Who needs social media?

I had intended posting a piece about CAMRA, which I promised Retired Martin would be less controversial than the previous one. However, I’m still working on it, after having been side-tracked by the allure of dry weather and longer evenings. Our patio is in urgent need of a tart-up, so I’ve been on my knees raking out the weeds and the old pointing between the paving slabs, ready for some nice new grouting to fill the cracks.

Instead, here is a short piece about Tim Martin, everyone’s favourite pub chain boss, who certainly hit the headlines yesterday, when he announced that with immediate effect, he was pulling the plug on Wetherspoon’s social media accounts.

By closing the company’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as the separate accounts held by over 900 individual Wetherspoon outlets, Mr Martin is turning his back on social media and taking what he believes to be a stand against the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In doing so he is effectively waving goodbye to 44,000 Twitter followers and more than 100,000 followers on Facebook.

Citing concerns over issues such as data privacy, the addictive nature of social media and the trolling of MPs, the boss of the discount pub chain said, “It’s becoming increasingly obvious that people spend too much time on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and struggle to control the compulsion.”

He went on to say that whilst this move was "going against the conventional wisdom that these platforms are a vital component of a successful business”,  he and the company's pub managers, do not believe that closing the accounts will have any affect on the business "whatsoever". He added that "on a commercial basis it saves people in the company time, and that will enable them to get on with their own jobs."

It is hard to disagree with his decision, and when viewed in the context that much of the social media feedback which Spoons were getting, was negative and centred on people complaining about the size of the portions they were getting, or that their breakfast was poorly cooked. And as each pub manager was responsible for maintaining the Facebook page for their own individual pub, this must be a distraction they will be glad to see the back of.

There is of course, no such thing as bad publicity, and Mr Martin has never been afraid to court controversy; especially when it suits his purpose. Not wanting to spark any further controversy of my own, I won’t mention his leaflets or the beer mats, in support of a certain cause, but there have been other equally contentious issues, such as dropping the Sunday roast from the menu along with the traditional roast-turkey Christmas dinner. 

Installing large-screen TV’s in many JDW outlets, has also not been without its share of criticism as, even with the volume turned right down, the screens are at best a distraction and at worse a complete intrusion on a night out.

The reaction to Tim’s latest move which ironically, was announced on Twitter as well as in a press release, seems quite muted, so let’s leave the final comments to a company spokesman.

"We don't feel social media is worth it in the social climate. There's not one event that led to this move. You know Wetherspoon’s – we take our decisions and that's what we do. We don't care what other people think.” 

"We're not bothered by social media and we're not hiding from anything."

In a strange kind of way I admire Tim Martin for taking a stand against the increasing encroachment of the tech-giants, and from a personal point of view I am not concerned in the slightest. I don’t have a Twitter account and tend to use Facebook as a source for various news feeds, and as a platform for keeping in touch with friends and family. I’m pretty confident then that he will weather the fallout from this decision with relative ease.

Something more solid

I have written on this subject before, but I thought it was worthwhile re-visiting and exploring in a little more depth. The subject I am referring to is drinking on an empty stomach.  It's an age-old rule about drinking that everyone knows and most people have broken, but always fill up on food before filling up on alcohol. 

I am no exception, and like to have something more solid inside me, either before or whilst I am drinking. I know I am not alone in this, as logic suggests a simple reason, that drinking on an empty stomach will lead to intoxication more quickly. But just how much of a difference does eating before imbibing really make?

Studies on the effects of food on alcohol absorption have found that there is truth to this rule, and that ingesting food before drinking doesn’t just slow the rate of alcohol absorption into the bloodstream, but also lowers the peak concentration of alcohol in the bloodstream.

Looking back I must have been made aware of this rule quite early in my drinking career, but it wasn’t my parents who imparted this wisdom. Neither of them were drinkers, and both were definitely not pub-goers, so despite being the “black sheep of the family” as far as enjoying a few pints is concerned, something must alerted me to not drink on an empty stomach.

It is a rule I have followed for over 40 years, and it has stood me in good stead; especially at lunchtimes. Although I normally shy away from a lunchtime pint during the working week, due to the soporific effect which even a single pint can have on me when I return to the office, things are different if, for example, I am on a CAMRA outing, or have spent the morning walking around a picturesque or historic town. Then there is nothing finer than stopping for a few pints, along with a bit to eat, particularly when the pub offers good, honest pub food, served at a reasonable price.

The same applies when out for a ramble, and probably more so, as the combination of exercise and all that fresh air, are guaranteed to have worked up an appetite as well as a thirst. Some might argue that beer stimulates the appetite, whilst others would say that distending of the stomach, with all that liquid, is the stimulus responsible for the feelings of hunger. This may be true, and each to their own, but for me some form of "blotting paper", in the form of food, is essential when my stomach is empty and I've had a few beers.

Evenings are a little different, in that I will normally have my dinner when I arrive home from work, and then ideally allow a couple of hours to pass before heading off to the pub. Holidays are different again as the evening meal will invariably be in a local bar or restaurant, where I can enjoy a few pints with my meal. but at weekends, and especially whilst on holiday, I still prefer something solid inside me at lunchtime, even if it is just a couple of rolls or a pie, to soak up the beer.

Pubs have known for a long time, about the importance of serving food, particularly at lunchtime, and increasingly so have beer festival organisers. Having attended CAMRA’S national Great British Beer Festival over the years, I have seen the food offering slowly increase, from simple filled rolls, to full blown catering offering anything from fish and chips to spicy Asian street food.

Food also plays an important part at Munich’s world famous Oktoberfest, which attracts around six million visitors a year. As well as downing almost seven million litres of beer, festival goers munch their way through half a million grilled sausages, 250,000 chickens, umpteen giant pretzels and for those really wanting to soak it all up, around 100 wild oxen!

So next time you are sat there with a pint in front of you, and feeling peckish, consider that it’s your body telling you that something solid to go with your beer, is probably a good idea.

Going against the grain

I have been a member of the Campaign for Real Ale since 1975. I was 20 years old at the time and CAMRA was very much a young persons' organisation. There were older members of course, and it was good talking to them, as many had been drinking before keg, and top-pressure dispensed beer appeared on the scene.

Virtually all draught beer was cask back then, and there was still a healthy sprinkling of local independent brewers spread throughout the country, but whilst it was good listening to these older drinkers, and learning what beers were available, twenty of thirty years previously, there's no getting away that in the main most CAMRA members were under thirty or, like me, in their early twenties.

Four decades later, and the reverse is true, with the over 50's making up the majority of the membership, and people in their 20's as rare as hen's teeth. This is now a major problem for the Campaign, and it's no exaggeration to say that unless more volunteers come forward and CAMRA, manages to attract new blood onto its ranks, it will die on its feet.

I have first hand experience of this within my own local CAMRA branch, where we have struggled for some time to fill all the various posts on the committee. I don't want to pre-empt anything, but I strongly suspect that when we hold our AGM later this month, we may even have trouble filling some of the more important positions (Chairman, Social Secretary and Treasurer).

I am sure we are not alone in this, and as I have written before, there is no easy answer. CAMRA has been well aware of this situation for some time, which is why the organisation embarked on its Revitalisation Project. I have no intention of going over the findings of the project, or the in-depth analysis which resulted from it; especially as matters are about to come to a head, and this is what leads me on to the all important Special Resolutions which CAMRA'S 190,000+ members are being asked to vote on.

CAMRA'S National Executive, in effect the organisation's directors, believe that by broadening the Campaign's appeal and changing not just its remit but its entire articles of association, CAMRA will receive a much needed shot in the arm and experience a new lease of life. Without going into too much detail, the people behind the Revitalisation Project are unashamedly chasing after the so-called "Craft-Beer" sector, with all that entails.

Whether the younger generation, which makes up the bulk of the flourishing craft beer scene, will want to get involved with an organisation which, up until now, has shunned them, remains to be seen. Personally I don't see anything more than a slight trickle of new blood finding its way into CAMRA'S ranks; and that's being optimistic! Despite this I do feel that the campaign has to try something, and for this reason I voted in favour of all the Special Resolutions, with one notable exception.

I fully understand why CAMRA felt it had to go down the path of change, because not to do so would, in my opinion, be a betrayal of the membership, and could also spell the end for what has been labelled "Europe's most successful consumer organisation". So whilst it may seem strange for someone like me, who voted for the country to remain a member of the European Union, to then be challenging the established order by voting for change, I feel it is the only way forward for CAMRA.

There's no guarantee of course that the Special Resolutions will be carried. For them to take effect will require a "super majority" of 75% of the votes to be in favour, rather than just a simple majority; something David Cameron would have been wise to insist on! With the majority of CAMRA's active members likely to oppose the changes, it might be difficult to achieve even a simple majority.

Voter apathy is another problem, and the Campaign's attempt to involve more of its members in the democratic process has not been a success. It is claimed that only 5,000 members voted in last year's National Executive elections. Although this is an improvement on the typical AGM attendance of 1,000; the forum where policy was, and to a certain extent still is decided, it doesn't say much for the commitment of the Campaign's other 185,000 members.

We will know the outcome of the vote soon enough, but whichever way it goes it's worth me placing on record that I have been disillusioned with CAMRA for some time. In fact for the past couple of years I have seriously considered whether I wish to remain a member of an organisation which seems increasingly irrelevant in the modern world. Over the years I have put my heart and soul into the Campaign of Real Ale, so in many ways it would be sad for me and CAMRA to part company. Before committing to anything though, I will see what the outcome is of the Revitalisation Project, and will also wait and see what fallout there is from the vote.

I don't have life membership, and still have seven months membership remaining before deciding whether or not I wish to renew my subscription, so there's no hurry as far as I am concerned. But there's no getting away from the fact that CAMRA has reached a crossroads and is at a point where it can either move boldly forward, or literally wither away on the hop-bine

Finally, the Special Resolution I voted against was the one which proposed including cider and perry amongst CAMRA's campaigning aims. I joined a group which campaigned for better beer, not for cider and perry. Lovers of these drinks should go off and form their own campaign and not hang on the back of CAMRA's coat tails!

A place in the sun

Today apparently was the hottest day of the year so far, but seeing as temperatures in this part of Kent only managed to reach 17º C, this isn’t really saying much. Still we must be grateful for small mercies, and even though we’re already a quarter of the way through 2018, it was nice to get out and enjoy the sunshine.

Seeing as it was Friday, and I’d had a productive morning at work, I decided to take a walk up to the Greyhound at Charcott; a pub I have written about at length these past few years. Fortunately the company I work for has a fairly relaxed policy towards the odd drink at lunchtime, and whilst I don’t make a habit of this, it’s good to know I won’t be looked down on if I do treat myself to the occasional pint.

 
I took the longer route up to Charcott, crossing the former Penshurst airfield, by means of the tarmac footpath which bisects it. This is part of my normal lunchtime walk, and today it was nice to walk across this exposed area without getting blown away, or chilled to the bone.

The Greyhound was busy when I arrived – always a good sign, with a mixed clientele of passing diners and casual walkers. There was a pile of very muddy boots stacked up by the door, and very few tables at which to sit, inside. After ordering my pint (Larkin’s Traditional), I decided to sit outside and take advantage of the warm weather.

It was whilst sitting there, nursing my pint that I began to notice a wonderfully hoppy aroma emanating from the beer, which brought back pleasant memories of outdoor drinking, on a warm summer’s day. It is said that the sense of smell, perhaps more than any other of our senses, can invoke memories which have lain hidden for years, or perhaps expunged from our consciousness altogether; and this was certainly the case today

The hoppy nose I experienced, is most noticeable when drinking outside on a hot summers day. The action of the sun's rays has an affect on some of the more volatile components  present in the beer, which gives rise to the most wonderful aroma. The presence of the sun, rather than just high temperatures, appears to be required before this effect occurs, as the hoppy aroma is still noticeable even on sunny days in spring or autumn, when the thermometer can be struggling to register anything remotely respectable.

 
That hoppy aroma was certainly present today, and added that extra something which definitely enhanced my drinking experience as well as my pub visit. This is one of the many pleasures of beer drinking, and the sense of anticipation it gives to the enjoyment of a well-crafted pint, is one of the bonuses of outdoor drinking. Indeed, from early spring to late autumn, sitting outside in a pub garden, whenever the weather is kind, whilst enjoying a well-hopped pint of bitter is, for me, one of life's great pleasures. Even at either end of this extended period it can be worthwhile finding a sheltered spot, away from the wind, in order to add that extra enhancement to a pint.

Well I trust I’ve made you thirsty and you are now hankering after a beer, but I thought I’d share this little bit of spring magic with you. And as for the Greyhound, it good to see the pub thriving. It just goes to show that in the right hands,  even pubs which have more or less been given up on, can have a bright future.

Drink Moor Beer

"Drink Moor Beer". If you owned a brewery company called Moor, then you couldn't possibly wish for a better advertising slogan, nor indeed a better name for your beer. And if your beer had won numerous awards and umpteen accolades, then you'd be even prouder of your name and to encourage people to drink more of the stuff.

Moor Beer is named after the Moors and Levels area of Somerset, which is where the original company started brewing in 1996.  Things did not work out, and Moor Beer closed in 2005. Two years later Californian, Justin Hawke, bought the company and started it afresh; ditching some of the original brands, adding new ones, and reworking the rest.

Hawkes’s bold new approach was to combine the German tradition of naturally hazy beers with that of the American, "flavour-forward" philosophy. He then mixed this in with uniquely British practice of secondary fermentation. In doing so, Justin created what Moor Beer call Modern Real Ale. The company are now regarded as one of the top-rated breweries in the world.

In 2014 the brewery moved to central Bristol, in the area behind Temple Meads Station. The new site also includes a taproom and brewery shop and, as I discovered the other Friday, they have now opened a taproom in London. I heard the news from journalist and fellow beer-writer BryanB, whilst attending the Budvar Imperial Lager tasting event at the Trading Post.

Bryan mentioned he would be going along to the Moor Beer taproom opening, later in the afternoon, and asked if I was going? I wasn't aware of the event, especially as I hadn't received an invitation, but Bryan thought that as a fellow beer-writer, admission wouldn't be a problem. He told me the location of the taproom - in yet another railway arch a short walk from Bermondsey Underground station, shortly before he departed from the Budvar event.

Having just refilled my glass with the 7.5% Imperial Lager, I wasn't in a terrific hurry to leave, so I told Bryan that I might see him there. Seeing as I was in town for the afternoon, I decided to throw caution to the wind, despite starting to feel the effects of my lunchtime indulgence. The Budvar event was drawing to a close, so I made my way along to Bank Underground station and took the tube to Bermondsey.

The Moor Taproom wasn't hard to find, and after showing my card to the person on the door, I was allowed inside and given five beer tokens; each worth a half pint. There were quite a few people inside the arch, some milling around by the open entrance, others hanging out at the bar, but most were seated on wooden benches inside the arch.

Owner and brewer, Justin Hawke was present on what was obviously a big day for Moor Beer Co, mingling and chatting with the guests as well as helping out behind the bar, where necessary. I  noticed Bryan sitting at one of the tables, tapping away on his laptop like a true professional, putting me and my pile of hand-scribbled notes to shame! After saying hello I wandered over to the bar to grab myself a beer. There were six cask and twelve keg beers on offer. The four beers I sampled were all excellent, showing just what can be achieved with the right approach coupled with correct formulation. 

On cask I enjoyed Nor' Hop, a 4.1% "Ultra Pale Ale"  and Dark Alliance, a 4.5% Coffee Stout, with a nice hoppy aftertaste. On the keg front, the 3.5% All Dayer Session IPA and the 5.0% Smokey Horizon, Smoked Rye Pale Ale completed the line-up as far as I was concerned.

It is worth noting that all the company's beers are un-fined, and are designed to be served with a slight natural haze. Their cask beers do not contain isinglass finings, and are described by the brewery as "natural".  Moor Beer Co now supply all their beers as un-fined and naturally hazy, claiming this is best for the beer and for the consumer. Even their cans are un-fined, and because they still contain "live yeast" CAMRA has given them its seal of approval, designating them as "real ale in a can". 

I used four out of my five tokens, wisely deciding not to make use of the fifth. Bryan had already departed, and dusk was starting to fall as I made my way back to Bermondsey station. I left thinking that the presence of a taproom belonging to a brewery with the standing of Moor Beer, was a definite positive addition to the London beer scene; even if  it is rather crowded in the Bermondsey area.

It was a good way to end what had already been an excellent day in the capital, and I was really pleased to have had the opportunity to enjoy some of the excellent beers which Moor produce. My only comment would be that, like virtually all the other establishments along the famous Bermondsey Beer-Mile, the taproom could do with some more enhanced toilet facilities!

Footnote: I have just received news that on 3rd May, Moor Beer will be holding a Tap Takeover & Meet the Brewer session, at Fuggles Beer Cafe, just down the road from me in Tonbridge. The date is firmly in my diary!

The Jolly Boy's Outing

There can be few people, in this country at least, who haven’t seen the classic, Christmas special episode of “Only Fools & Horses”, which sees Del, Rodney and the rest of the regulars from the Nag’s Head setting off on a coach trip to Margate. Set during an Easter Bank Holiday Weekend, the episode was titled “The Jolly Boy’s Outing”, and is based on the type of beery coach trips to the coast which many London pubs used to organise up until a decade or so ago.

Sometimes described as  “Beano's”, these trips were meant for an almost exclusively male clientele, and were basically an organised “piss-up.” There would be several, pre-arranged pub stops on the way to the seaside, and plenty of opportunity to visits a few pubs at the final destination as well. For good measure, there would normally be a few crates of bottled beer (nearly always brown ale), stowed away at the back of the coach.

Whilst not quite in the same vein as these legendary “Beano’s”, for the past 12 years, West Kent CAMRA have run an annual trip to Margate in order to visit the town’s long-standing beer festival, “Planet Thanet”. Train is the preferred means of travel, rather than coach, and there are no crates of brown ale hidden away in the guard’s van either, but apart from that these trips are similar, in spirit at least, to the Jolly Boy’s Outings of yester-year.

This now annual pilgrimage to the seaside always takes place on Good Friday, which is the opening day of the festival. This is unfortunate for me as the Planet Thanet trip invariably clashes with Maidstone CAMRA’s annual ramble, and for me, walking through the Kent countryside, during early spring, to a nice country pub, in the company of old friends, always wins out over being stuck in a hall sampling half after half of too many similar-tasting beers.

That was until the rains came, for as I wrote in the previous post, deluge after deluge have left our fields totally sodden and many footpaths virtually impassable. There was nothing else to do, but bite the bullet and join my CAMRA friends on their trip “Down to Margate”. I enjoyed the train ride down to the coast and had a rather smug feeling as I surveyed the water-logged fields from the comfort of our nice dry carriage. We had to change trains at both Ashford and Ramsgate, and it was at the latter that we noticed plenty of other fellow travellers were heading for the same destination as us. (CAMRA members can usually be spotted a mile off!).

It is several years since I last set foot in Margate, but the town doesn’t seem to have changed much. Given the weather the place looked particularly windswept and desolate, and from behind the protective glass of a seafront café, where we stopped for a late breakfast the beach looked far from inviting. The Planet Thanet festival takes place at Margate Winter Gardens, described as Thanet’s leading conference, entertainment and banqueting venue. Located on the cliff-top, looking out to sea in an artificial hollow at Fort Green, the Winter Gardens can accommodate events ranging from a 1,400 theatre style conference to a 750 banquet with several other smaller syndicate rooms.

The complex opened in August 1911, and today is owned by Thanet District Council and managed by Your Leisure Kent Limited. There are winter gardens in other seaside resorts, such as Blackpool, Bournemouth, Eastbourne, Morecombe and Weston-super-Mare, but this visit to the Margate Gardens was to be my first to any of them. It was a bit of a climb up to Fort Green, the strong winds and driving rain seeming to impede our progress, and once inside the shelter of the entrance hall, there was still a queue to gain entry to the festival. Admission was free to card-carrying CAMRA members, otherwise a fee of £5 was payable.

The event followed the pattern of many other CAMRA festivals, with a refundable, souvenir glass to drink from and tokens to be used in exchange for beer at the bars. After providing ourselves with both we grabbed a table in the quieter of the two halls. I must add here that I was just following my companions who seem to have turned their attendance at Planet Thanet into a finely-tuned, well-oiled art.

There were around 170 cask beers on offer, plus a number of ciders, perries and bottled beers. The beers were all racked behind the bar in the main hall, which for obvious reasons was by far the busiest of the two halls. Live music was also provided in the main hall, with a particularly good band playing cover versions of classics from the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and Santana. As well as an excellent selection of ales, special mention should be made of the prices, as most beers were on sale at just £3.00 a pint, with some of the stronger ones priced at £3.50. Over half of the beers were from Kent, and it was good to see so many Kentish ales on sale under the same roof.

Now comes the confession; I have really gone off beer festivals, so after splashing out on my train fare and spending the best art of two hours travelling, you’d be entitles to ask, what the hell was I doing there? I asked that question myself, but if truth be known I had gone along to Planet Thanet primarily for the company of friends and the experience of visiting a corner of Kent I don’t often get to.

It would have been rude not to have indulged in a few beers though, so I got stuck in, starting off on some of the weaker pale beers, before switching to some of the darker and stronger porters. The beers which really stood out for me were on the pale side: Five Points Pale 4.4% from Five Points Brewing of Hackney and Hurricane Jack 4.4% from Fyne Ales, plus Clwydian Black Porter 4.7% from Hafod Brewery, Rabbie’s Porter 4.3% from Ayr Brewery and 1872 Porter 6.5% from Elland Brewery. The latter three were all dark ales, in case you hadn’t guessed.

We departed at 6pm, heading down to the seafront in search of something to eat before catching the train home. On the way up to the Winter Gardens we’d noticed a rather small chippy called Peter’s Fish Factory. Several of my companions had been here on previous trips to Margate, and although its advertised offer of Haddock and Chips for just £3.95 seemed almost too good to be true, the queue outside when we arrived, was testament to both the quality and value for money offered by this tiny little take-away.

We huddled together in the shelter of a shop doorway, enjoying our excellent fish supper, before calling in for one last beer at what is probably the town’s best known micro-pub. The Fez opened in December 2015 in a former shop, and is furnished with a mixture of high and low tables and some raised bench seating. Virtually every inch of wall and indeed ceiling space is covered with various brewery and fairground memorabilia.

The place was absolutely heaving, but fortunately we managed to grab a table by the door, just as the occupants were leaving. I believe I had a glass of Gadd’s Dog Bolter Porter, but it was getting late in the day, so I can’t really be sure. The journey back to Tonbridge was uneventful, and I even managed to avoid falling asleep, but next year, unless we have repeat performance of this year’s deluge, I shall be off rambling again.

Before finishing, I would like to thank my companions for their company and good humour. No need to name names, they all know who they are.

A break with tradition

For as long as I have been writing this blog, and probably an equal length of time before that, it has been my habit to kick-start Easter by taking part in a ramble. Not just any old ramble, mind-you, but the annual Good Friday Ramble, organised by Maidstone & Mid-Kent CAMRA.

This event is now in its 42^nd year, and it can be safely said to be an established tradition. It was therefore  with a tinge of sadness, coupled with more than a few streaks of regret, that this year I decided to give the event a miss. My reason was the good old British weather which this spring has been unseasonably cold and extremely wet.

Now before anyone calls me a “fair weather walker”, let me say I can put up with the cold, and I can also cope with a drop of rain, but I had seen with my own eyes, just how saturated the ground was underfoot, and Maundy Thursday’s incessant rain provided the last straw. The area the group were planning to walk through is low-lying, and almost certainly damp at the best of times, so as someone who prefers walking to wading, I reluctantly gave the ramble a miss.

I left it until first thing on Good Friday morning though, to make my final decision, but with increasingly heavy rain forecast, I called my friend John, who almost always goes on these walks, to inform him I was bailing out (if you’ll pardon the pun).

There was however, another option in which to enjoy a few beers at the start of the Easter weekend, and that was to join friends from my own West Kent CAMRA branch on their annual trip to Margate, in order to enjoy the day at the “Planet Thanet Beer Festival”.

A select bunch of members have been attending the event, this past 13 years, but this would be my first time. This is due to the clash of these two events, as given the choice I would rather be out in the fresh air, enjoying seeing the Kent countryside slowly bursting into spring. Being up to my ankles in mud, or possibly even my knees though, swung the pendulum firmly in favour of a trip to the seaside.

I will be writing later about how I joined “The Jolly Boy’s Outing”, on their trip "Down to Margate", but in the meantime, the photos above should provide a nostalgic look back at some previous Good Friday Rambles, undertaken in much more clement weather.