A fantastic team event is brewing!

Calling all pubs, groups, local businesses - it's time to put your mind to it and get those running shoes into action! Get a team of 3 to 6 together and join us in the Wye Valley Brewery Community Cup at Herefordshire Running Festival on Sunday 21st September. 

This is a team event for all abilities as each team member can take their pick of 10k, half marathon or marathon distances.  The handicap systems means points are adjusted for Novice, Intermediate,  or Advanced Racers, male or female.  There are even extra points awarded for Fancy Dress!

The aim of Herefordshire Running Festival is to increase awarenss of mental health and encourage people to lead healiter lifestyles.  All proceeds will go to the local charity Herefordshire Mind.

We've got a shiny new 'Wye Valley Community Cup' to award to the winning community team AND prizes of vouchers to spend in our Brewery shop:

£100 voucher for the winning team

plus £75 voucher for 2nd, and £50 voucher for the 3rd placed team. 

Enter your team online now! 

Award winning beer!

Dorothy Goodbody's Golden Ale has been awarded Silver at the SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers) Wales and West Region Beer Competition, bottled bitter (up to 4.9% abv).

For the full list of winners visit their website http://www.siba.co.uk/events/regional-competitions/wales-west/2014-2

Wye Valley Brewery announce their sponsorship of the Ludlow Shakespeare and Arts Festival 2014

This long running festival is set to be bigger and better than ever in 2014 with a fantastic line up of music, comedy, drama and children’s shows. The organisers were thrilled to announce the return of the Shakespeare Festival to the beautiful and historic setting of Ludlow Castle.

This year the festival kicks off with 11 performances of Shakespeare's As You Like It from 14th June followed by performances from a whole range of entertainers including music from Bellowhead, David Essex, Showaddywaddy and Les McKeown's legendary Bay City Rollers, Marty Wilde & the Wildcats,  comedy from Ken Dodd, Jim Davidson, Milton Jones, ventriloquist Paul Zerdin and Fascinating Aida, an evening with Ray Mears, Sooty for the younger fans and some of the country's finest Jazz and Blues musicians, including Ruby Turner, Jacqui Dankworth and Courtney Pine.

Wye Valley Brewery has launched a limited edition pump clip to celebrate its involvement with the festival. Dorothy Goodbody’s Festival Gold will replace Dorothy Goodbody’s Golden Ale pump clip in participating pubs, and will give drinkers the chance to win tickets to the festival.

Chris Davis, Festival Director said "We are delighted to welcome the Wye Valley Brewery as partners of the Ludlow Shakespeare & Arts Festival this year.  What better way to enjoy the wonderful artists and entertainment than with a pint of the official festival beer - Dorothy Goodbody's Festival Gold. It is a very quaffable, crisp and zesty golden ale, perfect refreshment for our festival goers."

For further details of all the performances and to book, visit the Festival's website at www.ludlowartsfestival.co.uk.

Golden ales survey

We would love to know what you think about golden ales. Please complete this short survey, it will only take a minute of your time.

Click on the link below. Thank you! 

www.wyevalleybrewery.co.uk/golden

Local Art Exhibition

Good luck to the local artists who are exhibiting at the Lodon Valley Easter Art Exhibition this weekend.

Pub of the Season

The Green Dragon Inn, Bishops Frome has been voted pub of the season by Herefordshire CAMRA. Zoe and Adam had their award presented to them last night, well done both!

Have an HPA Pancake Day!

What tastes even better than drinking a lovely HPA with your pancakes this Shrove Tuesday?  How about HPA pancakes!  Forgo the milk altogether and replace with ale this year.  The result is very fluffy and moist and smells delicious!

Ingredients:

125g Plain Flour

4 tablespoons of Caster Sugar

3/4 teaspoon of Baking Powder (optional)

1/2 teaspoon of Salt

1 Egg, beaten

250ml Hereford Pale Ale

30g Butter, melted

Directions:

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl.  Add the salt and sugar and stir well.  Add the beer, egg and melted butter and whisk lightly until mixed into a smooth batter.  

Pour enough mixture on the frying pan to coat.  Wait for the first side to cook and start lifting away from the pan with bubbles.  Take a deep breath, flip (!) and cook the second side.

Variations:

Cook on a hot griddle as an American-style pancake/ Scotch drop-scone, or omit the baking powder altogether for more traditional flat pancake.

Great for Dairy-free pancakes - just replace the melted butter with a splash of vegetable oil.

Try with Butty Bach for a deeper flavour which would be great with savoury fillings.  You could omit the sugar for this too.

Beer for Champions!

In August 2013 Bromyard held its third Hop Festival, this successful event has grown in popularity since its launch in 2011.

This one day event includes a traditional fun fair, art & craft market and plenty of other attractions including the World Championship Hop Pocket Race, which is sponsored by Wye Valley Brewery.

Spectators lined the town’s Broad Street and High Street for the main event of the day, the Hop Pocket Race. A total of 24 teams took up the challenge of carrying a full ‘hop pocket’ (the huge sack used to store dried hops) the length of the town and back!

Winners of the 2013 race were Sack Attack, headed up by team captain Ashley Davis. They completed the course in 2 minutes 47 seconds.

The winners of the ladies race were The Party Pockets who completed the race in 4 minutes 23 seconds. Teams members were Pippa Jones, Sally Bullock, Sophie Clarke, Emma Jones.

The winning junior team were the Bromyard Army Cadets who completed the course in 4 minutes and 14 seconds.

The winning teams met at Wye Valley Brewery in February to collect their trophies and beer prizes.

Pictured Vernon Amor, Managing Director of Wye Valley Brewery with winning Ladies team The Party Pockets team captain Pippa Jones

Craft brewers urged to use British hops

Hop producers have called on craft brewers to support the UK hop industry…

Read the full article here Brewers urged to use local hops

NB Approximately 80% of hops used by Wye Valley Brewery are sourced locally.

Brewery tours 2014

We have just announced 4 dates for tours of our brewery in 2014.

2pm, Saturday 29th March

2pm, Saturday 26th April

2pm, Saturday 31st May

2pm, Saturday 28th June

One of our brewers will guide you around the brewery (including our brand new brewhouse) and give you the low-down on how we brew our beer. You'll also get chance to sample our beers in the comfort of our very own brewery bar.

Tours cost £6.50 per person, and includes tokens for 4 x half-pints of beer. Places must be booked in advance in our brewery shop or over the phone (please note, cost is non-refundable). Call 01885 490505 to book or for more information. 

NB Children under the age of 12 are not able to join a tour of the brewery.

The Courtyard, Hereford are on the look out for bands, DJ's and solo musicians to entertain the crowds in the Wye Valley Brewery marquee at their ‪#‎Courtlaughing‬ Comedy Festival in June! See the poster for more information.

The Barrels voted Hereford’s favourite pub!

The Barrels on St Owen Street was voted Hereford’s favourite pub in the final round of Jesse Norman MP’s 2013 Discover Hereford competition.

The flagship Wye Valley Brewery pub is popular with people of all ages and walks of life, and received many enthusiastic endorsements in particular for its house beers, friendly welcome and outdoor area.

The Barrels can be found at 69 St Owen Street, Hereford, and offers a warm welcome and plenty of tasty beers.

Brewery Staff getting fitter on the job....

Last year over 120 million days were lost to sickness, and the impact of that - especially in the current economic climate - can be huge. Latest reports suggest the most common problems were minor - like coughs, colds and flu, although the greatest percentage of days were lost to musculoskeletal problems, with stress, depression and anxiety taking second place.

No wonder, then, that more firms than ever are looking at ways to intervene to prevent ill health, reduce workplace stress, and promote staff wellbeing at work.

Wye Valley Brewery is the latest company to sign up to Halo Leisure's corporate membership deal. "We received a really good response to the Halo membership offer. Some 22 staff members at the brewery have signed up so far. It's great to see our employees enjoying the benefits of getting fitter and healthier", says brewery MD Vernon Amor.

Pictured below: members of staff from Wye Valley Brewery and Halo Leisure

New Head Brewer starts his Award Collection

We ended the year in buoyant mode, collecting 4 awards at the West Midlands CAMRA Champion Beer of the Year 2013.   The awards were held on 29^th December at The Barton Arms, Birmingham. 

Introducing our new head brewer – Gareth Bateman, collecting the award for Butty Bach, 2^nd place in the Real Ale in a bottle, light category. 

Dorothy Goodbody’s Golden Ale, and Dorothy Goodbody’s Wholesome Stout also received a 2^nd place awards in the Golden Ale category and Real Ale in a bottle, dark categories respectively.  HPA won 3^rd in the Best Bitter Category.

Head Brewer, Gareth joined the brewery in the summer as Jimmy Swan has become Operations Director, a new role at our brewery. Gareth brings with him a wealth of experience with over 10 years in the industry at several regional and multinational breweries.  With exciting plans for the brewery in 2014 and beyond, Gareth has promised us many more awards to follow!