Stella Artois Christmas Bottle

Following on from my piece about fancy packaging of beer if you aren't aware of ABInbev's festive offering it's pictured below:

So all that's needed to change wife-beater into a desirable craft beer is an embossed, corked bottle with a champagne enclosure. Easy eh?

 

It sounds so innocent

There's plenty of comment about David Cameron's announcement regarding the minimum pricing of alcohol. Leaving behind the very dubious reasoning for the move, one reason why the backlash won't be huge is the phrase itself. You can here people thinking to themselves " minimum, well that's nearly the same as low, and low pricing sounds o.k." Also, "45p; well I'm paying a lot more than that now for a pint/shot/short so it won't be a problem."

Of course, it will be a problem though because the more savvy of us well realise that a typical alcoholic drink has multiple units of alcohol. No doubt the confusion of what a 'unit' actually is will be exploited by retailers as an explanation for profiteering - "sorry for the price rise, but it's the minimum pricing to blame".

As many of us know it's only the start. Alcoholics don't stop drinking because a bottle of whisky goes up in price by £1.00. So when' statistics' are produced to show that binge drinking is still a problem the health lobby will say that the minimum price per unit is too low and demand a further increase: then another, and another.

I saw you coming

Harry Enfield's and Paul Whitehouses's T.V series may not not get the audiences of some years back but still makes some clever observations.

I checked out Shepherd Neame's Generation Ale which had looked interesting. Here's some information from the brewery:

"Generation Ale launched in 2011 as a limited edition ale hand-crafted to commemorate five generations of Shepherd Neame as an independent family brewery.

With only 3,000 bottles released, Generation Ale boasts a 12-month ageing process resulting in a rich, full-bodied ale to be savoured and enjoyed.  Beautifully packaged in a wooden presentation box, Generation is a collectors’ item and the ultimate gift for ale lovers.

Generation Ale is presented in a traditional amber bottle, embossed with the Shepherd Neame crook.  Each bottle is hand-wrapped in paper and encased within a wooden box bearing the signature approval of chief executive Jonathan Neame.  With an ABV of 9% and served in a 75cl bottle, the beer is priced at £17.50 and exclusively available from Shepherd Neame. The perfect ale to sip, share and savour with friends, Generation is the ultimate beer from Britain’s oldest brewer."

The £17.50 doesn't include £5.00 postage!  No recession in Toryland then.

 

 

 

 

120

........is the maximum number of drinkers allowed in Port Street Beer House, Manchester. At least that's what the security bod told me as a reaon for leaving me standing on the pavement for five minutes yesterday. Was he telling the truth or being a jobsworth? I've been in any number of pubs much fuller than this was. Or is it because craft beer drinkers need more space to protect or show off their expensive purchases.

Wetherspoons are different in Essex

I stayed overnight in Braintree last Saturday. Tranmere were due to play an FA Cup tie on Sunday lunchtime so I'd decided to travel down the day before. It was an expensive trip as the match was postponed an hour before kick off.

Anyway, my Northerner prejudices were demolished as I found it a pleasant town with friendly locals. I drank some excellent beer in Braintree including a Mild (!) and also in Chelmsford. Late evening I was tempted into the local Wetherspoons by their beer festival. A cavernous former cinema I was surprised to find a mixture of Dance and R & B music playing at a high volume. There was also Italian football on numerous screens. Is this a change of tack for Wetherspoons? I've not been in one of their pubs before with loud music playing. I found the juxtaposition of drinking Minagof Pale Ale from Guam while watching the Essex youth singing along to Ne-Yo blasting out from the sound system rather surreal.

Someone has to lose

 The Cask Report has just been published. In general, it is good news for cask beer with sales up in 2011 by 1.5% and static so far this year. Measured against an overall decline in the beer market that's reason for optimism.

However, micro-breweries are still opening and existing ones expanding at a fair rate so which cask brewers are in decline? There can't be much more market share to take from the decline of the former 'national' brands like Boddington's and Draught Bass. The bigger players such as Marston's and Fullers have reported increased sales and Coors' purchase of Sharp's has seen Doom Bar production  rocket.

I'll wager that the remaining family and regional brewers are the ones struggling to keep their heads above water. Unable to compete with the likes of Wetherspoon's on price and with brands seen as old fashioned and irrelevant to the committed cask or craft drinkers I predict more takeovers in this sector soon.

Meantime IPA in Sainsbury's

It looks like Meantime IPA has lost its listing in Sainsbury's. That's a shame because in my opinion it was the best beer avaialble yearlong in a national supermarket. Before you shout 'Waitrose' we don't have many of them up here.

I often used to visit Sainsbury's especially to buy this beer. Usually, I'd remember other things I needed or make an impulse buy so they've lost more than just the cost of the beer.

Stalybridge Buffet

I'd heard rumours of trouble along the Transpennine real ale trail with stag/hen groups. I saw proof of this on Saturday on a visit to Stalybridge for a footy match. The Station Refreshment Rooms aka Buffet now use plastic glasses on Saturdays at the behest of the local Police.

In my experience the beers here appeal to the ticking fraternity and are not necessary the greatest examples of the brewing art. Add a plastic glass and mediocrity is the order of the day. The Buffet serves a number of Belgian beers. It seems ludicrous to be given a plastic glass with your Chimay Bleue. Ditto wine.

The Police-driven dash for plastic is a worrying trend and can only deter the discerning drinker from visiting pubs even more.