Choose your Champion Beer of Britain

Choose your Champion Beer of Britain It’s time for you to consider the beers you want to nominate for the Champion Beer of Britain. This year the nomination period will run from the 1st November 2013 to the 31st December 2013. Now that we have announced this year’s Champion Beers it’s time for you to consider the beers you want to nominate for the next Champion Beer of Britain competitions. As last year all CAMRA members can nominate their choices via the national website and take part in the process to choose the Champion Beer of Britain. The beers judged in the national finals go through a very rigorous process to be selected, including a series of regional competitions in nine areas, to find the best regional beer in each of eleven beer style categories. In each region, the beers selected for the local competitions are determined by member nominations and Tasting panel input.

Have Your Say the On-line Way Any CAMRA member can login into the CBOB web site www.cbobvoting.org.uk using the same login details they use to access the members' area of the CAMRA national website. Having logged in they are able to access information about the nomination schedule. The website allows all members to nominate five beers in each of the eleven categories to be put forward for the CBOB competition. Those members whose branches straddle multiple CAMRA regions will be presented with the option to choose the region they want to vote in. You will be permitted to vote in both regions. The CBOB voting web site is www.cbobvoting.org.ukwww.cbobvoting.org.uk. Do not delay. Vote today.

The 2013/14 Cask Report came out a few weeks ago, if you are working in the trade this is a must read publication. Others interested in cask ale in general will also find it of interest:
http://www.caskreport.co.uk/cask-reports/report-2013-14

PRESS RELEASE:

The Sunderland and South Tyneside Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is pleased to announce the return of our beer festival, the Sunderland Octoberfest to the Bonded Warehouse on Low Street from Thursday 10 to Saturday 12 October. This is fifth year that we have held our beer festival at this venue.

We have put together a selection of real ales from micro and independent breweries from all over the country. Many beer styles will be available from mild, bitters, stouts, wheat beers, fruit flavoured beers and a chilli plum porter. The focus this year is on the new wave of small brewers from London, the East Midlands and Yorkshire.

All of the brewers located in our branch area will be represented- Jarrow, Maxim, Darwin and Temptation. We will be one of the first to have Jarrow Amber Ale- one of the first beers brewed on their new brewery following their return to Jarrow. 

The beer range is complemented by a selection of ciders from small producers from Gloucestershire, Hereford and Worcester. CAMRA nationally has designated October as Cider Month.

The festival is open from 4 to 10:30 on Thursday, 1 to 10:30 Friday and from noon on Saturday.

Admission is £1.00 and free to students and card carrying CAMRA members.

A souvenir glass will be available for sale or hire.

Michael Wynne 

(Branch Chair and Festival Organiser)

Next Branch Meeting:

• Next branch meeting is Wednesday, 9th October @ The William de Wessyngton, Washington. 

  Starts 20:00. All branch members welcome

Steamboat Halloween Beer Festival 2013.
From 31st October, until 3rd November.
Friday 1st November is Fancy Dress Night.

25 Real Ales, Suitably chosen to match the theme!


Opening night event (Thursday 31st October):
Erasmus Bottle, aka Dave Walker, local historian and writer.
Entertains audiences across the North East recanting tales via an alternative version of history with a bit of humour:
Opens Steamboat Halloween Fest - £4 per ticket + Buffet

DRACULA TO MAKE APPEARANCE IN SUNDERLAND!

A comedy play based on the Dracula story, which has been invited to be performed at the Whitby Goth Festival, is to have three dates in Sunderland this autumn.

Dracula: Die Laughing which will be performed at the Isis pub (Sunderland and South Tyneside CAMRA branches Pub of the Year 2013) in Silksworth Row, Sunderland city centre, has been penned by South Tyneside playwright Ed Waugh who came up with the idea after a friend returned from the Whitby Goth Festival and was raving about it.

The weekend festival, which is held every April and October, attracts 12,000 people of all ages from all over the world, many of whom dress as Goths but most attend to take in the styles, music and laid-back atmosphere of the event in the North Yorkshire town.

Ed, who with his writing partner Trevor Wood has notched up some of the most successful north east plays in the past decade, explained: “My mate Les went last year and he never stopped talking about it. So I agreed to go with him next year but I felt if we were going it should be with a play. Everyone knows about Dracula being a vampire, and how it was at Whitby that he first came ashore. 

“I felt we could have great fun with Dracula being a bit passed his best and, being pursued by Vampire hunters, takes refuge at the Whitby Goth Festival.

“We spoke to the organisers and they want to include us in the official programme alongside the bands, so we are delighted to be an integral part of the event next April.”

The north east tour will be to fine tune the show but director Gareth Hunter of Ion Productions is promising a cracking evening’s entertainment.

He said: “The script is hilarious. The show will include audience interaction and we initially want to run it at intimate venues in preparation for the Whitby event and a regional tour next year. This is Dracula as never seen before. People will actually feel sympathy for the poor old soul!”

Dracula: Die Laughing, opens at Collingwood College, Durham, on  Tuesday, October 29, and runs at the Magnesia Bank, North Shields (Wednesday 30) and Sunderland Isis pub on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (October 31 and November 1 and 2).

Tickets cost £8 and £5 (unwaged) and are available from the venues or via the Dracula: Die Laughing Facebook site.  The show is open to everyone and suitable for the 14+ age group.

Gareth added: “People are welcome to come in Gothic costume, especially for Halloween on the 31st.” 

Stables beer festival Saturday 14 September

The Stables brewery/pub at Beamish are having their annual beer festival and i was going to run a bus there on Saturday 14th September.  Over 50 beers and plenty of ciders and perry's + live music and food available.

If any one is interested, let me know asap and i will organize.

Lynn D ( email )

More Info.

After our August break the next branch meeting is Tuesday 10th Sept @ The Tram Inn, Market Place, South Shields (was Rosie Malones). Starts 20:00. All branch members welcome.

Next NE CAMRA Regional meeting is Saturday 31st August @ Durham University Students Union, Old Elvet, Durham. {NB This is also the last day of the Durham Beer Festival at the same location.}

The Dark Side of the Half Moon. 

For years a bunch of mates have drunk in their local pub The Half Moon - a traditional fleapit of an English pub. But all is about to change when the landlord, Trevor, decides The Half Moon is to become a trendy café bar. The locals, Jesus an ageing Pink Floyd fan, Harry a journalist and Tommy an allotment holder, are appalled by this and decide to revolt.

Add to the mix the huge tensions between Trevor and his brother Rob, an ex-footballer; something obviously going on between Trevor and Shelagh, the cleaner; Tommy's nephew Stan, who is a few sandwiches short of a picnic; and Trevor's missing wife Maria, and you have a perfect combination of hilarious laughs with more than a hint of mystery.

Written by National TV Comedy Award nominees Brian Walsh & Neil Armstrong, this is a great comedy for one and all, especially if you harbour an affection for the traditional old boozer! 

We are pleased that we can announce the support of Jarrow Brewery for this production.
The brewery is creating a special dark ale (which will be named "Half Moon") which will be available to all real ale pubs.
The brewery is also providing us with a hand pump for the actors to use on stage as well as allowing us to use its various pubs to film a variety of short vignettes where the characters will rant about weekly topics as well as having a real ale recommendation.

From Gareth Hunter of ION Entertainment.

“WhatPub.com”, CAMRA’s own online guide to real ale pubs will be launched to the public at the end of September/beginning of October.  (Currently only CAMRA members have access.)

Several branch members have already put in a huge effort, with the help of fellow members at Tyneside branch's "SPILE" team to get our entries to the stage they are currently at.....but it is a big demand on the volunteer’s time & what we currently have is still very much a work in progress!

None the less, your help so far & in the future is very welcome.

Please keep amendments & comments coming....Although it may seem nothing happens for quite a while do be assured that every comment is logged, available to the whole team & will be acted on at some stage. Also don’t be afraid to send negative criticism as well as positive, at the end of the day this is all about CAMRA providing the public with a pubs database that is useful and reasonably accurate.

See also the guide to using WhatPub in CAMRA Angle 32. (Which can be downloaded now from http://camra-angle.co.uk/)

"The Vaults" - Full film now available online.

In CAMRA Angle Issue 31 (click link to download) we reviewed new film "The Vaults" about local Sunderland pub the Museum Vaults. Up to now only trailers have been available online. So unless you visited one of the showings at a local pub you'll not yet have seen the whole film.

Well now you can. From today the whole film can be viewed at new site www.properpubs.tv. So why not treat yourself & take a look...

Our next branch meeting is tonight @ The Alum House, Steamboat South Shields, Starts 20:00

First Durham Regatta Beer Festival

No Beer List yet, please add as a comment if you know.

The Vaults Film:

The Vaults (Link requires Facebook membership) is a local film made in the Museum Vaults in Sunderland.
Made by local film company "Proper Pub Productions" & directed by former Vaults barman Laurie Cansfield (Link is to Laurie's Blog, with reviews & trailers).

Its well worth checking out & below are details of the May showings......at a pub near you:

Next Branch Meetings:

The next two branch meetings are:
14th May (20:00) at Maxim Brewery, Houghton-Le-Spring.
11th June (20:00) at The Alum House, South Shields.
We welcome all our branch members to both meetings, if you've never been before why not give it a try.
CAMRA members from other branches are also welcome.

Regional Meeting:

Saturday 11th of May is Sunderland & South Tyneside's turn to host the North East Region of CAMRA's quarterly regional meeting.
The meeting is in the Steamboat in South Shields & starts at 13:00. All CAMRA members are welcome to attend if you are interested in CAMRA working at regional level.

2nd Houghton Beer Festival:

The Houghton-Le-Spring Round Table are hosting their 2nd annual beer festival on the Friday the 10th & Saturday the 11th of May. Once again the branch are providing the loan of equipment & expertise in setting up the beer.
This is a charity event & we all hope the Round Table have as much success with this event as last time & that it becomes a regular part of their activities.

Regional Pub & Club of the Year competition 2013
The line-up for the NE CAMRA regional Pub of the Year competition is just about complete.
The pubs are:

Rat Race, Hartlepool (Cleveland CAMRA)

Quakerhouse, Darlington (Darlo CAMRA)

Tap & Spile, Framwellgate Moor (Durham CAMRA)

Isis, Sunderland (Sunderland & South Tyneside CAMRA)

Free Trade, Byker (Tyneside & Northumberland CAMRA's Tyneside entry)

Boat House, Wylam (Tyneside & Northumberland CAMRA's Northumberland entry) The line-up for the NE CAMRA regional Club of the Year competition is:

Darlington Snooker Club. (Darlington CAMRA)

Durham City Rugby Club (Durham CAMRA)

Ashbrooke Sports Club (Sunderland & South Tyneside CAMRA)

Haltwhistle Comrades Club (Tyneside & Northumberland CAMRA's Northumberland entry)

Newcastle Cricket Club (Tyneside & Northumberland CAMRA's Tyneside entry) Any branch member who want to be a judge in the 2013 regional competition (ie visit & judge the finalist pubs/clubs, except our own) Should contact the branch social secretary & make your interest known. A reminder that the date of the trip is supposed to be secret, so the Pubs don't know when we're coming & prepare. So please keep it off social media until after the event!
(BTW: We don't judge our own pub, the other NE Region branches do that.) 

Sunderland & South Tyneside Pub of the Year 2013:

1st: The Isis, Sunderland.

2nd: The Steamboat, South Shields.

3rd: Fitzgeralds, Sunderland.

{Picture of Isis supplied by Jarrow Brewery/C.Palmer}

Sunderland & South Tyneside Club of the Year 2012:

1st: Mid Boldon Club, Boldon.

2nd: Ashbrooke Sports Club, Sunderland.

The branch offers its congratulations to all five venues for the work they have put in & for serving quality real ales throughout the year.

The full results list from an increased turnout of voters this year is:
Position     Pub    (Position in 2012:)

1st: The Isis, Sunderland. (new)

2nd: The Steamboat, South Shields. (2)

3rd: Fitzgeralds, Sunderland. (1)

4th: The Alum Ale House, South Shields. (5)

5th: The Maltings, South Shields. (3)

6th: The Courtyard, Washington. (6)

6th: The Kings Arms, Sunderland. (4)

8th: The William De Wessington, Washington. (9)

9th: The Copt Hill, Houghton-Le-Spring. (8)

10th: The Robin Hood, Jarrow. (7)

10th: The Museum Vaults, Sunderland. (12)

12th: The William Jameson (new)

12th: The Black Horse, West Boldon. (16)

Again well done to all on the list, with over 100 venues in the branch area serving real ales it is an achievement to appear anywhere on these lists.