Contents
p5
Much has changed in the beer industry since Editor Dominic Roskrow last wrote about it three years ago... But, he argues, not all the change has been bad
What a remarkable few weeks it’s been since we published the first issues of Beers of the World. Never in my entire career have I experienced a more joyous and welcoming response to a newspaper or mag...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
From the Editor
p7
Michael Jackson on the extraordinary power of some great American beers
I am constantly asked, “How many beers do you taste each day?” You would think I was engaging surreptitiously in some pleasurable vice, rather than working.
This aspect of my work reaches a peak in l...
By Michael Jackson in the section
The Beer Hunter
p16
Freedom was once the beer of choice for Soho trendies. Now a successful television script writer has relaunched it. Ben McFarland reports
If you were an uber-fashionable Soho soand- so in the mid 1990s, there was only one beer to be seen drinking and that was Freedom. The Freedom Brewing Company was set up in 1995 by a number of entrepr...
By Ben McFarland in the section
Beer Trends
p18
Roger Protz’s latest beer book is essential reading for the enthusiast looking to discover the very best of beers from across the world. Rob Allanson reports
It’s arguably the dream mission for any lover of beer – select 300 beers that you think everyone should try in their lifetime.
And that’s exactly the task that acclaimed beer writer Roger Protz has d...
By Rob Allanson in the section
Beer Profile
p20
Ireland’s beer consumption has been dominated by stout in general and Guinness in particular. But as the country changes through new wealth, are its drinking patterns changing too?
If it didn’t have such negative connotations, you’d say that Guinness hangs over Ireland’s food and drink industry like a great black cloud.
Guinness has so dominated its market that not only has the...
By in the section
International Focus
p24
Everards is a family brewery with lots of plans. Dominic Roskrow paid it a visit
First impressions can be deceptive.
Drive up to the Everards Castle Acre Brewery in Leicester and you’re not exactly writing missives back to your family.
It sits on the edge of the city’s newest an...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Brewery Focus
p28
Want to know more about beer? Then the Beer Academy's for you. Alastair Gilour reports
Advice is appreciated when it has been passed on by someone from the land of Been There Done It.
But it’s only when they have the experience, knowledge, ability, qualifications and personality to sup...
By in the section
Spotlight
p30
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...
By Adrian Tierney-Jones in the section
Regional Focus
p36
La Brasserie de Bercloux is a small French brewery punching well above its weight. Alistair Gilmour reports
You know where you are with the sound of keg on concrete and the echo of mallet on bung.
The mind opens its ‘brewery, beer, pub’ homepage, clicks through the menu, then invites the other senses to jo...
By Alastair Gilmour in the section
International Brewery
p40
Can beer really hack it at the poshest of dinner tables? Ben McFarland books into tthe three Michelin star eaterie Fat Duck and finds out
If this whole idea of bringing food and beer together is ever going to truly get off the ground then the great and the good of gastronomy must first give it the thumbs up.
There’s been plenty of chat...
By Ben McFarland in the section
Beer and Food
p43
Ben McFarland hits the road in rural Belgium in search of the perfect pint
When a French-speaking Belgian pours himself a beer, chances are it’s brewed in Wallonia.
Earthy, rustic and full of character, Walloon beers truly embody their refreshingly rural and unheard of home...
By Ben McFarland in the section
Beer Journeys
p46
Arthur Guinness created a dynasty and gave his name to one of the most famous brands in the world. Lewis Eckett looks back at his legacy
Few people can lay claim to being more universally wellknown than Arthur Guinness. His name isn’t just known worldwide for a particular product in the way that Johnnie Walker or Arthur Bell is: it’s b...
By Lewis Eckett in the section
Beer Legends
p48
Cobra has turned the reputation of Indian beer upside down – but it’s taken the strangest route to do so. Nigel Huddleston reports
The year is 1989 and as a junior reporter on a British drinks trade paper I’m dispatched to talk to a bloke who’s about to launch a new bottled lager in the United Kingdom.
The country’s in the grip ...
By Nigel Huddleston in the section
Beer Trends
p51
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...
By Richard Jones in the section
Spotlight
p52
Corsica’s an unlikely place to find a beer boom, so why’s it happening? Andrew Burnyeat accepts an offer he can’t refuse
Ten years ago on the beautiful Mediterranean island of Corsica, beer wasn’t really part of the hospitality picture.
Today, beer is sold in nearly every restaurant; chefs cook with it and islanders re...
By Andrew Burnyeat in the section
Beer Trends
p54
Stockport pensioner Ernie Cross was so attached to his local pub that when he died his family asked if his cremated ashes could be sprinkled over the pub’s flower boxes.
Licensees at the Hatter’s arm...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Beer Matters
p54
You may recall that in the first issue of Beers of the World we wrote about a beer website in which you had to try and glance at a blonde woman sat on the couch next to you without her noticing.
This...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Beer Matters
p54
Nothing like officialdom, eh?
In Cambridge brewery staff are having to roll barrels 43 yards down a busy road to deliver them to The Fountain Inn – or else run the risk of a parking ticket.
The City...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Beer Matters
p55
An apology to all our non-English readers but there can only be one winner of our inaugural Personality Award.
His name’s Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff and he plays cricket. If you’re not familiar with t...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Beer Matters
p55
The recent worldwide move to severely restrict or completely ban smoking has been continuing apace, and with it have come all sorts of ideas to get round the rules.
But among the most bizarre come fr...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Beer Matters
p56
Alastair Gilmour visits the annual Zatec Hop Festival in the Czech Republic
Breakfast: Potato pancake filled with smoked bacon in a cheese sauce, accompanied by three different types of cabbage. Half-litre of beer.
Time: Just after 6am.
Cost: The equivalent of the News of t...
By Alastair Gilmour in the section
Spotlight
p58
In the latest in our series Nigel Huddleston looks at the role yeast plays
What is yeast?
While the tangible nature of barley and hops makes their contribution to beer easier to comprehend, the role of yeast is more mysterious.
Yeast is a single-celled fungal organism whic...
By Nigel Huddleston in the section
Beer Production
p61
Historically significant pub signs are in serious demand. Andrew Burnyeat takes a look at what’s on offer
Ever played British pub sign cricket on a long car journey?
It’s not so much a game for the motorist but for the passengers, who score as many runs as there are legs on each pub sign they spot, but a...
By Andrew Burnyeat in the section
Collecting Beer
