2

Cover picture: The Old Moseley Arms, branch Pub of the Year (© Simon

Richards)

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in “Barrel of Brum” are not necessarily those

of the editor or the Campaign for Real Ale.

Birmingham Trading Standards: 0121 233 9600

3. Sally talks Bull….

4. News Page

7. CAMRA News

11. The Inn Cider debate

13. Young Members

16. What is real ale?

18. CAMRA campaigning

21. Mild in May

23. Bully says “Let’s See What You Could Have Done”

29. Bostin’ Beer Tours

34. Under the “Micro” scope

36. Obituary— Amanda Jane Butler

40. Pure Bar and Kitchen

42. Branch Diary

43. Branch Contacts

Contents

3

Welcome to your new Birmingham

CAMRA Magazine.

As many of you know, Dave

Moorhouse and Noige Barker stepped

down from producing Out Inn Brum

after the Autumn Edition 2013,

leaving a set of very large boots to fill

for the branch. The Branch are very

grateful to Dave and Noige for all their

work on the magazine, taking it from

a small branch newsletter to a

Regional Magazine of the Year winner.

We apologise for the lack of a Winter

issue, there simply wasn’t time to set

up a new team to produce that

edition.

However, we are delighted to

provide you with a Spring 2014

magazine, produced by our new

editorial team of Sally Lavender

(plenty of writing, and absolutely NO

technical stuff), Alex Lee and Darren

Campbell (advertising and finance),

Simon Richards (desktop publishing)

and Martin Collinge (proofreading).

We have taken the brave step of

recreating the magazine with a

different name and format. Please

bear with us as we learn our craft, and

endeavour to bring you the best

magazine we can.

We would love you to get involved

with this publication in any way. We

are always looking for articles from

members to publish, and would love

to know how you are campaigning for

CAMRA, where you have been and

what you have been drinking. There

are requests within the magazine for

you to submit photos of your CAMRA,

ale, cider and perry related activities

too. Please send us what you can;

photogenic though your editorial

team are, readers don’t always want

to see the same faces.

Also, please contact us at

newsletter@birminghamcamra.org.uk

to tell us your news. We try our best

to keep our fingers on the pulse but

none of us are omniscient. Therefore

any pub news (newly opened, newly

closed, recently introduced ale/cider/

perry or under threat), brewery news

(newly opened, closed or new beer)

or cider news would be greatly

appreciated. If we are aware of such

things we can not only publicise them,

but also offer help where appropriate.

Thank you for your patience, and

happy reading.

Sally Lavender

Sally Talks Bull….

4

Pub and Club News

The new Purity Bar (Pure Bar

and Kitchen) opened on March

17th, please see our interview

with gaffer James Williams.

The Inn on the Green in Acocks

Green B27 7UH will be holding

another one of their excellent

Festivals from 8th-11th May. Beers

from London will be featured, and

there will also be cider. We can’t

wait!

The Woodman on New Canal

Street are introducing a new

Summer menu, in the hope that

we may have some warmer

weather. In fact this pub is so

optimistic about the forthcoming

months, that they are also having

work done on an outside seating

area. We really hope that they

are right….

The Bristol Pear in Selly Oak is

due for a refurbishment this

Summer, and the intention is to

stock a real ale afterwards.

The Clumsy Swan opened

recently on the site of the Yew

Tree Pub. Reports are that they

are selling 3 national ales.

There will be a Charity Beer (&

Heritage) Festival on 9th-11th

May (Fri & Sat Midday-10.30pm,

Sun Midday-5pm) at the Castle

Bromwich Hall Hotel (B36 9DE)

with 30+ Real Ales, Ciders and

Perries. The event is hosted by

Castle Bromwich Lions Club.

he Old Moseley Arms will be

holding a Beer Festival from 15th-

18th May. This is always a superb

event.

Brewery News

Frothblowers’ Brewery in

Erdington has had a very

successful few months, and has

now produced five different

beers. First there was Piffle

Snonker, a light blonde

deservedly popular beer at 3.8%,

next Gollop with Zest, which is

pale and citrusy at 4.5%. In

February they brewed their first

special Feb Brew Harry 4.7%.

More recently their March Special

Blastercast 3.8% was spotted and

enjoyed at the Wellington and

News Page

5

Anchor among others. Their April

Special is to be called Toby-more-

ish 3.9%.

Rock and Roll Brewery at the

Lamp Tavern Highgate have

recently increased their capacity

to brew special beers, and

‘celebrated’ by brewing a strong

Scottish Ale, Capercaillie for our

Burns Night Social in January.

Misty Mountain Hops has also

been spotted at the Lamp,

although sadly not tasted by this

editor! Mark Shepherd the

brewer has also set up a separate

brewery at the Blue Bell Cider

House in Earlswood. And he

makes fabulous haggis

sandwiches….

Congratulations to Two

Towers Brewery in Hockley for

gaining a first place ranking for

‘Best City Activity’ on Trip Advisor

for their brewery trips. They have

decided to build on the popularity

of their Stout Bhacker Ackhams

which recently became a regular

beer, by following with a new

mild Far Tottering 4%, scheduled

to coincide with a Roland Emmett

Exhibition at the Gas Hall. The

brewery has recently launched a

"Two Towers Club" which offers

discounts on ales and bottles with

free delivery in the Birmingham

area. They are currently talking to

the city council with a view to

expanding the brewery site.

Cider News

We have our first producer in

the Birmingham Area (FANFARE

PLEASE!).

Andy Newman produces cider

in Moseley under the name of

Moseley Cider Circle. He is a lone

producer working with a mixture

of bittersweet and sharp apples,

some local and some from our

Herefordshire cousins. He will be

making dry and sweet cider, and

hopes to provide a sparkling cider

eventually. The offering last year

was excellent, so I asked him how

to find this year’s crop. Andy’s

advice is to check out the cider

board at the Post Office Vaults

regularly to catch his cider. He

also intends to supply local

festivals.

The very best of luck to Andy.

We hope to taste it soon.

6

Beer Brewed in Birmingham Visit our website for details of how you can purchase our products or visit the brewery.

www.twotowersbrewery.co.uk

email: mark@twotowersbrewery.co.uk

“An Orchard In Your Glass” Wrenbury Ciders

Bottle conditioned award winning ciders

Order now for April delivery

www.finediningwithcider.co.uk

01270 781212

7

Assets of Community Value

In February 2014, CAMRA

announced that 300 pubs have now

been listed as an Asset of

Community Value, and that they

are hoping to reach 400 soon.

The purpose of listing a pub in

this way is to give it extra

protection from redevelopment. In

one case, this has already been

used to lead to a community

buyout.

In order to list your local you will

need 21 local people who are on

the electoral role. Details can be

found on the CAMRA website of a

step-by-step action plan. Select

‘Campaigns’, then ‘List Your Local’.

Please let us know if you are

listing a local in the Birmingham

area. Although CAMRA cannot be

involved with the application as an

incorporated body, our individual

members can if they are local. We

will also be able to help publicise

the campaign, and offer advice

where needed.

Drink an Extra Pint a

Month For the UK Brewing

Industry

Our favourite sort of campaign!

Drink extra beer for a really

important reason. Don’t only drink

that extra pint, please take a photo.

We would love to see, and publish

what you had to drink and where.

Vicki drank a pint of Oracle with

hors d’oeuvres in the Post Office

Vaults

CAMRA News

8

It will surprise no-one to learn that

Martin drank his extra pint at

Yardley Beer Festival!

Andy went to a Beer Festival at the

Sheldon Marlborough Club.

Aaron visited the Sun at the Station

in Kings’ Heath.

Chris went to the White Horse in

Harborne

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Darren and his friends stayed at our very own Birmingham Beer and

Cider Festival

Alex decided to drink his extra pint in Helsinki, until we told him it was

to support the UK Brewing Industry………….

..so he went to Wales. Best place for him!

10

11

A lot of people have their own

personal views on cider and perry,

and I thoroughly enjoy listening to

the ‘man in the pub’ on the issue.

Either CAMRA should, or shouldn’t

support it. It is either a great drink

but rarely dry/sweet enough or

available enough, or it is utterly

disgusting. It either shouldn’t be at

beer festivals, or it’s lovely to finish

the night with a little tot. Many

people find that it doesn’t agree

with them taken in quantity (what

7% drink does?). And the general

conception is that it is drunk by

mad people (I guess the jury’s still

out on that one!).

To my mind cider and perry

should be close to CAMRA’s heart

as, like real ale, they are heritage

drinks. Cider making is an old

English craft, and without CAMRA’s

campaigning assistance there is a

very real chance that perry would

have ceased to exist some time

ago. I don’t expect that every

CAMRA member should drink cider,

but simply that they should

recognise the history and skill

behind each pint, and the wealth of

flavours available with the different

varieties of English cider apples and

perry pears.

Sadly, very few of us are aware

of exactly what CAMRA/Apple

define real cider to be. I have been

asked over the years to explain

how to identify real cider so many

times that it is a wonder I have any

hair left! Real cider and perry

should contain fruit juice (apple,

pear or a mixture), and the other

permitted ingredients are water

(but not much) and sugar or

sweetener (but bizarrely not

honey!). All flavourings or other

juices, natural or not are banned

from the final result under Apple

guidelines.

Then there are the rules about

the production process. There

should be no filtration, no

pasteurisation and no carbonation.

Unfortunately many producers find

The Inn Cider Debate

12

that they need to filter or

pasteurise in order to offer their

cider in bag in boxes as a tertiary

fermentation often leads to split

bags and loss of product in storage

areas or pub cellars. If it is still

fermenting, it grows, and whereas

problems can be spotted fairly

easily by a festival which is only

open for four days, it could lead to

the producer losing a great deal of

money by having to replace the

contents to pubs or wholesalers.

Another way to counteract that is

to add artificial sweetener, but I

know which taste I prefer!

I don’t deny that this attention

to purity of product is very

admirable, but there are other

factors that make it unrealistic.

How is it possible to police every

cider producer in the country to

ensure that they abide by these

rules? It seems an impossible task,

given the sheer volume of

products.

Why can we not apply a simple

percentage rule to cider producers?

Apple support ‘100% juice ciders’ in

that the original cider should start

with 100% juice content. I would

love to see a juice content rule for

real cider in the same way that

there is for mass-produced ciders

(worryingly, to call itself cider a

product only needs to contain 35%

apple juice). For real cider and

perry, I would suggest that the

proportion be somewhere around

90%. So long as a cider contained

at least 90% juice it could be

considered real. That gives very

limited scope for adding other

substances, and we simply need to

ensure that cider makers list their

ingredients. I don’t think that a

producer who has spent much

money, and many months

developing a high quality cider

would then choose to make

modifications that were

detrimental to the product. Surely

we should trust these artisans to do

what is best for their cider, using

their extensive knowledge?

If the rules on “What makes

Cider Real” are simplified, the

producers will still be able to run

their business in a sensible manner

and make money, and we all get to

enjoy real cider and perry, and

order for festivals without

continually wondering if we will fit

in with CAMRA guidelines.

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Hello there!

We're Vicki and Dave,

Birmingham CAMRA's brand new

young members’ reps

We both love real ale and cider

for its rich and vibrant diversity.

From the sweetest perry to the

richest stout- there's something for

everybody.

That's exactly what we are all

about! We want to dispel the myth

that ale isn't for young people.

We're not just beer bellies and

beards here at CAMRA.

We're really excited to be taking

on this role together, and have lots

of fantastic ideas to encourage ale

(and cider) drinkers of all ages that

we can't wait to share with you in

the upcoming months!

In the meantime please don't

hesitate to get in touch with us to

find out more information :)

Vicki and Dave

Email-

youngmembers@birminghamcamr

a.org.uk

Twitter- @BrumCamraYM

Facebook - Birmingham Camra

Young Members

“The senior members of the

committee would like to

wholeheartedly refute the

assertion by these

whippersnappers that we have

beer bellies. We are actually

pleasantly rounded and

cuddly. Cheeky kids! – Ed”

Young Members

14

15

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What is Real Ale?

In the early 1970s CAMRA coined

the term 'real ale' to make it easy

for people to differentiate between

the bland processed beers being

pushed by the big brewers and the

traditional beers whose very

existence was under threat.

Many pubs and brewers use the

term to describe their beers, but,

just to keep you confused, they are

also called cask beers, cask-

conditioned ales or even real beer!

In the pub the huge majority of real

ales are served using traditional

hand-pulls, rather than through

modern fonts, but there are some

exceptions to this, so if in any

doubt, just ask. Real ales may also

be served direct from the cask,

often called gravity dispense.

What makes Real Ale 'Real'?

Real ale is a natural product

brewed using traditional

ingredients and left to mature in

the cask (container) from which it is

served in the pub through a

process called secondary

fermentation. It is this process

which makes real ale unique

amongst beers and develops the

wonderful tastes and aromas which

processed beers can never provide.

What's the difference between

'Ale' and other Beers?

There are a huge range of different

beer styles, each with different

qualities, tastes and strengths, but

each falls into one of two main

categories; ale or lager. The key

difference between ales and lagers

is the type of fermentation.

Fermentation is the process which

turns the fermentable sugars in the

malt into alcohol and carbon

dioxide. Lagers are made using

bottom-fermenting yeast which

sinks to the bottom of the

fermenting vessel and

fermentation takes place at a

relatively low temperature.

Authentic lagers then undergo a

long period of cooled conditioning

in special tanks.

Ales, which includes bitters, milds,

stouts, porters, barley wines,

17

golden ales and old ales, use top-

fermenting yeast. The yeast forms a

thick head on the top of the

fermenting vessel and the process

is shorter, more vigorous and

carried out at higher temperatures

than lager. This is the traditional

method of brewing British beer.

Why isn't all Beer Real?

Real ale is a natural, living product.

By its nature this means it has a

limited shelf life and needs to be

looked after with care in the pub

cellar and kept at a certain

temperature to enable it to mature

and bring out its full flavours for

the drinker to enjoy.

Brewery-conditioned, or keg, beer

has a longer shelf life as it is not a

living product. Basically, after the

beer has finished fermentation in

the brewery and has been

conditioned, it is chilled and

filtered to remove all the yeast and

then it is pasteurised to make it

sterile. This is then put in a sealed

container, called a keg, ready to be

sent to the pub.

The problem is that removing the

yeast and 'killing off' the product

through pasteurisation also

removes a great deal of the taste

and aroma associated with real ale.

Because there is no secondary

fermentation occurring in the

container (i.e. keg) in which is held,

there is no natural carbonation of

the beer so gas (either carbon

dioxide or a mixture of carbon

dioxide and nitrogen) has to be

added to "fizz up" the beer. This

creates an unnaturally fizzy beer

rather than the gentle carbonation

produced by the slow secondary

fermentation in a cask of real ale.

What is Beer?

All beer is brewed from malted

barley, hops, yeast and water,

although other ingredients such as

fruit, wheat and spices are

sometimes used. The yeast turns

sugars in the malt into alcohol and

the hops provide the bitter flavours

in beer and the flowery aroma.

The flavour of the beer depends on

many things, including the types of

malt and hops used, other

ingredients and the yeast variety.

Getting the yeast right is essential

as each variety has its own

distinctive effect on the beer.

www.birminghamcamra.org.uk/

rale/

18

Imagine if you will, that an

organisation persuades you to

‘invest’ a great deal of your money

into a scheme that sounds very

attractive to you at the time. You

invest happily, but then it all seems

to go wrong. The helpful and

almost paternal attitude of the

organisation seems to change.

Certain material details of the

arrangements may be changed, or

‘re-explained’. You may feel that

you were not told the whole truth

at the beginning. Costs increase,

and incomes never quite live up to

expectations. Eventually you are

left in financial difficulties which

the organisation seems to

exacerbate, potentially terminating

in poverty, possibly even

bankruptcy. In most situations as

the investor you might consider

that you have been conned, and

have been a victim of some sort of

scam. Yet this is frequently the

way that tenants describe their

dealings with pub companies.

The Fair Deal for your Local

Campaign is very central to the

ethos of CAMRA, an organisation

that believes that we should all

have access to beautiful cask beer,

and plenty of pubs to drink it in!

These unfair practices make it far

more difficult for individuals to

operate successful businesses, and

therefore serve to reduce the

number of pubs available to our

members. Also the consistency

that used to exist in the pub

industry is threatened. Instead of

the same tenant landlord operating

in the same pub for years, even

decades, suddenly many major pub

company pubs are seeing several

managers each year with long

periods of closure in between. This

cannot be good news for real ale or

pubs.

Of all the CAMRA campaigns I

have read and supported in recent

years, this is certainly the closest to

my heart, as my partner and myself

are both vintage (i.e. very old!)

large pub company tenants. In our

experience, every opportunity to

grow the business or make a little

extra profit was immediately

scuppered by a greedy pub

company protecting their bottom

line. In my pub, I was told that the

real ‘cash cow’ would be the

CAMRA Campaigning – Fair Deal for your Local

19

Function Room with an

Entertainment Licence for 150

people. However whilst sifting

through the paperwork a couple of

days after moving in I found a letter

from the local authority refusing to

grant an Entertainment Licence as

structural work was required which

I could not afford. The Pub

Company explained that the work

would now be my responsibility as I

was the tenant, and denied having

told me that the licence was in

place. It was only a verbal

assurance, but one I never thought

to question. Such stories are in no

way unusual.

According to a 2013 survey, the

majority of large pub company

tenants (57%) survive on less than

£10,000 a year. They pay a

premium price for their beer

(Typically anything from 25% - 60%

more than a comparable Free

House) and cannot inflate their

prices to their customers to reflect

this for fear of losing them to said

Free House. This means that

making money is very difficult, and

more pubs than ever rely entirely

on income from their food

operation. Whilst this can work for

certain pubs, wet sales are the

major part of most pub turnovers,

and these are controlled so that a

very major proportion of the profits

go directly to the Pub Company.

Case Study

The Pattenmaker’s Arms in

Duffield Derbyshire occupies an

idyllic location in a small village.

The landlady Claire Muldoon took

out a tenancy with a major pub

company group three years ago

which is due to expire in April.

Since taking out her tenancy,

Claire has invested in, and grown

her business. She has started to

make a very small wage, but is

certainly not making her millions.

However she runs a lovely

community pub with an excellent

selection of ale, an asset to any

community.

Amongst the many community

focused activities taking place at

the Pattenmaker’s is a lunch club

for the blind and partially sighted.

Many of the attendees are afforded

an all too rare opportunity to leave

the house on these days. One lady

who was instrumental in setting up

these lunches commented that the

“heart of the village would be

broken” without the

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Pattenmaker’s. The pub is also the

current Derby CAMRA Country Pub

of the Year.

When Claire received her notice

of her right to renew her tenancy

from this April, she was given the

option with a rent increase of 42%!

She simply cannot afford to pay this

amount of rent, as this will lead to

the pub losing money. However

her local community, and CAMRA

are trying to come to her rescue!

A recent public meeting in

Duffield about the future of the

Pattenmaker’s was attended by

around 100 local people, and a

couple of well-meaning interlopers

from Birmingham! The way that

the community pulled together was

inspirational, but there is a long

fight ahead. The locals intend to

register the pub as an asset of

community value as recommended

by CAMRA, but whereas this may

lead to a more certain future for

the pub, it may very well be too

late for Claire. We can only hope

that a solution is found.

If you would like to show

support to Claire and the

Pattenmaker’s, you can sign the

petition at

http://www.petitions24.com/

pattenmakers or why not pop in for

a pint? Their annual beer festival

will be held from April 17th to April

20th, and it is only a short train ride

from Derby. Let’s hope it is not the

last!

Pub companies must somehow

get the message that this kind of

behaviour is unacceptable. Many

people wishing to run pubs use

their redundancy money,

retirement money or life savings.

They should not be encouraged to

invest in businesses that are

continually made unviable by their

parent company. In any other

industry this would lead to

widespread outrage, and the

potential of court cases or

imprisonment.

See CAMRA’s thoughts at http://

www.fairdealforyourlocal.com/ and

visit http://

www.pubscandal.org.uk/ to sign

the petition.

21

'May' The Mild Be With You!

May is CAMRA's national 'Mild

Month', when this style of beer is

celebrated.

Mild was once one of

the most popular beer

styles in the country, and

indeed during the time

of the First World War

it was particularly

prevalent, given its

tendency to be lower

gravity (and thus less

potent) than bitter, an

important factor when

you wanted workers to

be sober enough to

produce armaments for

the war effort! Indeed the

lower ABV (alcohol by

volume) meant it was

often the preferred

beverage of those working

in heavy industries such as coal and

steel, allowing the worker not only

to slake his thirst but also to

replace the lost water sweated out

in the dirt or heat.

Once bitter and then (sadly!)

lager started to dominate mild

became an endangered species of

the beer world, but with CAMRA's

support this wonderful beer style

has seen a renaissance

in recent years, with

many breweries

returning to brew a

mild.

Of course in the

Midlands local mild

favourites such as

Ansell's, M&B,

Banks's and

Holden's were the

chosen tipple of

many, and

although the

former two are now

harder to find there is still

a strong following for mild,

as there also is in the North

West, where I was brought

up.

Mild has also had its share of

the limelight with milds from

Hobson's and Rudgate receiving the

prized garland of The Champion

Beer of Britain award in recent

years. Plus let us not forget that

not too far away in Sedgeley the

Mild Month

22

'not so mild mild' Sarah Hughes’

Dark Ruby Mild is produced, so at

6% it shows that although milds

tend to be of a lower gravity this is

not always so, and indeed a few

breweries do produce a stronger

version of the style.

Here in Brum we are organising

another 'mild crawl' on May 17th

(meet 12pm at the Spotted Dog,

Digbeth), so 'watch that space' on

our branch website

birminghamcamra.org.uk for

details of that event, and we hope

to see you during the day enjoying

this great drink in some great pubs!

Martin Collinge

Mild Officer

Go mild Go mild Go mild in (not the Black) Country....

Mild Crawl

Saturday 17th May

12.00 Spotted Dog 12.45 White Swan 1.15 Anchor 1.45 Lamp 2.30 Craven Arms 3.15 Shakespeare, Summer Row* Thereafter probably: Bull (if cask mild available) Woodman Bacchus* Shakespeare, Lower Temple Street* Post Office Vaults Wellington *Nicholson's pubs - if each one has a different mild on I suggest going to those that do. These latter pubs will depend on how the crawl unfolds, hence no exact times, but the plan is to give 45 minutes between each hostelry. Any latecomers/stragglers can contact me on the day on 07941 607076

23

Bully says “Let’s See What You Could Have Done”

Cider and Chocolate – a ‘Super’ combination

Would you buy a CAMRA membership from these people?

Perry Bates-son

Sparkly Parkes The gang at Yardley

24

Event of the year—Birmingham Beer and Cider Festival

Come inside—we’re waiting for you

Trade night—What is that unfamiliar object

around Phil’s neck?

25

Some glamour on the cider bar with Aaron and Sarah

Are you sure you need that microphone Joe?

Dennis at Dunkerton’s

All-time campaigner awards for Ivor and Susie Clive’s Fruit Farm – ‘Smashing’ Pumpkins

Bully says “Let’s See What You could Have Done”

26

Sparklers after the Toffee Apple Crawl – ‘Great’ Saluting ‘Over the Edge’ at the Regional Awards

Bully enjoying a Capercaille on Burns’ Night

Black Country Taps – Fownes Brewery

Black Country Taps – the Beacon Beer of the Festival

27

Gary looking forward to four

more ‘Super ‘ years

Mark realised Bully was

thirsty

After a glorious gold win, Dave

mistakes Bully for a parrot!

Bully endorses the Winter

Champion

Jake the ‘Smashing’ Salopian

Bully says “Let’s See What You could Have Done”

Taking the Thank you trip rather literally

Did someone mention a Beer Festival?

28

Bronze Presentation to Chris at the Craven Arms

Silver Presentation to Eddie at the Lamp

Gold presentation to Sukhi at the

Old Moseley Arms

‘Great’ expressions Phil and Brendon

at the Inn on the Green Finalist Presentation

First Beer Festival at the Sheldon Marlborough Club

29

Sometimes in your life you

realise that you have spent many

wonderful days with a particular

person. Together you have visited

many of the best alehouses and

most wonderful brewers and

producers in the country. Richard

James is one such person.

However his situation is slightly

different, because in making these

trips he remains totally sober

despite the wonderful ale and cider

available. This is because Richard is

our lovely, tolerant, coach driver,

who this year celebrates his 30th

year of running beer tours.

Richard is a very proud Black

Countryman from Halesowen.

Many years ago he kept a

restaurant (Groaty Dick’s – it’s a

Black Country thing…) which was

an outlet for Black Country food,

ale and entertainment. When he

decided that the restaurant trade

was no longer for him, his passion

for the local real ale led to him

offering Black Country bus tours.

Many will remember the success of

these in the eighties and nineties;

The cry of “BUS!” that would lead

to every regular jumping behind

the bar of their local and getting

their nightly 20 minutes of exercise

serving punters before peace

would descend once more!

As Richard’s customers

matured, he settled for more

sedate beer tours. Now he has

coaches available to hire for trips of

his customers’ choosing. His calm

demeanour is perfect for busy

CAMRA trips, and he is always

happy to inject a bit of humour into

the day. Know to Birmingham

Branch as “Captain Dick”, we can’t

imagine a day out without him.

Contact Richard on 0121 550 8016

if you would like to organise a trip,

there are plenty of different sized

vehicles available.

Richard is offering a number of

Beer Festival Trips this year, and

still has some spaces to visit

Gloucestershire Railway Real Ale

weekend on 17th May, Bishops

Castle on July 12th, and the

Cotswold Beer Festival on July 19th.

Contact Richard for further details

on 0121 550 8016, or email

socials@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Bostin’ Beer Tours

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and we will pass the details on. And if you participate in Birmingham

Branch’s own trips, it is only a matter of time before you will encounter

our very own Captain Dick.

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Name - Mark Arnott-Job

Brewery - Two Towers Brewery

Position - Head Brewer

What did you do before making

beer? I have always brewed beer.

Even at university I would clear a

corner of my student digs for my

fermenting bin! Professionally, I

was a secondary school teacher.

What inspired you to start

brewing beer at a personal level? I

kept running out of beer!

Why did you decide to start a

brewery? I decided to start the

brewery business because I felt

that in spite of the proliferation of

breweries across the country,

Birmingham had little to show in

this respect. Also significant was

the willingness of a business

partner (Trevor Harris) to provide

support.

When was your brewery

established? We started setting up

the physical aspects of the

brewery, that is refurbishing the

premises, in the spring of 2010. Our

first commercial brew was on 2nd

August of the same year.

Where is your beer produced?

The beer is produced in a light

industrial unit on an industrial

estate in what would be regarded

as the 'inner city' of Birmingham,

but close to the city centre and the

city's Jewellery Quarter.

What beers do you produce?

We produce up to nine different

beers for cask sale and we bottle

them all. So far only one of these is

pasteurised - the Electric Ale.

Under the ‘Micro’ scope Our regular feature on small brewers or cider makers

Mark is also a talented guitarist

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Where can we find your beers?

Our website lists the outlets for our

ales, but generally speaking, our

products are available at all the real

ale off licences in south

Birmingham, and in cask format in

a handful of city pubs. Over and

above this we pop up as guests at

other real ale pubs within

Birmingham and the rural fringe.

Which is your favourite of your

own beers? My favourite beer

changes with my mood and the

season: the lighter ales in the

summer and the dark ales in the

winter. An evergreen is the BSA!

What is your favourite other

beer? I like some of the new

breweries springing up, including

Black Jack of Manchester and one

or two of the more established

such as, locally, Weatheroak

Brewery of Studley.

Does your brewery have a

slogan? Our brewery slogan is

"Beer Brewed in Birmingham". I

think this is a strong statement

given the great manufacturing

heritage of the city and the fact

that not a lot of brewing currently

happens here!

Can our readership visit you?

The readership can visit the

brewery. Might be an idea to give

us a call beforehand to make sure

we are present and not out

delivering. Also, visitors would

need to understand we will

probably be in the middle of

something so they must be

prepared to jump in a vessel! Of

course joining one of our brewery

tours is a great way of finding out

more about the brewery.

Where would you like to see

the brewery in five years time? I'd

like TTB to be a major regional

brewery and a household name

and the product of choice for

Brummies!

Not a man to be messed with!

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Birmingham Branch were very

sorry to hear that Mandy Butler

from Heart of Staffordshire Branch

passed away in March.

A teacher by profession, Mandy

was a stoical volunteer at Birming-

ham Beer Festival for several years,

mostly on the 'dark'/cider side, as

she was the cider officer for her

own branch.

A natural volunteer, readers

may also recognise Mandy from the

Severn Valley Railway where she

was a familiar face for a number of

years. She was also an active mem-

ber of the Womens’ Institute

Those of you who attended the

West Midlands Cider Festival in

September will clearly remember

her as the lady that wouldn't let

anyone else wash glasses! Or as

someone who laminated every-

thing in sight and then took more

home to return it the next day. Or

just as a lovely person who would

turn her hand to anything. Few

people were allowed to know that

her Cancer treatment would start

the next week. Mandy’s amazing

energy made it impossible to be-

lieve that she was seriously ill.

Her dedication to CAMRA lasted

until the end. She took herself to

Liverpool for a pub crawl a month

before she died, and attended the

Regional Meeting at the Lymestone

Brewery on Feb 22nd. Two days

before she died she took home the

pub curtains to hem them! She

was not a lady that liked to slow

down.

It was a great privilege to know

Mandy and to have her as a friend.

The final time I saw her was at the

Regional Meeting. My last words

to her were “You are an amazing

lady”, hers to me “No I’m not, shut

up”. In all the time I knew Mandy I

never once had the last word.

She was one of the best.

Sally Lavender

Amanda Jane Butler 1966-2014

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The long-awaited opening of

Pure Bar and Kitchen on Waterloo

Street finally happened on March

17th at 5pm. For months we have

been peering through the windows,

watching and wondering, so it’s

lovely to finally be able to walk

inside!

This pub came about by way of a

partnership between Purity Brewing

Company’s Paul Halsey, Simpsons

chef-patron Andreas Antona and

former Mitchells and Butlers

director Martin Hilton. The

intention was to sell fabulous beer,

both cask and craft, and offer an

exciting beer themed menu.

The gaffer (or General Manager)

there is a young gentleman by the

name of James Williams.

James hails from Morecambe in

Lancashire and has a degree in

events management. After a stint

working in Sheffield, James moved

to Birmingham and worked at

Edgbaston Cricket Club as the Bar

Manager. James says that he spent

his time there selling everything

from doughnuts to real ale.

Pure Bar and Kitchen

41

James loves the Pure Bar ethos

of great beer and amazing food.

He explains that he sees the pub as

a truly democratic environment

where everyone is able to find their

ideal beer, and that staff training

has been designed with that goal in

mind. Thirteen Beers and one cider

are available, with seven cask ales

at the time of our visit. Four ales

are from the Purity stable, and

three rotating guests, at the time

Rooster’s YPA, Tiny Rebel Cwych

and Kirkstall Dissolution IPA.

Regarding the food, James says

that the menu has been designed

to complement the beer. It is early

days for Pure Bar, but apparently

the Scotch Eggs with Beer Ketchup

(UBU, Dunkel and Mad Goose) have

a serious following already! As a

main course, James particularly

recommends the Slow Roast Belly

Pork with Colcannon and Green

Beans, or the Steak Frites with

Longhorn IPA Shallots. Desserts are

beer themed too, including Mad

Goose Waffles and Saddle Black

Chocolate Brownie with Bacchus

Kriek Ice Cream. Bar snacks include

UBU glazed pork pies, chilli sausage

rolls and home-made pork

scratchings.

Pure Bar is open from 10-11

each day (midnight Friday and

Saturday). The Kitchen is open

from 12-2.30pm and 5-10pm (12-5

on Sunday). Why not give it a try?

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Monday May 5th - Beer Festival Planning Meeting - 7.30pm - Craven

Arms, Upper Gough Street, B1 1JG.

Saturday May 10th – Regional Mild in May Social in Coventry. More

details to follow.

Saturday May 17th – Birmingham Mild in May Social. Meet Lamp

Tavern 12.00.

Monday May 19th - Committee Meeting – 7.30pm – Anchor, Bradford

Street, Digbeth, B5 6ET

Thursday May 22nd – Social to Kidderminster Beer festival. Details TBA.

In recognition of a certain birthday, Penguin t-shirts OR Birmingham

green may be worn! Or just come as you are…..

Saturday May 31st Trip to Kinver and Green Duck Breweries along with

some pubs in the area. Pre-Booking required. Contact

socials@birminghamcamra.org.uk for details

Thursday June 5th—Branch Meeting 7.30pm Selly Park Tavern B29 7HQ

Monday June 16th - Beer Festival Planning Meeting - 7.30pm - Craven

Arms, Upper Gough Street, B1 1JG.

Thursday June 26th – Social to Bromsgrove Beer and Cider Festival.

Thursday July 3rd - Branch Meeting 7.30pm – Venue TBC

Monday July 9th - Beer Festival Planning Meeting - 7.30pm - Craven

Arms, Upper Gough Street, B1 1JG.

Monday July 21st - Committee Meeting – 7.30pm – Anchor, Bradford

Street, Digbeth, B5 6ET

Saturday July 26th – Regional Social to follow the Shropshire Cider Trail.

Meet New Street Station for the 10.05 train to Shrewsbury.

Branch Diary

43

Branch Contacts Chairman Phil Barker chairman@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Vice Chairman Andrew Bull vicechairman@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Secretary Andrea Campbell secretary@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Treasurer Dennis Guppy treasurer@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Membership Secretary Martin Collinge membership@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Social Secretary Sally Lavender socials@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Contact Martin Bull contact@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Cider Representative Aaron Pell apple@birminghamcamra.org.uk

NBSS Co-ordinator Gordon Brignal nbss@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Pubs Co-ordinator Andy Goundry pubs@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Clubs Co-ordinator Andy Goundry pubs@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Magazine Editor Sally Lavender magazine@birminghamcamra.org.uk

LocALE Co-ordinator Angela Lawton locale@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Press and Publicity Officer Martin Collinge press@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Public Affairs Clive Walder public@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Pubs Database Co-ordinator Tom Barker websupport@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Website Officer Tom Barker websupport@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Local Guide Publishing Darren Campbell guides@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Student Liaison Officer Chris Bates students@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Young Members Contact David Glenwright

Victoria Miles youngmembers@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Pub Preservation Officer Andy Maxam pubsp@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Beer Festival Organiser Mark Bates organiser@birminghambeerfestival.org.uk

Public Transport Officer Paul Crowley transport@birminghamcamra.org.uk

GBG Submissions Co-

ordinator

Simon Richards

Brendon Daly

gbg@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Health and Safety Officer Paul Taylor

David Page

healthandsafety@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Tasting Panel Co-ordinator Sally Lavender tasting@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Campaigns Officer UNFILLED

Products Officer UNFILLED

Mild Officer Martin Collinge mild@birminghamcamra.org.uk

Social Media Co-ordinator Darren Campbell socialmedia@birminghamcamra.org.uk

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