FWIW, The Wellington beer list changes quite a lot, though your point is still well-made. They're not the only place serving said ales, and crowd-sourcing a review shouldn't be too problematic. Typing the review on an iPhone after 2 pints of some of that stuff would be trickier.
These beers are often from micro-breweries, who are ripe to be engaging with this kind of approach too. Indeed, the ales or breweries might be a nice focal point around which audiences collect. Some of these breweries have pretty keen customer bases.
Oh, and did you notice that The Wellington has wifi?
Nicky Getgood
· 10 months ago
A subject close to my heart, this. It would be great if all the lovely old pubs in Digbeth could somehow collectively be bought round to doing something like this - The Anchor, White Swan, Lamp Tavern, Spotted Dog, Big Bulls Head, etc. I know there's a monthly local landords meet, perhaps that'd be a good 'in' to get that group of pubs on board?
Rob Benson
· 10 months ago
I've been thinking about such a service, aimed at real ale enhusaists, for a while - Google Latitude makes it all the more appealing. Pub and ale data is already held by CAMRA for the Good Beer Guide; although not exhaustive, it would be a good start to see if you could mash up their mobile service (or even make it work, last time of looking), and merge something akin to http://www.beerintheevening.com/ in terms of community comment (add in image/video upload). Could focus on Brum pubs to start. Have to engage them, make it easy to update (might prefer event note opt-in over auto update via Twitter), engage with local brewers too to get ale data, and engage with CAMRA to see if they want to play. I think it's got legs, it's kind of missing, but almost there. Are you at twestival?
These are all great ideas. We have started to explore this in our context of Places to Go, Things to Do (Plings!) for young people - looking at how a youth centre, for example - can become social through social media - blogs.plings.net
John Popham
· 10 months ago
I think this opens up some really interesting questions, Pete. I have for some time been interested in the issue of pubs closing down because of the smoking ban (see: http://johnpopham.wordpress.com/2008/02/05/pubs...). Although a strong supporter of the smoking ban myself, I have been concerned about how it has impacted on those pubs which are community hubs. The blog post referenced above was inspired by a morning sat in rush hour traffic in Manchester, when nearly every pub I passed (slowly) was boarded up. There has been a lot less media coverage of this issue than I would have expected, and perhaps that is because the pubs where the middle classes drink have survived due to the prominence of food in their offer, and the fact that fewer middle class people smoke in any case. In many instances, it is the hardest pressed communities which have been losing one of their few community assets.
Thus, I am very interested in what might be done to help pubs diversify to save those which remain in low income communities, and perhaps re-open those which have already closed. I believe that, in the past, we have been too precious about separating out "worthy" community activities and the drinking that goes on in communities. When I was a young community worker I spent a lot of time in local pubs, sometimes to the concern of those who were employing me; but I did it because that was where many people in the community congregated, and it was a lot easier to go to their territory than to expect them to come to a "community centre". If pubs cannot survive as "drinking and smoking" dens, then why not build other community activities around them? And, certainly, in the digital age, why can local pubs not develop digital presences, to promote themselves, and their activities, and to help others on the digital ladder?
At the risk of revealing myself as an Archers fan (a fine product of your home city, Pete), I would point out that the Bull in Ambridge now doubles as an Internet cafe.
Andy Mabbett
· 10 months ago
"I’d imagine they don’t change beers that often" - they change beers all the time; they serve hundreds every year, and often once the barrel is dry that beer is never sold again. It's part of their attraction!
All Comments
These beers are often from micro-breweries, who are ripe to be engaging with this kind of approach too. Indeed, the ales or breweries might be a nice focal point around which audiences collect. Some of these breweries have pretty keen customer bases.
Oh, and did you notice that The Wellington has wifi?
http://twitter.com/redbullpub
These are all great ideas. We have started to explore this in our context of Places to Go, Things to Do (Plings!) for young people - looking at how a youth centre, for example - can become social through social media - blogs.plings.net
Thus, I am very interested in what might be done to help pubs diversify to save those which remain in low income communities, and perhaps re-open those which have already closed. I believe that, in the past, we have been too precious about separating out "worthy" community activities and the drinking that goes on in communities. When I was a young community worker I spent a lot of time in local pubs, sometimes to the concern of those who were employing me; but I did it because that was where many people in the community congregated, and it was a lot easier to go to their territory than to expect them to come to a "community centre". If pubs cannot survive as "drinking and smoking" dens, then why not build other community activities around them? And, certainly, in the digital age, why can local pubs not develop digital presences, to promote themselves, and their activities, and to help others on the digital ladder?
At the risk of revealing myself as an Archers fan (a fine product of your home city, Pete), I would point out that the Bull in Ambridge now doubles as an Internet cafe.