Darren Norbury's Page

Neil Morrissey doing a voice-over for a Tesco ad promoting cheap booze at Christmas - has his venture into the world of pubs taught him nothing?

I've just added this story to Beer Today, with the Portman Group "banning" BrewDog's 18.2% Tokyo* beer from shops, pubs and clubs. And I'm not sure if I'm more offended by the Portman Group as a drinker or a sub-editor!

BrewDog beers are very good beers - they're one of my favourite breweries at the moment, t… Continue

The Home Office has said today that it is investigating safer ways to drink beer, ie getting rid of the pint glass. But as any beer aficionado will tell you beer only tastes proper out of glass. Plastic, now matter how good it is, just doesn't cut the mustard.

Worringly, Sebastian Conran, who heads the Home Office's wonderfully named Design and Technology Allaince Against Crime, said in The Times: "There are existing plast… Continue

Half an hour after we got off the bus at Tal-y-Bont, and I was struggling up a Brecon Beacon with two bags in summer heat with sweat dripping off me, I started to wonder if my wife, who booked the family room in the Youth Hostel, which was nowhere yet in sight, was trying to redefine the meaning of the word holiday. By the time we’d clocked up an hour of this and the place was just in sight I was wondering if I’d actually live long enough to see another pint.

Fortunately, the worst was over. We… Continue

In Cardiff for three days, and what a city, full of contrasts, derelict sites side by side with shiny 21st century waterfront development. The bay area has been transformed brilliantly thanks to a stunning redevelopment programme.

Among the new buildings is Terra Nova, which from the outside wouldn’t have been my first stop for a beer, but for the Brains logo adorning the cedar facsia. Looked far more bar/restaurant than pub, which indeed is what it turned out to be, however it has been nicely… Continue