London Bound

On Thursday I'm off to London for the weekend. I like to have Friday free while my partner is at work. She is a little less keen than me in traipsing round pubs, so I'll put it to good use. We have already agreed to visit Zeitgeist, following the suggestion of Boak and Bailey. It will fit in nicely either after our theatre trip on Saturday, or maybe Sunday if it is open. Stupidly the website doesn't mention opening hours. This brings me to a brief rant. What is the bloody point of a pub having a website if it doesn't cover the basics?

So if anyone has any suggestions of pubs in London that I ought to go to, please let me know. I am hoping to visit the brewery at the Cock and Hen before it goes tits up, but that depends on what else takes my fancy.

I might even make a return to the Jerusalem Tavern.

The GBG Matters to Publicans

I had an irate phone call from one of our publicans following our Good Beer Guide Selection Meeting held last Saturday. He is a current GBG entry but he'd heard he hadn't been voted in for 2009. Why? This is a tricky situation, but I answered him honestly. He hadn't got enough votes. There was no slur on his beer keeping, it was just that on the day, those voting were persuaded better of the merits of others. He wasn't a happy bunny at all and took the view that he'd bar all CAMRA members if he wasn't in. Plenty drink in his pub he said. That I said, was up to him.

I do understand his frustration, but we operate a democratic system. Every member is entitled to come along and vote and each gets a personal invitation by post. He simply lost out to that democratic process. Maybe he will bar CAMRA members that drink in his pub, but he'd have been better off joining himself and corralling his regulars to support him. It is when democracy is left to others that you suddenly realise that another definition of democracy is "everyone gets what nobody wants!"

CAMRA'S GBG 2009 will be out later this year. All CAMRA Branches are currently engaged in the selection process. If you are a member, please join in. If you are not, please join then join in!

S&N Close Reading

In a move that surprises no-one, the S&N keg only plant at Reading is to close with a loss of 360 jobs. Is this the start of the fallout from the Carlsberg/Heineken takeover? No is the answer. The writing has been on the wall for Reading since the packaging plant was closed last year and much production (anyone know of what?)*was contracted to Coors last year. The takeover consortium has been aware of this as part of "due diligence".

S&N produces mainly Fosters and Kronenbourg there. Both brands, Fosters in particular, seem to be in terminal decline. Interestingly, overcapacity is cited as a main reason for closure. The production will be moved to Tadcaster, Manchester and Dunston.

This underlines that brewery closure and consolidation has a way to go yet. The overcapacity for production of "standard" lager and the sharp decline in tired old "brands" has yet to fully play out. With Coors bringing in a 4% Dutch brewed Grolsch and Becks Vier already established, previously sacred cows will go. No-one in their right minds will miss them.

The Reading Brewery is the last of the "old" Courage breweries to close. It was opened in 1979.

* Seems it was 3 million hectolitres of Fosters and Kronenbourg!!

SAB Miller Takes Over at the Top

London Stock Exchange listed, but South African owned, SAB Miller has, with the agreed purchase of Grolsch of the Netherlands, just become the world's largest brewer, knocking InBev into second place and Heineken (assuming the S&N deal completes) into third. This leaves the American giant Anheuser- Busch in fourth place.

You might not have known that. None of them brew any truly exciting beers. Bet you knew that though!

If you want to know which "brands" to avoid, most conveniently list them on their web sites!

Manchester Born and Brewed

That's the strapline of Hydes, one of the big four family owned independent brewers in Manchester. Perhaps less well known than Lees, Holt's and Robinson's, nonetheless it has been around since 1863. Behind the Fort Apache exterior deep in Moss Side, it looks very traditional, but it houses a very modern and flexible brewing plant producing mainly traditional ale. It brews currently well over 100,000 barrels a year including the cask version of Boddington's, once the Cream of Manchester and now, sadly, irrelevant to any serious beer drinker. The brewery trips are superb and generous.

Our CAMRA meeting last night was held in the Merry Monk in Rochdale, a GBG pub selling three of their beers. Most of us drank the luscious Mild, Owd Oak Dark (they also do a light mild) though some were on bitter and one or two on Jekyll's Gold. The Owd Oak was superb. Dark, creamy headed with some hops and fruit and a slight lactic edge. Very moreish. Greater Manchester is one of the last places in the UK where you can get good mild fairly easily. I drink it a lot and know how lucky I am to be able to do so.

Around the Beer Blogs

This is the first of an occasional look at other blogs and what they are currently concerned with. I've stolen the idea from elsewhere!

Stonch, after lighting the blue touchpaper about the state of Hart Brewery's pumpclips and being branded a "Southern Jessie" for his trouble by the owner, has turned his thoughts to a real woman, though regrettably a fully clothed one. He is genuinely astonished when the beery types that read blogs haven't actually heard of his fantasy women, which does give a generational indicator or two. Beer wise he gives the once over to a couple of very decent pubs, one of which I'd like to visit someday and the other, I already have. Last night he shook his liver awake with a 12.5% beer. I always enjoy this blog which somehow manages to set the cat among the pigeons one way or another.

Boak and Bailey whose blog grows on me, are concerned with complaints about late delivered home brew supplies and duff pints. They admit to a reticence about complaining, which must make them popular with non deliverers and bad publicans! A decent piece about family brewers deserved a few more comments I thought. Comments, like pies, are nice! Today they wish they were in Cologne. I wish I was too! A Swift One has a lovely ranty story about Lees daft new beer glass. Great stuff. Not at all "cheery beery". He also has a claim that Huddersfield serves the best cask ale in the UK, which given the source for this claim is "Cask Marque", I suppose is tongue in cheek! Maeib seems taken with Cask Marque's dodgy claims too, but makes some very good points about Sainsbury's 26p a pint cider.

Pete Brown found himself in hot water when he took the hump about an anonymous comment and was then accused of "hypocrisy" by other bloggers and those who comment on blogs. His fellow professionals rushed to his rescue and a bit of a squabble ensued. "Real bloggers v professional writers (aka paid hacks) masquerading as bloggers seemed to be the theme, with accusations being implied rather than actually bandied about. Should those who make their money from beer writing refrain from blogging? A case can be made, though not on balance a convincing one. But the furore highlighted that not all would necessarily agree with me on this.

I enjoyed the Beer Nut's piece about An Brainblásta and Porterhouse Brewing. I had the full tour of this little fella when it was in the eaves of the Dublin outfit a good few years ago. You couldn't get me out of the place (the pub not the eaves) and I still enjoy a pint of Wrassler's 4X in Covent Garden from time to time. Finally for this round up, the Southport Drinker tries to harden his heart against smokers. He doesn't quite fail, but he weakens. I am sorry to say that I see their current misery as payback time. Pubs are just so much better to go into now and I don't stink of smoke any more, any time ever!

If I have missed your blog, don't worry, I probably won't next time in about a month. Final point, I try and comment on posts of other bloggers. I know it encourages me when I get comments. I hope it encourages them!

Booming Micros!

It has been widely reported that beer sales are falling in the UK with the Beer and Pub Association recently reporting a 9.7% year on year drop in sales. Now, according to a report by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) just released a couple of hours ago, beer from local breweries is bucking the trend. They say "In 2007 locally brewed beers saw an average volume growth of 10.7% year-on-year, despite being sold in just four in 10 pubs. The report claims that the introduction of local cask ales can increase total beer sales by as much as 20% when compared with pubs that don’t stock local beers.".

The report goes on to remark about limited access to the market being a bar to further progress and that SIBA also found that more than a quarter of pubs (29%) that do stock local brews price them at an average 6% to 7% premium over their usual cask ale.

Well surprise surprise, local beer is popular and increases sales. It can command a premium. Its availability is restricted and that while beer sales might be falling, good beer isn't. It is tired old lager and smooth that is heading downhill. So come on landlords and pub companies, especially those who stock only the boring big brands. Give your trade the boost it needs. Buy in some local beers, make us drinkers happy and watch the profits roll in.

I first used this headline in The Summer 06 edition of More Beer, my local CAMRA mag, when refering to our local micro scene. Good to see the national picture concurs

Taking on the Supermarkets?

I notice from the "Morning Advertiser", that Tony Brookes of the Head of Steam chain has teamed up with Sam Smith's to offer customers a better deal on takeaway beer. They did this over Christmas too, though not with Sam's. Then in addition to buying unusual bottles, you could earn free bottles by drinking lots of cask beer.

The aim this time is to "get the take-home trade the supermarkets can't get" by offering quality ales not generally available elsewhere. They are keenly priced too at £19.99 for twelve.

It is a nice idea but a mere pinprick, though an enlightened and helpful comment was made by a publican contributor who said "RE: Pub chain takes on supermarket booze deals. I tried the free bottles to take home idea over Christmas, but found most of the breweries reluctant to help. Only one did - Thwaites. I don't have the clout, even as a free house because of volumes, nor the resources for POS etc . Perhaps if Tony were to invite other independents to join the scheme, buying power could be shared and the campaign gain momentum. Just a thought."

Maybe "just a thought", but maybe not a bad one. At least you'd have to visit a pub to take it up.

Cask Axed In Favour of Smooth!

I was saddened to learn that Robinson's will shortly drop the cask versions of both Wards and OB Bitter. These brands were bought largely to gain club free trade accounts and were expected in the main, to be smooth beers, but cask versions were made available too. I should mention at this point for my Southern readers that in this case "club" refers to "social", not "night". Regrettably, few of these club outlets are cask.

It seems that sales of the cask versions can no longer justify their continuance. So the brands will continue as "smooth" only. This is a very unfortunate outcome and one that causes me to re-think.

I wrote about OB here some time ago and said "Purists will no doubt argue that the brand should have been allowed to die, but while it may not be an exact copy of the original due to yeast changes, it is a good beer in its own right and satisfies a local need. The beer is going great guns and is permanently listed by Robbies. It has gained a good foothold in Oldham."

Looks like I got it wrong and the purists were right!

Punch bid for stricken M&B

In what might be seen as an opportunistic bid, Punch Taverns have proposed a 50/50 merger with M&B, still reeling from the losses I reported on last week. This revives news I first reported on in November here, where you can read my views.

Is it really in anyone's interest for one pub company to own 10,000 pubs? For most of us, not involved in financial speculation, a resounding "no" is the answer. Given Punch's lack of support for small brewers, expect choice to contract in the (unlikely) event that this bid succeeds.

Of course this will have to be financed. Who'll pay for it? At least in part, we the drinker will.

If you want to read more about the shenanigans that got M&B into this sorry state, this is good!

Micros Fail to Impress

I was in Leeds yesterday to meet some former colleagues and had the opportunity to try some beer in four of Leeds premier free houses, the Scarborough, The Prince of Wales, The Duck and Drake and the Palace.

The Scarborough

A fairly shambolic Mini Beer Festival was kicking off in this well known free house by the station. This involved going to the festival bar, being told it was token only, then going back to the packed ordinary bar and buying a token. Bollocks to that! The bar featured all the current beer list from the fairly new Leeds Brewery. I tried the Leeds Best, a 4.3% pale beer with good body and a decent hop finish. Midnight Bell (4.8%) was an earthy, imprecise beer with a strange malt taste. Not enjoyable. Giving up on Leeds Brewery for the time being, I tried Outlaw (Roosters) Dry Irish Stout at 4.7%. This does what it says on the tin, being bone dry and roasty, but where on earth were the hops? A disappointing beer. Finally, a pint of Salamander Mud Puppy was pale dry, hoppy and tasty, but kind of died in the glass, leaving me (and my mate Andy who was also drinking it) less than satisfied. I intended to call back later, but this was not to be.

The Prince of Wales

Just a few yards away, another Leeds Brewery Festival was promised here by a large banner outside. Inside only one Leeds beer was ready. You've guessed. Leeds Best! It was much better here though, with all previous attributes harmoniously delivering. Enjoyable and moreish. I forewent the Taylor's beers and went to:

The Duck and Drake

This is an old haunt of mine from my 10 years working in Leeds. It hasn't changed a bit. In this case that's not a compliment, as it is all looking very shabby indeed. You could film an episode of "Life on Mars" here without changing a thing. A huge selection of beers were on offer. Apart from Theakstons Bitter and OP, York Guzzler, Dent Aviator, Abbeydale Absolution, Rudgate Viking, Oldershaw Caskade, Landlord. Hambleton Goldfield, Goose Eye Barmpot and Hobgoblin were on offer. I tried halves of the Goose Eye and Hambleton. I liked neither. The Goose Eye which was new to me smelt of unwiped bum, tasted like plasticine and was just downright poor. I do know Goldfield though. This was a very poor sample with grape pip bitterness and a sharpness throughout. I left most of it. Time precluded trying any more though I could have had pie and peas for two quid!

The Palace

Another old haunt and where I was meeting my friends. In contrast to the nearby Duck and Drake, this former Melbourne and Tetley House, is clean, shining and welcoming. I hit a bad patch on the beer though. Saltaire Blonde was hazy. I've yet to see it otherwise and was honeyed, sticky and hard going. Now Coach House aren't one of my favourite micros either and here I had a new one on me, Cheshire Gold 4.1%. This had the typical Coach House slight smokiness, good body, but malt, malt, malt, malt malt! No bloody hops! I passed on Rudgate Viking. I don't really care for Rudgate beers either and had a half of Saltaire Hazelnut Coffee Porter (4.6%). This was mid brown with a strong espresso nose, a sharp/sour hazelnut overlay and a harsh sharp finish. It was a deeply unpleasant beer. My friends tried it and their expressions of disgust told of their enjoyment. Roosters Yankee was thin, one dimensional and lessish if you know what I mean. In desperation I ordered a pint of Tetley Bitter. This was in great nick, with that typical sour /sweet / bitter palate that Tetley can have when on form. With the brewery being only 300 yards away it ought to be! It was a good beer and I had a few of them.

We finished up, not at the Scarborough as I'd hoped, but in the Prince of Wales where pints of Leeds Best restored my battered faith in micros somewhat, before I returned to the right side of the Pennies on a freezing cold wreck of a train. Cheers Northern Rail.

Maybe I chose poorly, but on the day at least, micros failed the test. What conclusions if any should I draw from this? One really I think. Micros like major players, need to consistently deliver. Sometimes they just don't!

London Micro - Future in Doubt?

Young's have bought the Cock and Hen, a Fulham brew-pub from Capital Pub Company along with two others. Wish David Bruce wouldn't do this sort of thing! He has a kind of bad record of selling off microbreweries.

Do you reckon Young's will keep the brewery on? Let's hope so. A complication seems to be that the pub itself is leased to another pub operator, so it may well be "no change" with Young's trousering the profits rather than Bruce. Nothing is straightforward in this business at all.

£391m Pre-Tax Loss for M&B

Pub Operator Mitchells and Butlers have posted an astonishing loss of what amounts to two years profits from a disastrous delve into "hedge funds". Those interested in how this came about can look it up for themselves, but suffice to say, heads will roll. The Morning Advertiser calls it "a catastrophe".

On a more general point, remember the days when pubs were owned by breweries, were virtually debt free and everyone from owners to tenants and managers could make a fair and useful living out of them? Had we but known it, these were halcyon days. Now pubs are owned in the main by companies who have bought, sold, re-mortgaged and securitised the living daylights out of them. Each pub has more debt round its neck than the most reckless of credit card abusers. Most of the the companies that own them are up to their ears in all the financial ploys they can be, while tenants and lessees struggle to pay rents that would make Rachman blush. The costs of all this are in turn passed on to the hapless customer.

Next time you fancy a pint, bear in mind that in almost every case, it is not the landlord that benefits from your custom, but the Pub Operator. While M&B came unstuck, none of this is remotely illegal of course. All I am sure work well within the law, but nonetheless, if this isn't an unacceptable face of capitalism, what is?

Lees Cask Committment

JW Lees is my local brewer, so I declare an interest. I love the company and I love the beer! The mild (OK now Brewer's Dark) is superb and the bitter, when on form, can make you dangerously reckless in consuming it.

I was made aware of their new beer range some some time ago, but the Morning Advertiser has caught up. Unfortunately, to anyone who reads the article, it will soon be obvious that the headline and the text do not match up. The headline talks about new beers, while the article refers to old ones! I do hope it wasn't Lees that supplied this rubbish. I have chipped in with a comment to correct the article. What is more important though is what William Lees-Jones, the MD said;

“We want to offer pubs variety and exciting new beers that will keep customers returning.There are traditional ale drinkers that find a beer they like and stick to it but there are also those that like trying something new. By adding to our permanent offering, whilst introducing the new seasonal products, we can cater for both types of drinker."

"Cask beer is a big area of focus for us in 2008, this is the one area in which supermarkets simply can’t compete as the products cannot be replicated in supermarkets due to the beer being cask conditioned.”

Good for you William and well said. Let's have traditional family brewers out there shouting that cask is best from the rooftops and providing a range that get the punters flocking in.

For the record Lees will offer a range of five permanent cask ales and another eight, two at a time throughout the year. Let's hope they are exciting beers that people want to drink. I'll let you know!

Lees was founded in 1828 by John Willie Lees. Today management falls to the sixth generation descendants of John Lees, including managing director William Lees-Jones.

Anheuser to Poop the Carlsberg/Heineken Party?

According to Scotland on Sunday, the Chairman of Scottish and Newcastle, having agreed to the joint Carlsberg / Heineken bid for S&N, puts the likelihood of a counter bid for his company at around 50:50. Having forced Carlsberg into full disclosure of the likely profits from Baltic Beverage Holdings, SoS speculates that the chance for Anheuser-Busch to gain a large foothold in markets where it is very weak such as Eastern Europe and the Far East, may yet see them making a counter bid. SAB Miller and InBev are also possible bidders, but much less likely.

It seems that the Carlsberg / Heineken consortium are at the limit of what they can spend. Will the US giant come crashing through the door and bring the party to a halt? They have about two weeks to make up their mind, but they know this is a "one-off" opportunity. Don't be surprised if they do. As I said before, this saga has yet to play out fully.