Stonehenge: a welcome sign of spring

Since I joined CAMRA ten years ago I have visited a number of breweries with my local branch, but still feel brewery trips are some of the best days out that we organise. I mean, you turn up at a brewery, get shown around, then wow free samples. And not just the odd half but pints if you wish of a selection of the brewery’s range. This is made possible because the brewer always keeps back some of each brew as a quality control measure and as the beer is not sold it is tax free.

As I am sure you remember, at last year’s Poole Beer Festival our sponsor was Stonehenge Ales based at The Old Mill, Netheravon near Salisbury. Although the brewery was started up in 1984 as Bunces’ Brewery, it was put up for sale and in 1993 was bought by Danish brewer Stig Anker Andersen who was becoming disillusioned brewing 'eurofizz’ in Denmark. He was looking for something new when he saw the business advertised in a trade magazine. We have known Stig for a while now, having worked alongside him at the New Forest Show Beer festival, and were delighted when he invited us to come to his brewery this spring. In a delightful setting alongside the River Avon, this 1914 building was originally built as an electricity generator but fell into disuse after a chequered history, for a while a village hall hosting dances and boxing matches. It uses the traditional tower system of brewing with the malted barley starting high up on the top floor then using gravity to fill the mash tun and drops to the copper for boiling,then after cooling it drops to the fermenters and finally down into casks. After a week or so to condition the beer is ready to be sold.

The beers available for us to sample were Pigswill, a lovely 4% session ale; Great Bustard, a slightly darker 4.8% ale which uses some rye malt in its recipe; Great Dane, a 4.6% real lager; and the branch favourite Sign of Spring. This latter beer is 4.6%, a lovely green colour but everything you expect from a great beer apart from the colour. These beers are well worth seeking out in the area (The Bermuda Triangle, Ashley Cross, and Bankes Arms at Studland often stocks Stonehenge ales but less frequently they can be found in the Goat and Tricycle as well as around our northern rural pubs). But come and meet us, and perhaps Stig also, at the New Forest Show (29th, 30th & 31st July) as they will be providing three ales including the show beer.

Robin Garrett