Pubs. Pints. People.

This week we're learning all about non-alcoholic brews! We'll be chatting with Rob Fink from Big Drop Brew Co and Stuart Elkington from Dry Drinker. We will also hear from Alison Taffs, landlady at The Hop Inn micropub in Hornchurch who give us her recommendations for the top 10 non alcoholic beverages to try.

This week's episode includes a recipe from our resident chef Sue Nowak, which you can view here: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/09/28/beer-recipe-plum-porter-jelly/

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This week we will be speaking to the pubs surviving lockdown by sitting down with Jen Dalby, landlady at the Hand in Hand in Brighton and Angela and Gary Morton from the Hail to Ale pub in Wolverhampton. You can learn about CART - the Campaign for Real Takehome in 1984 and a review of supermarket brews from 1975. We also have a new recipe from Sue Nowak of beer baked bramleys available at What's Brewing and below: https://wb.camra.org.uk/2020/06/22/beer-recipe-beer-baked-bramleys/

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Beer Baked Bramleys

EVERY Monday lunchtime, regular as clockwork, a smiley bloke wheels a trolley up our path bringing our weekly shop. This is an entirely alien concept for me. I like to shop haphazardly, choosing what’s in season, what’s BOGOF, what’s half price due to sell by date. I love delis, farmers’ markets, the old-fashioned butchers and bakers in Tavistock, the wet fish shop getting its catch direct from a Plymouth trawler. The sort of shopping many of you probably enjoy too, especially if it includes a pub stop for a pint and a pasty, perhaps a game of dominoes. Do you miss pub games? (Incidentally, my brother and I have invented a brilliant game to while away lockdown: we call it Best Films Ever Poker. So, I e-mail him: “I’ll see your On the Waterfront and raise you Gone with the Wind...” But I digress. I’m indebted to the Tesco deliverers, the more so because we don’t live near one of the stores and I don’t actually know where these guys come from. Ordering online is, er, interesting. On the whole they do a great job though we get the odd surprise. My request for a Savoy cabbage was met with frozen shredded; this is not a successful product. I wanted a few leeks and, boy, did I get ’em – three monsters that would have won giant leek at any horticultural show. On the other hand I asked for root ginger (fiddly to peel and chop), and instead received a fragrant little jar of their Crushed Ginger, ready to use. Tesco’s Chief Executive must have been up half the night making that; cheers, sir, I won’t forget. Speaking of my brother, he’s their biggest fan. He shops there so much his Tesco points apparently pay most of the cost of his annual French leave in a gite. (Not this year, Little Bro, you’ll have to drive a camper van to a Tesco carpark near the sea.) Last week I put mincemeat on the list thinking I’d make a nice shepherd’s pie or chilli; lo and behold I received a jar of mincemeat as in mince pies. Was I bovvered? Nah. I’ve run out of dried fruit so I’ll use it to stuff baked apples with a liberal slurp of dark spicy ale – as it happens I’ve got McEwan’s Champion, a big, fruity number (7.3% ABV), winner of a national Tesco beer challenge I helped judge many moons ago, hence the name. Every little helps.

Beer-baked Bramleys

One cooking apple per person; mixed dried fruit (or mincemeat); a few chopped, stoneless dates and walnut halves (if you’ve got any); dark spicy ale; a little soft brown sugar.

Put dried fruit (or mincemeat) in a bowl with dates, if used, add enough ale to cover, and marinate overnight; drain retained liquor. Core apples and cut a line round middle of each with a sharp knife. Stir a little brown sugar into fruit mix and use to stuff the apples; place in an ovenproof dish and pour over retained liquor, scattering any leftover filling mix around. Bake in the centre of a hot oven (200C/gas mark 6) for around 45 to 60 minutes, until the apple puffs up to soufflé softness, the caramelising ale creating a toffee apple effect. Pop a walnut half where the apple stalk was, and serve with thick yellow cream. Cheers – and bon appétit!

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In this episode, Clare Philips, Simon Webster and David King and joined by Fergus Fitzgerald, head brewer at Adnams and creator of the ‘Thank Brew’ pale ale that is being brewed and sold by brewers and publicans to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. Ahead of the Glasgow Real Ale Festival on 16-18 June, they sit down with Walter Ross to learn a bit about the role of a festival steward, a real unsung hero of the festival, being the first port of call for visitors, keeping everyone safe, and doing whatever is needed to keep the show on the road.

Alison Taffs sits down with Adam Green from Old Street Brewery and Oliver Meckler from Symbiose in the Netherlands, to talk about their big celebratory brews, from bourbon-barrelled stouts to champagne-styled beers brewed with grapes.

Find out more about Thank Brew

Find out more about Summer of Pub

Find Summer of Pub events near your with our interactive map

Buy Beer Breaks by Tim Webb, and find out more about the competition here: https://camra.org.uk/publications/beer-breaks/

Find festivals near you: https://camra.org.uk/beer-festivals-events/festival-season/

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This week we're talking about pub as the original grassroots venue for live music. We sit down with Bev Whitrick from the Music Venue Trust along with the award-winning live music band the Harp & Monkey.

You can support this podcast by visiting: https://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people

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You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

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This week we're going to learn a bit more about how breweries can become a bit more eco-friendly. We'll be sitting down with Farr Brew and Purity Brewing to hear about their initiatives, and why CAMRA campaigned to 'ban the can' back in December 1979!

We also have a tasty discount for your next beer case courtesy of HonestBrew! Get £10 off a beer case by visiting https://honestbrew.co.uk/camra10/

We also have a new recipe this week for you from Sue Nowak - Devilishly good pancakes, available below and at wb.camra.org.uk

You can support the podcast by visiting: https://supporter.acast.com/pubs-pints-people

Make sure to follow the podcast for all the latest on Twitter @PubsPintsPeople

You can discover more by joining the campaign for just £26.50/year - visit https://join.camra.org.uk/

UPDATE: Since the interview James Minkin (Jim) one of the founder of Purity Brewing has passed away. Jim was the driver of Purity's eco credentials and was very proud of the developments they had made in this area. Purity is raising money for Pancreatic cancer - you can donate here.

Devilishly good pancakes - by Susan Nowak

I KNOW, I know, and I’m sorry, right? Fourteen weeks you’ve stuck with this darn column and in all that time I’ve never featured a Belgian beer. For many, the greatest brewers on the planet; centuries of turning hops, malt and yeast into ambrosia that might carry on fermenting in darkened cellars for years to become the equivalent of a vintage champagne or brandy. Brewers who know more than brain surgeons, create richer notes than a Stradivarius, greater poetry than Shakespeare, but are they good enough for Ms Nowak? The woman’s a philistine. Happily, I can put that right with just one little word. Duvel. See? I’m forgiven. And during Lockdown uncapping those dumpy little bottles has released a genii rather than the ‘devil’ for whom it’s named – apparently for no more sinister reason than that when it was created around 120 years ago one of its delighted alchemists yelled: “Wow, this is devilishly good.” Though at 8.5 per cent this smooth talking charmer, teasing the tongue with cloves, pepper and spice, could seduce an innocent. This classic golden ale was first made at Moortgat brewery in the 1870s, something like 120 years before we coined the term here. It wasn’t until 2007 it gained a sibling, Duvel Tripel Hop, at 9.5 per cent even stronger than big brother. However, the Tripel does not refer to its strength but to the fact that it contains three hops: Saaz-Saaz, Styrian Golding and one other that changes every year. In 2016 that third hop was Citra grown in Yakima Valley, Washington, bringing hints of grapefruit and tropical fruit to the party; it quickly became clear that Citra was the ultimate tripel hop so Duvel Tripel Hop Citra is now permanently in the range. Beer improves every sort of batter from Yorkshire pudding to fish ‘n’ chips, and here the original Duvel lightens some rather posh pancakes made with both wholemeal and plain flour, wrapped round smoked salmon and asparagus. That legendary ‘beer hunter’ the late Michael Jackson, who was passionate about Belgium’s beer culture, called Duvel “the world’s most beguiling beer” - so I’ve served it in his glass.

Devilishly good pancakes (makes around half a dozen)

20g each of plain and wholemeal flour; a grind of black pepper, grating of nutmeg, pinch of mixed spice (to echo the beer’s spiciness), and half a teaspoon of salt. One large egg, 100ml buttermilk (or ordinary milk), 200ml Duvel, around 200g sliced smoked salmon, 8-10 trimmed asparagus spears, small tub crème fraiche, lard and butter for frying; red salad leaves and sliced lemon to garnish.

Put flour and flavourings into a mixing bowl then add the egg, buttermilk and Duvel, stirring to create a pancake batter. Leave to chill for at least an hour - you may find the batter slightly too thicken by then, if so add a drop more Duvel. Whilst the batter is chilling parboil the asparagus then drain. Heat a smallish frying pan (around 25cm diameter), add a knob of lard, heat until melted, then the same amount of butter, and let...