Give us real Theakstons
I couldn't agree more with Roger Protz that the Theakston brothers (sadly minus Paul) need to break completely from having S&Nhave anything to do with brewing Theakstons beers (Morning Advertiser, 18 September). Theakston Best Bitter (sic) is one of the blandest, most boring beers in Britain. I'm a real ale drinker and I choose Guinness if Theaksons Best Bitter is the only ale on offer in a pub. I remember the first pint of Theakstons Best Bitter I ever drank. It was a glorious experience, in the De Grey Rooms in York. It was a massive hoppybitter that smacked the taste buds with vigour. I'll never forget it. It was a cult, highly-prized sought-after beer then. That was 30 years ago S&N has taken the ballsoff it. The best thing the Theakston brothers should do is find the old recipe books and start brewing real Theakstons Best Bitter. Take it away from Tyneside and, if they can't brew it in Masham, contract brew with another real ale brewer or brewers in North Yorkshire to regain its heritage. How about Black Sheep or Hambleton? Then re-launch it as the real thing, brewed in the real place. What a marketing coup that would be! I'd even buy a pint. If T&R Theakston is going back to being a family or regional brewer, it needs to produce beers as good as its compatriots and Britain's micros and regionals have never produced, as wide a rangeof superb tasting beers, of great variety, as they do now. It would be lovely if Paul and his brothers could kiss and make up you'd have a real force to be reckoned with then Black Sheep plus (real) Theakstons. What an offer! Tony Brookes The Head of Steam Manesty Leazes Lane Hexham Northumberland NE46 3AE Responsible licensing? I have noted with interest the recent articles in the Morning Advertiser concerning binge drinking and drink promotions. In my experience "happy hour" promotions tend to be found in pubs whilst "unlimited drink" promotions centre almost exclusively on late-night venues. The one thing in common to both is that they exist to attract customers purely on the basis of cheap drink. In my experience, human nature dictates that people will seek to take maximum advantage of these offers in making sure they get their money's worth, usually by drinking as much as possible. Our record of incidents for premises offering "unlimited drink" packages, in particular, shows a marked increase in drunkenness and drink-related disorder. Licensees of premises that operate Special Hours Certificates who offer "unlimited drink" promotions might consider the provisions of sections 77 and 81 (2) of the Licensing Act 1964. It appears to me, police could rightly view evidence of drink-related offences coupled with drinks promotions as grounds upon which to seek revocation of a certificate, ie, that persons resort to the premises primarily to drink. I fully support the concerns expressed by Eric Appleby, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, regarding difficulties in changing the binge drinking culture, when faced with the views expressed by Mark Hastings that the National Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy report is flawed in focusing on the bad side of the alcohol industry. I fully accept that preventing or limiting drinks promotions would not necessarily be the panacea to the question of binge drinking; the real answer in addressing and influencing customer behaviour lies in responsible management and complying with the provisions of the Licensing Act. There do, however, appear to be a number of practices that justify criticism and focus on the bad side of the industry. For example, how can promoting the sales of shots, chasers or "knock-backs" often by scantily dressed female staff floor-walking with a bandolier to customers who already have a pint, be defended by the industry as an example of responsible licensing? Surely this is an example of encouraging customers to binge drink, motivated purely by financially driven interests. I should add that these comments are personal views of my own and are not an official view or comment on behalf of Essex police. Kevin Doyland Divisional Licensing Officer Basildon Divisional Licensing Unit 14 London Road Wickford Essex SS12 0AN Oversized, but what a price I felt I had to write after reading the bizarre comments of Tony Harwood on the Schweppes dark ages (Morning Advertiser, 25 September). Firstly, I still have a snug bar in my premises and my eclectic group of IT people love it after work. From 5pm until 8pm or so it quite often fuels bottles of champagne and the like. So perhaps Mr Harwood would like to peek out from under his own rose-tinted glasses and look at the price that us licensees have to charge our poor customers for these oversized bottles of juice to maintain our GPs £2.20 or so, which then makes a vodka and orange around £3.80. It's no good saying to the customer that there's enough there for two, especially if the customer is driving and only wants one drink. Well done Schweppes. We all know that Hartridges is after a bigger turnover and forget the customer. So bye bye to all Hartridges product from the shelves and we will have to pay just a little more for the other brand but at least we keep our customers. Mr Angry Sussex (via email)
