This week we have a friend coming to stay on our desert island; welcome Xavier Baker. Born and bred on the Isle of Wight the diamond Island of England, (Xavier’s description not mine!) Xavier has always had an interest in home brewing, beer & cider after watching and helping his father and pinching the odd bottle from the larder! Also growing up on the island, Xavier used any excuse to be in or out on the water and with his family sailed every inch of the Solent. At 15 he found his passion for surfing and still surfs at every given opportunity.

Xavier started brewing at Ventnor Brewery just before his 18th Birthday. He was lucky to be taught the traditional methods and dark arts by Fred Martin retired Head Brewer of King & Barnes of Horsham. He had been brewing for 13 years or thereabouts at Ventnor when the brewery closed. Read the rest of this entry »

Meet Jamie Emmerson, Executive Brewmaster at Full Sail Brewing Co. Full Sail  is a craft brewery in Hood River, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1987, Full Sail was the first commercially successful craft brewery to bottle beer in the Pacific Northwest for retail sale, and one of Oregon’s early microbreweries.

Jamie was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, which he says (is not exactly the center of the brewing world) and growing up had the best German teacher during Middle and High School. This far sighted lady, Frau Griffith encouraged him to study in Germany, so he went as an exchange student at 16 and again at 18, and finally finished his University education in Munich. Read the rest of this entry »

This weeks Desert Island Beers features our first Brewster, Hayley Barton of Cumbrian Legendary Ales. Born In Gloucestershire, Hayley says she  learned to drink Real Ale in the Old Spot Inn, in Dursley during weekends with friends whilst studying for her A-levels and around the same time was also very fortunate to be taken on a walking holiday to The Lakes by her best friend Tamsin & her parents Trev & Ros.

After staying in Great Langdale, Hayley says she cried all the way down the M6 during the journey home because she had enjoyed having a wonderful holiday in the best county in England so much and she vowed then that she would go back to Cumbria, to live at some time in the future. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the latest episode of Desert Island Beers which this week features Lisa Morrison, who is better known in the US as The Beer Goddess. Lisa is host and producer of “Beer O’Clock!,” a weekly, hour-long radio show devoted to craft beer.

Lisa also recently released her first book, “Craft Beers and Breweries of the Pacific Northwest: A Beer-Lover’s Guide to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia,” to critical acclaim. She was also one of 40 contributing writers for the internationally published book, “1001 Beers to Taste Before You Die.”

Read the rest of this entry »

This weeks Desert Island Beers features the founder and owner of  Lovibonds Brewery Ltd, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, Jeff Rosenmeier. Jeff caught the brewing bug back in the mid 1990’s after tasting a friends homebrewed stout. His successful career in software engineering gave him the opportunity to move to England. The job entailed traveling all over Europe, giving him the opportunity to sample many of the great European beer styles during the week and at weekend Jeff would then be busy cloning them in his garden shed.

Finally, the hobby put a strain on household resources (not enough water pressure, not enough electric phases) and Jeff packed in his successful career to start Lovibonds in his adopted home of Henley-on-Thames. Lovibonds is one of only a handful of craft brewers in the UK that kegs 100% of its production, despite disapproval from the self proclaimed Consumer Rights Group CAMRA. Read the rest of this entry »

I occasionally take a brewery tour around All Gates but the recent death of my father and having to play catch up at work has meant that I have not for a good couple of months. These have all been hosted in recent weeks by our very capable Wigan Africaaaaner sales lady, Cheryl. That changed this week and I hosted my first for a long while.

I like to think I know a fair amount about beer. I don’t know all there is to, for sure, but do know that the majority of people know very little about beer, or for that matter care to. That a small minority know a lot and likewise there is a tiny minority who live in the fantasy world of thinking they know a bit but don’t realise this is not enough to make them an expert. Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s Desert Island Beers features Fal Allen the Brewmaster for Anderson Valley Brewing Company in Northern California. From 2000 to 2005, Fal worked as General Manager and Head of Production for Anderson Valley returning in 2010 as Brewmaster.

Between 2005 and 2010 Fal was the Brewmaster and brand ambassador for Archipelago Brewing Company in Singapore (a division of Asia Pacific Breweries). During that time he developed many new and unusual beers brewed with local South-East Asian spices and other ingredients.

Fal started brewing professionally in 1988 for Red Hook Brewery in Seattle and in 1990 moved downtown to Pike Place brewery where he was the head brewer for 8 years. In 1998 he was awarded the Brewer’s Association’s Russell Schehrer award for innovation and achievement in craft brewing. Read the rest of this entry »

The 25th Wigan Beer Festival for the third year running forms part of the Wigan Food and Drink Festival. The beer festival is organised by the Wigan branch of CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale).

The beer festival runs from Thursday 1st March to Saturday 3rd March and the Food and Drink Festival from March 1st to March 11th inclusive and there are events every day.

The venue is Robin Park Arena, Loire Drive, Newtown, Wigan WN5 0UH; opposite the DW Stadium.

Over 80 real ales, a cider and perry bar, fruit wines, draught and bottled continental beers and lagers will be available and food over all sessions. Read the rest of this entry »

Meet Tim O’Rourke, Master Brewer and all round beer expert. Tim has been brewing for over 30 years, having worked in International Breweries such as Bass (now Coors) and Courage (now Heineken) and more recently as a consultant. He works for Microbreweries both in the UK and overseas and has set up breweries in Canada and the Falkland Islands, and is currently acting as a consultant and brand advisor to breweries in the UK, Ireland and Malaysia.

For the last ten years he has also been involved in providing technical education to the brewing industry, mainly on behalf of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling but also through his own company “The Brilliant Beer Company”. He was one of the founders of the Beer Academy and one of the core lecturers. He is passionate about good beer, and really enjoys passing his knowledge onto people not necessarily connected with the brewing industry. Read the rest of this entry »

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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