Beer column: Allsopp's heritage beer restored thanks to 'stroke of luck'
St Albans-based beer columnist Roger Protz on the restoration of a heritage beer dating back to the 18th century.
Get ready for St Albans Beer and Cider Festival
It’s all change at the St Albans Beer and Cider Festival this year with a stronger focus on local breweries and a much improved food offer.
Beer column: Celebrating 150 years of brewing
It’s good to celebrate the anniversary of a brewery at a time when so many are closing as a result of Covid and the energy crisis. In the case of Bateman’s, the family who own the brewery will be toasting a remarkable 150 years of beer making.
St Albans beer expert enjoys his first post-lockdown pint
Former editor of The Good Beer Guide and occasional Herts Ad columnist Roger Protz visits one of his favourite locals to find out how it’s adapted to a post-lockdown world
St Albans beer festival celebrates 190 years of McMullen’s
St Albans Beer Festival is more than just a celebration of good beer this year. It will also salute McMullen’s, Hertfordshire oldest brewery that has chalked up 190 years of beer-making.
St Albans Beer Festival comes of age
If a beer festival is a celebration, then this year’s St Albans event is a loud shout of joy. It marks the 21st festival to be held at the Alban Arena and it proves the doomsters wrong who said back in the 1990s that the city had so many pubs – 55 at the time – that there was no need for a separate festival.
Moor to canned beer than initially thought
Life is full of surprises but I never thought, when I set out as a beer writer a decade or two ago, that I would one day write in praise of canned beer. “Tinned beer” was once the dismissive name for the product and the contents tended to taste more of its metal container than any recognisable type of alcohol.
Does CAMRA face a crucial turning point?
Is the Campaign for Real Ale facing a mid-life crisis? CAMRA, 45 years old and based for most of those years in St Albans, is conducting a survey of its members to see if it’s still fit for purpose or needs a major overhaul of its policies and strategies to face a very different beer world from the 1970s.
Imperial marches on...
The phone rang and a voice said: “Are you making scurrilous remarks about my beer?” It was Miles Jenner, head of production at Harvey’s brewery in Lewes, East Sussex, and he was joking.
Homebrewing in the kitchen
I’m brewing an India Pale Ale in my kitchen – don’t all rush round, as it will take around a month before it’s ready to sample. I can’t promise it will be drinkable as my previous attempts at home-brewing have been less than stunning: I’ve had more stuck fermentations than Queens Park Rangers have had managers.
