Hop Press

Issue 30 – August 1989

A rough scan & OCR of the original leaving out adverts & some sections such as the Crossword
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Contents

• Editorial
• Bunce's brewery - Nigel Parsons
• The smoker strikes back - Derek Markell
• From "What's Brewing"
• Fruity tales from Bevois Valley Chris Brown
• Winchester station stagger - Mike Etheridge
• The price rip-off continues Rob Whatley
• Letters
• Pub news
• Early morning ritual for the head brewer

EDITORIAL Hop Press index

Only four months ago CAMRA was ce1eorating its greatest triumph with the publication of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on the supply of beer, incorporating almost all of the ideas that we had submitted to them. It is now with gr.eat regret but little surprise, that we hear of Lord Young's final action - or rather, inaction - before he was moved on from the DTI. Is this the beginning of the hangover after the party?

Back in March Lord Young stated that he was 'minded to accept' the recommendations of the report. The main suggestion of which was that no one brewing company should be allowed to own more than 2,000 pubs. CAMRA was pleased by this recommendation, with the only reservation that the 2,000 pub ceiling did not extend to non-brewing companies such as leisure organisations. The big six national_ brewers would still probably have been able to run as many houses as they liked, through associated non-brewing concerns.

The publicity campaign waged by the brewers against the report was almost unprecedented. Six million pounds was expended in newspaper and poster advertising alone, much of it hysterical in tone and designed to scare the 'man in the public bar' into believing that his pub would be snatched from him. Even more intense was their lobbying of MPs, especially Government supporters who in many cases have close traditional links with the 'beerage'. The Brewers' Society certainly got its money's worth! Never can six million have been better spent.

Whilst we must wait until the Autumn for the detailed plans to be published it is clear that the noble lord was forced into full retreat on many issues. The Government's suggested compromise is that, above the 2000 base, half of all the remaining pubs that a brewer owns have to be operated as 'free' houses. Thus a brewer with 6000 pubs would have to run 2000 without a tie. However, these houses could still be loan tied to another brewer since the recommendation to outlaw such loans was dropped. A simple circular arrangement among the big six will satisfy the rules and yet leave them with just as many tied outlets as at present. No doubt the big brewers will be 'minded to accept' this climbdown.

Tenants of national brewers will, be able to buy all but their beers from suppliers of their choice and will be able to buy in one cask conditioned ale. The subject of which brewers will have to supply these guest cask-conditioned beers has not yet been resolved.

Two areas under consideration but not yet subject to any statements, are reviews of the pub licensing system and of the beer excise tax system. Reform in both these areas could have more far-reaching consequences than all of the watered down MMC recommendations. A final complication is that the European Community is still holding its own investigation into European brewing, the results of which will not be known for several months.

Lastly, what of the recent 6p to !Op price increases introduced by the big brewers? The advertising spree was funded by a barrelage levy on all the members of. the Brewers' Society and one of the points made in the MMC report was the tendency towards un-jus ti fied price increases; we see exactly what they meant!

Bunce's brewery Hop Press index

Nigel Parsons

Since the late 19701s the small brewery industry has been undergoing something of a revival. A large number of new breweries have been set up since then although a good proportion have been very short lived. Those that have survived operate in an extremely restricted market.

Indeed, the recent Monopolies and Mergers Commission report - The Supply of Beer - highlighted the fact that the major obstacle to the success of a small brewery is the lack of outlets. The major breweries, with their monopolistic domination of the beer market, are responsible for many small brewers' failures. The situation may be helped by the 'guest' ale recommendation but the small print will need careful study.

One of the survivors of this fierce competition that exists within the industry is Bunce's of Netheravon, Wiltshire, which was recently visited by CAMRA South Hants.

Bunce' s brewery is housed in the 'Old Mi 11', Netheravon, which has been used for a variety of purposes during its history. The mill was built in 1914, originally for the purpose of supplying electricity to the new Netheravon airfield, which had opened in the previous year. Water flowing in the adjoining River Avon was used to drive generators, which charged an extensive array of lead-acid batteries. It is estimated that the power capability of the fully charged batteries was 100 kilowatts, which is less than the power generated by many modern car engines!

The building is, in, fact, ideal for brewing, with some of the old features having new applications. For example, the the winch fixture which was once used to haul the heavy batteries to the top of the building is now used to lift the malt and hops and as all of the brewing ingredients start off at the top of the building, the plant has been designed to take best advantage of gravity, and surprisingly few electric pumps or other modern aids are used,

The designer and architect for the conversion of the mill into a brewery is Tony Bunce, who together with his wife Robin also acts as brewer, distributor, accountant, drayman and countless other roles essential to the running of the brewery. Tony started as a civil engineer, ending up at the Government Road Traffic Research Department. "I felt that my career was coming to the end of the road and needed to take a new direction", he told me. I think the puns. were intentional. The Bunces live at the brewery, and even employ 'brew-sitters' when they go on holiday!

Tony usually brews twice a week, starting at 6am. Between 4 and 10 barrels (144 to 360 gallons) are brewed each time depending on which beer is being made. Each of Bunce' s beers is brewed using a different recipe - this may seem obvious, but these days many breweries make one strong beer and dilute it to make their weaker brews.

An interesting service offered by Bunce' s is 'contract brewing', One or a group of pubs can commission a special beer from Bunce' s. All that is needed is to decide on a taste, colour and strength and Tony will do his best to invent a recipe to suit! Bunce' s would like to see more of this type of business, so let's hope the MMC report {which Tony believes to be a good ideib will lead to expansion in this area.

So what of the beers? Three ales are brewed - Benchmark <OG 1035), Best Bitter {1042) and Old Smokey (about 1060). All Bunce' s beers have a distinctive flavour, which is very hoppy with a long aftertaste. These beers are well worth seeking out.

As Bunce's brewery owns no pubs (and has no plans to do sol, its beers can only be found in free houses, usually as guest beers only. Try Bunce' s at the following pubs, but please telephone first to avoid disappointment, as the beers are not always available: Bird-inHand, Winchester; Southgate Hotel, Winchester; Woolpack, Totford; Bush, Ovington; Cuckoo, Landford; Foresters, Frogham; Cartwheel, Whitsbury.

The smoker strikes back Hop Press index

Derek Markell

The article on smoking in pubs in the last issue of Hop Press calls for a reply.

CAMRA undoubtedly claims that its aims are the preservation of traditional British beers and traditional pubs. This means the pub as a communal social centre where people can get together to relax over a drink, enjoy a bit of a conversation, play games, tell a few jokes or lies, and maybe transact their business - and many people would like things to continue that way.

The traditional pub as we know it has its origins largely in the 17th century. The use of tobacco in this country has it origins in exactly the same period, and has been intimately connected with the pub right from the outset. Long before tobacconists existed the smoker would buy a pipe of tobacco with his beer over the bar; often the pipe would be given free to encourage customers to use a particular pub. Indeed, so 1closely were the trades of publican and pipemaker connected that the latter frequently stood surety as bondsman for the former's licence.

From this it can be seen that smoking in the pub is almost as traditional as the pub itself. The bear-baiting and cock-fighting comment in the article [see Hop Press Issue 29) is a red herring, as only a tiny minority of pubs ever staged this kind of 'entertainment'. The opening paragraphs state that the bar so densely filled with smoke that visibility is seriously inhibited is a regular occurrence; this suggests a degree. of exaggeration usually only demonstrated by estate agents and the tabloid press. I certainly haven't known a pub fit this description for many years. Maybe the writer frequents a pub which is so traditional that it doesn't believe in extractor fans and still sells cigarettes at 2d a packet!

Finally, I wouldn't dare to;suggest that tobacco is all good, but at the same time it is not all bad either. • Most people will not know that that tobacco was originally used for medicinal purposes after its introduction to Europe. There is insufficient space here to discuss this aspect, but references are available. An example of this use of tobacco was its employment, in the late 18th century, as an emetic device - for horses.

From "What's Brewing" August 1989 Hop Press index

WHEN THE team of 40 servicemen who formed the British Services Everest Expedition were forward planning they suddenly realised with horror that there was not going to be room amongst their equipment for enough beer for the three month expedition.

Then Captain Charles Hat - tersley of the 4th battalion Devon and Dorset Regiment (TA) voiced an idea "What about taking along beer kits and brewing when we get there?".

After investigating the market he decided that 'John Bull' was the appropriate kit to take, for the name as much as anything.

Paine's the manufacturers of the John Bull beer' kits supplied two dozen- John Bull beer-making kits and all the equipment necessary.

The first month was taken up with organising a base camp in high winds and snow and the establishment of the Advance Base Camp.

Across the frozen Rongbuk glacier to the North Col, the team were inspired by the magnificent view of the full length of the West Ridge and the summit of Everest.

The objective was to be the first British team to climb the mountain by this route. Charles Hattersley, who is a very experienced climber both in the Himalayas and Africa and Kenya had a particularly hair raising time crossing from Camp 5 to Camp 6 when he lost his crampon and was left dangling at the end of a rope 25,000ft up Everest, only 1,000ft below the jet stream. Eventually he managed to fix it in place and continue but he had a very heart stopping 30 minutes.

The team battled on facing ferocious winds, heavy blizzards and minus 40 degree temperatures, compounded by the wind chill factor. On two occasions they came within 600ft of the top but just as success seemed certain the climbers were driven back again and again, and heavy blizzards resulting in several feet of fresh snow each morning eventually forced the team to abandon the attempt.

However they did succeed in brewing their own beer from the John Bull beer kits. To protect the brew during the cold nights of sub-zero temperatures the fermenting vessels were covered in blankets and sleeping bags in addition to using the heating belts supplied by Paines.

As far as can be determined, this is the highest level (17,0OOft) at which beer has ever been brewed, indeed it would have been impossible to maintain sufficient temperature for the yeast to work any higher up.

The beer, considering the weather, difficulty in melting the snow for the water and the over eager team impatient to try the beer before it had properly aged was excellent. Needless to say it did not need to be chilled.

One point overlooked by the team was that one pint of beer consumed at this altitude had the same effect as drinking IO pints at ground level. As a result some merry times were enjoyed by all - particularly at the party on the last night.

Will the team attempt the climb again? Well apart from the tough physical and psychological problems that three months of enduring bitter cold and hardship can bring. it takes two to three years to prepare and equip the expedition and to negotiate with the Chinese who charge £25,000 to book the mountain.

Quite what the Yeti made of it all we don't know.

Three more for Youngs

YOUNGS, the south London independent brewer, has bought three new pubs in Surrey - bringing their total number of tied houses to 152.

They are taking over the Plough, in Orestan Lane, Effingham, the Old House at Home, in West Street. Darking. and the Bear. in Leather head Road, Oxshott.

The Plough and the Old House at Home become Young's houses on Thursday 28 June. The Bear will be accepted into the fold next month.

Fruity tales from Bevois Valley Hop Press index

Chris Brown

Our story begins not in Bevois Valley, Southampton, but in the Senne valley of central Belgium. This area, stretching south-west from Brussels, is known as the Payottenland and is the country of Breugal. It is in this region that one of the most unusual and venerable traditions of brewing has made its home - the production of 'wild' beers. Here unique microorganisms in the air make it possible to produce beer without the need to add any normal yeast to activate fermentation.

Of Belgium's many interesting beer traditions this lambic brewing is surely the most unusual. In the authentic process the basic mash consists of barley malt with a high proportion of 1 ocal wheat, and wooden slats in the brewery roof are opened to allow the natural yeasts access to work their magic. The resulting 'young' Iambic beer is the traditional drink of Brussels. Lambie brewers will also mature this beer in wooden casks, to make blends known as gueuze. A gueuze will contain ~t least one-third 'old' beer which has matured for more that a year and may be massively hopped, mainly because of the hop's preservative qualities.

We are clearly in a totally different world from that of traditional British ales, yet this world becomes stranger still. The gueuze' s natural acidic fruitiness may be hard enough for the British palate to come to terms with, but for the Belgians this is still not enough.... Local Schaarbeck cherries, distinctively dark and bitter, are macerated whole then mixed and fermented with gueuze beer for as much as eight months to produce kriek <pronounced creek).

In a traditional kriek a kilogram of cherries is used for each five litres of beer; the resulting mixture is filtered and has an alcoholic content of about 5.5% by volume. The brew will continue to ferment in the bottle, gradually losing its full-bodied fruitiness and becoming more acidic and extremely alcoholic. The beer is at its best between one and two years after bottling.

The lack of terms such as pasteurisation and artificial carbonation in the above processes indicates a genuine traditional product but where is the Bevois Valley connection? This is simply explained by the appearance last year of a company called Beers of the World <prop. Mr. R. Gale) and the reader will not be surprised to hear that this company has strong ties with Gale's brewery of Horndean. Gale's have allowed tenants to stock a small selection of the Beers of the World portfolio and John Melville, landlord of the New Inn, Bevois Valley, has been quick to accept this opportunity.

One of the four foreign beers stocked at the New Inn - and maybe, by now, some other Gale's houses - is a kriek beer from the Lindemans brewery a traditional lambic brewery in the heart of the Breugal country.

What about the taste - and the price - of this beer? £1.60 for a 37, 5cl <approximately 2/3 _pint) bottle of a 4.0% alcohol by volume beer may seem rather expensive, but in my view it is justifiable by the _extremely expensive processes outlined above. The beer has an enormous cherry aroma and an explosion of bitter-sweet fruity flavour, which gives way to a complex malty finish. It is probably the finest example of a kriek available to the mass market.

The next time you go to the New Inn for a pint, maybe you should pause and treat yourself to a very different - but equally valid and undoubtedly distinctive - style of beer and look out for this and other Continental beers in Gale's houses.

Winchester station stagger Hop Press index

Mike Etheridge

Winchester pubs near the station

It is a long time since Hop Press wandered around Winchester. This 'stagger' (which we don't necessarily expect you to complete in one session!) is ideally suited for those who travel to Winchester by train, all pubs being within 15 minutes' gentle walk of the station; it will be particularly appreciated by lovers of Marston' s beers.

On leaving the station main en trance pass the pink painted South Western, where no real ale is sold, and head straight down the Station Hill for the Albion (1), a one bar pub in the angle of the Stockbridge and Andover Roads. Once inside, there is plenty of decoration on the walls to keep the eye occupied, and Websters Yorkshire Bitter and Ruddles County are served here to quench the thirst. Across the road is the Eagle Hotel (2) a quiet lounge bar selling Marston's Burton Best Bitter and Pedigree Bitter.

Walk along Swan Lane,the narrow cut beside the Eagle, towards Hyde Street and across the street you wi 11 see the White Swan (3). This was the 'brewery tap' for the adjoining Winchester Brewery which is now Marston' s area office and depot. The White Swan is an excellent example of a two bar city pub and is particularly_. popular with young people; it has a bar billiard table and includes Merrie Monk and Owd Rodger in its range of Marston's beers.

Going North along Hyde Street via, en the left, the Prince of Wales (4) which sells Eldridge Pope beers, you will reach the inconspicuous Hyde Tavern (5). A fascinating 15th century building with low ceilings and uneven floors and with Marston's Burton Best Bitter and Pedigree Bitter dispensed from a small serving area. The same beers together with Merci an Mild are sold at the nearby King Alfred (6) in Saxon Road. This traditional Victorian pub has a large public bar with games, a smaller, cosy lounge and a fine garden.

To the North of the station along Andover Road is the Jolly Farmer (7), a Whit bread house with carvery. Situated on Gallows Hil 1, the pub has a hangman and victim theme as wall decoration - I am slightly surprised that its name has not been changed to 'Hangers'! The Jolly Farmer has a food emphasis, with Strong Country Bitter and Pompey Royal being the available beers.

Also North, but along the Stockbridge Road, is the Roebuck (8). This pub has recently been converted to one bar and is plusher than most Marston' s houses in the area. Burton Best Bitter and Pedigree are served, along with good food. In the middle of the residential area off Stockbridge Road is the Ful flood Arms (9), a good sol id local. Note the original Winchester Brewery Company windows; and to stop you from dying of thirst excellent pints of Burton Best and Pedigree are available,

Heading back towards the city to the West of the station, the thirsty traveller will find the Railway Inn (10), St Paul's Hill, and the Westgate Hotel, (11), Romsey Road, two Eldridge Pope pubs popular with the young. Further up the steep Romsey Road is the St James Tavern (12), an odd shaped house that is much larger than its exterior suggests. Excellent Wadworth's IPA, 6X and Hall and Woodhouse Tanglefoot are dispensed in this popular local.

Back down in the town, in Jewry Street, is the tiny Theatre Bar (13), which is attached to the Theatre Royal. Gales beers are sold here, including their new Best Bitter; visitors are occasionally treated to a little impromptu live music.

Finally we head out of the city again, along Southgate Street, to a varied trio of pubs. We arrive first at the Exchange (14), a busy city pub selling Courage Best, Directors and. John Smith's Yorkshire Bitter. Across the street is the Southgate Bar (15), within the Southgate Hotel, a quiet bar serving Wadworth' s 6X and the excellent Bunce's Best Bitter. There are rumours of changes to this building - let us hope that the bar and the Bunce's survive. Lastly, we reach the Green Man (16), a highly traditional Marston' s pub with the unique distinction for Hampshire of selling three real milds - Mercian, Border and Merrie Monk. As might be expected, beware of CAMRA members in the public bar! There may be changes here since the existing landlord is leaving, but so far the news is not too bad.

The price rip-off continues Hop Press index

Rob Whatley

CAMRA's annual prices survey of local pubs, conducted earlier this year, showed that the average price of a pint of standard bitter was £1.01, an increase of 7p on last year's figure.

Of course many local pubs have been charging more than a pound a pint for some years but it is still possible to find a few pubs where the pound barrier has not yet been broken.

The table below shows how the cost of a pint varies from one brewer to another:

* National brewer

This table yet again shows that the small independent brewers offer much better value for money than the national brewers.

The input from the South Hants branch was just a small part of a survey by CAMRA branches all over the country. Yet again the survey highlighted vast regional differences in beer prices.

In Greater Manchester and the West Midlands the average was only 81p a pint. Local drinkers can only envy those lucky drinkers who can sup Holts bitter at 72p a pint in Manchester or Bathams Bitter at the same price in the Black Country. It is no real consolation to know that the average price in Greater London was £1.09.

Not only does the average price of a pint vary across the country, but the price of the same beer also differs greatly as the following list of average prices for Ruddles County shows.

When the brewers are asked about such differences they blame differences in wage rates, transport costs, rates bills etc.

In order to test these brewers' arguments CAMRA looked at the prices of beer in supermarkets across the country, as the same cost differences should presumably also apply here. The price of four 400ml cans of Ruddles County was found to be exactly £3.39 in places as far apart as Southampton, Leeds and Edinburgh. A two litre PET bottle of Ruddles County was found at £3.49 in Southampton, Leeds and Bristol. This pattern was repeated for all the supermarket beers surveyed.

Thus the brewers' excuses have been found wanting. It just goes to show what CAMRA has been saying for years, that the big brewers abuse their monopoly position by charging higher prices in our local pubs - wherever they think the 'market will bear it'.

It has been noticeable in recent months that Whitbread have been using a new ploy to increase the prices in a number of their pubs. In Whitbread managed houses we have spotted a range of eight price lists, with number 1 having the lowest prices and number 8 the highest. These numbers can be seen by looking closely at the bottom of the price lists in these pubs. Through moving pubs on to a higher price list when they re-open after refurbishment Whitbread can at first glance appear not to have increased their prices, even though customers in these pubs are paying more for their pint.

Two recent examples are the Monks Brook at Chandler's Ford, which went from a number 5 price list to a number 6 when it was re-opened, and the Home Tavern in Eastleigh, which went from a number 5 to a number 7.

An even less justifiable price increase occurred recently at the Ham Farm in Eastleigh. Customers were astonished when they ordered a pint and found that the price had increased overnight by lOp.

The excuse given was that it was done to bring prices in line with other Harvester Restaurants, but as the pub is completely separate from the restaurant in this case the excuse seems somewhat weak. Furthermore, being owned by Trust House Forte they have the advantage of enjoying 'national discounts' with Courage. In this instance this means that they pay about 14p a pint less for Best Bitter than a Courage tied house, yet the bar price is several pence more than local Courage houses! When questioned with this point Harvester refused to make any comment.

There has been a great deal of publicity in recent months on the subject of low alcohol beers, and the brewers have spent millions of pounds advertising these drinks. The CAMRA survey found that the average price of the most widely available low alcohol ' beer, Whitbread White Label, was 57p for a half pint bottle. This means that a pint, at £1.14, is considerably more expensive than a pint of standard beer. This is hardly the way to encourage drivers to stick to low alcohol beers. Of course these low alcohol beers should actually be cheaper for the brewers to produce due to the reduced level of excise duty that has to be paid on them.

Faced with these prices, the driver may consider drinking fruit juice. Our survey found that the price of fruit _juice in Whitbread managed houses had risen by an incredible 20 per cent in twelve months, almost three times the rate of inflation.

Finally, it would appear that an increasing number of pubs are becoming embarrassed about their prices. Last year 17 per cent of pubs in the survey were not displaying a price list. This year the number had risen to 30 per cent. We hope in future to see a marked decrease in this unfair - and illegal - practice.

Since the survey was -con duc t ed some of the big brewers have announced further price increases of typically 6-10 pence for a pint of their cs sk=cond i tioned beers - see the editorial comment.

Letters Hop Press index

Author

The Editor always welcomes letters from readers. Please address all correspondence to the Editor, whose address appears on the contents page of this issue of Hop Press.

Dear Sir,

One often reads in your journal and in the press of the high prices charged for beer in pubs, especially in those owned by the national brewers.

Have any of your readers considered the even worse deal for those of us who occasionally partake of soft drinks or mixers?

Consider, for example, a small bottle of orange juice which typically contains 4 fluid ounces and retai.ls at 45p. This works out at £2.25 per pint, when a litre of the same drink from a supermarket costs around 75p!

If the brewers are really serious about doing their bit to crack down on drink driving, one wonders why they do not cut the prices of soft drinks instead of discriminating against those who take a responsible attitude to driving.' The low alcohol beers too represent 1 extremely poor value considering the reduced duty paid by the brewers on these beers.

Another practice which angers me is the surcharge for 'shots' of lemonade, lime juice, etc. I don't mind admitting that in hot weather I sometimes like to drink a half pint of lager and lime. In some pubs I am charged up to 14p for the lime. Now here lies an interesting legal point: if I am charged 14p for the Lt me, should I really be charged additionally for a full half pint of lager when the presence of the lime prevents a full half pint from being poured into the glass? The price list clearly states that prices are per half pint and that lime is extra. Presumably the same applies to people who drink shandy or 'bitter top'?

Recently I have adopted the policy of asking for a half of lager and a shot of lime in separate glasses. I get some strange looks but believe that I am within my rights. I would be interested to hear an official ruling on this.

I can only feel that the reason why these disgraceful practices are allowed to continue is that people are too afraid to complain. This leads to a general point about drinking in pubs: if you are not satisfied with a product, tell the landlord! If enough people did complain, unscrupulous landlords would have to rethink their policies. Let's hope that one outcome of the MMC report is such a rethink!

Yours faithfully
JOSEPHINE MASON
Southampton.

Dear Sir

Questions:

Do you like Real Ale? Have children? Enjoy sitting in a pub garden in the evening? Believe television advertisements? <especially those extolling the virtues of Harvester Inns)?

If your answers are yes, then oh dear!!

The Eastleigh Harvester, Ham Farm, in Twyford Road is not the place for you.

This pub/restaurant with its professed "warm and friendly atmosphere" now prohibits any families from using the public house. The management in their wisdom have decided that no person under eighteen years of age shall be admitted even though the licensing law permits children of fourteen and over to be in a bar.

Fine, you might think, it is a nice evening we' 11 sit in the garden - not so - children are not allowed in the garden either, after 9.00 in the evening!

I would like to nominate this establishment as "The Worst Family Public House in Eastleigh" unless of course you are unlucky enough to know better!

Yours faithfully,
Kathy 0' Neill

PS, My son, aged three, was banned from the pub's garden after an accident with a crab apple and a window... is this a record?

Pub News Hop Press index

Rob Whatley

This edition of Pub News begins in the Forest where a number of pubs have either undergone major alterations or will do so in the near future.

Possible changes to the Three Bells at Hordle were mentioned in the last edition of Hop Press. We have now heard that it is to become yet another Beefeater.

Meanwhile, the Haywain at Cadnam has re-opened as a Brewers Fayre establishment. A massive extension has been added to the pub; the reader wil 1 not be surprised that this extension is totally out of character with the original building.

The Enchanted Cottage Tea Rooms at Lyndhurst has re-opened under the ownership of Tom Porter, who is also the owner of the River Inn at Bi_shopstoke. The cost of buying the property and restoring it is thought to have been around a million pounds. Also in the Forest, Whitbread have been granted permission for major alterations at the Rising Sun, Wootton.

Just down the road Hall and Woodhouse have applied to demolish the Speckled Trout, next to the railway station in New Milton. The land would then be used to build more than 30 flats.

One drinking establishment that has already been lost is the Jugged Hare at Brockenhurst. The building, which is part of Careys Manor Hotel, is being converted into a bistro.

In the far south-west of our area Tony and Ann Traynor are the new owners of the East Close Hotel at Hinton St Michael. The Oak Bar has five real ales from five different brewers: Bishops Tipple, Directors, Bass, 6X and Ringwood Best.

Meanwhile, in the north-west of the forest, we bade a fond farewell to Dave and Lil Jones who have left the foresters at Frogham. They have asked Hop Press to thank all the customers who have had the chance to sample some of the astonishing total of 247 guest beers that they have served during their time at the pub.

The Old Mill Inn at Holbury is open again after extensive alterations. Nearby at Ashlett Creek, Cheryl and Tim Watton are the new managers of the Jolly Sailor.

The Cross Keys in Tot ton has been altered again, just three years after Whitbread spent £200,000 on the 400 year old pub. After a long campaign Whitbread have finally won their battle with New Forest Council to keep the children's play area, which had been built without planning permission.

One local planning application has been refused, though - at the Two Brewers at East Dean. The owners wanted to turn a storage area into a restaurant. There was only one objector to the scheme, the Ministry of Defence. It said that it did not want any more people attracted to the area, which is dominated by the Royal Naval Armament Depot. Are our nuclear weapon depots so insecure that they are threatened by a few diners at a country inn or is it vice versa?!

Nearby, at Dunbridge, the Mill Arms is under new management, The good range of beers available includes Wadworth's 6X, Gale's HSB and Adnam's Bitter,

There's a new pub in the offing at Allbrook, where Eldridge Pope have applied to Eastleigh planners to convert the 'listed' Allbrook Farm into a pub. The building is believed to be the oldest in Eastleigh; the plans appear to keep the main structure of the building whilst adding an extension in keeping with the existing style. If permission is granted the nearby Victoria, which is owned by the same brewers, will be closed.

Just up the road, an application has been made to erect a 32 bedroom accommodation block at the Ham Farm. A similar application last year was rejected because of the poor exterior design (a prefabricated structure), the new plans have brick and timber cladding and probably will get the go ahead.

The Monks Brook at Chandler's Ford re-opened recently after major alterations. David and Caroline Elson are the new managers. Flowers Original and Wadworth' s 6X are the available beers, though when we sampled them they were served so cold that it was difficult to tell them apart! One of the two entrance doors has been closed off by placing a piece of white painted wood across the bottom half of the outside of the door - it is incredible that such a shoddy piece of work should be allowed when thousands of pounds has been spent elsewhere on the pub.

Incidentally, the interior decor of the pub has to be seen to be believed, although it is not recommended for those of a nervous disposition! The colour scheme includes every colour of the rainbow and more besides, and the window pelmets are held in place by bare, split wood. To top it al 1, the lock on the Gents was broken within the a week of the pub being open.

A little to the north, Whitbread have submitted plans to expand the Captain Barnard at Compton, as hinted in our last issue. The parish council objects to various aspects of the plans. This pub, bought by Whitbread a year ago, still sports the prominent sign 'free house'; surely such cynical opportunism should be prevented by our trading standards and truth in advertising laws - it seems not.

There are plans to extend the Three Horseshoes at Bighton, which is owned by Gale's. This charming little country pub will need very sympathetic handling if any extension is not going to detract from its character.

The Olde Market Inn at Winchester re-opened in April under new managers Paul and Kate Bowles. Strong Country Bitter, Flowers Original. 6X and, unusually for a managed house, Pompey Royal are all available.

Moving now to Southampton, we hear that permission has been sought to covert the former Globe pub in Bernard Street, which has been closed for some time, into 17 studio flats. Meanwhile, also in Bernard Street the Smugglers is undergoing a facelift under a banner in the name of Belhaven - does this mean a chance to drink pints of eighty shilling, we await more details with interest.

On the west side of the city, our Freemantle news-hound has been threatened with a ban on his Saturday night Pompey Royal unless we remember to welcome Pat and Sylv Eeles to the Key and Anchor, Millbrook Road East. We are naturally pleased to oblige!

Whilst on the subject of Pompey Royal, we have an exclusive: it was, according to the licensee of his Sussex local, a favourite tipple of the late Lord Olivier.

We welcome new licensees Sue and Tony Court to the Crown and Sceptre in Bevois Valley. They are working hard to build up the real ale trade at the pub, which was one of those that Gibbs Mew bought from Watneys last year. The lounge bar has been tastefully re-decorated and customers can enjoy Salisbury Bitter and Chudley Local Line there. As well as its recently introduced continental beer selection, the neighbouring New Inn has added the new Gales Best Bitter to its range. The new brew is a little stronger and sweeter than BBB.

Sic transit gloria etc.... In Northam Road the evanescent nature of technological marvels is shown by the imminent.re-opening of the Telstar as an Allied owned wine-bar with the name Pitchers, no details yet as to any real ale. Our pub names provide lovely insights into the industrial revolution, the Locomotives, Railways, Mills and so on; future historians will get little help from todays pitiful names other than highlighting the general banality of our culture.

On the other side of the city, Pedigree Bitter has been added to the range of beers available at the Freemantle Arms, Albany Road. On the edge of the Shirley estate. the Shield and Dagger has been renamed the Stratton. The two Whitbread pubs at the top of Shirley High Street, the Shirley and the Windsor Castle, were recently both closed for renovation at the same time. The Windsor Castle is now open again with standard Whitbread decor. Marston's Pedigree Bitter was the only real ale available on the opening day. Another small problem recently for Whitbread was the refusal of the Southampton bench to renew the licence for Tanners (Portswood) after police objections based on the number of calls they have had to make there of late.

Not content with their masterpiece of timing in Shirley High Street, Whitbread have really surpassed themselves in Romsey, where the Hunters has hosted a charity fun run for the past four years. When more than 200 competitors arrived for this year's race <where your writer, incidentally, finished in 40th place) they found that the pub was closed for alterations. It has just re-opened as another one bar conversion but we've not yet been in to assess the damage.

Whitbread' s presence in Romsey is, of course, due to their takeover of Strongs in the 1960's. Brewing 1n Romsey stopped some years ago and the distribution side of the business is currently being transferred to a new site at Hedge End. Whitbread have now announced that they are to leave the old brewery site altogether. The managed house division is moving to a new site on the nearby industrial estate. Fortunately the old Malthouse will remain as it is a grade two listed building.

Finally, we have some news on pubs in the south-east of our area. Tim Randall, licensee of the King and Queen at Hamble, has opened a pub in Cowes, the Sole Plaice. So that he can keep an eye on both establishments Tim has bought himself a boat.

On a recent visit to the Station Hotel at Netley your writer had something of a shock, the ground floor having almost entirely disappeared! The pub will re-open soon after what are obviously major alterations. At the same time the Red Lion in Netley is closed for a refurbishment. Abstinence.must be gaining ground in Netley...

An application has been made to build a 35 bedroom hotel and a Road Chef Restaurant next to the Master Builder at West End. Finally, and also in the West End area, we hear that the new Bass pub in Townhill Way is to be called the Two Brothers, a name which may well be unique <unless, as they say, you know different....)

Early morning ritual for the head brewer Hop Press index

What's Brewing August 1989

MASHING is the first step of a days brewing and is a process many brewers can do blindfold. In fact some may well do so since traditionally mashing starts at 6am or earlier.

Initially the mash tun is warmed with hot liquor. Grains ready for milling should be loaded into the grist case in advance from where they are sent crushed into the mash tun.

Some breweries purchase pre-crushed grain and simply unload sacks directly into the mash whilst stirring madly to ensure a good mix. Less energetic brewers favour automatic dispense either directly from above or through an augur raising the grain to a mixing box above the mash.

Here liquor is sprayed onto the falling grains in a pattern to reduce the possibility of unmixed lumps clogging the bottom of the mash.

Mash tuns are impressive vessels when loaded with a steaming mash. Liquor enters slightly above the mash temperature to allow for the thermal capacity of the malt. A "strike" temperature of 67°C is common and also helps mobilise the malt's starch for enzymatic digestion.

Starch digestion relies on two major enzymes - alpha and beta amylase. Each performs different but complimentary functions so that full breakdown requires contribution from both. Unfortunately each performs best under slightly different conditions with the result that mashing is a compromise of both pH and temperature.

Alpha amylase specifically digests bonds within a glucose chain resulting in fragmentation into relatively large units. Beta amylase has a more delicate action of breaking maltose units from the chain ends. Because of these different activities different beer characters may result from enzyme action.

Dominance of alpha amylase in the mash will enhance the production of large fragments of starch, many of which will be branched and unfermentable by yeast. The resulting beer will then be thick with a considerable dextrin content.

Alternatively dominance of beta amylase will enhance the release of maltose from the ends of the starch molecules. Fewer dextrins will remain and more maltrose will be available from fermentation.

Alpha amylase acts best at relatively low temperatures while beta amylase prefers 70°C. The typical British mash temperature of 6S°C is thus a compromise to allow both enzymes to have a significant contribution. Subsequently both dextrins and maltose are produced and provide body as well as alcohol.

Altering the mash temperature can, however, vary this and produce beer with a particular dominance. Finding out the mash temperature on brewery visits can provide a good clue to beer character.

Temperature is also instrumental in providing a major difference between British and continental beers. Two useful phrases in beer discussion are "infusion and decoction" - references to mashing styles.

British mashing with just one temperature Incubation is termed infusion and relies on 65°C being adequate to ensure full digestion. Continental mashing follows a more varied pattern starting quite low at 40°C or less and rising in stages to around 75°C.

This more complex pattern results from the need to enhance protein digestion. Continental malts are typically high in protein and require a spell of lower temperature incubation for this to be digested.

At the end of incubation the wort is run from the mash tun, and the grains sparged with fresh liquor to wash off remaining sugars. The final joy of the process is to remove the spent grains for animal feed or allotments. While this may be performed mechanically in larger breweries smaller establishment specify use of the shovel In the brewer's job description. Another reason for an early night.

Hop Press issue number 30 – August 1989

Editor: Dave Neale
25 Withewood Mansions
Shirley Road
Southampton
SO1 3JA
(0703) 701648

hop-press@shantscamra.org.uk

© CAMRA Ltd. 1989