The Wombwell brewer’s Gorlovka Imperial Stout was declared among the UK’s top beers at the Camra National Winter Ales festival in Manchester – claiming a bronze award in its class.

This week the premium ale features in a four-day festival at the Market Hill pub, launched by beer writer Roger Protz at noon on Thursday February 2.

Gorlovka will be among more than 20 cask-conditioned ales plus continental bottled beers, ciders and craft keg beers.

Tonight at 7.30pm, Roger, editor of the annual Camra Good Beer Guide, will lead a tutored tasting.

Tickets are £20 per person from the Old No 7. Beer festival entry is free.

Managing director Dave Hughes said: “The year has begun very well for us with this top award for Gorlovka at the National Winter Ales Festival. It is a timely win as we prepare to hold our own beer festival to not only showcase our own beers but also feature award-winning beers from many other top craft brewers.”

“We aim to make the Old No 7 a top destination pub for cask ales.”

Around £100,000 has been spent returning The Albion to how it might have looked 90 years ago.

It is the idea of London-based Welsh businessman Arthur Ellis who bought the building last year.

The four north Wales breweries said they were too small to have considered opening a pub alone but together it is an ideal location for their beer.

The pub has four hand pumps on the bar, one for each of them, plus a guest beer and draught cider.

When Mr Ellis bought the building for £95,000, he emailed two local breweries – The Great Orme Brewery and Conwy Brewery, as well as the Bragdy Nant Brewery in Llanrwst and Purple Moose Brewery in Porthmadog.

Great Orme Brewery director Jonathan Hughes said: “I genuinely think it’s unique as far as the UK is concerned.

“I can’t find any evidence of four competing breweries working together to open a pub.”

Mr Ellis said: “It has got the atmosphere that I was so looking forward to and hoping it would have, which is a lovely cosy atmospheric easy going place to drink.”

Although the pub does not open until Friday selected guests have had a sneak preview.

Ian Saunders from the Campaign For Real Ale said: “These days pubs are modernising and they are knocking them into one room to make them look modern.

“What they’ve done with The Albion is actually gone back in time and tried to make it look as it did in the 1920s.

“Some of the work is fantastic – they uncovered wooden beams that had been painted black, they’ve varnished the wooden floors and polished the bar up.

“I’m hoping that it’s good for Conwy as well as for the breweries and the ale drinkers as well.”

Basically a good thing to have a look at or give to your supplier before you order any containers.

Cask specs coming soon!

Standards & Specifications 20 litre Kegs

Standards & Specifications 30 litre Kegs

Standards & Specifications 50 litre Kegs

Standards & Specifications 100 litre Kegs

This very successful short course has now been running for over twenty one years. It was set up by professional brewers to assist other less experienced brewers, aspiring brewers, and those connected with breweries, to understand in greater detail the practical aspects of brewing and the basic theory that underpins the brewing process.

The aim of the course is on to pass on to you that practical knowledge and experience gained by the course principals over many years in the brewing industry

The principle running the course is:

David Smith FIBD, Dipl.I.Brew: Formerly the Production and Quality Control Brewer for 12 years with Samuel Smiths’ Brewery, Tadcaster. David has been running his own brewing consultancy for Independent Breweries since 1988 and has helped to establish over 100 breweries in the UK.

Other lecturers include Andrew Whalley Dipl.I.Brew, Production Manager at York Brewery Co., Paul Corbett, Hop Merchant, Charles Faram & Co, Bob Lock, Diversey Chemicals & Alison Hedley, General Manager of Brewlab Ltd.

10% discount available for SIBA Members

Click here to read all the details

Nigel Sadler

Beer Academy Sommelier Nigel Sadler has been commissioned to write a regular beer blog for the BBC Food website.  Using examples, the first posting outlines the basics of beer and food matching; how beers can complement, contrast or cut through the foods that they partner.  But Nigel stresses that there are no hard and fast rules and the most important thing is to have fun experimenting.  The full article can be read at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/food/2012/01/how-to-pair-food-and-beer—pa.shtml

Nigel said “The BBC approached me to write for them after hearing that I had become a Beer Academy Sommelier.  It’s a wonderful opportunity to open the eyes of Britain’s gastronomes to the limitless potential for matching food to beer and encourage people to look out the popular Beer Academy courses.  All too often, the British media over looks beer. It’s good to see that the Beeb is taking a lead in putting this right.  ”

Skinner’s Brewery’s best-ever year has seen turnover rise by around 12 per cent, partly through another increase in activity nationwide.

Chief Executive Steve Skinner attributes the record year to his team.

“Our 30 strong team have worked enormously hard to win this success. Their commitment and dedication is absolutely outstanding, I am extremely proud of our staff.”

The team effort has produced great results for the Truro-based brewery, despite the tough economic climate.

“Over the last three years, we have achieved a very exciting breakthrough in sales at national level. Since mid-2009, our ales have been on sale at all Waitrose’s UK stores and we are now also selling in around a quarter of all Tesco’s UK stores. In addition, we have our pre-existing national arrangements through Coors and Wetherspoons,” said Mr Skinner.

He added: “These developments have convinced us that we still have a long way to go in terms of tapping our full potential at national level rather than just in our traditional Cornish ‘home territory.’

“Our best-seller, Betty Stogs, was judged Champion Best Bitter of Great Britain in 2008. This led to a sustained higher profile for that product in particular and we feel the time is right now to ‘go for it’ on the bigger stage.”

The Betty Stogs brand is now fronting an expanded sales and marketing campaign, with the ‘Betty’ imagery adorning specially adapted vehicles now in use by newly-appointed sales representatives covering Devon, Bath and Bristol. These representatives are the first to be based outside Cornwall for the company.

Betty Stogs accounts for around 60 per cent of Skinners’ turnover, of which approximately 25 per cent is outside Cornwall.

“Our national success is extremely encouraging, but the lion’s share of our sales remains here in Cornwall,” said Mr Skinner. “We are a truly Cornish company and this is where our main focus will continue.”

Last year Skinner’s increased storage capacity by 50 per cent when it acquired an adjacent site previously occupied by Truro Farm Machinery and withdrew from “satellite” locations at Chacewater and Devoran.

Article Taken from This is Gloucestershire

Sales of these beers posted an annual 40% increase across all retail outlets according to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel. Retailers said consumers were responding to the improved product quality and range; a desire to live more healthily; and better awareness around the risks of drink-driving.

Supermarket giant Tesco reports that its sales are even higher, with a year-on-year growth of 47%. It will next week expand into the developing mid-strength beer market when it launches a dedicated range of 11 brews – lager, ale and stout. Each has an ABV (alcohol by volume) of 2.8%, compared with an average beer ABV of 4%.

Low-alcohol beers are now cheaper than their more alcoholic equivalents, thanks to a 50% cut in duty announced by the chancellor in the budget – which took effect last October – for those of 2.8% ABV and less.

The move, which saw a 50p reduction on a pint of beer, sparked much experimentation amongst UK breweries in anticipation of greater demand for the lower-alcohol beer. But Tesco – which will help shoppers by labelling displays with a new “mid-strength” category – said the sales spike was already in evidence.

Non-alcoholic beer was launched in the UK in the early 1980s but did not sell well, largely because of its poor taste.

Tesco specialist beer buyer Chiara Nesbitt said: “The growth, particularly for non-alcohol beers, is remarkable as they were previously frowned upon by drinkers who considered them thin and tasteless compared to the real thing. However, over the last few years there have been great improvements in quality with many breweries using far better ingredients in order to create full-bodied brews that taste like their more alcoholic cousins.

“The success of this market has shown us that growing numbers of drinkers are prepared to buy lower alcohol beers as long as the quality is good.”

Read more in the Guardian – Click Here

· Judged by Sainsbury’s customers with the help of industry experts at every stage

· Reliant on an in store Competition to allow actual sales to decide which beers will go through to the Grand Final

and

· Sees the winners featured nationally for a minimum 6 month listing

There are some major improvements this year
· There are now five regions rather than the previous four. This will allow more brewers to enter as travelling times and costs will be reduced. Just as importantly more customers will be able to attend and meet their local brewers

· There are now two categories – National and Regional. Brewers will be able to decide if they want to compete for a National or a Regional listing. The winners of a regional listing will be selected at a Regional Beer Hunt and will go into a maximum of forty stores located within their area. Those who opt for the National Competition will go through from the Regional activity to a national instore competition. The overall winners will be decided at a Grand Final and will get a full minimum 6 month listing in hundreds of Sainsbury’s stores from Autumn 2012 onwards.

Nicky Millington, Sainsbury’s Beer Buyer explains why the changes have been introduced
‘ 2011 was a great year for us and we decided to plan for 2012 by listening to feedback from brewers. It became very clear that there were many brewers who would love to enter the competition but could not produce sufficient beer to satisfy our volume requirements for a national listing. The changes that we have made will allow these brewers to participate and have the opportunity to meet customers from all over their region. As before we will be working with People Energies, who specialise in this area, to ensure that all sizes of brewers get the help they need at every step of the way.
As a team we are really excited about the 2012 Competition”

For further information, including details of the dedicated competition website and photos and comment on the 2011 competition contact

Richard Morrice
People Energies
08456 447665
richard@peopleenergies.com

Click Here to read more