Hop, Clip, & Pump

There are moments in brewing when resilience becomes part of the flavour. For Kelham Island Brewery , this year has been one of those moments. Following severe flooding in their corner of Sheffield earlier in the year, an event that threatened both infrastructure and production, the brewery has responded not with hesitation, but with renewed energy. The result has been a strong run of seasonal ales, each reflecting both craft and determination. Among them, Blitzen stands out as something particularly fitting for the season. Brewing Through Adversity Kelham Island’s location, so integral to its identity, is also its vulnerability. Situated near the River Don, the area has long been associated with Sheffield’s industrial past. Water powered the mills; now, occasionally, it disrupts them. The flooding earlier this year was a reminder of that precarious balance. Yet what followed speaks to the character of the brewery and the wider Sheffield brewing scene: recovery, adaptation, and ...

There is something quietly fitting about a beer called White Dwarf emerging from one of England’s smallest counties. Compact, bright, and full of character, it reflects not only the brewing philosophy of Oakham Ales , but also the place where that philosophy began: Oakham . Rutland’s motto,  Multum in Parvo , 'much in little,' could just as easily describe this beer. Oakham: A Small Town with a Deep Character Oakham sits at the centre of Rutland , England’s smallest historic county. Just twenty miles across, yet home to more than fifty villages, Rutland feels both contained and expansive, intimate in scale, but rich in detail. The town itself is steeped in history. Oakham Castle , with its famous collection of ceremonial horseshoes, speaks to centuries of local tradition. Market streets, stone buildings, and a steady pace of life define the area, far removed from the industrial centres that dominate much of England’s brewing history. It is precisely this setting, rural, s...

Some beers quietly become part of a city’s identity, not through marketing or spectacle, but through consistency, quality, and familiarity. Moonshine , brewed by Abbeydale Brewery , is one such beer, a pale ale that has, over time, come to define a certain Sheffield taste. Brewing in the Abbeydale Tradition Abbeydale Brewery was founded in 1996 by Patrick Morton and his father,  Hugh Morton . From the outset, their vision was clear: to produce high-quality beers using the best possible ingredients, with meticulous attention to the brewing process. This was a pivotal moment for British brewing. The 1990s saw the early stages of the craft revival, and Abbeydale quickly established itself as part of that movement, growing steadily, at one point achieving annual growth of around 25%. The brewery’s approach reflects both tradition and curiosity. While its recipes are built on classic pale malts, its hop selection is global, drawing not only from the UK, but from regions as far afield a...

There is something elemental about beer brewed at the edge of the land. In St Austell , where Cornwall leans into the Atlantic, and the air carries salt, wind, and weather, brewing has developed a character as distinct as the coastline itself. In Cornwall, beer is shaped not only by ingredients and technique, but by geography, by distance, by resilience, and by a long tradition of making things properly, even when far from the centres of industry. Some beers travel well, and some beers seem to carry a place within them . Tribute,  brewed by St Austell Brewery,  belongs firmly in the latter category. A Supreme Champion Ale of Cornwall , as voted by Campaign for Real Ale , Tribute has become both a local favourite and a national success story. Found in pubs across Cornwall and as a sought-after guest ale throughout the UK, it represents something increasingly rare: a beer that is both widely popular and deeply rooted in its origin. The Origins of Brewing in St Austell Brewing...

There’s something inherently comforting about a pint that invites you to pause. In the heart of Stoke-on-Trent, amidst the city’s industrial heritage and its historic pottery kilns, the  Deckchair  offers exactly that kind of respite. Brewed by the renowned. Titanic Brewery , this seasonal ale carries not just flavour, but a story. Brewing Heritage in the Potteries Founded in 1985, Titanic Brewery had a singular goal: to produce outstanding beer. Its home town of Burslem, the 'Mother Town' of the Potteries, is synonymous with craftsmanship. Legendary names like pottery pioneer, John Doulton, ceramic manufacturer and Claris Cliff  started their careers among the bottle kilns and smoky streets of the city, honing skills that would become famous worldwide. By the 19th century, Stoke-on-Trent had developed a vibrant network of breweries, many small-scale and family-run, producing distinctive ales suited to the tastes of local patrons. From dark, malty stouts to crisp, pa...

Few cultural artefacts capture the restless, searching spirit of the late 1960s quite like Easy Rider . Released in 1969 and written by Peter Fonda , Dennis Hopper , and Terry Southern , the film became an unlikely landmark of American cinema. Produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper, it distilled the anxieties, freedoms, and contradictions of a generation into a loose, drifting road narrative. At its core, Easy Rider is deceptively simple: two bikers travel across America in search of freedom. Yet beneath that surface lies a more complex meditation on disillusionment, on what happens when the dream of absolute freedom collides with the social realities of a divided nation. In 2026, the film feels less like a relic and more like a prophetic text, anticipating modern debates about individual liberty, cultural fragmentation, and the myth of the open road. The Meaning Behind the Name The title Easy Rider , coined by Southern, carries a layered and evolving history. In early 20th-century ...

There is something immediately intriguing, almost mischievous, about the name Workie Ticket . It sounds colloquial, faintly rebellious, and unmistakably northern. Like many great beer names, it invites curiosity before the first sip is even poured. After a little digging (and perhaps a pint or two), the meaning behind the phrase reveals itself. A ' workie ticket'  is, in essence, a nuisance, a troublemaker, someone being deliberately awkward. The phrase is widely believed to have originated in the years following the Second World War, when servicemen seeking early discharge would 'work their ticket' by misbehaving just enough to be sent home. To 'work your ticket,' then, is to resist, to disrupt, to refuse compliance. It is a phrase rooted in defiance, but also in a certain dry, working-class humour. From Wallsend Roots to Revival Despite its unruly name, there is nothing disorderly about the beer itself. Workie Ticket is brewed by Mordue Brewery , a name that ...