The latest Iechyd Da beer column by Llandeilo brewer Simon Buckley

The Carmarthen Journal Iechyd Da beer column by Llandeilo brewer Simon Buckley, of the award-winning Evan-Evans Brewery.

Snow on the hills, and freezing winds, for many time to snuggle up with a large mug of tea, and not to venture out.
Humbug!

With the nights beginning to draw out and the rain having stopped, now is the time to get out and brush off the cobwebs with some brisk country walks and visits to those rural pubs that are a vital part of our rural economy.
This month we were told, as though we did not know it, that wine has over taken beer for the first time as the nation's favorite tipple.

The whole concept of drinking at home and the convenience of slipping to the fridge for your evening sharpener is something that has become so ingrained in our lives that there can only be one loser, and that is the great British pub.
There are many fine pubs in very special locations, places that are unique, architecturally unchanged, and frankly are the hidden gems of Wales.

These are the pubs that the tourist want to find, these are the pubs where often you will find the warmest of welcomes, and the pub food that is genuinely local, and shows real provenance.

So why are they failing?
In 1991, the Brewers Society, the union of the big brewers, commissioned a survey that asked 10 simple questions of 10,000 people.

The questions were trying to establish why people went to the pub, what were the reasons that made people often drive past perfectly good pubs to get to one of their favorites?

Was it the landlord, the state of the loos, the brands sold, pool table or darts?
And the answers were simple!

People went to pubs then, as they do now, because the landlord made them feel welcome when they got to the pub, they were greeted like a friend, the loos were clean, the fire was lit on a cold day, and the beer and food were good.
You might ask how difficult is that?
If those same 10 questions were asked again now, would the answers be the same?
Yes; but with one major difference.

Our customer has changed.

The social drinker has all but disappeared, and why?

The supermarkets now fill the spare capacity of the big brewers mash-tuns, where irresponsible pricing, and wafer thin margins, give the brewers the contribution to overhead they need to increase the margins, that the brewers need to satisfy an ever more avaricious group of shareholders.

But that is not the only consequence of their actions, as the supermarkets compete to drive ever greater footfall with discounted beer prices, so they drive a nail into the coffin of pubs.
I have spent much of this week in meetings with suppliers, two of the largest national brewers in the UK being on the list. 

After laptop presentation after presentation, with endless banter about what brand sits where, and what refreshes parts that others can’t, and which is probably the finest beer in the world, one simple fact remained, the price of international lager was going up.

When will they understand that, outside London, real time wages have gone down, that people’s disposable incomes are being squeezed and there comes a time when even the diehards will abandon the pub for the weekly trek to Aldi, Lidl or one of the big four.
Many years ago, I used to look forward to heading down the Towy Valley to a favourite watering hole, the Salutation in Pontargothi.

There the truth about what makes a great pub work was there for all to see, a great licensee, great food, and the reason why I drove past eight pubs to get there.

Today that pub is closed, and unless we get back into the habit of using our pubs, they will disappear and be gone for ever.

Website -
http://www.evanevansbrewery.com/