Tandleman's Beer Blog: Location, Location, Location
Last week, on a visit to London, we decided to walk over Tower Bridge to the Hand and Marigold in Bermonsdsey, and hence along Tooley Str...| tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.com
Last week, on a visit to London, we decided to walk over Tower Bridge to the Hand and Marigold in Bermonsdsey, and hence along Tooley Str...| tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.com
One of the fascinating things about London is how much of "old" London remains and how, relatively, many of its pubs are still pretty well ...| tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.com
There has been much coverage in the press - almost all of it sensational - in the past few days about the Government's proposals to review and modernise the laws which govern licensing. The laws and rules have not been looked at in any great depth since the Licensing Act of 2003 which at the time was thought rather revolutionary and far-reaching, but is now seen as restrictive and over officious.| Tandleman's Beer Blog
Alright folks, we’ve sorted out what to drink and the limitations of Helles, Munich’s undisputed favourite. So, what’s next? Well, the obvious question: where do you actually drink it?| Tandleman's Beer Blog
While many members of the Campaign for Real Ale were sceptical about moving the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) from its London home to the NEC in Birmingham, it is doubtful if many of us were prepared for how badly it would turn out. A whopping £320,000 loss was surely not in anyone's mind, and must have exceeded by far the worst case scenario presented in the business case for it.As someone who has worked at countless Great British Beer Festivals and organised or jointly organised the...| Tandleman's Beer Blog
Since my last post on the subject, I have been reading on social media that the new JW Lees version of Boddies is meeting with much approval from the cask drinking public and, importantly, from publicans.| Tandleman's Beer Blog
You’ve already had the lowdown on some of the beers we enjoyed in Munich, but man – and indeed woman – does not live by Helles alone (though in Munich you certainly could have a decent attempt). As I mentioned before, E took quite a shine to Augustiner Pils. Alas her attempts to sample a few different pils along the way were thwarted. Sadly, you can’t find Pils on draught anywhere, and for reasons best known only to themselves, Spaten insist on offering the dreadful Beck’s as their ...| Tandleman's Beer Blog
A veritable glitterati of CAMRA North West worthies, plus the Morning Advertiser were gathered by invitation in JW Lees Brewery Cottage yesterday to learn about JW Lees newly brewed version of Boddingtons Cask Bitter and, importantly, to taste the product.William Lees-Jones, the Managing Director, led proceedings with a canter through the history of the brand and how AB InBev, trading as Budweiser UK came to the agreement for Lees to revive the cask version of the brand which has been in abey...| Tandleman's Beer Blog
Back from a few days celebrating my birthday in Munich, I couldn’t resist jotting down a few thoughts about my favourite city — one of Europe’s great beer capitals, most at least, would say — and how it’s changed since I was last there five years ago.| Tandleman's Beer Blog
While in Manchester the worst and more noisy aspects of bathroom replacement were taking place, we fled to London to get some peace and quiet and, importantly, to be able to have a shower. The re-instating of our bathroom is still taking place, alas with no shower yet, but reassuringly, the connections are there, so it is a matter of time. In the meantime, I have had to resort to washing in the sink again. I say again, because my sister reminded me of our early days at our granny's in Cast...| Tandleman's Beer Blog
Did you know that Cask Marque has an area on their website where you can report beer quality problems directly to them? Well, it has. To the point, it is called "Bad Beer Reporting Tool". That's what you need - something that tells it as it is.| Tandleman's Beer Blog
You know how, when you venture into foreign parts, sometimes you just get stuck on a particular beer? Well - that. | Tandleman's Beer Blog
On Wednesday I attended what is described as "The North's leading hospitality trade event. Bringing together over 9,600 visitors and 300+ exhibitors". This is an annual event and I have been going, off and on, for quite a few years. The venue is Manchester Central, the huge exhibition centre formerly known as GMex and renamed after the railway station it used to be. It was fitting that my companion for the day was my friend Graham, with whom I co-organised the Manchester Beer and Cider Fe...| Tandleman's Beer Blog
Now, you'll likely be aware that London can be a minefield for the cask drinker, but it isn't always so. In this short post, I'll tell you about three places where in all probability you'll get a decent pint of the real stuff.| Tandleman's Beer Blog
Let's make one thing clear. London has a fabulously diverse selection of pubs and, yes, it has to be said, some ropey cask beer. Now that's out of the way, let's concentrate on the praise - with the odd, minor criticism to liven things up.| Tandleman's Beer Blog
I was in London last week for a few days and decided on a whim to have one entire day - or thereabouts - just drinking cask. "Unwise" I hear you say and of course I can see why, but arriving at a somewhat gloomy and rainy Euston and just as gloomy Aldgate, somehow pints of lager didn't appeal.| Tandleman's Beer Blog
Some of you, CAMRA members particularly, should know about CAMRA's National Beer Scoring System whereby you rate a cask beer drunk in a pub, on a score of one to five. Rather than explain it all here in my words, here is what the Campaign has to say about it in terms of why and how.| Tandleman's Beer Blog
Well it didn't take quite as long as most of us would have imagined, but the inevitable has happened. Carsberg Marstons Brewing has decided, after announcing the closure of Banks's Brewery and saying that it would not result in a loss of brands - also known as someone's beloved beers - that they are discontinuing no less than eight cask beers and three others. As Pub Curmudgeon remarked, "it might have been easier if they had just told us what is left." | Tandleman's Beer Blog
Back in the day, when pubs weren't structured and laid out as they are now, the best room and public bar were usually tricked out in bench seating. In fact, bench seating was the norm really and poseur tables and armchairs and a lot of modern trappings like tables more suited to a restaurant were much rarer beasts. It allowed a lot of people to sit around the walls of pubs and created room for circulation and standing drinkers. Pubs were then, in many cases I suppose, a little more spartan,...| Tandleman's Beer Blog
If you look at the Banks's Brewery website, it describes, in a timeline, the various breweries taken over by the company. For most of the time the owning company was Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries and then Marstons, and now Carlsberg Marstons Brewing (CMBC).Back in the day, brewing companies, on the whole, took over other brewers to acquire outlets, or sometimes, to buy out an owner who wanted to cash in. The latest in the company's line was the buyout by Carlsberg of the minority share o...| Tandleman's Beer Blog
Fuengirola in Southern Spain is a town of two parts. Towards the Malaga side is more of a resort, popular with Belgians, Dutch, and some Brits, with its attendant sprinkling of "British" pubs as well as a paseo crammed full of lookalike restaurants. Strolling through at night, you are accosted by "propaganda" types, trying to persuade you in. It is the sort of place that has plenty of buzz, but to me at least, little appeal, but you have to see it to be sure. On our two visits to the to...| Tandleman's Beer Blog
I wrote sometime ago about the relatively recent phenomenon of queuing at the bar. You know the kind of thing, standing in a line rather than joining a general scrum in front of the bar. Proper pub behaviour, in other words.| Tandleman's Beer Blog
There has been a bit of a stooshie recently, following the Guardian - without consulting anyone meaningful about the matter - suggests that we'd all be brighter eyed and more bushy tailed if we gave up pints in pubs. We should replace them by two third measures. Well? Really? Is this so?Reporter Elle Hunt - me neither - is all in favour of it, so that's good at least. In what would best be described as a puff piece, she quotes as follows: "Researchers from the behaviour and health research un...| Tandleman's Beer Blog
I've been at this old beer writing game for a long time, which is likely why I don't do it nearly as much as I used to. Thanks to the What's Doingarchive, though, I can sometimes be reunited with stuff I wrote way back when I were a lad. What is (painfully) reproduced below, is one of these. | Tandleman's Beer Blog
Well, it's all kicked off again. Sort of. Cask is dead, don't you know? It isn't nearly a flame war, so beloved of us old Usenet hands, but like any social media argument, it has the possibility of descending into one. But in reality it isn't likely to over develop into a right old ruck in these more cautious times. Injudicious remarks aren't just a punch to roll with and forgive these days, but have potentially reputational damage to hang round your neck. Back in the Usenet days, we defend...| Tandleman's Beer Blog
There has recently been a lot of chat on social media about an emerging practice, in some pubs, of forming an orderly line at the bar. An actual queue, as if you are in the baker's, or at the till in a supermarket. Now, most of us know that queuing at the bar is the antithesis of British pub drinking. Rocking up to the bar and jockeying to get served is rooted in the cultural and social norms that define the traditional British pub experience. Here’s why:| Tandleman's Beer Blog
Tandleman's Random and Particular Thoughts on Beer.| tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.com
There has been much coverage in the press - almost all of it sensational - in the past few days about the Government's proposals to review a...| tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.com
