Counterfeit Real Ale in Sheffield

I was sold counterfeit real ale in a Sheffield pub on Saturday lunchtime.  I didn’t tweet nor blog immediately as I wanted the Brewery & pub to follow it up.

I went into the pub & bought a beer. I tweeted some tasting notes (it was OK actually). That tweet included the Twitter handle of the Brewery - so they saw it.  The Brewery got in touch & told me that beer hadn’t been brewed for over three years. So, that started the hare running.

I ALWAYS subscribe to Cock-Up theories, never Conspiracy theories. But, what’s going on there then?  Remember the Horsemeat in Beef thing. The supply chain for all our food & drink is horrendously long.  Count the things that can go wrong in the chain from the Brewery to the pump.  It made me think, how do we really know what we are drinking is what it says on the Clip?

Anyway. I spoke (face-to-face) twice with the owner of the pub & I chatted to the Brewery on Twitter. I know the pub owner was upset about a leak/exposure on Twitter. I’m charming, with an aggressive demeanour. So, I can understand why he was a little upset with me. I apologised to him & I’m apologising again unreservedly here. But, you know, I’m just blowing the whistle.  He treated me well & I’ve no complaints. He took the beer off immediately.

The Brewery tell me that they and the pub are convinced they’ve both been duped by a rogue wholesaler. They tell me they’re informing Trading Standards.

I’m not causing waves by naming the pub here. But, a little unfortunately, there was too much Twitter Traffic for me to avoid explaining that the counterfeit beer was badged as Rooster’s.  With hindsight - it said Rooster’s on the clip, but it wasn’t standard Rooster’s branding, font & logo.

There are concerns that the rogue wholesaler may have duped other pubs in Sheffield & elsewhere.