The Hitwise Food and Beverage – Restaurants and Catering category covers those UK consumer websites that offer services such as directory pages, online ordering, menu listings and special promotions.  Some of the big brand names in this category include McDonalds, Dominos, Pizza Express, Top Table and of course Beer In The Evening.

The Hitwise Entertainment – Nightlife category covers those UK based websites who offer services such as directory listings, event listings, festival listings, basically things to do with your spare time.  Big names in this category inlcude Time Out (UK), View London, Download Festival, and Beer In The Evening.

Experian Hitwise awards celebrate the most successful websites on the internet based on a market share of UK visitors.  During 2011 (from Jan to Dec), thanks to all of you – our users, we ranked high amongst some big brands and trounced other competitor pub and bar listing sites. So it’s a huge thank you from us and a round of virtual beer in celebration of all we achieved last year. If you’d like to add a comment you can do so using our comments section below, or visit our Facebook page and join in the conversation.

It’s British Pie Week from the 5th to the 11th March (2012), earlier this year we posted about National Pie Day, so if you’re interested in some quick pie-related facts check out our previous blog post here.

The British Pie Week website (hosted by General Mills Inc.) has announced their “Pub Pie Champion for 2012″.  Drum roll… It’s (chef) hats off to Carol Haime at The Sandrock, Farnham, with a delicious “Wheatley House Pheasant Pie with baby parsnips, juniper and a poppy seed and rock salt crust!” Becoming the first woman to win the competition, Carol said “It’s fantastic to have won! I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. The whole team is delighted and we’re really looking forward to celebrating during British Pie Week.”
(Source www.britishpieweek.com. The recipie for Carol’s winning pie is also available here.)

The marriage between pies and British pubs is long standing and legendary, searching the comments on BITE we discovered the following pie’scentric pubs recommended by you, our users. These pubs have gone to greater lengths to produce pies worthy of our attention as pub patrons. (Pub suggestions are based on pub-page activity within the last 12 months.)

The Brie Louise, Euston, London: While the reviews from users who have dined on The Brie’s pies seem mixed, there’s no mistaking that The Brie has won awards for it’s skills in pie making. Their Steak & Kidney pie is a crowning achievement  having scooped three consecutive annual awards, a medal has also been pinned on their seasonal Turkey, Cranberry & Stuffing pie (only available in the winter months).   The Brie Louise offers a decent range of home cooked pies, including vegetarian and fish options.

Sweeney & Todd, Reading: The sign above the door blazons the title ‘Famous Pies, Famous Ales’. Knowing the story of Sweeney Todd and the recent findings that his murderous antics were no urban myth, we’re curious as to what ingredients are used in the Sweeney’s pies… Corporate bankers? Estate agents? Expense swindling Politicians? Jokes aside, the Sweeney & Todd boasts what we all want in a pub – friendly staff, reasonably priced well stocked real ales, and a curious selection of pie fillings, … Hare & Cherry anyone? The Sweeney & Todd pie fillings cater to both meat lovers and vegetarians alike.

The Raven, Bath: Described as a “hidden gem”, The Raven in Bath offers a wide selection of ever changing pie fillings, it all depends on which season you find yourself musing their menu. Classic ingredients, such as pork, steak, lamb are all locally sourced, with vegetarian options that may even tempt a browsing carnivore. The Raven also has it’s own specially brewed Real Ale (Raven Ale), when pubs go that extra yard and get it right, The Raven, Bath is worth mentioning.

The Prince of Wales, Ledbury: Tucked away off the Ledbury High-Street, the Prince of Wales is a proper old-fashioned British boozer.  With a relaxed, ambient, atmosphere it’s the perfect setting to sit back, enjoy a real ale from their wide selection and tuck into an enormous portion of their home cooked pie.  Check out their pie board when entering, it’s ever changing with the seasons, the Prince’s pies are baked using locally sourced ingredients.

The Kenton, Homerton, London: It’s a coin-toss about this entry, granted The Kenton doesn’t bake it’s own pies.  However, by word-of-mouth the quality of the Pieminister pies served at The Kenton has reached us on a number of occasions while hunger struck and wandering in Hackney.  This Norwegian run, grand, Victorian pub caters for all tastes, that means you, vegetarians and fussy eaters. The ‘Minty Lamb Pie’ is always a firm favourite to expel those stomach-rumbles, with nice selection of ales to accompany any pie you chose.

Just to finish off, The Angel at Stoke by Nayland, Colchester is offering a special pie and pint menu between the 5th and 11th of March, everyday a choice of pies will be on the menu, baked to perfection by The Angel’s resident top chef.  Booking during British Pie Week (5th – 11th March) is advisable so you can be guaranteed a piece of the pie(s).

If you’ve a favourite pie filling, a recipe for pie success or you know of a pub worth mentioning for it’s culinary pie abilities do let us know in our comments section below or by joining the conversation on our Facebook page.

In medieval Britain the pie was often the centre piece of the meal, filled with exotic fillings such as swans, peacocks and blackbirds (which you may remember from the nursery rhyme).  From the finest London restaurants to the wind swept terraces of football grounds, the pie has since become a stoic dish on the British menu, engraved into our popular culture. The chant “who ate all the pies?!” for example was first sung by Sheffield supporters in 1894 and directed at their clubs goalkeeper at the time William “Fatty” Foulke, an enormous man in stature.

Still lovingly associated with home cooked tradition and British pubs, the pie is here to stay.  Get down your local and demand a pie today!  If you’ve any comments feel free to leave them in our comments section below or join the conversation on our Facebook page. Cheers!

Unless you’ve been living in a hole (or in denial) the last few weeks, you’ve probably noticed that it’s Christmas Day on Sunday. So as one last push to get you into the festive spirit, we thought we’d share with you some interesting Christmas facts you can amaze your family and friends with this weekend.

 • Drinking mulled wine at Christmas originates from Germany during the Medieval period. However, records show that a spiced wine was drunk all the back in 5000BC by ancient Greeks who believed it had healing properties.

• Coca Cola did not invent the red Santa Claus; up until the 1930s he had already been depicted as red, green, short, tall, fat, slim. However, Coca Cola has literally shaped the image of the jolly figure we all know today.

• One – perhaps rather bored – American scientist has calculated that Santa Claus would have to visit 822 homes a second at 650 miles per hour to deliver all his presents on Christmas Eve. That’s why he uses magic, der!

• The ‘X’ in Xmas is not irreligious; it is actually the abbreviated Greek symbol for ‘Christ’.

• Every Christmas since 1947, Norway has provided Trafalgar Square’s Christmas tree to thank us for our support during the Second World War.

• The world’s largest ever snowman was built in Maine, USA in 1999 and stood at a whopping 113ft tall!

So from all of us at Beerintheevening.com we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

During the first world war, in Flanders (Western Belgium), most of this expanse of land was ripped apart, towns, landmarks, vegetation were systematically eradicated from existence by artillery bombardment.  The land was turned into a sea of mud, in this mud men continued to fight one another whilst surrounded by the dead and dying.  Each new artillery bombardment would churn the muddy ground revealing corpses of lost soldiers -  a truly horrific sight for the young men that continued to fight the war of attrition.  During each coming spring an enduring flower would appear, the poppy.  Poppies only grow from freshly churned soil, the war torn landscape being the perfect environment for them to germinate, they grew in such abundance on the battlefields that it was superstitiously believed that each one was grown from the soul of a fallen soldier.

Today we do not simply reflect on the human atrocity conducted during the first world war, Remembrance Day is about all wars that have taken lives, on both sides.  With all of our advances in culture, science, medicine, philosophy it’s hard to comprehend why we continue to kill one another, but it seems part of our nature for now. But, for all of our misgivings there is no reason why we should ever forget those men and women who have laid down their lives for our country, our freedom and peace.

This coming remembrance Sunday, raise your glass to the fallen. Or, instead of buying that pint, consider giving the money to help our veterans, you can donate at www.poppy.org.uk.

Quick Sausage’y facts

1. The sausage is an ancient form of food, pre-dating most historical cultures, the Sumerians were believed to have cooked the first sausages over 5,000 years ago.

2. The slang word for sausages “banger” was adopted during the second world war. Due to a lack of ingredients sausage makers would add water to their sausage recipe, when the water turned to steam inside the sausage skin, it would often explode with a “bang!”

3. The worlds longest sausage weighed in at 15.5 tonnes, and measured 35miles long. Unfortunately never officially adjudicated by the Guinness World records – who recognise a measly 1,500m German sausage as the record holder, our British 35 mile long masterpiece will not be forgotten.

4. Sausages are a product of efficient butchery.  Butchers use parts of the pig that are both edible and nutritious to make sausages, these ‘parts’ including organs, blood and fat would normally go to waste, seen as unsavoury by consumers, wrap it all up in a sausage format and you’ve got Britains number one home cooked meal.

5. The Frankfurter was a sausage made by a German butcher in the image of his pet Dachshund (sausage dog), in 1906, American cartoonist Ted Dorgan produced a painting of a dog in a bread roll covered in mustard to commemorate the German butchers sausage invention, unable to spell Dachshund Ted called it “hot dog”.  The name seemed to stick.

If you’re in the Twickenham area, you might want to get yourself down to the Rifleman they have organised a Beer, Cider and Sausage Festival. If you’ve got any sausage facts, recipies or just want to talk sausage leave a comment in our comments section below or join in the conversation on our Facebook page. Cheers!

Our British pubs provide us with a relaxed, social, and safe environment to meet one another.  Pubs have been an integral part of our society and despite much doubt regarding their future they still continue to be one of the iconic representations of how British people spend their spare time. If your local is doing anything to support British Pub Week 2011 let us know on our Facebook page, or by adding a comment to our comments section below.
We’ve had a few Pubs advertise their Halloween events on our pub events list, but nobody has come forward with an exclusive British Pub Week event.  Don’t forget to spread the message! Cheers!

According to the CAMRA website many of the Cask Marque pubs will operate a ‘Try Before You Buy’ promotion allowing revellers the opportunity to sample-taste a real ale before choosing.   Some Cask Marque pubs may operate the “3 x 1/3 pint” meaning you get to try 3 real ales for the price of a pint which is a great promotion for any new real ale drinker,… and regular ale drinkers alike.  It gives you some time to hone in one a particular brew you might take a fancy to.  So, be sure to look out for pubs with a Cask Marque accreditation this weekend, and be sure to ask about the real ale promotions they may be serving.

If you’ve any tips for a new real ale drinker, or would like to tell us about a promotion in your area, or a distinct real ale you might like people to try, please leave a comment in our comments section below or join in the conversation on our Facebook page. Cheers!

Unfortunately the Obama’s have no intention to market the ale, the only way to obtain one would be to become and American war hero or get invited to the White House on Superbowl night.   The recipe for the ale is being kept secret with the Washington Post reporting just one teaser “over a pound of honey goes into that brew”.  That’s a lot of honey.  Imagine if the Obama’s changed their mind about selling their ale? There would be worldwide interest.

If you have any comments feel free to leave them in our comments section below oor join in the conversation on our Facebook page.

If you know any Guinness related facts feel free to share them in our comments section below, or by joining the conversation on our Facebook Page.