The British Floods

The flooding in England this year has been unprecedented, and it's had a really bad effect on the beer scene. Terrible floods in Sheffield a few weeks ago still see some pubs closed, although it is getting back to normal. All breweries now seem to be back in production. The landlord of The Kelham Island Tavern has his own blog with pictures of the devastation the flooding left. I am told the pub was only able to reopen last night, more than a month after the rains. At least local brewers have a sense of humour, Kelham Island produced a beer called Lost In The Flood.

After the floods in the North came the floods in the South with whole towns in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire seemingly under water. This has led to The Worcester Beer Festival being cancelled. They have helpfully put up a photo on their website of the venue, and it can be seen that the right decision has been taken. I wasn't planning on going to Worcester but I know it's a great festival and feel the loss of those not able to go.

Of course the most serious thing to result from the floods was the untimely death of John White the beer writer, traveller and undoubted expert. His untimely passing would never had happened if it were not for the enormous stresses caused by the flooding his home encountered. You can read a series of tributes here. The loss of a beer festival and the unavailablity of some decent pubs for a few weeks pales into insignificance against such a tragic event.