General
It’s all in the timing
Just before Christmas, I enjoyed a very lengthy lunch at Sweetings in the City of London. It’s an institution, and I’m embarrassed to say that it was my first visit, despite working in the City for eight years in the early 1990s. Regardless of when I’d visited, it would no doubt have been exactly the…
Read MoreYou want to go where everybody knows your name
In the halcyon days of the craft beer revolution, a trip to the Beavertown Brewery on an industrial estate in Tottenham for its beer festivals was a real treat. They became increasingly popular, and queues down the road to enter became commonplace as growing numbers of drinkers were attracted by the impressive range of beers…
Read MoreTrouble brewing for independents
Sitting at the bar in my local pub, the Great Northern Railway Tavern, earlier in the year, I noticed the regular guest lager produced by the brewery I co-owned, Bohem Brewery, had been replaced by a specially-brewed lager for the pub by Gipsy Hill Brewery. The deal had just been struck and the sales guy…
Read MoreLondon Village Inns in five dishes & beers
Beer Insider took a trip down to Brixton to visit the Crown & Anchor and neighbouring sister site Booma, which serves up Indian food, and meet owner Martin Harley. During a meal consisting of some of its top dishes matched with great beers Martin, owner of London Village Inns, ran me through the story of…
Read MoreAre youngsters really drinking less alcohol
Some years back I did some work with Dunnhumby – the data gurus behind the Tesco Clubcard – and it was enlightening to see the massive discrepancies between what people believed they had purchased and what the till data showed they had actually bought. When customers were surveyed, the number of supposed buyers of organic…
Read MoreThe changing face of wet-led pubs
Reports of the death of the traditional drinking pub have been greatly exaggerated, judging by the levels of trading across the category that shows a relatively healthy trend, as drinkers are increasingly choosing the pub rather than late-night venues including nightclubs and bars. Wet-led pubs have enjoyed a 10% increase in like-for-like sales on a…
Read MoreBook Review – Brewing in Manchester and Salford
Manchester and Salford are unusual in retaining a batch of long-established family brewers whereas in other major cities and conurbations they have long since been consumed by global operators. So what’s the story? The recently-published ‘Brewing in Manchester and Salford’ by Deborah Woodman (from Amberley Publishing) seeks to give you the answer to this…
Read MoreBeer for thought at Brewers’ Congress
It was a flying visit this week by Beer Insider to the Brewers Congress, held by the Brewers Journal, but we caught a couple of interesting presentations as well as enjoyed catching up with some familiar faces including some legends in the industry. Mark Tranter, founder of Burning Sky, cantered through the 10-plus years since…
Read MoreBook review: ‘A Pub For All Seasons’
My mother-in-law has a strong dislike for the art of Tracey Emin. Although I’m largely ambivalent towards her work I always defend her on the basis that her output is unmistakeably Tracey Emin. It is the same with the writing of Adrian Tierney-Jones. Among all the writers who specialise in beer his voice is the…
Read MoreDeparting Bohem Brewery
Now we are over the summer season the calendar of beer events including product releases and book launches has made a welcome return. On my recent outings I’ve been asked by various people about Bohem Brewery in terms of visits and news. I’d like to take this opportunity to say publicly that I’m no longer…
Read More