Opinion
Topical articles and pieces from a personal point of view.
Carlsberg’s wrecking ball swings again
Carlsberg is wrecking Britain’s brewing heritage. Not content with closing four ale breweries, it has now turned the blow torch on a raft of beers, se...
Kismet Hardy
It’s The Return of the Native – the launch of a new edition of Thomas Hardy’s Ale, the celebrated English barley wine that beer lovers feared might di...
Spicy beer pickle
It has just been half-term in our household and following tradition we made our Christmas cakes - yes, we have several, having first soaked the fruit...
Hidden gems and destination pubs
I think we’re all old enough and wise enough to see that the government’s promised penny off a pint in the latest Budget is quite the insult to our in...
The door’s ajar at the Last Chance Saloon
The grim spectre of Covid still has its bony hand on our shoulders. The impact of the pandemic and the lockdowns that followed delivered shocking blow...
Getting sips to lips
How do we bring cask ale to the masses? It’s a question that CAMRA has been asking since 1971. I’ve spent quite a lot of time recently with the dedica...
Carlsberg juggernaut rolls on
Not content with closing Jennings, Wychwood and Ringwood breweries, Carlsberg now plans to axe the giant Banks’s brewery in Wolverhampton, famous for...
Lakes’ loss of community
Halewood Artisanal Ventures is to permanently close the Hawkshead Beer Hall and Taproom in the village of Staveley. Located on the Mill Yard industria...
Prepare to engage the enemy
There is a moment in the very wonderful film Star Trek: First Contact when Captain Picard picks up his phaser rifle and declares, with all the Shakesp...
Pale ale pizza crust
A pizzaiolo is a chef specially trained to make pizzas. I spent several years of my career training pizzaiolos across the country and cannot begin to...
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