Raise a glass to National Beer Day: tips on the perfect pint
I didn’t write a Valentine’s Day column, I also didn’t do one for Mother’s Day, and I won’t be doing one for Father’s Day, either.Who am I to tell you how to enjoy your time with your most beloved – and who am I to tell you what they ought to be drinking, seeing as these days that’s invariably informed by gendered marketing and targeted campaigns?The Guardian’s journalism is independent.We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link.Learn more.I am, however, writing a column for National Beer Day on 15 June (the same as Father’s Day – yawn).
Why am I doing this? Well, today is the night before, AKA New Beers’ Eve, and isn’t a pun as glorious as that worth celebrating?If you’re taking the time to observe the occasion, it’s worth enjoying your beer properly, so the ideal is to enjoy a pint in a pub, where the nectar is poured fresh, the lines are clean, the glassware is bespoke (ideally), and the server doesn’t care whether you live or die (unideally).But if you’d rather pay £3 instead of the new national average of £5 for a single beer, you’re probably better off staying home, so I asked some industry folk, each of them no stranger to replicating the best drinking experiences in a domestic setting, how to achieve the perfect serve without leaving the house.For Matthew Curtis, drinks writer and founder of drinks magazine Pellicle, it all starts with the cleanliness of the glass, which is, naturally, a little more tricky to achieve at home than at a bar, where specialist kit is involved.“Clean it thoroughly with hot, soapy water and using a dedicated brush.If you use a dishwasher, you’re going to get oil and residue on the glass, which will cause nucleation of bubbles on the insides and your beer won’t keep a head.
Also, before use, always rinse the glass with cold water to make sure there’s no dirt on it.”Elizabeth Townsend, meanwhile, may own Kerroo Brewing Co, but at home she uses an Edel stemmed glass to get the most from her beer: “It keeps your drink nice and cold, because you’re not holding on to it like a pint glass, plus the rim allows more aromas to get to your nose.”Karen Edith Millar, who runs All Good Beer’s bottle shop in east London, has another, more unexpected, tip: “You can make any rubbish lager from the back of the fridge instantly drinkable by chucking a dash of Campari into it, because the bitterness of the Campari takes away that sweet flavour you can get in more cheaply made beers.If you’re a fan of a west coast IPA’s hoppy bitterness, for instance, it will really scratch that itch.”That said, if you’re anything like me and a beer has a maximum life expectancy of about two hours once it gets through your front door, there may not be any rubbish lagers in your fridge to begin with, so this week’s pick features a selection of brilliant beers that require no additions.
Kirin Ichiban Premium Beer First Press £3.80 (500ml) Starry Mart, 5%.A delicate malt beer from Japan.I’d really recommend their Black Raw, too.Vault City Raspberry Sour £3.
50 (440ml) Vault City, 5%.A fruity and tart sour beer from Edinburgh.The Kernel Imperial Brown Stout, London 1856 £5.60 (330ml) The Kernel, 9.6%.
Deep coffee notes, and a stout that isn’t Guinness!Erdinger Alkoholfrei £1.75 (500ml) Sainsbury’s, 0.5%.A tasty, malty wheat beer for the tee(ish)-totallers.
Oxford Street will be pedestrianised as soon as possible, says London mayor
Sadiq Khan has said he will pedestrianise Oxford Street “as quickly as possible”, after two in three respondents to a public consultation backed plans to ban traffic from London’s central shopping area.The mayor’s office said there was “overwhelming public and business support” for the proposals to regenerate the street, whose lustre is slowly returning as department stores muscle back among the sweet and souvenir shops of dubious repute.More than 6,600 businesses, individuals and groups responded to the formal consultation on plans announced last year that included full pedestrianisation of a 0.7-mile strip west from Great Portland Street; improving the area; and allowing street cafes and outdoor events.Khan said: “Oxford Street has suffered over many years, so urgent action is needed to give our nation’s high street a new lease of life
Trump says UK is protected from tariffs ‘because I like them’ as trade deal is signed off
Keir Starmer and Donald Trump have signed off a UK-US trade deal at the G7 summit in Canada, with the US president saying Britain would have protection against future tariffs “because I like them”.The two leaders presented the deal, which covers aerospace and the auto sector, at the G7 venue in Kananaskis, Alberta.Asked about steel by reporters, Trump said: “We’re going to let you have that information in a little while.”Under details released by the Department for Business and Trade, the UK aerospace sector will face no tariffs at all from the US, while the auto industry will have 10% tariffs, down from 25%.The steel industry still faces 25% tariffs for now, although this is less than the US’s global rate of 50% on steel and aluminium
Nationwide draws up bonus plan that could give CEO £7m payday
Nationwide’s chief executive, Debbie Crosbie, could land a maximum pay package of nearly £7m as part of a new bonus plan that has been criticised as “borderline hypocritical” for a UK building society.The pay policy, which will be put to its customers next month, would raise Crosbie’s maximum payout by 43% to £6.9m.She had previously been allowed to earn up to £4.8m under the building society’s remuneration guidelines
FTSE 100 closes near record high, and oil price falls, on reports Iran seeks talks with Israel – as it happened
The FTSE 100 has crept closer to a new closing high today, but fallen just short, as investors’ anxiety over the Middle East crisis faded today.London’s index of leading blue-chip shares has ended the day up 24.5 points, or 0.28%, at 8875 points. That leaves the FTSE 100 slightly short of the record closing high, 8884
Iran and Israel crisis: what does it mean for the price of oil?
The escalating crisis between Israel and Iran has already triggered the largest single-day oil price surge in the last three years, and the question for many is how much higher the oil markets might climb.The price of Brent crude has jumped by about $10 a barrel since the start of June to a high of $78 a barrel on Friday, amid growing concerns that the conflict could wipe out Iran’s oil exports or cut flows of crude from the wider Middle East region to the global market.For now, oil prices have cooled to about $72 a barrel and remain well below the peak of $115 a barrel following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which is one of the world’s biggest oil and gas exporters.But banks and market forecasters have warned that the trajectory of oil prices will depend on how far the unfolding military and humanitarian crisis between Israel and Iran escalates.At the upper end, oil prices could spiral to $120 a barrel, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank, surpassing the highs reached in the wake of the Ukraine crisis
Middle East crisis risks igniting inflation. Here are the markets to watch out for in Australia
The escalating conflict between Israel and Iran has put global markets on edge, as the risk of a disruption to global oil supplies rises and inflation threatens to reignite.Investors have started to reprice a range of products, from gold and currencies to oil prices and stocks, amid fears a broader Middle East conflict could take hold.Here are four market movements to watch out for.Over the past couple of weeks, oil has climbed from $US62 a barrel to about $US74, reversing a trend that had eased cost-of-living pressures for many households.Motorists could be paying up to an extra 12c a litre for petrol if the recent jump in oil prices is maintained, according to the chief economist at AMP, Shane Oliver
Ragù, Bristol BS1: ‘I recommend it wholly, effusively and slightly enviously’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
Raise a glass to National Beer Day: tips on the perfect pint
Benjamina Ebuehi’s recipe for cherry and honeycomb cheesecake pots | The sweet spot
Ken Don obituary
‘The quality of Lebanese wine is absolutely incredible’
Rachel Roddy’s salad of hazelnuts, gorgonzola and honey dressing | A kitchen in Rome