Ah no, their brewers were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should ...

I was approached by @braciatrix.bsky.social a while back to help with recipes to tie in with the Porter Wars chapter of her book. More about those beers later in the week when I find out what exactly Trouble did with them, but I'm telling you now they are *not* based on actual historic beers! ...

Many of the historical-ish beers I've brewed I wouldn't be in a huge hurry to rebrew, but this one I'd attempt again. I'd try to get it closer to its 8% historical abv too ...

BLOG POST: We haven't given much thought to speakeasies until now but they're a fascinating example of a type of boozer that could only exist in a particular time and place. 🍺🍻 boakandbailey.com/2025/11/spea...

Before we had Hope Beer we had two other Hope breweries here, one in Dublin and one in Galway. Both existed around the 1820s ...

Why didn't somebody tell me that writing the introduction for a book would be the hardest part of doing a proposal? ...

Always and forever struggling with Christmas, so I would love your recommendations for beautiful, cosy pubs or hotels where Tom and I could spend the day drinking whiskey and living deliciously.

Good morning from the Brauerei Spezial in Bamberg. Pro tip: if you order a "gewärmtes", your beer will be gently heated with an immersion heater, which knocks out some of the carbonation.

I started writing this in April 2024, but decided not to finish it as it didn’t seem worth it (potential Pandora’s box). But as I’m increasingly hearing cider makers say that cyder was something different to & better than cider (spoiler alert, it wasn’t), it was time to set the record straight.

Old glass and a new beer. Certainly my kind of drink and style. 13.1% and nicely balanced - the barrel-aging hasn't been over done, even if at 440ml the serve size has! ...

GOOD MORNING! Here's our weekly round up of good writing about beer, with pubs in Norwich and Bradford, thoughts on the budget, and notes on a kitsch advertisement for Hamm's beer. 🍻🍺 boakandbailey.com/2025/11/news...

Friends!! Join me Dec 7th from 4pm at @lmulligangrocer for PORTER WARS- book talk and beer tasting!! We will be launching my collaboration brew with @beerfoodtravel.bsky.social & @troublebrewing.ie - two porters inspired by my chapter Porter Wars from Filthy Queens: A History of Beer in Ireland

My old teachers told me I'd never get into Trinity, and yet 42 years later here I am ...

No offence to the decent auld skins - and they exist - but do you need to take a masters degree in Irish Pub and Brewery Fakelore to open such establishments in Ireland? The amount rubbish that Irish beer drinking public tolerate, and repeat, is staggering. And some of ye should know better ...

The absolute state of this. 'From the Heart of County Wexford' and 'A family tradition since 1905' implies to the consumer that it's brewed in that county and has been around that long. Theakston Brewery should be hanging their head in shame for these shenanigans, as that's where it's brewed ...

So, there might be a yoke happening that I'm sort-of-kind-of involved with next weekend? Beer and history related, with beers - but not historic beers mind. Stay tuned ...

I'm drinking cider from a 1900 half pint silver-plated pub mug. And it makes the mug looked gilded inside.

I found a nice half-litre lidded German tankard this week. Made by Marzi & Remy in the 70s(?) and not hugely valuable or exciting, but I think it's rather pretty ...

This was under carbonated when last I tried it, as I messed up the conditioning process. It's better now (although I did cheat a little here with a plunger) and tasting pretty good. Nice to think that my home grown hops are giving me that nice balancing bitterness ...

Next we have the Best Book about Beer or Pubs, sponsored by HEINEKEN 🏆 Gold: Dr Christina Wade 🥈 Silver: Andy Parker & Jamil Zainasheff #BGBW25

We have a special award for this evening, to honour the work of Martyn Cornell (@thezythophile.bsky.social) as his contribution to beer writing throughout his life. We present Martyn’s Lifetime Achievement Award to his brother, Dave Cornell.

A play on an Ale Flip, with strong porter, ginger beer, a beaten egg, brown sugar, hot honey, and caraway seeds ...

The Scotch House pub in Dublin, seemingly. Great to see proper stout glassware and scrapers being used! None of that curvy pint glass nonsense and pointless domage ... [Via Robin Power on t'other place]

If a pub has a history of rebadging beers as 'exclusive' when they are not then you also have to assume they misrepresent their spirits, food offerings, and of course, their heritage ...

We're heading into mulled porter weather, a common enough libation in pubs in the past ...

Man Who Thought Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ Was Over In For Thrill Of His Fucking Life https://theonion.com/man-who-thought-fleetwood-macs-the-chain-was-over-in-for-thrill-of-his-fucking-life/

To each there own, and drink what pleases you, but I often wonder if folk are more enamoured with the concept and romance of draught Guinness than its actual taste? Maybe they're right, as some of us overthink it all. Mind you, if there's a stout that a cold serve damages least, it's that one ...

There's no good reason for it but it seems somewhat inevitable that I'd become obsessed with acquiring and attempting to repair mid-century (and earlier) wristwatches ...

That's a lovely blend. The Macardle's brings a little bit of fruit and a touch more malt to the Guinness, as long as you don't mind getting funny looks from those around you - which I don't ...

A Mac by the open fire - a grand day for it ...

This? Why this pained me greatly! The rubbish, mistruths, and plain old bullsh!t posted about Irish beer, pubs and brewing would make you long for the return of Fr. Mathew ...

Our latest newsletter went out yesterday. Subscribers will have already seen it in their inboxes. Those who withhold their affection by refusing to subscribe can read it online. boakandbailey.substack.com/p/reasons-to...

Oh! A little pricey, but certainly of interest ...

Great winter light today

' ... solo drinkers don’t keep to themselves but "start mithering other groups – because they’re not just going to sit there in a bar having a drink on their own in silence."' Pardon me if I beg to fecking differ! (Minus the cocktails, of course ...)

Pspspsps ...

A couple of months bottled and this is singing - to me anyway. Barley sugar sticks dipped in pine resin and red lemonade. One of my more successful historical-ish ales, although I doubt it will age well? ...

It's quite odd when you read about Last Crumb's 'World Class Ingredients' and 'Unrivalled Standards' here that they would pair up with a mass-produced, macrobrewed beer producer? It seems to jar with their ethos. It's as if a beer's provenance is unimportant to most food folk? ... Marketing huh? ...

An odd Waterford city find from the weekend. A ten-sided RAF etched half-pint tankard from 1963 ...

Today in "big breweries fuck things up when they buy small breweries" (via @everypubindublin.ie): www.irishexaminer.com/business/com...

Henry Downes, Waterford ...

'The Wicklow Wolf Eclipse Stout and a glass of Moretti please.' I wait. 'We haven't got the Eclipse on, we have the O'Hara's nitro red.' 'Ah, okay. I'll have a Beamish.' 'But we've already pulled the O'Hara's!?' It's placed in front of me; I shrug ... Reader, I got my Beamish.

Tremendous meal in Momo in Waterford, and great to see a restaurant that champions local small producers stocking the same in beer. A rare thing in Irish food circles ...

@beerfoodtravel.bsky.social may be of interest. 1930

A couple of cracking albums. Jazz drumming meets Samba with some African undertones. Art Blakey and Philly Joe Jones with a host of others. Very impressed ...

Still the magic number ...

Ya see, if this was Twitter of old I'd be DMing with the MD by now and I've have a case of it booked for early December. I miss that ...

By the way - tomorrow - I'll mostly be in Waterford ...

I think we need to hold a referendum in this country every time someone comes up with a name for an Irish bar ...

The advantages of canned beer (according to a letter to Heineken in 1936): 1. handier package 2. lighter 3. no deposit 4. no dirty bottles to clean 5. easy to take on journeys