Pubs showing support for Beer With Food Week

Pubs across the UK are playing an important part in the national Beer With Food Week which, runs until Sunday and is being supported by Greene King and the Morning Advertiser.

Backing the campaign to get beer back on the dining table, local pubs are promoting the benefits of a quality pint with a quality meal.

The Ladbroke Arms in Notting Hill, which was voted the Greene King Pub of the Year 2004, has this week launched Beer to Dine For in its gastro restaurant and is highlighting to customers the benefits of the specially-brewed beer as an accompaniment to their meals.

The team at the Fleece, Whitney, Oxford, are promoting the benefits of combining beer with food by producing a special delicious menu focusing on traditional meals such as sausage and mash, and steak and kidney pie. The Fleece is also holding a special Beer With Food evening tonight, which will include free bar snacks early in the evening, followed by a beer and food tasting.

The Fishes in North Hinskey, Oxford, is running special evenings throughout the week, matching food with beer, and has designed a specific menu to help customers understand and appreciate the benefits of enjoying a beer with a meal.

The Broadface pub in Bridge Street, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, has created a special menu which is on offer to customers throughout the week. The menu also includes a newly-designed dessert that can be enjoyed with a Strong Suffolk beer.

The Percy Arms, Chilworth, Surrey, has been working hard to produce a menu that highlights the taste benefits of enjoying a good-quality beer with a good-quality meal. The pub is also using beer within its recipes. The Percy Arms is famous for its fresh-meat counter, from which the customers can pick their cut of fresh meat. Staff are on hand to educate customers on which beer to enjoy with their choice of meat or other main dish.

The Red Lion, Stodmarsh, near Canterbury, Kent, is promoting the benefits of combining beer with food by producing the "allotment and smallholding menu". Featuring a range of dishes inspired by freshly-grown produce such as smoked haddock, salmon and cod fish cakes with an asparagus and eggie sauce, and large wild field mushrooms stuffed with pak choi. In addition to this, they are giving away a glass of Beer to Dine For with every meal ordered.

The Snooty Fox at Kettering, Northants, is offering a free beer with certain meals from its specially-created menu to prove to customers the taste benefits of matching beer with your meal.

The Whitmore Arms, Grays, Essex, is running special beer with food evenings throughout this week. Customers are being told of the benefits of combining beer with food and are able to sample specially-created menus.

It is fantastic that so many pubs throughout the UK are getting behind this campaign. We are delighted that Beer With Food novices are being converted to Beer With Food advocates. Bon appetit to all their customers!

Sue Thomas-Taylor

Marketing Director

Greene King Brewing Company

Westgate Brewery

Bury St Edmunds

Suffolk

IP33 1QT

Prince deserves pat on back for Pub is the Hub

It's about time that Prince Charles received a bit of good publicity with news that his campaign for rural pubs, the Pub is the Hub, has achieved the £300,000 target it needs to carry on its work. As a licensee of a country pub, we feel it's about time suppliers and trade organisations gave us some support and the fact that they have at last reached into their pockets and stumped up some cash for the scheme is a terrific result.

Country pubs are great ambassadors for our drinking culture and need to be protected if they are to survive and thrive. In these binge-drinking times, the trade needs positive role models.

Just like stories blaming the whole trade for a few problem pubs with irresponsible licensees, I suspect that the Lib Dems' claims, made in the Morning Advertiser last week (Rural pubs suffer rise in disorder'), suggesting that disorder is rife in rural pubs are based on a similar small poll.

Country pubs are in the main responsible and are undoubtedly at the centre of the communities in which they operate. Thanks again to Prince Charles for reminding consumers of this ­ he's welcome to pop into our pub for a glass of Champagne with Camilla anytime.

Name and address supplied

Beer glass quantities need to measure up

Beer or wine? Personally, the decision was pretty much made for me by the fact that, if I opted for the first, the choice would be a pint or a half.

A pint, for me, just isn't right ­ I know equality rules so women should be able to quaff from the same glasses as their male counterparts, but a pint's just too much.

And as for a half, well why bother?

So I was bemused to read about the third-of-a pint glasses that are being introduced to "woo female drinkers" to beer.

Sure, smaller glasses are necessary for the stronger abv and barley wine-type beers on offer, but for the "standard" ales (if the wonders of the ale market can possibly be termed "standard") surely we should be looking at a two-thirds-of-a-pint glass?

I enjoy beer and, having had my eyes opened to the wealth of tastes on offer, readily plump for a cool glass of Theakston's Old Peculiar in the comfort of my garden on a summer's afternoon as opposed to a more potent glass of Chardonnay.

It's terrific that other women will soon be realising there's a lot more to beer than mainstream lager ­ but surely there's room for a two-thirds measure too?

Name and address supplied