Protz on Beer

A 162 year-old bottle of Guinness rescued from a shipwreck is being analysed by brewing experts to see if the beer can be brought back to life. If successful, it would give a fascinating insight in to how stout tasted in the 19th century. The beer was discovered by Stefan Panis, a Belgian diver and deep sea photographer. He investigated the wreck of the Mindoro that sunk in 1864 following a collision with another vessel off the English coast near Dover.

Sep 2026 Added: Tuesday, September 1st 2026 Jaipur India Pale Ale 5.9 per cent This is good news for beer lovers as one of the finest modern interpretations of IPA is now available for home consumption. It comes in a can holding 8.8 pints or 5 litres. Thornbridge Brewery started life in 2005 when Jim Harrison, who had made his money from the steel industry in Sheffield, built a small 30-barrel kit in sheds in the grounds of Thornbridge Hall in Derbyshire.

There’s been much talk about the year 1976 of late – and it’s nothing to do with football, you will be relieved to hear. It was the year when a blistering heat wave struck the country in June and sales of lager took off like the proverbial steam train. I had joined CAMRA’s head office team in February that year and just six months later it seemed the real ale revolution had stalled in the heat.

Draught Bass 4.4% Draught Bass is the beer that came back from the dead. It was once Britain’s best-selling premium cask beer, accounting for 800,000 barrels a year. But Bass left brewing in 2000 to run hotels – it’s now Holiday Inns – and the beer went through several hoops before ending up in the arms of AB InBev, the world’s biggest brewer. Its main brands include American Budweiser and Stella Artois. It has little interest in cask beer and sales of Draught Bass declined to 30,000 barrels a year.

A fruity pale ale from Tring Brewery using Amarillo, American Cascade, Citra and Simcoe hops with pale, Munich, cara and rye crystal malts. The beer has a spicy, herbal and citrus aroma with a big hop attack on the palate balanced by biscuit malt. The finish is long, fruity and hoppy.

Rob Jones, who has died aged 69, had a remarkable career that helped put small independent breweries in the spotlight, challenging the power of big regional and national companies. Rob, famous for his Dark Star Brewery and its well-hopped ales, came to prominence at the dawn of the micro-brewery revolution when his Dark Star old ale (5 per cent) won the prestigious Champion Beer of Britain competition in 1987-- the first micro-brewery to win the award.

Greene King’s shock decision to sell its Old Speckled Hen brands to the Spanish lager brewer Damm has shone a light on the rapacious profiteering of giant supermarkets. Old Speckled Hen is one of Greene King’s major brands but the income from sales to the off trade is tiny as a result of the deep discounts demanded by the retailers. As the football World Cup gets under way this month we will all be confronted in supermarkets by what are known as “slabs” – boxes of 12 beers for around £12.

Jun 2026 Added: Monday, June 1st 2026 Badger Iron Hart (5.2%) Hall & Woodhouse, famous for its Badger beers, has added a new bottled ale to its range. The brewery, which will celebrate 250 years of brewing in 2027, is based in Blandford Forum in Dorset. It names many beers after local wildlife and this time a tree has been chosen. The beer meets the growing demand for bottled beers with a higher alcohol level than traditional pale ales.

Good Beer Guide Belgium. Tim Skelton (CAMRA, £17.99, €19.99) This is a remarkable book about a remarkable country. Who would have thought, back in 1992, that a guide to Belgian beers and bars would run to nine editions, with a clamour for a new edition after a break of eight years. But then Belgium is no ordinary brewing country.

Greene King is launching its seasonal summer cask range alongside a programme of football-themed activations designed to support pubs through a busy summer of sport. The latest seasonal line-up has been developed for the summer months, focusing on flavour forward, sessionable beers aimed at driving choice and flexibility at the bar throughout the warmer months. Returning for May and June is Hopping Special, a 4.2% ABV amber ale brewed with five malts and late and dry hopping.