My father only gave me a few good pieces of advice in life; ‘Never talk, Sport, Politics or Religion. Unless you want a long, loud conversation.’ Was one of them when I started working in pubs. I would add beer to this advice especially when it comes to social media. This month though there are…
Pilsen, more like its beer than its dumplings. My first visit to the Czech Republic has been a crash course, in Lager, (A beer style much maligned over the years. Yet has a complex diversity hidden in its simple clean taste) and history. For the first few days my base was Pilsen, traveling through rolling…
Norwich and Norfolk has been rather full of Tipples this past month with the Great British Beer Festival (Winter (GBBFW)) at St Andrews Hall for the last time before it moves to Birmingham. All those hard-working volunteers can now rest for a few weeks before planning the next beer festival in October. The GBBFW being…
TryJanuary or DryJanuary, which ever has been your chosen path, this month has been a time for fresh starts and fresh ideas. At least 2 of our local brewers have some new brews being planned for the Great British Beer Festival Winter (19th – 23rd February), or the fringe event that starts the week before.…
Autumn sunshine comes as peace descends after a stressful few weeks, seeing the fruition of yours and a lot of volunteers work at Norwich beer festival come to a successful end (until next February). It is also helpful to be sitting in a brewery sampling well crafted barrel aged beers while your husband and the…
Summer has stepped aside for the chill of autumn, and I have been on my travels. Over the years I have found that nowhere in the world is unfriendly when you are sharing their local food and drink, language is a barrier, but that’s never a case when you can point to what you want.…
Have you ever brought home a bottle of wine or some food from a holiday, raved to all of your friends about how great it is and then, in your own home find yourself staring at it, wondering if you picked up the wrong one! Part of this is down to the atmosphere and mood…
Only a few years ago there was one lonely book that extolled the virtues of Beer and Food, Garrett Olivers, The Brew Masters Table, has now become the bible to a number of people, including myself. But where it once sat forlorn on a shelf (with maybe an old book from Belgium containing the recipe…
I consider myself very lucky to come from a region of great food and drink, award winning wines, breweries, chutney makers and butchers, yet so often when we visit a restaurant of a high class we see wine offered as the pairing for the great produce the chef is raving about. I recently read, chefs…
There is a developing trend in the beer industry, the return of the Tap room, something that to me is not novel. During my tours of Europe its usual, not to find a brewery that does not have a tap. These are wonderful areas to stop and enjoy the freshest of beers, normally with something…