CAMRA
CAMRA are having a meeting in our back room tonight. The staff are under strict instructions to pour their beer flat, with absolutely no head, and I've asked my regulars to pretend to be working class. If we don't tick those boxes, I'll probably be told my pub isn't up to scratch.
I think the meeting is of the Great British Beer Festival organising committee. To be fair, the Earl's Court event is about the only CAMRA gig I have any time for. I attended in both 2007 and 2008 and plan to do so again this year.
25 comments:
Think its the GBBF publicity lot so expect some stella drinking HQ staff along
I don't sell Stella so they'll have to make do with Staropramen or Budvar...
WTF is happening to you STONCH?.
Camra holding meetings in your pub, next you will be telling us how you truly enjoy Wetherspoons and now fancy women.
Publish this i dare you.!
I didn't accept your dare. I've just turned off comment moderation, so that angry people in the North West of England can vent their spleen here all they like.
(In case you're wondering why I reference NW England, it's because almost all of the hateful comments I get seem to come from there, judging by IP addresses. Must be something to do with the rain.)
They're DAMP, they're PISSED OFF, and it's YOUR FAULT.
Apparently.
I'll have nothing said against the GBBF publicity people.
Back in the day we had a very nice deal - I gave 'em free publicity on the telly and they gave me drinking vouchers.
But then I was a tart and very easily bought.
The GBBF publicity committee, not the organising committee. And yes, we noticed you lurking - and the flat beer...
You must have been in the wrong pub, there's no flat beer in my gaff! Indeed, I noticed a couple of you asking for daft "take it to the top" top-ups on perfectly well-poured pints, with a proper head due to natural condition. ;-)
Now see, if you had those oversized pint glasses with the lines you could have kept them happy! Speaking of which, who did you tick off to get left out of the 2009 Good Beer Guide?
Evan, I've only been at the pub for a year, and it was only at the back end of 2008 that I got the beer situation sorted out to my liking. So I wouldn't have expected to have been included in this year's Good Beer Guide, as (presumably) the field work is carried out over a certain period of time and was done some time ago.
[Or maybe I'm wrong, and Roger Protz overheard me taking the piss out of his Inspector Gadget outfit and has vowed never to include me.]
Ha ha.. that was funny!
I'm on that committee. Why was I not there ? Change of email address meant no notice was received. Oops ! No harm done. I guess GBBF publicity will still happen :-) I'll have to drop in some other time. Steve
Well OK, the B&T wasn't *completely* flat... (-;
(It was excellent.)
Just to throw the cat among the pigeons, I love it when certain people ask for a taster of several different ales, and then ask for the glass to be filled to the very brim. Most of the top-up spills onto the bar in any case, and we have to wipe it up.
So, BryanB, is there anything you can report about plans to publicise this year's GBBF? Will you be doing ads on the Tube again? I remember thinking they were very effective last year.
I really do think the Earl's Court event is the most important thing CAMRA does (for Londonders, certainly). The fact it's disliked by so many of the usual suspects is nothing less than an accolade!
Cornubia - there's chancers everywhere. I've not had it happen for ages now, but if I'm behind the bar at a beer festival and someone tries getting a pint of samples, they get firmly encouraged to make a decision after about their 3rd try... (-:
I'm not a CAMRA staffer, just a volunteer helper-outerer, so it's not really my place to say what advertising is planned. I'm pretty sure there will be some, though. (-:
At least with Earl's Court's high ceiling you don't asphyxiate on bumgas. I assume it's No Smoking on the upper deck?
I didn't explain myslef properly. It's the irony of people insistant that they are not ripped off by nasty landlords, so they demand a full pint*, but expect tasters for free.
*even though the law says otherwise.
Here goes another "TWITTER" rant.3rd try Bollocks, oversized glasses pish. Just drink the the kin ale and have done with it.
Wow, had no idea you only been at this for such a short time...looks like you have yourself quite the following already. Inspector Gadget...haha
I'm a CAMRA member in the the North West and have no time for the 'take it to the top' campaign. As Jeff says, a properly conditioned pint will have a decent head, especially if served through a sparkler -:). If pubs want to use oversized glasses fine but I'm not really bothered by ones that don't if it means a proper head on the pint rather than flat beer.
Cornubia, the law on this is incredibly vague, there is no set ratio for liquid to head. I think it just says a 'reasonable amount' leaving it wide open to varying interpretations.
Matt - that's your choice, of course. My preference though is to drink with my tongue and nose, not my eyes. (-;
Olympia was better
Missed the meeting, also missed a recent birthday party in the pub. Will have to get to the Gunmakers when in London for GBBF.
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