Click here for the Austrian Beer Guide.
Click here for the Swiss Beer Guide.
Despite being brought up by two teetotal parents, I have over the years developed a taste for beers, in particular
Real Ales in the UK although my travels abroad have opened my eyes to the incredible variety of styles and flavours
of beers that can be found (if you take the time and trouble to search them out in favour of the national brands!)
This part of my website will be dedicated to the beers that I've sampled as well as beers that I enjoy.
Given the choice I always "let the train take the strain" and leave the car at home. Remember - Don't drink and drive,
you might spill it!
Seriously though, my job driving trains has the bonus of concessionary rail travel which makes it very cheap and easy for
me to get around the UK and Europe (although there are still ways of using the trains cheaply, particularly in Europe) but
the shifts and drugs/alcohol policy seriously restrict my pub visits. This means that I tend to wait until I've got a few
days off then head away on a beer/railway trip, often including a festival of some sort.
Despite Herefordshire being a county with only a few breweries, one of them is only two miles away from my home. We've now
also got some decent pubs in and around the town in addition to the obligatory Wetherspoons - potentially the biggest but
not always the best selection of cask ales in Hereford but at least the beers are a good price! There's also another
Wetherspoons in Ross on Wye (The Mail Rooms, often better than the one in Hereford!) and the Duke's Head in Leominster
opened mid March 2011.
The Herefordshire breweries are:-
Arrow Brewery, Kington.
A small brewery, previously located in nearby Bridge Street but set up behind the Wine Vaults pub by owner Deane Wringht
in 2005. The regular beer is Arrow Bitter (4.0%)
Golden Valley Ales, Peterchurch.
Paul Kenyon started brewing in 2009 at the Bull Ring pub in Kingstone but the brewery has recently moved to Peterchurch
and has now established a good local trade. I'm glad to say that they brew a wicked Oatmeal Stout (4.7%) as well as
several regular beers including Hay Bluff (3.7%) and .410 (4.1%).
Hereford Brewery, Hereford.
Jim Kenyon has been brewing since 2000 behind the Victory pub but recently changed names from Spinning Dog to Hereford
Brewery, part of a revamp of the business as well as proudly honouring the city name. Regular beers include Hereford
Original (4.1%), Owd Bull (3.9%), Best Bitter (4.2%) and Celtic Gold (4.5%). Hereford Dark is also often available at the
pub, rotating with a seasonal beer which includes my two favourites, Mutts Nuts (5.0%) and Oatmeal Stout (4.4%). Beers are
bottled as well as distributed by cask.
Mayfields Brewery, Leominster.
Adam Smith started brewing in 2005 but moved from the original base in Bishops Frome in 2008. The beers from this small
family brewery include Copper Fox (3.8%), Ducking Stool (4.2%) and Auntie Myrtles (4.5%) and they can often be found in
Leominster towns pubs.
Saxon City Ales, Stoke Edith.
Hereford's newest brewery started brewing in 2010. Owner Chris Strange has set up a six barrel plant on his Herford Casks
premises. Brewing has increased with Kelvin Skyrme now brewing two additional beers alongside the Strange Brew (3.8%).
Shoes Brewery, Norton Canon.
Owner Frank Goodwin started brewing at the Three Horseshoes pub in 1994 and most of the production is for the pub,
including the rather potent Farriers Ale (15.5%)! Other beers are Canon Bitter (3.6%), Norton Ale (4.1%) and Peploe's
Tipple (6.0%).
Willoughby Brewing Company, Whitbourne.
Andrew McCallum has been brewing since 2008 in a restored barn on the National Trust "Brockhampton Estate" near the
Worcestershire border so it's not often that I encounter their beers Peace Keeper (3.8%), Trust Gold (3.8%) and Tried &
Tested (4.2%). They're not currently brewing but hopefully things will recommence soon.
Wye Valley Brewery, Stoke Lacy.
Pete Amor founded the Wye Valley Brewery in Canon Pyon in 1985 but it was soon relocated to the Barrels pub in Hereford
(previously the Lamb Inn). The brewery has expanded into a regional and is now no longer in Hereford having outgrown the
Barrels! The move to Stoke Lacy in 2002 also saw Pete’s son Vernon take over as managing director. The brewery has four
pubs including the Barrels and the Britannia in Hereford, the Rose & Lion in Bromyard and the Morgan, just over the county
border in Malvern, Worcestershire. The core ales Butty Bach (4.5%), HPA (4.0%) and Wye Valley Bitter (3.7%) are joined by
regular seasonals and the Dorothy Goodbody's range including the tasty Wholesome Stout (4.6%). In addition to this, the
beers can be found all over the county as well as in bottles.
I've also got another nine "local" breweries within 30 miles, all in neighbouring counties:-
Freeminer Brewery, Cinderford, Gloucestershire.
Hobsons Brewery, Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire.
Joseph Herbert Smith Traditional Brewery, Hanley Broadheath, Worcestershire.
Ludlow Brewing Co, Ludlow, Shropshire.
Malvern Hills Brewery, Malvern, Worcestershire.
Rotters Brewery, Talgarth, Powys.
St Georges Brewery, Callow End, Worcestershire.
Tudor Brewery, Abergavenny, Gwent. (brewing due to recommence soon)
Whittingtons Brewery, Newent, Gloucestershire.
While a fan of local breweries, I also enjoy visiting other breweries and the occasional beer festival when on my
travels, although this drops off in the Summer months in favour of trips abroad (not as many dark beers around in the UK
during the Summer anyway). My three favourite European countries for beers are the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria
with the last of these edging out the other two as my all round favourite country.
Welcome to my Beer pages! Click here for the latest news.
I've even drafted out an Austrian Beer Guide and while not up to the standard of Steve Thomas's "Good Beer Guide Germany" I am very pleased with the result as it's helped navigate me to several places that I'd never have found otherwise. If you would like a copy of the guide (which is currently free during it's development stages in exchange for information for the book) then please e-mail me. I also have rough versions for Switzerland and the Czech Republic/Slovakia but as with most things, it's a case of finding the time - not always easy when working variable shifts.
Life is full of surprises and this is one that I found in Denmark - A Hereford Beefstouw is a chain of restaurants and brewpubs named after my home town!
When is a barrel not a barrel? Something that had always confused me were the various barrel and cask sizes so I ended up doing a bit of research into the historical names and sizes:-
Pin (4.5 gallons = 36 pints),
Firkin (9 gallons = 72 pints, often referred to as a nine and the common size for a cask),
Kilderkin (18 gallons = 144 pints, often referred to as an eighteeen and getting difficult to lift!),
Barrel (36 gallons = 288 pints and the size used to define brewing capacity),
Hogshead (54 gallons = 576 pints),
Butt (108 gallons = 1152 pints),
Tun (216 gallons = 2304 pints)
And just to make things difficult, some microbreweries now also offer polypins of 18 pints as well as 36 pints so make sure you know your pin size!
I did have various links to some of my Fotopics collections but with the company folding I'm currently searching for a new photo hosting site.
© Neil Aitken 07/06/2007