Inapub Magazine February 2019 Issue 84

Rebrewed from head to hop.

Introducing the New Carlsberg Danish Pilsner

NEW Brew NEW Taste NEW Glass Still iconically Danish.

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Rebrewed from head to hop.

Issue Issue 84 84 February February 2018 2019 ÂŁ4.95 ÂŁ4.95 trade.inapub.co.uk trade.inapub.co.uk

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NEW Brew NEW Taste NEW Glass Still iconically Danish.

Introducing the New Carlsberg Danish Pilsner

Stock New Carlsberg Danish Pilsner from March 1st. www.carlsberg-pilsner.co.uk 08457 820820

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Rebrewed from head to hop.

Introducing the New Carlsberg Danish Pilsner

NEW Brew NEW Taste NEW Glass Still iconically Danish.

inapub Inapub_Feb Inapub_Feb2018_Masthead.indd 2018_Masthead.indd 11

Rebrewed from head to hop.

Issue Issue 84 84 February February 2018 2019 ÂŁ4.95 ÂŁ4.95 trade.inapub.co.uk trade.inapub.co.uk

21/01/2019 21/01/2019 11:20 11:22

NEW Brew NEW Taste NEW Glass Still iconically Danish.

Introducing the New Carlsberg Danish Pilsner

Stock New Carlsberg Danish Pilsner from March 1st. www.carlsberg-pilsner.co.uk 08457 820820

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Issue 84 February 2019 ÂŁ4.95 trade.inapub.co.uk

Better off battered

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n some ways it’s been a gloomy start to 2019 – and we say that without reference to the “B” word you may be relieved to find this issue is free of any mention of it).

First, news from the Office for National Statistics revealed that more than 11,000 pubs have closed since 2008. Then, a report from property specialists Christies suggesting that a further 1,000 need to close over the next two years to make the pub industry sustainable.

But we always try to stay positive here at The Inapub Inn, so we are delighted to also bring you news that broke just as we went to press – there is at least one part of the pub sector that is doing well. Community-run pubs.

A study, by the Plunkett Foundation, showed that by the end of 2017 the community-owned pub sector had grown by 30 per cent with 14 new pubs opening during the year. It also revealed that not a single community-run pub closed its doors during that time.

Not one. No matter what else is going on in the world, that has to be something for the pub trade to be proud of.

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this month Indies’ Choice Awards • Fish & Chips

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drink Family cidermakers • Get your range right pt II

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eat Working with pop-ups • The perfect chip

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play Champions league • Music for the masses

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stay Top tips for hosting romantic breaks

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back-bar business Are you cleaning your lines properly?

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46 time at the bar Valentine’s pubs • Silence of the sea shanties

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Editor Robyn Black 07909 251 231 • robynb@inapub.co.uk Multimedia journalist James Evison 07884 868 365 • james@inapub.co.uk

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Contributors Matt Eley, Richard Molloy Production editor Ben Thrush 07810 620 169 • ben@inapub.co.uk

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Chief executive Barrie Poulter 07908 144 337 • barrie@inapub.co.uk

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Sales manager Katy Robinson 07884 868 364 • katy@inapub.co.uk

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We supply independent bars with specialist spirits direct from one of the leading British craft spirit innovators.

Order direct online using code INDEPENDENT for 20% off your first order

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POSTCARD from the pub frontline

There are many traditional sports played by the pub-goers of Britain. But the Haxey Hood, played in Lincolnshire on the 12th day of Christmas, is one of the most ancient. Since the 14th century, patrons of four local watering holes have locked horns in the attempt to push a “hood” (actually the trade.inapub.co.uk 2ft leather tube held by the nattily hatted gentleman in the foreground) back to their own pub.

Hundreds of players join an enormous scrum known as the “sway”, which takes down everything in its path, including walls and hedges. For a pub to claim victory, the hood needs to be touched by the landlord from his front step. The hood then hangs in the pub for the next year, with The Loco, The Kings Arms, and The Duke William all having two hooks behind the bar for this purpose, Sadly, this year’s event found three of the pubs closed, with only The Carpenters Arms able to participate. Undeterred, organisers changed the rules to make it a contest between the villages of Haxey and Westwoodside, with The

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Carpenters arms as one goal and Haxey’s ancient monument the Buttercross as the other.

We are pleased to report a victory for the pub, with The Carpenters’ Arms claiming the hood for the third time in four years. Landlady Karen Jarvis/told NOVEMBER DECEMBER The Grimsby Telegraph 2017 : “It was mad – absolutely manic. It’s always our busiest day of 5 the year. We never have time to go on and watch, there were nine of us behind the bar all day this year. When the Hood got back here, there was a massive celebration. It’s pretty overwhelming when everyone is in here and cheering.”

The Haxey Hood hit the headlines back in October when developers’ plans to demolish the Duke William were blocked by the council. The decision followed protests by hundreds of locals who argued knocking down the pub would endanger the future of the game.

Hats off to The Carpenters Arms for keeping the pub flag flying. Here’s hoping pubs will keep contesting the Haxey Hood for centuries to come.

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IN THE TRADE THIS MONTH ‘Sustainable’ number of pubs just 47,000 A further 1,000 pubs need to close for the industry to become sustainable, a new report from Christie & Co claims.

It estimates the sustainable number of pubs to be 47,000, which needs to be reached over the next two years. There was some good news, though — 2018 was a “turning point” for UK pubs, with more employed in the sector than ever and pubs’ value to the UK economy greater, the report says.

Drink-drive limit cut hits Scotland’s pubs Three-hundred-and-forty Scottish pubs have closed since the drink-drive limit changed in 2014, according to the Scottish Beer & Pub Association. It cited studies by the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde to show suburban and rural pubs were hard hit but road accidents had not fallen.

TOP STORIES ON TRADE.INAPUB.CO.UK Against a backdrop of closures, community locals are thriving Top 10 British pubs abroad £300,000 funds available to rural community pubs Can you sell cauliflower steaks for £28?

MPS and CAMRA urge business rate reform MPs from all parties came together with CAMRA to call for a reform of business rates as part of a parliamentary debate on the future of British pubs last month. The debate was secured by St Albans MP Anne Main, who said 30 of the 50 pubs in her constituency had seen a rate rise.

MyPub hosts virtual recruitment drive On March 27, MyPubGroup will hold a virtual recruitment event to allow licensees to generate interest in job vacancies without leaving their pubs. Managing director Helen Lees said: “We are acutely aware of the challenges our sector faces when it comes to applicants’ attendance at open days and identified it was time to provide a digital solution to an age-old problem.” Visit www.mypubgo.com for more info.

Help us do more with low-alcohol options, urges BBPA boss

Four Elms is Parliamentary Pub winner The Four Elms in Cardiff was chosen as the very first Parliamentary Pub of the Year last month. The competition was launched last summer by the chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Pub Group, Toby Perkins MP, as part of a drive to highlight the importance of pubs to communities and celebrate the great work community pubs do.

More than 100 pubs entered and 14 made the shortlist but The Four Elms beat them all to the gong as an “exceptional community pub that represents the important role pubs play within their locality”. It was voted the winner by industry guests at a reception in the House Of Commons, who were invited to watch videos made by all 14 shortlisted pubs and decide on the winner.

The pub was nominated by its local MP, Jo Stevens, who said: “I am really proud The Four Elms have received this top accolade. They represent everything that is best about Cardiff Central. They have a brilliant team in place with a host of loyal customers and are as equally welcoming to new visitors to the pub.”

You can check out trade.inapub.co.uk to see The Four Elms’ winning video.

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this month.inapub THE WAY I SEE IT CLAIRE SAUNDERS

TWEET ALL ABOUT IT

Rural pubs should make the most of grants available from The Prince’s Countryside Fund

Forget #DryJanuary, you lot were all over #TryJanuary last month and loads of you took to Twitter to tell us what you were doing to drive business in what is traditionally a tricky month.

The Prince’s Countryside Fund was set up in 2010 by HRH The Prince of Wales, and aims to sustain rural communities, improve the viability of rural businesses, and support emergency aid following natural disasters such as floods and animal disease.

Every year we give out more than £1m in funding. We award grants twice a year and projects in rural areas across the UK can apply for funding of up to £50,000, from a total of £300,000, this spring.

Applications are open now until February 21.

The 550 projects put forward to our Recharging Rural research last summer demonstrated the extraordinary breadth of ideas that communities use to build their resilience, many of which we can support.

Our grants help to support a diverse range of projects, such as village shops and pubs, training vouchers for young farmers, equipment for local abattoirs, overheads and staffing costs for farmerled networks and development schemes for rural businesses.

We are particularly keen to hear from projects in the north-east of England and from all parts of rural Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but all projects that meet our eligibility criteria will be considered.

To find out more about the scheme and apply, visit www.princescountrysidefund.org.uk/grants

A FREE game of Pool with each pint of draught beer only on a Sunday! Ask staff for token when purchasing your drink. #tryjanuary #longlivethelocal @WoodmanInnDH1 We promote #TryJanuary, encouraging customers to support their local pub in the quietest month of the year by trying new food & drink instead of #DryJanuary which can have a devastating effect on independently run pubs. A pub is for life, not just for Christmas! @SandridgeRose Try something new this year join us at the PA on Mondays for life drawing lessons. #tryjanuary @PrinceAlbertSW Join us this afternoon for a delicious Sunday Lunch. We have plenty on offer including our amazing premium options, plus we still have 30% off all of our Cask Ales #HeadToTheHeath #tryjanuary @HeathPubCardiff Our motto this month is #TryJanuary why not come down to the #wagonhorse and try a gin you haven’t before. Maybe Saddlers Peaky Blinders. (Spiced Dry Gin) served with fresh ginger and orange with Fentimans premium Indian tonic. @wagonhorsesLA1

Claire Saunders is the director of The Prince’s Countryside Fund

£445,537 Average sale price for a freehouse pub Fleurets Survey of Pub Prices

Find us online every month at trade.inapub.co.uk

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Aryzta Chocolate & Caramel Tartelette

They say you can’t put a price on love but with Kantar figures suggesting that Valentine’s is worth an estimated £43m to pub operators, we suggest you try. And nothing says February 14 quite like a chocolate dessert, after all. So try tempting the love birds into your gaff with this all-butter tart with layers of almond frangipane and salted caramel, finished with chocolate mousse. www.aryztafoodsolutions.co.uk or 0844 499 3311

Hedgepig gin liqueur

Did you know the UK has lost half of its hedgehog population since the year 2000? Help do something about it with this fruity liqueur from Pinkster Gin owner Ginmeister. Glorious Gooseberry and Cambridge Gage flavours join the range, and 50p from the sale of each bottle is donated to the British Hedgehog Preservation Society orders@pinkstergin.com

Stuff

What’s new in the pub this month

Monin Sugar Free syrup

Meet the new guilt-free, sugar-free treat on the street. This sweetener syrup can be used in everything from coffee to cocktails and the company says it has no aftertaste, is suitable for vegans and is allergen free. Sweet. www.monin.com

Thatchers Rosé

“Pink isn’t just a colour, it’s an attitude too,” said Miley Cyrus. Thatchers Rosé is a “new and exciting cider that gives customers just what they’re asking for,” says Thatchers.

And we have to agree this sweet, four per cent ABV cider looks pretty in pink in the glass. Now available in 500ml bottles following its introduction in canned format at the end of last year.

07967 047464

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this month.

Sun Valley spicy nuts

“The words ‘kick’ and ‘nuts’ should rarely be used together, but for this new fiery combination, they’re the perfect pairing”, says Sun Valley of this new tabasco-infused offering.

Certainly, if you’re looking for ways to make your punters’ eyes water, these are one of the better options.

0151 482700

Caleño

“I want to show people that you can have fun without drinking,” says the creator of this non-alcoholic spirit, Ellie Webb.

Having grown up in South America, she says she has taken inspiration from Colombian culture to launch this juniper, citrus and Inca berry-infused drink. ellie@calenodrinks.com

Country Range bacon & cheese Turnover

Could this be the turnover to help increase your turnover? Don’t be put off by the serving suggestion pictured here (regular readers of our Plate or Slate? feature will imagine the collective gasp of horror from the trade). The delicate puff pastry oozing with a gooey thick-cut bacon and mature cheddar filling offers a hand-held snack ready in 30 minutes. Just stick it on a plate. www.countryrange.co.uk

Fishless fillets

When is a fish not a fish? When it’s a battered or breaded fishless fillet made from Quorn. Claiming to replicate the flaky texture of fish, these vegan products come with salt & vinegar and lemon pepper coatings and will be backed with Fishless TV advertising. What’s the catch? There’s no catch.

0345 602 9000

Games Of Thrones Whiskies

Winter is coming – April 14 for the new series – and, for those of us who can’t wait, Diageo has launched a limited-edition range of GoT whiskies. There are eight whiskies, one for each of the eight seasons and each is paired with one of the Houses of Westeros, as well as the Night’s Watch. Perfect for when the night is dark and full of terrors…

Pre-order from www. amazon.co.uk for delivery on February 19

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INDIES’ CHOICE AWARDS 2019 Every year we ask hundreds of pub-goers what their favourite brands are but this year we wondered which were your favourites - what products can you not be without? Which suppliers add the most value to your business? What bits of kit make your life easier?

So, we ran a survey to find out. Hundreds of you replied, we crunched the numbers and can now reveal the winners of our inaugural Indies’ Choice Awards.� Bestselling Ale Brand

Bestselling Cider Brand

It was way back in 2014 when this first became the nation’s number-one-selling cask ale and since then the brand has remained a pub favourite, as this award shows. Never ones to rest on their laurels though, the brewing team back at Sharp’s have recently launched a Doom Bar Extra Chilled to fill the gap in market for colder ales. Cool.

In the clash of the cider brands (and it was a close vote) it is Heineken’s flagship cider that emerges triumphant from the battlefield this year. The brand may well be over 50 years old now but it’s showing no signs of age. with some hugely successful launches under its wing, including Strongbow Dark Fruit that has become one of the all-conquering heroes of the cider category.

Doom Bar

Bestselling Lager Brand Carling

It’s the UK’s number one lager by volume and now, as the winner of this vote, it’s the independent pub trade’s number one lager as well. To paraphrase the brand’s famous slogan, it seems we’re all drinking Carling Black Label.

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Strongbow

Bestselling Wine Brand Jack Rabbit

The Accolade-owned on-trade-exclusive brand has emerged as the best of the wine brands for independent pubs. Perhaps it is down to its Bunny Points reward programme; or the easy drinking range of wines, or the fact this is one of the few wines available on draught.

Whatever it is, you love it.

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Bestselling Spirit Brand

Bestselling Soft Drink Brand

Gin might be in but vodka remains the UK’s most popular spirit – particularly in cocktails, where it is used in 59 per cent as the base spirit (CGA Mixed Drinks Report 2018).

It’s no wonder a vodka got your vote, then.

Despite the plethora of new soft drink brands hitting the market recently, this vote proves the classic big brands still more than justify their space in the bar, as you voted this as the soft drink your pubs can’t be without.

Smirnoff

Bestselling Shot Brand Jägermeister

This German herbal liqueur is making moves on the cocktail market with a range of serves and the launch of its first cocktail competition, Meister Hunter, launched last year. As this award proves however, it also remains overwhelmingly popular as a shot for punters on a big night out.

Bestselling RTD Brand

Coca-Cola

Preferred Tea Brand

Yorkshire Tea

It must be time for a par-tea at Yorkshire Tea HQ, as the brand wins double gold this year – it emerged triumphant in our People’s Choice Awards, as the People’s Favourite Tea, as well as getting the licensee vote here as the best tea for pubs. The company claims to taste around 1,000 teas a day from all over the world, in order to make its brew the best in Britain. As these awards prove, the hard work is paying off.

WKD

Alcopops remain big business for the pub trade, particularly those catering for Generation Z. WKD has now been around for decades but a repackage and new variants, including the cocktail- inspired MXD and low-calorie NKD ranges, ensure it remains a pub-trade favourite.

Preferred Coffee Brand Nescafé

Who are you in the morning? Asked this brand’s TV ad campaign last summer.

Based on customer research the campaign identified six different morning personality types, from the “AM athlete” to the “early hours snoozer”. None of the six however, was identified as “pub breakfast-eater”, which is surprising given that it got voted your coffee brand of choice.

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Preferred Kitchen Equipment Supplier Nisbets

From compostable cups to conveyor ovens and cold rooms, Inapub readers prefer to get it all from Nisbets it seems, as the overwhelming majority of you gave it the thumbs-up in this vote.

Preferred Waste Management Supplier Biffa

Preferred Wholesaler Booker Wholesale

We’re pretty sure Booker needs no introduction but did you know it was established in 1835 as a shipping line? Or that it was previously a sponsor of literary award The Booker Prize? Or that it is the UK’s leading food wholesaler? Well yes, probably you did know that last one.

The numbers speak for themselves really: 2.1m tonnes of waste collected every year; 250,000 bin collections a week, and 75,000 business customers across the UK. No wonder Biffa got by far the highest number of your votes in this category too.

Preferred Training Supplier CPL Training

Clearly many Inapub readers are among the 30,000 people that undertake a CPL course every year, as you’ve voted this company as your preferred training supplier. Courses are a mix of face-to-face and online and cover everything from the Essentials of Pub Management, to Marketing & Merchandising, to First Aid at Work.

Preferred Payment Service Supplier Worldpay

Worldpay UK claims to process over 10,000 transactions per minute. It is used by 300,000 small British businesses – including more than 9,000 pubs, among which are many of you lot, it would seem, who gave it your vote for the best in the business for payment processing.

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Preferred Financial Provider Lloyds

Several old high street branches of Lloyds have since become pubs but the bank helps boost the industry in other ways too, it seems, as it got your seal of approval for its commercial products and services.

Preferred Hygiene Products Supplier Booker

It’s Booker again – taking a second gong (see “preferred wholesaler”) this time for hygiene. We all know how important that is to business, so it’s one to be particularly proud of down at Booker HQ.

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FAMOUS FOR

A FISH & CHIP SHACK

James Evison visits a pub that takes the classic dish seriously

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Making the perfect chip is really not that easy, and it is something that often goes wrong

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Buying a local boozer where you grew up is a dream for many in the licensed trade, but two Shepperton lads did exactly that in the summer of 2014. Their plan was to turn it into a quality food-led pub without gastropub pretension – and sell the best fish & chips in the country.

James Thomson, a classically trained chef, and Steve Orme, a former electrician, were childhood friends who got into the hospitality trade together through their restaurant Fish Club in London’s Clapham.

But after they both had children, they decided to move out of the Big Smoke, back to their hometown of Shepperton, Surrey.

When the Red Lion by the riverfront came up for sale, they bought it, and ploughed £500,000 into a refurb with pubco Star Pubs and Bars.

“We wanted to put the pub back into gastropub”, Steve explains. “It would still be a pub, but one which just happened to be doing great food”.

With their background at Fish Club, it was a no brainer that fish & chips would be a major part of the pub’s offer. But this wasn’t a simple case of whacking haddock on the Friday menu. Instead, they developed the Fish Shack – a small, white painted shack, designed like a beach hut, and placed in the pub car park to sell takeaways.

To say that it has been a success is an understatement. Last year it made the pub more than £50,000 on a 70 per cent profit margin. They sell 100 dishes a night during busy weekends and it has won awards and many plaudits.

“We put music on, put green matting down with a pub bench, and people come flocking for freshly prepared fish & chips,”

Steve says. For James and Steve, quality and freshness is everything. Nothing is pre-made, not even the tartare sauce, where mini capers and special secret ingredients are put together – and every dish is done to order.

Despite “tracing the fish all the way back to the boat,” as Steve explains, the real star of the show is the humble chip, which both publicans are extremely passionate about.

Steve says: “Making the perfect chip is really not that easy, and it is something that often goes wrong.”

James nods enthusiastically, and states that the quality and supply of the potatoes is crucial to success for cooking – and how it is prepared.

Potato perfection

“Buy potatoes covered in mud rather than pre-washed,” he says. “Go straight to the farms too, as this is the most cost-effective way of buying them.”

Once you have the dirty potatoes, preparation includes many different, precise processes to ensure the perfect chip, James says (see p34 for how The Red Lion team prep and cook their chips).

James and Steve are also firm believers in respecting the seasonality of potatoes – and how the potato behaves when it is blanched and cooked. Indeed, James says that at different times of the year just 90 seconds more or less cooking time can totally transform the potato.

“The perfect time for chips, in terms of seasonality and the mix of sugar and starch, is January or February,” James says. “But speak to the farms – they will tell you how the potatoes are doing.”

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The painstaking preparation of the fish is similar to the chips. James makes the batter freshly, 24 hours before use, and says it requires “serious care and attention”.

James says: “It’s important to give it 24 hours, and use a low-alcohol beer – lager preferably, not ale – as well as yeast, and flour. Let the yeast do its thing – like bread – and it will rise, and give you the light batter that you want.”

“And don’t add milk!” Steve interjects, laughing.

The Red Lion has also started working with food delivery firm Deliveroo. So how is that working out for them?

“We have a reduced menu that is easy to deliver and also can switch the service on and off, depending how busy the pub is,” Steve explains. “We haven’t had too many issues yet – there have been a couple of times Deliveroo drivers have been taken off, and we’ve been refunded straight away. But it is still early days.”

Outside of the food and drink offer, Steve and James are also eager for The Red Lion to be an important part of the community.

On the day that I interview them, they have to get away to hide one of their “12 days of Christmas” gifts around the village. The gifts include items such as dinner for two and bottle of Champagne at the pub, which they promote on social media.

“It’s been great,” Steve says, “we went online the other day and saw more than 30 people were running around the village trying to find the prize! It’s a great way of showing us as part of the community.”

And with that, they are out of the door and into the cold fresh morning air, joking and laughing as two old friends always do.

The Red Lion, Shepperton, Surrey ‘The riviera on the Thames’ As part of the refurbishment, Steve and James with Star invested in an adjacent area of land to expand its outdoor space.

The end result was a ‘St Tropez’ style Champagne deck and riverside dock, which cost £160k to create in 2016. It took two years of planning with the River Authority and council to sign it off, and includes a 20-metre jetty for mooring and a large wooden deck.

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29/01/2019 02:22

RICHARD MOLLOY If charity begins at home, then its first port of call is the pub.

It’s a constant feature of the pub landscape; a collection box here, a poster for an event there; a raffle to raise money for an operation to rid a local of his excess skin after losing all that weight (true story).

Pubs are renowned for raising money for worthy causes and punters regularly dig deep, often subconsciously, without any self-congratulation or expectation of praise. Bands and DJs will generally give up their time and talent for free, punters will flock to the pub to join in and feel part of something; they will dress up and dance; they’ll play games, sing and heckle; they will go to that place of drunken, uninhibited, raucous bawdiness usually reserved for New Year’s Eve or the staff Christmas party.

This can be a win-win-win situation: a worthy cause benefits, the publican benefits, and the customer benefits through the beauty of giving, the solemnity of charity, and the joy of drinking a yard of ale and spewing up in a tin bath. Nearly every pub will have an event or two like this every year, as well as charity boxes on the bar, raffles and sponsored wossnames.

I found myself musing over all this recently: I was in a pub having a pint after reviewing our figures for October and gazing at a collection box for Macmillan Cancer, a wonderful charity that helps those going through the hell that suffering with cancer can be.

I stared at it for a while and thought: “you hypocritical fuckers!”

October wasn’t a great month for us. It hasn’t been for a few years now because of a campaign called Go Sober For October, a bit of social media marketing thought up by some bright spark on the payroll at Macmillan that sends people on a guilt trip to boredom and sobriety in the name of charity.

The idea is to give up alcohol and feel all the benefits that those interesting and funloving teetotallers feel all year round and give some of the money you save by becoming

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Go Sober for October was thought up by Macmillan – the same Macmillan that has collection boxes on bars Richard Molloy is director of four-strong pubco White Rose Taverns and the microbrewery Platform Five. Read more of his work on trade.inapub.co.uk

a sanctimonial bore for four weeks to Macmillan. The same Macmillan that has collection boxes on bars up and down the country. That raises money by, amongst other things, encouraging people to eat chocolate brownies and lemon meringue pies, conveniently forgetting that one in 20 cancer cases is caused by obesity. The only thing they could promote that would be more harmful would be a Benson & Hedges smoking competition in the desert without sunblock.

Currently Macmillan has a successful partnership with Greene King. I wonder if the powers that be at Greene King have ever thought about contacting their counterparts at Macmillan and saying something like “Erm. Hello. That Sober for October thing you do… er, well it’s very poor for business so we’re considering teaming up with another equally worthy charity that doesn’t screw us over once a year and make us look like the purveyors of death and misery.”

And of course there’s also Dry January.

So now I’m wondering what’s next, how many guilt-free drinking months there will be and envisaging a dystopian future where people are only allowed to drink for one month of the year and for that four weeks the whole country goes fucking bonkers – rivers of vomit and urine, pop-up kebab shops, bus-shelters collapsing under the weight of comically placed traffic cones, and maternity wards being stretched to breaking point nine months later.

Until then I’ll keep hoping that the general public and mainstream media acknowledge the value of community pubs then maybe charities will turn their attentions to the burger bars and pizza chains when they choose a scapegoat for the illnesses of society.

And I’ll keep refusing to put a Macmillan Cancer Support collection box on my bar.

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29/01/2019 03:44

drink I am writing this at the end of January, a month that has seen my inbox fill up with emails on the subject of two things: the first is Brexit, of course (no matter how spurious the connection); the second is trend predictions — oh, how PR loves a trend report.

Low- and no-alcohol drinks cropped up in almost every report and I have no doubt this will be big news, as regular readers of Inapub will already know.

Then there are flavoured gins.

They proved their popularity in 2018 — hello, Gordon’s Premium Pink Distilled Gin — and will no doubt continue to fuel the gin boom this year. And there are flavoured tonics, too — currently a missed opportunity in pubs and bars, according to most industry watchers, who have noticed that, while people are embracing these to drink at home, they are not that readily available in pubs and bars.

These trends are addressed on p22-26 in our feature looking at small tweaks you can make to bring your drinks range

with ROBYN BLACK

bang up to date. But what about those of you open to making more radical changes to get ahead of the curve?

To save you wading through everything the world’s Mystic Megs have to say, I will summarise here the most common themes.

It was highlighted almost everywhere, for example, that kombucha will become a relatively common soft drink and mixer; aquafaba (chickpea water) will become standard in cocktails and sweet and savoury flavours will be combined in a new generation of “swavoury” drinks.

Kitchen leftovers will become more commonly used in drinks, as environmental issues come to the forefront, and finally cannabis: as legalisation spreads across the US, several big drinks companies are readying cannabis-based drinks to make the most of what is already a $35.6m cannabis beverage market. It can only be a matter of time before the movement hits our shores. That might make next January’s influx of emails seem more entertaining at least.

Several big drinks companies are readying cannabisbased drinks to make the most of what is already a $35.6m market

COMMERCIAL BREAKDOWN MAGNERS • Cheltenham Gold Cup Five lucky people will win a VIP trip to the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup this year, as part of a wider on-trade promotion to celebrate the cider’s first year of sponsoring the famous jump-racing event.

KROMBACHER • #Pourfection 2019 The German beer has launched its annual competition to teach barstaff and drinkers about the importance of perfectly poured lager. Entrants need to share a video of themselves pouring a Krombacher on social media to try to win a trip to the brewery.

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HEINEKEN • Geo-targeting Heineken will invest £1m in “datadriven marketing” campaigns, using postcode-based targeting this year. The move follows a successful pilot last June across 1,325 pubs, which resulted in an extra 125,000 pints being sold in six weeks.

trade.inapub.co.uk 28/01/2019 02:15

Henry Honey Lager

Belhaven 1719

This 6.6 per cent ABV lager is brewed with specially imported honey from a farm in South Moravia. Made by London-based craft brewer the Bohem Brewery, it has previously been available only in keg but is now making the move into cans as well, as it has proved so popular. www.bohembrewery.com

Greene King’s Belhaven brewery celebrates its 300th birthday this year and has launched a new beer to mark the occasion.

Described as a “perfectly modern session pale ale”, the beer is triple-hopped with Centennial (for the triple centenary) to produce a clean, bright, 4.5 per cent ABV ale. www.belhaven.co.uk

Look out for...

Peroni Libera 0.0%

The Italian lager has joined the alcohol-free crowd by rolling out this zero-proof version across the on- and off-trades this month, following its launch in Tesco at the beginning of January. The brewers have used a dedicated yeast strain and a “special decoction” method to ensure the beer is as crisp and fresh as the original.

01483 718 118

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Nohrlund cocktails

Made with fresh, organic ingredients that are cold-pressed to maximise flavour, this six-strong range of pre-mixed cocktails has already been a huge hit in the Nordics and is now being launched in the UK. Available in bottles or 30-litre kegs. sales.ontrade.uk@royalunibrew.com

Colanna Bartender Series

Tapping into the craze for coffee cocktails? Take a look at this range of coffee capsules created specifically for bartenders. Three single-origin coffees are available in the range, which was the result of a partnership between the coffee company and mixologists. All the capsules are compatible with Nespresso and recyclable. www.colonnacoffee.com

On the bar Bobby Basran The Leaping Wolf Wolverhampton

We took over the pub a few months ago and, after a £450,000 investment by Punch, just re-opened it at the beginning of the year.

We’re right opposite the Molineux football stadium, so sport is important here. We’ve got Wolves memorabilia on display, as well as four TV screens throughout the pub, but we want it to be a pub for the whole community, not just footie fans.

There’s also a halls of residence nearby, so our offering is very studentoriented, but that’s quite premium these days.

Amstel is one of our bigger-selling beers, for example, and we also do proper gin & tonics in a nice balloon glass with a top gin, a premium tonic and a good garnish. We sell lots of those.

Cocktails are also very popular, particularly the Woo Woo and the Sex on the Beach. We do two cocktails for £7 and we have just introduced a food offer at £3 a dish – burgers, chips, sandwiches, soups and the like.

This isn’t a wealthy area of Wolverhampton, so we need to make it good value.

28/01/2019 02:15

Find your range

by ROBYN BLACK

This year’s Cask Report showed that ale sales have fallen sharply – down 6.8 per cent in volume

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pt.II

This is the second part of our feature on perfecting your pub’s drinks range (check out last month’s issue for part one). It’s a feature that came about because we realised that while drinkers are becoming more daring than ever, not all pubs are demonstrating the same sense of adventure with their drinks ranges and are missing out on sales as a result.

There’s certainly plenty of innovation in drinks these days but which new products should you find space for, and which old friends need to get the chop? We’ve

crunched the data and asked the experts in order to find out. This month we take a deep dive into cask ale, dark spirits, soft drinks and tonics.

28/01/2019 02:16

Cask ale

“

There is a swathe of craft beer drinkers who can relate to the values of authenticity and local community trade.inapub.co.uk

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This year’s Cask Report showed that ale sales have fallen sharply – down 6.8 per cent in volume.

“It is certainly a challenging time for cask ale in the UK at the moment but, whilst the category as a whole has seen decline there are some growth areas,” says Louise Fleming, head of consumer marketing at Marston’s Beer Company.

Golden ale and IPAs, for example, and Marston’s is also “anticipating further innovation in things like serving temperature, with chilled cask to appeal to those drinkers looking for more refreshment particularly in the warmer months,” explains Louise.

The temperature question was in fact one of the key issues highlighted by the Cask Report, which found that 69 per cent of pubs were serving cask above 13˚C (the recommended serving guideline is between 11-13˚C).

As if this weren’t bad enough, consumer research for the report discovered that 64 per cent of those surveyed wanted cask served cooler than 11˚C. It was not so surprising then, when Sharp’s announced it was trialling a colder version of its Doom Bar brew, serving it at 8˚C. James Nicholls, senior brand manager at Sharp’s, said that Doom Bar Extra Chilled was, “an exciting opportunity for us to respond to changing consumer trends.”

Other breweries are looking for growth via the preference for local food and drink, the Hogs Back Brewery in Surrey being one.

It is investing £700,000 on tripling the size of its hop garden and building a new hop drying kiln – the first traditional style kiln to be built in over 100 years.

“Hogs Back is one of a growing number of ‘farm brewers’ in the UK; brewers who have been founded on a rural, farming heritage that gives them a deep understanding of the ingredients used in

brewing,” said the brewery’s managing director, Rupert Thompson. “We believe there is a swathe of craft beer drinkers who relate to our values of authenticity and local community.”

All this dynamism will come to naught, however, if the ongoing calls for better cellar management to improve the quality of cask ale, and other kinds of beers, go unheeded (check out our feature on line cleaning on p44-45).

Dark spirits

Just over 20 per cent of spirit sales in pubs are whisky-based, according to CGA data, even though many pub-goers see dark spirits and, in particular whisky, as a challenging drink.

It makes sense then, that the spirits driving these sales tend to be the more accessible brands and serves.

This is borne out by the boom in imported whiskies, generally considered to be more approachable, with 12 per cent and 13 per cent of cocktail drinkers enjoying American and Irish whiskey-based drinks respectively, in pub and bars these days. There is also emerging interest in whiskies from countries such as Japan and Canada, CGA data shows, with volumes in the on-trade up 3.4 per cent compared with four years ago.

Where the more traditional Scotch whisky is

FEBRUARY 2019

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“

With a lot of licensees’ attention focused on flavoured gins, many are not maximising the potential that flavoured tonics can offer

The shift to low- and no-alcohol drinks is benefiting more exotic mixers, which can also be served straight-up

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Fever -Tree has developed a full range of mixers specifically for dark spirits

growing is in the cocktail market, according to Diageo.

“The best bars in the world have always been unafraid to feature single malts on their cocktail lists, with more bars appreciating the diversity of taste, texture and flavour that single malts can offer, realising they can be very versatile too,” comments Sarah McCarthy, Diageo’s head of on-trade category development.

Tequila is also benefiting from the cocktail boom, with perceptions gradually shifting away from it being a drink for shots only, as Dan Boulton, MD of Hi-Spirits points out.

“Along with premium tequila cocktail serve ideas, we’re offering information about the heritage of premium tequila and the terroir of agave, tapping into that artisan spirits trend,” he says.

“Remember that the on-trade is all about enjoyment, so focus on appealing serves and mixability for dark spirits rather than being over-reverent.”

Mixers

While the gin renaissance began the shift to more premium tonics, the mixer market now has much more to offer than a straight Indian Tonic Water to pair with your posh gin.

Brands such as Coca-Cola’s Schweppes, with its Salty Lemon Tonic (great with tequila) and Muscovado (for rum and whisky variants under the new Schweppes 1783 range) and Fever-Tree with its Spiced Orange Ginger Ale and Smoky Ginger Ale are now looking to dark spirits.

“Dark spirit sales globally account for 10 times as much as gin, and we are the first company to develop a full range of mixers specifically designed to address this,” says Fever-Tree’s on-trade marketing manager, Fergus Franks.

The shift to low- and noalcohol drinks is also benefiting the category, as more exotic mixers can be served straight up with a decent garnish or with lower abv drinks, such as vermouth, to offer this crowd

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29/01/2019 01:07

“

40 per cent of under-35s are alternating between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks on a night out

something tempting. These include the new flavoured tonics, which are also maintaining interest in the gin category – although this is an opportunity on which many licensees are currently missing out.

“With a lot of licensees’ attention focused on flavoured gins, many are not maximising the potential that flavoured tonics can offer,” explains Franklin & Sons’ Jen Draper.

“People are looking to experiment and try something new, and flavoured tonics can help consumers discover new flavour pairings, whilst also elevating a normal spirit and tonic serve.”

This versatility is a boon for those short on bar and fridge space, Jen points out: “Having a versatile range that can complement a whole host of spirits saves on space. Therefore, they can transform the back bar of licensees who are limited on gin choices.”

Soft drinks

These are interesting times for soft drinks manufacturers – the war on sugar, the soft drinks levy, growing environmental and sustainability issues – but manufacturers remain positive.

“It feels to me like the industry has really got ahead of the game,” says Russell Goldman, commercial director, foodservice and licensed at Britvic, who still sees “significant headroom” for soft drinks to grow. “The trend towards alcohol moderation presents the perfect opportunity for soft drinks to offer new interesting flavours and serves that enhance the occasion, capturing potential lost alcohol serves,” he says.

Over at the Global Brands-owned Franklin & Sons brand, the outlook is just as positive.

In fact, research undertaken for Franklin & Sons found that 50 per cent of under 35s said they would be likely to order a nonalcoholic drink on a night out; 32 per cent said they would start with a non-alcoholic drink before moving on to alcohol, and 40 per cent are alternating between alcoholic

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and non-alcoholic drinks on a night out.

“This gives rise to lots of opportunity for licensees that are doing soft drinks right,” says marketing director Jen Draper. And with 46 per cent of under-35s reporting they would order a mocktail on a night out, mocktails is one of the opportunities Jen and her team are looking at.

Likewise, Amy Burgess, senior trade communication manager at Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP), is urging licensees to get on board with mocktails.

“Mocktails are becoming an increasingly popular non-alcoholic option as people look for a more indulgent soft drink, creating an opportunity to increase soft drink sales,” she says.

“Instagrammable” drinks are another opportunity for this category, she adds: “From creating colourful mocktails and cocktails with unique garnishes to putting thought into selecting crockery and cutlery for their venue, consistent attention to detail is key to helping operators maximise the Instagram trend.”

Vimto Out of Home developed its Starslush line of frozen soft drinks (pictured), specifically to tap into this trend. Check out its Unicorn variant – “a pink, glittery and watermelonflavoured sensation, that taps into the trend that’s seeing watermelon-based drinks sales growing by 3.6 per cent,” explains senior customer marketing manager, Ed Jones.

“Visually impactful” and “appealing” are also big buzzwords for the team looking after posh cordial brand Bottle Green at SHS Drinks. There, Mark Edge, head of soft drinks, is urging licensees to create drinks that have a sense of specialness about them – and again points to the power of mocktails. “Mocktails are a great win-win scenario for both licensees and pub-goers,” he says. “They are no longer relevant to just clubs and bars; they are something that most pubs should be offering nowadays.

Individually prepared drinks need not always include alcohol!”

trade.inapub.co.uk 29/01/2019 01:23

Discover the UK’s number * one elderflower brand

/bottlegreen

www.bottlegreendrinks.com *Source: Nielsen Total UK, Total Elderflower WE 08.09.18

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29/01/2019 01:10

Cider’s

by ROBYN BLACK

frontier families

Is cider about to undergo a craft revolution in the same way beer has done? Ciderologist Gabe Cook certainly thinks so: if he’s right, it’s many of the family-owned cider companies that are driving this shift. From the household names such as Westons and Thatchers, to the smaller players such as Healeys While some family-owned cider companies and Nightingales.

Sheppy’s Cider, Taunton, Somerset

It was back in 1816 when John Shepson changed his name and started making cider. More than 200 years and six generations later and David Sheppy is now the custodian of the family name and cidermaking skills.

Interesting fact All Sheppy’s ciders are made with wild yeast and fresh apple juice – never from concentrate.

One to try: Sheppy’s Classic Draught Cider, of course! A light, crisp, refreshing real cider made from a blend of traditional cider and dessert apples .

The Nightingale Cider Co Tenterden, Kent

The Nightingale family has been fruit farming in Kent for more than 70 years, but it wasn’t until after the Millennium that Sam and Tim Nightingale began making and selling cider – initially as a hobby.

Interesting fact All the Nightingale’s ciders and perries are made from local fruit varieties, grown and hand-picked on the family farm.

One to try Tenterden Cider, a wild fermented 5.5 per cent ABV still cider made with minimal intervention and matured for a minimum of six months.

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have recently moved into corporate ownership (Aston Manor and Aspall Cider have been snapped up by the Agrial Group and Molson Coors respectively), Gabe believes that it’s those remaining under family control that are injecting much of the innovation and passion into the category.

“The further down the scale you go, in terms of the size of the company, the more family-owned operations there are and their point of difference is that they are pushing boundaries with cider,” says Gabe. “The smaller family operators are being very brave and are experimenting, for example, with single varietal ciders, making them much like a natural wine, using methode Champagnoise and putting cider into 750ml sharing bottles.”

For any industry, family-owned companies are important. As Gabe points out: “Familyrun companies not only uphold traditions and culture, they are also a balance against the more corporate businesses.”

With that in mind, we’ve decided to shine a light on just a handful of our fantastic family-owned cider companies to celebrate all they bring to the UK cider category.

There’s a few familiar names in there and, hopefully, one or two that will be new to you.

We only wish we had the space to highlight more of them.

trade.inapub.co.uk 29/01/2019 01:30

drink.

Thatchers Cider

H.Weston & Sons

Sandford, Somerset

Martin Thatcher’s great-grandfather William founded the business in 1904 – he originally made cider not to sell but to give to farm workers as part of their wages, as was common at the time. His son Stan followed him, and his son John came after that. John’s son, the aforementioned Martin, now runs the company.

Interesting fact Eleanor Thatcher, Martin’s daughter, is working on the farm as part of the cidermaking team during her gap year.

One to try Thatchers Gold, the number two draught apple cider brand by volume in the UK. Thatchers Haze (launched in 2015) has now also become a top 10 draught cider, posting a 52 per cent volume growth year on year (CGA to 14 July 2018).

Healeys Cornish Cyder Farm Truro, Cornwall

Husband and wife team Kay and David Healey set up the company back in 1986 and it remains very much a family affair today, with their sons Joe and Sam now directors. Their wives work in the business and granny Joy Healey gets involved with the family’s fruit jams.

Interesting fact Kay and David also built Cornwall’s first distillery in 300 years on their farm.

One to try Rattler, the brand most synonymous with Healeys.

It’s available as the six per cent ABV original cloudy version, as well as four flavours of four per cent ABV cider, including Mulled and Strawberry & Lime.

Brothers Drinks Co. Shepton Mallet, Somerset

The Showering family began making perry back in 1658, though the Somerset-cidery didn’t take on its current form and branding until 1994, when the brothers Francis, Jonathan, Matthew and Daniel Showering, stared making cider to sell at Glastonbury Festival.

Interesting fact The brothers, who still work in the business alongside several of their children, were offered space at Glastonbury for a bar by their friend Michael Eavis near the Jazz World Stage.

One to try Toffee Apple is the company’s biggest-selling flavour and does particularly well around Halloween. For the warmer months, the Brothers Rhubarb & Custard cider is perfect over ice or in a Rhubarb & Gin fizz.

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Much Marcle, Herefordshire

Commonly known as Westons. The fourth generation of the founding family, Helen Thomas, is managing director, alongside her fellow fourth gen-ers Tim Weston (director) and Henry Weston (director & orchard manager). Cider-maker Guy Lawrence is the only fifth generation member of the family to be involved so far.

Interesting fact Westons opened a cider house in Harrow Road in London in the 1930s that sold only Westons products.

One to try Stowford Press (currently the number four cider in the on-trade).

Turners Cider Marden, Kent

This family business makes a range of ciders based on the “Eastern counties” style of cider. That means no cider apples only dessert and culinary apples are allowed, including varieties such as Cox, Worcester, Bramley and Russet.

Interesting fact All the apples used are grown in and around the village of Marden where the family is based.

One to try Elderflower cider. This “still, fruity, floral” cider won Best Kent Cider in the Taste of Kent awards this year and a silver medal at the British Cider Championships in 2017.

Kentish Pip Cider Bekesbourne, Kent

The Mount family have been growing apples at Woolton farm, near Canterbury for four generations but insist their ciders are “not bound by tradition.”

Interesting fact Mark Mount began making cider as a hobby in the garage but went commercial in 2012. His son Sam joined in 2014 and now runs the cider business with cidermaker Ed Curry.

One to try Skylark, described as a “next generation sparkling cider.”

29/01/2019 01:30

eat

January was a great time to try out new healthy menu choices — but do punters really want pubs to chuck out the burgers and bring on the butternut squash?

Perhaps a good place to start this discussion is Greggs breaking the internet with its vegan sausage roll. Inevitably, Piers Morgan got in a bit of a tizzy about it, calling the food chain “PC-ravaged clowns”. Then McDonald’s launched a vegan version of a Happy Meal. Inevitably, Piers Morgan got upset about that too.

Welcome to the divisive world of veganism — and one of its biggest drivers: Veganuary.

The rising popularity of Veganuary has elevated the vegan food trend both in the short and long term. Launched a couple of years ago, it has become so popular hundreds of thousands of people take part. In 2018, a total of 168,542 people signed up, with more expected last month.

But is it just for “PC-ravaged clowns” or is it a vital trend

In season this month Asparagus.

Available from late February until the early summer, asparagus is a versatile veggie. Tasty starter options include grilling the veg with butter — premiumise by wrapping in bacon — or whizz it up for soup. It also makes an interesting side dish for a seasonal upsell item.

Chicory A vegetable that can be eaten raw or cooked, this unusual ingredient can add a real sparkle to a number of dishes and works well with fish and rich cheeses like roquefort. Try out a chicory gratin or a salad with walnuts and cheese as premium side dishes.

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with JAMES EVISON

that pubs must get on board with?

Maybe the term “flexitarian” is useful here. Some may hate the word, but it does neatly encapsulate those who are meat eaters but are trying to cut down on the fleshy stuff a few times a week.

Forty-seven per cent of those doing Veganuary in 2018 were meat-eating omnivores, a testament to the growing trend of the flexitarian.

Perhaps the most important issue for pubs is to think about the same person wanting either a massive beef roast or a butternut squash risotto and not consider them different punters. The truth is the old geezers ordering a pie and chips with a pint of cask every time are in decline.

Pier’s idea of an average male being Mad Men’s Don Draper chewing on a 14oz T-bone and the other being Swampy foraging in the woods, is pretty old school. It could be time to reassess the stereotypes on the menu.

Sweet potato Although available year round due to its popularity as an alternative to white potato, sweet potato is at its best in early Spring. Bursting with flavour, the creamy, sweet and spicy veg is perfect for fries, mash and soups – but also try making it the star of the show with sweet potato chilli or curry.

Jerusalem artichoke This vegetable is not really an artichoke at all, being part of the sunflower family. And nothing to do with Jerusalem. But it’s full of iron and can be added to pasta, gratins, salads and as a side dish for roasts with garlic and herbs.

trade.inapub.co.uk 29/01/2019 01:33

KENTUCKY SEITAN BURGER Monika Podwysocka, head chef The Fence, Farringdon

‘The overall vegan experience’

“Customers can also enjoy a range of vegan beers and a comprehensive wine list alongside the dish to ensure a complete experience beyond just the plate.”

Profit and prep

“This is just one of the great dishes we have been focusing on for Veganuary under an “indulgent vegan dishes” menu. It outperformed the beef, chicken and lamb burgers last month.”

Bun

“We have worked with our bakers to master the vegan ingredients in this bun – of course, this is a secret recipe. Pubs can work with artisanal bakers to easily create a vegan option.”

Chips

“The chips are triple cooked to ensure a crispy outside and fluffy inside, and are already a vegan option, making it easy to create a vegan side accompaniment to this or any vegan dish.”

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Coleslaw

“Again, we prepare this fresh to allow for a perfect crunch and flavour. We do it in batches it before service though, so the freshness isn’t at the expense of labour or customer wait time.”

Patty

“The seitan [wheat gluten, a meat alternative currently making waves in the casual dining market] is prepared from scratch and cooked fresh. It is fried for texture and a unique vegan burger offer that aligns with the ‘dirty vegan’ trend for indulgence. We include a huge range of spices in this secret recipe.”

29/01/2019 01:33

Be street smart

by JAMES EVISON

You may be a great publican, but the idea of running a kitchen fills you with dread. Fortunately, you now have the opportunity to work with one of the UK’s many street food operators, who often operate from gazebos or food trucks at street food festivals and other kerbside dinning opportunities.

But where do you start? The Duke’s Head is one such pub that took the leap into working with street food operators, with a now rotating list of pop-ups every single month.

Mars Pascale, licensee of the Duke’s Head, says the original pop-up kitchen was a year-long residency, when it began five years ago.

“There was just a total explosion,” says Mars. “Whereas, at first, a street food vendor came in for a long time, that is quite unusual now.”

The pub quickly switched to a rotating collection of pop-ups, and Mars said the pub plans about five months ahead with popular franchises returning. Mars says: “The good thing about monthly is that if a pop up isn’t working out, there is a new kitchen coming in. But the advantage of longer residencies is they do establish themselves.”

When we visit, the pop-up on site is Yucatan Taqueria with its on-trend southern Mexican tacos and burritos. Previous pop-ups have included Filipino barbecue sensation, Sarap – Mars calls them “brilliant and crazy guys”. Sarap has also featured at Fuller’s The Sun and 13 Cantons in Soho, which also hosts pop-up residencies.

So what kind of menu should street food

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eat.

Pics: Yucatan

“

You want someone who will come out and drink with locals, and be a part of the community

operators put together for pubs?

Matt Fagan-Curry is from Yucatan Taqueria (which has also recently had a three-month residency at The Rose and Crown in Kentish Town). Matt says it is important to sometimes swallow your pride with the offer – and remember your audience. “We found that as soon as we put ‘nachos’ on the menu and people understood better what they were buying, that had a big effect. Of course, we get purists on social saying “these aren’t technical nachos”, but all I would say is, know your audience.”

“They should understand the vibe of the pub”, Mars adds. “You want someone who will come out and drink with locals, and be a part of the community. If they get what the pub is really all about that is great and really important to success.”

Matt agrees: “We alter our menu according to the venue and it is important to us that we are in partnership with the pub.”

One benefit of working with a pop-up is the opportunity to create events. The Duke’s Head just did a ‘Taco Tuesday’ to drive mid-January trade, offering 25 per cent off Tequila and also 25 per cent off tacos on the Yucatan menu.

Off-the-shelf options Don’t fancy working with an external operator but want to cash in on the street food trend? There are other options available…

Foodservice products There are a number of products available from foodservice firms to give your pub the street food vibe. One such collection is offered by Bidfood under its ‘Street Eats’ brand, which brings to market street food options including modern Asian, African, American and British cuisine. Pubs can also buy grab-and-go products like folded naans to create takeaway hot wraps, mimicking the kerbside street dining that punters are increasingly calling for.

Kitchen partnerships Another option is to partner more permanently with a third party on a back-of-house operation, creating a separate food franchise alongside your wet offer. One example of such a partnership is Barrel and Stone pizza, who provide a total back-of-house pizza operation through equipment, ingredients and training of staff. The menu can either sit alongside your a la carte offer or be offered as the sole menu for your pub.

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(left) Mars Pascale, licensee of the Duke’s Head and right, Matt Fagan-Curry from Yucatan Taqueria

“It’s important to have pop ups who are willing to do offers,” Mars says, “and to help you as a business. It helps drive that midweek custom.”

Both Mars and Matt are keen to emphasise that it is also important to keep things separate. The pub is the pub and the kitchen is the kitchen.

“They give me the menu, I get in the supplies they want, and that is it. Their staff and what they do is their business, as long as the food is being served. We keep the social channels separate but complementary when we are promoting things.”

It is also worth appreciating that many franchises may be operating at more than one site. Yucatan is currently at both The Duke’s Head and Pergola, and this can be challenging.

But is it worth it – for both parties? Mars and Matt nod enthusiastically. “You have the opportunity to do something really special – and the novelty of it always changing is loved by locals.”

“And that’s why it is so great for us,” says Matt, “we are offering something fresh and exciting – that’s great for business.”

FEBRUARY 2019 33 26/01/2019 04:38

The perfect chip Skin-on, hand-cut, thick or thin, double or triple cooked...�the options for chips are endless. But how to achieve potato perfection? We asked the experts to reveal their secrets.

Supplier view Lamb Weston is one of the world’s biggest suppliers of chips. Here is its guide to making the perfect chip.

Licensee view The Red Lion in Shepperton is famous for its Fish and Chips (see this month’s Famous For feature on p16-17).

Here chef James Thomson reveals his approach: 1. Consider seasonality. The best time to cook chips from the UK is January and February. Cooking times will change depending on season.

2. Don’t buy peeled or pre-washed chips. Go straight to the farmers as this is the most cost-effective way to purchase.

3. Wash, peel and wash the potatoes again.

4. Roughly chop them and wash again and then dry them down.

5. Cut down to thumb sized, fat chips.

1. Never fill your basket more than half full and avoid tipping the crumbs from the bag into the fryer.

2. Make sure your oil is at 175°C and always use a timer.

3. Raise the basket and shake firmly after 30 seconds, before dropping back into the oil.

4. Continue frying to the end of the fry cycle then drain off any excessive oil for 10 seconds.

6. Oven cook at around 110 degrees for 24 to 25 minutes. Make sure you can squash with your thumb, but that the skin doesn’t break. Constantly check potatoes, even half a minute too much can ruin overall flavour when fried.

7. Once cooked, place in the fridge before freshly batch frying on demand for customers.

5. Serve!

And if you are delivering chips to customers at home, you can’t go wrong with Hot2Home™ fries; use the same principles as above, but pack them into the patented Hot2Home cup, and your fries will stay hot, delicious and crisp for 20 minutes.

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29/01/2019 01:39

“Whatever Happens, Hot & Crispy Fries” Ready for any city obstacle

Hot2Home™ is the first real solution for home delivery of hot fries.

With the combination of specially developed fries and patented packaging, the fries of Hot2Home™ stay hot and crispy for at least 20 minutes.

Take the taste test and try Hot2Home™ yourself: www.lambweston.eu/hot2home

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= 29/01/2019 01:42

play

My first thought when I saw an advert for ITV’s new game show, Small Fortune, was “monkey tennis” — you know, the desperate pitch Alan Partridge puts to a BBC commissioner in a bid to revive his flagging career.

My second thought was that Small Fortune actually looks like a platform for many games that are already played in pubs throughout the country. It consists of teams taking on small challenges for big prizes (see what they’ve done there). This means people will play games based on things such as tiddlywinks or shove ha’penny.

with MATT ELEY

Now, I have no idea if this show will do for those games what TV did for darts in the 1970s and 1980s, driving it into the mainstream.

However, it could be a good chance for pubs to look at the games they offer and piggyback on the TV show (which is itself piggybacking on pubs anyway).

Capturing action in your own pub could also be a useful way of creating content for your social media channels.

And if you did host a monkey tennis tournament, well that would probably go viral too.

Cue up a cashless game of pool with the Signature Vantage table Could we be seeing the end of pound coins mounting up on pool tables to signal who is next in line for a game?

It certainly could be that nuggets will no longer be needed to play a frame.

Specialist games room equipment provider Homeleisuredirect.com was set to reveal a pool table that can be played with contactless payment at trade show Pub 19 at the start of this month.

As well as having the advance payment technology, the 7ft Signature Vantage table also doubles up as a dining table, allowing pubs to use it however best suits the trading period.

Andy Beresford, managing director of Homeleisuredirect.com, said: “It gives venues the opportunity to provide the best of both worlds. They no longer have to juggle the pros and

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cons of allocating an area of a pub or bar to pool or dining. This way, they can exploit both markets — those keen on a bite to eat and those looking for an entertaining game of pool.”

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play.

Carabao Cup Final

The first serious bit of silverware of the English season gets handed out at Wembley. Can Man City defend their title or will Chelsea spoil Pep’s party?

February 24, 4.30pm, Sky Sports

Guinness Six Nations

With Easter falling a little later this year (Sunday, April 21) it makes sense that Shrove Tuesday does too. People will be flipping their pancakes on March 5, but how much do you know about the date?

Who will reign in the northern hemisphere in this World Cup year? Hard to call. There should be plenty of packed pubs between now and the end of the tournament too.

February 1 to March 16, BBC and ITV

Happening this month

Pic: Getty

Manchester United v Liverpool

How about this and the Carabao Cup Final as a double-header on a genuine Super Sunday. Liverpool smashed their old rivals at Anfield but may find it a trickier task at Old Trafford against a resurgent United side.

February 24, 2.05pm, Sky Sports

Chelsea v Spurs

You have to keep an eye out for these midweek Premier League fixtures as they don’t come around too often. As well as this feistylooking derby, BT Sport will be showing Man City v West Ham the night before.

February 27, 8pm, BT Sport

James DeGale v Chris Eubank Jr

These two don’t like each other, which adds a little extra spice to an already tasty-looking super middleweight match-up. Could defeat send the loser into retirement?

February 23, ITV Box Office

Pic: Getty

Did you know?

Shrove Tuesday

Pic: Getty

Single Awareness Day

We are not sure if this date was picked because so many couples split up on Valentine’s Day or because it gives singletons the chance to get out there after struggling through February 14. Whatever the reason, it gives you the chance to show your single customers at least their local loves them.

February 15

1. Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday falls 47 days before Easter, so it can be on any day between February 3 or March 9.

2. The Romans are to thank for introducing pancakes to these isles and the recipe has barely changed since then.

3. Could you hold a pancake race in the garden?

These have been part of the Shrove Tuesday celebrations for more than 500 years. Each year MPs take on the House of Lords in an annual charitable event.

4. The popularity of pancakes is on the up.

Last year Tesco sold 850,000 pancake ready mixes — double that of the year before. The demand is there and you could make it even easier for people.

5. A simple lemon juice topping remains the most popular in the UK, according to a YouGov poll (2017), with sugar, maple syrup and chocolate spread next in line.

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29/01/2019 03:12

Taking our place at

Europe’s top table

by MATT ELEY

“

Man United have been transformed into an exciting attacking force once more. Will that be enough to get them past the footballing equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters?

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It’s coming home, it’s coming home, it’s coming...� Apologies. Wrong competition. But as the wait for England – or indeed any other home nation – to win a major tournament (does the Nations League count?) stretches towards a sixth decade, the gap between now and our last Champions League winner is starting to look uncomfortably wide too.

Is that about to change?

Since Chelsea beat Bayern Munich in their own backyard in 2012, Champions League finals have featured just one measly representative from the Premier League – Liverpool last year. And let’s not even discuss how Scotland’s teams are faring in Europe’s premier competition these days.

This year, however, England’s top four from last year have all progressed to the last 16 of the Champions League.

There will be plenty of trading opportunities for pubs, with the eight ties played over two legs on eight different fixture slots. That means the round takes the best part of a month to complete, but should keep your customers coming back for more top-class football.

In a change from the group stages all matches will kick off at 8pm, in a change from the back-to-back scheduling that was introduced in this season’s group stage.

All matches are being screened exclusively on BT Sport. Here’s what’s coming your way. Maybe you can even rekindle some of that World Cup spirit…

Man United v Paris St-Germain

Ever since baby-faced assassin Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over from old sourpuss Jose Mourinho, Man Utd have been transformed into an exciting attacking force once more.

But will that be enough to get them over the line against the footballing equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters? History doesn’t help us, as these two sides have never before met in a competitive match. Perhaps the manager holds the key – he did after all score arguably the most famous goal in United’s history when he secured the Champions League and the treble in the 93rd minute against Bayern Munich in 1999.

Tuesday February 12 / Wednesday March 6

Tottenham v Borussia Dortmund

Spurs’ reward for their Houdini-esque escape from a group that featured Barcelona and Inter Milan is a tie against a side that are leading the way in the German Bundesliga.

The two victories they recorded against the same opposition in last year’s group stage should give them some confidence, although

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play.

Our Champions League Game On Sports Lounge Totton, Southampton

Liverpool and Man City faced each other in the quarters last year, and both are still fighting for this year’s trophy

Harry Kane, who notched against Dortmund in three games, is currently out injured. That said, it was the Germans who ended the North Londoners’ tilt at winning the Europa League in 2016, at the same last-16 stage.

Wednesday February 1 / Tuesday March 6

Liverpool v Bayern Munich

The tie of the round? Quite possibly. They’ve got 10 titles between them and they remain powerhouses of European football. Bayern are arguably in slight decline with an ageing team, while Liverpool are clearly on the up as they bid to go one stage further than last year. You can never bet against the Germans, but as Liverpool have one of their own with Jurgen Klopp in charge, it’s very hard to know where to put your money for this one.

Tuesday February 19 / Wednesday March 13

Other fixtures Roma v Porto (Feb 12, March 6) Ajax v Real Madrid (Feb 13, March 5) Lyon v Barcelona (Feb 19, March 13) Atletico v Juventus (Feb 20, March 12)

It’s been a couple of years since Southampton graced the European stage but the Champions League is still a big draw according to Godfrey Cook, licensee of Game On Sports Lounge in Totton.

“We will show it and it’s good for us that all four teams got through. We find we have loads of Spurs fans and we also do well with Liverpool and Manchester United, less so with Man City.

“Traditionally the Wednesday night games have always driven the bigger crowds for us but I am not entirely sure why. A Champions League Wednesday is usually up 40 per cent on any other Wednesday.

“We promote the games with the posters and free social media assets we get from BT Sport. We are part of the community centre so we also draw people from there.

“It’s good for us and also something that we can provide for our customers.”

Schalke v Manchester City

Man City’s reward for winning their group was a favourable-looking match-up with Schalke. At the time of the draw City looked imperious but wobbles in the league, including defeats to Leicester and Crystal Palace, suggest that this might not be the walkover many were predicting. That said, it would be a huge shock if the reigning Premier League champions contrived to lose against a side closer to the relegation zone than the top of the Bundesliga.

Wednesday February 20 / Tuesday March 12

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29/01/2019 02:09

Pass the mic

by MATT ELEY

For years karaoke has been the go-to choice of entertainment when it comes to giving customers the opportunity to take centre stage.

And while it may occasionally unearth a true voice that has been hidden under a bushel, it can also be endanger your glassware and clear out those in for a quiet chat. But there are other ways of putting your customers in the spotlight that could prove more entertaining and memorable for the rest of your guests.

Jam nights

Bandeoke offers punters the chance to sing popular songs backed by a live band

How does Bob Marley like his doughnuts?

Wi’ jam in. Thank you for that, Peter Kay. And while your customers may not quite possess the timing of Bolton’s finest funnyman, we bet there are a few who could show off a lick or two on a jam night.

Just up the road in Burnley, Justine Lorriman runs a series of music-inspired

events at her pub The Royal Dyche, including a jam night.

She explains: “We set up drums, bass and a guitar and get people in for a jam night every Wednesday. We get all sorts coming in to play. The standard is really good, there’s a lot of talent in Burnley.

“There’s one person looking after it to make sure nobody hogs the instruments and that everybody gets to have a go. You never know who is going to come in and we have had some real talent.”

Some of the performers who have played on jam nights have even been subsequently booked to play in the paid live music slots that the freehouse runs at other times during the week.

Justine, who occasionally gets on the drums herself, bought the instruments with cash she raised by hiring out an upstairs room at the pub as a rehearsal space for bands. “That works well too,” she says, “because sometimes we do a deal where they practise there and pay by playing a gig for us.”

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play.

Justine Lorriman hosts jam nights at The Royal Dyche. “It’s a really important part of what we do and it attracts new people in,” she says

“

We sometimes do a deal where bands hire our room to practise and pay by playing a gig for us

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As well as the jam session, the pub also holds an Open Deck Night, so aspiring DJs can try out new sets.

Alongside sport – the pub is a short walk from Burnley’s Turf Moor stadium and recently changed its name to honour the Clarets’ boss Sean Dyche – live music is a huge part of the offer. As well as regular live performances the pub held its first minifestival last year. Justine adds: “Alongside the football it is a really important part of what we do. There’s a vibrant live music scene in Burnley and while we get regulars who come in for both sport and music, it also attracts new people in for us.”

Bandeoke

Bandeoke can help your customers live out their rock and pop fantasies on stage.

Instead of singing along to a backing track a la karaoke, this gives would-be performers the chance to get on stage with a live band, albeit still with the lyrics on screen to help them out.

Ross Elliott founded The Bandeoke Experience a few years ago. He is a professional musician who started out by performing on the pub circuit.

He now takes The Bandeoke Experience to venues across London and the South East. They primarily play corporate sets but have also performed at pubs.

Ross says: “We have 200 to 300 songs

from the 1940s up to now that people can pick from. It covers so many genres, including soul, rock n roll, blues, heavy rock, pop and psychedelic. We would normally do a two-hour set with 20-plus performance slots but more than one person can get up on stage at a time.”

The price of a band such Ross’s varies but they start at around £700. This would be for a three-piece band, but with a bigger budget they can add a keyboard player (along with drummer, guitarist and bassist) to increase the musical repertoire.

Ross continues: “It’s great fun and we have had some great singers – not that I’ve employed any yet. It’s all about the audience and just having fun.”

For more information visit www.bandeoke-experience.co.uk

Open mic nights

Not too big a leap from jam nights such as those at the Royal Dyche, but for these you don’t even need to provide the instruments.

You could attract more than musicians to this one with open mic slots also popular with comedians, poets and any other type of performer looking to get some exposure.

They also give you the chance to dip your toe into live music at the cost of little more than a microphone and some promotion to make sure you get performers and an audience.

FEBRUARY 2019

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stay 11

14

by MATT ELEY

ways to pull ’em (in) on Valentine’s Valentine’s Day is on the way, so romance will be in the air. Here are some tips on how you can get the love birds to spend the night with you.

1

Pick the best day

Valentine’s Day falls on Thursday this year, meaning you can have a couple of nibbles of the cherry. A midweek offer could give your guests the chance to “wake up with you on Valentine’s Day” or, alternatively, to spend Valentine’s night in the pub. You also have the choice of keeping the romantic offers running until the weekend.

2

Spread the word

Whether you want to celebrate the “love of your locals” or look to attract new couples through your doors, decide on a strategy for your social media and in-house marketing and create a clear and targeted campaign.

3

Break out the bubbles

It’s a simple touch but offering a glass of bubbly for those who have booked specifically for a night with you helps to set the mood.

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Lower the lights

You have to set the right tone

for your customers’ visit, so make sure the lights are low, the room is warm and, if you have music, have it playing softly when they arrive.

5

Don’t say it with roses

That said, Julie Beaume of The Cartford Inn in Lancashire is against going over the top with romantic touches in bedrooms. She says: “We use subtle decorations, maybe a quirky fresh flower display, but never red roses — they’re a rip-off at this time of year.”

6

…or do say it with roses

Of course, you have to know what is going to work in your pub for your customers.

The King’s Head in Hursley, Hampshire, gives customers the option of waking up on Valentine’s Day with fresh red roses in the room.

7

Do breakfast in bed

How accommodating are you prepared to be: could breakfast in bed be an option for the

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stay.

“

We use subtle decorations, maybe a quirky fresh flower display, but never red roses — they’re a rip-off at this time of year

Food of love: add a romantic set menu to your food offer on Valentine’s Day to tempt your customers

lovers? Maybe best to leave it in the room the night before or outside the door at an agreed time.

8

Finesse your food offer

The best way to a man’s heart (or a woman’s, for that matter) might be with a delectable offering of pub treats.

Mark Thornhill, licensee at The King’s Head says: “We have a romantic set menu, including dishes like oysters, chocolate fondant, fondue and sharing platters.” Is there a better night in the year to upsell a naughty little dessert? Packets of Love Hearts in the bedroom may also hit the sweet spot.

9

Put it in writing

10

Celebrate your customers

This is another idea pinched from the King’s Head. Guests share Post-it Notes with messages about the ones they love on the board. All together now, ahhhhh.

Many great romances start in the pub. Could you celebrate those who met in your venue by offering them a discount on a room and a meal? Last year Brakspear ran a competition for people who found love in their pubs. Winners received prizes such as champers and hampers for sharing their romantic stories.

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Go the extra mile

While Julie at The Cartford Inn is

opposed to doing anything “too slushy”, she is happy to respond to individual requests from customers. In the past she has provided chocolates in the bedroom and organised a romantic trip up Blackpool Tower.

12

Play Cupid postman

13

Don’t forget the non-lovers

14

Show another love

No, not what you say with an expletive when the postie leaves a delivery outside in the rain despite the fact you were in all along anyway. Cupid’s postman, again at the King’s Head, sees Valentine’s Day cards left under napkins for random guests, or if you prefer, you could specifically target those staying the night.

There will be plenty of people who want a meal out or who simply need a room for the night for non-romantic purposes such as work. Ensure your communications make it clear they are welcome too. Mark suggests: “Alongside your couples offering of romantic set menus and so on, also promote the ‘business as usual’ offering.”

Are your customers more passionate about football than their partners? You could always show the Europa League last 32 first legs. Arsenal, Chelsea and Celtic are all in action. The romance of the cup, anyone?

FEBRUARY 2019 43 28/01/2019 02:17

back-bar business

Learn your lines

by JAMES EVISON

We’ve all been in the pub with the shiny font and sparkling brewery badge. The bar staffer gently pours the amber liquid into a crystal clear pint glass. We lick our lips, bring the beer to our mouth.... and�suddenly the hard taste of vinegar stings our throats. We put our nose into the glass and it stinks of rotten eggs. “Excuse me, but I think you need to clean your lines”, we say through gritted teeth.

The latest study from data firm Vianet sadly suggests this situation is all too common. The company claimed one in three beers being served at the end of 2018 was through lines that were due a good clean. Additionally, this year’s Cask Report revealed 80 per cent of publicans said they would taste the pint themselves to check quality, but drinkers said this only happened 39 per cent of the time. Fifty-nine per cent of publicans even said they would take the beer off sale, but only 23 per cent of drinkers said this happened when they complained.

So are pubs really doing enough?

Line cleaning ‘isn’t working’

Dr David Quain, the associate professor in Brewing Science at the University of Nottingham, reckons line cleaning as currently practised in the UK “doesn’t work”. David tells Inapub that the standard method used to clean lines is ineffective as it lacks “mechanical action” – the cleaning fluid is simply pumped through by hand, rather than circulated at a high enough velocity to give

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the lines a proper clean.

He explains: “Circulation is key to cleaning, such as is found with dishwashers or a washing machine. Further [in the standard line cleaning procedure] flow is in one direction, and ideally should be reversed to clean ‘dead legs’, such as fittings.” Various pump-driven systems are available to enable the kind of cleaning David recommends.

Tick all the boxes

So what other steps should you take to make sure your line cleaning is up to scratch? David says pubs should “take an end to end approach”.

He explains: “Sanitise beer and soft drink dispense nozzles overnight. Don’t use soda water, as it has no cleaning power and makes contamination massively worse! Also sanitise keg couplers and spears on changing and clean lines every seven days.

“Then, use a good line cleaning solution with a purple colour indicator to flag dirt. Do not cut costs – it’s a very false economy. Follow the instructions and don’t just dollop it into the wash bottle, and don’t

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“

Don’t use soda water, as it has no cleaning power and makes contamination massively worse

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cut corners on time of soak or rinsing.”

David also says turnover and throughput are key to clean beer.

“Manage container size such that keg beer is turned over in five days, and avoid over-fonting. Also make sure to gas-block lines for taps at the far ends of the bar, when they are not in use.”

And don’t forget the cellar – this is also crucial to keeping that beer tasty – and the right temperature.

“Cellar temperature is also wrong, and based on a world when cask beer was king,” says David. “We should use cold rooms at 4-6˚C to store keg beer, which would reduce much of the under-bar cooling clutter. Storing beer colder would also improve its shelf life when the container is on dispense and reduce in-keg spoilage.”

Call in the professionals

We all know that running a pub is a busy operation – and the idea of such a rigorous cleaning regime and line management schedule, taking at least several hours a week, may fill you with dread. That’s why David says that outsourcing to professional line cleaning companies is increasingly a good option for time-pressed licensees.

One such option is to use a product like

Vianet’s iDraught, which undertakes cleaning based on the beer dispensed. Some beers only require a fortnightly cleaning cycle – but some do require the seven-day regime that is often highlighted by trade organisations such as Cask Marque as the industry standard.

According to Vianet auditor Matt Halls, such an approach “massively reduces the pints lost during line cleaning whilst still maintaining the quality”.

Rayne McKnight, runs a franchise of the line cleaning firm Clear Brew, whose systems, currently used in around 1,500 licensed premises across the country, which remove yeast proteins from the line.

Rayne says that publicans should remember the importance of reputation when thinking of cleaning the lines, and consider how good line cleaning helps drive people to out-of-home drinking.

“A pint is not cheap, is it?” he says. “If you are going to bother to go to the pub and hand over a fiver and get an off-tasting beer, you aren’t going to be best impressed at all.”

Best impress your punters with bright, clean beers then. As Rayne says: “There is nothing better than picking up that beer and getting that wonderful, clean taste. You’re going to come back for more, aren’t you?”

FEBRUARY 2019 45 29/01/2019 03:14

time at the bar

PLATE OR SLATE? Where the nation’s pub people stand on the really big questions James Dowdeswell, James Dowdeswell’s Perfect Pub Perhaps best known as Count Fuckula in Ricky Gervais’s Extras TV series, James is also a stand-up comedian and the son of a publican.

Over the last three years he has been touring all over the world with his show, James Dowdeswell’s Perfect Pub. He has recently published a book based on his love of pubs, described as an “ode to pubs and a call to arms to try and save them.”

The Pub Manifesto: A Comedian Stands Up For Pubs is available now from the CAMRA bookshop: https:// shop.camra.org.uk/ pubmanifesto.html

Plate or slate?

Mustard cords or skinny jeans?

Plate. I feel slate is a little pretentious. No parent has ever said “You can’t leave the table until you’ve got a clean slate.” This is dinner, not some form of atonement.

Ha! When I moved to London, I asked my neighbour whether he was in the wine trade.

He said “how did you know?” It was the mustard cords. Skinny jeans for the pub, mustard cords for the wine club.

Cocktails or cask ale?

Cask ale. The first draught of beer is heavenly after a hard day’s graft, and even better after no work at all. Beer tackles your thirst in a way wine and spirits do not.

Background music or silence is golden?

Silence is golden. Scientists have proved that playing music loudly in pubs and bars makes people drink faster. I drink fast enough as it is. I go to the pub to relax, so I prefer the warm, soft hubbub of friendly chat.

Dyson Airblade or hand towels?

Live sport or big screen bans?

I am an ardent Aston Villa fan and do enjoy watching football in a pub. However not everybody shares my passion, so I believe it should be screened in a separate soundproof room or an outdoor courtyard.

Dogs allowed or the only animals are on the menu?

Dog-friendly pub, definitely. As dog owners, my girlfriend and I always seek out a dogfriendly pub. Also, the clientele tend to be friendlier in a dog-friendly pub.

It depends where you are. Dyson Airblades feel great, and not just in motorway service station toilets. They are wonderfully futuristic, so may well be out of place in an olde worlde country pub.

Table service or order at the bar?

Order at the bar. This is not the continent … yet! There is nothing like emerging from the bar, ferrying three pints of foaming beer and a packet of nuts between your teeth. I find table service frustrating. You often have to wait for an eternity for the bill to arrive.

Imagine the frustrations of trying to embark on a continental bar crawl.

Karaoke or pub quiz?

My singing voice is terrible, it is so bad I have to mime at football matches. So I shall opt for the pub quiz.

Cash or Apple Pay?

Cash is king. Besides, Apple Pay sounds like we’re bartering with fruit.

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29/01/2019 02:37

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inapub 23/04/2018 13:23

23/04/2018 13:20

Five hardy souls took a wintry dip in the sea to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. Staff and customers from The British Queen in Willingdon, near Eastbourne, head to the East Sussex coast every New Year’s Day to swim and raise funds for charity. Angela Cane, landlady at the Ei pub, said: “As you would expect it was very cold but also very beautiful, it was like a mill pond. It was a quick dip and then back to the pub.” The sponsored event raised around £900 for the cause. The British Queen also raises money for different charities each month by hosting coffee mornings.

THE COLLECTION TIN What pubs around the country are doing to help good causes The band of firefighters led by a pub landlord achieved their aim of getting the Christmas number 1. Well, sort of. The Fire Tones released a version of Do They Know It’s Christmas? in aid of The Firefighter Charity and The Band Aid’s Charitable Trust. It sold more physical CDs than any other release and made the Top 10 in overall sales. The single was the brainchild of Chris Birdsell-Jones, manager of The Smithfield Bell in Welshpool, Powys, and part-time fireman.

A pub has organised a fundraiser in memory of a regular who was killed in a New Year’s Eve car crash. The day of soul music, raffle, barbecue and collection were due to take place at The Boundary in Norwich on January 26, which would have been Anthony Glover’s birthday. Army veteran Anthony died on New Year’s Day following an accident on the A140 the previous evening.

The Duke of Hamilton in Hampstead, London, showed how dog-friendly it is by hosting a fundraiser to save bulldogs from the Chinese meat trade. The event raised £3,000 towards flying five rescued bulldogs to the UK for rehousing.

A publican and a regular raced their wheelchairs around Shrewsbury to raise funds for children with mobility problems. Dave Jenk, manager at The Albion Vaults, and customer Pete Benbow, are wheelchair users. They were accompanied on their race around five pubs – stopping for a drink in each – by other regulars.

A team from Hall & Woodhouse’s Badger Beer took part in a mass scrub clearance at a nature reserve in Dorset. The 17-strong team cleared the area as part of the brewery’s new sponsorship of the Dorset Wildlife Trust. It is the first of several events where Hall & Woodhouse staff will volunteer to participate in events in the county. Sarah Pace, Badger Beer brand manager, said: “We are delighted to have formed a partnership with Dorset Wildlife Trust, in recognition of our long-term commitment to Dorset, which we hero through our characterful beers, all of which are inspired by the Dorset countryside. “Our volunteering

day was a wonderful way to announce the partnership, to meet some of the Dorset Wildlife Trust representatives and to experience for ourselves a snapshot of the extensive and ongoing work which Dorset Wildlife Trust carries out on a daily basis.”

Are you raising funds for a great cause? Let us know at editorial@inapub.co.uk

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ROMANTIC PUBS Love is in the air at these Valentine’s victuallers

Pic: Steve Houldsworth / Geograph

Pic: Chris Whippet / Geograph

Pic: Pauline E / Geograph

Pic: Nick Smith / Geograph

1. The Travellers Rest 4

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Grasmere, Cumbria Ahead of Valentine’s Day last year, bodiceripping publisher Mills & Boon revealed the UK’s most romantic spots. Among them was Grasmere, the Lake District favourite. Lucky then, that this pub, with its oak beams, inglenooks and roaring fires, also offers awardwinning food and 10 bedrooms overlooking the surrounding fells. Swoon.

2. The Crab & Boar

Cheiveley, Berkshire Described by one Trip Advisor reviewer as “hot tub heaven” this country pub/boutiquehotel boasts 14 luxury rooms, some with their own hot tub. Other rooms have fireplaces, four poster beds and freestanding baths, not to mention top-of-the-range linen, handmade toiletries and locally made biscuits.

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3. The Hoops Inn & Country Hotel

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4. The Anderson

Bideford, Devon The Mallow Suite at this Grade II listed pub is set over two levels, featuring original stonework, exposed beams, and an antique fourposter bed. There are some modern touches though – flat-screen TV, walk-in shower and a jacuzzi spa bath big enough for two.

Fortrose, Scotland The story is that the American owners of this pub and hotel, located a meander away from the edge of the Moray Firth, moved over 3,000 miles from Philadelphia to run the pub after falling head over heels in love with it. What’s more romantic than that?

5. The Culpeper Pic: Alexander P Kapp / Geograph

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London The beating heart of London’s financial district might not strike you as the most romantic place in the UK, but what about one of the stargazing evenings on this upscale pub’s rooftop terrace, followed by a night in one of its industrial-chic rooms? We thought that might change your mind.

6. The Bell at Skenfrith

Abergavenny, Monmouthshire Expect oak beams, flagstone floors and open fires in the pub, and crisp cotton duvets, warm Welsh blankets and fluffy towels in the 11 rooms. Sawdays calls his 17th-century Welsh inn, on the banks of the River Monnow, “chic and romantic.”

7. The Griffin Inn

Fletchling, East Sussex After a stroll around the two acres of this pub’s gardens, drinking in the views with a glass of wine from The Griffin’s 20-strong by-the-glass list in hand, relax in one of its 13 bedrooms. We’d go for one of the six with a four-poster for maximum romance points.

8. The Fuzzy Duck

Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire “Whoever loved that loved not at first sight?”, poses Phebe in As You Like It – and so it may be with this pub in the pretty hamlet of Armscote, a quill’s throw away from Shakespeare’s birthplace Stratford-upon-Avon. Couples on Booking.com gave it a 9.2 rating for romance thanks its four boutique bedrooms, gastrostyle food and magnificent fireplaces.

9. Red Pump Inn

Bashall Eaves, Lancashire For those for whom romance is a bit more imaginative than red roses and chocolates, what about a night in a yurt? This pub’s glamping yurts come with king-size beds, fur throws, wood burning stoves and (crucially, if the romance is to stay alive), en-suite bathrooms.

10. The Victoria Inn

Holkham, Norfolk Romance you say? Book dinner and a room at this pub a few minutes’ walk from the golden sands of Holkham Beach and Holkham Hall, the Palladian country house.

Food comes from the north Norfolk coast or the estate’s own farms and of the 20 bedrooms, four have their own sitting room.

You had us at “romance.”

29/01/2019 02:53

time at the bar

HAIR OF THE DOG Tales of the unexpected from the wonderful world of pubs Caulie wobbles s e last month, and rage wa Veganism was all the rag ’s pub’s ng You one of ke bro s the vibe on Twitter as new Hill was eens in London’s Primrose Veganuary deal. The Qu atoes, tom h wit ved ser 8, £2 steaks for offering two cauliflower d potato. mushrooms and mashe and Twitgler posted the A-board Klin Food writer Jamie to exploit can y the all nts now doing ter exploded. “Restaura ney grab is lishLeft. “The vegan mo vegans” fumed @TheEng them” on k drui;“Brassica nec out of control” agreed @re b was pu the rs, ate y. For meat-e punned @mostly_grump price – e sam the for aks gus ste offering two Aberdeen An ic Jax. nat dFa t!” pointed out @Foo “Equality for vegans at las view, of nt poi ’s pub gs from the Just a few though, saw thin small a y onl re we ts ien red out the ing with @lambtiger pointing a lt fau serving a meal. “I can’t proportion of the cost of y sell,” wrote at they want for what the wh g restaurant for chargin y don’t. In the or t, rke ma know their @The Baffer. “They either .” y’ll sell cauliflower at £14 Primrose Hill, I suspect the

’spoons crashes out Brexit standard-bearer and household-name pubco boss Tim Martin couldn’t wait for March 29th. He announced at the end of last month a swathe of European drinks would be booted out of his pubs - it was farewell to Freixenet, buona nottte to Bolla Pino Grigio, and auf wiedersehen Erdinger.

In to replace them in the Wetherspoons estate came brands from further afield, such as the Australian Hardy’s and the US Coldwater Creek.

“Wherever you stand on the Brexit debate, we hope both the Government and consumers will support local brewers, producers and pubs during this time of uncertainty,” said Tim. He certainly hopes so. On the same day as this news broke, Wethersoon issued a profit warning - driven, it said, by rising labour costs.

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Shanties shushed It was a heartwarming scene that harked back to days of yore. Actor James Purefoy and his fellow thesps were winding down in the pub after a shoot. They broke into a rousing sea shanty… and were asked to desist immediately.

The problem being that the southwest London pub had no authorisation for live music.

James told the Daily Telegraph the landlord was worried the singing would “get out of hand” and he would lose his premises licence.

The actors had been filming the British comedy Fisherman’s Friends. The film celebrates the true story of a group of fishermen who stormed the charts and raised huge sums for charity with the songs of their forefathers. Sadly, it seems camaraderie goes only so far.

A nip wi’ yurr nee ps As the UK prepar es to exit the EU , it’s time to reas identity as an in sert Britain’s novative nation ready to do busin modern world. An es s in the d a Scottish micr opub has done unveiling a hagg just that, is-flavoured gin just in time for Bu Debbie Rutherfo rns Night. rd and husband Simon run Ruth which claims to erfords, be Scotland’s sm allest pub. Debb ”The idea has al ie said: ways been to ha ve really unusua we give people l drinks – an experience wh en they come in To fully apprecia .” te this Scottish cla ssic, the distillers mend it be enjo yed with Irn-Bru. recomOther mixers are available.

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