Closures, Teetotalism and Lager- is Real Ale in Crisis?

Lager is the fizzypop choice of hooligans and anarchists. Real men and women drink the hoppy brown goodness of real ale. Does this reflect London or should we call time on the stereotype? What is the future of the London pub as more pass the baton to trendy bars serving watery fizz from carbonated kegs?

How Boozy is London?

Surveys by the Office for National Statistics suggest higher earners are more likely to drink 5 days a week, suggesting a London pattern. However, London overall drinks less on single occasions. While in Wales 14% of those surveyed confessed to drinking more than 14 units in one day, London halved this with 7%. Drink Aware claims 14 units is 6 pints of 4% beer or 6 glasses of fancy 13% wine. We also have the highest percentage of teetotallers (lightweights) at 29% of those surveyed, doubtless reflecting our society of quinoa and kale-eating veganism. They might well have the last laugh, however, given the health benefits.

The question is, what are those who do drink actually drinking in London? Contrary to recent political events- we love Europeans. But we don’t like their boozy produce. Except for Belgium and her sweet 8% brunes and blondes. Continental lager beer is a problem sweeping our taverns and young people with pale bubbly burpy water. And it’s more expensive. And some pubs only serve it as Cask Marque’s latest cask report states only 72% of pubs sell cask ale.

Nevertheless, all is not lost. Britain remains beery. Recent reports have shown a strong revivlal for cask ale with more young people and women taking to the darker pint. We must hope this is not a Farage-led coup against the world power of Heineken, although you may find his pub crawl rather fun…

What’s the Difference?

Lots. Everything. But for professional reasons, I should really go into the sciency differences. With lager the yeast sinks to the bottom to ferment- producing alcohol and carbon dioxide. This takes time and a cool temperature. The lager is kept in kegs and pressurised with added carbon dioxide. With ale, the yeast stays at the top and ferments rapidly in a warm environment. A secondary fermentation continues in the barrel, providing its own carbon dioxide for serving. The results speak for themselves when comparing a glass of watery Stella with a glass of rich and tasty Doom Bar.

This comes with the slight complicaton that cask ale needs to be kept well and won’t last, whereas kegged lager tastes the same everytime.

Real Ale in Crisis?

Actually, there are an increasing number of small-scale breweries opening across the capital. There are classics like Truman’s of Hackney Wick and the more modern Brewheadz of Tottenham Hale. For a full list of current London brewers see the London CAMRA website at http://www.london.camra.org.uk/viewnode.php?id=1972

However, what is in crisis is the London pub. We are used to hearing of pub closures across the country. What’s so special about a pub? Draught beer needs care and attention in a cellar. Lager can be pissed out anywhere, hence it is the only pint available in many trendy bars.

Last Orders of the London Pub

London has seen some high profile pub closures in recent years. The Black Cap in Camden was a thriving LGBT pub and closed to become flats and a restaurant. A report by Transparency International UK published 3rd March, 2017, reveals the uncertain structure of ownership of this and many  other London pubs bought as ‘buy to leave’ properties. This means pubs fall under the same shadow as residential property as simply being too valuable as an asset to bother doing anything with. The report details the difficulty in measuring the use of property, since overseas investors can come and go as they please to their property without it being ‘unoccupied’. However, around 21,000 homes in London are classed as long-term empty and 23% of prime London property is bought as a second home. The Office for National Statistics is now using electricty usage data to measure occupation, with Central and West London showing 5% of homes have incredibly low usage.

So what can we learn from this? Pubs are precious and their specialised product of real ale should be enjoyed while they last. In fact, pubs are falling prey to the same issues as our residential property. Therefore when we save our pubs, we will also have somewhere to sleep that night. Maybe we might just have slightly cheaper rent and pints too- and just how nice would that be?

Stewart Vickers @VickHellfire

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