August is traditionally known as the ‘silly season’ in terms of media stories and this may explain why the Aberdeen Press and Journal (August 11th) reports that James Watt’s new brand Second Best is planning to launch a 6.7% West Coast IPA and a 5.4% Helles. Nothing remarkable about this, both are popular beer styles.
The question arises however of how these beers are to make the passage from Watt’s LinkedIn into cans and then shops. Watt was not the brewer in Brewdog, that was Martin Dickie.
The Press and Journal reports that Watt is talking to a brewer about contract brewing them. However Watt is planning to buy three unnamed breweries to secure production.
Quite recently it was reported that Watt was planning to buy back Brewdog from Tilray but that story has not it appears progressed.
For much of the UK (but not all) another heatwave is upon us, the fifth of the summer.
I decided it was time for a lager…
I’ve been a member of CAMRA since 1975 and back in the day mentioning lager was only to deride it as undrinkable. And it was. Served cold to hide whatever taste might linger. Some may recall the Hobgoblin advert ‘what’s the matter lager boy, afraid you might taste something’. An effective advert if not to my taste.
Those lagers are of course still with, Heineken and Carlsberg. They are consistent and if you don’t like the taste of malt and hops then why not? They have been joined as CAMRA underlines by a newer range of Spanish, Italian etc lagers nearly all of which are actually brewed in the UK and not much like the originals (where the original existed, think Madri).
Times have changed and certainly in indy bars there are good lagers from Germany and elsewhere on the bar. Core styles are Helles and Pilsner (Engels favourite). Of course a lot of UK indy brewers also produce decent examples.
So the taboo on drinking lager has gone or should have done.
Again back in the day there was an alternative a 4.8% cask lager from Schiehallion from Scottish brewer Harviestoun. I hadn’t had a pint in decades but feeling thirsty I entered a pub (Spoons of course) and saw it on the bar. It tasted like a Helles, and although naturally carbonated (it wasnt flat) it lacked the CO2 bite a keg lager has. Decades ago I saw that as a positive. Now I’m less bothered because the keg lagers now taste decent.
Heat warning out for Election Day in Clacton. Fossil Fuel Fan Farage makes fun of climate change
Nigel Farage was one of a number of speakers at the far right ARC conference held in London in late June 2026.
It took place as temperatures in London reached 35C but the audience of climate change deniers, fossil fuel lobbyists and anti-abortionists did not seem to mind the reality that they were sweltering.
Farage started his remarks by joking about the Met Office’s red alert for temperature impact and claimed that most people were not at work (although unless the conference attendees beamed themselves into the event, transport workers clearly were).
There is a Met Office Amber Heat warning for Clacton on Thursday 13th August, By-Election Day. Fossil fuel Fan Farage will presumably pay no attention.
The poll above appeared in the Sunday Times on 9th August 2026.
It relates to proposals from Tory run Westminster Council to ban vertical drinking-standing at the bar- in pubs in the West End of London.
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is responded that the policy if it was implemented would be anti-growth, damaging the night time economy of central London. He argues that it is promoted by group of residents and Councillors with no regard to its wider impact.
Given that historically the Tories are the party of the Beerage and the licensed trade it is an interesting proposal…
National Sideburns Day. Noddy Holder bristles to victory over Chris Packham in Best Modern Sideburns vote
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that with National Sideburns Day on Tuesday August 11th it has run a snap social media poll to judge the best modern sideburns.
In the vote Noddy Holder retained the title he won in 2025 with 83.3% of the popular vote. Christ Packham came second with 16.7%
National Sideburns Day takes place every 11th August, and reflects the growing popularity of a range of facial hair styles.
National Sideburns Day was originally held to mark Bradley Wiggins Olympic victory in 2012
The campaigners say that sideburns, sometimes known as mutton chops, and named after US Civil War General Ambrose Burnside were often worn by Victorian politicians
Bradley Wiggins reinvented the post-1945 tradition of sideburns from Elvis Presley to Noddy Holder and the late Lemmy and Alvin Stardust, turned them into something no self-respecting hipster would be without
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, this year National Sideburns Day underline the resilience of the style over centuries of changing facial hair fashions with a particular focus on contemporary sideburns. The vote underlines that Noddy Holder’s sideburns are a modern style icon.
In 2026 all of Wales and three quarters of England are in drought before the middle of August. The water usage of data centres and the huge amount of water wasted through Thames Water leaks due to maintenance failure are amongst the issues in the frame.
50 years ago in 1976 a Drought Act was passed. Speaking in the Commons on 4th August 1976 the Minister responsible Denis Howell addressed amongst other things, how much bath water it was appropriate to use.
In 50 years the message has moved from individual behaviours to corporate lack of responsibility.
In 1976 water was yet to be privatised
We ask people not to use half-empty dishwasters and washing machines but to save up the wash until they have a full load. We ask people to cut down on bath water. I was about to say that they should cut it down to six inches, but I have discovered that one water authority is asking people to use only three inches, which seems even more difficult than what we were asked to do during the war. However, if people can have a shower instead of a bath and use their common sense about the amount of bath water they use, this will be very helpful. Leaky taps are another source of wastage which ought to be dealt with immediately.
The Great British Beer Festival didn’t run in 2026. Can it return? Should it?
The start of August in nearly all years for over 50 years has seen the Campaign For Real Ale’s Great British Beer Festival. However it did not run this year and there are no immediate plans for its return.
One issue faced by anyone who organises events is that post the pandemic costs are significantly higher. At the same the cost of living crisis constrains how much prices can be raised to reflect this.
More specifically the 2025 GBBF which was held at the Birmingham NEC did not attract expected numbers and a significant loss resulted. The view, understandably, seems to be that the risk of a subsequent GBBF incurring a similar loss is not a prudent way forward.
However there are other issues. The GBBF is a flagship for CAMRA in terms of new members, income (not in 2025) and for indy brewers. It also often gets significant media coverage.
Looking at the balance sheet it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the absence of a GBBF in 2026 matters. The issue is how much does it matter?
I’m equivocal on that. The GBBF belongs in part to another age. When I attended the Covent Garden Beer Festival in 1975 there were beers on sale I had never tried before and given their availability would only be able to do so by visiting the area they were brewed in.
This has changed. Wetherspoons of course promote cask beers from across the UK on a quarterly list. In addition while the activities of Big Beer make it difficult for indy brewers to get their beers on bartops that often also means that they look across a wider distribution area than previously. In more recent times, many beers can be ordered in bottle or can direct from breweries, another pandemic impact, this time positive.
There are wider issues. 50 years ago there were in most cases only a very small number of pubs that sold a subset of the kind of beers and beer styles the GBBF promoted. That has changed (not enough). There are more indy bars, the rise of the micropub being important here as well as brewery taprooms.
In that context do I really still want the travel and the hustle and bustle of a big beer festival? In my case yes, and I plan a visit to Peterborough Beer Festival later in the month.
If the GBBF is to return it likely needs a remodel to provide a beer and beer related experience that is not available elsewhere and of course one that works commercially.
Starting on 10th August Brewdog has rebranded Punk IPA, once its flagship brand, as Park IPA. Free cans will arrive with Deliveroo orders with the aim being that they are drunk al fresco. 20,000 cans will be given away (in London) with a voucher for a pint of Park/Punk at one of the few remaining Brewdog bars.
While Punk remains on the bar at Wetherspoons its hard to find on draught elsewhere. Looking at the Spoons fan page on Facebook, when San Miguel was temporarily unavailable, some switched to Punk. It underlines that Punk is far from the hop bomb it was nearly 20 years ago now.
With Tilray ownership Brewdog have been promoting their US imports rather than Ellon brewed beers. Punk had been replaced by Wingman as the lead UK brand.
The Deliveroo link will be complimented by displays in major supermarkets who on visual inspection don’t seem to sell much Brewdog these day (better beers being available in store).
Its a stunt of sorts but hardly in the James Watt mould. Perhaps that is just as well.
