It's common knowledge how the various lockdowns and restrictions of 2020 and 2021 have decimated the hospitality industry; with pubs bars and clubs struggling to make ends meet even now with most of the restrictions lifted.
The legacy of the lockdowns will be felt for many years, but necessity is the mother of invention and the situation has encouraged a number of innovative ideas; including Titanic Brewery's Pub in a Box.
The concept of a 'pub in a box' isn't something new to the world, but it was new to Titanic and it's proven to be a big hit in the craft beer world, with thousands of boxes sold since they first offered the boxes in June 2020.
Billed as a beer lovers' survival kit for during lockdown, Titanic wanted to try and recreate the social side of the pub but in the safety of the home; allowing customers to experience the variety of their range and making drinking at home more of a special event rather than the norm.
Short of the wonky wooden tables, stale-smoke aroma and brass on the walls; this is a real session in a square. In the box you will find:
6 x 500ml bottles (in our box: Anchor, Captain Smith, Steerage, Iceberg, Plum Porter, White Star)
4 x 330ml cans (in our box: 2 x raspberry pale, anytime IPA, Cherry Dark)
2 x 330ml bottles (in our box: Cappuccino Stout, Chocolate & Vanilla Stout)
1 x Titanic Pint Glass
Snacks (in our box: 2 x packets of 'Just Crisps' crisps and the pub classic: Scampi Fries)
Beer mats - for the authentic pub experience.
The Scampi Fries do wonders for the box's credentials as a 'pub in a box' in a way that only KP nuts could compete with and, coupled with the beer mats, helps add a nice touch to the 'pub' part of the box. It would be so easy to make it simply a box full of beer but Titanic has really thought about what goes into the pub experience with this one.
What pub experience is complete without a pub quiz? Titanic's Pub in a Box duly obliges, providing a link to a 5-round pub quiz run by Keith, who is one of the directors at Titanic.
The quiz stays true to the pub quiz tradition, including 5 rounds of 10 questions in classic quiz categories: pot luck, food & drink, geography, sports and games, and finally a music round to finish.
Along with the questions which are a lot of fun and test your pub quiz knowledge, Keith also talks about the beers that are in the box and gives more information about some of them. There are some really cool pieces of information here, like the fact that chocolate and vanilla was the pudding option for first-class customers on the Titanic.
Information that is useless, largely, but fascinating to know and i'll certainly be repeating it to my friends as an interesting factoid.
Since launching PIAB, Titanic has seen a 4 x increase in digital sales which while being great for a business like theirs in times like these; has also led to more innovation. This has allowed Titanic to look into brewing new beers to add to their range.
With the growth in at-home drinking over the past 18 months looking set to continue, even now the pubs are open, products like the Pub in a Box and other manifestations of it from other breweries are a wonderful way for them to tap into this market and ensure they can survive to keep providing great beer.
Titanic has added their PIAB to their core range of products, so you can get one any time you fancy bringing the pub home. They make great gift ideas for beer lovers or just for making a night in with your mates a little bit more interesting.
You can get your hands on this boxed public house for your private house for just £30 from Titanic's website, which as far as nights in the pub go is actually pretty cheap. The range of beers will vary depending on what Titanic has available, but the boxes will be as varied as they are able to be.
In our box we only doubled up on the raspberry pale, but to be honest, I wouldn't have minded if there had been the odd duplicate - i've had more than one pint of the same beer in the same session so the same rule applies.
