As BRAPA has already told you, the new Good Beer Guide is in the sticky (stop, Russ) hands of Privilege Club members, the brave souls who embody the spirit of the original CAMRA by going to dumpy pubs off the A14 and drinking quick halves.
I’m not allowed to tell you about new entries in the Guide till the official launch on the 29th October*, possibly a virtual event with CAMRA members sipping bottled beers out of teku glasses.
On the 29th you’ll get two posts. One welcoming the new Guide with open arms, and a bonus edition with step-by-step guides to cross-ticking.
One of my big challenges in GBG21, apart from the minor issue of pubs being closed or having to eat steak and chips in every one I visit, is whether to drink halves or pints.
It’s such a faff visiting a pub for a quick half, as Pub Curmudgeon explores here. And I feel (a bit) guilty about all the work pubs need to do to earn my grubby fistful of coins adding up to £1.65.
Should I tip, if I’m not eating ? No, that’s against the Pubman Code.
So I’ve been drinking more pints than halves since the return of pubs, which as BRAPA will tell you is the Only True Way, albeit the way to financial and bodily ruin.
If I DO have a half, I really appreciate the landlord who serves it in a lovely pint glass. As you know, beer tastes better in a pint glass.
Here’s an example from yesterday. In pint glass, NBSS 4.5; in a half glass, NBSS 3.5 (possibly).
Of course, drinking halves leaves you exposed to the risk of THIS monstrosity.
And I’d readily pay an extra 50p to have my half served in a pint glass rather than those Cheshire gastropub monstrosities.
*Rules do not apply to BRAPA
retiredmartin 
The link to my blogpost is missing, btw.
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I said the same thing!
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Post pandemic PubMan code encourages tipping for all table service
rules is rules
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OK, you pop in Stocky Spoons for a pint of Ruddles, £1.29 via your app. How much change do you leave for the Spoons bar staff to pick up when you leave ?
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Dollar a drink over here. No matter the cost of the drink…
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Yes, I found that the way in New York. You give a ten dollar note over for your $7 beer and give one back while sitting at the bar.
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And of course bright young things in tune with the zeitgeist never carry cash.
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Exactly.
How would they tip the staff when they pop a bar only taking cards?
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Many of our card transactions automatically ask if you want to add a tip. They give options like 5%, 10% and 20%. You can choose your own % as well. Does that not happen there? I almost always use cash in the UK so I don’t know.
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It varies, Dave. The newer bar/bistros do, but in pubs you’re just invited to tap a reader without much discussion. I left a cash tip in a Bristol bar last week after asking if it would go to the waiter who served us. Embarrassingly, I’d only got about £1.45 in change (the bill was only £7) which seemed a bit pointless but it’s the though that counts.
Did you ever tip for drinks ?
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It often does if settling the bill in a restaurant, but not in general for a contactless swipe for a pint. And the Spoons app certainly doesn’t have a tip option.
Plus you always wonder whether the staff will actually end up seeing any of an electronic tip. I have occasionally been specifically told that they much prefer a cash tip.
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Sorry Mudgie, our thoughts seamlessly collided just there !
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T’other Mudgie,
I’m not surprised that “the Spoons app certainly doesn’t have a tip option”.
I doubt it would be used any more often than a dog’s water bowl.
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We do not tip in the UK for drinks; I hear you pay your employees a living wage. Novel idea. Our card tips do make it to the server. However, most servers prefer cash for tax purposes…
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I buy bar staff a pint. It’s not as good as cash but still appreciated.
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I’ve made the pint offer and have only received odd looks.
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You say a dollar per drink Dave, rather than per transaction. So if I was ordering a round for six people that would be six dollars?
It’s long been my view that staff working in the US hospitality sector, should be paid a decent wage, rather than relying on tips, and I find the whole tipping situation bizarre, and belittling (for staff and customers alike).
On my last visit to Trump-land, I was bemused when my brother-in-law suggested handing over a tip, when we called in to collect a pre-ordered Chinese takeaway. All the bloke behind the counter had to do was pass it across to me!
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I was chased out of a Denny’s in 1988 for not tipping (had no idea). Didn’t forget again.
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Paul, if you buy one beer then usually I just add $1 as a tip, but for multiple beers then I figure a percentage (usually 20%) for the tip. I’ve always thought it a scam by the bars/restaurants, but it’s entrenched here in the US.
BTW, some places (typically bars or tap rooms) have a common tip jar where the proceeds are divided up amongst staff at then end of shift. Not sure how the electronic tips get done. And yes, staff typically prefer cash for ‘tax’ purposes. 😉
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Dan outlines what I see. One drink is different than multiple drinks.
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We tip almost literally for everything.
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Got to be pints 😎🍺
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I agree with Paul (Bailey)’s comments. I remember going to New Zealand once and there was a large banner in the airport immigration area saying “Tipping is Not a New Zealand Custom”. More countries should adopt this. But I somehow don’t think that the ‘Make America Great’ people see a living wage for bar and restaurant staff as any sort of priority.
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“the new Good Beer Guide is in the sticky (stop, Russ) hands”
Who? Me?
(although I think, in future, the saying will become ‘in the Toobin hands’. 😉
“the brave souls who embody the spirit of the original CAMRA by going to dumpy pubs off the A14 and drinking quick halves.”
(checks Google Maps; notices the A14 runs just north of Cambridge; wisely decides not to say anything)
“sipping bottled beers out of teku glasses.”
Blimey. Learn something new every day (I Google’d that and got the same image as below that). 🙂
“as Pub Curmudgeon explores here.”
I shall take your word for it good sir… seeing as how the link doesn’t work. 😉
“albeit the way to financial and bodily ruin.”
Yikes! You’ve fallen for the NHS ‘units’ propaganda?
“Of course, drinking halves leaves you exposed to the risk of THIS monstrosity.”
Be thankful you’re not over here, where drinking straight from the can or bottle is pretty much ‘de rigueur’.
Cheers
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“as Pub Curmudgeon explores here.”
I shall take your word for it good sir… seeing as how the link doesn’t work. 😉
It does now. You have to tap it twice and say “Newark Nortgate”.
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