Guest 641- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,335
#41
I will say this once and once only
Looks like you've come up with a good business opportunity there Howard

Guest 683- Registered: 11 Feb 2009
- Posts: 1,052
#42
Meridian TV has a feature on their 6 p.m. bulletin this evening. Or you could watch earlier, or at your leisure, at:
http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2012-04-10/micropubs-set-to-revolutionise-drinking-habits

howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#43
interesting piece, the anticipated growth is quite phenomenal with it anticipated that about 200 could open in kent alone in the next few years.
low cost start up, no t.v. no music, no food and no other drinks than real ale, the bonus for us all is that they could take over many empty retail units on our high streets.
this bloke looked familiar.
Guest 663- Registered: 20 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,136
#44
Well done Howard for getting a picture, watch the item on the news most interesting.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
#45
Yes well done Howard...I got a couple too and I might as well put them up..the Mark section of the programme was very fast, it mostly featured the other chap Martyn Hillier who was the pioneer in these Micropubs, according to the programme. But Mark Robson was the star of course and here he is...
And below is his micropub, at least I think this is Mark's as it all moved quite swiftly along..
I learned something new from the programme though as mentioned above. Micropubs dispense with the bar, no bar, they dispense with food, they dispense with mainstream drinks, are supplied by microbrewers only, there are no TVs or fruit machines, no distractions of any kind...and so on. Just honest brews ..and company.

Guest 744- Registered: 20 Mar 2012
- Posts: 412
#46
Yes and one of them even dispensed with women!! Discuss.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
#47
Carole ah yes its true, you dont see too many women.. none in the programme. I wonder if the micropub phenomenon is just for oul geezers in anoraks !!?
Mark will be telling us off...lol

Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#48
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
#49
well done MARK
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Guest 683- Registered: 11 Feb 2009
- Posts: 1,052
#50
Carole
sadly the editing is beyond our control and my speech about the fact that we have many women drinkers didn't make the final product. The article in The Sunday Times came about as the journalist saw that The Just Reproach was very different to The Butcher's Arms in that not only are women welcomed (on many occasions they outnumber the men) but that my daughter also works there so it is definitely not a 'men only' club. Women also drink in The Butcher's Arms but that one comment came across loud and clear and seemed to be supported by the fact that there were no women in any of the micropubs featured that day!
Paul
microbrewery beer from the cask, red and white wine, cider and some soft drinks....what more do you need?!
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
#51
Yes, I have had a warm welcome in The Just Reproach, and there were other women in there at that time !
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Lincolnshire Born and Bred
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#52
mark's one differs from the idea of the originator in that it sells other drinks than real ale.
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
#53
On this welcoming of womankind, does this require the doubling of 'facilities' or are these establishments more forward thinking, Ally McBeal style?
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Guest 703- Registered: 30 Jul 2010
- Posts: 2,096
#54
I've just been in once and there were more women than men, though that's not why I've just been in once!
Mark's place is on the local CAMRA Real Ale Trail, a good excuse to try out a few different pubs in the next few weeks -
http://www.camra-dds.org.uk/pn_cpm2012.htmGuest 744- Registered: 20 Mar 2012
- Posts: 412
#55
Paul B: I am an old (grumpy) woman and I sometime wear an anorak. Would that qualify me for the micropub phenomenon?
Brian: You would not want me as a barmaid. I prefer propping up bars.
Mark: Yes I was referring to the "gentleman" drinker who said, "No women" but I like to think it was said with tongue very firmly in cheek and that the producer left it in as a windup. Your website is excellent and is making me thirsty even at this hour of the day. I will have to pay a visit when I am next in Deal.
Does anyone know what happened to Indian Summer? It was my all-time favourite. I believe the brewer moved abroad/retired. It came back for a short time and then disappeared or maybe I should get out more and look for it.
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#56
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
#57
#55,
http://www.bieres23.com/
John and Sharon Davidson sold Swale Brewery in 2004 and moved to France, setting up Bieres 23 at St Etienne de Fursac in Creuse. They licensed Archers in Swindon to brew Indian Summer but it was not as good as the original and Archers went bust in 2007 and again in 2009 anyway.
I haven't tried any of the French beers but I understand from John that the Ambree 4.5% is the same as the bottled version of Indian Summer.
Swale Brewery is now Whitstable brewery, owned by the Green family of that town, but john sold the brewery and premises without recipes, although he helped them develop their first couple of ales.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#58
You can sell a beer recipe but if the water supply is different it will never taste the same as the original.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
#59
Yes quite, and that's why Archers didn't get it right. But brewers are also chemists and water is very often treated to match the ideal chemical profile for a particular style of ale.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#60
guinness drinkers always say that it is best drunk in ireland with water from the liffey and australians here complain that their favourite beer brand doesn't taste as good.