It's now on tap, but can licensees sell it to customers?
The Monument, Whitstable, Kent
Lessee Tony Haywood, describes his pub as very much a 'locals' pub, being off the beaten track and a £3 taxi ride out of the town. It also serves food, which accounts for around 30% of the business.
He says: 'Because of our situation, we have a nice core of people and don't get any of the scum coming up from the town centre. Many of our customers have been drinking here for years. We also get quite a few millionaires coming here.
'Our real ale drinkers are not worried about price, and prefer to buy into the name our top seller is London Pride, which is 5p more than our other real ales Adnams, 6X, and Spitfire.
Despite this, when the Morning Advertiser visited him, he was about to take London Pride off, and replace it with Deuchars a decision which surprises even the Deuchars' sales rep. However, Haywood believes selling Deuchars will give his pub a point of difference, with no other Whitstable pubs selling the ale. He agreed to trial it for a week without promotions, and then add a promotion such as free T-shirts, if needed.
The Unicorn, Canterbury, Kent
Licensee Lorenzo Carnevale-Maffe, runs a city-centre pub, which has a mix of customers. Although it is mainly the locals who drink the ales, there are a number of Camra (Campaign for Real Ale) guys who also visit the pub. He says: 'I forced my area manager to get Deuchars into the pub around three years ago now. Another local pub was stocking it and I said 'How dare he get it and I haven't?', so they immediately got it in for me! My customers had been hassling me to stock it.
Carnevale-Maffe's top sellers are Deuchars and Masterbrew, 'something the locals were brought up on, which I stock purely because of the local area.
He continues: 'My Masterbrew drinkers move on to Deuchars if I run out, and vice versa. It works pretty well, really.
Carnevale-Maffe says ensuring the quality of the ale he sells is one of the most important things, and that temperature can be a 'big battle for all ales, especially in the summer. He explains: 'In the past, we've had quality problems with London Pride, however, I think the constant quality of Deuchars is what makes it popular here no-one has ever complained about it.
The White Horse, Chilham, Kent
The pub is located in Chilham's market square, which licensee Don Helsdon proudly tells me is the film setting of several TV programmes, including Poirot, since it is one of the few remaining quintessential English villages with four roads leading up to the market place.
'For a wee pub, we get through an awful lot of real ales here. I would say they are doing as well as ever everybody drinks them here. I get people coming at all times of day people from the Continent often come in at around 9am, and then I have my regular 5pm drinkers, who come most days and stay for a couple of hours.
His most popular ale with the customers is Black Sheep, although he also sells Tangle Foot, Deuchars and Bombardier.
