tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24460740785053863562024-03-14T08:51:58.601+00:00HardKnott Dave's blog about stuffThis blog will be changing. Don't expect it to be just about beer anymore.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.comBlogger639125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-46856421421461171792020-08-05T00:14:00.000+01:002020-08-05T04:15:07.506+01:00Living with cancer, chemo, lockdown and workMoving from a position of being self-employed to working for someone else is something of an adjustment. Going from having control and responsibility of absolutely everything to having little stress but cow-towing to the organisation takes a little personal adjustment. Of course, having gained a job in a role that excited me and that I found enjoyable eases that quite a lot. Never-the-less it is an adjustment that I had been warned may be tricky, that warning was heeded and in the end I thought I did rather well.<br />
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Times of difficulty shows a lot about a person and an organisation alike. My huge experience across many fields of engineering, business, academia and an analytical mind brings a powerful but debilitating sense of overview; the straight jacket of employment restricts the full use of that experience. As COVID unfolded I took an interest in the statistics and knew that something huge was happening. When in an organisation where I was not part of the driving force, and clearly wasn't ever going to be, it is not a surprise as to what eventually happened.</div>
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As COVID hit, despite being able to help my employer find the solutions, I was simply furloughed. As this whole thing unfolded, it has occurred to me, by looking at many different inputs from both people I know and wider business community, the businesses that didn't simply take the handout, but worked out how to maximise on what could be a powerful opportunity, are the ones that are coming out on top.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA2DOBRddSWD93xqtyy5Ar17rq_Exc7a6ZTdbWegcBsPcPXU6kyC0uK5nnT60uJkpu4AgIc_-x4MeohvE0UHzIqQxKQAMQOeLAY8GYmmhltQQz9VspyEHGu1U6sM-4HF19xgnHrH_flso/s1600/Rate+of+change+COVID-19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1528" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA2DOBRddSWD93xqtyy5Ar17rq_Exc7a6ZTdbWegcBsPcPXU6kyC0uK5nnT60uJkpu4AgIc_-x4MeohvE0UHzIqQxKQAMQOeLAY8GYmmhltQQz9VspyEHGu1U6sM-4HF19xgnHrH_flso/s640/Rate+of+change+COVID-19.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My graph from the official Government figures.<br />
I've added a rate of change trend.<br />
If above 0 on the right hand side cases are increasing.<br />
It doesn't take an idiot to see we are heading for further lock-down.</td></tr>
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I haven't mention <a href="https://www.brewdog.com/uk/">BrewDog</a> for a while. I have to admit that possibly one of my biggest business mistakes was to look too much to them rather than finding my own way. I could also be disgruntled on a personal level about the leg-up I gave Equity for Punks in the early days, but now seem to be ignored by James, but I still drink their beers regularly and visit their bars when I can. One cannot ignore the powerful business success that is BrewDog and I am fairly sure I am now vindicated for seeing how brilliant those guys are at business. The reason they are brilliant is because every disaster is turned very cleverly into an opportunity.</div>
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I'm going to give a huge shout-out to my friend Andy Mogg at <a href="https://www.lemontopcreative.com/">LemonTop Creative</a>. They used to do all the design for the bottle labels when we ran the brewery. I'd have sent more work his way had we managed to be able to afford it.To this day I worry if actually we'd have done better if we sent more his way. It's a business consideration. Can you afford to do something, or is it a case of irrespective of the cash, can you afford not to do something really important.</div>
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From the business point of view of my employer I disagreed with my furlough and that view has become much stronger in hindsight. Despite furlough, I decided that to ensure my skills were improved and for the good of my mental health, I embarked on improving my "shack"<sup>1</sup> and built electronic stuff. It is what I do now, and I'll do it even if I cannot make money from it.</div>
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During furlough the isolation was difficult to cope with. There was no communication from my employer which I found difficult and from my perspective irresponsible on their part. I was naturally concerned about my long term employment. To add to that I lost both my step-father and my father to COVID both within a very short period of time<sup>3</sup>.</div>
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This was all happening as I was becoming ill and investigations were underway to find out what exactly was going on. By the time I got my diagnosis I had probably already come to terms with my situation. Of course when faced with impending bad news finding excuses that might explain something more benign keeps a sense of positiveness, but when eventually I was told I had cancer it was no surprise at all. The initial prognosis was a little bit of a shock, but we, Ann, Fran, Alfie and Sarah were determined to be positive and I have these people in particular to thank for their help.</div>
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That positiveness perhaps shocks people. It is interesting at first that the overall feelings are something quite third person. It is almost as if it is happening to someone else. Numb, some people might say, but I find that description far too simple. As best I can describe it is an emotional out-of-body feeling. This does mean that telling people creates much more shock and upset in the person being told than it does to me. Unfortunately there isn't an easy way to explain to someone that you have cancer, and I apologise to my readers if these writings cause any upset.</div>
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I have promised triumph and disaster. You may be wondering where the triumph is. Don't worry, it is here, and it's going to be powerful if I have my way.</div>
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It starts with my first round of chemo. Obviously I was scared of the chemo. I was scared of the potential side-effects, but equally I was scared of the cancer too and of how I might die. More than that I was becoming annoyed at having my life plans taken away from me. I have a bucket list and much on it requires me to be fit and well and to be so for a number of years and to work hard at having the money to do so. All of that has been taken away from me. My immediate cause of concern though was that if the chemo didn't work, or I wimped out, I'd stand a chance of my oesophagus closing up and not being able to eat. This was certainly more scary than the chemo, because at the end of the day I had been given control.</div>
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"Can I stop it if I want at any time?" I asked Dr Fyfe.</div>
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"Yes, any time you want. And if I think it is not doing you any good I'll stop it" he replied.</div>
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I felt a sense of relief having only just agreed to going ahead and knowing that helped me through the next week waiting for the start.</div>
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"In fact if you just want to go off on holiday you can pause it if you like"</div>
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Just being in control improved my sense of dread. To hell with it then, I am going to get through. This chemo has to work, or at least I have to give it my best shot.</div>
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So the following Monday I had some bloods taken to make sure I was healthy enough. I also had an ultrasound cardiogram. I was declared well-fit and quite ready to be poisoned. By the Tuesday, whilst still very apprehensive, I was also as psychologically prepared as I think it is possible to be for such a thing.</div>
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They filled my blood system with a set of drugs. It took about three hours or so. There were some immediate side-effects, namely tingling in my fingers, mostly when my hands get cold. Keeping warm helps that a lot. About a week in I found that there was some nausea, but I found chocolate helped that. Drinking cold drinks for the first week isn't really possible, so sadly beer is out.</div>
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I found that other than that I felt good. I was going for long walks, going for a run, although much more than 5k seems to be difficult and generally I get along with life.</div>
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I had been getting disturbed that I hadn't heard from my employer other than seeing my furlough money go into the bank. I wanted to prove I could get back to work. In fact it became quite important to me to prove that part of my life-plan was not dead. I decided to email the management with ideas and perhaps some truths that might have been too brutal. I genuinely believe I was giving sound business advice based on experience that was broader than the current team could possibly understand.</div>
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I had also become quite aware that cancer is defined as a disability and my employer must make reasonable adjustments to allow me to be able to work, so I threw a few ideas into the pot about that. No reply. I became concerned that come the beginning of August I might be out of a job as my employer would become liable for some of the costs of me being on furlough. Added to that I had become convinced that they could fail to see how useful I could be to them. I still wonder if I was too bold, or perhaps not bold enough.</div>
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Meanwhile the pains in my abdomen subsided and my appetite started to come back. I started to put on weight and felt better than I had since around February, and thinking back perhaps at any time in 2020<sup>4</sup>.</div>
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"It's probably just the steroids" Claudia suggested when she called me a few days into my first cycle "They reduce swellings and kick-start appetite"</div>
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I had told her to be truthful with me, and at that time it was clearly right to make sure I didn't get too excited. I was on a course of 4 days of steroids initially to help reduce nausea. It is true they do add a bit of energy and at the start of the second cycle, when my first dose of steroids are given IV, but on that occasion in the afternoon, I was wired in the evening. Claudia's comment was a bit of a knock-back.</div>
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As the cycle progressed my condition continued to improve. I came off analgesia completely and could eat without any problems at all. Indeed it turns out eating is the solution to preventing nausea in my case. I was becoming hopeful, but aware of Claudia's reservations.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4c0-ZtbD-GeVS3HGzDXQULPxkLgwyKhblNxMM9l84Sfc9v7_xowx22ZzWTA9UPL1dHlA0XvHYlQNg2VgdG0TorBn8XUrZndQRiM3UFRvITIxCZLYLvZjFeuL8EEU88yQgzEQLrudFJ_o/s1600/bloods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="1600" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4c0-ZtbD-GeVS3HGzDXQULPxkLgwyKhblNxMM9l84Sfc9v7_xowx22ZzWTA9UPL1dHlA0XvHYlQNg2VgdG0TorBn8XUrZndQRiM3UFRvITIxCZLYLvZjFeuL8EEU88yQgzEQLrudFJ_o/s320/bloods.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My bloods just before cycle 3.<br />
Still OK apparently, but they have deopped.</td></tr>
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Just before the start of cycle 2 we met Dr Fyfe again. The mood was tangibly up-beat and very enthusiastic. I was asked how I felt and I reported that I really felt fit. The almost headmaster-eque Dr Fyfe of the first meeting was replaced with someone who seemed rather more excited about my progress than I was. Indeed he almost seemed like that little kid who was suggesting the rather naughty thing that had gotten you in front of the headmaster in the first place.</div>
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"The full results of the biopsy shows that it isn't TIPE2 which means it isn't aggressive"</div>
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At least I think that is what he said<sup>5</sup>. Sarah and I tried to understand the technical implications of this after the meeting, but as Dr Fyfe seemed excited we decided that it was good news anyway. We enthusiastically agreed, that naughty Dr Fyfe and I, to carry on with the poisoning.</div>
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So, good news from the hospital, carry on with chemo because it is obviously working. I felt great and wanted to go back to work. Surely no news from my employer must also be good news. I was getting bored and anyway my radio construction projects were costing a lot of money and I can't afford not to work.</div>
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As August approached I knew something would change regarding my employment. So it was then my employers HR officer, who had perviously been furloughed too, phoned up to make an appointment to come and see me. Perhaps it would be about making reasonable adjustments due to my disability. Perhaps I was to be made unemployed; surely not, that could be seen as discriminatory.</div>
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But unemployed was indeed what I was made.</div>
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Ah well, onwards and upward. Just need to sort out my pension then.<br />
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Then I have plans, lots of them.</div>
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<sup>1</sup>A Shack is the room, or shed, or other dry and preferably warm place where geeky radio people like me hide from their XYL and harmonics.<sup>2 </sup>They are places where huge amounts of ingenious creative activity occurs, its just that once observed that creativity looks a bit like pissing around to avoid the washing up or watching a romcom romantically on the sofa.<br />
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<sup>2</sup>In radio talk YL = young lady, XYL = Wife or significant other. Harmonics are the smaller inconveniences that occur if you accidentally leave the shack and go to bed while the YL or XYL is still awake. Harmonics are generally an inconvenience in a transmitter output but can be considered useful if deliberately generated before filters if frequency multiplication is required. Harmonics of both the radio and organic type often cause QRM, or unwanted noise and should be attenuated at every opportunity. I refrain from commenting on any QRM that YLs or XYLs might generate.<br />
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WARNING, running a YL and XYL at the same time in close proximity can generate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermodulation">IMD</a>, which can be most unpleasant.<br />
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<sup>3</sup>As the terrible situation unfolded my step father ended up in hospital. He seemed to have some sort of infection as far as we could tell, but not COVID. Initially before lockdown we were permitted to visit, but I was fairly sure, looking at the statistics, we should not have been allowed. On the one occasion we did visit the ward was crowded and it was clear to any idiot that it was a potential hotbed of infection. It is not appropriate to chart his medical journey, but as lockdown happened and he potentially could have been getting better he contracted COVID and sadly passed away.</div>
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Meanwhile my father was in a home. He has not been well for a number of years and as his health deteriorated it is questionable as to whether he had any quality of life. This is contradicted by the fact that when visiting him it was still possible to get a smile, even though he became a shadow of the rather eccentric, outspoken, infuriatingly stubborn but lovable man that he was. He too contracted COVID and died the day before my step father's funeral. Thankfully we did manage to bury him at Wasdale Head Church and we, his sons and grandchildren, are very happy we could at least do that.<br />
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<sup>4</sup>The side effects of the chemo were significantly less inconvenient than my cancer symptoms had become and so it remains, even as I now brush up this post I am into my third cycle and typing is a little troublesome with the tingling. There is also some trembling in my hands, which only lasts a day or so, but is inconvenient. After about day 7 I become quite well and very able to do almost anything, save for COVID issues, a permanent PICC line that needs care and risk of injury or infection due to dropping blood cell counts.<br />
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<sup>5</sup>We haven't been given any new statistics. I am assuming I am well out of the 30% risk zone. I am assuming that because my health is otherwise very good and my bloods, whilst dropping, are holding up, I shall have improved chances over the stats. I am coping with the chemo very well and keeping up exercise, which Dr Fyfe says is of benefit. I'm also not that old. Who knows?</div>
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HardknottDavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10331611701318148310noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-76035164399714822082020-08-03T13:03:00.000+01:002020-08-03T13:03:13.468+01:00The Diagnosis<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwKADbHxmI4U4KB3jiOHpzs_szvm4_i-CXCdy4GdSJqi4bAcsAU8_FIMQuGmJh_ViUzyL1CxOwapW4ngtxj7wcaT8eHpWQQ8FOo98amwyYZdhpLZKYEBZb3XqQO2C4TxLHfsSng_Rjdt8/s1600/104537822_10157477103910838_4317611840653033652_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwKADbHxmI4U4KB3jiOHpzs_szvm4_i-CXCdy4GdSJqi4bAcsAU8_FIMQuGmJh_ViUzyL1CxOwapW4ngtxj7wcaT8eHpWQQ8FOo98amwyYZdhpLZKYEBZb3XqQO2C4TxLHfsSng_Rjdt8/s320/104537822_10157477103910838_4317611840653033652_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An SMT board I designed and built at home</td></tr>
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I think I was in third year of secondary school, what we now call year 9. It must have been as my form tutor and physics teacher was the same person. He was a significant influence on bringing my academic abilities a bit closer to my potential and I shall remain eternally grateful for his contribution to my journey. I went to him with an interesting article I had found in some sort of electronics enthusiasts magazine. It was, for it's time, something of a wonder. A little mouse like contraption that had whiskers and light sensors, driven by two little motors to its wheels with a skid steer action. If one of the whiskers detected an obstacle the motor on the other side would drive in reverse to move away from the obstacle. It also had light sensors underneath so the device could follow a white line on the floor. The circuitry for the time, about 1978, was quite complex and contained <i>both</i> NPN and PNP silicon transistors.<br />
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I was fascinated by the circuitry and had gone to this teacher for an explanation of its workings and to see if there was a chance we could build a version. He told me to see Mr Harvey, who ran an after school electronics club. The rest, as they say, is history and Mr Harvey quickly pipped my form tutor to the accolade of best teacher ever, but only just.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukOhw7B42j7qeDxb-z7Q-PQ_dFFbr-evZSN4t4SCv-keDHHq8S_o0lIIuC8f_1Ztyyd5YF-gjpfMHbWMkDXMAa7bGMQ9HQDkWBO7QaUQ4oaEqwiKux-HAdruxB9AALVNQYyqC8mnbnhY/s1600/100475804_10157394726970838_1780481806408089600_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="960" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukOhw7B42j7qeDxb-z7Q-PQ_dFFbr-evZSN4t4SCv-keDHHq8S_o0lIIuC8f_1Ztyyd5YF-gjpfMHbWMkDXMAa7bGMQ9HQDkWBO7QaUQ4oaEqwiKux-HAdruxB9AALVNQYyqC8mnbnhY/s400/100475804_10157394726970838_1780481806408089600_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Someone else's design, PCB professionally made, populated by me</td></tr>
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We never built the mouse, but instead played around with BC108 transistors and light dependant resistors to create magic circuitry. Bistable multivibrators built from discrete components and even progressing to use things like 555 timer ICs<sup>1</sup>, which to my surprise are still in use today. Later I became familiar with operational amplifiers, or more often known as op amps. Halcyon days.<br />
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During this time I also became fascinated with radio. Superheterodyne receivers, antennas and even eventually transmitters. Shortly after leaving school I passed my radio amateurs exam and became licensed, class B, to transmit on allocated frequencies above 144MHz with the call sign G6HEF. I never learnt morse code, but eventually the rules changed and I now hold a full licence and can transmit on any of the amateur frequencies.<br />
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When lockdown hit I took the opportunity to take my hobby seriously. Being an active person and raising a family, being distracted by beer and the hassles of running a business it had fallen into the category of retirement hobby. As lockdown prohibited going to the pub or walking the fells never mind rock climbing or alpine visits, effort increased significantly to look back at radio for my amusement. It was, after-all, self training for my career. I set up for SMT<sup>1</sup> work at home and started to build various stuff for my hobby.<br />
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At first I was very enthusiastic, back in early April. I built various projects including a system to talk to people through a geostationary satellite. However, I became increasingly tired and in some pain. I lost 10kg, lost my appetite and generally felt really quite unwell. I thought I had caught covid, but this continued for some weeks until eventually I knew something else was wrong when abdominal pains became quite intolerable.<br />
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I phoned the GP who very quickly referred me to a specialist at the hospital. Within days I had an appointment for a CT scan with "highlights". I would have been scoped<sup>4</sup>, but covid prohibited that. The scope department was not accepting any patients. I was to be spared that unpleasantness.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYL6T5OgwkQFn-DDDlCADD8cmER2VdUrLp8cJlnedlSmtyKNgEsFRvDKo3uqbSPOKxFSHy8ggS08dfkWeH1fxpjHcNHVUz3jcwhrJXzE0gsvBfMnunxLXlbYUfgbGXXgie5-V3ZuHNS2A/s1600/97029385_10157373421025838_1367633040062283776_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYL6T5OgwkQFn-DDDlCADD8cmER2VdUrLp8cJlnedlSmtyKNgEsFRvDKo3uqbSPOKxFSHy8ggS08dfkWeH1fxpjHcNHVUz3jcwhrJXzE0gsvBfMnunxLXlbYUfgbGXXgie5-V3ZuHNS2A/s400/97029385_10157373421025838_1367633040062283776_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My 2.4GHz transmitting and 10GHz receiving satellite system</td></tr>
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A few days later, the start of a series of really bad days, I got a surprise call from the scope department to make an appointment for a gastric scope. Unfortunately the poor secretary had beaten the consultant, who had only minutes before ordered the procedure without talking to me. I was upset and shocked and told the woman that there was a mistake, this wasn't what I was told would happen. She said she would go back and check.<br />
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Later the consultant phoned me. I had, it seemed, some thickening of my stomach walls and some irregularities to the lining of my abdomen. I really needed to have this scope so they could take some biopsies.<br />
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I then got a call from Claudia. The upper GI specialist nurse. By this time I knew that they were suspecting cancer. I told her I wanted full disclosure. She has not let me down in that respect. She warned me that the news was unlikely to be particularly fantastic, but that she would be there for me through thick and thin, whatever happened. She told me I needed a scan of my upper abdomen as anything further up would almost certainly rule out surgical solutions.<br />
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I had my gastric scope, twice actually. A word of advice if you ever have a scope. Take someone with you to drive you home and accept the magic diazepam, you will very probably not remember anything and this is the best thing to do. If they suggest not letting you have sedation tell them they are cruel and make a fuss if they even think of not giving you the maximum. Diazepam is wonderful stuff, just don't drive until the next day.<br />
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However, if they want you to have a scope, have one as soon as possible, it may save your life. It is quite possible I should have had one a few years ago but was too scared to go. The main reason I was scared was due to people telling me horror stories about the procedure without diazepam. Did I tell you to accept diazepam? Trust me, it really is an awesome drug.<br />
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A few days later I went for a CT scan of my chest. Later again Claudia phoned me to let me know that indeed they had found other things and that the biopsy had identified cancer. I needed to see Dr Fyfe urgently so the choices could be explained and statistics quoted. She warned me quite sombrely that things were not at all good.<br />
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They had found cancer cells in my oesophagus and my stomach. They identified the primary as being oesophageal but the primary was restricting the proper operation of my stomach as it had grown down over the top. Worse than that it appeared that there were secondaries in my lymph system. I had to admit it explained a lot of my symptoms.<br />
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I met Dr Fyfe and Claudia with Sarah my daughter. It was a very serious and earnest meeting. Without treatment I had months to live. The treatment on offer didn't work for 30% of patients, although if you included that 30% the median survival was 12 months as a national average, but 15 months for Furness General from diagnosis, but they were unable to offer any other statistics.<br />
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The chemotherapy might well be horrible, they told me. It was a gamble. It would attack my immune system and the nerves in my skin and larynx, might make me feel sick, or even be sick and my hands, feet and gums might develop sores.<br />
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Alternatively they could fit a stent and make me comfortable.<br />
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Bollocks to that I thought, and probably expressed something along those lines. Having already thought about it a lot it didn't take me long to opt for the chemotherapy.<br />
<br />
"When do you want to start?" Dr Fyfe enquired.<br />
<br />
"As soon as possible, with caveats" I replied, scared he might suggest today.<br />
<br />
"Next week"<br />
<br />
It was only Monday, gave me a week to mentally prepare.<br />
<br />
"OK"<br />
<br />
He left the room and came back a few minutes later with an appointment for the following Tuesday.<br />
<br />
I went home to write a will and start the process of moving pension money to a place I could get to it.<br />
<br />
I had just turned 55, it was the end of May and I was now very scared about how many more birthdays I would get to see.<br />
<br />
The next post will bring us right up to the present day. Will I turn out to be in the 30%? How will I afford to live? Will I be able to continue to work?<br />
<br />
What exactly is it like living with cancer?<br />
<br />
Once we have these very important questions out of the way we can then get on with more important business.<br />
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<sup>1</sup>IC = integrated circuit. A collection of transistors and resistors formed onto a single peice of silicone and encapsulated with connector legs known as pins. What most people know as silicone chips. They do make the job of an electronics engineer easier and is what has pushed the technology to the dizzying heights we know today.
<br />
<br />
<sup>2</sup>SMT = surface mount technology. When I first started in electronics almost everything was through hole components. PCBs (printed circuit boards) had all the components on one side and the leads of those components went through holes to be soldered onto the conductive tracks on the other side. Today the wise money, and to be honest even the stupid versions, all use SMT. This is where the tracks and the components are on the same side of the PCB. The components don't have wires, but instead have very short stubby connections that solder onto exposed pads on the PCB. Everything is smaller, more delicate and requires a much more steady hand, good eyesight and fine soldering iron bits. For complex ICs a hot air system is better. The technology lends itself very nicely to automated assembly, but not to ageing long-sighted people like me, especially as I found out after a night on the beers.<br />
<br />
<sup>3</sup>a CT scan with highlights means hooking the patient up to a machine, via a cannula, to inject iodine whilst X-rays are used to image a three demential picture of the patients body. The iodine, being a relatively high atomic mass element but reasonably harmless biologically, helps to highlight structures that would not normally be visible with X-rays.<br />
<br />
<sup>4</sup>They wanted to put a camera up my back passage. I've always been somewhat scared of scopes, not helped by some stories people have told me about their unpleasantness. They had assumed the problem was in my lower abdomen due to the precise symptoms I reported.<br />
<br />HardknottDavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10331611701318148310noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-21990927195492668742020-08-02T17:13:00.002+01:002020-08-02T17:14:32.907+01:00Electronics is the SolutionBeer is a solution. It is an aqueous solution of various carbohydrates, ethanol, alpha acids and volatile aroma compounds. Beer remains a very enjoyable drink for me but as far as being a solution to my financial needs on balance it has failed to be so. I still enjoy beer tremendously, but must accept it cannot be a career for me any longer.<br />
<br />
Time has moved on significantly since we closed the Hardknott brewing experiment. I failed to find a way that I could satisfactorily make money and be able to stand by my aspirations. Therefore, by the end of 2018 it became imperative for me to find a way to make a living. There is a bit of a tale here and I think for the future of my writings I must bring his blog up to date. It is a bitter-sweet story of success and further failure. The future is where it is and I want to leave a positive legacy. I have learnt a lot through the pain of Hardknott, lost a lot of money, but gained significant experience and moved on to a new world. It will take several instalments to bring this blog to the present day.<br />
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Around the time we were winding up Hardknott we met a new friend, called Fran, who shared some interests. Fran has become an integrated part of my household and the story really cannot continue without introducing her. She was foolish enough at an early stage to agree to supporting my life-long goal of climbing Mont Blanc, and so it was in the Summer of 2018 that Fran, Ann and I spent 3 weeks in Chamonix training, acclimatising and eventually reaching the summit (4,808 m - 15,774 ft) of the highest mountain in Western Europe.<br />
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In the same year it became obvious to everyone inside Hardknott that we couldn't carry on, Scott left to join <a href="https://www.fellbrewery.co.uk/">Fell Brewery</a><sup>1</sup> and we made the final decision to move on.<br />
<br />
I was unsure what the next step would be. Ann had the unenviable job of trying to liquidise our assets whilst trying to minimise our liabilities. In reality the costs of putting the industrial unit back to a point of being able to hand over to the landlord, the ongoing costs of renting the space and all the other overheads was barely, if at all covered by the sale value of the assets. We should really have declared bankruptcy, but due to an ongoing and debilitating sense of altruism that has plagued my business and because I wished for a solid credit rating, we decided to wind up the business cleanly and by paying what we believed we owed.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile I set-to resurrecting my engineering career. I set up an electronics lab in the brewery, brushed up my skills with a bit of self-training and updated my CV. It was perhaps at the time a bit of a long-shot. My experience had been significant but my overall skill-set was perhaps a little bit out-of-date.<br />
<br />
I applied for several jobs, updated my CV several times until eventually I was successful in an interview and landed a job as an Electronics Design Engineer. It was exactly what I was doing before I was silly enough to buy a pub. In all honesty the only reason I ever parked that career was because I failed to see how I could advance it without moving out of Cumbria. A combination of family ties and my love of the Lake District conspired to instigate a change of direction into the beer and pub industry.<br />
<br />
If I can leave one lesson for other people to takeaway it is that although beer and pubs are great, it is hard work and you really need to invest a large amount of money, have a vision that is acceptable to a target audience that is large and accessible enough. Most importantly you must have a ruthless attitude to business to succeed. I may come back to this topic in some distant future time.<br />
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I started my new role in December 2018. Between then and COVID lockdown I learnt a lot, made some good progress re-floating my 14 years dead electronics career and was well on the way to being an awesome electronics design engineer. I was back. I was doing something I enjoyed. I had hope for the future and it was looking likely I could succeed in buying a house and saving for retirement. A massive turnaround from the low-point of my <a href="https://hardknott.blogspot.com/2020/07/a-most-upsetting-experience.html"><span id="goog_1671003382"></span>previous post<span id="goog_1671003383"></span></a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixKsbYrsCFLERMViMt0dIfzkjfn6oVJH_Lya1ZL6TKkT2hGnggW2IZPKZETdfZDuAn3baC1B9xSqjtIG3Pw8iO-0nmThv-WDcSmhogDaq7m5A9BjULCb765JbF0E7JhaQm3h5v4m7yMD8/s1600/Group+ASFA+%25233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixKsbYrsCFLERMViMt0dIfzkjfn6oVJH_Lya1ZL6TKkT2hGnggW2IZPKZETdfZDuAn3baC1B9xSqjtIG3Pw8iO-0nmThv-WDcSmhogDaq7m5A9BjULCb765JbF0E7JhaQm3h5v4m7yMD8/s400/Group+ASFA+%25233.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Back row, left to right) Fran, Ann and Alfie<br />(front) Sarah</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
In the spring of 2019 Ann, Fran and my "kids" Alfie and Sarah went back to the Chamonix valley for a skiing trip. It was largely great fun but among other disasters Fran snapped her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) very probably due to my poor instructing skills. This wiped out any mountaineering activities for the rest of 2019 while she had it repaired and then started the lengthy job of recuperation. We were really looking forward to getting back to the alps this summer.</div>
<br />
Late winter, early 2020 I started to see the exponential growth of COVID in the UK. Seemingly I could see this before my bosses and seemingly even before the UK government. Lockdown was inevitable and was the start of a troubled time for everyone on the face of the planet.<br />
<br />
However, for me, during lock-down a further dramatic series of events have left me with serious difficulties and some interesting opportunities. I find myself in a situation that I realise is poorly understood by people who are not in this position and I wish to share these experiences to try and help others who may find themselves in similar situations.<br />
<br />
Shortly after the start of lockdown I became ill, at first I thought it was COVID<sup>2</sup>, and that may have also been at play, but it seemed something else was going on, so I contacted the doctor, and things moved on very fast indeed.<br />
<br />
To be continued.........<br />
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<sup>1</sup>We remain good friends with Scott, who's brewing talent continues to go from strength to strength. Fell Brewery beers are extremely good and very much to my liking. I hope Hardknott has helped him to be where he is today.<br />
<br />
<sup>2</sup>We all had symptoms and later Fran tested positive for the antibodies, so COVID did play a part.HardknottDavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10331611701318148310noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-81477935723305050242020-07-17T20:09:00.000+01:002020-07-17T20:15:01.042+01:00A most upsetting experience<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 6pt 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I originally wrote this post somewhere in the spring of 2017. At the time we didn't feel it was appropriate to publish. Time has moved on and there are many things that have changed, obviously the closure of the brewery, but many other things too that may bring me back to writing. If you are friends with me on Facebook you will know.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Meanwhile it is time to tie up the loose ends with the brewery and move forward. This post describes possibly one of the most upsetting things I have ever decided that I must do.</span></div>
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<h3>
Spring 2017</h3>
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<span lang="EN-US">I don’t cry often. I guess it’s a blokey thing. I mean, it undermines any macho image one might have and probably has some sort of deep, long-engrained social conditioning. But sometimes, just sometimes, the need is there to really just weep buckets and damn what anyone else might think about the fact.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I was stood in the kitchen of the cottage. I felt cold. It looked like it was a functional kitchen, if in need of a bit of repair here and there. The fridge, it was suggested, didn’t work. The hob and oven, built in, probably did. The washing machine, which was too big for the space and so stuck out a little, apparently would wash clothes, but might leak a bit.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The owner of the said property had made some gallant efforts to clean the place. It looked good considering we had earlier claimed to not care a jot. The ground floor consisted of a kitchen and lounge in a semi-open plan format. If there was an open fire it would be cozy, but some idiot years before had removed the wall at the base of the chimney, presumably to make a little more space.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Heating was by a combination of storage heaters and electric wall heaters. God, I thought I had left this sort of primitive life behind. Growing up I remember cold winter days in a house heated solely by storage heaters. The only room that ever got warm in winter was the living room, and only then when we lit the open fire and had the flames roaring up the chimney. So, just on temperature alone I was feeling just a little bit underwhelmed.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Upstairs was a bathroom and two reasonable bedrooms. Fitted wardrobes and a double bed in each room meant we could move in at a drop of a hat. As it was we were due to move in imminently, possibly the next day. This was to be a new start, a solution to some fairly large problems. A chance to wipe a few slates clean and move on.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I felt a huge sense of sadness; only surpassed by the death of my Mother some 17 years ago. We were selling our lovely four bedroom, centrally heated house complete with fully fitted kitchen, large garden for the dogs, garage, en-suite master bedroom and enough space for me to have a “creativity” room, and as the kids had all but moved out Ann was likely to get her own space too; all quite lavish really.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">We had recently increased our pet population from one crazy, energetic but incredibly intelligent and fairly well trained Collie dog called Jester by adding a slightly less well trained, rather strong and bullish, if very friendly Springer Spaniel called Teddy. They got on well, too well, nothing was safe from their romps and were very firmly banned from the living room as the TV and associated multimedia equipment that are trappings of a comfortable life were completely at risk of annihilation. These two boisterous adolescent dogs tried out play-fighting tactics well beyond any reasonable creature’s fatigue levels would have kicked in. The lack of a garden for them to run around in was by itself starting to fill me with dread.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The fact we had Teddy was in itself a symptom of what was really a very positive influence on my life. A recently new friendship was certain to make 2017 a hugely pivotal year. Life is bound to be different in many ways and there are some incredible positives that should be capable of making me very happy indeed. None-the-less I was filled with the biggest and most dramatic sadness. The old over-used cliché of having a heavy heart felt so apt. The feelings were tangibly physical and I really, really wanted to cry; I could find no other way of making myself feel better, but still that deep routed macho thing was holding on to it’s stupid street-cred engrained principles.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">We had convinced ourselves that we didn’t need all our capital locked up in the house and huge, unserviceable and expensive debts in the brewing business creating losses that were inevitably likely to take us down. If we didn’t do something, as a result of the way our debts were structured, we’d risk loosing everything within a few months. Suppliers were loosing patience, some had already removed credit facilities and others had us on stop risking the halting of beer production. HMRC was owed some money, and that is always a bad position to be in.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">A very good customer of ours owns the cottage. We sell them beer, we go into their pub and drink our beer just the way it should be. It’s a good pub, good beers, friendly staff, wholesome home-cooked food, great bunch of locals and Azimuth on-tap. The cottage front door is less than 8 seconds at a brisk run to the door of the pub. What is not to like?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">We had mentioned to these good people that we might need a bolt-hole as we were due to sell our house. They have various properties and we just needed somewhere to rent. We agreed a mutually satisfactory rental and so planned to move in. We knew it wasn’t great, but just somewhere, for now, would do.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">We were 48 hours away from completion. We still had a lot to do to get out of our house. We had moved some furniture to a friend who was a little in need and had moved some more to store in the brewery. I knew there was a mammoth task ahead of us to get it finished. We had not done anywhere enough packing, I guess because we really didn’t want to make the move.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I still felt cold. The cottage looked unbearably small. Where was I going to put all my guitars? The idea of setting up my baby grand piano in the centre of the kitchen, whilst possible, was clearly bonkers. Whilst we were at liberty to “borrow” bandwidth from the pub WiFi I knew it’d not be as good as our fiber broadband. Having cooked in a commercial kitchen, even the rather spacious and by domestic standards well-equipped kitchen we were leaving behind irritated me. The kitchen I was currently standing in was sure to drive me mad.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I don’t know if I said anything to Ann regarding my regret at having to make this unfortunate change of circumstance, but it felt like a huge fall from grace was in progress, and all because I decided to attempt to make an honest living out of a passion for beer. Ann was trying to console me, but to no avail. The despair just deepened and deepened. I still felt cold, the thick stone walls had yet to yield to the increasing spring temperatures outside and just prayed we would not still be there come the autumn, but had still to find that magic plan that would ensure we are not. The uncertainty about the business, our living arrangements and the general future just weighed very heavily.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“Let’s go home” I said, looking around in desperation for something to cheer me up. And then it came. I realized, this would be home very soon, and what I had just called home had already been emptied of large amounts of sentimentally precious stuff. I had yet to dismantle the glass-fronted bookshelf that survived in my Grandparents house through a V2 rocket attack in 1944. Once that was done the place was certainly not to be my home anymore.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I walked upstairs; mainly I think so as not to let Ann see my face. Daft really. Why on earth would she think worse of me? A grown man crying over a justifiably upsetting experience is probably, I expect, quite endearing to his partner. But cry I did.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Was it the thought of moving into this undeniably cold house, a house that was really just a little to small for our needs? A house that could be heated, without much trouble and anyway, summer is on the way. I’ve done this before and been very happy about it.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Ultimately no, it is the uncertainty of knowing where we are going with the brewery. This move is being made to free up capital to enable us to make the next step with the brewery. Relocate somewhere where we can more easily sell more beer.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">And then, who in their right mind would sell their house,with over-saturation of breweries in the country, and significant price wars being raged driving down the wholesale price of beer below sustainable levels? Only a madman, am I right? Am I mad enough to risk my all? Here is the crux, I am not sure I am quite that mad.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">To add to the mêlée of melancholy confusions I am left wondering where it has all gone wrong. Where did we fail with Hardknott? We were once the boldest and most progressive craft brewery in Cumbria. Perhaps we still were, but somewhere, commercially, there is a lot of work to do, and the beer-landscape filled me with a sense of doom. With an industry that is most certainly broken, and despite attempts to get great beer out to great people the barriers presented by legislation, taxation and dirty deals by bigger breweries leaves me uninspired.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I looked around upstairs and still couldn’t quite see where my guitars, stage piano and Mac were going to be accessible. By now I was really quite full of tears, and knew I had to just get out; no longer could I hide my total grief from Ann. Her attempts at consolation resulted in a frustrated brush-off from me. The instinct to be ashamed of my crying was still very still strong.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“We don’t have to do this” she said. “Yes we do” I replied with inappropriate anger.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I was angry with myself. How has this happened? How are we going to make things better? When will I again live in a reasonable house, which I own? Am I making a huge mistake in being dogmatic at keeping the Hardknott dream alive?</span></div>
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HardknottDavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10331611701318148310noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-73479599045717969412018-09-19T11:48:00.000+01:002018-09-19T11:48:43.678+01:00Letting goIt is often difficult to accept defeat. Indeed, when one has been working on something for a long time it can be almost impossible to actually make that final decision that the end of that road has finally been reached. However, until that ultimate decision has been taken it can then also be difficult to move to the next phase; that part of life that doesn't contain the thing that is holding everything else back.<sup>1</sup><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF6r8usl4ocvtbpfW6jcrh5ESf6VIbTDjRDFE_c7ND2cAH7rMhjYWZCR0qxv6rCvHq8NIAIB09Czcpga4Zt0Pz5Eb3JmEc0icGFNo4ylm5uh4g0QJ3DS0TIolPEIgwOYS-z0R4rDDnHMg/s1600/IMG_4747.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF6r8usl4ocvtbpfW6jcrh5ESf6VIbTDjRDFE_c7ND2cAH7rMhjYWZCR0qxv6rCvHq8NIAIB09Czcpga4Zt0Pz5Eb3JmEc0icGFNo4ylm5uh4g0QJ3DS0TIolPEIgwOYS-z0R4rDDnHMg/s320/IMG_4747.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of our tanks - new value now close to £7k<br />
We only want around £3k</td></tr>
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I have been working on various solutions to keeping Hardknott alive. Mostly these consist of trying to find a partner, a brewing business that has holes in their makeup that we can fill, and in turn perhaps they would bring something to us that we lack. We have followed various leads, offered to talk and we've also approached some who we feel likely to be a good fit. Sadly this has not worked out and largely has lead us down blind alleys wasting time and resources we can not afford.<sup>2</sup><br />
<br />
I am certain that there are now too many breweries in the UK. There are some successes and those that have managed to get everything right will continue to flourish and grow. However, I firmly believe that the vast majority of breweries below the 5,000hl mark will find it difficult to find true sustainable success, that is unless there are some significant changes to the culture within the industry. My recent experiences searching for a solution to our own position I feel is proof of certainty of this.<br />
<br />
Let me explain this in a little more detail. Below 5,000hl annual production profitability is extremely slim<sup>3</sup>. It's a sliding scale and closer one gets to this important number the more likely a brewery is to make profit, but that profit is still likely to only really satisfy an owners short-term living requirements. Below 2,000hl my research strongly points towards a loss making operation. What this means from a business valuation point of view is that within the range of brewery sizes we are talking about any exit strategy for the business owner looks poor. Making return on investment is highly unlikely without some sort of growth.<br />
<br />
Consolidation is in my view the obvious answer to this. Critics of progressive beer duty as it stands points to a "cliff edge" at 5,000hl which it is claimed creates a negative incentive for mergers and acquisitions. I dispute that for various reasons. In actual fact the real barrier to such "normal" business activity seems to be in the very psyche of the owners of microbreweries. "This is my baby, we think we'll make this work all by ourselves" is a paraphrased and slightly exaggerated message I've heard now from the majority of people we've talked to.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile there are also talents and passion being lost from the industry as people like me become disillusioned with the hopelessness brought about by the massive over-supply of beer and undervaluation of hardworking micro-brewers.<br />
<br />
There are around 2,000 breweries in the country, the vast majority, around 1,400 of them, are below 5,000hl. Their total volume of production is currently around 1.3 million HL per year. If every single one of them were to produce 5,000hl per year we'd see them have to increase their total share of the market from around 3% to a whopping 16%. This stark and fairly scary thought omits to include that fact that if all 2,000 breweries wish to grow, as indeed we assume they do, then massive share of the market must be taken from both multinationals and regional brewers alike. This simply cannot happen as despite attempts to the contrary, and bluff from some quarters, the shape of the beer market hasn't really changed as much as we'd like to think it has.<br />
<br />
In actual fact pointing a finger at those under 5,000hl is a bit unfair and it seems to me that no one in the brewing industry is really terribly interested in mergers and acquisitions until we get to the very biggest. Massive publicly listed breweries are snapping up some of the more successful brands, but unless I'm missing something very little is happening other than that.<br />
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My prediction is that most breweries will struggle to grow and therefore leave the owners without a plausible exit strategy. If you couple this with the realisation that no one is going to be laughing all the way to the bank, why then does anyone still plug away with the dream when the probability of burnt fingers is so high? It all leaves me somewhat confused.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5SCKusb5q2CAAyBt_1SFeNf83Xz7XYDHCKJ8Yt8LjMaYCXzT7PBVE8vVa_WyATpqmo6qbGQzXED1jTkfs75PzGJYMvgeyP0u-gOGiIAqIQU-B9d6AahtLN73OgYBpR6caIU3U_Zy6md0/s1600/38230709_10155755851015838_1050074831917154304_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5SCKusb5q2CAAyBt_1SFeNf83Xz7XYDHCKJ8Yt8LjMaYCXzT7PBVE8vVa_WyATpqmo6qbGQzXED1jTkfs75PzGJYMvgeyP0u-gOGiIAqIQU-B9d6AahtLN73OgYBpR6caIU3U_Zy6md0/s320/38230709_10155755851015838_1050074831917154304_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, as a climber, free and happy</td></tr>
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I spent 3 weeks in the French Alps this summer, something I would have failed to be able to do if I was trying to put in the effort I'd need to to make our business work. I achieved a life-long goal of reaching the summit of Mont Blanc, a story I shall get around to telling on here I expect<sup>4</sup>.<br />
<br />
I have other life goals, and I'm working very hard on one right now which hopefully will realise itself in the next 6 months. However, to be able to fund these things I need to find a job that has nothing to do with beer. There simply isn't the money in this daft job to even survive, let alone make a decent living, unless I went to work for the enemy and I can't see me coping with that. So, my CV has been dusted off and is being sent out, back to engineering for me I hope.<br />
<br />
This post is something of a "goodbye" to the beer industry. We really have had enough. The above description, be it inaccurate due to my jaded point of view or not, has lead me to the decision that all there is left for me to do is sell any remaining stock, of which there isn't much left, and dispose of assets for the best I can get for them, which sadly won't be anywhere near as much as I would like.<sup>5</sup><br />
<br />
This blog will remain, but is likely to wander completely off the subject of beer and pubs. I've been here long enough, seen the same old arguments come back around again and again and although things have changed, and I hope I've helped change things for the better, there is still an incredibly depressing inertia to new and radical things.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5BLUEZSyvJgbRwCdw-wEISSdSelBV53yxbcSbYolrPf-PTClN1Hq0XUTp2pYXiIhrMJcN6Eef4wO8FSbnccmDdp8opQJO66JfSQnAug71lWV9DEHTyKRzmihr9h74QPqZvWsaR0276iY/s1600/40784935_10155830035055838_6597280413327032320_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5BLUEZSyvJgbRwCdw-wEISSdSelBV53yxbcSbYolrPf-PTClN1Hq0XUTp2pYXiIhrMJcN6Eef4wO8FSbnccmDdp8opQJO66JfSQnAug71lWV9DEHTyKRzmihr9h74QPqZvWsaR0276iY/s640/40784935_10155830035055838_6597280413327032320_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leaving the summit of Mont Blanc (4810m ASL)</td></tr>
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<br />
<sup>1</sup>Yes, that's right, we have given up completely. We're breaking down the brewery and selling everything we have. Look out for listings on the SIBA website and my <a href="https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/daveshoard">eBay account</a>. The best things we have are 6 x 2000 litre gross conical closed tanks which apparently costs close to £7000+VAT to buy new. We also have a 661 bottling line which hasn't been worked hard. We have various other bits of tanks and stuff, although with stainless steel being £900 a tonne to weigh in at my local scrappie some of it will be going that route.<br />
<br />
<sup>2</sup>With due apologies to the businesses that we have actually started dialogue with and it has been us that have decided to walk away. There are numerous reasons why deals can sometimes fail of course. Sometimes it's timing, and where we chase one possible lead at the expense of another only to find the fist is a blind alley it can get very frustrating for everyone involved.<br />
<br />
The point is that without enough businesses thinking truly about sustainability and personal long-term gain it becomes impossible to find suitable partnerships and I believe for the micro-brewing industry to prosper and fight much bigger foes a concerted effort to work together must be found.<br />
<br />
<sup>3</sup>Of course there is always the brewery business that manages to also own pubs. Be it a brewpub style operation, a brewery with a tap room or a brewery that owns an estate of pubs, they all have powerful advantages over the stand alone brewery. My current advice is don't own a brewery unless you want to also own a route to market.<br />
<br />
Why don't I do that? Put simply, been there and done that. The licensed retail is tough too.<br />
<br />
<sup>4</sup>Indeed it was epic. After 14 years of being my own boss I've learnt a lot and I don't regret it for one minute, but many things have suffered and my passion for mountaineering has been left unsatisfied until now. Why climb? Because the emotions of reaching the top are incredibly powerful, especially when doing so without buckling to the increasing pressure to hire a guide.<br />
<br />
"Dave, why am I crying?" asked Fran, which of course was a rhetorical question; when you've planned and dreamed and trained for such a thing for so long the happiness of achievement is incredibly emotional. I spoke to my GoPro, for the sake of the record "The summit of Mont Blanc" as I panned around to show that everything else within visible distance was indeed lower than us. There have been times I have questioned if I'd ever be there, and so I myself found it impossible to fight back the tears of happiness.<br />
<br />
<sup>5</sup>"If our business spends £1 million on a pub the following day we will still have a pub worth £1 million pounds, and that asset is likely to appreciate" a well respected brewery director expains to me "If I convince the board to spend £1 million on brewery kit the day after installation it is simply has scrap value"<br />
<br />
Actually, I'd say that there is a risk of brewery installations becoming liabilities as the costs of removal can sometimes be greater than value of any of the installed components. Although this is a smaller risk with microbreweries as second hand brewery equipment can easily be removed and normally has a better realisation of value on selling I know we have some significant costs to deal with to be able to hand back our building to the landlord.<br />
<div>
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HardknottDavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10331611701318148310noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-81799622785803942462018-06-05T11:05:00.000+01:002018-06-05T11:05:12.963+01:00The real tie.Getting micro-brewed beer onto keg taps in outlets is no easy task. It occurs to me that in actual fact this is a far greater barrier to growth of small independent craft breweries than PubCos or any other form of hard tie.<br />
<br />
"There's been an interesting bloke on the phone" Ann informed me as I returned to the office "He's just bought a hotel and wants our beer"<br />
<br />
At that point it seemed a reasonably ordinary enquiry and I assumed it was part of the usual irritating background noise that distracts me from my own job.<br />
<br />
"OK, that's good" I replied, with a fairly thick layer of dismissiveness "Do go ahead and sell them some of our beer, after all, you are the sales department"<sup>1</sup><br />
<br />
"They want Space Hopper in keg" Ann persisted in breaking down the barrier to her information flow "the guy tried it in that place we sent a keg to the other week and really likes it. Likes the beer and likes the branding"<br />
<br />
"Oh?" I replied "not cask, that's nice, but..... equipment?" she was starting to get through, a sale of keg to a new account was something that interested me.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjshQAEomA5_9bGlbDi-bqwVi5FOXp3mRfvtHhlZM1bZj38wA47fKEdbSc6OeSsR2D-ESt2cOJG4R9N6Tezx-kMOx7yP0JEP07F5O2cjTMsf77bhKrLn4LIYyqa_Sk3VR5B0Mn9YMphvt46/s1600/Hoppy+font+for+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1011" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjshQAEomA5_9bGlbDi-bqwVi5FOXp3mRfvtHhlZM1bZj38wA47fKEdbSc6OeSsR2D-ESt2cOJG4R9N6Tezx-kMOx7yP0JEP07F5O2cjTMsf77bhKrLn4LIYyqa_Sk3VR5B0Mn9YMphvt46/s320/Hoppy+font+for+blog.jpg" width="202" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Intergalactic Space Hopper at Haweswater</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"He doesn't think he'd be able to serve cask beer as they have no cellar" ah, so that's going to see me heading off to sort something out in this place. "You need<sup>2</sup> to go and look and see if they have the right things to serve our keg"<br />
<br />
This was following on from a recent bad experience where we had installed a keg font in a pub and a few months later, when the manager changed, they then decided not to buy our beer anymore. I rushed to the pub immediately I discovered this to remove our equipment only to find a Marstons sales rep there trying to argue that my equipment in fact belonged to them.<br />
<br />
So, I felt a little bruised and reluctant to spend the best part of £500 on another project of unknown outcome. Never-the-less I pitched up at this rather remote location on the <a href="http://www.haweswaterhotel.com/">shores of Haweswater</a> in the Eastern Lakes.<br />
<br />
That was over two years ago. I installed the tap I had removed from the previous pub and we've been merrily selling the place beer ever since and in enough quality to justify the effort and expense. It turns out that the new owner of the hotel is delightfully alternative in his outlook towards business.<br />
<br />
They contacted me a couple of months ago as they were negotiating with suppliers of their major brand lager. It seems that they were being offered a cash lump sum for a two year exclusivity deal. They were being offered £2k cash to kick our Intergalactic Space Hopper off the bar. Apparently it isn't just one major beer producer that is doing this, it is most of the big multinational brands and is looking a little bit like a cartel and anti-competative action.<br />
<br />
Now, Stephen the owner is no ordinary hotelier. He seems to have no intention of removing our beer, even with an incentive so great. John, who is dealing with most of nitty gritty, was simply contacting me to see if we could do anything to go someway to match the offer from the big boys. We considered for a while, contemplated taking over with our own exclusivity deal involving sourcing more artisanal lagers etc, but then our decision to stop brewing at Millom rather took over the situation. Indeed, the realisation that big multinational beer brands are actively tying up many routes to market in ways that we simply cannot commercially compete against was partly a catalyst to us deciding that we had to be drastic with our business progression.<br />
<br />
£2k is roughly the annual value of this particular account. We cannot compete in this territory. It isn't about the small amount of extra revenue they are trying to buy, it's about keeping the growth of small producer keg off the bar fronts in run-of-the-mill outlets.<br />
<br />
I firmly believe that growth of micro-brewing has to focus on gaining acceptance on the bar for keg. That has to be in your regular nominally free-of-tie pub, restaurants, hotels and similar. However it looks very much like the big multinational brewers have agreed a plan to make sure that we cannot make much progress into these areas.<br />
<br />
I recognise a barrier, but to quote a famous person, we choose to do these things "not because they are easy, but because they are hard". I just wish the rest of the beer world would wake up and realise that this is where the real effort should be targeted.<br />
<br />
The good news is that as a result of us announcing our cessation of brewing at Millom we have been chatting a little bit more with Stephen and John. Interesting and supportive people with whom I hope we will continue to have business dealings with.<br />
<br />
------------<br />
<br />
<sup>1</sup>It is entirely likely that as this is a while ago, and I'm grossly paraphrasing the actual conversation, that in actual fact I displayed high levels of irritation at the intrusion into my current thought train. It happens, I may have been in the middle of fixing something in the brewery, which does tend to put me in a less than ideal mode for receptive dialogue. It might also be the case that I was considering some wider beer-related issue that I felt required a blog post to be written, or a tweet replied to, or some such thing. On many days it happens that both things are occurring simultaneously and my mind often fails to complete either task with satisfactory levels of competence. The sales department keeping me abreast with micro-details of individual customers seems a waste of any remaining brain power that might be surplus to requirements. Thought train derailment I do find so frightfully annoying.<br />
<br />
<br />
<sup>2</sup>I'm really working hard to remove this word "need" ... I'm sure it would be awfully useful, but no one is going to die as a result of it not happening.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-43429686095858770162018-05-15T14:08:00.000+01:002018-05-15T14:59:48.363+01:00Cafe, culture, cats and craft beer<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYK2rD77275EzzyJfulREtui6OsNmrJWLI8MGidFknE4D1hnJN1ssyX1s2kw4viWtBaP39sxeuUDTgnoHOwDS-RnHe12lBrhOiZOxqWn-E03lfLtVVUCyHNyuvppcJV9U7wAW_wF2GmWo/s1600/IMG_3207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYK2rD77275EzzyJfulREtui6OsNmrJWLI8MGidFknE4D1hnJN1ssyX1s2kw4viWtBaP39sxeuUDTgnoHOwDS-RnHe12lBrhOiZOxqWn-E03lfLtVVUCyHNyuvppcJV9U7wAW_wF2GmWo/s320/IMG_3207.jpg" width="320" /></a>"Is that a problem?" replied Luke to the lady's question. "Well yes, I can't be in the same room as cats, and they know it"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDKoTMqtavdNjlZcaLeYgxDDNXpT0TFLUZL27fqqz7qH5ssWW-LBdNxdQk8cLqYZquNb5GSepW6bK-QEO2oROGFDG7g35-3x4jgLrwwgniuXPQbCrwaxhmRl1rFA45Bk4fUD9F5T3Gc0s/s1600/IMG_3215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDKoTMqtavdNjlZcaLeYgxDDNXpT0TFLUZL27fqqz7qH5ssWW-LBdNxdQk8cLqYZquNb5GSepW6bK-QEO2oROGFDG7g35-3x4jgLrwwgniuXPQbCrwaxhmRl1rFA45Bk4fUD9F5T3Gc0s/s320/IMG_3215.jpg" width="320" /></a>"There is Poppi Red across the street there, they serve really nice coffee and cakes" Luke rather charmingly replied, quite deftly and politely dealing with the issue. Me? I thought the lady a bit daft and I might have been tempted to question exactly what she expected when the sign outside clearly said "Cafe Culture Cats" - dead cats? Stuffed? A place simply adorned with cat-related art?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZ58FJ4cSOAVt5C-kCPPnhffvodInzNkeYd1i5EVsA98eebvb75eUdxdf9kfKezWz0jANuKIQQoY384A8_IZGwYEhhTgvJMdERNt7yKtsCizdG5T1VbfL-9FSmP7ab7RNPkjwhWZyS2Q/s1600/IMG_3223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZ58FJ4cSOAVt5C-kCPPnhffvodInzNkeYd1i5EVsA98eebvb75eUdxdf9kfKezWz0jANuKIQQoY384A8_IZGwYEhhTgvJMdERNt7yKtsCizdG5T1VbfL-9FSmP7ab7RNPkjwhWZyS2Q/s320/IMG_3223.jpg" width="320" /></a>No, this place very definitely has live cats wandering around, 4 at the last count, although I believe more may be introduced at some point. My reason for being there was purely on my technical merit and thankfully no customer interactions were required from me. Despite Luke's warm explanation and obvious desire to help, the lady still appeared to leave somewhat grumpily. I was surprised then when she returned a few minutes later to take some photos of the cats as apparently she has lots of friends that love the feline creatures.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qhJmqh8KukgYJ_H1nFrRTTw89teTFoOluCSE3ZcUGaK7lL-shJKPeSIwq7vK2RaP_o5TDRqu9PSpRwSC6fGkJhIt1npfCgEKIn_t3eJarTUd-wQ0z8lrA8NdO95PKWH4IArN4IPyDko/s1600/IMG_3226.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qhJmqh8KukgYJ_H1nFrRTTw89teTFoOluCSE3ZcUGaK7lL-shJKPeSIwq7vK2RaP_o5TDRqu9PSpRwSC6fGkJhIt1npfCgEKIn_t3eJarTUd-wQ0z8lrA8NdO95PKWH4IArN4IPyDko/s320/IMG_3226.jpg" width="320" /></a>Luckily I was simply finishing off the keg line install in <a href="https://www.kittchen.co.uk/">Kittchen</a>, a new cafe-bar in Hawkshead village. I had promised Emma that I'd help them with the cellar fit when they first talked about their own pleasantly unique project. We knew they were planning a cafe-bar style operation, with some inspiration most definitely from Hardknott along with their visits to various other proper craft beer bars and were especially excited about the project.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9astk4ofCl6sJuk_WMtjoywQetrGdbwhu0ocRoV2nuGzWkdsitsCtx3O9RC19ODzqVSXBmyEn8sYWE3lipMoUZy6QUqgWTiauGYQBAIOBXvytA-FciGY-DygOw_DRUPt1B_2lGxtkvFI/s1600/IMG_3237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9astk4ofCl6sJuk_WMtjoywQetrGdbwhu0ocRoV2nuGzWkdsitsCtx3O9RC19ODzqVSXBmyEn8sYWE3lipMoUZy6QUqgWTiauGYQBAIOBXvytA-FciGY-DygOw_DRUPt1B_2lGxtkvFI/s320/IMG_3237.jpg" width="320" /></a>What was kept very quiet for a long time was the concept that this would be a cat cafe. This is not a completely new concept and my brief look on Google shows quite a few in the UK along with a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37199653">BBC article back in 2016</a>. I guess I'm more of a dog person myself so what appears to be a growing phenomena had completely passed me by.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVZ68f7m0R1VzXzBXOuRncJ70vMD2JhJ_QSuAWCEehntqJ0F7BKFL3mafxuVYP7bhDWSwUDumRpwyYVWd5jICxc7_BG5O8nhOSLYGAscYTq736hZiNJxqIRHv44oEhkk9djIhRHXOLbS4/s1600/IMG_3252.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVZ68f7m0R1VzXzBXOuRncJ70vMD2JhJ_QSuAWCEehntqJ0F7BKFL3mafxuVYP7bhDWSwUDumRpwyYVWd5jICxc7_BG5O8nhOSLYGAscYTq736hZiNJxqIRHv44oEhkk9djIhRHXOLbS4/s320/IMG_3252.jpg" width="320" /></a>Luke and Emma had intended to serve Hardknott beer at the cafe so I was very pleased to help them with the cellar. Despite our own uncertainty, as I had promised to help these guys out, and in any case it fits with my love of the unusual, I had no hesitation in supporting their venture.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL3HQCvXY-HH0TAzh3OhPBiXm2A1vqEC3Yr6uEXniwYFOOp6YPysnkYxma2NRGRqwQHkt_LEnA4QQV9t7XGtyngqWVlzUfdikMybmkxuEzIY1WC4sMBRiA-G6mFHRjJ5w9sAjQt41rSjs/s1600/IMG_3259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL3HQCvXY-HH0TAzh3OhPBiXm2A1vqEC3Yr6uEXniwYFOOp6YPysnkYxma2NRGRqwQHkt_LEnA4QQV9t7XGtyngqWVlzUfdikMybmkxuEzIY1WC4sMBRiA-G6mFHRjJ5w9sAjQt41rSjs/s320/IMG_3259.jpg" width="320" /></a>I've fitted them with 6 keg lines, no cask as it would be bonkers to even consider such a thing in such a place. Currently we've got them going with a selection of Hardknott beers including Azimuth, of course, Cumbrian Lager, Neutron Citra and La'al Peat. We also sourced for them a keg of Timmermans and a keg of Delirium Tremens.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMVTfT2CcTg3A0CeV7DMo1T9-JTer6ZsBl0ljoa1EbrWO610uqGA_RDfQEN9Xk5w-GGFgwhdZK3oVLMbcR1kf1XyxSkBjQYJG4dSdzZjkQCHFAfeBn2Vd2s_EkyYH9_32aRAUkFvTuf0/s1600/IMG_3303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMVTfT2CcTg3A0CeV7DMo1T9-JTer6ZsBl0ljoa1EbrWO610uqGA_RDfQEN9Xk5w-GGFgwhdZK3oVLMbcR1kf1XyxSkBjQYJG4dSdzZjkQCHFAfeBn2Vd2s_EkyYH9_32aRAUkFvTuf0/s320/IMG_3303.jpg" width="320" /></a>We've returned on several occasions since they opened two weeks ago. Well, the beers need to be checked for consistency and dispense reliability. They also serve lovely platers of locally produced meats and cheeses, cakes and pastries. Along with my introduction to Cards Against Humanity, which is definitely a game best enjoyed with openminded friends and a few Delirium Tremens.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Oh, I didn't comment on the culture bit, glad you reminded me. There is a superb large area upstairs ideal for showing films, live music events, poetry readings and many other diverse cultural curiosities. <a href="https://www.kittchen.co.uk/view-all-events">Check out here</a> to see what's on.</div>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
HardknottDavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10331611701318148310noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-50274424366685189402018-05-10T11:36:00.000+01:002018-05-10T11:56:43.383+01:00The Cask Anomaly<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Life goes
on, and you might be surprised to know; so does Hardknott. We have plans afoot
to continue, perhaps against my better judgment, and will be involved with the
business of making beer for a while yet I hope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We have
definitely stopped brewing at Millom. The brewhouse is just old, tired and in
need of serious upgrade. We simply cannot justify solving that where we are.
But we have some nice tanks and a bottling line. It seems there are people out
there who believe they could use them, and perhaps use me too. People who might
just be able to help me with the issue of lacking a decent brewhouse. It's all
top-secret, and I might even be jumping the gun by leaking this little snippet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">That
preamble is relevant however. As part of working out what to do for the future
I've thought long and hard about a number of aspects of the beer market. My
conclusions are that the British beer culture is still largely stuck with a
huge number of preconceptions, traditional practices and frankly stupid dogmas
that inhibit microbrewing from emerging out of the twentieth century.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I've
contemplated the issues regarding cask beer before on several occasions. As
part of my review I have considered cask very carefully indeed and have come to
some fairly decisive conclusions, key to it is the following point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The vast majority of draught beer brewed by
brewers below 200,000hl/yr production is cask. The vast majority of keg beer is
produced by brewers over 200,000hl/yr production and these brewers produce
nearly no cask at all.<o:p></o:p></span></b><sup>1</sup></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Something
is very wrong with this situation, very wrong indeed. I do not think one can
understate how this is linked to another fairly important point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Cask beer represents less than 10% of the total
beer sales in the UK and around 16% of the total draught sales. The remaining
84% of draught sales are keg beers and the vast majority of that volume is from
the big global producers.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The total
beer market is shrinking, partly due to overall reductions in alcohol
consumption but also critically due to changing customer preference to what are
seen as more artisanal products. Cask remains roughly static as a proportion of
the overall beer market. Cask in the free trade also appears to remain largely
free from dispense equipment ties and this is in itself an interesting
observation.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">People like cold and fizzy<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0JSlr4RoHySEqPbZleDqVVKA06bOyS2s-UfDPRPToSC8np02SBQ8SS_VuSrG76tZnb8jYCFadaCrG2T741dNJ_vS9nKPj87jMX4yco3gS4j6H9-4BxOZCXyqUHhP_Z10mIYlNM6oM78A/s1600/Azimuth+Keg+on+bar+coloured.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1489" data-original-width="1464" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0JSlr4RoHySEqPbZleDqVVKA06bOyS2s-UfDPRPToSC8np02SBQ8SS_VuSrG76tZnb8jYCFadaCrG2T741dNJ_vS9nKPj87jMX4yco3gS4j6H9-4BxOZCXyqUHhP_Z10mIYlNM6oM78A/s320/Azimuth+Keg+on+bar+coloured.jpg" width="314" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It is
undeniable that people like cold fizzy beer. Only the deluded would try to deny
that, and indeed it is important to note that contrary to the message CAMRA
have put out for years, people who drink keg beer are not morons simply
influenced by the advertising campaigns of large multinational brewers.
Drinkers really do prefer beer that is cold and fizzy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The
artificial restriction of microbreweries largely to cask rather weakens their
ability to capture a larger market. If a drinker's enjoyment of a beer
experience is inferior under certain circumstances then that consumer is likely
to be swayed away from that situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I have long
pondered this situation. A long-time lover of the pub experience, brewer of
cask, keg and bottle beers, twice over publican, past lover of cask beers and
now a firm believer in keg as the future of great beer has come from
observation and thought about the whole market.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What is wrong with cask,
surely it's the best?<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Have no
doubts, cask beer is technically easier to produce, needs less capital
investment and is less expensive to produce. It is ideal in many ways as a
method for a brewery to gain an entry to the market.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Cask beer
has a number of serious disadvantages;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">Served at a warmer temperature
and with less "fizz" making it less palatable to many consumers (this
is true, get used to it)</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">The open container results in
the beer noticeably deteriorating in a couple of days (actually, in my
experience, a few hours)</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">The lack of carbonation
inhibits the demonstration of great hop aromas</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">Variability in the quality of
dispense resulting in brewer's beer not always being as they'd intended</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">Significantly more skill
required by staff to ensure quality is maintained</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">Poor cellar cooling and cleanliness
impacts on cask over keg</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">Due to significant over-supply
in the market the wholesale price of cask beer is very depressed</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">Simply not funky and trendy
enough for youngsters resulting in microbrewed beer losing out to trendy
spirits, fruit ciders and fizzy rancid grape juice from Italy</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
<h3>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The dichotomy<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The beer
market is still very much sliced in two by the terrible dogma instilled into
the culture of British beer. Whilst there is no denying that some changes have
been made and craft keg has become a thing, despite many people being sceptical,
it is still very much a niche and confined to craft beer bars and a few very
bold progressive pubs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Mainstream
pubs generally have a number of keg fonts almost exclusively for multinational
brands. They may well, if free of tie, have handpulls serving locally produced
cask beer, if they serve any microbrewed beer at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Beer
drinking customers can be broadly divided into two types; the cask drinker, who
might default onto smooth-flow if desperate and the solid keg drinker who
wouldn't wash their socks in that cask stuff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Admittedly,
there is a group of wise and discerning people who are much less blinkered, and
who will drink based on their mood, thirst, level of sunshine or just because
they are curious, but I'd suggest this group of people are in fact a small
proportion of drinkers.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The future really is keg
beer<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">A bold
statement you might think, and indeed it is only part of the future, but a very
significant part of it. It's not an easy road though. Much investment is needed
along with working out the route to market. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Equally
there is the task of convincing cask-only drinkers, who are only so in my view
due to the pressure from CAMRA, to love microbrewed keg along with gaining
trust of the keg-only brigade to try new beers. Changing that is likely to be a
bit of an uphill battle, CAMRA AGM voting continues to prove this point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Not only
that, we have to tackle the stranglehold of the multinationals on the bar
front. Various "soft ties" that effectively prohibit microbreweries
from even being permitted to sell their keg beers to pubs in fact tie much of
the market even where a pub is apparently free of tie. This last point is
important. Many observers are getting their knickers in a twist about PubCos
and brewery owned estates forgetting that this is actually not the really big
issue we have to deal with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And for Hardknott?<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It is
almost certain that in whatever form we finally re-emerge we will be focusing
on keg much more than cask, very probably eliminating cask all together. For a
start, the most likely solution to continuing would be to join with an existing
cask producer thereby possibly forming a conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">My task
then for the next few months is to work out how to tackle the various barriers
to getting really great keg beers available and better accepted by the beer
drinking public.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I think a
return to a much more combative, confrontational and outspoken ethos for
Hardknott is required; there is a lot to change in the minds of the public if
we are to see microbrewed beers on keg fonts in many more regular pubs. I do
not think there is any good reason for this not to happen other than
inappropriate inertia emanating from a Luddite attitude.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">-------------</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><sup><br /></sup></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><sup>1</sup>OK, so I expect I'll get some challenges here. Yes, there are the likes of Fullers and Marstons who put quite a lot of beer into cask, but even so, that vast majority of beer produced by breweries over 200,000hl/yr is keg beer.</span></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-67753713707385978762018-03-19T11:48:00.003+00:002018-03-19T11:53:16.642+00:00A catatonic beer industryAfter several years of careful consideration as to the future of Hardknott and in particular after I have examined the beer industry very closely it is my sad duty to inform you that our brewing facility at Millom will very shortly cease production. It simply isn't sensible for us to invest any more of our own personal equity in a market that is so saturated, and where brewery gate prices are stagnant when costs are rising year-on-year.<br />
<div>
<br />
It continues to frustrate me that many commentators in the industry are heralding how massive the craft beer thing is, and yet stupefied by what appears to me to be an inevitable likelihood of massive attrition of many small brewers as they realise that making money at this daft job is the preserve of very few.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
We do not know yet what the future holds. We have a hope that we may well keep the Hardknott ethos and beers alive in a way that stands by the provenance and spirit from which we were born. We are already engaged with potential partners in this regard and hope to have some news soon.<br />
<br />
We also have beer in tank and some stocks. We think at current rates of sale, and with stuff in production, we'll have beer until May or June, and selling it would make me feel a little happier.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What I can say is that I am in many ways relieved. Also very sad, obviously. It is now over 12 years since we first started brewing. I have learned a lot, and potentially discovered some fairly uncomfortable truths about the beer industry. It is for this reason I am relieved, because I am likely to be much more forthright regarding the many things that are so wrong with the industry, and there is plenty, trust me.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A period of reflection, perhaps some time-out, perhaps a regroup and restart, or perhaps I'll just find a job, who knows?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Meanwhile I have a busy week. Two great things are happening this week. I do have a life outside beer and musical theatre has been a helpful therapy when I've been going through periods of disillusionment with the beer industry. I am very proud, the week Andrew Lloyd Webber has his 70th birthday, to be involved with a likely sell-out<sup>1</sup> 7 performance run of an amateur<sup>2</sup> production of Cats.<br />
<br />
This same week we have the micro-brewing legends that are Sue Hayward and Gazza Prescott visiting to take part in a Waen/Hopcraft/Hardknott collaboration brew, and laugh at me in a unitard. Watch out for what might be that swan-song of our endeavours.<br />
<br />
I hope to return here in due course to start a constructive appraisal of life as a micro-brewer. I have a lot of damming things to say about the way the beer industry works. The way in which SIBA and CAMRA alike are missing some very important issues that could be resolved to make the micro-brewing sector much more sustainable for the poor souls who are brewing, and who often have nothing but a dream of getting good beer to good people.<br />
<br />
---------<br />
<br />
<sup>1</sup>It is likely that all performances will sell-out. As I type this there are only 21 tickets for Saturday matinee. The rest of the performances are completely sold out. (I believe there may be a small number of returns available each night very much on a first come first served basis)<br />
<br />
<sup>2</sup>Giving the company the term amateur really does not do justice to the talent in this society. I'm only a small cog in this 51 strong cast and the professionalism is incredible. It's going to be a great show.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-28969494576811083252018-03-09T15:16:00.000+00:002018-03-09T15:16:06.542+00:00SIBA - The Voice of British Brewing?I may well get my arse whooped for this. Yes, I'm going to discuss SIBA AGM again in this publicly accessible medium. My robust defence is that those in favour of the current direction of SIBA can, and do send their points of view out to all members. We, those who are constantly exasperated by the failure by the exec to listen to what we are saying, have no way to reach the very same people unless we broadcast it.<br />
<br />
There seems to be two motions being presented to the AGM. I discussed one on my previous post. The other motion is against what I believe to be the right course for SIBA and I shall try and explain why.<br />
<br />
I only have one trade body. There is also the <a href="http://www.beerandpub.com/">BBPA</a> and the <a href="http://www.familybrewers.co.uk/">IFBB</a>, but neither of those organisations are suitable for me.<br />
<br />
SIBA wishes to have a vision statement that reads;<br />
<br />
<b>To deliver the future of British beer AS THE voice of British INDEPENDANT brewing.</b><br />
<br />
The capitalisation is as written in the motion document.<br />
<br />
I'd like to vote against this on the basis that I do not want my trade organisation to have this vision. Unfortunately the previous vision statement read;<br />
<br />
<b>To deliver the future of British beer and become the voice of British brewing.</b><br />
<br />
It is this very vision that is used by the organisation to argue for much of the detail that it does, which is against the interests of the majority of members.<br />
<br />
The reasoning behind this is that it is argued that SIBA should lobby universally as one voice to Government for the whole of the UK beer industry.<br />
<br />
Having sat on the SIBA policy committee I can absolutely give the reader full assurance that SIBA will not look after the interests of brewers under 5,000hl. Indeed, they are planning on weakening SBR<sup>1</sup> and will be making representations to Government to that effect, if they haven't already done so.<br />
<br />
If representation to Government is needed that is universally for the good of the whole beer industry then SIBA can join with the other trade organisations and deal with them on a case-by-case basis.<br />
<br />
It is inconceivable to me that us little artisanal producers can be represented by the same organisation that represents some quite large Public Limited Companies who are listed on the stock market. They already have their own trade organisations.<br />
<br />
I'm now kicking myself that I didn't get around to my own motion to counter this sort of nonsense. However, minded to vote against just to frustrate the process.<br />
<br />
---------<br />
<br />
SBR = Small Brewers Relief = PBD = Progressive Beer Duty. Currently every brewer below 5,000hl gets 50% discount off beer duty. Above 5,000hl brewers are capped at a cash relief per hl% and above 30,000hl up to 60,000hl this relief is slowly, and quite painlessly removed.<br />
<br />
There is an argument that states that brewers find it hard to climb above 5,000hl because the shape of the relief inhibits growth. Actually, I have evidence that proves very much that although there is an elbow in the profitability curve that shows improvement in profitability slows as breweries go through the 5,000hl level, actually profitability still increases, all be it at a slower rate.<br />
<br />
See output from a certain bit of work I've been doing in the chart below.<br />
<br />
What is crucial is to note that profitability is rare below about 2,500hl, although the model data does show significant error bars and profitability is evident in a small number of cases; exploring this may be interesting.<br />
<br />
This however, is the subject of a future blog post.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18VHQR56M7ZguJOf3Phxvhj802o60NrquLhyphenhyphen01c5_Ngp6j4zBd6WyFuz-UotoAvcnUfXwDw_X5PIrU4N9uRS_F3MpTG0xBQ65_bHycHhG0Y0vDi5xpx45v9lYZAE_ouiKKOXBNWWBrmpP/s1600/For+Blog+profit+against+brewery+size.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="977" data-original-width="1600" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18VHQR56M7ZguJOf3Phxvhj802o60NrquLhyphenhyphen01c5_Ngp6j4zBd6WyFuz-UotoAvcnUfXwDw_X5PIrU4N9uRS_F3MpTG0xBQ65_bHycHhG0Y0vDi5xpx45v9lYZAE_ouiKKOXBNWWBrmpP/s640/For+Blog+profit+against+brewery+size.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-79848154321835719602018-03-08T14:25:00.001+00:002018-03-08T14:51:16.113+00:00Who should be allowed as members of SIBA?SIBA started life as the Small Independent Brewer's Association. Some people don't think that matters. I think it matters a lot.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5kZByliWlSp6WGA0SXyqMx3-wQNibxFXx3b6V9hwXQhI89Vob2mPY_dwT4PPocMxme-reiZ04HS3Jj5s3xX7Jeo7-kFxjlI-ASBPF3fdySxTKwfz5aizh4t4RFAwdIm2xLYbfF8L5_jkm/s1600/Brewing+volume+by+band.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="976" data-original-width="1600" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5kZByliWlSp6WGA0SXyqMx3-wQNibxFXx3b6V9hwXQhI89Vob2mPY_dwT4PPocMxme-reiZ04HS3Jj5s3xX7Jeo7-kFxjlI-ASBPF3fdySxTKwfz5aizh4t4RFAwdIm2xLYbfF8L5_jkm/s400/Brewing+volume+by+band.jpg" width="400" /></a>SIBA was set up to try and tackle a specific problem in the beer industry; the beer tie, and the barrier that creates to access to market for the very smallest of brewers. The organisation has now moved to a place that is trying to be "the voice of British brewing" It is inevitable that, perhaps with the exception of a few like myself, the strongest voices are those of big business.<br />
<br />
DDS was invented and then it changed its name to BeerFlex, apparently to reflect the idea that brewers could set their own price. However, us brewers have never been able to set our own price, the Pub Companies do that, and have recently driven the price down significantly to the point it is completely bonkers for us to even consider. Larger brewers, above say 3,000hl, can afford to consider this route to market as economies of scale permit a lower delivered price for the beer.<br />
<br />
This is just one example where SIBA has turned away, be it deliberately or not, from the needs of the micro-brewer; the true small brewing business. They are not progressing any actions with vigour that might improve my route to market, but are instead protecting and improving the interests of brewers significantly larger than us.<br />
<br />
There are a number of like-minded brewers like myself that feel SIBA is failing to represent the little guy. There were several motions at last years AGM calling for the largest of brewers to be removed from the associate membership category as it was felt very strongly that a disproportionate amount of influence was being exerted by the big players in the business. Some of those motions succeeded, but the key one, to remove breweries from membership if they were above 200,000hl, was cancelled from the vote due to the success of a weaker motion put forward by myself.<br />
<br />
It is my view, from the mood of the attendees at AGM, that the motion to remove completely the brewers above 200,000hl would have been successful had it been put to the vote.<br />
<br />
This year there is a motion being tabled that rather than removing the breweries from membership who are over 200,000hl we permit any brewery in so long as it isn't a global brewery<sup>1</sup>.<br />
<br />
Now, that is all very well, and of course any region can submit a motion. The thing that has really got to me is the fact that news of this motion has been placed under embargo; we are not supposed to publically talk about it. However, SIBA exec can email every single member with their attempts to get this motion passed.<br />
<br />
Furthermore, and really crucially, SIBA exec have cynically tightened up the rules regarding the organisation of proxy voting<sup>2</sup>. This is especially important. It is important that for the sake of micro-brewing you do not let these barriers prevent you form voting just because you cannot get to the AGM.<br />
<br />
There are around 1,000 SIBA members. The vast majority of them are very small businesses indeed, and yet direction is coming from a few brewers of much more significant size.<br />
<br />
Breweries of my size find it very difficult to get to AGM. The costs, once you factor in travel and accommodation, run in to a significant amount of money. Even supposing your little micro-brewer is flush with cash, which he isn't, finding the time to get away from the business is extremely difficult. He or she is already doing 80 hours a week, as head brewer, van driver, accountant, HACCAP author, cask washer, copper scrubber and general all-round dogs body, finding time to get away is often impossible.<br />
<br />
With urgency I am calling upon all brewers who are members of SIBA to reject the motion asking for the membership to be enlarged to take in the biggest<sup>3</sup> PLC brewing businesses. If this motion succeeds we can be sure that SIBA will move even further way from the interests of the current membership.<br />
<br />
Proxy voting has been made particularly difficult it seems. Couple that with a gagging order on us talking about the issue shows clear intent to subvert the course of this particular democratic process. It is your duty to ensure you get your proxy vote set-up up with urgency.<br />
<br />
For this reason I have decided to break ranks and ignore the embargo, hence this blog.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Please do not let a few 10s of people dictate over 1,000.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Protect the future of YOUR trade organisation.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
PUT IN YOUR PROXY NOW!!</div>
</h2>
Proxy voting nominations need to be in by 5pm Monday 12th March. IT CAN BE AN EMAIL ATTACHMENT.<br />
<br />
Hardknott is happy to act as proxy, please get in touch.<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
<sup>1</sup>I fully expect that the detail of the motion will be pointed out to me: i.e. that only those under 1% of the total UK beer market will not be allowed.<br />
<br />
Except there is a clause stating the the board can override that. Considering I have little faith in the board it'll not be long before we see even bigger breweries permitted membership.<br />
<br />
<sup>2</sup>Apparently a simple email is not sufficient to register a proxy vote. It must be a signed letter on company headed paper. I mean, I don't know about the reader, but I haven't got company headed paper. OK, I've got a Word template.. but really, company headed paper?<br />
<br />
For clarification, it can be an email attachment, apparently. But then why not just an email? For goodness sake this is what we do most of our business by, very rarely needing an actual wet signature.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<sup>3</sup>I believe it to be important to point out that SIBA is my only trade organisation. Larger brewers have BBPA and IFBB. One has to question why the largest of brewers want access to our trade organisation, the very trade organisation that is suposed to be protecting us against the largest of businesses. They claim we'll get benefits. Well, I have a lot to say on the supposed benefits of working with large PLCs. It isn't as good as you might think.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-38240157844835342752018-03-08T11:31:00.000+00:002018-03-08T14:26:10.957+00:00The state of Micro-BrewingThere is a lot wrong with the beer industry.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
"What?" I hear you say, "There are loads of breweries out there, and the choice is fantastic"</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
"Not only that" you are bound to continue, "The Government has fixed the problem of the beer tie by forcing pub companies to allow market rent only deals"</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
"And look, I've seen various brewers, big and small helping each other out" no doubt you'll explain with exasperated irritation in an attempt to convince me that the whole brewing industry is a friendly place.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Well, it is a significantly less friendly place than you might believe. I have friends in the brewing industry, this is true. I even have some personal friends in organisations that I am probably about to upset. There are quite a few breweries that I would always be happy to pally up to, mostly they are either around the same size as my very modest business or perhaps just a shade bigger than me.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What I can say is that there is a growing underground of like-minded brewers that are becoming increasingly irritated at the way things are going. We are looking to fight back against what is becoming an apparent attempt by the established industry to do it in for micro-brewing.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNWHiFDga-5PRbWMvUdH0HyuP5QkjAduu2mn88bRJupTjtSAiwCVJQzxwUP9abgOhtFngMXUgYygdwjDUcqeAJCtp4YXfUxi1FOlrK4i9HCuD79AcmUpbUPnonsdsHUHkbH-QHS0T-kus2/s1600/UK+Beer+Market.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="975" data-original-width="1600" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNWHiFDga-5PRbWMvUdH0HyuP5QkjAduu2mn88bRJupTjtSAiwCVJQzxwUP9abgOhtFngMXUgYygdwjDUcqeAJCtp4YXfUxi1FOlrK4i9HCuD79AcmUpbUPnonsdsHUHkbH-QHS0T-kus2/s320/UK+Beer+Market.jpg" width="320" /></a>Brewing is becoming a very, very aggressive and unpleasant place to be. Since I started brewing overall UK beer sales have dropped by 25%. In contrast the number of breweries has quadrupled. The wholesale price of beer is dropping and many of the people I am talking to on a daily basis are losing sales volume in an alarming way.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I want to write a lot about this, but have increasingly felt the need to hold my tongue over the last few years. Doing collaborations with large PLC brewers and working closely with SIBA have in particular inhibited me from speaking out as much as I'd like to.<sup>1</sup></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Meanwhile I see my sales dropping, at a time when really I need to grow them to survive.</div>
<div>
Coincidence? I don't think so.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I have a lot to say and the success of my business was built in the early years by my blog and the way I wrote it. I feel I have been gagged by engaging with the broader brewing industry and reigning in my thoughts in the mean time.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I am therefore intending on entering a new phase of engagement in a much more open and honest way, without fear or favour and explain where I think things are going wrong and how that might well see a partial collapse and retreat of the micro-brewing sector of the industry in the near future.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
-------</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<sup>1</sup>The reasons for this are complex, multi-faceted and beyond the scope of this initial post, but I'll be following up with further posts explaining this in detail.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-62692008103319482402018-03-02T15:43:00.001+00:002018-03-02T15:43:50.830+00:00Is it good to do collaborations with Family brewers?There are a lot of burning issues I could blog about at the moment, but there is one I need to get out of the way urgently.<br />
<br />
In the wake of Fullers buying Darkstar does the reader think that our collaboration with Fullers has been good or bad for the image of Hardknott?<br />
<br />
I would like frank and honest answers here. A good debate would be fantastic. I honestly want to know the answer because from my standpoint there are some huge positives and some huge negatives. I know which way the economics balance at the moment... but in business kudos often far outstrips short-term considerations and I simply cannot afford to be wrong on this one.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhksitrJ3s8aIVHnN_iuNSweYtHXv-IEwifRaEpSbWSoDa-BjgdGFZjKAeezBhifjxWWylL5E9L0kOHrK5YUNwfnKuwzWMaj4zon8ff4eiUmQV62-mhMKjMGRRyENE9QUZAI32UYBXmlsA7/s1600/Peat+Supoer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="1588" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhksitrJ3s8aIVHnN_iuNSweYtHXv-IEwifRaEpSbWSoDa-BjgdGFZjKAeezBhifjxWWylL5E9L0kOHrK5YUNwfnKuwzWMaj4zon8ff4eiUmQV62-mhMKjMGRRyENE9QUZAI32UYBXmlsA7/s320/Peat+Supoer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<script>(function(t,e,s,n){var o,a,c;t.SMCX=t.SMCX||[],e.getElementById(n)||(o=e.getElementsByTagName(s),a=o[o.length-1],c=e.createElement(s),c.type="text/javascript",c.async=!0,c.id=n,c.src=["https:"===location.protocol?"https://":"http://","widget.surveymonkey.com/collect/website/js/tRaiETqnLgj758hTBazgd1Vo698qnnSuqSgJIuHgJGKsthL5XrORdZH4Vpuc5Q2W.js"].join(""),a.parentNode.insertBefore(c,a))})(window,document,"script","smcx-sdk");</script><a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/" style="color: #999999; font: 12px "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"> Create your own user feedback survey </a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-10382343757307261602018-01-31T09:11:00.000+00:002018-01-31T09:11:34.810+00:00Popularist Masculinity and Beer.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib9s8uRJksFhlU-nQXB7V9dwEcNf8uE_zp_Jdz8ImMsgswLlmzIV64b_4xlmSy5awsaZX2pS7TsAt_Wb4jHkW_TTKexRt_CGsIRVVEvtn7rysGs0_vUcbVqGsrMUTzVM5mpsOZRhkaSjFn/s1600/DizzyBlonde.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="601" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib9s8uRJksFhlU-nQXB7V9dwEcNf8uE_zp_Jdz8ImMsgswLlmzIV64b_4xlmSy5awsaZX2pS7TsAt_Wb4jHkW_TTKexRt_CGsIRVVEvtn7rysGs0_vUcbVqGsrMUTzVM5mpsOZRhkaSjFn/s320/DizzyBlonde.jpg" width="320" /></a>I took the piss out of the pub owner the first time I saw it on the bar. I know him well enough to take the piss, I guess he's a mate and a good customer. In any case, he rips the piss regularly, especially when I'm trying to play pool, so I didn't feel much of a shred of guilt.<br />
<br />
It went off, then came back again, so it seemed he had re-ordered, or taken more than one cask. I guess it had been a week or so since my first expression of concern regarding such an intrusion into my appreciation of what is otherwise a splendid pub.<br />
<br />
"Really?" I exclaimed in a rather more serious tone "You feel comfortable putting Dizzy Blonde on the bar?"<br />
<br />
"People have asked for it and it sells really well" came the apparently sincere reply. Further explanation regarding what sells well and what doesn't could very much depress me. Needless to say it was a bit of a readjustment to my world view on the subject.<br />
<br />
He runs a good pub. I respect his business skills tremendously and he's much better at running a pub than I ever was. He sells stuff I wouldn't, because he wants to cover his overheads; if it were me I'd probably dig my heals in and suffer commercially as a result.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqxDkeI1Oz7PtHraFfJhlaSfw_io7JeDlSXWywg6FXLES8PslKMwhzkYp5JmPLTw-AG8LB6KmBz3rVeyPIObXfunoVHV9Z0oRWjuHOCrBRF8RUjrc5LpF7sSvMTMkwnwzr09HjfC0bD_kv/s1600/ITUK-Robinsons-Brewery-12.17-HiRes.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1600" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqxDkeI1Oz7PtHraFfJhlaSfw_io7JeDlSXWywg6FXLES8PslKMwhzkYp5JmPLTw-AG8LB6KmBz3rVeyPIObXfunoVHV9Z0oRWjuHOCrBRF8RUjrc5LpF7sSvMTMkwnwzr09HjfC0bD_kv/s320/ITUK-Robinsons-Brewery-12.17-HiRes.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The imagery is all over the roads in the NW of England....</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I am reminded about this exchange as a result of recent media interest in <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41892346">sexism in beer the beer world</a>. I am fairly sure that I have never bought Dizzy Blonde and when I have found myself unfortunately faced with only Robinsons beers I opt for something else. Although my boycott possibly isn't going to make a jot of difference, the only way to stop this sort of nonsense is by it becoming commercially unattractive for it to continue. I cannot bring myself to support such a thing.<br />
<br />
Robinson's are not going to stop making Dizzy Blonde any time soon, not so long as it clearly makes them money. Likewise, other companies will carry on with varying degrees of sexist imagery and beer names so long as the general public has a panache for such things. So, is it really the fault of the businesses for propagating sexism in the beer industry? Or is it more the end consumer?<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnDmJztKzEHYsHYmV2a4674IWFdBtucMRJQ-CkoPZCWCmrdBAjSHepEFgoEpk5Hk9FepacybAVQXj0d7L0a-BG-GTKuqVL8A402oNjIAjybsk5ga_8_DW-iJEBMhfvdYNCx7eEkxThQ2Mm/s1600/azimuth3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1462" data-original-width="1600" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnDmJztKzEHYsHYmV2a4674IWFdBtucMRJQ-CkoPZCWCmrdBAjSHepEFgoEpk5Hk9FepacybAVQXj0d7L0a-BG-GTKuqVL8A402oNjIAjybsk5ga_8_DW-iJEBMhfvdYNCx7eEkxThQ2Mm/s320/azimuth3.jpg" width="320" /></a>I recently commissioned artwork for a project to help promote Azimuth. We started from the premise that generally folk don't get the name. Far too obscure. It relates to navigation using heavily bodies and hooks into the by now well established folklore surrounding the story of IPA<sup>1</sup>.<br />
<br />
I wanted to create a mythical scene of ancient mariners and imaginary sea creatures. A mermaid crept into the scene and refused to leave. She was initially far too sexy. My artist was cajoled into making her more powerful and less demeaningly sexy.<br />
<br />
Did we get it right? I am still unsure, but hope that it is mysterious enough, and we've empowered the female character in the scene sufficiently to not raise the hackles of any potential critics. The dragon we could imagine to be male, indeed the mermaid is quite clearly in charge and is fighting to help against a relentless macho wind, which for me is symbolic of the masculinity which sadly is all too prevailing in the world of beer.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<sup>1</sup>With apologies to all beer historians. I am not a beer historian. I am not sure if I understand where beer history truth ends and myth begins. I do care, but just haven't got the time to keep myself properly informed on such matters.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-8806889683602504202018-01-15T10:56:00.001+00:002018-01-15T10:56:10.650+00:00Urban UndergroundIt's taken a while, perhaps even best part of 50 years, but I've got to the point of realising I am not normal. It seems the world is a mass of homogeneity and I mostly don't fit into any of it. But then, what is normal? Normal, when referring to the characteristics of the human condition, is very probably an amalgam of the average of us all. In reality we are all very different.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhLSwIeagfhS_UhByrMK8Afx39gUmLU08BZ3EjX30FO2TuFIg1zrnOa4ax4qCwKv8tJ693wN8-M70qColFb_IHGp1_Ej6xydBvr8Sn-yskxmX5tsyQQBy1cz4IEC24NJzHcDwpQiXbPch/s1600/Urban+Myth+Keg+Badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="945" data-original-width="945" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhLSwIeagfhS_UhByrMK8Afx39gUmLU08BZ3EjX30FO2TuFIg1zrnOa4ax4qCwKv8tJ693wN8-M70qColFb_IHGp1_Ej6xydBvr8Sn-yskxmX5tsyQQBy1cz4IEC24NJzHcDwpQiXbPch/s320/Urban+Myth+Keg+Badge.jpg" width="320" /></a>This is the back-story to our new beer, Urban Underground. I feel I'm almost in my own little underground world on occasions. Part of an alternative to the mainstream and a happier place for me to be. This beer is something of an outward expression of that feeling of misfit, and an empathy with anyone else who feels the same.<br />
<br />
One cannot help one's height. As adults we have grown to a certain vertical dimension and stopped. We then start to shrink as we head inevitably to old age<sup>1</sup>. I suppose some people like to wear high heels when they feel challenged vertically, although that isn't one of my particular kinks. The colour of our skin, our numerical age, and our genetic sex are rooted in our conception. More variable characteristics such as where we may feel we sit in a gender spectrum, sexuality, social status, how young we actual feel or where generally we fit in any sort of spectrum of personality<sup>2</sup> add together to make each and every one of us completely individual.<br />
<br />
Moreover, we are really quite plastic in the way our personalities develop. I know that I have changed in many ways over the years. Part of that is due to me bucking the preconceived ideas of what is normal and deciding to reject the straight jacket of societal pressure. The life journey I am on only really hit overdrive when I cast away the rigours of academia. If you'll pardon further powered travel metaphors, that journey only became turbo-charged when I ceased PAYE status. School eh? How many people just don't get along with school and later in life find out what they are really all about?<sup>3</sup><br />
<br />
We want Hardknott to be all-inclusive. We try hard to avoid alienating anyone based on age, race, sex or sexuality, background or any other defining feature. More than that we hope to positively appeal to anyone who doesn't fit normal, mainly because I'm needy for new friends.<br />
<br />
We've tried hard to make this beer more accessible and therefore more inclusive. We've put just as many hops in as we do in Azimuth or Intergalactic Space Hopper, but less has gone in copper and much more have gone in post fermentation. This has reduced bitterness whilst maximising aroma making a very drinkable beer.<br />
<br />
This is a big, fruity, laid-back IPA, with notes of orange, mango and a hint of pepper. At 5.9% it is certainly not run-of-the-mill, certainly not part of the average mainstream and hopefully will be in the niche sweet-spot helping you to find your true self.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<sup>1</sup>Indeed, fear of my own mortality, although perhaps tangental to my points here, is non-the-less something that concerns me. I'm unsure quite how far I've worked through my own mid-life crisis, but it is most certainly there. It is a fact that life is a terminal disease, it is therefore important to live it to the full and with gay, straight, bi or any other type of abandon, depending on how you feel.<br />
<br />
<sup>2</sup>I'm hoping I've avoided any specific technical psychological term here. It is quite possible this whole post skates on thin ice in order for me to get across my point. Mental health is a subject that deserves sensitivity. For me, I've never been formally diagnosed with any issues, but there have been dark times. I suspect a huge number of people feel the same. There are many diagnosable personality "disorders" - but then when does someone who is a bit different actually have a personality "disorder". I have on many occasions considered if I might exhibit some characteristics that indicate I may be both dyslexic and on the autistic spectrum. I've come to the conclusion that I am just me, and that I work and feel a certain way and the world should just live with the way I am.<br />
<br />
<sup>3</sup>And I could rant on about how I feel the education systems fails many who do not fit the standard academia model. There is way too much emphasis on league tables in my view. Totally insufficient focus on skills and knowledge that might actually be useful to students in a vocational setting. A general lack of understand that some people just don't get on well if all they are forced to to do is sit at a desk all day. Some people don't work well with words and numbers, would rather spend time doing something much more practical and might even thrive if they were allowed that stimulation.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-49516975755522929982018-01-11T11:04:00.002+00:002018-01-11T11:12:55.722+00:00Chips should be brownI do like chips. I also like roast potatoes. Pies with a thick crisp pastry are also quite lovely. Fresh baked bread with lashings of butter melting through that gooey yeast-formed lattice of heartening carbohydrate, all held together with a nice, crunchy brown crust is just the ticket. Oh, and toast, just at that point of not quite being burnt, but almost there. Heaven!<br />
<br />
Recent scientific health research pours terrible doubt on the future of foods that are naturally browned through baking, grilling or frying, which I feel is something of a terrible shame. Unfortunately, as is often the case, the results of the scientific research is inconclusive regarding the actual health hazards associated with naturally browning food at elevated temperatures. In being overzealous with caution regarding the health of the population I fear the Food Standards Agency are propagating what I believe to be a food risk myth and in so doing turning science into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience">pseudoscience</a>. <b>There is no proof that eating burnt toast or crispy roast potatoes increases your risk of cancer.</b><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
I enjoy eating these things. I enjoy cooking these things. I always enjoy these food stuffs most when I make them myself. You see, there seems to be an ever increasing trend these days to make stuff anaemic rather than the colour they should be, a nice deep brown.<br />
<br />
Browning of food during cooking, and incidentally the colouration of malted barley that goes to make your beer, occurs due to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction">Maillard reaction</a>. This reaction changes the colour, flavour and brittleness of food. It becomes darker, tastier and more crunchy. The reaction is between reducing sugars and amino acids. The reactions, and therefore the resultant compounds can be complex and are dependant on the particular types of amino acid present, as well as the time, temperature and chemical conditions (PH for example) of the cooking process.<br />
<br />
From a culinary point of view this is often referred to as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caramelization">caramelisation</a>. Chemically, caramelisation is different to the Maillard reaction and therefore does not produce acrylamide. But in starchy foods both reactions tend to occur together and contribute to the overall deliciousness of properly cooked items such as chips.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBK0k628C9tFHHlWLi_HVky0EHx5OkN_QG-iM-5V0kU9xpQT6R9_pHCTnF2aOTIJzWAUPJKJXicMQRY43rWKKVbznp3qTvMBgD6XPQrz8lL-WfGy46H10Alju_h7UbeJQUw92wgzd33T9m/s1600/Roast+Potatoes2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBK0k628C9tFHHlWLi_HVky0EHx5OkN_QG-iM-5V0kU9xpQT6R9_pHCTnF2aOTIJzWAUPJKJXicMQRY43rWKKVbznp3qTvMBgD6XPQrz8lL-WfGy46H10Alju_h7UbeJQUw92wgzd33T9m/s640/Roast+Potatoes2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roast potatoes, made by me. Probably quite high in acrylamide, but they were delicious.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The problem it seems is that there has been scientific research that links a substance called acrylamide to cancer in laboratory animals. It is thought that acrylamide is formed as one of the products of the Maillard reaction, in any case it is present in starchy foods that have been heated over 120ºC. Such foods include chips, bread, biscuits and crisps.<br />
<br />
Recently the FSA have <a href="https://www.food.gov.uk/science/acrylamide-0">issued advice</a> that is designed to decrease the consumption of acrylamide. This advice includes cooking chips until they are "golden" rather than brown. It also includes the advice that cooking times should be reduced and preferably that cooking temperatures be lower. Advising that production of acrylamide is reduced by reducing the surface area to volume ratio, for instance by making chips chunky rather than skinny<sup>1</sup>.<br />
<br />
Now, if dietary acrylamide was proven to be a significant risk to human health then perhaps we should consider these recommendations. If reduction of cancer rates could be guaranteed by simply ensuring the population was eating pale food then there would be some point to the FSA scaremongering.<br />
<br />
However, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22495255">no epidemiological study</a> has yet found a link between dietary acrylamide and cancer. The World Cancer Research Fund has carried out <a href="https://www.wcrf-uk.org/uk/blog/articles/2017/01/does-burnt-toast-give-you-cancer">their own research</a> and "<b>this study didn’t find any strong evidence for a link between eating overcooked starchy foods that contain acrylamide and cancer risk in humans"</b>. Moreover, although they are falling short of calling out the FSA for overzealous caution, they do list the issue amongst <a href="https://www.wcrf-uk.org/uk/recipes/diet-cancer-myths-debunked">5 diet and cancer myths debunked</a>. Indeed, there is no report anywhere that I can find that shows a link and even in the FSA reports there is yet to be a proven link.<sup>2</sup><br />
<br />
There is new legislation<sup>3</sup> coming into force in April that is designed to manage the levels of acrylamide in food that are produced by food business operators. This bothers me hugely. Legislation brought in to address a problem that has yet to even be proven to exist seems over the top in the extreme. Legislation which will inevitably cause food producers to worry more about meeting the demands of the rules rather than making tasty food, and goes some way to explaining in my mind why most chips these days have virtually no colour about them at all.<br />
<br />
A good while ago I wrote a whole post on the <a href="http://hardknott.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/chips.html">subject of chips</a><sup>4</sup>, and how I like to make them. Double frying ensures fully cooked fluffy interior and and a nice crisp brown exterior. And yes, the brown colour on the outside of chips does improve the flavour somewhat. I love bread with a thick brown crust, and pastry nicely coloured on the outside. Sadly, with the monstrosity that is Greggs bakery, the UK seems to be losing the idea of what a proper pie should be like, but make no doubt about it, no pastry item should be pale and limp.<br />
<br />
The only remaining glimmer of hope is optimistic application of the ALARA principle, detailed at the end of this post. Standing for "As Low As Reasonably Achievable" the principle does permit some justified wriggling. If you are a restaurant, for instance, and you consciously and deliberately make the choice to create menu items designed to have a high level of browning of starch products then it is perfectly legitimate to argue that it is impossible to make such items properly without increased levels of acrylamide. However, in my experience environmental health officers lack the ability to understand the intricacies of such arguments and would rather dogmatically apply their own interpretation of the the rules.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<sup>1</sup>However, it was interesting that in a <a href="https://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/acrylamide-furan-report.pdf">certain study</a> a supermarket's own brand crispy roast potatoes with goose fat seemed to come out with a greater level of acrylamide than the skinny chips from most well known fast food chains. We all know that crispy roast potatoes with goose fat are food things to die for. It may well be that there is a reaction with certain amino acids in the goose fat and the carbohydrates in the potatoes that ensure such deliciousness, but equally cause increased levels of acrylamide. Indeed, looking down the list of things in the results of the above mentioned study and it becomes apparent to me that there is a strong link between deliciousness and levels of acrylamide.<br />
<br />
<sup>2</sup>I want to expand a little on my thoughts regarding the effect of acrylamide on the body. The substance is potentially carcinogenic, this is true. When exposure by inhalation is at substantially elevated levels there is some proof that there is some cancer risk, for example in smokers. In laboratory animals cancer risk is shown to be present from exposure.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The National Toxicology Program’s Report on Carcinogens considers acrylamide to be reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen, based on studies in laboratory animals given acrylamide in drinking water. However, toxicology studies have shown that humans and rodents not only absorb acrylamide at different rates, they metabolize it differently as well." - <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/diet/acrylamide-fact-sheet">National Cancer Institute (USA)</a></blockquote>
Acrylamide can be metabolised in different ways. It is possible that ingested acrylamide does find it's way to DNA in the body and so cause the mutations, it is also entirely possible that humans metabolise ingested acrylamide in a way that prevents it being damaging to DNA.<br />
<br />
Homo Sapiens have also ways cooked food, and we evolved out of earlier species that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking#History">also cooked food</a>. Cooking by our ancestors has probably been a thing for about a million years. Cooking is possibly one of the reasons our species has become so successful, and therefore it is also highly likely we have developed an evolutionary tolerance to acrylamide in our food. It is certain that humans and rats <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16438293">metabolise acrylamide differently</a>. Rats have never evolved to use fire for cooking.<br />
<br />
<sup>3</sup>This legislation is actually coming from the EU. More evidence, I guess, to backup the Brexiteers case. However, drilling down through the information it seems it is the UK that is driving this, and besides, I'm not convinced that we won't just copy and paste EU legislation once we are out.<br />
<br />
<sup>4</sup>I'm intregued that actually the picture of my chips in that by now rather ancient post shows them to be quite pale. Some varieties of potatoes, especially early season are notoriously difficult to brown owing to low concentrations of sugars. I assume this was the case in this sample.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Some background information</h3>
<h4>
Acrylamide in malted barley</h4>
Pale malts 630-660µg kg<sup>-1</sup><br />
Coloured malts 2200µg kg<sup>-1</sup><br />
(source http://acta-arhiv.chem-soc.si/54/54-1-98.pdf)<br />
<h4>
Calculation of acrylamide in beer</h4>
<div>
1 pint of beer = 0.568 litres</div>
<div>
assume beer has OG = 1.050</div>
<div>
Litre degrees per pint = 0.568 x 50 = 28.4lº</div>
<div>
Assume yield of 300lº/kg</div>
<div>
Mass of malt per pint of beer = 28.4/300 = 0.095kg or 95g</div>
<div>
Pale beer acrylamide content = 0.095 x 650 = 62µg</div>
<div>
Dark beer (20% dark malt) acrylic content = 0.095 x (650 x 0.8 + 2200 x 0.2)</div>
<div>
= 0.095 x (520 + 440) = 0.095 x 960 = 91µg</div>
<h4>
Safe levels of consumption</h4>
<div>
182µg/day for a 70kg human https://www.bakeryandsnacks.com/Article/2009/12/08/Scientists-determine-safe-acrylamide-levels</div>
<div>
<h4>
ALARA</h4>
</div>
<div>
<div>
ALARA is an acronym for the concept “As Low As Reasonably Achievable”. This simply means that a Food Business Operator (FBO) should take appropriate measures to reduce the presence of a given contaminant in a final product to a minimum: taking account of the risk presented, but also taking account of other legitimate considerations, such as potential risks from other contaminants, organoleptic properties and quality of the final product, and the feasibility and effectiveness of controls.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-9276966269518141372017-11-01T13:46:00.002+00:002017-11-01T14:03:15.947+00:00Peat Souper<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ocDTPdVd-3I-rkeio8TCClwD9adYLo24BA_hl_x8BwLPwVkukjHXDhwh-Eum5IlJyKmbW2Ukq3lcBRCXOx6kS5FP9j1slToZZOrNb6uOlwNTkc7RwGYAF0eSNJSQTkDA7jGT3vIJzNQ/s1600/1.+Hardknott.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ocDTPdVd-3I-rkeio8TCClwD9adYLo24BA_hl_x8BwLPwVkukjHXDhwh-Eum5IlJyKmbW2Ukq3lcBRCXOx6kS5FP9j1slToZZOrNb6uOlwNTkc7RwGYAF0eSNJSQTkDA7jGT3vIJzNQ/s320/1.+Hardknott.jpg" width="320" /></a>Every so often things happen that helps me realise that there are good people in the world. Business can be a nasty thing to have to do it would seem. Indeed, very often it feels like to succeed you simply have to be more ruthless than your competitor<sup>1</sup>. So when I received a nice email in early January, and I followed up with a phone call regarding collaborations that could well help us out, I knew that the year was going to turn out to be very interesting indeed. It was excellent timing as I was becoming very jaded of the whole industry really.<br />
<br />
I was not wrong. This year has panned out very interestingly, and it's not over yet. The communications I refer to were from John Keeling, Director of Brewing and Global Ambassador at Fuller, Smith and Turner, the Chiswick based family brewing business. He claimed to have an idea for a great collaboration project and suggested he had some good news for me.<br />
<br />
Ever since I met John at Sheffield station back in October 2009 I have found him to be a most generous, witty and friendly brewer. In contrast to some other beer industry leaders<sup>2</sup> he has embraced the nurturing of a two-way street between the very smallest of breweries and Fullers. This does mean that although we may still have some differences of opinion on some things, I still have a huge respect for him and everyone at Fullers.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKLQHHBmi2TT7p9pcHOrg5fUFlefdy6XxWbUGTbR2ylMLQOwIfvhtsd8fbsgevt-31O9RfYp8vPSCn_SVSn1MN6a4CYuTxIrUD-2bjqXfmclOCOWHSm7nBpQn2_PUIVM4Ey4GdVgMeqQ4/s1600/Peat+into+Mashtun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKLQHHBmi2TT7p9pcHOrg5fUFlefdy6XxWbUGTbR2ylMLQOwIfvhtsd8fbsgevt-31O9RfYp8vPSCn_SVSn1MN6a4CYuTxIrUD-2bjqXfmclOCOWHSm7nBpQn2_PUIVM4Ey4GdVgMeqQ4/s320/Peat+into+Mashtun.jpg" width="320" /></a>So, what was the great plan of John's? You probably all know by now, a mixed six pack of beers each a collaboration with the best craft breweries in the UK. John hand-picked the breweries and we were delighted to be invited to be part of the project.<br />
<br />
The whole process was great fun, from recipe formulation, brewing the pilot beer, through to the label design it was a true collaborative effort. We learnt a lot too, which is one of the most significant advantages for us of taking part in collaborations. Even down to learning how to deal with the brand managers in larger organisations who simply don't get the difference is style between them and us. That's a whole story by itself<sup>3</sup>, but we eventually found a compromise that worked for everyone.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTjVHdKg1uHxO8Rn2N-4scVtwztZiCF_LltuVSbHeI062kASpl_b9xBUh0UrkOTjrhDBMkHDXW_d7uouFk89ZLJ27U4wCvKsYI15k3FZDyJHLmRoMAHoNmO8GBpv4qUsqlij0KDAuKjM/s1600/Under+Tanks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTjVHdKg1uHxO8Rn2N-4scVtwztZiCF_LltuVSbHeI062kASpl_b9xBUh0UrkOTjrhDBMkHDXW_d7uouFk89ZLJ27U4wCvKsYI15k3FZDyJHLmRoMAHoNmO8GBpv4qUsqlij0KDAuKjM/s320/Under+Tanks.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
We are having a launch event in Birmingham next Wednesday (8th November 2017) at The Old Stock Joint, which is a Fullers pub. All six beers will be presented along with some special Hardknott beers.<br />
<br />
If you have signed up to our <a href="http://hardknottcrowd.com/">Hardknott Crowd Rewards</a> site then attending the event and making yourself known to us will get you 300 #HKBeerCoins. Further #HKBeerCoins are available for anyone helping us to promote the event.<br />
<br />
If you've read this far well done, you deserve 50 HKBeerCoins just for that. Enter the token <br />
P34tS0uper into the correct place on the HardkottCrowd.com site and they are yours!!<br />
<br />
Oh, and of course there is a video of the brewday.<br />
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<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/240763053" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe>
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<sup>1</sup>Contrary to what some people like to claim, the beer industry is incredibly competitive. I am often encouraged to work together for common aims within the beer industry, and then get heavily shafted by the very people who I am asked to work with. We are not all friends, and make no mistake, big businesses worth many millions of pounds, with directors on healthy salaries are regularly pissing on my bonfire.<br />
<br />
<sup>2</sup>In many quarters there are continual attacks on the sucesses of micro-brewers up and down the industry. Unfortunately I'm afraid there are moves to damage the very smallest of brewers, and the attacks are coming from some surprising areas, which is worrying me intensely.<br />
<br />
<sup>3</sup>Our beer wasn't named until we actually had the beer in the FV. I wanted to call it The Big Smoke, but apparently that name had already been taken. We came up with various alternatives, all of which got kicked out by the trademark experts. All the names that the Fullers people came up with as safe names we thought sucked and were incredibly un-crafty and certainly not Hardknotty.<br />
<br />
To be fair, Mr Keeling told us to dig our heals in and fight for what we wanted.
So I very gently suggested that if they wanted it to be a truly collaborative beer the name had to be similar to the sort of name I would use for our own beers.
I liked Peat Soup, because it was play on words regarding London smog and a reference to the fact the beer used peat smoked malt. Some of the Fullers people thought it too obtuse for most people to understand. I think people that understand us also understand the name reference. You, dear reader, are not stupid.<br />
<br />
I think there was a fear that people may react badly to the word "soup" which might subliminally make folk thing the beer was gloopy or something.<br />
<br />
Eventually we came up with Peat Souper. A super beer!! Well, hopefully we've got away with it, and it doesn't flop when out in the wild.<br />
<br />HardknottDavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10331611701318148310noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-48412147062467832432017-10-24T19:39:00.001+01:002017-10-24T19:39:26.573+01:00The Thinking Drinkers"Drink less, drink better" is a mantra I can get behind. Especially in this era of sin-bashing by a plethora of kill-joys masquerading as people concerned for the wellbeing of humanity, it is perhaps useful to consider that being discerning about what we drink is no bad thing. Looking out for and making an effort to find better alcoholic drinks helps re-capture the moral high-ground. At the very least ensuring we are not at the bottom of the hill.<br />
<br />
I've known Ben McFarland for a while, I mean, he is a thrice Beer Writer of the Year and writes a fair bit about beer. He's even included us in one of his books<sup>1</sup>. Tom Sandham it seems is also a renowned drinks writer, although his specialism seems somewhat broader than Ben's. I suppose cocktails might be a thing for some people, even if this particular imbiber prefers not to be so pretentious.<sup>2</sup><br />
<br />
This duo was created some time ago, as best I can work out around 2011 when they debuted at The Edinburgh Fringe with "The Thinking Drinker’s Guide to Alcohol" - This seems to coincide with my own conscious recognition of their existence as a duo.<br />
<br />
I guess I was confused about what exactly they did. Did they do drinks tastings? Are they a comedy act? Was it perhaps more serious a message they wanted to put across. I have remained healthily intrigued about their act, but had never been in the right place at the right time and available enough to be bothered to drag my sorry arse along to see them live.<br />
<br />
"There is something on at the Begger's I think we should go and see" said Ann "Oh?" I said dismissively, as at times our agreement on what makes a good show may differ.<sup>3 </sup>Still, <a href="http://www.beggarstheatre.co.uk/">The Beggar's Theatre in Millom</a> does bring some good shows from time-to-time, so I guess I was ready to be open minded.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcnfnxnha0KKz5ahUaE47VJmUK1BZtzYsFmDDpjqGZZVHCMsftAic1u9rzx7Q3LJWDkmksMvyjyi97uoO3X1hBKTG_ubJCQwnLZ8Z3ZgiC4E5IEYKQFs5hSBrYfgREd0QsPTw6TFJ99P6/s1600/show-image1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcnfnxnha0KKz5ahUaE47VJmUK1BZtzYsFmDDpjqGZZVHCMsftAic1u9rzx7Q3LJWDkmksMvyjyi97uoO3X1hBKTG_ubJCQwnLZ8Z3ZgiC4E5IEYKQFs5hSBrYfgREd0QsPTw6TFJ99P6/s320/show-image1.jpg" width="320" /></a>"Yeah, a comedy act, something to do with drinkers or something" she declared, thinking she had knowledge I didn't. "Yeah, know about them" I replied nonchalantly. "Fairly sure this is a brand new show" Ann was determined to maintain that air of superior knowledge. I shattered her illusions "The Thinking Drinkers, Ben and Tom, I think you'll find"<br />
<br />
Ann must think I walk around eyes wide shut. I mean, there'd been publicity and stuff, of course I knew about it. Anyway, with a bit of various juggling of other important activities we managed to get to see the show last Friday, and so glad we did.<br />
<br />
It was billed as comedy, but with serious faces of apparent drinks connoisseurs on the publicity posters and promise of free drinks, as well as their by now well known mantra we were unsure exactly what to expect. Would it be a drinks tasting event with a few gags? Would it be a lecture on responsible drinking? Oh, wait, the title of the show is "Thinking Drinkers' History of Alcohol" - so, it's a history lesson, perhaps? Indeed, I had heard various comments from idle armchair critiques amongst beer writing circles declare that they "....did not really understand what those two were up to...."<br />
<br />
The mistake, I guess, is to think that serious drinks writers can't do comedy. Ben is three times Beer Writer of the Year, he shouldn't be lowering the tone by making people laugh, that's disrespectful.<br />
<br />
Well laugh we did. Without doubt the prime genre is that of comedy, up front and in your face.<sup>4 </sup>Yes, there is some historical stuff in there, but much more by way of creating a vague storyline. There are some drinks tastings to be had, which was kinda good, as we were promised that. But predominantly it was a broad appeal, slightly adult, clever and fast-paced comedy piece. One of those great bits of comedy where you groan at the obvious puns, guffaw at the innuendoes, bravo the clever more subtle jokes and still feel there was more you didn't quite understand, but didn't mind because you were still recovering from the last gag.<br />
<br />
We enjoyed the evening, and sharing a few beers after the show. We even gave in and bought their latest book, <a href="http://www.thinkingdrinkers.com/shop/enlightened-imbibers-guide/">Thinking Drinkers: The Enlightened Imbiber's Guide to Alcohol.</a><br />
<br />
So, if you get a chance, go and see the show, we had a great time.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<sup>1</sup>We are fairly sure it is <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boutique-Beer-Quality-Craft-Beers/dp/0764165747">Boutique Beer: 500 Quality Craft Beers</a>, but as we haven't actually got a copy we can't check. Jeez, we can't be going and buying every book that we happen to get mentioned in.<br />
<br />
<sup>2</sup>It's relative I guess. Most regular beer drinkers probably think I'm pretentious in my outlook towards beer. However, most cocktails seem to have left me feeling like I just wasted a whole lot more money than I needed to and sent me right back to enjoying some good beer.
<br />
<br />
<sup>3</sup>Ann still thinks The Sound of Music is a great show. I mean.....
<br />
<br />
<sup>4</sup>And some of the risqué costumes did leave a little bit too much in your face. My mind is still tainted by the sight of way too much ... Although it appears the girls didn't mind too much, they told me afterwards, so perhaps drinks writers can be sex symbols after all.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-53290711024866816752017-10-17T11:53:00.000+01:002017-10-17T11:53:22.507+01:00Hardknott Crowd Rewards<h3>
This post is about our new rewards engagement scheme, <a href="http://hardknottcrowd.com/">Hardknott Crowd Rewards</a>. No, it's not another crowd funding scheme, indeed it is the exact opposite. You can skip the post below and just hit the link to find out what it's all about.</h3>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuK9uA6O4Yn_4Ll502Y-LmAWhsvZ_tiWEp4wEEEQvpmgeJXQJP8r_g7UKWAJdYi0SExTHyFdHsSVaMH8YsrT39hMWKrer2sfasfZhFkD9k7W5PwfBdsYxc1FmGyvVZj5ZvvlzNUAYbT43F/s1600/Custs+%25231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1469" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuK9uA6O4Yn_4Ll502Y-LmAWhsvZ_tiWEp4wEEEQvpmgeJXQJP8r_g7UKWAJdYi0SExTHyFdHsSVaMH8YsrT39hMWKrer2sfasfZhFkD9k7W5PwfBdsYxc1FmGyvVZj5ZvvlzNUAYbT43F/s320/Custs+%25231.jpg" width="293" /></a><br />
"Find somewhere with lots of chimney pots" he said. Because smoke makes people want to drink more beer? I have to admit I found the connection between chimneys and a demand for beer somewhat confusing when I initially heard the adage. The confusion only lasted a few seconds as my decaying grey matter caught up with the metaphor. It is the case that for some decades that heavily populated areas no longer rely on open fires to heat houses and chimney pots are indeed artefacts of a bygone age, what with central heating and such like.<br />
<br />
It is true, it is much easier to sell beer in areas that have a reasonable population density, like big towns, cities and large conurbations. Hardknott certainly is not located in an area that could be classed as highly populated. Indeed, if we measured the total population we could reach in 30 minutes from our town of Millom and compared to all the other towns in Cumbria we would rank very low indeed, beaten perhaps only by Kirby Stephen<sup>1</sup><br />
<br />
Our success at Hardknott has undeniably been as a result of our activities online. Selling outside of Cumbria by reaching out through this blog, Twitter, Facebook and developing a reputation via these means. Selling into city centres via various distribution modes has helped us get where we are.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCiaVC6Kr4fyaEcLoNu-V2wijVcqYaQKB3gBha9YZ3JhKsPbXcqQAK0btmh1wQKzmRXpqMiIhKIZokqFKlN3S1PapNRlWt0YytSJ_mYloK1JpUYcs8XJmRD8493e6Tvmjd3qSCdXOvQXEF/s1600/Hoppy+%25231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCiaVC6Kr4fyaEcLoNu-V2wijVcqYaQKB3gBha9YZ3JhKsPbXcqQAK0btmh1wQKzmRXpqMiIhKIZokqFKlN3S1PapNRlWt0YytSJ_mYloK1JpUYcs8XJmRD8493e6Tvmjd3qSCdXOvQXEF/s320/Hoppy+%25231.jpg" width="280" /></a>As the Craft Beer scene matures, as it certainly is doing, and more and more breweries become savvy to the power of social media it becomes more difficult to be heard. Equally, more and more breweries are setting up closer to, or even in the middle of cities. Right there, right where they need to be and very visible to the local populations, especially if they stand on their chimney pots.<br />
<br />
On top of that maintaining social media accounts is something of a time-consuming activity. Lately I've been trying to claw-back parts of my life that have been missing over that last 12 years, mainly because my knees will fail me before long and I want to use them whilst they still work. I have rekindled two of my favourite passions lately, mountaineering<sup>2</sup> and musical theatre<sup>3</sup>. Doing all of this means that I do not spend all my waking hours tweeting, blogging and makes it more difficult to attend beer events and the like.<br />
<br />
So, how to engage with people? How to reach more people and get Hardknott more noticed?<br />
<br />
I had an idea a few months back, and I've spent most of my time since developing it. Today I decided it was good enough to launch.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<a href="http://hardknottcrowd.com/">Hardknott Crowd Rewards</a></h3>
<br />
Go on, click on the link. I'm hopeful it'll be self explanatory, but it is brand new and we'll be developing it over the next few weeks. Either way, help us out by sharing the love and you might end up with some really great goodies. We've even had some t-shirts made as you can see from the pictures here.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<sup>1</sup>I did consider Kirby Lonsdale and Grange-over-sands in that list, but they are both less than 30 minutes from Kendal. Yes, these places do seem to be listed as towns. I do look at these things as part of my research into development of my business.<br />
<br />
<sup>2</sup>I spent two very glorious weeks in Chamonix this summer. I climbed a mountain called Mont Blanc du Tacul (4248m, my first and hopefully not last 4,000m peak). Next year I hope to summit Mont Blanc itself. The reader is highly unlikely to know just how important this is to me.<br />
<br />
<sup>3</sup>This year I took part in a fantastic musical in Abbey Musical Society production of Barnum. I enjoyed it hugely and was a brilliant diversion from some of the nonsense I have to deal with in the beer world.<br />
<br />
Next spring I'm in a production of <a href="http://www.theforumbarrow.co.uk/events/cats">Cats with the same group</a>. If you have ever seen the show you will understand why I need my knees. I'm playing <a href="http://catsmusical.wikia.com/wiki/Alonzo">Alonzo</a>, in case you are interested.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-81882674581236016082017-09-28T11:29:00.000+01:002017-09-28T11:33:59.057+01:00A sign of declineMany years ago, when I was a young man,<sup>1</sup> I was introduced to a local Cumbrian brewery called Yates. Their bitter was at the time an interesting addition to an otherwise well established traditional base of cask beers in Cumbria from the likes of Jennings in Cockermouth and Hartley's in Ulverston. Subsequent closure of Hartley's and the selling of Jennings to Marstons effectively made Yates the oldest independent brewery in Cumbria.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3f7QiejwdIHix3_PLrv24Yh4OJ8RKru9zt7f6ifk7f1RYRAxFqwKKpj7dxFoKM_xxRX6TSMU99oLDGmHQgc3QdrShyuqEdnRFTR2TA9nW7IvrBSrOyuuBQvETwOymwjwwxU9p-G5WOOQ/s1600/beer_16410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="244" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3f7QiejwdIHix3_PLrv24Yh4OJ8RKru9zt7f6ifk7f1RYRAxFqwKKpj7dxFoKM_xxRX6TSMU99oLDGmHQgc3QdrShyuqEdnRFTR2TA9nW7IvrBSrOyuuBQvETwOymwjwwxU9p-G5WOOQ/s1600/beer_16410.jpg" /></a><br />
Yates has a place in my heart. In 1986 when it was first established there was very little in the way of microbreweries in Cumbria, if any at all. As a young man it awakened my interest in the brewing industry and was probably an important, if subliminal influence when I considered my own brewing career.<br />
<br />
I was saddened to hear a few weeks ago that the current owners, after trying to sell the brewery as a going concern, have decided to simply close the brewery. Having heard on the local grapevine I was waiting until I saw an <a href="http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/Renowned-Cumbrian-brewery-to-close-b5953bd9-5fdb-4e13-b21a-744a00a48b23-ds">official word</a> before comment. This brewery closure does sadden me somewhat for a number of reasons.<br />
<br />
Quite apart from the fact it is a shame the oldest and most established independent Cumbrian brewery is closing, for me it is something of a weather-check on the state of the industry and the market for independent beer. Moreover, it is an indication perhaps of the likely value of such breweries should any owner wish to find an exit strategy. I feel this is a significant issue for anyone looking to invest in any brewery operation.<br />
<br />
Profits for most breweries in receipt of full duty discount is tiny. Indeed, I have some data<sup>2 </sup>that shows the average brewery below 5,000hl annual production will be lucky to break even. Some will make a profit and some will make a loss. If it is not possible to sell a brewery upon retirement then it is highly likely an overall loss will be made on exit from the industry in most cases. It seems to me that if Yates cannot sell, as a well established business and known brand, then what hope is there?<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc7UV1ZeqtFgbkTbULmmxhTp1OoPKJb4QWgzsUcjEBW2b1BCn8st82z70E63f_ETl2Fq5A7-i-_PRN7wg5DMOYtCq-wK8p3RIKfHKq4EASbbtyp9fJZygerVVZ1pCJTiPhCKPxvXd3JsZ_/s1600/mainMediaSize%253D0x425_type%253Dimage_publish%253Dtrue_targetX0%253D10.17_targetX1%253D80.17_targetY0%253D4.32_targetY1%253D57.8_role%253D1__image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc7UV1ZeqtFgbkTbULmmxhTp1OoPKJb4QWgzsUcjEBW2b1BCn8st82z70E63f_ETl2Fq5A7-i-_PRN7wg5DMOYtCq-wK8p3RIKfHKq4EASbbtyp9fJZygerVVZ1pCJTiPhCKPxvXd3JsZ_/s320/mainMediaSize%253D0x425_type%253Dimage_publish%253Dtrue_targetX0%253D10.17_targetX1%253D80.17_targetY0%253D4.32_targetY1%253D57.8_role%253D1__image.jpg" width="243" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caroline and Graham Baxter, who wish to retire<br />
and cannot find a buyer for their brewery.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Of course growth to a bigger and more healthy business might be an answer, but if a significant number of the estimated 1,400<sup>2</sup> breweries under 5,000hl were to grow to an average of say 10,000hl annual production, which is where I believe we'd need to be to see significant value in the brewing business, then this would represent an increase of their combined share of the beer market from around 3%<sup>2</sup> to over 30% of the total beer brewed.<br />
<br />
I cannot see how this is even remotely achievable without a much greater revolution in the beer industry. Total volume brewed currently by breweries under 200,000hl is about 9%<sup>3</sup> of the total beer brewed and of that about 7%<sup>4</sup> is brewed by SIBA full brewing members. To move a significant number of current sub 5,000hl breweries into a strong position we'd need to take significant volume away from the global giants, and although I'd love to see that happen, I doubt it actually ever will.<br />
<br />
It remains for me to wonder what the future is. Personally some rationalisation and combined business collaborations would be a sensible move. I did approach Yates when I heard they were up for sale to explore how we could work out a deal. We couldn't afford the freehold, but might have been able to work out how to find value in the brand and the equipment and work out a deal. Apparently our approach wasn't welcome.<br />
<br />
I think more innovative business solutions need to be explored if the current micro-brewing sector is to thrive. I've looked at a few options, and with only a few exceptions owners of micro-breweries don't seem to get it and seem determined to plough a lonely and pointless furrow.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<sup>1</sup>Indeed, it was a very long time ago.
<br />
<br />
<sup>2</sup>Data has been confidentially supplied to me by SIBA.<br />
<br />
<sup>3</sup>Combined SIBA data and BBPA data
<br />
<br />
<sup>4</sup>Estimates by SIBAAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-66875517404357420432017-07-13T13:33:00.001+01:002017-07-13T13:33:51.524+01:00Reduce beer duty or defend PBD?Hundreds of small breweries in the UK benefit from Progressive Beer Duty (PBD). The discount we enjoy has helped to see a huge increase in the number of small breweries in the UK. It is aimed at helping, to some extent, offset the economies of scale that larger breweries achieve.<br />
<br />
The smaller a brewery the more manpower is needed to brew each pint of beer. For example, it takes around 6 hours minimum to brew a batch of beer<sup>1</sup>. There isn't much can be done to make this a lot faster, and in some cases it might take a lot longer with inefficient brew kit. To a large extent, irrespective of brew-length<sup>2</sup>, it takes perhaps one person to do a brew with little other help<sup>3</sup>.<br />
<br />
For this reason production costs are generally higher per unit of volume the smaller the brewery. In fact one study I am looking at<sup>4</sup> indicates an exponential fall of costs as the brewery gets bigger. PBD is there to help small breweries with the diseconomies of scale suffered by small craft brewers.<br />
<br />
As beer duty has risen over the years, and so many more new breweries have sprung up, bigger breweries have started to complain about the increasing perceived cash "discount". It is certainly true that as beer duty becomes a bigger part of the overall costs of brewing beer so we see PBD working better for us smaller breweries. Perhaps we shouldn't object quite so much when beer duty increases? It hurts, but it hurts the bigger breweries more.<br />
<br />
It is also seen as unfair that the maximum amount of PBD in cash terms is limited to about £200,000<sup>5 </sup>Once a brewery hits production of 5,000 there is no benefit to produce more in terms of beer duty savings. Arguably every drop of beer produced above 5,000hl is charged at full duty rate. However, economies of scale do really make a difference.<br />
<br />
There are moves to change the structure of PBD. The thing that scares me is that SIBA is looking to engage with various organisation in a bid to create unity in the beer industry. It is likely that there will be increasing moves to change the shape of PBD so much larger breweries gain some significant benefits. The reasons for wanting to engage with the wider beer industry, it is argued, is that we should have a common lobbying voice to put to Government to reduce beer duty.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDnmplfyjA9Ydj49qn5bctCpw6m2DM1IRXkx8csK1X8eELP7GqURs9DhyGxM0JxyE6vvVKJQy8OpJEWO-3zWqIWOuLIgTcMfuhaBTwCVN2bUZN6bfBYh88PtgGLxIp5DOaMpCliGFHjllB/s1600/Number+of+breweries+by+size.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="976" data-original-width="1600" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDnmplfyjA9Ydj49qn5bctCpw6m2DM1IRXkx8csK1X8eELP7GqURs9DhyGxM0JxyE6vvVKJQy8OpJEWO-3zWqIWOuLIgTcMfuhaBTwCVN2bUZN6bfBYh88PtgGLxIp5DOaMpCliGFHjllB/s640/Number+of+breweries+by+size.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Number of breweries by size in the UK</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Personally I would much rather SIBA fight to keep PBD as it is. There might be a little bit of a painful step at the 5,000hl level, but frankly there are a small number of breweries that will get close to this.<br />
<br />
Looking at the chart above, there are a huge number of breweries below the 1,000hl level. Many of them cannot, or do not want to grow towards 5,000hl, and if they do, their barriers are generally the stiff competition that exists.<br />
<br />
Although SIBA are saying that the 5,000hl limit is sacrosanct and the 50% discount below that cannot be touched, and frankly there are scary noises around to fiddle even with that, there will be unintended consequences of giving breweries in the 5,000 - 200,000hl range added benefits. Any duty benefit given to breweries larger than 5,000hl will inevitably give them a competitive edge that will directly impact on those breweries less than 5000hl, who will receive no added help.<br />
<br />
Looking at the spread of brewery size it is quite clear that there are very few breweries above 5000hl. Indeed, more than 50% of the breweries in the UK are in fact under 1,000hl and stand no chance of ever achieving 5,000hl.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEPwuBxI8CDUgmy9TjZIlR7DDI5XgwL0Gop8hVOZoxS8a4yroFkqOTiCl2i1gOqkBbEIGFKtdyHNTeuPFMV_gOisbaJP9jdBHM6cj2o9pq5ynRWTOMDJ-xoIdg7sIbbE22AxWmr-UCU0hw/s1600/Volume+breakdown+Chart1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1085" data-original-width="1600" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEPwuBxI8CDUgmy9TjZIlR7DDI5XgwL0Gop8hVOZoxS8a4yroFkqOTiCl2i1gOqkBbEIGFKtdyHNTeuPFMV_gOisbaJP9jdBHM6cj2o9pq5ynRWTOMDJ-xoIdg7sIbbE22AxWmr-UCU0hw/s640/Volume+breakdown+Chart1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Total share of volume by brewery size</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The reasons for considering a dialogue that might change PBD is to help have a unified voice to lobby for an overall reduction in beer duty. I fail to see how that might help me, and hundreds of other breweries like ours. Indeed, I am of the view that lobbying for major changes to the now fairly established policy of increasing all alcohol duties in line with RPI is a somewhat futile activity.<br />
<br />
The vast majority of beer brewed in the UK is made by huge companies. Over 90% is brewed by only 25 massive breweries. An increase in beer duty hurts them much more than it hurts me. A decrease benefits them much, much more than it benefits me. The vast majority of the electorate is now convinced that these big companies are evil and deserve to be punished.<br />
<br />
A change in PBD will give me no benefits, and likely make a very small number of larger breweries more competitive, so hurting my sales. Indeed, this is the reason there is a driver for change anyway.<br />
<br />
It is this, more than anything else, that has made me fairly convinced that we need to look more carefully at how SIBA view it's members. If you are a SIBA member and have yet to vote in the membership ballot, I would urge you to do so as soon as possible.<br />
<br />
I do hope the reader is impressed with my pie charts. This is a beer blog after all, and we all know that beer and pies are an ideal combination.<br />
<sup><br /></sup>
<br />
<sup>--------</sup><br />
<sup><br /></sup>
<sup>1</sup>The brewing process from point of mash in to having the fermentable liquid, called wort, in a tank ready to pitch the yeast.
<br />
<br />
<sup>2</sup>The brew-length is the volume of wort produced in a single brew-day.
<br />
<br />
<sup>3</sup>I am of course generalising here. However, the bigger a brewery installation the more likely labour saving features have been introduced. For us we still have small mash tuns which necessitate digging out the grain from the top. A brewery with a brew length of say 25hl will almost certainly have side access door enabling spent gains to be raked out with comparative ease. A 100hl brewery might well have a self-digging mash tun and be operating a whirlpool type copper which generally only uses pellets. Cleaning such brew-houses<br />
<br />
There are variations on this with smaller brew-houses where automation allows more brewing per shift by use of parallel vessels and mash-in possible for a second brew while the first is still in the copper.
<br />
<sup><br /></sup>
<sup>4</sup>Unfortunately, because of the nature of the data it is unlikely that I'll be able to publish the exact details of this study.<br />
<br />
<sup>5</sup>This assumes an average beer strength of 4.2%. The current full duty rate is £19.08 per hectolitre percent (HL%). Full PBD discount gives a reduction of £9.54/HL%. So for a brewery producing 5,000hl of 4.2% beer their total savings on beer duty is 4.2 x 5,000 x £9.54 = £200,340.<br />
<br />
Before the duty rate increase in March it was £192,990. So a brewery between 5,000hl and 30,000hl annual production saw an increase in this benefit over the very biggest breweries of £7,350.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-49088361368408795062017-06-29T09:13:00.000+01:002017-06-29T09:13:22.161+01:00SIBA membership ballotI entered the beer and pub industry because I felt there was something wrong with it. That was just over 13 years ago. A lot has changed in that time, but frankly so much more has remained steadfastly unchanged. The beer tie still exists, most pubs still fail to have anything of an interesting beer range and that is largely due to the massive force of brewing businesses that control much of the market.<br />
<br />
It doesn't seem unreasonable to me to think that changes to the industry should be led by my trade body, SIBA.<br />
<br />
There are various discussion within SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers) regarding a number of issues. I have engaged in an attempt to get the best out of the organisation for my business, and currently I am of the view that my efforts have largely cost me time and money with very little to show.<br />
<br />
I presented a couple of motions at SIBA AGM this year. One was asking for a ballot of members to ascertain if the membership criteria was in accord with the membership's views. The motion was passed with a healthy majority.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Motion 1:</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
SIBA will carry out a ballot of all members to ensure that the membership is happy with the current membership criteria.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Should the results of the membership show that the majority of the membership is unhappy with the current criteria SIBA must fully, demonstrably and transparently consult the membership to determine a new membership criteria.</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
The ballot is now being conducted, and after an initial technical hitch, the vote is now live for all SIBA members.<br />
<br />
I spent yesterday trying to write further words to support my reasons for a "no" vote. I have to be honest and say that I fail to add anything that I haven't already <a href="http://hardknott.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/small-brewers-duty-reform-coalition.html">written</a>, and <a href="http://hardknott.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/siba-agm-sheffield-16th-march-2017.html">again</a>, or that I have said in my speeches.<br />
<br />
The speeches were recorded by the SIBA photographer. I've lifted my bits out of the official video that languishes behind a password. This may not meet with total approval of the officialdom, but I'm only showing me, so hopefully I'll get away with it.<br />
<br />
There are further points made by other brewers at the AGM. Some of them rather splendid. I'd strongly recommend logging onto the SIBA toolbox and looking for the membership ballot link and finding the video. The motions start 45 minutes into the video.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/223462867" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe>
<a href="https://vimeo.com/223462867/f76b84cfbf"><br />
BeerX 2017 SIBA AGM - Dave's speeches</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user7860979">Hardknott Brewery</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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I would really like a "no" vote. Not because I really think that it'll make a lot of difference tightening up the membership, but because I would like SIBA to realise that they do not do enough for small brewers like me.<br />
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If the vote goes to a "yes" then it might just be the end of my time trying to engage with SIBA as it will then be proof that SIBA will fail to adequately align with my view of what the beer-world should look like.<br />
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Some extra information;<br />
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It is estimated that;<br />
over 60% of breweries in the UK produce less than 1,000hl per year<br />
over 80% of breweries in the UK produce less than 2,500hl per year<br />
over 90% of breweries in the UK produce less than 5,000hl per year<br />
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And yet the focus from SIBA is on providing for breweries who produce over 5,000hl per year.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-32374893680767206472017-03-29T15:48:00.000+01:002017-03-29T15:48:37.417+01:00Hardknott past, present and futureHardknott is just over 11 years old. We started with a two-and-a-bit barrel (3.5hl) plant brewing occasionally for the pub we then owned. We almost exclusively brewed for cask with only a tiny bit ending up in bottle and a couple of highly experimental kegs. It was a most useful trial period that culminated in us setting up as a separate stand-alone production brewery after selling the pub early 2010.<br />
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Meanwhile, during 2009 I started to discover some very interesting beers. Jaipur of course, and Punk IPA. Big imperial stouts and barley wines also hit me big-time that year. My view of beer, it turns out, was going through a humongous shift of perspective, initially started by a visit to Oregon late 2008. Massive hop-hits of American style IPAs. Beers with more body and interest due to higher ABVs.. and all manner of preconception-busting styles that shook my own perspective to the very core in a very good and exciting way.<br />
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Of course there was then, and still are some great brewers doing some fantastic things in the UK. Fullers remains a solid favourite of mine, and there might even be some more I'll have to say on that soon. But that seminal year, with the discovery or Thornbridge and BrewDog made me want to look further at how I could develop my own brewing passions. I wanted to be a craft brewer, because I believed that meant more than just being a "real ale micro-brewery" even though it seemed many commentators treated that concept of craft beer with a huge level of contempt.<br />
<br />
When I set up my stand alone production brewery I wanted to follow the more contemporary style that was emerging and I believe I have a rightful claim to be Cumbria's first and best independent craft brewery.<br />
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Whatever your view of craft beer, one thing is certain, we remain very independent. There have been various take-overs of bigger entities. Meantime, Camden Town and now Hawkshead to name just three that are high above my event horizon.<br />
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Just this week we hear of BrewDog <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/mar/27/brewdog-backs-down-lone-wolf-pub-trademark-dispute">bullying tactics over brand names</a>, applying similar corporate style pressure that they have <a href="http://foodanddrink.scotsman.com/drink/wolverhampton-wanderers-in-dispute-with-brewdog-over-wolfs-head-logo/">previously fought against</a>. Indeed, admittedly with some amusement to me, Martin and James changed their names to Elvis by <a href="https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2016/10/brewdog-founders-change-names-to-elvis/">deed poll after a law suit was filled</a> by the late Mr Presley's estate.<br />
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Meanwhile we remain frustratingly small. We have produced about 1000hl every year for the past 4 years. We have also, due to the combination of the inefficiencies of our size, increasing costs and downward market pressures on brewery gate prices seen increasing losses that cannot be sustained. We cannot continue to do what we are doing the way we are doing it.<br />
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So, big choices to make. Huge choices to make. We have a buyer for our house, which will realise a chunk of hard cash. In a few weeks, hopefully, we will complete on the sale our house and pay down some scary loans that are partly to blame for our losses<sup>1</sup>. We will then be in a position to decide exactly what we are going to do next. We will have some hard cash left with which to consider investment in the business, but it will not be enough by itself to make it work, so we will have to take out some more scary loans, but a lot more carefully this time.<br />
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In reality, the most obvious thing to do would be just to wind up our operation. Ditch the dream of making a successful competitive, exciting and unique craft brewery as just a ridiculous idea that cannot work commercially from where we are. The market information does not make it look great; with the increasing competition, dropping wholesale pricing and increasing costs like no tomorrow. Stopping production that actually costs us money to keep doing, selling all our equipment and binning Hardknott often seems the only logical thing to do.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Is this what we will do? Not if I have my fucking way it isn't.</span><br />
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We have lived, breathed, dreamed and sweated Hardknott for 11 years. I'm damned if I'm giving up now. But we need to be bigger and better and different to how we have been.<br />
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So, how do we make it work? Well, I could tell you all my ideas, and my plans, show you all my blue-prints for success, but you'd have to get me very drunk before I did. They are all fairly exciting and progressive, and if I can find a way to fund them I'll make damn sure at least some of them happen.<br />
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Let's just say we have a bold plan. It's a plan that will be risky and will put everything we have on the line. We are quite probably mad. But what choice do we have? Lose Hardknott? Lose everything we have worked so hard to achieve over the last 11 years? Lose all that talent we have in the team, lose the inspiration that got us this far? Come on, that is worth fighting for surely?<br />
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We firmly believe we have a huge amount of potential. Our core beliefs, dreams and aspirations have not changed.<br />
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Besides, can we allow a few major craft pioneers to simply leave us for dust? With BrewDog becoming ever more corporate like, Meantime, Camden Town and Hawkshead selling out we feel there is a danger of the idea of craft beer becoming ever more threatened. With the likes of Marston's claiming part of the craft arena and many smaller traditional brewers taking up the cudgel, with some admirably good results, we have a battle on our hands and make no mistake about it.<br />
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As this all unfolds over the next few months I hope to start sharing a bit more detail. I hope you will all watch and support us and our tiny team. We may well be asking for particular practical support, much is as yet uncertain, but we hope you will trust us to do the right thing when we do call for that help.<br />
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<sup>1</sup>Many people have said to me... "don't!... DON'T sell your house to save your business!". I have a fairly simple reply; when the majority of the debt is either secured on the house anyway, or on personal credit cards, there are not many choices left. We simply do not have the financial headroom to close down the business neatly and safely without risking much more personally, losing our house and our business anyway and becoming personally bankrupt.<br />
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I am hopeful that suppliers, HMRC and our loyal fans will all see this as the right thing to do by everyone. Equally, a tidy solution to this will hopefully leave our credit rating in some sort of reasonable health.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-55399823361281926782017-03-07T14:43:00.000+00:002017-03-07T14:43:27.127+00:00SIBA AGM - Sheffield 16th March 2017Well, the <a href="http://toolbox.siba.co.uk/documents/2017%20AGM%20Documents/2017%20-%20AGM%20Motions%20Order%20Paper.pdf">motions for SIBA AGM</a> are out... I am presenting two motions.<br />
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Some time ago I turned from being a vocal critic of SIBA, shouting from the sidelines, to working inside to make democratic change. In many ways I have been enjoying the efforts I put in. However, being a small business owner it can be quite time consuming and spending time away from the brewery to attend regional meetings and the policy committee meetings that I am involved with is difficult.<br />
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This is a key point really in my considerations. A point that I will labour in my total of 10 minutes at the podium. The fact that the average SIBA member produces around 1000hl of beer a year. Representing perhaps £200,000 turnover. If you understand the margins on beer you will easily see that it is very difficult to make a decent living at this level.<br />
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Half of the SIBA membership is smaller than this.<br />
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It seems, at least when it comes to the brewery, I am about average in size. We brew perhaps slightly over 1000hl per year.<br />
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I find it difficult to engage with SIBA in a meaningful way, predominantly time and distance being the barrier, and I am possibly not as time constrained as brewing businesses smaller than me. It is my belief that SIBA fails to accurately represent the majority of it's membership, but changing that is not likely to be easy if the majority of the membership does not engage.<br />
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To that end, if you are a SIBA member and cannot attend the AGM please invoke your right to <a href="http://toolbox.siba.co.uk/documents/2017%20AGM%20Documents/2017%20-%20AGM%20notification%20covering%20letter.pdf">send a vote by proxy</a>.<br />
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Let's be heard.<br />
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My motion that is listed as motion 3 has raised one or two questions.... yes, I believe PBD should be defended as is, and will state so in my speech. However, in reality motion 3 is presented as a defence in case motion 4 is passed. If there is an independent review then changes to PBD must be considered alongside the fact that meaningful access to tied markets is still not improving, despite MRO.<br />
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I make no bones about it, motion 4 would be much better rejected and a clear message sent from the membership that PBD should stay unchanged.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-35569925567512262342017-02-02T15:59:00.001+00:002017-02-02T16:01:22.290+00:00Jester<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNLJdwGurLgt5xSIeHXP9KfkOtAWr6I17Und1Bgta-CKjEDms6f7pII-kgK2NwJtuM2RZKkGjCMrhAnqeFoVLwAr0BzxZiV8sx9Yp9KzGZwN7BYPTzjzADJFksK4SpcaG2xkSSn-5oUICV/s1600/IMG_0472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNLJdwGurLgt5xSIeHXP9KfkOtAWr6I17Und1Bgta-CKjEDms6f7pII-kgK2NwJtuM2RZKkGjCMrhAnqeFoVLwAr0BzxZiV8sx9Yp9KzGZwN7BYPTzjzADJFksK4SpcaG2xkSSn-5oUICV/s200/IMG_0472.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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Meet Jester. He was born 18th July 2016. He's lived with us since he was 7 weeks old.<br />
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I'm sure you will be thinking "Dave, just bugger off to Facebook if you are going to post pictures of your pets, we thought this was a beer blog!"<br />
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Well, yes, but we named Jester after the fairly recently developed British hop variety.<br />
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"Dave, you make beers with New World hops... using British hops will just make the beer taste of twigs and moss!"<br />
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You lot are so lacking in inspiration and experimentation ain't you? I mean, historically British hops have developed for boring major regional brewers and their twig tasting beers....... but things are changing.<br />
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Make no bones about it, there are efforts being made to develop new hop varieties and it is important for us brewers to explore what they can do for beers.<br />
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We've started a new series of beers; the neutron series. The first one was Neutron Centennial. We use quite a lot of Centennial hops in our beers so getting the chance to isolate the single hop was handy.<br />
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Jester hop variety has got some English characteristics, but we thought it to be one of the more suitable hops to play with. We're not apologetic for trying and we think we brought out the best in it.</div>
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Jester the Azimutt is doing fine...As you can see he's grown up into a fine proud dog...all growed up and that.<br />
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Have English hop varieties grown up yet? Well, it's improving, but there is still work to do.. We'll keep trying new varieties until we find the top-notch ones that can replace those properly funky American varieties.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.com1