Cask & Keg: The Essential Guide for the Alcohol Industry in the North West

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ukTHE NORTH WESTS BEST SELLING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

BAR OF THE

MONTH EXCLUSIVE

COCKTAILS

&MOCKTAILS!Get your bar into the Summer spirit

The Coach House Brewery:An award winning company that keeps on winning!

How to...become a great bartender

Encourage safe driving this summer from your bar

More than 1 in 25 adults

are dependant on alcohol

For more information about the effects of alcohol go to

Did you know?Alcohol is

a depressant not a

stimulant

Alcohol is estimated to be responsible for 33,000 deaths in the UK each

year

All statistics and figures courtesy of w

ww.drinkaw

are.co.uk

Cask & KegMore than

1 in 25 adults are

dependant on alcohol

If you’re anything like me, you will have started celebrating

the Summer last month when the sun started shining. Now that the summer is under way, bars across the Noth West will be crammed with people making the most of the sun with a cider. Make sure your bar is com-peting with the best by doing something different. Why not check out are cocktail section (see page 10) for recipes that are simple to make and enjoyed by everyone. We even have some for the driver (page 9). With drink driving as high in the summer as it is at Christmas, it is the bars responsibility to encourage people to leave their cars behind and get a taxi. So have some numbers at hand for the more intoxicated! This months edition focuses on breweries and distilleries in War-rington. This includes the multi-award winning Coach House Brewery and Thomas Hardy Brewery, as well as the famous Greenalls Distillery. We are starting to see even more beer festivals running around the country with the Scottish Real Ale Festival and the Great Welsh Beer & Ci-der Festival running the 16-18 June. Closer to home, and at the beginning of the month, is Wolverhampton Beer Festival and Stockport Beer and Cider Festival on 2-4 June. With many other festivals over the summer months visit our website, www.caskandkeg.co.uk for a full run down.

JUNE 2011

Gabrielle Mein,Editor

Inside this issue:ON THE COVER:

Brewing A WinnerThe Coack House Brewery, Warrington, on accolades, what Summer is really like for their company and how they got to where they are today.

Shaken or Stirred?Cocktails, shots, and non-al-coholic drinks to quench your customers thirst this Summer.

Editors Bar of the MonthOdd Bar, Manchester brings beer, spirits and wines from around the world under one very quirky roof!

Top Ten Tips to becoming a great bartenderBe it keeping a smile on your face, speaking politely or your service,we have some simple yet effective tips to help you become a better bartender.

Is it worth the risk?We look at the implications of drink driving and suggest ways you help prevent it be it at work or at a summer barbeque or party you at-tend.

ALSO this edition:

Creator of the original AlcopopThomas Hardy Brewery, Burtonwood on brewing, bottling and their very suc-cesful history.

It’s Gin o’clock!G&J Greenalls have been masters in the gin indus-try for over 200 years. So what makes them so suc-cessful?

Bartenders Anonymous!We present you fun and serious in one, with the best of your stories, jokes and chat up lines as well as when guidance for how to deal with drunk and abu-sive customers.

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3June 2011

Cask & Keg

With no advertising at The Coach House Brewery some may be surprised with how successful this multi award winning company has be-come. But this is a company which prefers to speak di-rect with customers and publicans rather than spend money frivolously into the unknown and whose quality products speak volumes for themselves. The company, situated close to the River Mersey near War-rington’s town centre, has been running for 20 years having, impressively, gotten its first brew out within five months of starting. All ex-Greenall Whitley staff, they started The Coach House after the closure of Greenalls in 1991. A good location was important and they found that the water source on their unit in Wharf Street pro-vided them with Lake Vernian D water, the same used at Greenalls. This proved the deciding factor as they needed a ‘specific type of water’ to use as brew-ing liquor. They used planting equipment from Greenalls with brewing equipment build specifically for the size of their project, with Greenall’s having produced on a greater scale.As David Bolton, managing director of The Coach House Brewery, explains they

By Gabrielle Mein

HEADLINE HERE

quickly found that though they had the skill in brewing they lacked experience in sales so had beer but no-where to sell it.“It was a very sharp learning curve. We were all production people with no experience of sales so we set this place up and got going and didn’t quite know where to sell the beer. We went through the ‘Good Beer Guide’ and found the free houses in the area and went from there. We are considerably bigger than a micro-brewery. We have the capacity to service the big wholesale chains, we sell an awful lot to the Wetherspoon chain and even other pub companies and other breweries.“We started with two brews originally. One was the Coachmans Best Bitter, which is still going, and the other a beer called Innkeeper’s Special Reserve. Now we do a massive range of products. We do between 20 and 30 different beers over the course of a year and we do seasonal beers. We do a beer for Spring, a couple for Summer, one for Autumn and one for Winter. The reason for that is customers look at our products and say ‘We had that last week have you anything else?’. So we offer them a massive range of products and by the very nature of the ‘guest beer’ philosophy they ring the changes if they want a different beer every week”. This wide range of ales includes eleven permanent beers ranging from 3.7-5% in strength, five seasonal, ten special

occasion, four nation beers and nine-teen fruit beers. They have also recently started bottling some of their products, though this he concedes this was due to the smoking ban and not knowing what impact it would have on the industry. “We toyed with the idea but we were comfortable sticking with what we are

good at which is cask condi-tion and real ales. But when the smoking ban came in, we thought perhaps it would be sensible because we didn’t know what sort of impact that would have. So we thought we would start with having a couple of our products contract bottled which we have done and they have been extremely successful in terms of awards”.The bottles are sold single or in a three-pack consisting of Blueberry, Cheshire Gold and

most recently Gunpowder Mild and are sold on site or in supermarket chains including Tesco, Waitrose and many farm shops in the region for around £10.99. One of their most successful products has been the Blueberry beer which has a ‘strong following’ and Bolton believes this is due to it being bottled but also because it is unique on the market. “Belgium Lambic’s do a range of fruit products but there is not a lot on the UK market so we attacked it with Blueberry first and that has just won ‘Best Spe-ciality Beer’ at the International Beer Awards which is like winning a bronze at the Olympics! That was beers from all over the world so was quite an achieve-ment. It outstrips everything at beer festivals; it’s a very popular beer. I think the ladies will try it and find it quite

4June 2011

Blueberry has just won ‘Best Speciality Beer’ at the Inter-national Beer Awards which is like winning a bronze at the Olympics!

Cask & Keg

“Anything lower than 3.8/3.9% tends to be a little thin on the pallet and not particularly attractive to the real ale en-thusiast. Anything stronger than that, al-though it sells, people are going to have one or two pints of it rather than three or four simply because of the strength. ”Our fruit beers are 5% and we do a 6% at Christmas as a one-off. But with cask condition beer , once it’s been tapped and vented, in a perfect world and de-pending on the temperature of the cellar, it really wants selling within 4 or 5 days.“Having said that the higher gravity beers tend to look after themselves. But essentially if you’re putting 7+% beer on the market, it’s likely to take a long time to sell because people are going to try it out for novelty value but they’re certainly not going to drink it all night. And consequently it stays in the cask and on the pump for a period that could be detrimental to its quality; it really needs drinking within four or five days in a perfect world. It also depends on good husbandry in the outlet”.With awards galore lining his office there is no doubting how successful this company has become. From having no-where to sell, The Coach House Brewery sells nationwide through a number of wholesalers as well as direct deliveries to North Wales, Stoke, West Yorkshire, Manchester, Liverpool, Cheshire and Shropshire. It also has a good identity in the vicinity where local bars taking their beer on a regular basis include the Stag at Walton, Hatton Arms in Hatton, The Lord Rodney in Warrington town centre and the Paddington House Hotel, Wool-ston. They prefer to campaign within bars rather than taking out advertise-ments, and feel their products have the right image to succeed locally with taste and quality proven. “We get lobbied every day to take out advertisements on monthly periods but we’re aiming at a very specific market that I’m not sure what return we would get. I would rather get our sales man-ager out into the pubs and make them aware that we are here and what awards we have won and to give it a try. Once we are in, the beer tends to go down very well and with a bit of luck it repeat orders from there”.Twenty years ago The Coach House Brewery had beer but no-where to sell it. Now, in 2011, things have definitely turned around, and it is accolade after accolade for this successful Cheshire company.

pleasant. The Posthorn, a 5% premium beer, was voted ‘Best Beer in its Class’ at the Great British Beer festival. We’re not always sure where our beers are appear-ing. The festival organisers tend to get one wholesaler to sort all the beers. So we put our beers into the wholesaler and then I get a certificate to say it has won a festival that I didn’t know it was even in! We have reasonably good success with our products, though the Blueberry Bitter and Gunpowder mild have cer-tainly outstripped everything in the last five years”.Banoffie Bitter, Cherry and Honeypot have been amongst the winning beers in recent years and although part of the fruit beer range, Bolton says that does not make them any more popular in the Summer than in the Winter, if anything it is the opposite. Although this year as he explains has gone against the trend.“Summer is not really our best trading period because on a real hot Summer people tend to switch to lagers and ci-ders so really our volume tends to peak when we get into Autumn and I think the reason is in the pubs the dart and domino matches begin again and it’s not too cold to keep people at home but the dark nights have come so they’re more likely to start going down the pub again. By September/early October, our volume starts to rise again. Having said that we don’t have a disastrous Summer or we wouldn’t be here.”The Coach House beers provide real ale for ale enthusiasts. The beers are not high gravity ranging from 3.8%-5.5% on the permanent range, with a 3.6% on the seasonal beers. As Bolton explains this has a lot to do with sales and the quality of beer.

By Gabrielle Mein

View of the inside at The Coach House Brewery. Picture: Gabrielle Mein

5June 2011

I started at Greenalls brewery in 1976. I did my apprenticeship as a printer and

worked in the printing trade until the mid 70’s. I then joined Greenall Whitly and worked on the Stinika brew house where we brewed the beer. From there I moved into management into the cask beer department where I was assistant manager and then became manager of that department. So again it wasn’t a massive step because cask beer was the beer I had specialised in there. I then became cask and keg beer manager so I was running the 2 biggest production departments at Greenalls when they announced the closure. So I’ve been in the brewing game for 35years and have specialised in cask products and real ales. Generally I oversee the weekly

and everyday operation of the brewery, I have a sales manager, as sales is not my forte, We understand the business and we understand the marketplace very well we wouldn’t have been here for 20 years if we didn’t. I mean there is a lot of brewers’ that spring up and think it’s a showbiz to own a brewery which it’s not, it’s hard work. It’s hard work to maintain the consistency because you don’t own the pubs so what you’re trading on is quality of product, a damn good serv-ice and a sensible price. Those are the three things that really tie you into the pubs that you don’t own. Because they have no obligation to buy from us they can buy from wherever they like. So you need to be a little bit better than your immediate competitor, to be a little bit more innovative with the beers you put out there and a little bit slicker with the service you offer.

BREWER PROFILE:

David Bolton,Managing Director.

Cask & Keg

G&J Greenalls is a company that has risen from the

ashes. Literally. On the 15 October 2005 a fire swept through their distillery at Lousher Lane – the biggest in Cheshire in 50 years due to the amount of gin and vodka on site. An estimated 6,393,000 bottles were destroyed – 850,000 litres of gin, vodka and rum went up in flames causing ex-tensive damage to the bottling hall, main warehouse and ancillary buildings. Since then it has been onwards and upwards for the company and, 250 years after its launch, the company is more popular and successful than ever. They supply to all major retailers in the UK , being the UK’s second largest gin distill-ers and bottlers, producing nearly 50% of all gin consumed in the UK market. They also produce over a quarter of all gin produced in the UK, and over 7% of gin sold in the world. Some amazing sta-tistics considering the size of the blaze less than a decade ago.

Last month I went to their current dis-tillery in Risley. The 120,000 sq ft plant is capable of an output of 1,200 bottles of gin and vodka an hour and it was here I met the current master distiller Joanne Moore, the first female Master Distiller ever at G&J Greenall and only the 7th master distiller at the company in 250 years. Joanne, can you tell me a little about the history of the distillery: Today G&J Greenalls produce half of all the UK’s gin and vodka. The company started in 1760, when Thomas Dakin acquired premises on Bridge Street in Warrington, but distilling gin was actu-ally illegal. The company’s Original Lon-don Dry Gin became massively popular across the UK and overseas during the 20th Century, which is now available in pretty much every supermarket.Which is the newest gin to the mar-ket? Currently Greenalls as Bloom and Berkeley Square are new brands so they traditionally will be built in the on trade

G&J Greenalls has been producing gin for over 200 years and is now one of the UKs largest distillers of the spirit. Here, master distiller Joanne Moore explains what makes their company so successful.

The famous G&J Greenall sign. Picture: Gabrielle MeinBy Gabrielle Mein

The outside of the distillery at Greenalls. Picture: Gabrielle Mein

Above: Entrance to the impressive Greenalls distillery, above. Pictures Gabrielle Mein

and then move to off trade once we have enough brand awareness to see up lift from retailers. What sets your gin apart from other distillers? All our gins are London dry gins which mean they are the highest classifica-tion of gins, they all have a unique flavour profile that sets them apart from their competitors. Do you have any ‘specials’ during the year? We don’t currently produce limited editions on Gin. We concentrate on building brand awareness on all our brands and tweak accordingly to the season as to what the look or feel of the campaign is.

Left: Greenalls cylin-ders next to the bot-tling station. Picture: Gabrielle MeinRight: Bottling in op-eration. Picture: G&J Greenalls

You produce a lot of spirits for third party production, what are the la-bels? Bombay Sapphire, Bombay Original , Bulldog Gin, Brockmans Gin, Pink 47, Three Olives Vodka and numerous bulk gins used by other bottlers/ brand own-ers.You have won many national and global accolades; can you tell me more about these? We have won medals at most of the prestigious spirit awards for both our products and their packaging year on year.What do you think is integral for the success of your company? And what sets you apart from your competi-tors? The people – passion, skill and exper-tise.

6 June 2011

It’s Gin o’clock!

Cask & Keg

7June 2011

Thomas Hardy Brewery:Creators of the Original AlcopopBy Gabrielle Mein

Thomas Hardy Brewery is pretty unique among competitors. There are no own-brands or distribution at Thomas Hardy, a family run firm that offers a ‘quality service’ to their service by keeping ‘quality people within the firm’. Thomas Hardy invests heavily in its machinery and kit, with its bottling line aiming to run just shy of a thousand cases an hour when running flat out – an impressive 400 bottles a minute. At Bur-tonwood the company also has a brew-ing capacity of half a million hectolitres – approximately 100 million pints! At the second site in Kendel, the bottling line focuses on a variety of pack sizes and can fill bottles ranging from 180ml to 1 litre. But where did it all begin for this extremely successful contract brewer? Managing director Peter Ward who entered the brewing industry working for Courage formed Thomas Hardy Brew-ery in Dorchester. Soon after Courage merged with Scottish Newcastle, Ward left and did brewing consultancy. He began working for Eldridge Pope as a consultant and when the company decided to sell the brewery, he saw an opportunity to buy the assets of both the brewery and the packaging line. From here he decided to also work on a third

party contractual basis. Thomas Hardy are producers of, what is seen as one of the original alcopops , Hoopers Hooch. This was a fermented fruit wine used as the base for Hooch with fruit and flavouring added. This was sent out on behalf of Bass and soon other parties were interested. Chris Ward, commercial development man-ager, explained that it wasn’t long before other parties became interested and the business expanded. He said: “In 1997 other parties became interested, the likes of Bacardi, Smirnoff, Diageo, and we did contract packing for a number of them and extended our sites to both Tiverton, the site here in Burtonwood, which also has the brewery, and another site in Kendel. We owned the assests in Dolchester but never owned the actual site so we moved all the assets up here to Burtonwood”. When the lease was up on the Tiverton site, that too was relocated to Burton-wood and they are now a consolidated two-site company with a brewery, a kegging line, a cask racking and a high speed bottling line all at Burtonwood. On a tour of the company last month it is clear how much they have invested in the company. The technology on site is advanced compared to other brewer-ies but this is a company that is only 20 years old. “As far as the packaging on both sites,

From left: Bottling line, running 400 bottles per minute. Picture: Thomas Hardy Brewery; Centre: View from the outside, Thomas Hardy Brewery, Burtonwood. Picture: Gabrielle Mein; Right View of the bottling room. Picture: Gabrielle Mein

From left: Packaging at the brewery. Picture: Thomas Hardy Brewery; Centre: Copper whirlpools inside the brewery. Picture: Gabrielle Mein; Right: Colour coded kegs for national and international delivery. Gabrielle Mein

we try and constantly invest in new kit. We want to keep our flexibility and keep ahead of the curb but also, the main reason is to meet the demands of our customers whether it’s the imple-mentation of a new de-paletiser so we can do PET bottles as well as glass bottles on this site or other packing machines so we can do cluster packs, like the San Miguel packs which are a demand for our customers. We are also seeing a reduce in pack sizes”. The company, who’s largest custom-ers include Heineken, Bacardi and Martini have recently seen new trends emerge with what Ward described as the ‘ginger revolution’ and of course they provide their customer with that too. Ward added: “There aren’t many peo-ple that do what we do. We don’t own any brands. We own none of our own brands and we have no distribution. We purely contract pack for other peo-ple. Which means that we are pretty unique. We don’t have any brands that compete with their products so they are quite happy to talk to us. We try and offer an extremely flexible serv-ice”. With Thomas Hardy providing a service largely unrivalled, there is no doubting how successful this company

has become.

Cask & Keg

Shot’s your lot!Feeling adventurous?

Why not try these shot’s at your bar or party. Though beware, and get your camera at the ready for reactions, because some of these are not for the faint-hearted!

By Gabrielle Mein

Ingredients:1/2 Vodka1/4 Southern Comfort1/4 Amaretto1/2 msr Pineapple juice1 tspn Grenadine

Ingredients:1 Gin1 tspn Pinapple juice1 tspn Orange juice1 tspn Lemon juice1 tspn Pinapple syrup.

Ingredients:1/3 Tequila1/3 Jack Daniels1/3 Southern ComfortSplash of Tabasco sauce

Ingredients:4/5 Tia Maria 1/5 Baileys

Hay Fever RemedyStrong with fruity flavour.

Instructions:Shake and strain into a shot glass.

Baby GuinnessThis one is a classic and looks attractive if poured correctly.

Knock Me Down VERY Strong - this will put hairs on your chest!

Honolulu ShooterStrong, fruity flavour - this one is for gin lovers!

Instructions:Shake and strain.

Instructions:Pour as above, adding a splash of tabasco sauce on top.

Instructions:Near fill a shot glass with Tia Maria. Using a pourer or the back of a spoon, slowly pour the Baileys on top against the rim of the glass. It should settle on top, creating a layer.

8June 2011

One for the driverBy Gabrielle MeinBeing the designated driver needn’t be boring. Throw out the water and put the cola back in the fridge and give these non-alcoholic cocktails a try. Now being the driver doesn’t mean you miss out.

Cinderella sour/fruity flavour

2msr Orange juice2 msr Pineapple juice1 msr Lemon juice1/2 msr Sugar syrup1msr Soda water

Instructions:Shake and strain into an ice filled glass, add the soda. Gar-nish with slice of lemon and a straw.

Queen Charlie subtle fruit flavour 1/2 msr Grenadine3 msr Soda3 msr Lemonade

Instructions:Add the grenadine to an ice filled glass, add the soda and lemonade and garnish with fruit in season and straws.

Brontosaurus citrus flavour

3msr Grapefruit juice 1/2 msr Lime juice1/2 msr Grenadine3 msr Lemonade

Instructions:Shake and strain into an ice filled glass, top with lemonade and garnish with a celery stick, or strawberry, and straws.

9June 2011

Shaken OR Stirred?

By Gabrielle Mein

Some of your favourite cocktails, some new ones and a twist on the classic Long Island Iced Tea. Get the cocktail shaker out, ice on high supply and ask your friends the classic question - do they want their drink ‘shaken or stirred’?

WARNING: Stay clear unless you like tequila!

Shaker CocktailFruity - one for tequila lovers

1 1/2 msr Tequila1/2 msr Lemon juice3 msr Pineapple juice 1/2 tspn Grenadine

Instructions: Pour all ingredients into a cock-tail shaker with ice. Shake well, strain into a cocktail glass and garnish.

Blue SourballFruity flavour

1 msr Vodka1 msr Blue Curacao or Schnapps1/2 Lemonade1/2 Orange

Instructions:Shake well together with ice. Strain into a tall glass with ice and top up with lemonade. Gar-nish with a slice of lemon.

Melon BallPineapple flavour

2msr Midori 1msr Vodka4 msr Pineapple juice

Instructions:Shake and strain into an ice filled glass. Garnish with a melon ball and slice of lime on stick, or lemon and a cherry. Sip with short straws and enjoy.

10June 2011

Cask & Keg

French MartiniFruity flavour

1 1/2 msr Vodka1/2 msr Chambord4 msr Pineapple juice

Shake and strain into an ice filled glass. Garnish with short straws and a strawberry.

TOP TIPS: - Good presentation is essen-tial! Use garnishes that suit the flavour of your drink. For fruity flavours use oranges, cherries and strawberries. For citrus or

sour tasting cocktails use lemon or lime.

- Always use straws! Black is more professional, but for par-ties use bright colours. - Always use plenty of ice, it makes the difference to the taste , trust me!

Customer’s choice!

5*Marina, Warrington says:

“This one is very nice! I

don’t usually like vodka,

but it’s not overpowering in

this one”.

Long Island Iced Tea

Strong alcohol taste

1/2 msr Vodka1/2 msr Gin1/2 msr Tequila1/2 msr Rum1/2 msr Cointreau or Triple Sec3/4 Cola

Instructions:Fill a tall glass with ice, add the cola. Shake all the ingredients with ice and slowly strain into the glass. Garnish with slice of lemon and straws.

NOTE: Alcohol should layer on top of the cola if done slowly.

Miami Beach Iced Tea

Fruity flavour - One for the ladies!

1/2 msr Vodka1/2 msr Gin1/2 msr Tequila1/2 msr Rum1/2 msr Peach Schnapps1/2 msr Cranberry juice1/2 Lemonade

Instructions:Shake the alcohol and cran-berry juice together with ice. Strain into a glass with ice and top with lemonade. Garnish with straws and lemon.

A CLASSIC...

WITH A TWIST

11June 2011

Cask & Keg

EDITOR

S BAR O

F THE MO

NTH

Odd Bar has, in the past five years, become one of the bars to frequent in Manchester. Its quirky and original, with a great drinks menu and even better atmos-phere in the centre of Manchester North-ern Quarter. From the outside, it attracts your at-tention with its glittery windows. Many may be put off thinking its for a younger

ODD BAR, Manchester

generation, but those who go inside are in for a treat. Inside the colours are bright, yet warm.The decor lives up to the outside view of the bar - it is unique and quirky and partly designed by the patrons. Think Moroccan inspired bohemia and your spot on! Its not just the decor that makes the bar different to others in the city. Odd Bar has a free juke box controlled by a DJ and the customer, and even better than that has a basement cinema show-ing “weird but marvellous“ films.

Odd Bar, Thomas Street in The Northern Quarter is an award-winning bar. Picture: Gabrielle Mein

12 June 2011

Cask & Keg

Still not sold? Odd Bar has an amazing menu with something for even the fussiest eater. Breakfast has the usual options of a fry-up, vegetarian option, bagels, por-ridge and cereal. It is in the lunch/dinner menu that it begins to excite. The ingredients are fresh, and dishes are all homemade inspired from dishes from around the world. There is a great selection from full meals to snacks and platters that great for sharing with friends.The drinks menu is full of hand selected spirits, local real ales and wines.

The bar has a Moroccan feel to it and this is pure luxury! Picture: Odd Bar

The Spirits Odd Bar has only one English vodka on the menu, Chase Vodka. Three Russian and three Polish (including Zubrowka Bison Grass at 40%) priced between £2.70 and £4.10. The rum selected is some of the best from Southern Ameri-can and the Caribbean including a seven year old Havana Club from Cuba, with only ten and twelve year old whiskies making the short list.

Vibrant colours of Odd Bar, Manchester. Picture: Odd Bar

A view of the bar and seating. Picture: Odd Bar

A bit of a classic feeling here with old photos and memoirs. Picture: Odd Bar

Wines and Champagne Wine is sold at 175ml, 250ml or by the bottle and prices range. The white wine range includes an Italian Bianco and Trebbiano Chardonnay, a Chilean Sau-vignon Blanc and Spanish Rioja Blanco. Making the red wine section is an Italian Rosso, an Australian Shiraz, a Chilean Merlot and a Sicilian Syrah. The only Chamnpagne on the menu is G.H.Mumm Champagne (France) priced at £45.00 per bottle.

The Ales If it’s a pint of Strongbow or Fosters you are after, then you are in the wrong bar. Odd bar has a great selection of European beers on draught, that few other bars would have. Becks, Stella Black, Staropramen and Belgium’s Fruli all make it on the menu of a bar that also stocks the best real ale and bitter from regional breweries. The bottles are from around the world including Leffe Blonde/Brune (Belgium), Sol (Mexico), Peroni (Italy), Mahou (Spain), Blue Moon (USA) and Coop-ers Pale Ale (Australia). Add to that a selection of Weston’s Cider and you have a selection of drinks that leave the customer spoilt for choice!

Customer review - 5/5 This little bar, part of three in Man-chester appropriately named Odd, Odder and Oddest Bar, is absolutely charming. As stated before it may look like its one for the younger genera-tion but this chic bar attracts clientele of every age and class. On a Thursday night, the place was booming with city people enjoying a drink after work and the prospect of the upcoming Bank Holiday. The variety of drinks and labels here is like being on holiday when there is no recognisable to choose from.

Odd Bar30-32 Thomas Street,

Manchester, M4 1ER

Tel: 0871 230 2208

Opening hours: Mon to Wed 11am - midnight /

Thu 11am - 1am / Fri & Sat 11am - 1.30am /

Sun noon - midnight

www.OddBar.co.uk

The staff are also very nice and helpful. The bartenders know the beer and are good at their job. The entertainment is also excellent, with DJs such as Detroit Public Radio and Piccadilly Record’s DJs, you will be more than entertained. And, who could resist a bar that has its own cinema! Described as a ‘popular Bo-hemian’ bar, Odd Bar won the 2007-08 Pride Of Manchester Award for Best Bar in Manchester. There is also seating outside of the bar so you can enjoy the sunshine with your drink. All of this from a bar that doesnt charge on entry, you would be mad not to check it out this summer.

Perfect for women doing touch-ups to their makeup! The mirror wall at Odd Bar Manchester. Picture: Odd Bar

13June 2011

Cask & Keg

Ten Top Tips to becoming a great bartender.

2. Smile! :) Service with a smile can get you in the good books and a smile from you can put your customer in a good mood

1. Be quick and efficient with your service.

8. Foul language is never a sign of a professional. Even when your stressed keep the language clean and a smile on your face! 10. Remember

who you work for. Anything less than professionalism from a bartender can lead to a bad reputation for a bar.

9. If you make a mistake, own up and try and fix it.

6. Keep your space clean. If you use some-thing put it back where you got it. There is nothing more annoying than working with untidy people in a busy environ-ment!

7. Use titles when referring to strangers. You don’t know them so should be polite as pos-sible.

5. Take note of your appearance. Always wear a clean shirt, keep your hands and finger-nail clean.

3. Always be polite to the customer. The age-old saying is ‘the customer is always right’ so if you have nothing nice to say don’t say it! Remember - it is them who pay your wages.

4. By using the best products, you will

be the BEST! Same goes for cocktail - use

quality products for both the drink and the

garnishes. The presentation of a cocktail is

just as important as the drink itself.

Bartenders AnonymousBy Gabrielle Mein

This month’s best comments: “In Ireland, a guy once ordered drinks totalling around €15, and handed me a €50 note saying keep the change. Realising this was €35 I asked if he was sure. He said he was certain, I deserve a tip…God I love drunk people!” James, Liverpool via text. “It is so much funnier laughing at people when they fall over when I’m working than being the person falling over when I’m off!” Raya, Stafford via email. “I once got kicked out of a pub in War-rington for going behind the bar and serving myself. There was me thinking I was doing them a favour!“ Ciaran, War-rington via text.

Share your bar stories and jokes with us.

Drunken chat up lines are the best... Really, they are! Check these out. As a pick up line, a guy once picked his ice out of his drink, smashed it on the counter and said “Right, now the ice is broken, how you doing?” Marina, Ches-ter via email. Guy: “Did it hurt?” Me: “Did what hurt?” Guy: “Did it hurt when you fell from heaven, cos you’re an angel!” Stine, Manchester, via email.

“Grab your jacket, you’ve scored” Josh, Warrington via text. And things you don’t say:“I’ve had quite a bit to drink, and you’re beginning to look pretty good” Chris, Carlisle via text.

““You look almost stupid enough to date me“ Note to sober-self - insulting her will not help me!” Dave, via email.Keep your text and emails coming in, the best get printed here but check out the rest on www.caskandkeg.co.uk

When to say ‘NO’

By Gabrielle Mein

By Gabrielle Mein

There is not a bar in the world you could work at without

facing drunken people, so if you don’t like them this probably isn’t the best job for you. It is always obvious when someone is drunk, but when should you stop serv-ing? Most bars have their own policy so check with your manager, however here are some tips if you are unsure:1) slurring speech 2) can’t stand up properly3) can’t give you the money4) ability to focus 5) aggressive behaviour. If you think a cus-tomer has had to much to drink, simply say “no more drinks mate (sir/madam)“ and serve the next person. Make sure noone else at the bar serves them, and if they return say the only thing you will serve them is water. Don’t patronise them, be straight with them. This will avoid unwanted aggression and violence. If they are aggressive or abusive, say if

they continue you will involve the bounc-ers or your manager. Try serving the opposite side of the bar and if it doesn’t continue, report it.

Remember, having a good night doesn’t mean getting wasted. As a

bartender why not encourage people to have the odd non-alcoholic drink in between beverages. Go to our cocktail section on page nine for great non-alcoholic versions or visit our website www.caskandkeg.co.uk for more great recipes, hints and tips, and stories from others in the industry.

A casual drink can stay casual. Picture: Gabrielle Mein

Email them with your name and location to info@caskandkeg.co.uk or text 07598435497.

Cask & Keg

More and more people are be-ing charged with driving under the influence and with the sum-mer months already underway, many will be planning their summer barbeques and parties, especially when the weather is fine. While this is encouraged, people should also be thinking about how they or their guests will travel. Drink driving was the cause of 380 UK deaths in 2009, with 8,620 road acci-dents in 2008 caused where the driver was over the legal limit for alcohol. An average of nearly three thousand people are either killed or seriously injured due to drink driving. This figure may have fallen by over three-quarters since 1980 but it is still none the less alarming. If convicted of drink driving, you will not only have a criminal record but you will be banned from driving for at least a year and your insurance could rise. The maximum penalty from being con-victed of drink driving is 6 months im-prisonment, a fine of £5000 and a ban of at least 12months. If convicted twice in 10 years this ban is increased to 3 years. Don’t make excuses. “I can handle my drink” or “I’m only going down the road”. Alcohol effects everybody. It causes slower reactions when driving, reduces field of vision and causes poorer judgement overall of speed and distance. Many incidents happen within 3miles of the starting point.There is no proven way of drinking and knowing whether you are under or over the limit to drive as circumstances vary for everybody. Advice from police and road safety organisations is to avoid drinking when you have to drive, or if you know you will be tempted to drink

then always have a backup plan. Going out this summer? Book a taxi or arrange to stay at a friend’s – why take the risk of injuring or killing yourself, a loved one or others. Do not accept a lift from someone who you know has consumed alcohol. Throwing a barbeque or party? Here is advice of how you can prevent drink driving at your party:• Give the number of local taxi drivers to guest at the time of invitation. When they arrive ask how they came and how they are leaving. • Have a designated driver on standby. Therefore if someone does decide to drink they still have transportation.• Take their keys at the beginning of the night. This helps to prevent tempta-tion of driving home at the end of the night.• Have non-alcoholic options. This doesn’t mean having coke and 7-up on standby. Look for virgin variations of fa-mous cocktails such as virgin daiquiris or fruity cocktails. Check out our cock-tail section on non-alcoholic options.• Serve food at your party. This won’t prevent drink driving but will help if people have overindulged and will sof-ten the hangover the next day!

THE FACTS• 17% of road fatalities in 2009 were caused by drink driving.• A drink drive conviction can result in job loss, strain on personal relation-ships and higher insurance costs.• Tolerance to alcohol depends on a combination of factors: weight, age, gender, stress and recent food con-sumption.• The best way to remain safe is not to drink and drive.• A conviction can result in a prison sentence, driving ban and fine. For more advice see www.drinka-ware.co.uk and www.drinkdrivingfacts.com

MY DRUNKEN MISTAKEAs told to Gabrielle Mein

By Gabrielle Mein

By Naomi Murphy*

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Don’t be tempted to drink-drive. Always arrange transport prior to going out. Picture: Gabrielle Mein

Don’t make driving an option. Picture: Gabrielle Mein

Last Summer, I drove into Warrinton* town to meet friends for a ‘few drinks’. I intended to have a couple and go home but a couple turned into several. I realised I’d have to stay at a friends house but my car was parked on a dou-ble yellow line. I thought nothing of moving it around the corner to avoid getting a fine or the car being clamped. But I was caught by the police and there was CCTV footage. At the time I thought it was no big deal moving it as it was literally around a corner. I was arrested, handcuffed and taken to the police station. It was very trau-matic and I hated being treated like a criminal. I was crying, I got body searched and my finger prints were taken. They took all my belonging from me and I spent the night in the cell.They interviewed me the next morning and I was charged. I recieved a 16 month driving ban, but as I went on a Drink Drive course that was available I had 4 months taken of the ban. I had to pay a means tested fine of £200 and a further £100 for court fees. The worst part is that I now have a criminal record for 11 years. During court, I was embarrassed and humiliated. Two local papers carried the headline ‘Woman Drunk Driver’ so there was no way to keep my shame quiet. It was one of the worst experiences of my life and had such serious conse-quences for something I thought was innocent at the time.

15June 2011

Is it worth the risk?

Cask & Keg

Remember your Summer

Drink Responsibly