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Pub Guide

Cock - Gamlingay

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Issue 142 Spring 2010

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HALF PINTS

The Molson Coors brewing museum in Burton on Trent, formerly the Bass Museum, has been saved after a campaign run by CAMRA, local councils and Burton’s Civic Society and Chamber of Commerce. Molson-Coors had closed the museum in 2008 as a cost-cutting measure to save £1 a year.

Minimum pricing for alcoholic drinks could be on the way. The Government’s Health Secretary is calling for a minimum price of 40-50p per alcohol unit to be a major part of the Labour election manifesto. This follows a report by a Health Select Committee of MPs that called for minimum pricing to tackle alcohol problems after finding prices in some supermarkets as low a 10p a unit. The report claimed that the move could save over 3000 lives every year. Minimum pricing is supported by CAMRA as a powerful means of supporting pubs and encourage sensible drinking as a social activity in a supervised environment as part of the pub’s role in providing valuable community services.

Meanwhile the Shadow Health Secretary has announced a plan to drop the alcohol units system. A future Conservative government would provide labelling of alcohol content in centilitres as they believe this would be less confusing. The current alcohol unit is actually equal to a centilitre of alcohol. The Tory plan would also provide calorie labelling for all alcoholic drinks.

A new use for pubs in South Cambridgeshire is ‘Pubs4Kids’, a new initiative in which participating pubs are used as youth clubs between 5.30pm and 8pm. Teenagers are allowed to use a dedicated room in the pubs where they can order soft drinks and snacks and use facilities such as pool tables and juke boxes. This is a new example of the multiple use of pub buildings to provide wider ranges of community facilities, including shops and post offices, which has been widely cited as a useful way of maintaining the viability of small rural pubs.

A bid to ban supermarkets from selling alcohol has been launched on the 10 Downing Street website by Gary Hunt, the owner of a chain of bars in northern England, who admits that a ban is unlikely but hopes that the petition will raise awareness of the problems caused by bulk sales of heavily discounted alcoholic drinks by the off trade.

A Scottish pub licensee is acting against local supermarkets by calling for licence reviews for three local premises licences. Jeff Ellis of the Bear Tavern in Newburgh, Fife, claims that discounting of alcohol products by the shops fails to protect and improve public health, which is an objective of the Scottish Licensing Act.

Darlington council has used the Sustainable Communities Act to propose changes in the law to support pubs by restricting irresponsible under-pricing of alcohol by supermarkets and banning restrictive covenants that allow pub owners to prevent the continued use of properties as pubs after sale.

A private member’s bill to help local communities save pubs and other local businesses has been laid before parliament. Leeds MP Greg Mulholland is tabling the bill, which calls for a change in planning law to prevent the loss of community amenities without public consultation.

Greene King has launched a free application for iPhone, providing a virtual brewing game and a map system to guide consumers to pubs that have been awarded the Greene King Head Brewer’s Club seal of approval for the quality of their cask beers.

Kent brewers Shepherd Neame have lowered the strength of their Spitfire real ale, the company’s leading brand, from an ABV of 4.5% to 4.2% in an effort to boost its nationwide appeal.

Thornbridge Brewery has launched a low alcohol cask ale named Pearl, a 3.3% ABV gold beer with a floral hop character from dry hopping with German Perle hops.

Manchester brewer Hydes has launched six new seasonal ales for 2010. The new range is named after circus themes. Heads and Tails (ABV 4.6%) is the first new brew, and every other month will see the launch of a new cask beer, with Over a Barrel (ABV 4.1%) to be the next brew in March.

Hook Norton Double Stout was the first of the Oxfordshire company’s ‘Brewers’ Selection’ range of eleven seasonal cask beers for 2011.

Aberdeen brewer Brew Dog is claiming to be brewing the world’s strongest beer. ‘Tactical Nuclear Penguin’ (TNP), at 32% ABV will be priced at £30 for a 500 ml bottle.

British Pie Week runs from 1-7 March and, as a promotion supporting a major staple of typical pub food menus, is likely to feature strongly in pubs. Jus-Rol Professional are staging the promotion, which will include a competition to find the best pub pie. www.britishpieweek.co.uk will carry information about the promotion, recipes and promotional material for pubs.