It’s almost like I needed a reminder of what the inside of a pub looks like….

I’m not a religious man. The opposite is true really. But if I was, I’d describe organising The Independent Salford Beer Festival as my penance for past sins. Like a “slightly” more stressful “Three Hail Marys, Two Our Fathers and a wotsit……”

This year, that penance hurt me round about early March *Checks emails* (the 13th to be exact). That was the day that I sent out the initial invitations to supply what WAS to be #ISBF7. The replies started to arrive within minutes. And all were looking forward to the event…. But more than a handful had a suffix to the message. A proviso. A phrase that was repeated “…. if we survive”

Of course. Covid-19 has wrought profound sadness and grief. The loss of family and friends is a truly terrible thing. Of all people, of that I am perfectly aware. But from a business perspective, it brought home to me the fears of many associates and friends in this business. The entire hospitality sector was in state of fear. Pubs, bars, cafes, restaurants, all boarding up like Florida beachfronts in the face of hurricane season.

However, after a week or two, things – the feeling – started to change. There was a distinct sense of determination (in some quarters), like a survival instinct had kicked in. Fight or flight. And many businesses, breweries and bars in particular, started to think about adapting their MO. Sensing that not all was lost….

Breweries that package beer in bottle and can started to think about diverting production, getting beer out to independent Micro pubs – themselves adapting to an off sales and delivery ‘model’ – setting up direct Web sales, regulations compliant deliveries. But breweries that only produced cask ale were faced with the heartbreaking thought of pouring entire brews and cold store stocks down the drain. I speak as someone who – yearly – pours fabulous beer down the drain at the end of each ISBF. It brings real tears to these eyes.

Then I heard of breweries starting to “Bag in Box”. A common thing in Cider, but not so in beer.

The day that delivery (above) arrived, I danced like a fool. Pictish “Brewers Gold”. It felt (and tasted) like a dream. A classic session pale. And that night I slaked a month long thirst on one of my favourite beers. Nectar.

With breweries increasingly bottling & canning, actually BREWING again, it felt like Spring was on the way. OK, maybe not the end of this social winter, but the blizzards were now reduced to flurries.

There is an increasing feeling of positivity. That there is a light to reach out to. That survival isn’t just possible, but a realistic prospect for many, certainly in the area I call home.

And in my area, there are three businesses that I want to applaud. Three businesses that not only haven’t given up, but have maintained. And reached out to others. Helping. Sharing. Lifted.

Marble. In particular, the owner, Jan Rogers. In those incredibly dark early days, the reaching out on social media work advice on how to deal with “The Man”. With HMRC and other arms of Government. Advice on how to deal, entitlements, that all wasn’t lost. Brava.

Jason & Jules Bailey at GRUB. For keeping going. For advice. Help to small businesses. Small street food vendors might just get through this because of these two. For delivering draught beer and food across the area. And the most lovely Chicken Katsu from Sutikku..

Last – and buy no means least – Cloudwater. For being quick to reach out to smaller local breweries and availing them of the use of their well established and successful Web sales facility. That’s collaboration. And Mancunian.

Stay safe. Shop (and drink) independent. Shop local.

Be kind to one another. Jx

Like most people I know, I started drinking underage.

Memories of nursing two halves of Guinness, aged 14, at a Joy Division gig (08/04/1980 at Derby Hall, Bury), a sneaky (and squeakily ordered) half of Carlsberg at The Apsley Cottage pre my first ever gig (Damned, October 1979, Machine Gun Etiquette tour)

I have some very clear memories of my Real Ale adolescence too. They involved  guys I first met in a god forsaken prefab in Trafford Park. And those work colleagues introduced me to places I’d otherwise never have found (John Fishwick RIP – I owe that man),or have taken years to discover.

So we start with my first Xmas do. In 1984. The beer – and pub – landscape would be unrecognisable to most now. Beer in Manchester City centre was mostly Wilson, Tetley’s, Robinson’s, Marstons, some Boddingtons and – bizarrely, given the brewery location – no Holts. In short, variety was in short supply.

We started in The Hare & Hounds on Shudehill, a pub that – physically – has barely changed a paint flake. And it’s all the better for it. I adore the fact that I can drink in a pub first opened in the 1770s. Back then, it was a Tetley pub. In fact, it wasn’t that long ago that the ‘Huntsman’ logo was still on the exterior wall

The pub remains beautiful, with the most exquisite tile work across the bar area and the front room. The pub had – and almost uniquely in the city centre, still has – the feel of a “Local”. Back then, on that Friday evening, 35 years ago, it was rammed with people guzzling Tetley Bitter and Mild.

We moved on. To a Manchester landmark – but back then, it was “another pub” – The Marble Arch. It felt like a long walk up Rochdale Road, but in reality it’s less than 300 yards. There was no brewery back then (we were 10 years or so away from that historic installation). It sounds like heresy to say this, but – at that point – it was “just another pub”. Albeit, one that had recently been turned into a “freehouse”. At that time, “The Arch” was yet to bury her claws into my consciousness. The next pub was one that claimed an early place in my heart.

The Harp & Shamrock was one of the smallest pubs in Manchester. It was legendarily “tucked away” in the (then) warehouse district – what have since become luxury apartments. It was tiny, with two rooms (both ‘petit’) with the main bar in the room to the left, which, whilst itself small, still managed to accommodate a well used dart board. It was a Marstons pub. And that thing about being ‘tucked away’ meant that it didn’t get much attention when it stayed serving “after hours”.

The Harp & Shamrock was my first real “pub crush”. These days it would be regarded as a Micro Pub, given its size. It was always friendly, the beer was always excellent (Marstons almost qualified as “exotica” in those days). Later on, the pub was bought and renamed “The Pot of Beer”. It became locally known for its Polish bar menu – the food was ace. We’d travel as a team at lunchtime from Old Trafford to sample its delights.

I loved that place. Now long closed – the building, strangely (given the surrounding development of the Angel Meadow area) still remains functioning – the building is a bit of a fantasy of mine. Just give me an 8 figure lottery win and I’d get that pub back….

From there – and it had been a long day / evening – we were nearing the end. And, fortunately, it was a short walk along New Mount Street, left onto Ludgate Street then right onto Dyche Street to a pub that has gone through some changes in the intervening years – including two name changes. You’ll now know it as The Angel. But back then, it was The Weavers Arms.

According to the exceptional “Manchesterhistory.net” website, this pub has been called “The Weavers” since – at least – the 1850s

Before it’s “transformation” into the freehouse that was “The Beerhouse” (where it was created as an open plan pub, the Weavers was (technically) 3 roomed, with a small “Snug” type room at the rear, with a larger room to the front with an upstairs performance space. (On that night, the legendary Manchester Bluesman Victor Brox was playing upstairs)

We went in the Snug, which – despite its size – managed to accommodate a pool table (a rarity in the City Centre). That pool table ended up covering a “tired and emotional” colleague before we finished……

The Weavers was a straight up Tetley pub, bustling with Friday night custom and an excellent pint of Tetley Bitter. Pool was played – no doubt unsteadily – beer was further consumed and the evening, for me at least, ended here.

For me, I preferred the pub as The Weavers. But then, I love multi – roomed pubs. Yes, it had the “Robert Owen Brown” years of gastro pubbery as The Angel and the pub feels run down and an almost “awaiting an offer from developers” kind of feel, but that’s “progress”

This post is a bit of a love letter to people who’ll never read it. My first colleagues in the Civil Service. They introduced me to now long gone pubs like The Castle & Falcon, The Coach & Horses, The White House, places I may never have experienced if it wasn’t for Hig, Fish & Co.

I owe those fellas. Johnny Fish passed away a few years back (I only heard after the event) and the last time I saw Hig was wobbly at the bar of The Marble Arch about 6 or 7 years ago.

These fellas were my educators, both in work and in beer. And – like I said – I owe a debt.

And yes. Even after only a month, I miss pubs. I’ll be raising a glass, virtually, with friends, tonight. But it’s not the same. Back soon. Stay safe. Jx

This morning (this was originally drafted in June 2019), I read a post by Jonny Garrett in Good Beer Hunting. Now this isn’t a magazine I read regularly. But the title of the post dragged me in.

“Credit Where Credit Is Due”

The opening line was almost apocalyptic.

“The British craft beer industry is a “house of cards” built on crippling levels of debt,”

Think about that.

One of the things I remember most clearly from my early days of blogging – and being lucky enough to talk with brewers – were their key concerns.

Chief amongst them was Payment. Closely followed by the return of hardware, namely casks & kegs.

Early on in the (ludicrous word) “planning” of the first Independent Salford Beer Festival, the two things I promised brewers were payment within a week of banking the receipts and the availability of their casks (the first two years being cask only).

Treating people right isn’t rocket science. It’s simply common decency.

A long time ago, I worked for Customs & Excise. I enforced VAT debts. I was the guy who would turn up in pubs, cast my eye over the fixtures and fittings and politely – yet firmly – advise the publican as to the small amount that they would fetch at auction. And the consequences of non payment.

(Removal and sale of all owned fixtures and fittings. Followed by court to recover the rest of the outstanding debt)

I didn’t sympathise. I’d already explored other ways to sort the debt. I was doing them a favour. These were cash businesses. Badly run, or (for some reason or other) simply not working. And I (for my employer) was simply being humane.

Now. There’s the thing. Pubs ARE cash businesses. Speaking as an outsider, I understand “business”, but what kind of business – and reputation – are you going to have, if you repeatedly don’t (or delay to) pay your suppliers?

Word gets about.

I remember a conversation with a local brewery owner, about outstanding debts. And how all the payments owed would pay for ongoing expansion. Rather than finance.

And it’s not just that. Many people depend on these breweries, staff wages, suppliers, they all need paying. People’s livelihoods. Many of those are friends.

I look around bars in Mcr – my obvious reference point – and see Freehouse bars with no local beer on. Having seen some previously. And get to thinking “non / late payers?”

This post was going to remain in the “draft” folder. Until I saw this….

I am a supporter of independent breweries that make quality beer. I demonstrate this personally both in my purchases across a bar and in the event that I organise (The Independent Salford Beer Festival).

As a personal customer, I pay across the bar. As an event customer – this year – all suppliers were paid within 5 days of the end of the event. This is how you gain respect from your suppliers. Quite simply put…

You pay them. On time.

It really won’t take long for suppliers to stop supplying if they don’t get paid.

I’ve heard all the stories from Brewers about chasing tails. For overdue payment. Amounts like £500 may not seem like much in a business sense, but, for small breweries, amounts like this not being paid are critical.

It just takes two or three amounts like this being owed to send a small business (like a brewery) under.

Companies like Jolly Good Beer do fabulous stuff. I’ve seen the assistance they – in particular – have given to bars in terms of installations with “direct draw” (the set up at Stoneworks in Peterborough is ACE!) They shouldn’t be needing to put out messages like this

I’m not religious. I’m certainly no biblical scholar. But there is something about the phrase “Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You” that I’ve always tried to live by. In all respects.

You get what you give.

Yes. I get that there are others to pay.

Yes, I get that “the VAT man is a right bastard”.

I WAS that right bastard.

But, you know, like I said, it’s a cash business.

Do Unto Others, eh?

(and don’t get me started about casks……)

Until next time.

Be kind to one another.

Jx

I’ve been wracking my brain. I’ve been trying to figure out the span of years between this and my previous visit to Edinburgh, the most beautiful of the cities of these islands. And I have an actual date.

June 8th. 1985. Almost 35 years ago.

Shame on me.

But Edinburgh had its revenge. We travelled up on the weekend of Storm Dennis.

But not even the wind and rain could put this beautiful city in the shade. It shines whatever.

We (myself and TLO) travelled up on Valentines Day – not down to planning on my part – to be met at Waverley Station by Jock (more later) and Steve who guided us to our lovely Air BnB.

Not long afterwards, walkies. This was a a short stay. And there were bars and pubs to visit….

Six Degrees N. (24, Howe Street, EH3 6TG)

Just a six or seven minute walk from the apartment, we found ourselves here. An early peak.

Have enjoyed each beer I’ve had from this Aberdeen based brewery. Met some of the team at Leeds International a few years back and immediately asked them for a beer for #ISBF3. Delicious.

“Well the first thing I want to say is, Mandate My Ass…..”

The original “Beers Manchester” website started off as a blog about beers. In Manchester. A Ronseal Tin of a thing. But – as I’ve said on many occasions – my first love is music.

No. Fear not. There’s no chance of me ever playing an instrument. I’ve got all the coordination of a baby giraffe. The brain imagines sounds that the hands can’t create. But music is my drug (as I recently told Occupational Health).

Other than “Back Home” by the England 1970 World Cup squad, the first song that grabbed me was *gulps* “White Horses” by Pinky & Perky (look ’em up You Tubers!)

My first bought records were (in the same purchase) “What A Waste” by Ian Dury, “Jocko Homo” by Devo & “I Don’t Wanna Go To Chelsea” by Elvis Costello & The Attractions. I’m quietly proud of those. As I am of my first album, “Modern Music” by Be Bop Deluxe (an enduring musical passion)

“Well the way that we’re living, is all take and no giving. And there’s not much to believe in.

The loudest mouth will hail the new found way, to be king for a day…”

I’m in my 6th decade of music collection and – it’s fair to say – I’ve forgotten a lot of what I own.

I’m handicapped, in that I own neither a turntable nor a cassette deck. So can’t play a sizeable chunk of my hoard. I grab these albums or songs in retrospect on MP3 wherever I can, but still – even with CDs, I’ve no concept of my musical wealth.

But Phil helped.

Philip Wakerley was – and that past tense still hurts – one of the most genuine, gentle, loving and wise individuals you could ever meet. Possessing of a fierce intelligence and a ceaselessly enquiring mind, he almost single handedly reawakened my love of Northern Soul music. An avowed atheist, we fought a battle with our local priest to have him as Ciaran’s “godfather”. And – for a “lover, not a fighter”, he was in truth much closer to Vito Corleone than any Pope.

“… I heard they had a problem with some skinheads, at a show in a machine shop in Pomona…”

There are a thousand and one things that I have that I thank Phil for. Not the least of which is…..

He reconnected me with my music collection. How so?

He always wanted something new to listen to. So, one day, he asked me to burn him a CD. I still recall the joyous look when he first heard “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” by LCD Soundsystem….

Then he set me a task. A challenge. In giving me a theme for a CD. Something about each song needed to fit that theme. And he was (in his own words) a right bastard about that.

Some were difficult, “Lancashire” in particular…. But they were always a joy to make. And the brilliant side effect was that it reconnected me to what I owned. I’d search iTunes for a keyword and be amazed at what flashed up.

“Since I was very young I realised, I never wanted to be human sized….”

When Phil left us, I was asked by his children to record a playlist for his celebration. I’ve rarely felt so honoured. I still remember the riotous dancing to “Fiesta” by The Pogues, in many ways, he WAS “Francisco Vasquez Garcia”, he loved a brandy and a Half Corona did Phil…..

Anyway. After his celebration, I vowed that I’d continue recording “mixtapes”. In his memory. Then I stumbled on this….

Mixcloud.

The lovely Murph showed me an app/programme called “Virtual DJ” to record with. I flew into my CD collection, copying everything I could onto my hard drive. I ran out of space. So bought a new laptop. I was hooked.

Most of these playlists have been for myself. To lift my mood or just to “crate dig” and put something together that’s different from the lazy listening I had sunk into.

Recently, I’ve got back into “themes”. It’s like being with Phil all over again.

So here’s one. I won’t put these on the blog ordinarily, but I just got all emotional. And wanted to tip my heart and hat to Phil. He loved some weird shite, but shit do I miss him.

Here you go. (Tracklist posted as a comment if requested.

“Arrogance” – For Steve. (Feel free to try your luck with a theme. I might even try! Next one is “Communication” – For Jan)

(This is a draft that has been sat in my folder for a while. And I wanted to get rid. Because it’s a metaphorical splinter in my heel)

For me, this was the first (and at the time – hopefully – the last) example of an attempt to manipulate the discourse of the debate on Small Brewers Duty Relief. By the Small Brewers Duty Relief Coalition (henceforth SBDRC).

That cosy and mendacious coagulation of self – interested large breweries who want to line their own pockets at the expense of their smaller kin.

The above motion – rightly rejected by the 2018 CAMRA AGM – was drafted and proposed by a self-confessed admirer of family brewers and their traditional outlook on beer. He wasn’t a fan of Micros, it’s fair to say that about Brian Sheriden. As you can see….

If you want to see what “undercutting in the cask ale market” looks like, try Wetherspoon. A chain within which there are no lack of SBDRC member produced beers.

But. Just when you thought you were safe to think progressive thoughts…… We get this.

Now then. Curmudgeon is an opinion piece column that features in the Stockport and South Manchester CAMRA magazine “Opening Times”. And let me be clear, I am a fan of Opening Times. It’s an excellent read. Its editor likes to have a sense of balance – which is completely laudable.

But – after an amnesia inducing amount of beer the evening before – my goat was well and truly “got”. My piss was boiled. To put it mildly.

I ranted. Like you do.

And the editor – fair minded as he is – invited reply. So I did. And he published it…

And I was reasonable. And restrained of vernacular. But THIS is my space. And I can vent.

What I say on these virtual pages are MY words. I own them. For good or ill.

What boiled my piss was the apparent “cut and paste” nature of the comments in this piece above.

Cut and pasted from documents and statements vomited by the SBDRC themselves. And – in particular – Rupert Thompson, Co-chairman.

Let’s dissect…..

“The Squeezed Middle” (Predictive text remembered….)

A trope repeatedly peddled by the SBDRC to gain sympathy for their “plight”. They compare themselves with this phrase to the international behemoths that they are ACTUALLY in bed with in the British Beer and Pubs Association (henceforth BBPA). Think Heineken.

They’re NOT “The Squeezed Middle”. They are a coagulation of Britain’s largest breweries. Let’s get this straight.

Don’t forget, not long before they sold to Asahi, Fullers themselves swallowed Dark Star. The only UK brewery to make such a purchase… NOT the sign of a company on its uppers…..

“….however, as with many such well intentioned measures……it has had unintended consequences” (the words that I have italicised are the ones that hooked me in….)

(I’ll let you make your own mind up about THIS lift – from a letter from Rupert Thompson – co-Chair SBDRC to Philip Hammond MP, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer)

“Progressive Beer Duty was introduced by Gordon Brown………… to stimulate the number of small breweries…..”

(I’ll let you make your own mind up about THIS lift too – from the same letter from Rupert Thompson – co-Chair SBDRC to Philip Hammond MP, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer)

It wasn’t. It WAS introduced to enable small brewers to compete – price wise – with the likes of Fullers who could utilise their purchasing power and economies of scale and still beer at a lower price than Micros could.

And this worked. So well that it had the side effect of encouraging more people to set up small breweries. Resulting in the number that we have now. A number celebrated by all. Except the SBDRC, BBPA & IFBB (“Independent” Family Brewers of Britain)

Who are – almost all – members of each of those 3 bodies (with – in the BBPA – the addition of Heineken and the major Pubcos)

“In practice, some of the small brewers have used the duty relief not to bolster the finances of their business, but to sell beer more cheaply…..putting the “established” brewers at a severe price disadvantage.”

Jesus may weep for the SBDRC. But I won’t.

Firstly. To “sell beer more cheaply” (read “compete”) was the POINT of the original legislation. The above phrase is merely a matter of dark spin. What the SBDRC and their propagandists are most excellent at spouting.

Not that I’d call “Curmudgeon” a “corporate shill”. I’m not clever enough for such phraseology.

(Just for the record, that WASN’T written by me! I don’t hide)

“Curmudgeon” posts his columns on his blog (or the reverse into OT – I can never quite tell the order). I do read his OT column occasionally and – like the rest of OT – his columns are occasionally provocative, mostly personal to him and sometimes make unarguable points.

However, when you appear to spout the rhetoric of the SBDRC, appearing to quote (almost verbatim) their slanted mendacity, you are open to challenge. I don’t know what a “Corporate Shill” is. But I’ll check my dictionary. And if I’m right, I’l be only too happy to arrange a cap fitting session.

JC

“When you wake up, it’s not the first thing that you want to know.

Can you still count all of the reasons that you’re not alone?”

“Charcoal Baby” – Blood Orange

On 20th April, I turn 55. Now to many, that may not seem like a momentous event. The reality is, that it’s just another year. And it is.

But not if you are a Civil Servant.

You see, under current rules (until Demonic Cummings has his evil way), 55 years old is the earliest that a Civil Servant can “retire”.

I used to love my job. Felt that it/I made “a difference”. But – for the last three years – it has felt like a treadmill. One from which I need to disembark.

I feel quite strange. I’ve never had a plan in life. I’ve merely stumbled from event to event. Birth, school, (via a modicum of intelligence) Grammar School, work, social…..

Since Fionn, there’s been a hole. I have come to terms with the fact that nothing can fill that void. And that that void is now part of who I am. I have almost learned to live with that, it’s what “survivors” do. I’ve talked about “the mask” and “emotional make-up” enough not to feel the need to do so again.

As I said, nothing can fill that void. But some things can “take the edge off”, make that precipice less harsh, less rough. ISBF is part of that for me and – as explained here – has been used as a salve on the wound in the past. But it isn’t a cure. It’s a stimulant, adrenaline, best taken in small doses.

There needs to be something else. Something more substantial.

So we come back to “work”.

A number of things have helped me through the last few years. Friends, family, the beer “community”, but it is the need to be occupied daily that I only understood when I returned to the job in February 2017. The love (and I really DID love my job) had gone. To be replaced by a strange dependancy.

Yes, on the “occupation”, my brain being “occupied”, but also on the people I work with. For all the typical “Cat v Dog” stuff that office relationships can be, I – in the truest of senses – love this duo. But, on returning, I knew that these daily interactions were finite.

One left last July. And looks like a new man. The other is likely to leave this year.

My thoughts started to crystallise at the point that I realised that.

So. The point. The “plan”.

It’s possibly incredibly stupid. But it FEELS sane. And I’ll take that.

If one or two other dominoes fall into place, on 31st October 2020, I will wave goodbye to the Civil Service.

Initially, I’ll be busy enough with #ISBF7, only 12 days away at that point. But – longer term – the aim is to see if there is something I can do in this here beer industry. Something to pour my heart and soul into. Something to believe in.

After years on a treadmill, that would be lovely.

That could be anything. Bar work, admin, sales, publicity, odd-jobs, anything. Hell, if the worst comes to the worst, I’ll look for a job stacking shelves locally.

Work is a diversion. But the sweeter the diversion, the better.

This is a risk. Of that I am in no doubt. But that counting down is such a sweet, sweet sound.

That first session at #ISBF7 will be special. It will be the 7th iteration of my little bit of fun. It will be Caelan’s first birthday. And I’ll be off the treadmill.

And that’s something to look forward to. For me, at any rate!

“I had a dream where the car is reduced to a fossil.
I had a dream where the car is reduced to a fossil.
Take a packet of seeds, take yourself out to play,
I wanna see a river of orchids where we had a motorway.”

“River of Orchids” – XTC

Elsewhere, I have written about a chance meeting I had in December 2018 with two people at Torrside Brewery. A brief conversation revealing that they were usually Cider drinkers, but came to #ISBF5 and drank Saisons and Sours thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Now then, I’m a bit slow. So it was only on the train back from New Mills that I realised who I’d been talking to. Mancunian Cider Royalty. Dick Withecombe and his partner Cath Potter (henceforth, my Apple Venus of the title).

We met on a number of occasions leading up to #ISBF6. And they took on the creation of an exceptional Cider bar and bottle list. So good, that a number of beer drinkers that travelled up couldn’t tear themselves away.

Prior to that, we talked. They shared samples from their “cellar” with me and won me over to the charms of Pomona, the Roman orchard Goddess.

I started occasionally ordering a bottle of Ross, Little Pomona or Oliver’s Cider when I’d walk in a pub. For lovers of tart and sour beers, the interface was obvious. And led to directly to a tasting event at #ISBF6.

Anyway, I digress.

The Arch Nemesis messaged me. There was a Manchester Cider Club meeting. Showcasing Ross Cider. “Do you want a ticket? I’ve bought a spare, just in case…”

With a bloody stump where his hand had previously been, I had myself a ticket….

I’m a fan.

Myself and Jaz had been down to the vast Orchards and smaller Cidery of Ross Cider in September to blend a special for #ISBF6. My liquid highlight of 2019.

Due almost entirely to the efforts of Dick and Cath, quality Cider has been appearing in some of the best shops and bars of Greater Manchester. And nowhere highlights great Cider better than the venue on Thursday, The Crown & Kettle.

Just prior to the event, I was politely ambushed by Mr Withecombe and asked if I’d like to introduce Albert (Johnson – Ross Cider). With Albert being such a lovely fella (our host for the Blending and a thoroughly bad influence…. 😉) that was a joy.

Following my stumbling intro, Albert revealed some nerves about the unveiling of the first keg-conditioned Ciders from Ross. He needn’t have worried….

Taking us through the draught Ciders one by one, Albert talked around the history of Ross Cider, how the orchards originally supplied the mighty Bulmers, but how, following the Heineken Takeover of the Hereford cider maker, they no longer required apples from these Peterstow orchards. And the decision to make Cider and Perry themselves.

And the decision to make Cider and Perry with minimal intervention. No chemicals or pesticides.

On to the first drink. Dabinett (like the other Ciders, a single varietal Cider)

(All Cider pictures shamelessly stolen from @The_Lady_Sybil)

A “bittersweet” apple. With a fullish body (at 7.8% abv), this was possible the ideal starting point for this fruity adventure. Slight sweetness with a gentle tannic bitterness in the finish.

Utterly delicious. So much so that I introduced a number of colleagues to its joys the next day. And they completely agreed.

Next up. My appley siren call. Foxwhelp.

Slightly sherberty aroma masking the lovely tartness. If you like sour beers, really sour beers and aren’t sure about cider, get this in your face.

Bloody lovely, cheek-puckering stuff. My personal favourite cider apple.

Next up was Yarlington Mill. Deeper gold – almost amber – in colour, softer. Fruitier and less “challenging” than foxwhelp, but then…..

Exceptionally easy drinking. And (like many Ciders) deceptively so at 6.3% abv!

The final draught cider was

Somerset Redstreak.

One of the older recorded varieties of cider apple (dating around early 17th century), according to sources, Cider made from these apples commanded a very high price (“as high as the best imported wine”)

This was again a bittersweet, deep golden, fruity, with lovely soft tannic dryness. Again, FAR too easy to drink.

Albert need not have worried about the carbonation with the keg-conditioning. It was spot on. The Ciders were SO easy to drink with the carbonation on the gentle – rather than assertive – side.

Then came single varietals in bottle.

Ashton Bitter, Court Royal & Dymock Red

Codename Dabingnac

Ashton Brown Jersey

Three unreleased bottles. All superb – I’m getting to like Cider and have (in so many ways) liked them too much this particular evening – with a marginal preference for the Codename Dabingnac with its enhanced complexity from the Armagnac barrel.

Albert, as ever (having spent an afternoon to beyond midnight, previously, drinking with him) was witty, informative and – understandably – nervous with these new releases in new format. But there was no need.

Forget Cider. These were just exceptional drinks. Drinks that are helping to slowly shift me towards the apple from the barley.

As is Manchester Cider Club. The event has grown from the tiny back room in the Crown & Kettle to having to occupy (and increasingly fill) the main bar area. A testament to the charm of the event. And the passion for all things Apple & Pear of its organisers.

If you are interested in learning more about events ft the best in low intervention Cider and Perry, I’d follow them on Twitter (hyperlink in previous paragraph) and keep careful watch. Because these tickets fly fast.

I’ll certainly be back.

Cath and Dick are also instrumental in the changed (and improved) Cider offer at the Manchester Beer & Cider Festival. If you’re there, go say hello! You might learn what I did.

That Cider has changed. For the better.

(Big thanks to Charlie and Dick for the photos – and to Albert for coming all the way from Peterstow and bringing GOODIES!)

When Boak & Bailey (from whom this lovely image is shamelessly stolen) publish one, you know that “Golden Pints” are still a thing.

This blog tends to go into an autumnal hibernation period around each ISBF and needs something to apply the defibrillators. Golden Pints are that excuse.

I shall retreat to the format of 2018 to give this some structure. (And again, split Best Brewery into 3 sub-categories)

Best Keg Brewery – Runaway Brewery

It never ceases to astonish me quite how much Runaway seem to fly below the radar. Even in Manchester.

Yes Manchester is a bit of a destination these days with any number of brewtaps open at weekends displaying excellent wares. But the beers brewed by Mark Welsby and his team just hit the required “mark”. Each and every time.

And Mark is a lovely human.

Best Cask Brewery – North Riding

If – as I firmly do – believe that the best Cask Conditioned beer is brewed in the North of England, that narrows the field.

Then it comes down to consistency of excellence. And specialising in the product. There are a number of breweries whose Cask Conditioned beer has been little short of exceptional. Marble, Five Towns, Brewsmith, Thirst Class, Neptune, Bad Seed. But ultimately, it comes down to a simple judgement.

And that is that North Riding Brewery of Snainton nr Scarborough brews simply the best Cask Conditioned beer in the UK.

They get rave reviews on various fora for their dark beers. And my heart is indeed dark. But the Session Pale adds simply outstanding. And their Mosaic Pale rules. Simply rules.

Best Overall Brewery – Marble / Torrside

This is – as always – based on which breweries beers have I drunk most.

And – this year – I’ve drunk a lot of beer in The Marble Arch. Marble beer. And the level of excellence has never dropped. Every beer. Be in bottle, can, cask or keg.

Outside of Marble, I seem to drink an awful lot of Torrside. Again, the consistency of excellence. From Mild to Monsters Session Pales to Smoked IPA. Just…. WOW.

I judged a homebrew competition where Chris, Nick & Peter entered separately. Their beers were exceptional then. Then combine the three. And it’s no surprise that their reputation for excellence is growing and spreading.

And rightly so.

Best Beer (Cask) – Five Towns : DJ (I Am What I Play) (Brewed for #ISBF6)

I don’t get to drink much at ISBF. That comes with the territory of being the Organiser. But this year, I managed to get the “afterparty” back, on the Sunday. And I could let loose.

And I got myself some of this big Black Forest Gateau of a beer. And it blew me away. Intense chocolate and cherry flavour with a big roasty backbone.

Yes. I had the smallest of hands in making it. But this w down to Jo & Mike who had the idea. And to Malcolm for the execution.

It made a big impression. And not just on me.

Best Keg – Ampersand Brew Co : Four’s Company

Both of the “best beers” I had were at #ISBF6. And this beer couldn’t have been more up my street. 4% abv. Tart with gooseberry. Refreshing as a cold plunge.

It stunned me. But not so much that I didn’t repeat it. Repeatedly.

Need to see more of their beer up here.

Drink of the Year

Ross Cider – Ardbeg Barrel Fermented Cider (8 Yr Old)

My favourite ISBF experience. And it (inadvertently led to the best thing I’ve drunk all year.

Following extensive “sampling, we’d decided the Ciders for the blend.

Then Mike Johnson (Owner of Ross Cider) nipped upstairs in the barn. And came down with 2 pet bottles.

With carbonation that was champagne fine, a delicious smokiness and dry tannic finish.

It was astonishing. And – quite simply – the best drink I’ve had this year. A cider. This was the year that Cider hit me.

Best International Beer

Dollar Bill (Ballarat, Victoria, Australia) – Cider Barrel Aged Porter

Picture the scene. #ISBF6 set up. Wednesday. First beers hooked up were the Australian imports.

All the Pales were superb, then we got to this. And one taste later and I was pawing the ground. Like a bull about to charge.

Sweet baby Jesus was this good! It was better than that. It was the best beer I had at the event. Roasty, slight sourness, then a tannic fruitiness from that barrel.

The best beer I had all year. And it would have worked just as well on the Cider bar.

Best Beer Event – East West Fest

Small. Intimate. Friendly. Bonkers beer list. And my favourite beer weekend of the year.

We’ve booked our hotels over 4 months ago.

And people who travel to it return. Repeatedly.

Enough said.

Best Brewtap – Double Barrelled (Reading)

This was another #ISBF6 tie in.

Travelling to Reading with Malcolm (Five Towns) to brew with Andy Parker (Elusive). We went for a few “night before” beers at the magnificent Nags Head the grabbed a cab, landing in an industrial estate. And – on entering the door, my jaw dropped.

Here was a place that had been considered as much of the business as the brewery. And planned and laid out accordingly.

Exceptional beer, brewed on site. A magnet for local drinkers and a place more than worth travelling to.

Brilliant.

(Honourable mention – Tap Beneath The Trees, Rivington)

Because it’s SUCH a brilliant event.

Pub of the Year – North Riding Brewpub

All of my previous comments apply from 2018. A combination of local and “destination pub”

Some of the best kept Cask Conditioned ale in the UK. Beer brewed in the cellar (and it’s bloody lovely)

A permanent line for The Kernel.

And rooms above (if you are lucky) to sleep it off.

If I wasn’t babysitting my heart’s joy, then I’d be there on New Year’s Eve.

(Honourable Mentions – The Brink (Home), The Marble Arch & The Nags Head)

Best New Bar /Brewtap – Marble

Located just off a regular and reliable bus route (No 50 from Mcr to Media City) and a short walk from the Metrolink tram, they’ve done a fabulous job converting some brewery space into a place both to goggle at the shiny new brew kit and drink some exceptional brewery fresh beer.

And – for #ISBF7 attendees – it’s a 10 minute bus ride from almost outside the door.

That picture isn’t taken in – or even remotely close to – Belfast, but in a place defined by my Google maps as “Clonroe Lower”. Or, in MY parlance, “The Middle of Nowhere, Co Wexford”. A battery charging week of tranquility.

And without that trip, there wouldn’t be this blog post.

Now then, I’m an overtly political individual. Of an avowed Socialist stripe. I don’t overtly do politics on this, but I needed to say the following, because of how much it surprised me during my stay.

People – no doubt not all (especially in the “North”) – are absolutely shitting themselves about the impending departure from the EU. From the Republic, where it dominated the news, constantly. To the North, where there is a real fear of being dragged back into Sectarian chaos.

This isn’t my opinion. I don’t know the ground realities. This is from people living that reality. Who have been through dark times. Who fear restrictions on the freedom that they currently have.

I say this also, because it was subject to a number of conversations following the lovely time we had. That freedom to wander without wondering quite WHERE we were.

You see, the last time I “wandered” about Belfast, I walked into the muzzle of a British Army rifle. I experienced the fear of wandering into “the wrong areas”.

And we want to go back next year. Because this is one beautiful city.

If you are offended by that, I apologise in advance. The fears may indeed be unrealised in the reality of the ramifications of Halloween. But those fears are real.

Let’s move on.

Having said all of that. Having driven up from “The Middle of Nowhere” and been to visit family, we wandered (unwittingly) right slap bang into the middle of Belfast Pride. And the rainbow shaded joy was, well, a joy to witness.

Even if it did mean that the pubs were standing room only.

I was out of touch with Belfast. Last time I visited the two eldest were both just finished toddling. So I asked for recommendations. Because, just like the city had changed radically in the interim, so had my tastes.

Thank you to those who replied. You may recognise your suggestions….

The Sunflower – 65, Union Street, Belfast, BT1 2JG (to the North of Castle Court Shopping Centre)

RAMMED. Well, it was Pride Weekend. And a Saturday evening. TLO immediately noted the retained cage front to the doorway, a throwback to “The Troubles”. What I noticed on our visits (Yes, there was more than one), was a vibrant yet rather small bar which packed a lot into a small space.

With beers from the likes of Farmageddon and Kinnegar, my thirst for local provenance was fully slaked, a Farmageddon Micro IPA on visit one was delicious, light, refreshing and full of hoppy goodness.

Single roomed on the inside, live music is a feature and did on both our visits. The place was friendly, busy and had great beer. With – on our second visit – a nice line in wood fired pizza.

Felt like home. A real compliment.

Ace graffiti and murals too…

Moving on…. Turn left from The Sunflower along Union Street then right onto Donegall Street – walking past the beautiful St Ann’s Church – until you reach another multiple visit…

The John Hewitt – 51, Donegall Street, Belfast, BT1 2FH

Not many photos here, unfortunately. Too busy on our first visit, too intimate on our last. But a beautiful pub.

Larger – much – than The Sunflower, the bar being beautiful, wooden and central, with a slightly raised area to the front and a small snug-style room to the rear of the bar giving a more intimate feel.

On our second visit it was closed, prompting a visit on our final evening for more excellent Galway Bay and Kinnegar beers. And some lovely live music.

I do love that Galway Bay branding!

For all the lack of imagery here, this is an essential pit stop – as is The Sunflower.

Then we headed to somewhere smaller. And a bit different, though no less beautiful.

From the John Hewitt, turn left towards Waring Street and left again up to Victoria Street turning right. Until you get to this pretty place….

Bittles Bar – Musgrave Channel Road, Belfast, BT1 9FZ

No mistaking that it’s a pub, right?

Tiny and narrow, widening out as you go back with a surprising number of almost separate seating areas, this place would be a classic in any city.

I may have missed something on the bar, but I missed anything local beer wise and settled for the Brew Dog Hazy Jane. Not for me, first experience in a while with hop burn.

Fortunately, the pub and its fabulous artwork – much of it political – more than made up for it.

I meant to come back – the pub is more than worth repeating – but didn’t get the chance. This is a stunning little place of a stripe that we don’t see over here.

If you go to Belfast, it’s unmissable.

Leaving Bittles, the city revealed its colours

Of a more traditional stripe – beer wise – but stunning in its own way, was another stop over the weekend

The Duke of York – 7, Commercial Court, Belfast, BT1 2NB

Wood & mirrors. And the largest selection of Guinness memorabilia outside of St James’s Gate. This place – quite literally – left me momentarily speechless.

A fine pint of Guinness was incidental. The walls were jaw dropping.

A long pub with two rooms the full length, with throwback style brass topped tables, this was like the best kind of stepping back in time.

Tucked down the narrowest of alleys, just around the corner from The John Hewitt on Donegall Street (there are LOTS of those narrow alleys in this city!), for a break from the craftier side, this was exceptional. Just outside was a reminder of the weekend…

With further visits to weekends favorites – and a lot of family time (we were there to visit Rellies) – and following a visit to The Titanic Experience, I had a final itch to scratch. Somewhere I had briefly visited on my last visit to this beautiful island.

Grabbing an Uber, we headed down the Ormeau Rd.

Northern Lights – 451, Ormeau Road, Belfast, BT7 3GQ

Last time I visited this place, it was called Brewbot. With the eponymous brewing machines being built upstairs.

Now it’s owned and run by Galway Bay Brewery and features their excellent beers.

A fabulous burger and a few pints of juicy, tasty and refreshing Althea (Session IPA) did the trick.

2 large rooms (1 upstairs, 1 downstairs), this place is modern by design and layout. Bright and airy, it was a little refuge from a rare shower during our Ireland trip (I actually got sunburned whilst England flooded!)

Last time I came here, I think I said that this could slot into Manchester’s NQ and fit right in. That holds true. And is the biggest complement I can pay.

We were leaving the next day – with our Liverpool ferry cancelled, I faced the joy of a drive from Cairnryan – so we called it quits via another beer of three back in the City and The John Hewitt.

I’ve always thought – even during “The Troubles” – that Belfast is a more beautiful city than Dublin. Something more gritty and vital lurks within. Yes, there is substantial redevelopment – yet nowhere NEAR the crane count of Mcr – but most of that is near the Docks at this point (with macabre timing during our visit, there were further layoffs at Harland & Wolf) and around the edges, there are less developed stretches, but this city pulls at my strings.

And now, with a freedom to wander where you will, it has some wonderful places to have a beer.

Just don’t expect an early Irish breakfast on a Sunday morning….. 😉

Don’t let that out you off. Go visit.