News, nuggets and longreads 7 November 2026: Glorious Exploits

Every Saturday we round up the best writing about beer from the past week. This time, we’ve got ghosts, etiquette, and pub talk. First, some Samuel Smith’s news. Those hoping for a period of post-Humphrey glasnost and perestroika will be disappointed to learn that CAMRA is still unable to get a response from the famously tight-lipped brewery: [Several pubs] currently owned by Sam Smith’s, are listed for sale with Fleurets, and include statements in the listings that the sales are for ‘non-pub use only’… Some are now marked as ‘sold subject to contract’, but CAMRA is warning potential developers that conversion could be impossible or highly costly, with the current listing arrangements running contrary to the new planning rules, meaning that local authorities will have to reject the applications… CAMRA’s National Planning Adviser, Paul Ainsworth, wrote to Sam Smith’s last month, warning that the sales listings were not compatible with the new National Planning Policy Framework. To…

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