Of New Arrivals, Travel & Other Stuff

We started April in fine style - a trip to Carmarthenshire to collect beer for some Easter Beer Festivals, and a chance to spend some time talking to the small breweries in the area that we have been dealing with for a while. By extending the trip over two days (Sunday & Monday), we had a bit of time to relax and enjoy the scenery as well. Wales is great - nice countryside, loads of nice pubs, empty (at this time of year at least) roads, and plenty to go and do. Carmarthenshire goes one better - it gives good Castle. Of course they are mostly, if not all, derelict, but therein is the charm. And I defy anyone to find a castle in these isles as dramatic as Castell Carreg Cennen, near Llandeilo. It's well worth a look.

One thing we nearly decided not to do was a visit to the Red Kite Feeding Centre, near Llangadog. Red Kites are a common site in certain parts of the UK, and indeed we occasionally, and increasingly, see them up here on Therfield Heath, so the attraction was diminished. But we decided to go, and boy was it worth it. Over 30, possibly way over, Red Kites descend to feed on 20lbs of Beef at 3pm every afternoon, and the hides are but a few feet from the action - the chance to see these large birds in action at close range was an impressive sight. Indeed we want one up here now. Just need to see how 40-odd Red Kites would dovetail into the Partridge Rearing programme which is ongoing around the brewery.

Alas, it was soon back to work with a bang - or rather a dash up the M6 to Preston early on Tuesday, a few short hours after getting back late on the Monday. But the beer must be delivered! A cock-up on the malt ordering front meant we haven't brewed this week, but we have valued the chance to catch up on the seemingly endless paperwork. On Wednesday we took delivery of a new arrival, in the form of fairly new, but battered (and therefore cheap) ex-Royal Mail van. Even now we are looking out for a suitable black & white cat to nail onto the dashboard. Whilst the van has a fairly low capacity, it will mean we can now be in two places at once - which is what most small businesses have to strive to do...

On the beer front, Isaac's Flying Coach (3.9%, brown, malty and hoppy) has made a return by popular demand, and indeed death threats. Brambles in Buntingford will be one regular stockist, for those of you wishing to seek it out. In other news, we hope to start offering the much mooted range of clothing in the next few weeks - the embroidered logo has been finalised, and no doubt will be the talk of the London, Paris & Milan catwalks this season.

And to finish with for now, an update for those following the wildlife tales of the brewery. The Swallows have arrived! Well, 2 of them at any rate. They've been around for a couple of days, so the rest can't be far away. In the meantime though we are enjoying the hunting of the Barn Owls of an evening, and as I type this, the air is thick with the call of a Skylark or two, and the incessant chirping of the resident Wagtails & Sparrows. Noisy buggers the lot of 'em.

Right. It's Easter weekend, the sun is out, and there's a Beer Duty Return to do amongst all the admin in the office. Oh joy.