Brew Wales

Pantmawr Inn, Cardiff

2012-01-27T12:23:00.000Z

Pantmawr Inn, Tyla Teg, Pantmawr, Cardiff, CF14 7TL

The Pantmawr is a bit difficult to find but luckily there are a few signposts pointing the way:

and another one:

arrived at last:

The Pantmawr is set in its' own extensive grounds and parts of this stone-built building date back to 1828, although it was rebuilt in 1898 and refurbished only recently.

The old buildings, built out of rough-hewn stone, were originally a farmhouse and associated farm buildings, it became a pub in 1960 when the local estate was built. The pub is a bit difficult to find, being at the centre of the estate and not on any main road but it is definetly worth seeking out. Originally a Hancocks/Welsh Brewers pub, ownership passed to Mitchells & Butlers who lease it to local pub company JW Bassett. A few years ago Mitchells & Butlers attempted to redevelop the site for housing but after an extensive campaign by the local community the Pantmawr Inn was saved and today the pub is a busy local serving the community.

The black and white exterior leads to to a large bare stone-walled interior, decorated with old breweriana and chalkboards advertising forthcoming events such as the annual mouse race.

The wooden bar features 5 gleaming brass handpumps serving Felinfoel Best Bitter, Double Dragon , Brains Bitter and two guests with beers such as Doombar from Sharp's in Cornwall or Red Castle Cream from nearby Newman's Brewery in Caerphilly. Another local beer that features regularly on the bar is Otley O1 from Pontypridd. The beers are served in branded glassware wherever possible.

The large bar area with its wooden beams on the ceiling also features a real fire and a huge old mirror advertising a long-gone Highland Whisky from Glasgow dominates one wall. Flat-screen televisions are mounted on the walls for major sporting matches.

To the side of the bar a passageway has been cut through the thick stone wall into what is called the 'Snug', with the pub dartboard and a retro games machine that features the old arcade classics such as PacMan and Millipede.

Outside, the Pantmawr features extensive parking as well as a patio area with seats that leads on to a grassed area with a slide for children. The Pantmawr Inn also features a function room with bar that is available for hire. Free WiFi is also available.

Food is served all day from a traditional pub menu and separate children's menu, with a carvery on Sundays, grills feature on the menu along with a healthy option section listing options with the calories displayed. Daily specials feature throughout the week with cheaper beer prices on Mondays, pizza deals on Tuesdays, curries on Thursday nights and an offer on children's meals on Fridays after 4.

Google Map:

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Traveline Cymru Info:

Brains wins Welsh supplier of the year award

2012-01-26T07:39:00.006Z

Above: Paul Harvey, Head of Take Home at Brains, with the award, along with Mark Grant and Enfys Fox from Tesco

Wales' largest cask ale brewery, award-winning SA Brain has been named Wales’ best food and drink supplier by Tesco customers.

The nationwide competition to find the best local food and drink in the British Isles was launched by the Tesco local sourcing team last year. Customers were asked to nominate their favourite local product in store for a chance to win £500 worth of Tesco vouchers.

With the highest number of votes within its region, Brains secured the Welsh supplier award. Paul Harvey, Head of Take Home at Brains, said: “More than 70 Welsh companies supply Tesco, so to be named the best is a huge honour. We’ve been working with them for several years, but this award offers a great base from which to extend our ever growing national distribution.”

Brains supplies Tesco stores throughout Wales, and more recently has secured a listing for Brains Original Stout in 650 stores nationally.

Enfys Fox, Tesco Local Marketing Manager for Wales added: "Brains has been part of Wales’ history for 130 years, so it's no wonder local Tesco customers regard their beers as a favourite regional product.

“Our dedicated local sourcing office in Wales gives us the perfect opportunity to work closely with local Welsh suppliers such as Brains Brewery to retain their brand positioning and regional speciality so that we can offer our local customers the best quality locally produced beer, and they in turn can support their favourite local brewery.”

Cardiff pub to feature mouse racing

2012-01-25T16:28:00.006Z

A pub in Cardiff will be once again holding their annual mouse race this Friday (27th). The Pantmawr Inn
in Rhiwbina will be featuring races from specially breed mice who have been given with steroids over the past few months and after the races the runners are 'retired' to the comfort of the pub boa constrictor!
Fun for all the family!
Shall we tell PETA?

The pubs of Pill, Part 1

2012-01-25T14:17:00.000Z

Part 1, the Closed Pubs

Pill or Pillgwenlly is the docks area of Newport and the area was built in the nineteenth century. Named after the Welsh for 'inlet' and the name of a local saint, the area has been declining for a number of years and has seen a lot of pub closures. Many of the former pubs still stand and have been converted to alternative uses, these photographs show the buildings as they are now. Additional information is from Alan Roderick's book 'The Pubs of Newport' (1997), copies of which are now going for £26 on Amazon!

White Hart Inn, 5 Tredegar Street

First mentioned in 1859, the pub closed around 2000. Now used as offices.

Being opposite the Cattle Market, now the site of Asda supermarket, the pub had extended hours on Wednesdays as these were the market days.

Owners: 1905 Rogers & Co of Bristol, 1938 HG Simonds, Courage, Ushers

Castle Hotel, 28 Commercial Road, on corner with Tredegar Street

First mentioned in 1862 as the Castle Inn and Brewery, the pub shut around 1977. Now used as residential/take away, although it has been used as an amusement arcade in the past.

Owners: 1933 Phillips, 1954 Simonds, Courage.

Welcome Home, 46 Commercial Road, on corner with Dolphin Street

First mentioned 1848, this pub closed in around 1997. Now used as residential. In its last few years the pub was a well-known trouble-spot with stabbings and a shooting.

Owners: 1905 Lloyds & Yorath, Ansells

Commercial Inn, 47 Commercial Road, on corner with Dolphin Street

First mentioned in 1872, this pub shut around 1993, now converted to residential.

Owners: 1905 Phillips, Courage

Windsor Castle, 56 Commercial Road, on corner with Bolt Street

First mentioned in 1872 this pub closed around 1979 and has been converted to residential use.

Owners: Phillips, Courage

Royal Exchange, 161 Commercial Road, was renamed 'Harvey's of Pill'

First mentioned in 1872 the pub closed in 2005 shortly after the death of local gangster Lemmy Bullock who was killed with a samurai sword in the pub by a rival drug gang.

Owners: Lloyds & Yorath, Ansells, Harveys

Black Horse, 66 Commercial Road

First mentioned 1872 as the Falcon, renamed Celtic Bar in around 1982 and named the Black Horse in the late 1990s. Closed around 2006.

Owners: 1905 J T Usher of Bristol

Kings Arms, 133 Commercial Road, corner of Temple Street

First mentioned 1845 this landmark pub closed around 1993. Building is currently derelict and there have been a number of fires at the premises, the most recent one was in the last week.

Owners: Thatchers, Mitchells & Butlers, Bass

Cambrian, 112 Commercial Road,

Rear of building on Courtybella Terrace

First mentioned 1845, this pub closed around 2005 and is currently empty and derelict.

Owners: Thatchers, 1957 Mitchells & Butlers, Welsh Brewers, Marr Taverns, Ushers

Cumberland House, 21 Courtybella Terrace

First mentioned 1872, rebuilt 1891 and closed around 2005.

Owners: Hancocks, Welsh Brewers, private

Part 2 of this piece will feature more of the closed pubs with part 3 focusing on the open pubs (yes there are some!)

Closed pubs and Streetview

2012-01-24T14:41:00.000Z

Photo of the Orange Tree pub, Pill, Newport, taken around 1998. This was once a real ale haven and appeared in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide in the late 1980s. Compare it with a photo taken from Google Street View below:

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I do find Streetview useful when looking for pubs to visit, or even researching old pubs.
The pub was demolished shortly after the original photograph was taken.
For more closed pubs, take a look at Curmudgeon's other blog, Closed Pubs.

16 pubs a week closing

2012-01-24T07:33:00.001Z

CAMRA- ‘Community life in Britain’s suburbs under threat’
New pub closure figures out today show 16 pubs close across Britain every week

* 8 suburban pubs close every week, compared to 6 rural, and 2 high street
* Over 1000 pubs lost in Britain’s suburbs in just 2 years
* 10 tied pubs* are closing every week compared to 7 free of tie, with the number of managed pubs actually increasing by 1 opening per week.

CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, has today called for urgent Government action to save Britain’s historic pub culture in light of new research showing how 16 pubs now close across the country on a weekly basis. The consumer group has expressed particular concern that Government policy is failing communities on the peripheries of Britain’s towns and cities, with half of these closures (8 a week) taking place in the nation’s suburbs.

In just 2 years, 1,078 pubs have been lost in suburban areas, with many community locals battered by whirlwind beer tax hikes and deep alcohol discounting from nearby supermarket chains, bringing about a general decline in pub going by consumers. Meanwhile, high street pubs are closing at a quarter of the rate – 2 per week – of suburban locals.

Mike Benner, CAMRA Chief Executive, said, ‘While high street city centre venues are showing a degree of resistance in the current climate, both suburban and rural areas are under threat as wholesale pub closures deprive more local people of a community centre. Pubs are vital for social cohesion and cultural integration, and therefore the Government must act swiftly to repair the damage inflicted upon local communities by offering genuine support for enterprising and hard working licensees.

‘This research also further underlines the major problems caused by many hard-working pub lessees being unable to buy their beer on the open market, restricted by punitive measures imposed by greedy pub companies. The number of tied pubs has fallen by over 3,500 in just 3 years, with free of tie pubs remaining better placed to weather these difficult economic times by having the ability to offer greater beer choice and lower prices to the consumer.’

Today’s figures coincide with a groundbreaking new report by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) into the social value of community pubs. The report reinforces CAMRA’s figures by highlighting the need for a radical change in Government policy that recognises the important community function many pubs perform.

Recommended measures to provide vital support include business rate relief for pubs acting as ‘centres of a community’, reform of planning laws which prevent pubs from being demolished without the need for planning permission, and improving relations between large pub companies and their lessees to offer a guest beer option and an option to become ‘free of tie’ accompanied by an open market rent review.

IPPR Associate Director, Rick Muir, said, "Government must stop using a one size fits all approach to licensed premises which is killing off our community pubs. Instead responsible well-run community pubs should be encouraged and supported.

"Our research shows community pubs aren’t just places to drink but also places where people meet their neighbours; where local clubs hold meetings and events; and which support many important local services such as village post offices and general stores.’

Allowing smoking back into pubs would encourage people to start using them again.

****ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM ALERT****

Best beers from Wales via Ratebeer

2012-01-23T14:28:00.000Z

Now I'm not a regular user of Ratebeer but I do find their lists interesting, if just for the amount of anomalies it throws up - for instance Murphy's Irish Stout is regarded as Welsh beer as its brewed by Inbev at their Magor Factory and at number 2 is Thames Welsh ESB, a beer that most people in Wales will have not seen or heard of as it is made by Felinfoel Brewery for export only. A lot of ciders on this list as well, here is the link for the full list.
Also on Ratebeer is a list of the 50 worst beers - made up mainly of Malt Liquors and Pale Lagers - although the spiced 'beer' made up of American Bud and Clamato (that's tomato juice and clam soup!) called Chelada does sound like the most disgusting combination possible, that is until you realise a Light version is also available.

Beer Score/Count/Style

1	Otley mOtley Brew	3.46	24	Imperial/Double IPA
2	Thames Welsh ESB	3.44	248	Premium Bitter/ESB
3	Gwynt y Ddraig Kingston Black SV	3.42	16	Cider
4	Otley O8	3.40	50	Barley Wine
5	Otley O6 Porter	3.33	28	Porter
6	Murphys Irish Stout	3.30	1374	Dry Stout
7	Rhymney Dark	3.29	36	Mild Ale
8	Otley O-Garden	3.28	54	Wheat Ale
9	Gwynt y Ddraig Gold Medal	3.28	25	Cider
10	Gwynt y Ddraig Fiery Fox (Draught)	3.27	18	Cider
11	Troggi Perry	3.26	14	Perry
12	Kingstone Classic Bitter	3.26	21	Bitter
13	Otley Oxymoron	3.25	11	Black IPA
14	Murphys Draught Irish Ale	3.24	46	Irish Ale
15	Kingstone 1503 Tudor Ale	3.24	26	Old Ale
16	Gwynt y Ddraig Black Dragon (Bottle)	3.23	22	Cider
17	Conwy Mulberry Dark	3.22	19	Mild Ale
18	Purple Moose Dark Side Of The Moose/Ochr Tywyll Y Mws	3.22	63	Porter
19	Pen-lon Cottage Stock-Ram Stout	3.20	22	Stout
20	Otley Dark-O	3.19	40	Mild Ale
21	Otley O5 Gold	3.18	13	Golden Ale/Blond Ale
22	Tomos Watkin Cwrw Gaeaf (Bottle)	3.18	35	Premium Bitter/ESB
23	Pen-lon Cottage Chocolate Stout	3.17	42	Stout
24	Gwynt y Ddraig Haymaker (Draught)	3.16	15	Cider
25	Waen Blackberry Stout	3.16	16	Stout
26	Pen-lon Cottage Twin Ram India Pale Ale	3.15	33	Premium Bitter/ESB
27	Gwynt y Ddraig Orchard Gold (Bottle)	3.14	18	Cider
28	Gwynt y Ddraig Black Dragon (Draught)	3.14	31	Cider
29	Brains Dark	3.14	134	Mild Ale
30	Great Orme Welsh Black	3.14	50	Mild Ale
31	Gwynt y Ddraig Happy Daze (Draught)	3.14	12	Cider
32	Breconshire Night Beacon	3.13	17	Stout
33	Otley O-Ho-Ho	3.13	16	Premium Bitter/ESB
34	Celt Experience Celt Golden	3.13	90	Golden Ale/Blond Ale
35	Brains Original Stout	3.13	17	Stout
36	Otley Columb-O	3.13	37	Golden Ale/Blond Ale
37	Untapped Triple ’S’	3.13	11	Stout
38	Celt Experience Bleddyn 1075	3.12	37	Golden Ale/Blond Ale
39	Otley Thai Bo	3.12	16	Spice/Herb/Vegetable
40	Otley O1	3.11	57	Golden Ale/Blond Ale
41	Tomos Watkin Taffy Apples Cider	3.11	17	Cider
42	Gwynt y Ddraig Vintage 06 (Bottle)	3.10	10	Cider
43	Newmans Mammoth	3.10	17	Bitter
44	Breconshire Ramblers Ruin	3.10	34	Premium Bitter/ESB
45	Swansea Deep Slade Dark	3.09	21	Mild Ale
46	Swansea Three Cliffs Gold	3.09	10	Golden Ale/Blond Ale
47	Facers North Star Porter	3.09	11	Porter
48	Evan Evans Brewery Bitter / Best Bitter	3.08	17	Bitter
49	Evan Evans Harvest Home	3.08	10	Bitter
50	Purple Moose Madogs Ale/Cwrw Madog	3.08	38	Bitter

The Blacksmiths Arms, Llanmaes

2012-01-22T09:01:00.000Z

Blacksmiths Arms, Llanmaes, Vale of Glamorgan, CF61 2XR

Open all Day.

The Blacksmiths is situated in the village of Llanmaes, a short distance north of the historic town of Llantwit Major. The village has its own historic sites including a Roman camp, Norman castle and a Celtic Cross in the church. The pub was built in the mid-nineteenth century and named the Blacksmiths after the nearby smithy, the anvil of which is preserved opposite the pub car park.

The Blacksmiths is a two-story stone-built that has been extended over the years but still retains a distinct atmosphere of a traditional Vale of Glamorgan public house with its wooden beams, stone floor and real fire. Once owned by Welsh Brewers, the pub is now owned by Punch Taverns. An unusual cast-iron pub sign of two blacksmiths at work hangs outside of the pub and there is a large car park to the side.

Inside the Blacksmiths features a welcoming log-burning fire, perfect after coming in from the rain and the cold this time of year. The light-grey bare stone walls of the interior contrast with the dark slate stone floor and the light-brown of the wooden bar. There are four handpumps on the bar, featuring Hancock’s HB and Brain’s Rev James as the permanent ales and two guest beers from breweries such as Wharfebank and Black Sheep from Yorkshire, Harviestoun from Scotland and Butcombe from Somerset. There are tasting notes on the wall for the real ales as well as a booklet listing their future beers. The Blacksmiths Arms holds Cask Marque accreditation as well as being in the 2012 CAMRA Good Beer Guide. A good range of single malts is also available.

The pub features plenty of seating with pews and tables in the front extension which leads out to a patio area. Smaller tables are in the bar area and there is another extension at the rear of the pub with another wood-burning fire.

The walls are decorated with old photographs of the area and daily newspapers are provided for customers to read. A charity quiz night is held on Wednesday nights and the pub hosts an annual beer festival every June.

Food is served 12-3, 6-9 weekdays, all day on Saturday and 12-4 Sunday. There is a printed menu and a chalkboard menu, the latter changes daily and features home-made and locally-sourced ingredients. Pasta. Fish dishes and a traditional Welsh cheeseboard all feature on the menu and there is a steak night on Tuesdays.

Public Transport: Infrequent bus service to the village but Llantwit Major with its bus terminus, taxis and railway station is less than 20 minutes walk away.

Google Map:

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Winter Ales and dumplings at the Clytha

2012-01-20T14:16:00.000Z

The award-winning Clytha Arms in Monmouthshire will be celebrating the dumpling with a range of fantastic winter ales to wash them down with tomorrow.
The Clytha Arms
Clytha
Near Abergavenny
Monmouthshire
South Wales
United Kingdom
NP7 9BW
Google Map:

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Newport Wetherspoons used by paedophile for drugs and grooming

2012-01-14T16:57:00.002Z

Regular readers of this blog will know I'm not a fan of the Wetherspoons chain of pubs but the story in the South Wales Argus today (no online version yet) shows the type of customers that frequent the Queens Hotel in Bridge Street, Newport, and the depths to which their clientèle have sunk to:

This story does not even make front-page news or even top of the page news; it's on the bottom of page 5.

To quote the paper, "The first time [they met] was at the Queens Hotel in Newport in January last year... there was use of controlled drugs".

Use of drugs, children being groomed on the premises? A few years ago when Chaverspoons announced that they were taking over the Queens I wrote that Newport was stepping into the abyss, it seems as if the City has now reached those depths.

No mention in the paper if any Chaverspoons staff have faced disciplinary action over this to occur on their premises and their PR department have not got back to me today but if this happened a few years ago the pub would have no doubt lost its license. It's a fact that badly-run pubs attract dodgy customers and encourage bad behaviour so, I challenge Tim Martin, boss of JD Wetherspoons to start to clean up this pub by sacking the manager who allowed this behaviour to occur on the premises. Go on Tim, have the guts to clean your own pubs up before taking on Europe!

A bit of historical reference here, I used to work in the Queens Hotel when it was owned by Belhaven Inns so I'm familiar with the pub and the drinking culture in Newport, but the grooming and drugging of 14 year-old girls by a Muslim sex offender is something that Wetherspoons must stop at all costs.

Still its not as if anyone has died in the pub, I mean this is Newport, not Aberdare.

Update: 16.01.12 - the Argus appear not to have put the story online, but they have mentioned it in a different story here.

Far Deal for Pubs

2012-01-13T16:48:00.001Z

I watched with interest yesterday the motion passed in the Commons criticising the Government's lack of action on the Business Select Committee proposals for pub chains. Reasonably well-attended for a Thursday afternoon, although my MP was no-where to be seen despite my email to her, hopefully she is not on another sprog-dropping spree which saw her still claim expenses whilst twice on maternity leave and not in the Commons during the last session of Parliament.

The Commons was for once united in a game of "Pub Bingo" at which a Member would try and mention the name of a pub in his or her constituency, honourable mention must go to the Member for Torfaen who managed to name the Open Hearth in Sebastopol, Pontypool in his speech.
Others defended the family brewers - James Gray the Member for Wadworth's and Andrew Griffiths, the Member for Marston's and Punch. But this debate was not about family brewers, but about the thousands of pubs and their landlords struggling to survive, pubs that are owned by Pub Companies.

If there was one star in the debate it was Greg Mullholland who announced that the Government response to the Business Select Committee was written by the British Beer & Pub Association - it even contained the same typos!

A lot of MPs blamed the beer tie for pub closures, once again choosing to ignore the elephant in the room that is the smoking ban.

Charlotte Leslie MP for Bristol North West, provided an welcome bit of totty to the debate and said,
"The issue of the beer tie is one part of the equation which is leading to so many of our pubs closing".
But failing to mention the elephant in the room again.

Even the tree-hugging Caroline Lucas MP for Sodom and Gomorrah (Brighton) joined in the support for pubs. There truly is cross-party support for this issue.

Of course a debate with like this is also an opportunity for MPs to use their most descriptive pub language -
"The Prime Minister is dodging his round at the bar on this issue" - from Tom Blenkinsop MP.

The debate concluded without a vote, the Ayes having won with no objections heard by the Noes.

Motion passed by Parliament:

That this House believes that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ proposals for reform of the pub industry fall short of the undertaking given to the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee in July 2010 and that only a statutory code of practice which includes a free-of-tie option with an open market rent review and an independent adjudicator will resolve the contractual problems between the pub companies and their lessees; and calls on the Government to commission a review of self-regulation of the pub industry in the Autumn of 2012 to be conducted by an independent body approved by the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee

CAMRA did a live blog of the speech which can be viewed here.
CAMRA Press release on the subject below:
Parliament Unanimously Passes Fair Deal for Pubs Motion

Following a lively debate on the floor of the House of Commons, during which the Government was heavily criticised for rejecting proposals by the Business Select Committee, MPs have unanimously passed a motion criticising Government's lack of action on pub companies as falling short of their own commitments and requiring the Government to commission an independent review of self regulation in the pub sector.

Today’s decision by Parliament follows over 5,000 CAMRA members individually contacting their local MPs asking them to support this motion and extensive campaigning by organisations including Federation of Small Businesses, Forum for Private Business, licensee groups and the Parliamentary Save the Pub Group.

Mike Benner, CAMRA Chief Executive said:

‘CAMRA is delighted that MPs from all parties have highlighted the inadequacy of the Government’s attempts to tackle unfair business practices in the pub sector and that the Government are now obliged to commission an independent review into the matter. Following the success of this motion the Government now has a chance to think again and to consult on meaningful proposals to ensure the survival of many thousands of pubs.

‘The large pub companies must be encouraged to provide their lessees with free of tie and guest beer options accompanied by an open market rent review. These steps would effectively self regulate the operation of tie agreements.

‘The large pub companies have been living in the last chance saloon since 2004 during which time many thousands of valued community pubs have been lost forever while pub companies have failed to deliver meaningful self regulation.’

Welsh politicians pass a no-Brainer

2012-01-13T12:47:00.000Z

Hot on the heels of banning free plastic carrier bags in order to save the Artic penguin or some such rubbish, the bansturbators of the National Assembly on Wednesday passed legislation banning all advertising, trading and marketing by non-sponsors within 500m of the Millennium Stadium to “protect the brand”, during the Olympics.
Wales Online has the full story here

The interesting thing about this ban is that as well as the facepainters, merchandise sellers and hot dog salespeople who are a feature of International days at the stadium, all advertising on billboards, phone booths and bus shelters – except those of Olympic sponsors, such as Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Visa – will have to be removed.

This includes the famous chimney at Brains Brewery and their advertising on a railway bridge in Grangetown.

An explanatory memorandum issued with the legislation on Wednesday warned: “If the regulations are not made it will mean the Host City Contract cannot be fulfilled in Wales and there is a risk that the football matches would be moved to an alternative stadium in England".
Hardly democracy in action when commercial contracts signed in London are able to enact laws in a country which supposedly has its own National Assembly to make laws?

Plaid Cymru AM Simon Thomas who said the regulations would, “Unfairly disadvantage small traders and businesses here in Wales and are clearly designed to benefit the large, multinational corporate sponsors. These regulations simply do not allow Welsh businesses to maximise the opportunities that might stem from the Olympic games. They will make it virtually impossible for anyone to trade Welsh products aimed at tourists within the designated zone around the centre of Cardiff. This reflects much of the unfairness that has been implicit in the way that the Olympic Games have been managed and designed. Welsh taxpayers are contributing to a public sum of nearly £10bn to deliver the Olympic Games for London. Yet when we have a handful of events in Cardiff, with these regulations, we will not be allowed to promote Wales properly nor gain the associated economic benefits.”

Lib Dem business spokeswoman Eluned Parrott said, “Five hundred metres in the context of Wembley or the context of the Olympic Village or perhaps in the context of Sydney is not a major impact on a city centre, but in Cardiff specifically the exclusion zone encompasses a number of retail premises and a huge number of hostelries, who are used to trading extremely well from major sporting events in Cardiff. We need to make sure that they are clear and they know what they can do and what they cannot do as part of the Olympics.”

The Quisling who pushed this act through the Assembly was John Griffiths AM for Newport East, a constituency in which they do not count the Labour votes, merely weigh them.

Red Cow Brews Grey Trees

2012-01-12T17:45:00.001Z

The winner of the Mid-Glamorgan Pub of the Year 2011, the Red Cow at Llwydcoed in Aberdare, has started to brew its own beer. As well as being the only pub left in the village, the award-winning Red Cow has installed a brewery so that some great beers can be brewed at this hillside venue. The Grey Trees Brewery will be launching their 4 % Diggers Gold beer tonight at the pub. Diggers Gold is a triple-hopped beer, brewed with, amongst others, Chinook hops.

The Discovery, Lakeside, Cardiff

2012-01-12T07:45:00.000Z

Discovery, Celyn Avenue, Lakeside, Cardiff, CF23 6EH

Bus stop (52A) nearby or a short walk from Heath Stations

Open all day

The Discovery was built in the early 1960s and this brick-constructed building is set back from the road with its own car park. The pub is named after Scott of the Antarctic's ship which sailed from Cardiff on its ill-fated voyage one hundred years ago and a picture of the ship, encased in the ice features on the pub sign. The pub was so-named as it is close to the Scott memorial in Roath Park. Unusually the Discovery still keeps its 1960s layout with a separate bar and lounge and has not been knocked through into one bar.

The lounge bar is on the left of the pub and the public bar is entered via the right-hand side. The long bar in the lounge is made up of contrasting wooden panels and on the bar counter are four gleaming chrome handpumps, serving real ales such as Greene King Abbott, Sharps Doom Bar and Butcombe Bitter as well as another guest such as the Brain's Seasonal Beer. As this is an Enterprise Inns pub the beer list is restricted to their beers but there are plenty of good regional breweries represented on this list. The real ales are all served in branded glassware wherever possible and one is always served at the competitive price of £2.50 a pint. In the summer a real cider is available on one of the handpumps.

The lounge bar features brass handrails and a central raised fireplace with seating around it. Towards the rear of the pub there is an extensive function room, entered via doors with stained glass windows of Captain Scott's famous ship. Large art-Deco ceiling lights are a feature of the lounge and the walls are decorated with pictures of the lake in Roath Park and the Captain Scott memorial. There is a large mirror advertising Courage Best, a former owner of the pub, in the lounge as well.

The public bar is well lit and leads to a large heated patio area for smokers which acts as a sun trap in the summer months. The public bar also features a television screen and a dartboard.

Food is served between 12-2100, apart from Sundays when lunch is 12-1600 and booking is advisable. The menu features traditional pub food and there are daily chalkboard specials such as Chicken and Sweet Pea Pasta, home-made Pie of the Day and a daily curry.

The Discovery is the heart of the local community and features quiz nights every Wednesday night. Over the festive season choirs have been singing in the pub during the night.

Google Map:

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Alcohol Units - the truth

2012-01-11T14:59:00.001Z

With the festive season over for another year the Nanny State and fake charities have been doing the rounds of television studios, telling us how much we should drink and how to run our lives.
The units system of alcohol is made up nonsense - check out QI on You Tube below:

In Britain, 21 units of alcohol per week is the recommended allowance, but in Poland it is 12.5, in Canada 23.75, in the USA 24.5, in Denmark and South Africa 31.5 and in Australia 35. However, if you drink between 21-30 units, you belong to a group of people who have lowest mortality rate in Britain. You actually have to consume 63 units per week, or one bottle of wine a day, to have the same death risk as a teetotaller. The man who invented the system admitted the number was made up.

H/T The Skinner

King gets the chop

2012-01-10T14:18:00.000Z

King's Hotel, Newport

Another famous outlet closes in Newport, the Kings (awful looking website warning) was shut and boarded up last week. Owned by Punch Taverns and leased to Follandmill Limited, the hotel, like Newport itself has been in terminal decline for a number of years. I visited the Kings last year for a reception after a funeral and the company running the hotel did not even open the bar, a big mistake when there were a lot of people of Scottish and Irish heritage present. Situated on High Street, the Kings once had a thriving public bar, called the Raglan Bar, but this was lost in a refurbishment some years ago, the owners deciding that the locals who put money over the bar every day were less important than the occasional visitors who stayed in one of the 60 or so rooms in this hotel. Another failed venture was the opening of a Chinese restaurant on the premises. Newport Council have not helped, their pedestrianisation of High Street prevented 24 hour access to the hotel and the very small hotel car park at the rear did not help. There is a new multi-story car park opposite the hotel but it's not open 24 hours, as tourists to the Ryder Cup found out a couple of years ago. The Hotel also features large function rooms, one big enough to hold Van Morrison concerts in the 80s.

To the rear of the building are some older buildings around a courtyard - always thought this could be opened up to provide an outside area, then again the pub needs its car park spaces.

So what we are left with is a late-Victorian hotel that has not moved into the twenty-first century.

It is unclear what will become of the building at the moment, elsewhere in the City, the Westgate Hotel has stood empty for years, again that closed due to lack of parking.

Brief history:

1750s – building on this site known as the King's Head

1811-1815 known as the King's Arms

1872 – part owned by Lord Tredegar

1900 – rebuilt after a fire

1950s featured on a Hancock's Brewery print

Wernddu 18 year old Chardonnay

2012-01-09T14:33:00.000Z

Wernddu Vineyard

www.wernddu.com

I don’t usually drink wine, I much prefer beer or cider, though 10 days stuck in the Scottish Highlands did give me a liking for Single Malts and my first and only experience of Tennant’s Sweetheart Stout, however, over the last few years I’ve come to know Frank and Leigh Strawford of the organic Wernddu Vineyard near Raglan, Monmouthshire. I first came to know them through their range of ciders and perries but in the last few years I’ve started to be taken in by their wines, the first one I tried was an incredible aged Chardonnay. Incredible as most wines made from this grape are sold within a couple of years of pressing. I first tried this vintage a few years ago and it is now 18 years old. Now I have a dry palate – I prefer very dry ciders and bitter tasty beers (none of those ‘bland beers brewed for the local taste’ for me), so on tasting this Chardonnay for the first time I was taken aback with the richness, flavour and dryness in it.

Chardonnay (18 year old)

Colour A rich golden-yellow

Aroma: A very complex aroma of Granny Smith apples with dried fruits such as mango and pineapple.

Taste: More rich citrus fruit, the complex flavours are intertwined and produce a dry sensation on the tongue.

Aftertaste: Dry, astringent but with a fruity bite of pineapple at the end.

Verdict: A stunning dry white wine. Not to everyone’s taste but if you do like dry, then this is the wine for you. Not much left either so get your hands on it soon!

Wernddu Organics

Pen-Y-Clawdd, Monmouth NP25 4BW
Telephone: 01600 740 104

Otley Porter makes a welcome return in January

2012-01-01T08:56:00.001Z

Otley Brewing Company brings back best-seller for January

The Otley Brewing Company is relaunching the award-winning O6 Porter for January. O6 is a 6.6%, old-style porter with a deep and full flavour. A satisfying beer crafted from four different malts and a single hop, the O6 is one of the company’s best selling beers.

Otley Brewery is taking orders from the start of January.

Nick Otley, managing director of Otley, said: “The O6 is an old favourite and became one of our best-selling beers since it picked up two awards at the 2009 Great Welsh Beer Festival. It won Gold in the Porters category and a Bronze for overall winner so we’re pleased to be making it available to our customers across the UK.”

For more information on the Otley Brewing Company, please follow @OtleyBrewingCo on Twitter, visit their facebook page or visit the website www.otleybrewing.co.uk.

Celebrate New Year's Eve at the Bunch

2011-12-30T08:14:00.002Z

One of Wales' best pubs, the Bunch of Grapes in Pontypridd, will be celebrating the New Year with their annual New Year's Eve Beer Festival tomorrow (Sat).

Photo courtesy of Dave RATS

No beer list (yet!) but the beers featured will be the favourites of the landlord from throughout the year so expect some great beers from breweries across the UK as well as a few specials from the Otley Brewery lads.
Last year the festival featured beers from Thornbridge, Brewdog and Saltaire breweries to name just a few and the only downside was having to leave at 7pm to catch the train home! Its New Year's Eve so the trains will be stopping early.
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The Coal Hole Inn, Gellihaf

2011-12-29T14:10:00.000Z

Coal Hole Inn, Bryn Road, Gellihaf, NP12 2QE

Open 12-3, 6-11 Monday-Thursday, 12-11 Friday & Saturday, 12-11 Sunday

The Coal Hole Inn is an impressive stone-built nineteenth-century pub that overlooks the Hengoed Viaduct in the Rhymney Valley. The pub is built on the hillside and is set back from the main road with a large car park at the front. The pub sign features a miner and the pit-head winding gear in the background, a reminder of the industry that once dominated this region.

Originally a farmhouse, this building became a pub in the latter part of the nineteenth-century when this area became industrialised. The pub has been extended over the years from the original building with a small extension to the right-hand side. The front porch leads to a dining area on the left and the bar on the right. The bar is a bit of a throwback to the 1960s and features a tiled roof and brass footrail along the base. Three handpumps feature on the bar with real ales from Green King Brewery taking up two of them, Abbot and Old Speckled Hen, the third pump is reserved for a changing guest beer, the pumpclips of previous ales are displayed to the side of the bar. Wells & Youngs Banana Beer is also available in bottles and there is an excellent selection of single malts.

The bar area contains copper-topped tables and the attractive stonework of the walls is left bare, apart from a couple of mirrors, one being an old Hancock's Brewery Allbright mirror with a picture of the brewery on it and words 'The most popular pint in Wales' written on it. An old pendulum clock mounted on the wall keeps the time in this friendly valleys' local. A television set is mounted in one corner of the bar and there is a larger pull-down screen for major sporting events.

Outside there is a large garden to the side of the car park with tables and chairs and an excellent view of the Rhymney Valley and the Hengoed Viaduct.

Above: The Hengoed Viaduct over the Rhymney Valley

The Coal Hole has a good reputation for food and there are set menus as well as daily chalkboard specials and hand-written notices on the bar informing customers of the specials such as Yellowfin Sole fillet or Red Chinese Curry. The menu is very extensive, featuring a wide-range of curries and grills and the chalkboards extend around the corner of the bar.

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Russians take Brains

2011-12-22T12:52:00.000Z

It wouldn’t be Ru-si- without SA!

Welsh Brewer SA Brain and Co Ltd has grown its export sales thanks to a 72,000 pint order from Russia.

Last month Brains shipped its first order of SA, SA Gold and Brains Black, meaning Wales’ best loved beer is now available throughout the country.

Just weeks after Brains arrived, one famous Welshman was spotted drinking it. Tom Jones, who was in the country for his ‘Praise and Blame’ tour, enjoyed Brains Black stout in the Dickens pub in St Petersburg.

Other export highlights include New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, France, Finland and Ireland.

Richard Davies, Sales and Marketing Director at Brains, said: “It’s early days for our export channel, but encouragingly sales keep rising, and our Russian distributor has already placed a second order. Within the UK we continue to grow sales of our beers in supermarkets through national listings in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Waitrose.”

Last chance to try Newport's Vintage Cider

2011-12-19T14:26:00.002Z

The Pen & Wig, Stow Hill, Newport, has secured the last of the 2010 Vintage of St Cecilia Cyder, made by local cidermaker Phil Palmer of Bassaleg.

The St Cecilia apple is a rare Welsh eating apple propagated in the early 1900s by John Basham & Sons, fruit growers of Bassaleg, a surburb of Newport. It has been blended with a small amount of bittersweets to give it some body. Cecilia was the name of Bashams' wife and is the patron St of music. Legend has it that the apple is best picked on St Cecilias day - Nov 22.

ABV 6.5%

The next time this rare cider will be available will be in May 2012.

Christmas Beers

2011-12-19T08:36:00.001Z

A quick round-up of a few Christmas beers from breweries in South Wales.

First up is FirKing Good from Brains, brewed with Aromatic Malt and containing spicy hop flavours, this is a deep amber-coloured ale with a warming finish.

Next to Jay at Neath Ales with his Winter Star - a chestnut coloured ale which goes down easy and puts a festive smile on faces. 4.6% very low bittering hops but loads of spicy/earthy late hop flavour from buckets full of traditional hop varieties.

Vale of Glamorgan Brewery have brewed a couple of Christmas specials this year, the first one being Sleigh Belle. a tawny best bitter with pleasant bitterness and gentle hoppiness from cascade whole hops.

Their second seasonal brew is Holly Daze 5.4% ABV and is described by the brewery as 'Our Christmas brew, watch don't get in too much of a daze drinking this smooth, full bodied ale that has a hint of chocolate undertone'.

Celt Experience/Newmans Brewery also have a couple of beers out this Christmas:

Winter Hog Ale 4.6%

Winter Hog is strong winters ale with a powerful bitterness that explodes into a delicious mixture of fruit flavours and aromas. Amber brown in colour this premium ale is complemented by a good sweet bitterness and a blend of aroma hops lending to its grapefruit and slightly citrus flavour.

Hoppy Gristmas 5.0%

A strong winter speciality ale, Hoppy Gristmas is a deep ruby beer with a delicate fruity aroma and a good hop presence. The lovely taste is distinguished by the sutbly sharp and full bodied flavour.

Best name for any Welsh Christmas Beer has to be from Purple Moose Brewery with X-Moose!

Meanwhile Gwynt Y Ddraig Cider have launched their seasonal cider, Sleigh Ride

Old brewery monogram in Merthyr

2011-12-17T08:43:00.002Z

Above: The Belle Vue, Merthyr Tydfil

Travelling through Merthyr Tydfil over the summer I came across this monogram on the pub wall of the Belle Vue pub on Glebeland Street,

WWN did not ring any bells at first but I recently found this old photograph of the Belle Vue Hotel

and the name over the top is:

WW Nell & Co

Celebrated Ales Wines & Spirits

Okay so its clearly not the same building but the footprint is the same and the monogram on the rebuilt pub appears to refer to William Nell's brewery of Cardiff. It's rare enough to find any old surviving brewery insignia on pubs these days, let alone one that dates to before 1926, the year that Nell's were purchased by Crosswell's Brewery. Crosswell's ended up in the Rhymney Brewery and finally the Whitbread Brewery empires.

Nell's Brewery were based in Cardiff, next door to what is now the Owain Glyndwr pub but was previously known as The Buccaneer, The Tennis Courts Hotel, The Green Dragon, The Kemeys-Tynte Arms and the Mabley Arms in 1731. William Nell was originally from Ancoats, Manchester where he may have worked in a brewery. In 1846 he founded the Eagle Brewery, St Thomas' Square, Cardiff.

Above: the present-day Owain Glyndwr pub, the brewery was sited on the left hand side of the pub

In 1871 William Nell died and his son William Walter Nell took over, the WWN referred to in the photograph and monogram. In 1890 the business was registered as a limited company and was valued at £65,000.

In 1898 the Abergarw Brewery at Aberamen, near Aberdare was taken over.

The 1920s were a difficult time for Nell's and in 1926 two of their directors died and they made a profit of only £1,361 from their 5 freehold and 7 leasehold pubs, hence the sale to Crosswells.

The Castle, Barry

2011-12-16T14:09:00.000Z

Castle, 44 Jewel Street, Barry, CF63 3NQ

The Castle is a large, imposing street-corner pub set in a residential area of Barry. Built in 1898 out of the local Jurassic limestone blocks with cream-coloured sandstone facings around the doors and windows, the Castle also features original etched glass windows with 'Bar', 'Commercial Room', 'Jug & Bottle' as well as 'Tea' and 'Coffee Room' on them.

When built, as the Castle Hotel, the building had 38 bedrooms, though these are unused nowadays. The original entrance to the bar on the corner is blocked up, today the entrance is from the Jewel Street side, via a large wooden black-painted door and an internal porch with the Brains' dragon on the glass, this leads into the former 'Commercial Room' or what today is known as the lounge.

The lounge features a large white marble fireplace to one side and has ample seating with red-velvet style coverings together with old photographs of Barry and CAMRA Good Beer Guide posters on the walls, the latter celebrating the fact that the Castle has featured in the annual publication for 5 years. There are also plenty of books around the lounge, the Castle is a community pub and customers are able to borrow books from the collection. The lounge bar counter is made of dark wood and although not original, it probably dates back to a refurbishment in the 1960s. The bar back features a collection of drinking mugs hanging from the dark wooden gantry.

The ceiling features ornate plasterwork and cornices and in one corner there is a wooden staircase leading to an upstairs function room.

To the rear of the lounge is a smaller room, used for Sunday lunches that contains a cast-iron cooking range, this was probably the original kitchen of the Castle Hotel. A nearby corridor, ornately decorated with Victorian floor tiles leads to the snooker room and an outside walled courtyard which features a smoking shelter.

To the side of the ornate fireplace in the lounge is a small corridor that leads through the former 'Jug & Bottle' off-sales department to the public bar with its impressive wooden bar back, pool table and stairs down to the skittle alley.

The Castle is owned by Wales' largest cask ale brewery, SA Brain and the beer range is Bitter and SA together with a Brain's seasonal such as IPA. In addition there are three handpumps used for serving guest beers from breweries such as Brakspears, Shepherd Neame and Celt Experience. Cider from Weston's is also available.

Food is available on Sundays between 12-3, although booking is advisable.

The Castle is a former local CAMRA Pub of the Year and also features in the Real Heritage Pubs of Wales book for its relatively unspoilt interior.

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