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18th Jersey Beer & Cider Festival
14th - 16th September 2006

A party of 23 members & friends made the trip to Jersey for the weekend. Some from Thursday to Sunday, some from Friday to Monday. As well as having more opportunity to visit the festival, those who went on the Thursday were also able to visit The Jersey & Tipsy Toad Brewery.
We all stayed at the Pomme d'Or Hotel in the centre of St. Helier.

The festival was held in two large marquees on a park 10 minutes walk from the hotel. There were 132 beers on offer, plus cider & perry.

Two of our members, Phill & Steve, volunteered to work behind the bar & were found doing just that on Saturday afternoon - well done to them!

Two of our friends were persuaded to become Members - I think they just got fed up with the nagging!

A Personal Report from Phill Wholton:

Steve, Anne, Lorraine and myself caught a flight from Coventry Airport to St Helier in Jersey. The weather we left behind was rain and lots of it.

Our arrival was smooth, then straight to the bus stand where we caught a service bus to St Helier. The weather had cheered up and so had we. We were nearing our objective.

To our surprise, and with the help of a friendly bus driver, the bus drove past the People’s Park, and at a convenient spot Steve and I hopped off as the festival was calling. The fact it had been open a few hours was incidental, but the first thanks of the trip go to Lorraine and Anne for taking our suitcases to the Hotel and unpacking. They made out that this would be a mammoth task, and as I was new to the island I knew no better. It transpired that the Bus Station was next door to the Hotel.

At the festival we made contact with the local branch chairman, John Le Sueur, who in turn made us feel most welcome. With 130+ beers available it was difficult not to be.

We found out the local pubs to visit, and the names of good Restaurants from Dave Perrier, who was the Bar manager at the Festival.

On the Friday after an early “coffee” in the Lamplighters, it was off to the Jersey and Tipsy Toad Brewery, where we were met by Paul Hurley, the Head Brewer. A fact filled tour was undertaken and at the conclusion a bit of socialising was done with the rest of the guys who were about to finish work. One was even kind enough to give the four of us a lift back to the festival to try yet more beers.

Saturday was our surprise day to the rest of the Hinckley contingent that had flown to the festival. Having already had the team photo taken we made our way to the festival and donned our aprons to help behind the bar. Their faces were a picture to see us standing there. But I suppose that it was nice for them to see our friendly faces smiling at them and threatening to “bar” them if they did not drink quickly enough.

It also had the desired effect as two new members were recruited. Those next six hours flew by, but it was hard, enjoyable work.

I have to give a special thanks to all those mentioned as they made us all feel so welcome.

The flight back was full of people that I had seen at the festival, so there is no doubt that the festival in Jersey is going from strength to strength.

I look forward to next year already, when it runs from the 6^th to the 8^th September. (TBC)
Phill Wholton.

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The Webmaster's Weekend:

I was one of the group who did not arrive until late on Friday, unfortunately this only allowed for a visit to the festival on the Saturday, which turned out to be the last day. I was amazed to find that the festival organisers had allowed two of our members behind the bar - almost foolhardy I thought! Still, all was well and a pleasant, typical beer festival afternoon was enjoyed.

We all stayed at the Pomme d'Or, a 4* hotel that proved to be generally approved of for its position, food and the politeness & helpfulness of the staff.
 

As well as visiting the festival, I was keen to investigate some of the island's pubs. Although the hotel lacked real ale, just round the corner was the Lamplighter, a GBG2007 pub, offering about 8 real ales both by handpump & straight from the barrel. The exterior has intricate wood carvings above the pub's facade. The beers on offer were Charles Wells Eagle & Bombadier, Bass, Directors, Ringwood Boondoggle, Best Bitter, FortyNiner & Old Thumper most of which were on good form throughout the weekend. The only downside to the pub was the number of TV screens all showing different football matches. This proved to be a feature of many pubs in the centre of St. Helier.

The predominant breweries on the island are the Jersey & Tipsy Toad and Randalls. Most pubs are tied to one or the other, although there are a few free houses. The predominant beers available seem to be Bass, Courage, GK, Charles Wells & Ringwood.

A few of us decided to have a walk round the town centre pubs on Sunday evening, with the intention of trying the other GBG entries. This was not a great success! The Original Wine Bar had been closed for several weeks and had reopened the previous Friday under new management - who intend to run it as a Polish Bar - the 6 handpumps on the bar were all bereft of pump clips except one - Courage Directors, not my favourite beer! The other entry in St. Helier is the Prince of Wales Tavern, so this was the next call. It pays to read the GBG carefully before venturing forth, if I had, I'd have realised this one doesn't open on Sunday evenings!! Not doing very well! Back to the safety of the Lamplighter after looking in on one or two other pubs en route - nothing interesting to report.

The one GBG2007 entry I would have liked to visit, but never did, was the Smuggler's Inn at St. Brelade. It is one of the few free houses on the island and has been the Jersey CAMRA Pub of the Year every year since 2002. Those who did get there were full of praise, as far as they can remember . . . .......

The only other GBG2007 pub I got to was the Moulin de Lecq at Greve de Lecq, on the NW of the island. This was achieved using the very efficient and cheap island buses. This is a converted water mill set in a picturesque bay. The bar is built around the watermill cog wheels. There were at least 6 ales available, but for some reason exactly what they were seems to have vanished into the mists of time!
Alan Cooke

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