http://blogs.independent.co.uk| Blogs from the Independent newspaper - news, views and features from the world's most free-thinking newspaper| Tue, 21 May 2013 10:43:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2| en hourly 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/01/beer-windsors-finest-shake-off-jubilee-snub/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/01/beer-windsors-finest-shake-off-jubilee-snub/#comments Fri, 01 Jun 2012 07:32:22 +0000 Will Hawkes http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=24855 It seems like half of the breweries in Britain have produced a new beer for the occasion – or, at the very least, re-badged an old one in order to capture some of the Jubilee frenzy. Nor can those in charge claim to have been taken by surprise by the volume of celebratory brews: it’s an old tradition. British brewers have been marking big Royal occasions with special beers for many generations.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/01/beer-windsors-finest-shake-off-jubilee-snub/feed/ 3 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/18/beer-the-mistake-that-beat-the-world/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/18/beer-the-mistake-that-beat-the-world/#comments Fri, 18 May 2012 09:21:42 +0000 Will Hawkes http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=24335 Britons tend to return disappointed from World Cups; the tradition is to skulk off amid bitter recriminations just as the real meat of the competition is getting started...but that's not how it always goes. There are exceptions. One such came at the World Beer Cup – yes, even beer now has a world cup – in San Diego this month.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/18/beer-the-mistake-that-beat-the-world/feed/ 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/20/beer-cocktails-its-about-having-fun/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/20/beer-cocktails-its-about-having-fun/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:15:00 +0000 Will Hawkes http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=23387 It’s enough to make an ale drinker’s beard turn white. Beer cocktails? Even to the more open-minded drinker, it sounds a far-fetched idea: cocktails and beer don’t always comfortably share the same bar space, let alone the same glass  – but things are changing. A trend that began in the US has skipped daintily across [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/20/beer-cocktails-its-about-having-fun/feed/ 4 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/23/craft-beer-creeps-across-the-severn/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/23/craft-beer-creeps-across-the-severn/#comments Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:15:59 +0000 Will Hawkes http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=22629 There’s a huge piece of graffiti on the wall of the Tiny Rebel Brewing Co in Newport, Wales, but the owners don’t mind. After all, they asked for it. Brad Cummings, who opened the brewery this year with brother-in-law Gareth Williams, is delighted with the handiwork of Bristol artist Dones One (right) – and if [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/23/craft-beer-creeps-across-the-severn/feed/ 2 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/16/why-brewers-fear-the-budget/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/16/why-brewers-fear-the-budget/#comments Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:33:40 +0000 Will Hawkes http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=22420 There was a big do at the Norwegian Embassy last night. Ambassador Kim Traavik had invited a motley collection of beer worthies – brewers, writers, serious drinkers – to Palace Green in London to celebrate the official British launch of Nogne O’s beers. It was a convivial occasion, and a sign of the impact craft [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/16/why-brewers-fear-the-budget/feed/ 37 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/09/lager-is-dead-long-live-lager/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/09/lager-is-dead-long-live-lager/#comments Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:36:26 +0000 Will Hawkes http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=22237 If you want to appreciate how British beer has changed, have a lager. Once upon a time this middle-European beer style was regarded as the devil incarnate by many British ale drinkers, the cuckoo in the nest that had laid waste to a nation’s proud heritage. Not any more.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/09/lager-is-dead-long-live-lager/feed/ 3 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/02/the-brewery-that-changed-america/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/02/the-brewery-that-changed-america/#comments Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:50:25 +0000 Will Hawkes http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=22016 Ken Grossman is not a boastful man, despite having plenty to feel smug about. His Sierra Nevada brewery, founded in 1980, played a pivotal role – perhaps the pivotal role – in launching America’s craft beer revolution, and the flagship product, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, has become an icon, inspiring countless brewers across the globe. [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/02/the-brewery-that-changed-america/feed/ 44 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/02/17/french-beer-is-unknown-we-must-change-that/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/02/17/french-beer-is-unknown-we-must-change-that/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 08:50:43 +0000 Will Hawkes http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=21466 Stereotypes die hard. ‘The Very Hungry Frenchman’, the BBC’s current television series following chef Raymond Blanc as he scoffs his way around his native land, demonstrates just how committed the British are to thinking of France in a certain way: good food, joie de vivre, Citroen 2CVs. This is the land where everyone appreciates a [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/02/17/french-beer-is-unknown-we-must-change-that/feed/ 51 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/02/03/beer-a-little-local-deity/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/02/03/beer-a-little-local-deity/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:51:22 +0000 Will Hawkes http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=21016 There are few concepts quite as French as that of terroir. This idea – which, to put it as simply as humanly possible, suggests wine has a unique character dictated by the spot in which the grapes were grown – is both fanciful and beguiling, and thus deadly when it enters the head of the [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/02/03/beer-a-little-local-deity/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/27/beer-cornwall-is-now-en-vogue/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/27/beer-cornwall-is-now-en-vogue/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:52:23 +0000 Will Hawkes http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=20810 Cornwall’s newest brewery opened last week. The Harbour Brewing Company, based in Bodmin, joins a crowded market: England’s most westerly county may once have been regarded as something of a good beer desert, but times have changed. There are now more than 20 breweries in the county, and a handful of them are known nationwide. [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/27/beer-cornwall-is-now-en-vogue/feed/ 20 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/20/the-rise-and-rise-of-the-beer-festival/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/20/the-rise-and-rise-of-the-beer-festival/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:56:50 +0000 Will Hawkes http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=20579 It’s sometimes said that you’re never more than six feet away from a rat, which is a sobering thought. These days, you could equally say that you’re never more than a few days from a beer festival, a claim which has the benefit of being rather less sobering and far more likely to be true. [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/20/the-rise-and-rise-of-the-beer-festival/feed/ 3 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/13/beer-the-flavour-of-new-zealand/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/13/beer-the-flavour-of-new-zealand/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:55:14 +0000 Will Hawkes http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=20381 What’s small, green, comes from New Zealand and is incredibly popular with Britain’s brewers? No, not Kiwi fruits, although someone will surely make a beer with them sooner or later. The answer, of course, is hops, and the Nelson Sauvin variety in particular. It may sound like a Central American midfielder for a middling Premier [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/01/13/beer-the-flavour-of-new-zealand/feed/ 1