News

Hogs Back Brewery in Tongham, Surrey, has joined forces with renowned chocolatier Montezuma to produce a lager with a dash of real chocolate. The beer flies in the face of the convention that chocolate, with its fat content, can't be added during the brewing process. The beer is lagered for five weeks and offers both malt, hops and chocolate -- just in time for National Chocolate Week

Added: Saturday, October 11th 2014

Lacons Brewery, brought back from the dead in 2013, has won a prestigious Gold Award in the SIBA East Anglia competition. Batemans of Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, has scooped a top prize for its Black Pepper Ale in the World Beer Awards. Acorn Brewery just goes on winning prizes for its Barnsley Bitter. Pictured: Lacon's Mick Carver with William Lacon of the brewing family

Added: Tuesday, October 7th 2014

For the first time in more than 100 years, hops have been grown and harvested in London. Meantime Brewery, based in Greenwich, planted Fuggles on the banks of the river behind the O2 Arena. They were picked by volunteers and will be used in a new bottled beer later this year

Added: Friday, October 3rd 2014

Ten cask beers from breweries all round the world will be on sale at Wetherpoon's pubs throughout Britain during a 17-day autumn beer festival. They will be joined by up to 40 beers from British breweries. Brewers from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium have brewed cask versions of their ales for the occasion. Five of the beers have been produced by "brewsters" or women brewers and two British brewsters have also added their ales to the range

Added: Monday, September 29th 2014

Cyclops, the beer accreditation scheme, is getting greater recognition and support from both beer drinkers and publicans. Drinkers say they would try more cask beers if some indication of aroma and flavour was displayed on pump clips.

Added: Thursday, September 25th 2014

The 2014 Cask Ale Report, compiled by Pete Brown, says real ale is the beer of the moment, with new breweries opening on almost a daily basis and pubs offering a vast range of beers. But perceptions need to change, the report adds, as many publicans still believe cask beer is drunk by "beardie weirdies". And publicans are criticised for selling cask ale too cheaply -- almost £1 a pint less than craft keg.

Added: Thursday, September 25th 2014

Black Sheep Best Bitter, the biggest-selling cask beer in Yorkshire, has been given a makeover to give it more nationwide appeal to drinkers in an ever-more fiercely competitive pub trade. And the packaged version is now in an eco-friendly lightweight bottle that's on sale in all supermarket chains

Added: Wednesday, September 24th 2014

Eddie Gadd at Ramsgate Brewery will take a special beer brewed with the first hops of the harvest to a Belgian beer festival hosted by ground-breaking craft brewery De Molen. Back in Kent, all the county's brewers will parade Green Hop beers at a festival in Canterbury

Added: Monday, September 22nd 2014

Beers from a Hatfield brewery in Hertfordshire that closed in 1920 have been recreated by the 3 Brewers and will feature at the St Albans beer festival this month. Pryor Reid was a major brewer and the biggest employer in Hatfield but closed following the death of the chairman's son in WWI. Now Petar Zivkovic (seen left) with Mark Fanner and Petar's brother Nick have recreated a mild and a porter using Pryor Reid's recipes

Added: Sunday, September 14th 2014

Rooster's head brewer Oliver Fozard made a dawn dash from North Yorkshire to Worcestershire to pick up the first Phoenix hops of the harvest from Stocks Farm then hurried back to the brewery to make a Fresh Hop beer. He believes it's the first time a beer using harvest-fresh hops has been made in the north of England.

Added: Wednesday, September 10th 2014