The British pub is a much-loved institution, but recent decades demonstrate how vulnerable it is, being subject to the vicissitudes of fashion, markets, licensing, the economy and most of all the structure of the industry as the big brewers have abandoned their heritage and been supplanted by the Pub Companies and Pub retail groups like Wetherspoons. The book describes the frequent and dramatic changes within the beer industry. It carefully examines the issues and enigmas over the last 50 years in a manner which will enlighten those less familiar with the licensed trade and may alter the perspective of those with closer connections. From the perspective of pub brands, the book examines why they suddenly took hold, how the branding process dovetailed with Nineties inner-city regeneration and why it was supported by some licensing magistrates but opposed by others. How did brands differ from traditional pubs and why were they undermined by them? Tony Thornton looks at community ownership as a vehicle for saving pubs, along with its flaws, and examines the critical role of CAMRA. Returning to the overall market, the book focuses on the battles between the Regional brewers for survival and why these took place. It explains how the hedonism of the Nineties suddenly ended in the new millennium and why the high street operators faced their own crisis, which then merged with that of the retail industry. It also examines how the politicians have frequently misjudged pubs and the beer industry and done it few favours – and how the industry is still paying the price for their decisions. Equally controversially, it discusses why the Beer Tie, the glue that holds the industry together, is threatened if the Government introduces a Statutory Code. Moving to the present, the book considers the effects of the renaissance in brewing, the changes to food-led pubs and debates the impact of Craft beer. It looks at how pubs have changed because of the influence of food. Most crucially it concludes with the plight of the traditional, drinkers pub and looks for positive signs and trends for the future.

The pub is a prominent social institution integral to British identity. From Taverns of Gastropubs: Food, Drink, and Sociality in England charts the historical development of the English public house from the Restoration period to the twenty-first century, culminating in the contemporary gastropub. It explores issues of class, gender, and national identification to understand the social identity of patrons and how publicans conceive of their establishments' organizational identity. In the context of large-scale pub closures since the 1990s the gastropub is viewed as both a reaction to the traditional drinking pub and as a promising alternative. From Taverns to Gastropubs uses historical diaries, industry reports, and a wealth of in-depth interviews in order to understand the rise of the gastropub and how food, drink, and sociality has changed through time.

Incorporating HC 1183-i, session 2007-08

The production of beer today occurs within a bifurcated industrial structure. There exists a small number of large, global conglomerates supplying huge volumes of a limited range of beers, and a plethora of small and medium breweries producing a diverse range of beers sold under unique brands. Brewing, Beer and Pubs addresses a range of contemporary issues and challenges in this key sector of the global economy, and includes contributions by research specialists from a variety of countries and disciplines. This book includes the marketing and globalization of the brewing industry, beer excise duties and market concentration, and reflections upon developments in brewing and beer consumption across the world in order to explore the wide-reaching influence of this industry. Alongside these global topics more localised themes are presented such as market integration in the Chinese beer and wine markets, beer and brewing in Africa and South America, and turbulence and change in the UK public house industry, which demonstrate how the consumption of beer in pubs and other social environments make the beer industry integral to local communities and regions worldwide.

This is the story of the radical intervention carried out by the Thatcher administration in response to 1986-89 Monopolies and Mergers Commission inquiry into brewing. It describes the creation of big brewers, the official investigations into what many saw as an uncompetitive structure and the damaging consequences for consumers and licensees.

Drinking in the Windy City has deep roots. Long before corner bars stitched the social fabric of Chicago's neighborhoods together, raucous pioneers like Mark Beaubien were fermenting over the untapped potential of the unbroken prairie. Take a determined saunter from the clamor of Chicago's first breweries, through the hidden passages of thousands of speakeasies and then back into the current of the contemporary craft beer revival. Follow a path plastered with portraits of infamous saloonkeepers and profiles of historic bars. Author June Sawyers serves as an expert guide, stopping very so often to collect a vintage beer label, explain an original recipe or salute the heady history that sits atop the City of Big Shouders. --Back cover.