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Ayrshire and Wigtownshire CAMRA Branch
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Summer 2015
INSIDE THIS BUMPER EDITION:
Saracen’s Head, Beith wins Pub of the Year CELEBRAT RA
C
OT
CH
OF S
years
ES
ING
CAM
2 new local breweries start up
T IS H B RAN
Feature on Isle of Arran PLUS LOTS MORE . . .
Summer 2015
Winner THE Y OF E
2014
AR
PU B
Special Award
Scotland and Northern Ireland Region
Family run village inn located on the harbour in the picturesque fishing village of Isle of Whithorn
2014/15 Countryfile Magazine Rural Pub of the Year
OPENING TIMES: Every Day, 11am–11pm OUR NEW, IN-HOUSE, FIVE KINGDOMS BREWERY WILL BE PRODUCING REAL ALES FROM EARLY JUNE Timothy Taylor Landlord plus five guest ales always available ⅓ pint beer taster platters available for same price as a pint
Outside seating area on the harbourside. Children and Dogs Welcome. Lunches 12-2pm. Snack Menu 2-6pm (Fri-Sun). Evening Meals 6.30-9pm. Sunday Carvery, 12-3pm: 3 Courses £12 Thursday Steak Night: Galloway Sirloin £12 Selection of local seafood dishes always available All food freshly prepared on the premises. Daily chef ’s specials using the finest fresh produce and local seafood.
ACCOMMODATION
Comfortable en suite accommodation overlooking the harbour From £30 pppn B&B. Special accommodation offers to CAMRA members.
For bookings: visit our website, or call Alastair on 01988 500334 Email: steampacketinn@btconnect.com
www.thesteampacketinn.biz 2
www.awcamra.org.uk
NEWS
Volume 17, Issue 2
Ayrshire & Wigtownshire Pub of the Year 2014 Having been chosen by Branch members as the North Ayrshire Pub of the Year, the Saracen’s Head in Beith has been chosen by our regional judges as the Branch’s overall Pub of the Year for 2014.
Ayrshire and Wigtownshire CAMRA Branch Chairman: Lindsay Grant Email: chair@awcamra.org.uk Secretary: Karen Grant Email: secretary@awcamra.org.uk Minutes of Branch Meetings are available to members from the Secretary.
Murray Thomson, owner, with Angela, Denise and Chloe at the Saracen’s Head, Beith being presented with their North Ayrshire award back in February by Ian Middleditch.
The award will be presented to the pub during the North Ayrshire social night on Thursday 18th June at 8pm. You are encouraged to attend this event for an evening of good beer and banter.
Credit is due to Murray Thomson and his staff in winning the award after only 18 months of selling real ale, and putting Beith firmly back on the real ale map. Our other branch regional winners for 2014 were: East Ayrshire Weston Tavern, Kilmaurs South Ayrshire Wellingtons Bar, Ayr Wigtownshire The Grapes, Stranraer
Full Steam Ahead for Five Kingdoms Brewery In early May, Alastair Scoular took delivery of his new microbrewery to be based at the Steam Packet Inn, Isle of Whithorn. The Five Kingdoms brewery so called as you can see Five Kingdoms from the back of the pub garden hope to have the first ales available for drinking later in June. The pub also recently won BBC Countryfile Magazine’s award for Best Rural Pub of the Year.
Editor: Stuart McMahon, 93 Montfode Drive, Ardrossan KA22 7PH Tel: 01294 603848 Email: fullpints@awcamra.org.uk Advertising: Mike Tomlinson Email: advertising@awcamra.org.uk Advertising Rates: Full Page: £60 1/2 Page: £35 Websites: www.awcamra.org.uk www.ayrshirebeerfestival.co.uk @awcamra; @troonbeerfest
Ayrshire & Wigtownshire CAMRA Ayrshire Real Ale Festival Full Pints is designed by Montfode Design, www.md93.co.uk and printed by Brown Brothers Printers, Irvine, www.brown-bros.com. At least 2,000 copies are published every 3 months and distributed to all Real Ale outlets in our region. The views expressed in this publication are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the editor or of the Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. © Campaign for Real Ale Ltd
The next edition of will be published in September 2015. Articles, photos and other contributions should be sent to the editor no later than Friday 21st August 2015. 3
THE KINGSummer ’S ARMS 2015 HOTEL, 1 STINCHAR ROAD BARR, GIRVAN KA26 9TW 01465 861 230 www.kingsarmsbarr.co.uk Info@kingsarmsbarr.co.uk
BEERFEST WEEKEND Friday Lorem ipsum dolor 31 July sit amet,to consectetur adipiscing elit. Sunday 2 August Etiam vitae quam ut est fringilla venenatis vitae ac turpis.
LIVE MUSIC ONlectus. FRIDAY & auctor Aliquam adipiscing leo massa, ac ultricies SATURDAY Phasellus augue est, imperdiet ut viverra nec, scelerisque
HELP US CELEBRATE OUR REAL ALE ANNIVERSARY
IT’S JUST OVER A YEAR SINCE WE DECIDED TO PUT THE VILLAGE OF BARR ON THE REAL ALE MAP. AND WE’VE BEEN DELIGHTED WITH THE RESPONSE FROM BOTH LOCALS AND VISITORS ALIKE. NESTLING IN THE STINCHAR VALLEY ABOVE GIRVAN, WE MIGHT BE THOUGHT TO BE A WEE BIT “OFF THE BEATEN TRACK” BUT OUR PUB HAS BEEN AROUND FOR MORE THAN 200 YEARS AND WE KNOW A THING OR TWO ABOUT HAVING A GOOD TIME! THAT’S WHY WE DECIDED TO HAVE A REAL ALE ON TAP AND BECOME THE ONLY PUB IN THE GIRVAN AREA TO OFFER THIS TO ITS CUSTOMERS. SO WHY NOT JOIN US AND HELP CELEBRATE OUR FIRST ANNIVERSARY. COME AND ENJOY THE ATMOSPHERE OF OUR HISTORIC COACHING INN. WE’LL HAVE LIVE MUSIC, GREAT FOOD AND SIX REAL ALES FOR YOU TO ENJOY. CONTACT US IF YOU NEED MORE DETAILS, OR JUST 4 TURN UP ... YOU’LL BE MADE VERY WELCOME.
ligula. Sed nibh risus, aliquam ac bibendum vitae, tincidunt quis.
Six ales on tap
Mini bus pick up from Girvan (by prior arrangement)
Musicians welcome throughout the weekend Campground available (10 minute walk)
www.awcamra.org.uk
Portpatrick Brewery now open A bit like buses - we wait ages for a new brewery in our area and then two open up at the same time, and remarkably, both are in the same area! You will have read on the previous page about the Five Kingdoms brewery based in the Isle of Whithorn. The second newcomer is the Portpatrick Brewery, run by CAMRA members, Keith & Lynne-Marie Stebbens. Keith has been brewing for about 20 years, on a non-commercial basis, for themselves and their family and friends. They have now set up the one barrel Portpatrick Brewery and are producing both cask and bottled beers. The brewery has three specific aims: • to help promote real ale and CAMRA in the local area • to help promote Portpatrick and the local area • to have some fun! A number of their bottled beers have been accredited the “CAMRA says this is real ale” logo. Initially, they will be producing two of these beers in casks – ”Dorn Rock”, a 4% ABV bitter, and ”Fog Horn”, a 4.5% ABV IPA. The bottle conditioned versions of the ales will have a slightly higher %ABV. Over the course of the first twelve months, they also hope to introduce some other bottled beers: ”Dark Skies” - a stout; ”Gulf Stream” - a golden ale; and ”Auld Kirk” - a lighter bitter. All of the names of the beers are linked with the local area and the bottle labels include a description of Portpatrick along with an explanation of the name of the beer. On 11th April, a group from the local CAMRA branch visited the brewery for a brewery tour and tasting and presented Keith and Lynn-Marie with a tasty cake. The “Auld Kirk” bitter was on cask and there were also several of the other beers in bottles. The cask beers became available to the public on Friday 22nd May, being served over the Bank Holiday weekend at The Crown in Portpatrick and The Grapes in Stranraer and will be available in a number of other outlets over the summer and beyond. The bottles will become available from the end of June and will be sold by a number of local pubs, restaurants, hotels and shops. The Brewery’s website will be regularly updated to show where their beers are available. You will find them at www.portpatrick-brewery.co.uk. We wish Keith and Lynne-Marie every success in their new venture. 5
Summer 2015
Beer of the Festival presentation
For those that can remember back to last October’s Ayrshire Real Ale Festival, the beer voted by the public as Beer of the Festival was Broughton Ales’ Dark Dunter. To avoid the potential of bad weather disrupting the trip down to Biggar during the winter, the presentation was pencilled in for early March. A deluge of rain and snow melt over the preceeding days however meant that there were a lot of flooded fields, particularly in the Biggar area. Undeterred, a good turnout of around 25 folks attended and were treated to a tour of the brewery, a variety of some very tasty locally produced pies, and of course beer - Dark Dunter and Merlin Ale were on offer. Afterwards we stopped off briefly in Biggar to visit the Elphinstone Hotel and The Crown, both of which had good ales on offer.
Lindsay Grant, Branch Chairman, presenting the award to Ian Smith 6
www.awcamra.org.uk
Ardrossan Accies Rugby Club Beer Fest Ardrossan Accies Rugby Club held their 4th Beer festival back in March over the last weekend of the 6-Nations Rubgy Tournament. A preview night was held for CAMRA members on the Thursday evening and was well attended. 14 ales were available during the festival, which was the busiest one to date, particularly on the Saturday afternoon – the volunteer bar staff were kept on their toes. The Sunday afternoon was very quiet and will be reviewed if the committee agrees to run the festival again next year. There was a wide range of ales available, ranging from the 3.5% Atom Schrodinger’s Cat to the 6.5% Black Metal Yggdrasil from Edinburgh. The first beer to run out was Stewart’s Rugby Ale. Alechemy Ritual and Brass Castle Northern Blonde proved popular, as did Jaw Fathom. If you have any comments or thoughts on what could be improved, or anything you’d like to see introduced at a future festival, then please email fullpints@awcamra.org.uk.
Village Inn, Fairlie, Beer Fest The 3rd Beer Festival at the Village Inn was due to take place at the end of May, just as Full Pints was going to print. Up to 24 ales were available this year, including several new beers. Two ales from the new Bute Brewing Company in Rothesay were available for one of their first outings to the mainland – Scalpsie Blonde, and The Maids. A couple of them were also available at the recent Helensburgh Beer Festival and some are now available in bottles. Also, rarely seen in the west, two ales from Abbot Brew House in Dunfermline made an appearance – a Scottish Blossom Honey Ale and Old Dunfermline Nut Brown. Lomond Red, a new rye beer from Loch Lomond Brewery also made its first appearance. A good selection of beers from south of the border were available including Saltaire’s Raspberry Blonde and a couple from the quirkilynamed Rat Brewery. Thanks to Mark Maclean for hosting the event and once again providing a tasty BBQ throughout. 7
Summer 2015
Saracen’s Head Hotel GOOD FOOD : GOOD BEER Outside Bars and Catering 2 Real Ales usually available SPECIAL OFFER: Mon-Thurs: only £2.50/pint Search for: SariBarBeith
10-12 Eglinton Street, Beith KA15 1AQ Tel: 01505 502329
SUMMER DIARY DATES JUNE Sat 6th Wigtownshire Social to Castle Douglas Food Festival & Sulwath Brewery Sun 7th South Ayrshire Social - Pizza and Beer at the Newton Arms, Ayr, 2pm. Thurs 18th North Ayrshire Social and Pub of the Year Presentation, Saracen’s Head Hotel, Beith, 8pm Sat 20th Social Outing to Strathaven Brewery for Beer and BBQ, plus a visit to The Weavers, Strathaven Mon 22nd Beer Festival meeting, Geordie’s Byre, Ayr, 8pm Wed 24th East Ayrshire Social, Braehead, Kilmarnock, 7.30pm Thurs 25th - Sat 27th Glasgow Real Ale Festival, The Briggait. Branch Social on Friday 26th from 3pm. Details at: www.glasgowrealalefestival.org.uk.
JULY Thurs 9th - Sun 12th Scottish Real Ale Festival, Corn Exchange, Slateford, Edinburgh. Branch Social on Friday 10th from 3pm. www.sraf.org.uk Sat 11th Arran Food & Drink Festival, Kinloch Hotel, Blackwaterfoot, Arran - catch the 9.45am boat or be left behind! Tues 14th Branch Meeting and Brewery of the Year Presentation, Ayr Brewery, Glen Park Hotel, Ayr, 8pm 8
Thurs 16th North Ayrshire Social, The Saltcot, Saltcoats, 8pm Fri 17th/Sat 18th Stranraer Beer Festival Sat 18th East Ayrshire Afternoon Social to Sorn Inn, 2pm Wed 29th East Ayrshire Social, Goldberry Arms, Kilmarnock, 7.30pm Fri 31st Social Trip to Kings Arms Hotel, Barr for their mini beer festival weekend. Bus available from Prestwick departing 4.30pm. Depart Barr 9.30pm. Contact social@awcamra.org.uk to book your place. AUGUST Sat 1st Aug Two-pub Social, Largs. Three Reasons 1pm / Waterside 3pm Mon 3rd Committee Meeting, Glen Park Hotel, Ayr, 8pm Thurs 20th North Ayrshire Social, Waterside, Largs, 8pm Sat 29th Beer of the Year Presentation to Inveralmond Brewery, Perth. TBC SEPTEMBER Sat 5th Beer Festival, Glen Park Hotel, Ayr (also Scottish Air Show, Ayr) Sat 19th Branch Social Outing to Eden.Mill Brewery and Distillery, Guardbridge. Email: social@awcamra.org.uk
www.awcamra.org.uk
LOCAL NEWS
Garnock Social Club Garnock Social Club now has real ale available most weekends thanks to the persistence of local CAMRA member, Ian Martin. The club is easily reached using the X34 / X36 and 25 (daytime) or 125(evening) buses which stop outside the club as you enter Kilbirnie from Dalry. It is also just a short walk from Glengarnock Rail Station. Watch out in the near future for a special ‘ale trail’ event in the area!
Air Show Beer Fest The Glen Park Hotel and Ayr Brewery are going to be holding a beer festival in the Glen Park Hotel on Sat 5th September, the same day as Scottish Airshow’s free air display at Ayr Low Green. Details are still being finalised but around 12-15 ales should be available. The Glen Park is located at the bottom of Miller Road, Ayr, just a short walk from Ayr Station.
Millhouse Hotel, Stewarton The latest news is that the Millhouse Hotel, Stewarton will be having a major refurbishment of its restaurant and isn’t due to be open until September / October.
Pierhead Tavern Previous owners, Punch Taverns gained planning permission to turn the Pierhead Tavern in Lamlash into flats. However, the premises have now been purchased by Jane and Alistair Bethan and they have submitted ambitious plans to redevelop it back into a welcoming pub for the village and tourists.
Catacol for sale After 36 years, the owners of the Catacol Bay Hotel have decided to retire and relax. This means that the hotel is now up for sale. It will, however, continue trading throughout the summer months until a buyer is found.
Beer and Food Festival on Arran Celebrate the Scottish Year of Food & Drink overseas! Arran is renowned for its fabulous fresh local produce and you can enjoy the very best of it at the BEST WESTERN Kinloch Hotel in Blackwaterfoot. They will be hosting the island’s only food & drink festival this summer on Saturday 11th July from 11.30am until 8pm. Real Ales, Wines, Cider plus the freshest seafood and finest local foods. Live music all day plus entertainment!
Arran Brewery news Arran have bought the former Bowery bar in Kilbirnie and after refurbishment it will be renamed “The Weavers” in honour of the town’s historic connection with the weaving industry. A range of Arran ales will be available, though it is unknown at this stage whether that will include cask ales.
Arran have also bought the small Devil’s Dyke Brewery, based 8 miles outside of Cambridge. It is a small, currently mothballed, 2.5 barrel brewery, associated with the Dykes End public house. It is regarded as a strategic purchase to launch the Arran beers into the south east and London, with locally produced ales appearing up here in Scotland. Recently, Arran’s Dreghorn site has been subject to more break-ins causing considerable damage. The Dreghorn premises will be home to a bottling plant, visitor centre and a Sake Brewery which now has licensing, planning permission and building warrants and is awaiting the outcome of a Regional Selected Assistance application before work can begin. The first Sake is scheduled to be produced towards the end of this year. A second round of crowdfunding is still scheduled to take place this summer.
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Summer 2015
WELLINGTONS BAR Traditional Bar ~ Traditional Ales Traditional Music • Basement bar within yards of beautiful Ayr beach • Three handpumps now available, serving quality ales usually from Fyne Ales, Kelburn, Orkney and Harviestoun • Renowned for our promotion of traditional music – sessions every Sunday night • Longest running Quiz night every Wednesday • DJ every Saturday • Small parties very welcome • 35ml measures
17 Wellington Square, Ayr KA7 1EZ Tel: 01292 262794 Email: welliesayr@hotmail.co.uk www.welliesbar.weebly.com
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www.awcamra.org.uk
FRASERS BAR Millport
Find us just up the road from the pier
Quality Cask Ales Served All Year Meals Served Every Day 12 noon-2.30pm / 5.30pm-7.30pm
“Island Escape” self-catering 4-star luxury accommodation Book at: www.cottages4u.co.uk Ref: 30200
7 Cardiff Street, Millport, Isle of Cumbrae KA28 0AS Tel: 01475 530518 11
Summer 2015
FOCUS ON ARRAN by Stuart McMahon
Arran is often described as ‘Scotland in Miniature’, and a well deserved summary it is – from the mountains of the north, to the moorland and farmland of the south. And for the real ale drinker there are plenty of outlets dotted around the island. Brodick Castle Getting to Arran couldn’t be easier. An hourly train from Glasgow Central takes you direct to Ardrossan Harbour, or there are frequent bus services stopping nearby. During the summer there are up to 10 Calmac ferries a day leaving Ardrossan going to Brodick. Weekend sailings are increasingly popular and it is recommended to book in advance. Whether you travel on foot, or with a vehicle, there is plenty to see and visit. Arriving in Brodick, some early day visitors may be enthusiastic and wish to climb Goat Fell, a mere 2,866ft, before ending the day in some of Brodick’s pubs. Others may prefer to use public transport, with the Stagecoach bus stances located just outside the ferry terminal buildings. All buses eventually head back to Brodick no matter their destination! Heading north, on the outskirts of Brodick you soon reach Cladach, the home to Arran Brewery and their neighbours at Brodick Castle, owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The Arran Brewery is well known and currently produces over eight regular ales, including Arran Dark, Arran Blonde, Red Squirrel and the Brewery Dug. Tours and tastings are available at the brewery. Next door to the brewery is Arran Wineport which also serves some Arran Ales. After leaving the brewery and passing through the picturesque village of Corrie you soon climb up Arran Brewery and over the hill to Lochranza. 12
www.awcamra.org.uk
The first place of interest you’ll Catacol Bay Hotel Lochranza Hotel come to is the Arran Distillery, home to some fine malt whisky - you might even spot some golden eagles soaring in the skies. A short distance along the road you’ll come to the Lochranza Hotel, where a real ale and hearty home-made meals can be purchased, and if the weather is good, you can sit outside in the beer garden and keep the midges company, or you might even spot the local red deer grazing by the roadside. A few miles further round the north coast from Lochranza, you will soon come to the delightful village of Catacol, with its row of houses nicknamed the ‘12 Apostles’ – each one looks similar but a closer inspection shows they are all different. The Catacol Bay Hotel awaits also with good home-made food and real ale - a great place to watch a summer sunset over Kilbrannan Sound. Wildlife is abundant here as well - keep your eyes peeled and you may even see an Adder sunning itself by the roadside. Next stop heading down Kilbrannan Sound is Blackwaterfoot where the recently refurbished Best Western Kinloch Hotel has two ales for sale, including the new Uisge Dubh house ale from Ayr Brewery. The Kinloch is holding the 3rd Arran Food and Drink Festival on 11th July. There should be a good selection of ales available along with live music, local foods and a whisky tent! Kinloch Hotel Just up the road from the Kinloch is the Blackwaterfoot Lodge which may have an ale on offer. Sadly, the south of Arran is a real ale desert, but having passed through the scenic villages of Lagg, Kildonan and Whiting Bay you’ll soon come to Lamlash. In this little village, where you can get a small ferry over to Holy Island and the Buddhist retreat, the Drift Inn sells two ales, along with good food. The Pierhead Tavern is currently closed, but has recently changed Drift Inn ownership and the new owners have plans to upgrade this delightful little pub. With the circular tour almost complete, you can savour the delights that Brodick has to offer. Whilst the Auchrannie Resort and the Douglas Hotel offer great accommodation, at present only the Brodick Bar and the Ormidale Hotel have real ale. The Brodick Bar has Deuchars on tap whilst the Ormidale has three tall founts, one of which is usually an Arran ale and a secluded beer garden to sit in whilst waiting on the ferry back home. (Ed’s note - it’s further away than you Brodick Bar Ormidale Hotel might think!) 13
Summer 2015
1st - 3rd October
LIVE MUSIC FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
Troon Concert Hall
ADMISSION: £5. CAMRA Members: £3. Thurs only - under 25’s: £3 OPENING TIMES: Thurs: 12 noon (CAMRA preview), 2pm (Public) Friday / Saturday: 11am - 11pm
150+ Real Ales from around the UK plus Cider & Perry OUR 2ND BAR WILL BE FEATURING BEERS FROM ISLANDS AROUND THE UK
www.ayrshirebeerfestival.co.uk IGHT AY N M D N MO UIZ 9P Q K LY WEE ALE T GUES ED S E RV F O O DP M D A I L Y 7 TILL
thethreereasonslargs
14
THE
THREE
REASONS G d Drink, G d F d, G d Times! FREE HOUSE | BAR & DINER
14 GAL LOWGATE S TREET, LA RGS KA 30 8LX C A LL: 01475 672330 MAIL: enquiries@thethreereasons.co.uk VISIT: www.thethreereasons.co.uk
www.awcamra.org.uk
Forthcoming Festivals
In 2015 you can visit a beer festival in Scotland every month from March until November, if you are so inclined! Here are details for the summer festivals: The increasingly popular FyneFest is being held at the Fyne Ales brewery from 12th-14th June featuring a huge selection of beers and a wide variety of music. Tickets required in advance from www.fynefest.com. Following its success last year, the Glasgow CAMRA Real Ale Festival (GRAF) returns to the Briggait from 25th – 27th June. More details at www. glasgowrealalefestival.co.uk. Into July, and the Kinloch Hotel in Blackwaterfoot, Arran will be holding the 3rd Arran Food and Drink Festival on Saturday 11th July. Extra Stagecoach buses will be provided on the island to help cope with demand, although getting on board the ferry may be a bigger challenge if you’re not early! The Scottish Real Ale Festival returns once again to the Corn Exchange, Slateford, Edinburgh from 9th12th July. Over 150 Scottish ales will be available. Entry is £4 for card-carrying CAMRA members (£6 public).
The Stranraer Beer Festival will be held in the Grainstore on 17th July from 3.30pm - 9.30pm, and on Sat 18th July from 12.30pm - 9.30pm. Live music and food will be available. In August, the national Great British Beer Festival takes place in Olympia, London. If you haven’t experienced it yet and can afford a trip down south, it is highly recommended, although it is very popular. See page 24 for more details. www.gbbf.org.uk In September, the Glen Park Hotel, Ayr will be holding a beer festival on Sat 5th September. At least four beers from Ayr Brewing Company will be on tap with approx 12 other ales available. This is the same day as the free Scottish Airshow display at Ayr Low Green. Planes and a pint - perfect! At the end of September, the Cove & Kilcreggan Beer Festival takes place in the Cove Hall on Sat 26th Sept. A short hop over on the ferry from Gourock! And finally, our own festival, the best in the west, the amazing 16th Ayrshire Real Ale Festival returns to Troon Concert Hall from Thurs 1st October - Sat 3rd October. Our second bar this year will be an ‘island bar’ beers sourced from the islands around the UK. Visit www.alesela.co.uk/blog/?p=750 for a listing of other festivals being held around Scotland.
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Summer 2015
Mild Trail by Rail
by Lindsay Grant
For the past 4 years CAMRA Forth Valley Branch has arranged for real ale outlets close to stations on the line between Linlithgow and Dunblane to offer a mild during a week-end in May. This Branch also produce publicity material to promote the event held to celebrate CAMRA’s “Make May Mild Month”. This year’s event was held during the week-end 8th/9th/10th May. On Saturday 9th May, Jon Mansell and I set off to follow the Trail. The initial plan was to travel by bus from Glasgow to Dunblane and take the train from there to Linlithgow, stopping off at the various stations on the way. However, our scheduled bus was a “no show” and so an alternative strategy was adopted. We took a bus to Edinburgh, then the train from Haymarket to Linlithgow and did the Trail in the reverse order to that originally planned. Linlithgow featured 4 pubs. One, the West Port, was a bit far from the station to visit in the time we had allowed ourselves. Of the other 3 we first of all visited Platform 3, a nice little pub almost adjacent to the station. Two milds on offer here in addition to Caledonian Deuchars IPA. Tryst Brockville Dark and Strathaven Craigmill Mild were both very pleasant and in good condition at £3.50 per pint. Next door was the Star & Garter which, despite offering 5 real ales, did not have a mild. When I pointed this out to the barmaid, using the poster displayed advertising the Trail to further 16
my argument, she pointed to the Inveralmond Ossian pump and replied “well that one’s quite mild.” Enough said! So then it was on to an old favourite the Four Marys. This Belhaven pub had 8 beers with, not surprisingly, 5 of them being from Belhaven/Greene King. The mild was Greene King XX Mild at £3.40. This was OK but a wee bit too sweet for my taste. The next town, Falkirk, featured 3 pubs but, as we planned to lunch here, we had to select only one. We opted for the New Market Bar which on one hand was a poor choice as no mild was available but on the other hand we enjoyed a good value lunch. An Teallach Ale and Crofters Pale were both fine and at £1.80 excellent value. The other 2 pubs here were Behind the Wall and Carron Works. Next stop was Larbert with the Station Hotel adjacent to the platform. The mild here was Kinneil Brew Hoose Wonderfu’ Jake at £3.30. A perfectly acceptable offering from this Bo’ness brewery whose beers I had never previously sampled. This pub also offered 4 other real ales.
www.awcamra.org.uk
Due to time constraints we decided to give Stirling a miss and continued on to Bridge of Allan. First pub here was the Old Bridge Inn where Devon Ales Thick Black was on offer at £3.30. Whether or not this beer can be classified as a true mild is a moot point but it was a pleasant enough beer. Onto Allanwater Brewhouse home to Tinpot Brewery where we met up with another 2 Branch members, Steven Grist and John Louden. This brewery’s beers are renowned for featuring rather odd ingredients and this visit proved to be no exception. The 2 milds were Chocolate Mild and Maple Mild at £3.30. Again the maple one was a bit sweet for me but I found the chocolate version rather nice, although Jon didn’t like it. 6 other Tinpot beers and 2 real ciders were also available.
On to our final destination Dunblane where we decided not to visit the Tappit Hen as we had been told that the mild on offer would be Greene King XX Mild and we had already sampled that in Linlithgow. So we opted for the Riverside. This styles itself as a “pub, kitchen and coffee house” indicating its café bar nature which is not to everyone’s taste. However, the staff were very friendly, the seating on the decking area overlooking the river was very pleasant and the Loch Ness Mildness at £3.50 was probably the best pint of the day. All in all a very enjoyable day out, if a little disappointed that not all of the pubs visited actually had a mild on offer. Thoroughly recommended should the Trail be repeated in future years.
Recent CBOB Competition results The Paisley Beer Festival judged two categories of the Champion Beer of Britain competition - namely the Mild category, and the Old Ale / Strong Milds category. The results were as follows: MILDS 1st Williams Black 2nd Strathaven Craigmill Mild 3rd Highland Dark Munro 4th Tryst Brockville Dark 5th Belhaven 60/6th Arran Dark
OLD ALES / STRONG MILDS 1st Windswept Wolf 2nd Orkney Dark Island 3rd Stewart Edinburgh No.3 4th Kelburn Dark Moor 5th Stewart 80/6th Cuillin Black Face 7th Isle of Skye Skye Black
Congratulations to Williams and Windswept on their wins. The winning beers will now go forward to the final of the competition at the Great British Beer Festival later this year.
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Summer 2015
The Golf Inn, Prestwick 154 Main Street, KA9 1PB. Tel: 01292 476711 Now Serving Real Ale Food Served Daily Weekly Karaoke & Quiz Nights 18
www.awcamra.org.uk
50th Birthday Party in Honour of a Grain – Maris Otter Sows Seeds of Celebration with Brewers It may seem strange to note the anniversary of a cereal variety, but there’s good reason to celebrate the half century of one particular barley type. Particularly so given the tale of domination, decline, rescue and revival that spans its extraordinary 50 year history. While Maris Otter might not be a household name, it is legendary among a group of craft brewers and beer-lovers. Once malted, it becomes the ingredient by which loyalist brewers swear. Although less than 6% of British beer is produced with Maris Otter malt, nine of the most recent fourteen Champion Beers of Britain (64%) are made with Maris Otter. Quite a record for an ingredient. Most cereal varieties are superseded within five or six years. 50 years’ continual production is truly exceptional. It is, as Mark Banham from grain merchants H. Banham points out, “well worth commemorating.” So he has joined forces with David Holliday, from Norfolk Brewhouse, to create a commemorative beer festival. 50 new beers are being created especially for the national Maris Otter 50th anniversary festival in Norwich, 17th – 19th September. Brewers from 44 different counties of Britain and 6 countries from across the world are each providing a birthday beer for the event. “This is the first beer festival to have all 50 beers brewed with a single malt variety,” says Mark, “As far as we know, it’s also the first birthday party ever to be held in honour of a grain!” To book tickets, or to see the full list of participating brewers, visit www.h-banham.co.uk.
Scottish Breweries mapped out An attempt at mapping all the existing breweries in Scotland has been published. Having published a map in CAMRA Scotland’s 40th Anniversary booklet last year, it was obvious that it was going to need to be updated regularly. So with the help of Google maps, and some input from folks around the country, the map currently shows over 112 breweries in existence in Scotland. www.clydeinfo.co.uk/breweries.html 19
Summer 2015
Being Cultured in Newcastle
by Allan Merry
Last October,12 intrepid Real Ale hunters set off by train from North Ayrshire,via Glasgow and Edinburgh to Newcastle for a 3 day cultural visit to the city. Following an uneventful journey, we arrived in Newcastle in time for lunch, taken at the Centurion Bar within the station, along with some ale, in my case Jarrow Rivet Catcher. There were 3-4 other ales available, including the familiar Deuchars IPA and another Scottish ale. We then walked the short distance to our hotel, situated almost underneath the iconic Tyne Bridge. In the afternoon we walked along the banks of the Tyne to the modern art museum Baltic Flour Mill which drew a mixed response, although view from 5th floor was stunning and the stairwell with mirror tiles both at ground level and at the upper level, gave the impression that it went on forever. Some of our group, however, never made it to the museum, preferring to admire Newcastle’s own “squinty bridge”, more correctly called the Millennium Bridge which we had crossed to get to the museum. We had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves and myself and Richard decided to explore the city centre, making our way eventually to St James’s Park where we stumbled on the excellent Strawberry pub, which was 20
a shrine to all things related to Newcastle FC. It also had 4 fonts and I enjoyed Mordue Workie Ticket. Most impressive were the drawn pictures of old Newcastle favourites on the beams within the pub. We resolved to try and bring the rest of the group back later in our trip. In the evening we went to the Redhouse, under the Tyne bridge, where the excellent menu consisted of pies with different fillings and choice of several different types of potatoes and vegetables. These went down very well with all present. There were multiple fonts in the several bars within the establishment and I enjoyed Tiny Rebel Fubar and Mordue Five Bridges. Following dinner that night we explored a couple of nearby pubs – the Crow’s Nest and the excellent Crown Posada where several ales were partaken, including a couple from Truman’s and Hadrian & Borders Brewery The next day, some had breakfast within the hotel, but several went to the nearby Wetherspoon’s for breakfast (the Quayside). After breakfast we went uptown seeking out a place for lunch,with the plan of going in the afternoon to Wallsend to view the end of Hadrian’s Wall. We eventually
Strawberry Pub had lunch at Lady Grey’s pub,and the fare provided was excellent. I had a pint of Atom Pale Ale and I believe there were 2 or 3 more pumps available.
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In the afternoon,we caught the train to Wallsend (where I was offered a seat by a young man - must start dyeing my hair). We chose to go the long scenic way round and arrived in Wallsend for the Segadunim Roman fort, but were informed that the “site” was closing in 40 minutes – enough time for a quick look around and some pictures. Weather was awful so we headed back on the train to Newcastle. Time for a couple of ales before dinner, Millstone End from Yorkshire Dales in the Fitzgerald and then onto the Redhouse before we again split.
visited a Chinese Buffet which went down well. Several beers thereafter, Hadrian & Border’s Grainger Ale in the Newcastle Arms, Durham Magus in the Free Trade Inn (we did poorly in quiz but the toilet graffiti was interesting!), and Wylam Bitter in the Tyne Bar.
Our last morning was free for exploration and once more Richard and I investigated the Five Bridges (although now seven), before a fine pint of Camerons Ale in the Central Bar, Gateshead (a wedge shaped building of great architectural importance) and a pint of Three Kings Castle Golden Some of us went for an Indian whilst the others Ale in the Bridge preferred to go for a steak! Afterwards we again Hotel back over went back to the Crown Posada and enjoyed a the Tyne, before heading for the Wylam Turbinia. station and return Free Trade Inn to Ayrshire. Next morning after breakfast started with a walk along the Tyne to see the largest wooden Leaving Newcastle, some of our party structure in Europe – Dunston Staiths – and took wrong train then onto Gateshead Metro Centre for a pint. to Edinburgh but We headed back into Newcastle for lunch, which a few of us took in the Forth Bar, which were let off by an amused ticket also served up exceedingly good fare along collector! A very with ale in good condition. In the afternoon enjoyable trip, we went to The Discovery museum where my first, but I’m exhibitions included history of Newcastle already looking and various boats. Then we went back to Central Bar forward to next Strawberry by almost universal demand. A pint of Consett Red Dust was enjoyed. Next, we year’s outing.
Some of the group in the Newcastle Arms 21
Summer 2015
Houston
Bute
Largs
Millport Lochranza
Arran
Beith Gateside Lugton
Dunlop Strathaven
Kilmarnock
Saltcoats Brodick Irvine Troon Lamlash
Blackwaterfoot
Drygate
Kelburn
Fairlie Kilbirnie Ardrossan Kilmaurs
Catacol
Jaw
Sorn
Prestwick Ayr Stair
Ayr
Lola Rose
Kirkmichael Kirkoswald Barr
Bargrennan Kirkcolm Stranraer Portpatrick Portpatrick
Sulwath
New Luce Glenluce Sandhead
Newton Stewart Wigtown Bladnoch
Not to scale. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data by permission of the Ordnance Survey Š Crown Copyright 2015
22
Drummore
Isle of Whithorn Five Kingdoms
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AYRSHIRE & WIGTOWNSHIRE REAL ALE OUTLETS ISLE OF ARRAN
SOUTH AYRSHIRE
EAST AYRSHIRE
BLACKWATERFOOT Blackwaterfoot Lodge* Kinloch Hotel
AYR Abbotsford Hotel Ayrshire & Galloway Chestnuts Hotel Geordie’s Byre Glen Park Hotel Harry’s Bar Newton Arms Smoking Goat Tam O’ Shanter Twa Dugs Wellingtons Bar West Kirk
DUNLOP Auld Hoose
KILMAURS Weston Tavern
KILMARNOCK Braehead Bar Brass & Granite Fanny by Gaslight § First Edition Goldberry Arms Wheatsheaf Inn
SORN Sorn Inn
BARR Kings Arms Hotel
BARGRENNAN House O’ Hill Hotel
KIRKMICHAEL Kirkmichael Arms
BLADNOCH Bladnoch Inn
KIRKOSWALD Souter’s Inn
DRUMMORE Clashwhannon
PRESTWICK Eagle Tavern Golf Inn Prestwick Pioneer
GLENLUCE Kelvin House Hotel
BRODICK Brodick Bar Ormidale Hotel Wine Port CATACOL Catacol Bay Hotel LAMLASH Drift Inn LOCHRANZA Lochranza Hotel NORTH AYRSHIRE ARDROSSAN Ardrossan Rugby Club # Lauriston Hotel BEITH Saracen’s Head FAIRLIE Village Inn § GATESIDE Gateside Inn IRVINE Ship Inn The Auld Brig KILBIRNIE Garnock Community Social Club # LARGS J G Sharps Largs Sailing Club # Lounge MacAulays Three Reasons Waterside LUGTON Canny Man § MILLPORT Fraser’s Bar SALTCOATS Salt Cot
TROON Bruce’s Well Cheeky Charlie’s Fullartons Harbour Bar Lonsdale Bar* McKay’s Marr Rugby Club (weekends only) South Beach Hotel
* CAMRA members have noted that real ale is not always available at these pubs. § Special offers for card-carrying CAMRA members # Weekends only
STAIR Stair Inn
WIGTOWNSHIRE
ISLE OF WHITHORN Steam Packet Inn § KIRKCOLM Blue Peter Hotel NEW LUCE Kenmuir Arms Hotel
NEWTON STEWART Creebridge House Hotel Cree Inn Galloway Arms Hotel PORTPATRICK Crown Hotel Harbour House Hotel SANDHEAD Tigh-na-Mara Hotel STRANRAER Grapes § Ruddicot Hotel WIGTOWN Wigtown Ploughman
Every CAMRA member can score ales they drink in their local pub using the WhatPub app and website, www.whatpub.com. But what are the benefits? Well, all scores go towards whether an outlet is considered for inclusion in the Good Beer Guide, and, if there is a trend of low scores for any outlet, it can alert the committee to possible problems. Scores are continually required for the whole Branch area but, in particular, Arran and outlying pubs in East and South Ayrshire receive very few scores - why not take a few moments to score your beers on whatpub.com if you visit them? Do you know of a pub that sells real ale and isn’t listed? Please let us know. 23
Summer 2015
24
www.awcamra.org.uk
BRANCH SOCIAL ACTIVITIES Our Branch has Social Groups covering North, South and East Ayrshire, and Wigtownshire. All CAMRA members are encouraged to attend these informal events, but non-CAMRA members are equally welcome. For more information, please contact the area coordinators listed below: North Ayrshire - usually meets 3rd Thursday of every month. Contact Ian Middleditch. Email: vicechair1@awcamra.org.uk South Ayrshire - contact Caroline Munro for details. Email: south-ayrshire@awcamra.org.uk East Ayrshire - meets last Wednesday of every month. Contact Bob Wallace. Email: membership@awcamra.org.uk Wigtownshire - contact Malcolm McNeil for details. Email: wigtownshire@awcamra.org.uk
Some of our younger folks enjoy a pint in the Saracen’s Head Additionally, the Branch also holds social outings and trips on a regular basis – see www. awcamra.org.uk for details or contact social secretary Donald Clark at social@awcamra.org.uk
OUTLETS NEWS Kinloch
The following changes in outlets have occurred since the last edition of . NEW OUTLETS:
launches new house ale
LOSSES:
The beer is being specially brewed for “The Kinloch” by Anthony Valenti at the Ayr Brewery, with whom the hotel has had a great working relationship for over 3 years. The hotel regularly tries Anthony’s new brews in addition to stocking the tried and tested reliables. Uisge Dubh will be available on draught at the hotel from 9th June and in bottles and gift sets from 24th June.
Braehead Bar, Kilmarnock: 1 changing beer Cree Inn, Minigaff, Newton Stewart: 1 changing beer Garnock Community Social Club, Kilbirnie: Weekends only, selection varies Failford Inn: No ale McCabes, Largs: No ale
Uisge Dubh is Gaelic for Black Water. On the west coast of Arran, where the Black Water meets the sea, there you will find the beautiful and tranquil village of Blackwaterfoot. At the heart of the village is the BEST WESTERN Kinloch Hotel, home of the Uisge Dubh Ale.
Uisge Dubh is a pale ale style with an ABV of 3.8%. Anthony will be using Admiral hops in the beer which will give it a woody & herbal, hoppy character, with citrus fruit flavours.
Please check www.awcamra.org.uk for up-to-date details of all Branch news, meetings and social nights.
Uisge Dubh will see its official launch at the Isle of Arran Food & Drink Festival held at the BEST WESTERN Kinloch Hotel on Saturday 11th July from 11.30am until 8pm. It is hoped in the future that seasonal variants will also be produced. 25
by Ray Turpie, Branch Vice Chairman and Scotland & Northern Ireland CAMRA Director
When I rounded up at the end of the last issue, I was heading for the national CAMRA Members’ Conference and AGM in Nottingham in April. But firstly, I want to mention the Super Regional Conference (SRC) in Burnley at the end of February. I attended this mainly as an observer and because I wanted to visit Moorhouse’s Brewery. Needless to say, I ended up helping out with the workshop on “Save the Pub”. I did manage, however, to fit in a couple of pints of Black Cat Reserve in their brewery tap which was excellent. Also in attendance was Moorhouse’s Managing Director, David Grant, who had some very interesting insights on this problem. He had to close one of his pubs nearby because it was losing too much money. It used to be surrounded by factory units and houses for the workers but
P
RAY’S ROUND UP
ROUSummer ND 2015 Y’S U A R
now that is all gone. There is less money around and consequently clubs and pubs suffer. Rather more controversially, he suggested that some areas in England had been taken over by Asian communities and therefore, pubs were no longer a feature of the community. Of course not all pubs are worth saving. Some are less than spotless and give poor service or do not provide what the customer wants, such as food or space for surviving clubs to meet, for example. Pubs have to be considered as an asset of community value (ACV) before an application can be submitted to the local council. This then triggers change of use legislation before a pub can be turned into a supermarket, for example. Although we may have some of these problems in Scotland, we do not have the planning problem since our legislation is different. This was brought home to branch representatives at the planning seminar in Larbert in April. The seminar came about after our own SRC in Troon last November, following a request from attendees. We had a very interesting talk on Scottish Planning from Howard Young, the Glasgow & West of Scotland Chair who works in planning. Also in attendance was Paul Ainsworth who is responsible for running Key Campaign 2 (KC2) mentioned above and Matt Brown from HQ. Unfortunately, Matt has since left to pursue his career in the public sector.
Moorhouse’s MD David Grant with Ray 26
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Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem Anyway, enough of “Saving the Pub� and AVCs, we are more interested in saving rural pubs in Scotland after the drop in the drink driving (DD) limit last December. The effect is already being felt and I have flagged up the problem to campaign leaders. Measures being considered are promoting ale trails by public transport, encouraging brewers to introduce more low alcohol beers and distribution of carry-out containers. If you have any other ideas, please let me know. To come full circle, the annual conference in Nottingham was very enjoyable. There are some great pubs there, the most notable being Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem at the foot of the castle built into the rock face. I finished the night there with a few pints of local ale and particularly enjoyed Harvest Pale from Castle Rock. One of the more surprising proposals which got voted through was the addition of fruit to cider and perry. The highlight, however, was guest speaker Charlie Bamforth, brewing professor at UC Davis, California. In his broad north of England twang, not only was he very informative on beer, he was a laugh a minute with his wisecracks. Even Mrs R was splitting
her sides. Poor Tim Page, our new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), had a hard act to follow but coped very well. As some of you may know, we had a visit to Scotland recently from Tim and he managed to take in our own branch social in Kilmarnock as well Tim Page as the Kingdom of Fife beer festival. There seems to be demand for change and modernisation of the whole CAMRA structure and once he has had time to digest all his talks with members, a few surprises might be forthcoming. But that is for the next issue. In the meantime, enjoy your summer beers and try and get a visit in to the Glasgow Real Ale Festival at the Briggait from the 25-27th June or the Scottish Real Ale Festival at the Corn Exchange, Slateford, Edinburgh from 9-12th July. Better still, why not try and visit all the festivals in Scotland. Now there is a challenge! 27
Summer 2015
28
www.awcamra.org.uk
GETTING AROUND Social Outing to Strathaven Ales Listed below are some useful contact details for transport providers in our Branch area.
On Saturday 20th June we will visit Strathaven Brewery for a Barbecue, tour of the brewery and plenty of ale from 1pm 4.30pm! The cost for this will be £15, plus the bus (approx £10-15 depending on numbers).
Stagecoach West Scotland
We’ll also visit the Weavers in Strathaven which is a former Glasgow & Clyde Valley CAMRA Pub of the Year. The bus will leave Ayr Station rear car park at 11.30am with pickups at Prestwick Railway Station at 11.45am and Kilmarnock Campbell Street at 12pm.
www.stagecoachbus.com Tel: 01292 613500 (Ayr) 01294 607007 (Ard) 01776 704484 (Stran) Disability Helpdesk: 07736 892253
Shuttle Buses
www.shuttlebuses.co.uk Tel: 0800 072 0373
ScotRail
www.scotrail.co.uk Tel: 0330 303 0112
Caledonian MacBrayne www.calmac.co.uk Tel: 0800 066 5000
Traveline Scotland
www.travelinescotland.com
And on 19th September, we’ll be running a bus through to the Eden.Mill Brewery and Distillery in Guardbridge, Fife. To check availability, please contact our Social Secretary, Donald Clark 47 Blackford Crescent, Prestwick, KA9 2LZ; Telephone 07886 312454; E-mail social@awcamra.org.uk.
Trading Standard Details Irvine: 01294 310101 Kilmarnock: 01563 576602 Ayr: 01292 616060 Stranraer: 030 33 33 3000
Full contact information can be found on your local authority website: www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk www.dumgal.gov.uk
29
Summer 2015
The Waterside Bath Street, Largs Tel: 01475 672224
Two Real Ales from Kelburn available
Mondays - Poker Wednesdays - Poker Fridays - Karaoke
Saturdays - Live Music Sundays - Open Mic Night
Food available every day except Monday 30
www.awcamra.org.uk
A Highland Hopover Having spent many holidays around the Black Isle, I’ve always loved visiting the Inverness area. So, during the Easter holidays this year we decided to spend three nights in Inverness, which co-incidentally, ahem, was also when the Bandstand Beer festival was on at the Braeval Hotel in Nairn. We stayed at the Premier Inn beside the River Ness in the city centre which was an excellent base for travelling around the area (although car park prices in Inverness are eye-wateringly expensive). Our journey up from Ayrshire on the Wednesday was very good with the A9 being the quietest I’ve ever seen it. A comfort stop at the House of Bruar provided an opportunity to view the foodhall which had some minicasks of Stewart Brewing ales for sale,
Phoenix Ale House
including a couple of No.3 reduced to just £10 as they were short-dated. Too good an opportunity to miss! Lunch was had at the Cairngorm car park which was very busy with skiers making the opportunity of skiing on some late snow. We arrived in Inverness at 2pm and having checked in to the Premier Inn, I left my wife and daughter to visit the shops, whilst I headed for the train station to catch the next train to Nairn.
by Stuart McMahon
other two being from Orkney and Cairngorm. I had an Orkney Red MacGregor (bit on the warm side) and Houston Barochan (possibly the first pour of the day and not great). My other disappointment here was the lack of conversation from the barman, despite me making some efforts!
Soon I was in Nairn and had walked the short distance from the train station to the Braeval Hotel. It was a glorious afternoon and the outside tables had already been With about 45 minutes to wait, taken, but there was plenty of space inside the large tent, I decided to pop along the road to the Phoenix Ale House which was home to around 40 handpumps (with a further to sample their ales first. I’ve 10 being available inside vague memories of visiting it the hotel). I got chatting to many years ago as a relative a couple of the locals, and youngster whilst it was introduced to Gordon still had sawdust on Holding, the owner. the bar floor! The barman was standing at the front door and initially I was the only person in the bar. 6 handpumps were available, 4 of which were from one of our local breweries Bandstand Bar BF – Houston – and the 31
Summer 2015
Bandstand Bar BF This was the 7th festival that Gordon had organised and by all accounts the opening weekend had been his busiest with him having to introduce a ‘one out, one in’ policy due to numbers attending. He had live music at some point every day of the festival - the night I was there some locals came in and played a nice variety of music in the main bar. A whopping 90 casks were consumed over the first weekend! And with the rest of the week and following weekend to go, the total casks sold was going to be in excess of 160 – a fantastic effort. But what of the beers? The Wooha Brewery has recently opened in Nairn and is run by Heather McDonald. They launched their initial two ales at the festival – a lager and a porter, both at 5% ABV, which unsurprisingly had flown out the door on the opening weekend, but some extra supplies of the porter had been arranged and I was able to try some - it was very nice and malty, and was a very easy to drink ale. Hopefully a 32
brewery to watch out for in the future. Another new brewery showcasing their beers was Cumbernauld’s Lawman Brewery. On the Wednesday of my visit only the 6.4% ABV Weatherall IPA was available. Highland’s 4.2% Scapa Bere was probably my favourite ale, made with Orkney Bere Barley, closely followed by Strathbraan’s 4.4% True North. Other beers enjoyed included An Teallach Fuar, Copper Dragon Best Bitter, Cross Bay Halo, Fyne Ales Sunset Boulevard, Loch Ness InverNess and MóR Scode.
Bandstand Bar BF Thursday was a beer-free day and involved watching some small vessels enter the Caledonian Canal at Clachnaharry (it was too early to go into the Inn!), followed by a tour round some old haunts on the Black Isle including birdwatching at Udale Bay and of course trying to see the dolphins at Chanonry Point (we saw two). I did manage to visit the Cromarty Brewery though to stock up on some bottles, including their new Oranage and Earl Grey Berliner Weisse and their 3rd anniversary ale – a caramelised fig infused Belgian Quadrupel style ale coming in at a mere 11% ABV!
Bandstand Bar BF
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Cromarty Brewery As it was my wife’s birthday on Thursday we had a lovely evening meal in Café 1, next to Tomlinson’s beer shop – both highly recommended! Friday saw us visiting the Tollie Red Kite feeding station near to Maryburgh and the Falls of Rogie further along past Contin, before heading back to Inverness for an evening meal at the Castle Tavern. 6 handpumps are usually available here, and I had three lovely pints of Box Steam Chuffin’ Ale, St Austell Trelawny and Derby Brewing Company’s Hop Till You Drop.
Cromarty Brewery
Cromarty Brewery
Castle Tavern
Afterwards I managed some quick visits to a few of the other local establishments in the town centre which coincidentally all had beer from my top three favourite breweries: Number 27 (Windswept Aurora – first time having this 3.8% pale ale), The Gellions (Highland Scapa Special) and Blackfriars (Cromarty Rogue Wave and Ghost Town) all of which were in very good condition. Given that it was a Friday night, Blackfriars was surprisingly quiet, but what a good selection of other CAMRA branch magazines they have! And so our visit to Inverness ended with us returning back home down Loch Ness and Glencoe on a very wintry Saturday, with plenty of fresh snow on the highest hilltops – a remarkable change from the glorious warm sunshine of the previous days. Red Kite 33
YOU'RE DUE A CHANGE
Summer 2015
EDINBURGH’S ORIGINAL PALE ALE www.edinburghbrewing.co.uk
NEW BEERS IN BOTTLE!
UPCOMING SEASONAL BREWS
WHERE REAL SCOTS CRAFT REAL ALE 34
WWW.BROUGHTONALES.CO.UK Tel: +44 (0)1899 830 345 Email: beer@broughtonales.co.uk
Home of the famous Old Jock Ale
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ALE TRAILS
The sole FA and so real ale pub in it this villa IRLIE Largs whi may be more ge is a fair con ch stops directly venient to takewalk from the railway opposit e the rea a Stagecoach stat r entran 585 bus ion ce to the from Village pub. Inn (15 46 Bay street, mins) KA Up to 3 regularly 29 0AL usually cha ngin Scottish g ales,
T AIRPOR IONAL TERNAT ale ICK IN real PRESTW the airport offer bars in ale scene. l N rea OO ant TR ts a vibr
We have re-launched and updated our series of Ale Trails that are possible within our Branch area using public transport. The guides will be available in all real ale outlets along with other hotels and public facilities such as libraries and community centres. The guides are also available to download from www.awcamra.org.uk.
None of WEST the pub s in this small tow KILBRIDE hos n offer courses, real ale. ARDR Whilst for its golf (7 mins) 6QN OSSAN the pub s Well conven here SOUT Bruce’ d Street, KA10 a guest ale ient to H BEAC take a 585is close to the + 91 Portlan H chars IPA stat bus from Deu nian Fairlie. ion, again it Caledo may be more Lau riston s) 6QU ’s (7 min 15 South Hotel (3 min McKay d Street, KA10 national s) and KA22 8AECrescent Roa d, 69 Portlan rs from local 10 Cal bee s), edonian min 2 or 3 Deucha ons (10 th ies rs IPA Fullart d Street; Sou brewer are tlan station mins), s), 15 Por Charlies (12 from the (10 min y further s, a bit le Bar ch; Cheek plehill. SALTCO Other pubStreet; Lonsda 73 South Bea Tem ATS s), 169 d s), Portlan (10 min Bar (15-20 min Salt Co Hotel t rbour Beach 7 Hamilto (6 mins) SSIE plehill; Ha 14 Tem BARA . KA21 5DSn Street, ion this stat Wethersp close to s oon pub s wit no range of IRVINE regulars h their usual There are and gue s) sts tre, g (2 min Unfortu Auld Bri Rivergate Cen nately Ayr 15, Glasgow Units 13/ , are in shire stations of ales Trail 1 KA12 8EH (Ayr to a real ale desert. north of Saltcoa h a range Irvine) by oon wit ts on the changing However, this Wethersp trail cou line to Paisley at Kilwinni s) ld be and ng and (10 min KA12 8PZale doing that combined with et, Inn p Stre r Shi trail in reve a guest Harbou wing + rse. 120-122 Ayr Bre and 1beer from to Paisley d bine the line ld be com Irvine, on north of er, this trail cou and doing that s ion ng e stat wev ock Ayrshir ert. Ho nging at Kilwinni for Kilmarn unately a real ale desKILM on ortformer cha Unf The AUR S at TroDun are inParishtoCounc coats) by nge lop). trains sgow, to chamb gs Salt il ly, Gla examp leilof2 a(Lar jail, kthe “Jougs tive cha 3ers steppe marnoc d rna (Kiland Merca ”, has a fine Alte with Tra here Trail in an is torev erse. adjacen dot Cross found ) and t to the said Jougs. enclosure behind it . The pub trail in ted service (more limi TRAIL 3 SOUTH -SO-DEEP into town. Weston Taver THE NOT its way back n (5 mins) s and makes 27 Main Street, t southern suburb (Trails 1 & 2) KA3 2RQ in the affluen Tam O’ Shanter 1 changing ale This trail starts Ayrshire & from a local Bar Twa Dugs and Wellington’s brewery (Trail 1) Galloway Hotel
the None of
n, famous This tow
Trail 1 e Ir vin Ayr to
Trail 1 lists pubs that serve real ale close to stations on the railway line between Ayr and Irvine. Trail 2 lists pubs that serve real ale close to stations on the railway line between Largs and Saltcoats. Trail 3 lists pubs that serve real ale close to stations on the railway line between Kilmarnock and Dunlop. Trail 4 suggests three walking trails in and around Ayr.
STEWARTON At the time of publication none real ale. Howev of the er, a former outlet, pubs in the “Bonnet Toun” Street, KA3 5EQ serve is closed for refurb the Millhouse Hotel, 6-8 they intend to Dean ishment and the offer real ale on new owners claim re-opening.
DUNLOP The sole pub (the within easy walkin Village Inn has sadly closed ) in this histori g distance of the c village is station. Auld Hoose (5 mins) 68 Main Street, KA3 4AG 1 or 2 changin g guest ales
Glen Park Hotel
Harry’s Bar
Tr Largs to ail 2 Saltco ats
(Trail 1)
Abbotsford
Hotel
Chestnuts Hotel
Hotel Abbotsford Road, KA8 2ST 2 changing guest ales 14 Corsehill + Deuchars IPA Caledonian
left. fields on your urse playing Old Raceco View with the Racecourse Turn right along is at the traffic lights. pub The second Hotel Chestnuts Road, KA7 2UZ 52 Racecourse ales guest g 3 changin centre. s the town urse Road toward along Raceco about a 10 min walk. pub and go lights, leaving this first set of traffic Turn left on of call is at the The next port Hotel Glen Park Road, KA7 2DG their range + so 5 Racecourse Co., g Brewin Home to Ayr into guest and turn left sometimes 1 traffic lights final pub. next set of on to the advertising the the same directithe large Wellington boot Continue in . Look for Wellington Square ’s Bar 1EZ Wellington Square, KA7 n or other 17 Wellington Kelbur from Fyne, 2 beers often ries Scottish brewe
OF WALKS A SERIES AROUND PUBS REAL ALE
Trail 3
Kilmarnock to
Dunlop
) © CAMRA Real Ale (CAMRA for Campaign for We take no responsibility Branch of the press. & Wigtownshire at the time of going to the Ayrshire correct produced by as we are aware, This guide is ion is, as far 2015. The informat any inaccuracies.
Two additional guides also cover rural trails available by bus in Ayrshire and the other covering the Stranraer, Machars and the Rhins areas of Wigtownshire.
NEW BOOKS Visit www.camra.org.uk/shop to order or purchase these new books.
AVAILABLE NOW!
The latest in the popular Real Heritage Pubs series
High quality colour photographs throughout
Articles on unique East & West Midlands pub features
Features over 200 pubs across the Midlands
CAMRA Member Price £4.99* (RRP £5.99) WWW.CAMRA.ORG.UK/SHOP Or call 01727 867201
*All orders through the CAMRA Shop are subject to standard postage and packaging costs. Full details can be found at www.camra.org.uk/shop. All prices correct at time of publication but are subject to change.
The essenTiAL BeeR Guide To London
The CAMRA Guide To London’s BesT BeeR, PuBs & BARs (second edition)
this fully revised edition of des de Moor’s London beer guide embraces the huge expansion of brewing and beer in our capital. including over 300 pubs, bars and breweries, with helpful listings, full colour photography and travel tips, this is your passport to a vibrant new city of beer. Additional features include a history of London as a brewing city and sections on the brewing process and beer styles.
Pub
lish ed J u
ly 2 015
RRP £12.99 Members’ price £10.99 Available from www.camra.org.uk/shop 35
Summer 2015
• Real Food • Real Beer • Real Atmosphere 27 Main Street, Kilmaurs, KA3 2RQ Tel: 01563 538805 www.westontavern.co.uk
Great food and local Real Ales from Arran, Houston and Kelburn breweries Sundays – Ceilidh band sessions New house ale brewed by Kelburn Brewery
Tel: 01505 850510 www.thecannyman.co.uk
Find us on the A736 Irvine to Barrhead Road, at Lugton 36
BEST WESTERN
www.awcamra.org.uk
Isle of Arran
Isle of Arran
Food & Drink Festival Saturday 11th July 11.30am until 8pm
Real Ales, Whisky, Wine, Ciders Fresh Local Produce & Food Marquees Live Music Throughout the Day • Ayr Brewery • Caledonian Brewery • Forth Wines • Isle of Arran Distillery • Heineken UK • Arran Aromatics • Blackwater Bakehouse
• Creelers Seafood • Arran Dairies Ice Cream • Wooleys of Arran • Taste of Arran • Island Cheese Company • Torrylinn Creamery • Home Baking & Tea Tent
• Arran Brass Band • The Jazz Band • Arran Pipe Band, plus many more!
Entry £3 per adult and £1 per child (child fee includes entry to the magic show)
Fa ce Pa int ing , Ba llo on th wi er rn Co n’s re ild Ch us Pl ici an Sc ot t Cu th be rt so n ag M ’s nd la ot Sc , ing ell od M th e Ra bb it! an d sp ec ia l gu es t Sh ad ow BEST WESTERN Kinloch Hotel, Blackwaterfoot, The Isle of Arran www.bw-kinlochhotel.co.uk Tel: 01770 860444
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Summer 2015
38
A Campaign
of Two Halves
Fai www.awcamra.org.uk r 7EZI on dea MXEMR W tax beer l &V4Y FW now !
Join CAMRA Today Complete the Direct Debit form and you will receive 15 months membership for the price of 12 and a fantastic discount on your membership subscription. Alternatively you can send a cheque payable to CAMRA Ltd with your completed form, visit www.camra.org.uk/joinus or call 01727 867201. All forms should be addressed to the: Membership Department, CAMRA, 230 Hatfield Road, St Albans, AL1 4LW.
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Campaigning for Pub Goers & Beer Drinkers
01/15
Enjoying Real Ale & Pubs
Join CAMRA today – www.camra.org.uk/joinus Instruction to your Bank or Building Society to pay by Direct Debit Please fill in the whole form using a ball point pen and send to: Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. 230 Hatfield Road, St.Albans, Herts AL1 4LW Name and full postal address of your Bank or Building Society Service User Number To the Manager
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This Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay by Direct Debits. If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd will notify you 10 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit by The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society - If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when The Campaign For Real Ale Ltd asks you to You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society.Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.
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Banks and Building Societies may not accept Direct Debit Instructions for some types of account.
Summer 2015
First Edition Kilmarnock - 4 Cask Ales - Weekend DJ’s - Food served daily
/FirstEditionKilmarnock1
@FirstEditionKil
50 Bank Street, Kilmarnock, KA1 1HA | 01563 528833
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www.awcamra.org.uk
Crown Hotel 2 regularly changing ales
including the new Portpatrick Brewery • Bar meals available noon-9pm • • Restaurant menu available from 6pm • • AA Awarded Seafood Pub of Scotland 2005 • • Folk music most Saturday nights • Bed & Breakfast available from £45 per person per night MIDWEEK SPECIAL: STAY 2 NIGHTS, GET 3RD NIGHT ½ PRICE (based on 2 people)
9 North Crescent, Portpatrick, Wigtownshire DG9 8SX Tel: 01776 810261 Email: info@crownportpatrick.com
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Summer 2015
Our range of Award-winning Real Ales includes:
Hand Crafted, Award Winning, Traditional Cask Conditioned Ale Brewed in the Heart of Burns Country All ales are available in Firkins (72 Pints), Pins (36 Pints) and Mini Casks (8.8 Pints) Ayr Brewing Company, 5 Racecourse Road, Ayr KA7 2DG Telephone: 01292 263891 Fax: 01292 830450 Mobile: 07834 922142 www.ayrbrewingcompany.com 42
www.awcamra.org.uk
WIGTOWNSHIRE NEWS by Malcolm McNeill This summer promises to be a great one for real ale drinkers in the South West with two new breweries beginning operations. Alastair Scoular, owner of the Steam Packet Inn, Isle of Whithorn expects to have his first ales from his Five Kingdoms brewery available in the Inn during June. Keith and Lynne-Marie Stebbens of the Portpatrick Brewery launched their first cask ales in Portpatrick First brew at the Steam and Stranraer over the last Bank Holiday weekend. You Packet Inn. can watch a nice launch video produced by the Crown Hotel here: www.replayapp.com/v/1s69aZ2cRZ. A small group of us visited the brewery in April and were most impressed by the quality of both cask and bottled beers we sampled. Lynne-Marie also treated us to a lunch of assorted home made pies and Keith & Lynne-Marie accompaniments which impressed us as much Stebbens as her husband’s beers! There is more on the brewery elsewhere in the newsletter. We also hope to organise a trip down to The Steam Packet as soon as Alastair is “ready to roll.” Newton Stewart (Minnigaff ) has a welcome new real ale outlet in The Cree Inn. Recent beers on offer have included Deuchars, Caledonian Edinburgh Castle and Timothy Taylor Landlord. The proprietors are Patricia and David Regan. We are pleased to welcome back Steve and Sarah Donnan to Creebridge House Hotel after six months away. Malcolm Titley, the previous owner, has returned to his native Yorkshire. There is a full list of Social Events over the summer months in this edition. It is pleasing to see Stranraer Beer Festival taking place again in The Grainstore, Bridge Street on the weekend of 17th/18th July, the same place as last year’s successful event. Once again, it is being organised by local member Ian Murray, who needs no introduction to real ale drinkers in the area! This venue is establishing itself as a performing arts/exhibition centre and is a great addition to the town. In addition to the Social Events listed, there are plans for a weekend in Kendal on 9th/10th October. Keith and LynneMarie Stebbens have many contacts in the area and have drawn up a great schedule of brewery/pub visits using mainly public transport based on either a one or two night stay. More details from keith@portpatrick-brewery.co.uk or from myself. There is good early interest in this proposed trip. Transport to Kendal is by car / train.
Last year’s beer festival held in Stranraer’s Grainstore
Have a great summer! Malcolm McNeill, wigtownshire@awcamra.org.uk 43
At Sulwath Brewers we give you the chance to see the craft of brewing in action, and to taste our speciality ales at our fully licensed brewery tap visitor centre.
Open Mon-Sat, 10am-6pm Off-sales also available
The Brewery, King Street Castle Douglas, DG7 1DT www.sulwathbrewers.co.uk
Telephone: 01556 504525