I was shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of Martyn Cornell yesterday, announced by his brother, Norfolk brewer Dave.
Photograph: via the British Guild of Beer Writers
Martyn moved to Norfolk in 2021, from London, where he helped with Poppyland Brewery and Distillery’s media and publicity. It was two years later that I last saw him, at the launch of Norwich’s City of Ale event. Being journalists of a certain vintage, we were able to reflect on today’s sad excuses for newsrooms and reporting standards, pint in hand, with the River Wensum flowing by.
His writing style when approaching the history of beer was entertaining, thorough, and detailed. Martyn’s relaxed, witty demeanour, and genuine modesty when I was fulsome in praise of his body of work, was at odds with his many wearisome rejections of many unproven, much-repeated theories of beer history we have all come across. The opening paragraph of his last blog, just a week ago, illustrates this perfectly.
“As a historian of beer I am, of course, delighted that Guinness is progressing with its latest Open Gate project in Covent Garden, London, bringing brewing back to the site of the former Woodyard brewery, once one of the biggest porter breweries in London. But if I read once more that porter got its name because it was “popular with the porters of Covent Garden, Smithfield and Billingsgate”, I am going to slap someone with a malt shovel.”
On his excellent blog — Zythophile (ancient Greek for one who loves beer) — he devoted an entire section to debunking popular myths. I suspect the most read is the entry headed: “George Hodgson invented IPA to survive the long trip to India”. I hope the blog remains online for the benefit of all those interested in this endlessly fascinating subject.
Like his books, the blog is packed with historical and cultural history related to beer and is highly recommended to those dipping their toe into the waters of our fabulous subject. Martyn’s research was extensive, copious, and meticulous. Even now, he has a new book nearing publication, on the history of stouts and porters, and he was about to take his no doubt beer-stained notebook to Iceland for a brewery tour when he passed.
There’s a lovely and much more fulsome tribute to Martin on Jeff Alworth’s Beervana blog. “The work Martyn did was singular,” he writes, “literally transforming the way we understand beer. Very few people have had such an impact on a subject.”
Martyn was a founding member of the British Guild of Beer Writers. A spokesperson for the guild said: “Through his blog, Zythophile, he has had a remarkable influence on modern discourse. Through diligent research and an endless fascination with how the British beer industry evolved, he illuminated countless murky areas of brewing history and corrected much misinformation on the way with his occasionally acerbic wit.
“It’s fair to say that few writers have had so much influence on the way we talk about beer and the stories we tell, and the beer writing world will miss his counsel, knowledge, and experience.”
Martyn’s work will live on, through his blog, and through a series of books, such as Beer: The Story of the Pint, Strange Tales of Ale, and personal favourite Amber, Black, and Gold: The History of Britain’s Great Beers. Porter and Stout: A Complete History is due to be published this week.
