Beer galore!

In a scene reminiscent of Compton Mackenzie's famous book and subsequent Ealing comedy 'Whisky Galore' a beer fermentation vessel has washed up on the shore of Stinky Bay (I kid you not) on Benbecula! Unfortunately for the islanders it was empty. Hogmanay would have gone with an added swing if beer had been included in the beechcombers' bounty!

A happy Hogmanay and wonderful New Year!

Happy Christmas!

As things are winding down here in the Cellarman caravan, may I wish you a very happy Christmas and wonderful 2008. My next rambling will be in the early new year, so have an enjoyable Hogmanay too!

Bill Gates the brewer

Mr Microsoft has gone into beer. Before you start ruminating about Cellarman being bundled in with Microsoft Office (there's a thought), Mr Gates has bought 3% of Mexican brewer FEMSA. FEMSA brews the lagers Sol, Dos Equis, Bohemia, Tecate and Carta Blanca, and although Mr Gates is unlikely to be turning a malt shovel or digging out a mash tun, he must see the value in investing in brewing and breweries. $392m worth of value.

In the meantime, I've invested in a new mouse for my computer, and a new fleece for visiting breweries. Funnily enough, both were bought using Microsoft Internet Explorer. What is it they say about 7 degrees of separation?

Last orders

I am afraid to say last orders for Christmas and New Year deliveries has now elapsed and orders are now being taken for January 7 2008 despatches. Thanks to all of you for your custom and support in 2007.

Official: stout is good for you!

A pint of the black stuff a day may work as well as an aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks. Drinking lager does not yield the same benefits, experts from University of Wisconsin told a conference in the US.

Now, next week they may tell us the opposite, so for the moment rejoice and sing the praises of porter!

Carol concert & mulled cider

I am off to the nursery's carol concert tomorrow. The nativity play is not to be performed this year because it was felt to be unfair to force the children into something they didn't want to do! Who says they want to perform songs at a concert? Anyway, at least we can take photos and record the performances. I am led to believe some local authorities are still agin this! Humbug!

What has this got to do with beer? Nothing. However, have a think about serving mulled cider rather than mulled wine at your carol service or Christmas party. It is really good. Try and get a hold of a 'real' cider, and a good, strong one at that. 6% ABV at the very least. My old mucker John Howkins might baulk at this (he is ex-Bulmers) but try it for yourself.

Sanna the Sami and her reindeer

My wee boy's chum was away to Lapland over the weekend to see Santa. They are visiting Finnish Lapland rather than Swedish Lapland, though I guess the differences are moot. I once worked with a Sami (similar to Lap) woman called Sanna. Every Christmas she would bring in the most delicious smoked reindeer for the office, and we would sit and drink glögg and get well on the way. One of the most (if not the most) Northerly breweries in the world is in Trømso. Norway. The Mack Brewery is family-owned and brews some great beer (including Polar Beer). The Mack Brewery claim to fame, or at least one of them, is that it doubles as the UK Consulate! Diplomatic relations are good in Trømso.

Food glorious food!

My headings are getting more Dickensian the closer we get to Christmas. Apologies for that. It is just that Fiona and Will Beckett have brought out a book called An Appetite For Ale. This is the first book to comprehensively explore beer as an accompaniment to modern British food. Recipes and pairings address everything from cheese to chocolate to spicy food.

I have been a little dubious about the whole beer with food movement. However, I was convinced by A Young Lady at the Stockholm Beer Festival who introduced me to dark chocolate and stout. Try it. It is fantastic! So before we enter a period of traditionally serious feasting, have a think about beer with your grub rather than (or as well as!) wine.

Mr Bumble (in a stern manner): 'MORE! You want MORE!'

Hard times

When trying to decide which charity to give a donation to in lieu of Christmas cards, someone asked whether there was a charity for brewers. A few clicks of the scurrying mouse later (isn't the interweb a wonderful tool?) and I have found the Brewers Benevolent Society based in Surrey. The Society provides financial assistance to individuals who are employed or have been employed in the brewing profession. Terrible to think that people (whatever their profession) have to turn to benevolent societies and their ilk for help during hard times, but in a way it is comforting.

Anyway, that is where Cellarman and Mrs Cellarman and all(?) their little helpers are sending their Christmas card donation this year.

£4 a pint.... £36 a mini-cask (only kidding)

Press coverage today states that the £4 will be commonplace next year. There is enormous pressure on brewers to raise prices in 2008 as the cost of raw materials soars (see my previous note). The sheer dichotomy between that situation and the prices charged by supermarkets at this time of year is astounding. But such is life.

Thankfully, people are becoming more prepared to pay a little bit more for quality, craftsmanship and choice as opposed to mass produced homogeneity. This is not just true for beer, of course, but in beer it is marked. Just look at the choice of local beers available in the 'big' supermarkets nowadays and compare it to what was available just two years ago! Now, the motive for the big boys to list small craft brewers could be debated, but the fact is customers are demanding quality and choice like never before... even if it costs a few pence more.

From the Minstry of Love: Proles may not get cheap beer

Comrade Brown seems to be turning his spotlight on supermarkets who sell alcohol at below cost, effectively as a loss leader. A Labour MP has branded the Tesco Chief Executive as 'the godfather of British binge-drinking'. During a Commons debate, the same MP said “Beer is being sold below the cost of water. It is not baked beans we are talking about here; there has to be a totally different attitude.”

At the risk of being anti-totalitarian, isn't there a demand side problem to be resolved as well as a supply side? Surely people need to be educated that quality not quantity is the key. OK, I have a vested interest but is anyone getting value from 20 half litre cans of lager for £10? The brewer? The retailer? The consumer? Winston Smith?

Last orders fast approaching!

Quick reminder: last orders for Christmas deliveries need to be with me by Tuesday 18 December AT THE LATEST for despatch on Wednesday 19 December. Full services will begin again in the New Year. If you are caught short between Christmas and New Year, get in contact through the website. There maybe something I could do. I can't promise, but I'll do my best.

Please help: how do you define S&N?

A friend asked me today: 'what do S&N do nowadays?'. I replied that they are concentrating on the core activity of brewing. But this is not strictly true as even that core activity is being outsourced.... 3m hectolitres (536m pints!) will be given to Coors to get on with. What does that leave S&N with? Well, I suppose they have the off-trade to contend with, but with prices dropping and costs increasing this is no easy task. Maybe they are becoming a sales & marketing company in the UK? But surely 'Britain's biggest brewer' should keep some brewing asset alive and kicking? Strange, and sad, days indeed.

Sunday sermon (no intended blasphemy)

THE LADS' (and LASSES') PRAYER

Our beer which art in barrels
Hallowed by thy drink
I will be drunk, thy will be drunk
At home as it is in the local
Forgive us this day our daily spillages
As we forgive those who spillest against us
And lead us not into the practice of poncey winetasting
And deliver us from alco-pops
For mine is the bitter, the ale and the lager
Forever and ever

Barmen

Pashminas and knitted bootees

Today is day two of a 'Christmas Street' at the David Lloyd Centre. The cellarman stand is delicately positioned between wonderful hand-made jewellery and Thai nick-naks. The other offers include boots made for walking, chef's gadgets and hand-knitted baby clothes. Not the typical environment for beer you would think. But the number of people picking up the mini-casks for 'a great present for Uncle X' is phenomenal!

All it took was one call

Frantically making sure all the orders go out at the moment. With no elves to help it takes up a lot of the day. Not that I am complaining mind. I really want to ensure our customers get the best possible beer with the best possible service. Not everything goes smoothly, as I am sure you all know. My promise of 'best service' is really tested when things go wrong. Which is why a telephone call from a lady yesterday made my world that wee bit better. She was very, very complimentary about the service, the beer, the website, the delight of our customers.... her words where indeed a shot in the arm!

Thank you kind lady. You made my day.

Peelwall's lunch

I was invited to the Peelwall's lunch last Thursday. Phil Elliott is the cider maker at Peelwall's and a gregarious ex-Navy man who is boisterous company. Unfortunately I had to bale out at the last minute, and when I phoned (the next morning) to apologise to Phil was greeted with a gravelly voice which was obviously the embodiment of a good lunch/afternoon/evening. Phil proceeded to regale me with the 'craic' of the previous day and how his imbibing had got him to his current morning after-state. In the next sentence he informed me it was so good they are doing it again.... and I was expecting to hear 'next Christmas'... but out came 'Wednesday 19th December'. I'll be there.

Poor summer hitting beer prices

The poor summer may soon have an impact on beer prices. Reports coming back to me are of hop price increases of 250%, barley prices up 40% and wheat prices more than 50% higher than last year. This coupled with rapidly increasing power and fuel costs is putting a tremendous squeeze on small brewers who have less ability to absorb these increases.

The hiked raw material prices are just beginning to filter through now, but don't be surprised if you pay a few pence more for your beer soon. Let's face it though a few more pence for a handcrafted beer is surely a small price to pay?

Watch out for ladies throwing shoes and apple peel!

May I wish all Scottish people a very happy St Andrew's Day.

St. Andrew's Day is connected with Advent, which begins on the nearest Sunday to 30 November.

St. Andrew's Day marks the opening of Christmas Markets.

Many Midwinter customs and folk superstitions are also connected to St. Andrew's day. Around midnight on Nov. 29, the day before St Andrew's Day, it was traditional for girls to pray to St. Andrew for a husband. They would make a wish and look for a sign that they had been heard.

A girl wishing to marry could:

Throw a shoe at a door. If the toe of the shoe pointed in the direction of the exit, then she would marry and leave her parents' house within a year.
Or she could peel a whole apple without breaking the peel and throw the peel over the shoulder. If the peel formed a letter of the alphabet, then this suggested the name of her future groom.

Now Bacardi Breezers tend to form part of the ritual somewhere along the way.

New chums

I was speaking to my new chums at Coe Vintners today. They have a superb range of spirits which are creating quite a stir in the more cosmopolitan parts of our great nation. Now I wouldn't call myself cosmopolitan as such, but I know I like the good things in life and from what my chum John said they have some of the best. Aged Caribbean rum, small batch distilled gin, quality liqueurs.... could be interesting for a beer man like what I am.

Bad day

Bad day today. Lots of people either not doing what they said they would do or doing what they said they would do badly. That and the price of hops has gone up by over 250%! Malted barley prices are going through the roof too!

No more to say really. Roll on tomorrow.

Last despatch day before Christmas is.... Wednesday 19 December

The Christmas rush is starting. It is just a trickle at the moment, but it is like listening for the hooves of a distant herd of wildebeest stampeding... you know it is coming, but you are not sure when.

It is great fun, though. The anticipation. What isn't so good is having to let people down because they have missed the last despatch date before Christmas. So please make a note: the last despatch date before Christmas is WEDNESDAY 19 DECEMBER. Orders must be in by 10am on that day.

Waste of time!

A report was published today. It stated that the average British man spends one day (24 hours) a year queueing at the bar. Two hours a month! Given the number of times Mrs Cellarman lets me out, every time I try and buy a pint I reckon I could be waiting about six hours!

Don't you just love statistics. Who gets paid to enrichen our lives with such nuggets of information?

Christmas logistics.... Jesus It's There!

Given the fact we rely on a courier rather than elves to deliver our beer at Christmas, my mind is wandering towards latest despatch days over the festive period (Wednesday 19 December, by the way). Anyhow, my mind wandered so far it ended up in Cork at the Beamish & Crawford Brewery.

I once took a group of Swedish people to Beamish, and very impressed they were with the brewery, its beer and its heritage. They were particularly impressed by the Transport Manager (or whatever his title was) who informed the guests that 'At Beamish & Crawford we practice JIT deliveries'. Impressive. Then the chap went on '.... but here it stands for Jesus, It's There rather than Just In Time!'. Less impressive (and untrue) but much funnier.

Uisge beatha!

No, I have not taken leave of my senses. My chum Alex called today and we were chatting through the similarities of purveying fine craft beer and fine malt whisky. Alex is ex-Glenmorangie (amongst other things) and is now the proprietor of Spencerfield Spirit. Their spectacular malt is called Sheep Dip and their blend (an 8yo I think) is called Pig's Nose. You never know, we might try and co-operate a wee bit in the future. A fine union could emerge.... the finest craft beer in the country chased by a dram or two of some superb whisky. Maybe Alex and I could experiment with which beer marries well with which whisky. Any volunteers to help?

Scary porter!

I am pleased to let you know that Black Boar Porter will soon be available. But be warned... the label is scary! Thankfully, the liquid is wonderful. Brewed by Simon Lacey at Country Life, the porter is complex yet easy drinking and is a great introduction to porter. Simon reckons it is similar to the famous porters of California and Oregon. Try for yourself... just watch you are not bitten!!

Carlsberg accused of climbing in the toilet window!

John Dunsmore, the new Chief Executive of Scottish & Newcastle, has certainly been dreaming up some interesting things to say to the press during his 20 days in charge. He said of Carlsberg "instead of coming through the front door and bidding for BBH, they have crawled through the toilet window" and of the offer put in by Carlsberg/Heineken "my mother is putting a bid together at that level". Colourful language. Then the killer line... more S&N staff are to be 'consulted' as part of the 'outsourcing' of 3m hectolitres of brewing to Coors. Now who isn't using the front door?

Is there not enough flavour in the real world?

"Herb and fruit infused beers are set to become a major growth category for brewers facing dwindling sales of ale". So said the article in beveragedaily.com today. Funnily enough the headline came from a report by a 'manufacturer of a new range of natural flavours'.

Beer has always looked to the natural world for inspiration for flavour. Whilst the overwhelming majority of beers use only malt, water, yeast and hops, there are many example of superb fruit lambic beers, beers with heather, beers with seaweed, beers with ginger, etc., etc,. The use of these 'adjuncts' is fine; the use of chemically manufactured 'flavours' is less conducive to the natural and real product we all seek.

Another independent brewer gobbled up

News today that SAB MIller of South Africa has bought, or at least will buy, the Dutch brewer Grolsch. This is another step in the global consolidation in brewing. SAB Miller are also rumoured to be interested in Scottish & Newcastle, although the Grolsch buy may quieten those rumours. And anyway, surely Carlsberg will do anything to get a hold of S&N's Russian interests (BBH) because, without that share, Carlsberg's growth options look very limited. S&N still look, therefore, more likely to be broken up than to be bought as a whole lot!

Fitba' crazy, fitba' mad

I thought the football results yesterday were amazing. Scotland plucky, England lucky... maybe. Hard lines Scotland and bon chance England. Plaudits also to Northern Ireland who are really coming to the top of the milk.

I write this as someone who does not know about football. But it is not an attempt to be populist. Beer and football are inexorably linked, and have been since the game was invented. What is it they say? Eat football, sleep football, drink beer! Look at all the beers who have (and still do) sponsor major clubs... Carlsberg, Coors, Chang, McEwan's Lager, Holsten Pils, Newcastle Brown Ale... they have all had a go. Does it work? Who knows. What is a bit more concerning is young boys and girls wandering round streets and parks with alcohol brands emblazoned across their replica shirts. Something just doesn't sit right with that.

Beer at the gym

I have been asked to do some sampling (and selling) at a Christmas Market at the David Lloyd Centre in Edinburgh on 7/8 December. Should be fun. As many of you will doubtless know, David Lloyd Centres are gyms, swimming pools, tennis courts, et al... basically good wholesome places. I will hopefully prove that good wholesome places are full of good wholesome people who still enjoy a little bit of what they fancy.... top quality craft beer!

Do not go gentle into that good night (Dylan Thomas)

To begin at the beginning (Under Milkwood), we have a new beer on the site. It is from Stephen Smith and his chums at Ffos Y Ffin Brewery in Carmarthen. It is a superb best bitter called Dylan's Choice. Now, Dylan Thomas, who lived close to the brewery, was known to like a drop or two, and this wonderfully hopped beer would have been surely would have been a favourite of his had it been around then. This is your chance to get poetic!

We Three Kings (or three wee kings)!

I've decided to introduce a Three Kings range for Christmas. This will involve the output of three wise men: one from Perth, one from Oxfordshire and one from Carmarthen. It was going to be called a Triple Crown, but I'll probable save that for before the start of The Six (soon to be Seven?) Nations! I didn't say copywriting was my forte. Anyway, three great beers from England, Scotland and Wales... one even has gold in the name (pity the other two didn't have something to do with frankincense and myrrh!).

A year of beer!

What do you get the beer lover who has everything? A year of beer! We have had our first few customers for the 'year of beer offer': 12 different mini-casks of top quality craft beer dispatched on the first Monday of every month for 12 months for £274.99 (including all packing and delivery). Some exceptions apply, but this is a cracking offer.

Linlithgow RFC

I've had some great news. Linlithgow RFC want to go ahead and do a special beer for their club! I have been invited along to do some sampling on 1 December, and the beers will be 'launched' then. Getting craft beer to new customers in this way is very rewarding as not only is it 'spreading the word', it also helps club funds. Everyone wins!

Christmas presence

Our Christmas beer has started brewing. Cinnamon, nutmeg and a few other 'surprises' are added during the boil so the brewery smells like Christmas. On a cold, bright day it really gets the juices flowing! The mini-casks make a great Christmas presents but a number of people have been buying now instead of waiting to get the freshest beer possible nearer the time. We shall be despatching beer until as close to Christmas and New Year as possible.

Remember

I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above:
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love:
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death

Machine testing

You know that beer machine I mentioned on 26 October? Well, I am trying one out today with some porter. It certainly fits together easily (notwithstanding the common male trait of not reading the instructions.... Mrs Cellarman found a bit I had overlooked!) I have a couple of misgivings, but proof of the pudding and all that. I shall let you know how I get on.

Strange but dull day

It has been a strange day today. It involved mercy dashes with beer to one of our customers who is away for the weekend, and confirmation that Linlithgow Rugby Club want to do a 'private label' beer for Christmas. Apart from that there isn't much to mention. Did a bit of paperwork. I suppose with a blog you have some days which are better or more interesting than others. Glasgow was awarded the Commonwealth Games, which is good. The east coast of England had some flooding, which is bad. But it is Friday. Have a wonderful weekend!

Cellar bar for Cellarman

I am doing a tasting tonight at Ryan's Cellar Bar. The group will number around 60, which is big for a tasting but should be fun. I generally go through the history of beer, how beer is made, the styles of beer and, of course, the tasting itself. Usually throws up a few nuggets. For example, did you know 'minding your P's and Q's' comes from a beer related situation? The origins of 'small beer' are interesting and the punishment for serving bad beer in Babylon would put Environmental Health to shame!!

Black Boar spotted in Devon

Simon Lacey at Country Life has come up with another cracker: Black Boar Porter. A beautifully smooth, roasted porter with a wonderful sheen and superb lingering aftertaste. The flavours develop but don't overpower the senses like some well known porters from Ireland. The lack of nitrogen in the dispense also means the flavours don't have to work hard to evolve. I think I shall list it in the cellar as a guest beer for the winter. Better go and tell Simon.

What's in a name?

John Taylor, the head brewer at Bull Lane Brewing Company in Sunderland called this morning. He is just finalising his winter beer: a dark, strong ale. I haven't tasted it, but the recipe sounds good and John does some amazing brewing at his Teeside brewery. Then only problem is, he cannot think of a name. Can anyone help? I shall pass on all serious entries to John. Just think of the liquid (dark, strong, 5.0% ABV) and the location (Teeside, Sunderland, etc.) and the name of the brewery (Bull Lane) and see what you can come up with!

Beer for a year?

I was kicking this idea around: could I send my customers a cask of beer a month for a year? Each cask would have to reflect the time of year, and also showcase a different element of the brewers' skills.

I thought I could. Then I thought 'why not ask my friends' by means of the beer blog? I reckon a year of beer will cost in the region of £250 and would entail one cask a month delivered to your door direct from the brewery. Why not vote in the panel opposite?

Let me know what you think!

Don't cry for me!

Mrs Cellarman and I were at the a fireworks party on Saturday. The host, a Perth man, took great delight in serving Quilmes beer from Argentina. The beer had certainly come a long way, and had survived a journey of 1000's of miles (7047 to be exact), but it didn't really taste of anything you could detect. It fell very neatly into the 'New World Lager' category along with Bud, Foster's, MGD, etc. There are now well over 500 craft brewers in the UK: why should we get excited about a homogeneous lager from Argentina? The truth is I never loved it.

Home House tasting

A small but illustrious band of beer enthusiasts gathered last night for a beer tasting at Home House Edinburgh. Home House is a wonderful members' club in the heart of the city, and Colin (the members' champion) is keen to get a beer club up and running. The first event stimulated a lot of debate around four diiferent beers from some of the finest brewers in the country. Keystone's Gold Spice intrigued the guests, and Lia Fail from Inveralmond wowed them. Hopefully there will be more to come over the next few months and more of the UK's finest can be tasted.

New arrivals!

I am chuffed to be able to tell you that we have two new chums here at cellarman towers: White Horse Brewery in Oxfordshire and Ffos Y Ffin ('foss e feen') Brewery in Carmarthen are really welcome and their beers (White Horse Bitter and Cothi Gold respectively) are wonderful. Andy at White Horse and Steve at Ffos Y Ffin have been very patient with me and my technical ability (or lack of), so many thanks to them.

I hope you enjoy their beers as much as I do.

It's a long way from Tipperary

I spoke to Ken Munro yesterday. Ken is the Head Brewer at Milestone Brewery in Nottinghamshire. We were chatting through the potential for featuring some of Ken's beers on the website. Their brewhouse was moved lock, stock and barrel from County Tipperary and they are now brewing what sound like some fine beers in Cromwell, Nottinghamshire.

The beers we may feature are interesting. One is a blonde, citrusy, Belgian-style ale, the other is a raspberry fruit beer again inspired by the Belgians (although obviously not a lambic). Some samples are on their way so I shall keep you posted.

Cheap supermarket beer deals

What a two-faced bunch those that haunt the corridors of power can be. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth about binge drinking, underage drinking, obesity, liver cancer, etc., etc., etc., the supermarkets are allowed to go on selling beer at unbelievably low prices! I have heard of prices as low as 30p per PINT! That is less than soft drinks and even most mineral waters! How is that sort of pricing going to help change the UK's attitude towards responsible drinking? Understandibly the pub trade is up in arms, but even taking vested interest out, there are real social fabric issues at stake here!

UK craft beer 'vibrant'

The front page of What's Brewing was very encouraging this month. For those who don't know, What's Brewing is the house newspaper of CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale) and is generally a good source of news and gossip (obviously with a core agenda). This month it publishes results of a survey which show local brewery sales growing by 7% or thereabouts.... flying in the face of the gloom of falling beer sales. More and more people are choosing premium quality craft beers, and this has resulted in more small, local brewers than at any time in the last 50 years! 160 NEW breweries were opened in the UK in the last two years alone! More choice, more quality, more taste, more power to our elbow!

Rugby and beer

I was at Linlithgow RFC today to discuss beer festivals, beer tastings and club beer amongst other things. What a great set up. A real for members/by members, honest-to-goodness amateur rugby club with a pride in their club and heritage. They are keen to do a beer festival, possibly in June. I really do hope I get the chance to do a tasting there too. It would be great fun.

The time for machines?

I was having a look at this 'beer cooler'. If we can get it to work at 10 to 12 degrees centigrade than it might be an ideal way to dispense our craft beers. It certainly looks the part and if it can offer the style of dispense required we may be on to something. The price, of course, may be an issue but I can just picture that cooler in my kitchen. Mrs Cellarman might have something to say about that though. Any thoughts? (About the machine, not about getting round Mrs Cellarman).

To the fore!

Off to visit Turnhouse Golf Club. They are interested in having mini-casks with their club logo. Should be interesting as, for the man who has everything, draught beer at home is a nice gift! Maybe the golf widows will see the benefit of having a 19th hole at home! They are also interested in a tasting which, let's face it, is a wonderful social event and a great excuse to drink some of the finest beers in the country!

Famous beer lovers

I was watching Dr Who with the kids and remembered that John Simm was alleged to be a real (or craft) beer lover. It got me thinking about other famous beer lovers and also those celebrities used to advertise beer in the past. My favourite story is that Clint Eastwood only drinks Newcastle Brown Ale (go ahead, punk... make my day, wie aye!). But I am sure you have others.

Can you match the celebrity with the beer they helped advertise?

Peter Kay/Rutger Hauer/Jennifer Aniston/Jonathan Ross/Nick Hancock

Harp/John Smith's/Randalls/Heineken/Guinness

Thai me up

I see today that Chang Beer is being 'officially launched'. Everton fans will be chuffed. Not sure about beer drinkers though. Chang is an iconic beer in Thailand, of that there is no doubt. And I am sure Thai restaurants will welcome a competitor to Singha. But surely beer drinkers have nailed there colour to the mast in the UK: we make some of the best beer in the world! Let's celebrate that! Try Keystone's Gold Spice with Thai food.... absolutely superb!

Point of porter, m'lud.

Porter. A popular beer amongst London street markets of the 19th century. Strong porters were known as 'stout': jet black beers (although originally they were a blend of brown ale, pale ale and matured ale). Simon Lacey at Country Life in Bideford has just brewed his first porter called 'Black Boar' (after the wild boars of Dartmoor). He wants me to try it and possibly list it as a guest beer. Not sure yet. Anyone got any thoughts?

Apologies for the late arrival

I am really sorry to all those people who are chasing me about Cothi Gold from Fyos Y Ffin Brewery in Carmarthen. Everything is ready to go apart from the courier service which is dragging its heals something awful. The postal strike is the latest yarn being spun. I am trying my best to get it up and running this week, and will keep you posted.

Rugby World Cup 2007

In the spirit of a United Kingdom may I wish England the very best of luck in the Rugby World Cup Final tomorrow night. It is a truly unbelievable tale of a phoenix from the ashes and the team and support staff deserve everything they get. Game on!

Do you want a glass?

Glasses were the topic of much debate today. Not the type which slip down your nose at inopportune moments, but the type you drink beer out of. The Belgians love beer glasses. Each brand has its own distinctive glass. In the UK, we tend to stick to variations on a theme of pint and half pint. Weights and Measures insist on this for pubs, but when at home I like to try beer in brandy glasses, snifter glasses, stemmed flutes, or indeed anything which helps the presentation and, primarily, develops the 'nose' or aroma of beer. Try it out, you might be (pleasantly) surprised.

Scottish and Newcastle bid

The big news today is Carlsberg and Heineken forming a consortium to buy Scottish and Newcastle . We were invited to join too, but we would rather concentrate our efforts on quality craft beers. That and I don't speak Danish or Dutchish.

Despite Scottish and Newcastle turning their back on 'real ale' (to focus on Foster's, Kronenbourg, Strongbow, etc) they have been champions of small brands in the past and it will be a pity to see the UK's biggest brewer thrown into foreign hands.

Sneak peak at Christmas ale

I have just proof read the labels for our Christmas offering this year. Santa's Swallie will be available towards the end of November, but for those of you you can't wait here is a sneak peak at the brand. I only wish I could give you a taste by blog. Now that would be a real interweb advancement! What would you call web taste? A w-aste?

Ireland calling

I had a good chat with an Irish craft brewer this morning. Craft brewing is really developing in Ireland but there is a reticence amongst consumers to try cask conditioned prefering instead to stick to mainstream brands or mainstream 'me too's'. Pity really. We get customers from Ireland deperate for real beer but we can't help them at the moment. Who knows what might happen in the future though.

Before the ads start!

My Mum always asks us what the kids want for Christmas around midsummer. It is infuriating. Imagine my chagrin at being accused of thinking about Christmas even before the ads start on television! Fergus the brewer (who is making our featured Christmas beer this year) did just that today! I am suitably chastised.... but he's the one with the recipe ready! And here is a picture of him doing so. Bah, humbug!

Land Rover v Micra

I'm at a Beer Festival in Bolton tomorrow. I'm at a Wirral CAMRA's do next week. I have been dropping kegs off at Brimstage and he has the most unbelievably good stout - Oyster Catcher and an old woman in a Micra drove me off the road down by Ness Gardens as I was going to collect a firkin from a friend - I was in my "new" 'L' reg Discovery, she was in a bloody Micra - and I smashed my wing mirror!

Hash harriers at Inveralmond Brewery

Fergus at Inveralmond has just let me know that a group of hash harriers are visiting the brewery on Saturday. They will have a run, then a pint or two (probably more), then head up to Glenshee. This group is a 'bra & pants' harrier group because, well you can probably guess.

Strathkendrick RFC

Had a great chat today with Barry from Strathkendrick RFC. He is interested in putting on a beer festival to coincide with their 7's tournament in April next year and possibly a tasting evening for the club members. Beer and rugby obviously go together, but in today's professional world it is refreshing to see grass shoots enthusiasm for using beer festivals to bring club members and the community together. Not so sure about wearing one of the new tight lycra jerseys though. I'd scare people (including myself) wearing those!