Guest Columns

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

Added: Sunday, January 28th 2024

For six years, Friends of the Iron Duke have campaigned to save the closed Art Deco listed building and to reopen it as a pub. The local council and its preservation trust have refused to put the pub out for tender and have now reached an agreement with a company called Zak's to turn the site into an American-style burger restaurant. Caroline Jones of Friends of the Iron Duke tells the story...

Added: Thursday, June 15th 2023

Ash Corbett-Collins, CAMRA's Young Members Coordinator, says it is vital that the Campaign attracts the thousands of young beer lovers who are not yet members. They are needed to strengthen the Campaign at all levels and support beer festivals and other activities that attempt to attract drinkers

Added: Wednesday, April 18th 2018

Brewers are still using sexist images to sell beer, says Katie Wiles -- and it demeans women drinkers. Recent examples (left) are from Robinson's and Moorhouse's while an Italian beer has caused an uproar with a crude label suggesting a woman drinker is performing fellatio. And an Irish brewery is using a sexist image for its Dublin Blonde Lager.

Added: Thursday, October 26th 2017

Writer Katie Wiles challenges the myth that women don't like beer. She talks to a number of women drinkers who say they prefer flavour-rich beer to wine and they enjoy drinking in pubs, which are no longer a male preserve. And, Katie argues, there's no such thing as a "woman's palate"!

Added: Monday, September 25th 2017

Paul Nunny of Cask Marque says it's time drinkers stopped knocking cask beer and spoke up about its values and success. He adds that both price and quality need to be addressed and points out that while cask beer is usually the cheapest beer on the bar it's a premium product.

Added: Thursday, January 26th 2017

The second Milano Beer Week will be held in the Italian city from 21-27 September, Maurizio Maestrelli reports. It will showcase beers from the hundreds of craft breweries operating in Italy as well as beers from Britain, the United States and many European countries. It will prove that beer is now firmly rooted in Italy's quest for good food and drink

Added: Sunday, August 23rd 2015

Dave Bailey, who runs Hardknott Brewery in Cumbria, describes the thought that went into brewing Nuclear Sunset on the 70th anniversary of the dropping of the A-bomb on Hiroshima in Japan. Dave's brewery is close to Sellafield in Cumbria and he is acutely aware of the strong feelings aroused by proponents and opponents of the nuclear industry

Added: Wednesday, August 5th 2015

Beer Sommelier Jane Peyton calls on all beer lovers to join the festivities starting on 15 June to celebrate Britain's national drink. She has chosen that date as it also marks the signing of Magna Carta, which supported English ale

Added: Tuesday, May 5th 2015

The Campaign for Real Ale's annual conference this weekend won't debate sexism in the brewing industry. Beer writer Melissa Cole argues CAMRA is dodging the issue and urges all organisers of beer festivals and other consumer events to say "No" to the likes of Top Totty

Added: Wednesday, April 15th 2015