Download the BeerFest Leaflet as PDF (871 KB)    Download Acrobat Reader

	01. Donnington, Stow-on-the-Wold, ABV 4.6%SBA
	Malt dominates over bitterness in the subtle flavour of this premium bitter, which has a hint of fruit and a dry malty finish.
	02. Uley Brewery, ABV 4.5%Old Ric
	Copper in colour, this beer has a full flavoured, hoppy palate with some underlying fruit. The finish is smooth and well-balanced.
	03. Uley Brewery, ABV 4.3%The Reverend Janet
	Smooth, dry, golden coloured bitter ale with long, dry finish. Fruity and citrus in flavour with a hint of blackberry on the finish.
	Every time we sell a pint of Rev J., all proceeds go to the MacMillan Trust - See here or September's Newsletter for further details.
	04. Uley Brewery, ABV 4.0%Uley Bitter
	A copper coloured beer with a good balance of malt and hops giving a hoppy bitterness with a hint of fruit in the taste.
	05. Severn Vale Brewing Co., ABV 4.2%Dursley Steam
	Created to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the "Dursley Donkey", the branch line which served Dursley and the Cam valley. A sparkling summer ale full of flowery hops.
	06. Festival Brewery, Cheltenham, ABV 3.8%Festival Bitter
	A copper coloured session beer with a full body giving the impression of stronger ale. The beer has a fruity complex with a long dry hoppy finish.
	07. Nailsworth Brewery, ABV 3.9%Artist's Ale
	A hoppy, zingy, tangy thirst quenching bitter full of citrus flavours. A refreshingly more-ish session beer.
	08. Stroud Brewery, ABV 4.5%Budding
	This is a pale ale of 4.5% with Fuggles used as the main bittering hop - then late hopped for a luscious floral aroma.
	09. Goff's, Cheltenham, ABV 4.7%White Knight
	A well hopped bitter with a light colour and full bodied taste. Bitterness predominates in the mouth and leads to a dry, hoppy aftertaste. Deceptively drinkable for it's strength!
	10. Wickwar Brewing Co., ABV 4.3%Cotswold Way
	A rich, amber, smooth, well balanced beer with a terrific hoppy finish. If you require succour after rambling along the Cotswold Way, then it has to be the beer of the Cotswolds... 'Cotswold Way'
	11. Cotswold Spring, Codrington, ABV 4.0%Old English Rose
	Straw like in colour this excellent ale depicts every aspect of summer. With an Initial dryness on the pallet and a hoppy finish, this brew is bursting with flavour.

Our Carbon Footprint
Welcome to our Autumn Beer Festival. This year's theme is all about looking at our 'Carbon Footprint' and with help from Chad Staddon, We will be estimating our carbon emission and planting the corresponding number of trees at relevant sites in the Spring of next year with the assistance of Ken Hall.

I also want to initiate a debate within the pub about our Carbon Footprints. I would hope to include views and/or analysis from any of you that are interested and in particular:

• the Gloucestershire Ale Trail,
• CAMRA,
• local brewers,
• other licensees,
• the local M.P.,
• and a representative from one of the big brew chains.

The discussion being, that in this day and age, surely it's more and more important to start sourcing beers locally - the ones that are right on your doorstep - and therefore cutting down our Carbon Footprint and also supporting the local economy.

How can licensees justify only allowing beer to be sold in their estate that comes hundreds and hundreds of miles away. Don't get me wrong, some pub companies are seeing the error of their ways, and they allow there licensees to purchase local ales through various organisations, then charge them double the going rate for the privilege! Grrrrr.

After this weekend, we'll look at meter readings and carbon emissions to discover the footprint from brewery to palate. The results of our findings will be published in the November Newsletter and on this page.

If you have an opinion on this and would like to get involved on either side of this debate, please email me on the following address:

Cheers!
Steve Herbert
October 2007THE OLD SPOT INN

 Download the BeerFest Leaflet as PDF (871 KB)    Download Acrobat Reader

::  Why not add this page to your favourites.

Below will be published the results etc when we have them. If you would like to contribute your point of view, please do!

Messages:

Sent: Friday, October 19, 2007 9:43 AM
As we've done for the Spot, can you brewers out there get for me four bits of information on your Brewery:

1. Electricity usage (this will be in kWh or "units" and the number of days covered)
   
2. Gas usage (as above)
   
3. Water usage -- of course, some of you have your own spring, but do you use any mains water at all as part of your operations?
   
4. An estimate of the total delivery distance driven each week -- if you're not sure, could you just guess - I am sure that you would be close enough
   
   

It would also be useful to know the distance to the maltings you use. Ditto for your hops supplier(s). Again, estimates are fine. If you had your suppliers postcodes we could even calculate supplier-distances based on this information (using the AA route finder!).

In a nutshell though we already know that the single biggest contributor to carbon output is length of distribution network, which means that even if smaller brewers are less efficient in the brewing process, they will be more efficient in the distribution side of the business (as long as they do most of their own distribution) and therefore much greener. so the message will be "Drink local because is better beer, because it is good for the local economy and because it is good for the environment!"

More later tater,
Chad
Dr Chad Staddon,
Senior Lecturer in Geography,
School of Geography and Environmental Management, UWE, Bristol
______________________________________________________

Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 21:58:28
Hi Steve,

I missed out on carbon neutral beefest last week I'm afraid, but I'd be happy to help out anyway I can.

I received an email from Shirley Hill which referred to it the other day. I live in May Lane and work for Energy Saving Trust, which encourages householders to use energy more efficiently. I'm currently on the project team at Defra which is developing the Government's Act on CO2 carbon calculator so could help out with any analysis etc.

Regards
Andrew Amato
Data Services Manager
Energy Saving Trust
______________________________________________________

Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 12:03:31
Steve,

Something to add to the debate on carbon footprints, the act has received Royal assent. Sustainable Communities Act 2007.

And can be found here:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2007/ukpga_20070023_en_1

As you may already be aware, District Councillors have no authority to so anything. What they can do is very limited, this act gives DC's some assistance in stopping closures of community buildings, I think its main use is in the protection of rural post offices, but I believe that the implications can be taken further in the protection of public houses, probably the reason why CAMRA supported the bill.

Regards,
Symon Ackroyd
Service Management Consulting | Outsourcing Europe
______________________________________________________

Below will be published the results etc when we have them. If you would like to contribute your point of view, please do!

What is the Old Spot's Carbon Footprint?
(19th October 2007)

Calculations by Dr Chad Staddon, Senior Lecturer in Geography, School of Geography and Environmental Management, UWE, Bristol

Everything we do in our daily lives generates carbon dioxide (CO2) and CO2 is a key contributor to climate change. If we want to do our bit to reduce climate change then we have to reduce our CO2 output, and in order to do that we need to know how much CO2 our daily activities generate.

There are a number of ways of calculating the carbon output of activities like households, factories and ... pubs. Here are some calculations of CO2 related to the daily operation and use of the Old Spot Pub. In this calculation I have used some fairly standard conversion factors for electricity, gas, water, business-related transport and the indirect CO2 "costs" of things like fixtures and fittings, maintenance and related infrastructure. An attempt is also made to calculate the carbon costs of supplier services including deliveries, etc.

Direct CO₂ Costs:

Electricity	70 kWh/day x 0.46 kg/kWh	=	32.0 kg/day
Gas	45 kWh/day x 0.2 kg/day	=	9.0 kg/day
Water	1 m3 x 0.3 kg/m3	=	0.3 kg/day
Transport	100 miles/day x 0.24 kg/mile	=	24.0 kg/day

Indirect CO₂ Costs:

Embodied CO2       (fixtures, fittings, maintenance)	=	8.0 kg/day
Maintenance and Infrastructure       (roads, waste disposal, etc)	=	15 kg/day

The average UK household generates about 70 kg/day so you can see that the Spot compares quite favourably - especially since I don't think that too many households receive 100 or so visitors each and every day (more at weekends and beer festivals!). Still, 88 kg of CO2 is roughly the same as the amount generated by a one way flight from Bristol to Glasgow.

There are essentially three ways of managing our carbon footprints:

• reducing the direct and indirect CO2 costs of operation through adopting carbon-efficient technologies and practices such as low energy lightbulbs, better insulation, green energy providers and locally produced goods and services. The two biggest measures involve replacement of incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones and switching to a green energy provider.
• planting trees to absorb (offset) the carbon generated. This is tremendously complicated, but as a rule of thumb temperate trees may store as much as 10 kg of carbon each year over a 100 year lifecourse whilst tropical species could store twice as much
• yet another way of looking at carbon offset is to think about the economic value of excess CO2, which the Chicago Board of Trade recently valued at about £3/kg. So, theoretically, it is possible for the Old Spot to buy CO2 credits from under-producers of CO2 for its excess CO2 thereby achieving a market-derived equilibrium, at least globally. Alternatively, one could argue that any mitigation measures that cost £3/kg or less are cost efficient. So, for example, if planting and maintaining a tree to absorb up to 1000 kg of CO2 costs less than £3000, then it could be argued that this is cost efficient.

The debate continues ...