Seems like another good opportunity to pimp Ed's student brewer blog again. His believe that pubs will be there for the enjoyment of beer tasting (6th paragraph onwards) due to the cost of buying a pint. I hope he is wrong, but it ties in to both the pieces of news posted today.
"Do I know where hell is? hell is in hello"
I'm another who hopes Ed's wrong. Indeed I think he's overstating the case, but then, he's the landlord, not me.
I've certainly noticed a growing interest in strong and or dark beers in the better real ale pubs. The boss at my local 'spoons agrees, to give two recent examples, Orkney Dark Island and Cottage Brewerys' Norman Conquest vanished in less than a day. I know I helped out with the Dark Island but I barely got a sniff at the other.
Last edited by runningdog; 02-09-2010 at 08:37. Reason: Still can't spell..........
Pubs are a hobby, real ale is a passion. Oh, and like me dogs, fear no evil..........
And to add more fuel to that fire: Alcohol consumption 'continues to fall'
"In 2009, the UK ale market increased its market share of all beers for the first time since the 1960s. The number of UK brewers is now at its highest since 1940."
This bit was good news though
I just love it when the number crunchers start contradicting each other. Who said " There are lies, damned lies and statistics" ?
This last Bank Holiday was very quiet out here in the boonies. One group of old dears came into my local and ordered 9 coffees just as the first small surge of regulars arrived. The hard pressed barmaid tried her best but there was much muttering into beards.The ladies then sat themselves beneath the dart board, even more muttering but no one had the bottle to ask them to move. You can understand why the English have never had a revolution, they spend too much time muttering. ( I do not include the Civil War. That was organised by Politicians who provided bread, beer and money to their followers. Hardly a grass roots movement).
It just gets better and better. The number crunchers are excelling themselves this week.
http://news.uk.msn.com/world/article...ntid=154575037