Beer Compurgation

Last year I wrote a post about the now infamous Rail Ale Trail running along the trans-pennine line that is local to me. The designed pub route flows between Batley and Stalybridge with people taking in as many stops as they choose . There are supposedly designated pubs to visit for each station that you are supposedly supposed to visit on the basis of trying the supposedly great real ale. The issue has been, of course, that this has become a piss up and day out for big groups of thugs , stag and hen parties and people with no interest in what alcohol they pour down their throat only to childlishly sick it up later. But then it is intrinsic to believe that this is no longer a fun day out for anyone who isn’t a hooligan who deserves to be locked away in a darkened room with Professor Stephen Hawkings trying to teach them about the wonders of the Universe over a soundtrack of Brahms and Schubert.   I called those who hold such an attitude snobs in my last post and part of me s...

I had the post already written out in my head. I knew what it was going to be – the classic Mark Johnson mix between criticism and cynicism - the two key ingredients of my life that have served me little purpose. Those who know me best personally would be unsurprised. Those who know me through beer drinking perhaps a little exasperated. It was the day that so many fell victim to clever marketing exploits. I’m not constantly online so, whilst I’d seen some of the pre-launch hype, come May 16 th I wasn’t prepared for the sheer loss of sense and sagacity. It was the day that one brewery in the UK showed so many beer geeks up to be gullible fools. There’s nothing wrong with using social networking as an exploitive marketing tool, but when you fall easy victim to the trap you’re a tool too. I would love to try Un-human Cannonball. Human Cannonball is already one of my favourite beers from the last two years. No, I have not had chan...

I’ve never taken part in the “ Session ” monthly blogging event, though I quite enjoy reading through many of them each month. Once, I considered what topic my own session would focus on and it was of very similar ideals to the one hosted this month about ‘Finding Beer Balance.’ Whilst I didn’t take part in the session, and this is not an attempt at a late entry, reading through the varying opinions made me remember a post I’d started to write in the past about dealing with alcoholism when having such a dangerous hobby. Beer is now my definition and personality. To those who know me personally it seems to be my number one characteristic; the trait that sticks with them when they think about “Mark Johnson.” I never intended this to be so, but since most of my social life revolves around this particular interest of mine, or crops up as a subject in every bar or restaurant I visit, it’s easy to see why others picture me as this beer monster. It is the subject of most of the work b...

There has been a great influx of American breweries to our shores over the past few years and we welcome them with such esteem and excitement most of the time. Those that use Ratebeer or others similar often rush for the likes of Dogfish Head and Russian River with schoolboy glee, knowing their rarity in our isles. The rest of us are just happy to try something interesting and different and I, personally, don’t tend to look at other’s subjective views until trying a beer for myself. It was with this attitude and whim that I first bought a beer from Clown Shoes Brewery of Ipswich, Massachusetts called Hoppy Feet 1.5 . I wrote about the experience in a favourable blog post and quickly seeked out other brews that were available, though the choice was sadly limited. When a larger range from this brewery became available towards the end of last year, I couldn’t help but snap up as many different beers as possible, especially after another positive encounter with their Su...

I grew a little bored of tasting sessions and posts for beers after the full voracity of the Advent Calendar saga. However, occasionally some evenings deserve special mention and credit, as do the beers sampled at such times. For this reason, I’ve decided to write up my experience tasting a box of Wild Beer Co’s creations the other evening. Wild Beer Co . were a brewery that created a lot of hype around blogs and the social media long before their beers ever seemed to hit the shelves. Being the miserable cynic that I often am, this made me sceptical, and initially resentful, towards them. I find it shallow and naïve when I see fellow enthusiasts or bloggers hyping up a brewery or brew so much before tasting has even occurred. To me, it is just for those that are easily fooled into marketing schemes and ploys; the sort of humans you would find switching insurance every 3 months because a new species of talking animal told them to in the Coronation Street break. I don’t blame th...

There was a time when I thought beer was subjective, when I believed it was there to be interpreted and commented on from a personal perspective. I used to form my own opinions about beer, pubs and breweries and sometimes I’d even write them in this little blog. Brewdog were no exception; I was happy to praise them when they did right and criticise when I felt they were wrong. Of course I now have seen that I was wrong to do this. You see, it’s not about opinions or personal preferences; it’s about following the crowd, doing what’s cool and avoiding controversy. At present it’s not cool to like Brewdog. Despite the fact that I still really enjoy their beers and bars, people keep telling me why I should hate them. You probably already do, as you are well “in” on what’s hot and what’s not. I wasn’t aware of this, the e-mail never landed in my inbox, but not wanting to fall out of the loop I’ve presented a list of reasons why we should all hate Brewdog so I can fit in with this g...

So far in the year 2013 I’ve only written four posts (the Advent calendar one does not count) and they have mostly been rants or rather disparaging reports of events or bars I’ve visited. I’ve taken a little bit of stick for this, undeserved considering it is the times I feel most passionate about a certain occurrence that I feel the desire to put it into words.   Anyway, since passion also breeds happiness I felt compelled to express my joy at my first visit this weekend to a brand new beer shop in the centre of Manchester. We’ve been lacking a great beer shop in the city centre for so long that the thought has crossed my mind on more than one occasion to just open one myself. Finally, somebody with a little more providence than myself has gone about doing this in the form of the BeerMoth . Seeing as it’s in the heart of the Northern Quarter, the area I frequent the most in the city centre, this couldn’t be more conveniently placed for me. The shop only opened at the beg...