Welsh Assembly now gives grants to convert pubs to restaurants

Not content with dishing out £250,000 of our money to fake charity Alcohol Concern, the Welsh Assembly has now given a grant of £172,800 to a Mr Mafiz Ali to convert the former Old Rising Sun/Harlequin pub into an Indian restaurant. Just what we need in Newport, another restaurant! The City is full of third-rate Indian restaurants at the moment with hardly any customers, chucking this money at a new venture will do nothing to improve Newport. Still at least the local populations of stray cats and dogs are kept in order!
The Old Rising Sun was sold by Admiral Taverns in 2006 for £300,000 and closed shortly afterwards with the usual 'suspicious fire' taking place. Amazing that so many Newport pubs somehow catch fire just after they close! The spontaneous combustion of recently closed public houses is a fascinating subject which the local police should really take more interest in rather than harrassing innocent citizens.
The Welsh Assembly and their Assembly Beer Group do claim to support our breweries and pubs but with money being thrown at projects such as this you have to wonder where our politicians truly stand?

Lets see some Assembly money being put into supporting our pubs, not encouraging their destruction.

H/T to the South Wales Argus for this story, though they seem to have missed the bit about the Assembly wasting our money

Pen & Wig is Cardiff CAMRA Pub of the Year

Set in Cathays, the heart of student land, the Pen & Wig is the Cardiff CAMRA Pub of the Year 2010. This busy Mitchells and Butlers pub is housed in a Victorian three-storey building and features a choice of drinking areas, with wooden floors in one section and flagstones in another. At the front of the pub is a large Victorian window and an equally large old Bass brewery mirror is set to one side. Converted to a pub in 1994, the Pen & Wig manages to have an atmosphere about it that is often lacking in other pub company-owned pubs. To the rear is an outdoor drinking area, which in the summer months is a perfect sun trap. Throughout the year it is popular with smokers. The Pen and Wig still retains some of the original Victorian layout of the building, with dividing walls and doorways.
The large bar counter, well-finished in stained wood, offers two banks of five handpumps with regular real ales being Brains Bitter and Greene King IPA, together with guests from breweries such as Daleside in the Lake District and Caledonian in Scotland. There is a jukebox, although the music level is not too high and there are quiet areas where conversation can prevail. Pub games are also popular with a chalkboard menu of more than 10 choices behind the bar.
The extensive menu with grill nights on Wednesdays and curry nights on Thursdays caters for all tastes, with pub classics from £2.99 to slow-cooked belly pork with mash for £6.69. The dessert menu is also inviting, with a giant chocolate fudge cake and sticky toffee pudding on offer.
This is a great pub and worthy award-winner from the Campaign for Real Ale. Good beer and good food in a nice atmosphere, a welcome change from the city centre theme bars.

The Pen & Wig 

1 Park Grove

Cathays 

Cardiff 

CF14 3BJ

 
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Another Newport pub closure

This time its the turn of the Royal Albert in the Maindee area of the City. The Royal Albert has only recently closed as the windows are not yet boarded up and the 'suspicious fire' that somehow befalls closed pubs has not yet occured. The writing has been on the wall for ages with regards to this closure - over Christmas the pub had very little stock in and hence very few customers. With a nearby JD Chaverspoons this pub has had difficulty competing for years, not helped by the pub company that own the Royal Albert. Not too sure who does own it, pubcos very rarely wish to have their names displayed on their pubs. The pub dates back to at least 1872 and was a Hancocks and later a Welsh Brewers pub. Not sure if this one will reopen, as Maindee pubs seem to be opening and closing on a regular basis. The nearby Globe has reopened and although the Carpenters (or Carps as the sign now says) is still closed there are signs of some work going on in there.

UPDATE:
Lease for Royal Albert is on the market for £25k.

Welsh Assembly wastes money on fake charity

Fake charity Alcohol Concern have been splashing out on a new website with taxpayers money, this time from the Welsh Assembly who kindly gave them £250,000 last year to interfere in our lives.
The new bilingual campaign, entitled Drinkwise Wales features lots of interactive sections with the 'How Much Do You Drink' bit firmly on the front page. My answer is of course - "None of your bloody business you Nanny State Stasi employees so why don't you get the hell out of my life and stop trying to tell all of us how to run our lives". Unfortunately there is no section to put that in. Also only wine, lager, canned beer, whiskey and alcopops are mentioned on the page, leaving us real ale and cider drinkers alone. Come on now Alcohol Concern, if you are going to be preaching to the masses on how to run their lives, surely you need to be preaching to all of them?

Perhaps the worst bit of Nanny State pandering on this site is the reaction game at which you must be the farmer catching eggs from his chicken. No I'm not kidding and this pile of shit is payed for by us the taxpayer!

Nearly forgot to mention that this taxpayer-funded site is offering a competition to win £100 worth of Amazon vouchers. All you have to do is answer a few questions and give them your name, address and email address so that this fake charity can put you on their database. If you have the number on your personal ID drink entitlement card that would also be useful.

Anyway that's the Saturday rant over and I've not even read the Daily Mail yet, still if you want more on the puritanical neo-prohibitionists Alcohol Concern and their boss Don Shenker I suggest you head over to see Fido at the Don Shenker is a Chump site. NB the word 'chump' is used in the similar way that Peter the Pedarist used it earlier this year.

Artisan Brewery Beer Festival

Artisan Brewery in Pontcanna, Cardiff will be hosting one of their regular beer festivals this Saturday with live music and their 'barenaked beers' throughout the day.

Music:

Rainy And The Dust
Dave Elwyn
Evening Chorus
The Ped & Joe Show
Ruby Samba
Chris Summerill
Mathew Josheph
Tom Lewis & Friends
Tarrick Papworth

Artisan Brewing Co. 

183a Kings Rd 

Canton

 CF11 9DF

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Crofty Inn, Crofty, Gower

Above: The view from Crofty across salt marshes of the Lougher Estuary

Set amidst the salt marshes of the Lougher Estuary, the hamlet of Crofty is easily reached from the A484 or the Gower bus route from Swansea. The Crofty Inn is set back from the coast on a minor road but with plenty of car parking space available at the Inn, both at the front and at the rear of the building. This two-story whitewashed Victorian building first became a pub in 1858 and a list of the previous landlords is displayed on one of the walls in the bar.

This warn and friendly multi-roomed pub features a bar on the left hand side as you walk in and a lounge/dinning room to the right. The bar has a small 'cwtch' area with serving hatch as you walk in, leading to a larger back room and attractive, well-lit conservatory towards the rear. The bar area features both a pool table and darts board, but the place is big enough not to allow them to interfere with the important concern of getting to the modern, well lit bar. The bar top is impressive in itself, being made out of dark igneous rock, the cold stone surface a  complements the excellent cellar-temperature beer served here. At the rear of the building is a separate, wooden-built roofed smoking shelter which is heated on colder days and nights. A good idea by the considerate brewery which has proved popular with customers who smoke. There are also picnic tables outside for those who wish to enjoy the sun in this fantastic pub on the Gower Peninsular.

 The Crofty Inn is owned by Swansea-based Tomos Watkin Brewery and their beers, lagers and cider are prominent on the bar, with Cwrw Braf and Dark Mild on draught along with 1879 Lager and Taffy Apples Cider together with bottles of Cwrw Gaeaf, Magic Lagyr and OSB in bottles. The beers are all served in branded Tomos Watkin glasses, a nice touch from one of Wales' largest breweries. 

A popular local pub, the Crofty Inn is home to two football teams, Penclawdd AFC and Crofty Wanderers as well as being in the local pool and darts league. Photographs of old regulars in the pub are on the walls together with caricatures of the local football team. This pub really is the heart of the community, after all there is hardly anywhere left where the neighbours can gather together and meet each any longer, the Crofty Inn is able to do bring communities together, whether to support their local teams or to watch International matches on the large plasma television screens in the bar. Sky Sports is also available in the bar for the bigger, more important games.

The separate lounge/dining area is situated to the right as you enter the building, features plenty of seating and is popular at lunchtime, especially on Sundays when booking is recommended. Food is served 12-2.30, 6.30-8.30 Monday-Saturday apart from Tuesday and the menu is extensive with fish, steak, Indian, vegetarian and options for children, as well as a separate snack menu. If you are more interested in the beer, the Crofty Inn is open 12-12 Monday-Saturday and 12-11.30 Sunday. 

Crofty Inn

71 Pencaerfenni Lane

Crofty, Gower, Swansea

SA4 3SW

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Fox & Hounds, Risca

An afternoon out in the South Wales Valleys and on the way back popped into the Fox & Hounds in Risca. Set overlooking the village green and not far from the Monmouthshire canal, the Fox & Hounds features local cider, Blaengawney, on draught and bottles as well as beers from far away. Bottled ciders from Gwynt y Ddraig are also available. The beer today is from the Wooden Hand Brewery and is the 4.3% Buccaneer, a not too bad deep golden coloured ale. Quite a good little boozer, the Fox & Hounds is a popular pub that features live bands as well as darts and pool and a good jukebox with rock track popular on the playlist. Next beer on is RCH Steam Harvest.

Purple Moose brewery supports National Cask Ale Week

Purple Moose Brewery will be taking part in National Cask Ale Week for the first time this year, with special promotions and events involving pubs near the brewery.


There will be discounts available on Purple Moose beer as well as the opportunity to collect tokens which will be redeemable against Purple Moose merchandise at the brewery. Pubs involved include the Golden Fleece and the Union Inn, Tremadog, and the Station Inn and Spooner's Bar, Porthmadog.

In addition Purple Moose Brewery will be holding special tasting evenings where customers can chat to the brewers about the ingredients and try samples from each of their four beers. These will be held from 20.00-21.30, on Tuesday 30th March at Spooner's Bar, Porthmadog, and on Wednesday 31st March at the Golden Fleece, Tremadog.

Purple Moose Brewery has recently increased capacity with the arrival of new fermenting and conditioning tanks, almost doubling capacity.

Brains launch beer tapas

Brains goes continental for Cask Ale Week

Welsh brewer Brains is going continental. The company, famed for cask ale favourites such as Brains SA and Dark, will be launching ‘Beer Tapas’ ahead of National Cask Ale Week (29th March – 5th April) in a bid to encouragecustomers to try their beers that they might not always go for.

Featuring three third pint glasses in a branded wooden tray, Beer Tapas will be available throughout and beyond National Cask Ale Week in around 200 pubs, including over 100 Brains managed and tenanted houses.
Richard Davies, Sales and Marketing Director explains: “The beer tapas tray gives customers the opportunity to try three different cask ales but drink the equivalent of one pint. We think it’s a great way of encouraging customers to switch from other categories to try cask ale and also a good way of giving current cask drinkers greater variety of choice.”
The tray has been branded ‘Brains Beer’, and the glasses are etched with ‘Beer Tapas’. Richard Davies adds, “This is about growing the cask ale category, with an emphasis on trial and exploration. Naturally we want to encourage customers to try the full Brains range, but we also want to see them trying brands and styles they wouldn’t normally try.”

A list of participating Brains pubs is available on their website here
Brew wales will no doubt be trying Beer Tapas out at one of his favourite Cardiff haunts such as the Goat Major or the Cottage next week.

Labour Party Hates Drinkers

From Fido at the Lone Voice, reprinted in full it is that good

New Labour hates drinkers. A Facebook group opposing the Chancellor's 13% increase in cider duty has been launched within minutes of the Budget announcement. In fact two have been launched:
Leave Our Cider Alone
and
Cider Drinkers and Makers Say No!


The group, called, Leave Our Cider Alone! states, "Alistair Darling has proposed a tax duty increase of 10% "above inflation" on some cider from Sunday. Why? Is he not a cider lover? What have us cider drinkers done to Alistair Darling? Join the group and invite cider lovers."

The description ends with a plea: "We can't let this happen".

The new page was publicised on social networking site Twitter, attracting 320 new members almost straightaway.

Cidermakers Brothers Cider tweeted that duty on its Pear, Festival and Bittersweet Apple brands would go up by 13.13%. However, its Toffee Apple, Lemon and Strawberry flavoured drinks fit into the wine category, and escaped with a lower increase of only 5.13%.

Visit the site by clicking here.

CAMRA, chief executive Mike Benner

"Today’s budget is a charter for the large supermarkets who irresponsibly promote alcohol as a loss leader at the expense of our nation’s community pubs, real ale and responsible pub goers.

"CAMRA is totally at a loss in understanding how a Government that recognises the community value of pubs can impose such consistently draconian beer duty increases.

"Today’s duty increase has stamped down on the survival hopes of community pubs across the UK.

"This is a further tax raid on responsible beer drinkers and community pubs. It is however a tax raid that will yield little extra money for the Government as any extra beer duty will be outweighed by job losses, pub closures and reduced business taxes."



BBPA, chief executive Brigid Simmonds

"This latest beer tax hike piles on the misery for Britain's hard-pressed pubs and beer lovers. It is also a snub to voters, who by a majority of two to one wanted the Chancellor to scrap the beer tax escalator.

"Since 2008, beer tax has increased by an eye-watering 26 per cent – a £761 million tax rise - and we have seen the loss of 4,000 pubs and over 40,000 jobs up and down the country. Beer sales are down £650m in the last year alone.”

"The Chancellor’s claims that this is a Budget for investment and growth are hollow, considering he’s just hit the beer and pub sector with a £161 million tax rise.

"The extension of the tax escalator for an extra two years also means more pain. Recently, there had been some signs of improvement in our industry but this recovery will be threatened by Mr Darling's tax rise, which is putting hundreds more pubs and thousands more jobs at risk."

Fuller's, chairman Michael Turner

“Once again, by continuing with the duty escalator, the Chancellor has defied logic to heap a further tax burden on one of this country’s most valuable industries.

"This ill-advised policy will benefit no-one, as the consumer will pay more and the Treasury will receive less revenue from tax as a result.

"Pubs are closing at an alarming rate, beer sales are down an astonishing £650m and 24,000 jobs were lost in the sector over the last year. The last thing we need at this crucial time is more tax, which places beer and pubs at an even greater competitive disadvantage.

"British beer and the British pub are icons of this island and they are in desperate need of support from our politicians, whatever their political leaning. My hope now is that whoever holds the red box at the next budget will actually listen to the industry and the public at large and put an end to this destructive policy."


SIBA, chairman Keith Bott

"Today’s announcement is another example of the apparent disconnect between what this Government says about encouraging local, sustainable economies and what it does, which is having a disastrous effect on the pubs that local brewers need to thrive if they are to thrive themselves.

"The sooner it realises the link between the two and starts making policies that support local pubs and local brewers, rather than damaging them, the better.”

“The continuous percentage hikes in duties across the board fail to address the imperative to move consumers away from stronger alcohols with greater potential to cause harm, towards cask ale.

"Cask beer, with its relatively low ABV, is always consumed in the controlled, socially responsible environment of the pub, making it a much less damaging form of alcohol than cheap supermarket-bought spirits. “



Save the Pub Group, chair Greg Mulholland

"Whilst I welcome the moves made by Pub Minister John Healy last week to ensure a fair deal for pub tenants, the announcement in today’s budget will visit great harm on the industry.

“Rise after rise in duty completely undermines the attempts by the Government to prove that they are taking the plight of the pub industry in Britain seriously."


ALMR chief executive Nick Bish

“This is not a route map out of recession for pubs and bars. Each one of these employs about 10 people and together they contribute £9 billion a year in taxes. The Pubs Minister has drawn attention to the rate of pub closures and is proposing ways to stem the decline; but his colleague at the Treasury seems to go out of his way to reduce operators’ income and profitability.

“The Chancellor, having reinstated the new higher VAT rate in January has further racked up prices by increasing duty rates on beer, wines and spirits by 5% from Sunday. This will translate into 10p increases per pint at the pumps with equivalent premiums for wines and spirits and this will drive price-conscious customers away from pubs and accelerate the downward spiral of sales in a beleaguered sector.

“The opportunity for pubs to be recognised as the best and safest places for responsible consumption has again been missed. Supermarkets will force suppliers to absorb the duty increases and thus increase the differential between the on and off trade. Minimum pricing is controversial and maybe illegal, but a ban on below-cost selling is in the gift of the government now.”

.

Darling invokes wrath of cidermakers

In the last few gasps of this fag-end Government, the hopeless Chancellor of the Exchequer and badger lookalike Alaistair Darling presented what will hopefully be the last Labour Budget for a very long time. Not content with the 4000 pub closures we have seen in the last two years, the champagne-socialist Darling further increased the duty on alcohol, with a 10% + inflation duty incrase on cider. Yes, that's correct, on that most traditional of British drinks that is still produced in traditional manners will now see the price increase from Sunday. Not content with being banned from the majority of pubs in the UK in previous years, darling now seems content to being banned from all cider farms in the UK as well.


Needless to say, cidermakers are not too happy about this and a few expletives were mentioned when Brew Wales spoke to some of them earlier today. Denis Gwatkin of Gwatkin Cider said, "This tax rise will hit us all, from the pickers, the growers, the medium-sized producers such as myself right up to the big producers such as Bulmers and Westons. having already ruined the pub trade, the Government now wants to ruin the producers". Denis also went on to call the Chancellor a "Fing bastard" a statement many of us are agreeing with today.

LABOUR TO BE EXTERMINATED AT ELECTION

Denis and friend extend a warm welcome to Alaistair Darling should he happen to visit Abbey Dore in the future

Meanwhile in Wales, Bill George of Gwynt Y Ddraig Cider, Wales' largest producer of craft ciders and perry said, "This tax on cider is a very short-sighted view, we contribute over £100,000 a year to the economy in duty and now the champagne-socialist Darling wants customers to pay a higher price for our products just so that Members of Parliament can have another plasma TV screen on expenses. This budget is doing nothing for the economy or for businesses in this recession".

Other comments from cidermakers today described Alaistar Darling as "a dirty whore", "scumbag" etc.

So well done Darling, that's the rural vote well and truly in the bag. Now piss off back to Jockland and never screw up our country again.

Purple Moose Easter Ale

From Drop Box

Current Champion Beer of Wales brewers, Purple Moose have launched a new beer, their 3.9% chestnut-coloured ale Cwrw'r Pasg / Easter Ale, described as an easy drinking chestnut session bitter with a fruity hop finish.

A delivery of a non-beer related item occured recently, Brewery boss Lawrence and his wife Jenni Washington have announced the bith of their son Edward Gordon Washington and the Mŵs Bach or Little Moose brewed to celebrate the birth was a fast seller in the local pubs who sold it. Congratulations to Lawrence and Jenni on the birth of the Little Moose!

Welsh Assembly Members highlight pub closures in Newport

From Brew Wales

Above: Pictured outside the former Corporation pub in Newport are, left to right, Nick Ramsey AM, Dawn Parry (Conservative Parlimentary Candidate for Newport East) and leader of the Conservatives in the Welsh Assembly, Nick Bourne AM. 

The list of pubs closed since Labour came to power is a large one, with Newport losing more pubs than Cardiff since 1997. Brew Wales have previously highlighted the loses here and more recently here and although recently we have seen a few reopenings, the Engineers in Baneswell and the Carpenters Arms in High Street, the trend is still downward with the Corporation Hotel being given change of use by the local council only last week.

Joint-Chair of the Welsh Assembly Beer Group and Conservative leader in the Welsh Assembly, Nick Bourne AM, today joined up with fellow Assembly Member Nick Ramsey and Newport East Conservative Parliamentary Prospective Candidate Dawn Parry to highlight the pub closure epeidemic that has hit Newport with 45 pub closures in thirteen years of Labour Government.

According to Newport East Conservative PPC Dawn Parry, "The pub is at the heart of the community, when that is gone where are people going to meet? Drinking in a pub is more sociable than drinking at home and we have seen a loss to the communities of Newport East of fantastic old pubs that will never be rebuilt and never open again as pubs. We have seen the destruction of our communities over the past 13 years with pubs and post offices closing in the constituency and the forthcoming general election is a chance for change for the people of Newport"

Elsewhere today, Shadow Communities and Local Government minister, Caroline Spelman said: “Under Labour there has been a surge in alcohol-fuelled violence in our high streets, while local community pubs go to the wall.

“Conservatives will stand up for local community pubs and give residents new rights to protect them, whilst giving police and councils strong powers to tackle the binge drinking violence that ruins our towns at night.”

The Tories also highlighted figures showing there had been a net closure of 3,500 pubs across England since Labour came to power.

Whereas Newport, Cardiff and Monmouthshire have lost around 150 pubs since 1997.

Another Newport pub closure

That's the end of the Corporation, more lately known as just the Corpa, as Newport City Council has granted planning permission for it to be changed into flats. The pub closed late last year and suffered a "suspicious fire" just after new owners had bought the pub from some Pubco. Situated on the corner of Corporation Road and Cromwell Road, the Corpa had a good catchment area but years of neglet by both the brewery who owned this building and the later pub co took its toll. The Corporation was built in 1898 by Hancocks Brewery and featured all the modcons of a late nineteenth century pub, including a skittle alley that was in use until quite recently. The Corpa is currently derelict and joins the nearby King and Black Horse pubs in the sad state of Newport pubs that have closed under this Government.

The Rake

Well worth popping into this pub in Borough Market. Three real ales on draught, 7 on keg and loads in bottles 130 different beers in total. On the Whitstable Brewery East India Pale Ale at the moment, a 4.1% light coloured thirst quenching ale. Now the only problem is which beer to go for next?