Thank you, Phil!

No, porter was NOT named after ‘the porters of Covent Garden, Smithfield and Billingsgate’ - Zythophile As a historian of beer I am, of course, delighted that Guinness is progressing with its latest Open Gate project in Covent Garden, London, bringing brewing back to the site of the former Woodyard brew...

In which I lambast Guinness for the historical errors in its announcement of its Open Gate brewery project in Covent Garden, tell you more than you wanted to know about the massive brewery that once stood on the site, and reveal the origin of the insult "berk" … zythophile.co.uk/2025/05/26/n...

Well, now, what can a poor boy do?

35N, supposedly … it’s meant to be connected to the available hours of daylight …

Looking forward to it, especially as Egypt is theoretically 300 miles south of the southern limit of hop growing

No, from the early 1980s he refers to Smithwick's as "reddish", but he doesn't specifically call it a "red ale".

The "style" itself, of course, only came into existence in 1981, with the launch of George Killian's Irish Red Ale by Coors.

Great made-up namwe, too

Mind, I'm writing the history of a pub in central London which is demonstrably at least 163 years OLDER than it claims to be – so sometimes it goes the other way …

Just sold seven copies of Around the World in 80 Beers to eager South Americans here in Chile, all signed by the author, of course. This looks likely to be the first time I will fly home with more foreign currency than I came out with …

Sadly, I believe, the company that revived the “lantern” pint mug has stopped making them. My favourite beer glass …

I hate spammers trying to spoof me out of money, but I particularly hate spammers who can't be bothered to reproduce properly the logo of the company they are pretending to be, or get that company's address right

No pub in Stevenage called the Stag. The Macs pubs were/are the Prince of Wales, the Royal Oak and the Two Diamonds

In Lowestoft, doubtless, they fight over the title "Easternmost pub in Britain" …

Ooo look, an email telling me to click here for my TV licence refund – from 100095845@est.uasd.edu.do. Sure looks legit to me …

Why is porter called porter? You'll find the explanation, and much more about porter and stout, in the interview with me by Andrew Taylor, who runs the Nant Fawr Brews podcast, here bit.ly/NFB_Porter

Indeed … I’ve asked for a copy of the paper, looking forward to reading it …

Do you think there are any insights into Sumerian brewing available from this?

Surely the finest pub interior in These Islands …

Beer column: Fascinating book explores brewing in Hertfordshire St Albans beer columnist Roger Protz on 'Brewing in Hertfordshire' by Martyn Cornell, which shows the history of brewing in the town.

Roger Protz is a very very nice man www.hertsad.co.uk/news/2498113...

Was it in a journal? Do you have a right of reply?

Herby Dumplings - what a great actor he was.

Alas, you can't turn off Microsoft AI if you use an iMac. Simply not possible.

You say that as if it’s a bad thing …

Hugely wise, John

Soon as I saw this golden cauliflower in the local greengrocer’s, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it … a big lump of Sly Fox red Leicester from the cheese counter at the deli in Church Street, and supper is properly sorted

⬆️ (Zbiór Przepisow Administracyjnych Królestwa Polskiego Wydział Spraw Wewnętrznych i Duchiownych.m Część I (Collection of Administrative Regulations of the Kingdom of Poland,. Department of Internal and Spiritual Affairs, Part I) vol III, Warsaw, Poland, 1866, p474)

All those look to have been top-fermented. When bottom-fermented porter came in, I don't know. It may be linked with the expression "porter krajowy," "domestic porter", which was used by brewers such as Okocim, and dates from at least 1866 ⬇️

⬆️Another concern made only English porter and ale, the Fabryka Porteru i Piwa Angielskiego, run by Wojciech Sommer , which opened in 1827. (Wojciech Lipoński, Polska a Brytania, 1801-1830: Próby Politycznego i Cywilizacyjnego, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika p194)

In 1824 imports of porter into the now Russian-owned Duchy of Poland were banned again. At least a dozen breweries in Warsaw turned to porter-making, including Schaefer and Glimpf in Krochmalna Street, which started in 1826, and was "arranged in the manner of the most excellent English breweries"⬇️