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We're proud to have featured again with This Morning, showcasing with the best advent calendars you can buy for Advent this year!
This week we launch the range of Salt Beer Factory beers on the site and what better way to introduce a new brewery to our beer hunters than to have a good 'ole fashioned interview with Nadir Zairi, Director of the Yorkshire based brewery in Saltaire.
There are signs that Non-Alcoholic beer is hitting the mainstream and is poised to hit the big time, but just how popular will it become? In this article I’ll look at some of the signs that show ‘NOLO’ (non or low alcoholic) beer is becoming a serious player in our industry, and how its development might progress in the UK.
After trying out our very own World Beers mixed case for a beer tasting party, Christie Day, Brand Expert at money-saving website Savoo shares her tips for hosting a top beer tasting night on a budget.
Ask someone down the pub for the reasons behind Britain’s recent Beer revival, and you’re guaranteed all sorts of different explanations. In 2017 the number of UK breweries passed the 2000 mark, which puts us well ahead of European neighbours. Most will have a reasonable argument for why, but you can bet your double-dry hopped DIPA that very few of them would mention Gordon Brown, ex-PM and former Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Here in Britain we have a unique brewing heritage, and I think that it's fair to say that beer is a big part of our national identity. We now have over 1,400 breweries in Britain, which means that we've got more breweries per head of the population than anywhere else in the world! Most of those breweries are brewing ale (top-fermented beer) rather than lager, although these days you can easily find good British lager, especially with the recent interest in hoppy lagers such as Celt House Lager and Weird Beard Faceless Spreadsheet Ninja which have all of the big citrus flavours you'd expect from an IPA alongside the crisp, clean character of a lager. When you think of British beer, you'll probably think of a foaming pint of amber bitter, although bitter is a notoriously difficult term to define! It originated as a casual name for pale ales, which were hoppier and therefore more bitter in flavour than other common beers such as milds and porters, and covers a broad range of strengths
Here in Britain we have a unique brewing heritage, and I think that it's fair to say that beer is a big part of our national identity. We now have over 1,400 breweries in Britain, which means that we've got more breweries per head of the population than anywhere else in the world! Most of those breweries are brewing ale (top-fermented beer) rather than lager, although these days you can easily find good British lager, especially with the recent interest in hoppy lagers such as Celt House Lager and Weird Beard Faceless Spreadsheet Ninja which have all of the big citrus flavours you'd expect from an IPA alongside the crisp, clean character of a lager.
When you think of British beer, you'll probably think of a foaming pint of amber bitter, although bitter is a notoriously difficult term to define! It originated as a casual name for pale ales, which were hoppier and therefore more bitter in flavour than other common beers such as milds and porters, and covers a broad range of strengths
When you think of British beer, you'll probably think of a foaming pint of amber bitter, although bitter is a notoriously difficult term to define! It originated as a casual name for pale ales, which were hoppier and therefore more bitter in flavour than other common beers such as milds and porters, and covers a broad range of strengths and shades. One great example of a classic British bitter is Salopian Darwin's Origin, and some breweries are now brewing bitters with a contemporary twist such as Ilkley Josha Jane, a Yorkshire bitter brewed with zingy American hops.
Another very British style is porter, a dark, well-hopped beer which is believed to take its name from its popularity among the porters of London, who transported goods around the city. Runaway Brewery uses Bamberg smoked malt to add a delightful smoky flavour to the robust chocolatey body of their Smoked Porter, while Beavertown and Kernel celebrate their London roots with their Smog Rocket and Export India Porter respectively.
British brewing has increased by 41% in the last three years according to the Campaign For Real Ale, as more and more beer lovers decide to take the plunge and brew for a living. As well as following British traditions, our microbreweries are taking inspiration from elsewhere in the world and celebrating other beer cultures while making the styles their own. Bad Seed Saison and Cloudwater Grisette pay homage to the beers of Belgian workers, while imported New World hops allow breweries such as Thornbridge to pack their beers full of the intense pine and citrus flavours that make American IPAs so widely beloved. Other breweries are experimenting with adding unusual ingredients, with beers like Celt Home of the Fruitcakes which is aged on strawberries and raspberries, and Siren & Magic Rock MRS Brown, a bourbon imperial brown ale with pecans, vanilla and maple syrup.
Whether your tastes run towards the traditional, the innovative or a combination of the two, the variety of great beer being brewed in Britain today is certainly something to raise a glass to. Cheers!
- Rowan