Getting real ale on message

So what did you do in the beer war, daddy?" Well, my son, I went into the trenches for Cask Ale Week and emerged bloodied but unbowed.

On the opening day of the week, I rose at 6am to go into London to take part in a series of radio interviews in the company of fellow beer writer Melissa Cole. The interviews were revealing. For all its faults, the dear old BBC knows how to run local radio stations.

The presenters are proper joined-up journalists who know how to conduct an interview, listen to what you say and come back with intelligent second questions.

All too often, independent commercial stations employ people who wouldn't know a good interview from a cold rice pudding and they made it clear that we were just the boring filling between two rock tracks.

But in general it was a worthwhile exercise and we got the message across: 10,000 pubs were supporting Cask Ale Week, real beer now accounted for 13.5% of on-trade sales, with an increasing number of women switching to a product with taste and character.

That evening I took part in the first real ale Twitter, conducted by CAMRA. Don't ask me to explain the techie bits, but it entailed me giving tasting notes for five beers, which were tapped into a laptop by Jon Howard and Tony Jerome from CAMRA's press office.

More than 400 people took part and I was impressed not only by the numbers but also by the volume of intelligent questions from people with a passion and knowledge for good beer.

The only hairy moment was when I was told the next Twitter question came from someone called Nick Griffin who asked: "Protz — what sort of name is that? Are you some kind of immigrant?" I assumed that was a spoof and didn't bother to reply.

For the record, my great-great grandfather came from Germany so good beer is in my genes.

We conducted the Twitter sessions in two pubs in St Albans. When I first moved there in the late 1970s, the White Hart Tap was one of the few pubs in the city that sold cask beer. I thought at the time that if all real ale was as bad as Ind Coope mild and bitter, CAMRA would never have got off the ground.

But Ind Coope went, CAMRA flourished and the White Hart Tap is now a Punch outlet with an fine range of ales including Titanic Anchor, Deuchars IPA and Taylor's Landlord. For the occasion, we chose two Fuller's beers, Discovery and London Pride, on the grounds that they are widely available and offer a sharp contrast in style. The use of American Liberty hops in the golden Discovery gives the beer an unmistakable American character of tart citrus fruit while London Pride has the deep spicy and peppery notes that come from English hop varieties.

Twitter success​

We moved round the corner to the Goat, a wonderful old ale house heavy with beams and a history that says it may have been a tavern in Roman times. The pub was once a Whitbread house, was free of tie for many years but is now in the trusted hands of Charles Wells.

I merrily Twittered about the joys of Wells' Bombardier, bursting with rich malt and resinous hops, Young's Special — juicy malt and uncompromising Fuggles and Goldings hops — and Badger Tanglefoot, a guest ale with a malted loaf character from the generous use of darker crystal grain and a gentle spicy hop note.

The Twitter session was judged a great success and may be the first of many. It's clearly a brilliant way to get the beer message across to drinkers well-versed in new technology.

On Tuesday I travelled to that temple to cask, the White Horse in Parson's Green, west London.

I was accompanied by Beer Writer of the Year Pete Brown and the plan was to discuss the merits of real lager and cask beer. This was sparked by the arrival of a batch of Budvar "yeast beer" from the Czech Republic — an unfiltered version of the golden beer and the nearest thing to cask-conditioned lager you are likely to find.

But it was Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark. The consignment of Budvar hadn't arrived. It wasn't the fault of the brewery: the delivery company decided to delay supplying the beer so its payment would go into the new tax year. Oh, for the old days of communist Czechoslovakia when such antisocial behaviour would have led to several years in the slammer.

Nevertheless, Pete and I were able to talk about the history of lager and ale and how, in their true form, they have much in common. There was a large and appreciative audience who tucked into regular Budvar with relish, along with Harvey's Sussex and other delights.

The week wasn't done. This is being written before a trip to the St Austell Brewery where I was due to give a beer talk and tasting of Tribute and other beery pleasures. The event is sold out and all the proceeds will go to Cornish Hospice Care. A fine end to a memorable week in support of great British ale.