Blog Tracker
29-07-2017, 09:31
Visit the Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog site (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/07/news-nuggets-longreads-29-july-2017-germany-quality-control-staly-vegas/)
Here’s all the reading about beer and pubs that’s grabbed us in the last week, from the politics of micropubs to the price of a six-pack. Suzy Aldridge (@lincolnpubgeek (https://twitter.com/lincolnpubgeek))*brings interesting news from Lincoln which might or might not be meaningful in the wider scheme of things: the keg-heavy local craft beer bar has morphed into a cask-led micropub (https://lincolnpubgeek.wordpress.com/2017/07/27/goodbye-to-the-craft-rooms-we-barely-knew-you). Suzy quotes the local CAMRA chair:
As I see it, the craft scene is predominantly aimed at the younger market, and with Lincoln’s nightlife being predominantly student led I could foresee such a business struggling during the University break. Who knows in the future things may change, but for now I will support “The Craft Rooms” in its new incarnation as “The Ale House”.
This certainly fits with our reading of how micropubs and craft beer bars fit together — as versions of the same thing, both essentially products of changes in licensing law and renewed enthusiasm for beer, but catering to different demographics.
https://i1.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/brewing_textbook.jpg?resize=600%2C458
Ben Palmer*(@Johnzee7 (https://twitter.com/Johnzee7)) is a British apprentice brewer studying in Germany. On his blog*Hop & Schwein he has gathered some observations on German brewing culture based on his experience so far (https://hopandschwein.wordpress.com/2017/07/28/a-few-things-that-makes-the-german-brewer-tick/):
The reason I make the generalisation about ‘German brewers’ in the first place is because they must all jump through the same educational hoops in order to become recognised as a brewer… I estimate that 99% of people in production based brewery roles have at some point completed this apprenticeship, sat the exams and, most importantly, received the certificate to prove this. Germans really like certificates. And official stamps too.
His thoughts on how this might be changing with the rise of learn-on-the-job American-influenced Craft Beer brewers are especially fascinating.
https://i0.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/generic_beer_can.jpg?resize=650%2C438
At*Beer and Present Danger*Josh Farrington provides a useful round-up of recent quality control incidents in UK brewing — exploding cans, dumped batches, product recalls — and reflects on why some breweries continue to let customers buy flawed beer despite the current culture of highly-publicised self-flagellation (http://beerandpresentdanger.co.uk/post/163462297745/quality-street):
Even in the past weekend, I had two canned beers from a pair of small breweries, only to find one was a scorched earth of smoky phenols crammed into a supposed Bavarian helles, while the other was a classic English IPA that had become a metallic soup, like slurping on a slurry of batteries. I can accept that mistakes happen after the beer is packaged – that everything was given the okay in the first instance, that the first swig tasted swell – but there’s no excuse for not making regular checks, or taking samples from across the range, to ensure that what you’re sending out to market is as good as you think it is.
https://i1.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/stalybridge_wharf_tavern.jpg?resize=600%2C423
One of our favourite blog post formats is the thoughtful home town pub crawl and this week’s contribution is from*Mark Johnson at*Beer Compurgation who has been exploring Stalybridge, Greater Manchester (http://www.beercompurgation.co.uk/2017/07/the-pubs-of-stalybridge-part-one.html). He starts by setting the scene:
To many in the north-west it is famous for its nickname of Staly Vegas, that came about (as far as I’m aware) through… a sort of revitalisation project around the central canal area by the new Tesco, improvements to two bus stations and an influx of age-restricting, dress-code-enforcing bars and pubs… The concept of Staly Vegas began to die around 2007 and officially broke in 2011, with the lowering of strict entry policies bringing delinquent youths and drug dealing to the once respectable bars. What the town has been left with for six years is numerous boarded up buildings once used as venues that seem to be no longer use or ornament.
https://i0.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/fry_money_474.jpg?resize=600%2C353
Jeff Alworth at*Beervana has some interesting thoughts on beer pricing that take into account the question of reputation over time (https://www.beervanablog.com/beervana/2017/7/27/gouging-maximizing-profit-or-merely-staying-afloat):
Every decision a brewery makes about pricing has benefits and risks. Budget-pricing may move product, but it reduces profit margins and may eventually damage a brand’s reputation, miring it in the lower tier in consumers’ minds. Once there, it’s difficult to raise prices. On the other hand, pricing beer at the upper end increases profits, establishes a brewery as a premium producer, but may appear like gouging once the shine has worn off the brewery’s reputation.
(The first comment there is interesting, too, reminding us that even if conversations about price/value aren’t visible on social media doesn’t mean they’re not happening.)
And, finally, here’s some eye candy from the Bishopsgate Institute in the City of London which has recently been digitising some fantastic images of pubs from their archives, as shared on Twitter by Stef Dickers, Special Collections and Archives Manager (https://twitter.com/stefdickers/status/890293577745608704).
https://i2.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/London_pub_archive_photo.jpg?resize=650%2C679
News, Nuggets & Longreads 29 July 2017: Germany, Quality Control, Staly Vegas (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/07/news-nuggets-longreads-29-july-2017-germany-quality-control-staly-vegas/) originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog (http://boakandbailey.com)
More... (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/07/news-nuggets-longreads-29-july-2017-germany-quality-control-staly-vegas/)
Here’s all the reading about beer and pubs that’s grabbed us in the last week, from the politics of micropubs to the price of a six-pack. Suzy Aldridge (@lincolnpubgeek (https://twitter.com/lincolnpubgeek))*brings interesting news from Lincoln which might or might not be meaningful in the wider scheme of things: the keg-heavy local craft beer bar has morphed into a cask-led micropub (https://lincolnpubgeek.wordpress.com/2017/07/27/goodbye-to-the-craft-rooms-we-barely-knew-you). Suzy quotes the local CAMRA chair:
As I see it, the craft scene is predominantly aimed at the younger market, and with Lincoln’s nightlife being predominantly student led I could foresee such a business struggling during the University break. Who knows in the future things may change, but for now I will support “The Craft Rooms” in its new incarnation as “The Ale House”.
This certainly fits with our reading of how micropubs and craft beer bars fit together — as versions of the same thing, both essentially products of changes in licensing law and renewed enthusiasm for beer, but catering to different demographics.
https://i1.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/brewing_textbook.jpg?resize=600%2C458
Ben Palmer*(@Johnzee7 (https://twitter.com/Johnzee7)) is a British apprentice brewer studying in Germany. On his blog*Hop & Schwein he has gathered some observations on German brewing culture based on his experience so far (https://hopandschwein.wordpress.com/2017/07/28/a-few-things-that-makes-the-german-brewer-tick/):
The reason I make the generalisation about ‘German brewers’ in the first place is because they must all jump through the same educational hoops in order to become recognised as a brewer… I estimate that 99% of people in production based brewery roles have at some point completed this apprenticeship, sat the exams and, most importantly, received the certificate to prove this. Germans really like certificates. And official stamps too.
His thoughts on how this might be changing with the rise of learn-on-the-job American-influenced Craft Beer brewers are especially fascinating.
https://i0.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/generic_beer_can.jpg?resize=650%2C438
At*Beer and Present Danger*Josh Farrington provides a useful round-up of recent quality control incidents in UK brewing — exploding cans, dumped batches, product recalls — and reflects on why some breweries continue to let customers buy flawed beer despite the current culture of highly-publicised self-flagellation (http://beerandpresentdanger.co.uk/post/163462297745/quality-street):
Even in the past weekend, I had two canned beers from a pair of small breweries, only to find one was a scorched earth of smoky phenols crammed into a supposed Bavarian helles, while the other was a classic English IPA that had become a metallic soup, like slurping on a slurry of batteries. I can accept that mistakes happen after the beer is packaged – that everything was given the okay in the first instance, that the first swig tasted swell – but there’s no excuse for not making regular checks, or taking samples from across the range, to ensure that what you’re sending out to market is as good as you think it is.
https://i1.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/stalybridge_wharf_tavern.jpg?resize=600%2C423
One of our favourite blog post formats is the thoughtful home town pub crawl and this week’s contribution is from*Mark Johnson at*Beer Compurgation who has been exploring Stalybridge, Greater Manchester (http://www.beercompurgation.co.uk/2017/07/the-pubs-of-stalybridge-part-one.html). He starts by setting the scene:
To many in the north-west it is famous for its nickname of Staly Vegas, that came about (as far as I’m aware) through… a sort of revitalisation project around the central canal area by the new Tesco, improvements to two bus stations and an influx of age-restricting, dress-code-enforcing bars and pubs… The concept of Staly Vegas began to die around 2007 and officially broke in 2011, with the lowering of strict entry policies bringing delinquent youths and drug dealing to the once respectable bars. What the town has been left with for six years is numerous boarded up buildings once used as venues that seem to be no longer use or ornament.
https://i0.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/fry_money_474.jpg?resize=600%2C353
Jeff Alworth at*Beervana has some interesting thoughts on beer pricing that take into account the question of reputation over time (https://www.beervanablog.com/beervana/2017/7/27/gouging-maximizing-profit-or-merely-staying-afloat):
Every decision a brewery makes about pricing has benefits and risks. Budget-pricing may move product, but it reduces profit margins and may eventually damage a brand’s reputation, miring it in the lower tier in consumers’ minds. Once there, it’s difficult to raise prices. On the other hand, pricing beer at the upper end increases profits, establishes a brewery as a premium producer, but may appear like gouging once the shine has worn off the brewery’s reputation.
(The first comment there is interesting, too, reminding us that even if conversations about price/value aren’t visible on social media doesn’t mean they’re not happening.)
And, finally, here’s some eye candy from the Bishopsgate Institute in the City of London which has recently been digitising some fantastic images of pubs from their archives, as shared on Twitter by Stef Dickers, Special Collections and Archives Manager (https://twitter.com/stefdickers/status/890293577745608704).
https://i2.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/London_pub_archive_photo.jpg?resize=650%2C679
News, Nuggets & Longreads 29 July 2017: Germany, Quality Control, Staly Vegas (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/07/news-nuggets-longreads-29-july-2017-germany-quality-control-staly-vegas/) originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog (http://boakandbailey.com)
More... (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/07/news-nuggets-longreads-29-july-2017-germany-quality-control-staly-vegas/)