The Hopper Reviews

11/09/2026

Today, we remember.

We remember the 2,977 lives lost on September 11, 2001.

We remember those who went to work and never came home. The firefighters, police officers, paramedics and ordinary people who ran towards danger to help complete strangers.

We remember the families whose lives changed forever, and the courage and humanity shown on one of the darkest days in modern history.

25 years later, their memory remains.

Never forgotten.

11 September 2001.

10/09/2026

Are Hawkstone really going into cask beer?

Hops & Glory is being described as Hawkstone’s first-ever cask beer. It’s a 4.2% Real English Pale Ale brewed by Butcombe Brewing Co. in Bristol using Maris Otter barley, Mendip spring water and six British-grown hop varieties, including hops grown by Jeremy Clarkson.

That certainly sounds like Hawkstone has wandered into the world of handpulls, pump clips and blokes discussing cellar temperature with frightening intensity.

But Hawkstone’s managing director says this collaboration doesn’t mean the company is moving into cask beer.

So why does Hops & Glory exist, why is Butcombe involved and what does it mean for British hop farmers?

I’ve gone through the details, including where it’s brewed, the ingredients, the charitable donations and the nine-pint mini-keg heading to Hopper HQ for a separate independent review.

Watch the full video here:
https://youtu.be/cVhcjsSwfiU

Learn more about Hops & Glory here:
https://butcombe.com/hops-and-glory/

Would you order Hops & Glory if you spotted it at your local? And should Hawkstone ever make a permanent cask beer?

Are Hawkstone really getting into cask beer? Hops & Glory is a new ...

09/09/2026

Are Hawkstone really getting into cask beer?

They’ve teamed up with Butcombe Brewing Co. to create Hops & Glory, a 4.2% Real English Pale Ale brewed with six British hop varieties, including hops grown by Jeremy Clarkson.

Hawkstone’s Managing Director has explained what’s really happening, Butcombe has joined the conversation, and a nine-pint mini-keg is now heading to Hopper Towers.

So, is this the beginning of a proper Hawkstone cask range?

I’ve got the answer.

New video Thursday at 6pm.
https://www.youtube.com/

Would you try a pint?

09/09/2026

195 restaurants. Two enormous British brands. Gone within four days.

All 89 remaining Brewers Fayre restaurants closed on 7 September, and all 106 Beefeater restaurants are closing under that name.

But this isn’t simply a case of every building being abandoned. Some will become Premier Inn restaurants, some could make way for additional hotel rooms, and 53 sites are subject to a deal that could see them continue under new ownership.

I’ve looked into why Whitbread is killing off both brands, what’ll happen to the restaurants, whether Premier Inn will still serve food, and what this means for thousands of employees.

Read the full story here:
https://www.barrybeerreviewer.co.uk/post/beefeater-brewers-fayre-closures

Did you have a local Beefeater or Brewers Fayre, and what should happen to the building now?

Whitbread is retiring two of Britain's best-known restaurant brands. Here's what's closing, what replaces them and what happens to Premier Inn meals.

09/09/2026

Beefeater closes tomorrow. All 106 remaining restaurants.

Another familiar British restaurant name is disappearing, just days after Brewers Fayre.

But this is much bigger than either brand. Their owner Whitbread is getting out of branded restaurants altogether and concentrating on Premier Inn.

Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Table Table, Cookhouse and Pub, Bar and Block and Whitbread Inns are all going.

Beefeater has been around since 1974, so there are going to be a lot of people with memories of eating there over the years.

Question is, when did you last actually go to one?

And will you miss it now it's gone?

08/09/2026

£8 off Brewser, just by clicking here: https://www.barrybeerreviewer.co.uk/brewser

08/09/2026

Please sign the petition and share this far and wide, beer lovers 🙏🏻
https://droptaptax.co.uk/

PLEASE CLICK THE LINK AT THE BOTTOM.
The UK has one of the highest beer tax levels in Europe, ten times higher than in Germany. This tax, called beer duty, is added to the cost of your pint.

We believe the Chancellor should Drop the Tap Tax and announce a reduction in the tax applied to pub beer, supporting community pubs and independent breweries.

The Chancellor has a mechanism (called Draught Relief) allowing duty changes to be targeted on beer that’s sold in pubs via handpulls and keg taps. This Draught Relief is currently at 13.9% but widening it to 30% or more could be a real boost for our community pubs, independent breweries and the jobs they support. It could see more jobs created, grow the economy and see millions of extra pints being poured.

Our community pubs and independent breweries need your support. Last year we lost 137 small breweries in the UK and two pubs a day have closed so far in 2026. You can help by asking the Chancellor to by signing the petition and writing to your MP. Together we can keep the beer flowing in our nation’s pubs.

https://droptaptax.co.uk/

07/09/2026

WANT TO OWN A PUB?

The new video is LIVE, and this one might actually lead somewhere.

I’ve spent the last few weeks digging into who really controls the beer on British bars, talking privately with people inside the pub and beer industry, and asking a slightly ridiculous question:

What if we built a pubco big enough to take on the pubcos, but didn’t run it like a bunch of bastards?

Could ordinary people collectively support a professionally run organisation capable of buying pubs, protecting them, giving communities a genuine voice and getting more independent beer onto British bars?

This isn’t an announcement. Nobody’s asking you for money. And I’m certainly not claiming I’ve invented the idea.

In fact, one of the most interesting things I’ve discovered is that people have been working on different versions of this for years.

So now I want to know what you think.

Would you join something like this? Would you pay £5 or £10 a month to help protect British pubs? What would you expect in return? And what would you want to see on the bar?

Watch it here:
https://youtu.be/vx-VpcIRyys?is=bQ9JnLUHBbO5qAxf

Then get stuck into the comments. Your answers might genuinely be useful for what happens next.

CAMRA The Great British Pub Crawl

Could a radical new pub company actually help save Britain’s pubs, ...

07/09/2026

Every remaining Brewers Fayre has closed after 45 years.

All 89 restaurants are disappearing, including Barry Island, Ocean Park in Cardiff and Crossways in Caerphilly.

The attached Premier Inn hotels aren’t closing. Whitbread is concentrating on the hotel business while selling, rebranding or converting the restaurant sites.

Did you ever visit Brewers Fayre, and will you actually miss it?

05/09/2026

Want to own a pub?

Well, perhaps not an entire pub by yourself. That sounds expensive, exhausting and suspiciously likely to involve blocked toilets.

But what if thousands of ordinary people could collectively support an organisation capable of buying, restoring and protecting British pubs?

After my recent CAMRA videos, I ended up having some very interesting private conversations. Those conversations have started to collide into one potentially radical idea.

This isn’t an announcement. It isn’t CAMRA policy, and I’m not asking anybody for money.

I’m asking whether something like this could genuinely work.

The full video goes live on YouTube:
Monday 7th September at 6pm.

When it lands, I’ll need your honest answers. Would you join something like this?