Category: Beer in the End Times

Your Merriest Of Merry Christmas Day Beery News Notes For 2025

Stan has been worried. Very worried. Either worried that there would not be any beery news notes this Chrismas Day or worried that there would be beery news notes today and that I really should be doing something else. I am deeply appreciative of the concern but as I usually farm this all out to the team of sleep deprived unpaid interns there is no question whatsoever of the news getting to each of you, my gentle and today hopefully mildly hungover while turkey and stuffing compromised readers. So… the show goes on! Speaking of which, todays photo above from the Yuletide photo contest was submitted by Zak Rotello of the Olympic Tavern of Rockford Illinois, a long time pal of this here beer blog. Click on it for a bigger version. It’s an image of a member of the brewer staff cleaning open fermenters at Anchor Brewing in San Francisco, the brewery that will now never reopen. Like the sleep deprived unpaid interns, we remember those who are working today to keep the holidays jolly.

So what news is actually out there this week? We might have slim pickin’s but there shall be pickin’s. First up, what days are your local party days? As mentioned last year, Tuesday was Tibb’s Eve in Newfoundland last Tuesday. And this is the first year I saw a lot of references to “Black Friday” for the last Friday before Christmas as opposed to the first Friday after U.S. Thanksgiving. Here, for example, is the new coverage from Wales.  Mainly photos of the dressed up and drunk yuff today. It also seems to be referred to as “Mad Friday” in Scotland but maybe it’s a phrase able to be swapped out. I share the thumbnail attached as evidence that such stuff happens in Canada but perhaps with a little more grace as well as perhaps a bit more grit. By the way, one assumes (given the obviously strong ankles) that such natty folk might also be hockey players so… a misplaces comment might receive an brisk elbow right to the Chiclets… if you know what I mean.

What else? The best booze stories of the year according to the Drinks Business included beer news including the high price of a pint in the UK, BrewDog ditching pubs and the suggestion that NA beer should be “a functional drink rather than a compromise…” whatever that means. Pellicle offered up its top tales of their very good year. And Ron has been posting about the best of his personal year including:

I did a bit of judging this year. Mostly in South America, obviously. That’s where I prefer to judge. The Blumenau contest was fun this year. And not in Blumenau. Instead, it was on the coast at Balneario Camboriu. Literally on the coast, as the judging location was on the seafront. Meaning you could have a stroll down the beach at lunchtime. So civilised. And I managed to dodge judging Best of Show. That’s always a win. In Santiago, judging was in the same hotel as we were staying. Which is always good.

Also good was his news that he’s been cutting back.  On a related note, the* Beer Nut on the expansion of NA beers that don’t suck:

Non-alcoholic beer gets the occasional bit of coverage on here, though I tend to find very few which perform the role required of a beer. Pale ales, wheat beers and lagers seem to be the preferred styles, which may be the problem. I’ve often said that dark styles make for better alcohol-free beer, my favourite to date being Švyturys Go Juodas, and the Guinness one is pretty decent too. The latter’s success has provided an opportunity for other breweries to get in on the 0.0 stout racket, and the first I’ve seen locally is Dundalk Bay’s Zero Zero Nitro Stout, available in Aldi.

I’ve recently bought into the “Guinness 0” thing so good news that other smaller operations are able to similarly pass muster. Speaking of news, Stan also had newsy news in his Hop Queries in the state of the US supply of hops:

Farmers in the Northwest reduced acreage 7% in 2025 and harvested 5% percent fewer hops, according to the USDA National Hop Report. Average yield per acre was the highest since 2011, when higher yielding hops appreciated more for their alpha made up a larger percentage of acres planted. The 2025 value of production was $447 million, up slightly from 2024, but significantly less than $662 million in 2021. That shouldn’t be a surprise, given that acreage has shrunk 31% since 2021 and production 28%. Perhaps as important, in September the USDA reported that the inventory of hops held by growers, dealers and brewers was 116 million pounds, down 15 percent from the previous year. That’s the largest contraction in 15 years and suggests the market is getting closer to being in balance. Still, it is a significant amount, and almost 40 percent higher than it was through much of the teens.

Me, I was higher in my teens. That’s the main difference between me and the US hops trade.

Note#1: “Stephen Beaumont once gave me some good advice: don’t.”
Note #2: “Scroll at your leisure…”
Note #3: Women in public bars over fifty years or so ago.
Note #4: Continental had a pub in the sky.
Note #5: Short pours in Milton Keynes!

Speaking of controversy, a debate threatened to break out in the comments at Boak and Bailey but it appeared to just be a slightly paranoid complainer intent on playing one handed ping pong, the prattling lad being handled firmly by the administration. Much more interesting were the comments confirming reality behind the sale of Bristol’s Moors, including:

I now have had a chance to dig into their structure and, in short, they were not employee-owned in the recognised sense of being owned by an employee ownership trust or being a co-op, etc – it was just that all of the owners were also employees (i.e. no external investors). Justin owned 85% of the business. It looks like he has now sold that stake to Albatronic Arcades Ltd, a company registered on 5 August 2025 and owned solely by Bruce Gray. So I feel less unnerved about the boycott! But still hope they can turn Moor around.

Another set of comments were helpful in building upon Jeff‘s thoughts on the shutting down of three of ABInBev’s megabreweries in the U.S. of A.:

At a macro level, overcapacity normally drives prices down, which is always hard on producers. It’s especially bad for breweries right now, which face a host of financial challenges. Craft and big beer function largely in separate realms, though, and it’s seemed like big beer has been able to replace lost beer volumes with flavored-malt beverages and the like. This news suggests otherwise. Further, for anyone who has followed the beer industry over the past fifty years or so, this is a shocking development for a financial and logistical juggernaut.

Not as shocking to one Karl “the Commentron”** Ockert who shared his understanding:

I worked at the Newark brewery, then a 9 million bbl per year plant, in the early 90’s. I (half) jokingly tell people that I earned my Masters at the university of AB, Newark campus. While I learned a lot of the science of brewing at UC Davis with Dr Lewis, at Newark I learned even more about production and process discipline which I was able to use at the BridgePort and Deschutes Breweries. Last year Newark was down to a rate of 500,000 bbls per year and brewing less than a week per month. Along with Fairfield and Merrimack, it fell victim to the changing beer market. I’m sure it was a painful decision to close all 3 breweries at once, and I’m sorry to see it finally happen.

One wonders what it was that kept the facilities hanging on for so long. Wasn’t money. Somewhat similarly was the concern raised by Ron about the loss this year of Martyn Cornell and state of Martyn’s now 404 website:

What did Martyn leave unfinished? I can’t believe that he wasn’t working on another book. (He asked me about self-publishing because he was so pissed off with how long it took to get a book published.) Not to go all fanboy, but (meaning I am doing) how much material is there that hasn’t been published? Including stuff chopped from Porter. I’d buy a book with that in. Niche, made possible by self-publishing.  A compilation of his, often very long, always hugely informative, blogposts would make a great book. And preserve them in print. As Zythophile is no longer there. Fuck. This material really needs to be saved. Maybe I should get in touch with his brother. 

Happy was I then to confirm that the contents of the entirely excellent Zythophile has been preserved at the Wayback Machine, a service which I have been in love with since the great blog server shift of 2016. Think something has been lost on the internet? Check the Wayback Machine first.

There was intrigue in England as we wondered if Mrs RM could walk past  one of the great conversational pubs:

Walking back from the Sun to Faversham Premier Inn on the eve of Mrs RM’s birthday I suddenly realised we’d taken a different route into town that afternoon and missed its most famous pub. Would she be able to resist the lure of the Elephant on first sight. No. “We’re going in there“. I was happy to skip it, honest. A year ago it was packed on Sunday folk afternoon, a bit quieter on Tuesday night but there still weren’t a lot of spare tables.

A pub full of chatters. Not always what one wants but good to see someone get their way.  In other situations, choosing beer can be the wrong move as this personal injury workers compensation claim denial illustrates:

The claimant’s business required them to purchase and transport bulk quantities, and as the pain apparently intensified the claimant was awarded income replacement benefits, the release says. Surveillance by investigators found the claimant was seen regularly transporting beer for seven to 10 hours every day, often loading up to 20 cases of beer into their vehicle without assistance or any evidence of pain. The benefits were terminated…

All this leads to one fact – beer is not always kosher. No, really. Not kosher:

In November, three of America’s largest kosher certifying organizations came together to release new guidance regarding the status of beer, which has long been considered kosher by default. Due to the proliferation of flavorings brought on by craft brewing and other industry changes, however, the rabbis who declare whether food products are in line with Jewish dietary laws now say the label must be checked before drinking. “We’ve discovered that companies use many flavors, different flavors, to enhance even the simple beers that they manufacture. Those flavors need to be kosherly supervised,” said Rabbi Moshe Elefant, the head of kosher operations at the Orthodox Union, who released the guidance along with Star-K and OK Kosher. “We’ve seen more than one situation… that some beers have dairy in them. They add lactose, they add milk, so a beer could be dairy, which has very serious kosher ramifications.”

Knew it. Gak. Yet some of the stuff that can be crammed into beer other than via the “craft” of the fruit sauce hose might actually be useful:

Buck isn’t just a home brewer dabbling in drug-making. He is a virologist at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., where he studies polyomaviruses, which have been linked to various cancers and to serious health problems for people with weakened immune systems. He discovered four of the 13 polyomaviruses known to infect humans. The vaccine beer experiment grew out of research Buck and colleagues have been doing to develop a traditional vaccine against polyomavirus.

As I mentioned last week, I am pro-line in the pub. Better, table service. Each to their own, I suppose, but is there any bore are boring as the “don’t queue” bore in a ‘Spoons?

Believing it’s an ‘unwritten rule’ that you don’t queue at a bar, the 24-year-old barman was stunned to spot ten people in an orderly line waiting for their drinks. Jack refused to join the queues, instead ‘standing his ground’, claiming he propped up the bar for 10 minutes until he was served. Baffled Jack, shared a snap of the queue on X, slamming it as a ‘disgusting and uncouth disregard for sacred tradition’… Jack, who lives in Birkenhead, Merseyside, said: “It’s going against British tradition and it’s just wrong. It’s not like they’re doing anything inherently bad but it’s an unwritten rule you don’t queue at a bar.

Finally – and looking forward to New Year’s resolution suggestions – a word on usage if I might. Please stop writing “I don’t understand” as it means… you are admitting you don’t understand. And if you are a professional writer and you use the phrase “trust me” it only shows you can’t clearly explain your views which means your views are likely not trustworthy. And ask yourself before hitting “publish” if it is wise to write “… an unimaginable amount of work goes into…” when not only was it imaginable but it was accomplished as imagined. And if you as a beer business person want to want to display your ignorance of the times and market conditions of your trade as it exists today, feel free to post something like this on LinkedIn:

Given the current state of the industry, I think it’s about time we rally together and finally retire “Dry January.” Honestly, hasn’t it taken up more spotlight than anything that fun-free should? Let’s change the narrative and remind people what beer actually is……. a simple, natural combination of water, malted grains, hops, and yeast. Four ingredients. Zero mystery. This is our heritage. It’s real, it’s straightforward, and frankly, it deserves a comeback tour. Let’s make it happen and get things moving in the right direction!!!

Seeing as the “industry” didn’t start Dry January how exactly the hell does this person propose that it retire the concept. Plus… “a simple natural combination“? Yes, let’s go out in nature and find some beer, shall we? Displaying further ignorance on the brewing processing is another not strong move.

And that’s it! Stan will either be satisfied or concerned. The interns are using all resources to seek further clarifications on the question. No Christmas for them! And as we enter deeper into the holiday week lull, please also remember that Boak and Bailey are not posting this Saturday so we also will do without their fabulously entertaining footnotes, too. Sitll, look out for Stan’s new “One Link, One Paragraph” format. Then hunt out something in someone’s archives! Leave oblique comments on someone’s post from 2007!! Listen to a few of Lew’s podcasts and get your emailed issue of Episodes of my Pub Life by David Jesudason on certain Fridays. And Phil Mellows is at the BritishBeerBreaks. Once a month, as noted, 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 has returned from his break since April so you can embrace the sweary Mary! There is reading at The Glass which is going back to being a blog. Any more? We have Ontario’s own A Quick Beer and All About Beer is still offering a range of podcasts – and there’s also Mike Seay’s The Perfect Pour. Plus follow the venerable Full Pint podcast! And there’s the Craft Beer Channel on Youtube. Check out the archives of the Beer Ladies Podcast.

*I am always torn. Sweat forms on the brow. Does one capitalize the “t”?
**The title reserved only for the most experienced of comment makers.

Two Weeks?!? It’s The “TWOOOO WEEEEEEEKSSSS TO GO!!!!” So Excited Dontcha Know Edition Of Your Beery News Notes

As I mentioned last week, I am sharing some past submissions from the Yuletide Christmas Boxing Day Hanukka Kwanza New Years Eve and Hogmanay Beery Photo Contests that have been sitting in my email folders from all those years years gone by. This week a photo from 2012’s bare knuckle brawl sent in by Jeff Wayne of Tampa, FL. Not necessarily the prettiest image but that there is the leaky bung of a fermenting barrel aged chocolate stout, a celebration of a full range of browns. I like it. Just hope someone spooned up that excess chocolate.

Yes, here we are two weeks from the big day. The day I drink sherry at 8 am and have cake for breakfast. Excitement builds. Also building is Eoghan‘s Advent calendar of things seen in about the 19 communes of Brussels, including at the bewilderingly queter edges of the town:

The streets were so big, wide plains of asphalt, fringed by large standalone houses between was too much air. And the air too was different, smoky and rich but not in an oppressive, attack-your-throat sense, more luxurious. The topography too, big dips and vertiginous climbs with houses and apartment blocks ranged on their slopes, not at all like the slow and steady – but just as taxing – hills I’m more used to traversing in downtown Brussels. I didn’t even know if I was in Watermael or Boitsfort… The bar was, when I finally found it, comfortingly familiar. A Brussels that was recognisable to me however far from the centre I might have strayed, with beer in the fridges I knew and breweries on the taps I trusted. I was at last on terra firma…

Also out wandering, ATJ captured something of the essence of being ATJ in this passage from his travel diary this week:

The soundtrack on this late morning in a Bamberg pub is of laughter and calls and joy growls in the main bar, alongside the clatter and bang of cutlery and plates in the kitchen. The aroma of roast meat, intense in its intimacy, flits through the room, an escape from the kitchen, like a spirit from its long locked stronghold. I sense, or perhaps create, a Friday midday feeling, the joviality of the approaching weekend, though for me, having left home the previous Sunday and perambulated through Prague, nuzzled myself into Nuremberg’s hidden corners and currently based for a day in Bamberg, there is no conception of a weekend, time is just drifting by with the conscience of a cloud.

Not unlike Willie W., when one weighs the words. Anthony Gladman has also being weighing the situation, in this case for cask, and finds that something is lacking:

Cask ale’s slow drift away from relevance saddens me. I fear we seem set to lose it altogether, and shall be culturally diminished as a result. And the worst thing about it is this: the younger drinkers who choose not to drink cask ale are doing nothing wrong. It simply isn’t relevant to them. Nor is this their failing; it is the beer’s and the brewers’ and the pub landlords’. And perhaps partly also mine, as a drinks writer, for failing to make its case often enough, loudly enough, or persuasively enough.

Bingo. I have never understood writers complaining how folk don’t understand this thing or that. It is the job of the writer to make it compelling. Has cask suffered solely on that basis? Nope. But it hasn’t helped.

Well, conversely, this news either means it is no longer a fad or the shark has jumped on no-lo beer as, according to The Guardian, AB InBev is created the world’s largest alcohol-free brewing facility in Wales:

A “de-alcoholisation facility” sounds like somewhere to check in after a boozy Christmas, but in the new annexe of a brewery in south Wales they are extracting hangovers from beer. With demand for no-alcohol and low-alcohol (“nolo”) beer taking off in the UK, the hi-tech brewing apparatus enables the plant at Magor, which produces more than 1bn pints of Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois a year, to make the increasingly popular teetotal versions too… The availability of alcohol-free beers on tap in pubs is expected to further normalise the choice.

We are assured that “the machine treats the beer very sensitively and delivers a fantastic taste”. Normally I would laugh, say things like “….riiiiight…” and move on but… I just had my first four pack of Guinness 0 and will definitely buy another. What happened? Maybe I got normalized. Try it with port. But no-lo’s not quite as socially acceptable everywhere as The Times notes this amongst its list of conversation topics you will be annoyed by at parties this holiday season:

At every party there are now soooo many men with soooo many helpful tips and advice on the great alcohol-free beers they know all about and which they are categorically not drinking tonight. For some reason it’s always the most sloshed blokes who have the most to say about sober alternatives. It’s like getting nutrition advice from the morbidly obese.

Don’t be the beer bore. Ever. Never one to be that, Alistair shared a happy memory of the time he helped brew, :

This Thursday is the 15th anniversary of the day I spent at Devils Backbone Basecamp brewing the first ever batch of Morana, a Czech style dark lager that I designed for them. I had spent the previous months diving into archives, emailing with multiple brewers, and beer experts, in various languages – English, German, Czech, and Slovak – to learn everything I could about a family of beers that at the time only consisted of about 5% of Czech beer production. Obviously, having only fairly recently decamped from Prague to Virginia, I was also relying on my own remembrances of beers that I had got a taste for in the last couple of years there, when I moved beyond the realms of Gambrinus, Staropramen, and Velkopopovivký Kozel.

Alistair says that the beer that was “the first authentic Czech style dark lager brewed in the modern American craft brewing industry” which is a decent claim to fame. Perhaps also decent was the stout presented to The Beer Nut whose analysis went deep into the dark:

Unsurprising given the froth, it’s quite fizzy: a little too much for the style, I think, giving it a thin and sharp quality that doesn’t suit strong stout. The rum element is present in the flavour, but subtle. I tend not to like rum-aged beers, finding the spirit cloyingly sweet, but that isn’t the case here. Instead, the barrels add more of that fruitcake or Christmas pudding quality I found in the aroma, as well as a rawer oaken sappiness. None of this overrules the base beer, which is a no-nonsense, properly bitter, grown-up stout: dark toast, a molasses sweet side and then a finish of punchy spinach and green cabbage leaf. The can says it’s 48 IBUs; it tastes like considerably more. This is quality stuff, and I’m always happy to find a modern stout that goes big without resorting to silliness. The fizz is its one flaw, and I found myself doing a lot of swirling to try and knock that out. It only reached an acceptable level of smoothness around the time I finished it.

I wish I had one flaw. Not quite indecent is the focus of this article on how to win back the disinterested youth of today:

“Because craft beer sales skew towards older consumers, it’s vital to keep nurturing the next generations of buyers. Gen Zers can be hard to reach and their sentiments are shifting but responding to their needs can help brewers grow share”… Gen Z prefers different drinking environments from older groups. Experiential bars and high-energy venues hold much higher appeal and may offer the strongest opportunity to introduce them to craft. While casual dining restaurants, neighbourhood bars and sports bars remain important to the wider craft drinker base, Gen Z is markedly less likely to visit taprooms and brew pubs, which limits the impact of traditional brewery-led spaces.”

That’s not good. Not only are they not interested in your product but it appears they have no interest in your product. Is there an issue with seeing to bring back the relationship? Even though the sins of the father haven’t been visited on the generation that followed? It all sounds like an earlier 1970s slow slow dance classic, perhaps a little Hall and Oates:

She’s gone (she’s gone)Oh I, oh I, I better learn how to face itShe’s gone (she’s gone)Oh I, oh I, I’d pay the devil to replace herShe’s gone (she’s gone), oh IWhat went wrong?

Pay the devil indeed. Or the invoicing consultant offering solutions. Solutions… yup, that’s what they are. Conversely, being straight with what has really gone on is part of the story for Anaïs Lecoq this week in Pellicle who writes about the Franco-fascists fascination with wine:

Tradition is a lie. And it’s the same lie, fuelled by carefully curated storytelling, that the far-right is trying to feed us now. They wear black berets, big mustaches, and suspenders. They hang up French flags, and talk about meat and wine as the epitome of French food, not missing the opportunity to ridicule vegans and mock people who don’t drink alcohol. They’re terroir influencers, born out of the rise of conservatism and general backlash against social progress. What they’re doing has a name: gastronationalism, or culinary nationalism, which refers to the way food—its history, production and consumption—is used to promote nationalism and define national identity.

It does make sense in that wine requires landowners’ estates as much as beer requires peace. And serfs or their facsimile to do the work. A hotter bed for the old goosesteppers that other spots… perhaps. Next up… a palate clenser with some cheater quick notes:

Note #1: The practice of “faire chabrot” can easily be added to your Yuletide feast traditions;
Note #2: A review of Martyn Cornell’s Porter & Stout: A Complete History by The Beer Nut;*
Note #3: “If there’s ever been a bellwether to the state of the crafts beer industry, it’s Mitch freaking Steele job hunting“;
Note #4: Wine drinking as resistence; and
Note #5: Beer drinking as obedience.

Back on the endtimes beat, Dave Infante neatly summarized the evidence he’s uncovered of a wobbly situation at Pabst:

…the company is quietly looking for a subletter to take over its headquarters in San Antonio. A listing I reviewed for the sleek space—into which Pabst just moved in 2023—was last updated just two days before the pink slips started flying this past Thursday. Between the layoffs, the listing, and a whole lot of reshuffling in Pabst’s c-suite (including the replacement of both chief executive and chief financial officers earlier this year, and the exit of a former chief sales officer just last month), former Pabst employees I spoke with fear the legacy firm might be on the brink.

Yikes. Somewhat relatedly, The Mirror in the UK ran an article on the cost of all aspects of the price of a UK pint and came to a curious conclusion:

Citing figures from the British Beer and Pub Association, Michael said this means pubs are making a total gross profit per pint of £3.69. However… “That’s before VAT, which is another 83 pence – and we have to factor in staff wages, which is another £1.17 per pint…” duty paid to the brewer equates to another 56 pence, as well as business rates of 35 pence, and employment tax for all pub staff at 29 pence…. pub overheads and utilities at 36 pence per pint, which leaves just 13 pence of net profit per pint sold – and this why around 30 pubs are closing every month.” As a percentage this profit equates to just 2.5 per cent.

I find these sorts of supposedly accurate breakdowns useless.** What wasn’t made clear is why pubs which make a 2.5% profit are closing. Is that why they close? Or unidentified expenses were left out or that level of income after expenses is not satisfactory. Which may be the case. But it wasn’t what was argued.*** Time for something more compelling? You got it!

Note #6: HOT PICKLED PORTER!!!

Much more seriously, Boak and Bailey‘s footnotes last week pointed me to the newsletter from Jen Blair on influencers in beer and their choice of appearance:

A few months ago, I was at a beer festival talking with some people I had just met. At one point, one of the men in the group stated that he thinks it’s shameful when women post “provocative” beer photos on social media. Provocative is in quotes because it doesn’t take much for a woman who is simply existing to be denigrated based on her appearance. Another woman in the group and I made eye contact after his comment. This is not the first time someone has said something like this to me, but I am still surprised when it happens. I guess I shouldn’t be, but every time I think “…we’re still saying things like this? To women? About women?”

It’s an excellent piece and reminded me that (whether it is a question of presentation… or self-initiated claims to expertise… or offers of special savings for anyone one applying the one-time super secret code at their website) the only thing that matters is whether the writing has substance.

And finally, over the weekend we received the sad news of the passing of Peter Edwardson who wrote about beer as “The Pub Curmugeon” after a short illness. His last post included this characteristic passage, one that summarizes his approach to beer as well as his understanding of what made it a simple pleasure worth appreciating:

Alcohol content is a vital element in the flavour make-up of beer, adding body, warmth, richness and sweetness. Make anything more than a trivial tweak, and it will significantly change the character of the beer. It is one thing to specifically set out to brew a low-strength beer, but something entirely different to reduce the strength of an existing beer that was designed for a higher strength. You may not have thought much of Fosters even when it was 4%. But now it is 3.4%, a 15% strength reduction, it is not the same product and, I would suggest, an inferior one.

I checked my notes and see that in the last five years or so these weekly digests of the news in beer included well over forty references to “Mudgie”. The sad loss of a singular voice.

So a couple of serious notes to end the week. Hopefully happier news next time. It’s Christmas day the week after that on Thursday… whatever shall I do? As you consider that and send in recommendations, please also check out, Boak and Bailey on this and every Saturday and then sign up for their entertaining footnotes, too. Look out for Stan when he feels the urge (now that he’s “retired” from beery news posts) from Budapest or wherever – as he is getting active again. Then listen to a few of Lew’s podcasts and get your emailed issue of Episodes of my Pub Life by David Jesudason on certain Fridays. And Phil Mellows is at the BritishBeerBreaks. Once a month, as noted, 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 has returned from his break since April so you can embrace the sweary Mary! There is reading at The Glass which is going back to being a blog. Any more? We have Ontario’s own A Quick Beer and All About Beer is still offering a range of podcasts – and there’s also Mike Seay’s The Perfect Pour. Plus follow the venerable Full Pint podcast! And there’s the Craft Beer Channel on Youtube. Check out the archives of the Beer Ladies Podcast.

*Update: as noted for the double!
**A variation is the trade writer who still believes sorta circa 2011 that everyone is one off-flavour seminar from connoisseurship, like Mr. B on LinkedIn this week: “…what you’re getting in up-front money or equipment ultimately pales beside the loss in credibility (especially for places which claim culinary, cocktail, or oenological expertise!), disappointed customers, and ultimately, lost sales. Taking placement fees for a percentage of your taps is one thing — although trust me, more than a few people are going to be able to spot them! — but turning over most or all of them speaks to laziness, desperation, or simple disinterest.” Why, then, do these places continue to operate as craft beer bars shut? Serving their customers’ demands? 
***Yet the math is right there – at 13p profit you would have to sell 500 pints an hour to clear £65. If that was your sole source of income. But then the article would be much shorter. Or is it that the ones at the bottom of the Bell curve no where near a 2.5% profit are the ones that close. Which is irrelevant to the analysis. But then, again, the article would be much shorter. 

The Over 50% Off Super Holiday Sales Saving Edition Of The Beery News Notes

You may need to turn your phone sideways to make this image fit. Or I could just center it. There. That’s better. For a long time, these weeks at the end of the year at the beer blog were a bit crazy. The Christmas photo contest (circa 2006-16) was on and I was sifting through a huge number of emails with multiple entries. Hundreds came in each Yuletide. Thinking back on that this week, I had a look through the 2010 submissions and found this lovely image sent in by Brian Stechschulte of San Francisco.  Here’s his birthday bio on Jay’s site. Another one of his enties won the contest that year. That image is of Rod Widmer among the quipment at the brewery. In what Brian described as Widmer’s cathedral. I like the glow. I’ll dip into the emails and old posts to see what else I can find to adorn these news notes throughout December.

Back to today’s news, first up the question of cash and how the UK budget reaction lead to something of a counter reaction. Sayeth Matty C.:

The worst thing about this week’s budget for me was seeing prominent figures in hospitality bemoaning the minimum wage increase because god forbid your staff should earn enough to actually afford, barely, the cost of living. For me it just demonstrates why all of this lobbying for a VAT cut isn’t so much about supporting a “dying” industry, put propping up profits for the people at the top. But no, it’s paying wages that’s the problem.

And their weekend footnotes to the weekend news, Boak and Bailey shared a similar sentiment:

Every budget goes the same: CAMRA and industry bodies lobby the Chancellor to do something to help pubs; the Chancellor does very little, if anything, to help pubs; CAMRA and industry bodies criticise the Chancellor’s failure to act and foretell doom for the hospitality industry. It’s been this way basically forever and yet, somehow, pubs continue to exist and beer continues to be manufactured and consumed.

As a person who takes home a tax based pay cheque, I have to be somewhat respectful of those lobbying for restraint.* But I am also aware that government can positively participate in economic growth and greater social good. So… and here’s the point for me… after years of ideological restraint hit by a global crisis or two there are times when the bite shared by all is for the longer term good.  As long as there is an identifiable long term good and it is shared by all.

Speaking of the burdens of the state, Drew Starr has shared thoughts on an excellent way of fighting back against authoritarianism – ban the lackies from your bar:

The kid who proudly called ICE on a carwash. Print this shit everywhere. Hell yeah, Sil! For those not from here: this is The Silhouette (nobody calls it that), one of Boston’s last remaining dive bars. For a college kid living in the area, it’s the last place you want to get banned from

We understand “The Sil” has barred a university student who called ICE on a car-wash and men in in balaclava abducted a group of nine workers. Perhaps more establishments might introduce a life-time ban.  Shaming down authoritarianism is a top drawer move.

How to cope? How to deal with the pressures of the day?  “Mulled beer!” sayeth Jessica M. seasonally through an interview with Sam Millard of Bevertown :

“The secret to making a great DIY mulled beer is in choosing the right base. The best results will come from a rich, malty profile or a sweet brown ale,” suggested Millard, who explained that “just like when mulling wine or cider, you need a base that is already really rich, full-flavoured and most importantly, not at all bitter. You ideally want something with a bit of body too, so ensure your beer is not too thin.” According to Millard: “While you may be tempted to use a super-hoppy IPA, keep in mind that its bitterness could overpower your chosen spices and throw everything off balance.

Now, keeping in mind that this is all a bit of an adver-informo piece, I still would recommend you try it. Jessica B herself was curious about this stuff a whole eighteen years ago. Me, I like to use Chimay Première, the red labeled dubbel, as the base. Tasty, strong and relatively cheap as dubbels go these days. And skip the idea of “DYI” and just go traditional with a Lambswool made with strong ale apples, sugar and ginger spice. Or, along with a lot of other options at this link, try to make Caudle if you are even more adventurous. If that is too complex, just go for try a pint of stout and port. It’s Christmas so you can just do that and even say you did.

Speaking of Yuletide, in the news from Newfoundland we read that more folks are going to get stoned for Christmas!

CEO Bruce Keating says net earnings rang in at $56.3M, a decrease of about $3.7M, mainly due to the removal of U.S products and decline in beer commissions.  Alcohol sales totalled $84.2M, down 1.5 percent however, cannabis sales are up 10.6 percent at $28.5M. Keating says those numbers could start to slow since that market is maturing. He says they’re optimistic that the Christmas season will boost sales numbers. 

Baby Jesus would no doubt approve. Speaking of which, Barry M has driven down to a depth I’ve never considered necessary over a controversy I had never heard of – are “cider” and “cyder” the same thing? Or categories of rerlated things? As a lifelong poor speller, I am gratified that the problem arises from puritans who insist every difference in spelling requires a difference in meaning:

Within English literature, early texts seem to use mostly ‘sider’, though it would appear that by the end of the 16th Century literature was generally split between ‘sider’ and ‘cider’. Both with an ‘i’. But there were exceptions of course, an dit has to be said, it was a bit like the Wild West when it came to spelling convention, with cyder, cider, sider, cidar, cicer and pommage featuring in texts of the time (thank you Elizabeth!). But let’s look at some of the cyders…

As we all know, standardization is the best friend of Satan or at least authoritarians. The minute hand, a tool for atronomers, was later added to the clock to steal time from Indistrial Age factory workers. The dictionary of Dr. Sammy J of 1755 helped create the idea of misspelling and therefore a resulting intellectual failure. And now we have this consequence, a finger pointy crisis in taxonomy which apparently turns on the factual regular but uncategorical past practice of adding water to cider now and then** which has led, hundreds of years later, to a backdating by someone deciding that the spelling must follow a practice. Sad. Distinctions can be without a difference. Let us rather embrace our negative capabilities.

Did you see what David J did? He just went and wrote the history of Wychwood for Pellicle:

“BrewDog is a modern interpretation of Hobgoblin,” says James Coyle, who was sales director at its parent brewery, Wychwood. “[The Hobgoblin identity] was built on motorbikes, grunge, and tattoos—this was the escapism of the brand.” Established by Paddy Glenny as The Glenny Brewery Company in Witney, Oxfordshire in 1983, it was renamed the Wychwood Brewery in 1990. Somehow, this small brewery in rural Oxfordshire went from selling to a few freehouses to producing a beer so iconic that it shifted 100,000 barrels a year, changed pub culture, and eventually became a global brand in the Carlsberg portfolio. Thanks to breweries like BrewDog, today we’re used to shock marketing tactics from beer firms. Many of the people I spoke to while researching this article repeated James’ sentiment about Hobgoblin being akin to the often-controversial Scottish brewery, including the fact that its initial success was driven by word of mouth rather than a huge marketing budget.

Over twenty years ago, Wychwood was on the shelves on Ontario and I posted reviews of their Fiddler’s Elbow in 2004 and Duchy Original Pale Ale in 2006. I didn’t love the bad Baggins branding of Wychwood – though not as deeply as the stupid “you’re not worthy” stuff from Stone.  I am please to say, however, that now I added a bit of info which may have assisted David in one paragraph in there – but what a beast of research. And all for you.

Speaking less of you and more of me, I am 62. When I was a teen, I worked with older seniors. People 62 were rye drinking Dads of pals who were vets of the Second World War. They were still up on ladders to fix something on the roof. Some could dress a deer. Me? Fitter than I was at 52.*** So I found this New York Times piece a bit odd. Frankly, if I was 42 around now I’d worry much more about 52 than 62.

On the theme of worry, James Beeson in The Grocer wrote about the financial troubles facing the BKeystone / Breal, a UK consolidator of brewers:

Breal bought a slew of unloved brands and then engaged in a damaging race to the bottom. This was the inevitable conclusion and the only surprise is that it has taken this long. My thoughts are with the blameless employees that will be affected by their failure. 

Breality strikes!**** He followed it up with an investigation over the legal steps being taken and their denial that they are going bust. Jessica M in DB on the same story shares that they have:

… reached out to Keystone for an update on its situation and its prediction of plans and sales for each of its brewery assets as well as asked about the fate of its brewery workers at each of its currently-owned sites. The group has, however, remained silent aside from its statements on social media assuring Black Sheep beer fans that it is “still here”.

And there have been more twists to the news of the suddenly “not here no more” Rogue including this from Doug Veliky:

It also surprised key partners including US Beverage (USB), with whom Rogue had just signed a national sales partnership, and who learned through the news and social media just like the rest of us. As part of their agreement announced on August 1, 2025 to represent the brand in the trade, members of Rogue’s national sales team transitioned their employment to the new partner company in an effort to ensure continuity and relationships. Now, without warning, USB is left with employees who were crucial to the partnership’s formation, but without a brand to sell or an understanding of its future.

Lordy. That’s not good. Clearly on August 1, 2025 the writing was on the wall in the offices of Rogue. Probably on dry erase boards all over their office walls. Did that continuity also include those employees’ accrued termination benefits rights?

Time for notes:

Note #1: “Hoolie” is a word. My late Dad was very entertained by the news that my new boss 28 years ago was so named.

Note #2: “Drunk Racoon in the Hardware Store!” I know this item is just for Stan… as he sent me the link… as if I didn’t already have the link to the story ready… just for Stan.*****

Definitely not on the hoolie, A. Gladman shared thoughts on a private spot at his parents’ home, a place to have a beer on a summer day:

There’s a spot where I like to sit and have a quiet beer when I visit them in the summer. I try to manage it at least once during each trip. It’s on a balcony, or a raised deck I suppose you might call it, that overlooks their small back garden. Wooden steps run down into the garden from one corner, and at the back a door takes you into their kitchen dining room. I like to sit there in a white plastic chair with my back to the wall, and look out to the sea, just a hundred or so yards away. Pale in the distance, the Isle of Wight rises like a cloud bank on the horizon. The wind blows; it’s always windy. The noise of waves breaking on the shingle echoes all around. Gulls and far-off wind chimes punctuate its ceaseless murmur. Somewhere nearby a rope slaps against a metal pole. 

More into this moment, Tyler Maas in the Milwaukee Record shared thoughts on his own sort of idyllic prospect, one that popped into his mind after the first major snowfall of the season:

Days like last Saturday are the closest thing we get to a “Snow Day” as adults. Any plans you made before weather became a factor are probably no more. The idea of driving anywhere seems unwise and borderline dangerous. Once you shovel the snow that’s already accumulated, all that’s left to do is wait to do it again when the flurries are through. So why not embrace the situation, put on some boots, and trudge to the nearest bar?… With driving and other aspects of everyday life temporarily removed from the equation, why not stay a while? You’ll surely burn off the calories from that extra round (or two) on the stroll home. Not to mention the energy you’ll expend during the second/third round of shoveling and when you inevitably dust off your car as the responsibilities of “real life” eventually come back into view.

Nice. Now, finally and with the greatest respect, I have to say that I can’t agree with the position taken by Laura H in The Telegraph last week on the issue of lowering the drink driving standards in England:

A recent survey has found that 58% of adult consider driving after drinking, even if the driver is within legal limits, to be “socially unacceptable.” This has inevitably emboldened the anti-alcohol lobby: already police chiefs and the British Medical Association have called for the rules to be made harsher – their proposals would push drivers who have a single pint over the limit. This is framed as a question of public safety, but in reality it’s yet another example of overzealous campaigners blaming all of society’s ills on the demon drink, without giving cause or justification.

I suppose my first issue is the language. Not sure the embolding was inevitable given those bold beings described have already been on their mission for years and years, according to the anti-anti-alcohol lobby. And not sure the campaigners are necessarily more than zealous. Can one be?****** But the real issue is without justification. This is particularly the case as the first observation is a justification: a majority of Britons are against the current scheme. So, too, the second observation: the police and doctors want stricter rules. We can disagree on the quality of these justifications but that’s what they are.  It’s also worth noting that context poses an obvious issue too. England, Wales and NI have the highest permitted levels of alcohol in all of what was once known as Europe. By over 50%. Check it out. It’s simply a fact that the criminalization of drinking and driving is a reasonable response to the harm it causes. As a lawyer, thirty years ago I spoke to an appeal of a driver who blew 0.082 so these things can be close. But the bottom line is no one is being forced to stop you from drinking. Just stop driving. Maybe try walking. Or get a cab. Or a bus. Or a bike. Or a designated driver. Or another place to drink.

And with that, I am done. It is Yule and I am off to maybe have a beer or maybe shovel or just fret about being late in getting the lights up and having note bought the pressies and what about the tree and … well… as I do that please also check out, Boak and Bailey on this and every Saturday and then sign up for their entertaining footnotes, too. Look out for Stan when he feels the urge (now that he’s “retired” from beery news posts) from Budapest or wherever – as he is getting active again. Then listen to a few of Lew’s podcasts and get your emailed issue of Episodes of my Pub Life by David Jesudason on certain Fridays. And Phil Mellows is at the BritishBeerBreaks. Once a month, as noted, 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 has returned from his break since April so you can embrace the sweary Mary! There is reading at The Glass which is going back to being a blog. Any more? We have Ontario’s own A Quick Beer and All About Beer is still offering a range of podcasts – and there’s also Mike Seay’s The Perfect Pour. Plus follow the venerable Full Pint podcast! 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 may well be are back every month!

*But also as one who has a list of gains and savings for more than two decades that I have influenced to the point that I am effectively appellata free resource…
**But bring back the word “ciderkin” by the way.
***I have just passed the fourth anniversary of slowly getting back from a point which same me using a cane after badly wrenching a knee weeding a zucchini patch. Why? Life stressors resolved, sure. Daily small steps like stretching and exercises, yes. But most of all daily recording the data related to more and more of what I do: intermittent fasting goals (+/-17 hours a day); hours and quality slept (one mid-week sucky sleep does not make for a medical issue); drinks intake (down to 1.27 per day ave) and to do list daily chores achieved (done… next?). But by the way that whole life expectancy shift stuff has little to do with aging and much more to do with infant mortality. So relying on that to discuss the difference between retiring at 60, 65 or 70 means zippo.
****Sorry…
*****Stan also advised he will be reading these new notes from a train between Amsterdam and Budapest so everyone wave in that direction, please.
******Do Zealots look over at the overzealous and think “Jim’s over doing it a wee bit tonight… giving zeal a bad name…”

The Mid-November Shock Of The First Real Freeze Runs Through These Beery News Notes

Remember all those sunny garden shots? Just a week ago?  The wonderful colours?  The ripening fruit?  Well, it’s now sky shit season and looks to stay that way for another four if not five months. Snow, winds off the lake, freezing rains. Commisserations welcome in the comments. It was also Remembrance Day on Tuesday so plenty to be solemn about for a stretch before the holiday season really begins. I took and posted that photo twenty years ago now,* of a Second World War RCN officer waiting for the service at Navy Memorial Park here by our waterfront.

We start with a look to the past. Boak and Bailey showed their stuff again this week with an excellent post seeking out the source of the beer with the branding “Rustic Ale“:

A slight surprise there might be that ‘rustic’ clearly did not indicate that the beer would be strong or rough, like Spingo. But at about 3.5% ABV, Rustic Ale would be considered at the lower end of session strength even today, never mind before the First World War. Elsewhere there are instances of the phrase ‘rustic ale’ being used not as a brand name but to describe the type of beer drunk in country inns, by country folk. The earliest of these references we could find is from 1855. Another, from 1909, suggests that healthy country girls (think Honoria Glossop) “will face her glass of rustic ale like a young farmer”.

Excellent. And Breandán Kearney wrote about lost Belgian styles for The Brussels Times Sunday magazine and the steps which have been taken to revive them:

Seef or Seefbier, for example, once the pride of Antwerp, vanished with the collapse of small urban breweries during the First World War. A decade ago, Johan Van Dyck claimed to have uncovered an old recipe for a seef beer which he reincarnated with a barley, wheat, and oat grainbill and a creamy, unfiltered profile. In recreating it, Van Dyck reignited city pride with a new generation of drinkers. In Lier, the brown-amber ale caves was revived by a local heritage guild, which commissioned it to be recreated from archival recipes (but only for serving in cafés within the town walls). And then there’s uitzet, a mixed fermentation brown ale from East Flanders that local brewers such as DOK Brewing Co, have tried to recreate in Ghent.

You know, I’ve been told I have a creamy unfiltered profile. Speaking of diligent research, Ron has pulled back the curtain and shared an update on his methodology:

I finally bit the bullet yesterday. Adding an extra column to my main beer gravity spreadsheet.  I’d been planning on doing it for a couple of years. And had started using a new format table for any gravities I harvest. But it was getting out of hand. It was over 2,000 lines. And when I wanted to look up beers from a specific brewery, I had to search in both tables. Time to merge the two. It itself, that wasn’t particularly difficult. Just add the column to the main table and tack the entries from the temporary table on the end. Except, most of the entries now had a blank column. Which I’ll have to add. Quite a palaver, in a table of 25,000 entries. I started the work yesterday. And have completed maybe 25%. It’s dull, tedious work. But it will be worth it, when I’m done. In case you’re wondering, the column is the town where the brewery is located…

A-HAH!! I knew it. I knew all these beers were from places. And, I understand, they are made… in ways. On that point, here we have first The Beer Nut  and then Stan noticing The Beer Nut on the effect of Thornbridge’s conservation of one part of Marston’s Burton Union brewing set.

TBN: “With luck, one of England’s many fine beer writers will be able to explain what difference the equipment actually makes to the product, beyond the press releases and collaborations.”

SH: “I’m inclined to believe the claims that using the system changes the beer. You might even be able to run a study which compares otherwise identical beers fermented in stainless steel and in the union. Or wood versus the union.”

Two of the best sets of tastebuds in the scribbling set right there. Perhaps the point is simply to continue the use of the way. Interesting notes from one commentator: “notoriously laborious to clean and have higher racking losses than other systems” but “they help in the maintenance of a healthy and regular pitching yeast.” So there may well be value in the way even if it isn’t necessarily translated to the glass.

Pellicle‘s feature this week sent shivers. Not because the piece by Joel Hart about the Mort Subite in Altrincham, a Manchester suburb, was anything but a great portrait of a well loved tavern. But because I had one of the worst drunks ever – followed by a two day hangover – drinking in a place by that name in Paris when I was young and stupid in 1986. Fortunately for me, the five guys from Gascony (spoilers) offering to throttle me did not realize I was with the pack of very large gents in the corner. Events ensued. To the contrary, on Manchester’s version we read:

…it’s quieter, broodier, and more intimate. “I’ve lost hours of time in there,” says Chris Bardsley, who runs Altrincham beer spots The Beacon on Shaw’s Road and Batch Bottlestore in King’s Court. “You’re in there, you don’t see the outside world, you’re just caught in it.”

Glad I wasn’t caught in it, if I am being honest. Back to the question of the tasty, photographer Sean McEmerson provided us with an fabulously detailed essay on the making of green hop beer from Hukins Hops in Tenterden, Kent:

At Hukins Hops, the team carefully assesses each variety across their sprawling, 50-acre farm, checking the hops’ ripeness before deciding when to harvest. Over the last few years, that process has only become more difficult as the UK’s climate has grown more unpredictable. This summer, Kent—one of the country’s key hop-growing regions—experienced record-breaking temperatures during a rolling series of heatwaves. The result was an earlier-than-expected harvest. “Lots of factors contribute to how long harvest takes—machine breakdowns, picking weather, staff, and drying capacity”, Glenn Whatman from Hukins tells me. “This year we had an average crop due to the drought in June, but the machine ran as smoothly as ever and the picking team persevered through torrid weather”.

I had no idea hop pickers’ hands became tarred with resin. Speaking of photo essays, Martin has returned to his winter quarters in Rye, England and took a stroll to see Jeff at the Ypres Castle Inn:

Jeff greets me at the bar, where I sit and watch the magic of a great pub unfold over the next hour. Louie (sp. ?) is the star today, another of Jeff’s great staff team, but all the customers seem lovely too. Not serving food helps. Children bring their empty glasses back to the bar and say “Thank you“. Their proud parents say “Well done“. I say “Well done“, too, perhaps a little enthusiastically. I’m not normally comfortable sitting at the bar, but watching a great pub like the Ypres in full flow on a Saturday evening is a thing of wonder.

Somewhat to the contrary – or perhaps in ignorance of the above – the stomp on craft continues. Auto scene reporter Ben Shimkus was in the The Daily Mail with his autopsy of US craft beer under a “hipster” inclusive headline, dipping heavily into the finger-pointy zingers bucket as he did:

America’s craft beer phase seems to be fizzling out. Expensive beers flavored with ‘notes of citrus and pine’ or brewed with an extra batch of hops are losing favor in US grocery stores and bars. Instead, giant beer brands featuring utilitarian flavors and low prices are all the rage. There might be a charming reason why: Millennial-aged craft beer fans have grown up… the lower-cost seeking has had a damaging impact on America’s microbrewery industry, which dominated younger parts of the US and attracted cornhole players. Dozens of sites have permanently shut down.

Is that tone really necessary? Well, besides “cornhole players” which has always been a self-inflicted wound as far as I can tell. No, the pile on is getting to feel like, you know, making fun of people who just really like their cats.** Perhaps the trade friendly euphemisms like “consolidation” and “mature market” are usefully kinder descriptors for the slump.

A saner explanation of the current situation has been provided by Ron Emler in The Drinks Business – with an particular focus on China:

For the past couple of years, it has been the group mantra from big booze bosses that the current downturn in sales is cyclical rather than structural. But the cracks in that corporate front are widening. No longer can the combined effects of squeezed wallets, the rise of cannabis-infused offerings, the increasing uptake of weight loss drugs which reduce the desire for alcohol and the lifestyle choices being taken by Gen Z be dismissed out of hand as inconsequential in the longer term… According to Morningstar senior analyst Jennifer Song, China’s younger generation rejects the “intense sensation of high-alcohol baijiu”. She said: “We believe expanding low-alcohol baijiu offerings is a long-term trend, driven by demographic change and rising health awareness.”

Jason Wilson takes the broader issue from another angle, the problem posed to premium categories when there is common access to things which have been formerly accepted as luxuries:

The problem right now is that “fancy goods are everywhere,” according to The Economist… I wonder if wine needs to try so hard to present itself as more of an experience than a thing. After all, simply opening a bottle of wine—on a sunny day in the park, during a late night conversation on a roof deck, on a lazy, decadent afternoon in bed—is the prelude to experience. The drinking of the wine in a place with people is the experience. We would do well to remember that. Perhaps it’s more a matter of shifting perspective, framing, and being open to more possibilities.

So do we need to – or should we – buy as much booze to still be interested in the stuff? If you’ve read the stuff posted around here very much over the years you will know that has been always been a question in my head. Do we consumers ally ourselves with producers at all costs? Or are we wanting a decent pint at a decent price? Or both? Should alcohol to play a smaller but healthier role in life or does one root for a business rebound back to the irrational exuberence of craft beer a decade ago? Or even further back even to the 1980s when understanding hard to find beer conveyed a certain status, as Boak and Bailey recently considered. Sometimes the enthusiasts’ approach to beer writing strikes me as similar to the unrequited yearning for the experience of being young again. Were there longings for Rustic Ale in the years after it faded, too?

Speaking of longings, Jeff is looking for an explanation of the price of NA beer building on last week’s note from hereabouts on the update from BMI on the price of the stuff:

In the past decade, non-alcoholic beer has gone through an important upgrade over the old Clausthaler era. Breweries started taking it seriously, and the quality, while still not as good as regular beer, is vastly better than it used to be. Athletic demonstrated that there was a market out there for N/A beer made in modern craft styles. The big question is how big that market will become in the U.S. Here I am a lot more bearish than the industry, for these reasons. It’s a premium-priced product that is inferior in taste to regular beer or other non-alc alternatives. The proliferation of N/A brands is hurting rather than helping, too. With the flood into the market, people are exposed to more of the poor examples. A novelty factor in being able to buy a N/A hazy buoyed the industry, but I have a real question if that’s sustainable.

Is any of it sustainable? And… what is it that would be sustained? Not a small question so we can leave it there for now. Until next week, I will be focusing all my energy at the Grey Cup game and shouting at the sky… and once again thanking my luck for the pack of gents in that corner of that bar. As I do, please also check out, Boak and Bailey on this and every Saturday and then 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 Lew’s podcasts and get your emailed issue of Episodes of my Pub Life by David Jesudason on certain Fridays. And Phil Mellows is at the BritishBeerBreaks. Once a month, as noted, 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 has returned from his break since April so you can embrace the sweary Mary! There is reading at The Glass which is going back to being a blog. Any more? We have Ontario’s own A Quick Beer and All About Beer is still offering a range of podcasts – and there’s also Mike Seay’s The Perfect Pour. Plus follow the venerable Full Pint podcast! 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 may well be are back every month!

*Lordy…
**By the way, ours finally killed a goddamn mouse after over ten years so there was a smidge of respect – but it wasn’t like I ran to the grocery to buy kitty treats or anything. I have standarrds. I still keep a portrait of the late great slayer of mice Mrs. Beaton (1999-2012) on my office desk. Frobie got all the attention but Beaon was the killer.

This Week’s Fantastically Even Dramatically Encouraging Beery News Notes For W3Oct25

Usually I have something to share at the outset. Something cheery. But as the garden is on its last legs, as the month slips toward Halloween and then we deal with the changing of the clocks, it seems that any pretense that the year isn’t beginning the final act is fading fast. But… but… before all that, there is one more bit of baseball. One of the most exciting ALCS runs ever now turns into the World Series between a startlingly strong Blue Jays against the defending Dodgers led by the semi-deity known as Mr. Ohtani.  Look at him!  He’s the perfect player. Kyusung Gong of the AP took it and it sums up Ohtani neatly. He barely looks like he’s putting in any effort. His batting is the same. Yet… the Jays look good. So, even though neither of the two are my team, I will be feet up this Friday evening for game one. If you have never watched baseball you may want to watch this. One more thing. The Jays celebrate with US beer brewed under license in Canada. Lordy:

The Toronto Blue Jays are sponsored by Labatt Brewing Company, the Canadian-headquartered brewery that represents big-name booze brands like Corona, Stella Artois, Palm Bay and, yes, Budweiser. That’s why, upon the win, you could see an icy barrel stocked to the brim with bottles and cans of Budweiser within an arm’s reach of every Blue Jays player at any given time.

As I say, not my team. Next, some beery news from the world of British fitba. First up, we have Jessica Mason’s report on the new brewery being build at second tier Wrexham, Wales care of those struggling team owners Reynolds and McElhenney:

Since the duo bought Wrexham AFC five years ago, the club has risen up the ranks from the non-league to England’s second tier. Added to this, the brand has also found fame via a Disney+ documentary Welcome to Wrexham, which followed the club’s story and focused global attention on the area, also boosting tourist numbers. Then, last year, Reynolds and McElhenney acquired a majority stake in local brewery Wrexham Lager…. now there are plans afoot for other drinks brands, including Wrexham Lager to have a boosted presence with the proximity of the new brewery being developed nearby. The application reads: ‘The Wrexham Lager proposals, consisting a brewery and associated taproom and museum, will utilise existing buildings on the site.’

But then we read of the news out of England’s seventh tier as reported by Phil Hay of the newsletter, The Athletic FC:

The club were Bracknell Town, based 35 miles to the west of London. Their video drew attention because in it, their coach — the recently-appointed Matt Saunders — hammered a number of his senior players, criticising their conditioning, their attitude and their tendency towards alcohol. “I’m not going to let this football club be dragged down by people that can’t run, can’t look after their body, want to go and drink after games,” he said. “It ain’t happening.” Bracknell are having a time of it. They’re bottom of the Southern League Premier South with six points from 11 matches, and Saunders’ arrival hasn’t picked them up. 

Difference? Maybe five tiers? Boak and Bailey have also made a call via an alert on Patreon, asking for a boost to the next level:*

It’s been a while since we tackled a big question like where did lager louts come from, what’s the deal with nitrokeg beers or when did video games in pubs become a thing? We’ve got an idea to write something about The Prospect of Whitby but beyond that, what are some other questions we might tackle? We like to add the sum of collective knowledge – to pull facts together into one place where they can be found. Suggestions welcome.

In a time when some other voices have gone a bit silent or seem a little discouraged, this reminder of the need to add to the sum of collective knowledge is encouraging. Solidarity friends! Send then your ideas or even scribble your own somewhere and let us know. Similarly, The Pellicle feature this week is by Lily Waite-Marsden, a portrait of Macintosh Ales of London which, at the outset, does not offer an initial encouraging prospect:

There’s a small yard a moment away from Stoke Newington Church Street in North East London. At its entrance an entirely perfunctory and heavily battered railing protects the square of overgrown cobbles from the pavement beyond. On the first floor of the old stable buildings on three sides, four green doors lead to nothing but a 10-foot drop; the yard is hemmed with various shades of green paint—faded and flaking patchwork grass, darker, glossier army-surplus vehicle paint. But for a hand-painted sign and a number of planters giving the game away, passing on a quiet morning or late at night it might look a little tired, unloved.

But then… it was encouraging. And, turning to brewing history, Andreas Krennmair wrote about a favourite topic of mine, Schenkbier. Except when I looked at the stuff it was from the perspective of what was brewed by German speaking immigrants to the USA. Schenk was referenced regularly descriptions of the brewing trade in the third quarter of the 1800s and was described as one of three species of German beer which had crossed the ocean: lager, bock and schenk.  Andreas found some information from a few decadeds earlier that helped him unpack what was in the glass:

What’s surprising is how different the beers were in terms of original gravity and attenuation. OGs between 11 and 12.6 °P are absolutely solid, and while some of these beers didn’t have nearly as much alcohol as modern lager beers, they’d still be alright to drink, although probably on sweeter side for modern tastes. Especially the beer from Heller stands out, with a respectable 11.5 °P but only 2.9% ABV and a very high residual extract. Doing the calculation, the real attenuation was less than 40%, so this beer must have been a sweet mess. Compare this with modern lager beer, with real attenuation around 65%.

Perhaps syrupy low kick gak is the next big thing. It could be already. There is going to be a next big thing, right? Maybe not. North America’s oldest brewer, Molson, is laying off staff. And not just any staff – the white collar staff of MCBC:

Beer maker Molson Coors Beverage Company said on Monday it would cut about 400 jobs, or nine per cent of its salaried workforce in the Americas by year end as part of a corporate restructuring plan. The company’s Americas workforce consists of employees in the U.S., Canada and certain countries in Latin America. A spokesperson for the company told CBC News in an email that the restructuring “only applies to salaried non-union employees across the Americas.” The company is not providing a breakdown by country or province at this stage, and no offices or breweries will shut down as part of the restructuring, the spokesperson added.

It’s always the suits who suffer. The trends in beer are not comforting. Last week’s noting that craft might need saving** not only got some chatter going but I played Mr Smil and dipped my toe into the math that we are living with seeking to compare those apples to apples:

Interesting to note that 2024, Athletic NA beer alone was 400,000 bbl. Is NA beer a comparable to other booze? Is it booze? We should probably compare alcohol sector to alcohol sector. Take just that one brewery’s production out, the drop is more like 14%…  Worse news if we believe Beer Marketers Insights (Oct 1): “Craft beer trends (ex non-alc) steepened over the summer to volume -8.4% and $$ -6.4%; several pts below total beer volume -5.6% and $$ down 5.1% for 18 wks thru Sep 20 vs yr ago.” So 2019-24 at -14% (non-NA) could be down -20% for 2019-25.

Or more *** The Guardian wrote about another aspect of the retraction from alcohol – the loss of a cornerstone element of overall profitability for restaurants:

The industry standard markup on alcohol in a high-end restaurant is anywhere from 150% upwards, making it one of, perhaps the only, high-margin products on the menu. As people drink less, it could leave restaurants in a precarious position. For every restaurateur willing to go on the record to discuss the shifting tide, there were an equal number who refused to be interviewed for this story. Some because they say they’ve witnessed no change in customer behaviour, and others because the subject matter is at odds with promoting a hospitality business. While it doesn’t necessarily do wonders for the bottom line, diners drinking less at the table does create a more harmonious environment for restaurant workers. Fewer drunk bodies means less risk overall.

Me, I usually just have water but still try to tip like I’ve had a bit of booze. Where will this all lead?  What can be relied upon to get the attention of the public. Innovation? The Beer Nut himself spent last weekend in Warsaw and spotted one of the more innovative cultural expressions of beer culture – a sausage randall as illustrated in thumbnail format… in consideration of some of your delicate constitutions. Much consternation was found in the comments which followed his Bluesky post – but I really can’t see the difference between a lager washed through sausages and sausages washed down with lager. Much depending of course on the quality of the sausage.

Speaking of quality, Matty C. has written about the return of Boddingtons for CAMRA’s What’s Brewing and has placed it in the moment:

Being honest for a second, this beer is not reinventing the wheel – there are far more interesting and flavourful pints available, even from JW Lees itself. But I consider the resurgence of Boddingtons is about more than flavour. Reports are already coming in from Manchester venues that are not able to keep up with demand, turning away disappointed drinkers who want to be seen with a pint of it in hand. This is significant, because those who are drinking it are young, fashionable, and about as far away from the cask beer stereotype as you can possibly get. This can only be considered a positive. For many drinkers, especially younger ones, a row of handpulls featuring a range of products they’ve never heard of can be incredibly intimidating. In Boddingtons, a brand has been revived that people can easily trust.

Heritage as maybe heritage? Maybe. Speaking of maybe, there is always the potential for maybe not – as one liquor dome in Northern Ireland found out recently:

Planners order the business to remove shipping containers used as a bar and storage, as well as a takeaway food cabin with a serving hatch on a Skipper Street – a side road that runs past the beer garden. Also to go are steel boundaries with wood covering that include an access gate and windows, an enclosed walkway entrance, a “tent structure”, boundary fencing in excess of two metres in height not adjacent to a road, and storage areas for bins and beer kegs. City planners say they’ve reached their verdict as “it appears there has been a breach of planning control” on the site.

Finally and probably relatedly, here is an interesting snippet of an unlocked article from the Financial Times written by Charles Spencer (Princess Di’s brother) on the question of authenticity which includes this:

When, in 1992, I inherited Althorp, my family’s ancestral home, I felt a responsibility to return it to how it had been for much of its 500-year history. For, over the previous decade and a half, the interior had been lavishly redecorated by my stepmother, Raine, whose taste and palette were inherited from her flamboyant mother, romantic novelist Barbara Cartland… I turned to John Cornforth, perhaps the leading British architectural historian of the time, to help me return things to how they should be. We toured Althorp’s principal rooms, assessing them for Raine damage. Cornforth’s kind reassurances dwindled as we went. Finally, on entering the South Drawing Room — a cacophony of clashing pinks (on the walls, on the floor, in the curtains) — Cornforth rocked back in his tightly drawn lace-ups. “Goodness,” he mused. “I really can’t help you here .  As he departed Althorp that afternoon, he lobbed me a catch-all mantra that he hoped might help: “Good taste is authenticity — and authenticity is good taste.”

The point is excellently made. But what does this have to do with beer? Only on the idea of how his hunt for authenticity based on that saying became for Spencer a no-doubt very expensive exercise in conformity. Realizing that, he argues for a balance between respect for what has come before with a realization that you need to live in the present, too. Can we compare the return of Boddingtons or the sweet mess that was historic schenk or that sausage randall with the clashing pinks of a devotee Barbara Cartland’s fashion sense?  Obviously even the “don’t yuk their yum” level of junior beer expert might balk at the more garish, the most lurid of these pleasures. But where to draw the line?

While we consider that over the week ahead, please also check out, Boak and Bailey on this and every Saturday and then 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 that now newly refreshed Lew’s podcasts and get your emailed issue of Episodes of my Pub Life by David Jesudason on certain Fridays. And Phil Mellows is at the BritishBeerBreaks. Once a month, as noted, 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 has been on hiatus since April but the archives are out there with the all the sweary Mary! 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 and All About Beer is still offering a range of podcasts – and there’s also Mike Seay’s The Perfect Pour. Plus follow the venerable Full Pint podcast! 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 may well be are back every month!

*Formatted to fit, to protect the innocent perhaps but mainly to fit.
**Jeff updated his thoughts, by the way, but it did make me wonder why what one wants should be limited to what some producers feel they can provide. Perhaps the former suits of Molson now share that feeling.
***A bear of beer! 

The Beery News Notes For The Threat Of Frost And The Yanks And Jays In What Might Just Be A Post-Passion World

Well, since we last met… yes, fine… the Red Sox lost last Thursday. But then the Yankees (who beat the Sox… my Sox) got their own butts kicked in the first two games of the next series by the Jays who took it all in game four last night which… sorta made me feel… schadenfreudig? Is that the word? I dunno. Or is it dünno? Anyway, the other word on my mind is frost. I will only know at sunrise this Thursday morning if the sheets and covers that I threw over the tomatoes and basil and beans did the job. (Update: -0.3C at 6 am!) But it is autumn. And it doesn’t matter if there is no frost for the two weeks after today if the frost came today. Most years, with luck, I can coax something or another to keep on growing right up to November. With luck.

Speaking of words, on Tuesday Jeff wrote about the doom and gloom in the beer trade, reviving some thoughts from 2013 as he did – a discussion in one way about perceptions that the choice of words convey as much as the context. The context being if one is on the way up or the way down. This week’s news notes seem to carry a bit of the weight of those sorts of perceptions so I feel like this sort of preamble is needed to remind ourselves that it’s just the point in time we find ourselves in. We need to reflect. To consider our lot. Sorta how I feel when I look at the black leaves of a tomato patch after a killing frost. When I reflect. And swear a little. So I will perhaps a bit intentionally mix the bad news with some things that are lighter and see what happens. Good thing there’s plenty to read.

First, about that cyberattack* in Japan on Asahi that I mentioned last week. It seems that it has been resolved but I hadn’t appreciated how it create quite serious issues for the broader Japanese bevvy and snacking market:

Most of the Asahi Group’s factories in Japan were brought to a standstill after the attack hit its ordering and delivering systems on Monday. Major Japanese retailers, including 7-Eleven and FamilyMart, have now warned customers to expect shortages of Asahi products… Asahi is the biggest brewer in Japan, but it also makes soft drinks and food products, as well as supplying own-brand goods to other retailers… In its latest statement, Asahi said that as a result of containment measures following the attack, ordering and shipment systems in Japan had been affected and it was also unable to receive emails from external sources.

Speaking of containment, consider Mr. Gladman on two types of entryways to basement bars and how their architecture guides the experience:

The street-steps-door type of basement bar usually has windows somewhere on its street-facing wall and so maintains a connection to the city outside (Type A Basement Bar in the Gladman Taxonomy of Bars…)  Bars like this can be hard to find even if you know about them… It’s a tiny adventure that ends with a delicious reward. These bars are often unpretentious and cosy — everyone is hunkered down together, hidden away in a prime spot, unnoticed by the schmoes passing by just a few feet above. The other, street-door-steps type of basement bar (Type B) is even more concealed at street level, often offering just a small sign above a door. Within this lurks a clipboard-wielding, radio-headset-wearing guardian, like Cerberus at the gates to a boozy underworld. Once you’re in, it’s often entirely devoid of natural light. It is its own world, womb-like and all encompassing.

Not so many people walking down these sorts of steps in Brazil – both Type A and B – which is reasonable given the news:

…the market has a new worry: the crisis caused by contamination of distilled beverages with methanol. For now, it’s not possible to determine the impact of this on the beer industry going forward. On the one hand, bars are emptier and parties have been canceled due to the negative repercussions of the contamination. On the other hand, greater consumer concern about cocktails has led to a strong shift toward beer, seen as safer.

My dive bar tourist trip to Rio is now officially cancelled. But more weclome might be a stop at The Dog and Bell in Deptford, London which is the subject of this week’s feature in Pellicle penned… or perhaps rather keyboard clicked by Will Hawkes:

This backstreet boozer in a historically unglamorous part of town has not only survived the pub cull of the past few decades, it has thrived. Indeed, few London pubs are currently more fashionable. How? Well, for all the Dog and Bell’s singularity, its story tracks the evolution of pubs in modern London from the 1970s, when they were ubiquitous, to now, our frantic, distracting era of Instagram Guinness and event culture, when a simple pint in the pub is no longer good enough reason to get off the sofa. It’s been a long journey, but at every key junction over the past 50 years this charismatic pub has taken the right turn. 

A loving portrait of a welcome local and perhaps unexpected gem. Conversely, I don’t expect to be following in the footsteps of  Jason Wilson who brought an extreme level of exactitude to the consideration of an extremely expensive beverage – coffee that costs $30,000 a kilo:

Each sip I tried—and we were served small sips because of the limited amount of this coffee—had its own personality. Each producer and variety had a different flavor profile, mouthfeel, aroma, even color. While some may regard coffee tastings like this one as snobby or ridiculous, I appreciate the intense mindfulness and attention to detail coffee fanatics have. In one sip of coffee, there are flowers, fruits, foods, and even songs. I tried each of them for myself, then read the judge descriptions from the Best of Panama auction to compare thoughts. Some may disagree, but I try to treat it as if there is no right and wrong, just opinions.

And, speaking of opinions, Boak and Bailey posted a bit of a questionaire on the status of Belgian beer culture, asking folk for their thoughts about whether the beers and pubs they encountered on a recent trip were (my words) out of date duds or treasures at risk:

There’s also something about how the beers we tried on this recent trip didn’t seem to have evolved from Belgian brewing tradition so much as they were inspired directly by American-led homebrewing culture. It’s really weird to drink a Belgian-brewed saison and think, huh, this tastes like one of those ‘farmhouse IPAs’ people were making back home in about 2012. When we think of newer Belgian breweries we do like, it’s because they’ve found a way to push the parameters while still producing beer that tastes and feels Belgian.

This generous sort of the asking of the questions is a very useful tool of one is wanting to advance one’s education. Seek the views of others to check your own assumptions. Among the responses, the particularly well-placed Eoghan provided a lot of insight from the local point of view:

I don’t disagree that Belgium has one of the richest and most diverse beer cultures in Europe, and it is a small miracle that so many idiosyncratic beer traditions managed to survive the tumultuous 20th century – more tumultuous here in Belgium than they maybe allow for. But it was their proposition that Belgian beer culture is defined by evolution not revolution that prompted my little piece of anachronistic time travel above. It is true that Belgian brewers – to borrow an idea I first stole from fellow Belgophile Joe Stange – are past masters at co-opting and finetuning wider brewing trends to make them palatable in Belgium. My contention is, however, that the history of Belgian beer is more of a Hegelian dialectic, a process of thesis-antithesis-synthesis evidenced less by evolution that by periods of stability punctuated by significant, discombobulating ruptures.

See, that is great. Fascinating – and I don’t even know what half of that up there means! Another thing I don’t know is whether a Spanish beer brewed in Britian in a British brewery owned by a Spanish brewing firm is Spanish or not:

This week Damm will make its first meaningful manufacturing foray outside Iberia when it opens a brewery in Bedford. The move represents an investment of almost €100 million (£87 million) and will create scores of jobs. The company is going to great lengths to ensure its UK-brewed beers taste the same as those made in Barcelona by sticking to the original recipe and investing in the equipment to ensure the product is identical.

Hmm… I still don’t know. But if we are sticking with the examination of not only how things became what that are but also what are these things in themselves, there is no better assessor than The Beer Nut who wrote about the recent final edition of the annual Borefts beerfest:

Two brewery stands at the 2025 Borefts Beer Festival seemed to have almost continuous queues. One of them I could understand: the New England legend Hill Farmstead. Early on day one I tried the barrel-aged coffee porter they brought, The Birth of Tragedy… This isn’t the sort of beer I associate with Hill Farmstead but it has been created with the same level of expertise. Canadian brewery Badlands was next to them and was, if anything, even more popular with the crowds. I had never heard of them so had no idea what the fuss was about. After they sold out and closed up early on the first day, I made sure to be there early on the second… [After trying two of their beers…] I was none the wiser regarding the Badlands fuss. They didn’t seem to be doing things particularly different to a thousand other microbreweries..

So, there you have both broader analysis of the cultures of beer as well as specific examination of each beer, drip by drip in the common context of the fest. All cheery and interesting exercises in digging around and thinking about beer. David Jesudason dug into another chestnut for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, unpacking what’s called IPA but what he calls “IPA”:

The first ‘IPAs’ – note quotation marks – were sent out on East India Company boats in the 1760s and were strong, highly hopped ales due to India’s warm climate: the hops’ antimicrobial properties combined with the high alcohol level aimed to prevent spoilage. These were a cross between a bitter and a barleywine and by the time they arrived in India the hop character had vanished into the Bay of Bengal. They were said to taste more like champagne than beer. In reality, they were a world away from a modern IPA. Samuel Allsopp was the first to market them as Indian Pale Ales – and tie them to colonial decadence – after he copied Londoner George Hodgson’s recipe but crucially brewed them in Burton, where the minerals in the water further emphasized the beer’s hop character. These were bitter British ales or similar to heavily hopped autumn stock beers.

And Laura Hadland took on a task that I wish more writers who focus on beer attempt – discussing wine:

The lights were low for a chic soiree organised by Wines of Hungary at Vagabond Wines in Birmingham yesterday. Twenty five producers were showcasing their wines to an enthused audience of trade, media and more. I had an hour to work my way round the hit list that I had prepared in advance – nowhere near enough time. Especially since the winemakers and their sales teams were so enthusiastic about their wares that they all insisted on having us try every single one.

My experience of Hungarian wine started with some pretty hefty even harsh Bulls Blood out by the town’s water resevoir in high school but I now hoard sweet Tokaji which I never seem to get around to opening as fast as I find them. Of course, that means my wake might be worth the trip as my fam gives them away along with my record collection.

ATJ shared more serious thoughts on mortality in his piece “Funeral Pints” where the swirling thoughts at a time of loss were steadied with gratitude by a bracing pint among others in a pub:

The clunk of loose change as it goes into a pitcher, ‘thank you very much William’, ‘not a problem’, a stooped man with a face that reminds me of a thinner version of WC Fields.’ ‘Here he is.’ ‘He ain’t got a jacket.’ ‘What’s it to you,’ comes the reply. ‘He was dressed up as a boy scout yesterday,’ says another voice. The man with the long face who photographed his breakfast is having a talk with himself, while elsewhere pints are piling up on tables. Tattoos, chewing, chomping, swallowing, gulping, laughing, ‘listen mate’, finger pointed without malice. We’d better get to the funeral.

The drink finds a place in so many moments. And does the job. Even now at a time which we are subject to so much that feels like wave upon wave of a grim big picture, like this data* from Beer Marketers’ Insights:

Craft beer trends (ex non-alc) steepened over the summer to volume -8.4% and $$ -6.4%; several pts below total beer volume -5.6% and $$ down 5.1% for 18 wks thru Sep 20 vs yr ago. And when comparing craft’s yr-to-date sales thru Sep 20 vs the same period in 2023, the # of craft vendors (-10%), sub-brands (-13%) and SKUs (-12.5%) are all down double digits.**

From that view of the general, for the double, Jeff also wrote on a specific application in his obit* of Upright, a favourite brewery facing its end:

Craft brewing has spent a huge amount of time navel-gazing over what it means to have a clear vision. This often bled into marketing bromides, as breweries repackaged derivative products as original and creative. That development led to some of the cynicism that marks the mood today. Upright did have a clear vision, however—and Alex seemed almost immune to commercial considerations. Upright always felt more like a sixth-generation Belgian or Franconian brewery than an American craft brewery to me.

A wonderful remembrance of the soon to be no more. Summing up based on all the above, can we draw conclusions? Well we could ask ourselves (yet again*) whether the function of good beer writing to support the industry or to more broadly understand the trade and culture. By way of illustration, consider this:

“…The Guild’s board members are all driven by our shared passion for the beer industry and those who work within it. We’re proud to represent the very best of beer and cider communicators, who are such an important asset to the wider industry…”

A familiar line that’s become cliché and so nothing against the particular speaker. A prominant popular theme voiced for the best part of two decades, perhaps until somewhat recently. I mention that in the context of this article in The New York Times which is, yes, yet another obit* for US craft beer but, perhaps unusually, one that contains some interesting admissions:

This summer, 21st Amendment believed it had found a way to keep at least some of its operations going. It planned to bring in a new partner and start buying smaller craft beer brands that it would brew in San Leandro. But in late August, the lender pulled the plug on that idea. In late September, 21st Amendment closed its flagship brewpub in San Francisco. The San Leandro location is expected to shutter by the end of this month. “We were driven by our passion for craft brewing, and we got so caught up in it that we had blinders around what the reality is for craft brewing right now,” said Shaun O’Sullivan, a co-founder of 21st Amendment. “We’re a cautionary tale right now to anybody who wants to grind down and open up their own place. It’s just not a good time.”

So is / was “passion” an “important asset” or a form of those “blinders“? Whether in business or in writing. Maybe both. What ever happened to well-earned hard-bitten steely-eyed objectivity? Why did we not foresee, just as the rise casinos and later lotto tickets stripped gambling of its vice, how craft beer was infantalizing booze with kiddie friendly fruit flavours in brightly coloured cans – and even converting every tavern into potential seminar spaces.*** I blame the “don’t judge the tastes of others” line. Who writes without hoping to offer incisive opinion? You know, if the beer writers, by error or omission, participated in priming the passion pump with boosterisms during the era of irrational exhuberence… is it not reasonable to consider that the oeuvre itself aided in the downturn to some degree?****  That’s sorta summed up by that old nugget, the one about the rising tide raising all boats that we heard so much about. We also know that the tide falls. Twice a day. Every day. But most folk forgot* to mention that.*****

Doesn’t mean, however, that we can’t learn lessons from the downturn. We might even consider ourselves now “post-passion” in our relation to beer and beer writing. That would be good. Without, you know, sponsored articles or A.I. articles****** or even A.I. sponsored A.I. articles.* That would be better. Based on the above we can see people can and will doubledown and keep digging around, questioning conventions and asking the right questions about what is and what isn’t the good stuff in all this beery culture.******* I’m sure we can. Well, you all can. I just read this stuff.

That’s a lot. And there’s still the footnotes below. While you are chewing on all this, 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 that now newly refreshed Lew’s podcasts and get your emailed issue of Episodes of my Pub Life by David Jesudason on certain Fridays. And Phil Mellows is at the BritishBeerBreaks. Once a month, as noted, 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 has been on hiatus since April but the archives are out there with the all the sweary Mary! 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 and All About Beer is still offering a range of podcasts – and there’s also Mike Seay’s The Perfect Pour. Plus follow the venerable Full Pint podcast! 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 may well be are back every month! Such is life. Such is beer podcasting and newslettering… which, as Ray says, are blogs! And he’s right.

*YIKES!!!
**At least it’s not as bad as in Russia: “In the first half of 2025, retail beer sales in Russia fell by 16.3 percent year-on-year… Due to the increase in excise taxes (they increased by 15.4 percent at the beginning of the year), the cost increased accordingly. In 2023, the average price per liter of beer was 120 rubles, in 2024 — 129 rubles, and at the end of July 2025 it reached 151 rubles per liter — prices have increased by more than a quarter (26 percent) since 2023, Nielsen added.“
***The signs outside the craft beer bars said “Off-flavour Seminars Every Tuesday!” I thought of that when reading this passage from “The Engines and Empires of New York City Gambling”by Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, August 4,  2025: “Gambling, too, now divides the world between those who know enough to make it boring and those who—bored—prefer not to know. They play and lose anyway. Thrilling games, like thrilling cities, thrive on enigmatic imperfections: the small market anomalies that quants scour for an edge, the tells and giveaways that reward the observant and elude the rest. Once all is understood, all is dull. Gambling may once have belonged to the Devil, but I assure you it does no longer. The arrival of organized gambling in its casino form has stripped away even the faded glamour of old miscreants like Rothstein and St. Clair. When, at last, detailed renderings of the proposed Caesars Palace emerged, they were hilariously decorous, showing not crowds of modern Harry the Horses and Nathan Detroits but elegantly dressed men and women in dignified black, playing in poker rooms that looked ready to host a seminar.“
****And to be sure we can also lay much at the door of the evangelizing homogenizing craft industry conference seminars which took a page from time share symposiums. Imperial Pilsner anyone? Everyone?
*****Did I ever mention I spent school years right into undergrad next to the Bay of Fundy? Nevermind. Perhaps now’s the time for the trade’s comms people to adopt of the “Big Yellow Taxi” message – “drink craft: you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.” It could work. Something might.
******Can’t wait for that market sector‘s crash! It’s all relative.
*******BTW there was some great beer writing advice set out in last Saturday’s footnotes from B+B: “Prop Up The Bar is a new blog to us. It’s a proper old-fashioned blog, full of massive photos that haven’t been edited and typos. It’s made us think again that the professionalisation of blogging arguably didn’t do it any favours and has perhaps discouraged people from just having a go, like Nick C, using their blog as a diary. In that context, props are due to Martin Taylor whose blog is well written and well researched, but never feels as if it’s taking itself massively seriously. (Yes, we know, we should watch and learn.) It signals that, actually, you can just have adventures and quickly write them up.“

Your Beery News Notes For The End Of July And The Beginning Of The Back To School Ads

The last day of July. It’s one of the first endings of the year. Well, there is the end of winter but no one regrets that. And the switch from late spring to early summer never really leaves a ripple. But… July. Spent the other evening watching dusk arrive at a nearby conservation area, listening for bobolinks and kingbirds as they snabbed a few last bugs out over the field. Saw a raven. Heard it croak.  Mr. Nature. That’s me. Five Saturdays to Labour Day. But even that date’s lost its sting as it’s the first September that not one kid is in the public school system for twenty-three years. What milestone is left? Last day of July.

First up, David J. announced the roundup for the July edition of The Session with a pretty interesting set of submissions this month, interruping his reguarly scheduled broadcasting:

Today’s Substack is ‘free to air’ – like Test cricket and Premier League football should be – so that the people who have contributed can gain the widest readership possible. (Also a desi publican I was going to interview suffered a bad injury and had to postpone. He’s fine, though, and I’ll be bringing his story soon.) On July 11, I asked various participants to write a blog, web post, newsletter (like this one) or even a SM thread on the subject of food in pubs. I’ve rounded up their work and at the bottom have written about the dangers of being a go-to voice on pub food.

Go have a look. Plenty of good reading. Also well worth a read, Ruvani de Silva has announced the launch of her course hosted by CAMRA on American Heirloom Cider Apples and it is good to see the historical context at the forefront:

Settlers, noticing the tribes’ bountiful orchards and the quality of the land they were cultivating on, were keen to claim it for themselves, unafraid to use violent displacement to do so. In one particularly horrific example, future President George Washington took a break from fighting the British in 1779 to send Generals Clinton and Sullivan to implement a scorched-earth policy across the Six Nations of the Iroquois’ beautiful, fertile Fingers Lake land in upstate New York, burning their flourishing orchards to the ground.

This lines up from some of what I found when researching upstate New York history over a decade ago including Lord Selkirk’s 1803 description of apple orchards around Geneva NY from before the Sullivan raids as well as this description from 1797:

…a person from Scotland has established, at Geneva, a very respectable brewery, which promises to destroy in the neighbourhood, the baneful use of spirituous liquors. The apple and peach orchards, left by the Indians, yield every year abundance of fruit, for the use of the inhabitants, besides making considerable cyder; so much so, that one farmer near Geneva sold cyder, this year, to the amount of one thousand two hundred dollars.*

Speaking of solid research, after last Saturday’s news update was posted by Boak and Bailey, I rushed to their footnotes at Patreon which included this tidbit:

…we’re entering the era of ‘normalism’. People want to drink normal beer, in normal pubs or bars, while eating normal food, and wearing normal clothes… Perhaps because they don’t have the headspace to cultivate less mainstream tastes, or maybe because standing out as an individual feels like a dangerous business in 2025. Or just pointless. We keep seeing young couples dressed head to toe in formless matching beige. 

I thought of that Monday evening when I saw a young man waiting for the lights to change, standing at an intersection in beige Sperry Top Sider clones. They had to be clones, right? I also thought of this when I read Jessica Mason‘s news about the recent rise  in Heineken’s fortunes:

Speaking about the results, Heineken CEO and chairman Dolf van den Brink said: “In the first half, we delivered solid results as organic operating profit grew 7.4% as the operating margin expanded by 26 bps and net revenue increased 2.1%…” Highlighting the strides the business has made, van den Brink pointed out how Heineken’s “volume performance improved across all regions in the second quarter and continued to be of high quality…  Describing how the company has achieved this, van den Brink explained: “Our advantaged geographical footprint helped us to adapt to ongoing macro-economic challenges which impacted consumer sentiment and expenditures.**

Is that so bad? Perhaps green is as much the new beige as beige is. Normal. Makes more sense than spinning in your sheets over and over thinking of all the coulda woulda shouldas. The trend is evident in the US craft scene as summarized by Keith Gribbins at Craft Brewing Business the other day:

The Brewers Association’s 2025 Midyear Report shows an industry still facing strong headwinds. Yet, pockets of growth remain — especially for the smallest on-site brewers. As of June 2025, 9,269 craft breweries were operating in the U.S. — down 1% from a year ago. Closures continue to outpace openings, led by a 3% decline in microbreweries. Taprooms dipped 1%, while brewpub and regional brewery counts remained flat. Craft beer volume also shrank. The BA estimates a 5% year-over-year decline in production. 

Five percent cut in production in the last 12 months is not a “maturing” or any sort of “sideways” something. As one would say in my youth, the arse is out of it. Doug Veliky shared some thoughts about where those buyer might be heading and why the trip isn’t that difficult:

Low-dose THC beverages offer the same qualities that have made light beers, spritzes, and canned cocktails so popular. They are social, easy to enjoy, and deliver a consistent experience every time. Because these drinks are made to be consumed more than once in a sitting, they help establish rituals that lead to frequent, repeat purchases. Instead of being one-and-done, the format allows consumers to stack their way toward their preferred level of buzz.

So, craft may have lost its hook. By which I mean that idea of the ritual habitual. People are still doing things, sure. They’re just not doing those things because they now have the option to do these other things. Or is that the new habit? Being what B+B call normal. It might actually just mean not needlessly complex. Manufactured difficulty. Life’s hard enough without made up difficulties.

Note: not only do the top 40 breweries in the world not include much that can be called craft, onely one and a half seem to be American.

By way of comparison but really only as juxtaposition, Jeff continued his explorations into what makes a saison a saison, following up on his article on the style in Craft Beer & Brewing, illustrating once again that blogging about beer is always superior to the store bought stuff. I particularly liked how he moved the discussion from the romantic (ie lazy / fibby) explanation that saison is “something you feel” to getting to the elements of they stuff including the importance of a coarseness of character to the grains, as decoratively mentioned by Alex Ganum of Upright Brewing of Portland, Oregon:

Not sure if I ever shared this story, but back when we were running Old Salt, our hog rancher kept bugging me about using his triticale, which was the animal feed. He grew it himself and was proud of the quality, but I dismissed it early on thinking, ‘How good can animal feed be? ‘Well, that was dumb, because he eventually just dropped off a bag and it turned out to be incredible (which probably explained part of why his pork was delicious). So we asked him for a pallet and worked it into the Five for about a year or so.

Sixteen years ago, when I had the time to do so, when the kids were little enough that they couldn’t get too far, I grappled with the idea of these sorts of beers and their cousins, back when I could take a Saturday to contemplate such things in the shed. But that right there is as good an explanation as ever I’ve seen: beer made from bits fit for the livestock. Farm yard as much as farm house. Normal may not have time for farm yard.

Speaking of simple pleasures, Katie shared a lovely bit of recollection, a remembrance of Wetherspoons past involving herself and her staff access to discount chips:

When I worked at Wetherspoons many thousands of years ago, the one redeeming feature of the job other than the wage was access to a staff menu, off which we could also take a 50% staff discount. My favourite shift tea from this reduced selection of kitchen scraps was sausage and chips. It was not served with vegetables of any kind. A person can talk shit about Wetherspoons all day, and I will join in, but their chips have always been godly, the best of all the frozen chips. I am certain they are coated in semolina for extra crunch, leaving the centres fluffy and light. With mayonnaise, this dish, which cost me around £1.30 in 2008, was my favourite food. It didn’t make the pub I worked in any better, however. You can’t judge a pub by its chips—sometimes they are simply angels sent to soften the blow.

Normal likes chips and especially good discount chips. Quite right, too. Also alarmingly normal is Martin who has admitted to falling behind in his pub reporting and is trying to catch up which some of the highlights (*ahem*) of his continued touring:

Admit it, you’ve never heard of Cockerton, have you? Neither had I, even though this small Durham village is virtually contiguous (great word) with Darlington and only a few minutes from Piercebridge and my best-read blog post. And it’s got a free space for my campervan from which I can finish Durham’s Guide entries for another year. What Cockerton doesn’t appear to have is much actual character. though it does have excellent podiatry.

Note: at the Vytopna in Prague a little train set delivers your beer…

Finally and for the double, David Jesudason wrote the feature in Pellicle this week, the story of a thriving community pub at the edge of London that makes room for many and much:

Artist Neal Vaughan believes my snap judgment about Carshalton being a bit of a sleepy backwater is wrong. He explains how it’s a hub of creativity, which the Hope is at the centre of. Citing a memory from 2016, Neal recalls when Rodger encouraged him to set up Carshalton Artists’ Open Studios with all meetings and post-event drinks held in the pub. Tuesdays are described as a sacred weekday at the pub by Neal. It’s when folk musicians play an open session, board-game enthusiasts battle against each other at Scrabble, chess and Magic: The Gathering, and on occasion a leather maker taps away while seated on a chair. The pub even has a sailing crew that charters yachts, and when I visit they’re off for 10 days in the Adriatic.

There we are.  The end of trends, the end of a week’s news and the end of the month. It’s sorta normal. And as the sands trickle on down in your personal hourglasses, please check out Boak and Bailey every Saturday. Look out for Stan when he feels the urge now that he’s retired from Monday slot… maybe. 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 newsletter, 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.

*See also History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers at page 13: “The army was to march from their winter quarters on the Hudson to Wyoming; thence up the Susquehanna to Tioga, where another division, under General James Clinton, marching via Otsego Lake, after a diversion into the Onondagas country was to effect a junction, when the combined army, consisting of four brigades of infantry and riflemen, and a park of artillery, was to proceed through the valley of the Chemung; thence northward to Genesee River, destroying crops and houses and everything of value to the Indian as far as could be reached on either side of the trail of the army. The success of the expedition was most complete. Forty towns and more than 200,000 bushels of corn were destroyed, besides vast quantities of pumpkins, beans, melons, and other vegetables, and peach and apple orchards, and a most desolating march executed through the richest portion of the enemy’s country, with small loss to the invaders. Washington was afterwards called by the Indians Hano- dogarear, ” the town destroyer.”
**Oddly, The Independent reports Heineken has suffered losses in the first half of 2025. Who can you trust these days? Other than, you know, me.

Your Sum-Sum-Summah-time Beery News Notes For The Last Thursday Of June 2025

Who knew? See, I now do all those NYT puzzles now, along with my 6:37 am big black coffee, as I try to wake up my brain cells first thing in the morning. This was never my thing. Ever. Until I joined the Wordle covid coping crew. Yet there it is – a clever observation in a Connections solution this week. Those who head out and those who stick around are both the left. Leavers v. leavings. I suppose you knew that one. I spot some sneaky things in this life but miss plenty of the obvious. We all do, I suppose. Just not the same things. We are all framed by our own individual gaps. Which I was thinking about this week when I noticed something this week, bits of writing about writing. Not meta blogging. Just a few little observations. Like Phil Cook who wrote this comment on Boak and Bailey’s on them not spilling all the beans:

I’ve been fascinated by that piece. I guess I still don’t understand why you’d keep those concerns as subtext — or cover them at all, if you didn’t feel you could be more plain about them. The rise and fall of Fox Friday in Australia (rapidly expanding, slickly designed, all that) when the law finally caught up with their shady financier haunts me as a comparison. Lots of people got burned in that collapse. In that case, there wasn’t a Wikipedia page full of priors to point to that might encourage people to be more on guard. But when there is, why not highlight it?

My two cents is that their habit of keeping a few things back helps make their writing so good. A polite but informed reticence. It’s part of their tone that, frankly, keeps you connected as a reader. Conversely, have you ever get a PR email like I did this week – and you know they’ve never read your beer related website?  One that says…

We thought a roundup story of Canadian long weekend brew pairings could be of interest to your audiences…

Lordy. I never though I would have multiple audences. Sweet! Identify yourselves!! Their client will go unnamed. It’s not their fault. (See I can do it, too. I can be restrained.) Somewhat similarly and adopting a stream of consciousness fantasy futurist approach, Dave Infante thinks someone somewhere is willing to pay for a generic PR media campaign for draft beer because it worked for milk a few decades back:

…a cold glass of beer? Normal. Better than normal: aspirational. Colorful in the glass; dynamic with an effervescent head. Emphatically not weirdo sh*t. “Got Milk?” was brilliant because the dairy industry — the f*cking dairy industry — was able to harness the power of marketing to convince the American drinking public that milk — f*cking milk — was glamorous. That was a very deep hole to climb out of! And “Got Milk?” did it. With such a built-in advantage, don’t you think a beer-industry analogue boosting draft beer, which people already like, might be able to generate sales in addition to goodwill?

Lordy Lordy. Who’s paying for that? Not quite as unrestrained this week – yet perhaps also a tad wild eyed – was one Mr. Beeson on the beery business story of the splitting of the UK’s Signature Brew, they now putting the debt in one half and the assets in another to see if some part of the overall thing survives. He posted his story in The Grocer with a 23 June dateline, as he announced on BlueSky as an exclusive, which included a quote from co-founder of said division in progress, Tom Bott, that the “restructure allows us to finally put the challenges of the past behind us and focus on building the future we know Signature Brew is capable of…” mentioning the need to address the “legacy debt” – aka debt. But then on the very same day, Jessica Mason had her story on the same subject published in The Drinks Business:

Speaking exclusively to db about the ordeal that the company has faced to stay afloat, Bott explained: “This restructure allows us to finally put the challenges of the past behind us and focus on building the future we know Signature Brew is capable of. We have built a business that is profitable, resilient and unique, blending great beer with incredible live music experiences. By addressing legacy debt in a controlled way, we are…

Much of the quoted wording attributed to the same Mr. Bott in each story is identical to the other.* Now, we can’t find fault that part of the team guiding Bott and Co. through insolvency restructuring includes a PR / comms specialist who handed out very firm speaking points – but why give both Beeson and Mason the expectation that these were exclusive interviews when they simply were not? No need to leave that hanging implication.

But there is more. The beating that truth and good sense get even worse in this brave new world – as Lars found out this week:

I’ve been preparing for our upcoming holiday in Georgia, and was looking for beer places in Kutaisi. Georgia still has farmhouse brewing, but it’s not 100% clear where, so I was really excited to read this on a site about tourism in Georgia. So excited, in fact, I emailed a woman in Kutaisi who… wrote a bar guide. She’d never heard of it, and suggested it might be AI hallucinations. The moment I read that my doubts about this photo (that’s not a traditional Georgian cauldron) came back with full force. Looking at the page again I see that the whole thing is AI garbage… It’s depressing really. It used to be that you could be fooled by people deliberately lying to you, but now you can even be fooled by a bunch of numbers employed by lazy assholes. They’re not even trying to fool you, just randomly bullshitting.

Wow. Yet, if we reflect upon this, it is even less than bullshitting, too, as there is no intention behind the formation of the falsehood. No thinking mind. It’s less than a lie, less than even the PR fluff stuff we choke upon every week. It all reminded me of something Jordan wrote me a few weeks back:

Do you realize how lucky we were to get into the sweet spot of the internet with Ontario Beer? You couldn’t research it now. The AI has gummed up the works.

Truuf. There was a golden era but this ain’t it. Speaking of modernity induced head scratchers, this set of 1967 interviews on the introduction of drunk driving laws in the UK includes a few suprememly nut-so arguments:

The pedestrian could have too much to drink. He could cause an accident. He doesn’t get tested. It’s the driver who gets tested, and I think that’s unfair… For many many years, I’ve drove with far more liquor in me than I have now…

Would one name and shame now? Or just fondly remember: “… and right there – that’s your great aunt Peggy right there, son, after she came back from Africa and before she went to jail.” Personally, I may not have driven in Kenya or Uganda but I remember working with a guy in 1982-ish Nova Scotia who had cut a hole in the floor of his truck’s cab just below his steering wheel that let him drop the beer cans down to the road at the end of the work day. The past is a foreign land. Or is it?

Moving to the same sort of themes today, Reuters reports that it’s going to be yesterday once more for the US when it comes to the government’s recommendations for healthy drinking:

The U.S. government is expected to eliminate from its dietary guidelines the long-standing recommendation that adults limit alcohol consumption to one or two drinks per day, according to three sources familiar with the matter, in what could be a major win for an industry threatened by heightened scrutiny of alcohol’s health effects. The updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which could be released as early as this month, are expected to include a brief statement encouraging Americans to drink in moderation or limit alcohol intake due to associated health risks…

Is that so wrong? We may not have to concern ourselves with the counting of fingers and who’s wiser than who if the focus moves to the results rather than how many got you there. After all, no one argued that this or than number of ciggies or cheese burgers shorten your life… it was just confirmed that they did.

Speaking of science, I really liked this post by Jeff and the woodland secrets of yeasty studies by two brewers in Oregon including Ferment Brewing’s Dan Peterson:

…he started tinkering. He started by putting the microbes he collected in an incubator, and then growing up little colonies.

“Then, some of them you could start identifying like, yep, these are bacterial colonies, these are yeast colonies. And then there’s always mold at that point, trying cover everything. So as they’re growing, it’s a a race to get colonies [established] before the mold takes over. But once those are split up and on their own petri plates, they’re free of mold and completely isolated from each other.”

Speaking of yeast coated containers, Chimay is selling cans of the good stuff:

The Chimay Dorée, Rouge and Triple – ranging in alcohol content from 4.8% to 8% – are now available in 33cl cans. The heavier Bleue and Verte varieties will remain bottled for the time being. “You don’t drink those in just a few gulps,” said CEO Pierre-Louis Dhaeyer. The abbey has been developing the canned versions for over three years, and has already conducted initial market trials in the United States and Japan, where canned craft beer is far more common.

Can o’ Triple? Mmmm… refreshing. That’s not going to lead to any problems, no sir-ee!

And speaking of the fine arts, this week’s feature in Pellicle has many good paragraphs but this one by Robin Vliebergen in her piece “The Apples of Limburg”  is among the finest paragraphs on the drink I have read this year:

The older they are, the higher these trees grow, and therefore it becomes more difficult to pick their fruit. As their owners also grow older, this creates a very practical problem: the trees become too difficult for them to harvest. They are left with a glut of high-quality local apples, in need of young fit people to pick them. Reinier mentioned this problem to Bonne and Job, and so the first vintage of Cidre Sauvage was born.

Fabulous. The only tweek I might have added would be somehow weaving in “high quality on high limbs” but, as you know, I am a bit of a wag. And finally remember – speaking of waggery – this very weekend is the exact time to post your thoughts in response to Laura Hadland‘s question for The Session this month:

It doesn’t matter whether you have hosted a pub quiz, or just attended one. Or maybe you’re vaguely aware that pub quizzes exist, but you’ve made it your mission to steer clear. What is the best, most entertaining set of questions or challenges that can be posed to the punter? What single topic has engaged you the most? What is it that makes a great pub quiz stand out head and shoulders above the rest? What might tempt you into attending if trivia night is something you usually swerve?

I know what I’m going to say… but I’m not saying it yet! And it isn’t “name that smell!”  You. You should submit something. Do it? Tell your grandchildren when you are old that you did, too. They will be both flatout amazed and rippling with pride.

That’s it. I am settled in for summer now. Canada’s next week. Brace yourselves. In the meantime, please check out Boak and Bailey every Saturday. Look out for Stan as he is posting irregularly now that he’s retired from Monday slot. 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 with the new addition of his Desi Food Guide now on Tuesdays. And maybe The British Food History Podcast. Maybe? 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 newsletter, The Gulp, too, now relocated to her own website, Katie Mather Writes.  Ben’s monthly Beer and Badword is on its summer break but there’s plenty to catch up on! 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 just last month!. And there’s the Craft Beer Channel on Youtube. Check out the archives of the Beer Ladies Podcast. That’s quite good but, hmm, they’ve also gone a bit quiet this year. The rest of these are largely dead. And the long standing Beervana podcast …except they have now stood down.  As has We Are Beer People. The Share looked to be back with a revival but now its gone quiet. And the Boys Are From Märzen podcast appears suspended as does BeerEdge, too. VinePair packed in Taplines as well. All dead and gone.  There is more from the DaftAboutCraft podcast, too. Nope – that ended a year ago.   The Moon Under Water is gone – which is not surprising as the ask was $10 a month. Pete Brown’s one cost a fifth of that – but only had the one post. Such is life. Such is beer podcasting and newlettering!

*Far more obvious than the big news in rice v. the big news in rice, right?

The Beery News Notes You Need To Get You Through Victoria Day Weekend

If we are honest, we should celebrate the Georges as much as Queen Victoria.* Sure she invented the fifth version of Canada but it was the Georgians who made us, they being the people (and, yes, their red clad dutiful doers) who kept us from being just another slice of Americana. Timely thoughts, you will agree. Some call this coming long weekend not Victoria Day but May Two Four – my greatest gift to Linguista Canadiana being the alt, May Too Far. When the Georgians were running the place, the birthday of the monarch was one of the greatest spectacles in the year as the account of 12 and, I suppose, 13 August 1827 at Guelph, Ontario on the celebration of the King’s birthday bears witness:

…all sat down and enjoyed a hearty meal. “After the cloth was removed,” toasts were drunk to everybody and every conceivable thing, the liquors, of all imaginable descriptions, being passed round in buckets, from which each man helped himself by means of tin cups, about two hundred of which had been supplied for the occasion… those who remained continued to celebrate the day in an exceedingly hilarious manner, most of them, who had not succumbed to an overpowering somnolency, celebrating the night too, many of them being found next morning reposing on the ground in the market place, in loving proximity to the liquor pails, in which conveniently floated the tin cups…

Always solid advice. By the way, the 200th anniversary of that event on the Guelph frontier is just two years and three months away. We need to recognize that boozy bicentennial! Time to apply for those government grant to celebreate our great heritage for celebration. I just hope the application form has a space for indicating the number of tiny tin cups required for the event. By the way, just seven years later, as explained up there in the Kingston Whig newpaper of 12 August 1834, not so much fun. None at all. But the advice still stands today: lay off the opium, buster.

Enough of then! What of the now? First up, Rebecca Crowe shared some of her love for her local, the The Little Taproom on Aigburth Road in Liverpool in Pellicle this week, a place of cheery activity and welcoming hosts, Si and Aggie:

If you’re in the Tap on a Wednesday night, you’ll be greeted by groups of people staring at their phones. However, this isn’t an unsociable act—it’s the Big Quiz in the Little Taproom. When you look around the regular teams, you see couples, groups, solo players, university-aged friends, alongside seasoned quiz addicts, and people just looking for some time out of the house. Si mentions how quickly the quiz has grown as a regular pub fixture. “At first, it was just a regular event to increase revenue on an otherwise relatively quiet Wednesday night,” he says, with his trademark full-hearted honesty.

Next, and perhaps quite conversely,  a bit of disappointing news for the efforts being undertaken to have cask ale and pubs recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO as explained in Pellicle by lobbying leader Jonny Garrett:

During brief discussions with the civil servant in charge of the project, I was told there would be a “relatively low bar of entry” to the national list, but that there was no intention to put any submissions to UNESCO for the first few years. The reasoning was that the government was not certain how to select which cultures should be submitted, but it also feels like they are reluctant to do so until they fully comprehend the implications for governance of any that make the grade.

Seems that as the UK is late to ratifying the underlying treaty, the government has to determine how to prioritize the many claims to being awarded the designation. So cask beer is up against things like all of Scotch Whisky (a good bet to beat out cask), Welsh mens’ choirs (obvs ahead of cask) and all those charming English fetes on the village green on lovely summer Saturdays that we see on TV, the ones  where half the upper middle class villagers who live there are murdered – and it was the church choir master, jilted by school teacher all those years ago, who was to blame after all!!

If, however, any evidence of the vibrant Life on Cask is required for  governmental purposes, the entirity of reportage from Martin is right there for the taking. Just this week he visited wrote about his recent trip to The Castle Hotel of Manchester providing us with a lovely photo essay – including this image of the entry way like something from one of those episodes of Time Team where they uncover a Roman mosaic in a farmer’s field. Heritage.

More bad news for the US booze and craft trade. BeerBoard reported that “total alcohol sales declined -7.3% year-over-year across same-store locations during the May 2–5 weekend” as Beer Marketer’s Insights shared:

Craft beer sales continue to soften in tracked retail channels thru first few wks of April. As total beer sales “improved” a bit to $$ down 2.2%, craft beer softened to $$ down 6.3% for latest 4 wks thru Apr 20 in Circana multi-outlet + convenience channels. Keep in mind, that’s excluding non-alc craft brands tracked in separate NA segment by Circana.

It’s interesting how heavily those still wishing on that star rely on non-alcohol beer stats to prop up the decline while also squeezing that Bourcard report** dismissing the demographics hard. If all the energy to ignore the trend was employed in addressing the trend… would the outcome change? Speaking of tinier trends, has anyone actually noticed the rise of Thai beer in America?

According to reports via The Manual, Group B USA has claimed to be the first and only Thai craft beer distributor in America and now it has also started brewing stateside too. Beer lovers and Thai cuisine connoisseurs have previously only been familiar with Singha and Chang beer brands, but in a deep dive interview with Group B CEO Bamee Prapavee Hematat there is now a growing Thai craft beer movement featuring IPAs and beers flavoured with dried bananas.

Despite all those Thai beers coming it, less is still more for the rest of the US beer trade, as Evan Rail reported in VinePair this week:

“That was the height of craft beer—it was easy to keep 28 handles on tap,” says Zak Rotello, the bar’s third-generation owner. “Now, fast-forward 10 years and I have less beer on tap than ever: 21 beers out of a total of 30 handles. The others are wine and spirits.” It’s not just Rockford. Across the country, a number of bar owners are moving away from the massive tap lists of the craft era. Back in the days of what Rotello calls “rotation nation,” enthusiastic beer drinkers were always hoping to find something new on tap—and bars were happy to oblige. Instead, many bars today are offering fewer draft beers, often using those same lines for pre-mixed cocktails, bulk-packaged wine or other beverages.

And Alistair shared some related thoughts over at Fuggled, too, as he bimbled in his dotage:

Maybe I am just entering my curmudgeonly dotage as I creep ever closer to my 50th birthday later this year, but I have found little joy of late browsing the aisles and shelves of the beer retailing world, whether supermarket or specialist. Of course there are beers, usually seasonally available lagers such as Tröeg’s Little Nator, that I happily stock up on when they are available, but usually my little bimbles are more a ritual performed through a misplaced sense of duty, with a hint maybe of self-flagellating hope of something other than yet another “innovation” in the form of an IPA.

Getting a bit legal for a moment, I came across some excellent discussion of  an important topic in the hospitality trade from a team of Australian academics, thoughts about the alleged “perks” in the tavern and grub trade and how they undermine hospitality workers’ rights:

As one chef put it: “Free steak dinners don’t pay my rent or stop my boss docking pay for smoke breaks.” Our data also show that workers with formal agreements were significantly more likely to receive their legal entitlements, including proper rest breaks and overtime pay, compared to those without. Why does this matter? Because protecting rights is not just about fairness. It is about safeguarding the sustainability of an industry we all rely on. Research shows when businesses rely on unpaid labour or ignore basic entitlements, they undercut fair competition, contribute to worker burnout and drive talent out of the sector.

Remember when craft brewing workers were expected to be more interested in passion than pay? What? Still?!?! Boak and Bailey (much to the contrary being unfailingly fair competators in the weekly beer new update scene***) have taken time out from their eastern European sojourns to discuss the source of skull iconography in the craft beer scenic landscape:

David Ensmiger, quoted above, suggests that in the context of punk music and skateboarding, skulls and skeletons represent a certain ‘apartness’ from mainstream culture. To paraphrase his argument, skaters, punks and bikers are monsters created by society, who delight in horrifying and repulsing ‘normies’. There’s also a more obvious sense in which skull imagery is about confronting death, and embracing life. People who fly skull flags see themselves as fearless risk takers, in both physical terms (skateboarding accidents hurt) and in terms of their cultural status. Again, this is exactly the kind of attitude craft beer producers either wanted to tap into (appropriate) or which actually reflected their lifestyles.

Fabulous stuff from they themselves, as is so often the case. I added my two cents that there was an association of the imagery with the Motörhead influenced X-treme beer era which picked up 1980s Mad Max post apocalyptic cool. Rock. On.

Speaking of the 1980s, I had no idea that stubbies were a thing outside of Canada before 40 years ago but here were are… or rather there we are according to Anthony Gladman:

The area around Fressin, known as Les Sept Vallées, is nice enough in a damp kind of way, but it’s not exactly what you picture when you hear ‘holiday house in France’. It soon became clear Dad had chosen it just to be close to the Wine Society’s outpost in nearby Hesdin. Still, when I think back to my visits there — which took me from callow teen to knackered young dad myself — what I remember drinking with Dad was beer. Or stubbies, to be precise: little 250 ml bottles of Kronenbourg, bought dirt cheap by the slab from the local hypermarché.

Are you a curious person? I know I sure am and I also know you probably are because you are here reading this very sentence. This one too. Well, in order to compensate for your undoubtedly regular sense of disappointment founded here week after week, Eoghan Walsh has a plan designed just for you – and for you and especially just for you:

Before the big announcement, a slightly smaller one – Brussels Notes turns 100 next week! That’s 100 newsletters from me to you since I first started sending them out over four years ago, and since I revived the format at the beginning of last year. A huge thank you to every one of you who’ve signed up to get them in your inbox, and to everyone who’s reading this or has read an article in the past. To mark the occasion, I thought I’d do an Ask Me Anything edition for newsletter #100. What’s my favourite bar? My favourite building? Best beer? Worst beer? The worst thing about Brussels? The best thing? Weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me in the city? Oddest thing I’ve ever seen. Best sandwich? How I actually pronounce my name?

My bet it’s pronounced “Ewan”, right? Jason Wilson is actually also possibly pronounced “Ewan” but that is entirely not the point. The point is he made a very interesting observation on US wine buying habits these days as it relates to place:

These days, in the middle of a worldwide wine crisis, it’s never been tougher to sell wine based on place. In fact, over the past couple of years, I’ve observed that a certain type of wine influencer/educator has begun to steer completely clear of talk about terroir. At the low end, the focus is on a certain populism focused on, say, wine in cans or alternative packaging. But much of the higher-end natural wine chatter also avoids a deep discussion of place. While the best natural-wine producers are committed terroirists, a lot of the derivative, middling natty wine talk is way more about winemaking technique and philosophy…

The comments are in the context of the risks inherent in the German legal wine standards adding concepts equivalent premier cru and grand cru to the labels of their bottles. The risks being that the promise better be fulfilled. Does this relate to good beer? “Local” in terms of a beer made of things from this or that “here” (or even a “there” for that matter) has never really taken off even when the best examples ring true. In a trade where popular populisit “IPA” branding has devolved to a euphemism for “maybe better” how could that little old charmer “local” have ever hoped to rise to the top?

Question: is there value in Vittles?

Finally, as you can see to the right, Mr. DJ made all my dreams come true with this post on BlueSky.  And that is it! Until we meet again, please check out Boak and Bailey every Saturday (…as long as all their holiday fun doesn’t get in the way…) and Stan (….not quite…) each and every Monday. 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 maybe The British Food History Podcast. Maybe? 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 newsletter, 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 just last month!. And there’s the Craft Beer Channel on Youtube. Check out the archives of the Beer Ladies Podcast. That’s quite good but, hmm, they’ve also gone quiet this year. The rest of these are largely dead. And the long standing Beervana podcast …except they have now stood down.  As has We Are Beer People. The Share looked to be back with a revival but now its gone quiet. And the Boys Are From Märzen podcast appears suspended as does BeerEdge, too. VinePair packed in Taplines as well. All dead and gone.  There is more from the DaftAboutCraft podcast, too. Nope – that ended a year ago.   The Moon Under Water is gone – which is not surprising as the ask was $10 a month. Pete Brown’s one cost a fifth of that – but only had the one post. Such is life. Such is beer podcasting and newlettering!

*See also 2024, 2019 and 2008 for more Vicky Vicky fun fun fun.
**It’s terrible sweet how, in part, Bourcard relies on a theory that it’s cell phone photos and tracking by parents that has deterred youth drinking – but that they will snap back to act and drink like good boomers as soon as they get their own iPhone accounts.
***According to an unsolicited report authored by something called BB Consulting Associates International that I received by email spam filter in, umm, June 2024.

Your Beery News Notes For The Week That I Start To Watch The Maple Leafs Again

I have a little rule. I have been a Toronto Maple Leafs fan since the 1960s. I know that because I still have most of my 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee hockey cards. I also know that they have sucked for most of the 55 years since I bought them. Oh, there was Darryl and there was Wendle but in the last decade they’ve only won one playoff series – until this season. So my rule is obvious. I won’t watch them unless they win a series. Which they now have. And they won the next series’s game one too. Update: and game two.

Speaking of victory, I noticed an interesting sidenote to the Australian election last weekend with the after party for the winner Anthony Albanese being fueled by Albo Pale Ale. Albo? Albo:

…you might have heard of Albo. When this beer was brewed, he was simply the brewery’s local Member of Parliament who was known for his support of the craft beer industry, trains and the ocassional spot of DJing. He went on to be the 31st Prime Minister of Australia and his younger self will forever be immortalised in this beer, which sure beats a toilet.

BTW – that toilet. Speaking of objects holding liquids, Kevin K commented an interesting comment this week: “always seems there’s a strong lack of editing for glassware articles.” Is that a lack of strong editing? And is “strong lack” related to Strong Bad? Whatever it is… I fully agree. What was the object of his disappointment?

Cusack gave a thumbs-down to two common beer glasses. “Pints and mugs are fine for a quick pour, but they do nothing to highlight what makes an IPA good. Too open, too wide, they lose aroma fast,” Cusack told The Takeout. “Steins are worse — thick glass insulates the beer too much and dulls your senses.” Pints and mugs don’t actually do much to enhance any beer’s flavor (not just IPAs), but mugs and glass steins, with their thick walls and side handle, will do the job well when keeping your beer cold is a priority.

Me, I drink pretty much everything from the same hefeweizen glass if I am wanting to pay attention. Lots of schozz space to get right in there for a sniff. And it holds the temperature well. And it allows me to compare one experience with another a neutral yet effective context. Otherwise, anything will do. What’s up with a glass per beer anyway? It’s like audiophiles who have different stereo speakers for different sorts of music.* Who can afford that? Do you really want to be like audiophiles? It all sounds connected to hyperflavor related status anxiety.

On a similar theme, I was really impressed with one aspect of the announcement from the World Beer Cup.** Transparency. For such an overblown title,*** it was interesting to see that the relatively low number of entries competing in most categories. An average of 73 entries per category. No doubt most were perfectly swell but doesn’t that mean it’s pretty likely that any winner is actually not going to be the best out there? And, with only 53 entries, they found a way to discover that SNPA is an ESB! Mucho guffaw resulted.

Mike Seay may have caught the moment both neatly and tidily with this comment this week:

I need to start asking for tasters before ordering an IPA or even a Pale. You see, sometimes they end up being hazy when there was no indication of it on the menu description. And I am over hazzies…for now. Yes I could always ask for a taster before, but I like to just go for it. Give me a pint and I’ll drink it, even if it ends up sucking. But I am getting too many New Englands when I was wanting a West Coast, so I gotta start asking, I guess.

Hazzies? Is that what we call a grouping of badly thought out hazies now? Maybe huzzies or hizzies even? And exactly how many beer educators did it take to get us to the place where you can’t order a beer and have a clue what you’re about to drink? And is that part of what Jeff meant by the wallpaper phase? Or perhaps what led us to this point:

Craft beer isn’t new and exciting anymore, and almost everyone has heard of it, and the vast majority of potential future customers have experimented with it. What breweries have to do now is sell their product to people who are already familiar with it—but also blasé about it. Craft beer is part of the wallpaper of alcoholic beverages now—present, but in the background, familiar and easy to ignore. Selling a product like that is very different than selling beer in 2000.

And Matthew C perhaps spoke to a similar idea with another sector of the beer trade in his note on Bluesky introducting this week’s feature at Pellicle:

Top stuff from Emmie Harrison-West on the site today about a really interesting no and low alcohol brewery near Edinburgh. It might be our last no and low piece, at least for now, as despite lots of (apparent) interest in what is often cited as the fastest growing sector in beer, the pieces we’ve published to date have struggled to gain traction with our audience.

What to make of all that? Perhaps conversely but definitely offering a ray of hope in this, Jamie Goode wrote an interesting article on standardization and balance (for the lyrically named WineMag.Co.Za) which easily applies to a lot of good beer:

This is the problem with the concept of balance. It can lead to a certain stylistic homogeneity; to boring wines that tick all the boxes, but which fail to thrill. Alongside this concept of balance, we have the problematic notion that we always want to drink the same sort of wine. There are even people who peddle protocols for matching consumers with the right wine for them. The truth is that we want to drink different wines on different occasions. I have lots of wines at home, but it’s not easy finding the right wine for the right moment, even though I have only wines that I like to hand. I think the concept of balance in wine is next to useless. It should be about whether or not a wine has personality, and whether or not that wine, with its personality, is the right wine for this particular drinking occasion. I want my wines to be interesting…

Me too. And my beers. But what is it to be interesting… and what makes it so? (And, he thought to himself, if we just left these clinky drinky things to individuals and their own interests, well, what would we do with all the experts and, horrors, the editors?) Hmm…  Drew Starr has an idea that perhaps may help frame the concept:

I think we discussed my theory of cognition for quirky regional food I conjured after Nick Tahou’s. Anyone can appreciate it, but you have to try it before your brain matures at 26 to have a love that defies objectivity. You always love it more when older, because the memory of youth is delicious… Ask me or anyone who grew up in Western MA who makes the world’s best burger, we’ll say White Hut, an objectively incorrect answer that we are incapable of being made to believe otherwise.

So… the things that are interesting are things that relate to the person by whom… in which… that interesting thing is / was experienced. Radical.  Matty himself, for the double, had a similar sort of tingly sensation this week, not from a recollection of youth but from being in the audience for a performance of Hamlet:

Such was the intensity and physicality of the performance as a whole that I can’t stop thinking about it. Samuel Blenkin, playing the titular role, was gripping. The way music and dance was weaved throughout meant I couldn’t look away for the whole 90 minutes. It was dark and visceral and unrelenting and sad and funny. Of course, I had to go for a pint and sit down afterwards, to help myself come down. But as I did so I realised in witnessing such a brilliant act of creativity my very soul itself felt nourished. I was full to the brim. There are moments in life, sometimes major, sometimes fleeting, but they leave a permanent mark on you. My first sip of IPA at Odell Brewery, devilled kidneys on toast at St. John, Mills Foxbic at Hereford Beer House, the reuben on rye at Choice City Deli. These are experiences that helped shape my worldview.

Is that what Goode meant by interesting? Probs. As one who is perpetually in that condition, when they prepare the syllabus for the Master degree seminar on The Beer Nut this will be one of the key passages the class will have to study:

…I didn’t think it worked very well, but I’m told by Kev the brewer and owner that I’m wrong, which is fair enough…

Returning to that piece in Pellicle, the not wrong and definitely interesting Emmie Harrison-West offered up a portrait of Jump Ship Brewing, low-no alcohol brewers near Edinburgh, and unpacked the background:

Like many of us as we age, Sonja found that her tolerance for booze had dropped. She was becoming irritable after drinking and dreaded the day after. “I was drinking less, but it was that Tuesday night beer that I was really craving. You know, when you’re finally sitting down, the kids are in bed, you’re tired and up early for work,” she says. Sonja discovered that an NA beer really scratched that itch, but she still felt like something was missing: choice. Sure, she was making better choices for herself, but found her options in terms of the variety of NA beers available were woefully limited. “That’s when I thought, ‘why don’t I just do it?’,” she tells me.

Swtiching a bit abruptly to the Health News Desk: the recent flurry of discussion about Savory IPA got me thinking again about the need to label the ingredients on beer. See, like a lot of people I am allergic to MSG – the key additive apparent miracle that transforms a humdrum beer into an amazing new style! It’d be nice to have informed decision making so I can know if my respiratory equiment is going to seize up or not.

And, perhaps taking a breather from all that above, I really liked David Jesudason‘s piece**** on the Alehouse in Reading where he found people ready to just have a chat:

It never was my plan to travel 50-odd miles in a four-hour round trip for this specific chat but that’s where my day took me. I had a vague idea to visit the Alehouse for the second time because, inspired by The Shiralee, I wanted somewhere a bit rough and ready where I knew there would be people drinking in the day despite the broad sunshine outside. The pub is covered head to toe in pump clips, has a queue of pickled egg jars at the bar and various hair rock songs being played through the speakers – the only tune I could place was Queen’s Fat Bottomed Girls, and it’s been a long time since these women made the rocking world go round.

All of which, coming full circle, brings me to the thought that Boak and Bailey shared on their Patreon back channel last weekend and gave us all the “oomph” of the year in beer, YTD-wise:

Jeff Alworth’s wallpaper post got us thinking about lots of things, but mostly that time passes quickly before you notice it. It’s easy to feel as if craft beer is a thing that just landed, beloved of fresh-faced hipsters. But even in its most recent form – IPAs and punks and skulls – it’s been around for several decades. Thornbridge Jaipur, an especially significant beer in British craft beer, turns 20 this year. There are people at university now who have never lived in a Jaipurless world – who don’t remember a time before BrewDog, or Beavertown.

Me: “I’m not 62! That old guy over there is!!!” What is it we want from all this anyway? Being part of Club Craft? Nope. A nice chat sound perfectly nice, if I am being honest. And a nice beer in any frikkin’ glass I feel like using. See, the failings of craft now so evident in 2025 – especially the failure to reign victorious as was clearly promised a decade or more ago – reminds me of what I recently read in that grab bag of convenient quips for we the aged alumni with the BAs, The New Yorker, on the translation of Catullus:

Precisely what makes much of Catullus’ work so appealing and “relatable” to modern audiences—the offhand charm, the impish vulgarity, the jazzy colloquialisms—makes him that much more difficult to bring into modern English. Ordinary language, after all, has a far shorter shelf life than does the elevated language of high literature; translations of Catullus that are barely twenty years old already feel dated. Peter Green’s “Wretched Catullus, stop this stupid tomfool stuff” sounds positively Victorian next to Mitchell’s “Wretched Catullus, stop this crazy longing.”

It lives in the past tense, does craft. It is, to my adult chidren, exactly that: stupid tomfool stuff.  Not beer, mind you, which is good. Beer remains interesting.

That’s it for this week. I am on a train later today so may be delayed in responding to all your emails and DMs and stuff. Bear with me. Until we meet again, please check out Boak and Bailey every Saturday (…as long as all their holiday fun doesn’t get in the way…) and Stan (….not quite…) each and every Monday. 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 maybe The British Food History Podcast. Maybe? 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 newsletter, 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 just last month!. And there’s the Craft Beer Channel on Youtube. Check out the archives of the Beer Ladies Podcast. That’s quite good but, hmm, they’ve also gone quiet this year. The rest of these are largely dead. And the long standing Beervana podcast …except they have now stood down.  As has We Are Beer People. The Share looked to be back with a revival but now its gone quiet. And the Boys Are From Märzen podcast appears suspended as does BeerEdge, too. VinePair packed in Taplines as well. All dead and gone.  There is more from the DaftAboutCraft podcast, too. Nope – that ended a year ago.   The Moon Under Water is gone – which is not surprising as the ask was $10 a month. Pete Brown’s one cost a fifth of that – but only had the one post. Such is life. Such is beer podcasting and newlettering!

*“Disco Woofer” would be a great name for an DIPA. Or a speaker.
**No doubt intended to be confused with the equally grandiosely World Beer Awards. Not to mention the World Awards of Beer.
***Olympics? That all? Surely it’s the Mount Olympus of Beer! Even as the BA continues its logical retraction, the fawning seems to be enhanced.
****His writing in which reminded me of another passage from another article in that same issue of The New Yorker from March 30 2025: “Much of the art of “Encounters with the Archdruid” lies in the way that McPhee manages to be both there and not there. He bathes his aching feet in the water. He recalls other trips he has taken with Brower and, separately, with Park. He searches for copper-bearing rocks, and, when he finds them, gets excited. But he never reveals whose side he is on. When it comes to the great question of the piece—to mine or not to mine—he gets out of the way.“