Pubs, pies, past and present
When I expounded the principle in the pages of The Publican that the minimum requirement for a pie was that it be entirely encased in pastry, it had a real-world impact.
Brewers in survival mode
Independent brewers are locked out of 60% of Britain’s pubs, due not just to those outlets operating under a formal beer tie, but increasingly because of factors such as brewery loans which include onerous beer supply agreements, and bigger players restricting access to beer dispense equipment.
How Sweet It Is
Before there was beer, there was mead. At least, that’s the theory. While archaeological evidence suggests beer predates drinks such as wine and cider as homo sapiens’ recreational beverage of choice, our ancestors may well have been dipping enthusiastically into spontaneously fermented honey from the wild beehives in primeval forests well before they brewed beer.
When The Chips Are Down
How many chips constitutes a portion? It’s a question that helped to revive the art of conversation between my wife and I when we visited a managed pub operated by one of the UK’s biggest pub groups, on a recent visit to the West End of London.
Tackling The Costs of Care
As economic headwinds continue, all caterers face the uphill task of managing costs while maintaining high standards. For care home operators, the challenge is even more intense.
Return of the Beerstash Chronicles: Hold that thought – Fuller’s Vintage Ale 2020
There’s no denying that beers designed to be put away for drinking down the line often bring out the best in their brewers. Fullers Vintage Ale is a case in point. The 2020 edition marks the 24th year since the Griffin Brewery began producing this limited edition beer.
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Guest Blog: Conor Shaw, CEO of workforce management experts Bizimply
GMs must be front of house to reassure customers and staff post-lockdown The best hospitality operators definitely took a ‘glass half full’ approach when lockdown was imposed and looked for the opportunities in a situation that was beyond their control, rather than railing against it. Enforced closure allowed for the reflection and review that are
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Time to get back to the pub
There aren’t many silver linings for operators in the cloud that is trying to run a pub or restaurant in a post-COVID world, but here are a few that I think are worth latching onto.
The BeerStash Chronicles 2: Fresh thinking
A blog by John Porter from www.apieandapint.com Beer is best drunk when it’s freshly brewed*. There, I’ve said it. It may not be the most sensible contention to make at the outset of an article which sets out to assess the merits of a beer that’s been knocking around for years, but it’s probably worth
Reopening pubs will get our lockdown drinking back in check
One of the perhaps unsurprising impacts of lockdown has been a change in our drinking habits. Recent research from Drinkaware shows furloughed workers and people now working from home rather than an office admit to having had a drink earlier in the day, and drinking on days they wouldn’t have before the pandemic. Why not pour
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Guest blog: Rupert Thompson, managing director and owner, Hogs Back Brewery
Rupert Thompson is managing director and owner of Hogs Back Brewery in Surrey, brewers of TEA, or Traditional English Ale, one of the leading cask ales in the south east.
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Pubs in the pandemic: community heroes
Working with PubAid is always a wonderful reminder of the great work that pubs do at the heart of their communities, and never more so than during this time of national emergency. Despite the catastrophic impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on our industry, countless licensees and their teams across the country are putting people before