Food & Drink

British Sausage Week 2015

‘Sausage pride is running high’ as Britain’s best sausages are revealed

05-Nov-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

Britain’s best sausages have been revealed and are available on pub and restaurant menus, following the climax of British Sausage Week 2015.

People News

Geoff Bradman joins board at Westons Cider

05-Nov-2015 By Mike Berry

Westons Cider has appointed Geoff Bradman to its board as commercial director.

Beer

How's life treating the small family brewers?

05-Nov-2015 By Roger Protz

Life is rarely easy for small family brewers but, as Roger Protz found out, that’s not the case at Elgood’s.

Nirvana Brewery starts crowdfunding campaign for non-alcoholic beer project

04-Nov-2015 By Ben Winstanley

Nirvana Brewery is crowdfunding for a new non-alcoholic beer project.

Spirit of Harrogate launches Slingsby Artisan Gin

04-Nov-2015 By Ben Winstanley

Spirit of Harrogate Limited has taken inspiration from the surrounding Yorkshire area as it launches Slingsby Artisan Gin.

BrewDog launches world's first transgender beer

04-Nov-2015 By Emily Sutherland

BrewDog has launched the world’s first ‘non-binary, transgender beer’ to celebrate the opening of its Soho branch.

Top chefs help Britain to become Great Food Nation

03-Nov-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

Some of the country’s brightest food pioneers are joining forces with the government to help Britain become a Great Food Nation.

Beer is NOT unhealthy

03-Nov-2015 By Jessica Mason

Back in the spring, I posted a picture on my Instagram feed of my torso with the caption: ‘Getting there’.

Menu focus

Focus on stocks and sauces: it's all gravy...

03-Nov-2015 By Alison Baker

Warming winter dishes are often made better with good stocks and sauces. Alison Baker discovers how you can improve your menu and maintain consistency whether you make your own or buy in

Most UK drinkers don’t understand what’s in their beer according to a new study from There’s a Beer for That, with many believing that the nation’s favourite tipple has far more calories and sugar than it actually does.

Burger King launches bid to start serving beer at UK branches

02-Nov-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Burger King could become the first fast-food restaurant to start serving beer after it applied for drinks licences at four of its UK branches.

Big Brewer is watching you

02-Nov-2015 By Pete Brown

Pete Brown runs his own slide-rule over the megadeal between AB InBev and SABMiller and concludes that the future may be less than rosy for both pubs and small brewers in the UK.

Craft beer

Timothy Taylor boss: Craft boom has driven beer prices dangerously low

30-Oct-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Timothy Taylor boss Tim Dewey has hit out against the tax breaks given to smaller brewers, arguing beer prices have been driven dangerously low by the craft beer boom.

Back bar bulletin

29-Oct-2015 By Ben Winstanley

Your essential round-up of what's happened on the back bar.

News of the brews

29-Oct-2015 By Ben Winstanley

News of the brews is your definitive guide to the week in beer, bringing you the latest in all things hoppy.

Pub chefs should look to street food traders for lamb inspiration, says AHDB

29-Oct-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

Pub chefs should “absolutely” look to street food traders for inspiration when it comes to using different cuts of lamb, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has urged.

£5m refinancing

Cameron's Brewery aims to add 50 pubs

29-Oct-2015 By Oli Gross

Camerons Brewery is seeking a £5m refinancing package to fund a growth strategy of adding 30 managed and 20 tenanted pubs over the next five years.

Taking the WSET Level 3 Award in Wines

28-Oct-2015 By Jessica Mason

The WSET Level 3 Award in Wines spanned six weeks of my life. Every Thursday for six weeks, that is.The course is ideal for anyone who has already passed the Level 2 and has an understanding of wine that goes beyond mere competence and, instead, works...

Pub chefs must do more to tackle food waste: SRA

28-Oct-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

Tackling food waste must be given more focus by pub chefs to help save their businesses money and benefit the environment, a spokesman from the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) has urged.

Podcast

Wetherspoons’ food developer: ‘a winning kids’ food menu’

26-Oct-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

Wetherspoons’ food developer Sophie Jennings has revealed how the high street pub chain was one of the top pubs for healthy children’s meals on the Soil Association’s Eating Out report yesterday (21 October).

Food safety

Rare burgers ‘not worth the risk’, warns expert

26-Oct-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

Serving rare burgers is “not worth the risk or cost” to operators, a leading food safety advisor to the hospitality sector has warned.

City news

Brewhouse & Kitchen has potential to be 50-strong venture

23-Oct-2015 By MC Allegra FS

Brewhouse and Kitchen, the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) backed venture, has a vision of building a group of more than 50 pubs across the country.

Sales

Is the tie between beers and pubs loosening?

23-Oct-2015 By Phil Mellows

Beer and pubs. For centuries — going back to about 1500 when ale houses began to proliferate — the two have gone together. Yet now, for the first time since they started measuring these things, pubs are no longer the main places people drink beer. Phil...

Children’s menus

Big pub chains reveal top menu tips for kids

22-Oct-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

Senior head office staff from Wetherspoons, Harvester and the Soil Association (SA) have revealed their top tips for creating a nutritious and cost-effective pub food menu for children.

Beer research

British drinkers prefer pints half as strong as Europeans

21-Oct-2015 By Oli Gross

British beer enthusiasts aren’t as keen on stronger pints than those on the continent, new research has found.

Shepherd Neame launches Movember activity for Spitfire

20-Oct-2015 By Jessica Mason

Shepherd Neame has launched a limited-edition Spitfire Ale Movember bottle to pubs and bars between October and November.

Diageo launches Hop House 13 Lager

20-Oct-2015 By Jessica Mason

Diageo has launched a 5% ABV double-hopped lager brewed with Guinness yeast, named Hop House 13, to target “premium lager drinkers”.

Hot drinks

Hotting up: winter alternatives to coffee

19-Oct-2015 By Noli Dinkovski

The temperature is dipping, collars are being turned up and customers are looking for something to warm the cockles of the hearts. The answer, says Noli Dinkovski, is a diverse coffee offer that is adaptable to the seasons.

Enterprise tenants to get Royal British Legion beer

19-Oct-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Enterprise Inns has strengthened its ties to The Royal British Legion with the launch of a new beer, Poppy, which will help raise funds for the Armed Forces charity.

Survey

Is your soft drinks offer full of flavour or in need of some inspiration?

19-Oct-2015 By PMA

PMA readers are in with the chance to win John Lewis vouchers, or cases of the new limited edition J2O Midnight Amber, courtesy of Britvic, simply by filling out a short online survey.

Beer

"Successful craft brewers should man the barricades" - Protz on the AB InBev/SABMiller deal

19-Oct-2015 By Roger Protz

Roger Protz takes a look at the likely repercussions of AB InBev’s takeover of SABMiller — a move that will see one third of world beer production in the hands of one company.

Beer

Asahi Super Dry Black launched

19-Oct-2015 By Jessica Mason

Shepherd Neame is launching a bottled dark lager variant from Japanese lager brand Asahi, which it currently brews under licence in the UK.

Beer

Purity celebrates 158% growth - and signals new beers

19-Oct-2015 By James Evison

Purity celebrates growth - and states new beer likely for 2016.

Drinks

Mulled drinks - can you pull the punters in with warmth and comfort?

19-Oct-2015 By Nigel Huddleston

Autumn is well and truly on us, Christmas is fast approaching and the need to plan ahead for something warm and comforting to pull punters in to pubs needs to be addressed. Well fear not, says Nigel Huddleston, you need look no further than mulled wine...

Kerridge: how to win a gastropub gong

19-Oct-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

Two Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge, of the Hand & Flowers in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, has revealed his top tips for winning at next year’s Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs Awards.

Revealed: Secrets to best steak

19-Oct-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

The secrets to making the perfect steak have been revealed to the Publican’s Morning Advertiser by top chefs, suppliers and even Steak (R)evolution film director Franck Ribière.

FOOD AND BEER PAIRING

Beer and vegetables: a match made in heaven?

19-Oct-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

Operators should consider creating vegetable-based beer pairings as sourcing, quality and preparation of vegetables become even more of a focus on menus in 2016, Brewers Association executive chef Adam Dulye has claimed.

Marston’s 20 new sites 'must be chosen carefully to avoid eating out growth pinch'

19-Oct-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

Marston’s will have to choose the sites of its 20 new food pubs carefully to avoid the pinch of the saturation in the eating out sector, which has already forced menu prices down in high street pubs, a City analyst has warned.

Do not drink: "Shattering" bottles recalled

16-Oct-2015 By Oli Gross

Three beers from Staffordshire Brewery have been recalled after some of the bottles were “shattering” due to faulty glass.

How posh is your pint? Ten top lagers ranked by class preference

15-Oct-2015 By Oli Gross

Peroni is the poshest lager in the UK while Carlsberg and Carling have a lower proportion of upper-middle and middle-classed customers, new research has revealed.

Cider

Cider 'explosion': Aston Manor drives on-trade ambitions with Marston's deal

15-Oct-2015 By Oli Gross

Major cider maker Aston Manor has signalled intent to cash-in on an 'explosion' in the cider industry after completing an on-trade deal with Marston’s. The PMA gives an insight into the ambitious company that takes a third of the off-trade cider...

Wetherspoons boss says AB InBev takeover of SAB Miller could be bad news for pubs

15-Oct-2015 By Emily Sutherland

Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin has slammed AB InBev’s £70 billion takeover of SAB Miller, and warned that the industry could be hit with price hikes.

NEW OPENING

Top 50 Gastropubs chef lends expertise to London wine bar

14-Oct-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

Stephen Harris, the chef patron and Shepherd Neame tenant of Top 50 Gastropubs winner, the Sportsman, is lending his culinary expertise to upcoming London wine bar and restaurant, Noble Rot.

Beer

More tank beer outlets in pipeline for Miller Brands

13-Oct-2015 By Jessica Mason

Miller Brands is set to launch two new tank beer outlets, with more UK installations in the pipeline.

What will AB InBev buying SABMiller mean for pubs?

13-Oct-2015 By Jessica Mason

This morning, SABMiller, which owns brands such as Peroni, Grolsch, Fosters and, more recently, Meantime accepted “in principle” an offer from brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, which owns brands including Stella Artois, Budweiser, Corona and Goose Island.

Is the difference between a bar and a pub becoming irrelevant?

13-Oct-2015 By Pete Brown

Pete Brown discovers why the difference between a bar and a pub is becoming less relevant as venues like award-winning Purecraft proves being both is a way of enticing all types of custom.

Food success comes from £5m spend on local produce, says Devon pub owner

13-Oct-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

A Devon pub owner has claimed part of his business’s success is down to a multimillion pound spend on local produce.

Beer

Brewing giants AB InBev and SABMiller agree takeover terms

13-Oct-2015 By James Wallin, M&C Allegra

The board of SABMiller has accepted a £68bn takeover bid by AB InBev.

Top 50 Gastropubs 2016

How to win a Top 50 Gastropubs Award

13-Oct-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

The Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs 2016 is fast approaching and so is the opportunity to win one of three awards up for grabs at the event in January. Here are our top tips on how to gain one.