All posts by adm1n1strat0r

Fox and Hounds Beer Festival in Houston this weekend!

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We’re sure (or hope!) many of our followers are aware of the upcoming Houston Beer Festival, hosted by the popular Fox and Hounds, and taking place on Sunday 21st August in Houston Village. If not, then here is some more information on what you can expect on the day. If you did already know, here is a reminder!

Either way, we suggest you head along and help them celebrate! And remember to let us know how you enjoyed it. Better yet, send in some pictures!

Why celebrate, you ask? Well, the Fox and Hounds has just one Pub of the Year 2011 for Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the brewery has just won Champion Best Bitter 2011 for their Peter’s Well!

So there is a lot to celebrate!

On the day there will be a BBQ, Sphere Kids Ride, Marquee, Live music and restaurant – families all welcome.

For anyone who might hold a CAMRA card, make sure you look out for Head Brewer Carl in the Maruqee … when you show your card Carl will buy you a free pint of Peter’s Well to thank you for your support.

Getting Unplugged with the Swan, a Fantasy Football Challenge and more!

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It’s all about the winning this week on Renfrewshire Pubs! Not deliberate of course, but the 3 main topics on this weeks post see us mentioning events where prizes are up for grabs. So whether it’s a bragging rights, a £75 cash prize, or even a bottle of wine with dinner that you’re after, it’s time to get your competitive hat on!

Getting Unplugged at The Old Swan

OK, so the bands are already booked for this, but you can head down and influence the winner of week 2 of The Old Swann Inn Unplugged Competition. Week 1 saw Stephen Henry win, after stuff competition from John Rush and Absent-Friends.

The competition lasts for 6 weeks (now in week 2) and 3 bands or solo artists will battle it out each Friday night for the first 4 weeks for a place in the semis, with only 2 acts getting through to the final where a cash prize of £500 is up for grabs!!

Get the dates in your diary via our Renfrewshire Pubs Events page.

A game of Fantasy Football anyone?

We’re not going to let the Renfrewshire Pubs site become over run with Football talk, but since Football is such a big part of our lives, we’ve decided to setup a Fantasy Football League for folks in Renfrewshire to join. It’s completely free, is based on the English Premier and it’s easy to signup for.

The prize on this one? Bragging Rights! And the announcement on Renfrewshire Pubs that you were the winner, along with the title of Renfrewshire Pubs League Champion 2011 / 2012.

Find out more about signing up: http://www.facebook.com/RenfrewshirePubs/posts/116932175071273 (and tell your friends to join)

A bottle of wine with dinner?

Indeed! That’s what you’ll get if you’re the winner of our August Competition. Hamishes Hoose have kindly offered a free bottle of wine to the competition winners if they go have a meal for 2. Entries are already flooding in, so make sure your name is in the hat! Just answer 3 simple questions. Head over to our competition page to take part …

Whuppity Scourie Quiz Rollover

Need some extra cash? Then get yourself over to the Whuppity Scourie in Erskine this Sunday. Their pub quiz has moved from Wednesday nights to Sunday nights, and this week there is a rollover cash prize, meaning you could walk away with £75!

Remember, follow us on Facebook to keep up with more news and events across Renfrewshire Pubs!

Live Music and the Start of the SPL Season across Renfrewshire this Weekend

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Sometimes you get weeks where there just doesn’t seem to be much on in the area, and then you get those weeks where it is quite literally all happening. This would appear to be one of those weeks, so if you were moaning about having nothing to do, then now you have no excuse!

Live music in Paisley, Renfrew, Bridge of Weir and Kilbarchan

A range of music to choose from this weekend, whatever your taste – and some new bands we’ve not mentioned on the website before.

On Friday evening the ever popular Groovefellas are rocking the Trust Inn, Kilbarchan. We’ve listed these guys a few times and we always hear good reviews, so if you’re in the area, head along.

Then, on Saturday night, you’ve got yourself a choice of 4 bands in 4 places. At 4pm, Absent Friends will be playing at the Old Swan Inn, Paisley, one of the most recent pubs to start sending us information about what’s on. Other options include Vicki Gold at the Viscount Bar in Renfrew, Snow Brigade at The Weir Bar and Bistro in Bridge of Weir and Thunder Road at the Glenleven Inn, Kilbarchan.

SPL Kicks off – We’ll be supporting the Buddies!

As you know, we try and promote all good reasons to get down and support your local pub and bar. We’re not football fanatics, it has to be said, but we’ll definitely be lending our support to St Mirrens efforts this season, by letting you know how they are getting on and, more importantly, what pubs in the area will be showing St Mirren games when they are live on TV.

We can start by telling you that The Craig Dhu, The Cellar Bar, The Old Swan Inn and The Club Bar have all let it be known they’ll be showing St Mirrens first SPL game live on Monday 25th July. Got luck the Saints!

What else?

If none of that gets you interested, then 2 of the best karaoke nights in the area will be taking place at Hamishes Hoose and the Bankhouse on Friday, so go sing your wee hearts out!

Some other updates include the addition of Kennedys bar to the website, the updating of a few pub profiles to include new Facebook profiles (including Lorimers, Bishopton, The Glenleven Inn, Kilbarchan and The Old Swann Inn, Paisley).

As always, if you know of events coming up in future, let us know and we’ll let everyone else know. And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook (and tell your friends to!), to keep up to date with news: http://www.facebook.com/RenfrewshirePubs – over 300 others already do!

A Revamp, a Boxing Match and a Barbeoke

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Those of you who’ve used the Renfrewshire Pubs website in the past will have noticed some pretty big changes to the look of it in recent weeks. The Pubs project started off as a fairly small idea aimed at hopefully helping raise awareness of some of the many events taking place across pubs and bars in Renfrewshire.

However, it quickly grew to a point where we had over 300 Facebook fans and a significant amount of traffic on the site from people searching Google for information on various pubs. So, we decided to give the site and project a proper identity, hopefully encouraging more of those visitors to find out more about the pubs and, ultimately, go along to some of the many events that are on.

So, thanks to all those who follow and use the site so far!

You’ll notice we now have an “Upcoming Events” displayed across all pages of the site. We intend populating this with everything from weekly karaoke nights to live music acts and random one off events, so if you know of something not listed, let us know (pubdetails@renfrewshirepubs.co.uk).

A Pretty Big Boxing Match
Whether you’re a fan of boxing or not, there is no getting away from the hype surrounding this weekends David Haye V Wladimir Klitschko fight. We appreciate not everyone will want to watch it, but we have heard there are some pubs showing it across Renfrewshire. If you go along, enjoy! So far we know of The Bankhouse, The Craig Dhu and Paddy Malarkys in Paisley, along with The Viscount in Renfrew.

A Barbeoke ?!?
We’re assuming that this event is as the name suggests … a mixture between Barbeque and Karaoke. Sounds like a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon! We caught a mention of it on the Facebook page of The Bankhouse earlier. It sounds like good fun, so please send in some photos if you go along – we’ll upload to Facebook and you can tag yourself!

Only One Week until Paisley Beer Festival 2011 Opens

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It’s that time of year again when the Paisley Beer Festival returns to bring you the opportunity to sample a huge selection of beers from around the UK and abroad, all in one place!

And the Paisley Beer Festival 2011 is set to be every bit as good as its previous 23 years, with organisers expecting around 5000 visitors attending to sample the 170 different beers that will be available.

The festival starts at 5pm on Wednesday 27th April, running until 11pm. It then runs noon until 11pm, noon until midnight and noon until 9pm, on Thursday 28th, Friday 29th and Saturday 30th respectively.

Entry cost is just £5, which not only gets you your own festival glass and program, but also allows you to attend free on other days, as long as you bring the glass along with you.

As well as the huge selection of beers and ciders available, the organisers – CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) – have also organised plenty of food options and entertainment over the days.

Renfrewshire Pubs will be heading to the Paisley Beer Festival 2011 on one of the days. We’re not sure which day yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as we’ve decided. We hope to catch up with some of the local landlords as well as some of our site followers and Facebook fans.

If you’re going to be attending the Beer Festival, why not let us know on Facebook!

More details of the festival can be found on the official website: www.paisleybeerfestival.org.uk

Jerusalem Harpoon, Open Mic Nights, Comedy and a Paisley Pub Facelift

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Only one live music act to tell you about this weekend, but still plenty of other events happening around the Pubs, Bars and Inns of Renfrewshire to keep you all busy.

If you live (or are staying) in or near Johnstone or Paisley, then why not head out and exercise your vocal cords at your local Open Mic Night?

Caffe Luna (Paisley) and Callums Bar (Johnstone) are both hosting Open Mic nights this weekend (Friday and Sunday respectively). Head over to our Live Music page for more details.

Prefer to sit and listen to a band? Well, The Weir (Bridge of Weir) has the amazing Jerusalem Harpoon playing on Friday night. We’re sure this will pull in a crowd since the band includes ex-members from Talk Talk, The Alarm, The Pretenders and also Big Vern an the Shootas!!!

If comedy is what you’re after, then Brodies Farmhouse in Houston is where to be this Sunday. We must make a point of getting along ourselves at some point, hopefully soon.

This weeks compare is the popular Raymond Mearns, with stand up being provided by David Kay, Stuart Mitchell & Saj Choudry. Doors open at 8:30pm and tickets are £5.

Another bit of news we stumbled upon this week that’s worth telling you, is that Soho in Paisley is closing for 1 week for a facelift and some TLC. It will re-open on 15th April. Follow them on Facebook to keep up to date with developments (http://www.facebook.com/soho.paisley/posts/190381797672123).

Casper and Co, 56 Degrees North and The Snow Brigade to Name Just a Few

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Another busy weekend for live music in Renfrewshire, and a chance to see some bands we’ve not previously mentioned on the Renfrewshire Pubs website, including Casper & Co, 56 Degrees North and The Snow Brigade.

After last weeks busy schedule which included the V-Factor Final (congratulations to the winner!), we’re pleased to say this week is just as busy.

Several bands, playing several pubs across several locations including Johnstone, Renfrew, Paisley and Bridge of Weir.

Starting off tonight you can find Casper and Co over at Callums Bar in Johnstone and, if you miss them, you can see them on Saturday at the ever popular Bankhouse in Paisley. More of the Casper and Co Renfrewshire dates will be posted soon, but in the meantime, find out more about them on the Casper and Co. website.

Elsewhere, Republic of Soul can be found playing over at Hamishes Hoose in Paisley. Always a busy night over at Hamishes Hoose, so if you’re going to be in town, pop in.

56 Degrees North, another band we’ve not mentioned before on the Renfrewshire Pubs website, will be playing Harrys Bar in Renfrew. We’ll find out if they have any more dates and add them to the website.

Finally, heading into Bridge of Weir, you’ll find The Snow Brigade playing at The Weir. A popular pub in Bridge of Weir, this is sure to be another good night at The Weir.

As ever, if you’ve attended any of the events mentioned on Renfrewshire pubs, send in your comments and photos and we’ll post them on our Facebook page. Email us!

RenfrewshirePubs.co.uk Given Permission to use Drinkaware Logo

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As many of our followers will already know, our purpose is to promote the many events that take place each week and month across Renfrewshires Pubs, Bars and Inns, on behalf of those Pubs, Bars and Inns.

What we continually push is that we’re not here to promote or encourage binge or excessive drinking, but rather we’re here to help promote the sociable aspect of visiting your local pub, focusing on events such as Live Music nights, Open Mic Nights, Pub Quiz nights, Karaoke evenings, Poker nights, Comedy nights, charity nights and more.

Today we’ve been given a boost that our efforts are indeed being noticed … we’ve been given permission to use the Drinksware logo on our site. We applied hoping that they’d appreciate our intentions, and they’ve accepted.

For those who do not know, Drinkaware “aims to increase awareness and understanding of the role of alcohol in society, enabling individuals to make informed choices about their drinking.”

They do this by running a variety of campaigns, offering a significant number of facts and figures and generally providing information and advice on the impact of excessive drinking.

We’d like to thank Drinkaware for allowing us to use the logo, as well as thanking the many people we talk to as a result of the RenfrewshirePubs.co.uk website and all those who support our effort by providing regular updates, event information and news relating to their Pub, Bar or Inn.

More developments to follow!

4 Live Music Acts and the V-Factor Grand Final!

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This weekend there certainly is something for everyone, although if you like some live music as part of your night out, you’ve got more options that those that don’t! 6 different pubs have let it be known they have live music entertainment, so there are no excuses for those who say they’ve nothing to do this weekend.

Starting things off is the final of the popular V-Factor competition, being run by the guys over at The Viscount (Renfrew). Running for several weeks now, tonight the final 6 contenders compete for big cash prizes. It’s sure to be busy, but from what we’ve heard, it’s been excellent so far, so get along!

It’s also Open Mic night again tonight at Caffe Luna (Paisley). We’ve experienced this for ourselves and that chap Michael Cassidy certainly does have a good song in him. We’ll definitely be spotted at the Caffe Luna Open Mic night again in the near future.

We’ve also heard that the refurbished Crown Bar (Paisley) has an Open Mic night this evening.

As for Live Music, where to begin? The popular Vendetta and Unkle Remus are both back in Renfrewshire this weekend. We’ve listed them a couple of times now and both seem to get top-notch reviews each time they play.

You’ll find Vendetta playing The Kelburne (Paisley) tonight while Unkle Remus can be found tomorrow night over at The Glenleven in Kilbarchan.

Elsewhere, we’ve been informed via our Facebook page that Paisley girl Nicole Cameron is playing an acoustic folk/indie set over at The Burgh Bar (Paisley) from 7:30pm. While the Happy Ever After can be found playing the ever popular Hamishes Hoose (Paisley) on Saturday night.

Remember we’re trying to build our list of events across Renfrewshire, so if you know of any Poker events, Karaoke Events, Pub Quiz Nights, Live Music nights or any other sort of afternoon / night even happening in one of the Pubs, Bars or Inns in Renfrewshire, let us know!

3 New Pubs, 2 Open Mic Nights and 1 Unkle Remus!

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Thanks to the contribution of a few of our Facebook friends, we have now added 3 more pubs to the Renfrewshire Pubs website. Not only that, by next week we’ll also be posting more information about additional entertainment such as Karaoke nights, Darts nights and more. More reasons to spread the word about Renfrewshire Pubs!

You’re a Friday night sort of person? Well, if you fancy yourself as a bit of a singer or musician, we can recommend you get along to either Caffe Luna or The Crown Bar in Paisley and put your name forward for their respective Open Mic evenings tonight.

If watching others sing is more your thing, then the quarter finals of the V Factor contest at The Viscount in Renfrew starts at 8:30pm. It’s fast getting towards its final at the end of March!

If your preference is to relax on a Friday and be entertained on a Saturday instead, the Howwood Inn is the place to be as the ever popular Unkle Remus are on stage.

The weekly Poker league with MTT Poker also continues over at The Station bar, Paisley.

So, plenty to be keeping you busy!

If you’re looking for somewhere completely different to drink for a change, then why not head along to one of the 3 pubs added to the Renfrewshire Pubs site today – The Club Bar (Paisley), The Crown Bar (Paisley) and Rennies (Johnstone).