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Pub Guide

Opening Times

Issue 141 Winter 2009-10

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HALF PINTS

CAMRA’s National Winter Ales Festival is moving to a new home in the northern quarter of central Manchester. ‘The Venue’ at the Sheridan Suite will be the new location following the closure of the New Century Hall by owners the Co-op. The festival runs from Wednesday 20th to Saturday 23rd January 2010 and the final judging of CAMRA’s Champion Winter Beer of Britain competition will be held there on the Wednesday morning.

CAMRA is calling on the government to introduce a ‘People’s Pint’ by abolishing excise duty on beers at 2.8% abv or below. This would provide a boost to innovative brewing of beers such as Pride ‘n’ Joy, a remarkably flavour-packed 2.8% bitter produced by Sussex brewers Welton’s.

Scottish & Newcastle’s Dunston brewery in Gateshead, the former Federation brewery which produces Newcastle Brown Ale, is to close next year and brewing will move to the company’s John Smiths plant in Tadcaster.

Scottish & Newcastle’s brewing arm changes its name to Heineken UK in November. Dutch brewers Heineken have been running S&N’s UK business since last year’s joint takeover of S&N by Heineken and Danish company Carlsberg. S&N’s pub business will be renamed Scottish & Newcastle Pub Company.

Carlsberg UK is launching Tetley’s Northern Cracker as a national special Christmas cask beer. Carlsberg claim that this demonstrates a long-term commitment to the cask version of Tetley’s despite their plan to close the Leeds brewery 2011. Meanwhile CAMRA’s campaign to keep the production of Tetley’s beer in Leeds is gaining momentum with backing from Liberal democrats on Leeds City Council and there have been reports of talks with other Yorkshire brewers about outsourcing production of cask Tetleys.

Adnams pubs are stocking real ales from the Purity brewery following the signing of a partnership deal with the Warwickshire microbrewery.

Lincolnshire brewer Batemans will be distributing its 3.7% bitter, XB, in five-litre mini casks in the run up to Christmas following last year’s successful sales of the seasonal beer Rosey Nosey in the recyclable containers. The beer needs to settle for 24 hours and be consumed within three days of opening.

Suffolk brewer Greene King has launched the Head Brewer's Club for 300 of its real ale houses selected by volume sales and quality checks. Club members will receive £100 to put towards Cask Marque accreditation, early access to promotions on guest ales and the chance to have a beer brewed especially for the pub.

Greene King have signed a three year shirt sponsorship deal with Cambridge United Football Club. Greene King IPA will be the club’s official beer and the main stand at Cambridge’s ground will be known as the Greene King IPA stand. Greene King will also be helping the club to upgrade the bar facilities around the ground.

Belhaven Brewery remains committed to brewing in Scotland despite fears for the future of the Dunbar brewery after their owners Greene King transferred bottling of Belhaven beers to Suffolk.

Arran brewery is looking to move its bottling operation to the mainland and is considering a site in Hartlepool and Diageo’s redundant Johnnie Walker plant in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.

Global brewer Anheuser Busch InBev has sold its Tennents lager and ale brands and its Wellpark brewery in Glasgow to C&C Group who produce Magners.

The Scottish Government is to bring forward a Bill to tackle alcohol misuse in Scotland. If passed, the Bill will introduce minimum pricing, bans on irresponsible drinks promotions and a ‘Social Responsibility Fee’ for some retailers. CAMRA would be in favour of these measures in the whole of the UK. The Welsh Assembly, which has no say in such matters, has asked the UK government to introduce minimum pricing for alcoholic drinks.

Swindon brewer Archers has been acquired by Simon Buckley, owner of the Evan-Evans microbrewery in Llandeilo, South Wales. Archers went into administration in March 2009. Archers beers are being brewed in South Wales until the planned re-launch of brewing at Swindon in the new year.

Viceroy India Pale Ale is the National Trust’s first branded beer. The beer is available in 500ml bottles and on draught and is brewed to 5% abv by the Westerham Brewery in Kent using Kent hops from Scotney, the Trust’s last remaining hop garden.

Kent brewer Shepherd Neame is looking to sell 35 pubs, about 10% of its entire pub estate. 13 pubs have already been sold for a total of £3.4m.

The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that an advert from the ‘Axe the Beer Tax’ campaign that appeared in the CAMRA members’ newspaper What’s Brewing breached their code of practice and have ordered that it does not reappear in its current form. The advert said that the chancellor takes 33% of a pint of beer and now wants even more. The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), which is leading on the Axe the Beer Tax campaign, is robustly defending the claim, as is CAMRA. They believe that 33% is a conservative estimate and that if all taxes are taken into account the figure is more like 39% of the price of an average pint going in tax.