BEERS | The Duke Of York

HELLO BEER LOVERS

If you like good beer, come and try some of the selection that we have on offer. We rotate each week with different types and flavours of real ales. We are CAMRA pub of the year for the second successive year.

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WHY CAMRA LIKES THE DUKE OF YORK

Last summer Andy, a friend of mine who was coming to the Chalke Valley History Festival for the first time, decided to base himself in Salisbury - accommodation is thin on the ground in the Chalke Valley villages. As my spare bedroom had already been booked by another Chalke History-goer, he found himself an Airbnb flat in the northern part of the city and suggested that we meet up for beers and a curry on his first evening in South Wiltshire.

When I checked the address of his flat, I realised that Andy, a fellow member of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), had based himself just a five minute stroll from the Duke of York.

“You are staying within easy walking distance of the pub with the

best selection of real ales in Salisbury,” I told him in an email. “Meet me in the Duke of York”.

When he arrived a few minutes after me, he was confronted with an array of seven real ales and dutifully, as befits good CAMRA members, we worked our way through several of them before adjourning to a nearby curry house.

I then made my way home but later discovered that Andy had returned to the Duke of York to continue his beer research. He said afterwards that what struck him was not just the quality of the ale but also how friendly the locals were towards a lone visitor from the East Midlands.

His experience explains why CAMRA likes the Duke of York so much that its local members have voted it the Salisbury City Pub of the Year for the past three years, and overall South Wiltshire Pub of the Year twice during that time. It is now a regular entry in the Good Beer Guide, CAMRA’s annual flagship publication which lists 4,500 of the best pubs in the United Kingdom, just 19 of which (six from the city and 13 rural ones) come from South Wiltshire. “It is a great honour to get into the Good Beer Guide and only the very best pubs are chosen,” said Keith Foster, who oversees the local vote by CAMRA members.

So why the Duke of York? Ian Turner, who was chairman of the Salisbury & South Wiltshire branch of CAMRA for some years, explained:

“When you come across a pub with seven handpumps, and you know that all seven will provide you with excellent quality ale, you know that you have found a great pub.” Add in the fact that it is a proper community pub that is also welcoming to outsiders and you have a winning combination.

The Duke of York gives a discount of 20p per pint to CAMRA members on

production of a membership card. That is very welcome but CAMRA’s affection for the pub is not based on price. What it is all about is having a good selection of well-kept real ales served in a friendly atmosphere.

It’s not rocket science.

Will Bennett.

BEER? - MINE'S A PINT
( A brief description of how beer is made )
by Phil Brunt

Beer is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in the World. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grains, most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize, rice and oats are also used. The fermentation of the starch sugars produces ethanol and carbon dioxide so yes, lager is a beer!

After the farming process, which delivers a barley of suitable malting quality, I shall start the journey at the maltings, and describe the production of cask-conditioned beer.

Barley corns are first steeped in water to raise the moisture content of the grain. This stimulates the barley to begin to germinate. The germination stage allows the grain to develop certain enzymes that break down the starch to sugars that will eventually lead to alcohol production. After around five days, the germination process is stopped by heating the malted barley in a kiln to dry it and preserve the enzymes.

Once the malted barley is delivered to the brewery, it is crushed to produce a course flour-like material. This is called the ‘grist’. The grist is mixed with hot water to produce the mash. This happens in a mash tun. A temperature of around 65° C is used as this is the optimum temperature for those enzymes to convert starch into sugar.

The sugary liquid, known as ‘wort’ (sometimes ‘wert’) is then boiled with the hops in a vessel called a copper. The hops add bitterness, flavours and preservative materials

to the wort.

The wort is then cooled to around 18° - 20° C and run into fermenting vessels. The yeast is then added. After 7 – 10 days, the beer is ready to be moved on to the next stage of production. In the case of cask-conditioned beer, it is put into large holding tanks. When needed, it is transferred into clean sterile casks and racked. Finings are added to help the beer clarify in the cellar before it is served to discerning members of the public.

IT'S HAT-TRICK OF AWARDS
FOR THE DUKE OF OF YORK

The Duke of York has been awarded the CAMRA City Pub of the Year for 2024. This follows two consecutive years of being the CAMRA pub of the Year.

Well done to everyone at the Duke! When asked for comment, pub landlord Jonty Newbery said, “This is what we do”.

Congratulations to The Cuckoo Inn at Hamptworth who became CAMRA Pub of the Year 2024.

The local CAMRA branch also organises beer festivals in Salisbury, runs brewery trips, holds a New Year social and publishes a quarterly magazine Barrel Organ. Joining CAMRA costs from as little as £30.50 a year. To become a member go to https://join.camra.org.uk/

JOIN SALISBURY'S BUSY BRANCH OF CAMRA

A lively programme of social gatherings, beer festivals and other events is run by the Salisbury and South Wiltshire branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). With just 350 members, it is much smaller than many of CAMRA’s big city branches but the energy and enthusiasm of its members means that it compares favourably with groups many times its size.

Every month it holds a ‘saunter’, when members can stroll around several pubs in Salisbury, and a minibus trip to some of the best hostelries in the surrounding rural areas. This gives members the chance to socialise and to sample many of the finest real ales to be found across the south of the county. A monthly meeting enables members to deal with branch business over a few pints.

All this means that CAMRA members have built up an unrivalled knowledge of where the best beers are to be found across the branch area. They select 20 of the finest pubs to be included in CAMRA’s annually published Good Beer Guide and also choose two Pubs of the Year – one from the City of Salisbury and one as Rural Pub of the Year. Independent judges then decide which of these two becomes overall Pub of the Year.

For the past two years The Duke of York has been chosen as the overall Pub of the Year. “The quality of the beer at the Duke of York is outstanding,” said Ian Turner, then the CAMRA branch chairman, as he presented the 2023 award. “It has seven handpumps, and you know that all seven will provide you with excellent quality ale. So you can be certain that you have found a great pub. My congratulations to the Duke of York team who have made the pub a real ale destination and a wonderful community pub.”

A number of pubs in and around Salisbury give discounts to CAMRA members and The Duke of York is one of these with 20 pence a pint off on production of a membership card.