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Real ale is pulling more women than ever into pubs
Sunderland's oldest pub – The Clarendon – boasts its own Bull Lane Brewery. We sampled some winning brews and spoke to women sold on the specials.
Nowts A Matta, Mutz Nutz, Neck Oil, Ryhope Tug, Jack's Flag, Source of the Niall, Stadium of Light and Jason's Jinja Ale could have laid me out in The Clarendon – Sunderland's oldest pub, boasting its own brewery on tap.
But being a woman of discretion and of such a discerning palate – so many of us are – sampling Steve Potts' special brews was a delightful, decorous introduction to real ale drinking.
Here in this quaint bar, overlooking the River Wear, supping with Steve was all about savouring tastefully, as ladies do so well, rather than ending up palatic and rolling out into High Street East.
"Women have got good taste," said Steve, who reckons it's all down to our delicate palates.
So it was no surprise to him that the number of women drinking real ale has doubled in the past year, with almost one in three supping what campaigners regard as Britain's "national drink".
"Women like a beer with body and flavour. I think women are more sensitive and can pick up flavours.
"Men love the smell of the brewery like when Vaux used to be there.
"Women didn't like the smell of it but if you give the women a drink, they are more sensitive and and more defined," says Steve, who has 16 recipes which he brews single-handed in the Bull Lane brewery
Take his Jason's Jinja Ale – the most popular brew at South Shields' Beer Festival last year and a zingy favourite with females and fellas.
At 4.5 per cent proof, it has a kick all its own and Steve's only worry is that if too much is supped, he'll get wives after him.
Quite simply, drink too much of his ginger, lemon and lime concoction and instead of going home, fellas invariably try and climb over bus stops or fall over somebody's garden wall.
"So I get a lot of wives looking for me," quips Steve.
Mutz Nutz, like Nowts A Matta, are easy session bitters and the most popular at The Clarendon, which dates back to 1690.
My favourite was Mutz Nutz at a satisfying 1.90 a pint – well priced to give the supermarkets a run for their money – if you can make it back up the hill after last orders.
Kay Masson, landlady at Sir William deWessington in Concord, Washington, will be brewing with Steve's help a special for the Sunderland Beer Festival.
The three-day event starts on October 8 at the nearby Bonded Warehouse in Low Street.
Kay's just finished a brewing course at Sunderland University's Brew Lab and is a regular at The Clarendon when Sunderland and South Tyneside Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) meets.
Just returned from the London Beer Festival, Kay said: "Women have excellent tastebuds. We like a lot of taste in our beers, like chocolate and orange and whisky.
Over at The Steamboat, South Shields – voted pub of the year by the Sunderland and South Tyneside branch – bar manager Kath Brain, 29, is one of the growing numbers of women members in the branch who now make up 40 per cent.
Kath can't get enough of real ale for her regulars and says: "We have more younger women drinking real ale from 21-year-olds up to women in their 70s.
"They seem to prefer the light ones with a lot of citrus or a honey flavour."
What's the pull?
Kath says: "I think they just know their own mind a lot more. They know exactly what they like, whereas men will drink anything. We always offer samples of our guest beers and have cheese and ale and sausage and ale evenings.
"I think women are becoming more adventurous and are willing to try things that are different to ciders and wines."
And she agrees that women do have a more delicate palate, like fellow branch member Fiona Monteith-Preston, a sales rep with a medical company, who has taken to real ale drinking with her husband Ian.
She says: "I got on to real ale in the last five years and think women have more discerning palates. My husband goes for the bigger flavours. I think women appreciate the more subtle flavours like peach and apple."
Women are more specific about what they like and what they don't, reckons mother-of-four Lynn Cunningham, 50, a secretary from West Boldon.
As social secretary for the branch, she organises trips near and far to breweries.
While she prefers real ale to her once-favourite tipple of rum and coke, Lynn likes the lighter ones, especially Nowts A Matta. Her all-time favourite is Marston's Pedigree – a light, refreshing Yorkshire ale.
Steve is always coming up with new brews. What's his secret to success?
"It's just like cooking. You start off with all the ingredients and follow the recipe.
"If you were cooking Yorkshire pudding, you aren't going to end up with sherry trifle."
Of all his brews, his wife Linda's favourite is Jack's Flag, a dark, malty bitter. And happily she shares Steve's passion for walking in the Lake District and checking the micro breweries.
He says with a twinkle: "It's research and development. I am not enjoying it. It means just drinking beer. It's just terrible."
And if you fancy having real ale on tap at home, Steve sells mini-casks of nine pints for 15.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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