Goatee Phil's Beer Blog

Life goes on, innit Faith, what else? Sometimes it takes an extreme event to make you appreciate what you have.   Here we are, in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, with most of us confined to our homes, and understandably people are complaining. They are also ignoring instructions to stay home and instead are carrying on as if nothing is wrong. But that’s enough about Dominic Cummings. Let’s just think for a moment about this world we live in. We now have 24/7 news coverage as well as an information platform called the internet where you can find anything you want - and sometimes buy it - and on it folks have developed networks of social gatherings where you can hook up with friends, family, even total strangers and talk to them any time you damn well please. And with a beer in your hand you could almost be in the pub! How have you all been coping with the lockdown? I've been surprised at how little I have missed the outside world. I realise that I am luckier than many. ...

The Goatee Awards 2018 The Brewery Shades , Crawley - an excellent selection of ales, as always If you're a beer drinker, I'm not sure there's been a better time to be alive. Thanks to the impact of the craft beer revolution there are now more microbreweries in the UK than there have ever been. You might suppose that at some point we will reach critical mass, and the market will start to shrink, but there's no sign of it happening yet.  On the down side, this was the year in which the torchbearers for good beer, CAMRA , failed to pass a motion at their AGM which would have enshrined their support for ALL good beer, not just the cask ale that they had always championed. This may not turn out to be that significant, or especially damaging, but at a time when cask sales are dropping CAMRA's credibility has taken a damaging hit. Let's hope that it isn't fatal, for them or for cask. My 2018, beer-wise, has definitely been memorable. Trips to German...