Flogging a dead horse?

Although CAMRA has run plenty of successful campaigns in its 50-year span, it has also run the odd spectacular flop. The thing about a flop is to recognise when you’ve got it wrong, but one long running campaign the organisation continued to run was a dud, right from the start. “Flogging a dead horse,” is perhaps the best description.

"Make May a Mild Month" ran, in various guises, for what must have been several decades. The idea was to save the forgotten and some might say neglected, style of beer, known as Mild Ale. There are plenty of online sources should you wish to know more about mild, and also plenty of definitions of what the beer actually is.

Some of these are far geekier than others, but as history plays a part, with the definition becoming distorted over time, I will leave readers to conduct their own research, should they wish. For the purposes of this article, all you really need to know is that, up to and including World War II, mild was the staple drink in Britain’s pubs.

More than that, mild was THE drink of the working man, outselling more expensive draught beers such as bitter by some and more. A decade or so later, its fortunes entered a long slow and ultimately, quite painful decline. When CAMRA was founded, mild was still the logical companion to bitter on pub bar counters up and down the country, with most brewers offering both styles in their tied houses.

This could be why CAMRA set out to save it, but had the campaign spent more time bothering about the quality of the beer, rather than remaining fixated on the style, they might have arrested its decline. Instead, they concentrated solely on saving mild ale as a style and ended up on a hiding to nothing.

At its best mild could be enjoyable and satisfying, but at its worst it was thin, insipid, and totally devoid of character. Worse are the horror stories, from the “old days” of unscrupulous landlords, adding all the “slops” from a night’s drinking, back into the cask – yuck!

So, despite dozens of CAMRA members being “persuaded” into professing their support for mild, and going out of their way to drink it, the style was already in terminal decline. CAMRA’s efforts, however well-intentioned, couldn’t hide the fact that apart from a few honourable exceptions, the mild brewed by most breweries – certainly those that continued to produce it in cask form, was in the main inferior to the bitter(s) or draught pale ale they offered.

I became caught up in this hype back in the early 1980’s, when I became an active member of Maidstone & Mid Kent (MMK) CAMRA. This was the first CAMRA branch I identified with, even though I’d been a member since the mid 1970’s.

A bit of history first, to get us up to speed, I joined the Campaign in 1974, during the summer vacation from Salford University.  The first branch meeting I attended was one held by Canterbury branch, at the City Arms, close to the world-famous cathedral. Hand-pumped Whitbread Trophy, brewed at the former Fremlin’s plant at Faversham, was the cask ale on offer, and jolly good it was too. 

I later attended what was probably the inaugural meeting of Ashford CAMRA; Ashford being my hometown. My attendance at these meetings was confined to university vacations, and during term time I made no effort to go along to any events that must have been held by branches in the Greater Manchester region.

I saw no real need to attend local CAMRA events, as decent and cheap cask ale was available in most of the region’s pubs. Whitbread and John Smiths were the odd ones out, as they only supplied keg beer. I also had a busy social life – those were the days, and evenings when I didn’t go to the pub were few and far between. It wasn’t until I moved back to Kent in 1979, after buying my first house in Maidstone, that I decided to bite the bullet and become involved with the local and, it has to be said, highly successful MMK CAMRA branch.

Faversham brewers, Shepherd Neame, were the main provider of real ale in the county town, with all nine of their pubs stocking the real thing. This was in sharp contrast to Courage and Whitbread, who owned the bulk of Maidstone’s pubs, but sold mainly bright, processed beer, served by top-pressure dispense.

After showing more than a passing interest in the branch, and volunteering to deliver its newsletter – Draught Copy, to local pubs, I was asked to join the committee, which I considered quite an honour. The branch chairman and secretary at the time, were keen supporters of CAMRA’s fledgling mild campaign – the bit about drinking it during May came along later, and encouraged other committee members to do the same. Cask (real) mild was only available in Shepherd Neame houses, as whilst a handful of Courage and Whitbread pubs served real ale, it was bitter only that was stocked, the mild being keg only.

This meant making a point of being seen to be ordering, and of course drinking mild. Shep’s mild was pleasant enough, but it wasn’t a patch on their excellent bitter – something went wrong with that later. The mild also suffered from low turnover, so many pints whilst still drinkable, were not exactly served at their best. Small matter, we all thought we were doing the right thing to save this dying stye of beer and were even proud of our efforts.   

In our naivety we thought that our combined efforts would be sufficient to turn the tide and rescue cask mild from oblivion. How wrong could we be, as during the mid-1980’s, Shep’s announced that, due to falling sales and low turnover, they would be dropping mild in cask form and their pubs would now stock it only as a brewery-conditioned keg beer.

Talk about a kick in the teeth, all that posing with a pint of mild, all those excellent pints of bitter ignored in favour of a lackluster and inferior pint of mild. A lesson well learned, go with your heart rather than your head, don’t be guided by what others think and slavishly follow them.

CAMRA continued their increasingly forlorn, mild Campaign well into the 21st Century, encouraging branches and breweries to run special promotions of this style every May, but all to no avail. Looking back, I wrote an extensive article, five years ago, titled “Why I Won't Be Supporting CAMRA's Mild in May Campaign,” and an even longer one, the year before. Both questioned the reasoning behind CAMRA’s increasingly embarrassing Mild Campaign, but do make quite interesting reading, if you are at all interested in mild.

Six years on, my attitude hasn’t changed. If people are shunning a particular style of beer because its lacks character and appeal, then no amount of campaigning, arm-twisting or obsession by CAMRA, or any other group of people, is going to change things.

It seems I am not alone, because on Pub Curmudgeon’s blog, there’s a post from 20^th February, written largely in celebration of CAMRA’s 50^th anniversary. In the comments section, there’s a lengthy, and rather tongue in cheek contribution from a correspondent called “Mild Drinker Matt.”

It summed up neatly and succinctly, the points I’ve been making about the absurdity of these campaigns, and it also made me laugh. Here's a taster, so you can see what I mean, but it's also a good way of wrapping up this article.

"My journey with CAMRA began when I saw an advertisement in Opening Times magazine for a ‘mild challenge’. Visit pubs, drink mild, collect tokens, claim a t shirt and most important of all, SAVE MILD. It didn’t work but that is not the point. Something needed to be done and they were doing something.”

“Mild’s decline continued. Year on year mild slumped in volume. It disappeared from pubs, it suffered quality issues of low turnover but every year I knew something must be done, so I did it and so did CAMRA. No one wanted to drink mild anymore as it was a bland wishy-washy sort of beer, but it needed saving and nobody else was trying to save it.”

I rest my case!

Getting ready for the off

It’s been a roller-coaster couple of weeks, which might explain why I haven’t posted much on the blog recently. An unexpected problem with my car, which then snowballed into a couple of other expensive issues, saw me not only car less for five days, but didn’t exactly do my bank-balance any favours either.

Fortunately, son Matthew had two weeks off from work, so was able to drive me to and from work, and also lend me his car in order to drive Mrs PBT’s to the shops. So, with work remaining fiendishly busy as well, I’ve been looking forward to the long Easter break.

Leading up to this, unseasonably fine weather at the start of the week (where did that go to?), made my regular lunchtime walks even more pleasant than usual. Spring flowers in abundance, not just daffodils, but glades of pale-yellow primroses coming into their own, lambs skipping about in the fields, left me with a spring in my step – if you’ll pardon the pun.

Wednesday’s walk saw me making a rare diversion down into Charcott, home of the award-winning Greyhound. Licensee Richard was busy getting the garden straight, assisted by a member of staff. I stopped for a quick chat. Shortly after, landlady Fran appeared with some cups of tea for Richard and his helper.

She confirmed the pub would be re-opening on Tuesday 13^th April for drinks, with food being served from the following day. 13^th April happens to be my birthday, so providing nothing disastrous occurs in the meantime, I aim to be sitting out in the Greyhound’s garden and enjoying a pint of Larkin’s, come rain or shine.

 As well as improving the garden, the couple have converted the porch area, at the front of the pub, into an area that provides shelter from the elements, but without being closed in. Good news as it increases the Greyhound’s ability to cater for an increased number of outdoor drinkers, until that magic day arrives, when Nanny decides we’ve been good boys and girls, allows us back indoors and starts treating us like responsible adults.

The Greyhound is just over 10 minutes’ walk from my workplace, but even nearer is the Little Brown Jug; a large It is an attractive late 19th Century building which despite being enlarged over the years, still retains much of its original character.   

The Little Brown Jug is just over five minutes’ walk away and is situated directly opposite Penshurst station.  I have been watching, with interest, the preparations the staff were making, in advance of re-opening. Disappointingly, it hasn’t been warm enough for bikinis – unlike last summer. For more information, please refer to this post which I wrote at the time. A large open-sided tent has been erected in the Jug’s equally large garden, in anticipation perhaps of the fickleness of the English weather.

I haven’t yet checked online, but I imagine the pub will be taking full advantage of Prime Minister Johnson’s roadmap out of lock-down, by re-opening at the earliest opportunity on 12^th April – Covid-19 infection rated permitting. Assuming they are, I shall be waiting in line for the chance of a pint in the garden.

House beers - revisited

Back in 2008, I wrote a post titled, “House Beers.”  It was one of the very first articles I posted on this blog but after viewing a thread, on the Beer Socials Whats App group I belong to, I felt inclined to re-post my 13-year-old piece, as the points raised seem just as relevant today, then they were back then.

News broke, that come pub re-opening, a well-known local free house will be offering not just one, but two “house beers.” This seemed to spark much excitement, but not from my direction, so before going any further, what exactly is a “house beer?” 

The answer is it is a beer that is branded as being exclusive to the pub in question. It may be named after the pub itself, the landlord or a feature of local interest, but if the publicity and spin behind the beer is to be believed, the beers is produced exclusively for the pub. But is it?

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. So far so good, but if we discard the first “mass circulation” house beer type, and concentrate on the accepted use of the term, it becomes self-evident that it would need a combination of a very small micro-brewery 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 have learnt from years of experience that many so called “house beers” do not tick the “exclusivity box,” and neither do they meet the “carefully crafted pint of beer, brewed to the highest standards, from the highest quality ingredients,” criteria either.

This is especially true when a brewery chooses to mix two or three different beers, and then pass them off as a “house beer”. This is blending rather than brewing, and whilst these beers might 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. Over the years I have come across several examples of this form of deception, and whilst its prevalence is nowhere near as wide as it once was, I still think it is dishonest.

Many years ago, when I was much more of CAMRA zealot than I am today, I annoyed the owner of a local free house, by asking too many questions about the beer the pub was calling “Our Own”. “Where does the beer come from?” I inquired. “Is it a local brew, or do you bring it in from elsewhere?”

All these questions were met with a stony silence so, perhaps rather foolishly, I then asked mine host if he brewed the beer “out the back.” I knew full well that he didn’t as, back then, word would soon have got around that the pub in question had started brewing it own beer.

Obviously rattled, the landlord told me, 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 work colleagues at the time, I ignored this suggestion and settled for a pint of Fullers London Pride instead. I like to know what I am drinking, so had to chuckle when I later discovered that the cantankerous old landlord had been prosecuted, by Trading Standards,  for passing off Fremlin’s Bitter as his own brew. Talk about karma!

My message to landlords, and also to micro-brewers, remains the same as it was 13 years ago. 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. Better still, do you really think drinkers will travel to your pub for the sole purpose of sampling your “house beer?”

I remain unconvinced, especially as when I come across a beer I haven’t seen before, I like to give it a try. I won’t be pleased if I discover that what I have been drinking, is just a re-badged beer, or a blend of two or more different brews. Equally, if I do spot a pump clip advertising what purports to be a beer brewed specially for the pub itself, I am likely to give it a wide birth.  

Am I being snobbish? Probably yes, fussy too, and downright picky, but I remember the days of “badge brewing” when the likes of Archers and Cottage Brewery were churning out a never-ending number of allegedly different beers, all based on a small handful of basic recipes. 

The beer tickers might have been delighted, but those of us who could see through this, and view it for what it was, were less than impressed. Personally, I can’t see it catching on again, but who knows?

Competition Time (no prizes).

First, the attractive building in the third photo down, is a former West Kent pub. Not only that, it was THE pub where I had the "discussion," mentioned in the post above, about "Own Ale." Can anyone name it?

Second, can anyone name the pioneering establishment which served "Own Ale," back in the early 1970's, thereby reviving the practice of pubs brewing their own beer? This was at a time when there were only four, home-brewpubs left in the country.

FUGSCLUB

Last Friday I received my first box of beers from FUGSCLUB – a monthly beer subscription service that features 12 beers each month, complete with tasting notes and occasional extra goodies. As its name suggests the scheme is run by Fuggles, the independent craft beer café and bottle shop, with outlets in Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge.

Founded, initially in Tunbridge Wells, back in 2013, by local beer enthusiast and experienced licensee Alex Grieg, Fuggles has since gone from strength to strength, with the opening of a second pub in Tonbridge, five years later. Rather than repeating what is written elsewhere, this piece which featured in the Morning Advertiser, tells you all you need to know about Alex and his two excellent beer cafés.

 

Like other local pubs and bars, Fuggles has been forced to close because of the global, Coronavirus pandemic, and whilst the two pubs did briefly re-open late last summer and into autumn, the second national lockdown put a stop to that. For a short time in early December, both outlets operated as off-licenses, allowing customers to purchase a wide range of British and European bottled and canned beers, but following Kent being placed in Tier Three, even that limited window of opportunity was sadly forced to close.

Deprived by a mean-hearted government of offering, even a click-and-collect operation, Fuggles switched instead to a home delivery service, and it was from the latter that the idea of FUGSCLUB was born. Expanding on the monthly specials, and recommended choices, featured on the website, the club does the choosing for you, which is great for lazy buggers like me.

Each month Fuggles select a different set of beers and deliver them to your home. 12 different beers featuring some favourites, some classics and some new breweries showcasing the best in beer each month from the UK and beyond. They aim to deliver the first box within 5 days, and after that the subscription will automatically fall on or around the 15th of each month and be delivered shortly after.

The first box includes a Fuggles glass, which Mrs PBT’s has already laid claim to. Signing up also offers exclusive access to the Fuggles members discount area, with exclusive discounts on that month’s beers alongside other special offers.

There are five boxes to choose from, each complete with its own set of tasting notes:

Pale/IPA box - a selection of 12 fantastic hop forward beers from the UK & beyond - a great mix of session pales through to juicy IPA’s.

European styles - a showcase of classic European styles (from Lagers to Wheat beers, Bocks, Blondes, Dubbels, Saisons and back round again!) alongside some modern interpretations from around the world (at times this box may contain 9 beers & one bigger sharing bottle)

Dealer’s Choice - a showcase of some of Fuggles' favourite beers encompassing all styles from all places, occasional classics and pub favourites. A real beer lovers box featuring pales, lagers, Belgian and German classics, the odd sour/fruit beer, stouts and dark beers alongside the occasional cider. (At times this box may contain 9 beers & one bigger sharing bottle)

Dark Beers - Spanning Stouts and Porters, Dunkels, Dubbels and more. A real dark beer lovers set.

Bitters/Traditional Beer Styles - One for anyone who loves a pint of Cask beer - Fuggles' selection of the best bitters, golden, mild, stouts and porters, but in bottle/can format.

I opted for the dark beers box, and the selection I received certainly doesn’t’ disappoint. Fuggles emphasise that subscribers are supporting local, and they support local too, whether that’s businesses or employing local people. They rightly claim that it's really important, especially right now!

Fuggles work with independent breweries who have the same ethos and values as themselves., and also vow they won't try to shift average beer to punters. Every box contains beers they’d sell and drink themselves across a broad range of styles.

Apologies if this all sounds rather too much of a love-in, but for me this is a great way to be supporting a local business, whilst at the same time stocking up with a fantastic selection of different beers. Also, don’t get the idea that I’m not supporting local pubs, because as an added incentive, people like me taking out a subscription in March, get a £15 voucher to spend in the two pubs when they’re back open.  

Finally, I rather foolishly mislaid the description and tasting notes that came with my first box, but the photos displayed on this post, should give an idea of the excellent election of dark beers I received.

CAMRA's half-century and the beer revolution it inspired

I said a couple of posts ago, that I would write my own tribute to CAMRA, after the organisation notched up its 50-year milestone, so here it is. The fact that the Campaign for the Revitalisation of Ale (to use its original name), should reach its half century is quite an achievement; especially when you consider the campaign’s humble beginnings, and the fact that the idea was hatched out of what Mrs PBT’s would dismiss as "pub talk!"

You know the sort of thing, a group of blokes, and it is mainly blokes as women seem to possess a lot more sense, sitting around in a pub and trying to put the world to right. After moaning about something not being as good as it used to be (in the case of the four northern lads on holiday in Ireland, it was beer), someone then comes up with a half-baked idea, along the lines of “We should do something about it.”  following on, someone else has the even dafter idea about staring a campaign.

The rest, as they say, is history, because in that particular instance, the four friends did actually do
something, just like they said they would and, in their own unintentional way, changed the world of beer and brewing forever. Because not only did they save traditional British beer – cask-conditioned ale, or “Real Ale,” as they eventually decided to do call it, but they sparked an unprecedented, world-wide interest in beer that would elevate the status of beer, from a humble, everyday drink that no-one thought that much of, to a level which put it on level pegging with wine.

Thanks to those four fine fellows, and the countless people they picked up along the way, I can now go virtually anywhere within countries where the brewing and consumption of beer is permitted and find myself a drink of the highest quality. Proper small-batch, artisanal beer, brewed according to local traditions and produced to suite local tastes, is now readily available, and whilst big brand, multi-national beers are obviously everywhere too, it’s nice to have that choice.

It’s no exaggeration either to say this is all down to CAMRA, because what the organisation did was to light the fuse, the fuse that led to the explosion in new breweries, the resurrection of old beer styles and the bold experimentation of the craft beer movement that followed in CAMRA’s wake.

Sure there were people like Frank Baillie, Michael Jackson, Richard Boston, Roger Protz, Christopher Hutt, Peter Austin, John Young,  John & Christine Cryne, Fritz Maytag, Garret Oliver, Roger Ryman, David Bruce, Tony Ruddle, Matthias Trum, Vaclav Berka and countless others along the way, all helping and assisting in their own fashion, but without CAMRA lighting the blue touch paper that brought them altogether – however remotely, would the world of brewing be as interesting, diverse and exciting as it is today?

So, thank you Messrs Hardman, Lees, Makin and Mellor. You obviously weren’t aware what your drink-fueled conversation at Kruger’s Bar, County Kerry, Ireland on 16^th March 1971, was going to lead to, but like tens of thousands of other beer aficionados all over the world, I’m mighty glad that you acted upon it, with the determination that you did.

Other beer writers and bloggers have all paid their own tribute to this amazing achievement and put their own spin on it. These include:

Pub Curmudgeon;  Tandleman;  Jeff Bell (Stonch);  Retired Martin;  Ed's Beer Site;  Matt - When my Feet go Through the Door).

I‘m sure there are others, so if I’ve missed anyone, and you’d like me to link to your site, do please get in touch.

Laying the groundwork - or speculate to accumulate

As hinted at in the previous post, I was planning a piece on CAMRA’s milestone, 50^th Birthday; a proper tribute if you wish, as despite no longer being a member, I still possess a large amount of affection for the campaign.

The trouble is I’ve written so much in the past about CAMRA that it’s hard to know where to start, as well as trying to avoid repeating myself. The other trouble is I’m cream-crackered, to use a bit of rhyming slang, so much so that it’s more common than not for me to fall asleep in front of my computer screen of an evening.

Yesterday, for example, I was woken by Mrs PBT’s coming up the stairs and found myself staring at several pages worth of the letter “k.” My finger had obviously been pressed on that particular key, when I dosed off!

With a significant milestone birthday less than a month away now, I ought to be winding down. To a certain extent I am, but at the moment it’s a case of speculate to accumulate, with my plan being to go part-time, and switch to a three-day week. This new pattern of working is scheduled to take effect from the end of September, which is when Mrs PBT’s also reaches the same milestone.

I outlined these plans a few months ago, even though I haven’t yet found the reference to them, but I’ve had them approved now by our board of directors and agreed them with the rest of my management colleagues. So, as well as guiding a busy department through a period of unprecedented demand for the company’s products, I’m heavily involved with the re-structuring that’s taking place in order to strengthen our management team and take us into the future.

Being a relatively small concern – less than 50 employees, we don’t have an HR department, although we have now outsourced this to an outside organisation. This means re-drafting job descriptions, whilst recruiting three new members of management. One of them will be my successor, so as I’ve invested a lot of time in both my team and the company, it’s important that I help choose the right person.

In the meantime, we’ve got the aftermath of an ISO re-certification audit to deal with, although that’s not too onerous, plus the problems caused by leaving the European Single Market and Customs Union. Now which bunch of numbskulls thought that would be a good idea? So, with all work and no play making Paul a very dull boy, it’s hardly surprising that I’m nodding off in front of my screen – but at least it’s at home, rather than at work!

It will be worth it in the end, I keep telling myself, and I’m sure it will, so apologies for the non-appearance of the 50^th anniversary tribute to CAMRA, as well as a rather more enlightening piece about campaigning during the early days of the group, and a campaign that backfired.

Before ending, there’s another task that’s been taking up my time, and taxing my mind, and that’s the job I have of winding up my recently deceased father’s estate.  Dad’ financial assets, whilst not above the threshold for income tax, still require a grant of probate before the banks will release them. So as joint executor of his will, this job falls to me.

You can apply for probate online, at the UK. Gov website, but there’s a complication as the other executor is the eldest of my two sisters, who just happens to live in the USA! Because of this, I decided to hand the process over to the firm of local solicitors that Mrs PBT’s and I have used from time to time – most recently to draw up our own wills.

The solicitor will sort everything out, including the issue caused by my non-domicile sister, but there are obvious costs involved. Solicitors always seem painfully slow, but it frees up my time, and along with the other beneficiaries, I will know that things have been done properly.

Finally, I don’t want this post to come across as a whine or one of “Woe is me.” I am merely laying the groundwork and preparing myself for better things to come. So, with things such as meeting up with friends, going to the pub or travelling to new places off the menu at present, I might as well use the time wisely. That way I can enjoy myself all the more when we are all released from our cages and can really start living again!

See you in the morning, as I’m off to bed now.  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz