The oldest inhabited house in Scotland also operates as a brewery. Adrian Tierney-Jones went to Traquair.
We all love a loser. The Welsh have Owain Glyndwr and his doomed revolt, the English Eddie the Eagle and the national football team, while the Scots keen over Bonnie Prince Charlie. At Traquair House near Peebles, the Prince’s memory is still kept fresh by owners (and descendents) the Maxwell- Stuar...
Micro Brewery
from Issue 16 published on 25/01/2008
Adrian Tierney-Jones takes a walk through the hop farms of Herefordshire, England.
Hops and malt are the double act of brewing, the Gilbert and George or Laurel and Hardy of the copper, before being joined by their special guest star: yeast. Malt provides the luscious biscuity and caramel-like sweetness, sometimes lightfingered, other times full-bodied – the soul of beer indeed. H...
Spotlight
from Issue 15 published on 01/12/2007
American breweries coined the term ‘extreme’ more than a decade ago. Are British brewers starting to follow suit? Adrian Tierney Jones reports
Extreme beer is the current buzzword on the lips of United States craft brewers, as that country’s dynamic brewing community experiments with woodaging, triple amounts of hops, various combos of fruit and veg in the mash tun and the odd beer with peanut butter in the mix. These beers are the brewing...
Beer Trends
from Issue 13 published on 03/08/2007
The Eastern European countries of Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Latvia are still producing some exciting beers. Adrian Tierney-Jones reports
Late at night in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius and I am hunting for an elusive Baltic porter. As I amble along the quiet streets, a chap crosses the road from a group of idling taxi drivers and asks if I am looking for anything. A pause
“Like girls?” he says. Not at the moment thanks, I quickly...
International Focus
from Issue 13 published on 03/08/2007
The Tom Cobley Tavern in Devon, England is a real magnet for beer lovers. Adrian Tierney-Jones went for a pint (or two)
If you’re going to have an awardwinning pub then a taste for the ale is surely a requirement. How on earth can you resist a well-kept, sprightly, cool glass of the local beer if you don’t drink anything stronger than tea?
However, that’s exactly the tipple of Roger Cudlip who is landlord at the Cam...
Spotlight
from Issue 12 published on 25/05/2007
The Red Lion in Venlo, Limburg is a magnet for beer lovers. Adrian Tierney-Jones had a look around
Even though it’s in Holland, a Heineken is not the sort of thing you order in the Red Lion (or De Roeëje Lieuw in the local dialect), a classy, cosy, thirst-inducing ‘brown bar’ in Venlo in the Dutch province of Limburg. Situated off the town centre, along a pedestrianised street, it is a long, rect...
Spotlight
from Issue 11 published on 23/03/2007
Adrian Tierney-Jones scouts out the best beers and the best bars in the French capital
At the start of the 1990s I was a guest in the house of a well-known French writer, an octogenarian intellectual who reputedly drank two bottles of wine a day.
Neither of us could speak each other’s language so communication was a bit limited. However, when I asked for a beer his response was perfe...
Beer journeys
from Issue 10 published on 26/01/2007
Altbiers are the dark, top-fermented ales popular in Düsseldorf and the Rhineland, as Adrian Tierney-Jones
reports
Several brewers will tell you that yeast is the unsung hero of the brew-house. Malt is the soul of beer, hops the grapes, while even the liquor, especially in the old Burton breweries, has its halo. Poor old yeast is the workhorse, though without it what would tease out alcohol and carbon dioxide du...
International Focus
from Issue 9 published on 22/11/2006
La Rulles is an unusual Belgian microbrewery in that it favours hops instead of spices. Adrian Tierney-Jones reports
It’s Saturday lunchtime in the quiet village of Rulles in the Belgian province of Luxembourg. There’s a sleepy feel to the sultry summer air that wouldn’t be out of place in an English village. Which neatly brings me onto the subject of beer.
Rulles is also home to the brewery of the same name, who...
Spotlight
from Issue 9 published on 22/11/2006
Adrian Tierney-Jones discovers the beers of England’s most northerly counties, Cumbria and Northumberland
Cumbria and Northumberland don’t immediately spring to mind when we think about the great beer counties of England.
Southern neighbour Yorkshire makes a lot of noise about its best bitters, while the city state of Newcastle gives its allegiance to the eponymous brown ale (even though it’s brewed el...
Regional Focus
from Issue 8 published on 27/09/2006
Pete Brown is the Stella marketing man who walked into a pub with a book of the same name a couple of years ago. Some members of the Campaign for Real Ale were unamused by his thoughts on the organization, an antipathy possibly exacerbated by his work with the famous Belgian lager.
That was then th...
Book Reviews
from Issue 6 published on 18/05/2006
Pilsner Urquell is among the greatest Czech beers and it helped define a category. Adrian Tierney-Jones visited it
The historic brewing centre of Pilsen is hardly Burton-on-Trent. While the home of IPA and Bass still shows off its bleached industrial roots, the place where pilsner lager was born remains a relatively unspoilt city, with a wealth of buildings dating back to the middle ages plus some fine bars and ...
International Brewery
from Issue 6 published on 18/05/2006
Does it matter that we can trace the history of our beer? Adrian Tierney Jones weighs up the evidence
We live in a world where children think that chicken nuggets and chips grow on trees, while some adults prefer to gloss over the reality of the shrink-wrapped meat from their local supermarket ie, it is part of a dead animal. So it’s no surprise that similar attitudes can be found in respect to beer...
Beer Issues
from Issue 6 published on 18/05/2006
France isn’t known for its beers, but in the North of the country they produce some excellent ones. Adrian Tierney-Jones went in search of them
Even though the French make a lot of noise about their wine, it’s Jean Barleycorn and beer that wears the culottes in the northern part of the country.
From the Channel coast to its eastern border with southern Wallonia and the southernmost tip of the Ardennes, this is beer country, known for the B...
Beer Trends
from Issue 5 published on 24/03/2006
Wadworth’s has a highly renowned ale. But as Adrian Tierney-Jones discovers, there’s much to the brewery beside
If you want brewing tradition, then Wadworth has it by the dray load. The brewery has been a fixture of the Wiltshire market town of Devizes since the 1880s, when Henry Wadworth commissioned its gorgeous looking redbrick tower brewhouse.
Wadworth was no Johnny-come-lately, eager to make a few quid ...
British Breweries
from Issue 4 published on 27/01/2006
Few breweries dominate their locality the way Adnams does in Southwold. Adrian Tierney-Jones visited it
Early morning in Southwold and a massive plume of white steam pours from a tall chimney at Adnams. The first brew of the day is underway, supervised by head brewer Mike Powell- Evans and assistant Fergus Fitzgerald.
The sweetish aroma of gristy maltiness hangs in the air. Elsewhere in the brewery y...
Brewery Focus
from Issue 3 published on 12/01/2006
The South West of England is associated with cider production but it has a thriving brewery industry too. Adrian Tierney-Jones acts as tour guide
The towns and villages of the southwest all bear traces of the region’s brewing heritage.
In Bristol, alongside the Avon, in the centre of the city, a block of bijou flats are all that remains of the brewery where Georges and then Courage made their renowned Boys Bitters.
Further south in the seas...
Regional Focus
from Issue 2 published on 16/11/2005
