Beer In Essex: Cask Ale, Competition And White Elephants - An Afternoon With Brentwood Brewery

Beer In Essex
Cask Ale, Competition And White Elephants
An Afternoon With Brentwood Brewing Company

It's a bright sunny afternoon when I set out to walk the three miles across Brentwood from my house to Calcott Hall Farm, the home of the Brentwood Brewing Company, and walking up the drive I notice that the field to my right is full of ripe pumpkins ready to be picked. Halloween may be a month or so away but I've already heard that the pumpkin beers have started appearing in the stores across the Atlantic, with the season for these seemingly getting earlier and earlier Stateside. I'm not generally a fan of these beers as I find them too heavily spiced with ginger and cinnamon for my palate, and wonder if the brewery I'm visiting will find a use for them.

I ring the bell and am let in to wait in the brewery's tap room, although I barely have time to settle down into the inviting studded red leather sofa before Roland, the breweries co-founder and owner, appears and immediately offers me a beer. There is a question that I need to get out of my head, so I have to ask him about the pumpkins I spotted, and whether any will be making their way into the brew kettle any time soon.

"Definitely not!" is the resounding response, and whilst on balance I'm rather pleased, there is a small part of me that can't help but feel that it could just be an opportunity wasted.

The main reason for my visit is to follow up on a discussion I had with Roland a few weeks before about his taste in beer and preference for cask over keg. I wanted to get to the root of this preference, as he freely admitted that there were some keg beers he enjoyed, but none that he found truly satisfying. After visiting the SIBA BeerX in Sheffield earlier in the year for example, he tried plenty of keg beer but needed to finish on cask at the end of the day.

"I think it's simply the taste, " he states very matter-of-factly, "it suits my palate more. Cask beer has a certain character, particularly the bitterness, that I don't find in other beer."

"Do you have a favourite cask beer?" I ask.

"My own," he says without hesitation, "that is Brentwood brewery beer. Basically, when it comes down to it I'm tight, and I think, and I know this isn't actually right, that I'm putting money back into my own pocket."

I'm guessing that this is something that most brewers and brewery owners do, and it certainly makes good sense to be seen to drink the beer that you produce as a positive endorsement of its quality. I do however push him to give me another brewery's beers he would drink instead of his, a brewery whose beer he admires perhaps?

He replies with just one word. "Harvey's".

We discuss beer and breweries, both local at national, at some length as I'm poured another beer and Roland is particularly keen to stress how much small breweries are being squeezed.

"Head brewers in general earn around £15000 to £18000 a year at the moment which isn't great considering the work that they do. In order to make good money from brewing a pint of cask ale needs to be around the £5 a pint region, and taking a penny off a pint in duty doesn't help breweries at all. Drinkers then expect it to come off the price of their pint, and they are really only interested in that price being low, in fact they expect it, but the cost of production and materials continues to rise. We're stuck in the middle, being squeezed more and more."

This kind of open, frank and candid attitude is something that I've experienced in all my dealings with Brentwood Brewing and Roland in particular. It's refreshing to hear somebody speak in this way at a brewery in Essex and I ask him about dealings with the other breweries in the county. I am interested to know if they ever meet up and swap ideas or talk through their problems.

"Not really to be honest," he says, "other than at the occasional beer festival or SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers) meetings, and even then the area we are in, (SIBA Eastern, encompassing Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, North Lincolnshire, Peterborough, and Suffolk) is so large that it almost makes it impossible."

Considering it's nearly 200 miles from the top to the bottom, and the roads being such that it would take over three hours of driving from a brewery like Brentwood in the south to Tom Wood's in the north, time and other constraints make it rather impractical. Apparently, Brendan Moore of Norfolk's Iceni Brewery, and representative to SIBA for the region has tried to organise more local regional meetings of brewers from three or so counties, but these have come to nothing due to poor communication, something I find hard to comprehend in the modern age.

I can of course see that breweries in different parts of the country have different problems and concerns, both logistically and with regards to their marketplace, but what about on a county level? Surely Essex brewers talk to each other about the problems that they face when if and when they meet, sharing ideas and asking for advice of particular problems they are having?

Somewhat surprisingly and rather unfortunately this is not the case. The brewers and indeed the owners, only talk in general terms if and when they do meet, I am told, and are generally quite guarded. I'm curious as to why this would be, as it would seem to make more sense and be more beneficial to help each other out. Apparently not, and when I ask why this is I am given a one word answer. Competition.

This makes no sense to me, and noting my confusion Roland is obliged to expand on his reason.

"We are concerned that any idea that we have will be copied, and in todays market it's all about having an edge and being one step ahead. That is the main reason we don't really talk to each other, that and time constraints, but we're really worried about our ideas being copied by the big boys, the big countrywide brewers."

This is quite a statement, and whilst it makes sense on one level it is quite difficult for me to process when I look at it from an outsiders viewpoint. In my experience, certainly at local level, brewers are very keen to tell you what they're up to next. It is after all good publicity to let prospective customers know what to look out for as I creates a sense of anticipation and raises the profile of the brewery in the minds of the consumer.

I ask about collaborations with other breweries in the county or even further afield, and both Roland and his son Ethan, Brentwood's head brewer who has now joined us, agree that they would consider the possibility although they have no plans at present, nor have they had any approaches as yet. Personally I see this as a great way for a brewery share ideas and techniques, and breweries that have done so have grown from strength to strength, so hopefully there will be some scope to do so.

At this point Roland is needed to attend to a customer who has come to pick up several polypins of beer for his daughter's wedding that weekend, so I take the opportunity to follow Ethan into the brewery itself, the first time I've actually seen it up close since they moved to the current site in 2013.

The set up is very similar to that which I remember from when I spent a Brewery Experience day with them back in 2012, the subject of my second ever blog post, at their previous home just up the road from the White Horse in Coxtie Green, a pub still referred to as the Brentwood Brewery Tap.

The new site has a tap room of its own that is open at weekends for beer to be purchased to drink or on the premises or to be taken away, along with a range of brewery merchandise.

There's plenty of room for expansion here however. Currently a 20 BBL brewery, with brewing taking place 2-3 times per week, Ethan shows me the space in which he hopes to install a further two fermenting vessels which will greatly increase capacity and give him a little more room to experiment under the Elephant School brand, as he has plenty of ideas of his own.

I'm interested to discover that Brentwood actually brews a beer that is kegged, Wapping Hoppy 4.0% with the tag-line "The Home of Hoppy" which it supplies to the new home of English Hockey, the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, just up the road to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford. They also supply cask beers, Wapping Gold and Wapping Cape, which are simply existing Brentwood Brewery beers re-badged.

I ask Ethan what we should expect from Brentwood in the next couple of months, thinking that he may not wish to give too much away, however he is keen to tell me of his upcoming plans.

"We'll be brewing Spooky Moon again soon," he tells me, "our Autumn seasonal, to tie in with Halloween coming up, and I plan to brew a few special one-off beers under the Elephant School label, the first of which will be a White Mild."

I'm familiar with White Stouts, pale beers with the body and flavour of a stout that plays with your mind when you drink it, similar to a Black IPA in a way, but in reverse of course. A White Mild is however a new thing on me and I ask Ethan how he proposes to brew it.

"I haven't quite figured that out yet," he states with a huge grin on his face, "however we haven't used the elephant name in any of our brews so far, and White Elephant would be perfect for that."

I have to agree.

There are also plans afoot for a winter release of a barrel-aged Chockwork Orange, their dark Old Ale-style beer brewed with oranges, possibly in nip bottles, a special tasting event, or even a combination of both. Whatever they choose to do it will certainly be something that you won't want to miss out on, so keep an eye on the brewery website for any information on this or indeed any other release.

Four hours have passed since I arrived in seemingly no time at all, but as I'm getting ready to leave the heavens open so I head back to the tap room where I'm poured another beer and we continue the conversation.

Plans for a possible micropub in Brentwood are mentioned (something I've discussed with three separate and completely unconnected parties in the last few weeks), as well as ideas for beers, both new and maybe the revival of a few of the older styles, but as these are still ideas at this stage I will leave them there.

All too soon the sun reappears and bidding farewell to Ethan, Roland and the rest of brewery team I head back to my home on the other side of town. Both of them independently offer me a lift but I refuse, preferring to reflect on a good afternoon and time well spent amongst local people with a real passion for what they do and a genuine love of good beer.

It's turning into a beautiful early-Autumn evening and I realise that I quite fancy another beer.

It's 'Cheers For Charity' On A Big Beery Night

Forget Coffee ...
It's 'Cheers For Charity' On A #BigBeeryNight

Cancer. It affects us all. Whether directly or indirectly we have all experienced the effects of the loss of a loved one ourselves or seen those close to us lose someone dear to them.

It claimed my Mother-in-law five years ago.

To see such a strong woman with so much life in her and so much love to give laid low in the space of a week after a protracted two year battle was devastating, not only to our family, but to the great many friends she had made and those whose lives she had touched.

In her final week, as she gradually wasted away seemingly before our eyes we, and particularly my wife and sister-in-law, were comforted, supported and advised by Macmillan Nurses. They weren't requested, we didn't need to apply for them, but they simply introduced themselves and provided their help and knowledge when and where it was needed. They even organised, in the space of two days, a place in a hospice for my Mother-in-law, as she was determined not to die in hospital, although in the end she passed to quickly for this to happen. The help didn't stop there either, and they made sure that we knew that they were there for us whenever we needed them.

Gwen, my Mother-in-law, loved life and was one of those people who saw the good in all things. She also liked a beer or two. She was never a big drinker, she always drank halves, but she loved good tasty beer, 'a proper 'bitter' bitter', as she would say. She always made sure that there was good beer in the house for whenever I would visit, and would take great delight in finding a bottle of something that I hadn't had before.

These are the things I remember, along with the good times and the laughter, so when my good friend Steve from the Beer O'Clock Show, who himself had lost his Mother, Father, and Mother-in-law to the disease, was wanting to do something for Macmillan, and that it involved beer, I immediately said I would help.

What started as a conversation he had with beer blogger Phil Hardy on Twitter has grown, in the space of just a few days, into a Big Beery Night that will take place on Friday 25th September.

Many of you will of course be aware that Friday 25th is the day that Macmillan coffee mornings will be taking place all over the country, and while coffee is a great drink, I'm sure you would agree that it's not quite as good as beer.

Here's how you can take part:

Instead of abstinence however, on the Big Beery Night you are positively encouraged to drink and donate as you do you so. The idea behind it is simple, on the evening of the 25th September buy yourself a pint, grab a bottle of something amazing, or get your growler filled and drink it. Take a picture of what you're drinking and post it to Twitter using the hashtag #BigBeeryNight. All that then remains for you to do is to pay for your beer a second time in a manner of speaking, by donating the same amount to this Just Giving page that has been set up especially to receive your donation.

You can do this as many times as you like; beer, photo, post, donate,  over and over again if you wish. The target has been set at a modest £1000, but seeing as there's a little while to go and considering the amount has already been raised it looks as though that will be smashed.

Just how much is raised is really up to all of us. You can drink as little or as much as you like, and at if at least the cost of one of those beers is donated you will have been part of the #BigBeeryNight

If that wasn't enough, there will also be a Twitter auction on the night, with more and more beery prizes, experiences and even artwork being donated every day, you'd be wise to keep an eye on the Beer O'Clock Show Twitter feed for all the details.

It promises to be a fantastic evening, one that everyone who likes beer and wants to do something to help support a wonderful course can get behind and be proud to do so. Gwen would most definitely have approved. In fact she would probably have set up a Twitter account just so she could join in.

So get your beers ready, and start making plans for the #BigBeeryNight on Friday 25th September.

I'll see you there.

If you would like to read what others have written about this event you can do so here:
From the Beer O'Clock Show website
From Phil Hardy's site - Beersay
From the BeerViking
From Rach Smith's - Look At Brew

Beer In Essex - Review: Farmers Yard, Maldon

Beer In Essex - Review
Farmers Yard, Maldon


The micropub as a recognised entity is barely ten years old, a consequence of the 2003 Licensing Act becoming law in 2005 and enabling small premises to obtain the right to sell alcohol, and whilst they were initially few and far between, the last five years has seen an explosion in their number up and down the country.

There are over 125 such premises now in existence, premises that were once shops, offices or off-licenses, all given a new lease of life in a straight-forward no-nonsense and often very often cramped environment with no food or entertainment, united by the philosophy of 'Keep It Small, Keep It Simple'.

The Farmers Yard is the third micropub to open in Essex, The Hop Beer Shop and the Billericay Brewery Micropub being the other two, and like the latter is run by a brewery, with this one belonging to The Maldon Brewing Company.

I am fortunate enough to be able to attend many events where brewers are present, and indeed count a number of them as friends, however for the majority of drinkers contact with the people that actually brewed the beer in there glass is a rare thing indeed. There are certain beer festivals where this is possible, although often only on certain days, and the occasions of brewer-drinker interaction are generally seldom. We are fortunate in Essex that you can often converse with the brewer on a fairly regular basis, whether it be Ian from the Essex Brewery Company at a farmers market, Roland and Ethan from Brentwood Brewery when they open on a Saturday, or Trevor from Billericay Brewing at his brewery or micropub, and now Nigel and his son Mike in Maldon, you can go and share a beer with the very person who enabled it to be in your hand in the first place.

Situated at the lower end of the High Street, the Farmers Yard has a relatively plain shop-front, its green-on-white signage would be easy to miss, although it was drawing quite a crowd when I ventured inside on Saturday afternoon. Admittedly it had only been open a week and still could be considered a bit of a novelty from the locals but there was a real buzz about the place, with plenty of conversation and laughter, and I had to weave my way between the tables and drinkers in order to get to Nigel and order a drink. I opted for a half of one of Maldon's newest beers Ella, brewed unsurprisingly with Ella hops, and tasting very good indeed.

There's no bar here, only an open doorway with a till tucked away, with the beer served by gravity dispense straight from the cask on stillage in the back room, something that is a common feature of many micropubs. Whilst he was gone I took the opportunity to have a proper look around at the layout and my fellow drinkers.

Three high wooden tables surrounded by stools take up much of the space, and these were all occupied by what would be fair to say was an older crowd, and I mean no disrespect by saying that many of them fitted the oft-pilloried CAMRA activist stereotype. I had noticed that there were a number of beers available, not all from the Maldon Brewing Co. but other Essex brewers too, as well as local cider and wine by the glass. Occupying the whole of the wall opposite the door is a wooden shelving unit full of bottles of the latest Maldon brewery beers, and I purchased some bottles to take home with me, including a few of the strong Golden Ale, Xylonite, which I have earmarked to feature in the upcoming Beer O'Clock Show 'Essex Showcase' podcast.

I wasn't able to stay for too long on this visit , I had a pressing engagement elsewhere, so after a brief chat with Nigel (whose surname is Farmer, hence the name of the pub) I was on my way. I'll be back again soon for a pint or two, with plenty of time to sit and chat when I'm need to pick up some more of their bottled beer, and I'm confident it will be just as busy then as it will more than likely be on another Saturday afternoon.

There will be a second micropub opening on nearby soon, as Mighty Oak, the other brewery in Maldon have had permission to convert the vacant Pink Rose cafe at the other end of the High Street, and I'm looking forward to being able to visit and drink in both. Fresh beer, straight from two breweries to your glass in the same town served by the people who make it was recently the exclusive domain of the newer breed of city breweries. To be able to do have a similar experience in one Essex town was once the stuff of dreams, but by the end of the year this will be very much reality, one we can all drink to.

The Farmers Yard can is at:
140 High Street, Maldon, Essex CM9 5BX
Opening times:
Monday to Friday 11.00am to 2.00pm and 5.00pm to 9.00pm
Saturday 11.00am to 9.00pm
Sunday 12.00pm to 9.00pm

Beer In Essex: Four Coggeshall Pubs

Beer In Essex
Four Coggeshall Pubs

On a warm Saturday morning a few weeks ago we were stuck for an idea of what to do or where to go. It was one of those late Spring - early Summer mornings where you really feel that you'd have wasted the day if you didn't get out of the house and do something positive. Searching for inspiration, my wife turned to the internet and consulted one of those 'days out in...' guides that can easily be found. A National Trust property in Coggeshall, Paycockes House and Garden, caught her eye, and as I neither of us could recall ever having been there, or indeed having ever been to Coggeshall itself we duly set off pleased to have found a suitable destination.

My only recollection of Coggeshall prior to this was that the late eighties, early nineties television show Lovejoy was filmed in the area, and that the previous owners of our current house had moved there when we bought it from them.

Consulting the Good Beer Guide for a suitable lunch recommendation upon our arrival, we headed to The Chapel Inn, of which more later, for some very good food and a couple of very well kept pints from the local Red Fox Brewery. Paycockes House was just around the corner, and well worth a visit. Beautifully kept and respectfully restored it is a fine example a 15th century wool merchants house, and the children were particularly delighted to be able to play croquet in the garden, but it was the walk around the unspoilt town that provided me with the desire to find out more about it and this was subsequently the inspiration for this piece of writing.

The origins of Coggeshall itself, as well as its name, are lost in the mists of time and it has been referred to with many different spellings through the years. Growing up at the intersection of the River Blackwater and the Roman Road of Stane Street that linked Colchester to Ermine Street, the main Roman Road north, it is referred to in the Domesday Book as Cogheshal, a settlement of some sixty men, with ploughs, horses, oxen, sheep, and even a mill. It prospered from the mid-Fifteenth Century as the local monks were able to breed sheep with particularly high quality wool, from which the famous Coggeshall White cloth was made. It also had a regular Saturday market. With the decline of the wool trade, the economy was centred around silk and velvet, but by the late Nineteenth Century it had also become renowned for the quality of its brewing.

In Ian P. Peaty's excellent Brewery History Society Publication, Essex Brewers: The Malting & Hop Industries Of The County, a constant source of reference for me, eight pages are devoted to the breweries and mentions of brewing in the town, only Chelmsford and Colchester have more, such was its importance in the county.

As wool was such an important factor in the growth of the town it is natural that I should start with one of the pubs that takes its name from the trade itself.

The Woolpack (91 Church Street) dates from the 15th century, and is the oldest secular building in the town. Originally built as a home for a prosperous wool merchant, by the early 16th century it had become a hostelry catering to those in the same business, with wool auctions being held there regularly and there is a record of an Albert Emmings roasting a whole bullock there at a Shrove Tuesday party. Within the space of some fifty years however it had returned to its original use as private dwelling.

In 1665 it was purchased by Thomas Lowery, previously vicar of the church next door, St Peter ad-Vincula (which my Latin translator tells me is St Peter in chains), who had been ejected from the Church of England over his Puritanical views following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660. He continued to preach despite this, and independent congregations would gather under his roof to hear his words, and this is commemorated by a blue plaque on the wall of the pub itself.

Speaking of the church I have found an anecdote in several books that concerns a group of men (the number varies from four upwards) who, having spent the evening in the inn next door, became convinced that they could move the church by pushing against it hard enough. Having tried in vain, and after removing there jackets, they came to the conclusion that the reason that they were unsuccessful was that they were pushing against the wind. After going round to the other side and pushing with all their might for a short while, they went back to see if they had made any impression at all. Finding their jackets gone they reasoned that they must have pushed the church right on top of them.

After the death of Thomas Lowery the building passed to his son, Jeremy, along with the vast sum in those days of £900, and upon his death it passed to his son Jeremiah Lowery. By 1708 Jeremiah had converted the Woolpack was back to an inn, who in turn sold it to a George Long and it was known as the Punchbowl for a short time.

Its half-timbered frame was covered in plaster in the early 19th century, but a refurbishment in the 1930s this was removed, the building restored to the state we see it in today, with a magnificent brick fireplace discovered behind a boarded-up wall during the same work. It has suffered from some subsidence during the years, indeed its floor sloped by eight inches from the centre to the walls at one point, so a false floor was laid in the 1950s and this remains.

Today it still retains plenty of character, a memory of a bygone era, it really is like stepping back in time. A row of four cottages once stood in what is now its car park, so there is no excuse not to spend a little time there should you happen to be passing by.

If you continue towards the town, almost facing you near the very end of Church Street you will find The Chapel Inn (4 Market Hill). As its name implies it is built on the site of an old chapel (although evidence of Roman drainage aqueducts can be found in the beer cellar), however I have found some conflicting evidence regarding its origins.

The pubs website states that the original chapel was erected in 1256, and there is reference to the home of one John Sewell Sheriff of Essex in the reign of Richard II, owning property there, which was either the chapel itself or certainly very close by. During the Peasants Revolt of 1381, his home  was looted by the rebels, although the current pub's assertion that he was decapitated on the premises at the time seem a little improbable as there are possible references to him as late as 1389.

The Will of Thomas Hall, a local resident, dated January 15th, 1499 has the following passage:

"I bequeath towards the edifying and making of a chapell within the said Towne of Cokesale (Coggeshall) XXS to be paide when the said chapell is werkying."

Whether this is a new chapel, or a modernisation of the earlier one is unclear, however construction certainly took place, and there are references to it as "an olde chaple" in 1549.

In 1588 the property was conveyed to the fullers and weavers of the town before being demolished in either 1787 or 1795 depending on which account you read.

The current property, which had been known as Ayworth's, Edgworth and Seals (Sewells) after previous owners is mentioned as being sold (along with The Woolpack above) in 1828 following the bankruptcy of the brewer of the Coggeshall Brewery at The White Hart (that we shall visit shortly),Mr. I. Brightwen, with two floor maltings being a feature of the yard at the rear.

At some point the building was a hotel as well as an inn, and featured a brewhouse being run by a Mr Walter Green, and in more recent times was owned by the Ind Coope brewery, which had its origins much nearer London though still in Essex, having been founded in Romford.

Today it is a friendly community pub and, as I noted earlier, boasts Coggeshalls only entry in the Good Beer Guide, and one in which you will find beer from the nearby Red Fox Brewery regularly on the bar. I can also recommend the food having eaten there on a recent visit so make sure it's on your itinerary, particularly if you're after some Essex brewed beer.

Turn right out of The Chapel Inn and down Market Hill for a few short paces and directly in front of you you cannot mistake the pale frontage of The White Hart Hotel (Market End).

Parts of the building date from the late 15th century, although it may have been built on the site of a much earlier building as it situated alongside the old Roman road. A former coaching inn, and one in which you may still stay the night, it was once the only staging post on the Colchester to Braintree route.

It is also known that the Coggeshall Brewery was situated at the rear of the building as in 1837 it was up for sale, being described thus:

"Coggeshall Brewery, including an excellent brewhouse: 3 floor malting house ... malt, barley and seed chambers ... the whole forming a frontage of 95 feet in Stoneham Street; at the back is an enclosed yard and an excellent garden. The property is supplied from an inexhaustible spring rising in a small garden a short distance from the brewery. The population of the town and neighbourhood (is such) that an intelligent merchant with moderate capital must succeed."

A company of gypsies stayed at the inn for a while in September 1842, although it appears that they were confined to the out-buildings as one of their number, Cassello Chilcott aged 28, is recorded as having died in the stables after suffering a long illness. She is buried in the churchyard of St Peter ad-Vincula, here gravestone being one of the first you see if you climb the path to the church itself.

Today the White Hart Hotel is run by Olde English Inns, the hotel arm of Greene King, and is said to be haunted by the unnamed ghost of a young woman, although this may not be that of Cassello Chilcott as there have been reported sightings even before she died there. Looking on the website it gets good reviews for the friendliness of the staff although the rooms themselves appear to be a little small and in need of some renovation. It would be a good base from which to explore the town and the surrounding area, so might be worthy of consideration should you wish to visit.

The fourth a final pub on my tour of Coggeshall is, I'm afraid, no longer an inn but a private house, but one that I feel is still worthy of attention.

The Fleece (27 West Street) is attached to Paycocke House, being purpose built some five years afterwards in 1503, for wool merchant Thomas Paycocke's son as an inn and stables.

Whilst not as grand as the White Hart Hotel it still gained a good trade from its location on the old Roman road, albeit a little out of the main town, with its rear being home to the Gravel Brewery, founded in 1870, before this moved opposite the Cricketers pub, like The Fleece no longer trading, somewhere between 1875 and 1897. The brewery itself was started as a sideline by the renowned seed growing company Kings Seeds, a business that is still in existence today.

The Fleece itself is described as having one bar with an enormous fire place in which log fires were kept constantly burning during the winter and must have provided some much welcome warmth for a weary traveller on a bitter evening.

In later years it was bought by Greene King, who in turn closed and sold it in 2013 although the sign still remains, as does much of the brewery branding on the exterior wall. It is a fine building and it is not difficult to imagine the sound of conversation and laughter coming from it in days gone by.

Visiting Coggeshall is like going back in time, to the days of Pepys or Dickens, when the coaches thundered along the main street of this once thriving town. It is places like this, that contrast almost completely with the hustle and bustle of my corner of Essex, that fill my heart with joy and truly make me believe that I live in the best county in the country.

                                                        ___________________________________

Sources:
Essex Brewers & The Malting & Hop Industries Of The County - Ian P Peaty, The Romance of Essex Inns - Glyn Morgan, Alka-Seltzer guide to the Pubs Of Essex, Titbits and Tales of Essex Inns - Mavis Sipple, A Pub Crawl Around Essex - Graham Dover, The Essex Chronicle, The Chelmsford Chronicle, Borrow's Gypsies Blog website, Olde English Inns website, The Chapel Inn website

A Tale Of Two Sittings: The Knowledge And The Secret Bar: Drinking Beer With Meantime And Sharp's

A Tale Of Two Sittings
The Knowledge And The Secret Bar
Drinking Beer With Meantime And Sharp's

Having just returned from Paris (about which I'll post about separately soon) this was a title that I simply couldn't resist. You might think that it's one that I've used simply for literal effect, but there's more than clever wordplay behind it. as sitting, drinking and talking was very much the order of the day on each occasion.

Both breweries are now owned by multi-national national drinks firms, with SAB Miller acquiring Meantime earlier this year to much consternation, whilst Molson Coors bought Sharp's from the founder and owner Bill Sharp back in 2011. I was interested in getting both breweries perspective on what some have seen as selling-out and was pleasantly encouraged by what I heard from both parties. I'm jumping a little ahead of myself here however, and it was Meantime to which I was invited first of all, so that's where I'll  start.

So it was, one Thursday evening a month or so ago, I made my way to their brewery in Greenwich, a fifteen minute walk from London's O2 arena, for the launch of The Knowledge a series of beer appreciation courses for those wanting to delve a little deeper into this liquid that we love.

We were met at the new Tasting Rooms which were opened shortly before the buy-out was announced, by the current Beer Academy Beer Sommelier of the Year, Rod Jones. He was our host for the evening and gave us a brief tour of the brewery before we made our way to the upstairs Brewhouse bar, home to some of the late beer writer Michael Jackson's astonishing bottle collection.

On our way there we were treated to a view of Meantime's small but interesting barrel-ageing area, home to a very small batch of the much missed and much sought after Thomas Hardy's Ale. Originally brewed by Eldridge Pope from 1968 until 1999 when they ceased brewing completely, it was briefly revived by the Devon-based O'Hanlon's Brewery. After only five years they too stopped brewing it as it proving too expensive for them and their limited resources. Sadly the bottles from the cask we saw won't be seen in the UK however, as they we be shipped of to Italy, however it was hinted that a very limited amount may be made available. I live in hope.

We also got to see the first contribution SAB Miller has made to Meantime as Rod proudly introduced us to four shiny new fermenting vessels that inhabit the brewery yard. Standing proud and tall like the buildings just across the water in London's Docklands, they were certainly an impressive example of what investment can bring.

Finally, when we are all seated and have a full glass of Meantime beer (what else!) in front of us, Rod proceeds to tell us about the reasoning behind them taking this initiative.

"We have wanted to do this for some time, and indeed have been doing so on a limited basis" he began " and it's something we are hoping to roll-out to the on-trade shortly, as well as those who sell our beer in places like Waitrose"

"The thinking behind this, particularly for trade customers, is to educate them. It's about reclaiming working in the licensed trade as a career path, educating and helping them promote better beer. It's about realising that beer is not going to go back to the 'old men in pubs' thing."

"The industry is renewing itself constantly anyway. Bottles of light ale, the traditional pale ale and Mackeson have all-but disappeared from pubs. We think that there is plenty of interest in beer now, ... and we want them to come in and experience a working brewery ... and learn something about beer, This is a genuine education programme within the industry."

He then went on to explain the two levels of courses on offer.

The first level is split into four 'mini-courses': Beer Appreciation/How to taste beer; How beer is made; London beer history; and Beer and cheese, the latter being an informal talk and tasting of Meantime and other world class beers paired with various cheeses, with the aim of bringing out the best in both.

The second level consists of the Masterclass, a one-day five hour course that includes lunch and a full beer tasting, and covers all aspects of beer, including it's evaluation, identifying faults, serving temperatures and beer and food.

A limited level of knowledge is assumed when people come on these courses we are told, and should you be interested in finding out more about any of these, or would like to book yourself on them, then you can follow this link which will enable you to do so.

We talked about beer for quite some time with Rod impressing us all with his detailed level of knowledge. He talked to us on a wide range of beer related subjects from the simple and complex sugars in barley and malt, to the ancient Mesopotamian poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh (in which beer plays a part in creating the first man), to hop oils, and the history of brewing in London.

There is one subject on which he won't be drawn, and that is on the SAB Miller acquisition itself. I ask him if it was larger company that approached Meantime or if there was any courtship on their behalf. Rod deftly side-steps this issue by stating that he wasn't party to the deal so cannot comment on it, however he is keen to stress the benefits that the larger brewery will bring, from increased distribution and investment to a wealth of industry knowledge. Most importantly though, for the time being at least, Meantime is being left largely to it's own devices and continuing to do what it does best, brewing good beer.

I finished the evening in good company and with good food and plenty of Meantime beer, talking more informally this time with Rod, along with Pete Brown and Jerry Bartlett before I had to drag myself away. It had been a very satisfying and informative evening and being issued with a certificate to say that we had completed the course was a rather nice touch.

A few weeks later, it's the first Saturday in August and I've just finished work for a couple of weeks annual leave. Rather than going straight home I change in the office before heading up to Finsbury Circus, a short walk from Moorgate tube station to attend the annual London Beach Rugby event as a guest of Sharp's Brewery.

You may think that the city of London is an odd place for a beach rugby tournament, however as I approach the venue it becomes clear from the noise level that quite a lot of people think this is very much the place to be.

The London Beach Rugby tournament was held in Covent Garden in 2013, and has been sponsored by Sharp's from the beginning. It moved to London's Docklands last year, but this year the Finsbury Circus venue became available and I gather that it will be held there next year too. The format is basically five-a-side touch-rugby on sand, but should you wish for a more detailed version of the rules they can be found here. The Sharp's team was coached by former England Tighthead Prop Phil Vickery, and it was my pleasure to meet and chat with him a little later in the day.

Despite playing well, the Sharp's team only made it to the semi-finals, with the eventual winners being a French team who are apparently the dominant force in the game, having won every year so far. Spread over two afternoons it's a thoroughly enjoyable way to watch competitive sport up close whilst working your way through Sharp's core range, so if it sounds like your thing then keep an eye out for it next year.

I had been promised a very special tasting experience and I'm met by Lara from Red Consultancy who has set this meeting up and she introduces me to James Nicholls, Sharp's Senior Brand Manager.

I immediately warm to James and his easy going manner. He is friendly, knowledgeable and most of all passionate about the brewery he has been with for over twenty years. Having started washing casks and helping out in his spare time, he has worked his way up to a senior position in the company but this hasn't jaded him in any way shape or form. The Sharp's fire still burns fiercely inside him.

We talk about beer in general and about Rock and the area of Cornwall where the brewery is based. It's an area I know well as I used to visit every year from 1988 until 1993 as, along with a group of friends, I'd spend the summer surfing and drinking in and around nearby Polzeath.

Inevitably the conversation turns to brewing in Rock, and when I ask him about the recent revelation that some Doom Bar isn't actually brewed in Cornwall he gives me an honest and straight-forward answer.

"I know this has caused a lot of fuss" he says "but It's only the bottled version that's brewed  by Molson Coors in Burton upon Trent, and this only accounts for 15 per cent of production. It's all a question of resources, and the remaining 85 per cent, which accounts for all of the cask production, is still brewed in Cornwall."

This actually makes a lot of sense, and having discussed this with a few people whose opinions I respect since then, I've come to the conclusion that if you're going to have your beer brewed elsewhere then Burton upon Trent, with its rich and historic brewing tradition, is certainly the place to do so.

It appears that Sharp's have largely been left alone by Molson Coors, with the multi-national bringing investment, distribution and industry knowledge, in fact exactly the same answers I got from Rod at Meantime.

The only difference between the two that I can see is time.

Remember that it's been nearly five years since Sharp's were sold, and in that time it cannot be denied that whatever you think of Doom Bar, its profile has been raised significantly and it has attracted a huge army of fans who actively seek it out. I myself have friends who talk about it in almost hallowed terms, and it's the one beer that they look out for if they want a pint of 'real ale'. Publicans undoubtedly know this and they will tell you that it always sells well, so much so that it has become a regular fixture on bars up and down the country. This of course raises the issue of consistency and I'm assured that even though this is hard to ensure on a practical level, Sharp's tries its hardest to make sure that this is so. It's clearly a brand reputation they're very proud of and very keen on protecting.

The reason for my visit was a VIP tasting, and I was soon led over to a mobile home-style vehicle towards one corner of Finsbury Circus. This, I'm told, is the 'Secret Bar'.

James says he'll be seeing us in a minute or two and promptly disappears whilst Lara and myself are ushered into the back of the vehicle and some fairly and quite cramped seating, but there is a partition door slightly ahead of us. The main door is closed, and with it the sights, sounds and smells of the rugby tournament beyond fade into memory. The partition door is rolled back and the 'Secret Bar' is revealed ...

Unfortunately that's as much as I will say as I have been asked by Sharp's not to reveal exact details about the bar itself suffice to say that it is designed in such a way that you whole focus is solely on the beer.

James is there of course, assuming the guise of barman, and I am served beer, as you might expect, and more besides. He is very keen to hear my opinions and those of Lara, as well as offering his own and we evaluate the beer as we go and talk about the flavours we find and the way they are brewed. It is a fascinating and enlightening experience and we are in there for some considerable time, nearly two hours, and though I'm told that this is a fairly new thing for them as well as me, they are normally in and out in around twenty minutes.

We emerge into the sunshine with the rugby tournament into its closing stages. Beer tokens are pushed into my hand and I'm given a hessian goody bag full of Sharp's beer. I'm not left to my own devices however and even though the tasting is over James and other members of the brewery team are attentive and on hand to talk about beer, answering any other questions that I have.

Several pints later it's time for me to leave, and although the rugby has finished the party will be continuing long into the night.

On the train home I reflect on the day the relative experiences I have had with both breweries. Meantime obviously had a product to sell, The Knowledge, and even though they were genuinely friendly the feel was a little more clinical than the easy-going charm that I felt from the staff at Sharp's. The events themselves obviously went some way to contribute towards this, and whilst Sharp's were obviously very comfortable with the role their parent company held in the day to day running of things, I didn't quite get that same feeling at Meantime.

Time will of course tell, so let's hope we continue to be drinking good beer from both of these breweries for may years to come.

I'd like to thank Rod and James at Meantime, and James from Sharp's for entertaining me and my questions and answering them in an open and honest way. I'd also like to that Don at Hope And Glory and Lara at Red Consultancy for inviting me along to their respective events. I had a great time at both and everyone without exception was extremely friendly.

Addendum: Some of you may have read this week, this article on the Beer Insider site regarding Grolsch, one of SAB Miller's other brands, now comprising 10 per cent of Meantime's London Lager. Whilst this is obviously a worrying development as it shows that the larger brewery is already influencing production, it might not be a huge cause for concern yet. It does however make me think of those four shiny new fermenting vessels that had recently been delivered and what beer they might contain in a few years time.

Beer In Essex - Review: Church Street Tavern, Colchester

Beer In Essex - Review
Church Street Tavern, Colchester

Tucked away down a side street, albeit one that will be instantly familiar to anyone that has been to the Colchester Beer Festival is the Church Street Tavern.


Head inside, turn left and head towards the bar with its shabby but strangely alluring frontage. You will think it looks rather bare surmounted as it is by two stainless-steel multi-tap keg founts, one at each end, but take a closer look and you might find something just a bit more interesting.

The taps, the last time I was in there earlier this year, weren't especially inspiring but different enough in this part of the world to be worthy of a mention. Both Calvors Lager and their Premium featured, Meantime's Red Ale, Brewdog's Brixton Porter, alongside Adnams Spindrift and their Dry Hopped Lager, which seems to be cropping up all over the place at the moment and that's no bad thing. It is however the bottle selection which is the real draw here, and on closer inspection you'll see why with Brewdog and Wild Beer Co. (a selection of four different) next to US favourites from Flying Dog and Brooklyn, and a few Belgian and German classics in the mix for good measure.

The decor is equally interesting with a seemingly randomly arranged and mismatched array of armchairs, sofas and occasional tables that reminds more of a furniture showroom in a department store than a bar. It's fun, it's quirky and I rather like it.

I'd certainly recommend a visit to the Church Street Tavern as it's relaxed, the staff are friendly and the beer range is different enough in this part of Essex for it to be worth a little of your time. It's a place you'll feel equally at home with a group of friends or on your own with a good book, and that suits me just fine.

The Church Street Tavern can be found at: 3 Church Street, Colchester, Essex, CO1 1NF
Website: churchstreettavern.co.uk Twitter: @ChurchStTavern

Beer In Essex - Review: Bishop Nick Brewery - Revelry

Beer In Essex - Review
Bishop Nick Brewery - Revelry 4.5%

As I'm currently writing some longer posts about this fair county of mine, I though it would be rather fun to do the occasional quick review of Essex beer, Essex pubs, and anything generally beery in Essex that I deem fit. This will enable me to post more quickly as required, given an up to date account as things happen whilst I continue to work on writing that requires a little more research.

For the first of these I've opted for a beer that I picked up only yesterday at Ales By Mail and is the eighth and latest limited edition ale from the Bishop Nick Brewery. I briefly featured Bishop Nick in the first part of my review of Essex bottled beer with a single offering, their 1555 which is a gorgeous tawny-red ale with some delicious light cherry and toffee caramel flavours. All of their beer I've had previously has been of a very high calibre, which is as you might expect when you consider their pedigree so I'm looking for something rather special here.

Revelry is brewed with the dual purpose Rakau hop from New Zealand balanced against the British Archer hop all "packed in like tents at Glastonbury" as it says on the bottle. It was launched at the breweries own festival this year, Revelry Day, that too place on the 21st of June, Fathers Day. There was a hog roast and barbecue, a bouncy castle assault course and magician, with wine from the local Felsted Vineyard (which is also the home of the Felstar Brewery) as well as plenty of the brewery's own beer. It is a celebration of summer, and this Revelry is aimed squarely summer festivals so let's see if it's glorious sun-soaked weekend of a beer or a total wash out.


It pours a golden amber colour, like highly polished copper that glows in the sunlight, and this is topped with a tight off-white head. The aroma is initially earthy, characteristically British which surprises me somewhat, but floral fruitiness pushes its way through, most noticeably mango, peach, passion fruit and gooseberry, that hint at what might be just under the surface. It's quite full bodied, which catches me a little off guard, and a good varnished wood bitterness is followed by gentle notes of raspberry, apricot, pear and pine, but these disappear almost as soon as you spot them, washed away with a little toffee apple caramel and finishing with that earthy woodiness once more.

With its blue and yellow pump clip / bottle label design (along with a distinctive white cap) it's certainly a beer that stands out on the shelf or bar, but for me it doesn't really deliver that tropical fruit punch that I was expecting. It may well be a taste of summer, but it's a peculiarly British one, with the occasional day of warm rain and turning a little chilly in the evenings, not quite the scorcher I was hoping for.