Visit of Roger ProtzRenowned beer writer and editor of CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide Roger Protz paid two recent visits to Cumbria: the first to visit some of our smaller and newer breweries, as research for a forthcoming article in CAMRA’s monthly magazine What’s Brewing.
Members of the West Cumbria branch joined him for a drink at the Kirkstile Inn. It was Roger’s first visit to Loweswater, and he was very impressed with the pub and the quality of Matt Webster’s beer, commenting on the way new visitors to the pub were keen to try the beer. In a whirlwind tour Roger then went on to visit Great Gable brewery at the Wasdale Head Inn; Coniston, Foxfield, Hawkshead and Barngates breweries, accompanied by CAMRA Brewery Liaison Officers.
At the beginning of May he gave two talks at the Cumbria Food and Drink Festival at Rheged, and launched the new Cumbria Real Ale Trail leaflet.
The picture shows Roger leaning on the bar at Rheged (front right) with from left, Mike Parker (Hesket Newmarket), Peter Laws (Jennings), Howard Christie (Great Gable), a n other, Alex Brodie (Hawkshead), Matt Webster and Roger Humphreys (Loweswater)
In his informative talk to an attentive audience he commented on the quality and variety of beers brewed in Cumbria. He rebutted the allegations made by business pundits that the bottom has fallen out of the ale market; in fact the quantity of real ale brewed in the UK exceeds that of lager by 50%, and 22% of all pub goers drink ale, compared with 23% who drink lager. Britain remains not only a major brewing nation, but one whose beer tradition encompasses the widest possible range of beer styles. Its future is in the hands of regional brewers like Jennings, and the small craft brewers who have led a resurgence in brewing in recent years. The British hop growing industry is also leading the world in producing new strains of hop, including dwarf or hedgerow hops. Roger Protz also condemned the media for the crude association of beer with bad news; TV and newspaper reports about binge drinking are almost always accompanied by a shot of a beer glass or a handpump, whereas most binge drinking involves alcopops.