The two leading trends in UK craft beer were prominent at this rebranded East London festival.
Hell
Tied Up in Notts
Taking in the Nottingham Craft Beer Festival, the absurdly-named hype-generating machine that is Neon Raptor Brewing, and the absurdly-built Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem Inn.
Strength in Numbers: at the Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen 2018
Showcasing almost 800 beers from 100 breweries, the MBCC invites us to mash, sparge, boil and ferment its wealth of statistics to see what flavour comes out the other side.
Bamberg: No Smoke Without Fire
Bamberg, with eight breweries in its centre and dozens peppering the surrounding region, lives and breathes beer as if it were air. And that air carries the meaty aroma of beechwood smoke.
Culture, Craft and Touring for Tradition
Wondering why Munich isn’t awash with Mango-Juice Double IPA, Espresso Coffee and Vanilla Stout, or Arugula Brett-Spiked Saison, is like complaining that the Italian Alps don’t look like the Cotswolds, or that the Vietnamese don’t eat roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
Munich: Highway to Hell
With the Oktoberfest on the horizon, I consider the birth of Mӓrzen and Hell at the festival, explore Munich beer offerings away from the Theresienwiese, and pay tribute to Georg Schneider, patron saint of Weiβbier.