Part retailer, part social worker. That's how Gareth Jones describes his role as manager of The Beer Essentials in Horsham, West Sussex. The small store, established six years ago, specialises in real ales, lagers and ciders, both bottled and draught. Jones knows all of his customers by name. What should be a two-minute stroll into the town can take as much as half an hour with customers stopping him for a chat. "I have got to know a lot of people through the shop," he admits. "On Friday, people come in, they've had a lousy week, but they leave happy with a beer. That's where the social work comes in." Jones is a champion of beer, and in particular, real ale. Hundreds of beer mats cover the walls and ceiling, along with posters proclaiming 'beer is the best long drink in the world'. The character of the building provides an ideal setting. The store is situated in Horsham's conservation area and dates back to 1380. The Beer Essentials takes a healthy £250,000 a year by offering a unique selling point for an off-licence - draught ales. At any one time, the store has seven ales on draught, with the week's offerings on a blackboard. Customers are also able to try before they buy. A cooling water system is wrapped around the casks in the shop, allowing the ales to be stored for up to two weeks. Further supplies are kept in a small room at the back of the store in the same way. But there's never waste - on average Jones sells 100 gallons of draught ales a week. The other side of his business is bottled beers. The store stocks roughly 150 varieties from around the world such as Casta, a lager from Mozambique, Nigerian Guinness and ales from the US such as Lonestar from Texas. "I get beers in to order," says Jones. "People are travelling farther and to more exotic places and when they get home they want to drink the beers they tried on holiday." Ales with novelty names such as Old Cocky, Stag and Grim Reaper are also a big hit, especially at Christmas, he adds. But UK and local ales remain the store's most popular bottled drinks. Beers from local brewers Hepworth & Co and Arundel Brewery as well as local ciders are big draws. Although his customers are mostly men, the tide is turning. "More women are drinking real ale. It is gradually appealing to a wider cross-section of people because there are a variety of styles to make it attractive to everyone. People are also looking for quality and naturally wholesome products and to match drinks with food." But while the shop takes a very different approach to other off-licences, Jones says it still shares many of the same problems. His particular bugbear is test purchasing. "Trading Standards send children in to catch us out and it's very hard to judge how old someone is." He believes retailers should receive more feedback following the tests. "Retailers only get feedback if they fail. I received a letter saying test purchasing was going to be carried out in the town. I never heard anything so I must have passed." Despite The Beer Essentials' steady growth, Jones has no immediate plans to open any new stores. Instead, he is developing mail order via his website.n

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