I’d never been able to attend a Holmes Mill Meet The Brewer, but I last-minuted my way to their Torrside event. Because how often do Torrside come to your town? I couldn’t miss it.
How to do the East Lancs Steam Rail Ale Trail (if you’re me)
I know I’m lucky to have a local pub like mine. They sell great beer, they have live music sometimes and they give me shifts when I’m skint. But the best thing about my local pub, is that us regulars have naturally formed a number of sub-groups based on interest and interconnected friendships. These people […]
The New Clitheroe Beer Festival
This year will be the first Clitheroe Beer Festival I’ll have ever helped with, rather than slightly hindering it with my inebriation as a non-member guest. Taking place from the 9th May — 11th May, it’ll also be the first Clitheroe Beer Festival to be hosted at the Old School Rooms on Lowergate, otherwise known […]
Independent venues, relateable problems
I listen to the radio a lot. Since I started working from home last March, Radio 6 has been a constant companion throughout my day, from my first cup of Yorkshire Tea (always Yorkshire Tea, don’t ever try to tell me otherwise) to the long, drawn out years between 2pm and 6pm, it’s there in […]
Writing about holiday beers
What I’ve learned in a year (almost) of beer writing. Escapism is what it is. Pure escapism. I try hard not to drink for drinking’s sake because I prefer my beer to punctuate a situation, and in most cases, the beer I love is all down to context. Would I love Bluebird Bitter quite as […]
Autumn, Alcohol, Superstition and Ritual
I wanted to talk about superstition this Halloween – about the small rituals we impulsively prick into our existence, sustaining a sense of meaning, momentarily suspending us from reality. They’re personal and they’re private, and unsurprisingly in the world of brewing, a chiefly technical profession in this day and age, I couldn’t find anyone willing […]
Part 2: Madrid
This post follows on from Part 1: Local hops in Castille and León. Our trip to Madrid taught us what “Craft” means in Spanish. Eight years ago, the nebulous idea of craft beer gained structural integrity in Madrid, when the capital’s first independent bottle shop opened on Calle Ruda close to the cathedral and El […]
Local hops for local people – Orbigo Valley hops in Castile and León
Part 1: Castile and León * FULL DISCLOSURE: After reaching out to Orbigo Valley Hops to speak to them about their business, I was invited to visit. Accommodation was provided, but I paid for almost everything else (but you try telling a Spanish person not to pay for your drinks. I dare you.) * The […]
Sour Power – Funk Fest 2018
Tasting some of the UK’s most exciting sour beers in Abbeydale Brewery’s Funk Dungeon. There’ve been some pockets of resistance along the way, but modern sour beers have made huge inroads in the UK over the past couple of years. Getting drinkers over the hurdle of expecting all beer to fit into more familiar flavour […]
The price of a pint
Today’s headline news in the Guild of Beer Writers eshot was a story run by CAMRA relating to a YouGov survey on the topic of the price of a pint. (If you’re a member you can see the story here.) Here’s the quote: “56% of people surveyed who expressed an opinion believe the price of […]