The start of 2020 was an especially weird time for me—not just for the obvious reasons with the pandemic swirling around us in those early stages—but because right at the cusp of it I signed a book deal. 

I’d come up with the rough idea and concept for Modern British Beer in 2018, having thought at length about how the emergence of well over 1000 new breweries in the UK had changed our beer culture forever. But what I didn’t realise then was the idea needed time. Some of that was to allow the idea to properly gestate and to become fully formed, but the rest of it was waiting to find the right home for it. That home turned out to be the capable hands of CAMRA Books; the publishing arm of the Campaign for Real Ale, and the gracious editing of Alan Murphy and Katie Button, to whom I am incredibly thankful. 

In this episode I work through the ideas at the book’s core. I explore how I created my own personal beer philosophy, which I call “the broad spectrum of joy” as well as explaining why my definition of what constitutes beer as being “modern”, at least, in context of the book and how I think about beer these days. I then try to explain (or make excuses for) how I selected the 86 beers to use as case studies which, together, I hope form a solid case for how I feel beer in the UK has changed so dramatically over the past 20 years—but also, in many ways, has stayed exactly the same as it has always been.

I’ve also used this episode as a chance to pick up on some current affairs—namely, the controversy presently surrounding Denmark’s Mikkeller Brewing company in the wake of numerous accusations of sexual harassment and toxic workplace culture from several former employees. This situation escalated on the eve of the brewery’s annual Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen (MBCC) event in late October, which saw over 40 breweries pull out at the 11th hour so as not to associate their brand with the accused. 

Kate Bernot at Good Beer Hunting has been covering this in some detail for several months, and I recommend catching up on what’s happening by reading her excellent reporting here:

https://www.goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines/2021/7/1/former-mikkeller-employees-allege-culture-of-bullying-harassment-and-indifference

https://www.goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines/2021/10/29/mikkeller-meetings-a-chaotic-situation-as-brewery-focuses-on-hr-issues-not-survivors-voices

Modern British Beer is available now from all good retailers, including several brewery tap rooms and bottle shops. You can get yours direct from the publisher here:

https://shop1.camra.org.uk/product-category/modern-british-beer/