Contents
p5
The tables turn on Sally Toms, as she gets a chance to be brewer for a day
There are a few perks of being editor of an illustrious magazine such as this.
Occasionally companies send me strange things in the post, like socks and olive oil (no I don’t understand it either), b...
By Sally Toms in the section
From the Editor
p7
Michael Jackson reached for literary stardom…but was nudity artistically justified?
So many respected authors have written for Playboy that ambitious scriveners regard an assignment there as a recognition of a certain status. Like a kid imagining his name in a Cup Final team, I used ...
By Michael Jackson in the section
The Beer Hunter
p16
St Austell Brewery is celebrating after winning a supreme champions award from the South West Independent Brewers’ Association. Dominic Roskrow joined in the celebrations
Have you heard the theory about Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon and the classic film The Wizard of Oz?
Some very sad person discovered that if you start the album on the third roar by the MGM lion...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Brewery Focus
p20
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...
By Richard Jones in the section
Beer Trends
p23
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 anythi...
By Adrian Tierney-Jones in the section
Spotlight
p24
This year, the world’s biggest beer festival turns 30. So what can we expect from the festivities?
The Great British Beer Festival is celebrating 30 years of being Britain’s biggest beer festival.
For those who don’t know, the GBBF is an annual event organised by the Campaign for Real Ale – the co...
By in the section
Beer Events
p26
Our man takes a tour round one of Germany's great pilsener success stories
It is a story of a small country brewer ahead of its time that has made Veltins one of the most respected names of pilsener beer in Germany. This is no mean job in a country where there are some 1200 ...
By Rob Allanson in the section
Brewery Focus
p30
What is it with all these extra-cold beers popping up everywhere at the moment? And how cold are they, anyway? Nigel Huddleston reports
American readers who’ve visited the United Kingdom recently might have noticed something odd about the way Brits are taking their drinks these days.
A gin and tonic will often come in a tall glass cr...
By Nigel Huddleston in the section
Beer Trends
p32
The Fredericksburg Brewing Co in Texas, USA is brewery, restaurant and guest house rolled into one.
What more could you ask for? Leslie Limbo reports
For most travellers B&B means bed and breakfast, but if you’re a guest of the Fredericksburg Brewing Company in Fredericksburg, Texas it means bed and beer.
The oldest operating brewpub in Texas, ope...
By Leslie Limbo in the section
Spotlight
p33
The South West of England remains a tightly competitive region for beer producers. Now some of them are turning to the internet to push their products forward. Dominic Roskrow reports
Established regional brewers and the latest advances in new technology are reluctant bedfellows, and it remains one of the drink industry’s greatest ironies that while many state of the art microbrewe...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Regional Focus
p38
Dave Myers and Si King are the Hairy Bikers: two-wheeled, globe-trotting, beer-loving chefs from North East England. Jeff Pickthall spoke to them
The BBC has come a long way. For decades, British regional accents were frowned upon by the broadcasting powers-that-be who preferred the supercilious tones of Received Pronunciation.
Fortunately, st...
By Jeff Pickthall in the section
Beer and Food
p42
Self service
by Lubomir Sedlak
Chocolate, fizzy drinks, over-priced bottles of water; this is the usual stuff dispensed from vending machines, but beer is soon to join the line up.
Czech brewery Pl...
By Sally Toms in the section
Beer Matters
p44
During the last few decades the USA has experienced a beer revolution. Gary Monterosso reports
"You’ve come a long way, baby,” was the signature phrase for a popular advertisement a generation ago. It was meant to symbolise the peculiar relationship between smoking a certain brand of cigarette ...
By Gary Monterosso in the section
International Focus
p50
The Market Town Taverns are a refreshingly different kind of pub in Yorkshire, England. Barrie Pepper reports
Faced with the choice of remaining as a reasonably well-paid accountant or taking a chance and sinking most of your capital into an unestablished and therefore unproved pub company; what would you do?...
By Barrie Pepper in the section
Spotlight
p52
In the latest of our series on beer styles, Roger Protz looks at the history of brown and mild
When I first started drinking in London pubs some 40 years ago I would call for “a pint of brown and mild.” Why?
For the simple reason that my father and people of his age group all drank the same ti...
By Roger Protz in the section
Beer styles
p54
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,...
By Richard Jones in the section
Spotlight
p56
Ted Bruning picks out a few pubs in the Borough
Great place for pubs, London. Not so great for beer, though. But before sundry London brewers (sorry, Mr Keeling) get apoplexy, let’s qualify that.
Yes, London has Fuller’s. It used to have Young’s, ...
By Ted Bruning in the section
Beer Journeys
p60
The church played a major role in establishing beer in Britain during the Middle Ages. Dominic Roskrow reports
In his highly entertaining and animated masterclasses the celebrated whisky blender Richard Paterson credits the priesthood for establishing brewing and distilling in Britain.
With tongue only partia...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Beer history
p62
Andrew Catchpole visits Hogs Back Brewery in Surrey, England
As product development goes, Martin Zillwood Hunt’s philosophy takes some beating. “I start by taking an empty glass and imagine what I’d like in it,” he says. “This is how all our recipes have develo...
By Andrew Catchpole in the section
Spotlight
p67
This issue we chat to William Lees Jones, managing director of Manchester brewer JW Lees
How did you first get involved in beer?
With the silver spoon when I was born!
I started formally as marketing manager of JW Lees when I was 28 and eventually became managing director in 2000.
What i...
By Sally Toms in the section
Last Shout
p70
If you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you might not have noticed that cider is cool again. Ben McFarland gets to grips with how it happened
Heavens to Betsy, how did that happen? Just a few years ago, cider had all the lure of an apple with a maggot in it and, then suddenly – bam!
Cider is the apple of the United Kingdom drinker’s eye.
...
By Ben McFarland in the section
Cider Special
p72
Apples go through a process similar to wine before they end up in your glass. Here’s what happens
Ladies and gentlemen, a big hand for the apple – the most important fruit in the world. It inspired Isaac Newton’s laws of gravity; it keeps the doctor away if consumed on a daily basis; it tastes so ...
By in the section
Cider Special
