A West Yorkshire brewer has marked his half century with a nod to real ale tradition.  Ian Cowling, who runs Keighley’s Old Bear Brewery, was very proud to  receive his own wooden firkin as a 50th birthday gift.
The firkin was made by North Yorkshire’s Theakston Brewery cooper, Jonathan Manby, as a demonstration at September’s Keighley Beer Festival. Theakston’s is one of only two Yorkshire breweries still delivering ale in wooden casks; Old Peculier was available at Keighley Beer Festival “from the wood”.  Each wooden barrel takes around two to three …

This Beer of the Moment comes from one of the newer breweries in these parts. The Ilkley Brewery Company has been around for less than a year, but recently achieved its first award at the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) North Regions beer competition held at the Hawkshead Brewery in Cumbria.

That’s an advertising slogan used by Carlsberg UK not that long ago to promote Tetley Bitter. You might remember it. The idea was that Tetley’s was an uncompromising northern pint; it should not be drunk by southern softies. It should be drunk by folk who own flat caps and own whippets. You get the idea.

By now it is well known that Carlsberg plan to close the Joshua Tetley brewery in Leeds some time before 2011 …