And! I’ve been looking all over for this and finally found it

Big news: Radio 4’s Food Programme’s devoting a whole episode to the legacy of my book Desi Pubs which includes a long interview with me and a desi pub run I took Jaega on! Friday 9 Jan at 11am

I've got a new collection coming out in 2026 (Thin Places in Hard Concrete) so you'd better crack on and read the previous two.

This sounds like a weird animal thing. It's about cricket the sport, not the insect.

Bristol Beer Factory has a beer called Big Valley which is 5.5%, pale, and has a sticky malt character. The spiel on their website says: "Back into the Northern valleys we go, a land that dreams of deep malt-forward soft cask pints." What beer(s) is this trying to be? We're stumped.

Long shot, does anyone have an unwanted rabbit hutch in London? Poor thing was found abandoned on Wanstead Flats today and we are considering giving it an emergency home

Anyone got recommendations for home brewing? I'd recommend @akrennmair.bsky.social but he only brews a few times a year. @drgabywolferink.bsky.social now videos her brews so that can be helpful.

Homebrewers of Bluesky! Where should I be looking/joining on here for engagement and chats about homebrewing? I am finding Bluesky to be a bit of a desert, but hopefully I'm just not looking in the right places yet. Advice appreciated - thanks! #homebrew #homebrewing #beer #uk

Best accompanying a cold turkey/ham/goose and cranberry round of sarnies, my Boxing Day beer of the week in today’s @dailystar.co.uk is this humdinger of a westie from @thornbridge.bsky.social and Stone brewing and Asda is open today apparently

I read this fantastic article about cyclocross in @pelliclemag.com earlier this year. Inspired by @katiematherkm.bsky.social's winter travels, I'm currently at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof in -8°C temperatures waiting for the sleeper train to Brussels. Happy #Crossmas, day 0/5 🎄🚴

Christmas Day of #12BeersOfXmas. Track, Joseph Holt, Hydes, Robinsons & J.W. Lees - BA Manchester Christmas Ale ‘25 (9.4% Winter Warmer). Raisins and liquorice and my daughter says it smells of soy sauce. #BSkyBeer 🎄

BERLIN bei -4°/-8°: Kältebus: 030 690 333 690 (20:00 - 2:00 Uhr) Wärmebus: 030 600300 1010 (18.00-24.00 Uhr) Franz Skarbina: Am Schlesischen Tor, 1894.

Prep for Austrian Christmas tonight done and a load of the prep for Northern Ireland Christmas for tomorrow done. Time for a wee beer. Hope you all have a peaceful and merry Christmas.

And over on the pub site, a 2025 wrap-up and more Golden Pints: www.weirdodublinpubs.com/weirdo-guide... #SpeirGorm

Another 15 makers send in their accounts of the 2025 harvest, including me this time. Jack made me! In the meantime, yesterday I started typing up some random cider and perry tasting notes for Saturday, and stitching together the CR contributors 2025 Revue post. Do subscribe if you like cider ☺️

Belfast tonight.

NEW FICTION: The Stray Dog “The incoming air had a faint but unusual scent, not entirely wholesome, as if something had been left out of the pantry and was beginning to turn...” precastreinforced.co.uk/2025/12/20/f...

Wedding, Berlin. 20th December 2025.

GOOD MORNING! Here's the final news, nuggets and longreads for 2025 with lots of stuff about pubs, plus notes on a frustratingly unattainable, wonderful-sounding beer. 🍻🍺 boakandbailey.com/2025/12/news...

Zac Crawley discussing the toss.

There used to be police stations in residential buildings in Berlin, e.g. on Wiener Str. opposite the former railway station. I have finally found a source that confirms the police station was on what we call the first floor (USA: 2nd floor). www.gloreiche.de/f%C3%A4lle/w...

It’s all saved. Martyn’s site is all backed up at the Wayback Machine: web.archive.org/web/20250709...

David Walliams AND the Epstein files? Truly it is a festive double issue bonanza take out the trash Christmas travel chaos Friday

It's time for tamales!

Our Christmas & New Year opening times!

BLOG POST: Rounding up the best beers we drank during the year, and where we drank them, is a pleasing annual ritual. We hope you enjoy reading it and feel inspired to create your own list. 🍺🍻 boakandbailey.com/2025/12/boak...

Guinness Open Gate Brewery finally open, Covent Garden WC1. Packed, will be a big success. Tour & history of Porter, London & Dublin. Beer tasting included excellent Porter. No plans for Cask. Article to follow. #BskyBeer

Here's how Dragon Casa continues the legacy of centuries-old Chinese-Mexican food. Give it a look-see and share.

Today I took part in our annual sensory competition, organised by @silentdan.bsky.social and VLB sensory panel as a fun, optional event. The goal is to guess the beer style, ABV and any non-Reinheitsgebot ingredients in six anonymised samples, the most correct guesses wins.

It's Plodcast day. A new adventure in countryside! I visited @nethertonfoundry.bsky.social where the team invited me to try my hand at making on of their their famous spun-iron pans. A magical experience! Huge thanks to Neil, Sue, Colin, Ryan, Toby and all... open.spotify.com/episode/0HpR...

In case you need a break from holiday shopping today…

In a pub in outer Sheffield where people are singing carols – familiar words to local tunes, everyone joining in, utterly lovely. [Video description: A decoration with the words Merry Christmas and some Christmas trees.]

It would be a crime against Christmas to leave mince pies out of the December #RecipeOfTheDay line-up, so here they are, my little Star-Topped Mince Pies, which have lightness and tang on their side, as well as that familiar, obligatory aromatic richness! www.nigella.com/recipes/star...

Just out of interest... Who among those of you researching and writing about beer and pubs has a talk or two in your arsenal? We've got our 30-minute bit on the 20th century pubs of Bristol, for example.

Good morning and welcome to your FT Weekend highlight giftlink thread. We start with this fantastic essay by Tim Wu, one of the big brains of web 1.0, cautioning that Silicon valley may be winning the AI battle to lose the bigger economic war to China as.ft.com/r/83deb81e-3...

GOOD MORNING! Here's the latest edition of news, nuggets and longreads, with notes on the health of the cask ale market, the untrendiness of taprooms, and more. 🍺🍻 boakandbailey.com/2025/12/news...

This month's @londonbeercity.bsky.social is going out now - featuring the revival of hand-painted pub signs, two central London street-corner classics and (my first bit of shameless clickbait) the 10 best cask-ale pubs in the capital. And much more! Sign up now: www.willhawkes.net/london-beer-...

Hopfully hasn't let a little thing like the closure of their brewery slow them down, and are still hazing up the scene. On the blog today, I try to catch up: thebeernut.blogspot.com/2025/12/no-s...

Yesterday's question brought me many new and interesting people to follow. Thank you for this. Today's question: what ingredient ruins a fry up for you? For me it has to be beans. The sauce mingles (and ruins) the other ingredients.

Diageo Belfast: Workers go on strike at Guinness canning factory

This week's pub is one that DOES CHRISTMAS. But just what does it mean to be 'Europe's longest pub.' anyway? www.weirdodublinpubs.com/weirdo-guide... #SpeirGorm

didn't know anything about this, what a fascinating bit of history. purity movements are always oppressive but this is a particularly insidious bit of moral panic about barmaids being too sexy (for your pint)

Vault City. #BeerBlueSky recall. www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/...

What exactly is the deal with Christmas and tamales? 🤔 The Texanist has an answer, from 2017: https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/texanist-whats-deal-tamales-christmas/

Come get some!

If you have the latest issue of the Polish homebrewers' magazine, my article on Irish stout starts at page 16.

pub? as.ft.com/r/fcb05428-3...

Hey, look - it’s all your favourite Beer Ladies, in the wild! You may have noticed we’ve been on a bit of an enforced hiatus, with a bunch of life/health/work stuff going on, but we will be back at an undetermined point in 2026! So stay tuned - and have a great holiday season!

Our house has a covenant from when it was built in 1948 decreeing that no alcohol other than that purchased from the brewery who built the estate should be consumed on the premises.

We risk losing cask ale — not because young drinkers are wrong to ignore it, but because we've failed to make the case for it. www.anthonygladman.com/who-could-bl...