Why Guinness is late to the craft beer party
It’s a little-known fact (outside beer geek circles) that stout, the beer that defines Ireland, has its origins not in Dublin but London.
Find out moreOther Writing
A selection of articles I’ve written for other publications.
Why beer (and NOT wine) goes with everything
If I asked you what you wanted to drink with a really great meal, unless you’re teetotal I’m guessing your decision-making process would largely centre around the question, ‘red or white’?
Find out moreIn praise of lager
As I’ve said before in this column, one of the biggest misunderstandings I encounter in my career is that people assume – what with me being a beer writer – that I hate lager and anyone who drinks it. Many – even some close to the industry – will make a distinction between ‘beer’ and
Find out moreAll you need to know about London’s biggest celebration of beer
Over the last couple of years I’ve written quite a bit in this column about beer festivals and events happening in London. Sorry if that gets repetitive – if you read this column, and you live in London, I figure you’d be interested to know about beer events happening in this great city, and they’re
Find out moreWhy politicians love beer
It all started with Barack Obama. In 2009, white police Sergeant James Crowley arrested a black man for apparently breaking into a house in a prosperous part of Cambridge, Massachussetts. It turned out the black man was Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr: a writer, TV presenter, editor, literary critic, filmmaker and essayist, and the first African
Find out moreWhy you have to embrace summer festivals
There’s a war going on for your soul. On one side, we have the drive to conformity that is seeing every street jammed into the same rigidly branded template. On the other, we have freedom, individuality and humanity. OK, so I’m a teensy bit biased in my war reporting, but hear me out.
Find out moreAnd the award for the best drinks producer goes to….
One of the best things about being a beer writer now people actually want to read about beer is that we’re starting to escape our little ghetto. It used to feel like beer bloggers, writers and enthusiasts were just talking to each other in a bubble that was entirely separate from any flavour of mainstream
Find out moreWhy Britain’s drinking problem has been significantly overstated
So the media have finally cottoned on to the fact that binge drinking is declining, not increasing as they have been telling us for years. The strangest part of the coverage of new research by Cardiff University linking a drop in violent crime to declining binge drinking is that the press reporting the story treat
Find out moreHow mainstream is craft beer?
A few years ago – perhaps even less than that – craft beer was something for the hobbyist beer geek. Then, quickly, more people started getting interested – and not just the East London hipsters we love to mock. A recent Mintel report shows that 13 million people – a quarter of all British adults
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