Oct 13

Oct 13 Faded Seaside Glamour — Drinking in Beer and History in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

“Have you seen a man dressed as a chicken?”

I’m sitting at the bar of the Red Herring, enjoying a pint of Oakham’s Jeffrey Hudson Bitter, when four men on a stag do burst through the front door. The group begins to check the radiators. The Red Herring is a fairly spacious Victorian pub, with room for a pool table and a dartboard, but their search is completed quickly. By way of explanation, they share a photo of a pub radiator; apparently, they’re following visual clues to hunt down the stag, or man-chicken. Afterwards, they each down a shot of something pink before jumping back into their waiting cab—but not before apologising for interrupting our conversation.

Sep 9

Sep 9 We've Got To Live — Nottingham's Thriving, Defiant Beer Scene

Pete Blackburn

Beer, Pubs, Travel

Just a few decades ago, Nottingham’s skyline was punctuated by iconic brewery buildings producing beers that were part of the city’s DNA. The famous Shipstone’s star, and the Robin Hood silhouette of Home Ales, proudly adorned those buildings. Streets hummed with the pungent scents of malt and hops, and hundreds of pubs carried their names.

Jul 15

Jul 15 New Voices — Winemaking in Hakodate, Hokkaido’s Emerging Wine Region

Grace Laughlin

Wine, Travel

Five hours north of Tokyo and twenty degrees colder, I climb into a taxi in Hakodate City. My driver furrows his brow as I clumsily explain to him where I need to go. “No,” he says firmly. “There is no winery in Hakodate.”

Panic sets in. My Japanese peaks at restaurant level and is certainly not sufficient for a pantomime of “oh no there isn't/oh yes there is” with a stubborn taxi driver. As I frantically scroll through emails, maps and screenshots in search of supporting evidence, he shrugs and starts the engine. Perhaps he's decided that, even if this proves a waste of both our time, he'll at least earn the smug satisfaction of being right.

Jun 10

Jun 10 Iechyd Da! — Beer and Welsh Heritage at Purple Moose Brewery in Porthmadog, Wales

Mike Clarke

Beer, Travel

While tourists flock to the Llyn Peninsula in the summer for its seaside charms, Porthmadog retains its industrial heritage, based on slate, shipbuilding, and railways. The town is still home to the world’s oldest-surviving railway company, the Ffestiniog Railway. Its steam locomotives puff up densely wooded mountain slopes, and past small patches of Celtic rainforest, before emerging into the slate-strewn, moon-like landscapes of the old mining centre, Blaenau Ffestiniog.

Jun 3

Jun 3 Hey Boy, Hey Girl — Kerroo Brewing Company in Port Erin, Isle of Man

Katie Mather

Beer, Travel

Coming out of a six-month winter is disorientating. The Isle of Man stands against the Irish Sea’s worst, proud in the spray like a prow, and while its storms are destructive, the heaviest toll is the grey and the fog. “I feel like we haven’t seen the sun in forever,” says Elizabeth Townsend, one half of Kerroo Brewing Company, which she runs with her partner, brewer Nick Scarffe.

May 20

May 20 Do You Play Flamenco? — Music, Dancing, and Sherry in Jerez’s Tabanco Bars

Michael Fabro

Wine, Travel

In the early 20th century, a space between two narrow streets in the city centre of Jerez became a meeting place for local waiters and bartenders where they’d gather to drink sherry by the glass, purchase cigarettes, and take bottles of wine to go. José González Navarro, already in the hospitality business, saw an opportunity. On December 16th, 1925 he opened the doors of his new bar; he called it El Pasaje—The Passage—in reference to its entrances on either side. It is now considered the oldest tabanco, or traditional Andalucian tavern, still operating in Jerez.

Apr 1

Apr 1 A Poetic Act — Zoigl, the Schafferhof, and the Making of Place

Franz D. Hofer

Beer, Travel

Communal brewhouses with gear-and-pully mash tuns. Brewing rights that stretch back to the Middle Ages. Wood-fired brew kettles and coolships. All this alone is enough to make Zoigl utterly unique. But there’s something more, the essential ingredient that ties everything together: the Zoiglstube. It’s in these traditional taverns that the magical transformation of communal brewhouses and coolships into Zoigl takes place. Without the Zoiglstube, Zoigl is just another Kellerbier.