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!