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beer stories: news
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BEER NEWS - May 2009
Bucking the trend
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Never far from the news for one reason or another, BrewDog entered the on-trade in 2009, and national listings followed, with wholesaler Waverley TBS being first out of the traps to give a home across the nation to the
'Beer for Punks'. BrewDog says it turned down advances from the likes of the mighty JD Wetherspoon in favour of securing more favourable terms with the Mitchell and Butlers pub group, who
will be key partners in bringing its beer to a wider audience. Listings with regional wholesalers such as Wallace's Express in Scotland and LWC in England have allowed BrewDog to penetrate many different on-trade
sectors in 330ml bottles, 30l kegs and the traditional cask format. Retail-wise, the brewery's onward match now sees Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury's and Oddbins stocking thier
beers. Richard McLelland, UK sales and marketing manager, said "It is important for us to bring craft brewing to the fore in the UK. People can go
out and experience the product right away and supermarkets offer that vehicle." Is the sky is the limit for the boys from Fraserburgh?
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Exmoor celebrates
Wiveliscombe-based Exmoor Ales made it a double celebration at the prestigious Tuckers Maltings beer festival on April 23rd when two of their beers won awards. Exmoor Stag, an amber-coloured strong ale,
won silver in the Strong Bitters category, while the hefty, midnight-hued Beast took silver in the Strong Ales category.
'We were thrilled to receive the awards for our two strong beers, Beast and Stag,' said the brewery's Managing Director and owner Jonathan Price, 'it just goes to show sometimes that the old ones still
remain the good ones. Both these beers have been in the Exmoor Ales line up for around 20 years so it is quite a tribute to our head brewer Adrian Newman, and his team, that they have kept the beers constantly splendid.
Stag is Adrian's favourite amongst our beers, while Beast is possibly mine. This definitely is an occasion for a drink!"
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Champion of England
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A man who raised thousands of pounds for charity has been voted as the Bombardier Champion of England following a nationwide search to mark St George�s Day.
Frank Basey from Selby in North Yorkshire walked from Land�s End to John O�Groats to raise money for the Royal British Legion in 2008, and this mammoth walk earned him a place on the short-list where he was up
against eight other �Champions� from across the UK. The Bombardier
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Champion of England awards were established to recognise the extraordinary efforts made by 'unsung heroes' in the community that demonstrate all that is great about England.
Following an online public vote by thousands of people, Frank was presented with his award by another Champion, Sir Geoff Hurst, at a star-studded gala lunch.
Speaking before the awards ceremony, Frank said: "This is a great honour. My charity work is a tiny fraction of the amount of tremendous hard work by thousands of people that happens every day
across the country. I would like to dedicate it to the thousands of British servicemen and women who are serving or have served for our country."
Paul Wells from Wells Bombardier, the beer behind the awards, said: "We have been overwhelmed with nominations and it really showed the richness of England's people."
Tooti Fruity?
London brewers Meantime have teamed up with like minded artisanal food producers Sulqui to launch a range of bespoke beer ice creams.The idea for beer ice cream cropped up when the boys from Sulqui came
a-calling to sell Meantime some bespoke flavours for their well-known pub, the Greenwich Union. Meantime founder Alastair Hook said. "Alex and Henry came to see me and our head chef, Valentin Valtuena, and
we had a real 'chef and brewer' moment. Listening to the two of them talk was like listening to ourselves at Meantime. We liked their passion for the product and the way they were keen about the potential of
small batch production.
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We suggested that Meantime beers would make wonderful bespoke flavours themselves, and far from laughing at the suggestion, they went away and made some."
There are three flavours in the range so far. Coffee Porter and Chocolate Beer ice cream and Raspberry Wheat Beer Sorbet. Sulqui are on +44 (0) 207 183 5161
Another beer and whisky connection
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Perhaps this should be on , but the Het Anker Brewery is going to build Belgium�s first authentic and traditional whisky distillery!
As a result of the successful launch of the Gouden Carolus Single Malt, the brewery decided to build a brand new, traditional whisky distillery. Although there are already a handful of companies in
Belgium who produce whisky, Het Anker will be the first distillery with Pot Stills. The distillery will not be built at the brewery premises at Mechelen, but in the village of Blaasveld (Willebroek).
The location will house the distillery, museum and a visitors center. The renovation of the estate has begun, and the distillery will produce its first spirit on 31 December at midnight.
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