General
London brewing’s spectacular run comes to an end
London has had a glorious run with continued growth in brewery numbers over the past decade but a combination of Covid-19 and serious overcapacity signals the end of the golden run with as many as 40% of businesses set to fail. According to a survey from the London Brewers’ Alliance (LBA) of its membership of…
Read MoreBeer Travels with Adrian Tierney-Jones
Here we are again, in the middle of another lockdown, closed pubs, closed lives, and livelihoods being hung out to dry as if on a celestial clothes line. I feel a bit more prepared this time, and unlike in March the unknown has become known. Coffee can be taken away, beer too, as long as…
Read MoreExtra restrictions kill the swift pint option…
Many times over the past couple of weeks at the end of the day I’ve thought about popping out to the pub for a quick pint while I read the paper. But I’ve then changed my mind and instead cracked open a can of beer or poured a glass of wine at home. Once lock-down…
Read MoreBest 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…
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