Back to today\u2019s news, first up the question of cash and how the UK budget reaction lead to something of a counter reaction. Sayeth Matty C.<\/a>:<\/p>\n The worst thing about this week\u2019s budget for me was seeing prominent figures in hospitality bemoaning the minimum wage increase because god forbid your staff should earn enough to actually afford, barely, the cost of living. For me it just demonstrates why all of this lobbying for a VAT cut isn\u2019t so much about supporting a \u201cdying\u201d industry, put propping up profits for the people at the top. But no, it\u2019s paying wages that\u2019s the problem.<\/em><\/p>\n And their weekend footnotes to the weekend news, Boak and Bailey<\/a> shared a similar sentiment:<\/p>\n Every budget goes the same: CAMRA and industry bodies lobby the Chancellor to do something to help pubs; the Chancellor does very little, if anything, to help pubs; CAMRA and industry bodies criticise the Chancellor\u2019s failure to act and foretell doom for the hospitality industry. It\u2019s been this way basically forever and yet, somehow, pubs continue to exist and beer continues to be manufactured and consumed.<\/em><\/p>\n As a person who takes home a tax based pay cheque, I have to be somewhat respectful of those lobbying for restraint.* But I am also aware that government can positively participate in economic growth and greater social good. So\u2026 and here\u2019s the point for me\u2026 after years of ideological restraint hit by a global crisis or two there are times when the bite shared by all is for the longer term good.\u00a0 As long as there is an identifiable long term good and it is shared by all.<\/p>\n Speaking of the burdens of the state, Drew Starr<\/a> has shared thoughts on an excellent way of fighting back against authoritarianism \u2013 ban the lackies from your bar:<\/p>\n The kid who proudly called ICE on a carwash. Print this shit everywhere. Hell yeah, Sil! For those not from here: this is The Silhouette (nobody calls it that), one of Boston\u2019s last remaining dive bars. For a college kid living in the area, it\u2019s the last place you want to get banned from<\/em><\/p>\n We understand<\/a> \u201cThe Sil<\/em>\u201d has barred a university student who called ICE on a car-wash and men in in balaclava abducted a group of nine workers. Perhaps more establishments might introduce a life-time ban.\u00a0 Shaming down authoritarianism is a top drawer move.<\/p>\n How to cope? How to deal with the pressures of the day?\u00a0 \u201cMulled beer<\/a>!\u201d sayeth Jessica M. seasonally through an interview with Sam Millard of Bevertown :<\/p>\n \u201cThe secret to making a great DIY mulled beer is in choosing the right base. The best results will come from a rich, malty profile or a sweet brown ale,\u201d suggested Millard, who explained that \u201cjust like when mulling wine or cider, you need a base that is already really rich, full-flavoured and most importantly, not at all bitter. You ideally want something with a bit of body too, so ensure your beer is not too thin.\u201d\u00a0According to Millard: \u201cWhile you may be tempted to use a super-hoppy IPA, keep in mind that its bitterness could overpower your chosen spices and throw everything off balance.<\/em><\/p>\n Now, keeping in mind that this is all a bit of an adver-informo piece, I still would recommend you try it. Jessica B<\/a> herself was curious about this stuff a whole eighteen years ago. Me, I like to use Chimay Premi\u00e8re, the red labeled dubbel, as the base. Tasty, strong and relatively cheap as dubbels go these days. And skip the idea of \u201cDYI\u201d and just go traditional with a Lambswool<\/a> made with strong ale apples, sugar and ginger spice. Or, along with a lot of other options at this link, try to make Caudle<\/a> if you are even more adventurous. If that is too complex, just go for try a pint of stout and port<\/a>. It\u2019s Christmas so you can just do that and even say you did.<\/p>\n Speaking of Yuletide, in the news from Newfoundland<\/a> we read that more folks are going to get stoned<\/em> for Christmas!<\/p>\n CEO Bruce Keating says net earnings rang in at $56.3M, a decrease of about $3.7M, mainly due to the removal of U.S products and decline in beer commissions.\u00a0\u00a0Alcohol sales totalled $84.2M, down 1.5 percent however, cannabis sales are up 10.6 percent at $28.5M. Keating says those numbers could start to slow since that market is maturing. He says they\u2019re optimistic that the Christmas season will boost sales numbers.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Baby Jesus would no doubt approve. Speaking of which, Barry M<\/a> has driven down to a depth I\u2019ve never considered necessary over a controversy I had never heard of \u2013 are \u201ccider\u201d and \u201ccyder\u201d the same thing? Or categories of rerlated things? As a lifelong poor speller, I am gratified that the problem arises from puritans who insist every difference in spelling requires a difference in meaning:<\/p>\n Within English literature, early texts seem to use mostly \u2018sider\u2019, though it would appear that by the end of the 16th Century literature was generally split between \u2018sider\u2019 and \u2018cider\u2019. Both with an \u2018i\u2019. But there were exceptions of course, an dit has to be said, it was a bit like the Wild West when it came to spelling convention, with cyder, cider, sider, cidar, cicer and pommage featuring in texts of the time (thank you Elizabeth!). But let\u2019s look at some of the cyders\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n As we all know, standardization is the best friend of Satan or at least authoritarians. The minute hand<\/a>, a tool for atronomers, was later added to the clock to steal time from Indistrial Age factory workers. The dictionary<\/a> of Dr. Sammy J of 1755 helped create the idea of misspelling and therefore a resulting intellectual failure. And now we have this consequence, a finger pointy crisis in taxonomy which apparently turns on the factual regular but uncategorical past practice of adding water to cider now and then** which has led, hundreds of years later, to a backdating by someone deciding that the spelling must follow a practice. Sad. Distinctions can be without a difference. Let us rather embrace our negative capabilities<\/a>.<\/p>\n Did you see what David J did? He just went and wrote the history of Wychwood<\/a> for Pellicle<\/em>:<\/p>\n \u201cBrewDog is a modern interpretation of Hobgoblin,\u201d says James Coyle, who was sales director at its parent brewery, Wychwood. \u201c[The Hobgoblin identity] was built on motorbikes, grunge, and tattoos\u2014this was the escapism of the brand.\u201d\u00a0Established by Paddy Glenny as The Glenny Brewery Company in Witney, Oxfordshire in 1983, it was renamed the Wychwood Brewery in 1990. Somehow, this small brewery in rural Oxfordshire went from selling to a few freehouses to producing a beer so iconic that it shifted 100,000 barrels a year, changed pub culture, and eventually became a global brand in the Carlsberg portfolio.\u00a0Thanks to breweries like BrewDog, today we\u2019re used to shock marketing tactics from beer firms. Many of the people I spoke to while researching this article repeated James\u2019 sentiment about Hobgoblin being akin to the often-controversial Scottish brewery, including the fact that its initial success was driven by word of mouth rather than a huge marketing budget.<\/em><\/p>\n Over twenty years ago, Wychwood was on the shelves on Ontario and I posted reviews of their Fiddler\u2019s Elbow in 2004<\/a> and Duchy Original Pale Ale in 2006<\/a>. I didn\u2019t love the bad Baggins branding of Wychwood \u2013 though not as deeply as the stupid \u201cyou\u2019re not worthy\u201d stuff from Stone<\/a>.\u00a0 I am please to say, however, that now I added a bit of info which may have assisted David in one paragraph in there \u2013 but what a beast of research. And all for you.<\/p>\n Speaking less of you and more of me, I am 62. When I was a teen, I worked with older seniors. People 62 were rye drinking Dads of pals who were vets of the Second World War. They were still up on ladders to fix something on the roof. Some could dress a deer. Me? Fitter than I was at 52.*** So I found this<\/a> New York Times<\/em> piece a bit odd. Frankly, if I was 42 around now I\u2019d worry much more about 52 than 62.<\/p>\n On the theme of worry, James Beeson in The Grocer<\/em> wrote about the financial troubles facing the BKeystone \/ Breal<\/a>, a UK consolidator of brewers:<\/p>\n Breal bought a slew of unloved brands and then engaged in a damaging race to the bottom. This was the inevitable conclusion and the only surprise is that it has taken this long. My thoughts are with the blameless employees that will be affected by their failure.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Breality strikes!**** He followed it up with an investigation<\/a> over the legal steps being taken and their denial that they are going bust. Jessica M<\/a> in DB <\/em>on the same story shares that they have:<\/p>\n \u2026 reached out to Keystone for an update on its situation and its prediction of plans and sales for each of its brewery assets as well as asked about the fate of its brewery workers at each of its currently-owned sites. The group has, however, remained silent aside from its statements on social media assuring Black Sheep beer fans that it is \u201cstill here\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n And there have been more twists<\/a> to the news of the suddenly \u201cnot here no more<\/em>\u201d Rogue including this from Doug Veliky<\/a>:<\/p>\n It also surprised key partners including US Beverage (USB), with whom Rogue had just signed a national sales partnership, and who learned through the news and social media just like the rest of us.\u00a0As part of their agreement\u00a0announced\u00a0on August 1, 2025 to represent the brand in the trade, members of Rogue\u2019s national sales team transitioned their employment to the new partner company in an effort to ensure continuity and relationships. Now, without warning, USB is left with employees who were crucial to the partnership\u2019s formation, but without a brand to sell or an understanding of its future.<\/em><\/p>\n Lordy. That\u2019s not good. Clearly on August 1, 2025 the writing was on the wall in the offices of Rogue. Probably on dry erase boards all over their office walls. Did that continuity also include those employees\u2019 accrued termination benefits rights?<\/p>\n Time for notes:<\/p>\n Note #1: \u201cHoolie<\/a>\u201d is a word. My late Dad was very entertained by the news that my new boss 28 years ago was so named.<\/p>\n Note #2: \u201cDrunk Racoon in the Hardware Store!<\/a>\u201d I know this item is just for Stan\u2026 as he sent me the link\u2026 as if I didn\u2019t already have the link<\/a> to the story ready\u2026 just for Stan.*****<\/p>\n Definitely not on the hoolie, A. Gladman<\/a> shared thoughts on a private spot at his parents\u2019 home, a place to have a beer on a summer day:<\/p>\n There\u2019s a spot where I like to sit and have a quiet beer when I visit them in the summer. I try to manage it at least once during each trip. It\u2019s on a balcony, or a raised deck I suppose you might call it, that overlooks their small back garden. Wooden steps run down into the garden from one corner, and at the back a door takes you into their kitchen dining room.\u00a0I like to sit there in a white plastic chair with my back to the wall, and look out to the sea, just a hundred or so yards away. Pale in the distance, the Isle of Wight rises like a cloud bank on the horizon. The wind blows; it\u2019s always windy. The noise of waves breaking on the shingle echoes all around. Gulls and far-o\ufb00 wind chimes punctuate its ceaseless murmur. Somewhere nearby a rope slaps against a metal pole.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n More into this moment, Tyler Maas<\/a> in the Milwaukee Record<\/em> shared thoughts on his own sort of idyllic prospect, one that popped into his mind after the first major snowfall of the season:<\/p>\n Days like last Saturday are the closest thing we get to a \u201cSnow Day\u201d as adults. Any plans you made before weather became a factor are probably no more. The idea of driving anywhere seems unwise and borderline dangerous. Once you shovel the snow that\u2019s already accumulated, all that\u2019s left to do is wait to do it again when the flurries are through. So why not embrace the situation, put on some boots, and trudge to the nearest bar?\u2026 With driving and other aspects of everyday life temporarily removed from the equation, why not stay a while? You\u2019ll surely burn off the calories from that extra round (or two) on the stroll home. Not to mention the energy you\u2019ll expend during the second\/third round of shoveling and when you inevitably dust off your car as the responsibilities of \u201creal life\u201d eventually come back into view.<\/em><\/p>\n Nice. Now, finally and with the greatest respect, I have to say that I can\u2019t agree with the position taken by Laura H in The Telegraph<\/em> last week on the issue of lowering the drink driving standards<\/a> in England:<\/p>\n A recent survey has found that 58% of adult consider driving after drinking, even if the driver is within legal limits, to be \u201csocially unacceptable.\u201d This has inevitably emboldened the anti-alcohol lobby: already police chiefs and the British Medical Association have called for the rules to be made harsher \u2013 their proposals would push drivers who have a single pint over the limit. This is framed as a question of public safety, but in reality it\u2019s yet another example of overzealous campaigners blaming all of society\u2019s ills on the demon drink, without giving cause or justification.<\/em><\/p>\n I suppose my first issue is the language. Not sure the embolding<\/em> was inevitable <\/em>given those bold beings described have already been on their mission for years and years, according to the anti-anti-alcohol lobby. And not sure And with that, I am done. It is Yule and I am off to maybe have a beer or maybe shovel or just fret about being late in getting the lights up and having note bought the pressies and what about the tree and \u2026 well\u2026 as I do that please also check out, Boak and Bailey on this and every Saturday<\/a> and then sign up for their entertaining footnotes, too. Look out for Stan when he feels the urge (now that he\u2019s \u201cretired<\/a>\u201d from beery news posts) from Budapest or wherever \u2013 as he is getting<\/a> active<\/a> again<\/a>. Then listen to a few of\u00a0Lew\u2019s podcasts<\/a>\u00a0and get your emailed issue of\u00a0Episodes of my Pub Life<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by David Jesudason on certain Fridays. And Phil Mellows is at the\u00a0BritishBeerBreaks<\/em><\/a>. Once a month, as noted, Will Hawkes issues his\u00a0London Beer City<\/em><\/a>\u00a0newsletter and do sign up for Katie\u2019s wonderful self-governing totes autonomous website featuring\u00a0The Gulp<\/em><\/a>, too. \u00a0Ben\u2019s\u00a0Beer and Badword<\/a><\/em>\u00a0has returned from his break since April so you can embrace the sweary Mary! There is reading at\u00a0The Glass<\/a>\u00a0which is going back to being\u00a0a blog<\/a>. Any more? We have\u00a0Ontario\u2019s own\u00a0A Quick Beer<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0All About Beer<\/em>\u00a0is still offering a range of\u00a0podcasts<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and there\u2019s also Mike Seay\u2019s\u00a0The Perfect Pour<\/a>. Plus follow the venerable\u00a0Full Pint<\/em>\u00a0podcast<\/a>! And there\u2019s the\u00a0Craft Beer Channel<\/a>\u00a0on Youtube. Check out the archives of the\u00a0Beer Ladies Podcast<\/a>. That\u2019s quite good and after a break they may well be are back every month!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/abetterbeerblog427.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Rob-Widmer-In-his-Brewing-Cathedral.jpg\")
<\/a>You may need to turn your phone sideways to make this image fit. Or I could just center it. There. That\u2019s better. For a long time, these weeks at the end of the year at the beer blog were a bit crazy. The Christmas photo contest<\/a> (circa 2006-16) was on and I was sifting through a huge number of emails with multiple entries. Hundreds came in each Yuletide. Thinking back on that this week, I had a look through the 2010 submissions and found this lovely image sent in by Brian Stechschulte of San Francisco.\u00a0 Here\u2019s his birthday bio<\/a> on Jay\u2019s site. Another one of his enties won<\/a> the contest that year. That image is of Rod Widmer among the quipment at the brewery<\/a>. In what Brian described as Widmer\u2019s cathedral. I like the glow. I\u2019ll dip into the emails and old posts to see what else I can find to adorn these news notes throughout December.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/abetterbeerblog427.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DDlawEuro-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a>the campaigners<\/em> are necessarily more than zealous<\/em>. Can one be?****** But the real issue is without justification<\/em>. This is particularly the case as the first observation is a justification: a majority of Britons are against the current scheme. So, too, the second observation: the police and doctors want stricter rules. We can disagree on the quality of these justifications but that\u2019s what they are.\u00a0 It\u2019s also worth noting that context poses an obvious issue too. England, Wales and NI have the highest permitted levels of alcohol in all of what was once known as Europe. By over 50%. Check it out.<\/a> It\u2019s simply a fact that the criminalization of drinking and driving is a reasonable response<\/a> to the harm<\/a> it causes. As a lawyer, thirty years ago I spoke to an appeal of a driver who blew 0.082 so these things can be close. But the bottom line is no one is being forced to stop you from drinking. Just stop driving. Maybe try walking. Or get a cab. Or a bus. Or a bike. Or a designated driver. Or another place to drink.<\/p>\n