My post today is a nice positive post about lovely people
and good times. I like balance so I’ll start it with a rant. I was on line
buying beer and came upon a brewery I had not heard of. I checked out their
website to find more out about this new brewery. I am not going to name names because
I’m sure the people in question mean well. When I got to the brewery web site I
found they were not calling themselves brewers but Brewing Scientists. Images
of white coated boffins in a state of the art lab pushing the envelope of
brewing technology to delight and beguile the great drinking public instantly
sprang to mind. Further perusing the web site which portrayed a Brewdog tribute
band (so a tribute band to a Stone tribute band) revealed three plump young men brewing in what looks like
their mum’s kitchen.
And now back to the main thread of my post.
The brewing industry is lovely thing if you’re a brewer. You
get paid for doing something you love and you get to socialise with other
brewers who the best people on the planet. As with all groups of people you do
meet the occasional bad apple (or cock as I like to call them) but they are few
and far between. August is the time that brewers converge on London to attend
the GBBF.
I have always got excited about the GBBF. The first few
years because it was only place in the UK where you could sample all week and
still not try all the beers available you intended to. Then because it was a big day out with
team Brakspear. These days it’s because 100s of the people I love are assembled
and in the mood for some beverages and craic. Another highlight of GBBF
time which makes it even more wonderful is the brewer’s technical dinner.
Hosted by Simpsons Malt the night before the GBBF trade day, the technical
dinner has masonic feel to it. Head Brewers from the larger regional craft
breweries down to more significant micro craft breweries assemble in the upstairs
room of a Mayfair watering hole to gain insider knowledge of the progress of
this year’s barley crop. The oak-clad room with huge Edwardian boardroom-style
table and décor is filled with more brewing knowledge than any text book,
virtually no ego and a real sense of gentile inclusiveness. The evening helps
guide malt buying policy, recipe formulation and improves bread roll throwing
accuracy. 
I am extending my GBBF trip this year to take part in the Urban Sessions and will be brewing live in front of an audience with Honest Brew on 14th August.
Brewing a normal beer live didn’t feel enough. So I am going to do something
which I think (everything has been done before in brewing so I’m probably
wrong) has never been done before. I am brewing a beer with woodlice (as an
ingredient not a collaborator). More details to follow. 
