The Joy Of Beer

Well, Santa came on Christmas Eve, and left me quite a lot of beer-related presents.  A Wychwood T-shirt declaring “British Beer Needs You”, plus a voucher for a tour of the Wychwood Brewery, an Old Speckled Hen pack with a bottle plus a very nice pint glass, a selection of beers from Broughton Ales – [...]

It’s been a busy time over the past few weeks, what with preparations for Christmas, shovelling snow off the driveway and also having to go to work, so I’m afraid I just haven’t had much time to devote to this website.  However, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been “researching” material – that mainly involves drinking [...]

I’ve sampled a few different beers from Bath Ales over the past month or two, and so I thought it was worth jotting down a few notes and thoughts about them.  They have all been bottled versions of the beers, as unfortunately we don’t see the cask versions in our area – or at least [...]

I might have mentioned this beer before, so apologies if I’m repeating myself - it’s such a rarity that I come across a beer that I really don’t like, that it is worth remarking on.  Adnams East Green Carbon Neutral (4.3%) is one such beer.  In fact, the first time I drank it, I really thought [...]

It’s JD Wetherspoon’s 30th birthday, and to celebrate they are having a real ale and cider festival – it started on October 28th, and runs until 15th November, so you’ve still got a few days to sample a few good beers.  Their bars will be offering a range of guest beers, and some beers specially [...]

Don’t you just wish that some people would stick to their day job?  Neil Morrissey, of “Men Behaving Badly” fame, has teamed up with Richard Fox (of no fame whatsoever as far as I’m aware), not only to buy a pub (Ye Olde Punch Bowl Inn in Marton cum Grafton, near York) but also to [...]

A couple of beers with no other connection except they are named after the year in which their brewing companies were founded.
Fuller’s 1845 (6.3%), first brewed in 1995 to celebrate 150 years of the Fuller, Smith & Turner partnership.  This is a bottle-conditioned beer, and it is conditioned for at least 100 days before being [...]

Those nice people at R&R Teamwork have sent me some more beer samples (thanks, Anna Jane) - this time of some American beers that are now being imported into this country and are available in mainstream beer outlets.  One was from Brooklyn Brewery and the other two were from Flying Dog Brewery.  I have to admit [...]

There seems to be a spate of beers around that have been “flavoured” with unusual ingredients, and Badger (Hall & Woodhouse) is getting in on the act.  The other day I wrote about their Lemony Cricket seasonal bitter (see It’s still Cricket season) which is flavoured with lemon grass – and actually tastes really nice.  [...]

Did it ever arrive?  Did I blink and miss it?  I just found some notes I made about a bottle of Fuller’s Summer Ale (3.9%) that I tried a while ago - it’s a seasonal beer that is available in cask as well as bottle form (but not at this time of year) – but if you [...]