|
Meet The Merry Miner
We are pleased to welcome a new
brewery our branch! Meet Warwickshire’s newest
brewer, Alan Wood, gaffer of the Merry Miner
brewery. The brewery is situated on a farm about a
mile south-east of Warton, and Alan gave us a tour
of the facility on a cold evening in November. A
cold night but a warm welcome!
Alan’s brewery is a smart, wood-clad affair, with a
ten firkin capacity. The equipment is from the
former Discovery brewery of Meriden – Simon Cox, the
brewer there, a full-time lecturer, decided that
part-time brewing and raising a young family just
didn’t go together. But, if the first of Alan’s
brews are anything to go by, the kit is now in safe
hands!
The first Merry Miner brew was Davy’s Lamp at 4.0%,
and was amongst the first to sell out at Birmingham
Beer Festival, with very positive comments on the
way. There’s been quite a rush of business, and
while Alan is aware that there’s always a honeymoon
period for new breweries, he’s still been taken
aback by demand. He’s also done Miner’s Fancy at
6.2%, and Pit Pony at 4.5%. Alan’s wife Anita had
laid on some food for our visit, to accompany the
Pit Pony and Davy’s Lamp which Alan had for us to
sample. Both are nicely well balanced, with Pony
featuring First Gold and Progress hops, and
Challenger and Pioneer hops in the Davy’s. We look
forward to finding these on our travels!
Like his father and grandfather before him, Alan
started out working down the pit, with ten years at
Daw Mill. He also played for the Dordon Merry Miner
pub football team (now the Cuckoo’s Rest), and so
the brewery name was a natural! For five years now
has worked for the Dowbridge beer distributors, and
constantly visiting breweries and pubs as part of
the job fired up his interest in brewing his own.
By the time you read this, the trade should have
seen Methane at 5.0%, and a session brew of
Warwickshire’s Finest at 3.8%, recalling the
Warwickshire coalfields of yore.
Trade enquiries to 01827 897615.
|
|
Short Measure?
If you are consistently being served short
measures in a particular pub, or if you have any other
consumer-related issue, you might want to contact
Trading Standards - see the links page for the one in
your area.
Drinking
and Driving
Think! Just don't drink and drive. Use
Public Transport - see the links
page for information on train and bus services in
our area.
|
