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The winners of this years Pub of the Year for the Cannock Chase Branch were announced at the AGM and are as follows:

3rd place Rusty Barrel, Fernwood Centre, Rugeley 2nd place Newhall Arms, Newhall St, Cannock 1st place Linford Arms, High Green, Cannock

Presentations to all three pubs will take place throughout March and details are on the diary page. Well done to these three pubs, and all others for taking part. If you would like to be a judge for next years POTY, please let the Pubs Officer know either by email or at any of the meetings.

As mentioned at last night's Branch Meeting, next weekend, 15th & 16th July sees the Brum Vegan Beer Festival at the Gunmakers Arms, the Brewery Tap of Two Towers Brewery 93 Bath Street Birmingham http://gunmakersarms.com/ Here is a list of the available ales: Bar 1

Freedom Brewery, Authentic lager, 4% (pale). Freedom Authentic has a citrus nose, and sweet malt and roasted cereal aromas. It's well-balanced, with a bitter finish.

RocknRoll Brewhouse, Bramble On, 4.7% (pale). A stronger strength version of one of our popular pale ales, single hopped with British Bramling Cross hops.

Sacre Brew, Sirenia, 4.1% (pale). Citrussy American-style wheat beer. Brewed with lemongrass, orange & lemon peels, coriander seed, and chamomile.

Two Towers Brewery, Chamberlain Pale Ale, 4.5% (pale). A crisp, light, well-hopped traditional pale ale that yields the flavours of four carefully balanced hops with considerable, but not overwhelming, fruits finishing with long traditional sweet, biscuit malt and very pleasant distinctive nutty flavours.

Two Towers Brewery, Demon beer, 4.1% (pale). A rich IPA with a syrupy body. Mango and orange flavours give way to hints of lemon & grapefruit with a long lasting finish.

Two Towers Brewery, Hockley Gold, 4.1% (amber). This is a sweet, deep gold-coloured ale with a distinctive syrupy texture surrounding subtle fruit flavours, all underpinned by that fulfilling malt undertone providing the Two Towers characteristic 'long' final palette.

Two Towers Brewery, Jewellery Porter, 5% (dark). An outstanding, highly-acclaimed, full-bodied stout with a thick texture, producing a complex range of tastes that include coffee, chocolate and toffee with a delightful array of subtle fruit notes.

Two Towers Brewery, Number 11, 4.3% (pale). An ale perfect to reflect a warm summer’s day, with floral notes hitting you on the nose and in the flavour profile. The fruit and light malt flavours give way to a very long bitter but smooth and long lasting finish.

Bar 2

The Backyard Brewhouse, Summer, 4% (pale). Golden straw ale. This is not a ginger beer but a beer infused with ginger. Aroma of ginger, lime and spice with a light crisp refreshing flavour without being over powering.

Craddock's Brewery, Stout, 4.5% (dark). This black beer has been brewed to capture all the joys of stout without being too heavy. It owes its depth to the blend of roasted malts and a subtle use of hops. (cask).

Fixed Wheel Brewery, The Kaiser, 5.0% (pale) Our German wheat beer in honour of Tour legend Jan Ullrich, big banana flavours on a vienna and pils base topped of with melon flavours from the new German hop huell melon.

The Fownes Brewing Company, Upper Gornal bitter, 3.8% (amber). Traditional Gornal bitter malt profile with a modern hopping regime.

Green Duck Beer Co., Hoppy Hopkins, 4.6% (pale). A stramash of high alpha hops combine to give a super hoppy bitter beer with citrus and herbal flavours.

Kinver Brewery, Swallow's T'Ale, 4.1% (pale). A light golden bitter, brewed with a selection of English and American hops.

Twisted Barrel Ale Brewery and Tap House, Export India Porter, 6% (dark). A hoppy roasted porter with huge coffee aroma and a lasting bitter finish thanks to the liberal use of Cascade, Chinook and Columbus.

Weatheroak Hill Brewery, Cofton Common, 4.9% (pale/amber) An Ale for Lager drinkers and a Lager for Ale drinkers! Cofton Common is our Hybrid Lager, brewed with German Noble Tettnanger hops and then fermented at low temperatures for a clean flavour profile. We leave Cofton Common to mature in a cold cellar for at least 4 weeks before serving, as is traditional with German lager brewing. The Vienna malt gives this beer a dry lightly biscuity backbone that tastes equally good as a winter warmer or a crisp, refreshing summer ale.

The Castle has recently re-opened in the centre of Bridgtown, at the moment serving just one real ale, Doom Bar, but it does appear to be trying to encourage its old clientele back. Again, this is the sort of community pub that needs to be kept, we shall monitor its progress.

Cannock Chase's first ale trail, our Spring Sprint, has now closed from 14th April. We have received 32 completed cards from successful trailers, and many participating pubs said there had been a good response with some issuing up to 60 stickers, so clearly there were a lot more starters than finishers!

The 32 successful trailers will each receive a polo shirt, and an additional lucky draw prize will be made for a meal for two at the Bridge Inn, Chadsmoor.

Many thanks to participating members, hope you enjoyed the selection of pubs on the trail, and hopefully re-visit some of them in the near future. Any suggestions for the trail next year?