This is Jon's personal "blog" - I work at an independent microbrewery (a small-scale, artisanal producer of “real ale” and other beery treats), based in the Furness area in Cumbria (or N. Lancs if you'd rather). Or a "Craft Brewer", if you like. We're known as "Stringers", or "Stringers Beer". I don't just make beer - I also sound-off in half-informed rants on a variety of subjects. Like here.
UK Beer exports to Asia in 1898
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[image: A Jeffrey Rhinocerous brand Bottled Export Stout featuring a
drawing of the head of a rhinocerous and the text"Suoperior quality bottled
in Scotl...
When is a beer, not a beer?
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*Question,* when is the beer not a beer? *Answer,* when it's a brand. So,
what exactly do I mean by that statement? Basically, several named beers,
that ...
The CIBD Sustainability in Brewing Conference 2025
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*I recently attended the CIBD's Sustainability in Brewing Conference in
Nottingham*. I was working so though there was plenty of *networking and
CPD *I d...
A Very Mixed Bag
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While in Manchester the worst and more noisy aspects of bathroom
replacement were taking place, we fled to London to get some peace and
quiet and, import...
What The Schnitt?
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Yesterday I introduced you to our friend Mr BĂlek, shoemaker and fundraiser
for Czech national causes extraordinaire, yet he was far from alone in his
en...
A mutual path for water?
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It was a privilege to present in Whitstable, Kent, recently to the People’s
Commission on Water, whose report is released today. It relates to a topic
that...
Mild Magic: the pubs
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This is a second post about 2025’s Mild Magic, Stockport and South
Manchester CAMRA‘s annual celebration of mild. The previous post focused on
the beers; t...
When “candidate” is a crime against English
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I originally posted this on LinkedIn under the title “Why I’m not doing job
interviews for freelance work”. I was quite cross. It’s autism awareness
month ...
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*Green Hop Season 2024*
This year we're celebrating the Green Hop season to its fullest, with two
events at our Taproom.
*Green Hop Launch*
*Save the...
Last night at the JT
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*Yesterday evening, I went to the Jerusalem Tavern. It was the pub's last
night.*
The operators, St Peter's Brewery, haven't renewed their long lease, an...
A final pint
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My last blog post was a bit of a downer. I’ll try to cheer up on this one.
I seem to have created a theme of chronicling end of pubs. The travails of
the...
A Tale Of Two Weekends
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The never ending tour of Manchester continues. With a lot of places either
still closed completely or not opening early in the week, it's easier to do
a ...
The Session: Where I'm/It's At.
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Well, it has been a while. Since there was a proper Session. Since I wrote
a thing on this blog. Glad to be prodded. I think about blogging often, but
the...
The Positively Unknown
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New book announcement! "The Positively Unknown: A Kid's Guide to the
Zymoglyphic Museum" is now available. Pick up a copy while you are
visiting the mu...
Letting go
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It is often difficult to accept defeat. Indeed, when one has been working
on something for a long time it can be almost impossible to actually make
that fi...
We are taking a break
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Dear Reader.
Due to various unforeseen circumstances, 'A Swift One' is taking a short
sabbatical. We apologise to all for the lack of content but we hope t...
Passive-aggressive hate mail
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Way back in 2001, my brother and I opened a specialist beer bar in London.
You can read more about it *here*.
The way we were doings things proved fairly n...
Caxton Inn / XX Inn, River Street
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Caxton Inn, River Street, Hulme, 1921. (c) Bob Potts [1]. The Caxton Inn
was a Carlton Brewery house that stood on the corner of River Street and
Welcomb S...
Brooklyn Comes To Dalston
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Brooklyn Brewery are on the road again, taking their 'Mash' concept out to
nine countries. This week, they've been in London, with events like a DIY
dinner...
Thomas Hardy's Ale Reborn
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This beauty arrived by post yesterday so I thought it was time to end my
silence.
The rights to the Thomas Hardy Ale name have now passed to a company in...
Recipe for
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Busy days, busy days. I had an hour in departures this week with no
wireless and a useless phone so my 150 e-mails per day couldn’t find me.
During my co...
His name is "Stay!"
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I'm lucky enough to get a call every so often from the Endress+Hauser
Corporation to make something out of their spare parts. They give me full
creative...
1 comment:
I'd rather go to the pub than try reading any situationist texts again.
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