SIBA Great Northern Beer Festival 2011

The SIBA North Region Beer Competition 2011 will be the starting point for the SIBA Great Northern Beer Festival at the Ramada Piccadilly, Manchester city centre in association with Greater Manchester CAMRA, 27-29^th October.

The Great Northern Beer Festival is a celebration of the modern revolution in British brewingas a result of which there are now more breweries than in most of our lifetimes.

This festival is run by the brewers themselves — SIBA (The Society of Independent Brewers) which represents most British breweries, big and small. There are more than a hundred SIBA breweries in The North region.

Opening times: Thursday 27^th October – doors open at 4pm (following judging for SIBA North’s annual beer competition) until 10.30pm. Friday & Saturday – noon until 10.30pm.

Entry is £3 (£2 for CAMRA members) and includes a £1 refundable deposit in a souvenir glass.

With 250 different cask beers (served via 64 hand pulls) allserved in the Northern mannerthrough a hand pull, 100 bottled beersand live musicon Saturday evening it promises to be a very exciting event.

Beer will be provided by SIBA North breweries and live music will be performed by Dr Butler’s Hatstand Medicine Band, visit their myspace page by clicking here. 

Women like proper beer too

A growing number of women are choosing modern British beer.

That was the message from an event, organised by Liverpool and Districts Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) on Tuesday 11th Oct.

40 women took part in a tasting session hosted by Anne Jones; Sales Manager at Hawkshead Brewery.

Held at The Dispensary, Renshaw Street, Liverpool, which was awarded CAMRA’s Pub of the Year in 2010 and 2011, the session focussed on how food can be matched with beer and detailed the brewing process. Anne said:

“Cask ale is the one area of the beer industry which is booming. This is because drinkers want something more from their beer. They want locally produced, flavoursome ales rather than mass produced, tasteless ‘fizz’ and women are making up a large proportion of the new wave of real ale drinkers”.

The recently produced Cask Report, on “Britain’s National Drink,” highlighted that of the 7.8 million real ale drinkers, one in six is female and that is growing.”

Anne added: “It’s sad to see the ‘pink’ marketing tactics big breweries use to try to capitalise on this growing trend. They should just concentrate on making their beer taste better. Both men and women like modern, British, well hopped highly flavoured, proper beer “.

“We target women with our range of beers - We do not make’ women friendly’ versions.”

Jean Pownceby, of CAMRA Liverpool District, said of the evening: “Anne was very informative and her natural enthusiasm really shone through, she really engaged with people and everyone came away from the session keen to explore more real ales.”

“We’re grateful to Anne and Hawkshead Brewery for coming to show attendees how to match proper beer with good food and dispel the myths surrounding real ales.”

Wetherspoons Battle of the Breweries

On Wednesday 12th October we welcomed two new brewsters to help for the day, Kirsten and Leanne from Wetherspoons pub The Milson Rhodes in Didsbury, Manchester spent the day brewing gyle 1084 of Windermere Pale. Kirsten and Leanne brought their wellies and got stuck in, Leanne was even delegated the task of digging out the copper! The staff at The Milson Rhodes are taking part in a competition – Battle of the Breweries which sees the male members of staff brew with a chosen brewery and the female staff with another. Both beers are then offered for sale on the bar alongside each other with patrons voting for their favourite. The winners at each stage proceed to the grand final and progress of the competition is charted on a board in the pub. Check back to our news page for an update on the competition and see how Windermere Pale fares against the other beers!

Hawkshead Brewery in Slovenia

Head Brewer Matt Clarke was invited by Paul Corbett of hop merchants Charles Faram & Co Ltd. to join a select group of brewers on a trip to Slovenia’s hop farms.

The trip at the end of August, timed perfectly to see the hop harvest in action, was an ideal opportunity to gather invaluable insider information from the hop growers about this year’s crop. It’s amazing what subtle differences in growing and harvest conditions do to the hop aroma, which in turn influence the flavour and aroma of beer. The trip also gave Matt the chance to explore some of the lesser known varieties of hops which there seems to be a real excitement about in Slovenia.

To see more photos from Matt’s trip please click here.

Beer Dough Pizzas

New pizzas made with Hawkshead Brewery beer are now available at The Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal. Customers in the Vats Bar and Grain Store restaurant will be able to experience a burst of beer when they bite into one the Brewery’s famous pizzas following the launch of the Ale and Arty pizza - the main ingredient of which is dough mixed with bitter from Hawkshead Brewery.

The new pizzas were the brainchild of Brewery Arts Centre Head Chef Gerard Quinn who wanted to pep up the popular pizza menu with something completely unique.

Gerard said: “As far as we know, the Brewery is the first venue in the country to serve pizzas made with dough infused with ale. The addition of the beer gives the pizza base a rich, malty flavour which perfectly compliments the traditional and modern toppings offered in the restaurant.”

“We tried a few different methods of adding the beer to the dough before settling on a method which sees us reduce the beer down into a concentrated sauce before being added to the pizza dough which gives it a special punchy flavour.

The dough is made with Ale and Arty bitter; a pale, golden, hoppy ale at 3.9% abv which is brewed specially by us at Hawkshead Brewery for the Vats Bar.

Hawkshead marketing assistant Gemma Greenbank said: “We’re delighted to be involved in such an innovative project which brings together beer from Hawkshead Brewery – the largest independent brewery in Cumbria - and creativity from our friends at the Brewery Arts Centre, whose initiative ties in well with our own campaign to match excellent beer with food."

NEW, JUST IN Only at The Beer Hall: Best of British Bottled Beers

Bottled beers from: Kernel, Buxton, Dark Star, Thornbridge, St Austell, Mallinsons and more….

New bottled beers have been added to the range in The Beer Shop, now available to be purchased and either taken home to enjoy or drunk here, at The Beer Hall. See the following list for more details.

The Great Northern Cheese Festival

Hawkshead Brewery will be at The Great Northern Cheese festival this weekend (1-2^nd October) held at Rheged, Penrith. A cheese and beer matching masterclass will be presented by Anne Jones (Sales Manager at Hawkshead Brewery) and Alexander Evans (from Taste at Rheged). There will be the opportunity to sample the matches by visiting the Hawkshead Brewery stall. The masterclass takes place at 1.15pm on both Saturday and Sunday in the Mountain Hall. Entry to the festival is £2 and is redeemable against any purchase in Rheged’s shops.

Following the success of the first Great Northern Cheese Festival last year, this year's is even bigger with the addition of creative children’s activities and workshops. There is the opportunity to meet the producers, watch demos, sample and purchase cheese and cheese related produce from over 40 stallholders.

For more information please visit http://www.rheged.com/great-northern-cheese-festival-0

Good Beer Guide Hails “Spectacular Success” of Hawkshead Brewery & it’s Beer Hall.

Hawkshead Brewery has been a “spectacular success” according to the new edition of the Good Beer Guide, published this week. The guide picks out the brewery in Staveley, as evidence of the growing appeal of real ale.

In an article at the beginning of the 2012 CAMRA Good Beer Guide, published on 15th September, the editor, Roger Protz writes that the growing demand for real ale is forcing many breweries to expand to increase production.

Hawkshead is one of six young breweries in Britain picked out as prime examples of rapid growth. (The others are: Otley in Wales, Sambrook’s in London, Purity in Warwickshire, Stewart in Scotland and Moorhouse’s in Lancashire).

Since it was founded in 2002, Hawkshead Brewery, has been a “spectacular success,” writes Protz, not only for its brewing but also for its “highly praised Beer Hall, where drinkers and diners can look down on to the brewing plant.”

The Beer Hall, the Hawkshead Brewery tap in Staveley Mill Yard, was expanded recently to add a new bar and a kitchen, specialising in “beer tapas.” Windows throughout the brewery complex allow visitors to see into the brewery and watch it at work.

Hawkshead’s Alex Brodie said: “I am proud to have this recognition by the editor of the Good Beer Guide of our contribution to campaigning for real ale. Promoting our unique national drink is at the root of everything we do.

Brodie’s Prime available nationally at JD Wetherspoons

Hawkshead Brewery’s Brodie’s Prime is available to all Wetherspoons as a guest beer this Autumn. JD Wetherspoon support CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) and recognise excellence in the service of cask ale, 94% of their pubs have a Cask Marque award – the sign of a great pint!

Brodie’s Prime is a well-hopped dark premium beer, with an unusual medley of flavours. It is rich and rounded though and at 4.9% abv it drinks a lot lighter than it actually is.

Find out where your local Wetherspoons is click here and request a pint of this wonderful North West Champion Porter.

Beer Festival Charity Raffle

We held a charity raffle to raise money for the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee) East Africa Crisis Appeal during our Summer Beer Festival in July 2011. Due to the generosity of local businesses and people attending the Beer Festival we were able to raise a total of £523. The money has been used to provide essential food, water and medical supplies for those who need it the most in the countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and the Republic of South Sudan as more than 10 million people face one of the most severe droughts in 60 years. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Somalia due to the drought and conflict, parts of the country are now afflicted by famine. Without the generous donations from the following local businesses and those that bought raffle tickets it would not have been possible so thank you all very much.

Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal