Just when I get the taste for cider, a record crop has been announced which should (and I say should) see cheaper prices for the product.

Funnily enough, sales of Magners have slumped amid competition from other brands and changing fashions. If you are drinking cider, it’s worth seeking out the real stuff as opposed to the likes of anything that recommends the addition of ice or fruit. Forget Strongbow and Bulmers.

However, I’m not one of those who scoff at people asking for cider on the rocks. Yes, it isn’t very macho, but people should be allowed to have their drink their way.

Talking of cider brands that come and go, does anyone remember Red Rock? The adverts, starring Leslie Neilsen, were better than the product.

The best place for Cider round here is the Ship & Anchor in Liverpool, but there is usually a good pint at the Baron’s Bar. Camra have listed their favourite cider pubs here. If you can, head for Hereford or the beautiful lands of Somerset and Cornwall.

Filled with despair, I jumped into the (soon to be repossessed) car and drove for the beach with the idea of driving into the sea and not stopping until I joined Frodo and Igglepiggle in the Western lands.

I abandoned the plan when confronted with the monstrous £3 charge to park on the sands and a Sefton jobsworth of even more repellent character than usual.

With nothing else to do, I drove down to Crosby, hoping to see an old pal. Alas, the place he worked had gone to the wall and left no forwarding address.

I ventured into Stamps Wine Bar, in reality a bohemian/guilty-rich real-ale joint. A superb pint of Batemans XB reminded me of carefree days when employed and a seeker of fine booze. How good it tasted compared to the rotgut I’ve been drinking recently.

An advert at the bar appeals for ale drinkers to consume just one extra pint each week in order to bring the UK ale market up to 6 million barrels a year – thus saving it from economic worry.

Not only could I not afford a second pint, I suspect most ale drinkers are cutting down.

Along with HBOS, Lehmann Bros and all the rest, are we about to see a great beer depression? Can revolution be far behind?

 
Update: Stamps are having a beer festival from Saturday 27th September until Tuesday 30th September. There should be 20 ales on offer including ones from the brilliant Southport Brewery. The barman pitching it to me made it sound like a Mormon wake, but I’m sure it’ll be a winner.

Ale to go up 10p a pint, lager 3p, reports the Telegraph. The British Pub Association say that the £4 pint will be with us soon. We may as well all move to Sweden.

Manchester and the Reverend Horton Heat in concert turned out to be a great trip for the wrong reasons.

The Rev sucked. I’ve never been so disappointed in a gig in my life. After a solid start, the psychobilly kings decided to do a “journey through the history of music” playing covers by Black Sabbath and, at one point, a fecking version of fecking Greensleeves!

After waiting 15 years to see the band some have tagged the best live rock n rollers of them all, I ended up leaving before the end, bitter tears rolling down my Sub-Pop t-shirt.

But all was not lost, I’d had a great afternoon drinking  in the Manc, taking Mrs SD to Kro 2, a modern, glasshouse bar that’s busy, loud and has a wonderful beer garden. Here I treated myself to a plate of Danish herrings and enjoyed a couple of well-kept pints of Landlord. 

Then came the find of the year, a narrow bar on Oxford Road near to the Manchester Academy called Big Hands. Here was a selection of good American whiskies and continental beers, great decor, great sounds and filled with the sort of women your mother wouldn’t approve of.

I’ll be back, despite the sky high prices, which seems to be the way all of Manchester is going. From there I tried a couple of studenty places, one of which wanted £4.80 for  a small bottle of water and plastic pint of San Miguel.

Finally there was the Rev, preaching a gospel of mediocrity and dashing my dreams of pyschobilly freakouts and Texas tea. £4.50 for a Jager and Red Bull just added to the bother.

Scottish nannies are attacking Brewdog’s new 12%abv Tokyo beer. Chief loony and chairman of Scottish Health Action group, Dr Bruce Ritson, warned that the beer would have “devastating consequences” for Scottish health. This is not the first time that BrewDog has been attacked.

The SD once again asks what planet people such as the good doctor are on – and secondly has he not realised that most bottles of wine are about the 13-14%abv range and that this brew is designed to be drunk in the same way?

The average pisshead won’t  mind drinking two cans of lager to get the same effect as a £4 Brewdog.

P.S On the prowl today I bought a bottle of BrewDog’s Punk beer from Oddbins. The chap at the counter complimented my choice by saying “it’s fecking brill”.

The Baron’s bar is offering all real ales at £1.50 a pint tomorrow (Tuesday May 6) to all members of Camra who can search through their kitchen drawers and find a valid membership card.

That’s a choice of 11 beer-festival beers served in peak condition for £1.50 a freakin pint. Amazing value in these cut-throat days.

I’d imagine that if you wanted to join Camra on the night they could accommodate you. You could probably save your membership fee in a single session.

Back to Southport’s pubs after my Lenten sojourn, my crawl was boosted by a range of locally produced ales.

I was welcomed like the prodigal son by lovely staff at the Guest House and ordered a Natterjack Bitter by the Southport Brewery.

In my opinion, this has always been the weakest of the micro’s brews and our merry band found ourselves underwhelmed by a Holts-like mouthfeel and metallic taste. This was explained when the barrel was changed and the brewery’s Golden Sands came on.

What a beer this is! One of my favourite ales: light, fruity yet intriguingly complex, I dare anyone to put it down.

Moving on to the new Dil Pickle on Cable Street, we were put out by the lack of atmosphere and the strange “art A-level” prints on the wall.

A lot of the old Ship & Anchor dead space is also still in evidence, making the Dil feel a bit ‘here today, gone tomorrow’. On reflection though, I think the Dil is geared towards night-time trade and should be judged on that criteria.

As for the beer, the Southport Brewery’s Carousel was the sole cask on and lived it up to expectations, if served a trifle cold as, regular collaborator, Jmensa recently pointed out.

Next up was the Baron’s Bar and a pint of Copper Dragon’s best bitter. I feel this session-style ale is the weakest of the Skipton brewery’s range and can’t say I was moved by it.

My pal Monty enjoyed a Crystal Wheat Beer, which is brewed on licence from the Beecham’s bar at St Helens College under the supervision of Stockport’s growing 3 Rivers brewery. He recommends this as a brew that is true.

After a look in the new, un-gayed little Crown on Cornonation Walk, where there is no cask beer and no reason for staying, we gave the hugely successful Phoenix a try, where there was a reasonable pint of Cains to be had for a wallet-loving £1.75.

Monty had a Bombardier, then a Deuchars IPA, both of which judged “OK”.

Finally I went home, to find the missus had hidden all the liquor and bought several potted plants. What can she be up to?

Drinkers are reeling from a huge increase on alcohol duty in the budget. I will be posting reaction as I get it.

In a nutshell, beer, wine, cider and spirits are all going up in price, with duties rising 2% above inflation each year for the next four years after an immediate 6% above inflation rise. 

This means that beer goes up 4p a pint, 3p for cider, 14p for wine and spirits up 55p for a bottle from midnight on Sunday with more big rises for years to come.

As Huw Edwards of the BBC said, it’s going to be a weekend for drinking. To many in the pub industry, we are now drinking at the last chance saloon. 

This was not as bad as my prediction  although it looks more accurate if you bear in mind the trick of spreading bigger rises over four years. When the  rises will be passed on to the consumer, as Camra claim, the chancellor’s budget will eventually put 20p on a pint.

Paul Wells, chief executive of Charles Wells, said that the 4p increase in duty, plus VAT, will mean an instant 10p rise in beer. Wine and spirits will follow the same model.

Rob Hayward, Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, which believes the price of a pint will reach £6.50 by 2012, said: “The millions of people who enjoy beer have just been hit by a £50.5 million a month tax raid on their family budgets.

“By aiming a tax hike at beer, the Chancellor is shooting himself in the foot. Treasury revenues will continue to fall, pubs will continue to close and beer sales sink further.”

“Every single day, the Treasury is losing over £1 million in beer taxes and four pubs are closing. People are now drinking 1 million fewer pints a day compared with last year. It’s a decision doomed to failure.”

“Government tax policy is fuelling Britain’s binge drink problem by driving people away from beer, out of the pub into the arms of the deep discounting supermarkets.

“They don’t pay beer duty and don’t allow brewers to pass it on, so their rock bottom prices will remain unaffected by this tax hike.”

The Wine and Spirit Trades Association Chief Executive Jeremy Beadles said: “British consumers will now pay more tax on wine than anyone else in the European Union.

“It is bizarre at a time when the many families are feeling the pinch that the Government should choose to add to their burden by making the simple pleasure of a glass of wine or spirits considerably more expensive.

“Wine and spirit drinkers already face the prospect of price rises as a result of the increasing cost of raw materials – grapes, grain, packaging, glass, freight and energy. This tax hike will simply make things worse.”

Mike Benner of Camra added: “The budget shows a disregard for our national drink and for the 15 million people who enjoy it responsibly.”

Nick Bish, chief executive of Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, gave the most eloquent analysis of all, saying: “The Budget proves that the Chancellor doesn’t give a XXXX for Britain’s pubs.”

The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) called the Budget is “another nail in the coffin of the traditional British pub”.

 For details of the budget (as it affected drinkers) as it happened, click here. 

12.28pm BBC interviews Big Brother contestant and racist celebrity Jade Goody while PM questions continues. She begs Chancellor Alistair Darling to increase tax on alcohol to put an end to “boozy Britain”.

12.31pm Chancellor stood up at 12.31pm. Said he would deliver a budget of “fairness and stability”.

1.14pm A tax on plastic bags if shops don’t bring charges in. Could affect drinkers who carry beer home from off licence. No price mentioned.

1. 18pm On no smoking day, chancellor announces 11p rise in duty on packet of 20 cigarettes, 4p on cigars

1.19pm Chancellor comments that in 1997, the average bottle of wine bought in a supermarket was “£4.45 in today’s prices” but today the average cost of a bottle of wine is “just £4″.

1.20pm Chancellor announces an increase in alcohol duty of 6% above infaltion. This means an immediate 4p increase on a pint of beer, 3p on a litre of cider, 14p on a bottle of wine, 55p on a bottle of spirits from midnight on Sunday

Alcohol duty to rise by a further 2% above inflation for the next 4 years.

Chancellor says that raising duty on alcohol is necessary for “helping families and lifting children out of poverty”.

1.21pm Chancellor sits down

1.25 Conservative leader David Cameron says budget was delivered with all the enthusiasm of someone reading from the telephone directory. He adds that chancellor and PM are “living in a different world from anyone else” and have “kicked people when they are down”.

1.32pm Cameron lambasted rises in alcohol duty as an attack on people who “enjoy a glass of wine of beer at the end of the working day”. Says tax should have been targetted on problem causes. 

Jade Goody can sleep easy

The British Beer and Pub Association explain why taxing alcohol tomorrow would be a bad idea, but it is too late, the sums are already done, the speech already written.

I wonder what the reaction will be tomorrow. Even the Daily Mail, which has been filled with calls for action on binge drinking, predicts a big backlash if the level of duty soars. My prediction is here.

You can rest assured I will be posting updates on drink related Budget news and reaction as it happens.