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Bar News

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Amoore

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Re: Bar News

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HalRobsonKanu

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Re: Bar News

PostMon Jan 29, 2018 2:30 pm

lucky wrote:Thanks! That's the first mention of anything being a rent boy hangout (as opposed to simply "friendly sailors"), though there have been plenty of references to places that female sex workers and their sometimes lesbian pimps used to frequent (hence point 4 I assume). Nobody else has mentioned the Casino Club either, where was that? The Angel's Castle Bar, I was mixing up with the Press Bar at the back of the Royal, you're right. Did you ever drink in the North Star down in the docks? People seem to think that was memorably rough, but we don't have an exact location.
Sorry, this isn't exactly current Bar News.



I remember going to the Press Bar at the back of the Royal Hotel two or three times in the mid-nineties, underage drinking with my school mates. I remember at the time having a vague idea that we might have been in a gay bar but being too naive to really know what was going on.

It certainly wasn't anything like any of the stereotypical ideas of what a gay bar might be like. In fact it was one of the scruffiest, run down establishments I've ever visited and most of the patrons were pretty old and rough looking. Still, it was about £1.20 a pint in there and nobody ever bothered us.
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Simon_SW17

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Re: Bar News

PostMon Jan 29, 2018 3:47 pm

HalRobsonKanu wrote:I remember going to the Press Bar at the back of the Royal Hotel two or three times in the mid-nineties, underage drinking with my school mates. I remember at the time having a vague idea that we might have been in a gay bar but being too naive to really know what was going on.

It certainly wasn't anything like any of the stereotypical ideas of what a gay bar might be like. In fact it was one of the scruffiest, run down establishments I've ever visited and most of the patrons were pretty old and rough looking. Still, it was about £1.20 a pint in there and nobody ever bothered us.


Nothing changes, most gay pubs are still pretty gross although there aren't so many old men! I was home in January and we went to Pulse. The draught choices are Carling, Carling cider, Carling red fruit cider, Groslch and one other delight that I forget. And house spirits that taste like turps. Lovely. :|
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Amoore

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Re: Bar News

PostMon Jan 29, 2018 7:01 pm

To be fair, if you're an independent that doesn't have the buying power of the likes of Wetherspoons, your range of draught will generally be limited to the company you choose to align yourself with. Whether it be Heineken (Fosters/Strongbow/Heineken/John Smiths), Molson Coors (Carling/Groslch/Worthington/Coors Light/) or Carlsberg (Carlsberg/Somersby/Tetleys).
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Mr Blue Sky

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Re: Bar News

PostMon Jan 29, 2018 7:35 pm

Simon_SW17 wrote:
HalRobsonKanu wrote:I remember going to the Press Bar at the back of the Royal Hotel two or three times in the mid-nineties, underage drinking with my school mates. I remember at the time having a vague idea that we might have been in a gay bar but being too naive to really know what was going on.

It certainly wasn't anything like any of the stereotypical ideas of what a gay bar might be like. In fact it was one of the scruffiest, run down establishments I've ever visited and most of the patrons were pretty old and rough looking. Still, it was about £1.20 a pint in there and nobody ever bothered us.


Nothing changes, most gay pubs are still pretty gross although there aren't so many old men! I was home in January and we went to Pulse. The draught choices are Carling, Carling cider, Carling red fruit cider, Groslch and one other delight that I forget. And house spirits that taste like turps. Lovely. :|


The lager in Pulse has always been foul. They used to sell cans as an alternative, I’m not sure if that is the case now.
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Simon_SW17

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Re: Bar News

PostTue Jan 30, 2018 10:48 am

Amoore wrote:To be fair, if you're an independent that doesn't have the buying power of the likes of Wetherspoons, your range of draught will generally be limited to the company you choose to align yourself with. Whether it be Heineken (Fosters/Strongbow/Heineken/John Smiths), Molson Coors (Carling/Groslch/Worthington/Coors Light/) or Carlsberg (Carlsberg/Somersby/Tetleys).


Yeah, you'd have a few core products that you'd need to sell but there's nothing tying you to one brewer's range exclusively. There are so many great products on the market, the owners of Pulse are clearly not interested in the quality of their beer.

Oh, and I've never seen so many scowling, miserable security staff in one venue :?

Still had a great night after downing several double rum and cokes mind.
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Amoore

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Re: Bar News

PostTue Jan 30, 2018 11:24 am

Simon_SW17 wrote:Yeah, you'd have a few core products that you'd need to sell but there's nothing tying you to one brewer's range exclusively. There are so many great products on the market, the owners of Pulse are clearly not interested in the quality of their beer.


On the contrary, if you're prepared to stock what you're told, the breweries make it worth your while. Not the same as being tied, but difficult to refuse otherwise.

On a separate note, walking past the Rummer Tavern this morning, the sign above the door has already been taken down and was in the process of being replaced with what was there before.
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Simon_SW17

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Re: Bar News

PostTue Jan 30, 2018 1:01 pm

Your point isn't contrary though, they could choose to stock different products but in your scenario they choose to go for the cheapest.

Good to hear that people power has forced a rethink on the sign at the Rummer.
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Amoore

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Re: Bar News

PostTue Jan 30, 2018 3:04 pm

With respect, price is a key issue for most independents and if stocking a set range of products means greater incentives financially, it is going to be a serious consideration. I'm not saying it's the only consideration - any of the main breweries' core lines are generally the biggest sellers so it makes sense to stock them too. Carling for instance is the biggest seller in the UK, no matter what you may think about it.

And when you talk about having to have "a few core products", generally those few products would take up the average amount of lines available in a small bar or club, with little room for extras without considerable investment. This is one of the reason Brains Bitter was squeezed out of so many Brains pubs. Because Heineken's preferred bitter was John Smiths.
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Mr Blue Sky

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Re: Bar News

PostTue Jan 30, 2018 5:09 pm

Amoore wrote:With respect, price is a key issue for most independents and if stocking a set range of products means greater incentives financially, it is going to be a serious consideration. I'm not saying it's the only consideration - any of the main breweries' core lines are generally the biggest sellers so it makes sense to stock them too. Carling for instance is the biggest seller in the UK, no matter what you may think about it.

And when you talk about having to have "a few core products", generally those few products would take up the average amount of lines available in a small bar or club, with little room for extras without considerable investment. This is one of the reason Brains Bitter was squeezed out of so many Brains pubs. Because Heineken's preferred bitter was John Smiths.

I lived in Yorkshire for fifteen years and John Smiths is despised even up there. I’m no fan of Brains bitter but it is head(!} and shoulders above John Smiths. A quick search of beer rating sites shows that it is not a popular pint with the hopheads. I remember trying Timothy Taylor’s Landlord for the first time, in a pub on Oak Lane in Bradford, in the late 80s. What a revelation! The only decent bitters I’d drunk up to that point were Higson’s, Hancock’s, Boddies and Wards. Stones, Sam Smith’s, Walkers, Brains and Tetley’s were all a bit meh while John Smith’s was definitely bleurgh. I hadn’t tried any of the southern bitters (or Bass) at that stage but my revulsion for John Smith’s remains to this day.

Then again, as they say, there’s no accounting for taste
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