Laverstoke Park beers for Christmas and the New Year

The first thing one notices about the beers that Laverstoke Park produces is that they actually do taste like beer.

Now, whilst the idea of beers that taste like beers might be somewhat confusing to some people, please let me explain what I mean.

I speak -or rather, write- as someone with considerable experience as a drinker of beers and as a writer on beers. Sad to say, some beers do not taste particularly pleasant.

I remember one brewer of organic ales who worked very, very hard to brew his beers. But somehow or for some reason he had decided to use smoked malt in all of his different types of beer. The result was not good.

However, it has to be said that the folks at Laverstoke Park know what they are doing!

Their Organic Real Ale is 5.0% ABV. It has a pleasingly light flavour, though the malty character of this finely crafted ale does combine nicely with the yeast and the hoppy goodness, though there's a rather nice and welcome surprise, a fruity undertone that means it will go very well with Christmas dinner, Christmas cake, mince pies and will be a great toast for the Queen's Chirstmas Message!

Next we come to the Laverstoke Park Organic Real Lager. At 4.5%
 it is a good, decent strength and is exactly what a lager should taste like. It has the characteristically lager style taste (not all lagers do!) and it is a light and refreshing beer, ideal for those who know their Continental style beers.  Ideal for drinking with all Christmas foods, and for just drinking whilst you think nice thoughts about what Christmas really means. I would suggest getting in a good supply of this Real Lager and watching every film version of the Charles Dickens novel a Christmas Carol that you can!

www.laverstokepark.co.uk

Fantastic! Caskmarque launches Real Ale Trail Caskfinder App!

The popular CaskFinder smartphone application has launched the World’s Biggest Ale Trail.

Available for iPhone and Android, the World's Biggest Ale Trail offers customers the chance to use their phone's camera to scan QR codes placed on Cask Marque certificates in accredited pubs. There are 7,500 Cask Marque pubs and bars across the UK to choose from to take part in the World’s Biggest Ale Trail.

The app records the number of pubs visited and rewards prizes for milestones of 25, 50 and 100 pubs. Once you have scanned 100 pub barcodes you become a Cask Marque ambassador, which includes the opportunity to spend the day with an assessor, visiting a number of pubs to see how Cask Marque ensure a quality pint.

Real ale is helping to save the great British institution of the pub - the recent Cask Report found cask drinkers are more than twice more likely to visit pubs on a regular basis than non-cask drinkers. With the opportunity to try before you buy, cask is recruiting new drinkers – 10% of drinkers tried it for the first time in the last 12 months.

Cask Marque Director, Paul Nunny, who is responsible for the quality of ale in pubs said: “Cask ale is a British institution which should be celebrated by everyone up and down the country. The CaskFinder app helps customers get the most out of their pub visits and rate their favourite beers, sharing tried and tested favourites with other app users.”

Download the upgraded version of CaskFinder straightaway to start your very own World’s Biggest Ale Trail.

For any further information please contact Anna Jones or Sarah Stevenson at Seal on 0121 616 5800 or sarahstevenson@seal.uk.com

FACTFILE:

CaskFinder is designed to help consumers enjoy and appreciate Cask Ale wherever they may be in the UK! Combining data from the Cask Marque pub quality inspection scheme and the Cyclops® beer standardisation initiative, both industry sponsored bodies, CaskFinder has a host of features to aid customers in the pursuit of ale drinking.

On top of the NEW World’s Biggest Ale trail, CaskFinder has a range of features for any beer enthusiast:

• CaskFinder uses the location-awareness of the smartphone to show customers their nearest Cask Marque award winning pubs – 7,500 to choose from
• Details of the cask beers on sale in each pub
• Description of over 1,000 beers from 250 brewers using Cyclops Beer database
• Rate beers to help other ale fans
• Find similar beers
• Beer Festivals – a complete list with contact details, admission prices and maps
• Beer Blog – from award winning writer, Pete Brown, that gives you an inside track on the beer industry
• Beer of the Week – a featured beer of interest
• New Bar code reader for bottled beers – try it on your Tiger beer to get the full Cyclops descriptors and suggested beers for you to try

Cask Marque was set up in 1998 to promote cask ale but in particular beer quality.

The 7,500 award winning Cask Marque pubs receive 2 unannounced visits a year and the qualified assessors check up to six beers on the bar for temperature, taste, appearance and aroma. Any adverse consumer feedback triggers a mystery drinker visit.

The app allows consumers to keep a pub guide in their pocket with stacks of useful information. Currently 46% of consumers who drink cask ale recognise the Cask Marque plaque (NOP survey)

Brand New Beer Bonanza For Staffordshire!

This year’s Stone Food & Drink Festival promises to be bigger and better than ever, with the inception of a brand new event for beer-lovers – The Titanic Brewery ‘Best of Staffordshire Beer Festival’.

With over a dozen Staffordshire brewers taking part, including Blythe, Enville, Burton Bridge – and of course, Titanic - this new addition will make The Stone Food & Drink Festival the go-to event for ale lovers.

Taste of Staffordshire members, Titanic Brewery, have attended Stone’s premier celebration of all things gastronomic for the past three years, and this year have invited fellow Staffordshire brewers to come along and celebrate the county’s fantastic and distinctive ale offer with them.

Dave Bott, Director at Titanic Brewery, said: “We have always thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the festival, but this year we decided that we wanted to look at the bigger picture and invite other brewers to come and get involved.

“The Best of Staffordshire Beer Festival will add a whole new dimension to The Stone Food & Drink Festival and we would encourage anyone with a passion for real ale to come along and sample some of the best that the county has to offer.”

With a huge variety of beers, from light to dark, bitters to stouts, and various strengths and styles, this year’s Stone Food & Drink Festival, from Friday 30th September – Sunday 2nd October is not to be missed for anyone with an appreciation of ale!

Now in its seventh year, The Stone Food & Drink Festival continues to be sponsored by Taste of Staffordshire, the county’s foremost mark of taste and quality for local food and drink.