Another UK hello

[disasterjustavoided]

Greetings brewers I'm another one from across the pond.

I try and be a proper stereotype from my country and even have bad teeth and drink tea all the time. When I'm not brewing I'm a super villian.

 

[RobertRGeorge]

Love Monty Python! Could you be the Upper Class Twit of the Year?
Oh, I see you hail from Bristol. Could you do Captain Haddock?

Really, wecome. I am very keen to know more about the English home brewing scene, for which I have great respect!

 

[disasterjustavoided]

The scene took a bit of a battering as far as I can tell. We suffered from bad extract kits and rubbish hops (as did you guys I think) but that was back in the 1980's.

It's pretty good now and just about every decent brewer seems to turn pro! We now have one brewery per every 60,000 of the population.

 

[RobertRGeorge]

Speaking of battering, I have a battered copy of CJJ Berry's book on homebrewing, published in the UK in 1963. This was really the original modern (as these things go) how-to guide. I still refer to it for inspiration while not following the recipes to a T. I made an "Andover Stout" that won a silver medal. Thanks to the Brits for reviving what was always a cottage industry in the past!

 

[disasterjustavoided]

Good point about Berry. He did indeed keep it going, starting brew circles and writing about brewing for the Mirror newspaper although he was and is much more well known for his wines over in the UK.

I think when I said about the battering I failed to say that there has always been a few that have kept on brewing in the face of rubbish ingrdients and equipement but, thanks to you guys picking up the batton I think the Homebrew scence and has never been stronger.

 

[RobertRGeorge]

And of course there is the Durden Park Beer Circle, which published its first compendium of historical beer recipes in 1973. They're still going strong. It's fair to say that I got a substantial bit of my original inspiration from home brewing Brits. I guess it has been an ongoing passtime for a couple of thousand years. And no thirteen-year break for prohibition to destroy the local industry. Good brewing to you.