Category: And what about the beer?

What is a quart? If you know that, you can probably remember the 1970s TV advert for Whitbread Trophy Bitter and the catchy jingle, “Whitbread Big Head Trophy Bitter, the pint that thinks it’s a quart.” If you’ve never seen it or you want a reminder, you can find it on YouTube.

I remember the advert whenever the name “Whitbread” appears on the business pages of the newspaper. According to their website, they are one of the country’s oldest and most respected companies. But they are no longer involved in brewing. They’ve evolved into the UK’s biggest hospitality company with brands including Premier Inn, Costa Coffee, Beefeater and Brewers Fayre. Continue reading “Whitbread remembered”

by Steve Renshaw

I love the Christmas Market! The sights, the sounds, the smells, the jostling crowds – I love it all.

It’s really interesting to listen to the comments of first-time visitors to the city. Before coming here, many have no idea what a great place Lincoln is. And a few have no idea where Lincoln is! Continue reading “A Christmas treat”

by Steve Renshaw

You can hardly open a newspaper these days without finding an article about the harmful effects of sugar and fat in our diet. Given the impact of obesity on the nation’s health and the potential cost implications for the National Health Service, we should all be concerned.

So I was pleasantly surprised recently to read some myth-busting facts about my favourite tipple. Granted they were on the “There’s a Beer For That” website that is run by the British Beer Alliance, so we may have to take them with a pinch of salt. (Or is that unhealthy too?) However, they are taken from a study by nutritionists into some of the misconceptions the general public has about beer. Continue reading “Beer – the healthy option?”

by Steve Renshaw

A number of organisations, including CAMRA, regularly publish statistics on the number of pubs across the country that have closed. But there’s one organisation (or individual) that has gone even further.

The Lost Pubs Project catalogues pubs in England that have closed. The project’s website lists over 29,000 lost pubs. It gives brief details for the majority and includes over 15,000 photographs. Continue reading “The Cardinal’s Hat”

by Steve Renshaw

Given everything that’s been going on in the city this summer, I thought I’d better write about the Magna Carta. Of course, I mean the Marston’s pub on Exchequergate, not the historic document.

Over the centuries, the view of Lincoln Cathedral from Castle Square has been a favourite for artists and, more recently, photographers. As a result, it is possible to trace the evolution of the buildings of Exchequergate and the top of Steep Hill. Continue reading “The other Magna Carta”

by Steve Renshaw

You can tell that craft beer is taking a hold because the big boys of the brewing industry are starting to muscle in on the act. Guinness dipped their toes in the water last year with two bottled porters. Fair enough, that’s not very different from their core product, namely Irish stout. But now, according to their big-budget TV ad, they’re producing a golden ale. That just doesn’t seem right!

“Good Beer Guide” editor, Roger Protz, commented, “The bigger brewers are under pressure from younger drinkers who don’t want to drink what dad drinks, and if dad drinks stout they’ll have something different.” Continue reading “Golden Ales”