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Sussex Drinker Issue 11
Once again, it's time for the Sussex Beer and Cider Festival at Hove Town Hall. This year's our eighth festival, and we have over 130 real ales for you to try — plus a selection of ciders, perries, country wines and bottled beers (British and foreign). The major change this year is the new Thursday evening session, giving you a chance to beat the Friday rush, or to simply enjoy a peaceful evening; while there is live music on Friday and Saturday evenings from 8:30, Thursday is a quiet session. Food will be available at all times. The price of admission includes the festival glass and programme; card-carrying CAMRA members get £1-worth of tokens to start them off. Don't worry if you're not a member, though — you can join at the festival to get the tokens. If you're under 26, you can join at our reduced rate of £8 — you don't need to be a student! Please bring proof of age to take advantage of this. Tickets are available at the Evening Star in Brighton, from Hove Town Hall's Tourist Information office, or by post from 46 Robson Road, Worthing, BN12 4EF (cheques to "Sussex Beer & Cider Festival" with your name and address on the back; please enclose an SAE).
Harveys Big news from Lewes is that the brewery shop has reopened following its reconstruction. Regular drinkers might also have noticed a recipe tweak to the Old Ale, making it more malty — the brewery would like to know if you prefer this. King & Barnes Production is up, particularly on the bottling line, where double shifts may be necessary to cope with the volume of contract bottling. 70% of the brewery's production is cask ale, with 27% bottled product, leaving just 3% keg. This has meant the demise of Bajan lager and Old Porter (although this will presumably still be brewed for bottling). Dark Star Dark Star have brewed a new beer, called Sunburst (5.0%), which is a variant of the special brewed for the Hanover festival. Pett Pett have launched Accolade (4.3%) to commemorate the success of the Queen's Head at Icklesham in CAMRA's Pub of the Year competition. The beer may yet become a permanent fixture, but if you're keen to try it, we have it on order for Hove... Rother Valley... ...the brewery formerly known as Battle, will be expanding its Northiam HQ. Gribble Oving's Gribble Brewery has launched Oving Ale (4.5%). Superpub update Controversy still rages over the Fuller's plans for Marlborough House in Brighton's Old Steine. The brewery's acquisitions manager Tim Coleman said that the building has, over time, been converted with various out-of-character fittings which Fuller's plan to remove while restoring the original features, under supervision of English Heritage. The car park will go, allowing the gardens and carriageway to be restored. Neighbour Tony Antoniades, owner of Eurolink, has put in a bid to buy the building for use as offices, with the public being allowed in free at weekends. If Fuller's application is turned down, the building will be re-tendered and the new bid will be considered. Bass Taverns want to turn the disused Gala bingo hall in Gloucester Place, Brighton, into a student-oriented pub/nightclub, with the aim of opening at the start of the next academic year. However, the letter informing locals of the plans went out on December 16, with a deadline for objections of January 7, sparking complaints that the Christmas holidays have meant some people's objections would go unheard. Pub chain J D Wetherspoon is considering opening a pub in the former Caffyns garage in Station Road, Burgess Hill. The residents of nearby Wolstonbury Court say that the area is already well catered for, and that nearby pubs and restaurants already generate enough noise, cooking smells and disturbance. The council has already refused permission in the past, and the appeal against the decision is due to be heard in February. The chain is also planning to open a pub in part of the former Dolphin and Anchor, opposite Chichester Cathedral, and has another planned for Hastings, while the planned Horsham branch has gained its licence and will open soon. Whitbread have also been granted permission to open a Hogshead in Eastbourne. Planning Applications A day centre for street drinkers is due to open in Brighton's Old Steine for a trial period of three years. The centre has the support of local police, but local traders and some councillors are objecting to the location, claiming that it is inappropriate to site the centre so close to the Royal Pavilion. Drinking will not be allowed in the centre, which will only open in the daytime. A new nightclub, Brannigan's Music Bar, has been granted a provisional entertainment licence, and is due to open later this year in Ifield Avenue, Crawley. A separate plan for a restaurant/club in the old Gala social club was turned down. The Halfords store in Church Road, Burgess Hill, will be converted into a Wine Cellar off-licence, with an attached café after planning permission was granted recently; the licence application has yet to be approved. The chain has also opened a branch in George Street, Hove (opposite Wetherspoon's Cliftonville Arms) and one in East Grinstead; another is under construction in Lewes. The White Horse, Ditchling, which came second in Brighton & South Downs CAMRA's Pub of the Year last year, has applied for permission to turn redundant stables and storerooms into a restaurant; they also want to enlarge the kitchen toilets and a staircase. Refits The Cherry Tree at Copthorne is being refurbished, gaining a conservatory, while the Plough at Ifield is under consideration for a refit. Closures The Gun at Findon is under threat again, with an application submitted to turn it into a private house. Unfortunately, the pub is not under the control of Chichester Council, who have noted the increase in pubs being turned into private homes, and have said that no more applications of this kind will be allowed unless it has been proved that it is no longer feasible for the building to be a pub. It looks like the end for the Newmarket, near Lewes, which is to be converted to a Little Chef — advertisements have appeared for restaurant staff, but there is no mention of pub operations. Opening is planned for early March. Also likely to go is the Three Moles at Selham, which King & Barnes say they cannot afford to reopen, due to the Leconsfield Estate wanting rents equal to those on a major town pub — rates which the Three Moles clearly cannot support in its isolated location. The Tap & Tankard (formerly the Castle) in Newlands Road, Worthing has closed and is boarded up. Openings A new Brewer's Fayre and Travel Inn is due to open in Macadam Way, Hastings, in February, creating about 80 new jobs. All Change... Alun and Rose have left the Buckingham Arms in Shoreham, and moved to the Golden Lion in Brighton. Just to show that it's a small world, Alun's sons run the Cricketers in the Laines. Brighton chain Webb-Kirby have bought the Zap, although we have no news as to whether they will introduce real ale (or, indeed, real cider, given that they also own Applejohn's!) The Pub With No Name has also recently had a change of manager; Brenda is now running the pub. The Wigmore in Worthing is now called the Wig & Pen. Events CAMRA's Champion Winter Beer of Britain is Nethergate's Old Growler, which is named after the head brewer's dog! Shepherd Neame's Original Porter came second, with Daleside Brewery's Monkey Wrench taking third place. Richard and Marjorie Churcher, of the James King at Pease Pottage, have won the King & Barnes Best-Kept Cellar award for the past eight years, and have now been presented with a lifetime achievement award in recognition of this. The award was presented by the brewery's managing director Bill King. The Amsterdam, Shoreham, has donated more than an estimated £500 to the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital. Regulars have been donating their 2p coins over the past year, forming a wall along the back of the bar. The customer who guessed nearest the total amount won a meal for two at the pub — but the loser had to bag up all the coins! The pub has changed hands, and is no longer a "Big Steak" pub. The Windmill, Burgess Hill, has been nominated for the Brewer's and Licensed Retailers Association's Community Pub of the Year award, with each regional winner getting £1,000 and the overall winner receiving an additional £10,000, all the money going to local causes of the pub's choosing. Last year, the Windmill raised over £1,200 for the Royal Alexandra Hospital and St Catherine's Children's Hospice. The foot-high letters spelling out the name of the Fiddler's Elbow, Brighton, have been stolen. They have been up for three years, and are worth around £1,000. Landlord Phil Dineen is hoping it is a practical joke, because he can't see why anyone else would want them. "How many other words can you make out of The Fiddler's Elbow?" he asks. (My trusty anagram program gives "Heel lifted words!" though you do still have B' left over — Ed) Pete Townshend's brother Simon (yes, that Pete Townshend) recently played an acoustic set at the Evening Star in Brighton, with a special beer called STB brewed for the occasion. The Simon Townshend Band rarely plays live, and this was in fact only their second live show in 1997. The Malt Shovel in Horsham will be holding a beer festival, featuring around 106 real ales, between February 15 and March 23 (this came in at the last minute, and may be Feb 15-Feb 23 or Mar 15-Mar 23; check with the pub before travelling — Ed) Ale Watch The Fletcher Arms, by Angmering station, now carries Ringwood beers; there are usually two available at any one time, with Best and True Glory being particularly popular. The pub also arranged a brewery tour for the locals. The John Selden, Salvington, has added Ansells Mild to its Carlsberg/Tetley range. Ansells Mild is also available at the Locomotive, Wick; King & Barnes Mild is at the Bridge, Upper Beeding, while the Five Bells, West Chiltington, now has a rotating selection. Meanwhile, when the Hogshead, Worthing, carried Bateman's DM recently, it sold extremely well indeed. The Fathom and Firkin in Worthing is now featuring a monthly special beer, brewed on the premises. The Fathom Ale, Firkin Ale and Dogbolter for both the Fathom and the Font and Firkin in Brighton are brewed at Worthing, with all the other beers being brewed at Brighton. Incidentally, Dave, the head brewer at the Fathom, is happy to show CAMRA members around the brewery — just ring first to check he's free. Oops... The Golden Cannon in Kemptown is not selling Kemptown Brewery beers, and never did. The last known range was in fact Marston's Pedigree, Well's Bombardier and various Ringwood beers. My apologies to both Ken Paris and Keith Milborrow for an error in the previous issue; Keith wrote the article on Café Prague, not Ken!
The Locomotive, Wick The Loci (Lowky), as it is known to its friends, is a two-storey slate-roofed Sussex flint building situated on the A284 Lyminster Road, a gnat's whisker north of Littlehampton. It lies between the West Body Shop roundabout and the Wick level crossing. It was built circa 1830 as cottages for the (now sadly absent) railway halt. As its history is most certainly with railways, so is its present, both in its name and its décor. The moment you enter the building, several elements become immediately apparent. The first is that there is a good atmosphere, and you are made welcome. Secondly, there is a comprehensive selection of real ales. Thirdly, the place has a relaxing ambience. It is indeed a jewel with many facets, some of which I shall attempt to describe. It is unarguably a community pub. The clientele are predominantly, though far from exclusively, local people. Among the regular activities organised by the licensee Phil Gale, and his wife Moira, are quiz nights (chaired by Phil, held on Wednesdays, and always good fun), treasure hunts, and the occasional visit by Sompting Village Morris persons. During the balmy summer evenings, or dark dank winter nights (as appropriate) customers of a right (sic) mind are organised into scratch football and cricket teams. For the more faint-hearted, indoor games include Connect Four (a large wooden version), darts and bar billiards. The bar area is L-shaped, with the games area to one side. The main bar area reflects the pub's name and history. Pictures of locomotives and pioneers clothe the walls in a history of steam; there is even a matchstick model of an LNER loco on the mantelpiece of the real fire. On the all-important subject of beer, the pub is owned by Carlsberg/Tetley. Phil, who is of course a real ale drinker, likes to keep his range of beers changing, and he prides himself on having one non-portfolio beer. His current range of real ales is Ansells Mild, King & Barnes Sussex, Morland Old Speckled Hen, Greene King Abbot, Ringwood Best Bitter and Arundel ASB. I tried all of the beers (hard life, eh? — Ed) and each was in very good condition. It was cool and clean, and pourback is strictly verboten. Despite his high turnover of real ales, Phil stocks only 9-gallon casks, in order to keep his beer in the finest condition. Other aspects of the Loci worthy of note are that it is air-conditioned, has a reasonably priced menu (ranging from fresh sandwiches to rump steak) and has a children's menu. Children are not permitted in the main bar, but this is not a problem as the family room is a very generous size; it occasionally doubles up as a function room. For the safety and convenience of his customers, Phil operates a "no dogs" policy within the pub. The garden is immense by urban standards, and ideal for children on a sunny day. It incorporates a play area with swings and a climbing frame in one corner, plus a large lawn scattered with tables, two boules pistes and a split-level patio covered by a pergola. There is also ample car parking. It is a friendly local where you can enjoy a very good pint, and is somewhere you can take the kids for lunch or an evening. In preserving its character and quality, it successfully performs the balancing act between what could be two entirely different concepts. Ken Paris The Black Horse, Nuthurst The Black Horse at Nuthurst has recently been refurbished. The licensee is Karen Jones and the manager is Julian Clayton, who has worked at the pub for 3 years. It is a 17th century, two-bar, traditional pub with an inglenook fireplace. It is situated next to a babbling brook, and attracts ramblers. The pub serves four regular real ales: Pope's Traditional, Wadsworth 6X, Marston's Pedigree, and Old Speckled Hen; it also has two guest beers per week. Over Christmas it was serving Fox's Nob (3.5%), St Nicholas' Ale (3.8%) and Brakspear OBJ (4.8%). The pub has the original stone flooring, and serves a variety of home-cooked food seven days per week. All are welcome. Carol Lambert
...and so it came to pass that a goodly number of aficionados of the cause did gather in the yard of Ballard's Brewery in Nyewood on the first Sunday in December, having travelled by car, charabanc or even the 1B bus to this remote corner of north-west Sussex for the annual ritual of the Ballard's Charity Walk. A visit to the brewery, followed by a leisurely stroll across country lanes and over fields and footpaths, with just a minor distraction of paying courtesy calls on the Three Horseshoes at Elsted, the Elsted Inn at nearby Elsted Marsh, the Wyndham Arms at Rogate and the Keepers Arms at Trotton, seemed a perfectly civilised way of being charitable. Our little group entered fully into the spirit of the event by leaving the car at the Elsted and enjoying a leisurely stroll through the lanes around Dunford to loosen the legs — or was it to work up a thirst? We entered the yard to be greeted by many old friends from CAMRA branches in Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex, with the gentle strains of a local folk group. A pint of the rare dry mild was a delicious way to start the proceedings, followed by one of the Wild — a mix of the potent Wassail and Mild — only served to heighten the pleasure. As the various groups started to disperse for the serious business of walking, we felt obliged to be charitable and have "one for the road". Being a quaffer, I settled for another mild, single-mindedly refusing to acknowledge that there was another important part of the proceedings, namely the launch of Blizzard, the 9.8% ABV edition of Ballard's notorious "falling-over water", an incremental series that has included Old Pecker (9.7%), Divine (9.6%), Off The Wall, Gone Fishing, Cunning Stunts (that's enough, thanks — Ed) Pausing only to do business with boss Carola Brown — a kilderkin of Blizzard being duly reserved for the Sussex Festival, while others filled rucksacks with bottles and carry-kegs — we headed south for the Three Horseshoes. As we traversed fields sodden with recent heavy rains, your correspondent felt reassured that his cautious pre-walk intake would safely see him over the slippery stiles and the treacherous wooden footbridges that lay ahead, unlike the fellow travellers who were already stopping at the slightest pretext to indulge in the Blizzard. Eventually, giving in to social etiquette and the bracing winds, I accepted the offer of a swig... oh, what a nose, what a wonderful port wine-like mouthfeel (on subsequent samplings, I revised this assessment to "one of the best-rounded barley wines I can recall".) From then onwards, the slippery slope beckoned, and... to cut a long story short, after a Cheriton Pots at the first hostelry, it was pints of Blizzard all the way. The rest is just a blurred memory of fellow travellers similarly mellowed, all having succumbed to the Blizzard. One took two days to recover, but to a man (and woman), Sunday December 6 is now indelibly entered in the diary. Stuart Elms
King and Barnes are running an ale trail based on their 1998 seasonal beers. The prize of a K&B clock will be awarded to anyone who buys three pints of each of the 1998 beers, plus three pints of each of the Classic beers (Sussex, Broadwood, Festive and Mild). An updated booklet has also been produced for the regular ale trail, including new K&B pubs the Coach & Horses in Chichester and the Park Crescent in Brighton. The year starts with the Old Ale (4.5%), which is joined for one week in February by Valentine (4%), brewed with ginseng. Oatmeal Stout (4.5%) is the beer for March, while April sees the return of the Amber Malt Ale (4.3%), along with, for one week, Slayers (5.0%), a cask-conditioned lager. May's beer is Challenger (4.5%), unsurprisingly brewed only with Challenger hops, while June and July have the Summer Ale (3.8%), along with a one-week trial of Best Bitter (4.1%) in June. August has Old Duck (4.5%), brewed only with American Liberty hops, plus a one-week visit from IPA (5.0%). Harvest Ale (4.7%) is September's beer, brewed using malt and Goldings hops from the new harvest, while October sees a wider airing for Horsham Ale (4.5%), a chocolatey, sweetish beer that has a brief trial run last year in selected pubs. Also appearing for two weeks in October is smoked malt ale Ghost Blaster (4.5%). The Old Ale returns for November and December, joined in December by Christmas Ale (6.5%).
During a recent visit to the North of England, Andy and I were fortunate to visit two microbreweries which have found fame in the South. The first was Mordue, which has just received the accolade of brewing the best beer in Britain: "Workie Ticket". This is acclaim indeed for a brewery so new. The brewery itself is situated on an industrial estate on the outskirts of North Shields, and is run by Matthew and Garry Fawson, both of whom we met; you may have spotted a photo of them in the September What's Brewing. They went to St Albans for their presentation on the Monday of the week we visited. Although their beer is not currently available in the South of England, they are negotiating with King and Barnes to use the brewing and bottling facilities so that they can supply major supermarkets and off-licence chains in the South. Mordue regularly brew Five Bridge Bitter (3.8%), Geordie Pride (4.2%) and Radgie Gadgie (4.8%), as well as Workie Ticket (4.5%). Due to demand, they are moving to larger premises shortly. They use a variety of hops, including Challenger, Fuggles, Goldings and Willamette. At the moment, they predominantly supply local pubs. Our second brewery visit was to Big Lamp, which has recently moved to new premises at Newburn. It is in an ideal location, situated in Tyne Riverside Country Park, which offers picnic sites, footpaths, pasture land and plantations. It attracts many visitors, especially in the summer months. Big Lamp purchased a derelict water pumping station and has totally rebuilt it within eight months — it opened in the first half of 1997. The brew house is connected to the brewery' s own pub called the Keelman, which serves a full range of their beers. There were six on when we visited, including the very nice Mulligan's Stout (4.8%). The brewery received a bronze CAMRA award in 1996 for their Bitter (3.9%); they also brew Premium (5.2%). Big Lamp brew a special beer called BSB for the Beamish Mary Inn in County Durham, which was CAMRA Pub of the Year a couple of years ago. They mainly supply local pubs but have supplied beer through Beer Seller. Though they don' t currently do seasonals, apart from Winter Warmer (5.2%), they are considering brewing a summer ale — though we believe that Prince Bishop (4.8%) makes a good summer ale as it is light and refreshing. The brewery produces occasional beers from time to time. One project that they are considering is building accommodation to rent to groups of beer lovers, and arranging tours of local microbreweries for them (something to look forward to!) Carol Lambert |
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