As the beer blogs enter their Christmas hibernation, and you find yourself on a long journey home, or twiddling your thumbs on the sofa, novelty hat askew, it’s a great time to catch-up on some of those longer pieces you might have missed. Here are ten we bookmarked.

1. The Plot to Destroy America’s Beer (Bloomberg) — this article got tweeted and retweeted by everyone on earth in October but we didn’t get round to reading it until now. Lesson: monopolies threaten choice and quality for ‘ordinary drinkers’ of ‘normal beer’.

2. The History of Pilsner Urquell in Three Parts (Evan Rail) — the Why Beer Matters author tells the story of the founding of Pilsner Urquell, analyses its founding document and then sets straight various myths, fairy tales and downright lies that have built up over the years.

3. Shades, Dives and other varieties of British bar (Martyn Cornell) — ever wondered about the difference between the saloon, lounge, snug and public bar? This article will sort you out. (Or confuse you further by throwing in the vaults, the shades, the ladies’ bar…)

4. Terror at the Wenlock Brewery (Stephen Sadler) — on 11 September, 1940, hundreds of people sought shelter from a German air raid in the basement of a London brewery, with dreadful consequences.

5. Shakespeare’s Local and the Austrian Tyrant (Pete Brown) — a handy leftover bit of his latest book, this piece tells the story of how Southwak brewery workers kicked a war criminal’s butt in 1850.

6. Albany Ale: Going Dutch (Craig) — one of several posts by this blogger on the history of Dutch brewers in Albany in the state of New York.

7. Complete Guide to All-grain Brewing(Neil at MashSpargeBoil) — he makes it sound so easy! (Which it kind of is.) If brewing is one of your 2013 resolutions, read this for encouragement and advice.

8. Yeast ploys…(Charles Bamforth) — brewing scientist Charles Bamforth argues that yeast isn’t the be-all and end-all when it comes to pinning down a specific character in brewing. (Contrarian much?)

9. Oxidation: good beer gone bad (Chris Bible) — a slightly dry but very clear piece explaining (a) what oxidation is; (b) how to spot it in your beer; and (c) how to prevent it.

10. History of Ignatz Bier(Homebaseproject) — the story of a Jewish-owned brewery in Berlin from 1907-2011, including it’s ‘Aryanization’ in 1933.

BONUS: The Pubs of Old London(Spitalfields Life) — not many words in this one so not especially suitable for ‘reading later’, but the pictures…. oh, boy, such pictures!

If you’re still hungry for more, our previous ‘longreads’ lists are here and here

We recommend Pocket (formerly Read it Later) for iOS and Android as a great way to consume long web articles on the move.