writer | academic | UK Beer Writer of the Year 2018 | co-author: World’s Greatest Beers | producer: Same Again? mental health podcast |erstwhile rockabilly DJ
Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon subscribers - including
@AnspachHobday
@hofmeister_beer
&
@RoundCornerBeer
- I'm now hard at work on a second series of Same Again, my podcast about beer, pubs & mental health.
1/7
I’m a cis woman & am regularly told I’m in the wrong toilets, sometimes v aggressively, sometimes by security staff. I avoid using public toilets as a result.
This does nothing to ‘protect’ women; it simply makes things worse for everyone outside of rigid gender norms.
#LWithTheT
'...every life matters regardless of your age or if you have a health condition. There is no acceptable loss because someone has some kind of pre-existing condition or because someone is older or younger.'
🙏🙏
@devisridhar
. As a shielder, I wish we heard these words more often.
..The reason we are in this third lockdown is because of the anti lockdowners like Lord Sumption
..We are going in circles, countries who have done well controlled the virus and now have an economic recovery
..And every life matters
#GMB
@devisridhar
speaking truth to power
Honoured (& overwhelmed!) to be elected as Chair of the British Guild of Beer Writers - only the 2nd woman to hold the post (1st was Sue Nowak 20 yrs ago).
Thanks for the tweets & messages. I'll do my best to fill
@PeteBrownBeer
's shoes.
@Britbeerwriters
I’m a very lucky person. 10 years with this beautiful woman.
Looking forward to an evening of beer, cocktails and food.
And another 10 years if she’ll have me.
We lost our beloved dog, Rupert, over lockdown which was truly devastating.
But this weekend we started a new journey with this little fella & our family is complete once again.
Meet Otto, the blue whippet.
So - what the heck happened there then?!? Many, many thanks to
@Britbeerwriters
for last night. And even bigger thanks to everyone who has encouraged me, believed in me, helped me (and sometimes even paid me!) over the past couple of years. I owe you more than a beer.
Well that’s 50 times round the sun for me & I’m still no nearer to finding out what it’s all about.
Anyway, I’m up with the beautiful Cornish sunrise to get ready for whatever the next 50 years have in store.
Still can’t believe I won 2 golds at this year’s
@Britbeerwriters
awards.
Thank you & congrats to everyone involved.
I’ll tweet something more coherent in the morning but - for tonight - I can’t think of a better nightcap than this.
RIP Roger Ryman: the beer writer’s brewer.
Just an annual reminder that:
- some mothers drink beer;
- some mothers write about beer;
- some mothers serve beer, and
- some mothers brew beer.
Happy Mother’s Day
#BeerIsForEveryone
So tonight is the night I should hand over the title of British Beer Writer of the Year to someone else.
But, the thing is, I’ve had such a fantastic year, I’ve made a momentous decision: I am not standing down.
I repeat: I AM NOT STANDING DOWN.
After 4 months of near isolation, our new motorhome has given me & my family the freedom to travel & see relatives safely, which is wonderful.
It’s also given me the opportunity to stand on a Suffolk beach with a pint of cask ale in my hand.
Cheers!
@Adnams
@LaconsBrewery
A few flags may seem a small gesture to some. But for me, as a queer woman who has been homophobically abused in pubs/festivals at times in the past, the visible support for LGBTQ rights (&
@stonewalluk
) at
@gbbf
& the feeling of welcome it created was incredibly significant.
So happy to have my vaccine this morning.
I felt completely overwhelmed by the kindness & efficiency of the staff & volunteers at Brighton Racecourse Mass Vaccination Centre.
A miracle of science delivered by the miracle of humanity.
Now having a little cry in the car.
I’m not sure if the picture on the front of the new
@CAMRA_Official
Beer Magazine is actually meant to be me, but I have recreated it anyway in my kitchen.
Lovely illustration by
@benkirchner
Due to my support of trans rights on this platform, in the past 24 hours I’ve been called both misogynistic & homophobic & seen just a glimpse of the worst kinds of transphobia.
So will I just post nice pictures of beer from now on?
Nah.
#TransRightsAreHumanRights
I’m getting used the online abuse that seems to come with being beer writer, but some of it still gets through. What amazes me is it’s always the people who claim to prize independence above all else who are always keenest to tell me what I can & can’t write about.
#ohtheirony
Like many families, we’ve had some of our best times in pubs. So today, our 7 year old created a beer garden at home & we paid tribute to some of our favourites.
Our pub is The Hercules & we serve burgers, apple juice & beer.
Might need to rethink our prices though.
I’ve drunk Fullers Vintage Ale many times before but never been lucky enough to taste it on cask until tonight when - purely for research purposes(!) - I sampled it at
@TheParcelYard
.
Unsurprisingly it was ‘stop-you-in-your-tracks’ richly full of flavour & dangerously drinkable.
So it’s been mostly radio/podcast silence from me for the past 2 weeks as I’ve been fighting off this wretched virus (no test but all the symptoms).
But today I can finally feel the sun on my face & I’m getting ready to do all I can to support the industry I love. (1/3)
I’ve escaped!
First time I’ve spent an afternoon out of the house since beginning of March.
Feeling so lucky to have all this just 15 minutes walk from our house. You can even catch a glimpse of the Seven Sisters in the background.
Still
#shielding
.
Still loving the
@sdnpa
We’ve had a rotten time recently (tho’ nowhere near as bad as some).
But this week my wonderful NHS doctor of a partner made it possible for us to get a motorhome - a dream I’ve had for 2 decades.
Tonight we spend our first night in it. I can’t think of a better nightcap.
Just got followed into the women’s toilets at Victoria Station by a member of staff who told me I couldn’t use them.
Grow the f*** up, London. Not every woman looks like your mum.
#butch
#queer
#transally
Sleep soundly, little man.
You were the kindest, funniest, bravest, naughtiest, most loving dog we could ever hope to meet.
The cancer that took your leg finally took you from us.
Our hearts are broken but are souls are bursting with happy memories.
Rupert 4/5/11 - 4/7/20
I've been harassed, & asked to leave women's toilets many, many times. I've been made to feel ashamed, humiliated [& very angry]. I dread using public toilets & do anything I can to avoid it.
As a cis woman I will always support my trans siblings.
#TransRightsAreHumanRights
It it helps ease the utter horror of the real world for even one moment, please enjoy this photo of the clear winner of our family’s Halloween fancy dress competition.
But this little fella has changed all that. He’s getting me up & out there every day - 5 miles before breakfast this morning - & dragging me out of my unhealthy sedentary lifestyle. He might just have saved my life.
#WeDontDeserveDogs
The
@CAMRA_Official
Good Beer Guide is out tomorrow & I was v pleased to be asked to contribute a piece on diversity.
The beer world is becoming more diverse - in terms of the liquid in our glass & the people brewing & drinking it.
#beerisforeveryone
#IAmCraftBeer
Just got on the bus and asked the driver ‘Do you go to Waitrose?’ then felt the need to qualify that with ‘No, not you personally. I’m just asking if the bus stops there.’
Now everyone is looking at me.
I don’t even want to go to Waitrose.
Hopefully all the breweries who promoted their beer - or had special deals - for Father's Day will do the same for Mother's Day.
#beerisforeveryone
#mumsdrinkbeertoo
This hunk of metal has been a total sanity-saver over the past year & has meant my daughter - the child of a shielding parent - has seen her grandparents & even had a holiday.
Today it passed its MOT with flying colours & I couldn’t feel prouder if I’d given birth to it myself.
Yesterday, our 10 year old received a head injury in an accident at school. She was very tearful so I collected her but 20 minutes after getting home she became confused & incoherent. Whilst driving to hospital she began to lose consciousness. 1/
Anyway, make sure you look after your heads & those of the people you love.
Massive thanks to all at
@TheAlexBrighton
for the sensitive care & the really useful information. We felt very looked after.
Thank you, thank you, thank you NHS. 6/
An ex-girlfriend who I loved & lived with for much of my 30s died on Friday.
It’s over 13 years since our relationship ended but I feel such an immense sadness, not least because any untimely death is so tragic.
Grief is such a harsh, unforgiving emotion.
“If Harvey’s Best was released tomorrow by an American craft brewery, people would lose their sh*t about it!” - the wonderful
@PeteBrownBeer
extolling the virtues of one of my very favourite beers at
#ImbibeLive
. We’re so lucky to have
@Harveys1790
down in
#Sussex
#Cheers
!
Just popped out to the shed to load a delivery into the beer fridge when the heavens opened.
I’m now sheltering in the shed.
Somewhat trapped.
With a fridge full of beer.
Of course the photograph used to illustrate this article is a glass of wine.
This is presumably because all the photographs of beer have been used up illustrating articles about the negative effects of alcohol.
It was a weekend of adjustment here after being told by GP that I should be shielding. No walks, separate bed, bath & meals, & 2 metre distance from partner & daughter.
But the spare bedroom has a view down to the sea &, on a day like today, it almost feels like it will be ok.
The breathtaking beauty of the overlapping hills against a backdrop of the steel blue sea.
I get up at 6 every morning to climb a hill & look at this view. It’s well worth it.
It's
#MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
so now's the perfect time to let you know about my new project: 'Same Again? - a podcast about beer, pubs & mental health.
As a former frontline mental health professional, this is something I've been wanting to get off the ground for some time. 1/
Well there’s a treat I did not expect to stumble across today:
@Harveys1790
Imperial Extra Double Stout is on CASK at
@gbbf
!
One of my picks for the new
@CAMRA_Official
#WorldsGreatestBeers
book, cask-conditioning has raised this beer to a whole new level.
Simply wonderful.
Let's get this show on the road!
Packing up the MoHo & hitting the road later today to start filming this new series.
But what will I find out there? How are the UK's brewers & cider makers managing in these very uncertain times?
SUBSCRIBE:
Massively pleased to have been shortlisted in 2 categories of the
@Britbeerwriters
Awards (Best Video & Best Comms About Pubs) for my work with
@drinksmaven
on ‘the meaning of pubs’.
Congratulations to all those shortlisted!
My wonderful father-in-law - wine in one hand, whippet in the other - in happier times, just last month.
Rest in peace, my friend.
Nikola Antonov: 20/01/48 - 07/07/22
Book & beer in the garden.
Thanks to
@BudvarUK
for the care package.
And thanks to
@billybragg
for writing the most absorbing, entertaining and well-researched book on music I’ve ever read.
I bought this table in Croydon IKEA nearly 20 years ago & it’s been my desk ever since. It’s picked up some bruises along the way so today I gave it a bit of a freshen up.
TL;DR - I have reached peak lockdown.
On January 1st, the dog & I made a pact to walk 1000 miles in South Downs National Park in 2021. Today we reached our first 100.
Appropriately enough, I had a hot flush & the dog had the squits - but we’re getting there.
A couple of months ago, I used to pause at this spot to take in absolute silence of winter.
This morning it was bursting with the noise of spring.
Happy birthday,
@sdnpa
! You’re beautiful in every season.
#HappySouthDowns
Having lived through the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights at the end of the last century, I never thought we’d be fighting the same battles in 2023.
Needless to say, this visible lesbian will always support the rights of trans people to be themselves.
#LesbianVisibilityWeek
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Owing to a freak accident involving a service station car park, a rather persistent wasp & an unfamiliar pair of boots, I’ve just spent the morning in A&E having X-rays for a possible hand fracture.
I was treated efficiently & with courtesy throughout.
I love our NHS.
‘...Beer has a responsibility to do good because it’s everywhere...If we can find a way to turn that into a mechanism for good in some way, even a tiny way, then I think we have somewhat of an obligation to.’
@LilyWaite_
@QueerBrewing
on Fermentation Radio
Now that’s what I call a happy birthday haul; books by
@PeteBrownBeer
&
@markdredge
, coffee from Trading Post Roasters, a box of
@ElusiveBrew
Oregon Trail & my very own Bluey (& the best homemade card ever) from my 9 yr old daughter.
Sunday roast at
@HausOnTheHill
to follow!
I’ve got a mini-keg on the go in the shed fridge but, because it’s so cold outside, I’m using my
@thornbridge
growler to bring in a couple of pints at a time.
In a minute I’m going to turn the music up, eat a pizza, fall over in the mud & pretend I’m at
@Peakender
.
Wish I was.
Yes, yes,
@JonnyGarrett
might be the new British Beer Writer of the Year but I think we can all agree that the real winner on the night was my rather beautiful blue velvet jacket.
#itsgotaflowerysilklining
I've spent the past couple of days waking up my motorhome from his lockdown slumber. I'll soon be back on the road, visiting drinks producers across the UK.
If you've not yet caught up on my 'Fermentation on Tour', you can catch series 1 right here:
So it’s my dinosaur-mad daughter’s birthday today. JUST LOOK AT THE CAKES I MADE!!
Well don’t look too closely at the Tyrannosaurus rex 🦖 because I can’t get them to stand up on their own but JUST LOOK AT THE OTHER CAKES I MADE!
@jnikolbeckham
I’m a beer writer. And I’m a queer writer.
I’m a podcaster, an academic, a European, a socialist, a woman, a daughter, a sister, a partner and a parent.
#IAmCraftBeer
This is the face of someone who is surrounded by beautiful bluebells and is going to buy 4 pints of fresh
@Harveys1790
Sussex Best to takeaway from
@Middle_Farm
on the way home.