Fun Free Zone : a response

OK, I'm in a vaguely mischievous mood today. I read a blog post here about pubs not showing the world cup being smug for not doing so, here's a response...
My pub does not show sport, my pub is not ever going to show sport, the worst thing you could do as a manager of The Rake is put lots of over-testosteroned males in a very small place and make them watch England play tournament football. I would have no bar by the end of it!
I am in somewhat of a quandary though because whilst I support the England team and their quest to win(in my lifetime) the biggest prize in football I'm also acutely aware that my bar has done better without the football being on every day. Personally I like football, I follow it(sort of) and I have a team that I support but I do have an issue with football and pubs sometimes. The issue in Southwark and indeed a lot of other places around Britain, is that it brings the lowest common denominator into your pub, the lowest common denominator being an overtly tribal group of people that don't understand the word no and have to wear gloves to prevent their knuckles being ruined by the ground. Having had one publican assaulted in Borough in the last two days, frankly the world cup can shove itself where the sun don't shine.
There is an argument that I subscribe to, which is, if a pub doesn't show football all year round, why, just because it's a world cup should they 'have' to for one month of the year?
There are reasons that these pubs don't show sport during the rest of the year, usually it's because they 1) run a food led business, 2) have establishments that aren't able to cope with sport being shown, or 3) They have a speciality which doesn't really fit around sport.
We at The Rake are in 2 of those 3 categories, we are too small to show the world cup and we have a speciality that doesn't really fit with the world cup and this area.
There is something very cynical about pubs getting TV's in after losing a bit of money on the first couple of games of the world cup and then deciding to cash in on the spectacle. Some of these places NEVER show sport usually, and you can tell, far from creating an atmosphere that people can enjoy with each other, they don't have a clue how to deal with the crowds and therefore get security staff in who more often than not(whilst not causing the trouble) give an air of 'fuck with me and you're out!'
Someone please tell me WHY I, as a publican, should veer so far away from my normal offer, pissing off my regulars in the process and 'conforming' for the lowest common denominator just to make a few extra cynical quid?
I'm not saying that all pubs should not show the football, when pubs do it well there is an atmosphere that is created in a pub of camaraderie, friendship and most of the time(when it comes to the home nations) shared despair but far from being a 'fun-free zone' The Rake is making new customers, and for the record, YES, whilst England games are on we are deathly quiet, only to be over-run by pissed fuckwits after the game, does anyone want to tell me THAT's worth it? What people need to realise is that diversity is key here, I do not cater for football fans as most of my competitors do in some form or other but not one of my regulars would want me to either. This apparently makes us/me devoid of fun to which I say, fuck you, I know what my 'real' customers want, that's good beer, that's new beer, it is NOT sweaty football louts looking for a fight because England have lost to the Germans on fucking penalties again!
I would not say that we're smug for not showing the football, I would say we're sticking to what we're good at, which is selling beer, good beer and lots of it.
Anyway that's enough of my argumental rant for today, it's time to sit back and watch the footie at home with a couple of good beers and the company of a beautiful woman.

Morning has Broken

It's 3.01am and I stir, I am awake, I'm starting to get excited, this morning I am taking delivery of Dave Bailey's Hardknott beers.
I get up and make myself a pint of orange squash, I have every intention of getting a couple more hours kip before heading off to work at 5.30. I go back to bed.
Next to me my wife is tossing and turning, she is too hot, the flat is too hot, I drain the liquid in my glass and try and get to sleep....
I can't, I start thinking about the day ahead and my mind starts racing, after taking delivery of the beers I have to get over to The White Horse in Parsons Green with some coupler heads, then I have an errand to run for Lucille and I think about the journey.
I have not had anywhere near enough sleep.
I hear the first bird song of the day and think...Shut up you little bastard!

Budget : er..so what happened there then?

Ok, not that I'm unhappy to see that duty didn't rise but that was a bit unexpected. Every single time there's a budget announcement beer duty seems to rise, not this time. This time it's just VAT in January so beer has been ignored, for now. Sneakily they've left the duty escalator in place so duty will rise over the next few years and the Chancellor has said that he would look at taxes on the products that are the main causes of binge drinking again in the autumn(so, we shall see what he means by that later then).
Still 2.5% VAT rise does seem to be a bit harsh again, the ConDem 'love-in' government has been vociferous in it's claims that the country's finances are in the worst shape ever but isn't there always massive debt?
Anyway, cider producers have also had their 10% increase reduced(amount to be confirmed later)so it's not good news but it could have been worse.
I still hate all politicians though, Wankers.

Beerymoon Part Six

Back onto this particular tangent before I completely forget where I was! There are two more places I really want to tell you guys about.
First it's Alembic, it's owned by the same people who own Magnolia and it's also on Haight (Golden Gate Park end). We'd had a wander around Golden Gate Park, been into the De Young museum, wandered around there seen loads of interesting pieces...(impressionism sucks, sorry but it's true) and were ready for lunch, that's a bit of an understatement, I was starving, hot and gasping for a beer!
We knew about this place but hadn't seen it on the way so we went hunting, it's a long thin bar so if you blink you'll miss it from outside, inside, whilst long and thin it has high(almost cavernous) ceilings and is slightly more decorated than Magnolia but then it's touted as a cocktail bar. To me it was just a bar and a very good one at that, the service was, as always in America, flawless, the menu was delightful and the beers were amazing.
We sat down, ordered a couple of Kalifornia Kolsch's which were superb, just what we needed after being roasted in the Californian heat outside. We got given the menu's which we perused and I went for Crispy Pork Belly with Scallops with Corn Puree, English Peas, Trumpet Mushroom and Black Garlic Jus. This cost me $20 and it was well worth it, presentation was spot on, and the portion size wasn't...er...American.
So after we finished the meal I was in the mood for more beer and I wanted something Hoppy as Hell(what a surprise! I hear you shout) and since there wasn't really anything on tap like that the waitress recommended Stone Ruination to which I cried out for joy! She brought out a LARGE bottle which I finished myself (Yes I am THAT much of an alcoholic). She seemed surprised that we could get good American beers over here, I guess the preconception that America does shit beer can be turned around the other way from that side of the Atlantic, anyway I digress, when I told her I ran a beer bar in London she offered us tasters of a couple of things which were just fantastic, firstly I tried the Firestone Walker Solace, a wheat beer that's really refreshing and drinkable but that's really all I remember about it.
The second taster was one from Moonlight and it was called Uncle Svensson, NO HOPS in this beer but instead replaced with CEDAR! Very strange but amazing nonetheless.
The Alembic is a must stop for anyone who is passionate about beer, food, cocktails and service, it's all encompassing friendliness ensures that we'll be back next time!
One more to come.

Beer & Cricket, Why Not?

I've just read a blog on the Reluctant Scooper page and felt I had to make a point.
It's generally accepted that apart from a couple of counties there is a genuine lack of decent ale at Cricket Stadia around the country.
The point I wanted to make is sponsorship notwithstanding why don't the cricket lovers amongst the twissuppers try to persuade one of the counties to put on a real ale festival, or better still organise one ourselves? Even those who don't like cricket would enjoy a beer festival and it's not like we don't have contacts!
Any thoughts?

School of Hardknotts

Awful Pun aside you can read about the details of a very exciting night right here.

hope to see you on the 28th June from 4pm!

AB:02

Invited I was and along I went. I had never been to Cask bar and Kitchen before and had only seen a dodgy old photo of it so wasn't sure what to expect considering the hype that this pub is getting at the moment.
Very smart, the old woodwork has been repainted in a nice soothing pastel green and they have two rather large beer fridges full of tasty treats from around the world which look like they've come straight out of Beer merchants range but £35 for a 500ml bottle of beer? no thanks, they might have trouble selling that one.
Anyway, for a tuesday night it was quite busy, there were the Ratebeer crew hanging around the bar waiting for their chance to rate the new Abstrakt 02, there were regular Cask customers, an influential beer writer and a couple of beery bar managers all here for the beer!
The excitement was almost tangible and when Richard McClelland got up and rang the bell for everyone's attention he certainly got it! His loud and witty introduction captivated everyone and so when he finished the rush for the bar was quite a sight to behold.
The beer? Originally advertised at 16% abv, it's now more like 18% according to Magic Dog himself. The style is a triple dry hopped imperial red ale, James and Martin have both said that this beer will be much better once it's been aged for at least another year so why they chose to launch it now was anyone's guess.
It could have used an extra bit of ageing because whilst the beer had tonnes of flavour, it seemed a wee bit thin and you could really taste the alcohol too I remember I said if I had a lighter I could have taken out half of Ratebeer!(Not that I want to).
Given another year this beer will be abstraktlutely(sorry, couldn't resist) superb, I'm actually going to buy a bottle and give it the age it needs before opening it in a year or so then repost about it, see how it is. Watch this space!
Anyway, busy day today. Hoovering awaits!