The Chronicle
Latest dispatches
15 results across all types
- news
The traditional pub bar is pretty annoying and badly designed
If you were designing a counter for the service of beer would you put a row of posts between the person serving and the customer? Would you also put large display cards on each of those posts, and a charity collection tin to one side, and till on the other? Multiple times in recent weeks […] The traditional pub bar is pretty annoying and badly designed originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
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News, nuggets and longreads 4 July 2026: Reflections in a Golden Eye
Every Saturday we round up the best writing about beer from the past week. This time, we’ve got deaths, rebirths and football. This week’s big news was something everyone’s been expecting for a while: Humphrey Smith, owner of the Samuel Smith brewery in Tadcaster, has died at the age of 81. Some of the tributes […] News, nuggets and longreads 4 July 2026: Reflections in a Golden Eye originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
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Session #150 round-up: thoughts on stout and porter from around the world
We revived The Session for a one-off event to celebrate the work of the late Martyn Cornell, asking people to write something in response to his final book Porter & Stout. We were encouraged in this by Alan ‘A Good Beer Blog’ McLeod whose. We don’t ‘own’ The Session, and neither does he, but we […] Session #150 round-up: thoughts on stout and porter from around the world originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
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Session number 150: When porter was… amber?
Porter is a dark beer, right? Pretty much black. Well, that was not always the case, as the late Martyn Cornell explains in his 2025 book Porter & Stout. He describes 18th century London porter as “mid-brown or deep chestnut in colour at most” and, on the same page, quotes a contemporary source which refers […] Session number 150: When porter was… amber? originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
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News, nuggets and longreads 27 June 2026: Backrooms
Every Saturday we round up the best writing about beer from the past week. This time, we’ve got fruit lager, TV ads and AK. We don’t often put product launches in this top slot which we reserve for news but this piece about Brixton Brewery (Heineken) launching a fruit lager highlights a trend: “Flavoured lager […] News, nuggets and longreads 27 June 2026: Backrooms originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
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June 2026: Instead of a newsletter… Wheat beer
Andreas Krennmair has a new book out focusing on ‘Bavarian white beer’, AKA Hefeweizen, AKA wheat beer. And it’s reminded us to check in with this intriguing style. Out and about in Bristol’s pubs yesterday one thing that struck us was that German wheat beer is a style that’s become quite mainstream in the UK […] June 2026: Instead of a newsletter… Wheat beer originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
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News, nuggets and longreads 20 June 2026: East of Ipswich
Every Saturday we round up the best writing about beer from the past week. This time, we’ve got desi pubs, bad news and pub crawls. First, news from the World Cup and from Boston that seems to confirm a Scottish stereotype: Devon Savage from Boston Beer which owns the Samuel Adams Taproom said the Tartan […] News, nuggets and longreads 20 June 2026: East of Ipswich originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
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Why are horse brasses a pub thing?
Ask someone to describe the décor of a traditional pub and they might well mention horse brasses. Horse brasses are yellow-metal plates or plaques originally used to decorate horse harnesses. In pubs, they’re often nailed to the wall or displayed on black leather straps known as ‘martingales’. But why have they historically been a go-to […] Why are horse brasses a pub thing? originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
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News, nuggets and longreads 13 June 2026: Foolish Seasons
Every week we round up the best beer writing from the past week. This time, we’ve got ’Spoons, the Black Country and a dissenting opinion on low alcohol booze. First, news of the death of an important figure in British brewing, Rob Jones, founder of Dark Star, whose Hophead is one of the all time […] News, nuggets and longreads 13 June 2026: Foolish Seasons originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
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Announcing Session number 150: Responding to Martyn Cornell’s epic book
On Sunday 28 June 2026 we’re going to post something inspired by the late Martyn Cornell’s final epic work of beer history Porter and Stout. We’d love you to join us. The first problem is that the book is quite expensive. The second is that it is large and intimidating. To make this easy for […] Announcing Session number 150: Responding to Martyn Cornell’s epic book originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
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Footballers and their pubs
It used to be that becoming a publican was a standard career path for aging footballers and rugby players. We get the impression that’s much less likely to happen in the 21st century. Footballers running pubs used to be newsworthy, as in this from the Walsall Free Press and General Advertiser for Saturday 29 June […] Footballers and their pubs originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
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News, nuggets and longreads 25 April 2026: Rendezvous in Black
Every Saturday we round up the best writing about beer from the past week. This time, we’ve got pork, Stockport and the Reinheitsgebot. First, a pleasingly minor bit of news: a pub in Lincolnshire has acquired an electronic train departure board thanks to the efforts of volunteers. Now, we say minor, but the ready availability […] News, nuggets and longreads 25 April 2026: Rendezvous in Black originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
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April 2026: Instead of a newsletter… Proper Job
We don’t have a newsletter anymore – we do this instead, in the same format, with a bit of something new, some updates, and a recap of what we’ve posted in the past month. We reconnected with St Austell Proper Job last night, remembered how much we love it, and realised that we’ve been taking […] April 2026: Instead of a newsletter… Proper Job originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
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News, nuggets and longreads 18 April 2026: Tremor of Intent
Every Saturday we round up the best writing about beer from the past week. This time, we’ve got beauty spots and liminal spaces. First, some statistics from the US which, as Jeff Alworth reports, indicate a downturn in the beer market: The Brewers Association has their annual year-end numbers out for 2025 and as expected, […] News, nuggets and longreads 18 April 2026: Tremor of Intent originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
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A contender for “best pub in Bristol” that is definitely not in Bristol
The Rising Sun at Frampton Cotterell, South Gloucestershire, was named the best pub in Bristol by the local CAMRA branch in 2025. But the thing is… it’s in Frampton Cotterell, South Gloucestershire. Talk to Bristol publicans and you’ll sometimes hear a little grumbling about this sort of thing. How can a pub in a different […] A contender for “best pub in Bristol” that is definitely not in Bristol originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog