The reopening of hospitality marks an important time for pubs, bars and breweries. John Keeling, the former head brewer at West London’s Fuller’s, is looking forward to a great pint of cask in some of his favourite pubs. But drinking at home lockdown has also opened John’s eyes to other excellent beer, too.
I write this a couple of days before the outside opening of pubs. I have already booked in lunches on the 13th, to try a newly-refurbished and reopened pub.
On the 16th I’ll visit an old friend, the Red Lion Barnes, and again to the Red Lion on the 23rd to meet members of the Asahi team to chat through their exciting plans (cask beer definitely on the agenda for that one).
Now everybody can see that this is an incredibly important time for breweries and for pubs, two things that are close to my heart and to yours too, dear reader. However, before I get onto them, I would like to briefly talk about ale and lager.
Now, it is a well-known fact that I am a great fan of cask ale. The beer is simply the best drink I have ever experienced. However there has been a big problem in lock down, I could not get any!
So, what did I do? Well, I ordered some cans of lager.
To be absolutely truthful I have been trying a whole host of different beers from a number of different breweries and I must admit ale is good in cans especially the stronger beers like ESB.
I have had a number of good versions of that beer which pleases me no end. One thing I have certainly noted is how well-suited lager is to can and bottle.
I have never been anti-lager and would happily drink the beers in places such as Germany travelling on business or on holiday.
However, I avoided many of the brewed in Britain versions, the advent of craft has changed this and there are several British breweries producing very drinkable versions.
So, my current league table of beers are
- Cask beer
- Bottle conditioned English IPAs and ESBs
- Canned lager
- American style IPA
Controversial, I know.
Obviously with the opening of pubs we again can get draught beer. So, at this point it would be worth a look at what a brewery can do to get their beer into pubs.
Communication, branding and message are hugely important in getting your beer noticed then of course the flavour and quality get you repeat purchases.
If the landlord knows about your beer before you even walk through the door then it helps enormously. Reputation and the maintenance of that reputation are key.
That is why every brewery should have a philosophy and vision that is easily understood and communicated.
Every employee who understands the philosophy of the brewery is an ambassador for the brewery. Every drinker is a future ambassador for your brewery too.
The big problem for craft brewers is distribution. Reputation will help unlock distribution. If you solely use price to buy distribution then ultimately, it’s just a race to the bottom.
Without a decent profit service and quality will be sacrificed. Your brewery will last as long as you are willing to pump your savings in.
It’s been a hard time for breweries and only the ones with access to small pack are doing any business, but think of the pubs, no business at all.
I always judge pubs by their service and beer quality. I know other people have different criteria but for me service and beer quality.
I did notice after the first lockdown that cask beer in particular was in fine form wherever I went.
I put this down to restricted choice and improved throughput which I hope is a lesson landlord have learnt.
Cask beer above all others is a partnership between the landlord and the brewer, both have to do their jobs well for the beer to be in top form.
Both can also help each other, the landlord provides good feedback on the brewer’s beer, the brewer helps the landlord with training in how to manage their beer and dispense equipment.
The brewer should always remember that they will get the blame just as much as the landlord for poor beer.
The landlord should remember that a beer is not just about the price but also about what the customer wants.
I remember in my early days at Wilsons brewery, a particular pub could not get a head on the beer. I was part of a team dispatched to the pub to solve the problem.
After a fruitless time checking the beer at the pump and in the cellar, talking to the cellar staff ensuring they followed the proper process, we checked all the beer lines.
No answer.
Then the pub was due to open at lunchtime and the first pints were due to be served. We sat around despondently not knowing what to do.
Then as the first pints were being served a tray of hot pork pies appeared bearing the sign best pork pies in Manchester.
Everybody who bought a pint bought a pie. As the beer was being drunk and the pie eaten at the same time, the head and the pork fat mixed together and the head rapidly disappeared. We had the answer to our problem.
I learnt two important lessons from this, 1) how important it is to go and observe what is happening 2) for some problems the cure is worse than the problem
That day I enjoyed a pie and a pint of headless Great Northern Bitter for lunch.
