Contents
p5
The English don’t shout loudly enough about good news, says Dominic Roskrow, or stand up enough when it’s bad
Ask anyone from elsewhere in the British isles and they’ll tell you that the English are an arrogant race. I think this is a load of old poppycock.
The English might be bellicose and aggressive when ...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
From the Editor
p7
How the West was won: part one
From Harrogate to Hollywood?” With a sub-heading saying: “From Betty’s Tea Room to Barney’s Beanery.” What do you think? I’m working on a title for my projected nose’n’tell book about my travels in th...
By Michael Jackson in the section
The Beer Hunter
p15
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 organiza...
By Adrian Tierney-Jones in the section
Book Reviews
p16
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 relative...
By Adrian Tierney-Jones in the section
International Brewery
p16
Sally Toms reviews the latest beer books
Beer Paul Barnett (Facts, Figures & Fun)
A lightning tour of the world of beer. Barnett gives us an international survey of the facts and legends of the drink, including a wealth of history, health p...
By Sally Toms in the section
Book Reviews
p23
Once the capital of British ale production, Burton-on-Trent was world-renowned for its beer-making resources. And as Glynn Davis reports, it still casts a long shadow
It is widely known that London’s St Pancras Station is undergoing a major redevelopment as it becomes the new terminus for Eurostar but what is less well known is that the beers of Burton on Trent are...
By Glynn Davis in the section
British Breweries
p25
British farmers’ markets and home delivered box schemes have become increasingly popular, but it’s a legal grey area. Andrew Burnyeat reports
Farmers’ markets are great. Rosycheeked, Wellington-shod shoppers arrive home brimming with satisfaction and unload their recyclable bags onto their oakwood kitchen table and admire their newlyacquire...
By Andrew Burnyeat in the section
Spotlight
p26
South African beer is on the up. Rob Allanson looks at what is on offer
Let’s get it out of the way first.
South Africa in previous decades or so has had a bad reputation when it comes to tourism.
Which when you see this fantastic red earth country really is a shame.
T...
By Rob Allanson in the section
International Focus
p28
Scotland has undergone a beer revolution in the last decade. Ben McFarland looks at what is on offer
When it comes to life-enhancing liquids, Scotland can proudly lay claim to both whisky and water.
What few people know, however, is that Scotland is home to some of the United Kingdom’s most exciting...
By Ben McFarland in the section
Regional Focus
p32
In the latest in our series Nigel Huddleston looks at the role of the cask in production
Speak to fans of British beer and they’ll tell you that cask conditioning produces beers with finer aromas, fuller flavours and deeper character than those that aren’t, but what nobody ever bothers to...
By Nigel Huddleston in the section
Beer Production
p35
Andrew Catchpole looks at the beers and breweries of Greater London, Middlesex and Surrey
London’s best known contribution to the beer world is the treacle dark, burnt-bitter edged, thirst-slaking beauty that is porter.
This original London stout was possibly created by one Ralph Harwood ...
By Andrew Catchpole in the section
Regional Focus
p38
With all the talk in England of metatarsals, talented teenagers and the threat posed by Trinidad and Tobago as we went to press you might be forgiven thinking that some sort of footballing event might...
By in the section
Beer Matters
p38
Now in the last edition we featured a sublime beer game based on the fabulous Splinter Cell games.
This edition we are moving slightly towards the ridiculous with a very tough little game. This is re...
By in the section
Beer Matters
p38
Each issue we’ll feature some of the stranger and funnier stories as well as all sorts of other nonsense
Just tops!
Drinkers and school pupils are not two sections of society you would say often go well together.
However in Chester the two social groups have been collecting beer bottle tops together in...
By in the section
Beer Matters
p38
Bungling thieves recently raided Little Downham's Fenland Brewery - and left half their haul behind because they couldn't fit it in their van.
They used wire cutters to slice through a six foot fence...
By in the section
Beer Matters
p39
Jack wakes up with a huge hangover after attending his company’s Christmas party. Jack is not normally a drinker, but the beer was particularly palatable. He didn’t even remember how he got home from ...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Beer Matters
p40
Beer can make a great accompaniment to salty seafood. Ben McFarland reports
Don your flip flops and Ray-Bans, squeeze into those skimpy Speedos and pack your bucket and spade because, this month, Beers Of The World’s voyage of beer and food discovery is taking your tastebuds ...
By Ben McFarland in the section
Beer and Food
p43
Norfolk boasts some of the best barley and the best golden ale in Britain. But the county’s Iceni Brewery is offering much
more. Nigel Huddleston reports
If the alchemist’s art was to turn base metals into gold, then the modern brewing equivalent seems to be the desire of brewmasters to turn hops and barley into golden ales.
But if you’re tiring of ba...
By Nigel Huddleston in the section
Spotlight
p44
At long last the beer and food link seems to be gaining ground. One of the people driving the move is celebrity chef Richard Fox. Rob Allanson met him
This year the revolution is going to happen, and it will be on the hob rather than the television. Beer and food is going to take off in a big way.
In fact the joy of matching great food and greater ...
By Rob Allanson in the section
Beer Focus
p48
The London brewer Young’s is a fine mix of the old and the new. Lewis Eckett plots its history
It’s Christmas at the Young’s Brewery in Wandsworth, South London, and a journalist has just arrived for a day’s pub visits in support of the brewery’s nomination as regional pub chain of the year.
H...
By Lewis Eckett in the section
Beer Legends
p51
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 w...
By Richard Jones in the section
Beer Journeys
p55
Sharp's is challenging St Austell as Cornwall's biggest brewer. Roger Protz visited it
My wife and sons are all too familiar with the following episode during our annual summer holiday. It begins with my saying: “On the way to the beach, can we make a small detour to look at a new micro...
By Roger Protz in the section
Brewery Focus
p57
Brewery pin badges are in big demand. Andrew Burnyeat reports
Patrick Keogh has been a collector all his life. Indeed his mother once told him: “If there’s more than one of anything, you’ll collect it.” He started off as a boy scout, collecting the kind of badge...
By Andrew Burnyeat in the section
Collecting Beer
p58
How do you make sense of the United States and all its breweries? Gary Monterosso picks 10 favourite beers
With more than 1,300 breweries operating in the United States today, it is astounding to realise that there were only 40 in existence 30 years ago.
Then, most of those breweries were large and genera...
By Gary Monterosso in the section
Beer Trends
p60
Vaux Double Maxim enjoys iconic status. And according to Alastair Gilmour it’s going from strength to strength
One of the country’s most historic beers not only continues to perform well, but its ‘big brother’ is sharing its takehome spotlight.
For more than a century, Vaux Double Maxim has been one of the No...
By Alastair Gilmour in the section
Beer Trends
p62
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 ...
By Adrian Tierney-Jones in the section
Beer Issues
p65
Andrew Burnyeat visits the Running Horse in Hampshire, England
The Running Horse in Hampshire, England, is a prime example of a former country pub enjoying a new lease of life as a restaurant.
Who do we blame for the decline of the good old British rural pub? - ...
By Andrew Burnyeat in the section
Spotlight
