A service announcement

We will be closed Monday 12th to Wednesday 14th October. We will be open again 11am 15th October.

Dave and Ann apologise for this inconvenience, however at this quiet time of year the mid week trade is not sufficient to cover the costs of staffing.

We will be open all day everyday between 14th and the end of October, with school holidays approaching we hope business will pick up a little. November we will open weekends only. December and January we will be closed except by prior arrangement.

The Strongest Beer in Britain

One of the things we like to do here at The Woolpack Inn is be different. This beer has been in the news for being ridiculously strong¹. We might not sell any, but we decided to stock it anyway.

It's a desert beer in our view. Treat like a fine port wine and drink with cheese or a rich chocolate desert.

Perhaps even a Blue Bore Bomb.

¹The picture shows 12%. The one we've got is 18.2%.....

Beer Fest 2009

The 9th Boot Beer Festival starts today.

Our beer list

1. Hardknott Tenacity 4.8%

2. Hardknott Light Cascade3.4%

3. Hardknott Mildly Complex 2.5%

4. Hardknott Woolly Fusion 4.2%

5. Hardknott Zippy Red IPA 6.6%

6. Hardknott Dry Cascade 3.9%

7. Hardknott Pride of Eskdale 4.3%

8. Keswick Thirst Celebration 7.0%

9. Keswick Thirst Pitch 3.8%

10. Cumbrian Legendary Ales Dicky Doodle 3.9%

11. Loweswater Loweswater Pale Ale 3.6%

12. Loweswater Grasmoor 4.3%

13. Barngates Moth Bag 3.6%

14. Barngates Cracker 3.9%

15. Tirrel Wainwright..knew my father 3.8%

16. Hesket Newmarket Dead Bunny – no hops 3.5%

17. Great Gable Wrynose 4.0%

18. Foxfield Nettle Encounter 4.4%

19. Stringers Old School Porter 4.7%

20. Stringers West Coast Blonde 4.4%

21. Ulverston Flying Elephant 3.7%

22. Ulverston Stout Ollie 4.3%

The Eye of the Storm

Well that was Easter. It was very busy, probably the busiest we've ever had, so that's the excuse for delays in blog updates. Over on Dave's beer blog he's had difficulty keeping up. Importantly though, the team coped really well with the sudden increase in trade. Easter weekend of course there were quite a few people who had not booked for food that we had to disappoint. That is part of our ethos. Satisfy everybody we can and once the kitchen has reached capacity we put a cap on covers. It worked, we maintained quality throughout the weekend.

Of course now we have to order more beer for the next bank holiday, May Day. Kriek, that lambic Belgian beer packed with cherry yumminess is becoming more popular. Are more people getting to know that it's one of our many specialities? Either way, more had to be ordered today. It's Ann's preferred tipple and therefore an important oil for the Woolpack machine.

Dave has just brewed more beer, a new one, yet to be named, but possibly incorporating dry hopping. The second brew of Pride of Eskdale, which is lucky seeing as it has just been entered into the Good Beer Guide following a tasting session last Autumn.

Baked Alaska must be our most popular desert. It can sure get interesting in the kitchen when there is an order for 4 on at the same time. Are we getting famous for them or something?

Further news items:

We are due to soon have our licence for holding weddings and civil partnerships here. We're getting quite excited at the prospect. Look out for more details soon.

Dave's brewing workshops have been a success. He is keen to hold more at times convenient to both the Inn and prospective apprentice brewers. The information we have indicates it is a significantly cheaper option than many other hands on brewing experiences. Please get in touch if you are interested.

Tenacity

Dave has always said the you need a good supply of tenacity when running a pub. The first beer he made was brewed without anything like the level of knowledge he now has, only a vague idea of a recipe and uncertainty about the precise legal status of the brewing authorisation from HMRC. However, none of those things put him off.

The first brew was supposed to be a stab at a generic bitter. Far too much crystal malt was used and a very tasty dark ruby beer resulted. It had fantastic strong malty sweetness balanced with hop bittering. The beer tasted determined and Dave was determined to get it brewed, and drunk. Calling it Tenacity summed up the moment. We've not changed the recipe, after all why fix what ain't broke. We've realised it's two years since it was last brewed, but now it's back.

It is not pronounced ten-a-city as some customers seem to want to say. We've got some on the bar right now and there are another 8 casks after that. It's just lovely and recently got compared to Barngates Red Bull Terrier, which is also delicious.

Dirty Weekend

Dave was looking for inspirational ideas for marketing The Inn. He came across this article. (don't ask, OK?). Basically it laments the fall in the number of couples taking dirty weekends away. Now Dave and Ann have had their fair share of troubles through life but both agree, and that doesn't always happen, that a few days away with the one you love, good food, good drink, kind hospitality and yes a comfortable bed, can help with the troubles of life.

Who cares if the weather is bad, who cares if it stretches the bank balance a bit? Getting a bit of quality time with the significant other away from the stresses of the 21st century has to be priceless, no?

Change of plan

This week we have a slight chef problem. Dave, who is our only chef, is having knee surgery, so our published food times are going to be a bit hit and miss. Ann is the stand in and is really much better at cooking than she likes to let on. We think she's better than Dave but we just can't get her to take the job on full time. In any case Ann will be busy looking after Dave because he gets to be a right twiney sod when he's not well.

Hopefully all will be well by Friday, but meanwhile, if you'd like to eat with us, please check ahead.