Norwich Kings Head is CAMRA's 'East Anglia Pub Of The Year:

The Kings Head pub on Magdalen Street, Norwich, has been judged East Anglia’s best pub by CAMRA members from branches across the region. 

The award was presented at the pub on Saturday September 3rd.

The pub, already Norfolk Pub of the Year, was selected ahead of the best pubs in five other counties: Suffolk, Essex, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, in the regional round of CAMRA’s Pub of the Year competition, and will now go forward to the Super Regional round, competing with three other Regional winners. 

Three other ‘super regions’ will also select a winner, and the final four pubs will then compete to be named National CAMRA Pub of the Year, with the winner being announced in November.

The Kings Head is a traditional, friendly ale house, with an ever-changing selection of seven or eight real ales from top quality local breweries, plus selected guest ales, plus real ciders and a great selection of bottled foreign beers.

The pub is very community-focused, open all day every day, a home-from-home and a place for great beer and conversation. You can come in to read the paper, have a chat with friends or enjoy the bar billiards table, as three of Norwich's bar billiards league teams do.

The pub also supports a number of local charities including It's On The Ball, the RNLI and Caister Lifeboat.

Andrea Briers, CAMRA’s Regional Director for East Anglia, said: “The quality of pubs the last time the East Anglia Regional Pub of the Year competition took place was high and I was delighted to find that this hasn’t changed, especially after the hard times that the hospitality industry has faced recently. Congratulations to the Kings Head on their success!”

Stephen George, owner of the King's Head, said: “We were honoured to be named Branch and County Pub of the Year again, and are even more delighted that CAMRA members have voted us the best pub in East Anglia.

“The last two years have been a struggle for everyone, and we’re pleased to be back to normal and providing a range of great beers to our loyal regulars and new friends alike. This is great recognition of the hard work, care and love put into the pub by Alison, Charlie and the rest of the team."

Stephen also noted that the King's Head, in common with other pubs, breweries and their customers face a huge challenge in the coming months with the soaring cost of energy: "These are exceptional times - our customers, our suppliers and our pubs will struggle to cope with the extraordinary energy price rises we are experiencing.

“The comfort of sharing a pint down at your local pub could become an unaffordable luxury for many this winter. Just as it did during the pandemic, we hope the government will step up with a package of measures to ensure we can all keep the lights and heat on and the ale flowing over the coming winter."

‘Norwich & Beyond’ Pub Festival 2022 – starts 22nd July!

The festival starts on 22nd July and runs to 29th August 2022!  

With over a month of celebrating over 120 local pubs and breweries!

This July and August, over 80 pubs in and outside of Norwich will be part of a 38-day Norwich Pub Festival.

Run by Norwich & District CAMRA, with coach trips and discounts for CAMRA members, also open to non-CAMRA members.

Pub Festival Co-Organiser, Lucy Cousins said: ‘We wanted to plan something exciting for people, as well as supporting our fabulous local pubs and showcasing our breweries.’

How will it work?

People can visit pubs from within colour-coded zones, mapped out in a festival guide available from participating venues. and online. Each zone will include between 9 and 12 pubs, with over a month to visit as many as you choose! 

Anyone who gets a stamp from every pub in a zone can claim a souvenir coloured wristband, and if you collect all colours (one wristband for each zone, with the Cider Zone being optional), you’ll qualify for a special prize to be awarded at Norwich Beer Festival in October!

Each pub is partnered with a brewery and receives a free cask of beer from them. They’ll also have the opportunity to work together to organise promotional events for customers during the festival.

There are over 50 breweries taking part and we want to say a huge thank you to them all for their support.

‘Wildcraft are right behind this festival, let's support our pubs!!! Mike Deal, Wildcraft Brewery

Don’t worry if you’re not a big drinker, or you’re the designated driver, or simply want to try some different beverages – you can receive a stamp no matter what your purchased beverage of choice is. 

The only exception is the cider trail where you will receive a stamp if you purchase a half or pint of cider (and is not included in the 81 stamps to win a prize at Norwich Beer Festival).

Getting around

Almost all the pubs taking part are on train or bus routes, and public transport details are included in the festival guide. In Norwich, the central zones are walkable, and the pubs are close to each other. 

Finding out more?

Details of all the pubs and breweries taking part will be included in the festival guide, which you can pick up in any participating pub – look out for pub banners and find out more on social media, facebook.com/NorwichPubFestival @NorwichPubFest #NorwichPubFest22 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

‘After the great success of last year, it's wonderful to have Norwich and Beyond pub festival back again. Obviously, we love beer, but that's not the only thing it's about. It's also a chance to celebrate our excellent pubs!’ Emma Byrne, The Leopard

Participating Pubs

Our 2022 Pub of the Year winners and runners up are all involved, as well as many Good Beer Guide pubs.

Participating breweries are supplying pubs with free beer and cider as part of the festival!  Look out for these featured breweries, listed in the guide, when visiting the pubs.

Festival pubs (for maps, see the guide):

Cider Zone – (optional half or pint of cider to collect your stamp, these pubs are also on the main route where any beverage can be purchased to collect a stamp) Marlborough, Eaton Cottage, Reindeer, Coach & Horses Bethel St, White Lion, Rosebery, Artichoke, Malt & Mardle, Murderers, The Cottage, The Vine, Kings Head, Lollard Pit, Kings Arms

Green Zone – Kings Head Lingwood, Shoulder of Mutton, King’s Head Blofield, The Ram Inn, Rivergarden, Fat Cat & Canary, Coach & Horses Thorpe Road, Jubilee, Red Lion, Lollards Pit

Orange Zone – Cellar House, Beehive, Eaton Cottage, Unthank Arms, York, Eagle, Trafford, Kings Arms, Rose Pub & Deli

Yellow Zone – Gibraltar Gardens, Fat Cat, Garden House, William & Florence, Pear Tree, Black Horse, Earlham, Reindeer, Coach & Horses Bethel St

Gold Zone - Angel Gardens, Rosebery, Whalebone, The Brewery Tap, Stanley, Marlborough, The Cottage, Artichoke, Malt & Mardle, Leopard

Purple Zone – Plasters, Kings Head, White Lion, Louis Marchesi, Merchants, Ribs of Beef, Wig & Pen, Adam & Eve, Maids Head, Golden Star

Black Zone – Last Pub Standing, St Andrews Brewhouse, Franks Bar, Rumsey Wells, Arboretum, The Vine, Sir Toby’s, Lamb, Murderers, Walnut Tree Shades

Red Zone – Red Lion Cromer, Vernon Arms, Hop In, The Crown at Trunch, The Smallburgh Crown, Cross Keys, Spread Eagle, Unicorn, Red Lion Coltishall, Chequers, Plough Inn, Rose & Crown

Blue Zone – Ploughshare, Brisley Bell, White Swan, Darby’s, Royal Standard, Cock, George, Victoria Inn, Buck, Marlingford Bell, Crown

Branch Pub Of The Year 2022 is the Kings Head, Norwich

The Kings Head on Magdalen Street, in Norwich, has been voted Norwich & District CAMRA Branch’s 2022 best pub of Norwich and has also beaten its City and Rural contenders to become the Branch’s overall Pub of the Year!

A real favourite with ale drinkers, the Kings Head describes itself as ‘a traditional, friendly and welcoming Ale House offering an ever-changing selection of top quality cask ales from East Anglian microbreweries.’

Stephen George, owner of the Kings Head, commented on hearing the news: ‘We are delighted to be named Norwich & District CAMRA Pub of the Year for the 4th time.

‘After all of the hardships of the past two years, we are all keen to get back to normal, serving up our wide range of local cask ales and providing an open door to our regulars and new friends alike.

‘Kudos to Alison, Charlie and the whole team who put their hearts into making the King’s Head such a friendly place.’

The Kings Head is an unpretentious English pub, serving a wide variety of real ales and Trappist brews, a home from home, a place to drink great beer and engage in pleasant banter.

The Red Lion Hotel, Cromer, has scooped the award for Branch Rural Pub of the Year 2022. 

Callum Stuart of the Red Lion Hotel said: ‘We were thrilled to receive this award!  At first, we thought we had just been nominated but to find out that we had actually won was fantastic.

‘We would like to thank all of our customers and brilliant suppliers, all of whom have been loyal and supportive beyond words.

‘Enjoying a prominent position in Cromer doesn’t mean we have rested on our laurels; we believe it’s all in the quality of the produce and creating a welcoming environment.

‘CAMRA is a great organisation and we are so proud that our hard work and dedication has been recognised by the members.  We look forward to seeing you for a pint very soon!’

The Red Lion Hotel offers a dog-friendly pub on the seafront of Cromer, an extensive menu of local real ale, alongside bottled world beers, exceptional food, accommodation with sea views.

The runner-up in the City was the Fat Cat and Rural pub runner-up was the Hop In in North Walsham. 

Ian Stamp, the Norwich and Norfolk Branch Chairman said: ‘I would like to congratulate the two winners.  After the demands of the last two years and the challenges of Covid still weighing heavily on the industry it is fantastic to celebrate our very best pubs and hope more people will visit and enjoy them and the local ales they carefully manage and serve.’

 

Double Top for Humpty Dumpty Brewery

It’s double top for the Humpty Dumpty Brewery, of Reedham, as their ‘Big Sharpie’, a 5.0% Premium Pale Ale, has been named the Champion Cask Ale of Norfolk 2022 by the Norfolk branches of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale).

This follows on from the same brewery winning the 2022 Champion Bottled Beer award with their ‘Little Sharpie, a 3.8% Session Pale Ale.

Big Sharpie was described by the judges ‘Crisp hoppiness dominates the aroma and taste. Countered by peaches, malt and a slowly growing bitterness a grainy lingering finish develops.’ Brewed every 100th brew the beer uses plenty of Magnum, Cascade and Citra hops to develop the full hop experience.

Norfolk beers are judged by the Norfolk CAMRA Tasting Panel over a twelve-month period. Panel chair Alan Edwards commented: ‘The panel taste as many Norfolk brews as possible, though are sometimes limited by the availability of the beers. The list of winners shows the depth and quality of Norfolk brewing as well as the skills of our local landlords in presenting the beers.’

Second place overall went to Sirius Dog Star, a 4.4% Red Ale described as ‘A rich tapestry of malt, roast and caramel with interwoven hop hints. Sweetness and bitterness provide a light but growing undercurrent.’ It is brewed by the Wolf Brewery, of Besthorpe. 

In third place was Vanilla Latte, a 4.6% Speciality Ale with coffee, vanilla and lactose notes, from Mr Winter’s Brewery, of Norwich.

Alan Edwards added: ‘The award winners have been judged the best but there are many more equally fine brews waiting to be discovered. The onus is on the public to seek out and experience the variety of styles, with their own unique flavours, and brewed in Norfolk.’

Eight of the 40-plus Norfolk breweries are represented in the awards. CAMRA hopes they will encourage landlords to stock these, and the many other fine brews available from local breweries plus giving customers the incentive to seek out and support their local pubs.

The Norfolk panel is always looking for new members. If you would like to join us, please e-mail tastingpanel@norwich.camra.org.uk. The greater the number of people contributing to tastings, the more breweries have the chance to win.

CHAMPION CASK BEER OF NORFOLK 2022 :

OVERALL
WINNER, Big Sharpie, Humpty Dumpty, Reedham
RUNNER UP, Sirius Dog Star, Wolf, Besthorpe
3RD, Vanilla Latte, Mr Winter’s, Norwich

SESSION BITTERS
WINNER, Norwich Bitter, Fat Cat , Norwich
RUNNER UP, Oak, Grain, Alburgh
3RD, Wherry, Woodfordes, Woodbastwick

PREMIUM BITTERS
WINNER, Nelsons, Woodfordes, Woodbastwick
RUNNER UP, Marmalade Cat, Fat Cat, Norwich

SESSION PALE, BLONDE & GOLDEN ALES
WINNER, Little Sharpie, Humpty Dumpty, Reedham
RUNNER UP, Evolution APA, Mr Winter’s, Norwich
3RD, Twin Parallel, Mr Winter’s, Norwich

PREMIUM PALE, BLONDE & GOLDEN ALES
WINNER, Big Sharpie, Humpty Dumpty, Reedham
RUNNER UP, Twisted Ladder, Mr Winter’s, Norwich
3RD, White Face, Moon Gazer, Hindringham

RED ALES, BROWN ALES, OLD ALES & STRONG MILDS
WINNER, Sirius Dog Star, Wolf, Besthorpe
RUNNER UP, Nog, Woodfordes, Woodbastwick

STRONG STOUTS & PORTERS
WINNER, Dark Horse Stout, Elmtree, Snetterton

SPECIALITY BEERS
WINNER, Vanilla Latte, Mr Winter’s, Norwich

Competition launched for the logo for Norwich Beer Festival’s 44th year

The annual competition has been launched by CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale) to find the logo for the 44th Norwich Beer Festival, taking place from Monday 24th October until Saturday 29th October 2022.

The deadline for logo entries is 11pm Monday 4th April 2022 and Norwich & District CAMRA are looking for innovative designs depicting a dragon of some form.

Craig Harmer, Festival Organiser, said: “The festival logo is a critical element that binds many aspects of the festival together. We always get a wide variety of designs and styles submitted. We're looking forward to receiving them”.

As always, the essential element is that a dragon must be included within the design, although abstract is acceptable. Also, a maximum of five solid colours (four is preferable) can be used, including any black or white parts of the design.

Entrants are asked to specify "Adult" or "Under-18" and include their name, contact details and age (if under-18) within the email. Visit https://camra.org.uk/privacy-policy/ for our privacy policy.

Judging will by organised by the festival organisers and the winner will receive £100 along with a selection of merchandise featuring their logo at the festival. There will be two runner-up prizes of complementary festival tickets, and the best under-18 entrant will receive a voucher.

All entries must be in a standard image format (JPEG, TIFF, PNG, GIF, BMP, or PDF). Vector files are welcome as long as a standard image format is included. Hand drawn entries are acceptable, but must be scanned or photographed. Multiple entries are also acceptable.

All entries (and queries) must be emailed to logo@norwichbeerfestival.org.uk and be received before 11pm Monday 4th April 2022. All email entries will be acknowledged.

All entries will become the property of the Norwich & District branch of the Campaign for Real Ale and may be used for display and publicity purposes. The logo of the winner will be depicted on the festival glass, programme, and other merchandise.

Norwich Beer Festival - Beers and Tasters, 25-30th October 2021

Organisers of the 43rd Norwich Beer Festival give a preview of the beers – and bears – at this year’s festival!

A taste of London is coming to Norwich Beer Festival from Portobello’s roasted caramel Market Porter, alongside the Portobello spicy citrus-marmalade Star. Enfield Redemption beers will be bringing Rock the Kazbek blonde and Urban Dusk ruby. 

East London of Lea Bridge are showcasing their golden Cowcatcher and blond pale and Hackney’s Five Points are supplying a chocolate and coffee full-bodied Railway Porter and fruity amber Best. 

A golden pale ale and traditional Glowfly bitter will also be available from Highgate’s Gorgeous Brewery.

For those seeking something a bit different, organisers suggest looking out for Billericay’s Chili Porter, Blue Anchor’s Special strong ale, Brentwood’s Chockwork Orange, Cliff Quay’s Magellan wheat beer or Green Jack’s Harvest Sour.

Speciality beers also include Beartown’s Bluebeary fruit beer, All Day’s Coffee Stout, Humpty Dumpty’s Lemon & Ginger tangy ale, Lincoln Green’s Green Hopped, Milestone’s Raspberry Wheat, Moon Gazer’s smoky dark Triskele, or Nethergate’s easy-drinking Umbel Ale.

Devon’s Platform 5 Brewery will be featuring their beers, including a highly hopped APA and their malt and caramel ‘Whistleblower’. 

Also from Devon, Summerskills Brewery will be offering Start Point, a golden session ale, and Plymhop, aptly named with hops from Plymstock.  

The Curiosity Bar remains the focus for the unusual – with a Chocolate Amaretto from Blue Monkey, a Rum Porter from Bexley, a fruity chocolate dark mild from Boxcar Brewery, Sabro IPA from Elephant School, a blueberry coffee stout from Hollow Stone alongside its Sorbeto Grapefruit. 

The bar offers the very tasty New Bristol’s French Toast and Turning Point’s Bourbon Ba Gravedigger's Biscuits alongside the obscurely-named space hopping Minimal Water Damage, Out Space, Lucid Dream, Cosmic Flux and Radio Nowhere all from North Yorkshire.  

Whether you like the very sweet or the very sour, or something in between, the festival’s cider and perry bar promises something for every palate, will sweetness indicators and knowledgeable bar staff to advise. 

This year look out for Castlings Heath organic cider, Radiant Rose from Scratby, Galanthus Perry by Berties and Gandhi’s Flip Flop from Apple Cottage to name a few!

Charity Beers and Bears

Enjoy a beer in the knowledge profits are going to charity – with special charity beers on order in the marquee, alongside charity lucky dip beer bags!  Staff can also bid on the charity beers.

The World beer awards have donated a range of world beers to the festival with profits going to the Festival’s Charity.

This year’s charity partner is Norfolk SEN Network, helping families with children with special educational needs.

The festival will home two cuddly Koalas to be named during the festival - with winning names to be announced on Saturday 30th October at 3pm.

The brewery that inspired this is called Drop The Bear Beer - a no alcohol brewery run by two ladies - ‘and is very good’, adds Cheryl Cade, Bar Manager. 

The festival opens its doors to the public at 5.30pm Monday 25th October – with a one-hour preview for CAMRA members at 4.30pm.  There will be evening and lunchtime sessions Tuesday to Friday and all-day-opening on Saturday. 

As always, there will be hot and cold food available for purchase and non-alcoholic drinks are available at all bars.

Stallholders include Guerilla Dining, Pewterscribe for engraving and gifts and Rookery Craft Mead.

Festival organisers would like to thank the kind sponsors of this year’s festival Barsham Brewery, Woodforde’s Brewery, Farnell Clark accountants, Camlab PPE, Kettle Foods, Crisp Malt and Mr Winter’s.

Attendees do not need pre-event tickets and can pay by cash or card at the entrance.  Entry is FREE for CAMRA members with proof of membership, or join at the festival.

Covid-precautionary measures

Additional Covid-precautionary measures are in place, further information can be found on the Norwich Beer Festival 2021 website.

Norwich Beer Festival returns for 2021

Norwich’s largest beer festival is set to return in October 2021!

The 43rd Norwich Beer Festival, run by Norwich & District CAMRA, will once again return to the delight of beer lovers!  

Running from Monday 25 to Saturday 30 October 2021 (October half term), the festival will again be hosted at The Halls (St Andrew’s and Blackfriars'), Norwich. 

Following the green light from the national CAMRA organisation, Norwich’s beer festival returns with many national and local real ales of every shade and style, alongside international beers and food.

The dedicated cider and perry bar will be graded from sweet to dry and the popular world beer bar, in the marquee, returns too. The Curiosity bar, featuring special beers, is returning for its 3rd year!

As usual, every day, including Saturday, visitors to October’s Norwich Beer Festival can pay on the door – and for those who like to secure advance tickets, they will be on sale soon!

For those who like to collect the Norwich Beer Festival beer glasses, the festival continues to run in chronological order, missing 2020.

This year’s charity is Norfolk SEN Network, supporting parents of children with special educational needs (SEN) and young people aged 16-25 with SEN to find the right educational placement or provision to meet their needs.

Craig Harmer, Beer Festival Organiser, commented: ‘We are delighted to once again be organising Norwich Beer Festival and supporting our local breweries. We all missed the festival in 2020 and trust it will again receive the fantastic support of customers, tradespeople and volunteers.

‘Advance tickets are only available for a limited time, so be quick!  As ever we shall be welcoming payment on the door. 

‘I would also like to add a special thank you to the breweries who supported the recent Norwich Pub Festival.’