Readers Choice — Our Top 10 Features of 2022
Pellicle is made possible by the support of our Patreon subscribers and our sponsor Hop Burns & Black. In 2022 the average amount we spent per article published on this website was £670, with over 90% of that going directly to the writer and illustrator, or photographer, involved with that piece. As such, we have been steadily making a loss since May. In 2023 our goal is to hit 500 paid subscribers and become profitable, so that we may invest further in our content, and our goals. If you read Pellicle and are able to afford to do so, please subscribe by visiting our Patreon page here.
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Who would publish an independent drinks magazine and podcast in this economy, honestly? Us, that’s who! And amazingly, I am a little surprised we have made it this far unscathed, but sadly we can’t say the same for many who operate in the beer, wine and cider industries we cover.
It’s bittersweet that, as I reveal the 10 most popular pieces published on our website in 2022, one of them—Beer Nouveau in Manchester, which was expertly profiled for us by Laura Hadland—ceased trading this month. It’s just one example among many producers and hospitality businesses who can no longer make ends meet as the cost of everything, from ingredients to electricity, skyrockets. Sadly, it still feels as though the worst of this damage is yet to come, with little support available for the industry-at-large, and those affected bracing for what will undoubtedly be an immensely challenging year.
Despite this we still, somehow, feel a sense of optimism. We keep mentioning this, but the feeling is there, and as such we think it’s worth holding on to. It may be a little naive to plough on regardless, but at the moment we reckon there's nothing better to do—Pellicle was set up with the intention to spark joy, after all, so on we plod.
Among the many highlights of our year was getting to brew our first ever collaboration beers. One of which was created with the intention to remind us that there is still plenty to look forward to, even though things are genuinely bleak. Always Trust the Optimist, brewed with Track in Manchester, is a West Coast IPA that is designed to taste like the beers that got us excited about beer 10 or 15 years ago (and boy howdy that 70 IBU will drag you back there, whether you like it or not!) We were also lucky enough to travel to Oxford and create a “modern” bitter—called Wake Up, after the track by Rage Against the Machine—with our friends at Tap Social. As I type this both beers are still available for sale, so make sure you check them out before they’re gone.
Another thing we’re celebrating is that 2022 has been Pellicle’s busiest year for traffic so far. In fact, year-on-year, we’ve seen our audience grow by 15%. Our monthly traffic records were broken in April, and again in August, which both saw over 17,000 individual readers visit the site. It’s no coincidence that these are the same months we published our two most popular features of this year, which accounted for over 14% of this year’s site traffic between them.
It’s things like this that give us this sense of optimism. We genuinely care about our little mag and the cultures and industries we cover, but sometimes—especially in years like the one we’ve had—it can be difficult to find reasons to do so. When we see that so many of you are reading, and the amount of people who are paid subscribers steadily growing, we understand why we give a shit. Because you do too!
We pledge to carry this feeling with us into 2023, and keep publishing more of the content you love. Thank you for supporting, sharing and reading Pellicle over the past 12 months. We’ll be back next week with our annual Trendsetters and Trailblazers feature, and Jonny will be penning his own wrap up, before taking a quick break in the new year ahead of returning to our regular scheduled content.
Before then, here’s a roundup of the 10 most read articles we published this year. Thanks again for reading folks.
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1. I Want To See Mountains Again — The Banked Beers of Teesside, North East England
Words & Photography: Reece Hugill
There’s no formula to determine which features we publish do well, and which don’t. Except that when this piece—a debut from its writer (and Donzoko brewer) Reece Hugill—landed in my inbox, I instantly knew it would be a smash hit. There’s something in this piece about banked beer in Teesside that finds a sweet spot between the intersections of class, history, sense of place, and really nice pints that makes it so incredibly appealing to the reader. More than this, Reece manages to instill a feeling that this is a genuinely fascinating piece of British beer culture, and you can’t look away from the very first paragraph.
Thanks to Reece for writing such an essential, award winning piece—the first for us that we can truly say went viral. This was our most popular piece in 2022.
2. The Essential Guide to IPA
Words & Photography: Matthew Curtis
When I was reading back through some old work for clients earlier this year, and found this guide to IPA I had produced for Mash in 2020, I immediately found myself making changes and updates to the copy. Sure I’d had a decent crack of the whip the first time around, but I felt that with a few tweaks it could be improved upon. I can’t say there’s an individual piece of writing I’m prouder of this year, perhaps because it leans so heavily into some deeply genuine feelings about IPA that seemed to resonate with so many of you. And hey, who doesn’t love a bit of IPA discourse… Special thanks to Katie Mather for her careful edits, which really helped make this one pop.
3. Heaven Knows I’ve Tried — On Ted Lasso, and the Idyll of the London Pub
Words: Pete Brown
Illustrations: Laurel Molly
When I saw that Pete Brown had visited a Fuller’s pub in Richmond called The Prince’s Head (better known as The Crown & Anchor in Apple TV’s excellent sitcom Ted Lasso) I sent him an email in the hope he would write about this experience. Not only am I glad he said yes, but that he also used it as an opportunity to explore not just the idyll of the English pub, but how the pub setting (and the show itself) is so important to male friendships. A wonderful, must read piece, whether you’re a fan of the show or not.
4. The Spice of Life — How Bundobust Emerged from Bradford’s Rich Cultural Heritage
Words: Will Hawkes
Photography: Matthew Curtis
Perhaps the best day's work I did all year. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I jumped on a train to Bradford on a freezing cold January day along with Bundobust’s marketing manager David Bailey, but what unfolded couldn’t have been better. Since our inception we’ve wanted to run a story about Bundobust, but trust Will Hawkes to find an angle that defies the norm and tells you a deeper side of how this fantastic Indian restaurant/beer bar hybrid emerged from the culinary waters of Bradford. A jewel of a city, and a pleasure to photograph.
5. In Dream and Vision — The Southampton Arms in Kentish Town, London
Words: David Jesudason
Photography: Lily Waite
David Jesudason has done some heavy lifting this year. His stories have ranged from personal experiences of racism, to IPA as colonialism, to an investigation into how beer spaces are often inaccessible for disabled people. With this in mind, earlier in the year I asked him if he wanted to write something a little more easy going, and profile a pub. Our pub features remain some of the most popular stories we publish, and if any pub deserves to be written about then it’s the wonderful Southampton Arms (and its equally brilliant landlord Nick Bailey) in London’s Kentish Town. Except, David being David, he also used this as an example of how racism remains a barrier within British pub culture. Long may his star continue to rise with the publication of his debut book on Desi Pubs out next year.
6. You Had Me At Hello — The Salutation Inn at Ham, Gloucestershire
Words & Photography: Lily Waite
More proof—if any was really needed—that people love reading about lovely pubs almost as much as they love spending time in them. This award-winning ode to the fantastic Salutation Inn showcases our very own associate editor Lily Waite at the height of both her written and photographic powers. In just a few paragraphs you’re transported to the centre of Gloucestershire, and by the end you’re working out the route so you can visit the Sally for yourself.
7. Seasons Will Pass You By — The Return of Gale's Prize Old Ale
Words: Martyn Cornell
Illustrations: Dionne Kitching
I’ve secretly wanted esteemed beer historian Martyn Cornell to write for us for some time, and this piece celebrating the return of Gale’s legendary Prize Old Ale was the perfect way for him to do so. It was fantastic to read about the history of this curious beer, and the care that has gone into stewarding its return. Although it’s now told with a hint of sadness, as in November 2022 Dark Star’s owners, Asahi, announced they’d be closing down the brewery’s production facility in Partridge Green, Sussex, and moving production to the Meantime Brewery in Greenwich. I sincerely hope it’s not the last we’ve seen of Prize Old Ale.
8. Please Don’t Take Me Home — How Black Country Desi Pub Culture Made Football More Diverse
Words: David Jesudason
Photography: Jack Spicer Adams
As the most recently published piece to make it into our top 10 for 2022, you can see the impact David’s writing has had this year. For me, this is perhaps his best piece of the lot (and it’s difficult to choose) because it demonstrates both the broadening of his knowledge on the subject of Desi Pubs, as well as the deepening of his enthusiasm for them. This particular piece of reportage is only enhanced by the work of local photographer Jack Spicer Adams, who captures those mixed grills so well you can almost taste the fat and spice in every mouthful. Can I say again how much I’m looking forward to David’s book coming out next year?
9. Up the Down Escalator — Beer Nouveau in Manchester, England
Words & Photos: Laura Hadland
Farewell then, Beer Nouveau. Whether you agree with me or not that Manchester is the best city for beer in the UK, I’m sure you will join me in agreeing that the scene is worse off for the loss of this brewery. What its founder Steve Dunkley brought to the scene was a healthy dose of eclecticism, which is in itself rather Mancunian (this is a city that often boasts how it likes to do things differently, after all.) As a footnote to this story, I am pleased to reveal that the arch that was home to Beer Nouveau has been purchased by Katie Sutton, who will run the site as the Temperance Street Brewery & Tap opening in the new year. I knew there was a good reason I was still feeling optimistic.
10. More Window Than Wall — On Finding Your Local, and Yourself, During Lockdown
Words: Jonathan Hamilton
Illustrations: James Albon (with additional photography by Jonathan Hamilton)
If I’ve learned anything in almost four years of publishing this website, it’s that editing is a much more time consuming job than you’d expect. As a result it means that Jonny, Katie, Lily and I don’t get to spend as much time writing as we’d like (indeed, if we can increase the number of paid subscribers our plan is to resource this.) I’m glad that Jonny had time to write this though, a wonderful reflection on the importance of his local to his well being. Just don’t ask him which pub it is (or if you do, make sure you buy him an Augustiner.)
