Showing posts with label returns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label returns. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Wrexham Lager returns to the pub

16 July 2011 Last updated at 07:44 GMT Mark Roberts and Vaughan Roberts (owners), John Bowler (engineer and designer) and Ian Dale (head brewer) Owners Mark Roberts and Vaughan Roberts, engineer and designer John Bowler and head brewer Ian Dale Pub-goers in Wrexham will soon be able to drink a pint of one of Britain's oldest lagers as the Wrexham brand is revived.

Local businessmen John, Vaughan and Mark Roberts teamed up with Ian Dale, former brewing manager at Wrexham Lager, to set up the new micro-brewery.

They estimate the first kegs of the lager will be ready by the end of August.

Ian Dale said he would be following the brew's recipe from the 1970s.

That was when the lager was at 4% strength before it was changed to 3.2% after the merger with Carlsberg.

"It's an exciting proposition," said Mr Dale.

"They've gone for the best equipment possible, and the new plant is second to none. The fact that this plant is much smaller doesn't matter.

"We're going to start off slowly though, let the new plant bed in and get established."

The lager will be available only in kegs, and sold to local pubs for the time being.

The brewery is located in one of the old warehouses of the Roberts brothers' distribution firm, F Jones.

"We had a business which had outgrown the premises, and we were wondering what to do with it," explained Mark Roberts.

"I wondered whatever had happened to the previous start-ups for Wrexham Lager, so spoke to Ian about what would be needed to bring it back.

"We travelled to America and round Europe in search of the best equipment, but in the end we decided to go with a German family-run firm which are the oldest makers of [lager] brewing equipment in the world.

"We did our homework because it was an important decision to make."

Inside the new brewery The new brew will currently only be available in pubs

The new-look Wrexham Lager will sport a logo which Mark Roberts sad encapsulated the town's history.

"We use the Welsh colours, have a dragon and also a football inside a rugby ball, as we do have a great tradition for rugby, be we didn't want to leave out the football fans," he explained.

"Then we've got the gold for hopefully future success and the black for Wrexham's coal mining days."

Brewing of Wrexham Lager had come to an end in 2000.

German engineers from Kaspar Schulz are currently fitting out the new micro-brewery before brewing begins later this month.


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Friday, July 15, 2011

Injured jockey returns to Wales

13 July 2011 Last updated at 11:29 GMT Isabel Tompsett The racing fraternity is supporting Isabel Tompsett and her family A jockey who was seriously injured in a fall while competing in Norfolk has been transferred to a hospital near her Carmarthenshire home.

Isabel Tompsett, 28, from Llandeilo, suffered head injuries after she was thrown from her horse on 22 May.

Ms Tompsett, a champion amateur over jumps in the 2009 to 2010 season, was on life support at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.

She was moved to Neath Port Talbot Hospital on Tuesday.

Unconscious

Ms Tompsett was left unconscious after her mount, Leopold, rolled on her after falling heavily during the race at Fakenham racecourse.

After weeks in intensive care, she is no longer being medically sedated and is showing signs of improvement.

Her family and partner John Llewellyn have welcomed the transfer to the south Wales hospital on Tuesday.

"Isabel's mother Bridget received a call from Addenbrooke's yesterday morning to inform her that Isabel was going to be transferred that same day," said Injured Jockeys Fund chief executive Lisa Hancock.

"We weren't quite expecting it to happen this quickly, but it is great news that she will now be so much nearer to home.

"I understand that the Neath Port Talbot Hospital has a very good rehabilitation centre and it will enable Isabel to take the next step forward in her recovery."


View the original article here