Poppies Beer Festival

Posted on June 15, 2013 by Martin Bellamy

The Poppies Beer Festival plans are taking shape — this year it will be held at a new home courtesy of Burton Park Wanderers on Polwell Lane, Burton Latimer.

Ales from the following breweries have been lined up so far:

  • Hamelsworde
  • Raw
  • Double Top
  • Dukeries
  • Revolution
  • Hartshill Village Brewery
  • Kirby Lonsdale

The organisers always try to get some new breweries but with reasonably mature products.

Local breweries include:

There will also be a selection of ciders. The festival runs from Thursday 8th to Sunday 11th August.

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Nobby’s New Ale Just for Steak!

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Webmaster & Blog Admin

At Nobby’s Brewery they have long since realised the importance of pairing their real ales with food — for example Claridges Crystal (3.6%) with its powerful citrus notes and delicate malt flavours was a natural partner to great tasting fish like sea bass, plaice and has even washed down the odd oyster or two.

But when Nobby was approached by Chef Tom Hewer of the very up-and-coming new Frank’s Steakhouse on Northampton’s Wellingborough Road, he couldn’t believe his luck. Tom had heard about the brewery and its reputation for outstanding real ale and set Nobby the challenge to not only pair one of his ales with steak but to produce a beer that was brewed specifically to make that marriage between top quality beef and ale complete.

The first stage was to find the strength to brew the beer at, it came as a little surprise that the lower end of the scale was favoured rather than the heady heights of T’owd Navigation and Ralph’s Revenge with their plus five percent heavyweight reputations.

When it came to colour, Tom believed that seeing what you’re eating is important, like the presentation and cooked colour of his steak the beer had to be recognisable as beer. To this end a mid-brown colour was going to be easily recognised as beer and gave Nobby some scope for fuller malty flavours.

The hops needed to be sharp to cut the fats and flavours of steak with a bitterness to balance the grilled edgy meatiness found with the long hanging-time and open smokey grilling preferred at Frank’s Steakhouse.

Of course these hops had to be British, like the beef itself and one thing Nobby picked up from the chefs was that cooking steak is simple, so simple that it’s easy to get it wrong. With this in mind, Nobby went on to choose Hops So Simple, so classically English as Goldings and Target, producing not only the  balanced bitterness and accompanying melody of hoppy flavours but to produce a classic instantly recognisable flavour that is beer — like a well-cooked steak’s first impressions on your taste buds, never to be forgotten.

Frank's Steakhouse Ale

Frank’s Steakhouse Ale

Look out for Frank’s Steakhouse Ale (3.8%) at this year’s Northamptonshire Food & Drink awards where it will be up for the challenge in the new Artisan Drinks category.

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Beer List for May Bank Holiday Beer Festival at Red Lion, Broughton

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Nigel Atkins

Beer List

  • Hop Monster Rochford Banshee Porter (4.4%) — Essex
  • Timothy Taylor Landlord (4.4%) — Yorkshire
  • J. Church Reverend Tollemache (4.4%) — Northamptonshire
  • Tydd Steam Piston Bob (4.6%) — Cambridgeshire
  • Arkwright’s Tarquin Fin-Lin-Etc. (3.7%) — Lancashire
  • Irwell  Mad Dogs & Englishmen (5.5%) — Lancashire
  • Milton Marcus Aurelius (7.5%) — Cambridgeshire
  • Copper Kettle UXB (3.6%) — Northamptonshire
  • Elgood’s Saturday Night Beaver (4.5%) — Cambridgeshire
  • Hopback Thaiphoon (4.2%) — Wiltshire
  • Abbeydale Brimstone (3.9%) — South Yorkshire
  • Lymestone Stonefaced (4.0%) — Staffordshire
  • Nobby’s Biggus Dickus (4.2%) — Northamptonshire
  • Great Oakley Walter Tull (4.0%) — Northamptonshire
  • Raw Mount Adams Pale (3.6%) — Derbyshire
  • Muirhouse Ruby Jewel (3.9%) — Derbyshire

Reserve Beers

  • Muirhouse Summit Hoppy (4.0%) — Golden
  • Arkwright’s Open All Hours (4.0%) — Golden
  • Newby Wyke Black Squall (4.6%) — Dark
  • Salopian Lemon Dream (4.5%) — Pale
  • Irwell Lightweights & Gentleman (3.2%) — Pale
  • J. Church More Tea Vicar (3.6%) — Pale
  • Irwell Iron Plate Lancastershire Stout (4.4%) — Dark
  • Newby Wyke HMY Britannia (4.2%) — Amber

Ciders and Perries

  • Weston’s Traditional Scrumpy (6.0%)
  • Eve’s Cider
  • Addlestone’s Cloudy Premium Cider (5.2%)
  • Thatcher’s Cheddar Valley (6.0%) — Medium
  • Weston’s Perry
  • Thatcher’s Medium
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May Bank Holiday Beer Festival at the Red Lion, Broughton

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Nigel Atkins

A Bank Holiday Beer Festival will be taking place at the Red Lion, Broughton on 3rd – 6th May.

  • Real Ale
  • Real Cider
  • Snacks
  • BBQ and Live Music throughout the weekend
  • Music and Events line up (to be confirmed):

Friday: Cover versions of popular songs from the Bent Back Tulips

Saturday: The Limpets (rock, pop and folk) — back from Germany for their Northamptonshire home tour

Sunday: Family Fun Day — ending with the regular blues band Safety In Numbers

Web Links:

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Bozeat Beer Festival — Beers announced

Posted on April 14, 2013 by David Archer

The second Bozeat Beer Festival takes place on Saturday 25th May and runs through to the end of Monday 27th May. The beers and ciders thus far ordered are:

Beers

  • Banks and Taylor — Black Bat
  • Sudbury — Blackadder
  • Buffy’s — Mucky Duck (returning due to threats and demand!)
  • St Georges — Dragon’s Blood
  • Potbelly — Beijing Black
  • Wolf — Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
  • Triple FFF — Pressed Rat and Warthog
  • Adnams — Lighthouse
  • Adnams — Ghost Ship
  • Redemption — Urban Duck
  • Shardlow — Mayfly
  • Dark Star — Partridge
  • Beartown — Ginger Bear
  • Allendale — Wolf

Ciders

  • Cornish Orchard — Farmhouse Medium
  • Orchard Pig — Navelgazer
  • Mr Whitehead — Boxing Dog
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Greatworth Beer Festival

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Simon Tappenden

A Beer Festival will be taking place from 12:00 on the 4th and 5th May (May Day long weekend) in the South Northamptonshire village of Greatworth. The aim is to help raise money for a new children’s park.

Greatworth Beer Festival logo

Greatworth Beer Festival logo

On offer will be 24 Real Ales and 2 ciders from six local breweries:

Food will be available from 13:00 and the brewers will be at the event to talk about the different beers.

In the evening from 18:00 there will be live music; 3 bands are booked for each day. 100% of the proceeds are going towards the park and the event will be run by a group of volunteers.

Beers cost £1.25 per half pint and a celebration pint glass commemorating the event will be on sale at £2.50.

Web Links:

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New Locomotive Brackley becomes the Locomotive

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Mick Furn

Based at the bottom of Bridge Street in Brackley, the freehouse is offering local real ale Silverstone Pitstop (3.8%), plus a small selection of other Northamptonshire beers in bottles.

The pub is run by Kath Banks who like her family originate from Banbury, and this is a new venture. Opening times are from 12:00 to 23:00, 7 days a week.

It also has a website (link below), and  although no food is offered at present it is hoped when the kitchen is finished to do an alternative to serving beer which will be breakfasts from 07:00 daily hopefully in late May / June.

It is also  close to the Brackley Town Football Club who at the moment are in the Conference North League.

A typical locomotive of the L&NWR

A typical locomotive of the L&NWR which would have served Brackley (c. 1900)

Web Links:

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New Local Beer for Northants CAMRA ‘Pub of the Season’

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Rob Hart

Andrew and Melissa Dunkley, proprietors of The Rose & Crown in Yardley Hastings, are thrilled to announce a brand new local beer for their pub restaurant. Andrew explains the thinking behind the new beer:

“We’ve been devoting a lot of effort to improving our offer of cask ales and we always feature a good balance of local brews and bigger brands. Our hard work was recognised last summer when we were voted Northants CAMRA’s Pub of the Season. We then started thinking what else we could do to keep this momentum behind cask beers at the Rose & Crown.”

About the same time as they received the award from CAMRA, Hart Family Brewers began brewing in Wellingborough just 10 miles away and their beers soon found favour with the discerning drinkers of Yardley Hastings. Brewer Rob Hart explains more, “Like all the best plans this one was hatched over a pint. Andrew wanted to have a ‘house’ beer of the same quality and distinction as his ‘house’ wine and challenged us to come up with it

“We spent some merry hours discussing the various styles of beer that we could produce with his regulars and the guys behind the bar and they were pretty clear with the brief — plenty of hops, good and malty, not too strong and not too dark! Back at the brewery we then set to on a recipe for the as yet unnamed beer. As with many things keeping it simple often works best so the recipe is just 100% UK pale malt and a touch of crystal malt, plenty of Challenger hops from Worcestershire in the copper and late hopped with more spicy Challenger and the hedgerow aromas of East Kent Goldings. An old-fashioned, county bitter designed to refresh the lunch time drinker and satisfy those settling down for the evening.”

Pub of the Season award presentation

Pub of the Season award presentation

What to call the new beer? It had to communicate its traditional look and taste and resonate with the regulars, and in what can only be described as a flash of insight, Andrew came up with the name! The LOCAL Pale Ale (3.6%) will be on the bar from this Friday.

For more information or to book a table just visit the pub’s website.

Web Links:

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Branch Diary March 2013

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Social Secretary

Welcome to the Branch Diary for March 2013. Some of the trips require pre-booking — this is done by e-mail to the Social Secretary using the details at the bottom of this post.

Leicester Beer Festival

Wednesday 20th March

For anyone who hasn’t been to the CAMRA Leicester Beer Festival held at the Charotar Patidar Samaj, Bay Street / South Churchgate, now is a good time with over 220 beers and 35 ciders and perries. With doors opening at 17:00 on this, the opening night, it tends to be quieter than later on in the week. For anyone wishing to go on the train from Wellingborough and Kettering, please contact me since I can sort out a “Group Save” ticket which can cost as little as £5.90 return from Kettering. Free entry to members — don’t forget your membership cards. Trains are as follows:

Wellingborough 17:23 17:48 18:18
Kettering 17:30 18:04 18:25
Leicester 17:55 18:30 18:54
Leicester 20:36 21:33 21:59
Kettering 20:59 21:56 22:22
Wellingborough 21:06 22:04 22:30

First Friday Five

Friday 29th March

Keeping with a tradition and with most folk being off work on this Good Friday, we will leave earlier to enable us to get to the some of the lovely pubs in the south of the county. Pubs include the Compass, Milton Malsor, Boat Inn, Stoke Bruerne, Plough, Towcester, New Inn, Abthorpe, and finally a visit to the George, Tiffield, with its Beer Festival on the way back. There will also be sufficient time in one of the pubs to eat for anyone who wishes to, although you are quite welcome to have an early dinner and bring along a snack for the bus. A donation will be requested for the bus preservation. Leave Kettering Sainsburys at 16:50, Wellingborough 17:10 and Northampton Malt Shovel Tavern at 17:50. Please book places and indicate whether you wish to eat at one of the pubs.

The Beer Bus - where will it go?
The Beer Bus – where will it go?

Branch Open Meeting — Rushden

Monday 8th April

We return to the Rushden Historical Transport Society for the first of our two annual branch meetings here. For those who have never been before, it will be an impressive visit. Meet at 20:00.

Brewery Visit — Hart Family Brewers

Friday 12th April

After a couple of aborted dates last year, I now have a confirmed date for a tour round the 1833 Brewery, home of Hart Family Brewers. Brewing since May 2012, Rob Hart has kindly offered to give us the full potted history of the brewery and their beers, followed by some sampling. Afterwards, we will retire to a local pub for more beer. Please book so I have an idea of the numbers. Start at 19:30.

Branch Social — Pub of the Year Runner-up — Northampton

Wednesday 17th April

The Queen Adelaide, in Kingsthorpe, Northampton, is the Branch’s Pub of the Year 2012 runner-up. Very much a community-focused pub, Paul Barton will be putting something on during community pubs month. A good choice of beers will be on as usual. Meet at 20:00.

First Saturday Six — Long Itchington

Saturday 4th May

Not quite Friday, this FFF will be on Saturday instead featuring six pubs in the same village. Each year, the six pubs of Long Itchington in Warwickshire combine to offer a beer festival featuring over 150 beers, accompanied with a wide variety of entertainment and food — like the Welland Valley Beer Festival but all in one place. We will, however, be arriving by vintage bus. Depart Kettering 17:00, Wellingborough 17:20, Northampton Malt Shovel Tavern 17:50, with pickups in Weedon and Daventry. As usual please book. Donation requested.

Branch Open Meeting and Presentation — Northampton

Monday 13th May

Congratulations to Richard Gordon and his team from the Wig & Pen, Northampton, which has been selected as the Pub of the Year 2012 winner. A pub that has gone from strength to strength over the past three years. We will visit during CAMRA Mild in May month, but a mild is usually available all year round anyway. So come along for a good night — if you are driving, please volunteer to bring others along if you have space available, just e-mail the Google Group. Meet at 20:00.

Weekend Trip — The Welsh Wizard

Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th June

A week later than in 2012, we travel west into the Welsh Borders visiting a few breweries and many National and Regional pubs in this area of outstanding beauty. Our overnight stay is in Llanwrtyd Wells, the smallest town in Britain. Booking forms now available.

Branch Diary by e-mail

To receive the diary by e-mail each month, please e-mail Karl Tecklenberg, Social Secretary.

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The Three Cocks Inn — Easter-Equinox Beer Festival

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Andrea Barham

A Beer Festival will be taking place at the Three Cocks Inn, 46-48 Lower Street, Kettering, titled the Easter-Equinox Favourite Real Ale Festival. This pub can easily be found opposite the entrance to the town’s Morrisons supermarket.

The beers to be featured represent “a selection of people’s favourite Real Ales”.

The Three Cocks, Kettering

The Three Cocks, Kettering

Opening Times:

  • Thursday 28th March — 20:00 – 23:30
  • Friday 29th and Saturday 30th March — 12:00 – 23:30
  • Sunday 31st March — 12:00 – 23:00

Beers available from the following breweries:

  •  Abbeydale
  • Kelham Island
  • Thornbridge
  • Blue Monkey
  • Full Mash
  • Salopian
  • Ossett Castle Rock
  • Sarah Hughes
  • Muirhouse
  • St. Austell
  • Skinners
  • Brains
  • Wadworth’s
  • Fullers
  • Courage
  • Gale’s
  • Oakham
  • Potbelly
  • J. Church
  • Nobby’s
  • George’s  Mighty Oak

Ciders and Perries from the following producers:

  • Weston’s
  • Gwyntt Y Ddraig
  • Moles
  • Mr. Whiteheads
  • Sheppy’s
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