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No lager and the priciest pint in town
Posh Red Lion will be most expensive in area - A MARKET Rasen pub will reopen within weeks, with lager banned from the bar and prices that are unashamedly the highest in town.
Brewer Tom Wood will only have real ales and cider on tap at the Red Lion, will not entertain music or gaming machines, has no space for a pool table and definitely won't be serving food.
He hopes his radical policy will ensure a more discerning clientelle and entice people out for a pint who have lost faith with the town's current outlets and want something completely different.
Ongoing refurbishment of the King Street hostelry, which has been closed for a year, involves a new bar and rearranged rooms and scope for bed and breakfast out the back.
This will be the second pub he has opened, following the same successful format employed at the Yarborough Hunt in Brigg.
"There is nowhere in Brigg that is more expensive than Tom Wood's pub and it will be the same in Market Rasen. If anyone in town is more expensive than me, I'll put my prices up," he said.
"Frankly I'm aiming for a different market to the lager market. The Yarborough Hunt appeals to all sorts of people from a broad age and social range who appreciate it for what it is; something different and something non-threatening."
"I want to appeal to the people who aren't happy with the standard of pubs we've become accustomed to. I'm looking to offer an environment that I don't think is currently available in Market Rasen."
This week marks his 13th anniversary of brewing beer at Melton Ross near Barnetby and in that time Tom Wood Ales have won local, regional, national and international awards.
In addition to six changing cask ales, there will be wine, coffee and tea, nibbles, spirits and upwards of 40 fine malt whiskies, but definitely no lager and no bottled drinks.
The new licencee of the Chase, Kevin Armes, was hoping to open by now but although he has his licencee the lease will not be finalised for another fortnight.
* Do you think this is a recipe for failure or fortune? Would you go to a pub that bars lager from the bar? Email your views to Jason.hippisley@jpress.co.uk.
* Pub facts
This week (Feb 16 to 24) is the Campaign for Real Ale's Community Pubs Week - A celebration of British pubs.
Community Pubs Week was launched in 2007 after research revealed that up to 56 pubs a month are being lost forever, with more than a thousand under threat of closure at any time.
Licensees are encouraged to organise and promote a number of events during the week to attract more local people to use their community pubs. This campaign highlights the vital role pubs can play in the lives of the people they serve.
CAMRA judges pubs on the quality of the beer, atmosphere, dcor, customer service, clientele mix and value for money.
There are 60,000 pubs in Britain and the National Pub of the Year winner can proudly state they are the best pub in Britain according to the CAMRA's 90,000 membership.
Next week, CAMRA will launch a new campaign to reduce beer duty to help save more pubs from closure. The beer consumer group is calling for a one penny reduction in next month's Budget to help reverse the trend towards home-drinking and encourage beer drinkers back into their local.
Beer drinkers in the UK currently pay the highest beer duty in Europe, 39p per pint for a 5% ABV beer. This compares to only 5p in France and 4p in Germany.
Thousands of pubs across Britain are participating in Community Pubs Week by organising and promoting events to attract more local people to visit community pubs. To view a sample of what is happening please visit www.pubsweek.org/cpwevents
Some interesting pub trivia
The three most common pub names are: Red Lion / Crown / Royal Oak
The highest pub in Britain is: Tan Hill Inn, North Yorkshire 1,732 feet above sea level
The smallest pub in Britain is claimed by three pubs: The Nutshell, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk / The Lakeside Inn, Southport Merseyside / The Smiths Arms, Godmanstone, Dorset
The largest pub in Britain is: The Regal, Cambridge
Longest pub name in Britain is: The Old Thirteenth Cheshire Astley Volunteer Rifleman Corps Inn, Stalybridge, Manchester
Shortest pub Name in Britain is (there may be some other pubs that now use just one letter):Q in Stalybridge, Manchester
Oldest pub in Britain - Dispute amongst three: Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, Nottingham 1189 /
The Old Ferry Boat , St Ives, Cambridgeshire possibly 10th century / Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, St Albans possibly 11th century.
Most South Westerly pub in Britain is: Turks Head, St Agnes Isles of Scilly
The Most Northerly Good Beer Guide pub in Britain is: Baltasound Hotel, Baltasound, Shetland
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Weather for Market Rasen
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 1 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 0 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
