Tag: Pete Brown

Posted on

Shakespeare’s Local


How does this sound for beer and history. (Two great topics to me)….
“Welcome to the George Inn near London Bridge; a cosy, wood-pannelled, galleried coaching house a few minutes’ walk from the Thames. Grab yourself a pint, listen to the chatter of the locals and consider this: who else has made this their local over the last 600 years? Chaucer and his fellow pilgrims almost certainly drank in the George on their way out of London to Canterbury. Shakespeare may well have popped in from the nearby Globe for a pint, and we know that Dickens definitely did. Mail carriers changed their horses here, before heading to all four corners of Britain — while sailors drank here before visiting all four corners of the world… The pub, as Pete Brown points out, is the ‘primordial cell of British life’ and in the George he has found the perfect case study. All life is here, from murderers, highwaymen and ladies of the night to gossiping pedlars and hard-working clerks. So sit back and watch as buildings rise and fall over the centuries, and ‘the beer drinker’s Bill Bryson’ (TLS) takes us on an entertaining tour through six centuries of history, through the stories of everyone that ever drank in one pub.”

Click HERE to learn even more about the pints that flowed at the George

Posted on

Beer Academy

Readers of this blog will know that I frequently post about beer-y items that Pete Brown has talked about previously and today’s post is no exception. We head to Canada and the Beer Academy.

According to their website they are “a small-batch craft brewery, a tasting room and beer shop, and an inviting beer café where guests can relax with their favourite pint. The venue also features an experiential event space that includes a sensory tasting bar, a beer-lover’s library, and a tribute to the history of the world’s greatest beverage.”

Sounds

Posted on

The Firkin for September 2012


Pete Brown author of the upcoming Shakespeare’s Local amongst other great beer books posed the question, “How Many Beer Bloggers Does it Take to Screw in a Lightbulb?” It was good for some laughs. My favorite one-liner was “Is it an artisan produced bulb, or mass produced yellow fizz of light?”

Despite the fact that tongue was firmly in cheek for many responses it got me to pondering why beer blogging has a less than stellar reputation. I know that blogging in general is considered less noble pursuit and more navel gazing. But why is everyone who blogs about beer painted with the same brush of disdain?

Granted, since I blog about beer and have gone to two of three beer blogger conventions and am part of the Los Angeles blogger group makes me a little touchy on the subject because I am being stereotyped along with everyone else. I have the mentality of a newspaper that publishes something slightly anti-Republican and gets slapped with the “lamestream” media tag.

Part of the problem lies with people who think that beer snobs and beer bloggers are one in the same. Whereas in my interactions with bloggers most are of the geeky Comic-Con variety and not the beer whale hunting, non pilsner drinking up turned nose stripe. So that is an issue that beer bloggers are going to have to tackle in the future. How to tell the origin story of beer bloggers and show that we are a fun lot to have a beer with.

Another part of the puzzle is an inherited problem from doing blogs. They are not a business. They are a passion. And usually a one person passion at that. Imagine writing a newspaper article or magazine piece without any editorial assistance. Of course errors are going to happen. There are probably enough grammatical issues on my blog alone to raise E.B. White from the dead and then put him back in his coffin. Until there is a HuffPost of craft beer, this will remain. Again, we bloggers need to either ‘fess up to our literary shortcomings or sell it as what makes our blog a personal and honest stop on the ale trail.

The one thing that I think will really break the logjam is that if a really wide variety of people start, continue or change the focus of their blogs to topics dear to their heart. Be it beer cocktails, women and beer, beer in out of way spots in the U.S., sports and beer or writing just about Belgian beers. This will break the mold and force readers and commenters to re-think what a beer blog is supposed to be.

Even if nothing changed, there are a wide variety of beer blogs out there today that need to be critiqued on a blog by blog basis and not just rejected out of hand. You wouldn’t review a movie you hadn’t seen and the same applies to craft beer blogs.

Posted on

Session # 63


This month is being hosted by Pete Brown and here is the topic at hand….
“My approach to beer writing is by no means the only approach, but I write to try to encourage other people to share the simple joy of beer as much as I do, to switch on people who drink beer but don’t particularly care about it that much, to suggest to them that there’s so much more they might enjoy. No one says you have to do it this way, and no one ever made me the spokesperson for beer. It’s just how I decided to write, in the same way others decided to write in an opinionated way about what they love, and what they hate.

So in that spirit, my choice of topic – with 62 topics already covered – is this: simply, the Beer Moment.

What is it?

Well, what is it to you? What does that phrase evoke for you?

That’s the most important thing here. Switch off and float downstream, what comes to mind? Don’t analyse it – what are the feelings, the emotions?

I’ve been thinking about this quite a lot recently, because I’ve been talking about it to various people who are working hard to try to improve the image of beer in the UK. Because whether we articulate it or not, whether we drink vile, sunstruck Corona or barrel aged imperial stout brewed with weasel shit, it’s about the moment far more than the liquid itself. The only people who disagree with me on this are people I wouldn’t want to share a beer with.

The moment – for me – is relaxation, reward, release, relief and refreshment. It’s a moment to savour, a moment of mateship, potential, fulfilment, anticipation, satisfaction, and sheer bliss.

It’s different from the moment you drink wine or spirits – it’s more egalitarian, more sociable. It’s not just about the flavour, nor the alcohol. It’s about the centuries of tradition and ritual, the counterpoint to an increasingly stressful life, and the commonality, the fact that it means the same thing to so many.

At least – I think it does. What does it mean to you?”

There are so many individual moments related to specific beers or brewery tours or craft beer events where it seems like time stops and all of the thoughts pinging around my brain, all of the stresses and world events are shut down and focused on the here and now. Probably akin to meditation if I had the patience to practice that art form.

That pinpoint of time, to me, is not limited to craft beer. It is embedded into life. Some last longer and either “embiggen” the soul as the Simpsons would say or make my heart grow three sizes in the words of Dr. Seuss.

Unfortunately, the watched kettle does not boil (to keep using allusions) and to expect or try to manufacture these “moments” decreases the chances of experiencing one. Barring sunrise at the Grand Canyon or being courtside for a Portland Trailblazer NBA championship which are flat out automatically awe inspiring and thus “moments”.

But back to the point before I wander too far off. Filed under great beer moments in the old memory cabinet is a sub-folder that I treasure the most. Those magical beer surprises. Be it stumbling upon an old train station in Leipzig and having my first Gose or sitting on a bus near Greg Koch as he texted Sam Calagione. But the one surprise that I sometimes look too hard for is when a beer hits that sweet spot and all of the flavors and aromas just explode and all I want to do is buy a case of the stuff that minute.

The most recent example of that is Wookey Jack from Firestone-Walker. I am not a big Black IPA fan. Nor do I have a horse in the naming race that is attached to the style. But I had seen it recommended and Firestone-Walker is no brewing slouch so I popped the cap and was greeted with a big vegetal, grassy, grapefruit rind aroma. My first thought was that it was just too much. But I bravely soldiered on. And for about five sips, that burst of aroma calmed and the rye spice and citra hop lept to the forefront and I was stopped in my tracks. The cat, the TV and the nightly chores all faded to white noise and I was in the eye of the moment.

The last tastes did not reach those sublime heights as the maltiness chimed in and pushed the lemon and spice to the side but for 1/2 a bottle that beer was golden.

There will be more moments like this in the future and I will remember each fondly for that fraction of peace that was given.

Posted on

Beer Bloggers + Brew Dog =

What happens when you get three of the leading lights of Craft Beer Writing and let them create a beer with the BrewDog?

“The result is a 7.5% ‘Imperious Pilsner’. Zak wrote some label copy that goes on about killing your ideals and worshipping your heroes and stuff, which is really good and adorns the bottle label. But basically it’s doing to lager what new wave brewers such as Brew Dog have done to pale ales, porters and stouts. (I’m not saying we’re the first – just that that’s what we did.) It features an insane amount of Saaz hops, and was lagered for a full six weeks before being dry-hopped with yet more Saaz.”

Kudos to Zak Avery, Mark Dredge and Pete Brown!

Posted on

Something isn’t right

OK, so I want you to follow this link HERE.

Now that you are back. I would love to hear any stories you have about this happening. Me being an unassuming sort, tend to not argue with the barkeep and just get a better beer.

But how does one go about getting bad beer off the tap? Do you tweet it? And if so, do you tweet that the beer is bad or just to beware that it was off tasting to you?

I would probably just inform the manager next if the barkeep does nothing and let the next level make the call.

Posted on

Tudor Brewing

As I have mentioned before, and I will mention it in the future (that is a promise). We cocky Yanks need to remember that ours is not the only country in the world and that we are not the only craft beer pioneers. The revolution is in Italy, Australia and in England too.

Which brings us to the Tudor Brewery in Wales.

They have three beers named after the peaks that surround the area that the beer is brewed in. And it’s real ale. Not the watered down Stella’s you will see in some pubs.

Here is their description of themselves and the beers…

“Our 2 barrel micro brewery is sited at the Kings Arms Inn on Tudor Street, Abergavenny. The brewery can be viewed from within the Inn. The 6 barrel brewery is located close by on Merthyr Road, Abergavenny.”

Skirrid
A robust medium strength dark hoppy beer at 4.2% abv. Appeals to real ale buffs and lovers of strong beer flavours. Great with seafood and cheese.

SugarLoaf
An amber medium dry beer with sweet aroma at 4.2% abv. A well rounded full bodied caramelised beer using local ingredients. Suitable with rare charbroiled steak and fresh hamburger.

Blorenge
A light summer ale with fresh scents and a clear blonde appearance. A session beer at 3.8% abv Appeals to the lager drinker if chilled 2 degrees below normal cask temperature. Lads and Lasses love it. Wonderful with hot curries and spiced dishes

Posted on

Click the link and watch….

….Pete Brown and his great videos of pubs and beers in Great Britain. You will learn something.

Click HERE

If you haven’t read any of his books. Do yourself a favor and add them to your Christmas list. You can take my word for it or you can read his review of the Stella Black beer….“So what’s it taste like? I told you my expectations weren’t that high, but I was prepared to be open-minded. Well. No aroma whatsoever. I don’t know what they did with the Saaz hops, coriander and orange peel, but they didn’t put them in this beer. It’s so long since Stella has seen whole Saaz hops perhaps no one at the brewery knew what they were and they made a weird, bitter salad with them instead.

The taste has a very brief flash of malty sweetness, then a chalky dryness that disappears almost instantly, and that’s it – until the unpleasant aftertaste starts to build after a few sips. Then you need another beer to get rid of that. Stella Black is one of those special, rare beers that manage to be both tasteless and unpleasant. A beer that’s merely tasteless we can all understand, but this? It’s like a 4.1% standard lager with a weird, Special Brew type finish. The worst of all worlds. Utterly undrinkable”

Posted on

Pete Brown videos

I have sung the praises of Pete Brown’s books and blog. Now he has added video to the mix.

After kicking a few ideas around, we decided to start off by making a series of video blogs. Once a month, we will be filming in a particular region of the UK, to produce monthly pairs of blogs. I believe (though I may be wrong) that these represent a bit of a depatrture for V-Blogging in that they´re made with a full film crew and hopefully therefore have a veneer of professionalism to them.
They´re not necessarily aimed at a beer geek audience but at a more general public, and we´re exploring ways to give them a wider reach in an age where TV channels won´t commission many serious content about beer. So if you´re a fellow beer blogger and you´re thinking ´this is rally basic stuff´ – fine, but it´s not basic to most people.

I certainly will watch and learn. Us Yanks tend to forget about the ongoing British craft beer revolution.

Posted on

Hardknott Brewery

Saw this English brewery mentioned on the always interesting Pete Brown blog and if he is a fan then we should all be on the lookout.

Hardknott Brewery came into being when a publican named David Bailey decided he wanted to brew instead of serve and this is what was created:

Fusion – a 4% ginger beer that has had chilli added to the mix.
Dark Energy – a 4.9% ‘sort of a stout perhaps, dark and fruity dry hops’ in Dave’s words
Continuum – their 4% ‘standard’ beer, dry hopped in the cask
Infra-Red – a 6.2% IPA (apparently ‘hoppier than a bucket of frogs’)

And in bottle there’s Granite (Barley Wine style) and Aether Blaec (Islay whisky barrel-aged stout).