Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
@boakandbailey.bsky.social
2.4K followers 450 following 1.8K posts
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
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boakandbailey.bsky.social
Another problem is how you give a venue – especially a taproom – a good atmosphere whether it's busy, or quiet. If people think a place is “always dead” it will always *be* dead. Music can help. Busy staff doing stuff, rather than dozing at the bar, maybe? Hmm.
boakandbailey.bsky.social
This heartfelt response to a silly post has made us think: what we want from a pub, or taproom, is for it to be open regularly and reliably; to get a human welcome; and for the beer to be good. Events are actually a turn off for us, because they're usually noisy and disrupt our routines.
doug-hss.bsky.social
It's getting harder and harder for bars to attract customers especially if they're brewery taps who are often found on industrial estates and out of town. We tried all sorts; live music, club nights, academic talks, book readings, festivals, foodie events the list was endless and efforts exhausting
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Ah, sorry, we were just being silly about the fact that this pub seems to be advertising the presence of kittens.
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boakandbailey.bsky.social
Excellent talk by Nick Fitzgerald at the latest Think While You Drink event, with follow up questions and discussion from @beernouveau.co.uk. Very much appreciated Nick’s “we don't have evidence for that" stance, even if he seems to regret having cast himself as a party pooper. [Ray]
Think While You Drink
Join Good Chemistry and Drinking Studies Network for a series of free talks designed to make you THINK WHILE YOU DRINK! Bringing interesting talks on beers, brewing, pubs, the industry and wider drink...
goodchemistrybrewing.co.uk
boakandbailey.bsky.social
It's the opposite of having the zoomies.
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Pubs must try new ideas to draw in customers.
An A board outside a pub warning people to drive slowly because kittens are playing outside the pub and around it.
boakandbailey.bsky.social
What Matt says. If we unfollowed you, this is probably why. Not saying you shouldn't post about politics – it's your account, do what you like – but it was becoming a fire hose of misery.
totalcurtis.bsky.social
I actually want to use Bluesky to talk about beer and pubs mostly but even with being selective of who I follow 90% of my feed is current affairs and world events. The timeline is stressful. Considering withdrawing my social media presence entirely to instagram (until that becomes too shit to use)
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totalcurtis.bsky.social
Or Boddies tbh. From first hand observations I think an entirely new generation of drinkers is being normalised to ordering it.
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willhawkes.bsky.social
Bass is up 19 percent Y-on-Y. Cask needs recognisable brands & you don't get many better than Bass.
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agoodbeerblog.bsky.social
Well, things came to be which were not certain. The unknown became the known - or will be when the covers are lifted later. Time is a’ticking. That’s never as clear as the dawn when that zap of frost hits. And the Yankees lost. So it’s still a happy day. I can buy frikkin canned tomatoes all winter.
The Beery News Notes For The Threat Of Frost And The Yanks And Jays In What Might Just Be A Post-Passion World – A Good Beer Blog
abetterbeerblog427.com
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jamesmoosh.bsky.social
I was at the Brussels Beer Project bar in Ixelles a week or two ago looking at the board with 20 different IPAs and had similar feelings: that's not what I go to Belgium for. But I guess someone must like it.
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seanayling.bsky.social
Delivered a van load of beer to a beer festival yesterday.

A reminder to me that our threats are Netflix, Deliveroo, and supermarkets not other small breweries and independent pubs.
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willhawkes.bsky.social
You'll be delighted to hear that I've finally got around to putting some back copies of @londonbeercity.bsky.social on my website. Here's March: www.willhawkes.net/blog/2025/ma...
An interior shot of the Blythe Hill Tavern in SE23, featuring happy customers, various mirrors and horse-racing memorabilia
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southstarbrewco.bsky.social
It's like visiting Britain and being dragged by locals to shiny tap rooms or bars that look like student flats to drink the same uninspiring hop juice that prevails everywhere else.
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eoghanwalshbxl.bsky.social
Flash reaction - the provincials have a right to feel cosmopolitan every now and then!

More considered reaction maybe later 😂
boakandbailey.bsky.social
If we'd written this for a magazine, we'd have interviewed or corresponded with people like @bonsvoeux1.bsky.social and @eoghanwalshbxl.bsky.social and quoted them in the piece. As it is, we thought we'd let them tell us if/how we might be wrong in public. More fun that way, innit?
boakandbailey.bsky.social
BLOG POST: "...we recognise the problem in tourists demanding that the places they visit stay exactly the same, while expecting bars at home to do the opposite... But Belgium really does feel different, for a few reasons..." 🍺🍻

boakandbailey.com/2025/10/we-d...
We don’t want Belgian beer to change – and that’s our problem
On a recent trip to Liège we ended up visiting a couple of more modern bars which, although very pleasant, didn’t give us what we want from Belgian beer.
boakandbailey.com