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Welcome to the Kidderminster Sub-branch of CAMRA
Welcome to Kidderminster sub branch home page.
Pub of the Season Congratulations to the Seven Stars in Kidderminster who have been awarded our Pub of the season certificate for winter 2009. The Stars always has a range of 5 well kept ales and one cider from Thatchers on hand pull. The ales on offer include many from local breweries including Sadlers and Cannon Royall as well as the more popular nationals such as Deuchars from Caledonian and Old speckled Hen. Pictured right: Glenda presents Matt Copeman of the Seven Stars with their Pub of the season certificate. Stanway Brewery Trip
What a fantastic trip this turned out to be! The weather was absolutely superb and apart from an initi
The annual summer beer festival at The Bell, Pensax was the scene for Kidderminster sub branch presenting John and Trudy Greaves with their Pub of the Year certificate. In what has become a yearly event The Bell won the award for the quality and range of its ales as well as for the atmosphere and welcome service. John and Trudy have been at the Bell for 10 years this year and have won the award every year since 2000, a testimony to the good quality real ale that is served here. At their recent beer festival they sold over 80 different beers with people coming from miles away to enjoy the festivities. They always support local micro breweries having Hobsons on as a regular but also featuring beers from Kinver, Wye Valley, Cannon Royall, MHB and Bewdley amongst others. There is always a varied selection of breweries to choose from as well as cider and perry. The Bell is everything a country pub should be and well deserves the accolade. The Bell is also the county Pub of the Year for Worcestershire.
Mug House POS Spring 2009
Drew and Sandy of The Mug House, Bewdley, are celebrating after being awarded Kidderminster Camra's Pub of the Season for Spring. They won the award after Camra members voted for their consistently well kept ales, many from local micro breweries and for their annual beer festival held over the spring bank holiday. Drew is a supporter of Camra and always has four real ales on offer with Bewdley and Wye valley usually being available. In addition to good beer the pub serves excellent food and a visit to their restaurant is well recommended. To the rear of the pub they have an attractive beer garden with a covered area and a pool with fountain or alternatively there is seating at the front of the pub on the banks of the river itself. Members of Kidderminster Camra spent a convivial evening at The Mug House while presenting Drew and Sandy with the certificate.
Ludlow Brewery
Following the success of Kidderminster sub branch's first ever brewery trip to Kinver in February everyone was raring to go on another venture. A trip to Ludlow Brewery was organised and a very happy mini bus load of eager drinkers set off on a sunny Saturday morning. Enjoying beer and cake in the brewery. We drove straight to the brewery and arrived there in very good time where we were greeted by Gary who proceeded to show us the way to the bar – what a hardship!! We supped Ludlow Gold, Dark Knight and Boiling Well while the workings of the brewery were explained to us and the historic old malt house building displayed. We climbed a ladder to gaze lovingly at a new brew and admired the 3d model of their proposed new brewery. The sun shone, the beer flowed and to celebrate Steve's birthday we ate a fruit cake, in fact we had such a good time we forgot to leave and had to be reminded that another pub was awaiting our custom.
We moved into the centre of Ludlow and visited The Church Inn where many of us decided to partake of victuals as well as beer. The pork pie platter went down a treat and a leisurely afternoon was spent quaffing good ale while some members of the party took the opportunity to do some shopping, before we all wended our way back to the bus to make our way to the next stop on our itinerary.
The Nelson was our next port of call and what a cracking visit it turned out to be! While some soaked up the sun and enjoyed the live music -(But NOT Jolene) – others played pool and one even fell off his chair – Don't worry, Griff, I'm not mentioning any names. We all posed for a joint photo before sadly leaving such a jolly pub and returning to our pick up point at the Bell, Pensax, which, funnily enough was open and so we just had to pop in to finish off the day......
At the Nelson . Getting us all to look at the camera at the same time was not an easy feat, but we had a great time!!
It was a grand day out and thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. Many thanks to the driver, the cake baker and the organiser, three in one!!! Here's to the next trip in September.
CONGRATULATIONS to Paul and Pat of The Black Boy, Bewdley who were awarded the Pub of the Season award for winter 2008. This pub is well worth the heart thumping climb up Wyre Hill for a taste of its fantastically kept beers. Paul has won many awards for cellarmanship and the beer here is always top notch.
Chairman Ian and secretary Glenda presenting Paul and Pat of the Black Boy, Bewdley with their award.
Another good pub to try if you are out in the Bewdley countryside is The Rock Cross Inn, Rock. This very friendly pub serves a range of well kept Hobsons beers and the food menu offers good choice with sizable portions (it's advisable to book at busy times). Well worth a visit if you like a traditional pub with real fires, beams and character.
The very first Kidderminster Camra Brewery Trip took place in February and a wonderful time was had by all. We visited Kinver Brewery where we were treated to an unlimited supply of Crystal Ale as well as a fund of information from Dave, Ian and Phil. We then all went on to Pictured left is Glenda enjoying her trip to the Kinver Brewery with Phil and Kinver Dave. (For more pics visit the About us page)
Tha Ancho
Congratulations to new brewers Bewdley Brewery Ltd who have begun brewing in Lax Lane, Bewdley. This is the first brewery on our 'patch' for many years so are doubly welcome. Brewers Ian Wilson, Dave Carr and son Tim showcased their first brew 'Old School' at the Bromsgrove Beer Festival where it soon sold out. They also brewed a special beer for the Bewdley festival called 'Festival Ale'. Local pubs are now stocking their beers (Try The Mug House, Bewdley if you want to sample it). Pictured right are Dave, Tim and Ian at the Bromsgrove Beer festival.
THE COLLIERS ARMS, Clows Top hosted a social evening for us in November and laid on an excellent buffet. The members who attended the evening all tucked in with gusto and were full of praise for the fine fare. The beer from Hobsons and Purity was in good condition and an enjoyable time was had by all. Pictured are some of the members who attended the evening at the Colliers Arms. More pictures can be found on the 'About us' page.
SPONSOR A CHICKEN!! Ye Olde Seven Stars, Kidderminster have rescued some battery hens and are keeping them at the end of the pub garden. You have the chance to sponsor a chicken which will enable you to enter the draw to win the eggs for that week. Visit the pub for a good selection of real ales and to view the birds - watch out for Harry the Cockeral though!!
Whilst on Ye Olde Seven Stars, they were recently featured in an article in the Independent newspaper on what pubs are doing to buck the trend of declining sales after the smoking ban. They were mentioned as a 'Bring Your Own Grub' pub - for any one who has missed out you can order take aways to eat in the pub, they provide the plates, cutlery and condiments and do the washing up for you as well!! With five real ales on hand pull to wash down the food that can't be bad STOURPORT The Stagborough Arms, Lower Lickhill Road has 5 real ales on offer. Don't be put off by the Banks' appearance there are some good brews in there. Also in Stourport the newly reopened Steps , Gilgal is serving Real Ale, 1 local brew when I was in last, this pub has been updated and now has a modern contemporary interior. The Bird in Hand by the canal was serving 3 real ales when I was last in. Check them out and let me know if there are any others I have missed.
WANTED We are looking for Camra members who will keep an eye on their local pubs for us. The GBG pubs are generally visited fairly often but we could do with some more reports. If you live in Kidderminster,Stourport, Bewdley, Far Forest, Caunsall, Cookley, Blakedown, Hartlebury, Rock, Shrawley, Wolverley or any of our areas and would like to regularly drink in a pub (or pubs) and report on the beer we would love to hear from you. You can choose your local and then there's no hassle!! Please get in touch with Glenda if this is the sort of task you would like to undertake. We are looking for CAMRA members living in our branch area to help us in all manner of real ale related things. Going to the pub, drinking beer (!) and telling us what you think of it - this helps us choose the best pubs for the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. Coming along to a social trip such as a pub crawl or brewery visit. Go to the Diary page for details of forthcoming events Perhaps you have a skill or interest that you can bring to the group - if so we want to know. If you are not a CAMRA why not consider joining. It costs less than 5p a day! The views expressed on this site are not necessarily those of the Campaign for Real Ale LTD. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information on this site is accurate and up to date, no responsibility for errors and omissions can be accepted.
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al delay with traffic the day was first class. When we eventually found the brewery behind Stanway House we had a first class talk from Alex Penniquick the owner and brewer. It is a fascinating place using a wood fired copper from hundreds of years ago and is set in a beautiful building (think National Trust!!). Alex treated us to samples of his ale as he explained the brewing process to us and then answered questions. Following this we made our way to Stow on the Wold where we visited The Bell and settled in happily at The Queens Head, one of the Donnington pubs. We then called in at The Bakers Arms, Broad Campden and had a superb session enjoying banter with the locals, eating all their apple pie, sunning ourselves in the garden and tasting their superb range of ales. On the way home we passed the Swan at Birlingham, which just happened to be having a beer festival. Deciding it would be churlish to pass them by we called in and sampled a few of the extensive range they had on offer. We finally arrived back at The Bell, Pensax in a very warm and happy mood. Here's to more trips like this! 
Trip
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