I recall the 1980s (as a mere 20-something) driving at 11.15pm approaching Edinburgh on the A702 — city lights in the distance — to meet friends for relaxed pints before I retired. No last orders bell — just a good atmosphere following a long drive.
Licensing, alcohol, pubs and beer have had turbulent times since then. So it is good to see new beer journalists generating positive noises (newspapers, blogs, radio, magazine features, books and even TV) and cask beer appearing at more outdoor festivals/events.
As supporters of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, everyone at Caledonian was delighted Edinburgh had record numbers of visitors in August and the pubs and venues were packed with them enjoying shows and drinking sensibly.
Two 34-year-old drinks journos were welcome visitors to the world’s biggest arts festival to premiere The Thinking Drinker’s Guide to Alcohol, Edinburgh’s only intellectual elbow-bending event! Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham’s one-hour sell-out show (55 people) gave an inspirational insight into the story of alcohol, laced with humour and facts and, as a result, 1,200-plus people experienced their passion for drink and their resolute defence of the pleasure of drinking.
Alcohol has long been oiling the wheels of civilisation and invigorating history’s great minds and heroes such as Vincent van Gogh, Ernest Hemingway and Winston Churchill. Our discerning drinks disciples stimulated both mind and mouth — proving that, contrary to received wisdom, the answers to many of the 21st century’s most searching questions can be discovered at the bottom of a glass!
Yet Sandham says: “We don’t drink the right drinks. Replace quantity with quality. People tend not to think while they drink anymore. Collectively, somewhere and somehow, we’ve mislaid the art of informed imbibing.”
And McFarland says: “Alcohol is blamed for nearly all of society’s ills but that’s because it’s all too often abused by those who don’t give it the respect and reverence that it deserves.’’
I thoroughly enjoyed their show and by embracing their rules, our children will be able to enjoy Edinburgh’s festivals in 20 years.
I know the next time I drive on the A702 (as a 40-something) I will anticipate a glass to celebrate beer’s indisputable influence on life, and it’s role in love, literature and learning since the dawn of time.
It is safe to say that Edinburgh’s festivals (Fringe, Book, Film, Jazz, International, to name a few) would just not be the same without alcohol.
Stephen Crawley is MD of Caledonian Brewing Co