Brains Brewery

I do feel very sorry for the employees and the owners of the small independent pubs etc but Brains making a bit of stand and shouting the odds is grating on me a bit. I’ve lost count of the number of local boozers that they’ve run down and eventually closed over the years, converted them into flats or just bulldozed them completely, no doubt holding on to the ownership of the ground’s footprint. They’ve been doing this over the last 15/20 years, taking away our locals, locals that were centres of the community for years, the working man pouring his hard earned into them helping turn Brains into the powerhouse of Welsh beer brewing. In Splott alone they purposely ran down the much loved Grosvenor & Cardiff Arms, let them rot until their plan of turning them into flats materialised. Nice little earner, collect the ground rent while leasing it out or whatever the legal terms are with no landlord, landlady, bar staff, cleaners etc to pay, even reducing the draymen’s workload. Brains shut more of their pubs than this pandemic ever will.

Wait till the news gets out, there are lots to follow :frown:

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Originally Posted by splott parker

I do feel very sorry for the employees and the owners of the small independent pubs etc but Brains making a bit of stand and shouting the odds is grating on me a bit. I’ve lost count of the number of local boozers that they’ve run down and eventually closed over the years, converted them into flats or just bulldozed them completely, no doubt holding on to the ownership of the ground’s footprint. They’ve been doing this over the last 15/20 years, taking away our locals, locals that were centres of the community for years, the working man pouring his hard earned into them helping turn Brains into the powerhouse of Welsh beer brewing. In Splott alone they purposely ran down the much loved Grosvenor & Cardiff Arms, let them rot until their plan of turning them into flats materialised. Nice little earner, collect the ground rent while leasing it out or whatever the legal terms are with no landlord, landlady, bar staff, cleaners etc to pay, even reducing the draymen’s workload. Brains shut more of their pubs than this pandemic ever will.

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We've talked about how people's drinking habits have changed over the years, how people nowadays tend to buy cheaper booze from the supermarkets and drink at home.
So it's only natural that breweries are going to close pubs, it's been happening up and down the country for a number of years.
Brains are a private company they're in the business of trying to post profit, through which ever avenue they can.
Do they have a moral responsibility to keep pubs open for the sake of the community?
I very much doubt they'd close a profitable pub, their decisions are made on hard-nosed economics.
They are a PLC, their shareholders want them to be lean and profitable. If that requires closing pubs and selling off the land then that's the way it is.
When I first started going out drinking in the late 70's, pubs everywhere would be rammed, particularly Friday and Saturday nights - there were very few pubs shutting back then, indeed, they were building new pubs in the suburbs.
I used to love grabbing a pint in the Grosvenor after work (GKN/ASW), it was a real working-class pub. Alas, I dare say not enough punters stayed loyal enough to it.

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Originally Posted by BLUETIT

Wait till the news gets out, there are lots to follow :frown:

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They planned to close quite a few more before the pandemic anyway didn’t they?

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Originally Posted by splott parker

I do feel very sorry for the employees and the owners of the small independent pubs etc but Brains making a bit of stand and shouting the odds is grating on me a bit. I’ve lost count of the number of local boozers that they’ve run down and eventually closed over the years, converted them into flats or just bulldozed them completely, no doubt holding on to the ownership of the ground’s footprint. They’ve been doing this over the last 15/20 years, taking away our locals, locals that were centres of the community for years, the working man pouring his hard earned into them helping turn Brains into the powerhouse of Welsh beer brewing. In Splott alone they purposely ran down the much loved Grosvenor & Cardiff Arms, let them rot until their plan of turning them into flats materialised. Nice little earner, collect the ground rent while leasing it out or whatever the legal terms are with no landlord, landlady, bar staff, cleaners etc to pay, even reducing the draymen’s workload. Brains shut more of their pubs than this pandemic ever will.

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The Cardiff Arms brings back memories of dimly lit corners lol. And the upstairs room in the Grosvenor too. But that was over 50 years ago. :hehe:
I do tend to agree with you about Brains but for the moment if their influence can bring about change let them keep on shouting, then we decide whether to use them or not.

On the very few occasions I have had a pint of brains, it tastes like disinfectant

Dreadful stuff

The Welsh make crap beer

Some great beer up north

But when I did enjoy a drink from time to time it was Newcastle Brown

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Originally Posted by splott parker

I do feel very sorry for the employees and the owners of the small independent pubs etc but Brains making a bit of stand and shouting the odds is grating on me a bit. I’ve lost count of the number of local boozers that they’ve run down and eventually closed over the years, converted them into flats or just bulldozed them completely, no doubt holding on to the ownership of the ground’s footprint. They’ve been doing this over the last 15/20 years, taking away our locals, locals that were centres of the community for years, the working man pouring his hard earned into them helping turn Brains into the powerhouse of Welsh beer brewing. In Splott alone they purposely ran down the much loved Grosvenor & Cardiff Arms, let them rot until their plan of turning them into flats materialised. Nice little earner, collect the ground rent while leasing it out or whatever the legal terms are with no landlord, landlady, bar staff, cleaners etc to pay, even reducing the draymen’s workload. Brains shut more of their pubs than this pandemic ever will.

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Agreed, as you say, Brains have shown very little loyalty towards those who helped turn them into what they became.

Brains have made a tidy packet in South East Wales over the years

The boys and girls at the top will be fine , as usual

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Originally Posted by splott parker

I do feel very sorry for the employees and the owners of the small independent pubs etc but Brains making a bit of stand and shouting the odds is grating on me a bit. I’ve lost count of the number of local boozers that they’ve run down and eventually closed over the years, converted them into flats or just bulldozed them completely, no doubt holding on to the ownership of the ground’s footprint. They’ve been doing this over the last 15/20 years, taking away our locals, locals that were centres of the community for years, the working man pouring his hard earned into them helping turn Brains into the powerhouse of Welsh beer brewing. In Splott alone they purposely ran down the much loved Grosvenor & Cardiff Arms, let them rot until their plan of turning them into flats materialised. Nice little earner, collect the ground rent while leasing it out or whatever the legal terms are with no landlord, landlady, bar staff, cleaners etc to pay, even reducing the draymen’s workload. Brains shut more of their pubs than this pandemic ever will.

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Growing up in Cardiff I never knew what a 'free house' was. It was either soapy Brains and that revolting 'dark', or a frothy HB in a Welsh Brewers pub. When Brains bought out Felifoel and put Rev. James bitter in their pubs, they at last had a decent pint. Unfortunately, there's pitifully little decent beer in Wales..

I frequent a few of their places here down West. None of them have had a penny spent on them in many years, and some are places that are very busy with meals as well as booze.
I've got very little sympathy for a company who have invested so little in their estate.

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Originally Posted by A Quiet Monkfish

Growing up in Cardiff I never knew what a 'free house' was. It was either soapy Brains and that revolting 'dark', or a frothy HB in a Welsh Brewers pub. When Brains bought out Felifoel and put Rev. James bitter in their pubs, they at last had a decent pint. Unfortunately, there's pitifully little decent beer in Wales..

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The Glamorgan brewery in Llantrisant produces some decent beers. Their stout and their IPA are particularly nice.

I've never understood the attraction of Brains myself. My dad and grandfathers used to love it and tried to convince me SA was the best stuff around. Moving away to uni I found Ruddles County, Abbot Ale and Adnams Broadside and realised how inferior Brains SA was.

I try and boycott them for a number of reasons , mainly its shit beer , ioverpriced pre cooked crap food , bad management structures, over dressed restaurant type pubs .

My lad worked in thier kitchens at minimum wage , a lot of the time left on his own to prepare meals within the Brains 20 minutes prep window no matter how many orders , hardly any training given before he was thrust into a responsibility of shunting out the meals to its poor customers .

I'll stay away perhaps Drakeford can drink in them if he actually goes out ?

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Originally Posted by splott parker

I do feel very sorry for the employees and the owners of the small independent pubs etc but Brains making a bit of stand and shouting the odds is grating on me a bit. I’ve lost count of the number of local boozers that they’ve run down and eventually closed over the years, converted them into flats or just bulldozed them completely, no doubt holding on to the ownership of the ground’s footprint. They’ve been doing this over the last 15/20 years, taking away our locals, locals that were centres of the community for years, the working man pouring his hard earned into them helping turn Brains into the powerhouse of Welsh beer brewing. In Splott alone they purposely ran down the much loved Grosvenor & Cardiff Arms, let them rot until their plan of turning them into flats materialised. Nice little earner, collect the ground rent while leasing it out or whatever the legal terms are with no landlord, landlady, bar staff, cleaners etc to pay, even reducing the draymen’s workload. Brains shut more of their pubs than this pandemic ever will.

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Agree with much of what you've said here and I am sure that its founder Samuel Arthur Brain would have something to say about the huge closures of his pubs.
It's true that he was in it to make a profit but also realised the importance of the local for the community.

Brains though, and other breweries across the country, weren't helped by the decision to open all day (back in the late 80's early 90's was it?).
The Government got greedy.
I think it was sold to the country as it would lower anti-sicial behaviour as the big drinking would be staggered, using Scotland as the model if memory serves.

Anyway it was a huge flop as many pubs either had no atmosphere, normally generated by a crowd, or a bad mixture of sober and drunk punters.
The overheads increased which forced the breweries to increase their prices.

No doubt in my mind that the decision to allow all day drinking killed the local boozer.

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Originally Posted by life on mars

I try and boycott them for a number of reasons , mainly its shit beer, overpriced pre cooked crap food , bad management structures, over dressed restaurant type pubs .

My lad worked in thier kitchens at minimum wage , a lot of the time left on his own to prepare meals within the Brains 20 minutes prep window no matter how many orders , hardly any training given before he was thrust into a responsibility of shunting out the meals to its poor customers .

I'll stay away perhaps Drakeford can drink in them if he actually goes out ?

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I used to drink Brains but it's hugely overpriced, being you'd think it would be cheaper than the imported beers or those that need transporting from breweries around the country.

The one that gets my goat is "we haven't got Guinness but we've got our own, "Brains Black".
Like there's any comparison :angry:

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Originally Posted by Rock_Flock_of_Five

I used to love grabbing a pint in the Grosvenor after work (GKN/ASW), it was a real working-class pub. Alas, I dare say not enough punters stayed loyal enough to it.

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In The Grosvenor’s case it went from a thriving, clean, busy boozer into shit pit because of Brains’ decision on a decent landlord leaving to install a scrubber of a man, dear God he was dressed like an unmade bed, quite a contrast to the previous smartly dressed custodians, shirt and tie, freshly showered & shaved etc. The last landlord of the place was dreadful, reluctant to serve whilst the horse racing was on, same clothes on every day, a right grubby ‘erbert. The beer went downhill, the place became shabby and unclean. He went away for a few days and, Geri, one of the barmaids was asked to hold the fort, she told us she nearly spewed when she entered the upstairs flat. So, yes, punters didn’t stay loyal, this man was in charge of washing the glasses we drank out of, cleaning the pipes our beer ran through. A few contacted the brewery with our concerns but to no avail, it’s the consensus of opinion that it was all part of Brains’ grand plan to shut the place, it bloody worked too. The Shed in Seawall Road profited greatly for a while until the rabble custom that for years The Grosvenor had kept away from its doors ran that place down as well, the decent customers had no Grosvenor to turn to. Ok, Brains is a profit making concern but don’t pretend to be the ‘fighting for the decent drinker’ company that they like to portray, they turned their backs on us years ago.

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Originally Posted by The Bloop

The Glamorgan brewery in Llantrisant produces some decent beers. Their stout and their IPA are particularly nice.

I've never understood the attraction of Brains myself. My dad and grandfathers used to love it and tried to convince me SA was the best stuff around. Moving away to uni I found Ruddles County, Abbot Ale and Adnams Broadside and realised how inferior Brains SA was.

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Each to their own, I can't stand the Adnams stuff.

Brains beers are pretty good, especially SA, which they use high quality ingredients for.

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Originally Posted by splott parker

In The Grosvenor’s case it went from a thriving, clean, busy boozer into shit pit because of Brains’ decision on a decent landlord leaving to install a scrubber of a man, dear God he was dressed like an unmade bed, quite a contrast to the previous smartly dressed custodians, shirt and tie, freshly showered & shaved etc. The last landlord of the place was dreadful, reluctant to serve whilst the horse racing was on, same clothes on every day, a right grubby ‘erbert. The beer went downhill, the place became shabby and unclean. He went away for a few days and, Geri, one of the barmaids was asked to hold the fort, she told us she nearly spewed when she entered the upstairs flat. So, yes, punters didn’t stay loyal, this man was in charge of washing the glasses we drank out of, cleaning the pipes our beer ran through. A few contacted the brewery with our concerns but to no avail, it’s the consensus of opinion that it was all part of Brains’ grand plan to shut the place, it bloody worked too. The Shed in Seawall Road profited greatly for a while until the rabble custom that for years The Grosvenor had kept away from its doors ran that place down as well, the decent customers had no Grosvenor to turn to. Ok, Brains is a profit making concern but don’t pretend to be the ‘fighting for the decent drinker’ company that they like to portray, they turned their backs on us years ago.

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That's a shame about the landlord with poor hygiene standards, I can understand why no one would want to drink or eat there.
Ah, the Shed! I only stopped off in there a couple of occasions, there always seemed to be a skittles match going on in there and given its small size, it could take a while to get served.
I haven't been that way for about 17 years now, what's the nearest watering hole that's left to where the Grosvenor was... The Royal Oak? :frown:

Brains realised they could make more selling coffee.
They had no loyalty to the customer just loyalty to share holders.
Their beer went down hill when they moved brewery's and then eventually went to Burton.
Homogeneous shite.

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Originally Posted by goats

They planned to close quite a few more before the pandemic anyway didn’t they?

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They’ve added loads more to the list now.

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Originally Posted by Rock_Flock_of_Five

That's a shame about the landlord with poor hygiene standards, I can understand why no one would want to drink or eat there.
Ah, the Shed! I only stopped off in there a couple of occasions, there always seemed to be a skittles match going on in there and given its small size, it could take a while to get served.
I haven't been that way for about 17 years now, what's the nearest watering hole that's left to where the Grosvenor was... The Royal Oak? :frown:

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Pub wise, yes, The Royal Oak, nearer would be Splott Cons, then Fleurs. The Illts Club (the old Roath Carlylian Club) is maybe a touch further way down Splott Rd and over the bridge.

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Originally Posted by BLUETIT

They’ve added loads more to the list now.

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It might be a good investment to buy one of those old pubs off them, probably going to be a rare thing soon.
Heard they are selling the Albany, used to love that pub back in the day.

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Originally Posted by insider

Brains realised they could make more selling coffee.
They had no loyalty to the customer just loyalty to share holders.
Their beer went down hill when they moved brewery's and then eventually went to Burton.
Homogeneous shite.

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Think Brains sold most of their shareholding in Coffee 1 to Caffe Nero beginning of the year..

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Originally Posted by life on mars

I try and boycott them for a number of reasons , mainly its shit beer , ioverpriced pre cooked crap food , bad management structures, over dressed restaurant type pubs .

My lad worked in thier kitchens at minimum wage , a lot of the time left on his own to prepare meals within the Brains 20 minutes prep window no matter how many orders , hardly any training given before he was thrust into a responsibility of shunting out the meals to its poor customers .

I'll stay away perhaps Drakeford can drink in them if he actually goes out ?

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Originally Posted by A Quiet Monkfish

Think Brains sold most of their shareholding in Coffee 1 to Caffe Nero beginning of the year..

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Capitalist pig's

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Originally Posted by life on mars

I try and boycott them for a number of reasons , mainly its shit beer , ioverpriced pre cooked crap food , bad management structures, over dressed restaurant type pubs .

My lad worked in thier kitchens at minimum wage , a lot of the time left on his own to prepare meals within the Brains 20 minutes prep window no matter how many orders , hardly any training given before he was thrust into a responsibility of shunting out the meals to its poor customers .

I'll stay away perhaps Drakeford can drink in them if he actually goes out ?

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Originally Posted by MacAdder

I used to drink Brains but it's hugely overpriced, being you'd think it would be cheaper than the imported beers or those that need transporting from breweries around the country.

The one that gets my goat is "we haven't got Guinness but we've got our own, "Brains Black".
Like there's any comparison :angry:

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Brains Black is dreadful Brains Dark was a very good beer, as was its orginal SA , Brains its a sold out corporate animal , it lost its real ale tag a long time ago, its only function and survival is because its in Wales and we have to presume its wonderful because of its Welshness.

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Originally Posted by A Quiet Monkfish

Think Brains sold most of their shareholding in Coffee 1 to Caffe Nero beginning of the year..

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Yes they sold a 70% stake in 2018 to cafe Nero....who recently went into administration. I call it Karma and I wonder if its the reason why Brains are kicking up such a fuss over the pub closures.

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Originally Posted by life on mars

Brains Black is dreadful Brains Dark was a very good beer, as was its orginal SA , Brains its a sold out corporate animal , it lost its real ale tag a long time ago, its only function and survival is because its in Wales and we have to presume its wonderful because of its Welshness.

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SA is very drinkable, if a little bland
Rev James is a nice pint
SA Gold is also decent in the summer.

Not a fan of Black, or most of their craft brewing efforts.

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Originally Posted by life on mars

I try and boycott them for a number of reasons , mainly its shit beer , ioverpriced pre cooked crap food , bad management structures, over dressed restaurant type pubs .

My lad worked in thier kitchens at minimum wage , a lot of the time left on his own to prepare meals within the Brains 20 minutes prep window no matter how many orders , hardly any training given before he was thrust into a responsibility of shunting out the meals to its poor customers .

I'll stay away perhaps Drakeford can drink in them if he actually goes out ?

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Originally Posted by Rjk

SA is very drinkable, if a little bland
Rev James is a nice pint
SA Gold is also decent in the summer.

Not a fan of Black, or most of their craft brewing efforts.

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Everyone to its own taste , my favoured beer is Proper Job.

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Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY

On the very few occasions I have had a pint of brains, it tastes like disinfectant

Dreadful stuff

The Welsh make crap beer

Some great beer up north

But when I did enjoy a drink from time to time it was Newcastle Brown

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Brains beer is OK, but nothing special*. The are plenty of good breweries in Wales, Dogs Window, Pipes, Mad Dog, Crafty Devil, Polly's, Arcadian VOG, Tenby Harbour, to name just a few of them. Go and try their beers and you will learn that the Welsh can make very good beer.

* I like Barry Island IPA

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Originally Posted by Rjk

Each to their own, I can't stand the Adnams stuff.

Brains beers are pretty good, especially SA, which they use high quality ingredients for.

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Their Ghost Ship is good.

Brewdog Layer cake is my new favourite

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Originally Posted by life on mars

Everyone to its own taste , my favoured beer is Proper Job.

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Proper job is a decent IPA which I drink. Me and our kid visited the St Austell brewery when the city were playing their pre-season matches. They had just bought the Bath Ales brewery business, which also made some quality beers.

My favourite IPA is Jaipur from the Thornbridge brewery which you can buy in cans/kegs and is sometimes on tap in Wetherspoons.

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Originally Posted by Fatty Foggon

My favourite IPA is Jaipur from the Thornbridge brewery which you can buy in cans/kegs and is sometimes on tap in Wetherspoons.

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:thumbup: My local is a Thornbridge pub - with a fantastic range of their beers. I think they set up the brewery in the early 2000s in Thornbridge Hall outside Sheffield (used to be a council owned venue for conferences, training events and private hire with a lot of bedrooms) and have grown it massively in the past 25 years - including at about 8 pubs in the Sheffield area. Jaipur is too strong for my taste (5.9 %) for anything more than a small sipping glass. Brother Rabbit on the other hand slides down like nectar!

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Originally Posted by Fatty Foggon

Proper job is a decent IPA which I drink. Me and our kid visited the St Austell brewery when the city were playing their pre-season matches. They had just bought the Bath Ales brewery business, which also made some quality beers.

My favourite IPA is Jaipur from the Thornbridge brewery which you can buy in cans/kegs and is sometimes on tap in Wetherspoons.

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Got to agree with those choices

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Originally Posted by RichardM

Brains beer is OK, but nothing special*. The are plenty of good breweries in Wales, Dogs Window, Pipes, Mad Dog, Crafty Devil, Polly's, Arcadian VOG, Tenby Harbour, to name just a few of them. Go and try their beers and you will learn that the Welsh can make very good beer.

* I like Barry Island IPA

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Also Evan Evans Warrior, Tomos Watkin OSB, Bullmastiff Son of a Bitch and, up north, Purple Moose Dark side of the Moose.