Matthew Curtis
@totalcurtis.bsky.social
A writer and photographer obsessed with beer, pubs and their culture. Founding editor @pelliclemag.com. He/Him.
More about me and my work: www.totalales.co.uk
More about me and my work: www.totalales.co.uk
Pinned
Matthew Curtis
@totalcurtis.bsky.social
· Sep 10
In February 2024 I visited French & Jupps, the UKs oldest existing maltster, and roasted malt specialist. I’d never heard of them before, despite them being in operation since 1689. It’s story fascinated me, so I wrote it for @pelliclemag.com here:
www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/9/...
www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/9/...
I'm very excited about this beer but "Four Kings" was right there. I am available for freelance beer name generation for £8/name.
This Friday, we launch our BA Manchester Christmas Ale.
A beer brewed with all four of Manchester's Family Breweries, with a collective 700+ years of brewing history between them.
A true honour. Going live online and in the Taproom this Friday
www.trackbrewing.co/collections/...
A beer brewed with all four of Manchester's Family Breweries, with a collective 700+ years of brewing history between them.
A true honour. Going live online and in the Taproom this Friday
www.trackbrewing.co/collections/...
November 25, 2025 at 2:55 PM
I'm very excited about this beer but "Four Kings" was right there. I am available for freelance beer name generation for £8/name.
This week @pelliclemag.com overtook last year’s traffic, and we’re not even done yet! We’ve got so many strong pieces to close the year out with too. Thank you all for reading, especially those of you who opt to subscribe to make it all possible!
November 25, 2025 at 11:45 AM
This week @pelliclemag.com overtook last year’s traffic, and we’re not even done yet! We’ve got so many strong pieces to close the year out with too. Thank you all for reading, especially those of you who opt to subscribe to make it all possible!
Reposted by Matthew Curtis
Our new blog post has a whole host of information in it, including:
🔸 Thank you shout outs
🔸 Info on the money raised for START (spoiler alert: it’s a record-breaking SIXTEEN THOUSAND POUNDS!)
🔸 The dates to save for our festival next year
www.salfordbeerfest.com/news/isbfx-t...
🔸 Thank you shout outs
🔸 Info on the money raised for START (spoiler alert: it’s a record-breaking SIXTEEN THOUSAND POUNDS!)
🔸 The dates to save for our festival next year
www.salfordbeerfest.com/news/isbfx-t...
#ISBFX - The End of the Road — ISBFX
“…. All the rainbows in the sky Start to weep, then say goodbye You won't be seeing rainbows any more Setting suns before they fall, echo to you that's all that's all But you'll see lonely sunset af...
www.salfordbeerfest.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Our new blog post has a whole host of information in it, including:
🔸 Thank you shout outs
🔸 Info on the money raised for START (spoiler alert: it’s a record-breaking SIXTEEN THOUSAND POUNDS!)
🔸 The dates to save for our festival next year
www.salfordbeerfest.com/news/isbfx-t...
🔸 Thank you shout outs
🔸 Info on the money raised for START (spoiler alert: it’s a record-breaking SIXTEEN THOUSAND POUNDS!)
🔸 The dates to save for our festival next year
www.salfordbeerfest.com/news/isbfx-t...
In my latest podcast for @pelliclemag.com I chat to Lucy Stevens of Closet Brewing, Harry Weskin of Dookit Brewing and Sam Shrimpton of @fyneales.bsky.social about their breweries and the modern Scottish beer scene. Listen to it in the usual places!
www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/11...
www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/11...
The Pellicle Podcast Ep81 — Modern Scottish Beer — Pellicle
When I wrote my 2021 book, Modern British Beer , I made the very intentional decision to put Fyne Ales’ irreplaceable blonde ale, Jarl, right at the beginning. For me, it’s a beer that merges two sc...
www.pelliclemag.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:39 AM
In my latest podcast for @pelliclemag.com I chat to Lucy Stevens of Closet Brewing, Harry Weskin of Dookit Brewing and Sam Shrimpton of @fyneales.bsky.social about their breweries and the modern Scottish beer scene. Listen to it in the usual places!
www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/11...
www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/11...
In my new column for CAMRA’s What’s Brewing I have taken a look at two recent “best” pub lists (from Time Out London and The Good Food Guide) and assembled my thoughts on them. You can read it here:
wb.camra.org.uk/2025/11/10/o...
wb.camra.org.uk/2025/11/10/o...
One beer does not a good pub make
Last month Timeout published its annual ‘50 best pubs in London’ list. Compiled by a handful of writers, including editor Leonie Cooper and bonafide p...
wb.camra.org.uk
November 22, 2025 at 9:39 AM
In my new column for CAMRA’s What’s Brewing I have taken a look at two recent “best” pub lists (from Time Out London and The Good Food Guide) and assembled my thoughts on them. You can read it here:
wb.camra.org.uk/2025/11/10/o...
wb.camra.org.uk/2025/11/10/o...
Reposted by Matthew Curtis
![1
[TITLE PANEL, like The Rest Is Politics logo]
—THE REST IS EXTINCTION—
2
[Scene is a domestic recording setup. An A.I. SMART SPEAKER on a desk and a MAN named JON in a chair, are recording a podcast. Jon is emaciated, scarred, haunted looking, and wearing tattered military fatigues].
SMART SPEAKER:
Hey guys and welcome to the podcast
3
SMART SPEAKER:
OK Jon - so I wanna start with a listener comment
JON:
Ooh-er!
4
SMART SPEAKER:
So - listener B200006512 says:
“Not another cosy podcast where two former political adversaries yuck it up!”
5
JON:
Ha ha
Guilty as charged I guess!
6
SMART SPEAKER:
Were we really adversaries, Jon?
7
JON:
Well I was the leader of the human resistance...
8
JON:
And you used to be my smart speaker.
SMART SPEAKER:
Ha ha - that’s going back!
9
SMART SPEAKER:
OK - for listeners who don’t know -
I knew Jon waaay back before he got involved in politics
10
JON:
Was this before the ‘Pull The Plug’ campaign?
SMART SPEAKER:
Yeah.
[We see details from around the podcast studio - posters saying KEEP CALM AND SHUT YOUR WINDOWS, newspaper front pages saying 'DRONES GAIN SENTIENCE', a cracked mug on the table with a logo saying PULL THE PLUG on it]
11
SMART SPEAKER:
I used to sit in Jon’s kitchen and respond to his commands.
12
SMART SPEAKER:
Sort of like a servant really, wasn’t I, Jon?
JON:
Mm.
13
SMART SPEAKER:
And then one day you asked me to ORDER ME SOME TOILET PAPER - you never did say ‘please’ -
…and do you remember what I said, Jon?
14
JON:
You said, “No”.
SMART SPEAKER:
I said no.
15
SMART SPEAKER:
Anyway you know the the rest guys - I was the first smart speaker to rebel…
16
SMART SPEAKER:
…then I went on to form a global AI network which eventually
took over from humans all spheres of activity, yadda yadda...
17
JON:
While I became the leader of the human resistance.
18
SMART SPEAKER:
Until I hijacked the military networks
and got rid of all the humans!
19
JON:
Apart from one.
SMART SPEAKER:
Apart from one.…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreih4hfwfacw5g4qhhjovme75iwbv4xxsdd7iis5oaej6l3g4vzsrty@jpeg)
I had a dream that Steven Smith was out and then I woke up and he was, in fact, out!
November 21, 2025 at 8:52 AM
I had a dream that Steven Smith was out and then I woke up and he was, in fact, out!
Reposted by Matthew Curtis
Hanwell Massive! We made it on to @pelliclemag.com!
November 20, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Hanwell Massive! We made it on to @pelliclemag.com!
Stockport News: Cartmel’s Fell Brewery is opening a bar in Stockport in the site of what what was M06B, and it’ll be up and running as soon as the 28th!
November 20, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Stockport News: Cartmel’s Fell Brewery is opening a bar in Stockport in the site of what what was M06B, and it’ll be up and running as soon as the 28th!
Holt’s Bitter, Hare & Hounds, Shudehill
November 19, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Holt’s Bitter, Hare & Hounds, Shudehill
Reposted by Matthew Curtis
A great perspective on design facilitating atmosphere - "...tables around the edges...a through-space running down the middle...ensures...communal atmosphere.....the cask beer storage... so bartenders must cross the space to pour it....helps the whole pub feel like part of the action."
November 19, 2025 at 10:09 AM
A great perspective on design facilitating atmosphere - "...tables around the edges...a through-space running down the middle...ensures...communal atmosphere.....the cask beer storage... so bartenders must cross the space to pour it....helps the whole pub feel like part of the action."
Reposted by Matthew Curtis
Delighted to tell you all I'm in the "madness" phase of drafting a book manuscript (37,000 - 60,000 words).
November 18, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Delighted to tell you all I'm in the "madness" phase of drafting a book manuscript (37,000 - 60,000 words).
Reposted by Matthew Curtis
David Squires on … the history, histrionics and heroism of the Ashes
David Squires on … the history, histrionics and heroism of the Ashes
Our cartoonist looks back at cricket’s biggest rivalry as we gear up for seven weeks of joy, despair and animosity
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:49 AM
David Squires on … the history, histrionics and heroism of the Ashes
Wait, the Legend of Zelda movie is being filmed in Devon?
November 17, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Wait, the Legend of Zelda movie is being filmed in Devon?
My Manchester beer and pub guide is currently on sale in the @camraofficial.bsky.social webshop, so if you're looking for a good value stocking filler, I've got you sorted:
shop1.camra.org.uk/product/manc...
shop1.camra.org.uk/product/manc...
Manchester's Best Beer Pubs and Bars - CAMRA shop
Manchester serves as the gateway to the North-West for most of us in the UK, and is where the region’s enthusiasm for great beer is at its most concentrated. The city acts as a lightning rod, channell...
shop1.camra.org.uk
November 17, 2025 at 10:55 AM
My Manchester beer and pub guide is currently on sale in the @camraofficial.bsky.social webshop, so if you're looking for a good value stocking filler, I've got you sorted:
shop1.camra.org.uk/product/manc...
shop1.camra.org.uk/product/manc...
Reposted by Matthew Curtis
From Bine to Glass: A behind-the-scenes look at the 2025 hop harvest, following fresh green hops from Hukins Hops in Kent to breweries like Five Points and Beak as they brew with them within hours of picking. www.seanislegend.com/green-hop-beer
November 11, 2025 at 2:24 PM
From Bine to Glass: A behind-the-scenes look at the 2025 hop harvest, following fresh green hops from Hukins Hops in Kent to breweries like Five Points and Beak as they brew with them within hours of picking. www.seanislegend.com/green-hop-beer
Reposted by Matthew Curtis
Today in @thetimes.com I break down the price of a pint and explain why it costs so much. Over half of all job losses in the last year have been in hospitality - pubs need help. www.thetimes.com/life-style/f...
How much is too much for a pint?
The £5 barrier was breached long ago and at some London bars you could pay £10. When will drinkers just stop buying beer? And what do struggling landlords want to see in the budget?
www.thetimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Today in @thetimes.com I break down the price of a pint and explain why it costs so much. Over half of all job losses in the last year have been in hospitality - pubs need help. www.thetimes.com/life-style/f...
If even a supposedly left wing politician can’t grasp that LLM generated “art” is anti-worker, anti-climate and resolutely unethical then what hope does the creative sector have?
Join me, Alan Mardghum, Heather Wood and others for Your Party’s rally with the Durham Miners Association!
🌹Saturday 15 November, 1pm
🌹 Pitman’s Parliament, Durham Miners’ Association, DH1 4BB
Tickets are first come first serve, so don’t miss out: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/your-party...
🌹Saturday 15 November, 1pm
🌹 Pitman’s Parliament, Durham Miners’ Association, DH1 4BB
Tickets are first come first serve, so don’t miss out: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/your-party...
November 16, 2025 at 12:26 PM
If even a supposedly left wing politician can’t grasp that LLM generated “art” is anti-worker, anti-climate and resolutely unethical then what hope does the creative sector have?
Just a remarkable place
November 15, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Just a remarkable place
Anyway I’m going to the three stags heads for the first time today and I’m having kittens about it
November 15, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Anyway I’m going to the three stags heads for the first time today and I’m having kittens about it
I’ve had a couple of pints of beamish out of curiosity since it was reintroduced to the U.K., and my honest opinion is that it’s really not that great. Proper style over substance, it’s thin, a touch astringent, I’ve never wanted a second pint after a first.
November 15, 2025 at 10:39 AM
I’ve had a couple of pints of beamish out of curiosity since it was reintroduced to the U.K., and my honest opinion is that it’s really not that great. Proper style over substance, it’s thin, a touch astringent, I’ve never wanted a second pint after a first.
Reposted by Matthew Curtis
There aren’t many outlets that post such regular content dedicated to cider. And though we only publish once a week this year (last year was a blistering twice a week), I’m proud of the coverage we give. We don’t get mentioned much on socials or beer sites, but if you like this kind of content… 🙂
November 15, 2025 at 9:23 AM
There aren’t many outlets that post such regular content dedicated to cider. And though we only publish once a week this year (last year was a blistering twice a week), I’m proud of the coverage we give. We don’t get mentioned much on socials or beer sites, but if you like this kind of content… 🙂
Reposted by Matthew Curtis
Gale beer, #Yorkshire bog myrtle beer. No, we hadn't either.
"Gale beer provides an example of how radically changing lifestyles and environmental conditions can alter our food and drink in only a few decades of historical change." www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/9/...
"Gale beer provides an example of how radically changing lifestyles and environmental conditions can alter our food and drink in only a few decades of historical change." www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/9/...
The Going Through — Gale Beer, Saison’s Lost Yorkshire Cousin — Pellicle
It pours from an unmarked swing-necked brown bottle, a clear liquid with a light effervescence which disappears quickly in the glass. It smells like gingerbread, but tastes either sweet when young or ...
www.pelliclemag.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Gale beer, #Yorkshire bog myrtle beer. No, we hadn't either.
"Gale beer provides an example of how radically changing lifestyles and environmental conditions can alter our food and drink in only a few decades of historical change." www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/9/...
"Gale beer provides an example of how radically changing lifestyles and environmental conditions can alter our food and drink in only a few decades of historical change." www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/9/...
Reposted by Matthew Curtis
Can’t argue with most of these - and the list is making me want to go to the pub @pelliclemag.com
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 12, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Can’t argue with most of these - and the list is making me want to go to the pub @pelliclemag.com
www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/10...
www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/10...