Mini-Space Monster Mash...

You don't need to be a sci-fi buff to believe in monsters, and I'm sure you could name one or two that might be challenging the world right now...

...however having established (in my last post) that the good folk of Christchurch, and the Saxon Bar in particular, are on their guard against any such challenge,  I was able to rest easy as our CAMRA micro-bus tour moved on to the next stop,  the Drop The Anchor Brewery.

You may not have heard of this brewery as it is a relatively new start up, and before this visit I hadn't tried any of their beers either.  Despite them being a new micro-brewery, the purpose of the CAMRA visit was to present them with an award for one of their beers (their first award I think).

The brewery truly is micro, occupying the first floor gable end of an industrial unit used by Molly's Den the antiques, memorabilia and craft emporium.  The space appears to have been the original mezzanine office area for the industrial unit, and micro brewing kit and the brewery tap are squeezed into the limited space.

Due to the presentation, the place was heaving with CAMRA folk with rucksacks, notebooks and logo'ed shirts, much to the bemusement of the few ordinary folk that had popped in for a drink after perusing the emporium downstairs...

But it made for a fantastic atmosphere and must have made the brewery very happy as the beers flowed...

The Tap is also full of various memorabilia, which might well have come from shopping sprees downstairs in the emporium...including the music system...

....the old Benskins mirror...

...and a heavy rock beer glass...

On these occasions it is of course very important to test the beers, and having tried a few I generally concluded that they were top notch (very good).   Yes - ok - I can't remember them all...

I was particularly impressed with the experimental Elderflower Mild...showing the brewery's creative approach.  Rumour had it that a double figure ABV Christmas Ale was being planned by the brewery - so that should be a monster mash....

Unfortunately, somehow I missed the presentation, sitting downstairs in the beer garden behind the unit, and chatting to Andy while he ate his artisan meat pie.  It was all the more impressive that he managed to do so with a cardboard knife and fork (which is obviously better for the environment than plastic, but more of a challenge to eat with).

However we did hear the cheers and round of applause that heralded the presentation...

So yet another microbrewery finding it's way in the world of the monster breweries, and filling up the ever expanding brewery section of the Good Beer Guide (much to the concern of professional tickers who will need to buy bigger rucksacks)...

...but so far it seems to be going well for Drop The Anchor and they are already thinking of expansion...though from their very small beginnings that is understandable.

After a very pleasant afternoon in the brewery tap we climbed back in the micro-bus, with the promise of a stop off at another micro on the way home...

...don't miss next weeks exciting installment of CAMRAs in micro-space.....

PS - Russ - should there be an apostrophe in 'weeks'...?