TRY OR DRY … WHAT’S YOUR JANUARY GOING TO BE?

It’s only one simple letter difference, but ‘Try’ rather than ‘Dry’ supports plenty of good causes and a whole industry.  Tryanuary is all about trying something new and different, so thoughout January we’ll be looking at what people in the industry are doing and different beers and events you might like to ‘Try’.   We’ll start by looking at 3 businesses which all offer something a bit different from the norm.

Firstly WALES ALES – the country’s only hand delivered beer service, specialises in
small Welsh micro breweries, the stuff you don’t normally see in the supermarkets, and covers the South Wales area with free delivery if on their route, see www.walesales.com for details.   For Tryanuary there’s a few deals to try –

• Mystery Bumper Pack  – Feeling lucky and want to fill up your fridge for cheap? This special case is superb value, great for a party, the opportunity to try some new beers or as a gift. Each magical mystery case contains 12 beers from across Wales with a saving of over £13, including some premium strong or small batch beers all for only £22.50.
• 5% discount, simply use code ‘Try5’ at the checkout at www.walesales.com
• Saving the best until last, for the monthly Beer Club Subscribers there’s a very special Tryanary pack this month containing limited edition and special releases from Polly’s Brew, Pipes, Arcadian, Wye Valley Meadery, Tenby Harbour and Dog’s Window Brewery.

POP’N’HOPS

Another interesting and different business marries music and beer. Love beer? Adore rock ‘n’ roll? If so, you’re in luck as Pop’N’Hops on Whitchurch Road in Cardiff can cater for both passions.

They stock over 200 Craft Beers and Ciders from all over the UK and also stock a wide range of Welsh Craft Beer.  They also stock a curated selection of new music and a choice selection of second hand platters.

We caught up with owner Trev McCabe to ask him why he’s all for Tryanuary, “As the owner of a beer shop it’s a great way to highlight good breweries be they new or established. I like to find good stuff for my customers and January in that regard is the same as every month of the year!”

Here’s a few things Trev has in store for Tryanuary –

January 19th – Tasting Session with Dog Windows

January 24th-26th – Tryanuary Tap Weekend – For one weekend in January they’re opening up for drinking in with some special kegs lined up for the weekend.  The tap beers will go live at 4pm on Friday 24th January. Keep yr eyes peeled for more announcements.

January 28th – Craft Beer Hour – https://www.craftbeerhour.com/ – Good Things Brewing Co featured.

THE ALE TRAIL –  We took the opportunity to catch up with Shelly Barratt of
The Real Ale Trail Company who came up with a novel idea to bring new customers to a number of small local rural pubs and has been running various Ale Trails throughout the country since the first one in North East Wales in 2010.

The Real Ale Trail is essentially a bus based beer festival taking you around a number of pubs you might not normally go to, “The first ever event eight years ago was small, the buses were quite empty as they shuttled good-spirited folk around one wet Saturday to 7 country traditional Welsh pubs. Landlords were very happy with their new found popularity and customers enjoyed not having to worry about driving.”

They now have eight Trails running twice a year all over Wales and are always on the look out for new Trails, including possibly adding West Wales.   After proving a big hit up in the hills in North Wales, the Real Ale Trail arrived in the Vale of Glamorgan early 2018. The buses took the trailers around the wonderful countryside of South Wales and to its finest watering holes; a good time was had by all.

The good news is that they are set to do yet another one and are offering an early bird Tryanuary discount!  The real ale trail has released 50 trail tickets for the Vale of Glamorgan Trail on April 4th priced just £18 as part of the Try January campaign simply use code “TryJanuary” to receive a discount of £2 valid until 31st January.  CLICK HERE to purchase your tickets.