the judges' newsletter
TRANSCRIPT
THE JUDGES' NEWSLETTER
NATIONAL GUILD OF WINE AND BEER JUDGES
Confidential to Members No. 4 19 87
Page THREE.
M y mention of Natural Steam Beer has brought a magnificent response from Eric Clarke.I found the real story most fascinating,do read it.
(h v p )
STEAL BRAVERIES
7/ith reference to your article of the Cornish Steam Brewery and
why the terminology STEAK. V/hy indeed Steamships, Steam locomotive
Steamroller, Steam shovel, Steam hammer etc, etc.
The very early steam engines were used mainly as pumping
engines, they were of the Beam type and there use was limiter].
However some of these very early engines are still in use in the
Netherlands pumping water from the dykes after well over
a hundred years service, so a steam engine is a very reliable
source of power.
In 1781 James Watt invented the first steam engine with a Planet
Gear, this made the steam engine much more versatile and was soon
to revolutionize industry including the breweries.
Uo until this time muscle power or the motive force needed to
hoist the malt, pump the liquor, mill the malt, turn the mash
rakes, rouse the wort etc, was carried out by mill horses.
These mill horses turned a huge wheel which in turn woull
operate all the various machines.
Breweries were always equipt with large boilers so steam was a
natural and it was not long before they realized that the new
steam engine would replace the mill horses. The conversion was
easy and simple, one machine to replace either four, six, ten or
how many horses were used. Therefore a brewery would order a
steam engine by the number of mill horses it would replace.
The expression Horse Power became a unit of power equivalent
to 550 foot pounds per second.
London brewers were the first to modernize St Katherines being
the firfit in 1784, ./hitbreads followed in the same year then
Barclay Perkins and so on. This new form of power spread ver^,r
•̂>upidl^y throughout the capital and befoi’e long most breweries
01 size in the country and indeed tne continent were '■oinrp
steam. Some brewers,as a little one-upmanship on rival establish
ments, would incorporate the word STEAK in the name of the brewery.
There have been many Steam Breweries in the past, both here and
on the continent, it would take hours of research in brewery
archives to mention them all. There are however breweries still
using steam engines as & source of power to this day.
(continued next page)
Page FOUR.
'7itli the advent of electricity I cannot understand w h y there vvere
no ELECTIC Breweries,or were there.??
In this age of nuclear power the word steam has oecome a
colloquialism for things of a bygone age, something old or very
antiquated. Jhatapity that we cannot still buy some of the antiquated
beer that some of these fine establishments brewed.
3TEAK BEER on the other hand has a very different meaning,
this terminology originated in the U.S.A. around the middle of
1 3 0 0 s •
Bottom.fermented lager beers were being brewed by many of the
german immigrant brewers when the 1849 Gold Rush to California
hit America. Lager beers are traditionly cold fermented and
stored (lagered) much longer before drinking than top fermented
beers. In the shanty towns of the gold mines ice was unobtainable
so this was not possible and the gold diggers were thirsty people
so time was also short.Therefore using a bottom fermenting yeast the beer was fermented
at a temperature of GO - 70 degrees F . Conditioning then
followed at 50 - GO degrees F for a few days only before the
beer was krausened in the cask.
The result was a very lively carbonated beer and when the spil6
was pulled from the bung this produced a loud hissing noise
often accompanied .with a fine spraying of beer.
This was not unlike a safety valve on a steam engine releasing
steam, so the word 3 team was added to our vocabulary of
Beer Types.Eric Clarke.
Thank you very much,Eric for your a r t i c l e . I ’m sure all our members are
considerably better informed now. _ ooi'mro'*Is there anybody else with such expert knowledge on any subject.771RVPJ
* * *****************
From Tilly Timbrell-Sturgeon,
.Dear Ray, I saw in the last News Letter Bryan Acton's remarks about the Amateur W i nemaker being no more.What a blow to the m o vement and what a lot we have had to thank Cyril Berry for m the past.. 1 sometimes wonder what is h a ppening to the home-made wine scene.M a n y Circles are experiencing difficulties and one wonders how much commercial wine availability at affordable prices has to do with this.
Well are there any other thoughts on this subject ??? (RVP).
] a '; oiX
There follows a r ther full report of the Annual Conference and AGM week-end held at West Brom, in the Mo a t House Hotel, 30th O c t — 1st Nov.
If there are any inaccuracies please be tolerant as a number of things so enjoyable, are prone to dull the thinking- and the memory.
I am sure that any who attended - in part or in full - will appreciate a reminder of what happened. To those that could not attend an account of what was missed might equally be of interest and encourage you i n ' 88
I propose to cover events chronologically ( and as they happened to me) H a ppily several of our members most ably covered precise parts of the procedures - as you will read - to them my most sincere thanks.For the remainder I have obtained help from various members of the NEC and relied heavily on my own account of t h i n g s ..... here goes.
Friday 30th....My travelling companions had agreed to join me in a 'practise lap' of tasting in order to get 'fit' for the w/e. So at 11am Bill Grant Stan Scantlebury and I entered the portals of the Wine Cellars of Harveys in Bristol and savoured their Autumn list of 10 White 11 Red and 1 Sparkling wine.We most seriously tasted and discussed all 22 wines,and have come away with a short list of very attractive wines....As the time was gone 1 pm, our thoughts turned to food, so we crossed the road to Averys, one of the few rema i n i n g independant wine merchants.I seem to remember that the m e n u was very good (the size of our individual choices seemed to mat c h t’\e v a rying sizes of our statures l)and found ourselves sat n u d g i n g elbows with our ne x t table neighbours John Avery himslf (MW) and Jancis R o b i n s o n . .they were ponti f i c a t i n g over a number of White Burgundies.
At 2.15pm, suitably tucked in,we set off for Junction 1 . . , M 5 . . . N orth..M y travelling companions soon became 'silent partners', that is if one Cc*n forget the obvious stentorian chorus of snoring.At Ju n c t i o n 5 there was a faint query of 'where are w e '?..suitably assured..to go back to the arms of Morpheous.Sweeping into the approach road of our Hotel, 100 miles later, I felt rather 'Saintly'., exercising unusual restraint during the mornings 'work-out' at both the Wine E s t a b l i s h m e n t s ,but I was sure that I would not continue in that vein....well what the h e c k . l48hrs of no driving.
The frenzy of u n l o a d i n g . ..the Reception r i t u a l . . .finding the room... saying 'Hello' to all and sundry as one journeyed to the car and back ...and then that first cup of tea...aaah, what bliss.
P r o g r e s s i n g to the evening meal we wondered wether we had selected the most suitable wine to match the food.Sitting something like 10 around a round table proves that this is not important,all our wines pass to one-another quite easily so the choice is almost infinite, as is the exchange of animated c o n v e r s a t i o n ... the l a u g h t e r ... the chit-chat.The pleasure of seeing hap p y f a c e s . . .yes... this was good.Wi t h possibly up to 80 thus engaged there was no ice to break.Ivor M o r g a n Chairman.j ' f i r e d ' the first salvo, at coffee^ by welc o m i n g us all toyet another West Brom week-end. and wished us a most enjoyable time and declared us 'well and truly launched'.
By 8.45pm we gathered, with an air of expectancy, to participate in a Tutored 'Beer Tasting' by Eric Clarke I leave Alan Eldret to describe
this "THE STORY OF LAGER",he prefaced with a note t® me how delighted he was to be asked to report on this subject in particular and out of
his tremendous respect for the speaker Eric Clarke.He claims that he had trouble in deciphering his notes taken at the time
and suspected that the very generous tastings played a part.Alan also wished to s a y 'how thoroughly I enjoyed myse l f over the whole w e e k — end,it was the first Conference that I have attended and found it
friendly and stimulating.1
A TUTORED BRER TASTING, PRESENTED BY ERTO GLARKF
Page SEVEN.
THE STORY OF LAGER
From the moment Roy Dutson extolled the virtues of a "Southern Brewer" when introducing Eric Clarke, we all guessed we would be getting a first class presentation, and we were certainly not disappointed.Eric guided us through the history of commercial lager making with his customary
style and depth of knowledge, and complemented the talk with some fine tastings.
The Reinheitsgebot dictate on beer in 1516 was the start of Eric's story, this defined that beer in Germany should be made of only Hops, Walt and Water. Put
then the significance of only brewing between St. George's Bay fApr ?^rd) and Michelmas day (Sept 29th) was explained with beer being thought of as a "Winter Brew" only, for the purposes of drinking.
But yeasts improved, and beer certainly became an all-year-round drink.We saw Lager come to the fore in the 1800's, with some of the significant milestones being, when Schwann identified his "sugar fungus" in 18^7, Anton Dreher brewing in Vienna in 1841, and, brewing starting in pilsfin in
Czechoslovakia in 1842. Interestingly, the brewing in Pilsen was by a cooperative of brewers and they did not drink the Lager until it was at least 6 mths old in order to improve the quality. An adaption of the towns name is also
used quite frequently these days to describe Lager beers as "Pilsners.
Germany started Lager brewing at the Kronen brewery in Dortmund in 1R4'5> and to this day there are now over 1000 breweries in W.Germany, most of them carrying on the German tradition for fine Lagers.
Lager brewing in the USA has been traced back to 185^ when Strohs started in
Detroit, and today Anheuser-Busch of USA is the largest brewery in the world with brands such as Budweiser (lagered ^5 ^ays) and Michelob (lagered 40 days') among its major brands. An interesting point here is their proud boast of the use of rice in their beers which obviously influences taste, colour and price.
A surprise to many of us was that Carlsberg did not start brewing until
when a certain Mr Hansen went to Holland and carried yeast back to Denmark whichcontained the bottom fermenting strain we now know as Carlsbergensis.
Lager brewing by Heineken in Holland is traced back to 1886, and Lager brewing finally reached our shores in UK in 1888.
So Lager became a very "International" brew in the 1000's and to this day is still the major type of beer brewed around the world. Eric compared Lager to
white wine in terms of variety and attributes and was saddened that most people's view of Lager was influenced by British Lager, and he believed there was no comparison between good lagers and the "kidney wash" served in many UK pubs. We all agreed.
Eric stated the main differences between Lager and British beer as being:Bottom fermenting yeast, Long storage, fermentation technique and the use of lighter barley.
He also emphasised that well made Lagers were fine beers, albeit they were different to British beers.
The tastings were many and varied with the whole room increasing it's noise
level progressively during the tastings. This was obviously in appreciation.
The Lagers tasted were:
1. Budweiser - Czechoslovakia. A "sweet/bitter" lager, possibly dextrins.
A good hop nose, the Czechs preferred Laser. OG 1048 - 10^4 . ^ p / h o t t l * in TTK.
?. Dortmunder Union - W Germ. Known as the cool blond, it had a grainy nose
with a slight sweet finish. UMS detected,maybe due to enclosed ferment. 6-7^ Ale. by Volum°. 50p/bottle on continent.
'5. Einbecker/UR-Bock - W Germ. DMR detected on the nose, clean with a longhop finish. A quality German Bock beer.6-7^ Ale. by volume. SOp/bottle on continent.
4. Michelob - USA "Short" on taste and farewell. Lacks hops. Anheuser-Busch's premier volume beer.OG 1046-10^2. 60p/bottle W .
Carlsbere; - Denmark
6 . 'Rush Beer - Belgium
light, well balanced, sood hop on nose,A pleasant drink. 5^ Ale. by volume. ^ p / 2^cl. bottle on continent.
Described as "The barley wine of Lagers",
an acceptable amyl/fruity nos°. A good beer. 12^ Ale. 60p/bottle on continent.
7. Er i c’s own home brew. Brewed Apr R7, decanted 2 wks ago.- Somewhere South of Watford. OG 1060, Whithread Lager ^east.
This was a good well rounded Laser, liked by all. A fitting finish to the tastings.
I feel sure we all learnt a lot from Er i c’s excellent presentation and we had a most enjoyable tasting of good Lagers. Our warm thanks to Eric for all the effort he obviously devoted to the preparation and the presentation.
Alan Eldret.
Well done Eric, a most enjoyable experience .. and thanks again Alan.
*4 ****** a-**-*-***-** ********
At well after 10pm the night was not yet d o n e . . . .Various invitations to join in with sampling someone::. 'Special' brew...Wine or Beer, in various
1rooms'where one was to find convivial company ...I know not what time I got to bed...but it was lovely when I got t h e r e ...Breakfast at 8.00 am seemed far too early,but I was committed to take mine as early as was possible and stand on 'duty' to receive the bottles of Wine or Beer for Sunday mornings Competition and Assessment.M o s t of our company displayed sound constitutions as they consumed a 'Pull English B r e a k f a s t •_•• • m7 choice was something a little less
demanding. (HVP)
Prom NAN TUBB.
Page NINE.
A Tasting presented by Arthur Francis is always one to be anticipated with enjoyment and we were not disappointed.For the third succesive Conference Arthur gave such tremendous pleasure and imparted great chunks of skill and knowledge,this time the subject was "OTHER DESSERT WINES".Athur brought eight different Dessert Wines for tasting and discussionwhich occupied the whole of the Saturday morning--- with a coffee breakmid-way to.clear -or confuse- our palates (whichever one thinks about coffee.)The first two tastings involved wine made from the MUSCAT g r ape.......Setubal....Frontignan..... Rivesaltes....and Banyuls, (apparently AstiSpumanti is made from the same grape) these are grown very near to the famous wine Beaumes de Venise in the Rhone region of France.Other areas which grow this grape include the Crimea, Australia, and Constantia in South Africa.
Muscat Vin de liqueur 15% (Cuvee Jose Sala) at £2.95 per bottle.This was an - unfortified wine (hence our first tasting) a table wine which although sweet was very light ,fresh and attractive.
Moscatel de Valencia (C.Augusto Egli) £2.95 per bottle.This had a much stronger bouquet and the taste of muscatel grapes was very much more pronounced.This effect is achieved by allowing the grapes to become sun-dried,the wine further 'built u p 1 afterwards to achieve the sweetness.
Our next three tastings were MadeirasThe Monavasia grape (in England called Malmsey) came originally from Crete, and the original names of the Madeiras came from the grape varieties. However, now all are produced from the same grape and on American rootstock.The style of winemaking produces the different types. The origin of Madeiras is probably well known- that the wines were fortified to keep them longer during a war,when they could not be shipped away.The wine was then put into barrels and used as ballast in ships.It was found by accident that the resuting wine had changed and was better ,possibly due to the movement of the ship or heat or both.In modern times Madeira is made by fermenting right out- or sweet ones stopped - and then the addition of highly rectified spirit of 99 pure alcohol. The wine is then put through an estufat to give Madeira characteristics— that is - in wooden casks into a hot-house to 120 F for three months , after which the temperatire is allowed to drop very slowly.The quality of Madeira is today guaranteed and bottled should last for ever.Our three tastings in this group were shipped by Henriques et Henriques and were all priced at £5.65,and being a minimum of 5-7 years old.
Sercial - Dry..quite strong..woody..cooked..maderised bouquet.Smooth.We felt that this was a lovely drink for the morning...on its own ..or as an aperitif.
Bual Much darker in colour, very strong cooked bouquet.Much stronger in flavour and..we thought..higher in alcohol.Sweeter than Sercial but not sweet enough for a d e s s e r t ... the majority of our tasters thought this to be the least attractive and very difficult to say when one should drink this wine.
Malmsey Much deeper and a more alcoholic nose with not quite so much 'cooked' aspect on the nose.Sweet, but a lovely balance.
/fter the interval Arthur then gave us a potted history of M a r s a l a wines, before we sampled two v a r i e t i e s ... .Apparently between 1760 - J\]]Q John ,Vood house encounte-ed M a r s a l a in Sicily and decided to establish winemaking there.These are fortified wines with some resemblance of M a d e i r a style,a s some of the .ingredients are cooked. There are three types of grape used and the wine is made by adding brandy and sun-dried grapes to the fragrant white wine of the district.Then the addition of y o u n g grape-juice which has been heated until thick and caramelised.The mixture rests in oak casks for from 4 months to 5 years when the sweetness diminishes with age. A ccording to the 1 a w s of and 1950 the zone of production isstrictly l i m i t e d ..... A lot of this wine is used for cooking and alot goes to G e r m a n y ..... It seems that Lord Nelson used to give theM a r s a l a wine to his 'troops' as it was found to be good for curing s c u r v y .
M a r s a l a S.P.M. Garibaldi (Ambra Dolce) at £5.30
This was similar to M a d e i r a Bual on the nose but had a sweeter taste.Most of our party thought it would be difficult to distinguish if it Were on the show bench,but it had perhaps a thinner finish.
I-:arsala. al' Uova (Mineo Cremova) 14.7/j at £3.45
This had a very strong v a nilla flavour and bouquet,was much darker in colour and very sweet.No way could this be mistaken for M a d e i r a and seemed to be very 'cheap' in comparison to the first Marsala.
Our last tasting was a M a l a g a wine. This used to be called "Mountain Wine" as the grapes are grown the mountain behind th« town of M a l a g a N o w most of the grapes there are used for making quality white table wines that will be sweet,unless marked 'sec'.
M a l a g a is made from the grape variety Pedro X i minex plus three other lesser varieties.The juice is collected and taken to the factories in M a l a g a where it is fermented in very big oak casks and kept there for years before transferring to other containers.There are several types of M a l a g a wines obtained by blending and the use of stainless steel tanks together with temperature control.This has made the w i n e m a k i n g much more reliable than it was years ago.
M a l a g a Scholtz Hermanos (Dulce Negro) £4.80
Here the bouquet gave the impression of lots of alcohol with a distinctive ' prune-jui-Ce* flavour.
Very dark in colour with a good balance on the palate,and so much more drinkable than the M a r s a l a previously tasted.
We continue to be amazed at Arthur's extensive knowledge of wines and the easy way he has in putting the information over to us,but we know that lots of thought and research must be involved behind the scenes.
A very sincere vote of thanks was made to Arthur by Judith Irwin before we made our way to Lunch.
Footnote Some of us wr^re more clear-headed at this time ,we think, as we had collected our unused 'rations' in a spare bottle.This crazy mixed-up concoction was produced at the Dinner that night and provided us with a fascinating Dessert W i n e ................
C h e e r s ..... Nan T u b b .......
Page TEN.
Thanks Nan , for such a well remembered account of such a splendid
tasting session,I'm sure all those that Kere there will recall allthe better what occurred* (j?yp) reca±± a n
Page ELEVEN.
It was good to have Kan Tubb save me a place at the Buffet Lunch which followed the Dessert Wine Tasting and to have some table wine r e a d y , for I had to ensure that all the Competition Wines and Beers were stowed away into my room....the .idea of course that the Red Dry wines and the Barley Wine beers were to be at 'uniform room temperature' for Sunday m o r n i n g , and gather 'paperwork' for the AG I' These Buffet Lunches are a great s u c c e s s ... „ .... the result of a suggestion at
an 'Open F o r u m 1 some three years ago.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * -x * * - x * -x * * * * * •>: * - ; . ->'■ * *
At 1 .43pm we all assembled ready for the ACM.
The Chairman Ivor Morg a n invited us to stand in remembrance of the 5 memberswho had died in the last y e a r---- we honoured the memory of Gilly Woore,....Peggy Baker. Joyce Tanner. Jill Saunders. and Don Sayers.
Then the presentation of the new-design Certificates, the first went to
Norman Booth of M a n c h e s t e r ...(others were given later that day.)
The Presidents Opening Address from retiring President Ted Adcock welcomed all
those present.This,the Annual Conference and AGM week-end was the best opportunity to mix and mingle with fellow Judges from all parts of the UK.We should all make every effort to a t t e n d . ...and encourage others to attend too,and participate
in what is the most important event on our Calender.The year has gone remarkably s m o o t h l y .... the Committee 'se e m 1 to have had a
quiet year....no doubt because of their efficiency.The Guild Handbook will be re-written in the next year or two..... a new designCertificate had been p r o d u c e d ..... wo rking relationship with NAWB was very goodand it was noted that some of our members were on both NEC's which must be
part of the reason for harmony.The President thanked the Officers and the Committee for a years work well done
Hon. Sec. Vic Goffen then read out a list of some 53 'apologies for absence "
from members who cou1 d not attend this year.
The Minutes of the 86 AGM were taken as read and a p p r o v e d ....From 'matters a r i s i n g 1 Bert M o w e r wished to clarify what might be a m i s u n d e r standing.Last y e a r he raised a point wether the Guild could consider a scheme to embrace Candidates who failed the Guild Examination by a narrow margin, and devise a 'phased' membership until the Examination was passed in full and being accepted as a full Memb e r . I n no way was he w i shing to lower the Standards (as Minuted).He wished to avoid that failed candidate becoming a 'Federation' judge ... (they are often accepted on the Failed basis) which then blunted enthusiasm to take the Guild Exam again.In some areas the ratio of Guild Judges to that of other judges was a matter of great concern.It was agreed to adjust the minutes,as requested by Bert.
Chairman's R e p o r t ...This had been circulated in printed form , and was
taken as read and adopted.
T reasurer's R e p o r t ...John Reeve had produced the Guild Accounts and printed copies were issued to each member in attendance.As a result of some discussion on the 'subscription rate' the meeting agreed to instruct the NEC and Treasurer to resolve the next proposed change during the year ahead.When resolved the proposition would be published in the Guild News Letter for members to peruse.The proposition would be voted on at the AGM 88 for the year commencing after that AGM.
After some discussion and questioning the Treasurers Report was adopted,with thanks and appreciation from the members present.
On a personal note, John Reeve thanked so very many of our members who had expressed concern for his health earlier this year.He was happy to say that he felt much better again.
P r o p o s i t i o n s .....There were none this year.
Election of the National Executive C o m m i t t e e..... Hon. Sec. Vic Goffen said
th ere were now three vacancies on the NEC. fnnntinnpHl
(l.i. G Elections)
The Secretary had received four nominations, viz,
Hedl e y Jackson
Gerry Sparrow
Geoff Cooper
Bert Hill
This meant a Ballot and the result was that the first three names above were duly elected to the NEC. Bert Hill failed to obtain sufficient votes.
The NEC had nominated Audrey N e wton to be the new President.This was u n a n i mously accepted by the membership present amidst much a p p l a u s e .There followed the ceremony of 'Badges of O ffice'from Ted Adcock to Audrey Newton and the presentation of the 'Past Presidents b a d g e 1 was made to Ted.Audrey said that this moment had made her feel very proud and she would do her very best to uphold this high office.She felt that there was some acknowledgement of the many years of work that both her and her late Husband had given to Offices in the Guild.Ted 3 aid that he had always wanted 'this' badge, it was a great h o nour for him and he would be following in the footsteps of an illustrious few.
The Secretary announced that the NEC had offerred 'Life Membership' to both Ted Adcock and Dennis Rouston as Past P r e sidents.Both were delighted to accept.
AOB .
M e mbers were invited to express opinions on what subjects would be suitable for next years Saturday m o r n i n g session.Anne P a rrack w o ndered 'why not have the AGM in the m o r n i n g and the 'Tasting ' in the a f t e r n o o n ' ? . . . .This would be considered.One member asked for a lecture of a Technical nature on Wine and relatedsubjects and/or Wine a s s e s s m e n t..... This also would be given thought.R o y Ekins expressed regret that our News Letter did not include the NAWB N e w s l e t t e r ,in an article suggesting outlets of news and information to help fill the gap now that the two Amateur publications had ceased business.....
The Editor apologised but was not intending any slight at all.Don Hawkins wished to record his thanks and appreciation for the quality and size of the present News Letter and congratulated the E d itor on his work. Several members h a d suggestions about the question of NON-AC T I V E membership. Gene r a l l y it was thought that the suggestion put forward by the NEC to levy only £ 2 . 0 0 was acceptable, but ,some asked 'why not free ?'...and one felt that a 'Life Membe r s h i p fee'..a once and for all-time subscription could be considered by the Treasurer and the NEC....These points were n o t e d .......
In conclusion Bert M o w e r proposed a vote of thanks to the NEC, which wassuitably supported by applause from the m e m b e r s ..... The me e t i n g then closed.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * .
Foll o w i n g the AGM.... members of the NEC were able to 'take a cup of tea',as the normal routine had been that we had to dash 'downstairs' into one of the lesser known areas of the Hotel and conduct our b u s i n e s s . . .away from it all.By re-organising the timing of the programme we were now able to relax for a while and join in with the Afternoon session of the Programme for a change.
* - *■•/ * * * * * * * * * * y * * * *- > : * * * -x * *
The mid-afternoon session duly commenced at 3«3°pm
.7ith a well attended meeting Vic Goffen reminded us that our subject was to be "P ~anters...Glasses...and Accessories... 1700 to 1900." lie then introduced the speaker, Mr. Walter M Johnston as a 'Free-lance' professional lecturer , from Cumbria.
lie had 1 een 'spotted' by the wife of our Conference Manager,none other than Bet t y Keeley,who knew of him as a. Radio broadcaster and in Television too.
Page TWELVE.
From A!:I.!•, PAvRAJK.
DECANTERS, GLASSES AND ACCESSORIES, 1700 - 1900.
Walter M. Johnston
An excellent introduction to the fascinating world of glassware was provided
by our Saturday afternoon lecturer. He traced the history of glass its
Mediaeval origins in j’c*_ through the early development of the industry in
England when an Italian called Verselini settled in London in 15 71 and began to
manufacture glassware under a patent granted by Queen Elizabeth 1st in 1^/5
Early glass was thin, and not very reflective to light. In an effort to
improve the quality, lead was first introduced (unsuccessfully) into Ravenscroft
glass in the 1660's, but it was not until I67O that the first good lead glass of
exportable quality was produced by a Mr. Bishop. Wine bottles were made of dark
coloured glass, to preserve the colour of the wine, and later wicker coverings
were introduced, further to protect the wine. Corks were introduced in l6So, soon
to be followed by corkscrews. Improvements in the design of wine glasses followed,
and by 1705 glasses with much better stems were appearing. In 1715 t*he stems were
cylindrical, but by 1730 plain glasses with drawn-out trumpet stem and base couid
be obtained.
In 1745 a tax was introduced consisting of 20% on all glass items - equivalent
to 1/- on all bottles - and even the ingredients of the glass were taxed. In each
glassworks in England and Scotland (but not in Ireland) two tax officers were
installed to weigh and tax all ingredients used. In consequence, glass tended to
be made thinner and lighter, and in 1750 air bubbles were incorporated into the
stems of glasses, while engraving furthex’ decreased the weight.
At this time cordial glasses appeared, having a long, plain stem and a small
engraved bowl. In 1740 the 'firing glass' with a heavy, thick base and stem was
produced, and was used for thumping the table, gave1-style, and as a toasting
glass. The 'ale glass' in the l600's was a small wine glass, but by the 1700's it
had a thick stem and small bowl. Brandy became popular in I860, and the original
brandy glass was Y-shaped.
In 1745, in addition to engraving, enamelling was introduced as a form of
decoration, notably involving coloured strands in the stem of the glass. By 1 7 BO
a flat collar at the top of the stem supported the bowl and most bases were ground
smooth. During 1755-1770 the Bealby family of l\lewcastle-on-Tyne decorated glasses
with gilding and landscapes painted on enamel, a small white butterfly always
being included in the design as their symbol. In 1777 the tax was put up to 40%,
and the decoration was also taxed.
Different shapes of decanters developed at different times, the travelling
square decanter appearing in 1790. Old ships decanters such as the Admiral Rodney
type had a depression in the large base to provide suction on the table cloth,
and hence stability.
Custard glasses were used for a concoction of custard mixed with liqueurs
—
Page THI R'i'j ;EN .
and spices, and punch glasses were broadly similar. A wine glass cooler was intro
duced in the 1760's, silver wine funnels were used to decant wines, and punch
ladles appeared with shafts made of wood or ivory. Beautifully shaped moulded
glass appeared in 1790, and in 1807 the first glass-cutting machine was used,
which produced very deep mitred cuts, helping to reduce weight and hence tax.
Jelly glasses and onion— shaped decanters were to be found in the early 1800*s,
while during the 1830's - 1840's Gothic-type engraved designs were very popular,
following the architectural fashion of the times. Acid etching machines appeared
in 186l, and fern patterns were very popular for some time from the 1 8 7 0 's.
During the time of the glass tax in England and Scotland, many glassmakers
emigrated to Ireland, setting up glassworks notably in Belfast and Cork. The
height of the Irish glass trade was in the 1780's, the original Waterford Co.
being active until 1851. Following removal of the tax on English glass in 1845,
and the introduction of a tax on Irish glass in 1855, profitability declined, and
most of the Irish glassworks closed - except for Belfast, which continued to
manufacture mineral water bottles.
We were shown most of the items of glassware mentioned, and in conclusion
were advised on how to take care of glassware, particularly during washing and
storage, how to smooth chips away with sandpaper, and (most vital of all!) how
to remove stuck decanter stoppers — with W.D. 40. vor Meths .)
So ended a most interesting and informative talk, absolutely packed with
information, so that the above can give only the barest outline ol the gx'ound
covered. Mr. Johnston is a freelance lecturer on many topics, with an excellent
presentation, and the ability to hold the interest of his audience throughout.
Mrs. M.A. Parrack.
Thank you Anne for such a lovely account of a super talk.From the moment he was introduced to us by Vic Goffen til the proposer of a vote of thanks by Dennis R o uston we were captivated by this subject.(RVP)
Betty K e eley also sent me a few comments from this talk,and I note that she records that 'acid in wine...and certain cleaning substances , can cause old lead glass to become cloudy...so do not leave wine standing in old decanters.Use a good quality detergent. A stained decanter can be cleaned by filling with warm water and adding a Steradent t a b l e t ,leaving o v e r n i g h t ,then rinsing t h o r o u g h l y with cojd w a t e r .Never use a Nylon brush,but a pure natural bristle.When w a s h i n g wine glasses in 'hot' water enter the glass sideways into the w a t e r , so that all parts of the glass take the heat at the same time,and never
use a dish—w a s h e r ....Glasses should be stored standing on their base,and not
i n v e r t e d . ..especially near a source of heat as an inverted bowl will trap air w h i c h can expand with heat and shatter the g l a s s . 1
Thanks to Elizabeth I.Keeley (RVP)* * * * * -x-x ***-x-x -x-x-x-x **********
I managed to note yet more...'Some early glass included the ingredient of s o d a . ..others of course lead,in the make-up.Some alternatives to assist incl caninr- glass....a solution containing S A L T ..... or a shake-up with dry RICE
and some water I (RVP)
•X -x-X- X -X -X -X -X-X-X- -X X-X X- -X-X* * *-X * **-X ***
Does any else know of another such speaker any wine or beer relatedsubjects.We would be delighted to find one.Contact any NEC member
Page F O U R T E E N .
Page SEVENTEEN.
The assembly of Judges , their Spouses , and Guests , stood for Grace said by Past President Ted Adcock.
Then commenced the hub-bub of chatter whilst serving waitresses and waiters performed their task of apportioning the chosen menu,course by course.
Time too to pour the selected wines and hope they were as good as believed. The crescendo of voices indicated that something was alright.
It has always fascinated me to 'spot 1 the signs when the first Toast would take place,but as usual it came as a surprise when the Chairman called for silence and asked us to rise as he proposed the Loyal Toast..'Her M a j e s t y 1.
Then followed the presentation of Certificates to this years crop of newly passed Judges.This was performed by President Audrey Newton and to
Alison Tilly of Warwickshire
N a n c y Mitchell We s t Yorkshire
Sheila Sissons Essex
Brian Gent Humberside
Stan Muir Hertfordshire
Sydney Proudfoot Tyne & Wear an f OT wine.
Congratulations to y o u all,now proud possessors of the New Certificates.
and to Geoff Cooper of London ..for Wine,to add to Beer.
Geoff joins the rather PJlite set of dual Wine/Beer Judges, 1 of only 201
Do u g Hodkinson then proposed a Toast to "Absent F r i e n d s . D o u g said It if? o ur^regret that some of our membership cannot any longer attend the Annual u o m e r e n c e w e e k — e n d . . .because of ill-health , or because of financial reasons. There were far too many who do not come because they do not feel the need to to support the Guilds activities and at this most important event of our year. Unfortunately there were some who will never come aga i n — we are sorry to have lost Gilly ,7oore, Peggy Baker , Joyce Tanner , Jill Saunders , Don Sayers over this last 12 months, but in this Toast we remember them,and in doing so I ask y o u all to please rise and toast 'Absent Friends'.
'Toast to the G u i l d *
Each year,from the Candidates who gain entry into the G u i l d ,invitation is given to just one to propose 'The Toast to the Guild' at the Annual Conference and AGM as an after Dinner event on the Saturday night.
Whilst this is always a nerv e - r a c k i n g experience, as 'yours truly' can v o uch,it is a compliment and an Honour to be so invited.
Each year sees a variation of approach and p r e s e n t a t i o n ,and this year we had the delightful and charming Alison T i lly,now of Warwickshire, previously of Dorset but originally from Scotland.
F o r the benefit of those who may not have heard every word that night
and certainly for the membership as a whole I am delighted to print the 'core' of Alison's theme,parts of which I shall savour many times.
She began an interest 15 years ago by taking Wine and Beer making classes in Scotland.Later by m o ving to Dorset she developed a new appreciation of wine and its u n d e r standing and enjoyed m embership of the Dorset Federation.Her interest brought her to this evenings function where, amongst fellow Judges,Wine and beer was a 1Common I nterest'and of a National status.
Page EIGHTEEN.
Toast to the Guild (continued)
This week-end brought her into contact with other new Judges and it must be said that "we are conscious that membership of the Guild is a highlight and a notable landmark in our pursuit of our hobby. To have gained membership of the Guild ,gained with so much effort, our pleasure is displayed with great pride.We look forward to furthering our knowledge and to fully p a r t icipating in all the Guilds various activities .11... .Alieon'Jcontinued.. "Being a Scot, I took special interest when the News Letter said that there were efforts to make contact with the Scottish Guild of J udges...I must point out that this will need a strong constitution and an i n t e r p r e t e r ... the Scots are migh t y fine wine m a k e rs...May I quote none other than R o b e r t Burns .... Rabbie ..a man whose love for the drink was barely surpassed by his love of the L a s s i e s ....'Go fetch me a pint o'wine
and fill it_in a silver tassie that I may drink before I go a service to my bonnie lassies'.
To continue in the poetical,I have often had the thought,now that my home is in the shrine of another b a r d ..Stratford upon A von...that when g athering from the hedgerow He would have said
'To pick or not to pick..that is the question wether tis B lackberry or E lderberry the choice is y o u r s 1
whil s t Rabbie wou l d have more eloquently w r itten'Tae a Blackberry
Wee sleekit fruity juioy berry I wish to pick thee to mak me merry I widnae care to drap or lose ye so dinna let thon birdies choose ye Your thorns mae prick but I ken fine yer juice when brewed maks canty wine'
Alison then proudly invited us to stand and 'Toast to the Guild'...
which we all equally proudly did.
There was well deserved applause for yet another memorable 'Toast'.
The butterflies have gone now,it will be somebody else next year, but thanks again from all of us...well done A l i s o n . ........ (RVP)...
It was now the turn of the P r e s i d e n t ,Audrey Newton,to respond on behalf of
the Guild.She thanked Alison for c> delightful presentation and on behalf of the Guild asked us to rise and,in this year of a lady President and for \lison, Pro p o s e d a Toast to all LADY JUDGES,to which we all responded.
Eric Clarke rose to propose a Toast to the 'Guests'.A toast to include our guest speaker and to the ma n y Spouses of Judges here tonight 'Where wou l d we be without them, Bless them all! Again,all glasses chargedjwe responded.
The guest speaker responded. V/alter M J o hnston Esq. accepted the last toast on behalf of all the guests present.He complimented the Guild on a very enjoyable Conference,and thanked the Guild for the most hospitable w a y in accommodating them. He wished the Guild every success in the future.
The evening continued in a most convivial w a y , d u r i n g whi c h Raffle tickets were available from Fra n k Stead and ably assisted by J o y N e w t o n . E v e n t u a l l y the draw was made and prizes claimed. (I actually won one myself, thanks.)
Some time during this I recall Doug H odkinson p roposing a Toast to all
Beer J u d g e s--- (I think'.)
There were many v isits to make,and Bert & Bill, Nan & me went the 'rounds'.
from Ylc Goffen. Page NINETEEN.
THE OPEN FORUM
The decision of the NEC to brine 'the meeting forward to the morning was more than justified by the attendance of a record number (7 2 ).
Chairman Ivor Morgan opened the meeting at 10.08hrs. He welcomed all present and announced the provisional date for next year, Nov.4th. This will be our silver anniversary and he asked members to bring forth ideas to commemorate the occasion. He thenopened the meeting for general
discussion.
1. Anne Parrack Criticised the standard of_the menu- on the Saturday night. The menu, she thought on Friday would have been more suitable for our most important night.
Brian Hutchinson Supported this and hoped that our next years celebration dinner would be something special.
Kelvyn Chapman Disagreed, he was quite satisfied.
John Keeley The Conference Manager pointed out that there was a limited selection at the special price we pay. A higher standard can be arranged if members were prepared to meet the extra cost.
Chairman Suggested it should be left to the NEC to see if a reasonable priced menu of better value could be found.
2 . Norman Chiverton Spoke of his concern re the demise of all amateur publications. We have he said, no outlet now for
** any publicity at all. Are there not among us he asked, sufficient talents to produce something?
Judith Irwin The onus of the demise was due she said, to the lack of response from advertisers, members should realise that coloured magazines were extremely expensive to produce and relied on advertisements to remain viable. It was for this reason due to a falling off of sales in the case of the Amateur Winemaker that many advertisers withdrew their regular features. To attempt to produce a magazine of any standard among ourselves would be a very long,time consuming job.
Gerry Fowles Blamed the narrowness of field that the A.W. adopted. It was he said, nothing but repetition year after year and readers stopped buying. This was felt in the retail trade and advertisers noting the fall decided it wasn't worthwhile paying for publicity that was falling so rapidly.
Ted Adcock. Were the experts to sit down and produce copy, how could it be distributed, how could we reach the public?
Don Hawkins Raised a query regarding the description of certain wines. He felt that there were differences in this field between NAWB and other major shows.
Norman Chiverton On behalf of NAWB agreed the matter would be looked into.
Douglas Hodkinson Reminded members that we are guided by show rules irrespective of any definition.
P a g e T W E N T Y .
John Gorton Expressed concern re an .item in the News Letter rerardinf country wines. It was expressed in the rninu.tes from the South West Counties.
Hay Palfrey -he News Editor replied that all matter publish- ̂ed did not necessarily express the view of the NEC, he published minutes as they are received and comments arising from such minutes would also be published.
d. Don Palfrey Echoed the thought of many members of the need for microphoneso Again, this year, difficulty wap j.ound in hearinr sneakers by those at the back of the hall.
/\n ne Parrack Agreed and asked if the same thought could be-.iven to t'v speakers on Saturday night.
Chairman Matter had been discussed with management. Hotel v;nu 1 d have to hire - has any member suitable equipment wecon]d use?
. -lohn Gorton Drew attention to the vandalism members are subjected to each year, rhis year it appears that badges and^whee] discs have been included.
Chairman The matter has been discussed with management^.ho nan accept no responsibility. Police have stated that the parking area has so many accesses that it offers easy escape routes to these vandals making apprehension almost impossible even if caught in the act.
6. Gerry Fowles Suggested limiting the tasting session or splitting it up into two seperate sessions.
r nne Parrack Suggested that more winemaking subjects_should^ he rresentedT Certain winemaking projects could find interest. ( A number of short talks by members on subjects they are associated with could also prove interesting.(Hon.Sec.)
Chairman Asked f o r comments on the new Cerificate. With a single exception members agreed it was a great improvement on the last one.
In closing, members thanked John Keeley for organising'the v/p0i(end and to Joan Adcock for the beautifully scripted place- n a m e s .
** Speaking to the Hon.Sec. after the meeting Gerry Fowleski^ dlv offered to insert into his magazine free of charge, publicity for future events etc he receives from secretaries of the various regions. Thank you Gerry.
at 1 1 .OOhrs.
Thank y o u very much, Vic.
(r v p )
I-l e e t
V.H.
Page TWENTYONE.
Thanks to a few w i l l i n g hands the room used for the Open Forum was converted to that required for the 'Judging'.... I actually got a cup of c o f f e e ,thanks to Nan Tubb.... it was good to see so many w i l l i n g to participate in our next and final session.
36 Wine Judges sat around in 6 groups and the 34 bottles of wine distributed.
Each table appointed a 'scribe' to record the general impressions of each wine in their group. The 'class'..Red Dry Table Wine.
About 16 Judges grouped around a conglomerate of tables and got to work on 14 entries of Barley Wine.I spotted one Wine Judge amongst this 'crowd' and afterwards Roy Ekins commented on his enjoyment of a very fascinating subject and admitted that he had 'learnt a l o t 1I
Once under way the peace and quiet was a s t o n i s h i n g 1. Just by looking at the faces was enough to be sure that here everybody was enjoying things to the full.This was what we all liked doing.
In something like an hour or more later the first of ' winning1 wines were coming off the J u dging t a b l e s . . . .Once we had 6 winners then the Finalising panel , Ted Adcock,Vic Goffen,John Reeve, I v o r M o rgan and yours truly...got to work and quite quickly it was plain which were the best three and very soon agreement on the 1st 2nd 3rd. places. Names were not revealed as yet.
By now the Beer assessment was over and the winner now known by me....but was this just a 'competition' ? . . . .No..Surely the whole point of this event each year is to take this one opportiinity to sit with fellow Judges and talk work, discuss and compare our palates ,our a p p r e c i a t i o n ,our c a p a b i l i t i e s ,our skill in assessing wine or beer and maintain the highest standard fitting to deserve and uphold the title of 'National J u d g e s ' .
Buffet lunch came,almost with relish.Again a most elaborate spread of good food,well presented and with plenty of choice.During this last pleasure together, at coffee— t i m e ,it was time to announce the awards. This time it was Ivor Morgan's pleasure to announce the new Trophies awarded to last years winners (86) and presented them to the beer class JUDY BARRATT and the wine class JOHN KEELEY.Now it was Doug Hodkinson's turn to announce this years awards to..in reverse order .. beer Barley Wine Runner-up Do u g Hodkinson ....and the winningentry to JRIC C L A R K E ..... Turning to the wine section Red Dry Table Wine, the3rd place went to N o r m a n C h i v e r t o n ... 2nd place to Gerry sparrow and that the winner was RICHARD BROOKSBANK.in much applause the Trophies were presented.
Well that was that , and now the frantic last packing and loading of the car, the tour of saying 'Cheerio' and we were off home.The Chairman's last words of 'Best Wishes and a safe journey home' still ringing in my cars.
Oh..I did almost forget., next year the competition wines and beers are....
WHITE DRY TABLE W I N E .......... INDIA PALE ALE....shall I see you there???????
***********-)••-;.***********
The winnin wine recipe follows this page..and comments from Eric Clarke too.
Before it is too late I have to publish changes in Assistant Examiners, they are, Tom M c Arthur takes over from Keith Simpson
Frank Stead becomes an assistajit Beer Examiner A J Badger is deleted.
* ********* x * x *-:; *** x **->: y *
A loot—note. With the milestone of our 25th Anniversary in 1988 it would be good to see as many of the Founder Members attend at West Brom as is p o s s i b l e , ..... also the New Judges and of course all the regulars