New Year's Eve

Drinking on New Year's Eve hasn't been what it used to be for some time now. At the risk of showing my age, I can remember when it was fun to walk from pub to pub, having a few drinks in each before deciding which had the best atmosphere that evening and therefore the pub to remain in for the rest of the night.

All that seem to change, probably around ten or so years ago; pubs started to charge admission for New Year's Eve and became ticket only venues. This was when I stopped going to the pub in order to see the New Year in, as I strongly object having to pay to enter what is supposed to be a "public house". Even when there is some form of entertainment laid on as part of the admission charge it inevitably is something like an 80 decibell disco or, worse still, the dreaded kareoke!

During the six years that my wife and I had our off-licence, we would shut the shop at 10pm and wander down with our son to a local restaurant where we had booked a table. The meal was always good and there was decent entertainment laid on, but so far as I was concerned it still wasn't the same as seeing the New Year in in some nice hostelry.

This year looked as though it was going to turn out somewhat different. My sister and her family were over from the United States and were spending a few days with us before flying back. Ernie, my American brother-in-law, is particularly fond of English beer - having spent 13 years stationed over here during his time in the United States Air Force. He told me beforehand that he was determined to spend at least part of New Year's Eve inside a traditional English pub, so it fell to me to try and organise something. A bit of detective work revealed that, sure to form, most local pubs were operating a ticket only policy. However, this was not the case at one nearby pub operated by a national chain, although they did inform me that they would only be opening until 11pm.

This seemed like a reasonable bet, so just before 8 o'clock we all wandered down to the said establishment to be greeted at the door by the manager with the words "Can I help you?" "Well, we would like a few drinks" was our reply, so imagine our horror when mine host informed us that he was only opening for people who had pre-booked a meal, as he hadn't got the staff to look after hoards of drinkers as well. Now had the place been bursting at the seams I could perhaps have understood this attitude, but even then the answer would surely have been to take on extra staff. As it happened though the pub seemed remarkably quiet, so I informed the individual concerned that I had been in the pub the previous day and had been told by the bar-staff that they would be staying open for drinks until 11pm. My wife and sister were just about ready to tell this latter day Basil Fawlty what he could do with his pub when he relented and said that we could stay until 10pm, but no later. In the absence of an alternative game plan we decided to accept this offer and found ourselves a table, where we spent a very pleasant couple of hours catching up on family news whilst enjoying a few drinks.

The beer choice wasn't particularly inspiring, consisting of Directors, London Pride and Wells Bombardier, but the pub itself is pleasant enough and in the normal course of events is a nice place to visit where one can have a quiet drink without getting one's eardrums blasted out. What I don't understand though is the attitude of the person running the place. The pub remained quiet throughout the two hour period we were there, and I doubt if it got any busier after we left. At no time were any of the staff run off their feet; on the contrary things looked very low-key and relaxed. Mine host though seemed determined to turn trade away; a strange thing to do at any time, let alone on New Year's Eve during a recession!

As for us, we wandered off home before 10 o'clock, as we certainly weren't going to give the manager the pleasure of refusing us a last round of drinks! For myself and my brother-in-law there were some decent bottles of Belgian beer waiting in the fridge, whilst for the ladies plenty of wine to keep them happy. My American nephew though was left with a pretty poor impression of English hospitality and just coudn't understand the attitude of the pub's management.

For me this particular incident, together with the whole idea of pubs charging an entrance on New Year's Eve, just about sums up all that is wrong with this country when it comes to service, giving people what they want and value for money. Businesses that adopt this "we don't need your trade" approach deserve to fail; after all why go into the licensed trade if you don't want customers? Such attitudes are hard enough to understand even when times are good, but when things are tough, and likely to get tougher still, they really do beggar belief.

Dereham Norfolk - 28th December 2008

As I mentioned in my last post I was planning to visit Norfolk between Christmas and New Year, for a short family get together. This took place, with me travelling up last Sunday, and once all the formalities of family greetings, exchanges of presents and a good post Christmas meal had been dispensed with I checked into the very pleasant and centrally situated Hill House Hotel in Dereham, before hitting the town. My drinking buddy for the night was Ernie, my American brother-in-law, who has been staying over for Christmas and New Year, along with my sister and nephew.

I met Ernie in the Good Beer Guide-listed George Hotel, which alongside Woodfordes Wherry had Bitter, Broadside and Tally-Ho on offer, all from Adnams. Making a mental note to leave sampling the Tally-Ho until later in the evening we tried the Wherry plus the Adnams Bitter, both of which were in fine form.

Despite my initial reluctance to leave the George, Ernie wanted to try a couple of other pubs in the town. With this in mind we made the short walk along the High Street to the Bull. Although a Greene King pub it did have the seasonal Rocking Rudolph on offer. This former Hardy & Hanson brew was pleasant enough, but to my mind at least, nothing particularly special.

Not caring much for the language of some of the younger clientele in the Bull, we adjourned to the King's Head, despite the warning of the barmaid at the Bull that it was a bit pricy. Although primarily a hotel bar it did have St Austell Tribute on offer, and the barmaid even changed the barrel for us; the old one being on its last legs.

A couple of pints here saw us heading back to the George where, despite our previous intentions we elected to give the Tally-Ho a miss. The other two Adnams beers were both excellent though, so the evening ended on a high note.

The next day, after breakfasting with the American branch of my family, I made a brief lunchtime visit to my parents' house at nearby Swanton Morley, before setting off to drive back to Kent.

I would have liked the chance to enjoy a few beers at the Angel in Swanton Morley, which is an excellent pub, but drinking and driving are obviously not a good combination, so I will have to save that particular treat for another time. As for the pubs in Dereham the George was by far the best of the three which we visited the previous night, and fully deserves its listing in the Good Beer Guide.

Norfolk Beckons

Am off to Norfolk tomorrow for a brief family visit. Not sure how many times I'll be able to escape to the pub (if any!), but should be able to manage at least one session. Have booked into a hotel in Dereham so will probably visit the GBG listed George Hotel.

Last time I visited Norfolk (August) my son and I stumbled across the Railway at North Elmham which was hosting its own beer festival. This was a very relaxed affair; basically you paid at the bar each time you wanted a drink and then wemt imto the room at the back and helped yourself from one of the casks. Unfortunately I was driving, which kind of defeated the object, but I did manage a few interesting halves. Why is public transport non-existent in these out of the way places? - there's not even a proper railway at North Elmham anymore!

Hopefully this trip should prove a bit more fruitful; I would especially like to track down some of the rarer Norfolk ales - Blue Moon, Spectrum, Tipples and Winters spring to mind. Come to think of it I don't think I've ever had a pint of Reepham apart from at beer festivals.

A Merry Christmas to One and All

Well it's the evening of Christmas Day. We've all enjoyed an excellent dinner, in my case washed down with several glasses of Belgian Dubbels. We've watched Harry Potter and Doctor Who, and now because the lady of the house wants to watch Strictly Come Dancing, I've escaped upstairs, put my new Genesis Platinum Collection CD on and have decided to knock out a few words on my computer keyboard.

I see that it's been three weeks since I last posted anything, which isn't good for someone who's supposed to be hosting his own blog spot, so hopefully I can make up a bit for lost time.

It's been a hectic run up to Christmas with the attendant shopping for presents, card writing, lights to put up etc. I've been to a couple of good bashes, including my firm's Christmas Dinner - I stuck mainly to wine as the function was held in a Greene King pub, but the meal plus the company were both very good. I also attended the annual Christmas Dinner hosted by West Kent CAMRA branch, where this time the beer as well as the food and company were excellent.

The venue for this feast was the Rose & Crown at Halstead, a village high in the North Downs above Sevenoaks. This was the fourth year running that the branch has chosen this well run village local as the place to hold our annaul gathering and, as usual, the pub did us proud. There was a good range of well-kept beers on offer including Larkins Traditional, Whitstable East India Pale Ale, a nice dark mild from a brewery who's name escapes me, but I think it was Three B's, plus a beer from Cottage Brewing Company. My only slight grouse was there wasn't a stronger dark ale on offer; Harveys Old Larkins Porter or would have fitted the bill nicely!

Speaking of Larkins Porter, this season's brew seems even better than last year's if that's possible. I've enjoyed several pints recently of this superb dark brew in Larkins own tied pub - the basic and unspoilt Rock at Chiddingstone Hoath, as well as at the brewery. I was tempted to get a polypin of it in to drink at home over the festive season, but a combination of having spent too much already this Christmas, coupled with the fact I have several cases of bottled beers, including some interesting Belgian and Czech offerings, sitting indoors persuaded me that this might not be such a good idea in the cold light of dawn.

I'm off to the wilds of Norfolk later in the week to visit family, so hopefully I'll be able to track down some good beers there. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone the compliments of the season and hope that 2009 turns out to be not too bad after all.

House Beers

One practice that is becoming increasingly more prevalent is that of pubs offering what is known as a “house beer”. This is a beer that is branded as being exclusive to the pub in question, and may be named after the pub itself, the landlord or a feature of local interest.

Unfortunately the term “house beer” covers a multitude of sins, ranging from a beer brewed to a certain recipe and then made available to any pub interested in taking it, through to a beer that is genuinely brewed specifically for a particular pub. However, when one examines the matter logically, it becomes self evident that it would need a combination of a very small micro and a pub with a very large turnover to make the brewing of a genuine “house beer” worthwhile. The smallest sized plant normally chosen by micro-brewers is five barrels (180 gallons), which amounts to an awful lot of beer for any pub to shift in one go! Admittedly the beer can be stored for a while, but it is likely to change in character during the storage period, which is why I am certain that very few so-called “house beers” are the genuine article.

I like to count myself as something of a beer connoisseur. To me there is nothing finer than a carefully crafted pint of beer, brewed to the highest standards from the highest quality ingredients. When I come across a beer I haven’t seen before, then I will invariably give it a try. Unfortunately I have learnt from bitter experience that many so called “house beers” do not match up to the standards described above. This is especially true when a brewery chooses to mix two or three different beers, and then pass them off as a “house beer”. They are the result of blending rather than brewing, and whilst they may be good for the landlord’s ego, they do the cause of the small independent brewer no good at all.

Even worse than pubs selling brewery mixes, are pubs that sell a brewer’s bog-standard beer under their own name. I have come across several examples of this form of deception, and to my mind it stinks. Several years ago I was nearly thrown out of a local free house for asking too many questions about the beer they were calling “Our Own”. “Where does it come from?” I enquired. “Is it a local brew, or do you bring it in from elsewhere?”

All these questions were met with a stony silence, so I then asked mine host if he brewed the beer “out the back” - knowing full well that he didn’t. I was told, in no uncertain terms that the beer was “Our Own” and if I couldn’t accept that then I should take my custom elsewhere. As I was with company, I ignored this suggestion and settled for a pint of Fullers London Pride instead - I like to know what I am drinking. I later discovered that the landlord had been prosecuted for passing off Fremlins Bitter as his own brew.

My message to landlords, and also to micro-brewers, is a simple one. I appreciate that times are hard and that you need to drum up sales and increase trade. However, please don’t do it in such a way that deceives the drinking public, and which in the end does your reputation no good at all. By all means offer a genuine “house beer”, but please don’t try and insult our intelligence, or our taste buds with half-measures or out and out fakes.

A Major Regret

If there is one major regret that I have in my life, it is not acting on an idea I stumbled upon in the spring of 1974. I had recently obtained a copy of Frank Baillie's excellent and pioneering book, "The Beer Drinker's Companion".
Reading the section on home-brew pubs, of which there were just four left at the time, I noted with interest the closing paragraph which stated:
"It would be easy to imagine the success of a new home-brewed house in another part of the country - especially in this era of standardisation. If there is any property developer with vision, looking for a sound investment, reading this, he could do worse than give it some thought - the equipment can still be obtained."

This seemed an excellent idea to me, even though I was only 19 years old at the time. Unfortunately I had little idea about how to go about raising the necessary money, or obtaining the training, in order to get such a project of the ground. Also at that time, I was committed to completing my degree course; heaven only knows why when I look back now!

That same year, the Miners Arms at Priddy in Somerset became the first pub to start brewing its own beer for several generations. It was soon joined by the Masons Arms, at South Leigh, in Oxfordshire. However, it was not until David Bruce and his Firkin chain of pubs came along that the idea really caught the public's imagination. Starting with the Goose and Firkin, and followed shortly after by the Fox and Firkin, the concept of pubs that brewed their own beer made David Bruce a very rich man, and deservedly so.

I must admit the concept of busy city centre pubs, brewing their own ale was somewhat removed from the idyllic rural home-brew house that I had in mind. Nevertheless having spotted the potential for a home-brew pub and then seeing others make a spectacular success of it, still rankles. I very much regret now that I did not pursue things further back in 1974, but I have only myself to blame.

They say that life teaches us lessons as we go through it, and it certainly taught me one there. Since then I have always tried to ensure that I will never allow such an opportunity to slip through my fingers again. After all I have heard it said that “an old man never regrets the things he tried and failed - just those things he never tried.”

Unwanted Junk in "What's Brewing"

I've just received my copy of December's "What's Brewing". I don't want to sound like I'm knocking CAMRA again, but when I opened the wrapper, amongst the usual flyers that fell out were a load of tacky scratch cards.

Reading the small print on these, anyone wishing to claim a prize is instructed to phone a hotline number charged at the rate of £1.50 a minute. We are then informed that calls will last no more than 7 minutes, so in order to claim a prize it will cost you over a tenner! Alternativley you can register by texting. This will only set you back a fiver, as long as you remember to text STOP. If you don't, you will be billed for five pounds every week until you do remember.

I've thrown my tickets straight in the bin, but what on earth are CAMRA playing at by accepting such tacky advertising? It makes me wonder what next month's magazine will include. Answers on a postcard please!