Beer Breaks

A handpull at Stockport Beer Festival advertising Steelfish Mild at Heart

We're excited to welcome you back to the 2026 Stockport Beer & Cider Festival this June! Early Doors tickets are available at just £16.50, which include £10 in drinks vouchers, a lovely glass to enjoy your drinks*, and entry on the day you choose.

www.stockportfestival.org.uk?ref=SF

A busy scene at Microbus, Gateshead, with handpumps, crisps, electronic beer board and bits of bus.

Bored with craft? You may not be alone. In our latest newsletter @philmellows.bsky.social speculates on a shift back to 'ordinary' beers and finds fresh excitement in a couple of micropubs: britishbeerbreaks.substack.com/p/when-the-n...

A Guide to Nottingham's Art Deco Pubs Thinking of a visit to Nottingham for my Art Deco Walk? Here's some Art Deco pubs you can visit while you're here.

A Guide to Nottingham's Art Deco Pubs by Lucy Brouwer: watsonfothergillwalk.substack.com/p/a-selectio... (Thanks for the steer, @boakandbailey.bsky.social)

Beer Tours UK Tees-Off With Golf-and-Ale Experience Pioneering tours operator Beer Tours UK is offering a new Golf-with-Beer experience for the North-West of England and North Wales, following a successful trial in 2025. The highly experienced Chester ...

New golf-and-ale experience from @beertoursuk.bsky.social via @britbeerwriters.bsky.social www.beerguild.co.uk/news/beer-to...

The interior of a Belgian style cafe with small wooden tables and normal sized chairs.

We removed The Strawberry Thief from our Bristol pub guide a while ago after a couple of disappointing visits. Then it became Froth & Fries and seemed to be downplaying its Belgian beer list. Now we've visited properly: beer is great, pleasant and efficient table service, bitterballen on the menu.

Murderers has won awards for its screened sports, btw, on all day long.

Sounds like you need a copy of our book, James! In the centre try The Murderers. The Fat Cat is one of the greats but a bit of a hike. It has a sibling, the Cat & Canary, not too far from the station past the Coach & Horses. Or head north for the Kings Head, the Plasterers and the Leopard.

Fancy a pub crawl with a sea view? Morecambe Bay, Carnforth, Hest Bank and Morecambe, Heysham.
The Bay DayRider costs just £6 for unlimited travel all day🚌

micropubadventures.co.uk/thebaytrail/

#beertime #RealAle #beer #CAMRGB 🍺 #CosAlien#camra #GoToThePub #SupportOurPubs #cask #BskyBeer

Book open on pages detailing york's beery offerings

Apropos of last post viz forthcoming break @philmellows.bsky.social and Kate Simon's Beer Breaks in Britain opens with York, which is handy. We've been to Leeds and Sheffield recently so that will be 3 of the 4 entries in The North section ticked off.

I’m very much looking forward to this years Trade Project, a trade only set of beers from Distant Lands in collaboration with Baron, Beak Brewery, Elmeleven, and Rivington Brew Co.
Check the second image for launch venues. I’ll be enjoying the beers at Hop Stop Beers.

Like previous years, we've worked hard to make CCBE something special. Well, our international guest for CCBE 2026 is now sorted… and yes, it’s an absolute banger!

The Latvian legends Arpus are coming to Chester & complete our brewery line-up for 2026!

#BskyBeer

Poster advertising the AF Beer Weekender at the Kings Cross Beer & Burger Store, January 23-25, promising "the largest selection of AF beer pouring on tap in the UK".

The Rows is a unique network of medieval open walkways that run along the first-floor level of the four main streets at Chester’s historic heart. One corner is pictured with half-timbered two and three-storey buildings with shops on the ground floor and red roofs, towers and chimneys above.

For 2026 we've got a new series of newsletters that will return to a destination in the book and pick out a compact circuit of drinking places and things to see and do along the way - which you can complete on a day trip. We begin with Chester: britishbeerbreaks.substack.com/p/chester-wh...

St Mars of the Desert: an oasis in the industrial hinterlands Brewery taprooms often feel in conflict with their industrial surroundings, but few so much as The Brewery of St Mars of the Desert (SMOD).

BLOG POST: We really liked St Mars of the Desert in Sheffield. Here, we've tried to articulate exactly why. 🍺🍻

boakandbailey.com/2026/01/st-m...

Well worth a listen. It’s important at the moment to promote pubs as diverse and inclusive social spaces and this is a great example.

TYNESIDE LAMBIC TRAIL 2026
24/25 Jan 26

Looking forward to once again joining some great Tyneside bars to show off the best in lambic and mixed ferm beer from the UK, Belgium and Beyond.

Details coming. Save the date and please share!

Pete Brown Pete Brown started pairing his favourite beers and songs as a joke, then discovered that scientists at Oxford University were doing something very similar, and taking it really seriously! He talks...

FAVERSHAM! I am talking Tasting Notes and blowing minds with how music changes the flavour of beer (or rather, your perception of it) on 20th Feb with @favlit.org and @henrygjeffreys.bsky.social. Info and tickets here! Lots more events coming up. www.favershamliteraryfestival.org/2026/events/...

Here's a sneak peek into what dates we'll be running our Beer Tasting and Cheese Pairing Experience days.😊B
ook your spot took your spot through our website (multiple bookings are accepted): https://brewlab.co.uk/product/beer-tasting-and-cheese-pairing-experience/

#Sunderland 'Brewery

Some awesome Xmas gift ideas to add to your wish-list from a few of our members ⬇️⬇️⬇️

A beer cask branded Shepherd Neame, wreathed in festive lights and decorations, with a Santa hat on top. Stillaged casks are visible out-of-focus in the background.

"The beers we’re looking for here require substance. They need to be special. They have to match the smells and flavours of the season". @philmellows.bsky.social wonders 'What is a Christmas beer, anyway?' for our latest newsletter: britishbeerbreaks.substack.com/p/what-is-ch...

Inside Guinness’s £73m Open Gate Brewery London Explore Guinness’s £73m Covent Garden visitors’ centre and microbrewery, featuring craft beers, dining by Pip Lacey, immersive tours, and exclusive retail experiences.

Inside the new Guinness microbrewery and visitor centre in Covent Garden | Morning Advertiser www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2025...

A gorgeous book strewn with Christmas fairy lights.

Ideal gift for the travelling beer lover in your life: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/beer-brea... (Shameless plug. Fairy lights not included.)

Great list of smaller beer destinations, including some that are in our book and some intriguing picks. More good reasons to get out and about!

Great list of smaller beer destinations - including some intriguing picks. More good reasons to get out and about!

Oh yeah baby...

The Kernel have agreed to come to Chester. One of the most influential breweries in the UK, never chasing trends and never making a fuss. Honest beer, brewed perfectly. An absolute privilege to have them at CCBE 2026.

Tickets: bit.ly/ChesterBeerE...

Cool for Cats — The Fat Cat in Norwich, Norfolk — Pellicle Night has fallen over The Fat Cat in Norwich, and I’ve been here long enough to watch the clientele change. I saw the post-work crowd rush in; now, as it thins, I head to the bar to order a pint of Ti...

One of the greats. Norwich's Fat Cat gets the @pelliclemag.com treatment courtesy @fred-gs.bsky.social www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/11...

A roaring stag amid a herd of red deer in Richmond Park with out-of-focus joggers and cyclists amid trees in the background.

From the race to find a hairy snail to rutting deer, Kate Simon celebrates the attractions of London's wild side in our latest newsletter, while @philmellows.bsky.social stalks the local beers: britishbeerbreaks.substack.com/p/its-wild-i...

The artwork for the Collabageddon beers: Brolly x Thornbridge - Perch - Burton Ale - 4.6% Bullhouse x Fierce - Meet Your Maker - Hazy Pale - 4.5% Campervan x Wild Horse - North Shore - NZ Double IPA - 7.6% Castle Rock x Elusive - Junimo - Nelson Sauvin & Juniper IPA - 6% Duration x Tap Social - Goatfell - Mountain IPA - 5.2% Elusive x Brolly - Midnight Cruiser - Black IPA - 5.6% Fierce x Castle Rock - Knight and Rook - 80 Shilling Scottish Export - 4.7% Hand x Duration - Noki - Schwarzbier - 4.8% Origins (Fyne) x Bullhouse - Red Grenache Wine Chimera - 5.9% (mixed ferm oak aged sour with Cherry, Raspberry, Cranberry, Redcurrant, Rose, Cinnamon and Pink Peppercorns) Tap Social x Campervan - Voyager - Czech-style Dark Lager - 4.2% Thornbridge x Hand - Vega - Transatlantic IPA - 7% Wild Horse x Origins (Fyne) - Wiwer - White Grenache Wine Chimera - 5.2% (clean fruited sour with Quince, Peach, Marigolds, Borage and Cubeb Pepper)

Collabageddon is GO!

We think this year’s beer list is our most eclectic and diverse to date, courtesy of the eleven wonderful breweries we invited to join us as part of this year’s line up.

Don’t forget to share your photos and let us know where you’re enjoying the beers this weekend! 📷

Home - Beer Passport The Ultimate Beer Adventure Starts Here! Unlock access to 80+ taprooms and exclusive discounts with Beer Passport. Shop Now Learn More Explore the world of craft beer and get a stamp at each taproom y...

Beer Passport 2026 edition is out now, with discounts available at more than 80 brewery taprooms across London: beerpassport.co.uk

Explore the Best Pubs & Bars in Europe! 4000+ venues to explore across the continent. Browse maps 🗺️, galleries and in-depth reviews 🔎 Find great bars for your next trip!

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘄 on EBG? 🗺️

• 2 new Days Out features (Bremen 🇩🇪 / Bilbao 🇪🇦)
• 60 new bar profiles 🇨🇿🇩🇪🇪🇦🇵🇱🇮🇹
• Top 50 Best Bars in Germany 2025 🇩🇪
• Top 50 Best Bars in Czechia 2025 🇨🇿
• Updated Glossary 📖
• 2 new blog articles ✍️

theeuropeanbarguide.com