What do you think?
Rate this book
Braslou Biere Chronicles #2
Trouble Brewing in the Loire
Second in the Braslou Biere Chronicles, the true story of one man's attempt to escape the rat race by starting a brewery in one of the finest wine-producing regions on the planet
Burt, the hound of Beelzebub, has risen from the dead, Gadget the miniature horse has moved into the kitchen and Tommy has decided to expand his beer business, and on the advice of his wife Rose, is thinking about distilling gin. What can possibly go wrong? With Brexit looming, a second baby on the way, and sales of IPA beer plummeting, trouble is brewing in the Loire.
With the verve, wit and warmth that characterized A Beer in the Loire, shortlisted for the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards 2019, comes the sequel, Trouble Brewing in the Loire, a feast of humor, heart, mishap and mayhem.
Burt, the hound of Beelzebub, has risen from the dead, Gadget the miniature horse has moved into the kitchen and Tommy has decided to expand his beer business, and on the advice of his wife Rose, is thinking about distilling gin. What can possibly go wrong? With Brexit looming, a second baby on the way, and sales of IPA beer plummeting, trouble is brewing in the Loire.
With the verve, wit and warmth that characterized A Beer in the Loire, shortlisted for the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards 2019, comes the sequel, Trouble Brewing in the Loire, a feast of humor, heart, mishap and mayhem.
- GenresBeer
234 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2022
3 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Tommy Barnes
3 books3 followersBarnes grew up in Hertfordshire. He worked as a graphic designer in London for 15 years and performed as a stand up comedian in his spare time. Happily made redundant, he set off to France with girlfriend Rose. There they started a microbrewery, Braslou Biere
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 13, 2021
Memoir set in FRANCE / LOIRE
This is no. 2 in the Braslou Bière Chronicles (and if you haven’t read no. 1 – A Bière in the Loire – the author exhorts and cajoles you throughout to pick it up and buy it). Tommy and his partner Rose have settled in Central France, in a small village called Braslou. They are not the only English family dotted around this rural French community.
Tommy left the rat race in London, where he worked as a graphic designer and arrived with Rose and their young son. They are soon expecting another child, a daughter, who arrives like a bundle of energy into the world. Sleep deprivation is only one of the problems that start to beset them. His brewing enterprise starts off well but then a sourness creeps in and the sales start to plummet. The stress of lugging his beer around the autumn and christmas markets in his 1982 Peugeot J9 fireman’s van soon gets to him and he is candid about the alcohol consumption that soon starts to play a part as everything unravels. He experiments with additions to his beer like asparagus and saffron (grown nearby), he shares an enormous amount about brewing (not perhaps always of huge interest but so integral to the narrative) and you learn about the importance of labelling, cleanliness and the optimum temperature needed for process.
He has a menagerie of unruly animals and a larger than life dog, Burt, who is a force to be reckoned with. The dog eats everything and, frankly, the only way is downhill when Tommy finds himself regularly to studying the dog’s droppings to ascertain where, for example, the the button runners of his dishwasher tray may have gone. As the overall situation escalates (the lack of income, not the turd inspections) he starts to channel Princess Diana who gives him a good talking to and points him in new useful directions (he hopes).
In the wings is the fall out from brexit, an unknown entity that feels like an iceberg just waiting to crack their lives open and yet another wobbling block in the precarious Jenga construction of their life in France; as the narrative moves towards March 2020, the reader knows only too well that there is bound to be another blow in the offing with ‘confinement‘ looming.
There are times when the narrative is a little cringeworthy. He is nothing if not honest and ripe in his use of language, but there is a redemptive humour, coupled with acute observation that lends the story a fluency. Ultimately this is a heartfelt memoir of joy and despair and I really want to know what happens to Tommy and his family next!
This is a lovely part of the world, where you can find the smelliest of soft cheeses – Epoisses – which actually isn’t made IN the village which gave it its name, no artisanal cheese shops there! Perhaps the locals are “ashamed of the cheese they unleashed on the world...” You will also find where to get the best croissants!
And we do love a good map and as you open the book you can see how close Braslou is the Loire Valley
Included in the book are 12 previously unpublished beer-infused recipes – using Tommy’s beers of course – created by Tom Matthews of the Chatsworth Bakehouse in Crystal Palace.
This is no. 2 in the Braslou Bière Chronicles (and if you haven’t read no. 1 – A Bière in the Loire – the author exhorts and cajoles you throughout to pick it up and buy it). Tommy and his partner Rose have settled in Central France, in a small village called Braslou. They are not the only English family dotted around this rural French community.
Tommy left the rat race in London, where he worked as a graphic designer and arrived with Rose and their young son. They are soon expecting another child, a daughter, who arrives like a bundle of energy into the world. Sleep deprivation is only one of the problems that start to beset them. His brewing enterprise starts off well but then a sourness creeps in and the sales start to plummet. The stress of lugging his beer around the autumn and christmas markets in his 1982 Peugeot J9 fireman’s van soon gets to him and he is candid about the alcohol consumption that soon starts to play a part as everything unravels. He experiments with additions to his beer like asparagus and saffron (grown nearby), he shares an enormous amount about brewing (not perhaps always of huge interest but so integral to the narrative) and you learn about the importance of labelling, cleanliness and the optimum temperature needed for process.
He has a menagerie of unruly animals and a larger than life dog, Burt, who is a force to be reckoned with. The dog eats everything and, frankly, the only way is downhill when Tommy finds himself regularly to studying the dog’s droppings to ascertain where, for example, the the button runners of his dishwasher tray may have gone. As the overall situation escalates (the lack of income, not the turd inspections) he starts to channel Princess Diana who gives him a good talking to and points him in new useful directions (he hopes).
In the wings is the fall out from brexit, an unknown entity that feels like an iceberg just waiting to crack their lives open and yet another wobbling block in the precarious Jenga construction of their life in France; as the narrative moves towards March 2020, the reader knows only too well that there is bound to be another blow in the offing with ‘confinement‘ looming.
There are times when the narrative is a little cringeworthy. He is nothing if not honest and ripe in his use of language, but there is a redemptive humour, coupled with acute observation that lends the story a fluency. Ultimately this is a heartfelt memoir of joy and despair and I really want to know what happens to Tommy and his family next!
This is a lovely part of the world, where you can find the smelliest of soft cheeses – Epoisses – which actually isn’t made IN the village which gave it its name, no artisanal cheese shops there! Perhaps the locals are “ashamed of the cheese they unleashed on the world...” You will also find where to get the best croissants!
And we do love a good map and as you open the book you can see how close Braslou is the Loire Valley
Included in the book are 12 previously unpublished beer-infused recipes – using Tommy’s beers of course – created by Tom Matthews of the Chatsworth Bakehouse in Crystal Palace.
January 13, 2023
'It's always the season to drink beer. That's the beauty of beer. Humanity will always need three things — loo roll, loo seats and beer'.
Друга частина пригод британського пивовара-рукодупа у Франції. Знову смішно і знову він часто бісить, бо сам же й винен у більшості факапів. І як же я постійно була згодна з його замітками про Францію після 1,5 місяців вимушеного перебування там. А ще його описи просто прекрасні (чого вартий тільки уривок про сир епуас!). Шкода тільки, що французька частина його пригод добігла кінця. Але, думаю, можна сміливо очікувати на третю частину, вже з Корнуолла.
Друга частина пригод британського пивовара-рукодупа у Франції. Знову смішно і знову він часто бісить, бо сам же й винен у більшості факапів. І як же я постійно була згодна з його замітками про Францію після 1,5 місяців вимушеного перебування там. А ще його описи просто прекрасні (чого вартий тільки уривок про сир епуас!). Шкода тільки, що французька частина його пригод добігла кінця. Але, думаю, можна сміливо очікувати на третю частину, вже з Корнуолла.
October 14, 2021
There are many books popping up detailing the experiences of British people in France, here is another enjoyable one to add to the collection.
Tommy Barnes runs his own micro-brewery in rural France, occasionally he diversifies to give his views on parenting, roundabouts, speed humps and other oddities, but the book is at its strongest when he’s focussing on the trial and tribulations of his brewing and his experiences when trying to sell at the country fairs.
The author used to be a stand up comedian and his humour certainly shines through, this certainly helps as the dark shadows of Brexit and the pandemic rear their ugly heads. He has a unique, almost coarse turn of phrase and yet I warmed very much to this and somehow it made this particular personal story, all the more real.
Thanks to NetGalley and Muswell Press for providing me with an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Tommy Barnes runs his own micro-brewery in rural France, occasionally he diversifies to give his views on parenting, roundabouts, speed humps and other oddities, but the book is at its strongest when he’s focussing on the trial and tribulations of his brewing and his experiences when trying to sell at the country fairs.
The author used to be a stand up comedian and his humour certainly shines through, this certainly helps as the dark shadows of Brexit and the pandemic rear their ugly heads. He has a unique, almost coarse turn of phrase and yet I warmed very much to this and somehow it made this particular personal story, all the more real.
Thanks to NetGalley and Muswell Press for providing me with an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
November 14, 2022
I’d read the first book and was very much looking forward to the sequel. You really need to have read the first before this one. Unfortunately it didn’t grab me like the first book. It definitely has its funny moments. However, the constant mishaps which were amusing in the first book now became frustrating to read in this one. I would have liked Tommy to have focused a lot more on his achievements since making the move over to France rather than trying to make every mistake into a funny story. I also like a bit of home brewing myself so was hoping more emphasis would have been put on the brewing side of things. That said it was still an entertaining read. I do enjoy reading about people starting a new life abroad and I was routing for Braslou Brewery ever since reading the first book. So the bombshell at the end came as a bit of a shock. It’ll be interesting to see what the family does next and if there will be a follow up. I hope so
November 22, 2021
Second book by Tommy Barnes about his adventures as a brewer in the Loire.
I very much enjoyed the first book. I think it was better than this second one. This is decent and certainly funny at times but it didn't quite grab me like the first book did. The writing seemed a bit forced and it somehow fails to make an emotional connection with the reader, save for the last couple of pages. At least less than the first book did.
That said, it's still an enjoyable read and redeems itself a bit at the very end. I would recommend you definitely read A Beer In The Loire First.
That jab at the Dutch and the clothes they wear was unnecessary though. True, but unnecessary. ;-)
I very much enjoyed the first book. I think it was better than this second one. This is decent and certainly funny at times but it didn't quite grab me like the first book did. The writing seemed a bit forced and it somehow fails to make an emotional connection with the reader, save for the last couple of pages. At least less than the first book did.
That said, it's still an enjoyable read and redeems itself a bit at the very end. I would recommend you definitely read A Beer In The Loire First.
That jab at the Dutch and the clothes they wear was unnecessary though. True, but unnecessary. ;-)
January 12, 2022
At times I enjoyed reading this book, at times I found the storyline to be boring and not that great! When Tommy and Rose move from London to France to run a microbrewery, there’s potential for a fun and entertaining read as a new future develops!
I wanted this book to grow and hold my attention, I couldn’t really connect with the main characters!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advancedp copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I wanted this book to grow and hold my attention, I couldn’t really connect with the main characters!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advancedp copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
June 12, 2022
Tommy goes really far for a joke sometimes, but I found it amusing enough of the time to keep with it. The bits where he really talked about brewing were interesting. The background of Brexit and COVID lend this book some historical relevance. His depression (while not called that specifically in the book) was relatable. His conclusions at the end of the book about his family/wife were like, "It took you think long to notice? SHEESH! Gah!" I wonder what's next...I'll probably read it.
February 26, 2022
This is an entertaining read for beer & wine lovers alike and of course foodies! There are so many lol moments reading about Tommy's trials of his home brewery nestled in wine country. He enjoys toying with flavors but they don't always turn out as planned as there is always some sort of malfunction. I love his love of butter & croissants!
January 21, 2024
I very much enjoyed the first book, but ended up disappointed with this one.
It does have its funny moments but most jokes are quite repetitive and the constant mishaps make the whole thing a tad frustrating.
It does have its funny moments but most jokes are quite repetitive and the constant mishaps make the whole thing a tad frustrating.
January 11, 2022
It's not a literary masterpiece, but it is fun. And beer! 🍻
July 15, 2022
Все той же Томі Барнз, тільки схоже у нього вже зовсім поїхав дах. Не дуже зрозуміла реверанси в бік Діани. А так як завжди, обійняти і плакати
October 15, 2022
This was just an ok read didn't really seem to have a proper conclusion
December 12, 2022
Funny, light, silly worth the read and always makes me want to go to random markets in France. Not sure why this took all year, I bought it and like..lost it?
April 8, 2024
3.5
Easy read and genuinely hilarious at points. The half assed recipes (and ridiculous jokes about the pets) were right up my street.
Easy read and genuinely hilarious at points. The half assed recipes (and ridiculous jokes about the pets) were right up my street.
October 19, 2021
I'll begin by saying that I haven't read the first book so I had no background or context to this one. However, other than the author's occasional jibe about this, it didn't seem to make much difference. This is not just an account of the author's successes and failures with his brewing enterprise in France but also documents his life, relationships, view of self and mental health. Although I'm not a brewer or even a fan of real ale, I was drawn in by the easy writing style, wit and the fact that he became aware that the state of his brewery reflected the state of his mind, much like a desk might. An interesting book which manages to encapsulate a lot in a quick read.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 1, 2023
Not as funny as the first, but still amusing and enjoyable. Also, Tommy Barnes surprises with his honest personal insights at times .
December 21, 2023
A great follow up to Tommy's first book that follows the very open struggles of running a brewery in the Loire. As brexit looms and difficulties with children, animals and the house add pressure to the situation. It has a real sense of raw emotion and warmth as they try to run a successful business in France. The descriptions of the area and fellow business are vivid and bring the situation to life. It's well written with great expression and a depth of funniness through the struggles.
December 18, 2023
Really good and funny
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews