DrinkBritain

Champion Beer of Britain brewer Adrian Redgrove, receiving the trophy from Roger Protz for his Harvest Mild

Wondering whether to head to CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court this year? My advice – Go. More than once if you can. Because I bet there’ll be more you want to try than you manage on your first trip.

This year’s event is as awesome as ever, and I use that word in its truest sense. Having been there yesterday for the opening trade day, I’m not surprised 47,000 pints were sold. With over 700 real ales, ciders & perries including a strong foreign contingent, it is a drinker’s paradise.

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Working in a bar or restaurant and want to expand your beer horizons? Garrett Oliver, brewmaster for New York’s legendary Brooklyn Brewery will be speaking at Imbibe 2010 on Tuesday afternoon at Earls Court.

While you are there, check out the Hop & Apple Garden for a few other fruit and cereal-derived tipples. Taste your way around the globe, from Shepherd Neame’s iconic Spitfire Ale via a medley of world beers from adventurous suppliers like James Clay, continue reading…

The artisan innards of boutique brewery, Grain

A bit like the Easter Bunny, Tindall’s Summer Loving makes just one appearance a year and this year’s public sighting will be at Grain’s Summer Festival, Saturday 26 June.

Perfectly poised near the Suffolk / Norfolk border near the picturesque village of Alburgh (pronounced Arrbraa), Grain is one of East Anglia’s most go-ahead small breweries.

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Brit Beer takes over at Tate Modern

Forget Brit Pop, it’s Brit Beer turning heads at the UK’s leading galleries. The Tate Modern is trialling an all-British beer list with a view to extending the concept to all its other bars and restaurants.

The 20-strong list reads like a Who’s Who of the new British beer movement, with Punk IPA and Paradox from Scots rebels, BrewDog, alongside Lovibonds’ summery wheat beer, Henley Gold, and Sambrook’s Wandle from up the Thames in Battersea. continue reading…

A restful finish to an exhilerating journey

Thousands of miles, hundreds of samples and dozens of fine people to chat to – oh yes, plus the odd windmill, shire horse, malting house and a working 110-year-old steam engine – all came to an end with a pint of Jennings’ Cumberland Ale overlooking Morecambe Bay in Cumbria.

Many months earlier, CAMRA’s Beer editor, Tom Stainer, had entrusted to me the task of tracking down the best breweries to visit around the country. Perhaps the biggest journalistic project I had undertaken, but certainly one of the most fulfilling.

And the results? You can see my baker’s dozen in the current issue of Beer, or take a look here, where you’ll also see a few extras that I just couldn’t leave out. There’s a few you’d expect – Fullers and Adnams – plus a number perhaps less well known outside their locality. The other result of my quest is that I became even more determined to launch www.drinkbritain.com

These places are too good to leave them to those in the know. As in my feature, drinkbritain.com will be showcasing those places where the quality of the welcome matches the quality of the product.

And if you know of somewhere that should be featured, tell them about drinkbritain.com or let me know and I’ll get in touch.

In the meantime – Cheers!

Live within striking distance of Guildford and got a spare couple of hours tomorrow, Wednesday 12 May? There’s still a few tickets going for Taurus Wines’ popular summer wine fair. Now in its ninth year, founder Rupert Pritchett welcomes 100s of people, putting on quite a show along the way.

Over 300 wines are uncorked ranging in price from £5 to £35, with representatives from as far afield as Chile and New Zealand present, plus appearances from award-winning near-neighbours Nyetimber, and – ash permitting – a clutch of continental winemakers flying in for the evening. continue reading…

An eclectic selection on offer

On Friday an unusual art event took place at the Market Gallery on Duke Street, in the increasingly trendy Denistoun area of Glasgow (not far, in fact, from the lovely Coia’s Cafe). Eric Steen, a Portland, Oregon based artist whose work could be described as “Beer-as-art-and-social-activism”  had recruited thirteen amateur brewers to present their best beers to the public, in the concluding evening of the Glasgow Beer and Pub Project, part of the biennial Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art.

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The welcoming party

So the scene was set – an array of fine British drinks ready to welcome their French fromage shaped cousins.  A little nervous perhaps. As our Vive le Cheese ambassador, food & wine writer, Katrina Alloway, had said, what grows together goes together. So were we attempting too much?

But, I reasoned, we Brits have never been shy about exploring. And there had been many interesting sightings from fellow flavour-nauts – the malt maestro himself, Dave Broom, broke off from finalising his World Atlas of Whisky to say that Lagavulin 16yo [a traditional smoke-fest from Islay] was ‘a killer’ with Roquefort.

A tweet exchange with thewinesleuth suggested that Astley’s late harvest sweetie – a new discovery for both of us at the recent English wine trade tasting – might go well with a light blue or crumbly goats cheese. Artisanal cidre is such a legendary cheese partner, it would be rude not to see if the affinity crosses the channel. And as for beer…

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Make mine a pint

It’s arrived! The 2010 National Cask Ale Week is open for business, with 100s if not 1000s of pubs – and more than a few breweries – seeking to refresh our glasses with something rather fine.

That other ingredient of the good life, music, makes a number of guest appearances, and ladies are particularly well catered for on April 1 – the number of women drinkers has doubled in the last year alone, and surveys suggest that nearly half of women who try cask ale carry on indulging in the real thing. As advocates of speaking to the people that really matter, the number of Meet the Brewer events is truly heartening. Finally, if you throw in some fun contests plus a few week-long local beer festivals, odds are it’s going to be a fun time. continue reading…

Shiny, happy microbrewery in The Old Brewery

Beer is being brewed again at one of Britain’s most naval historic spots. Following a 140-year hiatus, the Meantime Brewing Company is fermenting once more on the site of the old Royal Naval Hospital’s brewery.

Linking seamlessly with Discover Greenwich, the newly opened visitor centre for the Old Royal Naval College site, Meantime’s The Old Brewery will be responsible for beers both ancient and modern. Its shiny copper brewkit stands smartly to attention in one corner of the café/bar complex.

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Here for the beer

Are you a brewery or distillery in Britain open to the public? Or do you know a UK cider producer or winery that gives visitors a warm welcome? Or perhaps you’d like to show the world why you produce the finest cordial or juice on the planet. If so, I’d like to hear from you.

The info collection phase for www.drinkbritain.com is well under way, but there’s still time to let me know about places where visitors really matter to feature on this site. If you qualify – or know someone who does –  leave a comment or register with the site, email me at info@drinkbritain.com or DM me on twitter and and I’ll be in touch. continue reading…

Beer will be on the menu in more ways than one at London’s newest hostelries, The Old Brewery, courtesy of award-winning Greenwich brewers, Meantime. As well as classic combos such as oysters and stout, dishes under discussion include smoked salmon cured in Meantime IPA and pale ale-braised neck of mutton. Even desserts throw up a dilemma: lemon tart with Kent hop-infused meringue or Meantime Chocolate Porter sorbet?

Opening in late March, The Old Brewery forms part of Discover Greenwich, the £6m redevelopment of the Old Royal Naval College into a maritime cultural and educational complex. Café by day and bistro by night, the adjoining bar will also house the beer bottle and glass collections of the original beer hunter, the late Michael Jackson. continue reading…