I May Be a Bit Late on This...

I'm drinking beer on a horse         On the nose you'll get some heady aromas

and I probably am... but has anyone else noticed the resemblance between Garrett Oliver from Brooklyn Brewery & the Old Spice guy? Just me? 

Baffled & Bemused

Clearly not one of the world's best bottled beers

I'm a bit confused this morning (not that this is much different from most other mornings) over national newspapers and their attitudes to writing about beer.

Yesterday morning there was a 'top 10 bottled beers' slideshow online at the Independent; the headline is the world's best bottled beers but the choice is bizarre at best by that standard (Doom Bar for example, as far as I can remember, hasn't won any major world awards for at least five years) and some of the descriptions bear more than a passing resemblance to what's written on the websites.

And apart from the fact that, obviously, I earn my living from writing about beer what really bothers me is, as Pete Brown reported on his blog, there seems to be some sort of in-built prejudice against beer within the national press, or more to the point beer writers!

You can tell the disdain they have for beer because, instead of getting a specialist beer writer to select a range of award-winning beers, they got a freelance who used to be a political aide to Zac Goldsmith; now that's not to denigrate the chap, I'm sure he's a great professional and I have no problem with him saying yes to the commission, hell we've all done it.

What I don't understand is why the paper gave him the job!

After all, you don't ask a political correspondent to write about the arts, you don't ask a war reporter to comment on wine - so why the hell do the nationals always ask someone totally unqualified to write about beer? It just doesn't make sense.

If you care about beer, at all, please pull the nationals up in the comments sections and let's try and get them to give this fantastic, complex and exciting drink the respect it deserves.

Kicking Ass and Taking Names!

Just a quick update, I'm at Otley today brewing thai-bO - with kaffir lime leaf, galangal, lemongrass and lime skins! Hence the pictures! I've also tried the gooseberry & elderflower pale ale (name to be decided, needs to have an O and Goo has been rejected!) that will be fantastic once it's finished!

I'd also like to thank anyone who came to the Japanese Craft Beer tasting the other evening, some fascinating beers and £700 raised! Great work the White Horse who not only hosted and staffed the event but donated what my fee would normally have been to the fund, which was above and beyond - great work chaps!

Sharpen Your Tongue

On Saturday at the Draft House Tower Bridge the lovely, delightful and talented Mr Stuart Howe from Sharp's in Cornwall will displaying his wares - and possibly some beer.

The first session at 1pm is for ladeez only and is an in-depth tutored tasting with food matches, so if you are of the female persuasion and want to come, then please rock on over to the Barley's Angels Facebook page and sign up. There will then follow at 3.30pm  a small public sampling session, no food but the chance to chat informally with The Howe himself.

Treats on offer are:
Cask Atlantic IPA

Cask 3 year old Massive ale

Turbo Yeast Abhorrence from Beyond the Ninth Level of Hades

Bottled Monsieur Rock

Bottled Single Brew Reserve 2010

Bottled DW

Another bottled beer yet to be decided

So, hopefully that will be enough to wash the rather unpleasant taste out of all our mouths left by the comments about beer by a Royal press officer this week !

NB: I have a financial interest in this venture

Me, Me, Me!

Sorry about the content of this post because, to be honest, it's all about MEEEEEEEEEEE!

I've got loads going on this summer in terms of events, so I thought I'd let you all know now so you can sort out your diaries (cue a deafening silence in response to the breathtaking arrogance of this statement!).

Firstly though, ploughing boldly on, a friend showed me something particularly terrifying yesterday in the pub, and once he'd put that away he also pointed out that my book is available to pre-order on Amazon!!! Whoooop! Guess I'd better get a wiggle on and finish it then!

I'm also running tastings at quite a lot of festivals this summer too, so I thought I'd put a little diary of what I'm up to, and also the Meet the Brewers at lovebeer@borough above the Rake will be returning on some Saturdays during summer - I just need to sit with the lads and figure it all out.

Finally, before you can start filling up that diary, I'll be on the tellybox Thursday and Friday evening, Sky 249, 7pm, Market Kitchen with the hilariously funny and wonderful Richard Corrigan - I have to say I fell a little bit in love with his brilliantly crazy ways! And the food was fantastic - apart from the jellied eel terrine, just couldn't get on with that and I'm sure that makes me a bad Londoner and my East End grandparents are probably spinning in their graves!

Ludlow Spring Festival kicks it all off on the weekend of May 7-8, I'll be doing a tutored beer & food matching using brews from all over the SIBA Wales & West region, and pairing it with local produce - after which I'll be heading off to Otley to brew our long-anticipated elderflower and gooseberry IPA!

I'll be a busy girl at the Bury St Edmunds Real Beer & Food Festival - I'm doing about six talks with Greene King over two days (phew! just tired thinking about it) - and I'll be competing to outshine the lovely Henry Chevallier from Aspall Cyder too, bring it on!

On June 19 I'll be at Cheltenham Food & Drink Festival, which I'm really looking forward to, it looks lovely, and it'll be nice to see Galton Blackiston again, I thought he was lovely when I did Market Kitchen with him a few years ago.

Then June 27 I'll be presenting to deli and food shop owners at Harrogate for the Guild of Fine Foods, something more of a trade show than a consumer one - BUT if you'd like your local shopkeeper to stock more great beer but are having trouble persuading them then this could be a good thing for them to come to!

And finally, for now, I'm also doing Wirral Food & Drink Festival (there's only the 2010 website at the moment but it'll give you the general gist) at which I believe I'll get to work with

Times They Are A-Changin'

The Project Venus brewsters

It's quite scary to realise that you're involved in a polar shift in cultural mores but it would appear that myself, and people like Maverine Cole (Beer Beauty), Ros Shiel (Dea Latis) and all my international women colleagues are in exactly that position.


We are getting more women to try, and enjoy, beer.


This isn't a boast because there is a lot more to do (although it is something I'm proud of), but it's a fantastic start.


You only have to look at the Rake on Monday night, where the Project Venus beer was launched (I couldn't be there as I was involved in KaiWeCare - got £800 for a beer tasting too!), apparently the pub was heaving!


The beer was the result of a bunch of brewsters getting together and making a 4% beer with Pacific Gem & Citra hops, which apparently turned out so good two firkins were gone baby gone on the night! That's 144 pints in four hours case you're counting!


And of course, there's Barley's Angels, which is really taking off! (Sorry, I just can't help myself.) You can join our facebook group here and once I figure out why the re-direct has eaten the blog you'll be able to find it here www.barleysangels.co.uk (sorry it's a mess right now!).

Goose Hooked, Not Cooked

I couldn't resist putting the Goose Island head on the AB eagle though!

I know there's a lot of consternation out there, in beer land, about the announcement that Goose Island has been bought by ABInBev but I spoke with brewmaster Greg Hall this morning (Chicago time) and, whilst I can't tell you all here as I've written a piece for the Morning Advertiser on the deal, I can make clear a couple of things that I hope will put some of your minds at ease.


First, Greg Hall is stepping down but is going on to look at different challenges outside beer, which he's going to chat to me in about a month or so BUT he insists that the brands, range, production methods, barrel-ageing programme and new product development will remain untouched and will flourish in the care of former Deschutes head brewer Brett Porter.


The AB suits will not be swarming into Chicago, and nor will they be handling any marketing, new product development or anything else of that ilk - there will be one line of reporting and that's John Hall, founder of Goose Island, who will report directly to the AB president in St Louis David Peacock - that's the only place where the two businesses will 'touch' on a day-to-day business. Goose Island will remain in Chicago.


Also the much-needed $1.3m that's being invested immediately will be great for all of us who love these beers and lament their lack of availability at times! If you've ever been to the Fulton Street Brewery in Chicago you'll know just how at capacity they are, they brew round the clock seven days a week for goodness sake! And that's just to keep up with demand now!


Finally, and most importantly, AB didn't get to be this big by being stupid - they know that by purchasing a multi award-winning craft brewer and giving it the capital to expand will give it more kudos and allow it to tap into more consumers that its own 'faux-craft' beer ever could.


And let's not forget we've already seen exactly the same move in the UK with Molson Coors and Sharp's...


Yes, we all have to watch this space, yes I'm a bit nervous too - especially given the Belgian arm of the business's awesome capability to bugger up craft brands - but we shall just have to trust that the Hall family didn't bust their asses to build this business only to see it dismantled.


And, also this move creates more jobs in Chicago, which if you've ever been to this lovely, but troubled, city you'll know is sorely needed.