General
Iron Maiden only here for the beer
Nobody would dispute Robinson’s is a very traditional regional brewery so it is all the more remarkable that it finds itself as the brewer of the rock band Iron Maiden’s beers that sells by the millions of units around the world. But maybe it is not that much of a surprise because the band’s…
Read MoreBeer battles
Saturday, 14 September was a particularly interesting day in London’s craft beer scene. In the afternoon the London Brewers Alliance (LBA) beer festival was held at Fuller’s brewery in Chiswick, while in the evening The Kernel Brewery was celebrating its tenth anniversary in a couple of railway arches in Bermondsey. It was also exactly ten…
Read MoreNoise and Neighbours
When an American tourist was asked whether they enjoyed their visit to Windsor Castle, so the joke goes, they replied: “Yes, but why have they built such a lovely place so close to a noisy airport?” I haven’t dug up this humorous tale in a desire to question the intellect of US citizens but because…
Read MoreBig games equal big money
When England beat Holland 4-1 in 1996, when Doncaster Rovers gained promotion to the Championship in 2009, when David Beckham scored that last-minute equaliser against Greece to propel England to the 2002 World Cup, and when Manchester United dramatically won the Champions League in 1999 – those were all memorable occasions. They were also some…
Read MoreRoll out the barrel…
Watneys Red Barrel was the beer that prompted the formation of real ale movement the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in 1971 because this fizzy liquid, held in pressured keg containers, was deemed tasteless and a threat to traditional real ale. In the first CAMRA Good Beer Guide, drinkers were infamously advised to “avoid it…
Read MoreBohem and Adnams team up for hoppy wheat beer collab
Adnams’ respected head brewer Fergus Fitzgerald recently joined Bohem Brewery for the day to create a hoppy wheat beer collaboration packed with mandarins and US hop Sabro. Although original discussions were around a creation along the lines of Schneider Weisse renowned Tap 5 Hopfen-Weisse beer the commitment to lager production by Bohem dictated that a…
Read MoreCalling time on The Bottle Shop
As someone who has been writing about beer for 25 years I’m stating the blindingly obvious when I say there has been a revolution in the industry. Anybody who has been interested in drinking beer will have enjoyed riding the wave. Lots of businesses have jumped in to satisfy demand – maybe too many…
Read MoreBeer Travels with Adrian Tierney-Jones
I once stayed in a palace in Venice with original bits of art in my bedroom, the kind of place where buying a drink at the bar needed a mortgage; and last year I spent a night in a room in Budapest where the lock didn’t work and all kinds of characters were wandering…
Read MoreIt’s about more than just the beer
My annual January pilgrimage to New York City for a business conference has typically involved visits to renowned craft beer bars to seek out the latest brews from the city’s quality craft brewers and discover beer from new brewers that weren’t around the previous year. This year I tried to retreat from the never-ending chase…
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…
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