What Future If Pubs Like This Can't Survive?

There's been a lot  happening on the beer and pub scene during my year's absence, not all of them good I have to say. Probably the most depressing thing  has been the continuing demise of that great British institution - the pub. It seems everywhere one looks there are more and more of them calling time on "last orders".


I was reminded of this fact just today whilst deciding where to stop off for a lunchtime drink on Friday. My friend Eric and I have pencilled in a walk in the country, and were planning to follow part of the Wealdway footpath that we completed a couple of years ago. The idea was to head out of Tonbridge along the Medway, before ascending Bidborough Ridge - with its spectacular views over the flat ground towards the Greensand Ridge. The Hare and Hounds in Bidborough village seemed a good place to stop, but it was only after mentioning this plan to a work colleague that I was informed the pub had recently closed. A quick glance at the pubs website and the reason for the closure became all too clear!

If you click on the link you'll see that it's our old friends Enterprise Inns up to their tricks again, with the pub's proprietors stating "The business in its own right, is unable to sustain the disproportionate rent and beer surcharges of the Enterprise Inns tie." That says it all, so far as Enterprise Inns are concerned; surely the modern day equivalent of the "robber barons"? What particularly concerns me though is if a pub such as the Hare & Hounds cannot survive, what future is there for the English pub?

For those not in the know the Hare & Hounds was everything a village pub should be. Warm and welcoming with a choice of several different bars, ranging from a traditional public bar with darts, pool and a juke box, to a saloon with comfy sofas and a library of books, a main bar with tables for bar food, plus a separate restaurant to the rear. There was a  good selection of beers, with food options ranging from a keenly-priced pensioners menu to gourmet dishes. The pub was home to Bidborough's many sports teams, and housed the cups and trophies won by the various clubs.

I can't say I was a frequent visitor there, but by all accounts the Hare & Hounds  seemed to be doing alright. It was certainly  busy when I popped in one Sunday lunchtime a couple of years ago, as described here. I therefore find it all the more disturbing to learn of the pub's closure, and can only hope this is a temporary state of affairs. However, despite the team that ran it doing everything right, one can only despair for the future of a much cherished institution all the time companies such as Enterprise are in control of things!

Bidborough is a village in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England, north of Tunbridge Wells and south of Tonbridge. It is situated on Bidborough Ridge, an area of high ground with spectacular views north across the Medway Valley.

Which Beers to Stock?

My last post concerning the difficulties experienced by micro breweries in finding suitable outlets for their beers begs the question how do free-house owners go about selecting the beers they wish to sell? Leaving aside for the moment  issues such as loan-tie agreements and other financial incentives, should licensees play it safe and stock well known brands?, or should they be more adventurous and stock something out of the ordinary?

A good licensee will listen to what his/her regulars want and will not be  motivated solely by profit. Speaking from my own experience (running an off-licence for five years that specialised in draught ales to take away), I tried to strike a balance by stocking what the majority of my customers wanted (one would be stupid NOT to do this), but also offering a couple of regularly changing guest ales.The two most popular beers, ie. the one's requested the most,  were Harveys and Larkins. I therefore alternated between these two as my regular beers. They were complemented by a couple of guest ales, which would be on sale at the weekends when demand was at its peak. I would then gradually run stocks down over the course of the coming week, before repeating the cycle all over again. I also made a point of stocking seasonal ales, in particular old ales and porters in winter (sometimes from Harveys and Larkins), refreshing golden ales in summer and other interesting beers when they were available.

This approach worked, and as well as keeping the Harveys and Larkins drinkers happy I was able to introduce other customers to the delights of  brews from both near and far. Near, included the likes of Westerham and Hog's Back,  who's beers I took on a fairly regular basis, whilst beers from further afield were primarily sourced through Beer Seller, now known as Waverley TBS, who offered monthly promotions on a wide range of cask ales from both micro breweries and established regionals.

I was also approached from time to time by other micro's, most of whom I was happy to deal with on an infrequent basis, although I did find it annoying when pestered with phone calls by certain breweries trying to persuade me to take another firkin of their beer, particularly when I had only recently purchased one! It seems  that once some companies get a foot in the door they just won't leave you alone! (Counter productive in my case, as the more they pestered the more inclined I was NOT to take any more of their beer). Some breweries would offer substantial discounts if one agreed to take several of their beers in one hit. Whilst this made sense for  them by cutting down on their delivery costs, and was an obvious attraction for cash-strapped licensees, I seldom went down this route preferring instead to ring the changes and not tie myself down to a particular brewer's products. I also believed that such practices work against more local breweries keen for the chance of seeing their beers on sale.

There was one practice that I thoroughly disapproved of, and still do. I don't know how wide spread it is now, but six or seven years ago it was quite common. I am talking about so-called "badge brewing". This is when a brewery churns out a plethora of different beers, often with silly names, that to all intents and purpose are just a variation on a handful of basic recipes. By doing this they are catering primarily for the "tickers" market, and are duping those licensees foolish enough to believe they are getting something new and different each time. I won't name the guilty parties, but I'm certain many people, both in the trade as well as  industry observers, will know who I am talking about!

Fortunately, none of the breweries in this neck of the woods can be accused of this practice, but companies from outside the area that do indulge in it, plus pub landlords who stock their products, are doing a dis-service to local concerns by effectively tying up space on the bar with gimmicky products designed to cater for a small niche section of the market.

I appreciate things have got a lot tougher since I left the trade and that it must be tempting for free-house proprietors to either go for one or more of the deals described above or, more tempting still so far as the licensee is concerned, take out a loan offered by one of the larger regionals, (again mentioning no names!). However, as we all know these loans come at a price, as they normally require the pub to sell a certain barrelage of the company's beer in order to qualify for the low interest rates offered.

What is the way forward then? What should individuals do when they are in the enviable position of owning a free-house and able to afford the luxury of saying "no" to loan tie agreements? My answer is they should follow their hearts and their instincts, and not be afraid to go out on a limb. There is a heck of a lot of good beer out there, providing one knows where to look, and people who get this vital part right stand a very good chance of getting the rest right. I believe this is exactly what those behind the real success stories in the trade are doing, and as long as there still are people with a passion for good beer, people able to brew it, plus of course people keen to drink it, then decent pubs stand a good chance of not only surviving, but prospering as well!

What Future for our Micro's?

Whilst compiling my recent post regarding the new breweries that have commenced operations in West Kent during the past two years I was struck by the thought can they all survive? They all seem to be reporting a steady growth in sales, which is obviously good news, but with beer sales declining generally, and falling off quite dramatically in the pub trade, are they all chasing a declining market? Where are these extra sales coming from?  If beer sales in the on-trade are declining as much as we are led to believe,  this sales growth can only be coming at someone else's expense! The question is who's?

We know that cask is the one growth area in the pub trade, so hopefully our local micro's are increasing their sales at the expense of the huge conglomerates that  dominate the market. If they are taking sales away from  heavily promoted global lager brands then so much the better. However, I fear this is not the case and suspect much of this growth is either at the expense of each other, or at the expense of the remaining old established family firms. To a certain extent the latter are cushioned by their own tied estates; a luxury our small, newly established concerns do not possess, (Royal Tunbridge Wells and Westerham, both have one tied pub apiece, but this is small beer, if you'll pardon the pun, and like their competitors they rely almost exclusively on the free-trade.)

However, genuine free-houses are becoming few and far between, with the more successful of them being snapped up by larger regional firms such as Fullers, Greene King and Shepherd Neame. Even those still in private hands are often effectively tied, by way of loan agreements, to taking beer from the likes of the aforementioned. Although many will feature a "must stock" beer such as Harveys (nothing wrong with Harveys I hasten to add!), this leaves precious room on the bar for beers from our budding local entrepreneurs. Some of these firms will undoubtedly strike lucky and find a more or less permanent place on the bar for at least one of their beers. Others may find free-trade outlets taking their wares on a rotating basis with products from one or more of their competitors. Nothing wrong with that either; I am all in favour of competition, so long as it's fair, and from the drinker's point of view there's nothing better than being offered a wider choice of beers.

Rather than rely totally on the vagaries of the free-trade, one or two of our local brewers have branched out into selling bottled beers. Most successful of these is Westerham who's beers are stocked in local branches of Waitrose and Sainsburys. Moodleys appear at the moment to be concentrating solely on bottled beers (bottle-conditioned), which they sell  mainly through local farm shops, specialist off-licences, direct from the brewery and the odd pub.

With schemes like CAMRA's  LocAle in place,  a reduction in "food miles" combined with the provenance of local produce very much in favour at present, it seems more vital than ever that our local breweries be able to sell their products  into a market place that is close to home, rather than have to ship them miles outside the area. However, as pubs continue to close and more and more "free-trade" outlets are either bought up, or become tied up through loan agreements, it will become increasingly difficult for our micro's to find suitable outlets for their beers. I hope I am wrong, but I do fear for the long term future of some of them.

A Day at the Wells

Yesterday, (Friday) , I took the day off work and instead of the daily grind enjoyed a short walk over to Tunbridge Wells in the company of my good friend and walking partner, Eric. It was short in comparison with the walks we completed a few years ago (South Downs Way and  Weald Way), but for two people who haven't carried out much walking recently, it was long enough.
 
 The weather was dull,  over cast and a little chilly when we left Tonbridge, but the forecast had promised that if the sun managed to break through then we could expect temperatures in the low teens - not bad for late February! The forecast turned out correct and by the time we two-thirds of the way towards our destination it was time to discard the coats and enjoy some unseasonably warm weather.


The first half of our route was across the rolling countryside, part wooded and part grazed, that separates the two towns. It was a journey I have made countless times before, either by road or train, but never on foot. Eric on the other hand has walked the many paths in this area on numerous occasions, so much so that we didn't really need to refer to the map we had brought for reference. We passed under the impressive brick viaduct at Old Forge Farm, that carries the Tonbridge to Hastings rail line, before climbing again and making our way into High Brooms. The scenery unfortunately became steadily more built up as we approached the aforementioned, which is in effect nothing more than a suburb of Tunbridge Wells. This area is also the location of the town's industrial and retail parks, and evidence of this was especially visible when our path became sandwiched between the various car-dealerships that have sprung up in recent years and the railway.

Our path then took us round the back of the gasworks (lovely!) and on through several newly-constructed estates, before coming into Tunbridge Wells itself.  Eric, who spent his childhood years in the town can remember when all of the built up area we passed through was open countryside, but alas all that is now a distant memory, and  evidence of a rapidly increasing population in this already over-crowded part of the South East is all too  clearly visible.

Sustenance was called for, both solid and liquid; the first was supplied in the form of a bacon baguette, purchased from one of the town's bakers, the second was naturally enough a glass or two of beer. We ate our baguettes in Calverley Gardens (the local park), taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather. This left us in the vicinity of one of Tunbridge Well's best pubs, the Grove Tavern. Situated in the "village" area of the town, the Grove claims to be one of Tunbridge Well's oldest pubs. Ably run by landlord Steve Baxter and his team, the Grove is the perfect place to drop into for a warm welcome, a well-kept pint (or three), plus some lively conversation.

The pub was quite quiet when we walked in, but we received a friendly welcome from barmaid Sally, who turned out to be an old acquaintance of Eric's. The Grove has Harveys Best and Taylor's Landlord as its regular beers, alongside a couple of guest ales. Yesterday these were Goddards Scrumdiggity 4.0% abv and Acorn Yorkshire Pride 3.7% abv. Normally I would have gone for one of the guest ales, (probably the Acorn), but seeing as this was the occasion of my first pint of cask ale of 2012  I wanted to drink something  I was familiar with. Although both Harveys and Taylors are personal favourites, this time it just had to be Landlord, and what a mighty fine pint it was! It's difficult to describe just how good it tasted, but when you've gone the best part of a  year without a pint of cask ale passing your lips you're hoping for something special when you finally break that drought, and I was not disappointed!

I could easily have drunk several more pints, but having been off the beer for so long made me wary of over-doing things, and besides I'm still on the medication. Eric made up for me my moderation though, and as we sat at the bar, enjoying the beer, the pub slowly began to fill up. It turned into a good afternoon, with some interesting and lively discussion, mixed in with the odd joke or two. The whole thing made me realise just how much I had missed sessions in the pub.

I risked another half, and Eric had a couple more pints., but eventually we decided to call it a day, said our farewells and walked down the hill towards the station, from where we caught a train back to Tonbridge. It had been a good day out, and a most welcome back to the world of beer and pubs!

Exciting Developments on the West Kent Brewing Scene

There's been a lot of exciting new developments on the West Kent  brewing scene over the last 18 months or so. I had other concerns during this time and unfortunately many of these developments passed me by, but as I begin to recover from my annus horriblis I'm taking note of what has occurred so that once I'm firmly back in the saddle I know which new beers to look out for.

 We now have seven breweries operating in the area, five of which have started up during the past couple of years. They join the long established Larkins Brewery, who have recently celebrated their 25th anniversary, plus Westerham Brewery, who started operations back in 2004.  Apart from the addition of a blonde summer ale, Larkins beer range has changed little over the years. The beers are full bodied, with plenty of crystal malt used in the grist. They are also well-hopped, as one would expect from a Kentish beer. Westerham, on the other hand, brew a wide range of seasonal beers in addition to their distinctive core brands, some of which are based on recipes from the original Westerham Brewery which ceased brewing in 1965. New last year were a range of continental style beers, including examples from Germany, Belgium and the Czech Republic.

I've yet to try the beers from  the Black Cat Brewery, based in Groombridge right on the Kent-Sussex border, and Kent Brewery, based at Birling, a short hop from West Malling, both of which are new on the scene, but I have tried some of the beers brewed by  Moodleys, Royal Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge breweries, all of whom started operations a couple of years ago. All of these new breweries offer a wide range of interesting beers, but rather than me attempt to describe them , why not click on the links and check out the brewery websites concerned. Unfortunately, Larkins  don't have a website, but all the other breweries  listed do.

 Local drinkers are therefore spoilt when it comes to a choice of cask beers. and I look forward to sampling the new brews that are available, as well as renewing my acquaintance with some old favourites.Indeed, just reading about all them  is a sufficient spur for me to get better as quickly as possible!
 

Frustration at the Bar

Without wishing to become a bore on the subject I want to continue with the theme of my last post and look further at the options available to non-drinkers in  pubs.When reasons such  as work restraints, potential adverse reactions with medication or perhaps when one has to drive to the pub, whether as "named driver" or  just because there is no other way of getting there, not drinking alcohol in a pub can be a really frustrating experience.

Often when you're in this position Sod's law will apply and not only will the beer selection be something to die for, but the quality of said selection will also be second to none. You can just imagine your friends telling you how good the beers are, and "isn't it a shame you're unable to sample them yourself!". Small matter, we all have our crosses to bear from time to time, and hopefully on another occasion the tables will be reversed and you can get your own back. When you are in this position though the question of  "what to drink?" once again arises.

Normally I would have a pint of an average strength beer (say around 4.0%), before switching to something non-alcoholic. This is always a difficult decision as, ever since my mid-teens, when I began to acquire a taste for beer, I've not been a huge fan of  soft drinks. Drinks such as lemonade, Colas etc not only just don't do it for me taste-wise, but because they're so packed full of sugar I tend to avoid them for health reasons as well. Colas are even worse than lemonade as they're highly acidic in nature and likely to quite rapidly lead to the rotting of one's teeth. So-called "diet" versions are little better, being packed full of artificial sweeteners and additives, and still with the tooth-decay risk, especially in the case of "Diet Colas". Fruit juices provide a better option, but they once again are full of sugar, albeit in a more natural form. I once drank a  pint of pure orange juice and ended up feeling thirstier than when I started!

Often it's down to good old mineral water, but again there's only so much one can drink of this and also bottled water is expensive, particularly in pubs. I appreciate pubs have to make a living, but the mark up on soft-drinks in licensed premises is nothing sort of scandalous and does nothing to encourage non-drinkers to venture along to their local hostelry. For people in my current position, visits to the pub can therefore be not only a frustrating experience, but also an expensive one as well!

What to Drink?

 
As I mentioned in my previous post I have drunk very little beer over the last 10 months. This is hopefully a temporary state of affairs, but during this time I have obviously missed the taste, so to compensate  have tried various alcohol free and low alcohol beers. I have to admit none have been particularly enjoyable, but some have still been better than nothing! In the pub trade Becks Blue appears to be the best most widely available  alcohol free beer, having pushed the likes of Kaliber and Clausthaler to one side. However, as I haven't been feeling particularly sociable for the best part of a year, visits to the pub have been few and far between, and the majority of the alcohol free and low alcohol beers I've sampled have been consumed at home.

My thoughts on  three alcohol free/low alcohol beers are given at the end of this post, but after months of struggling with them  I've recently come across an excellent website for the Alcohol Free Shop. Based in Greater Manchester I was surprised to see that the shop stocks 24 different types of alcohol-free beer, including some interesting offerings from Erdinger, Krombacher, Maisels, Schneider, Veltins and most surprising of all Bernard from the Czech Republic. The shop also stocks a wide range of alcohol free wines (I hope they taste better than the one from Sainsbury's my wife and I tried the other weekend!), plus alcohol free ciders.

With the exception of the Bernard beer, which is an amber coloured Czech lager, all the others listed above are pilsner style beers. For ale drinkers there's virtually nothing available (I don't know whether the former Whitbread-brew, White Label is still around, but from memory it was pretty awful). Harveys  however, stock two low-alcohol beers in their pubs. Both are produced from regular Harveys beers, before some of the alcohol is removed. John Hop is produced from the company's Best Bitter, whilst their Old Ale is used to produce the dark beer, Bill Brewer.  Both have an abv of 1.0%.  I haven't tried either in many a long year, but from memory the Bill Brewer was slightly more drinkable than the John Hop.

Before ending I want to stress that the sole reason for my avoiding alcohol has been that whilst I enjoy it at the time, it seems to make my anxiety symptoms worse, particularly the following day. It is difficult to know the reasons for this; they may be purely psychological, or alternatively the alcohol may be interacting with my medication. On the other hand it could just be down to the simple fact that alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, and can enhance any feelings of depression. Whatever the reason. I don't want to turn into some rabid anti-alcohol crusader, and as I start to gradually feel better, and slowly cut back on the medication. I will start to gradually re-introduce my system to some proper beers!

Review Time:

Becks Blue -  Probably the widest available alcohol free beer, but in my opinion the worst of the lot. Thin and metallic with a nasty aftertaste to match, this beer to my mind isn't even a distress purchase. In fact when faced with this beer or no beer in a pub I would  go for a mineral water instead!


Bavaria Holland 0.0% alc Premium Original. - It has always puzzled me as to why a company in the Netherlands should adopt the name "Bavaria" for its brands, but nevertheless this alcohol; free beer is  a huge improvement on the Becks version, and quite drinkable, However, it still lacks that certain something.  Most alcohol-free beers can contain up to 0.5% alcohol-by-volume, but Bavaria claim their version is different in that it's specially brewed to contain no alcohol and is a genuine 0.00% beer.


Sainsbury's Low Alcohol Czech Lager. -  Brewed at the Staropramen Brewery in Prague which I know is more of a beer factory than a traditional Czech brewery, but this 0.5% low alcohol beer is the best of the bunch, and at least tastes like a lager.