Opinion
Topical articles and pieces from a personal point of view.
Community pubs – a beacon of light in the gloom
The last few days have thrown up a tumult of events to rock the UK’s brewing scene: the sad passing of Des de Moor one of the best beer writers in the...
Cornish beer from Burton?
The global brewers have set out their priorities – to promote their lager brands at the expense of cask beer. As reported in What’s Brewing, Molson Co...
Why beer beats coffee for social cohesion
There’s a coffee shop near me that’s a relic of a time before improved transport links made this part of South-East London unaffordable for most poten...
Pub snack perfection
So, I was sat recently in my local with a good pint and a packet of a popular, crunchy, bacon-flavoured snack, which by the way is suitable for vegeta...
How pubs help us to mourn
It was a battleship-grey January afternoon but the mood for one man inside the pub was even more ashen. While the fruit machines luridly flashed and l...
Des de Moor – a man of many words
Des de Moor, who died this month, was a phenomenon. He was a prolific writer about beer and took part in beer judging events in many countries. He del...
Reasons to be cheerful
Speak to the owner of any small, independent brewery and I’ll bet you 50p they’ve got feelings on how tough things are at the moment. Honestly, everyt...
Sense of belonging
The Strong Girls Club. That was the legend emblazoned on the T-shirt of the youngest participant at the Attic Brew Co x Hand Brew Co International Wom...
Fire, fury and campaigning
What staggers me about the furore over the punitive business rates imposed on pubs is the sheer stupidity and ignorance of top politicians and civil s...
Return to form
When I think back to how I first became enthusiastic about cask beer, I fondly remember two distinct experiences. When I was aged about 21, just over...
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