Guest Book

Steve Dyson in Solihull
Re Naomi Tennant,Harry Brislands Grandaughter I am the author of the article Naomi cites.It is about three years since Solihull CAMRA visited the Turkey Brewery. As a CAMRA branch we do support small breweries. Unfortunately on this ocassion there were a few problems re the beers available in the pub. In the brewery Harry opened a fresh barrel for us which was absolutely beautiful. We could not understand why the beers in the pub were below par. We could only conclude that maybe the flies in the brewery had somehow infected the beer. I visited the brewery some years ago on a CAMRA canal boat holiday and Harry took us on an impromptu tour of the brewery which was great including the beers behind the bar. In fact I remember a cracking stout being available. On the recent ocassion mentioned it is fair to say that we paid for a buffet which came with a free pint. All other beers we purchased. With my consumer hat on I have to say that I would not expect a pub to sell below quality beer to any customer which the breweries beers were on this particular day. None of us wanted to upset Harry hence we had the guest beer instead.

Naomi Tennant in Harry Brislands Grandaughter
The beer at the turkey is fine so do not say that the brewery was not clean.!!! There will have been flies about because the doors open..Deeerrrr...!!! and also to stop the smell of the brewing beer going into the pub.... Thankyou very much...NaomiTennant...P.s never say a bad word about anybody..!!

Billie in erpingham, Norwich, norfolk
We are holding an ocktober fest in conjunction with woodfordes brewery on October the 31st with every ale they produced. An all day family event with hog roast,entertainment and the "Ugly Dogs" skiffle band playing live, morris men etc.

Robert Barnes in Cabo Roig, Costa Blanca, Espana.
Greetings from a very warm Costa Blanca. A most splendid site, well done to you all. Quite a few changes have taken place since I left Solihull, to follow the sun! Did I miss the Red House in your listing? A decent pint of bitter there I remember! I look forward to my next return to Solihull, where with CAMRA´s work, I can rest assured, to quaff a few decent beers. Best regards, Don Roberto Barnes.

Lindsay Seagrim-Trinder in South Wales
Sorry to be the bearer of sad tidings but I thought everyone would want to know of the sudden death, early yesterday morning, of CAMRA stalwart and all-round good egg Clive Deacon. Don't know the funeral arrangements yet but will try to remember to post them as soon as I know.

Phil Morris
As webmaster of my local branch I am very impressed with this web site and can see why you got the award in Cardiff. I stayed in Acocks Green a few times over the last couple of years and having feared I wouldnt find much of interest was absolutley delighted at the variety of pubs and good beer in the area especially the wonderful Bernies real ale off licence. I got to know him quite well and brought many flagons back up north. One note of advice, I read you had problems running out of beer at your festival a couple of years ago but cant do sale or return. We get a few extra barrels from the local brewery on sale or return and stilage them so the condition is OK. These are duplicates of beers allready on. If beer runs out we open them, if not the brewer takes them back. Look forward to being in that area again soon and visiting some of the brilliant pubs I found in the good beer guide.

Colin Monaghan in Phoenix, Arizona
I hear you, John from Hermantown. I used to live in Acocks Green (near Solihull) and went along to one or two of the local Birmingham CAMRA meetings during my last 3-4 years of living there. I also remember that there was a good variety at the CAMRA real ale fest at Aston University. Real Ale has really become more popular over here in the last 10 years. Before that in the south-west, there was really only Oregon, with one or two microbreweries in Colorado, California and here in Phoenix. Today we have a lot more ales available. Some of the better British Ales have been imported and are fairly widely available on draught, like Guinness, Bass and Newcastle Brown. There are some real ales though that are taking off over here, that are brewed locally. These are from the Four Peaks Brewery. Ales like Kiltlifter, Celtic Ale and 8th Street ale. Kiltlifter is my favourite. Almost red with a burnished creamy froth and deep satisfying flavour. One pint leaves you glowing. (Well, maybe two). Going back to England, there is one beer, very different to Kiltlifter, that I miss. It was available via Witherspoon's chain of pubs, particularly at the Halloween Beer fest, Hook Norton's 'Old Hooky'. There are a lot of British Beers available in bottles / cans, but I haven't come across Old Hooky yet. Amazingly some of our supermarkets carry a huge range of Sam Smith's. I guess some Brtitish ales are more well travelled than others. Although things are in their infancy over here, compared with back in England, they are beginning to develop. There is now a beer festival each Autumn in Phoenix. I don't know how big it is, since I haven't been able to get there yet, but there's likely info about it on the internet. Like John, from Hermantown, I think that your advice could be very helpful in either arranging and / or organising beer fests and other CAMRA style events. Perhaps your branch of CAMRA might suggest a marketing launch for one or two of the breweries in England that do not have exposure over here at forthcoming beer fests / events. I'm sure the organisers of these events would love to have British real ales represented. It would be a way of getting an expenses paid trip, something finally in recognition for all your beer expertise! I might sound daft, but crazier things have happened! In any case Good Luck and thanks for all the good work that you do do in the Midlands to keep real ale alive.

John in Hermantown, Minnesota, USA
Cheers. You have a wonderful site. The USA could use more upstanding citizens like you. I'm impressed by your dedication to the pursuit and consumption of fine brews. Would you consider an American chapter of your organization? We would consider having Gordon come and launch our effort!

Kevin in Solihull
Steve, sorry you were disappointed by the beer running out. Fortunately there was still real ale at the Legion bar, and many people stayed to enjoy the live music.

Sadly, sale or return isn't an option: real ale needs to be prepared in advance, so you can't just keep a few casks unopened in case you need them.

We aim to have a small surplus at the end of the festival - if there is much left over, most of it will just be poured away :( - so choice is bound to become smaller as the festival goes on. Our best guide to quantities is attendance at the previous festival, and this year saw a large increase in numbers. We always try to learn and improve, so next time there *will* be more beer, and hopefully we'll get another brilliant turnout like this year's so we don't end up with lots left over.

Steve in Solihull
Really disappointing Saturday night at the festival. Have attended several times before and been surprised by depleted volume and choice but to run out completely half way through the session is unforgiveable. I know there'll be the usual excuses about high turnout etc - surely some brewers offer sale/return!!!

George Lloyd in Cofton Hackett
Just a note to say I'm looking forward to this weekends beer fest :) Looks like a good line up (of ales, especially the dark ones)

Gordon in Solihull
Being an keen drinker of bottled beers, I am often skeptical of the benefit of bottle-conditioning that CAMRA are so keen on. I have suffered significantly more bad samples of bottle-conditioned beers than pastuerised beers, but have noticed little benefit due to the bottle-conditioning. I was, however, delighted by the sample of Purity's UBU, which I understand is microfiltered rather than bottle-conditioned or pasterurised. Perhaps this is the way forward?

Roger Dipple in Solihull
My view is still the same. I would rather a pub serve real ale in good condition using cask breathers than serve it in poor condition or not at all. In any case, who could tell the difference in a blind tasting?

Toby Jugg in Solihull
I'm contemplating covering the issues of cask breathers and pasteurised bottled beers in a forthcoming edition of my "Beerhunter" column. I'd welcome any input from CAMRA members on either or both topics.

Dave Shephered in Brampton
Re cask breathers, its all very well CAMRA saying they are purists but its not them standing the loss when a beer peaks after just 3 days. Preventing bacterial contamination with cask breathers surly in this day & age of super bugs must be infinately better than leaving a cask open to the elements. If you left a jug of milk out for 3 days would you drink it?

Roger Dipple in Solihull
Clive and Mary at the Winged Spur, Ullenhall are doing a great job with a good variety of well-kept real ales and excellent food. The variety of fresh fish dishes is particularly impressive and the menu suggest bottled beers (including Leffe) or wines to accompany your meal. Well worth a visit if you haven't already tried it.

Robert Cawte in Shirley
I was interested by this comment on the myths buster page: "Why is beer froth always white?" The answer is, American beer might be, but ours are all sorts of colours (well, shades of white-brown) - sometimes a point of note in the GBG. Variety is the spice of life.

Tony in BIRMINGHAM
hi to all you real ale drinkers.. lets hope the beer list for next solihull fest is put on this site so that all the tickers/non tickers will not be put off from not going to solhulls fests in the future..

Trevor Deeley in Tanworth in Arden
Just visited "The Old Royal Oak" Wood End.The licensee is upset to say the least. The pub has just been re-decorated and during this someone has stolen the old pub sign."The Warwickshire Lad",mentioned in your report.On the subject of your report,if your reporter had visited the week after he could have enjoyed my favourite."Batemans XXXB.

Webmaster in Solihull
Duly noted, Phil. I've changed the references I can find to your location, and dropped a line to the Editor of the Drinker.

Phil in SOLIHULL
I would just like to point out that the Harvester, Tanhouse Farm Rd is in Solihull, not Olton. Also it would be nice if I can have regular copies of the Solihull Drinker for my customers to read. Thank you

Malcolm Glass in Bromsgrove
Cracking web site - first time i've stumbled across it. When I lived in Solihull I was one of founder members! Glad to see you so obviously thriving.

Kevin in Solihull
Actually, I believe it's the third after the Fleur de Lys and the Red Lion in Earlswood.

Gordon in Solihull
*** Newsflash *** The Black Boy is now a smoke-free zone. Is it the first pub in the Solihull area to do this?

Kevin in Solihull
Even though CAMRA disapproves of cask breathers, I've heard they don't have too serious an effect on the beer. If this is true, and it allows an outlet with low turnover to stock cask-conditioned ale, I say "go for it"! Does anyone know somewhere round here that uses them? I'd be interested to try it out.

Roger Dipple in Solihull
The purists in CAMRA don't like the use of cask breathers to stop air getting into the beer. Personally I would rather a pub use cak breathers to maintain the condition of the ale for longer, rather than serve it in poor condition or not at all, because they cannot sell all the ale before it loses its condition. Where do you stand on the matter?

Graham in Solihull
Has anyone noticed the Budweiser advertising slogan "Fresh Beer Tastes Better"? You have to admit it's very honest of them to admit it!