General
Best Seat In The House
Charles Wells’ pubs in France have been a quiet success story as the portfolio of outlets has grown on the back of young French drinkers’ appetite for the unique British bar vibe the UK operator has shipped across the Channel. One of the key components of this has been the hubbub around the bar. Unlike…
Read MoreBeer Travels with Adrian-Tierney-Jones
So this is the pandemic. Be still, be very still. Try and hide, or shrink as small as possible. Keep silent, do not have an opinion. On anything. Remember and create and feed yourself memories of how life used to be and one day soon will once more be that way. I so ache to…
Read MoreRental demands holding pubs back from reopening
Rental demands from landlords to leisure and hospitality businesses is causing grief for many including The Queen’s Head in King’s Cross that is in the eye of the storm as it is suffering from a severe loss of tourists and office workers. Many pubs and bars along with other hospitality businesses are frustrated by the…
Read MoreBeer Insider deemed influential
Congratulations for reading Beer Insider because you have apparently made a decent decision. The site has recently been listed in the ‘Top 10 UK Beer Blogs’. Top 10 UK Beer Blogs Based on an algorithm created by Vuelio (here’s some background) Beer Insider has again found itself in this list among a mix of blogs…
Read MoreRemembering Roger Ryman
Despite his undoubted standing in the brewing industry Roger Ryman was always a very approachable guy. But it was still with a bit of trepidation that I asked him back in 2018 if he’d consider doing a collaboration beer with a small brewery, Bohem, of which I’m part owner. When I briefly explained the situation…
Read More(Constrained) Beer Travels with Adrian Tierney-Jones
I belong to a Facebook group whose members post old photos of my home town — school pics whose young and eager-looking pupils are now in care homes, the beach on whose promenade stroll carefree Edwardians unaware of the express train of war coming their way, and various other nostalgic shots guaranteed to make most…
Read MoreJumping on board the bus
When I was at school I used to get my smartest mate to read through the rules of any board games I bought so he could then show me how to play it. This saved me a lot of time and effort while he got to test his intellect. I was reminded of this great…
Read MoreBeer Travels with Adrian Tierney-Jones
I arrived in Newport mid-afternoon, parked the car outside the hotel. The sound of Newport was the sound of screeching seagulls and barking sea lions, while the smell was of the briny sea and rotting fish (down on a deck below the harbour a seagull pecked at a salmon’s head), alongside the catch of roasting…
Read MoreDrinking in Czech lager and history
On the edge of the Czech capital Prague within one of a cluster of historic buildings is housed the Břevnov Monastery Brewery whose output is a mix of traditional lagers, which the former monks would recognise, alongside some newer styles. Pulling open the doors on the long structure emblazoned with the welcoming words ‘Pivovar’ (which…
Read MoreBeer no longer an afterthought
On a dark, wet, cold and windy evening the warm glow of a railway arch in the new Wood Lane development was extremely welcoming. The Prairie Fire BBQ Tap Room is the first tenant to move into a row of over 30 arches and our welcome felt even warmer by the choice of 16 draught…
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