WWI – the teetotalers war!

Don’t you love it – September 1914 and war has just broken out in Europe and German drinkers start a riot over the price of beer reports an article in the Brewers Journal, September 1914.

Things were little better in Britain as the Temperance movement wanted to make WWI a teetotalers war and deny workers and members of the armed forces access to alcohol. Abstinence would win the war claimed the supporters of temperance.

The Journal railed against the very notion of a ban in drinking. In an editorial said: “The very nations which have eschewed alcohol are those which have become effete – unable to conduct their own domestic and political affairs.”

Beer Writing Awards deadline extended to 12 September

The British Guild of Beer Writers is extending the deadline for this year’s awards for beer writing, giving entrants an additional week to submit their work. Entries will now close on Friday, 12 September.

Winners and runners up in this year’s awards will share a prize fund of £9,500. Entries are welcomed to any of the competition’s eight categories, including Young Beer Writer, introduced this year. All winners will be announced at an Awards dinner in London on Thursday 4 December.

The competition is open to writers, broadcasters, photographers, poets, illustrators, designers, webmasters and bloggers whose work has broadened the public’s knowledge of beer and pubs. You do NOT have to be a member of the Guild of Beer Writers to enter and we welcome nominations by third parties – so if you have been impressed by a press article, book or blog about beer, please think about entering it.

Judging this year’s entries is a panel of judges chaired by Will Hawkes, current Beer Writer of the Year. The judges are: Will Dean, editor of the Independent magazine; Natalie Whittle, associate editor, FT Magazine; Tim Hulme, chief executive of the BII and Georgina Young, brewing manager at Fuller Smith & Turner.

Full details of how to enter the Awards, including a list of the categories, criteria and downloadable entry and nomination forms, can be found on the British Guild of Beer Writers website http://www2.beerguild.co.uk/?page_id=2162