Cold weather sucks. We keep losing brew days as NO fermenters to brew into!!

If we never have to face another -6 degree morning that would be OK with me.

Global warming, f^:!*+g great.

I don’t care if a normal day in summer ends up at  30+ degrees, as long as the winters don’t dip below -6.

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Welcome to the latest episode of Desert Island Beers which this week features Dan Carey co-founder and brew-Master of New Glarus Brewing Co. Wisconsin, U.S.A. which he founded along with his business partner and wife, Deb in 1993.

Dan has an extraordinary brewing pedigree. He shoveled out his first mash tun in 1979 at the age of 18, in Helena, Montana, while earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science at UC Davis. Dan was Valedictorian of the Siebel Institute Course in Brewing Science and served his apprenticeship at the Ayinger Brewery nr Munich. In 1992 he became the first American since 1978 to pass the Master Brewer Examination of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in London. He then spent time as an engineer for brewery manufacturer JV Northwest where he built or consulted on the breweries for many of the 1980s craft-beer pioneers. Read the rest of this entry »

This week we have a friend coming to stay on our desert island. Welcome Leigh Linley!

Born and bred in Leeds, Leigh has been writing about beer and food on his blog, The Good Stuff, since 2005, which makes him one of the longest serving food and beer bloggers in Yorkshire. And he sure knows his stuff.

Having witnessed Leigh once get on a train to Leeds only to realise it was actually a train to Sheffield, we can attest to the fact he’s a solid drinking companion (that’s what a Twissup session will do to a man!). Read the rest of this entry »

This weeks Desert Island Beers features the founder and owner of Maui Brewing Co, Garrett Marrero. Talk about brewing beer in paradise, for Garrett founded Maui Brewing in Lahaina, on the island of Maui, Hawaii in 2005.

When asked how he got started and why Maui, he says it was pretty simple — he loved good beer, was an investment consultant in California and came to Maui on a vacation and fell in love with the spirit of the island. From there it was simply figuring out how to be there. Being that there was nothing like Maui Brewing Co. in the state, he saw an opportunity.

Garrett says there are clearly challenges to brewing in such a remote location; principally shipping; with fuel and utility costs constantly on the rise and insurance, labour, and taxes all substantially higher in Hawaii than anywhere else in the U.S.A. other than possibly Alaska!! Read the rest of this entry »

I’m writing this on the train on the way to work. The woman to my right is painting her nails, a bloke diagonally opposite is reading an Ian Rankin novel and the woman opposite me is on her phone talking I guess to her husband/ boyfriend. Nothing she has said so far has been worth saying let alone listening to although I now know what they are having for their meal tonight and their plans for this coming weekend, which include by the sound of it, plenty sex.

None of the above petty irritations can burst my bubble this morning, for last night I had another cracking evening at the NWAF , where I met up with a long standing friend; not seen for over 12 months and introduced him to some great beers and in addition met up with plenty brewery friends. Read the rest of this entry »

The Bent and Bongs Charitable Trust, in association with CAMRA, is holding the 23rd Bent and Bongs Beer Bash, from January 26th – January 28, 2012.

The venue is Formby Hall, Atherton, Manchester, M46 9EY. Click here for a map. The closest railway station is Atherton, shown on the above map (top right corner). Walking time from the station to the venue is 5 minutes, although the return trip can take much longer! A good place to check the train times is at The Train Line.

The festival begins at 6.00p.m. Thursday 26th January and is open to 11.00 p.m. Read the rest of this entry »

Meet Søren Eriksen, a nomadic Dane who, like most red-blooded Kiwi’s loves playing poker with the boys and making home-brewed beer. The only difference is that Søren indulges both passions with the scale and skill most can only dream about: Søren is a two-time New Zealand poker champ (2009/10) and founder and head-brewer of critically-acclaimed craft label, 8 Wired Brewing Co.

8 Wired was recently announced at The Brewers Guild of New Zealand Awards as Champion Brewery for 2011. 8 Wired contract brew at Renaissance Brewing in Blenheim: contract brewed in the sense that 8 Wired does not own its own equipment but rent Renaissance Brewing’s. The beer is brewed by Søren, whose day job is a brewer for Renaissance.

For all non-Kiwi’s, No 8 Wire is a specific gauge of wire originally used for electric fencing. In New Zealand it’s use is widespread, Kiwi’s having used it to fix just about anything. Over the years it has become a symbol of Kiwi ingenuity so Søren chose the name because he thought it fitted his company pretty well. Read the rest of this entry »

R.I.P. 2012

From my post of January 3rd 2012 …………………..”and my belief is that 2012 will be a very tough year. Indeed I would go so far as to predict that for the first time for many years at the end of this year there will be fewer breweries operating in the UK than the start. That is how tough I believe things have become.”

I wrote the above only 6 days ago! I didn’t imagine for one minute my prediction would involve three casualties within such a short period of time. Bitter End Brewing Co Ltd opened on Derwent Mills Commercial Park, Cockermouth in 2009 but it has now closed and its equipment has been bought by Tap East in the Westfield complex in Stratford, London. Hydes’ Queens Brewery, Manchester, such an historic building and Northcote Brewery; just very sad news. I have also heard on the hop vine that a wannabe ‘Regional’ is again in trouble. Read the rest of this entry »

This weeks Desert Island Beers features the owner and founder of The Lagunitas Brewing Company, Tony Magee.

I asked Tony for a brief bio. and this was it!

For a bio I can only tell you a few things with any certainty…
1. I was born at a very early age…
2. I live in Point Reyes Station, CA, USA…
3. I started Lagunitas Brewing on my kitchen stove in 1993….
Anything that I might write down beyond this would be pure conjecture….

Chairs to you and yours!

Tony Magee
Sea Eeefukin Owe
Lagunitas Brewing
Petaluma, Lyydikandiiic, and the World. Read the rest of this entry »

I have just been reading the recent post on Dave Bailey’s blog about beer duty and the subsequent comments; one of which in particular by Dave “There is an argument that says there are too many very small brewers who aren’t very good. ………………It’s getting tougher for everyone. There is an argument that claims it is too easy to start a microbrewery,” caused a lively debate. Curmudgeon replied “Yes, while it has helped good brewers, it has also brought too many half-arsed brewers into the industry.”

I see Tandleman then posted on 28th December, Too Many (Duff) Breweries?   Read the rest of this entry »