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Legless Cow’s now available at Speech House Hotel.

 

The Speech House Hotel is the most iconic hotel in the Forest of Dean. Situated, as it is, at the very heart of the Forest of Dean and housing the ancient home of Britain’s oldest court has made it well known, and well loved by all. Nowadays, it’s equally well known for the adjacent Speech House field, home to the Forest Activities Festival, the Forest Showcase and the grand annual Fireworks night display events to name, but a few.

In charge at the hotel, husband and wife team, Peter & Gill Hands, run a tight ship with customer satisfaction unashamedly front and centre of everything they do. And the latest big news is that Hillside Brewery’s traditional IPA style best bitter – Legless Cow – is well and truly re-homed in the Speech House bar and on draught.  The beer, named for the healthy appreciation the cattle up at Hillside have for the spent grain from the brewing process, has already sold out the first delivery. We caught up with Peter Hands, and Paul Williamson from Hillside as he delivered the next consignment.

Peter Hands of The Speech House Hotel takes delivery of Hillside Brewery Legless Cow ale, by Paul Williamson.
Peter Hands of The Speech House Hotel takes delivery of Hillside Brewery Legless Cow ale, by Paul Williamson.

The ever ebullient host Peter, who has only recently made his Twitter debut, has been having a little bit of “pun” in the Speech House social media channel (@speechhouse) on the Legless Cow theme. He started with “There’s a Legless Cow meandering its way to the Speech House. Watch this space for more on its journey.” On a roll and seemingly unstoppable, he waded in with “We are looking forward 2 stabling the Legless Cow at Speech House when Paul rounds her up and drives her down. Moooch joy @Hillsidebrewery.” We hesitate to say finally, because we don’t think he’s done yet, but “Mooovalous this Legless Cow Beer, Prime cut hops. No udder one like it. Cheers from Speech House Bar” – we can hear echoes of – “I thank you, I’m here all week!!”

 

Legless Cow, best bitter, craft ale, CAMRA, Hillside Brewery,
Hillside Brewery Legless Cow. Traditional IPA style best bitter.

 

Peter & Gill have always been supporters of local food and drink businesses. We last chatted to Peter at the inaugural Tourism Association event See, Taste, Buy in the spring where he was chatting to local suppliers to see, taste and, where possible, source good local produce. Paul from Hillside was there, but the two were already acquainted by that time. We chatted to Peter about the latest introduction to the Speech House bar:

WyeDean Deli Confidential: “So, Hillside Brewery’s Legless Cow on draught.”

Peter Hands: “I love Legless Cow and the name still brings a smile to my face. We love what Hillside are trying to do and we’d love to be able to say that a much larger part of our stock is sourced from the DeanWye and other local producers with low food miles.”

WyeDean Deli Confidential: “What are the drawbacks or the hurdles in trying to achieve that?”

Peter Hands: “Theoretically – none. But we have to offer our customers great service and great quality products in everything we do. One of the key factors on the quality issue, when it comes to local producers, as opposed to national producers,  is consistency. Customers may already know a brand from their travels or they may be coming back to us, as so many do, and they expect that the things they love are the same each and every time. It’s a commercial decision to stock local (and one which we are happy to make), but we can’t accept products which change with the weather – it’s just a guaranteed way to disappoint the customer. That’s why we like Hillside Brewery. We’ve been up there and met Paul and his staff and looked at the operation. We like what they do, we like the fun and the passion they bring to it and we are seriously impressed with the investment they have made to ensure that their beers are top quality – consistently!”

WyeDean Deli Confidential: “Aren’t local products more expensive than big brands?”

Peter Hands: “They don’t have to be. Big brands have definitely got the muscle when it comes to pricing, but we are always looking for the best prices from our suppliers – we have to. And the real key is, yes customers expect value for money, but it’s a mistake to assume that is their only driver, our customers also want quality. It’s also a mistake to assume that customers make those decisions in that order. In my experience quality and taste comes first every time.”

Paul Williamson: “It’s great to hear Peter pick up on the consistency issue. We’ve worked so hard on our recipes to get the quality, depth of flavour and variety into our CAMRA recognised craft ales, but making the best beer in the world is pointless if you can only ever produce one batch of it.”

So, down at Speech House, the welcome is great; the countryside is great; the hotel is great (as is the food) and the bar is well-stocked with great local beers. The jokes – well……….

 

Peter Hands of The Speech House Hotel takes delivery of Hillside Brewery Legless Cow ale, by Paul Williamson.

 

Speech House Hotel ‏ www. thespeechhouse.co.uk  Twitter @speechhouse 

Hillside Brewery www.hillsidebrewery.com Twitter @Hillsidebrewery

If you tweet and want to keep to date with all the news from the Forest of Dean & Wye Valley follow the hashtag #deanwye

 

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3rd CAMRA Gloucester Beer & Cider Festival

medieval, Blackfriars, copyrighted, Priory,

Well that was a blast! Whenever we stray far from the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley to bring you a story, it has to be for a good reason. We found one! Stick with us though because there is lots of local interest to be had in this the third great event organised by those lovely people and beer & cider aficionados.

We first met the guys and girls from CAMRA Gloucester at Hillside Brewery (see ANZAC beer feature below) and have already covered the story of this fabulous charity fund raising commemorative ale. We thought that we would just bring you an update on the story as well as wax lyrical about this fabulous county beer event. First of all I need to assure you that there was lots of commemorating done over the weekend, so much so that the ANZAC beer was a sell-out. No flippancy intended for such a sombre historical event but we are sure that our Aussie pals would be celebrating too. Even the British Legion stand (the chosen charity for the festival) was selling presentation packs of ANZAC beer and we hope they made LOTS of money for a good cause!

12:30 Saturday 25th April 2015, Gloucester, England. 3rd CAMRA G

Neil Richardson (CAMRA Gloucester’s head of light entertainment) told me at Hillside, “wait until you see the venue – it’ll blow you away”. OK, so Neil has now been outed as a master of understatement because the Blackfriars Priory on Ladybellegate Street a.k.a. Gloucester’s Via Sacra, did more than that. Not heard of it? No, neither had the guy who lived in flat 100 yards away, or the countless other Gloucester residents who said the same thing. If I’d have had a half a pint of Wye Valley, Kingstone, or Bespoke for everyone I heard comment in a similar vein, well I wouldn’t have been here now.

My first thoughts about this imposing ancient monument, which don’t forget now housed a beer festival for the weekend, finally – a Cathedral to Beer! This cavernous space with a high vaulted ceiling felt just that.

priory, blackfriars, beer,
A cathedral to beer & cider

This finest surviving example of a Dominican Friary in the UK isn’t a finely crafted polished visitor experience you might expect from the Chatsworth Devonshire’s, this a building in the raw. A building where beer festivals should be held. Chapeau to English Heritage and Gloucester City Council at this point for allowing the venue to be used for a such a great event. We are all used to that conserve/preserve viewpoint which doesn’t envisage anything other than a slowly deteriorating pile for a visiting few maintained at public or charitable expense.

Not here though. The building itself, stripped bare of plaster belies that viewpoint. Stand in the hall, as I did on VIP night, and “read” the building with Nick Bull of Severn Cider  (an event sponsor and providers of the most serious bar I have ever seen), and the building shouts makeover upon makeover! It strips bare the concept that buildings should be “preserved” instead shouting loudly that they should, as Blackfriars has, evolve. Every use and every brutal change for every different use since 1239 is there for the layperson to see. Vaults, now going nowhere, false windows, filled in windows, tiny windows that once lit something no long there and projecting masonry used for – well who knows? The truth, for a building to survive and prosper for future generations, it has to be useful!

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Beer and Cider lovers are life lovers. From time to time they may over train, but lovers of craft ales and ciders are a lovely bunch of people. Everyone I spoke to not only appreciated the building for its beauty and history but also the custodians for allowing it to be used and promoted to a wider audience. In the lower section beneath the huge glazed wall (replacing masonry lost to history) the monumental bar (Severn Cider bar hire) stood ready to prop us all up in style while we chose from the inexhaustible supply of great beer and cider. The modest festival entrance price includes a beer card worth £10 (I know, bargain) which you can cash in at the bar in pints, halves or thirds to sample and appreciate as many beers as possible. Wye Valley Brewery (HPA and Pedal Pusher), Hillside (Anzac, Compatriot, Legend of the Hillside and Legless Cow) and Severn Cider (a full suite of their fabulous Perry and Cider on tap) were heavily involved in supporting the festival but also there and very popular were;

Bespoke from Mitcheldean with their King Shilling mild ale with English hops.

Castles from Caldicot with a refreshing pale ale hopped with Saaz as well as White Knight American style pale ale.

Kingstone, Tintern with their 1503 Tudor and Abbey ales.

 

3rd CAMRA Gloucester Beer and Cider Festival

The raised second level of the main hall (North Range) housed the stage and ample room for sitting or standing and the limited number of available tickets  meant that it was a very comfortable atmosphere even when full. There was a very respectable chicken curry and other hot food on sale in the Language Centre restaurant as well as, my preferred option – Gloucestershire cheeses. I opted for White Heaven (to go with my Hillside heaven) a soft creamy Camembert style from the people over at Woefuldane. There were also several smaller rooms (East Range) for drinkers to sit and chat but The Scriptorium across the quadrant was just the most delightful piece of medieval architecture I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying a pint in!

3rd CAMRA Gloucester Beer and Cider Festival

The 4th CAMRA Gloucester Beer & Cider Festival?  One for the diary!

Full gallery of images at David Broadbent Photography

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A new annual food and drink event for the Forest & Wye? We hope so.

Well the dust has well and truly settled on the inaugural Wye Valley & Forest of Dean Tourism Association’s new food and drink event Local Produce, See, Taste, Buy.  The event, originally conceived to match producers with potential clients from within the tourism associations’ extensive and diverse membership, was quickly turned over to a public event to coincide with English and Welsh Tourism Weeks respectively. Sited in the spacious “The Venue” function room on the CSMA site at Whitemead Park, exhibitors and visitors were protected against the worst the Forest spring weather might throw at anyone. In the event it turned out to be a beautiful Forest of Dean spring morning.

As the exhibitors built their stands before public opening at 10am the sights and sounds, and most of all, smells of our fabulous local producers started to build and fill in the background hubbub.

Great names in beer Hillside Brewery www.hillsidebrewery.com and cider, Severn Cider www.severncider.com were there in strength with Paul Williamson owner and head honcho from the Hillside Brewery with a broad selection of the great beers crafted up on the hill. Also showing, and tasting for the first time, their new Anzac beer brewed especially for the Gloucester Beer Festival. Nick Bull was in charge over at Severn Cider where, even though we were working hard, we had to have a small sample of their killer Severn Cider Perry.

Severn Cider, perry,                 3K5C1907          3K5C2145                 3K5C2154

Alongside these headline names in the now thriving local craft drinks industry, was the very tasty Apple County Cider with their “deciderly” good Dabinett and Vilberie dry and medium brands – very easy to imagine drinking those two beauties on a warm sunny evening! We also had Ty Gwyn cider, VQ Country Wines sporting their new swanky designer labels with the same great quality fruit wines still inside and Wye Valley Brewery. Parva Farm Vineyard were there too, showing a good selection of their Welsh wine from the terroir of Tintern  – some great news for Judith and Colin lately in that Marks & Spencer have taken their award winning Bacchus white wine into stock. We couldn’t resist a tasting stop at the amply stocked Chase Distillery stand either – hic!

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Adding to the ambience were the great aromas of James’ Gourmet Coffee brewing constantly in the background, Rayeesa’s Kitchen homemade curry sauce bases simmering away in the tasting pot and fabulous charcuterie cooking on the hot plate from the guys over at Native Breeds. Smarts Gloucestershire Cheeses seem to be essential to any successful food and drink event and no matter how many times you’ve tasted their Gloucester’s before, resistance is futile! Celia’s Pantry was on hand to dispense Caribbean inspired tangy chutney flavours to go with it all.

For dessert there were two great ice cream makers were there Kelsmor Dairy and Hillbrooks Luxury Ice Cream with their own distinctive flavours – all of course available for tasting. The Chocolate Bar had a dazzling array of beautiful handmade chocolates to tempt the palate for that sumptuous finish.

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The timing of the event is driven by the original concept to put producers and tourism association and other local buyers together before the busy Easter season and we think that that makes a lot of sense. A little later mind you and Whitemead would have been thronging with visitors to increase the footfall for the traders and give visitors a fantastic showcase of the produce and the ability to stock up the holiday larders both for their stay and to take home.

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The Venue is a great place for this event although perversely Whitemead don’t actually signpost the halls location at the site entrances which makes things difficult for new conference visitors. The public parking there is also very restrictive (the design and concept of the site envisaged all of the visitor cars being spread out over the whole site outside respective holiday lodges, caravans or tents).  We spoke to Mike Carter (centre manager) who had already identified this issue as a growth limiting factor for this and other conference events. He’s on the case he assures us.

Does this new event conflict with the hugely popular Forest Showcase event in the autumn fields of the Speech House Hotel  www.thespeechhouse.co.uk (Peter Hands and his chef from the hotel were there and actively looking for new local suppliers – featured image)? Not according to John Theophilus of the Tourism Association. “We developed this idea primarily as a trade show for producers to meet buyers from the local economy and tourism sector – and we think that it has worked extremely well! We are delighted so many members of the public came along too as it helps to spread the word about the great work being done in our tourism sector. This incidentally adds a great deal to the local economy. It’s events such as this that make you realise how widespread the influence of a thriving tourism economy can be to the whole local economy”.

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Overall we loved the concept and thought that, for a first year launch event, it was a real bonus to the local food and drink network. We would definitely have liked to have seen even more buy-in from local businesses – every tourism association member and every pub in the area were sent invitations and we think all of them should have attended!

We know only too well that profit margins for local businesses are always tight and the drive for economy in purchasing is a constant pressure on small business. Small artisan producers make up for this lack of “scale costs” with bags of flavour, localism, innovation and skill. This added value is demonstrated nowhere better than in the tourism sector because those values produce a cash sales equivalent and really register with visitors who want to buy local great produce.

If you run a business selling food and drink, why not follow the lead of the Tourism Association and look for one new local supplier today? Let us know how you get on, we’d love to tell your local collaboration story.

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ANZAC Day beer special and The 3rd Gloucester CAMRA Beer & Cider Festival

beer, CAMRA, real ale, craft ale, ANZAC,

If you happen to be an Australian or a New Zealander, you’ll already know that 25th April is a very special day in the antipodean calendar. It is ANZAC Day and the remembrance of Australians and Kiwi’s who have died in conflict, this is a day deep in the down under psyche. Originally a day to remember those of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACS) who died in the failed attempt to capture the Gallipoli peninsula from the Ottoman Empire in April 1915 during the First World War. It was the first occasion that the joint expeditionary force took heavy casualties in that war and as such it has, ever since, been an important day for both nations.

beer, CAMRA, real ale, craft ale, ANZAC,
Hillsides special ANZAC beer for the 3rd Gloucester CAMRA Festival

Now though, ANZAC Day has come to be a more general day of remembrance for the dead and all of those who suffered in all campaigns and Aussies and Kiwi’s, wherever they are in the world, hold this day dear. In the UK there will be major events at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire and  I don’t think that I’ll ever forget the emotional tension at the ANZAC Day memorial at the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium a couple of years ago.

Essex Farm, copyrighted, war,
Essex Farm dressing station

And given that the dates of the 3rd CAMRA Gloucester Beer & Cider Festival coincide with ANZAC Day, and…the nominated festival charity is the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal, our great friends and beer geniuses over at Hillside Brewery have come up with their own fitting tribute. Quite fitting that such a sombre day is being marked by the creation of something many of those from the southern hemisphere would appreciate very much – a great beer. Personally, I think that it is a great, and touching, opportunity to commemorate ANZAC Day and in doing so to help out the charity, based in this country, which has similar goals and very close links with the ANZAC associations.

The beer will be officially launched upon us at the festival, being held at the impressive Blackfriars venue, Gloucester. We had exclusive access to the new ANZAC beer and spent a very pleasant hour conducting a very in-depth and scientific tasting session whilst sitting in our shorts outside on a glorious spring day in the Forest of Dean & Wye Valley.

Fosters – it is not! This is a full bodied craft ale from Paul, Derek, Will and the boys. We served it slightly chilled – it being “scorchio” at tasting HQ – and although it has body it tasted light and refreshing, with clear citrus tones and with mango coming through onto the palate. As the beer warmed in the sun, those flavours persisted throughout the tasting, as did the fabulous hop aroma you would expect from a Craft Special beer from Hillside. That hop flavour and aroma is created using British Challenger for the bittering blended, very fittingly, with Galaxy (passion fruit and citrus) and Rakua (more tropical fruit aromas) from Australia and New Zealand for that long lasting aroma.

All in all, we thought it was a fantastic beer. It’s sad when you recall the story behind it but we think that all those ANZAC’s from back in the day would have appreciated the sentiment in their honour so make sure you try at least one – especially on the 25th.

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The 3rd CAMRA Gloucester Beer & Cider Festival kicks off proper on Friday 24th April and then you have to go back and do it all again on the 25th! Full information is on their website at http://www.gloucesterbeerfestival.org.uk/ and of course there is more information about all the beers from the Hillside stable at www.hillsidebrewery.com who also offer brewery tours and brewery experience days.

The product shot is a compilation done by us here in the WyeDean Deli Confidential studio. The back drop is a poppy cut into mild steel from the Essex Farm Dressing Station memorial site and the foreground is a shot of the battlefield debris as it would have looked and currently on display in the Tyne Cot Cemetery visitor centre, both of which are in the countryside around Ypres, Belgium

Official Brewery Tasting Notes:

On the nose is tropical fruit, pineapple and mango. The flavour is a full bodied, tropical fruit flavour with passion fruit, mango and pineapple with a caramel malt backbone with a slightly dry finish – leaving you wanting more. We have used Challenger which is a British hop for the bittering and Galaxy and Rakau from Australia and New Zealand for the flavour and aroma. 

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The Rising Sun, Woolaston Common: Fab, wholesome and homemade Pies!

Maria, Landlady at The Rising Sun, Woolaston Common, in the kitchen standing over her homemade pies

John & Maria are seasoned pub owners, having been in the trade for 30 years and they have owned the Rising Sun, Woolaston, for 5 years. The pub (like John and Maria!) has plenty of character. This stone building is 400 years old and is located in the beautiful countryside that flanks this part of the River Severn. So, as you’d expect, the garden has spectacular views and it gets very busy in the summer. Continue Reading This Article

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Hillside Brewery event: live music, food & drink next Sunday!

Sample some of the fantastic drinks at Hillside Brewery on February 1st 2015!

 

We have some exciting news! Hillside Brewery is holding an event on February 1st (2015), with live music, their own beers, locally sourced ciders and wines and fantastic local grub from Cameron’s Quality Butchers and the Forest Bakehouse at Longhope. So, what is all of this in aid of? Well, it’s the first of their monthly celebrations that are set to take place over 2015. Continue Reading This Article

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Miners Arms Whitecroft, sausages & mash to die for!

Mario - Owner of the Miners Arms, Whitecroft, posing for the camera whilst making his Scotch eggs.

 

Are you looking for pub food with a difference? Well, The Miners Arms is the one of the best pubs and restaurants for food in the Forest of Dean and they also put on live music too! The menu is packed full of local food and they even serve kid (as in goat, not children!) from the Cotswolds. Mario and Karen are big on the eating local ethos and are extremely enthusiastic about food. Their portion sizes are generous and the quality is fantastic – and it isn’t your standard pub grub! Continue Reading This Article

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6 New Year’s food resolutions

The shop at Harts Barn Cookery School

 

These aren’t traditional New Year’s resolutions and they don’t require you to give anything up or practice abstinence in any shape or form – quite the opposite. These New Year’s resolutions are all about trying food and drink from some of the great food and drink producers in and around the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley.
Continue Reading This Article