“I don’t want to be constrained”
All this month we are featuring beer over 7.5% to highlight the madness of the UK Treasury increasing duty on beer over that alcohol by volume. It’s extremely frustrating for drinkers to have to pay more for our favourite products when the reasons for raising prices seem so contrived. But for British brewers, it’s far […]
RateBeer Roundup VI
RateBeerians (and distant cousins the BeerAdvocaters) are, by nature, a committed bunch. Seeking out the rare and unusual, ticking their way through all and sundry, and spending huge amounts of money on their hobby along the way. Current RateBeer kings Ungstrup and fonefan are battling over supremacy, having totalled 22,251 and 22,200 beers sampled, respectively.* […]
‘We chase the big flavours’
I’m not sure if native English-speakers are fully able to pronounce Nøgne Ø. I usually go for Nog-Knee Oh, which sounds about right. Founded in Grimstad in 2002 – a place name that sounds as if trolls should live under the bridges – Nøgne Ø quickly became heralded across Europe for their beer. This is […]
Should we call time on the session?
If you walked up to the bar of your favourite local – what would you see on offer? Hopefully a range of well-kept beers from near and far to tempt the money from your pocket. But if you were there for the whole evening, how many would you get through? Back in the day, a […]
Orkney Porter
Looking around for a suitable starting point for our month of strong beer, there was one obvious place to begin. Sitting in my mahogany panelled, climate controlled beer storage area – just behind the ironing board, watch out for the spider – was a 2009 vintage Highland Orkney Porter. Waiting for the right moment to […]
Big BeerCast Month
On the 1st of December 2010, the UK Government published a Review of Alcohol Taxation [pdf], the stated aim of which was to address the consumption of cheap, “super-strength” lagers. By raising the duty on beer over a certain percentage – 7.5% – the Government hopes to make these drinks too expensive for problem drinkers. […]
