Pubs and beer sales are under pressure. But a Government sponsored Licensing Task Force may be about to come to the rescue. It is making a number of key recommendations: an extension of Opening Times and easing procedure; an extension if not reform of Business Rate Relief for pubs; employment incentives to offset the National Living Wage costs; and a review of Excise Duty for cask ale. The importance of the pub as a community space is a message that politicians, at last, seem to suddenly understand. It is unlikely any of this will happen overnight, but it is something to hold out for, nonetheless.
The real beneficiaries of all this should be the independent pubs and Craft Breweries. The combined offering from these establishments is what really underwrites our visit to the pub in the 21st century, and a hark back to how it used to be 70 years ago. Back then, when touring the country, you could almost name the county from the name of the brewery on the pub sign. Those were the days when Yorkshire Beers and Devonshire Ales were individually much eulogised by writers and broadcasters, never mind those with a pint glass in their hand. From the carefully balanced brewing process to the nuanced flavours and aromas, beer from our Craft Breweries remains a sophisticated beverage on a par with fine wine, offering a unique sensory experience. Brewers could even add a little drop more if they liked to talk about ‘terroir’.
The famous “Waterford Experiment”, the short history of an Irish Whiskey Distillery, captured the eyes and ears of whisky aficionados all round the world when they focused on ‘terroir’. At Waterford, they decided to let the barley, and where it came from, drive the flavour of the spirit. Thus each farm, and even each barley crop, became a single expression. This commanded extraordinary demand, both from individual distributors, and even different countries. In what looks like a classic case of over-trading the enterprise sadly failed, but it made a resounding point.
The barley and ‘terroir’ does matter. They can make subtle but distinctive differences to beer. At Warminster Maltings, we began pointing this out nearly 20 years ago, but with a limited response. However today we are helping a number of brewers to achieve this. It’s a ‘unique selling point’ against which larger breweries cannot compete. It does, of course, need promoting and advertising. But when your brewery name is not on the pub sign, it could be another way of ensuring it is, at least, in the glass!
