They say…
Best beer and travel writing award 2015, 2011 -- British Guild of Beer Writers Awards
Accredited Beer Sommelier
Writer of "Probably the best book about beer in London" - Londonist
"A necessity if you're a beer geek travelling to London town" - Beer Advocate
"A joy to read" - Roger Protz
"Very authoritative" - Tim Webb.
"One of the top beer writers in the UK" - Mark Dredge.
"A beer guru" - Popbitch.
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Aromatherapy… Photo: Tom Stainer
Here are 30 beers which really stood out from the many others I tasted during 2009. They’re not necessarily new beers, just beers I hadn’t tasted before, or for a long time, and that from the first taste made me want to laugh, jump, shout or simply chill out […]
National Winter Ales Festival 2010
ABV: 6.5% Origin: Elland, West Yorkshire, England Website: www.eandsbrewery.co.uk
E&S Elland 1872 Porter
2010’s overall Champion Beer of Britain is a previous runner-up, the highly deserving Elland 1872 porter, based on a recipe from the eponymous year. The brewery, in the small Calderdale town of Elland, originates from […]
National Winter Ales Festival 2010 Top Tastings 2010
ABV: 5.5% Origin: Manchester, England Website: http://www.marblebeers.com/
Marble Arch, Manchester M4
The Grade II-listed Marble Arch in Ancoats, on the Rochdale Road just north of Manchester’s city centre ring road, would be an essential stop for anyone with an interest in historic pubs, with its […]
National Winter Ales Festival 2010
ABV: 4.8% Origin: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England Website: www.leedsbrewery.co.uk
Leeds Midnight Bell
Midnight Bell is a fine and rich dark mild named in honour of its brewery’s showcase pub in Leeds’ round foundry development. The brewery, opened in 2007, is currently the only independent in the city, with […]
Top Tastings 2009
ABV: 4.5% Origin: Kilkeel, Dúin, Northern Ireland Website: www.whitewaterbrewing.com
Whitewater Belfast Ale
Ireland is a mixed bag of a country for the beer connoisseur. The island gave us one of the world’s classic styles in dry Irish stout, but domestically the nitrogenated evolution of that style has been instrumental in […]
Top Tastings 2009
ABV: 4.8% Origin: Malle, Antwerpen, Vlaanderen Website: www.trappistwestmalle.be
Westmalle Extra
The Cistercian Trappist Abdij Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van het Heilig Hart van Westmalle, on the main N12 road between Antwerpen and Turnhout in the Belgian Kempen, is home to arguably the most influential, and alongside Chimay the most commercially active, of the […]
Top Tastings 2009
ABV: 4.9% Origin: Glasgow, Scotland Website: www.westbeer.com
West
For four decades cask ale has been the focus of the British beer consumer movement, and the technical specifications for its production and dispense have become embedded in the ideology of beer appreciation as if they’re judgements of value and quality, with […]
Top Tastings 2009
ABV: 2.8% Origin: Horsham, West Sussex, England Website: www.weltonsbeer.com
Weltons Pridenjoy
Overall this Top Tastings selection exhibits a bias towards very strong beers demanding contemplative sipping, but I also have an affection for low gravity beers, which in many ways are a more demanding test of the brewer’s art. Ray […]
Top Tastings 2009
ABV: 5% Origin: Wambeek, Vlaams Brabant, Vlaanderen Website: www.detroch.be
De Troch Chapeau Lambic
De Troch of Wambeek is one of the lambic breweries you really wish you could think more highly of. Its pedigree is impeccable: it’s a farmhouse brewery founded by Pieter de Troch in 1780 in the lambic […]
Top Tastings 2009
ABV: 10% Origin: Innerleithen, Scottish Borders, Scotland Website: www.traquair.co.uk
Traquair House by James McIntosh Patrick, National Galleries of Scotland
Traquair House is the oldest inhabited stately home in Scotland and a new wave craft brewer ahead of its time. In 1965, several years before the launch of CAMRA, the rediscovery […]
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Cask This pioneering new book explains what makes cask beer so special, and explores its past, present and future. Order now from CAMRA Books. Read more here.
London’s Best Beer The fully updated 3rd edition of my essential award-winning guide to London’s vibrant beer scene is available now from CAMRA Books. Read more here.
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