Beer Compurgation

The theory of things that matter states that all matters consist of many, smaller opinions that are constantly moving whilst being in a continual state of not mattering. I've used Untappd since 2012. There are many aspects of it that I find both useful and enjoyable. Mostly though, my use of it is for personal cataloguing and reference. Remove the "toasting" capability or the chance to read the reviews of other users and I would still have this app on my phone as a useful database. It is my personal log; one that I use as I see fit. Review sites have long existed on the internet. In my youth I remember such a web page as "Rate My Teacher" existing, something I don't particularly fancy googling now in order to link to. For this reason I knew as soon as I started taking an extra interest in bee r that there was always going to be a website called "RateBeer," it was just a case of who won the race to the domain. Whether they s...

A particularly grainy photograph from IMBC 2012's keg room There is only so high you can make the house of cards if the base doesn’t continue to expand. After a lengthy period and many blog posts threatening such a day, Hardknott Brewery announced through Dave Bailey that they would be ceasing production later in the year. There will be many voices on the subject, not least Dave’s own, as there has been since the inception of the brewery in 2005. The announcement, though, represents much about the current beer scene to me and that is what I want to correlate and surmise here. This is not an official breakdown of figures or reasoning behind the decisions but more an overlook at this saturated market that Hardknott's announcement had me considering. These are initial personal musings - not hard facts. Hardknott are a brewery in the heart of Cumbria who played a leading role for many in the major overhaul in British beer in the late noughties. Those...