Goatee Phil's Beer Blog

Bring on the crowds! Like a lot of people, I have managed to overcome my fear of infection enough to pay fairly regular visits to pubs. I've even ventured more frequently into the lawless hell-hole that is Brighton where mask-wearing has never really caught on. Large crowds though? A different kettle of sour. All the same, I was struck by the coincidence that the London Craft Beer Festival should be happening in the week that I "happened" to have taken some time off work. I had a look at their booking information and was reassured to see that only those who could show evidence of a recent negative test were allowed in. So I bought myself a ticket. It was held in Tobacco Dock , in Wapping, and my first thought on arrival was "how the hell are they going to fit that lot into even a large exhibition hall?" There must have been four or five hundred hardy souls squashed onto the tow path between the canal and the wire fence around the venue. The answer to my questio...

 I'd rather (not) be picking up bottles and cans The Foghorn, Portslade - where else? It's the morning when Lockdown 3.0 ends and people the length and breadth of the country are, like me, in a state of suppressed excitement at the thought that, in just a few hours, we'll all be able, finally, to go to the pub. It's not quite back to normal, of course, because we won't be able to go indoors yet. We'll be huddled against walls, cowering under awnings, braving the crappy English weather and all for what? For a pint of cask ale. Let's be clear - apart from being able to talk to other people outside of the house without risking the frowns of passers-by, the thing that we've been deprived of these many months, is cask. Bottles and cans, from a bewildering array of breweries, both UK and beyond, have been easy to come by, and takeaway containers of keg beer don't taste markedly different from the same brew served in a pub. But cask is different. Even takea...

Goatee Phil picks his best from a COVID-riddled year   Well, you don't need me to tell you what a shit year this has been. I guess we have learnt a lot about ourselves. Maybe the biggest lesson is that we all have routines and there's nothing more irritating than having your routines upended. We now have to rethink everything. All that we do, even the consumption of beer - where we buy it, where we drink it and its place in the scheme of things - is up for renegotiation. But in spite of all the disruption, all the trauma, there are some constants. Beer is still one, thankfully, and my guess is that most of my "best of"s would have been the same had 2020 been the same as 2019. I guess we'll never know though, eh? Best Pub: The Foghorn (Portslade) Runners-up : Watchmakers Arms (Hove), Brighton Bier Haus (Brighton), Brunswick (Hove) Best pub again? Of course it is. Granted, I haven't visited nearly as many pubs this year as I would normally do but I do know...

Is it safe to go for a pint yet?  The Brunswick I guess it's predictable that in the current pandemic a Tory government would introduce access to pubs as one of the first relaxations to lockdown. After all, if you give the plebs their simple pleasures they won't complain so much, will they?  All the same, I was nervous about visiting my favourite Brighton and Hove watering holes because most of them are extremely small. How on earth were they going to operate safely? The answer has been: surprisingly easily.  Over the last few weeks I have visited these pubs at least once: the Foghorn , the Watchmakers , Bison Craft House , the Brunswick , Brighton Beer Dispensary , the Evening Star and the Brighton Bier Haus . I felt safe in all of them although it has helped that most have an outside drinking area, and that the weather has been surprisingly equable. I guess that's probably global warming but I'll take my pleasures where I find them. The first thing that I looked for...

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. ...

Goatee Phil's review of 2019 Prelude to the Cloudwater Brewery Tour Has 2019 been a good year for beer? One of the best. Has it been a good one for breweries and the industry generally? Not so much. It's been a year when London's largest brewery, Fullers , was bought out by Asahi of Japan and the country's largest regional brewery, Greene King , became part of the Chinese company CKA Group. But the biggest threat to the UK brewing industry, craft and other, will surely come from the fallout from Brexit. For all the bullish talk by the current Prime Minister, it's hard to see anything other than new and restrictive trade barriers that will hit imports and exports equally. It's not looking good. Or maybe it is. It is still the case for me that pretty much every other pub visit gives me the chance try a beer that I've never drunk before. The major craft brewers, names like Cloudwater , Northern Monk , Burning Sky and Wylam , continue to produce new ...