Beer Compurgation

The end of year usually signals an influx of "Golden Pints" posts and indeed I have joined in for the last four or five years. However, whilst giving it some thought as we moved into December I realised that little had changed in the names that fell under each category. Best cask beer, keg beer, small pack beer, brewery etc... would all be the same repetitive answers given for the last two or three. It is a little bit of a shame as few people have joined in this year and I didn't want to stop as well. That doesn't mean that I haven't got mental lists of beers, breweries and events that I enjoyed in 2019; au contraire I have more thoughts than ever. With that in mind, I've opted for two (perhaps three, depending how long I go on for) lists of those attributes that made Beer in 2019 for me. The first are my eleven favourite beers of the year, for whatever reason that may be. Enjoy. Beers Jarl - Fyne Ales - Cask - Various In a regular...

In October 2016 I was due at the now defunct Ticketybrew in Stalybridge to help brew a special one off beer for the third Independent Salford Beer Festival. The festival’s organiser Jim was also due. But sat in the pub the evening before I still hadn’t heard from him so got in touch to see if it was still going ahead. Jim phoned - Told me his news - said I should go to the brewday anyway. The following morning I arrived at Ticketybrew to help with the collaboration. I was a couple of hours late as I was struggling with the idea. The brewery atmosphere was subdued with a few commenting that they weren’t sure whether they should go ahead with it. The day was brought back to life by head brewer Duncan as he said the line, “Yeah, but you’d do anything for Jim.” It is true too and it was true before those personal events. People will do anything for Jim. They still will as he is annually pressured into making the Independent Salford Beer Festival haapen again and ag...

We are more spoilt right now then we often care to remember. For years I’ve been hearing that there has never been a better time to be a beer drinker and that is only increasing. Still, over-indulgence can lead to complacency and timely feet-grounding reminders can be necessary. If this time of year really is beer festival season then I thought that I’d grown tired of it. Much like the occasional December when one needs a little push in finding their Christmas spirit, there was something about this festival season that just wasn’t clicking for me. I was weary of rush for tickets, overly subscribed trade days and beer list "drops." I left Leeds International Beer Festival (LIBF) in September feeling a little disappointed in something that I couldn’t quite place. In contrast to all of my positive previous visits, when people asked me how it was I was responding with a shrug and a muttered “ alright, yeah .” I couldn’t place my discontent. The festival is still...