Writer and blogger specialising in alcohol-free beer, craft beer, hospitality and getting outdoors.
This is an archive of all my posts about craft beer and real ale including my guide on where to buy fresh ale and beer to take away in Hampshire and beer tasting tips for beginners.
Last weekend, our friends Lee and Becks took us on a mini tour of the Stroud area on the western edge of the Cotswolds.
The first stop was Stroud itself. We spent a short while looking around the weekly farmers’ market then popped into the Stroud Ale House for a drink (or several, as it turned out).
What a place! Located in what used to be a large bar/nightclub, this venue could be described as a “macropub” if such a thing exists.… Read more
On Wednesday night, Tiff’s dad’s friend Janet treated us to dinner at the Shoe Inn in Exton, a village in the South Downs national park just off the A32 between Wickham and Alton.
Tiff’s dad picked me up straight from work so we arrived just before 6pm. I’d directed us on a bit of a detour down some extremely narrow lanes.… Read more
Last Saturday I popped down to the relatively new Cracklerock brewery in Botley to pick up some fresh draught ale to take away for a barbecue.
I don’t really enjoy bottled beer, so I’m quite lucky to have a few breweries close by that do public sales such as the Botley Brewery down in the Botley Mills and the Bowman Ales brewery near Droxford.… Read more
Last Saturday, I met up with some friends for a day out (aka pub crawl) in Salisbury.
Jamie and I arrived at the train station first. Rather than wait for everyone else there, we decided to head for our first pub.
We had a little bit of time to kill because it wasn’t quite opening time. Instead of heading into the city centre we went looking for the Village Freehouse pub, which is in the opposite direction.… Read more
Last night, Smudger and I made a relatively impromtu visit to the Southampton Beer Festival at the Guildhall (or “O2 Guildhall Southampton” to give it its proper name).
Last year, we went to the Saturday daytime session and ended up doing a pub crawl back to Bitterne Triangle where we finished the day in style in the curry house. This time, with a christening to go to on Sunday, I persuaded Smudge that we should do the Friday night session.… Read more
