Beer Mutiny, Hoxton

Reads 3103 • Replies 25 • Started Tuesday, May 21, 2013 2:03:06 AM CT

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BeerViking
beers 9209 º places 134 º 02:03 Tue 5/21/2013

Has anyone here heard about this yet? It’s supposed to be a quarterly "craft beer festival", run by Justina Cruickshank’s Craft Beer Social Club at the Arch402 gallery in Hoxton ( http://www.arch402.com/index.html).

The press release ( http://www.sourcewire.com/news/77718/) says:

"The idea behind Beer Mutiny (which has the motto: Go against the grain; stand up for British Beer) is rebel to against the common misconception that British beer is dull, uninviting and not readily available. The large number of mainstream beer brands, and lack of choice at the average pub, implies that the UK does not have a strong brewing tradition."

Hmm, I guess she and I drink in different pubs...

Anyway, if I read it right it’s a five day tasting event, 10 samples for £15 over a four-hour session. Overambitious, or about right for Hoxton?

 
CraftBeerJusty
07:45 Tue 5/21/2013

Hi BeerViking,

Thanks for posting about our event.

We’ve been running events similar to this for over a year in and around London, and by now we have educated thousands of beer enthusiasts at various events and private celebrations (e.g. stag do’s and birthdays). I’ve found that lots of people do not know much about British beer. Some people don’t realise we have such a brilliant industry. So that’s what we are about: widening people’s horizons no matter what level of beer knowledge they have.

Even though craft beer is very much en vogue at the moment, if you go to an average pub, without research and without thinking about it, the selection is still very mainstream. I’m lucky enough to be based in London’s East End so there is a plethora of specialist beer pubs on my doorstep. But for the average person, that’s not always the case. So we help them to discover our great breweries and beers in a really accessible way.

Even if those that are up-to-date on what’s going on in British beer have really appreciated the selection that we offer, the new beers we have introduced them to, new information, and a new environment to enjoy beer with lots of beer lovers.

Our strapline is "Explore Drink Love" and that’s all we want: to get more people exploring, drinking and loving British beer.

Are you based in London? And is this the sort of event you would consider attending?

Thanks for reading!

http://www.TheCraftBeerSocialClub.co.uk


 
chriso
beers 7540 º places 736 º 09:38 Tue 5/21/2013

Originally posted by CraftBeerJusty
And is this the sort of event you would consider attending?

Not trying to be negative but I doubt you’ll get too much interest from the older hands around here without a list of what beers will be available.

 
tdtm82
beers 1704 º places 138 º 10:06 Tue 5/21/2013

Also this is very wrong about British beer. It is the British beer which started the craft beer revolution in America from the mid 1990’s and onwards.

 
InvalidStout
13:43 Tue 5/21/2013

Originally posted by tdtm82
Also this is very wrong about British beer. It is the British beer which started the craft beer revolution in America from the mid 1990’s and onwards.


It doesn’t say British beer is dull. It says a lot of people perceive it to be dull and they want to change that perception.

 
BeerViking
beers 9209 º places 134 º 14:37 Tue 5/21/2013

Originally posted by InvalidStout
It doesn’t say British beer is dull. It says a lot of people perceive it to be dull and they want to change that perception.

Well, up to a point, Lord Copper - the festival webpage says "Beer Mutiny is the only beer festival that fights the establishment – no more dull beer, we say!" Which kind of implies that the organisers also perceive established beers to be dull.

All this is just marketing* of course - you can’t cast yourself as a revolutionary if you don’t have something or someone to rebel against, and if you have to create that something yourself, then so be it.

*as long as you’re after money - if you’re after power, then it’s just politics.

 
BeerViking
beers 9209 º places 134 º 15:01 Tue 5/21/2013

Originally posted by CraftBeerJusty
I’ve found that lots of people do not know much about British beer. Some people don’t realise we have such a brilliant industry. So that’s what we are about: widening people’s horizons no matter what level of beer knowledge they have.

Absolutely, and as far as that goes I think you’re doing a great job - it’s one I also do myself, by the way, leading or helping with guided tastings.

Where we might differ is that it’s not just trendy new craft beer that’s under-recognised, it’s been true of (craft) real ale for many years. I guess that if I have a nit to pick it is the apparent dissing of 40 years of brilliant beer, just because the new national ale brands are as you say pretty dull.

Still, I do understand the need to market, and I know that appeals to novelty and rebellion are useful tools for the marketeer - oh hello Brewdog...

Are you based in London? And is this the sort of event you would consider attending?

I’d be curious to see the format as much as anything, but sadly I won’t be back in town until after your event.

 
tdtm82
beers 1704 º places 138 º 05:31 Thu 5/23/2013

No ’Invalid Stout’ I was referring to the fact that the angle is entirely wrong. It is the mundane British beer which what the Americans first tried over here and tried to produce in the US but of course did not have our hops or malts so of course the flavour outcome was different.

 
CraftBeerJusty
04:10 Fri 5/24/2013

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all your feedback. I’ll just respond to a few comments:

@tdtm82 - We do teach people about how we started the American craft beer industry (which says everything about what we want to be instrumental in changing) and InvalidStout is correct, the objective of the event is to help change the perception of British beer. If you can be bothered and have time, check out this review http://bit.ly/10Ka7Kf for an event where we showcased a range of British beers. The first poster states:

"Downstairs I enjoyed the honey ale. I find British beers very boring. Not because there isn’t good British beer, it’s out there... but hard to find in a typical pub (which is why I find pubs boring). I would love to see that honey ale in a pub or bar. I would be happy to induce a hangover on that stuff!
The honey beer, btw, was either Lymestone’s Stone Brood or Humpty Dumpty’s Norfolk Nectar - not sure which one she had.

Anyway, this is exactly why we think it’s important to show off some the diversity of beers we have. The posters sentiment is not isolated. However, saying all that, there are some boring, dull British beers just as there are some boring German and Belgium and <insert country here> beers.

@BeerViking it’s interesting that you think we are implying that established British beers are dull. We don’t think that at all. There are plenty of established beers that we enjoy. And on that point, our club is really about exploration, we absolutely don’t tell people what to drink or what to like. We encourage diversity and opinion. And it really makes me smile when I have a room full of people (of all levels) debating about the flavours and the merits of a particular beer. What I do want is for them to walk out of the room and consider trying a beer because it’s British as opposed to sticking to their usual big brand name.

And to that end, we introduce guests to a whole range of beers - just not big multi-national brands. And on that we actually don’t just include craft beers, we do ales and lagers as well, but ’The Craft Beer, Ale and Lager Social Club’ seemed a bit of a mouthful ;)

Anyway, it’s great to have a discussion about it. @BeerViking shame you’ll not be in town. Perhaps you could come to another one of our events. And what tastings do you do? -

Thanks for reading!

http://www.TheCraftBeerSocialClub.co.uk

 
chriso
beers 7540 º places 736 º 04:24 Fri 5/24/2013

So Justy, will you be publishing a list of all the beers that will be available? And in good time to buy tickets if it seems worthwhile.

 
tdtm82
beers 1704 º places 138 º 21:07 Fri 5/24/2013

So what are people’s perception of British beer then? Seems like a rather sweeping statement as many are happy drinking regional beer.