By Jeff Evans, chair of The International Beer Challenge. Thornbridge The Union, 7%Dismay at the removal of the historic union fermentation sets from the Marston’s brewery has been offset a little with the installation of part of the equipment at Thornbridge – and the Derbyshire brewery has wasted no time in making the most of its new asset. The first beer to experience…

By Jeff Evans, chair of The International Beer Challenge. PILLARS LITE, 2.8% The team at Pillars, the specialist lager brewery in east London whose impressive New Zealand Lager I reviewed in the last issue, keep turning out classy new beers. This time they’ve come up with a low-strength lager that is pale golden with a slight greenish hue. After a keen,…

By Jeff Evans, chair of the International Beer Challenge GREENE KING OLD MIDNIGHT HEN, 4.2% The latest Old Speckled Hen brand extension sees Greene King turn to the dark side. It seems an odd time of year to launch a stout perhaps, but a clue to the reasoning can be found in the words “enjoy chilled” on the bottle. Those of us…

The latest beer review by Jeff Evans GIESINGER MÜNCHNER HELL, 4.8%  Now 15 years old, Giesinger is an upstart in Munich brewing. Its development and expansion from a garage operation to a €20 million site has been financed largely through crowdfunding and now it stands as a serious rival to the long-established six other local breweries. What’s made this growth possible (apart from money) in…

The drinks industry has praised watchdog Ofgem’s latest review for highlighting recent behaviour of energy suppliers, which has left some businesses unable to secure contracts. Based on information collected from Ofgem’s stakeholders, the non-domestic market review found that at certain points throughout 2022, the majority of suppliers did not offer fixed term contracts to businesses, with some ceasing to offer any contracts for…

Jeff Evans back with the last beer review of 2022.  FULLER’S VINTAGE ALE 2022, 8.5%  The release of Fuller’s Vintage Ale is always a highlight of the year. Each annual brew features different malts and hops, so there’s a spark of variety in every bottling, but there’s also some consistency in the idea that each vintage will mature well in the bottle for many…

Jeff Evans back with his bimonthly beer review. CLOUDWATER SOCAL, 4.8%  Manchester’s Cloudwater Brew has relaunched its core range of canned beers. It features three existing brands and two new creations, one called Fuzzy, which is a hazy pale ale, and this one, SoCal, its bright and shiny cousin.  At a time when haze is all the rage, new crystal-clear American pale ales are…