Booze news2020-06-08T10:57:13+00:00

BOOZE NEWS

Money down the drain: pubs forced to throw away beer

May 22nd, 2020|

LOCKED down pubs have been forced to pour 70 million pints of beer down the drain.

According to figures released by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) 47,000 publicans have faced the “heartbreaking” task of destroying 70m pints of beer nationwide, enough to fill nearly 16 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Simon Vanderbelt, a publican, had never tipped a full barrel of perfectly drinkable beer down the drain before Covid-19 struck.

Vanderbilt’s micropub and distillery, the Little Taproom on Aigburth Road in south Liverpool, had only been open a week when pubs were ordered to shut down with hundreds of pints still untouched.

“It was tragic, quite a surreal moment,” said Vanderbelt. “It was literally a case of pouring it down the drain. Usually when you get rid of the sludge at the bottom of the barrel it takes about 30 seconds but a barrel of real ale has 72 pints in each one. You’re probably standing there for about 10 minutes or so.”

The industry has been knocked sideways by lockdown restrictions that have put pubs out of action for more than three months – and potentially far longer – with nearly half now fearing they could be closed for good.

However, some pubs and brewers have found other uses for their ales, supplying it as feed for livestock or for anaerobic digestion machines that make fertiliser.

But the BBPA said unusable beer and the loss of sales due to the lockdown had had a “devastating” impact.

Berlin’s bars are back in business

May 22nd, 2020|

By Allan Hall in Berlin
LIFE as we knew it began again in the German capital at midday on May 15 with the re-opening of cafes and restaurants shutdown by the Covid 19 pandemic some seven weeks previously.
Topers of every description poured – pardon the pun – to their watering holes for the ambrosial taste of draught beer that they had almost forgotten.
But not all pubs are created equal under German law.  The lockdown relaxation applies only to premises serving food.  The hole-in-the-wall kneipes across the country remain shuttered.
So do sports bars; the fear among the authorities is too much amber nectar will decrease social-distancing discipline leading to breaches of the 1.5 metre sterile zone required now in all drinking and dining emporia allowed to open.
 Guests are now required to disinfect their hands before they take a seat, and sit well apart, including at bar stools. Buffets are also forbidden but the bar-restaurants can stay open from 6 am to 10 pm.
The Berlin Senate has recommended that outlets ask for contact information from dining guests in case there is a coronavirus infection but it is not mandatory.  But staff have to wear face masks.
To be fair, Berlin beer is not much to write home about.  The beers of Kindl and Schultheiss are insipid, industrial affairs that anyone with a palate for malted hops and barley would shun.
Luckily my local sells Tegernsee Helles, from the banks of the Tegern Lake in Bavaria, a wonderful 4.8 beer with a creamy head and splendid mouthfeel that never fails to hit the spot.
It was somewhat irritating to have to keep lifting and replacing one’s facemask to imbibe, yet a small price to pay for the pleasure of being able to exercise one’s right elbow again.  Prost!