Ale

Monday

Tomé Morrissy-Swan

The cask ale revival is here

From our UK edition

Anyone paying attention to the pumps at their local recently might have noticed something peculiar: a swathe of old-school logos. There’s the red triangle of Bass, the red right hand of Allsopp’s, the yellow bees and barrel of Boddingtons.   Despite fighting long-term decline, cask ale is having a moment. At some of London’s trendiest new pubs, like the Robin in Stroud Green, McIntosh Ales in Stoke Newington or the Pocket in Angel, cask makes up a significant portion of available beers.

Thursday

Tim Rice

Yes, it’s too early for pumpkin beer 

The biggest purveyor of misinformation at the moment isn’t a podcast host or a foreign adversary. It’s a brewery.  Since announcing the release of its flagship Pumpkinhead Ale on August 1, Shipyard Brewing has commenced a cheeky ad campaign declaring that the dog days of summer are actually the perfect time to enjoy a fall beer. As Americans battle oppressive heat and humidity, the Portland, Maine, brewery has flooded its Instagram with photos of people sipping pumpkin ale on boats, and posts boldly declaring “Pumpkinhead Season is HERE!”  It shouldn’t be. Dropping pumpkin beers in the summer is a big mistake, and not because fall beers are inherently bad — quite the contrary.

fall beer