London

A year ago, while in court, I heard a sorry story about a man who had been physically and sexually abused by the Christian Brothers in Ireland while attending an Industrial School.

I had not heard of this scandal before and have since read a few books on the subject from a genre that I believe is now called "tragic life stories".

The latest read, Founded on Fear by Peter Tyrrell tells the story of his days at Letterfrack Industrial School and a similar story of such abuse.

However what caught my eye, for this blog at least, was this passage about his arrival in London (via Liverpool) as a very naive, damaged, young man in 1935.

My feet were getting sore so I strolled into a busy pub. I didn't know what kind of drinks the customers were having so thought I would listen to hear a few giving their orders and ask for the same.

It would be a terrible thing to ask for something not on sale in case they thought I was stupid or silly or in any way different to themselves. My ambition was to get along without being noticed. The barman served me a pint of beer without anyone even glancing my way.

I was now sitting on a small stool by the door and it was lovely and cool. The beer tasted wonderful and it was cheap at 5d a pint. The stout or porter at home was more expensive and I could never drink it. It was the colour that put me off. It reminded me of Cascara, a medicine my mother gave me.

I was much happier and contented now. Fancy being able to walk into a pub and buy a pint of beer without people staring at you. If I bought a pint at home, everyone would be wondering who I was, where I had come from and where the money had come from. London seemed a good place and I was getting to like the people.

Although this passage comes form a bygone age, some 70+ years ago, these points are still valid today in a London pub.

Ireland has the "craic" but give me a London pub any day.

Beer Exposed

One of the best things for me about Beer Exposed was the number of learned folk there. I kept my ear to the ground for the whole three days and this is what I discovered :

Batemans Brewery are making a bigger effort in London. Their beers are in Nicholson's pubs already and they are keen to be better represented in the Capital and will also be hosting "meet the brewer" style evenings. Watch this space for details.

The Bree Louise in Euston are having a new stillage installed increasing the number of beer available from 10 to 15. Beer is still 50p off each pint for CAMRA members and 50% of their real ale sales are to CAMRA members and they have signed up over 70 of their regulars to CAMRA membership. A hardy effort. They will also be installing a micro brewery in the cellar in the new year. Watch this space for details.

Our good friend, Eric Mills, late of the Wellington and Bedford Arms in Bedford, is now gainfully employed by M&B and awaiting his first assignment. Watch this space for details.

Vinopolis are hosting a Fullers tasting of 12 beers, together with guest speakers, a meal and band. Unfortunately £37.50 a head. Watch this space for details.

The Oakham pub in Kennington which has been "opening shortly" for 18 months is wrapped up in development planning red tape but is still going to open at some point. Watch this space for details.

Otley beers are on their way to London. The prize winning brewery from South Wales is hoping to make a monthly delivery to London, returning the month following for empties. We have provided a list of pubs that might take their beers. We also introduced the Otley boys to the delights of the Wenlock.

Beer Exposed

I have just spent three days manning the CAMRA stand at the Beer Exposed exhibition. Many CAMRA members that I spoke to in recent weeks were sceptical about this event, about the price (up to £20 or so), the tiny tasters and the abundance of non real ale and as a result there were very few of the same old faces present.

Well, those sceptics missed a cracking event. Beer talks by enthusiastic speakers such as Garrett Oliver and walks around the event hosted by leading beer writers were accompanied by about 50 exhibitors showcasing their best beers from around the world.

Everybody I spoke to said what a good event it had turned out to be and it is certain that the organisers will put on the same again next year.

The companies such as Fullers, Jaipur, Otley, Brew Dog and Shepherd Neame had knowledgeable representatives from their respective companies presenting their beers. Those who relied on agency staff such as Tsingtao also had to rely on gimmicks such as half dressed girls to get people to try their beer. Horses for courses, I suppose.

This was an ideal chance for even the most hardened CAMRA activist to break free of the real ale shackles and try other beers. Admittedly the best ones (IMHO) were real ale or bottle conditioned but there were also great "aggressive" beers from Scotland, extreme beers from American micros, a very rare Polish porter and even beer from Ethiopia (where it is sold for about 15p a bottle).

All in all a great week. CAMRA got to spread the gospel to an audience that we don't engage very often and we managed to sign-up well over 30 new members to the cause and sold a few books too.

Inn Sign Society

Continuing the theme of pub signs, I noticed that there is an The Inn Sign Society

Unfortunately, their 20 year history has only gained them about 400 members so they could probably use some more members.

The object of the Society is to bring together those who hold a common interest in the inn sign generally and to provide them with a platform for the interchange of information and also help with their research.

The Society is also building up an archive of written and photographic material (prints and slides) thus storing all the information for future generations.

A full colour quarterly Newsletter appropriately called 'At The Sign Of' is distributed to all members. This records all new signs, name changes, and provides for the interchange of information and the answers to any queries that may have been raised.

There is an annual subscription of £15.

London Drinker

The lastest issue of London Drinker magazine has been published and will be delivered to the pubs over the coming days.

For those who cannot wait, or who do not visit a pub that stocks the magazine, the online version is identical and is now easy and quick to view and download, either as a complete magazine or is smaller chunks.

The electronic version is available here. Click on publications, the latest issue is 2008, volume 30, issue 5.

London Drinker circulation is now 46,000 copies every two months. 30,000 are distributed by JD Wetherspoons throughout their pubs in the London area. The rest are distributed to London's pubs and beer festivals by CAMRA volunteers.

Circulation is only constrained by the number of volunteers. We print as many copies as we can logistically distribute quickly. Copies are collected by volunteers from the Royal Oak, SE1 and taken to their local pubs.

Activation

CAMRA branches are making an effort this year to engage more members to take part in social and campaigning activities. Something that is working for North London branch is a new email list for for general discussion of local pubs and social events.

The North London branch covers the London Boroughs of Camden, Islington, Brent, Haringey and parts of Hackney. As well as organising the well known London Drinker beer festival every March it also holds weekly social meetings in pubs and at beer festivals in the branch. Details of all events will be publicised on this email list.

This email list is open to everyone, not just those that live within the branch area. It is also open to non-CAMRA members.

The weekly "what's on" message is gathering momentum and includes a variety of useful information.

Details on how to get the weekly message are hopefully here

Or send an email to subscribe to
camranorthlondon-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Pub Signs

The Observer at the weekend carried a half page article entitled "Dismay at vanishing art of the pub sign"

Well, readers of this blog know otherwise. Pub sign art is alive and well in South West London - albeit a less traditional version.

Perhaps we should not be too harsh on Young's and others for their modern take on the traditional pub sign. After all, they are still ordering bespoke signs and supporting a dying trade.

Surely we would not want all pub signs to look like this one in Wimbledon :

Martyn Cornell

Martyn Cornell is a serious beer writer. By that I mean he writes serious stuff about beer rather than this flippant rubbish.

His book Beer - The Story of the Pint is a detailed, well-researched chronicle of our favourite drink. Roger Protz described it as "a magnificent contribution to the history of beer and should be on every aficionado's bookshelf."

The book was published in 2003 and stands up well among other similar definitive text books.

A couple of things have just caught my eye. Martyn is the author of the zythophile blog. As you might expect this is a more serious read than most of the other beer blogs.

Firstly there is a recent post on a short history of yeast. There are books written on most subjects relating to beer but there is very little recently on yeast, that vital ingredient without which we would be lost. This article is a serious but readable piece.

Secondly, Martyn has just published an e-book called Amber, Gold & Black, the most comprehensive history of British beer styles of all kinds ever written.

Astonishingly, this is the first book devoted solely to looking at the unique history of the different styles of beer produced in Britain. Some 16 chapters and 223 pages cover in detail the true stories behind Porter, Bitter, Mild, Stout, IPA, Brown Ale, Burton Ale, Old Ale, Barley Wine, and all the other beers produced in Britain.

Available through his blog the book is available for download for only £5.

Beer Exposed

Beer exposed is a new event that is happening later this week. It is described as follows :

...a fantastic new beer show which runs from September 25-27. At this unique beer experience you'll find over 20 styles of beer and hundreds of different samples on offer.

Visitors to the show can taste free samples of premium beers from around the world, take part in interactive beer tutorials such as Beer and Chocolate, Around the World in Beer and Gourmet Beer and Food Matching. The show also features a team of beer experts who'll be showcasing a hand picked selection of premium beers.

CAMRA are taking a stand and I will be leading CAMRA's effort at this event which looks like something a little different to the usual beer festival circuit.

An offer on tickets courtesy of Metro is here.

Pub of the Year

Thursday last week saw my judging visit to The Trafalgar in South Wimbledon, London's winning pub for 2008.

Although I have been to the pub on occasions before and had a good time, this visit was a big disappointment.

Arriving at about 1.45, the pub was deserted. As I was the only customer for over an hour, it was impossible to score properly for atmosphere, style and decor and also clientele mix. I had expected the beer quality to be excellent based on previous visits but, with no customers, it was no better than good despite the barman pulling off a half pint before each pint that I ordered.

I will visit again for the presentation on the evening of 2nd October when I expect all of the boxes to be ticked. However, even averaging the scores of two visits will unfortunately not give a high score.

This was a clear winner for London based upon 10 sets of judges all visiting a different days and times. I have faith in the judging process and will also have faith in the Trafalgar as it is a fabulous pub. Alas, on this occasion, it did not score well.