Hopulist issue 5
Welcome to issue 5 of Hopulist. We bring you the latest news, brews and intrigue from the craft beer universe and we hope you will enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it together. This month we feature Hop Hideout, Home Brew Club, Writer's of Craft, our World Cup 2018 Special and much more...
Welcome to issue 5 of Hopulist. We bring you the latest news, brews and intrigue from the craft beer universe and we hope you will enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it together. This month we feature Hop Hideout, Home Brew Club, Writer's of Craft, our World Cup 2018 Special and much more...
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WRITERS OF<br />
CRAFT<br />
SOPHIE<br />
ATHERTON<br />
IN THE FIRST OF A NEW SERIES WE<br />
SPEAK TO SOME OF THE BEST BEER<br />
WRITERS IN THE GAME – JOURNALIST<br />
AND BEER SOMELIER SOPHIE<br />
ATHERTON IS FIRST IN THE HOT SEAT<br />
How did you get into beer writing? What<br />
inspired you?<br />
Beer inspired me! Seriously, I’d already been a<br />
journalist for quite a long time when I started writing<br />
about beer. I trained and qualified as a broadcast<br />
journalist, worked on a newspaper for a while, went<br />
on to producing, reading and presenting radio news<br />
and then did a stint running a regional press office for<br />
the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).<br />
While I was doing the latter both my parents died and<br />
it made me re-evaluate a lot of stuff. I decided to go<br />
freelance and because I’ve always loved beer, and been<br />
pretty particular about what I’ll drink, it wasn’t a huge<br />
jump to start writing about it. It also coincided with<br />
all these exciting changes in the beer world, so there<br />
was lots to write about.<br />
Give us a brief overview of your<br />
experience and work in beer writing?<br />
Because I was already quite an<br />
experienced journo, it didn’t take me<br />
long to get my first commission. It was a<br />
small piece for The Times. I interviewed<br />
Sara Barton of Brewster’s Brewery for<br />
a slot called Local Hero. I also had a<br />
blog (although I loathe being called a<br />
blogger) which I used for practice. I also<br />
decided I ought to make a concerted<br />
effort to learn more about beer so I had a<br />
thorough understanding of my specialist<br />
subject. That’s how I ended up becoming<br />
an Accredited Beer Sommelier - the<br />
first woman in the UK to achieve the<br />
qualification. I’d already been writing<br />
about beer for a couple of years by then.<br />
After that I split my time between writing<br />
and doing events – like running a beer<br />
section for the London Wine Fair or<br />
hosting tastings for the Eden Project –<br />
but I’ve always been a writer at heart. If<br />
I have an idea that I think will make a<br />
good piece I work out the sort of place I<br />
might read something similar and then<br />
pitch it based on that. I’ve managed to get<br />
a fair bit into the broadsheet press that<br />
way. Dedicated beer and pub trade mags<br />
are also fertile ground and the Morning<br />
Advertiser and CAMRA’s BEER magazine<br />
remain outlets I write for regularly. I’m<br />
also just putting the finishing touches to<br />
my first book, of which I’m consultant<br />
editor and co-author along with five other<br />
beer writers I commissioned. It’s due out<br />
next year.