Has the thrill gone? You tell us.
In the July 2023 newsletter we're pondering on why the beer scene feels so flat right now – and how we might bring the excitement back.
Recording pub stories
The thrill is gone
On the blog
Recording pub stories
Ron Pattinson is currently embarking on a project to record people’s memories of drinking in pubs in the 1970s.
He’s keen to talk to people and has already interviewed, among others, Derek Prentice, late of Fuller’s.
If you want to put your own memories on the record, drop him a line via his website Shut Up About Barclay Perkins or via Mastodon or Twitter.
At the same time, we were pleased to find in our inbox some memories shared directly by Kake, who has written pub reviews and about the history of Croydon for years now. Here’s a taste:
“I grew up in the 1980s-1990s in a small town in the South Wales valleys, called Ebbw Vale… The thing about going out on the weekends was there was an unwritten agenda of where people would go and when, during the evening. I can't remember it all exactly, but one of the first places you'd go in the evening was the County Hotel. This was a bit rough, so some people would skip it. There were more fights there than in most places, though just fists usually, not weapons. A friend of mine got his earring ripped out right through his ear there once during a fight.”
We love it when people send us stuff like this. Feel free to follow suit: contact@boakandbailey.com
The thrill is gone
Does beer (or the ‘beer scene’) feel less exciting right now? If so, why?
On Twitter, Glynn Davis posted this…
…and got some interesting responses, which he'll no doubt be writing up somewhere.
Our answer was this:
“We've never particularly enjoyed events, tastings or festivals. When we think of experiences it's mostly trekking miles – going on adventures! – to taste something unique or interesting. Wide availability has taken that away from us, to an extent.”
In other words, we thought we wanted craft beer to be everywhere. In every supermarket and pub. But now it is, it's no longer special.
We know, we know – this sounds terrible. Now everyone can enjoy it, we don’t want it. Well, it’s not quite that.
It’s just that a glass of beer you’ve heard about on the grapevine, researched, and hunted down will always taste a little more special.
And a certain amount of what makes a beer enjoyable is the ceremony, mystery and narrative that surrounds it.
Is beer just worse?
Some will also argue that to achieve ubiquity, craft beer has had to become less interesting as a product.
We’ve tended to resist the idea that fings ain’t wot they used to be. If Thornbridge Jaipur has lost its edge, for example, it’s not apparent to us.
But we do, specifically, miss bitterness in beer. For a while, that was the one thing craft beer gave you you wouldn’t find in, say, Greene King IPA.
Of course people rolled their eyes at the IBU arms race of the noughties, and it was silly that it became about numbers. But, crikey, did some of those beers bite.
Now, many craft beers seem sweet and soft with ‘pop’ appeal.
There’s also a certain uniformity in pale, hazy, aromatically hoppy beers – to the extent that we doubt we could tell the flagship products of several Bristol breweries apart if we tasted them blind.
Ironically, GK IPA now tastes far more interesting to us than some contemporary beers, with discernible bitterness and distinct yeast character when it’s on form. It is possible that our tastes have changed, of course. (We are old.)
Anyway, if some combo of pungent hoppiness, extreme bitterness, high alcohol content or novelty value is what brought you to craft beer, the rise of ‘craft lager’ might be a cause for dismay. We like lager but what do you actually say about it?
There are still great beers around – both classics, like Jaipur, and new ones that populate our beer-of-the-year shortlist. They seem, somehow, harder to find.
With more breweries (about four times as many as 20 years ago) perhaps it’s harder for truly remarkable beers to stand out, or find a place in the market.
It might also simply be that with good beer being easier to find there’s less contrast between the lows and the highs.
What’s new?
“What's the last new thing that happened in beer in the past five years?” was the challenge we got from Norwegian beer writer Lars Marius Garshol when we discussed this in a pub in Bristol last week.
The only thing that came to mind was the much-derided glitter beer from 2018.
Otherwise, it’s all extensions or development of trends that began a decade ago, such as novelty pastry and fruit beers, or wild farmhouse ales.
New hop varieties are being released all the time but seem to generate very little hype. There hasn’t any single hop that’s got anyone as excited as Citra did.
And there seem to be very few old styles left for anyone to attempt to revive. At least not ones that have a fighting chance of, you know, tasting good.
How might we make beer exciting?
‘How might we…?’ questions are used in design to elicit ideas to solve a particular problem. Answering them usually involves a lot of sticky notes covering a wall, either physical or virtual.
We had a go at this with beer in mind and here’s our whiteboard…
…which actually did get us thinking in slightly different ways.
We ended up focusing on times in recent memory when we had felt excited about beer or pubs:
finding three classic beers in one evening in Bristol
reading David Jesudason’s book
seeing a whole menu of Sierra Nevada beers at Vessel in Plymouth
when Dark Star made a limited run of Prize Old Ale
finding new beers so good we couldn’t stop drinking them
drinking exciting porters, in various pubs, from various breweries, last winter
Depressingly, we think there’s also something in the idea of conflict as a driver of excitement.
Who is the ‘main adversary’ in 2023? In the 1970s it was Watney’s. In 2008 it was AB-InBev.
But does anyone care about that stuff these days?
What do you think?
We’d be interested to hear your views on all of this.
Is beer less exciting now than, say, a decade ago?
If so, what can be done about it?
And what beer experience last gave you a full-on thrill?
On the blog in June/July 2023
Since the last newsletter we’ve written, for starters, five instalments of our weekly news and links round-ups with tons of great stuff from other writers.
We’ve shared a long piece on the history of the Heneky’s pub chain which had a cult reputation in the mid-20th century before disappearing.
On a warm evening at the start of the month we were bowled over by the transformation in the beer garden at Wiper & True’s Bristol taproom, which is now delightfully leafy.
Then we went to Plymouth where we enjoyed visits to:
And that’s it. That’s your lot for another month.
Jess & Ray
As a brewer, I am always curious about new beers, new breweries and new styles. But those occasions when my pulse rate climbs because of what is in my glass are exceptions rather than the rule. So I don't necessarily agree that my beer experiences are any less thrilling than they were. I wouldn't underestimate the way that pressure on peoples' expendable income is knocking the joy out of life in general. The venues where we enjoy beer communally may still be busy on a good day, but some of our companions can't join us as often as we would like. Good quality beer that fits within my taste parameters is all I ask for - so often I have picked up a rarity or hot topic beer to realise that I could have bought something equally satisfying, or better, for less money. I much prefer the pot luck of beer or breweries that I have never heard of, especially in our local Eastern European shops. The results may sometimes be indifferent, but it rarely goes down the sink. I am off to Berlin for the first time for a family holiday so drinking beer will be a low key pastime, but I am still very excited to try a new variation on pub and bar life.
I went to a beer festival with a strong "craft" tone a few weeks ago. A local family brewer had sent their cask bitter which is very good, but not their mild which is fantastic and rare as hens' teeth. My favourite beer in the festival was New Bristol's Coffee Stout, and there were several murky, soft beers bursting with hops. Well made beers and all a big hit with punters but they exhaust my palate very quickly. The best beers of the day were London Pride in a Fullers pub and Jaipur in a Thornbridge pub. No apologies. Maybe the next trend should be NNEIPA, where brewers take their NEIPAs, kick the murk to the kerb and see what has been hiding away behind the sticky cloying texture. Maybe try serving them at cellar temperature too. There may be better beers lurking inside.
I don't come across as very passionate about beer, but I am very easily satisfied. Good beer, sometimes exceptional, a comfortable venue with an atmosphere when I want it, or chilled out when I need it, and a welcome. Familiar or novel, the tingle when you push open the door can be crushed too easily by surly, dour or cookie cutter vibes.
It is also true that your writing on pubs and bars nurtures my curiosity and reminds me why beer drinking is about so much more than the liquid in the glass. Thank you
I still get a thrill out of travelling to drink beers that have a sense of place. Whether that be Rauchbier in Franconia or mild in the Black Country. Planning itineraries and visiting destination pubs, also exciting. Walking into a pub and seeing a list of 12 similar tasting IPAs is much less exciting.