“Who cares how time advances? I am drinking ale today.“
Edgar Allan Poe (Former Stoke Newington resident)
Last year my wife Liz, AKA the redoubtable Beer Widow, created the first ever Stoke Newington Literary Festival. Somehow, it worked, and it was a truly great event, so this year it’s happening again, from 3rd to 5th June. The line up includes ex-Bond villain Steven Berkoff, Johann Hari, Alexei Sayle, Jon Ronson, Howard Marks, Matt Thorne, Dan Cruikshank, Stella Duffy, Rowland Rivron, BBC 6 Music’s Shaun Keaveny, and of course a nepotistic beer and book matching talk from me. You can get more details and buy tickets for all events from here.
Like last year, I’ve been putting together ‘Pete’s Bar’ featuring a range of tastefully selected drinks donated by very wonderful sponsors including Budvar, Quilmes, Thornbridge and Hendrick’s gin. But this year we also have two unique beers thanks to our local brewers.
Redemption Brewery in Tottenham, just up the road from the festival, has created and brewed a summer ale that will be sold in the festival’s own bars as well as at The Jolly Butchers, another collaborator on the project. Meanwhile, Brodies in East London has created a seven-hopped spectacular to offer festivalgoers a choice of unique local brews. These beers will only be sold in Stoke Newington during the festival. Liz even went along and helped brew one of them, with Emma from JBs:
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| L-R: Nice Andy from Redemption, The Wife, Emma, Beer Queen of the Butchers, pretending to read book. Really drinking beer. |
Today, we’re launching a competition to come up with a linked pair of names for these two sibling beers from different breweries – one light and refreshing, the other hoppier and bigger in flavour, both gorgeous, both perfect to accompany a summer’s weekend spent feeding your brain.
Andy at Redemption, James at Brodies, Emma at The Jolly Butchers and I will judge the names and award a host of beer and literature-inspired prizes, including 2 free tickets to my Beer & Book Matching event on Sunday 5th June, the chance to pull (and drink) the first few pints and signed copies of my Beer Trilogy: Man Walks into a Pub, Three Sheets to the Wind and Hops & Glory.
Suggestions should be sent to info@stokenewingtonliteraryfestival.com, @Stokeylitfest on Twitter, or via the festival’s Facebook page, where you can also receive updates about the festival and other beer sponsors. Competition closes 5pm on Friday 27th May.
top stuff
not the right style but I did think
of Cliss OLD Ale.
BTW technically 2 Bond Villians as Alexi was one too! : )
PS. everyone should go to SLF it's ace
Just one word: 'redoubtable'? That's nearly 'resplendent'.
Sodom and Gomorrah!
Steven Berkoff "ex-Bond villain"? I saw a performance of his Kafka's Metamorphosis a few years back. He's more than just a Bond villain, Pete…
Absolutely, Sid – we haven't asked him along to the Festival to talk to us about playing General Orlov.
PB I hope you can grill SB on his role as "Podovsky " in RamboII and Captain Steve Minto in "UFO" ; )
not to mention his seminal work as Victor Maitland in 'Beverley Hills Cop' and as Krasnov in 'The Professionals'… 😎
Daniel Defoe lived in Stoke Newington.
So how about, Moll Flanders and Robinson Crusoe for beer names?
Here's some names for the new StokieLitfest beers…..
'Too Kegs Went Inn'
'Wigeon's Ten Knot'
Both are anagrams of Stoke Newington.
I also quite like 'Notes Keg In Town', 'Ken's Tent Wooing' and 'Ken's Townie Tong'.
Here's some names for the new StokieLitfest beers…..
'Too Kegs Went Inn'
'Wigeon's Ten Knot'
Both are anagrams of Stoke Newington.
I also quite like 'Notes Keg In Town', 'Ken's Tent Wooing' and 'Ken's Townie Tong'.
This is lordluke36 by the way
Ooh, beer names. How about 'Ronnie' & 'Reggie'? They have a link to Stoke Newington, according to their Wiki page…