Stonch – You are correct. I am just a bolshy customer.

Bailey – You too are correct.

I used the word automatically as I know there are landlords that know more than me (or others) about good beer. But it’s not a job given right. I just think we devote more time and energy than most are able to in the pursuit and knowledge of good beer, and listening to the customer may be advantageous.

CAMRA is far worse and far better than you imagine. You have to have been around it a bit to know that. That’s all I was saying!

It depends on the CAMRA member – some times I wonder!

Payment in pints is a happy state of affairs, a return to a simpler age.

Seriously, if he can keep the same mix of customers he achieved at his festival on Friday, he’s onto a winner, and so is real ale.

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head with your point about staff costs, though I imagine took payment in pints…

…and as such are in a better position to know from experience what you can sell and what you can’t, for this reason: one of the biggest factors that ale drinkers take into account when deciding whether to try a beer that is new to them is strength.

The majority are put off by ABVs in excess of 4.5% abv, and I don’t think anything will change that. Having worked in a pub where the weakest ale is Spitfire, I’ve seen confirmed real ale drinkers instead opt for a 4.1% lager for this reason.

Now, let us be honest here: one of the main complaints beer lovers have about British pubs is the lack of choice in terms of strength and style. So when we say we’d like more variety, I think that’s what we’re getting at, and that’s why we’ll continue to be disappointed!

So in conclusion – thank heavens for beer festivals and specialist real ale pubs.

I think the landlord very shrewdly judged that the kind of people who would be at that bar, even if they weren’t CAMRA members, might want to know a bit more about the beer, and these friendly chaps were the right ones to tell them.

The landlord could have tried to blag his way through it, I suppose, or got one of his barmaids to have a bash (probably the ideal solution in the long-run — well trained bar staff) but for now, this was the perfect solution.

He’s decided he wants to tap into this market, and they’ve helped him do it. That’s good business!

Maeib — I’m sure there are some landlords who do know their stuff, but I suspect that, on the whole, they are business people rather than beer nerds.