The British pub

• Pub  Public house

• free time meeting place, place of enjoyment
(Public house  inns of the Middle Ages
• local people met, travellers stayed)

• friendly, intimate, egalitarian atmosphere

Pubs sell:
- various kinds of alcohol
- food – sausages, crisps, salads, pies, sandwiches
e.g: the Ploughman's Lunch which is a great wedge of Cheddar
cheese, some bread, some pickle, and an onion.

• Most pubs don’t serve hot food, though today there

are pubs that function also as restaurants.
 Beer – 5 categories
• ale
– rare since 1960s
– made from barley, hops
and pure water
– stored at a constant cool
temperature, not
refrigerated
– No CO2
– to many British – the
only beer with real taste
– to Europeans – flat,
warm and weak
• bitter
– has just a touch of
bitterness
– colour is mid-brown

• mild and stout

– dark beers
• mild beers
are sweeter and
lighter
• stout beers are
heavier (Guinness)
• lager

– the highest alcohol

content of all
– the Continental beers
– light in colour
– foamy
– strong
– very bitter
– added CO2
– stored in metal barrels,
under pressure
• an average pub
serves
– 5-6 different beers
on tap

– 1-2 kinds of cider

• a slightly alcoholic
drink from
fermented apples,
sour, refreshing on
a hot day
• beers and ciders are
served
– by the pint or half pint
– large plain glasses
without a handle
– glasses are filled up to
the rim
– no waiters
– orders are at the bar –
barman, barmaid
– paying immediately, no
tipping
Opening times
• WW I – 1998
– 11.30 a.m. – 3 p.m. and 5.30 – 11 p.m.

• 1998 –
– 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.
What is a pub like?
• available to all kinds
of people
• cheap but not
shabby
• wall-to-wall carpet
or wooden floor
• wooden tables,
benches
• clean, tidy