Well, it is nearly June – where does the time go? Time seems to fly by these days, it may be part of getting older as I can’t say that it has been that busy at the Mawson Arms. In fact, it has been worryingly quiet at the pub and even the brewery tours have been low on numbers. Something is afoot as I hear that trade volumes are down in general across the estate.
So, the marketing team have been busy with preparing to launch their next set of advertising and marketing campaigns and new social media activities are about to appear in the next week to encourage new customers to use our pubs and entice existing punters back to their local. Talking of marketing, at the Mawson Arms, apart from great beer and outstanding service there is also a veritable trove of vintage paintings, photos and adverts from years gone by to look at.
We also had a small exhibition of the Export Team’s methods of advertising held in the Boardroom yesterday. Head of Export, Michael Campbell-Lamerton displayed numerous examples of advertising literature around the room together with export statistics which advised that Fuller’s export to over 80 countries and that our top 3 markets are Sweden, USA and Russia among numerous other snippets of information. Oh, and there was a quiz to enter too (I think that I failed badly on this one).
Last week also saw me take part in the daily beer tastings at the ‘Cage’ within the brewery. Frazer and Thomas took us through a slew of tastings starting with untreated and burtonised water, bottled beers, cask beers and, lastly keg beers. Great fun and not the usual way to start a morning but as most of the beer was spat out, I was fit and ready to report for work later. Everyone’s comments are noted and then logged – grassy, phenol, citrus, bicarb, caramel – blah. Looking forward to doing that again soon.
Speaking of tastings, while browsing the web looking at potential breweries to visit when we visit Belgium again in August, I was viewing the Brouwerij Van Eecke website and was pleased to see that my recent tastings of their Hommelbeir Limited Edition are gracing their home page. And a photo of their beer in our little kitchen. Well at least someone is reading my reviews! Nice also to learn that we have been invited for a private tour of the brewery – I may have to take them up on that and perhaps Wifey can drive us home..
I was also been invited to the Beer Bloggers Conference 2016 held in Amsterdam this August. Unfortunately it is scheduled between when we return from a trip to the USA and when we go back to Belgium at the end of August. More seriously, how can I justify the cost while working at a pub? Maybe next year…. On a brighter note, this month saw Justin Rivett from Moor Beer Company in Bristol deliver a tasting of their delicious can-conditioned beers at Twickenham’s Real Ale bottle shop. Justin teated us to Revival, Nor’hop, So’hop, Hoppiness, Illusion, B-moor and Confidence. A truly great night and a top bloke to have a beer with. I could talk to Justin for hours.
It was also a treat to catch up with Tim and Fin of Real Ale and appreciate their newly refurbished shop with fellow beer nuts. Real Ale now have 1 and 2 litre growlers for you to take away from their 4 rotating keg taps. They also offer small estate organic wines that you can fill up your own bottle with and take it home with you. Very sustainable indeed!
Back at Fuller’s, our friendly Chicagoan Chris is leaving the Brewery Shop and moving on to Five Points Brewing Company in Hackney to help them brew their beer. Good luck Chris, I will be up soon to see you and catch up on all things Five Points. On a personal front I am continuing to get out to as many beer events that time will allow and to fit in beer tasting reviews where possible. I have a meeting with Fuller’s HR team tomorrow to discuss any possible opportunities with the brewery in the future and will keep you updated as to what transpires. And we have another Thank You Fuller’s tomorrow so it will be a very busy day indeed. Cheers!
Beer Sommelier Kew 