With the eager step of a man who’s just turned 40 and found his purpose in life, Paul Walker strides in his wellies across the flagstones of the 14th-century Union Inn in Denbury, south Devon, and orders two pints of Denbury Dreamer.

We sip carefully, appreciatively. It’s a fine beer: smooth malt flavours, a lovely light floral hop finish, not a hint of bitterness. A treat. Paul closes his eyes, nods, allows himself a brief smile of intense satisfaction. “I made that,” he says.

He probably deserves his moment of contentment. He’s been up since before six, won’t finish till seven, and will almost certainly have to nip back at least once during the evening. It’s hard work, being a microbrewer, and there was a time two summers ago, a few months after he’d started, when he really thought the whole thing was about to go under.

But this summer Hunter’s Brewery, just up the road from Denbury in Ipplepen, is selling between 60 and 100 nine-gallon barrels of real ale every week to 200-plus pubs across the south-west. Capacity is set to increase sixfold within months. Paul and his wife Eline haven’t yet drawn a salary from it. But the day’s not far off.

Hunter’s is part of a remarkable early 21st-century flowering of traditional British ale. Helped by an increasingly enthusiastic public and a handy excise duty relief that effectively halves your tax bill as long as you make no more than about 3,000 barrels a year (thank you, Gordon Brown), some 50 new small breweries are expected to open around the country this year.

There are now, in fact, more breweries in Britain than at any time since the end of the second world war: well over 800, against half that number, of all sizes, less than a decade ago, and a mere 140 in 1970. And we clearly like what they’re brewing: sales of “live”, cask-conditioned ales, which ferment a second time in the barrel, have surged by 25% over the past five years.

What makes this more striking is that overall, our national drink is in seemingly irreversible decline. The UK beer market, still dominated by the big keg lagers such as Carling and Foster’s – which, for the sake of shelf life, get filtered or pasteurised after brewing to kill off the yeast, then are injected with CO2 in an effort to give them back some semblance of life – shrank by 7% last year. And we’re losing 25 pubs a week.

Real ale, though, is undergoing a spirited revival. One clue as to why comes in the slogan emblazoned on a T-shirt sported by a cheery, bearded and large-bellied man at the Great British Beer Festival at the Earls Court exhibition centre this month. “What’s the matter, Lagerboy,” it demanded, “afraid you might taste something?”

To view the full article go to: The Guardian

Quantock Brewery has scooped no less than 6 awards for their bottled beers in the 2011 Taste of the West Awards. The beers gained 3 Gold and 3 Silver Product Awards in this prestigious competition that highlights the best of West Country food and drink.
The awards given were:
• Quantock Stout 4.5% ABV Gold
• Royal Stag 6.0% ABV Gold
• UXB 9.0% ABV Gold
• Quantock Ale 3.8% ABV Silver
• Sunraker 4.2% ABV Silver
• Wills Neck 4.3% ABV Silver
“We are thrilled at having won these awards that demonstrate the quality and consistency of our range of bottled beers. All the beers are bottle conditioned and produced from the finest west country malts and whole hop cones. No finings are used in any of our bottled beers making them suitable for vegetarians and vegans and they all carry the Camra ‘Real Ale in the Bottle’ logo.”

Moody Systems has once again delivered on a major project for Dartmoor Brewery, based in Princetown, Devon.

Simon Loveless, head brewer at Dartmoor Brewery had ordered brewery equipment from Moody Systems back in 2009 so knew of their expertise in the area and knew they could deliver on time and to budget. On this occasion, Simon required some tanks in order to keep up with growing customer demand.

“Having worked with Moody Systems previously, I know the hands-on customer service skills they have and knew they could deliver the right solution for me. They listened to my every need and were determined to go the extra mile for me, something I always knew they would and will continue to do for future projects.”

Drawings were sent to Simon to show him the quality of the equipment on offer from Moody Systems by sales coordinator Kerry Piper, combined with site visits by director Phil Doxey to make sure that tanks would be correct.
“To make sure we had the right solution for Dartmoor, we had to make sure we knew their site well in order to make sure the tanks we had available were the right fit for them. Moody Systems has built up an excellent customer relationship with Dartmoor Brewery over the past few years and this helped us provide them with first class equipment in a very tight timeframe”, said Kerry Piper.

The tanks were soon delivered after the drawings were issued to Simon, and he has seen productivity improve greatly as a result. He was so pleased, in fact, that he has ordered another tank 18 months on.

“I would highly recommend Moody Systems to any Micro-brewer or anyone thinking of starting out in the brewing industry. I found they really listened to my requirements and really went the extra mile to assist me.”

For further information on brewery equipment available please visit www.moodysystems.co.uk or contact Kerry Piper on 01777 712110.

blondie logo

A pleasant surprise awaited Carl Beeson the proprietor of Summerskills Brewer on his return from a visit to Belgium, his BLONDIE 4.6% beer had taken the Champion Locale and was also Joint Festival Champion at the recent Plymouth CAMRA Beer Fest.

Blondie takes it’s name from Hasler Sqd. Royal Marines, which is dedicated to the rehabilitation of both Servicemen and women who have been injured either physically or mentally. A donation is made from each firkin or bottle sold. Hasler Sqn takes it’s name from Col. Blondie Hasler, who led the Cockleshell Heroes raid and also instigated the Single Handed Trans Atlantic race with Sir Francis Chichester.”

Truro-based Skinners Brewery has linked up with Britain’s oldest working maltster in a boost for Cornish barley growers.

Skinners and Warminster Maltings have concluded a deal that will see the Wiltshire firm act as sole supplier of malt, initially for a year, for the Cornish company’s prizewinning range of ales.

On behalf of Skinners, Warminster will buy spring barley from a selection of Cornish farms to ensure they meet the increased demand of approximately 12 tonnes of malt per week.

“We have been exclusively committed to Cornish barley for most of the company’s 14 years,” said brewery chief executive Steve Skinner.   “This arrangement with such a long-established specialist in the field will further strengthen that commitment and is good news for Cornish farmers.

“We are looking at increasing our capacity again over the next two years or so and anticipate demand rising to around 15 tonnes of malt per week, and possibly more, in that period.”

Skinners’ weekly malt usage eight years ago was just two tonnes.  It rose to six tonnes by 2006 and has since doubled to its present level.

“Our rapid growth and sales success have been due in no small measure to the high quality of Cornish barley,” said Mr Skinner.

“Despite an ever more competitive market place and intensifying cost pressures, we still insist on using Cornish barley;  Cornish farms have made a terrific contribution towards our policy of brewing only the highest-quality ales.”

Warminster Maltings managing director Chris Garratt commented:  “I am delighted to be supplying Skinners with their own local barley and ensuring that their beer remains truly Cornish.”

Warminster Maltings, with its roots stretching back to the mid 19^th Century,  is Britain’s oldest surviving working maltings.

It was owned by Guinness from 1941 to 1994, when it narrowly escaped closure through a management buyout led by Mr Garratt, the head maltster.  Hampshire-based grain merchant Robin Appel purchased the business ten years ago.

LOCAL ale experts have celebrated the 40th anniversary of the iconic Lynx helicopter in the only way they know how – by brewing a new beer.

Yeovil Ales, based on the Lufton Trading Estate, was approached by RNAS Yeovilton chief executive officer Commander Danny Stembridge to create a new product to commemorate the occasion.

SPECIAL BLEND: Yeovil Ales head brewer Declan Teare, managing director Rob Sherwood, Chris Pates from the sales department, and assistant brewer Aaron Adamson toast the launch of their new beer. Picture by Jennie Banks.

Head brewer Declan Teare embraced the challenge, carefully testing and tweaking different blends.

He settled on a bronze full bodied hoppy bitter, using hops brand new to the brewery to symbolise the new military hardware. He said the specialist malts provide a sweetness, accompanied by grapefruit hop flavours and aromas.

The new brew was aptly named the Lynx Wildcat, after the Lynx’s successor which is currently on the production line at the Yeovil AgustaWestland factory.

A test batch was tried out at cocktail party for the Wildcat, held at RNAS Yeovilton in May. Receiving a warm reception, it will now be brewed for release in pubs and clubs.

The beer was also on sale at the base’s air day on Saturday.

Mr Teare said: “It really has been brewed especially for the event, and I’m personally really happy with it.

“If it goes well I think we will keep it as a semi-permanent ale in the range – hopefully local people will appreciate its links.

“A lot of thought went into the beer’s creation – I was really keen to use the new hops, to go hand in hand with the new image of the helicopter.

“It has also been a good excuse to build links with the air base, and we hope to keep that going in the future.”

Article taken from This is Dorset

Keystone Win Environmental Award

We’re delighted to announce our success at this year’s South Wilts Business of the year Awards. Keystone was awarded this accolade because we are always looking for ways to reduce the size of our carbon footprint, and have achieved some astonishing feats as a result- We have persuaded our landlord (Fonthill Estate) to grow barley and supply Warminster Maltings, we have sourced lightweight bottles for our beer to reduce the footprint associated with their transportation, and have masterminded many other environmental projects. For more details of our environmental credentials visit the ‘local and sustainable’ page on our web site.

Keystone ‘Large One’ wins bronze at Devizes beer festival

We were delighted to learn that our flagship beer, Large One, won a bronze at this year’s Devizes beer festival. As one of Wiltshire’s largest and most prestigious beer festivals we are delighted to have been placed third out of over 50 real Ales.

Keystone Pub…

Watch this space! Coming soon, a Keystone pub showcasing our many award winning beers as well as the best of local breweries from within our region.

The weekend of 17 – 19^th June saw the return of Cheddar Ales Beer Festival with its enjoyable combination of award-winning beers, live music and family entertainment.

This year’s was the most successful event yet with around 1,500 people visiting over the weekend to sample the range of 45 real ales. “It was an incredible couple of days,” says John Magill, the event’s organiser, “We had a great crowd, all very friendly and well behaved, but they were so thirsty we could only just keep up at the bar. We averaged about 200 pints an hour over the weekend, which is really going some.”

Accompanying the beer was some great local music including original indie from The Singletones, the eccentric and eclectic Fred Bloggs Band, banjo bluegrass from the Tin Box Boys, rockabilly from The Tonemasters and classic rock from Rock Dog. John says, “I must say a big thanks to all the bands. They all played their socks off and made the whole thing go with a bang.”

Jem Ham, the owner of Cheddar Ales, added “We would also like to thank the festival’s sponsors for their contributions, there’s rather a long list to mention them all individually, but they know who they are and they will be pleased to know that collectively they have helped us to raise £2,650 for charity.

The money raised is to be split between three good causes – The team aim to refurbish communal areas at St. Michael’s Cheshire Home in Axbridge, to provide new equipment for Weare Community Pre-school and will also make a donation to the British Heart Foundation.

Following pressure from increased demand for its award winning products, DBC is pleased to announce the opening of its new bespoke state-of-the-art brewhouse and warehouse facility at Crossways.

Conveniently placed halfway between Weymouth and Dorchester, the new brewhouse is capable of producing over 7000 pints per day.

DBC remains focussed on producing high quality distinctive Dorset Ales with particular emphasis on its leading Jurassic Coast Brands, Jurassic, Chesil, Durdle Door and Ammonite.

CROSSWAYS, DORSET – 15th June 2011 – www.dbcales.com