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March 10, 2010

Cheers! Stroud Life launches its own beer

By Dominic Ponsford

Gloucestershire-based weekly Stroud Life has launched a beer under its own name.

Stroud Life ale has been brewed by Stroud Brewery as part of the paper’s Save the Local campaign to support pubs.

The campaign is due to start in April, but the beer was launched this week to mark the paper’s second birthday with an event at the Clothier’s Arms pub in Stroud.

The Northcliffe weekly has a circulation of just over 15,000, around one third of which is paid-for.

The 4 per cent strength beer is said to be a light, malty, amber ale with a zesty hop aroma. It is brewed using First Gold hops and is desribed as a well-balanced and full-bodied session beer.

Stroud Life editor Jason Chare said: ‘Many of the pubs in the Five Valleys are struggling to make ends meet as they face ever increasing taxes and, for some, rent hikes.

‘The public smoking ban, while welcomed by most people who were fed up with breathing in second-hand smoke while enjoying a pint or meal, has also taken a hefty toll on our pubs.

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‘The supermarkets have taken advantage of this by offering knockdown prices on beers, ciders, wines and spirits to encourage more of us to drink at home.

‘The effect? Pubs are closing, at least 10 in the past five years in the Stroud district.

‘Business is business, you may say – it’s a matter of the survival of the fittest. That’s one way of looking at it, for sure.

‘But in many of our villages the pub is the only ‘community’ facility for miles around.

‘It provides a hub, a meeting place where people of all ages can get together from time to time to chat and unwind.

‘And it can be a rallying point in the event of an emergency.

‘Let’s not forget that hundreds, if not thousands, of full and part-time jobs depend on our pubs locally.”

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