Top Norfolk beer for 2014 named

For the fourth year in a row the Grain Brewery from South Norfolk has been hailed as the brewers of the Champion Beer of Norfolk.

Grain India Pale Ale (IPA), a 6.5% strong bitter, found favour with the trained tasters of the Norwich and Norfolk Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Taste Panel.

Described in the Good Beer Guide as “Powerful, complex, and rich with malt and hops vying with tropical fruit and bitterness for dominance”, the brew scored highest of the 50 brews tasted by the panel. It also claimed the Strong Bitter award.

Taste panel chair Alan Edwards explained “We are charged with tasting, recording, and commenting on as many beers as possible. Norfolk beers are our main priority but, with more than 30 Norfolk breweries, it is an awesome task. Over individual 500 taste cards were completed by the panel last year.

"More than 300 of them were for Norfolk brews with 50 beers, from 16 breweries, being covered. To emerge as the winner shows the true quality of the beer.”

Grain Brewery was launched in 2006 by Geoff Wright and Phil Halls at premises in Alburgh near Harleston. Selling cask and bottle conditioned beers, in 2010 it opened its first pub, The Plough in St Benedict’s Street, Norwich.

Six local breweries are award winners in 2014. The Norwich based Fat Cat Brewery claimed the Bitter award with its Bitter Ale.  Norfolk’s largest brewery, Woodforde’s, claimed the Best Bitter and Old Ale categories with Nelson's Revenge and Norfolk Nog respectively.

Attleborough based Wolf Brewery’s Golden Jackal won the Golden Ale category. The Speciality category was topped by Honey Ale from the Reepham based Panther Brewery.

Another Norwich brewery, Winter’s, takes the stout award for the third time in six years with its aptly named Geniuss.

The awards will be presented at the trade session of the 2014 Norwich Beer Festival in October.

RESULTS
Champion -- Grain, Alburgh: IPA
Category winners
Bitter -- Fat Cat, Norwich: Bitter
Best Bitter -- Woodforde’s, Woodbastwick: Nelson's Revenge
Strong Bitter -- Grain, Alburgh: IPA          
Golden Ale -- Wolf, Besthorpe: Golden Jackal
Speciality Beer -- Panther, Reepham: Honey Ale
Old Ale -- Woodforde’s, Woodbastwick: Norfolk Nog
Stout -- Winter’s, Norwich: Geniuss

Pub of the Year 2014 Results

Members of the Norwich & Norfolk branch of CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale) have selected The Fat Cat (West End Street, Norwich) as their 2014 City Pub of the Year and also the Branch’s overall Pub of the Year.
 
It is the fourth time that landlord Colin Keatley has been awarded the Norwich & Norfolk branch’s title and said he was “absolutely delighted”.
  
The Norwich & Norfolk Pub of the Year is chosen from the winners of the Branch’s Rural and City Pubs of the Year.
 
The 2014 Rural Pub of the Year was won by The Green Dragon in Church Street, Wymondham, which they also won in 2012.   
 
The Fat Cat pub now goes into a head-to-head with the West Norfolk branch’s winner, The Coach and Horses in Dersingham, and also Mid Anglia’s winning pub, if that pub is in South 
Norfolk, with the victor progressing to the Regional level of the competition.  
 
Voting for the Pub of the Year awards was extended to an online facility for the first time for members, in addition to during the Branch meeting held in February, and also used CAMRA’s National Beer Scoring System (NBSS) for the first time which helped to double the numbers of members voting. The system encourages the scoring of pubs and real ale all year round judging for quality on a scale between 0-5. 
 
Warren Wordsworth, the Norwich and Norfolk Branch Chairman said “I would like to congratulate The Fat Cat for winning Norwich City Pub of the Year and overall Branch Pub of the Year and The Green Dragon in Wymondham for winning the Norwich & Norfolk Branch County Pub of the Year.
 
"The Fat Cat is always a very popular pub with real ale drinkers, having won CAMRA National Pub of the Year twice in recent years (1998 and 2004). I wish The Fat Cat luck in the future rounds of the competition.  The Green Dragon, situated in the historic market town of Wymondham, is a very atmospheric pub”. 
 
The Norwich & Norfolk CAMRA Branch have also awarded the 2014 Cider Pub of the Year, won for the third time by The White Lion, Oak Street, Norwich.
 
Ben Ackers, landlord of the Milton Brewery pub, said "It's wonderful to win any award three years in a row, especially in a city with so many great pubs.
 
"In the last couple of years it has been fantastic to see more pubs trying out cider and perry, particularly in terms of stocking local cider, giving customers the opportunity to try something new and local.
 
"Our staff do an excellent job keeping up with all the weird and wonderful products we are sourcing, meaning our customers can always be recommended something new and exciting.  I hear last year's apple crop was very good and I'm sure many pubs will take advantage of this; I know we will be!".
 
The White Lion now goes up against The Railway Arms in Downham Market which was West Norfolk’s winner, and also  the Banham Barrel, Mid-Anglia’s cider pub of the year in the vote to find the overall Norfolk Cider Pub of the Year.

Norwich Beer Festival donations help NORLSAR buy new equipment

Norfolk Lowland Search and Rescue (NORLSAR) attended the Norwich & Norfolk branch of CAMRA’s monthly meeting in January to show off some of the equipment purchased from the donations made during the 2012 Norwich Beer Festival.

A total of £3,500 was given to the voluntary organisation from unused tokens and cash donated during  the Beer Festival.   

The new items purchased have boosted the stock of equipment available for use in emergency  situations, as well as during search & rescue training exercises. They bought four radios, a  repeater to boast communication signals, rescue ropes, dry suits and search & rescue buoyancy aids for the team which were shown to the branch members, as well as half an  inflatable boat (the top section, which stayed in the Land Rover!).

The members present  agreed it was a fascinating talk and very rewarding to find out in more detail how the monies  raised in 2012 have been spent.

The group heard of the variety of situations NORLSAR get  involved in, how searches are organised and the importance of the new equipment.  

Paul Chamberlain of NORLSAR said that since being selected as Norwich & Norfolk CAMRA  branch’s charity in 2012, awareness of NORLSAR has noticeably risen which has been an  important factor in boosting funds, attracting more volunteers, enabling them to undertake more training and as a result, increase their expertise in lowland rescue work.

As a result, they have recently been involved in flood rescue training in Surrey and Ireland and they are now the only UK lowland rescue team recognised by DEFRA.

The organisation get minimal  costs covered (mainly just accommodation if required further afield) when they are called out  or put on standby, as they have been a number of times in the last few months alone due to  stormy weather and missing persons.

Visit the NORLSAR website for more information about the charity.

Best Bottled Beers in Norfolk announced

The Humpty Dumpty Brewery, of Reedham, are toasting success as their Broadland Sunrise was named Best Bottled Beer in Norfolk in January.

A year-long series of tastings by volunteers from the Norwich & Norfolk Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale has culminated in the amber coloured bitter being chosen as the overall winner as well as winning the ‘bitter’ category. The beer is described as ‘well balanced and fruity with a dry, easy drinking finish’.

The brewery, opened in 1998, has won several awards over the years for its bottled and cask conditioned brewers. Humpty Dumpty celebrated its 15th anniversary by brewing a barley wine appropriately named ‘15’.

This was entered into the ‘Barley Wine’ category and took the top prize. The judges commented that it was ‘rich and satisfying with banana toffee overtones’.

Norfolk Taste Panel chair Alan Edwards said: “In the three years we have been organising the competition we have seen a definite increase in the quality of the beers entered. The final results were delayed because we started late due to CAMRA’s national AGM being held in Norwich in 2013.

"That, plus a total of 43 beers from 12 of Norfolk’s 30 plus breweries had to be tasted, meant it took a long time to complete the competition”.

Alan continued: “I would like to thank the breweries for their support and my fellow tasters for their unfailing enthusiasm and dedication to tasting beer. The campaign is a strong supporter of Real Ale in a Bottle (RAIB) as the next best thing to drinking cask beer in a pub”.

A full list of results, along with the contact details of the winning breweries, is below.

RESULTS

OVERALL WINNER CATEGORY
GOLD: HUMPTY DUMPTY BREWERY - BROADLAND SUNRISE
SILVER: FRONT STREET BREWERY - BLISS
BRONZE: FRONT STREET BREWERY – EBONY STOUT

MILD
GOLD: FRONT STREET BREWERY – FLEDGLING

BITTER
GOLD: HUMPTY DUMPTY BREWERY - BROADLAND SUNRISE
SILVER: PANTHER BREWERY - RED PANTHER

STRONG BITTER
GOLD: NORFOLK SQUARE BREWERY – MAVERIK CRAZY HORSE AMERICAN IPA
SILVER: GRAIN BREWERY - IPA
BRONZE: POPPYLAND BREWERY – HAPPY VALLEY IPA

GOLDEN ALE
GOLD: GRAIN BREWERY - 3.1.6
SILVER: NORFOLK SQUARE BREWERY - SCROBY

SPECIALITY BEER
GOLD: FRONT STREET BREWERY - BLISS
SILVER: POPPYLAND BREWERY – CRAB SAISON
BRONZE: HUMPTY DUMPTY BREWERY – NORFOLK NECTAR

PORTER
GOLD: TWO RIVERS BREWERY – PORTERS PRIDE
SILVER: WHY NOT BREWERY – ROUNDHEAD PORTER
BRONZE: NORFOLK SQUARE BREWERY – WINKLEPICKER

STOUT
GOLD: FRONT STREET BREWERY – EBONY STOUT

BARLEY WINE
GOLD: HUMPTY DUMPTY BREWERY - 15
SILVER: WOODFORDES BREWERY - HEADCRACKER

Logo competition for 2014 Norwich Beer Festival is now open

Thoughts have already turned to preparing for the 37th Norwich beer festival, which will take place from Monday 27th October 2014, because preparations take nearly a year.

The first task is to select a logo for the festival, which will be one of the prime marketing tools for the festival.

Martin Ward, the current festival organiser, says: “We expect to receive a large number of entries as ever, with no doubt a fantastic array of ideas including a dragon, but we always look forward to having a tough decision with big selection to choose from."

The main winning entry will be judged by the organising committee at the inaugural planning meeting in the New Year and receive £100 plus a selection of goodies at the festival.

The winning under-18 entrant will get a book voucher, plus there will be ten runner-up prizes of complementary festival tickets.

Entries should be one per sheet or email, maximum size A4. On the back of the paper, or within the email, please specify "Adult" or "Under-18" and include your name, contact details and age (if under-18).

The most important element of the design is that a dragon must be included, but abstract is fine; with a maximum 5 colours (although 4 is preferable), including any black or white parts  of the design.

Emailed entries should be in a computer readable format (JPEG, TIFF, PNG, PDF, Postscript, GIMP, Inkscape, Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw), please. No MS Word document files please.

Entries should be sent to Logo Competition, 22 Branford Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 4QD or email to missiongirl@virginmedia.com by Monday 17th February 2014 please.

All entries will become the property of Norwich & Norfolk branch of the Campaign for Real Ale and may be used for display and publicity purposes.

Branch charity benefits from beer festival donation

Our Branch Charity for 2013, the Norfolk and Norwich Association for the Blind (NNAB), were delighted to be chosen by the branch and report that they are positive their profile has been helped by their attendance throughout the 36th Norwich Beer Festival in October.

Also through the generous donations of unused beer cards, as well as coins and notes given during the week of the festival, NNAB fundraiser Jeremy Goss said they were delighted with the record breaking total of £5,000, much needed cash which will be used to assist the lives of blind people throughout Norfolk.

Jeremy said he had never been to a beer festival before, let alone Norwich’s long-running event, indeed he had never had real ale before being served a small taster of a light, pale ale about which he said “actually that’s really nice!”.

A presentation of the cheque from the Norwich & Norfolk CAMRA branch will be arranged for early next year.

Norfolk railway station micropub named Britain’s Best for Real Cider & Perry

A tiny railway platform pub in Norfolk has been named National Cider & Perry Pub of the Year 2013 by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.

The National Cider & Perry Pub of the Year award is given to the pub or club which best promotes and encourages sales of quality real cider and perry. Now in its ninth year, the award’s rigorous judging process whittles down nominations for pubs, clubs & cider houses from all over the UK to regional and then super regional finalists.

Hailed by competition judges as ‘A quirky, fun little place to be’ and ‘a good reason to miss your train’, The Railway Arms is located directly on the station platform at Downham Market Railway Station, Norfolk, and has proved a hit with weary travellers and locals alike – especially those looking to sample the finest real ciders and perries the area has to offer.

A delighted Ian Pinches, who together with his wife Lesley Ann Pinches and their son Callum, runs The Railway Arms, said: “We are overjoyed (and very humbled) to hear that The Railway Arms has won this year's CAMRA National Cider & Perry Pub of the Year Award and we wish to thank our customers, supporters and suppliers – in particular special mention must be made of Charles Roberts & the team at Pickled Pig and Paul Fisher & the Directors of The Small Beer Company who, between them, have been very supportive in either making or sourcing fine ciders for us.”

Ian added, “As a ‘micropub’ we are naturally committed to the concept of ‘small is beautiful’ and, although we have extended our range this year, we remain focussed on selling high quality ciders, some of which are made by people we know personally using locally grown apples - although we also like to stock cider and perry from far and wide in the UK, with some regular favourites alongside a frequently changing range of ‘guests’.”

CAMRA has been a longtime supporter of real cider and perry, which is the pear equivalent of cider, with the Cider & Perry Pub of the Year competition being an important way to raise the profile of pubs serving traditionally made real cider and perry across the UK.

Andrea Briers, Chair of CAMRA’s Cider and Perry Committee, said: “The number of pubs that have found a market for real cider is increasing each year, which has meant that the competition has become very tough. I am lucky enough to live fairly close to the Railway Arms and have seen the work that Ian, Lesley-Ann and Callum put in to make the pub a welcoming local. Well done to them on their achievement and congratulations for a well deserved win.”

The Railway Arms beat three other finalists to take the title. These were: The Royal Oak in Wantage, the Penrhyn Arms in Penrhynside, and the George and Dragon in Dent.

The announcement of The Railway Arms as Cider & Perry Pub of the Year kicks off CAMRA's Cider & Perry Month campaign for October. This campaign asks pubs around the country to encourage customers to enjoy a real cider and perry at least once during October and hundreds of events will be hosted by participating pubs and CAMRA branches throughout the month.