1970s Beer Signs

REGINA — Always drink beer from a glass — the right glass — and never straight from the bottle or can, says beer expert Guy McClelland, who was in Regina recently for Festiv-Ale, a two-day international beer and food tasting event at the Conexus Arts Centre.

That’s true for all beer, not just fancy imports.

That’s because a naturally fermented beer on average contains about 2.5 volumes of carbon dioxide,” McClelland explained. So if you drink it right out of the can or bottle, you’re essentially putting a bottle of water and 2½ bottles of gas in your stomach. And that will no doubt leave you feeling bloated.

“Beer was not meant to be consumed that way,” McClelland emphasized.

“The gas that gives beer its characteristic bite or bubbliness or effervescence is a natural aspect of fermentation. But it’s really intended that you explode some of that out when you pour it,” he said. “That’s going to give the beer the right taste, mouth feel and greatly reduce the filling or bloatingness that can come from the beer.”

Like wine, for optimum appreciation, you should drink beer from the right kind of glass, McClelland said.

Think of ale as red wine and lager as white wine, he suggested.

“Ale is much more robust, aromatic, flavourful, whereas lager by comparison would be considered to be less robust and, dare I say, bland in comparison,” McClelland said. “So with an ale, you want a wide-open top glass. Ale should have a wider top than the height of the glass, generally speaking. And a lager glass should be much taller than wide.”

“Different styles and characteristics of beer can be best accentuated by the right-shaped glass,” he insisted.

“There are a lot of well-popularized myths about beer in Canada,” noted McClelland, who is president of Mississauga-based McClelland Premium Imports, which brings some of Europe’s finest beers to Canada.

Perhaps one of the most common is the idea that Canadian beer is stronger than American beer. “It is a complete myth,” insisted McClelland, who boasts more than 25 years of experience in the Canadian beer industry.

“The fact is, in Canada we measure alcohol differently than the Americans do. We measure by volume — so volume of alcohol versus volume of water gives an alcohol percentage. It’s volumetric. Whereas in the United States, they measure alcohol content by weight. And because alcohol is far less dense than water, a lower number by weight is a higher number by volume,” he explained. “So four per cent in the U.S. is five per cent in Canada,”

“Because it also has a light taste, it tricks Canadians into thinking it’s actually weaker beer. And it’s absolutely not true. You’re every bit as inebriated,”McClelland pointed out.

Another of McClelland’s favourite beer myths relates to the colour of beer.

“A very high percentage of Canadians believe that the darker the colour of a beer, the stronger or more intense the flavour will be,” he said.

False!

“The colour of beer comes from how long the malts are roasted,” McClelland said.“It’s really just a colour choice by the brewer. It really has nothing to do with things like bitterness, which come from the hops.”

He cited the example of Erdinger Dunkel beer, which is “as black as Guinness, but is possibly one of the lightest beers on the market.” It’s light because the malt is wheat, and because the hops are very low, whereas Guinness is highly hopped and made with barley, which makes a big difference in the taste, he explained.

“So while a dark beer can be perceived as strong, there is no correlation between the colour and the taste intensity,” he insisted. “I love busting that myth!”

The beer belly myth is also something McClelland would like to help dispel.

“A lot of Canadians perceive that beer is high in calories, or fattening,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons many females shy away from beer.”

But beer is actually low in calories, McClelland said. “It’s probably just somewhere above water and tea.”

Women in particular often choose spirit-based coolers over beer because they think they’re lower in calories, McClelland said, noting nothing could be further from the truth. For example, one popular spirit-based cooler has 385 calories in a 12-ounce bottle, which is triple what the same volume of beer would have, he said.

“It’s quite amazing how off-base people are in their assumptions or beliefs and perceptions,” McClelland said.

A beer belly is really a “lifestyle belly,” he said. “It’s about sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise, poor diet in form or in portion. Yeah, maybe the person also drinks beer. But that doesn’t mean the beer necessarily caused his beer belly.”

Describing himself as a heavy beer drinker, McClelland noted that he maintains a svelte 30-inch waistline — no signs of a beer belly.

As baby boomers find themselves with more disposable income and, as a result, in a position to treat themselves to more of the finer things in life, McClelland predicted demand for fine wines and good beers will continue to grow.

“The style and sophistication of beer is rapidly gaining,” he said. “But it’s probably 20 years behind wine.

In 1992, when he started working in import beer, McClelland said the market share of import beer, compared to total beer sales, was about five per cent. Now it’s 15 per cent.

“So it’s tripled in proportion of total beer sales in less than 20 years. And I see that trend continuing, honestly, another good five (to) 10 years,” he said.

Like other image-driven products, such as cars, coffee, wine and clothing, McClelland said he anticipates consumers will willingly pay extra for imported beers if they perceive them to be “better, different, special.”

“Import beers are now having greater access to the market,” he said. “That’s good for us as consumers. There’s more choice.”

And for McClelland, that’s good for business. He’ll definitely drink to that!

iseiberling@leaderpost.com

© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post

The iconic 14-foot-tall root-beer mug that for half a century advertised the location of Ted’s Frostop at Calhoun and South Claiborne is once again spinning atop a pole, with its showy neon restored. Since Hurricane Katrina, the venerable sign had become a landmark of a different sort. Toppled by the storm, it had stayed upside-down ever since, a reminder of a disaster whose imprint has faded in this section of Uptown.

Photos by Chris Granger, The Times-PicayuneThe iconic 14-foot-tall root-beer mug that for half a century advertised the location of Ted’s Frostop at Calhoun and South Claiborne is once again spinning atop a pole, with its showy neon restored.

The sign restoration is the work of new owners who had fond memories of the old drive-in. The Uptown outpost, started in 1955 by Ted Sternberg, was a trendsetter in its day, arriving on the scene about the same time as the first Burger King and McDonald’s.

“Ted owned 14 Frostops at one point in time, and they were wildly popular in the ’50s and ’60s,” said Peter Moss, one of a group of owners. “So when we found out that this place was available, we had to bring it back.”

But not too much. “The worst thing we could do would be to spiff things up too much and take away all of its personality,” Moss said.

Frostop root beer has been brewed since 1926, when L.S. Harvey first concocted it in Springfield, Ohio. The owners started the drive-in burger chain to promote the drink, and it grew to about 350 franchises by the 1960s.

Today, there are just 14 individually owned Frostops nationwide, including one in LaPlace, which shared its secret sauce recipe with the new owners of Ted’s.

It’s the chain’s giant signs that have stuck in the American consciousness. Online fans have cataloged those that remain. One historian believes the sign at Ted’s in New Orleans was the first one erected.

For many New Orleanians, the burger outpost may also conjure memories of afternoons playing pinball.

“I won’t name any names, but I knew kids when I was in high school 30 years ago who would go off-campus just to play the pinball machines at Frostop,” Moss said. “So many people remember the pinball machines that we brought one in, and now it’s in the back room.”

The Uptown Frostop, started in 1955 by Ted Sternberg, was a trendsetter in its day.

One of those ardent pinball players was Adam Marcus, who remembers spending his Saturdays at Frostop playing pinball in the back room. The experience led him to collect vintage pinball machines as an adult.

“I was a regular,” Marcus said.

The place still has its regulars, Moss said. One is Raymond Benjamin, a drywall installer and renovator.

“I started going there a while back and now I go every weekday for breakfast and sometimes on the weekend morning with my grandkids and for lunch three or four days a week,” Benjamin said. “There’s a group of us, maybe 10 or 12, who get together every morning — electricians, plumbers, all of that.”

Benjamin joked that anyone needing help with home repairs could visit the back room at Frostop any morning and find someone to do the job.

“We got a lot of work just talking to other people who eat there all the time like us,” Benjamin said.

Sternberg, the founder, is another regular. Now in his 80s, “Mr. Ted” eats there about once a week, catching up with the staff, some of whom have been there for decades.

While Moss sees the sign’s restoration as another small benchmark in the city’s recovery from Katrina, some customers have told him they will miss the upended sign. But the memory won’t be erased completely: The Frostop will still sell T-shirts, worn by the staff since the storm, that have a logo of the upside-down mug.

R. Stephanie Bruno is a contributing writer

Photo by Jennifer Rios

PHOTOS BY Jennifer Rios/Standard-Times Cody Brown cleans up and prepares for the evening at Joe’s Brewhouse Downtown, the latest pub in downtown San Angelo, last week.

Photo by Jennifer Rios

Joe Gill, owner of Joe’s Brewhouse Downtown, visits with customers Tuesday evening. The pub, around the corner from D’Vine Wine, is the latest one to join downtown San Angelo.

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Renowned pop artist James F. Gill years ago taught his son, Joe, to do what he loves. It just so happened that Joe Gill’s loves were the very things San Angelo lacked.

Joe Gill, a personal trainer, moved from California to his father’s hometown of San Angelo and opened Joe Gill’s Art of Fitness Salon & Spa, which, as the name implies, is one-stop shop for customers’ pampering and exercise needs. Then, in October, Gill opened Joe’s Brewhouse Downtown in the shopping plaza at the corner of South Oakes Street and East Concho Avenue, thus satisfying his thirst for brewing beer.

“I’m doing both things I love to do,” Gill said. “I love to taste new beers and brew beers, and I love to work out and help people work out. I think they work perfect together.”

Joe’s Brewhouse is like a draft house, Gill said, in that customers can snack on fajitas, nachos, baguettes and hummus and drink fresh beer brewed on site or imported beer.

“We also have a to-go license, so you can mix and match a six-pack to go,” Gill said. “You can buy a growler to go — which is a half-gallon — or you can drink here and take some to go” afterward.

Fredericksburg probably is the closest city to have a brew house like San Angelo’s, Gill said. Brewpubs exist in Abilene and Eola, he said, but they don’t have to-go licenses or the selection Joe’s has.

“We’ve already got people from out of town who wanted to taste” San Angelo’s selection, Gill said. “We’re having a lot of regulars who were having to brew at home” come here.

With its cluster of tables and chairs, neon beer signs and posters adorning the walls, and space for bands to play live music, the 1,600-square-foot structure looks like a bar without offering more of the exact same.

“The music we play is not loud” so customers can chat and hear each other, Gill said. “We listen to Pink Floyd, The Eagles, blues, Hendrix, classic old rock.”

As evidenced by the enlarged black-and-white Prohibition era prints displayed — one of which depicts protesters carrying a sign that reads “I’m no camel. I want beer” — quality beer is the brewhouse’s intended focus.

“People can have a couple of good beers — fresh-brewed beer or beer from all over the world — instead of a lot of the domestic beers,” Gill said. “Tasting a couple of good beers, you don’t take in as many calories.”

At Joe’s, Gill said, patrons have the opportunity to experience beers they’ve never tried.

“We give them tasters that might not be the namebrand they grew up on but tastes just as good — if not better — and show them how fresh beers have so many (flavors) in them,” Gill said. “People say, ‘Beer’s too harsh; beer’s too bitter.’ We have a lot of beers that are sweet or have fruity tastes.”

Standard-Times: How did you get into home brewing?

Gill: I’ve been brewing for 12 years. I grew up in California, and I was in a brew club out there. Our family brewed. People have been saying for years that they were going to put in something here, and I got tired of going to breweries out of town.

Did you want to open the brewhouse in downtown, or did the space just become available at the right time?

I really wanted to go for downtown. There’s so much history downtown. If you think of breweries, most of the time they’re old, so I wanted that setting. That’s the only place I wanted to do it.

Do you have any plans for the business?

We’d like to put in one more fermenter and two more serving tanks, and we want to get up to (offering) 40 draft beers from around the world. (Currently) we have 25 beers on draft. We’re going to have home-brew supplies here (so people can brew their own beer at home).

How do you decide what beers to sell?

I just do tastings and say, ‘Yeah, I think that’ll do well.’ We ask people what kinds of things they would like, keep record of that and try to bring those in.

What do you like about owning a brew house?

I don’t really have to consider it work. There’s nothing better than giving

a great beer to people who have been having to go out of town for it.

ROCK HILL, SC (WBTV) - York County voters take to the polls this fall to decide whether to allow Sunday beer and wine sales at convenience stores and other retailers.

It took 7,500 of signatures to get the referendum on the ballot but the county received well more than that.

If passed, it would mean folks wouldn’t have to stock up early for big events like the Super Bowl.

Right now, signs on doors like O’Darby’s Fine Wine and Spirits reads “Closed Sunday.” Lines were long at both the Riverside and Newport store with folks buying up for the big game.

Owner Moe Hinson estimated half of the sales Saturday were from people who planned to watch the Super Bowl at home.

“For us it could obviously mean an improvement on our business but it’s more about customer choice. We feel like customers should have the choice to shop whatever days are available for them,” Hinson said.

“People are not buying ahead a lot..so it’s more like when I need it I’ll go get it but I’m not getting it a week in advance,” Chet Miller said.

Miller helped get the issue placed on the ballot. He was also part of a group that helped extend Sunday alcohol sales at restaurants a few years back.

Miller says he’s not a drinker, doesn’t own a restaurant or retail store – but hates to see money travel north across the state line. He says if the number of places that could sell beer and wine each applied for $1,000 license, with $50 dollars going to the state and the rest staying in York County, the county could expect around $212,000 in license fees alone

The vote does not cover liquor sales. It would still be prohibited to sell it on Sunday.

In the past some religious leaders have opposed extending sales to Sundays and some worried it would increase drunk driving incidents. Miller says that’s not happened.

Miller notes places like Tega Cay have seen an uptick in sales since passing a similar referendum in 2008. Some York County restaurants he says have seen huge jumps in revenue. He hopes it will eventually led to more big named restaurants to move south.

Lancaster County also approved a referendum for the 2012 ballot to decided whether or not to extend beer and wine sales on Sundays in restaurants.

Copyright 2012 WBTV. All rights reserved.

2012 is pushing full steam ahead for the beer in D.C. Our once fledgling scene is evolving into one of the premier beer destinations in the country and shows no signs of slowing anytime soon.

Neighborhood Restaurant Group, famous for their beer mecca ChurchKey, recently hired Megan Pirisi, formerly the head brewer at Cambridge Brewing Company in Massachusetts. CBC’s small footprint in the Boston burbs is not representative of the world-class beer they have produced under Pirisi. Her credentials speak volumes and include the General Certificate in Brewing and Packaging from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in London, the Professional Brewer’s Certificate from UC Davis, and the Master of Beer Styles sensory course at Siebel and has won multiple medals at the Great American Beer Festival.

Oh yeah — this Masshole can attest to her beers being delicious.

Working with NRG’s beer director Greg Engert, the focus of the new full-production brewery—which will include a brewpub for some post Nats game drinks—will be barrel-aged sour ales. Their facility will include a coolship, which is a traditional way to simultaneously cool the beer down after boil and allow wild yeasts from the air to impart complex flavors that make sour and “funked” beers so intriguing. Currently, there are very few coolships in the U.S., and these beers are highly sought after by those who love wild beers. While this brewery at the Yards is only starting to take shape and has no concrete timeframe, some of the most important pieces are now in place to give more beer options to the city.

While NRG has gained Pirisi for their brewery, they recently lost Churchkey’s assistant beer director Nahem Simon as he has assumed beer director duties at Jack Rose Dining Saloon. His arduous maintenance of the revered Churchkey draft system was no small feat, and now it looks like he will be able to take his knowledge of draft line upkeep and place the beers in Jack Rose as he sees fit.

D.C.’s first production brewery in half a century, DC Brau, has finally been able to get their cans back into the city. The Public Citizen and Corruption are available in bars and restaurants throughout the District, and stores should have them very soon. Meanwhile, 3 Stars has continued collaborations and is set to release the B.W. Rye #3, a saison rye made with Oliver ales. Their own facility is close to being ready and should be in operation within two or three months.

Thor Cheston, formerly of Brassiere Beck and DC’s own beer knight, will be opening up a brewpub with Nathan Zeender and focus on Belgian-inspired ales and lambics. Their hope is to have their location in the Shaw neighborhood ready at some point in 2013. Hellbender and Low Brau are also making plays to hit the beer scene running soon much like Baying Hound has done up in Maryland. Finally, Cabinet Artisanal Ales, who took over the Shenandoah brewing facilities in Alexandria last year in order to brew beer for Philadelphia’s Farmer’s Cabinet, is working on getting their tasting room ready in order to bring some innovative barrel-aged beers to the area.

Finally, with all these new breweries coming to the city, the national beer community will be even more focused on this year’s SAVOR and week-long celebration of American craft beer. While many breweries would love to participate in the second largest beer event in the country, a drawing is help for participants in order to make it as fair as possible. Locally, Port City and DC Brau made the oh-so-coveted list. However, as DCBeer reported, next year our hometown fermenters may have to travel to SAVOR as there is a strong possibility that it will be held as D.C. will be hosting the 2013 Craft Brewers Conference.

More breweries, brewpubs, and events coming in 2012. Not a bad second-tier city to live in.

Les Amigos and the Toronto Generals — two Port Credit, Ont., men’s beer league teams — were informed that they would be the subject of a documentary about adult rec hockey. They agreed for their Dec. 21 match to be filmed under that pretense. Little did these know that they were being set up.

Just when you thought the whole flash-mob-as-marketing-campaign thing might have run its course, Budweiser pulls a joyful stunt on two Canadian rec teams that makes you think otherwise.

What begins as your typical league game between a bunch of washed-up or never-were pros — a bored girlfriend or two making up the entire arena attendance — suddenly turns into a raucous affair with all the bells and whistles: commentators, Jumbotron replays, belly-painted fans, mascots, handmade signs, and, yes, a T-shirt gun.

Stunned and thrilled, the Amgios and Generals (watch below) rise to the occasion, pushing the game to overtime.

“Not that I was ever in a professional league anywhere, however, this is how I would imagine it to be,” beams a bald member of the Generals.

The surprise commercial is scheduled to debut during Sunday’s Super Bowl.

‘He was a wise man who invented beer.” – Plato. Thus reads one of the numerous quotations stenciled on the walls at Brewmasters Bar & Grill, which opened last March in downtown Raleigh. Scattered among the beer signs and brewery promotional posters you’d expect to see at a place with such a name, the quotations are attributed to a pantheon of intellectual and cultural icons, from Confucius to Frank Sinatra.

You get the distinct feeling that beer is more than just a product at Brewmasters. It’s a revered craft. You might even say, a philosophy.

That should come as no surprise, given that the owner is local brewing guru Mark Cook. The owner of American Brewmasters, a home-brewer’s supply shop in North Raleigh, Cook has introduced scores of enthusiasts to the craft. Some of his disciples have gone on to ply their skills at commercial breweries.

Which explains the fact that roughly half of the pub’s 66 taps dispense North Carolina beers. That’s easily the broadest selection of local brews in the Triangle, to my knowledge, and always includes a number of seasonal brews and rarities such as Duck Rabbit Paul’s Bitter Holiday ESB and the potent Imperial IPA from Carolina Brewing Company.

Beer curator Les Stewart (now there’s a title that tells you how important beer is here) frequently taps a special cask-conditioned brew, too. Foothills Brewing’s Total Eclipse Stout, conditioned with Escazu chocolate nibs and cinnamon, slipped down the gullets of lucky customers in December.

Sticking with burgers

Needless to say, the bar sets a high, um, bar for the kitchen to live up to. In the year since Brewmasters opened (not counting its brief previous incarnation as Cherry Bomb Grill), the kitchen has struggled to clear that bar. But it has been getting closer since chef Brian O’Hara came on board in September and overhauled the menu.

O’Hara wisely kept the burgers that had been Brewmasters’ main nonliquid attraction. Featuring 8 ounces of ground chuck on a locally baked bun, with options ranging from the Classic (lettuce, tomato and onion, a steal at $4.99) to the Hangover (a towering stack of avocado, bacon, fried egg, pepper jack cheese and Bloody Mary aioli that has won a cultlike following), Brewmasters’ burger is indeed a keeper.

But the chef, who once worked at Enoteca Vin, and more recently brought the menu up to snuff at Tir na nOg, jettisoned much of the Brewmasters offering, including the entire entree list. In its place, he introduced sandwiches, appetizers and side dishes with a Southern accent – in part, he says, as a tribute to Joe’s Place, the restaurant that had formerly occupied the space for three decades.

Black-eyed pea hummus, served with house-baked crackers, is a welcome addition. So is a salad featuring house-pickled beets, roasted red peppers, radishes and goat cheese on mixed greens.

Shrimp ceviche is a riskier proposition. It’s made every other day, according to O’Hara, and judging by the tough shrimp and harsh acidity of the citrus marinade in the dish I sampled, I’m guessing I caught it at the end of day two.

If you’re hankering for something different, PBR-braised fried chicken wings tossed in a sauce sweetened with local scuppernong juice ought to do the trick. Or you might throw caution to the wind and order a pint of bacon (a pint glass filled with thick cut bacon strips seasoned with a house dry rub spice blend) if you dare. I didn’t.

But I did score a couple of strips of the bacon on a fried chicken sandwich that was offered as a special recently, where it was joined by house-made pimento cheese and caramelized onions on a Kaiser bun. A tasty bargain at $6.99, the deal was sweetened by including the choice of one side – in my case, a generous bowl of creamed collards.

You could put together a satisfying vegetarian meal from the sides, for that matter, with options ranging from broccoli and raisin salad to barbecue-baked black-eyed peas. There’s also an unusually broad selection of vegetarian burgers and biscuit sandwiches.

Advice on the beer

Unfortunately, the biscuits are too often dry. That’s a shame, because both the biscuit sandwiches I sampled from the carnivore’s list – fried catfish, and Duck Rabbit Milk Stout-braised beef brisket, served open-faced – were otherwise delightful. Chef O’Hara is aware of the problem, and is working to solve it.

In the meantime, the menu offers plenty of satisfying alternatives if you choose carefully. And there’s always that superlative beer selection, and bartenders sufficiently versed in the subject to discuss the relative merits of Cascade versus Centennial hops.

But don’t get the wrong idea. While Brewmasters’ reverence for its namesake artisans is evident, it’s just as clear that they don’t take themselves too seriously. For proof, you need look no further than the W.C. Fields quotation directly above the barstools: “A woman drove me to drink, and I didn’t even have the decency to thank her.” That one is best seen while tilting your head back to sip.

LONDON – Olympic organizers have some travel advice for the millions of people who work and live in London: Be patient. Have a beer. Work from home.

Rejecting suggestions of possible transport chaos during the July 27-Aug. 12 games, they unveiled a 8.8 million-pound ($13.3 million) campaign Monday to persuade city residents to change their travel patterns to ease the strain on public transport.

Even as London Mayor Boris Johnson tried to focus attention on the positive, transport officials had to bat back demands by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union for more money. Union officials say subway staff are not being offered enough to compensate them for working more hours and erratic schedules during the Summer Olympics.

The fresh union demands came just moments before London transport officials unveiled posters, signs and banners to make travelers aware of how to handle transport issues during the games. Johnson directed his remarks at what he called “Olympo-skeptics.”

“They predict that tumbleweed will be going down Shaftesbury Avenue,” Johnson said, referring to a main London thoroughfare. “They are completely wrong and mistaken and missing a huge opportunity to profit.”

London transport officials have been at pains in recent weeks to downplay concerns about whether the city’s aging transportation system can handle the extra traffic from tourists, spectators and others expected to use the network.

Officials point to a 6.5 billion-pound ($10.2 billion) investment in the transport system. They say train journeys are faster and note that many more trains will run — and that some will even have air conditioning — during the games.

If office workers do things as simple as stopping and have a beer on their way home, it will spread out the rush-hour demands, they assert. No recommendations — alcoholic or otherwise — were made for the morning commute.

Businesses have been asked to consider whether London workers could telecommute or have more flexible working hours.

The trouble is that even on regular days London struggles with constraints on the Tube, an aging system that handles 12 million trips a day. The Olympics is estimated to add 3 million trips on busy days. Keeping the system running smoothly is predicated on the notion that locals will rearrange their schedules, change travel patterns and adjust their lives to accommodate.

Even Johnson acknowledged that travelers on the Jubilee line — one of the key arteries for the games — would not be “short of company.”

London wants all of its spectators to arrive by public transport — or foot and bike. Ticket holders to Olympic events will receive day passes for the subway as part of their package. A special train known as the “Javelin” will take spectators directly from central London’s St. Pancras train station to the Olympic Park in the East London neighborhood of Stratford.

The “Get Ahead of the Games” campaign that kicked off Monday marks the biggest effort yet to directly reach the public. Featuring cartoonlike posters and directional signs in hot pink and maroon, the campaign tries to let people know about upcoming disruptions and gives suggestions on how to address them.

The campaign, funded as part of the 9.3 billion pounds ($14.6 billion) devoted to staging the Olympics, will run in national newspapers, rail stations and radio stations across the country as well as around Olympic venues.

Souring the big launch was the rail union’s announcement that subway train drivers considered a one-time payment of around 500 pounds ($784) inadequate.

“All we are calling for is a fair deal for all the staff involved in delivering the colossal transport challenge that we will be facing this summer and the negotiations to achieve that are ongoing,” Union chief Bob Crow said in a statement.

Crow said the union was ready for more talks. Peter Hendy, the Transport for London commissioner, called the union announcement “a tactic,” and maintained that everyone at the transit agency is proud of helping out at the games.

Hendy refused to say how much he was prepared to pay to compensate the transport workers, but the pressure comes at a time when Olympic organizers are straining to stay within budget.

The National Audit Office, Britain’s spending watchdog, has reported that only 500 million pounds ($785 million) remains unspent for dealing with future Olympics-related costs.

Hendy insisted the money to cover compensation for transport workers would be available once a deal was struck.

LONDON (AP) — Olympic organizers have some travel advice for the millions of people who work and live in London: Be patient. Have a beer. Work from home.

Rejecting suggestions of possible transport chaos during the July 27-Aug. 12 games, they unveiled a 8.8 million-pound ($13.3 million) campaign Monday to persuade city residents to change their travel patterns to ease the strain on public transport.

Even as London Mayor Boris Johnson tried to focus attention on the positive, transport officials had to bat back demands by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union for more money. Union officials say subway staff are not being offered enough to compensate them for working more hours and erratic schedules during the Summer Olympics.

The fresh union demands came just moments before London transport officials unveiled posters, signs and banners to make travelers aware of how to handle transport issues during the games. Johnson directed his remarks at what he called “Olympo-skeptics.”

“They predict that tumbleweed will be going down Shaftesbury Avenue,” Johnson said, referring to a main London thoroughfare. “They are completely wrong and mistaken and missing a huge opportunity to profit.”

London transport officials have been at pains in recent weeks to downplay concerns about whether the city’s aging transportation system can handle the extra traffic from tourists, spectators and others expected to use the network.

Officials point to a 6.5 billion-pound ($10.2 billion) investment in the transport system. They say train journeys are faster and note that many more trains will run — and that some will even have air conditioning — during the games.

If office workers do things as simple as stopping and have a beer on their way home, it will spread out the rush-hour demands, they assert. No recommendations — alcoholic or otherwise — were made for the morning commute.

Businesses have been asked to consider whether London workers could telecommute or have more flexible working hours.

The trouble is that even on regular days London struggles with constraints on the Tube, an aging system that handles 12 million trips a day. The Olympics is estimated to add 3 million trips on busy days. Keeping the system running smoothly is predicated on the notion that locals will rearrange their schedules, change travel patterns and adjust their lives to accommodate.

Even Johnson acknowledged that travelers on the Jubilee line — one of the key arteries for the games — would not be “short of company.”

London wants all of its spectators to arrive by public transport — or foot and bike. Ticket holders to Olympic events will receive day passes for the subway as part of their package. A special train known as the “Javelin” will take spectators directly from central London’s St. Pancras train station to the Olympic Park in the East London neighborhood of Stratford.

The “Get Ahead of the Games” campaign that kicked off Monday marks the biggest effort yet to directly reach the public. Featuring cartoonlike posters and directional signs in hot pink and maroon, the campaign tries to let people know about upcoming disruptions and gives suggestions on how to address them.

The campaign, funded as part of the 9.3 billion pounds ($14.6 billion) devoted to staging the Olympics, will run in national newspapers, rail stations and radio stations across the country as well as around Olympic venues.

Souring the big launch was the rail union’s announcement that subway train drivers considered a one-time payment of around 500 pounds ($784) inadequate.

“All we are calling for is a fair deal for all the staff involved in delivering the colossal transport challenge that we will be facing this summer and the negotiations to achieve that are ongoing,” Union chief Bob Crow said in a statement.

Crow said the union was ready for more talks. Peter Hendy, the Transport for London commissioner, called the union announcement “a tactic,” and maintained that everyone at the transit agency is proud of helping out at the games.

Hendy refused to say how much he was prepared to pay to compensate the transport workers, but the pressure comes at a time when Olympic organizers are straining to stay within budget.

The National Audit Office, Britain’s spending watchdog, has reported that only 500 million pounds ($785 million) remains unspent for dealing with future Olympics-related costs.

Hendy insisted the money to cover compensation for transport workers would be available once a deal was struck.

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www.getaheadofthegames.com or following the (at)GAOTG Twitter

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Danica Kirka can be reached at http://twitter.com/DanicaKirka

LONDON (AP)—Olympic organizers have some travel advice for the millions of people who work and live in London: Be patient. Have a beer. Telecommute.

Rejecting suggestions of possible transport chaos during the July 27-Aug. 12 games, they unveiled a 8.8 million-pound ($13.3 million) campaign Monday to persuade city residents to change their travel patterns to ease the strain on public transport.

Even as London Mayor Boris Johnson tried to focus attention on the positive, transport officials had to bat back demands by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union for more money. Union officials say subway staff are not being offered enough to compensate them for working more hours and erratic schedules during the Summer Olympics.

The fresh union demands came just moments before London transport officials unveiled posters, signs and banners to make travelers aware of how to handle transport issues during the games. Johnson directed his remarks at what he called “Olympo-skeptics.”

“They predict that tumbleweed will be going down Shaftesbury Avenue,” Johnson said, referring to a main London thoroughfare. “They are completely wrong and mistaken and missing a huge opportunity to profit.”

London transport officials have been at pains in recent weeks to downplay concerns about whether the city’s aging transportation system can handle the extra traffic from tourists, spectators and others expected to use the network.

Officials point to a 6.5 billion-pound ($10.2 billion) investment in the transport system. They say train journeys are faster and note that many more trains will run—and that some will even have air conditioning—during the games.

If office workers do things as simple as stopping and have a beer on their way home, it will spread out the rush-hour demands, they assert. No recommendations—alcoholic or otherwise—were made for the morning commute.

Businesses have been asked to consider whether London workers could telecommute or have more flexible working hours.

The trouble is that even on regular days London struggles with constraints on the Tube, an aging system that handles 12 million trips a day. The Olympics is estimated to add 3 million trips on busy days. Keeping the system running smoothly is predicated on the notion that locals will rearrange their schedules, change travel patterns and adjust their lives to accommodate.

Even Johnson acknowledged that travelers on the Jubilee line—one of the key arteries for the games—would not be “short of company.”

London wants all of its spectators to arrive by public transport—or foot and bike. Ticket holders to Olympic events will receive day passes for the subway as part of their package. A special train known as the “Javelin” will take spectators directly from central London’s St. Pancras train station to the Olympic Park in the East London neighborhood of Stratford.

The “Get Ahead of the Games” campaign that kicked off Monday marks the biggest effort yet to directly reach the public. Featuring cartoonlike posters and directional signs in hot pink and maroon, the campaign tries to let people know about upcoming disruptions and gives suggestions on how to address them.

The campaign, funded as part of the 9.3 billion pounds ($14.6 billion) devoted to staging the Olympics, will run in national newspapers, rail stations and radio stations across the country as well as around Olympic venues.

Souring the big launch was the rail union’s announcement that subway train drivers considered a one-time payment of around 500 pounds ($784) inadequate.

“All we are calling for is a fair deal for all the staff involved in delivering the colossal transport challenge that we will be facing this summer and the negotiations to achieve that are ongoing,” Union chief Bob Crow said in a statement.

Crow said the union was ready for more talks. Peter Hendy, the Transport for London commissioner, called the union announcement “a tactic,” and maintained that everyone at the transit agency is proud of helping out at the games.

Hendy refused to say how much he was prepared to pay to compensate the transport workers, but the pressure comes at a time when Olympic organizers are straining to stay within budget.

The National Audit Office, Britain’s spending watchdog, has reported that only 500 million pounds ($785 million) remains unspent for dealing with future Olympics-related costs.

Hendy insisted the money to cover compensation for transport workers would be available once a deal was struck.

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www.getaheadofthegames.com or following the (at)GAOTG Twitter

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Danica Kirka can be reached at http://twitter.com/DanicaKirka