by Darren | Thursday, June 14, 2018 | BLOG
In an experiment that could be said to have revealed the bleedin’ obvious, it has been discovered that a pint beer glass with a handle will keep beer cooler than one without a handle. Brewlab carried out the experiment on behalf of catering equipment supplier,...
by Darren | Monday, June 4, 2018 | BLOG
Chinook, Columbus, Summit, Cascade. We all know where these hop varieties come from. You can picture now the sweeping acres of bines in the Yakima and Columbus valleys of Washington state in the USA. Well, that’s what I thought, too, until I received three bottles of...
by Darren | Tuesday, April 17, 2018 | BLOG
Cornwall CAMRA chairman, Bob Bunce, presents the award for county pub of the year to Matt Reay, manager of The Front, Falmouth It’s a spring Saturday afternoon and I’m drinking a 5.6% ABV Joe’s Cider, from the Purbeck Cider Company, at the Falmouth...
by Darren | Wednesday, April 11, 2018 | BLOG
I am sitting in the HAND Bar, in Falmouth, an Aladdin’s cave of keg beer, with a gang of brewers from local Verdant and visiting Cloudwater. They have been working on a collaboration during the day and I’ve asked what it is, to be given the answer:...
by Darren | Sunday, April 8, 2018 | BLOG
On the first proper spring day, and in a lovely beer garden in just a t-shirt (well, not just a t-shirt — that wouldn’t be great for anybody), it seems counter-intuitive of me to be enjoying a 6.66% ABV beer that rich, roasty and black as night. But Exmoor Beast...
by Darren | Monday, February 26, 2018 | BLOG
It was only October 26 last year when I ran the story revealing the plan to open the Beer Merchants Tap, in Hackney Wick, London. Fewer than four months later, the project has been crowdfunded and the venue is open. And no, it doesn’t look hurried. In fact, it...
by Darren | Sunday, February 18, 2018 | BLOG
At the end of Simon Treen’s tutored tasting, at Skinner’s Old Ale House, in Truro, yesterday, he asked for a quick show of hands on which of the five beers he presented were people’s favourite. It wasn’t a scientific test, and indeed the...
by Darren | Tuesday, January 2, 2018 | BLOG
There’s a lovely cartoon I saw the other day where a fella is stood in his new commercial premises, explaining his business plan to his friend. He says: “I’m going to run it as a gym for the first two weeks of the year, then turn it into a...
by Darren | Tuesday, December 19, 2017 | BLOG
XT Brewing, of Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire, held a Trappist beer tasting in its brewery tap last week. The brewery’s Russ Taylor says the event was a great success, and here offers his guide to the monks behind the beers, and the brews themselves… The...
by Darren | Monday, November 13, 2017 | BLOG
Guest blog by Russ Taylor, XT Brewing Co Carl Fitzpatrick, of BBBirra, checks his hops Last summer at XT we brewed a Belgian wit beer, the Animal Donkey, with innovative and eccentric Italian Brewery BBBirra, from Bosa. The beer was made with wheat and loads of...
by Darren | Monday, November 6, 2017 | BLOG
Sunday in Bude – glorious autumn sun, rolling waves, but it’s a different sort of barrel I’m here for. It’s the middle of the afternoon and the Barrel at Bude micropub is filled to capacity. Acoustic singer guitarist Michael Guild is captivating the drinkers, but the...
by Darren | Sunday, October 22, 2017 | BLOG
It was a stormy Saturday afternoon. Storm Brian was coming in and, as it happens, would not have too much impact on our part of west Cornwall, but the prospect was enough to deter me from a second visit to the excellent Falmouth Beer Festival, where I had enjoyed...
