Brimdale Brewery is in need of help. They brew a light ale with their special Brim water in Yorkshire. But other breweries are cashing in on their name, acting like just anyone can come along and called their ale a "Brim" or "Brim-like" blend. But like Champagne, the bubbly beverage, can only come from Champagne, the specific location in France, a Brim beer should only be able to be brewed in Brim. Right?
That is what the Brimdale Brewery needs to convince the European Union of, and fast. With the impending deadline of Brexit, the brewers need that special designation before Britain breaks away and all their hard political and diplomatic work goes by the wayside.
That's why the BBA, the Brimdale Beer Association (Gary Merriweather and Howard Amos, actually), have hired celebrity chef Brian Parkin to headline their cause. Sure, his television show got canceled in the wake of that minor scandal, and his wife ran off with his agent, but he's still a household name. He still gets noticed.
But brewery managing director Simon Backhouse has different ideas--he's hired PR guru Brandon Todd to make sure that the EU agrees to their proposal and then to run a giant media campaign for the brewery after their political victory.
Add in the machinations of a local environmental agency, a historical novelist who is interested in the monks who first brewed beer in Brim, and an overzealous international beer company that wants to acquire Brimdale no matter what the EU says about using the name, and you've got trouble. Trouble Brewing, to be exact, the newest novel from Paul Carroll.
Trouble Brewing is a fun, fetching comedy about the business, the politics, and the passion of brewing beer. It's a genuinely well-written comedic novel, something I don't get to say often enough, and it's the perfect diversion for those dark winter days that are coming this way. Pour yourself a glass of your favorite brew and sit down with this page-turner. I truly loved it, and I hope you do too!
Galleys for Trouble Brewing were provided by Troubadour Publishing Limited through NetGalley.com, with many thanks.