Simon Buckley's Carmarthen Journal column

Simon Buckley, chief executive of Evan-Evans brewery, has a new monthly column in the Carmarthen Journal (see the Out and About section this week).
Iechyd Da!
A new (monthly) column by Simon Buckley, chief executive of Llandeilo’s Evan-Evans Brewery, brewers of the award winning Cwrw ale . . .
Who was it that said there is no such thing as bad beer, merely bad landlords?
There is bad beer, and you will know which ones to avoid!
With increasing pressure on our industry, it is time for us all to focus on quality, and produce beers of the very highest quality.
It is time for a Welsh Beer Quality marque that brewers have to earn to receive the grants from the Welsh Assembly Government.
This marque will be the marque that sets the good brewers apart from the others.
The small brewers of Wales should be a group of specialist craft brewers, brewing the very finest beers in the UK.
Doing what the big brewers can not do, just like our farmers who produce the very best cheese.
This month, I thought I would go and find two of the new brewers in our area and taste their beers.
Gwaun Farm Brewery is a family affair.

Run by husband and wife team, Len and Sarah Davies, the beers show a real enthusiasm to create flavours by the use of American Hops and traditional floor malted Barley.
Len, a professed home brewer, has emerged as one of the new generation of small brewers.

He brews a series of beers that are sold in cask, and bottled conditioned.
Beer, like cooking can be spoilt by the over use of an ingredient.
Bitterness is the scourge of small brewers, and a few too many grams of hops can spoil the beer.
I tasted four beers, of which the best was the Light Ale, a light Golden beer, with fruity bitterness.
Zesty, fresh, and an ideal accompaniment to a good ham ploughman’s.
There is little doubt that given support and help that Len will create a special niche for his brewery.
The second brewery was the award winning Heart of Wales Brewery, in Llanwyrtyd Wells.

The beers are brewed by the owner Lindsay Ketteringham.
Here I had a very pleasant surprise.
What a range of great beers!
Lindsay has learnt the art of brewing, and has crafted a range of beers that show a real knowledge of the raw materials he uses.
With beers ranging from 3.6% to 6.8%, my favourite was the Irfon Valley 3.6%, malty fruity, and a good quaffing ale.
The others were all good, each uniquely different.
You need time to taste them all, and the trains is an obvious way to get there!
I urge you to go and find these two breweries, and try their beers.
Both have tasting facilities on site.
Weblinks-
http://www.gwaunvalleybrewery.co.uk
http://www.heartofwalesbrewery.co.uk
Next month's column is all about Heroes Lager and the national launch of this new brand to support our wounded service personnel.
See previous columns -
http://sirgarblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/simon-buckleys-monthly-journal-column.html
and
http://sirgarblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/simon-buckleys-new-column-in-journal.html