Pub Bitch: Trophy thieves and FIFA get into World Cup spirit
Eyes on the prize
With the World Cup upon us it seems appropriate to use language that will be all too common over the next few weeks, so with that in mind staff at the Wiremill in Surrey have gone from being "over the moon, Brian" to "absolutely gutted". They triumphed at the recent Publican Awards by picking up the Jules Rimet trophy of the pub world - Pub of the Year - as well as the Freehouse of the Year gong. After an open-top bus parade through the streets of East Grinstead (surely some mistake. Ed) the team proudly displayed the trophy on the bar. That is until it got nicked, like that phantom bracelet in Bogota.
Understandably distraught, the pub's staff are appealing for its rightful return. Fingers are currently crossed that a mutt named Pickles might stumble across it in nearby undergrowth… if so, surely England are nailed on to win the World Cup, right?
Beer spooks
If one was being uncharitable — and let's face it, one rarely is — one might suggest that the UK's health lobby is a tad paranoid when it comes to alcohol retailing. It certainly seems to be overly suspicious of anything the pub and brewing trades do and there's little doubt it keeps a beady, one might say 'Shaw Taylor-esque', eye turned towards everything the industry gets up to. But they're not the only ones it seems. When I was chatting to beer aficionado Rupert Ponsonby last week about his latest venture, the wonderfully named Beer Genie website, he let slip that among the first visitors to the site was, bizarrely, the CIA. Yes, Virginia's finest. Exactly what the US spooks' interest was one can only imagine. Still, it's nice to know they are on top of things over there.
Face-off
Facebook is all about communication. Yet sometimes it's about more than students arranging debauched parties or people sharing photos of their kids with all and sundry. Steve Marquis, owner of the Blue Bell Inn in Halkyn, North Wales, last week used the 'wall' of the pub's Facebook page to register his disgust at Molson Coors' decision to sell its Home Draught product in supermarkets. And lo, 18 minutes later Steve Ellis, Molson Coors' sales director, replied, saying his company supported pubs but that "Home Draught is all about introducing more choice… we want to champion beer wherever it is consumed". The Blue Bell Inn's Steve replied in turn, arguing supermarkets were "quids in" whichever way you looked at it. Molson Coors' Steve replied again, offering to have a chat on the dog and bone. Who knows where this will all lead?
Creating a buzz pt II
Hot on the heels - wings? - of my recent piece on one of the largest wasp nests ever to be found in a pub's attic, I read last week of a swarm of bees harassing the customers of a pub in North London. According to local reports a cloud of 30,000 of the honey-gathering little blighters — and no, I've no idea how they counted them either — descended on patrons of the Easton pub who were having lunch in its garden. The bees had escaped their hive, built on the pub's roof by owner Zim Sutton, who amazingly managed to recapture the lot, eventually. "It was like a disaster movie," said one terrified witness. Apparently it's the swarming season for bees, when a new queen bee is crowned and the old one's turfed out onto the street, metaphorically speaking. If you've a bee hive near your establishment you've been warned…
Yellow card for Hooky?
This week's winning 'WTF?' story must surely be the revelation that FIFA's legal bods are investigating little ol' Oxfordshire brewer Hook Norton. It all centres around Hooky's limited edition summer beer Striker, which carries the strapline: "Brewed to celebrate the FIFA World Cup 2010." Apparently this seemingly innocuous line falls foul of FIFA's ferocious rules on branding. Turns out though, that affable Hooky MD James Clarke wasn't even aware there was a problem until he heard about the story from the media.
Let's just hope FIFA takes a sympathetic view of this oversight from Hooky, or some marketing person could be in trouble. Although we think question marks could still be raised over the amateur 1980s-style comic book footballer on the pumpclip. Jumpers for goalposts?
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