World’s Strongest Beer – A Cheap Publicity Stunt?

Brewmeister – a small Scottish craft brewery is the love child of two intrepid brewers, Lewis and John, who were bored of watery tasting lagers and boring beers

Their idea to open a brewery, which fused Scottish malts with German yeast, came about on the beautiful west coast of Scotland on a camping trip. Three months later, the guys had signed the lease on an old farm building and bought old dairy tanks to begin brewing. Nearly two years on, they have moved to a custom built brewery in Speyside, they now employ nearly 20 people and export around the world. Their passion is creating beers with a difference, which excites the taste buds and energises the soul; they wish Peace and love to all!

I think you’d have got a lot of peace and love from one of their recent brews - ‘Snake & Venom’ - which claimed an ABV of 67.5%, and which fell foul of the Advertising Standards Agency!! The ASA criticised their 67.5% claim because there was no clarity as to how the 67.5% was achieved – they suspected Ethyl Alcohol may have been added! The ASA have also suggested that future products from Brewmeister shouldn’t place an over-emphasis on the strength of the product! Wonder why?

Of course many have criticised Brewmeister for creating “The world’s strongest beer” simply as a cheap publicity stunt. But a recent counter-comment from Lewis Shand would seem to add credence to these claims – “We’re hoping to win people back with taste, not mad PR stunts like we have done before”.

A quick search of their online shop reveals that this particular brew is currently no longer available to buy, so it would appear that Brewmeister may have seen the error of their ways. Which is a bit of a shame, as I would have liked to have tried just a tooth-full!

At a time when most of the rest of the industry is reducing alcohol strengths to help combat the adverse effect of alcohol (and keep government off their backs) thank the Lord for companies like these who show that we really do live in a great nation where diversity and individuality reigns … if only temporarily!


Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of Inn-Dispensable Personal Licence Courses

Windsor Nightclub Takes Alcohol Retailing to a New Low

Some bright spark (without authority, apparently) thought it a great idea to tweet the message below with picture to ‘market and sell’ the delights of spending a night in this club, which is a stones throw for HM’s Berkshire residency (not sure if she is a regular client, possibly not. Andrew might be though).

“Want to end up like her? We're giving away a free booth to groups of girls this Friday. Direct message us”. The image shows a seemingly comatose woman wearing just thong underwear and sprawled out on her front surrounded by drink bottles.

So all of the tremendous work the industry has done to promote ‘responsibly retailing of alcohol’ seems to be lost on these individuals - both the person who tweeted and the lady (hic) in the photo.

The management of the premises have apologised unreservedly and no doubt the culprit is getting an enormous boll*cking! Not sure if the lady has been swooped up by some lucky groom!

Talk about giving the anti-alcohol brigade ammunition!


Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of Inn-Dispensable Personal Licence Courses

UK Alcohol Consumption Down But Publicans Are Far From Out

The Portman Group, an organisation established in 1989 by the UK's leading alcohol producers, with a role to promote responsible drinking; to help prevent alcohol misuse; has reported strong evidence to show that ‘we’ (the great British public that is) are changing our relationship with alcohol!

The politicians of course, ever seeking to boast of their wisdom, try to take all of the praise for achieving this; with alcohol consumption falling, underage drinking falling, breath-test positives falling and alcohol related accident numbers and violence also declining.

However, the real praise should go to those great British Publicans who through greater professionalism, training and education ensure that alcohol is sold responsibly in the 50,000 + pubs in the UK.

The dramatic growth in food sales in pubs has changed the whole atmosphere in so many pubs; legislation has also forced pubs to comply with more and more red tape and stringent penalties for any irresponsible alcohol retailing activity. I just hope that drinking at home (where consumption is totally unsupervised) is not taking too much out of our treasured world famous ‘British Pub’ heritage! ‘Pre-loading’ at home often sees intoxicated customers arriving at the pub having not bought a single half of bitter there! Leaving the publican to deal with the consequences.

The reported trends are of course good news, whilst I have no doubt that other reports to counter this published evidence are on their way and will show we are all on our way to Armageddon through ‘the evils of drink’.

The anti-alcohol brigade is alive and well and will latch onto any shred of a statistic proving alcohol to be at the root cause of all societies problems!

Watch this space!


Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of Inn-Dispensable Personal Licence Courses

Drugs Awareness Pub Training - Online Mock Exam

Inn-Dispensable are pleased to announce the launch of our FREE online Drugs Awareness mock exam. This is a great interactive tool to test your knowledge prior to attending our one-day Drugs Awareness Course and exam at one of our many fantastic training sites across the UK.

This online test contains 15 multiple-choice questions which are randomly selected and are typical of the exam subject matter and mirrors closely the type of questions which appear within the real Drugs Awareness exam – so you can test yourself again and again to help build your knowledge.

Available on all devices, from desktops to mobiles.

Best of luck!


Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of Inn-Dispensable Pub Training Courses

Cheap Food & Drink in Pubs on September 24th!

The mighty campaign to see VAT on food and drink reduced in pubs from 20% to 5% drives forward.

Buy a pint and a pie in a pub and pay an extra 20% - compared to purchasing the same in a supermarket. No equality there!

So the argument is simple; reduce VAT in pubs, create more sales, more employment, and therefore more income to the treasury. All of this whilst removing the tax inequality twixt pubs and supermarkets.

September 24th will see thousands of pubs reduce their prices by 7.5% (which has the same impact if VAT was reduced to 5%).

Tim Martin Chairman of JD Wetherspoon said that his 900 pubs will participate and they intend to make September 24th the busiest day of the year. Well done to him, say I!

Many other pub companies and individual operators will also support the day, so get down your pub on the 24th!

Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of www.inn-dispensable.com Personal Licence Courses

Training Is Vital For Running A Successful Pub

I guess that most of you know that taking on a pub is the dream of many people, and you’ll certainly know that all of the doom and gloom merchants say “Don’t do it, Stupid”.

What I know is that for some it will work out brilliantly, for some it will be a disappointment - and yes for some it will be a disaster. But surely that mix should not take away the dream?

The one thing I do know without reservation is that ‘going in blind’ is a recipe for the disaster zone.

There are so called ‘industry experts’ who condemn Pub Companies for leading new entrants along a path of taking on ‘no-hope pubs’, and yet I know (there’s a lot I know, I know) that pub companies take enormous care, face high costs and show great commitment to ensuring all new entrants to their pubs have as much information as possible to prepare them for each pub. This preparation is no guarantee of success of course, just as preparing any athlete to run the 100 metres at the Olympics would not guaranteed them a Gold Medal. It would however point out the reality of the contest and the challenge ahead - the rest is frankly ‘down to them’.

Well, I want to put the record straight … new entrants into the tenanted and lease sectors get fantastic support, advice and training prior to taking their pubs - and I want to share with you some recent feed back from delegates on our latest 5 day course run for one of the largest pub co’s in the UK.

Here goes (all verbatim):-

• “The entire course has been relevant and extremely practical, very impressed”
• “I found the course very helpful as I am just starting out”
• “Very good course, the tutors were wonderful”
• “The course has been relevant and extremely informative and has cleared many questions and issues I could see prior to taking my pub. It has shown me issues in the pub that have to be addressed as soon as possible. All sections of the course have been explained in clear concise terms by the tutors. I strongly recommend using the training available so that I can pass all onto my staff”
• “This was a brilliant course, a brilliant week”
• “Good to come on the course before getting into my pub so that I can take what I have learnt into my new business”

Follow your dream say I, create your own future say I. Be aware however that there are no guarantees for success, BUT failing to prepare is preparing to fail!!

Here endeth the lesson.


Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of www.inn-dispensable.com Personal Licence Courses

‘Appy Hours - Now With Alcohol Consumption Tracking?

Is it just me or is the world going mad?

I am all for the responsible retailing and consumption of alcohol. I am also all for the survival of the British Pub and for the great enjoyment 99% of drinkers get from a visit to the pub. I am also all for downing a pint or two responsibly (or whatever your medicine is) and for personal reliability. BUT am I alone?

Drinkaware (a worthy organisation) have now launched, would you believe, an APP which enables you to track your alcohol consumption, calculate units and calories and set goals to help you moderate your drinking. So when you are enjoying a drink with your friends and they ask "what are you having?" you can check your APP before you reply.

This technological wonder apparently has a plethora of indispensable features, including:

• Tracking the units and calories in your drinks
• An extensive database of alcohol brands
• Teaching you more about the health benefits of cutting down
• Allowing you to feel supported with regular and personalised feedback
• Pinpointing locations where you need extra help; from your local to your own home
• Setting goals tailored to your existing drinking habits
• Setting rewards for achieving your goals
• Displaying your progress in terms of units or calories drunk
• Recording and reviewing your drinking over time - How you’re doing compared to last week, or last month?

AS Far as I’m concerned I have my own APP, it’s called self control, and if that doesn’t work I have another fall back APP when I’m drinking in my local, its called The Landlord; who says “you’ve had enough Readie, go home”. And if the Landlord doesn’t spot it I have another APP, it’s called my mates who tell me I’m talking rubbish, and then my final APP - myself!! so  one way or another; I go home!

31 Pubs closing each week, health warnings on all alcohol packaging, fines for buying your mate a pint if he/she appears intoxicated, now an APP to see if you can have another half of Bitter.

World gone mad for 99% of drinkers or perhaps it is just me?


Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of www.inn-dispensable.com Personal Licence Courses