Exeter & East Devon Branch

Local News

Pub News

The Crediton Inn played its part in the Crediton Festival with a 17 ˝ ton refrigerated lorry on site carrying Doom Bar for the thirsty Vikings and Saxons taking part in the re-enactment of a 10th Century battle. In addition this CAMRA listed pub had eight ales on hand pumps for the festival week with seven of them promoting beers from the Southwest.
St Austell Brewery has bought 4 pubs from Punch Taverns for an undisclosed sum, 3 in Cornwall, and 1 in Devon, that being the Holly Tree Inn, Exmouth. It is clearly a time of transition, but on a recent lunchtime visit St Austell HSD was on (and in superb condition). One of the new spare handpumps will have Proper Job, and the others will have rotating beers. These will be not only from St Austell but breweries such as Exmoor. The cider is now Taunton Traditional - cask conditioned and served through a proper handpump, as opposed to the Addlestones Cloudy which had a fake pump. The current licenses Mark and Tina are staying and we wish them well with their new adventure.
The former Hogs Head Inn in Fore Street is now the Chevalier and Wetherspoon's newest pub in Exeter. As with all Wetherspoon's pubs the name is steeped in local history coming from a Chevalier House, which existed on the site in 17th Century. The Chevalier Inn occupied the site in the 1930's and early 40's before it was destroyed in the Blitz in May 1942. If you want to know more then visit the excellent www.exetermemories.co.uk website and search for pubs!
Hopefully by the time you are reading this the Redwing will have re-opened. New licensee Liane Asel lives in the village and knows how good a pub it was in the past. With the help of villagers and some assistance from CAMRA members she intends to bring back and even surpass the glory days of old. We wish her well.
Exeter Arms, Middlemoor, Exeter was keg, but now has St Austell Tribute, Butcombe Bitter and Old Speckled Hen.
Fat Pig, Exeter; has recently had beers from Fremington Brewery, which is apparently being run by Lawrence Wetherstone ex Topsham & Exminster Brewery.
Ruffwell Inn, Thorverton: Has been sold.
Cowick Barton, Exeter; Under new management who have managed to get a relaxation of their tie to only one ale (Courage Best) and lager. Bombardier is a regular plus 2 guests. On the day our reporter (when did we start getting reporters - Ed) visited they had Teignworthy Gun Dog which was very good.
Chaucers, Exeter; on a recent visit had Marston's Dragons Tails and Jennings Golden Host, plus Ringwood Best and Hobgoblin.
St Loyes, Exeter; is now bricked up. Yet another casualty.
Royal Oak, Heavitree, Exeter; has a new female licensee. She is very keen, and has added Otter Bright to the regular beer list. There are now 5 ales on over the 6 handpumps.
Ship, Axmouth; Open again, with a new landlady who previously was at Candlelight in Bishopswood.
Stowey Arms, Exminster, under new management.
Halfway Inn, Aylesbeare; Re-opened.

Brewery News

Branscombe Vale: Trade improving generally, but not as good as last year. One wholesaler went down owing them significant money, and he used to buy 50 or 60 firkins a month so that business is missed, but the good pubs seem to be holding their order levels.
Exeter: Busy operating as normal. 4 brews still available.
Exe Valley: Carnival King 4.5% was brewed for the Silverton Street market, which took place on 1st August. The beer has been available since July and will remain available through the autumn.
Gargoyles: Still brewing Summer Ale and Best Bitter. In view of current fiscal circumstances, Roger does not anticipate a quick sale for the brewery so is happy to continue brewing. His beers were well received at Tuckers and our own Beer at the Castle festival.
O'Hanlon's: Those of you who saw Gerry's Big Decision (a Channel 4 TV series featuring Sir Gerry Robinson) on 9th June, will know that he has purchased a stake in the brewery. As part of the restructuring Liz takes over the day to day running and they have ceased brewing Royal Oak and Thomas Hardy. O'Hanlon's do not own the recipes for these ales and the current owners want "too much money". Storm Force is a one off beer of approx 5% brewed to sponsor the rider of the horse of this name in the Badminton Horse Trials. It will only be available in the Exeter area for a couple of weeks so may be hard to find. (I sampled it in the Powder Monkey, Exmouth, in late July and it was a lovely ale.- Ed).
Otter: The brewery doesn't seem to be affected by the recession with sales still going well. Two new additional 100-barrel fermenters have been installed to satisfy demand. Barbeques are being re-introduced this Summer, at a cost of Ł12 to Ł15 per head for proper barbeque food and as much beer as you can drink.
Warrior: As reported in the previous issue we were waiting to hear James's long term plans…and the bad news is that he will be remaining in Cornwall and the branch has lost a brewery. However, the good news is that he will continue brewing and Cornwall branch have gained a brewery !

Greg & his firkins Topsham has a new brewery. By the time you read this Greg Towning (right) will have gained registration from HM Customs, should have completed his tests brews and started his regular brews. The brewery initially will start very small with only a 0.5 BBL. However if things develop then he will certainly consider increasing its capacity but that's all in the future.

I asked Greg why he was doing this especially when he was quite happy brewing hand crafted beer in small amounts, which friends were enjoying and without any paperwork ?

"Good question. The answer is I want to at least try and step up. I would rather do that and fail than be left wondering what if… I have had folks who have tried my beer and have been complimentary. However, I realise I can take nothing for granted and I also realize that things will be different in some ways. Gone will be the brews matured in an oak cask gently resting on a bed of rose petals for over three years (okay I was joking about the rose petals, I really use jasmine flowers!). I will have to be able to produce quality beer certainly a little quicker and possibly under more pressure than before"

Asked where we can expect to find the beers and what they will be called, Greg replied:

"I had this idea to keep the beer really local - that is only available in Topsham. I have had a few offers from outlets in Topsham to take my bottled beer. I think I might go a little further a field and supply a firkin or two to some local real ale festivals. Overall I want to keep it "LocAle". I would be honoured if my beer was sold in any of the 3 GBG pubs in Topsham, however I am assuming nothing. I know the quality has to be good and also that brewer's nirvana; consistency. The titles for the beers too will draw heavily on Topsham's (t)ales - but you will need to wait and see. In my quest for a reasonably quick turnaround and consistency I think its good bye to some of my more off the wall beers: Bourbon and vanilla Imperial stout; Chilli and chocolate porter (made with real dark chocolate); the very strong Parsnip pale ale and the Coconut stout… but then again you never can tell!"

We all wish Greg good luck in this venture, or as the man himself would put it -Wassail!

The Real Ale Alliance

The Real Ale Alliance is the newly established real ale society on Exeter University campus. It only became affiliated to the Students' Guild at the end of last term, which is why you might not have heard of it. CAMRA will be helping the alliance raise awareness of real ale (and lager) amongst students.