The Pellicle Podcast

It’s been a hot minute since our last episode and for this I can only apologise. Work and life has gotten in the way for too long, however, and I’m pleased to present our latest episode at last. Over the next hour you’ll hear Pellicle co-founder Jonny Hamilton chat to long time friend, and regular Pellicle contributor James Albon. An exceptionally talented illustrator, James has illustrated for the likes of the Wall Street Journal, CAMRA’s Beer Magazine, and for us at Pellicle. You might recognise his work from Eoghan Walsh’s piece on Brasserie de la Senne Zinnebir, or Hollie Stevens’ recent missive on catering, catharsis and collapse. He’s also recently released his latest graphic novel, The Delicacy, which charts a pair of young, ambitious restaurateurs who struggle with the relentless demand of the high end dining world.Jonny and James talk about the book, as well as some of the real world stories in food and dining that draw eerie parallels. It’s a wonderful chat we sincerely hope you enjoy. Stay tuned, as we’ve got another bunch of episodes in the pipeline that we’ll try to get with you as soon as possible.Buy The Delicacy here.

Ever since I first tried the vibrant, deliciously spiced food at its original Leeds site back in 2014, I have been besotted with Bundobust. It’s 100% vegetarian/vegan menu changed my preconceptions of what a modern Indian restaurant offering could look like. Especially one with such a focus on craft beer—which is more often associated with food such as American barbecue (and its many regional variants) or other meat-focused fare. Although it was definitely the eclectic beer offering that first drew me in—and has made me something of a regular—Bundobust helped me understand, and get excited about regional variances in traditional Indian cuisine. A few years ago I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell you what bhel puri was, or about the delights of the (now albeit somewhat ubiquitous) vada pav. But now this style of cuisine feels familiar, and comforting. Perfectly at home in the lively, modern surroundings Bundobust has set it within. But Bundobust founders Mayur Patel and Marko Husak are not content with operating just three successful restaurants. Venues that have received seriously high acclaim in the national press. In 2021 they’re expanding by opening their own brewery, which is housed in a soon to open fourth site on Manchester’s busy Oxford Street. For the past eight months, recently hired head brewer Dan Hocking has been toiling away on a brand new brewing system, fine tuning recipes which finally saw the light at the end of June 2021. I was delighted to have the opportunity to catch up with Mayur, Marko and Dan, and find out why they’ve decided to move into this direction. It was also the perfect opportunity to dig into the origins of the restaurant, as well as ask a few questions about the bigger picture, such as the gentrification of Indian food, and where Bundobust sees itself in relation to that. We also dig into the beers themselves, and where the restaurant sees itself going in the future. Here’s a couple of links to pieces mentioned in this episode:Jaega Wise talking about sexism in the drinks industry for BBC Radio 4’s The Food ProgrammeZarina Muhammad’s article “I Hate Dishoom” for The White Pube

It often dawns on me that, as cool as my job of being a writer is, it’s also pretty-fucking-weird. This never felt more the case than over the past nine months where I worked on not one, but two very different books. Not only is having a self-defined career writing (predominantly) about beer, cider and wine strange, but it’s also quite a lonely experience, and largely revolves around working solo. This has felt especially true over the past 18 months. This—incredibly self-indulgent episode—is part explainer, part therapy session, where I talk about the idiosyncrasies of what I do for a living, my process as a writer, and what it’s really like on my side of the screen. It’s something that I’ve wanted to talk about for a long time, and honestly it felt really good getting it out there. To round out this episode I also read what I consider to be my personal favourite piece of feature writing of my career so far: my profile of Sheffield’s Brewery of St. Mars of the Desert. If you’re interested in writing, especially regarding food and drink, then this episode is for you.You can pre-order Matthew's new book Modern British Beer here. 

In this discussion, Paul Jones, founder of Cloudwater Brew Co., shares his journey of transforming the brewery into a leader in quality and social activism. He reflects on navigating the pandemic challenges while prioritizing employee safety over profits. Paul emphasizes his commitment to community support, from paying industry-leading wages to empowering emerging breweries. The talk also dives into brewing techniques for diverse styles, showcasing Cloudwater's dedication to innovation and flavor, all while fostering a stronger Manchester beer scene.

In October 2016, six months into being a full-time beer writer, I waded into the murky waters of cider writing. On publishing my first piece I was—a little surprisingly—met with a considerable amount of resistance to my view that “cider had an image problem” but there were also positives, which kick-started my journey into cider in earnest. This episode takes a dive into that piece, in which I said that “there needs to be more British cider that takes itself seriously in terms of both flavour and the way in which it presents itself.” It could be argued that we have that now. However, the further I dig to cider culture, the more it feels evident that divisions remain. In this episode I attempt to work out why that is, while also considering that when most people think about cider, they still consider it to be something fizzy and sweet that comes in cans or pints—certainly not 750ml bottles or bag-in-boxes. Consider this a thought experiment in trying to work all of this out, and where UK cider is now compared to where it was five years ago. All opinions within are to be taken with a pinch or two of salt. Listen in to hear what might be next for cider culture, and try to figure out why we can’t all just get along.Read the original cider article from 2016 here: totalales.co.uk/blog/2016/10/23/the-skys-the-limit-cidre-latypique-and-the-uks-cider-renaissanceDig into Pellicle’s cider archive here: pelliclemag.com/home?category=CiderSupport Pellicle on Patreon here: patreon.com/pelliclemagEpisode Host: Matthew Curtis

It's that time of the year where we're making our lists and checking them twice. No, not for Christmas, but for our annual best-of's! In this drink-along Christmas special, join Matthew as he recounts his favourite beers, wines, ciders and meals of 2020 over a couple of cans. It's been a rough year for many of us, but hopefully this will help spread a little bit of Christmas cheer. Thanks again to our Patreon subscribers for making this podcast possible throughout this tumultuous year. If you’re able to support Pellicle with a monthly donation, please head to patreon.com/pelliclemag.Episode Host: Matthew CurtisRead more at www.pelliclemag.com

Welcome you what you could consider the beginning of The Pellicle Podcast 2.0. After much deliberation we've made the decision to switch from a series-based format to an episodic one. We just didn't have the time or the resources available in our current schedule to produce the documentary-style episodes we had in mind when originally launching this podcast. This change will allow us to produce episodes in a more timely fashion, thus keeping the show's momentum going.We've also made a few editorial changes, for example we'll be introducing more long-form interviews. We know a lot of beer podcasts already do these very well, but you know the feeling where you're listening to a conversation and wish they'd ask the question that's burning away at the back of your mind? Well, we're in an advantageous situation where we can do exactly that, and who are we to deny you folks? In addition, our host—Pellicle co-founder Matthew Curtis—will be using the podcast as his personal scratchpad to explore his feelings on some of the bigger (and smaller) topics in beer, wine and cider.Which brings us to our latest episode. Over the past few years the UK's beer industry has been embroiled in debate over whether or not some of its smallest brewers are paying enough tax, and if some of its larger brewers are paying too much. In this episode our host explores his personal feelings on a matter he's spent much of the past three years covering, with few holds barred, and a conclusion that perhaps changes to the duty system should be the least of small brewers concerns. If you enjoy this new format of the show—or you didn't—drop us a line and let us know.In this episode we reference an article on Marston's by Jonny Garrett for Good Beer Hunting, which can be read here: https://www.goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines/2019/12/9/years-of-lying-to-pub-tenants-could-cost-marstons-millions Thanks again to our Patreon subscribers for making this podcast possible. If you’re able to support Pellicle with a monthly donation, please head to patreon.com/pelliclemag.Episode Host: Matthew CurtisRead more at www.pelliclemag.com 

Welcome to this special edition of the Pellicle Podcast. Today’s episode was recorded back in February at Cloudwater’s Friends and Family and Beer Festival. It’s hard to believe that such a brilliant event actually happened in 2020, but we’re so glad it did, and we’ll remember that weekend fondly for a long time to come. Thanks again to Paul, Doreen and Connor at Cloudwater for inviting Jonny and I up to host these talks at the festival.In this episode, we chat to Alex Troncoso of Lost and Grounded in Bristol, and Katie Pietsch from WhiteFrontier in Switzerland, as we get into conversation about what makes lager so universally appealing, and contemplate why its popularity has been steadily growing among craft beer consumers who typically lean towards American hops, complex sours, and delectably big stouts.Thanks again to our Patreon subscribers for making this podcast possible, including Cloudwater, who are one of our pro-tier subscribers. If you’re able to support Pellicle with a monthly donation, please head to patreon.com/pelliclemag. Host: Matthew Curtis Guests: Alex Troncoso — Lost & Grounded, Katie Pietsch — WhiteFrontierRead more at www.pelliclemag.com 

Welcome to this special edition of the Pellicle Podcast. Today’s episode was recorded back in February at Cloudwater’s Friends and Family and Beer Festival. It’s hard to believe that such a brilliant event actually happened in 2020, but we’re so glad it did, and we’ll remember that weekend fondly for a long time to come. Thanks again to Paul, Doreen and Connor at Cloudwater for inviting Jonny and I up to host these talks at the festival.In this episode we take great pleasure in chatting to two bonafide industry legends: Doug Odell from Odell Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Paul Wood, now retired but formerly of Manchester’s own JW Lees Brewery. Over the next half hour, we chat about how styles vital to the beer heritage of the United Kingdom such as bitter and mild remain as vital today, and tomorrow, as they’ve always been.One additional, very important thing about this episode. At the moment I am not actively supporting JW Lees brewery, due to their stance on beer taxation reform in the UK, and how this might negatively affect many of the UK's small breweries. However, I really enjoyed this conversation, and still consider it having value, hence why I’m sharing it. But not everything I say during this recording is reflective of my present stance—find me on twitter @totalcurtis for a more updated view.Thanks again to our Patreon subscribers for making this podcast possible, including Cloudwater, who are one of our pro-tier subscribers. If you’re able to support Pellicle with a monthly donation, please head to patreon.com/pelliclemag.  Host: Matthew Curtis Guests: Paul Wood — J.W. Lees, Doug Odell — Odell BrewingRead more at www.pelliclemag.com 

Welcome to this special edition of the Pellicle Podcast. Today’s episode was recorded back in February at Cloudwater’s Friends and Family and Beer Festival. It’s hard to believe that such a brilliant event actually happened in 2020, but we’re so glad it did, and we’ll remember that weekend fondly for a long time to come. Thanks again to Paul, Doreen and Connor at Cloudwater for inviting Jonny and I up to host these talks at the festival.In this episode Jonny Hamilton chats with Khris Johnson from Green Bench in Florida, Andrew Schwartz from Modern Times in San Diego, California and Felix Nash from The Fine Cider Company here in the UK, on what happens when the production of beer, wine and cider are brought together, and what potential experiences does this offers to the curious drinker. This is a fascinating insight into the crossover of beer, wine and cider, and I hope you find this discussion as compelling as I did when I got to sit in the audience and listen in.Thanks again to our Patreon subscribers for making this podcast possible, including Cloudwater, who are one of our pro-tier subscribers. If you’re able to support Pellicle with a monthly donation, please head to patreon.com/pelliclemag.Host: Jonny Hamilton Guests: Khris Johnson — Green Bench, Andrew Schwarz — Modern Times, Felix Nash — The Fine Cider CompanyRead more at www.pelliclemag.com