One of the good points about attending the National Members Weekend is the chance to visit a nearby brewery organised by the hosting branch, well 2007 was a bumper day with a chance to visit 12 breweries in and around Wolverhampton and Dudley.
An excellent guide was produced by the local branch giving bus/tram routes and where to alight and how to get to the brewery, It was a chance not to be missed. With my £3.00 all day bus ticket I headed for Wolverhampton Bus Station and before long was heading along the A4123.
My first stop, Holden's Brewery, is in Woodsetton a 5 minute walk from the main road. The brewery is situated alongside the Park Inn and was purchased in 1915 by Edwin Holden as a brewpub and over the years the brewery expanded to adjoining buildings which had been previously used as a maltstore by Atkinsons Brewery. Although it was only 11am a quick half of mild was called for before being shown around by a retired brewer who had worked at Holdens for 40 years. 
The brewery was a mixture of old and new with a keen regard for cleanliness and it soon became evident that brewing was still carried out in a very traditional way using whole fuggles hops with the beer being fermented in open vessels. The company has slowly been expanding with a small bottling plant and the acquisition of 2 more pubs taking the estate to 21 pubs which necessitates brewing 5 days a week, with several pubs having their beer delivered in 36 gallons barrels . The 9,000 brewing capacity has recently seen a new innovation with the introduction of seasonal beers which complement the traditional Mild, (3.7%), Black Country Bitter (3.9%), (Golden Glow (4.4%) and Special Bitter (5.1%).Time for a pint in the lovingly restored Victorian Park Inn, a wonderful start to the day. 
In the evening we were taken to a suburb of Dudley for another brewery visit. So after a quick walk back into Brierley Hill and back to Dudley Bus Station I headed for Netherton and door to door service as the bus drops you right outside The Olde Swan pub. This is better known as Ma Pardoe’s after the matriarch that ran the pub for ages. The pub has been licensed since 1835, but had a bumpy ride in the 1980’s after the Pardoe family sold it. After several changes of landlord, Punch Taverns carried out a major refurbishment including the purchase of the shop next door and this now magnificent pub is back in all it’s former glory catering for beer lovers as well offering an extensive food menu.
At the back of the pub is the small Olde Swan brewery built in 1830. It too had a few ups and downs with brewing stopping between 1993 and 2001, but happily all is now well and the seven barrel plant is being looked after by a dedicated team. The original brewery was coal fired which meant that maintaining the correct brewing temperature was a problem. Hence, when brewing recommenced it took a while for the old the wooden vessels to seal , in particular the wooden fermenting vessel which leaked like a sieve before the wood swelled and sealed the leaks. The original Mild Ale (3.5%) is a rare example of a light mild and is still based on the original Ma Pardoe’s staple brew, and only £1.70 a pint. Dark Swan (4.2%) is a smooth mild using roasted grain. Entire (4.4%) brought over by the previous brewer from Holt, Plant and Deakin has now gained a well deserved reputation as a Black Country speciality namely
a strong amber mild and the latest beer Bumble Hole (5.2%) a copper coloured beer with sweet malt flavour balanced by a hoppy aftertaste. They were all delicious and it was well worth a visit. All that remained was to thank the local branch for organising a smashing day and retire to the pub. P.S. The bus home passes close to another legendary black country drinking hole the Beacon Hotel in Sedgley so needing a comfort break the pull of Sarah Hughes’ Dark Ruby Mild (6%) proved impossible to resist but that’s another story. Rog
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