British Beer Breaks

06/10/2024

A Pub for All Seasons (Adrian Tierney-Jones, Headline £20).

01/11/2023

He quaffs as he scoffs - Phil why good food deserves a good beer

By Phil Mellows Among my most embarrassing moments – I have many to choose from – was the tasting at the E & J Gallo winery in California when a prominent member of the Gallo family asked me what I thought about their wine. My mind was a complete blank. I had nothing to say. The awkward silence ...

22/08/2023

Don't ignore what's in front of your eyes as you go about Britain, says Kate, it could enrich your travels. Visit Chester and Cheshire Historic England Dunham Massey Brewing Company The Lymm Brewing CompanyCostello's Bar - Time Square The Hop Emporium Anchor & Hops The Brewery Tap, Lymm

By Kate Simon Unearthing quirky local stories is the ultimate goal of the guidebook writer. When I co-wrote Slow Travel Cheshire for Bradt Guides with Suzanne King, my fellow author uncovered a gem, the Travellers’ Rest. I’m not talking about a pub, these are the stone blocks that started appear...

04/07/2023

The US graphic novelist on having her comic strip D***s to Watch Out For, turned into an audio series, growing up in a funeral home, and her famous women-in-film test

12/05/2023

In our new Between the Pubs post, Kate hunts down the best things to do in historic Chester - when you're not enjoying the city's Craft Beer Festival next weekend. Phil sticks to the beer
Visit Chester and Cheshire Chester BID Grosvenor Museum and Stretton Watermill Tours Around Chester Women of Chester - Guided Walk Beer Heroes Chester Lowe & Sons New Chester Market English Heritage Chester Mystery Plays StoryhouseLive Chester Visual Arts Spitting Feathers That Beer Place The Cavern of the Curious Gnome

By Kate Simon Hands up, I have a vested interest in Chester – it’s part of my day job to promote this city. Nice work for sure; if ever I were to return to the North to live, this is where I would move to. Set on the border of England and Wales, Chester is a beauty, layered with history from Rom...

14/04/2023

Phil's gone for a Burton - in a good way. It's a town that deserves to be promoted as the capital of British beer, he says

By Phil Mellows The moment you step out of Burton-upon-Trent railway station, you know you’re in a brewing town. Punctuating the skyline, those nests of tall steel towers gleaming in the sunlight are full of beer, and they belong to global giant Molson Coors. Marston’s Brewery, now merged with C...

06/04/2023

Pubs are second only to hotels as our preferred choice of accommodation. They're constantly upping their game, according to a new report, so why not make one your first choice, says Kate

By Kate Simon I went to an interesting seminar last week, Profitable Beds, hosted by Stay In A Pub, a collection promoting quality inns with rooms, and supported by Visit Britain, the British tourist authority. The audience of publicans and other organisations gathered to hear the findings of the

27/01/2023

Kate on the highs - and lows - of greenways. And where to get a good beer nearby National Trust Visit Chester and Cheshire Enjoy Staffs I love Cornwall Padstow Brewing Company East Sussex County Council The Anchor Inn Beartown Brewery

By Kate Simon I do like a repurposed railway line. Being a bit of a townie, it’s my kind of country walk with the dog – away from any possible conflict with cows and no need to wrestle with an OS map. I’ll leave the yomping across fields to my co-writer Phil, a seasoned hiker.

12/12/2022

Kate takes her eye off the ball to look at footie-based breaks, while Phil provides the pitch-side beer notes

By Kate Simon It was good to be back at Old Trafford last weekend to see Manchester United s***k Aston Villa 5-0 in the Women’s Super League. The game attracted a record crowd of 30,196, a sure sign that the women’s game is picking up fans, many of whom, I’m delighted to report, were young and...

01/12/2022

No and low-alcohol beers are suddenly sexy. Phil Mellows explains how it's down to ingenious brewing techniques and, of course, good looks

By Phil Mellows Mindful drinking organisation Club Soda’s new shop in London’s Drury Lane is a sign of a growing confidence in low and no-alcohol drinks, not least in beers. For a few years, it’s been clear that the current AF wave is not going to follow previous attempts to launch the categor...

29/11/2022

Phil recently joined the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the first IPA Allsopp's in Burton upon Trent. Read all about it

By Phil Mellows Walk into a bar, order an IPA, and what will you get? It’s hard to say. During the past 200 years, the style has evolved into a great, sprawling family of beers, and the special event staged by the British Guild of Beer Writers last week to mark the bicentenary was, above all, a ce...

29/11/2022

Our Kate popped into the new Club Soda shop in Covent Garden today. Bought a couple of bottles of 0% wine and a 0.5% Neipa The Cosmic Turtle by Lowtide Brewing Co. Great to meet the staff - good luck with the new shop