External links

http://www.beerpal.com/Newmans-Wolvers-Ale-Beer/15405/

http://www.theredlion-draycott.co.uk/food-drink.htm

reproduced from Pints West issue 61 - http://www.camrabristol.org.uk/

SATURDAY 22nd November 2003 will long be remembered by many as the day England won the Rugby World Cup.

However, it was also the day that saw the launch of the first brewery in the Weston area for 20 years and the first in Banwell since Castle and Rogers Brewery ceased trading almost 100 years ago.

Wolvers Ale from Newman’s Brewery, based in a garage in Banwell, made its first appearance in pubs across Weston. The official launch was held at The London Inn and the first brew also appeared at The Old King’s Head in Worle, The Claremont Vaults, The Cabot, Hornets RFC, Off The Rails, The Queen’s Arms at Bleadon, The Bell at Banwell and The Crown at Churchill.

Not all of the aforementioned venues are known as being supporters of microbreweries and some people were concerned that after the initial enthusiasm it would be difficult for Tom Newman to get his beers into pubs in the area. How wrong we were - the last three months has seen the brewery go from strength to strength, with Tom’s main problem being trying to keep up with demand.

Wolvers Ale has now appeared in 30 to 40 pubs and clubs in the area, with many of these customers now taking the beer on a regular basis. Aside from the aforementioned venues, "Wolvers" has been in lots of other places in Weston - The Regency, The Dragon, The White Hart, The Conservative Club - and slightly further afield at The Woolpack in St. Georges; The Anchor in Bleadon, The Ship in Uphill, The Winscombe Club, The Red Lion in Cheddar, The Prince Of Orange in Yatton, The New Moon in Biddesham, Old Inn and Plough in Congresbury, and at both The Crown and Lamb in Axbridge.

Customers at the latter emptied their two casks in less than three days. Word must be getting around that the beer is popular as Tom’s phone keeps ringing, both from existing and new customers. The beer will soon be appearing at Jack Stamps Beer House, Weston Golf Club and The Whistling Duck in Banwell.

Aside from having to more than double his early weekly output (he is now producing around 25 nine-gallon casks a week), Tom has also won his first award. In January Wolvers Ale beat about 30 beers to win the Beer Of The Festival award at the Alternative Winter Beers Festival held in Manchester. The organiser picked his beers for the festival from breweries that have started up in the past two to three years and, according to Tom, he collected all the beers himself from the breweries and took all the empty casks back afterwards! This success for Wolvers Ale was recognised with a big splash in the Bristol Evening Post as well as a piece in the Weston Mercury.

The most pleasing thing about Wolvers Ale, which is a tasty but easy-drinking session bitter of 4.1 per cent ABV, is that it has been popular in pubs that would not normally be considered "real ale pubs" and several licensees have mentioned that nonreal ale drinkers have tried and liked it. If the beer can help encourage keg and lager drinkers to give real ale a try then it will be doing a great service to the real ale cause locally.

It hasn’t been all plain sailing. In the early days there were consistency problems and in some cases the beer refused to clear. However, these problems seem to have been resolved and Tom’s main problem at the moment is having to disappoint pubs that want to take his beer. Plans are afoot to resolve this problem too, as Tom is currently looking for larger premises, which will enable him to increase capacity and give his parents their garage back!

Tom is not looking for world domination - simply a steady local trade. This looks to be very much on the cards. If you have not yet tried it, venues taking it on a regular basis are The London Inn, Cabot, Old King’s Head, The Crown at Churchill and Prince Of Orange, Yatton.

At time of writing, Tom had just finished a brew of Woolly Mammoth, a German-style "white" beer of 4.5 per cent ABV, which he plans to brew on an occasional basis. This beer was all sold before it was brewed and the most likely place that people will be able to catch it is at The Bristol Beer Festival on 5-6 March.

- Tim Nickolls