Features

Steve Wellington, a revered figure in brewing circles, is retiring...allegedly. He has retired four times before but this time he means it -- except that the owners of the Heritage Brewery in Burton-on-Trent want him to stay on as a consultant. He is seen on the left in the brewery with his colleagues Caroline Horrabin and Martin Hodson. Steve worked in various parts of the old Bass empire but his main claim to fame was bringing Worthington's White Shield back to Burton

Added: Monday, February 5th 2018

Brian Watson has a remote brewery -- in the heart of London. He set up Oddly Brewery in decaying buildings on Platts' Eyot on the River Thames, near Hampton Court Palace. Getting brewing kit and ingredients on to the island required adapted boats and many hours of labour -- the photo left shows the brewing kit arriving. But the buildings have been repaired and brewing is going full-steam ahead and meeting drinkers' approval, as Sarah Howe reports

Added: Friday, February 2nd 2018

St Pancras Station in London is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2018 -- and beer will be the centrepiece of events. The station was built to bring beer from Burton-on-Trent to London and St Pancras helped revolutionise brewing, acquainting Londoners with pale ale for the first time. Events at the station will include a beer festival in October and a special IPA has been brewed by Lost Rivers, with the first batch delivered by a Young's dray

Added: Sunday, January 14th 2018

8 January 2018 was a double celebration. Bateman's award-winning strong bitter XXXB chalked up 40 years since it was first brewed and four generations of brewers were in attendance as two beer lovers, Michael and Hannah Borill from Lincoln, helped mash in and boil malt and hops for a batch restored to its original strength of 4.8 per cent

Added: Wednesday, January 10th 2018

The beer world has moved on from the likes of Mild and Bitter. Craft brewers are endlessly seeking out new and sometimes extreme flavours in beer. Some writers question whether adding fruit to beer is a step too far but there's no doubt that wood ageing has brought new dimensions to the pleasures of drinking. And Adnams' Ghost Ship, with its rich hop character, is now the brewery's top-selling beer

Added: Friday, January 5th 2018

Gale's Prize Old Ale, aged in wood, looked to have died when the brewery was bought and closed by Fuller's in 2006. But now the major London brewery has worked with Marble in Manchester to restore the classic ale, ageing it in four oak barrels for a year. Marble head brewer James Kemp has released the beers in four different signatures from bourbon, Barbera, Madeira and Pinot Noir barrels

Added: Wednesday, December 27th 2017

Three men -- Martin Taylor, Simon Everitt and Richard Coldwell -- known as the Completists have a rare passion for pubs. Their aim is to visit every pub listed in the Good Beer Guide -- and they plan weekends and holidays with military precision. They love pubs because "pubs are about people" and they don't enjoy drinking at home. Roger Protz joined them on a crawl of some of Sheffield's finest hostelries

Added: Sunday, December 17th 2017

A former closed Young's pub in Richmond, London, has been restored as a vibrant community local by Chris French (pictured) with a policy of serving beers from outside the M25 along with bought-in pizzas and help from Rudi the cocker spaniel, voted the cutest UK pub dog

Added: Saturday, November 11th 2017

David Bruce, famous as the founder of the Firkin pub chain and Slug & Lettuce, now runs the West Berkshire Brewery. He has transformed the small site in an old bakery into a large new brewery on a former dairy farm with a multi-functional brewhouse producing ale and lager. He has also installed a visitor centre where drinkers can sample the beers and watch brewing through a glass wall. There's a ramped up beer range with Renegade craft beers alongside the original cask ales

Added: Monday, October 30th 2017

Dougal Sharp, pictured outside the barrel house at Inveralmond Brewery in Perth, has achieved his ambition of owning his own brewery. While Inveralmond continues to brew cask ales, Innis & Gunn now has a base for its oak-aged range of beers. But there's controversy surrounding the main I&G beers as they are produced by a method using oak chips and are not aged in wood casks. Dougal Sharp says he's "putting the barrels into the beer".

Added: Friday, October 27th 2017