"The Northern Lights are in my mind ..."

I met some friends for an early evening drink in the Sir Henry Segrave in Southport a couple of days ago. On the bar there was, among the remnants of the cider festival, a George Wright beer called Northern Lights (5.1%). I have to say I could have happily stayed and drunk it all night, but we had to move on. The brewer's website states that it is "A strong ale, amber in colour. A strong citrus ale balanced by the bitter hop." That is almost word for word how I described it to one of my friends later, although I'd have thought it was paler than 'amber' suggests. Definitely a strong citrus, bitter flavour, which reminded me of some of the American-style pale ales Wetherspoons sometimes commissions.

I haven't seen George Wright beers around for a while; I don't know whether there have been problems at the brewery or whether it is just chance. Probably the latter. I'm rarely disappointed with their beers, and this one in particular is well worth keeping an eye out for.

Beer garden smoking ban

The Barbacoa is an established restaurant in Crosby that usually serves one guest real ale. It has taken the step of banning smoking from its beer garden, an action that the local paper claims is a first in the country, although how they'd know is anyone's guess. A separate smoking area has been created elsewhere for smokers. The ban was the result of customer feedback, not political correctness gone mad, busybody interfering or nanny statism. Apparently, customers didn't like the fact that they couldn't go out in the sunshine without encountering smoke. The move has earned them a Clean Air Award from the lung cancer charity, the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.

I suspect this ban may only be the first of many. It has been clear to me since before the smoking ban first came in that some people felt they now had the smokers on the run. I wrote about this kind of attitude in my post, the Lost World of Smoking: while I was definitely not writing about the smoking ban, I reported that when my employer had brought in smoking rooms, thus making the office smoke-free, some non-smokers wanted me as the union rep to take things further. I wasn't prepared to because the arrangements were in accordance with both the employer's and the union's policies, and my personal view that having clean air was well worth the small price of losing smokers for short smoking breaks didn't go down well. I feel that it was probably a similar attitude that drove the customers of the Barbacoa to press for a smoke-free beer garden.

I jokingly refer to the beer garden at my local as 'the smoking room', but I'm quite happy to sit out there and don't find myself "quickly enveloped by a Magnitogorsk-like fug of carcinogens", to use the words of a BBC writer (link below). I doubt there will more legislation in the near future to extend the smoking ban; I think it more likely we will have piecemeal erosion of people's entitlement to smoke, as has happened in the Barbacoa.

I've just typed 'smoke beer garden' in a search engine and came up with this item from the Daily Mail in 2012, and this from the BBC a year ago. Both support, perhaps unintentionally, the points I've made.

Just do your homework!

I was rather taken aback when my copy of What's Brewing, the CAMRA newspaper, arrived yesterday. Wow! A personal attack! I'd had a letter published in a previous edition which was a shortened version of this post from 1 June this year about music at beer festivals. I didn't think it was an especially controversial opinion: if you prefer no music, just choose those sessions when none is on. That sounds reasonable enough to me.

Obviously it didn't to the correspondent, called Peter, who said I'd had a vested interest when I wrote my letter as my band had played at the Southport Beer Festival, and he went on to state that he and his group had disliked the music so much that he was never coming back - and it was all my fault.

It had never occurred to me that, just because I have played at quite a few beer festivals (not just in Southport), I was not entitled to an opinion, or that it rendered my view worthless. But when I thought about it, I realised that Peter's critical letter only served to illustrate the point I was actually making, which was: don't complain if you don't want music; instead choose those sessions that don’t have any on. In the case of Southport, all the publicity stated that more information could be found on a webpage which could be reached using a deliberately short and easy URL. The webpage made it clear that a band playing 50s and 60s songs would be playing on Saturday afternoon. I know all this because I designed the festival poster, the URL and the webpage. Two minutes on a computer would have saved Peter an afternoon of “ear torture”, to use his phrase.

As for my having a vested interest – that's a joke. As a member of the organising CAMRA branch, I played for nothing, as did the drummer, who is a founder member of Liverpool Branch. The other two band members had further to travel and were paid an amount that covered their petrol costs and no more. It is a strange vested interest that doesn’t earn you a penny.

I am not so vain that I assume everyone will like my music, although the feedback we in the band received was quite different from the negative attitudes of Peter’s group, but I fully accept they are entitled to their opinions. However, the band had been advertised, so they had only themselves to blame if they did not get the quiet session they wanted.

Changing the subject slightly, the webpage for this year’s Southport Beer Festival (9-11 October) can be found at: tiny.cc/beerex. I think you'd agree that's a short and easy URL too.

Folk in the Park 2014

The Corduroy Folk Club is putting on another of it annual Folk in the Park events on Sunday 27 July. It's in Hesketh Park, a short walk along Albert Road, which is the northern continuation of Lord Street. If you get thirsty, the Imperial Hotel is on Albert Road close to the park; it is a large Joseph Holts pub which serves real ale as well as food.

The Folk in the Park is like a mini-music festival featuring all local talent. This is the programme; it runs between 1pm and 6pm and is free to all. Let's hope the good weather lasts.

And in the end ...

Freshfield Beer Festival

The Freshfield in Formby is twice Pub of the Year, 

and their summer beer festival is now on. 

The pub is a short walk from Freshfield station.

It's a rum do

The banned advert: accurate, or
evil propaganda? You decide.

The youth wing of Alcohol Concern are at it again. Last December they managed to get banned a Let There Be Beer advert, which I regarded as quite accurate, and they've done it again with a picture posted on Captain Morgan's Facebook page. The Youth Alcohol Advertising Council (YAAC) complained to the Advertising Standards Authority, arguing that it encouraged people to alleviate boredom by irresponsibly drinking with their friends. Diageo, on the other hand, argued that it was more a suggestion that people take a break from the daily grind and relax with friends.

According to Marketing Week, "The Advertising Standards Authority ruled that consumers were likely to think the Captain had sought out alcohol to entertain himself when they viewed it, which breached rules against implying alcohol is capable of changing moods."

The most ludicrous thing about all of this that alcohol does change moods; it wouldn't be nearly so popular otherwise. According to one article I looked up, the effects of a moderate consumption of alcohol can include: overall improvement in mood and possible euphoria, increased self-confidence, increased sociability and decreased anxiety. So, although the advert is correct to imply that alcohol can change moods and a lot of people drink it precisely for that reason, the ASA won't let any advertiser say so. So that, it seems, is that.

In conclusion, I have to say I do feel sorry for those trainee busybodies of the YAAC whose horizons have been so curtailed that they can't think of anything better to do while they are still young.

Trying to mend fences ...

I went to the Hightown pub a couple of days ago to meet some friends I used to work with in Liverpool, and also to feature the pub in the CAMRA column in our local paper for which I sometimes write. The Hightown is an attractive pub just yards from Hightown Station, which is between Formby and Blundellsands on the Northern Line. It has good value food and six handpumps. Unfortunately only two were operating when I entered: Robinson's Trooper and John Smith's Cask. The other pump clips were turned around, but were for beers such as Marston's Pedigree and Speckled Hen. Trooper it was then. I took a sip and said, "This beer's off." The man sitting on the stool next to the bar said, "Yes, it is", but was still struggling to drink it. To be fair, my pint was changed without hesitation for a John Smith's Cask, but as that is one of the most boring beers in the country, along with Tetley Bitter and Greene King IPA, I wasn't too pleased. My neighbour then asked for a replacement pint too.

I chatted to the bar staff and it turned out that the licensee was away on holiday. She confirmed that normally they have up to six beers on. It's not a good sign if a pub goes to pieces when the boss is away. In my local, when the licensee is away, the full beer range is maintained without a hitch throughout her absence.

A few years ago, this licensee got a load of publicity in the local papers claiming CAMRA members had disrupted his quiz night, shouted out the answers and made suggestive comments to barmaids. I made a few enquiries and found it had been a night out organised by the then licensee of the Falstaff pub in Southport, with some of his staff and customers. The only CAMRA member was a quiet individual whom I cannot ever imagine shouting and making comments to barmaids. On another occasion, he got a mention in the papers by ostentatiously refusing an entry in the Good Beer Guide.

Despite the poor history between him and my local branch of CAMRA, I thought I'd give the Hightown a chance and I fully intended to write a positive report if merited in the local paper, but on the basis of my visit, it's unlikely the pub will appear in the CAMRA column in the near future. It might be okay when he's there, but it should be acceptable when he's not there too.

Picturesque pubs in Churchtown

The Bold Arms

Churchtown is an attractive old village in the northern part of Southport; there is a quaint shopping street and a number of thatched cottages. Stocks dating from 1741 can be found next to the wall of St Cuthbert’s Church which overlooks the village green. On opposite sides of the green are two pubs: the Bold Arms and the Hesketh Arms, which are both on Botanic RoadHHH. The famous Botanic Gardens are close by, as is Meols Hall, Southport's historical manor house, home of the Hesketh family, and a wedding venue in its tithe barn.

The Hesketh is an eighteenth century pub with a very attractive exterior. Inside it has a central bar surrounded by several separate drinking areas. It was refurbished a few years ago and now has light wooden walls and its layout is suitable for food as well as drinking. On my visit, the real ales were Thwaites Wainwright, Thwaites Bomber and Black Sheep bitter, but the beer rage does vary. The pub is known for its food, which it serves until 10pm (7pm Sunday).

It has an outside cobbled drinking area where the Southport Swords dance every Boxing Day. William Sutton, founder of Southport was the landlord here when it was called the Black Bull; he was known as a good-natured, jovial man who entertained his regulars by playing the fiddle. The pub is family friendly, has a car park and is on the 49 bus route. Contact number: (01704) 509548.

The Bold goes back to at least the seventeenth century. It too is an attractive old pub with several separate rooms with adjacent nooks and crannies, all panelled with dark wood. Pool and darts can be found in the vaults. When I went, there were six real ales on, plus Old Rosie cider. The beers included four from the Cheshire brewery, Blakemere, Thwaites Wainwright, Tetley Bitter and a range of bottled craft beers. The Bold serves reasonably-priced food until 8.45pm.

It is dog-friendly in the vaults, and child-friendly everywhere but the vaults, which may create a dilemma for dog-lovers with children. It has an outside drinking area, a car park, and is also served by the 49 bus route. Contact number: (01704) 228192. Churchtown is always well worth a visit, especially with two such picture postcard pubs.

This is part of a series of articles that I am writing for the CAMRA column in our local paper, the Southport Visiter. Previous reviews are here.

1000th post

My thousandth post! When I began this blog on 16 March 2009, I intended it mainly to tell people about local music or real ale events, especially those that included both. It still does that with my events and beer festival links to the right, but I have expanded the remit to suit myself, but generally staying broadly in the ale and music theme.

The forerunner of ReARM was a flyer that I used to produce monthly and distribute around any suitable places - there is an example below - but in reality, this was not an efficient method of transmitting information and, after I left my last job, dependent on how much of my own printing ink I was prepared to use. The idea of doing a blog came to me after I'd become a follower of Tandleman's beer blog, and at the Winter Ales Festival in Manchester in 2009, I asked him how much it cost to run a blog. "Nothing, it's free," he replied, sounding slightly surprised at the question. It's then that I decided to begin a blog.

The forerunner of ReARM

Looking back, I see that my most read post is The Lost World Of Smoking on 22 June 2012, which has had 2207 page views so far. I wanted to write a personal view of smoking from the perspective of a non-smoker upon whom smoking has nonetheless had quite an impact in life. It was definitely not about the smoking ban, which I wrote about on 28 November 2009 (75 page views), provoking this surprising response from beer blogger Curmudgeon: "This has been debated elsewhere ad nauseam ..."! It's curious that my most-read post covers neither beer nor music, but it didn't occur to me until much later that I'd gone off topic. Despite that, it's a personal post that I'm still happy with. In contrast, one post has had no page views at all; I won't mention which since it was about a local event, and the people concerned are still around.

I sometimes click on the "Next Blog" link at the top of the home page to see what comes up. It surprises me how many blogs are inactive with fewer than half a dozen posts, after which the blogger seems to have lost interest, often despite lofty intentions expressed at the beginning. Perhaps they had dreams of fame through blogging and became disheartened when it seemed that only two men and a dog were reading their masterpiece. Or perhaps they'd simply run out of ideas.

When I was off-line for three and a half months earlier this year, I received a fair number of enquiries about people asking why my blog had become out of date; it was nice to have clear evidence that some people had missed it. For better or worse, it's going to be here for a while yet. Now the big question is: what shall I write for my 1001st post?

Ken Nicol & Becky Mills at the Bothy

Ken Nicol & Becky Mills are the Bothy Folk Club's guests this coming Sunday

Ken Nicol is a highly acclaimed musician, singer, songwriter, producer, playwright and composer who has been a member of folk/rock bands Steeleye Span and The Albion Band and also worked with artists ranging from Al Stewart to Phil Cool. He plays acoustic and electric guitar, resonator guitar, 5-string banjo, mandolin and ukulele. His music includes folk, ragtime, blues, rock, ballads, jazz, amazingly intricate instrumentals and singalong comedy numbers.

In the early 2000s, Becky Mills became one of the four female stars of the genre-busting acoustic music group Waking The Witch. After three albums, successful tours and appearances at scores of folk, indie and blues festivals around the UK, Waking The Witch broke up. Since then, Becky has performed solo and in a duo with her fellow "Witch", Patsy Metheson. She also contributed vocals to Historic Events And Other Subjects, the latest solo album by Ken Nicol. Although Ken heralds from Lancashire and Becky from Yorkshire, cross-Pennine harmony prevails.

This Sunday 20 July at the Park Golf Club, Park Road West, Southport, PR9 0JS at 8.00pm. Tickets on-line, or take your chance on the door.

Ken and Becky are the Bothy's final guests until September, but don't despair: the music continues throughout the summer with free singarounds every Sunday evening from around 8pm. "The show that never ends".

Tommy Legs at Spoons

I met my friend Clive, who also happens to be the Bothy organiser, in the Sir Henry Segrave on Lord Street in Southport yesterday evening. There's a cider festival on at present, which I'd forgotten, but I wasn't in the mood for cider anyway; I do think it's good that Spoons do things like that, though, making the point that there is a lot more to cider than just Strongbow. I began with a beer, the name of which I forget, which is appropriate because, while it wasn't actually objectionable, it wasn't especially memorable either.

I then went on to the curiously named Tommy Legs (4.5%) by Derwent Brewery. The Derwent website describes it thus: "A complex, hoppy copper ale. Hopped three times, giving a full flavoured beer with a hit of cascade hops." I'd say it is a good example of a nicely flavoured, fairly bitter beer, light brown in colour and slightly old-fashioned in this modern world of golden ales, but none the worse for that. The strength too was in my favourite range of (4.2 to 5%); I rarely drink anything under 4%, as too often I find them thin and insipid, although - before anyone protests - I have drunk three point something beers that are exceptions to that experience. I was chatting to the friendly barmaid and she told me she'd worked in a Spoons near Preston, but had transferred here and was enjoying it; I suggested it might be because you get a better class of scally in Southport.

I was curious about the name: I first assumed 'Tommy' was a First World War reference, but in fact Tommy Legs is the nickname of a lighthouse in the Solway Firth near Silloth (where the brewery is situated) in Cumbria: click here and scroll down to near the bottom for a fuller explanation.

Clive and I later ended up in the Guest House drinking Golden Sands (4.0%), one of Southport Brewery's best in my view, and at £2.50 a pint as well.

Long Spoon

The CMIC logo

Twenty five years ago, CAMRA set up the CAMRA Investment Club for members who wished to put their money into a portfolio of shares in the brewing industry. I very strongly disagreed with this at the time on the grounds that it would blur the distinction between the Campaign and the companies it was campaigning about, but unfortunately some CAMRA people have the political awareness of an empty lager glass. It still exists today, renamed the CAMRA Members' Investment Club (CMIC) in an attempt to put it at arm's length from the parent organisation; they no longer use the CAMRA logo for the same reason.

CMIC has been criticised recently for owning shares in pub companies (pubcos) such as Punch and Enterprise, who are widely regarded as one of the main causes of the problems pubs are currently facing. At the CAMRA AGM, the National Executive was accused of being far too cosy with the pubcos, and urged to take a more radical stance against them - in other words, campaign against them, as in the first word of the organisations' name.

The argument for holding the shares is that it entitles CMIC to attend the pubco AGMs. That's not much of a defence, especially as I've yet to hear of a single campaigning achievement resulting from attending. In my view, holding the shares can be interpreted as endorsement by CAMRA of the pubcos, even though I know that was never the intention; the trouble is you can't dictate how other people construe your actions. It would help if CMIC renamed itself something like the Real Ale Drinkers Investment Club, because so far the attempts to put some distance between it and the Campaign haven't really worked. To be fair to CMIC, they've said they will sell the pubco shares if CAMRA asked them to. So it's up to CAMRA, which should bear in mind what they say about he who sups with the devil.

Are you 18?

The only time I was ever asked whether I was 18 in a pub was in the week after my 18th birthday; I thought it was funny as I'd been going to pubs for a while, at least as far as my very limited finances allowed. I got served when I simply said 'yes': it's not so free and easy now.

A recent article in the Morning Advertiser, the weekly publication of the UK's pub trade, states that, "Pubs have fallen well behind the off-trade when it comes to staff carrying out age verification checks". In 2013 66% of pubs passed checking tests, down 4% on 2011 and 8% on 2010. The figure for supermarkets in 2013 was 85%. The leased and tenanted sector is apparently the worst, mainly because pub companies don't provide effective ongoing staff training.

Should we be shocked? I don't think so. These are not government checks, but are run by Serve Legal, a private company funded by various parts of the retail and hospitality industries. According to the Morning Advertiser, "To pass a test, Serve Legal’s team of visitors purchase an age-restricted item and records key information about the transaction, particularly whether ID was requested. All its visitors are young looking 18 or 19 year old people, who should be asked to provide ID to complete the transaction. If a visitor is required to provide official ID to complete the transaction then the site passes. If they purchase the items without showing ID then the site fails." 

Such failed tests do not mean that the law was broken, because the mystery shoppers were all of legal drinking age (unless you live in Scotland - more about that later). Besides, the age someone looks is a matter of opinion, not demonstrable fact.

The social consequences of extremely rigid application of the law have resulted in unintended consequences. As I wrote in February 2012, "Under age drinkers used to go into a pub and behave themselves because they knew that if they didn’t, they’d draw attention to themselves and get thrown out.  So now they get cheap supermarket booze and drink at each other’s homes or in the park, and it’s not ordinary beer:  it’s strong cider, lager or cheap vodka.  And in an unsupervised environment, they don’t learn how to behave when drinking.  The consequence is that binge drinking develops at an early age without social controls, resulting in bad behaviour.  So the rigid enforcement of a law to prevent under age drinking has probably had quite the opposite effect."

Licensees face a £5000 fine and put their licences at risk if they serve underage drinkers, so it is not surprising that the trade has come up with the Challenge 25 scheme which requires you to prove how old you are up to 7 years after you reach the legal minimum drinking age. As other bloggers have suggested, it's no wonder young people are less inclined to go to pubs. In Scotland, the arch-nanny state SNP government made Challenge 25 mandatory in the Alcohol etc. Scotland Act 2010.

We live in a country where you can get married, have children or join the armed forces at 16, drive at 17, fight and die for your country at 18, but you will be subjected to age checks, compulsorily so in Scotland, to have a pint until you are 25. It's a joke isn't it?

The laws relating to age in pubs aren't as straightforward as you may think, and can be a minefield for busy licensees - click here.

Old bus pub trips

There is another Lancashire Bus Running Day this Sunday afternoon, 13th July, between about noon and 6 pm.  Old preserved buses (a few from Liverpool Transport and the MPTE) will run from Ormskirk and Burscough bus stations, and there will be a real ale bus, plus music and other events and static stands.  There are also some nice pubs close by.

Travel will be free, but the Merseyside Transport Trust does ask for donations to help with maintenance of the vehicles; do try to have nice summer afternoon out in the area. For more details, have a look at the trust's website: here.

If, on the other hand, you're thinking of going into Southport town centre tomorrow afternoon, don't forget the Orange Lodge will be out in force, so pubs will be either full of their followers or closed completely.

Thanks to Mike Perkins of the local CAMRA branch for the information.

Keep your hands to yourself!

A licensee, yesterday

Politicians can't resist meddling with pubs, can they? You'd think with the UK trying to act as the world's police force (or at least police dog to the world's police force, the USA), they'd have better things to do with their time, wouldn't you? Apparently not.

So what are they up to now? Changes are proposed to the Licensing Act 2003 that, if passed by Parliament, would oblige pubs and bars to display the price of the smallest unit of alcohol available “in a menu, price list or other printed material available on the premises”, and if customers doesn't specify a measure, to make them “aware these measures are available”. So when I go into my local and just say, "I'll have a Sandgrounder, please", bar staff would be committing an offence if they didn't tell me that it was available in thirds and halves, even though they know I mean a pint.

The trade is up in arms because:

• There was no meaningful consultation with them.
• The potential for entrapment by Trading Standards if the smallest unit wasn't offered when an officer hadn't specified a measurement. How easy would it be for busy bar staff to fall foul of the law?
• Licensees would face extra costs, such as reprinting all their menus and price lists, and ensuring all staff are trained.
• The proposal lacks detail - essential with legal requirements - and the timescale is ridiculously short (the implementation date would be 1 October).
• The sector is already overburdened with regulation.

In relation to that last point, this proposal gives the lie to the government's claim that it wishes to lighten the burden on business, reduce the dead hand of over-regulation, et cetera ad nauseam.

I wonder whether a person found guilty of some alcohol-related offence could try to deflect the blame by saying he or she wasn't advised about smaller units. Not much of an defence in my opinion, but that wouldn't stop some trying it on and causing trouble for a licensee.

Quite simply, this proposal doesn't treat drinkers like adults. I just wish that politicians would stop patronising us and let us make our own choices.

You can tell the World Cup's over, at least as far as England is concerned: they're back to bashing pubs again - see my post of three weeks ago.

No Silver Spoons for Guinness

Guinness-free (not free Guinness)

JD Wetherspoons is opening its first pub in the Irish Republic next Tuesday: the Three Tun Tavern in Blackrock, County Dublin. Because of a dispute between Diageo, owners of the Guinness brand, and Wetherspoons over price, they will not be selling Guinness, but will stock Murphy’s and Beamish instead at €3.95 (£3.15) a pint.

“We like to sell our drink to customers at a certain price and the price that Diageo wanted us to sell the product at was too high,” a spokesman for the pub company said this week. The wording here is significant, as it makes clear that Diageo wanted to dictate the price charged by JDW (so much for the free market economy that's supposed to benefit us consumers). I suppose that if you do have such a massive market share with almost monopolistic powers to dictate prices, you don't want one pub to sell sell your product significantly cheaper in case customers begin to question your profit margins everywhere else. Diageo claims its pricing is competitive, but its actions with JDW suggest that it is anything but. They duck out of further explanation by citing commercial confidentiality, the usual method of closing down discussion.

Other Diageo brands the Three Tun Tavern will not be selling include Smirnoff vodka, Bushmills whiskey and Baileys Irish cream liqueur, but it will stock craft beers from Eight Degrees Brewing, including Howling Gale, Knockmealdown Porter and Barefoot Bohemian Pilsner. Cask will be represented by two Adnams beers, Hobgoblin and a guest ale from local Irish brewers. The presence of Tetley Smoothflow, also at €3.95 a pint, is puzzling.

As usual, JDW has linked the pub to local history by reviving the name of a former eighteenth century tavern which had been "kept by one Bishop, a worthy host and was renowned for its good cheer" and, according to the Irish Times, by including "a reading room, with 'panelled ceiling and vintage books dedicated to Blackrock’s most famous author James Joyce.'"

I've read several reports about how shocking the lack of Guinness will be to the average Irish drinker, and while I understand the predominance of Guinness in the Irish beer market (one third of all pints sold), I can't help wondering whether there is a bit of stereotyping going on there. JDW has a further site lined up in Cork and is seeking others: will Diageo change its mind as Spoons expands, or will Irish drinkers anxious for a reasonably-priced pint simply find that they can do without Guinness? I'm rather hoping for the latter.

Having just posted this, I've noticed that Curmudgeon has written on the same subject, but with quite a different approach.

Can a pint be hard work?

I came across this last night:

"A survey by 02 has found that two out of five workers in Britain spend four hours or more a week working from places away from the office, with pubs and coffee shops particularly popular. In total, Britons spend 131 million hours a week working from coffee shops, and 8% of those working outside the office do so from the pub."

With the right to ask (and be refused) flexible working hours being extended to all employees, could pubs gain a new place in the world of work? Instead of lunchtime or after-work drinks, might we see pub-going actually taking place during the working day?

I can't see it myself: this is a story written specifically to provide a startling headline. Drinking during the working day, even during the employee's own lunch hour, is increasingly frowned upon, and I doubt that employers would want their business to be conducted via all those insecure free Wi-Fi connections in places such as pubs and coffee shops, nor risk beer being spilt on work laptops. So that's that: I don't see this being a route for pub salvation.

However, if I'm wrong and it does take off, it would be something of an unintended consequence for the government, and it would really annoy their mates in Alcohol Concern. So not all bad then.

The article in AOL Money is here, assuming you're sufficiently interested.