National Archives - Pub History Podcasts

You may remember me mentioning the Pub History Society Conference that was held earlier in the year at the National Archives in Kew. I have just discovered that two of the talks given at that seminar are now available as podcasts.

You can find my original posting about the conference here.

Two of the talks : Women, Darts and the Pub in the Inter-war Period and Lost London Pubs can now be listened to through the National Archives website here.

I haven't listened to the podcasts yet but remember an excellent conference and hopefully you will find them of some interest.

Ealing Beer Festival

My beery recommendation this week will take you to Walpole Park, Ealing where West Middlesex CAMRA are hosting the twenty first Ealing Beer Festival.

Over 170 cask ales will be there including plenty of fruit beers from Coach House Brewery and rare casks of Fuller's Porter and Vintage (2009). I will be seeking out the Grateful Deaf beer from Yorkshire's Elland Brewery; a true American pale ale created by Ken Fisher of the Grateful Deaf Brewing Society based in Oregon. Ken is a regular visitor to the Great British Beer Festival and I am expecting his liaison with the superb Elland brewery to be something special.

There will be the usual mix of ciders and perries for those odd-folk who prefer them (no comment from me). The foreign beer bar has been excellent in past years and I expect it to have a good range from Belgiuum, Germany and Holland including a Dutch mushroom beer for the real fun guys and the legendary Rochefort 10 from Belgium - one of the World's greatest beers.

The festival is open from Wednesday 7th July to Saturday 10th and is a short walk from Ealing Broadway station. Directions are clear on the web-site. Free entry for CAMRA members before 4pm. If it stays dry and the sun comes out, I recommend a visit - see you there perhaps.

London Pride Walk

On Sunday I pitched up to help the Cancer Research UK team who organise the London Pride Walk in Chiswick each year.

The walk starts at Fuller's Brewery and follows the river as far as Chiswick Bridge to the south, crosses the river, follows the south of the river northwards to Hammersmith, over the river again and back to Fullers southbound along the north bank - are those directions clear ?

Ten kilometres, give or take, which most of the four hundred participants take as a leisurely, picturesque walk, though the more energetic run the distance to get back to Fuller's Brewery to rehydrate with London Pride and get an early go at the barbecue, raffle, cakes etc.

The really energetic take a long while to get back. Indeed some don't make it round the route at all. It is unsurprising given the quality of some of the pubs along the route that the most hardy get waylaid. The Ship in Mortlake, the White Hart and Bull's Head in Barnes, the excellent pubs on Hammersmith riverside all took in strays. Those who managed to pass all of those could not resist the Dove, one of London's famous watering holes and a refuge for Fuller's Ales to refresh on the warmest day of the year.

My part was played on the park next to the brewery, helping with supporting the admin and registration team so I did not get to see any riverside pubs. I did not go thirsty though as the clear attraction of the event for me can be supported by these photos.

This is an annual event, volunteer led by Cancer Research UK and Hammersmith Hospital with much tangible support by Richard Fuller, Fuller's Brewery and all of the Fuller's team. Everyone should show much Pride that over a million pounds has been raised over sixteen years. I will definitely flag this date earlier next year and will hopefully see more of my friends along the route.


The runners race off in a chase for a pint of London Pride

US beers at myBrewerytap.com

I'm continuing on a theme of American Craft Beer as we lead up to Independence Day and the US beer festival at White Horse, Parson's Green at the end of the week.

I am pleased to report that myBrewerytap.com now offers some American beers as part of their ever growing range.

They now list full cases from Anchor, Brooklyn, Dogfishhead, Flying Dog, Goose Island, Sierra Nevada and Victory as well as a selection of mixed cases.

They are continually adding some of the best UK breweries such as Dark Star, Thornbridge, Marble and Saltaire and together with their new range of US beers, it makes myBrewerytap an essential visit in one's quest for good beer by mail order.

myBrewerytap.com is fast becoming another hero for the armchair beer drinker in the hunt for great beer.

Goose Island 312

One of the beers at the James Clay tasting recently was the IPA from Goose Island. This beer is becoming an essential inclusion on many beer lists that have a sprinkling of US beers and I recommend it if you see it.

However, I now learn that there has been a very high level beer swap at the recent G20 Conference. Following the honourable draw in the World Cup between England and USA, it seems that our Prime Minister has swapped his favourite beer, Wychwood Hobgoblin, brewed in his Witney constituency and in return has received President Obama's favourite cold one from his own Chicago constituency, Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale, described as an English style wheat beer (sic), straw coloured with ripe lemon aromas from Cascade and Liberty hops.

Sadly, each leader got their beer just in time to start crying into it, since both England and the USA were knocked out later that weekend.

I leave you to decide who got the best deal but I don't suppose either will be blogging about the beer though you never know with Cameron's history of video blogging.

Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale will be available at www.beerhere.co.uk and good independent retailers from mid-August.

Catch a video of the high powered beer swap here. oh, and check out the comments on the CNN web-site below the video - great stuff !

American Craft Beer Revolution

I am clearing my desk with a renewed vigour and am intending to either "blog it or bin it". A month or two ago I was invited to the White Horse, Parsons Green by beer importers, James Clay, to taste the latest in American craft beers arriving to mainstream London.

Beers from Brooklyn Brewery are coming to town. You may be lucky enough to find the lager on draught in some high end London pubs and bars and some of the more eclectic bottles are available by mail order at www.beerhere.co.uk notably a 10.1 ABV Chocolate Stout, usually one of their classic IPAs and the delicious Brown Ale.

Other beers that were at the tasting and now imported by James Clay included offerings from Anchor (the classic Steam Beer), Flying Dog (try the Raging Bitch and Gonzo Imperial Porter if only for the names alone) and Goose Island (the IPA is gaining ground on the bar shelf and has my hearty recommendation).

The US craft beer revolution is hitting these shores and James Clay, Brooklyn Brewery and the White Horse are all doing their bit for the UK beer lover.

It is timely to also point out that the annual US Beer beer festival is being held this week at the White Horse. This is an absolutely unmissable event in the beer geek diary and I look forward to seeing Sierra Nevada, Anchor, Dogfishhead, Goose Island, Flying Dog, Brooklyn, Left Hand and Stone all represented on Friday 2nd to Sunday 4th.

Fullers Fine Ale Club

Going through my mailbox, I notice that Fullers Fine Ale Club are asking all members to renew their membership to confirm that all members still wish to be members after the first ten years of the club.

This is timely to remind people that membership is free and comes with a free quarterly magazine to keep up-to-date with the beers coming out of the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick as well as various competitions, guest writers, events, merchandise etc.

Joining is as easy as ordering a pint. Follow the link or ring 08456 447663.

and, did I mention ? membership is free !

London's Secret Brewery

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the now mothballed Ram Brewery in Wandsworth, formerly the Young's Brewery which was sold to property company, Minerva, in 2006 for £69 million.


Much of the brewing equipment has been scrapped during the decommission but there is plenty that remains in situ much of it awaiting review by English Heritage to determine whether any of it should be preserved.


I have also seen the architects models of the planned redevelopment and can say that it intends to make as much of the brewing heritage as possible. The intention is to build two mainly residential tower blocks of 29 - 39 stories at the rear of the site (the stable end for those who know it) while the front of the site will be more open courtyard overlooked by the old brewery. They are restrained to a certain extent by the listed building status on the old brewery, the brewer's house, the beam engines, the chimney and the stable house so will be building the around the existing plant and buildings where necessary. It is intended that there will be a brewing museum on-site and a microbrewery - which may be operated by Young's.


To this end, I can let you into a little secret.

Brewing has been continuous in the brewery since Young's departed for Bedford.

John Hatch, one of the Young's brewing team was retained as site-manager by the owners, Minerva and was charged with making sure that brewing continues in the interim period until any microbrewery or brewpub can be developed.









John set to his task with gusto salvaging any parts of the brewing kit that the scrap merchants refused; begging, borrowing and simply making do to build a tiny brewing plant.

For example the brewing kettle was cobbled together using the cut-off tea urn from the canteen.

John has put together a quarter barrel brewery and has been brewing 72 pints a week. The beer is used by Minerva for company meetings and John sometimes hosts small gatherings for the friends of the brewery.


Sad as it was to see the old Young's brewery disappear and I know that not everyone agrees with me that it was unavoidable, I now raise a glass to brewing in Wandsworth and am encouraged by the enthusiasm that Minerva are showing with regard to the brewing heritage of the site. It is expected that the planning permission will be approved in the next month or so after which we will start seeing the redevelopment.

I hope we will eventually see the pub on the corner re-opening, another new brewery for London and a Ram Brewery museum.

Brew Dog ?

Just when you think you have seen it all, something else comes along and slaps you in the face.

Dog Beer is for dogs ! It is non-alcoholic and non-carbonated and it tastes of beef.

A perfect tipple for your best friend. The beer was developed in Australia. Take a look at www.dogbeer.com.au

But fear not dog lovers, another brand is now available in the UK from petsathome.com.

Young's Ram Brewery - Photos by Steve Lyne

In my posting about the Brewery History Society I mentioned that the Journal had included a photographic essay cataloguing the final year of the Young's Ram Brewery in Wandsworth.

Steve Lyne spent the best part of a year with his camera (and leads, laptop, lamps, tripods etc) and unrestricted access to the working brewery in its final days.

Ken Don, Young's head brewer said "Steve has captured the spirit of what made Young's one of the most admired brewery companies in Britain. There is a warmth of feeling in these images which goes beyond the actual pictures and makes the reader feel part of the history, tradition and fun that working at Young's was all about."

The photos are available to view in full colour at Steve's website www.lyne.co.uk and are available to purchase in limited edition prints - details if you scroll down here.

More news from the Ram Brewery next week - stay tuned ....