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- Dianond Geeza (8)
- Smithys Blog (14)
- 30/09/2009: stars and pints
- 10/09/2009: the damned beer
- 11/08/2009: an afternoon with the damned
- 01/12/2008: the ancient oak (cottam)
- 19/10/2008: marion doggart
- 19/10/2008: levis beer (part 2)
- 17/10/2008: sad loss of mr levi stubbs
- 16/10/2008: cartford up date
- 04/10/2008: thanks stan (old black bull preston)
- 04/10/2008: frans brew ( imposter) lookey likey
Blogroll
FLEETWOOD BEER FESTIVAL
The annual Fleetwood Beer Festival takes place this year over Valentine’s weekend, 14th, 15th and 16th February. Programme notes for the Hart Brewery, as they will appear in the festival programme, are printed below:
THE HART BREWERY
Next year this busy and successful brewery will be celebrating its 15th anniversary. Opened in 1994 in Preston it moved the following year to its current home in the stable block behind the historic Cartford Inn at Great Eccleston. Brewer, John Smith, with his immense enthusiasm, great sense of humour, but, above all, enormous talent as a brewer, is turning out beers that simply get better and better. Having a great local reputation, the beers are available in a dozen or so local pubs and clubs, but I find, on my travels around the country, his beers are very popular nationally as they become available through his system of arranging “swops” with other quality breweries. Fifteen years of working hard to fine tune and improve his regular beers has resulted in the brewery having a portfolio of top class, quality beers.
Most locals know of the unique way the brewery came into being, but the story bears repeating. Before 1994 John was an enthusiastic home brewer and the more his friends and neighbours tasted the beer the more popular became and gained a reputation. John needed to know whether his beer really was so good or was it just a case of people drinking it because it was free. By way of an experiment, he set up a small bar in his Preston garage and began to sell his beer, demand was so great that he needed to brew more and more of the stuff. Inevitably HM Customs and Excise heard about the venture and demanded their share in taxes. It led to John having to pay a huge fine and that seemed to be the end of his little enterprise. But there’s a twist in the tale, the Customs Officer prosecuting the case considered John’s beer to be so good that he sat down with him and came up with plans that would let the brewery continue on a “legitimate and properly commercial” basis and John could live his dream of becoming a professional brewer. It just so happened that the Customs Officer was a friend of Andrew Mellodew, legendary proprietor and landlord of the Cartford Hotel in Little Eccleston, beside the River Wyre. Andrew too had an ambition, which was to have a small micro-brewery on the grounds of his iconic pub that could service his pub and sell the surplus to the free-trade. An agreement over a beer and we had a happy ending, John was a brewer and Andrew had his brewery. That successful partnership continued until last year when Andrew decided to take a rest from the business and sold the business to Julie and Patrick Beaume, wisely and thankfully they have continued to support Hart brewery; it must be a terrific asset to the business to have an in-house brewery as an attraction. Speaking of Andrew Mellodew, I doubt if he’s finished with the real ale business, watch this space!
A number of Hart beers will be available at this festival, their beers are classy and of an unusually high quality. Try the award winning Ice Maiden, see why it was named “Lancashire’s Champion Beer.” Hart beers can often be found in local pubs including the branch “Pub of the Season” the Thatched House in Poulton-le-Fylde. To learn more about the brewery and to order the beers (incidentally they are now available in “take-home packs” from the brewery checkout the new web-site: www.hartbreweryltd.co.uk .
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12/03/2008 at 09:45 pm
IS THIS FAIR?
Four penny tax increase will do nothing to curb binge drinking but will hit poorest the hardest
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has hit out at the Chancellor’s decision to increase beer duty by 4 pence a pint in today’s Budget, together with annual increases of 2% above inflation for the next four years. The consumer group claims that the increase will lead to at least 20 pence on a pint over the bar, fuelling pub closures and increasing unregulated drinking as more choose to drink at home or on the streets. This is the first time ever that beer tax has increased by 4 pence - a rise of 13%!
CAMRA recently announced that 57 pubs are lost permanently every month as the price differential between pubs and supermarkets widens. Pubs provide a regulated environment for people to enjoy alcohol socially and responsibly.
Mike Benner, Chief Executive of CAMRA said, “The Chancellor has failed to recognise that well-run community pubs are the solution to Britain’s binge drinking problems. This budget will do nothing to stop binge drinking, but it will lead to pub closures on a huge scale, widen the gap between supermarket and pub prices and encourage smuggling and cross-border shopping. It’s a great big nail whacked ruthlessly into the coffin of the British pub.”
The 90,000 strong consumer group has condemned the announcement that beer tax will increase above inflation for the next four years, despite what happens to UK pubs and the beer market.
Mike Benner added, “Pubs are defined as local services*, yet this tax rise alongside other market pressures will accelerate closures to unprecedented levels. The budget shows a disregard for our national drink and for the 15 million people who enjoy it responsibly.
CAMRA called for a cut in beer duty in the Budget to help pubs compete with supermarket prices. CAMRA believes that supermarket prices of beer are unlikely to be affected significantly by the tax increase, but pubs as small businesses, will have no choice but to increase prices at the bar.