Wet January 2
11/01/23 08:26
As I said in the last post, I went to 48 different pubs last January in a one man cosmic quest to spread the love of ale selling hostelries (largely around Liverpool). This year Covid is in the background (along with countless other lung, heart and general malaise apparently). On New Years Day last years I probably only saw about ten people out across four pubs. This new year looked better. The fear of Covid has reduced for many (perhaps to complacency, but hey, we won’t know for a few years yet).
So this year there will defo be a few more people out than this time last year; at least initially. Now the issues of pubs and all hospitality venues is different: it’s the cost of living crisis - and specifically the cost of beer too. Raw materials for making beer are rising significantly like so many other things (well nearly everything) and the cost of energy is of course ridiculously expensive. Making beer uses a lot of energy both to heat and cool. The price of beer therefore can only go up for a while at least, just as people have less money to spend. An unfortunate double whammy. So yeah, the pubs and breweries will suffer one way or another for an indeterminate period. Some people will want to go out but won’t afford to, or at least will go out less regularly.
This last few years has been one Black Swan event after another, ain’t it?
Anyway, am I aiming to get to something like last years 48 pubs in the month? Well short answer is: probably yes. In fact maybe this year I’ll make it the round 50 just for the hell of it. There’s a couple of pubs I went to last year which either are no more or have stopped selling cask so I’ll have to find a couple of alternatives to fill those gaps (I guess Albert Schloss will be one of those).
I’ll have to let you know how I get on as the month progresses. But suffice to say I’m currently well on track as I’ve already been to 24 different Liverpool pubs. Of course that means most the low hanging fruit has already been taken. But I’ve got some more to get to over the next week or so. Oops, in fact as of now I've been to 26 pubs.
So this year there will defo be a few more people out than this time last year; at least initially. Now the issues of pubs and all hospitality venues is different: it’s the cost of living crisis - and specifically the cost of beer too. Raw materials for making beer are rising significantly like so many other things (well nearly everything) and the cost of energy is of course ridiculously expensive. Making beer uses a lot of energy both to heat and cool. The price of beer therefore can only go up for a while at least, just as people have less money to spend. An unfortunate double whammy. So yeah, the pubs and breweries will suffer one way or another for an indeterminate period. Some people will want to go out but won’t afford to, or at least will go out less regularly.
This last few years has been one Black Swan event after another, ain’t it?
Anyway, am I aiming to get to something like last years 48 pubs in the month? Well short answer is: probably yes. In fact maybe this year I’ll make it the round 50 just for the hell of it. There’s a couple of pubs I went to last year which either are no more or have stopped selling cask so I’ll have to find a couple of alternatives to fill those gaps (I guess Albert Schloss will be one of those).
I’ll have to let you know how I get on as the month progresses. But suffice to say I’m currently well on track as I’ve already been to 24 different Liverpool pubs. Of course that means most the low hanging fruit has already been taken. But I’ve got some more to get to over the next week or so. Oops, in fact as of now I've been to 26 pubs.