CHANGES TO THE PUBS CODE
The Government have announced some proposed changes to the Pubs Code. The following press release (dated 22 November 2021) from CAMRA’s National Chairman, Nik Antona, is self-explanatory, “It is good to see that the Government is taking forward some changes to the Pubs Code that will bring tenants in England and Wales into the scope of the Code protections more swiftly and make the Market Rent Only process faster. However, the Government has missed an opportunity in not taking up Parallel Rent Assessments for prospective tied tenants. Sadly, the Pubs Code is not working as intended and for as long as this is allowed to continue, licensees will suffer, and consumers will suffer detriment through further price inflation and neglected pub stock. The changes that the Government is taking forward are not far reaching enough to fix this. With the second statutory review of the Code commencing next year, we will be pressing the Government to make fundamental reforms that will actually balance the relationship between tenants and their pub companies, as the legislation was intended to do.”
BRITISH GUILD OF BEER WRITERS
The BGBW’s annual awards were announced on 2 December. I’m pleased to report that John Hatch of Sambrook’s Brewery, the current holder of CAMRA London Region’s John Young Memorial Award, won the award for Brewer of the Year, sponsored by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA). John was nominated by Christine and John Cryne.
CAMRA had two winners in the ‘Best Beer Writer, Corporate Communications’ category. The winner was Alex Metcalf for the Learn & Discover programme and Laura Hadland was commended for her book Fifty Years of CAMRA.
The top prize, the Michael Jackson Gold Award for Beer Writer of the Year, went to the prominent beer writer Pete Brown, who has written a number of books for CAMRA.
ANY OLD CASKS?
CAMRA believes that cask beer is one of the greenest choices that drinkers can make because every element, from brewery to bar, can be reused. As part of its ‘Drink Greener’ campaign, CAMRA wants particularly to highlight the advantage of being able to reuse the traditional beer cask. It has therefore launched a hunt for the UK’s longest serving casks and is looking to find:
•the oldest cask still in circulation;
•the cask with the highest number of reuses;
•the cask with the highest number of refills each year;
•the cask with lowest number of ‘beer miles’ for each refill.
While casks can remain in use for decades, the reality is that they often go out of circulation far sooner than they ought to because of theft or misuse. There is not just an environmental cost here but also a financial one with brewers losing casks and kegs worth millions of pounds every year.
CAMRA has asked those brewers who want to get involved, and thereby promote their green credentials, to get in touch through social media. CAMRA’s National Chairman, Nik Antona, provided some examples, “There is innovative and exciting work happening across the brewing sector, creating new solutions to tackle the environmental impact of brewing but, like many traditional processes, cask beer is an inherently ‘green’ choice for consumers. For example, our friends at Broughton Ales have casks that have been in use since the 1950’s and they’re still going strong! Powderkeg Beer delivers some of its beer just 1.3 miles from brewery to bar, saving resources every time they do. Cask beer is the ultimate no-waste option, and we hope brewers will take this opportunity to not only celebrate this, but also help CAMRA highlight just how much potential there is for consumers to ‘Drink Greener’!”
TOP TEN CASK BEERS
In case you are wondering what goes into many of those casks, these are the best selling cask ales by volume, according to figures compiled by drinks industry analysts CGA and published in the Morning Advertiser. I suspect that none of you will be surprised. At the risk of stating the obvious, the greater your access to the market, the more beer you will sell.
•Sharp’s Doom Bar (Molson Coors)
•Greene King IPA (Green King)
•Timothy Taylor Landlord (Timothy Taylor)
•Fuller’s London Pride (Asahi)
•Green King Abbot Ale (Greene King)
•Wainwright (Marston’s)
•Marston’s Pedigree (Marston’s)
•St Austell Tribute Ale (St Austell)
•Caledonian Deuchars IPA (Heineken)
•Ruddles Best (Greene King)