Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
@boakandbailey.bsky.social
In Bristol. Beer blogging in the UK since 2007. Also wrote some books about beer and pubs. Header image shows a detail from the cover of one. Won't repost if you don't use alt text. Find us at boakandbailey.com
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
New Weirdo Dublin Pub posts usually go up on Wed/Thur, but this week, we had to do it today.
#SpeirGorm
www.weirdodublinpubs.com/a-farewell-t...
#SpeirGorm
www.weirdodublinpubs.com/a-farewell-t...
November 10, 2025 at 3:59 PM
New Weirdo Dublin Pub posts usually go up on Wed/Thur, but this week, we had to do it today.
#SpeirGorm
www.weirdodublinpubs.com/a-farewell-t...
#SpeirGorm
www.weirdodublinpubs.com/a-farewell-t...
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
BLOG POST: What was Rustic Ale? Why have we never heard of it before? And what meaning did the words ‘rustic ale’ convey to drinkers? 🍺🍻
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/mann...
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/mann...
Mann’s Rustic Ale and ideas of authenticity in beer
London brewer Mann’s, best known for its brown ale, also had a product called ‘Rustic Ale’. What meaning were those two words supposed to convey?
boakandbailey.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:22 AM
BLOG POST: What was Rustic Ale? Why have we never heard of it before? And what meaning did the words ‘rustic ale’ convey to drinkers? 🍺🍻
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/mann...
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/mann...
Bloody hell: Tipopils on at The Swan With Two Necks.
November 9, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Bloody hell: Tipopils on at The Swan With Two Necks.
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
This didn't seem to find the audience I expected so I'm redoing it on a Sunday afternoon - because there's loads of folk on here now! It's about the most popular Smithwick's beer, their IPA, from before they went all newfangled, reddish and keggy ...
A Shot of Beer History #11: Smithwick's East India Pale Ale
It could be argued that the history of the Smithwick family's St. Francis Abbey brewery in Kilkenny bring out a love/hate duality of feelings in certa
beerfoodtravel.blogspot.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:58 PM
This didn't seem to find the audience I expected so I'm redoing it on a Sunday afternoon - because there's loads of folk on here now! It's about the most popular Smithwick's beer, their IPA, from before they went all newfangled, reddish and keggy ...
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
"Beer is a fundamentally social hobby," I opine whilst closing myself in the understairs toilet to photograph my glow-in-the-dark can of black IPA.
November 9, 2025 at 3:33 PM
"Beer is a fundamentally social hobby," I opine whilst closing myself in the understairs toilet to photograph my glow-in-the-dark can of black IPA.
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
A common issue here as well. Unfortunately, many people will not complain or, even worse, think that is how the beer should be and even (loudly) enjoy it!
November 9, 2025 at 12:42 PM
A common issue here as well. Unfortunately, many people will not complain or, even worse, think that is how the beer should be and even (loudly) enjoy it!
BLOG POST: What was Rustic Ale? Why have we never heard of it before? And what meaning did the words ‘rustic ale’ convey to drinkers? 🍺🍻
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/mann...
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/mann...
Mann’s Rustic Ale and ideas of authenticity in beer
London brewer Mann’s, best known for its brown ale, also had a product called ‘Rustic Ale’. What meaning were those two words supposed to convey?
boakandbailey.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:22 AM
BLOG POST: What was Rustic Ale? Why have we never heard of it before? And what meaning did the words ‘rustic ale’ convey to drinkers? 🍺🍻
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/mann...
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/mann...
At a pub we are considering for our Bristol pub guide. Cask ale that was clearly 'off' exchanged without quibble. Then we observe a conversation between bar manager and landlord, tasting the same beer: “It’s not right but most people won't notice. Leave it on until someone else complains.”
November 8, 2025 at 4:34 PM
At a pub we are considering for our Bristol pub guide. Cask ale that was clearly 'off' exchanged without quibble. Then we observe a conversation between bar manager and landlord, tasting the same beer: “It’s not right but most people won't notice. Leave it on until someone else complains.”
Every Pub in Bristol number 318: The Den & Terrace, off Whiteladies Road. We've never even noticed this one before but it's been here for years and in this guise since about 2021. Studenty basement bar with garden.
November 8, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Every Pub in Bristol number 318: The Den & Terrace, off Whiteladies Road. We've never even noticed this one before but it's been here for years and in this guise since about 2021. Studenty basement bar with garden.
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
PLEASE REPOST: a couple of bar staff urgently needed for shifts in Stratford tomorrow - it's a West Ham home game and I've had staff drop out so you can borderline name your price
November 7, 2025 at 3:34 PM
PLEASE REPOST: a couple of bar staff urgently needed for shifts in Stratford tomorrow - it's a West Ham home game and I've had staff drop out so you can borderline name your price
GOOD MORNING! Here's the latest news, nuggets and longreads, with notes on pub etiquette, the evolution of lager yeast, antique beers in deep snow, and a bunch of other stuff, too. 🍺🍻
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/news...
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/news...
News, nuggets and longreads 8 November 2025: Spotted Hemlock
Every Saturday we round up the best writing about beer from the past week. This time, we’ve got etiquette, lager yeast and snow.
boakandbailey.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:21 AM
GOOD MORNING! Here's the latest news, nuggets and longreads, with notes on pub etiquette, the evolution of lager yeast, antique beers in deep snow, and a bunch of other stuff, too. 🍺🍻
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/news...
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/news...
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
Number of pubs stocking draught Bass passes 1,000 as AB Inbev's sales drive takes hold. So distribution has nearly trebled from a couple of years ago. Latest directory of stockists: nationalbassdirectory.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...
November 6, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Number of pubs stocking draught Bass passes 1,000 as AB Inbev's sales drive takes hold. So distribution has nearly trebled from a couple of years ago. Latest directory of stockists: nationalbassdirectory.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
Thursday. And seven weeks to Christmas Day. And there’s still tomatoes being picked. How odd. Speaking of odd, it’s beery news notes morning. Monopolistic tendencies. Tax evasion. Junketeers. And a bulky man…
The Beery News Notes For The November Lull Marking The Five-Sixths Mark of 2025 – A Good Beer Blog
abetterbeerblog427.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Thursday. And seven weeks to Christmas Day. And there’s still tomatoes being picked. How odd. Speaking of odd, it’s beery news notes morning. Monopolistic tendencies. Tax evasion. Junketeers. And a bulky man…
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
One review for the revived Boddingtons bitter, made a prediction of elderly Mancunians posting that it wasn't the same as the original. Well... It perhaps lacks some of the bitterness on the initial taste, but it's a pretty good copy. (City Arms, Manchester.)
November 5, 2025 at 2:39 PM
One review for the revived Boddingtons bitter, made a prediction of elderly Mancunians posting that it wasn't the same as the original. Well... It perhaps lacks some of the bitterness on the initial taste, but it's a pretty good copy. (City Arms, Manchester.)
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
Following on from @boakandbailey.bsky.social post some years ago about The Britannia, Brussels, 1958 here's a pub proposed for the Berlin Exhibition of 1966. But was it actually built?
November 5, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Following on from @boakandbailey.bsky.social post some years ago about The Britannia, Brussels, 1958 here's a pub proposed for the Berlin Exhibition of 1966. But was it actually built?
This is a very interesting, debate-provoking piece. But also, as is inevitable, the young guns have become curmudgeons.
www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/10...
www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/10...
The Essential Guide to Pub Etiquette — Pellicle
It was the writer and politician Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953) who famously said, “ Change your hearts or you will lose your inns and you will deserve to have lost them. But when you have lost your inns ...
www.pelliclemag.com
November 5, 2025 at 7:32 AM
This is a very interesting, debate-provoking piece. But also, as is inevitable, the young guns have become curmudgeons.
www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/10...
www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/10...
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
A new Irish beer history blog post and a salient reminder that there were other Dublin stouts available back in the 19th century ...
A Shot of Beer History #10: Some Late 19th Century Dublin & Cork Stout Labels
In March of 1896 the following commentary appeared in the wonderfully titled Dublin newspaper The Illustrograph:
THE STOUT LABEL QUESTION
DURING
beerfoodtravel.blogspot.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:13 AM
A new Irish beer history blog post and a salient reminder that there were other Dublin stouts available back in the 19th century ...
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
📢 NEW BLOG POST
Very overdue return for my personal blog.
An exploration of identity and the struggle to hold onto a sense of self when hospitality work requires that you spend a large part of your life shifting your persona to suit the needs of the customer.
8bitsandbobs.co.uk/2025/11/01/d...
Very overdue return for my personal blog.
An exploration of identity and the struggle to hold onto a sense of self when hospitality work requires that you spend a large part of your life shifting your persona to suit the needs of the customer.
8bitsandbobs.co.uk/2025/11/01/d...
Don’t Look Down
When your work demands that you shift between several different versions of yourself every day, how do you remember which version is really you when it comes to spending time away from the bar?
8bitsandbobs.co.uk
November 1, 2025 at 2:40 PM
📢 NEW BLOG POST
Very overdue return for my personal blog.
An exploration of identity and the struggle to hold onto a sense of self when hospitality work requires that you spend a large part of your life shifting your persona to suit the needs of the customer.
8bitsandbobs.co.uk/2025/11/01/d...
Very overdue return for my personal blog.
An exploration of identity and the struggle to hold onto a sense of self when hospitality work requires that you spend a large part of your life shifting your persona to suit the needs of the customer.
8bitsandbobs.co.uk/2025/11/01/d...
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
I’ve now tried the new Boddington’s. It’s fine. Presumably this is not the same beer elderly Mancunians have spent decades tearfully eulogising?
November 2, 2025 at 5:10 PM
I’ve now tried the new Boddington’s. It’s fine. Presumably this is not the same beer elderly Mancunians have spent decades tearfully eulogising?
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
Please bring your own.
November 2, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Please bring your own.
Drinking Charrington's IPA while a group in the corner of the pub take snuff and sneeze. What year is it?
November 2, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Drinking Charrington's IPA while a group in the corner of the pub take snuff and sneeze. What year is it?
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
A few words on Draught Bass atjpubs.substack.com/p/bass-profo...
atjpubs.substack.com
November 2, 2025 at 10:23 AM
A few words on Draught Bass atjpubs.substack.com/p/bass-profo...
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
On bar names, I like the fact that Mile And A Third in Southend is named after the length of the city's pleasure pier.
November 1, 2025 at 9:52 AM
On bar names, I like the fact that Mile And A Third in Southend is named after the length of the city's pleasure pier.
GOOD MORNING! Here's our regular weekly round-up of good writing about beer and pubs, with notes on the Polish beer scene, pub names, Norwegian funeral beer, discounted BrewDog, the US beer market, and witches. 🍺🍻
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/news...
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/news...
News, nuggets and longreads 1 November 2025: Ghostwatch
Every Saturday we round up the best writing about beer from the past week. This time, we’ve got Warsaw, BrewDog and Norwegian funeral beer.
boakandbailey.com
November 1, 2025 at 8:17 AM
GOOD MORNING! Here's our regular weekly round-up of good writing about beer and pubs, with notes on the Polish beer scene, pub names, Norwegian funeral beer, discounted BrewDog, the US beer market, and witches. 🍺🍻
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/news...
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/news...
Reposted by Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
Happy Hallow-een-een! It’s Thursday before the kiddies show - so do buy more candy or practice our skills at turning all the house lights off in under 7 seconds? Fortunately no pumpkin beer stories (dead trend alert!) this week but plenty of other news: abetterbeerblog427.com/2025/10/30/y...
Your Super (Not All That Scary) Boo-tastic (But Without Any Fake Blood Splatters) Halloween Week Beery New Notess – A Good Beer Blog
abetterbeerblog427.com
October 30, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Happy Hallow-een-een! It’s Thursday before the kiddies show - so do buy more candy or practice our skills at turning all the house lights off in under 7 seconds? Fortunately no pumpkin beer stories (dead trend alert!) this week but plenty of other news: abetterbeerblog427.com/2025/10/30/y...