Well, that’s nearly the end of that. The below is a post from when I was trying to visit every Brewdog, amongst many other things, and I did a reasonable number.
They were a badly run company, frequently the staff were critical of management in a way that I didn’t experience with any other company. I didn’t lead any conversation on that, but team members often wanted to share their exasperation.
And, the Brewdog staff were nearly always full of enthusiasm, excitement and interest in what they were selling. Brewdog lost its hold on craft beer many years ago, instead offering an increasingly generic offering with prices that were above their competitors. But, I still liked Brewdog, they promoted some very good craft brewers and Neon Raptor were one company saying how useful they had been. They also promoted craft beer to a new audience and made some interesting beers themselves, although they became less decadent recently.
Having said that, I managed to walk out of Brewdog in Milton Keynes a few months ago as a staff member was busy eating pizza at the bar whilst serving in between bites. I have a pretty low bar on these things, but that was too much even for me.
Anyway, I shall miss Norwich Brewdog…….
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As my friend Des mentioned to me that I like ticking boxes on lists (I need to get out more), I thought I’d note (primarily for my own benefit, I can’t imagine more than two people in the world care) which Brewdog bars I’ve been to.
For the UK ones, if there’s a link then I’ve been there and if there isn’t, then I haven’t…. For the rest of the world, I’ve just listed where I’ve been as I can’t be bothered to write them all up. I still have a lot of these to visit, but my favourites so far are Cambridge, London Canary Wharf, London Seven Dials and London Brixton. The only that I haven’t really liked was the Brighton outlet.
There’s also the Brewdog Visa 2 which I got so confused about I decided not to even try and use.
I’m not saying that it’s worth claiming political asylum in Poland just because they have cans of Funky Fluid like this for the equivalent of £2 in Polish Lidl, but it did briefly cross my mind…. A formidable 12% beer which is an imperial rye baltic porter with toasted coconut and cocoa beans. In terms of the taste, this is one of the best beers that I’ve had and it’s smooth, creamy and hides its punchy ABV. A lingering flavour of coconut and dark chocolate, it’s really quite decadent. And only around £2….
This is a little sad, although I least I got to experience my first Great British Beer Festival this year. Difficult it to see it ever coming back now, but who knows…..
Dear Julian,
At Members’ Weekend earlier this year, the National Executive presented finances that painted a stark picture. As your Chairman I was open with you; we were facing significant challenges.
The National Executive has faced this head on, and we have taken decisive action. We will be making immediate changes to address the budget shortfalls we are facing, which are caused by a range of compounding issues.
Leading CAMRA is a privilege. I am responsible for safeguarding our future. This means that the Board and I must make difficult decisions, and sometimes deliver unwelcome news.
Sadly, this means I must tell you that:
The Great British Beer Festival and its Winter counterpart did not attract enough visitors to cover the cost of holding them, resulting in a substantial loss.
Our membership figures – like many other organisations – are simply not growing. The hard truth is we are unlikely to return to pre-2020 levels.
Our festivals are getting more expensive to hold, with fewer affordable venues.
The cost of running a membership organisation and business is also increasing.
As a result,we will not be holding either of our Great British Beer Festivals in 2026.
In the simplest of terms, we did not get enough people through the doors to cover costs such as hiring the venue, accommodation for volunteers and buying beer, cider and perry. We are exploring why these events made a loss and identifying lessons learned. Other CAMRA festivals will continue to be assessed through our usual processes to minimise the risk of loss.
The winter edition of BEER Magazine 2025 will only be available digitally. This will save a significant amount of money in the short term.
Alongside this, we are developing a new three-year strategy to get us back on course and we will review internal budgets.
We want to be the leading authority on campaigning for pubs, pints and people. But that comes with challenges.
Our activities will be leaner. We will be streamlined. We will be decisive on where we put our time and resources. We must sadly stop supporting the ‘nice to haves’ and instead focus on our key objectives.
This is in line with my vision for CAMRA that I set out at Members’ Weekend.
I talked about a need for us to remember our roots but also evolve if we are going to grow in our collective strength and voice.
I made it clear that we need to focus on the issues where our campaigning will have the most impact, recruit the most members and activate the most volunteers.
We all want CAMRA to be an effective campaigning organisation. I will need the support of branches to make sure that money is being spent on the right activities at branch level, and in line with our aims.
We have produced a set of FAQs to answer questions you may have.
While I hoped I would never need to send this message, my number one priority is seeing our Campaign survive and thrive. Our 50 plus year history must be protected and I am determined to see CAMRA continue for the next 50 years.
Doing nothing is not an option. If we do not act now, the stark reality is we will not exist in the future.
I know, like me, you are committed to CAMRA. I hope you understand that these changes are essential, and I hope I can count on you to help us through this challenging time.
I am confident that with these measures, the introduction of our new strategy, and your continued support, we will come through this difficult time with a renewed focus and purpose.
Whilst at the GBBF this week, I had chance to read some of the What’s Brewing, first published by CAMRA in the 1970s.
I’m not sure that CAMRA would use this sort of terminology today, actually telling people to avoid some pubs. The Queen’s at Great Corby has recently permanently closed, although the others are still trading in some form.
Deleted in error? That feels entirely sub-optimal for the Fox as Aspenden….
Although I understand the battle in the 1970s to avoid the generic keg rubbish being pumped out (note the pun there) by breweries, any pub managing to survive at all today is something to be applauded…..
My friend Simon mentioned last year about going to the London Craft Beer Festival, but I wondered if it was a bit expensive and so I didn’t get a ticket to join him. By chance, he mentioned last week that he knew someone selling a ticket at a much lower cost of £30, so I was there without much hesitation. Here’s the walk to Magazine, where this year’s event was being held.
There’s Susie and Simon, with the former’s efforts somehow getting us to the front of the queue. I hadn’t let myself get too excited about the event in case the ticket didn’t come to pass, but all was well and it’s fair to say that the excitement soon started when I had the wristband safely around my wrist.
Well, that’s exciting straight away.
The first beer of the day. The concept here is that all beers are free of charge and I won’t list here what I tried, but I did ensure that my Untappd remain updated for anyone who is interested.
We grabbed a table outside, but it soon became apparent that there was large amounts of seating, so this wasn’t an issue. Inside there were also fans and air conditioning, they didn’t want their beer drinkers over-heating, and I was happy to drink to that forward-thinking philosophy.
One of the two internal halls.
This was all so much bigger than I expected. There were some issues with the delayed opening where we left in the sun and that was sub-optimal, but once the event got going, it all felt well organised. There were maps dotted around of where all of the breweries were, but I’d need more than one afternoon to really visit every one that interested me.
I was impressed that there were no real queues at any of the brewery stands, you could get served nearly immediately.
There was a separate American beer bar and the list of options here was much wider than I had expected. As I’m not planning to visit the US for a while, this was an opportunity to tick some beers off.
One of the bar staff modelling a bottle of beer for my Untappd photo.
There was free water available of the sparkling and still options.
That path was what Liam and I walked on the Capital Challenge a few weeks ago…..
There’s Simon chatting away about Brazilian beer. I was pleased that the glasses were made of plastic, rather than, er, glass. So we had branded plastics, which means I could keep it without fear of it getting broken on the aircraft. Susie picked up a heap of free merchandise, which I’m merrily carrying around Portugal now, including baseball hats, t-shirts, lanyards and stickers.
I like a bit of Vault City, I should be visiting their new tap room later in the year.
A free ice cream and a beer slushie from Vault City which made me love them even more.
Simon wanted to go to the Vault City tasting, which was a marvellous idea, and this beer was handed around at the end of the session before.
One of the beers from the Vault City tasting.
Overall, I really enjoyed this evening and the atmosphere was informal and friendly throughout. There were no issues of anyone over-indulging, despite the large amount of free beer that was available. The organisation was better than I had expected, the scale of the event was broader than I had realised and the speed of service was faster than I had anticipated. I was very much surprised and delighted, so I think that I might just be back for next year’s event….
This article was published fifty years ago today in the Birmingham Post and there’s an element of this being a watershed in the evolution of British pubs. The distinction between the public bar and the lounge (or saloon bar) was being removed and women were being encouraged to visit pubs, although there was some considerable way to go on that at the time. It meant that prices were being standardised across the two areas of the pub, and being realistic, that usually meant a price increase.
John Gilbert, the Labour MP for Dudley, wasn’t best pleased by all accounts, saying:
“Some people are being forced to drink in places more like ladies’ boudoirs, when all they want is to drink a man’s drink in a man’s bar”.
He commented on the influx of plush furnishings, carpets, colour TVs and jukeboxes, suggesting that this was forcing up prices. And fair play on this, a decent pub even fifty years on doesn’t need plush furnishings or carpets, and it certainly doesn’t need a colour TV or jukebox. Gilbert also described himself as “modest drinker”, which is a phrase that I’d use about myself, he sounds a rather measured man.
I quite like the response from Watney Mann, who the article noted owned 6,500 pubs:
“There would be no point in a pub on Park Lane having a public bar, but down by the docks it would be a necessity”.
As an aside, Watney Mann were the brewery who produced Red Barrel, not a product that would ever be called a craft beer, let’s say that. Indeed, they were probably pushing it calling it a beer and there’s an interesting article elsewhere about that. But without breweries such as this, maybe there wouldn’t have been a CAMRA…..
So, perhaps there’s something about the democratisation of the pub here, the removal of the class barriers between the different sections of the pub. I’ve seen articles written about how locals would ensconce themselves in the public bar, meaning that visitors would be encouraged to use the lounge bar. And that wouldn’t play well with how pubs are marketing themselves today, which is to a wider audience and not just to a small bunch of locals.
I normally rail against change, especially when pubs, railways or crisps are concerned. But here, I think the right decision was made, a pub for the many, not the few…. As for John Gilbert, he was probably right that pubs didn’t need this wave of plush furnishings and maybe chains like Greene King even today could focus more on the beer than their pub interiors, but I’m not convinced that every pub needed a public bar. And the Government agreed, the letter that Gilbert sent to the then Home Secretary Reg Maudling was in vain, the dual bar set-up was coming to an end.
OK, before I start this, I’ll explain very clearly that I’m doing this to primarily remind myself of the best pubs that I visited in 2020, I don’t expect the Guardian to publish a story on it. It feels a bit self-aggrandising if I don’t mention that straight away.
Although having noted the entire irrelevance of this post before I’ve started, the wonderful Tony from the Hop and Vine did do this board last year. That encouraged me following my 2019 Pub of the Year post 🙂 And, I’ve revisited this marvellous pub in Hull this year and it’s just as good. But, my friend Nathan told me that the Hop and Vine couldn’t win my award every year and I suppose that he has a point. So, they were excluded in 2020, but anyone going to Hull must go there. And I’ll be back in 2021.
I’ve also had far fewer pub visits than expected this year due to the health situation that has engulfed the world, which has also made it more difficult for staff to engage and welcome customers in the same way. Although in some ways this has improved matters in terms of a staff member usually being there to welcome customers at the entrance to a pub.
What I am ideally looking for is a welcoming environment, an excellent beer selection and a desire to recommend the pub to others. The guiding principle is that if I was someone who had just moved into the local area and went to the pub, would I be really pleased with what I found?
On that basis,
So, after apologising to the Hop and Vine, my favourite pub (well, more a bar, but it doesn’t matter) is……
WINNER : GOOSE ISLAND
I’ve visited this bar four times this year, and for a pub in a busy area near to London Liverpool Street, it absolutely shines. It’s on-trend, it has intriguing beer options and everything feels professional. The staffing is also way above average, not only engaging and conversational in style, but they’re fiercely knowledgeable about beer. But, never to a point where they’ve made it exclusive or sneery, this bar welcomes people.
Above are the links to my four visits, with nothing negative to report on any of them. The staff’s enthusiasm for beer, the cleanliness of the location and the sheer beauty of some of the beers that they sell is rather a joy to behold. And, if someone goes in alone, they’re treated with just as much of a welcome as groups. This place understands customers in a way that such a busy venue shouldn’t perhaps find so easy. And, when I return to their home of Chicago, I look forwards to going to their brewery there.
And certainly for anyone nearby to London Liverpool Street, this is an essential place for anyone who likes beer to visit. So very lovely.
RUNNER-UPS (1 in Romania, 3 in Poland, 3 in the UK)
La 100 de Beri, Bucharest – this bar is located in Bucharest and my quick visit turned into two hours. The member of bar staff was clearly slightly sceptical about British drinking habits and perhaps with good cause from when I’ve seen British stag groups abroad. Once his initial scepticism cleared, he was engaging, conversational and very proud to show the sorts of beer that he had available. This was not a busy bar, so I was on my own with the staff member for much of the visit, but the environment was welcoming, quirky and without any intention to do so it was magically on-trend.
Hoppiness, Warsaw – this is the bar I’ve visited most in Warsaw, something of a cafe bar style with no shortage of excellent craft beers. The burgers are delicious, and the spicy option was certainly that to say the least. The welcome is polite, but I’ve just got a level of excitement when visiting here and their Facebook posts are a constant inspiration for me to return to Poland.
Hercules, Lambeth – this is a Fuller’s pub and it changed my mind about that brewery, which I thought had some rather generic pubs. The staff here were hugely proud of their beer options without my even initially asking, something I was very pleased to experience. Although I was the only customer in the pub during my lunch-time visit, there was still a comfortable atmosphere and the engagement from the staff lifted my spirits as they say…. And the beer selection was excellent, well above what I expected. I have no idea how this place isn’t in the Good Beer Guide.
Same Krafty Multitap, Warsaw – I’ve moderately reassessed this place on reflection to like it even more. In Warsaw’s Old Town and with a potential to be too touristy, the prices are a little higher, but the pizza was marvellous and the beer selection suitably intriguing. And the staff were engaging, with the pub having a bit of a community feel to it.
George and Dragon, Acton – this was one of the first pubs that I visited this year, with a rather quirky atmosphere, but still welcoming. There were certainly a range of styles in terms of the interior design, and this was at a time when I could explore the building as there was no virus and also no other customers. Staffing was friendly, the only slight issue was that I thought the beer was served just a little too cold and that impacted just slightly negatively on the flavour. But, nonetheless, I liked this pub a lot.
Pułapka, Gdansk – meaning ‘trap’ in Polish, I could think of far worse places to have to stay for a long time. A blackboard full of craft beer delights, an engaging service and a bar that I intend to return to when next in Gdansk.
Swiss Tap, Castleton – this pub had a community feel running through it and it was an interesting concept from the B&B to try something a little new. The service here was warm, welcoming and authentic, and as a bonus there were some marvellous food and drink products with Richard being very taken with the Snyder’s Pretzel Pieces.
Although anyone sensible would likely have a blog that concentrates on just one thing, it’s quite handy to be able to write about any drivel. On that vein I’ll shift over to food & drink issues, and this is a rather lovely little product from Pret. It contains orange, but to that is added turmeric, ginger and cayenne. It does give quite a kick, it’s an inventive product from Pret…..
