Having spent my formative years drinking wine, I have to admit, I love it when beer gets winey! And, well, what better expression of this mashup of styles than barley wine? Barley wines are essentially strong beers with a high abv, made with barley not fruit and starting with a sweet wort with a high gravity. You need the sugar, of course, to generate the alcohol but, whatever is left behind, will feed into the beer's malt profile, opening up the possibility of big hops to balance. These beers are typically dark, malty, fruity and hoppy (to a lesser or...

The Weihenstephaner story is one of courage and perseverance that takes place over an unprecedented timeframe and on such an epic scale, that it is hard to believe.   The local monastery in Weihenstephan was where it all began; a reference to a hop garden in the grounds dates back to 768. That’s not a typo, I didn’t forget to put a one on the front… we are literally talking about brewing history stretching back over a 1000 years.   A license to make beer was officially obtained in 1045, but the following half a millennium was one of woe, in...

Sometimes it all just works, right? The name, the branding, the beer… it all just comes together and seems so right that you wonder how any other version could possibly exist. I’ve always felt like this with Ballast Point. The name is clever - suggestive but mysterious and open to different interpretations, a bit like the logo; a sextant that looks more like a strangely malevolent mask with two expressionless eye sockets. Even the nautical and fishing theme, rampant throughout the beers, is bizarrely attractive… and this is from a man who has never fished in anger in his entire...

It’s interesting to take a look at brands that have been around for centuries and whose success basically speaks for itself. Take Leffe for example. This beer has been brewed since the 13th century and is still going strong. Despite no longer being independent, there's little point asking whether the beers is any good… the numbers speak for themselves. The right question is rather, “what makes it so successful?”   Well, I guess centuries of establishing one's brand is a good starting point for success and has given Leffe a head-start over many nascent beer producers. Look at Leffe’s beer bottles, to be...

It’s pretty easy to be fooled by marketing right? All it takes is a decent name and some on point font skills and voilà… a beer can become anything it wants. Take today’s beer for example. To look at it, you’d really believe it was the creation of an Irish brewery. But, delving a bit deeper, and it’s all there on the back of the can so we’re not exactly talking high deception… It's actually an “Irish style” cream ale (which let’s not forget is an American style in derivation) made by a UK brand in an English brewery. Is...