What does that headline mean? More BrewDog financial disclosures? Another exposé of some distasteful behavious be a well known brewer. Nope. Not this week. No, the real news is it’s my regular quinquennial colonoscopy day! Today!! When I got the call I laughed “YES!” into the phone much to the clinics receptionist’s surprise. This’ll be my fifth. Or maybe sixth. Lost count. It’s good to have your innards examined, folks. And trimmed by the little clippers that show up on screen once in a while. Like a good dental cleaning… just at the other end. I wish you all your own happy colonoscopy days.
Note: up there in other health news, in 1936, tonic wines work for smokers too! I’ll take the c-scope, thanks.
Not at all related, Barry filed an article for Cider Review with himself on the Kemker Kultuur ciders of Münsterland:
Rather than emulating mass-produced, filtered and sweetened ciders that would probably sell more easily in northern Germany, the Kemkers draw inspiration from the rustic ciders of northern and central Europe: dry, unfiltered, with a sense of place in every bottle. Each batch is a reflection of that year’s harvest, the varieties of apples available, and the unpredictable beauty of wild yeast. And it is this that is perhaps the most defining aspect of Brauerei Kemker’s cider, their commitment to spontaneous fermentation. This wild process takes time, and the results are never entirely predictable, which is exactly as intended. Wild fermentation can yield ciders that are complex, dry, sometimes funky, with layers of flavour that reveal themselves gradually, though it is not without risk.
This is no puff piece. Barry’s ensuing notes include “…luscious yet arrestingly bitter…” and “…Like engine oil, so, so dark, like undiluted Ribena…” and “…an astringent, tannic grip hits the throat on the swallow, and does not release easily…” not to mention “…ciders that are reminders of what is possible when nature is allowed to lead…” And ATJ also shared a nice bit of honest observation this week:
On another table I spotted a man in a suit who still had his bicycle clips on. He was humming and then stopped to talk to a woman sitting on a stool at the bar. A man at the fruit machine next to the bar joined in. By the time I left, the man at the fruit machine was standing at the bar next to the woman on the stool and had swapped his half-pint for a pint. Walking back up the hill I wonder how their evening progressed. I never saw them again. A pub is nothing without people
In other international news, Auntie Beeb has reported on the collapse of the bourbon market which warmed my heart – almost as neatly as a glass of Makers Mark:
…most provinces in Canada have stopped importing American alcoholic beverages in retaliation. The country accounts for about 10% of Kentucky’s $9bn (£6.7bn) whiskey and bourbon business. “That’s worse than a tariff, because it’s literally taking your sales away, completely removing our products from the shelves … that’s a very disproportionate response,” Lawson Whiting, the CEO of Brown-Forman… said back in March when Canadian provinces announced their plan to stop buying US booze… In Canada, where bourbon imports have slowed to a trickle, local distilleries have started experimenting with bourbon-making methods to give Canadian whiskey a similar taste. “The tariff war has really done a positive for the Canadian spirits business…”
And, perhaps relatedly, from the ever reliable Beer Marketer’s Insight weekly newsletter, there was this interesting info during the time of tariffs:
Leading aluminum packaging supplier Ball Corp posted one of its strongest qtrs in yrs with high rev growth and solid volume growth vs yr ago across all regions in Q2 2025. Global net revs jumped nearly 13% to $3.3 bil for the qtr off of 4.1% volume increase in aluminum packaging shipments, benefitting from a sizable price increase. North & Central America region revs rose 9.5% to $1.61 bil in Q2 and volume up “mid-single digit percent” vs yr ago. Tho oper margin in the region slipped 140 bps as oper profit dipped to $208 mil vs $210 mil yr ago, “primarily” due to price/mix and higher costs.
One thing we have learned in 2025 is that Canada supplies most of North America’s aluminum much of which is shipped south to be turned in to cans to be sent back to Canada to be filled with beer. Which makes me wonder if the unexpected bump in revenue described above which was twinned with a drop in operating margin is a sign of the two sides of an increased tariff regime. We are now buiding the tin can factories of liberty.
Speaking of freedom, over at Pellicle, Eoghan Walsh has given us a bit of treat just as the European fitba seasons take off with a story of good local beer at good local matches in Ireland:
Dublin’s breweries and its football clubs would have been successful without their respective collaborations, but that they’ve experienced their twin revivals in parallel but interconnected journeys like a double helix speaks to a more fundamental change in Irish attitudes, a renewed self-confidence and a reaction to the flattening impulses of globalisation, that encompassed not just sport but also the creative arts and the wider culture. “I wouldn’t call it a cultural reawakening,” says Barry Crossan, friend of Donnchadh, fellow ‘Riversider,’ and editor of club fanzine Red Inc. “But there is a bit of a feeling of, ‘These are our bands, these are our clubs.’ It’s phenomenal.”
Sports can define identity. Which sorta reminds me of Big Pappy. And along the lines of language usage, Mikey Seay asks us all the question “Are you a Private Brewer?” and in doing so coins a handy phrase:
Home Brewer sounds too much like just a hobby – a goof in a garage. PRIVATE Brewer sounds more legit. It puts you, the home brewer, and the person who drinks beer from home brewers, in a more sophisticated space. Same as Private Chefs. Home Chef doesn’t sound all that cool. But PRIVATE Chef does. I want to commission a Private Brewer. A Home Brewer? Not so much. Do Home Brewers sell their beer under the table? I am sure they must, I have just never heard of it. Home Brewers are always too eager to have you try their beer and end up giving it to you.
And, speaking of laying down the law, Phil Mellows brought a recent ruling by the shadowy Portman Group on, of all things, Radler can branding:
The Panel assessed the front label of the drink which included the word ‘Radler’ in a prominent large font. The Panel discussed that while the term ‘Radler’ may be recognised by some consumers as a citrus-based beer, this was not a universally recognised term to denote alcohol in the UK. The Panel acknowledged that the term was better known with a younger drinking demographic but noted that it had not been understood by the underage person who had accidentally consumed the drink. Therefore, the Panel considered that ‘Radler’ on its own did not sufficiently communicate the product’s alcoholic nature.
As usual, the ruling is weird. The complainant is identified as “underaged” but no actual age is provided. It is a very diferent thing if the person was nine years old and drank a radler as opposed to someone who is seventeen. The label clearly indicated the alcoholic strenth of 3.4% and also had the words “beer” as well as “brewing” – but the shadowy panel found the label “was predominantly focused on fruit-flavours and bore resemblance to a soft drink.” Most oddly, the panel did not consider the absence of indicia that the drink was a soft drink as they claimed. The ruling lacks obvious evidentiary foundations. The British Soft Drinks Association, for example, has a code related to labeling of their products. Food Standards Scotland also offers guidance. The SPG’s failure to consider these obvious sorts of rules for what they consider the packaging looked like leaves one scratching the old hockey helmet holder. But, you know, I’m just a lawyer so…
And, finally, there was a lot of response to a greasy pervy tone found at the Great British Beer Festival this year, including from Kimberley in her piece “It’s a nice day for a beer festival (if you’re a man)“:
As soon as I got my festival glass I made a beeline for a bar that didn’t look crowded, so I could get my back against a nearby table/bar so I didn’t feel so vulnerable. The vast open space and the weird “welcome” got me off to a ropey start. I didn’t even feel comfortable making the long walk to the bathroom in that wide open space. I knew I needed a gameplan to get through the trade session and because I was late, I wanted to stay a few more hours after because there were breweries I wanted to connect with and support. I’ll provide more context on why I was late to GBBF later – it’s relevant to give a whole picture of the day. In the first hour of being there I had several interactions that made me feel uncomfortable. I nearly left after just one hour – a friend reassured me I’d be ok staying.
Fests. David J. also says he avoids them for similar reasons. I do not go to beer fests. I’ve hit a few where the transportation failed the amount of drinking by shitfaced strangers. Rachel H. is really ticked that there was no outreach to people who actually know how to plan for bad behaviours and role out anti-sexist strategies. Hopefully more useful than the admittedly successful “designated boyfriend” role I sometimes happily played in bars in the 1980s. Boak and Bailey asked “what can be done?” given “the easy fixes have been tried.” Lillput at What’ll You Have might be on to something as explained in her piece “Don’t Be A Dick” at :
I work with young people – mostly young men, most of whom are socially somewhat awkward and at risk of missing social cues. We have an extensive “Code of Conduct” which everyone has to read and understand. “So what you’re saying is – don’t be a dick – in essence”? Said one lad. Yeah, that’s it – and everyone knows really what it means – they don’t really need a list. I don’t believe any poor behaviour is because they don’t understand the rules. They understand, but they choose – for whatever reason – to ignore or flout them.
Lordy. Which is one reason why I avoid fests. The arseholes.
Well, I am going to leave it there this week. Alpha-ed and Omega-ed, I did. Being Wednesday as this is writ, I now need a drink. No, not that sort of drink, this sort of drink. Friday? Friday I may drink. As you ponder these inevitables, please also check out Boak and Bailey every Saturday and sign up for their entertaining footnotes, too. Look out for Stan when he feels the urge now that he’s retired from Monday slot… maybe … maybe not. Then listen to a few of the now rarely refreshed Lew’s podcasts and get your emailed issue of Episodes of my Pub Life by David Jesudason on the (sometimes even but never) 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 wonderful self-governing totes autonomous website featuring The Gulp, too. Ben’s Beer and Badword is out there with the all the sweary Mary! 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. Any more? We have Ontario’s own A Quick Beer featuring visits to places like… Michigan! All About Beer has given space to some trade possy podcasts and there’s also The Perfect Pour. Plus follow the venerable Full Pint podcast with an episode three weeks ago!. And there’s the Craft Beer Channel on Youtube. Check out the archives of the Beer Ladies Podcast. That’s quite good and after a break they are back every month! Such is life. Such is beer podcasting and newlettering… which, as Ray says, are blogs! And he’s right.