I have a reoccurring daydream that I elaborate on each time I think of it. I find myself walking around an ancient village with cobbled streets and wooden framed buildings, there is the hustle and bustle of people trading from the fronts of the buildings and a mass of people moving from store to store […]

I’m lucky to live in an area where real ale is in abundance. I’m also lucky that in 2009 I met a Master that has taught me a great load about beer. Sometimes I get invited to all day events that involve learning about beer, drinking beer, meeting people who appreciate good beer and generally having a SMASHING […]

Treat someone with a special Beer this Christmas, here is my Essential Stout Selection (in no particular order): BrewDog Paradox Smokehead 10% (Fraserburgh, Scotland) Samuel Smiths Imperial Stout 7% (Tadcaster, England) Marble Brewery Chocolate Marble 5.5% (Manchester, England) Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout 10.6% (Brooklyn, New York, USA) Spire Brewery SGT. Pepper Stout 5.5% (Chesterfield, England) […]

Rochefort Trappist Brewery have been making beer since 1595. Tonight I’ve had a chance to try their Rochefort 10 (blue cap) for the first time in my life. The house is deadly silent apart from the rain against the window, and the first slow sip of this dark thick foamy ale instantly conjures thoughts of […]

Pauwel Kwak isn’t an actual style of beer but it holds a special place in my heart as the first continental ale I experienced. I purchased the signature Kwak glass in Paris in 1992 as a present for my Dad and couldn’t resist trying my first bottle of Kwak at the time. Strong (8.4%), sweet, […]

For the next instalment of my ‘Experiencing Beer‘ series – tonight I tried the Saison style of beer for the first time. Saison was the name given to beers brewed in farmhouses from the French speaking region of Belgium. They were light and low in alcohol and perfect for the farmers to drink during a […]

Once you start learning about beer – different brewing styles, regions, hops malts and everything in-between there start to appear recommended or well regarded breweries and brews that stand out above the rest. Trappist beer is brewed by Trappist Monks and is among some of the most famous styles available. This is my first Westmalle […]

This is what you get when you ask a professional beermonger (It’s like a fishmonger, but with beer) to educate your taste buds. I asked Simon Johnson (@reluctantscoop) if he would do the honours and pick out a range of international beers that he felt would be a good selection of tasty beers that I may not of had before. […]

One of these lucky retailers will be getting my custom this weekend so that I can stock up on some lovely ale for Christmas day. I’ve always been on the hunt for bottled beer shops and aim to update this post whenever new shops appear. The map below shows the locations using the Foursquare app […]

This evening my wife was nipping across the road to our hyperlocal Tesco Express and asked if I wanted any beer – “Of course” was my cry, “what have they got on at the moment?” What came next still makes me chuckle – “Mad Goose, Old Intentional, Harvester Pale and a beer from India called […]

Yesterday I bought a selection of local beers, one of them was called Midnight by Nutbrook brewery, West Hallam, Derbyshire. This evening I made Stout Cakes with my son. The Stout was so good, I almost regretted using half of it in the cake … This is what ‘I used’ and how ‘I did it’ […]