Total Ales at the The 2016 Brewers' Journal Lectures - Why Your Brewery Needs to Invest in Good Photography

I'm honoured to have been invited to speak at this years Brewers' Journal Lectures, which take place at Kings College, London on Wednesday December 7th. You can read more about the lectures here and purchase your tickets for just £18 (plus booking fee) here.

I'll be talking about photography. More specifically I'll be talking about how good photography is something that your brewery can't afford not to invest in as the market becomes ever more competitive. Good photography has been integral to setting myself up as a freelancer within the beer industry and I look forward to sharing just how good photography should be an essential part of your businesses marketing strategy. 

It's an honour to be part of a talented lineup of speakers which includes, among others, Fuller's John Keeling, Cloudwater's Paul Jones and Sophie De Ronde of Muntons Malt. This is a do not miss event for those of you in the beer industry and I look forward to meeting you there on the 7th. 

The Duke's Head & Total Ales Presents Darker Days III - "Darker Things"

An annual celebration of dark beers and winter warmers with beer from special guests Brew By Numbers and The Five Points Brewing Co. Paired with a specially prepared menu from Ghanaian street food residency Chalé Let’s Eat!

9th November 2016, 7.00pm – Late

The Duke’s Head, 16 Highgate High Street, N6 5JG

Tickets £29.99 per head. Includes choice of meat or veggie five-course menu, each with its own unique set of beer pairings. Spaces very limited!

Tickets available via TicketSource here: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/date/305372 

Darker Days, our yearly beer dinner that celebrates dark beers and winter warmers, returns for its third installment on Wednesday the 9th November. Hosted by award-winning beer writer Matthew Curtis, Darker Days has become one of the most popular events at The Duke’s Head, with both previous installments selling out quickly.

This year we’re pitting two breweries against each other in “Darker Things” [Cue synthesizers] as Bermondsey’s Brew By Numbers take on Hackney’s The Five Point’s Brewing Co. There will also be a choice of two menus, one meat and one vegetarian, each with its own unique set of specially chosen beers from our guest breweries. The dinner will finish with an excellent selection of cheeses from Wildes Cheese Co, because we all know how well dark beer pairs with good cheese.

Brew By Numbers’ Chris Hall and The Five Points’ Doreen Joy Barber will both be on hand to introduce each of the beers they have brought with them. Join us on November 9th for what promises to be the perfect way to welcome in darker nights and colder days.

If that’s not enough to get you excited then check out the menus below:

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Vegetarian Menu

Kelewele - Deep fried sweet plantains spiced with cloves and ginger

With Five Points Old Greg’s Barley Wine 

Wagashi - Fried soybean curd with tomato spicy dip

With Five Points Hook Island Red

Kontomire - Spinach and kale in a coconut base with garden peas and butternut squash

With Brew By Numbers 01|24 Saison Rye

Beer Ice Cream Affogato

With Five Points Railway Porter

A Selection of Cheeses

With Brew By Numbers 14|03 Tripel Ella

Meat Menu

Kelewele - Deep fried sweet plantains spiced with cloves and ginger

With Five Points Old Greg’s Barley Wine

Spicy Supermalt Chicken Wings with Chilli Sauce

With Five Points Brick Field Brown

Beef Azi Desi - Spicy peanut stew with tender beef steak and okra

With Brew By Numbers 08|02 Imperial Stout

Beer Ice Cream Affogato

With Five Points Railway Porter 

A Selection of Cheeses

With Brew By Numbers 14|03 Tripel Ella

*Please note that this menu could be subject to some small changes on the night

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Total Ales at IndyManBeerCon 2016

Words - Matthew Curtis

October is always one of my favourite times of year because it means that it's time for the Independent Manchester Beer Convention. IndyMan brings together some of the best beer and food from the UK and beyond in the glorious setting of the Victoria Baths. This magical combination creates one of the best party atmospheres I've experienced at a beer festival, especially at the evening sessions.

I'll be at IndyMan from Thursday 6th until Saturday 8th and as well as being there to enjoy myself I'll also be part of a debate panel and hosting a talk and tasting with a difference. Here's a run down of what I'll be up to.

Craft Beer UK. WTF Just Happened??? //

It's an honour to have been asked to be part of this debate panel, which takes place on the Thursday evening session. I'll be joined by several industry peers industry peers including Paul Jones (Cloudwater), Jenn Merrick (Beavertown), Claudia Asch (IMBC), Ian Garrett (CAMRA) and Sue Hayward (Waen). The six of us will try to make sense of the whirlwind that is the craft beer industry and how it's changed the landscape of beer over the past five years. Expect plenty of heated debate and opinion. 

Live Beer Blogging with Fourpure Brewing //

At the Saturday afternoon session join me in the Green Room, this year hosted by the folks at Fourpure, where I'll be attempting to put together a beer blog in front of a live audience. If you've ever thought about starting a beer blog, you already have one and you want to learn more, or you simply fancy a good laugh at my expense, then this is the event for you.

I'll be attempting to put together a live beer review of the new collaboration brew between Fourpure and Cloudwater. The beer is a Belgian-Style Black IPA and for the moment I can tell you no more until it's released at the festival. I'll have just 45 minutes to put together a post, including photos and here's the twist - the audience will be contributing the content. I'll be there to write down your tasting notes and give you a little bit of insight into my own creative process. It'll also be a chance to learn a little about beer photography, which is something I get asked about a lot. 

I'll also be around for the Friday sessions in a social capacity, so come say hello and let's grab a beer. 

Manchester, So Much To Answer For – A Beer Tasting and Live Interview with James Kemp from Marble Brewery

£15pp // 7.30pm – 9.30pm, Thursday 29th September // Hop Burns & Black, 38 East Dulwich Road, London, SE22 9AX // CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

On Thursday 29th of September join award winning beer writer Matthew Curtis for an eclectic tasting through six different beers as he once again brings his bi-weekly Hop Burns & Black column, No More Heroes, to a live audience. This time our beery theme is Manchester, and so Hop Burns & Black founders Jen Ferguson and Glenn Williams will be spinning some classic Manchester tracks between each beer.

We’re also very pleased to welcome James Kemp, head brewer of Manchester’s iconic Marble Brewery as our very special guest. We’ll be recording a live interview with James as he leads us through a tasting of three Marble beers, before picking three of his favourites from the HB&B shelves for lucky ticket holders to taste. If you’re heading down make sure you come armed with questions for James, who’s currently helping to reshape the direction that Marble are heading in through an increasingly varied range of vibrant and tasty new beers.

With the Independent Manchester Beer Convention right around the corner there’s no better time to celebrate some of the wonderful brewing happening in one of our favourite cities, so we hope you’ll join us for what promises to be a seriously fun evening. Tickets are just £15 (plus booking fee) and are available via TicketSource here. Each ticket includes six generous samples of beer.

We kindly request that ticket holders arrive by 7pm so that the event can begin promptly at 7.30pm. 

 

Presenting London Beer City at The Duke’s Head, Highgate

We’re super excited at the arrival of London Beer City 2016 at The Duke’s Head and we’re over the moon to announce that we’ll be the North London hub for the duration of London’s best beer week. 

We’ll be putting on our usual selection of enjoyable and eclectic beer events and ensuring that we’re pouring the very best selection of UK brewed craft beer on both cask and keg – with a few nice surprises thrown in. We’ll also have our August food residency Backstreet Diner slinging burgers and fries all week because eating isn’t cheating. 

So please join us at one or all of the following events and help make The Duke’s Head the place to be during London Beer City. We’d love to see your smiling faces in the pub.

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EVENTS SCHEDULE //

Friday 5th August, 7pm – Late: London Beer City Pre-Launch Party featuring the official beer of LBC on tap! FREE ENTRY

We’re incredibly excited about the official London Beer City launch party in the Five Points Brewing Warehouse Yard on Saturday the 6th August (which you should also go to, tickets here) and we’ll be warming up the night before in true Duke’s Head style.

We’ll be pouring our usual selection of great craft beer including the official beer of London Beer City brewed collaboratively by our friends at Beavertown, Five Points, Fourpure and Fuller’s. We’ll have our usual fantastic atmosphere, great tunes on the stereo and food ‘til 10pm from Backstreet Diner. Come get warmed up with us.

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Sunday 7th August, 2pm -5pm: Hangover Club with Northern Monk Brewery - Tickets just £10 and available here

We’ve been a bit lax on our monthly bottle club night of late while we launched our sister pub, The Prince, in Bounds Green. So it’s time we put that right. A few weeks ago we headed up to Leeds to brew a special smoked porter with our friends at Northern Monk Brew Co. The boys from The Monk will be joining us for a live Q&A session as we try the beer on cask, keg and blended with our house Bloody Mary. Our friends Phill & Steph from Caps & Taps will also be in the house with a couple of special bottles to share with lucky ticket holders and there will be plenty more Northern Monk beer to try.

Tickets are just a tenner and they get you all of this goodness:

•    House Bloody Mary blended with our one off smoked porter on arrival
•    Sample of our smoked porter on both cask & keg
•    Live Q&A session featuring The Duke’s Head’s in house Beer Writer Matt Curtis and the team from Northern Monk Brew Co.
•    The usual selection of great bottles and cans from Caps & Taps shared amongst us all.

As is always the case with Bottle Club, spaces are limited, so grab a ticket here now.

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Thursday 11th of August 4pm – Late: Duke’s Yard Party featuring the London Brewers’ Market & Record Fair

Tickets are £5 and available here. Includes your first two halves (or whole pint) on us!

Our final event for this years London Beer City sees the first ever Duke’s Yard Party, where we turn the pub into a living, breathing beer and music festival. Our friends at the London Brewers’ Market are taking over the taps, pouring the very best of London brewed craft beer on both cask and keg. Record label 37 Adventures will be running an in pub record sale, featuring stalls from independent labels such as 37 Adventures, Sonic Router, Leisure & District, with more to be announced.

DJ sets will begin at 6pm with the likes of Five Points Brewing, 37 Adventures and The Duke’s Head crew hitting the wheels of steel and playing some of their favourite records. Tickets are only a fiver and get you a two free halves (or a whole free pint)  including beers such as Five Points Pilsner or the official London Beer City Pale Ale.  We’re expecting the pub to be busy for this, so guarantee your attendance with a ticket and come dance with us.

Whether you make it to one or all of our events, we look forward to you joining us at The Duke’s Head this London Beer City! Find us at 16 Highgate High Street, London, N6 5JG and follow us on Twitter @DukesHighgate