Summer’s Here… And Canada Day… And St. Jean Baptiste… And Another Thursday So Here’s The Beery News Notes

We went to Montreal earlier this week just for the one night. Supposedly to catch the tail end of their Saint Jean Baptiste / Fête nationale celebrations marking the founding of Quebec. It was a bit subdued in the area we were in, though the Old Port was hopping. We walked and snacked, walked and snacked. As we do. The lad and I each had a Joufflue which hit the spot on a hot day. Paired well with watching the wait staff panic over the play of Italy against Croatia. We could have easily left without paying. Definitely a pick me up after my personal all absorbing Euro 2024 situation. Little known fact: my fair city once had a seigneurial set up as part of New France, too, so I was representing. It led to thoughts, again, of retiring to La Belle Province. Or maybe just to 5 km west of LBP. Less of an administrative hassle that way. Bonus points for guessing my location in the picture. But – just to be clear – Gary can’t play. Insider knowledge. Gotta keep things on the level.

What is going on? There was a bit of a call for input at the end of their post in which Boak and Bailey traced another bit of English berwing history with their incomplete history of Smiles Brewery of Bristol, 1977-2005. You can read it yourself – but if you can provide any more information you can also help with the preparation of an update, as their epilogue invites:

We’re frustrated by the bittiness of the story we’ve been able to tell above. It feels unfinished – and we’re certain people are going to have additions and corrections. To which we say, bring it on! We’d love version two of this post to have more human voices, more pictures, and more detail from the frontline. If you worked at Smiles, or, indeed, founded it, we’re contact@boakandbailey, or @boakandbailey on Twitter, if you want to get in touch.

Delving further back in time, Ron published something pretty interesting this week, parts of newpaper report on the hearing that followed the 1814 catastrophe at London’s Meux brewery when a large vat burst and the ensuing flood caused multiple deaths. Here’s the scene as recounted by George Crick, the brewery’s store-house clerk:

“I can not account for the accident. The vat which gave way had been built about ten years, and it has been full of beer for two-thirds of the time, during which I have been on the premises. It was built on uprights or pillars of oak. The foundation did not give way. When the wreck is cleared, the bottom of the vat will be found perfectly level; neither did the vat touch the wall. It stood full eight inches from it. We can account for the accident in no other manner, but by the hoops giving way – by the rivets bursting. An hour before the accident a hoop was started; hoops frequently burst – two or three times a year – but such a circumstance does not produce any idea of danger.”

Was the Burton Union developed as a structural alternative to these massive vats? No idea. But another bit of that last union has been saved by Epochal Barrel Fermented Ales.

And ever further back, have we witnessed the birth of another Law of Lars: “Repeat after me: there are no ancient Egyptian recipes.” Yet… OK… but it’s a recreation with what seems to be an aggregation from a few texts with very well intentioned careful ingredient sourcing. Not a recipe but still. Yet… how do you get to 5% and not 11%, 4% or 1.5%?

Back to today. Me, I subscribe to The Times legal briefs newsletter to keep up with my professional distant cousins and this well sourced item caught my eye which, initially, sets out as a description of how drinks centered social culture in law firms can hinder the careers of young observant Muslim lawyers:

According to the report’s authors, many candidates from those two backgrounds feel “underprepared compared to their peers due to limited access to professional networks and social capital”. They went on to target the “prevalent drinking culture in law firms” as a “significant challenge for Muslim candidates”, many of whom abstain from alcohol. “Social events centred around pubs and bars create an uncomfortable environment, forcing these candidates to navigate situations that conflict with their religious beliefs,” the report said.

But then the story goes on to additionally point out (i) “City law firms are significantly better than their peers in the financial markets”; (ii)  it is now more common “to head to the gym for spin classes… after work than it is to head to the pub“; and (iii) “most of the associates just aren’t interested in a late-night drinking bender”! I’ve worked with alcoholic lawyers so this rings entirely true. Still, pity the young unfit accountants of London.

This is a fun bit of Euro 2024 reality for English fans in Germany. In addititon to the shock of learning that the previous visitors from Scotland put a serious dent in Cologne’s beer supply, when they do find it it seems to be served in tiny glasses:

It may not have been a thriller, but with England through to the knock-out stages of the Euro 2024 championships, it was a good opportunity for fans to celebrate with a few glasses of locally brewed cold Kölsch beer. Kölsch, which is the traditional beer style of the city, is served in 200ml tall glasses. But, according to the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail, this smaller serve have been criticised by fans for the paucity of liquid. The tall and thin glasses were described as like “Champagne flutes” and thirsty fans complained about having to get a large number of rounds in to match their drinking habits. One of the reasons for the bemusement could be that fans have been used to pictures of two pint steins in Germany, often showcased during Munich’s Oktoberfest…

And Pellicle published a piece about beer that tastes like beer. By Matty himself. Those pitch negotiations must have been difficult. Anyway, it’s about a favourite beer… sorta… well, it’s all a bit… artsy*:

We stood there, motionless, in the blinking room’s perpetual silence. Then, suddenly, one of the thin men stretched out an arm, opened its greasy, white palm, and spoke with what appeared to be its mouth. If I could describe to you what I heard, I would, but it was not a sound in a conventional sense, more like a feeling, similar to what I’d experienced when the shape approached me in the field. I remember hearing four distinct waves of a flat baritone that did not waver in pitch, but it felt like there were layers upon layers of complexity to whatever the thin man had uttered.

AJT, recently becalmed, is going to have to watch out for folk making moves on his impressionistic patch. Speaking of impressions, Stan asked me a question this week but I answered another one:

Hmm… do I understand that people prior to the 14th century apparently didn’t understand ice cellars… or storage of foods either, for that matter. Despite Central Europeans using and living in caves and around ice for many millennia.

Many, there is some astoundingly deep… errr… poorly thought out beer writing out there. Greater context? Why bother! [And it is not just the trade puff stuff either: “…highly prestigious World Beer Cup, often referred to as the Olympics of the beer world…“? Said no one ever who was not being rewarded one way or another ever.] Anyway, Stan wanted to like my comment and that is all that matters to me. I actually answered his question over at B+B at the P the day before:

That cream ale story’s history is pretty good fiction. There were two or three eras when “cream” was a flag adjective for premium. 1850s Hudson Valley cream ale was a big burly ale. What is mid-1900s western NY cream ale comes from the earlier forms like 1800s Kentucky Common which in turn came from pre-lager late 1790s German immigrants. It’s all clearly set out publicly if someone takes the time to use Google.

[See here, here, here, here and here for example. Not hard.]

Barley Cluster? I loved their second LP! What’s that? Not that sort of cluster? Hmm:

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) announced a new Canadian National Barley Cluster, a significant initiative aimed at advancing barley production in Canada. With a value of $9.6 million over five years, this Cluster will drive research efforts to enhance the competitiveness and resilience of the Canadian barley industry. More than just a financial commitment, the Barley Cluster represents a united front in securing the future of the barley value chain. Administered by the Canadian Barley Research Coalition (CBRC), the new Barley Cluster will fund research projects that advance feed barley, barley genetics, agronomy, disease resistance and sustainability to make it a more resilient and profitable crop for Canadian farmers and end users.

In fact, we seem to be hubbing it up all over the place, grain-wise. You know what this means: “all your beer is us!!!”

London’s TimeOut had quite a pop at “craft” beer this week framing it as so 2019:

Remember the glory days? When we all had skinny jeans and immaculate beards and wore beanie hats, even in summer? When going for a pint meant nine percent porters, pink rhubarb sours and whatever a ‘saison’ is. It meant tasting each and every beer on tap to make sure they weren’t ‘too hoppy’. It meant, perhaps more than anything, bright, graphic labels and deeply silly names.  Nowadays, trips to the pub look a little different. Rows of pastel-coloured IPAs have been swapped out for classic lagers and big boy beer brands, all seemingly owned by one omniscient beverage uber-corporation. Craft beer options are few and far between (often rotating on just one tap)…

Finally and not unrelated, I’ve noticed that some of the advice to craft brewers these days being written has a couple of odd aspects to it. Reiterating the sort of advice you would might have expected before the downturn is one thing. Buy board games. Hold quiz nights. Hire HR specialists. Not “make sure you diversify your revenue streams to hedge against further consumer disinterest!“** Salty snacks? Used cars! Mens wear!! Anything!!! Another is minimizing the retraction, denying youth’s reduced interest. We see the code word “mature” to describe the industry contraction. Good sign that the writer’s a team player, I suppose, but lacking a certain… certaintly. And Boak and Bailey pointed out last Saturday, the actual news continues to be otherwise in the UK:

There was apparently a sharp acceleration in the number of pubs closing in the first quarter of 2024, according to a report compiled by commercial property intelligence company Altus. Of the 472 pubs that closed between April 2023 and March 2024, a remarkable 236 closed in the first three months of this year – equivalent to around 80 per month.

There sure are loads of factors piling on good beer, not the least inflation. Putting a hurt on wine too. But that complexity just makes things harder to address. One quite singular story underlies the closing of Cascade Brewing of Portland, Oregon – a tale of succession plan gone awry as reported by Jeff:

It was a strange and developing story, but involved the death of Founder Art Larrance last month. That was odd, because he announced he’d sold the brewery four years ago. In the announcement’s fine print he described it was a “phased transition” sale, however, and it turned out that transition never quite happened. The details blur here, but Art’s daughter, who was unaware her father still owned the brewery, didn’t have the money to continue on.

That’s a tough one but a lesson – get to the accountants and lawyers and get things put properly in place. Costs way less than screwing up.

And with that… now we roll the credits… well, the credits, the stats the recommends and the footnotes and the many ways to find good reading about beer and similar stuff via any number of social media and other forms of comms connections.*** Want to keep up with the news before next Thursday? Check out Boak and Bailey every Saturday and Stan back each Monday. Elsewhere go look at then listen to Lew’s podcast. And get your emailed issue of Episodes of my Pub Life by this year’s model citizen David Jesudason on the odd Fridays. And Phil Mellows is at the BritishBeerBreaks. Once a month, Will Hawkes issues his London Beer City newsletter and do sign up for Katie’s now revitalised and wonderful newsletter, The Gulp, too. Ben’s Beer and Badword is back with all the sweary Mary he can think of! And check out the Atlantic Canada Beer Blog‘s weekly roundup. There is new reading at The Glass which is going back to being a blog in this weeks best medium as message news. Any more? Yes! Check to see the highly recommended Beer Ladies Podcast. That’s quite good. And the BOAS podcast for the bro-ly. And the long standing Beervana podcast …except they have now stood down.  Plus We Are Beer People. The Boys Are From Märzen podcast appears suspended as does BeerEdge, too. But not Ontario’s own A Quick Beer. There is more from DaftAboutCraft‘s podcast, too.  All About Beer has introduced a few podcasts… but some may be losing steam. And there’s also The Perfect Pour. Plus follow the venerable Full Pint podcast. And the Craft Beer Channel on Youtube.  The Moon Under Water… is gone which is not surprising as the ask was $10 a month. Pete Brown’s costs a fifth of that but is writing for 47 readers over there. There was also the Beer O’clock Show but that was gone after a ten year run but returned renewed and here is the link! Errr… nope, it is gone again.

*Not that there’s anything wrong with that!
**How long has Twisted Tea been around serving as the obvious example?
***This week’s update on my own emotional rankings? Facebook still in first (given especially as it is focused on my 300 closest friends and family) then we have BlueSky (down 1 to 132) rising up to maybe… probably… likely pass Mastodon (up to 928) in value… then the seemingly doomed trashy Twex (up 3 to 4,482) hovering somewhere well above my largely ignored Instagram (flopping 1 to 162), crap Threads (somehow up to 52 from 43) with Substack Notes (1) really dragging up the rear.