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 pseudo-Lager in 1978
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[image: A Grunhalle Lager Beer label featuring a drawing of some rural
buildings.]
To accompany my recent video on YouTube about pseudo-Lager, here are
d...
Carnivale Brettanomyces 2026
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*I made it back to the Carnivale Brettanomyces after too long a gap*. Apart
from a memorable year camping in Belgium it's been based at various venues
in...
Humph
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Humphrey Smith, owner of the Samuel Smith Old Brewery Tadcaster, has gone
to the great Employment Tribunal in the sky at the age of 81. The reaction
...
All Change? Happen not.
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The news broke late yesterday morning that *Humphrey Smith* had passed
away. The doyen of Samuel Smith Brewery was only 81 - though to some he
had been ...
South and North
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This is the last of my posts about my trip to the UK a few weeks ago,
mainly because I didn't really take lots of pictures of the many beers I
drank whil...
Moon Above Water
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Imagine a pub. It’s a single rectangular room, but considerably bigger than
that makes it sound. The ceiling, supported by iron pillars, is high; the
long ...
Rediscovering the Power of Play
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Play is often dismissed as trivial—a fleeting, childlike diversion
separated from the serious business of “economic development.” But in my
time working in...
MoMics - The Museum of Microphones
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We are excited and a little bit proud to announce the launch of MoMics.Org,
our little on-line Museum of Microphones.
The museum of microphones is and w...
Golden Pints 2025
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Happy new year everyone, and here are my Golden Pints of 2025. It’s been
another year in which I’ve drunk a lot of beer and been fortunate enough to
have...
How not to write about autism
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The National Autistic Society has a useful checklist called “How to talk
and write about autism“. Unfortunately it’s a bit hidden away on their
website. It...
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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:
Nice one, you seem to be on a roll.
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