European Beer Bloggers Conference 2015, why wouldn’t you?

Posted on 20 July 2015 by Intoxicated Rich

Or #EBBC15 as we like to call it. It is beyond me why so few attend this. Not that it is badly attended by any means. Zephyr Adventures are the organisers, they are enthusiastic as only Americans can be and responsive. For a relatively small sum, occasionally subsidised with bursaries, they put on a fantastic agenda of blogging related stuff, food, entertainment and most of all, FREE BEER and lots of it. Of course this is not done without generous sponsorship from brewers, large and small for whom everyone is grateful (in particular that’s you Vaclav, from Pilsner Urquell).

And this year it’s in BELGIUM. Enough said.

The conference aspect is not arduous and certainly interesting. The beer drinking aspect is arduous, but hey, we’re not afraid of hard work are we? I’ve recounted before my first insight prior to my first conference when I found somebody (yes, you Steve)organising the pre-pub crawl pub crawl. Then a typical day at conference is the expo (free beer samples), keynote address (and toast), some talks (with relevant beer to accompany them), reception (various free beer), dinner (free beer) and post dinner entertainment or pub crawl (beer, often free).

We can be an introspective lot us beer bloggers and there are various reasons why people blog. The idea of getting free beer in the post to review is appealing to many, for others it is a personality trait or a wish to be in the in-crowd, some are real writers, some drift into it. According to one survey most don’t do it for money though I suspect that most would like to unless they have high paid jobs – you are not going to earn much money out of this. Some luminaries have carved a deservedly great career from humble blog beginnings. But surely whatever your motives, the Beer Bloggers Conference is first thing in the diary?

And to all the above, why not? Beer is fun. Beer is unpretentious. Beer is also surprisingly complex. Any activity where you get to drink a bit more beer, possibly at less expense and where you have the opportunity to earn a bit of money is great.

If you blog, if you have thought about starting a blog, then do it. Come to the European Beer Bloggers Conference 2015.

Born to die?

Posted on 16 June 2015 by Intoxicated Rich

Probably not, the ultra-slick commercial juggernaut that is BrewDog will continue to make more and more money. Oh sorry, you mean its latest marketing gimmick, I mean beer, Born To Die.

Look, we all know fresh beer is best, right? Especially if it is hoppy beer, like say Punk IPA, oh, no, maybe I’m wrong, that has one year best before on it. Born To Die, the new release from BrewDog has a short shelf life, it will be withdrawn from the shelves on a certain date.

Silly or yet another clever marketing ploy? I fear the latter, BrewDog know their market so well, and have so many shareholders, I mean punks, that they can brew just the right amount of this beer to nearly satisfy demand but as someone once said, ‘leave them wanting more’.

We have a lot to be grateful for. BrewDog really did help kick off the craft beer revolution in the UK. The marketing was designed to annoy some people and thus endear them to their target demographic. Right from the start, they knew their market and how to reach it effectively. Incidentally they brew great full flavoured beers to back it up.

The bars are pretty good and don’t only serve BrewDog beer though there is naturally a preference for those breweries they have invested in. The table service is a nice feature. My only gripe is that the only logo anywhere is BrewDog, no other brewery is promoted. Imagine the outcry if Carling monopolised the advertising in a pub in this way.

It’s all very slick, subliminal, highly commercial and certainly to date, successful marketing which, it could be argued, the beers don’t need. They are strong enough to stand on their own, certainly in the craft market. However I guess they want to have as many keg lines as Guinness and be a mass market beer, even more so than they are now.

Whatever your thoughts, it is certainly ludicrous to say you have only 30 days to drink Born To Die but your bottle of Punk is fine after 350 days. Bad BrewDog.

Wandsworth Beer Festival at Le Gothique

Posted on 4 June 2015 by Intoxicated Rich

I’m in an old orphanage that was converted to an interrogation centre in WW2 and it’s Halloween. Scariest of all I am in the company of ‘Lord Battersea’! It must be the Wandsworth Common beer festival again!

These, in my humble opinion, have been the best beer festivals in London for the past year or so at least. Always something new, rare or collaborative and this year a London debut for my beloved Little Beer Corporation.

Dredged from the extensive ‘draft archives’ at a time when there are more beer festivals than ever this is one that I look forward to more than many.

Why? Well ‘Lord Battersea’ aka Mark Justin is an opinionated guy with a great venue and the energy to make it happen. Whether you agree with him or not (me? often but not always) he is entertaining and knowledgeable company. Many festivals rely on beer either being ‘supplied’ (via a distributor say), or ‘sold’ (breweries wanting their beers at the festival) but at Wandsworth they are curated and sought. Breweries are approached in advance to brew something special or rare, sure Mark has some favourites (step up Sarah Hughes) but you can be sure that there will be an interesting selection. Not 300 variations on 3.8 – 4.5% bitter (CAMRA take note).

If I’ve a gripe then it’s the dominance of cask over keg, I’d like to see a balance. They had an unfortunate experience the first time they tried to have a lot of keg, warm day, underestimation of power required, blown electrics etc.

Beer lovers and alcoholics will love the ‘preview night’ fixed sum and free beer. A nice idea that doesn’t end in debauched drunkenness

Venue:                   8.5/10
Beer selection:       8.5/10
Beer quality:           8/10
Atmosphere:           8/10
A good night out:     8/10
Total score:            41/50, 82%

Subversion from within?

Posted on 27 May 2015 by Intoxicated Rich

The quarterly ‘Beer’ magazine from CAMRA definitely comes under the ‘quite

Sleeper?

interesting’ tag, Des de Moor is a regular contributor. I think he is a ‘sleeper’ slowly being bought to life to subvert CAMRA from within.

This month Des is talking about London’s bottle conditioned beers and with a nod to guards old (Fuller’s) and young (Kernel) he then goes on to mention to name five beers in different styles from Partizan, Pressure Drop, Brixton, Hammerton and Anspach & Hobday. Well known breweries to London beer enthusiasts but hardly breweries that are discussed in CAMRA publications at length.

I long for the day when Kernel proudly put the CAMRA Real Ale In a Bottle (RAIB) on their labels and Pressure Drop win awards at the GBBF.

Until then how many CAMRA members have heard of, let alone tried these breweries beers. Might they be lured in? Do they know that these breweries use carbon dioxide in industrial (as opposed to craft 😉 amounts? I think Des is a sleeper, quietly coming to life.

Des has a great website and it’s erudite stuff. I would encourage anyone to read it. How strange that it carries an advert for dating Russian women?

And one final thought, which demonstrates what bizarre tangents I go off on sometimes. If CAMRA was a fascist organisation with genocidal tendencies, would they use carbon dioxide in their gas chambers? I like to think they would.

What’s Brewing, April – May 2015 – Agony Column

Posted on 16 May 2015 by Intoxicated Rich

Providing much needed help for the writers to What’s Brewing.

In April it’s all about ‘Craft chaos’ and ‘zombie beers’. The great festival organiser MJ suggests that cask ales are easier to serve and dispense. To be honest this argument can be lanced with a suggestion that an adequate electricity supply is the answer. It remains the fact that a keg beer is much more likely to be served in the condition it left the brewery than a cask one. Dr DW of Crewe introduces me to the phrase ‘zombie beers’ – marvellous! CAMRA must surely take its rightful place as a latterday van Helsing and see off the undead beers. But hey, that’s suggesting there is life in these beers of a type that we can only fearfully comprehend. What dark forces are at work here? Are carbon dioxide and pasteurisation the devil incarnate?

The price of beer. AS of Cottingham points out that it costs more in bottles. £6.88 a pint! There are a few beers I wish I could buy at that price. Let’s draw breath and compare with the wine world, people don’t expect to buy a bottle of house red for the same price as a bottle of Chateau Petrus. Why should beer be any different?

Voice of reason – mention of the month – Prof GO asking for beers to be dispensed in thirds at festivals more widely (and therefore can we have more interesting strong beers).

In May we learn that ‘craft beer’ is a con trick. Even Fosters are using the word ‘crafted’! That’s the problem with words MH of Goole, anyone can use them. Basically there are crap ‘craft beers’, there are crap cask ales and anything that says crafted is almost certainly crap. Let your tastebuds decide! Obsession about an extra few pence a pint, love of mild (but nobody actually drinks it) and the need ‘familiar’ beers are also mentioned, oh dear, only one me and all of them.

Voice of reason – mention of the month – MC in volunteer voice, ‘diversify or die’. Prophetic.

Mild, what is it good for?

Posted on 6 May 2015 by Intoxicated Rich

Thanks to JW in the April edition of What’s Brewing, this has been a hobby horse of mine for some time.

Notwithstanding the important part mild has played in our beer history and the millions whose thirst it has slaked over the years I think it is time to move on. Mild seems to have been on the verge of extinction for several decades now with campaigns regularly held to save it.

I well remember the decent beer desert that was the West Midlands in the 90’s. Banks’ Mild was extremely popular there but coming from the south I was severely disappointed. It was a style not often seen down south and I saw the reason why 😉

May is now fixed as ‘Mild Month’ by CAMRA, we are urged to get publicans to stock a mild and to try some milds. In my experience pubs stock beers they can sell and if they don’t regularly have a mild on then there is probably a good reason for it. Incidentally the list originally posted (currently down at time of writing) had only one mild in London listed, Clarkshaw’s in case you are interested.

It obliges me to point out, that among others in London, Hop Stuff Brewery has recently released an Amarillo Mild. Much though I love this brewery (being an investor also) and liked the sound of it the result is just a nicely made, unremarkable beer, not enough orangey Amarillo character for me. Perhaps I am missing the point of Mild? It’s happened before.

I like the idea of boosting the flavour with Amarillo of vanilla (East London Brewing in case you are wondering) but results consistently underwhelm.

As you can tell I am not a fan of mild, even more inventive modern ones. Tastes evolve, styles come in and out fashion, it’s normal. I believe beer drinkers have voted with their bellies. There will always be a place for mild but let’s stop flogging a dead horse and celebrate new beers instead.

Intoxicated

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