Happy New Year! It’s January 1st and the start of a fresh year. And welcome to Dranuary (Alcohol free January). This won’t be too much of a problem for me, and it’s not really a thing. For other people, it will become a New Year’s Resolution (NYR) and will be their big challenge, safe in the knowledge that they can head out on the piss on Feb 1st, regardless of which day of the week that is. An unknown bonus will be that they will wake up on the next morning free from a hangover, which has been my experience. This gives a false feeling of well being and the idea that they are somehow special and that drink isn’t all that bad – until the inevitable next hangover. The sickness will be blamed on the wrong type of booze, not eating before, or the food they ate at the time.

Anyway, the poor breweries, of which there are more and more, independent, unique, and oh so similar have recorded falling sales at the start of the year from people taking an interest in themselves. There’s reaction to this is Tranuary. This is not transvestite January, but I suspect that this may also be a thing. What it is is for people not to give up beer, buts instead to try new beers. Personally, I don’t think this is a great idea. I’m sure they’ll be protecting Q1 revenues, but it may not be the best strategy.

Think of it this way. Have a look around you when you walk inside a good old fashioned real ale pub. This isn’t a health club. The young people are having a good time, but don’t look very well. I’d be surprised if most of them could run a 30 minute Parkrun. And the older people, are doing what they’ve always done. There’s nothing about them that suggests that this is a worthwhile career choice. But what the older people can do is make it look like somehow they are successful and message to the younger people, that they can be to. But that’s not my point.

What the pubs need to do is embrace Dranuary. Provide low and alcohol free beers and make the pubs family friendly. Get the kids in and get them from a young age. Now I’m not suggesting selling booze to under aged children from February, but just getting them used to the idea of going to pubs. That’s more of a long-term strategy than leaning on an ageing and dwindling customer base. Then, in time, they can be introduced to drinking by older people in a safe environment.

Just so you know, I’m not anti-drink at all. It’s just not for me now. And with many things people are against, it’s not the actual thing, instead people are actually more angry and them (or themselves) than the thing that they imagine that they are annoyed or angry at. I’m not going to expand on this today. But think about why hunt saboteurs and really angry about fox hunting, or why people get angry about greedy bankers, and not about football players earning millions each month. Although, that’s not a great comparison. Only one of them almost brought about a global financial collapse, and only time will tell which one that was.

Anyway, happy Dranuary, or Tranuary!