Tiny Rebel? Not any more thanks

Tiny Rebel Sexism: It feels like we have made great headway tackling misogyny, sexism and general discrimination within the beer and pub industry as a whole in recent years. But then a high profile example jumps out from behind the sofa and makes you feel like we’re going nowhere fast. When I wrote about the Great British Beer Festival’s theme of diversity in 2019 what I hadn’t realised was that the big story in the press that day was the banning of discriminatory beer names from CAMRA festivals. This move was aimed particularly at encouraging more female drinkers back to the cask ale fold.

Beer Twitter

I was disappointed to see that Tiny Rebel were getting on the wick of Twitter again today, two years on from CAMRAs ban on sexist product names. This time it was crass menu names on their Newport bar’s menu. Thanks to FermentTheRich for highlighting:

The B-J burger. Urgh. Imagine working at that pub and having every self-indulgent “comedian” of a customer asking if you can give them a BJ, hurr hurr hurr. Absolutely tiresome. It’s lazy and boring misogyny and I’m annoyed that I have to even think about it.

Being a snowflake?

“Why am I so bothered about it?”, I imagine I will hear lots of people on Twitter cry. Why do I not just dry my little snowflake tears and move on? The answer is that I really like Tiny Rebel’s beer and now I’m not going to drink it any more. That makes me a bit sad and a bit pissed off because it was really easy to avoid. Anyone that knows me will know of my intense love of Stay Puft. But this is crunch time for UK hospitality, and there are lots of other breweries out there that I can give my money to now rather than supporting TR and their dull sexism played for cheap laughs. That’s not rebellion, it’s school children twanging bra straps for kicks.

TR are on their final strike for me. We had their Estate Gardener advert in November telling us “you can’t beat a good trimmed bush, and we’ve got a lot of bushes that need trimming.” Yawn. Again, it’s not the end of the world, but it is pervasive bad humour. Look back a couple of years to their Peaches & Cream branding too and I just feel like rolling my eyes isn’t enough any more.

Literally the only bit of brewery branding I have on my person on a regular basis is a TR badge on my handbag. My Tiny Rebel badge is in the bin, and so now I’m looking for new breweries that deserve my patronage instead. Stick your recommendations in the comments below.

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18 Responses

  1. Natalie says:

    Another South Wales based micro brewery which is family owned and amazing is Rival Brewing Co. check them out on Instagram!

  2. Steve Cole says:

    Keep an eye out for Trinity brewing from Lichfield, they have done a few collabs beers now and are just setting up

  3. Darren Robb says:

    Dig Brew Co from Birmingham (ish)
    Leviathan Brewing from Sutton Coldfield
    Overtone Brewing Co from Glasgow
    Vault City Brewing from Edinburgh

    Can’t go wrong with these breweries. Knocking out belters consistently.

  4. Phil says:

    Pressure Drop and Howling Hops!

  5. Trev says:

    Phantom from Reading. Attic from. Birmingham. Both new and good.

  6. Louis says:

    UnBarred brewery, based in Brighton but delivering nationwide.

  7. Genocide Juice says:

    ^^^ the same Magic Rock who are owned by a company involved in genocide? Just Google “genocide” and “magic rock”

  8. Alex says:

    Really sad to hear you’re leaving your favourite brewery behind – absolutely sucks when you fall in love with a product and find out it’s made by wrong’uns.

    Partizan are one of my fave breweries at the minute and have a really cool ethos about them. They’re based in South London but have a Leicester connection as they’ve got relatives at Framework.

    People Like Us are awesome too – A) The beer is top notch and b) They only employ people from marginalised groups.

    • Laura says:

      Thanks Alex, will take a look at both of them. People Like Us sounds particularly interesting! Wonder when I will next get to do the rounds in London…

  9. Becks says:

    Here’s some good’nes to convert to…
    Siren
    Magic Rock Brewing
    Thornbridge
    Arbor
    Northern Monk

    Can’t go wrong with those breweries!

    • Laura says:

      A comprehensive list of some of the most famous breweries in the country Becks – hoping for something I might not have tried before! Definitely a good starter pack though if someone is looking to get into beer.

    • Keith Sowerby says:

      Not sure about Magic Rock – they are part of the Lion subsidiary of Kirin, with their highlighted involvement with the military regime in Myanmar.

  1. 21/03/2021

    […] sometimes crossed the lines from cheeky to offensive, with the Portman Group, ‘Beer Twitter’ and beyond holding them accountable for a series of choices that have led drinkers to question whether Tiny […]

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