We really expected South Korean beer Hite to taste minty because of the label — it’s light blue, silver and white, and features the slogan: “Cool and Fresh!”.
We were very disappointed when it actually turned out to taste of absolutely nothing.
On the upside, we note from their website that the canned version has packaging designed “to suit Koreans’ oral structure”. Eh?
Maybe the North Korean effort is better? Or the Chinese one that comes in a vase?
We spotted a couple of interesting posts on Lifehacker the other week which we thought we’d share.
First up, the news that people prefer Budweiser with a drop of balsamic vinegar in, but only if they don’t know it’s there. This is another fascinating example of the influence branding and packaging — the blurb surrounding a beer — can have on our perception of its taste. It also makes us want to try adding balsamic vinegar to other crappy beers to see if it might actually improve them.
Secondly, and less excitingly, bulldog clips might be one solution to the problem of beer bottles steadfastly refusing to stack in the fridge the way they do on TV. Bulldog clips are the answer to so many of life’s problems…
Kirin Ichiban is apparently made (in Bedford…) with uncompromising standards, using only the single first pressing of the finest ingredients, giving us the sweetest, most flavoursome beer every time.
Is anyone else slightly confused by this label?
Never mind Fuller’s or Thornbridge — it’s Integrated Bottling Solutions all the way!
Slain from the Station House Brewery in Frodsham, Cheshire, is actually pretty nicely branded for a St George’s Day cash-in.
It was so restrained compared to the other beers on the bar (British Bulldog and Old Enoch Powell) that it took me a while to ‘get it’.
As for the beer, I think it’s the only example of what those who are into beer styles would call a ‘northern brown ale’ I’ve ever had on draught. It wasn’t fantastic, but it certainly made a change.
All of the bits and pieces of brewery and pub marketing below were spotted in East or South London. I wonder if people in 50 years time will find remnants of Wetherspoons branding so evocative? Probably.
We had a nice afternoon in one of our favourite London pubs soured on Saturday when we were more-or-less asked to leave to free up the table for a reservation. When we queried whether it had to be our table, given that there were lots of others without reservation signs on, we got a very stroppy response from the bar manager.
The practice of moving people or hurrying them along to squeeze in a second sitting is annoying even in real restaurants, however sensible it might be from a business perspective. But the questions of whether you should be able to reserve tables in pubs at all is a sensitive debate for many British people — it’s a level of formality that seems somehow to undermine the very idea of what the pub is about.
People in Germany seem to cope with it, but maybe that’s because there the reserved signs appear (often with profuse apologies) four hours in advance of the booking, so you’ve got plenty of time to finish up, or just choose another table. In the Greenwich Union, we were given an hour — hardly enough time to eat desert and have another drink.
In the couple of hours we were there, we enjoyed cask conditioned Meantime IPA (7.5%, and not as good as from a bottle) and gained a new appreciation for the fruity, sherbety draught Meantime Helles (4.1%).
So, the Union continues to be both brilliant and annoying. God knows we love the beer, but it might be a while before we go back.
Tandleman and Pete Brown have both written about the fact that the Advertising Standards Authority have upheld complaints against this advert for Courage bitter:
But I can’t help but be reminded of the kerfuffle around this advert, from the same parent company, three years ago:
Given how clear the rules are about linking alcohol with increased attractiveness or confidence, these can’t be mistakes. I’ve seen the Courage ad more in the news today than I have in paid for advertising slots anywhere in the last few weeks. Contrived controversy = free publicity.
Phase one of the new Carling campaign was bad enough. But in phase two, the ad men have reached a new low. Get a load of this from the voiceover:
“Carling know it’s important to check their barley themselves.”
A few questions spring to mind:
So, here’s our proposed slogan for phase three:
“Carling know that beer is supposed to taste nice.”
UK pub company Mitchells and Butlers are apparently planning to open a series of unique “concept bars”. They’ll be part of a chain but designed to look like they’re independent.
The UK pub chain company owns, among others, O’Neill’s, Scream Pubs and All Bar One, but has clearly recognised (as we’ve pointed out before) that big companies and boringly ubiquitous brands are going out of fashion. They’re not going away, though — just into hiding.
Interesting to see how this business model works out. Our bet is that one of the bars will do better than the others and then turn into a chain…
We're geeks in general, but especially about beer. Bailey's a bloke, Boak is a lady. We live in Cornwall in the UK and have been blogging about since 2007 and it's taken us all over Britain and Europe in pursuit of the perfect pint.
Follow @BoakandBailey
Our favourite beer of 2011
Penzance Brewing Company Potion No 9 (cask ale)
4%. The beer we enjoyed most in 2011 -- golden, featuring US hops and with a satisfying, chewy maltiness.