If, like me, you use the BBC news website to catch up on what’s happening in the world, you may have seen evidence of the presentation of news items being skewed by external influences. I just saw something on the site today which leads me to believe it’s still happening, despite them being aware of the problem.

There’s a screenshot below of a section of their site which displays the most popular and most shared text news items and the most viewed video stories. There’s one story shown in the most read section, “Beer with 32% strength launched” about a Scottish craft  Brewery called Brewdog who have created a beer which has a very high alcohol content. Trouble is, the story was from November – why is it suddenly appearing as a ‘most-read’ story in the middle of February?

I have a suspicion that this story could be an example of one being bumped up the list artificially. It may be no coincidence that the brewery concerned are skillful in the art of viral marketing (as well as making excellent beer) and they have a share-ownership scheme which is coming to a close and has been widely promoted over the past few days.

OK, so if you like Brewdog (and you think their viral marketing methods are doing this), you may think they’re clever in the way that they’re getting national news coverage for free. However, if nothing else it should make everybody think twice about the way our news is presented and the fact that we’re constantly manipulated by all kinds of marketing and political / religious / commercial  lobbying ploys.

With all the effort going on to boost the town’s image, it’s a crying shame that The Crown Hotel in the Market Square remains closed. It’s currently owned by London property developers Wildmoor who, I believe, purchased the building from the previous owners – who then leased it back from the company and remained as managers. After a short while, the managers opted out of the lease and the pub has been closed since March 2009.

I know somebody (a client) who has just looked round the property with a view to taking the lease on. We’d been talking about the town in general some time before Christmas and the subject had got on to pubs (how strange, I hear you say!). I mentioned the fact that Kick Start Fakenham was originally interested in the re-opening of The Star. We came to the conclusion that The Crown was in a great location and could be run as a going concern given the right circumstances - and would considerably enhance the town centre if it was open again.

My client’s viewing of the property had made it obvious that lots of work needed doing to get the place running. The bar area had been previously renovated, taking away much of of the character of this 18th century building (including the original fireplace). The kitchens needed replacing. The rooms upstairs needed work. Sounds like £££s of investment are required to get things up to scratch.

I wonder if Wildmoor have the foresight to see that The Crown isn’t actually a great investment as things stand. The lease, as advertised here at £60,000 a year seems more than a tad overpriced if the intention was to get a tenant in quickly. No wonder it’s still unoccupied. Maybe it would be a better investment if the owners were willing to sell the building on again.

Any local entrepreneurs looking for a project? Drop me a line and I’ll put you in touch with my client – who might be interested in joint ownership rather than leasing it (if the owners are willing to sell, that is)!

Several people may have asked about the origins of stout and porter…

Back in the 13th century, it was a Belgian ale called Stout Porter, being named after an old stout porter who worked at Waterloo. This beer, being the original, was 100% true to style – which is strange, as it was a completely clear liquid (this was due to the Belgian Purity laws which dictated that all brewing had to be totally transparent).

In the 14th century it was brought over to Britain, but the style immediately became less than 100% true due to small mammals being added to the mash to provide extra fizz and fermentation (English brewers had misheard the Belgians’ accent as “stoat porter”). No matter, because the Danish brewers of Northampton quickly went to court and stopped this ale being sold due to it being too like their own lager – almost colourless, fizzy and with a slight whiff of polecat wee.

It wasn’t until the 20th century that the beer took on the dark colouring we associate with it today. Brewers had started adding clinker to the mash, which gave it a smokey flavour. Coal Porter, as it was known, became a success. Inspired by this, more variants were invented: Nyree Dawn Porter, which came to the UK from New Zealand. Gail Porter, which had a great body and a smooth head. Stout Yeoman, made with freeze-dried mashed potato, and finally Alec Guinness – which looked quite weak, but had a force which was strong.

As you can see from the photo, I found my favourite Fuller’s London Porter at Waitrose, Swaffham. They have a nice choice of beers on sale, especially from the Fullers stable. All I need now to quaff over the Xmas holiday is a bottle or two of Schlenkerla Rauschbier (yes, smoked beer really does exist, although it isn’t called ‘Coal Porter’).

Christmas is a time when people tend to spend more money on alcohol to drink at home and I guess we usually spend most of that in the supermarket. I popped into Fakenham’s Tesco to buy some coffee today (they’re the only shop locally which stocks my brand of decaf) and took note of the ‘ale’ section of the Tesco booze aisle.

Disappointing choice, I must say – I’m sure it’s shrunk since the shop opened. Fakenham Morrisons’ ale section must be at least double that size! Waitrose in Swaffham usually has a decent selection too, I seem to remember.  Lidl’s is just a bit of an afterthought – they don’t even stock any good Euro beers.

So… it looks like a December pilgrimage to Beers Of Europe at Setchey near Kings Lynn is on the cards. Imagine a shop the size of Lidl, but full of hundreds of beers from all over the world, and you’ll get the picture. Absolutely amazing place. I’ll be on the lookout for Fullers London Porter and Vintage Ale, Krusovice Cerne, Bernard and Budvar Dark Czech lager and maybe some American ‘hop bombs’ too. Cheers!

Well, a few beers to be more accurate. The Norwich beer festival opened its doors at 5.30 yesterday evening and I was in a 7-strong team forming part of the queue which meandered round the corner and down the road.

It didn’t take too long before we made our way inside to buy our festival glasses and stock up on beer tokens (no money changes hands at the bar). The place was packed, but we made our way to our usual ‘family spot’ between the two main halls. No seating, but a bit of space to move and lower background noise so it was possible to hold a conversation.

There’s a massive list of beers to choose from, but true to form the ones I’d singled out to find weren’t available. I’d been keeping an eye open for Timothy Taylor Ram Tam as it’d been recommended before. For the third year running it wasn’t on when I was there. Same went for one of my favourites, Fullers London Porter, although I’d managed to get a glass of that at last year’s event.

As each different ale was brought back from the bar, it was tasted by various members of the group – a nice way to sample even more varieties. We had ales tasting of orange, grapefruit, ginger, chocolate, coffee, and my personal favourite Theakstons Old Peculier – sweet and dark with hints of apples and liquorice. I also had my first glass of Kuppers Kölsch on draught – a light German (Cologne) beer which reminded me of an unfizzy lager (can you tell I was slightly underwhelmed with that?) which isn’t strange as that’s kind of what it is.

So, in all a nice afternoon and evening, which started in Wagamama with spicy prawns and sticky rice (thanks for treating us to the food Chris & Helen) and finished in a quiet pub in St. Georges Street supping a glass of Adnams Old Ale.

It’s that time of year again – the Norwich Beer Festival is held every October at St. Andrews & Blackfriars Hall, this year (the 32nd annual event) it runs from 26th to 31st of the month.

With over 200 cask-conditioned ales from independent brewers across the UK, a wide selection of draught and bottled foreign beers and 25 kinds of cider & perry to try, it’s a great place to visit. It’s become a bit of an annual pilgrimage for our family and there’ll be at least half a dozen of us in attendance on Monday. Always a friendly atmosphere there – it gets jam-packed but there’s never any bother. Everybody’s too engrossed in tasting the ale!

The latest industry publication, The Cask Report, reveals some interestings facts about the real ale market. Cask ale had…

Real ale is a comparative success story at a time when beer sales are in decline and pub closures are running at 52 a week.

I was chatting to a local publican the other day and asked him why he only offered a single brand of ale. He intimated that his ‘wet’ turnover was too small and that if he stocked more, he’d end up throwing half away (it needs to be fresh and in good condition to sell). I suggested he might be able to offer more choice of ales by approaching local brewers and stocking smaller polypins instead of 9-gallon barrels. That might also give his business a Unique Selling Point – purely locally-brewed ales and locally produced food. Would that be viable, I wonder?

A subject close to my heart – beer. Lager to be more precise – and Norfolk Pilsener lager to be even more preciser. Norfolk brewer Uncle Stuarts at Wroxham Barns have just brewed an authentic-style Pilsener which they hope will attract lager drinkers to their products.

I’m not sure it’ll appeal to the majority of lagerites, as I’m guessing the flavour may be a little too challenging for them – the major brands available in the UK are bland and characterless compared to craft beer. However, I’d like to try some (even though I usually prefer darker ales) as it’s probably a quality brew. I’ll look for it when I next visit The Real Ale Shop in Wells.

Read the whole story at the EDP website