The Works in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, combines quality beer with a contemporary and lively atmosphere writes Richard Jones.
While the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Good Beer Guide is an indispensable companion for myself and, I suspect, most other United Kingdom based beer lovers, the outlets selected for inclusion are unashamedly chosen on the basis of their beer quality. Blindly following the beer guide in an unfamilia...
Spotlight
from Issue 16 published on 25/01/2008
Although better associated with grape than grain, the nations of France, Spain, Italy and Portugal still have much to offer the beer lover. Richard Jones reports
It is a much maligned experience in some of the more hardcore beer circles bringing with it overtones of characterless, mass produced ‘Euro fizz’. Yet while the wine industries of France, Spain and Italy might be the envy of the world, a glass of Sancerre or Pinot Grigio doesn’t quite hit the spot a...
International Focus
from Issue 15 published on 01/12/2007
Richard Jones considers if the shape of your glass affects the enjoyment of your beer
If you’re serious about wine, you’d probably need an extension on the side of the house to accommodate your glass collection. Austrian wine maker Riedel was one of the first glassware manufacturers to recognise the profound effect the shape and quality of a glass could have on the aroma, taste and o...
Beer Trends
from Issue 12 published on 25/05/2007
It might look like a conventional off licence from the outside, but step inside and Beer Ritz more than lives up to the splendour implied by its name. Richard Jones reports
Beer has a reputation for, how shall I put it, adversely affecting the physique of the male gender around the midriff area. So when you place a specialist beer shop within smelling distance of Bryans, one of the country’s most acclaimed fish and chip shops, it’s easy to picture the staff sporting wa...
Spotlight
from Issue 12 published on 25/05/2007
Richard Jones dons his gladrags for an evening of fine beer and food at the magnificent setting of Thornbridge
Hall in the Peak District
It only takes a cursory glance at the website (www.thornbridgebrewery.co.uk and www.thornbridgehall.co.uk) to discover that Thornbridge is not your usual fledgling microbrewery.
The clue comes courtesy of the words ‘Country House’ on the homepage and, my, what a house it is. Perhaps this is what Bl...
Beer and Food
from Issue 10 published on 26/01/2007
The Beer Shop at Tuckers Maltings in Newton Abbot, Devon has taken the idea of souvenir store to a
whole new level. Richard Jones reports
You could say I have a sweet tooth. Like the proverbial stick of seaside rock, if you cut open my canines, molars and incisors (don’t, please), you’d find ‘Tate and Lyle’ imprinted in the core. So thoughts of the school tuck shop invariably bring back gluttonous memories of cola bottles, fizzy laces...
Spotlight
from Issue 10 published on 26/01/2007
Pete Genders and The Beer Cellar achieved nationwide publicity earlier this year when it launched a Da Vinci Code tour around the city of Lincoln. The tours continue, but there’s far more to this specialist beer retailer than
conspiracy theories. Richard Jones reports
Here’s something you didn’t know about movie megastar Tom Hanks. During his stay in Lincoln for the filming of the Da Vinci Code, he ate at local pub / restaurant the Wig and Mitre. Upon learning the price of its caviar dish (£42.50!), he henceforth referred to the place as the ‘Wig and Mortgage.’ O...
Spotlight
from Issue 9 published on 22/11/2006
Jim Helsby worked as a pathology technician in a local hospital before his passion for beer got the better of him. Richard Jones finds his York Wine and Beer Shop in rude health
It’s probably best not to know what happens to your bloodstream after a healthy (unhealthy?) session of beer drinking, but Jim Helsby probably has more idea than most.
Jim worked in the pathology laboratory of a local hospital for a number of years before he decided that beer, unlike water, was ind...
Spotlight
from Issue 7 published on 28/07/2006
Manchester might have lost its 'cream' in the form of Boddingtons Brewery, but the self styled 'Capital of the North' remains a prime destination for beer lovers writes Richard Jones.
It may not quite inspire the ‘love it, hate it’ extremes of Marmite or Laphroaig Single Malt Whisky, but Manchester is a city that arouses mixed emotions.
Supporters argue that only London competes with it for the title of the most happening conurbation in the United Kingdom, a lively cosmopolitan ...
Beer Journeys
from Issue 6 published on 18/05/2006
Planning a trip to the World Cup? Richard Jones provides a guide as to what to drink and eat
Whether you’re fan or foe of the beautiful game, it’s impossible to ignore the 2006 World Cup in Germany this summer.
Thirty two teams from fanatical (and ambivalent) football nations will descend on 12 venue cities to play 64 matches in June and July. The World Cup Final in the Olympic Stadium in ...
International Focus
from Issue 5 published on 24/03/2006
Yorkshires unofficial capital city is the place for historic pubs, great nightlife and world class beer. Richard Jones went for a stroll
It may be home to hundreds of thousands of their ilk, but Leeds refuses to conform to clichés about Yorkshiremen.
Whereas 20 or 30 years ago you might have found its streets (cobbled, inevitably) filled with flat-cap-wearing, ‘chip on both shoulders’, pennypinching characters so memorably lampooned...
Beer Journeys
from Issue 4 published on 27/01/2006
Richard Jones discovers the weird and wonderful beers of Utobeer in Borough Market, London
You don’t have to read Who Moved My Cheese? or The One Minute Manager to know that it’s good to communicate with your customers, but few businesses are quite as attentive as Utobeer.
“When we started our price list comfortably fitted on one sheet of A4,” explains Richard Dinwoodie, co-owner. “But t...
Spotlight
from Issue 2 published on 16/11/2005
The quality of packaged beers has improved dramatically in recent years. Richard Jones looks at what’s on offer
They cover many things at parenting classes, but bottled beer isn’t one of them.
In my younger, fancy free-er days, I firmly believed that a decent pub was the only place to drink beer. Not just for the ambience, the socialising and ogling at the opposite sex, but simply to enjoy a proper pint or t...
Bottled Beer
from Issue 1 published on 26/08/2005
