Roger Protz (born 5 February 1939) is a British writer, journalist and campaigner. He joined the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in 1976 and has written several books on beer and pubs. Between 1978 and 1983 and from 2000 to 2018 he was the editor of CAMRA's Good Beer Guide .
Protz was born in Deptford, London to a respectable working-class family in 1939. [1] His father was a dockworker. [2] During the Blitz he was evacuated with his mother to Norfolk. [1] He grew up in East Ham in the East End of London and left school aged 16. [1]
Protz joined the Labour Party Young Socialists and had been appointed as editor of its newspaper, New Advance, by 1961. While in the Labour Party, he joined the Socialist Labour League. In the 1960s, he also worked as a sub-editor on the features desk at the Evening Standard . [3] In 1961, he resigned from New Advance to become the editor of the SLL's youth newspaper Keep Left. [4] In 1964, he became editor of the Militant newspaper, [5] and in 1968 of Socialist Worker , resigning in 1974. [6] Subsequently, he spent a period lecturing part-time in journalism at the London College of Printing. [1] Following a national economic crisis he lost his job. [1]
Protz was subsequently hired by CAMRA in 1976 to edit its monthly magazine. [1] He edited The Good Beer Guide from the 1978 edition onwards. [2]
He writes a regular column for the Publican's Morning Advertiser , a monthly column for What's Brewing and also contributes to Beers of the World and All About Beer. He also wrote a beer column for The Guardian until 2006. [3] In 2007, he lectured on the history of beer to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. In 1988 he founded the British Guild of Beer Writers and was chairman of the Guild 2000–2003. His awards include two golden and five silver tankards from the Guild and he was named Glenfiddich Drink Writer of the Year in 1997 and 2004.[ citation needed ]
In a 2010 interview he described himself as a "green socialist" and a supporter of West Ham United F.C. [3]
He was interviewed by Sheila Dillon for a 30-minute long BBC Radio 4 The Food Programme on 15 August 2016, aptly named "Roger Protz: A Life Through Beer".
Protz edited the Campaign for Real Ale's Good Beer Guide from 1978 to 1983 and from 2000. He announced in autumn 2017 that the 2018 Guide was to be his last.
Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The fermentation of the starch sugars in the wort produces ethanol and carbonation in the beer. Beer is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in the world, the most widely consumed, and the third most popular drink after water and tea. Most modern beer is brewed with hops, which add bitterness and other flavours and act as a natural preservative and stabilising agent. Other flavouring agents, such as gruit, herbs, or fruits, may be included or used instead of hops. In commercial brewing, natural carbonation is often replaced with forced carbonation.
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs.
Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared in England around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Different brewing practices and hop quantities have resulted in a range of tastes and strengths within the pale ale family.
Old ale is a form of strong ale. The term is commonly applied to dark, malty beers in England, generally above 5% ABV, and also to dark ales of any strength in Australia. It is sometimes associated with stock ale or, archaically, keeping ale, in which the beer is held at the brewery. In modern times, the line has blurred between Old Ale and Barley wine.
Beer has been brewed in England for thousands of years. As a beer brewing country, it is known for top fermented cask beer which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with only natural carbonation.
The Good Beer Guide is a book published annually by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), listing what it considers to be the best 4,500 real ale outlets in the United Kingdom.
Keith Flett is a British socialist historian and a prolific letter writer in the British press.
Jennings Brewery was established as a family concern in 1828 in the village of Lorton, between Buttermere and Cockermouth in the Lake District, England. The brewery was started by John Jennings Snr, son of William Jennings. Jennings brewed exclusively in Lorton until 1874 when its present home, the Castle Brewery in Cockermouth, was purchased. The Lorton brewery closed some five years later.
Bryncelyn Brewery was a brew pub in 'Wern Fawr Inn', a pub located near Ystalyfera, in south Wales. Brewing was begun in July 1999, and the brewers are Will Hopton and Robert Scott.
Castle Rock Brewery is a brewery and pub group based in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire. It was originally set up as a joint venture with Bramcote Brewery. Bramcote Brewery was wound up and a new company was set up, 50% owned by Tynemill and 50% owned by the previous owners of Bramcote Brewery, on a new site next to Tynemill’s pub, The Vat and Fiddle, located on Queensbridge road close to Nottingham railway station. The Vat and Fiddle became the ‘Brewery Tap’, serving over 10 real ales at any one time, several of which are Castle Rock's.
The Cittie of Yorke is a grade II listed public house on London's High Holborn, and is listed in CAMRA's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. The pub is owned and operated by Samuel Smith Old Brewery.
Jeff Evans is a British writer and journalist. He is the author the Good Bottled Beer Guide, and was the editor of the Good Beer Guide from 1991 to 1998. He has also written extensively about television.
Beer in Scotland is mostly produced by breweries in the central Lowlands, which also contain the main centres of population. Edinburgh and Alloa in particular became noted for the export of beer around the world in the 19th century.
John Allen Young CBE was an English brewer. He was for many years chairman of the Young's Brewery in Wandsworth, working there for over 50 years.
Worthington's White Shield was an India pale ale (IPA) available principally in bottle conditioned form.
Porter is a style of beer that was developed in London, England, in the early 18th century. It is well-hopped and dark in appearance owing to the use of brown malt. The name is believed to have originated from its popularity with porters.
The Eclipse Inn is a public house at 25 The Square in the city of Winchester in Hampshire, England. It has been listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England (NHLE) since January 1974. The building dates from the 16th century and was formerly the rectory of St Lawrence Church. The name of the pub derives from its siting opposite the Sun Inn.
Cloudwater Brew Co is an independent craft brewery based in Manchester, England. Established in 2014, the brewery began making beer the following year and quickly gained a reputation for the quality of its products. In 2017 and 2018, Cloudwater was ranked among the ten best breweries in the world by beer scoring website RateBeer, becoming the only UK brewery ever to be featured. Several Cloudwater beers have also received accolades at the same awards.
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