New Career, in Beer

by Beer Sommelier KewJanuary 22, 2017

Christmas at Fuller's. Says it all — Christmas at Fuller’s. Says it all

So, 2016 is now a memory and it has been twelve months since I started my New Career, in Beer. I’m glad to see the back of 2016 to be honest. An amazingly disappointing year politically and far too many heroes of mine from the Arts have left us. Here’s to a happy, healthy and optimistic 2017. Christmas was extremely busy at the brewery but also fun and rewarding. My weekly tastings culminated in tastings of our special edition beers – 170th Anniversary Ale, Brewer’s Reserve, Past Masters, Vintage Ale and Imperial Russian Stout. Great stuff! We then enjoyed stouts from around the world and finally a tasting of Kerstbiers brought over from Belgium that was held over two weeks.

Santa pays a visit to Fuller's — Santa pays a visit to Fuller’s

December got off to a bang with a sneaky trip across the Channel to Bruges, via Noel Cuvelier’s fabulous beer shop in Abele, West Flanders. Wifey and I caught up with all our Belgian friends, including ex-pat Ian and Patricia at Cafe ‘t Terastje, Bruno at the Vlissinge, Tom at Volkscafe St-Jakobs and finally Daisy at ‘t Brugs Beertje. We also managed to squeeze in some Christmas shopping for stocking fillers, chocolate and beer of course. Its a truly magical place year round but if you get the chance to visit around Christmas I urge you to go. It is simply beautiful and the beer bars stock up on Christmas ales – ones that do the season justice that are extravagantly flavoured and very high in ABV. Yum.

Local Beer Nut Luke McGlynn held his second bottle share too. The usual suspects, Lexie, Lotte and Mat arrived along with some newbies. It is truly a great evening, one that I look forward to immensely, superbly marshalled by Luke. January promises to be a big turnout which means even more beer to be consumed. Not one for the faint hearted! Big thanks to Chris at the Mitre for putting up with us, what a gent!

Thank You Fuller’s was held on the Friday before Christmas. A whirlwind of a day due in part to the brewery closing early at 12.30pm when the free tab at the Mawson started. The pub was rammed and it was great to catch up with everyone over a couple (well, more than a couple) of pints of Fuller’s beer. Jill and her team at the Mawson’s were run off their feet so hats off to them too. The previous Friday saw our Quality Team hold their Christmas get together. After some food we headed off for a tour of local Fuller’s pubs before ending up at the Distillers in Hammersmith for some Dad dancing. Needless to say it was a late night and not the ideal preparation to drive down to Cardiff the following morning for some Welsh Christmas spirit. And to reacquaint myself with new Welsh craft beers – Tenby Harbour being very impressive – and dear old Brains. Great night in the Old Arcade, one of the world’s best pubs. The evening was topped off by the might Super Furry Animals playing on their home backyard. Tidy!

I also interviewed for the position of Trade Quality Advisor at Fuller’s and was delighted to receive the news that I was successful on our last day at work before Christmas – a fabulous early Christmas present. From the New Year I will be supporting our teams in the trade with improving the quality of their beers and cellars, carrying out audits and delivering training. I can’t wait as this is the role I wanted when I first decided to move into the beer world over two years ago. I am also helping out on Saturdays with hosting brewery tours. I love meeting tour groups, people from all around the world brought together through their love of beer. To prepare myself for my new role I also took up the opportunity to spend a couple of days in the Brewhouse making beer. I spent a day with Stewart when we brewed 1,040 hectolitres of London Pride – over 192,000 pints! We also brewed HSB and Seafarers.

The following day I helped Henry prepare the malts and hops for the following weeks brew of Frontier and Honey Dew. This included physically adding 48 twenty five kg sacks of Caragold malt into the hopper – I can confirm that this activity will result in a stiff neck. We then weighed out all the hops that would be needed by Stewart for the brews – bittering hops, aromatics and dry hops for the Frontier. A very early start but a thoroughly rewarding couple of days and invaluable experience.

Having a bit of time on my hands I took the opportunity to take a group of Goose Island guys around the brewery for a private tour. I think I enjoyed the day as much as Josh, Jonny and Fred did. We ended up in the Hock Cellar for an extended spot of tasting – no half measures! A lovely day with some truly great beer guys and I look forward to catching up with them again at the official launch of their new pub, the Vintage Ale House in Balham next week. I also took the opportunity to renew my relationship with a number of Hampstead hostelries with Jazz keeping me company. The Spaniards Inn, Holly Bush and Flask all received a visit and each pub was fantastic, especially the Holly Bush which is now part of the Fuller’s estate.

Jazz keeping an eye on the kitchen at the Spaniards Inn

Finally we received some shocking news. Daisy at ‘t Brugs Beertje had sold up! Everyone assumed that we knew but the news arrived as a huge surprise. Her official last day running the pub was the day before New Year’s Eve. So we had no choice other than to drive over to Bruges again, catch up with old friends – again! – and spend time at Daisy’s wonderful pub. We were also lucky enough to grab a table at Cafe In ‘t Nieuw Museum – probably the best steaks I have ever tasted. We were delighted to be able to toast Daisy’s retirement and are already looking forward to buying her a beer as a punter when we return in April.

So, that’s a wrap – my first year in my New Career, in Beer. Cheers!

New Career, in Beer

by Beer Sommelier KewDecember 12, 2016

Well it has been a very busy couple of months in my new(ish) job. Taking on a fixed term contract was a risk but I feel that I am vindicated in my thinking it was a risk worth taking. My role takes me to every part of the brewery, from large pack casks and kegs, small pack bottling, the enormous wine cellars, brewhouse floor, my sampling room and cellar, the brewery laboratory, even the brewery rooves. The benefit of all of this moving, to-ing and fro-ing is meeting the teams that work in these areas. Making connections, networking, whatever you may wish to call it, is invaluable especially in such a tight-knit community as Fuller’s.

Fuller's Christmas Trees light up my morning — Fuller’s Christmas Trees light up my morning

Community is a well-used term at the brewery and the company rightly takes great pride in the fact that its teams are made up of dedicated individuals who have remained with Fuller’s for the majority of their careers, many following close family members into the brewery. It has been a culture shock for me to experience first hand gestures of kindness and appreciation to colleagues who have decided to retire or re-locate to another part of the country. An example that impressed me was when one of the ladies from the canteen had to re-locate to Hertfordshire. The brewery made sure that a leaving gift was presented and a tab was left open at our pub the Mawson Arms so that she could bid farewell to colleagues and customers in an appropriate way. The fact that she was a contractor and not even employed by Fuller’s impressed me greatly. In my previous career even our clients were no longer given Christmas cards in the interest of overhead savings.

My Friday noon beer tastings continue to be much anticipated weekly events in our sampling room. We have moved to standing-only tastings as there was once over 20 attendees crammed into the small room. Competitors’ beers tasted against our pale ales, stouts, porters and craft lagers enabled everyone to appreciate how excellent are beers are when compared to others. We then tasted Belgian tripels, Trappist beers, beers from the USA, Europe and our Celtic neighbours. All very popular and great fun to put together.

My new beer buddy, Luke McGlynn who I met at a beer event in East Dulwich and who actually lives on my street had an idea to hold a bottle share at a local craft beer pub in Richmond. Chris at The Mitre pub bravely allowed us to use a section of his bar to hold the inaugural event on the understanding that we bought a few beers before and after the tasting. A great mix of people all with different beers and styles brought together through their love of the amber nectar. I loved Luke’s hand-made bottle share sign, he must have been an avid Blue Peter watcher as a child. Now a monthly event the next share is this Thursday and I have a delicious 75cl Kerstbier to share with my new friends.

A couple of days off saw me support Laura, manager of one of my favourite pubs the Princes Head on Richmond Green. The team held a day of cellar tours where punters learnt many aspects of looking after and serving cask and keg beer. They did a great job and the tour was also very interactive with one of the guest tapping a cask of ESB. All rounded off with the chance to pull and sup your own pint and a goodie bag thrown in too. I have always loved this pub and was delighted to join them and support a great initiative.

Finally, I was invited to the launch of Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout. We had the opportunity to taste the 2016 edition of this legendary beer one day before it was launched in the USA, on Thanksgiving Day as always. The great and the good were in attendance, Roger Protz, Adrian Tierney-Jones, Matt Curtis, Melissa Cole to name a few. Brewer Tim gave a presentation explaining how the beer came about and how it is made. A double malt is boiled for 4 hours to concentrate the sugars and give higher caramels. The beer is matured in bourbon barrels, each holding an estimated 4 gallons of bourbon. Millennium hops give the beer its character but the richness, bourbon-heavy aroma and massive 14.2% abv give this beer so much more. We tasted the 2015 against the 2016 and after just one year in bottle, the 2015 had developed into a much more refined beer with greater depth. A truly top night and great to also meet Brand Ambassador Josh Smith again. I am hoping to host him at Fuller’s sometime in the New Year.

It is nearly 12 months since I began this journey and the next 2 weeks are going to be hectic. Christmas bottle share on Thursday, Christmas beers at work on Friday, off to Wales on Saturday. Tis the time of year to be busy. And raise a few beers too!

New Career – in Beer

by Beer Sommelier KewOctober 23, 2016

So it’s now been almost 2 months since I started my new role with Fuller’s – Quality Development Technician with the laboratory team at the Brewhouse. The role is temporary but I felt that it was too good an opportunity to pass up by moving into the brewery and hope that by working hard and bringing my career experience to bear and add-value to what I do that a more permanent position will come my way.

The role is split into two areas. I spend a lot of time visiting all sections of the brewery taking samples of beer for laboratory testing, collecting bottles, cans, casks, kegs, etc for further tests and even collect samples from the brewery cooling towers and chlorination tanks that I then test for levels of Bromine, Chlorite, PH, etc. Each morning finds me on the Brewhouse floor taking a number of different samples from maturation vessels and conditioning tanks. Always accompanied by a shower of London Pride or ESB either directly in my face or down my arms and legs. Apparently its good for the hair so that’s ok then.

ESB sample from maturation vessel, 260 hectolitres

The other half of my time is spent managing the Cage. This is the cellar where all packaged beers are kept for sampling. Every day I rack casks and take samples for testing for micro lab, bitterness, ABV, etc. The beers are then tasted by a panel from the brewery for any off-flavours. Every batch of cask, mini barrel mini keg, keg, bottle and can is tasted plus end of shelf life beers and 6 and 12 months old bottles and cans. A lot of beer! We taste every day and on Friday I hold an additional tasting at noon, choosing the theme for the tasting and sourcing the beers. We taste market competitor’s beers against our own or I pick on a beer style or a selection of a particular country’s beers. On occasion we may also have another tasting of ‘beers in process’, i.e. ones in a maturation vessel or conditioning tank that have had a recipe slightly altered or may be using a different filtration method. Probably my dream job.

I also volunteered to assist at the recent brewery open day, pulling pints back at the dear old Mawson Arms. The day involved music, food, fun rides, games, brewery tours and, of course, beer. Proceeds raised were donated to our charity Shooting Star Chase hospice. A very worthy cause indeed.

In addition to the day job I’ve been flat-out busy with various beer events. Earlier in the month Wifey and I were invited to a private tasting of Goose Island’s beers, including bourbon barrel-aged stouts, sour beers, saisons and their recent collaboration with Ron Pattinson, Brewery Yard – a recreated 19th century pale ale. A brilliant afternoon with plenty of superb beer to taste, great people to chat too and we even had founder John Hall address the attendees where we learnt that his brewery was inspired by London Pride! That week a 75cl bottle of this lovely beer was delivered to the house by courier. Something to enjoy with Wifey at Christmas! I was also invited to Cask Marque’s annual cask report lunch at the Brewer’s Hall in the City.

This month I helped to deliver some beer tastings in the City. Fuller’s scheduled a series of beer tasting events at Nicholson’s pubs all around London, their Beer Showcase. It was great to get out there and meet our customers, inviting them to sample our beer including the bottle conditioned 1845 and the 2016 edition of Vintage Ale. A former work colleague even showed up to show some support and left with a gift box Vintage Ale for his trouble. Great fun indeed!

So I am having a blast in my new role at Fuller’s and hope that this develops into something more permanent. Hopefully I will have some news by the time I next update this blog. Wish me luck!

Cheers!

New Career – in Beer

by Beer Sommelier KewSeptember 13, 2016

So, summer is over apparently. However, the sun has put his hat on again today and Kew is basking in glorious sunshine. A suitable time to look back at our summer fun.

July saw the family Davies head back Stateside to see Wifey’s Mum and Dad and assorted siblings, nieces and nephews. This presented me with an ideal opportunity to re-acquaint myself with the US craft beer scene and I managed to fit in 6 breweries while we were there.

Those breweries were Mad Fox, Falls Church Vermont, Hellbender and 3 Stars Washington DC, Denizens Maryland, Earth Bread Philadelphia and Eastern Shore St Michaels Chesapeake Bay. A real mix bag of beers ranging from excellent saisons and golden ales to some mediocre versions of classic European styles. However, everyone I encountered was charm personified and it was a real pleasure to meet brewers and fellow beer enthusiasts from across the pond.

Back in the UK we had the Great British Beer Festival to enjoy. I was scheduled to work one of the day shifts there but some late bookings at the pub meant that couldn’t be spared. However, I managed to get over to Olympia for Trade Day to catch up with some friends from Wales over a pint or 2 of Brains. I arrived after work at about 6pm yet my friends had been at the festival all day so were a little worse for wear! Pointing them in the direction of the tube, I headed over to last year’s Champion Beer of Britain, Tiny Rebel of Newport. I love the ice cream van!

It would have been rude not to have headed over to the Fuller’s bar so off I went to catch up with a pretty large group of work colleagues – all of who also looked as though they had been there all day! The beer was gratis which was a bonus and after a couple of pints of excellent London Pride, we all trooped off to the Fuller’s pub across the road, The Hand and Flower. Another free tab so I grabbed a pint of the collaboration with Yeastie Boys, Double Summer along with a couple of Kona’s beers.

Fuller's bar GBBF 2016 — Fuller’s bar GBBF 2016

One night after work I heard that the Express Tavern, Kew Bridge was holding a blind tasting of Wadworth’s beers. Now, as a lad my friends and I used to hunt down the legendary Wadworth 6X when one of us had their parents’ car for the night so it was a must-do. The beers tasted blind were 6X, Swordfish, Horizon and Bishops Tipple. Apparently I won a night for 2 in one of Wadworth’s pubs. I’ve yet to see evidence of this prize though…

The same evening I headed over to Real Ale in Twickenham where Todd Nicholson, chief of New Zealand Craft Beer Collective was giving a tasting of the new and exciting Kiwi beers that have hit the London market recently. It was great to catch up with Todd following our meeting at the Collective’s 1st anniversary a few months ago at Hop Burns & Black in East Dulwich. Todd had brought with him Guannamatta by Yeastie Boys, Tuatara’s APA, 8 Wired’s Wild Feijoa, plus another one of Yeastie’s their I Am Extra Pale Ale. Also on the growler was the wonderful 3 Boys Bogan by London’s Gypsy Hill. A truly top night.

New Zealand Beer Collective, Real Ale Twickenham

Our summer wound up with Wifey’s birthday which we celebrated in typical style. Party in the Tap on the Line and then off to Belgium the next morning for 3 days in beautiful Brugge. A lovely time helped by warm, sunny weather. Old haunts and old friends were visited while new haunts were explored. We spent a lovely afternoon cycling the old canals to Damme and then on to Hoecke where we found a great pub with an amazing list. Good food got a look in when we weren’t catching up with friends at the many bars that we now know so well. We even spent a lovely couple of hours on the roof terrace of a fellow beer head, Ed Waller who I met via a Facebook Belgian beer forum. And, yes we did visit another brewery, the recently opened Bourgogne de Flandres and I would recommend a visit if you are in town.

Heaven, 't Terastje Brugge — Heaven, ‘t Terastje Brugge

We bid Brugge a sad farewell – we are always unhappy to leave – but comforted in the thought that it wouldn’t be long before we are back enjoying draft Straffe at ‘t Terastje, or trying to ignore Tom’s microphone waving at Volkscafe St-Jakobs. Until then…

So now Autumn is with us and the slow slog to winter begins….. Oh, did I tell you that I applied for a new role at Fuller’s? Well I got the job but more news about that next time.

New Career – in Beer

by Beer Sommelier KewJuly 20, 2016

Well, it has been quite a busy couple of weeks yet again. Holidays taken by the team means longer shifts at the Mawson = more cash and the hours go by in a flash. We had our hock Cellar closed last week for some pre-refurbishment works prior to a total closure for 2 weeks in August when it receives a major makeover. So the Tour Tastings took place at the pub which had disaster written all over it but they actually went by smoothly as we were quieter than normal. However, at one stage we had no Tour Guides to take a tour and our Head Brewer had to take over. As she wasn’t able to spare the time to conduct the tasting so this fell to yours truly. As we had a young brewer from Durban on the tour, I wanted to take the opportunity to flex my knowledge and deliver a technical tasting. The rest of the tour group, a bunch of guys on a birthday trip were having none of that so we had to settle for a quick journey through the Fuller’s beer styles on offer! Great fun though, talking about beer to a captive audience.

We have also been treated to a number of notable visitors over the past two weeks. We had the founder of Lazy Frog Brewery in Alamogordo, New Mexico who now owns La Rana Dorada microbrewery in Panama City, Panama. He also owns a distillery, busy man. A top dude came into the pub for a tour the other day. Bruce hails from Fort Worth, Texas and tends the bar at Ye Olde Bull and Bush in the city, a British-inspired draft house. I would love to visit! Finally, Stu McKinlay, co-founder of Yeastie Boys was in last week to brew a collaboration with Fuller’s, a Pacific-style IPA which I’m looking forward to tasting when it is available. Stu was also down the week before as his Dad was over from NZ and was to take the brewery tour. He also introduced me to Stacey who owns the Little Bear Quarter bar in Wellington NZ, along a number of other successful pubs. A top lady who enjoyed her pints and runs her own ‘Beer Geek Heaven’ in the land of the long white cloud.

New beer range, Squire's Kew — New beer range, Squire’s Kew

I’ve also got back to carrying out some tasting reviews as our local store, Squires has put to good use their shelves to display a small but strong range of British craft and Belgain beers for people like me! De Dolle Brouwer’s staples Arabier and Oerbier got a tasting and now the wether is warmer I also got stuck into some lambic, marvellous. During my birthday week I also went along to the Ealing Beer Fest with some mates, highlights included cask Fuller’s Vintage Ale and Kew Brewery’s Dove Tree, a collaboration with Park Brewery, Kingston.

On the work front, things have started to move along quicker than of late. I had an interview scheduled to help run a craft brewery in North London which was cancelled at the last minute. In hindsight, probably for the best, reasons for which I won’t go into on here. I have also had a couple of interviews with Fuller’s this week. They are looking for someone to manage and coordinate their Brewery Tours and also develop the offer at the Hock Cellar when it receives its refurbishment this summer. The other position is for a Quality Development Tech within the labs department of the brewery which sounds right up my street and would give me ample opportunity to develop my beer knowledge further. I have also been networking like mad within the brewery and have some time pencilled in the diary to spend out in the field with Trade Quality and may also be assisting with some beer events in the near future. Oh, and there is the small matter of working on the Fuller’s bar at the Great British Beer Festival to look forward to in a few weeks. Wish me luck and watch this space for more news 🙂

PD and Laura, Prince's Head Richmond — PD and Laura, Prince’s Head Richmond

Finally, we’re off Stateside tomorrow so on the weekend I had a lovely afternoon catching up with Laura at the Prince’s Head in Richmond, a pub that used to be my local many moons ago. A great time quaffing London Pride was had and I can’t wait to go back. Next update will be all about the US beer scene and what delights we discover in Washington DC and Philadelphia. Cheers!

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New Career – in Beer

by Beer Sommelier KewJune 29, 2016

It is now almost 6 months since I started my journey into – hopefully – a new and satisfying career within the world of beer. So I thought it would be a good time to take a short look back in time to what formed my passion for the amber nectar.

A retrospective.

I first got into beer while studying for my A levels and being dragged to the local on midweek night by school pals. Brains beer was our tipple of choice, supplemented by Bass and Hancock’s HB and even Courage Directors when visiting the only Courage pub in Penarth. This was in the days of the Big 6 pub and brewing monopoly, where craft beer was unheard of. Welsh Bitter, Allbright, Watneys Party 7 – also featured unfortunately, a catalogue of gassy, tasteless liquid marketed inappropriately as beer. However, treats were in store for those of us lucky to have a friend who had passed his driving test and, luckier still had the keys to his parents’ motor. Off we would troop, 8 wedged into a car to the wilds of Aberthaw, 30 miles West of Penarth. Opposite the power station still sits the Blue Anchor Inn. At the time it was one of the few pubs around that dispensed numerous real ales unheard of within the pubs of Penarth or even Cardiff. This is where I got my lips around some Wadworth 6X for the first time. Other beers to be tasted included Marston’s Pedigree, Ringwood’s Old Thumper, Theakston’s Old Peculier – all classics and much loved by me and my mates. Thus began my beer education.

Mid 1980’2 and I finally left home and initially worked for Whitbread and Courage – 2 of the notorious Big 6. Time off for socialising was rare but I still sought out freehouses who had gained a reputation for serving a diverse range of beers – Camra’s Good Beer Guide was a Godsend – or a Bible to be correct. Pubs such as the Pontefract Castle, Wigmore Street and the Sun Inn, Lamb’s Conduit Street offered a huge range. I had moved to London you see and while I was struggling to get used to London’s unique take on real ale – flat, no head at the time – I still loved trying new beers and Camra’s regular beer festivals also helped in that respect.

Student PD 'at work'. Note the old advertising and pump heads — Student PD ‘at work’. Note the old advertising and pump heads

Later on, when I had finally settled down and married wifey, foreign travel became a regular leisure activity, seeking out new places around Europe and obviously trying local beers. A trip inter-railing through Europe brought me to Belgium for the first time in 1990 and we decided to visit Bruges (Brugge in Flemish). This had a huge effect on me as I had never tasted beer quite like it. A real epiphany if ever there was one with pubs regularly stocking over 200 beers, each with their own special glass. The hunting of new Belgian beers to try, while sticking by the ones that I loved best has become an obsession for me ever since and it is rare that we go more than 4 months without a visit across the Channel to Belgium, visiting new places, sampling new beers and stocking up the car.

The early 90’s saw our move to the USA, a planned permanent move but one that only lasted a year and a half before the lure of Europe proved too big a pull to ignore. It was in Boston where I picked up on the US craft beer scene big time. Being located in Beantown meant that Samuel Adams and Harpoon were the craft beers most readily available on tap. However, most liquor stores carried a huge range of beers from right across the States and once again, tracking down new and exciting beers to try became a regular pastime. I always seek out new brews whenever we are back in the US and am looking forward to returning again this July.

Het Anker brewery tour - the best bit! — Het Anker brewery tour – the best bit!

Since our return to the UK in 1995, the beer scene here has changed out of all recognition. The Big 6 had begun to fall apart from 1992, either giving up brewing altogether and just running their pubs under a different guise, while others eventually merged into multi-national brewing companies, foreign-owned. Britain eventually got its very own craft beer revolution, with numerous brewers setting up their own breweries during the early 21st century, creating a wide range of beers of all styles, suiting an enormous variety of tastes. It is far easier to purchase locally-brewed beers to try at pubs and specialist bottle shops have sprung up all over London and the rest of the UK where you can not only purchase a mouth-watering selection of brews from far and wide but can fill up flagons from both cask and keg and even discuss the relative merits of different beers at the numerous ‘meet the brewer’ events being showcased regularly at shops, markets and bars. A few weeks ago Real Ale in Twickenham hosted a cider and perry tasting with Felix from Fine Cider. A unique opportunity to get immersed into the wonderful world of cider and to taste some wonderful stuff. The Fine Perry was a delight!

So, 2014 became year zero for me, where a potentially new career began, when I completed my Beer Sommelier training and decided (bravely or unwisely?) to leave the world of catering once and for all and embrace everything beer-related. So here I am, plugging away at Fuller’s, a brewery that I have a huge amount of respect for. They brew great beer, run fantastic heritage pubs and have a core set of values and ethics that I greatly admire. Where better to start this journey?

Cider and Perry tasting, Real Ale Twickenham

Recently I have been meeting with their ‘People Team’ to discuss where best I can use my skills and experience within the organisation. We have discussed the possibility of being involved more directly with the brewery tours and hopefully working with the training team in the longer term, mentoring our pub teams in beer knowledge, service delivery and developing an ambassadorial spirit within the business. It will be interesting to see what happens as I seriously hope that a career that focuses on creativity and less on finance can be found here.

Thank You Fuller's, May — Thank You Fuller’s, May

At the Mawson Arms, business continues as usual, although less busy than we would hope. Thank you Fuller’s has been and gone and we have another one to look forward at the end of this week. On a personal front I am struggling to keep up with Beer Tastings as there just doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day. However, a review of Brasserie de Bouillon should be finished by the end of the month and will be posted accordingly.

Cheers!

New Career – in Beer

by Beer Sommelier KewMay 26, 2016

Well, it is nearly June – where does the time go? Time seems to fly by these days, it may be part of getting older as I can’t say that it has been that busy at the Mawson Arms. In fact, it has been worryingly quiet at the pub and even the brewery tours have been low on numbers. Something is afoot as I hear that trade volumes are down in general across the estate.

Heritage Fuller's advert — Heritage Fuller’s advert

So, the marketing team have been busy with preparing to launch their next set of advertising and marketing campaigns and new social media activities are about to appear in the next week to encourage new customers to use our pubs and entice existing punters back to their local. Talking of marketing, at the Mawson Arms, apart from great beer and outstanding service there is also a veritable trove of vintage paintings, photos and adverts from years gone by to look at.

We also had a small exhibition of the Export Team’s methods of advertising held in the Boardroom yesterday. Head of Export, Michael Campbell-Lamerton displayed numerous examples of advertising literature around the room together with export statistics which advised that Fuller’s export to over 80 countries and that our top 3 markets are Sweden, USA and Russia among numerous other snippets of information. Oh, and there was a quiz to enter too (I think that I failed badly on this one).

Last week also saw me take part in the daily beer tastings at the ‘Cage’ within the brewery. Frazer and Thomas took us through a slew of tastings starting with untreated and burtonised water, bottled beers, cask beers and, lastly keg beers. Great fun and not the usual way to start a morning but as most of the beer was spat out, I was fit and ready to report for work later. Everyone’s comments are noted and then logged – grassy, phenol, citrus, bicarb, caramel – blah. Looking forward to doing that again soon.

The 'Cage', Fuller's tasting lab — The ‘Cage’, Fuller’s tasting lab

Speaking of tastings, while browsing the web looking at potential breweries to visit when we visit Belgium again in August, I was viewing the Brouwerij Van Eecke website and was pleased to see that my recent tastings of their Hommelbeir Limited Edition are gracing their home page. And a photo of their beer in our little kitchen. Well at least someone is reading my reviews! Nice also to learn that we have been invited for a private tour of the brewery – I may have to take them up on that and perhaps Wifey can drive us home..

I was also been invited to the Beer Bloggers Conference 2016 held in Amsterdam this August. Unfortunately it is scheduled between when we return from a trip to the USA and when we go back to Belgium at the end of August. More seriously, how can I justify the cost while working at a pub? Maybe next year…. On a brighter note, this month saw Justin Rivett from Moor Beer Company in Bristol deliver a tasting of their delicious can-conditioned beers at Twickenham’s Real Ale bottle shop. Justin teated us to Revival, Nor’hop, So’hop, Hoppiness, Illusion, B-moor and Confidence. A truly great night and a top bloke to have a beer with. I could talk to Justin for hours.

Justin Rivett discuss Moor Beer at the newly refurbished Real Ale shop, Twickenham

It was also a treat to catch up with Tim and Fin of Real Ale and appreciate their newly refurbished shop with fellow beer nuts. Real Ale now have 1 and 2 litre growlers for you to take away from their 4 rotating keg taps. They also offer small estate organic wines that you can fill up your own bottle with and take it home with you. Very sustainable indeed!

Back at Fuller’s, our friendly Chicagoan Chris is leaving the Brewery Shop and moving on to Five Points Brewing Company in Hackney to help them brew their beer. Good luck Chris, I will be up soon to see you and catch up on all things Five Points. On a personal front I am continuing to get out to as many beer events that time will allow and to fit in beer tasting reviews where possible. I have a meeting with Fuller’s HR team tomorrow to discuss any possible opportunities with the brewery in the future and will keep you updated as to what transpires. And we have another Thank You Fuller’s tomorrow so it will be a very busy day indeed. Cheers!

New Career – in Beer

by Beer Sommelier KewMay 8, 2016

Well, it’s been busy again at the Mawson. Not entirely due to an increase in customers but because our Leader, Jill has had to be away in Birmingham for family reasons. However, the team pulled together to ensure that punters were fed, watered and welcomed. A number of overseas brewers were over for the Fuller’s brewery tour experience, both established acts and new kids on the block. Jose Iniguez was over from Chile for a 90 day tour of the UK and Europe, picking up ideas and recipes for his new brewery Iniguez Brewing Company. A thoroughly nice chap and I wish him well with his new venture. Luiz who owns Mr Bier Vila Leopoldina was also over from Sao Paolo in Brazil. They have a pub in the city, Cervejaria Madra Bier. However, I was overwhelmed when Daniel Kenary, CEO and Co-Founder of Harpoon Brewery came to the Mawson for lunch and the tour with 18 of his team. When wifey and I lived in Boston in the mid 90s, Harpoon was one of our favourite beers and their festivals held at the brewery were legendary. Harpoon was at the forefront of the US craft beer scene when it took off in the mid 80s. They are now 30 years old and I would dearly love to get back to the brewery one day and see how it has changed.

A few weeks ago saw me taking the plunge and negotiating my way to East Dulwichvia London transport and London’s finest beer shop Hop Burns and Black. Mark and Steve of Beer O’Clock Show invited me along to their live podcast at Jen and Glenn’s shop. The journey was quicker than by car – why have I not done this sooner – and I was able to sample the beers on offer. Perfect! The show featured tastings from the Bristol craft beer scene, including Arbor’s ‘Shangri La’, Moor’s collaboration with Fullers and Domus ‘Relentless Optimism’ and Wiper & True’s ‘Milk Shake’. Michael from Wiper and True and Justin from Moor Beer were also interviewed while Michael Lalley of Bushbeer Podcast gave a presentation. Lots of friendly beer heads were at the event including Luke McGlynn whom I just found out is a neighbour, living down the end of our road! A visit to the East Dulwich Tavern to sample a couple of cheeky ones was also in order and I caught up with Justin over a beer. Top evening.

A freezing cold Spring day found wifey and I at Orbit Brewery in Walworth, to chew the fat with Head Brewer Mario and taste his delicious European-style beers. Damn it was cold though and a planned trip to Sambrook’s Brewery in Battersea was adjourned until warmer weather. A Harrington and a long sleeve t-shirt did little to keep away the arctic weather. Brrrrr….

Despite being busy I did find time to carry out some beer tastings. Before you ask, yes they are Belgian beers – Fort Lapin just outside Brugge and the wonderful Hommelbier from Watou, which included the marvellous Limited Edition beers from 2014 and 2015. Delicious. I’m hoping to carry out some tastings in the labs at Fuller’s soon so look out for that in the next month or so. A colleague also convinced me to sign up to the Untappd app where you record the beers that you are tasting. I’m not quite sure what the benefit of this is to be honest if only to remind you if you have drank a particular brew and whether you liked it or not. The jury is still out on this one.

Back at the Mawson, we had the Montana Red – Red Rye Ale – removed and replaced by Cornish Orchard Blush Cider. No more popular than the Montana at the moment, maybe it will be more popular now the weather is warmer. The end of April brought us Thank You Fuller’s again and much fun and drinks were had by all. Cheers!

Fuller's Friday February — Fuller’s Friday

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New Career – in Beer

by Beer Sommelier KewApril 12, 2016

Fuller’s Brewery tours always start at the Mawson Arms. They sometimes end there as well, when thirsty tourers want to take in more of that favourite beer enjoyed at the tasting in the Hock Cellar, which always comes at the end of their tour. Tours usually begin at 11am, sometimes earlier depending upon demand. They leave every hour until the last one at 3pm, except on special occasions when a late tour has been booked for a large party. Numbers are usually restricted to 15 max, to help easily navigate the tour group through the 170 year old brewery and allow for everyone to get the chance to view the various items of heritage breweriana located around the tour route. Its quite common to have 2 or 3 tours leaving at 5 minute intervals on the hour – again, depending on demand. Tourers may stop by in advance of their tour for some breakfast or a spot of lunch depending upon their departure time. Alternatively, many come back to the pub for a later lunch with a couple of well deserved beers following one and a half hours of tramping around the brewery. A more in depth description of the tour can be found here:

https://pauldav1963.wordpress.com/2015/05/10/fullers-brewery-tour-so-good-we-did-it-twice/

Thirsty tourers at Fuller's Hock Cellar — Thirsty tourers at Fuller’s Hock Cellar

Many of our tourers are either on holiday or business – or a combination of both. A great number of our tourers are either representatives or owners of breweries. We receive many Americans and Europeans hailing from Scandinavia, Germany, Spain, etc. Visitors from South America – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay to name a few and the far East are also heavily represented and that probably makes the Mawson one of the most cosmopolitan pub in London. You never know who you are going to bump into and the other Friday we had a one day conference on ‘Recreating old beers styles’ by the British Guild of Beer Writers and the Brewery History Society. It was held at the Hock Cellar and culminated in all of the tour guides taking groups from the conference on a trip around the brewery. After a lengthy tasting the attendees ended up at the Mawson for further research into Fuller’s wonderful beer and I was able to meet and chat to beer writers Tim Webb, author of the Good Beer Guide to Belgium and Tom Stainer, editor of What’s Brewing’s quarterly magazine, aptly named Beer.

Thank you Fuller's, March — Thank you Fuller’s, March

The conference also coincided with our monthly Fuller’s Friday, this time held on a Thursday due to the bank holiday! Thirsty attendees jostled for position at the bar with the Fuller’s team enjoying the monthly thank you to employees for a job well done.

The following week saw the Spring edition of the London Brewers Market at Spitalfields. I went along to support Fuller’s who had a stall there and were promoting Frontier, Montana Red, IPA and Wild River. The great and the good were also in on show: Orbit, Anspach and Hobday, Four Pure, Gipsy Hill, Trumans, Southwark, etc. The good weather diverted me from the Sambrook’s brewery tap launch to hook up with wifey at our local Fuller’s pub and enjoy some much needed sunshine on the outside terrace.

Three Sods Brewery, London Brewers Market

Back to the Fuller’s tour, we recently we had owner Jamil Zainasheff and Beer Ambassador Travis Combe from Heretic Brewing Company, based in Fairfield, California come in for breakfast before hooking up with their tour. Jamil and Travis were over to spend some time in London and to meet up with other craft brewers as they have some interesting brewery collaborations in the can, no pun intended. I had a great time chatting with them about beer, the scene on the West coast of the US and the beer world in general. Jamil generously gave me a couple of his beers to sample and they were tasted and reviewed last weekend. It always amazes me how friendly and helpful beer people are. I may just be very lucky but everyone that I have met over the past 3 months has been warm, engaged and interested in what I am trying to do with my career.

Bruges Hertsbergestraat canal bridge — Bruges Groenerei canal

Speaking of tours, beer chum Fiona Sadek and I headed off to Bruges the week after Easter for a day touring the beer bars of this great city. We were blessed with wonderful spring weather and the Eurostar brought us to town by lunchtime. Visits included the tap house Brugsch Bieratelier, oldest pub Cafe Vlissinghe, most romantic pub De Garre and world’s best pub ‘t Brugs Beertje. A truly wonderful day.

Last week, our leader Jill came back from a well deserved break in Thailand so its back to normal. Next week sees my first visit to the Beer O’Clock Show and I will update you on that next time. Cheers!

New Career – in Beer

by Beer Sommelier KewMarch 25, 2016

People say it’s good to keep busy which is probably true, but there is being busy and there’s BUSY. Work at the Mawson can be contrary. Completely devoid of custom one minute, when the time truly drags and then manic with a tour group of 50 all demanding lattes, hungry diners wanting their meals served and our thirsty team of brewery workers needing to slake their thirsts before heading home for a quick kip (some start at 3am).

The pub was hired for a private birthday party – on the day of the Wales v England game – talk about poor scheduling. Our new Head Chef lasted a month and then moved on. And we are also without our leader Jill, who has jetted off to Thailand for some sorely needed R&R. So we’re busy.

On a sombre note, one of our favourite regular customers, Norman ‘Norm’ Cole passed away recently. No-one knows how long Norm had been coming to the Mawson but it could have been in excess of 10 years that he has been taking a taxi from Holland Park to the Salutation in Chiswick and then on to the Mawson to sit in his favourite chair and down a couple of cold ones. He loved to banter with everyone, letting a few choice words slip into the conversation and was always shuffling his feet when excited. The 2 footprints left infront of his chair will remain as an homage to Norm, a plaque will be placed above his chair alongside the one dedicated to his former drinking buddy Dave and table number 7 will be retired.

Table 7, Norm's footprints — Table 7, Norm’s footprints

God bless you Norm, may you rest in peace. I hope that they serve Carling in Heaven.

I was also busy with a number of beer events this month. The New Zealand Beer Collective celebrated their 1st Anniversary at the wonderful Hop Burns and Black in East Dulwich. Great beer, great people. I was also invited to the Irish Embassy by Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board to celebrate small suppliers of whiskey, gin, poitin and craft beer. Slainte Mhaith!

Boyne Brewhouse, Na Cuana at the Irish Embassy

Back at the Mawson a number of serious beer heads visited to take the brewery tour. Jim Shaw, owner of Soaring Wings in Springfield Nebraska was over on business. His vineyard has been operating for 15 years and he started brewing beer in 2011, building an impressive range of ales, porters, stouts and wit beers. Eric Ponce, Lead Brewer at Goose Island in Chicago was also in town to take the tour. Eric was over to deliver some tastings of his barrel-aged range and invited me along. I was gutted to miss out due to a work function on one day and the Stranglers in Brixton the other. I also had the good fortune to meet Silke van Ackeren, a beer sommelier from Stralsund in Northern Germany. Silke was also busy – gathering London craft beers for a tasting event at her brewery Stortebeker so I sent her off in the direction of East Dulwich to continue her shopping at Hop Burns and Black.

Finally, I had an uncredited role as an extra on a new tv series. Planet Food of Globe Trekker are producing a show about beer and chose to feature Bermondsey Beer Mile and Fuller’s. Filming was taking place within the Griffin Brewery and they decided that the presenter needed to be filmed ordering a beer within a proper pub – conveniently we are attached to the brewery. So the hands that are pulling the pints belong to yours truly, if the take doesn’t end up on the cutting room floor!