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Real Ale at the Valley

edited October 2010 in General Charlton
Following on from my comments on the pub thread, be interested to know if anybody else thinks it would bea good idea for the club to start selling real ale in the ground. I know a lot of people who would be more inclined to use the bars in the ground rather thanb trry and squeeze into the ever decreasing number of pubs nearby, if it wasn't just Fosters and some other smoothflow type bitter nonsense. I'm convinced the club would profit out of this and would also increase the quality of the matchday experience. I know Charlton are a football club and not a brewery but anything that could raise more money and increase the enjoyment of fans is worth considering. Football and beer go hand in hand and although Foster's is alright that other stuff is garbage in my opinion.
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Comments

  • I'd be on it.
    I f**king hate Fosters, it turns my stomach.
  • It wouldn't be for me, but if enough folk want it, then it should happen. I think the problem might be that a proper Real Ale takes a bit of know how to look after than, say, John Smiths and - while I try and use Barts so the club makes a buck out of it, I'd have to acknowledge that some of the staff don't seem like time served barkeeps so they might struggle.
  • Yes I'd like it but most football fans seem to prefer lager.
  • edited October 2010
    [cite]Posted By: Mortimerician[/cite]It wouldn't be for me, but if enough folk want it, then it should happen. I think the problem might be that a proper Real Ale takes a bit of know how to look after than, say, John Smiths and - while I try and use Barts so the club makes a buck out of it, I'd have to acknowledge that some of the staff don't seem like time served barkeeps so they might struggle.

    Agreed - but Palace have started doing it so it must be possible and there really ain't that much to it. It is a bit more hassle which is why the shittier pubs don't do it, but that's why they are shittier pubs. I'm convinced it would be a winner.
  • The Fans' Forum raised this last year, didn't they?

    I think there was a problem about expiry and demand
  • Yes, the problem is that id doesn't keep but how can they know what the demand is if they haven't don it? Start off with 1 barrel per bar - if that runs out, get two barrels the next week and so on. Simple. I'm certain them bars under the stands would be packed and would also encourage people to have a drink after the game to let traffic go etc. The club are missing a trick here.
  • Pint of Doom please.
  • We could become the first club who are recognised as being pulled out of a 5 year nose dive by the drinking ability of it's fans and the proceeds thereof. We've campaigned to save our club in the past, let's be given the opportunity to drink our way out of League 1. Sounds good to me.
  • Drinking isn't particularly part of my matchday ritual, but that is partly down to the fact you can only get crap 'beer' at most grounds. I'd be much more likely to put a few more quid through the club coffers if they could serve me something I'd actually like to drink, even if it was only bottled.

    How about some kind of link up with Greenwich's own Meantime Brewery?
  • Alcohol is the solution to all of our problems.
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  • edited October 2010
    why not email paul.ellison@cafc.co.uk with your suggestion Dan.

    You say you are "convinced the club would profit out of this" but have you costed it out at all, worked out the set up costs, calculated the break even point for sales etc?
  • Could we bottled ales? They have a longer shelf life.
    Pouring them would be a problem for our bar staff but I'm sure they would get the hang of it.
  • Oh please make this happen...I don't think I can take another pint of the John Smiths.
  • [cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]why not email paul.ellison@cafc.co.uk with your suggestion Dan.

    You say you are "convinced the club would profit out of this" but have you costed it out at all, worked out the set up costs, calculated the break even point for sales etc?

    Well your glass is half full whatever! For goodness sake try being a little more positive.
  • [cite]Posted By: charltonkeston[/cite]Could we bottled ales? They have a longer shelf life.
    Pouring them would be a problem for our bar staff but I'm sure they would get the hang of it.
    If they could, I would suggest using the Meantime Brewery as suppliers. Local firm with a good range of bottled beers.
  • [cite]Posted By: Alex Wright[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: charltonkeston[/cite]Could we bottled ales? They have a longer shelf life.
    Pouring them would be a problem for our bar staff but I'm sure they would get the hang of it.
    If they could, I would suggest using the Meantime Brewery as suppliers. Local firm with a good range of bottled beers.

    I like Meantime's beer range, they even do a wheat beer lager type thing for the girls.
    Thier London Porter, not cheap but much better than the euro fizz people drink because they dont know any better.
  • Would love this

    I would deffo drink more inside the ground as Johns Smith is not good it would encourage me to arrive earlier and maybe have one or maybe 2 at half time.

    Sure most Ale drinkers would agree
  • Would love to see some proper beer on sale at the Valley instead of watered down Fosters. I see the arguments about the shelf life of real ale etc, but Dartford FC always have a couple of real ales on, and I'm pretty sure Ebbsfleet do too (they definitely have some bottled ales) so if it's viable for those clubs, why not Charlton?

    Not a massive fan of Meantime, find their beers a bit heavy. Pint of London Pride however, or maybe a Hobgoblin... now we're talking :-)
  • I much prefer real ales, but I doubt that this is a starter because of the extra skill required from the bar staff, and the small number of matchdays. For example, I love Fuller's London Pride, but when I drank a pint at the Beaverwood Club in Chislehurst, it was unpleasant and tasted like keg beer. When I was speaking to Fuller's brewer, he explained that not all London Pride is cask, but they brew a small amount of keg for sports clubs who sell all their beer on Fridays and Saturdays, because if they sold cask beer it would go off before they finished the barrel.

    However, getting some local Meantime beer in is a good shout. They brew some good bottled stuff, and most of their draught beer is keg not cask anyway. They wouldn't match the price discount from the euro fizz people though.
  • edited October 2010
    [cite]Posted By: IA[/cite]The Fans' Forum raised this last year, didn't they?

    I think there was a problem about expiry and demand

    We did ask, and the Club was not enthusiastic for some of the reasons already mentioned here.

    I think the main one was that stuff won't keep from one matchday to the next. That means that supply would always have to be kept below demand, meaning that there would frequently be disgruntled customers hearing that "we've run out ... sorry."

    I think there would be more mileage in fans speaking to Paul Ellison to find out exactly what options are available within the existing contract ... and then maybe conducting a survey to see what the majority of fans would prefer from the available options. The Fans' Forum told the Club previously that supporters might well prefer to pay a bit extra for something better that Fosters, John Smiths etc. The re-introduction of bottled beer had a bit to do with that, but there is clearly still some progress to be made.

    All in all, I think real ale is probably a non-starter, but improvements on the current selection shouldn't be difficult, albeit at a cost.
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  • It would be great if the club did this. I and many others like drink before a game, we don't want fizzy water (ie Lager) or that insult to the pallet john smiths. The bugle etc are always packed before matches why ? they sell proper beer
  • Bottled beer keeps for months. Would cost a bit more, but I'd definitely have some.

    Problem is you would need to keep it cool, though not cold, and that might be a problem next to the pies!
  • Terrible idea. I don't go to the Valley for decent beer, it's a sporting venue not a pub. The half-time service has been at best shocking for years, if anything I'd get rid of all pints and just have bottled beers. The solution to the poor product and utterly piss poor service is just that, a decent range of bottled beer.
  • [cite]Posted By: mendonca[/cite]Pint of Doom please.

    I've just had a couple of pints of Doom tonight. But then I do live in Cornwall.
  • Not quite sure why it's a terrible idea VFR? If Palace, dartford and Ebbsfleet can do it, why can't we? How can having people spending there money at the valley instead of elsewhere be bad. The reason why it isn't cost effective at places like the Beaverwood club is because the customer base is tiny in comparison and Henry, i meant 'convinced' in the general way (common sense type way), not literal - of course i haven't worked out the exact figures and i understand all the bits you raise, but i am still convinced.
  • great idea, quote those examples and see what the club comes back with, if they unscrew the tops assuming they are plastic and hand it over with a skiff, I can't see the problem
  • edited October 2010
    [cite]Posted By: razil[/cite]great idea, quote those examples and see what the club comes back with, if they unscrew the tops assuming they are plastic and hand it over with a skiff, I can't see the problem

    Thanks, i have - i've emailed Paul Ellis as Henry suggested. Can't see any real argument against it. You can buy barrels of real ale to take home so there's no equipment / start up cost and you just increase the nr of barrels until demand is met. If you chuck away half or quarter of a barrel sometimes, so what, you price it accordingly. I await Paul's feedback and will report back with it.
  • Real ale.....YES please!
  • Are we not tied into a deal with Scottish and Newcastle/Fosters/Scottish Courage/Whatever they are called today?

    They own a few decent beer brands - Deuchards and I'm sure they own Theakston as well.
  • Some cider would be nice.....
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