Home of the BrewNosers

I thought I would do this in stages as there is a lot to say and lots of pictures of English pubs and breweries. I learnt a lot that I would like to pass on. It’s all quite detailed and I want to get it right so it might take a few weeks.

Here’s some pictures of my home village, Mevagissey in Cornwall, with the St. Austell brewery truck unloading firkins of real ale to a local pub early in the morning.

Later I can post pictures of St. Austell brewery with some information on their techniques.

Awesome! I'm very interested to hear about your trip - I'm planning a trip to the UK in the late summer or early fall and I hope to visit some great pubs and breweries while I'm there.

Thanks Wilco! I was hoping someone might be interested. I’ll put in as much detail in case you end up going to Cornwall. Cornwall is a tourist destination for England and it might be a good choice to go there.

I went to see my mother who is 82. She is vibrant and full of life and fun. She lives next door to a pub called the Barley Sheaf in Gorran. The landlord and owner is a an old friend of mine. I used to sail with him when we were kids. His name is Tom White.

He closed the Barley Sheaf last year and modernised it, so it isn’t still a traditional pub but it never was one of the nicest old pubs and he has done a fantastic job (I think).

Here is the pub:

Here is Tom and my mum:

Tom showing me a firkin of Doombar real ale, and the tap and soft spile that go in it.

Great pics! I hope you got to partake in a few pints of the real ale! We're a long ways away for seeing a pub, much less a whole city, go through that amount of firkins!

He keeps his bees on the roof of the pub visible through the sky light. I kept bees when I was a teenager. Maybe he got that from me.

Firkins of real ale in the pub's cellar. There is a CAMRA approved cask breather setup that Tom didn't fully understand, he employs a cellarman, but he thought it had nitrogen in it.

hogie wrote:Great pics! I hope you got to partake in a few pints of the real ale! We're a long ways away for seeing a pub, much less a whole city, go through that amount of firkins!

Thanks hogie, I'll be back with some more traditional pub pictures and brewery pictures. Drank lots of real ale. A lot of people drink St. Austell Tribute and a lot of people drink Sharp's Doombar (recently taken over and promoted by Molsons). I got to like St Austell Breweries "Proper Job" and they have a new one out which is 8% and very hoppy that I really liked called "Big Job". I'm going to try to make it.

Always like seeing the pics of pubs from around the world.

cool pics, for sure. i like the bees in the skylight

I like all the pics. Looks good.

Thanks Guys!

Some more Cornish pub pictures:

In the old days Cornish gigs were used to take pilots out to sailing ships to bring them into harbour. Speed was essential as the pilot in the first gig to reach the ship got the job. Within the last 20 years people have been building replicas and racing them. It’s becoming quite a big thing.

There is a big race coming up next month and everyone is going to Tom’s pub after for some pints and a pig roast.

Tom is a member of the local club and he took me out as a member of the crew. The cox was a girl as is often the case. There was a women’s team there as well.
If anyone heads to Gorran and goes to the Barley Sheaf, it’s quite likely that Tom might take you out if you mention my name.

In the first picture, on the horizon you can see Guinges Rock, there are different spellings, Guineas is another one and the gig is named after the rock. It is a large rock in the English Channel that I used to sail around. Also shown in my avatar.

Sorry to bore you all with some more pictures. This is turning into a slide show of my holiday – remember the old days when people would be invited around and subjected to a tedious slide show after the vacation.
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My brother-in-law, Tim Renwick, is an amazing guitarist. He calls himself an “old rocker”. As a hobby he plays in the pubs in Cornwall with a very sweet girl, Mel, with a beautiful voice. If ever you are in Cornwall, find out which pub he is playing in and go there to see him and drink a few pints of real ale. You will be spell bound! Below is a picture of him playing in the Rising Sun pub in Portmellon. It was one of the highlights of my trip. They go by the name of “Hobson’s Choice”.

Tim has been the lead guitarist of Pink Floyd since Roger Walters left and played on all their tours since then, the latest appearance was at live 8. He is the one with the white shirt on, and the white guitar, on stage with Pink Floyd in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG8YMB63O58. He was with Eric Clapton for a while and the story is Eric Clapton got rid of him because he was showing him up. He’s made singles with Elton John, Paul McCartney. He did all the amazing guitar work on Year Of The Cat by Al Stewart. His work is too numerous to mention. He’s an amazing guy. Two years ago he was touring the States with Tom Jones. I am very proud to be related to him (just in case you can’t tell). More recently 10CCs guitarist broke his hand and he stood in on their European tour.

I like to tell a story, just to be annoying, of the wedding, when I was at the head table and all the rock stars were at the little tables. It isn’t often that life gets its priorities right like that I met a few of those 70’s rock stars including David Gilmour, but my sister seems to know them all.

Next up on the slide show, Tim Renwick and I go to the Royal Cornwall Show (Princess Anne was there watching the show jumping) and we visit all the microbrewery stands, check out the beer, and find our favorite one which is made by the “Rebel Brewing Company”. I later go with Tom, the Barley Sheaf owner, to visit the Rebel Brewing Company and we pick up a firkin of their real ale for his pub, we help mash in as the guy is short-handed. I’ll round up with pictures of St. Austell Brewery and then you can breathe a sigh of relief that it is over…that is until my next trip!

Looks like a fun trip. And those are some weird looking beer trucks!

Looks like a great trip! Great pics.

Thanks,

I thought I took more pictures at the Royal Cornwall Show...too busy tearing around, trying the beers I suppose.

Ah, Pink Floyd, my favorite group.
Keep up with the pictures.

Thanks Tony L. From your “many moons ago” picture with your wife looks like you might have been to a few rock concerts in your time?

Went to a small microbrewery with Tom White, the Barley Sheaf owner. It was called the rebel brewing company. Tim and I found them at the Royal Cornwall. Tom White wrote it up on the pubs facebook page. If you click on the link and scroll down you will see the write up. Give his page a “like” if you feel like it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Barl ... 7733042287

That’s me chucking a bag of Bairds MO into the mash tun. I was trying to get the recipe out of him but he was a bit cagey about it. I know the grain bill because I was there putting it in, and the other guy told me the hops
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He’s making real ale, again single stage ferment for 1 week only and then into the cask. He skims the yeast from the top of the ferment, but he trained at St Austl brewery where they do the same. He ferments his high ABV beers for two weeks. I week for all beers at St. Austell. The wort is poured into the fermenters from a height as the only means of aeration. No fancy hopping techniques here, just long boils and late additions. They use all leaf hops.

GuingesRock wrote:Thanks Tony L. From your “many moons ago” picture with your wife looks like you might have been to a few rock concerts in your time?

I wish.
Probably been to two.. Alice Cooper back in the 80's and the Australian Pink Floyd Show in the 90"s. David Gilmore is like a God to me.. best guitar player that ever
took a guitar in his hand. Been following them since Sid Barrett was there.
Too bad I never had the chance to see PF live... I now see them on DVD

Love the brewery pics and the scenes of old England.. reminds me of here.. lots of rock..

Yes I love the rocks/cliffs too. What really made me feel at home though was when I went out on the water in that gig. The sea was choppy and there was a bit of a swell. I spent most of my time out there as a teenager before I went away to school and university, and I knew that sea so well. Being tossed around by the waves took me right back 39 years, it was surreal, and for an instant my life’s journey was no longer a part of me, and I was a care free, wild and adventurous kid again. Strange! Maybe that’s why people buy Harley Davidsons. There’s a lesson in there somewhere.

Maybe a few rock concerts would be the thing. Lets get some tickets!

Actually next time Pink Floyd plays, if they ever do, I’ll ask for some tickets for the inner circle for you, and you can take your wife.

Ps. Tony, if you have Pink Floyds Pulse CD, I know all of the incredible guitar work on that is Tim Renwick, he was the lead guitarist on the Pulse tour. Learning to Fly on there is my favorite and really shows him off. Try to find the Pulse video which was a concert filmed in London (Hyde Park) during the Pulse Tour. I have it on VHS if you would like to borrow it some time.

In addition to all the CD's of them I could possibly get my hands on, I have on DVD, PF Rock Review, PF The Wall, PF London 1966/1967. Inside Pink Floyd, PF The Dark Side of The Moon, PF Live at Pompeii, and Pulse, so I guess I have seen quite a bit of your brother-in-Law. And you can tell him from me that he is a great player.

Thanks Tony, When I’ve finished this thread (just have to upload pictures of my trip with mother around St. Austell brewery) I am going to send a link to Tom White at the Barley Sheaf. Is that a picture of you riding a moose? If it is, would you be able to post a picture here. The picture might make a nice culture exchange. Even if it isn’t you, it would still make a nice Canadian picture.