Further to the news on page 38 of the previous edition, this well known theatre pub has now gone \u2018free of tie\u2019 from its owners, Ei Group, with a \u2018Market Rent Only\u2019 agreement. Viv Barrett, one of the group of five who run the pub, told the Morning Advertiser, \u201cAll over Christmas I was like a giggly school girl every time I thought about it. It’s a liberating feeling, it’s like paying off your mortgage and you’ve suddenly achieved it.\u201d Viv is happy that the increase in rent is balanced out by what they no longer have to pay Ei Group for drinks and it gives them the option to put their support behind smaller breweries. They already have an agreement with East London Brewery (ELB) to have one of their beers available on rotation. As Viv explained, \u201cThose people need help with their business so it’s a really nice symbiotic relationship now rather than not being able to use these people in the way we want to do. It’s allowed us to build a local brand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is an important story because it shows that, despite\ntheir pub owning business (POB) being less than encouraging, determined\npublicans can still go free of tie. Viv made it clear that it had not been an\neasy process and her advice is to take external legal advice and look to fellow\npublicans for support. Hopefully the process will get easier as POBs begin to\nrealise that they cannot turn back the tide and that the Pubs Code Adjudicator\nwill be policing their compliance in negotiating fair terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can find Ye Olde Rose & Crown at 53-55 Hoe Street, Walthamstow,\n E17 4SA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NEWS FROM SHEPHERD NEAME<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Shep\u2019s are continuing with their Cask Club range of seasonal\nbeers into 2020. The first, for February, will be Crossfire, an English IPA at\n4.2% ABV. The beer features Ernest hops, which give it flavour notes of apricot\nand citrus fruit. This is the first time that Shep\u2019s have used this variety of\nhop, even though it was developed at the then East Malling Research Station,\nnot that far from Faversham. They are named after Professor Ernest Salmon who\nwas responsible for their initial cultivation. This was in the 1950s and they\ndid not come into general use because, as Stewart Tricker, Shep\u2019s Senior Brewer\nexplains, \u201cIt was not extensively developed due to the belief at the time that\nit had a strong American aroma. Following the changing tastes in beer styles\nand flavour profiles in recent years, however, this hop is now a perfect choice\nfor us to use. We are very excited to be creating a new beer with this historic\nhop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking ahead, the beers to come are, for March, a botanical\nbeer called \u2018Why can\u2019t we be Fronds\u2019, followed by \u2018Samuel Adams Blonde\nAmbition\u2019 in April and a honey ale, \u2018May Bee\u2019 in May. For more information, go\nto www.sncaskclub.co.uk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ONLY HERE FOR THE BEER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to VisitBritain, the official tourist agency, we\nare expecting 39.7 million tourists to visit to visit Great Britain\nin 2020. In particular, an increased flow from both the United States and China is expected. Tourism is\nforecast to contribute \u00a326.6 billion to our economy, an increase of 6.6% on\n2019. We all know how important the pub is to tourism. Apparently, going to a\npub is the third most popular activity for visitors from overseas after dining\nin restaurants and shopping. The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA)\nsummed it up in the Morning Advertiser, \u201cPubs are uniquely British and a key\npart of our culture, so it is no surprise they are popular with tourists.\nThey\u2019re also the perfect place to try both British beer and food, making them\nessential for any tourist wanting to get a taste of the UK.\u201d Let\u2019s hope\nthat tourists are welcomed, get what they are looking for and are not cynically\nexploited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n LET THE DOGS IN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This in some ways follows on from the issue of \u2018invisible\ndisabilities\u2019 which I mention on page 20. There are now a number of different\ntypes of assistance dog in addition to \u2018seeing eye\u2019 dogs. They are used by a\nvariety of people, including those with hearing loss, epilepsy, diabetes and\nphysical mobility problems, as well as the blind. Sadly, the Guide Dogs charity\nreports that in the year to April 2019, some 19% of assistance dog owners were\nrefused entry to pubs. I wonder if this was because the dog was supporting\nsomeone who wasn\u2019t obviously blind. In an effort to clarify the situation, the\nBBPA has issued a new information pack to licensees, pointing out primarily\nthat if they refuse entry to a person with an assistance dog when that person\nneeds that dog to help them access services in the same way a non-disabled\nperson would be able to, it may be counted as discrimination under the Equality\nAct 2010. Joel Young, campaigns officer at Guide Dogs, told the Morning\nAdvertiser, \u201cIt is great to see the BBPA taking proactive steps to raise\nawareness of the access rights assistance dog owners have under the Equality\nAct 2010 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Northern Ireland). We urge\nall publicans to review their policy relating to access for people with\nassistance dogs and to consider the different types of assistance dogs that may\nenter their establishment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The chief executive of the BBPA, Emma McClarkin, explained\nthat the guide would help licensees understand how to ensure their site was as\nwelcoming as possible, \u201cPubs are rightly known for being the heart of their\ncommunities, bringing people together under one roof. The hospitality of the\npub extends to people with disabilities too. As a sector, we must continue to\nbe as inclusive as we can be and highlight the accessibility of our facilities\nand their improvements. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it also makes\ngood business sense.\u201d I don\u2019t always agree with the BBPA but I can\u2019t fault\nthat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BREWDOG GOES ALCOHOL-FREE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On the subject of dogs . . . BrewDog have announced that they are opening their first bar selling only alcohol-free beer. The \u2018BrewDog AF Bar\u2019 opened on 6 January at The Bower, 211 Old Street, EC1V 9NR replacing the Draft House. It promises up to 15 taps of alcohol-free beer on draught and the food offering, as well as the usual burgers and wings, will include healthy specials and weekend brunch. For opening hours and further information, go here<\/a>. BrewDog are adding more alcohol-free beers to their core range. There will be a coffee stout called Wake Up Call plus an alcohol-free version of their existing New England IPA Hazy Jane called Hazy AF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NO POGONOPHOBIA HERE!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Congratulations to the Bumble Inn micropub in Peterborough, which has won the Beard Liberation Front\u2019s National Beard Friendly Pub of the Year award. This is the first time that the award has gone to a pub outside London. In case readers are wondering why we have the occasional \u2018News Extra\u2019 column, let me explain. Advertising and editorial content are compiled separately by John Galpin, our Advertisements Manager, and… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":731,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728\/revisions\/731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/image.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Compiled by Tony Hedger<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"