Inconvenient Truths

It is always instructive when a spat occurs in blogs, in which diametrically opposite views are aired. We have seen it over craft, over CAMRA, over sparklers (I must do another post on them soon - I need the ratings) and many other diverse subjects. Most of these sort of stick to the point and there is very little by way of personal insult, though, not always, as there are passionate points of view being aired  - sometimes by thin skinned and intemperate people. But on the whole it is all done in the best possible taste, though you'd have to be a pretty dumb cluck not to realise that under all the bonhomie, there is a lot that divides us in the so called "unifying world of of beer."

So back to the spat. No avoiding of personal insults here. This starts out as a blogged rebuttal by Melissa Cole about something unkind that our old friends BrewDog said about British Brewing being "closed and unfriendly". This seems to have annoyed Melissa more than a bit and she goes on to rebut this point of view in strong terms. Now you might think she'd just sigh and ignore it wouldn't you? But I bet she feels about her friends in the brewing industry, the way I feel about mine in CAMRA. When you see your friends attacked in a way you see as unfair,  you want to jump in on their side . I empathise with her in that respect, though recognising, like in CAMRA, everything in the British Beer Industry is far from perfect.  That does need to be said, though it would be far better perhaps, if it was said by others and not our bumptious friends from the North.

Like every good pub brawl, others start jumping in. It's worth a read, so I won't go too far in spoiling your fun, but it does seem to this writer at least, that far from being the confident know-alls that they portray, BrewDog are, underneath it all just a teeny bit insecure. They secretly want to be part of it all, but having burned their boats, they can't be, so just go around burning other peoples boats too. You see, to get help and to be liked, you have to be nice to other people - at least some of the time. I doubt that the lack of respect that they have shown to most British Beer makers, with the exception of a chosen few, has exactly endeared them, but they can hardly complain that having alienated everyone, that nobody likes them can they?

The British Brewing Industry is a broad church. It covers a lot of ground and the so-called "the liquid cardboard" produced by most, is the drink favoured by the majority of their customers, otherwise they wouldn't buy it surely?  It is also somewhat of an inconvenient truth.  Nonetheless, I too believe that there needs to be change. When talking about how  CAMRA should face the future with one National Executive member, I was struck by the observation that "CAMRA needs to be bolder. It needs to take a few risks."  I agree with that wholeheartedly.  The thing about all this is that there is more than a grain of truth behind the BrewDog assertion about the staidness of British brewing and yes, CAMRA has played a part in this. On the other hand, from my knowledge of brewers, there is little accuracy in comments about their "niceness."  They are unfailingly nice when you meet them. On that subject, BrewDog's own fallibility is pretty well proven too, but on the plus side, they do have a go at the different, even if they are wrong headed at times in not only what they do, but the way they go about it.

BrewDog talk about being "exciting and cool"  - though bumming about Ratebeer is neither.  They also overlook that there is a fine line between being cool and being naff.  Now I'm all for the "excitement "bit and  "cool"  is a part of their image and as mostly generationally inspired,  can be overlooked, but one thing is true.  As well as the "liquid cardboard", boldness and some more risk taking from a lot of British Brewing would not go amiss.

Does brewing fortune favour the bold? Is this another inconvenient truth?


Does anyone not think that as BrewDog gets bigger, they will fall into the same conventional trap as all bigger companies and compromise? Does anyone not think the gruesome twosome will not cash in sometime in the future?

Twissup, Bitter Beer and SIBA

I knew the last few days would be busy. The twissup started in Manchester and clashed with not only the National Winter Ales Festival organising meeting, but a family birthday celebration. I'm no good at this sort of decision making, which always ends up with me pleasing no one, least of all me. So I went off to the twissup and played the rest by ear. I don't think I hit exactly the right note with everyone else who slipped a little down my ad hoc list of priorities, but at least subsequent ear bashings were softened by good beer and memories of a great time.

There was a lot of people there, some of whom I even knew! Baron Orm, who I hadn't met up to that point, had the wise idea of decorating his chosen few with badges based on their avatar. I wasn't one of this elite, but it was an inspired idea and on a wider basis, one that should be adopted for the next time. I did though miss out on meeting so many people, a lot of whom I didn't know and couldn't identify, while talking to others, but I did make some new friends. The beer was universally good and it was gratifying to see our cousins from the south lapping up the sparkled beer and being able to see for themselves that it isn't sparkling that makes for flat beer, but poor care. Though Zak Avery did bring a very fancy Italian bottle for sharing that provided a justifiably interesting talking point, it was the chance to talk more generally about beer with others that appealed most. I will brush over the fact that I was the oldest there, but seeing "young" people enthusing about beer was gratifying. It was even better to see them off their arses and in the pub, but I wasn't that sorry to miss out on Huddersfield though, purely on the grounds that I might not have survived it. While age may have its compensations and youth is no doubt wasted on the young, they do have an ability to keep going that left me long ago. I have compensated by reading the excellent reports of others on the Huddersfield leg of the game.

I haven't mentioned Lees Fools Gold have I? No? I thought not. It is very pale and very bitter and that makes a nice change for Lees beer. I enjoyed my Sunday pints of it. I guess some (late boil) new world hops to give it a more nuanced tropical or herbal hoppiness to balance the uncompromising bitterness wouldn't have been a bad idea, but well done nonetheless and more and different hops please in subsequent beers.

And of course there is the SIBA do which is taking up most of my time at the moment. It is all ready more or less. I have vented and tapped like a good 'un. SIBA Technical has installed 56 brand new Angrams (quarter pint pull) and miles of pythons and associated gear. Today we'll see if the beer is all fit to serve and be judged. I do hope to see some of you there.

The photo shows some of the 283 casks for the SIBA festival

So Far, So Good

It's been a mixed festival so far here at GBBF. The Trade Session brought a chance to meet bloggers that I had and hadn't met. It's getting like beer ticking is beer blogger ticking, but I think I'm slowly but surely getting there. The end result though is a lot more fun. Beer bloggers are such nice chaps and chapesses. Trust me on that one.

What has made it mixed? Not the festival, but my knee is giving me gyp, causing a slightly jaundiced view of being asked to repeatedly get beers from the opposite side of the bar, but that's customers for you. The up side of serving, as always, is being able to point people in the direction of beer they subsequently enjoy. That is satisfying in a smug sort of way, but also hopefully, lasting in its effects.

On a similar subject, I had a long chat with Des De Moor, the bottled beer guru, who was collecting beers for review. He wasn't too disappointed to find the rarities gone. As he explained to me, when he writes about beer, he likes his readers to be able to obtain them. Feet on the ground there Des. Well done!

I can't finish today's brief note without a mention of the various Scandinavian beers which are on our bar. No names - sorry, but many seemed to me to be a work in progress. Several over excited types bought the more exotic ones and some were returned to tip down the drain. At anywhere between £4.50 and £9 a pop, that's a lot to pay for optimism - or is it bravado? Some are or rather, were, astonishingly strong. The exception to this quality and recipe issue is Mikkeler, though I have to say, excellent though they certainly were, the single hop beers, well the ones I tasted anyway, while very good, were a little samey. I'd guess that's the high alcohol content.

Must taste them when I'm sober next time then!

Best beer for me so far is Cantillon Kriek. It's the perfect reviver as you near closing time!

Slightly Excited

Sometimes I read blogs where the word "excited" is used as a descriptor for things, some of them seemingly so minor or mundane, that you wonder what would happen if something genuinely cataclysmic happened to the writer. Would they physically explode with joy and wonder? Then you chide yourself for being a boring old fart, a dyed in the wool cynic and consider how lucky the author is to be young enough, either in body or soul and so emotionally open to new experiences, to the extend that they use a word, that as you get older, duller and blunted by life, seems to be find few scenarios for genuine use. However there is nothing emotionally mature in being a killjoy, so definitely a little slack should be cut, for it is precisely this sense of wonder and enthusiasm that beer and beer writing needs. It should be embraced and encouraged, for some of it at least, is the future.

Lately too, I have detected that despite falling comment numbers, that our collective blogging has rightly been overwhelmingly positive in promoting good beer however the writer defines it and feel that in itself is exciting. The Great British Beer Festival is presently a catalyst for many good pieces on beer, both here in the blogosphere and elsewhere in the national press. I think beer is on a roll at the moment and there is a chance to press home advantage. That's exciting too.

So, as I pack my belongings for London, I am excited to be part of it all. I'm looking forward to GBBF and have a feeling in my water that it's going to be the best ever. I'll see friends, old and new, talk beer with them, exchange ideas and thoughts, gain insights and hopefully, also have a bloody good time See? Excited three times in one piece. It's a red letter day! Beer and friends are always worth a modicum of anticipation and I'm sure it will live up to expectations.

I can't wait.

Blogging

The poll is over. A somewhat disappointing 74 responded to the set of questions posed and only 63 let on whether or not they are a blogger.

The results were kind of mixed, with both good and bad news for blogging and bloggers. The good news is that clearly blogging is doing something right, with 51% believing that it encourages them to drink better beer and a respectable and 37% reckoning blogs the best place to find out the essentials of British beer today. Now you don't have to be a genius to work out that in a poll where you could answer to each question if you wanted, there is a large minority in the first case and a large majority in the second that don't see it that way.

Significant numbers think there are problems of blogs being inward looking and an unhealthy number think it all an ego trip by the writers. Nonetheless, taken as averages of the "positive" and "negative" questions, almost twice as many were on the positive than the negative side and only 9% find blogging as boring or irrelevant.

So a reasonably good result? I think so, but it seems there is still more work to do to satisfy our readerships.

Finally 63% declared as non bloggers.

The results are below for the record.

An essential "must read”? 17 (22%)

A way to pass the odd five minutes; mildly diverting, but that’s all? 29 (39%)

Boring, repetitive and irrelevant? 7 (9%)

A vehicle for overblown egos 25 (33%)

A place that will inform, enlighten and encourage you to drink better beer? 38 (51%)

A self congratulatory, inward looking clique? 29 (39%)

Being affected and overtaken by Twitter? 9 (12%)

The best place to find out the essentials of British beer today? 28 (37%)

In terminal and inevitable decline? 3 (4%)

Beer Blogging

The new Wikio list is out and Pete Brown, who announced the results, has written a response to his previous question about whether " beer blogging has become boring and (sic) introspective". Some good points being made by him and others, but to me nagging doubts remain about where beer blogging is going. The lack of comments from non bloggers indicates to me that there is something amiss. If all we get is a (declining) number of comments from ourselves, we are doing something wrong are we not?

I have posted in the past about the influence of "professionals" in blogging as well as the insidious effect Twitter has on the amount of comments received, but what do others think? I have devised a little poll -well two actually. You can answer "yes" to more than one question. To make things clearer it would be helpful if you could do the other poll in conjunction with it, then we can see if there is a grain of truth to my suspicion that we are beginning to speak to ourselves in the main.

Have a go at it.

(By the way, when are these guys at Wikio going to change it to "Beer and Wine" rather than Wine and Beer? It is clearly obvious the wine is "also ran" in this context)

Follow, Follow

I've been trying to catch up with those blogs I thought I was following and which I subsequently discovered I'm not. This was kicked off when I became Fuggled's 60th follower. So today I have caught up with Pencil and Spoon and Cooking Lager. Apologies Gents, it was an oversight.

I'll be going though the rest of you too to sign up.

Nothing Ever Happens?

Pete Brown set the challenge. We are all too boring it seems and we need to buck our ideas up a bit and start thinking outside the box. We've settled into a "complacent rut" he says. And you know, I think he has a bit of a point. But only a bit of one. To me, most blogs I read are pretty good, though varying in style and content and some of course are better than others. Wasn't it ever thus? When I started blogging a long time ago (November 2007 in fact) it was due to being inspired by Stonch who has since packed it in. And he isn't the only one. Many have come and gone since then and some were actually quite good. What caused them to go, I can't say, but one thing was for sure, those who blogged then did it for fun and for their own amusement and edification. For most that is still the case, but we do have more "professionals" now and they have a big influence and share of the market, at least as indicated by Wikio? I'll come back to that.

Darren Turpin in a thoughtful piece on his blog said " I've been wrestling with questions like "what's the point?" and "why bother?" and have been on the verge of quitting this blog (and, most likely, blogging in general) several times during the past few months." Well indeed. Who hasn't? But why? For me blogging was a chance to put across my view of beer drinking to a wider audience and my main slant has always been a mix of industry comment and pro pub bias. I don't tend to do detailed beer tasting notes, which to me seems a bit of a nil sum game in a crowded market and which few do well anyway. I like to choose what I think are fairly interesting subjects, then write a piece which is then thrown open to debate. And therein lies at least some of the current problem or malaise. People just aren't commenting any more. There is little debate, which to this writer at least is discouraging. Now maybe I'm just getting my subject matter wrong, but then if that were the sole reason, everybody who does write interesting things would be flooded by comments. But they aren't and when they do get comments, it is generally words of agreement from fellow bloggers. How have we arrived at this point? Well Twitter has a part to play and a bit of the blame to shoulder. It seems easier just to write inane and boring posts there, than to take the time to write a thoughtful response to a blog post. I have little doubt that blogging has suffered from that. Maybe too it has all got a bit cosy? Maybe we have through this cosiness, driven off the casual reader and commenter? Maybe it has all just got as bit complacent, cliquey, self congratulatory and just too bloody nice? Or maybe it is all too boring and samey and just not worth commenting on?

Back to the professionals. When I started blogging there was little by way of blogging from the "professionals". Now we have Pete, Zak, Melissa, Dredgie, ATJ et al, quite prominent in our blogging world. Yes they do self promote, mutually support, name drop, and the rest but while doing so, generally just are annoyingly better writers than the rest of us. It can make you feel a little inferior at times, not just because of the writing, but who they know, the places they are invited to and the like, but is it a contributing factor to making blogs boring? I really doubt it. In fact most of it is to me at least, very interesting and enhancing, but it is a factor in the sense that it is in the beer blogosphere and it is happening and it may just have an effect on other writers. Have they brought about a subtle change in the way we do things? I first tackled what I called the" uneasy co-existence" between the professional and the amateur way back in March 2008. You can read it here. I think then though the beer blogging world was a different beast. Much more independent. At least my post seems to imply it was. So now as more professionals have come in, has it put others off? Maybe. Has it put commenters off? I would think not, but clearly something has happened, as blogging has become a little more competitive than it used to be and sometimes at least, a bit less edgy and it was a kind of edginess that Pete called for. To blame the "proper" beer writers would be inaccurate and wrong. In my view the pros enhance blogging on the whole, by upping the standards, making you think more about what you write and often, just writing very good pieces that are great to read. (Some are more inclusive than others, but you could say that about anyone.) So it isn't them. But I think there is a collective feeling that something has changed.

Assuming we agree it has all gone wrong in some way, how do we make blogging meaningful again? Well I think like Darren, there probably isn't a need to. Is lack of variety the problem? I don't believe so. Beer blogging is still incredibly varied. Darren pointed out some of the types we have doing it. A diverse lot indeed and there are still plenty who write, not about the big wide world, but their local scene. And why not? For most of us, we'll just continue to write our blogs as we wish to. It's probably all we want out of blogging. It may be boring from time to time, but for me, like many others I suspect, it is about the writing. I do it for me. I don't want to become a professional beer writer, I don't particularly feel the need to use my blog to convert people to anything other than (perhaps) pub going, properly kept beer and sparklers, though I do want to open people's eyes a little to the beer world I see. Isn't that what everyone does? Mostly I want people to comment on what I say, even when they disagree with me and I am discouraged when I get few or none. Do others feel the same?

So, yes we can do some things to improve matters, or rather those who feel there is a need to can. For those, I would urge more challenge, more grittiness, more disagreement, less cosiness and maybe the odd row. This is blogging after all. It should be opinionated and open to challenge and comments should be made where possible. It should be fun (always) and controversial (sometimes). We should recognise that blogging and bloggers may inspire or irritate, but we should call it as we see it, whether you are a disgruntled old soak, an evangelising idealist, a dewy eyed cheery beery sort, or just someone who wants to write in their own way about their local beer scene.

So we should keep blogging in our own individual and idiosyncratic ways, but whatever we write, it shouldn't bring about indifference. If we are doing that then we are all getting something wrong.

I keep changing this trying to get it better, but bugger it. Just let me and the rest of us know what you think.

Meet the Cookster

Our eponymous lout loving hero has hitherto been firmly concealed under a cloak of anonymity, unbroken and impenetrable. But no-one can hide forever and the first chinks in his veil of invisibility are emerging.

Maybe more recent pictures will come to light in the fullness of time - after all I thought I'd destroyed all the ones of me drinking Carling, so it can happen - but for now this exclusive will have to do.

You gotta start as you mean to go on. Lout pedigree confirmed I'd say and ain't he sweet?

The "L" Word

My attention has been drawn to an article written about beer, by Oliver Thring, a food blogger. It appears in the On Line Guardian and if I may say so, misses at least a bit of the point when he asks the question, "Handcrafted lagers are making a comeback despite opposition from the real ale lobby. Is Camra right to dismiss these beers, or is it just snobbery?.

On the main assertion, does CAMRA "dismiss these beers?" and does it oppose them? I rather think not. The leap of logic, present in so much of the stuff written about CAMRA, usually concerns what CAMRA should do, rather than what it does do, and, the mistaken assumption that CAMRA is an umbrella organisation for beer. It quite simply isn't. CAMRA's role, as defined by its constitution, is to promote and defend the interests of cask conditioned ale. CAMRA's Iain Loe, puts it maybe a bit more bluntly than I would, when he says "We appreciate high-quality products, and we wish good luck to these brewers. But if you want to build relationships, don't come to us and say 'We started producing beer in the last five minutes and now you have to change everything you believe in' - it's a mixture of naivety and arrogance."

Thring then goes on to conflate cask and non cask lager, quoting in the piece blogger Mark Dredge, in his praise of Harviestoun (a cask lager producer) and finishes by asking if we should be given the opportunity to enjoy these "distinctive and interesting beers", as if their availability was somehow conditional on CAMRA approval.  Beer writer Pete Brown chipped in commenting " I was judging at a CAMRA beer festival recently and there were three cask lagers on - conforming to CAMRA's dispense rules. They were classed as 'speciality beers'. Yeah, that's right - lager, that unusual, hard-to-come-by niche beer.".  Doesn't that sound reasonable until you examine it more closely? CAMRA, unlike organisations such as the American BJCP   with its 23 different beer styles, has only a limited number of  categories of beer. (Ten since you ask). There isn't one for cask lager,  though  I don't see why they wouldn't be classified as "golden ales", but whatever they are, there isn't a lager category, as there isn't enough of it around to justify such a category. Simples?

My belief is that lager, in both its cask and non cask forms, is a welcome choice when I see it in the pub. What is really important is to wean people on to quality beer, whether lager or ale, but that's another story and a very difficult thing to do in this country where pile it high and sell it cheap distorts the quality/price equation. The emerging small lager brewers are likely to remain a niche for the foreseeable future - that is the role of small producers in this country, like it or lump it.  To ask CAMRA to somehow give them a leg up by changing all they believe in, is not only naive, but an ask too far. They must stand or fall by their own ability to penetrate a market which is likely to be indifferent to them. An inconvenient truth?  Maybe, but the market will decide.

CAMRA is far too often an easy target for those who wish things beery that are, weren't so.  Words and attitudes by a few are distortedly  taken to be representative as a whole. I am sometimes drawn to defend them, not just by my membership, but by a sense of fairness - of redressing the balance.  In this case, it is simply that the case against doesn't stack up.

The founding of LOBI ( Lagers of the British Isles) would seem to acknowledge that there is a need for an organisation to represent new wave lager brewers , though I read a comment elsewhere by John Clarke that "Interestingly I understand that Taddington Brewery, producer of arguably the UK's finest lager, have declined to join LOBI".

Bloggers Turn on Brew Dog

Blog commentator John Clarke, wrote some time ago - on my blog I think - that "I get the sense they (Brew Dog) may be starting to believe their own publicity. "

Following their latest foray into self publicity, reported brilliantly and with passion by Pete Brown here, they have been furiously back pedalling to try and regain support - or as they would have it, explain their position. I am not going to say much more about it, as it is all said on Pete's blog and even on the ultra loyal Pencil and Spoon blog, that they have overstepped the mark.

Maybe the old adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity is being heartily disproved here, but will lessons be learned? Somehow I doubt it.

Back to beer, I'd also like to hear James of BD say something somewhere about his cask ale policies.

Whatever Happened to Dave Hastings?

Anyone remember him? He came, he insulted, he left and now his blog has gone from the blogosphere. 

Was he a spoof?

All Change

The British Beer Blog scene is changing, so my blog list is too. Bloggers come and bloggers go, so my links list will reflect this. Out goes A Good Beer Blog, Beer Buzzing and the Young CAMRA Collective as all are defunct in terms of updating. One or two more may join them for the same reason. It isn't personal, so do let me know if you intend to start up again or are just taking a break and I'll restore the link.

Of course there is new stuff too. So welcome to my blog list to Barm, Brewer's Union, Cooking Lager and Leigh from Leeds.

I don't usually link to Yankee bloggers unless I know them personally - there are just too many to read - but I make an exception for Brewer's Union 180. My American mates - well some of them - live in Oregon, I've been there and loved it and a cask ale pub in that great beer state is just such an interesting concept.

If I've missed you out, just let me know. It wasn't intentional.

Oh and is anyone having problems opening John's Random Ramblings? It now says "By invitation only".

Around the Beer Blogs (4)

It's been quite some time hasn't it, but back by popular demand (well YCC demand actually) is this occasional look at what other beer bloggers have been up to. It was in fact May when I last did one of these and I keep meaning to, but you know how it is.

Right. Lets get cracking. I think I'll look at some newcomers first. Jeff Pickall used to be a thorn in the side of contributors to beer related "Usenet" sites such as uk.food+drink.real-ale, but this and these are more or less moribund now. Instead Jeff has started his own blog, plugging similar issues there. The good thing about a blog like his is the opinions are very personal and you have little doubt where he is coming from with posts like "Why I'm not a member of CAMRA" and "I feel Dirty and Ashamed" where he has a pop at JDW. I enjoy replying to him, even if I don't agree with everything he says.

The Bitten Bullet is written by an Irishman living in North Germany. Now I am a big fan of German beer, but he manages to squeeze out wonderful descriptions about beers I'd struggle on. Well done on that one. He has a mission to encourage the somewhat narrow minded German public to drink better and different beers. Now that's a worthwhile challenge. A blog that is always well written and interesting, especially if you have an interest in German beer as I do.

The Reluctant Scooper is quite eclectic in his choice of subjects. He admits (or is it boasts) of being a CAMRA member for economic reasons - to get into beer festivals cheap or free. And why not? He is also one of the Rate Beer gang, which somehow doesn't attract me. I liked his report on his day at Thornbridge Brewery and his views of the various beer festivals he attends. He is unafraid to criticise, which I also like. Anyone who says a beer is "shite" when he thinks it is, is a good 'un in my book. Unlike other reports, he actually made me feel as though I missed out by not attending "Beer Exposed". Not sure if his uncritical love of Thornbridge and Meantime is wholly agreed, but nonetheless, a very readable blog.

The last of the newcomers I'll mention this time is Dave's Beer Blog. Well written by a Cumbrian pub owner and brewer, I recommend this highly. Always thoughtful, covering interesting subject matter such as the beer tie, beer duty, CAMRA, beer tasting, JDW and more make this my kind of blog.

And now the old lags. I've always liked Boak and Bailey and their unique take on things. The last few months have been great and what photography. Their posts always have lovely illustrations which put mine to shame. Like me they are big fans of Germany, so that's not bad either. Ron Pattinson does some great stuff, particularly when he describes his various boozy jaunts. I loved his Copenhagen reports and his trips to other places are described in a way I like. Ron, you need to get out more, just so I can read about it!

One blog that has stuttered a bit is Impy Malting. I think this is one of the most acutely observed blogs there is (even if I appear to have been banned from commenting on it for reasons unknown.) When I say stuttered, I mean in quantity, not quality. I know Allyson felt she was getting too much flak and too many trolls, as she said so in her blog, but I hope she can overcome this, as her observations are so worthwhile, even when I don't agree with them. I love her use of words such as "tipsy", "swanky" and "grumpy" and her description of drinking herself "silly" in Brussels was sublime.

A few more to finish off with, as I really need to get packed for my trip to see my Mum in Scotland. The Beer Nut, who I met in London, has been out and about a fair bit. His notes on the Copenhagen bash were full and insightful as usual. He has also been up to Belfast for Belfast CAMRA's Real Ale Beano and gave it a slight demerit as the Yanks would say. The advice on cask ale fests though, is always get there on day one. The beer is best then. I also got a laugh from Knut Albert's comment on his visit "Did everyone have to shave their heads at the entrance to the festival?" Have a look at the photos to see why.

Tyson's back. After a pause of a couple of months, he has returned and is supping as well as ever. His observations on beer are well worth reading and his reflections on the antics of Eddie, WHB, the Manx Minx and the rest of his motley crew, must have his readers wondering if they really exist. They do! Good to have him back as waspish as ever.

Last couple - I do need to get on you know - Young CAMRA Collective have been bigging up Brew Dog, Hawse Buckler and a lot of excellent sounding pubs in their neck(s) of the wood. They have also joined the love in for Fullers Porter, which I singularly failed to find on my last London visit and which I won't now it seems, as I'll be too late. I like that they comment on parts of the country that I don't know so well.

No round up would be complete without a reference to Jeffrey Bell or the blogger formerly known as Stonch. A lot of his stuff these days is based around the pub which he runs, and why not? He still shoves in a lot of other well observed stuff - I thought his Gastropub post deserved a few more replies and his piece on Eatin's Cheatin' was excellent too. As always Jeff has his own angle on things, but that's what a blog should do. His posts tend to be short and to the point these days, but a few follow ups would be good though; for example on Wallsend Brown Ale. Did it go well? We don't know, but I'd be interested to find out.

So that's it for the time being folks. As always, sorry if you didn't get a mention this time, but no doubt next time you will.

Feeling My Age

Today this blog is one year old. Surely more than that I hear you say? But no, I started with this "project" on Monday 26th November 2007, with this post about the sparkler. Before the post you are reading now, there have been 290 others. Hopefully, some of them at least, worthwhile.

A lot of subject matter has been covered too since then and a lot of comments have been made. Thanks for them. Comments really do make it worthwhile, including and probably even particularly, those that don't agree with what has been written. Debate is good.

Blogging though is a personal thing. It is looking out at the beer world through ones own eyes. It isn't a consensual thing really, but a lot of opinions that some may share and some may not. We all do it differently and it is good to see new British Beer Blogs starting up and established ones thriving and providing interest. The common bond is that beer and beer drinking fascinates us all and makes the world seem a cheerier place.

Anyway, that's it - the occasion is duly marked and now I have to respond to another blogger's daft opinions. Please continue to do the same with mine!

The Blogosphere

I see Tyson is back. Hooray!

Bloggers at the GBBF

I've added a photo of three of them* here.

One YCC, one Maeib and one Beer Nut!