How was your Christmas / New Year / Dry January / Lockdown 3 / Homeschooling?

It's been two months since Matt & I last had the time to record a podcast. Well actually that's not QUITE true... we did manage to met briefly between Christmas and New Year to record some World Cup of AF matches around the back of bike shed. What has the world come to?

We also recorded an interview with Sonja Mitchell - the Managing Director and 'Beer Admiral' of Jumpship Beers. You might remember that Matt once described Sonja's flagship 'Yardarm' as "A bit watery" and asserted that the 'Made by Sonja' on the side of the can was just a made-up marketing ploy.

So I was really looking forward to this interview - mostly because of how awkward Matt would be! We finally got around to recording it a few days before Christmas - but I've been REALLY busy ever since and by the time I got around to editing the interview it had dated really badly.

Thankfully Sonja is one of the nicest people around and agreed to re-record the interview. So here it is.

Enjoy!

(PS - also included some more first round matches of the WC of AF... including Sonja's Yardarm against an Aldi AF beer. It'd be AWFUL if Matt put through the Aldi beer. Wouldn't it...)

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Shall we start with the caveats?

Matt and I recorded this episode at the end of Lockdown Part 2 - when the only way to meet was socially distanced at either end of a bench in the park. So it sounds a little different to usual.

We've got some fixture congestion in the World Cup of AF - so it's a double header of two matches today. We're going to hold a few matches between episodes and announce a load of results in the next podcast - watch out Jeff Stelling - THIS is the results show the nation needs.

Also in the episode we discuss the difference between 0.0% and 0.5%, and I have a confession. A really little one.

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I can't even begin to tell you how hungover Matt was during this episode.

It might just be the last time I see Matt given the latest lockdown announcements - and this is how I have to remember him!!!

On this episode we channel our inner Mark Chapman as we draw the first round of the AF World Cup, and chat to three inspiring guys looking to change the way we drink.

Let us know what you make of the AF World Cup draw - there are some interesting match-ups. You can see the full draw on the website

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We're into the final quarter of my year off drinking. Time for some big decisions. I've been swaying between sobriety and moderation quite a bit in terms of my plans for 2021... so I'm thrilled that Jamie East joins us on this podcast as he 'celebrates' the third anniversary of his sobriety. He definitely seems to be thriving, and at one point in his interview he tells Matt and I that he's a better husband, father and employee as a result of giving up booze - well who doesn't aspire to be better at all of the above? It's a great interview - massive thanks to Jamie for giving up his morning (he'd already recorded a show and been for a run at 9.30 in the morning - now if that's not an advert for sobriety I don't know what is!!!)

On a different note - this episode sees the first match in our World Cup of AF as Brewdog's Nanny State takes on the new 'Low Down' from Aldi's 'Hop Factory' brand. Who will come out on top and win a place in the next round?

NB - Contains fruitier language than normal.

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Don't worry - I haven't fallen off the wagon.

After a break for the summer we're back! And to celebrate we're cracking open a bottle of tequila. Well, sort of. In this episode we chat to Fern McCoy, who has BOSSED her lockdown. While most of us were watching Hamilton for the 17th time on Disney+, Fern was creating, making and launching her own non-alcoholic spirit - Mockingbird. Born of her love of all things Mexican, and in support of her sober boyfriend, she's created something incredible. So get your salt, lemon and lime ready... for the first episode of Season 2.

PS - If you like the sound of Mockingbird - visit our website for a special offer.

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In the words of the great Jon Bon Jovi; "Woah! We're half way there." Yep, since the last episode I've passed the mid-point of this year off drinking. The biggest lesson I've learnt from my sober six months is that the habit of beer drinking can easily be separated from alcohol. As Fergus from Adnams told us, the beer in an alcohol-free product is THE SAME BEER that's in the regular product. There are some additive differences, but in terms of taste... it's come from the same source.

This is huge. We've talked about pubs quite a lot, and we both love their atmosphere, the friendship, meeting-place, as our Irish friends would call it; the craic. Being able to keep this in my life, but massively reducing the alcohol intake is key to the 2021+ version of me. I know this is hard for some people to comprehend, but I can completely see a future where people meet in pubs to drink AF lager as a group... just think about the recent shift from cigarettes to vape - yes, it took legislative change and a MASSIVE advertising push, but the tobacco lobby seem to have realised that they'd rather have their customer-base vaping than giving up... well perhaps booze is the next frontier?

The big challenge? Convincing people that AF beers are good drinks. Enter Adam from Sober Sauce... he's set-up a company that looks to provide mixed taster boxes of AF beer to those thinking of joining 'my' team. In this episode Adam explains that he's targeting Matt as much as he's targeting me. And if I heard correctly... he might just have convinced Matt that there's a non-alcoholic future for him too!

Enjoy the episode... and as a bonus you can find on our website a video of an interview I recorded with Adrian Chiles at the weekend as part of Club Soda's HUGE festival of mindful drinking. Over four days speakers from around the globe shared their experiences, tips, and products to like-minded drinkers, and those looking to be a bit more moderate. It was great fun, and I'm hoping to get Adrian on our podcast soon...

Cheers.

Geoff

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Firstly an apology: we've been talking a LOT about pubs in recent episodes. They say; "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone" and since mid-March we've been unable to meet in the place where we've held court since we've known each other.

Apparently a quarter of us have felt lonely during the lockdown. Of course we've lacked interaction with colleagues, but socially... it's the pub I've missed the most.

So excuse us one further episode on pubs and then we PROMISE we're moving on... but last week, we went back to the pub where this podcast was born for the first time in months, to enjoy a drink, some food, and a chat with friends. And for an hour or so... everything was okay in the world.

One more thing before we get into the podcast... I've been asked a fair bit to recommend my favourite AF beers from 6 months of trial and error. So I've put together a top five, but over the next few episodes we'll be discussing the options, and tasting a few new lagers for good measure.

Enjoy the podcast.

Cheers

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Meet Fergus. He's the Head Brewer at Adnams in Suffolk, and he's the guest on this week's podcast.

Does pub beer taste better than canned beer?

What exactly is in non-alcoholic beer?

How do you get to be a Master Brewer?

And are the breweries ready for pub-reopening day?

A lot has happened since the last episode:

Boris has announced that pubs will reopen on 4th July

Matt & I gave 'drinking in the park' a go

And the results of the drinking survey are in.

On that note; thanks to everyone who took time to fill in the survey - if you haven't had your say yet then you still can, we'll leave the survey up while I delve a little deeper into the numbers. It's on the website

Cheers!

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