Cumbria Beer Appreciation Group

After a ridiculously busy month at the Masons, I had been especially looking forward to our second event at The Kirkstile Inn at Loweswater. The pub is home to the original Loweswater brewery, now known ad Cumbria Legendary Ales after it’s takeover of the south Cumbrian brewery in 2008.

The pub itself is nestled perfectly at the foot of Melbreak hill in-between Loweswater lake and Crummock Water, a truly idyllic setting. When owner Roger Humphries decided he’d like to run a beer dinner with us, we jumped at the chance.

I’m not sure how much I can add to the sterling work already done by my colleague Dave Bailey, here, suffice to say that it was a phenomenal night. We worked hard to pair up the courses, and I think we did really well. Given the magic of hindsight, I think we all agree that we may have changed one or two details, but only in the pursuit of perfection.

We are now in planning for our next event, as part of the Craft Beer Festival at the Masons Arms from the 16th to the 19th June. Watch this space for more details!

I know! Two blogs in a week!

It is a special occasion though. Tonight, CBAG meet once more at The Kirkstile Inn in Loweswater, the venue for our next event. We’re meeting with Roger Humphreys, owner of the Kirkstile and it’s own brewery, Cumbria Legendary Ales, to discuss what shape the event should take.

I’ll be blogging in stages and posting this when I get back in signal!

It’s now 6pm and thanks to Roger’s incredible generosity, I’m currently settled in my makeshift room above the garage. I was expecting no more than the bare basics, but the room is brilliant, spacious and comfy. If this is makeshift, I’ll be looking forward to stopping in the established accommodation.

I’ve already had a brief sampling of the traditional bar, an excellent pint of Loweswater’s fantastic new IPA, American Invasion (5.0%). Marvellous fruity hops combine effortlessly with the light malts, making this the perfect thirst quencher after my little jaunt around Loweswater lake this afternoon. I’m looking forward to more of that!

I haven’t been able to access the app on my phone to blog any more until now, Thursday lunchtime. I will try my best to remember what happened with accuracy!

After sampling some more of Roger’s brews, we ordered a meal from the Kirkstile’s fantastic menu. It all looked so good, but in the end I plumped for the chicken, leek and bacon pudding, complete with new potatoes, veggies and a beautiful brandy and pepper cream sauce. We then set about tasting a few beers along with some of the menu choices that Roger’s chefs had come up with. It proved trickier than it had at the previous dinner at the Masons Arms. That time we had decided first upon what beers we wanted to feature and then planned a menu around them. Shoehorning beers into a menu was a challenge, but not impossible. We eventually came to a consensus about what would work, though much tasting was required!

I can’t reveal too much, but the dinner will take place on 5th May, in the middle of the Kirkstile Beer Featival. The theme will again be beer and food matching, this time with 8 courses. Our beers have been carefully picked and there are some very bold choices, which I’m sure will delight the palate. There are only 25 places available for this dinner and we expect demand to be high after our previous success at the Masons. If you would like to come along, please get in touch with the Kirkstile in as soon as possible.

The night was rounded off with a couple more pints of the frankly superb American Invasion. A great chat with a few locals too. All in all it’s a great pub, full of history and character. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I was in a room not normally used for accommodating guests, but it was excellent and I was certainly well provided for. A hearty Cumberland Breakfast awaited me this morning and welcome it was too.

I honestly can’t wait for the main event in May now. I hope I can blog a little more, confirm a few details as time goes on, but for the time being, please trust me: this is not to be missed.

Today has been a good day over all. It’s had it’s ups and downs though.

I’m not going to dwell on the negatives, suffice to say however, there are certain people who not even the venerable CBAG could help out of their pre-dispositions toward beer.

I was cheered by a visit to Hawkshead Brewery’s fantastic new beer hall. I was meant to be calling in to pick up some beer mats and a bottle or two of their new Brodies Prime Reserve. It would’ve been rude not to have a pint of the amazing Citrillo while there though.

I had a catch up with my old colleague from the Masons Arms, Mike Williams, in his 2nd day at his new job. He’s a gentleman, and deserves great success. I also had a good chat with Ben, who looks after sales. After my earlier experiences with someone who, at the end of the day, is in the same position as him (albeit for a different brewer), it was a delight to chat with someone who understands beer. Not only what makes it great now but what will make it great in the future.

The Beer Hall is a brilliant outlet, a spacious bar with a shedload of pumps for the quarterly beer festivals. I was bitterly (fnarr fnarr) disappointed to have missed the grand opening event on St. Patricks day through illness.

Hawkshead are a great brewery, with renewed passion for what they do. I’m happy to have their beers on our bar and look forward to sampling new recipes in the future. Just one request (which I’m fairly sure Ben is tired of hearing me say now)… more Citrillo please!

First, an apology. It has been far too long since I have blogged. It has been a very busy couple of weeks at the Masons Arms, the good weather is always a boom time for us.

The first CBAG dinner went off extremely well. I can’t really add much more to what has already been said by Dave Bailey in his excellent post here. All I will say is how much fun it was for us working on the night not only serving an eclectic mix of customers with excellent beer and fantastic food, but also, afterward, to hear their reactions and their favourite pairings. Even the most die-hard and dead-set against trying anything new found at least one beer they genuinely enjoyed, I generally found that the food pairings were a drive behind people’s enjoyment too. Credit should go to both head chef Dave Gribble, who designed the wonderful menu, and Brad McNamee, who led the team that executed the menu on the night so well.

So, we are moving on to our next event. I have had word from Cumbria Legendary Ales, that they will be holding a beer evening at their tap house in the North Lakes, The Kirkstyle Inn on the 5th May, and would like CBAG to be involved. I can’t say any more about this at the moment, but we will be meeting soon hopefully to see exactly what Roger and his crew have in mind for their night. If it is even half as much fun as the last one, I can’t wait!

Our menu is now finalised and in the books!

These are exciting times for CBAG and we hope that you are looking forward to this as much as we are. The menu has been specially prepared for us by the Masons Arms Head Chef Dave Gribble and represents not only the best in Cumbrian produce, but an intriguing and fresh perspective on classic British cuisine. The menu has also been paired with some of the very best beers from both Cumbria and beyond to bring a harmony of flavour which is will heighten the experience to the point of perfection.

The menu will be available in its entirety at The Masons Arms as of this weekend, but to whet your appetite, here’s a little taster of what’s in store…

First Course… Breaded goujons of Haddock with herb mayonnaise… served with a “stange” of Thurstein Pilsner from Coniston Brewing Company

Second Course… A Cup of Classic Celery Soup… served with a schooner of Loweswater Gold from Cumbria Legendary Ales

Third Course… Devilled Crab Cakes with Homemade Chilli Jam… served with the new, improved Punk X IPA from Brewdog of Aberdeenshire

Plus four more enthralling courses, all perfectly matched with some extraordinary beers. We can also lay claim to the fact that we are premiering a new variety on the night, Mr Bailey has a few tricks up his sleeve for us! I’m forbidden from saying what exactly, but I’ve had a sneaky preview and believe me it will be worth the £35.00 ticket price alone!

If you’d like to come along, please give the Masons Arms a call on 015395 68486, email us, or tweet myself (@BarmanAlex) to reserve your place.

Cheers! Alex

Time is marching on! Our very first #CBAG event is now only two weeks (and a day) away and preparations are mounting quickly now. While tickets are being snapped up, we still have a few left and would advise anyone interested to call The Masons Arms as soon as possible on 015395 68486 to avoid disappointment.

You can follow the main movers and shakers of #CBAG on twitter:

Jeff Pickthall (@jeffpickthall) will be leading the event on the night, using his years of experience gleaned from running his own specialist beer bar in London, not to mention as one of the UK’s leading beer bloggers.

Dave Bailey (@HardknottDave) will be on hand to lend both a brewer’s perspective and that of a seasoned foodsmith, having previously run his own commercial kitchen. His excellent beers will be featured during the course of the night, including the launch of a new variety, the very first public tasting!

Neil Bowness (@neil_bowness) is a local designer with Plain Creative. Having worked closely with a number of breweries and beer companies on their branding, he has picked up a great knowledge of beer and will be chipping in with Jeff and Dave whenever he can get a word in edge-ways!

I am also on Twitter myself (@BarmanAlex) and The Masons Arms has its own account (@StrawberryBank), however to get in touch with us here, its best to tweet my personal account as this is checked more often.

Our next mission is to get the word out to the press, look out for us in your local paper or possibly even on the radio in the South Lakes area. We are also looking ahead with great anticipation to future events, with a possibility being a beer dinner at The Kirkstyle Inn, home of Cumbria Legendary Ales in the late spring/early summer. Keep your eyes peeled!

For now, I shall sign off with the knowledge that pretty soon, the phone is going to ring with another request for tickets. Make sure you get one!

Tonight, I sold a bottle of lovely Brewdog Punk IPA to a lady who, she wouldn’t mind me saying, wouldn’t fit the normal age profile of someone drinking that beer. I must say, it was one of my proudest moments both as a salesman and a firm advocate of craft beer.

Her opening line to me was: “I’m not really a beer drinker, but in the summer, I do occasionally enjoy a nice, light, thirst quenching, lager type beer. Do you have anything like that?”

I first enquired, as I often do, as to whether she was driving, which she wasn’t. In the eyes of the law, its none of my business if she’s driving or not, but I don’t like to recommend stronger beers to those getting behind the wheel.

From what she had told me already, I was already thinking about Punk as a nice, lightly coloured, flavoursome thirst-quencher. It was on this basis I recommended it. She then asked me about the difference between bottled and draught beer, as her husband had earlier eschewed a Flying Dog Old Scratch in favour of a pint of Warsteiner when he found out the former was a bottled beer.

I endeavoured to explain the basic differences to her, trying to inform her as best I could what she should expect from this beer. To my astonishment, she did go for it. I thought I’d lost her with the in-depth beer geekery I’d just laid before her.

As she left, she made a point of coming to see me to tell me she’d really enjoyed her Punk experience and she’d be looking out for it in the future.

Job done!

Viva la revolucion and long live #CBAG!

Our first event is now locked in for the 10th March 2011!

Our beer dinner will feature some of the finest beers the UK has to offer paired with the very best of Cumbrian fayre to create a taste sensation that will perfectly showcase the range of flavour that modern beers present.

The venue is, as previously mentioned, The Masons Arms at Strawberry Bank, the Lake District’s Dining pub of the year for 2010/11. Head Chef Dave Gribble has written an eclectic 7 course tasting menu that will not only delight the palate but provide an excellent canvas on which our beer experts can work their magic.

The price will be £35.00 per head to include all beers paired with the meal. There are only 30 places and we have already had several enquiries, so to be sure of a place, get in touch asap!

If you’d like to book, please give the Masons Arms a call on 015395 68486 and ask for Alex or Adam.