Kissingate Brewery Spring Fest and Nooksack APA

The Kissingate Brewery and Twickenham Fine Ales collaboration brew, Nooksack APA, won Beer of the Festival at this year’s Sussex Beer & Cider Festival. The idea for the collaboration, beer style and recipe came from Twickenham’s Head Brewer Stuart Medcalf and Kissingate’s Gary Lucas. The team at Twickenham, including Steve Brown (Managing Director) and Ben Norman (Marketing Director), felt the time was right for the two breweries to share their creativity and produce an authentic American Pale Ale that had a fresh and prominent hoppy character with a subtle residual sweetness. The hops used in the brew were all from Washington State, USA. The name ‘Nooksack’ was given to the beer after the Native Americans who live in the area. All 100 casks of the beer brewed were sold out just three weeks after its official launch at the festival.

 

Although both breweries have won many awards for their beers, neither one could have anticipated such success. The Nooksack will be brewed again in late July. Orders have already been taken! Also, due to a demand in Sussex for the beers of Twickenham Fine Ales, especially during the rugby, the team is looking into working with a partner to supply their beer into the county.

Pictured from left to right: Stuart Medcalf (Twickenham Head Brewer & Director), Dave Hall (Twickenham Second Brewer) and Gary Lucas (Kissingate Brewery)

For Twickenham Fine Ales: http://twickenham-fine-ales.co.uk/

It is also the Kissingate Brewery Spring Fest this Saturday 24th May: http://www.kissingate.co.uk/Events.html

Langham Saison

Brewed using special European yeast and German malts, this refreshing Saison-style farmhouse ale from Langham Brewery of Lodsworth, West Sussex, has a subtle aroma of banana and clove, with a beautiful citrus hopping and delicious dry finish. At 3.9% it is a truly tasty and quaffable beer for the summer. Enjoy!

http://www.langhambrewery.co.uk/

A Special Night of Music at Langham Brewery

 

Langham Brewery is the place to be this Saturday 17th May when US singer-songwriter Rick Bailey will be playing a special gig as part of his UK tour. The gig will commence at 7.30pm and is free entry to the public. Florida-based Rick visits the UK each year to catch up with old buddies, progress his music projects and to play to his UK-based fans. Rick is over for the month of May and is playing a number of venues throughout the UK.

“We are delighted to be able to welcome Rick to the heart of the South Downs National Park as part of his UK tour”, said Simon Goodale of Heard and Seen. “Rick has a busy schedule and to book him for a Saturday night is a lucky coup”. Rick commented that “when Simon called me and suggested a gig at a brewery I jumped at the chance. I love the UK and your audiences’ respect for music. To play my songs and meet new people in an unusual environment is an opportunity not to be missed – I am really looking forward to the gig”.

 

For directions to the brewery go to http://www.langhambrewery.co.uk/find

 

Rick is an all-round entertainer mixing up each performance with classic versions of covers and a selection of his own material topped off with his magical, versatile guitar playing. An evening of fine music and fun is assured.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Simon Goodale, simongoodale@heardandseen.com, 07580 105571.

Sussex Cheese & Ale Tasting

 

Sussex Cheese & Ale Tasting - Saturday 26th April, 7pm, Langham Brewery, Langham Lane, Lodsworth, West Sussex, GU28 9BU. 

Sussex has a rich heritage of both cheese making and artisan brewing and this evening will combine the two in a unique cheese and ale tasting. Carefully selected cheeses from around Sussex will be paired with complementing ales from Langham’s own brewery and will be accompanied with bread, chutney and fruit. This wonderful evening will be lead by Louisa Mason of Flavour Tastings and David Muggleton (The Quaffer) from the Sussex Drinker who will expertly guide you through six amazing cheeses ranging from soft Ash goats’ cheese, to tangy Brighton Blue and pair them with wonderful Langham ales including Flor-ale and  Best Bitter. A truly unique evening not to be missed!

Entrance by advanced tickets online. Buy online at: http://www.flavourtastings.co.uk/events/

Beer lovers appeal for help in researching Crawley's boozy past

 




 On Wednesday 5th March, I gave an informal talk, on old Crawley breweries, in the town's Wetherspoon outlet, the Jubilee Oak. The talk was in conjunction with a 'Meet the Brewer' evening at the pub with Gary Lucas of Kissingate Brewery, Lower Beeding, showcasing a number of his excellent ales.

Local newspaper reporter Luke Warren picked up on the feedback from the event and penned this very helpful piece for Crawley News.

As Luke says, if anyone has any information on the Victorian breweries of Crawley, please let me know on muggletondavid@yahoo.co.uk

A link to the website version of Luke's article is
http://www.crawleynews.co.uk/Pair-plea-Crawley-ale-tales/story-20794493-detail/story.html

V.A.T. ... Venues Against Taxation!

In the last four years beer duty has risen by a gruelling 42%. The publicans of South Street, Eastbourne are joining together to demonstrate to their customers what an enormous difference this relentless increase makes to the cost of a pint. They are offering pints of real ale at the duty free price, for an entire day on Tuesday 18th March 2014, the day before the annual budget.

Rachel Ainsley, landlady at the Dolphin explains that “although the scrapping of the Beer Duty Escalator and One Pence Reduction in the 2013 budget was greatly received and helped boost confidence and employment in the hospitality industry, it cannot stop there. We are calling for the government to freeze beer duty in the upcoming budget; it is essential for the future of our industry.”

After years of duty increases the UK pays the second largest amount of beer duty in Europe: a startling third of the cost of a pint of beer goes on duty. In 2012 beer drinkers in the UK paid 43% of all EU beer duty, yet we are still seeing record numbers of pub closures each week. British beer sales currently support almost one million jobs and contribute more than £22 billion a year in taxes. The five pubs involved, Bibendum, the Dolphin, Dew Drop Inn, Maxims, and the Eagle, between them employ sixty-five people and contribute to the local economy, as well as support local commerce and charities. A freeze in beer duty this year would secure an additional 2,400 jobs in the industry nationally.

The great British pub is at the heart of a community; they bring people together, provide a safe environment for supervised drinking and play a unique role in our social lives and national identity. The Publicans of South Street, Eastbourne, believe that keeping down the cost of beer and making it affordable is the best way for the Government to support our pubs.

http://www.bibendum-eastbourne.co.uk/

http://www.thedolphineastbourne.co.uk/

http://dewdropinneastbourne.co.uk/

http://www.theeagleeastbourne.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maxims-Eastbourne/209269535911636?ref=stream&directed_target_id=0

CAMRA Spring Equinox Festival: Horsham Drill Hall, 22nd-23rd March

Tickets for the first CAMRA North Sussex Equinox Beer & Cider Festival are selling well. The proven excellent beer festival venue is the Drill Hall, Denne Road, Horsham, RH12 1JF, which is in the town centre about a twenty minute walk from the station. Tickets are available from Beer Essentials, the Malt Shovel and Kings Brewhouse, all in Horsham. Postal applications (cheques payable to CAMRA North Sussex) to The Treasurer, 19 Felbridge Avenue, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 7BD.

The beer list is almost finalised, with over fifty to choose from. All six of our excellent branch brewers will be featured, plus other local favourites, a number of the new breweries that have opened in the few months, and some gems from further afield. A healthy mix of winter and spring ales will be available, as you would expect on the weekend of the Spring Equinox. There will also be a great selection of local cider and perry. The more tickets we sell, the more beers we will be ordering, so if you have not bought your tickets yet, help us to get the beer order to over sixty.

Sessions are Saturday 12noon-4pm and 6-10pm, then Sunday 12noon-4pm. Tickets are £6 for the Saturday sessions, £5 for Sunday, and include a souvenir glass, plus a free pint for card-carrying CAMRA members. Hot and cold baguettes and snacks will be available at all sessions. A number of musicians are lined up to provide entertainment for the Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon sessions. A £1 donation will be made by the branch to a local charity for any returned souvenir glasses, along with the value of any donated surplus tokens.

For more info, including a beer list visit http://www.northsussexcamra.org.uk/