Beer Compurgation

Trying to avoid a "Them & Us" culture with the beer scene's Kids When I was very young, before Channel 5 was launched, I remember (for some reason) asking my mother this: "You know how TV Channel 1 has Radio 1 and Channel 2 has Radio 2 and Channel 3 has Radio 3 and Channel 4 has Radio 4... who has Radio 5?" My mum didn't answer my question or correct my assumptions and thus I spent a long time believing my media number correlation theory. Perhaps she wanted to punish me for the time I swore at her when I didn't want a bath. But perhaps she felt it was easier to humour the ill-informed child in front of her rather than correcting the nonsense being spouted. The main sentiments of the new year resolution type posts from beer bloggers, including myself, were prophecies of the future need to tolerate and co-operate with newer drinkers. With beer becoming more popular, you become more accepting and guiding to those discovering good beer for t

A day out in search of good bars, great pubs and craft beer in Kingston-upon-Hull Recently, with local new bars opening or reinventing every month, I've been rather devoid of beer adventures. There's been fewer trips out to previously undiscovered towns or cities with friends for the sake of just having a traditional booze. No shopping. No sight-seeing. No build-up to a gig or other event later. Just a train journey out, a day of new pub discovery and a train home. This used to be much more common.  After deciding to come back to this day format and picking our destination based on somewhere simple to reach on the Transpennine route, three friends and I headed for the city of Kingston Upon Hull. Our choice came down to two factors; the first being that none of us had ever been and the second being high praise from my Aunt and Uncle who visit the coastal city at least twice a year. Much of their love stems from the supposed close proximity of the pubs. "You c

I’ve struggled for many years as a beer enthusiast and a sufferer of Depression to try and correlate the two. Whilst I’ve written about the two in different ways, I’ve never really considered how the worlds collide on a consistently balanced knife-edge. Either one could take control at any moment and kill me but both are defining characteristics of Mark Johnson. I want to finally explore how it is to be a Beer Enthusiast and a Mental Health sufferer; to explore how the two can live together. I want to look at the ways they’ve destroyed people but also at the way they’ve saved lives, the way it saved mine. The media perception of the two removes the humanity from the stories that I want to return. There are unhappy stories but there are many happy ones to coincide.   I have positive personal stories but I have to begin with the most private story I’ve ever told. I am the beer enthusiast I am because of my Dad. I hear a lot of blogger’s stories about the moment the