Plenty of good reading this week. Let\u2019s start a bit further back in history. Merryn<\/a> gave the heads up that there was report published<\/a> on the making of malt in the Paleolithic including at archaeological sites in Greece and Iraq:<\/p>\n The authors concluded that there was diversity and complexity of plant preparation at both sites, based upon the condition of the plant macrofossils that they found. People were processing wild pulses, nuts, grasses and cereals <\/em>using several techniques, including crushing, pounding and grinding as well as soaking, steeping and mashing. Although many were made from pulses and nuts, some of the carbonised food fragments resembled charred bread-like foods or finely ground cereal meals, similar to those found at Neolithic and later prehistoric sites. <\/em><\/p>\n More recently \u2013 though personally it feels about as long ago \u2013 once upon a time about twenty years ago, Rogue had good representation on the shelves of Ontario\u2019s LCBO with their reviews<\/a>** being<\/a> a<\/a> regular<\/a> topic<\/a> around<\/a> here. From 2004 to 2012 or so it was personal favourite, then a nation<\/a> and then it was, for folk like me and Ed<\/a>, a bit of a disappointment<\/a> that lost my patonage. And now it is gone, as Jeff<\/a> records in yet another brewery obit.<\/p>\n The news that Rogue had suddenly slammed shut the doors on all their pubs and breweries is growing more shocking the longer we have to consider it. As recently as last year, Rogue was still one of the largest breweries in the US\u201450th, according to the Brewers Association\u2019s most recent report. It had been declining a bit in relative numbers on that list, but apparently still selling quite a bit of beer. It wasn\u2019t a new start-up managing risky gambles, either. Rogue has been around 37 years, over three decades of them in their large brewery in Newport\u2026 These kinds of breweries don\u2019t just close up in the dark of night. And the way the announcement was handled, with nary a word to the press and crudely-scrawled \u201cclosed\u201d signs on the doors of their properties made it all the more surreal.<\/em><\/p>\n Interesting. \u201cCrudely Scrawled\u201d was the name of my punk ban in high school back in \u201979. Little known fact.*** Chronologically speaking, Ben wrotes about the next stage in Ontario\u2019s beer retailing history tightly following the entry of Rogue into the market \u2013 the era of the chosen of Toronto<\/a>:<\/p>\n We \u2013 and by we I mean the brewers, the sales reps, the owners and the collective, foaming-at-the-mouth weirdos on the fringes \u2014 we beer writers and nerdy zealots with ink-stained tasting note Moleskins and Untappd obsessions \u2014 were a tribe of rabid gatekeepers. We knew what craft beer meant and, brother, if you were trying to fake it, you\u2019d get fucked six ways to the weekend.\u00a0\u00a0Pretenders were roughly shown the door \u2014 given a tongue-lashing by a frothy-mouthed and petulant Jordan St John at a beer festival, thoroughly trounced in posts on that esteemed journal of record, blogTO, or \u2013 worse \u2013 eviscerated in the merciless hellscape that was bartowel. Authenticity was the only currency worth a damn, and it was guarded and fawned over like a dusty six-pack of Westvleteren purchased from Brock Shepherd when he closed Burger Bar. Many a contract brewer was sent packing, red ink on their balance sheet, a case of Hogtown Brewery glassware rattling under their arms and their tail between their legs.\u00a0But every revolution devours its children. And the fever broke.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Then came fruit flavouring, then kettle sours and then it all went to fruity IPA Hell. And then\u2026 we\u2019re here! The end. And where is here now \u2013 and what level of Hell is this now? According to Mudge<\/a>, it\u2019s Malebolge<\/a> Level 3.4:<\/p>\n \u2026the latest domino to fall is Fosters Lager, whose makers Heineken have announced that its strength will be reduced from 3.7% ABV to 3.4% with effect from February next year. It\u2019s perhaps surprising to remember that it was 4.0% as recently as early 2023. Heineken claim that this is due to the drinking public demanding lower-strength beers, but in reality that is totally disingenuous, and the underlying reason is obviously the immense saving in beer duty.\u00a0The British beer market was once dominated by what were regarded as \u201cordinary strength\u201d session beers in the 3.6-4.0% strength range. But, over the past couple of years, since the duty cut-off at 3.4% was introduced, this entire sector has been pretty much wiped out, at least as far as keg beers are concerned. Carlsberg, Fosters, John Smith\u2019s, Worthington, Boddingtons and Tetley have all been cut, leaving Carling as the last mass-market beer standing at 4.0%.<\/em><\/p>\n And in addition to the increasing weakness of the stuff, Pete<\/a> asked us to consider the increasing price:<\/p>\n By March 2020 the average price of a pint of lager in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics, had hit \u00a33.75. In January 2025 it reached \u00a34.83 and soon breached \u00a35. Maybe those men in Stockport aren\u2019t going to the pub any more. But what about everyone else? How much is too much for a pint?\u00a0\u201cI think\u00a0we\u2019re already through the barrier,\u201d says Kate Nicholls, who chairs the trade organisation UKHospitality. \u201cThe \u00a35 pint was a watershed for a lot of people. It\u2019s different around the country, of course \u2014 it\u2019s already more than \u00a310 a pint at some London venues \u2014 but people everywhere are staying at home and pubs are closing. Our main competition is the sofa.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n And he shared a follow up cartoon<\/a> in The Guardian<\/em> on the same theme. Being a great indoorsman myself, the sofa has been a big part of my life so, yes, a night it the pub has been a rarer sort of event even for me. Drinks on top of meals while looking across the table at kids who all are card carrying drinking adults does put a chill on the thrill of a night out. Special occasions only. Miself out and about, reporting from the entertainments, Ed says \u201cQuarts are Back!\u201d<\/a>:<\/p>\n I have been delighted to see the return of beer served in quart measures, albeit in plastic skiffs at concert venues.\u00a0But sadly the word quart has become archaic in British English, and there was some confusion when I asked for two pints at the bar. Did I want two separate pints or two pints in one container? If we bring back the work quart this wouldn\u2019t be a problem.\u00a0\u00a0The quarts were advertised by a sign behind the bar encouraging people to \u201cUpgrade to a two pint cup\u201d. My humble suggestion is that they could start the re-education by simply adding \u201c(quart)\u201d to the sign after \u201ctwo pint\u201d. I\u2019m sure people would soon catch on, after all we\u2019ve managed to get by a random mix of metric and imperial measurements for decades.<\/em><\/p>\n That\u2019s the whole post! As he is named, so he writes. Briefly. And as with sofas, so too I am with quarts. Though it has been a few years since I pulled my 1850s pewter pot<\/a>\u00a0down from the shelf. In the upper Ottawa Valley of the 1990s, one could refer a night out in the pub (before there ever were any kids!) as \u201cgoing pinting<\/em>\u201d which led to uproarious laughter one day when I said I was \u201cgoing quarting<\/em>\u201d as a lot of plain old beers like 50 or Laurentide could be bought just over the river in Quebec at a dep by the box of six\u2026 or was it by twelves?<\/p>\n So quarts are back\u2026 but you know who isn\u2019t coming back? \u201cBilly No Mates<\/a>\u201d sure ain\u2019t \u2013 if it\u2019s later than 9 pm and he\u2019s trying to get into the Alibi<\/a> in the suburbs of Manchester:<\/p>\n In an Instagram post founder and owner Carl Peter said the policy is in place \u2018for the safety of guests\u2019 and to prevent groups being \u2018mithered\u2019 by solo drinkers and to protect them from a \u2018nightmare\u2019 should \u2018something happen to them\u2019.\u00a0After then citing an example where a hopeful customer described the policy as \u2018discrimination\u2019 and a disagreement about \u2018being woke\u2019, Carl said: \u201cSorry mate, you\u2019re very easily offended. Are you single? Do you mean it\u2019s because you\u2019re single? Is that what you think this is saying?\u201d The clip also shows an image of the bar\u2019s entrance policy sign, which reads: \u201cNo single entry. After 9pm, Alibi does not permit single entry. If you are with guests already inside the venue, please contact them in advance of entry. This is for the safety of all guests.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Seems like a nice spot, a cocktails bar featuring karaoke. Sounds like a simple \u201cno arseholes<\/em>\u201d policy to me. Conversely but also in Greater Manchester, look who they did let in\u2026 pub quiz cheats<\/a>!!!<\/p>\n Huddled around their tables, locals poured into The Barking Dog each week to take on a pub quiz \u2013 but one thing was amiss.\u00a0The same team kept winning the prize of a \u00a330 bar tab, leaving regulars scratching their heads and some stopped turning up in protest.\u00a0Then, a twist. Bosses at the pub in Urmston, Greater Manchester, said they received an anonymous tip-off and caught the team \u201ccheating red-handed\u201d\u00a0when players were spotted whispering into their smartwatches to get answers.<\/em><\/p>\n Along with the barred cheats, the union sets of Marston are now wandering around and may have even gone into hiding, as Laura Hadland<\/a> illustrates in her report from Glasgow:<\/p>\n The business experienced significant financial distress, despite its recent injection of crowdsourced funds. Gareth Young, the brewery\u2019s founder, has confirmed that Epochal has ceased trading, as efforts over the last six months to find a brewery partner to help revive the brand, have been unsuccessful. The company from which Epochal rented their Payne Street location, Cairn Business Solutions, reclaimed the unit in April 2025, taking back the keys and claiming ownership of the goods and equipment inside \u2013 including the historic union \u2013 due to a significant accrual of unpaid rent. The union itself remains safe inside the warehouse.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Safe inside. That\u2019s me. Man of the sofa. Which reminds me \u2013 the bumper crop this week now means I have to offer a few quick notes:<\/p>\n Note #1: pro-level whisky tasting<\/a>. Pellicle<\/em>\u2018s feature this week is also about one sort of pub, the much mentioned often at the receiving end of comment \u2013 but perhaps not so fully unpacked thing, the micropub\u2026 specifically The Dodo<\/a> in London operated by Lucy Do all as portrayed by Joey Leskin:<\/p>\n What makes a micropub? Lucy defines it clearly: \u201cMicropubs are fiercely independent, supporting not only breweries but producers from graphic designers to crisp makers.\u201d\u00a0They have limited capacity and typically reject TVs and loud music, prizing conversation as the main form of entertainment. The forming of community is inherent and inevitable, with patrons unlikely to sit in isolated silence because\u2014simply put\u2014everyone is physically close. Over time, a community of ambassadors for The Dodo has emerged, calling themselves (with some irony) The Hanwell Massive. They\u2019re easy to spot: Donning Dodo T-shirts at every beer festival, they span age, race and gender, and represent an almost cult-like following. Lucy laughs at the cult comparison, but knows it\u2019s not that inaccurate.<\/em><\/p>\n A pretty attractive concept. Totally foreign to these parts. As foreign as those backstreet Tokyo ramen dives on TikTok. As foreign\u2026 as a very foreign thing.<\/p>\n While I am a fully signed up member of the Flag Institute<\/a>,**** Boak and Bailey\u2019s observations at Patreon<\/a> about the English flag as poltical symbol in pubs was a good reminder that some foreign things are not as charming but it may be something that is undergoing change:<\/p>\n One of our local establishments has been flying several such flags as long as we\u2019ve known it. Then, in around September, the management chose to take them down. Whatever was going on nationally they wanted no part of.\u00a0The George on the Isle of Dogs wasn\u2019t flying its own flag either, and The Alex in Canning Town was also unadorned.\u00a0In reality, we\u2019ve seen very little flag flying anywhere, except in the occasional outlying Bristol suburb.\u00a0Even on the Isle of Dogs it seemed to be emanating from a single house with the concentration of flags reaching a bizarre intensity in and around its back yard.\u00a0Presumbaly just one slightly odd person who really ought to get out more.<\/em><\/p>\n You want to get out? You should \u2013 and when you do you should take the advice that was a starling revelation within seven seconds of me reading the following words of Courtney Iseman<\/a> at Hugging the Bar<\/em> after two seconds of an intial mindless \u201cyeah right\u2026 pfft!<\/em>\u201d reaction:<\/p>\n Just this past month or so, I\u2019ve been upstate New York; in New Hope, Pennsylvania and nearby areas in New Jersey; and around New England\u2014western to eastern Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Portland, Maine. At 90 percent of those bars, you\u2019re much more likely to find vanilla appearing in more than one cocktail, and an overall menu so loaded with fruit that it\u2019s clear the alcohol is supposed to be all but hidden.\u00a0As a drinks writer, it\u2019s an important reminder of how small our scopes can get when they should be sprawling\u2014sure, savory cocktails are absolutely a trend, but it\u2019s important to remember it\u2019s not what the average Joe is sipping on. As a savory cocktail lover who involuntarily gags at the mere thought of a sweet drink, I wish this trend were indeed to grow further.<\/em><\/p>\n Why my strong reaction? My dream of a global savory porridge industry.**** Cheddar cheese with rosemary tips mixed in a steaming bowl of Quaker Oats. Bacony Red River cereal with brie and basil. Why not? Why is this not a thing? Something to have with a savory cocktail. Something\u2026 to pair\u2026<\/p>\n That\u2019s it. Another week goes by. As you contemplate my unfortunate sharing of thoughts on the Loyalists, sofa dwellers, flag collecting and savory oats,**** please also check out, Boak and Bailey on this and every Saturday<\/a>\u00a0and then sign up for their entertaining footnotes, too. Look out for Stan when he feels the urge now that he\u2019s\u00a0retired<\/a>\u00a0from Monday slot\u2026\u00a0maybe<\/a>\u00a0\u2026\u00a0maybe not<\/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\/11\/Beans.jpg\")
<\/a>We started watching the Ken Burns documentary on The American Revolution<\/em><\/a> \u2013 which is a bit of a weird experience for someone living in a city settled by Loyalists<\/a>. To be fair, regular mention is made of the experience of people enslaved in the third quarter of the 1700s as well as the fact that Indigenous nations were facing further dislocation. But the usual balance of one-third Revolutionary\/Patriot, one-third Loyalist\/Tory and one third just wanting the whole thing to go away doesn\u2019t yet seem to be the guiding principle.* We\u2019ll wait for further review after the next few episodes but seeing as we are (i) seven weeks after True Thanksgiving and (ii) a week out from \u201cThe Day before Black Friday\u201d \u2013 aka the true start of the holiday madness \u2013 we\u2019ll still raise a glass and wish you readers to the south a happy turkey day next week. The results of my own micro-colonial style dried bean harvest picked this very week is offered in solidarity.<\/p>\n
Note #2: pro-level tariff fighting<\/a>.
Note #3: \u201cThe Generosity of Beer People at the Bar<\/a>\u201c.
Note #4: \u201cEating and drinking in South Tyrol<\/a>\u201c.<\/p>\n