Pubs open

[Lampwick]

Is your pub open or due to be? 

Took a little trip to a mates narrow boat in Ely on Friday and was amazed to see a riverside bar open and serving many people "take away" beer and food! 

Loads of people on the green and waterfront beside it and not by good social distancing. 

Got to say I did sneak one in but at £5.50 a pint and a 25 minute que for it I didn't hang around. 

[Scully]

Not at the moment, but there are plans afoot to reopen. They could do it if the weather stayed like it is, catering to outside customers with food and drink, otherwise it’ll be a no no. 
Local cafes are opening with social distancing in mind indoors, and OH’s boss is trying to reopen his restaurant somehow, but like he says, if he has to trade at less than 100% capacity he’s not sure it would be feasible. 

[mossy835]

£5.50 a pint, and 25 mins to wait, not fot me.

[vmaxphil]

I think you may be right about the 100% for a lot of catering businesses 

[Rewulf]

10 minutes ago, vmaxphil said:

I think you may be right about the 100% for a lot of catering businesses 

What's the alternative? 

[vmaxphil]

10 minutes ago, Rewulf said:

What's the alternative? 

Closing the doors I suppose 

[Mice!]

I asked this question at the hotel I'm staying in,  why they didn't do takeaway pints or deliveries for food,  they said they're not geared up for it, they'd worked hard to get a great reputation for their food and didn't want to risk it with takeaways.  Plus the staff are mostly furloughed.

Sounds like the canal side pub was perfectly positioned to take advantage and why not, better than having to chuck the beer away. 

[7daysinaweek]

A couple of pubs quite local from me have been doing delivery Ales from the tap and bottle throughout  the restrictions. My friend who works in the local food trade told me you ring up place your order and it is delivered in plastic food grade tapped dispenser. He said they had been doing a "Booming trade" in getting rid of their large stock. No where open locally for footfall  at the moment.

[Vince Green]

I know of a pub in Cornwall that has never closed, and its not illegal because they have been able to do things sensibly. They have a big garden and car park so the locals just sit outside with proper separation and order through the window or by phone.

[Old farrier]

This is going to instrument a lot of changes to the hospitality industry 

I’m sure there’s plenty putting a lot of thought into it and working out a way to make it financially viable to open 

as I see it less people in larger space will increase the cost of the social meals and drinks it’s going to be a big change for a lot 

eating out will become a luxury again is that a bad thing? 
 

no more being rammed into a overcrowded room shoulder to shoulder eating 🤔

[Scully]

53 minutes ago, vmaxphil said:

Closing the doors I suppose 

Quite. Running at 50% capacity isn't feasible when your overheads are still running at 100%. If the number of people you can allow in to your restaurant is down 50% due to social distancing, and your hours are reduced accordingly, means 50% percent of your normal wage, and when you're on minimum wage as most waiting on staff are, isn't really feasible either, when your bills are still running at 100%. 

[The Heron]

I do not see many people sitting outside come winter £5-50 a pint you must get your money to easily. 

[dead eye alan]

20 minutes ago, The Heron said:

I do not see many people sitting outside come winter £5-50 a pint you must get your money to easily. 

Much to easily 4 cans of guinness is less than that from the off licence that's next to our local that's closed. 

[Vince Green]

A lot of these places it will be damage limitation, just trying to get any money over counter is better than nothing at all coming in.

The thing we don't know yet is how much this is going to change our habits. Will we ever go back to life as it was? crowded bars, crowded buses etc? Packed stadiums, cheap holidays abroad etc

[Bobba]

From the beginning of lock down a local micro pub owner has opened his door from 1700 - 1900 hrs daily for take aways. He has a table across the door to prevent entry and dispenses real ale in 2 pint containers. Good luck to him. And the Tandoori next door does collect take aways from Thurs - Sunday's inclusive. Local enterprise.

[Lampwick]

1 hour ago, The Heron said:

I do not see many people sitting outside come winter £5-50 a pint you must get your money to easily. 

😩 just the one! I nearly cried, however it was worth it as the sun had brought out the fillies! 

[Lord v]

A few of our local pubs are in better shape than before the lockdown. They made more profit on food than they did booze so by offering takeaways with only the staff in kitchen working they have done more than OK. 

Although it's worth noting that pubs have generally only been able to offer takeaways due to a temporary relaxation in planning law which may not continue forever. 

[stumfelter]

6 hours ago, Mice! said:

I asked this question at the hotel I'm staying in,  why they didn't do takeaway pints or deliveries for food,  they said they're not geared up for it, they'd worked hard to get a great reputation for their food and didn't want to risk it with takeaways.  Plus the staff are mostly furloughed.

Sounds like the canal side pub was perfectly positioned to take advantage and why not, better than having to chuck the beer away. 

Are you homeless?

[twenty]

The landlord at my local seems to be working on July 4th as a possible re-opening date, and with social distancing still in place.....beer garden, and utilising the car park with marquee.

not sure about WC facilities.....but disposable plastic 'glasses'.........£3.60/pint here for the local ciders on tap..........before coronavirus !

[Mice!]

3 hours ago, stumfelter said:

Are you homeless?

No I work away,  work is something people did before the world ended and the government paid them to stay home. 😅😅

 

[mrpip]

There has been work going on at local pub this week, new opening hours sign gone up 1pm to 8pm weekdays and 12 till 9 weekends, they have a large beer garden 

[REDINGTON]

To a lot of people the shutting of pubs is akin to  "end of days"  to others it means an end to ****** up louts making loads of noise late at night and making the driveway stink of second hand beer and takeaways. 

 

 

[LeedsZeppelin]

A lot of the pubs are jumping the gun to open without the correct guidance. Two pubs in Harrogate opened at the weekend for takeout pints, and are now being threatened with their licenses for encouraging anti-social drinking.

I wouldn't be drinking any draught beer at the minute anyway. When was the last time a brewery brewed beer not destined for cans or bottles? The likelihood is that any kegged or cask beer has been sat in a cellar with the cooling turned off since March.

[Rewulf]

1 minute ago, LeedsZeppelin said:

 

I wouldn't be drinking any draught beer at the minute anyway. When was the last time a brewery brewed beer not destined for cans or bottles? The likelihood is that any kegged or cask beer has been sat in a cellar with the cooling turned off since March.

Most breweries are still making fresh beer, and have been offering a free exchange on any barrels of unopened beer that are going past use by dates.
Ive spoken to a number of publicans voicing this concern , and they swear there will be , and have not been, any issues with bad beer from take out sales.

[mel b3]

Does beer go off if it's stored in barrels/kegs ?.

My only experience of out of date beer , was a few bottles of budweiser that I'd found in my loft , they were a year out of date , and we're a massive improvement on in date budweiser , they'd turned from fizzy piddle, into very tasty beer .  I also drank a bottle of Newcastle brown ale that was three years out of date , that was also much improved.