Mad Hatter calls time

I was sorry to hear that Liverpool's Mad Hatter Brewery has ceased trading. Launched in 2013, it was situated in the Vauxhall area of Liverpool and was one of the few breweries to be run by a woman, Sue Starling. It produced a number of interesting and sometimes quirky beers, a few of which were named after local places such as Penny Lane Pale and Toxteth IPA.

Some commentators have been suggesting that there are now too many breweries in a slowly declining market. There's probably some truth in that, but I don't get the impression that was the case here. Sue has said the pleasure of brewing has gone after the departure of her co-founder, Gareth Matthews, whose creativity she has sorely missed. That loss, coupled with a change of premises, means that she no longer wants to run the business herself, but she is open to offers to buy it "so it could live on".

It's certainly a pity to lose a distinctive presence on the local beer scene, so you've always fancied running your own brewery, this may be your big chance.

Fined at the Grasshopper

A 'Meet The Brewer' night with a difference: the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of COLAPS (Coast Of Lancashire Ale Preservation Society, a branch of SPBW) at the Grasshopper on Sandon Road, Southport, will be John Marsden from Melwood Brewery giving a talk to on 'Fishy Business - what brewers add to beer!' Apparently he has offered to bring samples.

I presume the reference is to isinglass, a substance derived from the swim bladders of fish and used as finings to clear beer by dragging all the yeast and any other particles to the bottom. As I cannot stand the smell, let alone the taste, of any form of fish or seafood, it's just as well finings cannot be detected in the beer by our senses, remaining as they do at the bottom of the cask with the yeast.

Melwood Brewery is based in Knowsley Park in the old Kennels that once housed Lord Derby’s gundogs. The meeting is on Monday 7 August at 7.30 pm.

The good old days are now

The Best Pubs Around Merseyside is an old CAMRA guide from 1990, and I contrasted in 2011 and 2013 what it wrote about pubs and breweries at that time with the situation as it is now. A 'stop press' item in the guide reported that Boddington's, which owned Liverpool brewery Higson's, had sold all its brewing interests to Whitbread. It explained sadly that "all indications are that Higson's, Liverpool's only brewery, will close in the very near future with the consequential loss jobs and the loss of the last Mild and Bitter beers brewed in Liverpool. So-called Higson's beers brewed elsewhere, particularly by Whitbread, will not be the same." This gloomy prognosis proved correct in every respect, and the general view was that we wouldn't see brewing in the city again.

The writers had no way of knowing that within two and a half decades, Britain would have more breweries than at any time since the 1930s. Six months ago the Liverpool Echo listed 19 breweries in Merseyside, also mentioning several others slightly further afield. Sales of real ale are standing up with actual increases reported in recent years, in contrast to the beer market as a whole which remains in decline, although the rate of decline is slowing.

The reduction of beer sales mirrors the continuing closures of pubs every year. There are new outlets such as micropubs and small niche bars opening up, but while these are welcome and many seem to be doing well, they tend to be small and don't replace all the pub capacity lost to closures.

I've written before that at some point the simultaneous phenomena of more breweries and fewer pubs will collide. I was chatting to the licensee of a real ale pub last week and he was telling me that we are beginning to lose small breweries to closures, a process he saw accelerating in coming months and years. While some new breweries may still open, I can't see the increases we've seen in recent years continuing indefinitely as we edge closer to market saturation.

I suppose that brewers who don't have to rely on beer sales for their livelihood might be able to survive better by undercutting their competitors, but that isn't a good long-term strategy for the industry as a whole. Given a broader choice, customers are increasingly expecting quality as standard, and brewers whose products are inconsistent or lacklustre will go to the wall.

The proud talk of there being a record number of breweries describes a situation that is not sustainable in the long term, and I expect that at some point we'll be mourning the demise of some of the breweries whose existence we are now celebrating. We're probably enjoying something of a golden age, but golden ages never last.

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.

Have we won the real ale war?

"The battle for real ale has been won. We must now turn our attentions to saving our pubs!" says CAMRA's Greater London regional director, reported by Geraldine Rolfe in What's Brewing, the campaign's newspaper. It's an interesting thought, but is it true?

It is true that we have a highest percentage of pubs selling real ale in decades, and that the range of real ales available in most localities is greater than at any time since the rise of the big brewing companies. I know individual pubs that have a greater range of real ales than some towns did in the 1970s. Despite all that, I am not convinced by the Greater London regional director's assertion.

Firstly, real ale and pubs are inextricably entwined. You can't have the first without the second. I know there are bottled real ales, but they constitute a very small percentage of total real ale sales. It's obvious, therefore, that a threat to pubs is a threat to real ale.

Secondly, there are communities where the only significant real ale provision is in Wetherspoons. Such communities are not enjoying the benefits of winning the battle for real ale.

Thirdly, it is a naïve campaigner who assumes that a victory, once achieved, can be treated as being in the bag and therefore no longer in need of attention.

Pinning our hopes of saving pubs by getting planning regulations tightened up is to miss several points. While there are a few exceptions, most pubs that are converted to other uses were not previously thriving. Why not? I wrote three years ago:

In no particular order, the causes of problems for pubs include:

• Beer taxes rising by more than the rate of inflation. 
• Pub companies overcharging their tenants for rent and supplies (including drinks).
• Falling beer sales overall (except for real ale ~ just).
• Cut-price drink in supermarkets.
• Sophisticated home entertainment systems.
• Changes in drinking habits, with young people increasingly going to their preferred bars and clubs, and less to what they call “old men’s” pubs.
• More choices of places to drink, such as bars, restaurants, hotels and clubs.
• The recession, leaving people with less cash and either unemployed or worried they might be.
• Rising costs for brewers (e.g. raw materials) and pubs (e.g. utility bills).
• The smoking ban.
• Tougher drink-drive enforcement.* 

* By this, I really meant the increasing pressure against driving within the legal limit.

To these I'd now add: 

• Pub companies deliberately running pubs down to the point when they become unviable. Most people don't want to sit in a dingy pub that hasn't seen a lick of paint this millennium.
• Draconian under-age drinking laws, resulting in the next generation of drinkers developing drinking habits unlinked to pubs.

Even if CAMRA achieved exactly what it wanted with planning regulations, none of these factors would be addressed. Changing the planning regulations is not the cure, in the same way that the 2p cut in beer duty has not, as far as I can see, saved a single pub. If pubs aren't safe, neither is real ale.

No gains can be taken for granted. Most people have a lot less disposable income than they did four years ago and alcohol consumption is in decline. If the government decided to introduce an adverse change to beer taxation, perhaps even a reduction or abolition of Progressive Beer Duty, many micro-brewers would close. It's not impossible that anti-alcohol campaigners could gain even more influence on government policy. The corrosive effects of all the factors I've listed above may become more pronounced. 

My aim with this post has been to explain why I believe real ale's apparently healthy situation is more precarious than it looks and that it wouldn't take much to send it into decline. It's certainly true that the current proliferation of micro-breweries cannot be maintained if the outlets for their products continue to close. At some point, the latter will impact upon the former. Overall, I do not share the complacency of CAMRA's Greater London regional director. CAMRA should stop finding a "Reason of the Month" for pub decline and take a more holistic view if it doesn't wish to look like it is clutching at straws when determining campaigning priorities.

"The Northern Lights are in my mind ..."

I met some friends for an early evening drink in the Sir Henry Segrave in Southport a couple of days ago. On the bar there was, among the remnants of the cider festival, a George Wright beer called Northern Lights (5.1%). I have to say I could have happily stayed and drunk it all night, but we had to move on. The brewer's website states that it is "A strong ale, amber in colour. A strong citrus ale balanced by the bitter hop." That is almost word for word how I described it to one of my friends later, although I'd have thought it was paler than 'amber' suggests. Definitely a strong citrus, bitter flavour, which reminded me of some of the American-style pale ales Wetherspoons sometimes commissions.

I haven't seen George Wright beers around for a while; I don't know whether there have been problems at the brewery or whether it is just chance. Probably the latter. I'm rarely disappointed with their beers, and this one in particular is well worth keeping an eye out for.

Liverpool One Brewery

Our local branch of CAMRA (Southport and District) had a trip to the Liverpool One Brewery last Friday.  We met in the Lion Tavern in Moorfields, where licensee Sean Porter was surprised to see me two nights running (it had been my singaround the previous evening).  After a couple of pints there, we left on the 10-minute walk to Vauxhall Road (in Liverpool 3!) and reached the industrial unit that houses the brewery.  There's nothing outside to show what business the building contains, but when you go in, you can't mistake the familiar paraphernalia of a micro-brewery.

It's a 5-barrel brewery, although they hope to expand in time, but at present it is running close to capacity.  The head brewer Gary gave a brief talk to us as we ate our bowls of scouse about the brewery, including how he'd learnt brewing from Stan Shaw at the Wapping Brewery in the Baltic Fleet, no doubt an excellent apprenticeship.  The brewery has been going for around 18 months, and is one of an increasing number of micros in the Liverpool area, which is great for us drinkers.  On sale to us at £1.50 a pint were two cask beers:  Liverpool Light, a pale hoppy citrus beer (4.1%) and Liverpool Dark (5%), described as "a traditional stout, packed with roasted and toasted flavours with a dry finish."  I found the latter very powerfully flavoured, and though I liked it, I don't think I'd drink much more than a couple, but I could have drunk the Light all evening; it's a very good example of the style.  One of our group asked about the bottling process:  we were told that the bottles were done by hand, surely very time-consuming.

I was interested to learn that the Bridewell pub, which I visited at the end of June (you can read it here), is actually their brewery tap, and very useful for them to try beers out and, if necessary, tweak them before going into full scale production.  The Bridewell, a former lock up, is one of Liverpool's most unusual pubs where you can drink in the former cells. 

Everyone seemed to enjoy the visit to the brewery, and afterwards Ian, Carole and I went to the extremely crowded Ship and Mitre on Dale Street for a couple of beers before catching the last train to Southport.

I've just noticed that the brewery's website proudly proclaims that their beer Mersey Mist won Silver in the IPA and Lager category at this year's Macclesfield Beer Festival.  I'm sure there'll be more.

Always look on the Brightside ...

News of another new microbrewery:  Brightside in Bury, Greater Manchester.  It's some way from where I live, but I'm hoping the beers will find their way to north Merseyside.  It's called Brightside because it was set up at the height (or should that be the depth?) of the recession, and no doubt bar staff are already weary of punters singing the Monty Python song ~ I like to think I'd resist the temptation, but I'm not sure.

Its core range is:

• Best Bitter, 4.3%, a dark amber best bitter.
• Maverick, 4.8%, a light amber IPA.
• Darkside, 4.3%, a black stout.
• Solstice, 4.5%, a light golden ale.

While that seems a rather good range that would meet most preferences, they also have plans for occasional special beers.  At present they are sold in and around the Bury area, but they plan to sell further afield:  let's hope they come our way soon.

New brewery & other news

A new microbrewery has opened called the Blackedge Brewery.  It's a 2.5 barrel brewery in Horwich, Bolton, on the edge of the West Pennine Moors.  The website states that it is now in full production and at present just shows one beer, a 3.8% pale ale called HoP, but with the promise of more to come.  Another to keep an eye out for.  I like the fact that the pump clip is shaped like a guitar plectrum! 
Thanks to Ken Worthington of Wigan CAMRA for letting me know.

Pub reopens
The Arion pub in Kenilworth Road, Ainsdale, Southport, re-opened on 15th August after an 18 months closure, during which time there were rumours that it would never be opened as a pub again. It is operated by Enterprise Inns and is under the stewardship of Jacki and Andy Phillips. They have a good food menu, including home cooked dishes, and at present have one real ale on offer, Marston's Pedigree, in good condition, and they are assessing how well this sells as they hope to eventually offer guest beers. The pub has been smartly refurbished, with a pleasant outside area. 
Thanks to Mike Perkins of Southport CAMRA for this info.

When Jones's ale was new, me boys ...

A new brewery near Wigan: Jones Brewery, set up by Neil Jones, who's had 20 years experience of the brewing industry.  Ken Worthington of Wigan CAMRA told me about this, and I get the impression they knew nothing about it until it was up and running.  The brewery is in Haigh (pronounced 'hay', I believe), which is North West of Wigan.  I hadn't heard of Haigh, but it does look very small; it doesn't even appear in my road atlas.

Their normal range consists of a dark bitter, a stout and a pale ale, with a seasonal winter warmer and the intention to brew other seasonal beers.  I'm looking forward to trying their beers out, perhaps on one of my visits to Wigan.

The title of this post is explained here!

Tipsy Angel to fly soon

Dave White of Wigan CAMRA has just visited the Lower Angel in Warrington and he has been assured that the Tipsy Angel microbrewery that they are setting up will serve its first pints next Friday the 29th April.  I have written about this previously (you can find my posts here), and I have a special interest as I was a student at Padgate College just outside Warrington, and the Lower Angel was one of the alehouses we used to frequent.  More recently, the pub was run by Charlie Oliver, who used to run the Old Ship in Southport when it was a real ale Mecca.

I do like the name of the micro, Tipsy Angel, which is a resolute two fingers to the humourless anti-alcohol brigade who will probably condemn such a name as encouraging irresponsible drinking.

P.S. (3 May):  Tony of Warrington tells me:  "The Tipsy Angel brewery is now up and running, Aidan's first brew was Angel's Folly, a dark stout based on the old Walker's Falstaff ale.  They shifted 4 x 9's on Friday 29th April, I luckily managed to get in for a couple before it went. A bitter is due next, I gather."

Microbrewery opening delayed

Dave White has told me that the beer is not yet flowing from the new Tipsy Angel microbrewery in Warrington that I wrote about on 13 January. Apparently the recent cold weather had affected the yeast, and it'll be late in the month before the beer is ready. The brewery is located behind the Lower Angel pub in Buttermarket Street. Despite this delay, it's good that more micros are opening.

I think I’ll defer my planned trip to Warrington for a few weeks.

Microbrewery updates

From the far flung edges of the ReARM empire (Wigan), Ken Worthington has updated me on two microbreweries I have recently written about.

The Lower Angel (far right) in the 1970s.
Notice the old Walker's sign.

The micro in the Lower Angel, Buttermarket Street, Warrington (previous post here), will be in a converted outhouse at the back of the pub. They're going to call it Tipsy Angel, and are hoping to recreate a version of the old Tetley Walker bitter. As I recall from my Warrington days, the Tetley brewery in Warrington brewed mostly Tetley beers, but also some of the old Walker's Bitter, which we used to seek out as we much preferred it to the Tetley's. If it's this, it may be interesting; I wonder whether they'll use the old Walker's name.

There is also a brewery in the Tavern, Church Street, Warrington, (formerly Wilkie's Tavern), but I have no further details.  Warrington is certainly looking up from the days when we sought any escape from Greenall Whitley beers in the 70s.

The Wayfarer's microbrewery application for premises in Alder Lane, Parbold (previous post here), has received approval, and the brewery will be called the Problem Child Brewery. However, work hasn't begun as the pub was so busy over the holiday period they haven't had a chance to clean out the cottage which will house the brewery. I'm sure they'll get there.

Now we can only hope that we'll get a chance to try these new beers, seeing how pub companies prefer to exclude any beers not on their 'approved' lists. I don't think such behaviour should be legal, but that's a different issue.

Tipsy Angel in Warrington

Dave White of Wigan CAMRA has told me that the Lower Angel in Warrington that I wrote about on 31st December will be opening its own microbrewery within the next few weeks.  He said the brewery will be called Tipsy Angel, although that might have been a joke. I've occasionally heard murmurs about a new brewery here for a year or two, and I'm pleased they weren't just rumours.

This will certainly improve the beer situation in Warrington, which was poor when I was a student in the 1970s (choice of Greenalls and Tetleys) and wasn't much better a couple of years ago when I went on a pub crawl in the town. The Albion on Battersby Lane is a great pub (I went to one of its beer festivals in 2009), and the Lower Angel has served decent beer for a good while, but overall Warrington hasn't been well served by breweries and pubcos over the years.

I look forward to hearing about the new brewery and trying its products.

Microbrewery Planning Permission Sought in Parbold

Ken Worthington of Wigan CAMRA has sent me the following interesting piece of information:

The owners of the Wayfarer Pub and Restaurant in Alder Lane, Parbold, have applied for planning permission to convert a nearby cottage in Alder Lane into a microbrewery. They hope to produce 20 barrels a week, five for the pub and the other fifteen for sale locally. As things stand, no final decision has been made on the application yet.

Pleasing news if it comes off, especially after the launch of the new brewery in Burscough.