📖 Book Review ~ Ten Poems about Beer from Candlestick Press 🍺

Candlestick Press
September 2026

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this pamphlet

 

There’s something companionable about the question “Do you fancy a pint?” It sounds somehow homely – an invitation to share time and exchange news as much as to have a drink.

In these entertaining and warm-hearted poems, we encounter all kinds of beer – everything from real ale to Mexican Pacifico and from home brew to Guinness. We watch as pints are poured and experience the delivery of the week’s supply of barrels, each rolled down into the cellar in what becomes a skilful dance.

In one poem a village pub on a country lane casts an unexpected spell as soon as the travellers cross the threshold:

“… to pass out of the dark

and into a room of flickered malty brown

like the glint of a full pint glass.”

from ‘The Swan’ by Sally Goldsmith

These are poems to be enjoyed in the company of a quiet pint, or as a reminder of the simple pleasure of entering a favourite pub.

Poems by Sally Goldsmith, AE Houseman, Khadijah Ibrahiim, Grevel Lindop, Tom Marioni, John McCullough, Kathy Pimlott, Edgar Allan Poe, Martha Sprackland, and Marjorie Sweetko.

🍺 My Review

There’s something comforting about the smell of beer, for me it conjures up experimenting with home brew or sampling the delights of a malty bitter in the garden of a country pub and even though beer is no longer my drink of choice, I do still appreciate its pungent aroma which is so much part of our heritage. We are a nation that has brewed beer for hundreds of years, from tiny malt houses, to the brewing giants, beer production is part of our landscape.

The feeling a of a well earned stop on a Friday night…

“A Friday feeling ,half way home,

Rain’s drummed you off the motorway, 

good news from London aches for telling..”

From the Regulars by Marjorie Sweetko

To the poignant in..

“ In the front room, whether indigo skies

or rainy grey covered the afternoons

Grandad hammered bottle caps onto homemade brew,

welding metal caps onto brown glass bottles 

As he listened to Beethoven’s symphonies..”

From Grandad’s Home Brew by Khadijah Ibrahiim 

This reminded me of waiting expectantly for a pint of Guinness to be poured in a bar in Dún Laoghaire..

He never tired of explaining from his stool

the route to an immaculate Guinness.

Tilt your glass at forty-five degrees

to kill the splash. Hold it close

to the spout, avoiding contact. Take the brew

three-quarters up, then leave to settle..”

From Masterclass by John McCullough

Like a well-poured pint of beer I found much to enjoy in sampling the ten very different poems on offer in this collection. From its evocative cover, with its hops and barley and the glistening amber of the pint pot of ale, Ten Poems about Beer will make a lovely gift instead of a card for anyone who enjoys a quiet drink in a country pub or a noisy night down the local. There is something different to be found and each of the poems celebrate our companionable connection to beer - drinking safely, and responsibly, of course.

Cheers 🍺

About the Publisher 

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Twitter/X @poetrycandle 

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