The lush rolling hills of Pajottenland, southwest of Brussels in Flanders, is a picture perfect setting befitting any classic landscape oil painting of the 1800s. Chequered patches of farmland work their way across this fertile site - but it’s not just the earth here that is rich with life, the air is too.Thousands of Brettanomyces Bruxellensis and Brettanomyces Lambicus yeast spores tumble merrily on the local air currents, and, for the lucky ones, the coolship (or cooling tank) of a local brewer such as Lindemans is their eventual port of call.Here the wild yeast joins the wort that has cooled...

I love delicate beers. The fruity esters and subtle malt profile of the humble ale can be a real thing of beauty. That said… sometimes I just want a real slap in the chops from a fist full of hops.Dogfish Head has been pumping out beer since the mid 90s and has developed a following for its experimental, maverick approach and a collection of strong beers. Today we have one such brew.The 120 Minute IPA is not for the faint hearted, clocking in at over 16% abv. It’s not cheap either, but then it gets a lot of love in...

The mighty Garage Project has long been pushing the wine beer fusion thang and in recent years their Wild Workshop has taken this to a new level. Experimental barrel work and collaboration with winemaker Alex Craighead of Kindelli have resulted in a line of ‘experimental’ wines and funky wine beer hybrids.Today’s beer though is a return to a path first trodden by the brewery back in the early days and which may have paved the way for this eventual embracing of all things wine.Hops on Pointe has been part of the GP core range for yonks. It is described as...

In 1971 Fuller’s took a good long look at their lineup of beers.They had an ordinary bitter, a special known as London Pride and something called Old Burton Extra Ale - but they needed something new.The Old Burton Extra (presumably a nod to the classic style of ales brewed in Burton, of which you can read more about here) just wasn’t quite special enough, and so it was retired and a new beer was made in its place. The new creation was given the rather fetching name of Extra Special Bitter - or ESB. Hence was born a legend that...

Let’s take another journey back in time today with a taste of the ale-y goodness of yesteryear.It is the late 1800s and we find ourselves in a small town called Burton-on-Trent in the English Midlands. Gentlemen walk the streets in top hats whilst street urchins frolic in the gutter as ladies promenade under parasols and push perambulators. The industrial revolution is in full swing and the smell of coal fires combines with that of malt and yeast as, somehow, this small corner of the green and pleasant land is the epicentre of world brewing.Breweries like Bass and Marston’s have been...