As you will see the design of the site has changed quite a bit today and it will continue to change over the next few days until I’ve got all of the images back in where they should be, tweaked the layout and ironed out the bugs and glitches.  Hopefully it won’t take too long but in the meantime please do tell me what you think and if you spot anything that’s not quite right.

Other than the design there’s going to be a few new pages, the first of which is the breweries and pubs listing, which means you can access all the posts relating to a particular brewery or pub nice and easily.

There’s also a nice new mobile version so you can choose between a resized version of the site or the old mobile version (without images etc) by scrolling to the bottom of the site then turning mobile theme on or off.

Once I’ve sorted the various bits and bobs there’s lots of new posts waiting in the wings, there’s more brewers to meet, more twissups to plan and more beers to drink and review so watch this space.

The trip includes lunch, a beer (or a cocktail if you are that way inclined) and some Ice Cream. All you have to do is come up with a new Ice Cream Flavour. Submit it through the page at http://www.moo-less.co.uk

The best flavour will have their ice cream made and go on sale. The Competition closes on the 1st of September.

So why not have a crack, maybe suggest your favourite beer as an ingredient, or pick some flavours you enjoy in your beer…I quite fancy a stout based ice cream with coffee beans and lumps of chocolate in and just a hint of chilli.

Also keep an eye on the Moo – Less website for details on an up coming Vegan Beer Week that will be running from 10-16th October (I’ll put more details on here when I have them)

Here’s a bit more about the award from the press office over at Sharp’s

Picture Courtesy of @KristyM809

Sharp’s Stuart Howe announced as IBD Nominated APPBG Brewer of the Year 2011

14th July 2011: The All Party Parliamentary Beer Group (APPBG) has announced Sharp’s head brewer, Stuart Howe, the Brewer of the Year 2011 at the APPBG Annual Awards Dinner.

The panel of judges from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD), this year celebrating its 125th Anniversary, based their decision on Stuart’s commitment to education and development of technical competence and his application of this knowledge in the workplace. The judging panel also praised Stuart’s ability to use that knowledge to sculpt and create exciting new beers.

Dan Rogerson MP, Vice-Chancellor of the APPBG, said: “Stuart is a very worthy Brewer of the Year and joins a prestigious cast of previous winners. He has a true understanding of beer and its endless possibilities. Since he moved to Sharp’s, Stuart has established a reputation for developing new brands and for evolving existing ales. He has played an important part in encouraging publicans and consumers to recognise that beer is the perfect accompaniment to food, working to brew bespoke products which have become well known brands in their own right.

“Stuart set about supporting his colleagues by providing learning opportunities and created a strong foundation for his employees to study and pass IBD examinations. He has overseen a rapid expansion of output, the design and installation of a new brewery at Sharp’s and the growth of Doom Bar which enjoys wide distribution and is known for its consistently refreshing qualities.”

Past APPBG Brewer of the Year winners include Steve Wellington of Molson Coors, Alistair Heeley of Greene King, Dr. Mike Powell-Evans of Adnams and Stefano Cossi from Thornbridge.
Upon receiving the award Stuart Howe said: “This is a massive honour and looking down the list of great brewers who have won the accolade before me makes me very proud. To be named APPBG Brewer of the Year is another dream that working for Sharp’s has helped to realise and I owe a vast debt of thanks to the team at the brewery for all their hard work and commitment in making the beers and the business what it is today. I’m looking forward to continuing our success and building on the great portfolio of beers we already offer.”

At Sharp’s since 2002, Stuart has been instrumental in improving quality, productivity and environmental performance while developing award-winning new brands and expanding production from 10,000 to 110,000 barrels per year. Stuart’s determination and passion has led to Doom Bar
becoming the No 1 selling cask brand in the South West and Wales and the fastest growing cask brand in Greater London1. During this time Sharp’s beers have won over 100 national and international awards for excellence.

Other accolades Stuart has gained include wining the Institute of Brewing and Distilling Sir William CGA Data Monitor Walters-Butler, Brewer’s Guild and Bass prizes whilst at university and runner up in the Institute of Brewing and Distilling International Young Brewer of the Year in 2007.

Beer Song by ElbowSkin from Alister Robbie on Vimeo.

I know other people must do it so I’ve decided to run a competition where one lucky winner will win a case of beer from the lovely guys over at My Brewery Tap.

Simply complete the form below with your favourite recipe that incorporates beer and we will pick a winner on the 17th March 2011 and announce it soon after.

I’ll post the best recipes on here too for all to see so If you have a photo then please attach it. Oh and if it’s a recipe you got from a book or another website please state that in the entry somewhere.

The judges decision is final and you must be over 18 and a UK resident to enter the competition. Good Luck.

The competition is now closed, winners will be announced soon.

It Kicks off at 12 noon on the Sunday and there will be a Meet the Brewer event at 2pm with Nick & Matt Otley & If you’re lucky Glyn will be there too as he helped brew the latest batch of  Motley Brew again!

The Rake, small but perfectly formed.

Over the festival 18 Different Breweries, including Otley, Waen, Breconshire, Montys, Bullmastiff & Purple Moose  are being showcased with 37 different beers in Cask and Keg (mainly cask). There will also be a couple of draught ciders available for those who like fermented apple juice!

Mootown will be supplying Welsh cheese some cheese plates and they will have the usual array of bar snacks available.

Most of the beers are NOT usually available in London and the Rake have found a couple of new micro/craft brewers who have sprung up recently and started making a name for themselves inside Wales.

All in all this range shows just how versatile Welsh brewing has become in the last couple of years. It really is amazing that the scene is so vibrant that Brains hasn’t got a look in for the 3rd year on the spin.

O’ What a Weekend

Come celebrate one of Wales’ most innovative craft breweries, Otley Brewing Company, at the White Horse on Parsons Green.

The weekend of the 25th of February, we here at The White Horse on Parsons Green will be celebrating the creativity and accomplishments of Welsh brewery, Otley, from Pontypridd.

Otley has enjoyed success from the very beginning in 2005. They have received numerous awards regionally and nationally, including Gold awards for O1 and O-Garden at the Great British Beer festival in 2008. O-Garden also received the overall champion award at the Great Welsh Beer and Cider Festival in 2010. O6 also received a gold award at the Great Taste Awards in 2010.

We will be hosting two tutored beer and food tasting sessions, one on Friday the 25th and another on Saturday the 26th.

Friday’s event will be held at 7:30pm. It will involve a tutored beer tasting with food pairings all presented by Nick and Matt, Otley brewers and founders.

Saturday’s event, starting at 3pm, will be the same, giving those of you who cannot make it Friday night another opportunity to meet Nick and Matt and hear them talk about their brewery and the beers they are so passionate about.

We will have the largest selection of Otley beers on draught anywhere outside of Wales, 15 cask ales. The beers available on cask will include O1 through O6, O-Garden, Dark O, Croeso, O-Rosie and more.

Our kitchen will be preparing some great Welsh food specialties for the whole pub to enjoy as well. We will have Welsh lamb, laverbread, Glamorgan sausages, as well as Welsh cheeses.

This is a great opportunity to try out the wide Otley range without leaving the comfort of London.

Why not get into the Welsh spirit a few days before St. David’s Day?

Nick Otley, founder of Otley Brewing Company says, “We are very excited about showcasing our beers at the White Horse. They are very supportive of the British micro brewing industry and one of the leading beer outlets in London. It will be a fun and informative weekend and a great chance to meet the drinking public and get their feedback. ”

Ticket cost is £10 per person, which will include beer and food. To make a booking please email Brendan@whitehorsesw6.com or call the number below. Tickets must be purchased in advance.

The White Horse is located on Parsons Green, within a 2 minute walk from the District line’s Parsons Green station. We are also a short walk from the number 22 bus and bus services running through Fulham Broadway.

This month there has been some huge changes most notably with the excellent Beer Monkey shooting up a massive 49 places to number 4 and the Wine Conversation leapfrogging Beer Reviews into 5th place, another huge jump of 28 places. Another wine blog narrowly misses out on the top 10, with Spitoon climbing 10 places to number 20.

Ranking made by Wikio.co.uk

When I first read the title I was suprised…infact it made me swear out loud, but after reading the press release It sounds like a good move for both parties.  Hopefully it will lead to a bigger distribution of Sharp’s excellent ales meaning we will see more of them up north!

Hopefully they will also give super Stuart Howe time/space to brew more of the excellent Monsieur Rock and won’t stop him on his quest to brew in 12 different breweires in 12 months.

I’ve put the press release below for you to read.

DOOM BAR JOINS THE UK’S MOST DIVERSE BEER PORTFOLIO AT MOLSON COORS

Molson Coors (UK) today announces the acquisition of the award-winning Sharp’s Brewery Ltd including Doom Bar, the UK’s most exciting cask beer brand.

Founded in 1994, Sharp’s Brewery is a modern brewer of cask conditioned beer based at Rock in Cornwall and has grown rapidly to become the largest brewer of cask beer in the South West . Doom Bar, already the number one selling cask brand in the South West and Wales and the fastest growing cask brand in Greater London , represents a tremendous opportunity for growth in volume and distribution.

Mark Hunter, Chief Executive, Molson Coors (UK & Ireland) said: “The Doom Bar brand is modern and progressive. It has a loyal following and excellent reputation amongst consumers and customers alike and has the potential to become a truly extraordinary brand. We have a wealth of experience with this type of venture and an excellent track record of building brands across all markets. We respect and want to preserve the unique culture of Sharp’s Brewery and the special appeal of their brands to beer drinkers.”

Hunter concludes, “The team at Sharp’s have a passion for brewing beer of the highest quality with the finest natural ingredients available making this a great marriage of two businesses with similar values. This is a new chapter for Sharp’s Brewery and we are excited to play our part in taking Doom Bar to the next stage of its brand evolution.”

With over 8.6m cask beer drinkers in the UK and cask beer representing 15.2% of on trade beer volume (its highest share of on-trade beer for over a decade), the addition of Doom Bar alongside the developing Worthington’s family of ales allows Molson Coors to add real choice to the UK’s most diverse beer portfolio.

Nick Baker, Managing Director Sharp’s Brewery commented, “We have worked exceptionally well with Molson Coors for many years and they have played an important part in the growth of Sharp’s Brewery. We recognised that they have the capabilities, comprehensive routes to market and the culture to build on and accelerate the progress the business is making which is why we are delighted to have done this deal.

“It was, and is, important to us to know how Molson Coors will manage Sharp’s and their plan to invest in developing the brewery at Rock and the Doom Bar brand is spot on. We are excited to watch Sharp’s Brewery achieve even more under their stewardship.”

Stuart Howe, Head Brewer at Sharp’s Brewery said: “We are delighted to be joining the Molson Coors team, all of whom are passionate about Sharp’s Brewery and committed to the Doom Bar brand. We are incredibly proud to be voted the best regional cask beer by our customers, with the support of Molson Coors we’re looking forward to being recognised as the best cask beer in the country.”

Doom Bar is a strong addition to Molson Coors’ diverse portfolio and is the latest in a series of recent extensions including Cobra, Singha, Corona and Blue Moon. It follows the launch of the William Worthington’s Brewery in December 2010. Constructed in listed buildings at the National Brewery Centre, the William Worthington’s Brewery produces well-known Worthington’s brands such as Worthington’s White Shield, the most decorated beer in CAMRA’s history, Worthington’s Red Shield as well as a range of Worthington’s Seasonal Ales and other limited edition brews.

We arrived just after 19:30 and the pub was already quite busy, It looked as if quite a lot of people were trying the beers as I spotted a few groups with halves and the taster glasses.

Saltaire beers in top condition

I headed straight for the bar, Tony was manning the pumps so I asked for a Cascadian Black for me and a Crystal Red for my other half.

The Cascadian Black is another beer that’s jumped on the Black IPA bandwagon, which I’m happy to see, unlike some of the punters who said an IPA can’t be black. It was silky smooth and smelled delicious, there was plenty of roast malt in the mouth and a lovely piney, grape-fruity taste, it had a medium bitterness to it and the glass was soon empty, personally I think its a great attempt at a Black IPA and packs a lot of punch for it’s modest 4.8% ABV (most of the Black IPA I’ve had of late has been over 7 or 8% ABV).

The Crystal Red, Was a lovely deep red colour, not to dissimilar to Hardknott Infra red, The taste on the other hand was completely different, this was less hoppy and had more sweet fudge and toffee flavours which were then backed up with a lovely hoppy undertone another cracking beer and very session-able at 4.4% ABV.

The other 3 beers on offer I’d drank on many occasions before and included one of my favourite beers of all time, Saltaire Cascade Pale Ale, It’s delightfully hopped with Cascade and Centennial hops giving it a zesty, flowery flavour which also came through on the nose, It has a lovely tart finish that lasts a decent while on the palette making it hard to put your glass down.

Lovely deep red coloured ale

The Saltaire Blonde, is one that my other half loves, it was the palest of the beers on offer and the lowest of ABV’s, It has a nice spicy, biscuity flavour followed by a dry citrusy finish. Nice stuff.

Finally onto the Triple Chocoholic, which to be honest I prefferd in bottle, It didn’t seem as chocolatey or as rounded on cask, not a bad beer just not the best I’ve experienced it.

I was finding it hard to separate the Cascade Pale ale and the Cascadian Black as my favourite beer of the evening, so I did what another slightly intoxicated drinker would do, blended them, this unfortunately wasn’t a good idea as it muddled the flavours way to much  and produced a bit of a mess, unlike when mixing Marble Ginger and Marble Chocolate.

The next best solution was to get a glass of each and try to make a decision, In the end if pushed hard I’d probably go for the Cascadian Black, i just loved the roast, toasty flavours combined with the hops.

A great night was had by almost everyone I chatted to, Tony was in great form and certainly knows his beers, I was good to see that he had tried some of my favourite beers of late in the form of beers from Harknott and Kernel.

If you’ve not had Saltaire beers before then its definitely worth checking them out, you can buy their bottled beer from My Brewery Tap and you can find out more about Saltaire Brewery here