Welcome to Pubs. Pints. People. – the CAMRA podcast!
About the Podcast
The Pubs. Pints. People. podcast brings you interesting stories about the world of beer, cider and pubs.
Join Simon Webster, Alison Taffs and Clare Phillips for a new season!
You can listen on most podcast platforms including Apple Podcast and Spotify or you can tune in via our Acast channel! Don’t forget to also follow us on Twitter @PubsPintsPeople
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Episode guide
Season 7
Episode 1 – Marvellous Mild
In this bumper episode to celebrate the start of season seven, the team explore and celebrate the wonder of marvellous mild.
Episode 2 – Low and no alcohol beer and cider
The podcast team explore and sample the world of low- and no-alcohol beer and cider. This episode features interviews with the founder of Dry Drinker, Mash Gang, Jumpship Brewing and cider historian Elizabeth Pimblett, plus many more!
Episode 3 – Hops
In this episode the team explore one of the essential beer ingredients, with special guests including Charles Faram who talks about growing hops, plus Hogs Back Brewery, Harvey’s and Timothy Taylor’s discuss their approach to hops when brewing beer.
Previous seasons
Season 6
Episode 1 – ‘Tis the Season… For Food and Drink
The podcast team highlight some exceptional beer and cider pairings for your Christmas dinner, cheese board and and dessert tray. Hosted in Bedford, it also shines a spotlight on the new local brewpub BrewPoint by Wells & Co.
Episode 2 – New Beer Resolutions
Hosted by both the Tewksbury and Chesterfield branches, we dive into the Campaign’s hopes and aspirations for 2023, discussing the cost of living and cost of business crises facing many publicans, as well as highlighting the impact that challenges like Dry January and New Year’s resolutions present for the industry.
Episode 3 – They’re More Than a Pub
We cover the varied roles of UK pubs in supporting their communities and of sites of history and heritage. The episode is hosted in Burton to tie into CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival Winter, which is held by the local Burton and South Derbyshire branch.
Episode 4 – Spotlight on… Manchester!
This episode shines a light on the city and its rich brewing and pub culture. Hosted by the Stockport and South Manchester CAMRA branch, we explore mild beer, why you should consider cider throughout all seasons and Matthew Curtis’ upcoming CAMRA book Manchester’s Best Beer Pubs and Bars.
Episode 5 – Women in the Brewhouse
We highlight the historic role of women in brewing and feature some fantastic all-female collaboratives taking place across the country. Hosted in Sheffield, it also features CAMRA’s Members’ Weekend, AGM and Conference.
Episode 6 – Wild Beer
In this episode, we explore some of the more fascinating aspects of brewing, including the botany of beer, wild brewing and hop farming. Hear Jeaga Wise of Wild Card Brewery talk about her book Wild Brews, which won ‘Debut Drink Book’ Fortnum and Mason Awards 2023. Plus we’re celebrating CAMRA’s Cider Month by talking some walks in the wild with short ‘postcards’ from some orchards around the country.
Episode 7 – The Great British Beer Festival Part 1
In this podcast, we wanted to give you a feeling of this year’s Great British Beer Festival in Olympia and the huge range of food, drink and learning on offer. It’s a great day out and of course there are festivals up and down the country organised by CAMRA branches, breweries and pubs that are also worth visiting throughout the year.
Episode 8 – The Great British Beer Festival Part 2
Following on from last week’s episode recorded live at GBBF, we have secured interviews with some of the UK’s best drinks writers about their latest projects. Providing insights about the future of cask ale and the perry, regular host Alison Taffs speaks to Pete Brown about the Drink Cask Fresh Campaign, Des de Moor about his new book CASK and Adam Wells about his forthcoming book Perry: A Drinker’s Guide.
Season 5
Episode 1 – What’s In A Bottle?
The podcast team heads up to Newcastle to look at CAMRA’s new definitions of live beer and cider and sit down with award-winning author Adrian Tierney-Jones to discuss his new title United Kingdom of Beer, which explores 250 of Britain’s best brews found in bottle and cans.
Episode 2 – Ale & Steam
We head to the North Cotswolds ahead of the Ale & Steam Festival to look at the relationship between beer and railways, speaking with beer writer Des De Moor about some of the wonderful breweries and micropubs located under railway arches and the many CAMRA-run beer festivals taking place at or themed by railways.
Episode 3 – Celebratory Brews
Ahead of the long bank holiday weekend and Platinum Jubilee, we will be up in Glasgow looking at some big brews to celebrate with, some interesting facts about the royals and our favourite drinks and of course kick of a Summer of Pub.
Episode 4 – Beer Is For Everyone
In this episode we will be heading down to South Devon to talk through the outcomes of CAMRA’s Inclusivity, Diverity and Equality survey against the backdrop of a year plagued by diversity and equality issues across the beer industry.
Episode 5 – Live at the Great British Beer Festival
We recorded this episode live at the Great British Beer Festival 2022 in London. We also have a bonus episode featuring rugby and beer from a trade session Q&A with ex-rugby players Tom May and Greg Bateman.
Episode 6 – Pub Games
Games have been an integral part of pub culture for centuries. In this episode we will be recording from Halifax, exploring the realtionship between pubs and their games and the impact of games and quizzes have on footfall and revenue.
Season 4
Episode 1 – Modern British Beer & Cider
We kick off the season with a look at two brand new CAMRA books, Modern British Beer by Matthew Curtis, and Modern British Cider by Gabe Cook.
Episode 2 – The Champion Beer of Britain
Learn more about the country’s most prestigious beer awards, the latest on CAMRA beer styles, and hear from two previous CBOB winners.
Episode 3 – Cider Harvestime
It’s CAMRA’s second annual #CiderMonth, and this week we’re taking a look at harvestime for cider fruit.
Episode 4 – Halloween Horrors
Marking the year’s spookiest holiday, in this episode our hosts delve into horror beers and ciders, discussing faults and poor care.
Episode 5 – The Pub of the Future
We are looking forward ahead to the pub of the future. Joining us are Rachel Hendry (the Burum Collective) and David Jesudason.
Episode 6 – Beer City: Manchester
The hosts focus an episode on a city that has made a name for itself in the beer world – this time it’s Manchester!
Episode 7 – What and Who in 2022
Our hosts look forward to the new year, exploring what and who will be making waves in the beer and cider industry.
Season 3
Episode 9 – The World of Homeproducing
Featuring James Finch and Jem Jones from the Henley Mile Brewery.
Episode 8 – Beer design and labels
Featuring Pete Brown (author of Beer by Design from CAMRA Books) and The Epicurian Beer People.
Episode 7 – Cider – the apple, the orchard, the land
Featuring Tom Oliver, James Finch and Adam Wells.
Episode 6 – Small Brewers Relief
A dive into Small Brewers’ Relief and an exploration of a recent viral petition, featuring Jack Hobday of Anspach & Hobday brewery and Neil Walker from SIBA.
Episode 5 – Real Ale Abroad
Featuring insights from brewers and real ale lovers in Argentina and Denmark.
Episode 4 – Community-owned Pubs
Featuring CAMRA’s Paul Ainsworth and Matt Garrard of the Tollerton Flying Club.
Episode 3 – The Renaissance of Cider
Featuring Kate Mathers and Dave Matthews, author of the Good Cider Guide.
Episode 2 – London as a Beer City
A spotlight on London as a beer city, featuring Small Beer and Truman’s Brewery.
Episode 1 – Innovation in the face of Covid
Featuring Fyne Ale’s Iain Smith and Rob Scahill of the Orange Tree in Baldock.
Season 2
Episode 7 – Christmas brews!
Join Ant, Matt and Clare as they chat all about Christmas brews! Joined by Jonny Garrett of the Craft Beer Channel to hear all about his seasonal favourites and Brock Bergius, owner and cidermaker at Gospel Green about premium table ciders that deserve a seat at the table this Christmas.
Episode 6 – Micropubs: COVID victim or survivor?
A look at how micropubs are faring throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Have they been able to adapt to takeaways easier? Or does the fact that they’re in a smaller space and usually unable to offer food mean that they’ve been left behind with the new restrictions?
Episode 5 – The science of beer
This week the team learn all about the science of beer, sitting down with Amy Booth, a lab technician from family brewer JW Lees and Luke Raven, co-founder of Ilkley Brewery.
Episode 4 – Our pubs make us happier
This episode, learn all about the mental wellbeing benefits of pub going or simply put – how our pubs make us happier. The team speak with Professor Robin Dunbar of Oxford University and beer and travel writer Will Hawkes in more detail.
Episode 3 – Beer vs cider tasting
The team dive into a beer and a cider tasting, chatting with Natalya Watson, Beer Sommelier, author of Beer: Taste the Evolution on 50 Styles and founder of the new virtual beer school – find out more by visiting: https://beerwithnat.com/
Episode 2 – Non-alcoholic brews
This week, the team learn all about non-alcoholic brews, chatting with Rob Fink from Big Drop Brew Co and Stuart Elkington from Dry Drinker. They also hear from Alison Taffs, landlady at The Hop Inn micropub in Hornchurch who gives us her recommendations for the top 10 non-alcoholic beverages to try.
Episode 1 – Family brewers
Join the team as they speak with the legendary Roger Protz about his new book, The Family Brewers of Britain, and Stuart Bateman of Bateman’s Brewery. They also get a chat with Albert Johnson from Ross-on-Wye Cider and Perry Co to hear what it’s like to be a family cider producer.
Season 1
Episode 20 – Charitable beer
We sit down with Rudi Keyser from Watling St Beer and Clare Chater from Barts Charity and how they have worked together to create a charity beer. We also chat with Alan Mann at Brewgooder about their initiative to fund access to drinking water across various projects around the world.
Episode 19 – Pub music
We’re talking about pub as the original grassroots venue for live music. We sit down with Bev Whitrick from the Music Venue Trust along with the award-winning live music band the Harp & Monkey.
Episode 18 – Belgian beer
We sit down with John Clarke, Chairman of CAMRA’s Stockport and South Manchester branch who talks us through the different types of Belgian beers out there. We also get to speak with Tim Webb, author of the Good Beer Guide Belgium and dive into the archive to learn a bit more about monastery brewing from the late Michael Jackson.
Episode 17 – The Veggie/Vegan Special
We are sitting down with Channel 4’s Beer Expert Mark Dredge to discuss cooking veggie and vegan dishes with beer, along with Phil Saltonstall from Brass Castle Brewing who will chatting about their range of vegan and gluten-free beers.
Episode 16 – Experimental vs traditional brewing
We will be chatting about experimental brewing methods – like Ora’s Tiramisu stout and limoncello IPA – and how that compares with traditional brews such as Timothy Taylor’s landlord.
Episode 15 – Cooking with beer
Katie, Ant and Stella will be learning all about cooking with beer as well as beer and food pairings. They’ll be sitting down with Melissa Cole, author of The Beer Kitchen, and Runaway Brewery in Manchester, which is well known for the exciting beer pairings.
Episode 14 – Ecobrewing
We’re learning all about eco-brewing and sustainable initiatives by sitting down with Purity Brewing and Farr Brew.
Episode 13 – A collab with Pop Culture Brews
In this special one-off footnotes episode to celebrate pubs reopening on the same day as Independence Day, Katie sits down with Pop Culture Brews for an extended interview on American vs British beer.
Episode 12 – American brews
Join us as we learn about American brews and the power of hops by chatting with Lotte Peplow, Craft Beer Ambassador for Europe from the Brewers Association, and Tom Fozard, Roosters Brewery.
Episode 11 – The pubs surviving lockdown
We’re sitting down with two brewpubs to talk about how lockdown has affected them – The Hand in Hand in Brighton and the Hail to the Ale pub in Wolverhampton.
Episode 10 – Diving into the history of CAMRA
In light of CAMRA’s 50th fast-approaching, we’re sitting down with Laura Hadland, author of the CAMRA biography due to be published next year, and one of the four original founders, Bill Mellor.
Episode 9 – Foraging and mixed fermentation
Join us as we learn about sours, foraging for ingredients and mixed fermentation with the Little Earth Project and Adnams Brewery!
Episode 8 – Homebrewing
Homebrewing is booming during lockdown – let’s find out how to brew our own with Homebrewtique founder Claire Russell and former homebrewer turned professional, Andy Parker of Elusive Brewing.
Episode 7 – Beer diversity
Improving diversity in beer has been a big topic in recent years. We will sit down with Ignition Brewery about how they’re actively recruiting people with learning difficulties to work in the brewery and also Emma Inch, beer diversity champion and multi-award winning broadcaster.
Episode 6 – Beer heritage
Learn all about beer and pub heritage as we sit down with Beer Noveau to learn about heritage recipes and Geoff Brandwood who will talk about CAMRA’s pub heritage campaigns.
Episode 5 – Women in beer
Hear from the women changing the face of the brewing industry as we sit down with Jane LeBlonde of Mothership Brewing and Annabel Smith, co-founder of Dea Latis.
Episode 4 – All about… cider!
Learn all about real cider and perry as we speak to cider producers Tom Oliver and Susanna Forbes as well as Cider Museum Director Elizabeth Pimblett.
Episode 3 – Craft Beer
We interview Craft Beer Channel’s Jonny Garrett and Channel 4’s Beer Expert Mark Dredge about what makes craft beer really craft.
Episode 2 – All about beer writing
Learn all about the art of beer writing with legendary beer writer Pete Brown and Roger Protz.
Episode 1 – Unsung Heroes
There are a lot of jobs in brewing aside from making the beer. Sit down with David Bremmer from Robinsons Brewery to find out how they got a band like Iron Maiden to collaborate with them, and Ben Watson, sensory test lead at Beavertown Brewery.
Clare Phillips (host)
Clare was first introduced to real ale and CAMRA when she moved to a new job in Suffolk and was invited to the local beer festival by her journalist colleagues. She initially joined the West Suffolk branch and was actively involved with local beer festivals as a volunteer and for a couple of years helped organise a festival in Bury St Edmunds. Living in a rural county, Clare recognises the value of village pubs to their communities and with Suffolk and Norfolk being large barley growing areas, there’s also no shortage of breweries offering a wide selection of ales in her area.
In 2012, Clare ran the London Marathon dressed as a bottle of Adnams’ Explorer in an attempt to break the world record for ‘Fastest Marathon Dressed as a Bottle’. Sadly, she was beaten to the finish line by a bottle of Hook Norton!
Simon Webster (host)
Simon is celebrating being a CAMRA member for two decades this year, having joined at the Great British Beer Festival in August 2002. Since joining he’s gone on to explore the many different types of ale offered by brewers across the UK, but is always drawn to a good stout or porter if given the choice. As a marketing and communications professional who has spent his life working with membership bodies, Simon has previously lent his expertise to CAMRA in a number of different ways.
Follow him on Twitter @Bees_Bhoy for occasional tweets about beer, football and life in general.
Alison Taffs (host)
Alison Taffs has been a drinks educator for more than 20 years in restaurants, and running tastings with consumers. She founded The Grape Society, running tastings & events about everything from wine to whisky, and Vermouth to Sherry. She is also the co-owner and landlady of The Hop Inn micropub in Hornchurch, which was CAMRA London Pub of the Year in 2021. She loves sharing the love for delicious drinks, converting people to loving real cider & perry as much as she does, and helping cider and perry to regain its place as an appreciated fine beverage. You can follow Alison on Twitter @AlisonGrapeSoc
Helen Smith (host)
Paul Grant (host)
Paul worked in some Scotland’s most beloved, award-winning and iconic cask beer venues. Now he is firmly based in Fife running an online beer store and soapboxing about the great breweries locally.
Sean O’Mahoney (Social Media Manager)
Sean O’Mahoney is a craft beer enthusiast and the co-founder of INEVITABLE, an industry-leading technology company specialising in AI (artificial intelligence), based in Manchester. With a strong sense of community, he has attended hundreds of technology and beer events and festivals and has volunteered at or led dozens of them. Becoming a CAMRA member in 2019, Sean was quick to start getting involved, volunteering at several CAMRA festivals and getting involved in the Pubs. Pints. People. podcast since season one.
You can follow Sean on Twitter at @Sean12697 or on Mastodon at @Sean12697@mastodon.world.
Geoff Bennett (script-writer)
Geoff’s day job is to help provide high-speed transmission capacity to carry the internet under the oceans of the world. Fortunately, the consumption of beer does not seem to have an adverse effect on his ability to do this. He’s been a CAMRA member for many years and has been writing scripts for the #PubsPintsPeople podcast since Series 3 in 2021.
Amongst his hobbies, Geoff is a keen photographer and he is also the quizmaster at his local pub in Nottingham.
Mark Lovatt (script-writer)
Mark Lovatt is an IT software development specialist and author but more importantly a keen member of CAMRA for the past decade and the Scotch Malt Whisky Society for the past 5. He has had an article in BEER and has been writing scripts for the #PubsPintsPeople podcast since series 3 in 2021. Mark prefers dark beers especially Mild and Porter but given a pub with several real ales on tap, will want to try them all. This makes Mark’s annual visit to #GBBF a slightly frustrating experience.
Dick Withecombe (Cider enthusiast)
Dick Withecombe is a cider enthusiast who champions traditional cider presented in a modern way. In March 2019 he established Manchester Cider Club, which continues to meet monthly, and helped establish the #RethinkCider campaign. As organiser of the Cider Bar at Manchester Beer and Cider Festival 2020, and others, he has produced guidelines for a Modern Cider Bar with a balanced provision of styles and methods of dispense.
Twitter: @ManchesterCider and volunteer for @CAMRA_APPLE
Simon Clark (editor)
Simon Clark is a freelance production sound mixer. Chairman of the Institute of Professional Sound he is a passionate advocate for structured training within the Film and TV industry. He is Head of Production Sound Recording at the National Film and TV School and writes regular technical articles for “Resolution” magazine.
TV drama credits include 8 series of “Waking the Dead”, “Line of Duty”, “Skins”, “Mad Dogs”, “Burton & Taylor”, “An Adventure in Time & Space”, “Cormorant Strike – The Silkworm “, “King Lear, “Darkness Rising” and “Alleluia”. He was BAFTA nominated for “The Promise” and won the 2016 Sound Craft BAFTA for “Wolf Hall” both directed by Peter Kosminsky
David King (executive editor)
David is a life member of the Campaign for Real Ale, joining in 1988. He was head of the West Midlands Tasting Panel for a while, edited the Black Country Good Beer Guide and occasionally judges at beer festivals. He collates the audio versions of CAMRA’s BEER publication for visually impaired CAMRA members, and edits and co-produces the CAMRA podcast. He’s been tinkering with audio since school days, when editing meant taking a razor blade to tape then looking in the bin for the Undo function.
In 2017, David started the weekly show Taste Wolverhampton on Wolverhampton’s community radio station 101.8 WCR FM. The programme aims to keep listeners up-to-date with food and drink news, as well as chatting on-air with local food heroes.
The Highgate Brewery in Walsall was just round the corner from where David went to teacher training college, and that introduction to real ale has influenced his preference for darker ales.
You can follow David on most social media platforms @TasteWolves
Paul Hadfield (editor)
Paul is a software engineer, musician, and home-brewer from SE London. He enjoys audio production for his band and the CAMRA podcast. Currently a clone of Elusive’s ‘Oregon Trail’ is in the fermenter. You can follow Paul on twitter @hadfieldp or on Instagram @hadfieldp
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