Beer of the Festival
2003
At our 10th Croydon
& Sutton Real Ale Festival held as usual at Wallington Hall last October, a large number of you
voted for "Beer of the Festival", and after several recounts we are pleased to announce that the winner is: Fullers London Porter!
May we take this
opportunity to thank all who attended and helped to make the festival such a
success, and especially those people who took the time to vote for "Beer of the
Festival" - it really helps us when deciding what to order for the next
year!
Presentation to Fullers for London Porter
On Wednesday January 21sth, a party of branch members assembled
at the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick at 12.15pm.
We were met at Reception by John Keeling, Director of Brewing for Fullers and by Simon Robertson-McLeoud, National Accounts Manager for Fuller, Smith & Turner
(which means he is responsible for pushing Fullers beers into all those pubs belonging to the big
pub companies such as Punch and Enterprise). Simon was heavily involved in Fuller's successful sponsorship
of the 9th and 10th Croydon & Sutton Real Ale Festivals.
John Keeling lead the party on a tour of the brewery, which took somewhat longer than the normal public tours as John has a wealth of anecdotes about brewing, beer and the industry in general and just has to tell you all of them! It was, however, a facinating insight into the way Fullers thinks, especially as John, being on the main board has a strong say in how the company is run!
By this time it was 1.30pm and we were in desperate need of a drink so John and Simon escorted us across the road to the "Hock Cellar" - Fullers excellent hospitality centre
in the old ale racking cellars.
Four draught beers were available - Chiswick, London Pride, ESB and Jack Frost and
we were expected to try numerous pints of each, so not to be rude, we of course did just that!
A buffet lunch of soup and sandwiches etc. was served to accompany the ales and we got stuck in!
When we were all feeling much refreshed, the branch chair, Steve Collins made the presentation to John Keeling for "Beer of the Festival" - London Porter.
As you can see he was suitably pleased with the award!
All in all, an excellent visit, many thanks to John Keeling, Simon Robertson-Mcleoud
and Fullers Brewery for everything
As we had been sampling Fullers beers courtesy of Fullers, we thought it only right to sample
them at our expense in a nearby pub, so we adjourned to the "Dove", an ancient pub beside the Thames
a short walk towards Hammersmith from the brewery. After this, we staggered back to Croydon via Victoria,
well pleased with the day's activities.
Pub of the Year
Each year, we select one pub in the Borough of Croydon area as
our "Croydon Pub of the Year" and one pub in the Borough of Sutton as our
"Sutton Pub of the Year". To achieve this much sort after award, the licensee
has not only to have served consistently high quality cask conditioned ale (the
criteria for selection for CAMRA's annual Good Beer Guide) throughout the year
but also to have actively promoted real ale and provided the best possible
conditions to enjoy it.
Croydon Pub of the Year
The "Croydon Pub of the Year" for 2004 is the Claret Free House at 5A, Bingham Corner, Lower Addiscombe Road, Addiscombe, around the corner from Addiscombe Tram Link Stop.
Always a choice of 5 or 6 real ales including Palmers IPA and
4 guest beers - usually from small breweries, plus real draught cider from John Bachelor and Biddenden.
The presentation of the "Pub of the Year Certificate" to the manager John Rand was supposed to take place on Wednesday 21st April. Owing to family illness, John was unable to attend so the presentation will be rescheduled at a later date. Watch this space!
For more information on the pub see www.claretfreehouse.co.uk
Sutton Pub of the Year
The "Sutton Pub of the Year" for 2004 is the Greyhound, 2 High Street, Carshalton opposite Carshalton Ponds.
The presentation of the "Pub of the Year Certificate" took place on Tuesday 18th May.
The presentation was made by branch chairman Steve Collins to the licensees, John and Judy.
The Greyhound is a Young's managed house, standing in a fine position at the end of Carshalton's High Street
opposite the senic Carhalton Ponds
The left hand side of the pub, which contains the Swan Bar where the presentation took place,
is very old but the pub has been rebuilt and extended many times, the last extension adding
hotel accomodation, completed only a couple of years ago. Despite this, the Greyhound retains a pub atmosphere
and is still very much a locals pub although many people from further away come to eat in the restaurant or
stay in the hotel.
The Greyhound stocks the full range of Young's real ales - on the night of the presentation, St.George's Ale was the seasonal beer.
Our thanks go to John and Judy for keeping the beer in such good condition and for the hospitality to the assembled Croydon & Sutton CAMRA members and
locals, providing an excellent buffet to ensure we didn't leave feeling hungry!
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