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A thread devoted to Real Ales in Wales

Yes - the Mochyn Du - nice place , my fortunate mates ate there and were well impressed. I just had a quick 2 pints and really enjoyed it - on the list for a future , more relaxed stay (having travelled 1300 miles around the UK this week by trian with some stupid long days -)

The daffodils in the park were superb - always good to go to Cardiff.
 
I like the atmosphere at the Mochyn Du a lot but I have to say that in our experience the beer hasn't always been 100% reliable in condition -- maybe we were just unlucky a couple of times though :(
 
Plans going strong for the Swansea Bay Beer Festival for August Bank Hol weekend, we had another planning meeting last night. But more later on that.

Just to prove that this thread has no time for any Cardiff/Swansea 'rivalry' pettiness ( :p ) , here's an early little plug for the much sooner Great Welsh Beer Festival 2012

Thursday 7th to Saturday 9th June.

We'll be going on Thursday 7th (at least) -- not too packed then, and low risk of best beers running out ... ;)
 
Most recently I have drunk my way through the Cricketers' own, some Milkwood and Dark (both Brains of course) and some Timothy Taylor in Hay. Marvellous.
 
When you get the chance, I recommend you seek out and try the excellent beers from Brecon Brewing. This is a new, independent project by Buster Grant (very nice bloke and very committed to craft brewing). He was formerly head brewer with Breconshire Brewery (still extant for now, so don't confuse the two companies with each other). Brecon Brewing beers are often available in Spoons/the Potters Wheel in Swansea, not sure whether other Wetherspoons get them though.

I'm sure if you get to the Great Welsh Beer Festival in June (see above) you'll be able to find them there.
 
Our Swansea CAMRA gang have hired a 33 seater, and this coming Thursday we'll be off to be shown around the new and tiny Neath Ales brewery (confusingly located in Baglan, nearer Port Talbot :hmm: ).

And we have a day off the next day :D

Their beers are grand too, but not too easy to find out of our area yet ... they will probably be found at Cardiff in June, and will certainly feature at the Swansea Bay Beer Fest in August. As will the Brecon Brewing ones and many other Welsh and not-Welsh delights -- we're just starting to get the list together at the moment.
 
Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff has this Maibock malarkey starting on Thursday (10th May) and into the weekend.

We'll most likely be there for the earlier part of Thursday evening (starts 5pm).

(I'm on strike opn Thursday and will be able to get thee promptly! :D )
 
yeah that has been good before
on the beer front anyway, food for veggies is shit
 
Chemster said:
The Ancient Briton
Its near to
Craig-y-Nos Castle has a fantastic selection of Real Ales, of which I sampled about 10 different varieties while attending a wedding party last weekend. I think the Cribyn was my favourite:​

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breconshire-Brewery-Cribyn-Beer-500ml/dp/B003R6JGP4

http://ancientbriton.co.uk/
Click to expand...

Quite right, the Ancient kicks proper arse, it's Regional Pub of the Year again this year for a very good reason! Pain to get to mind, but not impossible by bus (except on Sundays) -- you have to get the Brecon bus (1 or 2 a day only?) from Swansea and keep on eye on not getting back too late -- I think you have to change at Ystradgynlais in the early evening :confused:

Look out though for their planned beer/music mini-festival sometime in mid September, will post link here later on when I know more. They have even more beers then, and free bands, and they provide camping space (with new shower and toilet block). Weather in Wales can be better in September than earlier, some years!
 
As we found the other evening, you were right! :eek:

We went to Falafel Cymru round the corner instead. After a few excellent beers at Maibock, that cafe's Vegetarian Lunchboxes ( :hmm: :p ) filled the spot nicely, at fair prices too :cool:
 
Krautfest at Chapter was forgetfully memorable. I'd love to recount the Teutonic Ambrosiae I consumed, but there's nothing there.

WoW (or anyone else for that matter) - have you come across anything from the Bare Naked Brewery in leafy Pontcanna? Wonderful backstreet enterprise run by a canny Aussie. He wants to expand but currently is at the limits of capacity. His Smoked Lager is really, really something to experience!
 
Re Bare Naked Brewery: @benedus aha I was there earlier (King's road studios) in the day as a mate of mine has just rented a space to do music in. So we had a couple of pints of his splendid beer and very nice it was too, I think I've mentioned it on this thread before.

BUT... did you know he's been taken to court by Pepsi over trademark infringement? It's been going on for nigh on two years now. Essentially Pepsi produce a soft drink called 'Naked' (incidentally only to be found in Waitrose apparently). As a consequence they feel that 'Bare Naked Beers' infringes on their trademark. I suspect that they have an office full of lawyers trying to justify their existence - apparently they even have a barrister to represent them in this case, whereas he does not. I wished him luck earlier, and now.
 
yeah, had bottles from there years ago and been to a couple of the mini day festies in there but they've had to stop having amplified stuff iirc and now do the odd one in the printhaus off llandaff rd near chapter​
 
bendeus said:
Krautfest at Chapter was forgetfully memorable. I'd love to recount the Teutonic Ambrosiae I consumed, but there's nothing there.

WoW (or anyone else for that matter) - have you come across anything from the Bare Naked Brewery in leafy Pontcanna? Wonderful backstreet enterprise run by a canny Aussie. He wants to expand but currently is at the limits of capacity. His Smoked Lager is really, really something to experience!
Click to expand...

Very much so, we're big fans of those beers. We've been to their Saturday open days in the brewery yard several times :) -- sometimes they have free live music to go with the (paid-for!) beers ... I'd suggest looking out for their next event on their websitre, very convivial atmosphere especially when the sun shines ... as it surely will do again soon :hmm:
 
ddraig said:
yeah, had bottles from there years ago and been to a couple of the mini day festies in there but they've had to stop having amplified stuff iirc and now do the odd one in the printhaus off llandaff rd near chapter​
Click to expand...


Oh OK, missed this when I did the above post :oops: ... is that right? No more bands? :( :(
 
teqniq said:
BUT... did you know he's been taken to court by Pepsi over trademark infringement? It's been going on for nigh on two years now. Essentially Pepsi produce a soft drink called 'Naked' (incidentally only to be found in Waitrose apparently). As a consequence they feel that 'Bare Naked Beers' infringes on their trademark. I suspect that they have an office full of lawyers trying to justify their existence - apparently they even have a barrister to represent them in this case, whereas he does not. I wished him luck earlier, and now.
Click to expand...

I didn't know, no. It's one of those pieces of news that just makes your shoulders slump that little bit more, but that comes as no surprise in a 'rapacious corporate lawyers threaten another small business over perceived copyright of a common word non-shocka!' kind of way.

Would the oxygen of publicity not help his case here - it seems such a clear case of lowlife, corporate bullying, and one that papers like the Western Fail would probably be interested in.
 
bendeus said:
...Would the oxygen of publicity not help his case here - it seems such a clear case of lowlife, corporate bullying, and one that papers like the Western Fail would probably be interested in.
Click to expand...

I guess it would, I first heard of it in a live interview on Radio Cardiff and that has to be at least a year ago, nothing since.
 
One of the older Welsh beers brewed under Brains's auspices now, Buckley's Best, is to cease being brewed, or so we hear from the landlord of the only (?) pub in Swansea to stock it regularly (The Queens Hotel). Buckleys has its old-boy following, and being from the old Crown Buckley brewery in Llanelli originally, there are definitely some older people around here who remember it fondly.

But it was selling pretty poorly overall, apparantly, and Brains are now knocking it on the head as a product -- after this month's final brew, currently being made, there will be no more of it.

Can't say we're devastated at all <he posted heartlessly! :D >.

That's because we always saw the Buckleys as boringly taking up a pump in the Queens that could offer so many other beers. Which is exactly what's going to happen there soon :cool: -- Gary intends to have not one but two pumps there with regularly rotating guest ales from independents -- he has complete control over what he buys and wants to favour some newer, quality breweries like Neath Ales and Gower Brewing Co., as well as examples from others further afield. This can only be good news in Swansea :)

And the Queens' status as the only pub anywhere in the area that sells Theakstons Old Peculier will continue. We may have to start going there more often again, it's more or less our local after all ... :D
 
William of Walworth said:
One of the older Welsh beers brewed under Brains's auspices now, Buckley's Best, is to cease being brewed, or so we hear from the landlord of the only (?) pub in Swansea to stock it regularly (The Queens Hotel). Buckleys has its old-boy following, and being from the old Crown Buckley brewery in Llanelli originally, there are definitely some older people around here who remember it fondly.

But it was selling pretty poorly overall, apparantly, and Brains are now knocking it on the head as a product -- after this month's final brew, currently being made, there will be no more of it.

Can't say we're devastated at all <he posted heartlessly! :D >.

That's because we always saw the Buckleys as boringly taking up a pump in the Queens that could offer so many other beers. Which is exactly what's going to happen there soon :cool: -- Gary intends to have not one but two pumps there with regularly rotating guest ales from independents -- he has complete control over what he buys and wants to favour some newer, quality breweries like Neath Ales and Gower Brewing Co., as well as examples from others further afield. This can only be good news in Swansea :)

And the Queens' status as the only pub anywhere in the area that sells Theakstons Old Peculier will continue. We may have to start going there more often again, it's more or less our local after all ... :D
Click to expand...

Not too sure Bukkers is going to be missed ....always thought that it was considered as the welsh equivalent of tetleys or watleys
 
I will miss Buckley's and i'm sure it will be missed by some older drinkers, it even seemed to be an older persons drink 30 years ago, cheap and cheerful back then and an introduction to more high class beer for many.
Being a local brew and being a local and having acquired a taste for it, i would pick a pint of Buckleys Best over Theakstons OP any day.
 
Gower Brewing Company now have a website :) --I posted about them on here a while ago ...

We went to the Greyhound Inn in Oldwalls today, where the brewery is housed.

Hard to get hold of, their beers, even in Swansea itself (although the Queens, mentioned above, does on occasion sell Gower ale now)

But they're utterly cracking beers if you manage to find 'em -- especially Gower Power and Gower Gold .... :) :cool:
 
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