Upcoming: Market Gallery Pub

MARKET GALLERY PUB
The Market Gallery Pub is an all-senses, one-night, pub that will serve homebrewed beers to the public. Homebrewers all over Scotland have been invited to create beers for this event, where they will be presented as expanded artworks. This event will be part of the programming of the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art and will serve to bring attention to beer as a site for social and creative artmaking. The Market Gallery Pub is the culmination event for the Pub School, a weekly educational-event series where visitors were asked to consider the aesthetics of beer and brewing and the blurring art and beer.

One beer will be selected to be reproduced for a short 600 bottle production on the system at Williams Bros. Brewing. The selected beer will be sold via mail order and in specialty shops. This beer will also receive free entry into the International Beer Challenge.

DETAILS
When: April 30th, 2010 - 6-10pm
Where: @The Market Gallery (334 Duke St. Glasgow)
Cost: Free (visitors will receive a limited number of drinking tickets)

BEERS
There will be 30 different beers available throughout the night. 27 will be homebrews, and 3 will be from local breweries. Beer Pours will be approximately 240ml per cup, depending on the beer. Keep in mind the event is not just a sampling-event, it is also a pub. 10-15 beers will be available at any given point, and the other beers will rotate on and off regularly throughout the night.

PARTICIPATING BREWERS
A list of participating homebrewers:
Andrew Billcliffe
Balls to the Wall Brewing
Bennachie Brewery
Buccleuch Brewing
Geoff Traill
Jacob Griffin
Little Lectures Brewing
Mark Brannan
Owen Sheerins
Pub School Beers
Rhys Thomas
Robbie Pickering
Steve McQueen Brewery

Participating Breweries:
Harviestoun Brewery
Williams Bros. Brewing Co.

OTHER
The Market Gallery Pub will be available for installation viewing May 1-15th. Please see the Market Gallery Webpage for visiting hours.

All-purpose bar furniture

The furniture has been delivered to the pub. I'll give you all a sneak peek.
The wood used to build the bar, benches, and tables were all donated by Glasgow Wood Recycling. GWR is a social enterprise that received reclaimed lumber, whiskey barrels, church pews, and other wood products and they turn them into new household and yard furniture. Much of what they build becomes raised-bed planters that they take to schools.

Originally we were going to make picnic tables but I was inspired by the raised-bed planters that I saw when visiting the GWR. I turned one of the planters on end and realized it would make a good bench. So, all the furniture in the pub has been inspired by the planters, they all have the same basic design, with different dimensions. I'm more satisfied with this all-purpose design that is implemented into the bar, shelving, benches and tables. When the pub has closed, the furniture will be returned to the earth...as planters.

You will have to come to the Market Gallery Pub on April 30th to see the rest.

To see more of what Glasgow Wood Recycling builds and makes, you can visit their retail location in Glasgow:

Glasgow Wood Recycling
Dear Green Place
Dalcross St., Partick, Glasgow G11 5RE

News

Just a reminder that tomorrow is the Pub School: Meet the Brewer event. We are excited to hear about Williams Bros. Brewing. Please join us at the Market Gallery at 7pm (334 Duke St., Glasgow). The event is free.

UPCOMING:
April 21st - Meet the Brewer
April 28th - WEST Brewery Tour
April 30th - Market Gallery Pub - We will have 30 beers, 27 of which are homebrews. More details are here, including the names of participating homebrewers. Please invite your friends.

LAST WEEK:
The event last Wednesday at the Pub School was titled "Selected Readings About Beer." Visitors brought in their own readings and I had prepared a few myself. My reading from Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World informed listeners on all the various saints in the church that have brewed beer, or became Patron Saints of Brewing. We didn't have enough time to get to my other selection, Beer and Autonomy, an essay about the restrictions on homebrewing in Canada. Robbie Pickering brought a reading about this history of lager from Martyn Cornell's book, Amber Black and Gold. Other readings included an essay about the Death of the British Pub which claimed that most British pubs would make better museums than social centers, selections from a fictional novel where it is required to drink a specific beer every 700 years in order to save the world, and an excerpt about an awful beer delivery experience from Sam Caligione's Brewing Up A Business: Adventures in Entrepreneurship From the Founder Dogfish Head Craft Brewery.

Homebrewing Demonstration Photos

Last Wednesday Geof and Owen, who had previously only known each other through the Jim's Beer Kit Forum, pulled off what may be Glasgow's first homebrewing demonstration. The event was also the first of the Pub School event series. There were a couple hiccups, that could easily be fixed for next time, but in the end we had about 10 gallons of beer. We made up an English bitter, and threw in some Willamette hops. That was exciting for me as I currently live in the Willamette Valley and live 20 blocks from the river with the same name. The hops and the malt were donated by Robert Neale, who can offer you great prices if you inquire via email.

The night started with everyone sitting, listening to Geof and Owen explain what was happening, and ended, as all homebrewing does, with beer drinking and socializing. Sometime during the mashing process everyone decided they would get up and stand around the mashing vessel and boil kettle. Everyone had their chance to stir, add ingredients, or have some part in making the beer. The gallery was filled with the wonderful smell of grains and hops, which was probably quite pleasant to the gallery committee members who came in for work the following morning.



The Pub School continues this week with Selected Readings About Beer. Please come by the gallery Wednesday at 7pm. Check the schedule for the remaining events as well.

Update

Just a reminder that this Wednesday is the All-Grain Brewing Demo, the first of the Pub School event-series. Please come by the Market Gallery, the event will run from 5-9pm. Bring yourself a snack or dinner and some beer!

See more information about it here.

Also, I've just designed the layout for the Market Gallery Pub. I'll be utilizing some old whiskey barrels, thanks to the Glasgow Wood Recycling, an awesome non-profit that creates all sorts of home-products from reusable wood. I'll also be building a few picnic tables. I don't want to spoil the surprise now, but once I start building everything I'll send you all a few pictures.

Lastly, feel free to check out my twitter page. I post all sorts of updates about my time in Glasgow and the UK beers I've been drinking that I don't think will ever make it to the blog.

Pub School - WEST Brewery Tour

PUB SCHOOL:
BREWERY TOUR OF WEST BREWERY

DETAILS
What: Brewery Tour of West Brewery
Where: WEST Brewery (Templeton Building, Glasgow Green)
When: April 28th, 7:00pm*
Cost: Free
*A group of us will walk to WEST Brewery from Market Gallery (334 Duke St.). If you would like to be a part of our walking-group, please join us at 6:15pm for a 6:30pm departure. Expect a twenty minute walk.

Description:
As an artist interested in how beer can be utilized in the psycho-geographic mapping and exploration of a city, I often look at a brewery's facilities to see how they labor over their product, and how the brewery can often be a rich site for social creativity. On a walk in Glasgow I came across WEST Brewery, which has a fascinating story that I would like others to hear/see. WEST Brewery is the only UK brewery that brews all their beers according to the Reinheitsgebot German Beer Law, and they keg their beer, which alienates them from some Real Ale groups. They also have a beautiful facility and great equipment that allows them to mill their grain incredibly finely and create 100% wheat beers. The tour will be led by WEST's Colin Johnston, and you will have the chance to meet the brewers. Bring a little cash if you would like to stay for a pint and/or dinner.

Information about WEST from their website:
WEST was founded on a vision to brew the best beer in the UK. After several years of careful planning, we opened our doors on the 10th of March 2006, having built one of the UK’s most advanced small breweries amidst the Victorian grandeur of the famous Templeton Carpet Factory.

Our work was part-restoration and part-innovation, combining tradition and modern design in creating a truly unique space both for our staff and for our visitors. We also combine tradition and innovation every time we brew, by fusing the tradition and techniques of the great German breweries with the cutting-edge technologies we employ, alongside some Scottish ingenuity.


Pub School
The Pub School is a weekly educational event-series that explores the aesthetics of beer and brewing in Glasgow. Beer making is an art form that influences our daily routines more than one might initially realize. Drinking beer, as pointed out by conceptual artist Tom Marioni is a social lubricant and I would add that it is also a social glue. The act of drinking a good beer, although a small action, is inherently a form of activism; it is a social act with political side-effects as it helps build community, place, and interest in local business. For the Pub School, the public is invited to consider the blurring of art and beer by taking part in homebrewing demos, beer sampling sessions, lectures, presentations, pub-crawls, and more.

Pub School - Meet the Brewer: Scott Williams

PUB SCHOOL:
MEET THE BREWER: SCOTT WILLIAMS
OF WILLIAMS BROS. BREWING CO.

DETAILS
What: Meet Scott Williams of Williams Bros. Brewing
When: April 21st, 7-8:30pm
Where: The Market Gallery (334 Duke St. Glasgow)
Cost: Free

Description:
On April 21st join us for an informal visiting artist presentation by Scott Williams of Williams Bros. Brewing. Scott, one of the two founders, will be available this night to meet the public and share a little about the aesthetics and decisions that go into the creation of their craft beers. Williams Bros. Brewing is based in Alloa, Scotland, and is world renowned for their historic ales, which are recreations of traditional Scottish beers using local ingredients outlawed by the English in 1707. Williams Bros. also has a line of contemporary beers which include an IPA, Porter, Golden Ale, and many others. If you have ever wanted to meet Scott, if you have questions for him, or if you want to taste a couple Williams Bros. beers, feel free to come by.


Pub School
The Pub School is a weekly educational event-series that explores the aesthetics of beer and brewing in Glasgow. Beer making is an art form that influences our daily routines more than one might initially realize. Drinking beer, as pointed out by conceptual artist Tom Marioni is a social lubricant and I would add that it is also a social glue. The act of drinking a good beer, although a small action, is inherently a form of activism; it is a social act with political side-effects as it helps build community, place, and interest in local business. For the Pub School, the public is invited to consider the blurring of art and beer by taking part in homebrewing demos, beer sampling sessions, lectures, presentations, pub-crawls, and more.

Pub School: Selected Readings About Beer

PUB SCHOOL:
SELECTED READINGS ABOUT BEER

DETAILS
What: Selected Readings About Beer
When: April 14th, 7:00pm
Where: The Market Gallery (334 Duke St. Glasgow)
Cost: Free
Other: Please bring yourself a favorite beer.

Description:
What would a school be without textbooks? Or at least some good readings? For this session of Pub School we will hear selected readings from the critics and beer writers in a number of different books. Selections are from the collections of Robbie Pickering, Eric Steen and others. Readings may include parts of Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World, an essay or two from Beer and Philosophy, or an excerpt from Martyn Cornell's new book about the development of British beer styles. If you would like to bring in a book and read a few pages, please feel free to do so. Also bring a beer or two for your enjoyment. Expect the readings to last an hour and a half.

Pub School
The Pub School is a weekly educational event-series that explores the aesthetics of beer and brewing in Glasgow. Beer making is an art form that influences our daily routines more than one might initially realize. Drinking beer, as pointed out by conceptual artist Tom Marioni is a social lubricant and I would add that it is also a social glue. The act of drinking a good beer, although a small action, is inherently a form of activism; it is a social act with political side-effects as it helps build community, place, and interest in local business. For the Pub School, the public is invited to consider the blurring of art and beer by taking part in homebrewing demos, beer sampling sessions, lectures, presentations, pub-crawls, and more.