On 17 Jun 2023 at 12:14pm I Say Ding Dong wrote:
So a Lewes pub has again hit the headlines. "Customers mortified at being charged more than £7 for a pint of beer". Bad press seems to be the aim of one particular hostelry at the moment. Rumour has it that the management is also bribing some regular customers with a loyalty card scheme following a backlash to the most recent round of price rises.
Would anyone like to name the pub in question and add anything that I may have missed either by way of balance or general interest.
On 17 Jun 2023 at 1:02pm Green Sleeves wrote:
For 7 quid you could easily get 4 pints-worth of beer from the supermarket. Not quite Scandinavian level alcohol pricing yet though.
On 17 Jun 2023 at 3:24pm Nevillman wrote:
Just looked up the story on the Sussex express website and seen it is the Pelham arms. It says that the pint in question was a premium lager rather than a pint of bitter. The pub was looking not too healthy a year or so ago and was often shut. It now seems to be doing much better and is very much a food based pub. I haven't eaten there for a while so can't comment on the food but certainly the jazz last Thursday was brilliant and I expect to pay a premium price for a pint for that. My main criticism of the pub is the lack of Harvey's but apart from that I've no complaint and wish them well. They are making an effort. If your aim is just to get the cheapest drink possible green then I would say supermarket cider offers the best value but it doesn't compare with a night out. Maybe preloading with supermarket cider then drinking water in the pub is the answer but don't expect there to be too many pubs to go to in the future.
On 17 Jun 2023 at 3:37pm I say ding dong wrote:
The Premium beers are Abyss. A brewery in town owned by the same person that has the lease on the Pelham. No middle man and therefore a layer of costs removed.
As for no Harvey's, that must surely put them in a massive minority of a couple or so.
Harvey's is readily available at under £5 a pint around town. Its 4%. Both hand pulled bitters in the Pelham (3.7% and 4.7%) are over £5.
Haven't tried the Jazz although I hear it's popular.
On 17 Jun 2023 at 5:19pm Green Sleeves wrote:
The "desire" and motivation to go into a pub and lay down 7 quid for 568ml of liquid, which is marked up 4 times compared to what you could purchase in a supermarket (for the same premium liquid) just isn't what it used to be. You can see why pub trade is in terminal decline when there are so many other more interesting and cheaper forms of entertainment these days. Despite all the "Jazz" music on offer 
I'd more than welcome a future where there are even fewer pubs, and supplemented instead with coffee shops selling cannabis. Might actually improve our culture and society from the yobbo drunks we've created and endorsed at a state level. If you're going to enjoy the consumption of a drug, at least make it a safe one, and alcohol is just about one of the most harmful and toxic available.
On 18 Jun 2023 at 8:58am Nevillman wrote:
I agree that there will be fewer pubs in the future as habits and prices change. The pubs likeliest to survive will probably in the main be the ones that provide extra like music, food, sports. I disagree that the pub trade is in terminal decline. Some pubs and even some ' boozers' will survive I am sure.
It would be interesting to see how a cannabis coffee shop would do in Lewes. The ones in Amsterdam seem to mainly be for tourists. Do they thrive anywhere to satisfy a local market? I agree that it does seem ridiculous that alcohol is allowed but not other drugs and don't see what business it is of the government what people choose to put in their bodies.
On 18 Jun 2023 at 9:59am Green Sleeves wrote:
I suspect there would be sufficient demand in Brighton and Lewes for a few specialised coffee shops!! I mean, just look how successful normal coffee shops are without the added green bonus! 
There will be a proliferation of them as the laws start to ease on Cannabis, as they have done across the world already, specifically of course in the United States. Although there are still some dumb federal laws making trading a little awkward over there (think they still rely on cash transactions for example, which is nuts).
Pubs will still have a place, but i don't think we'll need anywhere as many as there are now. We've seen around a 25% decrease since 2000, but suspect the decline will flatten out when it matches the need and demand for pubs. Alcohol is fine in moderation and really rather enjoyable, but its one of those drugs that when abused is particularly lethal and can be extremely anti-social. It also happens to be physically addictive in a way that many other softer drugs aren't. We got it wrong glamourising tobacco and alcohol and demonising weed, mushrooms and MDMA. We haven't always made such blunders. When coffee was introduced to Britain for example, it served as a fine healthy replacement for alcohol in the mid 17th century. Booze was used as a safe alternative drink to water, as it was ironically safer to drink than the untreated and potentially contaminated "drinking water" at the time. As a result, I think there were a lot of groggy people walking about at the time, including drunk kids. Coffee, being boiled, was a new safer alternative, and that may well have led to the new age of enlightenment!! People could actually be productive on coffee, rather than perpetually drunk.
On 19 Jun 2023 at 10:51am I Say Ding Dong wrote:
25% decrease in Pubs since 2000? I my lifetime the pubs to close in Lewes, The Windmill, Pewter Pot (Meridian, Hole In The Wall, Rifleman depending on your age) Fruiterers and Prince of Wales. Members clubs such as Working Mans club, 2 X British Legion and Landport Social club excluded). The Red White and Blue closed shortly before I was born. How does this equate to 25% of pubs or are you quoting a national figure that does not fit with Lewes - to be fair when does Lewes ever fit with anything nationally?
On 19 Jun 2023 at 12:39pm Nevillman wrote:
You forgot the much missed lamb I say. Largely killed as people could move nearby and then complain about the noise allied with brewery greed and stupidity. Although I agree the general trend is fewer pubs you should also consider that the John Harvey tavern turned into a pub.
On 19 Jun 2023 at 3:37pm Green Sleeves wrote:
The stat was nationwide, but having a quarter fewer pubs than 20 years ago sounds believable to me. Its been a heavily impacted sector for a wide range of reasons. There just isn't really the same demand for pubs now as there were in the 1990s and before. I'm not really sure if thats a good or bad thing....guess its bad if you love pubs and booze, but its not like there aren't any left. The "pub crawls" might have to be compromised somewhat.
On 1 Jul 2023 at 1:09pm Nevillman wrote:
I read there are currently 17 pubs in Lewes which is more than enough for a good pub crawl. If Lewes has lost 5 pubs in the past 20 years that is just under a 25% decrease with the only real loss in my opinion being the lamb which was truly unique and no other pub comes close to replacing it.
I'm not sure that a coffee shop selling cannabis could survive in Lewes. Most people who choose to use cannabis already have their own supply lines and would probably prefer to indulge alone or with their own friends I think. Brighton might manage one with the tourist business there but the thought of lots of 18 year olds wandering around, stoned for the first time doesn't really appeal. No worse than seeing people really drunk I guess though.
On 5 Jul 2023 at 11:34am Green Sleeves wrote:
" Brighton might manage one with the tourist business there but the thought of lots of 18 year olds wandering around, stoned for the first time doesn't really appeal. No worse than seeing people really drunk I guess though."
Nah, its not really comparable. Drunks are far more unpredictable and potentially aggressive compared to stoners. I've been drunk and stoned tons of times, and most of the stupidest and riskiest stuff/behaviour i've ever done is while drunk. Being "high" is not going to create a public nuisance. The only argument against cannabis these days is the odour it can leave but even that is subjective, as some people can't tolerate the odours left by certain foods being cooked either. Some of those opinions are warped by xenophobia and cultural open-mindedness though.
On 5 Jul 2023 at 12:32pm Nevillman wrote:
Fair enough. After I wrote it I thought more about it and agree with you. At the end of the day it just is nobody's business but their own what they put in their own body and if someone thought they could make a living with a dope selling coffee shop then fair enough.
On 7 Jul 2023 at 1:30pm Earl of de Montfort wrote:
It was piss poor reporting for a start by some bedroom journalist trawling Lewes Present Fb group posts for “news”.
Try pointing the finger at greedy pub co’s not the landlords trying to make a living. Abyss is cheaper than the H&W brewery “premium” lagers
Also, tourists are banned from coffee shops in Amsterdam
On 8 Jul 2023 at 11:19am Green Sleeves wrote:
I think any "ban" on tourists in coffee shops in Amsterdam is either a soft ban or applied very lightly, and barely policed.
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