tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post3405467971084903844..comments2024-03-29T08:01:51.705+00:00Comments on The Pub Curmudgeon: The Ale ShrineCurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-18773733011579022082012-04-16T12:42:36.382+01:002012-04-16T12:42:36.382+01:00"the appreciation of beer" as the core p..."the appreciation of beer" as the core purpose of pubs? <br /><br />That is always going to be case among those who are crap at darts, to gormless to like footie or unable to chat up lasses.Cooking Lagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02830924433230427226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-21692728541910294402012-04-14T00:47:03.956+01:002012-04-14T00:47:03.956+01:00I keep on having a pop at CamRA on the MA.
I get...I keep on having a pop at <a href="http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Forums/News-Article-Comments/CAMRA-launches-Community-Pubs-Month/%28offset%29/10" rel="nofollow">CamRA on the MA</a>. <br /><br />I get quite dissapointed that hardley anyone seems to want to stick up for them. <br /><br />The peanut gallery is 99% silent. The truth is I have a soft spot for CamRA and I wish it well but I think that it has lost perspective.Fredrik Eichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09985306468872702882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-24978827911590354412012-04-13T19:49:23.290+01:002012-04-13T19:49:23.290+01:00S&SM is Stockport & South Manchester CAMRA...S&SM is Stockport & South Manchester CAMRA. A branch that, unlike some others, still does put independent brewers' tied houses in the <i>Good Beer Guide</i>.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-46477738447979793602012-04-13T19:35:34.380+01:002012-04-13T19:35:34.380+01:00The point of this post was not to say this had bec...The point of this post was not to say this had become a general or indeed majority view in CAMRA, but to discuss in broader terms how a growing number of people, not necessarily members of CAMRA, had come to see "the appreciation of beer" as the core purpose of pubs.<br /><br />This, as set out in the quote from IanB, is the only explanation why people who profess to be champions of pubs can, otherwise to me incomprehensibly, support a policy that has proved to be disastrous for the pub trade and has also set a template for what is now being done to alcohol consumption in general.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-72586116587798175182012-04-13T13:54:51.495+01:002012-04-13T13:54:51.495+01:00Well, Martin, I know you're right, because I h...Well, Martin, I know you're right, because I have read such elitist nonsense myself, but you won't find it in my mag. When we mention pubs, we usually state what real ales were on at the time of the visit, but I regularly have articles about music in pubs (my own particular interest), and other pub activities when people write about them. The mag isn't perfect, but I try to keep it local, interesting and relevant. I googled S&SM, as I've no idea what it is: Surveillance and Spectrum Management came up.<br /><br />There is nothing wrong with a pub that serves only one or two beers getting into the GBG, even though you may not like the beer concerned. I don't in one instance locally and if it were up to me it wouldn't be in, but then it's not Nev's Beer Guide.Neville Grundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10923209266005338452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-24891834575258857372012-04-13T13:20:05.481+01:002012-04-13T13:20:05.481+01:00I read a lot of the local CAMRA newsletters (S&...I read a lot of the local CAMRA newsletters (S&SM being the best), and you DO get an impression that the active members on crawls spend 15 minutes per pub testing halves of the rarest beer. A relaxed hour over a pint of John Smiths, Courage or GK IPA and a game of darts is rarely mentioned.<br /><br />There are also a limited number of branches where basic locals serving only Hydes Original or Unicorn (or equivalent) regularly make the Beer Guide. Conversely a poorly kept micro beer is often the key driver for inclusion.<br /><br />However, I'm prepared to accept that those who stick to specialist beer pubs make up less than 10% of the branch membership.Martin, Cambridgenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-53067133975001808502012-04-13T09:04:02.239+01:002012-04-13T09:04:02.239+01:00Definitely not my experience of highly rated '...Definitely not my experience of highly rated 'CAMRA favoured' pubs in Liverpool...<br /><br />The Roscoe / Lion / Ship 'n Mitre / Belvidere / Grapes all sell great beer and have a fantastic friendly atmosphere.<br /><br />As for background music, it certainly can be a real pain, the same dull mainstream pap played too loud just gets in the way of group conversations and seriously detracts from having a laugh.<br /><br />It's hard to flirt when you're grinding your teeth over the same bloody coldplay song again...bornagainsthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06776517414202117663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-62092244217348174682012-04-12T19:12:22.776+01:002012-04-12T19:12:22.776+01:00What real pubs like The Albert in withington??What real pubs like The Albert in withington??Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-85889654466880798922012-04-12T14:27:59.034+01:002012-04-12T14:27:59.034+01:00As a local CAMRA magazine editor who gets around a...As a local CAMRA magazine editor who gets around a fair number of pubs in several towns, both socially and to do with the campaign, I don't recognise your description of CAMRA types, or that by your guest columnist. For most people I know in the campaign, beer drinking is an adjunct to some kind of social activity. Yes, there is the occasional prat in CAMRA, but there are prats everywhere, even among some people who post comments on beer blogs and quote their largely unjustifiable caricatures as though they were gospel.<br /><br />Anon: which particular disenfranchised majority do you belong to? As your stepdaughters' experiences, male CAMRA members constitute around 0.27% of the male population, therefore 99.73% of males in the UK don't belong to CAMRA. So your point is?Neville Grundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10923209266005338452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-20218695040740588522012-04-12T10:17:37.893+01:002012-04-12T10:17:37.893+01:00I grew up in a pub with a jukebox which was always...I grew up in a pub with a jukebox which was always on, except when there was live music; and my Dad's always played in pub bands, so I tend to feel much more at home in a pub with some tunes.<br /><br />Footage of pubs from the 1960s on the BFI "Shadows of Progress" documentary collection and "London in the Raw" makes them look like music venues with incidental beer.Baileyhttp://boakandbailey.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-82865416643952802362012-04-12T09:10:25.796+01:002012-04-12T09:10:25.796+01:00Not really my experience of CAMRA.Not really my experience of CAMRA.Edhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13844169940650659196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-59566468450045794412012-04-12T09:06:06.535+01:002012-04-12T09:06:06.535+01:00He shoots, he scores. Well put Mudge.
On a note, ...He shoots, he scores. Well put Mudge.<br /><br />On a note, can we put a sign up outside "ale shrines" so the rest of us know it's full of RATS and give it a wide berth?<br /><br />The group that wish to protect pubs don't really. Only the pubs they like. Only the pubs that fit a narrow criteria of acceptability.Cooking Lagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02830924433230427226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-75048103851799667342012-04-12T07:55:16.330+01:002012-04-12T07:55:16.330+01:00Well Mudgie, as Ricky Tomlinson might say "My...Well Mudgie, as Ricky Tomlinson might say "My Arse!"Tandlemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06804499573827044693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-252385582917744952012-04-12T02:00:28.099+01:002012-04-12T02:00:28.099+01:00I just learned a new word - "rumbustious"...I just learned a new word - "rumbustious". Never heard it over here in The Colonies.<br /><br />I like it. It rolls around the tongue. I'm going to encourage it to some extent in my pub.Brewers Union Local 180https://www.blogger.com/profile/05786517873195170945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-9467425618001730482012-04-11T23:11:36.922+01:002012-04-11T23:11:36.922+01:00"...one of their core reasons for existence, ...<i>"...one of their core reasons for existence, which is to provide a kind of rumbustious, slightly anarchic escape from the cares of the everyday world..."</i><br /><br />Which is why, I think, the government was happy to see their demise in the wake of the totally unjustified smoking ban. There is no place for "rumbustious" or "anarchic" in today's politically correct, propagandised society. Any behaviour deemed unacceptable by the ministers of the new high church of health is to be discouraged. We must regard our bodies as temples to this new religion, which eschews the pleasures of the flesh.nisakimannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-66361816505654844752012-04-11T21:06:31.498+01:002012-04-11T21:06:31.498+01:00Nice piece Mudgers,but it would seem the Camra cha...Nice piece Mudgers,but it would seem the Camra chappies still have their blinkers and earmuffs<br />onboard.<br />I raised the issue of the CAMRA<br />types with my two stepdaughters both married to normal men,they noted they did'nt know any woman <br />married to one of the Hopalongs.<br />Upon reflection, of all the frothers I have known ,they all were single loners,busily analysing cloudiness and bitterness.I do not criticise their fondness for fresh air but<br />forcing their likes on ALL others<br />shows them up for what they are,<br />suburban and rural Weasels.<br /><br />The disenfranchised majorityAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com