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The Thoughts of Chairman Mick
by Mick Lewis
For those of you who think you know all about beer, perhaps you would like to learn even more! On the 18th July, the head brewer of Fuller's will be at the Duke of Hamilton in New End, Hampstead. He will be giving a talk about the history of the company, plus a tutored tasting of Fuller's beers. This will take place in the evening, and any further information can be obtained from the pub.
Anyone going to Italy for their holidays this year may be lucky enough to find themselves in just the right place. Robinson's cask-conditioned Frederics is being supplied to 40 bars there. If this goes well, they are planning to export Old Tom (abv 8.5%) next year. Should these Italian drinkers be warned, or should we let them find out themselves?
CAMRA's cider and perry awards judging took place at the Reading Beer Festival recently. Top prize went to Denis Watkin of Herefordshire with a single variety cider made from Yarlington Mill apples. It beat Weston's Old Rosie, which has won for the last three years. The perry award was won by Kevin Michew with a single variety made from Blakeney Red pears. I spent a very pleasant few hours at Kevin's a couple of years ago, where he failed miserably to get me drunk, including force-feeding me from a demijohn of whisky.
More cider news reaches me from Norwich, where research suggests that some ciders are as rich in antioxidants as red wine, and could help to prevent heart disease. It also seems that you would have to drink far more cider then wine to have the same effect, but as cider is served in pints - and not piddling little wine glasses - then I don't see a problem with it.
A bloke in Wigan liked his local so much that when it closed down he stole £1,300 worth of fixtures and fittings - in fact, the lot. I thought that his sentence of 100 hours community service was a bit much, as I know of several pubs that would be improved by his actions.
David Bruce, the inventor of the Firkin chain, now has another company - Capital Pubs. They have recently re-opened Smithy's in King's Cross after a refurbishment and have also acquired the Hemingford in Islington, a pub that was in the Good Beer Guide many years ago.
Interbrew's UK boss Stewart Gilliland has decided that the pint is a negative image. He thinks that branded glasses and different measures will increase sales and make beer more female-friendly. Can women not pick up pints with their dainty little hands then? I think not!
A new Time Out guide to pubs and bars in London has recently been published. Split into various geographical areas - Central, City, East, North, South and West, it is very user-friendly. It is clear from the descriptions that all of the outlets have actually been visited, and there are over 1000 of them. OK, so it's not a guide aimed just at CAMRA members as it lists cafe bars, dj bars and wine bars etc, as well as the more traditional pubs. Most of the time - but not always - it tells you which have real ale, and it has some of the best maps that I've seen in a pub guide. My only quibble is some of the descriptions, where the surveyor seems to have missed the point completely. For example, the Freemasons Arms in Hampstead has the only permanent London Skittles alley, but it's not mentioned. The Dover Castle in a mews in Marylebone is an old coaching inn, but from the description, it could have been built last year. And as for the Wenlock, stating "Beware of the jazz" - well, I never! Still, an excellent addition to the guide collection.
Mick Lewis
Reproduced from the Full Pint, Issue 16.
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