Here we are once again at the coldest, bleakest point of our orbit around the sun, plunging through the mind-grinding vastness of a cosmos so empty and uncaring about our insignificant human foibles that it’s almost enough to drive you to drink… Talking of which. If your mind turns at this point to the enjoyment of beer in the company …
Time moves differently down by the river. The Thames, tidal here, slips slowly by. Quiet and contemplative, I bask in the sun’s warmth. Its light is doubled, its twin reflected back at me from the water. I am content to accept sensory experiences as they come and go without acting upon them. It is enough to feel time passing. To …
I visited Mills Brewing in Gloucestershire, set up to produce beer with ‘minimum modern intervention’. I was also lucky to taste a preview of their first spontaneously fermented beer.
The Dortmunder style sits somewhere between a helles and a pilsner, but is a touch stronger than both. A more muscular lager, if you will. This one looks the part, all deep burnished gold topped by a rocky crop of pure white foam. But if classic styles are all about the balance between malt and hops, this modern version comes …
After reading this post by Natalya Watson on what she’s achieved over three years working in beer, I was… Well I was slightly jealous and very impressed to be perfectly honest. Natalya is definitely a woman on a mission and I expect she will go far. Natalya and I qualified as Beer Sommeliers on the same day, so her post also …
Earlier this week I interviewed Paul Jones, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Cloudwater, for a magazine article. I ended up with much more material than I was able to use – including a couple of interesting outtakes I am going to share with you now. Constantly evolving, seasonal beers You know Cloudwater. You get the basic deal: no core range, …
I’m in my local bottle shop picking up an order. As the shopkeeper hands over the bottles, the look in the his eyes says it all. Here is something truly new and exciting. After so many novelty-chasing beers, different from last month’s only in the hops used, this is a real breath of fresh air: a beer from the UK’s …
This is not where I’m supposed to be. On a sweltering late afternoon, in the middle of the longest summer heatwave for a generation, I’ve crossed London in entirely the wrong direction to take a punt on a new taproom opening in Hackney. I’m supposed to be meeting friends at Gipsy Hill brewery, but that’s not until later. The Experiment …
It’s been a busy time for me recently. I qualified as a Beer Sommelier – which claims quite a bit of time and brainspace – plus I’ve been setting up a business. (Oh hai, you want a beer tasting, perhaps some training?) So I didn’t have much attention to spare when the rumour mill started up around Beavertown perhaps being …
Most of the time, for most people, enjoying a beer is a simple and uncomplicated pleasure. But sadly we don’t live in a perfect world – things can and do go wrong even with a beautiful beer. Life can be cruel, don’t you think? Let’s be real though. For the most part the various off-flavours in beer are subtle and …
I like South-East London’s Brick Brewery, and I like their sour beers too. This is another totally crushable example: crisp, bursting with flavour, refreshing – everything I want from this type of beer. This is not a mouth-puckering sour. It’s more restrained and balanced, with the cucumber doing the heavy lifting while strawberries dance over the top to keep things …
