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The Thoughts of Chairman Mick
by Mick Lewis
With Christmas fast approaching, let's forget about abolishing opening hours for the moment, and look at New Year's Eve. The Government appears confident that pubs will be able to stay open for 36 hours.
Unfortunately, final confirmation won't arrive until 19 December, which will be too late for a lot of pubs to organise events. Bureaucracy, don'tcha just love it?
Yates' Group has announced that they will be discounting drinks all day (Friday and Saturday nights excepted). Excuse me for being a bit slow, but doesn't this mean that they will become the normal prices rather than a discount? But don't get too excited -so far they have only said that Carling will be 1.45. I can't wait!
I see that bored office workers have come up with yet another silly idea. Oranjeboom are trying to get customers to ask for 568ml instead of a pint. To help them achieve this, they are introducing a new glass with the number 568 on it. Now, what's the metric equivalent of a nip?
Fun and games in Division Three. Torquay United sent in their application for an exemption order a few days late, so during most of November they were not allowed to serve pints for two hours before and one hour after matches. Far better to go to Leyton Orient's Supporters' Club for some real ale in good nick, at least.
The Brandy Wharf in Lincolnshire, one of only four cider houses in Britain, has recently been up for sale, including an orchard with 180 apple and pear trees. Despite the fears of others, it has apparently been bought by the owner of a local pet shop who has no current plans to change it, except for putting millet on the menu and replacing the toilets with a large litter tray.
And talking of cider, HP Bulmer's profits have dropped dramatically, including losing £22m on its US business. Perhaps if they'd have stuck to cider, which at least they should know something about, things may have been different. Will they survive? Who knows, but I certainly won't miss them if their current products are anything to go by.
Anyone going to Majorca for Christmas might find something better to drink than they expected. It seems that Marston's Pedigree is on sale in about 50 bars, and although I would guess that it's the keg version, it has to be better than the usual yellow liquid found out there.
Finally, Channel 4 recently showed a film called Very Bad Things, sponsored by Stella Artois. Are the two by any chance related? I think we should be told!
Mick Lewis
Reproduced from the Full Pint, Issue 18.
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