Britain in a Bottle : A Visitor's Guide to the Breweries, Cider Mills, Distilleries and Vineyards of Great Britain

A unique, comprehensive and colourful guide to over 250 breweries, cider mills, vineyards and distilleries across Britain.

“Entertaining and thorough… an essential handbook” Charles Maclean

Recent years have seen a huge increase in the number of these places all over the country not only operating but also welcoming visitors, from small single-man producers working from home to large, world-famous labels, and from well-established brands to the revival of 200-year-old manufacturers that had almost been lost to prosperity. Now, for the first time, they have been gathered together in a single book which celebrates their craftsmanship, pinpoints their locations, describes who they are and what they do, and provides detailed information about how you can visit and sample their wares.

Expert authors Ted Bruning, previously of What's Brewing magazine, and Rupert Wheeler, previously of Whisky Magazine, focus on places that are normally open during the holiday season, have a visitor centre and shop, and (in most cases) welcome families so you don’t have to leave the kids in the car! Arranged by country, with chapters concentrating on individual counties and regions, no matter where you are you’ll find a brewery, cider mill, distillery or vineyard within reach, many in historic, beautiful or quirky locations, from a brewery in a windmill to a distiller in the operating theatre of a former animal hospital.

Ted Bruning trained as a reporter on local weekly papers before joining the Morning Advertiser, founded in 1794 by the Society of Licensed Victuallers both to promote the trade’s interests and to help support indigent licensees. After rising to the position of Associate Editor he turned freelance, writing regularly for publications such as the Publican, the Brewers’ Guardian and What’s Brewing (the Campaign for Real Ale monthly membership magazine), as well as undertaking one-off assignments such as editing the quarterly The Cider Press. Later he was Editor of What's Brewing and wrote London by Pub, a book of historic pub trails that earned him promotional TV slots on Caprice’s Travels and The Thirsty Traveller. He has also written travel features mainly about brewers, distillers, and cider mills in Brittany, Belgium, and Wales for a range of magazines and had a sideline importing bottled beers from Northern France microbreweries. For the last ten years he has been concentrating on books and also, until 2011, driving a beer and cider importer on buying expeditions across Belgium and Northern France. He also works regularly for a licensed trade yearbook, On Trade Preview.

Rupert Wheeler started out working for publishers in the 1970s before becoming self-employed in 1988 undertaking freelance projects for a range of companies including Dorling Kindersley and Cadogan Guides. Since 2002 his company, Posthouse Publishing, has been publishing under its own imprint as well as continuing to produce books for other publishers, including A Return to Real Cooking, The Microbrewers’ Handbook by Ted Bruning, The Wine Producers’ Handbook, The Craft Distillers’ Handbook by Ted Bruning and, more recently, The Bar Owners’ Handbook and The Sustainable Smallholders’ Handbook. Between 2014 and 2017 he was Managing Editor of Whisky Magazine, a role which involved commissioning all features, participating as a judge in World Whiskies Awards 2014-Present, and visiting distilleries in Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland (as well as USA and India). In 2017 he decided on a whim to move to Orkney and now works part time at Highland Park distillery as a tour guide as well as taking tasting events for VIP tours. He continues to run Posthouse Publishing.