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oldmudgie.bsky.social
Pub Curmudgeon 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
@oldmudgie.bsky.social
340 followers 230 following 76 posts
Traditional beer and pubs. Pub cats. Dislikes banning things, especially smoking in pubs. Also see: https://x.com/oldmudgie
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oldmudgie.bsky.social
New blogpost - once a community have bought their local pub, they need to find a way to make it a viable business in the long term.
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2025/11/care...
Care of the community
An ongoing theme of this blog has been the conflict between the interests and desires of pub customers and the commercial companies who own ...
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Pub Curmudgeon 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
philmellows.bsky.social
Number of pubs stocking draught Bass passes 1,000 as AB Inbev's sales drive takes hold. So distribution has nearly trebled from a couple of years ago. Latest directory of stockists: nationalbassdirectory.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...
Close-up of a partially consumed pint of Bass, with the base of the red triangle branding on the glass resting on the foam and flanked by curtains of lacing, amber liquid glowing below.
November 6, 2025 at 12:23 PM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
New blogpost - the ban on free drink refills has caused commentators to wake up and smell the coffee about lifestyle restrictions.
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2025/10/real...
Realisation dawns
From the beginning of this month, new government regulations prevent restaurants and fast food outlets from providing unlimited refills of...
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com
October 17, 2025 at 10:53 AM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
Landlords brand Starmer’s late night pub plan a ‘waste of time’ (free to read)
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/cf62abd...
Landlords brand Starmer’s late night pub plan a ‘waste of time’
Bosses warn change risk driving up costs as many venues struggle with Labour’s higher taxes
www.telegraph.co.uk
October 10, 2025 at 10:38 AM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
New blogpost - does cask beer suffer from a lack of visibility in the pub?
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2025/10/out-...
Out of sight, out of mind
The Morning Advertiser reports on research carried out on behalf of Ossett Brewery showing that cask suffers from a visibility problem in ...
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com
October 9, 2025 at 1:35 PM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
New blogpost - a journey into Middle England, in the shape of Atherstone, Warwickshire: Part 2.
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2025/10/a-jo...
A journey into Middle England – Part 2
Having left the Old Swan, a short walk back west towards the town centre of Atherstone brought us to the Hat & Beaver , its plain frontage ...
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com
October 2, 2025 at 3:49 PM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
New blogpost - a journey into Middle England, in the shape of Atherstone, Warwickshire.
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-jo...
A journey into Middle England – Part 1
Atherstone is a market town in North Warwickshire with a population of about 11,000, located between Coventry and Burton-on-Trent, very clo...
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com
September 28, 2025 at 11:36 AM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
I know it's a different society and brewing culture, but it would be nice if we in the UK had a tradition where a wide range of breweries released a special beer in a specific style at a particular time of year along the lines of Oktoberfest.
September 21, 2025 at 6:55 PM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
Liverpool has the best pubs of any English city - and it’s not even close (free to read)
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/9379bb9...
Liverpool has the best pubs of any English city – and it’s not even close
From turn-of-the-century gin palaces to cosy backstreet boozers, this northern hub has it all
www.telegraph.co.uk
September 13, 2025 at 8:43 AM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
New blogpost - whisper it softly, but I really don’t find Wetherspoon’s congenial places just to go for a drink.
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2025/09/sett...
Settle down now
Over the years, I have often praised Wetherspoon’s business success in building an empire of large, thriving pubs from scratch in the face o...
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com
September 12, 2025 at 12:01 PM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
If you didn't like Charlie Kirk, that's your right. If you're gloating over his death, you're beneath contempt.
September 11, 2025 at 9:45 PM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
Pubs are in a financial death spiral (non paywall link)
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/c94852c...
Pubs are in a ‘financial death spiral’ – here’s how to save your local
The rate at which drinking establishments are closing is causing panic. So can we save our locals? I’ll drink to that
www.telegraph.co.uk
September 10, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Reposted by Pub Curmudgeon 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
dermotkennedy1.bsky.social
Another post on the re-opened Crown in Stockport but worth a reminder of what a good pub it is again. Nicely refurbished preserving the heritage interior & with 8 cask ales including Bass as a regular. Shame most of the etched glass has gone in recent years, but definitely up there with the best.
Green and white painted pub exterior beneath a large red brick railway viaduct. Close up of a pint of Draught Bass with the main room and lobby in the background. The 'Red Room' with red walls, red upholstered benches and stools, and a black painted fireplace. The 'Green Room' (formerly the snug) with green walls, green upholstered benches and stools, and a black painted fireplace.
September 3, 2025 at 5:30 PM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
New blogpost – is it really the case that the long-term decline of the pub trade is mostly due to pubs being poorly run?
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2025/09/only...
Only bad pubs close
The Waggon & Horses , a large Greene King-owned dining pub located in Handforth, just south of the Stockport boundary, has recently closed i...
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com
September 1, 2025 at 11:54 AM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
Good to see Sam Smith’s Bird in Hand at Mobberley open again after six years. Apparently the brewery only supplied one cask of Bitter, which sold out on the opening day yesterday. Decent number of customers in 🍻
Photo of Samuel Smith's Bird in Hand pub at Mobberley, Cheshire.
August 27, 2025 at 1:32 PM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
New blogpost – nobody should imagine that cutting the drink-drive limit wouldn’t have a significant detrimental effect on the pub trade.
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2025/08/limi...
Limiting the pub
Scarcely a week goes by without the present government announcing a policy to antagonise yet another group in society. They have now put fo...
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com
August 15, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Reposted by Pub Curmudgeon 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
ianthurman.bsky.social
As my dear departed landlord, Steve, said of the village local. If the doors aren't open they won't come in. In my patch, passing trade is so irregular these days limited opening hours are a disaster.
August 13, 2025 at 7:26 AM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
New blogpost - pubs that open short and erratic hours shouldn't really be surprised that they have no customers.
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2025/08/if-y...
If you don’t open it, they can’t come
The licensee of the Wonston Arms in Hampshire, a former CAMRA National Pub of the Year, recently had an article published in the Daily Tele...
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com
August 12, 2025 at 3:50 PM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
The village pub I run is being taxed to death, by the licensee of the Wonston Arms, Hampshire. Link free to read.
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/f31f4db...
The village pub I run is being taxed to death
Soaring costs and rising levies have turned Britain’s favourite pastime into a luxury
www.telegraph.co.uk
August 5, 2025 at 10:57 AM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
The ‘real’ drinking pubs serving £5 pints and no fancy food – and thriving
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/1037610...
The ‘real’ drinking pubs serving £5 pints and no fancy food – and thriving
From a tiny north London boozer to a historic building in Bristol, our writer speaks to the landlords who are keeping things simple
www.telegraph.co.uk
July 26, 2025 at 1:12 PM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
New blogpost – reviving Boddingtons Cask Bitter represents a significant declaration of faith in the cask market by one of the international brewers.
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2025/07/fres...
Fresh cream
Budweiser Brewing Group (the new name for AB InBev in the UK) have announced that they are relaunching Boddingtons Cask Bitter , which was l...
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com
July 25, 2025 at 11:54 AM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
"The laws in your location require you to verify you're an adult before accessing certain features on Bluesky, like adult content and direct messaging."
Ah well, not doing that, so that's an end to DM's on here.
July 25, 2025 at 11:53 AM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
New blogpost – what are the reasons behind the long-term decline in cask ale sales, and can anything be done to reverse it?
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-...
The long retreat of cask
The Morning Advertiser recently published figures confirming the continued decline of cask beer sales in the UK, which were reflected on b...
pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com
July 9, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Reposted by Pub Curmudgeon 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
willhawkes.bsky.social
The Bass revival is real - or, at least, there's plenty of it out there. Banked, flat, somewhere in between. Controversially, perhaps, the best pint was at the Five Bells in Wootton Bassett, Wilts
Bass at the Tynemouth Lodge Hotel Bass at The Sun Inn, Stockton on Tees. It's banked! Bass at the Five Bells, Wootton Bassett (it's brighter because I brightened the image) Bass at The Star Inn, Bath. It's flat!
July 4, 2025 at 11:39 AM
oldmudgie.bsky.social
Cask ale volumes down by 7% over 12 months, and it now accounts for only 8% of beer sold in pubs. britishbeerbreaks.substack.com/p/is-cask-be...
Is cask beyond the pale?
By Phil Mellows
britishbeerbreaks.substack.com
June 28, 2025 at 11:38 AM