tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68481067298651320952011-04-22T00:20:08.873+01:00Days In The Life Of An English BreweryBuntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.comBlogger601100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-89431161926794344282009-02-18T17:38:00.003Z2009-02-18T17:40:53.038Z

Yup. After ages of doing nothing, the Brewers Blog is moving to new home, where it will no doubt be equally ignored. That said I am getting death threats now for my lack of posting, so I will try harder in the new home:brewersblog.buntingford-brewery.co.ukThe decorators are still in by the way....

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-78152979513958357562008-12-04T18:17:00.002Z2008-12-04T19:14:23.127Z

...and here is the plot synopsis.There is a country, which has a government. This government is seemingly made up of people from one nation in this country - a nation which also has it's own government (unlike the other 3 nations that make up this fictitious country). The public at large don't seem to find this strange, but then they are more interested in people who are famous for no obvious

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-40411858857260350852008-12-04T17:38:00.002Z2008-12-04T18:16:52.433Z

Sometimes you have to wonder why people do what they do - like, for example, take on a pub tenancy. For they are entering into the shadowy world of the 'Pubco', and, admittedly with their eyes open (but temporarily blinded by 'promises'), a very weird business world indeed. A world where you are forced to buy product (ie beer, cider, etc) at very high prices, a world where if you do well your

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-72977363852886132002008-11-27T11:09:00.003Z2008-11-27T15:06:06.040Z

It can't have escaped your notice that Alistair Darling has decreased VAT to 15% in order to save all our lives, and it can't therefore escaped your notice that has been a massive rush of folks saying 'Well done, Darling. That's just the ticket'. What? You hadn't noticed that second bit? No, well neither have we, mostly because no-one in the business world feels it will make a big difference.

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-70714158720609288272008-10-21T19:02:00.003+01:002008-10-21T19:45:34.167+01:00

I was just having a sly rummage in Google earlier, and I discovered we are listed in the Swedish langauge 'area' of Wikipedia. Brewery in Swedish is Bryggeri - which would possibly make me a Brygger, something many may think rather close to the truth!Of course, looking for yourself (or your company), is possibly a vain excercise, but one I suspect we have all done at some point, and at least I

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-39179055241146922872008-10-21T13:04:00.003+01:002008-11-27T11:09:18.350Z

Slowly catching up (see below for the first bit...)!November News:The beer supplied to Tesco (my, didn't it take some time to get the first order - thought we'd run out of date...) has sold well. Not that we have seen any official figures, but feedback from across Herts & Cambs and parts of Essex suggest that once on the shelves, stock was sold in a few hours, then shelves sat empty until the

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-65636011366212722632008-10-21T12:25:00.002+01:002008-10-21T13:04:38.925+01:00

So much to report, so little time to do so. So here is the first part of a few updates etc, some of which I may expand on in due course...A Beer A Day is the title of the latest book by Jeff Evans (published by CAMRA), in which he suggests 366 different beers to try over the year, with some historical facts to tie them with. Of course these things are subjective, and we'll all have a different

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-92054835608025882492008-09-29T18:24:00.004+01:002008-09-29T19:04:07.645+01:00

You may have noticed an absence of blog through August and most of September. I would like to say this was due to there being no internet access at the tropical beach paradise we decamped to for that period, but it would be a lie. We've all been very busy brewing, selling, delivering, cleaning etc etc. Whilst this is still the case, a few minutes have been found to ramble on in, so here we

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-41404302672775845752008-09-29T15:29:00.002+01:002008-09-29T18:24:01.945+01:00

...And once again we have forgotten to send in our entries - although we did know about in plenty of time, so it's our fault.This is a real pity, as this year we had some really viable art installations and mass pieces, such as:Look At What We Have A Pile Of - in which we collect all the spent hops from 3 months brewing, and make a pile of compost in an empty room, that cannot be seen into,

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-3498772367629725662008-09-24T11:42:00.004+01:002008-10-21T13:17:49.935+01:00

No posts for ages, then I come back really, really, really angry. Oh, yes - and a few more reallys for good measure.You see someone has raised all the hackles today, and whilst this is not the place to do our dirty laundry, the repercussions need some explaining.So, basically, because of numerous false accusations, lies, rudeness to our staff, and not being provided with the right information (

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-2873161320937199442008-07-28T17:45:00.002+01:002008-07-28T18:36:28.479+01:00

According to a report from the BBPA (British Beer & Pub Association), the pub trade saw a 10.6% drop in sales from April - June, compared to the same period last year. And over the first 6 months of 2008 there has been a 9.6% overall drop in sales. This compares with a rise in sales in the off-trade (ie shops, and supermarkets) of 7.6% in the same 6 month period. Now of course given then

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-9793315380993076442008-07-26T13:00:00.002+01:002008-07-26T13:27:50.746+01:00

Well, I was to tell a couple of jokes, but it appears that they will probably cause offence, and so telling them would no doubt have me shot or locked away for several years - even though they may only cause offence to the sort of people who feel beholden to get offended on behalf of others, without consulting them first. And given that I can't think of any jokes that would avoid poking fun at

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-27084744868126175712008-07-24T18:48:00.004+01:002008-07-24T19:11:31.388+01:00

So far, it's been a slightly disappointing year - the Barn Owls (indeed all the owls) had seemingly vanished, and no Marsh Harriers or Hobby.OK, so we had more Lapwing chicks in close view than you could shake Bill Oddie at, and there have been loads of Reed Buntings, plus Sedge & Reed Warblers nesting in the reeds. But it was the big stuff that impressed folk last year, and this year we could

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-50853106747129523302008-07-24T15:04:00.005+01:002008-07-24T18:47:19.595+01:00

There has been much talk of going carbon neutral of late. And as a result many large corporates now claim to carbon neutral. But are they? It's all down to 'off-setting' - which in very simple terms allows an energy efficient company, that is below it's CO2 limit, to sell the excess CO2's to a company that is not so efficient, and either over it's limit, or perhaps more likely, keen to show

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-23685194380039383932008-07-17T14:25:00.002+01:002008-07-17T15:49:27.858+01:00

...Is actually a bit sparse.It has been noted, accurately, that this year - so far - is not going well in the Pub Trade. This may be the smoking ban, it maybe the Daily Mail convincing folk they will be stabbed by a drunken teenager every time they enter the Plough & Taxman. It may be they have read that beer is now £27 per pint, or that Tesco are selling cask beer for less than a tanker load

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-71759465881673988132008-07-17T11:20:00.003+01:002008-07-17T14:01:08.818+01:00

Well, the title might have woken up a few Trekkies, but they will be disappointed and will, as I speak, be e-mailing us explaining how we spelt Troy wrong. If you don't understand any of this, then congratulations, you still have some semblance of a life - which is seemingly a rare thing these days. Anyone else pissed off with hearing Council workers moaning about not earning enough money to

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-47927144807174376472008-07-03T12:41:00.002+01:002008-07-03T12:51:20.052+01:00

If you have been concentrating over the last 6 months, you would know that our Britannia was the first of our beers to be affected by hop shortages. Well, it's back. We secured a small amount of Bramling Cross hops late last year, enough to do a 'few' brews of Britannia. Well, we have just done the first of 2008, and it will be reaching the cellars next week (ie from 6th July). There is a

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-50518441795140239892008-07-03T11:22:00.005+01:002008-07-03T14:31:46.280+01:00

There is, out there, on the interweb, a website called RateBeer. This site is inhabited by some hardcore beer drinkers who record every beer, and publish their opinions on it for the world to see. Now we have known of this site for a while, and like most breweries shudder slightly when anyone mentions it. This is a shudder of fear and foreboding, for the reviews of the beer are at times

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-28701683929977251002008-07-03T10:43:00.002+01:002008-07-03T11:22:35.921+01:00

One of the things that raises the eyebrows of those who come up here for the official 'tour', is that the beer is mostly water. Now admittedly some beers may appear to be more mostly water than most (and this includes a few micro's), but water is around 90% of your pint. This means that in terms of transport, moving beer around the country is much the same as hauling plain old water about -

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-29403618942789863062008-06-24T15:00:00.002+01:002008-06-24T17:56:01.672+01:00

On the beer front, the Britannia Class Range has been going from strength to strength. Lightning was a popular beer, and was almost brewed again but I decided to ignore the requests and so out came Polar Star. It was brewed using wheat malt & maize, so it was something of a new direction for us - and what a beer it was. It is certainly the palest beer I have brewed, indeed one of the palest I

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-69045706383653621862008-06-24T14:20:00.002+01:002008-06-24T15:00:44.144+01:00

Having in the past been proud of our Swallows & Spotted Flycatchers, this year they are noticeably down in numbers. This may of course be a false statement, caused by the noticeable increase in birds of species simply drowning out the Swallow / Flycatcher numbers. So here is a run-down of what we have been seeing in the last few weeks...Sparrows by the shedload - mostly of the House variety, but

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-11113462192911030242008-06-24T14:10:00.003+01:002008-06-24T18:05:13.996+01:00

Well, do you? I know we do.Here then is something of note:http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=38227Of course we all want a fair and equal society, where all can benefit from good healthcare - even lager drinkers. But I can't help thinking the best way to do that is just to say 'Here Is The GP, And This Is Hospital', then allow people in. How can that not be a fair and open policy?

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-29563404915450447122008-06-05T13:16:00.002+01:002008-06-05T13:50:07.086+01:00

No, we've not been on holiday, asleep or even pretending to be the potential next US president. Well, Ok, so we tried to do the latter, but the queue was a bit big. The truth is I couldn't be bothered. Far too busy watching and doing things to actually sit down and write about them. So here is a quick synopsis of what has happened since early March...The Beers:Golden Plover is now a regular,

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-40295085386154940322008-03-13T17:28:00.004Z2008-06-24T18:03:27.096+01:00

By my reckoning, I must now be a D-List Celebrity. Soon the Tabloid press will be publishing photo's of me wearing nowt but a thong, Relaxing on a carribean beach. Of course it will be a fake - partly because I can't afford such a holiday (nor do I have the time), but mostly because there are some things that even the tabloids wouldn't dare publish. But that is not the point. I have studied

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-39773788027099735362008-03-13T16:53:00.003Z2008-03-13T17:28:24.727Z

In hindsight, it appears I may have appeared anti-tax, anti government & anti health. Well, I maybe guilty on one charge there - but the others? No.I fully appreciate we need a tax system to pay for a civilised society. Obviously roads have to be mended and cleaned, rubbish collected regularily, the Police, Fire Service & Armed Forces need full funding to a job that is of prime importance to

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-28429860529372563072008-03-12T13:39:00.002Z2008-03-12T13:58:35.782Z

So, only 4p a pint then. Yippee. Just watch the price of beer in pubs go up, it won't be hard to spot. Now watch what the supermarkets etc do. That'll be a bit harder I reckon. So once again the morally straight, law abiding, sensible majority will pay a bit more to allegedly stop the scare of the week, when those that should be targeted will just be laughing.Still, we've been spared (for a

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-10431023923262682922008-03-11T18:22:00.003Z2008-03-11T18:46:33.006Z

Well, it's early March, and thanks to Global Warming all the early migrant birds have been blown back to Africa, and all we've got here are several million, and possibly more, Black-Headed Gulls. The Reed Buntings occasionally risk an appearance, and we've got a couple of ducks (Mallard, one of each) who have been trying land for 2 days now but keep getting caught in a strong updraught. Because

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-56270662675678532062008-03-11T16:50:00.002Z2008-03-11T18:22:17.651Z

It's ten to five in the afternoon, and in 24 hours time we will know just what the Budget will bring. Will alcohol duty be lifted by a large degree to 'tackle binge drinking'? Will Spirits be left alone, as usual, with other forms of alcohol going up by inflation? And just what is inflation? Does it really include the spiralling costs of anything involving road transport (ie everything),

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-375210154740923642008-02-14T18:40:00.004Z2008-02-14T20:31:45.186Z

There was, not long back, much made in the media of the arrival of the £4 pint in 2008. Much of this was blamed on increasing raw material prices, with a jolly old dash of increased beer duty.So is it really true?Well yes - if you go to expensive clubs, where I suspect four quid a pint is possibly old hat. But for the rest of us peasants in the real world? Well, never say never. So what

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-85914106543993742582008-02-13T19:25:00.004Z2008-02-13T19:44:31.289Z

Follow my post of 12 February 2008 (which was yesterday as of when I wrote this, but given that it might be several years before anyone reads this, I ought to be specific), we can now confirm the arrival of Lapwings. Lapwings spend the winter near water (estuaries etc), and move inland for the spring/summer, where they like to nest in fields (long grass & all that). This is all done communally,

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-76139123303816933822008-02-13T16:05:00.004Z2008-02-13T19:25:03.218Z

So, we have massive hikes in raw material prices, allied with global shortages of the same, spiralling (upwards, of course) fuel & energy prices, an ever-shrinking marketplace thanks to restrictive trading & too much competition (much of it from breweries that aren't run to be commercially viable, but as a 'hobby'). And if that wasn't enough, we have State Nannies hell-bent on over-demonising

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-78662642501333416232008-02-12T12:17:00.000Z2008-02-12T13:10:27.499Z

Now I don't know when Spring really starts. Certainly, there are now signs of trees budding in anger, and we can't hear any cuckoos (but then we don't up here at any other time either). But the crows have started heavy lifting (twigs, crisp bags, small dogs etc) so they must be starting to build something. The Brewery's Guard Robin has got himself a potential nest site (away from us, so we are

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-63375511061326394002008-02-12T10:50:00.000Z2008-02-12T12:17:00.633Z

Given the sudden lack of postings (again), you could be forgiven for thinking we had been visiting Bin Laden at Lord Lucan's new home. But fear not, we have been here all along, just too busy (or too lazy?) to publish any worthy waffle here.Well, not anymore. So what has been happening? Christmas has apparently been and gone (Our friends at Tring had Christmas last week it seems, so we are not

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-9451700887956757662007-11-29T13:46:00.000Z2007-11-29T14:12:43.215Z

Well. The Home Office have just issued guidelines (to the police) on how to spot a drunk. And so, being interested in folk being able to go to the pub without being breathed on/chatted up by/leered at/generally bothered by the local alcoholic ne'er do well, we present some of the 'evidence to look for'. In reality of course this is to enable Police identify anyone who is drunk, and therefore

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-64888940745366946312007-11-29T13:01:00.000Z2007-11-29T13:33:47.718Z

When we first started this blog, it was just to discuss what we were doing on a day to day basis. That seems to have got a bit derailed since then. But don't worry, we have found someone very junior to blame - they will be thoroughly retrained, demoted, sacked, publicly humiliated and then hung out to dry. Meanwhile those responsible for overseeing the junior and giving them the chance to

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-3143550968488894012007-11-29T11:36:00.000Z2007-11-29T12:25:53.535Z

After the initial scares / concerns etc, the hop situation for the next 12 months is starting to become clearer. Yes, some varieties are in very short supply, some are effectively non-existent. And sure, the cost of what is available has doubled or even tripled. But you know what? I think maybe we'll manage. We might go a bit greyer, and maybe the truck will get one less a wash each year,

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-36391382415261750612007-11-28T18:55:00.000Z2007-11-29T13:00:52.003Z

Just some basic figures on Beer Duty for you:Beer Duty has increased 27% since the late nineties (although in return many smaller breweries have been given 50% relief on beer duty.Beer consumption has fallen by 11% in the same period. It has been said that as a result, the net income to the treasury from beer duty has fallen when inflation is taken into account.Duty on spirits, in the same

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-8532492077915565132007-11-22T08:00:00.000Z2007-11-22T19:43:23.193Z

Just a quick thought for today - or any day, in fact:What professions could you live without? I mean, for example, if there were no brewers, we'd have no beer. But the world will still turn, we'd all be able to breathe etc etc. Same for lawyers, salesmen, website designers, PR folk, marketing guys, Girls Aloud, Steve Maclaren etc etc.But what about nurses, fireman, butchers, bakers, food

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-51807970331051405882007-11-20T12:17:00.000Z2007-11-20T13:09:58.965Z

It's no good. I've got to mention Christmas before December. We are after all a commercial venture, and any opportunity to make money has to be grabbed with both hands, and quite possibly the right foot as well.So Christmas. Well, we know how everyone just loves to celebrate Christmas to excess. You know, you have enough food in the house to feed an African village for 6 months, despite the

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-68773794574332303972007-11-19T17:15:00.000Z2007-11-22T18:57:50.132Z

According the mighty font all knowledge brewery wise, www.quaffale.org.uk, 58 new breweries have opened so far this year, while just 7 have closed - so that's an increase of 51. In 2006 82 opened, with 27 closing - an increase of 55. Go further back and it's the late 90's before the opening/closing figures balance. Now of course at first glance this all suggests a very healthy, buoyant &

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-85453719181643063082007-11-19T10:09:00.000Z2007-11-19T11:38:05.909Z

Why oh why do we have to pay charges to pay bills? If we want to pay Business Post online (for example), they charge us extra. Why? Is it cheaper then to pay someone (or a machine) to open envelopes, and process cheques. I don't think so. Some suit has figured it may be cheaper for most companies to pay online, even with the charge (£1 for a Debit Card...), than post cheques. So the charge

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-72793788145590879152007-11-13T15:42:00.000Z2007-11-13T16:06:09.026Z

Back in August we entered the bottled version of 92 Squadron into the 2008 Tesco Beer Awards. Not sure why, but we did. Previous entries into award schemes fell flat because (we have since heard) we took the decision to to filter the beer, rather than providing each bottle with a debatable sediment. You'd think we were manufacturing a pastuerised chemical substance from the reaction such a

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-57477405673566536112007-11-13T10:26:00.000Z2007-11-13T11:02:15.816Z

It would be nice to say I've been on holiday since the last posting. It would also be a lie, sadly. What's needed is more hours in the day, but I guess we'd only have to pay tax on them, so maybe we don't need any more.Anyway, back to the real world. Today, we're going to talk about hops.Hops are rather important to us - they might not add the alcohol or the colour to the beer, but they do

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-15807510607118812842007-08-15T08:46:00.000+01:002007-11-13T16:10:09.416Z

Is a the most apt phrase I can think to describe the recent outpourings of Cheshire's Police Constable, Peter Fahy. Why? Well let us look at his comments (taken from here):(These comments were made to Channel 4 News, as part of a piece on the charging of three teenagers for the murder of a 47 year old). Mr Fahy called for the legal drinking age to be raised from 18 to 21. "Alcohol is too cheap

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-5165711633093098532007-08-13T13:28:00.000+01:002007-08-13T14:24:31.868+01:00

Ooh, would you look at that. It's been a month since the last blog, or whatever it's called. And I'm still not sure what to post.I could say the previously discussed Hobby we have sighted may have been a juvenile Peregrine, according to some observers. I could mention a couple of new beers we have put out - 'Western Harrier', 'Blink Bonny' & the originally titled 'Dark' (hang on, that's three

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-55741345571640070072007-07-14T14:11:00.001+01:002007-07-14T14:32:46.711+01:00

Well, nothing untoward to report, yet...We've just taken delivery of 100 new firkins, courtesy of close brewery rentals, so production should soon be in a position keep up with demand.Silence, Royston Red & Highwayman have been the main brewing activities so far this month, with a batch of 'Western Harrier' currently in one of the FV's. This is a one off pale beer, brewed mainly just to use some

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-71766575525222626762007-07-14T13:56:00.000+01:002007-07-14T14:11:00.946+01:00

You must have noticed it's been a bit wet in parts of late - the recent footage of flooding in Sheffield was, err, well, something else. Indeed we would like to extend our best wishes to the Kelham Island Brewery (and others of course, plus the pubs) who were quite heavily affected, indeed washed out entirely. May they all be back in full operation soon, though I suspect many already are.Of

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-92231063668075826212007-07-14T13:40:00.000+01:002007-07-14T14:31:45.169+01:00

...Well, several actually. Last year our little pond was alive with dragonflies, all performing the aerial dogfights much to our entertainment (and possibly theirs of course). This year, just as their numbers start to rise, they disappear. Then after a few days they come back, and start disappearing again - and so the cycle goes on. I'm no dragonfly expert, but I doubt they are going off on long

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-17986864968451685262007-06-29T01:25:00.000+01:002007-06-29T02:07:07.871+01:00

No, really, I think it has. Sure we've filled a few firkins, washed many more, and (by Friday), done two brews. Plus delivering, empty collecting, getting guest beers arranged, employed someone, looked long & hard at future plans, read the recent Licensing Act throughout, deep cleaned some of the more hidden corners of the brewery, sorted through the foreign (ie not ours) cask pile that is

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-7604172325836914432007-06-29T00:36:00.000+01:002007-06-29T01:22:15.231+01:00

Like any industry containing true family firms, the brewery industry has it's share of characters. Slightly eccentric in many ways maybe, but they all have the kind of passion you just don't get from accountants, lawyers & marketing men. John Young, of the once Wandsworth based brewery Youngs, passed away last year, on the day that the last beer was brewed on the site that Youngs started at

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-37517767974555776052007-06-21T13:25:00.000+01:002007-06-21T14:52:20.886+01:00

So in just 10 days from when I write this, smoking in public places will become illegal. Well, that's good isn't. After all, we've all read the sound science behind passive smoking, and even if you doubt that is an issue, cigarette smoke still gets into your clothes, hair, and of course smoke gets in your eyes. And so from July 1st, pubs, shops & restaurants etc will be much nicer places to be in

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-31097610338609864922007-06-20T14:59:00.000+01:002007-06-21T14:46:26.783+01:00

Now any of you who are devotees of The Ale, and readers of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide, will now what I mean when I say the holy grails of all those listed pubs are the ones where it states 'Beer Range Varies'. So in a pub this is a good thing. In a brewery though it is a bad thing. Now some breweries never seem to do the same beer twice, and that is fine. But when all is said and done, most

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-77266197552057779462007-06-20T14:43:00.000+01:002007-06-21T14:57:10.187+01:00

After 3 - 4 hectic weeks trying to keep up, we have again run out of empty barrels. So it's a quiet week this week, with just a fresh brew of Royston Pale Ale (RPA to it's friends) gently fermenting away. We have a good stock of Challenger & Highwayman in the cellar, but both are getting alarmingly low - but then that is good, we don't brew it to keep it sat in the cellar! Next week will be a

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-74967978460172959292007-06-18T14:00:00.000+01:002007-06-18T14:54:27.655+01:00

One of the things that we were intending to do with this blog was to provide a record of all that is going on around the brewery, in respect of the copious amount of wildlife we have round here. Of course this means more regular posting than we have achieved so far, so here is a catch-up & update on things, in the hope that we'll be more regular in the future....So far we have seen the Pheasants

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-12747078630727734272007-06-18T13:22:00.000+01:002007-06-18T13:59:11.477+01:00

Devotees of our output may well have come across our '92 Squadron', either in cask or more likely in bottle. Well, it's just been brewed and bottled again, and on Saturday 16 June we took some along to be served on a train hauled by 92 Squadron herself, along the North Norfolk Railway. The train was an evening real ale train (ie no lager, a concept lost on some passengers who have now seen the

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-25567418333276491392007-06-18T12:17:00.000+01:002007-06-18T13:22:23.384+01:00

EIGHT WEEKS! That's what I call a regular update. I know we've been busy, but frankly, 'Must Try Harder' is probably to be found in red letters somewhere round here.... Well, we'll see! To be honest, a few posts have been written, but not published (yet).The Highwayman is behind much of our labours at the moment - it is steadily attracting a number of new, and often regular, customers.

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-53400310399618692812007-04-18T19:02:00.000+01:002007-04-18T19:32:09.814+01:00

Whoah, twelves days since the last post? Good heavens and all that. Of course we have been really busy, although I have to say there is an element of 'I'll write a another blog later' behind the twelve day hiatus!So what have we been doing? Well, brewing obviously, and all that goes with it. A few days off over Easter as well, which was nice, and the chance to show members of the

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-70203952909831593852007-04-06T12:09:00.000+01:002007-04-06T12:51:40.310+01:00

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,

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-76156590264434794172007-03-31T13:50:00.000+01:002007-06-29T02:23:58.204+01:00

When a pub phones on a Saturday, wanting beer, and being willing to come & collect it, you know they are keen. The pub in question has a fairly slow beer trade, but recently had a firkin of our new beer, Highwayman IPA. Needless to say it sold very well - and whilst I'd like to think it was our beer that caused this, it seems the magic use of those 'Three Little Letters' - IPA - made the

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6848106729865132095.post-85055587531889633592007-03-30T14:16:00.000+01:002007-06-29T02:25:52.951+01:00

Well, this seems like a good idea - a blog to record the goings on in & around a small English micro brewery. Of course, in reality, who can say....So, we plan to record here what is happening (of note), along with what we are thinking and doing. As I write this it is early afternoon on a Friday, that time when it is probably pointless starting a new task, but the enthusiasm to tidy up those last

Buntingford Breweryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02830064650813745571noreply@blogger.com0