Posts by Glynn Davis
Beware the craft beer hangover…
In the beer world, craft brewers get all the attention – and for all the right reasons. They have shaken up the world of beer from one where seven large producers largely controlled the UK market leading to laziness and non-existent new product development as they focused solely on cost-cutting and increasing profit margins. The…
Read MoreAround Town with Amateur Drinker
Apologies for how late this September column is, and those late summer days seem a long time ago, as I write this….(Ed – never start a column with an apology). 2018’s Zwanze Day was at The Beer Merchants Tap, leading to my first visit to the venue. It’s clearly an impressive space, with a great…
Read MoreAround Town with Amateur Drinker
Mikkeller announced that it would finally open a London bar. It will be in Shoreditch, close to The St. Leonard’s church, and somewhat bizarrely it is in collaboration with Rick Astley, who is also investing. Unfortunately they are not ticketing the opening, which will also feature the singer performing, so adding his fans to the…
Read MoreThere’s no fun in Crowd-funding
When Anspach & Hobday and Redemption announced crowd-funding programmes, the trickle that began a few years ago with Brewdog and Camden has turned into a tsunami and the Editor asked me to write this article. Apologies, as various work commitments have delayed its appearance but the underlying message that the situation is extremely unhealthy and…
Read MoreAround Town with Amateur Drinker
Another month, and another one bites the dust – this time south of the river, as Kirin bought FourPure. Unlike June’s debacle with Beavertown, this was far more honest, as founder and CEO Dan Lowe told Good Beer Hunting: “We’re not going to say nothing will change. What would be the point of doing it…
Read MoreRadical rightsizing repositions Charles Wells
Charles Wells’ brewery in Bedford dates back to 1876 but a long history was no deterrent to the family selling it last year to Marston’s in what could well be the first of a number of drastic manoeuvres taken by regional brewers. It reflects the tough environment in which they now trade, according to…
Read MoreAround Town with Amateur Drinker
Whilst it was very far from a surprise to anyone who wasn’t doing PR for Beavertown, (who were still denying it, even as I wrote this,http://beerinsider.com/amateur-drinker-loses-taste-for-beavertown-and-its-extravaganza/), June saw by far the biggest upheaval in London’s nascent scene. You will surely already know about the Heineken/Beavertown nuptials and most of this blog is devoted to it.…
Read MoreRethinking beer in Scotland
Having spent a career working in senior roles at various large brewers the founder of Edinburgh Beer Factory (EBF) decided to do things a little differently when setting up his own operation. Sitting on the edge of Edinburgh on an industrial estate EBF is the creation of John Dunsmore – who formerly ran Scottish &…
Read MoreFuller’s Vintage Ale Tasting
London brewer Fuller’s has been producing its bottled conditioned Vintage Ale since 1997 when the brewer’s name on the bottle was Reg Drury and not John Keeling whose signature found itself on the bottle the year after. Keeling’s name has been on all the Vintage ales since 1998 through to 2016 after which current head…
Read MoreStools are cool
I had the privilege of being asked my views last year on what elements I’d like to incorporate into my local pub. London brewer Fuller’s had recently acquired a lovely Victorian boozer, The Great Northern Railway Tavern, which it intended to restore to its former glory. Rather than rushing into anything, Fuller’s sensibly canvassed some…
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