Beer Compurgation

In 2012, the highlight of the beer year came in October at an old Victorian Baths in Manchester. It came as the Independent Manchester Beer Convention announced their innovation to an old, tiresome format and changed my perception of beer festivals, or at least what they could be. It was a joyous success and only natural that it were to return this year, bigger, bolder and certainly busier. There was a lot to live up to, high expectations, a requirement to improve on near perfection, so how did it fair? Room 2 Lasting four days this year, rather than the previous two, I, along with five companions, opted for the Saturday Lite session allowing me to experience it from 11 'til 4.30. Two days of jubilant tweeting, hashtagging and bragging had already passed before I could return to the Victoria Baths to take my enjoyment from the festival. The rooms had expanded from two to three, the food range had multiplied considerably and so, notably, had the number of festival goers

Based on a True Story Once Upon a Time… there lived a beast; a handsome beast, but a beast nevertheless. He was a Beast in personality, in attitude, in application and in love. His inability to show feelings led him to the wenches of outer Chester-shire, Lancaster-shire and the repugnant pit known as Wakefield. It was an unhappy time. The Beast also had an insatiable thirst that he could not replete, despite countless attempts. Never contented with the ale served at the local taverns, the Beast began sampling all manner of bottled delights from across the earth to satiate his taste. Many a pilgrimage to a shop in the hamlet of Headingley , outside the kingdom of Leeds , was excursed. The strange, foreign, bottled elements inside held many liquid delights. Some featured bovine, some deranged canines, one held a broadened men holding a barrel above his head shouting “bastard” to another fellow. On one final occasion, when it was time for the Beast to depart Headingley for mor

Smoked beer has overtime become my definition as a beer enthusiast. (If you didn’t know this, refer to my swooning over meeting a worker from Schlenkerla at Port Street Beer House last year.) It is my niche; my attribute where people will get in touch to say to me, “Do you know such-and-such-a-place has a smoked porter on at the minute?” or “Such-and-such-a-shop has got a new smoked beer in.” It’s also my brother’s (The Booze Nooze ) love too and we tend to get in touch with each other any time we drink a beverage supposedly smoky to review it for each other. Yes, I have a lot of time for this particular genre of beer. Despite this, it is a style rather untouched in British brewing, noticeably absent from many of the more modern microbreweries or “craft” brewer’s range. Though this disappoints me, I hope it’s not the next “ thing to do” on the Brewer’s check list . We’ve had the big influx of Saisons and the recent fad of Sours, I hope Smoke isn’t the next big thing. Especially