Every Saturday we round up the best writing about beer from the past week \u2013 even when we\u2019re on holiday, apparently. This time, we\u2019ve got UNESCO, green beer, and the absence of gammon at JDW.<\/strong><\/p>\n First, a couple of related news stories: there are bids underway to secure UNESCO \u2018intangible cultural heritage\u2019 listings for both British cask ale<\/a> and Czech beer culture<\/a>. Belgian beer culture was listed in 2016<\/a>, so there is precedent. <\/p>\n In practice, what does a listing mean? As far as we can tell, it\u2019s mostly about awareness, and supporting further campaigning. It puts preassure on politicians to step up and protect listed cultural assets or, at the very least, not to be seen to be vandalising them. It\u2019s about saying: \u201cThese things matter to the world, and you are being watched.\u201d<\/p>\n At IrishBeerHistory<\/em> Liam K<\/strong> has been exploring the strange history of Green Beer<\/a>, which was briefly fashionable in London in the 1930s. As in, beer that was artificially coloured a \u201cstrong and clear green\u201d:<\/p>\n One of the earliest mentions of this new beverage is The Yorkshire Post & Leeds Intelligencer<\/em> in late October 1930\u2026 \u201cAs to the green beer, I have heard many descriptions of its peculiar and individual flavour, but to me it tasted just like any other sort of beer in spite of its lurid emerald colour. Brewed in Scotland, it is at present the monopoly of the proprietors of a restaurant in Bury Street, who \u2018invented\u2019 it\u2026\u201d Hardly a glowing or detailed review but it shows that it had certainly been around for a short while at this point, and a week or so later this new concoction appeared in the society pages of the London Weekly Dispatch<\/em> when the author Arnold Bennett was seen \u201cdrinking the newest drink of all in a Bury Street restaurant \u2013 green beer\u201d. The author, one John Grosvenor, goes on to state that the beverage \u201clooks like particularly clear cr\u00e8me de menthe, and tastes like \u2013 beer, good beer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Anyone who has made beer part of their lifestyle and, dare we say, identity will read Vincent Raison\u2019s <\/strong>piece for Pellicle<\/em> with a sense of recognition \u2013 and perhaps unease. He\u2019s been told to cut down on booze by his doctor but, to cut a long story short, doesn\u2019t want to. He likes beer, and likes being in the pub, and is in the process of attempting to reengineer his lifestyle and habits<\/a>:<\/p>\n The doctor gently suggested some lifestyle changes. More (or some) exercise. Improved diet. The usual stuff. Then she proposed I take three consecutive days off alcohol a week to avoid gout attacks and otherwise unnecessary medication\u2026 I have friends who have gone sober and are very happy about it, but that\u2019s not for me, despite their increased vim and vigour. I needed a Third Way. A strategy for survival that still involves my beloved local pub\u2026 I began walking more, cutting down on delicious, empty carbohydrates and beautiful, calorific snacks. Fine. But the real challenge was not drinking from Monday to Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The piece is also, somewhat incidentally, a portrait of a particular pub in South London, The Green Goddess, which sounds very much worth a visit.<\/p>\n The news that the Wetherspoon chain is tweaking its food menu might not seem, at first glance, to be especially interesting. For the Pub Curmudgeon<\/strong>, however, it highlights a fundamental feature of their business model: the willingness to adapt to market pressures to keep prices keen. In a lengthy post, he reflects on what makes Wetherspoon tick<\/a>, and how it has risen to such prominence in British beer culture:<\/p>\n Wetherspoon\u2019s have ended up reinventing the pub model from the ground up. The fundamental point is that the underlying cost assumptions of the pub trade should not be taken as fixed\u2026 This wasn\u2019t something that was in place from the beginning. Tim Martin started out by converting former shops to offer something that most London pubs at the time didn\u2019t \u2013 cask beer, food service, consistent opening hours and a comfortable, welcoming, unthreatening environment. In the early days, they weren\u2019t markedly cheap compared with the competition. It wasn\u2019t until the mid-90s that they started expanding outside their initial South-East base \u2013 the Moon Under Water in Manchester city centre opened in August 1995\u2026 But it is an approach that has evolved over time. Every aspect of the pub cost base has been challenged in the quest to make a lower margin viable.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Patreon supporters get bonus footnotes on these round-ups<\/a> most weeks, with extra commentary and even more links. Do consider signing up.<\/em><\/p>\n A while ago, Jeff Alworth<\/strong> at Beervana<\/em> came across an unusual imported version of Mexican Corona lager that was possibly more \u2018authentic\u2019, and certainly better tasting. But he struggled to pin down the story behind this strange variant. Now, further fascinating details have emerged<\/a>:<\/p>\n The label listed Oz Trading Group of Hidalgo, Texas as the importer, which was an oddly bold move for, to quote the economist Stringer Bell, \u201ca criminal [expletive] enterprise\u201d\u2026. [Now] we finally have some resolution to the mystery: Constellation and Modelo are suing Oz\u2026 According to the case against Oz, the charge is counterfeiting\u2026 And the suit directly identifies the Corona Mega scam: \u201cWhile Oz Trading reportedly withdrew its applications for the infringing labels, the lawsuit contends that the company continues to market and sell products that bear the Modelo trademarks, misleading branding, and false advertising\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Jeff\u2019s follow up questions are good ones, too, such as: \u201cWhy was the counterfeit beer so much better than Corona?\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a fascinating thing: at Beer & Brewer<\/em> Jake Brandish<\/strong> has done his best to come up with a brew-at-home recipe for a clone of low-alcohol Guinness<\/a>\u2026 although the message really seems to be \u201cDon\u2019t bother.\u201d As in, brewing low alcohol beer is a considerable technical challenge, and the improved quality of modern LA beer is something of a marvel of the age:<\/p>\n When it comes to home brewing no or ultra-low alcohol beers at home, there are some areas of major concern. Some of the main reasons beer has become such a safe and relatively stable product are the low pH levels and the presence of ethanol. Both factors will keep most spoilage organisms at bay \u2013 most! At some point we have all done a bad batch or had a few bad bottles. Am I right? Yes, I thought so. Imagine what would happen in your bottled beer (with a high amount of residual sugars) if there wasn\u2019t ethanol, or very little, to assist in killing these spoilage organisms. There is, however, a way around the risk of having bottles explode for home brewers, but you must be prepared to pasteurise your beer once it is bottled. This will mean heating up your HLT or kettle to 68\u00b0C and place your bottled beer in it for a few minutes to achieve the minimum amount of PU (pasteurising units).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Finally, from BlueSky, a post that made us slightly homesick for the UK\u2026<\/p>\n Just huffed and puffed up a massive Yorkshire hill \u2013 BUT there was a beautiful Yorkshire pub at the top of it<\/p>\n [image or embed]<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Will Hawkes (@willhawkes.bsky.social<\/a>) April 9, 2025 at 9:04 PM<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n For more good reading check out <\/em>Stan Hieronymus\u2019s round-up from Monday<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Alan McLeod\u2019s from Thursday<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every Saturday we round up the best writing about beer from the past week \u2013 even when we\u2019re on holiday, apparently. This time, we\u2019ve got UNESCO, green beer, and the absence of gammon at JDW. First, a couple of related news stories: there are bids underway to secure UNESCO \u2018intangible cultural heritage\u2019 listings for both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":199612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137],"tags":[4759,75200,1820,75199,34986,76909],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-199611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beer","tag-april","tag-longreads","tag-news","tag-news-nuggets","tag-nuggets","tag-townscaper"],"yoast_head":"\n
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