Simon Jenkins started his career in Goole, but not even that hampered him. Cutting his teeth as a journalist in East Yorkshire and the vale of Calder, Simon landed at the Yorkshire Evening Post in 1991 and never looked back, working for fifteen years at Leeds’ flagship evening newspaper.

Though now working at Leeds University, Simon still writes the Taverner column for the paper and in 2010 he won Best Writing in the UK Regional Press for his contribution to beer. It was an award which ultimately led to the deserved crown of Beer Writer of the Year, and the ominous duties of representing the beer industry (not to mention writing a speech for the following years awards do!)

In his spare time Simon follows both Leeds United and Oxford United fan and has recently penned his first book, The Great Leeds Pub Crawl, a ramble around the history and character of every type of pub the city has to offer.

Near the Negev Desert

Jaipur IPA

Pint of Landlord...

...just as good bottled

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Daniel Carey owns and operates the New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, Wisconsin which he founded along with his business partner and wife, Deb in 1993.

Dan has an extraordinary brewing pedigree. He shoveled out his first mash tun in 1979 at the age of 18, in Helena, Montana, while earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science at UC Davis. Dan was Valedictorian of the Siebel Institute Course in Brewing Science and served his apprenticeship at the Ayinger Brewery nr Munich. In 1992 he became the first American since 1978 to pass the Master Brewer Examination of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in London. He then spent time as an engineer for brewery manufacturer JV Northwest where he built or consulted on the breweries for many of the 1980s craft-beer pioneers.

He has also been a Production Supervisor for Anheuser-Busch. Dan won the Association of Brewers 2003 “Small Brewer of the Year” Award, the 2005 and 2006 “Mid-Size Brewer of the Year” Awards as well as the 2006 Russell Schehrer Award for Innovations in Brewing.

New Glarus Brewing Company brewed their first beer in October 1993. The brewery began in an abandoned warehouse with used brewpub equipment. In 1997, Dan removed a copper kettles from a brewery in Germany that was slated to be demolished. When the retiring brew master learned his beloved brew kettle might live on, he sold all of his equipment to the Carey’s for its scrap value alone.

In May 2006, New Glarus Brewing Company broke ground on a new $21 million facility on a hilltop on the south edge of the village of New Glarus, Wisconsin. The new 75,000 sq. ft. facility increased production to 100,000 barrels. The new facility was designed to look like a Bavarian village and is also now a popular tourist destination. They are now rated as the 21st largest craft brewer and 32nd largest overall brewing company in the U.S.A.

New Glarus produce a spectrum of beer styles that have garnered the acclaim of the international brewing community. Perhaps most notable of New Glarus’ repertoire are the Belgian and Germanic beers that add to the rich European heritage of the area. The brewery’s Wisconsin Belgian Red is a tart and sweet Kriekbier brewed with whole Montmorency cherries, Wisconsin wheat, and Belgian roasted barleys. The household standard though is Spotted Cow, a session-able farmhouse ale brewed with flaked barley and Wisconsin malt. With a sweet, crisp flavor profile, this brew is today Wisconsin’s #2 most consumed draught beer behind Miller Lite!

Dan Carey

Spotted Cows

Another vote for Pliny

The Perfect Landlord

When I’m out socialising with companions who are satisfied with just
about any golden, fizzy liquid they can get their hands on, one of the
few real ales they have actually heard of is Timothy Taylor’s Landlord.

In bottle form, the jolly barman on the label is recognisable from
many a cask pump. So does it live up to it’s cousin from the barrel?

The dark amber colour is certainly inviting and the ale produces a
lively head straight away. Freshly poured, the aroma certainly
imitates the warm, malty scent of the cask equivalent.

Once in the mouth, it’s surprising how smooth it feels for a bottled
ale, with only the slightest of carbonising sensations on the tongue.

The first taste reflects the malty aroma with the slightest of toffee
in the mouth, with a strong, burnt aftertaste that lingers for the
remainder of the glass. I have to say, I don’t recall this particular
flavour from the last time I had Landlord in the pub and, at first, I thought
it might detract from the potential to be a good session beer. By the end
of the bottle however, I could certainly have managed another couple -
the sign of a winning ale for me.

Comparing a bottled to a cask version of the same beer is something I
don’t always find easy to do, as each method can produce a very
different pint, some better in the bottle, some in the cask. Landlord
tastes slightly heavier and the aftertaste is certainly more
overpowering in the variety I have tried here, but this doesn’t make
it any less of a drink.

Realistically, I didn’t expect it to meet the high standard set by a
pint of Timothy Taylor Landlord in a traditional pub setting, but I
didn’t anticipate that it would produce such a drinkable bottled beer
in it’s own right.

Timothy Taylor Landlord