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Beer News
Quote of the Year
"There appears to be a growing fashion of rebranding pubs with
names such as 'The Dog and Doughnut' or 'The Goose and Granite';
names which appear to have little relevance to the history of
any area. We are surely in danger of losing an important part
of local history and folk memory."
"It is up to the owners of a business to choose its name but I
hope that breweries will bear in mind the unique historic role
that many of our public houses have and think twice before
destroying that."
(Chris Smith, Heritage Minister)
Moles Burns Up
Moles Brewery and its 13 pubs have been acquired by Burns Leisure.
This Wiltshire Brewery was set up in 1982 by former Ushers Brewer,
Roger Catte, who has joined Burns Leisure as Brewing Director.
Best Beer in Scotland
Orkney Brewery has won CAMRA's Champion Beer of Scotland with
its "Dark Island". Set up in 1988 in an old school building,
Orkney is one of Britain's most northerly brewers. Dark Island is
a well-balanced, dark beer full of roast malt and fruit with a
hint of caramel.
All Smiles at Young's
The Wandsworth brewer is buying all 17 pubs owned by Bristol
brewer, Smiles, for £5.8m. Smiles was apparently forced into
the sale after poor trading figures. Smiles will now concentrate
on brewing and as part of the deal Young's has undertaken to
buy 3,000 barrels of its beer a year for three years. Young's
now has over 200 tied pubs.
Fuller's Pick Their Pub of the Year
And what's more it's in Birmingham – The Old Joint Stock run by
Alison Turner, who in the previous year had won the City pub
category. For more details on the pub – see CAMRA's Good Beer
Guide, copies of which can be bought from bookshops and pubs
such as The Wenlock Arms and Duke of Hamilton, Hampstead.
In London, CAMRA's West London Branch have picked The Star Tavern,
Belgravia as their Pub of the Year. This famous mews pub is one
of the few establishments to have appeared in every edition of
the Good Beer Guide.
CAMRA Calls for Duty Cut
CAMRA has joined forces with The Brewers and Licensed Retailers
Association to try to persuade Gordon Brown to cut beer duty.
CAMRA spokesman, Mike Benner said, "The time has come for
consumers and the industry to stand united on this issue and
make it clear to the Chancellor that the level of tax on beer is
too high".
Pub Closure Warning
Britain is gradually losing its pubs. Although stocked with
around 62,000 pubs from a survey done by CAMRA, it is estimated
that 1% have been lost since last October i.e. over 600 have
closed for one reason or another. Some of these are short term
closures while new owners are found or the pub is refurbished
but it thought that around half of these will never serve
another drop again, a loss of 300 pubs. Many are in rural areas
but not all, with some being lost to make way for new building
developments such as shopping centres. But it is not all doom
and gloom. It is estimated that over 100 pubs have been
converted from existing building such as banks – but hardly
enough to make up for those that have been lost and rarely do
you see new pubs in rural areas.
Christine Cryne
Reproduced from the Full Pint, Issue 7.
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