Ant, Matt and Clare introduce the first of many 'beer cities', shining a spotlight on London. With each new season of the podcast, the hosts will focus one episode on a city that has made a name for itself in the beer world. Correspondent Dean Barrett speaks the founders of South Bermondsey's finest low-alcohol brand Small Beer, James Grundy and Felix James. Dean Barrett's second interview features Michael George-Hemus and Frank Maguire, the Managing Director and Head of Market for Truman's Beer in East London.

It's CAMRA's 50th anniversary today - 16th March 2021! Re-visit the episode and dive into the history of the Campaign: https://shows.acast.com/pubspintspeople/episodes/10

You can pre-order your copy of Laura Hadland's biography '50 Years of CAMRA' from the CAMRA shop - published on 16th March.

Don't forget to support the show at https://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people

Or join CAMRA if you're not already a member for just £26.50 a year at https://join.camra.org.uk/ - gain access to great audio and visual content on our Learn & Discover platform.

If you'd like to get involved, simply contact podcast@camra.org.uk or follow us on Twitter @PubsPintsPeople

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Join Ant, Matt and Clare this week as they learn about the innovative moves brewers and pub-owners have been taking to combat the Covid-19 crisis. Correspondent Harry Davies sits down with Ian Smith from Fyne Ales to chat about their take-home cask ale scheme, and Dean Barrett talks community with Rob Scahill, landlord of the Orange Tree pub in Baldock.

Visit @CAMRA_Official to see all the reasons why #PubsMatter to the UK, and find out more about the cross-industry campaign to save pubs at https://whypubsmatter.org.uk/

It's CAMRA's 50th anniversary on 16th March! Re-visit the episode and dive into the history of the Campaign: https://shows.acast.com/pubspintspeople/episodes/10

You can pre-order your copy of Laura Hadland's biography '50 Years of CAMRA' from the CAMRA shop - published on 16th March.

Don't forget to support the show at https://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people

Or join CAMRA if you're not already a member for just £26.50 a year at https://join.camra.org.uk/ - gain access to great audio and visual content on our Learn & Discover platform.

If you'd like to get involved, simply contact podcast@camra.org.uk or follow us on Twitter @PubsPintsPeople

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Join Ant, Matt and Clare this week as they chat all about Christmas brews! Volunteer Jack Taylor will be sitting down with Jonny Garrett of the Craft Beer Channel to hear all about his seasonal favourites and Alison Taffs, owner of the Hop Inn in Hornchurch, will speak with Brock Bergius, Owner and Cidermaker at Gospel Green about premium table ciders that deserve a seat at the table this Christmas.

As it is the last episode of the season, tune in at the end for some 2020 outtakes compiled by our fantastic editor, David King!

You can check out Sue's recipe this week of a 'festive pheasant' at https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/12/14/beer-recipe-festive-pheasant/

Make sure to tweet why your #PubMatters this Christmas @CAMRA_Official and find out more about the cross-industry campaign to save pubs at https://whypubsmatter.org.uk/

Don't forget to support the show at https://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people

Or join CAMRA if you're not already a member for just £26.50 a year at https://join.camra.org.uk/

If you'd like to get involved, simply contact podcast@camra.org.uk or follow us on Twitter @PubsPintsPeople

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This week on the CAMRA podcast Pubs. Pints. People. we want to have a look at how micropubs are faring throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Have they been able to adapt to takeaways easier because they have lower overhead costs and therefore more flexible to the demands of the pandemic? Or does the fact that they're in a smaller space and usually unable to offer food mean that they've been left behind with the new restrictions?

Find out as Susanna Mansfield, landlady of the station house in Durham chats with Sam from the Vessel in Plymouth. We will also hear from Martin Hillier, owner of the Butcher's Arms in Kent and founder of the Micropub Association. We also have a new recipe from Sue Nowak and will hear about Rebecca Weaver about her campervan pub tour of the UK entitled 'a motorhome life of Hank and Marvin'.

Sue's Cheese 'n' ale straws and biscuits recipe is available here: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/11/23/beer-recipe-cheese-n-ale-straws-and-biscuits/

A motorhome life of Hank and Marvin can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5kw-AldsCxxNis0CZCfAIw

You can find out more about the Micropub Association here: http://www.micropubassociation.co.uk/

Don't forget to support the show at https://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people

Or join CAMRA if you're not already a member for just £26.50 a year at https://join.camra.org.uk/

If you'd like to get involved, simply contact podcast@camra.org.uk or follow us on Twitter @PubsPintsPeople

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/pubspintspeople.

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This week we're learning all about the science of beer, sitting down with Amy Booth, a lab technician from family brewer JW Lees and Luke Raven, co-founder of Ilkley Brewery.

You can find out more about our campaigns and support CAMRA by visiting https://join.camra.org.uk/

You can also check out our recipe this week 'beer is liquid bread' by Sue Nowak at: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/11/16/beer-recipe-tips-beer-is-liquid-bread/

Sue's "science of cooking with beer tips" are also available here: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/11/16/beer-recipe-tips-science-of-beer/

Don't forget to support the show at https://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people

If you'd like to get involved, simply contact podcast@camra.org.uk

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/pubspintspeople.

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This week we're going to learn all about the mental wellbeing benefits of pub going or simply put - how our pubs make us happier. We will be speaking with Professor Robin Dunbar of Oxford University and beer and travel writer Will Hawkes in more detail.

Since recording, England is set to be plunged into another country-wide lockdown which is not only closing our pubs and breweries, but also limiting their ability to serve alcohol as a takeaway service. Urge your MP to remove this restriction today by visiting https://camra.e-activist.com/page/68352/action/1

You can find out more about our campaigns and support CAMRA by visiting https://join.camra.org.uk/

You can also check out our recipe this week by visiting https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/10/28/beer-recipe-welsh-rarebit/

Don't forget to support the show at https://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/pubspintspeople.

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This week we're going to dive into a beer and a cider tasting! We'll be chatting with Natalya Watson, Beer Sommelier, author of Beer: Taste the Evolution on 50 Styles and founder of the new virtual beer school - find out more by visiting: https://beerwithnat.com/

We'll then speak with James Finch, expert cider taster who's put together some fantastic resources for cider lovers on the CAMRA Learn & Discover pages, such as an Introduction to Cider Tasting here: https://camra.org.uk/learn-discover/the-basics/introduction-to-tasting-cider/

We've also got a tasting recipe from Sue Nowak this week, available for download at https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/10/19/beer-reciple-sweet-n-sour-pork-with-cider-duo/

Don't forget - you can join the Campaign for just £26.50/ year! Visit https://join.camra.org.uk/ and follow us on Twitter @PubsPintsPeople

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This week we're learning all about non-alcoholic brews! We'll be chatting with Rob Fink from Big Drop Brew Co and Stuart Elkington from Dry Drinker. We will also hear from Alison Taffs, landlady at The Hop Inn micropub in Hornchurch who give us her recommendations for the top 10 non alcoholic beverages to try.

This week's episode includes a recipe from our resident chef Sue Nowak, which you can view here: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/09/28/beer-recipe-plum-porter-jelly/

To join the Campaign, visit: https://join.camra.org.uk/

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This week we're learning all about Britain's Family Brewers! Join the team as they speak with the legendary Roger Protz about his new book, The Family Brewers of Britain, and Stuart Bateman of Bateman's Brewery. They also get a chat with Albert Johnson from Ross-on-Wye Cider and Perry Co to hear what it's like to be a family cider producer.

To order Roger's book, visit https://shop1.camra.org.uk/product/the-family-brewers-of-britain/

For Sue's recipe this week, visit: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/09/14/beer-recipe-woolton-pie-with-battle-of-britain-beer/

To join the Campaign, visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

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This week we learn all about brewers who are making a difference through charity collaborations and fundraising efforts. We sit down with Rudi Keyser from Watling St Beer and Clare Chater from Barts Charity and how they have worked together to create a charity beer. We also chat with Alan Mann at Brewgooder about their initiative to fund access to drinking water across various projects around the world.

To find out more about these projects, visit:

Watling Street Beer Nighting-Ale project: https://www.watlingstreetbeer.com/products/florence-nighting-ale

Brewgooder: https://www.brewgooder.com/mission

You can support this podcast by visiting: https://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people

Make sure to follow the podcast for all the latest on Twitter @PubsPintsPeople

You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

We also have a recipe for you this week from Sue Nowak:

I’VE been self-distancing from you, my virtual CAMRA supper guests, for the past few weeks. Apologies. No, I wasn’t struck down by the virus but by Real Life in the shape of a visit from my granddaughters plus a trip to an actual pub, the Rose & Crown, just up the road at Yealmpton. It’s a St Austell brewery house, and what a joy to get real ale pulled by handpump after all these weeks - Proper Job, Tribute and Hicks; now I know why blokes who scale Everest say the first thing they’re looking forward to is a pint of English bitter! Currently the pub is serving a shortened menu of six main dishes that included Tribute battered fish, gammon with duck eggs and really crisp chunky chips, West Country T-bone steak, wild mushroom risotto, sarnies and desserts. It was fresh and tasty and, while choice was limited, let’s face it – when you’re eating the first meal you haven’t cooked yourself for over four months it felt like the Ritz. Speaking of which, back in the Red (on) Lion you might recall I was into Belgian beers (mussels in Hoegaarden if I remember rightly) before my absence so would like to dally there by pairing duck breasts with cherry beer. I used traditional lambic Kriek Boon, fermented with real cherries at Boon brewery in Lembeek; to be perfectly honest, this is more a dessert beer, quite sweet with an intriguing hint of almond. However, it was the only cherry beer I had in the house and it did reduce to a rich red sauce. For this dish, if you’ve got a bottle of Lindeman’s corked Kriek with its slightly sour note, that might be preferable. But in these troubled times, dear reader, one does what one can.

Duck breasts with cherry beer sauce (serves two)

Two duck breasts; small red onion, peeled and finely chopped; 100 ml chicken or vegetable stock; 200ml cherry beer; several oyster mushrooms (halve any larger ones);4 links of fresh cherries (if available); red and green salad leaves to garnish

Heat a dry frying pan until hot then add duck breasts skin side down, cook for a few minutes until the fat runs out and the skin is crisp; turn over and cook for another few minutes until the meat is tender but still pink. Remove from pan and leave to rest somewhere warm. Sweat the red onion in the duck fat until soft then add the stock and simmer to reduce; add the cherry beer and again reduce, stirring, until the sauce is syrupy. Sauté the oyster mushrooms in butter until just cooked – around half a minute.

To serve: pour a pool of cherry beer sauce onto each plate, carve the duck breasts into slices and arrange on top, decorating them with linked fresh cherries (I hadn’t got any). Arrange the oyster mushrooms alongside, then the salad leaves. Cheers – and bon appétit.

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This week we're talking about pub as the original grassroots venue for live music. We sit down with Bev Whitrick from the Music Venue Trust along with the award-winning live music band the Harp & Monkey.

You can support this podcast by visiting: https://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people

Make sure to follow the podcast for all the latest on Twitter @PubsPintsPeople

You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

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This week we're learning about Belgian beers. We sit down with John Clarke, Chairman of CAMRA's Stockport and South Manchester branch who talks us through the different types of Belgian beers out there. We also get to speak with Tim Webb, author of the Good Beer Guide Belgium and dive into the archive to learn a bit more about monastery brewing from the late Michael Jackson.

You can support this podcast by visiting: https://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people

Make sure to follow the podcast for all the latest on Twitter @PubsPintsPeople

Please also fill out a survey about the podcast here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CAMRApodcastfeedback

You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

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This week it's the veggie/vegan special! We are sitting down with Channel 4's Beer Expert Mark Dredge to discuss cooking veggie and vegan dishes with beer, along with Phil Saltonstall from Brass Castle Brewing who will chatting about their range of vegan and gluten-free beers.

You can support this podcast by visiting: https://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people

Don't forget - this week we're sponsored by Track Safely, a simple and easy way to use Track and Trace in your pub. Visit www.tracksafely.co.uk for more information.

Make sure to follow the podcast for all the latest on Twitter @PubsPintsPeople

You can also fill out a survey about the podcast here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CAMRApodcastfeedback

You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

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This week we're learning all about experimental versus traditional brews! We'll be sitting down with Andy Leman to discuss Timothy Taylor's iconic 'Landlord' brew, and chat with Daniele from Ora Brewery in London to learn about their Italian infused beer creations. We'll also chat about beer cocktails and find out how CAMRA campaigning saw John Smith start brewing real ale once again for their Yorkshire pubs in 1984.

You can support this podcast by visiting: https://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people

Enjoy a tasty discount for your next beer case courtesy of HonestBrew! Get £10 off a beer case by visiting https://honestbrew.co.uk/camra10/

Make sure to follow the podcast for all the latest on Twitter @PubsPintsPeople

You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

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Join Katie and Ant in welcoming Stella Sims to the show while correspondent Matt Bundy is on holiday! Katie, Ant and Stella will be learning all about cooking with beer as well as beer and food pairings. They’ll be sitting down with Melissa Cole, author of The Beer Kitchen, and Runaway Brewery in Manchester, which is well known for the exciting beer pairings.

You can support the podcast by visiting: https://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people

Make sure to follow the podcast for all the latest on Twitter @PubsPintsPeople

You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

We also have a tasty discount for your next beer case courtesy of HonestBrew! Get £10 off a beer case by visiting https://honestbrew.co.uk/camra10/

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people.

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This week we're going to learn a bit more about how breweries can become a bit more eco-friendly. We'll be sitting down with Farr Brew and Purity Brewing to hear about their initiatives, and why CAMRA campaigned to 'ban the can' back in December 1979!

We also have a tasty discount for your next beer case courtesy of HonestBrew! Get £10 off a beer case by visiting https://honestbrew.co.uk/camra10/

We also have a new recipe this week for you from Sue Nowak - Devilishly good pancakes, available below and at wb.camra.org.uk

You can support the podcast by visiting: https://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people

Make sure to follow the podcast for all the latest on Twitter @PubsPintsPeople

You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

UPDATE: Since the interview James Minkin (Jim) one of the founder of Purity Brewing has passed away. Jim was the driver of Purity's eco credentials and was very proud of the developments they had made in this area. Purity is raising money for Pancreatic cancer - you can donate here.

Devilishly good pancakes - by Susan Nowak

I KNOW, I know, and I’m sorry, right? Fourteen weeks you’ve stuck with this darn column and in all that time I’ve never featured a Belgian beer. For many, the greatest brewers on the planet; centuries of turning hops, malt and yeast into ambrosia that might carry on fermenting in darkened cellars for years to become the equivalent of a vintage champagne or brandy. Brewers who know more than brain surgeons, create richer notes than a Stradivarius, greater poetry than Shakespeare, but are they good enough for Ms Nowak? The woman’s a philistine. Happily, I can put that right with just one little word. Duvel. See? I’m forgiven. And during Lockdown uncapping those dumpy little bottles has released a genii rather than the ‘devil’ for whom it’s named – apparently for no more sinister reason than that when it was created around 120 years ago one of its delighted alchemists yelled: “Wow, this is devilishly good.” Though at 8.5 per cent this smooth talking charmer, teasing the tongue with cloves, pepper and spice, could seduce an innocent. This classic golden ale was first made at Moortgat brewery in the 1870s, something like 120 years before we coined the term here. It wasn’t until 2007 it gained a sibling, Duvel Tripel Hop, at 9.5 per cent even stronger than big brother. However, the Tripel does not refer to its strength but to the fact that it contains three hops: Saaz-Saaz, Styrian Golding and one other that changes every year. In 2016 that third hop was Citra grown in Yakima Valley, Washington, bringing hints of grapefruit and tropical fruit to the party; it quickly became clear that Citra was the ultimate tripel hop so Duvel Tripel Hop Citra is now permanently in the range. Beer improves every sort of batter from Yorkshire pudding to fish ‘n’ chips, and here the original Duvel lightens some rather posh pancakes made with both wholemeal and plain flour, wrapped round smoked salmon and asparagus. That legendary ‘beer hunter’ the late Michael Jackson, who was passionate about Belgium’s beer culture, called Duvel “the world’s most beguiling beer” - so I’ve served it in his glass.

Devilishly good pancakes (makes around half a dozen)

20g each of plain and wholemeal flour; a grind of black pepper, grating of nutmeg, pinch of mixed spice (to echo the beer’s spiciness), and half a teaspoon of salt. One large egg, 100ml buttermilk (or ordinary milk), 200ml Duvel, around 200g sliced smoked salmon, 8-10 trimmed asparagus spears, small tub crème fraiche, lard and butter for frying; red salad leaves and sliced lemon to garnish.

Put flour and flavourings into a mixing bowl then add the egg, buttermilk and Duvel, stirring to create a pancake batter. Leave to chill for at least an hour - you may find the batter slightly too thicken by then, if so add a drop more Duvel. Whilst the batter is chilling parboil the asparagus then drain. Heat a smallish frying pan (around 25cm diameter), add a knob of lard, heat until melted, then the same amount of butter, and let that melt until it is quite hot (though be careful not to burn the butter). Put 2 tbsps pancake mix into a cup, then pour into the frying pan to cover the base; cook until it starts to bubble then flip over. When the pancake is golden brown on both sides transfer to a plate and keep warm in a very low oven. Repeat until all the mixture is used up. Spread a dollop of crème fraiche across each pancake and top with a slice of smoked salmon. To create a little variety roll up half the pancakes with asparagus poking out of both ends and fold the others in half; serve on warm plates with remaining asparagus spears scattered on top, and garnish with a dollop of crème fraiche, red salad leaves and lemon slices.

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Join us for a special one-off podcast collaborative with Pop Culture Brews to celebrate the pubs reopening in England coinciding with America's Independence Day! In this episode, Katie has an in-depth chat with hosts of Pop Culture Brews, Andrew and Tyler, about the difference between American and British beers. Pop Culture Brews is Denver-based podcast where the two hosts brew beers to match specific pop culture references.

You can find them at: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/pop-culture-brews/id1477714941 or on Twitter @PopCultureBrews

Don't forget - there's just a few short days left to vote for us in the Listener Choice Awards - visit https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/vote before 6 July and vote for Pubs. Pints. People.

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You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

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This week we're learning all about American craft beer by chatting with Lotte Peplow, the Craft Beer Ambassador to Europe from the Brewers' Association in America, and Rooster's Brewery well known for their 'Yankee Brew'!

If you like this episode, don't forget to tune in on 4 July for a special footnotes episode where Katie will be sitting down with the Pop Culture Brews podcast to chat more about the American beer market to celebrates our pubs re-opening and of course America's Independence Day.

Please also drop us a vote for the British Podcast Awards!! Votes close on 6 July so get your vote in this week - just type in 'Pubs. Pints. People.' in the drop down and confirm your email address: https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/vote

You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

Sue Nowak's recipe this week is a Hunter's Chicken and Chestnut Pie, available here: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/06/29/beer-recipe-hunters-chicken-and-chestnut-pie/

Also copied below:

Hunter's Chicken and Chestnut Pie - by Susan Nowak

I don’t like to boast – well, I do like to boast but I haven’t really got that much to boast about. However, I do boast a very fine cellar; not so much the contents (though I have a few Trappists I wouldn’t kick out of bed) but the structure itself, built by my husband Fran with his own fair hands. It was no small endeavour; he excavated it out of the raised ground at the back of our house creating a cavern that stays blessedly cool even in the hottest summer. The back wall forms a wine rack, while three massive stone slab shelves provide the ideal place for storing beer; I can keep fruit, veg and cheese out there, too. It even has a few obligatory spiders’ webs.

Anyway, due to Lockdown our beer cellar was running low so my brave hunter/gatherer took his own fair hands on a beer hunt; naturally, I put a St Christopher round his neck, my lucky pebble in his pocket and made him chew a couple of raw garlic cloves before he left. Hunter/gatherer turned out to be the mot juste because he came back with several different ales, including two I’d not tried before, from award-winning Hunter’s Brewery at Bulleigh Barton Farm, Ipplepen, Devon – not a million miles from us. Apart from being a normal brewery, 60-barrel brew length with 4,000 gallon fermenting capacity, they have a dedicated conditioning room and can turn out 3,000 bottle-conditioned beers an hour. And, listen up, they bottle-condition all their beers – yes, all nine of them. I am seriously impressed, and place them carefully in my cellar to carry on conditioning.

One of them is Half Bore, which the brewer describes as an amber coloured session ale (4.2 per cent ABV); rather intriguingly, the ingredients include both honey and golden syrup along with malted barley and wheat, suggested pairing bangers ‘n’ mash. But I thought that hint of sweetness might be just what I needed for a chicken and chestnut pie and so it proved though, sadly, when I carefully opened the (unshaken) bottle it spurted over my kitchen floor, so the glass I poured was less like amber nectar and more the colour of our famous Devon mud from the brewery farmyard… However, the flavour was there, rounded and nuanced, hops coming through on a lingering aftertaste. And I trust their Old Charlie – “good malt feel in the mouth; dry, tangy, bitter finish” – proves a less lively lad when he’s uncapped. Incidentally, when he’s not doing DIY or out hunting, my own likely lad, Fran, photographs my beer dishes. And eats them.

Hunter’s chicken and chestnut pie (serves 4)

Around 225g pack diced chicken or four skinned thighs cut into chunks; two pork chipolatas, sliced into rounds (that’s my nod to the brewer’s bangers ‘n’ mash!); oil/butter for frying; half a pint of Half Bore (or medium dark session bitter); sprig of tarragon if available (I picked mine wild the other day); two large potatoes, peeled and sliced (though not too thinly); two medium leeks, thickly sliced; 50g chestnut mushrooms, wiped and cut into chunks; 50g tinned

chestnuts, halved (also available in pouches); ready-made puff pastry (I lazily got mine ready-rolled, too); one beaten egg for glazing the pastry.

Lightly sauté chicken and chipolatas in a little oil and butter to seal; add half a pint of malty bitter and around a quarter pint of water, then simmer for around 30 minutes; if used, add tarragon for final 2 minutes then remove it and discard. Meanwhile, boil spud slices until half cooked, then drain. Separately, boil leek chunks briefly – about 3 minutes – then drain. Drain chicken and chipolatas, reserving beer stock. Place sliced potatoes in bottom of pie dish, mix together chicken, chipolatas, mushrooms and leeks then spread over the potatoes; lastly, dot chestnuts on top of the mix then pour in enough beer stock to come about halfway up the pie dish. Allow to cool, then top with puff pastry and brush with egg wash. Bake just above the centre of a medium hot oven (200C, gas mark 5) for around 30 minutes, raising oven temperature to 210C, gas mark 6 for final 10 minutes until the pastry is risen and glazed golden brown – though check during cooking and if pastry starts to over-brown cover with a piece of foil. Thicken any remaining beer stock to make gravy, and serve with a green vegetable.

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This week we will be speaking to the pubs surviving lockdown by sitting down with Jen Dalby, landlady at the Hand in Hand in Brighton and Angela and Gary Morton from the Hail to Ale pub in Wolverhampton. You can learn about CART - the Campaign for Real Takehome in 1984 and a review of supermarket brews from 1975. We also have a new recipe from Sue Nowak of beer baked bramleys available at What's Brewing and below: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/06/22/beer-recipe-beer-baked-bramleys/

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Beer Baked Bramleys

EVERY Monday lunchtime, regular as clockwork, a smiley bloke wheels a trolley up our path bringing our weekly shop. This is an entirely alien concept for me. I like to shop haphazardly, choosing what’s in season, what’s BOGOF, what’s half price due to sell by date. I love delis, farmers’ markets, the old-fashioned butchers and bakers in Tavistock, the wet fish shop getting its catch direct from a Plymouth trawler. The sort of shopping many of you probably enjoy too, especially if it includes a pub stop for a pint and a pasty, perhaps a game of dominoes. Do you miss pub games? (Incidentally, my brother and I have invented a brilliant game to while away lockdown: we call it Best Films Ever Poker. So, I e-mail him: “I’ll see your On the Waterfront and raise you Gone with the Wind…” But I digress. I’m indebted to the Tesco deliverers, the more so because we don’t live near one of the stores and I don’t actually know where these guys come from. Ordering online is, er, interesting. On the whole they do a great job though we get the odd surprise. My request for a Savoy cabbage was met with frozen shredded; this is not a successful product. I wanted a few leeks and, boy, did I get ’em – three monsters that would have won giant leek at any horticultural show. On the other hand I asked for root ginger (fiddly to peel and chop), and instead received a fragrant little jar of their Crushed Ginger, ready to use. Tesco’s Chief Executive must have been up half the night making that; cheers, sir, I won’t forget. Speaking of my brother, he’s their biggest fan. He shops there so much his Tesco points apparently pay most of the cost of his annual French leave in a gite. (Not this year, Little Bro, you’ll have to drive a camper van to a Tesco carpark near the sea.) Last week I put mincemeat on the list thinking I’d make a nice shepherd’s pie or chilli; lo and behold I received a jar of mincemeat as in mince pies. Was I bovvered? Nah. I’ve run out of dried fruit so I’ll use it to stuff baked apples with a liberal slurp of dark spicy ale – as it happens I’ve got McEwan’s Champion, a big, fruity number (7.3% ABV), winner of a national Tesco beer challenge I helped judge many moons ago, hence the name. Every little helps.

Beer-baked Bramleys

One cooking apple per person; mixed dried fruit (or mincemeat); a few chopped, stoneless dates and walnut halves (if you’ve got any); dark spicy ale; a little soft brown sugar.

Put dried fruit (or mincemeat) in a bowl with dates, if used, add enough ale to cover, and marinate overnight; drain retained liquor. Core apples and cut a line round middle of each with a sharp knife. Stir a little brown sugar into fruit mix and use to stuff the apples; place in an ovenproof dish and pour over retained liquor, scattering any leftover filling mix around. Bake in the centre of a hot oven (200C/gas mark 6) for around 45 to 60 minutes, until the apple puffs up to soufflé softness, the caramelising ale creating a toffee apple effect. Pop a walnut half where the apple stalk was, and serve with thick yellow cream. Cheers – and bon appétit!

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Next year CAMRA will mark it's 50th anniversary! To celebrate, we're sitting down with Laura Hadland, who's putting together the CAMRA biography for next year, as well as Bill Mellor, one of the four founders. We also find some great articles about CAMRA protests, marches and 'wreath-laying' ceremonies from the past, and as always, have a recipe for you from Sue Nowak - a cucumber soup and soda bread made with beer from St Austell's Brewery available here and below: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/06/15/beer-recipe-cucumber-soup-with-tribute/

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BEER RECIPE: CUCUMBER SOUP WITH TRIBUTE & SODA BREAD WITH HICKS

THIS week’s cookery column is a Tribute to the man who invented it along with Proper Job and other iconic St Austell beers: Roger Ryman, brewing director and head brewer who died a week ago, aged only 52, from cancer. Roger joined the brewery in 1999; his first brew there was Daylight Robbery, produced as a special to celebrate the total eclipse of the sun. It was so popular that it was re-launched as Tribute and became a best seller not only throughout Cornwall but the UK and beyond. Apart from being a brilliant, innovative brewer with a fount of ale knowledge, he was also the instigator of the brewery’s annual Celtic Festival held in the wonderful catacomb of cellars below the brewery and hosting brewers and their beers from Celtic regions – St Austell itself in Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Brittany. I generally attended the launch party the night before festival weekend when we could taste the beers (nearly 200 beers and ciders) alongside a spectacular ploughman’s of beer bread, regional cheeses and pickles; it was, quite simply, one of the highlights of my year. Roger’s brewing alchemy was recognised at the highest level – he was twice named Brewer of the Year, once by the British Guild of Beer Writers and once by the All Party Parliamentary Beer Club. And his beers are great to cook with; my first column for this series was beer batter made with Proper Job; my prized bottle of St Austell’s one-off Tamar Kriek (cherry beer echoing the sour reds of Flanders) made a guest appearance in my lamb dish, and today I’m making soup with Tribute, a 4.2% classic pale ale with “zesty orange and grapefruit flavours balanced with biscuit malt”; bottle-conditioned Hicks, a 6% tawny ale with malty, butterscotch notes named after Walter Hicks who founded the brewery 170 years ago, adds the only yeast in my soda bread to accompany. So here, in memory of a really cool dude, is…

Cucumber soup with Tribute

One medium or half a large skin-on cucumber (approx 250g), cubed; half a small onion, cubed; half the white part of a leek, cubed; one medium potato, peeled and cubed; 30g unsalted butter; around half a pint each of Tribute and chicken (or vegetable) stock; seasoning; parsley garnish (optional).

Sweat all the vegetables gently in the butter until softened in a medium sized pan with a lid. Add the beer and stock, bring to simmering point, cover and allow to simmer until the vegetables are tender, around 20 minutes Allow to cool then puree with an electric hand blender or vegetable masher. Reheat, adding a little water or milk, if the soup seems too thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper; maybe garnish with a few parsley sprigs.

Soda bread with Hicks

(Soda bread is a quickly made Irish bread using bicarbonate of soda instead of yeast as the rising agent; but since I included the bottle’s sediment, technically speaking my bread contains a trace of yeast. It certainly rose brilliantly!)

Half a pound each (250g) of wholemeal bread flour containing seed and grains (I used Allinsons) and strong white bread flour; 2 tsps salt; 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda; quarter pint 280 (ml) each of beer and milk, mixed.

Pre-heat oven to 220C. Mix together dry ingredients in largish bowl. Stir in beer and milk a little at a time to form a dough (you may need to add 2-3 tablespoons of water). Knead briefly – just long enough to bring it all together but don’t overwork the dough. Form into a ball. Place on a greased baking tray then glaze with a little beer before using a sharp knife to cut a cross about halfway down into the dough. Bake in the top half of the oven for 30 minutes, reducing the heat to 200C and covering the top of the bread with a piece of foil for last 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

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This week we're learning all about foraging & mixed fermentation! Ant will be speaking with Little Earth Project about sour beers, foraging for ingredients and mixed fermentation (using more than one strand of yeast in a brew). We will also chat with Adnams about their hop collective and find out about the threat to the 'male hops' back in the 70s in our What's Brewing archive dive.

This week Sue's recipe is a pear & blueberry flummery with imperial cyder - available here: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/06/08/beer-recipe-pear-and-blueberry-flummery-with-imperial-cyder/ and below!

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BEER RECIPE: PEAR AND BLUEBERRY FLUMMERY WITH IMPERIAL CYDER

FLUMMERY. What a luscious, lip-smacking word, it just rolls around the tongue. And it is a word with more than one meaning. In the past week it’s rather described what we’ve been getting from our politicians on various topics. “I was driving 200 miles up to Barnard Castle to see if the old jalopy could hit 110mph on the M6, officer.” Flummery. A dictionary definition tells us the word flummery indicates “meaningless flattery” – there’s a bit of that about as well. But my favourite definition is flummery as a dessert dating back to the 17th century – and even there we find duality; the Scots make Highland flummery involving oats, honey, cream and a wee dram, the English style is more of a creamy jelly set in a mould. I’ve taken a bit of both – porridge base and fruity whipped cream topping to create a cool, decadent dessert exactly right for the heatwave. My wee dram is Aspall’s Imperial Cyder from Suffolk made from “a single year’s harvest of bittersweet apples,” and that is precisely the taste in every sip. Dark gold with a lively champagne sparkle it is temptingly moreish; but be warned, the 8.2% ABV is not to be trifled with. The makers describe it as full-bodied with a decadent candied fruit aroma and recommends pairing with rich desserts. So here goes…

Pear and blueberry flummery with Imperial Cyder (serves two)

75g oats; bottle of medium dry cider; 1 large dessert pear; 100g blueberries; 280ml double cream.

Soak oats overnight in around 100ml medium dry cider. Next day drain oats and discard soaking liquor. Peel and core pear and quarter lengthways; place in a smallish pan with the blueberries, add cider to cover, bring to a gentle bubble and simmer very briefly, a couple of minutes, until the pear is just softened (it turns a lovely blush pink from the blueberries). Drain the fruit, reserving the cooking syrup, and leave to cool. Whip cream to form fairly stiff peaks.

You now build your dessert in layers. Take 2 stemmed glasses and divide oat mix between them. Spoon in a layer of cream, cut each pair quarter into four and arrange on top of the cream reserving 6 pieces to decorate the top. Then another layer of cream followed by the blueberries and a final layer of cream. Trickle in a little of the pink cider syrup so it filters down through the glasses. Top each with three pieces of pear. Chill for 2-3 hours and serve with a glass of sparkling cider. Cheers – and bon appétit.

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Join us this week as we discuss homebrewing - our new favourite past time in lockdown! We are sitting down with Claire Russell, founder of Homebrewtique to learn all about all-grain homebrewing and Andy Parker of Elusive Brewery - a homebrewer turned professional and author of CAMRA's Essential Home Brewing.

COMPETITION TIME! If you've not had enough giveaways yet, you can win yourself a free recipe pack and brewbag from Homebrewtique - just tweet us your wildest homebrew idea on @CAMRA_Official and @Homebrewtique. You can also enjoy a 15% discount on all Homebrewtique items with your CAMRA discount.

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This week we also have two recipes from Sue Nowak to share, which are now available on https://wb.camra.org.uk/ and below.

BEER RECIPES: BREWER’S SOUP AND BOOZY BREAD & BUTTER PUDDING - by Sue Nowak

You get two recipes for the price of one this week and they have a strange sort of tenuous connection. My Beer Cook Book was published 20 years ago and it often saddens me to see that beers I cooked with then are no more; worse still, neither are the breweries that crafted them.

So I was overjoyed to discover that the Manns Brown Ale I used then to make Brewer’s Soup (my take on French onion) is not only still available but a quid a bottle in Morrisons and immediately despatched my husband to get some. First brewed at Mann’s Whitechapel Brewery, London, in 1902, brown ale was then a popular style that rather went out of fashion. This dark ale has stood the test of time and certainly drinks higher than its ABV which isn’t difficult as it’s only 2.8%! It has passed through a few breweries but is now produced by Marston’s.

Dessert is Boozy Bread & Butter Pudding and for that recipe I’ve soaked the dried fruit in Hobgoblin, a strong (5.2 % ABV) ruby, malty beer with hints of spice and chocolate. It comes in a delightful bottle with witches on broomsticks etched on the glass and is brewed by Wychwood in Oxfordshire – now part of Marston PLC. Well, I told you the connection was tenuous…

Brewer’s Soup

3 large onions, peeled and chopped; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; unsalted butter for frying; 1 dstspn plain flour; half pint (500ml) Manns Brown Ale; salt and pepper; parsley sprigs.

Sweat onions and garlic very gently in butter for around 20 minutes in a heavy, covered pan until soft; then cook uncovered for a few more minutes until the onion is caramelised and browning. Add flour and cook out, stirring, for a few minutes; slowly stir in around half the Manns then bring to simmering point, cover and cook for five minutes. Add enough cold water to make a thickish soup, cover and simmer gently for around 10 minutes. Season to taste, sprinkle with few parsley sprigs and serve with chunks of French stick.

Boozy Bread & Butter Pudding



150g mixed dried fruit; 200ml Hobgoblin (or any dark, spicy beer); 6 or 7 thin slices buttered brown bread, crusts removed; soft brown sugar; 450 ml milk; 2 medium eggs, whisked; grating of fresh nutmeg.

Soak dried fruit overnight in Hobgoblin until it has ‘drunk’ most of the beer; drain, retaining unabsorbed ale. Preheat oven to 190C, gas mark 5. Grease a deep, oblong baking dish; cut bread in triangles and layer, butter side up, sprinkling each layer with the soaked fruit and a little sugar, finishing with a layer of bread. Warm the milk without boiling then slowly whisk in the eggs; add a grating of nutmeg, pour over the bread until almost covered, then leave to stand for 20 minutes. Finally, pour over the retained beer. Bake in the centre of the oven for about half an hour until risen and crisp on top. Serve with custard.

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This week we're talking beer diversity! We'll be sitting down with Nick O'Shea, founder of Ignition Brewery - a not-for-profit microbrewery in Sydenham that employs people with learning difficulties. We'll also speak to award-winning beer communicator and diversity champion Emma Inch, and dive into the WB archive to learn all about the industry's response to the introduction of the smoking ban.

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This week's recipe by Sue Nowak is lamb chops with raspberry beer - available on What's Brewing and below! 

Lamb chops with raspberry beer

by Susan Nowak

WHEN we talk about beers having a fruity note we generally mean it’s one element in the overall flavour – such as citrus, or that hint of banana in a Bavarian Weisse. A beer made with fruit is a totally different proposition and, to my palate, far superior to a fruit wine; where the wine is generally too sweet and often syrupy, beer, with hops in its armoury, can balance the sweetness of the fruit and achieve quite a dry, sophisticated character that goes with main courses and desserts alike. Two of my favourites are raspberry and cherry and both are natural partners for lamb, which has a sweetness of its own – the raspberry is lighter and more summery while cherry beer is altogether darker and heavier in tone. Pictured is my very special bottle of cherry beer, Tamar Kriek, 7.3% ABV brewed by St Austell’s Brewery in Cornwall in the style of the ‘sour red beers of East Flanders’, then matured in oak casks, using cherries picked in the Tamar Valley. Obviously this was a limited edition but both raspberry and, especially, cherry beers are available in supermarkets. The new season’s lamb is now at its best, and a summer’s day the best time to enjoy it.

Lamb chops with raspberry beer

One medium thick lamb chop (or steak) per person; unsalted butter for frying; one small red onion finely chopped; one clove garlic, crushed; a sprig of fresh (or one tsp dried) rosemary; 300ml (half pint) raspberry beer; redcurrant jelly; one level dstsp plain flour; 300ml (half pint) stock (could use chicken cube); salt and black pepper.

Melt butter gently in a frying pan and when it starts to bubble add the lamb chops or steaks; increase the heat and brown swiftly on both sides, then lower the heat again and add the onion and garlic. Fry gently until softened but not brown.

 Remove the lamb when it is cooked to your liking – just a few minutes for very rare, a few more for medium or about 10 minutes for well done but with just a hint of pink in the centre or it would be too dry. Rest the lamb chops somewhere warm. To make the gravy, pour the raspberry beer into a small pan and heat gently to simmering point; meanwhile pour off any excess fat – lamb chops can be very fatty – then stir the flour into the onions to create a smooth roux, add the rosemary, and stir in the beer little by little to achieve a fairly thin gravy. Add a level tbsp of redcurrant jelly, which gives a lovely sheen as well as a tangy flavour. Season to taste. 

Serve the chops on a pool of gravy, with small new potatoes and a green vegetable such as asparagus, peas or leeks sliced lengthways. Cheers – and bon appétit.

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Learn all about brewing and pub heritage this week! We will be sitting down with Steve Dunkley of Beer Noveau to find out how they're recreating heritage-style beers and also Geoff Brandwood, author of several CAMRA Pub Heritage guides to tell us all about what makes a heritage pub!

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Sue Nowak's recipe this week is a roast chicken paired with a vintage Fullers ale - check it out here! https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/05/18/beer-recipe-roast-chicken-with-fullers/ 

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This week we learn all about the challenges facing women in beer by sitting down with Jane LeBlond, founder of Mothership Brewery and Annabel Smith, Co-Founder of Dea Latis, which has found that only 20% of beer drinkers are women.

Our trusty beer and food recipe from Sue Nowak this week is a Bangers ‘n’ beer cassoulet - you can check it out here: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/05/11/plymouth-sound-still-safe-stir-crazy-week-six/

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COMPETITION TIME! We also have a great competition this week for a community hero to win a case of craft cider and perry, courtesy of Three Counties Cider! Nominate a community lockdown hero by dropping us a line on Twitter @CAMRA_Official this week!

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Learn all about scrumping, real cider and real perry in this week's episode all about... cider! We'll be travelling to the heart of Herefordshire (so to speak) to chat with cider producer Tom Oliver, Susanna Forbes and the Cider Museum curator Elizabeth Pimblett. We'll also be learning about the formation of CAMRA's APPLE Committee and have another great recipe for you from Sue Nowak - this week, a red onion tart glazed with IPA available here: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/05/04/plymouth-sound-still-safe-stir-crazy-week-five/

COMPETITION TIME! You can win yourself the Homebrewers game by leaving us a review on Apple Podcast and dropping us a line at podcast@camra.org.uk - check out the game here: https://www.karlsgames.co.uk/store/item/board-games/strategy/homebrewers/

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This week we will be learning all about what is craft beer with Craft Beer Channel's Jonny Garrett and Channel 4 Sunday Brunch's beer expert Mark Dredge.

We also now have recipes to share - check out What's Brewing for Sue Nowak's Collops in Beer Batter here: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/04/27/plymouth-sound-and-safe-stir-crazy-week-four/

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In this episode, we learn all about beer writing by sitting down with legends Pete Brown and Roger Protz who offer their advice for aspiring beer writers. We will also dive into the archives to find out why CAMRA's first ever Good Beer Guide was pulled off the shelves!

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Learn about some of the jobs in brewing that have absolutely nothing to do with making beer! We will be sitting down with Ben Watson, Sensory Lead at Beavertown Brewery and David Bremner, Marketing Director at Robinsons to find out how they got a band like Iron Maiden to collaborate with them.

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Trailer for the new podcast Pubs. Pints. People. A podcast from the Campaign for Real Ale.

You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

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