NEWS & VIEWS 9th May 2022
Let’s lead with the sad news over the past week of three English breweries (Kelham Island, Beatnikz Republic and Exe Valley) that are closing. It seems certain that there will be more to come this year, as breweries that have been fatally wounded by the pandemic, finally succumb to the commercial pressures.
The Pub Curmudgeon took one for the team recently by setting out on a pub crawl of keg-only, non-craft pubs in Stockport, one of which attracted the memorable quote… “A shithole is the only description required of the pub.”
With cask representing just one seventh of all beer being sold in pubs these days, it seems like such experiences will become more common, although one has to wonder about the long-term viability of a business that takes so little interest in providing a quality product to it’s customers.
Jeff had an interesting trip this week to a winery that has recently got into beer as well. Let’s hope this is one aspect of the Craft Beer Experience that we don’t end up importing from the USA!
Finally a survey this week on behalf of A Plastic Planet reported that 89% of people surveyed would like plastic cups banned in hospitality. This wasn’t because they want more drinkers to end up in A&E, but apparently to save the Planet! In our experience, most responsible UK Taprooms are serving biodegradable plastic cups these days, so this should probably the direction of travel.
