Friday 25 October 2013

Lister's Littlehampton Ales

If in need of refreshment in Littlehampton, then The Little Coffee House & Bistro offers not only non-alcoholic beverages but bottles of Lister’s Ale brewed on the premises by Philip Waite, son of the family owners. Philip, a cook and self-taught brewer with an art college and oil trading background, built both the fully-automated plant and bottle-filler. The enterprise dovetailed perfectly with the commercial kitchen outlet and an alcohol license was obtained; Lister’s Brewery was registered last October and has been producing the beer since December.

Philip’s aim was to make the kind of session beer he himself would like to drink. It is a 3.9% triple-hopped best bitter, brewed with pale, brown and black malts and including Challenger and Styrian Goldings hops. The bottles have also been on sale at the China Palace restaurant in neighbouring Arundel and two London outlets: Duke’s Brew & Que, N1 (home of the Beavertown Brewery) and the Jamboree Music Venue. A cask version has appeared at the Snowdrop Inn, Lewes.







Philip will soon be rebuilding his 0.25bbl plant to double its capacity and has plans to eventually move off-site into a bigger brewery to supply more pubs within the local area. He is thinking about next brewing a golden ale. And if you haven’t already guessed from the bottle label, Lister was the family terrier, now alas departed to the great kennel in the sky but immortalised in image for what has become this Sussex seaside town’s second brewery.

Lister’s Brewery
The Little Coffee House & Bistro
44 High Street
Littlehampton
West Sussex
BN17 5ED
07775853412
waitephilip@hotmail.co.uk

Sunday 20 October 2013

Stars Behind the Bar

Stars behind the bar at the Evening Star, Brighton are (left and right respectively) Alex Monroe and Alice Sharp. When they are not behind the bar, Alex is most likely reading Scandinavian noir detective fiction. She has a degree in Scandinavian Studies from University College London. Alice is a poet, compère and event-manager under the pseudonym ‘Doctor Bongo’. She does the bar and site management for the Glastonwick festival. Not many people know that Alex is a massive fan of the singer Chris de Burgh and that Alice has been an avid knitter since the age of seven!
 
 

Tuesday 1 October 2013

Sussex Drinker

There are five CAMRA branches in Sussex: Western Sussex, Arun & Adur, North Sussex, Brighton and South Downs, South East Sussex. The official ‘public face’ of the Sussex Branches of CAMRA is their quarterly magazine and campaigning tool, Sussex Drinker. The magazine is edited by my good self The Quaffer, designed by Andy Shaw of the CAMRA National Executive and produced by Neil Richards MBE of Matelot Marketing.

The editorial policy of the Sussex Drinker is to highlight, celebrate and promote to as wide and audience as possible the positive developments in the Real Ale scene in Sussex. And we are experiencing some exciting new developments. New micro-breweries continue to open up in our county and we now have our first micro-pub in Sussex – Anchored in Worthing - with others at the planning stage. But it is also the task of the Sussex Drinker to campaign against misguided measures that pose a threat to real ale, the pubs and clubs that serve it and the livelihood of those who work in the industry sector.

To meet rising demand our circulation has risen in the last four years from 5000 to 13250 while the number of pages has increased in the same period from 32 to 60. The editor personally distributes 1400 copies of the magazine outside the county boundaries - into London, Kent, Surrey and Hampshire - and is proud to say that it compares favourably with the vast majority of CAMRA branch magazines in the UK. Our regular features include comprehensive pub and brewery news, a Bus to the Pub Programme supporting the use of public transport, a History and Heritage article, Star behind the Bar, and our Cider House Notes pages. Pictured is the front cover of the current autumn issue. Our forthcoming winter issue, No. 76, is due for delivery on November 7th.

The Sussex Drinker has its own Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sussex-Drinker/200356663336203?ref=hl

Part and present issue can also be viewed and downloaded on PDF files at http://www.aaa-camra.org.uk/Sussex%20Drinker/Sussex%20Drinker.html