tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65821352340386480192024-03-13T13:57:39.885+00:00Sid Boggle About Beer<i>he's a fusion of craft-style flavour experience with the easy-drinking profile of a session beer</i>Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.comBlogger191125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-34911103839633705082017-02-22T11:16:00.000+00:002017-02-22T19:57:45.714+00:00Irish Craft In London - One Year On...As we head into the early Spring, it's almost time to get up to speed with a new round of events featuring the best of the Irish Craft Beer Scene.
In 2016, the annual Bord Bia food and drink event served as an appetiser for what in my view, was the best beer festival run at The Rake, in Borough Market, where a handful of brewers from all over Ireland sent beers for a four-day festival, Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-73949816769336016942016-05-15T12:59:00.001+01:002016-05-15T12:59:46.558+01:00Brooklyn Comes To DalstonBrooklyn Brewery are on the road again, taking their 'Mash' concept out to nine countries. This week, they've been in London, with events like a DIY dinner party, and, over two nights, the 'Beer Mansion'. I hadn't previously visited any of the formal Mash events in London, so this appeared to be a good time to go along and see what an 'immersive' beer experience looked like.
In a Dalston back Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-35782484051919073862016-04-28T11:31:00.002+01:002016-04-28T15:55:54.031+01:00Duvel Doubles With TripelI guess it's a sign of how far the landscape has been altered, that an acknowledged 'World Classic' beer can be found sitting on the shelves of most of the major supermarket chains, and yet be simultaneously overlooked by those beer drinkers who are in a state of beery perpetual motion, looking for the new shiny. How we can take such beer for granted...
I'm talking about Punk IPA. Just kidding. Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-91510561255499891922016-03-25T12:53:00.003+00:002016-03-25T12:53:44.833+00:00My Friend Matthew... (Or, On The Tasting Of Wicked Weed Beers)
Herbert Hoover During His Cat Period
Matthew is a college professor based these days in North Carolina. I know him, like I know most of my US friends, through the World of Beer. Matthew has a few eccentricities. His cat has his own Facebook page (we're friends), and once in a while, I'll receive an enigmatic postcard from the US. It will usually feature some historical person, their face Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-52821306074988422332016-03-21T21:57:00.000+00:002016-03-21T21:57:02.713+00:00The Growth Of EventsWhile diligently working through The Rake's beer list at last weekend's Thank Goodness, No Guinness! Irish Craft Beer Fest, I started thinking about events. I'm not sure if it's me, or if it's A Thing, but I seem to be seeing more and more Meet the Brewer, tap takeover and tasting events in a growing number of venues.
Of course, venues like The Rake and The Bottle Shop in Bermondsey have always Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-58264052516434044192016-03-10T15:35:00.000+00:002016-03-10T16:22:34.305+00:00The Spirit Of Sharing(It's been 15 months since I last wrote this blog. The waning enthusiasm I was feeling through 2014 finally pushed me into inertia and, although there were some good beery things happening in 2015, I couldn't be arsed to write about them. So far this year, though, I've felt more excited about the beer scene than at any point since early 2014, so I've sharpened a pencil and resurrected the blog. Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-66770155299211049762014-12-26T13:11:00.000+00:002014-12-26T15:31:36.051+00:00Boggle's 2014 In Review (1): Ireland
(As an irregular reader
of this blog – you could hardly be a regular reader, given my
slapdash approach to updating it – you'll know I don't contribute
to The Golden Pints, the end-of-year awards-season reach-around for
beer. Instead, I give out Boggle Awards to my favourite London bar
and brewery of the year.
As I've been sitting on
a bunch of half-written pieces since the early Autumn,Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-57933869079489409132014-09-01T14:11:00.001+01:002014-09-01T14:14:59.348+01:00The New Boys (4): Orbit Beers London
Hi-Fidelity
Another
railway arch in Southwark, another brewery start-up. But this one
isn't in Bermondsey. Rather, a mile and a half or so south south-west
from The Kernel and Brew By Numbers, in untrendy Walworth. In a quiet
side street off the busy Walworth Road, tell-tale bags of spent
malt signpost the premises of Orbit Beers London.
Operating for just
two months, the brewery is Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-61725627976950851562014-08-25T13:50:00.000+01:002014-08-25T13:51:58.896+01:00August Is All That I Know...
August
would usually be busy enough for beer drinkers with GBBF, and the London
Craft Scene generating some synergy off that by organising the
nascent London Beer City week. This year, we've also had the big news
that Binnie Walsh has sold The Harp to Fuller's. A former Boggle
Award winner (and also a Camra National Pub Of The Year), I hear
promises have been made about the running and offer at Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-71481667607025995282014-08-14T21:46:00.000+01:002014-08-14T22:08:35.083+01:00We Are BeerBox
(It's
been months since I wrote about Beer. 2014 has had the same sort of
ups and downs as 2013 did. Some of what will turn up here was drafted
contemporaneously earlier this year, and there are some themes I
might run at. And there's Frank Sidebottom. So, fingers crossed, time
and inclination to commit more to cyberpaper...)
To
Greenwich for the launch of Meantime's new pop-up venture, Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-8987138540068255472013-12-20T11:29:00.000+00:002013-12-20T11:30:48.640+00:00Boggle Awards 2013
As we're at the circle-jerk end of 2013, it's time to reflect on the Year In Beer. Per tradition, I don't bother with the Golden Pints, instead bestowing The Boggle Award on beers, brewers and bars I've thought were best through the year.
This year is a bit different, and my radar hasn't necessarily been targeted at beer. Still, I did get to try some some notable new stuff. I'll start with Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-28229454636024469572013-12-02T17:10:00.000+00:002013-12-02T17:10:04.825+00:00On Being Frank...It's been four months since I did anything on here. Suffice to say, my life has been dismantled this year, and I'm still putting it back together again. While there's been beer, there's been no desire or time to blog about it, though I do need to talk about Meantime (again) and some other bits and pieces that caught my attention.
What's bringing me back today is an update on the documentary Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-58391706132023901132013-08-01T20:28:00.001+01:002013-08-01T20:28:58.875+01:00I'm-a Drinkin' In A Box...
Meantime has been
spending a Sunday each month in trendy Shoreditch, spinning choons
and aiming to entice the Hipsters with some of their limited-batch
beers. The venue for this is the Boxpark, a pop-up retail experience
constructed from shipping containers and scaffolding. Here, global
brands like Nike sit side by side with local start-ups and street
food outlets. On Bethnal Green Road, Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-91325542089047169232013-07-22T09:24:00.000+01:002013-07-22T09:24:40.343+01:00Brewery TeaserWhere's this?
Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-20982576842844751462013-06-16T10:06:00.001+01:002013-06-16T10:08:00.816+01:00It's Friesian In HereA balmy Tuesday night in Greenwich. I'm at Stage 2 of Man-Flu as I plod along Royal Hill for an evening with Rod Jones of Meantime. The brewery is launching their 2013 iteration of Friesian Pilsener, and I've been invited to go along and try some.
There's already a small gathering waiting as I walk in. Rod is at the bar while the staff pours several pints of the golden-hued beer. I note the Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-47450674871864694742013-05-25T18:28:00.000+01:002013-05-25T18:28:13.096+01:00Being Frank: The 7th Inning StretchToday is the 25th May. On 31st, the book closes on the crowdfunding effort to support the production of a definitive film about the genius we know as Frank Sidebottom.
In three weeks, almost £30,000 has been raised towards Steve Sullivan's project, spanning the period when a teenage Chris Sievey camped in the lobby of Apple, then to the legendary Freshies, and on to his best-known and most Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-50730577516865273782013-05-06T12:36:00.000+01:002013-05-06T12:37:12.820+01:00"There Are Planners, Plodders And Plonkers..."Thus spake the bloke who, in 1998, delivered defensive driving training to a bunch of Facilities staff, of whom I was one. He was talking about road sense, but I think it's a benchmark you can apply in a whole range of environments.
So, then. London's Brewing. The successor to the directly-arranged and run London Brewers' Showcase event from 2010 and 2011. Not an LBA-organised event, strictly Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-69308174628249248522013-05-01T21:19:00.000+01:002013-05-01T21:22:20.474+01:00Oh, Blimey! Being Frank...Long-time readers of this blog will know I'm a big fan of Frank Sidebottom. The Bard of Timperley (or, correctly, his alter ego Chris Sievey) passed in 2010, but his fans haven't forgotten him. There have been exhibitions, music fests and fundraisers. Plans seem well-advanced for raising money to pay for a statue in Timperley, and former Oh! Blimey Big Band member Jon Ronson is one of the Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-57132769703470070322013-04-20T16:03:00.002+01:002013-04-20T16:44:47.073+01:00Fetch The Engines, Fetch The Engines...Yep, pour on beer, though, because London's Brewing.
After a gap of over 18 months, the London Brewers Alliance have got themselves a new, bigger fest, and it's taking place at London Fields over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend of 4-5 May.
With around 40 breweries now operational within the M25, they've outgrown the upstairs space at Vinopolis, so a much bigger fest with a ramped-up bill of Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-61937730594986856422013-04-08T11:09:00.000+01:002013-04-08T11:10:22.082+01:00(Mean) Time For A BeerTime was you only heard from Meantime if you went to the Greenwich Union for a pint, some food and a read of Alistair Hook's latest manifesto, handily inserted into the menu. Or (as I've noted previously), somebody like Peter Haydon wrote to 'What's Brewing' to take UK brewing to task over closed-mindedness.
Lately, though, they've had a PR agency plugging away, inviting bloggers and others to Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-34246148338017423242013-02-19T15:05:00.000+00:002013-02-20T12:25:23.238+00:00Kennington: One In, One Out..?The saga that is the Mansion House appears to be reaching a climax, with talk in the trade of an opening later this week, and some kind of smoke signal appearing on the horizon on Oaka's London website.
I'll believe it when I see the doors open and beer on the bar. Many Oakham fans can tell you the year they were first offered free beer vouchers at an Oakham bar at a fest - GBBF, Peterborough - Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-55209402625419176422013-02-04T20:19:00.002+00:002013-02-04T20:47:26.902+00:00The New Boys (3): Brew By NumbersEvin O'Riordain told me before Christmas about a couple of lads brewing out of their kitchen in Southwark. Aha!, I thought, the nano movement has arrived in London. Then Craft at Clerkenwell did a launch of their bottles, but I didn't try one until CJ Ferrell at Cask Pub & Kitchen produced one to sample.
The new boys, set up as Brew By Numbers, got my mind racing. Well, as fast as it races Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-90282073351973701462012-12-13T20:23:00.003+00:002012-12-13T20:24:56.450+00:00The New Boys (2): Partizan Brewing
Another railway arch in
Southwark, slightly south and east of Bermondsey underground, and not
far from Southwark Park. No Maltby Street vibe, no sense of a
thriving hub for good food and drink, no hipsters and yuppie couples
with upmarket pushchairs grazing. Behind an anonymous roller shutter
on a quiet access road, another of London's new breweries is
preparing to launch beer to the capital's Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-697754677538846392012-12-11T20:08:00.004+00:002012-12-11T20:08:58.229+00:00Golden Pints 2012In the absence of 2012 Boggle Awards (haven't been to half the new London bars or checked out some of the new beer to make them meaningful), I've decided to pick out some stuff for the Golden Pints. My Year Of Beer will be up around Xmas Week...
Best UK Draught
Beer Dark Star APA, Fyne Ales Rune, Camden Wheat, Marble Draft
Best UK Bottled
or Canned Beer Table Beer from The Kernel Brewery
BestSid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582135234038648019.post-34921520765785059742012-12-04T13:02:00.001+00:002012-12-04T13:03:21.548+00:00A Book At Beertime: Britain's Lost Breweries And Beers(In the interests of transparency, I was contacted by the publishers of this book, Aurum, and offered a review copy, which I accepted)
Chris Arnot seems to be fond of finding lost things. He's written about lost cricket grounds and, more recently, football fields. In 'Britain's Lost Breweries And Beers', he selects 30 gone-but-not-forgotten breweries and meanders across the UK to find their Sid Bogglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07452473947039475736noreply@blogger.com0