When I first saw this Guardian headline I thought, “What a waste of good ale”. In principle I’m not against throwing beer over a Tory, but it really should be some nasty Euro-fizz lager and not an ale. Then I read that it was John Smith's Extra Smooth. Well that’s all right then I suppose!

It would seem that a disgruntled attention seeking Tory supporter who couldn’t get the ear of his MP threw his toys out of the pram. In this case his toy was a pint of nitro-keg. Whilst I wouldn’t want to encourage the throwing of beer over a politician, please remember that the nastier the beer the stronger the insult.

"Hundreds of pubs and venues, UK-wide. Thousands of people. Same questions. Same night. Same buzz. The Event? The World's Biggest Pub Quiz!
The Family Holiday Association is organising the World’s Biggest Pub Quiz on 25 March 2010 to raise funds for and awareness of our vital work changing lives by giving a break to young families coping with difficult circumstances.

Thousands of people around the UK will be taking part! It's all about having a great night out, being a part of a nationwide event and supporting a worthy charity."

For more information go to http://www.bigpubquiz.org/

Not the most jolly of occasions but had a tip top pint of GK IPA at a wake in Bury today. Others can say what they like, but this beer is still bloody good when it is good, which is usually on it's home turf.

There are many great brewing regions in the UK, and then, there’s Yorkshire. Yorkshire where the only decent brewery is one in exile from Suffolk, namely Wensleydale (formerly Lidstones). So I for one won’t be decrying Carlsberg’s decision to move Tetley’s cask brewing from Leeds to Marston’s brewery in Wolverhampton. Chances are that being brewed in the Midlands, and by the pretty decent brewer that Marston’s is, will no doubt improve the ale in leaps and bounds. I look forward to trying it when it finally moves.

#mild #wetherspoon
Today is the first day of Mild Month. Well it would be if a significant organisation within the beer world were to help make it so. What is needed is a forward thinking brewery organisation, pub chain or some other august body to promote Mild in March. So come on SIBA or JD Wetherspoon, how about it?

Any movers and shakers out there want to help Make March Mild Month?

Make MARCH Mild Month - Join the campaign!

Gent with his jumper tucked in his trousers hung a paint roller up on a hook along with his coat and flat cap tonight. Not an everyday occurrence in your average British pub I suspect, but possibly normal for Norfolk.

I was quite pleased to see this article on The Publican website last week. Hall & Woodhouse aren’t unique in taking a more progressive approach to their tied estate, several other companies/breweries have already started down this path, but more need to see the light. I have stated before that I don’t think that the law needs changing with respect to the ‘tie’, or that CAMRA need to be campaigning for that change. I firmly believe that any change in legislation etc., whilst possibly well meaning would no doubt end up making matters worse rather than better.

I’m not a lover of market forces but I think that I think the ideal solution for the ‘tie’ could well be to let the market prevail. I say this for two reasons. First because the bully-boy tactics of some of the larger pubcos are unsustainable and secondly because there are a few, mainly brewery owned chains that have actually realised that nurturing their tenants is actually more profitable in the long term than making a quick buck. The smart business is the one that knows that its employees/partners are its greatest asset. The smart business is the one that treats people superbly and compensates them fairly. There are signs that a few SME-sized breweries have cottoned onto this notion (or perhaps they have always operated on these principles).

I would suggest that there is a strong likelihood that the price of alcohol will continue to rise within the on-trade. I won’t mention supermarkets because their pricing would appear to defy the laws of gravity and besides they are not the issue as far as pubs are concerned. The current temperance mood within the corridors of power will see to continual upward price movement. If this happens it will make so many more pubs belonging to short-sighted pubcos unviable, unless they do something quite radical to change their pricing structures. Effectively they will be forced to adapt or die. They will have no choice. Of course before pubcos wake up thousands of ‘innocent’ people working in the industry are going to suffer by having their livelihoods brutally removed. Capitalism doesn’t take prisoners. The longer that the unenlightened pubcos slumber the more casualties there will be. No doubt more pubcos will also be amongst those casualties.

A sustainable business model for the tenanted tied pub has to be based on a reasonable return for all concerned parties. It also has to be based on an equitable symbiotic partnership, rather than the old bloodsucking-landlord/naive-anaemic-tenant strait-jacket. Wake up pub world!

In the final analysis the evil pubco scenario is a bit of a red herring. The pubco will change. It must. The pub industries woes will continue with or without the tie. Unless some smart Alec comes up with a brilliant new concept for the public house, a brilliant new concept that will bring people into pubs in their droves, then pubs will continue to close. It won’t make a blind bit of difference who you blame either, because blame doesn’t actually cure anything. The pub trade needs a revolution, and it needs it pretty soon!

The specimen what wrote this clichéd nonsense is a twat!
In my humble opinion you understand.
Arch-Deacon’s Chafed Nipple my arse!

This is such a great picture:

Caption anyone?

It appears with this article in a local paper. I wonder how many of the geezers are either called Arthur or Percy?
Once the flat cap was à la mode down at your actual local. Another tradition gone to the wall!

"Yorkshire pub judged ‘Best in Britain’

First pub to win CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year twice in a row!

CAMRA National Pub of the Year 2009

Winner: Kelham Island Tavern, 62 Russell Street, Sheffield, S3 8RW

CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, has today crowned the Kelham Island Tavern, Sheffield, as its National Pub of the Year for 2009.

Last year, the Kelham Island Tavern picked up the same award, making it the first pub in CAMRA’s history to win its most coveted accolade in consecutive years. Only two other pubs have ever won the award twice- the Fat Cat, Norwich (1998, 2004), and the Swan, Little Totham, Essex (2002, 2005)."

Think perhaps I should make the pilgrimage up there!
Or would that be being too much of an anorak?

Here in Norwich we probably have one of the best selection of pubs in the country. We have a goodly number of hostelries offering a wonderful and varied choice of real ale. We literally have more real ale than you can shake a stick at. My new abode which is but ten minutes walk from the city centre, is in a very long road that for the best part runs alongside the Wensum and then on to the ancient centre known as Tombland. Despite its length there is only one pub in the whole of the road, and in true law of the sods fashion it happens to be at the other end to where I live. The pub is called Kings (formerly the Nags Head – a much better name) and it is okay. They usually have two or three real ales, which in my experience have always been of acceptable quality. They have ‘entertainment’ at the weekends; karaoke or a DJ (what was once called a ‘disco’) so it’s best avoided on those nights. I don’t go there much as there are better pubs, and nearer. Not much more than a couple of hundred yards from where we live is a boarded up pub, The Ferry Boat. It’s an ex-Greene king establishment that was closed by them a couple of years ago and has since been the subject of a CAMRA campaign and various legal wrangling. It has recently been sold and it was announced the day before yesterday that it is to become an ‘eco-hostel’ and not a reopened pub as many had hoped. Bugger!

Whilst it is sad that this pub will not be reopening as a pub there is a glimmer of hope to keep the real ale enthusiast interested, and that is the hint that they may well incorporate a small pub or bar selling real ale within the site. Let’s hope it comes to fruition.

"There are only 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't"

"Lies, damned lies, and statistics"

I think I am right in saying that there is a South American tribe that only has three numbers in their language, one two and many. This seems to be a most excellent approach.

We continue to have statistics thrown at us about drinking habits along with health and drink related violence which very often seems incredible or just downright nonsense. From now on my attitude towards media numbers is going to be to ignore them. Well at least for the time being. This might be considered to be a bit of a head in the sand approach but I don’t care. The world of beer seems to have gone numbers mad at the moment, and whilst I’m quite a fan of maths I am finding these numbers games all a bit tedious. Whilst I don’t doubt that the statisticians that produce the data do so in a controlled and scientific manner to the best of their ability it’s what happens to that data once media types get their grubby mitts on it that so often causes a stir. This is of course what media types want. My attitude towards such beery numbers is to never take things at face value. Nothing is ever black and white. So for the moment I’m going to ignore it all and have another beer!

By the way I have the biggest knob out of all the beer bloggers in Christendom - official*

*source – a representative sample was asked “out of all the beer bloggers you know which one has the biggest appendage?”

One of the joys about living in a permanent and singular location is that you can return to doing stuff that many take for granted.

Friday saw me meet up with fellow Norwich CAMRA members for the first time. My local branch organises what they call the ‘First Friday Five’ a trip around five pubs on the first Friday of every months. I thought I’d go along and see what they get up to. It was a pleasant evening, and I hope it will be the first of many. We ended up at a pub in the North East part of the city. A pub called The Cottage which last year was purchased and refurbished by Mauldons brewery. Despite being a Mauldons pub it proclaims on the sign to be a free house, the staff were all wearing Mauldons t-shirts so I guess they are not hiding their light under a bushel. Unfortunately by the time we got to this pub my mental faculties were slightly impaired so I can’t remember if they had eight or ten different beers, but there were three Mauldons beers Moletrap Mild, Silver Adder and Black Adder. The rest were and interesting mix from around East Anglia. I had a Mild from Waveney followed by Mauldons Black Adder. Both beers were spot on for taste and condition.

The pub itself has been done up in a very pleasing way. It’s not in a style so different from that of the Old Cannon Brewery in Bury St Edmunds, a pub Mauldons will be familiar with. I never went in the ‘old’ Cottage so I don’t know what it was like, but the new refurbished one is light, airy and sympathetically open planned. There’s a rather nice long wooden bar that greets you as you enter the establishment. It is a modern classic, to use a well worn oxymoron. There are a few quotes from the likes of WC Fields and Spike Milligan painted on the coving which I thought was a nice touch. It’s a nice clean pub. The ale reflected the surroundings by its perfect condition. Mauldons are on to a winner with this establishment! I’ve never been a gushing fan of Mauldons ale. Absolutely nothing wrong with it, just that I’ve always preferred the nectar from its close (geographically) rival Nethergate, but after Friday night’s experience I’m warming to them in a big way. The Cottage is a decent walk from where I now live so I won’t be tripping in their every five minutes but I shall return to it when I get the chance. It’s a pub not to be missed if you are ever in Norwich!

p.s. on checking the website it would appear they have ten handpumps

Food wise I had to fend for myself last night. The lady was out. Whilst I’m happy to cook it’s never much fun cooking for one. So I decided to take the easy option, a JDW burger, chips and beer. The only pub between the railway station and my home is a JDW. The ale I plumped for was Stonehenge Pigswill 4% a dark golden ale with subtle citrus and malt flavours, and not a hint of bitterness. It’s a strange topsy turvy world that a name like ‘Pigswill’ won't put people off ordering it when it is a beer, yet put that name on a convenience meal in a supermarket and I suspect it would stay on the shelves.

Still bemoaning the lack of dark beer I knew exactly where to head. A pint of Batemans DM 3.0%, a brilliant mild with malt, Demerara sugar aand slight hints of hessian. This was followed by Batemans Salem Porter 4.7%, a slightly more bitter brew with hints of cough mixture and malty liquorice toffee. Mission accomplished!

#ukpubs
#norfolk

Yesterday we had cause to visit Brundall, a village located on the River Yare, six miles out of Norwich in the direction of Great Yarmouth. It was not long after midday when we concluded our matters in hand, so we decided to call in at a pub called The Yare for a spot of luncheon. Situated between a large boatyard for the filthy rich and one of Brundall’s two stations it looked an ideal spot for a middle of the day meal. How wrong we were!

We should have been put off by the frosty reception we received from the charmless nurk of a bar-steward. A ratty man who gave the impression that everything was too much trouble. But we ploughed on. There was a choice of three cask ales: Woodfordes Wherry, Greene King Abbot and Brains SA. I chose the Brains. The lady, a tea fanatic, ordered a cup of tea. For lunch we both ordered what we thought was a safe option, namely fish and chips.

The Yare has an idiosyncratic decor of yokel and boating artefacts. Interestingly the ceiling is covered with woven willow fencing. It probably seemed like a good idea at the time. The furniture was 1970s/1980s wood and velour. Nice! Sadly the addition plastic table cloths didn’t exactly enhance the dining experience. Greasy spoon chic is just so last year!

The ale was acceptable, but that is all I can say about it. The fish and chips were just acceptable but bland in the extreme. The whole experience was a lesson in how to run a pub if you can’t really be bothered. This pub is absolutely fucking useless and I urge you, if you are ever in the area, to make a point of avoiding it.

I think what put the tin lid on the whole debacle was this plaque on the wall that I noticed as I was leaving:

A sign of excellence my arse!

The Yare is a decent sized pub in a decent location, but the people running it don’t deserve to be in business. I shall not be in a hurry to return.