Beer Compurgation

When I realised I had an opinion on that old pub maxim of+ whether they should serve food. I am sat in the new Pilcrow Pub in Manchester. I’m alone amongst the fresh, pristine surroundings of the community pub supposedly built by the people. I’m not feeling the need to write about this new addition whilst enjoying my beer; other pens will write the reviews I’m sure. But I am peckish; specifically desiring something warm and tasty in a way that a bag of crisps will not appease. I’ve been soaking in the new build for over an hour and a half at this point and the fourth beer of the day is making me crave something to settle the beer.  I realise at this point I have been somewhat spoilt in more recent times with the availability of food in pubs/bars. Yet is spoilt the right word? It is more that I’ve had the choice for substance when it’s been necessary. Just seven days earlier to this moment I was visiting London and some of its various open bars and brewe...

Prologue: Another Brick in the Wall  In August 2014 I’d hit a wall. Most of it was illness and life in general and I reference that at the end of this post. But I was also growing tired of elements of the beer scene. It prompted me to just throw my toys out of the pram, colour out of the lines of that colouring book and express my frustration in a certain form. It led to the rant that was  Everything Wrong With Beer at This Moment . It wasn't a cry for attention but people were attentive. It did change matters for me in more ways than you can imagine. It has been just over two years and I've found I've hit the wall again. I began the year, not only really enjoying my writing but gaining much more praise than in previous years. I was happy with what I was saying but equally pleased to see people reading.  Then a wall started to form that reminded me of two years ago. In complete contradiction, a decent chunk of the current wall is formed from happiness...

Manchester doing as Manchester does. It’s over and the recovery was a slow process. The efforts were monumental and the attendances were decent. That was   Manchester Beer Week   – in its inaugural 2016 year. It was a week of such beerness that even finding the time to write about it needed to be delayed. I needed a recovery period to find normality again; a sentiment shared by the conductor of this fantastic occasion when I saw him a fortnight ago - acclaimed beer writer   Connor Murphy . It seems so much longer than a month ago but I am still determined to exalt the praises of one of the Manchester Beer Scene's finest hours. There was so much packed in to the week that I did want to produce a post talking about My Manchester Beer Week –   along the lines of this great post by half of my beer week soul mate at Yes! Ale  (where you may also see my hand holding a Biere De Garde) -    and after attending nine straight days worth of ...