News

by Steve Renshaw

Dunholme village green is a hidden gem. I’ve driven close by on numerous occasions but, until recently, never noticed it. The small triangle of grass has an impressive war memorial at its centre. A beck runs along one edge, with a footbridge leading to the ancient church. And just off one corner is the village pub.

It’s a scene you might see in a Visit Lincolnshire brochure. Except for one thing. The pub, The Lord Nelson, is boarded up and unloved. Last year, Punch Taverns sold it to Lincolnshire Co-op, who plan to demolish the building and replace it with a convenience store.

This is CAMRA’s worst nightmare. A cash-strapped pub company puts a prime-site pub up for sale, a property developer or supermarket chain snaps it up, and another community asset is lost forever.

The new owners will probably say that the pub wasn’t viable and the locals didn’t use it. But there are lots of examples of struggling pubs that have gone from strength to strength once they have been released from the constraints of a big pub company and allowed to operate as a free house.

The Bridge Inn in Ruabon near Wrexham had been closed for six months when, in 2009, it was taken on as a family business. It has been turned round to such an extent that, in 2012, it won CAMRA’s national pub of the year award. It now plays a pivotal role at the heart of a small community.

But what can you do to keep your beloved local out of the hands of speculators or supermarket chains? Well, until recently, the answer would have been, “Not much.” However, through the Localism Act, the Government has introduced new powers for communities in England to nominate valued facilities such as pubs as assets of community value.

Listing stops the sale of pubs behind the backs of communities. If the owner of a listed pub wishes to sell it, they must let the local authority know. At this point, a six-week interim moratorium period kicks in, during which the local community group decides whether it would like to consider bidding to take the pub on. If so, they can trigger a full moratorium period of six months – time to raise finance, develop a business plan and to make a bid to buy the asset on the open market.

In order to list your local as an asset of community value, you must explain to your local authority why it should be listed and demonstrate that at least 21 people from the community support the case. Some authorities already have a nomination form on their websites. If not, CAMRA has a template form that can be used.

But it’s important to stress that, by signing the nomination form, you will be under absolutely no obligation to bid to buy that pub in the future.

CAMRA is hoping that at least 300 pubs across the UK will be listed by the end of the year. At the Great British Beer Festival, Brandon Lewis MP, the Community Pubs Minister, announced that 100 pubs have already been given greater protection from being sold off for redevelopment. So, if you love your local, get it listed.

And what about the beer? As The Lord Nelson was closed, I had to go to Welton to find the next nearest pub. It was ironic that I passed another Co-op convenience store on my way to the Black Bull. Since global brewer, Molton Coors, took over Cornwall’s Sharp’s brewery, Doom Bar (4% ABV) had become the UK’s best-selling real ale. It’s an easy-drinking, amber bitter with a dry finish.

Find out more about protecting pubs at www.camra.org.uk/listyourlocal

by Steve Renshaw

When this column goes to print, I should be at the Great British Beer Festival in London’s Olympia. CAMRA’s flagship festival, first held in 1977, will have a huge selection of cask ales, together with beers from around the world (plus ciders and perries).

Beer has been brewed across the globe for thousands of years. But cask beer has deep roots in this country. In the 19th century, as the lager revolution spread from central Europe to most other parts of the world, Britain remained loyal to beer made in a time-honoured fashion.

The process of brewing is the same, whether it takes place in a giant brewing factory or in a home brewer’s kitchen. The key ingredient is malted barley. When grains of barley begin to germinate, the starch they contain is transformed into soluble malt sugars. The skill of maltsters is to kick-start the germination and then roast the grains to produce the malted barley. This not only provides the sugars that are vital to producing the alcohol and carbon dioxide but also gives flavour, aroma and colour to the beer.

The brewer crushes the malted barley and soaks it in hot water to dissolve out the sugars. The resulting liquid, known as wort, is pumped off into the “copper” where it is boiled.

Hops are added during the boil to give extra flavour and aroma. The hopped wort is transferred through a cooling system into fermenting vessels, where yeast is added. This digests the sugar and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. The beer stays in the fermenting vessel for a number of days, before it is transferred into conditioning tanks or casks.

The vast majority of beer is filtered, and often pasteurised, in the brewery and then run into sealed kegs. It can then be transported to pubs and served by applied gas pressure. Casks of real ale, on the other hand, undergo a secondary fermentation in the pub cellar. This enhances the flavours and produces the natural carbonation which means that the beer can be served direct from the cask or be drawn to the bar using a handpump.

I recently cycled to Bracebridge Heath to visit the new premises of the Cathedral Heights microbrewery. Having been a home-brew enthusiast, Steve Marston set up as a commercial brewer a couple of years ago, just in time to brew a special ale for his wedding.

After a year’s break from brewing, Steve is now back on stream in a unit on the Churchill Business Park. Being a Jack-of-all-trades, he has built his 2-barrel (that’s a 72-gallon capacity) plant from scratch. Every last piece of welding and pipe work was completed by Steve, with some help from family and friends. Having visited a number of larger breweries, it was really interesting to see all the same elements but on a much smaller scale.

Steve’s first brew using the new kit was in June, but he already has six different beers in his portfolio. And they are appearing in local free houses, including the Ritz and the Forum in Lincoln. One frustration for Steve is that, because of beer-tie arrangements, none of the three pubs in Bracebridge Heath have yet stocked his ales. That’s a common problem I’ve highlighted previously.

And what about the beer? Steve kindly let me have a taste of his BBH Bitter (4.3% ABV). It’s a golden colour with a fruity aroma. There’s plenty of hoppy bitterness but it’s not overpowering. All in all, a refreshing treat that set me up for the ride home.

In the words of the new advertising campaign, “Let there be beer!”.

by Steve Renshaw

“Where would we be without the local?” That’s the strapline for CAMRA’s community pubs campaign. And this month we’re asking, “Where would charities be without the local?”

According to figures from PubAid, 85% of pubs raise money for charity, totalling over £106 million in the last year. This means that each pub raised, on average, £2,742. And new research shows people would visit pubs more regularly if their local pubs organised more charity events.

It’s time pubs got the recognition for their amazing work in raising funds for numerous charities across Britain. They get unfairly blamed for anti-social behaviour but often the alcohol that has led to these problems has not been drunk in pubs. The industry has been struggling in these tough economic times but the research shows all parties win if pubs run charity events. The charities get important donations, pubs get busier and the locals get some fun events to attend.

One magnificent example of fundraising is The Ship Victory in Chester. Over 11 years, this cosy, city-centre pub has raised a staggering £105,000 for the Breast Care Unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital. And JD Wetherspoon, who have a pub estate of over 850 pubs, have recently announced that they have raised £7 million over the years for CLIC Sargent.

Des O’Flanagan, one of the co-founders of PubAid, said, “What other industry can demonstrate such generosity and selflessness in this economic climate. These results should act as a reminder that pubs are very much part of the fabric of our community and make a meaningful contribution”.

I popped in to one of our top community pubs to talk about fundraising. Mal and Diane Gray have been running Bateman’s pubs for 14 years and have been at the Butcher and Beast in Heighington since 2009. In 2011, they were named Bateman’s Publicans of the Year, and last year they were highly commended for their cellar, food and flowers.

Heighington is fortunate to have two pubs. Both serve food, but whereas the Turk’s Head shows live sport on a big screen, the Butcher relies on lively conversations for entertainment. And it’s well supported by the villagers. Any pub that has six handpumps is clearly turning over plenty of ale.

The pub regularly raises funds for local and national charities. They also support charity events at the village hall next door. But when I asked Mal about it, I was struck by his matter-of-fact attitude. It was as though doing his bit for charity was one of those things that you do when you run a pub – like cleaning the beer lines.

And, of course, that’s the point. People don’t go to pubs just to drink. They go to spend time with friends and neighbours. And if they’re visitors, they go to join in with the local community. And when people get together, they start thinking about what they can do for those less fortunate than themselves.

So don’t spend all your social hours at home with cheap supermarket beer. Make the effort to get down to your local pub and be part of your community.

And what about the beer? With three Bateman’s ales and three guests on offer, it was a difficult choice. But I was drawn to American Pale Ale (5.4% ABV) from the Sonnet 43 Brew House, a new microbrewery in Durham. My pint was dark gold with a creamy head and beautifully clear. From the name, I expected a big burst of hops, but it turned out to be well-balanced with malt and spicy fruit flavour.

Follow us on Twitter @Lincoln_CAMRA for news on events at local pubs.

by Steve Renshaw

Earlier this year, we were in Norwich for CAMRA’s national annual general meeting. What a lovely city and so many great pubs!

In a newish-looking place called the Norwich Tap House, there were no pumps on the bar. Instead, there was a row of twenty taps protruding from the wall. On a blackboard to the side was a list of the beers.

I recognised some brewery names but, being a Yorkshireman, the main thing that struck me was the price. The cheapest pint was £3.70 and Thornbridge Jaipur was £4.90. I ordered a half at the lower end of the price range.

When I studied the beer list in more depth I noticed, towards the bottom, Guinness and Becks. It was only then that it struck me. This was all keg beer. Horror of horrors!

CAMRA was formed in 1971 by four journalists who were disillusioned by the domination of the UK beer market by a handful of companies producing bland keg beers. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the big brewers had moved away from producing traditional, flavoursome beers which continued to ferment in the cask from which they were served.

Instead, they were pushing beers that were chilled and filtered to remove all the yeast, pasteurised to make them sterile and then put in a sealed keg. The problem is that this removes a great deal of the taste and aroma. And, because there is no secondary fermentation occurring in a keg, there is no natural carbonation of the beer. So carbon dioxide has to be added to make the beer fizzy.

CAMRA has been so successful that the term “real ale” it coined forty years ago is now in the Oxford English Dictionary, and there are over 1,000 breweries producing cask-conditioned beer.

Until fairly recently, keg beer was the province of the global mega-brewers. However, there are now some small brewers producing “craft keg” beers. Some, like Brew Dog and Meantime, only produce keg and bottled/canned versions of their beers. Others, such as Thornbridge and Blue Monkey, have cask and keg versions of the same beers.

The new-style keg beers are fermented under pressure so the carbon dioxide occurs naturally from the initial fermentation. The beer is then filtered lightly, without any pasteurisation, before shipping. However, gas is still required to get the beer into the glass, unless you go for a bottled version.

Craft keg brewers claim that their beers need to be served cold. Certainly, many young people like drinking cold, fizzy beer, and craft keg has become trendy, particularly in London. That probably explains why they are charging so much for it.

There was lots of discussion about craft keg beer at our AGM. Many members see it as the beginning of the (next) end for real ale, while others feel that CAMRA should embrace it.

In the end, it was decided that we would continue as the Campaign FOR Real Ale, and not a campaign against any other type of beer. We’re in favour of choice and, if craft keg brings more drinkers into pubs, then that’s fine. And if it’s a good, real ale pub, we hope they’ll learn to appreciate the subtleties of flavour that you can only get from traditional, cask-conditioned beers.

And what about the beer? I chose London Fields Black Path Porter (4.2% ABV). Porter is a traditional, dark brew that often has hints of coffee or chocolate. The low temperature of my expensive half didn’t allow the flavours of the beer to come through. It seemed quite watery and I didn’t like the unnatural carbonation.

We hope you enjoyed the traditional real ales at the Lincoln Beer Festival.

by Steve Richardson

As I read about the build-up to the 70th anniversary of the Dambusters raid, I remembered seeing a plaque on a wall in the High Street. It commemorates the Saracen’s Head Hotel, “a favourite watering hole for thousands of RAF and allied airmen and women who served on Lincolnshire airfields in World War II”.

During the War, pubs played an important role in maintaining the morale of the civilian population and military personnel. Demand for beer was very high and, even though it was never rationed, there were shortages and reports of landlords holding back supplies for regulars.

The original Saracen’s Head dated back to the Middle Ages. In Tudor times, it was a rambling, timber-framed building and, at the start of the 19th century, a new facade was added. Behind the compact frontage on the High Street were stores, yards and stables. Part of the rear of the building and another entrance were on Saltergate, but the hotel site stretched behind other High Street buildings, down to a related pub, the Saracens Head Tap, on Waterside North.

Until the arrival of the railways, the Saracen’s Head was a main stop for coaches to and from London, Peterborough, Hull, Manchester, Leeds and York.

For many years, the hotel was the headquarters of the local Tory party. On the opposite side of the street was the Whig party stronghold at another inn, The Reindeer (long ago demolished to make way for a bank). On election nights, this area could often become the scene of drunken riots.

Around 1850, the American writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne, stayed at the Saracens Head and recorded his impressions. “It received us hospitably, and looked comfortable enough, though like the hotels of most old English towns, it has a musty fragrance of antiquity.”

In December 1924, the old coaching inn was transformed into a “Hotel de Luxe” by new owner Mr H. H. Leven. The improvements were said to have cost between £15,000 and £20,000, a huge sum for the day. His intention was to give Lincoln “a hotel worthy of the city”.

In 1946, the Saracen’s Head Hotel is listed as being owned by Lincoln Hotels Ltd. Perhaps it had not been the pre-war success Mr Leven intended. The financial depression of the early 1930s, and then the disruption of the war years would have been very difficult.

It finally closed in 1959. Part of the building is now occupied by Waterstone’s, and if you study old images of the Saracen’s Head Hotel, it is remarkable how little has changed on the upper exterior of the building. Even the old balcony railing seems to have survived pretty much intact.

And what about the beer? Mild accounted for 70% of all beer sold until well after WW2. It was the cheapest draught beer available, the drink of the public bar and the working man. Delivered to the pub “bright”, it was intended for rapid sale within 2 or 3 days. Well-hopped, pale ales (bitter) had been around since the 1840s, and were the staple of the saloon bar. Such beer required cellar conditioning, and was more expensive. Bitter was associated with a wealthier class of drinker, and remained a minority drink until the 1950s. Bottled beers were commonly sold in all pubs at this time, whether drunk alone, or mixed

The premium beer style was “Burton”, a strong, dark, sweet ale, like a modern winter warmer. It’s said that “Gone for a burton”, the poignant euphemism used by aircrew to refer to fallen comrades, implied that they had just stepped out for a beer.

Read about Dambusters pubs in the new edition of the Lincoln CAMRA magazine, ImpAle.

by Steve Renshaw

A few weeks ago, I took part in a radio discussion. Apparently, there are now almost as many coffee shops in the city centre as pubs. The question was whether a coffee shop was now the place of choice to meet up with friends for a chinwag.

It was a fairly light-hearted exchange, but it did start me thinking. CAMRA is always banging on about the number of pubs closing but, actually, why do we bother going to pubs at all?

The price of a pint in many Lincoln pubs is now well over £3. So why don’t we all just sit at home with our cheap supermarket beer and let pubs go the way of high street record shops?

Well, for real ale drinkers, the answer is simple. We can’t get our favourite tipple anywhere else. However, not everyone who goes to the pub is a real ale enthusiast, so there must be other reasons.

Food – there’s one. Lots of pubs do excellent meals, and eating out remains popular, despite the recession. But there’s more to it than that. There are all the intangibles that contribute to the local community. There are the games’ teams hosted, the football teams sponsored, the meeting places provided for special interest groups, the charities benefitting from money raised, the village services provided, the local musicians showcased. And, of course, there’s the controlled environment in which to enjoy alcohol and, on occasions, a barmaid’s shoulder on which to cry.

That’s why, this April, CAMRA is celebrating Community Pubs Month again. We want to raise the profile of pub-going and increase the number of people using pubs regularly. It’s all about reaffirming the vital importance of local pubs, and the essential role they play in many people’s lives.

There are lots of locals I could have visited to illustrate my points, but I decided on the Dog and Bone on John Street. This little gem was voted Best Community Pub in Great Britain in 2009. That was under the previous landlady, so I went along to see how Sarah and Chris Sorrel are settling in.

As soon as I walked through the door, I could tell that the changeover had been seamless. The gentle background music was almost drowned out by the conversations of groups of drinkers at the tables clustered round the real fire. And it was clear that this traditional back-street pub has something to offer to all age groups.

Sarah and Chris had fallen in love with the pub as customers and were desperate to take it on when the tenancy came up. There are no major changes planned – why change a winning formula? But they’re not resting on their laurels. They have music events booked and a summer beer festival planned.

Sarah summed up their initial feelings, “On Sundays we look round to see groups of friends playing board games by the fire, enjoying the simple pleasures of good ale and good company. There really is a place for a traditional community pub where people can meet to form friendships and enjoy companionship.”

I’ll drink to that!

And what about the beer? Batemans introduced Yella Belly Gold (3.9% ABV) last year to tap into the popularity of golden ales and try to win over lager drinkers. I find XB and XXXB a bit too sweet, but Yella Belly Gold is much more to my taste. The Chinook hops give it a dry, citrus flavour initially, with the typical Batemans maltiness coming through.

Let’s all celebrate the great British pub this April.