The Pellicle Podcast

We can all agree that the last few years have been tough, and as a result, it can be difficult to find the joy in life’s simple pleasures — of which beer is one of the best. The past decade in British brewing has been pretty exhausting, with thousands of newcomers entering the category, many of whom have been in a race to make the haziest, juiciest, pastriest, and most intense beers possible. As a result, many of us have reached our saturation point within beer culture.For this panel discussion, Jonathan Hamilton speaks to people from within the beer industry about their own experiences of what we’re calling ‘beer burnout’ and discuss ways in which we can regain joy from the simple pleasure that is enjoying a well made glass of beer. Hopefully, together, we can learn to Make Beer Fun Again.Featuring Lucy Clarke (Sureshot), Aidy Fenwick (Fyne Ales), and Dominic Driscoll (Thornbridge).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. Get  your tickets to FyneFest 2024 here. 

Perhaps one of the most exciting things to have happened within the UK brewing industry over the past decade is the birth of modern British lager. Whether they’ve been directly inspired by the brewing traditions of Germany and the Czech Republic, or by more contemporary influences such as the American West Coast, the wealth of great lager beers now produced by British breweries, from Helles, to Baltic Porters and even newer styles such as India Pale Lager, is breathtaking.For this discussion you’ll join Pellicle co-founder, lager enthusiast, and Heriot Watt brewing and distilling masters alumni Jonathan Hamilton, along with an expert panel of brewers to chat about all things lager. If you want to learn your infusion mashing from decoction, or about things such as the influence and flavour of heritage barley varieties in lager brewing, then this is the discussion for you.Featuring Colin Stronge (Salt Beer Factory), Reece Hugill (Donzoko) and Hannah Davidson (Jolly Good Beer). 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. Get  your tickets to FyneFest 2024 here. 

From the pandemic to Brexit, the cost of living crisis has impacted everyone’s pockets. For brewers, the price of beer production is through the roof, with rising ingredient costs and soaring energy bills, everything has become significantly more expensive. Perhaps the greatest challenge, however, is passing this cost onto the consumer. Beer is an egalitarian product, and drinkers have always had an expectation that it remains affordable, accessible, and live in hope that it doesn’t become a very occasional luxury.In this debate, featuring members of the brewing industry and hosted by Pellicle co-founder Matthew Curtis, we’ll discuss the difficult subject that is the price of a pint. From the cost at the bar, to concepts like premiumisation, and whether there’s actually a benefit (or not) to the price of beer going up, no stone will be left unturned. Audience participation will be encouraged—think of this as like Question Time but with much more beer.Featuring Andy Parker (Elusive Brewing), Charlie Harding (Bonne Vivante Marketing) and Alice Hayward (Cloudwater). 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. Get  your tickets to FyneFest 2024 here.   

In a recent team discussion both of our associate editors, Katie Mather and Lily Waite, asked if they could narrate some of their stories for a podcast episode. Long-term listeners will know this is something I experimented with in early episodes, with varying results. I found reading my own stories to be a delight. I felt it gave me the ability to add detail using tone and inflection that might not have quite the same impact when read, but I struggled a little when narrating those written by others. It really needs the writer's voice to help the listener understand the mood that they're trying to communicate with their writing.This is what made me jump at the opportunity as soon as they both asked, and Katie got straight to work recording a narration of a piece of her writing from 2020 called: ‘Hand-Held Rebellion — An Ode to the Burger Van’. It’s a shorter episode than usual. An easy 15 minutes as opposed to an hour; something you can easily enjoy on a lunch break, or during your daily run. Katie is a very special writer. She has this uncanny ability to conjure poetic majesty in topics that some may find mundane. In the latest series in her newsletter The Gulp—which she calls PROCESS—she makes eating spam sound like enjoying a delectable, three-course meal. That Katie’s viewpoint is grounded in her working class roots is arguably what makes her ability to tackle subjects like these so potent.This piece, which internally at Pellicle we simply call ‘Burger Van’, is one of her very best. It’s a tale from memory, about childhood, nostalgia, and how that has manifested in Katie’s adult life. It will absolutely, 100%, make you want to head straight to your nearest butty van and order a belly buster with extra bacon and cheese. Before Katie reads her article, Matthew also takes the time to check in with some thoughts he has on the beer industry after a visit to Duration Brewing in Norfolk for their 4th anniversary celebrations.  If you want to read the original Burger Van article, you can do so here. 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.

DEYA. It’s spelled in capital letters, a reminder so you can shout its name joyfully from the rooftops. Joy is certainly one thing the Cheltenham based brewery provides in abundance. This is through their carefully put together beers—such as its flagship pale ale Steady Rolling Man—or its vibrantly colourful, energetic, and yet at the same time peaceful taproom. DEYA is a brewery of multiple dispositions.In November 2022 I finally visited the brewery itself for the first time, doing the 3-and-a-bit hour journey from Manchester (via Birmingham) and back again inside a day to take some photos for another project I was working on. As I was packing my gear, I made a last minute decision to throw my mics and Zoom recorder into my bag, and asked the brewery’s founder, Theo Freyne, if he had a spare hour to be interviewed for an episode of The Pellicle Podcast.Thankfully, he agreed, and we recorded a really fascinating conversation. Together we covered the origins of the brewery, how it has grown and changed so much since it was established in 2015, and how they make their oh-so-delicious beers that have captivated so many drinkers throughout the UK.And then, well, I had a book to finish. A book that is now finished. Unfortunately it meant that the recording was left to languish on my hard drive for several months—almost a year to the day, in fact—waiting for me to find the time to edit it. At the start of the year I had every intention of making sure I was producing regular podcast episodes, but time is not something I have in abundance.Thankfully, however, now the book is out it’s something I have a little bit more of, and on listening back to the episode I was pleased to hear it hadn’t really aged. While it might not include what the brewery has been up to over the past year, it serves as an excellent primer, whether you’re completely new to the brewery, or you’re an experienced Steady drinker, eager to hear more about how this beer is made.Please enjoy this wonderful interview with Theo, and about his brewery, DEYA. I’ll be back with more podcast episodes very soon, (and I really mean it this time.) Special thanks to our pals at Loughran Brewers Select, who in addition to sponsoring our website are now also sponsoring our podcast. A double whammy of support that means more good stuff for you folks!***Purchase your copy of Manchester’s Best Beer Pubs and Bars (the podcast-not-happening-er) right here. And don’t forget to support us on Patreon if you enjoy these podcasts.

Join Jason Menzies, events manager at Marble Brewery, Stephanie Shuttleworth, a beer writer and PhD student, and John Clarke, CAMRA Chair with extensive experience in the Manchester beer scene, as they celebrate Marble's 25th anniversary. They share personal anecdotes and insights on the vibrant history of Manchester's brewing culture, discuss the rise of hazy beers, and explore the relationship between beer and local identity. The trio reflects on the evolution of craft brewing, community support, and the creativity that defines the region's beer scene.

In a British beer market that has expanded rapidly over the previous couple of decades (before grinding to a halt during the current cost of living crisis), finding a point of difference has been vital for these small businesses to succeed. For some it has meant focusing on particular styles, like Hazy IPA, or crisp, refreshing lager. While for others it could have been producing a rock solid hospitality offering, and direct-to-consumer sales via a bar, or taproom. For Oxford’s Tap Social Movement, which was established in 2016, that point of difference has been about making—well—a difference. Social justice is a part of this brewery's core ethos, and at the heart of this are the efforts to work with individuals exiting the prison system, and finding them employment. In fact, around a third of Tap Social’s employees have been hired through this system, and you’ll hear plenty about this from two of the company’s directors, Tess Taylor and Matt Elliot, in the first of two interviews in this episode. In the second interview, we’ll learn all about the other side of the business—the beer—as we chat to head brewer, Jason Bolger. Our visit coincided with us producing a collaboration beer with Tap Social, a modern British bitter, which we called ‘Wake Up’ after the song by Rage Against the Machine—a little nod to the social justice this brewery was founded upon. Speaking of beer, there’s also plenty of time at the beginning of the episode for our host to talk about some of the things he’s been enjoying lately, and about his recent trips to Edinburgh, and Fort Collins, Colorado. Don’t forget that if you enjoy this, and other content that Pellicle creates, please consider subscribing via Patreon, and support our independent magazine and podcast.

In the summer of 2022 I had the privilege of escorting Topher Boehm and Chris Allen of Sydney, Australia’s Wildflower Brewing & Blending on a day out in which we enjoyed a few beers in Clitheroe, Lancashire. Topher and Chris were keen to visit Corto after listening to the conversation I had previously published on this very podcast between myself and my friend and colleague, Katie Mather. As long time readers and listeners of Pellicle, Topher and Chris were keen to explore the beer scene in the North West—most notably, its traditional pubs, and the bountiful selection of real ale they had to offer. Their keenness to explore the best of the UK's beer traditions is also represented in their own approach to beer making. You might be thinking what does best bitter have to do with the complex, mixed and wild fermentation beers that Wildflower has built its deserved reputation upon? The answer is simple: everything. Since I first had the privilege of meeting Topher at a beer festival in Denver, Colorado back in 2018, I have been fascinated—not just by Wildflowers processes—but by how mindful in their approach to drinking, and the culture of drinking, this brewery is. This approach can be heard throughout this bumper-length interview, which covers everything from their processes in the brewery, to what inspires them as producers, and how they unpack and consider the impact of colonialism on what they make and sell.Need a primer on Wildflower before diving in? Check out this profile we published way back in 2020, written by Australian writer Anastasia Prikhodko, and then dive into this fantastic interview. Thanks again to Topher and Chris for making time in their travel schedule to record this interview, and for sharing some wonderful beers with us during your stay. Don’t forget that if you enjoy this, and other content that Pellicle creates, please consider subscribing via Patreon, and support our independent magazine and podcast.

Growing up in the nearby city of Lincoln, in my late teens day trips to nearby Nottingham held a great deal of anticipation and promise. While my hometown felt, in some ways, culturally deficit, Nottingham had it all—namely venues such as Rock City and The Rescue Rooms where I could see the touring bands I loved. Although, when I eventually moved away from Lincolnshire, so too did I remove myself from the culture of the Midlands, and this absence continued as I began exploring beer. Last year, however, I was presented with the opportunity to visit the city’s annual craft beer week, after being invited to talk about my book, Modern British Beer, at one of the many events happening around town. I was also offered an opportunity to record a podcast at the office’s of Leftlion, the local music, arts and culture magazine that is behind both Nottingham Craft Beer Week, and the annual beer festival that forms the centerpiece to these events. In this bumper-length roundtable discussion I chat to Aimee Harbison of The Barrel Drop pub, Lucy Simons of The Abdication micropub, Alex Wilson of Black Iris Brewing, and Josh Mellor of Neon Raptor Brewing Co. It’s a fascinating conversation that digs into one of the most exciting beer scenes in the UK—and one that, for some reason, doesn’t quite get as much coverage as other, more vocal cities. What I found, however, is that the locals know exactly how good it is, so it was a delight to chat to some of the folks who are making Nottingham such a destination city for great beer.Special thanks to Jared Wilson for inviting me down to Nottingham, and arranging this podcast. Tickets for this years Nottingham Craft Beer Festival are available now, and with the lineup of breweries already signed up, I’d highly recommend paying it a visit. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing via Patreon, and help in our effort to turn Pellicle into a sustainable, profit-making business in 2023.

If you've been on Beer Twitter at all recently you’ll have likely noticed our podcast host Matthew Curtis harping on about bitter and mild. Cask beer is something we love at Pellicle and so we were always going to dedicate one of our panel discussions at Fynefest 2022 to this much debated category.Joined by an expert panel including Mark Welsby of Stockport’s Runaway Brewery, Laura Rangeley of Sheffield’s Abbeydale Brewery, and Malcolm Downie of our hosts Fyne Ales, we attempt to get serious about the discussion around cask. We start by asking whether or not the resurgence in traditional styles such as bitter and mild is here to stay, or if it's merely a flash in the pan. (Or, indeed, consider if it never went away in the first place.)We also dig into some more serious topics. With statistics indicating that the cask ale category is ailing, we ask if premiumisation is the answer to sparking a true resurgence, and debate the much talked over discussion point that is the price of a pint.It’s been a thrill, as always, to host these discussions, and we hope you’ve enjoyed them as much as we have. We’ll be back for more at FyneFest 2023, so make sure you grab your tickets now so you can join us there. And don’t forget to subscribe to Pellicle via Patreon if you’re able to support our website and podcast with a monthly, or yearly donation.