Author Archive
Drinkers need a wet summer, brewers warn
By: JimOldfield
April 14th, 2012
Beer supplies are under serious threat unless the UK sees some prolonged rainfall in the next few months, drinkers have been warned. Yields of barley – of which 1.7m tonnes are used annually by the UK brewing industry – are being seriously compromised by the worst drought in the UK since 1976. Britain’s biggest brewer, Read the full post…
Fangs but no fangs to vampire brews in Whitby
By: JimOldfield
April 13th, 2012
The “Dracula” town of Whitby now has a new micro-brewery… but drinkers won’t be seeing any blood-letting in its brews. For local guitarist Norman Wells has set up the Conquest micro-brewery with the aim of deliberately avoiding trading on Bram Stoker. His first ale – the 4.2 per cent Broadsword, “a mouthful of citrus and Read the full post…
Commercial ‘home-brewing’… via remote control computer system!
By: JimOldfield
April 9th, 2012
A sophisticated computer system – which lets brewers check their beers from home, and even sends them a text if anything goes wrong! – is winning admirers across the UK’s beer industry. Yorkshire specialists Cimlogic devised the system for the purpose-built Windsor & Eton Brewery when it was established in 2010, to become the first Read the full post…
Bar, bar Black Sheep as airport adds local ales!
By: JimOldfield
April 8th, 2012
Next time you’re fog or snow-bound at Leeds Bradford International Airport, you might not be so unhappy… For cask ales from Yorkshire’s Saltaire, Theakston and Black Sheep breweries are to go on sale in a new bar run by the Camden Food Co, at an airport noted for suffering more than its fair share of Read the full post…
Robinson’s Crusoe’s on sail again
By: JimOldfield
April 7th, 2012
Cheshire family brewer Frederic Robinson was far from marooned when it played on the family name to launch its Crusoe ale… For the adventurous blonde has become the best-selling seasonal ever for the brewery – known better to us as Robinson’s! And this summer Crusoe sets sail for a second year – returning to the Read the full post…
Ee baht ‘at: The rise of Ilkley Brewery
By: JimOldfield
April 6th, 2012
In 2009, Ilkley Brewery set out to conquer the world… with a maiden brew named after the town’s Roman name. Their first beer, the 3.9 per cent Olicana Gold was sold at The Junction pub in nearby Baildon, as the brewery secured two permanent pumps at The Wheatley Arms, Ben Rhydding and at Bar t’at Read the full post…
Amazing Grace makes comeback at cricket pub…
By: JimOldfield
April 5th, 2012
Enthusiasts are trying to save a pub garden’s CRICKET nets from disappearing into oblivion. The nets, at Bristol’s Old England pub, are one of only two in the country housed in a beer garden, and they were once graced by Gloucestershire and England legend WG Grace himself. Latterly they have suffered years of neglect, but Read the full post…
Punch-drunk giant turns to grub
By: JimOldfield
April 5th, 2012
Troubled pub giant Punch Taverns is looking to food to save it, after a 20 per cent plunge in half-year profits to £33m. It aims to increase pub grub from 23-35 per cent of its sales, in addition to selling off 492 outlets.
Ice cold in Tokyo
By: JimOldfield
April 5th, 2012
The term “an iced one” may one day apply to our real ales, now that a Japanese brewery has come up with a novel way of keeping beer cool… with a FROZEN head! Kirin’s Ichiban Shibori Frozen Draft features a frozen foam “head” that allegedly keeps the beer cold for half an hour. The “head” Read the full post…
Amazing Grace makes comeback at cricket pub…
By: JimOldfield
April 5th, 2012
Enthusiasts are trying to save a pub garden’s CRICKET nets from disappearing into oblivion. The nets, at Bristol’s Old England pub, are one of only two in the country housed in a beer garden, and they were once graced by Gloucestershire and England legend WG Grace himself. Latterly they have suffered years of neglect, but Read the full post…
