Never say never

I've just come across an article in the Liverpool Echo on-line about breweries in Merseyside. They list nineteen, and I have to say I didn't realise there were that many; there's even a couple I hadn't heard of before. I must keep my ear closer to the ground.

Here in Southport, there are three: Southport Brewery, a veteran now of 11 years; Parker Brewery in Banks just outside the Southport boundary, but proclaiming its Southport credentials; and the newest, 3 Potts, which is a near neighbour of Southport Brewery. Other breweries nearby include Burscough Brewery in West Lancs, Neptune Brewery in Maghull, Red Star Brewery in Formby, and Rock The Boat Brewery in Little Crosby. More details of these and other Merseyside breweries can be found in the Echo's article.

The most interesting point about all of this is that before 2003, none of these breweries existed at all. After the old Higsons Brewery in Liverpool was closed by Whitbread in 1990, Merseyside and the surrounding areas didn't have a single brewery, and I certainly recall the Liverpool CAMRA branch mourning the loss of all its breweries in a city that had once proudly had quite a few. Although some of us tend to think we know about this subject, none of us ever anticipated the resurgence that has occurred.

I've had beers from most of the breweries listed in the article, and haven't been disappointed. Some aren't entirely to my taste, but that's not the same as saying they're no good. In contrast, some of the old regionals and locally based nationals that we had, such as Matthew Brown, Greenall Whitley and Tetley Walker produced at best mediocre beer, and at worst unpleasant slop (Higsons was the honourable exception). Such an accusation cannot be aimed at these newer breweries, whether you like their products or not.

As for all our previous mourning over the passing of the era of brewing in and around Merseyside, never say never.

The one odd note in the article is that it states that the owners of Cains say they hope to be brewing again within two years. My message to them would be: either seriously get your act together or don't bother. Cains beers became utter rubbish before the company went bankrupt for the second time. While they were thereby destroying any remaining brand loyalty, far superior competitors appeared on the scene. My view is that in the changed beer scene in Merseyside, they'd have a hard job re-establishing themselves.

From Burscough to Kilimanjaro

In about 5 weeks' time, Andy Brocken of Burscough Brewery will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, which is actually a dormant volcano in Tanzania, and at 19,341 feet above sea level the highest mountain in Africa. He is doing this to raise funds for the Beating Bowel Cancer charity in memory of Harry Turner, a friend who died of the illness in April this year. He hopes to reach the summit on 27 September. To support the fundraising, the brewery is launching a beer called Kilimanjaro 2012, a 4.0% blonde beer brewed using American hops. All profits from the sale of this beer will go to the charity, and anyone who wants to support Andy's challenge can drink the beer, and if you can spare a few bob perhaps donate on-line. As Andy wryly points out, it's not easy for a real ale brewer to lose three and a half stone and get fit enough to scale 19,000 feet!

The Burscough Brewery Company is situated behind the popular Hop Vine pub (which I visited last month and wrote about here) on Liverpool Road North, Burscough. I wish Andy the best of British.

The Hop Vine, Burscough

One of the dining areas
(barmaid not included)

Last night we had a CAMRA meeting in the Hop Vine in Burscough. I haven't been here for a few months and it was not disappointing.  The pub is about 200 yards from Burscough Bridge station, which is on the Southport-Wigan-Manchester line, on which you can get return tickets half price in the early evening: my return ticket from Southport cost only £2.10p.

They'd kindly reserved a table of ten for us, but as around 16 turned up, several were standing. The pub is popular with diners, with waitresses dashing in and out of the kitchen at high speed. You can't help noticing that nearly all of the staff are very good looking young women - coincidence? Regardless, all the staff were helpful and friendly.

Despite the food, this is still a pub, not a restaurant with a real ale sideline, demonstrated by the fact that there were seven real ales on, of which I had four. There were three from the on-site brewery (Burscough Brewery Company), which is behind the pub: Hop Vine, Ringtail, and Mere Blonde. I know blond beers are two a penny nowadays (figuratively speaking, unfortunately), but I did like this well-balanced pint. There were two from Northumberland Brewery, Strawberry Blonde and Summer Gold, and one from Prospect, Gold Rush, which I have to say was my favourite, although all the beers I drank were fine.

Just before I left, I was chatting to one of the barmaids who said she enjoyed working there; she had begun as a waitress and after a while transferred to bar work, which she much preferred, as it can be more sociable. I don't suppose there's much chance to chat to customers when you're waiting on tables.

At the meeting, someone said that Mike, who owns the Hop Vine, is planning to open a beer shop in Ormskirk, along the lines of Southport's Inn Beer Shop, mostly with bottled beers and some cask. Lucky Ormskirk!

Hop Vine Beer Festival

I try to record local beer festivals on my beer festivals page, but would like to mention one in particular.  The Hop Vine in Burscough is holding its 2nd Beer Festival from 27th to 30th May, describing it as "a truly fabulous festival of fine ales & live music". 

The Hop Vine is a fine pub on Liverpool Road North a couple of hundred yards from Burscough Bridge station and half a mile from Burscough Junction.  It always has a good range of beers anyway, and in November 2010 a microbrewery was opened in an outhouse to the rear.  The last time I mentioned this, one of the owners of the Burscough Brewery pointed out to me that it is a separate business from the pub.  I already knew that, but didn't think it was relevant for drinking purposes, and I also know that one of the owners of the brewery business is also one of the owners of the pub business.  Still, the record is now straight.

A beer festival in a pub with a microbrewery is unique in this area; it's a short train journey from Southport on the Southport-Wigan-Manchester line.  I intend to get there next week.

Burscough Brewery

Last Saturday, our local CAMRA branch had a coach trip to pubs in West Lancs for beer scoring purposes (for the Good Beer Guide).  One of our last stops was at the Hop Vine in Burscough, which has recently opened a microbrewery in an old stable to the rear of the pub.  The brewery was set up last year by Mike McCombe, who runs the pub, and Andy Brocken who is responsible for brewing; it's first beers went on sale in the pub last December.  After I had bought a pint of the Burscough Priory Gold (3.8% - I quite liked it, even though it's below my preferred strength), Andy showed us the brewery, which is in a room not much bigger than a large garage.  He told us that the beer is already being sold elsewhere, including at a couple of beer festivals, and seems to be well received.

Andy in his brew house:
drinking the profits?



A local in the pub proudly showed me the write-up about the brewery in a copy of Swiggin In Wigan, Wigan CAMRA Branch's magazine.  It was almost word for word what I had previously written on this blog.  Well, they say that plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery!

The Hop Vine has a good range of well-kept real ales, not just its own beers, including a house beer called Hop Vine, brewed by the excellent Prospect.  It's on the A59, a couple of hundred yards from Burscough Bridge station and about half a mile from Burscough Junction.  Postcode: L40 4BY.

Burscough Brewery Launch

A view of one of the rooms
in the Hop Vine

I've had an e-mail from Kirk Harrison who tells me that the brand new Burscough Brewing Company is launching its first beers on Saturday the 18th December at 1.00 p.m. They are:

• Priory Gold 3.8% (a pale session beer with a distinct bitterness and hoppy citrus notes).
• Ringtail Bitter 4.2% (a triple hopped ruby ale with well balanced bitterness and fruity notes).

The new brewery is located in a cobbled courtyard to the rear of the Hop Vine pub and is housed in old stables. This is the second brewery in our area and is a welcome addition to the local real ale scene.

Finding it: the Hop Vine is on the main road through Burscough, the A59, and is a couple of hundred yards from Burscough Bridge station and about half a mile from Burscough Junction. The train journey from Southport is about 13 minutes. Postcode: L40 4BY.