Thursday April 4th - Matthew's 2019 Beer Mixtape!

Come join HB&B’s resident beer writer Matthew Curtis – author of the award-winning Fundamentals column – for a tasting that will encapsulate beer from six of the UK’s most exciting up and coming producers. Something he, for reasons unbeknownst to anyone but himself, has coined his “2019 Beer Mixtape.”

Expect an interactive tasting session delivered in Matt’s typically ebullient style that will hop and skip from IPA to lager to sour to saison – perhaps even with the odd curveball thrown in. Join us for what will certainly be a relaxed, enjoyable, beer-fuelled evening.

Beer List (Consumption order TBC):

• Braybrooke Keller Lager

• Mills Running Beer

• Mothership Cardamon & Rose Stout

• Tillingham Peaux de Pomme Qvevri Cider

• Cloudwater x Other Half Likeable Orange Liquid

• Magic Rock BA Strongman

• BONUS BEER: Fierce BA Very Big Moose

Thursday March 7th - Where It's At

Join beer writer Matthew Curtis at Tottenham’s Five Miles as he hosts what will almost certainly be a scintillating debate on the present and future of the independent UK brewing industry. Joining Curtis will be Ed Mason, founder of London’s The Five Points Brewing Company, Adam Robertson of Cornwall’s Verdant Brewing Co. and co-founder Norfolk’s forthcoming Duration Brewing, Miranda Hudson.

It’s been a challenging few months for the UK’s small and independent brewing industry. Year on year growth from small brewers is marked by an increasing amount of consolidation. The acquisition of Fourpure by Lion, Fuller’s by Asahi and Heineken taking minority stakes in both Beavertown and Brixton will only make things tougher for the rest of the industry—and they’re unlikely to be the last to sell.

Adding to this pressure is the rising cost of staffing and raw materials, more competitors entering the sector both nationally and internationally—and the not insignificant looming threat of Brexit. Where It’s At will debate the challenges facing three very different breweries, and how they hope to build on their positives, whilst riding out the negatives.

The future for Britain’s small brewers is something of an uncertainty, hopefully by the end of this discussion things will start to feel a little less hazy…

Where It’s At will be recorded for a forthcoming podcast from Matthew Curtis. The debate will begin at 7.30pm sharp, and will be followed by an audience Q&A session with the panelists.

Saturday August 19th - Fyne Ales Meet the Brewer & Tasting

Join Fyne Ales head brewer Malcolm Downie and resident beer writer Matthew Curtis for an informal meet the brewer and tutored tasting at 2pm on Saturday the 19th of August. Tickets are just £10 and include four halves of the excellent beers that Fyne are known across the UK for. This will be the headline event of a week long Fyne Ales tap takeover at The Duke's Head as part of its Duke's Head-Fest series of summer tap takeovers. We promise that there will be pleanty of Jarl along with lots of other treats from Fyne to enjoy. Join us! 

Wednesday August 9th - Marble Brewery Take Over The Duke's Head

As part of London Beer City we're welcoming an entire host of folks from Manchester's fabulous Marble Brewery - which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year - for a total pub takeover. The evening will include a talk from our own Matt Curtis plus Marble head brewer James Kemp. Tickets are just £10, are limited to 20 spaces and include 4 x halves of Marble beer as part of a tutored tasting. 

In addition to James, we'll also be joined by the entire Marble crew who will unleash themselves on an unsuspecting Duke's Head crowd. This will include some of the staff from The Marble Arch and 57 Thomas St who will be helping out behind the bar on the evening. The evening will kick off at 7pm and finish late. Come join us at The Duke's Head for what will be an incredible evening with some of Manchester's best beer. A full beer list will be revealed soon - but we can promise that there will be plenty of Dobber on both cask and keg. 

Saturday July 15th - Club de Bouteille

With summer here and this years London Beer City approaching our regular monthly bottle club has been retired until the autumn. However, we thought it'd be cool to take a load of beer to nearby Waterlow Park and enjoy a few al fresco beers in the sunshine. The premise couldn't be more simple: simply arrive at The Duke's Head by 3pm and then we'll head over to the road to the park for some beers and a nice sit down. If you feel like arriving at The Duke's Head before 3pm you'll be happy to know that Lord of the Wings will be in the kitchen and there will be a full tap takeover from the fantastic Elusive Brewing. We're here for all of your preloading requirements.

This is a free, ticketless event but we do kindly request that you RSVP to our Facebook event page (here: https://www.facebook.com/events/280031679070167) so that we have some idea of numbers. We'll have a few beers from our stash with us to share but as this is a free event we also encourage that you BYOB too. It's an ideal opportunity to bring out that beer in your stash that you've been waiting for a reason to open. We'll also make sure we've got a couple of ice buckets on hand so we can keep our beers nice and cold. If it rains, then we'll still have plenty of beer to drink and a pub to keep us dry. 

Here's looking forward to seeing you on the 15th!