Thoughts from Amateur Drinker

My last piece ended with “Finally here’s hoping that the next column in not lamenting the failure of a very promising N17 event to issue tickets”. Unfortunately, although the beer was superb, this was indeed the case. I had suggested to Beavertown that the event should be all ticket. However, they dismissed the idea, as…

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Around town with Amateur Drinker

Fortunately January has been far from dry here, as there has been some really superb beer and events I would have missed out on.   However, I have to start with the main news as another takeover saw Camden Town Brewery give up its independence. It may have been the timing, in the slow news…

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Around Town with Amateur Drinker

A month that began with a tap takeover, which eerily foresaw an actual takeover ended with two fantastic parties on successive Friday nights in Bermondsey. Brewdog Camden hosted Ballast Point, with the highlight unsurprisingly being the Grapefruit Sculpin. A couple of weeks later the brewery was acquired by Constellation Brands for $1bn. We are fortunate…

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Around Town with Amateur Drinker

This month was a tale of two festivals, just a fortnight apart, and both dependant on the heavyweight names of the US scene, but completely opposite in the underlying motivation of the organisers and therefore enjoyment. The Rainbow Project was a genuine celebration, hosted at Beavertown and featuring seven American and seven British brewers collaborating…

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Around Town with Amateur Drinker

Any review (albeit delayed by my day job) of a drinker’s month must concentrate on the marathon that was London Beer City. That involved a week of excellent well-organised events. But I’m not going to start there. I’m going to begin with an event that unfortunately is not going to get off the ground –…

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Around Town with Amateur Drinker

The big news of July would come from Bermondsey and, totally by chance I started the month there with a superb July 4th American Independence Day special as Stone took over the BottleShop taps. The sun blazed down and the Delicious IPA more than lived up to its name. I was then on holiday for…

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Around town with Amateur Drinker

Bizarrely, in a beer column, the two most pleasing incidents in the last few weeks actually occurred when I went out not planning to drink beer (it does happen!) and largely stuck to that agenda. The London Wine Fair, an annual event that bills itself as one of the world’s leading wine trade events, is…

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Around Town with Amateur Drinker

In an enjoyable month, Saturday Apr 25 was undoubtedly the highlight for all beer fans: a Siren tap takeover at The Bottle Shop, BeaverTown hosting Lervig at their tap-room, a London brewers’ blind IPA tasting at BrewDog, Shoreditch, and last but most definitely not least Colorado’s Crooked Stave taking over the pumps at the King’s…

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Around town with Amateur drinker

From the perspective of a keen amateur – or piss-head if you are being less polite – I’m here to give a monthly round-up of the scene (events, launches and tap take-overs) mainly in London. Who is this bloke you ask? Well, I live in the capital and first discovered craft beer just over two…

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