Nick Otley has every reason to be proud of his pub - he talks to Nick Yates about keeping things local.
Nick Otley, licensee of the Bunch of Grapes in Pontypridd, South Wales, is a strong believer in local Welsh produce. From Cilowen cheese to beef sourced from Talgarth, between the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains, the Bunch of Grapes' menu truly reflects the culture of the area in which the pub is set.
This ideology has now been extended with the opening of a micro-brewery to supply the Bunch of Grapes and its two Pontypridd sister pubs - the Otley Arms and the Rickards Arms. Along with cousin Charlie and nephew Matthew, Nick has launched the Otley Brewing Company, a plant that produces a 10-strong range of beers.
For Nick, opening the brewery is another step in creating a sense of community around the pub - it is a process that takes from, and gives back to, the area. The Bunch of Grapes is an example to make us all Proud of Pubs. Rather than dividing the community, as tabloid scaremongers would have the public believe, pubs like this are actually a force for uniting it.
Caring about quality.
"It's important to show we're using local suppliers and we care about quality, whether it's meat or beer," Nick says. "With all our food, we emphasise the fact that it's fresh and locally produced. We thought 'why can't we extend that to the beer?' "But with plans to distribute around the UK, the Otley Brewing Company's focus is far more than a small-scale operation to provide its own pubs. "The fact that it's local is important in selling nearby. In Wales, it will sell because of pride in Welsh produce, but that will be less of a factor as you get further away.
"We've always intended to distribute far and wide. We've been very lucky in having our three pubs to guarantee a certain amount of turnover and try out experimental brews." "The beers' local identity has been shaped by sourcing what Nick describes as "the most important ingredient of all" - Welsh water from up in the Brecon Beacons.
"If you don't use your own water, you share the same ingredients as every other brewer," argues Nick. "It's like different chefs. You all put in roughly the same amount of eggs and milk and you will come up with three different omelettes. Some of them will be good, some of them will be bad. We think ours is good."
The brewery's beers - which range from the flagship four per cent O1, to Old Freddie Walker, a 7.3 per cent strong beer - are currently on rotation in the Bunch of Grapes. Bar manager Lee Bayliss says that they are selling so well that he is planning on adding an extra pump to keep O1 on permanently. According to Lee, it takes the pub a day to get through a cask of O1 and two days to get through a cask of its stablemates.
Taking on the brewery.
The family acquired the brewery when it linked up with its original owners, Somerset company Moor Beer. After transporting the kit to a site on an industrial estate outside Pontypridd, they set about adding to the brands they inherited from Moor. Otley Gold, O1 and CO2 soon joined Merlin's Magic, Peat Porter, Sommerland Gold, Old Freddie Walker, Withy Cutter, Avalon Autumn and Otley Dark-o.
Inexperienced in brewing, it was a voyage of discovery. "We started brewing from scratch and thought 'what the bloody hell are we doing?'" explains Charlie. After a little experimentation and a course with brewing studies centre Brewlab, they arrived at a successful formula, however.
It all makes for a great selection at the bar, with the Welsh-produced beers vying for customers' attention at the Bunch of Grapes with other local real ales like Hereford Pale Ale and Heligen Honey, and a huge range of foreign premium and speciality beers like Franziskaner, Liefmans and Erdinger.
Introducing its own beers seems to have completed a process of transformation that started when Nick took over the pub five years ago. He says that in 2000, the kitchen was "bog-standard" and all the food was "brought in, of the scampi and chips variety".
At this time, Nick returned to Wales after working as a jet-setting fashion photographer for nine years (some of his work is displayed on the pub's walls). He says that, among his travels between New York, Paris and London, he was inspired by the gastropub revolution. He has brought this mixture of culinary influences to the Bunch of Grapes. "I don't agree with people who see the gastropub label as an arty term. The Bunch is not a pub and it's not a restaurant," Nick says. "It's just a term, and it embodies the values I brought back from New York, London and Paris."
Customers from far and wide.
Bar manager Lee says that this has made the pub almost unique so far outside one of the major cities. Indeed, he says that people travel up from Cardiff to eat at the pub. The customer base is otherwise made up of locals and often cyclists on the popular Brecon Trail, a route that passes through Pontypridd.
Good food and an extensive range of beers are not the only draws to the Bunch of Grapes. There is a quiz night every Tuesday, and a wine club will soon be introduced on Monday nights. Customers are offered "Otley cards", a loyalty scheme that for £15 a year gets you 15 per cent off drink and 20 per cent off food. The pub has a joint charity account with the Otley Arms and the Rickards Arms - "Otley Charities" which gave over £2,000 to local charities last year.
The pub has been granted a new licence to stay open between 8am and 3am every day, but Nick says that he doesn't plan on making full use of the extended opening hours very often. He believes that this will be the case with the majority of licensees, with it being unfeasible to employ staff and keep the pub open for what will be only a small number of customers. "The Daily Mail is definitely over-hyping it," Nick says. "Twenty-four-hour drinking is not a reality."
Regulars at the Bunch of Grapes seem to agree that the new beers are a success. Alan Edwards from Pontypridd was persuaded to stop ordering Hereford and try the Otley beers. "I've been a convert ever since," he said. Geoff Williams, also from Pontypridd, said: "For the range of beers and the food, it is the best in Pontypridd. It's all about having something different." And indeed, having something to be proud of. And Nick Otley, and the Bunch of Grapes, have it in spades.
Nick on smoking.
"It's inevitable that smoking will stop but I won't outlaw it voluntarily because we would lose business."If someone wants to smoke, they can smoke. For a food-led place, if you can't smoke in the kitchen for hygiene reasons, I don't think you should smoke in the restaurant for the same reasons. There should be a mandatory ban on smoking in premises that do food.
"I don't agree that it contributes to pub atmosphere. The Bunch has been predominantly non-smoking for three years. You can only smoke in about 30 per cent of the pub. It certainly hasn't affected our character or our atmosphere. In fact, it's better because people have the choice not to walk in coughing and inhaling the horrible smell."
Nick on the Daily Mail.
"It's scaremongering. I don't think all the problems it predicts are going to happen. Publicans are professional people and we're running businesses practically. We're certainly not going to be opening 24 hours. It's hard enough opening for 14 or 16 hours."It's not going to be economical to keep the pub open 24 hours a day. You have to shut down to clean, get the orders in, do bookwork.
"They're putting all pubs in with a few bad apples. It would be nice of the media to feature a few good pubs, and say 'actually, some of them are doing a good job for the community'. Of thousands of pubs, there are very few that are not responsible.
"Little can be done to combat this attitude until the time comes. The proof