Posts by Glynn Davis
Around Town with Amateur Drinker
I have always agreed with Hunter S Thompson, that, due to the NFL season, February is the most gloomy and depressing month: In January, we get the excitement of the playoffs, but, after the climax of the Super Bowl, you then face an agonising 7 month wait for the action to start again. Fortunately, in…
Read MoreAround Town with Amateur Drinker
January has been a month of intrigue. There was Sky Sports’ reporter Jim White with ‘Arry Redknapp winding down the window of his 4×4 to lie about players he will, or won’t be signing. This year the beer world caught up: Gregg Irwin left Weird Beard, despite being a co-founder, Georgina Young took over as Head…
Read MoreA little bit of Bohemia in North London
When he found the price of beer increasingly too expensive and believed the quality to be deteriorating the answer for one North Londoner was to start brewing his own. Although living in the north of the capital Petr Skocek is actually a native of Pilsen in the Czech Republic so he is steeped in beer…
Read MoreThe Craft Beer Co. remains resolutely committed to cask
Cask ale will continue to be an integral part of the offer on the bars of The Craft Beer Co., according to its founder Martin Hayes, who says he is disappointed by those brewers ceasing production of cask and suggests too many decisions in the industry are purely money motivated. “It saddens me that some…
Read MoreNew Vintage Ale House pushes beer boundaries in Balham
It seems that hardly a day goes by when I don’t either visit or hear about a bar, pub, bottle shop or even a cafe that has a beer selection that I would have travelled the length of the country to visit five years ago. The reality is that today we are inundated with quality…
Read MoreAround Town with Amateur Drinker
As this column covers The Christmas Lunch Month, it seems appropriate to dedicate it to the poet Gavin Ewart, the all-time legend of Lunch With The FT: “The combination led to some memorable encounters, most notably a liquid lunch of biblical proportions at the Cafe Royal between Nigel Spacey, a Cambridge don and freelance FT…
Read MorePioneering Zero Degrees retains its relevancy
Way back in 2000 was around the time I recall visiting Zero Degrees brewery in Blackheath, on the edge of London, after its creation by some pioneering nuts. It was only recently that I made a (seriously belated) return visit. So much water has passed through the mash tun since then that the scene today…
Read MoreAmateur Drinker – Awards for 2016
A few thoughts on 2016 as the year comes to a close… Best Pub: King’s Arms, E2 After checking my previous blogs, this category did not prove as hard as I anticipated. Possibly because its location is slightly off the beaten track, but no pub has made more effort this year. The big headlines come…
Read MoreAround Town with Amateur Drinker
After my observation last month regarding stouts it is gratifying to report that a fantastic event was recently dedicated to the style at the Duke’s Head in Highgate and two wonderful examples of barrel-aged stouts were released by Beavertown. ‘Darker Days’ was the third annual celebration of that colour of beer that Matthew Curtis has…
Read MoreBulmers getting to the core of craft
The impact of craft beer on the overall ale market has had the people at The Bulmers Cider Company taking a close look at how this could similarly play out in the cider category. What exactly can be learnt from the rise and rise of craft beer? Their broad conclusion is that there won’t be…
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