All hail the ale
Tuesday July 20, 2010
With the biggest date in the calendar for beer coming up, real ale fans will be out in force to spread the word.
From August 3-7 thirsty hordes will descend on Earls Court, which straddles the borough border, to celebrate all things ale at the Great British Beer Festival.
Members of the west London branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) are part of the army of helpers looking forward to the event next month, with a publicity drive in one of their favourite H&F pubs - The Albion in Hammersmith Road - on July 24 a part of the build-up.
"That's great fun," says Kimberly Martin, one of the best people to talk to if you want to know about the real ale scene.
"We distribute posters, and trade tickets to licensees. It turns out we get quite a lot of people coming in as a result of posters in pubs."
But Kimberly, who is now Camra's regional director for greater London after leaving her role as chairman of the west London group just last month, is keen to recommend the area's year-round drinking attractions.
"It was lovely being chairman of this branch because we have so many lovely pubs in the area," she says.
Asked for H&F pub recommendations, The Albion is an immediate choice for 'the way they keep their beer, the welcome, the atmosphere, the food - it basically ticks all the boxes'.
The renowned White Horse in Parsons Green is another favourite. "They have a huge range of very well-kept real ale, which is obviously the number one criteria, also a great range of foreign and bottled beers," adds Kimberly, who came to London from her native California in 1982.
"There are frequent festivals such as an old ale festival in November which is very popular, tastings, great food, great welcome, it's huge, it's beautiful - it is one of our favourite pubs and one of the best in London."
Other pubs hailed include the Hammersmith Fuller's classics: The Salutation in King Street and The Dove in Lower Mall.
With real ale becoming more popular - as the chain Nicholson's, owner of the revamped Swan in Hammersmith Broadway has discovered - drinkers are more likely to try blond beers, hoppy ales, stronger types or even milds (which are making a comeback).
Kimberly, who lives in Greenford, says: "One big difference drinking beer to when I first started is that now you don't always have to go for a high strength beer to get taste. It used to be that the low-strength beers had no flavour, but now breweries are experimenting with different hops, mixtures of hops, varieties of malt - beer is becoming hugely popular.
"It could end up being one of the factors that saves the British pub because it is the only place you can find cask-conditioned beer apart from festivals. Bottle-conditioned beer is a whole different market but, of course, it's a lot more sociable drinking down at the pub."
So, get down the pub, get along to the beer festival - and get involved in Camra, says Kimberly. "The funny thing about the west London branch there are about approaching 800 members on the list but maybe only a dozen active members.
"It is really peculiar because we have the highest concentration of pubs - I think it is practically a one to one ratio of pubs to members."
Camra west London branch has plenty of social events in its calendar. See www.westlondon-camra.org.uk (opens new window) for details.
For information about the GBBF see http://gbbf.camra.org.uk/home (opens new window).
