Pints of View No.271

REMOVE ALL CROP MARKS FOR PRODUCTION PRINTING 111 HERTFORDSHIRE’S Pints of View The bi-monthly publication for every discerning drinker June / July 2015 Circulation 8750 No. 271 Where are they now? Thriving in austerity The Herts pubs that made A Turnaround for the Bull at CAMRA’s first 1973 beer guide London Colney Summer Beer Festivals Planner Page 28 Awards presented all across the county From top left clockwise : Queen’s Head - Allens Green , Woodman - Wild Hill , Orange Tree - Baldock , Green Man - Sandridge , Sportsman - Croxley Green REMOVE ALL CROP MARKS FOR PRODUCTION PRINTING THE BITTER END 222 Three wins in a row as new laws are enacted to help pubs he Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) excellent year for celebrated three huge wins on Community CAMRA with three TPubs Day, 23 rd March, which was nominated major campaign as a new national celebration day to highlight and wins coming to promote that over 600 pubs have so far been listed fruition within a as Assets of Community Value. few short weeks. The celebration day marked new laws to protect None of these pubs listed as Assets of Community Value (ACVs) in would have been England coming into effect on 6 th April, and possible without coincided with the beer tax cut in the recent budget our dedicated and the passing into law of the Small Business Bill, 170,000 members which will give pub company licensees in England who work tirelessly and Wales a fairer deal on beer prices and rent. to protect the rights Tim Page, CAMRA Chief Executive said: “Thanks to of beer drinkers the efforts of the thousands of CAMRA members and pub-goers who lobbied their local MP’s, from 6 th April when a across the country. pub is listed as an ACV in England it will receive full I would like to say a huge thank you to them for planning protection, ultimately giving communities every letter written, petition signed or pub listed, a say in what happens if the owner wishes to which has played a huge role in CAMRA achieving demolish the pub or convert it to another use. This real change. It is now up to all of us to continue this is a powerful step towards protecting our valued good work”. community pubs. All it takes is a local group or 21 For more guidance on how to list your pub, please locals to start the process of having a pub listed as visit: www.camra.org.uk/list-your-loca l. an ACV, so let’s push the number of listed pubs from hundreds to thousands”. But the celebrations didn’t end there, with pub company reform headed for Royal Assent after 10 years of campaigning by CAMRA and business and tenant groups. Their work to secure a fair deal for pub tenants and consumers secured the support of over 45,000 campaigners and 212 MPs, resulting in a major Government defeat on the Small Business BEER FESTIVAL Bill last year. The new law will give tenants tied to 12 – 14 June the large pub companies the opportunity to opt for a rent-only deal, allowing them to buy their supplies of drinks on the open market at competitive prices. “CAMRA has been campaigning for pub company reform for over 10 years. We are delighted to finally see our campaign come to fruition with changes to the tied system that will be welcomed by thousands of struggling licensees across the country. The Small Business Bill will give them a much fairer deal. This is great news for tenants and great news for pub goers who will benefit from wider beer choice, fairer prices and a thriving pub sector. ”Tim added. CAMRA members will also be raising their glasses to celebrate a historic third cut in beer tax following the Chancellor’s Budget, which will help keep beer prices affordable for pub-goers across the country. Tim Page concluded saying: “It has been an REMOVE ALL CROP MARKS FOR PRODUCTION PRINTING THE BITTER END 333 An Urban Myth worrying statement has been made and is has shown customers in a blind tasting could not tell getting repeated without, I believe, the the difference between Budweiser, Heineken and Apeople who are making it understanding Stella Artois. This fortunately does not apply to real exactly what they are saying. The comment starts ale, which in the majority of cases is not advertised with “there is some bad real ale” but they then go at all, cannot be bought in the supermarket, and is on to suggest that brewers are producing sub- still getting a larger share each year of the total beer standard ales that are forced onto the drinking market. public. The truth is that bad quality beer is easily So what about the tie? My argument is that it does identified, and even if the customers do not allow the brewer to increase prices unrealistically, complain at the point of dispense they soon start to and if the government through legislation and the drink something else, normally in a different pub. I adjudicator can break this price cartel and allow a am not saying that there is not bad beer being served better variety of beers into pubs, then this will be a in pubs, even in these austere times when twenty good thing. Some seem to think that if all pubs were nine or is it thirty one pubs a week are closing, poor free of tie that the national brews would disappear cellarmanship, irregular if non-existent pipe from our pubs, I do not believe that this would be cleaning, general cleanliness and low turn-over are the case. Unfortunately although there are some causing lack lustre beer to be served. excellent small and micro-breweries selling beers at There will also be beers that certain people do not competitive prices, there are also a lot that have real like. This is perfectly normal. How boring it would quality control problems and produce an ever be if we all liked the same thing. Big brewers have widening range of weird beers cloned from their been accused of dumbing down ales, normally after other mainstream brews. In edition 265 we featured taking over a smaller competitor and the brewing an article by Brian Sheridan about the quality of being moved to a different site. I again support these some micro brewers’ beers. In my comment I said arguments. A beer has its own fingerprint, which ”Many micro brewers’ beer is variable in quality - can be as much encapsulated in the ingredients as some are absolutely excellent and others dreadful. in the brewing plant itself. Moving to a new How can you expect the average pub goer, or in fact brewery, even a long established, one can a pub landlord to know what to avoid?” completely change the character and flavour of the Be careful what you wish for - a well looked after beer. I can think of many examples where an national brewer’s pint can be as equally satisfying exceptional beer following brewery takeover has as those brewed by a small or micro. become but a shadow of its former self when Steve Bury brewed elsewhere. Often the strengths are changed and the recipes tinkered with to try and fit the beer into the larger company’s portfolio, this of course Want to Advertise in Pints of View? rarely succeeds and beers such as Boddington’s Bitter have been lost without trace. Pints of View is distributed to over 300 pubs So how do brewers who produce these sub- throughout Hertfordshire, and additionally to standard beers survive? The truth is they could not. all public libraries and museums. Ales that are often maligned: Greene King IPA , Page Size and Cost (excl. VAT) Wells Eagle , and Sharp’s Doombar for example, are Quarter Page: 74mm x 105mm max size = £55.00 not bad beers but are so universally available that Half Page: 148mm x 105mm max size = £100.00 they are not looked after in many instances as well Please contact us for other advert size rates . as they should be. Greene King are going into a re- launch of IPA with accreditation certificates, Artwork can be made up at extra cost,. Prepared mystery customers (that’s the job I’m looking for) artwork preferred in JPEG, Word or PDF format. and new pump-clips. First time advertisers to confirm in writing please. Some of those who are complaining about bland Contact John Bishop tel: 01582 768478 and uninteresting beers also blame the tie (pubs tied (ansaphone) — leave message with e-mail address to a specific supplier) and mass advertising as part and phone number. Or Email: [email protected] of the problem. This may in some cases apply to Deadline for Aug/Sept 2015 Newsletter (272) lager, which as I mentioned in edition 267, research Adverts — 7 July 2015, Copy — 7 July 2015 REMOVE ALL CROP MARKS FOR PRODUCTION PRINTING Beer Industry News 444 Paradigm Brewery Marstons buy Thwaites ased on a farm in the lovely Hertfordshire n the ominous date of 1 st April it was village of Sarratt, Paradigm Brewery was announced that Marston’s are to purchase Bfounded in 2014 making ale in the traditional ODaniel Thwaites. way. In their former working lives, the two partners CAMRA believes that consumer had to endure the insanity that is corporate choice is always reduced when marketing, so ‘paradigm’ is a gentle subversion of breweries are acquired by the world they left. The whole idea began as a larger operators and we're very throw-away comment in the spring of 2014, and concerned about the takeover of Thwaites, a long- after test brewing they are now offering two cask established and respected regional family brewer, conditioned ales to local pubs which are named by Marston's.

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