Beer Hunt Reconnaissance Trips in 2004/5, in
the United Kingdom (UK):
England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland

This White Beer Travels Web page provides details of miscellaneous recce trips in the UK, carried out in the years 2004 and 2005, that are listed with equivalent trips undertaken elsewhere in the world, in the site's Recce page; the latter can be reached by clicking here. There is a companion page that provides details of UK recces that took place in 2006, and one that covers those that took place in 2007. Most of the places covered will be incorporated into future White Beer Travels Beer Hunts, indeed some already have been. For most of the places featured, I quote their post code; plugging this into www.streetmap.co.uk provides a location map, as does the more versatile maps.google.co.uk.

The following UK recces are covered in this page or in the companion pages; click on the titles to get more details of them:

Miscellaneous Short Recces;

2007 Trip Featuring Arkell's Brewery, in Upper Stratton, Swindon, Wiltshire;

2007 Trip Featuring Marston's Brewery, in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire;

2007 Trip Featuring Okells Brewery, in Douglas, in the Isle of Man;

2006 Hop Harvest Open Day at Charles Faram's Pridewood Farm, Ashperton, Herefordshire;

2006: Trip Featuring Moorhouse's Brewery, in Burnley, Lancashire;

2006: Trip featuring places in Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire;

2006: Trip featuring Badger Brewery, in Blandford St Mary, Dorset;

2006: Trip to Liverpool, featuring Cains Brewery;

2005: Visits to two London Breweries - Fuller's & Meantime - & some Pubs;

2005: Trip Featuring Adnams Brewery, in Southwold, Suffolk;

2005: Trip Featuring Broadstone Brewery, in Retford, Nottinghamshire;

2005: Trip Featuring Three Breweries in Suffolk;

2005: London, Flanders Pub Crawl!;

2005: Trip based in Blackpool, Lancashire;

2005: Trip featuring Warminster Maltings, in Wiltshire;

2005: Visit to Liverpool;

2005: Trip featuring: Kelham Island Brewery, Sheffield, South Yorkshire; and Thornbridge Brewery, Ashford in the Water, Derbyshire;

2004: Visit to St. Austell Brewery, in Cornwall, and Tuckers Maltings, in Devon;

2004: Visit to Wychwood Brewery, in Witney, Oxfordshire; they brew Brakspear Beers;

2004: Visit to Edinburgh, Scotland, featuring the Caledonian Brewery & its Outlets;

Miscellaneous Individual Pub visits.

I denote whether any pubs mentioned appear in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide  (GBG), e.g. GBG 2007 means that the place in question appears in the 2007 edition (published in September, 2006). Note that, should a place not appear in the GBG, it could, but does not necessarily mean that it does not serve Real Ale, or that there are problems with its Real Ale; the choice of pubs competing for entry is so great that a number of places serving Real Ale in tip-top condition have to be excluded for space reasons. Also, if, for example, a pub is in the 2006 guide, but not the 2007 one, it can by no means be assumed that its beer quality has deteriorated. Some of the pubs are on CAMRA's National Inventory of pubs that have interiors of outstanding historic interest, these being featured in the booklet The CAMRA National Inventory (NI) and its companion website, see below.

www.beerintheevening.com is a very comprehensive directory of English pubs, which is well worth checking out.

Unless indicated otherwise, all beer prices quoted on this page are for a pint of draught/tap beer or a 33cl bottle. Where the strength of a beer is quoted, unless indicated otherwise, this is the ABV (Alcohol by Volume) of a draught/tap beer. Note that many beers have a bottled counterpart, which may have a different ABV to the draught version. For example, Fuller's ESB (5.5%) has an ABV of 5.9% in bottle, Adnams Broadside (4.7%) is a 6.3% beer in bottle, etc, etc. Note that both these examples are filtered in bottle form, whereas, of course, their Real Ale (draught) versions are not. Hop Back Summer Lightning (5%, draught and in bottle), is an example of a beer that in bottled form is unfiltered, this being commonly referred to as "Real Ale in a Bottle".

Most pubs are typically open seven days a week from 11am (Noon on Sunday) to 11pm (10.30pm on Sunday). If a pub that is featured opens at significantly different times to these, the hours will be detailed. Note that licensing laws in England and Wales were subject to a major reform in November, 2005, with the much publicised introduction of twenty-four hour drinking. However, licences for this have only been granted to a small proportion of pubs, these not being typically of interest to the lover of Real Ale. However, many Real Ale outlets have extended their hours, to, for example, open at 10am in the morning and close an hour later at night, i.e. at Midnight.

At one time, I used to indicate whether places in England were no-smoking or had no-smoking areas. However, such information has now been removed, as all English pubs went no-smoking from July, 2007. I don't provide information on facilities for smoking plonkers, as I don't give a monkeys for them; they have not given a monkeys for non-smokers for many a year, so why should I? Justice is sweet, very sweet. If the person in charge of a business, such as a pub landlord, does not enforce the no smoking legislation, then he/she is liable to a fine of £2,500, so a very high level of enforcement is assured. As part of the Smokefree initiative, members of the public can report infringements using a free phone number: 0800 587 1667.

Should you need to use public transport to get about the UK, whilst Beer Hunting, or whatever, then the Traveline UK Public Transport Information website is absolutely invaluable: www.pti.org.uk. Transport for London (www.tfl.gov.uk)'s excellent Journey Planner (www.tfl.gov.uk/journeyplanner) is a must, if you want to work out how to get from A to B, in London. Click here for a White Beer Travels Web page covering stress-free navigation, when using your own car or a coach/bus to get from one pub to the next, etc.

And a little, but important aside, should you be spending a few days in London and want to give yourself a good start to the day, with a good breakfast, then a superb option is the Villandry Foodstore Restaurant Bar, 170 Great Portland Street, W1W 5QB, tel 020 7631 3131, www.villandry.com. The bar is open for breakfast from 8am (9am on Saturday) to Noon, on Monday to Saturday; on these days, from Noon, it functions as a cocktail bar, serving excellent food. The food shop and restaurant are open seven days a week, see the website for the times. Whether you have Croissants (£1.95, November, 2005, as per the others quoted), Fresh Fruit Salad with Honey and/or Yogurt (£4.25/£5.50), Continental Breakfast (£4.25), Scottish Smoked Kipper (£6); or Full English Breakfast (£7.75), you will not be disappointed. The prices may seem high, and service charges are added to your bill, but the quality is far superior to even the swankiest of London hotels; the Croissants are the best I have ever tasted, and having lived in France for a number of years, I've had a few good ones. To reach the bar, one passes through an exquisite food shop, with some truly wonderful things on offer. Yes, don't miss this one, when in London.

Potential Places for White Beer Travels
Beer (& Whisky) Hunts in the UK

Listed in the headed sections of the page below this particular section, are places in the UK that have been reconnoitred, but which have not in all cases been subsequently converted into group White Beer Travels Beer Hunts. In addition to these more extended visits, there have been mini-recces to places within the UK (for non-UK ones click here), such as: Ilkley, in West Yorkshire for Bar t'at, 7 Cunliffe Road, Ilkley, LS29 9DZ, a superb bar with a marvellous selection of UK Real Ales and Belgian and German and other Foreign Beers; Sheffield, in England has some excellent pubs, including an amazing number that have both Real Ale and foreign beers, especially Belgian ones, the latter including the Cask & Cutler (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 549), the Bath Hotel (GBG 2007 page 548, an entry in CAMRA's National Inventory of pubs with interiors of outstanding historic interest) (GPS: 53.379228^o N, 1.482118^o W), Kelham Island Tavern (www.kelhamislandtavern.co.uk) (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 548) (GPS: 53.388152^o N, 1.472320^o W) (Sheffield & District Pub of the Year in 2004, 2005 and 2006, and Yorkshire Regional Pub of the Year in 2004), The Devonshire Cat (www.devonshirecat.co.uk) (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 548), and the tap for the Kelham Island Brewery (www.kelhambrewery.co.uk), David Wickett's The Fat Cat (www.thefatcat.co.uk) (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 548), see below; the historic English city of York for the York Brewery (www.yorkbrew.co.uk) and its outlets, and top-class pubs such as the Maltings (www.maltings.co.uk) (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 541) (Very Hot Curry on very good Chips and a superb beer selection, GPS: 53.959405^o N, 1.088023^o W), and no less than three pubs that feature in The CAMRA National Inventory, the Grade II* listed The Blue Bell (www.bluebellyork.co.uk, stopped working in January, 2007) (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 541), The Golden Ball (GBG 2005, GBG 2006 page 541) (2 Cromwell Road, YO1 6DU), and The Swan Inn (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 542) (16 Bishopgate Street, YO23 1JH, GPS: 53.952633^o N, 1.083923^o W, a Tetley Heritage pub but with beers such as Wold Top Falling Stone (4.2%) at £2.20 and Jarrow Venerable Bede (4.5%) at £2.25 (May, 2005), and lots of beery things to read); the Riverside Brewery Tap, a Brew Pub with a good selection of excellent beers (in the range £1.60 to £1.95, in November, 2004), in Marsden, West Yorkshire, (2 Peel Street (corner Argyle Street), www.riverheadbrewery.co.uk, GPS: 53.601453^o N, 1.927345^o W); Birch Hall Inn, Beck Hole, Goathland, North Yorkshire, Y0 5LE, www.beckhole.info, GPS: 54.408722^o N, 0.735427^o W (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 523), a superb, Grade II listed pub in in The CAMRA National Inventory, with three Real Ales, from £2.35 (June, 2007) and a handpumped Cider or Perry; Phil Entwistle's The Top Lock, Heapey, Lancashire (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 243) (Copthurst Lane (on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal), PR6 8LS, GPS: 53.686843^o N, 2.613320^o W), has eight handpumped, interesting Real Ales in immaculate condition, including beers from the Bank Top Brewery, in Bolton, Lancashire (www.banktopbrewery.co.uk) (also check out another pub of Phil's, in Adlington, Lancashire, The Spinners Arms (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 236) (23 Church Street (A6), PR7 4EX)); The Black Horse (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 240), Darwen, Lancashire (72 Redearth Road, BB3 2AF, GPS: 53.692863^o N, 2.463698^o W), is another Bank Top Brewery outlet with a marvellous selection of Real Ales; the Glenturret Distillery, a producer of Malt Whisky, in Crieff, in Scotland, which is home to the excellent "The Famous Grouse Experience", a distillery tour and audio/visual presentation that is truly suitable for all ages, www.famousgrouse.co.uk/experience; and Scotland's Malt Whisky Trail, in Speyside, www.maltwhiskytrail.com.

2005: Visits to two London Breweries - Fuller's & Meantime -
& some Pubs

These visits took place in December, 2005, at the time of the British Guild of Beer Writers' (www.beerwriters.co.uk) most prestigious event, its annual dinner, held in the impressive Ironmongers' Hall, in London (www.ironhall.co.uk). Amongst the guests was Matthias Trum, the proprietor of both "Heller-Bräu" - Trum, a truly famous brewery, in the wonderful Baroque city of Bamberg, in Germany, and its world-class tavern, the Schlenkerla (www.schlenkerla.de and www.smokebeer.com (English-language pages), White Beer Travels Web page). The Schlenkerla, the most famous outlet in the world for Rauchbier (Smoke Beer), gives its name to its beers, Schlenkerla Rauchbier.

I took Matthias to two contrasting London breweries, both of which produce top-class beers, and which, like his own brewery, are independent ones: Fuller's (Fuller, Smith and Turner), in Chiswick (www.fullers.co.uk, www.fullers-ales.com (North American site)), a classic producer of Real Ales; and the Meantime Brewery, in Charlton, in the Borough of Greenwich (The Greenwich Brewery) (www.meantimebrewing.com), an unusual brewery for the UK, in that its portfolio includes a number of Czech, German and Vienna style beers, as well as some superb renditions of some famous English beer styles. The visits to these breweries are covered further in a White Beer Travels Web page, which can be reached by clicking here.

The White Horse (www.whitehorsesw6.com, White Beer Travels Web page, GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 303), a pub in Parson's Green, has a second-to-none reputation for the quality of his cask-conditioned beer (Real Ale), hence Michael Jackson  (1942-) (www.beerhunter.com), the world's most famous beer writer, featured it in his superlative "The Beer Hunter" TV series, a 1990 Channel 4 Production; Michael took the viewer from cask in the cellar to handpump in the bar. This made the place's landlord and cellarman, Mark Dorber, the most famous cellarman in the world. Mark very kindly agreed to give Matthias a tour of his most famous of cellars, so that Matthias could see at first hand what the UK's great contribution to the beer world, Real Ale, is all about. In the above photo, which was taken by Mark Dorber, in The White Horse's Cellar, in December, 2005, Matthias and John have glasses of a very special beer in their hands, which Mark has just drawn from a cask in the cellar for them: a Fuller's beer that has been matured in a Jim Beam Bourbon cask. It was truly special, with wonderful, unmistakable vanilla notes. By coincidence, on the visit to Fuller's the previous day, the Fuller's Brewing Director, John Keeling had mentioned this rare beer, so it was a great honour and privilege to taste this beer, along with the other treasures that Mark produced, including some Adnams Tally-Ho that he had matured for a year in the cellar.

2005: A Visit to Adnams Brewery, in Southwold, Suffolk

This British Guild of Beer Writers' (www.beerwriters.co.uk) trip took place in October, 2005.

Click on the heading of this section for the White Beer Travels Web page covering the trip.

2005: A Visit to Broadstone Brewery,
in Retford, Nottinghamshire

Note that subsequent to this visit, the brewery closed, its brewer is now running a pub, in another part of Nottinghamshire, The Lord Nelson, 35 Main St, Sutton-On-Trent, NG23 6PF (tel 01636 821071) (GBG 2006 page 386). Note that its original name was The Lord Nelson, but in recent times it has been called as Memory Lane, but it now has its old name back.

This trip took place in August, 2005. It was organised by the Grimsby and N.E. Lincolnshire Branch of CAMRA, www.camra.org.uk/grimsby. Broadstone Brewing Company (tel 01777 719797, www.broadstonebrewery.com) was set up by Alan Gill in 1999. In 2002, it was relocated to an outbuilding of a pub called The Rum Runner, in Retford (Wharf Road (corner Canal Street), DN22 6EN, tel 01777 860788, GPS: 53.319637^o N, 0.942870^o W, GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 385), which was the local branch of CAMRA's Pub of the Year, in 2002. It is owned by Bateman (www.bateman.co.uk), and thus has some of their beers, but also Guest Beers, and, of course, a Broadstone brew, Two Water Grog (4%), which is exclusively available in the place, on draught, although it is also available, bottle-conditioned, as are some of the other Broadstone beers, such as Gold (5%) and Black Abbot (5%).

The picture, above left, shows Alan Gill and John White, in the Broadstone Brewery. It was taken in August, 2005, by Raymond Egerton, one of a number of members of the Grimsby Fellwalking & Climbing Club, who go on trips organised by Grimsby CAMRA. John and alan were renewing acquaintances after previously meeting on a British Guild of Beer Writers' trip to France and Belgium, in 1993. Prior to setting up Broadstone, in 1990, Alan Gill founded the Springhead Brewery (www.springhead.co.uk), not too far away, in Sutton-on-Trent, Newark-on-Trent, in Nottinghamshire. The visit to Broadstone mainly took place in the beer garden that separates the pub from the brewery; three casks of the brewery's excellent beers had been set up for the visit, which we duly demolished. In the beer garden, we were approached by a Punk, called Skelly, with a bright red Mohican haircut who was collecting for a cancer charity, whilst smoking a cigarette! I mentioned to him that he was probably collecting for his own lung cancer treatment! The photo, above right, of Skelly was taken by John White, in August, 2005. Skelly is the drummer in a punk band called "Famous Daves" which can be booked on 0781 496 8256.

After the visit to Retford, there was an evening in Newark, where some Springhead Beers were partaken off, in an excellent pub called The Vine (117 Barnby Gate (corner Cross Street), NG24 1QZ, tel 01636 704333, GPS: 53.073774^o N, 0.800314^o W, GBG 2005 page 383).

2005: Trip featuring Three Breweries in Suffolk

This British Guild of Beer Writers' (www.beerwriters.co.uk) trip took place in June, 2005.

Click on the heading of this section for the White Beer Travels Web page covering the trip.

Originele Cafés in Vlaanderen
(Original Bars in [Belgian] Flanders):
London Launch in June, 2005

This took the form of a crawl featuring the five places in Greater London that are covered in a book having the title of this section. Full details of the book, the crawl and the places featured in it, are provided in a White Beer Travels Web page, which can be reached by clicking here.

2005: Trip based in Blackpool, Lancashire

This visit is detailed in a White Beer Travels Web page covering the beer scene in Blackpool and its environs, which can be reached by clicking here.

2005: Trip featuring Warminster Maltings,
in Warminster, Wiltshire

This British Guild of Beer Writers' trip, took place in April, 2005. The visit to the Maltings is covered in a White Beer Travels Web page, which can be reached by clicking here.

The eve of the visit was spent in nearby Frome (pronounced Froom; it had two Os once), in the neighbouring County of Somerset, home to a Warminster Maltings (www.warminster-malt.co.uk) customer, Milk Street Brewery (25 Milk Street (corner Selwood Road), BA11 3DP, tel 01373 467766, www.milkstreet.5u.com, GPS: 51.233805^o N, 2.325282^o W) (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 412). The brewery was set up by Nick Bramwell and Richard Lyall, who are involved in the brewing, along with Anthony Oxley. It is at the back of The Griffin Inn, one of Milk Street's four outlets, which was, of course, visited; Nick is the Licensee, who is featured in the photo, above right, pulling my pint of Nick's (4.4%), a really excellent beer with a pronounced burnt toffee taste. The photo on the left is the pub exterior; both photos were taken by John White, in April, 2005. Other beers available on the night of the visit were: Beer (5%); Mermaid (4.1%); and Elderfizz (5%), a sparkling Wheat Beer with Honey and Elderberries also in the recipe. All beers were £2.20, apart from Elderfizz, which was £2.60; these drop £0.20 in the Happy Hour. They are all delivered by handpump, apart from the Elderfizz, which is on keg dispense (on the right in the photo on the right) although, it is, like the other beers, unpasteurised and unfiltered. I really enjoyed this spectacular beer. There is no food, unless you count the Pickled Onions, which locals appeared to drop into bags of Crisps. There is regular and ad hoc live music, which is detailed on the place's website. Note that the website has very good animations of Nick and Richard. I can highly recommend a visit to The Griffin. On Monday to Friday, The Griffin opens at 5pm.

The Blue Boar, an excellent Real Ale pub, which is housed in a building dating from 1691, in the centre of Frome (15 Market Place, BA11 1AN, tel 01373 461530, GPS: 51.231659o N, 2.320630o W), was used for overnight accommodation on this trip. Beers sampled here were Young's Best Bitter and Skinner's Cornish Knocker (4.5%) (£2.10). Frome is a most attractive town on the River Frome, indeed, this is directly below the pub. The town's website covers the place's history and its historic buildings very well, www.frometouristinfo.co.uk.

Both The Griffin and The Blue Boar, in Frome, are featured in The Heart of Wessex Real Ale Trail, www.railaletrail.com/wessex. There is a free-of-charge leaflet for this, which can be picked up at stations on the route, or it can be ordered by ringing 0870 900 2318. This route, The Heart of Wessex Line, which goes from Bristol, in Gloucestershire, to Weymouth, on the Dorset Coast, is served by Wessex Trains (www.wessex-trains.co.uk). There are links to Web pages for other such West Country Real Ale train routes on the Rail Ale Trail website, www.railaletrail.com. The five mile journey from Frome to Warminster was undertaken by a number 53 minibus (www.fromeminibuses.co.uk), from Frome's Market Place. En route, the bus passes the entrance to Longleat (www.longleat.co.uk), in Wiltshire, the Marquess of Bath's stately home, which is famous for the top-class Longleat Safari Park, one of a number of tip-top tourist attractions in this area, which include the city of Bath, in Somerset (www.visitbath.co.uk), a World Heritage Site, which is on the train route from Frome to Bristol (www.visitbristol.co.uk), the latter being another marvellous place to spend some time in. Of course, Bristol and Bath also have some superb pubs. In Bath, there are two pubs in The CAMRA National Inventory (NI). They are: The Old Green Tree (12 Green Street, BA1 2JZ (GBG 2007 page 407); and The Star Inn (23 The Vineyards (off The Paragon (A4), BA1 5NA, www.star-inn-bath.co.uk, CAMRA NI Entry) (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 408). In Bristol, there is The King's Head (60 Victoria Street, BS1 6DE) (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 169).

Wiltshire is home to Wadworth and Company Ltd (www.wadworth.co.uk), who have the well-regarded Northgate Brewery, in Devizes, in Wiltshire, where they have a good number of outlets and in places just across the Wiltshire border, for example in Somerset. Thus, in Frome, they have a hotel, which naturally has Real Ale in its bar, The George Hotel, 4 Market Place, BA11 1AF, tel 01373 462584.

2005: Visit to Liverpool, Merseyside

This April, 2005 visit is featured in a White Beer Travels Web page that can be reached by clicking on the above heading. Below, are a couple of photos taken during this marvellous visit.

2005: Trip featuring: Kelham Island Brewery, Sheffield,
and Thornbridge Brewery, Ashford in the Water

This British Guild of Beer Writers' trip took place in February, 2005.

Click on the heading of this section for the White Beer Travels Web page covering the trip.

2004: Visit to St. Austell Brewery, in Cornwall,
and Tuckers Maltings, in Devon, England

St. Austell Brewery

The photo, above left, shows the impressive stone façade of the St. Austell Brewery, in Cornwall (www.staustellbrewery.co.uk, GPS: 50.341898^o N, 4.787660^o W). It was taken by John White, in November, 2004, during a British Guild of Beer Writers' visit. This justly renowned brewery produces very well-regarded Real Ales, that are available in the 157 pubs that it owns (134 in Cornwall, the rest being mainly in Devon). The brewery has an excellent Visitor Centre where a good selection of the brewery's beers can be sampled. In the photo, above right, John White is with Roger Ryman, St. Austell's most innovative Head Brewer, behind the bar in the Visitor Centre. We have pints of the brewery's superb St. Austell Tribute (4.2%), the first new beer that Roger brewed, in 1999, the year that he joined the company. The beef in the truly excellent Cornish Pasty in my hand was marinated in Tribute. Tribute has had a phenomenal success, not only in Cornwall and Devon, but in the free trade throughout the UK. The photo was taken by Tim Hampson, author of Room at the Inn (CAMRA Books, 2003, ISBN 1852491841), and a contributor to numerous publications, including CAMRA's What's Brewing, The Guardian, The Independent and American Brewer. Note that behind the bar there is a photo of Prince Charles pulling a pint in the same bar as in this photo of myself and Roger. It was taken in 2001, the brewery's 150th Anniversary year. Roger was in the original photo with the Prince, but was cropped from the one on the wall!

St. Austell Brewery was founded in 1851, as can be seen from the photo, above left. Throughout the years there have been, of course, numerous changes to the equipment installed, although there are a significant number of quite old, splendid vessels on view, such as: a serviceable Copper dating from 1893, which is actually made of copper; and slate Fermentation Vessels. A stainless steel Copper, sourced from a brewery that closed down, now stand alongside the copper Copper. More modern Fermenters have been installed, but these are still traditional Open Fermenters, rather than Cylindro-Conical ones, albeit with lids and CIP (Cleaning In Place) systems. The plaque on the left (photo by John White, in November, 2004) is on the side of one of the slate Fermenters.

Note the wording "Slate Back", in the photo, above. "Back" is a little used word meaning Vessel, more commonly used in breweries to describe the vessel in which hops are filtered from the wort after the boil in the Copper: the Hop Back. Many people do not realise that the "Back" in this simply means vessel, and thus get confused as to this particular piece of equipment's role. Not so in France, where the everyday word for a vessel is Bac, which clearly relates to the English Back, hence the Hop Back in French breweries is Le Bac à Houblon. Similarly, the everyday Dutch word for vessel is Bak, and thus a similar word for the Hop Filtration Vessel to the English Hop Back is used in breweries in The Netherlands and Belgian Flanders: Hopbak.

The main raw materials used are also most traditional, for example, whole Hop Flowers are used, rather than pellets or extract. Hop varieties include: Fuggles; Goldings; Styrian Goldings; and Willamette from the Willamette Valley, in Oregon, in the USA. Other varieties are used in experimental brews and seasonal beers. This is the first brewery that I have been in that stores its hops in a refrigerated room, this being done with quality in mind, since both aroma and bitterness are lost at high temperature. Note that St. Austell, in addition to its main brewery, has a two barrel brewing facility which can be used to produce these experimental brews. Without this facility, the brewery's excellent, bottle-conditioned Wheat Beer, Clouded Yellow (5%), a Tesco Beer Challenge Best Bottled Beer winner, in 2000, which is spiced with Coriander Seeds, Aniseed Pods and Cloves, would never have seen the light of day. Interestingly, the experimental brewery is also used to produce brews that are unique to the "Celtic Beer Festival" that is held each year, in the large cellar below the brewery. This renowned festival features beers from other breweries, in addition to those from St. Austell. It is typically held on the last Saturday of November, from 11am to 11pm.

St. Austell took us to a number of truly splendid pubs, including: the Blisland Inn, in Blisland (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 78), see above; and the St. Kew Inn, St. Kew (GPS: 50.558513^o N, 4.793902^o W), St. Austell's only outlet where their beers are served from wooden casks, gravity-fed, by the most genial of Landlords, Des Weston, these casks being featured in the photo above right, which was taken by John White. This don't-miss pub has slate floors, open fires, and no fruit machines or music. In the St. Kew, there is a lovely dining room, in which there is a Specials Board, although the place is renowned for its Steaks. There is also another bar, this having St. Austell Tribute on handpump. Tim Martin, the Chairman of Wetherspoon's, visits the St. Kew Inn four times a year, declaring it to be his favourite pub in the whole world. The photo, above left, in the Blisland Inn, was also taken by John White. In it, Roger Protz (1939-) (www.beer-pages.com), editor of CAMRA's annual Good Beer Guide, and author of numerous books on beer, is filling glasses from a jug of St. Austell Admiral's Ale (5%) for other members of the British Guild of Beer Writers, Jeff Evans and Tim Hampson, and our host, for the evening, St. Austell's Head Brewer, Roger Ryman, who is on the right. Jeff is a regular contributor to CAMRA's What's Brewing. He is a former editor of CAMRA's Good Beer Guide and has had a number of books published, including the CAMRA Good Bottled Beer Guide (CAMRA Books, 2004, ISBN 1852491973). The Admiral's Ale and the Chocolate Stout, see above, that were available in the Blisland Inn on the visit, were both produced in St. Austell's experimental brewery, see above. They are both worthy of being brewed on a bigger scale.

The Malt for Admiral's Ale was supplied by Tuckers Maltings, in Newton Abbot, which was also visited on this trip; click here for more information. This Malt was produced to Roger Ryman's specification, this being another shining example of the type of innovation that he has introduced to the St. Austell Brewery. He was looking for a highly coloured (20 EBC, 8^oL) Munich-style Malt, which Tuckers duly produced; it is called Cornish Gold. This is the only Malt used in Admiral's Ale and the mash for Tribute is 80% Pale Malt (5 EBC, 2.3^oL), 20% Cornish Gold. Tuckers, who, uniquely, St. Austell have been trading with for over a hundred years, is covered in a White Beer travels Web page, which can be reached by clicking here.

The St. Austell Brewery makes a special effort with the outside of its pubs. They all have distinctive black and gold lettering, and superb signs, such as the one on the left for The Old Custom House, on South Quay, in Padstow, on the North coast of Cornwall. The photo was taken by John White, in November, 2004.

In the Pescadou Restaurant (www.pescadou.co.uk), in Padstow, in Cornwall, St. Austell Brewery hosted an excellent meal that was accompanied by a different beer with each course, the starter being a selection of different types of Oysters, which were followed by two fish courses, and then a selection of top-class Cornish Cheeses and then a Dessert, this being followed by a Digestive of St. Austell Smuggler's Barley Wine (8.5%), served straight from the cask. The restaurant is owned by the brewery, it being part of The Old Custom House Hotel (GPS: 50.541150^o N, 4.937335^o W); its bar has a good selection of St. Austell beers. Padstow is renowned for a restaurant that is close to The Old Custom House, called "The Seafood Restaurant", this being owned by the celebrated chef, Rick Stein (www.rickstein.com). I am sure that the food will be good here, but one could not fault what was on offer at the Pescadou on this evening, and next morning, we were back here for our breakfast, where an option was Charlestown Kippers. So often when ordering Kippers, even in quite expensive hotels, one ends up with nasty fillets, but not here; I got a proper, plump Kipper that happened to be magnificent. Charlestown is a small port near St. Austell.

Tuckers Maltings

This visit to Tuckers Maltings, in Newton Abbot, in Devon (www.tuckersmaltings.com, is covered in a White Beer Travels Web page, which can be reached by clicking here.

For this trip. we stayed one night in the already mentioned Old Custom House, in Padstow, see above, and one night in the White Hart, in St. Austell, this being another hotel owned by the St. Austell brewery, which again has a very good bar featuring their beers. Information on all the St. Austell hotels can be found on the website: www.smallandfriendly.co.uk. If the others are as good as the ones used on this trip, then you can be assured of a most pleasant stay should you book into one of them.

The above photos were taken in the Wychwood Brewery (www.wychwood.co.uk), in Witney, by John White, in September, 2004. Wychwood is part of the Refresh UK group (www.refreshuk.com). The photo on the left was taken in a room housing fermenters relocated from the Brakspear Brewery (www.brakspear.co.uk), in Henley, Oxfordshire, hence the Brakspear delivery bike on the left. Alongside the bike are Rupert Thompson, Refresh's Chief Executive, and Wychwood's Head Brewer, and hence Brakspear's head Brewer, Jeremy Moss. In the photo on the right, Jeremy is serving a pint of Brakspear Bitter by handpump in the Wychwood Brewery's Tap Room. This beer is one of the real joys of the English beer scene; only 3.4% Alcohol by Volume, but of immense character. The other pump clip is for Wychwood's Hobgoblin (5%), a truly superb, dark beer. On the wall on the left is the brewery's top class poster for Hobgoblin, the slogan on it having quickly gained cult status: "What's the matter Lagerboy, afraid you might taste something?" Amazingly, for such as complex beer, it is very popular with young drinkers, who perhaps are attracted by its somewhat anarchic qualities. Whatever, the reason, an initiative that gets this age group drinking Real Ale has to be applauded.

There was much mourning when the renowned Brakspear Brewery, in Henley, closed, in October, 2002. And there was much rejoicing when Wychwood Brewery (The Crofts, Witney, tel 01993 890800, GPS: 51.783148^o N, 1.488370^o W) brought the brewing of Brakspear beers back to Oxfordshire, i.e. in June, 2004, it was able to put on sale to the general public, Brakspear beers that had been brewed in Witney, in the original Brakspear copper from Henley, and fermented in a separate Brakspear fermenting room, the latter including the original, famous Brakspear Double Drop fermenters, again relocated from Henley. It was largely Rupert Thompson's initiative that returned these beers back to Oxfordshire, and with the help of Brakspear's former head brewer, Peter Scholey, the flavour match between the classic beers once brewed in Henley, and those now brewed in Witney, has been remarkable. This September, 2004 British Guild of Beer Writers' visit, see below, really did confirm this, i.e. we sampled some wonderful beers in the brewery tap and also in superbly run hostelries in Witney, such as two close to the brewery: The New Inn, 120 Corn Street, OX28 7DL (tel 01933 703807); and the Butcher's Arms, 104-6 Corn Street, OX28 7BU (tel 01933 705745).

Other topics covered during the visit were: the Duchy Originals (www.duchyoriginals.com) range of Organic Beers that are brewed in the Wychwood Brewery, for Prince Charles, using organic malt grown on his Home Farm at Highgrove; and another superb initiative, which Rupert had a big hand in setting up, the Beer Academy (www.beeracademy.org), of which he is the Chairman, the Academy being a non-profit making organisation that runs low-cost, but top-class courses, that, with an irresistible passion, teach people about beer. Note that, in 2007, the activities of the Beer Academy were absorbed into the training function of the Institute of Brewing & Distilling (www.ibd.org.uk). And yet another Refresh UK initiative is the importation of Löwenbräu (www.loewenbraeu.de) into the UK; rather sadly, Löwenbräu is now owned by that load of bankers, InBev. When Löwenbräu reappeared in the UK in the 1960s (after first appearing in the 19th Century and then being discontinued at the outbreak of WWI), it was the highly regarded version brewed in Munich, but, as is often the case, when something becomes popular, brewing under licence in England followed, to cut costs. Refresh UK now have responsibility for the brand in the UK, with the result that the Löwenbräu now available in the UK is the far superior German version, which, unfortunatley, InBev are sure to dumb down.

On the eve of the visit we had a meal in Aziz, which serves excellent Indian / Bangladeshi cuisine, at 79 High Street, in Witney (OX28 6JA, tel 01933 774100); it is next door but one to the town's museum. This meal was accompanied by Bangla, a beer that is comes in a distinctive 660ml bottle, and has an excellent, special glass. It is brewed by the Burtonwood Brewery in Warrington (www.burtonwood.co.uk), in the North West of England, for The Far East Beer Company (www.fareastbeerco.com), which is also in the Refresh UK group, hence the post code on the bottle being that of the Wychwood Brewery. After the demise of Brakspear, in Henley, their beers were brewed by Burtonwood until their return to Oxfordshire.

2004: Trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, featuring the Caledonian Brewery and its Outlets

This British Guild of Beer Writers' trip, took place in May, 2004.

Click on the heading of this section for the White Beer Travels Web page covering the trip.

Miscellaneous Individual Pub Visits

In the earlier part of this Web page, there are some outstanding UK pubs featured. This is also the case on other pages of the White Beer Travels website, for example, the following are featured (click on the hyperlinks to go to the appropriate pages): Nellies, in Beverley, East Yorkshire (www.nellies.co.uk, GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 517); The White Horse, Parson's Green, London (www.whitehorsesw6.com, GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 303); The Cricketers' Arms, in Rickling Green, Essex (www.thecricketersarms.com, GBG 2004 page 154); The Star Tavern, in London (in all GBGs, 2007 page 302); The Circus Tavern, in Manchester (GBG 2004, GBG 2005 page 328); The Jerusalem Tavern, in Clerkenwell, London (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 280); George Orwell's Favourite Pub; and The Fat Cat (www.thefatcat.co.uk, GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 548), in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

This section of this page is designed to provides details of some special places that are not covered on this page above or elsewhere on the site. All have Real Ale in excellent condition, but also have something else that set them apart.

Some of the selections for individual pub visits are listed in the already mentioned CAMRA National Inventory (NI). The pubs featured in this excellent booklet, which covers the whole of the UK, are all worthy of a visit; it can be obtained from the CAMRA website, www,camra.org.uk: The CAMRA National Inventory. Pub Interiors of Outstanding Historic Interest, ISBN 1-85249-191-4. There is also one that just covers London, the latter also including entries that have interiors that don't qualify for full NI status: The CAMRA Regional Inventory for London. Pub Interiors of Special Historic Interest, ISBN 1-85249-204-X. Similarly, there is one covering East Anglia: The CAMRA Regional Inventory for East Anglia. Pub Interiors of Special Historic Interest, ISBN 1-85249-221-X. Note that some of the pubs in these essential booklets do not have any Real Ale. CAMRA has a special website, and it is special/essential, covering the National Inventory, "Campaign for Real Ale. Pub Heritage - Historic Pub Interiors", www.heritagepubs.org.uk. Updates to the Regional Inventory for London are to be found on The London Pubs Group's website, www.londonpubsgroup.co.uk. White Beer Travels notes (eighty-three pages) on a number of pubs in London can be downloaded from the site's Downloads page.

CAMRA's National Inventory booklet is edited by David Gamston, but a major contributor is Geoff Brandwood, and Michael Slaughter is responsible for the wonderful photographs in it. In late 2004, a superb book by Geoff, Michael and Andrew Davison was published by English Heritage/CAMRA (www.english-heritage-books.org.uk), Licensed to Sell: The History and Heritage of the Public House (192 pages, ISBN 1-85074-906-X). I can highly recommend it. It can be purchased from www.amazon.co.uk and www.amazon.com.

Note that a number of the pubs in The CAMRA National Inventory are "Listed Buildings". There are three categories of these, in England: Grade I, which are buildings of exceptional interest (around 2% of the buildings listed); Grade II* (Grade 2 Star), which are particularly important buildings of more than special interest (around 4% of the buildings listed); and Grade II, which are buildings of special interest. Note that these are respectively Category A, B, C, in Scotland, and Grade A, B, C, in Northern Ireland. In England, the listing of buildings is administered by English Heritage (www.english-heritage.org.uk), their website stating that there are around 370,000 listed buildings in England.

This list below is a 2005 initiative, so the list is presently very short, but will grow as time and visits permit.

Three Stags' Heads
Wardlow Mires, Tideswell, Derbyshire, SK17 8RW.

This world-class, life-enhancing place, is covered in a White Beer Travels Web page dedicated to it, which can be reached by clicking here.

Ye Olde Mitre
1 Ely Court , 9 Ely Place, Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 6SJ, tel 020 7405 4751, www.yeoldemitre.co.uk,
(GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 280)

The Old Mitre is world-class, an outstanding, absolutely don't-miss place, that is Grade II listed. It was the Pub of the Year, in 2006, for the East London & City branch of CAMRA (www.pigsear.org.uk).

Ely Place is easy enough to find with a map. On my first visit, I went up and down its length, but did not spot the alley off it that leads to this place, so I asked the gateman on Ely Place's gates, who pointed to the most narrow of unsigned alleys, this being on the left, a little beyond the gates; the entrance to the alley is partially blocked by an iron cross. Ye Olde Mitre can also be approached from the mirror position, on the famous Jewellers' street, Hatton Garden, see below.

The ivy-clad Old Mitre is built in the former garden of the Palace of the Bishops of Ely, indeed the pub is still technically in Cambridgeshire, the gates marking the entrance to this enclave of this County. In Ely Place itself, St Etheldreda's Church, which was associated with the Palace, is well worth a visit. Typically on the last Sunday of June, each year, from 12.30pm until 5pm, there is a Strawberrie Fayre in Ely Place, this being initiated as a consequence of the Strawberries that were grown in the Bishop's Garden, these being renowned enough to be mentioned by William Shakespeare (1564-1615), i.e. in Richard III, Act 3, Scene IV, Gloucester says to the Bishop of Ely: "My Lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn, I saw good strawberries in your garden there. I do beseech you, send for some of them."

The photo, above left, of John White and Scotty (Eamon Scott), the marvellous landlord of the Old Mitre, was taken by Joyce White, in December, 2004. The photo, above right, was taken by John White, in August, 2005. Scotty is no magician; if someone orders a Black Sheep Special Ale (4.4%) from the Caledonian Deuchars IPA (3.8%) handpump that he is holding, he pulls it from the Black Sheep pump in the other bar! On the right in this photo, is the excellent barman, John Wright, who is even older than Scotty! As you can see, the Deuchars is quite lively, but soon settled down and was, of course, topped up, and proved to be exceptional.

A Particularly famous feature of Ye Olde Mitre is a Cherry Tree, the substantial stump of which is housed in a glass-fronted cabinet forming the corner of the small room at the front of the pub. Lettering on this cabinet informs one that the place was built by Bishop Goodrich in 1546 and the tree marks the boundary between the Bishop's garden and land belonging to Sir Christopher Hatton (1540-91), Lord Chancellor and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), who is known to have danced a maypole around the tree. It was Elizabeth who, following the reformation, forced the Bishop of Ely to rent some of his land to Sir Christopher. In the photo, above left, the cabinet housing the Cherry Tree is in the background. In my hand, I have a superb pint of Bateman's Christmas Beer, Rosey Nosey (4.9%), which temporarily replaced Adnams Bitter (3.7%), which, as you can see, is back, in the photo on the right, along with Adnams Broadside (4.7%).

All Ye Olde Mitre's rooms are superb; there is one upstairs (the Bishop's Room, in which there is a detailed information booklet on "The Pulpit"), and two on the ground floor. On my December, 2004 visit, as can be seen in the above photo, I chose the Cherry Tree one, on the ground floor. Whilst perusing the CAMRA National Inventory booklet, Scotty, came over and introduced himself. He told me that he had previously been at another prestigious Real Ale pub, The Minerva, in Hull, East Yorkshire (Nelson Street (by the Victoria Pier), HU1 1XE, GPS: 53.737918^o N, 0.334942^o W), which is quite close to where I live, in Grimsby, on the other side of the river Humber. He gave me a very interesting information sheet on his current place. There are above average wines available by the glass or bottle, these being detailed on blackboards. Snacks are available between 11.30am and 9.30pm, such as Large Sausage Rolls (£1), Pork Pies, Scotch Eggs, and the £1.50 Toasties (August, 2005 price), the latter justifiably being raved about in CAMRA's GBG.

The nearest tube (underground railway) station is Chancery Lane, on the Central Line (leave by Exit 1, "Gray's Inn Road", and go East on Holborn; a roundabout, Holborn Circus, is soon reached, Ely Place being the second left off this). From the Southern end of Hatton Garden, there is a sign and a lamppost both pinpointing the alley that very quickly leads to the pub, alongside 8 Hatton Garden (on the right hand side of the road when going North).

The Old Mitre is normally closed at weekends, but does open on the weekend (Noon until 5pm) at the end of CAMRA's Great British Beer Festival, in early August.

Close by, there is another classic pub, a particularly famous one, the Cittie of Yorke, 22 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6BS (tel  020 7242 7670) (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 283). This has Samuel Smith Old Brewery Bitter on handpump. It is housed in a Grade II* listed building, so, is, clearly, very special. Leave Chancery Lane tube station and keep going straight, and it is soon reached on the right.

London pubs of special merit, such as the Old Mitre, the Cittie of Yorke and the White Horse, Parson's Green, are featured in the eighty-three page White Beer Travels Notes on London Pubs that can be obtained from the Downloads page of the site. The White Horse is also covered on a White Beer Travels Web page that can be reached by clicking here. Another superb, don't-miss pub, The Jerusalem Tavern, is also fairly close to the Old Mitre; click here for further information on this gem.

Fanny's Ale & Cider House
63 Saltaire Road (A657) (corner Maddocks Street), Shipley,
West Yorkshire, BD18 3JN, tel 01274 591419,
GPS: 53.836238^o N, 1.788157^o W (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 567)

This is another truly world-class pub, that simply must be visited. It is a multi-roomed gem, which looks like it has been a pub for ever, but, in 1997, it was a Pet Shop, which the proprietor, Marcus Lund, initially converted into a Beer Shop, called Fanny Haddock's, this being the name of a Fish & Chip Shop business that he was involved in at the time. Marcus has created an absolutely marvellous pub. There is much memorabilia on the walls, a log fire in the Winter, a lounge lit by gaslight, armchairs upstairs, no quizzes, and no juke box, piped music or fruit machines. This place is heaven. There is no food: it is a true pub. The above two photos, were taken outside and in the place, by John White, in June, 2005.

There are nine handpumps for the superb selection of Real Ale, these including, on my June, 2005 visit: two "permanent" beers, Timothy Taylor Golden Best (3.5%) (£1.90) and Landlord (4.3%) (£2.10), see the photo, above left; Salamander Blackout Stout (4.5%) (£2.22) (www.salamanderbrewing.com); Millstone True Grit (5%) (£2.35) (www.millstonebrewery.co.uk); and two house beers, see the photo, above right, Fanny's Juice (4.2%) and Fanny's Liquor (4.4%), which are brewed by Moorhouse's (www.moorhouses.co.uk), in Burnley, in Lancashire. The two beers that I sampled on my visit were stunningly good, the Stout and the True Grit (Bradford CAMRA's Beer Festival, Beer of the Festival 2005). I am going to return again and again. Note that, it is well-known that once a cask of Real Ale is tapped, that it should be served within three to four days, so having a large number of handpumps is not always good for beer quality, but this is not a problem here, since this place is such a hallowed Real Ale shrine that beer is shifted very quickly indeed. As you would expect from its name, there is some decent Cider (Stowford Press (4.5%) (£2.10) (www.westons-cider.co.uk) and Biddenden Farm Cider (8.4%) (£2.30) (www.biddendenvineyards.com), and there are some foreign beers on draught, such as Maisel's Weisse (5.4%) (www.maisel.com), which is a Wheat Beer, from Bayreuth, in Franconia, in Germany. There are also some bottled foreign beers. All the lagers are well-regarded German or Czech ones.

Fanny's is open from Noon (5pm Monday) until 11pm (10.30pm on Sunday).

I picked out Fanny's from the CAMRA Good Beer Guide because it was close to a place that my wife Joyce and I were to visit: Salts Mill, in Saltaire (Victoria Road, BD18 3LB, www.saltsmill.org.uk, GPS: 53.837090^o N, 1.1.784067^o W (Car Park entrance)). Salt Mills is a wonderful conversion of a former Alpaca Woolen Mill, alongside the River Aire, into a complex of excellent shopping outlets (superb for art books and materials and items for the home in "The Home - you really will solve all your difficult Christmas present problems here), eating establishments and art galleries, the latter being particularly associated with David Hockney (1937-), who was born in nearby Bradford; his Opera Sets here are magnificent. Sir Titus Salt (1803-76) built the Mill and the model village around it, Saltaire (www.saltaire.yorks.com), which, in 2001, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, see whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31 for the full, world-wide list. Saltaire Railway Station is very close to Salts Mill, the station also being not that far from Fanny's. The annual beer festival run by Bradford CAMRA (www.bradfordcamra.org.uk), typically in February, takes place in the Victoria Hall, Victoria Road, in Saltaire, which was built by Sir Titus Salt. This beer festival and the one in the Grand'Place (Grote Markt) in Brussels, in Belgium, and those in Bamberg, in Franconia, in Germany, are perhaps the only ones that takes place within UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Ironically, for the first 100 years or so of its existence, there were deliberately no pubs in Saltaire, this being an edict from Sir Tutus Salt; today one get get bottles of Timothy Taylor Landlord in the cafés and restaurants in his Salts Mill.

Note that by analogy with its World Heritage Site status, the European Beer Consumers' Union (EBCU) (www.ebcu.org), awarded Bamberg "World Beer Culture City" status, at a meeting in Bamberg, in November, 2002.