I’m early for everything. When I’m with my other half it doesn’t matter so much because he’s chronically tardy, but when I’m organising a trip by myself I’m meticulous about my ETA, like a retired Sergeant Major who can’t shake the military out of their mannerisms. So, marching up Shudehill from Victoria Station, here I […]
The world’s newest world beer awards judge
I’m new to this game. Not to drinking – I’ve been doing that for years – but to writing about drinking, finding new ideas about drinking, learning about our idiosyncrasies towards the beers we drink, the places we drink in and the breweries we favour. It’s still interesting to me. Exciting, even. I’ve been told […]
Victorian Protein Shake IPA
Back in March, I wrote about brewing with Moorhouses, and how I’d tasted the wort of our soon-to-be brown ale and called it a “Victorian Protein Shake”. It made sense to me – it tasted filling and sweet, and full of old-fashioned nutrition. Like a strongman would down a pint of it every morning with […]
Describing Beer
I want to start off by saying this: I am not interested in starting another “define craft” debate. At all. In fact, I can think of a million other things I’d rather do, and topping that list is being chased down the Amazon by a hungry caiman, or having dinner with a drunk and handsy […]
Selling out, and other bad words
Today, there was some news that everybody knew was coming. Despite denials and backlash for around a month, we’ve all kindof known that B-town were getting into some sort of investment opp with Heineken. I don’t even know why I knew that. I guess I’m on Beer Twitter too much. It’s lovely to report that […]
Slaynt Vie – Drinking at The Isle of Man TT 2018
Slaynt vie, bea veayn, beeal fliugh as baase ayns Mannin (Good health, a long life, a wet mouth, and death in Mann) When I raised my plastic pint glass in celebration outside The Railway Inn in Union Mills, there were plenty of reasons why. For one thing, we’d made it: our four hour early-am ferry […]
Pub Culture Songs: Same Old Thing
If there’s one thing I love, it’s music that tells a story. As a kid, I always loved songs that put me in a totally different place and made me think about things – things like lust and nightclubs and fit girls and something hiding in the woodshed – I’d never heard of before. This […]
Stropping off: Wetherspoon’s decision to quit social media
I’ve decided to call any company’s snap decision to quit social media as “stropping off”, a term that simultaneously combines the banal act of logging off from social media with being loud about your reasons for doing it in an entirely tiresome way. Wetherspoon’s Tim has decided it’s their prerogative to be the first in […]
What was the first beer you drank?
It’s a simple question, unless you’re being asked it point blank on live radio. There should be a simple answer – some small glint laying there in the past that points towards the moment you decide, “this is mine.” Well, sometimes you don’t want to share that moment. Maybe it’s private. But then maybe you […]
Craft Beer in Burnley: Moorhouse’s Rebrand
“Brewed in the shadows of Pendle Hill” says the crisp new strapline, branded indelibly into Moorhouse’s well-worn hide. For years, the Burnley brewery has enjoyed steady business with a loyal and local customer base who would never dream of straying from their beloved Premier. Now, with margins squeezing every last drop of profit from wet […]