Falling out of love with your local?

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Pub closures hit 53-a-week high. 50% fewer pubs than there were before the Blitz. The price of a pint rockets from 93p to £3.50 in just over twenty years. The statistics don’t paint a pretty picture as the future of that long-held British institution – the pub – remains increasingly unsteady.

And now the scales are tipping even further as, according to the British Beer & Pub Association, the number of people purchasing beer from supermarkets will outweigh the amount bought from pubs by the end of 2011 alone.

For us, there appears to be two killer factors – amongst others - that are forcing beer drinkers out of pubs and into the fluorescent austerity of the  supermarket; the first being lack of choice.

Whether tied to a contract with one of the UK’s monolithic brrewers or stuffy pub operators or simply too scared to buck the trend, the variety of beers in our pubs has significantly dwindled since the 90s; a time when pub chains began buying up independent establishments in their droves and the popularity of all-you-can-drink spirit deals combined with lashings of microwaveable curry hit its peak.

Shelf space within today’s sprawling supermarkets has allowed the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury's to quickly seize upon this now well established lack of variety in a marketplace that is increasingly difficult to break into by offering beer fans an at first unlikely yet welcomed alternative source.

The second killer factor is the cost. With rising duty and prices that buck inflation, it’s no wonder that money-savvy consumers have begun looking elsewhere for a better deal.

With mass produced beer offering poor value for money as it is, the lure of multipack purchases or simple buying ‘whatever’s on offer’ at the supermarket is becoming increasingly economical for cash-strapped drinkers. 

These two points on top of the back drop of both the recession and the smoking ban make for an increasingly strong list of reasons why staying at home to drink is now the logical choice. Lack of variety, poor value for money and the kind of prefabricated environment akin to many pub chains is something we are avidly trying to tackle with our growing fleet of BrewDog bars.

We've been overwhelmed with the reception that the BrewDog bars have received and mainly put it down to the experience on offer which includes a the world’s best craft beers, a laid back atmosphere, the odd bit of live music and some retro board games but also some truly awesome bar staff who take the time to explain the story behind each of our beers so your foray into craft beer - be it your 1st time or 1,000th time - is as informed and exciting as possible.

So far, we believe attention to detail coupled with a desire to share our passion for craft beer has allowed BrewDog to find a formula that is completely at odds with the current trends associated with pubs and pub-goers and for as long as it keeps working for us and for you, we'll be sticking at it.

What’s your reason for not visiting your local? Let us know.

Invest in BrewDog at www.brewdog.com/equityforpunks