UK Brew Clubs

[BlackIsland]

Hello lads and ladies,

I know this will sound a bit nuts, but bear with me. We're looking at moving to the UK to retire, haven't decided where, and are taking a ton of variables into account. One would be access to like-minded people when it comes to brewing. Where might I find the more active brew clubs? Where I currently live there are 5 clubs with a 30 minute drive, so I feel pretty lucky. Any insights are appreciated?

 

[Sadfield]

Tricky one to answer currently. Covid19 restrictions mean that only the very smallest clubs (limited to 6 people) in only a few areas of low infection rates can meet. Who knows how many will resume post Covid19?

Ordinary, there are quite a few around Manchester. London will have similar, I suspect. Although, I doubt there are many of the scale that run in the US.

 

[BlackIsland]

Tricky one to answer currently. Covid19 restrictions mean that only the very smallest clubs (limited to 6 people) in only a few areas of low infection rates can meet. Who knows how many will resume post Covid19?

Ordinary, there are quite a few around Manchester.

Thanks! It will be a few years before the move, but Manchester is one of the corners of the triangle we're currently leaning towards, with Leeds and Sheffield being the other two corners.

 

[Sadfield]

Thanks! It will be a few years before the move, but Manchester is one of the corners of the triangle we're currently leaning towards, with Leeds and Sheffield being the other two corners.

https://www.brewuk.co.uk/blog/home_brew_clubs/

 

[uDicko]

Sheffield one has a normal attendance of around 6-8 going up to 10+. Not happened much recently for obvious reasons. Good group tho, a nice mix of styles and methods used. I'm sure there are probably others but when in full swing it's once a month everyone chips in and they won a homebrew collab brew comp a year ago with Thornbridge.

 

[Clint]

I'd stay put.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I'd stay put.

I agree, I wouldn't retire here if I had the choice.

 

[MickDundee]

I agree, I wouldn't retire here if I had the choice.

Maybe he likes crap weather and the uncertainty created by Brexit

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Each to their own, but I beg to differ with @Clint and @Chippy_Tea here. Joking aside, I do properly love these countries of ours - especially the gorgeous bits outside the major cities. Whenever I’ve been abroad for an extended period it really does make my heart leap to get back.
I‘d say that with a few caveats the UK can be a great place to choose to retire - that is what I’ve done myself, and I‘m very happy with that. It definitely does help to have a bit of money though: you probably don’t want to envisage retiring to the UK if you would need to rely on state benefits; but conversely if you have a reasonable amount of disposable income then it opens doors to a very good quality of life.
I spent three years living in central Manchester and I can say there Is some beautiful countryside nearby, and some great people, but you could equally say the same of Birmingham, Liverpool, Exeter, Edinburgh, Cardiff, ... etc etc etc. However one of the things to be aware of is that in normal times you really can drive or train it from one end of the country to the other in a single (long) day - so for example although I live just north of London, I quite drive over to Bristol to meet friends for lunch, up to Northampton for a bit of climbing or into London for the museums and specialist shops. However I really don’t think I’d choose what part of the countries to live in based just on how active the local brewing community is, because I don’t think you’ll find a lot of difference on that score - so long as your aren’t in the middle of nowhere - and as I said before, if you don’t mind travelling around then you can get most places easily enough.
My personal advice would be to choose an area based on the main factors like climate, terrain and human geography - and access to transport hubs - the rest of it you can adjust by where precisely you choose within those parameters :-)

 

[An Ankoù]

I agree with a lot of what @The-Engineer-That-Brews says, especially the economic aspects, my affordable property and land here would be beyond our wildest dreams in comparable parts of the UK. But my heart never leapt at the prospect of returning, not to the weather (I love what The Wise One refers to as bad weather) but to the crowded roads and crap driving and dirty streets. It could take 45 minutes to drive 4 or 5 miles from Poole to Bournemouth even in the winter, let alone during the grockle season. Then there's the economics of greed, you scratch my back and outright bungs, which seems to be the way from local government to the very top these days. It was always there, of course, but now it's the norm. Then there's the institutional xenophobia established and lovingly nurtured by May and Patel and dross of their ilk. Not to mention the decline and fall of anything that might pass for parliamentary democracy. The Engineer's UK is but a happy memory and like the Empire, is lost and gone forever except in the blurry minds of doting sentimentalists. Nope, I won't be retiring to the UK. I don't want to spend all my best brewing time locked away behind bars (prison bars that is) doing time for insurrection.
Listen to @Clint . He knows what he's talking about.
Or if you can't stay put, have a look at New Zealand.

 

[robster62]

Each to their own, but I beg to differ with @Clint and @Chippy_Tea here. Joking aside, I do properly love these countries of ours - especially the gorgeous bits outside the major cities. Whenever I’ve been abroad for an extended period it really does make my heart leap to get back.
I‘d say that with a few caveats the UK can be a great place to choose to retire - that is what I’ve done myself, and I‘m very happy with that. It definitely does help to have a bit of money though: you probably don’t want to envisage retiring to the UK if you would need to rely on state benefits; but conversely if you have a reasonable amount of disposable income then it opens doors to a very good quality of life.
I spent three years living in central Manchester and I can say there Is some beautiful countryside nearby, and some great people, but you could equally say the same of Birmingham, Liverpool, Exeter, Edinburgh, Cardiff, ... etc etc etc. However one of the things to be aware of is that in normal times you really can drive or train it from one end of the country to the other in a single (long) day - so for example although I live just north of London, I quite drive over to Bristol to meet friends for lunch, up to Northampton for a bit of climbing or into London for the museums and specialist shops. However I really don’t think I’d choose what part of the countries to live in based just on how active the local brewing community is, because I don’t think you’ll find a lot of difference on that score - so long as your aren’t in the middle of nowhere - and as I said before, if you don’t mind travelling around then you can get most places easily enough.
My personal advice would be to choose an area based on the main factors like climate, terrain and human geography - and access to transport hubs - the rest of it you can adjust by where precisely you choose within those parameters :-)

What climbing can you do in Northampton? Not very hilly around there.

 

[An Ankoù]

What climbing can you do in Northampton? Not very hilly around there.

Up the wooden hill to Bedford!

 

[robster62]

I suppose there is always the lift tower to climb

 

[Clint]

True there's some great places. Without substantial funds a lot are well out of reach.

 

[Rodcx500z]

I know exactly were i am going if i ever have enough money Vendee on the west coast of france around the saint Jean de monts area or southern Brittany

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

What climbing can you do in Northampton? Not very hilly around there.

Old industrial structures and abandoned shafts, mostly ;-)

 

[Galena]

I certainly would be away from the UK if I could but at 62 I've left it too late really. If you really want to retire here though I would suggest you spend some time here not on holiday and see if you still feel the same way. If the crap weather, crap roads, dangerous drivers, ignorant masses and British mentality don't get you down then perhaps it is right for you.
If it were me, if you fancy an old world British sort of feel then try New Zealand (not that I have ever been there). If you fancy a more laid back lifestyle and can handle a foreign language then try France or Spain perhaps.

 

[An Ankoù]

I certainly would be away from the UK if I could but at 62 I've left it too late really.

No you haven't @Galena , I was 62 when I installed myself over in this neck of the woods.

I know exactly were i am going if i ever have enough money Vendee on the west coast of france around the saint Jean de monts area or southern Brittany

Your money goes further here, the personal taxation regime is much more generous than in the UK, we find, although for business and self-employed, the opposite is true. Property is a fraction of the price of that in the UK and with the Brexit Brigade clearing off home, there should be plenty available. Food is a bit dearer and the beer is not as we would want it, but not a problem for a band of jolly brewers.

 

[Galena]

No you haven't @Galena , I was 62 when I installed myself over in this neck of the woods.

I admire you for doing that, I suppose my concern at 62 is because I don't speak French so well and something that in my 30's 40's I would have been more pragmatic about it seems a bit daunting sorting stuff out, when I was younger learning French and making friends I would certainly of had more confidence at than I may have now, also I think if you move abroad solo then you you are more approachable rather than being an insular English couple. Then there are the worries of health as you get older and dealing with doctors and health service etc.
I am not painting a good picture I know, I really am a pragmatic person but doubting the practicality of it. I do love France and the French way of life though and spent a lot of time there in my younger days. My wife still works and has a two or three years to go but we do own a few rental properties we could sell one to buy abroad.
Having had a yacht years ago I knew lots of couples who sold everything to buy the dream boat to live aboard and sail round the world, the big problem then was coming back was a problem because you end up being priced out of the housing market, not that this should be an issue, but I suppose I wonder how many years we would get before we have to come back to the UK for the NHS

 

[An Ankoù]

but I suppose I wonder how many years we would get before we have to come back to the UK for the NHS

Well that really is the least of our worries. Health care is good here and very quick. There are a variety of ways of entering the system depends on your circumstances, but I don't think anyone can slip through the net. Still, it's a bit of a moot point since after the transition period, becoming a resident starts to get a whole lot more difficult. I've no idea what the health cover arrangements are for non-European or Swiss nationals.[/QUOTE]