La Torre del Luppolo, Pisa. Beer shop/bar

There are now at least two good beer bars to visit in Pisa!
La Torre del Luppolo is situated at Via Renato Fucini 13, within a few minutes walk of Orzo Bruno. This is on the 'Leaning Tower' side of the river Arno - cross the river on Ponte di Mezzo if you are approaching from Pisa Centrale railway station in the south.

View looking south from the north bank of the river Arno with Ponte di Mezzo on the right

La Torre del Luppolo only has a small frontage but you can't miss the sign above the entrance.

Via Renato Fucini 13

The five beer taps are positioned just inside the door, near the front window.

Just above and to the right of the beer taps, a flat screen monitor gives details of the draught beers (Birra alla Spina) - Beer, Brewery, Country, Style, ABV, Colour and Description.

On my visit on a Wednesday evening (1 July 2015), Alessandro Tomeo was behind the bar. He had just changed over a keg for one of the beer taps and generously offered everyone in the bar a sample of the new beer.

Alessandro Tomeo behind the bar

On the opposite wall from the bar space are wooden cubes and tall fridges holding bottles of beer for sale to drink at the bar or to take away.

I had a look around at the wide variety of beers on offer which included a good variety from the United Kingdom including St Peter's Brewery, Black Isle Brewing Co and Moor Beer Co.. There were also beers from Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and USA.

The narrow wooden bar is just deep enough for a beer mat and so there is just enough space to rest a glass or bottle of beer on it. Towards the back of the beer shop are more shelves of beer, and other items for sale including T-shirts, glasses and books.

Before leaving I enjoyed a (plastic) glass of Bianca wheat beer from  Birrificio Brùton, based at San Cassiano di Moriano, in the valley of the river Serchio, just north of nearby Lucca. The recipe for Bianca includes local Garfagnana spelt wheat. 

Ciao Alessandro!


www.latorredelluppolo.it

Via Renato Fucini 13, 56127 Pisa, Italy.

Opening Hours (July 2015) Mon - Wed: 18:00-24:00; Thu - Sun: 18:00-01:00

5th annual Newbury Racecourse Beer Festival

 The 5th annual Newbury Racecourse Beer Festival was held on 17/18 April, 2015 at Newbury Racecourse, Berkshire, UK.

Newbury Racecourse advertise the beer festival in local Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) magazines including Ullage, the West Berkshire CAMRA magazine. CAMRA members qualify for half price entry to the Grandstand section of the racecourse by booking tickets in advance.

The Beer Festival area has an area near the Grandstand entrance to the racecourse which includes picnic tables and an open ended marquee. A smaller tent with a stage provided shelter for musical performances.

Bar staff poured beer from casks or cider from boxes into branded plastic glasses.
Queues at the bar would build up after the end of a race but by the time another race was about to start there would be only a few people at the bar.
As I was there for the beer rather than the racing it was sensible to wait until a race was about to start before heading to the bar to order another beer!

There were printed programmes, in dispensers at the bar, with tasting notes and details of all the beers available at the festival.
West Berkshire Brewery sourced beers for the festival and their flagship beer 'Good Old Boy' was advertised above the stillage for the beer casks.
Another local brewery, Two Cocks Brewery, based at Enborne supplied four beers including Frank-Ale which is supplied exclusively to the racecourse and is named after the horse Frankel, a popular winner at Newbury.

The tasting notes in the beer festival programme covered the 44 beers that were available including beers from Fuller's, Springhead Brewery (Southwell), Binghams Brewery (Ruscombe), White Horse Brewery (Faringdon), Arbor Ale (Bristol) and Windsor & Eton Brewery.

On Saturday 18 April, my friend Pat (2nd from right in photo above) was beginning his stag event at the beer festival and so good company was available as well as good beer and plenty of sunshine!

As well as supplying some beers for the beer festival including Oliver's Island, Fuller's also brought their dray to the racecourse pulled by the drayhorses Griffin and Pride.

The Crafty Filly is the pub at the racecourse located in the Premier Enclosure. Two Cocks Frank-ale is served throughout the season at this pub near the Premier entrance to the racecourse.

Also in the Premier Enclosure was a Barrel Bar. I spoke to the guys inside who told me the bar was originally made in Austria and is now usually based at Goodwood in Sussex.

Inside the bar were cask ales from Hepworth & Co Brewers Ltd (Horsham) and ciders from Wobblegate (West Sussex).

 Cheers!

Bell St Brewery, Henley-on-Thames - Honey Bee launch

The Brakspear brewery at New Street, Henley-on-Thames, closed in October 2002. Brakspear Bitter (3.4% ABV), Brakspear Oxford Gold (4.0% ABV) and Brakspear Triple (6.7% ABV) are now brewed by Wychwood (owned by Marston's PLC) in Witney.

Brakspear has 145 pubs including the Bull on Bell Street, Henley-on-Thames. In January 2013, the pub was refurbished and opened on 29 March 2013 with a new 4 barrel brewery visible through internal windows of the rear dining room. Malcolm Mayo, formerly Quality Manager at Wychwood Brewery, is the Head Brewer of Brakspear's Bell Street Brewery.
Brakspear Special (4.3% ABV) is the regular beer brewed at the Bell St Brewery. It has been brewed by Brakspear for over 40 years and the original recipe is still followed.

The latest beer to be brewed at Bell St Brewery is Honey Bee (4.4% ABV) a golden ale brewed with honey from beehives at Orwells, a Brakspear pub near Shiplake, renowned for its good food. 20p from every pint of Honey Bee sold is donated to The Bee Cause organised by the Friends of the Earth.

A pint of Honey Bee and a beehive from Orwells

At the Bell St Brewery Honey Bee launch event on 31 March organised by Shiel Porter, I enjoyed the opportunity to taste the beer and tour the brewery with Liam Trotman and Ryan Simpson of Orwells.
We entered the brewery from the courtyard and were greeted by Head Brewer, Malcolm Mayo.

Fermenting vessels in back room of the brewery

One of the fermenting vessels contained a recently brewed beer and was frothing over at the top as the yeast worked to convert sugar into alcohol. Malcolm described the brewing process and showed us some of the malt and hops used. As well as the honey from Orwells, and Willamette hops, about 5% of the malt used is from oats and about 95% is from barley, including Maris Otter pale malt, for the Honey Bee recipe.
Malcolm explained that the honey needed melting in the kitchen before it could be used. About 20kg of honey is used in each 4 barrel To maximise the natural honey flavours in the beer, most of the honey is added at the end of the boil in the copper, after the addition of some late hops and cold water. Some sterile honey was also added to the fermenting vessel at a later stage. Malcolm showed us some leaf hops from the chest freezer where opened foil packets of hops are stored to keep them fresh.

Malcolm Mayo (left, by the Mash Tun), Liam Trotman and Ryan Simpson (R)

We moved into the 'window' part of the brewery and here Malcolm showed us the Hot Liquor Tank, the Mash Tun with a sparge arm inside and the Copper which is heated by electricity.

Paul de Zylva (L) and Tom Davies (R) with brewery behind

Back in the dining room, with refreshed glasses, we now heard from Paul de Zylva, Friends of the Earth, about The Bee Cause campaign, which is supported by several organisations with Bee Worlds including the Co-Operative Group, Marks & Spencer and Brakspear pubs. It was interesting to learn that there are 266 species of bumblebee and solitary bee but only 1 species of honeybee.
Paul mentioned that since a Bee Summit organised by Friends of the Earth 2013, the UK Government agreed to introduce a National Pollinator Strategy. After his speech, Tom Davies, Brakspear's Chief Executive thanked Paul and presented him with a Brakspear tie featuring their trademark bee. Wendy Gupta and Saminder Kharay from Friends of the Earth wore bee outfits and make an eye catching contribution to the launch.

Honey Bee will be available on draught from Orwells, the Bull on Bell Street and several other Brakspear pubs in Henley and the local area including the Dew Drop, Hurley and the White Hart, Nettlebed.

Further Links:
Brakspear story about Honey Bee, including list of pubs where the beer is available: Brakspear News (1 April 2015)
History of the Bell St Brewery: Brewing in Henley
Brakspear Brewery History: Brewing in Witney

Wild Weather Ales

Thanks to Mike Tempest & Iain Clarke of Wild Weather Ales for hosting a visit by West Berkshire CAMRA members on Saturday 29 November, 2014.

Iain Clarke & Mike Tempest - photo from preparatory visit 18/11/14

Some weeks earlier Iain tweeted me an offer that it was hard to ignore - organise a group visit to Wild Weather Ales, you pay for the transport and we'll provide the beer. The brewery is at Unit 19, Easter Park which lies between Silchester and Aldermaston, just inside the Berkshire county border with Hampshire.

The 12 barrel brewing plant from PBC was installed in December 2012. Mike and Karen Tempest have successfully introduced a range of beers that includes Little Wind, Big Muddy, Stormbringer and Shepherds Warning.

 The date we agreed on turned out to be the day of the Hennessy Gold Cup race meeting in Newbury and this reduced the numbers available for a visit and the traffic delayed the bus that some of us travelled on. However, it was a mild and sunny day which meant we could enjoy a walk from the bus stop along bridleways and footpaths to the brewery and arrive with a good thirst.

The 'bus group' of six from Newbury and Thatcham arrived at 1.30pm to find the 'locals group' of five from Aldermaston, Midgham and Padworth with (plastic) glasses of beer already in their hands. Iain soon made sure that we were also holding glasses of Little Wind from a KeyKeg.

Lower right - Chiller unit with two fonts dispensed beer from KeyKegs

The next beer, also from KeyKeg, was Rye Can't Stand the Rain, a 4% ABV rye beer 'which delivers citrus overtones with a grape finish over a subtle peppery base'.

New pumpclips feature designs by Caroline Downey

Although the chiller unit only has two fonts, Iain has rigged up a 'switchboard' which allows two KeyKegs to be connected to a single font and switched with only a small amount of wastage. Warm Front (3.6% ABV) a golden ale with a hint of ginger from root ginger, was the next beer we sampled from a KeyKeg.

KeyKegs are packaged inside a cardboard outer.

An empty globe from a KeyKeg- gas pushes beer from the foil bag without coming into contact with it.

It was now time to walk under the 'Eat, Drink and be Merry' sign into a rear room with casks on stillage and bottled beers on shelves. Most cask beers from Wild Weather Ales are supplied in distinctive pink and black firkins (9 gallons / 72 pints) but there are also some brown polypins (4.5 gallons) and stainless steel kilderkins (18 gallons - for beer festivals).

Mike Tempest (centre) + Polypin, Kilderkin and Firkin casks

One of the most unusual beers we sampled was Summer Breeze, a 5.6% ABV sour beer brewed with lemongrass. This beer was previewed at the Newbury Real Ale Festival in September and is a good introduction to the style with some sweetness to balance the sour note. The cider drinker in our group was particularly impressed with Summer Breeze. Although in my opinion, it is a beer for drinking slowly, Mike Tempest told me he had recently drunk several pints of it in one session in order to finish off a growler.

2 litre glass growlers keep beer fresh for 4 weeks

Some cask ales have been dry hopped to give a different flavour from the standard version. We enjoyed dry hopped versions of Little Wind and Rye Can't Stand the Rain from the casks on stillage.
Sundowner, a 3.4% ABV refreshing golden ale 'with subtle floral and fruity notes' had plenty of flavour and was one of my favourites on this visit.

Liberty is the hop used for Sundowner and like all the hops used at Wild Weather Ales, is an American variety. Hops in Little Wind include Willamette, Cascade and Chinook.

Another ingredient in beers from Wild Weather Ales is malt supplied by Warminster Maltings.

The planned final beer for our tasting visit was Blizzard, a winter seasonal Double IPA at 8% ABV. Served from KeyKeg, this was dangerously easy to drink with a tangy bite to balance the rich flavours.

 Time was beginning to run out for the 'bus group' who needed to be back at the bus stop by 15.54 to catch the 105 bus back to Newbury.
By special request, Iain disconnected one KeyKeg and connected up the Cumulo Citrus KeyKeg so that growlers could be filled for two in this group. This was a bonus for everyone as there was now a chance to sample this 6% ABV wheat IPA hopped with Citra.

As Cumulo Citrus is over 5% ABV, the two litre growler cost £18 (£13.50 refills available). A growler of lower strength beer costs £15 (£11). Bottled beers are also available for £2.50 including Black Night.

 The sun was going down as the 'bus group' retraced their steps. We reached the bus stop in time and it was no surprise to find the bus arriving later than due.

We had the bus to ourselves for much of the journey. It had been an enjoyable outing and we hope to arrange another visit in 2015. On our next visit a new mezzanine level will have been installed at the brewery and with empty packaging materials above ground there will be more room at ground level to provide some seating accommodation for visitors.

Wild Weather Ales - www.wildweatherales.com

Wadworth brewery tour, Devizes, Wiltshire, UK

Wadworth (Northgate) brewery, Devizes

The Wadworth brewery tours at 11am and 2pm from Monday to Saturday are interesting and good value.
Book ahead to assure a place on the tour that starts from the visitor centre of the historic Northgate brewery in Devizes, built in 1885 after the original brewery, dating from 1875, became inadequate. If the tours are fully booked or at an inconvenient time it is still possible to make a free visit to the visitors centre, which is open from 10am until 5pm.

Visitor centre with introductory displays and merchandise

Talitha conducted the tour I was booked on with visitors from USA, France and the UK donning orange high visibility jackets at the outset. Her wide knowledge of the brewery and her friendly and natural approach made the 75 minute tour interesting and the time passed quickly.

Talitha (right) stands next to the old Customs office

After climbing the first of several flights of stairs we reached the floor with an old Customs office (last used in 1994) and brewers offices, where we had the chance to taste some malted barley and smell some hop pellets.

The two Mash Tuns were located on the highest level that we would climb to. The oldest one dates from 1885 and together they can hold 300 barrels.

Old copper with steam coil visible

The old open topped copper is used every September, early in the hop picking season when Malt & Hops is brewed as this relies on the addition of hop flowers rather than hop pellets. It is also used occasionally at other times of the year. It was originally heated by fire but in 1938 a steam coil was added to provide an alternative heat source. A hood was added in the 1960's to funnel the steam out of the building. The historic copper is one of five in the country and can hold 25000 litres of wort from the mash tuns.

Foil packs of hops stacked next to the Hopback.

Fresh hops can be added when the hopped wort reaches the Hopback.This vessel needs to be manually cleaned out after every use.

New brew house with holding vessel on left and new 'copper' on right.

A new, fuel efficient, brew house with vessels manufactured by Steinecker is now used for most of the brewing. In this set up a Whirlpool (partly visible in lower right corner of photo above) replaces the Hopback of the Victorian brew house and has the advantage of being self-cleaning.

The cooper's shop provided a chance to view oak casks in various stages of completion and the tools used by the cooper. Less than 3% of Wadworth beer is now served from oak casks but these are still supplied to certain pubs so a master cooper, Alastair Simms, can be called on to produce new casks and maintain the old ones.

Yeast overflowing from a fermentation vessel

It was fascinating to see the fermentation vessels where the yeast was working and causing the top surface to move around with surplus foaming yeast sliding over the top leading edge of the deep rectangular vessel to be collected on the floor below. The surplus yeast is killed off and can then be supplied as a foodstuff for pigs.

Talitha led us out from the brewery and across Northgate Street to visit the sign workshop. Here we could see the artists at work painting pub signs and notices.

Max the shire horse - keen for a minty treat!

Monty and Max, the shire horses, are stabled in an adjacent building and we stopped to greet them. Talitha gave the horses a minty treat and Monty entertained us by insisting on more by kicking on his stable door!

Wadworth drays

We passed the drays that Monty and Max haul around the pubs of Devizes, on our way back to the visitor centre where we handed in our high visibility jackets. This was not the end of the tour as we now had an opportunity to sample beers from Wadworth brewery.

Talitha described the beers available from the Mezzanine bar inside the visitor centre - Ipanema, 6X, Bishop's Tipple, Swordfish and Horizon. Soft drinks are also available for younger visitors. Tour visitors were given a half hour to sample as many beers as we liked, served in one third pint glasses. It was a hot day so I started with Horizon, a refreshing beer brewed with pale ale malt and Styrian Goldings, Fuggles and Cascade hops. My second beer was Ipanema, the seasonal beer for the 2014 World Cup that is brewed with four malts and includes American hops. There was also time for a third of a pint of 6X, first brewed in 1923 and now brewed at 4.1% ABV.
It was now time for me to catch the 49 bus to Swindon, via Avebury. Devizes does not have a railway station but is also served by direct buses from Bath and Trowbridge.

Click on Link for more details of the Wadworth brewery tour.