How blue do you like it?

A better summer this year than last, we think. Probably because more people are learning about what we do. Although the weather hasn't been fantastic, it's not been as bad as last year and we've had lots of very nice people here, many joining the increasing number of returning customers. Amongst them is a well know film actor who came for lunch earlier in the year and then came back to stay overnight last week. No we're still not going to say who, apparently he used to come here years ago but hasn't been here for a while.

The summer brings out the campers of course. They have never really been our main source of trade so we don't try too hard to please them. Not that we mind campers. Some can be very nice people and are very welcome if they like something less mainstream. Some of the campers still get confused though, no bar food in the evening - but if you were us, who would you rather have in your house for dinner, campers, or a film actor?

Since then other return visitors included Chris and Ivan, the Blue Bore Bomb fans. But apparently the Blue Bore Bomb isn't blue enough anymore, according to them. So if you've been here and had this desert then perhaps you can give us feedback- how blue do you like your Blue Bore Bomb? Are the Bombs really turning into a shadow of their former self? Do they need to mature for a week? Or are Chris and Ivan just getting fussy?

Lager Numpties

What do people think of lager drinkers?

Drinking Real Ale shows sophistication.

Not for Numpties[1]

We found an article recently by The Economist, (The Economist - GBBF ), which gave us the idea for the above marketing ploy. Dave wants to display this above the bar but Ann thinks it's being rude to lager drinkers. The question is, do we care?


It reminds us of the Yorkie tag line "Yorkie - Not for Girls." The defence Nestle used was that there was an ever increasing number of products that are designed for the woman but men losing much that is in their preserve. Well, we wont start a sexist argument here either way but it parallels the ever increasing battering we get from the mass producers tying to convince us that we are more sexy if we drink their lager, more food discerning if we use their mayo or more intelligent if we buy their comic. We don't know about the reader but for us we find it insults our intelligence.

Here, we like to encourage those who are intelligent enough to see through this barrage of multinational consumerism. If you don't, then we're probably not for you.

The fact of the matter is that beer sales generally are declining. Real Ale is gaining popularity, partly due to the work done by CAMRA, which were responsible for helping to reduce beer duty for small breweries.

However another reason we believe that Real Ale sales are increasing is because the consumer wishes to have the right to choose something that is different.




[1] Someone who (sometimes unwittingly) by speech or action demonstrates a lack of knowledge or misconception of a particular subject or situation to the amusement of others.

The opening of Brewers Union Local 180

If you have been following events here for the last year or so you will know about Ted, from Oakridge, OR, USA. (He still can't decide which). Ted came here around May 2006 and drank some of our ale, played guitar with Dave and ate our food. He was in the UK for a job inteview as it was one way he could get to drink English Ale a little more often. He only stayed one night and we thought "Well there's a crazy American, wonder if we'll see him again?"

He didn't get the job but saw what we did here and decided that if he couldn't support himself and his family in the UK he would export one of our greatest assets, our ale. However, physically transporting ale over 8 time zones is not very practical, so setting up a brew pub seemed the best option.

So, around September 2006 Dave received an email entitled "Greetings From Oregon plus an Unusual Enquiry".

And progressed:

You may or may not remember an American by the name of Ted Sobel wandering into your inn around the middle of May this year. As a memory jog, he was graciously given a tour of the brewery, consumed around 8 pints of your ale, and was allowed to play an unusually shaped guitar.....

.....The reason for my enquiry, other than shameless flattery, is that I'm in the process of planning a real ale public house in my little town of Oakridge.....

..So, I was wondering if I could come and visit for a bit, help with brewing, see how cellar is operated, etc....

..and so started the task of training an eager and very well intentioned Amercian on the art of brewing real ale, cask conditioning, line cleaning and scowling at lager drinkers...

But the best bit of all. The Brewers Union Local 180, which is the rather long name he's given his Pub, is now well and truly open.

Email received this morning.

It's 1:33 AM here in Oregon. I'm sipping a cider from Canada. Our sales were fantastic on our opening day, more than I expected. 28% was real ale brewed in Oregon, the new home of cask beer. Tomorrow night (tonight later, actually), 250 mountain bikers are descending on the town for the second Mountain Bike Oregon event. They don't feed those people on Thursday and Sunday, so where do you think they should go for a bite and a pint?

We had 15 fire jumpers sitting outside drinking proper pints of cask beer. They don't drink this stuff. Never have, in fact, because it's hard to find.

Pictures forthcoming...

Now we are not going to try and hide our huge pride in Ted. Having complete, and possibly blind faith in his ability to take a style of pub we have here and prove that something similar can be made to work in a country where Ale is considered very niche.

So it just goes to show that Real Ale can be the future of beer and pubs and why we, here at The Woolpack Inn are unashamed in our promotion of Ale as our main beverage.

Anglo Amercian media experience

Well Ted (our very good friend from Oregon) has just about got his brew pub going. We were so delighted to have been in part responsable for his endevour that we thought we'd slip the story to a few press people.

Check the following links:
BBC Radio Cumbria Interview (Might breach copywrite, sorry Auntie)
Whitehaven News article
N W Evening Mail article

And some background, again this has copyright, but has agreement.



Full file: River Journeys clip

Old friends and new friends

One of the best things about being at The Woolpack Inn is the number of great people that we meet. So many people who love real ale and good food and a nice quiet break. The Swindonians for instance...and then the many crazy people in the trade, like beermanwalking and the many Good Beer Guide entry pub owners who have great policies similar to ours.

And then just occasionally you get the old friends turn up. Dave was so delighted to meet his old school mates this weekend, some of whom he had not seen for over 25 years.....