Real AleMagazineMay 2010 £1.49

National Cask Ale Week 2010

An ale drinker’s guide to Liverpool

Ordering the right drink with your food

Real Ale MagazineReal Ale Magazine

Hello and welcome to the May edition of Real Ale Magazine, we hope you had a fantastic Easter and are beginning to make the most of the sun. Take advantage right away, we know it won’t be around for very long.

We had a very pleasant April here at Real Ale and enjoyed National Cask Ale week immensely. Our extensive write up will let you see how the whole event went in the North West and allow you to make up for anything you may have missed over the Easter weekend, and informs you about the future of ale.

This issue, amongst other things, we’ll be taking you to Altrincham and investigating the phenomenally successful Dunham Massey Brewing Company. The family run business has been a sensation since opening in 2007 and has won more awards than any other brewery in the country.

Each and every edition we like to take you around some of the finest ale establishments in the North Western areas of England, and you are in for a real treat this time around. Our definitive guide to the best places to drink in Liverpool will leave you spoilt for choice next time you

make your way up to Merseyside.

Of course the news has not all been positive from the last month, with the new budget increasing the tax on alcohol, which is very disappointing for all micro breweries and smaller brewing companies. They are providing a decent service to the public, offering alternatives to the superficial chain drinks and need to be supported in these, not have the carpet pulled from beneath them.

As an added bonus this month, Dave Bolton from Coach House Brewing Company will take you through the process of creating completely new ale from scratch; just in case you fancy giving it a go yourself one day.

Also in this edition you can read about women ale drinkers, the completely unique Fiddle I’th Bag Inn which will leave you amazed a beer being brewed celebrating a certain football tournament in the Summer.

Thomas Kerrigan

Editor

Editor’s Word

All stories, pictures and editing in Real Ale Magazine have been done by Thomas Kerrigan.

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National cask ale week celebrates second year

The second National cask ale week was celebrated last month and to go along with the happy faces, unique flavours and packed pubs, an important marker was laid down. The success of the week marked not just survival in the art of brewing real ale, but positive growth within the sector.

As little as five years ago, sales figures were at a market crushing low, and when the credit crunch reared its ugly head, independent breweries up and down the country were closing. It led to a big dip in the availability of local ales and any breweries survived solely thanks to the consistent following of a very low number of consumers.

For too long, the image has been the drawback, the way a pint of many ales appeared in hands was enough to deter most from even trying it. “Real Ale” connotes dated images of one man and his dog sitting outside a pub with a wax waistcoat on as Cleggy, Compo and Foggy roll past on a sofa. All that has changed, ale has a new image.

Annabel Lander, National Cask Ale week spokeswoman said this year’s event built well on the impressive foundations laid down last time round. “This year has been unbelievable, there were around a third more pubs getting involved this year and all were very positive in their feedback. The second attempt at anything is always really difficult and we were sceptical in

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the build up whether we could match up to last year’s celebrations, but passed with flying colours. We were very lucky to receive great support from major breweries like Marston’s, Greene King and Wells and Young’s who promoted the event heavily in their packaging. It helps when people who really all want the same thing pull in the same direction instead of competing. CAMRA have been phenomenal in the last year promoting real ale. They are getting new members every day and they must be one of the hardest working but effective groups in the market.”

“The scope of this year has been so wide, it really surprised us, we were even contacted by a bar owner in Washington D.C. in America. He was serving cask ale, which is incredibly rare over there, to drinkers to help promote the drink. He said they were taking to it slowly and he is going to keep it going as long as the barrels keep going dry. I think it can sometimes take some getting used to but something as exquisite as real ale will adhere itself to anyone if you give it a chance.”

It is the imperfection of it that makes it so irresistible. Cask ale is notoriously tricky to keep in top condition when transporting, not like many mainstream ciders and lagers than can be crashed into the back of any cross country bound lorry. If allowed to settle more than three times of so, thought the taste will remain, that instant crisp freshness will have faded. It has so much more personality, so many more characteristics that require attention and prolonged consideration. If you walk in on any brewer talking about their ales and what they do to keep them in pristine condition, you could be forgiven for thinking they are talking about a Hollywood diva they are looking after for the weekend. Travelling round ale pubs is like going celebrity spotting on occasions, ticking off beers you have seen in establishments down the road or across the other side of the country. You can end up feeling like an orienteer, subconsciously, you are always looking for the ales you like or have been recommended previously.

Stephen Costello manages The Bonny Inn, Blackburn, who held a different event for every night during cask ale week. “The entire festival was fantastic and well supported throughout the week. It was not just celebrated by the usuals who come and have a drink or two every other day but most of them were bringing friends and family and it created a lovely atmosphere. It’s been very noticeable since then the ales we have on are being chosen a lot more than before. It seems to be one of those things that people get a taste for quickly; and of course there is no promotion like word of mouth. The money we spent promoting cask ale week has already been recouped because of the sales we’ve made through it.”

The Plough in Houghton Green, Warrington, was voted CAMRA’s 2009 Cheshire pub of the year and also drew a large crowd for the week. Landlord Keith Anders has good words to say about the timing of the event. “Celebrating over the Easter weekend was excellent because there is that extra bank holiday that allows people to really relax not worry too much about work. Everyone except me that is! We treated cask ale week like a bit of a mini beer festival here, every night, weather and temperature permitting, we were outside pouring out really alternative ales that we don’t

normally stock. It was great fun treating all the ales and getting them set up out in the open, not through the pipes in our bar like normal. ”

“Over the last 12 months, ales have been

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doing fairly well but this has acted like a catalyst and really boosted our numbers. We have eight ales on all the time and rotate four guest ones every month, in 15 years there has never been a buzz when we were changing them around like there was after cask ale week. The pub was packed over the two days we did it with everyone deciding what they did and did not like, they were very quick to let me know as well. You can literally see the age of ale drinkers seems to have dropped by about 15 years over the last year. I think some of it could be down to the government warning against binge drinking personally; ale does not have that ‘chavvy’ look about it, it is far classier than that, and it is a lot better for you to boot.”

In the last year an estimated 400,000 have tried real ale for the very first time, CAMRA membership has topped 100,000 a record number, and beer festivals have also posted record attendance figures. The signs for the future of ale are all encouraging. Breweries are beginning to open back up filling the hollow shell of many companies which collapsed under financial pressure; this can only be a good thing for the quality of drink if nothing else. More sites mean more brewer’s taste buds experimenting with different flavours, and a wider selection for customers to choose from.

However Pete Brown, author of multiple beer books argues it is particularly difficult to attract new drinkers when so many are not that interested in the flavour of what they are drinking. “The vast majority of

drinkers simply aren’t that interested in flavour. That’s not a criticism. You can’t make someone start obsessing about taste buds any more than you can inspire in them a sudden interest in fashionable hosiery if it isn’t something they’ve already pondered. The way to get these people into beer is to cast beer as fashionable, something with a favourable image. I’m, not arguing in favour of total superficiality here, but if we really want to evangelise beer, we need to find the people who are interested in flavour, and engage them

on their level. In turn, they pass on their enthusiasm to those who don’t care as much.”

There can be no denying ale’s seemingly exponential popularity in the last six months, the sudden upturn in younger drinkers has set off a chain reaction in production. Pubs and bars will are never ones to miss out on a trend

or gimmick and have began to have a much more diverse approach to stock than previously. Yet something as traditionally British as real ale cannot be a fad surely? Once you appreciate the charm of ale, the painstaking process of creation, the fascination within the art grabs you. Drawn like a moth to flame, the charisma of a simple pint can turn the most ardent lager fan into a connoisseur of real cask ale.

So with real ale’s star continuing to rise, sit back, relax and keep enjoying all of your favourite pints because the future looks bright, golden and hoppy.

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Two Sunday roasts please. What to have to drink? Well, a pint of your finest for me, and a glass of wine for my partner thank you.

For too long ale has been tarnished with the unfair image of being a ‘blokey’ drink. Fortunately this image is beginning to change thanks to the positive promoting from companies keen to declare that their drinks don’t taste of simply just ‘beer’. Real ale can provide the palate with all the diversity a fine 1787 Chateau Lafite can, but it is only really just coming to light to those outside of ale circles that the quest to electrify those taste buds is just as ferocious amongst ale enthusiasts as it is wine fans.

This year there are an estimated 1.3 million women who drink real ale over wine or other alcoholic drinks. It is the small changes that have been made to bring women round, like introducing stemmed glasses that have made the biggest leaps forward. The stemmed beer glass has been very popular in Europe and brings with an appearance of culture, an appearance, nothing more. The problem for years has not been the taste and quality of ale, but the taboo that comes along with drinking it.

Jenny Mulholland, landlady of The Ferry Tavern in the outskirts of Warrington feels the spread is very even across sexes with educated drinkers. “We have some people come in who know loads about different types of drinks; beers, wines, whiskey, everything. Be it woman or man, they are the type of people who drink whatever they feel like, it doesn’t matter if a woman thinks the ale might look a bit ‘laddish’, they don’t worry about that rubbish. I’ll often see a couple and the man will be drinking the supposed ‘lighter’ drink but you don’t think much of it because informed drinkers know flavour can go across more than just wine, especially with

some of the ales we have on.”

The Bonny Inn located in the heart of Blackburn held an extremely successful ladies ale day during National Cask Ale week last month. Landlord Stephen Costello is of the opinion once women can get over the image, drinking ale can become just as common as drinking wine. “We had such a good time during cask ale week. Our ladies day was a massive success with hundreds of women trying a drink they had never touched before. Ale has a hidden depth that so many people don’t realise, it isn’t lager, it isn’t cider, it doesn’t play by the same rules. It combines flavours that shouldn’t match and makes them irresistible, things like citrus and chocolate and honey and cherries. Many of the women who attended have been ordering ales much more frequently than before.”

On the other side of the coin, Katie Lynn, manager of The John Millington pub in Cheadle Humle was forced to change the name of one event because the ticket sales were so low. “We wanted to bill it like ladies day at Ascot and get lots of women in sampling different ales they wouldn’t normally go for but the sales were really disappointing. It wasn’t meant to deter any men who were interested, but generally we don’t have to advertise out ales to men, this was trying something a bit different. The first 30 tickets or so were all sold to men who were casually asking and didn’t realise it was for everyone. The funny thing is on the day lots of men came with female friends and partners and they all embraced it fully and had a great day, it just shows the reputation the drink has. There is still work to be done with regards to selling ale to women, a lot is down to the image it is tarnished with.”

CAMRA have been very active attempting to get women more into ales but it seems the information about all ale’s benefits when compared to other drinks is just not there. The mission goes on.

Landlords attempt to appeal to FemAles

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The Liverpool pub guide:an ale drinker’s odysseyThe Albert Docks, The Beatles, Real Ale: All vital components that have contributed to making Liverpool one of the most culture dense metropolises in Europe. Join our editor, Tom Kerrigan, as he takes you through the 2008 City of Culture visiting a small selection of the many ale pubs available on Merseyside.

Many will be familiar with The Philharmonic, near to the Catholic Cathedral and that is where we’ll begin our journey. The golden eagle embossed onto the swinging sign outside peers its way down Hardman Street and almost dares people to come in. A fantastic interior

waits for any new unfamiliar customers with four different rooms branching off form the main bar including the huge eatery when ales can be enjoyed as sunlight pours in through the 12ft high windows. If you have never been for a drink, keen to avoid the ‘commercial’ places, you are missing out. This is a proper real ale pub, with a great selection available.

A few hundred yards down the sloping Hardman Street will take you to Fly in the Loaf. A long barn style bar with an elevated outer rim provides a fine setting for a pint. I highly recommend the permanent cask ale ‘Gold’ they have on tap, a strong pale ale with a crisp nutty flavour. The restaurant upstairs opens at strange

times which is disappointing, but the very friendly, smartly dressed barmen are always happy to provide a recommendation and give the place a welcoming feel.

Keep travelling down Hardman Street and take a right to come across The Roscoe

Head. The small pub has an extremely rustic feel for an establishment so close to the city. Hidden away just off Leece Street, surrounded by taxi firms and brass door knob repair shops, The Roscoe Head is well

worth a visit if you want a real traditional pub that has let the world evolve around it and stayed true to its roots.

All the way to the bottom of the hill to the crossover of Leece Street and Renshaw Street the minute but warm door of The Dispensary is always open. A great sense of localness about the place, upon entry I was greeted by chirpy barmaid and told

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promptly to make myself at home on the bar. Packed out with regulars who probably leave their slippers there overnight, I came across the large group on their lunch hour

when they were probably taking it easy, I’m not sure the atmosphere would still be on the right side of jovial if it was a Friday evening.

Staying just outside the centre of town underneath the watchful eye of the cathedral, take a wander down to Rice Street in the middle of John Moore’s student village to John Lennon’s old

watering hole, Ye Crack. One of the most interesting pubs in the north of England, Ye Crack is an absolute must on any crawl through the city. A small open bar hides three backrooms, one of which, The War Room, was the room you were banished to if you ever wanted to talk about all goings on in mainland Europe between the years of 1939 and 1945. Live poets and acoustic artists perform regularly and make this tiny out of the way pub one of the must visit spots on our tour.

Just down the road from Ye Crack lies another hidden gem, The Pilgrim. To even get to the entrance on a hot day, like the

one when I visited, a packed alleyway full of merry drinkers must be snaked down; then get ready to hunch as you enter the bar area because the building was built around 90 years ago when the average height of society was about six inches shorter. The Pilgrim rotates their guest ales once every three weeks unless they

are very popular so you are always in for a fresh taste when you visit.

For our final visit, we’ll be making our way out of the city for the first time, and taking a short train ride to Waterloo getting within walking distance of S.T.A.M.P.S bar. Real ales, real food, real music is emblazoned across the front of the bar giving an indication of what to expect. You won’t be disappointed. A really lively, buzzing atmosphere fills the bar most hours of the day and a fantastic diverse selection of cask ale is there to sample before buying.

The menu consists of big, simple, British portions, just my style. There are regular gigs of many different genres in a schedule that would rival that of any local music venue for business.

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When the National Trust offered John Costello a venue that had been derelict for seven years as a possible headquarters for the brewery he had been dreaming of since leaving Tetley’s, many would have done the sensible thing and walked away. Three years on, and Dunham Massey Brewing Company is looking stronger than ever and John’s belief in his own business plan seems to have been significantly vindicated.

“Originally I wanted to open up a brewery and have a nice easy retirement. When the company took off as it did, I was dragged along and really got that business buzz back. It’s a hell of a lot of work with only three full time and two part time staff but we all enjoy it and reap the benefits.”

John rents the disused barn he operates in from the National Trust and he says they were absolutely vital to getting up and

running. “When I was after sites, I sent the Trust an e-mail out of hope more than anything else and was shocked to get a reply suggesting this place. I came, had a look, and could visualise it all from there. The Trust were brilliant supporting us early on, assisting us greatly with the renovation of the barn and has maintaining relatively low rent prices.”

“One of the only sorts of businesses the Trust like in their properties is breweries, they wouldn’t allow you to have a metal shop or anything it creates far too much noise in rural areas. With our place, not only do we keep the barn in good nick, we provide lots of the farmers around the sire with old hops for fertilising and feeding to pigs, so we are giving a bit back to the community we are taking from.”

With the National Trust being so supportive, it is only normal that they would call on their tenants for a favour

Location, location, location

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every so often and John explained that when they have corporate events in the North West, he is often called upon and asked to brew up a few dozen casks for the event. “It’s good because they pay us in full for them and they are guaranteed business which is always nice to have. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that without the Trust, and without this barn, Dunham Massey would not be success it has. We were a little bit lucky to come across it but it is hard to imagine being anywhere else now. It’s ideal, there is absolutely no waste on this site, and any extra ingredients from the beer get given to the surrounding farmers for their animals. We keep our casks for as long as possible before they are unsuitable for transport, then bottle them and sell on at retail price as beer lasts a lot longer in the bottle.”

“Because of our small scale we can keep exact tabs on what we have brewing and where, I know most places have records on computers, as do we, but it is a bit different when you can actually count the barrels in front of you rather than checking a number on a computer screen. Our small scale also allows us to attract a completely different type of customer to the bigger breweries. This place is like a tourist attraction as well as a brewery.”

Dunham Massey brewery hides away in a tiny corner of the village and, even creeping up the drive, can still look fairly uninspiring from the outside. Surrounded by farms and open fields on three side, the view from the shop on the top floor of the barn is one to take advantage of.

“Once people stumble across us, you can almost guarantee they will be back as we offer something so different. Local, alternative, tasty ales, all designed, tested,

bottled and distributed under one roof not much bigger than most people’s houses. We try to cater for everyone’s needs but that is obviously impossible, so we just keep a wide an array of beers on at once. I personally am a big fan of dark ales so insist we always one in production.”

Dunham Massey’s Cherry Chocolate Mild has been one of the major reasons the brewery is beginning to get noticed nationally as it has pulled in 15 of the 30 awards they have won since setting up in 2007. That record means Dunham Massey has won more awards than any other brewery in the country, a truly outstanding achievement, even more so when you

compare the resources of many of the breweries they are competing against.

“It is all just a testament to the staff and regular customers because they are the ones keeping this place on its feet. We operate with three full-time staff and two part-time, I really

can’t see many other breweries with our reputation operating on such a small scale. We’ve even attracted a few local celebrities with the mayor of Trafford, David Rees Higgins, being a regular here. It could be down to our frequent experimentation in the search of something new for everyone to enjoy. This year is the second year we’re growing our own hops, it’s very exciting because last year they didn’t work as well as we’d wanted. See, there is another advantage of being on this site, plenty of good crop growing earth to play around with.”

They say location is everything, and that is the funny thing about clichés, they invariably turn out to ring true.

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Choosing the right drink for your summer meals

It can be the aspect that makes or breaks a meal. What drink do you go for to help wash down that beautiful meal you’ve been looking forward to all day? Now Stephen Longworth, chef at Liverpool’s Charlie Parker’s restaurant clears up any confusion and gives us his run down of the best ales to match up with all your favourite meals.

Light snacks

With snacks and small meals that you might just be quickly eating at lunch to get you through the day it is important you don’t overpower them with a big strong beer. Something really light can compliment a pasta or salad dish really well. Combinations like this are always popular because people often have a small

meal in their lunch hour and like to enjoy a beer with it, but obviously going back to work they don’t want anything too heavy that would put them off their stride for the day. A decent IPA would be lovely, and although it’s tricky to get hold of up here a glass of Doom Bar would be perfect on a hot day with a green salad.

Spicy foods

Beer and curry is a classic combination. I’m sure any large group of friends out on a Saturday night will tell you any beer goes very well with an Indian or Chinese, but half of them may not be in the best state to tell!

A pale ale always goes well with any curry, it’s one of my favourite combinations

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actually, chicken madras or jalfrezi with a cold glass of Marston’s Pedigree. Brilliant. For other things like Mexican or Thai that is spicy but has a bit less mass than a curry, a smooth taste is essential I think, just pick your favourite smooth and it’ll go really well.

Steaks

Being a dedicated carnivore, I like to think these are my speciality. There are so many different types with red and white meat, beef, lamb and pork just name a few and the different flavours tend to match up with different things I’ve found.

Beef and meaty pies need a big strong flavour to stand up against otherwise the flavours tend to fall into each other rather than really provide a nice contrast. You can’t get much fuller than a Peerless Full Whack which would do the job. Lamb and pork both have a bit more of a layered flavour I find, so require something more diverse. A fruity ale is needed to bring these layers along. Theakston’s Paradise Ale is fantastic and goes well with some lamb and a few roast vegetables. Alternatively, a dark beer, even something widely available like Newcastle Brown is very good with chicken and gravy.

Desserts

It is tricky to really recommend something for desserts as most people are already halfway through whatever drink they have chosen by the time desserts coming; this is for those people like me who have a sweet tooth and may order a cheeky sundae as a snack rather than some ‘proper’ food. I find it slightly different to big mains where you are looking for something to offer a different flavour, with sweets you’re really just trying to excite those taste buds as much as possible and give them as much sweetness as you can. A fruity beer or stout goes really well with ice cream and cakes. Fenland’s raspberry stout is beautiful and will be coming into season over the next few months.

At the end of the day, this is just my

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opinion really. Some people will have completely different ideas and tastes, and that in itself is a great thing. Food and drink are completely subjective things, but I have never had too many complaints when offering a particular beer to enjoy with dinner.

Ghost written by Thomas Kerrigan

Coach House to brew World Cup aleCoach House Brewing Company in Warrington have announced they plan to brew a completely new ale to celebrate England’s participation in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

They have previously distributed beers for major sporting events such as The Ashes, Wimbledon, the Rugby Union World Cup and The Olympics as well as previous International football tournaments.

Floor manager Brendan Arnold said the beer is giving fans a chance to really get into the spirit of the World Cup. “Every time we’ve done one of these it sells really well in the pubs. Landlords are often ringing us up asking for deliveries much sooner than normal. It’s all down to the patriotic nature of the locals really, drinking this won’t help anyone win any matches but it’s all about getting into the spirit.”

One way Coach House keep the beer so popular is by taking it out of circulation once the tournament is over. “In the past demand does normally go down, it did after the recent Ashes half way through! There are pubs asking us to deliver a few more casks on occasion but we like to keep it just for the tournament, we may extend it slightly if England win this one.”

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Situated in the rural surroundings of Burtonwood in Warrington, The Fiddle I’th Bag Inn could be mistaken for any average Beefeater style pub. The newly painted cream building appears very familiar upon pulling into the car park. Aside from the cute Victorian bicycle just outside the front door, it happily fits into the stereotype of ‘Sunday dinner tavern’. Be warned, the bicycle is the tip of a fantastically retro iceberg.

Inside the porch the first signs that this

pub may not be as it appeared start to show themselves. The charming, crackly tones of 1940’s swing music can be heard clearly upon entry, but don’t be fooled into thinking this is just a one-off mood changer. No matter what time you enter The Fiddle, you’ll do well to hear anything post 1950 never mind anything from the 21st century. Round the clock Jazz and Blues songs fill the bar area and provide an entirely different and refreshing atmosphere to so many other modern establishments.

Drink with a difference at the antiques pub show

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Stepping inside for the first time is something I wish I could experience more than once. After numerous visits, the distinctive surroundings do not have the same thudding impact, though they never fail to impress.

Hundreds of antiques and different pieces of bric-a-brac type collectables line the walls providing a sea of colour that leaves you trying to look in seven directions all at once. Hung and ordered in the most haphazard manner possible, every surface has something different to offer. Anyone who may casually look around and choose to really take in the scenery this diverse inn has to offer will not be disappointed. It should not work, but it just does. Russian dolls, a selection of old instant cameras, and an array of banjos and ukuleles fill odd corners of the bar area and make a very interesting backdrop to any conversation. You could come to The Fiddle with a good friend you have not spoken to in years and discuss nothing but what surrounds you the decorations draw such attention.

Bob and Julie and are the fully dressed manikins who sit in the far corner of the pub in a chatty position and just add to the eccentric feel of the eating area. With Bob sporting an allied WWII infantry outfit, and Julie a long Summer dress, it could easily have been a scene in any 1945 public house as a wife welcomed home her beloved husband for the first time years. Where else better to celebrate than the local?

To even reach the bar a variety of stuffed woodland animals and stacks of 1950’s newspapers must be slalomed around, even then you have contend with an array of novelty nut crackers, amongst other things lining the length of the bar and gasmasks hanging from the ceiling. This place is not for clean freaks.

Landlady Fiona Stafford-Watson is a quirky character and her enthusiasm flows through the atmosphere of the pub similar to that of the Mad Hatter’s through Wonderland. “We like to offer a bit of an

alternative to what most people consider a ‘pub’. People come here, enjoy some food and a drink and can experience something different to every ale pub in the country. It’s funny though because we didn’t plan it to happen like this. The pub just evolved around us as we put up these odd decorations we liked. Now people bring us all sorts and we just stick it on the wall.”

A pint of Blue Rose was well worth the £2 and went down very well with the warm sunlight flooding in through the windows. They also offered an impressive assortment of local and national beers including Robinson’s Old Stockport and Spitfire on tap. A pleasant menu awaits any hungry visitors with a wide selection of roasts available, very impressive considering the business runs on just a husband, wife and daughter trio. Starters and baguettes are also available for a lighter snack.

Anne Downtree is a regular visitor the pub and thinks the antique-clad walls are all part of what make The Fiddle so appealing. “If they got rid of it all, there wouldn’t be too much special about the place. The decorations, the music, the atmosphere, it’s just wonderful. I’ll often come down here for a spot of lunch, and it is the style of the pub that brings me back again and again. If it was a normal pub, I’d still come occasionally because it’s beautiful sitting outside in the sun looking across the fields, but no where near as much as I do now.”

The charm of The Fiddle I’th Bag Inn is something I have never felt replicated. There are pubs around with a wider selection of ales and a better location, but none have the personality of this tavern in the outskirts of Warrington. When drinking here, you almost feel you should be paying some kind of museum entrance fee in addition to your pint.

If you are in the area do not fail to see this place for yourself.

Brilliantly unique.

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The art of brewing real ale is very different to brewing commercial lagers and ciders. There is a lot more identity that can be laden into ale whilst it is being created. With more microbreweries opening up than ever before, Dave Bolton of Coach House Brewing Company in Warrington, now talks you through each and every step of creating an ale, should any of you be interested in the market.

There are four basic ingredients of ale, they are: water, malts, hops and yeast. Many smaller breweries like ours prefer to

keep it as simple as possible because the flavour and design on the beer is so much purer that way. The bigger breweries that ship out 5,000 kegs a day can use easier, but more artificial stuff and get things done quicker, but not necessarily better. Taste is everything.

So to begin with, you take your milled malt wheat, which most places our size ship in as we cannot afford a £750,000 harvester to mill wheat for us, and we mash it with hot water in the ‘Mash Tun’. Once it is all mashed together, its best to leave it for a

How to brew your own beer with Coach House

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while so the water can get all those natural sugars out of the wheat. The substance we are left with is called ‘wort’.

Draining off the wort can be a messy job, but basically what we want to be doing is sifting out all of the solid bits of wheat. We can do this easily during the transfer to the ‘Copper’ which is an old fashioned name because as you can see it isn’t made of copper but the name lives on. In here we heat the wort up to boiling point so we can start bringing flavour to the party.

Two blends of hops are added, the first is just really to balance out the sweetness of the wheat with a touch of bitter. Once that has been boiled in and is well absorbed, the second, more flavoursome batch of hops can be added. It is totally up to the brewer what they want to beer to taste like so it is up to them what kind of hops they add. There are so many different types of hops that give different aroma and flavour to beers, people will have to just see what they like.

Once the boil has finished, the wort can be transferred via the paraflow, which cools the wort as it goes, to the fermenting tower. Now, it is important to remember at this point we still don’t have any ale, regardless of how much liquid is being transferred to the tower, not one drop is ale. That won’t last too long in here though because it is in the fermenting tower the yeast is added. Once the yeast gets hold of all those natural sugars it starts reacting like mad and secreting alcohol, and so our ale is formed. The longer the ale is left fermenting with the yeast, the stronger it will be, for a 3 day period you are looking at an ale of about 2.5%.

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Real Ale Magazine

Obtaining beer out of the fermenting tower should be relatively easy because most have a tap built in so you can taste what is going on in there. Once the brewer is happy with the taste and quality of the beer, it can be moved for the final time until shipping into the conditioning tank. All this is, is just a very controlled environment, we can keep all the ales still, which is very important for settling yeast, and at the temperature we want.

The ale will then stay there until it is put into bottles or casks ready to be shipped on to many happy customers. We’ve got six conditioning tanks here which means at any one time we’ll have six beers being kept ready for putting into barrels and shipping out. Ideally, that is not how we like to work but in the Summer when demand is high needs must.

One thing I really enjoy doing is creating new brews. From the moment an idea pops

into my head it will take about a week to 10 days until taste tests. It will often depend if I’ve had the idea myself or it has been given to me, if it is my idea and I think it’s a good one I normally can’t be stopped. I’m designing pump clips in doodles, and looking for new hoppy flavours all the time, fantastic fun! I’d highly recommend brewing real ale to anyone.

Ghost written by Thomas Kerrigan

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Real Ale Magazine