My Love for Brewery Taps

 I was really sad to read this article about Brewdog sexism this morning.

Of course, there have been countles less-than-complimentary articles about them over the years.  That in itself makes me sad because, in the old days, I really liked some of their beers and I also kind of liked their availability (I'm remembering particularly getting some cans of Punk in Poole to take back to our Brownsea Island cottage).

I think I've only visited a Brewdog tap once (in Bristol) and it was quiet but not somewhere I felt the need to go back to.  I don't drink their beer any more.

I think it makes me doubly sad because I really love going to brewery taps and they are frequently staffed (and visited by) young men.  I trust my local breweries handle this kind of thing better.

I've always been served with respect at the places we drink at regularly.  Only two bar staff have ever mansplained beer (in 40 years of drinking beer) and its serving to me - and I'm old enough give them pretty short-shrift but were I younger at the time, I would have found the experience dispiriting and it might well have deterred me from going to other places.  

I see some of the behaviour described in the article as similar to I had as a woman in financial services which was (might be still) a very boys-club industry.  Even worse when the work I moved to was very technology heavy and I had to slap down a few blokes who didn't believe that people from the business, much less a woman from the business could possible understand the tech we were using.  By this time I had a degree in computing and it was doubly annoying. I did have the odd moment of triumph when the odd guy learned his lesson - but they were significantly outweighed by variously being overlooked, patronised and sidelined.

It's not acceptable, it's never been acceptable but it was always quite difficult to speak out.

Frankly, any brewery stupid enough to undermine their female staff and customers deserve to be punished by fewer of us choosing to use them.  Dear god, men, it's difficult enough to be a hospitality business, why on earth would you choose (because you do choose your behaviour) to alienate a chunk of your potential customers and potentially brilliant staff who you so desperately need to keep your organisation running well.

In the last couple of days I've been to two taps - small but perfectly-formed Little Martha brewery tap and the larger, older and further-away New Bristol Brewery tap.  Both had a mix of different people enjoying the space and the beer - groups of women, groups of men and mixed groups and couples.  The atmosphere in both was lively and friendly and I'd never think twice about going in on my own and feeling safe.  If you can't make my beer-drinking experience feel like this, I won't be going in - and that also means I won't be buying your product online or from the supermarket, either.  

Also I guess my message to organisation like this is "just f*cking grow up!"

Magrathea

 Pubs are odd places.

Whether we find them a brilliant or just an OK place seems to always be on a knife edge (well, it is with us, anyway).

Obviously the beer has to be in good condition and an acceptable choice - that's a given.  But beyond that?  To be honest it seems a capricious thing.

On Monday we had a little excursion to Brighton - just to get out of the house without having to trudge through mud.

We got off just outside the main city drag and walked up into Kemp Town.  The Hand in Hand pub (with its tower brewery in the tiniest space you can imagine) was due another visit.

We walked in and the place was already buzzing - and seating at quite the premium...mostly due to non-adoption of Basketmakers Rules.

Nevertheless, we tried to take up as little space as possible on stools next to the bar and settled down with a couple of good beers.  We didn't feel 100% comfortable but it was OK.  After a short while a couple of people came in and plonked themselves on the other stools next to the bar - and in the process pushing up against me, apparently have no idea that they done that.  It felt like they had no awareness of their actions' impact.  We finished our beers and decided we weren't particularly at home and so we'd move on.

It was half a mile or so over to the Brighton Bierhaus. It's a pleasant stroll and it was sunny and warmish.

We didn't quite manage the most efficient route but we got there eventually.  As we started up the street towards it there was a suggestion of rain.  By the time we got through the doors, it was more than a suggestion.

By the time we had our beers and had settled into a high table the weather had turned torrential.  People were rushing in, soaked to the skin.

We stayed for a couple and were content...but still not 100% at ease.  There was no particular reason for the feeling and maybe if we went there a couple more times, maybe we'd feel a bit more settled.

Anyhow, it was time to eat and the nearest place was a vegan pizza restaurant (calling itself "sustainable" rather than explicitly vegan).  The folk were pleasant, the space was quite nice and both bread dough and pesto were great.  Still, we won't be going back but I guess I like that it exists.

So we jumped on the bus home and mused that it was nice to go somewhere different but it's still difficult to find that elusive planet whose sea is the perfect shade of pink.