When the novelty wears off

By Phil Mellows

Let’s be honest. The sparkle has dimmed around craft beer a little. As I’ve previously argued, that’s not necessarily true for specialist bars, and there are still plenty of interesting brews out there. But last month SIBA, the association for independent brewing, reported that in the past year three breweries a week have shut down their mash tuns.

A lot of that is to do with the financial pressures on the beer and pub industries, a squeeze on profitability caused by rising costs and falling disposable incomes. Yet it’s also true that there’s not so much excitement around craft – after all, much of that was to do with novelty, which inevitably wears off.

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That’s reflected in the state of beer blogging, which has become less about spotting the next new thing and capturing in words the organoleptic pyrotechnics of some fresh hop combination than about chronicling everyday curiosities and reflecting on the longevity of ‘heritage’ brands and styles – such as this post on the revival of Boddingtons.

Jess and Ray at Boak & Bailey have gone so far as to call for more of this from new writers, while Adrian Tierney-Jones perhaps best exemplifies the art of soaking up the vibes (along with the beer) in his blog and his book, A Pub for All Seasons.

And beneath this creative carapace it’s possible to detect an organic shift in what drinkers want. There’s still an interest in tasting new hops such as Krush and Vera (which make me think of Bobby Crush and my late Aunt Vera respectively) but even for some of the most sophisticated beer palates, that’s now for the odd occasion.

Drinkability is back, if it ever went away, and the greater demand is for balanced beers that will stay a session, still tasting good after three or four pints. The Craft Beer Channel summed up this trend well last month in a show worth half an hour of your time.

The urge to explore is still there, but to explore in its original meaning of scouting a hunting area for game – you’ve got to get out there in the wild, which we at Beer Breaks are obviously quite pleased about and would like to encourage.

Last week, for instance, I called in at The Farmacy in Matlock, Derbyshire. It’s a micropub halfway up the town’s precipitous and daunting Bank Road, but it’s worth scaling the heights because it’s the only place, to my knowledge, where you can drink draught Aldwark Artisan Ales from the Peak District brewery that owns the place.

As well as the exclusivity, the beers are very good – classic cask ale styles with an extra punch to the flavours, suggesting there’s more going into the pot. Added to which the pub itself has a quirky, slightly edgy, farm-theme suggesting agricultural realities. Instead of cuddly animals, just the skulls hang on the walls. “Yeah, things die,” it seems to say, “get over it.”

Also last week I finally got to Microbus in Gateshead (pictured), another micropub, this one with a bus theme. Everywhere you look there’s a bit of a bus. Even the tap wall is the front of a bus. And the beer list was one of the best I’ve seen lately, headed by a collab between the pub and Brewlab, the brewer training centre in Sunderland, a cask 6.5% abv West Coast IPA hopped with Krush, which is something you don’t see every day. Bobby would be proud.