An amber beer, brewed with rare rye crystal malt, has won CAMRA's prestigious Champion Winter Beer of Britain competition. It's brewed by Alex Woods at the London Brewing Company based in the Bohemia pub in Finchley.
St Austell Brewery in Cornwall is celebrating its 175th anniversary with a special range of cask ales, some drawn from recipes in old brewing books. They include a beer to mark Nelson's victory at Trafalgar and Trelawny named after Bishop Trelawny, a supporter of the Royalist cause during the English Civil War, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London.
Ted Bruning, who has died aged 68, was a leading writer on beer, breweries and pubs. He worked for the trade paper the Morning Advertiser and was then assistant editor and editor of CAMRA's paper What's Brewing. He wrote a number of books including the Microbrewers' Handbook and Historic Inns of England.
Suffolk brewer Greene King, the biggest brewer of cask ale in Britain, will launch a range of new cask beers in 2026 along with new pump clip designs. The launch comes on the back of the major success of Rocking Rudolph, its annual Christmas Beer.
Dougal Sharp (left), founder of Innis & Gunn, has joined forces with Jamie Allsopp to recreate a historic beer from the 19th century. Jamie is a direct descendant of the great Burton brewer Samuel Allsopp who made a special Arctic Ale for a British expedition to the North Pole in 1875. A bottle of the beer was found in Shropshire and was used in the new version
Great interest is being shown by independent brewers in Porter and Stout, beer styles from the 18th century. Both Hook Norton in Oxfordshire and Heritage Brewery in Burton-on-Trent have produced versions of stout based on original recipes. Hook Norton's version is aged in oak casks for 18 months while Heritage P2 is based on Bass's P2 Export Stout sent to Russia and the Baltic States.
The Open Gate Brewery in Covent Garden restores brewing to central London. Guinness has spent £73m on the centre that includes a 20,000-barrel brewery producing a wide range of beer including Porter that was once brewed on the site by Combe in the 18th and 19th centuries
It's that time of year when Santa gets stuck up the chimney after too many Christmas beers. Here is a fine selection of some of the beers available this year
Research since the Budget shows that, far from going down, business rates for pubs will rise dramatically over the next few years. Hospitality experts say thousands more pubs will close, hut not only by business rates but high costs for energy, increases in the Minimum Wage and National Insurance plus a rise in the price of beer as duty goes up.
AB In Bev, the world's biggest brewer, has bowed to grassroots campaigners and has launched a major promotion for Draught Bass. Bass was once Britain's leading premium cask ale, worth close to one million barrels a year, but that has fallen to 30,000 barrels and the beer has become hard to find. But now more than 1,000 pubs will serve it with new pump clips and glasses.
Greene King has added to its craft and cask portfolio with two new beers. Double Header celebrates the history of its home town where King Edmund was beheaded by invading Vikings and then became a saint. Imperial IPA recalls the original IPAs of the 19th century and is based on a recipe found in the brewery archives.
Phil Mellows and Kate Simon have compiled a brilliant book that celebrates some fine British pubs along with places to stay and visit throughout the country, This is a great contribution to supporting and saving community pubs at a time when so many are closing
Hertfordshire grows fine grain for brewing and the county once had a multitude of malting companies. Now there's only one and McMullen is the last remaining major commercial brewer. But in his new book, Martyn Cornell reports there are now a number of new craft breweries using grain from the eastern counties
Thornbridge Brewery, which rescued a redundant Burton Union fermentation set from Marston's last year, is launching a new beer, 1838, at CAMRA's Great British Winter Beer Festival in Rotherham next week. The name commemorates the year brewer Peter Walker registered his Union system that went on to be widely used by brewers of pale ale and IPA
Jamie Allsopp, a descendant of the great Burton brewer Samuel Allsopp, has found recipes for IPA and Pale Ale from the 19th century and recreated them along with the famous/infamous keg beer Double Diamond. The beers are on sale at Jamie's pub, the Blue Stoops in Notting Hill, London. The pub takes its name from Allsopp's first tavern in Burton.
Adrian Tierney-Jones has written a remarkable book that's more than a pub guide. It charts the way in which pubs change to reflect the changing seasons, busy with visitors in summer but relying on locals in the colder months.
A new book on home brewing by Andy Parker and Jamil Zainasheef will help beer lovers to create great beers at home. The book is packed with vital information about malt, hops, yeast and water and advises on the best equipment to use to get the finest results
A superb range of beers for the festive season that make great companions for food or as stand-along drinks. The selection is from home and from Belgium
Thomas Hardy's Ale has had a turbulent history like one of the author's Wessex novels. First brewed by Eldridge Pope in Dorchester, it moved to O'Hanlon's and then Meantime breweries, The classic English barley wine is now owned by an Italian drinks business and a new edition has been brewed by Hepworth in Sussex.
Covid still has an impact on sales of beer today. As a result of pub lockdowns drinkers bought beer from supermarkets and chose global lagers sold at huge discounts. Now in pubs many people you would expect to drink cask ale are still choosing lager while small brewers find the route to market hard
Adnams, the revered Suffolk brewer, has reported its needs financial support as a result of falling sales caused by Covid, lockdown and the cask ale sector in decline.
Brewer and retailer Greene King is launching an innovative programme to boost interest in and sales of ale. It says ale is a major category in cask and keg and drinkers need to be made more aware of the category with information at the bar and special branded glasses
Batemans Brewery in Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, is celebrating 150 years of brewing in 2024 and has rebranded with a new logo and pump clips. It is about to launch a new cask beer called 5G to represent the fifth generation of the family to run the company. Pictured: managing director Stuart Bateman and marketing director Jaclyn Bateman
A cash-rich City of London investment group has bought two big regional brewers and closed two London micros. Breal Group noiw owns Black Sheep and Purity and says it's on the lookout to buy further breweries that may be in trouble as a result of Covid and lockdowns.
Greene King is launching two seasonal cask ales for the spring period, Spring Break and Hopping Special are two full-bodied beers with big hop flavours. They are part of the brewery's rolling programme of cask beers available throughout the year.
Hook Norton, with its classic tower brewery in Oxfordshire, celebrates 175 years of brewing this year with an exciting range of cask ales that includes old favourites and some new beers. The season hicks off in style with Outside Half for the rugby season followed with Double Stout, Haymaker, Twelve Days Porter, Lock Steady and Autumn Ways. As well as cask, there will be bottled versions too.
Rooster's Brewery in Harrogate celebrated 30 years of brewing in 2023 and has exciting plans for 2024, starting with a "kettle sour" Saison Wild Wild Life that has been aged in Pinot Noir barrels for 15 months. Oak-aged imperial stout and barley wine will follow
Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company -- 6o% controlled by Carlsberg -- is to close the Burton Union system of fermentation. This follows CMBC's closure of three ale breweries, Jennings, Wychwood and Ringwood. The Burton Unions are a historic method of fermenting beer developed in the 19th century to clear beer of yeast and produce a sparkling pale ale.
Des de Moor on the long history of beer brewed for the India trade in the 19th century and the difference between those historic brews and modern IPAs. He discusses the role of conventional brewers' yeast and such wild strains as Brettanomyces that would have given sharply different flavours to the Victorian styles
National brewer and retailer Greene King has stressed its commitment to cask ale with a calendar of new beers for 2024, including a warning winter ale and a beer for the rugby season. The brewer says these beers increase customer interest and help grow sales of cask
Batemans family-owned brewery in Wainfleet, Lincs, chalks up 150 years of brewing "Good Honest Ales" with a series of celebrations throughout 2024, with a range of new beers. Head brewer Buster Grant will re-commission the Victorian brewhouse for some of the beers, using English malts and hops
Simon Rogan, the chef and restaurateur, has joined forces with Fell Brewery in Cumbria to fashion a stout made with the addition of woodruff leaves. It's the first of four seasonal beers the chef and brewery will make. Rogan's L'Enclume restaurant has just been named No 1 in Britain by Harden's Guide
The festive season is upon us and brewers have produced a fine array of rich and warming brews that will go well with Christmas meals or enjoyed by themselves in front of a roaring fire
Jamie Allsopp, seven times grandson of Samuel Allsopp, has restored the name and the beers of the historic brewer who was the first to make IPA in Burton-on-Trent. Jamie has used original recipes and yeast to make Pale Ale, IPA and Pilsner. The beers are currently brewed by the Kirkstall Brewery in Leeds but Jamie is looking for a site in Burton
Barnsley's Acorn Brewery is under new ownership with manager Liz Casserly taking over at the helm. She is a vastly experienced pub manager and plans to build on the past success of Acorn with a range of new cask ales, including IPAs.
Gale's Prize Old Ale, a stock ale that's a blend of aged and fresh beer, was revived in 2022 and sold out within 48 hours. It's now owned by Fulller's/Asahi and a new vintage has just been launched, brewed at Meantime in Greenwich.
Matthew Curtis has written and photographed a fine new guide to the bars, pubs and breweries of Manchester and has linked them to the city's long history of brewing. Several old family breweries have survived and they have been joined by a host of new small producers in recent years. The enjoyment of beer in the city is heightened by the many superb pubs, both ancient and modern
The Crossover Blendery on a farm in Hertfordshire is producing a range of beers inspired by the "wild beers" of Belgium, known as lambic and gueuze. Charlie Wood and George Stagg visited the Cantillon lambic brewery in Brussels and were so impressed with the beers they decided to make their own spontaneously fermented beers back home in collaboration with Elgood's Brewery in Wisbech
Des de Moor's new book is a well-researched history of brewing in Britain, the development of cask-conditioned ale and its struggle to revive after Covid. The design of the book is odd -- with long sections on lager as well as ale -- before readers get to the promise of the title but in general this is a thoughtful, stimulating and provocative analysis
Greene King has launched Spring Break, a hoppy golden ale, as part of its cask beer seasonal programme. It's brewed in collaboration with apprentices on the National Brewery Apprenticeship Scheme. The brewery is also celebrating winning a prize for its craft beer programme in the Bartenders Brands Awards
Bill Tidy, the legendary cartoonist, broadcaster and raconteur, has died aged 89. He kept the nation laughing for many years with his strips in the daily Mirror and Private Eye. He will be remembered by CAMRA members for his long-running strip Kegbuster in What's Brewing, in which an ale lover fought such mega brewers as Grotny and Twitbread and their attempts to foist keg beer on drinkers
Andy Hayward gave up a career in insurance to run a brewery in Staines-on-Thames. He has moved sites three times and now has a bar and taproom with space for music events with visiting rock groups. His core brands are named after wildfowl found on the rivers Thames and Wraysbury. His latest beer is a collaborative brew with the Back Beat Brewery in Massachusetts, Don't Fear the Neipa.
The Bree Louise was an award-winning pub close to Euston station in North London. It was closed in 2018 and knocked down to make way for the new high-speed train service to Birmingham, HS2. Now there is speculation that HS2 may be cancelled or trains will start in the suburbs, not at Euston. So the pub and surrounding buildings need not have been destroyed
Jef Stelling, host of Sky Sports Soccer Saturday and former host of Countdown, has joined forces with brewer and pub retailer Greene King to boost draught cask beer. The brewery has staged a series of events with Jeff where customers have taken part in a pub quiz led by Jeff while enjoying pints of Greene King Abbot Ale. Jeff is seen with Roger Protz in the Green Man in Sandridge, near St Albans
Family brewer Arkells is celebrating 180 years of production this year with a series of events and special beers, such as Tradition. There will be brewery tours for the public and a major party in September. The celebrations were kicked off with the unveiling of a plaque by the High Sheriff of Wiltshire
Scottish brewer BrewDog has launched a new nitro stout, Black Heart, in a direct challenge to market leader Guinness. The new beer is 4.1 per cent, identical to the Irish beer and will be on sale in pubs from 1 February followed by a packaged version later in the month, BrewDog will have samples of the beer available outside Twickenham rugby ground during the Six Nations tournament, which is…
Eylenbosch, one of Belgium's oldest lambic breweries that closed in the 1990s, has been brought back to life and is once again brewing spontaneously fermented lambic and gueuze beers. The brewery has been welcomed by the directors of HORAL set up to protect and promote lambic beer Pictured: Erik De Keersmaeker of Eylenbosch
It's possible to enjoy good beer and still give your liver a rest in January. There are some excellent NoLos to be found, including the brilliant Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5% on draught. These beers have come a long way from the days of Barbican and Kaliber that tasted like cold Horlicks.
The Tamworth Tap, a brewpub opened just five years ago, has won CAMRA's coveted Pub of the Year award. The Tap is based in a 16th century building overlooking Tamworth Castle and offers beers from eight handpulls along with pub games and many other activities.
Suffolk-based brewer and retailer Greene King has invested heavily in 36-pint casks called pins for its seasonal ale. This will enable publicans to offer a range of cask ales in good condition that it's hoped will invigorate the sector and bring new and younger drinkers to real ale. The small containers will cut back on wasted beer