In recent months, John Keeling has continued to immerse himself in the world of beer. Whether that’s visiting breweries in New York, or debating with peers in Birmingham, he continues to learn about the industry he loves.

I’ve just been to New York and Washington. Then I went to Birmingham to be part of Birmingham Beer Week. Both visits were highly enjoyable and both taught me something about beer. I’m still learning in my sixties because beer and the brewing industry is a complex thing and, even after a lifetime of study and observation, I feel sometimes I know less than some of the younger brewers I meet.

Was I ever that enthusiastic, was I ever that good?

I started brewing in 15 BC that is 15 years Before Craft. Innovation was finding a cheaper alternative to malt, or hops.  At that time, there were several papers in the Journal of the Institute of Brewing about brewing one beer (stock beer, but not as we know it) then adding colour to it at packaging to turn it into stout or add bitterness to turn it into bitter. If you left it alone, you could call it lager. I remember one paper on the incidences of rectal cancer in beer drinkers. At that point I thought that brewing science was in danger of vanishing up its own posterior.

Then along came craft and brewing changed, now flavour is king, and brewers are key. Marketing, at least the best of it, is informed by the beer. What I like most is that nobody is in silos unlike the more established companies, where all ideas are incubated in a department and the first the others know about it is when it comes to the execution phase. 

I went to New York principally as a holiday to celebrate Symone’s birthday. But I couldn’t resist, and booked myself and Symone in for trips to meet Pete Lengyel-Fushimi at Kings County Brewers Collective and then to meet Allan Duvall at Brooklyn Brewery. Symone knows by now a holiday is not a holiday without a visit to a brewing related place. She still remembers, with a shiver, a memorable birthday visit to a yeast factory (yes it was her birthday).

The first visit was to Pete, so we got the L train. I still get a buzz from catching the subway in New York especially the A train but that’s because I am just a Duke Ellington fan at heart. We got off just a stone’s throw from the brewery and arrived bang on time at 11 am.

Pete is a biologist by training and brings that insight to his work.  Brewing might well be regarded as an art and a science, but a biological outlook is definitely needed. Pete had also immersed himself in the local history and delighted in telling me how German brewers had settled in Brooklyn because of the excellent water. Shame members of the best brewing nation, Britain, didn’t settle in Brooklyn first, then maybe cask beer would be the beer of America.

The second visit was to see Al at Brooklyn, this time in the company of Sid Boggle. Symone was interested in his unusual name and when I said just call him Simon, she just looked perplexed. Again, we caught the “L”. I just like writing that, what a show off.

What a success story Brooklyn Brewery is, too. I have been several times and each time it grows and gets better. I still think that the Brooklyn brewers are the most important people in the company which is my definition of what craft is. I will never tire of visiting this great brewery.

Both breweries make excellent beer and well worth visiting if you are in New York, just remember to take the L train.

In between these two visits we spent three days in Washington. This also included a national holiday July 4^th, so we just decided to join in the fun. I managed to only drink wine while I was there, and I was determined to make sure Symone enjoyed herself for her birthday this year, so I didn’t arrange any beery things to do. She later complained that there seemed to be a lack of breweries in Washington. Looks like a return visit is in order. 

When we returned from our holiday, we had a date in Birmingham where Brett Laniosh had asked me to speak in a beer debate where I was to be joined by a host of luminaries including Marverine Cole and Pete Brown. 

The panel was made up with Ash Corbett-Collins from CAMRA and Miranda Hudson from Duration Brewing. They are both considerably younger than me and I expected them to bring youthful enthusiasm to the debate, but often showed greater insight than me. That shows I should leave my ageism at home.

I was more than happy to be in this debate and wanted to speak about my pet gripe, the future of cask beer again. Those who read my column will be well aware of what I think should be done, and I think CAMRA are the organisation that should be fighting for 20p reduction in cask beer duty.

But enough of my hobby horse. What I really wanted to talk about was what a great city Birmingham now is. One place that is a must visit for beer lovers is the Old Joint Stock and just to further entice you just opposite is a cathedral which contains some fantastic stained glass, another must visit.

The Old Joint Stock is the furthest north the Fuller’s empire stretches and is one of the best-looking pubs they own. Great staff, a great manager in Paul Bancroft, and great beer too. Plus there’s an on-site theatre so what more can you need?

The centre of Birmingham seems to have been completely redeveloped with a great museum which had a Black Sabbath section. Plus if you like classical music then the concert hall is a must. Oh, and don’t forget to walk along the canals where you will see a bridge called the Brewmasters Bridge, while the library and its views are a must too. Plenty to do in Birmingham!

Birmingham is a beer city and has a great feel to it. It is definitely another city I will be returning to on a regular basis.