Bottling Guinness in the 1960s

Another Guinness bottling controversy. This time about the use of corks. Which Guinness wanted to phase out in favour of crown corks. 

The brilliant thing about this video is that it shows hand bottling at the pub. The beer is in wooden hogsheads, which is filled in bottles and then corked. 

 It's wonderful to see just how the bottling process worked.

 

 

Guinness in crockery bottles

 Here's a reminder of when Guinness was bottled by publicans. In this case, using corked crockery bottles.

 

 At one time, this was how most Guinness was bottled in Ireland. In the pub where it would be sold. This was one of the main reasons Guinness Extra Stout remained bottle conditioned. Publican bottlers didn't have the equipment to artificially carbonate.

Anyone know when publicans stopped bottling in Ireland? 

 

 

Thomas Usher boiling and fermentation in 1914

Time for boiling. Which was quite different for the different types of beer.

The shortest boil times were for the “Br” Shilling Ales. Where the first wort was boiled for just 90 minutes and the second for 150 minutes. Nothing particularly unusual for the 19th century. And far short of boiling the first wort down to syrup, as some would have you believe. 

The Mild Shilling Ales, in the other hand, had a single 120-minute boil. The reason for the single boil was that these beers were produced in relatively small quantities and only one wort was produced.

The Pale Ales all had three boils, mostly of 105, 135 and 165 minutes. With the last boil so long presumably to concentrate the wort. The one exception was PA 60/-, where each of the boils was 15 minutes shorter. For whatever reason.

Longest boils were reserved for the Stouts. Where the single boil was 180 minutes. Why so long? Possibly to darken the wort.

Fermentation temperatures now. Pitching temperatures are remarkably consistent at 60º F for every beer. Usually, you would expect the pitching temperature would be lower for higher gravity beers.

There’s a bit more variation in maximum temperatures. But still only 3º F, between 66º F and 69º F.  With, logically enough, the lowest temperatures for the weakest beer.

One general comment. The maximum temperatures are quite low. In London, they were generally over 70º F. 

Thomas Usher boiling and fermentation in 1914
Beer	Style	boil time (hours)			Pitch temp	max. fermen-tation temp
40/- Br	Ale	1.5	2.5		60º F	66º F
50/- Br	Ale	1.5	2.5		60º F	67º F
60/- Br	Ale	1.5	2.5		60º F	67º F
44/- MA	Mild	2			60º F	68º F
50/- MA	Mild	2			60º F	67º F
60/- MA	Mild	2			60º F	68º F
80/- MA	Mild	2			60º F	67º F
100/- MA	Mild	2			60º F	69º F
X	Pale Ale	1.75	2.25	2.75	60º F	69º F
X 60/-	Pale Ale	1.75	2.25	2.75	60º F	68º F
IP	IPA	1.75	2.25	2.75	60º F	68º F
40/- PA	Pale Ale	1.75	2.25	2.75	60º F	68º F
PA	Pale Ale	1.75	2.25	2.75	60º F	69º F
PA 60/-	Pale Ale	1.5	2	2.5	60º F	69º F
48/-	Stout	3			60º F	69º F
54/-	Stout	3			60º F	69º F
XP	Strong Ale	2	2.25	2.75	60º F	68º F
	Average	1.93	2.30	2.71	60º F	68º F
Source:
Thomas Usher brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archives, document number TU/6/1/5.

 

Let's Brew - 1897 Fremlin BB L

As you’ll see as we go through Fremlin’s Pale Ales that there were variants of the same basic beers. In this case, I’m pretty sure that the “L” here stands for “London”.

What does London mean in this case? Heavier hopping.10 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt compared to 7.5 lbs for plain old BB. I guess Londoners liked their beer more bitter.

Hopping aside, there are other differences in the recipe. For example, there’s no flaked barley. And instead of the “cane” sugar, there’s No, 2 invert. There’s also some dextro-maltose, for which I’ve substituted more No. 2.

Just two copper hops and two dry hops, all English and all from the 1897 season.

There’s a note in the brewing record that days “only 30 barrels racked as Stock, the rest blended with BB”. At least some of it was aged, then. A maximum of three or four months would be my guess. 

1897 Fremlin BB L
pale malt	7.25 lb	74.36%
No. 2 invert sugar	2.50 lb	25.64%
Goldings 120 mins	1.125 oz
Goldings 90 mins	2.25 oz
Goldings 60 mins	1.125 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.00 oz
OG	1048
FG	1010
ABV	5.03
Apparent attenuation	79.17%
IBU	67
SRM	9
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

 

Thomas Usher sugars in 1914

Sugar next. Rather a lot of different types, as you’ll see in the table.

Six types of sugar in total. Greenock being the commonest. I suspect that it’s a type of invert. It appears in all the Pale Ales and the weaker Shilling Ales. The quantity is pretty consistent at 10% to 12%. Given that it’s in the Pale Ales, it must have been pretty light in colour.

Next most common is dextro-laevulose. Which crops up in all the Mild Ales and Stouts. The dextrose will be there to add body. And laevulose is just another word for fructose. That will just be providing fermentable material. Dextrose is another word for glucose and laevulose is another word for fructose. So dextro-laevulose really is just invert sugar.

Cane sugar appears in all the Mild Ales. I assume that what is meant is some type of raw cane sugar. Penang sounds like something similar.

The last two sugars only crop up in the Stouts. I’ve no idea what Maltosan was. It sounds like a proprietary sugar. Oatine sounds like a sugar especially for Oatmeal Stout. Which was all the rage before WW I.  

The total sugar content of the Mild Ales and Stouts, at around 20%, is pretty high. It’s a more reasonable 10% to 12% for the other styles.

Thomas Usher sugars in 1914
Beer	Style	Greenock	dextro-laevulose	cane sugar	Penang	Maltosan	oatine	total sugar
40/- Br	Ale	12.12%						12.12%
50/- Br	Ale	12.12%						12.12%
60/- Br	Ale	11.76%						11.76%
44/- MA	Mild		8.16%	12.24%				20.41%
50/- MA	Mild		8.16%	12.24%				20.41%
60/- MA	Mild		7.27%	10.91%				18.18%
80/- MA	Mild		7.27%	10.91%				18.18%
100/- MA	Mild		8.16%	12.24%				20.41%
X	Pale Ale	10.91%						10.91%
X 60/-	Pale Ale	8.38%						8.38%
IP	IPA	11.20%						11.20%
40/- PA	Pale Ale	10.91%						10.91%
PA	Pale Ale	10.91%						10.91%
PA 60/-	Pale Ale	12.12%						12.12%
48/-	Stout		3.20%		12.80%	1.60%	3.20%	20.80%
54/-	Stout		3.20%		12.80%	1.60%	3.20%	20.80%
XP	Strong Ale	9.68%						9.68%
Source:
Thomas Usher brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archives, document number TU/6/1/5.

 

Drinkalongathon 2025 - red wine and duck

 

18:11

 Time for a roast dinner. Duck, spuds and sprouts. Stuffing, too, of course. Very nice. And went very well with the wininess of the wine. Forgive the lack of adjectives. It's been a long day.And the whisky isn't done yet.

 

 

Drinkalongathon 2025 - whisky and cooking

 

16:

 16:38

 Time to do some cooking. Which matches so well with cooking. The duck is coming along nicely. Smells dead good. The turkey is lagging a little behind. Time to put the veg on? I don't know. 

Dolores . . .

 

Drinkalongathon 2025 - sherry and White Christmas

 15:42

 Between courses, time to watch some shit. Alexei has put White Christmas on. I'm impressed by the quality. Of the images. The plot , dialogue and acting are complete shit. The image quality, on the other hand, is outstanding. The saltiness of the sherry matches well with my cynicism.

Drinkalongathon 2025 - white wine and pastry

 15:08

 The birds are in the oven. Time for a pastry starter. The sort of pastry I like (not a Stout). What does the white wine do? Wet my throat for sucking down the food. It's full of, er, white winey goodness. Just need to beef it up with a fist or two of whisky. (No fingers for me.)

 

 

Drinkalongathon 2025 - whisky and Wallace & Grommet

 

13:12

Nothing says Christmas like . . . whisky. And Wallace & Grommet. Obviously. The whisky adds an intoxicating element to the high drama and comedy. More whisky, please.

Drinkalongathon 2025 - whisky and stuffing

12:28

Time to get on the hard stuff now noon has passed. Consisting of the cheapest Islay whisky I could find - just over 30 euros. The iodine smokiness goes well with chopping stuff up for stuffing. 

Two lots today. One for the duck and one for the turkey. What flash bastards we are roasting two birds. Orange in the duck stuffing, apple in the turkey one. Complex cooking. For me.
 

 

 

Drinkalongathon 2025 - crumpets and sherry

 11:01

 And so the day begins. Not with a bacon sarnie this year, as I have crumpets. The vintageness of the cheddar compliments the salty acidity of the sherry. And gets the day off to a very happy start.

It's almost time

 for Drinkalongathon 2025. I'm sure that, jst as it is for me, it's the highlight of your year.

But you need to be prepared. Imagine waking up on Christmas morning with only two eggs. Or discovering that none of your string has been sharpened. 

To avoid such crushing disappointment, check out the full list of required items.

To get you in the mood, here's a highlight from last year's event.

 

 

 

Let's brew Wednesday - 1897 Fremlin BB

The next branch up the Pale Ale tree is BB. And, from what I deduce, is described as “No. 4 Family Pale Ale” in a price list of 1897. 

This beer has a more typical gravity for a Light Pale Ale. Resulting in a beer of a little under 5% ABV. A nice, light warm-weather drink. Perfect for the British climate.

The only real difference from the recipe of H, is that there’s one more type of sugar. Dextro-maltose. Which, given its limited fermentability, implies they wanted to add body.

The hopping rate of 7.5 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt is the same as for H. On the low end for a 19th-century Pale Ale. But this is a Light Pale Ale. It’s not supposed to attack your tongue. Loads of hops again. Five copper hops and four dry hops. All English, from the 1896 and 1897 harvests.

Not a beer for ageing. 

1897 Fremlin BB
pale malt	7.25 lb	74.36%
flaked barley	0.50 lb	5.13%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.50 lb	5.13%
raw cane sugar	1.50 lb	15.38%
Fuggles 135 mins	0.875 oz
Goldings 105 mins	1.75 oz
Goldings 75 mins	0.875 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1048
FG	1012
ABV	4.76
Apparent attenuation	75.00%
IBU	52
SRM	5
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	135 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

 

 

J. C. Jacobsen talks malt and Irish breweries

More from the correspondence between Jacobsen father and son. It's such fun. For me, if for no-one else.

The following is taken from a letter of 1870-02-03 from J. C. Jacobsen to Carl Jacobsen.

First he talks about malt.

The floured Scottish barley from last year, from Younger, particularly impressed our farmers, mostly landlords.- I still kept a little of it, but if you can get a small sample (in a bottle) of similarly floured barley in Burton, it would not hurt to have it for reference at another opportunity. 

The Danish farmers were impressed by Scottish barley, but rather bemused by the use of Chilean barley. Something which was very common in UK brewing.

They were also surprised to see the rather narrow and spiked Oderbruck barley and to hear that such barley was sought after in England. Here, they believe that a high weight is the one decisive factor. They could not understand at all that an English brewer could use such chili barley, which I showed them the malt from, and I really do not understand how it is profitable to malt such barley with a malt tax of 21 sh 9d per quarter. It must be extremely cheap. Do you know the price of it? What barley does Evershed use? and what is the price now in Burton? They use as simple barley there as in Edinburgh. 

Yes, Chilean barley was cheap. But not ridiculously cheap. It also had some characteristics - such as nitrogen and protein content - which mad it a good complement to UK barley.

The next bit I found particularly interesting.

I had the company of Tietgen at the table. He strongly recommended visiting the Porter breweries, especially Guinness in Dublin, and then visiting Drogheda (pronounced Droggeda), whose mild ales were famous and cheap. They found a large market, among others, in Liverpool and Manchester. When I expressed my surprise that you had not mentioned Drogheda's beer, he said that the English, out of jealousy of the Irish, tried to ignore it.- He also advised an excursion from Dublin to Waterford, where there, as in several places in Ireland, was a very interesting church from the time of the Danes and the road to it led through the most beautiful parts of Ireland.- But we will hardly have time for that this time.

Guinness Stout was already pretty famous by this point But Drogheda Mild Ales? That's a surprise. It was a pretty small town and brewers there, such as Cairnes, were wuite small.

A church dating back to the time of the Vikings in Ireland must have been pretty old.
 

My 2025: judging

I did a bit of judging this year. Mostly in South America, obviously. That's where I prefer to judge.

The Blumenau contest was fun this year. And not in Blumenau. Instead, it was on the coast at Balneario Camboriu. Literally on the coast, as the judging location was on the seafront. Meaning you could have a stroll down the beach at lunchtime. So civilised. And I managed to dodge judging Best of Show. That's always a win.

In Santiago, judging was in the same hotel as we were staying. Which is always good. A couple fewer bus rides every day. And I got the chance to drop by República Independiente del Pisco. One of my favourite bars in the whole world. Come to think of it, that should have appeared in my list of best pubs of 2025.

More intimate was the judging in Buenos Aires. Only downside was that I was rather coughy during judging. Something that later developped into full-blown pneumonia. Leaving me wonderfully ill for the two free days in Buenos Aires I had at the end of the trip.

Weirdly, I did some judging in the Netherlands. For the Dutch Beer Challenge. It was quite a novelty. And I got a new bottle opener for my key ring.

My final stint at the judges' table was in September in Singapore. Probably the most fun of them all. With the judging taking place in the hotel we were staying in. Which also had good food. Plus some well-chosen evening food destinations. Overall, extremely well-organised. Which is sort of what you would expect in Singapore. 

YouTubey thing

Been vaguely thinking, in my wandering around the neighbourhood wandering mode, about doing some wort of video thing on the internet.

Not sure exactly what. Me talking to other beery people, maybe. I have a couple of interviews I did for "Keg!" that might be interesting.

 Anyone interested? 

Most notable achievement of the year

Publishing "Keg!", my guide to the beer of the 1970s was mine. 

It's a very special book for me because it covers a period I lived through.I include many personal recollections  of the decade where beer geekdom began

It documents the clash between technocrat brewers, enchanted by all the latest shinny things and the traditionalists principally interested in the flavour. I've recipes from Drybrough and Youngs, who epitomised those two opposites.

 Invest in a copy today! 

 

My 2025: gigs

Enjoying this series? No? I thought not. That won't make me stop. I'm too determined to submit to public opinion.

Talks. I gave a few this year.

Most potentially depressing was in Brazil. Where there were only four of us. And two of those were stff. Leaving an audience of one. (Thanks Tina!) But, it was quite fun. I've been in the speaking game long enough to have had multiple truly disastrous gigs. I just found this amusing. I enjoy talking. It doesn't matter how large the audience is. One is good enough for me.

Most disrupted by nature was in Sydney. Where a combination of torrential rain and a tin roof made me inaudible, even with amplification. I had to regularly pause, when even I couldn't hear myself.

Most poignant was in Chile. Where I contributed to Martyn Cornell's talk about Porter in South America. Which was really informative. The only time we've ever worked together.

Most fun was in Melbourne. Because I had a co-host and loads of time. It was so relaxed. I even had time to drink the accompanying beer. That's never happened before. A slightly weird event, too, as a roast dinner was served midway.

I've already got a couple of speaking gigs lined up for 2026. Hopefully more will come. 

Unpublished

Would you be interested in seeing some of my unpublished manuscripts?*

My question is selfish, really. Push it out on the blog or nail it together in a shoddy self-published book. Some form where it will be better preserved than on my hard drive. (And an external drive. The NAS, too. And the backup NAS. Along with the hard drive in Germany.)

I've quite a large manuscript, one chapter of which I posted as what may have been the longest blogposts of all time. With quite a few other chapters that I've never published.

Then there's "America!". Still not published that. With a bit of extra material, it might be worth releasing. Lert me know if you're interested. (About 10 sales would make it worth my while.) 

Did I ever publish "Newark!"? A spreadsheet tells me that I did, in 2014. I can't find it in Lulu, though. I only have a front cover. Where the volume number doesn't match the one in the manuscript. Do I have a copy? I'll have to look.


* That sounds like a terrible pick-up line. 

1897 Fremlin Pilsener mashing scheme

Fremlin was lightly unusual for a largish regional brewery in brewing a Pilsener. 

Now, I wouldn't call it exactly a 100% authentic Lager. As it was brewed from pale rather than lager malt. They did, however, use Carlsberg yeast. Meaning it was properly bottom-fermented.

There was also authenticity in the mashing scheme, which was a double decoction. In which there were two boils of half the mash. This was a simplification of their mashing scheme from a few years earlier, where there were three boils, each of a third of the mash.

Here are the full details of the process. 

1897 Fremlin Pilsener mashing scheme
barrels	temp.	mash temp.
9	cold
3.5	210º F	95º F
1/2 boiled		135º F
1/2 boiled		165º F
5	170º F
6	170º F
6	170º F
Source:
Fremlin brewing record held at the Kent Archives, document number U3555/2/F/Bx2/1/22.

 

My 2025: pubs

Something I really love, pubs. How much time have I spent in them over the last 50 years? Not enough. Not nearly enough.

The year started with Checkpoint Charlie as my Amsterdam local. And ended with it replaced by the Butcher's Tears shop. Cheaper and it sells Stout. I get to chat with Eric, too.

Boteco Colarinho Escondido in Copacabana is one of my favourite spots in South America. Good beer and pretty decent food. Also great for watching the beautiful people on their way to and from Copacabana beach.

Staying in South America, the Tübinger Taproom outside Santiago in Chile is a wonderful spot. Surrounded by vineyards and backed by the mighty Andes. A magical place to indulge in a pint or seventeen.

Buenos Aires has several lovely old bars, of which Bar El Federal is a great example. Cosy, popular and with great local food. What more could you ask for? Cocktails. Which they also have.

How could I leave out Cooper's Original Ale House in Adelaide? A beautiful old Aussie pub with a dizzying range of Cooper's beers. Including their delicious Stout. Yum.

Talking of traditional Aussie pubs, the Napier Hotel is a great example. New to me, though I spent plenty of time in Fitzroy when I lived in Melbourne. How did I never visit this beautiful old pub? It has a multi-room layout reminiscent of a Yorkshire corridor pub. Lovely leaded glass, too. And a good selection of beer.

In Brisbane, I spent time in another couple of great pubs. The Empire Hotel in Fortitude Valley had an odd Aussie charm. And pretty cheap craft beer and food. And what can I say of the Breakfast Creek hotel? A beautiful old pub with Castlemaine XXXX served straight from a wooden cask.

Not really a pub, Welcome Ren Min stall in the Maxwell Food Centre in Singapore has a charm all of its own. And sells good beer and decent prices (for Singapore).
 

My 2025: beers

This going to be a tricky one. As I didn't drink that much beer this year. Or many different types of beer. Which may surprise you.

Rather than a crate of St. Bernardus Abt per week, I got through little more than one for the whole year. I bought 13 bottles for Christmas 2024. And still had four bottles left six months later. Nonetheless, Abt remained one of the best beers I drank all year. Sweet, malty and warming. Lovely stuff.

I quite enjoyed Noi Amara Imperial IPA, at a refreshing 10% ABV, when in Rio. A lovely breakfast beer, full of bitterness and, happily, pretty sludge-free.

There was also an excellent English IPA in Brazil, but I drank it while judging and so have no idea what the beer was. A shame, as I would happily drink it again. And let you know its identity, too. I judged a really good Lichtenhainer, too. Fuck knows what that was, either.

Obvoiuusly, Cooper's was dead good in Adelaide. Cask Castlemaine XXXX was very drinkable, too. And I usually fucking hate Australian Lager. Which was confirmed by an undrinkable Carlton Draught in Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. (Best toilets ever in a stadium.)

On the bus driving the judges around in Singapore after judging, I had a left-over competition beer that was pretty good. A Chinese-brewed IPA of some sort. Very nice. That I was dead thirsty and it was free may have influenced my evalaution.

In Maidstone in October, the one beer I drank was a beautiful pint of Harvey's Sussex Best. If looked after, it's a killer pint. Packed with character. All beer used to be like this.

In October I bought some Dutch Bok. A six pack of Amstel and another of Brand Doppelbock. The Amstel was as reliably good as ever. It's the classic Dutch Bok, rich and malty. And wonderful value for money. 

Think that was boring. Wait until you get to the next post on pubs. 

Let's Brew - 1897 Fremlin H

We now embark on a long trek through Fremlin’s many Pale Ales. With the rather oddly named “H”.  Not sure what that might stand for.

It’s pretty weak for the 19th century. Even for a Light Bitter, which would usually be at least 1045º.  In a price list from 1897, the weakest Pale Ale is described as “No. 5 Light Family Pale Ale”. I assume that’s what this is. Costing 1s per gallon or 2s 6d per dozen pint bottles.   Which seems a little pricey for a beer of this strength. 10d per gallon would be more reasonable.

Not much to the recipe. Three types of base malt, one from Chilean and two from English barley. Along with a little flaked barley. All pretty dull. There are also two types of sugar: dextro-maltose and “cane”. For the former, I’ve substituted No. 2 invert, the latter, raw cane sugar.

No fewer than seven types of English hops were used in the copper. From the 1896 and 1897 harvests. Plus two more types from the 1897 season as dry hops. The quantities of dry hops aren’t given in the brewing records. But they do appear in the totals. And average over 8 oz per barrel – over 1 oz for batches the size of this recipe.

No way this was aged. 

1897 Fremlin H
pale malt	5.75 lb	71.88%
flaked barley	0.50 lb	6.25%
raw cane sugar	1.75 lb	21.88%
Fuggles 135 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 105 mins	1.50 oz
Goldings 75 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1040
FG	1010.5
ABV	3.90
Apparent attenuation	73.75%
IBU	47
SRM	3
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	135 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

 

Legacy II

Following on from my earlier post about the legacy of Martyn Cornell. What would happen to the stuff I'm working on if I dropped dead tomorrow?

I'm assuming here that my son Andrew will handle this. You never know, though. The git could betray me.

What I do trust, is his writing ability. He's pretty good. Annoyingly, in two languages. Why did I make all that effort to bring up the kids bilingual? I remember. Because I'm not an egocentric twat.

I am, what you say, prolific, when it comes to writing. I've published loads. Still, there's lots lying around. Several complete manuscripts. "America!", for example. I can't remember why I've never released that. Private ones, like "Xmas!". 

I've a couple of books or travel reports on the go. They can just be ended where they are. I particularly like "Shut up, Dad". (My attempt to be the new Hunter Davies.) Andrew can just whiz them through to Lulu.

Then there's "Free!". A really important book for me. Covering 1880-1914. (Where I'd like to spend the rest of my retirement.) I'm 75% of the way through. I'd hate it to be unseen.

Andrew might not totally pay attention to what I say while I'm still breathing. He should be able to find these back.

The recipe section can be published pretty much as is. It would have been a separate volume anyway. Really, everything other than the beer styles section can be published. That still needs a lot of work.

OK, Andrew? 

My 2025: injuries

This is the first in a series of posts about my highlights of 2025. Everyone else seems to do it. So I thought I'd give it a go. Kicking off with this year's medical issues.

I expected 2025 to be less wearing on my body than 2024. Spoiler for the weak of heart: it wasn't.

After escaping Rio carnival unscathed, I buggered my hand on the return trip from Chile in April. Simply putting my carry-on bag into the overhead locker. It was a aggravation of the arm break I suffered in Salvador the year previously. And put my recovery back, er pretty much indefinitely.

Using scissors was out of the question. For the rest of the year? I would see.

Nothing was broken on my trip to Argentina in June. Instead, I caught pneumonia. Which was lovely. I returned home barely able to breathe. And spent a few weeks gasping for air. So much fun.

With Andrew to guard me, I managed to escape from Australia unscathed. Phew. Though my right hand still wasn't in full working order.

In November I went with Mikey to Folkestone for our annual visit. All went swimmingly until the last evening. When I fell in my hotel bathroom. And broke my right arm again.

The cast is now off. And, on the plus side, my right thumb is now working much better tah before the second arm break. Something to be happy about.

Now I'm just looking forward to whatever mishaps I'll have in 2026.

Legacy

Martyn Cornell's extremely sad death earlier this year got me thinking about legacy. And unpublished work.

Luckily, Martyn had completed what I'm sure he considered the pinnacle of his work: Porter. Tragic, though, that he never saw its release. It would have been an even greater tragedy, had he been struck down before finishing.

What did Martyn leave unfinished? I can't believe that he wasn't working on another book. (He asked me about self-publishing because he was so pissed off with how long it took to get a book published.) 

Not to go all fanboy, but (meaning I am doing) how much material is there that hasn't been published? Including stuff chopped from Porter. I'd buy a book with that in. Niche, made possible by self-publishing. 

A compilation of his, often very long, always hugely informative, blogposts would make a great book. And preserve them in print. As Zythophile is no longer there. Fuck. This material really needs to be saved.


Maybe I should get in touch with his brother.