So, 2016 is now a memory and it has been twelve months since I started my New Career, in Beer. I’m glad to see the back of 2016 to be honest. An amazingly disappointing year politically and far too many heroes of mine from the Arts have left us. Here’s to a happy, healthy and optimistic 2017. Christmas was extremely busy at the brewery but also fun and rewarding. My weekly tastings culminated in tastings of our special edition beers – 170th Anniversary Ale, Brewer’s Reserve, Past Masters, Vintage Ale and Imperial Russian Stout. Great stuff! We then enjoyed stouts from around the world and finally a tasting of Kerstbiers brought over from Belgium that was held over two weeks.
December got off to a bang with a sneaky trip across the Channel to Bruges, via Noel Cuvelier’s fabulous beer shop in Abele, West Flanders. Wifey and I caught up with all our Belgian friends, including ex-pat Ian and Patricia at Cafe ‘t Terastje, Bruno at the Vlissinge, Tom at Volkscafe St-Jakobs and finally Daisy at ‘t Brugs Beertje. We also managed to squeeze in some Christmas shopping for stocking fillers, chocolate and beer of course. Its a truly magical place year round but if you get the chance to visit around Christmas I urge you to go. It is simply beautiful and the beer bars stock up on Christmas ales – ones that do the season justice that are extravagantly flavoured and very high in ABV. Yum.
Local Beer Nut Luke McGlynn held his second bottle share too. The usual suspects, Lexie, Lotte and Mat arrived along with some newbies. It is truly a great evening, one that I look forward to immensely, superbly marshalled by Luke. January promises to be a big turnout which means even more beer to be consumed. Not one for the faint hearted! Big thanks to Chris at the Mitre for putting up with us, what a gent!
Thank You Fuller’s was held on the Friday before Christmas. A whirlwind of a day due in part to the brewery closing early at 12.30pm when the free tab at the Mawson started. The pub was rammed and it was great to catch up with everyone over a couple (well, more than a couple) of pints of Fuller’s beer. Jill and her team at the Mawson’s were run off their feet so hats off to them too. The previous Friday saw our Quality Team hold their Christmas get together. After some food we headed off for a tour of local Fuller’s pubs before ending up at the Distillers in Hammersmith for some Dad dancing. Needless to say it was a late night and not the ideal preparation to drive down to Cardiff the following morning for some Welsh Christmas spirit. And to reacquaint myself with new Welsh craft beers – Tenby Harbour being very impressive – and dear old Brains. Great night in the Old Arcade, one of the world’s best pubs. The evening was topped off by the might Super Furry Animals playing on their home backyard. Tidy!
I also interviewed for the position of Trade Quality Advisor at Fuller’s and was delighted to receive the news that I was successful on our last day at work before Christmas – a fabulous early Christmas present. From the New Year I will be supporting our teams in the trade with improving the quality of their beers and cellars, carrying out audits and delivering training. I can’t wait as this is the role I wanted when I first decided to move into the beer world over two years ago. I am also helping out on Saturdays with hosting brewery tours. I love meeting tour groups, people from all around the world brought together through their love of beer. To prepare myself for my new role I also took up the opportunity to spend a couple of days in the Brewhouse making beer. I spent a day with Stewart when we brewed 1,040 hectolitres of London Pride – over 192,000 pints! We also brewed HSB and Seafarers.
The following day I helped Henry prepare the malts and hops for the following weeks brew of Frontier and Honey Dew. This included physically adding 48 twenty five kg sacks of Caragold malt into the hopper – I can confirm that this activity will result in a stiff neck. We then weighed out all the hops that would be needed by Stewart for the brews – bittering hops, aromatics and dry hops for the Frontier. A very early start but a thoroughly rewarding couple of days and invaluable experience.
Having a bit of time on my hands I took the opportunity to take a group of Goose Island guys around the brewery for a private tour. I think I enjoyed the day as much as Josh, Jonny and Fred did. We ended up in the Hock Cellar for an extended spot of tasting – no half measures! A lovely day with some truly great beer guys and I look forward to catching up with them again at the official launch of their new pub, the Vintage Ale House in Balham next week. I also took the opportunity to renew my relationship with a number of Hampstead hostelries with Jazz keeping me company. The Spaniards Inn, Holly Bush and Flask all received a visit and each pub was fantastic, especially the Holly Bush which is now part of the Fuller’s estate.
Finally we received some shocking news. Daisy at ‘t Brugs Beertje had sold up! Everyone assumed that we knew but the news arrived as a huge surprise. Her official last day running the pub was the day before New Year’s Eve. So we had no choice other than to drive over to Bruges again, catch up with old friends – again! – and spend time at Daisy’s wonderful pub. We were also lucky enough to grab a table at Cafe In ‘t Nieuw Museum – probably the best steaks I have ever tasted. We were delighted to be able to toast Daisy’s retirement and are already looking forward to buying her a beer as a punter when we return in April.
So, that’s a wrap – my first year in my New Career, in Beer. Cheers!
Beer Sommelier Kew 
Fantastic – well done mate and love reading about you.
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