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Depressing read in the Sunday Times about slumping sales. I'm aware of it of course, but there you are. In the early CAMRA days we travelled miles for a pint - people thought we were bonkers and I guess we were. I didn't quite complete the Youngs 135 Club but did the Fullers Passport. Anyone else ?
I am remembering a funny thing I saw a few months back. My local is the Antwerp Arms, which is about 10 minutes walk from the Spurs stadium. Incredible boozer, community owned with a small stake from Redemption (who are sadly in administration). The staff are....robust shall we say.
Anyway it was Spurs Dortmund and a couple of my wife's mates were over from Dublin for the game so we told them we'd meet them there. I cycled home and there was Dortmund everywhere, they'd taken over a tiny bar on the High Street causing much consternation from the police.
Anyway, in the pub, my round, so I go to the bar. There's a lad looking super sheepish with a glass that clearly had a real ale in it. Bar maid asks him if he wants another. He nods and it becomes clear he's German and trying to keep a low profile.
"Do you want the same thing?"
"erm.......no"
"I F**KING TOLD YA YA WOULDN'T LIKE IT" and starts pouring him a lager.
Creased me up at this poor Dortmund fan behind enemy lines buying a cask ale and having to chew it down to fit in
I wonder how much of this is down to price. I doubt that real ale drinkers are ditching the stuff for lager. Charge me £6 for a pint of tepid turbid liquid and I'll go somewhere else or not bother. A well kept pint of bitter and stout should be drunk all year round.
I wonder how much of this is down to price. I doubt that real ale drinkers are ditching the stuff for lager. Charge me £6 for a pint of tepid turbid liquid and I'll go somewhere else or not bother. A well kept pint of bitter and stout should be drunk all year round.
I fully agree. Whomsoever had the idea of adding hops to oats & barley should have a statue erected in his honour in every town, city & village in the country.
I suspect there's a bit of a vicious circle around the decline of pubs generally. Fewer pubs, less real ale sold; less ale drunk, fewer pubs (because if you want a bottled beer you can drink it at home, cheaper.)
I was more or less brought up on the idea of real ale by my dad, back in the bad old days of keg bitter and Harp lager so I appreciate the stuff.
But it was originally a cheap drink (my first pint was 40p and even back in, I dunno, 1980? that was dirt cheap.) And it was drunk in boozers that varied from good old-fashioned comfort (open fires in winter) to grotty.
The cheap end of the market - both ales and pubs - is disappearing (though terrible pubs do still survive off they have a captive audience).
You can find badly kept beer but the days when a decent pint such as Courage Directors stood out as a rarity have gone - there's a much bigger range, and a lot of it is a very good product, but you're paying a premium price.
Pubs are generally cleaner, there are fewer fights, and you don't find your eyes watering from the smoke any more, but it's no longer a cheap evening out that you don't even notice in your pocket.
Doing my old git thing now, but I think there's a bit of a parallel with both football and music.
70s football grounds were grotty and sometimes downright dangerous (both from the fans and from health and safety), the pitches were frequently mud-baths, and lots of British football was crude long-ball stuff but God it was cheap, at least on the terraces.
And music used to be a 45 rpm single for what? A quid or something? Or an album for a fiver, which was better value. Gigs for top bands at, say, the Hammy Odeon or Harlesden Mean Fiddler were perfectly affordable (no bloody Ticketmaster for a start.)
I know this makes me sound like my old Nan going on about Real Money and honestly in a lot of this the product is much better and I'd rather pay for quality than have cheap crap. But there does seem to be a shortage of Affordable Fun for your average 20-something .
No wonder they're on their phones all the time, at least it's (sort-of) free, but it doesn't involve proper human contact.
I suspect there's a bit of a vicious circle around the decline of pubs generally. Fewer pubs, less real ale sold; less ale drunk, fewer pubs (because if you want a bottled beer you can drink it at home, cheaper.)
I was more or less brought up on the idea of real ale by my dad, back in the bad old days of keg bitter and Harp lager so I appreciate the stuff.
But it was originally a cheap drink (my first pint was 40p and even back in, I dunno, 1980? that was dirt cheap.) And it was drunk in boozers that varied from good old-fashioned comfort (open fires in winter) to grotty.
The cheap end of the market - both ales and pubs - is disappearing (though terrible pubs do still survive off they have a captive audience).
You can find badly kept beer but the days when a decent pint such as Courage Directors stood out as a rarity have gone - there's a much bigger range, and a lot of it is a very good product, but you're paying a premium price.
Pubs are generally cleaner, there are fewer fights, and you don't find your eyes watering from the smoke any more, but it's no longer a cheap evening out that you don't even notice in your pocket.
[Post edited 30 Jul 15:25]
Re pubs and smoking - the Restore party wants to reintroduce smoking into pubs. I wouldn't mind a bit meself but understand it wouldn't go down well with most who even want smoking banned in pub gardens.
Re pubs and smoking - the Restore party wants to reintroduce smoking into pubs. I wouldn't mind a bit meself but understand it wouldn't go down well with most who even want smoking banned in pub gardens.
Given only 10% of UK adults now smoke, would it be popular with anyone? Smoking is a very niche pursuit now
I fully agree. Whomsoever had the idea of adding hops to oats & barley should have a statue erected in his honour in every town, city & village in the country.
Up until the 15th century, ale was brewed without hops. It's likely hops came over from Flanders, and the hopped drink, known as beer, became popular not least because of its preservative qualities.
So thanks must go to the Belgians, who really are exceptional brewers.
Up until the 15th century, ale was brewed without hops. It's likely hops came over from Flanders, and the hopped drink, known as beer, became popular not least because of its preservative qualities.
So thanks must go to the Belgians, who really are exceptional brewers.
Exactly, that's how India Pale Ale got the name - heavily hopped to preserve the ale whilst being shipped overseas to our boys.
Up until the 15th century, ale was brewed without hops. It's likely hops came over from Flanders, and the hopped drink, known as beer, became popular not least because of its preservative qualities.
So thanks must go to the Belgians, who really are exceptional brewers.
That's thanks to the Belgian Trappist Monks I suspect.
I suspect there's a bit of a vicious circle around the decline of pubs generally. Fewer pubs, less real ale sold; less ale drunk, fewer pubs (because if you want a bottled beer you can drink it at home, cheaper.)
I was more or less brought up on the idea of real ale by my dad, back in the bad old days of keg bitter and Harp lager so I appreciate the stuff.
But it was originally a cheap drink (my first pint was 40p and even back in, I dunno, 1980? that was dirt cheap.) And it was drunk in boozers that varied from good old-fashioned comfort (open fires in winter) to grotty.
The cheap end of the market - both ales and pubs - is disappearing (though terrible pubs do still survive off they have a captive audience).
You can find badly kept beer but the days when a decent pint such as Courage Directors stood out as a rarity have gone - there's a much bigger range, and a lot of it is a very good product, but you're paying a premium price.
Pubs are generally cleaner, there are fewer fights, and you don't find your eyes watering from the smoke any more, but it's no longer a cheap evening out that you don't even notice in your pocket.
[Post edited 30 Jul 15:25]
40p was a 'regular' price for a pint in 1980, certainly in the London suburbs.
Doing my old git thing now, but I think there's a bit of a parallel with both football and music.
70s football grounds were grotty and sometimes downright dangerous (both from the fans and from health and safety), the pitches were frequently mud-baths, and lots of British football was crude long-ball stuff but God it was cheap, at least on the terraces.
And music used to be a 45 rpm single for what? A quid or something? Or an album for a fiver, which was better value. Gigs for top bands at, say, the Hammy Odeon or Harlesden Mean Fiddler were perfectly affordable (no bloody Ticketmaster for a start.)
I know this makes me sound like my old Nan going on about Real Money and honestly in a lot of this the product is much better and I'd rather pay for quality than have cheap crap. But there does seem to be a shortage of Affordable Fun for your average 20-something .
No wonder they're on their phones all the time, at least it's (sort-of) free, but it doesn't involve proper human contact.
No Mean Fiddler in the 70's. Vince Power bought it in the early 80's and turned it into the venue you remember, prior to that, it was a 'drinking club', owned by Terry Downes. We loved the place under both managements.
40p was a 'regular' price for a pint in 1980, certainly in the London suburbs.
Yes, definitely - I didn't mean it was a cheap pint, I meant that all beer was cheap compared with anything else much. (E.g if I've got my memory straight, you could get a couple of pints for the cost of a top 40 single, which itself wasn't a luxury item.)
Yes, definitely - I didn't mean it was a cheap pint, I meant that all beer was cheap compared with anything else much. (E.g if I've got my memory straight, you could get a couple of pints for the cost of a top 40 single, which itself wasn't a luxury item.)
Lager was a massive 10p more as I recall.
I think I paid five bob to see Jimi Hendrix at the Marquee.
I am remembering a funny thing I saw a few months back. My local is the Antwerp Arms, which is about 10 minutes walk from the Spurs stadium. Incredible boozer, community owned with a small stake from Redemption (who are sadly in administration). The staff are....robust shall we say.
Anyway it was Spurs Dortmund and a couple of my wife's mates were over from Dublin for the game so we told them we'd meet them there. I cycled home and there was Dortmund everywhere, they'd taken over a tiny bar on the High Street causing much consternation from the police.
Anyway, in the pub, my round, so I go to the bar. There's a lad looking super sheepish with a glass that clearly had a real ale in it. Bar maid asks him if he wants another. He nods and it becomes clear he's German and trying to keep a low profile.
"Do you want the same thing?"
"erm.......no"
"I F**KING TOLD YA YA WOULDN'T LIKE IT" and starts pouring him a lager.
Creased me up at this poor Dortmund fan behind enemy lines buying a cask ale and having to chew it down to fit in
My daughter worked in the Prince’s Head in Richmond a couple of years ago. A steady stream of Ted Lasso fans would come in to order a pint of “London’s Pride”, take one sip, then ask for something else instead.
Award-winning Blue Monkey Brewery has revived its popular Funky Gibbon ale in memory of one of Britain’s best-loved entertainers and wildlife champions, Bill Oddie.
The independent brewery, based in Giltbrook, Nottinghamshire, has relaunched its 4.2% amber ale, Funky Gibbon, following the recent passing of Bill Oddie. Named after the iconic 1975 Goodies song, the beer has been given a special new recipe to mark the occasion.
They have a Decent pub on the edge of town with a piano, a fire (log burner) and do an odd beer called 99 red baboons.
Blue Monkey will also be making donations from the beer to WWF in recognition of Bill Oddie’s lifelong commitment to protecting wildlife and inspiring generations to appreciate the natural world.
My daughter worked in the Prince’s Head in Richmond a couple of years ago. A steady stream of Ted Lasso fans would come in to order a pint of “London’s Pride”, take one sip, then ask for something else instead.
Made the mistake once of going for a point or two in the Hung drawn and quartered at Tower Hill, was full of yanks with selfie sticks filming themselves having a pint of London Pride, the faces most of them was making was a joy to behold.
Made the mistake once of going for a point or two in the Hung drawn and quartered at Tower Hill, was full of yanks with selfie sticks filming themselves having a pint of London Pride, the faces most of them was making was a joy to behold.
Whadyafink your face looks like drinking their beer?
I came across Timothy Taylor’s Blonde for the first time last night (3.8%). Very pleasant on a warm evening. Only tried it because the Harvey’s and Landlord was off though.
I came across Timothy Taylor’s Blonde for the first time last night (3.8%). Very pleasant on a warm evening. Only tried it because the Harvey’s and Landlord was off though.
Where was this, Sheen (don’t tell me, it’s Sheen isn’t it!)
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