Special Features

The Truman Show: How the world’s biggest brewer was reborn

19/10/2011

Follow @TheGuestAle Truman’s, originally of Brick Lane, East London, is an iconic brand in the history of beer. Once the world’s leading beer producer in the mid-19th Century, the brewery went into a terminal decline after World War II, eventually folding in 1989. That was until two enthusiasts bought the brand recently and breathed new life into the Truman’s, with the Runner and Three Threads porter appearing on tap in pubs across East London and beyond. The Guest Ale met up with Michael-George Hemus, one of the co-founders of the new Truman’s brand to talk about the history of the company, the challenges of purchasing and re-launching the brand, and – most importantly – the beer… Here’s the podcast....

St Austell Brewery Beer Tasting Video

12/10/2011

Follow @TheGuestAle The St Austell Brewery from Cornwall is most famous for its Tribute Ale. The brewery was kind enough to send over a wide selection of beer from its range so The Guest Ale tucked into it. For more on St Austell, read our interview with Roger Ryman, St Austell’s head brewer. Follow @TheGuestAle Tweet

Talking Hops with Wye Valley Brewery

27/09/2011

Follow @TheGuestAle With many UK brewers choosing to import hops at a time of resurgence for the British brewing industry, The Guest Ale caught up with one growing brewery which prides itself on sourcing the vast majority of its hops from within seven miles of its Herefordshire base. The UK’s hop-growing industry is in apparent decline despite the apparent health of the UK brewing industry. 2005 figures show the UK produced just under 1,700 metric tonnes of hops each year, compared to 35,000 metric tonnes produced in Germany, the world’s largest hop grower. Cash crops have seen hop poles ripped up from the traditional British hop-growing regions of Kent and Herefordshire, leaving many distinctive oast houses as fashionable country...

London’s Best Historic Pubs

25/09/2011

Follow @TheGuestAle London’s history pre-dates the Romans and drinking has been part of the London scene since time immemorial. This means there are hundreds of great pubs out there that have survived everything that successive Chancellors of the Exchequer, the Great Fire, the Luftwaffe and unimaginative post-war town planners could throw at them. This is by no means a “top ten” list of historic London pubs to visit but is just a selection picked on historical significance and Londonistas will not that there are several conspicuous absences from the old riverside areas, as they feature in the my blog on the best London riverside pubs. With hundreds of pubs in London, I’d love to hear your recommendations, so do...

Great British Beer Festival 2011: The Pub Cast

05/08/2011

Follow @TheGuestAle The Guest Ale’s regular reviewers descended on Earl’s Court in London this week for the Great British Beer Festival 2011. As the mercury hit 30° outside, I was on a personal mission to discover refreshing goldens and exciting India Pale Ales (IPAs) for the summer. These include the delightful Kipling (golden) and Raven IPA from the talented and inventive Thornbridge Brewery, the Dorset Brewing Company’s Chesil and Hopdaemon’s tasty Golden Braid. We also take a look at this year’s Champion Beer of Britain, Mighty Oak’s Oscar Wilde, which had punters queuing up for a swig, as well as numerous other lesser-known ales. Here’s the pub cast. Enjoy! Follow @TheGuestAle Tweet

Top ten London riverside pubs

09/07/2011

Follow @TheGuestAle The Thames is a mighty river with thousands of years of commercial and recreational history. This means there are a whole host of eclectic and pleasant riverside watering holes to enjoy this summer. In this post I’ve highlighted ten really great pubs but would love your recommendations, so please leave comments. 1) The Prospect of Whitby, Wapping: Possibly London’s oldest and most famous Thames-side pub, The Prospect of Whitby dates from 1520 and has entertained the likes of Samuel Pepys, Charles Dickens and the painter J M W Turner. A traditional boozer with knock-out river views. 2) The White Cross, Richmond-Upon-Thames: Set on a busy pedestrian stretch of river bank, The White Cross serves Young’s beer and...

Young’s beer range tasting, Putney

23/06/2011

Follow @TheGuestAle Young’s of Wandsworth supplies a number of pubs around London and the brewer produces a very attractive range of beer. In this video pubcast, editor Chris Lee and regular pundit Gary Andrews trawl the pubs of Putney to explore the Young’s range, as well as a couple of other ales, such as the Sambrooks’ Wandle and Bath Ales Golden Hare. Here’s the video. Enjoy! Follow @TheGuestAle Tweet

Guest Ale pub-cast from the Bricklayer’s Arms, Putney

28/04/2011

Follow @TheGuestAle The magnificent Bricklayer’s Arms, tucked away just off the river in Putney, south-west London, describes itself as “London’s permanent beer festival”, and with its continual rotation of quality guest ales you can see why. On a delightful spring evening I was joined by fellow beer aficionado Gary Andrews to run the rule over a number of real ales on tap. For the third pub-cast running we encountered a couple of ales from the seemingly omnipresent Dark Star Brewery of Sussex. This time we took a look at its pleasant Partridge best and the cheeky and characterful Old Chestnut before moving inside to check out Gary’s fellow Devonians in O’Hanlon’s Dragon. We also checked out the “toast-like” Gravesend...

Microbrew review: Pub-cast from the Evening Star, Brighton

17/04/2011

Follow @TheGuestAle The Evening Star pub in Brighton is the setting for our third video pub-cast (below). The pub, which is very handily close to Brighton station, is also the birthplace of Dark Star Brewing, whose Espresso and American Pale Ale brews we’ve tasted on a previous real ale review. In this video, guest reviewer Roger Warner and I check out Dark Star’s Hophead, Hophead Citra and its European-style Tripel. We also branch out to take a look at Brewdog’s Hardcore IPA, a seriously heavy hop and malt mash-up, which you can see introduced on Brewdog’s own video, and also shows the guys behind the brew treating generic, mass-produced lager with the contempt it deserves. We finish off with...

Ale tasting video pub-cast at The Rake

28/03/2011

Follow @TheGuestAle The Guest Ale went down to the famous Rake bar in London’s Borough Market to test out some of the many and varied ales it has to offer. In this video, editor Chris Lee and real ale aficionado Gary Andrews run the rule over a number of ales, including Dark Star’s Espresso and American Pale Ale, St Peter’s Porter and Grapefruit ales, plus Worthington’s famous White Shield. As a busy pub one has to excuse the background noise at times. Enjoy! Follow @TheGuestAle Tweet

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