The Morning Advertiser hit the streets of London to visit a couple of London pubs to meet general manager AJ at Mc & Sons’ Borough pub on Union Street near London Bridge and Oisin Rogers at the Devonshire, near Piccadilly Circus, for a quick chat ahead of St Patrick’s Day.
Meanwhile, other operators also gave their opinions on the stouts they serve and what is pushing the boom in popularity of stouts.
AJ at Mc & Sons stated for every eight pints sold at the pub, six will be a stout – and it’s mostly Guinness.
Mc & Sons co-founder Johnny McElhinney said Guinness makes up 60% of sales at the group’s pubs – maybe as much as 70%.
He added: “It’s up nearly 40% in the past 12 months and I think it’s due to everybody splitting the G, Ed Sheeran, Kim Kardashian and Niall Horan from One Direction drinking stout, and the Devonshire has a lot to play with it plus our two pubs. We had to replace Guinness with our own nitro stout during the shortages and it was selling as much but people still want to drink Guinness.”
Pockets of real success
McElhinney added the split in wet and dry sales is 70:30 in favour of liquid and said Guinness was the biggest seller followed by Madri, Staropramen and real ale, respectively.
London Black from Anspach & Hobday is sold at the Queens Head opposite the Devonshire on Denman Street so there are choices when it comes to stout and it’s not just Guinness. Murphy’s and Guinness are sold at the Wheatsheaf on Stoney Street, Borough.
Another London favourite is Black Cab stout, which Fuller’s makes and extended its usual production during Guinness shortages so pubs could sell their kegged version.
Fuller’s drinks marketing manager Ed Fryer said: “While Guinness still normally outsells Black Cab where they are side by side, we are seeing pockets of real success for Black Cab – especially in some high footfall tourist sites, where customers are often interested in trying something local.
“We sell an awful lot of it but we still sell more cask ale.”
It’s not a trend
He added Black Cab stands out because “it tastes great and anything with a good Fuller’s link, like Black Cab is always going to be popular, in Fuller’s pubs.”
On the boom for stout, Fryer said: “Drinks trends come and go and, at the moment, it would appear to be stout’s time.
“There is no doubt this has been enhanced by Guinness educating people on what a great pint of Guinness should look and taste like, and so people go looking for it.”
Rogers at the Devonshire disagreed that stout’s popularity would be fleeting and said: “I don’t think it’s a trend, I think it’s going to continue.
“Guinness sales will drop down in the summer, it always does, but it’ll be right back again in winter.
“I think Tim Martin wouldn’t agree with me – he thinks it’s a spike and it will die away again. I don’t agree with that, I’ve been drinking it since I was 18. It’s a great product.”
