Shock horror: Quality newspaper acknowledges existence of beer.

The Independent strangely chose today to publicise brewdog's 'Equity for Punks' finance-raising scheme. Where have they been for the last three months? I suppose any coverage of beer outside the mainstream should be welcomed.

Another question - who has invested £10,000 in the scheme and why?

The Grove, Huddersfield

I'd intended to report on a pub crawl yesterday of Huddersfield's excellent pubs. However, the Sportsman  showed total disregard for prospective customers by by disregarding its publised opening time of 11:00 a.m. I gave up waiting at 11:25 and took in a quick pint of Leeds Pale at Wetherspoons (please forgive me) en route to The Grove which opens at noon.

Once inside I realised that it would be very hard to to leave. The cask and craft beer range matches anything found in the trendy metropolis bars. Highlights of the cask range included the new Magic Rock brewery's hoppy, Thornbridge Hall Summer Ale, a collabaration brew from Gadd’s andd the Italian brewery Revelation Cat called Back to Basics Pacific Double IPA (9%) was a very impressive ultra-strong hop bomb. Buxton Moor Top was also very acceptable. Also, the Tim Taylor's lanlord was the best I've tasted in a many a year and reminded me why it was so highly regarded before it appeared it so many pubs round the country that don't really care about beer quality. The beers I've listed are just a smattering of the full range available which you can view here.

I tried a number of craft beers as well: Beer Here Dark Hops IPA (Denmark), Nøgne Ø Pale Ale (Norway), Flying Dog Raging Bitch (USA) and Brewdog’s Hardcore IPA. I didn’t get round the De Molen’s Op & Top (Netherlands) but there will be other opportunities during my trips to Belgium.

Chloe and Kerry provided friendly, fast and knoweldgeable service. A great pub.

Well done CAMRA!

I've criticised CAMRA in the past regarding their attitude to craft beer. This time I'm happy to praise them for cancelling the contract allowing Brewdog at GBBF.

It seems Brewdog didn't pay the bill upfront as required and wouldn't supply beer in kegs large enough to be practicable at a very busy festival. Brewdog are already putting their own spin on events but I'm tiring of their raucous proclamations and deliberate courting of controversy.

Its CAMRA's party and if Brewdog aren't on the list they are not coming in.

2011 Poll

You've no doubt seen the end of year polls on all the other beer blogs. If you're like me you find it hard to remember what you drank yesterday never mind last January. What do you mean "Don't you keep a record on your smartphone thingy complete with marks out of ten?"

So here's my easy peasy Best Brewery of the Year 2011 Poll. Complete it now and save valuable drinking time next December. As any fule kno there are now only four breweries anyone is allowed to vote for. You would be open to ridicule from the Beer Cognoscenti for thinking otherwise. So the nominees are:

1. Brewdog
2. Thornbridge
3. Marble
4. Stinking Sheep (U.S.) This one's a made-up name but if you all disseminate it round the interweb their 23% Balsa Aged Quintupel IPA will soon be name-dropped in the Euston Tap and The Rake.

Happy New Voting!