As a beer enthusiast, bottle shops have always played an important role in my life. 

They were there when I first got into beer in a big way, supplying me with hard to find bottles imported from the United States, or new releases from some of the most exciting new breweries in the UK. It was through them that I also met some of my most valued friends and peers, including Jen Ferguson and Glenn Williams of South London’s Hop Burns and Black, who gave me one of my first breaks as a beer writer with a monthly column published on their website. When we launched Pellicle in 2019, they were there to sponsor us for our first two years. Looking back, we probably wouldn’t have made it through those first 24 months without their support. 

Then there’s Phill and Steph Palgrave-Elliott of Caps and Taps in Tufnell Park. Not only did they give me my first ever gig as a freelance photographer, but like Jen and Glenn they became wonderful pals, and are also long time supporters of the magazine. It’s through both of their shops that I gleaned a deep perspective of how important bottle shops once were within the beer ecosystem. Here is where you came when you wanted to support local and independent, or when you wanted to find the latest fussed-over cans, or simply something delicious from a brewery you were yet to discover. 

But things have changed a lot since those early days of craft beer—the early 2010s when everything felt shiny and new. Breweries came and went, some sold out, some focused on shifting units in national supermarket chains, and—after the pandemic—most of them started shipping direct to their customers. The role of the bottle shop shouldn’t have changed, but the industry changed around them, forcing them to pivot and adapt. Some became bars, some focused on online retail, others simply weren’t able to compete, and closed their doors forever.

Without them, however, we probably would have the vibrant selection of independent breweries we’re blessed with today. In this episode of The Pellicle Podcast I’m joined by the owners of three different UK bottleshops: Krishan Rajput of Stirchley Wines in Birmingham, Sam Parker of Keg Cask and Bottle in Prestwich, Manchester, plus Rosie and Greg Start, who run R&G’s Beer Vault in both Macclesfield and Congleton. Together we chew through the last few years in beer, and discuss the importance of bottle shops. 

This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the 2025 Salford Beer Festival. Huge thanks to organiser Jim Cullen for inviting us down to host this chat. 

We’re able to produce The Pellicle Podcast directly thanks to our Patreon subscribers, and our sponsors Get ‘Er Brewed. If you’re enjoying this podcast, or the weekly articles we publish, please consider taking out a monthly subscription for less than the price of a pint a month.

When I wrote my 2021 book, Modern British Beer, I made the very intentional decision to put Fyne Ales irreplaceable Blonde Ale, Jarl, right at the beginning. 

For me, it’s a beer that merges two schools of thought: that it is a modern beer, hopped with Citra imported from the Pacific Northwest, showcasing a bold, citrus fruit character, but one that is also a 3.8% cask beer, and at the same time feels resolutely anchored to British brewing tradition. Jarl, though, is not simply a modern British beer—it is a modern Scottish beer. Honestly, there is perhaps no beer experience that is resolutely more Scottish than to enjoy a pint at its source in Glen Fyne. 

That was the inspiration for this particular discussion—an effort to take a closer look at what’s happening in the contemporary world of Scottish brewing. FyneFest, conveniently, provided the perfect place to chew on this topic and indeed it features Fyne Ales’ very own head brewer Sam Shrimpton. Also on the panel are two owners/brewers at two of Scotland's youngest breweries: Lucy Stevens of Closet Brewing in Edinburgh, and Harry Weskin of Dookit Brewing in Glasgow.

Listening to this episode, you’ll quickly realise that no one on the panel claims immediate Scottish heritage (although Harry is pretty damn close.) However, they are, each in their own way, vital to the local, independent beer community. It’s great to find out that the spirit that bound businesses together during the last resurgence of small breweries still exists today—in fact I’d argue it probably wouldn’t exist without it.

Tune in to hear two of the best young Scottish breweries talk about what they do, while perhaps one of the finest contemporary breweries to exist north of the border provides balance and context to this conversation.

We’re able to produce The Pellicle Podcast directly thanks to our Patreon subscribers, and our sponsors Get ‘Er Brewed. If you’re enjoying this podcast, or the weekly articles we publish, please consider taking out a monthly subscription for less than the price of a pint a month.

Tickets for FyneFest 2026 are available now, and we’ll be back hosting our panel talks and tastings for another year! Get your tickets here.

A few months ago I met a couple who had recently opened their own brewery on the Isle of Man. I was really compelled by their story, that one of them had lived on the island for most of his life, and how the other had returned from a life in London. Together they were trying to bring modern beer styles to a British dependency with a population of just 85,000 people, surrounded by the Irish Sea.

That was Nick Scarffe and Elizabeth Townsend, the founders of Kerroo Brewing. Since then we’ve met on several occasions and their story has only grown more compelling, so the next time they arranged to hop on the ferry and visit Manchester, I managed to pin them down for an hour* and have an in depth conversation about their brewery.

I was fascinated to learn that the beer culture on the Isle of Man remains relatively traditional, with a handful of independent breweries—from the 175 year old family brewer, Okells, to more up-to-date outfits like Bushy’s—but many residents hadn’t yet been exposed to such wonders as hazy IPA…

A keen homebrewer, Nick had dialled in his recipes, and when she turned back up on the island during lockdown, the two shared beers, started dating, and eventually decided to do what they thought was the most reasonable thing: to open a brewery of their own.

Operating in the village of Port Erin at the southwestern tip of the island, they run a 1000 litre brewery and a small taproom that opens monthly. We had the chance to chat about the struggles they’ve faced bringing modern beer styles to a market that remains relatively traditional—at least compared to mainland cities like Liverpool and Manchester—and how challenging it has been getting their beer out into the wider market. 

Despite this, they’re still giving it a go. And take it from me, the beers are delicious, hence why I found their whole story, and this conversation, so compelling. Thanks to Nick and Elizabeth for joining me in this conversation.

We’re able to produce The Pellicle Podcast directly thanks to our Patreon subscribers, and our sponsors Get ‘Er Brewed. If you’re enjoying this podcast, or the weekly articles we publish, please consider taking out a monthly subscription for less than the price of a pint a month.

*We may have enjoyed several pints over several hours after the recording of this podcast.

Established in 2013, Berkshire’s Siren Craft Brew has rightfully grown to become one of the most well-respected modern breweries in the United Kingdom.

We at Pellicle have been lucky to have followed Siren’s journey since pretty much the beginning—I even hosted a tasting with founder Darron Anley at the Duke’s Head Pub in Highgate all the way back in 2015. They’re also one of our dedicated pro-Patreon supporters. As such, when their head of marketing, Andy Nowlan, got in touch to ask if we’d be interested in doing some collaborative content around the second edition of their Time Hops project, we said yes without giving it a second thought. 

Time Hops is Siren’s way of helping drinkers to understand the nature of hops, from their development and cultivation, to how they present themselves in finished beers. Siren produced four different beers for this year's edition, and we diligently produced four different stories about each of them, and the hop they focused on.

Mark Dredge donned his lager hat once again, and told us the story of the sublimely elegant noble hop, Saaz, from the Czech Republic. In her Pellicle debut, Robyn Gilmour wrote about Australia’s fantastic Galaxy—a hop with something of a chequered past that is finally beginning to come back into its own. Katie Mather told us a story from the other side of the Tasman Sea, about one of modern beer’s darling hops, Nelson Sauvin. Last but not least, Lily Waite-Marsden dug into the more recent story of Strata, one of the most exciting young hops on the market today.

But we weren’t done there. As part of Siren’s Time Hops event at their taproom in the village of Finchampstead, Pellicle headed down to host a panel-led discussion all about the project and the four beers that have resulted from it. In this episode I’m joined by Darron Anley, plus head brewer Sean Knight, and Martin Rake from The Malt Miller, who delivers some fantastic insight into hop procurement. 

It’s a long conversation, and a fascinating one to boot, especially if you’re interested in all things hop-related. Thanks again for Siren for inviting us to collaborate on this fascinating project with them.

We’re able to produce The Pellicle Podcast directly thanks to our Patreon subscribers, and our sponsors Get ‘Er Brewed. If you’re enjoying this podcast, or the weekly articles we publish, please consider taking out a monthly subscription for less than the price of a pint a month.

If you’re anything like me, you might have noticed that a certain dark beer has slowly but surely become the most ubiquitous beer in the UK. I am of course talking about Guinness. Now the most popular beer in the country (by value) it feels almost impossible to escape the gravity created by The Black Stuff. 

Many of the smaller breweries I speak to—particularly those in Ireland—malign the ubiquity of Guinness. But perhaps where there is one popular stout that a whole new generation of drinkers is drawing enjoyment from there is also opportunity. Convincing someone to switch up from their favourite macro lager into something a bit more complex is challenging, but if they’re already drinking stout, that way opportunities potentially lie.

At FyneFest I recruited a panel from three independent breweries who are doing incredibly exciting things with their dark beers. At Lost Cause, Colin Stronge is continuing the great work he built his reputation on at breweries like Buxton and Salt, but now completely under his own steam. In Northumberland, Rigg and Furrow is focused on producing beers with a sense of place, and this feeds into some truly unique stouts and porters. Marketing manager Harriet Edgar is here to fill us in on those. And at Barney’s Beer in Edinburgh, career brewer Andrew ‘Barney’ Barnett is getting really experimental with his post mortem series.

While you won’t get to taste through the beers like our gathered audience at FyneFest, by listening to this you will get to enjoy a fascinating, and hugely jovial conversation about why we love dark beers with three hugely entertaining guests. The laughter and merriment throughout is a great reminder of why we return to the festival every year, and why you should consider joining us next time around. Until then, get your ears around this. 

We’re able to produce The Pellicle Podcast directly thanks to our Patreon subscribers, and our sponsors Get ‘Er Brewed. If you’re enjoying this podcast, or the weekly articles we publish, please consider taking out a monthly subscription for less than the price of a pint a month.

Let’s begin the description of this episode with a mea culpa. 

In February 2025 I visited the Trading Route, a new venue from the people behind Manchester Union Brewery, and Manchester restaurants Trof, and Stow. One of the main reasons I was excited to go was because Manchester Union co-founder Will Evans had appeared in an Instagram video advertising slow poured versions of their lager, complete with voluminous creamy heads. 

Slow poured lager—like that offered at Denver’s Bierstadt Lagerhaus—is something I love. This method of pouring the beer in stages, letting the beer rest for anywhere between three to seven minutes between each stage of a three or four part pour has this magical effect of bringing out malt sweetness. This works particularly well in bitter lager beers, such as Bierstadt’s eponymous Slow Pour Pils. Manchester Union’s own lager is a 12º Czech-style, decoction mashed pilsner, with a bitterness of around 35IBU (International Bitterness Units) which brings it close the the 39 possessed by perhaps the most famous Czech lager in the world: Pilsner Urquell.

Only, that’s not quite what happened. The food was fantastic, the lager itself tasted great. But when it came to the slow pour, I found the experience to be lacklustre, so I decided to use the experience to practise my critical writing skills over at my personal blog, Total Ales. 

Here’s the thing though. Trading Route, sidled right up to the brand new Aviva Studios (or Factory International or whatever you want to call it) is a lone independent in a sea of transplanted London-chains, from Hawksmoor to Dishoom, and even a brand new Caravan Coffee right next door. Good ideas often take time to perfect, especially without the same level of resources of those chains I’ve just mentioned. Was zooming in for a hot take three months into Trading Route existence the right thing to do? Maybe, just maybe, I jumped the gun a little with my review.

Regardless, I’ve now been back to the Trading Route—in a way, Manchester Union’s de facto taproom—several times, and on my last two visits the Slow Pour was served as advertised. I also took this opportunity to catch up with Will on record, and have an important conversation about the brewery he helped to establish in 2018, because it’s a brewery worth knowing about. Manchester Union is the city’s only dedicated lager brewery, and the fact that they’re concentrating on Czech style lagers (including a fantastic dark lager) is an important point of difference to me. How do you stand out when lager is still the most visible product on any given bar? The answer is quite Mancunian in nature, as it happens: to do things differently.

In this episode of the Pellicle Podcast I catch up with brewery co-founder Will Evans and get to the nub of what makes Manchester’s only dedicated lager brewery tick.

With special thanks to our dedicated Patreon supporters who help bring the Pellicle Podcast to life.

One of the best things about making a yearly trip to Fyne Ales for FyneFest is that I get to check in on the brewery’s Origins side project. 

It’s the vehicle for its wild beers, typically produced using mixed or spontaneously fermented and then barrel-matured beer, and often showing locally grown fruit, or forage herbs. These beers are a long way from cherished Fyne Ale classics like Jarl or Highlander, but they arguably show an even greater ‘sense of place’ than the cask beers that put this particular brewery on the map.

For the past couple of years the project has been under the stewardship of Dan Wye, an experienced brewer who now lives next door to the brewery in Glen Fyne. When he took the project on he was given carte blanche to make Origins his own, which he did initially by gutting and cleaning the small brewery he uses to produce wort, and even getting rid of a few barrels he felt didn’t meet his standards. 

Any fermentation project such as this needs time, and now we’re at the point where Dan has his feet under the table, and Origins is beginning to produce some incredibly special beers. Among these are what Dan likes to refer to as ‘Chimeras’. Named for the mythical beast from the Greek classics, with the body and head of a lion, the head of a goat and a snake for a tail, Dan’s Chimera’s are far less threatening. Instead he uses the term to describe hybrid beers that are designed to ape beverages like wine or cider, but don’t feature any of the ingredients that would be traditionally used to make such drinks.

The results are pretty magical, with beers such as Smudan employing Nelson Sauvin hops before being further aged on gooseberries, elderflower, limes, sunflowers, marigolds and borage to imitate both the mouthfeel and flavour of cold climate Sauvignon Blanc. It’s a seriously impressive beer, but don’t take my word for it. The beer is carried by local restaurant, Inver, which presently holds a Michelin green star. 

If you recognise Dan’s name, it’s because he featured on a Pellicle podcast recorded at FyneFest in 2024. On this occasion Dan spoke alongside The Kernel’s Evin O’Riordain, Mark Tranter of Burning Sky, and Will Harris of Balance Brewing in Manchester. This year, we figured seeing as he’d been super busy releasing lots of beers, and the fact we’re literally on his doorstep, it might be nice to have a one to one conversation about what he’s been up to.

Speaking of which, keep your eyes out for a forthcoming Origins, Pellicle collab in the not too distant future. I’ll be heading to Fyne Ales for non-FyneFest related reasons for the first time ever to help make a foraged beer that helps explore a notion I’m rather cynical about… Terroir. Expect more details soon!

We’re able to produce The Pellicle Podcast directly thanks to our Patreon subscribers, and our sponsors Loughran Brewers Select. If you’re enjoying this podcast, or the weekly articles we publish, please consider taking out a monthly subscription for less than the price of a pint a month.

About 10 years ago I was roaming along Red Bank in a part of Manchester city centre I was hopelessly unfamiliar with. On either side of me were tall stone walls topped with railway bridges, boxing me in and hiding the sun from view. Not another soul was to be seen. I sincerely hoped I was in the right place. 

Thankfully, a few moments later, I was met by a smiling face that had emerged from a red door in the side of one of these dark, Mancunian trenches. Here was Mark Welsby, the founder of The Runaway Brewery and soon he was leading me on a quick tour and tasting. Although it was a while ago, I still remember being thoroughly impressed, especially with his sweet, chewy and resinous American Brown Ale.

As the years passed I got to know Mark increasingly well, especially after I relocated to Manchester myself in 2020. But more recently we’ve become very familiar, as in 2023 he moved Runaway to Stockport, opening a small brewery and taproom a mere 10 minute stroll from my own front door. This means that rarely a week goes by without me bumping into him or his wife and business partner Sam, because the space they’ve built in Stockport is wonderful, and the beer is tasting better than ever.

Located in a former metalworks, opposite Stockport’s brand new £140 million bus terminal and right on the banks of the River Mersey as it begins its journey westwards to Liverpool, Runaway has built a space the local community can be proud of. Featuring seating across two levels, twelve beers on tap (including two on cask) and pizza from another excellent local business, Honest Crust, in a roundabout way, it's a shining symbol of Stockport’s continuing redevelopment. 

But more than that, it’s a sign of Mark’s intent. When the brewery moved here in April 2023, he signed a 10 year lease. This is where the next stage of this brewery’s development is to be, and it's here for the long haul. 

In the latest episode of the Pellicle Podcast—and as part of a wider, more concerted effort to focus on what’s happening within the Manchester Beer Scene—I chat to Mark about the origins, and first decade of The Runaway Brewery, before discussing what it means to have relocated, after embedding itself within the Stockport community.

We’re able to produce The Pellicle Podcast directly thanks to our Patreon subscribers, and our sponsors Loughran Brewers Select. If you’re enjoying this podcast, or the weekly articles we publish, please consider taking out a monthly subscription for less than the price of a pint a month.

Should we scrap the pint measure? Or is the very notion of doing so rooted in prejudices like classism?

These were the questions I asked following the September 2024 publication of a study led by researchers at the University of Cambridge. Back then my focus was singular: why indeed did such a study focus specifically not just on beer, but on pubs? Its focus was to look at alcohol consumption rates, and investigate if reducing the size of the available measures would in turn reduce the rate of alcohol consumed. 

Following the study’s publication, I contemplated why it focused on the pub, when around 60% of alcohol is now consumed in the home. It eventually led to bigger questions, such as where the pint measure fits within the fabric of British culture itself. This, I felt, was the perfect subject for an old-fashioned debate.

Once again, this summer we headed up to FyneFest to host our Meet the Brewer tastings and panel discussions, and we decided to kick off Friday evening with this very topic of conversation. I was pleased to welcome back two previous Pellicle podcast guests, in the form of Rooster’s Ol Fozard and Lost Cause Brewing’s Vik Kastenbauer Stronge. It was also a pleasure to welcome Chris Shepherd from Cambridge-based Pastore brewing, for what I hope won’t be his only appearance on this podcast.

While the festival got underway around us, we kicked our debate into action. You might say that being members of the beer industry, this is a side of the discussion loaded with some bias. But you’ll also hear some really interesting questions from the audience, including former CAMRA national executive chair Colin Valentine, and some other surprising guests.

As conversations around alcohol and health continue I’m sure this is a discussion that will come back around pretty soon. But in terms of the pint as a British cultural reference point, this is a fascinating panel, and one I hope you enjoy.

We’re able to produce The Pellicle Podcast directly thanks to our Patreon subscribers, and our sponsors Loughran Brewers Select. If you’re enjoying this podcast, or the weekly articles we publish, please consider taking out a monthly subscription for less than the price of a pint a month.

It’s fair to say I’ve developed something of an obsession with Theakston’s Old Peculier. Ever since deputy ed. Katie Mather and I sat down and had a couple of pints in Manchester’s The Salisbury a year or so ago, it’s become a cornerstone of my drinking habits. Katie went on to write a very fine profile of this majestic beer, and following that the brewery reached out and invited me to the brewery for a tour. 

Politely, I asked if, while there, I’d be able to record an interview with its former managing director, now chair, Simon Theakston. His wing of the family acquired the brewery from previous owners Heineken in 2003, bringing it back under family control for the first time since 1987. Simon and his brothers share the same grandfather as would-be heir, Paul Theakston, who in 1993, seemingly in defiance at his family brewery’s loss of independence, founded Black Sheep Brewery (which has now entered its own tumultuous phase.)

To my delight, they agreed, but getting to the brewery itself was an issue. I don’t drive, and the market town of Masham, North Yorkshire, where the brewery is located, is a fair way from the nearest train station. Thankfully the brewery found a solution. Current MD Richard Bradbury offered to pick me up from Sheffield station, as he commuted to work from his home in Derbyshire. This gave me a great opportunity to chat to Richard about his own background—how his career started at Bank’s in his home of Wolverhampton, and how he worked on various Heineken brands before landing the role at Theakstons—during the drive over. Richard also kindly agreed to sit in on the podcast, and he shares some useful perspective within.

What was most interesting about meeting and chatting to Simon himself, was explaining to him my aims and intent, and what Pellicle is all about. He seemed genuinely thrilled that our young magazine is so dedicated towards the coverage of cask beer, and afterwards kindly allowed me to ask questions at will—including, yes, about beer duty and the Small Brewers Duty Reform Coalition (SBDRC). 

Simon also gave me an in depth tour of the brewery, including a look at its vintage (and that’s an understatement) grain mill, and the famous Steel’s masher that helps contribute towards the unique character of Theakston’s ales. My favourite part of the tour—other than when Simon poured me a pint of Old Peculier from the wood—was the fermentation room. Here in this corridor lined with open Yorkshire squares, the unmistakable aroma of Old Peculier was at its most potent. I also got to have a peek inside the cooperage, where in house journeyman cooper Euan Findlay builds the very casks that dispense this hallowed beer. 

During the interview we get into all the good stuff, including the history of the brewery, and its current objectives as an old brewery in a very different market. We also dig into a bit of beer politics. It’s a very satisfying conversation, and one I hope you enjoy as much as I have done cutting it together. If you do enjoy this episode, do consider leaving the podcast a rating or review in the app you use to stream it, and sharing it with any friends who you think might find it interesting. 

We’re able to produce The Pellicle Podcast directly thanks to our Patreon subscribers, and our sponsors Loughran Brewers Select. If you’re enjoying this podcast, or the weekly articles we publish, please consider taking out a monthly subscription for less than the price of a pint a month.