Adnams Native Britten and more

A collaborative vlog with Phil from http://hopstercraftbeer.blogspot.co.uk/

It's time to cut tax for "On Sales"

It's time for me to get a little political about beer. They always say that there are several things you should not talk about when booze is in the mix; religion and politics being two, but it's time to break that rule and face up to the damaging tax regime facing our publicans and restauranteers.

In the UK pubs and bars have an annual turnover of £21 billion, that's quite a lot. It would be fair to say that they contribute a great deal to the economy. However, they are still closing at a record rate according to consumer groups such as CAMRA. The current and previous UK governments seem to have done very little to protect the precious British hospitality industry that we all know, love and use. Of course you could mention the Beer Duty Escalator scrapped by Mr Osbourne this year but I would argue that is too little, too late.

Picture the scene: large, corporate, clinical boxes- able to retail food at below market value in order to obtain a steady footfall of punters to sell more things to. On the other hand we have small and medium sized businesses who are seeing their peers closing doors all around and who have to try every day to raise standards and come up with new ideas to keep their customers coming back time and time again- no stack 'em high deals here! Which business do you think benefits from 0% VAT on the majority of products? The large, corporate, clinical boxes.... 'em I mean supermarkets.


 Its time to reduce VAT for pubs and restaurants. Customers buying food in pubs are forced to pay 20% VAT compared with 0% VAT for supermarkets, giving supermarkets a further advantage over and above the many they already have. I understand that people can't and do not want to eat out every night but when an estimated 600,000 jobs could be created with a VAT drop to 5% it is important that we make our politicians listen (ALMR, 2013). Last year, the pub and bar industry created 1 in every 8 new jobs created, we can't turn our noses up to that.


 France have tried it, and it meant a creation of 225,000 jobs in the first year alone. Mr Osbourne should sit up and take note. It is a campaign that the Scottish Government are already looking in to but we need action for the sake of our pubs and restaurants. The ALMR, Morning Advertiser and Jacques Borel Vat Club campaign are spearheading this campaign. Brains, Shepherd Neame, Fullers, Cains and JD Wetherspoon are just some of the names supporting this important campaign.


 Just think what a VAT drop could do for the hospitality industry, for the people who rely on it for their livelihood and for the community spirit that pubs can bring to our villages, towns and cities.

Elixir Minception audio review

Here is a first attempt at an audio review. This is for Elixir Brew Co's Minception 6.2% Fruit Mince Porter. Brewed with smoked malts, Irn-Bru, raisins, sultanas, currants, cranberries and citrus zest.

Adnams Solestar and Ginger review

Here is the latest Heavyhops video review- Adnams Solestar and Adnams Ginger

A glass of its own!

Firstly, sorry about the terrible glass/class pun! I've written about glassware before on this blog. I am not ashamed to admit that I think glassware is terribly important to drinking a high quality beer. A good glass won't make a terrible or off beer taste brilliant but when you use a good glass with a high quality beer I often find it easier to pick out individual flavours.

I was first introduced to high quality glassware at the 2012 European Beer Bloggers Conference where we had a short guide to glassware from the German company Spiegelau. I should make it clear at this point that I have not been paid by or asked by them to write about any of their products in the interest of blogging ethics. I am intrigued by one of their new products though.

The new IPA glass was developed with two giants of US Craft Brewing Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada.  It is quite honestly the first piece of glassware which I have ever considered 'pre-ordering'. The glass itself will not be available until May 2013 but Riedel (Spiegelau's parent company) have already started taking pre-orders.

I have to say that I am still slightly unconvinced by the aesthetics of the glass but having watched the following video explaining why the shape and various components of the glass were chosen, I will be getting myself a pair to enjoy hop forward IPA's from. I am sure that I will let you know how it compares to my current Spiegelau Lager/IPA glass in due course.

Thanks for reading!

Williams Brothers Impale IPA review

It,s been a while but here is a lovely shiny video review of Williams Brothers Impale IPA

Aldi Winter Beer Festival

As of today (Thursday 1st November) Aldi stores in Scotland are running a beer festival of all Scottish beers. I should point out in the interest of impartiality that I was sent some of the beers directly from Aldi to review. This doesn't take away from the fact that it is exciting to see more and more food retailers taking beer seriously.


The promotion will run until all the beers have sold out and there are 27 to choose from. Most of the beers are priced between £1.29 and £1.79, which I think is pretty fair for the beers on offer. Don't get me wrong not all of the beers exactly tickle my fancy and not all of them are that hard to get elsewhere, such as the Broughton beers, but it is still great to see a retailer taking in 27 beers for a once of festival.

The breweries taking part in the festival are- Barney's, Deeside, Broughton, Innis & Gunn, Caledonian, Cairngorm, Harviestoun, Colonsay, Inveralmond, Kelburn, Strathaven, Williams Brothers, The Isle of Arran Brewery, Tryst, Traditional Scottish Ales and Sulwath.

Aldi have also prepared one of their usual marketing magazines which details exact beers, prices and handy tasting notes.

I for one would like to see more and more retailers taking beer this seriously and giving smaller microbreweries a chance to get listed in national stores. I will be reviewing 6 of the beers that Aldi sent me during the course of the festival via the blog and YouTube reviews.

If you are near a Scottish Aldi store in the next few days/ week(s) I would go in and have a look and grab some bottles for the looming dark evenings.