiddle, the brewery Tap, following an instructive hour in the company of Castle Rock managing director, Colin Wilde. After seeing the malt and hops in their raw states, sniffed the boiling wort and watched the yeast take over in the fermenter, Chris was primed to taste tiny samples of what he admitted was something completely new. “Before this fascinating tour, I have to admit being a bit of a novice when it comes to beer. Now I can appreciate all that goes in to it and how all the many concoctions can be created from a handful of basic ingredients.

“Nottingham needs a diverse economy, and it’s great to see independent businesses like Castle Rock manufacturing high quality products in the city. I really enjoyed my visit and I’ll certainly keep a closer eye on the local brewing industry in future,” he says.

Colin Wilde says: “It was an honour to welcome Chris to the brewery and we’re glad we were able to give an hour’s tutorial on brewing and the British pub.

“We’re passionate about pubs and beer and I hope we were able to demonstrate the importance of the responsible production and sale of alcohol. We believe that supporting the provision of relatively low strength alcoholic drinks such as beer, served in the supervised surroundings of the great British pub, is the solution to many of the problems attributed to alcohol consumption. Long standing and penal government taxation policies have continually damaged community pubs to the commercial benefit of supermarkets where spirits, wine and strong lager are piled high and sold cheap,” he says.

Directors of Loddon Brewery, Chris and Vanessa Hearn joined Gp Capt Richard Mason, Station Commander of RAF Benson, and Paul Hewson, RAF Benevolent Fund Regional Director for London, Home Counties and South England at the Station Happy Hour on Friday 2 March 2012 to launch a Limited Edition Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund beer. The beer known as “Founder ‘s Gold” in recognition of the forthcoming RAF Benevolent Fund Founders Day on 1 April is being sold at RAF Benson to promote the Fund around the station.  The striking pump clip attached to beer pump will help raise awareness of the Fund amongst the station personnel and thanks to the fantastic support and generosity of  the Loddon Brewery will also raise money for the Fund. The idea was the brainwave of the Fund’s champion at RAF Benson, Sqn Ldr Steve McCann who enjoys the occasional pint of Loddon beer and felt that this would be excellent way of promoting Founder‘s Day at RAF Benson.  RAF Benson is extremely proud to play their part in supporting the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.

Vanessa Hearn said, “Having lived in Benson for the past 24 years, We’ve always felt an affinity towards the RAF base. We have supplied our beer to the base for a number of years now and when offered, we jumped at the chance to help raise funds for the RAFBF. It’s a fantastic cause and we really hope that the beer will be enjoyed by many and help raise a few pounds for the Fund”.

A MIDLANDS brewer has written to Staffordshire MPs urging them to back calls for Chancellor George Osborne to freeze beer duty in his forthcoming Budget.

Keith Bott, managing director of Burslem-based Titanic Brewery and chairman of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), is calling on the Chancellor to ditch the controversial beer duty escalator.

A rise in duty in the Budget on March 21 would mean duty on beer will have risen by 42% in just four years.

Titanic Brewery wants the local MPs to show their support – Click here to read more

Beer Beauty - Marverine Cole

«  Purity, Malmaison and Beer Beauty join forces once more

«  FemALE event at Malmaison, Birmingham on Thursday 29^th March, 6-9pm

«  The biggest event of its kind in the UK

«  Tickets on sale now – to book call 0121 246 5000

“Let’s just say I’ll be asking to see the beer list next time I go for dinner” – Birmingham Post & Mail

Guests Enjoying FemALE 2011

On Thursday 29^th March Purity Brewing Co and Malmaison are joining forces once more for the women-only FemALE event, presented by award-winning beer writer, TV presenter and journalist Marverine Cole. This year they are hoping to attract 150 women, which they believe will make it the biggest event of its kind in the UK.

Last year 100 women attended the first FemALE event, which showcased gourmet food paired with craft beers from around the world. ‘Beer Beauty’ Marverine Cole guided guests through the courses, explaining each in turn and dispelling common beer myths along the way.

Paul Halsey, Co-Founder of Purity Brewing Co, was on hand to provide the brewer’s perspective and Paul Corbett of Charles Faram explained how hops impact the aroma and flavour of beer.

Purity / Malmaison Goodie Bags

This year six tapas-style courses are on offer, each uniquely paired with a specialist beer to complement the flavours of the dish. Guests get to learn about the hugely varied styles of beers and why these natural products are undeserving of their ‘blokey’ reputation.

Marverine Cole adds: “Here’s a chance to learn more about this fabulous drink, taste six very different beers and sample gorgeous food in sumptuous surroundings. Don’t hesitate, grab a few girlfriends and make a glamorous night of it with other discerning beer-curious women.“

If all that fails to tempt you, guests get a special goodie bag crammed full of freebies to take home with them. Who said beer is just for boys?

The event is taking place at Malmaison, Birmingham on Thursday 29^th March from 6-9pm. Tickets can be booked by email on reservations.birmingham@malmaison.com or over the phone on 0121 246 5000. For more information visit www.puritybrewing.com.

Following their relocation to Laneham in early summer 2011 Springhead Brewery has plans to take the next step in expansion and open a pub on the brewery site. Helen Teasdale, Managing Director, states ‘’The welcome we have had in Laneham has been tremendous. Meg’s Bar, our brewery tap, has captured the imagination of the locals and is busy with drinkers at all times creating a really nice community atmosphere. We are also attracting tourists coming to take brewery tours and tastings, as well as following the guided walk around Laneham and Church Laneham, which is described on a leaflet we have produced. In order to fit more people in, and provide an enhanced service to our followers that includes a food offer, we will be converting the house on the brewery site into a welcoming and traditional pub, thus creating more jobs for locals along the way. We hope to be open by Easter’’.

This is welcome news when most of the headlines are about pub closures, with an average of 25 being closed each week across the UK according to a report by the BBPA (British Beer & Pub Association). There were almost 1300 fewer pubs in Britain by the end of 2010, resulting in a loss of around 13,000 jobs. The rate of losses is highest in London and the North West.

Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of BBPA, said in a recent interview: ‘’The closure of 25 pubs each week is bad news for the economy, as the sector plays such a vital role. It is also a blow for local communities, with pubs often acting as the hub of local life’’.