Features

Leuven is called the City of Beer. The Belgian city, half an hour from Brussels, has two contrasting breweries: Domus brewpub and Stella Artois. The 1920s Art Deco Stella brewery (pictured) is magnificent while tours will take visitors to a number of local breweries, including De Kroon and Hof Ten Dormaal. The Old Market area alone has 36 bars -- sufficient to slake the deepest thirsts.

Added: Friday, May 17th 2019

Four Czechs are forcing British drinkers to rethink their attitude to lager. In place of thin, fizzy and bland beers, Zdenek Kudr, Petr Skocek and their colleagues at Bohem Brewery are fashioning beers that are properly aged, use only the finest ingredients and are served in their Taproom using the approved "Czech pour" (pictured) that leaves flavour, not gas, in the glass

Added: Tuesday, April 30th 2019

Nik Antona (pictured left) and Tom Stainer, the new chairman-elect and chief executive of CAMRA, have a mission to broaden the base of the campaign and win younger drinkers. They stress that many beer festivals now offer a wider choice of beers and the campaign is about more than handpumps and casks. To boost the fortunes of real ale, they will step up efforts to save pubs as vital hubs of communities offering a range of great beer.

Added: Sunday, March 31st 2019

Gary Murphy runs the historic, listed Old Mitre Inne in Barnet, North-west London and is locked in a long-running battle with the Pubs Code Adjudicator (PCA) as a result of his plan to go free of tie with the pub's owner, Greene King. He has spent thousands of pounds of his own money on legal costs and has taken to crowd funding to finance a court hearing with the PCA.

Added: Monday, March 11th 2019

S troud Brewery, launched by Greg Pilley (pictured) in 2006, has moved to new premises where Greg and his team produce a range of organic beers to meet his passion for aiding the environment.The new site includes a tap room and bar where local people can enjoy the beers along with pizzas cooked in an oven imported from Naples. At present Stroud has a 20-barrel kit but Greg plans to expand to 40 barrels as demand grows

Added: Monday, February 25th 2019

Alex Brodie has stepped down as the boss of Hawkshead Brewery in the Lake District but he's being kept on as beer taster in chief to keep his eye -- and his tastebuds -- on his favourite brews. Alex trained as a journalist and travelled widely first in Britain and then around the world as a BBC correspondent. But his love of good beer drove him to open a small brewery in Hawkshead that has grown rapidly into a major Cumbrian business

Added: Monday, February 18th 2019

Twenty years ago sales of bottled beer were falling off the cliff. But there's been a spirited revival and one section of the bottled sector that's showing special growth is bottle-conditioned beers. This year, Marston's will stage a "live beer" week along with other breweries. Among live beers on sale, the Gold edition of Thomas Hardy's Ale stands out from the crowd as it marks 50 years since it was first brewed for a literary festival in Hardy's home town of Dorchester

Added: Monday, February 18th 2019

Harry is the landlord of the Dock & Duck in rural southern England. He has a lease with Enterprise Inns, the country's biggest pub company, now known as Ei Group. Harry is not his real name as he wants to renew his lease but he is keen to show how difficult it is to run pubs when they are tied to their landlords for beer. Harry says he pays some £60,000 a year more than if he bought his beer on the open market.

Added: Thursday, February 14th 2019

Jaega Wise has sprung to fame in a few years with Wild Card Brewery in East London. She and her fellow directors William Harris and Andrew Birkby are from Nottingham and moved from home brewing to full scale production in 2012. They have won awards for their beers and Jaega was named Brewer of the Year in December by the British Guild of Beer Writers. She's also a regional director for the Society of Independent Brewers and finds time to sing in a group called Hell and Hope

Added: Monday, January 21st 2019

After years of growth in the pale ale and IPA sector, dark beer is making a comeback. Tesco stores sold out of stout during the Christmas period as consumers relish the rich flavours of beers made with roasted and caramel malts. There are some fine porters and stouts available but you will need to rush to get a bottle of the annual Goose Island Bourbon County Stout before it sells out

Added: Monday, December 31st 2018