All Sunderland & South Tyneside members: 

The Pub & Club of the year ballot papers are in the post, if you don't get one let us know asap so it can be sorted. 

 

Please, please use your vote & thus have your say in selecting our Pub & Club of the Year 2014! 

(Lets try & beat last year when about 40% of the ballot was returned.) 

- Returned papers must be in the Secretary's hands by Saturday 1st Feb....so do it NOW! 

• The vote for PotY is from the 22 pubs listed on the ballot....These are the 22 pubs we put in the 2013 edition of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. 
• The vote for CotY is a free vote, choose upto 3 Clubs in the branch area that serve real ale &/or real cider.

Also:

Selection of Pubs for our entries into the 2014 edition of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide are underway. 

I can't reveal the list on a public forum, (branch members who missed Tuesday's meeting in Fitzgeralds can find out from the latest set of branch meeting minutes, once they are written up!)

What I can say is that we have been allocated 22 entries in the 2014 Guide & the list of 22 that we are currently reviewing were selected from the NBSS scores made by CAMRA members during 2013.

In 2013 a total of 1923 surveys were carried out in 84 pubs in the branch area, so well done to all who took part & all CAMRA members, including those visiting our branch area are encouraged to have there say & score pubs. Remember NBSS scores can now be entered through WhatPub at:  http://whatpub.com/login

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.”