OFT gives all clear to beer-tie supply

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) have decided that pub companies which force licensees to buy beer through their landlord are not doing anything wrong.

Britain's pub groups will welcome today's decision but the ruling will be a blow to the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) which used its power as a designated consumer watchdog to make a 'super-complaint' to the OFT over 'tied arrangements' in July.

Read the full article from Times Online

More real ale news and views, plus a calendar of UK real ale events at aletalk.co.uk

Wye Valley Brewery takes top spot at SIBA Awards

The Wye Valley Brewery has been named the overall winner at this year's SIBA Brewing Business Awards. The independent brewer's association singled out the beer producer and fledgling pub operator for a range of inititaives that illustrated an "impressive commitment to marketing and selling great beer".

Best Sponsorship went to Freedom Brewery for its partnering of a three-day summer festival with Heart FM.

Best Support for an Off-Trade Customer award was won by Titanic Brewery for their work with Morrisons to create a range of products to match the seasons and help the supermarket to reinforce its reputation as the first retailer to market with fresh, seasonal produce.






The full list of winners can be found on the SIBA brewing business awards page

For more real ale news & views plus a calendar of all the UK real ale events visit aletalk.co.uk

West Yorkshire: Britain’s brewing capital

Real ale is enjoying a renaissance and West Yorkshire has been christened as Britain’s brewing capital. A recent report from the Campaign for Real Ale showed there were now 34 breweries in the county.

From venerable brewers like Keighley’s Timothy Taylor’s, now in its 151st year to newcomers like Salamander brewery at Dudley Hill, things are looking good.

Read the full article from The Bradford Telegraph and Argus

See more real ale newa and views at aletalk.co.uk

S&N to close Newcastle Brown Ale brewery

Scottish & Newcastle will stop brewing the world-famous beer at the Federation Brewery, Gateshead, by the middle of next year. All operations will be transferred to the John Smith's Brewery, in Tadcaster.

S&N bosses blamed the economic downturn for the decision which marks the end of a 82-year tradition of brewing the ale - affectionately nicknamed Dog - in the region.

Read the full article Here

More real ale news & views at aletalk.co.uk

The question is 'can they still call it Newcastle Brown Ale'?

CyclopsBeer info now showing on aletalk

We're now displaying CyclopsBeer tasting notes for the beers in our database.

An example of a beer with these tasting notes can be seen when viewing Wye Valley's Hereford Pale Ale

Cyclops was developed by a group of industry bodies to help to de-mystify beer.

The principals are simple:

1. Describe the beer in what it looks like, smells like and tastes like using no more than 3 words for each area

2. Make sure the terms used are aimed at the average drinker.

3. When describing the taste use terms such as fruity, strong, refreshing. Only use specific flavour terms such as orange, chocolate, toffee if they can definitely be picked up on the beer.

4. Then scores (out of five) are allocated for Bitter and Sweet depending upon the bitterness units, present gravity and most importantly what it tastes like.

Cyclops is now being widely used by beer buyers to help distinguish between beers and will increasingly become as well used as the 1-10 and A-E of the wine world.

To learn more about Cyclops visit their website Here

To look for a beer on our database, try the aletalk search

For all the latest and best UK real ale news and views, visit aletalk.co.uk