Business · NY Digital
'Good cask ale' key to the perfect pub, says award-winning landlady 28 minutes ago Georgie Docker North West Carol Ross People need to know they're going to get a good pint, says landlady Carol Ross The shortlist was announced last week for the Campaign for Real Ale's (Camra) National Pub of the Year. There are more than 40,000 pubs in the United Kingdom, of which only five have made it into every edition of Camra's annual Good Beer Guide since it was first published it in 1974. The Roscoe Head, in Liverpool, is one of them.
A traditional alehouse that first opened its doors in the 1830s, the Roscoe has been run by the same family for 45 years. Carol Ross has been in charge for the last 28 but will soon be pulling her last pint. Ahead of selling up and retiring, the 67-year-old told the BBC there was "no secret" to a perfect pub, only good ale...
Carol Ross Carol's parents Nicky and Margaret Joyce first took over The Roscoe Head in 1981 "People refer to the pub as a hidden gem," Carol said. "But it's always been there for years. "I think what makes it so successful is it's never changed from a small traditional alehouse.
"And if it's not broke don't fix it." Ultimately, Carol said it was all about the beer. "There is no secret to our success," she explained. "We serve good cask ale.
"It's the Great British pint that's famous all over the world. "That is what gets you in the Good Beer Guide. "I feel very passionate about real ale.
I love looking after it and I take pride in that. "I love people commenting on it, saying 'That's a cracker pint'." Carol Ross "To be in Camra for all that time is mega really," Carol said. "But we are just blasé about it." Carol also said the staff had played a hugely important role and that "the clientele and the customers make the pub".
She said: "They are part of the family, and of the Roscoe. "They keep coming back, they keep the ale flowing, you know, and that's what it's about, real ale, it needs to be moved." As the sale of the pub is currently under way, Carol said she had mixed feelings about her upcoming retirement. "I'm a bit tired," she admitted.
"And I think I deserve it. "When you run a successful pub, you tend to forego holiday - I only have a week's holiday a year. "But I will be sad.
Sometimes I think I don't want to say goodbye because I know I will cry." Ultimately, though, she knows that "if I don't retire now, I never will." More like this
Source: BBC
