EPISODE 104: CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 2024 WITH ADNAMS AND PELLICLE // It's that time of year again, and this year's epic Christmas special features Fergus Fitzgerald from brewing giants Adnams, plus Matt Curtis and Katie Mather from Pellicle Magazine. I also crown my "Beer of the Year" and play your voice messages and read your emails. Pour yourself a cup of Eggnog (or maybe a decent festive beer instead!) and enjoy. Merry Christmas! LINKS Adnams - website / Twitter / Instagram / Bluesky Pellicle - website / Twitter / Instagram / Bluesky Matt Curtis - Twitter / Insta / Bluesky Katie Mather - The Gulp / Twitter / Insta / Bluesky BGBW Award winning articles from Pellicle: Will Hawkes: The Story of Dora Kulka, and How One Woman Changed British Beer Forever // Bonedigger, Bonedigger — How Grace Land and Saint Monday are Building an Empire in London // Highway to Helles — Störtebeker Braumanufaktur in Stralsund, Germany Pete Brown: This is the End — The Sad Demise of Worthington White Shield David Bailey: Hype is Dead, Regional Cask is Forever // The Usual Mark Dredge: Visions Of The Things To Be — How Mash Gang is Breaking the Alcohol Free Mould Rachel Hendry: The Essential Guide to Beer and Crisp Pairing Rob MacKay: Do Androids Dream of Electric Pints? — On AI Art in the Beer Industry Ruvani de Silva: Apathy Has Rained On Me — On DEI Burnout in the Beer Industry // London Is The Place For Me — Robyn Weise and Her Windrush 75 Lager Photo credits: Main photo: Anthony Cullen; Inset photo: Cath Harries.
EPISODE 103: ABBEYDALE BREWERY // Join me for another chat with folk from the craft beer world as I speak with Laura, Jim, and Dan from Sheffield's Abbeydale Brewery. They have a fair amount of history, but the most exciting times are yet to come as earlier this year they became 100% Employee Owned. We chat about how it all happened, what it means, and much more - including their brewery's Funk Dungeon! LINKS Abbeydale Brewery - website / Twitter / Insta / Bluesky Send me a Christmas message on Speakpipe! HERE
EPISODE 102: FIREBRAND BREWING CO. // Join me as I chat with Joe Thomson, co-owner and Head Brewer of Cornwall's Firebrand Brewing Co. We discuss the brewery's genesis, non-alcoholic beers, American hops, and much more. LINKS Firebrand Brewing - website / Twitter / Instagram Get your cans of Primal! Nearly sold out. FIND THEM HERE Speak to me!! Leave me a Speakpipe message. Follow me on Blue Sky
EPISODE 101: LOST CAUSE BREWING CO // In this episode I speak with Colin Stronge of Lost Cause Brewing Co, which is barely 6 months in existence and already turning people's heads. Colin has a wealth of experience behind him, including a Brewer of the Year award, and we discuss his background and where he plans to take Lost Cause. I also speak with Neil Walker of SIBA about their new Indie Beer campaign. LINKS Lost Cause - website / Twitter / Instagram SIBA - website / Twitter / Instagram SIBA Indie Beer - website / Twitter / Instagram Elusive Collabageddon 2024 venues Send me a voice message on Speakpipe - HERE
EPISODE 100: ELUSIVE BREWING COLLABORATION BREW // It's the big one... or rather 100! To celebrate the 100th episode, I collaborated with Andy Parker from Elusive Brewing to brew a lovely West Coast pale chock full of Centennial hops! Its a lovely beer - buy some and find out for yourselves (link below) - and you can hear audio from the brew day, an interview with Andy, plus my first reaction to tasting the beer! LINKS Elusive Brewing - website / Twitter / Instagram Andy Parker - Twitter / Instagram Buy cans of PRIMAL here
EPISODE 99: ORBIT BEERS BREWERY // In this episode I speak with Robbie Sykes from South London's Orbit Beers Brewery. We talk all about their modern takes on traditional European beer styles, keeping their beers in bottles, and why a Greek yoghurt dip works well as a beer! LINKS Orbit Beers Brewery - website / Twitter / Instagram SEND ME A MESSAGE FOR THE 100TH EPISODE - Email / Speakpipe
EPISODE 98: TWO TAILS and HOP STOP // In this episode, I speak with Colin and Deena from Two Tails Taproom, a pop-up business in East Sussex, and James from Hop Stop in Reigate. We talk all about their businesses, how things have been going, and what future plans they have, amongst other things. LINKS Two Tails Taproom - Facebook / Twitter / Instagram Hop Stop - website / Twitter / Instagram
EPISODE 97: BRASS CASTLE // We're hurtling towards episode 100 now, and you'll be getting the three episodes preceding that (this one, 98, and 99) in quick time! This is all so that we are ready to have Episode 100 when the special collab beer, brewed with Elusive, is ready for you to be drinking it while listening to us talk about it. I'm so excited for you to try this beer! But enough of that, let's focus on this episode which features Sam Teale, Head Brewer of North Yorkshire's Brass Castle. Sit back and relax as you hear Sam and I discuss the US origins of the brewery, American cask ale, the food capital of Yorkshire, building a taproom with your own hands, and much more! LINKS Brass Castle: Website / Twitter / Instagram
Episode 96: Just Me! // With a few last minute issues meaning that the Cider Prime episode had to be postponed, I had no time to arrange an emergency guest, so I just plugged in the mic and .... talked! Hopefully its fairly structured and not too much of a ramble! I talk about my recent trip to Dublin; the event I ran at Indie Rabble's taproom; Brew York's Leeds bar closing; upcoming events this weekend - Craft Beer Channel's Love & Beer 2, The Kernel's 15th Birthday, and Two Tails' latest pop-up; the 10% discount code on Brid's Cross beers is still valid; some books coming soon from Jonny Garrett, Andy Parker, Adrian Tierney-Jones, and Martyn Cornell; musings on my upcoming writing; Oktoberfest events; and the gen on episodes 97, 98, 99, and 100! Plus I tell you a few places I'm heading that I might be able to get some good beers at. LINKS Dublin: Mary's Bar & Hardware Store / Wicklow Wolf / Kinnegar Brewing / Whiplash / UnderDog / Galway Bay Brewery Indie Rabble / Amp Cats Brew York Leeds New Briggate Events: Craft Beer Channel's Love & Beer 2 / The Kernel's 15th Birthday / Two Tails Taproom Brid's Cross Books: The Meaning of Beer by Jonny Garrett / The Modern Homebrewer by Andy Parker & Jamil Zainasheff / A Pub for All Seasons by Adrian Tierney-Jones / Around the World in 80 Beers by Martyn Cornell Oktoberfest: A Hoppy Place / Indie Rabble / Westerham Brewery / Neptune Brewery
EPISODE 95: JONNY GARRETT // In this episode, I speak with Jonny Garrett from the Craft Beer Channel, who was last on the podcast in December 2022. I thought it was about time to catch up with Jonny and see what he's been up to, which includes writing a new book! I also have a quick chat with Andy Nowlan from Siren Craft Brew as they have just released a new beer, Something in the Water, in conjunction with 20th Century Fox/Disney for their new movie Alien: Romulus. LINKS Jonny Garrett - YouTube / Twitter / Instagram / New book Siren Craft Brew - Website / Alien: Romulus competition / Twitter / Instagram SEND ME A VOICE MESSAGE on Speakpipe!
EPISODE 94: BRÍD'S CROSS BREWERY // Join me as I chat with Sean O'Reilly of Bríd's Cross Brewery about his whirlwind first year as a commercial brewer, as well as some of the folk tales that inspire his beer's names and the brewery's branding. PLUS - get 10% off Bríd's Cross beers until 30th September. Go to their web shop at https://bridscross.co.uk/shop/ and use code beerprime10 at checkout. LINKS Bríd's Cross Brewery - website / Twitter / Instagram Email me at beerprimeuk@gmail.com OR leave me a voice message at Speakpipe.com/BeerPrime
Episode 93: 4th Birthday Q&A // I'm back from my summer break and straight into a special episode to celebrate 4 years of Beer Prime! I'm joined by beer experts Jessica Mason (The Drinks Business), Tom Fozard (Roosters Brew Co), and Jaega Wise (Wild Card Brewery) and I put YOUR questions to them! LINKS Jessica Mason - Twitter / Instagram Tom Fozard - Twitter / Instagram Jaega Wise - Twitter / Instagram
Episode 92: James Dowdeswell & the Thornbridge Union // No, it's not a beer-related rock band, it's an episode featuring comedian James Dowdeswell, who talks about his beer-themed comedy show "Beers of a Clown" and his own beer, Lazy Eye-PA; and also Rob Lovatt and Dom Driscoll from Thornbridge, who tell us all about the Burton Union set that they've acquired from CMBC and are keeping the historic brewing process alive. LINKS James Dowdeswell - Lazy Eye-PA / Twitter / Insta Thornbridge - website / Twitter / Insta Send me a question for Episode 93! I'll have a panel of experts to field your questions - Jaega Wise, Jessica Mason, and Tom Fozard. Here's how to send your questions to me: Email: beerprimeuk@gmail.com Voice: Speakpipe.com/beerprime Socials: Twitter / Insta
Episode 91: Westerham Brewery revisited // In this episode I catch up with Robert Wicks from Westerham Brewery, recorded live in their bustling taproom. We talk about many of their beers, while tasting 9 of them! I also speak with Colin and Deena Gilham about their new pop-up taproom venture, Two Tails! LINKS: Westerham Brewery - website / Twitter / Insta Two Tails Taproom - Twitter / Insta / Facebook
Episode 90: Indie Rabble revisited // In this episode I pay a visit to the Indie Rabble taproom in Windsor and catch up with Dave Hayward about how their first year is going, Its been just over a year since we last spoke and so much has happened. I also speak to Dr Christina Wade who has released a book about women in brewing called The Devil's in the Draught Lines. Plus there's news about the likes of Buxton Brewery, BrewD*g, Cellar Head, Mason Brew Co, Attic Brew Co, and Two Tails - a new pop-up taproom in East Sussex. LINKS Indie Rabble - website / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook Dr Christina Wade - website / Twitter / Instagram / Book
Episode 89: Heist Brew Co // In this episode, I welcome Dan Hunt from Heist Brew Co to the podcast. We talk about their genesis as a bar, before moving into brewing their own beers - at first to supply the bar, then distributing further afield. We'll also discuss the future of the brewery. LINKS Heist Brew Co - website / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook SPEAKPIPE - Leave me a voice message!
Episode 88: Homebrew Special 2 at Hop Stop with Elusive Brewing // Recorded live at Hop Stop in Reigate with special guest Andy Parker from Elusive Brewing. Four home brewers brought along their brews for us to taste, judge and for Andy to give advice. LINKS Hop Stop - website / Twitter / Insta Elusive Brewing - website / Twitter / Insta Andy Parker - Twitter / Insta SPEAKPIPE - Leave me a message!
Episode 87: McColl's Brewery // In the latest episode I speak with Danny McColl, founder of McColl's Brewery based in County Durham. We talk about his beers, the beer landscape in the North East, and Men's mental health. I also chatted with Laura and Michael, who work in the beer industry but also have a little fun on the side with a YouTube channel called "Does It Shandy?" where they take often highly-rated beers and mix it with varying fizzy soft drinks to see if it shandies! As well as a little chat about their videos, we also try to see if a very well regarded McColl's beer works with Ginger Beer to make a shandy! LINKS: McColl's Brewery - Website / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook Danny McColl - Twitter Does It Shandy? - YouTube channel / Twitter Laura - Twitter / Insta // Michael - Twitter Men's Pie Club - Website / Twitter / Insta
Episode 86: Cloudwater // Join me for a jam-packed episode with not 1, not 2, not even 3 guests... 4 GUESTS! OK, 2 of them were together when recording, so it's 3 segments but hey... 4 guests! The main guest is Paul Jones from Cloudwater and there is an epic length chat with him, because it was too good to edit down. I also chat with Amelie Tassin from Tipple Marketing about what she does in the beer industry. There is also a quick chat, recorded live at Anspach & Hobday's 10th birthday bash, with Paul Anspach and Jack Hobday! Enjoy - even if you have to break it down into smaller chunks!! LINKS Cloudwater - website / Twitter / Insta / Facebook Amelie Tassin - Tipple website / Twitter / Insta Anspach & Hobday - website / Twitter / Insta / Facebook SPEAKPIPE (to leave me a message) - click here
Episode 85: Buxton Brewery // In this episode I welcome Buxton Brewery's new MD, Dom Metcalfe, who has been tasked to take Buxton to the next level. We discuss their beers - including the (in)famous The Beer, once known as Yellow Belly - plus much more. Also featured is George Rice from Serious Pig. George felt that pub snacks were too boring and not the greatest quality, so he set Serious Pig up with the goal of bringing a range of high quality, tasty pub snacks. We also cover some of the latest news including Siren's 11th birthday, as well as their upcoming Reading town centre bar; the collab between three breweries celebrating their 175th anniversaries; Carlsberg Marston's "Fresh Ale"; plus more. WHY NOT LEAVE ME A MESSAGE? Go to Speakpipe and chat away! OR... send an email to beerprimeuk@gmail.com. LINKS Buxton Brewery - website / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook Serious Pig - website / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook