WE WANT GIRLS ON OUR BEER!!!

There has been a great deal of discussion about offensive branding in the beer industry recently. Not that it's a new thing. Some of us have been talking about it for years. But it is certainly gaining momentum now. In the current social climate people have less and less tolerance for discrimination and exclusion. After all, it really isn't asking all that much to treat everyone equally is it?

The current code is up for review this year

At the Brewer's Congress in November 2017 the Portman Group was referenced in numerous presentations. Speakers from breweries whose products had been reported to the Portman Group for breaching their Code of Practice (on Naming, Packaging and Promotion of Alcoholic Drinks) discussed the process of responding to these complaints.

Beavertown and Tiny Rebel had both been reported to the Portman Group by members of the public for issues with their packaging. Almost identical complaints were received, referencing the sections of the code relating to clear labelling of a beverage as alcoholic, antisocial behaviour, immoderate consumption (NB only against Tiny Rebel), and having particular appeal to under 18s. In short, the implication was that these 330ml brightly coloured cans featuring stylised cartoonish art work might lead to children wanting to drink them. The complaint against Beavertown was ultimately not upheld but the one against Tiny Rebel was.

To be clear, the Tiny Rebel and Beavertown presentations were not specifically about these complaints but they certainly formed part of the story they were telling. I would like to think that they were shared at the Congress for the wider benefit of those in the industry who could learn from these experiences.

Later on we had Alistair Taylor from the Advisory Service at the Portman Group give a presentation on the role of the organisation and how they can benefit breweries. Essentially they exist to regulate the packaging of alcoholic products via their code of practice. In hindsight, there was nothing wrong with the overall message in this presentation - publicising their role and explaining how they can help breweries is definitely something the Portman Group should be doing. But in the heat of the moment this message was a little lost.

When the presentation displayed a complaint about a beer (Wye Valley Brewery's Dorothy Goodbody's Wholesome Stout) which had been reported for breaching section 3.2 (d) of the code (a drink should not... 'suggest any association with sexual activity or sexual success') this was greeted with disbelief by the audience. The Congress had begun that day with Jaega Wise's presentation on women in the beer industry, including many examples of offensive packaging: this audience was not prepared to sit back and accept that this particular complaint had not been upheld because the packaging didn't breach the code.

A complaint from 2008 which was not upheld

If the audience found the packaging offensive then how could this not be in violation of the code? The answer is that the code in its current form mentions sexual references on beer packaging only within narrow margins: a product should not suggest that it makes the consumer more attractive or that it leads to 'sexual success' which is actually quite an unpleasant sounding, masculine phrase. Possibly even a little dated.

When I started reading through previous complaints I was shocked to see that the Wye Valley Brewery complaint is the only one the Portman Group have ever received concerning sexist packaging. I have seen and heard many complaints about lots of different examples of sexist and offensive packaging. If by any chance you haven't seen enough of these already you need only visit Pumpclip Parade. It seems unbelievable that only one of these examples has ever been reported to the Portman Group. Is that because people are not aware of the role of the organisation? Are they unaware that members of the public can report products directly? Or is it because even if they did report a product the code isn't fit (in its current state) to deal with these complaints?

In January Jaega Wise was announced as elected south east director of SIBA. On February 27th a press release from SIBA stated their intent to create a marketing code of practice for their members. There will be an industry discussion on this topic at the BeerX conference this month. Entries to SIBA competitions are already screened to exclude any offensive product branding and in the future this could be extended to all beers sold by SIBA members.

A CAMRA statement from December 2017 by their National Executive they are in agreement with SIBA that sexist branding is not going to be tolerated at their festivals or in publications.

"We abhor sexism and will take action against any CAMRA member who, by their words or acts, is disrespectful of any individual because of their gender. We expect the behaviour of those who work with us, whether in campaigning or at our events, to be consistent with our values. We condemn those who use sexist images or slogans to market their products and will not condone them being stocked at our beer festivals or promoted in our competitions and publications.” 

In the United States, as with all things craft beer, they are ahead of us in tackling this issue. The Brewers Association updated their marketing code of practice in April 2017 to include an additional two lines, stating that beer advertising and marketing materials should not:

i. contain sexually explicit, lewd, or demeaning brand names, language, text, graphics, photos, video, or other images that reasonable adult consumers would find inappropriate for consumer products offered to the public; 

j. contain derogatory or demeaning text or images."

I think it would be desirable to include something similar to this in the Portman Group code of practice.

On Wednesday 28th February I attended a meeting at the Portman Group to discuss how their code might evolve to reflect the current climate with respect to offensive branding of alcoholic products. The code undergoes review every five years and the 12 week consultation period will open shortly (likely to be April to June). Anybody is welcome to express their views. So I would encourage anyone with an interest to get involved and have their say.

Any changes to the code will require the existing guidance notes to be rewritten in order to support the code. This means we are not likely to see the new code in action until the end of 2018 at the earliest. But this time next year we might have a code which is fit for purpose.

Hopefully we will reach a broad consensus across the industry with the Portman Group code providing a minimum standard which all producers of alcohol are required to meet, with a similar marketing codes from SIBA, and supportive policies from CAMRA and the London Brewers Alliance. It is important that all relevant groups are on the same page otherwise we might end up in a position where a particular product's branding is deemed acceptable by one group but not by another.

It is no coincidence that the Advertising Standards Agency conducted an evidence-based review of gender stereotyping in advertising last year. You can read the full report here Depictions, Perceptions and Harms. It's very interesting stuff. If you dislike those product adverts on TV which display men as incapable of performing the simplest of household tasks, you're going to like this.

The times, they are a-changing. Finally.

Further evidence that we are all heading in the same direction is provided by two recent examples of breweries deciding to change their product branding in response to numerous complaints on social media. Both breweries were experiencing reputational damage from the complaints they received but they chose to resolve the issue in different ways.

Castle Rock's Elsie Mo is a golden ale which first appeared in 1998, featuring 'pin up' artwork on the pump clip. In 2007 the brewery chose to digitally enhance the pin up a la Lara Croft and then in 2014 they decided to 'modernise' the artwork to show a woman in a pilot's uniform, kicking up her legs to reveal stockings and suspenders. Eventually in January 2018 Elsie Mo became a pilot, who can be seen flying a plane (whilst fully clothed). You can read the full story directly from the brewery.

Station 119, a Suffolk brewery founded in 2014, also chose to go down the pin up route with their branding. Here is their description of the original imagery on their packaging.

Our labels take inspiration from the WW2 tradition of decorating the airplane noses which helped to popularise pinup art. This art form is considered by many to be a positive post-Victorian rejection of bodily shame and a healthy respect for female beauty.

Following some criticism of their branding at the close of 2017 the brewery opted to change their labels - not because they felt they got it wrong the first time, but because it was affecting sales.

Some of the responses to these positive changes made by breweries have been predictable but are still a little disappointing. The title of this blog post is a direct quote made in response to the Station 119 Facebook post announcing their new branding. Sure, it's laughable that some people think that way, and yes these dinosaurs are in the minority, but in too many cases there is a spiky barb of misogyny underneath. So the work is far from over.

I've saved you the trouble of reading the comments on the DM article

However, I feel more positive about this issue than I have for a long time. Yes, there is a (decreasing) minority of people who want to live in the past but regardless of their outdated views, we are moving on. 

The Art of Communication

The inaugural Brewers Congress took place on Monday 27th November at One Great George Street, London - home to the headquarters of the Institution of Civil Engineers; a suitably grand venue for an ambitious event which brought together producers, manufacturers, people in sales and hospitality and, of course, brewers. The focus of the congress was a series of presentations given by 16 industry figures who were invited to speak on a variety of topics from ingredients to methodology to branding to distribution. Speakers were divided into four sessions with ingredients and methodology before lunch, and business-orientated topics in the afternoon.

Tim Sheahan opening the Congress. Yes, that's the back of my head.

In the final session of the day Nick Dwyer, Creative Director at Beavertown, gave a presentation on Beavertown's branding and how his own artistic ability has developed alongside the brewery's image. He also gave us a masterclass in storytelling. As I told Nick afterwards, if I was grading his talk at work I'd have given him 100% because there was not a single thing wrong with it; it was a perfect demonstration of how to deliver a presentation to an audience:

-It was well planned with an definite structure

-There was good use of imagery (obviously!)

-There was a clear beginning and end 

-Timing was precise with effective pacing - slow enough for the audience to take in and think about what was said but fast enough that we all kept moving forwards

-There was good use of humour while discussing earlier pre-Beavertown work

-Throughout there was honesty and authenticity of voice

But the standout ingredient was the story of how Nick as an artist grew along with the brewery. I don't know if this might have an added significance for us because we can recall having brunch in Duke's one Sunday five years ago, chatting to Byron and being introduced to Nick, who was working there at the time. We still have some old Beavertown business cards with the original branding on so we've seen it evolve before our eyes from the outside. That made it all the more interesting to hear what it was like from the inside. And it just so happens that I like storytelling even more than I like beer, so I was wowed.

Nick Dwyer's photo of the early days of Beavertown

Communication is something I think about a lot - what makes a good teacher or good public speaker (or a good writer)? How can I improve my own performance? I attend lots of lectures and seminars in the course of my work, and as I watch and listen I am considering the performance of the speaker to see if there is anything I can learn from them.

Part of my role as a scientist is teaching, which is almost entirely about communication. I need to be able to explain scientific theory and practice at the appropriate level required for a particular student at that particular time, whether they're a medical doctor, a nurse, a soldier or another scientist. I've worked in the academic world for 17 years so I've had a lot of practice at what I do. But I say 'practice' for a reason - I'm always learning and I always want to improve.

I know of academics who are brilliant scientists but who are not great at teaching. There are various reasons for this but the main one is that they simply don't care whether they are good at it or not. I've also seen some amazing teachers and communicators in the course of my work. But it isn't as simple as just being naturally gifted at it, although certainly a few people are.

The most important thing is that you need to care about doing it in order to be good at it. I don't know a single person who doesn't care about communicating who just happens to be good at it in spite of that. It doesn't happen. When someone doesn't enjoy public speaking and they just want to get it over with, it shows.

At the congress we lucky enough to have a couple of charismatic speakers who definitely fall into the category of the naturally gifted. You know you've got one of these when they make you feel relaxed, even though they're the ones performing, because you know you're in safe hands. However if they were just 'naturally good at talking' but didn't care about their subject then they simply wouldn't be as good. Appearing in the first session of the programme was John Keeling, of Fullers, whom I think could probably talk to you about a shoe for 20 minutes and still hold your interest. On this occasion he was talking about definitions in beer and about philosophy in brewing - quite broad concepts; but when John examined them in depth they inspired reflection from the audience.

John Keeling gets philosophical

Later on Stu McKinlay of NZ brewery Yeastie Boys gave us an emotive presentation focusing on the importance of people in the success of his business and how important it is to take care of employees (as well as friends and family). This performance was impressive to me from a professional point of view because Stu did his whole presentation seemingly off the cuff, using only a handful of prompt slides (with phrases referencing musical influences). It felt to me and the other attendees with whom I talked about it afterwards that this had been an authentic and heartfelt presentation which resonated with us.

I know Stu to be a friendly guy who is both curious and approachable, but I didn't know him well enough to be aware that he must surely have been a motivational speaker in a previous existence (he claims this isn't the case). Listening to him speak at the congress put me in mind of some of the keynote speakers at graduation ceremonies I've attended. Some people are capable of drawing you in and making you feel invested in the story they're telling, inspiring you and even moving you emotionally. The impact they create can stay with you long afterwards.

During Stu McKinlay's presentation at the congress he referenced a panel at IndyManBeerCon back in 2015 which John Keeling was on. I was in the audience of that panel at IMBC too and I totally agree with Stu's assessment of Keeling on that evening - when he spoke people listened and what he said influenced the direction of the panel. That's a gift and it can be a real joy to witness it in action.

The final speaker I need to mention is Jaega Wise, Head Brewer at Wild Card, who delivered a well structured and professional presentation on women in the beer industry, with a focus on some recent examples of the tired sexist branding we are sadly all too familiar with. She remained calmly dispassionate whilst covering an emotive subject, which many of us have very strong feelings about, and she concluded her talk with a number of recommendations for how the industry can begin resolving the issues. This presentation has prompted a great deal of discussion in the media as well as responses from CAMRA and SIBA.

I have only mentioned a few of the speakers who presented at the Congress - because these people made a particular impression on me. Those who made an impact have clearly given some thought to the art of communication; they have considered their words and their message carefully. That's something that everyone should do if they would like people to pay attention to them (for the right reasons).

So what makes someone a good communicator? Well, if we're talking about public speaking there is an accepted baseline for performance - that all speakers should speak slowly and clearly and make good eye contact (we'll assume they have prepared a great presentation in terms of content). But if you would like to get beyond the baseline level you'll need to become a storyteller. Everyone loves a story. They've been part of our nature since we first had tools to record them. And I'm not just talking about books or films or even an oral tradition of mythology. I'm talking about when you're describing something funny that happened to you on the way to work or something ridiculous that you saw in the pub the night before. Those are also stories. They are your stories. We tell stories all the time, but we don't always realise that's what they are.

'The best place by the fire was kept for the storyteller'

If you think about the best speeches you've heard or the lectures that stay in your mind for years afterwards - it probably isn't the facts or figures that you recall from the distant past, it'll be a joke or a metaphor, or some kind of image the speaker got you to create in your own mind. It'll be something they told you about themselves; in other words, a story. 

If you want to become a better communicator* think about storytelling. Next time you're listening to a speech or next time your friend starts telling you a story, don't just listen to what they say, listen to how they say it too. I'll finish up with one of my favourite bits of advice for life in general, but it definitely works here too: when you see someone who is good at something, try to learn from them.

*and who doesn't?

13 Reasons Why Working Behind the Bar is Entertaining

For 20-plus years I have remained firmly on the customer side of the bar at pubs, bars, clubs and festivals. In 2017 I decided that it was about time I experienced the other side of the bar. I volunteered at some beer festivals and also signed up for a four month stint of two shifts a week at the Hop Locker. These combined experiences have been fun, educational, tiring and frustrating, but on the whole rewarding.

After reflecting on my experience this year I have some things to say about both volunteering within the beer industry and working behind the bar but before I do that I wanted to share 13 of my favourite moments of customer interaction at The Hop Locker. For context I was mostly based at the summer pop up bar situated under the Hungerford Bridge, right on the Thames with a lovely view of Big Ben. In other words, it was a tourist location.

The view from within and without

 1. A 5% lager

Customer scans the taps on the lager side of the bar (10 taps on each side of the container with lager, cider, wine on one side and ales on the other side).

"Haven't you got a 5% lager?"
"Sorry, no. We only have a 4% lager on at the moment."
"That's a shame because I prefer a 5% lager."
"Oh, well if it's just a high ABV beer you want we do have a 10% imperial stout on?"

To this day I remain baffled at the idea that someone would select a beer using ABV as its defining feature.

2. An ale that's like a lager

"Can I have an ale that's like a lager?"
"Would you prefer an actual lager? Because we have one of those."
"No. I want an ale."
"Which one?"
"One that's like a lager."

I served this person an APA or session IPA, whilst the whole time thinking that all parties concerned were being done a disservice by this transaction.

3. Northerners can't drink halves

"Neck Oil please"
"Is that a pint of a half?"
*incredulous splutter*
"A half? Northerners can't drink halves!"
"That's not true. You can drink whatever you want."
"Nah. Can't drink halves!"
"Ok."

This was a recurring theme but one which could easily have been avoided by customers saying 'A PINT of Neck Oil please." Because if you don't state what measure of beer you want I cannot read your mind and I will have to ask you if you want a pint or a half. Because if I assume you want a pint and start pouring one, you might say, 'Oh, but I only wanted a half' and that could lead to wasted beer. So, you know, one to think about when ordering a drink - if multiple measures are available perhaps state the one you would like.

4. It's bizarre that Norwegians make ales

"I don't want anything that's 6 or 7%"
"Ok, so maybe Lucky Jack? That's only 4.7%."
"No. That's Norwegian and it's bizarre that they make ales."

Presented without comment.

5. Flavoured ciders

"Do you have any flavoured ciders?"
"No. We just have an apple cider."
"But is it apple flavoured?"
"It's apple, yes."
"Flavoured?"
"Ummm... made of apples."
"But is it real apples or flavoured?"
"All cider is made from apples."
"But you know that Stella just made one that's flavoured?"
"Uhhhh"
"You know? Some are just flavoured?"
"..."
"I'll have a pint anyway."

6. Rose and 7-Up

"What's your rose like? Is it sweet?"
"Not really. It's more dry. Did you want a taste of it?"
"Yes please"
*tastes wine*
"Yeah, so I'll have a glass of that with 7-Up please."
"It's ok if you blend them yourself if I give you another glass?"

Another similar exchange concerning wine:

"Do you do cocktails at all?"
"No, but there is another bar above this one which does."
"Nah, we're down here now. Do you do any spirits?"
"Yes, we do gin, vodka and rum."
"Great, can we get two JD and coke then please?"
"I'm afraid not because we only do gin, vodka and rum."
"Ok, what about cider?"
"Yes, we have a cider on tap. Would you like to try it?"
"Yes ok."
*sips cider, screws up face*
"..."
"Just give us two red wines and coke then."
"In the same glass?"
"Yes."
"Here's your red wine, your coke, and another glass for you to blend them at your leisure."

After this one I was informed by a beer friend that red wine mixed with coke is 'a thing' in Spain, similar to how beer and coke is a thing in Germany. See, I told you this gig was educational for me.

7. Stick something fruity in my DIPA please

"I want a beer. A fruity beer."
"Ok, maybe try this one and this one."
"Yes, that one will do. A half."
*pours a half of Beavertown Lupuloid*
"Ok, this is fine but can you just stick something fruity in it for me?"
"Like what? Did you want a wedge of lime in it?"
"Do you have any fruit juice?"
"Yes. Orange or cranberry?"
"Cranberry"
*adds shot of juice*
"Yes, that's better."

I enjoyed this one because the customer knew what they wanted and asked for it. Maybe I wouldn't choose it myself but they liked their drink and went away happy.

8. Candy Crush

On a quiet Saturday shift early on a guy wanted to try lots of different beers and chat about them - which is great. He started telling me about an app.

"So there's this app for beer..."
"Yes?"
"Yeah, one of my friends uses it all the time. It's kind of like collecting beers."
"Oh yes, is it called Untappd?"
"I don't know. But it's a bit like Candy Crush for beers. He's on it all the time."

This reminds me of a similar exchange I had working at the original Hop Locker just after London Craft Beer Festival.

A party of three order a selection of different pale ales. Two of them go off to browse the bottle shelves, the one who's paying starts talking about a BBNo beer they had at LCBF. I say that I liked that one, but preferred another beer of theirs...

"My mate is really serious about his beer *indicates friend browsing bottles* like REALLY serious about it."
"Yeah, I like beer too."
"He's got this app where he records all of the beers he's tried."
"Oh, do you mean Untappd?"
"Yes. He's got like 300 beers on there!"
"What, is that like in a single week?"
*laughing*
"He's got 300 beers."
"Yeah, I kind of stalled at about 2000 and something."
*he speaks very slowly and clearly*
"No. I'm talking about beers he's actually tried himself."
"Ok."

9. Perfumy beers

"Do you have anything like Kronenbourg?"
"The closest thing we have is a pilsner from Lervig. Did you want to try it?"
"Yeah."
*tastes*
"Nah. What other pale beers are there?"
"Well, there's a Kernel Pale Ale? It's not a lager, but it's pretty light and refreshing..."
"Oh yeah, I'll try that."
*tastes*
"Yeah, I'll give that a go. It smells the same as Kronenbourg anyway."
"Does it?"
"Yeah, because they're both perfumy."

10. Which one of these is the easiest to drink?

Presented without comment.

11. Scottish people only drink pints

See also number 3

12. Snake Bite

An American man asks to taste a 10% imperial coffee porter.

"Yeah, so I'll take a half of that and a half of apple cider."
*pours one half of the porter*
"No, I wanted them together."
"Uh"
"In the same glass."
"A coffee porter and an apple cider?"
*struggles to imagine what that could taste like*
"Yeah sure"
"Look, is it ok if I give you them separately and I'll give you another glass to mix them in?"

*some time later same man returns to bar*

"Hey, master blender, how was your drink?"
"Great. I've come back for another."
"So is this drink common where you come from?"
"Oh yeah, definitely. It's a Snake Bite."
"Oh, I thought a Snake Bite was cider and black, or sometimes cider, lager and black."
"No, cider and stout is a Snake Bite."
"Oh. I never heard that before."

We were so curious about this one behind the bar that we did a bit of research. We already knew that champagne and stout was a Black Velvet (less than the sum of its parts if you ask me). But apparently a 'poor man's Black Velvet' is cider and stout (again this sounds bloody awful to me but each to their own).

However, I maintain that an imperial coffee porter and apple cider is NOT a Snake Bite.

13. So many people don't know things these days

An American man and his daughter were hanging out at the bar drinking a few different beers on a Monday night.

"Can I try the imperial porter?"
"Sure."
*tastes*
"Hmm. So what is the difference between a barleywine and a porter anyhow?"
"Well, a barleywine is a strong pale ale. This particular porter is an 'imperial' meaning it has a higher ABV than is usual for the style. You would usually expect a porter to be lower in strength, maybe 4-6% kind of region. Also, porters are made with darker malts, so you get other flavours there like dark fruits or caramelised sugar flavours like toffee..."
"So would the yeasts also affect the flavour?"
"Not so much I don't think, because both styles have a relatively 'clean' fermentation character. Yeast is not a prominent feature in the flavour profile of these styles. For the porter maybe it would depend on house yeast strain, British and American porters would likely have differences from using different yeasts but nothing major I don't think."
"Oh. Ok, thank you. It makes a change for people to know things. So many people don't know things these days."

Beer Reviews

So you bought yourself a special* beer? It was probably more expensive than many other beers you could have purchased more easily. But you’re pretty keen on good beer so you’re willing to pay more than you would for a can of macro lager from your local supermarket. Maybe you’ve been ticking off the days on your calendar until the release date (even if that was just in your head)? Maybe this beer was an annual release or a small batch, meaning you had to go to some extra effort to obtain it? Like set the alarm a bit earlier so that you could buy it online while still in your PJs. Or travel out of your way to be able to drink it on draught/buy some to takeaway. Or perhaps you had to do some things which aren’t beer and needed to ask a mate to grab you some instead.

When you finally get your hands on this long-awaited beer it seems pretty unlikely you’re going to throw it into your face without even thinking about it. Surely you’re going to at least look at it, smell it and taste it with some consideration. And it’s possible that after you’ve done that you’re going to want to tell some people what you thought about it.

It might be that the first thing you’ll want to then is ‘check in’ your beer using an app or website where you keep a record of all the beers you’ve tried. There are many reasons people use such tools: to show off and/or share their experience with others, or purely for their own benefit. They might use them for 'serious' reviews delivered in an objective, dispassionate tone; or they could be the opposite – merely describing now a beer makes them feel at that precise moment; or anything at all in between. All methods of beer journaling are valid and specific to the individual.

Maybe after logging your beer you’d like to share your opinions, possibly discuss them with other people who enjoy beer? Maybe you’re interested in whether other people will agree or disagree with your thoughts? So far, so normal, right? Here are a couple of my recent experiences of this having opinions about beer thing. 

Beavertown Skull King

The long awaited double IPA from Beavertown. This is what we’ve all been waiting for. And it’s in a can as well? This is gonna be so good, right? Memories of Bone King, the spritzy, delicious and highly quaffable DIPA they brewed last year with Narpabier, come flooding back. WE CAN’T WAIT FOR THIS. WE NEED IT NOW. AMIRITE? There was a pretty big buzz about this beer on social media, people were excited - they were going to go and drink from the source the very minute the brewery opened its doors on the release day in April. Although I was trying not to get too excited myself, a couple of our friends had already tried it at the brewery and convinced me that it was very good. I’m a Beavertown fangirl, I've enjoyed almost every one of their beers I’ve ever tasted. What could possibly go wrong?

On the day of the launch I was doing stuff that wasn’t beer. Later on Twitter I saw people gushing about how good it was. When I tried my first can of it at home that evening I just couldn’t make sense of what had happened here. The beer had little hop aroma. The flavour was muddled and unclear. I’m not even going to mention murk or whatever because clarity in beer is seemingly overrated (but I’ll come back to that later). It was as if the sweetness was overwhelming any hop flavour that was trying to fight its way through. It also lacked bitterness to balance with that sweetness. It didn't have adry finish either, despite the mention of dextrose in the recipe. Maybe it was intended to be a sweeter rather than a dryer DIPA? I don’t know and I’m wary of imposing my own personal beer preferences for the style on this beer.

But it was nothing like Bone King though. Not that it had to be, obviously (although Beavertown suggested a link between the two beers by calling Skull King the “Bastard Son of Bone”). There's more than one kind of DIPA and I can enjoy a full on, dank and resinous old school West Coast DIPA, with sweeter malt presence balanced alongside the hops as much as the next person. Anyway, I didn’t enjoy drinking the beer and I didn’t finish it because I don’t drink things I don’t enjoy (which seems like a very obvious life choice to me). I gave it 2.5/5 on Untappd. In hindsight that was a little harsh (it reflected my huge disappointment though) and a 3/5 would have be fairer. That described what I felt at the time and I’m not going to edit it now. But obviously I needed to try it again and give it the benefit of the doubt, so I had another can a few days later and then tried it on keg the next week. I felt exactly same way about it every time.

My disappointment was one thing. The other thing was that I was a bit mystified as to why nobody else seemed to be saying anything like what I was thinking about this beer. I don't expect everyone to agree with me - we all like different things obviously. Still, the fact that other people seemed to love it fascinated me. I mentioned my bemusement about it in a members only discussion group and my right to express my subjective opinion of a beer was respected by most people. However, one person seemed to think that my opinion was unacceptable, that there was some pretension in claiming to have not finished this beer, that I was just saying this to appear ‘cool’. The accusation was that I was being contrary about a popular brewery just for effect rather than just telling the honest truth about how I felt.

Since when is an experienced homebrewer and drinker of a wide variety of beer not allowed to express their honest opinion of a beer?  Call me old-fashioned but that is the opposite of what we, lovers of beer, want. As homebrewers we have handed out our beer to many pro brewers (including Beavertown) and we have always desired honest feedback. There is no value in pretending to like something you aren’t enjoying. Also, fuck this idea that certain people who create something, whether it be it art or film or music or beer, are beyond reproach and may never be criticised. If you’ve paid to consume their creation I’m pretty sure you’re allowed to say, ‘I’m sorry, but I didn’t enjoy that because of X, Y, and Z’. Or even just ‘I didn’t enjoy it.’ – because I’m not convinced there is an absolute requirement to defend your opinion.

I already said that I love Beavertown. But that doesn’t mean I’m going pretend I thought one of their beers was great when I didn’t. I’ll be honest about how I feel. Ok, so one of the reasons that this experience with Skull King has stayed in my mind is that we have been drinking a lot of Bloody ‘Ell lately and the experience of drinking these two beers could not be more different for me. Bloody ‘Ell is zesty, juicy and refreshing, its bright citrus and pine flavours on top of a relatively light malt base along with a prickly carbonation make it frighteningly easy to drink. Whenever I see it, I buy it and whenever I open a can it just disappears. I find it difficult to drink it slowly to be honest. However, comparing Skull King with Bloody ‘Ell isn't really a fair comparison since they are different beers - from brewing through to drinking, these are different creatures. We’re comparing apples and oranges here. Instead we should try comparing oranges with oranges...

Coming swiftly on the heels of Skull King was another big beer in a can from Beavertown and this time it was a triple IPA rather than a double. Power of the Voodoo is a Beavertown and Boneyard Beer collaboration. Anyone who has tried the incredible Boneyard and Siren DIPA, Dippy and the Equinox, brewed at Siren in March would probably be curious to try this new TIPA too. I was extremely curious and but it was with some trepidation that I opened this can. The aroma was melons, honeydew and cantaloupe... MELONS! But with a faint savoury, almost onion-ish note in the very background. The flavour is more of the same:melon with a smidgen of savoury. This is a very different beast to Skull King. There is an appreciable hop bitterness, balanced by a malt sweetness which is pleasant without overwhelming the entire beer. This is not a gloopy, resinous hop bomb. In fact it has a lovely mouth-feel, making it oh-so-easy to take sip after sip while you try to puzzle out those hop flavours. Probably the biggest difference between this beer and Skull King is that we sat for a good five minutes discussing the hop characteristics of POTV. This flavour profile of melon and (for want of a more specific identifier) onion fascinated our palates. Looking at the hops used (Citra, Crystal and Mosaic) we wondered: where does this savoury note come from? You wouldn't expect it to be from Citra. Apparently Crystal can be grassy and even a bit veggie-like - so maybe that's where it's coming from? Frankly, at this point, nothing would surprise me from Mosaic. How an aptly named hop it is - it seems as if when it's combined with other hops all kinds of flavours can be teased out like coloured scarves from a magician's sleeve. But that's a topic for another post. ANYWAY... This beer didn't disappoint; it definitely gave us what we were expecting from it. It's bitter, it's juicy, and it's highly drinkable for the ABV.

Magic Rock – UnHuman Cannonball 2015

While we are talking about critical beer reviews, I’ve seen plenty of complaints about Magic Rock’s Unhuman Cannonball being disappointing this year. But the majority of the comments have been about the clarity. People are fixated on this issue. Some people seem to value clarity over flavour in beer, even rejecting any beer that isn’t bright out of hand as being faulty. But that’s a whole different discussion which I’m not getting into here. Anyway - it is interesting to consider what is arguably the UK’s biggest annual beer release and how the three different versions so far have compared with each other. In the 2013 I think we were all blown away by the IN YOUR FACE hop experience of UHC, as well as the beauty of being able to experience the Russian doll effect of sampling the Cannonball family all together. But in 2014, people’s minds were blown by the clarity of appearance and flavour (for us this was because there was such a big difference between the first and second versions, not just because 2014 was a brighter beer). We tried the 2013 and 2014 at six months post-release. The 2013 was pretty much ‘as expected’ for an older hoppy beer. But the 2014 version had aged incredibly well. This was fascinating to us from a brewing point of view – the brighter beer had some hop aroma present and it still packed an impressive hop flavour. Most imported US hop-forward beers would be smelling and tasting like a box of cereal by that age. Wow. We were knocked back by this and we told the brewers so. 

I think the ‘problem’ was that the 2014 version had set such a high standard that people were inevitably going to be asking why the 2015 version had less clarity and definition. For me, the 2015 release was a pleasant intense hop experience on the day it launched. A few weeks later we drank a bottle each and found it incredibly moreish and easy to drink. Nice work for an 11.5% beer. Was it as good as last year’s? Maybe not. But did it taste good? Yes. Did I want to drink more of it? Yes. Well that ticks all the relevant boxes for me when it comes to a TIPA. If other people thought it wasn't a good beer that is their right to say so. I don't agree with them but I'm not going to tell them they are wrong.

Here’s to you, Magic Rock, keep on making awesome beers and I’ll keep getting excited about them. I’m more than happy to give you the benefit of the doubt while you’re in the thick of the long-awaited expansion of your brewery. <3

Beer reviews are subjective. There isn't a correct answer. I doubt there are any beers out there that are universally loved without a single dissenting voice. The idea that any brewery is 'untouchable' and nobody is allowed to express a negative opinion of any of their beers is hilarious to me. If you didn't enjoy a beer, it is your right to say so... as long as you don't try to tell anyone else that they are wrong for expressing a view which differs from yours. Because that wouldn't be fair. Ideally, criticism should be constructive. But does it absolutely have to be though? Is this something that you as a consumer owe to the person/people who created the product? I'm not entirely convinced about that.

*special, in this instance, simply means a beer which is in some way out of the ordinary, e.g.  a new release or limited release beer

Golden Pints 2014

Although Crema is a single entity and we are often in agreement (at least broadly) on beer-related matters for this post we each wrote our own answers. As you might expect there was a great deal of overlap in our responses. Chris wrote the post and Emma added thoughts where some clarification was required. Probably worth clarifying from the outset that Chris works part time at Weird Beard Brewery.

1. Best UK Cask Beer

Chris: I’ve not had that much cask beer this year that has blown me away but it’d be hard to beat Weird Beard Dark Hopfler, though Hit the Lights is always a solid choice.

Emma: I think Hit the Lights is a better cask beer than keg. The extra carbonation doesn’t do much for it. And even though it was slated to go on at IMBC, it just didn’t happen and I so never got to try Dark Hopfler on cask. :’(

2. Best UK Keg Beer

Chris & Emma: Magic Rock Cannonball for sheer drinkability and an almost sure choice anytime we find it on draught. An honourable mention goes to Brewdog’s Dead Pony Club as a beer that we go back to time and time again when we want something low ABV and refreshing.

3. Best UK Bottled or Canned Beer

Chris: Thornbridge Halcyon. Great to see more and more of this coming out of Thornbridge’s Riverside brewery and I’ve tried to get a case from every batch they’ve brewed this year. It’d be great to have it as a fridge staple at home in 2015.

Emma: Even though I’ll fight anyone who claims to be a bigger fan of Halcyon than me, if you say ‘best bottle or can of 2013’ to me then I only have one answer: Gamma Ray in #cans. How excited was I about that event? SUPER CRAZY EXCITED. I vividly recall going to Duke’s straight from work on a Monday afternoon and delightedly pouring Gamma Ray into my face straight from the can. So eye-wateringly dank and even though the beer was a super face-melting overkill on the hops, it was everything I had hoped it would be: a great example of something truly living up to the hype.  Since that day I’ve enjoyed cans of Gamma Ray as train beers (thank you, Sourced Market), and in bars where I’ve pointed them out to the staff because they didn’t even know they sold them, and as a staple in our beer fridge. 

4. Best Overseas Draught Beer

Chris & Emma: Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel!/The Alchemist Moralité. There’s been some of this about at Brewdog bars up and down the UK but nothing beats the night we both tried to drain an entire keg of it at the Brewdog Clapham Junction Meet The Brewer event. Can’t think of a better overseas draught beer we’ve had all year. However, we wouldn’t be surprised if an Italian brewery occupies this slot next year (see below).

5. Best Overseas Bottled or Canned Beer

Chris: Birra Del Borgo Rubus. Shared a bottle of this with friends at the Great British Beer Festival (frankly the overseas beers, especially the Italian and American beers, were better than the British offerings) and loved it so much we bought another bottle, which we shared this past Saturday. An absolutely stunning beer that shows where the Italians are heading.

Emma: Special mention for cans of The Alchemist Heady Topper because it was part of an interesting IPA tasting panel we did at home comparing UK and US beers and it was great to experience a super hoppy beer explicitly designed to be consumed direct from the can. If I had frequent access to this beer I’d drink a lot of it.

6. Best Collaboration Brew

Chris: Magic Rock/Lervig Farmhouse IPA. Perhaps not the most stunning beer of the year but certainly the most consistently enjoyable. However, an honourable mention goes out to Magic Rock/Siren/Beavertown Rule of Thirds, which I wasn’t sold on when I had it at the launch at Beavertown but from a bottle a few weeks later, it tasted incredible. More please.

Emma: On the day of Magic Rock’s Unhuman Cannonball release this April the beer people talked about the most afterwards was that Farmhouse IPA. I enjoyed how the character of this beer changes with age too, more bitter when it’s really fresh, then milder and sherberty, then later more, well, farmhousey – a marvellous mosaic of a beer. 

The Rule of Thirds has definitely grown on me. I was unsure how I felt about it on launch day, there was something muddled about the flavour... however, when we had it from a bottle on subsequent occasions there was more clarity and sharpness to it. I’m definitely a fan now. But if I had to choose a single collaboration beer of the year it would be the Weird Beard/IMBC black saison with Seville orange: Hacienda. So many black saisons are gimmicky and the darker malts don’t even add anything to the finished beer. Too many saisons that are ‘flavoured’ with fruits are either imperceptible or overwhelming. I love the darker roasty malts with the bittersweet orange underneath and in the finish the (subtle) yeast character. This beer, with a little time to settle and mature, became a highly drinkable, incredibly well-balanced beer.

(Some people ask, “but what does ‘well-balanced’ even mean when referring to a beer?” Well, to me it means nothing stands out or feels out of place or unbalanced; everything is in a happy equilibrium. It’s a bit like seasoning food - you know when you have seasoned a dish right. That’s how I think about a balanced beer. NB: Not all great beers are well balanced.) 

7. Best Overall Beer

Chris & Emma: Magic Rock Cannonball. The availability and consistency has increased rapidly and we look forward to the day we can have it at home more. An honourable mention goes to Summer Wine Brewery for their superb Mauna Kea Hawaiian IPA that just blew me (Chris) away with its fantastic tropical fruit aroma and flavour after a very long day in the brewery (on Emma’s recommendation).  

8. Best Branding, Pumpclip or Label

Chris & Emma: There are two winners. Firstly Magic Rock for their eye catching branding that always draws our eye when arrive at the bar. Secondly, Nick Dywer’s artwork is a defining style for Beavertown’s fantastic branding but the label for Bone King was on another level. Best thing we’ve seen all year (it helped that the beer was damn good too).  

Chris: A dishonourable mention goes to Brewdog for going backwards and switching to a bland, corporate branding that smacks of the breweries that they railed against in the past.

9. Best UK Brewery

Chris:  For a sheer explosion of creativity and range it’s a close run thing between Buxton and Siren, with the Derbyshire crew, led by bearded genius and all-round awesome guy Colin Stronge, just edging it. Notable highlights include Axe Edge, Ace Edge, Wyoming Sheep Ranch, Rainshadow and the superb Double Axe. 

Siren have produced a fantastic range of beers this year with their Discount series, Americano, Shattered Dream, the barrel aged Broken Dreams and the mango punch to the face that was the Tickle Monster.

Emma: We all lost out heads a little bit over Double Axe this summer but I was a fan of Buxton before that. One of my favourite beers at IMBC 13 was their white wine BA saison, but I struggle to think of any of their beers that I haven’t really enjoyed or at least liked between then and now.

I had an epiphany with Siren this year. Having found them hit and miss in 2013, we happened to stop into the Craft Beer Co. on Leather Lane for a drink one Saturday afternoon in spring. In the space of an hour I completely changed my mind after trying Shattered Dream, Americano and Ratchet. Then the Discount series consolidated that decision.

10. Best Overseas Brewery

Chris & Emma: It has to be To Øl. Some highlights from 2014 included Sur Mosiac, Hundelufter Bajer and Sort Maelk plus the countless collaborations with other breweries. We expect more greatness from these crazy Danes. However, an honourable mention goes to Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel! for producing stuff that goes blows our minds when we drink it.

11. Pub/Bar of the Year

Chris: Brewdog Shepherd’s Bush for sheer variety of beer available on both draught and in bottle, served in fantastic condition and with the textbook example of how customer service in pubs and bars should be done.

Emma: Same, for the best customer service in any beer outlet in London. Pretty much everywhere else that sells beer could learn from them.

12. Best New Pub/Bar Opening 2013

Chris & Emma: Mother Kelly’s in Bethnal Green. A relaxed atmosphere with tasty meat and cheese platters, and possibly the best range of bottled/canned beers in their fridges.  The only criticism would be allowing people to sit and drink along the entire length of the bar. When it gets busy it’s a pain in the arse having to lean over people to order, pay for and pick up your drinks. Take a look around town and see how many other bars allow people to occupy the entire length of the bar, thereby blocking access to people who want to buy drinks. Can’t think of anywhere off the top of our heads.

14. Beer Festival of the Year

Chris & Emma: No contest. It’s IMBC as we already described in our previous blog post.

15. Supermarket of the Year

Chris & Emma: Waitrose. We don’t buy much beer from supermarkets but when we do, it tends to be from Waitrose and their support of the Thornbridge home brewing competition this year showed their commitment to innovation and independent breweries. It is a shame the distribution of the award-winning beer wasn’t a bit wider.

16. Independent Retailer of the Year

Chris & Emma: Bottledog . It never disappoints with the range of beers available; there will always be something you love or something you want to try. Honourable mentions to Beermoth in Manchester on the basis of our single visit during IMBC for an eclectic range and engaging staff and to Sourced Market in St Pancras Station for supplying train beers on so many occasions.

17. Online Retailer of the Year

Chris & Emma: this has been a difficult one for us. Compared to 2013, when we ordered a lot online, we’ve significantly reduced our online beer ordering in preference to buying beer in person. Largely because we’ve found it’s been incredibly difficult to arrange delivery to our flat as delivery companies only want to deliver during the day - when we’re at work.

18. Best Beer Book or Magazine

Chris & Emma: hands down it goes to Boak and Bailey for their entertaining and educational Brew Britannia. Well researched and written in a compelling style of prose, we feel that our knowledge of British brewing history has been enriched by this book. An honourable mention to Michael Tonsmeire for his excellent book American Sour Beers, which I’m (Chris) currently reading and finding very, very useful.

19. Best Beer Blog or Website

Chris & Emma: For us, The Beer Diary/Chris Hall Beer has been the consistently best UK beer writing blog, it covers a wide range of topics related to beer and it pulls no punches. From a brewing perspective, Port 66 has quickly come through as the “go-to” resource for advice on a range of subjects although we often find ourselves going back time and time again to Michael Tonsmeire’s the Mad Fermentationist blog as we experiment more and more with different yeast and styles of beer. Honourable mentions to Total Ales for Matt’s bravery in tackling controversial subjects that often split beer fans, and for Richard Taylor’s superb journalistic piece on Brewmeister.

20. Best Beer App

Chris & Emma: Twitter, without which we wouldn’t be able to connect to the whole wonderful world of beer.

21. Simon Johnson Award for Best Beer Twitterer

Chris & Emma: Chris ‘zero tolerance in 2014’ Hall (@ChrisHallBeer), with runners up Dave Bishop (@broadfordbrewer) for his Twatterdoodles, and Matt Curtis (@totalales) for his world class Vines.

22. Best Brewery Website/Social media

Chris & Emma: Brewdog, for showing everyone else how brewery social media should be done. Again.

23. Food and Beer Pairing of the Year

Chris: The Thornbridge Sunday Session at the Draft House on Charlotte Street. While both the Weird Beard and Lervig sessions were also good, every single beer and food match at the Thornbridge event were sensational with my favourite being the Raspberry Imperial Stout and the pigeon. Simply incredible. Kudos to that wizard, Max Chater, and his team for turning out such well considered and executed pairings on the day.

Emma: When I think of beer and food pairings I cannot see beyond the magic of the Draft House Sunday Sessions. Each one I’ve attended has been a fantastic, rewarding event which left me with a warm fuzzy afterglow. But I tend to agree with Chris that the Thornbridge event was just in the lead. Every course was great but my favourite was the dessert pairing of Otto (a weizenbock) with a banana cake, banana crisp and sugarwork PLUS a gin grattachecca (shaved ice and gin). Wow. I want it again right now. I had no idea that banana, caramel and gin would work so well together.